He is freed of all calls to the Pack he is judged by the Council alone.īecause of his age and his cunning, because of his gripe and his paw, One haunch of each kill for her litter, and none may deny her the same.Ĭave-Right is the right of the Father-to hunt by himself for his own: From all of his Pack he may claimįull-gorge when the killer has eaten and none may refuse him the same. He may do what he will īut, till he has given permission, the Pack may not eat of that Kill.Ĭub-Right is the right of the Yearling. The Kill of the Wolf is the meat of the Wolf. Ye must eat where it lies Īnd no one may carry away of that meat to his lair, or he dies. The Kill of the Pack is the meat of the Pack. Pack-Right is the right of the meanest so leave him the head and the hide. If ye plunder his Kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride Ye may kill for yourselves, and your mates, and your cubs as they need, and ye can īut kill not for pleasure of killing, and seven times never kill Man!
Lest ye frighten the deer from the crop, and your brothers go empty away. If ye kill before midnight, be silent, and wake not the woods with your bay, The Council shall send him a message, and so he shall change it again. The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, but where he has digged it too plain, Not even the Head Wolf may enter, not even the Council may come. The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, and where he has made him his home, Lest others take part in the quarrel, and the Pack be diminished by war. When ye fight with a Wolf of the Pack, ye must fight him alone and afar, Lie down till the leaders have spoken-it may be fair words shall prevail. When Pack meets with Pack in the Jungle, and neither will go from the trail, Keep peace withe Lords of the Jungle-the Tiger, the Panther, and Bear.Īnd trouble not Hathi the Silent, and mock not the Boar in his lair. Remember the Wolf is a Hunter-go forth and get food of thine own. The Jackal may follow the Tiger, but, Cub, when thy whiskers are grown, Wash daily from nose-tip to tail-tip drink deeply, but never too deep Īnd remember the night is for hunting, and forget not the day is for sleep. NOW this is the Law of the Jungle-as old and as true as the sky Īnd the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.Īs the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back-įor the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack. This seems to be why Kipling is interested in how association might arise naturally and in the reasoning that emerges out of the situation of the jungle.
The jungle just seems more natural than the city. After all, we do not tell animals not to trespass property with signs or speeches, but we erect fences, to say nothing of anything else. Law is part of the human world, and whether it is anything but something human beings say and do is not at all clear. It is the world in which animals live, without any admixture of human things. Rudyard Kipling thought otherwise in fact, he makes quite a lot in a book for kids about something serious. You might wonder where this phrase comes from-the law of the jungle-which we take to mean lawlessness, spelled out in a fine turn of phrase.