Translated into verse (Baloo always recited them in a sort of sing-song) a few of the laws that apply to the wolves. Just to give you an idea of the immense variety of the Jungle Law, I have There is strong stress on loyalty and obedience, qualities greatly valued by Kipling since his schooldays. The poem lists a set of rules for the Seonee wolf-pack, designed to ensure harmonious relations between the wolves, and effective common action. Collected Poems of Rudyard Kipling Wordsworth poetry Library (1994).The Burwash Edition vol x1 and xxvii (1941).The Sussex Edition vols xxii and xxxiv (1939).It is collected, as “The Law of the Jungle” in:
Most people who are familiar with the book consider this a Bad Thing.First published in the Pall Mall Budget on June 7th 1894, under the title “The Law for the Wolves”, with the story “How Fear Came”. When Disney made the animated version of the Jungle Book, they replaced this poem with The Bare Necessities. Now these are the Laws of the Jungle, and many and mighty are they īut the head and hoof of the Law and the haunch and the hump is- Obey! In all that the Law leaveth open, the word of your Head Wolf is Law. He is freed of all calls to the Pack he is judged by the Council alone.īecause of his age and his cunning, because of his gripe and his paw, One haunch of each kill for her litter, and none may deny her the same.Ĭave-Right is the right of the Father-to hunt by himself for his own: From all of the Pack he may claimįull-gorge when the killer has eaten and none may refuse him the same. He may do what he will īut, till he has given permission, the Pack may not eat of that Kill.Ĭub-Right is the right of the Yearling. The Kill of the Wolf is the meat of the Wolf. Ye must eat where it lies Īnd no one may carry away of that meat to his lair, or he dies. The Kill of the Pack is the meat of the Pack. Pack-Right is the right of the meanest so leave him the head and the hide. If ye plunder his kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride Ye may kill for yourselves and your mates, and your cubs as they need and ye can īut kill not for pleasure of killing, and seven times never kill Man! Lest ye frighten the deer from the crop, and your brothers go empty away. If ye kill before midnight be silent, and wake not the woods with your bay, The Council shall send him a message, and so he shall change it again. The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, but where he has digged it too plain, Not even the Head Wolf may enter, not even the Council may come. The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, and where he has made him is home Lest others take part in the quarrel, and the Pack be diminished by war. When ye fight with a Wolf of the Pack, ye must fight him alone and afar, Lie down till the leaders have spoken-it may be fair words shall prevail. When Pack meets with Pack in the Jungle, and neither will go from the trail, Keep peace with the Lords of the Jungle-the Tiger, the Panther, and Bear.Īnd trouble not Hathi the Silent, and mock not the Boar in his lair. Remember the Wolf is a Hunter-go forth and get food of thine own. The Jackal may follow the Tiger, but, Cub, when thy whiskers are grown, Wash daily from nose-tip to tail-tip drink deeply, but never too deep Īnd remember the night is for hunting, and forget not the day is for sleep. Now this is the Law of the Jungle-as old and as true as the sky Īnd the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.Īs the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back-įor the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack. The longest section of the laws he presented are contained in the following poem, a selection of that part of the Law relating to wolves as the wolf-cubs and Mowgli were taught by Baloo the bear.
Kipling deliberatly left most of the Law undefined. The underlying theme that ties together all the short stories that together Rudyard Kipling's two Jungle Books is not the boy Mowgli, who after all only appears in half the stories, but instead the idea of "The Law of the Jungle" - Nature's laws, which those who live in the Jungle break at their peril.
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