[00:00.41] Chapter 5.
[00:02.14] A New Life.
[00:07.19] The cub came upon them suddenly.
[00:10.79] Taking a different path down to the stream, he smelled a strange scent.
[00:17.63] In front of him were five live creatures.
[00:22.77] It was his first sight of men.
[00:30.15] But the live things did not show their teeth and growl.
[00:36.12] They just sat there, silent and mysterious.
[00:41.93] The cub's instincts told him to turn and run, but a new feeling made him stay.
[00:49.91] He was spellbound by a sense of mastery and power.
[00:55.97] A man got up and walked towards him.
[01:01.30] Towering over him, the man bent down.
[01:09.61] The cub's hair bristled.
[01:12.93] His lips went into a snarl, showing his little fangs.
[01:18.42] The man laughed.
[01:20.23] Look!
[01:22.27] he called to his friends, White Fangs.
[01:29.26] And he stretched out his hand.
[01:35.08] The cub lay still until the hand touched him.
[01:40.25] Then he lashed out and sank his teeth into the man's fingers.
[01:46.95] At once he received a sharp smack on his head.
[01:52.80] At that, all the fight went out of him.
[01:58.34] He sat down and wailed his terror and his hurt.
[02:04.83] The men laughed.
[02:08.91] But then he heard his mother coming.
[02:13.97] She wolf bounded up, snarling and showing her razor like fangs.
[02:23.43] The cub gave a joyful little cry and scuttled to meet her.
[02:29.66] The man animals backed off hastily.
[02:34.93] Then a cry went up from one of the men.
[02:38.78] Keeche.
[02:40.81] The cub felt his mother quiver at the sound.
[02:46.70] Keeche!
[02:48.68] said the man again sharply.
[02:54.62] At once, his mother, the she wolf, the fearless one, crouched down on her belly.
[03:05.10] She wagged her tail, making peace signs.
[03:11.18] The cub could not understand it.
[03:15.93] These strange creatures must be all powerful for his mother to behave like this.
[03:24.00] The men crowded round she wolf.
[03:29.59] They stroked and patted her, and she didn't resist.
[03:36.27] The cub crouched by his mother and did his best to copy her.
[03:43.14] It is Keche, said one of the men called Grey Beaver.
[03:49.78] Her father was a wolf, but her mother was a dog.
[03:55.89] It's a year since she ran away, said another man called Three Eagles.
[04:04.45] She has lived with wolves.
[04:08.73] See, this cub is the result of it.
[04:13.75] It is plain that his mother is Keeche, said Grey Beaver,
[04:20.06] but his father was a wolf.
[04:26.34] Therefore, he has both wolf and dog in him too.
[04:33.34] Keeche was my brother's dog, and my brother is dead.
[04:40.62] So I claim this cub as mine.
[04:46.21] He looked at the cub and smiled.
[04:51.17] His fangs are very white.
[04:55.65] I name him white fang.
[05:00.69] Grey Beaver fetched a leather strap.
[05:06.87] He tied one end around Keeche's neck and the other around a tree.
[05:13.84] White Fang followed and lay down beside his mother.
[05:19.71] Grey Beaver reached down and rolled him on his back.
[05:26.41] White Fang felt helpless lying in such a silly way and his whole wolf nature rebelled against it.
[05:35.81] He growled softly, but the man animal did not smack him.
[05:44.70] He just laughed.
[05:49.44] Then all of a sudden, the hand rubbed his tummy playfully, and white fang felt a new feeling.
[05:59.69] It was pleasure.
[06:03.97] And when the man rubbed behind his ears, the cub felt all his fear melt away.
[06:17.15] After a while, there were more noises.
[06:21.89] The rest of the tribe was returning.
[06:27.32] With them came some new animals.
[06:35.19] White Fang had never seen dogs before, but knew that they were like his own kind, but not quite.
[06:46.32] The dogs smelled Keeche and her cub and attacked, biting and snapping at them.
[06:56.78] Keeche then fought for white fang, and the cub could hear the shouts of the man animals and the yelps of the dogs as they were beaten away.
[07:12.02] The noise died down.
[07:17.01] He saw again the power of men and felt that they had been fair.
[07:24.92] The dogs had deserved to be beaten.
[07:31.75] A small man animal untied Keeche and led her away towards the village.
[07:40.13] White Fang followed, feeling worried and uncomfortable at this new adventure.
[07:49.24] He was awestruck at the village and its towering teepees.
[07:55.92] He was just gathering up the courage to explore when a puppy, larger and older than he was, came swaggering towards him.
[08:08.74] The puppy's name was Lip Lip, and he was a bully.
[08:16.75] Lip Lip curled his lips and snarled.
[08:22.21] So white fang did the same.
[08:27.52] They circled each other, bristling and snapping.
[08:34.93] White Fang was starting to enjoy himself.
[08:39.71] It was a sort of game.
[08:45.61] Then suddenly, without warning, Lip Lip leaped at him, slashing his leg.
[08:54.66] Yelping with shame, the little cub ran back to his mother, who had been tied to another tree at the end of a long leash.
[09:09.69] Later that day, white fang was watching Grey Beaver doing something with sticks and branches.
[09:18.63] There was a strange mist rising from the pile of wood.
[09:25.41] Then suddenly, a living thing appeared, brilliant orange, twisting and turning.
[09:38.32] The cub had never seen fire, but he was drawn towards it.
[09:46.33] He crawled towards the flame.
[09:51.80] He heard Grey Beaver make a chuckling noise and knew the sound was friendly.
[10:01.46] Then white fang's nose touched the fire.
[10:06.97] The savage orange thing attacked his nose.
[10:13.23] He scrambled back crying in pain.
[10:19.43] His mother heard his cries and strained uselessly to rescue him.
[10:28.14] But Grey Beaver laughed and laughed and called the rest of the camp to watch.
[10:36.41] Soon they were all laughing at poor little white fang with his burned nose.
[10:43.69] It was the worst pain he had ever known.
[10:50.72] But the more he cried, the more the man animals laughed.
[10:59.04] And then he felt ashamed.
[11:03.71] He now knew what laughter meant, that they thought him foolish.
[11:15.57] He fled once again to his mother, the one creature in the world who was not laughing.
[11:25.86] Night came.
[11:30.33] White Fang lay by his mother's side, longing for the quiet of the stream and their cozy cave.
[11:41.20] There were too many of these dogs and man animals, all squabbling and snapping and making a noise.
[11:50.76] He watched the man animals.
[11:55.60] They were wonder workers, magic makers and had power over all things, alive and not alive.
[12:08.01] They could make that vicious thing called fire.