their mother.
"There is none like to me!" says the Cub in the pride of his
earliest kill;
But the jungle is large and the Cub he is small. Let him
think and be still.
Maxims of Baloo


All that is told here happened some time before Mowgli was turned out of
the Seeonee Wolf Pack, or revenged himself on Shere Khan the tiger. It
was in the days when Baloo was teaching him the Law of the Jungle. The
big, serious, old brown bear was delighted to have so quick a pupil,
for the young wolves will only learn as much of the Law of the Jungle
as applies to their own pack and tribe, and run away as soon as they can
repeat the Hunting Verse--"Feet that make no noise; eyes that can see in
the dark; ears that can hear the winds in their lairs, and sharp white
teeth, all these things are the marks of our brothers except Tabaqui the
Jackal and the Hyaena whom we hate." But Mowgli, as a man-cub, had to
learn a great deal more than this. Sometimes Bagheera the Black Panther
would come lounging through the jungle to see how his pet was getting
on, and would purr with his head against a tree while Mowgli recited the
day's lesson to Baloo. The boy could climb almost as well as he could
swim, and swim almost as well as he could run. So Baloo, the Teacher of
the Law, taught him the Wood and Water Laws: how to tell a rotten branch
from a sound one; how to speak politely to the wild bees when he came
upon a hive of them fifty feet above ground; what to say to Mang the
Bat when he disturbed him in the branches at midday; and how to warn the
water-snakes in the pools before he splashed down among them. None of
the Jungle People like being disturbed, and all are very ready to fly at
an intruder. Then, too, Mowgli was taught the Strangers' Hunting Call,