Page 207 - THE JUNGLE BOOK

The Jungle Book

with Little Toomai held high in the air above his head,
and shouted: ‘Listen, my brothers. Listen, too, you my
lords in the lines there, for I, Machua Appa, am speaking!
This little one shall no more be called Little Toomai, but

Toomai of the Elephants, as his great-grandfather was
called before him. What never man has seen he has seen
through the long night, and the favor of the elephant-folk
and of the Gods of the Jungles is with him. He shall
become a great tracker. He shall become greater than I,
even I, Machua Appa! He shall follow the new trail, and
the stale trail, and the mixed trail, with a clear eye! He
shall take no harm in the Keddah when he runs under
their bellies to rope the wild tuskers; and if he slips before
the feet of the charging bull elephant, the bull elephant
shall know who he is and shall not crush him. Aihai! my
lords in the chains,’—he whirled up the line of pickets—
‘here is the little one that has seen your dances in your
hidden places,—the sight that never man saw! Give him
honor, my lords! Salaam karo, my children. Make your
salute to Toomai of the Elephants! Gunga Pershad, ahaa!
Hira Guj, Birchi Guj, Kuttar Guj, ahaa! Pudmini,—thou
hast seen him at the dance, and thou too, Kala Nag, my
pearl among elephants!—ahaa! Together! To Toomai of
the Elephants. Barrao!’

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