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THAT HE SANG AT THE COUNCIL ROCK WHEN HE
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DANCED ON SHERE KHAN'S HIDE
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The Song of Mowgli—I, Mowgli, am singing. Let the jungle
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listen to the things I have done.
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Shere Khan said he would kill—would kill! At the gates in the
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twilight he would kill Mowgli, the Frog!
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He ate and he drank. Drink deep, Shere Khan, for when wilt thou
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drink again? Sleep and dream of the kill.
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I am alone on the grazing-grounds. Gray Brother, come to me!
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Come to me, Lone Wolf, for there is big game afoot!
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Bring up the great bull buffaloes, the blue-skinned herd bulls
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with the angry eyes. Drive them to and fro as I order.
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Sleepest thou still, Shere Khan? Wake, oh, wake! Here come I,
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and the bulls are behind.
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Rama, the King of the Buffaloes, stamped with his foot. Waters of
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the Waingunga, whither went Shere Khan?
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He is not Ikki to dig holes, nor Mao, the Peacock, that he should
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fly. He is not Mang the Bat, to hang in the branches. Little
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bamboos that creak together, tell me where he ran?
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Ow! He is there. Ahoo! He is there. Under the feet of Rama
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lies the Lame One! Up, Shere Khan!
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Up and kill! Here is meat; break the necks of the bulls!
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Hsh! He is asleep. We will not wake him, for his strength is
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very great. The kites have come down to see it. The black
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ants have come up to know it. There is a great assembly in his
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Alala! I have no cloth to wrap me. The kites will see that I am
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naked. I am ashamed to meet all these people.
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Lend me thy coat, Shere Khan. Lend me thy gay striped coat that I
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may go to the Council Rock.
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By the Bull that bought me I made a promise—a little promise.
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Only thy coat is lacking before I keep my word.
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With the knife, with the knife that men use, with the knife of the
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hunter, I will stoop down for my gift.
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Waters of the Waingunga, Shere Khan gives me his coat for the love
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that he bears me. Pull, Gray Brother! Pull, Akela! Heavy is
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the hide of Shere Khan.
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The Man Pack are angry. They throw stones and talk child's talk.
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My mouth is bleeding. Let me run away.
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Through the night, through the hot night, run swiftly with me, my
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brothers. We will leave the lights of the village and go to
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Waters of the Waingunga, the Man-Pack have cast me out. I did
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them no harm, but they were afraid of me. Why?
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Wolf Pack, ye have cast me out too. The jungle is shut to me and
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the village gates are shut. Why?
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As Mang flies between the beasts and birds, so fly I between the
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village and the jungle. Why?
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I dance on the hide of Shere Khan, but my heart is very heavy. My
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mouth is cut and wounded with the stones from the village, but
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my heart is very light, because I have come back to the jungle.
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These two things fight together in me as the snakes fight in the
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spring. The water comes out of my eyes; yet I laugh while it
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I am two Mowglis, but the hide of Shere Khan is under my feet.
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All the jungle knows that I have killed Shere Khan. Look—look
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