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Next came the housing problem.
接下來是解決住房的問題。
This was simple. Many animals were in the habit of sleeping in dark caves.
這很簡單。許多動物都有睡黑乎乎的山洞的習性。
Man now followed their example, drove the animals out of their warm homes and claimed them for his own.
現在，人類也學動物的樣子。他們把動物們趕出這些溫暖的巢穴，自己住了進去。
Even so, the climate was too severe for most people and the old and the young died at a terrible rate.
即便有毛皮大衣穿、有山洞住，天氣對大部分人來說也是太寒冷了。老年人和小孩成批地死去。
Then a genius bethought himself of the use of fire.
這時，人類中的一個天才想出了用火御寒的主意，
Once, while out hunting, he had been caught in a forest-fire. He remembered that he had been almost roasted to death by the flames.
他記得有一次在森林里差點被火烤死。
Thus far fire had been an enemy. Now it became a friend.
那時，火是一個兇險的敵人。可在眼下的冰天雪地里，火很有希望變成一個助人為樂的朋友。
A dead tree was dragged into the cave and lighted by means of smouldering branches from a burning wood.
這位天才把枯樹干拖進山洞，從一棵著火的樹上取下一根燃燒的枝條，點著了洞里的枯樹干。
This turned the cave into a cozy little room.
熊熊的火光一下子使得黑暗寒冷的洞穴變成了一個溫暖宜人的小房間。
And then one evening a dead chicken fell into the fire.
一天傍晚，一只死雞不小心掉進了火堆。
It was not rescued until it had been well roasted.
一開始，沒人在意這事兒，直到烤熟的陣陣香味飄進人們的鼻孔。
Man discovered that meat tasted better when cooked
啃一口嘗嘗，人們發現，烤熟的肉食味道比生吃好上許多。
and he then and there discarded one of the old habits which he had shared with the other animals and began to prepare his food.
于是，人類終于拋棄了長期以來與動物一樣生吃食物的習慣，開始做起熟食來了。
In this way thousands of years passed.
慢慢地，幾千年的冰川紀過去了。
Only the people with the cleverest brains survived.
只有那些腦子最聰明、最肯動手的家伙們幸存了下來。
They had to struggle day and night against cold and hunger.
他們必須日夜不停地與寒冷、饑餓搏斗，
They were forced to invent tools.
他們被迫發明出種種工具。
They learned how to sharpen stones into axes and how to make hammers.
他們學會了怎樣磨制鋒利的石斧，制造石錘；
They were obliged to put up large stores of food for the endless days of the winter and they found that clay could be made into bowls and jars and hardened in the rays of the sun.
為度過漫長的寒冬，他們必須儲存大量的食物；他們發現能用黏土制成碗和罐子，放在陽光下曬硬后使用。
And so the glacial period, which had threatened to destroy the human race, became its greatest teacher because it forced man to use his brain.
就這樣，時時威脅著要毀滅整個人類的冰川紀，到頭來卻變成了人類最偉大的導師。因為它迫使人類運用自己的腦子去思考。
