The Man----Cub

chapter 1

It was seven o'clock one warm evening in the jungle. Father wolf woke up in his cave and stretched sleepily in the moonlight. Mother wolf lay nearby with her four sweet little cubs.

Suddenly they heard shere Khan, the old tiger who lived near the river twenty miles away. He was roaring angrily.shere Khan had a bad leg,so he usually hunted only cows near the village, because they ran slowly. But his night was different. He was noisy and hungry for something else. Mother wolf knew that.

"He's hunting a Man tonight."

Father wolf was not happy. The law of the jungle says an animal can kill or eat Man only when teaching its children. There were many such laws in the jungle. All the animal followed them because they knew that there was always a good reason for this laws.

Shere Khan's roar grew louder, ending in a short terrible cry. Mother wolf knew what that meant.

"He's missed. But wait---- something's coming up the hill--- get ready!"

The leaves moved and the wolves heard a smell noise near the cave. Father wolf was ready to jump at any enemy, but then he saw a little brown baby walk out of the trees. The baby locked up into father Wolf's face and laughed.

"A Man's cub. Look!"

Mother wolf looked in wonder at the baby.

"Is that a human baby? I've never seen one before ... Bring it here."

Father wolf carefully picked up the baby in his mouth and put it down next to his own cubs.

"How little! Yet, how brave,"said Mother Wolf softly. She watched the baby push its way in beside the other cubs and begin to eat with them.

Suddenly,shere Khan's huge square head filled the mouth of the cave.

"What brings you here ,shere Khan?"

Father Wolf's words were polite, but his eyes were angry.

"A human baby went this way. Give it to me!" The hungry tiger roared

"The wolves are free and take orders only from the Head of the Pack."

Shere Khan roared more loudly and Mother Wolf jumped forward, her eyes shining like two bright green moons.

"The baby is ours. He will not be killed. He will live to run with the pack and hunt with the pack; and in the end---he will hunt you!" Now go!"

Father Wolf was suprised. He forget how she was when they first met. Like all she-wolves, she was terrifying and dengerous when she was angery. Shere Khan understood too and backed out if the cave,still hungry and growling.

"The pack must decide."

When they were alon, Mother Wolf laid herself over the cubs and Father Wolf spoke to her seriously.

"Shere Khan is right. We must present the baby to the pack .

Do you think they will let us keep him, Mother?"

"Father, he came by night, alone and hungry; yet he was not afraid! We must keep him."

Mother Wolf named the baby Mowgli. She and father wolf knew they had to follow the law of the jungle. By Jungle law, when wolf marries and has cubs, he must present them to the pack council. There, the other wolves must look at them well to remember what they look like. When they know their faces, they cannot kill them by mistake----any wolf who kills a cub must die himself. Then the cubs are free to run where they please until they are old enough to kill for thier own food. This meeting was held every month, under the full moon at council rock.

On this night, there were about forty wolves of every size and colour at the meeting place. Akela was the leader of the pack. He was a great grey wolf who hunted alone and so was known as The Lone Wolf. When it was time, Father Wolf pushed Mowgli into the centre of the circle. The baby sat there, laughing and playing with some small stones.

Then, out of the dark, they all heard the voice of Shere Khan.

"This baby is not a wolf! He's mine! Give him to me!"

There was much growling and snarling, but they listened to Akela. His eyes moved around the circles of wolves.

"Look well, O wolves! Look well! Remember the face of this cub and keep him safe! Remember too, that we do not take orders from anyone outside the pack!"

Just then, a four-year-old spoke up.

"Indeed, what do we need a human baby for?"

"The Law of the jungle says that if there is an argument about a cub joining the pack, two others of the pack who are not his father or mother must speak for him. Who speaks for this baby?"

There was only one other animal the wolves let speak at the council meetings and that was Baloo,the sleepy brown bear who taught new cubs the ways of the jungle. He slowly stepped forward into the circle.

"I speak for the Man's baby. Let him run with the pack! I myself will teach him."

There was total silence,finally broken by Akela.

"We need another voice."

A black shadow quietly entered the circle. It was bagheera,the black panther,his silky coat shining in the moonlight. Everybody in the jungle knew bagheera and respected his power and his wisdom. He was both clever and brave and everybody stayed out of his way. Although he came to the meetings at council Rock,he did not speak. But this evening, in a voice as soft as honey,he said,

"The law says that someone can buy the life of a cub, but it does not say who can or cannot buy it. May I speak?"

"Good,good!"the hungry young wolves all howled together.

"Speak then,"cried the voices of the council in the dark.

"It's a shame to kill a cub. I ask to buy the life of this baby for the price of one fat bull----newly killed."

There was much growling and noise as all the wolves spoke at the same time.They agreed that the baby was no danger to them Then came Akela's deep cry,

"Look well----look well, O Wolves!"

One by one, they went to look at the new cub. Mowgli was still playing and laughing. He did not know yet that he was now one of the pack.