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The Jungle book

The Wolves' Council

"Yes, I want to keep him!" she said. "He came in the night, with no clothes. He was alone and very hungry; but he was not afraid! Look, see how he has pushed one of my cubs so that he can get some milk? And the tiger wanted to kill him. Then Sher Khan would run away. But the people in the villages here would be angry and hurt us! Keep him? Oh, yesI will keep him. Be still, little frog. You are Mowgli - that's what I will call you. I will call you Mowgli the Frog. One day you will hunt Shere Khan instead of him hunting you."

"But what will the other wolves say?" asked Father Wolf. The Law of the Jungle tells wolves what to do. When a wolf gets married, if he wants to, he can leave the other wolves. But when his cubs can stand on their feet he must bring them to the Wolves' Council, so that the other wolves can see what the cubs look like. This happens every month when the moon is biggest and brightest. After the other wolves have looked at them, the cubs can go where they want. No grown-up wolf can kill one of them. If a wolf does kill a cub, the other wolves kill him. If you think about it for a minute, you will see that this is necessary.

Father Wolf waited till his cubs could stand on their own feet, and then he waited for a little bit longer. Then Father Wolf took his cubs and Mowgli and Mother Wolf to meet the other wolves of the pack. They went to the top of a large hill. There was a big stone there called the Council Rock. Around the Council Rock were many other stones where a hundred wolves could hide. Akela, the big gray Lone Wolf was there. Akela was the leader of the wolves because he was strong and clever. Now he was on the Council Rock, and more than forty wolves were on the ground around the rock. The wolves were every size and colour. There were old white and black wolves who could kill a big deer by themselves, and there were young three-year-old wolves who thought they could do it too..

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