How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin
On an uninhabited island on the Red Sea, a rude Rhinoceros steals a Parsee's cake.
Rudyard Kipling was an English writer whose stories include animal fables, adventure, and tales of life in India. Here you can read his stories, from “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” to “How the Camel Got His Hump,” or listen to any of them in a natural voice; every story is free to read or listen to.
How the Camel Got His Hump
In the beginning of years the Camel would not work. He just said "Humph!"
How the Whale Got His Throat
Once the Whale ate every fish in the sea, until the small 'Stute Fish told him to try a man.
The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo
Long ago the Kangaroo had four short legs, and he was very proud.
How the Leopard Got His Spots
Once the Leopard was sandy-yellow all over, until the animals all moved into the stripy, speckly forest.
The Beginning of the Armadillos
Painted Jaguar's mother has told him how to catch a hedgehog and how to catch a tortoise, but Stickly-Prickly Hedgehog and Slow-Solid Tortoise are far too clever for him.
The Elephant's Child
Long ago the elephant had no trunk, only a bulgy nose. The Elephant's Child, full of 'satiable curtiosity, goes to ask the Crocodile what he has for dinner.
How the Alphabet Was Made
After the first letter goes wrong, Taffy and her father Tegumai set out to make something better: a picture for every sound.
How the First Letter Was Written
Taffimai Metallumai, called Taffy, goes fishing with her father Tegumai, and his spear breaks.
The Butterfly That Stamped
Suleiman-bin-Daoud, the wisest king in the world, can speak with every creature, and has nine hundred and ninety-nine quarrelsome wives.
The Crab That Played with the Sea
When the Eldest Magician was setting the world in order, he told every animal how to play.
The Cat That Walked by Himself
When the wild animals were tamed by the first woman, the Cat made a bargain of his own, for he walked by himself and all places were alike to him.
The Mark of the Beast
On New Year's Eve a drunken Englishman in India grinds his cigar into the forehead of a temple statue.
The Miracle of Purun Bhagat
Sir Purun Dass, the powerful Prime Minister of an Indian state, gives up his title, his honours and his name and walks into the Himalayas with a begging bowl.
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
A young mongoose washed into an Indian garden protects his family from two deadly cobras, Nag and Nagaina.
How Fear Came
The rains have failed, the rivers are dry, and the Water Truce is called: no animal may hunt at the drinking place.
The King's Ankus
Deep under the ruined city, Kaa takes Mowgli to the treasure of a forgotten king, guarded by an ancient white cobra.
Toomai of the Elephants
Little Toomai is ten, the son and grandson of elephant drivers, and he loves the great old elephant Kala Nag more than anything.
Mowgli's Brothers
A man's cub toddles into a wolf cave in the Indian jungle, and Mother Wolf decides to keep him.
The Spring Running
Mowgli is nearly seventeen. Spring comes to the Jungle, and for the first time he feels unhappy without knowing why.
The White Seal
Kotick, a rare white seal, swims the oceans searching for an island where no men will ever hunt his people.
The Undertakers
On a sandbank by an Indian river, the Jackal, the Adjutant-crane and the old Mugger crocodile sit and gossip.
The Phantom 'Rickshaw
In Simla, a man who cruelly ended a love affair begins to see his dead lover’s yellow rickshaw on the Mall, and no one else can.
The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes
A fevered engineer gallops into a sand pit by the Sutlej and finds a village of people who were supposed to be dead, and no way out.
Without Benefit of Clergy
An English official in India secretly lives with Ameera, a young Muslim girl, in a little house in the city.
Kaa's Hunting
The Monkey-People carry Mowgli off to their ruined city in the treetops.
Letting in the Jungle
The villagers who drove Mowgli out have turned on Messua, the woman who was kind to him, and mean to burn her as a witch.
The Man Who Would Be King
Two rough English adventurers set out for remote Kafiristan, where no white man has been, meaning to make themselves kings.
Where can I read Rudyard Kipling stories for free?
You can read Kipling stories for free on Pagehush, with no ads. You can read on your phone or have any story read aloud.
Can I listen to Rudyard Kipling stories?
Yes. Pagehush can read any story aloud in a natural voice, for free and without ads.