World classic, retold in simple Mandarin
The Jungle Book
丛林之书
The Jungle Book (丛林之书, Cónglín zhī shū) is a classic by Rudyard Kipling, retold in simple Mandarin as a 5-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 2 (Elementary).
Retold from Rudyard Kipling's classic: a boy raised by wolves learns the Law of the Jungle from a bear and a panther, and must face the tiger who hunts him.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — The warm storyteller who sets the scene.
- Mowgli · 毛克利 — A brave man-cub raised by wolves.
- Mother Wolf · 狼妈妈 — The fierce mother wolf who takes Mowgli in.
- Father Wolf · 狼爸爸 — Mother Wolf's careful mate.
- Shere Khan · 谢尔汗 — The proud, lame tiger who hunts Mowgli.
- Akela · 阿克拉 — The old leader of the wolf pack.
- Bagheera · 巴吉拉 — The wise, calm black panther who protects Mowgli.
- Baloo · 巴鲁 — The big, sleepy bear who teaches the Law.
- Monkey · 猴子 — A silly, lawless monkey.
- Kaa · 卡阿 — The huge, slow python the monkeys fear.
- Chil the Kite · 老鹰 — A sharp-eyed bird who carries Mowgli's message.
- Messua · 梅苏亚 — A kind village woman who gives Mowgli fire.
- Grey Brother · 灰兄弟 — Mowgli's loyal wolf brother.
5 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The Man-Cub
人的孩子
A tiger comes to a wolf den demanding the human baby inside. Mother Wolf will not give him up, but the whole pack must decide at the Council Rock.
Free to read
Chapter 2: Baloo's Lessons
巴鲁的课
Mowgli learns the Master Words from Baloo the bear and hears Bagheera's warning about the monkeys. Then he is left alone, and a giggling voice calls from the trees.
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Chapter 3: The Monkeys and Kaa
猴子和卡阿
The monkeys carry Mowgli to their crumbling old city. Baloo and Bagheera race through the night to find the one creature the monkeys fear: Kaa, the great python.
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Chapter 4: The Red Flower
红花
Bagheera says the pack is turning on Mowgli, and sends him to the human village for a weapon the whole jungle fears: the Red Flower.
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Chapter 5: The Tiger and the Buffalo
老虎和水牛
Shere Khan waits in a narrow valley. Mowgli has no claws or fangs, but he has a herd of buffalo and a plan.
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Key words in The Jungle Book
Behind the story
The Jungle Book is a collection of animal stories by the British writer Rudyard Kipling, who was born in India. It came out in 1894, and the tales about Mowgli, the boy raised by wolves, are the most famous in it. The stories use the setting of the Indian jungle and its animals to talk about family, loyalty, and belonging.
In Chinese the book is known as 丛林之书, and Mowgli's story has long been a favorite of young readers in translation. Its heart is easy to feel in any language: a family is the ones who love and protect you, wherever you were born.
Did you know?
- Rudyard Kipling was born in Mumbai, India, in 1865, and he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907.
- The name Mowgli was made up by Kipling; in the story it means little frog.
- In the book, the jungle animals call fire the Red Flower, and every animal fears it. A second book of jungle stories followed in 1895.