"Kaa's Hunting" is an 1893

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

featuring Mowgli. Chronologically the story falls between the first and second halves of Mowgli's Brothers, and is the second story in ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, w ...

'' (1894) where it is accompanied by the

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

"Road Song of the

Bandar-log Bandar-log ( hi, बन्दर-लोग) is a term used in Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) to describe the monkeys of the Seeonee jungle. Description In Hindi, ''Bandar'' means "monkey" and ''log'' means "people" – hence the te ...

Story

The seven-year-old "man-cub" Mowgli, raised by

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...

, is being tutored in the Law of the Jungle by Baloo the bear, but "runs off in a temper" when Baloo hits him over the head for inattention. Bagheera the black panther, who disapproves of this corporal punishment, persuades Mowgli to return and recite his lessons. These include the "Master Words" for various species that identify the speaker as a friend. Stamp of Russia 2012 No 1653 Adventures of Mowgli

Stamp of Russia 2012 No 1653 Adventures of Mowgli

Bagheera is impressed with Mowgli's progress, but both are horrified when the man-cub then reveals that he has been visiting the

(" Monkey-People") who are shunned by the rest of the jungle. John Charles Dollman - Mowgli made leader of the Bandar Log

Mowgli is chastened, but soon afterward is abducted by the Bandar-log through the treetops. Seeing Chil the

Kite A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the fac ...

, Mowgli gives the kites' Master Word and tells Chil to find Baloo and Bagheera. The bear and the panther, unable to follow the monkeys, recall that the monkeys' only fear is

Kaa Kaa is a fictional character from ''The Jungle Book'' stories written by Rudyard Kipling. He is a giant snake who is 30 feet long. In the books and many of the screen adaptations, Kaa is an ally of main protagonist Mowgli, acting as a friend ...

the

python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

, and Bagheera goads the python into helping them by repeating (or inventing) some of the Bandar-log's insults against him. Here, Chil tells them Mowgli has been taken to the 'Cold Lairs', an abandoned human city, and they set off to rescue him. In the Cold Lairs, Mowgli soon realises that the monkeys only captured him as an amusing novelty. They soon become bored of him but refuse to let him go. When Kaa and Bagheera arrive the monkeys throw Mowgli into an abandoned " summer-house" inhabited by cobras, whereupon Mowgli hastily uses the snakes' Master Word to prevent them from striking. When Baloo and Bagheera arrive, a furious battle ensues. Kaa is delayed by a large section of city walls, but breaks down the wall of the summer house and frees Mowgli, who thanks him courteously. Kaa then scatters, and afterward hypnotises the Bandar-log into submission to himself. Baloo and Bagheera are also hypnotized; but Mowgli frees them. Once away, Bagheera advocates corporal punishment and Baloo opposes it. After "six love-taps" from Bagheera, the score is settled and the three of them go home.

References

External links

* * {{Rudyard Kipling The Jungle Book stories 1893 short stories