登陆注册
14466200000006

第6章 HOW FEAR CAME(6)

"The First of the Tigers was very bold, for his Night was still on him, and he said: 'The Promise of Tha is the Promise of Tha.

He will not take away my Night?' And Tha said: 'The one Night is thine, as I have said, but there is a price to pay.

Thou hast taught Man to kill, and he is no slow learner.'

"The First of the Tigers said: 'He is here under my foot, and his back is broken. Let the Jungle know I have killed Fear.'

"Then Tha laughed, and said: 'Thou hast killed one of many, but thou thyself shalt tell the Jungle--for thy Night is ended.'

"So the day came; and from the mouth of the cave went out another Hairless One, and he saw the kill in the path, and the First of the Tigers above it, and he took a pointed stick----""They throw a thing that cuts now," said Ikki, rustling down the bank; for Ikki was considered uncommonly good eating by the Gonds--they called him Ho-Igoo--and he knew something of the wicked little Gondee axe that whirls across a clearing like a dragon-fly.

"It was a pointed stick, such as they put in the foot of a pit-trap," said Hathi, "and throwing it, he struck the First of the Tigers deep in the flank. Thus it happened as Tha said, for the First of the Tigers ran howling up and down the Jungle till he tore out the stick, and all the Jungle knew that the Hairless One could strike from far off, and they feared more than before. So it came about that the First of the Tigers taught the Hairless One to kill--and ye know what harm that has since done to all our peoples--through the noose, and the pitfall, and the hidden trap, and the flying stick and the stinging fly that comes out of white smoke [Hathi meant the rifle], and the Red Flower that drives us into the open.

Yet for one night in the year the Hairless One fears the Tiger, as Tha promised, and never has the Tiger given him cause to be less afraid. Where he finds him, there he kills him, remembering how the First of the Tigers was made ashamed.

For the rest, Fear walks up and down the Jungle by day and by night.""Ahi! Aoo!" said the deer, thinking of what it all meant to them.

"And only when there is one great Fear over all, as there is now, can we of the Jungle lay aside our little fears, and meet together in one place as we do now.""For one night only does Man fear the Tiger?" said Mowgli.

"For one night only," said Hathi.

"But I--but we--but all the Jungle knows that Shere Khan kills Man twice and thrice in a moon.""Even so. THEN he springs from behind and turns his head aside as he strikes, for he is full of fear. If Man looked at him he would run. But on his one Night he goes openly down to the village. He walks between the houses and thrusts his head into the doorway, and the men fall on their faces, and there he does his kill. One kill in that Night.""Oh!" said Mowgli to himself, rolling over in the water. "NOW Isee why it was Shere Khan bade me look at him! He got no good of it, for he could not hold his eyes steady, and--and Icertainly did not fall down at his feet. But then I am not a man, being of the Free People.""Umm!" said Bagheera deep in his furry throat. "Does the Tiger know his Night?""Never till the Jackal of the Moon stands clear of the evening mist. Sometimes it falls in the dry summer and sometimes in the wet rains--this one Night of the Tiger. But for the First of the Tigers, this would never have been, nor would any of us have known fear."The deer grunted sorrowfully and Bagheera's lips curled in a wicked smile. "Do men know this--tale?" said he.

"None know it except the tigers, and we, the elephants--the children of Tha. Now ye by the pools have heard it, and Ihave spoken."

Hathi dipped his trunk into the water as a sign that he did not wish to talk.

"But--but--but," said Mowgli, turning to Baloo, "why did not the First of the Tigers continue to eat grass and leaves and trees?

He did but break the buck's neck. He did not EAT. What led him to the hot meat?""The trees and the creepers marked him, Little Brother, and made him the striped thing that we see. Never again would he eat their fruit; but from that day he revenged himself upon the deer, and the others, the Eaters of Grass," said Baloo.

"Then THOU knowest the tale. Heh? Why have I never heard?""Because the Jungle is full of such tales. If I made a beginning there would never be an end to them. Let go my ear, Little Brother."

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 网游之亡命刺客

    网游之亡命刺客

    一个啃老的死宅。一款新出的网游。两者相遇,产生了不同的变化。当死宅不再是死宅。当网游不仅仅为网游。又会有着怎样的史诗?
  • 男神靠近中

    男神靠近中

    她,被父母催婚的剩女。他,离家出走的集团少爷。第一次见,她对他犯花痴第二次见,她对他说:“我们合作吧”。本以为不会再有交集,只是为什么他总是“好巧”的出现在她面前,对她百般讨好。
  • 哦我的狐狸大人

    哦我的狐狸大人

    其实,事情是这样的......从前有一只美丽的狐狸,他美得足以倾倒世界万物,但是性子却太猖狂了,于是天庭把他打入凡间,让他从神兽变成了情兽......故事从这里开始,千年的羁绊,剪不断理还乱,其实没那么复杂,这是一本纯爱,作者文笔纯苯故事老套,感情基调幼稚,女主沈岚表面冷酷实则腹黑又闷骚,男主狐狸表面自私狂妄又狠心,总之,两人都他*不是好东西,爱情是一场硬仗,一场持久战,看就看谁先说“崴泥!”,那么谁就先败下阵来,一开始俩人就都输了,但是谁敢承认呢?死不要脸,宠文,先苦后甜啊......
  • 最美的时光遇见了你

    最美的时光遇见了你

    青春生活中,我们总有高兴犯傻时,青春生活中,我们总有悲伤哭泣时,青春生活中,我们总有离别和再见,当你坐上青春这趟列车时,你忽然想起,你并没有问,并没有问这趟列车要开去哪,而你也并没有想在哪站就下。你应该去选择,为自己选择一条属于自己的路。(青春回忆录小说,回忆属于自己的青春。)
  • 重生婚然天成

    重生婚然天成

    人人皆知0366部队‘妻为先’的雷副团长有一位貌美如花、妙手‘仁心’的俏媳妇儿;有人眼红离间夫妻感情?不好意思,军婚不容拆,挑事的出门左转,请了!楚天意重生十八岁,渣兄当道逼嫁老鳏夫,秉着该出手时就出手的原则,以雷霆之势拿下曾经让她遗憾一生的男人作为回报。从此,制药酒,上大学,办药厂,顺便扎扎针医医人妇唱夫随。
  • 青春不曾经

    青春不曾经

    还记得那些校园回忆吗?在落璃的小青春中……有个逗比的小萝莉,叫自己&;有个小疯癫的隐形女神,叫姐妹&;有个大方的“母暴龙”,叫死党&;有个闷骚的校草,叫搭档&;有个豪迈的运动“黑蛋”,叫蓝颜……ta们,绘制了落璃独特的小青春。在高中的爱、恨、缘、愁中,落璃也在一步步走向未来。但,落璃的青春,绝不仅在毕业而结束,有了ta们,她的青春,是一辈子……
  • 穿越之王爷来耕田

    穿越之王爷来耕田

    现代的我正要去老爹的公司,突然,身子猛然一振,然后就被甩了出去。肿么办,还有一个王爷,腹黑至极。
  • 七星彩

    七星彩

    她是富商之女纪澄,原本性格纯真,因经历了祝吉军的威胁强娶,并害得二哥被打断腿的事后,下定决心要嫁入高门。借沈府老太太六十大寿之际,纪澄住进了姑母家中。从此以后,纪澄从曾经受人百般宠爱的千金小姐,变成寄居在别人屋檐下、不得不低头的不受宠姑娘。纪澄小心翼翼地与府中姐妹和王家、苏家姐妹相处,却遭到他人排挤、羡慕、嫉妒,甚至暗算,但她不动声色地发挥自己的聪明才智,一次次化险为夷。她的聪颖、美丽,终是招来了一朵朵桃花——沈家各位公子,但这些公子个个矜持,不表露心迹。这让宣节校尉何诚占了先机,与纪澄定下亲事。原本皆大欢喜的事,却被纨绔二公子沈彻搅了局,他到底怀着怎样的心思?纪澄能寻得一门好姻缘吗?
  • 相思谋:妃常难娶

    相思谋:妃常难娶

    某日某王府张灯结彩,婚礼进行时,突然不知从哪冒出来一个小孩,对着新郎道:“爹爹,今天您的大婚之喜,娘亲让我来还一样东西。”说完提着手中的玉佩在新郎面前晃悠。此话一出,一府宾客哗然,然当大家看清这小孩与新郎如一个模子刻出来的面容时,顿时石化。此时某屋顶,一个绝色女子不耐烦的声音响起:“儿子,事情办完了我们走,别在那磨矶,耽误时间。”新郎一看屋顶上的女子,当下怒火攻心,扔下新娘就往女子所在的方向扑去,吼道:“女人,你给本王站住。”一场爱与被爱的追逐正式开始、、、、、、、
  • 苏白职场记事

    苏白职场记事

    一只没有后台且废材的白无常由于工作失误而引发的一连串故事。苏白是只白无常,平生最大梦想是宅且有吃有喝,奈何地府物价太贵,只能奔波劳累。无奈犯了个大错,丢了工作,又要养过一只魂,承担工作上的错。鬼生路漫漫,何其长啊!