`` To think that thou canst skin a tiger ! Where did the buffaloes kill him ? It is the Lame Tiger too , and there is a hundred rupees on his head . Well , well , we will overlook thy letting the herd run off , and perhaps I will give thee one of the rupees of the reward when I have taken the skin to Khanhiwara . '' He fumbled in his waist cloth for flint and steel , and stooped down to singe Shere Khan 's whiskers . Most native hunters always singe a tiger 's whiskers to prevent his ghost from haunting them . `` Hum ! '' said Mowgli , half to himself as he ripped back the skin of a forepaw . `` So thou wilt take the hide to Khanhiwara for the reward , and perhaps give me one rupee ? Now it is in my mind that I need the skin for my own use . Heh ! Old man , take away that fire ! '' `` What talk is this to the chief hunter of the village ? Thy luck and the stupidity of thy buffaloes have helped thee to this kill . The tiger has just fed , or he would have gone twenty miles by this time . Thou canst not even skin him properly , little beggar brat , and forsooth I , Buldeo , must be told not to singe his whiskers . Mowgli , I will not give thee one anna of the reward , but only a very big beating . Leave the carcass ! '' `` By the Bull that bought me , '' said Mowgli , who was trying to get at the shoulder , `` must I stay babbling to an old ape all noon ? Here , Akela , this man plagues me . ''
Buldeo , who was still stooping over Shere Khan 's head , found himself sprawling on the grass , with a gray wolf standing over him , while XXXXX went on skinning as though he were alone in all India .
Akela Buldeo Bull Heh Khan Khanhiwara Mowgli fire forepaw forsooth