Jungle Book - (Illustrated Edition of World Children's Literature)

Author: (English) Rudyard Kipling
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: At seven o'clock in the evening, the was warm and cozy. Father Wolf had rested for the whole day and now woke up, scratching himself, yawning, and stretching his paws one by one to shake off the last trace of sleep. Mother Wolf lay on the ground, her gray long muzzle resting on the four rolling and screaming cubs. The moonlight shone into the entrance of their den. "Ooh!" said Father Wolf. "It's time to go hunting again." He was about to jump down the hill when a small figure with a fluffy tail crossed the entrance, crying and saying, "Oh, blessings to you, leader of the wolf pack. And blessings to your noble children, may their white teeth grow strong and powerful, never forgetting that there are still hungry ones in the world.
This is a jackal who eats leftovers, named Tabaqui. He spreads rumors and lies everywhere, and goes to the village's garbage dump to pick up scraps and pieces of skin. The Indian wolves look down on him. But the Indian wolves are also afraid of Tabaqui. Compared to other animals in the jungle, Tabaqui is more prone to madness. When he goes mad, he forgets who he has feared in his life. He runs rampant in the forest, biting anyone who stands in his way. For wild animals, catching rabies is a great disgrace, so as soon as little Tabaqui has a fit, even the tiger will run away and hide. We call this disease rabies, and the animals call it "Devi" – meaning madness – and they run away the moment they see it.
"Then come in and see," said Father Wolf coldly. "But there's nothing to eat here."
"For a wolf, there's nothing to eat," Tabaqui said. "But for a poor and low creature like me, a dry bone is a fine meal. What are we? We are jackals, how can we be choosy?" Tabaqui hurriedly entered the den and found a male deer's bone with some meat still hanging on it. He sat happily on the ground, snapping at one end with a crunching sound.
"Thank you for this fine meal," Tabaqui said, licking his lips. "How beautiful these noble children are! Their eyes are so big! And they're so young! Honestly, honestly, how could I forget? The children of the royal family are born with such dignity."
In reality, Tabaqui knew as well as any other animal that it was improper to flatter children in person. Seeing the awkward expressions of Father Wolf and Mother Wolf, he felt pleased. Tabaqui sat steadily, feeling proud after teasing the parents of the cubs – later, he said maliciously, "Big brother Shere Khan is changing his hunting grounds. He told me that next month he will hunt in these mountains."
Shere Khan is a tiger who lives near the Viggo River, twenty miles away.
"Shere Khan has no right to do this!" Father Wolf roared. "According to the law of the jungle, he must give notice beforehand or he has no right to change his territory. All the prey within ten miles will be scared away, but what about me? Lately, I have to catch double the amount of prey."
"Shere Khan's mother calls him Langri (meaning lame), and that's not without reason," Mother Wolf said calmly. "Shere Khan was born with one leg crippled and can only hunt human cattle. Now the villagers near Viggo have been angered by him, and he is coming to bother the villagers here. When the villagers enter the jungle to hunt him, he will have already fled far away. But when the villagers set fire to the grasslands, we and the children will have to run for our lives. Then we will really have to thank Shere Khan!"