Jungle Book (Version 3)

<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> </SPAN></p> <div style="height: 4em;"> <br/><br/><br/><br/> </div> <h2> Mowgli&rsquo;s Song </h2> <p> THAT HE SANG AT THE COUNCIL ROCK WHEN HE<br/> DANCED ON SHERE KHAN&rsquo;S HIDE<br/> <br/> The Song of Mowgli&mdash;I, Mowgli, am singing. Let the jungle<br/> listen to the things I have done.<br/> <br/> Shere Khan said he would kill&mdash;would kill! At the gates in the<br/> twilight he would kill Mowgli, the Frog!<br/> <br/> He ate and he drank. Drink deep, Shere Khan, for when wilt thou<br/> drink again? Sleep and dream of the kill.<br/> <br/> I am alone on the grazing-grounds. Gray Brother, come to me!<br/> Come to me, Lone Wolf, for there is big game afoot!<br/> <br/> Bring up the great bull buffaloes, the blue-skinned herd bulls<br/> with the angry eyes. Drive them to and fro as I order.<br/> <br/> Sleepest thou still, Shere Khan? Wake, oh, wake! Here come I,<br/> and the bulls are behind.<br/> <br/> Rama, the King of the Buffaloes, stamped with his foot. Waters of<br/> the Waingunga, whither went Shere Khan?<br/> <br/> He is not Ikki to dig holes, nor Mao, the Peacock, that he should<br/> fly. He is not Mang the Bat, to hang in the branches. Little<br/> bamboos that creak together, tell me where he ran?<br/> <br/> Ow! He is there. Ahoo! He is there. Under the feet of Rama<br/> lies the Lame One! Up, Shere Khan!<br/> <br/> Up and kill! Here is meat; break the necks of the bulls!<br/> <br/> Hsh! He is asleep. We will not wake him, for his strength is<br/> very great. The kites have come down to see it. The black<br/> ants have come up to know it. There is a great assembly in his<br/> honor.<br/> <br/> Alala! I have no cloth to wrap me. The kites will see that I am<br/> naked. I am ashamed to meet all these people.<br/> <br/> Lend me thy coat, Shere Khan. Lend me thy gay striped coat that I<br/> may go to the Council Rock.<br/> <br/> By the Bull that bought me I made a promise&mdash;a little promise.<br/> Only thy coat is lacking before I keep my word.<br/> <br/> With the knife, with the knife that men use, with the knife of the<br/> hunter, I will stoop down for my gift.<br/> <br/> Waters of the Waingunga, Shere Khan gives me his coat for the love<br/> that he bears me. Pull, Gray Brother! Pull, Akela! Heavy is<br/> the hide of Shere Khan.<br/> <br/> The Man Pack are angry. They throw stones and talk child&rsquo;s talk.<br/> My mouth is bleeding. Let me run away.<br/> <br/> Through the night, through the hot night, run swiftly with me, my<br/> brothers. We will leave the lights of the village and go to<br/> the low moon.<br/> <br/> Waters of the Waingunga, the Man-Pack have cast me out. I did<br/> them no harm, but they were afraid of me. Why?<br/> <br/> Wolf Pack, ye have cast me out too. The jungle is shut to me and<br/> the village gates are shut. Why?<br/> <br/> As Mang flies between the beasts and birds, so fly I between the<br/> village and the jungle. Why?<br/> <br/> I dance on the hide of Shere Khan, but my heart is very heavy. My<br/> mouth is cut and wounded with the stones from the village, but<br/> my heart is very light, because I have come back to the jungle.<br/> Why?<br/> <br/> These two things fight together in me as the snakes fight in the<br/> spring. The water comes out of my eyes; yet I laugh while it<br/> falls. Why?<br/> <br/> I am two Mowglis, but the hide of Shere Khan is under my feet.<br/> <br/> All the jungle knows that I have killed Shere Khan. Look&mdash;look<br/> well, O Wolves!<br/> <br/> Ahae! My heart is heavy with the things that I do not understand.<br/></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />