[Hunting Brothers] [History] [Pre-History] [Biogeography]

Two brown-haired guys, clothed in animal hides, and eating jerky, kept a watchful eye on a nearby rabbit den.

The smaller one whispered, “Shall we die in hills or mountains?”

“We are not running away Limmu.” He whispered back.

“The caves are getting crowded, Min. Our parents want the family name to pass on, and thanks to our perfect older brother Aus-dis, he will be given the hunting spear. We either die in the cave hills or live up the lone hill. ” He whispered, tapping his brother.

Min saw the rabbit come out of the burrow. Its tan fur blended in with the grasses and ground. He grabbed a nearby throwing dart, a stick with a weighted stone tip. He whispered, “Our brother will be hard to please, but he is the best hunter.”

Several more rabbits emerged from the burrows and started munching on grass.

Limmu got another weighted dart and said, “You’re pretty good too. And you would let us sleep at night. He wants to hunt every animal in the area.” Limmu threw his dart and missed the target. The older Min saw his brother’s dart fly, so he threw his. It sunk into the rabbit’s rump, and the living rabbits dived back into the burrows. They emerged from the bushes and carried the creature away before Limmu began to butcher the rabbit with a stone knife.

While removing flesh from the hide, Limmu said, “I swear, if we did manage to hunt everything, he would make us scrape the skin off our neighbors.”

“Limmu, I doubt that we could hunt enough for that to happen,” Min said, looking at the butchering. “Especially if you keep missing the darts.”

“Min, I want to live a different way. Do you remember the walking ones? They were talking about some people that agreed to live together. They were taking udus and putting them in fences. Out in the open, not in separate caves.”

Ming said, “Those fuzzy things are stupid enough. They will find their way out of any cave, only to get eaten by every beast.”

“They were taking the poop of those udus and tearing up the land. They think that the waste of the beasts makes plants grow faster. They think they can grow enough plants that we don’t have to hunt all the time. It might be another way of life!”

“I don’t think you need to scavenge the plants like a desperate fool. You miss on occasion, but your darts do hit when it matters most.”

“Look, we should tell our parents that if our brother becomes the leader, we want to see what we can do. If we walk the day to the lonely mountain, then another up it to the place, we might have a better life. Worst to worst, it’s four days there and back. Why not take a chance?”

“What is a better life than being with our family?” Min asked.

“Our brother, I fear, is becoming a stranger to us while having our father’s approval. We were sent to hunt rabbits, not wild horned udus or flying feathered musen. We were given old darts, not throwing sticks. We both have heard of what happens next. Our neighbors tell the stories of betrayal once a cave gets too crowded.”

Min snickered. “Brother, that happens in raider and war families. We are a peaceful people. It won’t matter if we stay or go. We will be wanted for our spears and darts,” he patted his shoulder, “Finish up the butcher, and we will go home. I will talk to our parents. Better a sad time than a lifetime of regret.”

“Thank you, brother,” Limmu said. They finished up and walked a bit to get back to the cave. With a rabbit in hand, they entered the cave. The brown-haired father was cutting into a four-legged udus with curly horns and a thick, fluffy hide. There were cuts in its nose and ears. The mother, with her long brown hair, was plucking feathers off some musen. An older blonde brother, with several pouches and a sling holding his many spears, was sitting in the cave with a smile. He held a big spear with red feathers with pride.

Limmu said, “We have an argradenna. Is there room in the smoker?”

The father said, “There is no room with all the game Aus-dis brought. He got two beasts and dragged them back. Took three days, but made it work.”

“In less than six seasons, I caught over 60 beasts,” Aus-dis said. “That makes me the next in line to be the family leader.”

“We are all happy about that.” The mother said. “But I love all of my boys.”

Min said, “Mother, remember how you told a story about your time with Father? He had to travel for many days, walking up the river.

She stopped plucking and said, “Oh, your father was quite a wonder. He was gone for ten days, and no one knew where he went. He’s normally so responsible it worries everyone. He returned, soaked and ragged, and brought me a strange shell. He claimed that I was like that shell, unique to everything else. After that, we became a family.”

The father chuckled to himself. “I wanted to live with you in the best place. I thought I might find a paradise if I could walk up the river bank long enough. I really needed that trip even if it was a failure.”

Limmu said, “Well, I want to take a trip. There is a strange place two days from here, and I want to go. Maybe even live there.”

Aus-dis’s eyes flashed with joy, and a grin escaped his lips.

Limmu continued, “I want to see what it’s like. With Aus-dis being the family head, I want to see if I could learn something new.”

Min said, “I would go with him. We would forage but would need some water and supplies. Its a two-day trip there and back.”

Aus-dis said, “I say you can go. It’s good for the family to explore and figure out what they want to do with their lives.” He turns to his father. “Father, let them have supplies for six days.”

The father kept cutting into the carcass, nodding his approval. They ate and enjoyed themselves, and the following day Min and Lummu were packed for the journey and heading off.

As the two walked into the distance, Aus-dis said, “Father, I would like to go out and hunt some more.”

“We have enough with the kills you brought home.”

With a faint smile, he said, “Father, I am concerned about raiders. They are opposite of where the brothers are traveling, but they could disturb the natural hunting. Perhaps even scare up some more beasts. The family in the south cave could use another carcass.”

“Go, my son.” The father said.

His smile vanished, and he whispered to himself, “Your son, huh?”

After walking the entire day, the brother pair got to the base of the lonely mountain. They could see people building walls in the distance, and someone was tending to a fenced area with many Udus. They baw-ed and brayed as night was beginning to fall. Their ears and nose had piercings, leather tags, and cords.

“Stop!” the fence guy shouted. “Who are you?”

The younger brother said, “I am Limmu, and this is my brother Min. We were curious about this place.”

“Thieves more like!” The guy grabbed his stick. “For a while now, people have been raiding our Udus. They rip out the tags, the nose rings, and they have spears and darts like you.”

“We are not thieves,” Min said.

Limmu added, “We just came here today. We are of the caves as the sun rises. We wanted to learn more about you.”

“Thieves will study their prey before making a hunt too.” He lowered his stick in a fighting pose. He started running after him.

Limmu said, “We can-” He was cut off as Min grabbed him and started running away.

“If he’s trying to kill us, we must run!” They both ran for a bit but could not run well because the brothers were traveling all day. He caught up to them and threw his stick. He managed to trip the younger brother. Min noticed Limmu trip and saw the udus man pull out his knife. Min then dashed between them and used his dagger to defend. As the two fought, Limmu scrambled away. During all this, a spear came flying overhead and stuck into an Udus. It brayed and kicked so hard in pain that it broke the fence, and all the udus ran away.

“No! We need the wool!” He ran back. Limmu was running after him.

Min shouted, “Why go back?!”

“If we catch the real problem, they will owe us one!” Limmu shouted behind him. They got to the speared sheep to see someone trying to drag the carcass. The udus man tried to get him, but the thief threw a short spear, and it sunk into his leg. Min threw a dart, which missed the person as he quickly got further away. The thief, in turn, threw a short spear, and it almost struck Min in the chest, but Min blocked the short spear with his arm. Limmu threw his dart, which struck deep into the thief’s inner leg, hitting a critical spot. The person dropped to the ground crying out in pain. The two brothers and Udus man came up to the thief.

Limmu asked, “Aus-dis, what’s this?”

“I guess you can be a hunter when it counts, Limmu.”

He asked again, “What’s going on, brother?”

Aus-dis coughed and said, “Look, Im adopted. I found out a year ago, and I wanted my place to be permanent. I know the stories of how cave crowding works. I had to kick at least one out to make it work.”

“And fenced-in Udus are easier to hunt than wild ones,” Min said. “That’s why some of the animals had ripped noses and ears.”

Aus-dis nodded. “When Father walked up the river, I was the one. I was holding the shell. You two would not exist if it were not for me. I … lost my real parents before I could remember them. I am not losing them. Im not losing-” he passed out from blood loss.

The oldest brother knelt down and closed his eyes. “No one survives that kind of wound.”

The Udus man said, “Look, it’s clear your not thieves now. You can come to our place and figure out what’s next. I will vouch for you.”

Limmu said, “I would like that.” The three limped back, walking past some argrandenna. Their long tan ears and fluffy tails observed the figures walking up to the growing walls.

End

I have cultivated some greatness into this work. So, in Sumerian, Limmu means four, and Min means two. It works as they are the second and fourth born in the family. Aus and dis, can both mean one. It should be obvious, but Udus are sheep and or rams in the Sumerian language. Musen is a general word for bird. Argradenna is a rough translation of a Halloran word for hare, as Ancient Sumerians do not have that, according to my research. I understand that languages change, but much evidence shows that speaking came far before writing. The writing was made to match linguistics, meaning borrowing the written words works in this scenario.

I have a subscribestar at J. J. Bartel, and feel free to help me with your support. Until next time let us cultivate some greatness.