Mowgli Story

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Condensed from "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling

 Once upon a time, far away in India, a great big tiger was prowling about in the jungle trying to find food. Presently he came to a place where a wood-cutter and his family were camped, and he thought it would be a grand thing to get hold of a sleeping man or, better still, a fat child for his supper.

Although he was a great strong animal he was not very brave, and he did not want to face an armed man in the open.

So he crept up close to the campfire, but in gazing at his prey he did not look carefully where he was putting his feet, and in crawling forward he trod on some hot embers. The pain made him howl, which roused the camp, and he had to go limping away hungry.

One small boy ran off into the bushes to hide, and there he met a great grey Wolf. But the Wolf was a brave and kindly animal and seeing that the child was not afraid of him he picked him up gently in his mouth as a dog does a puppy, and carried him into its cave close by.

Here the mother Wolf took care of the child and put it among her family of cubs. Shortly afterwards Tabaqui, that is the jackal, came to the tiger whose name was Shere Khan and said to him "Mr. Tiger I know where that small boy has gone to, and if you will kill him you might give me a nice little bit of him to eat as a reward for my telling you where to find him. He is in that little cave under the rock."

A jackal is a nasty sneaking kind of animal, who lets other animals do the hunting and killing, while he loafs about picking up the scraps. So Shere Khan went to the mouth of the cave, and though he could put his head inside, the opening was too small for his great body to get through, and the grey Wolf inside knew this and defied him.

The Wolf told him to go away and hunt for his food, and not to go trying to steal what other folks had captured; he must not break the Law of the Jungle which says no animal shall kill a human being because it causes more men to come to the place to hunt out the murderer, and this brings trouble on all the animals in that jungle.

Shere Khan roared with anger, and wanted to bully the Wolf with threats of what he would do to him, when Mother Wolf suddenly joined in and told him to go about his business; that she would take care of the boy, and that some day the boy would grow up and kill Shere Khan if he was not careful.

So the boy remained with the Wolves and grew up as one of the family. They called him Mowgli - and they taught him all the tricks of the jungle; how to run and how to hunt his game.

In this way he became brave and strong. Then they also took him to the Council meeting of the Pack for all the Wolves, which was held at a certain rock.

As a young wolf he had lots to learn.

In Northern Trails, by W. J. Long, you can read how a Timber Wolf learns his hunting lessons from his parents. The first lesson is to make him quick and active, and for this he is allowed to hunt grasshoppers - to leap and snap, and twist and pounce after them. Then he is not given any food, but is shown that if he wants it he must go and hunt it for himself.

He tries his pouncing and rushing dodges on birds, but very soon finds that these do not pay. If he wants to kill, he must creep and crawl and stalk, and lie in wait. If he does not learn to do the business properly, he will starve to death. His dinner depends on himself.

It is just the same with a boy who wants to become a Scout. He must first of all learn all the scouting dodges and duties from old Scouts, who can teach him. He, too, must make himself active and strong by games and exercises; he, too, must make his own way in life, but games will not do this for him. If he wants to succeed he must go about it carefully, learning all he can that will help him in whatever profession he takes up. His success will depend on himself, not on his schoolteachers or parents.

So make up your mind to be like a real Timber Wolf, and win your own success for yourself. Later on when you are a Scout you will learn how to do it when you are grown up.

Timber Wolf Handbook