5. Explanation to scene 1 (Part A)

Explanation:

 

The play takes place in the Seeonee Hills. Seeonee hills are not fictional. They are located in the Seoni city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

 

It was seven o'clock in the evening. Though it had been a sunny evening, the sun had set, and the jungle had become darker. There wasn't a moon or a star to brighten the sky and the forest. It was completely dark.

 

The play begins with the narrator introducing the characters. Father Wolf and Mother Wolf are at their cave. While the father wolf can be seen stretching from his day's rest, the mother wolf picks and drops their four cubs at the mouth of the cave where they live.

 

An interesting fact about wolves is that they are active during the night. While the humans work during the day, the wolves sleep and take a rest. On the other hand, during the night, when people and several other animals are sleeping, the wolves go for their hunting. Such animals are called nocturnal animals.

Hence, you could see that Father Wolf was getting ready to hunt after sleeping and resting through the day. As he moved down, he saw a shadow of something with a bushy tail moving towards him. It was Tabaqui, the jackal. Father Wolf was not happy at the sight of the jackal and cried in annoyance.

 

Tabaqui came into view and spoke to the wolf. Since Tabaqui was a lazy Jackal, he fed on the food left by wolves or other animals. He was quite unpopular among the wolves because he mocked at animals by pretending to be humble and cordial. Moreover, he was a sidekick of Shere Khan, the villain of the story.

Tabaqui realised that the wolf was about to go for his hunting and began with his mockery. He wished Father Wolf good luck on his hunt and called him the chief of the wolves. The Jackal was probably hoping that a good hunt to the wolves would gain him a decent dinner. Continuing with the mock-cordiality, the Jackal made it plain that he sought food when he wished the wolf-cubs each a set of healthy teeth. As the cubs could grow into great hunters, he wanted them to remember the needy and starving animals like the Jackal.

 

In the dialogues of Tabaqui, one could see that he had used the phrases "o chief of the wolves" and "noble children" to refer to the Father Wolf and his cubs, respectively. This is an instance of him being mock-cordial. Again, this is not a case of flattery, as both Father Wolf and Tabaqui are aware that the compliments are not sincere.