Select the gerund phrase in the sentence below. then determine the noun function of the gerund.
brett earns his income by repairing cars.

Ais a group of letters having a special meaning that appears at the beginning of a word.

How does the mother defend her child to the old duck

London includes a quote about john thornton as he is observing hal attempt to motivate the exhausted dogs "it was idle, he knew, to get between a fool and his folly". if the word "idle" is defined as "of no real worth, importance, or significance", what does this statement mean with regard to hal? who is the fool? what is hal's folly? why would john thornton think it of no real worth or useless to intervene?