The Law of the Jungle
Hush! Here come all the animals! The _buffaloes_, the _blue deer_, the
_red deer_, the _wild pigs_, the _hyenas_, the _wolves_, the _red
dogs_, and many others. Watch and see how each kind of animal comes;
it is not always in the same way. The moon is now shining clear above
the trees, and we can see a long way up the stream.
See the _buffaloes!_ They come a little _above the elephants_. But
they do not come one behind another in a line, like the elephants.
They come three or four together. They also have beaten down the
bushes there years ago, to make a drinking place; and it is wide
enough for three or four of them to drink at the same time, side by
side.
_How Buffaloes Come to Drink--in Rows_
But why must they drink three or four at the same time? Because the
buffaloes are like a body of soldiers, one row behind another.
Sometimes twenty or thirty rows make up a herd. We see only the first
row drinking now, but soon we shall see the others behind.
And why do the buffaloes come like a body of soldiers? Because they
are afraid of their enemy--the tiger! Once upon a time the buffaloes
lived scattered about, and many of them got eaten by the tiger, one at
a time. Then those that escaped from the tiger became wise; they
joined together like a body of soldiers, so that they could beat off
the tiger. How they came to do that, I shall tell you at another time.
But now let us watch the first row drinking. They are all _bull
buffaloes_, the Papas of the herd; you can tell that by their _huge
horns_, a yard long on each side of the head. You see how the
buffaloes stand side by side, so that their horns almost touch one
another. That is the way the buffaloes have marched to the stream from
their feeding place--horn to horn. Why? Because no prowling tiger can
get past those horns.
Watch the first row as it finishes drinking; the whole row wheels
around to the side like soldiers. Then the buffaloes that have had
their drink march to the back of the herd, and stand there in a row
facing the jungle.
Meanwhile the second row in the front has stepped to the water to
drink. These also are bull buffaloes. When they finish drinking, they
also wheel, march to the back of the herd, and there stand behind the
first row. In this way four or five rows of bulls drink, one after the
other, and go to the back of the herd.
Next come about a dozen rows of _cow buffaloes_ and their calves, or
children. You see again, like the elephants, the Mammas and children
among the buffaloes are also _in the middle_, safe from all harm.
Then at the end there are four or five rows of bull buffaloes again,
to guard the Mammas and the children from enemies in the back.
_Buffalo Knights Guard the Timid Deer_
But wait a moment! Before the buffaloes go away, a most wonderful
thing happens. You have read stories, how once upon a time there were
brave knights who used to come to the help of ladies who were in
danger. Well, you will be glad to know that these bull buffaloes are
just like those brave knights. Do you see that timid little shadow
creeping in by the side of the buffaloes?
She is a _blue deer_, a very timid lady indeed; for she knows that a
tiger is waiting in the high ground behind, to catch her. It is the
last chance of the tiger to get his supper; so he waits by the high
ground behind, and watches for some weak animal like the deer to come
to drink.
But the blue deer knows that; so she hides in the bushes, and waits
for the buffaloes to come to drink. Then as the buffaloes come to the
water, row after row, horn to horn, she tries to creep in toward them;
she even tries to creep in _under_ the horns of the buffaloes, knowing
that there she will be quite safe from the tiger. It takes her a long
time to reach the buffaloes in that way, without being caught by the
tiger.
But do you see the wonderful thing? The buffaloes wait a little for
her! They take a little longer to drink, to give her a chance to reach
the water by their side. Like the brave knights, they feel proud of
helping a lady.
Now see! The blue deer also has finished drinking. She goes away with
the buffaloes, under their horns. They all reach the jungle again. She
looks carefully: the tiger is watching her, but he dares not come too
near. She sees where he is--then suddenly she gives a leap--another
leap--and another--quickly! The tiger leaps after her--but she leaped
first! She is gone! She is safe!
[Illustration: The Buffaloes and the Blue Deer]
The tiger is furious. He stands a moment before the buffaloes,
growling with rage. But the bulls in front of the herd paw the ground,
and rattle their horns with one another. They are going to charge!
But that tiger does not wait for the charge of the bull buffaloes. He
does not want to be trampled into a mess under their hoofs, or cut up
into pieces with their horns. Instead, he sneaks away, growling. He
sneaks back to the stream, to wait for some other weak animal.
So, you see, the jungle folks are in many ways just like us; for a
brave man always helps a lady or anybody who needs his help.
But now let us watch the stream higher up.
_Wild Pigs--Careless_
Here come the _wild pigs_. They are not exactly a herd; but still
there are many dozens of them, all one large family with all their
relations--cousins and uncles and aunts. Some of the wild pigs are
called _boars_; they are the Papas among the wild pigs. You can always
tell them by the two _sharp tusks_, or teeth, one on each side, which
grow _upward_ from their under jaw. Each tusk is as long as a knife,
and so sharp that a tiger does not always care to fight with a boar.
The wild pigs drink in any fashion, and go off in any fashion--just as
they like. They trust to luck or to the sharp tusks of some of the
boars to guard them from danger. But they have not learned enough yet
to do things in proper order.
_Red Dogs--Bold, Fearing Nobody_
Meanwhile other animals have also come. The moon is now quite high in
the sky. A band of shadows in the moonlight seems to fall upon the
water. It is a pack of _red dogs_; they have come boldly, as they are
afraid of nothing. For if a hungry tiger attacks them, the whole pack
will jump on the tiger and tear him down--that is, the tiger could
kill dozens of the dogs in a few minutes, but then the rest of the
wild red dogs would tear the tiger to pieces.
So the red dogs are not afraid as they come flocking to the stream.
They lap up the water with their lolling tongues. Then they look up at
the moon. Do you see what they are doing? Can you _hear_ them? They
are _howling at the moon in a chorus_. Dogs always howl at the moon.
Men do not quite know just why dogs do that. But perhaps they do it
because they are glad and satisfied, and are trying to _sing!_ When
_you_ sing, and there is a dog near by, you may hear him start
howling. He does that, I suppose, because he likes your singing, and
wants to join in the chorus!
So the wild dogs of the jungle also howl when they are glad. Then,
after the red dogs have howled as long as a song, they scamper off
into the jungle again. That shows, I suppose, that their howling was
really a song!
_Other Animals Come Alone_
The red dogs are the last of the animals that come in a bunch. Now you
see other animals coming one by one. A sneaking shadow there! It must
be a _hyena_. That is an animal that eats what remains from some other
animal's supper; so the hyena waits to see if a tiger or a leopard has
caught any supper, or else it will have to go hungry.
But hush! Here is a _red deer_ coming carefully to the water. This
animal is much bigger than the blue deer, and more able to take care
of herself. But, still, she comes very quietly, looking to right and
left to make sure that the tiger is not just in that place. She
reaches the water and starts drinking. But do you see how her ear is
bent to the side? The red deer is listening most carefully, even while
she is drinking!
But look, look! The bush behind the deer parts very slowly, and a huge
yellow form crouches there! It is the tiger!
He is not near enough to jump on the deer; so he takes one step
forward--as softly as a cat!
But the deer has heard the footfall! For she can hear even a leaf when
it falls to the ground. And in that one second, even while she was
drinking, the red deer has turned and leaped to the side. The tiger
has also leaped at the same time, and he aimed at the place where the
deer _was_. But the deer has just left that place, and the next second
she gives another leap, like a flash, and gets out of the tiger's
reach.
The tiger stands where he leaped, and growls with rage. He knows it
would be no use chasing the deer, as _the deer can run much faster_.
So he stands there, and growls for quite a while. Then, as he did not
get any supper that night, he can at least have a drink. So he drinks
and goes away, still growling.
Now all is quiet at last at the midnight pool, as all the animals have
gone away.
_The Law of the Jungle--Clear Water for All_
But before _we_ leave the place, I want you to remember something. I
showed you first the elephants; they were on our right--that is,
_down_ the stream, the way the water flows. And the elephants drank
first among all the animals.
Then all the other animals came to the stream, but more to our
left--that is, _up_ the stream. Why was that? Think!
I shall tell you. By the time the elephants finish drinking by dipping
their trunks into the stream many times, the water begins to get
muddy. In fact, after drinking, the elephants jump into the water to
have a bath and a swim, as I shall tell you in the next chapter.
So the water gets muddy near the elephants and all the way down stream
from that place, as the water flows that way. And as the other animals
do not want muddy water to drink, they always go _up_ the stream,
where the water is still clear.
That is _The Law of the Jungle_, though it is not written down in a
book, like the laws among men. The Law of the Jungle says that as the
elephants are the lords of the jungle, they shall drink _first_: but
they must be careful to drink _down the stream_, so that all the other
animals may have a place higher up, where they can get _clear water to
drink_.
And that law has never been broken, for many thousands of years, among
all the different sorts of animals.
But with men the laws among the different sorts of people, called
nations, are often broken, because some of them want all the best
things and the best places, and do not care if they muddy the water
that their neighbors have to drink.
So, my dear children, we can learn many things from the animals, even
how to be better men and women when we grow up.