It was a very warm evening in the jungle.
The moon shone brightly into the mouth of the wolves' cave.
Father Wolf woke up from his day's rest and yawned.
Mother Wolf lay nearby.
She kept her nose on their four tumbling, squealing cubs.
Father Wolf stretched.
"It's time to hunt again, Mother."
Just then a shadow with a bushy tail appeared at the entrance of the cave.
Father Wolf frowned.
It was Tabaqui, the jackal.
The wolves disliked Tabaqui because he was always looking for food.
They were afraid of him too, because he was cunning and had a bad temper.
Sometimes he ran madly through the forest, biting everything in his way.
When Tabaqui acted like that, even the fierce tiger, Shere Khan, stayed away from him.
"I'm hungry," Tabaqui announced.
"Come inside and look around, Tabaqui," Father Wolf said with a sigh.
"But I promise you. There is no food here."
"I might find something," Tabaqui replied.
He slunk toward the back of the cave and sniffed around.
Soon he found an old bone with a scrap of meat.
"Thanks for the good meal," he said, licking his lips.
He stared at the tiny wolf cubs.
"I must say, your children are beautiful."
Mother Wolf moved closer to her cubs.
She and Father exchanged nervous glances.
"Oh, by the way," Tabaqui went on,
"Shere Khan has found some new hunting grounds.
He told me he will be hunting here for a while." here
"Here?" Mother Wolf said in surprise.
"But he has no right to hunt here!" Father Wolf exclaimed.
"Shere Khan must stay near the river.
That's the law of the jungle!"
Tabaqui laughed. "Shall I tell him about your concern?"
"Out!" Father Wolf snapped at the jackal.
"Go hunt with your master, Tabaqui.
You've bothered us enough for one night."
"I will go," Tabaqui said quietly.
"But remember my warning about Shere Khan's new hunting place.
You can hear him right now, in fact.
He's below, hunting among the bushes."
After Tabaqui was gone, Father Wolf stepped out of the cave.
Below in the valley, he could indeed hear the low snarls of a tiger.
Mother Wolf came out and stood beside him.
"It sounds like Shere Khan is not hunting animals tonight.
I think he is hunting humans."
Father Wolf flashed his white teeth.
"There are plenty of beetles and frogs in the jungle.
Why must that tiger hunt humans?"
Mother Wolf grunted.
An important law ruled the jungle.
Animals were not supposed to hunt humans.
The tiger's snarls grew louder, and then there was a howl.
The wolves could hear Shere Khan tumbling about in the bushes.
He was howling in pain.
"That foolish tiger probably jumped at a human's campfire.
It sounds like he burned his feet," Father Wolf said.
Mother Wolf twitched one ear, listening carefully.
"Something is coming uphill!"
The nearby bushes rustled.
Father Wolf dropped low, ready to pounce.
But then Mother Wolf let out a gasp.
"It's a man cub!"
A very young boy stood in front of the wolves.
The tiny human blinked as he stared into Father Wolf's face.
"Father!" Mother Wolf whispered.
"Quick! Bring that man cub into our cave!"
Father Wolf stepped forward and closed his jaws very gently on the child's neck.
Then he carried the boy into the cave, dropping him near his own small cubs.