Status Updates From El libro de la selva

The men send Mowgli out to herd cattle. Tigers and men are afraid for the cattle and buffalo will trample them. They will not trample children (the Law?). Mowgli has taken charge of it all. He rides the great bull Rama and he leads out the buffalo. He tells the boys to handle the cattle. He takes a big polished bamboo cane to rap the animals. A stray boy could be grabbed by a tiger so they must be careful.

An old money lender named Purun Dass was injured in a riot had a limp. The tiger has a limp, so it must be him. Mowgli asks if all his stories contain such moondust and cobwebs. He explains that the tiger was born lame and he is a coward. Buldeo challenges him to capture the tiger because he has a price on his head. His tales of animals are so wrong that Mowgli disbelieves his ghost stories.

The priest suggests giving him work, so now Mowgli herds the buffalo, which he loves. He often joins the village club, which is their version of the Hardee boys, where they exchange gossip. One is a hunter named Buldeo who holds them spellbound with stories about the animals of the jungle. Mowgli holds back his laughter because the stories make no sense. He says that Shere Khan is a ghost tiger.

How interesting. Mowgli knows the most important law, which is how to treat those who are weaker than you. He struggles to learn how to live as a human, and the boys pick on him. He knows the law, but they don't. The villagers think he is strong as a bull. The chief priest scolds him for pulling a donkey out of a pit by its tail. The owner is low caste (a potter). Another hint of Jesus.

“Father Wolf looked on amazed. He had almost forgotten the days when he won Mother Wolf in fair fight from five other wolves, when she ran in the Pack and was not called The Demon for compliment's sake. Shere Khan might have faced Father Wolf, but he could not stand up against Mother Wolf, for he knew that where he was she had all the advantage of the ground, and would fight to the death” (20).