"It is probably to show you that you must ever be ready to face the foe. You must keep such a watch that you cannot be taken by surprise; and you must never show fear and fly. If once you turn your back to the enemy, either through carelessness or fear, woe to you."
"I begin to think the way is not as easy as I thought," said Amer, sadly.
After this mishap, Amer began to walk more carefully, and kept a watch over Boastful and other foes, who, because so small of stature, were not easily detected.
One of these enemies was a most offensive little man of the name of Irritability, who, if Amer set his foot on a slippery stone, or if the heat of the sun was unusual, or the wind piercing as it swept across the plain, would suddenly fly at the young soldier, and give him a blow on the mouth.
And Amer found that this worrying sprite often prepared the way for a much more formidable enemy, a relation of his called Temper; and that Temper was the name of a family composed of three brothers, each one more disagreeable and objectionable than the last.
The youngest of these brothers would walk doggedly and silently beside his victim with a great gloom on his face, and every hour that he was allowed to remain he grew more morose, and finally would cling on to his coat, so acting as a drag. His name was Sulks, and he was the most difficult of the three to get rid of, unless he was snubbed the moment he arrived.
The second brother was a very dangerous fellow, for he was perpetually handing daggers to his victim, urging him to do his work for him. His name was Revenge.
But the eldest of the three worried Amer the most. When the lad had lived in Punon he had had to do with him, and was surprised to meet him so often on his journey to the Radiant City. While in Punon, Amer had thought little of him, and had not looked on him exactly as an enemy, in fact he had more than once found him useful there, for being somewhat tall and imposing looking, and moreover of a fierce expression of countenance, people had been afraid of Amer when they found him in the company of this enemy, whose name was Passionate; consequently the lad had more than once got his way with others simply on account of the fear of his companion. But once having started on his journey to the Radiant City, Amer felt he must entirely give up his company, and was surprised and mortified that this enemy was not so easily disposed of as he had imagined. It was true that his visits did not last so long as formerly, but long enough to make Amer's fellow travellers who passed by look askance at him, saying among themselves,
"Can he really be on his way to the Radiant City, as Temper walks by his side?"
But except for these, Amer met few enemies at first, and wondered at times what the Guide Book meant when it spoke of Principalities and Powers against which he would have to wrestle.