Anak

“ The female was rushing down at them, smiting-stones in hand.
"Fly, Invar!" cried Anak. "Run up the slope and throw down stones at her. I will hold her for a moment."
"Invar stays with his friend!" cried the boy stubbornly as he gripped his useless throwing-spear.
"Run up the slope!" stormed Anak. "It is our only chance. Remember how the male died!"
Slowly the idea penetrated Invar's brain. With a shout he dashed away. He circled the oncoming female and got above her. Anak hurled one of his crippled spears. It struck her full in the chest, but made only a flesh wound as the handle dropped away. ”

“ But of all things, the thing we most fear, is the children of Anak, they are over there and they are giants, every one of them. A race of left-handed giants, and as we looked at our men, they were as grass-hoppers, we are afraid they will devour us." And as they spake the children of Israel got scared, and said, "We are not able to go and possess it." ”

“ If we fail to make a kill, we will bound up the hill and escape to strike again."
Invar looked with admiration at his leader. The habit of connected thought and reasoning was new in the world in those days. Such boldness of conception as was shown by Anak's plan was a thing for marvel. As the ramifications of the plan seeped into Invar's brain, his face glowed with enthusiasm.
"Anak should be Father of the tribe of Ugar!" he cried.
"That may yet come to pass," replied Anak enigmatically. "If I kill Uglik, however, it will be to avenge Una, not to win the chieftainship. ”

“ He must marry some one, now that the Prince had gone to Johore, and his father had given up all hope of seeing him a hadji; and besides, the captain of the launch and the old punghulo, or chief, Anak’s father, were fast friends. The marriage meant little more to the man.
But to Anak,—once the Prince Mat had told her she was pretty, when she had come down to the wharf to beg a small crocodile to bury underneath her grandmother’s bungalow to keep off white ants, and her cheeks glowed yet under her brown skin at the remembrance. Noa had never told her she was beautiful! ”

“ His hairy arm seized and dragged her back.
"Una!" cried Invar and Anak in one voice.
Forgotten were strategy and tactics. Anak bounded up the slope, Invar at his heels. Into the mouth of the cave they charged. The huge male dropped the girl and faced them with a growl. Anak hurled a throwing-stone, but his aim was poor. It rebounded harmlessly from the great arched chest of the Neanderthaler. With a roar, the apeman charged.
The hunter sidestepped the rush and swung his smiting-stone. The blow was deflected by the upraised arm of the apeman and fell on his shoulder. ”

“ Thou art to pass over Jordan, this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven; a people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak? ”

“ Happily they no longer exist of the same dimensions as formerly; like the descendants of Anak, they have become 'fined down', as it were, in the course of ages, until their proportions no longer awaken personal fear, nor do their exploits engage the attention of historians. ”

“ Anak stepped to Una's side.
"Uglik spoke truth when he said that Una would be High Priestess of Degar Astok," he said. "This I now proclaim her. You, Esle, stripped of your office, shall do menial tasks for all who will until death claims you. If your homage wavers, death will not be long.
"Lo, I make a new law for the tribe. No longer shall all the women belong to the Father, but to those to whom the Father awards them. To each hunter, I now give one woman. He shall take her to his cave and hunt for her. She shall obey him and no other. ”

“ One hollow trunk has been broken off and lies on the ground, and a man on horseback can ride from one end of it to the other. There are two trees called Husband and Wife, and another he called the Family Group, consisting of father, mother, and rather a large progeny of twenty-five children, regular sons of Anak. ”

“ When you were born your father was disappointed, for you were a girl and he had hoped so for a warrior son, but he loved you as much as if you were a boy; for, as your mother said to him, your daughter will bear many sons. Your parents loved you and cherished you and did everything they could to make your life a happy and pleasant one. When your mother was heavy with child you were a great help to her around the wickiup. When your brother was born, there was much excitement in the village, for it was a boy and now your father had a warrior son and a beautiful daughter. ”

“ That is what my nephew is to-day; you must accustom yourself to look under the surface of things. My nephew is the government, the brigadier, the new alcalde, the new judge—for they all protect him, because of the unanimity of their ideas; because they are chips of the same block, birds of a feather. Understand it well; we must defend ourselves against them all, for they are all one, and one is all; we must attack them all together; and not by beating a man as he turns a corner, but as our forefathers attacked the Moors—the Moors, Remedios. ”

“ If they wish to stop our play, they say, 'Stop! you will give your uncle the headache.' If we handle anything we should not, they say, 'Hands off! that belongs to your uncle the canon.' If we ask for a peach, they tell us, 'No! it is from the garden of your uncle the canon.' If they give us a hug or a kiss, when we have done well, they say, 'Oh, your uncle the canon will be so pleased with you!' Was I not right? Is not our uncle the canon beyond all others? ”

“ The nephew resolved to marry, and for the feasts at his wedding he prayed the King, his uncle; that he would command that he should be attended and honoured at his wedding by the King's own son; and the King, for the love that he bore him and the pleasure that he had in honouring him, bade his son make ready with his following, and sent him with the ministers and captains of his court to attend and honour the wedding of his nephew. And he, making all ready, as soon as they were in his house, being at table, they were all slain by daggers thrust by men kept in readiness for that deed. ”

“ Now as I consider the person who is to be about my son, as the mirror in which he is to view himself from morning to night, by which he is to adjust his looks, his carriage, and perhaps the inmost sentiments of his heart;—I would have one, Yorick, if possible, polished at all points, fit for my child to look into.——This is very good sense, quoth my uncle Toby to himself. ”

“ How the young prince with luxurious hair hides his trembling hand on his father's breast; how the father, who very strangely has the features of the master himself, draws to his breast the newly found son, and breathes to Jehovah a prayer for blessing. It is treated with such overpowering mastery as dwells only in the greatest scenes of fatherly passion in all literature and art. The second treatment of the same theme, "The Prodigal Son," is transplanted from the princely to the common. The returning son is not a prince; the father is not a be-turbaned sultan ”

“ Aunt B. Let this, then, be a lesson 79 to you, my boy. The little birds are taught obedience to their parents by God; and they obey. So God has taught children obedience, for he has said in the solemn commandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother;” and the apostle adds, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” The hen, the parent of the chickens, is their guardian; she knows more than they do; she is stronger, and sees farther, and is wiser than they. It is best for the chickens, therefore, that they should obey her. ”

“ Aunt is not young, but she looks very noble now—looks the very incarnation of the music that fills the room. In it I can hear the battle-cry of heroes, the wild slogan of clan after clan rushing to the fight, the clang of claymore on shield, the shout of victory, the wail for the dead. ”

“ Oh, my nephew! It is known that your uncle is making preparations. He is gathering logs and burning them on the fire, and when night comes he will have a great fire, as is well known. So, be brave, careful, and watchful. You must not go to sleep. An evil dream will cause him to arise suddenly, as is well known. Then you must quickly take down his war club and strike a blow with it on your uncle’s head, at the same time saying: ‘What is causing you to see marvels?’ And if he does not answer at once, ‘It has ceased,’ you must again strike a blow on his head with the war club. ”

“ I, a female, call those males my nephews who are the sons of my brothers, and the daughters of my brothers are my nieces; but my sister's children are my children as their father is my potential or actual husband. I, a male, call my sister's son my nephew, and her daughter is my niece. I, a male or female, call all males and females my grandchildren who are the children of my sons, daughters, nephews, or nieces. I, a male or female, call all men my uncles whom my mothers call their brothers. ”

“ And, to say truth, in nature it is much a like matter; insomuch that we see a nephew sometimes resembleth an uncle, or a kinsman, more than his own parent; as the blood happens. Let parents choose betimes, the vocations and courses they mean their children should take; for then they are most flexible; and let them not too much apply themselves to the disposition of their children, as thinking they will take best to that, which they have most mind to. ”

“ Who does not know the Great Expectations set, wherein the expectant nephew, to his joy, is telegraphed for by his dying uncle; and how the latter miraculously gets stronger and plumper day by day, just as the erstwhile buoyant and vigorous nephew’s growing disappointment drags him visibly nearer and nearer to an untimely grave. ”

“ We are all handsome in the family; even I myself, I have had my successes, the memories of which still charm me. It is my intention, my nephew, to make of you my heir. I am not very well content with my other nephew. ”

“ All I can say at the present moment is this: that you are very young, and you are motherless, and—you are about, little Annie, to be fatherless. You are on the very eve of losing the noblest and best father that girl ever possessed. Your uncle has stood in the place of a father to you. ”

“ The ancient superstition concerning the foster son of the white doe was counterbalanced by a new and later prejudice, and the father took the opportunity of presenting to the clan his long hidden son, whose youthful, but handsome and animated, countenance, haughty carriage, and active limbs excited the admiration of the clansmen, who joyfully received him as the heir and descendant of their chief, notwithstanding the ominous presage attending his birth and nurture. ”

“ Each son of the dead father founded his own family, but still owed allegiance to the earthly representative of their deified father—the eldest son—on whom a portion of the father's godhead had descended. Generations came and went; the tribe had increased from tens to hundreds, but still the eldest son of the eldest, who carried in his veins the blood of the common ancestor in its purest form, was venerated as the head of the tribe. ”

“ The nephew murmured with pale, trembling lips that a man must not be judged too severely for the follies of his youth, that he had been brought up to a wandering life, an unsettled education, but that he was willing to repair any harm that he had done. His uncle caught up the words, almost before he had completed them, with another question that came faster than the first. ”

“ If thou have a mind to traffic and travel to thy native land, none shall hinder thee, and thy property will be at thy sole disposal; so do as thou wilt.” “By Allah, O my uncle,” replied I, “thou art become to me even as my father, and I am a stranger and have undergone many hardships: while for stress of that which I have suffered naught of judgment or knowledge is left to me. It is for thee, therefore, to decide what I shall do.” Hereupon he sent his servants for the Kazi and the witnesses and married me to his daughter making for us a noble marriage-feast [93] and high festival. ”

“ When these had been examined by the company, Ptolemy resumed his tale:—
'Uncle Eb, as I very soon learned to call him, was ever the victim of his own generous heart. Continually adopting people, both old and young, he was doomed to be taken advantage of by those to whom he was most kind. How well can I remember, amongst many another ungrateful adopted son, uncle, aunt or cousin, young Sigurd, the birthday-monger, who entered the family about the same time as myself. ”

“ This was the figure of her nephew, standing in the doorway of the adjoining house. This entrance into the alley is closed up now, but in those days it was a constant source of communication between the two houses, and, being directly opposite the left-hand library window, would naturally fall under her eye as she looked up from her brother’s bedside. Her nephew! the one person of whom she was dreaming, for whom she was planning, older by many years than when she saw him last, but recognizable at once, as the best, the handsomest—but I will spare you her ravings. ”

“ Thou knowest, Selim, my child, how I have always loved thee and treated thee, for thou art my hope and joy, and I may not hide it from thee. Should accident happen to me it will be well for me to warn thee now that thou hast an uncle from whom may Allah guard thee. He is a deep, designing man, though he is my brother. Should I die, thy uncle will endeavour to do thee harm, and it is against him I wish to guard thee. ”