Summary

"Kaa’s Hunting 2"

This story takes place before Mowgli bests Shere Khan. This is when Baloo is teaching him the
Laws of the Jungle about all manner of beasts and plants. Bagheera wonders if it is too much for
the little boy to learn, and if Baloo’s tactics, which sometimes include a moderately rough slap,
are appropriate. Baloo responds that it is better he is hurt by one who loves him and is teaching
him rather than one who harms him due to his ignorance. Mowgli is currently learning the words
of the birds and snake people, all of which are necessary to memorize.
Mowgli joins them and Baloo quizzes him on the languages he has learned. Tenderly, Baloo
commends him and says there is no one to fear. Bagheera quietly says only the boy’s own tribe.
Mowgli dreamily says he wants to have his own tribe to lead through the branches all day.
Bagheera asks where this came from and Baloo sweeps in angrily. He asks Mowgli if he has been
talking to the Monkey-People, or the Bandar-log. Bagheera’s eyes also harden.
Mowgli says they approached him when he was smarting from Baloo’s blow. They took pity on
him, gave him things to eat, carried him through the trees, and said he was their leader.
Bagheera scoffs that they are liars and have no leaders. Mowgli explained that he likes how they
stand up like him and play all day.
Baloo explains in a serious, thunderous voice that the Monkey-People do not follow the Law of
the Jungle. They are outcasts, use stolen words not their own, do not have leaders, do not have
remembrances, are prone to boasting, and have minds full of laughter. The others do not eat or
drink with them or hunt where they hunt or die where they die. They are, he concludes, “very
many, evil, dirty, shameless” (28) and desirous of being noticed by the other Jungle-People.
Above him, a few nuts shower down on his head. Baloo and Bagheera take Mowgli away.
These monkeys enjoy tormenting other animals and they forget things all the time. They do not
wish to do Mowgli harm and like the way he plays and how he seemed like them. However, they
decide to kidnap Mowgli and bear him away, with Baloo and Bagheera’s enraged cries echoing
after them.
The monkeys swing swiftly throughout the branches and even though Mowgli is scared and
worried, he somewhat enjoys the wild, rushing ride. He can see for miles across the tops of the
green trees, something he does not often get to do.
After a time, though, he worries that his friends will never find him. He spots Chil the Kite
wheeling over the jungle, and Chil swoops down to see what the monkeys have. Mowgli cries to
him to alert Baloo and Bagheera. Chil sets out to do this.
In the meantime, Bagheera and Baloo are trying to decide what to do. Baloo is miserable and
feels guilty. Bagheera tells him not to worry, since Mowgli is wise and well-taught and has the
language of the Jungle-People. Baloo suggests going to Kaa. Bagheera is reluctant, but Baloo
says Kaa is old and cunning and always hungry. Bagheera agrees.
The two go to find the Rock-python. They discover him lying in the sun, admiring his new coat.
It is lucky he has not eaten. They all exchange greetings and Bagheera says he is hunting. Kaa
asks to come along. Bagheera suggests slyly that the Bandar-log had been criticizing Kaa as a
“footless, yellow earth-worm” (34). Kaa is visibly angry. Bagheera explains what happened to
Mowgli and admits that he and Baloo love the boy. Kaa understands, and says he will help. After
all, the Bandar-log fear him alone.
At that moment, Chil sweeps down and tells them he saw Mowgli taken to the monkey city, the
Cold Lairs. Bagheera and Baloo are elated. Bagheera and Kaa are much faster and set out with
Baloo following as he can manage.
The Cold Lairs is an abandoned Indian city. Though in ruins, it is still fascinating. There is a great
roofless palace and courtyard, a statue of an idol, fountains, and pits. The monkeys do not know
anything about what man did here but pretend that this is their domain. They frolic and play
and remember nothing. They gambol about until they get tired of the city and leave, a life
Mowgli does not understand.
One monkey explains how tremendous Mowgli’s capture was. They ask him to show them how
to weave sticks together but soon grow bored. Mowgli is tired, sore, and hungry. He realizes
everything Baloo said about these creatures is true and that he must try to escape this absurd
life.
Mowgli listens as the monkeys boast of how great they are, and thinks to himself that they are
simply mad.
Kaa and Bagheera approach quietly in the meantime, knowing how dangerous the monkeys are
in large numbers. They choose different sides and move toward the monkey’s council where
Mowgli sits in the middle.
Suddenly Bagheera throws himself into the center. The monkeys scream and attack him. Mowgli
uses the language of the Snake-People to rouse the small cobras. He is concerned to see
Bagheera fighting for his life. Mowgli yells at him to get to the water tanks. Baloo arrives,
panting but ready to fight. Bagheera fights his way to the water tank and collapses out of reach
of the monkeys. He calls out to the snakes.
As for Kaa, he has prepared quite carefully to be in the most advantageous position. He comes
straight and true and strong into the gaggle of monkeys attacking Baloo. The monkeys see what
creature it is and scream to disband. They fear him so much because of his ability to look like a
branch and to creep about noiselessly. No monkey knows how powerful he is or can even look
him in the eye.
After the monkeys run away in fear, Kaa helps break down a wall surrounding Mowgli. The
friends embrace and Mowgli solemnly thanks Kaa. He says his kill will be Kaa’s.
Before they leave the city, Kaa looks up at the monkeys in the distance and does a sinuous,
hypnotic dance. The monkeys become entranced and move toward him. Mowgli is confused,
but even Bagheera creeps forward until Mowgli stops him.
Baloo and Bagheera admonish Mowgli for his behavior and Baloo has to give the boy a beating
for punishment. Mowgli does not complain but stands up without a word. He sleeps deeply on
Bagheera’s back.

“Tiger-Tiger! 3”
After Mowgli leaves the Pack and the jungle he travels down to a village and goes inside its
gate. People begin to gather around him and shout and point. A priest joins the crowd and tells
them it is okay because this boy is a wolf-child run away from the jungle.
One woman, Messua, thinks it is her son who was taken by the tiger a long time ago, but she
realizes it is not him. The priest knows Messua is the wife of the richest man in the village and
assures her that the jungle has given Mowgli to her to replace her son.
Messua takes him to her hut and provides him food. She comments wistfully that he is just like
her Nathoo. Mowgli cannot understand what she is saying and decides he must learn the
language.
Mowgli only feels comfortable sleeping outside in the grass. That evening Gray Brother visits him
and tells him Shere Khan went to hunt far away after Mowgli singed his coat but that he is
returning and plans to kill Mowgli. Mowgli thanks him for the news and assures him that while
he loves Gray Brother and his wolf family, he will never forget being cast out of the Pack.
For three months, Mowgli is busy learning the ways and customs of men. He learns about
wearing a cloth around his waist, money, and ploughing. He does not like the little children who
anger him, and is surprised to know that here he is strong while in the jungle he was one of the
weaker beasts. He has no notion of fear and no notion of caste.
One evening, villagers gather in the club and listen to Buldeo, the old village hunter, tell tales of
the jungle. Mowgli cannot help laughing and scoffing at these tales. He boldly says Buldeo has
told not one bit of truth in his fanciful tales. Buldeo is annoyed and the head-man says it is time
Mowgli took to herding.
Mowgli begins this work with the other children, but lets them know he is in charge. Gray
Brother finds him again and says Shere Khan still means to kill him. Mowgli tells him and his
other brothers to wait in the ravine when the tiger comes.
Mowgli continues to herd, which is the laziest and slowest thing in the world. He sleeps in the
heat, listening to nature and dreaming away. Day after day, Mowgli leads the buffalo out and
watches for Gray Brother at the signal place; if he is there, the tiger is not back.
One day, Mowgli does not see his brother and knows Shere Kahn is coming. Gray Brother comes
to him and says the tiger has been hiding for a month to throw Mowgli off his guard. He is with
Tabaqui, which frightens Mowgli because the jackal is cunning, but Gray Brother says he broke
the jackal’s back. Shere Kahn is laying in the ravine waiting for Mowgli now, but has eaten and
drunk water, which will limit his ability.
The plan is to lead the buffalo into the ravine and block the exits so the tiger cannot get out.
Gray Brother says he has brought help, and the venerable Akela rises up. Mowgli is elated to see
Akela, and tells him to cut the herd in half.
The wolves begin to run in and out of the herd, forcing them to run around and protect their
calves. The herd moves deeper into the ravine where the sides are too high for the tiger to jump
out. Shere Khan will be caught between the bulls and the cows.
The tiger’s call resounds in the ravine, but quickly the beast realizes he cannot get out.
Everything is chaotic and loud and dirty and Shere Khan is trampled to death. The wolves lead
the herd out.
Mowgli skins the tiger himself and returns to the village. Buldeo is annoyed and says he will take
the skin and get the rupees for a reward. Mowgli tells Akela to make the man stop vexing him.
Akela stands over Buldeo, who is filled with fear. He thinks that Mowgli and the tiger had some
private war and that it must be sorcery of some kind. He apologizes for thinking Mowgli was just
a herd boy. Mowgli tells him not to bother him anymore, and Akela lets him go.
When Mowgli returns to the village it is in tumult, the people claiming that he is a sorcerer and a
wolf’s brat. Akela tells him solemnly that these people are like the young wolves of the pack.
Mowgli sighs that first he was kicked out of the Pack, now the village.
Messua runs out to him, calling for him. She tells him she knows he is not a sorcerer and that he
avenged her son’s life. He tells her farewell. The wolves drive the herd back in and scatter the
crowd. Mowgli says Messua was kind to him so they will not hunt here.
Back in the jungle they go to Mother Wolf’s cave and Mowgli tells her what happened. Bagheera
joins them, happy to see Mowgli. Akela calls the wolf-call once more. The young wolves want
Akela and Mowgli to lead them but Bagheera says Mowgli cannot; the madness may come on
them again and they need to truly be the Free People.
Mowgli hunts only with his four brothers.

"The White Seal 4"

Limmershin, the Winter Wren, tells this story of events that happened at Novastoshnah (North
East Point) on the Island of St. Paul. Only seals come here – thousands and thousands during the
summer and it seems a perfect place for them.
is fifteen, huge and strong, and scarred by his battles. He loves to fight but never chases seals
down the beach because it is against the Rules of the Beach. He wants room for his nursery but
so do all other seals; all seals behave like men and are sometimes stupid and unaccommodating,
especially the bachelors (the holluschickie).
Sea Catch’s wife Matkah is pleased that he found their same nursery spot but gently chides him
for fighting again. She wonders if they would be happy at Otter Island but he says only the
holluschickie go there. Sea Catch settles down for a nap but keeps an eye out for fights among
the millions of seals.
One day Matkah gives birth to her baby, Kotick, and marvels that he is going to be all white. This
is very rare, but the little seal baby does not know this. He grows and plays and meets babies of
his own age. Little seals have to learn how to swim and aren’t happy until they do. He is two
weeks old when he learns how; he also learns to avoid the Grampus, the Killer Whale who eats
young seals.
It is time to head back into the deep sea. Kotick is always learning. Matkah tells him about the
tingle that he will feel to know a gale is coming, to jump and fly, and to talk to other creatures.
Spring approaches and Kotick feels this inside. He and his friends, now holluschickie, head back
to Novastoshnah. His friends marvel at his white coat. They all dance the Fire Dance in the
evening, where their shiny coasts gleam among the breaking, crepuscular waves.
Back on shore, Kotick notices two men. One is Kerick Booterin, the chief hunter of the island, and
his son Patalamon. They are there to decide which seals to drive up to the killing pens to be
turned into sealskin jackets.
They notice Kotick’s white skin and are frightened; they think perhaps it is the ghost of Zaharrof,
a great seal now lost.
Kotick asks his friends about the men, but they do not know anything and aren’t curious. Kotick
decides to follow the men herding seals. The men notice him and hurriedly decide not to look
behind them.
Kotick follows them all the way to the seal killing-ground. He is astonished to see the men
clubbing seals, including some of his friends, and skinning them quickly. Sea-Lion sees the
horrified Kotick and tells him this thing always happens, and unless he can find an island where
no men ever go, this will continue to happen. Kotick decides he will do this, and Sea-Lion
suggests he speak to Sea Vitch, the big, ugly long-tusked walrus.
Sea Vitch is old and rather rude and will not answer Kotick’s question about such an island, but
after Kotick provokes him by raising a clamor, he tells him to find Sea Cow.
Kotick heads home, planning to set out for the mysterious Sea Cow in the autumn. Back home,
no one seems to share his interest in the island, especially as none of them have seen the killing.
His mother tells him gently that the killing will never stop and he must grow big and learn to
fight - then the men will leave him alone.
Kotick does not listen and sets out on his journey. He swims miles and miles but never meets
Sea Cow or finds the right island. He tries numerous places but none are right. One day, though,
he meets an old seal that tells him that he is from the Lost Rookery of Masafuera and that there
was a story told of a white seal who would come out of the North and lead the seal-people to a
safe place. Kotick is cheered by this tale.
Back home, his mother begs him to settle down and marry, but he says he needs one more
season to find the island. Out in the ocean, he finds a strange folk, and just as he is marveling at
their messiness and oddness, he realizes that Sea Vitch had told him what Sea Cow was like, and
this must be them. He follows them and assumes that this must be correct because if such a
stupid people did not have a safe place, they’d be exterminated by now.
Kotick follows them and wearies at their slow pace until suddenly they begin to move more
quickly. Finally they arrive at the most beautiful, desolate beach Kotick has ever seen. He knows
intuitively men have never come here. Ships cannot approach due to the line of bars and shoals
a few miles off the shore.
It takes Kotick ten days to get home but when he does, he tells people about it. Most are
hesitant, but when a young seal is rude to Kotick, Kotick asks if he wins the fight will they come
with him? The seal agrees, and Kotick bests him ably. He had kept in shape and never fasted,
and his own father watches him and claims he is the best fighter on the beach.
The other seals agree to follow the victorious Kotick, and a week later most of the seals on the
beach of Novastoshnah set out. Over time all of them come, and there they live free from the
reach of man.
“Rikki-Tikki-Tavi 5”
This is the story of Rikki-tikki-tavi, a mongoose, and how he bested the snakes in a Segowlee
cantonment. He had been flushed out of his burrow and was lying prostrate on a path when a
small boy found him. The father and son brought him home and let him run around. The mother
was a bit hesitant about him, but the father assured her that he is a safe and very useful
creature. Rikki-tikki sleeps on the boy Teddy’s pillow.
Rikki-tikki enjoys his life here and is exceedingly curious about everything. His mother told him
what to do if he ever was around white men, so he goes into the garden to observe the
conditions there. He meets Darzee, the tailorbird, and his wife, who are sad because one of their
eggs fell out of the nest and Nag ate it.
Rikki-tikki asks who Nag is. Suddenly a large black cobra rises up out of the grass and proclaims
that he is Nag, and that he has the spectacle-mark on his back. Rikki-tikki asks if he thinks it is
okay to eat fledglings out of the nest and Nag asks him if it is not right that Rikki-tikki eats eggs
and he eats birds.
Darzee calls out to Rikki-tikki to watch out behind him, and he jumps out of the way of Nagaina,
Nag’s wife. Nagaina moves past him swiftly with a hiss of anger. Nag rises up in anger at Darzee.
Rikki-tikki’s eyes grow red and hot, but the snakes disappear into the grass.
Later Rikki-tikki thinks about the seriousness of this matter. He walks with Teddy outside, and
when the boy reaches down to pet him something else wriggles in the dirt and whispers of
death. Rikki-tikki hears the voice and kills Karait, the tiny, dusty snakeling. He chooses not to eat
him because he does not want to get full and slow. Teddy calls for his parents and they rush out.
They praise Rikki-tikki for saving their son and shower him with attention.
That night, Rikki-tikki sleeps with Teddy as usual, but worries about Nag and his wife. He takes
his nightly walk around the house and runs into Chuchundra, a weak, little muskrat. Chuchundra
begs Rikki-tikki not to kill him and Rikki-tikki scoffs that he does not kill muskrats. Chuchundra
cries fitfully and tells Rikki-tikki that something is happening, and that he ought to listen
carefully. Rikki-tikki does, and hears “the dry scratch of a snake’s scales on brickwork” (98).
Rikki-tikki rushes over to Teddy’s bathroom, then his mother’s. He hears the snakes talking
quietly outside. Nagaina says the mongoose will leave when all the people are dead and the
garden will be theirs again; they will need all of it for their children who are about to hatch. Nag
agrees to kill the people.
Rikki-tikki watches the massive snake slither into the bathroom and is unsure what to do, as he
cannot have Nagaina hear him kill her husband and he cannot fight the snake on the open floor.
He hears Nag hiss to his wife that he will wait here for the man to come in the morning when he
will not have his stick. He coils around the bulge at the bottom of a water jar.
Rikki-tikki stays completely still and after a time he creeps noiselessly closer. Nag is asleep, and
Rikki-tikki plots how to get a good hold and break his back at the first jump. He knows it must
be the head and that he cannot let go or he will perish.
Nag’s head is a bit clear of the jug and Rikki-tikki makes his jump. His eyes glow red and he is
whipped to and fro by the snake but he holds his teeth as hard as he can. Even if he dies he
wants to be found with his teeth gripping the creature. He is growing dizzy when he hears a
noise like a thunderclap. The man had heard the noise and came in with his shotgun. The man
calls for his wife and shakily says the little mongoose saved them again.
In the morning, Rikki-tikki is sore but ready to take on Nagaina. He finds Darzee, but is annoyed
that the bird is singing a song of triumph. He orders Darzee to tell him where Nagaina is, and
the bird tells him she is on the rubbish-heap by the stables. He also says the eggs are hidden in
the melon-bed. Rikki-tikki is annoyed that the bird didn't tell him this earlier, but Darzee had
initially thought that because the snakes had eggs and the birds had eggs that it would be
unjust.
Darzee’s wife, though, knows that these eggs will soon be cobras. She nears Nagaina and
pretends to have a broken wing. She hobbles away and the snake follows her hungrily. Rikki-
tikki sneaks into the litter and sees twenty-five eggs with little cobras ready to hatch any minute.
He destroys them all save one.
Suddenly he hears Darzee’s wife scream that Nagaina means to kill. Rikki-tikki hurries to the
veranda where he sees the family sitting stone-still in fear and the snake coiled up within
striking distance of Teddy’s leg.
She sees Rikki-tikki and hisses that she is going to take care of the family first, then Rikki-tikki.
He sneers that all of this is for naught, because she has no eggs anymore save one that he
holds. As she turns, Rikki-tikki sees Teddy’s father grab the boy and fling him up on the table.
Rikki-tikki boasts that Nag is dead and the boy is safe. He tells her she must fight him alone.
Nagaina veers up and strikes multiple times but misses Rikki-tikki. She coils like a watch spring
and strikes, but Rikki-tikki evades her. He forgets the egg and she grasps it and slithers away. He
rushes after her and sees her escape into her hole. Though most mongooses would not do that,
he grabs her tail and follows her down.
Darzee mournfully sings that Rikki-tikki is dead, but after a moment the mongoose emerges,
shakes the dust off his body, and sneezes. He announces that Nagaina is dead, and tells Darzee
to tell Coppersmith, the loud bird, of the death.
All the birds and frogs in the garden sing with delight. Teddy’s parents praise him and Teddy’s
father almost cries. Teddy’s mother feeds him until he is stuffed.
Rikki-tikki is proud but not too proud, and keeps the garden free from snakes until the end of
his days.

“Toomai of the Elephants 6”

Kala Nag (“Black Snake”) is a very old and beloved elephant who serves the Indian Government.
He has served in innumerable situations and never shown fear, he has watched other elephants
die, and he makes sure young elephants behave.
The Indian Government has a department devoted to hunting, catching, breaking in, and
sending off elephants to work. Kala Nag is an excellent fighter and trainer of these wild
elephants.
His trainer, Big Toomai, is proud of his beast and says Kala Nag is afraid only of him. Little
Toomai, Big Toomai’s ten-year-old son, bursts out that Kala Nag is afraid of him too. In truth,
Kala Nag knows that Little Toomai is going to be his master someday and loves the boy. Little
Toomai will one day ride the elephant’s neck and carry the elephant-goad.
Big Toomai chides his son about his scampering about and sighs that he does not like this
hunting and camp life and prefers to get back to military training. Little Toomai is silent because
he likes this wild life and jungle. He likes the curving paths and hot rains and animals. He loves
watching Kala Nag with the wild elephants in the stockade-posts.
One night Little Toomai steals out of bed and runs into the training grounds (the Keddah) and
helps throw up a rope that had gotten loose. Kala Nag sees him, scoops him up, and gives him
back to Big Toomai. Big Toomai scolds his son for meddling and trying to get into elephant-
catching on his own and that the low-paid hunters have run off to tell Peterson Sahib, “the
greatest white man in the world to [Little Toomai]... who caught all the elephants for the
Government of India” (112). He angrily sends his son away, saying he cannot wait to get back to
his calm, leisurely life away from the hunting.
Over the next few days, the men start preparing to depart. Peterson Sahib enters the camp on
his she-elephant Pudmini. He pays the men for their work and the men then line up to prepare
to leave. He hears the men talking of the person who went into the Keddah and grabbed the
loose rope, and learns that it was not a man but a boy.
Peterson Sahib walks over to Little Toomai and asks his name. The boy is nervous, and gestures
to Kala Nag. Kala Nag tosses him up on his shoulders so the boy is level with Pudmini. Peterson
Sahib laughs, tosses him money, and teases him about stealing corn. Big Toomai is embarrassed
but Peterson Sahib commends the boy facing a full Keddah at such a young age. He says they
are not places for young boys to play, but when he has seen the elephants dance then he will let
Little Toomai go into all the Keddahs. All the men roar with laughter because this is an old joke
that means never.
Later Big Toomai is irked by his son, but Little Toomai is happy that Peterson Sahib noticed him
and gave him money.
Some of the drivers complain about the restlessness of the animals on their journey, wondering
if they hear their wild brethren. One driver tells Little Toomai that the wild elephants will indeed
dance and that Big Toomai better double-chain his creatures. Big Toomai scoffs at the man but
he replies to wait and see.
That night the hill-drivers return to Peterson Sahib and the plains-drivers are left. In the evening,
Little Toomai sits, ruminating on his happiness. He thumps a tune alone in front of Kala Nag. The
elephants strain at their chains. He slowly falls asleep next to Kala Nag.
The night is full of soft noises that “taken together, make one big silence” (118). Little Toomai
wakes and stares up at the stars. Suddenly he hears a hooting from the wild elephants and the
elephants in the line stand to attention. Some of the men wake and fix their restraints tighter.
Kala Nag looks out into the jungle, lit by the moon. Big Toomai tells Little Toomai to look after
him, and returns to sleep.
Some time later, Little Toomai sees Kala Nag quietly snap his string, roll out of the picket, and
move to head into the jungle. Little Toomai calls to him to take him with him, and the elephant
silently tosses him up to his neck and strides into the jungle.
Kala Nag walks and walks, mostly silently. Little Toomai watches the tops of the trees go by and
“felt that the forest was awake below him awake and alive and crowded” (119). Kala Nag heads
down into the valley, ploughing creepers and flattening the underbrush. The night mist is chilly
and sometimes Little Toomai almost falls off due to a wayward branch. He begins to hear
splashing and trumpeting and marvels that the elephants really are out tonight for the dance.
Finally, Kala Nag arrives at a circle of trees that grows around an irregular space at the top of a
hill. More and more elephants begin to arrive, flattening the earth around them. They are loud
and crashing until they arrive; then they are perfectly silent. There are all manner of creatures -
wild old males, craggy females, young males, tiny babies. Even Pudmini arrives. Toomai watches
them all and knows as long as he is on Kala Nag’s neck he is safe.
Kala Nag moves to the center, clucking and gurgling. He sits in the darkness making his noises.
Suddenly one thunders loudly and the others join in and stamp their feet, loud as war-drums.
The elephants surge and trumpet and shuffle and boom; Toomai holds on tightly for at least two
hours.
Morning breaks. The clearing is larger than it was the previous evening. Little Toomai is
exhausted, and tells Kala Nag to follow Pudmini back to camp. They approach the camp and
Little Toomai espies Peterson Sahib, and right before fainting, tells him he saw the elephant
dance.
The old, scarred hunters and Peterson Sahib are standing above Little Toomai when he wakes.
He tells them what happened and where the clearing is, and then falls back asleep. Peterson
Sahib and Machua Appua, the head-tracker, follow the boy’s directions and realize that he was
telling the truth. They see the place where Pudmini’s irons cut a tree, and Appua marvels that a
child has seen this dance.
They return to camp and Peterson Sahib orders food for a feast. Everyone honors Little Toomai,
and Machua Appua holds him above his head and says he shall now be known as Toomai of the
Elephants just as his grandfather was. He will become the greatest tracker of them all and all the
elephants (now he faces the beasts) must acknowledge him. The elephants trumpet gloriously,
and it is the cry that normally only the Viceroy of India hears. Now, though, it is for Little Toomai.

“Servants of the Queen 7”

Thirty thousand men and animals are gathered at Rawal Pindi to be reviewed by the Viceroy of
India. It has been raining for a month. The Viceroy receives a visit from the Amir of Afghanistan,
who has brought eight hundred of his own men and camels and horses who do not quite
understand camp life. Every night the horses bray and stampede or the camels break loose.
One night, the narrator hears a man say to run because the animals are coming. He and his fox
terrier, Little Vixen, run out of their tent into the night. He nears the artillery lines to take cover
and settles down to try and sleep. Near him are a mule and a camel, and since he knows a bit of
beast-language, he can hear them talking.
The mule asks the camel, annoyed, if he and his friends disturbed the camp. He gives the camel
a kick and the camel whimpers. A troop-horse joins them, complaining about the camels
racketing through the lines. The mule agrees with him that the camels are sickening.
The camel says quietly that he and his friends simply had bad dreams and were afraid. The mule
says that the gun-bullocks are now awake, which is not a common thing.
Another battery mule dragging a chain comes near, calling for “Billy.” The old mule tells the
horse that he is Billy and the young recruit is calling for him. Gun-bullocks also walk over and
join them. Billy rebukes the younger mule for his querulous behavior but the troop-horse says
all recruits are like this.
Billy gruffly tells the younger mule that the situation is always like this and he ought not to be
afraid of having to wear a harness with chains. The young mule blubbers that he was more
afraid of hearing things and having his head-rope break and not being able to find Billy.
The gun-bullocks mumble that they knew to come here and wait in the mud when the camels
went crazy. The young mule is afraid of the bullocks, clearly, but also appears embarrassed and
angry. The troop-horse councils him not to be angry because he is afraid, as this is the worst
type of cowardice.
The troop-horse and Billy talk about being taught to be bridle-wise. Billy explains stiffly that they
are taught to obey the man at their head and to step when he says so. The troop-horse explains
that they must trust their man because the situation is perilous when there is noise, knives, and
chaos. Billy harrumphs that it is best to stay away from knives and go as far up a mountain as
possible. The troop-horse is impressed that the mules can do this and Billy says they prepare for
a long time and must learn not to be visible on the skyline.
The camel nervously adds that he has fought too, but not by running or climbing. The others ask
what he means and he says that the camels sat down in the center square and the men piled
things on and around them and then fired over their heads. All he has to do is sit still and wait
no matter how much smoke or fire there is. Billy is impressed but says it is odd that they have
bad dreams at night and disturb the camp if they can handle such fighting.
A gun-bullock lifts his head and says the only way of fighting is to yoke twenty of them to the
guns as soon as Two Tails, the camp elephant, trumpets. They do not climb or run, but move
and then stand and graze, and then do the same thing again. Sometimes some are killed, but
that is Fate. Actually, he adds, Two Tails is a great coward, but the bullocks are brothers from
Hapur and their father was the sacred bull of Shiva.
The troop-horse says he has learned a lot tonight and that “every one is not made in the same
way” (136). However, he alludes to Billy’s father being a donkey, which angers Billy, who in turn
calls the troop-horse the insult of “Brumby” (wild horse). They almost come to blows until Two
Tails arrives and tells them to be quiet.
Both the horse and the donkey agree that they do not like Two Tails. The bullock asks the
elephant why he is afraid of the guns when they fire and he says, “I can see inside my head what
will happen when a shell bursts; and you bullocks can't” (137). He knows he is big and if he is
hurt he will have to be taken care of and he does not trust his driver.
They all discuss how they know what blood is and how it disturbs them. Two Tails muses that if
he were wiser he would king of the forest as he once was. He grows angrier and trumpets, which
bothers Billy and the troop-horse.
The narrator realizes Vixen has come to him at last. Two Tails is annoyed and scared by the little
dog. Vixen runs up to the narrator and yaps her story, though she does not know he knows
beast-talk.
The young mule wonders aloud why they have to fight at all, and the troop-horse snorts that it
is their orders. Billy adds that all they have to do is obey the man at their head and do not ask
questions; Two Tails agrees.
The bullocks say morning is coming and they will go back to their lines. They also state solemnly
that they were the only ones who were not afraid this evening.
The troop-horse asks where the little dog is, and Vixen bursts out that he is here. The bullocks
become agitated because they know that a white man must be near and that white men eat
bullocks.
Billy and the young mule depart. The troop-horse nuzzles the narrator and he gives him biscuits
while Vixen yaps false tales of how many horses they worked with. The troop-horse says he must
get back to Dick and prepare for the parade.
The big parade is held in the afternoon and the narrator and Vixen sit near the Viceroy and Amir.
The narrator watches all the animals he heard the previous night. Rain begins to mist. The
massive numbers of troops and animals are actually quite frightening in their immensity and
power, and spectators would be forgiven in thinking it was not just a review.
The review ends and the regiments return to their tents. The narrator hears an older Central
Asian chief ask a native officer how this wondrous thing was done, and the officer says an order
was given and they obeyed. Every creature obeys his or her superior up the line. The chief muses
that he wishes this were so in Afghanistan, where they obey only their own wills. The native
officer smiles that for this reason the Amir, whom they do not obey, must come here and take
orders from their Viceroy.

“How Fear Came 8”

The Law of the Jungle is the oldest law in the world and is as perfect as time and custom can
make it. Mowgli is learning this law but does not think too deeply about it as a young boy.
However, the Law becomes very real to him the winter when the rains fail. Sahi the porcupine is
the first to realize what is happening, and tells Mowgli the yams are drying up. Mowgli
tells Baloo and the bear is grave. He says he would change his hunting grounds if he was alone,
and that they must wait and see if the mohwa blooms.
The mohwa, sadly, does not bloom in the spring. The heat creeps into the jungle. Green things
wither and die. The birds and monkey-people feel what is happening and go north as early as
they can. Chil the Kite grows fat with the dead. The sun kills the jungle for three days’ worth of
miles each way.
Mowgli has never known real hunger until now. All game is skin and bones, and water is
extremely scarce.
Finally, Hathi the wise elephant declares the Water Truce as his father had done fifty years prior.
The news spreads throughout the jungle. This truce declares that it is death to kill at the
drinking-hole because all creatures must have water. In normal times creatures who drink here
must be wary for their lives, but not during the Truce.
Mowgli comes here in the night for companionship and the cool air. He is thin and naked and
his hair is bleached blonde. His eye remains serene and alert, though, as Bagheera advised him
“to move quietly, hunt slowly, and never, on any account, to lose his temper” (153).
One night, Mowgli worries about the rains never coming back and Bagheera assures him they
will. Upstream Hathi, the wild elephant, and his two sons stand drinking and rocking to and fro.
More animals arrive, talking and drinking. Someone says the men are suffering too. Baloo asks
Hathi if he has seen drought like this and the old elephant says it will pass.
Not long after, Shere Khan creeps down, enjoying the sensation of fear that ripples through the
other creatures. He sneers that the jungle is a place for naked cubs now, and begins to grumble
that Mowgli is neither a man nor a cub.
Shere Khan then states coolly that he killed a man an hour before. This shocking news spreads
rapidly, especially when Shere Khan adds that it was for choice, not food. The tiger tells Hathi it
was his Night. Hathi is grave but understands, and tells the tiger it was his right to kill but that
he should leave now and not defile the river. Shere Khan slinks away, annoyed but aware that
Hathi is the true Master of the Jungle.
Because the other animals are confused, Hathi decides to tell the story of why it is the tiger’s
right. Everyone quiets down. Hathi begins by saying that in the beginning of the jungle, all the
animals walked amongst each other without fear. They ate only plants. The Lord of the Jungle
was the elephant Tha, who rose the jungle up out of the deep waters. The Jungle People knew
nothing of Man. Over time they began to quarrel and get lazy. Tha could not control everything
so he made the tiger the master and judge of the Jungle. The First of the Tigers was large and
beautiful, but had no stripes at that time. One night, two bucks got into a grazing quarrel and
the Tiger forgot his place and leapt up and killed one. Until that point, no one had seen death.
The smell of blood made everyone foolish. The Tiger ran away and Tha asked who now would
lead, and the Gray Ape said he would. Tha laughed and left.
The Gray Ape was not a good leader and began to mock and cajole. Tha brought everyone back
together and chided them for bringing Death and Shame. It was time for a Law, and now they
would know Fear. The animals did not know what Fear was, but the buffalos said they saw Fear
in a cave. Fear had no hair and walked on his hind legs. Some traveled to see Fear and when this
Man sees them and cries out, his voice fills them with Fear. The animals then began to separate
by tribe.
The First of the Tigers decided he will go kill the Man, but as he neared the cave the creepers
and trees marked him with stripes, which his ancestors still bear to this day. The Man saw him
and identified his stripes, and the tiger ran away in fear. The Tiger returned to Tha and asked for
his power back, but Tha told him that when he killed the buck, he brought Fear into the jungle
and now all others feared the tiger. The Tiger’s pride was broken when he saw that it was true
and he begged Tha to let him exist once more without shame or fear. Tha said he would give
him one night a year as it was before Death, and he will meet Man and not be afraid.
The Tiger was content first, but then nursed his hatred throughout the year. His appointed night
came and he found Man and killed him. He was happy because he thought he had killed Fear
itself, but when he told Tha the elephant as angry and told him now more men will come.
Overall, though, Hathi concludes, there is only one night a year when the Tiger walks through
the village and boldly looks men in the eyes and they fear him. Other times he kills by jumping
from behind. Mowgli says that he is not a Man but one of the Free People and is thus not afraid.
He also asks Baloo why, if Baloo knew this story before, he did not tell Mowgli. Baloo smiles that
there are so many jungle tales to tell.