The Jungle Book

Chapter 1. Mowgli’s Brothers

One verywarmevening in theSeonehills in savan India Father Wolf woke up from his days rest. Next to himlaidMother Wolfwiththefourcubsbeside her.

- It is time to look for food – saidFather Wolf and he stood up to leavethecave.

- Goodluck! – said a voice.

It wasthejackalTabaqui, whoeatseverything and anything, even pieces of old clothes from thevillages. The wolvesof India do not like himbecause he runs around making trouble and telling bad storiesaboutthem.

- Shere Khan the Tiger is coming to look for foodhere –saidTabaqui.

- He can not –cryedFather Wolf. – By theLawoftheJungle he must tell us first, before he comeshere to hunt.

- Shere Khan has a bad leg, so he can kill onlycows. In thevillagenearhimthepeopleareangry. That is why he is cominghere - to start hunting in a newplace. Listen, youcanhearhimnow, – saidTabaqui.

- He is a stupid animal –saidFather Wolf and he listened to theangrynoiceof a tiger who has not eaten. – No onewillfindanything to eat in thejunglenow.

- ButShere Khan is hunting men, not animal tonight – saidTabaqui.

The LawoftheJunglesaisthat animals must not hunt men, because man killing brings men withguns. Theneverybody in thejungle is in danger.

Father and Mother Wolf listened to Shere Khan in thejungle not far away. Thensuddenlytheyheard a noicemuchnearer to them.

- It is a man. A man’s cub. Look, – saidFather Wolf.

And there in front ofhimstood a baby whocould just walk. He lookedup at Father Wolf and laughed.

- Is that a man’s cub? – askedMother Wolf. – I have never seenone. Bring it here.

The baby - small and withnoclothes – pusheditswaybetweenthecubs to getnear to Mother Wolf.

- Look, - shesaid,- he is taking his mealwiththeothers.

- I have heardthat it has happenedbefore – saidFather Wolf. – But I have never seen it untilnow. Look at him, he is not affraid.

***

Suddenly, it was dark and Shere Khan was pushing his great head in throughthemouthofthecave.

- Wearepleasedthatyouvisitus, ShereKhan,-saidFather Wolf, but his eyeswereangry. – What do youneed?

- I amhunting a man’s cub, - saidShereKnan. – Itsfather and mother have run away. Give it to me.

Father Wolf knewthatShere Khan could not get innside thecavebecause he wastoobig.

- The man’s cub belons to us,- he said. – The Pack, theotherwolves and I willdecide. Ifwewant to kill himwewill kill him, not you.

- The man’s cub belongs to me. It is I – Shere Khan – whospeaks.

And ShereKhan’srawfilledthecavewithnoice.

- No,-cametheangryvoiceoftheMother Wolf. – The man’s cub belongs to me. Wewill not kill him. He will live to run withtheotherwolves to be my son. Now og away, fish killer, eaterofcubs, go!

Shere Khan went. He knewthat he could not fight Mother Wolf in her cave.

- But I will have this man’s cub oneday, you, theaves! – he shouted from thejungle.

***

- Do youreallywant to keephim, Mother? – askedfather Wolf.

- Keephim, - saidMother Wolf, - yes! He camehere by night, alone and hungry, but he was not afraid. Yes, I willkeephim. And I willcallhimMowgli, theFrog.

- ButwhatwlltheotherwolvesofthePacksay?

By theLawoftheJungle, all wolf cub must come to thePackwhentheycanwalk. The wolveslook at thecubscarefully. Thenthecubsarefree to run anywhere, because all the adult wolves know them and will not attackthem .

Whenthefourwolfcubscould run a little, Father Wolf tookthem and Mowgli and Mother Wolf to theMeeting Rock. Herethehundredwolvesofthewolfpack met everymonthwhenthemoon is full. The leaderofthepackwasAkela – a greatgreywolf. Eachnewwolfcame to stand in front ofhim, and Akelasaid:

- Lookwell, o Wolves, lookwell!

At the end Father Wolf pushedMowgliintothecircleofwolves. Then from thetreesoutsidethecircletheyheardthevoiceofShere Khan.

- The man’s cub belongs to me! Givehim to me!

Akeladid not move, butsaidonly:

- Lookwell. Who speaks for this man’s cub? Two voiceswhoare not his father and mother must speak for him.

There is onlyoneother animal whocancome to thiswolfmeetings – Baloo – thesleepybrownbear. His job is to teachtheLawoftheJungle to thewolfcubs.

- I speak for man’s cub, - cameBaloo’sdeepvoice. – Let him run withthepack. I myselfwillteachhim.

- Weneedanothervoice to speak for him, - saidAkela.

Silently, anotheraminaljumpeddownintothecircle. It wasBagheera, the panter, black as thenight, clever, strong and dangerous.

- Oh, Akela! Willyou let mespeak? – saidbagheerasoftly. – The LawoftheJunglesais it is possible to buythelife og a cub. It is bad to kill a man’s cub. He can not hurtyou. Let me Let him live withyou. And I willgiveyou a fat cownewlykilledwhichlies in thejungle not far away.

The voicesofthewolvsreplied: ”Let him live”. Theywerealwayshungry and theywanted to gett he deadcow. Soontheywentaway, and therewereonlyAkela, Bagheera, Baloo and Mowgli’swolffamilyleft. TheycouldheartheangryrawsofShere Khan in thenight.

- It is good, - saidAkela. – men areclever. Perhaps, this man’s cub will hel pus when he is older. Takehimaway – he said to Father Wolf, - and teachhimwell.

And so, becauseofBaloo’sgoodword and a present of a cow, Mowglinowbelonged to Seonewolfpack. The story ofMowgli’slifeamongthewolves fills manybooks. Butwe must jump teten or eleven yearsnow. Fatherwolf, Baloo and BagheeratoughtMowgliwell and he learnedeverythingaboutthejungle. He knewthemeaningofevery sound in thetrees, ofeverysongofthebirds, ofeverysplash in the water.

He learned to climbtrees like a monkey, to sweem in the river like a fish and to hunt for his food as cleverly as any animal.

Chapter 2. The MonkeyPeople

Chapter 3. Kaa’sHunting

Chapter 4. The Fight at the Rock

Chapter 5. Tiger Tiger

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 948