And yet they never knew what the buildings were made for nor how to use them . They would sit in circles on the hall of the king 's council chamber , and scratch for fleas and pretend to be men ; or they would run in and out of the roofless houses and collect pieces of plaster and old bricks in a corner , and forget where they had hidden them , and fight and cry in scuffling crowds , and then break off to play up and down the terraces of the king 's garden , where they would shake the rose trees and the oranges in sport to see the fruit and flowers fall . They explored all the passages and dark tunnels in the palace and the hundreds of little dark rooms , but they never remembered what they had seen and what they had not ; and so drifted about in ones and twos or crowds telling each other that they were doing as men did . They drank at the tanks and made the water all muddy , and then they fought over it , and then they would all rush together in mobs and shout : `` There is no one in the jungle so wise and good and clever and strong and gentle as the Bandar-log . '' Then all would begin again till they grew tired of the city and went back to the tree-tops , hoping the Jungle-People would notice them . Mowgli , who had been trained under the Law of the Jungle , did not like or understand this kind of life . The monkeys dragged him into the Cold Lairs late in the afternoon , and instead of going to sleep , as Mowgli would have done after a long journey , they joined hands and danced about and sang their foolish songs . One of the monkeys made a speech and told his companions that Mowgli 's capture marked a new thing in the history of the Bandar-log , for Mowgli was going to show them how to weave sticks and canes together as a protection against rain and cold . Mowgli picked up some creepers and began to work them in and out , and the monkeys tried to imitate ; but in a very few minutes they lost interest and began to pull their friends ' tails or jump up and down on all fours , coughing . `` I wish to eat , '' said Mowgli . `` I am a stranger in this part of the jungle . Bring me food , or give me leave to hunt here . '' Twenty or thirty monkeys bounded away to bring him nuts and wild pawpaws . But they fell to fighting on the road , and it was too much trouble to go back with what was left of the fruit . Mowgli was sore and angry as well as hungry , and he roamed through the empty city giving the Strangers ' Hunting Call from time to time , but no one answered him , and Mowgli felt that he had reached a very bad place indeed . `` All that Baloo has said about the Bandar-log is true , '' he thought to himself . `` They have no Law , no Hunting Call , and no leaders -- nothing but foolish words and little picking thievish hands . So if I am starved or killed here , it will be all my own fault . But I must try to return to my own jungle . Baloo will surely beat me , but that is better than chasing silly rose leaves with the Bandar-log . ''
No sooner had he walked to the city wall XXXXX the monkeys pulled him back , telling him that he did not know how happy he was , and pinching him to make him grateful .
as at if into on out over than through till