A Story from the Jungle Books

This is a collection of our very best stories by Rudyard Kipling about Mowgli and his animal friends as well as his most dangerous enemy, the tiger Shere Khan.

Emma Topping reads two of the most popular stories from The Jungle Book: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and Toomai of the Elephants.

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born December 30, 1865 in Bombay, India. The name Rudyard was taken from a lake in Staffordshire, England. At the age of 6, he and his younger sister were sent back to England where they lived with separate families that took in children for hire. He returned to India at age 16. Rudyard knew literary success at a young age and was able to travel. He married Carrie Balestier, an American, and moved to the United States. The Jungle Books were written in Vermont. He died January 18, 1936 in Middlesex, England during an operation.

Four short stories are included in this volume of Kipling works. They are: "Mowgli's Brothers" - Mowgli, a small boy, is found orphaned in the jungle by wolves and raised by them; "Kaa's Hunting" - Mowgli is kidnapped by the Bandar-log (monkeys) and rescued by Kaa, a python; "The White Seal" - The community of seals believe a great white seal will come, and deliver them from the wrath of the seal hunters; and "Rikki Tikki Tavi" - A young mongoose defends his human family against a pair of marauding cobras.

Mowgli is abducted by monkeys. Baloo, the bear, and Bagheera, the black panther, set out to rescue him with the aid of Chil, the kite, and Kaa, the python.

Mowgli has been driven out of the human village for witchcraft, and the superstitious villagers are preparing to kill his adopted parents. Mowgli rescues them and then prepares to take revenge.

Deep in the Indian jungle, a boy is raised by wolves with the help of Baloo the bear and Bagheera the black panther. Soon he has to fight the tiger, Shere Khan. Who will win?

Mowgli's wolf pack is threatened by a pack of rampaging wild dogs. Mowgli asks Kaa the python to help him devise a plan to defeat them.

An almost grown-up Mowgli is restless for reasons he cannot comprehend. On a run through the jungle, he comes across the village where his adopted mother Messua is now living with her new young son. Mowgli is torn between staying with her and returning to the jungle.

Mowgli returns to the human village and is adopted by Messua and her husband who believe him to be their long-lost son Nathoo. But he has trouble adjusting life as a human. Meanwhile Shere Khan still wants to kill him.

During a drought, Mowgli and the animals gather at a shrunken river for a “water truce,” during which Hathi the elephant tells the story of how the first tiger got his stripes.

"The Voyages of Sinbad" from the Arabian Nights - Sinbad is a Baghdad merchant who acquires great wealth by going on seven voyages. He describes these to a poor discontented porter, Hinbad, to show him that wealth can only be obtained by enterprise and personal exertion. The Jungle Book - Animal stories set in India. The central figure is a human boy, Mowgli, brought up by a wolf as her cub and instructed in the lore of the jungle. "The Flying Trunk". A tale of a magical trunk that allows the owner to go wherever they wish.