the sword in the stone the once and future king

Over the course of one evening, he travels with a goose named Lyo-Iyok. In another later instance, following his conversations with Archimedes, Wart is transformed into a goose.

Merlyn rescues Wart in the nick of time, saving him from being caught in this crossfire. A violent conflagration erupts between Colony A and B, with disturbing propaganda being shared on the radio. He also learns that everyone is told what to do by a female Leader ant and that the asking of questions is forbidden. The ants discuss executions and the rise of a rival ant colony, called Colony B. In talking to this ant, Wart discovers that they don't communicate with words that indicate feelings or impressions, but exist only in a binary state of 'done' or 'not done.' Wart is then instructed to join a workgroup that digests food for storage. Wart travels to a colony and discovers a sign above its entryway that reads: 'everything not forbidden is compulsory.' He comes upon an ant moving dead ants around. With some trepidation, Merlyn grants his wish. He asks to be transformed into an ant, as he has been watching one for the past few days.

After being sick in bed for several days, Wart is offered some assistance from Merlyn. The first of these instances involves Wart being turned into an ant. While the standalone editions of the book do not include these episodes, they add helpful context to some of the book's central themes. These changes resulted in the inclusion of some additional material that tied into the saga as a whole. While The Sword in the Stone was originally published in 1938, White made some subsequent edits to the version of the text that appeared in the 1958 edition of The Once and Future King, the complete tetralogy of books in the series.

The sword in the stone the once and future king