This past week onTwitter it’s been Kipling, with quotes from the two Jungle Books. I have both together in The Jungle Books, but I’ve indicated the story and which book it’s in.

“And what is a man that he should not run with his brothers?” Kipling. Context? “Mowgli’s Brothers,” from The Jungle Book. Mowgli is defending his right to stay with the jungle folk.

“When a snake misses its stroke, it never says anything or gives any sign of what it means to do next.” Kipling. Context? “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” from The Jungle Book. Nagina has just missed her strike at Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the mongoose.

“The dark never hurt anybody yet.” Kipling. Context?  “Her Majesty’s Servants” from The Jungle Book. Billy, the breech-piece mule of the First screw battery, to a recruit mule, after they have been waked up by stampeding camels.

“With Death has come Fear.”  Kipling. Context? “How Fear Came” from The Second Jungle Book. Tha, the elephant who made the world, is speaking to the First of the Tigers, who was originally a vegetarian but has just killed for the first time.

“We all say so, and so it must be true.” Kipling. Context? “Kaa’s Hunting,” from The Jungle Book. The Bandar-log (monkeys) are telling Mowgli how great and wise they are. Remind you of any politicians?

“Yonder I shall sit down and get knowledge.” Kipling. Context? “The Miracle of Purun Bhagat” from The Second Jungle Book. Purun Das, the former Prime Minister of an Indian state, has retired to become a wandering mendicant. Seeing the Himalayas on the skyline, he decides to make them the place where he will stay.

“Esper and empathic talents are rather unpredictably correlated with each other.” Bowling. Context? Homecoming. The talents inherited from the R’il’nai are not inherited as a whole, and in particular esper talents (telekinesis, teleportation, telepathy) are inherited separately from the empathic talents (experiencing another’s senses and feelings.) The distinction becomes an important plot element in Tourist Trap.