“This man did not know cold. Possibly, all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold, of real cold, of cold 107 degrees below freezing point. But the dog knew; all its ancestry knew, and it had inherited the knowledge.”
― Jack London, To Build A Fire
This is one of my all time favorite short stories. I think it is written in a more economical, modern style than Jack London’s other work. But what I really like is how the dog has a bit part but is really the hero.