Latest / Audiobooks & Scary Stories / The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Transcript

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling · Audiobooks & Scary Stories

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy this reading, which comes from a
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: work in the public domain, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Mauglise brothers now Ran the kite brings home the night
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: that mang the bat sets free. The herds are shut
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: in byre and hut for loose till dawn are we
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: This is the hour of pride and power. Tellone and
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: tush and claw. Oh, hear the call good hunting, all
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: that keep the Jungle law. Night song in the Jungle.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: It was seven o'clock of a very warm evening in
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: the Siennee Hills when Father Wulf woke up from his
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: day's rest, scratched himself, yawned, and spread out his paws
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: one after the other to get rid of the sleepy
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: feeling in their tips. Mother Wulf lay with her big
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: gray nose dropped across her fore tumbling squealing cubs, and
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: the moon shone into the mouth of the cave where
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: they all lived. Augar, said father Wolf, it is time
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: to hunt again. He was going to spring down hill
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: when a little shadow with a bushy tail crossed the
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: threshold and whined, good luck go with you, o chief
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: of the wolves, and good luck and strong white teeth.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Go with noble children, that they may never forget the
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: hungry in this world. Good luck go with you, o,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: chief of the wolves. It was the jackal Tobaki, the
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: dish liquor. And the wolves of India despise Tabaki because
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: he runs about making mischief and telling tales, and eating
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: rags and pieces of leather from the village rubbish heaps.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: But they are afraid of him too, because Tobaki, more
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: than any one else in the jungle, is apt to
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: go mad. And then he forgets that he was ever
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: afraid of anyone, and runs through the forest, biting everything
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: in his way. Even the tiger runs and hides when
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: little Tobaki goes mad, For madness is the most disgraceful
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: thing that can overtake a wild creature. We call it hydrophobia,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: but they call it dewani the madness and run enter then,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: and look, said father wolf stiffly. But there is no
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: food here for a wolf, no, said Tobaki. But for
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: so mean a person as myself, a dry bone is
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: a good feast. Who are we, the gitter log the
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: jackal people to pick and choose? He scuttled to the
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: back of the cave where he found the bone of
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: a buck with some meat on it, and sat cracking
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the end merrily. All thanks for this good meal, he said,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: licking his lips. How beautiful are the noble children, How
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: large are their eyes? And so young too. Indeed, indeed,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: I might have remembered that the children of kings are
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: men from the beginning. Now, Tobaki knew as well as
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: any one else that there is nothing so unlucky as
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: to compliment children to their faces. It pleased him to
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: see mother and father Wolf look uncomfortable. Tobaki sat still,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: rejoicing in the mischief that he had made. And then
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: he said, spitefully, sheer Khan, the big one, has shifted
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: his hunting grounds. He will hunt among these hills for
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: the next moon, so he has told me. Sheer Khan
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: was the tiger who lived near the waing Gunga River
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: twenty miles away. He has no right, Father Wulf began
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: angrily by the law of the jungle. He has no
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: right to change his quarters without due warning. He will
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: frighten every head of game within ten miles, and I
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: I have to kill for two these days. His mother
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: did not call him lungry asterisk the lame one plus
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: four nothing, said Mother Wulf quietly. He has been lame
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: in one foot from his berth. That is why he
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: has only killed cattle. Now the villagers of the Wayne
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Gunga are angry with him, and he has come here
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: to make our villagers angry. They will scour the jungle
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: for him when he is far away, and we and
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: our children must run when the grass is set alight. Indeed,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: we are very grateful to Shear Khan. Shall I tell
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: him of your gratitude, said Tobaki out, snapped father Wolf.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Out and hunt with thy master. Thou hast done harm
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: enough for one night I go, said Tabaki quietly. Ye
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: can hear Sheer Khan below in the thickets? I might
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: have saved myself the message. Father Wolf listened, and below,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: in the valley that ran down to a little river,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: he heard the dry, angry, snarly sings on wine of
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: a tiger who has caught nothing and does not care
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: if all the jungle knows it. The fool, said father Wolf,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: to begin a knight's work with that noise? Does he
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: think that our buck are like his fat wing gunga
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: bullocks h s h it is neither bullock nor buck
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: he hunts tonight, said mother wolf. It is man. The
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: wine had changed to a sort of humming purr that
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: seemed to come from every quarter of the compass. It
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: was the noise that bewilders woodcutters and gypsies sleeping in
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: the open, and makes them run sometimes into the very
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: mouth of the tiger man, said father wolf, showing all
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: his white teeth fall. Are there not enough beetles and
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: frogs in the tanks that he must eat man? And
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: on our ground too? The law of the jungle, which
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: never orders anything without a reason forbids every beast to
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: eat man, except when he is killing to show his
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: children how to kill, and then he must hunt outside
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: the hunting grounds of his pack or tribe. The real
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: reason for this is that man killing means sooner or
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: later the arrival of white men on elephants with guns
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: and hundreds of brown men with gongs and rockets and torches.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Then everybody in the jungle suffers. The reason the beasts
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: give among themselves is that man is the weakest and
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: most defenseless of all living things, and it is unsportsmanlike
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: to touch him, They say, too, and it is true
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: that man eaters become mangy and lose their teeth. The
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: puryr grew louder and ended in the full throated air
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: of the tiger's charge. Then there was a howl, an
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: untigerish howl from sheer Khan. He has missed, said Mother Wolf.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: What is it? Father Wulf ran out a few paces
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: and heard sheer Khan muttering and mumbling savagely as he
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: tumbled about in the scrub. The fool has had no
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: more sense than to jump at a woodcutter's camp fire,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: and has burned his feet, said Father Wulf, with a grunt.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Tobaki is with him. Something is coming up hill, said
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Mother Wulf, twitching one ear. Get ready. The bushes rustled
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: a little in the thicket, and Father Wulf dropped with
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: his haunches under him, ready for his leap. Then, if
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: you had been watching, you would have seen the most
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: wonderful thing in the world. The wolf checked in mid spring.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: He made his bound before he saw what it was
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: he was jumping at, and then he tried to stop himself.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: The result was that he shot up straight into the
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: air for four or five feet, landing almost where he
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: lay man, he snapped a man's cub. Look. Directly in
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: front of him, holding on by a low branch, stood
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: a naked brown baby who could just walk as soft
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: and as dimpled a little atom as ever came to
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: a wolf's cave at night. He looked up into Father
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: Wulf's face and laughed. Is that a man's cub? Said
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Mother Wolf? I have never seen one bring it here?
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: A wolf accustomed to moving his own cubs, can, if necessary,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: mouth an egg without breaking it. And though Father Wolf's
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: jaws closed right on the child's back, not a tooth
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: even scratched the skin as he laid it down among
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: the cubs. How little, how naked, an how bold, said
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Mother Wolf softly. The baby was pushing his way between
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: the cubs to get close to the warm hide. A hi,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: he is taking his meal with the others, And so
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: this is a man's cub. Now was there ever a
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: wolf that could boast of a man's cub among her children?
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: I have heard now and again of such a thing,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: but never in our pack or in my time, said
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: Father Wulf. He is altogether without hair, and I could
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: kill him with a touch of my foot. But see
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: he looks up and is not afraid. The moonlight was
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: blocked out of the mouth of the cave, for sheer
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: Khan's great square head and shoulders were thrust into the entrance.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Tobaki behind him was squeaking, my lord, my lord, it
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: went in here. Sher Khan does us great honor, said
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: Father Wulf, but his eyes were very angry. What does
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: sher Khan need my quarry? A man's cub went this way,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: said sher Khan. Its parents have run off. Give it
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: to me. Sheer Khan had jumped at a woodcutter's camp fire,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: as Father Wulf had said, and was furious from the
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: pain of his burned feet. But Father Wulf knew that
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: the mouth of the cave was too narrow for a
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: tiger to come in by. Even where he was, sheer
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Khan's shoulders and forepaws were cramped for want of room,
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: as a man's would be if he tried to fight
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: in a barrel. The wolves are a free people, said
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Father Wolf. They take orders from the head of the
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: pack and not from any striped cattle killer. The man's
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: cub is ours to kill. If we choose, ye choose,
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: and ye do not choose. What talk is this of
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: choosing by the bull that I killed? Am I to
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: stand nosing into your dog's den for my fair dues?
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: It is I sheer Khan who speak zero zero three one.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: The tiger's roar filled the cave with thunder. The tiger's
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: roar filled the cave with thunder. Mother Wulf shook herself
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: clear of the cubs and sprang forward, her eyes like
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: two green moons in the darkness, facing the blazing eyes
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: of sheer Khan. And it is I Raksha Asterisk, the
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: demon plus who answers the man's cub is mine, lungry,
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: mine to me. He shall not be killed. He shall live,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: to run with the pack, and to hunt with the pack.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: And in the end, look, you hunter of little naked cubs,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: frog eater, fish killer, he shall hunt thee Now get
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: hence or by the samber that I killed, I eat
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: no starved cattle back. Thou goest to thy mother, burned
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: beast of the jungle, lamer than ever thou camest into
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: the world. Go. Father Wulf looked unamazed. He had almost
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: forgotten the days when he won Mother Wolf in fair
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: fight from five other wolves, when she ran in the pack,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: and was not called the demon for compliment's sake. Sheer
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Khan might have faced Father Wolf, but he could not
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: stand up against Mother Wolf, for he knew that where
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: he was, she had all the advantage of the ground
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: and would fight to the death. So he backed out
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: of the cave, mouth growling, and when he was clear,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: he shouted, each dog barks in his own yard. We
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: will see what the pack will say to this fostering
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: of man cubs. The cub is mine, and to my
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: teeth he will come in the end o bush tail thieves.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Mother Wulf threw herself down panting among the cubs, and
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: Father Wulf said to her gravely, sheer Khan speaks this
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: much truth. The cub must be shown to the pack.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Wilt thou still keep him? Mother, keep him? She gasped.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: He came naked by night, alone and very hungry, Yet
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: he was not afraid. Look, he has pushed one of
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: my babes to one side already, and that lame butcher
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: would have killed him and would have run off to
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: the wing Ganga, while the villagers here hunted through all
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: our lairs in revenge. Keep him, assuredly, I will keep him.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Lie still little frog, O thou Maugli. For Maugli the frog,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: I will call thee. The time will come when thou
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: wilt hunt Sheer Khan as he has hunted thee. But
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: what will our pack say, said father Wolf. The law
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: of the jungle lays down very clearly that any wolf may,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: when he marries, withdraw from the pack he belongs to.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: But as soon as his cubs are old enough to
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: stand on their feet, he must bring them to the
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: pack council, which is generally held once a month at
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: full moon, in order that the other wolves may identify them.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: After that inspection, the cubs are free to run where
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: they please, and until they have killed their first buck,
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: no excuse is accepted. If a grown wolf of the
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: pack kills one of them, the punishment is death where
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: the murderer can be found. And if you think for
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: a minute, you will see that this must be so
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: five thousand and twenty nine of the Council Rock. Father
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Wolf waited till his cubs could run a little, and then,
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: on the night of the pack meeting, took them and
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Mowgli and Mother Wolf to the council Rock, a hilltop
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: covered with stones and boulders where a hundred wolves could hide. Akella,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: the great gray loam wolf who led all the packs
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: by strength and cunning, lay out at full length on
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: his rock, and below him sat forty or more wolves
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: of every size and color, from badger colored veterans who
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: could handle a buck alone to young black three year
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: olds who thought they could. The lone wolf had led
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: them for a year now. He had fallen twice into
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: a wolf trap in his youth, and once he had
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: been beaten and left for dead, so he knew the
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: manners and customs of men. There was very little talking
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: at the rock. The cubs tumbled over each other in
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: the center of the circle where their mothers and fathers sat.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: And now and again a senior wolf would go quietly
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: up to a cub, look at him carefully, and return
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: to his place on noiseless feet. Sometimes a mother would
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: push her cub far out into the moonlight to be
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: sure that he had not been overlooked. A Kella from
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: his rock would cry, ye know the law, Ye know
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: the law, Look well, o wolves, and the anxious mothers
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: would take up the call, look look well, o wolves.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: At last, and mother Wulf's neck bristles lifted as the
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: time came. Father Wulf pushed moudly the frog as they
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: called him, into the center, where he sat, laughing and
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: playing with some pebbles that glistened in the moonlight. Akella
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: never raised his head from his paws, but went on
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: with the monotonous cry look well. A muffled roar came
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: up from behind the rocks, the voice of Sheer Khan, crying,
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: the cub is mine, Give him to me. What have
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: the free people to do with a man's cub? Akella
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: never even twitched his ears. All he said was, look well,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: o wolves, what have the free people to do with
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: the orders of any save the free people? Look well?
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: Zero zero three seven the meeting at the council rock,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: there was a chorus of deep growls, and a young
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: wolf in his fourth year flung back sher Khan's question
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: to Akella, what have the free people to do with
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: a man's cub? Now? The law of the jungle lays
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: down that if there is any dispute as to the
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: right of a cub to be accepted by the pack,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: he must be spoken for by at least two members
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: of the pack who are not his father. And mother
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: who speaks for this cub, said Akella. Among the free
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: people who speaks, there was no answer, and Mother Wolf
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: got ready for what she knew would be her last fight.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: If things came to fighting. Then the only other creature
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: who is allowed at the pack council Balow, the sleepy
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: brown bear, who teaches the wolf cubs the law of
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: the jungle. Old Balu, who can come and go where
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: he pleases because he eats only nuts and roots and honey,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: rowse upon his hind quarters and grunted the man's cub,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: the man's cub, he said, I speak for the man's cub.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: There is no harm in a man's cub. I have
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: no gift of words, but I speak the truth. Let
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: him run with the pack and be entered with the others.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: I myself will teach him. We need yet another, said Akella.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Balou has spoken, and he is our teacher for the
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: young cubs. Who speaks besides Balou? A black shadow dropped
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: down into the circle. It was Bagheera, the black panther,
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: inky black all over, but with the panther markings showing
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: up in certain lights, like the pattern of watered silk.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Everybody knew Bagheera, and nobody cared to cross his path.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: For he was as cunning as Tobaki, as bold as
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: the wild buffalo, and as reckless as the wounded elephant.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: But he had a voice as soft as wild honey
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: dripping from a tree, and a skin softer than down.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: O a kella, and ye the free people, he purred,
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: I have no right in your assembly. But the law
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: of the jungle says that if there is a doubt
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: which is not a killing matter in regard to a
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: new cub, the life of that cub may be bought
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: at a price, And the law does not say who
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: may or may not pay that price. Am I right? Good? Good?
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: Said the young wolves who are always hungry. Listen to Bagheera.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: The cub can be bought for a price. It is
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: the law. Knowing that I have no right to speak here,
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: I ask your leave speak, then, cried twenty voices. To
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: kill a naked cub is shame. Besides, he may make
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: better sport for you when he is grown. Balu has
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: spoken in his behalf. Now to Balu's word, I will
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: add one bull and a fat one, newly killed, not
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: half a mile from here. If he will accept the
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: man's cub according to the law, is it difficult? There
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: was a clamor of scores of voices saying, what matter.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: He will die in the winter rains, he will scorch
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: in the sun. What harm can a naked frog do us?
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Let him run with the pack? Where is the bull?
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Bagheera let him be accepted, and then came Michela's deep bay, crying,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: look well, look well, o wolves. Maugli was still deeply
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: interested in the pebbles, and he did not notice when
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: the wolves came and looked at him one by one.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: At last they all went down the hill for the
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: dead bull, and only Akella, Bagheera, Balu, and Maugli's own
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: wolves were left. Sheer Khan roared still in the night,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: for he was very angry that Maugli had not been
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: handed over to him. I roar well, said Bagheera, under
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: his whiskers, for the time will come when this naked
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: thing will make thee roar to another tune, or I
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: know nothing of man. It was well done, said Akella.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Men and their cubs are very wise. He may be
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: a help in time. Five thousand thirty eight. Akella the
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: lone wolf truly a help in time of need, for
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: none can hope to lead the pack forever, said Bagheera.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: Akella said nothing. He was thinking of the time that
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: comes to every leader of every pack, when his strength
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: goes from him, and he gets feebler and feedba till
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: at last he is killed by the wolves, and a
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: new leader comes up to be killed in his turn.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Take him away, he said to father Wolf, and train
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: him as befits, one of the free people. And that
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: is how Maugli was entered into the Seine wolf pack
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: for the price of a bull, and on Bellew's good word.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Now you must be content to skip ten or eleven
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: whole years and only guess at all the wonderful life
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: that Maugli led among the wolves, because if it were
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: written out, it would fill ever so many books. He
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: grew up with the cubs, though they of course were
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: grown wolves, almost before he was a child, and Father
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Wolf taught him his business and the meaning of things
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: in the jungle till every rustle in the grass, every
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: breath of the warm night air, every note of the
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: owls above his head, every scratch of a bat's claws
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: as it roost for a while in a tree, and
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: every splash of every little fish jumping in a pool
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: meant just as much to him as the work of
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: his office means to a business man. When he was
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: not learning, he he sat out in the sun and slept,
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: and ate, and went to sleep again. When he felt
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: dirty or hot, he swam in the forest pools. And
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: when he wanted honey, Baloo told him that honey and
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: nuts were just as pleasant to eat as raw meat.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: He climbed up for it, and that Bagheera showed him
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: how to do zero zero four three. Bagheera would lie
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: out on a branch and call, come along, little brother.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: Bagheera would lie out on a branch and call, come along,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: little brother. And at first Moudy would cling like the sloth,
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: but afterward he would fling himself through the branches almost
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: as boldly as the gray ape. He took his place
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: at the council Rock two when the pack met, and
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: there he discovered that if he stared hard at any wolf,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: the wolf would be forced to drop his eyes, and
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: so he used to stare for fun. At other times
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: he would pick the long thorns out of the pads
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: of his friends, for wolves suffered terribly from thorns. And
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: burrs in their coats. He would go down the hillside
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: into the cultivated land by night and looked very curiously
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: at the villagers in their huts. But he had a
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: mistrust of men because Bagheira showed him a square box
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: with a drop gate so cunningly hidden in the jungle
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: that he nearly walked into it and told him that
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: it was a trap. He loved better than anything else
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: to go with Bagheira into the dark, warm heart of
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: the forest to sleep all through the drowsy day and
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: at night see how Bagheera did his killing. Bagheira killed
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: right and left as he felt hungry, and so did Maugli,
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: with one exception. As soon as he was old enough
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: to understand things, Bagheira told him that he must never
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: touch cattle, because he had been bought into the pack
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: at the price of a bull's life. All the jungle
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: is thine, said Bagheera, and thou canst kill everything that
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: thou art strong enough to kill. But for the sake
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: of the bull that bought thee, thou must never kill
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: or eat any cattle, young or old. That is the
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: law of the jungle. Maugli obeyed faithfully, and he grew
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: and grew strong as a boy must rowe who does
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: not know that he is learning any lessons, and who
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: has nothing in the world to think of, accept things
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: to eat. Mother Wulf told him once or twice that
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: sheer Khan was not a creature to be trusted, and
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: that some day he must kill sheer Khan. But though
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: a young wolf would have remembered that advice every hour,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Maugli forgot it because he was only a boy. Though
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: he would have called himself a wolf if he had
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: been able to speak in any human tongue. Sheer Khan
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: was always crossing his path in the jungle. For as
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: Akella grew older and feebler, the lame tiger had come
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: to be great friends with the younger wolves of the pack,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: who followed him for scraps, thing Akella would never have allowed.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: If he had dared to push his authority to the
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: proper bounds. Then sheer Khan would flatter them and wonder
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: that such fine young hunters were content to be led
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: by a dying wolf and a man's cup. They tell me,
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: sheer Khan would say that a council, ye dare not
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: look him between the eyes and the young wolves would
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: growl and bristle. Bagheera, who had eyes and ears everywhere,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: knew something of this, and once or twice he told
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Maugli in so many words, that sheer Khan would kill
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: him some day. Maugli would laugh and answer, I have
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: the pack, and I have thee, and Baloo, though he
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: is so lazy, might strike a blow or two for
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: my sake. Why should I be afraid? It was one
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: very warm day that a new notion came to Bagheera,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: born of something that he had heard. Perhaps Ikey the
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: porcupine had told him. But he said to Maugli when
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: they were deep in the jungle, as the boy lay
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: with his head on Bagheera's beautiful black skin, little brother,
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: how often have I told thee that sheer Khan is
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: thy enemy? As many times as there are nuts on
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: that palm, said Maugli, who naturally could not count. What
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: of it? I am sleepy, Bagheera, and sheer Khan is
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: all long tail and loud talk like Mao the peacock.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: But this is no time for sleeping. Belu knows it.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: I know it, the pack know it, and even the foolish,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: foolish dear no Tobaki has told thee too. Ho ho,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: said Maugli. Tobaki came to me not long ago with
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: some rude talk that I was a naked man's cub
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: and not fit to dig pig nuts. But I caught
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: Tobaki by the tail and swung him twice against a
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: palm tree to teach him better manners. That was foolishness,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: for though Tobaki is a mischief maker, he would have
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: told thee of something that concerned thee. Closely, open those eyes,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: little brother, Sheera Khan dare not kill thee in the jungle.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: But remember Akella is very old, and soon the day
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: comes when he cannot kill his buck, and then he
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: will be leader no more. Many of the wolves that
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: look thee over when thou wast brought to the council first,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: are old too, And the young wolves believe, as Sheer
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: Khan has taught them, that a man cup has no
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: place with the pack. In a little time thou wilt
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: be a man. And what is a man that he
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: should not run with his brothers? Said Maugli. I was
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: born in the jungle. I have obeyed the law of
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: the jungle, and there is no wolf of ours, from
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: whose paws I have not pulled a thorn. Surely they
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: are my brothers. Baghirra stretched himself at full length and
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: half shut his eyes. Little brother said he feel under
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: my jaw. Maugli put up his strong brown hand, and
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: just under Baghia's silky chin, where the giant rolling muscles
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: were all hid by the glossy hair, he came upon
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: a little bald spot. There is no one in the
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: jungle that knows that I Bagheira carry that mark, the
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: mark of the collar. And yet, little brother, I was
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: born among men, and it was among men that my
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: mother died in the cages of the king's palace at Adipoor.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: It was because of this that I paid the price
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: for thee at the council, when thou wast a little
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: naked cup. Yes, I too was born among men. I
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: had never seen the jungle. They fed me behind bars
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: from an iron pan, till one night I felt that
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: I was Bagheera, the panther, and no man's plathing. And
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: I broke the silly lock with one blow of my
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: paw and came away. And because I had learned the
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: ways of men, I became more terrible in the jungle
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: than sheer Khan. Is it not so, yes, said Maugli.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: All the jungle fear Bagheera, All except Maugli. Oh, thou
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: art a man's cub, said the black panther, very tenderly.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: And even as I returned to my jungle, So thou
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: must go back to men at last, to the men
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: who are thy brothers. If thou art not killed in
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: the council. But why, but why should any wish to
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: kill me, said Maugli. Look at me, said Bagheera, and
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: Maugli looked at him steadily between the eyes. The big
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: panther turned his head away in half a minute. That
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: is why, he said, shifting his paw on the leaves.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Not even I can look THEE between the eyes. And
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: I was born among men, and I love THEE, little brother.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: The others they hate THEE because their eyes cannot meet thine,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: because thou art wise, because thou hast pulled out thorns
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: from their feet, because thou art a man. I did
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: not know these things, said mildly, sullenly, and he frowned
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: under his heavy black eyebrows. What is the law of
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: the jungle. Strike first and then give tongue by thy
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: very carelessness. They know that thou art a man, But
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: be wise. It is in my heart that when Achella
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: misses his next kill, and at each hunted costs him
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: more to pin the buck, the pack will turn against
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: him and against thee. They will hold a jungle council
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: at the rock. And then and then I have it,
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: said Bagheera, leaping up. Go thou down quickly to the
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: men's huts in the valley, and take some of the
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: red flower which they grow there, so that when the
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: time comes thou mayest have even a stronger friend than I,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: or Baloo, or those of the pack that love thee.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Get the red flower. By red flower, Bagheera, meant fire.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Only No creature in the jungle will call fire by
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: its proper name. Every beast lives in deadly fear of it,
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: and invents a hundred ways of describing it. The red flower,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: said Maugli, that grows outside their huts in the twilight.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: I will get some there, speaks the man's cub, said Bagheera, proudly.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: Remember that it grows in little pots. Get one swiftly,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: and keep it by thee for time of need. Good,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: said Maugli, I go, But art thou sure, o, my Bagheera.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: He slipped his arm around the splendid neck and looked
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: deep into the big eyes. Art thou sure that all
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: this is sheer Khan's doing? By the broken lock that
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: freed me, I am sure, little brother. Then by the
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: bull that bought me. I will pay sheer Khan full
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: tail for this. And it may be a little over,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: said Maugli, and he bound away. That is a man,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: that is all a man, said Bagheera to himself, lying
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: down again. Oh, sheer Khan never was a blacker hunting
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: than that frog hunt of thine ten years ago. Maugli
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: was far and far through the forest, running hard, and
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: his heart was hot in him. He came to the
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: cave as the evening mist rose, and drew breath and
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: looked down the valley. The cubs were out, but mother Wulf,
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: at the back of the cave knew by his breathing
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: that something was troubling her frog. What is it, son,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: she said, some bats chatter of sheer Khan. He called back,
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: I hunt among the plowed fields to night, and he
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: plunged downward through the bushes to the stream at the
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: bottom of the valley. There he checked for He heard
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: the yell of the pack hunting, heard the bellow of
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: a hunted samber, and the snort as the buck turned
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: at bay. Then there were wicked, bitter howls from the
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: young wolves. A kella Akella, let the lone wolf show
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: his strength room for the leader of the pack spring Akella.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: The lone wolf must have sprung, missed his hold, for
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: Mowgli heard the snap of his teeth, and then a
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: yelp as the samber knocked him over with his forefoot.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: He did not wait for anything more, but dashed on,
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: and the yells grew fainter behind him as he ran
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: into the croplands where the villagers lived. Bagia spoke truth.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: He panted as he nestled down in some cattle fodder
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: by the window of a hut. Tomorrow is one day,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: both for a kella and for me. Then he pressed
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: his face close to the window and watched the fire
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: on the hearth. He saw the husbandman's wife get up
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: and feed it in the night with black lumps, And
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: when the morning came and the mists were all white
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: and cold, he saw the man's child pick up a
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: wicker pot plastered inside with earth. Fill it with lumps
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: of red hot charcoal. Put it under his blanket, and
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: go out to tend the cows. And is that all,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: said Maugli. If a cub can do it, there is
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: nothing to fear. So he strode round the corner and
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: met the boy, took the pot from his hand, and
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: disappeared into the mist, while the boy howled with fear.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: They are very like me, said Maugli, blowing into the pot,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: as he had seen the woman do. This thing will
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: die if I do not give it things to eat,
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: And he dropped twigs and dried bark on the red stuff.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: Half Way up the hill he met Bagheera, with the
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: morning dew shining like moonstones on his coat. Akella has missed,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: said the panther. They would have killed him last night,
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: but they needed thee also. They were looking for thee
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: on the hill. I was among the plowed lands. I
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: am ready see, Maugli held up the fire pot. Good.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Now I have seen men thrust a dry branch into
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: that stuff, and presently the red flower blossomed at the
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: end of it. Art thou not afraid? No, Why should
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: I fear? I remember now, if it is not a dream,
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: how before I was a wolf? I lay beside the
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: red flower, and it was warm and pleasant. All that
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: day Maugli sat in the cave, tending his fire pot
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: and dipping dry branches into it to see how they looked.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: He found a branch that satisfied him, And in the evening,
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: when Tabaki came to the cave and told him rudely
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: enough that he was wanted at the council rock, he
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: laughed till Toabaki ran away. Then Maugli went to the
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: council still laughing. Five thousand and fifty four, Maugli and
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: Baghia a Kella the lone wolf, lay by the side
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: of his rock as a sign that the leadership of
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: the pack was open, and sheer Khan, with his following
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: of scrap fed wolves, walked to and fro openly, being flattered.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: Baghia lay close to Maugli, and the fire pot was
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: between Maugli's knees. When they were all gathered together, ser
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: Khan began to speak a thing he would never have
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: dared to do when Akello was in his prime. He
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: has no right, whispered bagheera say so. He is a
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: dog's son, he will be frightened. Maugli sprang to his feet.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: Free people, he cried, does sheer Khan lead the pack?
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: What has a tiger to do with our leadership? Seeing
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: that the leadership is yet open, and being asked to speak,
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: sheer Khan began by whom said, Maugli, are we all
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: jackalls to fawn on this cattle? Butcher, the leadership of
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: the pack is with the pack alone. There were yells
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: of silence. Thou man's cup, let him speak. He has
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: kept our law, and at last the seniors of the pack, thundered,
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: let the dead wolf speak. When a leader of the
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: pack has missed his kill, he is called the dead
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: wolf as long as he lives, which is not long.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: Akella raised his old head wearily. Free people, And ye too,
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: jackaws of sher Khan. For twelve seasons, I have led
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: ye to and from the kill, and in all that
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: time not one has been trapped remained. Now I have
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: missed my kill. Ye know how that plot was made.
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: Ye know how ye brought me up to an untried
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: buck to make my weakness known. It was cleverly done.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: Your right is to kill me here on the council rock. Now,
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: therefore I ask who comes to make an end of
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: the lone wolf, For it is my right by the
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: law of the jungle, that ye come one by one.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: There was a long hush, for no single wolf cared
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: to fight Akella to the death. Then sheer conroared, Bah,
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: what have we to do with this toothless fool? He
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: is doomed to die. It is the man cub who
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: has lived too long free people. He was my meat
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: from the first. Give him to me. I am weary
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: of this man wolf folly. He has troubled the jungle
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: for ten seasons. Give me the man cub, or I
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: will hunt here always and not give you one bone.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: He is a man, a man's child, and from the
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: marrow of my bones I hate him. Then more than
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: half the pack yelled, a man a man? What has
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: a man to do with us? Let him go to
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: his own place and turn all the people of the
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: villages against us. Clamored sheer Khan, No, give him to me.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: He is a man, and none of us can look
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: him between the eyes. Akella lifted his head again and said,
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: he has eaten our food, he has slept with us,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: he has driven game for us. He has broken no
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: word of the law of the jungle. Also, I paid
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: for him with a bull when he was accepted. The
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: worth of a bull is little, but Baghia's honor is
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: something that he will perhaps fight for, said Bagheera in
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: his gentlest voice. A bull paid ten years years ago.
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: The pack snarled, what do we care for bones ten
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: years old? Or for a pledge? Said Bagheera, his white
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: teeth bared under his lip. Well are ye called the
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: free people? No man's cub can run with the people
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: of the jungle. Howld Sheer Khan give him to me?
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: He is our brother in all but blood, Akella went on,
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: and ye would kill him here In truth, I have
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: lived too long. Some of ye are eaters of cattle
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: and of others. I have heard that under sher Khan's teaching,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: ye go by dark knight and snatched children from the
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: villager's doorstep. Therefore I know ye to be cowards, and
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: it is to cowards I speak. It is certain that
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: I must die, and my life is of no worth,
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: or I would offer that in the mancub's place, But
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: for the sake of the honor of the pack. A
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: little matter that by being without a leader, ye have forgotten.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: I promise that if ye let the man cub go
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: to his own place, I will not, when my time
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: comes to die, bear one tooth against ye. I will
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: die without fighting. That will at least save the pack
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: three lives. More I cannot do. But if ye will,
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: I can save ye the shame that comes of killing
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: a brother against whom there is no fault, a brother
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: spoken for and bought into the pack. According to the
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: law of the jungle. He is a man, a man
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: a man snarled the pack, and most of the wolves
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: began to gather round sher Khan, whose tail was beginning
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: to switch. Now the business is in thy hands, said
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: Bagheera to Maugli. We can do no more except fight.
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: Maugli stood upright, the fire pot in his hands. Then
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: he stretched out his arms and yawned in the face
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: of the council. But he was furious with rage and sorrow.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: For wolf like the wolves had never told him how
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: they hated him. Listen you, he cried, There is no
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: need for this dog's jabber. Ye have told me so
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: often to that I am a man, and indeed I
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: would have been a wolf with you to my life's
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: end that I feel your words are true. So I
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: do not call ye my brothers any more but sag dogs,
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: as a man should. What ye will do and what
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: ye will not do, is not yours to say that
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: matter is with me, and that we may see the
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: matter more plainly, I the man have brought here a
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: little of the red flower, which ye dogs fear. He
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: flung the fire pot on the ground, and some of
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: the red coals lit a tuft of dried moss that
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: flittered up as all the council drew back in terror
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: before the leaping flames, maudly thrust his dead branch into
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: the fire till the twigs lit and crackled, and whirled
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: it above his head among the cowering wolves. Thou art,
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: the master, said, bagheera, in an undertone. Save a Kella
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: from the death. He was ever thy friend. Akella. The
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: grim old wolf, who had never asked for mercy in
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: his life, gave one hideous look at Maugli as the
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: boy stood all naked, his long black hair tossing over
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: his shoulders in the light of the blazing branch that
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: made the shadows jump and quiver. Good said Maugli, staring
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: round slowly. I see that ye are dogs. I go
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: from you to my own people. If they be my
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: own people. The jungle is shut to me, and I
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: must forget your talk and your companionship. But I will
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: be more merciful than ye are, because I was all
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: but your brother in blood. I promise that when I
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: am a man among men, I will not betray ye
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: to men as ye have betrayed me. He kicked the
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: fire with his foot, and the sparks flew up. There
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: shall be no war between any of us in the pack.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: But here is a debt to pay before I go.
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: He strode forward to where sheer Khan sat, blinking stupidly
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: at the flames, and caught him by the tuft on
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: his chin. Baghirra followed. In case of accidents, up dog,
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: Maugli cried, up, when a man speaks, or I will
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: set that coat a blaze. Sheer Khan's ears lay flat
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: back on his head, and he shut his eyes, for
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: the blazing branch was very near. This cattle killer said
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: he would kill me in the council because he had
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: not killed me when I was a cup. Thus, and
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: thus then do we beat dogs when we are men,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: stir a whisker lungry, and I ran the red flower
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: down thy gullet. He beat sheer Khan over the head
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: with the branch, and the tiger whimpered and whined in
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: an agony of fear. Paw Singe, jungle cat. Go now,
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: but remember, when next I come to the council rock,
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: as a man should come, it will be with sheer
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: Khan's hide on my head. For the rest Akella goes
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: free to live as he pleases. Ye will not kill him,
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: because that is not my will, Nor do I think
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: that ye will sit here any longer, lolling out your
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: tongues as though ye were somebody's instead of whom I
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: drive out. Thus go. The fire was burning furiously at
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: the end of the branch, and Maugli struck right and
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: left round the circle, and the wolves ran howling with
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: the sparks burning their fur. At last there were only
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: a Kella Bagheera and perhaps ten wolves that had taken
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: Maugli's part. Then something began to hurt Maugli inside him
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: as he had never been heard in his life before,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: and he caught his breath and sobbed, and the tears
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: ran down his face. What is it? What is it?
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: He said? I do not wish to leave the jungle,
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: and I do not know what this is. Am I dying?
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: Bagheirra five thousand and sixty six. Maugli leaving the jungle? No,
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: little brother, that is only tears such as men use,
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: said Bagheira. Now I know thou art a man and
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: a man's cub. No longer the jungle is shut, indeed
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: to thee. Henceforward, let them fall, Maugli. They are only tears.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: So Maugli sat and cried as though his heart would break,
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: and he had never cried in all his life before.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: Now he said, I will go to men, but first
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: I must say farewell to my mother. And he went
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: to the cave where she lived with Father Wulf, and
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: he cried on her coat, while the four cubs howled miserably.
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: Ye will not forget me, said Maugli. Never while we
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: can follow a trail, said the cubs. Come to the
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: foot of the hill, when thou art a man, and
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: we will talk to thee, and we will come into
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: the croplands to play with thee. By night come soon,
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: said father Wulf. Oh wise, little frog, come again soon,
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: for we be old thy mother, and I come soon,
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: said Mother Wulf, little naked son of mine. For listen,
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: child of man, I love thee more than ever I
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: loved my cubs. I will surely come, said Maugli. And
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: when I come, it will be to lay out sheer
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: khns hide upon the council rock. Do not forget me,
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: Tell them in the jungle never to forget me. The
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: dawn was beginning to break when Maugli went down the
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: hillside alone to meet those mysterious things that are called
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: men hunting song of the c and e pack. As
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: the dawn was breaking, the samber belled once twice and again,
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: and a doe leaped up, and a doe leaped up
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: from the pond in the wood where the wild deer sap.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: This I scouting alone beheld once twice and again. As
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: the dawn was breaking, the samber belled once twice and again,
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: and a wolf stole back, and a wolf stole back
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: to carry the word to the waiting pack. And we sought,
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: and we found, and we bade on his track once
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: twice and again. As the dawn was breaking, the wolf
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: pack yelled once twice and again feet in the jungle
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: that leave no mark, eyes that can see in the dark,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: the dark to give tongue to it. Hark oh, hark
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: once twice and again zero zero six seven kus hunting.
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: His spots are the joy of the leopard. His horns
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: are the buffalo's pride. Be clean, for the strength of
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: the hunter is known by the gloss of his hide.
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: If ye find that the bullock can toss you, or
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: the heavy browed samber can gore, ye need not stop
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: work to inform us. We knew it ten seasons before.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: Oppress not the cubs of the stranger, but hail them
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: as sister and brother. For though they are little and fubbsy,
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: it may be the bear is their mother. There is
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: none like to me, says the cub, in the pride
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: of his earliest kill. But the jungle is large, and
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: the cub he is small. Let him think and be still,
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: maxims of Balow. All that is told here happen some
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: time before Maudley was turned out of the Siainee wolf
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: pack or revenged himself on Sheercon the tiger. It was
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: in the days when Balu was teaching him the law
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: of the jungle. The big, serious, old brown bear was
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: delighted to have so quick a pupil. For the young
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: wolves will only learn as much of the law of
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: the jungle as applies to their own pack and tribe,
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: and run away as soon as they can repeat the
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: hunting verse. Feet that make no noise, eyes that can
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: see in the dark, ears that can hear the winds
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: in their lairs, and sharp white teeth. All these things
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: are the marks of our brothers, except Tabaki the jackal,
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: and the hyena, whom we hate. But Malgli, as a
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: man cub, had to learn a great deal more than this.
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: Sometimes Bagheera, the black panther would come lounging through the
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: jungle to see how his pet was getting on, and
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: would purr with his head against a tree while Maugli
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: recited the day's lesson to Balou, the boy could climb
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: almost as well as he could swim, and swim almost
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: as well as he could run. So Balou, the teacher
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: of the law, taught him the wood and water laws,
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: how to tell a rotten branch from a sound one,
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: how to speak politely to the wild bees when he
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: came upon a hive of them fifty feet above ground,
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: what to say to Mang the bat when he disturbed
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: him in the branches at midday, and how to warn
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: the water snakes in the pools before he splashed down
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: among them. None of the jungle people like being disturbed,
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: and all are very ready to fly at an intruder. Then, too,
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: Maugli was taught the stranger's hunting call, which must be
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: repeated aloud till it is answered whenever one of the
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: jungle people hunts outside his own grounds. It means, translated,
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: give me leave to hunt here because I am hungry,
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: And the answer is hunt then for food, but not
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: for pleasure. All this will show you how much Maugli
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: had to learn by heart, and he grew very tired
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: of saying the same thing over a hundred times. But
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: as Belu said to Bagheera one day when Maugli had
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: been cuffed and run off in a temper, a man's
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: cub is a man's cup, and he must learn all
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: the law of the jungle. But think how small he is,
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: said the black panther, who would have spoiled moudly if
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: he had had his own way. How can his little
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: head carry all thy long talk? Is there anything in
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: the jungle too little to be killed. No, that is
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: why I teach him these things, And that is why
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: I hit him very softly when he forgets softly. What
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: dost thou know of softness? Old iron feet, Bagyua grunted.
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: His face is all bruised to day by thy softness. Augh.
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: Better he should be bruised from head to foot by me,
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: who love him, than that he should come to harm
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: through ignorance below, answered very earnestly. I am now teaching
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: him the master words of the jungle that shall protect
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: him with the birds and the snake people, and all
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: that hunt on four feet except his own pack. He
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: can now claim protection if he will only remember the
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: words from all in the jungle. Is not that worth
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: a little beating? Well? Look to it then, that thou
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: dost not kill the man cup. He is no tree
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: trunk to sharpen thy blunt claws upon. But what are
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: those master words? I am more likely to give help
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: than to ask it. Bagheirra stretched out one paw and
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: admired the steel, blue ripping chisel talons at the end
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: of it. Still I should like to know. I will
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: call Maugli and he shall say them if he will come,
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: little brother, my head is ringing like a bee tree,
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: said a sullen little voice over their heads, and Maugli
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: slid down a tree trunk, very angry and indignant, adding
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: as he reached the ground, I come for Bagheera, and
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: not for thee. Fat Old Balu, that is all one
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: to me, said Balow, though he was hurt and grieved.
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: Tell Bagheera, then the master words of the jungle that
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: I have taught thee this day, master words for which people,
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: said Maugli, delighted to show off. The jungle has many tongues.
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: I know them all a little thou knowest, but not
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: much see o Bagheera. They never thank their teacher. Not
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: one small wolfling has ever come back to thank Old
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: Bellu for his teachings. Say the word for the hunting people, then,
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: great scholar, we be of one blood. Ye, and I
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: said Maugli, giving the words the bare accent which all
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: the hunting people use. Good. Now for the birds, Maugli repeated,
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: with the kite's whistle at the end of the sentence.
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: Now for the snake people, said Bagheera. The answer was
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: a perfectly indescribable hiss and Maugli kicked up his feet behind,
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: clapped his hands together to applaud himself, and jumped on
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: to Bagheera's back, where he sat sideways, drumming with his
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: heels on the glossy skin and making the worst faces
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: he could think of at Bellu. There there, that was
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: worth a little bruise, said the brown bear tenderly. Some
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: day thou wilt remember me. Then he turned aside to
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: tell Bagheera how he had begged the master words from Hathi,
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: the wild elephant, who knows all about these things, And
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: how Hathi had taken Maugli down to a pool to
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: get the snake word from a water snake because Balu
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: could not pronounce it, And how Maugli was now reasonably
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: safe against all accidents in the jungle because neither snake, bird,
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: nor beast would hurt him. No one then is to
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: be feared. Balu wound up, patting his big furry stomach
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: with pride. Except his own tribe, said Bagheera under his breath,
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: and then aloud to Maugli, have a care for my ribs,
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: little brother. What is all this dancing up and down?
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: Maugli had been trying to make himself heard by pulling
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: at Bagheera's shoulder fur and kicking hard. When the two
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: listened to him, he was shouting at the top of
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: his voice. And so I shall have a tribe of
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: my own and lead them through the branches all day long.
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: What is this new folly, little dreamer of dreams, said Baghia. Yes,
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: and throw branches and dirt at old Balu. Maugli went on,
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: They have promised me this ah hoof Balu's big paw
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: scooped Maugli off Bagheera's back, and as the boy lay
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: between the big forepaws, he could see the bear was angry.
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: Malgli said balw thou hast been talking with the bandar
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: Log the monkey people. Maugli looked at Bagheera to see
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: if the panther was angry too, and Bagheira's eyes were
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: as hard as jade stone's. Thou hast been with the
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: monkey people, the gray apes, the people without a law,
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: the eaters of everything. That is great shame. When Balu
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: hurt my head, said Maugli. He was still on his back.
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: I went away, and the gray apes came down from
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: the trees and had pity on me. No one else cared.
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: He snuffled a little, the pity of the monkey people,
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: Balu snorted, the stillness of the mountain stream, the cool
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: of the summer sun. And then man Cub, and then
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: and then they gave me nuts and pleasant things to eat.
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: And they they carried me in their arms up to
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: the top of the trees and said I was their
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: blood brother, except that I had no tail, and should
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: be their leader some day. They have no leader, said Bagheera.
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: They lie, they have always lied. They were very kind
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: and bade me come again. Why have I never been
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: taken among the monkey people? They stand on their feet
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: as I do. They do not hit me with their
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: hard paws. They play all day. Let me get up,
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: bad Baloo, Let me up. I will play with them again. Listen,
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: man Cub, said the bear, and his voice rumbled like
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: thunder on a hot night. I have taught thee all
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: the law of the jungle, for all the peoples of
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: the jungle, except the monkey folk, who live in the trees.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: They have no law. They are outcasts. They have no
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: speech of their own, but use the stolen words which
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: they overhear when they listen and peep and wait up
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: above in the branches. Their way is not our way.
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: They are without leaders, They have no remembrance. They boast
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: and chatter and pretend that they are a great people
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: about to do great affairs in the jungle. But the
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: falling of a nut turns their minds to laughter, and
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: all is forgotten. We of the jungle have no dealings
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: with them. We do not drink where the monkeys drink.
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: We do not go where the monkeys go. We do
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: not hunt where they hunt. We do not die where
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: they die. Hast thou ever heard me speak of the
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: bondar log till to day, no, said maldly in a whisper,
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: for the forest was very still now Balue had finished.
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: The jungle people. Put them out of their mouths and
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: out of their minds. They are very many, evil, dirty, shameless,
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: and they desire, if they have any fixed desire, to
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: be noticed by the jungle people. But we do not
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: notice them, even when they throw nuts and filth on
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: our heads. He had hardly spoken when a shower of
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: nuts and twigs spattered down through the branches, and they
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: could hear coughings and howlings and angry jumpings high up
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: in the air among the thin branches. The monkey people
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: are forbidden, said Baloo. Forbidden to the jungle people, remember, forbidden,
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: said Bagheera. But I still think Balou should have warned
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: thee against them. Ay I, How was I to guess
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: he would play with such dirt? The monkey people fall,
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: A fresh shower came down on their heads, and the
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: two trotted away, taking Mougly with them. What Baloo had
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: said about the monkeys was perfectly true. They belonged to
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: the tree tops, and as beasts, very seldom look up.
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: There was no occasion for the monkeys and the jungle
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: people to cross each other's path. But whenever they found
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: a sick wolf or a wounded tiger or bear, the
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: monkeys would torment him, and would throw sticks and nuts
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: at any beast for fun and in the hope of
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: being noticed. Then they would howl and shriek senseless songs
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: and invite the jungle people to climb up their trees
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: and fight them, or would start furious battles over nothing
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: among themselves and leave the dead monkeys where the jungle
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: people could see them. They were always just going to
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: have a leader and laws and customs of their own,
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: but they never did because their memories would not hold
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: over from day to day, and so they compromised things
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: by making up a saying what the bandar log think now,
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: the jungle will think later, and that comforted them a
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: great deal. None of the beasts could reach them, but
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: on the other hand, none of the beasts would notice them,
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: and that was why they were so pleased when Maugli
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: came to play with them and they heard how angry
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: Balloo was. They never meant to do any more. The
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: bandar log never mean anything at all, But one of
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: them invented what seemed to him a brilliant idea, and
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: he told all the others that Maugli would be a
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: useful person to keep in the tribe because he could
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: reave sticks together for protection from the wind, so if
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: they caught him, they could make him teach them. Of course, Maugli,
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: as a woodcutter's child, inherited all sorts of instincts and
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: used to make little huts of fallen branches without thinking
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: how he came to do it. The monkey people watching
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: in the trees considered his play most wonderful. This time,
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: they said they were really going to have a leader
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: and become the wisest people in the jungle, so wise
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: that everyone else would notice and envy them. Therefore, they
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: followed Balu and Bagheera and Maugli through the jungle very
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: quietly till it was time for the midday nap, and Maugli,
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: who was very much ashamed of himself, slept between the
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: panther and the bear, resolving to have no more to
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: do with the monkey people. The next thing he remembered
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: was feeling hands on his legs and arms, hard strong
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: little hands, and then a swash of branches in his face,
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: and then he was staring down through the swaying boughs
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: as Belu woke the jungle with his deep cries, and
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: Bagheera bounded up the trunk with every tooth bear. The
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: bondar log howled with triumph and scuffled away to the
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: upper branches, where Bagheera dared not follow, shouting he has
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: noticed us, Bagheera has noticed us. All the jungle people
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: admire us for our skill and our cunning. Then they
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: began their flight. And the flight of the monkey people
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: through tree land is one of the things nobody can describe.
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: They have their regular roads and cross roads up hills
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: and down hills, all laid out from fifty to seventy
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: or one hundred feet above ground, and by these they
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: can travel even at night if necessary. Two of the
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: strongest monkeys caught Moudly under the arms and swung off
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: with him through the tree tops twenty feet at a bound.
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: Had they been alone, they could have gone twice as fast,
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: but the boy's weight held them back. Sick and giddy
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: as Maudly was, he could not help enjoying the wild rush,
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: though the glimpses of earth far down below frightened him,
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: and the terrible check and jerk at the end of
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: the swing over nothing but empty air brought his heart
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: between his teeth. His escort would rush him up a
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: tree till he felt the thinnest topmost branches crackle and
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: bend under them, and then, with a cough and a whoop,
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: would fling themselves into the air outward and downward, and
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: bring up, hanging by their hands or their feet, to
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: the lower limbs of the next tree. Sometimes he could
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: see for miles and miles across the still green jungle,
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: as a man on the top of a mast can
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: see for miles across the sea, And then the branches
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: and leaves would lash him across the face, and he
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: and his two guards would be almost down to earth again. So,
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: bounding and crashing and whooping and yelling, the whole tribe
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: of bondar Logs swept along the tree roads, with Maudli
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: their prisoner. For a time he was afraid of being dropped.
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: Then he grew angry, but knew better than to struggle,
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: And then he began to think. The first thing was
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: to send back word to Bellow and bagheera, for at
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: the pace the monkeys were going, he knew his friends
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: would be left far behind. It was useless to look down,
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: for he could only see the top sides of the branches,
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: so he stared upward and saw far away in the blue,
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: Ran the kite, balancing and wheeling as he kept watch
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: over the jungle, waiting for things to die. Ran saw
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: that the monkeys were carrying something and dropped a few
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: hundred yards to find out whether their load was good
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: to eat. He whistled with surprise when he saw Maugli
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: being dragged up to a tree top and heard him
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: give the kite call, for we be of one blood,
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: thou and I the waves of the branches closed over
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: the boy, but ran balanced away to the next tree
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: in time to see the little brown face come up again.
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: Mark my trail, Maugli shouted, Tell Balou of the sea
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: Inee pack and Bagheera of the council rock in whose name.
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: Brother Ran had never seen Maugli before, though of course
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: he had heard of him. Maugli, the frog man cub.
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: They call me, mark my trail. The last words were
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: shrieked as he was being swung through the air. But
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: Ran knotted and rose up till he looked no bigger
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: than a speck of dust. And there he hung, watching
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: with his telescope eyes the swaying of the tree tops
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: as Maugli's escort whirled along. Five thousand, ninety Balu in
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: the forest. They never go far, he said, with a chuckle.
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: They never do what they set out to do, always
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: pecking at new things. Are the bandar log this time,
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: if I have any eye sight, they have pecked down
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: trouble for themselves, For Balu is no fledgling in Bagheera can,
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: as I know, kill more than goats. So he rocked
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: on his wings, his feet gathered up under him, and
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: waited meantime, Balu and Bagheera were furious with rage and grief.
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: Bagheera climbed as he had never climbed before, but the
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: thin branches broke beneath his weight, and he slipped down,
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: his claws full of bark. Why didst thou not warn
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: the man cub? He roared to poor Ballew, who had
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: set off at a clumsy trot in the hope of
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: overtaking the monkeys. What was the use of half slaying
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: him with blows if thou didst not warn him? Haste, oh, haste,
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: we we may catch them. Yet Balow panted. At that
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: speed it would not tire a wounded cow. Teacher of
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: the law, cub beater a mile of that rolling to
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: and fro would burst thee open. Sit still and think,
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: make a plan. This is no time for chasing. They
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: may drop him if we follow too close a rolla
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: who they may have dropped him already, being tired of
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: carrying him. Who can trust to bond our log? Put
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: dead bats on my head, give me black bones to eat,
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: Roll me into the hives of the wild bees, that
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: I may be stung to death, and bury me with
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: the hyaena. For I am most miserable of bears. Irillala
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: wahua oh, Maugli, Maugli. Why did I not warn thee
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: against the monkey folk instead of breaking thy head? Now,
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: perhaps I may have knocked the day's lesson out of
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: his mind, and he will be alone in the jungle
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: without the master words. Balou clasped his paws over his
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: ears and rolled to and fro, moaning. At least he
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: gave me all the words correctly a little time ago,
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: said Bagheera impatiently. Balu, thou hast neither memory nor respect.
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: What would the jungle think if I, the black panther,
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: curled myself up like Ikey the porcupine and howled. What
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: do I care what the jungle thinks. He may be
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: dead by now, unless and until they drop him from
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: the branches in sport or kill him out of idleness.
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: I have no fear for the man cup He is
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: wise and well taught, and above all he has the
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: eyes that make the jungle people afraid. But an it
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: is a great evil. He is in the power of
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: the bondar log and they, because they live in trees,
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: have no fear of any of our people. Bagheirra licked
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: one forepaw thoughtfully fool that I am, Oh fat brown
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: root digging fool that I am, said Balow, uncoiling himself
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: with a jerk. It is true, what hathe the wild
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: elephant says to each his own fear, and they the
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: bondar log fear Kaw the rock snake. He can climb
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: as well as they can. He steals the young monkeys
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: in the night. The whisper of his name makes their
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: wicked tails cold. Let us go to Ka. What will
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: he do for us? He is not of our tribe,
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: being footless and with most evil eyes, said Bagheera. He
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: is very old and very cunning. Above all, he is
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: always hungry, said Baloo. Hopefully, promise him many goats. He
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: sleeps for a full month after he has once eaten.
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: He may be asleep now, And even were he awake,
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: what if he would rather kill his own goats? Bagheera,
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: who did not know much about Ka, was naturally suspicious.
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: Then in that case, thou and I, together, old hunter,
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: might make him see reason. Here Balu rubbed his faded
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: brown shoulder against the panther, and they went off to
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: look for Kaw the rock Python. They found him stretched
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: out on a warm ledge in the afternoon sun, admiring
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: his beautiful new coat, for he had been in retirement
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: for the last ten days, changing his skin, and now
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: he was very splendid, darting his big, blunt nosed head
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: along the ground and twisting the thirty feet of his
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: body into fantastic knots and curves, and licking his lips
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: as he thought of his dinner to come. He has
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: not eaten, said Ballew, with a grunt of relief, as
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: soon as he saw the beautifully mottled brown and yellow jacket.
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: Be careful, bagheera. He is always a little blind after
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: he has changed his skin, and very quick to strike.
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: Kaw was not a poisoned snake. In fact, he rather
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: despised the poisoned snakes as cowards. But his strength lay
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: in his hug, and when he had once lapped his
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: huge coils round anybody, there was no more to be said.
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: Good hunting, cried Baloo, sitting up on his haunches. Like
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: all snakes of his breed, Kaw was rather deaf and
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: did not hear the call at first. Then he curled up,
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: ready for any accident, his head lowered. Good hunting for
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: us all, he answered, Oho, bellow, what dost thou do here?
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: Good hunting Bagheira. One of us at least needs food.
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 1: Is there any news of game afoot a dough now
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: or even a young buck? I am as empty as
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: a dried well. We are hunting, said Balu carelessly. He
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: knew that you must not hurry Ka, he is too big.
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: Give me permission to come with you, said Ka. A
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: blow more or less is nothing to thee Bagheira or Balu.
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: But I I have to wait and wait for days
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: in a wood path and climb half a night on
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: the mere chance of a young ape chausshaul. The branches
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: are not what they were when I was young. Rotten
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: twigs and dry boughs are they all? Maybe thy great
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: weight has something to do with the matter, said Balw.
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: I am a fair length. A fair length, said Kaw
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: with a little pride. But for all that, it is
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: the fault of this new grown timber. I came very
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: near to falling on my last hunt, very near, indeed,
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: and the noise of my slipping, for my tail was
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: not tight wrapped around the tree, waked the bandar log.
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: And they called me most evil names footless yellow earthworm,
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: said Bagheera under his whiskers, as though he were trying
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: to remember something. S S S. Have they ever called
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: me that, said Ka, something of that kind. It was
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: that they shouted to us last moon, but we never
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: noticed them. They will say anything, even that thou hast
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: lost all thy teeth and wilt not face anything bigger
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: than a kid, because they are indeed shameless, these bond
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: our Log, because thou art afraid of the he goat's horns.
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: Bagheera went on sweetly. Now a snake, especially a wary
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: old python like Ka, very seldom shows that he is angry.
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: But Balu and Bagheera could see the big swallowing muscles
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: on either side of Kaw's throat, ripple and bulge. The
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 1: bond our Log have shifted their grounds, he said quietly.
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 1: When I came up into the sun today, I heard
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: them whooping among the tree tops. It it is the
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: bond our Log that we follow now, said balw But
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: the words stuck in his throat, for that was the
• 1:07:56
  Speaker 1: first time in his memory that one of the jungle
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: people had owned to being interest in the doings of
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: the monkeys. Beyond doubt. Then it is no small thing
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 1: that takes two such hunters leaders in their own jungle.
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: I am certain on the trail of the bandar log
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: Ka replied courteously, as he swelled with curiosity. Indeed, Balu began,
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: I am no more than the old and sometimes very
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: foolish teacher of the law to the Siaenee wolf cubs
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: and Bagheera. Here is Bagheera, said the black panther, and
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: his jaws shut with a snap, for he did not
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: believe in being humble. The trouble is this, Ka, those
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: nut steelers and pickers of palm leaves have stolen away
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: our man cub, of whom thou hast perhaps heard. I
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: heard some news from iky His quills make him presumptuous
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 1: of a man thing that was entered into a wolf pack.
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: But I did not believe. Ikey is full of stories
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: half heard and very badly told. But it is true
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: he is such a man cub as never was, said Balu,
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 1: the best and wisest and oldest of man cubs, my
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: own pupil, who shall make the name of Bellou famous
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: through all the jungles. And besides I we love him.
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 1: Ka T S T S. Said Ka, weaving his head
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 1: to and fro. I also have known what love is.
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 1: There are tales I could tell that that need a
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: clear night, when we are all well fed, to praise properly,
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: said Bagheera quickly. Our man cub is in the hands
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 1: of the bondar log now, and we know that of
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: all the jungle people, they fear Ka alone. They fear
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: me alone. They have good reason, said Ka. Chattering foolish, vain, vain,
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: foolish and chattering are the monkeys. But a man thing
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: in their hands is in no good luck. They grow
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: tired of the nuts, they pick and throw them down.
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: They carry a branch half a day, meaning to do
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: great things with it, and then they snap it in too.
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 1: That man thing is not to be envied. They called
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: me also yellow fish? Was it not worm worm? Earthworm?
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: Said Bagheera, as well as other things which I cannot
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: now say for shame. We must remind them to speak
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: well of their master triple A SSP. We must help
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: their wandering memories. Now whither went they with the cub?
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: The jungle alone knows toward the sunset, I believe, said bellew.
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: We had thought that thou wouldst know Ka I how
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: I take them when they come in my way. But
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: I do not hunt the bond our log, or frogs
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: or green scum on a water hole for that matter.
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: Up up, up, up hillo Illo Illo, look up, Belleu
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 1: of the sea and ee wolf pack. Balu looked up
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 1: to see where the voice came from. And there was Ran,
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: the kite, sweeping down with the sunshine on the upturned
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: flanges of his wings. It was near Rand's bedtime, but
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: he had ranged all over the jungle looking for the bear,
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: and had missed him in the thick foliage. What is it,
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 1: said Ballew, I have seen Maugli among the bondar log.
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: He bade me tell you. I watched the bandar log
• 1:11:20
  Speaker 1: have taken him beyond the river to the monkey city,
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: to the cold lairs. They may stay there for a night,
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: or ten nights or an hour. I have told the
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: bats to watch through the dark time. That is my message.
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: Good hunting, all you below full gorge in a deep
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: sleep to you, Ran, cried Bagheera. I will remember thee
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: in my next kill and put aside the head for
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: thee alone, O best of kites, it is nothing, it
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 1: is nothing. The boy held the master word. I could
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 1: have done no less, and ran circled up again to
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: his roost. He has not forgotten to use his tongue,
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 1: said Baloo, with a chuckle of pride, to think of
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: one so young remembering the master word for the birds too.
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: While he was being pulled across trees, it was most
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: firmly driven into him, said Bagheera. But I am proud
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 1: of him. And now we must go to the Cold Lairs.
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: They all knew where that place was, but few of
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 1: the jungle people ever went there, because what they called
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: the Cold Lairs was an old, deserted city, lost and
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: buried in the jungle. And beasts seldom use a place
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: that men have once used. The wild boar will, but
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: the hunting tribes do not. Besides, the monkeys lived there
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: as much as they could be said to live anywhere,
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: and no self respecting animal would come within eyeshot of it,
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: except in times of drought, when the half ruined tanks
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: and reservoirs held a little water. Fifty one O four
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: the Cold Lairs. It is half a night's journey at
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: full speed, said Bagheera, and Bellu looked very serious. I
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: will go as fast as I can, he said anxiously.
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: We dare not wait for thee follow Balou. We must
• 1:13:07
  Speaker 1: go on the quick foot Kaw, and I feet or
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 1: no feet, I can keep abreast of all thy four,
• 1:13:14
  Speaker 1: said Kaw. Shortly. Balu made one effort to hurry, but
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 1: had to sit down panting, and so they left him
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: to come on later. While Bagheera hurried forward at the
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: quick panther canter, Kaw said nothing but strive as Bagheera might.
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 1: The huge rock Python held level with him. When they
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: came to a hill stream, Bagheera gained because he bounded across,
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: while Kaw swam his head and two feet of his
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: neck clearing the water. But on level ground, Kaw made
• 1:13:42
  Speaker 1: up the distance by the broken lock that freed me,
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 1: said Bagheera, when twilight had fallen. Thou art no slow goer.
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 1: I am hungry, said ka Besides, they called me speckled
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 1: frog worm, earthworm and yellow to boot all one. Let
• 1:14:02
  Speaker 1: us go on, and Kaa seemed to pour himself along
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: the ground, finding the shortest road with his steady eyes
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 1: and keeping to it. In the cold lairs, the monkey
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 1: people were not thinking of Maugli's friends at all. They
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: had brought the boy to the lost city and were
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: very much pleased with themselves For the time. Maugli had
• 1:14:22
  Speaker 1: never seen an Indian city before, and though this was
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: almost a heap of ruins, it seemed very wonderful and splendid.
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: Some king had built it long ago on a little hill.
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 1: You could still trace the stone causeways that led up
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: to the ruined gates, where the last splinters of wood
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: hung to the worn, rusted hinges. Trees had grown into
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: and out of the walls. The battlements were tumbled down
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 1: and decayed, and wild creepers hung out of the windows
• 1:14:48
  Speaker 1: of the towers on the walls in bushy hanging clumps.
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: A great roofless palace crowned the hill, and the marble
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: of the courtyards and the fountains was split and stained
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: with red and green, and the very kobble stones in
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 1: the courtyard where the king's elephants used to live, had
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: been thrust up and apart by grasses and young trees.
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: From the palace you could see the rows and rows
• 1:15:09
  Speaker 1: of roofless houses that made up the city, looking like
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: empty honeycombs filled with blackness. The shapeless block of stone
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 1: that had been an idol in the square where four
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 1: roads met, the pits and dimples at street corners where
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: the public wells once stood, and the shattered domes of
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 1: temples with wild figs sprouting on their sides. The monkeys
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: called to place their city and pretended to despise the
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: jungle people because they lived in the forest, and yet
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: they never knew what the buildings were made for, nor
• 1:15:37
  Speaker 1: how to use them. They would sit in circles on
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 1: the hall of the King's council Chamber and scratch for
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 1: fleas and pretend to be men, where they would run
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 1: in and out of the roofless houses and collect pieces
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 1: of plaster and old bricks in a corner, and forget
• 1:15:51
  Speaker 1: where they had hidden them, and fight and cry in
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 1: scuffling crowds, and then break off to play up and
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: down the terraces of the King's garden, where they would
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 1: shake the rose trees and the oranges in sport to
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: see the fruit and flowers fall. They explored all the
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 1: passages and dark tunnels in the palace, and the hundreds
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: of little dark rooms, but they never remembered what they
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: had seen and what they had not, and so drifted
• 1:16:14
  Speaker 1: about in ones and twos or crowds, telling each other
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 1: that they were doing as men did. They drank at
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 1: the tanks and made the water all muddy, and then
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 1: they fought over it. And then they would all rush
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 1: together in mobs and shout, there is no one in
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: the jungle so wise and good and clever and strong
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 1: and gentle as the bandar Log. Then all would begin again,
• 1:16:35
  Speaker 1: till they grew tired of the city and went back
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 1: to the tree tops, hoping the jungle people would notice them. Maugli,
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 1: who had been trained under the law of the jungle,
• 1:16:44
  Speaker 1: did not like or understand this kind of life. The
• 1:16:48
  Speaker 1: monkeys dragged them into the cold lairs late in the afternoon,
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 1: and instead of going to sleep, as Maugli would have
• 1:16:54
  Speaker 1: done after a long journey, they joined hands and danced
• 1:16:57
  Speaker 1: about and sang their foolish songs. One of the monkeys
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 1: made a speech and told his companions that Maugli's capture
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: marked a new thing in the history of the bandar Log,
• 1:17:06
  Speaker 1: for Maugli was going to show them how to weave
• 1:17:09
  Speaker 1: sticks and canes together as a protection against rain and cold.
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 1: Maugli picked up some creepers and began to work them
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 1: in and out, and the monkeys tried to imitate, but
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: in a very few minutes they lost interest and began
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: to pull their friend's tails or jump up and down
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 1: on all fours, coughing. I wish to eat, said Maugli.
• 1:17:29
  Speaker 1: I am a stranger in this part of the jungle.
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 1: Bring me food or give me leave to hunt here.
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 1: Twenty or thirty monkeys bounded away to bring him nuts
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: and wild pawpaws, but they fell to fighting on the road,
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 1: and it was too much trouble to go back with
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 1: what was left of the fruit. Maugli was sore and
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: angry as well as hungry, and he roamed through the
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 1: empty city, giving the stranger's hunting call from time to time,
• 1:17:54
  Speaker 1: but no one answered him, and Maugli felt that he
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: had reached a very bad place. Indeed, all that Balou
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 1: has set about the bandar log is true, he thought
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 1: to himself. They have no law, no hunting call, and
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 1: no leaders, nothing but foolish words and little picking thievish hands.
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 1: So if I am starved or killed here, it will
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 1: be all my own fault. But I must try to
• 1:18:18
  Speaker 1: return to my own jungle. Balow will surely beat me,
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: but that is better than chasing silly rose leaves with
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: the bandar log. No sooner had he walked to the
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: city wall than the monkeys pulled him back, telling him
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: that he did not know how happy he was, and
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 1: pinching him to make him grateful. He set his teeth
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 1: and said nothing, but went with the shouting monkeys to
• 1:18:40
  Speaker 1: a terrace above the red sandstone reservoirs that were half
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 1: full of rain water. There was a ruined summer house
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: of white marble in the center of the terrace, built
• 1:18:49
  Speaker 1: for queens dead a hundred years ago. The domed roof
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 1: had half fallen in and blocked up the underground passage
• 1:18:56
  Speaker 1: from the palace by which the queens used to enter,
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: But the walls were made of screens of marble tracery,
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: beautiful milk white fretwork, set with agates and cornelians and
• 1:19:06
  Speaker 1: jasper and lapis lazuli. And as the moon came up
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: behind the hill that shone through the open work, casting
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 1: shadows on the ground like black velvet embroidery. Sore, sleepy
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: and hungry as he was, Maugli could not help laughing
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 1: when the bondark Log began twenty at a time to
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: tell him how great and wise and strong and gentle
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: they were, and how foolish he was to wish to
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 1: leave them. We are great, we are free, we are wonderful.
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 1: We are the most wonderful people in all the jungle.
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 1: We all say so, and so it must be true,
• 1:19:42
  Speaker 1: they shouted. Now, as you are a new listener and
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 1: can carry our words back to the jungle people, so
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 1: that they may notice us in future, we will tell
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: you all about our most excellent selves. Maugli made no objection,
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 1: and the monkeys gathered by hundreds and hundreds on the
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: terrace to listen to their own speakers singing the Prey
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: of the bandar log, and whenever a speaker stopped for
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: want of breath, they would all shout together. This is true,
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 1: we all say so. Maugli nodded and blinked and said
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: yes when they asked him a question, and his head
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 1: spun with the noise. Tabaki the jackal must have bitten
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: all these people, he said to himself. And now they
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: have madness. Certainly this is dewani the madness. Do they
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: never go to sleep? Now there is a cloud coming
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: to cover that moon. If it were only a big
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 1: enough cloud, I might try to run away in the darkness,
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 1: but I am tired. That same cloud was being watched
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: by two good friends in the ruined ditch below the
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 1: city wall. For Baghia and Ka, knowing well how dangerous
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: the monkey people were in large numbers, did not wish
• 1:20:47
  Speaker 1: to run any risks. The monkeys never fight unless they
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: are a hundred to one, and few in the jungle
• 1:20:53
  Speaker 1: care for those odds. I will go to the west wall,
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: Ka whispered, and come down swiftly, with the slope of
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: the ground in my favor. They will not throw themselves
• 1:21:04
  Speaker 1: upon my back in their hundreds. But I know it,
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: said Bagheera, would that Baloo were here, but we must
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: do what we can. When that cloud covers the moon,
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: I shall go to the terrace. They hold some sort
• 1:21:17
  Speaker 1: of council there over the boy good hunting, said Kaw grimly,
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: and glided away to the west wall that happened to
• 1:21:25
  Speaker 1: be the least ruined of any and the big snake
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 1: was delayed awhile before he could find the way up
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: the stones, the cloud hid the moon, and as Maugli
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 1: wondered what would come next, he heard Bagheera's light feet
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 1: on the terrace. The black panther had raced up the
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 1: slope almost without a sound, and was striking. He knew
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 1: better than to waste time in biting right and left.
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 1: Among the monkeys who were seated round Maugli in circles
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 1: fifty and sixty deep, there was a howl of fright
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 1: and rage. And then as Bagheera tripped on the rolling
• 1:21:56
  Speaker 1: kicking bodies beneath him, a monkey shouted, there is only
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 1: one here, kill him. Kill. A scuffling mass of monkeys, biting, scratching,
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 1: tearing and pulling closed over Bagheera, while five or six
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 1: laid hold of Maugli, dragged him up the wall of
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 1: the summer house and pushed him through the whole of
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 1: the broken dome. A man trained boy would have been
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 1: badly bruised, for the fall was a good fifteen feet,
• 1:22:23
  Speaker 1: but Maugli fell as Balu had taught him to fall,
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: and landed on his feet fifty one seventeen. The monkey fight.
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: Stay there, shouted the monkeys, till we have killed thy friends,
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 1: and later we will play with thee. If the poisoned
• 1:22:36
  Speaker 1: people leave thee alive, we be of one blood, ye,
• 1:22:40
  Speaker 1: And I said Maugli, quickly, giving the snake's call. He
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 1: could hear rustling hissing in the rubbish all round him,
• 1:22:47
  Speaker 1: and gave the call a second time to make sure.
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 1: Even so downwoods all said half a dozen low voices.
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 1: Every ruin in India becomes sooner or later a da
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 1: dwelling place of snakes. And the old summer house was
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: alive with cobras. Stand still, little brother, for thy feet
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 1: may do us harm. Maugli stood as quietly as he could,
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 1: peering through the open work and listening to the furious
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: din of the fight round the black panther, the yells
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: and chatterings and scufflings and Bagheera's deep, hoarse cough as
• 1:23:21
  Speaker 1: he backed and bucked and twisted and plunged under the
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: heaps of his enemies. For the first time since he
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: was born, Bagheira was fighting for his life. Bellu must
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: be at hand. Bagheira would not have come alone, Maugli thought,
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: And then he called aloud to the tank, Bagheira, Roll
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 1: to the water tanks, roll and plunge. Get to the water.
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: Bagheera heard, and the cry that told him Maugli was
• 1:23:49
  Speaker 1: safe gave him new courage. He worked his way desperately,
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 1: inch by inch straight for the reservoirs, halting in silence.
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: Then from the ruined wall nearest the jungle rose up
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: the rumbling war shout of bellow. The old bear had
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 1: done his best, but he could not come before Bagheera.
• 1:24:08
  Speaker 1: He shouted, I am here, I climb, I haste a huera,
• 1:24:16
  Speaker 1: the stone slip under my feet, wait my coming, almost
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 1: infamous bondar log. He panted up the terrace, only to
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 1: disappear to the head in a wave of monkeys. But
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: he threw himself squarely on his haunches and spreading out
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 1: his forepaws, hugged as many as he could hold, and
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 1: then began to hit with a regular bat bat bat
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 1: like the flipping strokes of a paddle wheel. A crash
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: and a splash told moudly that Bagheera had fought his
• 1:24:41
  Speaker 1: way to the tank, where the monkeys could not follow.
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: The panther lay gasping for breath, his head just out
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: of the water, while the monkeys stood three deep on
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 1: the red steps, dancing up and down, with rage, ready
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: to spring upon him from all sides if he came
• 1:24:56
  Speaker 1: out to help Bellou. It was then that Bagheera lifted
• 1:24:59
  Speaker 1: up his dripping chin, and in despair gave the snake's
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 1: call for protection. We be of one blood, ye and I,
• 1:25:06
  Speaker 1: for he believed that Ka had turned tail at the
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 1: last minute. Even Balu, half smothered under the monkeys on
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 1: the edge of the terrace, could not help chuckling as
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: he heard the black panther asking for help. Ka had
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: only just worked his way over the west wall, landing
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 1: with a wrench that dislodged a coping stone into the ditch.
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: He had no intention of losing any advantage of the ground,
• 1:25:29
  Speaker 1: and coiled and uncoiled himself once or twice to be
• 1:25:32
  Speaker 1: sure that every foot of his long body was in
• 1:25:35
  Speaker 1: working order. All that while the fight with Bellu went on,
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 1: and the monkeys yelled in the tank round Bagheera and
• 1:25:42
  Speaker 1: Mang the bat, flying to and fro, carried the news
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 1: of the great battle over the jungle till even Hathi
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 1: the wild elephant trumpeted, and far away scattered bands of
• 1:25:52
  Speaker 1: the monkey folk woke and came leaping along the tree
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 1: roads to help their comrades in the cold lairs, and
• 1:25:58
  Speaker 1: the noise of the fight roused all day birds for
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 1: miles round. Then Kaw came straight quickly and anxious to kill.
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 1: The fighting strength of a python is in the driving
• 1:26:09
  Speaker 1: blow of his head, backed by all the strength and
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 1: weight of his body. If you can imagine a lance,
• 1:26:15
  Speaker 1: or a battering ram, or a hammer weighing nearly half
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 1: a ton, driven by a cool, quiet mind living in
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 1: the handle of it, you can roughly imagine what Ka
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 1: was like when he fought. A python four or five
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 1: feet long can knock a man down if he hits
• 1:26:29
  Speaker 1: him fairly in the chest, and Ka was thirty feet long.
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 1: As you know. His first stroke was delivered into the
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: heart of the crowd, round bellow. It was sent home
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 1: with shut mouth, in silence, and there was no need
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 1: of a second. The monkeys scattered with cries of Ka.
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 1: It is Ka, Run Run five thousand, one hundred and
• 1:26:53
  Speaker 1: twenty five the Ka, the Python. Generations of monkeys had
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 1: been scared into good behavior by the stories there elders
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 1: told them of Ka, the night thief, who could slip
• 1:27:03
  Speaker 1: along the branches as quietly as moss grows and steal
• 1:27:06
  Speaker 1: away the strongest monkey that ever lived, Of old Ka,
• 1:27:11
  Speaker 1: who could make himself look so like a dead branch
• 1:27:13
  Speaker 1: or a rotten stump, that the wisest were deceived till
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 1: the branch caught them. Ka was everything that the monkeys
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: feared in the jungle, for none of them knew the
• 1:27:22
  Speaker 1: limits of his power. None of them could look him
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 1: in the face, and none had ever come alive out
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 1: of his hug. And so they ran, stammering with terror,
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 1: to the walls and the roofs of the houses, and
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 1: Balu drew a deep breath of relief. His fur was
• 1:27:37
  Speaker 1: much thicker than Bagheera's, but he had suffered sorely in
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 1: the fight. Then ka A opened his mouth for the
• 1:27:44
  Speaker 1: first time and spoke one long, hissing word, and the
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 1: far away monkeys, hurrying to the defense of the cold lairs,
• 1:27:50
  Speaker 1: stayed where they were, cowering till the loaded branches bent
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 1: and crackled under them. The monkeys on the walls and
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 1: the empty houses stopped their cries, and in the stillness
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 1: that fell upon the city, Maugli heard Bagheera shaking his
• 1:28:04
  Speaker 1: wet sides as he came up from the tank. Then
• 1:28:07
  Speaker 1: the clamor broke out again. The monkeys leaped higher up
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 1: the walls. They clung around the necks of the big
• 1:28:14
  Speaker 1: stone idols and shrieked as they skipped along the battlements
• 1:28:17
  Speaker 1: while Maugli, dancing in the summer house, put his eye
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 1: to the screenwork and hooted owl fashion between his front
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 1: teeth to show his derision and contempt. Get the man
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 1: cub out of that trap. I can do no more, Bagheera, gasped.
• 1:28:32
  Speaker 1: Let us take the man cub and go. They may
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 1: attack again. They will not move till I order them.
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 1: Stay you so Kaw hissed, and the city was silent
• 1:28:44
  Speaker 1: once more. I could not come before, brother, But I
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: think I heard THEE call. This was to bagheirra I
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 1: I may have cried out in the battle, Bagheera answered
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 1: balow Art, thou hurt. I am not sure that they
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 1: did not pull me into a hundred little bullings, said Ballew, gravely,
• 1:29:03
  Speaker 1: shaking one leg after the other. Wow, I am sore
• 1:29:09
  Speaker 1: ka we owe THEE. I think our lives, Bagheera nigh.
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 1: No matter where is the manling here in a trap,
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 1: I cannot climb out, cried moudly. The curve of the
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 1: broken dome was above his head. Take him away. He
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 1: dances like Mao the peacock. He will crush our young,
• 1:29:32
  Speaker 1: said The cobras inside hat said ka with a chuckle.
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 1: He has friends everywhere. This manling, stand back, Manling, and
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 1: hide you o poisoned people. I break down the wall.
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 1: Kaw looked carefully till he found a discolored crack in
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 1: the marble tracery showing a weak spot, made two or
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 1: three light taps with his head to get the distance,
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: and then, lifting up six feet of his body clear
• 1:29:58
  Speaker 1: of the ground, sent home half a dozen full power
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: smashing blows nose first. The screenwork broke and fell away
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 1: in a cloud of dust and rubbish, and Maugli leaped
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 1: through the opening and flung himself between Balu and Bagheera,
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: an arm around each big neck. Art thou hurt, said
• 1:30:16
  Speaker 1: balw hugging him softly. I am sore, hungry, and not
• 1:30:21
  Speaker 1: a little bruised. But oh they have handled ye grievously,
• 1:30:25
  Speaker 1: My brothers, Ye bleed others, also said Bagheera, licking his
• 1:30:31
  Speaker 1: lips and looking at the monkey dead on the terrace
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 1: and round the tank. It is nothing, It is nothing
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 1: if thou art safe, Oh, my pride of all little frogs,
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 1: whimpered Bellew. Of that we shall judge. Later, said Bagheira,
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: in a dry voice, that Maugli did not at all like.
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 1: But here is Kaw, to whom we owe the battle,
• 1:30:52
  Speaker 1: and thou owest thy life. Thank him according to our customs, Maugli.
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: Maugli turned and saw the great python's head swaying a
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 1: foot above his own. So this is the manling, said Kaw.
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 1: Very soft is his skin, and he is not unlike
• 1:31:08
  Speaker 1: the bandar. Log. Have a care, Manling, that I do
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 1: not mistake thee for a monkey. Some twilight, when I
• 1:31:15
  Speaker 1: have newly changed my coat, we be one blood. Thou
• 1:31:19
  Speaker 1: and I, Maudi answered, I take my life from thee
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: to night. My kill shall be thy killed. If ever
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: thou art hungry, O Kaw all, thanks, little brother, said Kaw,
• 1:31:31
  Speaker 1: though his eyes twinkled. And what may so bold a
• 1:31:34
  Speaker 1: hunter kill? I ask that I may follow when next
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 1: he goes abroad. I kill nothing. I am too little,
• 1:31:42
  Speaker 1: but I drive goats towards such as can use them.
• 1:31:45
  Speaker 1: When thou art empty, come to me and see if
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 1: I speak the truth. I have some skill in these.
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: He held out his hands. And if ever thou art
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: in a trap, I may pay the debt which I
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: owe to thee. To bagheera and to bellow here good
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: hunting to ye all my masters, well, said growled Baloo,
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 1: for Maugli had returned. Thanks very prettily. The python dropped
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 1: his head lightly for a minute on Maugli's shoulder. A
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: brave heart and a courteous tongue, said he. They shall
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: carry thee far through the jungle manling. But now go
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: hence quickly with thy friends, go and sleep, for the
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 1: moon sets and what follows. It is not well that
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 1: thou shouldst see. The moon was sinking behind the hills,
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: and the lines of trembling monkeys huddled together on the
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 1: walls and battlements looked like ragged, shaky fringes of things.
• 1:32:38
  Speaker 1: Balu went down to the tank for a drink and
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 1: Bagheera began to put his fur in order. Ask glided
• 1:32:44
  Speaker 1: out into the center of the terrace and brought his
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 1: jaws together with a ringing snap that drew all the
• 1:32:49
  Speaker 1: monkey's eyes upon him. The moon sets, he said, is
• 1:32:53
  Speaker 1: there yet light enough to see? From the walls? Came
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 1: a moan, like the wind in the tree tops. We see,
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 1: O Kaw good begins now the dance, the dance of
• 1:33:05
  Speaker 1: the hunger of Kaw. Sit still and watch. He turned
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 1: twice or thrice in a big circle, weaving his head
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 1: from right to left. Then he began making loops and
• 1:33:16
  Speaker 1: figures of eight with his body, and soft boozy triangles
• 1:33:20
  Speaker 1: that melted into squares and five sided figures and coiled mounds,
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 1: never resting, never hurrying, and never stopping his low humming song.
• 1:33:29
  Speaker 1: It grew darker and darker, till at last the dragging,
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 1: shifting coils disappeared, but they could hear the rustle of
• 1:33:35
  Speaker 1: the scales. Balu and Bagheera stood still as stone, growling
• 1:33:40
  Speaker 1: in their throats, their neck hair bristling, and Maugli watched
• 1:33:43
  Speaker 1: and wondered. Bond our log said the voice of ka,
• 1:33:47
  Speaker 1: at last, can ye stir foot or hand without my order? Speak?
• 1:33:52
  Speaker 1: Without thy order? We cannot stir foot or hand? O
• 1:33:56
  Speaker 1: kaw good, Come all one pace nearer to me. The
• 1:34:01
  Speaker 1: lines of the monkeys swayed forward helplessly, and Balu and
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 1: Bagheera took one stiff step forward with them nearer, hissed Kaw,
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 1: and they all moved again. Maugli laid his hands on
• 1:34:14
  Speaker 1: Balu and Bagheira to get them away, and the two
• 1:34:17
  Speaker 1: great beasts started as though they had been waked from
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 1: a dream. Keep thy hand on my shoulder, Bagheera whispered,
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 1: keep it there, or I must go back, must go
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 1: back to ka Ah. It is only old Khaw making
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: circles on the dust, said Maugli. Let us go, and
• 1:34:36
  Speaker 1: the three slipped off through a gap in the walls
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 1: to the jungle. Hoof, said Balu when he stood under
• 1:34:43
  Speaker 1: the still trees again. Never more will I make an
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 1: ally of kaw. And he shook himself all over. He
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 1: knows more than we, said Bagheira, trembling. In a little time.
• 1:34:54
  Speaker 1: Had I stayed, I should have walked down his throat.
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 1: Many will walk by that road before the moon rises again,
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 1: said Balow. He will have good hunting after his own fashion.
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 1: But what was the meaning of it all, said Maugli,
• 1:35:09
  Speaker 1: who did not know anything of a python's powers of fascination.
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 1: I saw no more than a big snake making foolish
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 1: circles till the dark came, and his nose was all sore.
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 1: Ho ho, Maugli, said Bagheya angrily. His nose was sore
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 1: on thy account, as my ears and sides and paws,
• 1:35:30
  Speaker 1: and Balu's neck and shoulders are bitten on thy account.
• 1:35:34
  Speaker 1: Neither Balu nor Bagheira will be able to hunt with
• 1:35:37
  Speaker 1: pleasure for many days. It is nothing, said balw We
• 1:35:41
  Speaker 1: have the man cub again. True, but he has cost
• 1:35:45
  Speaker 1: us heavily in time which might have been spent in
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 1: good hunting, in wounds, in hair, I am half plucked
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 1: along my back, and last of all, in honor. For
• 1:35:55
  Speaker 1: remember Maugli, I who am the black panther, was forced
• 1:35:59
  Speaker 1: to call up Kaw for protection, and Baloo and I
• 1:36:02
  Speaker 1: were both made stupid as little birds by the hunger dance.
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 1: All this man cub came of thy playing with the
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 1: bandar log. True, it is true, said Maugli sorrowfully. I
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: am an evil man cub, and my stomach is sad
• 1:36:18
  Speaker 1: in me m f what says the law of the
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 1: jungle Balu. Balu did not wish to bring Maugli into
• 1:36:26
  Speaker 1: any more trouble, but he could not tamper with the law,
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 1: so he mumbled sorrow never stays punishment. But remember, Bagheira,
• 1:36:34
  Speaker 1: he is very little. I will remember, but he has
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 1: done mischief and blows must be dealt now. Maugli, hast
• 1:36:43
  Speaker 1: thou anything to say nothing I did wrong? Balu, and
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 1: thou are wounded. It is just Bagheera gave him half
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 1: a dozen love taps. From a panther's point of view,
• 1:36:57
  Speaker 1: they would hardly have waked one of his own cubs,
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 1: But for or a seven year old boy, they amounted
• 1:37:01
  Speaker 1: to as severe a beating as you could wish to avoid.
• 1:37:05
  Speaker 1: When it was all over, Mowgli sneezed and picked himself
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 1: up without a word. Now said Bagheera, Jump on my back,
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 1: little brother, and we will go home. One of the
• 1:37:16
  Speaker 1: beauties of jungle law is that punishment settles all scores.
• 1:37:20
  Speaker 1: There is no nagging. Afterward, Maugli laid his head down
• 1:37:24
  Speaker 1: on Bagheera's back and slept so deeply that he never
• 1:37:27
  Speaker 1: waked when he was put down in the Home Cave
• 1:37:30
  Speaker 1: road song of the Bondar log. Here we go in
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 1: a flung festoon, half way up to the jealous moon.
• 1:37:36
  Speaker 1: Don't you envy our pranceful bands? Don't you wish you
• 1:37:39
  Speaker 1: had extra hands? Wouldn't you like if your tails were
• 1:37:43
  Speaker 1: so curved in the shape of a cupid's bow. Now
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 1: you're angry, but never mind, brother, thy tail hangs down behind.
• 1:37:52
  Speaker 1: Here we sit in a branchy row, thinking of beautiful
• 1:37:55
  Speaker 1: things we know, dreaming of deeds that we mean to do,
• 1:37:58
  Speaker 1: all complete in a minute or two, something noble and
• 1:38:02
  Speaker 1: wise and good done by merely wishing we could we forgotten.
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 1: But never mind, brother, thy tail hangs down behind. All
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 1: the talk we ever have heard, uttered by bat or
• 1:38:14
  Speaker 1: beast or bird, hide or fin or scale or feather,
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 1: jabber it quickly and all together, excellent, wonderful. Once again,
• 1:38:25
  Speaker 1: now we are talking just like men. Let's pretend we
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 1: are never mind. Brother, thy tail hangs down behind. This
• 1:38:34
  Speaker 1: is the way of the monkey kind. Then join our
• 1:38:37
  Speaker 1: leaping lines. That scumfish through the pines, that rock it
• 1:38:40
  Speaker 1: by wear light and high. The wild grape swings by
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 1: the rubbish in our wake, and the noble noise we make.
• 1:38:48
  Speaker 1: Be sure, be sure, we're going to do some splendid things.
• 1:38:52
  Speaker 1: Zero one one three Tiger, Tiger? What of the hunting hunter,
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 1: bold brother? The watch was long and cold? What of
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 1: the quarry ye went to kill? Brother? He crops in
• 1:39:07
  Speaker 1: the jungle? Still, where is the power that made your pride? Brother?
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 1: It ebbs from my flank inside? Where is the haste
• 1:39:15
  Speaker 1: that ye hurry by? Brother? I go to my lair
• 1:39:19
  Speaker 1: to die? Now we must go back to the first tail,
• 1:39:23
  Speaker 1: when Maugli left the wolf's cave after the fight with
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 1: the pack at the Council Rock. He went down to
• 1:39:28
  Speaker 1: the plowed lands where the villagers lived, but he would
• 1:39:31
  Speaker 1: not stop there because it was too near to the jungle,
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 1: and he knew that he had made at least one
• 1:39:36
  Speaker 1: bad enemy at the council So he hurried on, keeping
• 1:39:40
  Speaker 1: to the rough road that ran down the valley, and
• 1:39:42
  Speaker 1: followed it at a steady jog trot for nearly twenty
• 1:39:45
  Speaker 1: miles till he came to a country that he did
• 1:39:48
  Speaker 1: not know. The valley opened out into a great plain,
• 1:39:51
  Speaker 1: dotted over with rocks and cut up by ravines. At
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 1: one end stood a little village, and at the other
• 1:39:57
  Speaker 1: the thick jungle came down in a sweep to the
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 1: grazing grounds and stopped there as though it had been
• 1:40:02
  Speaker 1: cut off with a hoe. All over the plain, cattle
• 1:40:06
  Speaker 1: and buffaloes were grazing, and when the little boys in
• 1:40:09
  Speaker 1: charge of the herd saw Maugli, they shouted and ran away,
• 1:40:12
  Speaker 1: and the yellow pariah dogs that hang about every Indian
• 1:40:15
  Speaker 1: village barked. Maugli walked on for he was feeling hungry,
• 1:40:20
  Speaker 1: and when he came to the village gate. He saw
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 1: the big thorn bush that was drawn up before the
• 1:40:24
  Speaker 1: gate at twilight. Pushed to one side, um, he said,
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 1: for he had come across more than one such barricade
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 1: in his night rambles after things to eat. So men
• 1:40:35
  Speaker 1: are afraid of the people of the jungle. Here also
• 1:40:39
  Speaker 1: he sat down by the gate, and when a man
• 1:40:41
  Speaker 1: came out, he stood up, opened his mouth and pointed
• 1:40:44
  Speaker 1: down it to show that he wanted food. The man
• 1:40:47
  Speaker 1: stared and ran back up the one street of the village,
• 1:40:50
  Speaker 1: shouting for the priest, who was a big, fat man
• 1:40:53
  Speaker 1: dressed in white with a red and yellow mark on
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 1: his forehead. The priest came to the gate and with
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: him at least a hundred people, who stared and talked
• 1:41:01
  Speaker 1: and shouted and pointed at Maugli. They have no manners,
• 1:41:05
  Speaker 1: these men folk, said Maugli to himself. Only the gray
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 1: ape would behave as they do. So he threw back
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 1: his long hair and frowned at the crowd. What is
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 1: there to be afraid of, said the priest. Look at
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 1: the marks on his arms and legs. They are the
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 1: bites of wolves. He is but a wolf child run
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 1: away from the jungle. Of course, in playing together, the
• 1:41:30
  Speaker 1: cubs had often nipped Mowgli harder than they intended, and
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 1: there were white scars all over his arms and legs.
• 1:41:37
  Speaker 1: But he would have been the last person in the
• 1:41:39
  Speaker 1: world to call these bites, for he knew what real
• 1:41:42
  Speaker 1: biting meant. R R said, two or three women together
• 1:41:48
  Speaker 1: to be bitten by wolves. Poor child, he is a
• 1:41:52
  Speaker 1: handsome boy. He has eyes like red fire. By my honor, Messua,
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 1: he is not unlike thy boy that was taken by
• 1:42:00
  Speaker 1: the tiger. Let me look, said a woman with heavy
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 1: copper rings on her wrists and ankles, and she peered
• 1:42:07
  Speaker 1: at Maugli under the palm of her hand. Indeed he
• 1:42:11
  Speaker 1: is not. He is thinner, but he has the very
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 1: look of my boy. The priest was a clever man,
• 1:42:17
  Speaker 1: and he knew that Mesuo was wife to the richest
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 1: villager in the place. So he looked up at the
• 1:42:23
  Speaker 1: sky for a minute and said, solemnly, what the jungle
• 1:42:26
  Speaker 1: has taken? The jungle has restored. Take the boy into
• 1:42:29
  Speaker 1: thy house, my sister, and forget not to honor the
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 1: priest who sees so far into the lives of men.
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 1: By the bull that bought me, said Maugli to himself.
• 1:42:39
  Speaker 1: But all this talking is like another looking over by
• 1:42:42
  Speaker 1: the pack. Well, if I am a man, a man,
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 1: I must become. The crowd parted as the woman beckoned
• 1:42:49
  Speaker 1: Maugli to her hut, where there was a red lacquered bedstead,
• 1:42:52
  Speaker 1: a great earthen grain chest with funny raised patterns on it,
• 1:42:56
  Speaker 1: half a dozen copper cooking pots, an image of a
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 1: Hindu god in a little alcove, and on the wall
• 1:43:01
  Speaker 1: a real looking glass, such as they sell at the
• 1:43:05
  Speaker 1: country fairs. She gave him a long drink of milk
• 1:43:08
  Speaker 1: and some bread, and then she laid her hand on
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 1: his head and looked into his eyes, for she thought
• 1:43:13
  Speaker 1: perhaps that he might be her real son, come back
• 1:43:16
  Speaker 1: from the jungle where the tiger had taken him. So
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 1: she said, Nathu, oh, Nathu. Maugli did not show that
• 1:43:23
  Speaker 1: he knew the name. Dost thou not remember the day
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 1: when I gave thee thy new shoes. She touched his foot,
• 1:43:30
  Speaker 1: and it was almost as hard as horn. No, she said, sorrowfully,
• 1:43:35
  Speaker 1: those feet have never worn shoes. But thou art very
• 1:43:38
  Speaker 1: like my Netheu, and thou shalt be my son. Maugli
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 1: was uneasy because he had never been under a roof before.
• 1:43:46
  Speaker 1: But as he looked at the thatch, he saw that
• 1:43:49
  Speaker 1: he could tear it out any time if he wanted
• 1:43:51
  Speaker 1: to get away, and that the window had no fastenings.
• 1:43:55
  Speaker 1: What is the good of a man, he said to
• 1:43:56
  Speaker 1: himself at last, if he does not understand man's talk. Now,
• 1:44:01
  Speaker 1: I am as silly and dumb as a man would
• 1:44:03
  Speaker 1: be with us in the jungle. I must speak their talk.
• 1:44:07
  Speaker 1: It was not for fun that he had learned while
• 1:44:09
  Speaker 1: he was with the wolves to imitate the challenge of
• 1:44:12
  Speaker 1: bucks in the jungle and the grunt of the little
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 1: wild pig. So as soon as Messua pronounced a word,
• 1:44:18
  Speaker 1: Maugli would imitate it almost perfectly. And before dark he
• 1:44:21
  Speaker 1: had learned the names of many things in the hut.
• 1:44:24
  Speaker 1: There was a difficulty at bedtime, because Maugli would not
• 1:44:28
  Speaker 1: sleep under anything that looked so like a panther trap
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 1: as that hut. And when they shut the door, he
• 1:44:33
  Speaker 1: went through the window. Give him his will, said Messua's husband.
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 1: Remember he can never till now have slept on a bed.
• 1:44:42
  Speaker 1: If he is indeed sent in the place of our son,
• 1:44:44
  Speaker 1: he will not run away. So Maugli stretched himself in
• 1:44:48
  Speaker 1: some long, clean grass at the edge of the field.
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 1: But before he had closed his eyes, a soft gray
• 1:44:54
  Speaker 1: nose poked him under the chin. Few, said Gray brother.
• 1:44:58
  Speaker 1: He was the eldest of mother wolf cubs. This is
• 1:45:01
  Speaker 1: a poor reward for following thee twenty miles. Thou smellest
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 1: of wood, smoke and cattle altogether like a man. Already, Wake,
• 1:45:11
  Speaker 1: little brother, I bring news. Zero one one nine, Wake,
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 1: little brother, I bring news. Are all well in the jungle,
• 1:45:20
  Speaker 1: said Mowgli, hugging him. All except the wolves that were
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 1: burned with the red flower. Now listen. Sheer Khan has
• 1:45:29
  Speaker 1: gone away to hunt far off till his coat grows again,
• 1:45:32
  Speaker 1: for he is badly singed. When he returns, he swears
• 1:45:36
  Speaker 1: that he will lay thy bones in the wing gunga.
• 1:45:39
  Speaker 1: There are two words to that. I also have made
• 1:45:42
  Speaker 1: a little promise. But news is always good. I am
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 1: tired tonight, very tired with new things, Gray brother. But
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 1: bring me the news. Always. Thou wilt not forget that
• 1:45:55
  Speaker 1: thou art a wolf. Men will not make THEE forget,
• 1:45:58
  Speaker 1: said Gray brother, anxiously. Never, I will always remember that
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 1: I love THEE and all in our cave. But also
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 1: I will always remember that I have been cast out
• 1:46:09
  Speaker 1: of the pack, and that thou mayest be cast out
• 1:46:12
  Speaker 1: of another pack. Men are only men, little brother, and
• 1:46:17
  Speaker 1: their talk is like the talk of frogs in a pond.
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 1: When I come down here again, I will wait for
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 1: thee in the bamboos at the edge of the grazing ground.
• 1:46:26
  Speaker 1: For three months after that, Knight Maugli hardly ever left
• 1:46:29
  Speaker 1: the village gate. He was so busy learning the ways
• 1:46:32
  Speaker 1: and customs of men. First he had to wear a
• 1:46:35
  Speaker 1: cloth round him, which annoyed him horribly, And then he
• 1:46:38
  Speaker 1: had to learn about money, which he did not in
• 1:46:40
  Speaker 1: the least understand, and about plowing, of which he did
• 1:46:43
  Speaker 1: not see the use. Then the little children in the
• 1:46:47
  Speaker 1: village made him very angry. Luckily, the law of the
• 1:46:51
  Speaker 1: jungle had taught him to keep his temper, for in
• 1:46:53
  Speaker 1: the jungle, life and food depend on keeping your temper.
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 1: But when they made fun of him because he would
• 1:46:58
  Speaker 1: not play games or fly kites, or because he mispronounced
• 1:47:01
  Speaker 1: some word, only the knowledge that it was unsportsmanlike to
• 1:47:05
  Speaker 1: kill little naked cubs kept him from picking them up
• 1:47:07
  Speaker 1: and breaking them in two. He did not know his
• 1:47:11
  Speaker 1: own strength in the least in the jungle, he knew
• 1:47:14
  Speaker 1: he was weak compared with the beasts, but in the
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 1: village people said that he was as strong as a bull,
• 1:47:20
  Speaker 1: and Malgli had not the faintest idea of the difference
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 1: that cast makes between man and man. When the potter's
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 1: donkey slipped in the clay pit, Maugli hauled it out
• 1:47:29
  Speaker 1: by the tail and helped to stack the pots for
• 1:47:31
  Speaker 1: their journey to the market at Knhiwara. That was very
• 1:47:35
  Speaker 1: shocking too, for the potter is a low cast man
• 1:47:38
  Speaker 1: and his donkey is worse. When the priest scolded him,
• 1:47:42
  Speaker 1: Maugli threatened to put him on the donkey too, and
• 1:47:45
  Speaker 1: the priest told Messua's husband that Maugli had better be
• 1:47:48
  Speaker 1: set to work as soon as possible, And the village
• 1:47:50
  Speaker 1: headman told Maugli that he would have to go out
• 1:47:53
  Speaker 1: with the buffaloes next day, and heard them while they grazed.
• 1:47:57
  Speaker 1: No one was more pleased than Maugli, And that night,
• 1:48:00
  Speaker 1: because he had been appointed a servant of the village,
• 1:48:02
  Speaker 1: as it were, he went off to a circle that
• 1:48:05
  Speaker 1: met every evening on a masonry platform under a great
• 1:48:08
  Speaker 1: fig tree. It was the village club, and the headman,
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 1: the watchman, and the barber who knew all the gossip
• 1:48:14
  Speaker 1: of the village, and Old Bodio, the village hunter, who
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 1: had a tower musket, met and smoked. The monkey sat
• 1:48:22
  Speaker 1: and talked in the upper branches. And there was a
• 1:48:24
  Speaker 1: hole under the platform where a cobra lived, and he
• 1:48:27
  Speaker 1: had his little platter of milk every night because he
• 1:48:29
  Speaker 1: was sacred. And the old men sat around the tree
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 1: and talked and pulled at the big hucas the water
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 1: pipes till far into the night. They told wonderful tales
• 1:48:39
  Speaker 1: of gods and men and ghosts, and Bodio told even
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 1: more wonderful ones of the ways of beasts in the jungle,
• 1:48:46
  Speaker 1: till the eyes of the children sitting outside the circle
• 1:48:48
  Speaker 1: bulged out of their heads. Most of the tales were
• 1:48:52
  Speaker 1: about animals, for the jungle was always at their door.
• 1:48:56
  Speaker 1: The deer in the wild pig grubbed up their crops
• 1:48:59
  Speaker 1: and now and again, and the tiger carried off a
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 1: man at twilight within sight of the village gates. Fifty
• 1:49:05
  Speaker 1: one fifty two of the village club. Maugli, who naturally
• 1:49:08
  Speaker 1: knew something about what they were talking of, had to
• 1:49:11
  Speaker 1: cover his face, not to show that he was laughing.
• 1:49:13
  Speaker 1: While Bodeo, the tower musket across his knees, climbed on
• 1:49:17
  Speaker 1: from one wonderful story to another, and Maugli's shoulders shook.
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 1: Boldeo was explaining how the tiger that had carried away
• 1:49:25
  Speaker 1: Messua's son was a ghost tiger, and his body was
• 1:49:27
  Speaker 1: inhabited by the ghost of a wicked old money lender
• 1:49:30
  Speaker 1: who had died some years ago. And I know that
• 1:49:34
  Speaker 1: this is true, he said, because Puran Das always limped
• 1:49:37
  Speaker 1: from the blow that he got in a riot when
• 1:49:39
  Speaker 1: his account books were burned. And the tiger that I
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 1: speak of he limps too, for the tracks of his
• 1:49:45
  Speaker 1: pads are unequal. True. True, that must be the truth,
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 1: said the graybeards, nodding together. Zero one, two, five. Are
• 1:49:54
  Speaker 1: all these tales, such cobwebs and moontalk, said Maugli. Are
• 1:49:59
  Speaker 1: all the these tales, such cobwebs and moontalk? Said Maugli.
• 1:50:04
  Speaker 1: That tiger limps because he was born lame, as everyone knows.
• 1:50:08
  Speaker 1: To talk of the soul of a money lender in
• 1:50:10
  Speaker 1: a beast that never had the courage of a jackal
• 1:50:13
  Speaker 1: is child's talk. Boldio was speechless with surprise for a moment,
• 1:50:18
  Speaker 1: and the headman stared, o, ho it is the jungle?
• 1:50:22
  Speaker 1: Brat is it? Said Boldio? If thou art so wise,
• 1:50:27
  Speaker 1: better bring his hide to Conhiwara, for the government has
• 1:50:30
  Speaker 1: set a hundred rupees on his life. Better still, talk
• 1:50:34
  Speaker 1: not when thy elders speak. Maugli rose to go. All
• 1:50:39
  Speaker 1: the evening I have lain here listening, he called back
• 1:50:42
  Speaker 1: over his shoulder, And except once or twice, Boldio has
• 1:50:46
  Speaker 1: not said one word of truth concerning the jungle which
• 1:50:48
  Speaker 1: is at his very doors. How then shall I believe
• 1:50:52
  Speaker 1: the tales of ghosts and gods and goblins which he
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 1: says he has seen. It is full time that boy
• 1:50:58
  Speaker 1: went to herding, said the headman, while Bodeo puffed and
• 1:51:02
  Speaker 1: snorted at Maugli's impertinence. The custom of most Indian villages
• 1:51:07
  Speaker 1: is for a few boys to take the cattle and
• 1:51:09
  Speaker 1: buffaloes out to graze in the early morning and bring
• 1:51:12
  Speaker 1: them back at night. The very cattle that would trample
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 1: a white man to death allow themselves to be banged
• 1:51:18
  Speaker 1: and bullied and shouted at by children that hardly come
• 1:51:20
  Speaker 1: up to their noses. So long as the boys keep
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 1: with the herds. They are safe, for not even the
• 1:51:26
  Speaker 1: tiger will charge a mob of cattle, but if they
• 1:51:29
  Speaker 1: straggle to pick flowers or hunt lizards, they are sometimes
• 1:51:33
  Speaker 1: carried off. Maugli went through the village street in the dawn,
• 1:51:37
  Speaker 1: sitting on the back of Rama, the great herd bull.
• 1:51:41
  Speaker 1: The slaty blue buffaloes, with their long, backward sweeping horns
• 1:51:44
  Speaker 1: and savage eyes, rose out their buyers one by one
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 1: and followed him, and Maugli made it very clear to
• 1:51:51
  Speaker 1: the children with him that he was the master. He
• 1:51:54
  Speaker 1: beat the buffaloes with a long polished bamboo and told Kamaya,
• 1:51:58
  Speaker 1: one of the boys, to graze the cattle by themselves
• 1:52:02
  Speaker 1: while he went on with the buffaloes, and to be
• 1:52:04
  Speaker 1: very careful not to stray away from the herd. An
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 1: Indian grazing ground is all rocks and scrub and tussocks
• 1:52:11
  Speaker 1: and little ravines, among which the herds scatter and disappear.
• 1:52:15
  Speaker 1: The buffaloes generally keep to the pools and muddy places,
• 1:52:19
  Speaker 1: where they lie wallowing or basking in the warm mud
• 1:52:21
  Speaker 1: for hours. Maugli drove them on to the edge of
• 1:52:25
  Speaker 1: the plain where the wing Gangha came out of the jungle.
• 1:52:27
  Speaker 1: Then he dropped from Rama's neck, trotted off to a
• 1:52:30
  Speaker 1: bamboo clump and found Gray brother. Ah, said Gray Brother,
• 1:52:35
  Speaker 1: I have waited here very many days. What is the
• 1:52:38
  Speaker 1: meaning of this cattle herding work? It is an order,
• 1:52:42
  Speaker 1: said Maugli. I am a village heard for a while
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 1: what news of sher Khan. He has come back to
• 1:52:49
  Speaker 1: this country and has waited here a long time for thee.
• 1:52:53
  Speaker 1: Now he has gone off again, for the game is scarce.
• 1:52:57
  Speaker 1: But he means to kill thee good, said Maugli. So
• 1:53:02
  Speaker 1: long as he is away, do thou or one of
• 1:53:04
  Speaker 1: the four brothers sit on that rock so that I
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 1: can see thee as I come out of the village.
• 1:53:09
  Speaker 1: When he comes back, wait for me in the ravine
• 1:53:11
  Speaker 1: by the dark tree in the center of the plain.
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 1: We need not walk into Sheer Khan's mouth. Then Maugli
• 1:53:19
  Speaker 1: picked out a shady place and lay down and slept
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 1: while the buffaloes grazed round him. Herding in India is
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 1: one of the laziest things in the world. The cattle
• 1:53:29
  Speaker 1: move and crunch and lie down and move on again,
• 1:53:32
  Speaker 1: and they do not even low. They only grunt. And
• 1:53:36
  Speaker 1: the buffaloes very seldom say anything, but get down into
• 1:53:39
  Speaker 1: the muddy pools, one after another, and work their way
• 1:53:42
  Speaker 1: into the mud till only their noses and staring China
• 1:53:45
  Speaker 1: blue eyes show above the surface. And then they lie
• 1:53:48
  Speaker 1: like logs. The sun makes the rocks dance in the heat,
• 1:53:52
  Speaker 1: and the herd children hear one kite never any more,
• 1:53:55
  Speaker 1: whistling almost out of sight overhead, and they know that
• 1:53:58
  Speaker 1: if they died, or a died, that kite would sweep down,
• 1:54:02
  Speaker 1: and the next kite miles away would see him drop
• 1:54:04
  Speaker 1: and follow, and the next and the next, and almost
• 1:54:08
  Speaker 1: before they were dead, there would be a score of
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 1: hungry kites come out of nowhere. Then they sleep and
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: wake and sleep again. And we've little baskets of dried
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 1: grass and put grasshoppers in them, or catch two praying
• 1:54:20
  Speaker 1: mantises and make them fight, or string a necklace of
• 1:54:23
  Speaker 1: red and black jungle nuts, or watch a lizard basking
• 1:54:27
  Speaker 1: on a rock, or a snake hunting a frog near
• 1:54:30
  Speaker 1: the wallows. Then they sing long, long songs, with odd
• 1:54:34
  Speaker 1: native quavers at the end of them, and the day
• 1:54:37
  Speaker 1: seems longer than most people's whole lives. And perhaps they
• 1:54:40
  Speaker 1: make a mud castle with mud figures of men and
• 1:54:42
  Speaker 1: horses and buffaloes, and put reeds into the men's hands,
• 1:54:47
  Speaker 1: and pretend that they are kings and the figures are
• 1:54:49
  Speaker 1: their armies, or that they are gods to be worshiped.
• 1:54:53
  Speaker 1: Then evening comes and the children call, and the buffaloes
• 1:54:56
  Speaker 1: lumber up out of the sticky mud, with noises like
• 1:54:59
  Speaker 1: gunshots going off off one after the other, and they
• 1:55:01
  Speaker 1: all string across the gray plain back to the twinkling
• 1:55:04
  Speaker 1: village lights. Day after day Maugli would lead the buffaloes
• 1:55:08
  Speaker 1: out to their wallows, and day after day he would
• 1:55:11
  Speaker 1: see Gray brothers back a mile and a half away
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 1: across the plain, so he knew that Sher Khan had
• 1:55:16
  Speaker 1: not come back. And day after day he would lie
• 1:55:18
  Speaker 1: on the grass, listening to the noises round him and
• 1:55:21
  Speaker 1: dreaming of old days in the jungle. If Sher Khan
• 1:55:25
  Speaker 1: had made a false step with his lame paw up
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 1: in the jungles by the wing, Gangha Maubli would have
• 1:55:29
  Speaker 1: heard him. In those long still mornings, zero won three zero.
• 1:55:34
  Speaker 1: At last a day came when he did not see
• 1:55:36
  Speaker 1: Gray brother at the signal place, and he laughed and
• 1:55:39
  Speaker 1: headed the buffaloes for the ravine by the d h
• 1:55:42
  Speaker 1: k tree, which was all covered with golden red flowers.
• 1:55:46
  Speaker 1: There sat Gray Brother, every bristle on his back lifted.
• 1:55:50
  Speaker 1: He has hidden for a month to throw Thee off
• 1:55:52
  Speaker 1: thy guard. He crossed the ranges last night with Tobaki
• 1:55:56
  Speaker 1: hot foot on thy trail, said the wolf, panting. Maugli frowned.
• 1:56:02
  Speaker 1: I am not afraid of sheer Khan, but Tobaki is
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 1: very cunning. Have no fear, said Gray Brother, licking his
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 1: lips a little. I met Toabaki in the dawn. Now
• 1:56:14
  Speaker 1: he is telling all his wisdom to the kites. But
• 1:56:16
  Speaker 1: he told me everything before I broke his back. Sheer
• 1:56:20
  Speaker 1: Khan's plan is to wait for Thee at the village
• 1:56:23
  Speaker 1: gate this evening, for THEE and for no one else.
• 1:56:26
  Speaker 1: He is lying up now in the big dry ravine
• 1:56:29
  Speaker 1: of the Waing Gunga. Has he eaten to day? Or
• 1:56:32
  Speaker 1: does he hunt empty? Said Maugli. For the answer meant
• 1:56:36
  Speaker 1: life and death to him. He killed at dawn a pig,
• 1:56:40
  Speaker 1: and he has drunk too. Remember, sheer Khan could never
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 1: fast even for the sake of revenge. Oh, fool, fool,
• 1:56:51
  Speaker 1: what a cub's cub It is eaten and drunk too,
• 1:56:55
  Speaker 1: And he thinks that I shall wait till he has slept.
• 1:56:58
  Speaker 1: Now where does he lie up? If there were but
• 1:57:01
  Speaker 1: ten of us, we might pull him down as he lies.
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 1: These buffaloes will not charge unless they wind him, and
• 1:57:08
  Speaker 1: I cannot speak their language. Can we get behind his
• 1:57:11
  Speaker 1: track so that they may smell it? He swam far
• 1:57:14
  Speaker 1: down the wayn Gunga to cut that off, said Gray Brother.
• 1:57:18
  Speaker 1: Tobaki told him that I know he would never have
• 1:57:22
  Speaker 1: thought of it alone. Maugli stood with his finger in
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 1: his mouth, thinking, the big ravine of the Wayne Gunga
• 1:57:31
  Speaker 1: that opens out on the plain not half a mile
• 1:57:33
  Speaker 1: from here. I can take the herd round through the
• 1:57:36
  Speaker 1: jungle to the head of the ravine and then sweep down.
• 1:57:39
  Speaker 1: But he would slink out at the foot. We must
• 1:57:42
  Speaker 1: block that end, Gray brother, canst thou cut the herd
• 1:57:46
  Speaker 1: in two for me? Not I perhaps, But I have
• 1:57:49
  Speaker 1: brought a wise helper. Gray Brother trotted off and dropped
• 1:57:53
  Speaker 1: into a hole. Then there lifted up a huge gray
• 1:57:57
  Speaker 1: head that Maugli knew well, and the hot air would
• 1:58:00
  Speaker 1: filled with the most desolate cry of all the jungle,
• 1:58:03
  Speaker 1: the hunting howl of a wolf at midday, Akella, Akella,
• 1:58:09
  Speaker 1: said Maugli, clapping his hands. I might have known that
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 1: thou wouldst not forget me. We have a big work
• 1:58:16
  Speaker 1: in hand. Cut the herd in two, Akella. Keep the
• 1:58:21
  Speaker 1: cows and calves together, and the bulls and the plow
• 1:58:24
  Speaker 1: buffaloes by themselves. The two wolves ran ladies chain fashion
• 1:58:29
  Speaker 1: in and out of the herd, which snorted and threw
• 1:58:32
  Speaker 1: up its head and separated into two clumps. In one,
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 1: the cow buffaloes stood with their calves in the center
• 1:58:39
  Speaker 1: and glared and pawed, ready if a wolf would only
• 1:58:42
  Speaker 1: stay still, to charge down and trample the life out
• 1:58:45
  Speaker 1: of him. In the other, the bulls and the young
• 1:58:48
  Speaker 1: bulls snorted and stamped, But though they looked more imposing,
• 1:58:51
  Speaker 1: they were much less dangerous, for they had no calves
• 1:58:54
  Speaker 1: to protect. No six men could have divided the herd
• 1:58:58
  Speaker 1: so neatly. What orders, panted a Kella. They are trying
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 1: to join again. Maugli slipped on to Rama's back. Drive
• 1:59:08
  Speaker 1: the bulls away to the left, Akella, gray brother, when
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 1: we are gone, hold the cows together and drive them
• 1:59:15
  Speaker 1: into the foot of the ravine. How far, said Gray Brother,
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 1: panting and snapping till the sides are higher than sheer
• 1:59:23
  Speaker 1: Khan can jump, shouted Maugli. Keep them there till we
• 1:59:27
  Speaker 1: come down. The bulls swept off as a Kella bayed
• 1:59:31
  Speaker 1: and gray brother stopped in front of the cows. They
• 1:59:34
  Speaker 1: charged down on him, and he ran just before them
• 1:59:37
  Speaker 1: to the foot of the ravine. As Akella drove the
• 1:59:39
  Speaker 1: bulls far to the left. Well done, another charge and
• 1:59:44
  Speaker 1: they are fairly started. Careful now, careful a kella. A
• 1:59:50
  Speaker 1: snap too much and the bulls will charge. Hooja, this
• 1:59:55
  Speaker 1: is wilder work than driving black buck? Didst thou think
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 1: these creatures could move so swiftly? Maugli called, I have
• 2:00:05
  Speaker 1: have hunted these two in my time, gasped a Kella
• 2:00:08
  Speaker 1: in the dust. Shall I turn them into the jungle?
• 2:00:12
  Speaker 1: I turn swiftly turn them. Rama is mad with rage.
• 2:00:19
  Speaker 1: Oh if I could only tell him what I need
• 2:00:21
  Speaker 1: of him to day. The bulls were turned to the
• 2:00:24
  Speaker 1: right this time and crashed into the standing thicket. The
• 2:00:28
  Speaker 1: other herd children, watching with the cattle half a mile away,
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 1: hurried to the village as fast as their legs could
• 2:00:34
  Speaker 1: carry them, crying that the buffaloes had gone mad and
• 2:00:37
  Speaker 1: run away. But Maugli's plan was simple enough. All he
• 2:00:42
  Speaker 1: wanted to do was to make a big circle uphill
• 2:00:44
  Speaker 1: and get at the head of the ravine, and then
• 2:00:46
  Speaker 1: take the bulls down it and catch sheer Khan between
• 2:00:49
  Speaker 1: the bulls and the cows, for he knew that after
• 2:00:52
  Speaker 1: a meal and a full drink, sheer Khan would not
• 2:00:54
  Speaker 1: be in any condition to fight or to clamber up
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 1: the sides of the ravine. He was soothing the buffaloes
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 1: now by voice, and Akella had dropped far to the rear,
• 2:01:03
  Speaker 1: only whimpering once or twice to hurry the rear guard.
• 2:01:07
  Speaker 1: It was a long, long circle, for they did not
• 2:01:10
  Speaker 1: wish to get too near the ravine and give sheer
• 2:01:12
  Speaker 1: Khan warning. At last, Maugli rounded up the bewildered herd
• 2:01:16
  Speaker 1: at the head of the ravine, on a grassy patch
• 2:01:18
  Speaker 1: that sloped steeply down to the ravine itself. From that
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 1: height you could see across the tops of the trees
• 2:01:24
  Speaker 1: down to the plain below. But what Maugli looked at
• 2:01:27
  Speaker 1: was the sides of the ravine, and he saw with
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 1: a great deal of satisfaction that they ran nearly straight
• 2:01:32
  Speaker 1: up and down, while the vines and creepers that hung
• 2:01:35
  Speaker 1: over them would give no foothold to a tiger who
• 2:01:37
  Speaker 1: wanted to get out. Let them breathe, Akella, he said,
• 2:01:42
  Speaker 1: holding up his hand. They have not winded him yet.
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 1: Let them breathe. I must tell sheer Khan, who comes,
• 2:01:51
  Speaker 1: we have him in the trap. He put his hands
• 2:01:54
  Speaker 1: to his mouth and shouted down the ravine. It was
• 2:01:56
  Speaker 1: almost like shouting down a tunnel, and the echoes jumped
• 2:01:59
  Speaker 1: from rock. After a long time, there came back the drawling,
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 1: sleepy snarl of a full fed tiger just wakened. Who calls,
• 2:02:09
  Speaker 1: said sheer Khan, And a splendid peacock fluttered up out
• 2:02:12
  Speaker 1: of the ravine, screeching, I Maugli, cattle thief, It is
• 2:02:17
  Speaker 1: time to come to the council. Rock down, hurry them down,
• 2:02:21
  Speaker 1: Bekella down, Rama down. The herd paused for an instant
• 2:02:27
  Speaker 1: at the edge of the slope, but Akella gave tongue
• 2:02:30
  Speaker 1: in a full hunting yell, and they pitched over, one
• 2:02:32
  Speaker 1: after the other, just as steamers shoot rapids, the sand
• 2:02:36
  Speaker 1: and stones spurting up round them. Once started, there was
• 2:02:40
  Speaker 1: no chance of stopping, and before they were fairly in
• 2:02:43
  Speaker 1: the bed of the ravine, Rama winded sheer Khan and
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 1: bellowed five thousand, one hundred and seventy one sheer Khan
• 2:02:50
  Speaker 1: in the jungle, ha Ha, said Maugli on his back,
• 2:02:55
  Speaker 1: Now thou knowest, and the torrent of black horns, foaming
• 2:02:59
  Speaker 1: muzzle and staring eyes whirled down the ravine, just as
• 2:03:02
  Speaker 1: boulders go down in flood time. The weaker buffaloes being
• 2:03:06
  Speaker 1: shouldered out to the sides of the ravine, where they
• 2:03:08
  Speaker 1: tore through the creepers. They knew what the business was
• 2:03:12
  Speaker 1: before them, the terrible charge of the buffalo herd, against
• 2:03:15
  Speaker 1: which no tiger can hope to stand. Sheer Khan heard
• 2:03:19
  Speaker 1: the thunder of their hoofs, picked himself up and lumbered
• 2:03:22
  Speaker 1: down the ravine, looking from side to side for some
• 2:03:25
  Speaker 1: way of escape, But the walls of the ravine were straight,
• 2:03:28
  Speaker 1: and he had to hold on heavy with his dinner
• 2:03:30
  Speaker 1: and his drink, willing to do anything rather than fight,
• 2:03:34
  Speaker 1: the herd splashed through the pool he had just left,
• 2:03:37
  Speaker 1: bellowing till the narrow cut rang moudly heard an answering
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 1: bellow from the foot of the ravine, saw a sheer contourn.
• 2:03:44
  Speaker 1: The tiger knew if the worst came to the worst.
• 2:03:46
  Speaker 1: It was better to meet the bulls than the cows
• 2:03:48
  Speaker 1: with their calves. And then Rama tripped, stumbled, and went
• 2:03:53
  Speaker 1: on again over something soft, and with the bulls at
• 2:03:56
  Speaker 1: his heels, crashed full into the other herd, while the
• 2:03:59
  Speaker 1: weaker buffalo were lifted clean off their feet by the
• 2:04:02
  Speaker 1: shock of the meeting. That charge carried both herds out
• 2:04:05
  Speaker 1: into the plain, goring and stamping and snorting. Maugli watched
• 2:04:10
  Speaker 1: his time and slipped off Rama's neck, laying about him
• 2:04:13
  Speaker 1: right and left with his stick. Quick, Akella, break them up,
• 2:04:19
  Speaker 1: scatter them, or they will be fighting one another. Drive
• 2:04:23
  Speaker 1: them away, Akella, Hi, Rama, Hi, high high, my children. Softly, now, softly,
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 1: it is all over. Akella and Gray brother ran to
• 2:04:38
  Speaker 1: and fro nipping the buffalo's legs, and though the herd
• 2:04:41
  Speaker 1: wheeled once to charge up the ravine again, Maugli managed
• 2:04:44
  Speaker 1: to turn Rama and the others followed him to the wallows.
• 2:04:48
  Speaker 1: Sheer Khan needed no more trampling. He was dead and
• 2:04:52
  Speaker 1: the kites were coming for him already. Brothers. That was
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 1: a dog's death, said Maugli, feeling for the knife he
• 2:04:59
  Speaker 1: always carried in a sheath round his neck. Now that
• 2:05:02
  Speaker 1: he lived, with men, but he would never have shown fight.
• 2:05:06
  Speaker 1: His hide will look well on the council rock. We
• 2:05:09
  Speaker 1: must get to work swiftly. A boy trained among men
• 2:05:13
  Speaker 1: would never have dreamed of skinning a ten foot tiger alone.
• 2:05:17
  Speaker 1: But Maugli knew better than any one else how an
• 2:05:19
  Speaker 1: animal's skin is fitted on, and how it can be
• 2:05:22
  Speaker 1: taken off. But it was hard work, and Maugli slashed
• 2:05:26
  Speaker 1: and tore and grunted for an hour while the wolves
• 2:05:29
  Speaker 1: lulled out their tongues or came forward and tugged as
• 2:05:32
  Speaker 1: he ordered them. Presently, a hand fell on his shoulder,
• 2:05:35
  Speaker 1: and looking up, he saw Bodio with the tower musket.
• 2:05:39
  Speaker 1: The children had told the village about the buffalo stampede,
• 2:05:43
  Speaker 1: and Bothio went out angrily, only too anxious to correct
• 2:05:46
  Speaker 1: Maugli for not taking better care of the herd. The
• 2:05:49
  Speaker 1: wolves dropped out of sight as soon as they saw
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 1: the man coming. What is this folly, said Bodeo, angrily,
• 2:05:57
  Speaker 1: to think that thou canst skin a tiger? Where did
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 1: the buffaloes kill him? It is the lame tiger too,
• 2:06:04
  Speaker 1: and there is a hundred rupees on his head. Well, well,
• 2:06:08
  Speaker 1: we will overlook thy letting the herd run off, and
• 2:06:11
  Speaker 1: perhaps I will give thee one of the rupees of
• 2:06:12
  Speaker 1: the reward when I have taken the skin to Conhuara.
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 1: He fumbled in his waistcloth for flint and steel, and
• 2:06:19
  Speaker 1: stooped down to send sheer Khan's whiskers. Most native hunters
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 1: always sind a tiger's whiskers to prevent his ghost from
• 2:06:26
  Speaker 1: haunting them. Hum, said Maudli half to himself, as he
• 2:06:30
  Speaker 1: ripped back the skin of a forepaw. So thou wilt
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 1: take the hide to con Hiwara for the reward, and
• 2:06:36
  Speaker 1: perhaps give me one rupee. Now it is in my
• 2:06:40
  Speaker 1: mind that I need the skin for my own use. Ha,
• 2:06:44
  Speaker 1: old man, take away that fire. What talk is this
• 2:06:48
  Speaker 1: to the chief hunter of the village. Thy luck and
• 2:06:51
  Speaker 1: the stupidity of thy buffaloes have helped thee to this kill.
• 2:06:55
  Speaker 1: The tiger has just fed, or he would have gone
• 2:06:57
  Speaker 1: twenty miles by this time. Thou canst not even skin
• 2:07:01
  Speaker 1: him properly, little beggar brat, And forsooth thy bodio must
• 2:07:06
  Speaker 1: be told not to singe his whiskers. Maugli, I will
• 2:07:09
  Speaker 1: not give thee one anna of the reward, but only
• 2:07:12
  Speaker 1: a very big beating. Leave the carcass by the bull
• 2:07:17
  Speaker 1: that bought me, said Maugli, who was trying to get
• 2:07:19
  Speaker 1: at the shoulder. Must I stay babbling to an old
• 2:07:22
  Speaker 1: ape all noon? Here, Akella? This man plagues me. Bodeo,
• 2:07:28
  Speaker 1: who was still stooping over sheer Khan's head, found himself
• 2:07:31
  Speaker 1: sprawling on the grass with a gray wolf standing over him,
• 2:07:35
  Speaker 1: while Maugli went on skinning as though he were alone
• 2:07:37
  Speaker 1: in all India. Ye, yes, he said, between his teeth,
• 2:07:43
  Speaker 1: thou art altogether right, Botheo, Thou wilt never give me
• 2:07:47
  Speaker 1: one anna of the reward. There is an old war
• 2:07:51
  Speaker 1: between this lame tiger and myself, a very old war.
• 2:07:54
  Speaker 1: Anne I have won to do Bodio justice. If he
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 1: had been ten years younger, he would have taken his
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 1: chance with a kella had he met the wolf in
• 2:08:02
  Speaker 1: the woods. But a wolf who obeyed the orders of
• 2:08:05
  Speaker 1: this boy, who had private wars with man eating tigers,
• 2:08:07
  Speaker 1: was not a common animal. It was sorcery, magic of
• 2:08:11
  Speaker 1: the worst kind, thought Botheo, and he wondered whether the
• 2:08:15
  Speaker 1: amulet round his neck would protect him. He lay as
• 2:08:18
  Speaker 1: still as still, expecting every minute to see Maugli turn
• 2:08:21
  Speaker 1: into a tiger too, zero one four one Botheo lay as,
• 2:08:26
  Speaker 1: still expecting every minute to see Maugli turn into a
• 2:08:29
  Speaker 1: tiger too. Maharaj great king, he said at last, in
• 2:08:35
  Speaker 1: a husky whisper. Yes, said Maugli, without turning his head,
• 2:08:39
  Speaker 1: chuckling a little. I am an old man. I did
• 2:08:44
  Speaker 1: not know that thou wast anything more than a herdz boy.
• 2:08:47
  Speaker 1: May I rise up and go away? Or will thy
• 2:08:49
  Speaker 1: servant tear me to pieces? Go and peace? Go with
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 1: thee only another time. Do not meddle with my game.
• 2:08:58
  Speaker 1: Let him go a Kella Boldeo hobbled away to the
• 2:09:02
  Speaker 1: village as fast as he could, looking back over his
• 2:09:05
  Speaker 1: shoulder in case Maugli should change into something terrible. When
• 2:09:09
  Speaker 1: he got to the village, he told the tale of
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 1: magic and enchantment and sorcery that made the priest look
• 2:09:14
  Speaker 1: very grave. Maugli went on with his work, but it
• 2:09:18
  Speaker 1: was nearly twilight before he and the wolves had drawn
• 2:09:20
  Speaker 1: the great gay skin clear of the body. Fifty one
• 2:09:24
  Speaker 1: seventy nine of the return of the Buffalo herd. Now
• 2:09:27
  Speaker 1: we must hide this and take the buffaloes home. Help
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 1: me to herd them, Pakella the herd rounded up in
• 2:09:34
  Speaker 1: the misty twilight, And when they got near the village,
• 2:09:37
  Speaker 1: Maugli saw lights and heard the conches and bells in
• 2:09:40
  Speaker 1: the temple blowing and banging. Half the village seemed to
• 2:09:44
  Speaker 1: be waiting for him by the gate. That is because
• 2:09:47
  Speaker 1: I have killed sher Khan, he said to himself. But
• 2:09:51
  Speaker 1: a shower of stones whistled about his ears, and the
• 2:09:54
  Speaker 1: villagers shouted, sorcerer, wolf sprat jungledemon, go away, get hence quickly,
• 2:10:03
  Speaker 1: or the priest will turn thee into a wolf again. Shoot, Bodio,
• 2:10:07
  Speaker 1: shoot the old tower musket went off with a bang,
• 2:10:11
  Speaker 1: and a young buffalo bellowed in pain. More sorcery, shouted
• 2:10:16
  Speaker 1: the villagers. He can turn bullets, Bodio, That was thy buffalo.
• 2:10:22
  Speaker 1: Now what is this, said Maugli, bewildered, as the stones
• 2:10:26
  Speaker 1: flew thicker. They are not unlike the pack these brothers
• 2:10:30
  Speaker 1: of thine, said Akella, sitting down composedly. It is in
• 2:10:35
  Speaker 1: my head that if bullets mean anything, they would cast
• 2:10:38
  Speaker 1: thee out wolf wolf's cub, Go away, shouted the priest,
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 1: waving a sprig of the sacred toolsey plant again. Last
• 2:10:50
  Speaker 1: time it was because I was a man this time.
• 2:10:53
  Speaker 1: It is because I am a wolf. Let us go, Akella,
• 2:10:58
  Speaker 1: a woman it was Messu ran across to the herd
• 2:11:01
  Speaker 1: and cried, oh, my son, my son. They say, thou
• 2:11:06
  Speaker 1: art a sorcerer who can turn himself into a beast
• 2:11:08
  Speaker 1: at will. I do not believe. But go away, or
• 2:11:12
  Speaker 1: they will kill thee. Boldio says thou art a wizard.
• 2:11:16
  Speaker 1: But I know thou hast a venge Netheu's death. Come back, Messua,
• 2:11:21
  Speaker 1: shouted the crowd. Come back, or we will stone thee.
• 2:11:26
  Speaker 1: Maudli laughed a little, short, ugly laugh, for a stone
• 2:11:29
  Speaker 1: had hit him in the mouth. Run back, Messua, This
• 2:11:33
  Speaker 1: is one of the foolish tales they tell under the
• 2:11:36
  Speaker 1: big tree at dusk. I have at least paid for
• 2:11:39
  Speaker 1: thy son's life. Farewell and run quickly, for I shall
• 2:11:43
  Speaker 1: send the herd in more swiftly than their brick bats.
• 2:11:47
  Speaker 1: I am no wizard, Messua. Farewell now once more, Akella,
• 2:11:53
  Speaker 1: he cried, bring the herd in. The buffaloes were anxious
• 2:11:58
  Speaker 1: enough to get to the village. They hardly needed Akella's yell,
• 2:12:02
  Speaker 1: but charged through the gate like a whirlwind, scattering the
• 2:12:05
  Speaker 1: crowd right and left. Keep Count shouted Maugli scornfully. It
• 2:12:11
  Speaker 1: may be that I have stolen one of them. Keep count,
• 2:12:15
  Speaker 1: for I will do your hurting. No more. Fare you well,
• 2:12:18
  Speaker 1: children of men, and thank Messua that I do not
• 2:12:21
  Speaker 1: come in with my wolves and hunt you up and
• 2:12:23
  Speaker 1: down your street. He turned on his heel and walked
• 2:12:27
  Speaker 1: away with the lone wolf, and as he looked up
• 2:12:29
  Speaker 1: at the stars, he felt happy. No more sleeping in
• 2:12:32
  Speaker 1: traps for me, Pekella. Let us get Sheer Khan's skin
• 2:12:36
  Speaker 1: and go away. No, we will not hurt the village,
• 2:12:40
  Speaker 1: for Messua was kind to me. Zero one four six.
• 2:12:44
  Speaker 1: When the moon rose over the plain, the villagers saw
• 2:12:47
  Speaker 1: Maugli trotting across with two wolves at his heels. When
• 2:12:50
  Speaker 1: the moon rose over the plain, making it look all milky,
• 2:12:54
  Speaker 1: the horrified villagers saw Maugli with two wolves at his
• 2:12:57
  Speaker 1: heels and a bundle on his head, trotting across at
• 2:13:01
  Speaker 1: the steady wolf's trot that eats up the long miles
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 1: like fire. Then they banged the temple bells and blew
• 2:13:07
  Speaker 1: the conscience louder than ever, and Messua cried, and Boldeo
• 2:13:11
  Speaker 1: embroidered the story of his adventures in the jungle till
• 2:13:14
  Speaker 1: he ended by saying that Akella stood up on his
• 2:13:16
  Speaker 1: hind legs and talked like a man. The moon was
• 2:13:20
  Speaker 1: just going down when Maugli and the two wolves came
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 1: to the hill of the council Rock, and they stopped
• 2:13:25
  Speaker 1: at Mother Wulf's cave. They have cast me out from
• 2:13:29
  Speaker 1: the man pack, mother shouted Maugli. But I come with
• 2:13:32
  Speaker 1: the hide of sheer Khan to keep my word. Mother
• 2:13:35
  Speaker 1: Wulf walked stiffly from the cave with the cubs behind her,
• 2:13:39
  Speaker 1: and her eyes glowed as she saw the skin. I
• 2:13:42
  Speaker 1: told him on that day when he crammed his head
• 2:13:44
  Speaker 1: and shoulders into this cave, hunting for thy life, little frog,
• 2:13:49
  Speaker 1: I told him that the hunter would be the hunted.
• 2:13:52
  Speaker 1: It is well done, little brother, It is well done,
• 2:13:56
  Speaker 1: said a deep voice in the thicket. We were lonely
• 2:13:59
  Speaker 1: in the jungle without thee and Bagheera came running to
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 1: Maugli's bare feet. They clambered up the council rock together,
• 2:14:06
  Speaker 1: and Maugli spread the skin out on the flat stone
• 2:14:09
  Speaker 1: where Achella used to sit and pegged it down with
• 2:14:11
  Speaker 1: four slivers of bamboo, and Akella lay down upon it
• 2:14:15
  Speaker 1: and called the old call to the council Look, look well,
• 2:14:18
  Speaker 1: o wolves, exactly as he had called when Maugli was
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 1: first brought there zero one four nine that they clambered
• 2:14:25
  Speaker 1: up the council rock together, and Maugli spread the skin
• 2:14:28
  Speaker 1: out on the flat stone. Ever since a Kella had
• 2:14:31
  Speaker 1: been deposed, the pack had been without a leader, hunting
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 1: and fighting at their own pleasure. But they answered the
• 2:14:38
  Speaker 1: call from Habit. And some of them were lame from
• 2:14:40
  Speaker 1: the traps they had fallen into, and some limp from
• 2:14:43
  Speaker 1: shot wounds, and some were mangy from eating bad food,
• 2:14:46
  Speaker 1: and many were missing. But they came to the council
• 2:14:50
  Speaker 1: rock all that were left of them, and saw sheer
• 2:14:52
  Speaker 1: khans striped hide on the rock, and the huge claws
• 2:14:55
  Speaker 1: dangling at the end of the empty dangling feet. It
• 2:14:59
  Speaker 1: was then that Maugli made up a song that came
• 2:15:01
  Speaker 1: up into his throat all by itself, and he shouted
• 2:15:04
  Speaker 1: it aloud, leaping up and down on the rattling skin
• 2:15:07
  Speaker 1: and beating time with his heels till he had no
• 2:15:09
  Speaker 1: more breath left, while Gray Brother and Akella howled between
• 2:15:13
  Speaker 1: the verses. Look well, o wolves, have I kept my word?
• 2:15:18
  Speaker 1: Said Maugli, and the wolves bade yes, and one tattered
• 2:15:23
  Speaker 1: wolf howled, lead us again, O a kella, Let us again,
• 2:15:27
  Speaker 1: O man cub, for we be sick of this lawlessness,
• 2:15:30
  Speaker 1: and we would be the free people once more. Nay
• 2:15:34
  Speaker 1: perd bagheera. That may not be. When ye are full fed,
• 2:15:38
  Speaker 1: the madness may come upon you again. Not for nothing
• 2:15:41
  Speaker 1: are ye called the free people. Ye fought for freedom,
• 2:15:45
  Speaker 1: and it is yours. Eat it O wolves, man pack
• 2:15:50
  Speaker 1: and wolf pack have cast me out, said Maugli. Now
• 2:15:54
  Speaker 1: I will hunt alone in the jungle, and we will
• 2:15:57
  Speaker 1: hunt with thee, said the four cubs. So Maugli went
• 2:16:01
  Speaker 1: away and hunted with the four cubs in the jungle
• 2:16:04
  Speaker 1: from that day on. But he was not always alone,
• 2:16:07
  Speaker 1: because years afterward he became a man and married. But
• 2:16:12
  Speaker 1: that is a story for grown ups. Maugli's song that
• 2:16:15
  Speaker 1: he sang at the Council Rock when he danced on
• 2:16:18
  Speaker 1: sheer Khan's hide, the song of Maugli. I Maugli am singing.
• 2:16:23
  Speaker 1: Let the jungle listen to the things I have done.
• 2:16:26
  Speaker 1: Sheer Khan said he would kill, would kill at the
• 2:16:30
  Speaker 1: gates in the twilight. He would kill Maugli. The frog
• 2:16:34
  Speaker 1: he ate and he drank drink deep, sheer Khan. For
• 2:16:38
  Speaker 1: when wilt thou drink again, Sleep and dream of the kill.
• 2:16:43
  Speaker 1: I am alone on the grazing grounds. Gray brother, Come
• 2:16:47
  Speaker 1: to me. Come to me, lone wolf, for there is
• 2:16:50
  Speaker 1: big game afoot. Bring up the great bull buffaloes, the
• 2:16:54
  Speaker 1: blueskinned herd bulls with the angry eyes. Drive them to
• 2:16:59
  Speaker 1: and fro as I order. Sleepest thou still, sheer Khan,
• 2:17:04
  Speaker 1: Wake o, wake here come I and the bulls are
• 2:17:08
  Speaker 1: behind Rama, the king of the buffaloes, stamped with his
• 2:17:12
  Speaker 1: foot waters of the wing Gangha. Whither went sheer Khan.
• 2:17:17
  Speaker 1: He is not ikey to dig holes, nor mao the
• 2:17:20
  Speaker 1: peacock that he should fly. He is not mang the
• 2:17:24
  Speaker 1: bat to hang in the branches, little bamboos that creak together.
• 2:17:29
  Speaker 1: Tell me where he ran? Aw he is there, Ahoo,
• 2:17:35
  Speaker 1: he is there. Under the feet of Rama lies the
• 2:17:38
  Speaker 1: lame one. Up, sheer Khan, Up and kill. Here is meat.
• 2:17:45
  Speaker 1: Break the necks of the bulls. H s h. He
• 2:17:49
  Speaker 1: is asleep. We will not wake him, for his strength
• 2:17:53
  Speaker 1: is very great. The kites have come down to see it,
• 2:17:57
  Speaker 1: the black ants have come up to know it. There
• 2:18:00
  Speaker 1: is a great assembly in his honor. Allallah. I have
• 2:18:04
  Speaker 1: no cloth to wrap me. The kites will see that
• 2:18:08
  Speaker 1: I am naked. I am ashamed to meet all these people.
• 2:18:12
  Speaker 1: Lend me thy coat, sheer Khan. Lend me thy gay
• 2:18:16
  Speaker 1: striped coat, that I may go to the council rock
• 2:18:19
  Speaker 1: by the bull that bought me. I made a promise,
• 2:18:22
  Speaker 1: a little promise. Only thy coat is lacking. Before I
• 2:18:25
  Speaker 1: keep my word with the knife, with the knife that
• 2:18:29
  Speaker 1: men use, with the knife of the hunter, I will
• 2:18:31
  Speaker 1: stoop down for my gift waters of the wain Gangha.
• 2:18:35
  Speaker 1: Sheer Khan gives me his coat for the love that
• 2:18:38
  Speaker 1: he bears me. Pull gray brother, pull a kella heavy
• 2:18:44
  Speaker 1: is the hide of sheer Khan. The man pack are angry.
• 2:18:49
  Speaker 1: They throw stones and talk child's talk. My mouth is bleeding.
• 2:18:54
  Speaker 1: Let me run away through the knight, through the hot night.
• 2:18:58
  Speaker 1: Run swiftly with me, my brothers. We will leave the
• 2:19:02
  Speaker 1: lights of the village and go to the low moon
• 2:19:05
  Speaker 1: waters of the wing Ganga. The man pack have cast
• 2:19:08
  Speaker 1: me out. I did them no harm, but they were
• 2:19:11
  Speaker 1: afraid of me. Why wolf pack, ye have cast me
• 2:19:16
  Speaker 1: out too. The jungle is shut to me, and the
• 2:19:19
  Speaker 1: village gates are shut. Why as mang flies between the
• 2:19:24
  Speaker 1: beasts and birds. So fly I between the village and
• 2:19:27
  Speaker 1: the jungle. Why I dance on the hide of sheer Khan.
• 2:19:32
  Speaker 1: But my heart is very heavy. My mouth is cut
• 2:19:36
  Speaker 1: and wounded with the stones from the village. But my
• 2:19:38
  Speaker 1: heart is very light because I have come back to
• 2:19:41
  Speaker 1: the jungle. Why these two things fight together in me
• 2:19:46
  Speaker 1: as the snakes fight in the spring. The water comes
• 2:19:49
  Speaker 1: out of my eyes. Yet I laugh while it falls.
• 2:19:53
  Speaker 1: Why I am too mauglise. But the hide of sheer
• 2:19:57
  Speaker 1: Khan is under my feet. All the jungle knows that
• 2:20:00
  Speaker 1: I have killed sher Khan. Look, look well, o wolves. Ah, Hey,
• 2:20:07
  Speaker 1: my heart is heavy with the things that I do
• 2:20:09
  Speaker 1: not understand. Zero one five seven. The white seal, O,
• 2:20:15
  Speaker 1: hush thee, my baby. The night is behind us, and
• 2:20:18
  Speaker 1: black are the waters that sparkled so green. The moon
• 2:20:22
  Speaker 1: o'er the combers looks downward to find us that rest
• 2:20:25
  Speaker 1: in the hollows that rustle between where billow meets billow.
• 2:20:29
  Speaker 1: Then soft be thy pillow. Ah, weary we flipperling, curl
• 2:20:33
  Speaker 1: at thy ease. The storm shall not wake thee, nor
• 2:20:37
  Speaker 1: shark overtake thee asleep in the arms of the slow
• 2:20:40
  Speaker 1: swinging seas seal lullaby. All these things happened several years
• 2:20:45
  Speaker 1: ago at a place called Navastashna, or northeast point on
• 2:20:49
  Speaker 1: the island of Saint Paul, away and away in the
• 2:20:51
  Speaker 1: bearing Sea. Limershen, the winter wren, told me the tale
• 2:20:56
  Speaker 1: when he was blown on to the rigging of a
• 2:20:57
  Speaker 1: steamer going to Japan, And I took in down into
• 2:21:00
  Speaker 1: my cabin and warmed and fed him for a couple
• 2:21:02
  Speaker 1: of days till he was fit to fly back to
• 2:21:04
  Speaker 1: Saint Paul's again. Limoschhen is a very quaint little bird,
• 2:21:08
  Speaker 1: but he knows how to tell the truth. Nobody comes
• 2:21:12
  Speaker 1: to Novastashna except on business, and the only people who
• 2:21:15
  Speaker 1: have regular business there are the seals. They come in
• 2:21:19
  Speaker 1: the summer months by hundreds and hundreds of thousands out
• 2:21:21
  Speaker 1: of the cold gray sea. For Novastashna Beach has the
• 2:21:25
  Speaker 1: finest accommodation for seals of any place in all the world.
• 2:21:30
  Speaker 1: Sea catch knew that, and every spring would swim from
• 2:21:32
  Speaker 1: whatever place he happened to be in, would swim like
• 2:21:35
  Speaker 1: a torpedo boat straight for Novastoshna and spend a month
• 2:21:38
  Speaker 1: fighting with his companions for a good place on the
• 2:21:41
  Speaker 1: rocks as close to the sea as possible. Sea Catch
• 2:21:45
  Speaker 1: was fifteen years old, a huge gray fur seal with
• 2:21:48
  Speaker 1: almost a mane on his shoulders and long, wicked dog teeth.
• 2:21:53
  Speaker 1: When he heathed himself up on his front flippers, he
• 2:21:55
  Speaker 1: stood more than four feet clear of the ground, and
• 2:21:58
  Speaker 1: his weight, if any one had been boldened enough to
• 2:22:00
  Speaker 1: weigh him, was nearly seven hundred pounds. He was scarred
• 2:22:04
  Speaker 1: all over with the marks of savage fights, but he
• 2:22:07
  Speaker 1: was always ready for just one fight more. He would
• 2:22:10
  Speaker 1: put his head on one side, as though he were
• 2:22:12
  Speaker 1: afraid to look his enemy in the face. Then he
• 2:22:15
  Speaker 1: would shoot it out like lightning, And when the big
• 2:22:17
  Speaker 1: teeth were firmly fixed on the other seal's neck, the
• 2:22:20
  Speaker 1: other seal might get away if he could, but Sea
• 2:22:24
  Speaker 1: Catch would not help him. Yet. Sea Catch never chased
• 2:22:28
  Speaker 1: a beaten seal, for that was against the rules of
• 2:22:30
  Speaker 1: the beach. He only wanted room by the sea for
• 2:22:34
  Speaker 1: his nursery. But as there were forty or fifty thousand
• 2:22:37
  Speaker 1: other seals hunting for the same thing each spring, the whistling, bellowing,
• 2:22:42
  Speaker 1: roaring and blowing on the beach was something frightful from
• 2:22:46
  Speaker 1: a little hill called Hutchinson's Hill. You could look over
• 2:22:49
  Speaker 1: three and a half miles of ground covered with fighting seals,
• 2:22:52
  Speaker 1: and the surf was dotted all over with the heads
• 2:22:55
  Speaker 1: of seals hurrying to land and begin their share of
• 2:22:57
  Speaker 1: the fighting. They fought in the breaks, they fought in
• 2:23:01
  Speaker 1: the sand, and they fought on the smooth worn basalt
• 2:23:03
  Speaker 1: rocks of the nurseries. For they were just as stupid
• 2:23:06
  Speaker 1: and unaccommodating as men. Their wives never came to the
• 2:23:10
  Speaker 1: island until late in May or early in June, for
• 2:23:13
  Speaker 1: they did not care to be torn to pieces. And
• 2:23:16
  Speaker 1: the young two dash, three dash and four year old
• 2:23:19
  Speaker 1: seals who had not begun housekeeping, went inland about half
• 2:23:22
  Speaker 1: a mile through the ranks of the fighters, and played
• 2:23:24
  Speaker 1: about on the sand dunes in droves and legions, and
• 2:23:28
  Speaker 1: rubbed off every single green thing that grew. They were
• 2:23:31
  Speaker 1: called the Hollischickie the bachelors, and there were perhaps two
• 2:23:35
  Speaker 1: or three hundred thousand of them at Novstashna alone. Sea
• 2:23:40
  Speaker 1: Catch had just finished his forty fifth fight one spring
• 2:23:42
  Speaker 1: when Matka, his soft, sleek, gentle eyed wife, came up
• 2:23:46
  Speaker 1: out of the sea, and he caught her by the
• 2:23:48
  Speaker 1: scruff of the neck and dumped her down on his reservation,
• 2:23:51
  Speaker 1: saying gruffly, late as usual, where have you been? It
• 2:23:56
  Speaker 1: was not the fashion for sea catch to eat anything
• 2:23:59
  Speaker 1: during the fore moth. He stayed on the beaches, and
• 2:24:01
  Speaker 1: so his temper was generally bad. Moka knew better than
• 2:24:05
  Speaker 1: to answer back. She looked round and cooed, how thoughtful
• 2:24:09
  Speaker 1: of you. You've taken the old place again. I should think,
• 2:24:14
  Speaker 1: I had said, see catch, look at me. He was
• 2:24:19
  Speaker 1: scratched and bleeding in twenty places, one eye was almost out,
• 2:24:22
  Speaker 1: and his sides were torn to ribbons. Oh you men,
• 2:24:26
  Speaker 1: you men, Matka said, fanning herself with her hind flipper.
• 2:24:32
  Speaker 1: Why can't you be sensible and settle your places quietly?
• 2:24:35
  Speaker 1: You look as though you had been fighting with the
• 2:24:37
  Speaker 1: killer whale. I hadn't been doing anything but fight since
• 2:24:41
  Speaker 1: the middle of May. The beach is disgracefully crowded this season.
• 2:24:46
  Speaker 1: I've met at least a hundred seals from lookin' on
• 2:24:49
  Speaker 1: beach house hunting. Why can't people stay where they belong?
• 2:24:54
  Speaker 1: I've often thought we should be much happier if we
• 2:24:56
  Speaker 1: hauled out at Otter Island instead of this crowded place.
• 2:24:59
  Speaker 1: Sai Matka Bah. Only the Hollis chickie go to Otter Island.
• 2:25:06
  Speaker 1: If we went there, they would say we were afraid.
• 2:25:09
  Speaker 1: We must preserve appearances. My dear sea catch sunk his
• 2:25:13
  Speaker 1: head proudly between his fat shoulders and pretended to go
• 2:25:16
  Speaker 1: to sleep for a few minutes. But all the time
• 2:25:19
  Speaker 1: he was keeping a sharp lookout for a fight. Now
• 2:25:22
  Speaker 1: that all the seals and their wives were on the land,
• 2:25:25
  Speaker 1: you could hear their clamor miles out to see above
• 2:25:27
  Speaker 1: the loudest gales. At the lowest counting, there were over
• 2:25:31
  Speaker 1: a million seals on the beach, old seals, mother seals,
• 2:25:35
  Speaker 1: tiny babies, and Hollis chickie fighting, scuffling, bleeding, crawling and
• 2:25:40
  Speaker 1: playing together, going down to the sea and coming up
• 2:25:43
  Speaker 1: from it in gangs and regiments, lying over every foot
• 2:25:46
  Speaker 1: of ground as far as the eye could reach, and
• 2:25:49
  Speaker 1: skirmishing about in brigades through the fog. It is nearly
• 2:25:53
  Speaker 1: always foggy at Navastashna, except when the sun comes out
• 2:25:57
  Speaker 1: and makes everything look all pearly and rainbow colored. A
• 2:26:00
  Speaker 1: little while Kodik Matka's baby was born in the middle
• 2:26:04
  Speaker 1: of that confusion, and he was all head and shoulders
• 2:26:07
  Speaker 1: with pale, watery blue eyes, as tiny seals must be.
• 2:26:11
  Speaker 1: But there was something about his coat that made his
• 2:26:13
  Speaker 1: mother look at him very closely. Sea catch, She said,
• 2:26:17
  Speaker 1: at last, are baby's going to be white? Empty clam
• 2:26:21
  Speaker 1: shells and dry seaweed? Snorted sea catch. There never has
• 2:26:27
  Speaker 1: been such a thing in the world as a white seal.
• 2:26:30
  Speaker 1: I can't help that, said Matka. There's going to be now,
• 2:26:34
  Speaker 1: And she sang the low, crooning seal song that all
• 2:26:37
  Speaker 1: the mother seals sing to their babies. You mustn't swim
• 2:26:40
  Speaker 1: till you're six weeks old, or your head will be
• 2:26:43
  Speaker 1: sunk by your heels. And summer gales and killer whales
• 2:26:46
  Speaker 1: are bad for baby seals, are bad for baby seals,
• 2:26:50
  Speaker 1: dear rat, as bad as bad can be. But splash
• 2:26:54
  Speaker 1: and grow strong, and you can't be wrong, child of
• 2:26:57
  Speaker 1: the open sea. Of course, first the little fellow did
• 2:27:01
  Speaker 1: not understand the words. At first. He paddled and scrambled
• 2:27:05
  Speaker 1: about by his mother's side and learned to scuffle out
• 2:27:08
  Speaker 1: of the way when his father was fighting with another seal,
• 2:27:10
  Speaker 1: and the two rolled and roared up and down the
• 2:27:12
  Speaker 1: slippery rocks. Maka used to go to sea to get
• 2:27:16
  Speaker 1: things to eat, and the baby was fed only once
• 2:27:19
  Speaker 1: in two days, but then he ate all he could
• 2:27:21
  Speaker 1: and throve upon it. The first thing he did was
• 2:27:25
  Speaker 1: to crawl inland, and there he met tens of thousands
• 2:27:27
  Speaker 1: of babies of his own age, and they played together
• 2:27:30
  Speaker 1: like puppies, went to sleep on the clean sand, and
• 2:27:33
  Speaker 1: played again. The old people in the nurseries took no
• 2:27:37
  Speaker 1: notice of them, and the Hollis chickie kept to their
• 2:27:39
  Speaker 1: own grounds, and the babies had a beautiful playtime. When
• 2:27:43
  Speaker 1: Matka came back from her deep sea fishing, she would
• 2:27:46
  Speaker 1: go straight to their playground and call as a sheep
• 2:27:48
  Speaker 1: calls for a lamb, and wait until she heard kodk bleat.
• 2:27:52
  Speaker 1: Then she would take the straightest of straight lines in
• 2:27:55
  Speaker 1: his direction, striking out with her four flippers and knocking
• 2:27:58
  Speaker 1: the youngster's head over heels, right and left. There were
• 2:28:02
  Speaker 1: always a few hundred mothers hunting for their children through
• 2:28:04
  Speaker 1: the playgrounds, and the babies were kept lively. But as
• 2:28:08
  Speaker 1: Maka told Kodak, so long as you don't lie in
• 2:28:11
  Speaker 1: muddy water and get mange or rub the hard sand
• 2:28:14
  Speaker 1: into a cut or scratch, and so long as you
• 2:28:17
  Speaker 1: never go swimming when there is a heavy sea. Nothing
• 2:28:19
  Speaker 1: will hurt you here. Little seals can no more swim
• 2:28:23
  Speaker 1: than little children, but they are unhappy till they learn.
• 2:28:27
  Speaker 1: The first time that Kodak went down to the sea,
• 2:28:29
  Speaker 1: a wave carried him out beyond his depth, and his
• 2:28:32
  Speaker 1: big head sank, and his little hind flippers flew up,
• 2:28:35
  Speaker 1: exactly as his mother had told him in the song,
• 2:28:37
  Speaker 1: And if the next wave had not thrown him back again,
• 2:28:40
  Speaker 1: he would have drowned. After that, he learned to lie
• 2:28:44
  Speaker 1: in a beech pool and let the wash of the
• 2:28:45
  Speaker 1: waves just cover him and lift him up while he paddled,
• 2:28:48
  Speaker 1: but he always kept his eye open for big waves
• 2:28:51
  Speaker 1: that might hurt. He was two weeks learning to use
• 2:28:54
  Speaker 1: his flippers, and all that while he floundered in and
• 2:28:57
  Speaker 1: out of the water, and coughed and grunted, and crawled
• 2:28:59
  Speaker 1: up the beach and took cat naps on the sand
• 2:29:02
  Speaker 1: and went back again, until at last he found that
• 2:29:05
  Speaker 1: he truly belonged to the water. Then you can imagine
• 2:29:08
  Speaker 1: the times that he had with his companions, ducking under
• 2:29:11
  Speaker 1: the rollers, or coming in on top of a comber
• 2:29:14
  Speaker 1: and landing with a swash and a splutter as the
• 2:29:16
  Speaker 1: big wave went whirling far up the beach, or standing
• 2:29:19
  Speaker 1: up on his tail and scratching his head as the
• 2:29:21
  Speaker 1: old people did, or playing I'm the King of the
• 2:29:24
  Speaker 1: Castle on slippery, weedy rocks that just stuck out of
• 2:29:28
  Speaker 1: the wash. Now and then he would see a thin
• 2:29:32
  Speaker 1: fin like a big shark's fin, drifting along close to shore,
• 2:29:35
  Speaker 1: and he knew that that was the killer whale, the
• 2:29:38
  Speaker 1: grampis who eats young seals when he can get them.
• 2:29:41
  Speaker 1: And Kodok would head for the beach like an arrow,
• 2:29:43
  Speaker 1: and the fin would jig off slowly, as if it
• 2:29:46
  Speaker 1: were looking for nothing at all. Late in October, the
• 2:29:50
  Speaker 1: seals began to leave Saint Paul's for the deep sea
• 2:29:53
  Speaker 1: by families and tribes, and there was no more fighting
• 2:29:56
  Speaker 1: over the nurseries, and the hollis Chickie played anywhere they liked.
• 2:30:00
  Speaker 1: Next year, said Maka to Kodak, you will be a hollischicky,
• 2:30:04
  Speaker 1: but this year you must learn how to catch fish.
• 2:30:07
  Speaker 1: They set out together across the Pacific, and Maka showed
• 2:30:11
  Speaker 1: Kodok how to sleep on his back, with his flippers
• 2:30:13
  Speaker 1: tucked down by his side and his little nose just
• 2:30:16
  Speaker 1: out of the water. No cradle is so comfortable as
• 2:30:19
  Speaker 1: the long, rocking swell of the Pacific. When Kodik felt
• 2:30:23
  Speaker 1: his skin tingle all over, Maka told him he was
• 2:30:26
  Speaker 1: learning the feel of the water, and that tingly, prickly
• 2:30:29
  Speaker 1: feelings meant bad weather coming, and he must swim hard
• 2:30:32
  Speaker 1: and get away nine thousand, one hundred and sixty six
• 2:30:36
  Speaker 1: ten fathoms deep in a little time, She said, you'll
• 2:30:40
  Speaker 1: know where to swim to. But just now, we'll follow
• 2:30:42
  Speaker 1: sea pig the porpoise, for he is very wise. A
• 2:30:46
  Speaker 1: school of porpoises were ducking and tearing through the water,
• 2:30:49
  Speaker 1: and little Kodok followed them as fast as he could.
• 2:30:53
  Speaker 1: How do you know where to go to? He panted.
• 2:30:56
  Speaker 1: The leader of the school rolled his white eye and
• 2:30:58
  Speaker 1: ducked under my tail tingles, youngster, He said, that means
• 2:31:04
  Speaker 1: there's a gale behind me. Come along when you're south
• 2:31:08
  Speaker 1: of the sticky water asterisk, he meant the equator and
• 2:31:11
  Speaker 1: your tail tingles. That means there's a gale in front
• 2:31:14
  Speaker 1: of you, and you must head north. Come along. The
• 2:31:18
  Speaker 1: water feels bad here. This was one of very many
• 2:31:22
  Speaker 1: things that Kodik learned, and he was always learning. Matka
• 2:31:26
  Speaker 1: taught him to follow the cod and the halibut along
• 2:31:29
  Speaker 1: the under sea banks and wrench the rock lane out
• 2:31:31
  Speaker 1: of his hole among the weeds. How to skirt the
• 2:31:34
  Speaker 1: wrecks lying a hundred fathoms below water and dart like
• 2:31:37
  Speaker 1: a rifle bullet in at one porthole and out at
• 2:31:39
  Speaker 1: another as the fishes ran. How to dance on the
• 2:31:42
  Speaker 1: top of the waves when the lightning was racing all
• 2:31:45
  Speaker 1: over the sky, and wave his flipper politely to the
• 2:31:47
  Speaker 1: stumpy tailed albatross and the man of war hawk as
• 2:31:50
  Speaker 1: they went down the wind. How to jump three or
• 2:31:54
  Speaker 1: four feet clear of the water like a dolphin, flippers
• 2:31:56
  Speaker 1: close to the side and tail curved to leave the
• 2:31:59
  Speaker 1: flying fish shone because they are all bony. To take
• 2:32:02
  Speaker 1: the shoulder piece out of a cod at full speed
• 2:32:04
  Speaker 1: ten fathoms deep. And never to stop and look at
• 2:32:07
  Speaker 1: a boat or a ship, but particularly a row boat.
• 2:32:11
  Speaker 1: At the end of six months, what Kodak did not
• 2:32:13
  Speaker 1: know about deep sea fishing was not worth the knowing,
• 2:32:17
  Speaker 1: and all that time he never set flipper on dry ground.
• 2:32:21
  Speaker 1: One day, however, as he was lying half asleep in
• 2:32:24
  Speaker 1: the warm water somewhere off the island of Juan Fernandez,
• 2:32:28
  Speaker 1: he felt faint and lazy all over, just as human
• 2:32:31
  Speaker 1: people do when the spring is in their legs. And
• 2:32:33
  Speaker 1: he remembered the good, firm beaches of Novustashna, seven thousand
• 2:32:37
  Speaker 1: miles away the games his companions played, the smell of
• 2:32:40
  Speaker 1: the seaweed, the seal roar, and the fighting. That very
• 2:32:45
  Speaker 1: minute he turned north, swimming steadily, and as he went
• 2:32:49
  Speaker 1: on he met scores of his mates, all bound for
• 2:32:51
  Speaker 1: the same place. And they said, greeting, Kodak, this year
• 2:32:56
  Speaker 1: we are all hollischicky, and we can dance the fire
• 2:32:59
  Speaker 1: dance in the breaker off, lookin' on, and play on
• 2:33:01
  Speaker 1: the new grass. But where did you get that coat?
• 2:33:05
  Speaker 1: Kodak's fur was almost pure white now, and though he
• 2:33:08
  Speaker 1: felt very proud of it, he only said, swim quickly.
• 2:33:12
  Speaker 1: My bones are aching for the land. And so they
• 2:33:16
  Speaker 1: all came to the beaches where they had been born
• 2:33:18
  Speaker 1: and heard the old seals, their fathers fighting in the
• 2:33:21
  Speaker 1: rolling mist. That night, Kodak danced the fire dance with
• 2:33:26
  Speaker 1: the yearling seals. The sea is full of fire on
• 2:33:29
  Speaker 1: summer nights, all the way down from Novastashna to lookin On,
• 2:33:33
  Speaker 1: and each seal leaves awake like burning oil behind him.
• 2:33:36
  Speaker 1: In a flaming flash when he jumps, and the waves
• 2:33:39
  Speaker 1: break in great phosphorescent streaks and swirls. Then they went
• 2:33:43
  Speaker 1: inland to the hollows Chicky Grounds and rolled up and
• 2:33:46
  Speaker 1: down in the new wild wheat and told stories of
• 2:33:48
  Speaker 1: what they had done while they had been at sea.
• 2:33:51
  Speaker 1: They talked about the Pacific as boys would talk about
• 2:33:54
  Speaker 1: a wood that they had been nutting in, And if
• 2:33:56
  Speaker 1: anyone had understood them, he could have gone away and
• 2:33:58
  Speaker 1: made such a chart of that ocean as never was.
• 2:34:02
  Speaker 1: The three and four year old Hollis Chickie romped down
• 2:34:05
  Speaker 1: from Hutchinson's Hill, crying, out of the way, youngsters, the
• 2:34:10
  Speaker 1: sea is deep and you don't know all that's in
• 2:34:12
  Speaker 1: it yet, wait till you've rounded the horn. Hi, you yearling,
• 2:34:17
  Speaker 1: where did you get that white coat? I didn't get it,
• 2:34:20
  Speaker 1: said Kodok. It grew, and just as he was going
• 2:34:24
  Speaker 1: to roll the speaker over, a couple of black haired
• 2:34:27
  Speaker 1: men with flat red faces came from behind a sand dune,
• 2:34:30
  Speaker 1: and Kodok, who had never seen a man before, coughed
• 2:34:33
  Speaker 1: and lowered his head. The Hollischickie just bundled off a
• 2:34:37
  Speaker 1: few yards and sat staring stupidly The men were no
• 2:34:41
  Speaker 1: less than Kerrik Bouderin, the chief of the seal hunters
• 2:34:44
  Speaker 1: on the island, and Petaloman, his son. They came from
• 2:34:48
  Speaker 1: the little village not half a mile from the sea nurseries,
• 2:34:51
  Speaker 1: and they were deciding what seals they would drive up
• 2:34:53
  Speaker 1: to the killing pens, for the seals were driven just
• 2:34:56
  Speaker 1: like sheep, to be turned into seal skin jackets. Later on,
• 2:35:00
  Speaker 1: ho said Petaloman, Look, there's a white seal. Kerrik boot
• 2:35:07
  Speaker 1: Errand turned nearly white under his oil and smoke, for
• 2:35:10
  Speaker 1: he was an aliute and aliutes are not clean people.
• 2:35:14
  Speaker 1: Then he began to mutter a prayer. Don't touch him, Petaloman,
• 2:35:19
  Speaker 1: there has never been a white seal since since I
• 2:35:22
  Speaker 1: was born. Perhaps it is Old Zahara's ghost. He was
• 2:35:27
  Speaker 1: lost last year in the big Gale. I'm not going
• 2:35:30
  Speaker 1: near him, said Petaloman. He's unlucky. Do you really think
• 2:35:35
  Speaker 1: he is Old t Saharaf come back? I owe him
• 2:35:38
  Speaker 1: for some gulls eggs. Don't look at him, said Kerrick
• 2:35:43
  Speaker 1: head Off. That drove of four year olds. The men
• 2:35:47
  Speaker 1: ought to skin two hundred to day, but it's the
• 2:35:49
  Speaker 1: beginning of the season and they are new to the
• 2:35:51
  Speaker 1: work a hundred will do quick. Petaloman rattled a pair
• 2:35:57
  Speaker 1: of seals shoulder bones in front of a herd of
• 2:35:59
  Speaker 1: Hollis chicken, and they stopped dead, puffing and blowing. Then
• 2:36:03
  Speaker 1: he stepped near and the seals began to move, and
• 2:36:06
  Speaker 1: Karrik headed them inland, and they never tried to get
• 2:36:09
  Speaker 1: back to their companions. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of
• 2:36:13
  Speaker 1: seals watched them being driven, but they went on playing
• 2:36:16
  Speaker 1: just the same. Kodak was the only one who asked questions,
• 2:36:20
  Speaker 1: and none of his companions could tell him anything except
• 2:36:23
  Speaker 1: that the men always drove seals in that way for
• 2:36:25
  Speaker 1: six weeks or two months of every year. I am
• 2:36:29
  Speaker 1: going to follow, he said, and his eyes nearly popped
• 2:36:32
  Speaker 1: out of his head as he shuffled along in the
• 2:36:34
  Speaker 1: wake of the herd. The white seal is coming after us,
• 2:36:38
  Speaker 1: cried Petaloman. That's the first time a seal has ever
• 2:36:41
  Speaker 1: come to the killing grounds alone. H s h. Don't
• 2:36:46
  Speaker 1: look behind you, said Kerrik. It is a horrice ghost.
• 2:36:51
  Speaker 1: I must speak to the priest about this. The distance
• 2:36:54
  Speaker 1: to the killing grounds was only half a mile, but
• 2:36:57
  Speaker 1: it took an hour to cover because if the seals
• 2:36:59
  Speaker 1: went too fast. Karek knew that they would get heated
• 2:37:02
  Speaker 1: and then their fur would come off in patches when
• 2:37:04
  Speaker 1: they were skinned. So they went on very slowly, past
• 2:37:08
  Speaker 1: Sea Lion's Neck, past Webster House, till they came to
• 2:37:11
  Speaker 1: the salt house just beyond the side of the seals
• 2:37:14
  Speaker 1: on the beach. Kodik followed, panting and wondering. He thought
• 2:37:19
  Speaker 1: that he was at the world's end, but the roar
• 2:37:21
  Speaker 1: of the seal nurseries behind him sounded as loud as
• 2:37:24
  Speaker 1: the roar of a train in a tunnel. Then Karek
• 2:37:27
  Speaker 1: sat down on the moss and pulled out a heavy
• 2:37:29
  Speaker 1: pewter watch and let the drove cool off for thirty minutes,
• 2:37:33
  Speaker 1: and Kodak could hear the fog dew dripping off the
• 2:37:35
  Speaker 1: brim of his cap. Then ten or twelve men, each
• 2:37:39
  Speaker 1: with an iron bound club three or four feet long,
• 2:37:42
  Speaker 1: came up, and Kaak pointed out one or two of
• 2:37:45
  Speaker 1: the drove that were bitten by their companions, or two
• 2:37:47
  Speaker 1: hot and the men kicked those aside with their heavy
• 2:37:50
  Speaker 1: boots made of the skin of a walrus's throat, And
• 2:37:53
  Speaker 1: then Karek said let go, and then the men clubbed
• 2:37:57
  Speaker 1: the seals on the head as fast as they could.
• 2:38:00
  Speaker 1: Ten minutes later, little Kodok did not recognize his friends
• 2:38:03
  Speaker 1: any more, for their skins were ripped off from the
• 2:38:06
  Speaker 1: nose to the hind, flippers whipped off and thrown down
• 2:38:09
  Speaker 1: on the ground in a pile. That was enough for Kodok.
• 2:38:13
  Speaker 1: He turned and galloped a seal can gallop, very swiftly
• 2:38:17
  Speaker 1: for a short time back to the sea, his little
• 2:38:19
  Speaker 1: new mustache bristling with horror. At sea lion's neck, where
• 2:38:24
  Speaker 1: the great sea lions sit on the edge of the surf,
• 2:38:27
  Speaker 1: he flung himself flipper overhead into the cool water and
• 2:38:30
  Speaker 1: rocked there, gasping miserably. What's here, set a sea lion, gruffly,
• 2:38:36
  Speaker 1: For as a rule, the sea lions keep themselves to themselves. Skutchny, oaken, skutchny.
• 2:38:43
  Speaker 1: I'm lonesome, very lonesome, said Kodok. They're killing all the
• 2:38:48
  Speaker 1: hollischiki on all the beeches. The sea lion turned his
• 2:38:52
  Speaker 1: head inshore. Nonsense, he said, your friends are making as
• 2:38:57
  Speaker 1: much noise as ever. You must have seen old Karrick
• 2:39:01
  Speaker 1: polishing off a drove. He's done that for thirty years.
• 2:39:06
  Speaker 1: It's horrible said Kodik, backing water as a wave went
• 2:39:10
  Speaker 1: over him, and steadying himself with a screw stroke of
• 2:39:12
  Speaker 1: his flippers that brought him all standing within three inches
• 2:39:15
  Speaker 1: of a jagged edge of rock. Well done for a yearling,
• 2:39:20
  Speaker 1: said the sea lion, who could appreciate good swimming. I
• 2:39:24
  Speaker 1: suppose it is rather awful from your way of looking
• 2:39:27
  Speaker 1: at it. But if you seals will come here year
• 2:39:29
  Speaker 1: after year, of course the men get to know of it.
• 2:39:32
  Speaker 1: And unless you can find an island where no men
• 2:39:34
  Speaker 1: ever come, you will always be driven. Isn't there any
• 2:39:37
  Speaker 1: such island? Began Kodik. I followed the pol to his asterisk,
• 2:39:42
  Speaker 1: the Halibut plus four twenty years. And I can't say
• 2:39:45
  Speaker 1: I've found it yet, but look here. You seem to
• 2:39:48
  Speaker 1: have a fondness for talking to your betters. Suppose you
• 2:39:51
  Speaker 1: go to Walrus Islet and talk to see Vich. He
• 2:39:54
  Speaker 1: may know something. Don't flounce off like that. It's a
• 2:39:59
  Speaker 1: six miles so swim, and if I were you, I
• 2:40:01
  Speaker 1: should haul out and take a nap first. Little one
• 2:40:04
  Speaker 1: Kodik thought that that was good advice, so he swam
• 2:40:07
  Speaker 1: round to his own beach, hauled out, and slept for
• 2:40:10
  Speaker 1: half an hour, twitching all over as seals will. Then
• 2:40:15
  Speaker 1: he headed straight for Walrus Islet, a little low sheet
• 2:40:18
  Speaker 1: of rocky island almost due northeast from Novastashna, all ledges
• 2:40:22
  Speaker 1: and rock and gulls nests, where the walrus herded by themselves.
• 2:40:27
  Speaker 1: He landed close to old Sea Vitch, the big, ugly bloated, pimpled,
• 2:40:31
  Speaker 1: fat necked, long tussed walrus of the North Pacific, who
• 2:40:35
  Speaker 1: has no manners except when he is asleep, as he
• 2:40:38
  Speaker 1: was then with his hind flippers half in and half
• 2:40:41
  Speaker 1: out of the surf. Wake up, barked Kodik, for the
• 2:40:44
  Speaker 1: gulls were making a great noise. Ha ho, humph, what's that?
• 2:40:53
  Speaker 1: Said see Vitch, And he struck the next walrus a
• 2:40:56
  Speaker 1: blow with his tusks and waked him up, And the
• 2:40:58
  Speaker 1: next struck the next, and so on till they were
• 2:41:01
  Speaker 1: all awake and staring in every direction but the right one.
• 2:41:05
  Speaker 1: Zero won, seven four. They were all awake and staring
• 2:41:08
  Speaker 1: in every direction but the right one. Hi, it's me,
• 2:41:13
  Speaker 1: said Kodak, bobbing in the surf and looking like a
• 2:41:16
  Speaker 1: little white slug. Well may I be skinned, said Sievich,
• 2:41:22
  Speaker 1: and they all looked at Kodak, as you can fancy
• 2:41:24
  Speaker 1: a club full of drowsy old gentlemen would look at
• 2:41:27
  Speaker 1: a little boy. Kodak did not care to hear any
• 2:41:30
  Speaker 1: more about skinning. Just then he had seen enough of it,
• 2:41:34
  Speaker 1: so he called out, isn't there any place for seals
• 2:41:37
  Speaker 1: to go where men don't ever come? Go and find out,
• 2:41:40
  Speaker 1: said Sievich, shutting his eyes. Run away, We're busy here.
• 2:41:47
  Speaker 1: Kodak made his dolphin jump in the air and shouted
• 2:41:50
  Speaker 1: as loud as he could, clam eater, clam eater. He
• 2:41:54
  Speaker 1: knew that Siavich never caught a fish in his life,
• 2:41:57
  Speaker 1: but always rooted for clams and seaweed, though he pretended
• 2:42:01
  Speaker 1: to be a very terrible person. Naturally, the chickies and
• 2:42:05
  Speaker 1: the Govoruskis, and the apachas, the Bergamaster gulls, and the
• 2:42:08
  Speaker 1: kittiwakes and the puffins, who are always looking for a
• 2:42:11
  Speaker 1: chance to be rude, took up the cry, and so
• 2:42:14
  Speaker 1: Limershen told me, for nearly five minutes, you could not
• 2:42:17
  Speaker 1: have heard a gun fired on Walrus Islet. All the
• 2:42:20
  Speaker 1: population was yelling and screaming. Clam eater, Streek asked herus
• 2:42:25
  Speaker 1: gold man plus while Sievich rolled from side to side,
• 2:42:29
  Speaker 1: grunting and coughing. Now will you tell, said Kodik, All
• 2:42:33
  Speaker 1: out of breath, Go and ask Sik Cow, said Sievich.
• 2:42:38
  Speaker 1: If he is living still, he'll be able to tell you.
• 2:42:41
  Speaker 1: How shall I know sea cow when I meet him?
• 2:42:44
  Speaker 1: Said Kodik, chering off. He's the only thing in the
• 2:42:48
  Speaker 1: sea uglier than Sievich, screamed the Bergamaster gull, wheeling under
• 2:42:52
  Speaker 1: Sievich's nose, uglier and with worse manners, Storeek Kodok swam
• 2:42:59
  Speaker 1: back to Novastashna, leaving the gulls to scream. There, he
• 2:43:04
  Speaker 1: found that no one sympathized with him in his little
• 2:43:06
  Speaker 1: attempt to discover a quiet place for the seals. They
• 2:43:10
  Speaker 1: told him that men had always driven the Hollischiki, it
• 2:43:13
  Speaker 1: was part of the day's work, and that if he
• 2:43:15
  Speaker 1: did not like to see ugly things, he should not
• 2:43:17
  Speaker 1: have gone to the killing grounds. But none of the
• 2:43:20
  Speaker 1: other seals had seen the killing and that made the
• 2:43:23
  Speaker 1: difference between him and his friends. Besides, Kodak was a
• 2:43:27
  Speaker 1: white seal. What you must do, said old sea Catch,
• 2:43:32
  Speaker 1: after he had heard his son's adventures, is to grow
• 2:43:34
  Speaker 1: up and be a big seal like your father, and
• 2:43:37
  Speaker 1: have a nursery on the beach, and then they will
• 2:43:39
  Speaker 1: leave you alone in another five years. You ought to
• 2:43:42
  Speaker 1: be able to fight for yourself, even gentle Matka, his
• 2:43:46
  Speaker 1: mother said, you will never be able to stop the killing.
• 2:43:50
  Speaker 1: Go and play in the sea, Kodik, and Kodak went
• 2:43:54
  Speaker 1: off and danced the fire dance with a very heavy
• 2:43:56
  Speaker 1: little heart. That autumn, he left the beach as soon
• 2:44:00
  Speaker 1: as he could and set off alone because of a
• 2:44:02
  Speaker 1: notion in his bullet head. He was going to find
• 2:44:06
  Speaker 1: sea cow, if there was such a person in the sea,
• 2:44:09
  Speaker 1: and he was going to find a quiet island with
• 2:44:11
  Speaker 1: good firm beaches for seals to live on where men
• 2:44:14
  Speaker 1: could not get at them. So he explored and explored
• 2:44:17
  Speaker 1: by himself from the North to the South Pacific, swimming
• 2:44:20
  Speaker 1: as much as three hundred miles in a day and
• 2:44:22
  Speaker 1: a night. He met with more adventures than can be told,
• 2:44:26
  Speaker 1: and narrowly escaped being caught by the basking shark and
• 2:44:29
  Speaker 1: the spotted shark and the hammer head, And he met
• 2:44:32
  Speaker 1: all the untrustworthy ruffians that loaf up and down the seas,
• 2:44:36
  Speaker 1: and the heavy polite fish and the scarlet spotted scallops
• 2:44:39
  Speaker 1: that are moored in one place for hundreds of years
• 2:44:42
  Speaker 1: and grow very proud of it. But he never met
• 2:44:45
  Speaker 1: sea cow, and he never found an island that he
• 2:44:47
  Speaker 1: could fancy. If the beach was good and hard, with
• 2:44:51
  Speaker 1: a slope behind it for seals to play on, there
• 2:44:54
  Speaker 1: was always the smoke of a whaler on the horizon,
• 2:44:56
  Speaker 1: boiling down blubber, and Kodik knew what that meant or
• 2:45:00
  Speaker 1: else he could see that seals had once visited the
• 2:45:03
  Speaker 1: island and been killed off, and Kodok knew that where
• 2:45:06
  Speaker 1: men had come once, they would come again. He picked
• 2:45:09
  Speaker 1: up with an old, stumpy tailed albatross who told him
• 2:45:12
  Speaker 1: that Kerglen Island was the very place for peace and quiet.
• 2:45:15
  Speaker 1: And when Kodak went down there, he was all but
• 2:45:18
  Speaker 1: smashed to pieces against some wicked black cliffs in a
• 2:45:21
  Speaker 1: heavy sleet storm, with lightning in thunder. Yet as he
• 2:45:25
  Speaker 1: pulled out against the gale, he could see that even
• 2:45:27
  Speaker 1: there had once been a seal nursery, and it was
• 2:45:30
  Speaker 1: so in all the other islands that he visited. Limushen
• 2:45:34
  Speaker 1: gave a long list of them, for he said that
• 2:45:36
  Speaker 1: Kodak spent five seasons exploring with a four months rest
• 2:45:39
  Speaker 1: each year at Navastashna, when the hollishchiki used to make
• 2:45:43
  Speaker 1: fun of him and his imaginary islands. He went to
• 2:45:46
  Speaker 1: the Galapagos, a horrid dry place on the equator, where
• 2:45:50
  Speaker 1: he was nearly baked to death. He went to the
• 2:45:52
  Speaker 1: Georgia Islands, the Orkneys, Emerald Island, Little Nightingale Island, Goff's Island,
• 2:45:57
  Speaker 1: Bouvey's Island, the Crossets, and then to a little speck
• 2:46:00
  Speaker 1: of an island south of the Cape of Good Hope.
• 2:46:04
  Speaker 1: But everywhere the people of the sea told him the
• 2:46:06
  Speaker 1: same things. Seals had come to those islands once upon
• 2:46:10
  Speaker 1: a time, but men had killed them all off. Even
• 2:46:14
  Speaker 1: when he swam thousands of miles out of the Pacific
• 2:46:16
  Speaker 1: and got to a place called Cape Corientes, that was
• 2:46:19
  Speaker 1: when he was coming back from Gof's Island. He found
• 2:46:22
  Speaker 1: a few hundred mangy seals on a rock, and they
• 2:46:24
  Speaker 1: told him that men came there too. That nearly broke
• 2:46:28
  Speaker 1: his heart, and he headed round the horn back to
• 2:46:30
  Speaker 1: his own beeches. And on his way north he hauled
• 2:46:33
  Speaker 1: out on an island full of green trees, where he
• 2:46:36
  Speaker 1: found an old, old seal who was dying and Kodak
• 2:46:39
  Speaker 1: caught fish for him and told him all his sorrows now,
• 2:46:43
  Speaker 1: said Kodik, I am going back to Novstashna, and if
• 2:46:46
  Speaker 1: I am driven to the killing pens with the holluschickie,
• 2:46:49
  Speaker 1: I shall not care. The old seal said, try once more.
• 2:46:54
  Speaker 1: I am the last of the lost rookery of Massafura.
• 2:46:57
  Speaker 1: And in the days when men killed us by the
• 2:46:59
  Speaker 1: hundred thousand theirs was a story on the beaches that
• 2:47:01
  Speaker 1: some day a white seal would come out of the
• 2:47:03
  Speaker 1: north and lead the seal people to a quiet place.
• 2:47:07
  Speaker 1: I am old, and I shall never live to see
• 2:47:09
  Speaker 1: that day, but others will try once more. And Kodak
• 2:47:15
  Speaker 1: curled up his mustache. It was a beauty, and said,
• 2:47:18
  Speaker 1: I am the only white seal that has ever been
• 2:47:20
  Speaker 1: born on the beeches, and I am the only seal
• 2:47:23
  Speaker 1: black or white, who ever thought of looking for new islands.
• 2:47:27
  Speaker 1: This cheered him immensely, and when he came back to
• 2:47:30
  Speaker 1: Novastashna that summer, Matka his mother begged him to marry
• 2:47:34
  Speaker 1: and settle down, for he was no longer a hollis chick,
• 2:47:37
  Speaker 1: but a full grown sea catch with a curly white
• 2:47:39
  Speaker 1: mane on his shoulders as heavy as big and as
• 2:47:43
  Speaker 1: fierce as his father. Give me another season, he said, Remember, mother,
• 2:47:49
  Speaker 1: it is always the seventh wave that goes farthest up
• 2:47:52
  Speaker 1: the beach. Curiously enough, there was another seal who thought
• 2:47:56
  Speaker 1: that she would put off marrying till the next year,
• 2:47:58
  Speaker 1: and Kodak danced the fire dance with her all down
• 2:48:01
  Speaker 1: lookin' on beach the night before he set off on
• 2:48:03
  Speaker 1: his last exploration. This time he went westward because he
• 2:48:08
  Speaker 1: had fallen on the trail of a great shoal of Halibit,
• 2:48:10
  Speaker 1: and he needed at least one hundred pounds of fish
• 2:48:13
  Speaker 1: a day to keep him in good condition. He chased
• 2:48:16
  Speaker 1: them till he was tired, and then he curled himself
• 2:48:19
  Speaker 1: up and went asleep on the hollows of the ground
• 2:48:21
  Speaker 1: swell that sets into Copper Island. He knew the coast
• 2:48:25
  Speaker 1: perfectly well, so about midnight, when he felt himself gently
• 2:48:28
  Speaker 1: bumped on a weed bed, he said, um tides running
• 2:48:31
  Speaker 1: strong to night, and turning over under water, opened his
• 2:48:34
  Speaker 1: eyes slowly and stretched. Then he jumped like a cat,
• 2:48:38
  Speaker 1: for he saw huge things nosing about in the shoal
• 2:48:41
  Speaker 1: water and browsing on the heavy fringes of the weeds
• 2:48:44
  Speaker 1: by the great combers of Magellan, he said, beneath his mustache,
• 2:48:49
  Speaker 1: Who in the deep sea are these people? They were
• 2:48:53
  Speaker 1: like no walrus, sea lion, seal, bear, whale, shark, fish, squid,
• 2:48:59
  Speaker 1: or scollop that Kodak had ever seen before. They were
• 2:49:02
  Speaker 1: between twenty and thirty feet long, and they had no
• 2:49:05
  Speaker 1: hind flippers, but a shovel like tail that looked as
• 2:49:08
  Speaker 1: if it had been whittled out of wet leather. Their
• 2:49:11
  Speaker 1: heads were the most foolish looking things you ever saw,
• 2:49:14
  Speaker 1: and they balanced on the ends of their tails in
• 2:49:16
  Speaker 1: deep water when they weren't grazing, bowing solemnly to each
• 2:49:19
  Speaker 1: other and waving their front flippers as a fat man
• 2:49:22
  Speaker 1: waves his arm. Ahem, said Kodik, good sport, gentlemen. The
• 2:49:29
  Speaker 1: big things answered by bowing and waving their flippers like
• 2:49:32
  Speaker 1: the frog footmen. When they began feeding again, Kodik saw
• 2:49:36
  Speaker 1: that their upper lip was split into two pieces that
• 2:49:38
  Speaker 1: they could twitch apart about a foot and bring together again.
• 2:49:41
  Speaker 1: With a whole bushel of seaweed between the splits, they
• 2:49:45
  Speaker 1: tucked the stuff into their mouths and chumped solemnly. Messy
• 2:49:49
  Speaker 1: style of feeding that said Kodik. They bowed again, and
• 2:49:54
  Speaker 1: Kodak began to lose his temper. Very good, he said,
• 2:49:59
  Speaker 1: if you do happened to have an extra joint in
• 2:50:01
  Speaker 1: your front flipper, you needn't show off. So I see
• 2:50:04
  Speaker 1: you bow gracefully, but I should like to know your names.
• 2:50:08
  Speaker 1: The split lips moved and twitched, and the glassy green
• 2:50:11
  Speaker 1: eyes stared, but they did not speak well, said Kodik,
• 2:50:17
  Speaker 1: You're the only people I've ever met uglier than sea vitch,
• 2:50:20
  Speaker 1: and with worse manners. Then he remembered in a flash
• 2:50:24
  Speaker 1: what the Burgomaster Gull had screened to him when he
• 2:50:26
  Speaker 1: was a little yearling at Walrus Islet, and he tumbled
• 2:50:29
  Speaker 1: backward in the water, for he knew that he had
• 2:50:31
  Speaker 1: found sea cow. At last, the sea cows went on
• 2:50:35
  Speaker 1: slooping and grazing and chumping in the weed, and Kodik
• 2:50:38
  Speaker 1: asked them questions in every language that he had picked
• 2:50:41
  Speaker 1: up in his travels, and the sea people talk nearly
• 2:50:44
  Speaker 1: as many languages as human beings. But the sea cows
• 2:50:48
  Speaker 1: did not answer, because sea cow cannot talk. He has
• 2:50:52
  Speaker 1: only six bones in his neck, where he ought to
• 2:50:54
  Speaker 1: have seven, And they say under the sea that that
• 2:50:57
  Speaker 1: prevents him from speaking even to his companions. But as
• 2:51:01
  Speaker 1: you know, he has an extra joint in his fore flipper,
• 2:51:04
  Speaker 1: and by waving it up and down and about, he
• 2:51:06
  Speaker 1: makes what answers to a sort of clumsy telegraphic code.
• 2:51:10
  Speaker 1: By daylight, Kodok's man was standing on end, and his
• 2:51:13
  Speaker 1: temper was gone where the dead crabs go. Then the
• 2:51:16
  Speaker 1: sea cow began to travel northward, very slowly, stopping to
• 2:51:20
  Speaker 1: hold absurd bowing councils from time to time, and Kodak
• 2:51:23
  Speaker 1: followed them, saying to himself, people who are such idiots
• 2:51:28
  Speaker 1: as these? Or what have been killed long ago if
• 2:51:30
  Speaker 1: they hadn't found out some safe island? And what is
• 2:51:33
  Speaker 1: good enough for the sea cow is good enough for
• 2:51:36
  Speaker 1: the sea catch? All the same? I wish they'd hurry.
• 2:51:40
  Speaker 1: It was weary work for Kodik. The herd never went
• 2:51:44
  Speaker 1: more than forty or fifty miles a day, and stopped
• 2:51:47
  Speaker 1: to feed at night, and kept close to the shore
• 2:51:49
  Speaker 1: all the time, while Kodak swam round them and over
• 2:51:52
  Speaker 1: them and under them. But he could not hurry them
• 2:51:55
  Speaker 1: up one half mile. As they went farther north, they
• 2:51:58
  Speaker 1: held a bowing council every few hours, and Kodak nearly
• 2:52:01
  Speaker 1: bit off his mustache with impatience till he saw that
• 2:52:04
  Speaker 1: they were following up a warm current of water, and
• 2:52:07
  Speaker 1: then he respected them more. One night, they sank through
• 2:52:10
  Speaker 1: the shiny water, sank like stones, and for the first
• 2:52:14
  Speaker 1: time since he had known them, began to swim quickly.
• 2:52:17
  Speaker 1: Kodak followed, and the pace astonished him, for he never
• 2:52:20
  Speaker 1: dreamed that sea cow was anything of a swimmer. They
• 2:52:24
  Speaker 1: headed for a cliff by the shore, a cliff that
• 2:52:27
  Speaker 1: ran down into deep water and plunged into a dark
• 2:52:30
  Speaker 1: hole at the foot of it, twenty fathoms under the sea.
• 2:52:34
  Speaker 1: It was a long, long swim, and Kodak badly wanted
• 2:52:37
  Speaker 1: fresh air. Before he was out of the dark tunnel,
• 2:52:39
  Speaker 1: they led him through my wig, he said, when he rose,
• 2:52:44
  Speaker 1: gasping and puffing, into open water at the farther end.
• 2:52:49
  Speaker 1: It was a long dive, but it was worth it.
• 2:52:52
  Speaker 1: The sea cows had separated and were browsing lazily along
• 2:52:55
  Speaker 1: the edges of the finest beaches that Kodak had ever seen.
• 2:52:59
  Speaker 1: There were long stretches of smooth, worn rock running for miles,
• 2:53:03
  Speaker 1: exactly fitted to make seal nurseries, and there were playgrounds
• 2:53:06
  Speaker 1: of hard sand sloping inland behind them, and there were
• 2:53:09
  Speaker 1: rollers for seals to dance in, and long grass to
• 2:53:12
  Speaker 1: roll in, and sand dunes to climb up and down.
• 2:53:15
  Speaker 1: And best of all, Kodik knew, by the feel of
• 2:53:18
  Speaker 1: the water, which never deceives a true sea catch, that
• 2:53:22
  Speaker 1: no men had ever come there. The first thing he
• 2:53:25
  Speaker 1: did was to assure himself that the fishing was good,
• 2:53:28
  Speaker 1: And then he swam along the beaches and counted up
• 2:53:31
  Speaker 1: the delightful low sandy islands, half hidden in the beautiful
• 2:53:34
  Speaker 1: rolling fog. Away to the northward out to sea ran
• 2:53:38
  Speaker 1: a line of bars and shoals and rocks that would
• 2:53:41
  Speaker 1: never let a ship come within six miles of the beach.
• 2:53:44
  Speaker 1: And between the islands and the mainland was a stretch
• 2:53:46
  Speaker 1: of deep water that ran up to the perpendicular cliffs.
• 2:53:49
  Speaker 1: And somewhere below the cliffs was the mouth of the tunnel.
• 2:53:53
  Speaker 1: It's Novustashna over again, but ten times better, said Kodik.
• 2:53:58
  Speaker 1: Sea cow must be wiser than I thought. Men can't
• 2:54:02
  Speaker 1: come down the cliffs even if there were any men,
• 2:54:04
  Speaker 1: And the shoals to seaward would knock a ship to splinters.
• 2:54:08
  Speaker 1: If any place in the sea is safe. This is it.
• 2:54:12
  Speaker 1: He began to think of the seal he had left
• 2:54:14
  Speaker 1: behind him. But though he was in a hurry to
• 2:54:16
  Speaker 1: go back to Novastashna, he thoroughly explored the new country
• 2:54:20
  Speaker 1: so that he would be able to answer all questions.
• 2:54:23
  Speaker 1: Then he dived and made sure of the mouth of
• 2:54:25
  Speaker 1: the tunnel and raced through to the southward. No one
• 2:54:29
  Speaker 1: but a sea cow or a seal would have dreamed
• 2:54:31
  Speaker 1: of there being such a place, And when he looked
• 2:54:34
  Speaker 1: back at the cliffs, even Kodik could hardly believe that
• 2:54:37
  Speaker 1: he had been under them. He was six days going home,
• 2:54:41
  Speaker 1: though he was not swimming slowly, And when he hauled
• 2:54:43
  Speaker 1: out just above sea Lion's neck, the first person he
• 2:54:46
  Speaker 1: met was the seal who had been waiting for him,
• 2:54:48
  Speaker 1: and she saw by the look in his eyes that
• 2:54:50
  Speaker 1: he had found his island at last. But the Hollischickie
• 2:54:54
  Speaker 1: and sea catch, his father and all the other seals
• 2:54:57
  Speaker 1: laughed at him when he told them what he had discovered,
• 2:55:00
  Speaker 1: and a young seal about his own age said, this
• 2:55:02
  Speaker 1: is all very well, Kodk, but you can't come from
• 2:55:05
  Speaker 1: no one knows where and order us off like this.
• 2:55:09
  Speaker 1: Remember we've been fighting for our nurseries, and that's a
• 2:55:11
  Speaker 1: thing you never did. You preferred prowling about in the sea.
• 2:55:16
  Speaker 1: The other seals laughed at this, and the young seal
• 2:55:19
  Speaker 1: began twisting his head from side to side. He had
• 2:55:22
  Speaker 1: just married that year and was making a great fuss
• 2:55:25
  Speaker 1: about it. I've no nursery to fight for, said Kodok.
• 2:55:30
  Speaker 1: I only want to show you all a place where
• 2:55:32
  Speaker 1: you will be safe. What's the use of fighting, Oh,
• 2:55:36
  Speaker 1: if you're trying to back out, of course, I've no
• 2:55:39
  Speaker 1: more to say, said the young seal, with an ugly chuckle.
• 2:55:43
  Speaker 1: Will you come with me if I win, said Kodik,
• 2:55:46
  Speaker 1: and a green light came into his eye, for he
• 2:55:49
  Speaker 1: was very angry at having to fight at all. Very good,
• 2:55:53
  Speaker 1: said the young seal carelessly. If you win, I'll come.
• 2:55:58
  Speaker 1: He had no time to change his mind, for Kodak's
• 2:56:01
  Speaker 1: head was out and his teeth sunk in the blubber
• 2:56:03
  Speaker 1: of the young seal's neck. Then he threw himself back
• 2:56:06
  Speaker 1: on his haunches and hauled his enemy down the beach,
• 2:56:09
  Speaker 1: shook him and knocked him over. Then Kodak roared to
• 2:56:13
  Speaker 1: the seals, I've done my best for you. These five
• 2:56:16
  Speaker 1: seasons past. I've found you the island where you'll be safe.
• 2:56:20
  Speaker 1: But unless your heads are dragged off your silly necks,
• 2:56:22
  Speaker 1: you won't believe I'm going to teach you. Now look
• 2:56:26
  Speaker 1: out for yourselves. Limoshen told me that never in his life,
• 2:56:31
  Speaker 1: and Limoshen sees ten thousand big seals fighting every year,
• 2:56:35
  Speaker 1: never in all his little life did he see anything
• 2:56:37
  Speaker 1: like Kodak's charge into the nurseries. He flung himself at
• 2:56:41
  Speaker 1: the biggest sea catch he could find, caught him by
• 2:56:44
  Speaker 1: the throat, choked him and bumped him and banged him
• 2:56:46
  Speaker 1: till he grunted for mercy, and then threw him aside
• 2:56:49
  Speaker 1: and attacked the next You see, Kodak had never fasted
• 2:56:54
  Speaker 1: for four months, as the big seals did every year,
• 2:56:57
  Speaker 1: and his deep sea swimming trips kept him in perfect condition.
• 2:57:00
  Speaker 1: And best of all, he had never fought before. His
• 2:57:04
  Speaker 1: curly white mane stood up with rage, and his eyes flamed,
• 2:57:08
  Speaker 1: and his big dog teeth glistened, and he was splendid
• 2:57:11
  Speaker 1: to look at old sea catch. His father saw him
• 2:57:15
  Speaker 1: tearing past, hauling the grizzled old seals about as though
• 2:57:18
  Speaker 1: they had been hal of it, and upsetting the young
• 2:57:20
  Speaker 1: bachelors in all directions, and Sea Catch gave a roar
• 2:57:24
  Speaker 1: and shouted, he may be a fool, but he is
• 2:57:26
  Speaker 1: the best fighter on the beaches. Don't tackle your father,
• 2:57:30
  Speaker 1: my son, he's with you. Kodak roared in answer, and
• 2:57:35
  Speaker 1: Old Sea Catch waddled in with his mustache on end,
• 2:57:38
  Speaker 1: blowing like a locomotive, while Matka and the seal that
• 2:57:42
  Speaker 1: was going to marry Kodak cowered down and admired their
• 2:57:44
  Speaker 1: men folk. It was a gorgeous fight, for the two
• 2:57:48
  Speaker 1: fought as long as there was a seal that dared
• 2:57:50
  Speaker 1: lift up his head, and when there were none, they
• 2:57:52
  Speaker 1: paraded grantly up and down the beach, side by side, bellowing.
• 2:57:57
  Speaker 1: At night, just as the Northern lights were winking and
• 2:58:00
  Speaker 1: flashing through the fog, Kodak climbed a bare rock and
• 2:58:03
  Speaker 1: looked down on the scattered nurseries and the torn and
• 2:58:05
  Speaker 1: bleeding seals. Now, he said, I've taught you your lesson,
• 2:58:11
  Speaker 1: my wig, said Old Sea Catch, boosting himself up stiffly,
• 2:58:15
  Speaker 1: for he was fearfully mauled. The killer wail himself could
• 2:58:19
  Speaker 1: not have cut them up worse, son, I'm proud of you,
• 2:58:23
  Speaker 1: And what's more, I'll come with you to your island,
• 2:58:26
  Speaker 1: if there is such a place. Hear you, fat pigs
• 2:58:29
  Speaker 1: of the sea, who comes with me to the Sea
• 2:58:32
  Speaker 1: Cow's tunnel? Answer, or I shall teach you again, roared Kodak.
• 2:58:38
  Speaker 1: There was a murmur like the ripple of the tide,
• 2:58:40
  Speaker 1: all up and down the beaches. We will come, said
• 2:58:44
  Speaker 1: thousands of tired voices. We will follow Kodak, the white seal.
• 2:58:50
  Speaker 1: Then Kodik dropped his head between his shoulders and shut
• 2:58:53
  Speaker 1: his eyes proudly. He was not a white seal any more,
• 2:58:56
  Speaker 1: but read from head to tail all the same. He
• 2:59:00
  Speaker 1: would have scorned to look at or touch one of
• 2:59:02
  Speaker 1: his wounds. A week later, he and his army, nearly
• 2:59:06
  Speaker 1: ten thousand hollischiki and old seals, went away north to
• 2:59:09
  Speaker 1: the Sea Cow's Tunnel, Kodk leading them, and the seals
• 2:59:12
  Speaker 1: that stayed at Navastashna called the idiots. But next spring,
• 2:59:17
  Speaker 1: when they all met off the fishing banks of the Pacific,
• 2:59:20
  Speaker 1: Kodk seals told such tales of the new beaches beyond
• 2:59:23
  Speaker 1: Sea Cow's Tunnel that more and more seals left Navastashna.
• 2:59:27
  Speaker 1: Of course, it was not all done at once, for
• 2:59:30
  Speaker 1: the seals are not very clever, and they need a
• 2:59:32
  Speaker 1: long time to turn things over in their minds. But
• 2:59:35
  Speaker 1: year after year more seals went away from Navastashna and
• 2:59:38
  Speaker 1: lookin' On and the other nurseries to the quiet, sheltered
• 2:59:42
  Speaker 1: beaches where Kodak sits all the summer through, getting bigger
• 2:59:46
  Speaker 1: and fatter and stronger each year, while the Hollischiki play
• 2:59:49
  Speaker 1: around him in that sea where no man comes. Lookin' On.
• 2:59:53
  Speaker 1: This is the great deep sea song that all the
• 2:59:56
  Speaker 1: Saint Paul's seals sing when they are heading back to
• 2:59:58
  Speaker 1: their beaches in the summer. It is a sort of
• 3:00:01
  Speaker 1: very sad, sealed national anthem. I met my mates in
• 3:00:05
  Speaker 1: the morning, and oh but I am old. Where roaring
• 3:00:09
  Speaker 1: on the ledges the summer ground swell rolled, I heard
• 3:00:12
  Speaker 1: them lift the chorus that drowned the breaker's song, the
• 3:00:15
  Speaker 1: beaches of Loucanon, two million voices strong, the song of
• 3:00:19
  Speaker 1: pleasant stations beside the salt lagoons, The song of blowing
• 3:00:23
  Speaker 1: squadrons that shuffled down the dunes, The song of midnight
• 3:00:26
  Speaker 1: dances that churned the sea to flame, the beaches of
• 3:00:29
  Speaker 1: Lucanan before the sealers came. I met my mates in
• 3:00:33
  Speaker 1: the morning, I'll never meet them more. They came and
• 3:00:36
  Speaker 1: went in legions that darkened all the shore, and o'er
• 3:00:40
  Speaker 1: the foam flecked offing as far as voice could reach.
• 3:00:43
  Speaker 1: We hailed the landing parties, and we sang them up
• 3:00:45
  Speaker 1: the beach, the beaches of Loucanon, the winter wheat so tall,
• 3:00:50
  Speaker 1: the dripping crinkled lichens, and the sea fog drenching all
• 3:00:54
  Speaker 1: the platforms of our playground, all shining, smooth and worn.
• 3:00:59
  Speaker 1: The beaches of Lucan, the home where we were born.
• 3:01:02
  Speaker 1: I met my mates in the morning, a broken scattered band.
• 3:01:07
  Speaker 1: Men shoot us in the water and club us on
• 3:01:09
  Speaker 1: the land. Men drive us to the salt house like
• 3:01:12
  Speaker 1: silly sheep, and tame, and still we sing lookin On.
• 3:01:15
  Speaker 1: Before the sealers came. Will down, Will down to southward,
• 3:01:19
  Speaker 1: Oh Govoruska, go and tell the deep sea viceroys the
• 3:01:24
  Speaker 1: story of our woe. Air empty as the shark's egg,
• 3:01:27
  Speaker 1: the tempest flings ashore. The beeches of Locinon shall know
• 3:01:30
  Speaker 1: their sons no more. Zero one nine five Ricky Tiki
• 3:01:35
  Speaker 1: Tavi at the hole where he went in. Red Eye
• 3:01:37
  Speaker 1: called to wrinkle skin. Hear what little Red Eye seth nag.
• 3:01:42
  Speaker 1: Come up and dance with death, eye to eye and
• 3:01:45
  Speaker 1: head to head. Keep the measure, nag. This shall end
• 3:01:49
  Speaker 1: when one is dead at thy pleasure nag. Turn for
• 3:01:53
  Speaker 1: turn and twist for twist. Run and hide thee nag Ha,
• 3:01:59
  Speaker 1: the hooded death has missed. Woe betide thee nag. This
• 3:02:04
  Speaker 1: is the story of the great war that rik Tiki
• 3:02:06
  Speaker 1: Tavi fought single handed through the bath rooms of the
• 3:02:10
  Speaker 1: big bungalow in Segole Cantonment. Darzi the tailor bird, helped him,
• 3:02:15
  Speaker 1: and Chichundra, the muskrat who never comes out into the
• 3:02:18
  Speaker 1: middle of the floor but always creeps round by the wall,
• 3:02:22
  Speaker 1: gave him advice. But Rikitiki did the real fighting. He
• 3:02:26
  Speaker 1: was a mongoose, rather like a little cat in his
• 3:02:29
  Speaker 1: fur and his tail, but quite like a weasel in
• 3:02:31
  Speaker 1: his head and his habits. His eyes and the end
• 3:02:35
  Speaker 1: of his restless nose were pink. He could scratch himself
• 3:02:39
  Speaker 1: anywhere he pleased with any leg, front or back that
• 3:02:42
  Speaker 1: he chose to use. He could fluff up his tail
• 3:02:45
  Speaker 1: till it looked like a bottle brush, and his war
• 3:02:48
  Speaker 1: cry as he scuttled through the long grass was rick
• 3:02:51
  Speaker 1: tik tiki tiki t c h K. One day, a
• 3:02:54
  Speaker 1: high summer flood washed him out of the burrow where
• 3:02:57
  Speaker 1: he lived with his father and mother, and carried him,
• 3:03:00
  Speaker 1: making and clucking down a roadside ditch. He found a
• 3:03:03
  Speaker 1: little wisp of grass floating there and clung to it
• 3:03:06
  Speaker 1: till he lost his senses. When he revived, he was
• 3:03:10
  Speaker 1: lying in the hot sun on the middle of a
• 3:03:12
  Speaker 1: garden path, very draggled indeed, and a small boy was saying,
• 3:03:16
  Speaker 1: here's a dead mongoose. Let's have a funeral. No, said
• 3:03:21
  Speaker 1: his mother. Let's take him in and dry him. Perhaps
• 3:03:25
  Speaker 1: he isn't really dead. They took him into the house,
• 3:03:28
  Speaker 1: and a big man picked him up between his finger
• 3:03:31
  Speaker 1: and thumb and said he was not dead, but half choked.
• 3:03:34
  Speaker 1: So they wrapped him in cotton wool and warmed him
• 3:03:37
  Speaker 1: over a little fire, and he opened his eyes and sneezed. Now,
• 3:03:42
  Speaker 1: said the big man. He was an Englishman who had
• 3:03:44
  Speaker 1: just moved into the bungalow. Don't frighten him, and we'll
• 3:03:47
  Speaker 1: see what he'll do. It is the hardest thing in
• 3:03:50
  Speaker 1: the world to frighten a mongoose, because he is eaten
• 3:03:53
  Speaker 1: up from nose to tail with curiosity. The motto of
• 3:03:57
  Speaker 1: all the mongoose family is run and find out out,
• 3:04:00
  Speaker 1: and Ricky Ticky was a true mongoose. He looked at
• 3:04:03
  Speaker 1: the cotton wool, decided that it was not good to eat,
• 3:04:07
  Speaker 1: ran all round the table, sat up and put his
• 3:04:09
  Speaker 1: fur in order, scratched himself, and jumped on the small
• 3:04:12
  Speaker 1: boy's shoulder. Eight thousand, one hundred and ninety seven. Ricky
• 3:04:16
  Speaker 1: Ticky looked down between the boy's collar and neck. Don't
• 3:04:19
  Speaker 1: be frightened, Teddy, said his father. That's his way of
• 3:04:23
  Speaker 1: making friends. Ouch, he's tickling under my chin, said Teddy.
• 3:04:30
  Speaker 1: Ricky Ticky looked down between the boy's collar and neck,
• 3:04:33
  Speaker 1: snuffed at his ear, and climbed down to the floor
• 3:04:36
  Speaker 1: where he sat rubbing his nose. Good gracious, said Teddy's mother.
• 3:04:41
  Speaker 1: And that's a wild creature. I suppose he's so tame
• 3:04:44
  Speaker 1: because we've been kind to him. All mongooses are like that,
• 3:04:49
  Speaker 1: said her husband. If Teddy doesn't pick him up by
• 3:04:52
  Speaker 1: the tail or, try to put him in a cage,
• 3:04:54
  Speaker 1: he'll run in and out of the house all day long.
• 3:04:58
  Speaker 1: Let's give him something to eat. They gave him a
• 3:05:01
  Speaker 1: little piece of raw meat, Rikiticky liked it immensely, and
• 3:05:05
  Speaker 1: when it was finished, he went out into the verandah
• 3:05:07
  Speaker 1: and sat in the sunshine and fluffed up his fur
• 3:05:10
  Speaker 1: to make it dry to the roots. Then he felt
• 3:05:13
  Speaker 1: better zero one nine eight. He put his nose into
• 3:05:17
  Speaker 1: the ink. There are more things to find out about
• 3:05:20
  Speaker 1: in this house, he said to himself, than all my
• 3:05:22
  Speaker 1: family could find out in all their lives. I shall
• 3:05:26
  Speaker 1: certainly stay and find out. He spent all that day
• 3:05:30
  Speaker 1: roaming over the house. He nearly drowned himself in the
• 3:05:33
  Speaker 1: bath tubs, put his nose into the ink on a
• 3:05:36
  Speaker 1: writing table, and burned it on the end of the
• 3:05:38
  Speaker 1: big Man's cigar. For he climbed up in the big
• 3:05:41
  Speaker 1: Man's lap to see how writing was done. At nightfall,
• 3:05:44
  Speaker 1: he ran into Teddy's nursery to watch how kerosene lamps
• 3:05:47
  Speaker 1: were lighted, and when Teddy went to bed, Rikiticky climbed
• 3:05:51
  Speaker 1: up too. But he was a restless companion because he
• 3:05:54
  Speaker 1: had to get up and attend to every noise all
• 3:05:57
  Speaker 1: through the night and find out what made it. Teddy's
• 3:06:00
  Speaker 1: mother and father came in the last thing to look
• 3:06:03
  Speaker 1: at their boy, and Ricky Ticky was awake on the pillow.
• 3:06:07
  Speaker 1: I don't like that, said Teddy's mother. He may bite
• 3:06:11
  Speaker 1: the child. He'll do no such thing, said the father.
• 3:06:16
  Speaker 1: Teddy's safer with that little beast than if he had
• 3:06:18
  Speaker 1: a bloodhound to watch him if a snake came into
• 3:06:21
  Speaker 1: the nursery. Now zero one nine nine, Ricky Ticky was
• 3:06:25
  Speaker 1: awake on the pillow, but Teddy's mother wouldn't think of
• 3:06:28
  Speaker 1: anything so awful. Early in the morning, Ricky Ticky came
• 3:06:32
  Speaker 1: to early breakfast in the veranda, riding on Teddy's shoulder,
• 3:06:36
  Speaker 1: and they gave him banana and some boiled egg. He
• 3:06:39
  Speaker 1: sat on all their laps, one after the other. Because
• 3:06:42
  Speaker 1: every well brought up mongoose always hopes to be a
• 3:06:45
  Speaker 1: house mongoose some day and have rooms to run about in.
• 3:06:48
  Speaker 1: And Ricky Ticky's mother, she used to live in the
• 3:06:50
  Speaker 1: General's house at Segelee, had carefully told Ricky what to
• 3:06:54
  Speaker 1: do if ever he came across white men nine thousand,
• 3:06:58
  Speaker 1: two hundred. He came to breakfasting on Teddy's shoulder. Then
• 3:07:02
  Speaker 1: Rikiticky went out into the garden to see what was
• 3:07:05
  Speaker 1: to be seen. It was a large garden, only half cultivated,
• 3:07:09
  Speaker 1: with bushes as big as summer houses of marshal neil roses,
• 3:07:14
  Speaker 1: lime and orange trees, clumps of bamboos, and thickets of
• 3:07:17
  Speaker 1: high grass. Riki Ticky licked his lips. This is a
• 3:07:22
  Speaker 1: splendid hunting ground, he said, And his tail grew bottle
• 3:07:26
  Speaker 1: brushy at the thought of it. And he scuttled up
• 3:07:28
  Speaker 1: and down the garden, snuffing here and there till he
• 3:07:31
  Speaker 1: heard very sorrowful voices in a thorn bush. It was Darzy,
• 3:07:35
  Speaker 1: the tailor bird, and his wife. They had made a
• 3:07:39
  Speaker 1: beautiful nest by pulling two big leaves together and stitching
• 3:07:42
  Speaker 1: them up the edges with fibers, and had filled the
• 3:07:45
  Speaker 1: hollow with cotton and downy fluff. The nest swayed to
• 3:07:48
  Speaker 1: and fro as they sat on the rim and cried
• 3:07:52
  Speaker 1: zero two zero one. We are very miserable, said Darzy.
• 3:07:57
  Speaker 1: What is the matter, asked Rikiiticky. We are very miserable,
• 3:08:01
  Speaker 1: said Darzy. One of our babies fell out of the
• 3:08:05
  Speaker 1: nest yesterday and nag ate him. Hum said Rikki Tiki.
• 3:08:09
  Speaker 1: That is very sad, But I am a stranger here
• 3:08:13
  Speaker 1: who is nag Darzy and his wife only cowered down
• 3:08:17
  Speaker 1: in the nest without answering for from the thick grass
• 3:08:20
  Speaker 1: at the foot of the bush. There came a low hiss,
• 3:08:22
  Speaker 1: a horrid cold sound that made Riki Ticky jump back
• 3:08:25
  Speaker 1: two clear feet. Then inch by inch, out of the
• 3:08:28
  Speaker 1: grass rose up the head and spread hood of Nag,
• 3:08:31
  Speaker 1: the big black cobra, And he was five feet long
• 3:08:34
  Speaker 1: from tongue to tail. When he had lifted one third
• 3:08:37
  Speaker 1: of himself clear of the ground, he stayed balancing to
• 3:08:40
  Speaker 1: and fro, exactly as a dandelion tufted balances in the wind.
• 3:08:44
  Speaker 1: And he looked at Riki Ticky with the wicked snake's
• 3:08:46
  Speaker 1: eyes that never changed their expression. Whatever the snake may
• 3:08:50
  Speaker 1: be thinking of, who is Nag? Said he? I am Nag.
• 3:08:56
  Speaker 1: The great god Brahm put his mark upon all our people.
• 3:08:59
  Speaker 1: When the first cobra spread his hood to keep the
• 3:09:01
  Speaker 1: sun off Brahm as he slept, look and be afraid
• 3:09:06
  Speaker 1: zero two zero three, I am Nag, said the cobra
• 3:09:10
  Speaker 1: look and be afraid. But at the bottom of his
• 3:09:13
  Speaker 1: cold heart he was afraid. He spread out his hood
• 3:09:17
  Speaker 1: more than ever, and Ricky Ticky saw the spectacle mark
• 3:09:20
  Speaker 1: on the back of it that looks exactly like the
• 3:09:22
  Speaker 1: eye part of a hook and eye fastening. He was
• 3:09:25
  Speaker 1: afraid for the minute, but it is impossible for a
• 3:09:28
  Speaker 1: mongoose to stay frightened for any length of time. And
• 3:09:31
  Speaker 1: though Riki Ticky had never met a live cobra before,
• 3:09:34
  Speaker 1: his mother had fed him on dead ones, and he
• 3:09:36
  Speaker 1: knew that all a grown mongoose's business in life was
• 3:09:39
  Speaker 1: to fight and eat snakes. Nag knew that two end
• 3:09:43
  Speaker 1: at the bottom of his cold heart. He was afraid.
• 3:09:47
  Speaker 1: Five thousand, two hundred and fifty Riki Tiki tave in
• 3:09:50
  Speaker 1: Nag well, said Riki Ticky, and his tail began to
• 3:09:53
  Speaker 1: fluff up again. Marks or no marks? Do you think
• 3:09:56
  Speaker 1: it is right for you to eat fledglings out of
• 3:09:58
  Speaker 1: a nest? Nag was thinking to himself and watching the
• 3:10:02
  Speaker 1: least little movement in the grass behind Ricky Ticky. He
• 3:10:06
  Speaker 1: knew that mongooseys in the garden meant death sooner or
• 3:10:09
  Speaker 1: later for him and his family. But he wanted to
• 3:10:11
  Speaker 1: get Ricky Ticky off his guard, so he dropped his
• 3:10:15
  Speaker 1: head a little and put it on one side. Let
• 3:10:18
  Speaker 1: us talk, He said, you eat eggs, why should not
• 3:10:23
  Speaker 1: I eat birds? Behind you? Look behind you, sang Darzy
• 3:10:29
  Speaker 1: zero two zero seven. He jumped up in the air,
• 3:10:32
  Speaker 1: and just under him whizzed by the head of m
• 3:10:34
  Speaker 1: Genna Ricki. Ticky knew better than to waste time in staring.
• 3:10:39
  Speaker 1: He jumped up in the air as high as he
• 3:10:41
  Speaker 1: could go, and just under him whizzed by the head
• 3:10:43
  Speaker 1: of mc genna, Nag's wicked wife. She had crept up
• 3:10:47
  Speaker 1: behind him as he was talking to make an end
• 3:10:49
  Speaker 1: of him. He heard her savage hiss as the stroke missed.
• 3:10:54
  Speaker 1: He came down almost to cross her back, and if
• 3:10:56
  Speaker 1: he had been an old mongoose, he would have known
• 3:10:58
  Speaker 1: that then was the time to break her back with
• 3:11:00
  Speaker 1: one bite, but he was afraid of the terrible lashing
• 3:11:03
  Speaker 1: returned stroke of the cobra. He bit indeed, but did
• 3:11:07
  Speaker 1: not bite long enough, and he jumped clear of the
• 3:11:10
  Speaker 1: whisking tail, leaving again a torn and angry, wicked, wicked
• 3:11:15
  Speaker 1: Darzy said Nag, lashing up as high as he could
• 3:11:18
  Speaker 1: reach toward the nest in a thorn bush. But Darzi
• 3:11:21
  Speaker 1: had built it out of reach of snakes, and it
• 3:11:24
  Speaker 1: only swayed to and fro Rikitiki felt his eyes growing
• 3:11:28
  Speaker 1: red and hot. When a mongoose's eyes grow red, he
• 3:11:31
  Speaker 1: is angry, and he sat back on his tail and
• 3:11:34
  Speaker 1: hind legs like a little kangaroo, and looked all round
• 3:11:36
  Speaker 1: him and chattered with rage. But nag and Nigena had
• 3:11:40
  Speaker 1: disappeared into the grass. When a snake misses its stroke,
• 3:11:45
  Speaker 1: it never says anything or gives any sign of what
• 3:11:47
  Speaker 1: it means to do next. Rikitiky did not care to
• 3:11:51
  Speaker 1: follow them, for he did not feel sure that he
• 3:11:53
  Speaker 1: could manage two snakes at once, So he trotted off
• 3:11:57
  Speaker 1: to the gravel path near the house and sat down
• 3:12:00
  Speaker 1: to think. It was a serious matter for him. If
• 3:12:04
  Speaker 1: you read the old books of natural history, you will
• 3:12:07
  Speaker 1: find they say that when the mongoose fights the snake
• 3:12:09
  Speaker 1: and happens to get bitten, he runs off and eats
• 3:12:12
  Speaker 1: some herb that cures him. That is not true. The
• 3:12:16
  Speaker 1: victory is only a matter of quickness of eye and
• 3:12:19
  Speaker 1: quickness of foot. Snakes blow against mongoose's jump, and as
• 3:12:23
  Speaker 1: no I can follow the motion of a snake's head
• 3:12:25
  Speaker 1: when it strikes, this makes things much more wonderful than
• 3:12:28
  Speaker 1: any magic herb. Rik Ticky knew he was a young mongoose,
• 3:12:32
  Speaker 1: and it made him all the more pleased to think
• 3:12:34
  Speaker 1: that he had managed to escape a blow from behind.
• 3:12:38
  Speaker 1: It gave him confidence in himself, and when Teddy came
• 3:12:41
  Speaker 1: running down the path, Riki Ticky was ready to be petted.
• 3:12:45
  Speaker 1: But just as Teddy was stooping, something wriggled a little
• 3:12:48
  Speaker 1: in the dust, and a tiny voice said, be careful,
• 3:12:51
  Speaker 1: I am death. It was Karite, the dusty brown snakeling
• 3:12:56
  Speaker 1: that lies for choice on the dusty earth, and his
• 3:12:58
  Speaker 1: bite is as dangerous as the cobras, but he is
• 3:13:02
  Speaker 1: so small that nobody thinks of him, and so he
• 3:13:04
  Speaker 1: does the more harm to people. Ricki Tiky's eyes grew
• 3:13:08
  Speaker 1: red again, and he danced up to Karrite with the
• 3:13:11
  Speaker 1: peculiar rocking swaying motion that he had inherited from his family.
• 3:13:16
  Speaker 1: It looks very funny, but it is so perfectly balanced
• 3:13:19
  Speaker 1: a gait that you can fly off from it at
• 3:13:21
  Speaker 1: any angle you please, And in dealing with snakes, this
• 3:13:23
  Speaker 1: is an advantage. If Ricky Ticky had only known, he
• 3:13:27
  Speaker 1: was doing a much more dangerous thing than fighting Nag,
• 3:13:31
  Speaker 1: For Karaite is so small and can turn so quickly
• 3:13:34
  Speaker 1: that unless Ricky bit him close to the back of
• 3:13:36
  Speaker 1: the head, he would get the return stroke in his
• 3:13:38
  Speaker 1: eye or his lip, but Ricky did not know his
• 3:13:43
  Speaker 1: eyes were all red, and he rocked back and forth
• 3:13:46
  Speaker 1: looking for a good place to hold Karaite struck out.
• 3:13:51
  Speaker 1: Ricky jumped sideways and tried to run in, but the wicked, little,
• 3:13:54
  Speaker 1: dusty gray head lashed within a fraction of his shoulder
• 3:13:57
  Speaker 1: and he had to jump over the body and the
• 3:13:59
  Speaker 1: head fallows his heels close. Teddy shouted to the house, Oh,
• 3:14:04
  Speaker 1: look here, our mongoose is killing a snake, and Ricky
• 3:14:08
  Speaker 1: Ticky heard a scream from Teddy's mother. His father ran
• 3:14:12
  Speaker 1: out with a stick, but by the time he came up,
• 3:14:15
  Speaker 1: Kararite had lunged out once too far, and Ricky Ticky
• 3:14:18
  Speaker 1: had sprung jumped on the snake's back, dropped his head
• 3:14:21
  Speaker 1: far between his forelegs, bitten as high up the back
• 3:14:24
  Speaker 1: as he could get hold, and rolled away. That bite
• 3:14:27
  Speaker 1: paralyzed Karate, and Ricky Ticky was just going to eat
• 3:14:31
  Speaker 1: him up from the tail after the custom of his
• 3:14:33
  Speaker 1: family at dinner, when he remembered that a full meal
• 3:14:36
  Speaker 1: makes a slow mongoose, and if he wanted all his
• 3:14:38
  Speaker 1: strength and quickness ready, he must keep himself thin. He
• 3:14:43
  Speaker 1: went away for a dust bath under the castor oil bushes,
• 3:14:46
  Speaker 1: while Teddy's father beat the dead karate. What is the
• 3:14:49
  Speaker 1: use of that, thought Ricky Ticky. I have settled it all.
• 3:14:54
  Speaker 1: And then Teddy's mother picked him up from the dust
• 3:14:56
  Speaker 1: and hugged him, crying that he had saved Teddy from death,
• 3:14:59
  Speaker 1: and Teddy's father said that he was a providence, and
• 3:15:02
  Speaker 1: Teddy looked on with big scared eyes. Ricky Ticky was
• 3:15:06
  Speaker 1: rather amused at all the fuss, which of course he
• 3:15:09
  Speaker 1: did not understand. Teddy's mother might just as well have
• 3:15:13
  Speaker 1: petted Teddy for playing in the dust. Ricky was thoroughly
• 3:15:17
  Speaker 1: enjoying himself that night at dinner, walking to and fro
• 3:15:21
  Speaker 1: among the wine glasses on the table. He might have
• 3:15:24
  Speaker 1: stuffed himself three times over with nice things, but he
• 3:15:28
  Speaker 1: remembered nag and Nagena. And though it was very pleasant
• 3:15:31
  Speaker 1: to be patted and petted by Teddy's mother and to
• 3:15:33
  Speaker 1: sit on Teddy's shoulder, his eyes would get red from
• 3:15:36
  Speaker 1: time to time, and he would go off into his
• 3:15:38
  Speaker 1: long war cry of rick Tik Tiki tiky t c
• 3:15:41
  Speaker 1: h K zero two one two. In the dark, he
• 3:15:45
  Speaker 1: ran up against Chuchundra, the muskrat. Teddy carried him off
• 3:15:49
  Speaker 1: to bed and insisted on Ricky Ticky sleeping under his chin.
• 3:15:54
  Speaker 1: Ricky Ticky was too well bred to bite or scratch.
• 3:15:57
  Speaker 1: But as soon as Teddy was asleep, he went off
• 3:15:59
  Speaker 1: for his night walk round the house, and in the
• 3:16:02
  Speaker 1: dark he ran up against Chichundra, the muskrat, creeping around
• 3:16:05
  Speaker 1: by the wall. Chichundra is a broken hearted little beast.
• 3:16:10
  Speaker 1: He whimpers and cheaps all the night, trying to make
• 3:16:13
  Speaker 1: up his mind to run into the middle of the room,
• 3:16:16
  Speaker 1: but he never gets there. Don't kill me, said Chichundra,
• 3:16:20
  Speaker 1: almost weeping. Riki Ticky, don't kill me. Do you think
• 3:16:25
  Speaker 1: a snake killer kills muskrats? Said Riki Ticky scornfully. Those
• 3:16:30
  Speaker 1: who kill snakes get killed by snakes, said Chichundra, more
• 3:16:33
  Speaker 1: sorrowfully than ever. And how am I to be sure
• 3:16:37
  Speaker 1: that Nag won't mistake me for you some dark night?
• 3:16:40
  Speaker 1: There's not the least danger, said Riki Tiki. But Nag
• 3:16:44
  Speaker 1: is in the garden, and I know you don't go there.
• 3:16:48
  Speaker 1: My cousin, Chua the rat told me, said Chichundra, and
• 3:16:51
  Speaker 1: then he stopped. Told you what h s H. Nag
• 3:16:57
  Speaker 1: is everywhere? Riki Tiky. You I should have talked to
• 3:17:00
  Speaker 1: Chua in the garden. I didn't, So you must tell
• 3:17:04
  Speaker 1: me quick, Chichundra, or I'll bite you. Chichundra sat down
• 3:17:09
  Speaker 1: and cried till the tears rolled off his whiskers. I
• 3:17:13
  Speaker 1: am a very poor man, he sobbed. I never had
• 3:17:17
  Speaker 1: spirit enough to run out into the middle of the room.
• 3:17:20
  Speaker 1: H s h. I mustn't tell you anything, can't you hear?
• 3:17:25
  Speaker 1: Riki tiki Riki Ticky listened. The house was as still
• 3:17:30
  Speaker 1: as still, but he thought he could just catch the
• 3:17:32
  Speaker 1: faintest scratch scratch in the world, A noise as faint
• 3:17:35
  Speaker 1: as that of a wasp walking on a window pane,
• 3:17:38
  Speaker 1: the dry scratch of a snake's scales on brickwork. That's
• 3:17:42
  Speaker 1: nag or nagena, he said to himself, And he is
• 3:17:45
  Speaker 1: crawling into the bathroom sluice. You're right, Chichundra. I should
• 3:17:49
  Speaker 1: have talked to Chua. He stole off to Teddy's bathroom,
• 3:17:53
  Speaker 1: but there was nothing there, and then to Teddy's mother's bathroom.
• 3:17:58
  Speaker 1: At the bottom of the smooth plaster there was a
• 3:18:00
  Speaker 1: brick pulled out to make a sluice for the bath water.
• 3:18:03
  Speaker 1: And as rik Tiki stole in by the masonry curb
• 3:18:06
  Speaker 1: where the bath is put, he heard Nag and Nigena
• 3:18:08
  Speaker 1: whispering together outside in the moonlight. When the house is
• 3:18:12
  Speaker 1: emptied of people, said Nigenna to her husband, he will
• 3:18:15
  Speaker 1: have to go away, and then the garden will be
• 3:18:17
  Speaker 1: our own again. Go in quietly, and remember that the
• 3:18:21
  Speaker 1: big man who killed Karaite is the first one to bite.
• 3:18:25
  Speaker 1: Then come out and tell me, and we will hunt
• 3:18:27
  Speaker 1: for rik Tiki together. But are you sure that there
• 3:18:31
  Speaker 1: is anything to be gained by killing the people, said Nag.
• 3:18:35
  Speaker 1: Everything when there were no people in the bungalow, did
• 3:18:38
  Speaker 1: we have any mongoose in the garden. So long as
• 3:18:42
  Speaker 1: the bungalow is empty, we are king and queen of
• 3:18:45
  Speaker 1: the garden. And remember that as soon as our eggs
• 3:18:47
  Speaker 1: in the melon bed hatch, as they may tomorrow, our
• 3:18:50
  Speaker 1: children will need room and quiet. I had not thought
• 3:18:53
  Speaker 1: of that, said Nag. I will go, but there is
• 3:18:57
  Speaker 1: no need that we should hunt for rik Tiki. Afterward,
• 3:19:00
  Speaker 1: I will kill the big man and his wife and
• 3:19:03
  Speaker 1: the child if I can, and come away quietly. Then
• 3:19:07
  Speaker 1: the bungalow will be empty, and Rikitiky will go Rikitiky
• 3:19:11
  Speaker 1: tingled all over with rage and hatred at this. And
• 3:19:14
  Speaker 1: then Nag's head came through the sluice and his five
• 3:19:17
  Speaker 1: feet of cold body followed it. Angry as he was,
• 3:19:21
  Speaker 1: Rikitiky was very frightened as he saw the size of
• 3:19:24
  Speaker 1: the big cobra. Nag coiled himself up, raised his head
• 3:19:29
  Speaker 1: and looked into the bathroom in the dark, and Ricki
• 3:19:31
  Speaker 1: could see his eyes glitter. Now, if I kill him
• 3:19:35
  Speaker 1: here Megena will know. And if I fight him on
• 3:19:37
  Speaker 1: the open floor, the odds are in his favor. What
• 3:19:41
  Speaker 1: am I to do? Said Rikitiky Tavy Nag waved to
• 3:19:46
  Speaker 1: and fro, and then Rikitiky heard him drinking from the
• 3:19:49
  Speaker 1: biggest water jar that was used to fill the bath.
• 3:19:52
  Speaker 1: That is good, said the snake. Now, when Karait was killed,
• 3:19:57
  Speaker 1: the big man had a stick. He may have that
• 3:20:00
  Speaker 1: stick still, but when he comes in to bathe in
• 3:20:03
  Speaker 1: the morning, he will not have a stick. I shall
• 3:20:06
  Speaker 1: wait here till he comes, n Genna, do you hear me?
• 3:20:10
  Speaker 1: I shall wait here in the cool till daytime. There
• 3:20:13
  Speaker 1: was no answer from outside, so Rikitiky knew Niggenna had
• 3:20:16
  Speaker 1: gone away. Nag coiled himself down coil by coil round
• 3:20:21
  Speaker 1: the bulge at the bottom of the water jar, and
• 3:20:23
  Speaker 1: Rikiticky stayed still as death. After an hour, he began
• 3:20:28
  Speaker 1: to move, muscle by muscle toward the jar. Nag was asleep,
• 3:20:32
  Speaker 1: and Ricki Ticky looked at his big back, wondering which
• 3:20:35
  Speaker 1: would be the best place for a good hold. If
• 3:20:38
  Speaker 1: I don't break his back at the first jump, said Ricky,
• 3:20:42
  Speaker 1: he can still fight. And if he fights, oh, Ricky.
• 3:20:46
  Speaker 1: He looked at the thickness of the neck below the hood,
• 3:20:49
  Speaker 1: but that was too much for him, and a bite
• 3:20:51
  Speaker 1: near the tail would only make Nag savage. It must
• 3:20:55
  Speaker 1: be the head, he said, at last, the head above
• 3:20:57
  Speaker 1: the hood, and when I him once there, I must
• 3:21:01
  Speaker 1: not let go. Zero two one seven, And then Ricky
• 3:21:05
  Speaker 1: Ticky was battered to and fro as a rat is
• 3:21:07
  Speaker 1: shaken by a dog. Then he jumped. The head was
• 3:21:12
  Speaker 1: lying a little clear of the water jar, under the
• 3:21:14
  Speaker 1: curve of it, and as his teeth met, Ricky braced
• 3:21:18
  Speaker 1: his back against the bulge of the red earthenware to
• 3:21:20
  Speaker 1: hold down the head. This gave him just one second's purchase,
• 3:21:24
  Speaker 1: and he made the most of it. Then he was
• 3:21:27
  Speaker 1: battered to and fro as a rat is shaken by
• 3:21:29
  Speaker 1: a dog, to and fro on the floor, up and
• 3:21:32
  Speaker 1: down and around in great circles. But his eyes were red,
• 3:21:36
  Speaker 1: and he held on as the body cart whipped over
• 3:21:38
  Speaker 1: the floor, upsetting the tin dipper and the soak dish
• 3:21:41
  Speaker 1: and the flesh brush, and banged against the tin side
• 3:21:44
  Speaker 1: of the bath. As he held he closed his jaws
• 3:21:47
  Speaker 1: tighter and tighter, for he made sure he would be
• 3:21:50
  Speaker 1: banged to death, and for the honor of his family,
• 3:21:53
  Speaker 1: he preferred to be found with his teeth locked. He
• 3:21:56
  Speaker 1: was dizzy, aching and felt shaken to pieces when something
• 3:22:00
  Speaker 1: went off like a thunderclap just behind him. A hot
• 3:22:03
  Speaker 1: wind knocked him senseless, and red fire singed his fur.
• 3:22:08
  Speaker 1: The big Man had been wakened by the noise and
• 3:22:10
  Speaker 1: had fired both barrels of a shotgun into nag just
• 3:22:13
  Speaker 1: behind the hood. Rikiticky held on with his eyes shut
• 3:22:17
  Speaker 1: for now he was quite sure he was dead. But
• 3:22:21
  Speaker 1: the head did not move, and the big Man picked
• 3:22:23
  Speaker 1: him up and said, it's the mongoose again, Alice, the
• 3:22:27
  Speaker 1: little chap has saved our lives. Now. Then Teddy's mother
• 3:22:32
  Speaker 1: came in with a very white face and saw what
• 3:22:34
  Speaker 1: was left of Nag and Ricky Ticky dragged himself to
• 3:22:37
  Speaker 1: Teddy's bedroom and spent half the rest of the night
• 3:22:40
  Speaker 1: shaking himself tenderly to find out whether he really was
• 3:22:42
  Speaker 1: broken into forty pieces as he fancied. When morning came
• 3:22:47
  Speaker 1: he was very stiff, but well pleased with his doings.
• 3:22:51
  Speaker 1: Now I have Nagenna to settle with, and she will
• 3:22:53
  Speaker 1: be worse than five nags. And there's no knowing when
• 3:22:56
  Speaker 1: the eggs she spoke of will hatch. Goodness, I must
• 3:23:01
  Speaker 1: go and see Darzy, he said, without waiting for breakfast.
• 3:23:05
  Speaker 1: Rikitiki ran to the thorn bush, where Darzy was singing
• 3:23:09
  Speaker 1: a song of triumph at the top of his voice.
• 3:23:12
  Speaker 1: The news of Nag's death was all over the garden,
• 3:23:15
  Speaker 1: for the sweeper had thrown the body on the rubbish heap. Oh,
• 3:23:19
  Speaker 1: you stupid tuft of feathers, said Rikiticky angrily. Is this
• 3:23:23
  Speaker 1: the time to sing? Nag is dead? Is dead? Is dead?
• 3:23:28
  Speaker 1: Sang Darzy. The valiant Rikitiky caught him by the head
• 3:23:32
  Speaker 1: and held fast. The big man brought the bang stick,
• 3:23:36
  Speaker 1: and Nag fell in two pieces. He will never eat
• 3:23:40
  Speaker 1: my babies again. All that's true enough, but where's Nagenna,
• 3:23:45
  Speaker 1: said Rikitiky, looking carefully round him. Nagenna came to the
• 3:23:49
  Speaker 1: bathroom sluice and called for nag Darzy went on, and
• 3:23:53
  Speaker 1: nag came out on the end of a stick. The
• 3:23:56
  Speaker 1: sweeper picked him up on the end of a stick
• 3:23:58
  Speaker 1: and threw him upon the rubbish heap. Let us sing
• 3:24:01
  Speaker 1: about the great the red eyed Rikitiki, and Darzy filled
• 3:24:05
  Speaker 1: his throat and sang. If I could get up to
• 3:24:08
  Speaker 1: your nest, i'd roll your babies out, said Rikitiky. You
• 3:24:13
  Speaker 1: don't know when to do the right thing at the
• 3:24:14
  Speaker 1: right time. You're safe enough in your nest there, but
• 3:24:18
  Speaker 1: it's war for me down here. Stop singing a minute, Darzy,
• 3:24:23
  Speaker 1: for the great, the beautiful Rikitiky's sake, I will stop,
• 3:24:27
  Speaker 1: said Darzy. What is it, o killer of the terrible
• 3:24:31
  Speaker 1: nag Where is Nagena? For the third time? On the
• 3:24:35
  Speaker 1: rubbish heap by the stables, mourning for nag Great is
• 3:24:39
  Speaker 1: Ricky Ticky with the white teeth? Bother my white teeth?
• 3:24:44
  Speaker 1: Have you ever heard? Where she keeps her eggs In
• 3:24:47
  Speaker 1: the melon bed on the end nearest the wall where
• 3:24:50
  Speaker 1: the sun strikes. Nearly all day she hid them there
• 3:24:54
  Speaker 1: weeks ago, and you never thought it worth while to
• 3:24:57
  Speaker 1: tell me the end Nearest the wall, you said, Rickie TICKI,
• 3:25:02
  Speaker 1: you are not going to eat her eggs zero two
• 3:25:05
  Speaker 1: two one. Darzy's wife pretends to have a broken wing,
• 3:25:09
  Speaker 1: not eat exactly. No, Darzy, if you have a grain
• 3:25:13
  Speaker 1: of sense, you will fly off to the stables and
• 3:25:15
  Speaker 1: pretend that your wing is broken, and let Nigenna chase
• 3:25:18
  Speaker 1: you away to this bush. I must get to the
• 3:25:21
  Speaker 1: melon bed, and if I went there now, she'd see me.
• 3:25:25
  Speaker 1: Darzy was a feather brained little fellow who could never
• 3:25:27
  Speaker 1: hold more than one idea at a time in his head.
• 3:25:31
  Speaker 1: And just because he knew that nc Genna's children were
• 3:25:33
  Speaker 1: born in eggs like his own, he didn't think at
• 3:25:36
  Speaker 1: first that it was fair to kill them. But his
• 3:25:39
  Speaker 1: wife was a sensible bird, and she knew that cobra's
• 3:25:42
  Speaker 1: eggs meant young cobras later on, so she flew off
• 3:25:46
  Speaker 1: from the nest and left Darzy to keep the babies
• 3:25:48
  Speaker 1: warm and continue his song about the death of nag
• 3:25:52
  Speaker 1: Darzy was very like a man in some ways. She
• 3:25:56
  Speaker 1: fluttered in front of ne Genna by the rubbish heap
• 3:25:58
  Speaker 1: and cried out, oh, my wing is broken. The boy
• 3:26:02
  Speaker 1: in the house threw a stone at me and broke it.
• 3:26:05
  Speaker 1: Then she fluttered more desperately than ever. Nagina lifted up
• 3:26:09
  Speaker 1: her head and hissed, you warned, Rickie Tickie, when I
• 3:26:12
  Speaker 1: would have killed him. Indeed, and truly you've chosen a
• 3:26:16
  Speaker 1: bad place to be lain in. And she moved toward
• 3:26:19
  Speaker 1: Darzy's wife, slipping along over the dust. The boy broke
• 3:26:23
  Speaker 1: it with a stone, shrieked Darzy's wife. Well, it may
• 3:26:29
  Speaker 1: be some consolation to you when you're dead, to know
• 3:26:31
  Speaker 1: that I shall settle accounts with the boy. My husband
• 3:26:35
  Speaker 1: lies on the rubbish heap this morning, but before night
• 3:26:37
  Speaker 1: the boy in the house will lie very still. What
• 3:26:40
  Speaker 1: is the use of running away? I am sure to
• 3:26:43
  Speaker 1: catch you, little fool, Look at me, Darzy's wife knew
• 3:26:48
  Speaker 1: better than to do that, For a bird who looks
• 3:26:51
  Speaker 1: at a snake's eyes get so frightened that she cannot move.
• 3:26:55
  Speaker 1: Darzy's wife fluttered on, piping sorrowfully and never leaving the ground,
• 3:27:00
  Speaker 1: and Agenna quickened her pace. Rikiticky heard them going up
• 3:27:04
  Speaker 1: the path from the stables, and he raced for the
• 3:27:06
  Speaker 1: end of the melon patch near the wall. There in
• 3:27:10
  Speaker 1: the warm litter above the melons, very cunningly hidden, he
• 3:27:13
  Speaker 1: found twenty five eggs, about the size of a bantam's eggs,
• 3:27:17
  Speaker 1: but with whitish skin instead of shell. I was not
• 3:27:21
  Speaker 1: a day too soon, he said, for he could see
• 3:27:23
  Speaker 1: the baby cobras curled up inside the skin, and he
• 3:27:26
  Speaker 1: knew that the minute they were hatched, they could each
• 3:27:29
  Speaker 1: kill a man or a mongoose. He bit off the
• 3:27:32
  Speaker 1: tops of the eggs as fast as he could, taking
• 3:27:35
  Speaker 1: care to crush the young cobras, and turned over the
• 3:27:37
  Speaker 1: litter from time to time to see whether he had
• 3:27:39
  Speaker 1: missed any. At last, there were only three eggs left,
• 3:27:43
  Speaker 1: and Riki Ticky began to chuckle to himself when he
• 3:27:46
  Speaker 1: heard Darzi's wife screaming, Riki Ticky, I led Nigena toward
• 3:27:50
  Speaker 1: the house, and she has gone into the verandah, and oh,
• 3:27:54
  Speaker 1: come quickly, she means killing. Riki Ticky smashed two eggs
• 3:27:59
  Speaker 1: and tumbled back down the melon bed with the third
• 3:28:02
  Speaker 1: egg in his mouth, and scuttled to the verandah as
• 3:28:04
  Speaker 1: hard as he could put foot to the ground. Teddy
• 3:28:08
  Speaker 1: and his mother and father were there at early breakfast,
• 3:28:10
  Speaker 1: but Rick Ticky saw that they were not eating anything.
• 3:28:14
  Speaker 1: They sat stone still, and their faces were white. N
• 3:28:18
  Speaker 1: Genna was coiled up on the matting by Teddy's chair,
• 3:28:21
  Speaker 1: within easy striking distance of Teddy's bare leg, and she
• 3:28:24
  Speaker 1: was swaying to and fro, singing a song of triumph.
• 3:28:28
  Speaker 1: Son of the big man that killed Nag. She hissed,
• 3:28:31
  Speaker 1: stay still, I am not ready yet. Wait a little,
• 3:28:36
  Speaker 1: Keep very still, all you three. If you move, I strike,
• 3:28:41
  Speaker 1: and if you do not move, I strike. Oh, foolish
• 3:28:44
  Speaker 1: people who killed my Nag. Teddy's eyes were fixed on
• 3:28:49
  Speaker 1: his father, and all his father could do was to whisper,
• 3:28:52
  Speaker 1: Sit still, Teddy, you mustn't move, Teddy. Keep still. Then
• 3:28:58
  Speaker 1: rick Ticky came up and cried, turn round, Nagenna, turn
• 3:29:03
  Speaker 1: and fight all in good time, said she, without moving
• 3:29:07
  Speaker 1: her eyes. I will settle my account with you presently.
• 3:29:12
  Speaker 1: Look at your friends, Ricky Ticky. They are still and white.
• 3:29:17
  Speaker 1: They are afraid. They dare not move, And if you
• 3:29:20
  Speaker 1: come a step nearer, I strike. Look at your eggs,
• 3:29:24
  Speaker 1: said Ricky Ticky in the melon bed near the wall,
• 3:29:28
  Speaker 1: Go and look, n Genna. The big snake turned half
• 3:29:32
  Speaker 1: around and saw the egg on the verandah ah h
• 3:29:37
  Speaker 1: give it to me, she said. Ricky Ticky put his paws,
• 3:29:41
  Speaker 1: one on each side of the egg, and his eyes
• 3:29:43
  Speaker 1: were blood red. What price for a snake's egg, For
• 3:29:48
  Speaker 1: a young cobra, for a young king cobra, for the last,
• 3:29:53
  Speaker 1: the very last of the brood? The ants are eating
• 3:29:56
  Speaker 1: all the others down by the melon bed na, yet
• 3:30:00
  Speaker 1: spun clear round forgetting everything for the sake of the
• 3:30:03
  Speaker 1: one egg. Ricky Ticky saw Teddy's father shoot out a
• 3:30:07
  Speaker 1: big hand, catch Teddy by the shoulder and drag him
• 3:30:10
  Speaker 1: across the little table with the teacups, safe and out
• 3:30:13
  Speaker 1: of reach of Nigenna. Tricked, tricked, tricked, rick t c
• 3:30:19
  Speaker 1: K t c K chuckled, Ricky Ticky, the boy is safe.
• 3:30:24
  Speaker 1: And it was I I I that caught Nag by
• 3:30:27
  Speaker 1: the hood last night in the bathroom. Then he began
• 3:30:30
  Speaker 1: to jump up and down, all four feet together, his
• 3:30:33
  Speaker 1: head close to the floor. He threw me to and fro,
• 3:30:37
  Speaker 1: but he could not shake me off. He was dead
• 3:30:40
  Speaker 1: before the big man blew him in two. I did it,
• 3:30:45
  Speaker 1: Ricky Ticky, t c K t c K. Come then, mcgenna,
• 3:30:50
  Speaker 1: come and fight with me. You shall not be a
• 3:30:53
  Speaker 1: widow long Nigenneth saw that she had lost her chance
• 3:30:56
  Speaker 1: of killing Teddy, and the egg lay between Ricky Ticky's paws.
• 3:31:01
  Speaker 1: Give me the egg, Ricky Ticky, give me the last
• 3:31:04
  Speaker 1: of my eggs, and I will go away and never
• 3:31:06
  Speaker 1: come back, she said, lowering her hood. Yes, you will
• 3:31:11
  Speaker 1: go away and you will never come back, for you
• 3:31:14
  Speaker 1: will go to the rubbish heap with nag fight widow.
• 3:31:19
  Speaker 1: The big man has gone for his gun fight. Zero
• 3:31:24
  Speaker 1: two two seven. Nagenna flew down the path with Ricky
• 3:31:27
  Speaker 1: Ticky behind her. Ricky Ticky was bounding all round Nagenna,
• 3:31:32
  Speaker 1: keeping just out of reach of her stroke, his little
• 3:31:34
  Speaker 1: eyes like hot coals. Nagenna gathered herself together and flung
• 3:31:39
  Speaker 1: out at him. Ricky Ticky jumped up and backward, again
• 3:31:43
  Speaker 1: and again and again she struck, and each time her
• 3:31:46
  Speaker 1: head came with a whack on the matting of the verandah,
• 3:31:49
  Speaker 1: and she gathered herself together like a watch spring. Then
• 3:31:52
  Speaker 1: Ricky Ticky danced in a circle to get behind her,
• 3:31:55
  Speaker 1: and n Agenna spun round to keep her head to
• 3:31:57
  Speaker 1: his head, so that the rustle of her tail when
• 3:32:00
  Speaker 1: the matting sounded like dry leaves blown along by the wind.
• 3:32:04
  Speaker 1: He had forgotten the egg. It still lay on the veranda,
• 3:32:08
  Speaker 1: and Nigenna came nearer and nearer to it, till at last,
• 3:32:11
  Speaker 1: while Ricki Ticky was drawing breath, she caught it in
• 3:32:14
  Speaker 1: her mouth, turned to the veranda steps, and flew like
• 3:32:17
  Speaker 1: an arrow down the path, with Ricky Ticky behind her.
• 3:32:21
  Speaker 1: When the cobra runs for her life, she goes like
• 3:32:23
  Speaker 1: a whiplash flicked across a horse's neck. Rick Ticky knew
• 3:32:28
  Speaker 1: that he must catch her or all the trouble would
• 3:32:30
  Speaker 1: begin again. She headed straight for the long grass by
• 3:32:34
  Speaker 1: the thorn bush, and as he was running, Ricky Ticky
• 3:32:36
  Speaker 1: heard Darzy still singing his foolish little song of triumph.
• 3:32:40
  Speaker 1: But Darzy's wife was wiser. She flew off her nest
• 3:32:45
  Speaker 1: as Nigenna came along and flapped her wings about mc
• 3:32:48
  Speaker 1: genna's head. If Darzy had helped, they might have turned her,
• 3:32:52
  Speaker 1: but Mgenna only lowered her hood and went on still.
• 3:32:56
  Speaker 1: The instant's delay brought Ricky Ticky up to her, and
• 3:32:59
  Speaker 1: as she plunged into the rat hole where she and
• 3:33:01
  Speaker 1: Nag used to live, his little white teeth were clenched
• 3:33:04
  Speaker 1: on her tail, and he went down with her, and
• 3:33:06
  Speaker 1: very few mongooses, however wise and old they may be,
• 3:33:10
  Speaker 1: care to follow a cobra into its hole. It was
• 3:33:14
  Speaker 1: dark in the hole, and Ricky Ticky never knew when
• 3:33:16
  Speaker 1: it might open out and give Nagen a room to
• 3:33:18
  Speaker 1: turn and strike at him. He held on savagely and
• 3:33:22
  Speaker 1: stuck out his feet to act as breaks on the
• 3:33:24
  Speaker 1: dark slope of the hot, moist earth. Then the grasp
• 3:33:28
  Speaker 1: by the mouth of the hole stopped waving, and Darzy said,
• 3:33:31
  Speaker 1: it is all over with Ricky Ticky. We must sing
• 3:33:35
  Speaker 1: his death song. Valiant Ricky Ticky is dead, for Nigena
• 3:33:40
  Speaker 1: will surely kill him underground. So he sang a very
• 3:33:44
  Speaker 1: mournful song that he made up on the spur of
• 3:33:46
  Speaker 1: the minute. And just as he got to the most
• 3:33:48
  Speaker 1: touching part, the grass quivered again, and Ricky Ticky, covered
• 3:33:51
  Speaker 1: with dirt, dragged himself out of the whole leg by leg,
• 3:33:55
  Speaker 1: licking his whiskers. Darzy stopped with a little shout. Ricky
• 3:34:01
  Speaker 1: Ticky shook some of the dust out of his fur
• 3:34:03
  Speaker 1: and sneezed. It is all over, he said. The widow
• 3:34:08
  Speaker 1: will never come out again, and the red ants that
• 3:34:11
  Speaker 1: lived between the grass stems heard him and began to
• 3:34:14
  Speaker 1: troop down one after another to see if he had
• 3:34:16
  Speaker 1: spoken the truth. Ricki Ticky curled himself up in the
• 3:34:20
  Speaker 1: grass and slept where he was slept and slept till
• 3:34:23
  Speaker 1: it was late in the afternoon, for he had done
• 3:34:25
  Speaker 1: a hard day's work. Now, he said, when he awoke,
• 3:34:29
  Speaker 1: I will go back to the house. Tell the coppersmith, Darzy,
• 3:34:34
  Speaker 1: and he will tell the garden that mc genna is dead.
• 3:34:37
  Speaker 1: Zero two three zero, It is all over. The coppersmith
• 3:34:42
  Speaker 1: is a bird who makes a noise exactly like the
• 3:34:44
  Speaker 1: beating of a little hammer on a copper pot. And
• 3:34:46
  Speaker 1: the reason he is always making it is because he
• 3:34:49
  Speaker 1: is the town crier to every Indian garden and tells
• 3:34:52
  Speaker 1: all the news to everybody who cares to listen. As
• 3:34:55
  Speaker 1: Ricki Ticky went up the path, he heard his attention
• 3:34:58
  Speaker 1: notes like a tiny dinner gong, and then the steady
• 3:35:01
  Speaker 1: ding dong talk, Nag is dead dong, Nigena is dead
• 3:35:08
  Speaker 1: ding dong talk. That set all the birds in the
• 3:35:11
  Speaker 1: gardens singing and the frogs croaking, For Nag and Nigina
• 3:35:15
  Speaker 1: used to eat frogs as well as little birds. When
• 3:35:18
  Speaker 1: Ricky got to the house, Teddy and Teddy's mother. She
• 3:35:22
  Speaker 1: looked very white still, for she had been fainting, And
• 3:35:25
  Speaker 1: Teddy's father came out and almost cried over him. And
• 3:35:28
  Speaker 1: that night he ate all that was given him till
• 3:35:30
  Speaker 1: he could eat no more and went to bed on
• 3:35:32
  Speaker 1: Teddy's shoulder, where Teddy's mother saw him when she came
• 3:35:35
  Speaker 1: to look late at night. He saved our lives in
• 3:35:38
  Speaker 1: Teddy's life, she said to her husband. Just think he
• 3:35:42
  Speaker 1: saved all our lives. Rick Ticky woke up with a
• 3:35:46
  Speaker 1: jump for the mongoosas are light sleepers. Oh it's you,
• 3:35:51
  Speaker 1: said he, What are you bothering? For all the cobras
• 3:35:55
  Speaker 1: are dead, and if they weren't, I'm here. Ricki tik
• 3:36:00
  Speaker 1: he had a right to be proud of himself, but
• 3:36:03
  Speaker 1: he did not grow too proud, and he kept that
• 3:36:05
  Speaker 1: garden as a mongoose should keep it, with tooth and
• 3:36:08
  Speaker 1: jump and spring and bite, till never a cobra dared
• 3:36:11
  Speaker 1: show its head inside the walls. Darzy's chant sung in
• 3:36:15
  Speaker 1: honor of Ricki Tiki Tavi singer and tailor. Am I
• 3:36:19
  Speaker 1: doubled the joys that I know, Proud of my lilt
• 3:36:21
  Speaker 1: to the sky, proud of the house that I sow
• 3:36:24
  Speaker 1: over and under. So we by my music, so we
• 3:36:26
  Speaker 1: by the house that I sow. Sing to your fledglings again, mother, Oh,
• 3:36:31
  Speaker 1: lift up your head. Evil that plague does is slain.
• 3:36:35
  Speaker 1: Death in the garden lies dead. Terror that hid in
• 3:36:38
  Speaker 1: the roses is impotent, flung on the dunghill and dead.
• 3:36:42
  Speaker 1: Who has delivered us? Who tell me his nest and
• 3:36:46
  Speaker 1: his name? Ricki the valiant, the true Tiki, with eyeballs
• 3:36:51
  Speaker 1: of flame, rick Tiki, Tiki, the ivory fanged, the hunter,
• 3:36:54
  Speaker 1: with eyeballs of flame, Give him the thanks of the birds,
• 3:36:59
  Speaker 1: bowing with tail feah spread, praise him with nightingale words. Nay,
• 3:37:04
  Speaker 1: I will praise him instead. Here I will sing you
• 3:37:08
  Speaker 1: the praise of the bottle tailed Rickie with eyeballs of red.
• 3:37:12
  Speaker 1: Here Rickie Ticky interrupted, and the rest of the song
• 3:37:15
  Speaker 1: is lost. Zero two three seven to my of the elephants.
• 3:37:20
  Speaker 1: I will remember what I was. I am sick of
• 3:37:22
  Speaker 1: rope and chain. I will remember my old strength and
• 3:37:25
  Speaker 1: all my forest affairs. I will not sell my back
• 3:37:28
  Speaker 1: to man for a bundle of sugar cane. I will
• 3:37:31
  Speaker 1: go out to my own kind and the wood folk
• 3:37:33
  Speaker 1: in their lairs. I will go out until the day,
• 3:37:37
  Speaker 1: until the morning, break out to the wind's untainted kiss,
• 3:37:40
  Speaker 1: the water's clean caress. I will forget my ankle ring
• 3:37:43
  Speaker 1: and snap my picket steak. I will revisit my lost
• 3:37:47
  Speaker 1: loves and playmates. Masterless call a Nag, which means black
• 3:37:52
  Speaker 1: snake had served the Indian government in every way that
• 3:37:55
  Speaker 1: an elephant could serve it for forty seven years. And
• 3:37:58
  Speaker 1: as he was fully twenty years old when he caught,
• 3:38:00
  Speaker 1: that makes him nearly seventy a ripe age for an elephant.
• 3:38:04
  Speaker 1: He remembered pushing with a big leather pad on his
• 3:38:07
  Speaker 1: forehead at a gun stuck in deep mud, and that
• 3:38:10
  Speaker 1: was before the Afghan War of eighteen forty two, and
• 3:38:13
  Speaker 1: he had not then come to his full strength. His mother,
• 3:38:17
  Speaker 1: Radha Pyari, rather the darling, who had been caught in
• 3:38:20
  Speaker 1: the same drive with Kalinag, told him before his little
• 3:38:23
  Speaker 1: milk tusks had dropped out, that elephants who were afraid
• 3:38:26
  Speaker 1: always got hurt. Klin Nag knew that that advice was good.
• 3:38:31
  Speaker 1: For the first time that he saw a shell burst,
• 3:38:33
  Speaker 1: he backed screaming into a stand of piled rifles, and
• 3:38:37
  Speaker 1: the bayonets pricked him in all his softest places. So
• 3:38:41
  Speaker 1: before he was twenty five he gave up being afraid,
• 3:38:45
  Speaker 1: and so he was the best loved and the best
• 3:38:47
  Speaker 1: looked after elephant in the service of the government of India.
• 3:38:51
  Speaker 1: He had carried tents twelve hundred pounds weight of tents
• 3:38:54
  Speaker 1: on the march in Upper India. He had been hoisted
• 3:38:57
  Speaker 1: into a ship at the end of a steam crane,
• 3:39:00
  Speaker 1: taken for days across the water, and made to carry
• 3:39:02
  Speaker 1: a mortar on his back in a strange and rocky
• 3:39:05
  Speaker 1: country very far from India, and had seen the Emperor
• 3:39:08
  Speaker 1: Theodore lying dead in Magdala, and had come back again
• 3:39:11
  Speaker 1: in the steamer entitled So the soldier said to the
• 3:39:14
  Speaker 1: Abyssinian war medal. He had seen his fellow elephants die
• 3:39:18
  Speaker 1: of cold and epilepsy, in starvation and sunstroke up at
• 3:39:21
  Speaker 1: a place called Ali Musjid ten years later, and afterward
• 3:39:25
  Speaker 1: he had been sent down thousands of miles south to
• 3:39:28
  Speaker 1: haul and pile big box of teak in the timber
• 3:39:30
  Speaker 1: yards at Momain. There he had half killed an insubordinate
• 3:39:34
  Speaker 1: young elephant who was shirking his fair share of work.
• 3:39:38
  Speaker 1: Zero two three nine. Kala Nag was the best loved
• 3:39:41
  Speaker 1: elephant in the service. After that he was taken off
• 3:39:45
  Speaker 1: timber hauling and employed with a few score other elephants
• 3:39:48
  Speaker 1: who were trained to the business in helping to catch
• 3:39:51
  Speaker 1: wild elephants among the Gharl Hills. Elephants are very strictly
• 3:39:55
  Speaker 1: preserved by the Indian government. There is one whole department
• 3:39:59
  Speaker 1: which does nothing else but hunt them and catch them,
• 3:40:02
  Speaker 1: and break them in and send them up and down
• 3:40:05
  Speaker 1: the country as they are needed for work. Colin Nag
• 3:40:09
  Speaker 1: stood ten fair feet at the shoulders, and his tusks
• 3:40:12
  Speaker 1: had been cut off short at five feet and bound
• 3:40:14
  Speaker 1: round the ends to prevent them splitting with bands of copper.
• 3:40:18
  Speaker 1: But he could do more with those stumps than any
• 3:40:20
  Speaker 1: untrained elephant could do with the real sharpened ones. When
• 3:40:25
  Speaker 1: after weeks and weeks of cautious driving of scattered elephants
• 3:40:28
  Speaker 1: across the hills, the forty or fifty wild monsters were
• 3:40:31
  Speaker 1: driven into the last stockade and the big drop gate
• 3:40:34
  Speaker 1: made of tree trunks lashed together, jarred down behind them,
• 3:40:38
  Speaker 1: col A nag at the word of command would go
• 3:40:40
  Speaker 1: into that flaring, trumpeting pandemonium, generally at night, when the
• 3:40:45
  Speaker 1: flicker of the torches made it difficult to judge distances,
• 3:40:49
  Speaker 1: and picking out the biggest and wildest tusker of the mob,
• 3:40:52
  Speaker 1: would hammer him and hustle him into quiet, while the
• 3:40:55
  Speaker 1: men on the backs of the other elephants roped and
• 3:40:57
  Speaker 1: tied the smaller ones. There was nothing in the way
• 3:41:00
  Speaker 1: of fighting that Colin Nag, the old wise black snake
• 3:41:04
  Speaker 1: did not know. For he had stood up more than
• 3:41:06
  Speaker 1: once in his time to the charge of the wounded tiger,
• 3:41:09
  Speaker 1: and curling up his soft trunk to be out of
• 3:41:11
  Speaker 1: harm's way, had knocked the springing brute sideways in mid
• 3:41:15
  Speaker 1: air with a quick sickle cut of his head that
• 3:41:18
  Speaker 1: he had invented all by himself, had knocked him over,
• 3:41:21
  Speaker 1: and kneeled upon him with his huge knees till the
• 3:41:23
  Speaker 1: life went out with a gasp and a howl, and
• 3:41:26
  Speaker 1: there was only a fluffy striped thing on the ground
• 3:41:28
  Speaker 1: for Colin Nag to pull by the tail. Yes, said
• 3:41:32
  Speaker 1: Big tu Mai, his driver, the son of Black Tumai,
• 3:41:35
  Speaker 1: who had taken him to Abyssinia, and grandson of Tumai
• 3:41:38
  Speaker 1: of the elephants who had seen him caught. There is
• 3:41:40
  Speaker 1: nothing that the black snake fears except me. He has
• 3:41:44
  Speaker 1: seen three generations of us feed him and groom him,
• 3:41:47
  Speaker 1: and he will live to see four. He is afraid
• 3:41:50
  Speaker 1: of me, also said Little Tumi, standing up to his
• 3:41:53
  Speaker 1: full height of four feet with only one rag upon him.
• 3:41:57
  Speaker 1: He was ten years old, the eldest son of Big
• 3:42:00
  Speaker 1: Tu Mai, and according to custom, he would take his
• 3:42:03
  Speaker 1: father's place on Colin Nagg's neck when he grew up,
• 3:42:06
  Speaker 1: and would handle the heavy iron ankus the elephant goat
• 3:42:09
  Speaker 1: that had been worn smooth by his father and his
• 3:42:12
  Speaker 1: grandfather and his great grandfather five thousand, two hundred ninety one.
• 3:42:17
  Speaker 1: Colin Nagg. He knew what he was talking of, for
• 3:42:20
  Speaker 1: he had been born under Colin Nagg's shadow, had played
• 3:42:23
  Speaker 1: with the end of his trunk before he could walk,
• 3:42:25
  Speaker 1: had taken him down to water as soon as he
• 3:42:27
  Speaker 1: could walk, And Colin Nagg would no more have dreamed
• 3:42:31
  Speaker 1: of disobeying his shrill little orders than he would have
• 3:42:33
  Speaker 1: dreamed of killing him. On that day when Big two
• 3:42:35
  Speaker 1: Mike carried the little brown baby under Klinnagg's tusks and
• 3:42:39
  Speaker 1: told him to salute his master, that was to be yes,
• 3:42:43
  Speaker 1: said Little to Mai. He is afraid of me, and
• 3:42:46
  Speaker 1: he took long strides up to Colin Nagg called him
• 3:42:49
  Speaker 1: a fat old pig, and made him lift up his
• 3:42:51
  Speaker 1: feet one after the other. Wah said little to Mai,
• 3:42:55
  Speaker 1: thou art a big elephant, and he wagged his fluffy head,
• 3:42:58
  Speaker 1: quoting his father. The government may pay for elephants, but
• 3:43:02
  Speaker 1: they belong to us. Mahouts. When thou art old, call
• 3:43:06
  Speaker 1: a nag. There will come some rich raja, and he
• 3:43:09
  Speaker 1: will buy thee from the government on account of thy
• 3:43:12
  Speaker 1: size and thy manners. And then thou wilt have nothing
• 3:43:14
  Speaker 1: to do but to carry gold ear rings in thy ears,
• 3:43:17
  Speaker 1: and a gold howdah on thy back, and a red
• 3:43:20
  Speaker 1: cloth covered with gold on thy sides, and walk at
• 3:43:24
  Speaker 1: the head of the processions of the king. Then I
• 3:43:27
  Speaker 1: shall sit on thy neck O call a nag with
• 3:43:29
  Speaker 1: a silver anchors, and men will run before us with
• 3:43:32
  Speaker 1: golden sticks, crying room for the king's elephant. That will
• 3:43:37
  Speaker 1: be good call a nag. But not so good as
• 3:43:40
  Speaker 1: this hunting in the jungles. Umh said big to my
• 3:43:44
  Speaker 1: thou art a boy and as wild as a buffalo calf.
• 3:43:49
  Speaker 1: This running up and down among the hills is not
• 3:43:51
  Speaker 1: the best government service. I am getting old, and I
• 3:43:55
  Speaker 1: do not love wild elephants. Give me brick elephant lines,
• 3:43:59
  Speaker 1: one stall to each elephant, and big stumps to tie
• 3:44:02
  Speaker 1: them to safely, and flat broad roads to exercise upon.
• 3:44:07
  Speaker 1: Instead of this, come and go camping. Aha. The Conpore
• 3:44:10
  Speaker 1: barracks were good. There was a bazaar close by, and
• 3:44:14
  Speaker 1: only three hours work a day. Little Too I remembered
• 3:44:18
  Speaker 1: the conpoor elephant lines and said nothing. He very much
• 3:44:22
  Speaker 1: preferred the camp life, and hated those broad, flat roads,
• 3:44:26
  Speaker 1: with the daily grubbing for grass in the forage reserve,
• 3:44:29
  Speaker 1: and the long hours when there was nothing to do
• 3:44:32
  Speaker 1: except to watch Colin Nag fidgeting in his pickets. What
• 3:44:36
  Speaker 1: little Toom I liked was to scramble up bridle paths
• 3:44:39
  Speaker 1: that only an elephant could take, the dip into the
• 3:44:41
  Speaker 1: valley below, the glimpses of the wild elephants browsing miles away,
• 3:44:46
  Speaker 1: the rush of the frightened pig and peacock under Kalinag's feet,
• 3:44:50
  Speaker 1: the blinding warm rains when all the hills and valleys smoked,
• 3:44:54
  Speaker 1: the beautiful misty mornings when nobody knew where they would
• 3:44:57
  Speaker 1: camp that night, the steady, cautious dr of the wild
• 3:45:00
  Speaker 1: elephants and the mad rush, and blaze and hullabaloo of
• 3:45:03
  Speaker 1: the last night's drive, when the elephants poured into the
• 3:45:06
  Speaker 1: stockade like boulders in a landslide, found that they could
• 3:45:09
  Speaker 1: not get out, and flung themselves at the heavy posts,
• 3:45:13
  Speaker 1: only to be driven back by yells and flaring torches
• 3:45:16
  Speaker 1: and volleys of blank cartridge. Even a little boy could
• 3:45:20
  Speaker 1: be of use there, and Tumi was as useful as
• 3:45:23
  Speaker 1: three boys. He would get his torch and wave it
• 3:45:26
  Speaker 1: and yell with the best. But the really good time
• 3:45:30
  Speaker 1: came when the driving out began, and the cada that
• 3:45:33
  Speaker 1: is the stockade looked like a picture of the end
• 3:45:36
  Speaker 1: of the world, and men had to make signs to
• 3:45:38
  Speaker 1: one another because they could not hear themselves speak. Then
• 3:45:42
  Speaker 1: little Tumi would climb up to the top of one
• 3:45:44
  Speaker 1: of the quivering stockade posts, his sun bleached brown hair
• 3:45:48
  Speaker 1: flying loose all over his shoulders, and he looking like
• 3:45:51
  Speaker 1: a goblin in the torchlight. And as soon as there
• 3:45:54
  Speaker 1: was a lull, you could hear his high pitched yells
• 3:45:56
  Speaker 1: of encouragement to call a nag above the trumpeting and
• 3:45:59
  Speaker 1: crashing and snapping of ropes and groans of the tethered elephants.
• 3:46:04
  Speaker 1: Mail mail, Colin Nag, go on, go on, black snake,
• 3:46:10
  Speaker 1: dan't do, give him the tusk, Samolo, Samolo, careful, careful
• 3:46:19
  Speaker 1: morrow mar hit him, hit him mind the post. R
• 3:46:28
  Speaker 1: r hi yai kia ah. He would shout, and the
• 3:46:34
  Speaker 1: big fight between Colin Nag and the wild elephant would
• 3:46:37
  Speaker 1: sway to and fro across the cada, and the old
• 3:46:40
  Speaker 1: elephant catchers would wipe the sweat out of their eyes
• 3:46:43
  Speaker 1: and find time to nod to little to my wriggling
• 3:46:46
  Speaker 1: with joy on the top of the posts, he did
• 3:46:49
  Speaker 1: more than wriggle. One night he slid down from the
• 3:46:52
  Speaker 1: post and slipped in between the elephants and threw up
• 3:46:55
  Speaker 1: the loose end of a rope which had dropped to
• 3:46:57
  Speaker 1: a driver who was trying to get a purchase on
• 3:46:59
  Speaker 1: the leg of a kicking young calf. Calves always give
• 3:47:02
  Speaker 1: more trouble than full grown animals. Kalin Nag saw him,
• 3:47:07
  Speaker 1: caught him in his trunk and handed him up to
• 3:47:09
  Speaker 1: big Tumai, who slapped him then and there and put
• 3:47:12
  Speaker 1: him back on the post. Next morning he gave him
• 3:47:15
  Speaker 1: a scolding and said, are not good brick elephant lines
• 3:47:18
  Speaker 1: and a little tent caring enough that thou must needs
• 3:47:21
  Speaker 1: go elephant catching on thy own account. Little worthless. Now
• 3:47:26
  Speaker 1: those foolish hunters whose pay is less than my pay
• 3:47:29
  Speaker 1: have spoken to Peterson Sahib of the matter. Little tou
• 3:47:33
  Speaker 1: Mai was frightened. He did not know much of white men.
• 3:47:37
  Speaker 1: But Peterson Sahib was the greatest white man in the world.
• 3:47:40
  Speaker 1: To him, he was the head of all the cada operations,
• 3:47:44
  Speaker 1: the man who caught all the elephants for the government
• 3:47:46
  Speaker 1: of India, and who knew more about the ways of
• 3:47:49
  Speaker 1: elephants than any living man. What what will happen, said
• 3:47:53
  Speaker 1: little to Mai. Happen the worst that can happen. Peterson
• 3:47:59
  Speaker 1: Sahib is a madman. Else why should he go hunting
• 3:48:03
  Speaker 1: these wild devils. He may even require thee to be
• 3:48:06
  Speaker 1: an elephant catcher, to sleep anywhere in these fever filled jungles,
• 3:48:10
  Speaker 1: and at last to be trampled to death in the cada.
• 3:48:14
  Speaker 1: It is well that this nonsense ends safely. Next week
• 3:48:18
  Speaker 1: the catching is over, and we of the plains are
• 3:48:20
  Speaker 1: sent back to our stations. Then we will march on
• 3:48:24
  Speaker 1: smooth roads and forget all this hunting. But Son, I
• 3:48:28
  Speaker 1: am angry that thou shouldst meddle in the business that
• 3:48:31
  Speaker 1: belongs to these dirty Ossemese jungle folk. Col A Nag
• 3:48:35
  Speaker 1: will obey none but me, so I must go with
• 3:48:37
  Speaker 1: him into the cada. But he is only a fighting elephant,
• 3:48:40
  Speaker 1: and he does not help to rope them. So I
• 3:48:43
  Speaker 1: sit at my ease as befits a mahout, not a
• 3:48:46
  Speaker 1: mere hunter. A mahout, I say, and a man who
• 3:48:49
  Speaker 1: gets a pension at the end of his service is
• 3:48:52
  Speaker 1: the family of Tumai. Of the elephants to be trodden
• 3:48:55
  Speaker 1: underfoot in the dirt of a cada, bad one, wicked, one,
• 3:49:00
  Speaker 1: worthless son, Go and wash Cola Nag, and attend to
• 3:49:04
  Speaker 1: his ears, and see that there are no thorns in
• 3:49:07
  Speaker 1: his feet, or else Peterson Sahib will surely catch thee
• 3:49:11
  Speaker 1: and make thee a wild hunter, a follower of elephant's
• 3:49:14
  Speaker 1: foot tracks, a jungle bear. Bah shame go little too.
• 3:49:21
  Speaker 1: My went off without saying a word. But he told
• 3:49:24
  Speaker 1: Cola and Nag all his grievances while he was examining
• 3:49:27
  Speaker 1: his feet. No matter said little to my turning up
• 3:49:30
  Speaker 1: the fringe of Kala Nag's huge right ear. They have
• 3:49:34
  Speaker 1: said my name to Peterson Sahib and perhaps and perhaps
• 3:49:38
  Speaker 1: and perhaps who knows, Hi, that is a big thorn
• 3:49:43
  Speaker 1: that I have pulled out. The next few days were
• 3:49:46
  Speaker 1: spent in getting the elephants together, in walking the newly
• 3:49:49
  Speaker 1: caught wild elephants up and down between a couple of
• 3:49:52
  Speaker 1: tame ones to prevent them giving too much trouble on
• 3:49:54
  Speaker 1: the downward march to the plains, and in taking stock
• 3:49:57
  Speaker 1: of the blankets and ropes and things that had been
• 3:49:59
  Speaker 1: worn or lost in the forest. Peterson Sahib came in
• 3:50:04
  Speaker 1: on his clever she elephant pudmany he had been paying
• 3:50:06
  Speaker 1: off other camps among the hills for the season was
• 3:50:09
  Speaker 1: coming to an end, and there was a native clerk
• 3:50:12
  Speaker 1: sitting at a table under a tree to pay the
• 3:50:14
  Speaker 1: drivers their wages. As each man was paid, he went
• 3:50:18
  Speaker 1: back to his elephant and joined the line that stood
• 3:50:20
  Speaker 1: ready to start. The catchers and hunters and beaters. The
• 3:50:25
  Speaker 1: men of the regular kida who stayed in the jungle
• 3:50:28
  Speaker 1: year in and year out, sat on the backs of
• 3:50:30
  Speaker 1: the elephants that belonged to Peterson Sahib's permanent force, or
• 3:50:34
  Speaker 1: leaned against the trees with their guns across their arms,
• 3:50:37
  Speaker 1: and made fun of the drivers who were going away
• 3:50:40
  Speaker 1: and laughed. When the newly caught elephants broke the line
• 3:50:43
  Speaker 1: and ran about. Big two Ma went up to the
• 3:50:46
  Speaker 1: clerk with Little tu Myi behind him, and maqua Appa,
• 3:50:49
  Speaker 1: the head tracker said, in an undertone to a friend
• 3:50:52
  Speaker 1: of his, there goes one piece of good elephant stuff.
• 3:50:55
  Speaker 1: At least 'tis a pity to send a young junglecock
• 3:50:58
  Speaker 1: to molt in the plain. Now, Peterson Sahib had ears
• 3:51:03
  Speaker 1: all over him, as a man must have who listens
• 3:51:05
  Speaker 1: to the most silent of all living things, the wild elephant.
• 3:51:09
  Speaker 1: He turned where he was lying all along on Pudmeny's
• 3:51:12
  Speaker 1: back and said, what is that? I did not know
• 3:51:15
  Speaker 1: of a man among the plains drivers who had wit
• 3:51:18
  Speaker 1: enough to rope even a dead elephant. This is not
• 3:51:21
  Speaker 1: a man but a boy. He went into the cada
• 3:51:24
  Speaker 1: at the last drive and threw Barmao there the rope.
• 3:51:27
  Speaker 1: When we were trying to get that young calf with
• 3:51:29
  Speaker 1: the blotch on his shoulder away from his mother, Macua
• 3:51:33
  Speaker 1: Appa pointed at little to Mai, and Peterson Sahib looked,
• 3:51:37
  Speaker 1: and Little too My bowed to the earth. He throw
• 3:51:40
  Speaker 1: a rope. He is smaller than a picket pin. Little one,
• 3:51:45
  Speaker 1: what is thy name? Said Peterson Sahib. Little too Mai
• 3:51:49
  Speaker 1: was too frightened to speak. But Kala Nag was behind him,
• 3:51:52
  Speaker 1: and Toom made a sign with his hand, and the
• 3:51:55
  Speaker 1: elephant caught him up in his trunk and held him
• 3:51:57
  Speaker 1: level with Pudmeny's forehead in front of the Great Peterson Sahib.
• 3:52:02
  Speaker 1: Then Little Tumi covered his face with his hands, for
• 3:52:04
  Speaker 1: he was only a child, and except where elephants were concerned,
• 3:52:08
  Speaker 1: he was just as bashful as a child could be. Oh,
• 3:52:12
  Speaker 1: said Peterson Sahib, smiling underneath his mustache. And why didst
• 3:52:16
  Speaker 1: thou teach thy elephant that trick? Was it to help
• 3:52:20
  Speaker 1: thee steal green corn from the roofs of the houses
• 3:52:22
  Speaker 1: when the years are put out to dry zero two
• 3:52:26
  Speaker 1: five five? Not green corn, protector of the poor melons,
• 3:52:30
  Speaker 1: said Little to Mai. Not green corn, protector of the
• 3:52:34
  Speaker 1: poor melons, said little to Mai, And all the men
• 3:52:37
  Speaker 1: sitting about broke into a roar of laughter. Most of
• 3:52:41
  Speaker 1: them had taught their elephants that trick when they were boys.
• 3:52:45
  Speaker 1: Little Tumi was hanging eight feet up in the air,
• 3:52:47
  Speaker 1: and he wished very much that he were eight feet underground.
• 3:52:51
  Speaker 1: He is tou Mai, my son, Sahib said big to Mai, scowling.
• 3:52:57
  Speaker 1: He is a very bad boy, and he will end
• 3:52:59
  Speaker 1: in a jail. Sahib, of that, I have my doubts,
• 3:53:03
  Speaker 1: said Peterson Sahib. A boy who can face a full
• 3:53:07
  Speaker 1: cada at his age does not end in jails. See,
• 3:53:11
  Speaker 1: little one, here are four honors to spend in sweetmeats,
• 3:53:14
  Speaker 1: because thou hast a little head under that great thatch
• 3:53:16
  Speaker 1: of hair. In time thou mayest become a hunter too
• 3:53:21
  Speaker 1: big to my scowled more than ever. Remember though, that
• 3:53:25
  Speaker 1: cadas are not good for children to play in. Peterson
• 3:53:28
  Speaker 1: Sahib went on, must I never go there, Sahib asked
• 3:53:33
  Speaker 1: little to my with a big gasp. Yes, Peterson Sahib
• 3:53:38
  Speaker 1: smiled again. When thou hast seen the elephants dance, that
• 3:53:43
  Speaker 1: is the proper time. Come to me, when thou hast
• 3:53:46
  Speaker 1: seen the elephants dance, and then I will let thee
• 3:53:49
  Speaker 1: go into all the cadas. There was another roar of laughter,
• 3:53:53
  Speaker 1: for that is an old joke among elephant catchers, and
• 3:53:56
  Speaker 1: it means just never. There are great, cleared, flat places
• 3:54:00
  Speaker 1: hidden away in the forests that are called elephants ball rooms,
• 3:54:03
  Speaker 1: but even these are only found by accident, and no
• 3:54:06
  Speaker 1: man has ever seen the elephants dance. When a driver
• 3:54:10
  Speaker 1: boasts of his skill and bravery, the other driver say,
• 3:54:13
  Speaker 1: and when didst thou see the elephants dance? Kola Nagg
• 3:54:17
  Speaker 1: put Little two May down, and he bowed to the
• 3:54:19
  Speaker 1: earth again, and went away with his father, and gave
• 3:54:22
  Speaker 1: the silver forean apiece to his mother, who was nursing
• 3:54:25
  Speaker 1: his baby brother. And they all were put up on
• 3:54:27
  Speaker 1: Kala Nagg's back, and the line of grunting, squealing elephants
• 3:54:31
  Speaker 1: rolled down the hill path to the plains. It was
• 3:54:34
  Speaker 1: a very lively march on account of the new elephants,
• 3:54:37
  Speaker 1: who gave trouble at every ford and needed coaxing or
• 3:54:40
  Speaker 1: beating every other minute. Big two Mike prodded Colin Nag spitefully,
• 3:54:45
  Speaker 1: for he was very angry, but Little Tom was too
• 3:54:48
  Speaker 1: happy to speak. Peterson Sahib had noticed him and given
• 3:54:53
  Speaker 1: him money, so he felt as a private soldier would
• 3:54:55
  Speaker 1: feel if he had been called out of the ranks
• 3:54:57
  Speaker 1: and praised by his commander in chief. What did Peterson
• 3:55:01
  Speaker 1: Sahib mean by the elephant dance? He said? At last,
• 3:55:05
  Speaker 1: softly to his mother. Big twom I heard him and
• 3:55:08
  Speaker 1: grunted that thou shouldst never be one of these hill
• 3:55:12
  Speaker 1: buffaloes of trackers. That was what he meant. Oh you
• 3:55:17
  Speaker 1: in front, what is blocking the way? An Assamese driver,
• 3:55:21
  Speaker 1: two or three elephants ahead, turned round angrily crying, bring
• 3:55:25
  Speaker 1: up Colin Nag and knock this youngster of mine into
• 3:55:28
  Speaker 1: good behavior. Why should Peterson Sahib have chosen me to
• 3:55:32
  Speaker 1: go down with you donkeys of the rice fields. Lay
• 3:55:36
  Speaker 1: your beast alongside to my and let him prod with
• 3:55:39
  Speaker 1: his tusks. By all the gods of the hills, these
• 3:55:42
  Speaker 1: new elephants are possessed, or else they can smell their
• 3:55:45
  Speaker 1: companions in the jungle. Colin Nag hit the new elephant
• 3:55:49
  Speaker 1: in the ribs and knocked the wind out of him.
• 3:55:52
  Speaker 1: As Big too I said, we have swept the hills
• 3:55:54
  Speaker 1: of wild elephants at the last catch. It is only
• 3:55:58
  Speaker 1: your carelessness in driving. Must I keep order along the
• 3:56:02
  Speaker 1: whole line? Hear him, said the other driver, We have
• 3:56:06
  Speaker 1: swept the hills. Ho ho, you are very wise, you
• 3:56:12
  Speaker 1: plains people. Any One but a mudhead who never saw
• 3:56:16
  Speaker 1: the jungle would know that. They know that the drives
• 3:56:19
  Speaker 1: are ended for the season. Therefore all the wild elephants
• 3:56:22
  Speaker 1: tonight will But why should I waste wisdom on a
• 3:56:25
  Speaker 1: river turtle? What will they do? Little two Mike called out, Oh, hey,
• 3:56:31
  Speaker 1: little one, art thou there? Well, I will tell thee
• 3:56:36
  Speaker 1: for thou hast a cool head. They will dance. And
• 3:56:39
  Speaker 1: it behooves thy father, who has swept all the hills
• 3:56:42
  Speaker 1: of all the elephants, to double chain his pickets to night.
• 3:56:46
  Speaker 1: What talk is this? Said big two? My? For forty years,
• 3:56:51
  Speaker 1: father and son, we have tended elephants, and we have
• 3:56:54
  Speaker 1: never heard such moonshine about dances. Yes, but a plainsman
• 3:56:59
  Speaker 1: who lives in a hut knows only the four walls
• 3:57:01
  Speaker 1: of his hut. Well leave thy elephants unshackled tonight and
• 3:57:05
  Speaker 1: see what comes as for their dancing. I have seen
• 3:57:09
  Speaker 1: the place where the pre bap how many windings has
• 3:57:13
  Speaker 1: the Dihon river? Here is another ford, and we must
• 3:57:16
  Speaker 1: swim the calves. Stop still you behind there? And in
• 3:57:21
  Speaker 1: this way, talking and wrangling and splashing through the rivers.
• 3:57:25
  Speaker 1: They made their first march to a sort of receiving
• 3:57:27
  Speaker 1: camp for the new elephants, but they lost their tempers
• 3:57:31
  Speaker 1: long before they got there. Then the elephants were chained
• 3:57:35
  Speaker 1: by their hind legs to their big stumps of pickets,
• 3:57:38
  Speaker 1: and extra ropes were fitted to the new elephants, and
• 3:57:40
  Speaker 1: the fodder was piled before them, and the hill drivers
• 3:57:43
  Speaker 1: went back to Peterson saheb through the afternoon light, telling
• 3:57:46
  Speaker 1: the Plains drivers to be extra careful that night, and
• 3:57:50
  Speaker 1: laughing when the Plains drivers asked the reason. Little too
• 3:57:54
  Speaker 1: My attended to call a Nag's supper, and as evening fell,
• 3:57:57
  Speaker 1: wandered through the camp unspeakably in search of a tom tom.
• 3:58:02
  Speaker 1: When an Indian child's heart is full, he does not
• 3:58:05
  Speaker 1: run about and make a noise in an irregular fashion.
• 3:58:09
  Speaker 1: He sits down to a sort of revel all by himself.
• 3:58:13
  Speaker 1: And Little Tom had been spoken to by Peterson Sahib.
• 3:58:17
  Speaker 1: If he had not found what he wanted, I believe
• 3:58:19
  Speaker 1: he would have been ill. But the sweetmeat cellar in
• 3:58:22
  Speaker 1: the camp lent him a little tom tom, a drum
• 3:58:25
  Speaker 1: beaten with the flat of the hand, and he sat
• 3:58:27
  Speaker 1: down cross legged before Colin Nag as the stars began
• 3:58:31
  Speaker 1: to come out, the tom tom in his lap, and
• 3:58:33
  Speaker 1: he thumped, and he thumped, and he thumped, and the
• 3:58:36
  Speaker 1: more he thought of the great honor that had been
• 3:58:38
  Speaker 1: done to him, the more he thumped. All alone among
• 3:58:41
  Speaker 1: the elephant fodder. There was no tune and no words,
• 3:58:45
  Speaker 1: but the thumping made him happy. The new elephants strained
• 3:58:49
  Speaker 1: at their ropes and squealed and trumpeted from time to time,
• 3:58:52
  Speaker 1: and he could hear his mother in the camp hut,
• 3:58:54
  Speaker 1: putting his small brother to sleep with an old old
• 3:58:57
  Speaker 1: song about the great god Shiv, who once told all
• 3:59:01
  Speaker 1: the animals what they should eat. It is a very
• 3:59:04
  Speaker 1: soothing lullaby, and the first verse says Shiv, who poured
• 3:59:08
  Speaker 1: the harvest and made the winds to blow, sitting at
• 3:59:11
  Speaker 1: the doorways of a day of long ago, gave to
• 3:59:13
  Speaker 1: each his portion food and toil and fate. From the
• 3:59:16
  Speaker 1: king upon the gadid to the beggar at the gate,
• 3:59:20
  Speaker 1: all things made He Shiva, the preserver Mahadio, mahadio. He
• 3:59:27
  Speaker 1: made all thorn for the camel, fodder for the kind,
• 3:59:30
  Speaker 1: and mother's heart for sleepy head, O, little son of mine,
• 3:59:34
  Speaker 1: little too, my came in with a joyous tunka tunk
• 3:59:37
  Speaker 1: at the end of each verse, till he felt sleepy
• 3:59:39
  Speaker 1: and stretched himself on the fodder at Kalanag's side. At last,
• 3:59:44
  Speaker 1: the elephants began to lie down, one after another, as
• 3:59:47
  Speaker 1: is their custom, till only Kala Nag, at the right
• 3:59:50
  Speaker 1: of the line, was left standing up, and he rocked
• 3:59:52
  Speaker 1: slowly from side to side, his ears put forward to
• 3:59:55
  Speaker 1: listen to the night wind as it blew very slowly
• 3:59:58
  Speaker 1: across the hills. The air was full of all the
• 4:00:01
  Speaker 1: night noises that, taken together, make one big silence. The
• 4:00:05
  Speaker 1: click of one bamboo stem against the other, the rustle
• 4:00:08
  Speaker 1: of something alive in the undergrowth, the scratch and squawk
• 4:00:11
  Speaker 1: of a half waked bird. Birds are awake in the
• 4:00:14
  Speaker 1: night much more often than we imagine, and the fall
• 4:00:17
  Speaker 1: of water, ever so far away. Little two I slept
• 4:00:20
  Speaker 1: for some time, and when he waked, it was brilliant moonlight,
• 4:00:24
  Speaker 1: and Colin Nag was still standing up with his ears cocked.
• 4:00:28
  Speaker 1: Little two I turned rustling in the fodder and watched
• 4:00:31
  Speaker 1: the curve of his big back against half the stars
• 4:00:33
  Speaker 1: in heaven. And while he watched, he heard so far
• 4:00:36
  Speaker 1: away that it sounded no more than a pin hole
• 4:00:38
  Speaker 1: of noise pricked through the stillness, the hutut of a
• 4:00:42
  Speaker 1: wild elephant all the elephants in the lines jumped up
• 4:00:46
  Speaker 1: as if they had been shot, and their grunts at
• 4:00:48
  Speaker 1: last waked the sleeping the houts, and they came out
• 4:00:51
  Speaker 1: and drove in the picket pegs with big mallets, and
• 4:00:53
  Speaker 1: tightened this rope and knotted that till all was quiet.
• 4:00:57
  Speaker 1: One new elephant had nearly grubbed up his picket, and
• 4:01:00
  Speaker 1: Big two Mike took off Kola Nag's leg chain and
• 4:01:03
  Speaker 1: shackled that elephant four foot to hindfoot, but slipped a
• 4:01:06
  Speaker 1: loop of grass string round Kolanagg's leg and told him
• 4:01:09
  Speaker 1: to remember that he was tied fast. He knew that
• 4:01:13
  Speaker 1: he and his father and his grandfather had done the
• 4:01:15
  Speaker 1: very same thing hundreds of times before. Kola Nag did
• 4:01:19
  Speaker 1: not answer to the order by gurgling, as he usually did.
• 4:01:23
  Speaker 1: He stood still, looking out across the moonlight, his head
• 4:01:26
  Speaker 1: a little raised, and his ears spread like fans up
• 4:01:29
  Speaker 1: to the great folds of the Garo Hills. Ten to
• 4:01:33
  Speaker 1: him if he grows restless in the night, said Big
• 4:01:35
  Speaker 1: Tumi to Little Tumai, and he went into the hut
• 4:01:38
  Speaker 1: and slept. Little Tumai was just going to sleep too,
• 4:01:42
  Speaker 1: when he heard the choir string snap with a little tang,
• 4:01:45
  Speaker 1: and Kola Nag rolled out of his pickets, as slowly
• 4:01:48
  Speaker 1: and as silently as a cloud rolls out of the
• 4:01:51
  Speaker 1: mouth of a valley. Little two Mike pattered after him, barefooted,
• 4:01:56
  Speaker 1: down the road in the moonlight, calling under his breath,
• 4:01:59
  Speaker 1: Kola Nag, coll A Nag, Take me with you, oh,
• 4:02:03
  Speaker 1: col A Nag. The elephant turned without a sound, took
• 4:02:08
  Speaker 1: three strides back to the boy in the moonlight, put
• 4:02:10
  Speaker 1: down his trunk, swung him up to his neck, and
• 4:02:13
  Speaker 1: almost before Little two I had settled his knees slipped
• 4:02:16
  Speaker 1: into the forest. There was one blast of furious trumpeting
• 4:02:20
  Speaker 1: from the lines, and then the silence shut down on everything,
• 4:02:24
  Speaker 1: and Colin Nag began to move. Sometimes a tuft of
• 4:02:28
  Speaker 1: high grass washed along his sides as a wave washes
• 4:02:31
  Speaker 1: along the sides of a ship, and sometimes a cluster
• 4:02:34
  Speaker 1: of wild pepper vines would scrape along his back, or
• 4:02:37
  Speaker 1: a bamboo would creak where his shoulder touched it. But
• 4:02:40
  Speaker 1: between those times he moved absolutely without any sound, drifting
• 4:02:44
  Speaker 1: through the thick garrow forest as though it had been smoke.
• 4:02:48
  Speaker 1: He was going up hill. But though Little two I
• 4:02:50
  Speaker 1: watched the stars in the rifts of the trees. He
• 4:02:53
  Speaker 1: could not tell in what direction. Then Cola Nag reached
• 4:02:57
  Speaker 1: the crest of the ascent and stopped for a minute,
• 4:02:59
  Speaker 1: and Little Tumi could see the tops of the trees
• 4:03:02
  Speaker 1: lying all speckled and furry under the moonlight for miles
• 4:03:05
  Speaker 1: and miles, and the blue white mist over the river.
• 4:03:07
  Speaker 1: In the hollow. Two my leaned forward and looked, and
• 4:03:11
  Speaker 1: he felt that the forest was awake below him, awake
• 4:03:14
  Speaker 1: and alive and crowded. A big brown fruit eating bat
• 4:03:18
  Speaker 1: brushed past his ear. A porcupine's quills rattled in the thicket,
• 4:03:22
  Speaker 1: and in the darkness between the tree stems, he heard
• 4:03:24
  Speaker 1: a hogbear digging heart in the moist warm earth, and
• 4:03:27
  Speaker 1: snuffing as it digged. Then the branches closed over his
• 4:03:31
  Speaker 1: head again, and Cola Nag began to go down into
• 4:03:34
  Speaker 1: the valley, not quietly this time, but as a runaway
• 4:03:37
  Speaker 1: gun goes down a steep bank in one rush. The
• 4:03:41
  Speaker 1: huge limbs moved as steadily as pistons, eight feet to
• 4:03:45
  Speaker 1: each stride, and the wrinkled skin of the elbow points rustled.
• 4:03:49
  Speaker 1: The undergrowth on either side of him, ripped with a
• 4:03:52
  Speaker 1: noise like torn canvas, and the saplings that he heaved
• 4:03:55
  Speaker 1: away right and left with his shoulders sprang back again
• 4:03:57
  Speaker 1: and banged him on the flank. And great trails of creepers,
• 4:04:00
  Speaker 1: all matted together, hung from his tusks as he threw
• 4:04:03
  Speaker 1: his head from side to side and plowed out his pathway.
• 4:04:07
  Speaker 1: Then little two May laid himself down close to the
• 4:04:10
  Speaker 1: great neck, lest a swinging bough should sweep him to
• 4:04:12
  Speaker 1: the ground, and he wished that he were back in
• 4:04:15
  Speaker 1: the lines again zero zero one zero of the grass
• 4:04:19
  Speaker 1: began to get squashy, and Kala Nag's feet sucked and
• 4:04:22
  Speaker 1: squelched as he put them down, and the night mist
• 4:04:25
  Speaker 1: at the bottom of the valley chilled little Tumi. There
• 4:04:28
  Speaker 1: was a splash in a trample and the rush of
• 4:04:30
  Speaker 1: running water, and Kola Nag strode through the bed of
• 4:04:33
  Speaker 1: a river, feeling his way at each step, above the
• 4:04:37
  Speaker 1: noise of the water as it swirled round the elephant's legs.
• 4:04:41
  Speaker 1: Little two Mike could hear more splashing and some trumpeting,
• 4:04:44
  Speaker 1: both upstream and down, great grunts and angry snortings, and
• 4:04:48
  Speaker 1: all the mist about him seemed to be full of rolling,
• 4:04:50
  Speaker 1: wavy shadows. A I, he said, half aloud, his teeth chattering.
• 4:04:57
  Speaker 1: The elephant folk are out tonight. It is the dance.
• 4:05:01
  Speaker 1: Then Colin Nag swashed out of the water, blew his
• 4:05:05
  Speaker 1: trunk clear, and began another climb. But this time he
• 4:05:09
  Speaker 1: was not alone, and he had not to make his
• 4:05:11
  Speaker 1: path that was made already six feet wide in front
• 4:05:15
  Speaker 1: of him, where the bent jungle grass was trying to
• 4:05:18
  Speaker 1: recover itself and stand up. Many elephants must have gone
• 4:05:22
  Speaker 1: that way only a few minutes before. Little toome I
• 4:05:25
  Speaker 1: looked back, and behind him, a great wild tusker, with
• 4:05:28
  Speaker 1: his little pig's eyes glowing like hot coals, was just
• 4:05:31
  Speaker 1: lifting himself out of the misty river. Then the trees
• 4:05:35
  Speaker 1: closed up again, and they went on and up, with
• 4:05:38
  Speaker 1: trumpetings and crashings and the sound of breaking branches on
• 4:05:41
  Speaker 1: every side of them. Five thousand, three hundred and seventeen
• 4:05:46
  Speaker 1: Elephant Dance. At last, Colin Nag stood still between two
• 4:05:49
  Speaker 1: tree trunks at the very top of the hill. They
• 4:05:52
  Speaker 1: were part of a circle of trees that grew round
• 4:05:54
  Speaker 1: an irregular space of some three or four acres, And
• 4:05:58
  Speaker 1: in all that space, as Little two I could see,
• 4:06:01
  Speaker 1: the ground had been trampled down as hard as a
• 4:06:03
  Speaker 1: brick floor. Some trees grew in the center of the clearing,
• 4:06:07
  Speaker 1: but their bark was rubbed away, and the white wood
• 4:06:10
  Speaker 1: beneath showed all shiny and polished. In the patches of moonlight.
• 4:06:14
  Speaker 1: There were creepers hanging from the upper branches, and the
• 4:06:17
  Speaker 1: bells of the flowers of the creepers. Great waxy white
• 4:06:20
  Speaker 1: things like convolvuluses, hung down fast asleep. But within the
• 4:06:25
  Speaker 1: limits of the clearing there was not a single blade
• 4:06:27
  Speaker 1: of green, nothing but the trampled earth. The moonlight showed
• 4:06:31
  Speaker 1: it all iron gray, except where some elephants stood upon it,
• 4:06:35
  Speaker 1: and their shadows were inky black. Little twome I looked
• 4:06:39
  Speaker 1: holding his breath, with his eyes starting out of his head,
• 4:06:42
  Speaker 1: and as he looked, more and more and more elephants
• 4:06:44
  Speaker 1: swung out into the open from between the tree trunks.
• 4:06:48
  Speaker 1: Little two my could only count up to ten, and
• 4:06:51
  Speaker 1: he counted again and again on his fingers till he
• 4:06:53
  Speaker 1: lost count of the tens, and his head began to swim.
• 4:06:57
  Speaker 1: Outside the clearing, He could hear them crashing in the
• 4:06:59
  Speaker 1: under growth as they worked their way up the hillside,
• 4:07:02
  Speaker 1: but as soon as they were within the circle of
• 4:07:04
  Speaker 1: the tree trunks, they moved like ghosts. There were white,
• 4:07:07
  Speaker 1: tussed wild males with fallen leaves and nuts and twigs
• 4:07:11
  Speaker 1: lying in the wrinkles of their necks, in the folds
• 4:07:13
  Speaker 1: of their ears, fat, slow footed she elephants with restless,
• 4:07:17
  Speaker 1: little pinky black calves only three or four feet high,
• 4:07:20
  Speaker 1: running under their stomachs. Young elephants with their tusks just
• 4:07:24
  Speaker 1: beginning to show, and very proud of them. Lanky, scraggy,
• 4:07:28
  Speaker 1: old made elephants with their hollow, anxious faces and trunks
• 4:07:32
  Speaker 1: like rough bark, savage old bull elephants, scarred from shoulder
• 4:07:36
  Speaker 1: to flank, with great wheels and cuts of bygone fights,
• 4:07:39
  Speaker 1: and the caked dirt of their solitary mud baths dropping
• 4:07:42
  Speaker 1: from their shoulders. And there was one with a broken
• 4:07:45
  Speaker 1: tusk in the marks of the full stroke, the terrible
• 4:07:48
  Speaker 1: drawing scrape of a tiger's claws on his side. They
• 4:07:51
  Speaker 1: were standing head to head, or walking to and fro
• 4:07:54
  Speaker 1: across the ground in couples, or rocking and swaying all
• 4:07:57
  Speaker 1: by themselves. Scores and scores of elle elephants too. Mine
• 4:08:02
  Speaker 1: knew that so long as he lay still on Cola
• 4:08:04
  Speaker 1: Nag's neck, nothing would happen to him, For even in
• 4:08:07
  Speaker 1: the rush and scramble of a cada drive, a wild
• 4:08:09
  Speaker 1: elephant does not reach up with his trunk and drag
• 4:08:12
  Speaker 1: a man off the neck of a tame elephant. And
• 4:08:15
  Speaker 1: these elephants were not thinking of men that night. Once
• 4:08:19
  Speaker 1: they started and put their ears forward when they heard
• 4:08:21
  Speaker 1: the chinking of a leg iron in the forest. But
• 4:08:23
  Speaker 1: it was Pudmeny, Peterson Sahib's pet elephant. Her chains snapped
• 4:08:27
  Speaker 1: short off, grunting, snuffling up the hillside. She must have
• 4:08:32
  Speaker 1: broken her pickets and come straight from Peterson Sahib's camp.
• 4:08:35
  Speaker 1: And Little two I saw another elephant, one that he
• 4:08:38
  Speaker 1: did not know, with deep rope galls on his back
• 4:08:41
  Speaker 1: and breast. He too, must have run away from some
• 4:08:45
  Speaker 1: camp in the hills. About at last there was no
• 4:08:48
  Speaker 1: sound of any more elephants moving in the forest, and
• 4:08:51
  Speaker 1: Colin Nag rolled out from his station between the trees
• 4:08:54
  Speaker 1: and went into the middle of the crowd, clucking and gurgling,
• 4:08:57
  Speaker 1: And all the elephants began to talk in their own
• 4:08:59
  Speaker 1: tongue and to move about. Zero two seven one Little
• 4:09:04
  Speaker 1: to my looked down upon scores and scores of broad
• 4:09:06
  Speaker 1: backs still lying down. Little too Mai looked down upon
• 4:09:11
  Speaker 1: scores and scores of broad backs and wagging ears and
• 4:09:15
  Speaker 1: tossing trunks and little rolling eyes. He heard the click
• 4:09:19
  Speaker 1: of tusks as they crossed other tusks by accident, and
• 4:09:22
  Speaker 1: the dry rustle of trunks twined together, and the chafing
• 4:09:25
  Speaker 1: of enormous sides and shoulders in the crowd, and the
• 4:09:28
  Speaker 1: incessant flick and hish of the great tails. Then a
• 4:09:32
  Speaker 1: cloud came over the moon, and he sat in black darkness,
• 4:09:36
  Speaker 1: but the quiet, steady hustling and pushing and gurgling went
• 4:09:39
  Speaker 1: on just the same. He knew that there were elephants
• 4:09:43
  Speaker 1: all round Colonnag, and that there was no chance of
• 4:09:45
  Speaker 1: backing him out of the assembly, so he set his
• 4:09:48
  Speaker 1: teeth and shivered. In a cada at least there was
• 4:09:51
  Speaker 1: torchlight and shouting, But here he was all alone in
• 4:09:54
  Speaker 1: the dark. And once a trunk came up and touched
• 4:09:57
  Speaker 1: him on the knee, then an elephant trumpeting, and they
• 4:10:00
  Speaker 1: all took it up for five or ten terrible seconds.
• 4:10:04
  Speaker 1: The dew from the trees above spattered down like rain
• 4:10:07
  Speaker 1: on the unseen backs, and a dull, booming noise began,
• 4:10:10
  Speaker 1: not very loud at first, and little Tumi could not
• 4:10:13
  Speaker 1: tell what it was, but it grew and grew, and
• 4:10:17
  Speaker 1: Colin Nag lifted up one fore foot and then the other,
• 4:10:20
  Speaker 1: and brought them down on the ground, one too, one too,
• 4:10:23
  Speaker 1: as steadily as trip hammers. The elephants were stamping all
• 4:10:28
  Speaker 1: together now, and it sounded like a war drum beaten
• 4:10:31
  Speaker 1: at the mouth of a cave. The dew fell from
• 4:10:34
  Speaker 1: the trees till there was no more left to fall,
• 4:10:36
  Speaker 1: and the booming went on, and the ground rocked and shivered,
• 4:10:39
  Speaker 1: and little two May put his hands up to his
• 4:10:41
  Speaker 1: ears to shut out the sound. But it was all
• 4:10:45
  Speaker 1: one gigantic jar that ran through him, this stamp of
• 4:10:48
  Speaker 1: hundreds of heavy feet on the raw earth. Once or
• 4:10:51
  Speaker 1: twice he could feel Colin Nag and all the others
• 4:10:54
  Speaker 1: surged forward a few strides, and the thumping would change
• 4:10:57
  Speaker 1: to the crushing sound of juicy green things being bruised.
• 4:11:00
  Speaker 1: But in a minute or two the boom of feet
• 4:11:02
  Speaker 1: on hard earth began again. A tree was creaking and
• 4:11:06
  Speaker 1: groaning somewhere near him. He put out his arm and
• 4:11:10
  Speaker 1: felt the bark, but Kala Nagg moved forward, still tramping,
• 4:11:14
  Speaker 1: and he could not tell where he was in the clearing.
• 4:11:17
  Speaker 1: There was no sound from the elephants, except once when
• 4:11:20
  Speaker 1: two or three little calves squeaked together. Then he heard
• 4:11:24
  Speaker 1: a thump and a shuffle, and the booming went on.
• 4:11:28
  Speaker 1: It must have lasted fully two hours, and Little Twomight
• 4:11:31
  Speaker 1: ached in every nerve, but he knew by the smell
• 4:11:34
  Speaker 1: of the night air that the dawn was coming. The
• 4:11:37
  Speaker 1: morning broke in one sheet of pale yellow behind the
• 4:11:39
  Speaker 1: green hills, and the booming stopped with the first ray,
• 4:11:43
  Speaker 1: as though the light had been in order before Little
• 4:11:46
  Speaker 1: Toomi had got the ringing out of his head. Before
• 4:11:49
  Speaker 1: even he had shifted his position, there was not an
• 4:11:51
  Speaker 1: elephant in sight except Kala nag Pudmany and the elephant
• 4:11:55
  Speaker 1: with the rope gulls. And there was neither sign, nor rustle,
• 4:11:58
  Speaker 1: nor whispered down the hills to show where the others
• 4:12:01
  Speaker 1: had gone. Little to My stared again and again the
• 4:12:06
  Speaker 1: clearing as he remembered it, had grown in the night.
• 4:12:10
  Speaker 1: More trees stood in the middle of it, but the
• 4:12:12
  Speaker 1: undergrowth and the jungle grass at the sides had been
• 4:12:14
  Speaker 1: rolled back. Little to My stared once more. Now he
• 4:12:19
  Speaker 1: understood the trampling the elephants had stamped out more room,
• 4:12:24
  Speaker 1: had stamped the thick grass and juicy cane to trash,
• 4:12:27
  Speaker 1: the trash into slivers, the slivers into tiny fibers, and
• 4:12:31
  Speaker 1: the fibers into hard earth. Wah said little to my
• 4:12:35
  Speaker 1: and his eyes were very heavy. Call a Nag, my lord.
• 4:12:39
  Speaker 1: Let us keep by pudmany and go to Peterson Saheb's camp,
• 4:12:43
  Speaker 1: or I shall drop from thy neck. The third elephant
• 4:12:46
  Speaker 1: watched the two go away, snorted, wheeled round, and took
• 4:12:50
  Speaker 1: his own path. He may have belonged to some little
• 4:12:53
  Speaker 1: native king's establishment fifty or sixty or one hundred miles away.
• 4:12:58
  Speaker 1: Two hours later, as Peterson Sahib was eating early breakfast,
• 4:13:02
  Speaker 1: his elephants, who had been double chained that night, began
• 4:13:06
  Speaker 1: to trumpet, and Pudminy mired to the shoulders, with Kala Nag,
• 4:13:10
  Speaker 1: very footsore, shambled into the camp. Little Tomai's face was gray, pinched,
• 4:13:15
  Speaker 1: and his hair was full of leaves and drenched with dew.
• 4:13:18
  Speaker 1: But he tried to salute Peterson Sahib and cried faintly
• 4:13:22
  Speaker 1: the dance, the elephant dance. I have seen it, and
• 4:13:26
  Speaker 1: I die. As Kala Nag sat down he slid off
• 4:13:30
  Speaker 1: his neck in a dead faint, but since native children
• 4:13:34
  Speaker 1: have no nerves worth speaking of, in two hours he
• 4:13:37
  Speaker 1: was lying very contentedly in Peterson Sahib's hammock, with Peterson
• 4:13:41
  Speaker 1: Sahib's shooting coat under his head, and a glass of
• 4:13:44
  Speaker 1: warm milk a little brandy with a dash of quinine
• 4:13:47
  Speaker 1: inside of him, And while the old harry scarred hunters
• 4:13:51
  Speaker 1: of the Jungles sat three deep before him, looking at
• 4:13:54
  Speaker 1: him as though he were a spirit. He told his
• 4:13:57
  Speaker 1: tale in short words as a child will, and wound
• 4:14:00
  Speaker 1: up with. Now, if I lie in one word, send
• 4:14:03
  Speaker 1: men to sea, and they will find that the elephant
• 4:14:05
  Speaker 1: folk have trampled down more room in their dance room.
• 4:14:08
  Speaker 1: And they will find ten and ten and many times
• 4:14:11
  Speaker 1: ten tracks leading to that dance room. They made more
• 4:14:15
  Speaker 1: room with their feet. I have seen it. Colin Nag
• 4:14:19
  Speaker 1: took me, and I saw also Colin Nag is very
• 4:14:23
  Speaker 1: leg weary, little too. My lay back and slept all
• 4:14:27
  Speaker 1: through the long afternoon and into the twilight. And while
• 4:14:30
  Speaker 1: he slept, Peterson Sahib and Macua Appa followed the track
• 4:14:33
  Speaker 1: of the two elephants for fifteen miles across the hills,
• 4:14:37
  Speaker 1: Peterson Sahib had spent eighteen years in catching elephants, and
• 4:14:41
  Speaker 1: he had only once before found such a dance place.
• 4:14:45
  Speaker 1: Macua Appa had no need to look twice at the
• 4:14:47
  Speaker 1: clearing to see what had been done there, or to
• 4:14:49
  Speaker 1: scratch with his toe in the pact ran to earth.
• 4:14:53
  Speaker 1: The child speaks truth, said he. All this was done
• 4:14:57
  Speaker 1: last night, and I have counted seventy tracks crossing the river.
• 4:15:02
  Speaker 1: See Sahib, where Pudminy's leg iron cut the bark of
• 4:15:05
  Speaker 1: that tree. Yes, she was there too. They looked at
• 4:15:10
  Speaker 1: one another, and up and down, and they wondered, for
• 4:15:13
  Speaker 1: the ways of elephants are beyond the wit of any man,
• 4:15:16
  Speaker 1: black or white to fathom. Forty years and five, said
• 4:15:20
  Speaker 1: macua Appa. Have I followed my lord the elephant, But
• 4:15:24
  Speaker 1: never have I heard that any child of man had
• 4:15:26
  Speaker 1: seen what this child has seen. By all the gods
• 4:15:30
  Speaker 1: of the hills, it is what can we say? And
• 4:15:33
  Speaker 1: he shook his head. When they got back to camp,
• 4:15:36
  Speaker 1: it was time for the evening meal. Peterson Sahib ate
• 4:15:40
  Speaker 1: alone in his tent, but he gave orders that the
• 4:15:42
  Speaker 1: camp should have two sheep and some fowls, as well
• 4:15:45
  Speaker 1: as a double ration of flour and rice and salt,
• 4:15:48
  Speaker 1: for he knew that there would be a feast. Five thousand,
• 4:15:51
  Speaker 1: three hundred thirty two to Ma of the elephants, Big
• 4:15:54
  Speaker 1: to My had come up hot foot from the camp
• 4:15:56
  Speaker 1: in the plains to search for his son and his elephant,
• 4:15:59
  Speaker 1: And now now that he had found them, he looked
• 4:16:01
  Speaker 1: at them as though he were afraid of them both.
• 4:16:04
  Speaker 1: And there was a feast by the blazing camp fires
• 4:16:06
  Speaker 1: in front of the lines of picketed elephants, and little
• 4:16:09
  Speaker 1: Tomi was the hero of it all. And the big
• 4:16:13
  Speaker 1: brown elephant catchers, the trackers and drivers and ropers, and
• 4:16:17
  Speaker 1: the men who know all the secrets of breaking the
• 4:16:19
  Speaker 1: wildest elephants passed him from one to the other, and
• 4:16:22
  Speaker 1: they marked his forehead with blood from the breast of
• 4:16:24
  Speaker 1: a newly killed jungle cock, to show that he was
• 4:16:27
  Speaker 1: a forester, initiated and free of all the jungles. And
• 4:16:31
  Speaker 1: at last, when the flames died down, and the red
• 4:16:34
  Speaker 1: light of the logs made the elephants look as though
• 4:16:36
  Speaker 1: they had been dipped in blood too, Macua Appa, the
• 4:16:39
  Speaker 1: head of all the drivers of all the cadis Macua
• 4:16:42
  Speaker 1: Appa Peterson Sahib's other self, who had never seen a
• 4:16:46
  Speaker 1: maid road in forty years. Macua Appa, who was so
• 4:16:50
  Speaker 1: great that he had no other name than macua Appa,
• 4:16:53
  Speaker 1: leaped to his feet, with little two my held high
• 4:16:56
  Speaker 1: in the air above his head, and shouted, listen, my brothers,
• 4:17:00
  Speaker 1: listen too, you, my lords, and the lines there, for
• 4:17:03
  Speaker 1: I macua Appa am speaking. This little one shall no
• 4:17:08
  Speaker 1: more be called little Tumai, but to may of the elephants,
• 4:17:11
  Speaker 1: as his great grandfather was called before him. What never
• 4:17:15
  Speaker 1: man has seen, he has seen through the long night,
• 4:17:18
  Speaker 1: and the favor of the elephant folk and of the
• 4:17:20
  Speaker 1: gods of the jungles is with him. He shall become
• 4:17:23
  Speaker 1: a great tracker. He shall become greater than I, even
• 4:17:27
  Speaker 1: I macua Appa. He shall follow the new trail, and
• 4:17:31
  Speaker 1: the stale trail, and the mixed trail with a clear eye.
• 4:17:35
  Speaker 1: He shall take no harm in the cada when he
• 4:17:37
  Speaker 1: runs under their bellies to rope the wild tuskers. And
• 4:17:40
  Speaker 1: if he slips before the feet of the charging bull elephant,
• 4:17:43
  Speaker 1: the bull elephant shall know who he is and shall
• 4:17:46
  Speaker 1: not crush him. A Ai, my lords. In the chains,
• 4:17:51
  Speaker 1: he whirled up the line of pickets. Here is the
• 4:17:53
  Speaker 1: little one that has seen your dances in your hidden places,
• 4:17:56
  Speaker 1: the sight that never man saw. Give him honor, my lords,
• 4:18:01
  Speaker 1: salom karo, my children, make your salute to Tumai of
• 4:18:05
  Speaker 1: the elephants Gungha purshad Aha. Here a gooj birchie, good
• 4:18:12
  Speaker 1: cuttar guj Aha, pudminy. Thou hast seen him at the dance,
• 4:18:17
  Speaker 1: and thou too call a nag my pearl among elephants
• 4:18:20
  Speaker 1: Aha together to Tumi of the elephants, bar rao zero
• 4:18:27
  Speaker 1: two seven nine, to Tumi of the Elephants, bar rau.
• 4:18:33
  Speaker 1: And at that last wild yelled. The whole line, flung
• 4:18:35
  Speaker 1: up their trunks till the tips touched their foreheads, and
• 4:18:38
  Speaker 1: broke out into the full salute, the crashing trump appeal
• 4:18:41
  Speaker 1: that only the Viceroy of India hears the salamet of
• 4:18:44
  Speaker 1: the cada. But it was all for the sake of
• 4:18:47
  Speaker 1: little Tumai, who had seen what never man had seen before,
• 4:18:51
  Speaker 1: the dance of the elephants at night and alone in
• 4:18:54
  Speaker 1: the heart of the Garo hills. Shiv and the grasshopper,
• 4:18:58
  Speaker 1: the song that Tumai's mother sang to baby Shiv, who
• 4:19:01
  Speaker 1: poured the harvest and made the winds to blow, sitting
• 4:19:04
  Speaker 1: at the doorways of a day of long ago, gave
• 4:19:07
  Speaker 1: to each his portion food and toil and fate. From
• 4:19:10
  Speaker 1: the king upon the gadi to the beggar at the gate,
• 4:19:13
  Speaker 1: all things made he Shiva the preserver, Mahaio mahario. He
• 4:19:20
  Speaker 1: made all thorn for the camel, fodder for the kind,
• 4:19:24
  Speaker 1: and mother's heart for sleepy head, O, little son of mine.
• 4:19:28
  Speaker 1: Weak he gave to rich folk, millet to the poor,
• 4:19:31
  Speaker 1: broken scraps for holy men that beg from door to door,
• 4:19:34
  Speaker 1: battle to the tiger, carry into the kite, and rags
• 4:19:37
  Speaker 1: and bones to wicked wolves. Without the wall at night,
• 4:19:41
  Speaker 1: nought he found too lofty, none he saw too low.
• 4:19:44
  Speaker 1: Her body beside him, watched them come and go. Thought
• 4:19:47
  Speaker 1: to cheat her husband, turning shive to jest, stole the
• 4:19:50
  Speaker 1: little grasshopper and hid it in her breast. So she
• 4:19:54
  Speaker 1: tricked him, Shiva the Preserver, Mahadio mahatio, Turn and see
• 4:20:02
  Speaker 1: tall are the camels, heavy are the kind. But this
• 4:20:05
  Speaker 1: was least of little things, O, little son of mine.
• 4:20:08
  Speaker 1: When the dole was ended, laughingly, she said, master of
• 4:20:12
  Speaker 1: a million mouths, is not one unfed. Laughing Shive made answer.
• 4:20:17
  Speaker 1: All have had their part, even he the little one
• 4:20:20
  Speaker 1: hidden neath thy heart, from her breast, she plucked it parbody.
• 4:20:25
  Speaker 1: The thief saw the least of little things, not a
• 4:20:27
  Speaker 1: new grown leaf, saw and feared and wondered, making prayer
• 4:20:32
  Speaker 1: to Shiv, who hath surely given meat to all that live.
• 4:20:36
  Speaker 1: All things made he Shiva, the preserver, Mahadio, Mahadio, He
• 4:20:43
  Speaker 1: made all thorn for the camel, fodder for the kind,
• 4:20:46
  Speaker 1: and mother's heart for sleepy head, O, little son of
• 4:20:49
  Speaker 1: mine zero two eight five, O her Majesty's servants. You
• 4:20:54
  Speaker 1: can work it out by fractions or by simple rule
• 4:20:56
  Speaker 1: of three. But the way of tweedle dumb is not
• 4:20:59
  Speaker 1: the way of twet. You can twist it, you can
• 4:21:02
  Speaker 1: turn it, you can plait it till you drop. But
• 4:21:05
  Speaker 1: the way of pilly winkies not the way of winkie pop.
• 4:21:08
  Speaker 1: It had been raining heavily for one whole month, raining
• 4:21:11
  Speaker 1: on a camp of thirty thousand men and thousands of camels, elephants, horses,
• 4:21:16
  Speaker 1: bullocks and mules, all gathered together at a place called
• 4:21:19
  Speaker 1: Ravol Pindi to be reviewed by the Viceroy of India.
• 4:21:23
  Speaker 1: He was receiving a visit from the Emir of Afghanistan,
• 4:21:27
  Speaker 1: a wild king of a very wild country. The Emir
• 4:21:31
  Speaker 1: had brought with him for a bodyguard eight hundred men
• 4:21:33
  Speaker 1: and horses who had never seen a camp or a
• 4:21:35
  Speaker 1: locomotive before in their lives, savage men and savage horses
• 4:21:39
  Speaker 1: from somewhere at the back of Central Asia. Every night
• 4:21:43
  Speaker 1: a mob of these horses would be sure to break
• 4:21:45
  Speaker 1: their heel ropes and stampede up and down the camp
• 4:21:47
  Speaker 1: through the mud in the dark. Or the camels would
• 4:21:50
  Speaker 1: break loose and run about and fall over the ropes
• 4:21:52
  Speaker 1: of the tents, and you can imagine how pleasant that
• 4:21:55
  Speaker 1: was for men trying to go to sleep. My tent
• 4:21:58
  Speaker 1: lay far away from the camel lines, and I thought
• 4:22:00
  Speaker 1: it was safe. But one night a man popped his
• 4:22:03
  Speaker 1: head in and shouted, get out quick, they're coming. My
• 4:22:09
  Speaker 1: tent's gone. I knew who they were, so I put
• 4:22:12
  Speaker 1: on my boots and waterproof and scuttled out into the slush.
• 4:22:17
  Speaker 1: Little Vixen, my fox terrier, went out through the other side.
• 4:22:21
  Speaker 1: And then there was a roaring in, a grunting and bubbling,
• 4:22:23
  Speaker 1: and I saw the tent cave in as the poles
• 4:22:26
  Speaker 1: snapped and begin to dance about like a mad ghost
• 4:22:30
  Speaker 1: a camel had blundered into it, and wet and angry
• 4:22:32
  Speaker 1: as I was, I could not help laughing. Then I
• 4:22:36
  Speaker 1: ran on because I did not know how many camels
• 4:22:39
  Speaker 1: might have got loose, And before long I was out
• 4:22:41
  Speaker 1: of sight of the camp, plowing my way through the
• 4:22:43
  Speaker 1: mud zero two eight seven. The camel had blundered into
• 4:22:48
  Speaker 1: my tent. At last I fell over the tail end
• 4:22:51
  Speaker 1: of a gun, and by that knew I was somewhere
• 4:22:53
  Speaker 1: near the artillery lines where the cannon were stacked at night.
• 4:22:57
  Speaker 1: As I did not want to plow to about any
• 4:22:59
  Speaker 1: more in a drizzle and the dark, I put my
• 4:23:02
  Speaker 1: waterproof over the muzzle of one gun and made a
• 4:23:04
  Speaker 1: sort of wigwam with two or three rammers that I found,
• 4:23:07
  Speaker 1: and lay along the tail of another gun, wondering where
• 4:23:10
  Speaker 1: Vixen had got to and where I might be. Just
• 4:23:14
  Speaker 1: as I was getting ready to go to sleep, I
• 4:23:16
  Speaker 1: heard a jingle of harness and a grunt, and a
• 4:23:18
  Speaker 1: mule past me, shaking his wet ears. He belonged to
• 4:23:22
  Speaker 1: a screw gun battery, for I could hear the rattle
• 4:23:24
  Speaker 1: of the straps and rings and chains and things on
• 4:23:27
  Speaker 1: his saddle pad. The screw guns are tiny little cannon
• 4:23:31
  Speaker 1: made in two pieces that are screwed together when the
• 4:23:33
  Speaker 1: time comes to use them. They are taken up mountains
• 4:23:37
  Speaker 1: anywhere that a mule can find the road, and they
• 4:23:39
  Speaker 1: are very useful for fighting in rocky country. Behind the
• 4:23:44
  Speaker 1: mule there was a camel with his big soft feet
• 4:23:46
  Speaker 1: squelching and slipping in a mud, and his neck bobbing
• 4:23:49
  Speaker 1: to and fro like a straight hen's. Luckily I knew
• 4:23:53
  Speaker 1: enough of beast language, not wild beast language, but camp
• 4:23:57
  Speaker 1: beast language, of course, from the natives, to know what
• 4:24:00
  Speaker 1: he was saying. He must have been the one that
• 4:24:03
  Speaker 1: flopped into my tent, for he called to the mule,
• 4:24:06
  Speaker 1: what shall I do? Where shall I go? I have
• 4:24:09
  Speaker 1: fought with a white thing that waved, and it took
• 4:24:12
  Speaker 1: a stick and hit me on the neck. That was
• 4:24:15
  Speaker 1: my broken tent pole, and I was very glad to
• 4:24:17
  Speaker 1: know it. Shall we run on? Oh? It was you,
• 4:24:22
  Speaker 1: said the mule, You and your friends that have been
• 4:24:24
  Speaker 1: disturbing the camp. All right, you'll be beaten for this
• 4:24:29
  Speaker 1: in the morning, but I may as well give you
• 4:24:32
  Speaker 1: something on account. Now. I heard the harnessed jingle as
• 4:24:35
  Speaker 1: the mule backed and caught the camel two kicks in
• 4:24:38
  Speaker 1: the ribs that rang like a drum. Another time he said,
• 4:24:42
  Speaker 1: you'll know better than to run through a mule battery
• 4:24:45
  Speaker 1: at night, shouting thieves and fire. Sit down and keep
• 4:24:49
  Speaker 1: your silly neck quiet. The camel doubled up camel fashion
• 4:24:53
  Speaker 1: like a two foot rule and sat down, whimpering. There
• 4:24:57
  Speaker 1: was a regular beat of hoofs in the darkness, and
• 4:25:00
  Speaker 1: a big troop horse cantered up as steadily as though
• 4:25:02
  Speaker 1: he were on parade, jumped a gun tail and landed
• 4:25:05
  Speaker 1: close to the mule. It's disgraceful, he said, blowing out
• 4:25:10
  Speaker 1: his nostrils. Those camels have racket through our lines again
• 4:25:14
  Speaker 1: the third time this week. How's a horse to keep
• 4:25:17
  Speaker 1: his condition if he isn't allowed to sleep? Who's here?
• 4:25:22
  Speaker 1: I'm the breech piece mule of number two gun of
• 4:25:24
  Speaker 1: the first screw battery, said the mule, and the others
• 4:25:27
  Speaker 1: one of your friends. He's wake me up too. Who
• 4:25:32
  Speaker 1: are you? Number fifteen E Troop ninth Lancers Dick Cunliff's horse.
• 4:25:38
  Speaker 1: Stand over a little there, Oh, beg your pardon, said
• 4:25:43
  Speaker 1: the mule. It's too dark to see much. Aren't these
• 4:25:47
  Speaker 1: camels too sickening for anything, I walked out of my
• 4:25:51
  Speaker 1: lines to get a little piece in quiet. Here, my lords,
• 4:25:55
  Speaker 1: said the camel, humbly. We dreamed bad dreams in the night,
• 4:25:58
  Speaker 1: and we were very much afraid. I am only a
• 4:26:01
  Speaker 1: baggage camel of the thirty ninth Native Infantry, and I
• 4:26:04
  Speaker 1: am not as brave as you are, my lords. Then
• 4:26:08
  Speaker 1: why didn't you stay and carry baggage for the thirty
• 4:26:11
  Speaker 1: ninth Native Infantry instead of running all round the camp?
• 4:26:14
  Speaker 1: Said the mule. They were such very bad dreams, said
• 4:26:18
  Speaker 1: the camel. I am sorry. Listen, what is that? Shall
• 4:26:25
  Speaker 1: we run on again? Sit down, said the mule, or
• 4:26:29
  Speaker 1: you'll snap your long stick legs between the guns. He
• 4:26:33
  Speaker 1: cocked one ear and listened. Bullocks, he said, gun, bullocks.
• 4:26:39
  Speaker 1: On my word, you and your friends have waked the
• 4:26:41
  Speaker 1: camp very thoroughly. It takes a good deal of prodding
• 4:26:45
  Speaker 1: to put up a gun. Bullock. I heard a chain
• 4:26:48
  Speaker 1: dragging along the ground, and a yoke of the great
• 4:26:51
  Speaker 1: sulky white bullocks that dragged the heavy siege guns. When
• 4:26:54
  Speaker 1: the elephants won't go any nearer to the firing came
• 4:26:56
  Speaker 1: shouldering along together and almost step on the chain was
• 4:27:00
  Speaker 1: another battery mule calling wildly for Billy. That's one of
• 4:27:05
  Speaker 1: our recruits, said the old mule to the troop horse.
• 4:27:09
  Speaker 1: He's calling for me here, youngster, Stop squealing. The dark
• 4:27:15
  Speaker 1: never hurt anybody yet. The gun bullocks lay down together
• 4:27:19
  Speaker 1: and began chewing the cut. But the young mule huddled
• 4:27:22
  Speaker 1: close to Billy. Things, he said, fearful and horrible, Billy,
• 4:27:28
  Speaker 1: they came into our lines while we were asleep. Jew
• 4:27:32
  Speaker 1: think they'll kill us. I've a very great mind to
• 4:27:35
  Speaker 1: give you a number one kicking, said Billy. The idea
• 4:27:39
  Speaker 1: of a fourteen hand mule with your training disgracing the
• 4:27:42
  Speaker 1: battery before this, gentleman gently, gently said the troop horse.
• 4:27:48
  Speaker 1: Remember they are always like this to begin with. The
• 4:27:51
  Speaker 1: first time I ever saw a man, it was in
• 4:27:54
  Speaker 1: Australia when I was a three year old. I ran
• 4:27:56
  Speaker 1: for half a day, and if I'd seen a camel,
• 4:27:59
  Speaker 1: I should have been running still. Nearly all our horses
• 4:28:02
  Speaker 1: for the English Cavalry are brought to India from Australia
• 4:28:05
  Speaker 1: and are broken in by the troopers themselves. True enough,
• 4:28:09
  Speaker 1: said Billy, Stop shaking, youngster. The first time they put
• 4:28:15
  Speaker 1: the full harness with all its chains on my back.
• 4:28:17
  Speaker 1: I stood on my fore legs and kicked every bit
• 4:28:20
  Speaker 1: of it off. I hadn't learned the real science of
• 4:28:23
  Speaker 1: kicking then, But the battery said they had never seen
• 4:28:26
  Speaker 1: anything like it. But this wasn't harness or anything that jingled,
• 4:28:30
  Speaker 1: said the young mule. You know, I don't mind that now, Billy.
• 4:28:35
  Speaker 1: It was things like trees. And they fell up and
• 4:28:38
  Speaker 1: down the lines and bubbled, and my head rope broke,
• 4:28:41
  Speaker 1: and I couldn't find my driver, and I couldn't find you, Billy,
• 4:28:44
  Speaker 1: So I ran off with with these gentlemen, hum, said Billy.
• 4:28:49
  Speaker 1: As soon as I heard the camels were loose, I
• 4:28:52
  Speaker 1: came away on my own account. When a battery a
• 4:28:55
  Speaker 1: screw gun mule calls gun bullocks, gentlemen, he must be
• 4:28:59
  Speaker 1: very badly shaken up. Who are you fellows on the
• 4:29:02
  Speaker 1: ground there? The gun bullocks rolled their cuds and answered
• 4:29:06
  Speaker 1: both together the seventh yoke of the first gun of
• 4:29:09
  Speaker 1: the big gun battery. We were asleep when the camels came,
• 4:29:13
  Speaker 1: but when we were trampled on, we got up and
• 4:29:15
  Speaker 1: walked away. It is better to lie quiet in the
• 4:29:18
  Speaker 1: mud than to be disturbed on good bedding, We told
• 4:29:22
  Speaker 1: your friend here that there was nothing to be afraid of.
• 4:29:24
  Speaker 1: But he knew so much that he thought otherwise. Wah.
• 4:29:29
  Speaker 1: They went on chewing. That comes of being afraid, said Billie.
• 4:29:35
  Speaker 1: You get laughed at by gun bullocks. I hope you
• 4:29:38
  Speaker 1: like it, young nun. The young mule's teeth snapped, and
• 4:29:42
  Speaker 1: I heard him say something about not being afraid of
• 4:29:45
  Speaker 1: any beefy old bullock in the world. But the bullocks
• 4:29:48
  Speaker 1: only clicked their horns together and went on chewing. Zero
• 4:29:52
  Speaker 1: two nine five. Anybody can be forgiven for being scared
• 4:29:56
  Speaker 1: in the night, said the troop horse. Now don't be
• 4:29:59
  Speaker 1: angry after you've been afraid. That's the worst kind of cowardice,
• 4:30:03
  Speaker 1: said the troop horse. Anybody can be forgiven for being
• 4:30:06
  Speaker 1: scared in the night. I think if they see things
• 4:30:09
  Speaker 1: they don't understand. We've broken out of our pickets again
• 4:30:13
  Speaker 1: and again, four hundred and fifty of us, just because
• 4:30:16
  Speaker 1: a new recruit got to telling tales of whip snakes
• 4:30:19
  Speaker 1: at home in Australia, till we were scared to death
• 4:30:21
  Speaker 1: of the loose ends of our head ropes. That's all
• 4:30:25
  Speaker 1: very well in camp, said Billy. I'm not above stampeding
• 4:30:29
  Speaker 1: myself for the fun of the thing when I haven't
• 4:30:31
  Speaker 1: been out for a day or two. But what do
• 4:30:34
  Speaker 1: you do on active service. Oh that's quite another set
• 4:30:38
  Speaker 1: of new shoes, said the troop horse. Dick cunlifts on
• 4:30:42
  Speaker 1: my back then and drives his knees into me. And
• 4:30:45
  Speaker 1: all I have to do is to watch where I
• 4:30:47
  Speaker 1: am putting my feet, and to keep my hind legs
• 4:30:50
  Speaker 1: well under me, and be bridle wise. What's bridle wise?
• 4:30:54
  Speaker 1: Said the young mule by the blue gums of the
• 4:30:57
  Speaker 1: back blocks snorted the troop horse. Do you mean to
• 4:31:00
  Speaker 1: say that you aren't taught to be bridle wise in
• 4:31:03
  Speaker 1: your business? How can you do anything unless you can
• 4:31:06
  Speaker 1: spin round at once? When the rain is pressed on
• 4:31:08
  Speaker 1: your neck. It means life or death to your man,
• 4:31:12
  Speaker 1: And of course that's life and death to you. Get
• 4:31:15
  Speaker 1: round with your hind legs under you the instant you
• 4:31:18
  Speaker 1: feel the rain on your neck. If you haven't room
• 4:31:21
  Speaker 1: to swing round, rear up a little and come round
• 4:31:23
  Speaker 1: on your hind legs, that's being bridle wise. We aren't
• 4:31:28
  Speaker 1: taught that way, said Billy the mule stiffly. We're taught
• 4:31:32
  Speaker 1: to obey the man at our head, step off when
• 4:31:35
  Speaker 1: he says so, and step in when he says so.
• 4:31:39
  Speaker 1: I suppose it comes to the same thing. Now, with
• 4:31:42
  Speaker 1: all this fine fancy business and rearing, which must be
• 4:31:45
  Speaker 1: very bad for your hocks, what do you do? That depends,
• 4:31:49
  Speaker 1: said the troop horse. Generally, I have to go in
• 4:31:52
  Speaker 1: among a lot of yelling, hairy men with knives, long
• 4:31:56
  Speaker 1: shiny knives worse than the ferrier's knives, and I have
• 4:31:59
  Speaker 1: to take care that Dick's boot is just touching the
• 4:32:01
  Speaker 1: next man's boot without crushing it. I can see Dick's
• 4:32:05
  Speaker 1: lance to the right of my right eye, and I
• 4:32:07
  Speaker 1: know I'm safe. I shouldn't care to be the man
• 4:32:11
  Speaker 1: or horse that stood up to Dick and me when
• 4:32:13
  Speaker 1: we're in a hurry. Don't the knives hurt, said the
• 4:32:16
  Speaker 1: young mule. Well, I got one cut across the chest once,
• 4:32:20
  Speaker 1: but that wasn't Dick's fault a lot. I should have
• 4:32:23
  Speaker 1: cared whose fault it was if it hurt, said the
• 4:32:26
  Speaker 1: young mule. You must, said the troop horse. If you
• 4:32:30
  Speaker 1: don't trust your man, you may as well run away
• 4:32:33
  Speaker 1: at once. That's what some of our horses do, and
• 4:32:36
  Speaker 1: I don't blame them. As I was saying it wasn't
• 4:32:40
  Speaker 1: Dick's fault. The man was lying on the ground, and
• 4:32:43
  Speaker 1: I stretched myself not to tread on him, and he
• 4:32:46
  Speaker 1: slashed up at me. Next time I have to go
• 4:32:49
  Speaker 1: over a man lying down, I shall step on him
• 4:32:52
  Speaker 1: hard zero two nine nine. The man was lying on
• 4:32:56
  Speaker 1: the ground, and I stretched myself not to tread on him,
• 4:32:59
  Speaker 1: and he slashed up at me. Hum, said Billy. It
• 4:33:03
  Speaker 1: sounds very foolish. Knives are dirty things at any time.
• 4:33:09
  Speaker 1: The proper thing to do is to climb up a
• 4:33:11
  Speaker 1: mountain with a well balanced saddle, hang on by all
• 4:33:14
  Speaker 1: four feet, in your ears too, and creep and crawl
• 4:33:16
  Speaker 1: and wriggle along till you come out hundreds of feet
• 4:33:19
  Speaker 1: above any one else, on a ledge where there's just
• 4:33:21
  Speaker 1: room enough for your hoofs. Then you stand still and
• 4:33:25
  Speaker 1: keep quiet. Never ask a man to hold your head,
• 4:33:28
  Speaker 1: young un, keep quiet while the guns are being put together,
• 4:33:31
  Speaker 1: And then you watch the little poppy shells drop down
• 4:33:34
  Speaker 1: into the tree tops ever so far below. Don't you
• 4:33:37
  Speaker 1: ever trip, said the troop horse. They say that when
• 4:33:41
  Speaker 1: a mule trips, you can split a hen's ear, said Billy.
• 4:33:45
  Speaker 1: Now and again, perhaps a badly packed saddle will upset
• 4:33:48
  Speaker 1: a mule, But it's very seldom. I wish I could
• 4:33:51
  Speaker 1: show you our business. It's beautiful. Why it took me
• 4:33:56
  Speaker 1: three years to find out what the men were driving
• 4:33:59
  Speaker 1: at the science of the thing is never to show
• 4:34:02
  Speaker 1: up against the sky line, because if you do, you
• 4:34:05
  Speaker 1: may get fired at. Remember that, young nun. Always keep
• 4:34:11
  Speaker 1: hidden as much as possible, even if you have to
• 4:34:13
  Speaker 1: go a mile out of your way. I lead the
• 4:34:16
  Speaker 1: battery when it comes to that sort of climbing fire at,
• 4:34:20
  Speaker 1: without the chance of running into the people who are firing.
• 4:34:23
  Speaker 1: Said the troop horse, thinking hard. I couldn't stand that
• 4:34:28
  Speaker 1: I should want to charge with dick. Oh no, you
• 4:34:32
  Speaker 1: wouldn't you know that as soon as the guns are
• 4:34:35
  Speaker 1: in position, they'll do all the charging. That's scientific and neat.
• 4:34:40
  Speaker 1: But knives pah. The baggage camel had been bobbing his
• 4:34:44
  Speaker 1: head to and fro for some time past, anxious to
• 4:34:47
  Speaker 1: get a word in edgewise. Then I heard him say,
• 4:34:51
  Speaker 1: as he cleared his throat nervously, I I I have
• 4:34:55
  Speaker 1: fought a little, but not in that climbing way or
• 4:34:57
  Speaker 1: that running way. No, now you mention it, said billy, ye.
• 4:35:03
  Speaker 1: Don't look as though you were made for climbing or
• 4:35:05
  Speaker 1: running much. Well, how was it, old hay bales, The
• 4:35:11
  Speaker 1: proper way, said the camel. We all sat down, Oh
• 4:35:15
  Speaker 1: my crupper and breastplate, said the troop horse under his breath.
• 4:35:20
  Speaker 1: Sat down, We sat down, a hundred of us. The
• 4:35:24
  Speaker 1: camel went on in a big square, and the men
• 4:35:27
  Speaker 1: piled our packs and saddles outside the square, and they
• 4:35:30
  Speaker 1: fired over our backs. The men did on all sides
• 4:35:34
  Speaker 1: of the square. What sort of men, any men that
• 4:35:38
  Speaker 1: came along, said the troop horse. They teach us in
• 4:35:42
  Speaker 1: riding school to lie down and let our masters fire
• 4:35:45
  Speaker 1: across us. But Dick Cunliffe is the only man I'd
• 4:35:48
  Speaker 1: trust to do that. It tickles my girths. And besides
• 4:35:52
  Speaker 1: I can't see with my head on the ground. What
• 4:35:55
  Speaker 1: does it matter who fires across you, said the camel.
• 4:35:59
  Speaker 1: There are plenty of men, and plenty of other camels
• 4:36:02
  Speaker 1: close by, and a great many clouds of smoke. I
• 4:36:06
  Speaker 1: am not frightened. Then I sit still and wait. And
• 4:36:10
  Speaker 1: yet said Billy, you dream bad dreams and upset the
• 4:36:14
  Speaker 1: camp at night. Well, well before I'd lie down, not
• 4:36:19
  Speaker 1: to speak of sitting down and let a man fire
• 4:36:21
  Speaker 1: across me, my heels and his head would have something
• 4:36:24
  Speaker 1: to say to each other. Did you ever hear anything
• 4:36:27
  Speaker 1: so awful as that? There was a long silence, and
• 4:36:31
  Speaker 1: then one of the gun bullocks lifted up his big
• 4:36:33
  Speaker 1: head and said, this is very foolish. Indeed, there is
• 4:36:37
  Speaker 1: only one way of fighting. Oh go on, said billy,
• 4:36:42
  Speaker 1: Please don't mind me. I suppose you fellows fight standing
• 4:36:46
  Speaker 1: on your tails. Only one way, said the two together.
• 4:36:51
  Speaker 1: They must have been twins. This is that way to
• 4:36:55
  Speaker 1: put all twenty yoke of us to the big gun.
• 4:36:57
  Speaker 1: As soon as two tails trumpets. Two tails is camp
• 4:37:01
  Speaker 1: slang for the elephant. What does two tails trumpet for?
• 4:37:06
  Speaker 1: Said the young mule, to show that he is not
• 4:37:09
  Speaker 1: going any nearer to the smoke on the other side.
• 4:37:13
  Speaker 1: Two tails is a great coward. Then we tug the
• 4:37:17
  Speaker 1: big gun all together. Haiha hullah, he yah hullah. We
• 4:37:23
  Speaker 1: do not climb like cats, nor run like calves. We
• 4:37:27
  Speaker 1: go across the level plain twenty yoke of us till
• 4:37:30
  Speaker 1: we are unyoked again, and we graze while the big
• 4:37:33
  Speaker 1: guns talk across the plain to some town with mud walls,
• 4:37:36
  Speaker 1: and pieces of the wall fall out and the dust
• 4:37:39
  Speaker 1: goes up as though many cattle were coming home. Oh,
• 4:37:43
  Speaker 1: and you choose that time for grazing, said the young mule.
• 4:37:47
  Speaker 1: That time or any other eating is always good. We
• 4:37:52
  Speaker 1: eat till we are yoked up again and tug the
• 4:37:54
  Speaker 1: gun back to where two Tails is waiting for it.
• 4:37:58
  Speaker 1: Sometimes there are big guns in the city that speak back,
• 4:38:01
  Speaker 1: and some of us are killed, and then there is
• 4:38:03
  Speaker 1: all the more grazing for those that are left. This
• 4:38:06
  Speaker 1: is fate, none the less. Two Tails is a great coward.
• 4:38:12
  Speaker 1: That is the proper way to fight. We are brothers
• 4:38:15
  Speaker 1: from Hupwer. Our father was a sacred bull of Shiva.
• 4:38:19
  Speaker 1: We have spoken well. I've certainly learned something tonight, said
• 4:38:24
  Speaker 1: the troop horse. Do you, gentlemen of the screw gun battery,
• 4:38:28
  Speaker 1: feel inclined to eat when you are being fired at
• 4:38:30
  Speaker 1: with big guns and two Tails is behind you? About
• 4:38:34
  Speaker 1: as much as we feel inclined to sit down and
• 4:38:36
  Speaker 1: let men sprawl all over us or run into people
• 4:38:39
  Speaker 1: with knives. I never heard such stuff. A mountain ledge,
• 4:38:44
  Speaker 1: a well balanced load, a driver you can trust to
• 4:38:47
  Speaker 1: let you pick your own way, and I'm your mule.
• 4:38:50
  Speaker 1: But the other things, no, said Billy with a stamp
• 4:38:54
  Speaker 1: of his foot. Of course, said the troop horse. Every
• 4:38:58
  Speaker 1: one is not made in the same way. And I
• 4:39:00
  Speaker 1: can quite see that your family on your father's side
• 4:39:03
  Speaker 1: would fail to understand a great many things. Never you mind,
• 4:39:07
  Speaker 1: my family on my father's side, said Billy angrily. For
• 4:39:10
  Speaker 1: every mule hates to be reminded that his father was
• 4:39:13
  Speaker 1: a donkey. My father was a Southern gentleman, and he
• 4:39:17
  Speaker 1: could pull down and bite and kick into rags every
• 4:39:19
  Speaker 1: horse he came across. Remember that, you, big brown brumbye
• 4:39:25
  Speaker 1: brumby means wild horse without any breeding. Imagine the feelings
• 4:39:29
  Speaker 1: of segnol if a car horse called her a skate,
• 4:39:32
  Speaker 1: and you can imagine how the Australian horse felt. I
• 4:39:36
  Speaker 1: saw the white of his eye glitter in the dark.
• 4:39:39
  Speaker 1: See here, you son of an imported Malaga jackass, he
• 4:39:42
  Speaker 1: said between his teeth. I'd have you know that I'm
• 4:39:45
  Speaker 1: related on my mother's side to Carbine, winner of the
• 4:39:48
  Speaker 1: Melbourne Cup, and where I come from, we aren't accustomed
• 4:39:50
  Speaker 1: to being ridden over rushot by any parrot mouthed pig
• 4:39:54
  Speaker 1: headed mule in a pop gun pea shooter battery. Are
• 4:39:58
  Speaker 1: you ready on your hind legs, squealed Billy. They both
• 4:40:03
  Speaker 1: reared up facing each other, and I was expecting a
• 4:40:06
  Speaker 1: furious fight, when a gurgly, rumby voice called out of
• 4:40:10
  Speaker 1: the darkness to the right, children, what are you fighting about? There?
• 4:40:14
  Speaker 1: Be quiet? Both beasts dropped down with a snort of disgust,
• 4:40:19
  Speaker 1: for neither horse nor mule can bear to listen to
• 4:40:21
  Speaker 1: an elephant's voice. It's two tales, said the troop horse.
• 4:40:27
  Speaker 1: I can't stand him. A tale at each end isn't
• 4:40:30
  Speaker 1: fair my feelings exactly, said Billy, crowding into the troop
• 4:40:35
  Speaker 1: horse for company. We're very alike in some things. I
• 4:40:40
  Speaker 1: suppose we've inherited them from our mothers, said the troop horse.
• 4:40:44
  Speaker 1: It's not worth quarreling about. Hi, two Tails, are you
• 4:40:49
  Speaker 1: tied up? Yes, said two Tails, with a laugh all
• 4:40:53
  Speaker 1: up his trunk. I'm picketed for the night. I've heard
• 4:40:57
  Speaker 1: what you fellows have been saying, but don't be afraid.
• 4:41:02
  Speaker 1: I'm not coming over. The bullocks and the camel said
• 4:41:06
  Speaker 1: half aloud, afraid of two tales? What nonsense? And the
• 4:41:10
  Speaker 1: bullocks went on, we are sorry that you heard, but
• 4:41:13
  Speaker 1: it is true two tales. Why are you afraid of
• 4:41:17
  Speaker 1: the guns when they fire? Well, said two Tails, rubbing
• 4:41:21
  Speaker 1: one hind leg against the other, exactly like a little
• 4:41:24
  Speaker 1: boy saying a poem. I don't quite know whether you'd understand.
• 4:41:28
  Speaker 1: We don't, but we have to pull the guns, said
• 4:41:31
  Speaker 1: the bullocks. I know it, and I know you are
• 4:41:34
  Speaker 1: a good deal braver than you think you are. But
• 4:41:37
  Speaker 1: it's different with me. My battery captain called me a
• 4:41:41
  Speaker 1: pachydermitis anachronism the other day. That's another way of fighting,
• 4:41:46
  Speaker 1: I suppose, said Billy, who was recovering his spirits. You
• 4:41:50
  Speaker 1: don't know what that means, of course, but I do.
• 4:41:54
  Speaker 1: It means betwixt and between, and that is just where
• 4:41:57
  Speaker 1: I am. I can see inside my head what will
• 4:42:00
  Speaker 1: happen when a shell bursts, and you bullocks can't. I can,
• 4:42:05
  Speaker 1: said the troop horse, at least a little bit. I
• 4:42:09
  Speaker 1: try not to think about it. I can see more
• 4:42:12
  Speaker 1: than you, and I do think about it. I know
• 4:42:15
  Speaker 1: there's a great deal of me to take care of,
• 4:42:17
  Speaker 1: and I know that nobody knows how to cure me
• 4:42:19
  Speaker 1: when I'm sick. All they can do is to stop
• 4:42:22
  Speaker 1: my driver's pay till I get well. And I can't
• 4:42:25
  Speaker 1: trust my driver, ah, said the troop horse. That explains it.
• 4:42:31
  Speaker 1: I can trust Dick. You could put a whole regiment
• 4:42:35
  Speaker 1: of Dick's on my back without making me feel any better.
• 4:42:38
  Speaker 1: I know just enough to be uncomfortable, and not enough
• 4:42:41
  Speaker 1: to go on in spite of it. We do not understand,
• 4:42:45
  Speaker 1: said the bullocks. I know you don't. I'm not talking
• 4:42:49
  Speaker 1: to you. You don't know what blood is. We do,
• 4:42:53
  Speaker 1: said the bullocks. It is red stuff that soaks into
• 4:42:57
  Speaker 1: the ground and smells the true. True horse gave a
• 4:43:00
  Speaker 1: kick and a bound and a snort. Don't talk of it,
• 4:43:04
  Speaker 1: he said. I can smell it now just thinking of it.
• 4:43:09
  Speaker 1: It makes me want to run when I haven't Dick
• 4:43:11
  Speaker 1: on my back. But it is not here, said the
• 4:43:14
  Speaker 1: camel and the bullocks. Why are you so stupid? It's
• 4:43:19
  Speaker 1: vile stuff, said billy. I don't want to run, but
• 4:43:23
  Speaker 1: I don't want to talk about it. There you are,
• 4:43:26
  Speaker 1: said two Tails, waving his tail to explain. Surely. Yes,
• 4:43:32
  Speaker 1: we have been here all night, said the bullocks. Two
• 4:43:35
  Speaker 1: Tails stamped his foot till the iron ring on it jingled. Oh,
• 4:43:40
  Speaker 1: I'm not talking to you. You can't see inside your heads. No,
• 4:43:46
  Speaker 1: we see out of our four eyes, said the bullocks.
• 4:43:50
  Speaker 1: We see straight in front of us. If I could
• 4:43:53
  Speaker 1: do that and nothing else, you wouldn't be needed to
• 4:43:55
  Speaker 1: pull the big guns at all. If I was like
• 4:43:58
  Speaker 1: my captain, he can see things inside his head before
• 4:44:01
  Speaker 1: the firing begins, and he shakes all over, but he
• 4:44:04
  Speaker 1: knows too much to run away. If I was like him,
• 4:44:07
  Speaker 1: I could pull the guns. But if I were as
• 4:44:10
  Speaker 1: wise as all that, I should never be here. I
• 4:44:13
  Speaker 1: should be a king in the forest, as I used
• 4:44:15
  Speaker 1: to be, sleeping half the day in bathing when I liked.
• 4:44:19
  Speaker 1: I haven't had a good bath for a month. That's
• 4:44:22
  Speaker 1: all very fine, said Billy. But giving a thing a
• 4:44:26
  Speaker 1: long name doesn't make it any better. H S H,
• 4:44:29
  Speaker 1: said the troop horse. I think I understand what two
• 4:44:33
  Speaker 1: tales means. You'll understand better in a minute, said two
• 4:44:37
  Speaker 1: Tails angrily. Now you just explain to me why you
• 4:44:41
  Speaker 1: don't like this. He began trumpeting furiously at the top
• 4:44:45
  Speaker 1: of his trumpet. Stop that, said Billy and the troop
• 4:44:49
  Speaker 1: horse together, and I could hear them stamp and shiver.
• 4:44:53
  Speaker 1: An elephant's trumpeting is always nasty, especially on a dark night.
• 4:44:58
  Speaker 1: I shan't stop, said two two tails. Won't you explain that? Please?
• 4:45:04
  Speaker 1: Itch it? R M P. H r R t r
• 4:45:07
  Speaker 1: R m p h raha. Then he stopped suddenly, and
• 4:45:12
  Speaker 1: I heard a little whimper in the dark, and knew
• 4:45:15
  Speaker 1: that Vixen had found me. At last. She knew as
• 4:45:18
  Speaker 1: well as I did that if there is one thing
• 4:45:20
  Speaker 1: in the world the elephant is more afraid of than another,
• 4:45:23
  Speaker 1: it is a little barking dog. So she stopped to
• 4:45:26
  Speaker 1: bully two Tails in his pickets and yapped round his
• 4:45:29
  Speaker 1: big feet. Two Tails shuffled and squeaked. Go away, little dog,
• 4:45:35
  Speaker 1: he said, don't snuff at my ankles or I'll kick
• 4:45:38
  Speaker 1: at you. Good little dog, nice little doggie. Then go home,
• 4:45:44
  Speaker 1: you yelping little beast. Oh why doesn't someone take her away?
• 4:45:50
  Speaker 1: She'll bite me in a minute, seems to me, said
• 4:45:53
  Speaker 1: Billy to the troop horse, that our friend two Tails
• 4:45:56
  Speaker 1: is afraid of most things. Now, if I had a
• 4:46:00
  Speaker 1: full meal for every dog I've kicked across the parade ground,
• 4:46:03
  Speaker 1: I should be as fat as two tails. Nearly. I whistled,
• 4:46:07
  Speaker 1: and Vixen ran up to me, muddy all over, and
• 4:46:09
  Speaker 1: licked my nose and told me a long tale about
• 4:46:12
  Speaker 1: hunting from me all through the camp. I never let
• 4:46:15
  Speaker 1: her know that I understood beast talk, or she would
• 4:46:18
  Speaker 1: have taken all sorts of liberties. So I buttoned her
• 4:46:22
  Speaker 1: into the breast of my overcoat, and two tails shuffled
• 4:46:25
  Speaker 1: and stamped and growled to himself. Extraordinary, most extraordinary, he said,
• 4:46:32
  Speaker 1: It runs in our family. Now, where has that nasty
• 4:46:36
  Speaker 1: little beast gone to? I heard him feeling about with
• 4:46:39
  Speaker 1: his trunk. We all seemed to be affected in various ways,
• 4:46:43
  Speaker 1: he went on, blowing his nose. Now, you gentlemen, were alarmed,
• 4:46:48
  Speaker 1: I believe when I trumpeted, not alarmed exactly, said the
• 4:46:53
  Speaker 1: troop horse. But it made me feel as though I
• 4:46:56
  Speaker 1: had hornets where my saddle ought to be. Don't begin again.
• 4:47:00
  Speaker 1: I'm frightened of a little dog, and the camel here
• 4:47:03
  Speaker 1: is frightened by bad dreams in the night. It is
• 4:47:06
  Speaker 1: very lucky for us that we haven't all got to
• 4:47:08
  Speaker 1: fight in the same way, said the troop horse. What
• 4:47:12
  Speaker 1: I want to know, said the young mule, who had
• 4:47:14
  Speaker 1: been quiet for a long time. What I want to
• 4:47:17
  Speaker 1: know is why we have to fight at all? Because
• 4:47:20
  Speaker 1: we're told to, said the troop horse, with a snort
• 4:47:23
  Speaker 1: of contempt. Orders said Billy the mule, and his teeth
• 4:47:27
  Speaker 1: snapped huck m hi. It is an order, said the
• 4:47:33
  Speaker 1: camel with a gurgle and two tails, and the bullocks
• 4:47:35
  Speaker 1: repeated huck mhai. Yes. But who gives the orders, said
• 4:47:40
  Speaker 1: the recruit mule. The man who walks at your head,
• 4:47:43
  Speaker 1: or sits on your back, or holds the nose rope
• 4:47:46
  Speaker 1: or twists your tail, said Billy. And the troop horse
• 4:47:49
  Speaker 1: and the camel and the bullocks, one after the other.
• 4:47:53
  Speaker 1: But who gives them the orders? Now you want to
• 4:47:56
  Speaker 1: know too much, young nun, said Billy, And that is
• 4:47:59
  Speaker 1: one way of getting kicked. All you have to do
• 4:48:02
  Speaker 1: is to obey the man at your head and ask
• 4:48:04
  Speaker 1: no questions. He's quite right, said two tails. I can't
• 4:48:10
  Speaker 1: always obey because I'm betwixt and between. But Billy's right.
• 4:48:15
  Speaker 1: Obey the man next to you who gives the order,
• 4:48:18
  Speaker 1: or you'll stop all the battery. Besides getting a thrashing.
• 4:48:22
  Speaker 1: The gun bullocks got up to go. Morning is coming,
• 4:48:26
  Speaker 1: they said, we will go back to our lines. It
• 4:48:30
  Speaker 1: is true that we only see out of our eyes,
• 4:48:32
  Speaker 1: and we are not very clever, but still we are
• 4:48:36
  Speaker 1: the only people tonight who have not been afraid. Good Night,
• 4:48:40
  Speaker 1: you brave people. Nobody answered, and the troop horse said,
• 4:48:44
  Speaker 1: to change the conversation. Where's that little dog? A dog
• 4:48:48
  Speaker 1: means a man somewhere about here. I am yapped vixen
• 4:48:53
  Speaker 1: under the gun tail with my man, You big blundering
• 4:48:57
  Speaker 1: beast of a camel. You you upset our tent. My
• 4:49:00
  Speaker 1: man's very angry, few, said the bullocks. He must be white.
• 4:49:07
  Speaker 1: Of course he is, said vixen. Do you suppose I'm
• 4:49:11
  Speaker 1: looked after by a black bullet driver? Huah, watch ugh,
• 4:49:17
  Speaker 1: said the bullocks. Let us get away quickly. They plunged
• 4:49:22
  Speaker 1: forward in the mud and managed somehow to run their
• 4:49:25
  Speaker 1: yoke on the pole of an ammunition wagon, where it jammed.
• 4:49:29
  Speaker 1: Now you have done it, said billy, calmly. Don't struggle.
• 4:49:34
  Speaker 1: You're hung up till daylight. What on earth's the matter?
• 4:49:38
  Speaker 1: The bullocks went off into the long hissing snorts that
• 4:49:41
  Speaker 1: Indian cattle give, and pushed and crowded and slewed and
• 4:49:44
  Speaker 1: stamped and slipped and nearly fell down in the mud,
• 4:49:47
  Speaker 1: grunting savagely. You'll break your necks in a minute, said
• 4:49:51
  Speaker 1: the troop horse. What's the matter with white men? I
• 4:49:55
  Speaker 1: live with em. They beat us pull, said the near bullock.
• 4:50:02
  Speaker 1: The yoke snapped with a twang, and they lumbered off together.
• 4:50:06
  Speaker 1: I never knew before what made Indian cattle so scared
• 4:50:09
  Speaker 1: of Englishmen. We eat beef, a thing that no cattle
• 4:50:13
  Speaker 1: driver touches, and of course the cattle do not like it.
• 4:50:17
  Speaker 1: May I be flogged with my own pat chains? Who'd
• 4:50:21
  Speaker 1: have thought of two big lumps like those losing their heads?
• 4:50:24
  Speaker 1: Said Billy, never mind, I'm going to look at this man.
• 4:50:30
  Speaker 1: Most of the white men I know have things in
• 4:50:32
  Speaker 1: their pockets, said the troop horse. I'll leave you then.
• 4:50:37
  Speaker 1: I can't say I'm over fond of and myself. Besides,
• 4:50:42
  Speaker 1: white men who haven't a place to sleep in are
• 4:50:44
  Speaker 1: more than likely to be thieves. And I've a good
• 4:50:46
  Speaker 1: deal of government property on my back. Come along, young nun,
• 4:50:51
  Speaker 1: and we'll go back to our lines. Good Night, Australia,
• 4:50:56
  Speaker 1: see you on parade tomorrow, I suppose. Good night night,
• 4:51:00
  Speaker 1: old hay Bale. Try to control your feelings, won't you?
• 4:51:04
  Speaker 1: Good night? Two tails? If you pass us on the
• 4:51:07
  Speaker 1: ground tomorrow, don't trumpet it spoils our formation. Billy. The
• 4:51:13
  Speaker 1: mules stumped off with the swaggering limp of an old
• 4:51:15
  Speaker 1: campaigner as the troop. Horse head came nezzling into my
• 4:51:18
  Speaker 1: breast and I gave him biscuits, while Vixen, who is
• 4:51:22
  Speaker 1: a most conceited little dog, told him FIBs about the
• 4:51:25
  Speaker 1: scores of horses that she and I kept. I'm coming
• 4:51:28
  Speaker 1: to the parade tomorrow in my dogcart, she said, where
• 4:51:32
  Speaker 1: will you be on the left hand of the second squadron.
• 4:51:37
  Speaker 1: I set the time for all my troop, little lady,
• 4:51:40
  Speaker 1: he said politely, Now I must go back to Dick.
• 4:51:44
  Speaker 1: My tail's all muddy, and he'll have two hours hard
• 4:51:47
  Speaker 1: worth dressing me for parade. The big parade of all
• 4:51:51
  Speaker 1: the thirty thousand men was held that afternoon, and Vixen
• 4:51:54
  Speaker 1: and I had a good place close to the Viceroy
• 4:51:56
  Speaker 1: and the Emir of Afghanistan, with high big black head
• 4:52:00
  Speaker 1: out of Astrakhan wool and the great diamond star in
• 4:52:02
  Speaker 1: the center. The first part of the review was all sunshine,
• 4:52:06
  Speaker 1: and the regiments went by in wave upon wave of
• 4:52:09
  Speaker 1: legs all moving together and guns all in a line,
• 4:52:12
  Speaker 1: till our eyes grew dizzy. Then the cavalry came up
• 4:52:16
  Speaker 1: to the beautiful cavalry canter of Bonnie Dundee and Vixen
• 4:52:20
  Speaker 1: cocked her ear where she sat on the dog cart.
• 4:52:23
  Speaker 1: The second squadron of the Lancers shot by, and there
• 4:52:26
  Speaker 1: was the troop horse with his tail like spun silk,
• 4:52:29
  Speaker 1: his head pulled into his breast, one ear forward and
• 4:52:32
  Speaker 1: one back, setting the time for all his squadron, his
• 4:52:35
  Speaker 1: legs going as smoothly as Walt's music. Then the big
• 4:52:39
  Speaker 1: guns came by, and I saw two tails and two
• 4:52:42
  Speaker 1: other elephants harnessed in line to a forty pounder siege gun,
• 4:52:46
  Speaker 1: while twenty yoke of oxen walked behind. The seventh pair
• 4:52:50
  Speaker 1: had a new yoke, and they looked rather stiff and tired.
• 4:52:54
  Speaker 1: Last came the screw guns, and Billy the Mule carried
• 4:52:57
  Speaker 1: himself as though he commanded all the troops, and his
• 4:52:59
  Speaker 1: heart farness was oiled and polished till it winked. I
• 4:53:03
  Speaker 1: gave a cheer all by myself for Billy the Mule,
• 4:53:05
  Speaker 1: but he never looked right or left. The rain began
• 4:53:09
  Speaker 1: to fall again, and for a while it was too
• 4:53:11
  Speaker 1: misty to see what the troops were doing. They had
• 4:53:14
  Speaker 1: made a big half circle across the plain and were
• 4:53:17
  Speaker 1: spreading out into a line. That line grew and grew
• 4:53:21
  Speaker 1: and grew till it was three quarters of a mile long,
• 4:53:23
  Speaker 1: from wing to wing, one solid wall of men, horses
• 4:53:27
  Speaker 1: and guns. Then it came on straight toward the Viceroy
• 4:53:31
  Speaker 1: and the Emir, and as it got nearer, the ground
• 4:53:33
  Speaker 1: began to shake, like the deck of a steamer when
• 4:53:36
  Speaker 1: the engines are going fast. Unless you have been there,
• 4:53:39
  Speaker 1: you cannot imagine what a frightening effect this steady come
• 4:53:42
  Speaker 1: down of troops has on the spectators, even when they
• 4:53:45
  Speaker 1: know it is only a review. I looked at the
• 4:53:47
  Speaker 1: Emir up till then he had not shown the shadow
• 4:53:51
  Speaker 1: of a sign of astonishment or anything else. But now
• 4:53:55
  Speaker 1: his eyes began to get bigger and bigger, and he
• 4:53:57
  Speaker 1: picked up the reins on his horse's neck and looked
• 4:54:00
  Speaker 1: behind him. For a minute it seemed as though he
• 4:54:03
  Speaker 1: were going to draw his sword and slash his way
• 4:54:05
  Speaker 1: out through the englishmen and women in the carriages at
• 4:54:08
  Speaker 1: the back. Then the advance stopped dead, the ground stood still,
• 4:54:12
  Speaker 1: the whole line saluted, and thirty bands began to play altogether.
• 4:54:17
  Speaker 1: That was the end of the review, and the regiments
• 4:54:20
  Speaker 1: went off to their camps in the rain, and an
• 4:54:22
  Speaker 1: infantry band struck up with the animals went in two
• 4:54:25
  Speaker 1: by two. Hurrah. The animals went in two by two,
• 4:54:29
  Speaker 1: the elephant and the battery mule, and they all got
• 4:54:32
  Speaker 1: into the ark for to get out of the rain.
• 4:54:35
  Speaker 1: Then I heard an old, grizzled, long haired Central Asian chief,
• 4:54:38
  Speaker 1: who had come down with the Emir, asking questions of
• 4:54:41
  Speaker 1: a native officer. Now said he in what manner was
• 4:54:45
  Speaker 1: this wonderful thing done? And the officer answered, an order
• 4:54:49
  Speaker 1: was given, and they obeyed. But are the beasts as
• 4:54:53
  Speaker 1: wise as the men, said the chief. They obey as
• 4:54:57
  Speaker 1: the men do, mule, horse, elephant or bullock. He obeys
• 4:55:02
  Speaker 1: his driver, and the driver his sergeant, and the sergeant
• 4:55:05
  Speaker 1: his lieutenant, and the lieutenant his captain, and the captain
• 4:55:08
  Speaker 1: his major, and the major his colonel, and the colonel
• 4:55:11
  Speaker 1: his brigadier commanding three regiments, and the brigadier the general
• 4:55:14
  Speaker 1: who obeys the viceroy, who is the servant of the Empress.
• 4:55:19
  Speaker 1: Thus it is done. Would it were so in Afghanistan,
• 4:55:23
  Speaker 1: said the chief. For that we obey only our own wills.
• 4:55:27
  Speaker 1: And for that reason, said the native officer, twirling his mustache, You're, Amir,
• 4:55:32
  Speaker 1: whom ye do not obey, must come here and take
• 4:55:34
  Speaker 1: orders from our viceroy parade. Song of the camp animals,
• 4:55:38
  Speaker 1: elephants of the gun teams. We lent to Alexander, the
• 4:55:41
  Speaker 1: strength of Hercules, the wisdom of our foreheads, the cunning
• 4:55:44
  Speaker 1: of our knees. We bowed our next to service. They
• 4:55:47
  Speaker 1: ne'er were loosed again. Make way there weigh for the
• 4:55:50
  Speaker 1: ten foot teams of the forty pounder train. Gun bullocks.
• 4:55:54
  Speaker 1: Those heroes in their harnesses avoid a cannon ball, and
• 4:55:57
  Speaker 1: what they know of powder upsets them one and all.
• 4:56:00
  Speaker 1: Then we come into action and tug the guns again.
• 4:56:02
  Speaker 1: Make way there weigh for the twenty yoke of the
• 4:56:05
  Speaker 1: forty pounder train. Cavalry horses. By the brand on my shoulder.
• 4:56:10
  Speaker 1: The finest of tunes is played by the lancers, hussars
• 4:56:13
  Speaker 1: and dragoons, And it's sweeter than stables or water to
• 4:56:17
  Speaker 1: me the cavalry canter of Bonnie Dundee. Then feed us
• 4:56:21
  Speaker 1: and break us, and handle and groom, and give us
• 4:56:24
  Speaker 1: good riders in plenty of room, and launch us in
• 4:56:27
  Speaker 1: column of squadron. And see the way of the war
• 4:56:29
  Speaker 1: horse to Bonnie Dundee. Screw gun mules as me and
• 4:56:33
  Speaker 1: my companions were scrambling up a hill, the path was
• 4:56:36
  Speaker 1: lost in rolling stones, but we went forward still, for
• 4:56:39
  Speaker 1: we can wriggle and climb my lads and turn up everywhere.
• 4:56:43
  Speaker 1: Oh it's our delight on a mountain height with a
• 4:56:45
  Speaker 1: leg or two despair. Good luck to every sergeant then
• 4:56:50
  Speaker 1: that lets us pick our road. Bad luck to all
• 4:56:53
  Speaker 1: the driver men that cannot pack a load, for we
• 4:56:55
  Speaker 1: can wriggle and climb my lads and turn up everywhere.
• 4:56:59
  Speaker 1: Oh it's our delight on a mountain height with a
• 4:57:01
  Speaker 1: leg or two despair. Commissariat camels, we haven't a camelty
• 4:57:06
  Speaker 1: tune of our own to help us troll up along.
• 4:57:08
  Speaker 1: But every neck is a hair trombone. Ur t ti
• 4:57:11
  Speaker 1: tatata is a hair trombone. And this our marching song.
• 4:57:16
  Speaker 1: Can't don't shyan't, won't pass it along the line. Somebody's
• 4:57:25
  Speaker 1: pack has slid from his back. Wish it were only mine.
• 4:57:29
  Speaker 1: Somebody's load has tipped off in the road. Cheer for
• 4:57:32
  Speaker 1: a halt and a row, Err, yar goor r. Somebody's
• 4:57:40
  Speaker 1: catching it now, All the beasts together, children of the camp,
• 4:57:44
  Speaker 1: are we serving each in his degree? Children of the
• 4:57:47
  Speaker 1: yoke and goad, pack and harness, pad and load see
• 4:57:51
  Speaker 1: our line across the plain like a heel rope bent again, reaching, writhing,
• 4:57:56
  Speaker 1: rolling far, sweeping all away to war. While the men
• 4:58:00
  Speaker 1: that walk beside, dusty, silent, heavy eyed, cannot tell why
• 4:58:05
  Speaker 1: we or they march in suffer day by day. Children
• 4:58:09
  Speaker 1: of the camp, are we serving each in his degree?
• 4:58:12
  Speaker 1: Children of the yoke and gold, pack and harness, pad
• 4:58:15
  Speaker 1: and load the e n F. Thanks for listening.