The clan of the cave bear_ a novel - Jean M. Auel [184]
“Well, I’d take her if I still had a hearth of my own,” Zoug gestured. “She’s ugly, but she’s hardworking and respectful. She knows how to take care of a man. That’s more important than good looks in the long run.”
“Not me,” Crug shook his head. “I don’t want the Woman Who Hunts at my hearth. It’s all right for Mog-ur, he can’t hunt anyway and he doesn’t care. But imagine coming back from a hunt empty-handed and eating the meat provided by my mate. Besides, my hearth is full enough with Ika and Borg and the baby, Igra. I’m just glad Dorv can still contribute. And Ika’s still young enough to have more—who can tell?”
“I’ve thought about it,” Droog said, “but my hearth is just too full. Aga and Aba, Vorn and Ona and Groob. What would I do with another woman and child? What about you, Grod?”
“No. Not unless Brun commands it,” Grod replied tersely. The second-in-command had never quite gotten over a certain uneasiness around the woman who was not born to the Clan. She just made him uncomfortable.
“What about Brun, himself?” Crug queried. “He’s the one who accepted her into the clan in the first place.”
“Sometimes it’s wise to consider the first woman before a man takes a second,” Goov commented. “You know how Ebra feels about the medicine woman’s status. Iza’s been training Ayla. If she becomes a medicine woman of Iza’s line, do you think Ebra would like to share a hearth with a younger woman, a second mate, with more status than she? I would take Ayla. When I’m mog-ur, I won’t be hunting as much; I wouldn’t care if she brought a rabbit or a hamster to the hearth. They’re just small animals anyway. I don’t even think Ovra would mind a second woman with more status, they get along well. But Ovra wants a baby of her own. It would be difficult for her to share a hearth with a woman and a new baby. Especially when no one ever expected Ayla to have one. I think it was the spirit of Broud’s totem who started it; it’s too bad he feels the way he does, he’s the one who should take her.”
“I’m not so sure it was Broud’s,” Droog said. “What about you, Mog-ur? You could take her for a mate.”
The old magician had been quietly watching the men’s discussion as he often did. “I’ve considered it. I don’t think it was Ursus or the Roe Deer that started Ayla’s baby. I’m not sure if it was Broud’s totem either. Her totem has always been an enigma; who knows what happened. But she needs a mate. It’s not only that the baby may be unlucky, some man needs to be responsible for it, to provide for it. I’m too old, and if it should be a boy, I couldn’t train him to hunt. And she can’t do it, she only hunts with a sling. I couldn’t mate her anyway. It would be like Grod mating Ovra, especially with Uka still his first mate. To me, she’s like the daughter of one’s mate, a child of one’s hearth, not a woman to be mated.”
“It’s been done,” Dorv said. “The only woman a man cannot mate is his sibling.”
“It’s not prohibited, but it’s not looked upon with favor, either. And most men don’t want to. Besides, I’ve never had a mate; I’m too old to start now. Iza takes care of me, that’s good enough. I’m comfortable with her. Men are expected to relieve their needs with their mates once in a while. I haven’t had those needs for a long time; I learned to control them long ago. I wouldn’t be much of a mate for a young woman. But it may be she won’t need one. Iza says she may have a difficult pregnancy, she’s already having problems, she may not keep it full term. I know Ayla wants the baby, but it would be better for everyone if she lost it.”
As reported to the men, Ayla’s pregnancy was not going well. The medicine woman feared there was something wrong with the baby. Many miscarriages were of malformed fetuses, and Iza thought it was better to lose them than to give live birth and have to dispose of a deformed baby. Ayla’s morning sickness