I was also with my patients in a real and vivid way. I felt them there with me, in the background, like Wart’s animals. I had to attribute this to the contact I’d had with so many fine clinicians. The next day I was seeing patients and one of them commented on what how well a session had gone. Listening to them left me feeling slightly elated. Each described their treatment of a particular case with passion, intensity, sensitivity and empathy. I once attended a conference with a series of remarkable speakers. Sometimes, when I least expect it, I’m taken by a similar kind of inspiration, and when it comes it’s astonishing. He gives one last try and the sword slides effortlessly out of the stone. The fish says, “put your back into it,” the falcon says, “remember the law of the claw, never let go” - they animals crowd around him, each with its own special advice.

He sees the various animals and what they taught him. After a couple of tries, and with great determination, he is overcome by a vision. He tries to pull it out but it won’t come. As Wart begins to despair over finding a sword, he sees a large one embedded in a stone. Accompanying Kay on his first knightly joust, he’s sent to fetch Kay’s sword, which is in an inn. Kay is finally knighted, and though Wart is deeply disappointed that he won’t ever be a knight, he’s determined to be a good squire. While it’s happening, it’s just an adventure. Each time he’s paired with an animal of the same species that teaches him something important, though the message isn’t apparent until later. He teaches the boys reading and writing and science but takes Wart aside for special “lessons.” He turns him into various animals: a fish, an ant, a small falcon, a badger. Though Merlin eventually teaches both boys, it’s Wart that gets the special attention, to everyone’s puzzlement and Kay’s envy. One day Wart meets the wizard Merlin, who explains he’s on his way to Ector’s castle to become Wart’s tutor.

While Wart is out roaming the forest to pass the time, Kay is learning the ways of knighthood and chivalry. Though Ector kindly takes him in, Wart has no lineage and no right to attain knighthood. Kay is destined for knighthood while Arthur is a foundling, a nobody. The story begins with a young boy named Art, nicknamed “Wart.” Sir Ector, a knight, adopts him and raises him alongside his own son, Kay. Unfortunately, those who adapted it missed some of the essence of the original book, or at least what I consider its essence. You may be familiar with the Disney version of “The Sword in the Stone” or with the musical “Camelot,” each one based on a different part of the book. One of them is “The Once and Future King” by T. I’ve read and reread them at various stages of my life and they’ve come to act as companions on my way.

Once and future king sword in the stone