In 1958, the series entitled “The Once and Future King” was published; the first story was “The Sword in the Stone” which chronicled the history of Arthur and his training under Merlyn. “The” Book of Merlyn”, the final chapter, was not published until 1977.
This book begins where the last ended; Arthur is in his tent on the eve of his final battle with his bastard son, Mordred ; Arthur is weary of war and contemplates defeat when Meryln appears and takes Arthur to the council of animals that aided in his training when he was a boy called Wart.Since animals do not war on one another, we read long dissertations about how superior animals are to human the human race. This is T.H. White at his cynical and ironic best. A favorite quotation from “Once and Future King” By Merlyn: "The best thing for being sad," replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."
This book begins where the last ended; Arthur is in his tent on the eve of his final battle with his bastard son, Mordred ; Arthur is weary of war and contemplates defeat when Meryln appears and takes Arthur to the council of animals that aided in his training when he was a boy called Wart.Since animals do not war on one another, we read long dissertations about how superior animals are to human the human race. This is T.H. White at his cynical and ironic best. A favorite quotation from “Once and Future King” By Merlyn: "The best thing for being sad," replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."
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