Rudyard Kipling

“ They are only men. They killed one another, and were well pleased,” said Bagheera. “That first little woodman hunted well.”
“They are cubs none the less; and a cub will drown himself to bite the moon’s light on the water. The fault was mine,” said Mowgli, who spoke as though he knew all about everything. “I will never again bring into the Jungle strange things--not though they be as beautiful as flowers. This”--he handled the ankus gingerly--“goes back to the Father of Cobras. But first we must sleep, and we cannot sleep near these sleepers. ”

“ There is always evil at Cold Lairs--above ground or below. But now I am hungry. Dost thou hunt with me this dawn?” said Kaa.
“No; Bagheera must see this thing. Good hunting!” Mowgli danced off, flourishing the great ankus, and stopping from time to time to admire it, till he came to that part of the Jungle Bagheera chiefly used, and found him drinking after a heavy kill. Mowgli told him all his adventures from beginning to end, and Bagheera sniffed at the ankus between whiles. When Mowgli came to the White Cobra’s last words, the Panther purred approvingly. ”

“ I give them their own path. They carry death in the fore-tooth, and that is not good--for they are so small. But what hood is this thou hast spoken with?”
Kaa rolled slowly in the water like a steamer in a beam sea. “Three or four moons since,” said he, “I hunted in Cold Lairs, which place thou hast not forgotten. And the thing I hunted fled shrieking past the tanks and to that house whose side I once broke for thy sake, and ran into the ground.”
“But the people of Cold Lairs do not live in burrows.” Mowgli knew that Kaa was talking of the Monkey People. ”

“ Wait awhile, Kaa of the Rocks, and see the boy run. There is room for great sport here. Life is good. Run to and fro awhile, and make sport, boy!”
Mowgli put his hand on Kaa’s head quietly.
“The white thing has dealt with men of the Man-Pack until now. He does not know me,” he whispered. “He has asked for this hunting. Let him have it.” Mowgli had been standing with the ankus held point down. He flung it from him quickly, and it dropped crossways just behind the great snake’s hood, pinning him to the floor. In a flash, Kaa’s weight was upon the writhing body, paralysing it from hood to tail. ”

“ Mowgli asked quickly.
“I was born in the King’s cages at Oodeypore, and it is in my stomach that I know some little of Man. Very many men would kill thrice in a night for the sake of that one big red stone alone.”
“But the stone makes it heavy to the hand. My little bright knife is better; and--see! the red stone is not good to eat. Then why would they kill?”
“Mowgli, go thou and sleep. Thou hast lived among men, and--”
“I remember. Men kill because they are not hunting; for idleness and pleasure. Wake again, Bagheera. For what use was this thorn- pointed thing made?” ”

“ The first thing to do when a trail ceases to explain itself is to cast forward without leaving your own confusing foot-marks on the ground. Bagheera turned as he landed, and faced Mowgli, crying, “Here comes another trail to meet him. It is a smaller foot, this second trail, and the toes turn inward.” ”

“ The rest of the handle was a shaft of pure ivory, while the point--the spike and hook--was gold-inlaid steel with pictures of elephant-catching; and the pictures attracted Mowgli, who saw that they had something to do with his friend Hathi the Silent.
The White Cobra had been following him closely.
“Is this not worth dying to behold?” he said. “Have I not done thee a great favour?”
“I do not understand,” said Mowgli. “The things are hard and cold, and by no means good to eat. But this”--he lifted the ankus--“I desire to take away, that I may see it in the sun. Thou sayest they are all thine? ”

“ If the pointed thing is Death, that man will die. Let us follow.”
“Kill first,” said Bagheera. “An empty stomach makes a careless eye. Men go very slowly, and the Jungle is wet enough to hold the lightest mark.”
They killed as soon as they could, but it was nearly three hours before they finished their meat and drink and buckled down to the trail. The Jungle People know that nothing makes up for being hurried over your meals.
“Think you the pointed thing will turn in the man’s hand and kill him?” Mowgli asked. ”

“ Cry thy trail, Bagheera, Big Foot!”
The panther had been casting in every direction to see how Big Foot’s trail led away from behind the rock. Then he gave tongue:
“I come from behind the rock upon my knees, dragging the thorn- pointed thing. Seeing no one, I run. I, Big Foot, run swiftly. The trail is clear. Let each follow his own. I run!”
Bagheera swept on along the clearly-marked trail, and Mowgli followed the steps of the Gond. ”

“ Let him come, and he shall see all these things, for the least of which very many men would die.’ ”
“That must be new game. And yet the Poison People do not tell us when game is afoot. They are an unfriendly folk.” ”

“ I have seen the like in the street of Oodeypore, before our cages. That thing has tasted the blood of many such as Hathi.”
“But why do they thrust into the heads of elephants?”
“To teach them Man’s Law. Having neither claws nor teeth, men make these things--and worse.”
“Always more blood when I come near, even to the things the Man- Pack have made,” said Mowgli disgustedly. He was getting a little tired of the weight of the ankus. ”