“我是个老头子。我不知道你不仅是个放牛孩子。你能让我站起来离开这儿吗？你的仆人会把我撕成碎片吗？”
“去吧，祝你一路平安。只不过下一次再也不要乱插手我的猎物了。放他走吧，阿克拉。”
布尔迪阿一瘸一拐拼命朝村里跑，他不住地回头瞧，害怕莫格里会变成什么可怕的东西。他一到村里，就讲出了一个尽是魔法、妖术和巫术的故事，使得祭司听了脸色变得十分阴沉。
莫格里继续干他的活，但直到将近傍晚，他和狼才把那张巨大的花斑皮从老虎身上剥下来。
“我们现在先把它藏起来，把水牛赶回家。来帮我把他们赶到一块吧，阿克拉。”
牛群在雾濛濛的暮色中聚到一块了，当他们走近村子时，莫格里看见了火光，听见海螺呜呜地响，铃儿叮当地摇。村里一半的人似乎都在大门那时等着他。“这是因为我杀死了谢尔汗。”他对自己说；但是一阵雨点似的石子在他耳边呼啸而过，村民们喊道，“巫师！狼崽子！丛林魔鬼！滚开！快些滚开，不然祭司会把你变回成一头狼。开枪，布尔迪阿，开枪呀！”
那支旧陶尔步枪砰地一声开火了，一头年轻的水牛痛得吼叫起来。
“这也是巫术！”村民叫喊道，“他会叫子弹拐弯。布尔迪阿，那是你的水牛。”
“这是怎么回事呀？”石头越扔越密，莫格里摸不着头脑地说。
“这这些兄弟跟狼群没什么两样，”阿克拉镇定自若地坐下说，“我看，假如子弹能说明什么的话，他们是想把你驱逐出去。”
“狼！狼崽子！滚开！”祭司摇晃着一根神圣的罗勒树枝叫喊道。
“又叫我滚吗？上次叫我滚，因为我是一个人。这次却因为我是只狼。我们走吧，阿克拉。”
一个妇人——她是米苏阿——跑到牛群这边来了，她喊道，“啊，我儿，我儿！他们说你是个巫师，能随便把自己变成一头野兽。我不相信，但是你快走吧，不然他们会杀死你的。布尔迪阿说你是个巫师，可是我知道，你替纳索的死报了仇。”
“回来，米苏阿！”人们喊道，“回来，不然我们就要向你扔石头了。”
莫格里恶狠狠地、短促地笑了一声，因为一块石头正好打在他的嘴巴上。“跑回去吧，米苏阿。这是他们黄昏时在大树下面编的一个荒唐的故事。我至少为你儿子的生命报了仇。再会了；快点跑吧，因为我要把牛群赶过去了，比他们的碎砖头块还要跑得快。我不是巫师，米苏阿。再会！”
“好啦，再赶一次，阿克拉，”他叫道，“把牛群赶进去。”水牛也急于回到村里。他们几乎不需要阿克拉的咆哮，就像一阵旋风冲进了大门，把人群冲得七零八散。
“好好数数吧！”莫格晨轻蔑地喊道，“也许我偷走了一头牛呢。好好数数吧，因为我再也不会给你们放牛了。再见吧，人的孩子们，你们得感谢米苏阿，因为她，我才没有带着我的狼沿着你们的街道追捕你们。”
他转过身，带着孤狼走开了；当他仰望着星星时，他觉得很幸福。“我不必再在陷阱里睡觉了，阿克拉。我们去取出谢尔汗的皮，离开这里吧。不；我们绝不伤害这个村庄，因为米苏阿待我是那么好。”
当月亮升起在平原上空，使一切变成了乳白色的时候，吓坏了的村民看见了身后跟着两只狼的莫格里，他的头上顶着一包东西，正用狼的平稳小跑赶着路，狼的小跑就像大火一样，把漫长的距离一下子就消灭掉了。于是他们更加使劲寺敲起了庙宇的钟，更响地吹起了海螺；米苏阿痛哭着，布尔迪阿把他在丛林里历险的故事添枝加叶讲了又讲，最后竟说，阿克拉用后脚直立起来，像人一样说着话。
莫格里和两只狼来到会议岩的山上，月亮正在下沉，他们先在狼妈妈的山洞停下。
“他们把我从人群里赶了出来，妈妈，”莫格里喊道，“可是我实现了诺言，带来了谢尔汗的皮。”狼妈妈从洞里费力地走了出来，后面跟着狼崽们，她一见虎皮，眼睛便发亮了。
“那天他把脑袋和肩膀塞进这个洞口，想要你的命，小青蛙，我就对他说：捕猎别人的，总归要被人捕猎的。干得好。”
“小兄弟，干得好。”一个低沉的声音从灌木丛里传来，“你离开了丛林，我们都觉得寂寞。”巴希拉跑到莫格里赤裸的双脚下。他们一块爬上会议岩，莫格里把虎皮铺在阿克拉常坐的那块扁平石头上，用四根竹钉把它固定住。阿克拉在上面躺了下来，发出了召集大会的老的召唤声——“噍啊——仔细瞧瞧，狼群诸君！”正和莫格里初次被带到这里时他的呼叫一模一样。
自从阿克拉被赶下台以后，狼群就没有了首领，他们可以随心所欲地行猎和殴斗。但是他们出于习惯，回答了召唤，他们中间，有些跌进了陷阱，变成了瘸子；有些中了枪弹，走起来一拐一拐；另一些吃了不洁的食物，全身的毛变得癞巴巴的。还有许多头狼下落不明；但是剩下的狼全都来了，他们来到会议岩，看见了谢尔汗的花斑毛皮摊在岩石上，巨大的虎爪连在空荡荡的虎脚上，在空中晃来晃去。就是在这时，莫格里编了一首不押韵的歌，这首歌自然而然地涌上了他的喉头，他便高声把它喊出来，一面喊，一面在那张嘎嘎响的毛皮上蹦跳。用脚后跟打着拍子，直到他喘不过气来为止。灰兄弟和阿克拉也夹在他的诗节中间吼叫着。
“仔细瞧瞧吧，噢，狼群诸君！我是否遵守了诺言？”莫格里喊完以后说；狼群齐声叫道，“是的。”一头毛皮零乱的狼嚎叫道：
“还是你来领导我们吧，啊，阿克拉。再来领导我们吧，啊，人娃娃，我们厌烦了这种没有法律的生活，我们希望重新成为自由的兽民。”
“不，”巴希拉柔声地说道，“不行。等你们吃饱了，那种疯狂劲又会上来的。把你们叫做自由的兽民，不是没有缘故的。你们不是为了自由而战斗过了吗，现在你们得到了自由。好好享受它吧，狼群诸君。”
“人群和狼群都驱逐了我，”莫格里说，“现在我要独自在丛林里打猎了。”
“我们和你一起打猎。”四只小狼说。
于是从那天起，莫格里便离开了那里，和四只小狼在丛林中打猎。但是他并没有孤独一辈子，因为许多年以后，他长大成人，结了婚。
不过，那是一个讲给成年人听的故事了。
After driving out the tiger Shere Khan, Mowgli leaves the wolf pack that has raised him and makes his way to a human village to be with his own (biological) kind. There he is adopted by a bereaved couple, Messua and her husband, who believe he is their long-lost son Nathoo. The village priest agrees to this because it will keep Messua's rich husband happy.
For three months Mowgli learns human language and customs such as wearing clothes, ploughing, money and caste divisions, few of which impress him. He is also disrespectful to the village elders when they tell fanciful tales of the jungle, since he has first-hand experience of what the jungle is really like. This earns him the particular contempt of Buldeo, the village's chief hunter who claims that the tiger is the reincarnation of a lame money-lender. What is not fanciful is the 100-rupee reward for the tiger's skin.
During this period, Mowgli regularly sneaks out of the village to meet his wolf friend Grey Brother who brings him news of the jungle.
To keep Mowgli out of trouble the village elders decide to put him to work herding buffalo. One day while taking a break from this task he meets Grey Brother again. The wolf tells him that Shere Khan has returned and is planning to kill Mowgli.
For the next few weeks Grey Brother keeps watch on Shere Khan while Mowgli goes about his tasks in the village. Eventually he meets Mowgli again and tells him that Shere Khan is hiding in a nearby ravine in preparation to attack. Mowgli learns that Grey Brother obtained this information from Shere Khan's accomplice Tabaqui the jackal, before killing him.
With the aid of Akela, Mowgli and Grey Brother divide the buffalo herd in two and stampede them from opposite ends of the ravine, trampling the tiger between them.
Mowgli, who has promised to lay Shere Khan's skin on the wolf pack's Council Rock, sets about skinning the tiger. Buldeo has been told of the stampede by the other village boys, and soon arrives to chastise Mowgli. Buldeo demands that Mowgli hand the skin over to him for the reward. Mowgli refuses, and summons Akela to restrain him.
When Mowgli and Akela let him go the hunter returns to the village and tells the villagers Mowgli is a shapeshifting sorcerer. By the time the unsuspecting Mowgli returns with the buffalo, Buldeo has turned the entire village except Messua against him and they drive him away.
Confused and disgusted by their behaviour, Mowgli fulfils his promise to lay out Shere Khan's hide on Council Rock and dances upon it, singing of his emotional confusion. The pack offers to take Mowgli back, but he refuses to forgive them for casting him out earlier. Instead he decides that from now on he will hunt alone, except for his four wolf-brothers who refuse to be parted from him.
The story is continued in "Letting in the Jungle", collected in The Second Jungle Book.
1. Mowgli's Brothers: A boy is raised by wolves in the Indian Jungle with the help of Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther,and then has to fight the tiger Shere Khan.
This story has also been published as a short book in its own right. Night-Song in the Jungle
2. Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack
3. Kaa's Hunting: This story takes place before Mowgli fights Shere Khan. When Mowgli is abducted by monkeys, Baloo and Bagheera set out to rescue him with the aid of Chil the Kite and Kaa the python. Maxims of Baloo.
4. Road Song of the Bandar-Log
5. Tiger! Tiger!: Mowgli returns to the human village and is adopted by Messua and her husband who believe him to be their long-lost son Nathoo. But he has trouble adjusting to human life, and Shere Khan still wants to kill him. The story's title is taken from the poem "The Tyger" by William Blake.
6. Mowgli's Song
7. The White Seal: Kotick, a rare white-furred seal, searches for a new home for his people, where they will not be hunted by humans.
8. Lukannon
9. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi: Rikki-Tikki the mongoose defends a human family living in India against a pair of cobras. This story has also been published as a short book.
10. Darzee's Chant
11. Toomai of the Elephants: Toomai, a ten-year old boy who helps to tend working elephants, is told that he will never be a full-fledged elephant-handler until he has seen the elephants dance. This story has also been published as a short book.
12. Shiv and the Grasshopper
13. Her Majesty's Servants (originally titled "Servants of the Queen"): On the night before a military parade a British soldier eavesdrops on a conversation between the camp animals.
14. Parade-Song of the Camp Animals parodies several well-known songs and poems, including Bonnie Dundee.
Characters
Main article: The Jungle Book characters
Mowgli - Main character, the young jungle boy.
Father Wolf - The Father Wolf who raised Mowgli as his own cub
Raksha - The Mother wolf who raised Mowgli as her own cub
Grey brother - One of Mother and Father Wolf's cubs
Hathi - An Indian Elephant
Bagheera - A melanistic (black) leopard
Baloo- A Sloth Bear
Kaa - Indian Python
Shere Khan - A Bengal Tiger
Akela - An Indian Wolf
Tabaqui - A Golden Jackal
Chil - A kite
Mor - An Indian Peafowl
Mang - A Bat
Ikki - An Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine (mentioned only)
The Bandar log - A tribe of monkeys
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi - An Indian Mongoose
Darzee - A tailorbird
Chuchundra - A Muskrat
Nag - A male King cobra
Nagaina - A female King cobra. Nag's mate
Karait a Common Krait
Kotick - The White Seal
Sea catch - A Northern fur seal and Kotick's father
Sea vitch - A Walrus
Sea cow - A Manatee
Comics(漫画)
A comic book series Petit d'homme ("Man Cub") was published in Belgium between 1996 and 2003. Written by Crisse and drawn by Marc N'Guessan and Guy Michel, it resets the stories in a post-apocalyptic world in which Mowgli's friends are humans rather than animals: Baloo is an elderly doctor, Bagheera is a fierce African woman warrior and Kaa is a former army sniper.
Live-action film（电影）
"Toomai of the Elephants" was filmed as Elephant Boy (1937), starring Sabu Dastagir. In the 1960s there was a television series of the same name, loosely based on the story and film.
Jungle Book (1942 film) - directed by Zoltán Korda, starring Sabu Dastagir as Mowgli.
The Jungle Book (1994 film) - starring Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli.
The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo (1997) - starring Jamie Williams as Mowgli.
The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story (1998) - starring Brandon Baker as Mowgli.
The Jungle Book, an upcoming adaptation that will begin production in September 2007 and continue for two years.
迪斯尼动画制作 Animation
Walt Disney's 1967 animated film version, inspired by the Mowgli stories, was extremely popular, though it took great liberties with the plot, characters and the pronunciation of the characters' names. These characterizations were further used in the 1990 animated series TaleSpin, which featured several anthropomorphic characters loosely based on those from the film in an comic aviation-industry setting.
Chuck Jones' made for-TV cartoons Mowgli's Brothers, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and The White Seal stick to the original storylines more closely than most adaptations.
日本动漫制作
There was a Japanese anime television series called Jungle Book Shonen Mowgli broadcast in 1989.
Its adaptation represents a compromise between the original stories and the Walt Disney version. Many of Kipling's stories are adapted into the series, but many elements are combined and changed to suit more modern sensibilities. For instance, Akela, the wolf pack alpha eventually steps aside, but instead of being threatened with death, he stays on as the new leader's advisor. Also, there is an Indian family in the series which includes Rikki-Tikki-Tavi as a pet mongoose. Finally at the series' conclusion, Mowgli leaves the jungle for human civilization, but still keeps strong ties with his animal friends.
The Japanese anime was dubbed in Hindi and telecast as "Jungle Book" by Doordarshan in India during the early 1990s. The Indian version featured original music by Vishal Bharadwaj (with words by noted lyricist Gulzar) and a very good choice of dubbing artistes for the voice acting (Nana Patekar doing the voice over for Sher Khan), which made it quite popular among television series of that time.