White Fang, Chapter 4 summary

What happens

1. The cub obeys his mother’s restriction and hides silently when a wolverine sniffs outside, but growth and curiosity finally draw him outside.
2. He tumbles down the slope, explores unfamiliar ground, and learns that moving creatures can frighten or hurt him.
3. He eats seven ptarmigan chicks, fights their mother, and retreats before a hawk narrowly misses him and carries her away.
4. Mistaking water for solid ground, he enters the stream, swims instinctively, and survives being swept through rapids.
5. A mother weasel attacks him after he disturbs her young, then returns and grips his throat.
6. The she-wolf rescues him, kills the weasel, and shares it with him before they return to the cave.

In this chapter

What to notice

The stream overturns the cub’s assumption that a smooth surface offers firm footing. This lesson turns inherited fear into caution grounded in experience.

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