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The story “Mowgli” by Kipling is included in the famous collection of the writer “The Jungle Book”, in which the main characters are animals. This is an amazing story about a boy who was raised by a pack of wolves and lived among the wild inhabitants of the jungle.
We recommend reading online a summary of “Mowgli” chapter by chapter, and then taking a test to test your knowledge. A retelling of the book will be useful for the reading diary and preparation for a literature lesson in 3rd grade.
The material was prepared jointly with a teacher of the highest category, Kuchmina Nadezhda Vladimirovna.
Experience as a teacher of Russian language and literature - 27 years.
Summary of “The Jungle Book” by Kipling Rudyard
The book consists of two parts. Some of the stories tell about Mowgli, about his life in the jungle among wild animals. At the age of two, a woodcutter's little son gets lost in the jungle. The lame tiger Shere Khan is on his heels and wants to make him his prey. The child crawls to the wolves' lair.
Father and Mother Wolves accept him into their family and protect him from Shere Khan. They call him Mowgli, which means “little frog.”
At the council of the wolf pack, the bear Baloo, who teaches the wolf cubs the law of the jungle, and the black panther Bagheera, who pays the pack not to hand over the baby to Shere Khan to be torn to pieces, ask to allow Mowgli to live among the wolves.
Mowgli's intelligence and courage allow him to survive and grow stronger in the difficult conditions of life in the jungle. His friends and patrons are the bear Balu, Bagheera, the boa constrictor Kaa, and the leader of the wolf pack Akelo.
Many adventures happen in his life, he learns to speak the language of all the inhabitants of the jungle, and this saves his life more than once. One day, the monkeys take the boy to Cold Lairs, a ruined Hindu city founded in the jungle centuries ago. Bagheera, Baloo and Kaa come to the boy’s aid and save him from the monkeys who are playing with him like a toy.
Summary
Mowgli's brothers
None of the large predators of the Sionian Mountains, with the exception of the tiger Shere Khan, ever hunted a person: it was too dangerous. This time too, Sherk Khan violated the Law of the Jungle and paid by having his skin singed in the fire.
Soon after this, a small “boy who had just learned to walk, all soft and full of dimples,” appeared near the wolf’s den. The Mother Wolf, taking pity on the human cub, decided to raise him along with her cubs.
Meanwhile, Shere Khan, enraged by the unsuccessful hunt, demanded that the Wolf Father give him the child. However, the wolves defended the cub, who was named “Mowgli the Frog.”
The next day, the entire flock was gathered at Council Rock, and Shere Khan turned to its leader, the old wolf Akela, demanding the return of his prey. Akela asked the gathered animals who were ready to stand up for the human cub. So not only Mother Wolf and Father Wolf stood up for Mowgli, but also “old Baloo, the sleepy brown bear” and “Bagheera, the black panther.” Clever Bagheera explained to the pack that the boy, when he grew up, would bring a lot of benefit, and Akela agreed to leave him.
So Mowgli began to grow up with the wolf cubs. Ten years later, he turned into a strong, resilient teenager, for whom the jungle was like an open book.
During this time, Akela grew old, and Shere Khan decided to take advantage of his weakness. He again demanded to give him the human cub, whom he had hated fiercely all these years. However, Mowgli, on the advice of Bagheera, got the “Red Flower” - fire - in the village, and in front of everyone, he whipped the tiger with flaming branches. He restored Akela's authority, and he himself decided to leave the jungle to live among people.
Kaa Python Hunting
Even when Mowgli was little, Bagheera and Baloo taught him the Law of the Jungle. This is how he learned the Great Words - “You and I are of the same blood,” which protected him from “birds, snakes and all creatures that hunt on four legs.”
One day, the Bandar-log monkeys kidnapped the Boy while he was sleeping and dragged him into their pack. Balu and Bagheera failed to catch up with the agile macaques, and they turned for help to the wise and strong python Kaa, whom the Bandar-logs feared more than death.
The cunning Bagheera skillfully incited Kaa's hatred for the monkeys, and he agreed to help them save the boy. They went to the lost city, which the Bandar-logs had chosen, and saved Mowgli.
Tiger! Tiger!
After the matured Mowgli whipped Shere Khan with burning branches, he headed to the nearest village and began to live among people.
For three months, Mowgli, who lived with his adoptive mother, “studied intensely the customs and manners of people,” but still considered them stupid and very strange creatures.
From Gray Brother, Mowgli learned that Shere Khan had returned with his henchman the jackal Tabaqui. This time the tiger decided to kill his sworn enemy without fail. However, the human cub outwitted him and drove him into a trap, in which the tiger found himself trampled by mighty bulls.
When Mowgli brought the tiger skin to the village, a hail of stones fell on him. Local residents had no doubt that the wolf's son was a sorcerer, capable of turning into animals. Then Mowgli decided to leave the people and go with the Gray Brothers into the jungle to hunt alone.
How fear came to the jungle
A terrible drought hit the jungle: the river became shallow, lakes and streams dried up, trees shed their withered leaves. Following the drought came famine. Of all the mighty streams, there was only one “thin stream of water” left, and a Truce came in the jungle: each of the animals could fearlessly come to the stream and drink. Everyone knew that “killing at a watering hole is punishable by death.” The elephant Hathi ensured that this rule was observed.
The vile Shere Khan had the right to kill a person one night a year with impunity, and he did not fail to use it. Having learned about this, the elephant Hathi asked him to leave the watering hole so as not to desecrate it.
Jungle Invasion
Returning to the jungle, Mowgli hung Shere Khan's skin at the Council Rock. He soon learned that the village hunters were following in the footsteps of his Gray Brothers. One of them - the vile Baldeo - told his fellow villagers that it was he who killed the tiger, and Mowgli turned into a wolf and ran away.
To cover his tracks, Baldeo insisted on burning the boy's adoptive parents as sorcerers. However, Mowgli freed them in time and helped them get out of the village. He decided to take revenge on the cruel peasants, and with the help of the elephant Hathi, deer, wild boars and other animals, he destroyed the village and the sown fields. People were forced to leave their homes in fear, and the deserted village was quickly swallowed up by the jungle.
Royal ankas
From his friend the python Kaa, Mowgli learned about the destroyed city in which the old White Cobra guarded the “treasures of a hundred princes.” Out of curiosity, the boy visited the cobra, but the untold riches did not attract him at all. He was much more interested in the royal ankas - the elephant driver's staff, decorated with precious stones. He took it with him, but the wise Bagheera warned that the rod brought death with it, and Mowgli threw it away.
He soon learned that the ankas had been picked up by a man, and Bagheera’s prophecy was confirmed: wanting to possess this treasure, people began to kill each other. To stop the flow of deaths, the boy returned the ankas to the White Cobra.
Red dogs
One day, the “Wild Dogs of the Deccan—red dogs, killers” burst into the jungle. Maddened by hunger, they left their native lands to kill all living things on their way. The wolves realized that the upcoming hunt could be the last in their lives.
Mowgli went to Kaa for advice, and he reported that even red dogs are afraid of the “little people of the rocks” - wild bees. Then Mowgli, having properly teased the dogs, led them along to a gorge near the river. Finding himself at the cliff, he quickly jumped into the water, while clouds of angry bees attacked his red pursuers. A terrible battle broke out. Old Akela died, but before his death he ordered Mowgli to leave the jungle and live among people.
Spring
When Mowgli turned 17, he suddenly felt strangely depressed. His feet carried him to the village, where he accidentally found his adoptive mother. The aged woman did not immediately recognize Mowgli. He looked like a “fairytale deity of the forests” - he grew so tall, strong and beautiful.
Mowgli decided to stay in the village, because Akela and Kaa always taught him that “man goes to man in the end”...
Summary of Kipling's The Jungle Book
Rudyard Kipling 1865–1936 English Sir Joseph Rudyard Kipling. The Jungle Book · 1894 Summary of the collection Readable in 6 minutes, original - 4 hours
The book consists of two parts. Some of the stories tell about Mowgli, about his life in the jungle among wild animals. At the age of two, a woodcutter's little son gets lost in the jungle. The lame tiger Shere Khan is on his heels and wants to make him his prey. The child crawls to the wolves' lair. Father and Mother Wolves accept him into their family and protect him from Shere Khan. They call him Mowgli, which means “little frog.” At the council of the wolf pack, the bear Baloo, who teaches the wolf cubs the law of the jungle, and the black panther Bagheera, who pays the pack not to hand over the baby to Shere Khan to be torn to pieces, speak out in favor of allowing Mowgli to live among the wolves.
Mowgli's intelligence and courage allow him to survive and grow stronger in the difficult conditions of life in the jungle. His friends and patrons are the bear Balu, Bagheera, the boa constrictor Kaa, and the leader of the wolf pack Akelo. Many adventures happen in his life, he learns to speak the language of all the inhabitants of the jungle, and this saves his life more than once.
One day, the Bandar-log monkeys take a boy to Cold Lairs, a ruined Hindu city built in the jungle centuries ago. While the monkeys carry him, moving along the tree branches, Mowgli asks the kite to watch where he is being taken and warn his friends. Bagheera, Baloo and Kaa come to the boy’s aid and save him from the monkeys who are playing with him like a toy.
Ten years after Mowgli arrived in the jungle, the leader of the pack, Akelo, becomes old and can no longer patronize his favorite. Many wolves hate Mowgli because they cannot stand his gaze and feel his inexplicable superiority. Shere Khan is waiting for the right moment to deal with Mowgli. Then, on Bagheera's advice, Mowgli brings fire from the village. On the Council Rock of the wolf pack, he demonstrates his strength to the animals, sets Shere Khan’s skin on fire, and speaks out in defense of Akelo.
After that, he leaves the jungle and goes to the village, to the people. There, one woman named Messua takes him for her son, who was once carried away by Shere Khan, and gives him shelter in her house. Mowgli learns the human language, becomes accustomed to the way of life of people, and then becomes a shepherd of the village herd of buffalo for several months. One day he learns from the wolves loyal to him that Shere Khan, who went to another part of the jungle to heal his wounds, has returned. Then Mowgli lures the tiger into a trap and sends a herd of buffalo at him from both sides. Shere Khan dies. The village hunter, who learned about the death of the tiger, wants to receive 100 rupees for the capture of Shere Khan and wants to take his skin to the village. Mowgli does not allow him to do this. Then the hunter calls him a werewolf, and Messua and her husband sorcerers. Mowgli with a tiger skin is hiding in the jungle. His named parents are going to be burned. Mowgli returns, helps them hide and get to the English settlement, from whom they can ask for protection. Mowgli sends wild elephants, buffalos, and deer to the village, and they trample all the fields, destroy houses, disperse herds, so that the inhabitants are forced to leave their former habitat and seek shelter in some other place.
After the death of Shere Khan and the destruction of the village, Mowgli returns to the jungle, and now his life is especially good. Everyone recognizes his rights as the owner and master of the jungle. He grows up to be a handsome, strong and intelligent young man.
When he reaches seventeen years of age, the wolves' habitat is attacked by wild red dhole dogs. Each of them is weaker than a wolf, but they attack in hordes, they are hungry and kill all living things in their path. Mowgli, along with Kaa, lures them into a trap consisting of a billion-strong swarm of wild bees and a rushing river. His cunning helps him get rid of most of the uninvited guests. Then the wolf pack finishes off the survivors and the most stubborn of them. Thus, Mowgli saves the wolves from certain death (if they decided to fight the valleys without preliminary measures) or from forced relocation.
Spring comes, and Mowgli is drawn to people. He says goodbye to his friends and finally leaves to where Messua and her recently born child now live. Mowgli meets a girl, marries her and leads a normal life for a human being, but he forever retains in his memory his first years spent in the jungle and the images of his true friends.
Other most famous stories are the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, as well as the story of the White Cat. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is a little mongoose, a brave snake fighter. One day, an English family, who had recently settled in a bungalow with a garden, finds a barely alive mongoose, nurses it and leaves it in their house. After some time, Rikki-Tikki realizes that he will have to fight two cobras: Nag and his friend Nagena, who are extremely unhappy with his appearance in the garden. They intend to kill all the people: husband and wife and their son Teddy, hoping that then the mongoose will have nothing to do in their garden. On the first night, Rikki-Tikki in the bathroom of Teddy’s parents is killed by Naga. The next morning, he destroys all the cobra eggs, from which small snakes are about to hatch, and after Nagena herself, he rushes into her hole and deals with her there. So little Rikki-Tikki-Tavi saves an entire family from certain death.
There is also a fascinating story about the White Cat, who set himself the goal of finding an island for his relatives where people could not reach them and take them to slaughter. For five whole years he sails the seas and oceans, asking everyone he meets on his way where to find such a place. He has to fight storms, escape sharks, and find food in difficult conditions. During his travels, he develops extraordinary strength, sharpens his mind and powers of observation. Finally, the sea cows point him to an island surrounded by coastal reefs, and the next year he brings almost the entire tribe of his brothers to it, where they can live in safety and nothing will darken the future of their babies.
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