Page 6

The Jungle book

The man cub

The result was that he shot up straight into the air for four or five feet, landing almost where he left the ground. "Man!" he snapped. "A man's cub. Look!"

Directly in front of him, holding on by a low branch, stood a naked brown baby who could just walk - as soft and as dimpled a little atom as ever came to a wolf's cave at night. He looked up into Father Wolf's face, and laughed.

"Is that a man's cub?" said Mother Wolf. "I have never seen one. Bring it here."

A wolf accustomed to moving his own cubs can, if necessary, mouth an egg without breaking it, and though Father Wolf's jaws closed right on the child's back not a tooth even scratched the skin as he laid it down among the cubs. "How little! How naked, and - how bold!" said Mother Wolf softly. The baby was pushing his way between the cubs to get close to the warm hide. "Ahai! He is taking his meal with the others. And so this is a man's cub. Now, was there ever a wolf that could boast of a man's cub among her children?"

Vocabulary:

Cub: A young animal - for example of a wolf, or a bear
Shot: Moved very quickly
Snapped: Said quickly but with great force
Dimpled: A dent in the skin caused by the muscles underneath
Cave: A hole in the ground or in a hill
Mouth: Here it means take into the mouth
Bold: Brave and not shy
Hide: The skin and fur of an animal
Boast: Talk a lot about something that makes you proud

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