莫格利的兄弟们

Rudyard Kipling

Mowglis brothers

作者简介：

鲁德亚德·吉卜林（Rudyard Kipling），英国小说家、诗人。1907年，他以“观察入微，想象独特，气概雄浑，叙述卓越见长”而获得诺贝尔文学奖。《森林王子》（The Jungle Book）一书就是他杰出才能的最佳体现。该书刚刚问世就在世界各地赢得了读者的好评。

作品简介：

从小被印第安丛林里的狼群抚养长大的莫格利一直快乐地生活在丛林里。在森林中，他结识了忠厚老实的黑豹巴希拉和乐观开朗的棕熊巴鲁以及其他动物朋友。然而邪恶的老虎希瑞·坎重返森林，打破了幸福祥和的生活。

许多年过去了，莫格利和小狼们一起成长起来。在他的老师棕熊巴鲁和黑豹巴希拉的教导下，他懂得了“森林法则”。在森林中他屡入险境，但也交到了不少动物朋友。为了确保莫格利的安全，动物朋友们决定把莫格利送回到人类村落，这样他才能躲避开希瑞·坎的追杀。但莫格利却想继续留在丛林里生活，与他的动物朋友们在一起……本文节选自《森林王子》的第一章节。

One very warm evening in the Seeonee hills in Southern India， Father Wolf woke up  from  his  days  rest.  Next  to  him  lay Mother Wolf， with their four cubs （幼兽） beside her.

“Its time to look for food，” said Father Wolf， and he stood up to leave the cave.

“Good luck，” said a voice. It is the jackal （豺）， Tabaqui， who eats everything and anything， even pieces of old clothes from the village. The wolves of India do not like him， because he runs around making trouble and telling bad stories about them.

“Shere Khan， the tiger， is coming to look for food here，” said Tabaqui.

“He  cant，”  cried  Father  Wolf.  “By the Law of the Jungle he must tell us first， before he comes here to hunt.”

“Shere Khan has a bad leg， so he can kill only cows. In the village， the people near him are angry. That is why he is coming here—to start hunting in a new place. Listen， you can hear him now，” said Tabaqui.

“He is a stupid animal，” said Father Wolf， and he listened to the angry noise of a tiger who had not eaten. “No one will find anything to eat in the jungle now.”

“But Shere Khan is hunting man， not animal， tonight，” said Tabaqui.

The Law of the Jungle says that animals must not hunt man， because man?killing brings men with guns. Then everybody in the jungle is in danger. Father and Mother Wolf listened to Shere Khan in the jungle not far away. Then， suddenly， they heard a noise much nearer to them.

“Its a man. A mans cub. Look！” said Father Wolf. And there in front of them stood a baby who could just walk. He looked up at Father Wolf and laughed.

“Is that a mans cub？” asked Mother Wolf. “I have never seen one. Bring it here.”

The baby， small and with no clothes， pushed its way between the cubs to get near to Mother Wolf. “Look，” she said， “he is taking his meal with the others.”

“I have heard that this has happened before，”said Father Wolf， “but I have never seen it until now. Look at him. He is not afraid.”

Suddenly， it was dark， and Shere Khan was pushing his great head in through the mouth of the cave. “We are pleased that you visit us， Shere Khan，” said Father Wolf， but his eyes were angry. “What do you need？”

“I  am  hunting  a  mans  cub，”  said Shere Khan. “Its father and mother have run away. Give it to me.”

Father Wolf knew that Shere Khan could not get inside the cave because he was too big. “The mans cub belongs to us，”he said. “The Pack—the other wolves and I—will decide. If we want to kill him， we will kill him， not you.”

“The mans cub belongs to me！ It is I， Shere Khan， who speaks！” And Shere Khans roar filled the cave with noise.

“No！” came the angry voice of Mother Wolf. “The mans cub belongs to me！ We will not kill him. He will live， to run with the other wolves， to be my son. Now go away， fish?killer， eater of cubs！ Go！”

Shere Khan went. He knew that he could not fight Mother Wolf in the cave. “But I will have this man?cub one day， you thieves！” he shouted from the jungle.

“Do you really want to keep him， Mother？” said Father Wolf.

“Yes. He came here at night， alone and hungry， but he was not afraid. Yes， I will keep him. And I will call him Mowgli.”

1. List out the main characters mentioned in the text.

2. What can we know about Tabaqui？

3. Why did Shere Khan come to the jungle？

4. What did Mother Wolf think of Mowgli？