Белый клык

           Toantithesiswasduehisnaming. Hewaspre-eminentlyunbeautiful. Naturehadbeenniggardlywithhim. Hewasasmallmantobeginwith;anduponhismeagreframewasdepositedanevenmorestrikinglymeagrehead. Itsapexmightbelikenedtoapoint.Infact,inhisboyhood,beforehehadbeennamedBeautybyhisfellows,hehadbeencalled"Pinhead." 

           Backward,fromtheapex,hisheadslanteddowntohisneckandforwarditslanteduncompromisinglytomeetalowandremarkablywideforehead. Beginninghere,asthoughregrettingherparsimony,Naturehadspreadhisfeatureswithalavishhand.Hiseyeswerelarge,andbetweenthemwasthedistanceoftwoeyes. Hisface,inrelationtotherestofhim,wasprodigious.Inordertodiscoverthenecessaryarea,Naturehadgivenhimanenormousprognathousjaw.Itwaswideandheavy,andprotrudedoutwardanddownuntilitseemedtorestonhischest. Possiblythisappearancewasduetothewearinessoftheslenderneck,unableproperlytosupportsogreataburden. 

           Thisjawgavetheimpressionofferociousdetermination. Butsomethinglacked. Perhapsitwasfromexcess.Perhapsthejawwastoolarge. Atanyrate,itwasalie.BeautySmithwasknownfarandwideastheweakestofweak-kneedandsnivellingcowards. Tocompletehisdescription,histeethwerelargeandyellow,whilethetwoeye-teeth,largerthantheirfellows,showedunderhisleanlipslikefangs. Hiseyeswereyellowandmuddy,asthoughNaturehadrunshortonpigmentsandsqueezedtogetherthedregsofallhertubes. Itwasthesamewithhishair,sparseandirregularofgrowth,muddy-yellowanddirty-yellow,risingonhisheadandsproutingoutofhisfaceinunexpectedtuftsandbunches,inappearancelikeclumpedandwind-blowngrain. 

           Inshort,BeautySmithwasamonstrosity,andtheblameofitlayelsewhere.Hewasnotresponsible. Theclayofhimhadbeensomouldedinthemaking.