`` I will carry thee , '' said Mowgli ; and he stooped down , laughing , to lift the middle section of Kaa 's great body , just where the barrel was thickest . A man might just , as well have tried to heave up a two-foot water-main ; and Kaa lay still , puffing with quiet amusement . Then the regular evening game began -- the Boy in the flush of his great strength , and the Python in his sumptuous new skin , standing up one against the other for a wrestling match -- a trial of eye and strength . Of course , Kaa could have crushed a dozen Mowglis if he had let himself go ; but he played carefully , and never loosed one-tenth of his power . Ever since Mowgli was strong enough to endure a little rough handling , Kaa had taught him this game , and it suppled his limbs as nothing else could . Sometimes Mowgli would stand lapped almost to his throat in Kaa 's shifting coils , striving to get one arm free and catch him by the throat . Then Kaa would give way limply , and Mowgli , with both quick-moving feet , would try to cramp the purchase of that huge tail as it flung backward feeling for a rock or a stump . They would rock to and fro , head to head , each waiting for his chance , till the beautiful , statue-like group melted in a whirl of black-and-yellow coils and struggling legs and arms , to rise up again and again . `` Now ! now ! now ! '' said Kaa , making feints with his head that even Mowgli 's quick hand could not turn aside . `` Look ! I touch thee here , Little Brother ! Here , and here ! Are thy hands numb ? Here again ! '' The game always ended in one way -- with a straight , driving blow of the head that knocked the boy over and over . Mowgli could never learn the guard for that lightning lunge , and , as Kaa said , there was not the least use in trying . `` Good hunting ! ''
Kaa grunted at last ; and XXXXX , as usual , was shot away half a dozen yards , gasping and laughing .
Brother Kaa Mowgli Mowglis Python evening feints fro one-tenth water-main