Part 1 (1/2)

The Jungle Books.

by Rudyard Kipling & Lisa Makman.

Introduction.

The term ”jungle,” derived from the Hindi word jangala, jangala, entered the English language only in the eighteenth century; today it evokes dangerous terrain: impenetrable equatorial forests, menacing urban landscapes, and overall mayhem (as in, ”it's a jungle out there”). Even as jungles have gained a new designation-rain forest-and we have learned of their life-sustaining role in the biosphere, the word continues to conjure images of imperial adventure: the white man cutting his way through the brush to hunt big game, or Tarzan swinging from a vine. We owe our deep a.s.sociations of jungles with mystery, threat, and the struggle for survival in large measure to Rudyard Kipling's entered the English language only in the eighteenth century; today it evokes dangerous terrain: impenetrable equatorial forests, menacing urban landscapes, and overall mayhem (as in, ”it's a jungle out there”). Even as jungles have gained a new designation-rain forest-and we have learned of their life-sustaining role in the biosphere, the word continues to conjure images of imperial adventure: the white man cutting his way through the brush to hunt big game, or Tarzan swinging from a vine. We owe our deep a.s.sociations of jungles with mystery, threat, and the struggle for survival in large measure to Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Books, The Jungle Books, perhaps the most influential mythology of the jungle written in English. perhaps the most influential mythology of the jungle written in English.

Kipling composed The Jungle Books The Jungle Books in the mid-1890s, just when he had reached the peak of his celebrity as a writer. The books were phenomenally popular and well received by critics when they first appeared in 1894 in the mid-1890s, just when he had reached the peak of his celebrity as a writer. The books were phenomenally popular and well received by critics when they first appeared in 1894 (The Jungle Book) (The Jungle Book) and 1895 and 1895 (The Second Jungle Book). (The Second Jungle Book). The stories they include are marked not only by the events of Kipling's life but by the interests and anxieties of late-Victorian culture, by prevailing att.i.tudes toward empire, gender, nature, race, and children. Kipling's jungle has been decoded by readers as both an allegory of empire and an allegory of childhood. It articulates a philosophy of human nature, a theory of education, and a distinct conception of the relations.h.i.+p between humans and the natural world. The The stories they include are marked not only by the events of Kipling's life but by the interests and anxieties of late-Victorian culture, by prevailing att.i.tudes toward empire, gender, nature, race, and children. Kipling's jungle has been decoded by readers as both an allegory of empire and an allegory of childhood. It articulates a philosophy of human nature, a theory of education, and a distinct conception of the relations.h.i.+p between humans and the natural world. The Jungle Book Jungle Book tales also produce a powerful myth of male ident.i.ty; they provided the inspiration for Robert Baden-Powell's world-renowned organization, the Boy Scouts, and Edgar Rice Burroughs's perennially popular Tarzan series. Although the stories are marked by the culture in which they were produced, they remain popular and have been translated into dozens of languages, including Estonian, Welsh, Finnish, j.a.panese, Yiddish, and Telugu. tales also produce a powerful myth of male ident.i.ty; they provided the inspiration for Robert Baden-Powell's world-renowned organization, the Boy Scouts, and Edgar Rice Burroughs's perennially popular Tarzan series. Although the stories are marked by the culture in which they were produced, they remain popular and have been translated into dozens of languages, including Estonian, Welsh, Finnish, j.a.panese, Yiddish, and Telugu.

EARLY LIFE: BETWEEN INDIA AND ENGLAND.

Throughout his life, Rudyard Kipling was a prolific writer of short stories, journalistic sketches, poetry, essays, and children's literature. He also penned several novels and was a gifted ill.u.s.trator of his own work. Although this body of work is diverse-including historical tales, comic sketches, and science fiction-much of his writing focuses on life in India, where he was born to British parents in 1865. Kipling spent two stretches of his life in India, from birth to age five, and from sixteen to twenty-three, and India's unique geographical, political, and social landscapes were recurrently a point of departure for his literary imaginings.

By all accounts, Kipling pa.s.sed his early years with his family in Bombay in comfort, praised and pampered. He and his younger sister, Alice (called ”Trix”), were princ.i.p.ally tended by a set of adoring servants, with whom they spoke Hindustani. These servants gave young Rudyard ample opportunity to move freely across linguistic, race, and cla.s.s lines. At the start of his fragmentary unfinished memoir, Something of Myself Something of Myself (1937), Kipling recalls, ”Meeta, my Hindu bearer, would sometimes go into little Hindu temples where, being below the age of caste, I held his hand and looked at the dimly-seen friendly G.o.ds” (Kipling, (1937), Kipling recalls, ”Meeta, my Hindu bearer, would sometimes go into little Hindu temples where, being below the age of caste, I held his hand and looked at the dimly-seen friendly G.o.ds” (Kipling, Something of Myself and Other Autobiographical Writings, Something of Myself and Other Autobiographical Writings, p. 3; see ”For Further Reading”). When Kipling returned to India in his teens, no longer ”below the age of caste,” he again a.s.sociated his own mobility with the pleasures of looking. He wrote, ”I would wander till dawn in all manner of odd places-liquor shops, gambling and opium dens ... wayside entertainments such as puppet shows, native dances; or in and about the narrow gullies under the Mosque of Wazir Khan for the sheer sake of looking” (p. 33). This delight in crossing social boundaries can be seen in his stories for adults and also in the p. 3; see ”For Further Reading”). When Kipling returned to India in his teens, no longer ”below the age of caste,” he again a.s.sociated his own mobility with the pleasures of looking. He wrote, ”I would wander till dawn in all manner of odd places-liquor shops, gambling and opium dens ... wayside entertainments such as puppet shows, native dances; or in and about the narrow gullies under the Mosque of Wazir Khan for the sheer sake of looking” (p. 33). This delight in crossing social boundaries can be seen in his stories for adults and also in the Jungle Book Jungle Book tales, in which characters not only cross lines between social groups but cross borders between species: After being abandoned by his parents, the child Mowgli, perhaps the best-known of these characters, enters a wolf pack, is educated by a bear, and befriends a panther and a python. tales, in which characters not only cross lines between social groups but cross borders between species: After being abandoned by his parents, the child Mowgli, perhaps the best-known of these characters, enters a wolf pack, is educated by a bear, and befriends a panther and a python.

As he explains in his memoir, Kipling felt that his own parents abandoned him as a child. When Rudyard was five years old, he and his sister were precipitously dispatched ”home” to England to be raised by strangers for pay at a house in Southsea, which he later designated ”the House of Desolation.” Although the Anglo-Indian practice of s.h.i.+pping one's children to England to be educated was commonplace, Kipling's descriptions of this early desertion by his parents were ever tainted with bitterness. He remained in Southsea in misery for six years until his parents ”rescued” him. In his story ”Baa Baa, Black Sheep,” a thinly disguised rendering of these years, he refers to himself and his sister as ”Punch and Judy,” suggesting that they were mere puppets in Southsea and subject to violence at the hands of their foster family.

As a child in Southsea, Kipling discovered that reading offered an escape from his wretched circ.u.mstances. In Something of Myself, Something of Myself, he recalls how books became ”a means to everything that would make me happy” (p. 6). In ”Baa Baa, Black Sheep,” he writes of Punch's escape into the world of stories: ”If he were only left alone Punch could pa.s.s, at any hour he chose, into a land of his own, beyond the reach of Aunty Rosa and her G.o.d” (p. 148). According to his own account, his childhood reading provided inspiration for he recalls how books became ”a means to everything that would make me happy” (p. 6). In ”Baa Baa, Black Sheep,” he writes of Punch's escape into the world of stories: ”If he were only left alone Punch could pa.s.s, at any hour he chose, into a land of his own, beyond the reach of Aunty Rosa and her G.o.d” (p. 148). According to his own account, his childhood reading provided inspiration for The Jungle Books. The Jungle Books. Kipling explains that as a child, he ”somehow or other came across a tale about a lion-hunter in South Africa who fell in among lions who were all freemasons, and with them entered into a confederacy against some wicked baboons.” He continues, ”I think that, too, lay dormant until the Kipling explains that as a child, he ”somehow or other came across a tale about a lion-hunter in South Africa who fell in among lions who were all freemasons, and with them entered into a confederacy against some wicked baboons.” He continues, ”I think that, too, lay dormant until the Jungle Books Jungle Books began to be born” (p. 7). As in the lion-hunter's story, which R. L. Green, in began to be born” (p. 7). As in the lion-hunter's story, which R. L. Green, in Kipling and the Children, Kipling and the Children, has identified as James Greenwood's tale ”King Lion,” in has identified as James Greenwood's tale ”King Lion,” in The Jungle Books The Jungle Books a human figure-Mowgli-joins in a fellows.h.i.+p with animals to whom he is bound by a code of ethics. Much like the role played by books for the boy Rudyard, the role played by this new fellows.h.i.+p with beasts is to provide salvation for young Mowgli and ultimately to help him rise to great power. a human figure-Mowgli-joins in a fellows.h.i.+p with animals to whom he is bound by a code of ethics. Much like the role played by books for the boy Rudyard, the role played by this new fellows.h.i.+p with beasts is to provide salvation for young Mowgli and ultimately to help him rise to great power.

At the conclusion of Kipling's sojourn in the ”House of Desolation,” after a brief and joyful reunion with his family, his parents returned to India, and Kipling was sent off to the United Services College, a school for officers' children in the North Devon resort town of Westward Ho! The adventures described in his children's book Stalky & Stalky & Co. (1899) were based on his experiences at this college. During his years there, Kipling began to experiment with short fiction and poetry. He submitted his first writing for publication-a poem ent.i.tled ”The Dusky Crew”-to the American children's monthly St. Co. (1899) were based on his experiences at this college. During his years there, Kipling began to experiment with short fiction and poetry. He submitted his first writing for publication-a poem ent.i.tled ”The Dusky Crew”-to the American children's monthly St. Nicholas Magazine, Nicholas Magazine, which rejected it. Only a decade later, the magazine would publish many of the stories collected in which rejected it. Only a decade later, the magazine would publish many of the stories collected in The Jungle Books. The Jungle Books.

At sixteen Rudyard bid farewell to both school and England to begin life as a journalist in India; he rejoined his parents and sister, restoring what the Kiplings called ”the family square.” Kipling's parents, Lockwood and Alice (nee Macdonald) always held deep fascination for him. The children of Methodist ministers, they both rejected the faith of their fathers. Both were irreverent, spirited, and creative. Alice, who wrote poetry, was one of a group of beautiful and gifted sisters who married talented men; two wed painters-the Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones and the historical painter Sir Edward Poynter-and one married a wealthy industrialist named Alfred Baldwin and became the mother of future prime minister Stanley Baldwin. Before her marriage, Alice allegedly tossed a lock of hair belonging to the Evangelical preacher and founder of Methodism John Wesley into the fire, declaring, ”A hair of the dog that bit us!” Lockwood was an artist and a teacher of artisans. His appointment as an artist craftsman at the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy School of Art and Industry in Bombay enabled him to marry Alice in 1865, shortly after they met. The Kiplings remained in Bombay for ten years, then moved to Lah.o.r.e, where Lockwood became princ.i.p.al of the Mayo School of Industrial Arts and curator of the Lah.o.r.e Museum. In 1882 Lockwood secured a position for his son at a daily paper, the Civil and Military Gazette, Civil and Military Gazette, which was published in Lah.o.r.e. Rudyard worked as a journalist at the which was published in Lah.o.r.e. Rudyard worked as a journalist at the Gazette Gazette for five years until he earned a position as an editor at its more prominent sister paper, the for five years until he earned a position as an editor at its more prominent sister paper, the Pioneer, Pioneer, where he worked until 1889. where he worked until 1889.

During his years working as a journalist in India, Kipling published many sketches, tales, and poems. In 1885 he collaborated with his family on a collection of poetry and stories ent.i.tled Quartette, Quartette, which was published as a Christmas supplement to the which was published as a Christmas supplement to the Civil and Military Gazette. Civil and Military Gazette. His first book of poetry, His first book of poetry, Departmental Ditties, Departmental Ditties, was published in 1886, and his first book of short stories, was published in 1886, and his first book of short stories, Plain Tales from the Hills, Plain Tales from the Hills, appeared in 1888; the two volumes established his reputation as an important new writer. appeared in 1888; the two volumes established his reputation as an important new writer. Plain Tales Plain Tales mostly portrayed Anglo-Indian society and army life; while some tales included comic elements, in places they depicted the unsettling or even tragic mixing of Indian and European cultures, as in ”Lispeth,” ”In the House of Suddhoo,” and ”Beyond the Pale.” Kipling produced five more volumes of short stories before leaving India in 1889. During this period he also began a novel, mostly portrayed Anglo-Indian society and army life; while some tales included comic elements, in places they depicted the unsettling or even tragic mixing of Indian and European cultures, as in ”Lispeth,” ”In the House of Suddhoo,” and ”Beyond the Pale.” Kipling produced five more volumes of short stories before leaving India in 1889. During this period he also began a novel, Mother Maturin Mother Maturin; but after writing more than 300 pages, he stopped work on it, saving some of the material to use in his novel Kim Kim (1901) and destroying the rest. (1901) and destroying the rest.

It is no accident that Kipling's phenomenal success as a writer coincided with the era of British high imperialism, beginning from about 1880. In 1876, just at the time Kipling began to experiment with fiction and poetry, Queen Victoria was declared empress of India by the viceroy of India, Lord Lytton, a friend of Kipling's parents. Kipling's popularity in Victorian Britain was based in part on the evocative and stylistic power of his early writing and in part on the allure of the exotic. The Victorians who admired Kipling had a predilection for the exotic: They acquired parrots as pets, viewed tropical blooms in their botanical gardens, and were fascinated by images and stories of fairylands and of the mysterious Orient. Many of the stories in Plain Tales from the Hills Plain Tales from the Hills feature ”half-castes.” Many depict the t.i.tillating and transgressive crossing of boundaries and the dangerous but exciting movement into the forbidden realms of the ”native.” For example, the story ”His Chance in Life” begins, ”If you go straight away from Levees and Government House Lists, past Trades' b.a.l.l.s-far beyond everything and everybody you ever knew in your respectable life-you cross, in time, the Borderline where the last drop of White blood ends and the full tide of Black sets in” (p. 79). Likewise, ”Beyond the Pale” begins, ”A man should, whatever happens, keep to his own caste, race and breed. Let the White go to the White and the Black to the Black.... This is the story of a man who wilfully stepped beyond the safe limits of decent everyday society, and paid for it heavily” (p. 171). Because of his success at stimulating the fantasy life of his readers, when Kipling arrived in London from India in 1889 at age twenty-three, he was an instant literary celebrity. Praise for his writing was enthusiastic. Henry James, a friend of Kipling's, dubbed him at this time ”the infant monster.” feature ”half-castes.” Many depict the t.i.tillating and transgressive crossing of boundaries and the dangerous but exciting movement into the forbidden realms of the ”native.” For example, the story ”His Chance in Life” begins, ”If you go straight away from Levees and Government House Lists, past Trades' b.a.l.l.s-far beyond everything and everybody you ever knew in your respectable life-you cross, in time, the Borderline where the last drop of White blood ends and the full tide of Black sets in” (p. 79). Likewise, ”Beyond the Pale” begins, ”A man should, whatever happens, keep to his own caste, race and breed. Let the White go to the White and the Black to the Black.... This is the story of a man who wilfully stepped beyond the safe limits of decent everyday society, and paid for it heavily” (p. 171). Because of his success at stimulating the fantasy life of his readers, when Kipling arrived in London from India in 1889 at age twenty-three, he was an instant literary celebrity. Praise for his writing was enthusiastic. Henry James, a friend of Kipling's, dubbed him at this time ”the infant monster.”

VERMONT.

The events of the early 1890s, pivotal years for Kipling, set the scene for his composition of the stories that comprise The Jungle Books. The Jungle Books. Shortly after arriving in London, Kipling met and befriended Wolcott Balestier, a minor American novelist and a friend of eminent writers such as Henry James and William Dean Howells. The two quickly became intimate friends, calling each other ”brother” and collaborating on an adventure novel, Shortly after arriving in London, Kipling met and befriended Wolcott Balestier, a minor American novelist and a friend of eminent writers such as Henry James and William Dean Howells. The two quickly became intimate friends, calling each other ”brother” and collaborating on an adventure novel, The Naulahka The Naulahka (1892), which narrates the exploits of an American in India. While Kipling was overseas in December 1891, Balestier died suddenly of typhoid. Only weeks after the funeral, Kipling precipitously married his friend's sister, Car- rie. At the ceremony in London, Henry James gave the bride away. After an abbreviated honeymoon, the couple moved to Brattleboro, Vermont, where the Balestier family had property and some roots. (1892), which narrates the exploits of an American in India. While Kipling was overseas in December 1891, Balestier died suddenly of typhoid. Only weeks after the funeral, Kipling precipitously married his friend's sister, Car- rie. At the ceremony in London, Henry James gave the bride away. After an abbreviated honeymoon, the couple moved to Brattleboro, Vermont, where the Balestier family had property and some roots.

Rudyard and his new wife bought a large plot of land from Carrie's younger brother, Beatty, on which they raised a house, calling it Naulakha (a slightly different spelling from the book t.i.tle) in honor of Wolcott. In late 1892, while they waited for the house to be completed, they rented a cottage where Kipling began to compose the Jungle Book Jungle Book stories. It was here, during a dark and icy Vermont winter, that Kipling created stories about sunny, verdant India. stories. It was here, during a dark and icy Vermont winter, that Kipling created stories about sunny, verdant India.

My workroom in the Bliss Cottage was seven feet by eight, and from December to April the snow lay level with its window-sill. It chanced that I had written a tale about Indian Forestry work which included a boy who had been brought up by wolves. In the stillness, and suspense, of the winter of '92 some memory of the Masonic Lions of my childhood's magazine, and a phrase in [Rider] Haggard's Nada the Lily Nada the Lily combined with the echo of this tale combined with the echo of this tale (Something of Myself, (Something of Myself, pp. 67-68). pp. 67-68).

The ”suspense” to which he refers here is the antic.i.p.ation of the birth of his first child, Josephine, whose position in utero echoes Kipling's description of his womblike works.p.a.ce buried under snow in ”Bliss” cottage. The ”tale about Indian Forestry” is ”In the Rukh.” The story, subsequently published in the collection Many Inventions Many Inventions (1893), centers on a grown-up Mowgli who appears mysteriously out of the jungle to succor a forester working for the British government. In this story as in the (1893), centers on a grown-up Mowgli who appears mysteriously out of the jungle to succor a forester working for the British government. In this story as in the Jungle Book Jungle Book tales, Mowgli seems to possess magical powers, as he controls wild animals and communicates with them. Evoking the Greek G.o.d Pan, he plays the pipes as his wolf brothers dance, helping him to entrance a young girl. Interestingly, the powers that Mowgli is shown to accrue throughout tales, Mowgli seems to possess magical powers, as he controls wild animals and communicates with them. Evoking the Greek G.o.d Pan, he plays the pipes as his wolf brothers dance, helping him to entrance a young girl. Interestingly, the powers that Mowgli is shown to accrue throughout The Jungle Books The Jungle Books here are harnessed for the purposes of empire; at the end of ”In the Rukh,” Mowgli agrees to work as a ”forest guard,” essentially working for the British government as a forester. Similarly, in Kipling's novel here are harnessed for the purposes of empire; at the end of ”In the Rukh,” Mowgli agrees to work as a ”forest guard,” essentially working for the British government as a forester. Similarly, in Kipling's novel Kim, Kim, which he first conceived at this time, the abilities the eponymous hero acquires in his wanderings are ultimately channeled for his work in the ”Great Game,” conducting business for the British Secret Service in India. which he first conceived at this time, the abilities the eponymous hero acquires in his wanderings are ultimately channeled for his work in the ”Great Game,” conducting business for the British Secret Service in India.

Kipling's work on The Jungle Books The Jungle Books corresponds almost exactly with the years he spent in Vermont, 1892 to 1896. It was during this period in America that Kipling first voiced his determination to write works for children. In a letter to a friend composed not long after his arrival in Vermont, Kipling wrote, ”I would sooner make a fair book of stories for children than a new religion or a completely revised framework for our social and political life” (letter to Mary Mapes, in corresponds almost exactly with the years he spent in Vermont, 1892 to 1896. It was during this period in America that Kipling first voiced his determination to write works for children. In a letter to a friend composed not long after his arrival in Vermont, Kipling wrote, ”I would sooner make a fair book of stories for children than a new religion or a completely revised framework for our social and political life” (letter to Mary Mapes, in The Letters of Rudyard Kipling). The Letters of Rudyard Kipling). Not long after making this p.r.o.nouncement in November 1892, just before Josephine's birth, he wrote the first of the Mowgli stories, ”Mowgli's Brothers.” In Not long after making this p.r.o.nouncement in November 1892, just before Josephine's birth, he wrote the first of the Mowgli stories, ”Mowgli's Brothers.” In The Jungle Books, The Jungle Books, Kipling does, in fact, attempt to generate a ”framework” for collective life, a set of precepts the jungle animals call the ”Law.” In the ten years following the publication of the first Kipling does, in fact, attempt to generate a ”framework” for collective life, a set of precepts the jungle animals call the ”Law.” In the ten years following the publication of the first Jungle Book Jungle Book in 1894, Kipling went on to write his most important books for young people, works that have remained in print and are still commonly read: in 1894, Kipling went on to write his most important books for young people, works that have remained in print and are still commonly read: Captains Courageous Captains Courageous (1897), (1897), Stalky & Co. Stalky & Co. (1899), (1899), Kim Kim (1901), and (1901), and Just So Stories Just So Stories (1902). (1902).

Kipling's determination to write for children may have stemmed in part from his own childhood experiences. Living in America, far from India and England and the scenes of his childhood and adolescence, Kipling was able to recast the separations of his early years imaginatively. Perhaps the most prevalent theme in The Jungle Books, The Jungle Books, a subject around which many of the stories turn, is painful separation and loss. Many of the stories describe a parental loss or a necessary departure from home followed by the forging of new ties and a rise to heroic status. Mowgli, like so many child heroes from nineteenth- and twentieth-century children's literature, is a virtual orphan, abandoned by his parents as a toddler when a tiger storms their encampment. Kipling emphasizes this motif of abandonment through repet.i.tion. Not only does Mowgli suffer from a desertion when his parents flee the tiger, but he is abandoned twice more, first when members of the wolf pack he has joined resolve to eject the ”Man-cub” from the pack and conspire to kill him, and second when the ”Man-Pack” subsequently rejects him and likewise plots his murder. Mowgli is thus recurrently prevented from calling a single group or tribe his own. a subject around which many of the stories turn, is painful separation and loss. Many of the stories describe a parental loss or a necessary departure from home followed by the forging of new ties and a rise to heroic status. Mowgli, like so many child heroes from nineteenth- and twentieth-century children's literature, is a virtual orphan, abandoned by his parents as a toddler when a tiger storms their encampment. Kipling emphasizes this motif of abandonment through repet.i.tion. Not only does Mowgli suffer from a desertion when his parents flee the tiger, but he is abandoned twice more, first when members of the wolf pack he has joined resolve to eject the ”Man-cub” from the pack and conspire to kill him, and second when the ”Man-Pack” subsequently rejects him and likewise plots his murder. Mowgli is thus recurrently prevented from calling a single group or tribe his own.

Critics generally divide The Jungle Books The Jungle Books into the Mowgli stories-a series of linked tales-and the other stories, which, though varied, share certain themes. The Mowgli tales comprise more than half of the two into the Mowgli stories-a series of linked tales-and the other stories, which, though varied, share certain themes. The Mowgli tales comprise more than half of the two Jungle Books, Jungle Books, eight of fifteen stories. These are the eight of fifteen stories. These are the Jungle Book Jungle Book stories that actually take place in the jungle. Each of Kipling's stories in the two volumes begins with and is punctuated by a ”song,” or poem, many of which were subsequently set to music. Thus the books couple the genres at which Kipling was most skilled, poetry and the short story. The sequence of the stories has never been fixed once and for all. When first published, each book mixed Mowgli and non-Mowgli stories together, with juxtaposed tales complementing or commenting on each other. For the Outward Bound Edition of 1897, Kipling rearranged the stories, cl.u.s.tering the Mowgli tales together in the first stories that actually take place in the jungle. Each of Kipling's stories in the two volumes begins with and is punctuated by a ”song,” or poem, many of which were subsequently set to music. Thus the books couple the genres at which Kipling was most skilled, poetry and the short story. The sequence of the stories has never been fixed once and for all. When first published, each book mixed Mowgli and non-Mowgli stories together, with juxtaposed tales complementing or commenting on each other. For the Outward Bound Edition of 1897, Kipling rearranged the stories, cl.u.s.tering the Mowgli tales together in the first Jungle Book Jungle Book and organizing them chronologically. He also grouped ”In the Rukh” with the other stories featuring Mowgli. This distribution of tales was repeated in the Suss.e.x edition, organized at the end of Kipling's life. The first American editions of the two books, reproduced here, correspond to the original arrangement of the stories; however, the language and phrasing both here and in the Suss.e.x edition differ slightly in places from that of the first English editions. and organizing them chronologically. He also grouped ”In the Rukh” with the other stories featuring Mowgli. This distribution of tales was repeated in the Suss.e.x edition, organized at the end of Kipling's life. The first American editions of the two books, reproduced here, correspond to the original arrangement of the stories; however, the language and phrasing both here and in the Suss.e.x edition differ slightly in places from that of the first English editions.