Tiger! Tiger! (Kipling short story)

"Tiger! Tiger!" is a short story by Rudyard Kipling. A direct sequel to "Mowgli's Brothers", it was published in magazines in 1893–94 before appearing as the third story in The Jungle Book (1894), following "Kaa's Hunting". The title is derived from William Blake's poem "The Tyger".

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.

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