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The Man Who Tamed a Wolf (Frag. 3)

Submitted by Ken Watts on Wed, 01/03/2007 - 15:16

So Man went out a second time, to watch the wolves in their pack.

He watched them for a long time.

When he returned, he came to Woman and said, "In the pack, when an above-wolf wants a below-wolf to move or to stop eating some food, that wolf makes it clear to the wolf who is below. And if the wolf who is below does not obey, the higher wolf threatens the lower wolf, and forces it to submit."

And Woman said, "We must do this with our wolf-pup, too."

So, whenever the wolf-pup did a thing that Man or Woman did not want it to do, they told it "No!" and if it stopped they praised it, but if it didn't they struck it on the nose, and if it did not submit they forced it to the ground, and grabbed it by the throat.

But sometimes they didn't make it stop, because this way was new to them, and their hearts softened, and then the wolf-pup was harder to stop the next time.

So Man said to Woman, "I have watched the wolves in their packs, and I have seen that they never allow a down-wolf to defy them, for if they do, he will soon try to challenge them."

And Woman said, "This is good for us, but it is not good for the pup, for he does not like to wait for his food, or to move when his spirit is not moving him."

And Man said, "This is so. It is not good for the pup, now. But it is good for the pup later, because if he cannot learn to live with us we cannot have him here. But he will refuse to return to the pack, and so, I will have to kill him."

And Woman said, "This is a hard thing for us to do."

And Man said, "Yes. We must make our hearts like stone."

So Man and Woman were very careful, and made their hearts like stone, and taught themselves never to let the wolf-pup disobey.

They did this, also, for a long time, and the wolf learned to obey them.

And Woman said, "Look at this, and see what we have done. The wolf obeys our commands, and bends his word to ours."

But one day, when Woman was out with baby, gathering roots, and Man was down by the stream, making arrowheads, the wolf-pup wandered back to their home, with no one to watch him. The pup found a rabbit that Man had killed that morning, but had not yet cooked, and he ate it.

And Woman came to Man and said, "The pup has eaten our meat, the wolf has swallowed our rabbit."