Zamimolo’s Story, 50,000 BC

by Bonnye Matthews

  “Go now and get a large snack. And I’ll watch tonight to see that you eat a full dinner.”

  “Yes, Sir,” Token replied and quickly went to get a snack. He found some meat from the night before and some fruit. He took some of both.

  As soon as he finished eating, Master Lipin called to him.

  He went to the Master and stood with his head bowed.

  “I am glad to see you eating. Have you been ill?”

  “No, Sir.”

  “Then, how do you explain this too thin body of yours. You have failed to take good care of it.”

  “Sir, I have been studying and somehow food hasn’t seemed very important.”

  “You cannot expect to function, if you fail to care for yourself. I notice you’ve not neglected to breathe. What happens to a fire when the wood is consumed?”

  “The fire goes out, Sir.”

  “And so will the life from your body, if you fail to care for it properly. You must feed it as you feed a fire.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Make sure to take care of your body.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Today you will go to Master Theu to work on making spear points. You will do sedentary work until you get some fat on your body.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Most of the students hated to do sedentary work, but Master Theu had some different ways of making spear points that interested Token, so he was not uncomfortable in the least at the shift in his chores.

  Ghumotu and Kit had been sent to the seashore to gather any driftwood they might find. There were not many trees in the upper area of the mountain, since many had been gathered for fires countless years ago, and no new tree growth had occurred for a very long time. Atop the mountain was flat grassland. Sometimes, as an alternative to firewood, they would gather animal dung from the grazers that used that grassland. Sometimes they had to go great distances to gather wood. They would not gather it from the lower levels of the mountains, because there it supported the wildlife they hunted. The Alitukit had learned long ago that overharvesting trees was not in their best interest. Driftwood was a gift.

  The path to the seashore was a winding one. It took quite some time to reach the bottom. Carrying the logs up would be an even longer process.

  “Kit, look down there! There’s a whole pile of them we couldn’t see from above.” Ghumotu was delighted to have found such a large amount of wood.

  “Wonderful! I’ll get there before you do!” Kit shouted back as he began to run toward the driftwood.

  Ghumotu ran alongside his friend, both equally paced. They reached the pile at the same time, winded. Quickly they gathered what they could carry, hoping that they might make several trips to the woodpile. They took as much as they could possibly lift to carry uphill on the steep, winding path. The boys were in good spirits and laughed as they climbed the hill. When they reached the top, they saw Master Alikuat. They became serious quickly.

  “Have you boys found a good source of wood?” he asked raising one eyebrow as he often did.

  “Yes, Sir, we have,” Kit replied quickly. “There is much driftwood in a pile just east of the base of the path.”

  “Put that on the firewood pile and I’ll gather some help for you,” he said.

  The boys were quick to comply. Of all the Masters, nobody wanted to cross Master Alikuat.

  Token sat in the sun as it began to go down, working an arrowhead of bone. Hoft joined him and the two enjoyed the remaining heat of the day.

  “What do you make of the water tours we’ve had recently?” Hoft asked.

  “I understood nothing when we went to the falling water to the north or the ones to the west on this mountain. When we went to the hole in the earth where there is much water, I still failed to understand. I found it odd that the sea was not included in our trips. Then, I began to wonder whether the trips were for us to examine water or something else.” Token held the beautiful spear point with two fingers, seeing it in his mind attached to a shaft. He laid it carefully on the soft piece of leather in front of him and picked up another piece of bone, twisting it and examining it for soundness.

  “All this time I’ve been focused on water. If that’s not what we’re supposed to examine, no wonder I’m having a tough time,” Hoft said, his voiced tinged with irritation. “It would be so much easier, if they just told us what they wanted us to discover.”

  “I’m thinking that the lesson is for us to discover what they want us to discover. I’m thinking that water by itself is too easy.”

  “I’m wondering what falling water and water in a hole would lead us to discover, and it still bothers me that the sea wasn’t included. Maybe it’s just water that contains no salt.” Hoft sat with his legs folded, his arms held tightly around his legs. He stared far out over the trees to the place where the land began to flatten. “If it’s just water with no salt, we have another thing we didn’t look at. Our cave here. It used to flow with water under the ground. The falling water and the water that used to flow in our cave moved. The water hole doesn’t move.”

  Token looked at Hoft. “I’m not sure about that. When we’ve been swimming in that water hole, the water is fresh. If it didn’t move, how could it be fresh?”

  “I hadn’t considered that!” Hoft said with renewed enthusiasm. “Maybe it’s part of a conduit like the school cave we live in used to be. This could get interesting.”

  Token looked out over the treetops at the setting sun. “After we finally learn what we’re supposed to discover, it usually is a fascinating thinking experience. It wakes up our ability to think for now and for the future, but it’s one of the hardest things I’ve had to do since I arrived here. It’s easy to learn facts when a human communicates them. It’s quite another thing to try to comprehend what the world is trying to tell you about the laws of nature. We had a little of this at the Kapotonok School of the South near where we live. I can remember having to observe ants.”

  “Ants?”

  “Yeah. I had to watch army ants and Pipto had to watch leaf cutters. We had to go back to explain to the Masters what we learned. If we didn’t learn enough, we’d have to return to the observation. Army ants will not attack unless there’s movement. I learned that and didn’t have to return to the site to learn more. While I was observing, I was afraid to sleep for fear that I’d move in my sleep. They fight fiercely and devour their prey. They eat meat! We got to hear the explanations of the other students, so I learned from Pipto that the leaf cutters carry leaves that weigh more than they do, and they store them underground where they turn into a food they can eat.”

  “I don’t think we have those ants here,” Hoft said thoughtfully. “I’m glad we don’t have army ants!”

  “I’ve never seen them except at the base of the huge mountain. Our school was on top of that mountain.”

  “We had some lessons like that where we had to go out into nature and do certain things. I’ve had to go out and spend three nights on Bald Rock, a huge rock where nothing grows. You can see far away out to sea from there. We were not allowed to eat, but we were given a small water bag. Some of the people who were sent on that trip came back describing visions, but I didn’t have any. I just hungered and thirsted. Couldn’t get my mind off being alone at night and with no protection.”

  “That must have been a frightening experience.”

  “Actually, I did learn that it wasn’t as frightening as I thought it was, while I was going through it. I’ve been frightened by worse things.” Hoft leaned back against a large rock and looked at the sky beginning to darken.

  Token put his hands on the sides of his head in frustration. “Water! I’m still wondering. We’ll be examined in a few days. I’m sure they’ll ask one of us what we’ve reasoned about the water. It has to be a law of nature—but what law? I still come up with no understanding,” Token said feeling frustration that he might not have an answer by the examination.

  “There’s the whistle calling us to the evening meal. L
et’s go. I’m starved!” Hoft said.

  Token carefully wrapped his spear points, laid them on a ledge, and joined Hoft for the walk to the area of the cave where they ate. This night it smelled wonderful. The school had some excellent cooks, volunteers from the village lower down the mountainside.

  That night Token lay on his sleeping skins looking towards the small amount of light coming from a hole in the roof of the cave. Little bits of dust or vegetation floated in the air, visible in the shaft of light. He could hear his heart beating. He listened to the steady rhythm. All the beats were the same, and it was like walking when each step was measured as the one before it. He wondered how he had managed to live for so long without ever understanding the rhythm of the body. He felt he had learned something huge from his friends. He felt he could apply that knowledge to the drum well enough to pass that part of the examination. He wondered whether all human hearts beat the same way. He fell asleep thinking of water.

  A few days later Token awakened with a sense of dread. It was the day of the examination. He had studied and knew he could not study more and do any better. He knew what he knew to that point. It bothered him greatly that he still failed to grasp the significance of the water tours.

  He got up and went outside. The mountaintop across from the school displayed clouds of mist rising from the land. It was a beautiful sight to see the white and green. Then, the thought struck him that he was looking at water. Sun made water rise off the land in the form of mist. Clearly, water moved a lot! He thought on the movement of water. Water tried to find the lowest place. It would race to find the lowest place. He felt he had found a part of the reason for the tours, but not the whole reason. It was better than nothing. Water ran to the lowest place. That, he thought, was a law of nature, like some of the other laws of nature they’d begun to explore. He’d grasped a law of nature! In the day, the mist rose to the sky, only to fall back down as rain. That stopped him. What made the mist rise? Mist rising was an effect. What was the cause? He knew the sun drew it. What, then, was the cause of the water running down to the lowest level? Suddenly it occurred to him that the sun drew water to it, and the earth somehow drew water as close to its inner part as possible. Somehow, the earth could hold the water to itself, so it didn’t fly off to the sun. Maybe the sun was too far away to draw the water all the way to it. He was elated. He felt he had gained an insight. Water flowing downhill wasn’t the law of nature. The law was that the earth drew water to it. The thought thrilled him. He wanted to shout out what he’d understood, but he knew to keep his own counsel on examination day. He whispered “Thank you,” to that being his mother called Wisdom and his people called the Creator of All. In his mind, he had been given the gift of understanding, so he did not credit himself with fully identifying the answer he sought. His joy lay in the understanding, not arriving at it.

  Token joined the others at the morning meal. All ate in silence, the weight of the day hanging heavy in the air as storm clouds on mountains. As soon as they finished eating, they washed out their bowls and put them in the proper place. When all were finished, the students and the Masters walked solemnly to the examination area.

  The Masters all sat in a straight line at the highest point in the room. The fourth year students sat in the row closest to the Masters, the third year students behind them, the second year students in the row behind the third, and the first year students at the farthest distance from the Masters. Token could hear his heart. He knew the procedure. First, the Masters would examine by year in school, starting with the fourth year students. Later they’d randomize their student selection. He felt safe for the moment.

  Master Lipin called first one and then another of the fourth year students to the drum. They were each given a different message to communicate. The messages were complex and tried even the knowledge of the older students. Each passed.

  Then, Master Lipin called the third year students. When he called Pipto, Token felt his own heart was no longer beating a nicely paced rhythm. He was next. Pipto passed. Then, Token heard his own name. He rose on shaky knees and went to the drum. He was so nervous that he had to ask Master Lipin to repeat the message he was to communicate. He heard the message and reminded himself to drum to the beat of his normally beating heart, not the one that was racing wildly. He took a deep breath and holding the drumsticks, he tapped out the message.

  “Well done,” Master Lipin said, though Token struggled to hear it over the beating of his own heart. He returned to his seat with enormous relief that his toughest challenge was over.

  There was quite a variety of questions directed at the students. It took the largest part of the daylight hours. Everyone paid attention, because if they advanced, they might get the same question someday. Master Gu told a second year student to tell how long the Alitukit had studied the heavens at night. He answered correctly that they had studied the skies for over 100,000 full cycles of the seasons, not all in this place. Master Theu told two other second year students to see who could immobilize the other first. Some were surprised when the wiry smaller youth successfully pinned the larger one to the ground and held him there. Master Bognuru told a first year student to push his straight body up from the ground forty times using his arms without stopping to rest. The young student succeeded. Master Alikuat told Pipto to divide 10714 by 30. Pipto answered correctly, rounding down. Master Theu told a fourth year student to fashion a spear point from something in the examination area, using two rocks provided by the Master. The young man spotted a rock embedded in the cave wall. It would flake well, and he succeeded in performing the task. He had no protective leather, and he cut himself, but he was successful. Master Gu told a second year student to knock a rock off a piece of driftwood using his slingshot in two tries. He did it on the first try. Students had to remain attentive because there was no way at this point in the examination to know when a Master would call his name.

  The day went on with six of the seven fourth year students dismissed for lack of ability to divide by zero. Masters asked each fourth year student whether they could divide by zero. Only one replied affirmatively. That one person, who affirmed that he did, was taken from the room by Master Alikuat, who examined him where the other students could not hear the answer. When they returned, Master Alikuat announced in his deep voice that they had a fifth year student. He also announced that this was the first time in thirty-three years that they’d had a fifth year student. All the students noticed that the only one who made it to fifth year was an Alitukit.

  The Masters began to examine the third year students. When Token’s name was called first, he rose, somewhat startled, and walked to the place where they had to stand before the Masters to reply to their questions. His knees were not as steady as he’d like, but he was doing well enough, he thought.

  Master Alikuat stood to face him. Of all the Masters, he was the most threatening.

  “Token, you were given a tour of falling water and the water hole. Why did we choose to provide you with those tours?” Master Alikuat returned to his seat.

  Token was not surprised that he’d gotten the question. Only one person would get it and he’d had what he thought was an understanding that morning. He tried to shake off the nervousness and apply what he’d learned. “I struggled to understand the meaning of the tours. At first I wondered why the sea was omitted. Then I realized it must have something to do with more than salt in water. My first assumption, then, was that it must have to do with a law of nature. I have been pursuing this question and running into trees, until this morning I had a breakthrough in understanding. I saw the mist rise from the hill across from our largest entryway. It occurred to me that water moves.”

  There was slight laughter behind him.

  “Silence!” Master Alikuat snapped. “Continue,” he nodded to Token.

  “Then, I realized that the sun draws the mist upwards. I reasoned that water lost to the sky ultimately rains back down. All water seems to race to the lowest spot it can find
, as if the earth itself draws it to its core. The earth is stronger in its drawing power than the sun, because the mist that rises does return to the earth. It doesn’t leave earth for the sun. So, I think I understand a law of nature. The sun and the earth both draw water, but the earth is the stronger, probably because it is closer, and water will run to the greatest depth it can find on the surface of the earth. Waters do not lose their places on the earth because the drawing of the earth holds water down. The law of nature is that the earth has holding power so water does not leave for the sun.”

  Master Alikuat looked at Token. He smiled—something most students had never seen him do. He asked, “Do you think that the drawing of the earth holds you down, so you don’t rise up as mist?”

  Token wasn’t prepared so he reasoned as quickly as he could. He took a deep breath and said, “Yes, Sir.”

  Master Alikuat looked almost through Token. He asked, “Is there any way you can identify to overcome this law of nature?”

  This time Token took longer to reply but his nervousness was gone. “Sir, the birds, bugs, and some fish have a way of overcoming this drawing by flying, but they seem limited in how high and how long they can fly. Volcanoes can spew ash high into the sky, but it also returns to earth. I would have to reply that there is limited ability to overcome this law of nature with our present understanding.” Token had forgotten his fear and had relaxed, thoroughly fascinated in the pursuit of the analysis.

  The room was totally silent. Token stood before the Masters, his mind soaring into areas he’d never considered.

  “Outstanding, Token. You may return to your seat.”

  Token snapped back to the scene and returned to his seat.

  At the end of the examination, each of the six four year students who failed to advance had time to sing their farewell song. Most of the songs were songs of gratitude and a bit sad. One of the students added a little humor which caused the Masters to smile and the students to laugh, as he wove a rhyming experience into the lines. He sang seriously until the middle of his song where he inserted, “alertness and acuity taught by Master Alikuat helped me identify a predatory long-toothed cat—before it could spring to bite me.” Finally, a day later the Alitukit Masters sent two Kapotonoks from the second and first year groups back home. Otherwise, all remaining students advanced.