“Already all feeling had gone from his feet. To build
the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens, and the fingers had quickly
become numb. His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pushing the
blood to all parts of his body. But the instant he stopped, the action of the
heart slowed down. He now received the full force of the cold. The blood of his
body drew back from it. The blood was alive, like the dog. Like the dog, it
wanted to hide and seek cover, away from the fearful cold. As long as he walked
four miles an hour, the blood rose to the surface. But now it sank down into
the lowest depths of his body. His feet and hands were the first to feel its
absence. His wet feet froze first. His bare fingers were numb, although they
had not yet begun to freeze. Nose and face were already freezing, while the
skin of all his body became cold as it lost its blood.” —American fiction
writer Jack London (1876-1916), “
To Build a Fire” (1908)
The illustration accompanying this post, created by American
artist Frank E. Schoonover (1877–1972), appeared in black and white with “To
Build a Fire” in the August 1908 issue of Century Magazine.
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