"Little Brother" said he, "feel under my jaw."
Mowgli put up his strong brown hand, and just under Bagheera's silky chin, where the giant rolling muscles were all hid by the glossy hair, he came upon a little bald spot.
"There is no one in the jungle that knows that I, Bagheera, carry that mark -- the mark of the collar; and yet, Little Brother, I was born among men, and it was among men that my mother died -- in the cages of the King's Palace at Oodeypore. It was because of this that I paid the price for thee at the Council when thou wast a little naked cub. Yes, I too was born among men. I had never seen the jungle. They fed me behind bars from an iron pan till one night I felt that I was Bagheera, the Panther, and no man's plaything, and I broke the silly lock with one blow of my paw, and came away; and because I had learned the ways of men, I became more terrible in the jungle than Shere Khan. Is it not so?"
"Yes," said Mowgli; "all the jungle fear Bagheera -- all except Mowgli."
--Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book
A belated happy birthday to one of my favourite authors.
Mowgli put up his strong brown hand, and just under Bagheera's silky chin, where the giant rolling muscles were all hid by the glossy hair, he came upon a little bald spot.
"There is no one in the jungle that knows that I, Bagheera, carry that mark -- the mark of the collar; and yet, Little Brother, I was born among men, and it was among men that my mother died -- in the cages of the King's Palace at Oodeypore. It was because of this that I paid the price for thee at the Council when thou wast a little naked cub. Yes, I too was born among men. I had never seen the jungle. They fed me behind bars from an iron pan till one night I felt that I was Bagheera, the Panther, and no man's plaything, and I broke the silly lock with one blow of my paw, and came away; and because I had learned the ways of men, I became more terrible in the jungle than Shere Khan. Is it not so?"
"Yes," said Mowgli; "all the jungle fear Bagheera -- all except Mowgli."
--Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book
A belated happy birthday to one of my favourite authors.
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However, I'm pretty sure that if a lock can be broken with just one swipe of a Panther's paw, it's not fit to be a lock - especially for a fully grown and dangerous animal like a panther.
Even made me cry a little. Love the emotional image and the wonderful text...
GOD bless
John 3:16
And thinking of a fight between him and Shere Khan just now... I really hope that Bagheera truly mops the jungle floor with that creep's face. XD
Superb, just superb. It is so refreshing to see someone who honors The Jungle Book for what it is and not for the "Bare Necessities" version. Looking at this I can only hope to see more like it in the series. Imagine what it would look like when Mowgli was brought to the Cold Lairs by the Bandar-Log, the fight w/ Shere Khan, or even any of the non-Mowgli stories: Kotick, Toomai, or the gentleman himself, Rikki-tikki-tavi?
- Take care, Beannachd Dia Dhuit
Thank you!
great illustration btw!