physical fear
of Pain; the dread of hurting his tender little nose as the tiny grey
cub explored the dark recesses of the lair; the horror of his mother's
paw that smote him down whenever he approached the mouth of the cave;
and, later on, the fear of the steep bank, learned by a terrible fall;
the fear of the yielding water, learned by attempting to walk upon it;
and the fear of the ptarmigan's beak and the weasel's teeth, learned by
robbing their respective nests.

And following on the physical fear of _Pain_ came the reverential fear
of _Power_. 'His mother represented Power,' Jack London says, 'and as
he grew older he felt this power in the sharper admonition of her paw,
while the reproving nudge of her nose gave place to the slash of her
fangs. For this he respected his mother.' And afterwards, when he
came upon the Red Indians, and saw men for the first time, a still
greater fear possessed him. Here were creatures who made the very
sticks and stones obey them! They seemed to him as gods, and he felt
that he must worship and serve them. And, later still, when he saw
white men living, not in wigwams, but in great palaces of stone, he
trembled as he had never trembled before. These were superior gods;
and, as everybody knows, White Fang passed from fearing them to knowing
them, and from knowing them to loving them. And at last he became
their fond, devoted slave. It is true that fear was to White Fang only
_the beginning_ of wisdom; but that is precisely what Solomon says.
Afterwards the brave old wolf learned fearlessness; but the early
lessons taught by fear were still of priceless value, for to courage
they added caution; and courage wedded to caution is irresistible.

We are living in times that are wonderfully meek and mild; and Fear,
the stern old schoolmaster, is looked upon with suspicion. It is
curious how we reverse the fashions of our ancestors. We flaunt in
shameless abandon what they veiled in blushing modesty; but we make up
for it by hiding what they had no hesitation in displaying. Our teeth,
for example. It is considered the depth of impropriety to show your
teeth nowadays, except in the sense in which actresses show them on
post cards. But our forefathers were not afraid of showing their
teeth, and they made themselves feared and honoured and loved in
consequence. Yes, feared and honoured and loved; for I gravely doubt
if any man ever yet taught others to honour and love him who had