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Darzee's Chant

From The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, 1894

Rudyard Kipling published The Jungle Book in 1894, a collection of stories set in the Indian jungle and the villages along its edges. "Darzee's Chant" is a victory song sung by a tailorbird after the mongoose Rikki-tikki-tavi kills the cobra that has terrorised the garden. Kipling's original is a short poem; this reader expands it into the full scene it implies, showing the fear that came before the song, the gratitude that drives it, and the character of the small bird who sings it. The text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. This piece is worth a reader's time because it explores how we respond to danger once it has passed—how gratitude, memory and the impulse to honour courage shape the stories we tell.

Band

Blue · Independent readers, confidentTypical starting range: ages 12–14

Length

long · about 1015 words in 4 sections · 2 pictures

Source

The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling

First published

1894

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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