In the Seeonee hills it was seven o'clock on a very warm evening. Father Wolf woke up from his day's sleep. He scratched himself, then he yawned. Then he stretched his paws one after the other. Mother Wolf lay with her big gray nose on the ground near to her four noisy cubs. The moon shone its light into the cave where they all lived. "Augrh!" said Father Wolf. "It is time for me to hunt again." He was going to jump up and run down the hill when a little animal with a large, hairy tail came into the cave. The animal said "Good luck to you, Chief of the Wolves. And good luck and strong white teeth for your wonderful children. I hope that they may always help the hungry animals in this world."

It was the jackal - Tabaqui. The wolves of India don't like Tabaqui because he causes trouble. He also tells stories about the other animals, and he eats disgusting rubbish from the village. But they are afraid of him too. This is because Tabaqui, more than anyone else in the jungle, can go mad. When he is mad he forgets that he was ever afraid of anyone, and runs through the forest biting everything in his way. Even the tiger runs and hides when little Tabaqui goes mad. Madness is the worst thing that can happen to a wild animal. We call it hydrophobia, but the animals call it dewanee - the madness - and they run away from animals that have it.