“[A Buddhist monk on a pilgrimage speaks to a museum curator.]And I come here alone. For five--seven--eighteen--forty years it was in my mind that the old Law was not well followed; being overlaid, as thou knowest, with devildom, charms, and idolatry....'So it comes with all faiths.”

“I follow the Law—the Most Excellent Law.”

“How can a man follow the Way or the Great Game when he is eternally pestered by women? There was that girl at the Akrola by the Ford; and there was the scullion's wife behind the dovecote -- not counting the others -- and now comes this one! When I was a child it was well enough, but now I am a man and they will not regard me as a man. Walnuts indeed! Ho! Ho! It is almonds in the Plains!”

“If a man brings a good mind to what he reads he may become, as it were, the spiritual descendant to some extent of great men, and this link, this spiritual hereditary tie, may help to just kick the beam in the right direction at a vital crisis; or may keep him from drifting through the long slack times when, so to speak, we are only fielding and no balls are coming our way.”

“The python dropped his head lightly for a moment on Mowgli's shoulders. "A brave heart and a courteous tongue," said he. "They shall carry thee far through the jungle, manling. But now go hence quickly with thy friends. Go and sleep, for the moon sets and what follows it is not well that thou shouldst see.”

“I Keep Six Honest Serving Men ..." I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.I send them over land and sea, I send them east and west;But after they have worked for me, I give them all a rest.I let them rest from nine till five, For I am busy then,As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea, For they are hungry men.But different folk have different views; I know a person small—She keeps ten million serving-men,Who get no rest at all!She sends'em abroad on her own affairs, From the second she opens her eyes—One million Hows, two million Wheres,And seven million Whys!”

“Outsong in the Jungle[Baloo:] For the sake of him who showedOne wise Frog the Jungle-Road,Keep the Law the Man-Pack makeFor thy blind old Baloo's sake!Clean or tainted, hot or stale,Hold it as it were the Trail,Through the day and through the night,Questing neither left nor right.For the sake of him who lovesThee beyond all else that moves,When thy Pack would make thee pain,Say: "Tabaqui sings again."When thy Pack would work thee ill,Say: "Shere Khan is yet to kill."When the knife is drawn to slay,Keep the Law and go thy way. (Root and honey, palm and spathe, Guard a cub from harm and scathe!) Wood and Water, Wind and Tree, Jungle-Favour go with thee![Kaa:] Anger is the egg of Fear--Only lidless eyes see clear.Cobra-poison none may leech--Even so with Cobra-speech.Open talk shall call to theeStrength, whose mate is Courtesy.Send no lunge beyond thy length.Lend no rotten bough thy strength.Gauge thy gape with buck or goat,Lest thine eye should choke thy throat.After gorging, wouldst thou sleep ?Look thy den be hid and deep,Lest a wrong, by thee forgot,Draw thy killer to the spot.East and West and North and South,Wash thy hide and close thy mouth. (Pit and rift and blue pool-brim, Middle-Jungle follow him!) Wood and Water, Wind and Tree, Jungle-Favour go with thee![Bagheera:] In the cage my life began;Well I know the worth of Man.By the Broken Lock that freed--Man-cub, ware the Man-cub's breed!Scenting-dew or starlight pale,Choose no tangled tree-cat trail.Pack or council, hunt or den,Cry no truce with Jackal-Men.Feed them silence when they say:"Come with us an easy way."Feed them silence when they seekHelp of thine to hurt the weak.Make no bandar's boast of skill;Hold thy peace above the kill.Let nor call nor song nor signTurn thee from thy hunting-line. (Morning mist or twilight clear, Serve him, Wardens of the Deer!) Wood and Water, Wind and Tree, Jungle-Favour go with thee![The Three:] On the trail that thou must treadTo the threshold of our dread,Where the Flower blossoms red;Through the nights when thou shalt liePrisoned from our Mother-sky,Hearing us, thy loves, go by;In the dawns when thou shalt wakeTo the toil thou canst not break,Heartsick for the Jungle's sake; Wood and Water, Wind air Tree, Wisdom, Strength, and Courtesy, Jungle-Favour go with thee!”