Arthurian legends depict the lives and customs of fifth century life. T.H. White's The Once and Future King portrays King Arthur in his boyhood as Wart. The education of Wart relies on the teachings of Merlyn and the six transformations that Wart goes through.

The ants teach Wart about war, while the geese teach Wart about peace and cooperation. Immediately after Wart enters the ant colony, he learns that things are very different as an ant. There is a single leader of the ants, the Queen, and she is the only thinking individually in the whole nest. She manipulates all the ants. Each ant has a specific task, which it completes repeatedly. When an ant from the neighboring nest wonders over on to their land, the Queen sees this as a threat to her nest and immediately wages war. The geese, on the other hand, are a very peaceful race that never kills. There is a leader to the group called The Admiral. He guides them on their flight south for the winter. He is only elected if all the geese in the migration group agreed he is capable of doing the job. During the flight the geese obey his commands, since he is the leader they elected to trust. When Wart meets a goose named Lyo-lyok she tel

The badger teaches Wart about appreciating what he has, and the Merlin shows Wart the hierarchy of military and respect of elders. When Wart visits the badger, a great philosopher, he receives many commentaries on values and morals. While Wart is visiting him, the badger explains a story he has written on the creation of the animal kingdom's hierarchy. In his story he explains how man answered God's riddle and is awarded control over the animal kingdom. Other animals listen and respect him because he is a wise scholar. The badger lives a life of solitude because the other animals do not think at his level and can not understand how he thinks. The badger tells Wart, "Well, I can only teach you two things - to dig, and to love your home" (188). In the mews, all of the birds have a military rank. Their leader, the old falcon, is the honorary colonel. The old falcon quizzes Wart, and makes him think on his feet. The entire time Wart is in the mews he is constantly thinking strategy and using his brain to give the birds the answers that they want to hear. When it comes down to the final challenge of standing next to Cully, Wart uses his quick reflexes and brains to get away as fast as he can as soo

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Approximate Word count = 813
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)