Chapter 1. Mowgli’s Brothers

The Jungle Book

One very warm evening in the Seone hills in savan India Father Wolf woke up from his days rest. Next to him laid Mother Wolf with the four cubs beside her.

- It is time to look for food – said Father Wolf and he stood up to leave the cave.

- Good luck! – said a voice.

It was the jackal Tabaqui, who eats everything and anything, even pieces of old clothes from the villages. The wolves of India do not like him because he runs around making trouble and telling bad stories about them.

- Shere Khan the Tiger is coming to look for food here – said Tabaqui.

- He can not – cryed Father Wolf. – By the Law of the Jungle he must tell us first, before he comes here to hunt.

- Shere Khan has a bad leg, so he can kill only cows. In the village near him the people are angry. That is why he is coming here - to start hunting in a new place. Listen, you can hear him now, – said Tabaqui.

- He is a stupid animal – said Father Wolf and he listened to the angry noice of a tiger who has not eaten. – No one will find anything to eat in the jungle now.

- But Shere Khan is hunting men, not animal tonight – said Tabaqui.

The Law of the Jungle sais that animals must not hunt men, because man killing brings men with guns. Then everybody in the jungle is in danger.

Father and Mother Wolf listened to Shere Khan in the jungle not far away. Then suddenly they heard a noice much nearer to them.

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

And there in front of him stood a baby who could just walk. He looked up at Father Wolf and laughed.

- Is that a man’s cub? – asked Mother Wolf. – I have never seen one. Bring it here.

The baby - small and with no clothes – pushed its way between the cubs to get near to Mother Wolf.

- Look, - she said, - he is taking his meal with the others.

- I have heard that it has happened before – said Father Wolf. – But I have never seen it until now. Look at him, he is not affraid.

***

Suddenly, it was dark and Shere Khan was pushing his great head in through the mouth of the cave.

- We are pleased that you visit us, Shere Khan, - said Father Wolf, but his eyes were angry. – What do you need?

- I am hunting a man’s cub, - said Shere Knan. – Its father and mother have run away. Give it to me.

Father Wolf knew that Shere Khan could not get inside the cave because he was too big.

- The man’s cub belongs to us, - he said. – The Pack, the other wolves and I will decide. If we want to kill him we will kill him, not you.

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

And Shere Khan’s raw filled the cave with noise.

- No, - came the angry voice of the Mother Wolf. – The man’s cub belongs to me. We will not kill him. He will live to run with the other wolves to be my son. Now go away, fish killer, eater of cubs, go!

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

- But I will have this man’s cub one day, you, theaves! – he shouted from the jungle.

- Do you really want to keep him, Mother? – said father Wolf.

- Keep him, - said Mother Wolf, - yes! He came here by night, alone and hungry, but he was not afraid. Yes, I will keep him. And I will call him Mowgli, the Frog.

- But what wll the other wolves of the Pack say?

***

By the Law of the Jungle, all wolf cub must come to the Pack when they can walk. The wolves look at the cubs carefully. Then the cubs are free to run anywhere, because all the adult wolves know them and will not attack them.

When the four wolf cubs could run a little, Father Wolf took them and Mowgli and Mother Wolf to the Meeting Rock. Here the hundred wolves of the wolf pack met every month when the moon is full. The leader of the pack was Akela – a great grey wolf. Each new wolf came to stand in front of him, and Akela said:

- Look well, o Wolves, look well!

At the end Father Wolf pushed Mowgli into the circle of wolves. Then from the trees outside the circle they heard the voice of Shere Khan.

- The man’s cub belongs to me! Give him to me!

Akela did not move, but said only:

- Look well. Who speaks for this man’s cub? Two voices who are not his father and mother must speak for him.

There is only one other animal who can come to this wolf meetings – Baloo – the sleepy brown bear. His job is to teach the Law of the Jungle to the wolf cubs.

- I speak for man’s cub, - came Baloo’s deep voice. – Let him run with the pack. I myself will teach him.

- We need another voice to speak for him, - said Akela.

Silently, another aminal jumped down into the circle. It was Bagheera, the panter, black as the night, clever, strong and dangerous.

- Oh, Akela! Will you let me speak? – said bagheera softly. – The Law of the Jungle sais it is possible to buy the life og a cub. It is bad to kill a man’s cub. He can not hurt you. Let me Let him live with you. And I will give you a fat cow newly killed which lies in the jungle not far away.

The voices of the wolvs replied: ”Let him live”. They were always hungry and they wanted to gett he dead cow. Soon they went away, and there were only Akela, Bagheera, Baloo and Mowgli’s wolf family left. They could hear the angry raws of Shere Khan in the night.

- It is good, - said Akela. – men are clever. Perhaps, this man’s cub will hel pus when he is older. Take him away – he said to Father Wolf, - and teach him well.

And so, because of Baloo’s good word and a present of a cow, Mowgli now belonged to Seone wolf pack. The story of Mowgli’s life among the wolves fills many books. But we must jump teten or eleven years now. Father wolf, Baloo and Bagheera tought Mowgli well and he learned everything about the jungle. He knew the meaning of every sound in the trees, of every song of the birds, of every splash in the water.

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