The Jungle Book (adapted), Rudyard Kipling
The Jungle Book (adapted)
Rudyard Kipling
Category: Novels
Genres: Adventure,Fable
Level 2.51:15 h36.9 mb
The Jungle Book is a collection of exciting stories about animals, courage, friendship, and finding where you belong. Some stories follow Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves in the Indian jungle. He learns the Law of the Jungle, faces the tiger Shere Khan, and must choose between the world of animals and the world of people. This is an adapted version of the book, shortened and simplified to A2 level.

The Jungle Book

[adapted]

by
Rudyard Kipling

The Jungle Book (adapted)

Mowgli’s Brothers

It was seven o’clock on a very warm evening in the Seeonee Hills. Father Wolf woke from his day’s sleep and got ready to hunt, while Mother Wolf lay beside their four young cubs at the back of the cave. Just as Father Wolf was about to leave, Tabaqui the jackal came to visit. The wolves did not like him because he made trouble, carried stories, and ate rubbish near the villages.

Tabaqui found an old bone in the cave and began to eat. Then he told the wolves that Shere Khan, the great tiger, had left his usual hunting ground near the Waingunga River and had come to hunt in their hills. Father Wolf was angry because the Law of the Jungle said that an animal should not change hunting grounds without warning the others. Mother Wolf guessed why Shere Khan had come. He had been lame since birth and often killed cattle, and now the villagers near his old home were angry with him.

Soon the wolves heard Shere Khan in the valley below. Mother Wolf listened carefully. “He is not hunting cattle tonight,” she said. “He is hunting Man.” This was dangerous for every animal in the jungle, because when a tiger killed a person, men often came with guns, fire, and many hunters.

A moment later there was a great roar, followed by a cry of pain. Father Wolf listened and understood that Shere Khan had jumped near a woodcutter’s fire and burned his feet. Then Mother Wolf heard something moving up the hill. Father Wolf prepared to jump, but when the bushes opened, he stopped in surprise. A small naked child stood before him, holding a low branch and laughing.

“A man’s cub!” Father Wolf cried.

Mother Wolf told him to bring the child inside. Father Wolf carried him gently in his mouth and placed him among the wolf cubs. The baby pushed between them and moved close to Mother Wolf for warmth. She looked at him with wonder. He was small and helpless, yet he showed no fear.

Then Shere Khan’s huge head appeared at the entrance of the cave. He demanded the child, but the cave was too narrow for him to enter. Father Wolf refused to obey him. When Shere Khan roared, Mother Wolf jumped forward and faced him.
“The man’s cub is mine,” she said. “He will live with the Pack and hunt with the Pack. One day, Shere Khan, he will hunt you.”

Shere Khan knew that Mother Wolf would fight to the death, so he backed away. Before leaving, he warned them that the Pack might not accept the child. Mother Wolf did not care. She decided to keep him and named him Mowgli the Frog.

When the wolf cubs were old enough, Father Wolf and Mother Wolf took them to the Council Rock, where the Seeonee Wolf Pack met under the full moon. Akela, the great gray Lone Wolf, was the leader of the Pack. Each young cub had to be shown to the other wolves before it could live freely among them.

At last Mowgli sat in the middle of the circle, playing with small stones. Shere Khan called from behind the rocks and demanded the child, and some wolves began to ask why a man’s cub should live with them. According to the Law, two members of the Pack had to speak for Mowgli if there was any doubt about accepting him.

Baloo, the old brown bear who taught the young wolves the Law of the Jungle, spoke first. “Let him run with the Pack. I will teach him,” he said. Then Bagheera, the Black Panther, came into the circle. He reminded the wolves that a cub’s life could be bought, and he offered them a fat bull if they accepted Mowgli. The hungry wolves agreed.

So Mowgli became a member of the Seeonee Wolf Pack because Baloo spoke for him and Bagheera paid for him with a bull. Shere Khan roared angrily in the darkness, but he could do nothing.

Years passed, and Mowgli grew up among the wolves. Father Wolf taught him the ways of the jungle, Baloo taught him its Law, and Bagheera taught him how to climb and hunt. Mowgli learned the sounds of the forest, swam in its pools, found honey and nuts, and helped the wolves by pulling thorns from their paws. Bagheera told him that he could hunt many animals, but he must never kill cattle because a bull had paid for his life. Mowgli always obeyed this rule.

Mother Wolf sometimes warned him that Shere Khan was still his enemy, but Mowgli did not worry. He believed the wolves were his brothers. As the years passed, however, Akela grew old, and Shere Khan became friendly with some of the younger wolves. He gave them food and told them that a man should not live with a wolf pack.

Bagheera saw the danger and warned Mowgli. “When Akela becomes too old to lead, the Pack may turn against him and against you.”
“But they are my brothers,” said Mowgli. “I grew up with them and obeyed the Law.”

Bagheera then showed Mowgli a small bare mark under his jaw. He explained that it came from a collar. Bagheera had been born among men and had once lived in a cage in a king’s palace. One night he broke the lock and escaped into the jungle.

“I know men,” Bagheera said. “And I know you. One day you may have to return to them.”

Mowgli could not understand why the wolves might hate him. Bagheera told him to look straight into his eyes. After a short time, even the powerful panther had to turn his face away.
“That is why,” Bagheera said. “The wolves know you are different, and they fear you.”

Then Bagheera told Mowgli to go to the village and bring back the Red Flower, the jungle animals’ name for fire. Every wild animal feared it. Mowgli agreed and ran toward the village.

On the way, he heard the Pack hunting a deer. The young wolves called for Akela to make the kill, but the old leader jumped and missed. Mowgli knew at once that Bagheera had been right. Akela’s enemies now had a reason to remove him.

Mowgli reached the village and hid near a hut until morning. He watched a boy carry hot coals in a small pot, then took the pot from him and ran back to the jungle. As he went, he fed the fire with dry bark and twigs so it would stay alive.

Bagheera met him on the hill. “Akela missed his kill,” he said. “The wolves were looking for you too.”
Mowgli lifted the pot. “I am ready.”

That evening Tabaqui came to tell him that the Pack wanted him at the Council Rock. Mowgli went there with the fire. Akela no longer lay on his leader’s rock, and Shere Khan stood proudly among the wolves who followed him.

Shere Khan began to speak, but Mowgli challenged him. “Does Shere Khan lead the Pack now? What right does a tiger have to speak about our leader?”

At last Akela raised his old head. He reminded the wolves that he had led them safely for many years. Now he had missed one kill, and by the Law they could fight him for his place. He asked which wolf would face him alone, but no one came forward.

Shere Khan then turned the Pack against Mowgli.
“Forget the old wolf. Give me the man-cub!”

Many wolves shouted that Mowgli was a man and should leave them. Akela reminded them that Mowgli had hunted with them, eaten with them, and broken no law. Bagheera also reminded them that he had paid for Mowgli with a bull, but the angry wolves would not listen.

Akela even offered to die without fighting if they allowed Mowgli to leave safely. Still the wolves gathered around Shere Khan.
Bagheera spoke quietly to Mowgli. “Now it is in your hands.”

Mowgli stood and lifted the fire pot. He felt both angry and deeply hurt, because until that night he had not known how many wolves hated him. “You keep calling me a man,” he said. “Perhaps you are right. I wanted to live as a wolf all my life, but now I will not call you my brothers.”

He threw the hot coals into the dry grass, and flames rose at once. The wolves jumped back in fear. Mowgli pushed a dry branch into the fire until it burned brightly, then walked toward Shere Khan.

“You wanted to kill me when I was a baby, and you want to kill me now,” Mowgli said. He struck the tiger with the burning branch, and Shere Khan cried out in fear. “Go! But remember this. One day I will return to the Council Rock with your skin.”

Then Mowgli turned to the wolves and ordered them not to kill Akela. He waved the burning branch, and the frightened wolves ran away. Soon only Akela, Bagheera, and a few wolves who had stayed loyal to Mowgli remained.

Then Mowgli felt a pain inside him that he had never known before. Tears began to run down his face.
“Am I dying?” he asked Bagheera.
“No, Little Brother,” Bagheera said. “Those are tears. Now I know that you are a man.”

Mowgli cried for a long time. Then he went back to the cave to say goodbye to Mother Wolf, Father Wolf, and his wolf brothers. They promised never to forget him and asked him to return.

Mother Wolf looked at him sadly. “Come back, my little son. I loved you more than I loved my own cubs.”
“I will come back,” Mowgli promised. “And one day I will place Shere Khan’s skin on the Council Rock.”

As dawn began, Mowgli walked down the hill alone. He left the jungle behind and went to meet the strange things called men.

The Jungle Book (adapted)

Kaa’s Hunting

This happened before Mowgli left the Seeonee Wolf Pack. At that time, Baloo was still teaching him the Law of the Jungle. Mowgli had much more to learn than the young wolves because he was a man-cub. Baloo taught him how to move safely through the forest, how to speak to other animals, and what to say when he entered another animal’s hunting ground.

Mowgli did not always enjoy his lessons. He became tired of repeating the same words, and Baloo sometimes hit him when he forgot them. Bagheera thought Baloo was too hard on the boy, but Baloo said that Mowgli needed to know the Law because the jungle could be dangerous.

One day Baloo asked Mowgli to show Bagheera what he had learned. Mowgli came down from a tree, still angry with Baloo, but he proudly repeated the Master Words used with the hunting animals, the birds, and the Snake People.
Baloo was pleased. “These words may save his life one day,” he told Bagheera.

Then Mowgli began talking excitedly about a new group of friends. He said they lived in the trees and had promised to make him their leader.
Baloo suddenly became angry. “You have been with the Bandar-log, the Monkey People!”

Mowgli did not understand what was wrong. When he had run away after one of Baloo’s lessons, the monkeys had come to him. They gave him nuts and fruit, carried him into the trees, and told him that he was their brother because he could stand on two legs like them.

“They were kind to me,” Mowgli said. “They said I could become their leader.”
“They have no leader,” Bagheera answered. “They have lied to you.”

Baloo explained that the Bandar-log followed no Law. They copied words from other animals, forgot everything quickly, and spent their days talking about the great things they planned to do without ever doing them. The Jungle People tried not to deal with them at all.

“You must promise to stay away from them,” Baloo said.
Mowgli promised, and soon he fell asleep between Baloo and Bagheera. But high in the trees, the monkeys had been listening. They had seen that Mowgli could join branches together to make small shelters, and they decided he could teach them to do the same. They wanted to take him and make him their leader.

Mowgli woke up when strong little hands caught his arms and legs. Before Baloo or Bagheera could stop them, the monkeys carried him high into the trees and rushed away through the branches.

At first Mowgli was afraid they would drop him. Then he became angry and began to think. He knew Baloo and Bagheera could never follow the monkeys through the treetops, so he needed another way to tell them where he was.

Far above him, he saw Rann, a large hunting bird called a kite, flying over the jungle. Mowgli remembered the Master Word for the birds.
“We are of one blood, you and I!” he called.
Rann flew lower.
“Follow my trail!” Mowgli shouted. “Tell Baloo and Bagheera that the Bandar-log have taken me!”
Rann promised and flew high above the trees, watching where the monkeys carried the boy.

Meanwhile, Baloo and Bagheera were full of fear and anger. Bagheera blamed Baloo for not warning Mowgli about the monkeys, while Baloo blamed himself and feared that Mowgli might already be dead.

Then Baloo remembered something important.
“The Bandar-log fear Kaa the Rock Python,” he said. “He can climb where they climb, and they are terrified of him.” So Baloo and Bagheera went to find Kaa.

They found the huge python lying in the sun after changing his skin. Kaa was very hungry. At first Bagheera did not fully trust him, but Baloo explained that the monkeys had taken Mowgli. Bagheera also reminded Kaa that the Bandar-log often laughed at him and called him insulting names.

Kaa became very interested. “The Bandar-log have taken a man-cub?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Baloo. “He is my pupil, and we love him.”
Kaa agreed to help.