"Many of the wolves that accepted you when you were brought to the Council are old now too. Shere Khan has taught the young wolves that a man-cub does not belong with the Pack. Soon you will be a man."

"And why shouldn't a man run with his brothers?" said Mowgli. "I was born in the jungle. I have obeyed the Law of the Jungle, and there is no wolf in the pack I have not helped by pulling a thorn from his foot. The pack are my brothers!"

Bagheera stretched himself as far as he could, and shut his eyes. "Little Brother," he said, "feel under my jaw." Mowgli put his strong brown hand just under Bagheera's silky chin, where the panther's giant muscles were hidden by his glossy hair. There, under Bagheera's chin he found a little bald spot. "No one in the jungle knows that I, Bagheera, have that mark - the mark of the collar. Little Brother, I was born among men, and my mother died among men - in the cages of the king's palace at Oodeypore. It was because I lived among men that I bought your life at the Council when you were a little naked cub. Yes, I was born among men. I had never seen the jungle. They fed me behind bars until one night I realised that I was Bagheera - the Panther - and not a plaything. I broke the silly lock with my paw and came to the jungle.