Mowgli Among The Wolves

It was seven o' clock of a very warm evening in the Seeonee hills. Father wolf woke up from his day's rest. He scratched himself, yawned up and spread out his paws one after the other to get rid of the day sleeps feeling in their tips. Mother wolf lay with her big gray nose dropped across her four tumbling, squealing cubs. The moon shone into the mouth of the cave where they all lived. "Augrrh!" said Father wolf. :It is time to hunt again. "He was going to spring down hill when a little shadow with a busy tail crossed the threshold and whined.

"Good luck goes with you , O Chief of the wolves. And your noble children may never forget the hungry in this world."

It was the jackal, Tabaqui. The wolves of India despise Tabaqui because he runs about making mischief, and telling tales, and eating rags and pieces of leather from the village rubbish-heaps. But they are afraid of him to because Tabaqui, more than anyone else in the jungle is apt to go mad. And then he runs through the forest biting everything in his way. Even the tiger runs and hides when Tabaqui goes mad . We call it hydrophobia.

"Enter, then, and look," said Father Wolf stiffly, "but there is no food here."

"For a wolf, no," said Tabaqui, "But for so mean a person as myself a dry bone is a good feast. Who are we to pick and choose?" He scuttled to the back of the cave, where he found the bone of a buck with some meat on it. He sat cracking the end merrily. 

The tiger's roar filled the cave with thunder. Mother wolf shook herself clear of the cubs and sprang forward. Her eyes were like two green moons in the darkness, facing the blazing eyes of the tiger. Sher khan might have faced Father Wolf, but he could not stand up against Mother Wolf. He knew that where he was she had all the advantage of the ground, and would fight to the death. So he backed out of the cave mouth , growling.

"Sher khan speaks this much truth," said Father Wolf. "The cub must be shown to the pack. Will you still keep him?"

"Assuredly I will keep him," said Mother Wolf. "Lie still little frog O you Mowgli for Mowgli the Frog I will call you. The time will come when you will hunt Sher khan as he has hunted you."

Akela, the great gray lone wolf, who led all the pack by strength and cunning lay out at full length on his rock. "Who speaks for this cub?" said Akela. "Among the free people who speaks"? There was no answer . Mother Wolf got ready for what she knew would be her last fight if things came to fighting. Then the only other creature, who is allowed at the pack Council, was Baloo the bear. He rose upon his head and grunted:

"I speak for the man's cub. Let him run with the pack, and be entered with the others. I myself will teach him."

"We need yet another," said Akela. "Baloo has spoken, and he is our teacher for the young cubs. Who speaks beside Baloo?"