The Jungle Book
he tiger's roar filled the cave with thunder.Mother Wolf shook herself clear of the cubs and sprang forward,her eyes,like two green moons in the darkness,facing the blazing eyes of Shere Khan.
Father Wolf looked on amazed. He had almost forgotten the days when he won Mother Wolf in fair fight from five other wolves,when she ran in the Pack and was not called The Demon for compliment's sake.Shere Khan might have faced Father Wolf,but he could not stand up against Mother Wolf,for he knew that where he was,she had all the advantage of the ground,and would fight to the death.So he backed out of the cave–mouth growling,and when he was clear he shouted⁚
“Each dog barks in his own yard!We will see what the Pack will say to this fostering of man–cubs.The cub is mine, and to my teeth he will come in the end, O bush-tailed thieves!”
The Law of the Jungle lays down very clearly that any wolf may,when he marries,withdraw from the Pack he belongs to; but as soon as his cubs are old enough to stand on their feet he must bring them to the Pack Council, which is generally held once a month at full moon, in order that the other wolves may identify them.After that inspection the cubs are free to run where they please, and until they have killed their first buck, no excuse is accepted if a grown wolf of the Pack kills one of them.
“Who speaks for this cub? ”said Akela. “Among the Free People who speaks? ”
...There was no answer,and Mother Wolf got ready for what she knew would be her last fight,if things came to fighting.
Then the only other creature who is allowed at the Pack Council– Baloo ,the sleepy brown bear who teaches the wolf cubs the Law of the Jungle:old Baloo,who can come and go where he pleases because he eats only nuts and roots and honey–rose up on his hind quarters and grunted.
“The man's cub–the man's cub?” he said. “I speak for the man's cub.There is no harm in a man's cub.I have no gift of words,but I speak the truth.Let him run with the Pack,and be entered with the others.I myself will teach him.”