CHAPTER ONE
The Man-Cub
CHAPTER TWO
The Pack Council
CHAPTER THREE
Lessons with Baloo
CHAPTER FOUR
Kidnapped!
CHAPTER FIVE
The Cold Lairs
CHAPTER SIX
Rescued!
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Red Flower
CHAPTER EIGHT
Village Life
CHAPTER NINE
Tiger! Tiger!
CHAPTER TEN
The Homecoming
Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay in 1865 and educated in England. When he was 17, Kipling returned to India, and there he began to write. He spent much of his life travelling, and he was living in America when he wrote The Jungle Book.
It was a warm evening in the jungle. In a cave high in the hills, Mother Wolf lay with her four cubs playing and tumbling around her. Father Wolf woke from his day’s rest, yawned and stretched his strong legs. It was time to go hunting.
Suddenly a blood-curdling roar filled the air. The wolves recognized the sound. It was made by a tiger, but not just any tiger.
Mother Wolf peered out of the cave. There was a rustling of leaves nearby. She stared in amazement as a tiny brown baby came crawling out of the bushes!
‘Quickly, bring the little one to me,’ she said to Father Wolf. At once, Father Wolf went to the baby. He picked him up as gently as he would pick up one of his own cubs. His sharp teeth didn’t even mark the smooth skin.
He laid the baby at Mother Wolf’s side. The baby sat up and smiled, and then he pushed between the cubs to get closer to Mother Wolf.
‘How soft he is,’ sighed Mother Wolf. ‘And not in the least bit afraid of us.’
Suddenly the cave went dark. Shere Khan’s great head and shoulders filled the entrance.
‘What do you want?’ asked Father Wolf, standing in front of Mother Wolf and the cubs.
‘I was hunting a man-cub,’ growled Shere Khan. ‘His parents ran off. I saw him come this way. Give him to me!’
Father Wolf wasn’t frightened. He knew that the huge tiger couldn’t squeeze into the cave.
‘The cub is ours now,’ he said.
‘How dare you! Give me the man-cub!’ roared the angry Shere Khan.
At that, Mother Wolf sprang forward. ‘The man-cub is mine!’ she cried, her eyes blazing with anger. ‘He shall not be killed by you. He shall live with us, as one of our own cubs. Leave us in peace. Go back to your own part of the jungle!’
Shere Khan knew that it was useless to argue. He backed out of the cave. But, as he did so, he shouted, ‘The man-cub shall
‘We won’t let that tiger come near you again,’ Mother Wolf said softly to the baby. The baby gurgled happily.
‘What shall we call him?’ asked Grey Brother, the eldest of the cubs.
‘Let’s call him Mowgli,’ said Mother Wolf.
‘And when he is grown up he shall hunt Shere Khan,’ added Father Wolf.
Mowgli laughed innocently. He knew nothing yet of the adventures he would have as he grew up in the jungle!