Jungle Book
The Jungle Book (1894) is a collection of stories by English Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling.
The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–94. The original
publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling.
Kipling was born in India and spent the first six years of his
childhood there. After about ten years in England, he went back to India
and worked there for about six-and-half years. These stories were
written when Kipling lived in Vermont. The tales in the book (and also those in The Second Jungle Book which followed in 1895, and which includes five further stories about Mowgli) are fables, using animals in an anthropomorphic manner to give moral lessons. The verses of The Law of the Jungle, for example, lay down rules for the safety of individuals, families and communities. Kipling put in them nearly everything he knew or "heard or dreamed about the Indian jungle." Other readers have interpreted the work as allegories of the politics and society of the time.The best-known of them are the three stories revolving around the adventures of an abandoned "man cub" Mowgli who is raised by wolves in the Indian jungle. The most famous of the other stories are probably "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi", the story of a heroic mongoose, and "Toomai of the Elephants", the tale of a young elephant-handler. As with much of Kipling's work, each of the stories is preceded by a piece of verse, and succeeded by another.
The Jungle Book, because of its moral tone, came to be used as a motivational book by the Cub Scouts, a junior element of the Scouting movement. This use of the book's universe was approved by Kipling after a direct petition of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement, who had originally asked for the author's permission for the use of the Memory Game from Kim in his scheme to develop the morale and fitness of working-class youths in cities. Akela, the head wolf in The Jungle Book, has become a senior figure in the movement, the name being traditionally adopted by the leader of each Cub Scout pack.
| 1894 | Rudyard Kipling published "The Jungle Book", |
| 1895 | Rudyard Kipling published "The Second Jungle Book", |
| 1942 | Alexander Korda directed the film "The Jungle Book", |
| 1967 | (October 18) Disney released their 19th Animated Masterpiece "The Jungle Book", |
| 2000 | (May 21) Marc started these pages :) |
| 2012 | (August 21) Last changes. |
Rudyard Kipling - (1865 - 1936)
Rudyard Joseph Kipling was a writer born of British parents in Bombay, India. He was educated at boarding school in England and returned to India in 1882 where he worked as a journalist. His satirical verses and short stories, such as Plain Tales From the Hills (1888) and Soldiers Three (1892), won him a reputation in England, to which he returned in 1889 and settled in London.His verse collections Barrack Room Ballads (1892) and The Seven Seas (1896) were highly successful, as were the two Jungle Books (1894-5), which have become classic animal stories. Kim appeared in 1901, and the classic Just So Stories in 1902. Later works include Puck of Pook's Hill (1906) and the autobiographical Something of Myself (1937).
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907
Kipling & Scouting
Baden-Powell needed a concept around which to build the scouting program for wolf cubs (as they were then). The original Jungle Book was written in 1894. It was originally published in chapter form in the American children's magazine, Saint Nicholas. Kipling was also the author of "The Scout's Patrol Song" which was the official Boy Scouts of America song. Part I of the 1908 booklet, "Scouting For Boys" included a condensed version of Kipling's Kim. He was also the father of a Scout and later a comissioner in the British Scouting program.. In 1924, he attended a rally of 6 thousand Wolf Cubs at the Imperial Jamboree at Wembley where he witnessed what Baden-Powell had made of his writings.. Jungle Book and Cub Scouting
A Ripple Song
Once a ripple came to land
In the sunset burning-
Lapped against a maiden's hand,
By the ford returning.
Dainty foot and gentle breast-
Here, across, be glad and rest.
"Maiden, wait," the ripple saith
"Wait awhile, for I am Death!"
'Where my lover calls I go-
Shame it were to treat him coldly-
'Twas a fish that circled so,
Turning over boldly.'
Dainty foot and tender heart,
Wait the loaded ferry-cart.
"Wait, ah, wait!" the ripple saith;
"Maiden, wait, for I am Death!"
'When my lover calls I haste-
Dame Disdain was never wedded!'
Ripple-ripple round her waist,
Clear the current eddied.
Foolish heart and faithful hand,
Little feet that touched no land.
Far away the ripple sped,
Ripple-ripple-running red!”
Once a ripple came to land
In the sunset burning-
Lapped against a maiden's hand,
By the ford returning.
Dainty foot and gentle breast-
Here, across, be glad and rest.
"Maiden, wait," the ripple saith
"Wait awhile, for I am Death!"
'Where my lover calls I go-
Shame it were to treat him coldly-
'Twas a fish that circled so,
Turning over boldly.'
Dainty foot and tender heart,
Wait the loaded ferry-cart.
"Wait, ah, wait!" the ripple saith;
"Maiden, wait, for I am Death!"
'When my lover calls I haste-
Dame Disdain was never wedded!'
Ripple-ripple round her waist,
Clear the current eddied.
Foolish heart and faithful hand,
Little feet that touched no land.
Far away the ripple sped,
Ripple-ripple-running red!”
Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Books
former Cub Scout Leader (Akela)
1st Mount Waverley Cub Scouts
Back to 1st Mount Waverley Cub Scouts.
This story is in several chapters. They are:
The Seeonie Pack
Shere Khan
Mowgli
Mowgli's Training
The Bandar-Log
Kaa
Mowgli is Banished
Mowgli becomes a Man
Tiger, Tiger
The Last Council
The honourable members of the animal kingdom had a set of rules by which they lived. These rules were known as the Law of the Jungle. This Law was for the good of all and not just for a few members of the animal kingdom at the expense of the others. In our society we also have laws that are for the good of the whole society and not just for a few individuals. In Cub Scouts we also have our own Law that is also for our good as members of society.
The Law of the Jungle covered a wide range of subjects including a ban on killing domesticated animals for food because their meat was not good for wolves' health, a ban on killing humans because t sportsmanlike to kill them (secretly the reason was that if a human was killed by an animal, then other humans would come into the jungle with guns to seek out the culprit and then all the animals would suffer). It was also said that an animal that eats human flesh will have his teeth fall out. Basically, if all the animals obeyed these laws then the community would prosper.
At the Council Rock, the wolves would affirm their loyalty to the leader and to the Law of the Jungle. Wolves hunt as a pack. A lone wolf is not as successful a hunter as a whole pack.
Baloo the bear taught all the cubs of the Seeonee Pack the Law of the Jungle, and for this reason, was the only animal other than a wolf, who was a member of the pack.
Some animals lived outside the Law of the Jungle and these were despised by all the animals. The Bandar-log (the monkey people) were despised because they did not follow the Law of the Jungle (or any other law for that matter) and merely lived from day to day doing whatever pleased them for the moment. They would make a rule and then break it almost immediately because they found it too inconvenient. In other words they gave in to themselves. The other animals could not respect anyone who was so weak that they could not see any task to its end. The Bandar-log resented the fact that they were despised by the other animals.
Another animal that lived outside the Law of the Jungle and was despised by the Seeonee Pack was Shere Khan the lame tiger.
He lived near the banks of the Waingunga River, where the villagers became very angry about him and started to hunt him. All the other animals in the area suffered whilst men with guns set fire to the grass and disturbed their dens and frightened away the game animals. Shere Khan fled the area and moved to the Seeonee River.
One night Shere Khan was hunting humans near the Seeonee River, making so much noise in the process that all other game would have fled the area long before Shere Khan would have a chance to make a kill. The noise of a tiger at night frightens humans sleeping out in the open and makes them do foolish things that make it easy for a tiger to strike. So it was on this night. The tiger leapt out of the jungle and misjudged his jump so that he landed with his paws in the fire and ran off in rage and pain. The only human that had not fled the camp was a very small Indian baby boy who was too young to know fright.
When Shere Khan discovered that the human child had been rescued and was being looked after by the wolves, he was furious and demanded the return of the child, since he considered him to be his prey. Shere Khan warned that the pack would not accept Mowgli amongst them and then he would have to be handed over to Shere Khan. In the confines of the den entrance, however, Mother Wolf had a major strategic advantage over the tiger and was quite prepared to do battle with him. Shere Khan realised that his chances of success in this fight would be very slim and so he withdrew. Father Wolf agreed that Mowgli would have to be introduced to the rest of the pack at the pack council and they would have to agree that he be allowed to join the pack.
At the next pack council meeting, Mother wolf took Mowgli to the Council Rock and introduced him to Akela and the pack together with all the other new cubs. Many wolves objected to Mowgli being present and Shere Khan in the background tried to convince the pack that the man's cub had no right in the pack and that the wolves should hand him over.
Akela refused to discuss Shere Khan's request since he was not a member of the pack. The wolves, however, took up the call and also challenged Mowgli's entry into the pack. For an outsider to be admitted to the pack, he had to have two supporters who were not his mother and father. When Akela called for supporters, Baloo supported the entry of Mowgli into the pack, arguing that Mowgli was harmless to the pack and might, some day, prove to be very valuable to the pack. Akela then called for the second supporter.
At this Bagheera the black panther came bounding out of the trees and quoted the Law of the Jungle which says that if there is a doubt which is a killing matter in regard to a new cub, then the life of that cub can be bought at a price. Bagheera said that he was not a member of the pack and had no right to appear at the council, but asked permission to speak on the matter. The young wolves who were always hungry for a meal agreed. Bagheera offered to pay one dead bull for Mowgli's acceptance in the pack. The wolves readily agreed to this and Mowgli was formally accepted into the pack.
Shere Khan was very angry that Mowgli had not been handed over to him and vowed to have his kill some day.
Bagheera often came to watch Mowgli learn his lessons. Since he could climb the trees well and could swim he had to learn the wood laws and how to warn the water snakes that he was coming, so as not to startle them.
He also had to learn the Strangers' Hunting Call, which must be repeated until it is answered whenever one of the Jungle-People hunts outside his own grounds. Translated, it goes like this: Give me leave to hunt here because I am hungry.". The reply is "Hunt then for food, not for pleasure".
Mowgli became very tired of repeating all this over and over and Baloo gave him a cuff which sent him running off in a temper. Bagheera said that Baloo was being too hard on the boy, but Baloo replied that he was a Man-cub and must learn the whole Law. He considered that it as better that Mowgli receive a few bruises from him in teaching him everything than that he should come to harm through ignorance.
Baloo taught Mowgli the Master Words of the jungle. These would protect him from the birds and the Snake people and all those animals that hunt on four feet except his own people. These words were "We be of one blood, you and I". Mowgli had to learn these words in the language of the Hunting-people, the Birds and the Snakes.
Mowgli explained that when Baloo had hit him, the Bandar-log had had pity on him and had promised him that he would be their leader one day. Baloo explained to Mowgli that the Bandar-log, since they have no Law, also have no leader. The Bandar-log are forever giving in to themselves - they intend to do something, but their minds are quickly distracted and they go off forgetting what it was that they were going to do. Baloo explained that the Jungle-People have nothing to do with the Bandar-log and avoid them, whenever possible. They do not hunt where the Bandar-log hunt, they do not go where the Bandar-log go, they do not drink where the Bandar log drink and they do not die where the Bandar-log die. Baloo banned Mowgli from ever having anything to do with the Bandar-log again.
The Bandar-log were, indeed, everything that Baloo said they were. They were always going to have a leader some day but never got around to it, and they were always going to have Laws someday, but also never got around to it. They belonged to the tree-tops and, since the beasts of the jungle never look up there was no reason for the Monkeys and the other animals to cross each others' path. But if they found a sick wolf or a wounded tiger or bear they would throw sticks and stones at him and tease and torment him because that was the only way that they would be noticed. They would shriek and howl and sing senseless songs inviting the Jungle-people to come and fight them, which they couldn't because the monkeys were in the trees. At other times they would start senseless fights amongst themselves, leaving dead monkeys to fall on the ground where they left them and swung away to some new mischief somewhere else.
They were happy that they had made Baloo angry and meant to do nothing else. One of them, however invented what seemed to him to be a brilliant idea, and told the others that Mowgli would be a useful person to have in their tribe because he could weave sticks together to form screens to protect them from the wind. They planned to kidnap Mowgli and to take him to their secret place as a prisoner. They followed Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera through the forest until the three lay down to have their midday nap.
Mowgli was, by this time, very ashamed of himself for his bad behaviour and slept between Baloo and Bagheera and resolved to have no more to do with the monkey people. The Bandar-log snatched him from his sleep and bounded up the tree very quickly. Baloo roared with rage and Bagheera raced up the tree with fangs bared. The Bandar-log, however, managed to reach the upper branches of the trees where Bagheera dared not go for fear of the branches snapping under his weight. The Bandar-log cheered at the success of their daring raid and at the fact that Bagheera was taking notice of them. They considered themselves to be pretty clever as two of the strongest monkeys grabbed Mowgli under the arms and swung through the trees at a breakneck pace, leaving Bagheera and the slow Baloo far behind. Monkeys have regular roads through the branches at 50 to 70 feet and even 100 feet above the ground. Over these they can leap 20 feet at a time Mowgli was quite exhilarated at the speed and the height.
For a while he was afraid of being dropped, but then he became angry. He knew better than to struggle, since this would certainly mean a long fall and death. Then he began to think. He had to find a way to get word back to Baloo and Bagheera, so they could rescue him. He knew that his friends would not be able to follow the monkeys at the pace that they were going. On the ground he could see nothing, but in the sky he saw Rann the Kite balancing and wheeling in the air. Rann saw that the monkeys were carrying something and flew over to see if their load was good to eat. He was surprised to see Mowgli and was even more surprised to hear Mowgli give the bird call for "We are of one blood, you and I". Mowgli managed to pass on the message "Mark my trail. Tell Baloo of the Seeonee Pack and Bagheera of the Council Rock."
Rann figured that the monkeys would not go far with Mowgli, since they never finish what they set out to do.
Meanwhile Baloo and Bagheera were furious with grief and rage. Bagheera tried to climb as high as he could up the trees, but the branches were too weak and he slipped down again.
Then Baloo remembered that the only animal that the Bandar-log feared was Kaa the Rock-python snake. Kaa could climb trees as well as the monkeys and was frequently stealing their babies. Baloo figured that Kaa was always hungry and that he might be able to entice him to help rescue Mowgli.
They found Kaa stretched out on a warm rock ledge in the afternoon sun. He had been in retirement for the last 10 days changing his skin and he was hungry. He was twisting the whole 30 feet of his body's length and licking his lips thinking about the feast he was going to have. The two friends were very pleased to see him so hungry, because then he would have an interest in helping them. Baloo warned Bagheera to be careful, since Kaa is always a little blind and very quick to strike. Kaa was not a poison-snake, but killed by giving his prey a death hug. Baloo cried "Good Hunting" to Kaa who only heard him after several such calls. Then he curled up ready for any accident, his head lowered. When he recognised Baloo and Bagheera, they started to try to convince him to help them.
They told him that the Bandar-log had been calling him the rudest of names lately. This was to get him really mad. Kaa remembered that the Bandar-log had passed by his rock a little earlier. This worried both Baloo and Bagheera, since this was the first time that any of the Jungle-people had admitted to showing any interest in the comings and goings of the Bandar-log. Baloo told Kaa that the monkeys were carrying Mowgli and that they themselves were trying to rescue him because they both love him. They praised Kaa to flatter him in their attempt to get him to help them. Kaa finally became very enthusiastic about catching up with the Bandar-log, partly because he liked the idea of eating a great number of them.
One problem remained: they did not know where the Bandar-log had taken him. This was soon solved when Rann called to them from up above and passed on the information that Mowgli had asked him to gather. The monkeys were taking Mowgli to the Cold Lairs - an old abandoned city. Baloo was very proud to see that Mowgli had remembered the lessons that he had worked so hard to teach him - in particular the Master Words that had made it possible for Mowgli to send his distress message.
All the animals knew where the Cold Lairs was but very few went there because it was an old abandoned city all overgrown with vines and beasts seldom go to a place that was once used by men. To make matters worse, the monkeys lived there and no self-respecting animal would go within eye-shot of it except in times of drought when the tanks and reservoirs there still held some water.
Baloo said he would go there as fast as he could, but Bagheera and Kaa decided to go on ahead, because Baloo was so slow. Bagheera was a fast runner but Kaa kept up with him all the way except when they crossed a stream. Bagheera jumped across, but Kaa had to swim. Kaa, however, soon made up the lost ground. Kaa also had a score to settle with the Monkey People, and besides, he was very hungry and could hardly wait to get there.
Meanwhile, at the Cold Lairs, the Monkey People were not thinking of Mowgli's friends at all. They were feeling very pleased with themselves for having carried out their plan to the finish, and for once, not having abandoned it along the way. Mowgli, who had never seen an Indian city before, thought that the place looked rather splendid. It had been built by some king long ago on a little hill. Although trees were growing out of the walls, many of which had fallen down, you could still trace the layout of the city. A great roofless palace sat at the top of the hill, with its marble floors pushed up by the grasses and trees and bushes that were now growing there. In the palace there was a summer house, the walls of which were made of stone lacework, and the roof consisted of a dome that had partly fallen in blocking the door by which the queen, a hundred years ago, would have entered the building.
The monkeys called the place their city and pretended to despise the Jungle People because they live in the forest. But they never knew what the buildings were made for or how to use them. They merely drifted in and out of the roofless buildings, doing all sorts of silly things and then fighting amongst themselves over unimportant things, soon forgetting why and scampering off to new mischief. Pretty soon they would grow tired of the city and all head back to the tree-tops hoping that the Jungle People would notice them. Mowgli tried to escape from the city, but the monkeys pulled him back telling him he did not know how happy he was. They had, by this time, forgotten why they had kidnapped him, but were not about to let him go. Mowgli realised how wrong he had been to ever have anything to do with the Bandar-Log. They have no Law, they have no leader and they spend all day doing foolish things.
That evening Bagheera and Kaa finally reached the city and were watching the goings on of hundreds of monkeys crowding around Mowgli, telling him how good they are and how lucky he was to be their guest and how foolish he was to try to escape them. Bagheera and Kaa made plans for their attack. Kaa said he would go to the West wall and come down swiftly with the slope of the ground in his favour. He was secure that the monkeys would not throw themselves on his back in their hundreds - not so for Bagheera. They wished that Baloo was with them to even out the odds a little. There was a black cloud coming over to cover the moon and Bagheera saw this as his chance to gain the advantage of surprise. The two rescuers parted in order to launch their attacks.
While Mowgli wondered what would happen when the cloud covered the moon, he heard Bagheera's light feet on the terrace above them. Bagheera launched his attack by striking with his chisel sharp claws, since this was more effective against the hundreds of monkeys than biting would have been. There was a howl of fright and rage amongst the monkeys until Bagheera tripped over the writhing, twisting bodies beneath him. A monkey shouted "There is only one here! Kill him! Kill!". The monkeys now attacked Bagheera from all sides, scratching and biting, whilst five or six grabbed hold of Mowgli and carried him up the wall of the summer house, dropping him down through the broken dome of the roof. It was a long way down to the floor and a man-trained boy would have been badly bruised, but Mowgli had been taught by Baloo how one lands after a fall, and so Mowgli was unhurt.
Unfortunately, because the fallen dome had blocked the entrance to the summer house, he could not get out. Enough of the dome remained that he could not climb out.
The summer house was inhabited by deadly poisonous Cobra snakes - the Poison People. When Mowgli heard that he was trapped with the Poison People, he used the Master Words to speak to them. The Cobras replied that they would not attack him, but asked him to stand still so that he did not accidentally tread on them.
Meanwhile, outside, the battle was not going well for Bagheera. With the numbers stacked so severely against him, Bagheera was for the first time, fighting for his life. Mowgli, who could see through the stone lacework screen reasoned that Baloo was not far behind and yelled to Bagheera to fight his way to the water tank and to get in the water - the monkeys would not follow. Bagheera heard the call and battled his way inch by inch to the water tanks. Just then Baloo arrived and joined in the fight. Baloo hit the monkeys with his large powerful paws. A splash told Mowgli that Bagheera had reached the safety of the water tanks where the monkeys could not follow. Baloo was half smothered by monkeys when Kaa struck. He had been delayed because he found it difficult to climb the wall. The striking force of a Python is in the head. He uses it like a lance or a battering ram or a hammer weighing nearly half a ton, driven by a cool, calm, collected brain. You can imagine what a powerful fighting force Kaa made. A Python 5 feet long can knock a fully grown man over if it strikes him fairly in the chest. You can imagine the power of Kaa who was a full 30 feet long. His first strike was delivered into the crown around Baloo. The monkeys scattered with cries of "Kaa! It is Kaa! Run! Run!".
These cries brought immediate silence. Mowgli heard Bagheera shake the water off himself. Then there was panic as the monkeys tried to escape from Kaa. They climbed high up the walls and clung to the tops of the idols. Mowgli shouted to his rescuers that he was trapped in the summer house and could not get out. Kaa looked at the stone screen and found a place where it was slightly cracked. He coiled himself back and struck the screen at that spot, smashing a large hole into it that Mowgli could escape through.
Mowgli leapt through the hole and thanked Bagheera and Baloo for their efforts and worried about their injuries. They were bleeding all over. Then he thanked Kaa in a most friendly and correct manner and promised him that if a suitable situation arose in the future, he would repay the favour.
Kaa suggested that Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera should leave, since what was about to happen was not a pretty sight. Baloo went to the tank to drink and Bagheera commenced to put his fur in order. Kaa moved out into the middle of the terrace, looked at the shivering, cowering monkeys hanging onto anything that was high above the ground, and slammed his jaws shut with such a ringing snap that drew all the monkeys' attention. Kaa called "The moon is setting. Is there still enough light to see?". From the walls came a deep moan like the wind from the monkeys: "We see, 0 Kaa."
"Good. Now begins the Dance - the Dance of the Hunger of Kaa. Sit still and watch."
Kaa began a dance that hypnotised the monkeys. Baloo and Bagheera stood still and watched, and Mowgli watched and wondered. In their hypnotised state, Kaa ordered the monkeys to come to him. They were all powerless to do anything but obey. Baloo and Bagheera also started to move nearer. "Nearer" hissed Kaa, and they all came even nearer.
Mowgli laid his hand on both Baloo and Bagheera and both of these great beasts started as though they had been awakened from a dream. Kaa's spell had also hypnotised Baloo and Bagheera. Mowgli led them both away he had saved them from walking down the great Python's throat together with all the monkeys.
Bagheera pointed out all the mischief that Mowgli's playing with the Bandar-Log had caused - His own wounds, those of Baloo the sore nose of Kaa and the hurt pride of both the larger beasts in having to seek the help of Kaa. For this Bagheera punished Mowgli by hitting him with his paws. After that they went home good friends.
Bagheera was continually warning Mowgli that Shere Khan was plotting hard to kill him one day and that he should be careful. Mowgli didn't want to listen, saying that he had the safety of the Pack and Baloo and himself and that he wasn't afraid. Bagheera told Mowgli that Shere Khan would not dare to kill him in the jungle, but, since Akela was growing old and the other Wolves who admitted him into the Pack were also growing old and would not be able to protect him much longer. Shere Khan had convinced the younger wolves that a man-cub has no place in the pack and that he should be banished. Whether he liked if or not, Mowgli would soon have to go and live with men and leave the Wolf Pack.
Bagheera told Mowgli something that no-one else in the jungle knew. Bagheera was born amongst men in a cage in the King's Palace. He had never seen the jungle until one night he felt that he was Bagheera the Panther and he broke the lock on his cage and escaped to the jungle. Knowing men's ways made him more terrible in the jungle than Shere Khan. Mowgli, being a man's cub must likewise return to men, and leave the jungle. The fact was that there was a tide of resentment amongst the animals of the jungle, because none of hem could look Mowgli in the eyes, including Bagheera. The others had come to hate him because he was able to do things that they could not. This hurt their pride.
The Law of the Jungle says that when the leader of the pack misses his kill, then he must give up the leadership of the pack, and Akela was reaching the age where each kill was costing him more and more energy. This meant that Akela's days were numbered.
Bagheera had an idea. He told Mowgli to go down to the village and steal a pot with "the red flower" (glowing embers of a fire) and bring it back for his protection, since all animals are very afraid of fire. By this time Mowgli understood his danger and vowed once and for all, that he would kill Shere Khan.
Mowgli did not hunt with the pack that night, but went down to the village to steal his red flower. On the way he heard the sound of the pack hunting. He heard the young wolves call "Akela! Akela! Let the Lone Wolf show his strength. Room for the leader of the Pack! Spring, Akela!" The Lone Wolf must have sprung and missed his hold because he heard the snap of his teeth and a yelp as the Sambour they were hunting knocked him over with his fore foot.
Mowgli dashed down to the village and stole the pot with the red flower and brought it back to the den with him. He dropped twigs into the pot and they sprang into flame. This was the red flower that the animals talked about and feared.
That night he was summoned to the Council Rock. When he got there Akela was lying beside his rock, indicating that he was no longer the leader. Shere Khan and his bunch of scrap-fed wolves strutted openly to and fro. Mowgli sat with the fire pot between his knees. When all were there Shere Khan began to speak - a thing that he would have never dared to do while Akela was the leader.
Mowgli sprang to his feet and declared that the tiger had no right to speak at the Pack Council. The wolves cried him down and insisted that he be heard, reminding Mowgli that he was a man's cub and not a wolf. The elders of the pack called for the "Dead Wolf" to speak. A leader that has missed his kill is referred to as the "Dead Wolf" for as long as he lives, which is not very long as a general rule. Akela stated that he had been tricked into missing the kill. He informed the pack that it was their right to kill him right now, but it was his right that they come one by one. None of the wolves dared to face Akela by themselves and none came forward. Finally Shere Khan roared that the fate of Akela was not important. It was Mowgli that he wanted. He demanded that the wolves hand him over right-away.
Akela offered to die without a fight if they would let Mowgli go, thus sparing at least three other wolves' lives. He reminded them that Mowgli had broken no Law of the Jungle and had helped them in every way. Bagheera reminded them of the bull with which he had paid for Mowgli's life.
It was all for nothing. The wolves began to gather around Shere Khan. Bagheera told Mowgli that they could not do anything else for him, that it was now up to him. Mowgli stood up with the fire pot in his hands. He told the wolves that, as they had decided that he was a man and not one of them, he would be a man and would call them dogs as a man would. He told them that he was in control of the situation and not them. He showed the wolves that he had the fire pot, which he referred to as a little of the red flower.
He flung the fire pot on the ground and some of the embers spilled out setting a small tuft of moss alight. The wolves sprang back in fear. He pushed a dead branch into the embers until the twigs lit and crackled, and whirled it around his head amongst the cowering wolves.
Bagheera told Mowgli that he was the master and that he should save Akela from being killed, since he had always been his friend. Mowgli called that he was leaving the jungle and was joining men. He promised that he was going to be more merciful than they had been and that he would never betray the pack. Before he went, however, he had a debt to pay. He walked over to the frightened Shere Khan and grabbed him by the tuft of fur under his chin and beat him with the burning stick. Mowgli then declared that when he next came to the Council Rock, he would come with Shere Khan's hide over his head. He told them to let Akela go free and that they were not to sit around the Council Rock anymore. With that he chased them away with the burning stick, with the wolves howling miserably with the sparks burning holes in their fur.
Mowgli began to cry and Bagheera told him this was natural, since he was now a man and should act like a man. He went to say goodbye to his Wolf family. The cubs cried miserably and vowed that they would never forget him and that they would look for him and play with him in the fields at night.
With that Mowgli turned and left the jungle for the lands of men.
Mowgli felt uneasy because he could not understand the language of men and decided that he would learn as fast as he could. He had been taught, in the jungle, to imitate the sounds of a large number of other animals and so found no great difficulty in imitating the words that form men's language and by dark he had learnt the names of most objects in the hut.
When it came to bedtime however, he found that, although he could easily tear out a chunk of the thatch that formed the roof or break open a window to get out but he couldn't bring himself to sleep in that hut. It reminded him too much of a panther trap. Then the man and the woman closed the door for the night, he went out the window. He found a clean patch of grass at the edge of the field and stretched out on it. Before he had a chance to shut his eyes, a soft grey nose poked him under the chin. It was Grey Brother and he had news. He told Mowgli that all were well in the forest except the wolves that had been burnt with the red flower. Shere Khan had gone away to hunt far away until his coat grew again, but had sworn to kill Mowgli when he returned. Grey Brother said he would wait for Mowgli each day at the edge of the bamboo and give him news.
For the next 3 months Mowgli hardly ever left the village gate. He was too busy learning the language and customs of men. He had to get used to wearing clothes, which he did not like doing. What made him really angry was the little children of the village. Luckily the Law of the Jungle had taught him to keep his temper, but when the children made fun of him it was only the knowledge that to kill a young cub was unsporting that kept him from picking them up and snapping them in two. He had great difficulties in learning the customs and was forever making the villagers angry. The head-man decided that Mowgli should start to do some work for the village and could start herding the buffalos and cattle.
This pleased Mowgli very much and he went to the village club where the head-man, the barber and old Buldeo the village hunter would meet in the evenings and tell yarns. Old Buldeo told stories about the jungle and the animals. Mowgli, who of course knew more about the jungle and its animals, sat there shaking with suppressed laughter at the nonsense that was being told. But when Buldeo explained how the tiger that had been taking the village's children was a ghost-tiger and his body was inhabited by the ghost of a wicked old money lender and insisted that he was right because the old money lender limped after a blow he got in a riot and the tiger also limped, Mowgli could contain himself no longer. He explained that he knew the tiger and that he had limped since he was born.
The head-man decided that Mowgli should begin his herding the next morning. In Indian villages a few small boys take the buffalos and the cattle out to graze in the morning and return with them in the evening. As long as the boys stayed with the herd, they were quite safe since a tiger will not charge a herd of cattle, but if they strayed, they were sometimes taken by a tiger. Mowgli rode on the neck of Rama, the herd bull and made it plain to the other children that he was the boss.
After some distance he told the other children to graze the cattle there while he went on with the buffalos. Buffalos like to wallow in the mud, and do not like to graze in the same area as the cattle. When they reached the river, Mowgli slipped off Rama's neck and trotted over to a clump of bamboo. Grey Brother was waiting for him there with some news. It seems that Shere Khan had waited for him for some time, but had left for a while to hunt elsewhere, but on his return had sworn to kill Mowgli. Mowgli asked Grey Brother to sit on a particular rock in sight of the village if Shere Khan was not back, but to meet him in a ravine in the centre of the plain if Shere Khan was back.
Grey Brother told him that Shere Khan has hidden for a month to throw Mowgli off guard and had crossed back over the ranges together with Tabaqui the previous night and were hot on Mowgli's trail. Mowgli wasn't afraid of Shere Khan but worried about Tabaqui, who was cunning. Grey Brother laid these fears to rest when he told Mowgli that he had met Tabaqui at dawn. Tabaqui had told him Shere Khan's entire plan before Grey Brother had killed Tabaqui. The plan was that Shere Khan was going to lie in wait for Mowgli and no-one else at the entrance to the village.
Shere Khan had killed and eaten a pig that morning and was sleeping off his meal in the big ravine of the Waingunga River. Mowgli formed a plan for the death of Shere Khan. He asked if Grey Brother was able to divide the buffalo herd. Grey Brother replied that he couldn't do it by himself, but that he had brought help with him. At that an old familiar head rose from the grass. Akela! Mowgli was overjoyed to see his old friend again. Mowgli told them to separate the bulls and plough buffalos from the cows and calves. The two wolves twisted in and out between the animals that were just waiting for a chance to charge these two intruders and successfully separated the two groups. Mowgli jumped on Rama's back and gave the order for Grey Brother to drive the cows and calves into the bottom end of the ravine and to stop when they reached a part of the ravine where the sides were too steep for a tiger to escape. He then told Akela to help him drive the bulls through the forest to a point where they could enter the top end of the ravine.
When the bulls were inside the top end of the ravine, Mowgli let all the animals rest. Then he shouted into the ravine. This woke Shere Khan, who sleepily growled "Who calls?". Mowgli called back "I, Mowgli. Cattle thief, it is time to come to the Council Rock!" He then ordered Akela to force the bulls to advance down the ravine. The herd paused for a while at the edge of the slope, but Akela's yell made them charge down the ravine. Part of the way down, Rama caught the scent of the tiger and bellowed. The buffalos spread out until the outsiders were scraping against the sides of the ravine, the sides of which were getting steadily steeper. The buffalos now knew what was before them: a terrifying charge against which no tiger can hope to stand. Shere Khan heard the thunder of their hooves, picked himself up and fled down the ravine looking at the sides for a way of escape, but the walls were straight and steep. There was no foothold. He lumbered on, heavy with his dinner and his drink trying to do anything other than fight. The bulls bellowed as they charged. The cows below heard the bellow and charged uphill to join the bulls. At this Mowgli saw Shere Khan turn realising that it was better to face the bulls than the cows that were protecting their calves. Then Rama tripped and recovered over something soft under him as the two herds came together. The combined herd continued all the way back onto the plain. Mowgli chose his moment and, slipping off Rama's back beat about him with his stick.
He ordered Akela to break them up to stop them fighting amongst themselves. Akela and Grey Brother ran to and fro breaking up the heard. Rama tried to lead a new charge back up the ravine, but Mowgli managed to turn him back to the wallows. Mowgli and the two wolves went back into the ravine to Shere Khan's trampled body. With his knife, Mowgli spent the next hour skinning the ten foot long tiger with Akela and Grey Brother helping to tug at the skin as it came off.
Presently a hand fell on his shoulder - it was Buldeo with his gun. The children had told the village about the buffalo stampede and Buldeo had gone out to scold Mowgli for not looking after the herd better. The wolves dropped out of sight as the man approached. Buldeo was surprised to see the dead tiger and immediately tried to take the hide himself because the Indian Government had placed a price of 100 Rupees on its head. The old hunter went to singe the tiger's whiskers, since it was a belief that this will prevent the tiger's ghost from haunting them.
Mowgli told the old man to take away the fire, and that he himself had a use for the skin. He and Buldeo stood arguing over the carcass until it got too much for Mowgli. He called to Akela to get rid of the old man. In an instant the old man was sprawling on the grass with the Grey Wolf standing over him. Mowgli explained that there was a war between him and that tiger - a very old war - and that he had now won.
Buldeo lay there convinced that sorcery, magic of the worst kind was being performed here, with the wolf obeying the boy who in turn had private wars with tigers. He was half expecting Mowgli to turn into a tiger at any moment. After some time, old Buldeo asked him whether he intended to order Akela to tear him to pieces or whether he was going to let him go. Mowgli replied that he could go, but in future, he was not to meddle with his game. He told him to go and let peace go with him.
Old Buldeo hobbled back to the village as fast as his legs could carry him, looking over his shoulder in case Mowgli should turn into something terrible. When he returned to the village, he told a tale of magic and enchantment and sorcery that made the priest look very grave.
Mowgli continued with his work, and it was nearly dark before he and the wolves had finished their work, and drawn the great skin clear of the body. They then hid the skin and rounded up the buffalos and herded them home. When he approached the village, all the lights were on and bells in the temple were ringing. He thought that it was to celebrate his killing the tiger, but as he came closer he was met with a barrage of stones and shouts of "Sorcerer! Wolf's brat! Jungle demon! Go away, and quickly, or the priest will turn you back into a wolf" They urged Buldeo to shoot him. Buldeo fired the gun, and a young buffalo bellowed in pain. The villagers saw this as proof that what Buldeo had said was true. "He can turn bullets" they cried.
Akela suggested that the people of the village were very much like the pack. That if bullets mean anything, he had been cast out of the Village, like he had been cast out of the pack. Messua, the woman who had adopted him in the village ran across to the herd and cried that she did not believe the stories of sorcery, and said that he had avenged the death of her own son, but that he should flee because the villagers would kill him. He then stampeded the herd into the village to take the villagers off their guard so they could make good their escape.
The moon was just going down when they came to the hill of the Council Rock and they stopped at Mother Wolf's cave. Mowgli informed his family that the men had cast him out, but that he had come back with the hide of Shere Khan, just as he had promised to do. Mother Wolf told Mowgli that he had done a good job.
Behind him from the jungle, came a deep voice that said "Little Brother, it is well done. We were lonely in the jungle without you." and Bagheera came running out of the thicket to Mowgli's bare feet. They clambered up to the Council Rock together to the rock where Akela used to sit and pegged the great skin down with slivers of Bamboo, and Akela lay down on it and called the old call to the wolves - 'Look - look well, O Wolves".
Ever since Akela had stopped being leader, the pack had gone without a leader, hunting and fighting as they pleased. But they answered the call from old habit. Some of them were lame from traps that they had fallen into, and some limped from shot-wounds, and some were mangy from eating bad food, and many were missing. All the wolves that were left came to the Council Rock and saw Shere Khan's hide stretched on the rock, and the huge claws dangling at the ends of the empty dangling feet.
Mowgli called to the wolves "Look well, O Wolves. Have I kept my word?". and the wolves replied "Yes!", and one tattered wolf howled "Lead us again, Akela. Lead us again Man-cub, because we are sick of this lawlessness and we want to be the Free People again.
Bagheera purred "No! When you are well fed again then you might commit this foolishness again. You are the Free People - you fought for it, and it is yours. Eat it, Wolves."
Mowgli called that the Wolves had cast him out and men had cast him out, so he was going to hunt alone in the jungle. The four cubs of his family said they would hunt with him.
And so, Mowgli and the four cubs hunted together in the jungle from that day on. But he was not always alone, because years later he became a man and married. But that is a story for grown-ups.
The Seeonee Wolf Pack gave in to personal greed and stopped looking after the good of the pack. They found it easier to break the Law of the Jungle that had looked after them so well for all those years and live lives as lawless as the Bandar Log, and in the process they lost their self-respect, and their greed made them weaker. While they lived and hunted under the Law, they had good food and they stayed away from men and traps. These were all things that the wolves lost forever because of their deceit in breaking the Law and not being loyal to their leader, Akela.
The Tales from the Jungle Book
retold by Bernd Gillhoffformer Cub Scout Leader (Akela)
1st Mount Waverley Cub Scouts
Back to 1st Mount Waverley Cub Scouts.
This story is in several chapters. They are:
The Seeonie Pack
Shere Khan
Mowgli
Mowgli's Training
The Bandar-Log
Kaa
Mowgli is Banished
Mowgli becomes a Man
Tiger, Tiger
The Last Council
The Seeonee Pack
On the banks of the Seeonee River, deep in the jungle, there lived and hunted a pack of wolves. This pack was ruled by a great grey Lone Wolf called Akela, who held a Pack Council around a hilltop covered with stones around which, hundreds of wolves could hide. This hill was known as the Council Rock, and Akela would lead the meeting by lying on his rock at the centre of the hill, with the wolves (about 40 odd) sitting around him in a circle much as Cubs form a circle around a leader to hear what he has to say and to do the Grand Howl.The honourable members of the animal kingdom had a set of rules by which they lived. These rules were known as the Law of the Jungle. This Law was for the good of all and not just for a few members of the animal kingdom at the expense of the others. In our society we also have laws that are for the good of the whole society and not just for a few individuals. In Cub Scouts we also have our own Law that is also for our good as members of society.
The Law of the Jungle covered a wide range of subjects including a ban on killing domesticated animals for food because their meat was not good for wolves' health, a ban on killing humans because t sportsmanlike to kill them (secretly the reason was that if a human was killed by an animal, then other humans would come into the jungle with guns to seek out the culprit and then all the animals would suffer). It was also said that an animal that eats human flesh will have his teeth fall out. Basically, if all the animals obeyed these laws then the community would prosper.
At the Council Rock, the wolves would affirm their loyalty to the leader and to the Law of the Jungle. Wolves hunt as a pack. A lone wolf is not as successful a hunter as a whole pack.
Baloo the bear taught all the cubs of the Seeonee Pack the Law of the Jungle, and for this reason, was the only animal other than a wolf, who was a member of the pack.
Some animals lived outside the Law of the Jungle and these were despised by all the animals. The Bandar-log (the monkey people) were despised because they did not follow the Law of the Jungle (or any other law for that matter) and merely lived from day to day doing whatever pleased them for the moment. They would make a rule and then break it almost immediately because they found it too inconvenient. In other words they gave in to themselves. The other animals could not respect anyone who was so weak that they could not see any task to its end. The Bandar-log resented the fact that they were despised by the other animals.
Another animal that lived outside the Law of the Jungle and was despised by the Seeonee Pack was Shere Khan the lame tiger.
Shere Khan
Shere Khan was born with a lame foot and was not able to hunt other animals properly, so he hunted only cattle which he could catch easily. Sometimes he also hunted humans.He lived near the banks of the Waingunga River, where the villagers became very angry about him and started to hunt him. All the other animals in the area suffered whilst men with guns set fire to the grass and disturbed their dens and frightened away the game animals. Shere Khan fled the area and moved to the Seeonee River.
One night Shere Khan was hunting humans near the Seeonee River, making so much noise in the process that all other game would have fled the area long before Shere Khan would have a chance to make a kill. The noise of a tiger at night frightens humans sleeping out in the open and makes them do foolish things that make it easy for a tiger to strike. So it was on this night. The tiger leapt out of the jungle and misjudged his jump so that he landed with his paws in the fire and ran off in rage and pain. The only human that had not fled the camp was a very small Indian baby boy who was too young to know fright.
Mowgli
Father Wolf found this youngster wandering in the jungle and took him to his den, where he was adopted by Father Wolf and Mother Wolf, and was cared for by them together with their own cubs, the oldest of whom was Grey Brother. Mother Wolf, whose name was Raksha, decided to call him Mowgli (Little Frog) because he had no hair on his body and he reminded her of a little frog.When Shere Khan discovered that the human child had been rescued and was being looked after by the wolves, he was furious and demanded the return of the child, since he considered him to be his prey. Shere Khan warned that the pack would not accept Mowgli amongst them and then he would have to be handed over to Shere Khan. In the confines of the den entrance, however, Mother Wolf had a major strategic advantage over the tiger and was quite prepared to do battle with him. Shere Khan realised that his chances of success in this fight would be very slim and so he withdrew. Father Wolf agreed that Mowgli would have to be introduced to the rest of the pack at the pack council and they would have to agree that he be allowed to join the pack.
At the next pack council meeting, Mother wolf took Mowgli to the Council Rock and introduced him to Akela and the pack together with all the other new cubs. Many wolves objected to Mowgli being present and Shere Khan in the background tried to convince the pack that the man's cub had no right in the pack and that the wolves should hand him over.
Akela refused to discuss Shere Khan's request since he was not a member of the pack. The wolves, however, took up the call and also challenged Mowgli's entry into the pack. For an outsider to be admitted to the pack, he had to have two supporters who were not his mother and father. When Akela called for supporters, Baloo supported the entry of Mowgli into the pack, arguing that Mowgli was harmless to the pack and might, some day, prove to be very valuable to the pack. Akela then called for the second supporter.
At this Bagheera the black panther came bounding out of the trees and quoted the Law of the Jungle which says that if there is a doubt which is a killing matter in regard to a new cub, then the life of that cub can be bought at a price. Bagheera said that he was not a member of the pack and had no right to appear at the council, but asked permission to speak on the matter. The young wolves who were always hungry for a meal agreed. Bagheera offered to pay one dead bull for Mowgli's acceptance in the pack. The wolves readily agreed to this and Mowgli was formally accepted into the pack.
Shere Khan was very angry that Mowgli had not been handed over to him and vowed to have his kill some day.
Mowgli's Training
Baloo the bear taught Mowgli the Law of the Jungle. Baloo was very happy to have such a good student. The young wolves will learn only the parts of the Law of the Jungle that apply to their pack or tribe, and run away when they can repeat the Hunting Verse: - "Feet that make no noise; eyes that can see in the dark; ears that can hear the winds in the lairs, and sharp white teeth, all these things are the marks of our brothers except Tabaqui the Jackal and the hyaena whom we hate". But Mowgli, being a man-cub had to learn a great deal more than this.Bagheera often came to watch Mowgli learn his lessons. Since he could climb the trees well and could swim he had to learn the wood laws and how to warn the water snakes that he was coming, so as not to startle them.
He also had to learn the Strangers' Hunting Call, which must be repeated until it is answered whenever one of the Jungle-People hunts outside his own grounds. Translated, it goes like this: Give me leave to hunt here because I am hungry.". The reply is "Hunt then for food, not for pleasure".
Mowgli became very tired of repeating all this over and over and Baloo gave him a cuff which sent him running off in a temper. Bagheera said that Baloo was being too hard on the boy, but Baloo replied that he was a Man-cub and must learn the whole Law. He considered that it as better that Mowgli receive a few bruises from him in teaching him everything than that he should come to harm through ignorance.
Baloo taught Mowgli the Master Words of the jungle. These would protect him from the birds and the Snake people and all those animals that hunt on four feet except his own people. These words were "We be of one blood, you and I". Mowgli had to learn these words in the language of the Hunting-people, the Birds and the Snakes.
The Bandar-Log
Mowgli had been secretly talking to the Bandar-log - the monkey people. Baloo had been so busy teaching him the Law of the Jungle that he had neglected to warn him about the Bandar-log and why they were so despised. When Baloo and Bagheera found out that Mowgli had been talking to the Bandar-log, they were both furious that he had talked to the people without a Law.Mowgli explained that when Baloo had hit him, the Bandar-log had had pity on him and had promised him that he would be their leader one day. Baloo explained to Mowgli that the Bandar-log, since they have no Law, also have no leader. The Bandar-log are forever giving in to themselves - they intend to do something, but their minds are quickly distracted and they go off forgetting what it was that they were going to do. Baloo explained that the Jungle-People have nothing to do with the Bandar-log and avoid them, whenever possible. They do not hunt where the Bandar-log hunt, they do not go where the Bandar-log go, they do not drink where the Bandar log drink and they do not die where the Bandar-log die. Baloo banned Mowgli from ever having anything to do with the Bandar-log again.
The Bandar-log were, indeed, everything that Baloo said they were. They were always going to have a leader some day but never got around to it, and they were always going to have Laws someday, but also never got around to it. They belonged to the tree-tops and, since the beasts of the jungle never look up there was no reason for the Monkeys and the other animals to cross each others' path. But if they found a sick wolf or a wounded tiger or bear they would throw sticks and stones at him and tease and torment him because that was the only way that they would be noticed. They would shriek and howl and sing senseless songs inviting the Jungle-people to come and fight them, which they couldn't because the monkeys were in the trees. At other times they would start senseless fights amongst themselves, leaving dead monkeys to fall on the ground where they left them and swung away to some new mischief somewhere else.
They were happy that they had made Baloo angry and meant to do nothing else. One of them, however invented what seemed to him to be a brilliant idea, and told the others that Mowgli would be a useful person to have in their tribe because he could weave sticks together to form screens to protect them from the wind. They planned to kidnap Mowgli and to take him to their secret place as a prisoner. They followed Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera through the forest until the three lay down to have their midday nap.
Mowgli was, by this time, very ashamed of himself for his bad behaviour and slept between Baloo and Bagheera and resolved to have no more to do with the monkey people. The Bandar-log snatched him from his sleep and bounded up the tree very quickly. Baloo roared with rage and Bagheera raced up the tree with fangs bared. The Bandar-log, however, managed to reach the upper branches of the trees where Bagheera dared not go for fear of the branches snapping under his weight. The Bandar-log cheered at the success of their daring raid and at the fact that Bagheera was taking notice of them. They considered themselves to be pretty clever as two of the strongest monkeys grabbed Mowgli under the arms and swung through the trees at a breakneck pace, leaving Bagheera and the slow Baloo far behind. Monkeys have regular roads through the branches at 50 to 70 feet and even 100 feet above the ground. Over these they can leap 20 feet at a time Mowgli was quite exhilarated at the speed and the height.
For a while he was afraid of being dropped, but then he became angry. He knew better than to struggle, since this would certainly mean a long fall and death. Then he began to think. He had to find a way to get word back to Baloo and Bagheera, so they could rescue him. He knew that his friends would not be able to follow the monkeys at the pace that they were going. On the ground he could see nothing, but in the sky he saw Rann the Kite balancing and wheeling in the air. Rann saw that the monkeys were carrying something and flew over to see if their load was good to eat. He was surprised to see Mowgli and was even more surprised to hear Mowgli give the bird call for "We are of one blood, you and I". Mowgli managed to pass on the message "Mark my trail. Tell Baloo of the Seeonee Pack and Bagheera of the Council Rock."
Rann figured that the monkeys would not go far with Mowgli, since they never finish what they set out to do.
Meanwhile Baloo and Bagheera were furious with grief and rage. Bagheera tried to climb as high as he could up the trees, but the branches were too weak and he slipped down again.
Kaa
As they were still running after the Bandar-log it became obvious that Baloo was not going to be able to keep up the pace and they started to worry for the safety of Mowgli. Baloo felt that the greatest danger was that the Bandar-log should drop him. Apart from that they figured that he would use his intelligence and the Master Words to get himself out of trouble.Then Baloo remembered that the only animal that the Bandar-log feared was Kaa the Rock-python snake. Kaa could climb trees as well as the monkeys and was frequently stealing their babies. Baloo figured that Kaa was always hungry and that he might be able to entice him to help rescue Mowgli.
They found Kaa stretched out on a warm rock ledge in the afternoon sun. He had been in retirement for the last 10 days changing his skin and he was hungry. He was twisting the whole 30 feet of his body's length and licking his lips thinking about the feast he was going to have. The two friends were very pleased to see him so hungry, because then he would have an interest in helping them. Baloo warned Bagheera to be careful, since Kaa is always a little blind and very quick to strike. Kaa was not a poison-snake, but killed by giving his prey a death hug. Baloo cried "Good Hunting" to Kaa who only heard him after several such calls. Then he curled up ready for any accident, his head lowered. When he recognised Baloo and Bagheera, they started to try to convince him to help them.
They told him that the Bandar-log had been calling him the rudest of names lately. This was to get him really mad. Kaa remembered that the Bandar-log had passed by his rock a little earlier. This worried both Baloo and Bagheera, since this was the first time that any of the Jungle-people had admitted to showing any interest in the comings and goings of the Bandar-log. Baloo told Kaa that the monkeys were carrying Mowgli and that they themselves were trying to rescue him because they both love him. They praised Kaa to flatter him in their attempt to get him to help them. Kaa finally became very enthusiastic about catching up with the Bandar-log, partly because he liked the idea of eating a great number of them.
One problem remained: they did not know where the Bandar-log had taken him. This was soon solved when Rann called to them from up above and passed on the information that Mowgli had asked him to gather. The monkeys were taking Mowgli to the Cold Lairs - an old abandoned city. Baloo was very proud to see that Mowgli had remembered the lessons that he had worked so hard to teach him - in particular the Master Words that had made it possible for Mowgli to send his distress message.
All the animals knew where the Cold Lairs was but very few went there because it was an old abandoned city all overgrown with vines and beasts seldom go to a place that was once used by men. To make matters worse, the monkeys lived there and no self-respecting animal would go within eye-shot of it except in times of drought when the tanks and reservoirs there still held some water.
Baloo said he would go there as fast as he could, but Bagheera and Kaa decided to go on ahead, because Baloo was so slow. Bagheera was a fast runner but Kaa kept up with him all the way except when they crossed a stream. Bagheera jumped across, but Kaa had to swim. Kaa, however, soon made up the lost ground. Kaa also had a score to settle with the Monkey People, and besides, he was very hungry and could hardly wait to get there.
Meanwhile, at the Cold Lairs, the Monkey People were not thinking of Mowgli's friends at all. They were feeling very pleased with themselves for having carried out their plan to the finish, and for once, not having abandoned it along the way. Mowgli, who had never seen an Indian city before, thought that the place looked rather splendid. It had been built by some king long ago on a little hill. Although trees were growing out of the walls, many of which had fallen down, you could still trace the layout of the city. A great roofless palace sat at the top of the hill, with its marble floors pushed up by the grasses and trees and bushes that were now growing there. In the palace there was a summer house, the walls of which were made of stone lacework, and the roof consisted of a dome that had partly fallen in blocking the door by which the queen, a hundred years ago, would have entered the building.
The monkeys called the place their city and pretended to despise the Jungle People because they live in the forest. But they never knew what the buildings were made for or how to use them. They merely drifted in and out of the roofless buildings, doing all sorts of silly things and then fighting amongst themselves over unimportant things, soon forgetting why and scampering off to new mischief. Pretty soon they would grow tired of the city and all head back to the tree-tops hoping that the Jungle People would notice them. Mowgli tried to escape from the city, but the monkeys pulled him back telling him he did not know how happy he was. They had, by this time, forgotten why they had kidnapped him, but were not about to let him go. Mowgli realised how wrong he had been to ever have anything to do with the Bandar-Log. They have no Law, they have no leader and they spend all day doing foolish things.
That evening Bagheera and Kaa finally reached the city and were watching the goings on of hundreds of monkeys crowding around Mowgli, telling him how good they are and how lucky he was to be their guest and how foolish he was to try to escape them. Bagheera and Kaa made plans for their attack. Kaa said he would go to the West wall and come down swiftly with the slope of the ground in his favour. He was secure that the monkeys would not throw themselves on his back in their hundreds - not so for Bagheera. They wished that Baloo was with them to even out the odds a little. There was a black cloud coming over to cover the moon and Bagheera saw this as his chance to gain the advantage of surprise. The two rescuers parted in order to launch their attacks.
While Mowgli wondered what would happen when the cloud covered the moon, he heard Bagheera's light feet on the terrace above them. Bagheera launched his attack by striking with his chisel sharp claws, since this was more effective against the hundreds of monkeys than biting would have been. There was a howl of fright and rage amongst the monkeys until Bagheera tripped over the writhing, twisting bodies beneath him. A monkey shouted "There is only one here! Kill him! Kill!". The monkeys now attacked Bagheera from all sides, scratching and biting, whilst five or six grabbed hold of Mowgli and carried him up the wall of the summer house, dropping him down through the broken dome of the roof. It was a long way down to the floor and a man-trained boy would have been badly bruised, but Mowgli had been taught by Baloo how one lands after a fall, and so Mowgli was unhurt.
Unfortunately, because the fallen dome had blocked the entrance to the summer house, he could not get out. Enough of the dome remained that he could not climb out.
The summer house was inhabited by deadly poisonous Cobra snakes - the Poison People. When Mowgli heard that he was trapped with the Poison People, he used the Master Words to speak to them. The Cobras replied that they would not attack him, but asked him to stand still so that he did not accidentally tread on them.
Meanwhile, outside, the battle was not going well for Bagheera. With the numbers stacked so severely against him, Bagheera was for the first time, fighting for his life. Mowgli, who could see through the stone lacework screen reasoned that Baloo was not far behind and yelled to Bagheera to fight his way to the water tank and to get in the water - the monkeys would not follow. Bagheera heard the call and battled his way inch by inch to the water tanks. Just then Baloo arrived and joined in the fight. Baloo hit the monkeys with his large powerful paws. A splash told Mowgli that Bagheera had reached the safety of the water tanks where the monkeys could not follow. Baloo was half smothered by monkeys when Kaa struck. He had been delayed because he found it difficult to climb the wall. The striking force of a Python is in the head. He uses it like a lance or a battering ram or a hammer weighing nearly half a ton, driven by a cool, calm, collected brain. You can imagine what a powerful fighting force Kaa made. A Python 5 feet long can knock a fully grown man over if it strikes him fairly in the chest. You can imagine the power of Kaa who was a full 30 feet long. His first strike was delivered into the crown around Baloo. The monkeys scattered with cries of "Kaa! It is Kaa! Run! Run!".
These cries brought immediate silence. Mowgli heard Bagheera shake the water off himself. Then there was panic as the monkeys tried to escape from Kaa. They climbed high up the walls and clung to the tops of the idols. Mowgli shouted to his rescuers that he was trapped in the summer house and could not get out. Kaa looked at the stone screen and found a place where it was slightly cracked. He coiled himself back and struck the screen at that spot, smashing a large hole into it that Mowgli could escape through.
Mowgli leapt through the hole and thanked Bagheera and Baloo for their efforts and worried about their injuries. They were bleeding all over. Then he thanked Kaa in a most friendly and correct manner and promised him that if a suitable situation arose in the future, he would repay the favour.
Kaa suggested that Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera should leave, since what was about to happen was not a pretty sight. Baloo went to the tank to drink and Bagheera commenced to put his fur in order. Kaa moved out into the middle of the terrace, looked at the shivering, cowering monkeys hanging onto anything that was high above the ground, and slammed his jaws shut with such a ringing snap that drew all the monkeys' attention. Kaa called "The moon is setting. Is there still enough light to see?". From the walls came a deep moan like the wind from the monkeys: "We see, 0 Kaa."
"Good. Now begins the Dance - the Dance of the Hunger of Kaa. Sit still and watch."
Kaa began a dance that hypnotised the monkeys. Baloo and Bagheera stood still and watched, and Mowgli watched and wondered. In their hypnotised state, Kaa ordered the monkeys to come to him. They were all powerless to do anything but obey. Baloo and Bagheera also started to move nearer. "Nearer" hissed Kaa, and they all came even nearer.
Mowgli laid his hand on both Baloo and Bagheera and both of these great beasts started as though they had been awakened from a dream. Kaa's spell had also hypnotised Baloo and Bagheera. Mowgli led them both away he had saved them from walking down the great Python's throat together with all the monkeys.
Bagheera pointed out all the mischief that Mowgli's playing with the Bandar-Log had caused - His own wounds, those of Baloo the sore nose of Kaa and the hurt pride of both the larger beasts in having to seek the help of Kaa. For this Bagheera punished Mowgli by hitting him with his paws. After that they went home good friends.
Mowgli is Banished
When Mowgli was 10 years old, the hatred between him and Shere Khan came to a head. Shere Khan had been plotting to have Mowgli expelled from the pack for some time. He did this by feeding the younger wolves of the pack his scraps of food. For food they were ready to believe anything he told them.Bagheera was continually warning Mowgli that Shere Khan was plotting hard to kill him one day and that he should be careful. Mowgli didn't want to listen, saying that he had the safety of the Pack and Baloo and himself and that he wasn't afraid. Bagheera told Mowgli that Shere Khan would not dare to kill him in the jungle, but, since Akela was growing old and the other Wolves who admitted him into the Pack were also growing old and would not be able to protect him much longer. Shere Khan had convinced the younger wolves that a man-cub has no place in the pack and that he should be banished. Whether he liked if or not, Mowgli would soon have to go and live with men and leave the Wolf Pack.
Bagheera told Mowgli something that no-one else in the jungle knew. Bagheera was born amongst men in a cage in the King's Palace. He had never seen the jungle until one night he felt that he was Bagheera the Panther and he broke the lock on his cage and escaped to the jungle. Knowing men's ways made him more terrible in the jungle than Shere Khan. Mowgli, being a man's cub must likewise return to men, and leave the jungle. The fact was that there was a tide of resentment amongst the animals of the jungle, because none of hem could look Mowgli in the eyes, including Bagheera. The others had come to hate him because he was able to do things that they could not. This hurt their pride.
The Law of the Jungle says that when the leader of the pack misses his kill, then he must give up the leadership of the pack, and Akela was reaching the age where each kill was costing him more and more energy. This meant that Akela's days were numbered.
Bagheera had an idea. He told Mowgli to go down to the village and steal a pot with "the red flower" (glowing embers of a fire) and bring it back for his protection, since all animals are very afraid of fire. By this time Mowgli understood his danger and vowed once and for all, that he would kill Shere Khan.
Mowgli did not hunt with the pack that night, but went down to the village to steal his red flower. On the way he heard the sound of the pack hunting. He heard the young wolves call "Akela! Akela! Let the Lone Wolf show his strength. Room for the leader of the Pack! Spring, Akela!" The Lone Wolf must have sprung and missed his hold because he heard the snap of his teeth and a yelp as the Sambour they were hunting knocked him over with his fore foot.
Mowgli dashed down to the village and stole the pot with the red flower and brought it back to the den with him. He dropped twigs into the pot and they sprang into flame. This was the red flower that the animals talked about and feared.
That night he was summoned to the Council Rock. When he got there Akela was lying beside his rock, indicating that he was no longer the leader. Shere Khan and his bunch of scrap-fed wolves strutted openly to and fro. Mowgli sat with the fire pot between his knees. When all were there Shere Khan began to speak - a thing that he would have never dared to do while Akela was the leader.
Mowgli sprang to his feet and declared that the tiger had no right to speak at the Pack Council. The wolves cried him down and insisted that he be heard, reminding Mowgli that he was a man's cub and not a wolf. The elders of the pack called for the "Dead Wolf" to speak. A leader that has missed his kill is referred to as the "Dead Wolf" for as long as he lives, which is not very long as a general rule. Akela stated that he had been tricked into missing the kill. He informed the pack that it was their right to kill him right now, but it was his right that they come one by one. None of the wolves dared to face Akela by themselves and none came forward. Finally Shere Khan roared that the fate of Akela was not important. It was Mowgli that he wanted. He demanded that the wolves hand him over right-away.
Akela offered to die without a fight if they would let Mowgli go, thus sparing at least three other wolves' lives. He reminded them that Mowgli had broken no Law of the Jungle and had helped them in every way. Bagheera reminded them of the bull with which he had paid for Mowgli's life.
It was all for nothing. The wolves began to gather around Shere Khan. Bagheera told Mowgli that they could not do anything else for him, that it was now up to him. Mowgli stood up with the fire pot in his hands. He told the wolves that, as they had decided that he was a man and not one of them, he would be a man and would call them dogs as a man would. He told them that he was in control of the situation and not them. He showed the wolves that he had the fire pot, which he referred to as a little of the red flower.
He flung the fire pot on the ground and some of the embers spilled out setting a small tuft of moss alight. The wolves sprang back in fear. He pushed a dead branch into the embers until the twigs lit and crackled, and whirled it around his head amongst the cowering wolves.
Bagheera told Mowgli that he was the master and that he should save Akela from being killed, since he had always been his friend. Mowgli called that he was leaving the jungle and was joining men. He promised that he was going to be more merciful than they had been and that he would never betray the pack. Before he went, however, he had a debt to pay. He walked over to the frightened Shere Khan and grabbed him by the tuft of fur under his chin and beat him with the burning stick. Mowgli then declared that when he next came to the Council Rock, he would come with Shere Khan's hide over his head. He told them to let Akela go free and that they were not to sit around the Council Rock anymore. With that he chased them away with the burning stick, with the wolves howling miserably with the sparks burning holes in their fur.
Mowgli began to cry and Bagheera told him this was natural, since he was now a man and should act like a man. He went to say goodbye to his Wolf family. The cubs cried miserably and vowed that they would never forget him and that they would look for him and play with him in the fields at night.
With that Mowgli turned and left the jungle for the lands of men.
Mowgli becomes a Man
Mowgli left the jungle and passed several villages before he stopped. He came to a gate made of thorn bushes that was intended to keep out the animals of the jungle. Mowgli pulled it aside and tried to make contact with the people. The village priest finally convinced one of the Villagers that he was her boy that had been taken by a tiger one night. The woman was very kind and looked after Mowgli very well.Mowgli felt uneasy because he could not understand the language of men and decided that he would learn as fast as he could. He had been taught, in the jungle, to imitate the sounds of a large number of other animals and so found no great difficulty in imitating the words that form men's language and by dark he had learnt the names of most objects in the hut.
When it came to bedtime however, he found that, although he could easily tear out a chunk of the thatch that formed the roof or break open a window to get out but he couldn't bring himself to sleep in that hut. It reminded him too much of a panther trap. Then the man and the woman closed the door for the night, he went out the window. He found a clean patch of grass at the edge of the field and stretched out on it. Before he had a chance to shut his eyes, a soft grey nose poked him under the chin. It was Grey Brother and he had news. He told Mowgli that all were well in the forest except the wolves that had been burnt with the red flower. Shere Khan had gone away to hunt far away until his coat grew again, but had sworn to kill Mowgli when he returned. Grey Brother said he would wait for Mowgli each day at the edge of the bamboo and give him news.
For the next 3 months Mowgli hardly ever left the village gate. He was too busy learning the language and customs of men. He had to get used to wearing clothes, which he did not like doing. What made him really angry was the little children of the village. Luckily the Law of the Jungle had taught him to keep his temper, but when the children made fun of him it was only the knowledge that to kill a young cub was unsporting that kept him from picking them up and snapping them in two. He had great difficulties in learning the customs and was forever making the villagers angry. The head-man decided that Mowgli should start to do some work for the village and could start herding the buffalos and cattle.
This pleased Mowgli very much and he went to the village club where the head-man, the barber and old Buldeo the village hunter would meet in the evenings and tell yarns. Old Buldeo told stories about the jungle and the animals. Mowgli, who of course knew more about the jungle and its animals, sat there shaking with suppressed laughter at the nonsense that was being told. But when Buldeo explained how the tiger that had been taking the village's children was a ghost-tiger and his body was inhabited by the ghost of a wicked old money lender and insisted that he was right because the old money lender limped after a blow he got in a riot and the tiger also limped, Mowgli could contain himself no longer. He explained that he knew the tiger and that he had limped since he was born.
The head-man decided that Mowgli should begin his herding the next morning. In Indian villages a few small boys take the buffalos and the cattle out to graze in the morning and return with them in the evening. As long as the boys stayed with the herd, they were quite safe since a tiger will not charge a herd of cattle, but if they strayed, they were sometimes taken by a tiger. Mowgli rode on the neck of Rama, the herd bull and made it plain to the other children that he was the boss.
After some distance he told the other children to graze the cattle there while he went on with the buffalos. Buffalos like to wallow in the mud, and do not like to graze in the same area as the cattle. When they reached the river, Mowgli slipped off Rama's neck and trotted over to a clump of bamboo. Grey Brother was waiting for him there with some news. It seems that Shere Khan had waited for him for some time, but had left for a while to hunt elsewhere, but on his return had sworn to kill Mowgli. Mowgli asked Grey Brother to sit on a particular rock in sight of the village if Shere Khan was not back, but to meet him in a ravine in the centre of the plain if Shere Khan was back.
Tiger, Tiger
Day after day Mowgli would lead the Buffalos out onto the plain and Grey Brother would be sitting on his rock, and so Mowgli knew that he was safe. At last came the day on which Grey Brother was not sitting on his rock. Mowgli herded the buffalos to the ravine in the centre of the plain and met Grey Brother who was waiting there with every bristle on his back lifted.Grey Brother told him that Shere Khan has hidden for a month to throw Mowgli off guard and had crossed back over the ranges together with Tabaqui the previous night and were hot on Mowgli's trail. Mowgli wasn't afraid of Shere Khan but worried about Tabaqui, who was cunning. Grey Brother laid these fears to rest when he told Mowgli that he had met Tabaqui at dawn. Tabaqui had told him Shere Khan's entire plan before Grey Brother had killed Tabaqui. The plan was that Shere Khan was going to lie in wait for Mowgli and no-one else at the entrance to the village.
Shere Khan had killed and eaten a pig that morning and was sleeping off his meal in the big ravine of the Waingunga River. Mowgli formed a plan for the death of Shere Khan. He asked if Grey Brother was able to divide the buffalo herd. Grey Brother replied that he couldn't do it by himself, but that he had brought help with him. At that an old familiar head rose from the grass. Akela! Mowgli was overjoyed to see his old friend again. Mowgli told them to separate the bulls and plough buffalos from the cows and calves. The two wolves twisted in and out between the animals that were just waiting for a chance to charge these two intruders and successfully separated the two groups. Mowgli jumped on Rama's back and gave the order for Grey Brother to drive the cows and calves into the bottom end of the ravine and to stop when they reached a part of the ravine where the sides were too steep for a tiger to escape. He then told Akela to help him drive the bulls through the forest to a point where they could enter the top end of the ravine.
When the bulls were inside the top end of the ravine, Mowgli let all the animals rest. Then he shouted into the ravine. This woke Shere Khan, who sleepily growled "Who calls?". Mowgli called back "I, Mowgli. Cattle thief, it is time to come to the Council Rock!" He then ordered Akela to force the bulls to advance down the ravine. The herd paused for a while at the edge of the slope, but Akela's yell made them charge down the ravine. Part of the way down, Rama caught the scent of the tiger and bellowed. The buffalos spread out until the outsiders were scraping against the sides of the ravine, the sides of which were getting steadily steeper. The buffalos now knew what was before them: a terrifying charge against which no tiger can hope to stand. Shere Khan heard the thunder of their hooves, picked himself up and fled down the ravine looking at the sides for a way of escape, but the walls were straight and steep. There was no foothold. He lumbered on, heavy with his dinner and his drink trying to do anything other than fight. The bulls bellowed as they charged. The cows below heard the bellow and charged uphill to join the bulls. At this Mowgli saw Shere Khan turn realising that it was better to face the bulls than the cows that were protecting their calves. Then Rama tripped and recovered over something soft under him as the two herds came together. The combined herd continued all the way back onto the plain. Mowgli chose his moment and, slipping off Rama's back beat about him with his stick.
He ordered Akela to break them up to stop them fighting amongst themselves. Akela and Grey Brother ran to and fro breaking up the heard. Rama tried to lead a new charge back up the ravine, but Mowgli managed to turn him back to the wallows. Mowgli and the two wolves went back into the ravine to Shere Khan's trampled body. With his knife, Mowgli spent the next hour skinning the ten foot long tiger with Akela and Grey Brother helping to tug at the skin as it came off.
Presently a hand fell on his shoulder - it was Buldeo with his gun. The children had told the village about the buffalo stampede and Buldeo had gone out to scold Mowgli for not looking after the herd better. The wolves dropped out of sight as the man approached. Buldeo was surprised to see the dead tiger and immediately tried to take the hide himself because the Indian Government had placed a price of 100 Rupees on its head. The old hunter went to singe the tiger's whiskers, since it was a belief that this will prevent the tiger's ghost from haunting them.
Mowgli told the old man to take away the fire, and that he himself had a use for the skin. He and Buldeo stood arguing over the carcass until it got too much for Mowgli. He called to Akela to get rid of the old man. In an instant the old man was sprawling on the grass with the Grey Wolf standing over him. Mowgli explained that there was a war between him and that tiger - a very old war - and that he had now won.
Buldeo lay there convinced that sorcery, magic of the worst kind was being performed here, with the wolf obeying the boy who in turn had private wars with tigers. He was half expecting Mowgli to turn into a tiger at any moment. After some time, old Buldeo asked him whether he intended to order Akela to tear him to pieces or whether he was going to let him go. Mowgli replied that he could go, but in future, he was not to meddle with his game. He told him to go and let peace go with him.
Old Buldeo hobbled back to the village as fast as his legs could carry him, looking over his shoulder in case Mowgli should turn into something terrible. When he returned to the village, he told a tale of magic and enchantment and sorcery that made the priest look very grave.
Mowgli continued with his work, and it was nearly dark before he and the wolves had finished their work, and drawn the great skin clear of the body. They then hid the skin and rounded up the buffalos and herded them home. When he approached the village, all the lights were on and bells in the temple were ringing. He thought that it was to celebrate his killing the tiger, but as he came closer he was met with a barrage of stones and shouts of "Sorcerer! Wolf's brat! Jungle demon! Go away, and quickly, or the priest will turn you back into a wolf" They urged Buldeo to shoot him. Buldeo fired the gun, and a young buffalo bellowed in pain. The villagers saw this as proof that what Buldeo had said was true. "He can turn bullets" they cried.
Akela suggested that the people of the village were very much like the pack. That if bullets mean anything, he had been cast out of the Village, like he had been cast out of the pack. Messua, the woman who had adopted him in the village ran across to the herd and cried that she did not believe the stories of sorcery, and said that he had avenged the death of her own son, but that he should flee because the villagers would kill him. He then stampeded the herd into the village to take the villagers off their guard so they could make good their escape.
The Last Council
Mowgli recovered the tiger skin and he and the two wolves left the village. The moon rose over the plain and made it all milky, and the horrified villagers saw Mowgli, with a bundle on his head and two wolves at his heels trotting across at a steady wolf's trot that eats up the long miles like fire. Then the villagers banged the bells and blew the conches louder than ever and Buldeo exaggerated the story of his adventure in the jungle further until he ended up by saying that he saw Akela stand up on his hind legs and talk like a man.The moon was just going down when they came to the hill of the Council Rock and they stopped at Mother Wolf's cave. Mowgli informed his family that the men had cast him out, but that he had come back with the hide of Shere Khan, just as he had promised to do. Mother Wolf told Mowgli that he had done a good job.
Behind him from the jungle, came a deep voice that said "Little Brother, it is well done. We were lonely in the jungle without you." and Bagheera came running out of the thicket to Mowgli's bare feet. They clambered up to the Council Rock together to the rock where Akela used to sit and pegged the great skin down with slivers of Bamboo, and Akela lay down on it and called the old call to the wolves - 'Look - look well, O Wolves".
Ever since Akela had stopped being leader, the pack had gone without a leader, hunting and fighting as they pleased. But they answered the call from old habit. Some of them were lame from traps that they had fallen into, and some limped from shot-wounds, and some were mangy from eating bad food, and many were missing. All the wolves that were left came to the Council Rock and saw Shere Khan's hide stretched on the rock, and the huge claws dangling at the ends of the empty dangling feet.
Mowgli called to the wolves "Look well, O Wolves. Have I kept my word?". and the wolves replied "Yes!", and one tattered wolf howled "Lead us again, Akela. Lead us again Man-cub, because we are sick of this lawlessness and we want to be the Free People again.
Bagheera purred "No! When you are well fed again then you might commit this foolishness again. You are the Free People - you fought for it, and it is yours. Eat it, Wolves."
Mowgli called that the Wolves had cast him out and men had cast him out, so he was going to hunt alone in the jungle. The four cubs of his family said they would hunt with him.
And so, Mowgli and the four cubs hunted together in the jungle from that day on. But he was not always alone, because years later he became a man and married. But that is a story for grown-ups.
The Seeonee Wolf Pack gave in to personal greed and stopped looking after the good of the pack. They found it easier to break the Law of the Jungle that had looked after them so well for all those years and live lives as lawless as the Bandar Log, and in the process they lost their self-respect, and their greed made them weaker. While they lived and hunted under the Law, they had good food and they stayed away from men and traps. These were all things that the wolves lost forever because of their deceit in breaking the Law and not being loyal to their leader, Akela.
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