`` None know it except the tigers , and we , the elephants -- the children of Tha . Now ye by the pools have heard it , and I have spoken . '' Hathi dipped his trunk into the water as a sign that he did not wish to talk . `` But -- but -- but , '' said Mowgli , turning to Baloo , `` why did not the First of the Tigers continue to eat grass and leaves and trees ? He did but break the buck 's neck . He did not EAT . What led him to the hot meat ? '' `` The trees and the creepers marked him , Little Brother , and made him the striped thing that we see . Never again would he eat their fruit ; but from that day he revenged himself upon the deer , and the others , the Eaters of Grass , '' said Baloo . `` Then THOU knowest the tale . Heh ? Why have I never heard ? '' `` Because the Jungle is full of such tales . If I made a beginning there would never be an end to them . Let go my ear , Little Brother . '' THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE Just to give you an idea of the immense variety of the Jungle Law , I have translated into verse -LRB- Baloo always recited them in a sort of sing-song -RRB- a few of the laws that apply to the wolves . There are , of course , hundreds and hundreds more , but these will do for specimens of the simpler rulings . Now this is the Law of the Jungle -- as old and as true as the sky ; And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper , but the Wolf that shall break it must die . As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back -- For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf , and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack . Wash daily from nose-tip to tail-tip ; drink deeply , but never too deep ; And remember the night is for hunting , and forget not the day is for sleep .
The jackal may follow the Tiger , but , Cub , when thy whiskers are grown , Remember the XXXXX is a hunter -- go forth and get food of thine own .
Baloo Brother Hathi Heh Law Tha Wolf daily day tail-tip