Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/645

 INCLUSIVE EDITION, 1885-1918 627

When Pack meets with Pack in the Jungle, and neither will go from the trail,

Lie down till the leaders have spoken it may be fair words shall prevail.

When ye fight with a Wolf of the Pack, ye must fight him alone and afar,

Lest others take part in the quarrel, and the Pack be dimin- ished by war.

The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, and where he has made him

his home, Not even the Head Wolf may enter, not even the Council

may come.

The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, but where he has digged it

too plain, The Council shall send him a message, and so he shall change

it again.

If ye kill before midnight, be silent, and wake not the woods

with your bay, Lest ye frighten the deer from the crops, and the brothers go

empty away.

Ye may kill for yourselves, and your mates, and your cubs

as they need, and ye can; But kill not for pleasure of killing, and seven times never kill

Man!

If ye plunder his Kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy

pride; Pack-Right is the right of the meanest; so leave him the head

and the hide.

The Kill of the Pack is the meat of the Pack. Ye must eat

where it lies; And no one may carry away of that meat to his lair, or he dies.