Red Dog is a Jungle Book Tale written by Rudyard Kipling and read for you by Anthony Quayle. Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was born of English parents in Bombay, India. When he was six, he was sent to England to be educated; at seventeen, he returned to India and became a journalist. It was in India that he first established a reputation as a writer of both verse and prose.
Kipling drew heavily on his knowledge of India for subject matter and his early short stories, distinguished by inventiveness, accurate observation and vigor, reflect a deep understanding of the Indian culture.
He traveled widely in India, to China, Japan, the United States and back to England. By the time he was twenty-seven, Kipling had received wide critical and popular acclaim. His renown as a poet and story teller continued to grow and he was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 1907. Kipling is considered to have had a greater impact on his times than any other writer since Dickens.
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Red Dog A Jungle Book Tale by Rudyard Kipling Read by Anthony Quayle
Vinyl: Factory Sealed
Cover: Factory Sealed, some shrink open at edge, mild shelf wear, edge bumps
SIDE A: 19:35
SIDE B: 17:56
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Kipling once said that he wrote for children so that he could reach adults and the tales he recounts in his two Jungle Books exemplify this statement. The books were written in Brattleboro, Vermont in 1894 and 1895, where he and his young American wife had order gone to live and raise their family. The contrast of this setting with that of his early childhood and young manhood may have been what inspired these tales of far-away India.
The Jungle Books express Kipling's philosophy of life. He believed that human experience includes much that is common and universal, and that there is a common and universal law underlying all cultures; the recognition and preservation of which is the mark of civilization and those who disregard the law necessarily diminish their stature.
Kipling employs this philosophy in the Jungle Books as a rhetorical figure by which he links contradictory terms; contrasting the implicit savagery of the jungle with high moral and ethical principles. The law is epitomized in the first and last verses of his poem, "The Law of the Jungle," appearing in The Second Jungle Book.
Both Jungle Books tell the story of Mowgli, the man-child who is adopted and raised as a member of the Seeonee Wolf Pack. The Seeonee Pack, known as the Free People, is the embodiment of the Law. Mowgli's picaresque adventures are conjoined by the force, power and omnipotence of the Law. Under the tutelage of a variety of magnificently characterized creature-mentors, Mowgli learns and internalizes the Law.
The story of Mowgli constitutes a study in contrast and contradiction. The tales may be interpreted as romantic adventures on one level, as animal fables on another and as alries on yet another. Mowgli typifies the dilemma of a being who is of, but yet is not of. He is torn between the jungle he loves and the village from which he came—the world of fantasy and the world of reality. He is immersed in the Law, an immutable force which governs all life, but yet allows ruthless individual action within prescribed limits.
The tales in The Second Jungle Book continued the theme and “Red Dog" is perhaps the most memorable. The structure of “Red Dog" is deceptively simple. The story line is strong and causality is the plot's life blood. Yet, it is distinguished by its atmosphere, for symbol and myth give it a sense of mystery and ambiguity.
In “Red Dog," Won-tolla, a solitary wolf, warns the jungle folk of a marauding band of dholes-killer dogs from the plains. Mowgli, with the guidance of Kaa, the python, devises a plan which results in the annihilation of the dholes, but also in the death of Won-tolla and Akela, leader-emeritus of the pack.
The contrast between the actions of the lawless dholes and those of the law-abiding jungle folk is obvious. Less obvious is the contrast between Won-tolla and Akela; the first motivated by personal considerations, the other by societal. Kaa, ancient, sagacious, contemplative, serves as a brilliant foil to Mowgli, young, impetuous, volatile.
The numerous metaphors also contain elements of contrast and contradiction, as when Mowgli says, “I have many little thorns under my tongue to prick into their hides."
The choice of The Little People of the Rocks as the instrument of retribution not only adds a bizarre twist to the story, but almost forces one to consider the symbolism of the bees.
Kipling's extraordinary talent and skill in melding meticulous observation of nature with emotional force to create a dramatically forbidding locus that assails the senses is evident in his description of the gorge in which the confrontation takes place. The sweetish-sour smell of the marble rocks curtained with millions upon millions of black shimmery bees coupled with booming of their angry wings creates a scene of unparalleled horror.
Triumph and tragedy mark the closing scene. The enemy has been vanquished, but Akela's death has given Mowgli yet another taste of sour fruit from the tree he has known only too well.
The stories in the Jungle Books became contemporary classics shortly after publication in the early years of the twentieth century. In its waning years they are classics. Kipling's lines,
“For the risk and the riot of the night!
It is met, and we go to the fight." aptly sum up the story “Red Dog".
-KAY WHITE
Also on Caedmon records are
THE JUNGLE BOOK: HOW FEAR CAME (TC 1100)
THE JUNGLE BOOK: TOOMAI OF THE ELEPHANTS (TC 1176)
“Mowgli's Brothers" on JUST SO STORIES AND OTHER TALES (TC 1038) performed by Boris Karloff.
Kay White, who holds degrees from Mt. Holyoke, Hofstra and Columbia, is Executive Editor of Instructional Communications Technology. Anthony Quayle is one of Britain's most gifted and versatile actors. Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he made his stage debut at London's "Q" Theatre in 1931. Later he joined the Old Vic for a season and thereafter appeared in more than two dozen West End plays. From 1948 to 1956 he held the post of director for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon. His activities since then have embraced the West End, appearances at innumerable festivals, and an enormously successful movie career. His most outstanding films include “Lawrence of Arabia", "Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Anne of a Thousand Days". Also he starred on television as Aaron in the NBC series “Moses, the Lawgiver”.
CREDITS COVER ILLUSTRATION: Leo and Diane Dillon
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS #: 75-750495
© Caedmon Records, Inc. 1975 Directed by Ward Botsford
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