Mowgli is a boy who found himself in the forest and was raised by a family of wolves. The protagonist has learned to survive in the jungle, makes friends there and fights with them against his enemy - the evil tiger Sher Khan. A tale of friendship, kindness and devotion.
Fairy tale Brothers Mowgli download:
It was a very hot evening in the Zionian mountains. Father Wolf woke up after a day's rest, yawned, scratched himself, and stretched out his front paws one by one to drive the rest of the weight out of them. Mother Wolf lay with her big gray muzzle covering the four floundering, squealing cubs, and the moon shone through the opening of their cave.
- Ogur! .. - said Father Wolf. It's time for me to go hunting.
And he was already preparing to set off along the slope of the mountain, when a small shadow with a fluffy tail appeared near the entrance to the cave and plaintively squealed:
- May good luck accompany you, O leader of the wolves, may fate give your noble children strong, white teeth; May happiness smile upon them. And don't forget the hungry!
The jackal Tabaki, the sycophant, spoke. Tabaqui was despised by the wolves of India for causing trouble, gossiping and eating rags and scraps of leather in rural garbage dumps. However, in the jungle they were afraid of him, because jackals are able to go crazy, and in this state they forget all fear, run through the forests and bite everyone they meet. When the little jackal goes crazy, even the tiger hides from him. Indeed, for a wild creature, madness is the greatest shame! We call this disease rabies, but in the jungle it is called divani, madness.
“Come in and have a look,” the Wolf told him dryly, “only there is nothing edible in the cave.”
“For a wolf, no,” said Tabaki, “but for such a modest creature as I, even a gnawed bone is a magnificent feast.” What are we, Jidur log - a tribe of jackals - to choose and try?
With small steps, he ran into the very depths of the cave, found a deer bone with the remains of meat there, sat down and began to gnaw it with pleasure.
“Greetings of thanks for the wonderful meal,” he said, licking his lips. - What handsome, noble children! What big eyes they have! And so young too. However, what am I? I should have remembered that royal children are adults from the first day of their lives.
Tabaki, like everyone else, knew perfectly well that praises spoken to children in the face bring them misfortune, and he was pleased to see that the parent wolves were alarmed.
Tabaqui sat silently rejoicing that he had made trouble for them, then said contemptuously:
“Shere Khan has changed hunting grounds. He told me that he would be hunting in these mountains for the next moon.
Shere Khan was a tiger who lived twenty miles from a cave near the Wengunga River.
“He has no right to do that,” Father Wolf began angrily. “According to the Laws of the Jungle, he has no right to change the place of hunting without warning. He'll scare all the game ten miles away, and I--I've got to hunt these two days.
“It was not for nothing that Shere Khan’s mother called him Lungri, lame,” the she-wolf remarked calmly. “He has been lame since the day he was born, and that is why he has always killed only livestock. In the village of Wengunga they are angry with him, and now he has come here to annoy "our people". They will search the jungle when he runs away, and the children and I will have to flee from the grass they set on fire. Indeed, we can thank Shere Khan.
Would you like to convey your gratitude to him? Tabaki asked.
- Get out! – clanging his teeth, said Father Wolf. – away; go hunting with your master. You've given us enough trouble.
"I'll go," Tabaki replied calmly. “Do you hear Shere Khan growling in the thickets? I might not even tell you about it.
Father Wolf listened; in the valley, which descended to the stream, there was a dry, angry, prolonged grumbling of a tiger that had not caught anything, which was not ashamed that everyone in the jungle knew about its failure.
"Fool," said the wolf. – He starts work with such noise! Does he really think that our deer are like his fattened bulls?
- Shh! Today he hunts not for a deer and not for a bull, - said the she-wolf. “His game is man.
The grumbling turned into a loud growl that seemed to come from all directions. It is this sound that makes lumberjacks and gypsies sleeping under the open sky lose their minds; it is when they hear him that they sometimes rush straight into the mouth of the tiger.
“Man,” said Father Wolf, baring his white teeth. - Ugh! Are there really not enough water beetles and frogs in the swamps so that he still eats a person, and even in our places.
The law of the Jungle, never commanding anything for no reason, allows beasts to eat a man only when the beast kills him, wanting to show his children how to do it, but then he must hunt outside the hunting grounds of his pack or tribe. The real reason for this is that after killing a man, sooner or later, there are white men on elephants and with guns and hundreds of brown people with gongs, rockets and torches. And everyone in the jungle suffers. However, among themselves, the animals say that the Law forbids killing a person, because he is the weakest and defenseless of all living creatures, and, therefore, it is unworthy of a hunter to touch him. In addition, they assure - and rightly - that cannibals are terribly thin and lose their teeth.
The growl grew louder and suddenly there was a “ar-r-r,” a short cry of a falling tiger.
“He missed,” Mother Wolf said. – What is there?
Shere Khan could be heard rushing from one bush to another with a ferocious grunt.
“This fool has so little sense that he jumped on the woodcutter’s fire and burned his paws,” said the Wolf. - Tobacco with him.
- And who goes up the slope? asked Mother Wolf and pricked up one ear. - Get ready!
Leaves rustled more often. The wolf settled on its hind legs, ready to pounce on its prey. Then, if you were watching him, you would see the most amazing thing in the world: a wolf stopped in the middle of a jump. Not yet seeing what he was throwing himself at, the beast jumped and at that very moment tried to stop. As a result, he rose to four or five feet from the ground and fell on his paws, almost to the same place from which he began the attack.
"Man," he said curtly, "man's cub!" Look.
Just opposite the wolf, holding on to one of the low branches, stood a small, completely naked, brown boy who had just learned to walk, all soft, all dimples. He looked directly into the eyes of the wolf and laughed.
“So this is a human cub,” said Mother Wolf. “I never saw them. Give it here.
A wolf, accustomed to carrying its cubs, in case of need can take a fresh egg into its mouth without breaking it, and therefore, although the jaws of the beast grabbed the child by the back, not a single tooth scratched the skin of the little boy. Father Wolf carefully placed him between his cubs.
- How small! Completely naked! And what a brave one,” Mother Wolf said softly.
The child pushed the cubs aside to get closer to her warm skin.
- Oh, yes, he feeds with the others! That's the human cub! Well, tell me: was there ever a she-wolf in the world who could boast that a human cub lives between her cubs?
“I heard that such things happened, but not in our pack and not in our day,” said Father Wolf. “He has no hair at all, and I could kill him with one swipe of my paw. But look: he looks and is not afraid.
The moonlight ceased to penetrate the opening of the cave; Shere Khan's large square head and shoulders obscured the opening. And behind the tiger Tabaki squealed:
“My lord, my lord, he entered here!”
“Shere Khan does us a great honor,” said Father Wolf, but there was anger in his eyes. "What does Shere Khan want?"
“A man cub has entered here,” the tiger replied. “His parents ran away. Give it to me.
As the wolf had said, Shere Khan had jumped into the woodcutter's fire and was now raging from the pain in his burnt paws. But Father Wolf knew that the tiger could not enter the opening of the cave, which was too narrow for him. And so already the edges of the side stones squeezed Shere Khan's shoulders and his paws cramped; a man would feel the same if he tried to fit into a barrel.
“Wolves are a free people,” said the head of the family. “They listen to the leader of the pack, not some striped livestock eater. The man-cub is ours; we'll kill him if we want.
You want it, you don't want it! What are these conversations? I swear by the bull I killed, I will not stand by sniffing your doghouse and asking for what is rightfully mine. I say it, Shere Khan.
The roar of the tiger filled the entire cave like thunder. Mother Wolf shook off her cubs and rushed forward; her eyes, shining in the darkness like two green moons, looked straight into Shere Khan's glowing eyes.
- You speak, and I answer, Raksha. My human cub, lame! Yes, mine. They won't kill him! He will live, run with the flock, hunt with the flock and, in the end, he will kill you, the pursuer of small naked cubs, the eater of frogs and fish! Yes, he will kill you! Now get out or, I swear by the sambhur I killed (I don't eat dead cattle), you burnt animal will go to your mother, limping worse than on the day you were born! Leave!
Father Wolf looked at her in amazement. He almost forgot the day on which, after a fair fight with five other wolves, he took his girlfriend with him; or the time when she ran in the pack and was called the Demon for more than one courtesy. Shere Khan could face the Wolf Father, but he did not want to fight Raksha, knowing that all the benefits were on her side and that she would fight to the death. Therefore, with a terrible grunt, he backed away, freed himself from the entrance to the cave, and finally shouted:
Every dog barks in his yard! We'll see if the flock itself will say something about this tenderness with a foster child from the human tribe! He is mine and will eventually fall into my teeth, I tell you, you furry-tailed thieves!
The she-wolf, panting, rushed back to her cubs, and Father Wolf seriously said to her:
“Shere Khan is right about that. The human cub must be shown to the pack. Tell me, do you still want to keep it?
- Do I want to? she said. - He is hairless, hungry, he came at night, all alone, but meanwhile he was not afraid. Look, he pushed one of my kids away! This lame villain would have killed him and fled to Wengung; people would come to us and destroy all our lairs in revenge. Do I leave it with me? Well, of course. Lie down, lie down, little frog, oh you Mowgli... Yes, yes, I will call you Mowgli the frog... and one day you will hunt Shere Khan as he hunted you.
“But will our pack say something?” – drawled Father Wolf.
The Law of the Jungle makes it very clear that every newly married wolf can separate from his pack; however, as soon as his wolf cubs grow enough to stand well on their feet, he is obliged to bring them and present them to the Council of the pack, which usually meets on a full moon; this is done so that the rest of the wolves recognize them. After such an inspection, the wolf cubs have the right to run wherever they want and until they catch the first deer. There is no excuse for a wolf that killed one of them. The killer is punished with death. Thinking carefully, you will see that this is true.
Father Wolf waited for his cubs to learn to run, finally, on the day of the pack meeting, he took them, Mowgli, Mother Wolf and went to the Rock of the Council; this was the name of the top of the hill, all covered with large boulders and stones, in the middle of which about a hundred wolves could hide. Akela, the great lone gray wolf, leader of the pack by his strength and cunning, stretched out to his full length on the rock, below sat forty or more wolves, in all shades of fur, from badger-coloured veterans who could fight alone buffalo, to young black three-year-olds who imagined that such a struggle was within their power. For a whole year the Lone Wolf led the pack. In the days of his youth, Akela twice fell into traps; once he was beaten and left, considering him dead - therefore he knew the customs and tricks of people. There were few conversations. The cubs fumbled and tumbled in the center of the ring that their mothers and fathers made up; from time to time one of the older wolves calmly approached some wolf cub, carefully examined him and, stepping noiselessly, returned to his original place. Sometimes one or another she-wolf pushed her cub with her nose into the strip of moonlight, wanting to be noticed by all means. Akela from his rock exclaimed:
“You know the Law, you know the Law!” Look well, wolves!
And the long, anxious howl of mothers picked up:
“Look, look well, O wolves!”
Finally - and at that moment a high stubble rose on Raksha's neck - Father Wolf pushed Mowgli the Frog, as they called the boy, into the very middle of the open space, and he sat down there and began to play with laughter with pebbles that glittered in the moonlight.
Akela did not raise his head, continuing to shout out monotonously:
- Look good!
From behind the rock came a muffled growl, the voice of Shere Khan. Tiger shouted:
- The baby is mine. Give it to me. Why would the Free People need a human cub?
Akela didn't even move his ear. He only drawled:
“Look well, wolves. Does the Free People care about anyone's statements other than the rulings of the Free People? Look well.
Quiet, displeased, grumbling voices were heard; One young wolf, who was in his fourth year, threw a tiger question to Akela:
“What should the Free Folk do with a human cub?”
It should be noted that by virtue of the provisions of the Law of the Jungle, in the event of disputes regarding the right of any cub to join the pack, at least two of the pack must speak out for its acceptance, but not its father or mother.
- Who is for this cub? Akela asked. “Which of the Free Folk is in favor of him joining the pack?”
There was no answer, and Mother Wolf prepared for what she knew would be her last fight.
Then Baloo, who did not belong to the genus of wolves, but who is admitted to the Council of the Pack, old Baloo, the sleepy brown bear who teaches the Law of the Jungle to the cubs, who has the right to walk around because he eats only nuts, roots and honey, rose on his hind legs and roared :
“Man-cub?.. Man-cub?” I speak for him. There is nothing bad in it. I do not have the gift of words, but I speak the truth. Let him run with the pack; accept it along with the rest. I will teach him!
A slender shadow slipped into the ring of wolves. It was Bagheera, a black panther, all black as ink, but with spots visible as watermarks in certain light. Everyone knew Bagheera and everyone was afraid to get in her way, because she was cunning like Tabaqui, courageous like a wild buffalo, unstoppable like a wounded elephant. However, her voice sounded soft, like the sound of wild honey falling from a tree, and her fur was softer than swan's down.
“Oh Akela, and you, Free People,” she purred, “I have no say in your meetings, but the Law of the Jungle says that in case of doubt about a new cub, doubts not related to hunting, his life can be bought for known price. And the Law does not determine who can and who cannot pay to save his life. Am I right?
“Right, right,” answered the ever-hungry young wolves. - Listen to Bagheera. The cub can be bought for a certain price. So says the Law.
“It’s shameful to kill a hairless cub. In addition, he may be useful to you when he grows up. Baloo spoke in his favor, and if you agree to accept a human cub, I will add to Baloo's words a young and very fat bull that I have just killed, which lies less than half a mile from here. Is it difficult to make a decision?
- Is it worth discussing? He will die from the winter rains; the sun will burn it! What harm can a hairless frog do us? Let him run with the pack. Where is the bull, Bagheera? Let's get a baby!
“Look well, look well, O wolves!”
Mowgli's attention was still drawn to the pebbles; he did not even notice that the wolves came up one by one and examined him. Finally, everyone went down to the killed bull; only Akela, Bagheera, Baloo, Mowgli's adoptive wolves remained on the Council Rock, and in the darkness there was still the grumbling of Shere Khan, who was angry that the boy had not been given to him.
“Yes, yes, roar well into your mustache,” said Bagheera, “the time will come when a man-cub will make your voice sound different.” It will be like this, or I don't know anything about people.
- You did well! Akela said. People and their puppies are very smart. In time he will become our helper.
- Of course, he will become your assistant in a difficult moment; after all, no one can hope to lead the pack forever, ”said Bagheera.
Akela didn't say anything. He thought about the time that comes for each leader, when his strength is gone and he grows weaker and weaker, until finally the pack kills him and a new leader appears, who in turn will also be killed.
“Take him away,” said Akela to Father Wolf, “and bring him up in the ways of the Free Folk.”
In this way, Mowgli was introduced into the Zionian wolf pack, thanks to the payment made for him and the kind word of Baloo.
Now you will have to skip ten or eleven years and guess for yourself what an amazing life Mowgli led among the wolves, because if you describe it, it would fill many books. He grew up with the cubs, although, of course, they became adult wolves when he was still a child. Father Wolf taught him the trade and talked about everything that is and what happens in the jungle; finally, every rustle in the grass, every light breath of the hot night air, every hoot of an owl above his head, the slightest creak of the claws of a bat landing on a tree, every splash of a fish jumping in tiny lakes, everything became as important and understandable for the boy as office work for a businessman. When Mowgli did not study, he sat in the sun, slept, ate, and slept again; when he felt dirty or when he was hot, he swam in natural forest ponds; when he wanted honey (Balu told the boy that honey and nuts are as tasty as raw meat), he climbed trees for it. Bagheera taught him to climb high trunks. Lying on a high branch, the panther shouted: “Here, Little Brother,” and at first Mowgli clung to the boughs, like a sloth, but over time he began to spread from one branch to another, almost with the courage of a gray monkey. During the meetings of the pack, he took the place indicated to him on the Rock of the Council, and at that time he discovered that when he happened to look intently at any wolf, he involuntarily lowered his eyes. Learning this, Mowgli began to stare into the eyes of the wolves as a form of fun. Sometimes he took out long thorns that were stuck between the fingers of his friends, because wolves suffer terribly from thorns and thorns that got into their skin. At night, the boy descended from the mountain slope to the cultivated fields and looked with great curiosity at the villagers in their huts, but he did not trust people, since Bagheera once showed him a box with a falling door so cunningly hidden in the thickets that he almost fell into it. . Then the panther told him that it was a trap. Most of all, Mowgli liked to go with Bagheera into the dark, warm thick of the forest, sleep there all day, and at night watch the black panther hunt. Hungry, she killed everything that came across to her, so did Mowgli ... with one exception. When he grew up and his mind developed, Bagheera told him not to dare touch the livestock, as his life was bought at the cost of the life of a bull.
“All the thicket is yours,” said Bagheera, “and you may hunt any game that you are able to kill, but in memory of the bull that paid for you, never kill or eat either young or old livestock. This is the Law of the Jungle.
And Mowgli faithfully obeyed. He grew up, became strong, as it would be with every boy who is not sitting at the lessons, who has nothing to think about except food. Once or twice Mother Wolf told him that Shere Khan could not be trusted and that he must kill Shere Khan someday. The young wolf would hourly remember Raksha's advice, but Mowgli forgot her words, because he was only a boy, although, of course, he would call himself a wolf if he could speak some human dialect.
Shere Khan always got in his way, because Akela grew old, became weaker, and now the lame tiger made friends with the younger wolves of the pack, and they often ran after him; Akela would not have allowed this to happen if his former strength had given him the opportunity to properly exercise his power. In addition, Shere Khan flattered the young wolves and expressed surprise that such fine young hunters voluntarily submit to a half-dead leader and a man cub.
“I was told,” Shere Khan used to say, “that on Council Rock you dare not look him in the eye.
And the young wolves grumbled, raising their bristles.
Bagheera, who had ears and eyes everywhere, knew something about such conversations, and once or twice directly and simply told Mowgli that someday Shere Khan would kill him; but the boy laughed and answered:
“I have a pack, I have you, and although Baloo is lazy, he can deliver several blows with his paw in my defense. What should I be afraid of?
One very hot day, a new thought appeared in Bagheera's brain, born as a result of rumors that had reached her. Maybe Ikki, the porcupine, warned the panther; at any rate, once when Mowgli lay in the depths of the jungle, pressing his head against her beautiful black fur, Bagheera said to him:
“Little Brother, how many times have I told you that Shere Khan is your enemy?”
“As many as there are nuts on this palm tree,” answered Mowgli, of course, who could not count. – What of it? I feel sleepy, Bagheera, and Shere Khan has the same long tail and the same loud voice as Mao the peacock.
“Now is not the time to sleep. Baloo knows it, I know it, the flock knows it, even stupid, stupid deer know it. Tabaki told you that too.
- Ho, ho! Mowgli replied. - Recently Tabaqui came to me and began to rudely assure me that I was a hairless human cub, unable even to pull wild truffles out of the ground, and I grabbed the jackal by the tail, shook it twice and hit it against a palm tree to teach him politeness.
- And he did it stupidly; True, Tabaki loves to stir up, but he could tell you a lot that closely concerns you. Open your eyes, Little Brother, Shere Khan does not dare to kill you in the jungle, but remember: Akela is very old; soon the day will come when he will be unable to kill a deer, and then the Lone Wolf will cease to be the leader of the pack. Many of the wolves that examined you when you were first brought to the Council have also grown old, and the youth believe Shere Khan and think that a man-cub has no place among us. Soon you will become an adult.
"But doesn't a man have a right to hunt with his brothers?" asked Mowgli. - I was born here. I obey the Law of the Jungle, and in our pack there is not a single wolf from whose paws I would not take out a splinter. Of course they are my brothers.
Bagheera drew herself up to her full length and narrowed her eyes.
“Little Brother,” she said, “feel my neck under my lower jaw with your hand.
Mowgli stretched out his strong dark hand and where the gigantic muscles were hidden under the shiny fur, just under the panther's chin, felt for a small hairless space.
“No one in the jungle knows that I, Bagheera, bear this mark on me ... the mark of a collar, and meanwhile, Little Brother, I was born among people, my mother also died among people, in the cells of the royal palace in Udeipur. That's why I paid the Council for you when you were a naked little cub. Yes, yes, I was also born among people, not in the jungle. I sat at the iron bars and they fed me by pushing an iron cup between them; finally, one night I felt that I, Bagheera, a panther, and not a human toy, broke the stupid lock with one blow of my paw and left. Thanks to my knowledge of human customs, I became more terrible in the jungle than Shere Khan. Is this true?
- Yes, - answered Mowgli, - everyone in the jungle is afraid of Bagheera, everyone except Mowgli.
“Oh, you child of man! the panther purred very gently. “And just as I returned to my jungle, so you, in the end, must return to the people, to the people - your brothers ... if you are not killed in the Council first.
“But why, why can they kill me?” asked Mowgli.
“Look at me,” said Bagheera.
And Mowgli looked her straight in the eyes; the panther held out for only half a minute, then turned away.
"That's why," she said, moving her paw on the leaves. “Even I can’t look you in the eyes, although I was born among people and love you, Little Brother. Others hate you because they cannot stand your gaze, because you are intelligent, because you took the thorns out of their paws, because you are human.
“I didn’t know that,” said Mowgli gloomily, and his black eyebrows drew together.
What does the Law of the Jungle say? Hit first, talk later. Your very carelessness shows that you are human. But be wise. In my heart I feel that when Akela loses his prey (and every day it becomes more and more difficult for him to stop the deer), the pack will turn against him and against you. They'll convene the Council on the rock, and then, then... Ah, I've made up my mind! - said Bagheera and with one jump she found herself on four paws. – Quickly run to the valley to the human huts and take a particle of the Red Flower, which they breed there; in due time you will have a friend stronger than me, stronger than Baloo, stronger than all who love you. Get the Red Flower.
By the Red Flower, Bagheera meant fire; no creature in the jungle utters that word. Wild animals are mortally afraid of fire and come up with hundreds of different names for it.
- Red flower? asked Mowgli. “I know it grows in the dusk near their huts. I will bring it.
“This is the real speech of a man-cub,” said Bagheera proudly. “But remember: it grows in small pots. Get one of them and always keep it in case of need.
“Very well,” said Mowgli, “I am going.” But are you sure, O my Bagheera, - he put his hand around the beautiful neck of the panther and looked deeply into her big eyes, - are you sure that all this is the work of Shere Khan?
“I swear by the broken lock that freed me—surely, Little Brother!”
“In that case, I swear by the bull who bought me that I will repay Shere Khan for everything and, perhaps, in excess!” - shouted Mowgli and rushed forward.
Yes, he is human. It's perfectly human,” said Bagheera, lying down again. “O Shere Khan, there has never been such a bad hunt in the world as your hunt for that frog ten years ago.
Mowgli was crossing the forest; he ran fast; his heart burned in his chest. When the evening fog rose, he went to his native cave, took a breath and looked down at the village. The young wolves left, but Mother Wolf, who lay in the depths of the lair, guessed from the boy's breathing that her frog was excited about something.
"What's troubling you, son?" she asked.
“Shere Khan chatter,” he replied. “Tonight I go hunting among the plowed fields.
Mowgli dived into the thicket and ran to the river that flowed in the depths of the valley. Here he stopped, hearing the hunting howl of his pack, the cry of the pursued sambhur and his snort; he obviously stopped, about to fight back. Immediately, the angry, bitter howl of young wolves was heard:
- Akela! Akela! Lone Wolf, show your strength! A place for the leader of the pack! Throw yourself!
Probably Lone Wolf jumped and missed: Mowgli heard his teeth chatter and a short bark escaped his throat as the deer knocked him over with his front foot.
Mowgli did not wait any longer, but ran; and as he went deeper into the cultivated fields where the people lived, the howling died away behind him.
"Baheera told the truth," thought Mowgli breathlessly, and nestled in a cattle-feeder near the window of a hut. “Tomorrow is an important day for Akela and for me.”
Pressing his face against the window and looking at the flames of the hearth, the boy saw how the wife of the owner of the house got up and began to throw some black pieces into the fire in the darkness; when morning came, and the haze of the fog turned white and turned cold, a small child took a cup woven from branches, smeared with clay inside, filled it with embers, covered it with his blanket, and went out of the hut with it, going to the cows in the corral.
- Is that all? whispered Mowgli. “If a cub can do it, there is nothing to be afraid of!”
He rounded the corner of the house, met the boy, snatched the cup from his hand, and disappeared into the mist. And the boy screamed loudly and cried in horror.
“They are very like me,” said Mowgli, fanning the coals, as a woman did in his presence. “This thing will die if I do not feed it,” and he added dry branches and bark to the red coals.
Halfway up the hillside Mowgli met Bagheera; drops of morning dew sparkled on her black fur like moonstones.
“Akela missed,” said the panther, “he would have been killed that night, but they also need you.” They were looking for you on the mountain.
“I was among the plowed lands. I'm ready. Look!
Mowgli raised his cup.
- Fine. Listen: I saw that people put dry branches into this red thing and then the Red Flower blooms on them. Are you scared?
- No, why be afraid? Now I remember (if this is not a dream) how, before I became a wolf, I lay near the Red Flower and felt so warm and pleasant.
All that day Mowgli sat in the cave, he watched the coals, lowered the dry branches into the cup and watched them. The boy especially liked one branch, and when Tabaqui came to the cave in the evening and rather rudely told him that he was required to the Council Rock, he laughed and laughed so that Tabaqui ran away. Still laughing, Mowgli went to the meeting place of the pack.
Akela lay near his former stone as a sign that the place of the leader was open, and Shere Khan with his retinue of wolves, eating the remnants of his food, walked up and down without hiding. He was flattered, and he was not afraid. Bagheera lay down beside Mowgli, who held a cup between his knees. When everyone was assembled, Shere Khan spoke; he would not have dared to do so at the height of Akela's power.
"He has no right to speak," whispered Bagheera to Mowgli. - Say it. He is the son of a dog. He gets scared!
Mowgli got to his feet.
“Free People,” his voice boomed. “Does Shere Khan lead the pack?” What does the tiger care about the place of our leader?
“In view of the fact that this place is still free, and also remembering that I was asked to speak ...” Shere Khan began.
- Who asked? said Mowgli. “Are we jackals supposed to serve a butcher who kills livestock?” The question of the leader of the pack concerns only the pack.
“Shut up, you human puppy!
- Let him talk. He kept our Law!
Finally, the elder wolves growled:
“Let the Dead Wolf speak.
When the leader of the pack does not kill the intended prey, the rest of the life (usually very short) of the recent leader is called the Dead Wolf.
Akela lifted his old head with a tired movement.
“Free Folk and you jackals of Shere Khan!” For twelve years I have led you hunting and hunting, and in all that time no one, not a single wolf has been trapped or maimed. Now I've missed the loot. You know how the plot was carried out. You know that I was brought to a strong sambhuru to show everyone my weakness. Think smart! You have the right to kill me now on Council Rock. So I ask you, who will come out to end the Lone Wolf? By virtue of the Law of the Jungle, you must go out one at a time.
There was a long silence; none of the wolves wanted to fight Akela one on one to the death. Finally, Shere Khan bellowed:
“Bah, what do we care about this toothless fool? He will die soon enough. Now, the baby of man has lived too long. Free Folk, from the first moment his meat was mine. Give it to me! I'm tired of all this madness. For ten years he troubled the jungle. Give me a human cub. Otherwise, I will always hunt here, leaving you no bones. He is a man, a human child, and I hate him to the core of my bones.
And more than half of the flock howled:
- Human! Human! Human! What should a person do with us? Let him go where he came from.
“And turn the entire population of the surrounding villages against us?” Shere Khan boomed. No, give it to me! He is human and none of us can look him in the eyes.
Akela raised his head again and said:
- He ate our food, slept next to us; he drove game for us. He didn't break a word of the Law of the Jungle.
“And I paid for him with the life of a bull when he was accepted. The bull is an unimportant thing, but the honor of Bagheera is something else, for which she, perhaps, will fight, - the black panther said in the softest voice.
“A bull brought in as payment ten years ago?” grumbling voices were heard in the flock. “What do we care about bones that are ten years old?”
Or to be honest? said Bagheera, baring her white teeth. “That’s right, you are called the Free People!”
“A man-cub has no right to hunt with the inhabitants of the jungle,” Shere Khan wailed. - Give it to me!
“He is our brother in all but birth,” Akela continued. “And you want to kill him!” Indeed, I have lived too long. Some of you eat livestock, while others, taught by Shere Khan, sneak into the villages in the dark nights and carry children from the thresholds of huts. Because of this, I know that you are cowards, and I am talking to cowards. Of course, I must die, and my life has no price, otherwise I would offer it for the life of a human cub. But in the name of the honor of the pack (you forgot about this little circumstance, since you have been without a leader for a long time) I promise you: if you let the human cub go home, I will die without exposing a single tooth against you. I will die without a fight. Thanks to this, at least three lives will be preserved in the pack. There is nothing else I can do; however, if you agree, I will save you from the ignominious murder of an innocent brother, a brother accepted into the pack by the Law of the Jungle after giving two votes for him and paying for his life.
He's a man, a man, a man! howled the wolves, and most of them crowded around Shere Khan, who began to wag his tail.
“Now the matter is in your hands,” said Bagheera to Mowgli. “We just have to fight.
Mowgli held a cup of coals; he stretched out his arms and yawned in front of the Council, but he was filled with rage and sadness, because, as usual, the wolves still did not tell him how much they hated him.
“Listen, you,” he shouted, “why do you need to bark like a dog? That night you called me a man so many times (and I would so willingly remain a wolf among wolves for the rest of my life) that now I feel the truth of your words. So, I no longer call you my brothers; you are dogs to me as you are to humans. It is not for you to say what you will do and what you will not do. I will decide for you, and so that you can see it more clearly, I, a human, have brought here a particle of the Red Flower, which you dogs are afraid of!
He threw the cup on the ground; burning coals set fire to patches of dry moss; moss erupted. The entire Council retreated in horror at the flickering flames.
Mowgli lowered a dry branch into the fire, and its small branches burst into flames. Standing in the midst of the trembling wolves, he twirled a flaming bough over his head.
Akela, a stern old wolf who had never asked for mercy in his life, looked plaintively at Mowgli, who, all naked, with long black hair falling over his shoulders, stood, lit by a burning branch, and all around the shadows fluttered, trembled and jumped.
"Very well," said Mowgli, looking round slowly. - I see that you are dogs, and I am leaving you for my relatives ... if they are my relatives. The jungle is closed to me, and I must forget your speech and your company, but I will be more merciful than you. Only by blood I was not your brother, and therefore I promise you that having become a man among people, I will not betray you, as you betrayed me. - Mowgli kicked the burning moss with his foot, and sparks flew over him. “There will be no war between us and the pack, but before I leave, I have one debt to pay.
Mowgli went up to Shere Khan, who was sitting blinking stupidly in the light, and grabbed the tiger by the tuft of fur under his chin. Bagheera, just in case, crept up to his pet.
"Get up, dog," Mowgli ordered Shere Khan. “Get up when a person is talking to you, or I will set fire to your wool.”
Shere Khan's ears flattened to his head, and he closed his eyes as the flaming branch moved towards him.
“That livestock killer said he would kill me at the Council because he failed to kill me when I was a small cub. Here's to you, here! This is how we humans beat our dogs. Move at least your mustache, and the Red Flower will fall into your throat.
He hit Shere Khan's head with a branch, and in the agony of fear, the tiger squealed and moaned.
“Ugh, go away now, branded jungle cat!” Just know that when I come to the Council Rock again, the skin of Shere Khan will be on my head. Further: Akela can live where and how he wants. You won't kill him, because I don't want that. And it seems to me that you will not sit here for long, chatting your tongue, as if you are important persons, and not the dogs that I chase. Like this!
The end of a large branch burned brightly. Mowgli beat it right and left; when the sparks fell on the wool of the wolves sitting in a ring, they ran away with a cry. Finally, Akela, Bagheera and about a dozen wolves remained near the Council Rock, who took the side of Mowgli. And in his chest, Mowgli felt such pain as he had never experienced in his life. He caught his breath; he sobbed and tears ran down his face.
– What is it, what is it? - he asked. “I don’t want to leave the jungle and I don’t understand what is happening to me. Am I dying, Bagheera?
“No, Little Brother. These are only tears, people have such tears,” said Bagheera. – Yes, now I see that you are an adult, not a human cub. From now on, the jungle is indeed closed to you. Let them pour, Mowgli; it's just tears!
So Mowgli sat and wept as though his heart had broken. He had never known tears before.
“Now,” the boy said at last, “I will go to the people, but first I will say goodbye to my mother.”
He went to the cave in which he lived with the Wolf Father's family, and wept so much, clinging to the fur of the she-wolf, that four young wolves howled plaintively.
- You won't forget me? asked Mowgli.
“Let's not forget, as long as we have the strength to follow the tracks. When you become a man, come to the foot of the hill, we will talk with you and at night we will run out into the fields to play with you.
“Come back soon,” said the Wolf Father, “come back soon, O wise frog, because we, your mother and I, are already old.”
“Come quickly,” Mother Wolf repeated, “my little hairless son, because know, child of people, I loved you more than any of my cubs.
“Of course I will come,” said Mowgli, “and I will come to put the skin of Shere Khan on the Council Rock.” Do not forget me. Tell me in the jungle so that they don't forget me there. The dawn began to light up; Mowgli was descending from the mountain slope; he, silent and lonely, went to the mysterious creatures, which are called people.
The story "Mowgli" by Kipling is included in the famous collection of the writer "The Jungle Book", in which the main characters are animals. This is an amazing story about a boy who was raised by a pack of wolves and lived among the wild inhabitants of the jungle.
Mowgli- a human cub raised by wolves.
Wolf Mother, Wolf Father, Gray Brothers- the wolf family in which Mowgli was brought up.
Akela- the leader of the wolf pack.
Baloo- an old bear, a teacher of wolf cubs.
Bagheera- a strong, fearless and very cunning panther.
Kaa- a wise python who knows the answers to all questions.
None of the big predators of the Sioni Mountains, with the exception of the Shere Khan tiger, had ever hunted a man - it was too dangerous. This time, too, Sherkh Khan broke the Law of the Jungle, and paid the price by singeing his skin in a fire.
Shortly thereafter, a small "boy who has just learned to walk, all soft, all dimples" appeared near the wolf's lair. Wolf Mother, taking pity on the human cub, decided to raise him along with her cubs.
Meanwhile, Shere Khan, enraged by the unsuccessful hunt, demanded that the Wolf Father give him the child. However, the wolves defended the cub, who was named "Mowgli the Frog".
The next day, the entire pack was gathered on the Council Rock, and Shere Khan turned to her leader - the old wolf Akela - with a demand to return his prey. Akela asked the gathered animals who was ready to defend the human cub. So for Mowgli, not only Mother Wolf and Father Wolf interceded, but also “old Baloo, a sleepy brown bear” and “Bagheera, black panther”. Clever Bagheera explained to the pack that the boy, when he grows up, will bring many benefits, and Akela agreed to leave him.
So Mowgli began to grow up with the cubs. Ten years later, he turned into a strong, hardy teenager, for whom the jungle was like an open book.
During this time, Akela aged, and Shere Khan decided to take advantage of his weakness. He again demanded to give him a human cub, whom he fiercely hated all these years. However, Mowgli, on the advice of Bagheera, got in the village "Red Flower" - fire, and in front of everyone whipped the tiger with flaming branches. He restored the authority of Akela, and he himself decided to leave the jungle to live among people.
Even when Mowgli was small, Bagheera and Baloo taught him the Law of the Jungle. So he learned the Great Words - "You and I are of the same blood", which protected him from "birds, snakes and all creatures that hunt on four legs."
One day, the Bandar-log monkeys stole the Boy while he was sleeping and dragged him into their flock. Baloo and Bagheera failed to catch up with the agile macaques, and they turned for help to the wise and strong python Kaa, whom the Bandar-logs feared more than death.
The cunning Bagheera skillfully kindled Kaa's hatred for the monkeys, and he agreed to help them save the boy. They went to the lost city, which was chosen by the Bandar-log, and rescued Mowgli.
After the grown-up Mowgli whipped Shere Khan with burning branches, he went to the nearest village and began to live among people.
For three months, Mowgli, who lived with his foster mother, "studyed the customs and manners of people intensively", but still considered them stupid and very strange creatures.
From the Gray Brother, Mowgli learned that Shere Khan had returned with his henchman Tabaki the jackal. This time the tiger decided to kill his sworn enemy by all means. However, the human cub outwitted him and drove him into a trap in which the tiger was trampled by mighty bulls.
When Mowgli brought the skin of the tiger to the village, a hail of stones fell on him. The locals had no doubt that the wolf adoptive was a sorcerer who could turn into animals. Then Mowgli decided to leave people and go with the Gray Brothers to the jungle to hunt alone.
A terrible drought hit the jungle: the river became shallow, lakes and streams dried up, trees threw off withered foliage. The drought was followed by famine. Of all the mighty streams, the only “thin stream of water” remained, and a truce came in the jungle - each of the animals could fearlessly come to the stream and get drunk. Everyone knew that “death is due for killing at a watering hole.” Hathi the elephant monitored the observance of this rule.
The vile Shere Khan had the right to kill a man with impunity one night a year, and he did not fail to use it. Upon learning of this, the elephant Hathi asked him to leave the watering hole so as not to defile it.
Returning to the jungle, Mowgli hung the skin of Shere Khan at the Council Rock. He soon learned that the village hunters were on the trail of his Gray Brothers. One of them - the vile Baldeo - told the villagers that it was he who killed the tiger, and Mowgli turned into a wolf and ran away.
To cover his tracks, Baldeo insisted on burning, like sorcerers, the boy's adoptive parents. However, Mowgli freed them in time and helped them get out of the village. He decided to take revenge on the cruel peasants, and with the help of the elephant Hatha, deer, wild boars and other animals, he destroyed the village and the sown fields. People in fear were forced to leave their homes, and the deserted village was quickly swallowed up by the jungle.
From his python friend Kaa, Mowgli learned of the ruined city where the old White Cobra guarded the "treasure of a hundred princes". Out of curiosity, the boy visited the cobra, but the untold riches did not attract him at all. He was much more interested in the royal ankas - the mahout's rod, decorated with precious stones. He took it with him, but the wise Bagheera warned that the wand brings death with it, and Mowgli threw it away.
Soon he learned that a man had picked up the ankas, and Bagheera's prophecy was confirmed - wanting to possess this treasure, people began to kill each other. To stop the flow of death, the boy returned the encas to the White Cobra.
One day, "Wild Dogs from the Deccan - red dogs, killers" broke into the jungle. Mad with hunger, she left her native land to kill every living thing in her path. The wolves realized that the upcoming hunt could be the last in their lives.
Mowgli went to Kaa for advice, and he said that even red dogs are afraid of the "little people of the rocks" - wild bees. Then Mowgli, after teasing the dogs as he should, led them to a crack near the river. Once at the cliff, he quickly jumped into the water, and while his red-haired pursuers were attacked by clouds of angry bees. A terrible battle broke out. Old Akela died, but before his death he ordered Mowgli to leave the jungle and live among people.
When Mowgli was 17 years old, he suddenly felt a strange despondency. His feet carried him to the village, where he accidentally found his foster mother. The aged woman did not immediately recognize Mowgli. He looked like a "fabulous deity of the forests" - he grew up so tall, strong and beautiful.
Mowgli decided to stay in the village, because Akela and Kaa always taught him that "man goes to man in the end"...
Kipling's book teaches kindness, mercy and compassion, which have no social, language or age restrictions. All living beings on earth, regardless of origin, have the right to life and love.
After reading the brief retelling of Mowgli, we recommend that you read the story in full.
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The book consists of two parts. Some of the stories are about Mowgli, about his life in the jungle among wild animals. At the age of two, the lumberjack's little son gets lost in the jungle. Behind him, the lame tiger Shere Khan prowls and wants to make him his prey. The child crawls to the lair of the wolves. Father and Mother wolves take him into their family and protect him from Shere Khan. They call him Mowgli, which means "frog". At the advice of the wolf pack, the bear Baloo, who teaches the cubs the law of the jungle, and the black panther Bagheera, who pays the pack so that she does not give the baby to be torn to pieces by Shere Khan, ask to let Mowgli live among the wolves.
Mowgli's mind and courage allow him to survive and grow stronger in the difficult conditions of life in the jungle. The bear Balu, Bagheera, the boa constrictor Kaa, the leader of the wolf pack Akelo become his friends and patrons. Many adventures take place in his life, he learns to speak the language of all the inhabitants of the jungle, and this saves his life more than once.
One day, the monkeys take the boy to the Cold Lairs, a ruined Hindu city founded in the jungle centuries ago. Bagheera, Baloo and Kaa come to the boy's aid and save him from the monkeys, who play with him like a toy.
Ten years after the arrival of Mowgli in the jungle, the pack leader Akelo becomes old and can no longer patronize his pet. Many wolves hate Mowgli because they cannot stand his gaze and feel his inexplicable superiority. Shere Khan is waiting for the right moment to deal with Mowgli. Then, on the advice of Bagheera, Mowgli brings fire from the village. On the Council Rock of the wolf pack, he demonstrates his strength to the beasts, sets fire to the skin of Shere Khan, and defends Akelo.
After that, he leaves the jungle and goes to the village, to the people. There, a woman named Messua takes him for her son, once dragged off by Shere Khan, and gives him shelter in her house. Mowgli learns the human language, gets used to the way of life of people, and then for several months becomes a shepherd of the village herd of buffaloes. One day, he learns from the wolves devoted to him that Shere Khan, who had gone to another part of the jungle to heal his wounds, has returned. Then Mowgli lures the tiger into a trap and sends a buffalo herd at him from two sides. Shere Khan dies. The village hunter, having learned about the death of the tiger, wants to receive 100 rupees for the capture of Shere Khan and wants to take his skin to the village. Mowgli won't let him do it. Then the hunter calls him a werewolf, and Messua and her husband are sorcerers. Mowgli with tiger skin hides in the jungle. His named parents are going to be burned. Mowgli returns, helps them hide and get to the English settlement, from whom they can ask for protection. Mowgli sends wild elephants, buffaloes, deer to the village, and they trample the fields, destroy houses, disperse the herds, so that the inhabitants are forced to seek refuge in some other place.
After the death of Shere Khan and the destruction of the village, Mowgli returns to the jungle, and now he lives especially well. He grows up as a handsome, strong and intelligent young man.
When he reaches the age of seventeen, the habitat of the wolves is attacked by wild red dhole dogs. Each of them is weaker than a wolf, but they attack in hordes, they are hungry and kill all living things in their path. Mowgli, along with Kaa, lures them into a trap. Cunning helps him deal with most of the uninvited guests.
Spring is coming, and Mowgli is drawn to people. He says goodbye to his friends and finally leaves for where Messua and her newly born child now live. Mowgli meets a girl, marries her and leads a normal life for a human being, but forever keeps in his memory his first years spent in the jungle and the images of true friends.
The Jungle Book are short stories written by J. R. Kipling. The protagonist is a boy named Mowgli who got lost in the jungle at an early age but found family and friends such as Baloo, Bagheera, Kaa and Akelo. The stories are about the incredible and exciting adventures of a little boy in the jungle.
The Jungle Book is a kind and instructive tale that teaches loyalty and friendship. J. R. Kipling, describing the laws of the Jungle, makes one think that there is no such order and balance in human civilization, and that people cannot maintain the fraternal unity inherent in the inhabitants of the Jungle.
The story starts from the moment when the boy got lost in the jungle as a small child. The tiger Shere Khan is following in his footsteps. But the child, having reached the lair of the wolves, is saved from the tiger and finds his new family, in the person of the Father and Mother of the wolves. Due to the fact that the child looks like a frog, he was named Mowgli. The boy is allowed to live among the wolves, because at the Council of the Wolf Pack two votes were cast for him and the payment of Bagheera and Baloo.
Mowgli grows up, learns the language of animals and the Laws of the Jungle, which Baloo teaches him. One of the boy's first thrilling adventures was when he was kidnapped by the apes of Bandar-log and taken to the Cold Lairs. But Mowgli is saved by his friends - Bagheera, Baloo and Kaa, who were warned by the kite at the request of the boy.
About ten years pass, when Mowgli loses Akelo's patronage, as he has become old, and is faced with the hatred of most wolves, who hate the boy for his look. The tiger Shere Khan is waiting for the moment when he can make Mowgli his prey. But he doesn't get anything. Mowgli, having brought fire from the village, demonstrates their power to the entire wolf pack, burning the skin of Shere Khan and protecting Akelo.
After leaving the jungle, Mowgli comes to the village, where he lives with a woman named Messua. The boy learns the language of the people, learns about their way of life and tries to lead a human life by becoming a shepherd of a herd of buffaloes. From friends from the jungle, Mowgli learns that Shere Khan has returned, and with their help he deals with the tiger, luring him into a trap with buffaloes.
Having prevented the hunter from taking the skin of the tiger, Mowgli saved his named parents and, with the help of the inhabitants of the jungle, destroyed the village.
After the return of Mowgli, all the animals recognize him as the rightful owner of the jungle.
When a young man reaches the age of seventeen, the Red Dogs attack the wolves, destroying everything in their path. Having lured them into a trap, Kaa and Mowgli save the wolves from death.
The older Mowgli gets, the more he wants to live like a human. He finally says goodbye to his friends and leaves the jungle. Now Mowgli has a family, and he lives an ordinary human life. But he will always remember the Jungle and his true friends.
The story tells in a casual narrative form a little story about how a wild duck is trying to take care of her cute brood. The style of presentation is direct, intended for the youngest generation.
The plot in the fantastic story for children "The Extraordinary Adventures of Karik and Vali" takes place in the world of insects that inhabit rivers, fields, lakes, trees and forests. Author Ian Larry uses the style
The protagonist of Leskov's story "Odnodum", Alexander Afanasyevich Ryzhov, was born into a poor bourgeois family. The boy's father died almost immediately after the birth of his son.
The story starts from the moment when the boy got lost in the jungle as a small child. The tiger Shere Khan is following in his footsteps. But the child, having reached the lair of the wolves, is saved from the tiger and finds his new family, in the person of the Father and Mother of the wolves.
The Flowers of Evil is a collection of poems written by Charles Baudelaire in 1857. The manuscript is considered the apogee of the entire creative path of the author. The collection is more like a single work in which the lyrical hero goes through his whole life in search of his ideal.
The story of the English writer J. R. Kipling tells about a boy named Mowgli, the adopted son of wild animals living in the jungle.
At the age of two, the lumberjack's little son gets lost in the jungle. Behind him, the lame tiger Shere Khan prowls and wants to make him his prey. The child crawls to the lair of the wolves. Father and Mother wolves take him into their family and protect him from Shere Khan. They call him Mowgli, which means "frog".
At the council of the wolf pack, the bear Baloo, who teaches the cubs the law of the jungle, and the black panther Bagheera, who pays the pack so that she does not give the baby to be torn to pieces by Shere Khan, speak out for Mowgli to be allowed to live among the wolves.
Mowgli grew up strong, fearless, merciless to villains. He defeated the ogre Shere Khan and became the leader of the wolf pack, and then the ruler of the rainforests: "... all the jungles were friends with him, because all the jungles were afraid of him."
But at the same time, Mowgli had a kind and sympathetic heart. This can be seen in his attitude to the wolf Akele, the bear Balu, the panther Bagi-re, the boa constrictor Kaa, whom he tenderly cares for. Mowgli with his human mind managed to comprehend the laws of the jungle. “We are of the same blood, you and I,” he tells the inhabitants of the rainforest. And so he is surrounded by universal love.
Mowgli is generous and noble. He did not hold a grudge against people, despite the fact that they threw stones at him with cries of "Go away!" After some time, according to the laws of the jungle, Mowgli returned to the people and managed to forgive them.
The work "Mowgli" by R. Kipling can be bought with a promotional code for a discount
