Jungle Tales of Tarzan
Encyclopedia
Jungle Tales of Tarzan is a collection of twelve loosely-connected short stories written by Edgar Rice Burroughs
, comprising the sixth book in order of publication in his series about the title character Tarzan
. Chronologically it is a midquel to the first Tarzan novel, Tarzan of the Apes
, as the events recounted in it actually occur within Chapter 11 of that novel, between Tarzan's avenging of his ape foster mother's death and his becoming leader of his ape tribe.
The Capture of Tarzan. Tarzan is taken captive by the warriors of a village of cannibals which has established a village near the territory of the ape tribe. He is saved from them by Tantor, the elephant.
The Fight for the Balu. Teeka and Taug have a baby (balu, in the ape language), which Teeka names Gazan and will not allow Tarzan near. She changes her mind after Tarzan saves the baby from another ape.
The God of Tarzan. Tarzan discovers the concept of "God" in the books preserved in the cabin of his dead parents, to which he pays regular visits. He inquires among members of his ape tribe for further elucidation without success, and continues his investigation among the cannibals of the nearby village and the natural phenomena of his world, such as the sun and moon. Eventually he concludes that God is none of these, but the creative force permeating everything. Somehow, though, the dreaded snake Histah falls outside this.
Tarzan and the Black Boy. Jealous of Taug and Teeka's relationship with their baby, Tarzan kidnaps Tibo, a little boy from the neighboring village to be his own "balu." He tries with indifferent success to teach the terrified and homesick child ape ways. Meanwhile, Momaya, Tibo's mother does everything she can think of to find and recover her son, even visiting the hermit witch-doctor Bukawai, a terrible, diseased exile who keeps two fearsome hyenas as pets. He names a price for recovering Tibo she cannot afford, and she leaves disappointed. Afterwards, however, Tarzan, who is moved by Tibo's distress and his mother's love, returns the boy to her.
The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance. Bukawai attempts to claim credit for Tibo's return and extort payment from the boy's mother, but is rebuffed. He plots vengeance against the native family and Tarzan, but is thwarted by the ape man.
The End of Bukawai. Bukawai, finding Tarzan unconscious after a storm, takes the ape man captive and stakes him out for his hyenas to devour. Escaping, Tarzan leaves the witch doctor in the same trap, in which Bukawai suffers the very fate he had intended for his enemy.
The Lion. Tarzan vainly attempts to impress on his ape tribe the necessity of maintaining a strict watch against the hazards and perils surrounding them. To drive home the lesson, he dons the skin of a lion he has killed and suddenly appears among them, only to find them more vigilant than he had thought, as they mob him and nearly beat him to death. He is saved only by the courage of his monkey friend Manu, which he had also previously under-rated, who risks all to reveal to Teeka and Taug that the "lion" is actually Tarzan.
The Nightmare. Having been unsuccessful hunting, Tarzan robs the native village of some rotten elephant meat, which he eats. Becoming ill from the tainted meal, he has a horrible nightmare, in which he dreams himself menaced by a huge snake with the head of the village's witch doctor and is carried off by a giant bird. Waking, he realizes the incidents were not real. Subsequently attacked by a gorilla, he assumes that this too is a product of his fevered imagination, until actually wounded and hurt. He kills the beast, but is left to wonder what is real and what is fantasy. The only thing he is certain of is that he will never again eat the meat of an elephant.
The Battle for Teeka. Discovering bullet cartridges in his deceased father's cabin, Tarzan takes them with him as curios. Subsequently, Teeka is taken by an ape from another tribe, and Tarzan and Taug join forces to trail the kidnapper and rescue her. When they catch up they are surrounded by the enemy tribe and nearly overwhelmed, until Teeka starts the cartridges at their foes in an apparently futile effort to help. When some of them hit a rock, they explode, frightening the hostile apes and saving her "rescuers."
A Jungle Joke. As part of his campaign of torment and trickery against the native village, whose members he holds responsible for his ape foster mother's death, Tarzan captures Rabba Kega, the local witch doctor, and puts him in a trap the natives have set to catch a lion. The next day the warriors find they have caught the lion, but it has killed the witch doctor. They take the lion to the village. Tarzan secretly releases it and appears among them dressed in the lion skin he had previously used to trick the apes. Dropping the disguise, he reveals himself and leaves. When the natives muster enough courage, they follow, only to encounter the real lion, which they assume is Tarzan in his disguise again. They are quickly disabused.
Tarzan Rescues the Moon. Tarzan frees a native warrior the apes have caught on being impressed by the man's bravery, angering the rest of the ape tribe. Alienated, he exiles himself to his parents' cabin. Later, frightened by an eclipse in which darkness appears to devour the moon, they summon him back. Tarzan reassures them by shooting arrows at the "devourer," and as the eclipse passes is given credit by the creatures for the "rescue."
According to Tarzan Alive
, Philip José Farmer
's study of the ape man's life and career, the incidents of this book occurred from February, 1907-August, 1908 (aside from the eclipse incident, there apparently having been no such eclipse visible from equatorial Africa during this period).
form on a number of occasions.
Charlton Comics
adapted eight of the stories, including "The Capture of Tarzan," "The Fight for the Balu," "The God of Tarzan," "The Lion," "The Nightmare," "The Battle for Teeka," "A Jungle Joke,", and "Tarzan Rescues the Moon" in Jungle Tales of Tarzan nos. 1-4, dated December 1964-June 1965.
Marvel Comics
adapted six of the stories, including "The God of Tarzan," "The End of Bukawai," "The Battle for Teeka," and "A Jungle Joke" in Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle nos. 7, 9, and 13-14, dated December 1977, February 1978, and June-July 1978, as well as "Tarzan's First Love" and "Tarzan Rescues the Moon" in Tarzan Annual no. 1, dated December 1977.
Gold Key Comics
adapted four of the stories, including "The Capture of Tarzan," "The God of Tarzan," "Tarzan and the Black Boy" and "A Jungle Joke" in Tarzan nos. 169-170, dated January-February 1969, with scripts by Gaylord DuBois
and art by Alberto Giolitti
.
Burne Hogarth
, illustrator and former Tarzan comic strip artist, adapted four of the stories, including "Tarzan's First Love," "The Capture of Tarzan," "The God of Tarzan" and "The Nightmare" in his showcase graphic novel Jungle Tales of Tarzan (1976), a follow-up to his earlier earlier graphic novel Tarzan of the Apes (1972), which adapted the original Tarzan novel.
DC Comics
adapted three of the stories, including "The Capture of Tarzan," "The Fight for the Balu" and "The Nightmare" in Tarzan nos. 212-214, dated September-November 1972, reprinting the second two in Tarzan nos. 252-253, dated August-September 1976, and 257, dated January 1977.
Malibu Comics
adapted one of the stories, "Tarzan's First Love," in Tarzan: Love, Lies...and the Lost City no. 1, 1992.
Only one story, "The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance," has not been adapted into comic form.
for these stories has expired in the United States, and thus now reside in the public domain
there. The text is available via Project Gutenberg
.
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
, comprising the sixth book in order of publication in his series about the title character Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
. Chronologically it is a midquel to the first Tarzan novel, Tarzan of the Apes
Tarzan of the Apes
Tarzan of the Apes is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first in a series of books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published in the pulp magazine All-Story Magazine in October, 1912; the first book edition was published in 1914. The character was so popular that Burroughs...
, as the events recounted in it actually occur within Chapter 11 of that novel, between Tarzan's avenging of his ape foster mother's death and his becoming leader of his ape tribe.
Contents
- "Tarzan's First Love"
- "The Capture of Tarzan"
- "The Fight for the Balu"
- "The God of Tarzan"
- "Tarzan and the Black Boy"
- "The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance"
- "The End of Bukawai"
- "The Lion"
- "The Nightmare"
- "The Battle for Teeka"
- "A Jungle Joke"
- "Tarzan Rescues the Moon"
Plot
Tarzan's First Love. Tarzan's courtship of the female ape Teeka ends in failure when her preference turns to their mutual friend, the male ape Taug.The Capture of Tarzan. Tarzan is taken captive by the warriors of a village of cannibals which has established a village near the territory of the ape tribe. He is saved from them by Tantor, the elephant.
The Fight for the Balu. Teeka and Taug have a baby (balu, in the ape language), which Teeka names Gazan and will not allow Tarzan near. She changes her mind after Tarzan saves the baby from another ape.
The God of Tarzan. Tarzan discovers the concept of "God" in the books preserved in the cabin of his dead parents, to which he pays regular visits. He inquires among members of his ape tribe for further elucidation without success, and continues his investigation among the cannibals of the nearby village and the natural phenomena of his world, such as the sun and moon. Eventually he concludes that God is none of these, but the creative force permeating everything. Somehow, though, the dreaded snake Histah falls outside this.
Tarzan and the Black Boy. Jealous of Taug and Teeka's relationship with their baby, Tarzan kidnaps Tibo, a little boy from the neighboring village to be his own "balu." He tries with indifferent success to teach the terrified and homesick child ape ways. Meanwhile, Momaya, Tibo's mother does everything she can think of to find and recover her son, even visiting the hermit witch-doctor Bukawai, a terrible, diseased exile who keeps two fearsome hyenas as pets. He names a price for recovering Tibo she cannot afford, and she leaves disappointed. Afterwards, however, Tarzan, who is moved by Tibo's distress and his mother's love, returns the boy to her.
The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance. Bukawai attempts to claim credit for Tibo's return and extort payment from the boy's mother, but is rebuffed. He plots vengeance against the native family and Tarzan, but is thwarted by the ape man.
The End of Bukawai. Bukawai, finding Tarzan unconscious after a storm, takes the ape man captive and stakes him out for his hyenas to devour. Escaping, Tarzan leaves the witch doctor in the same trap, in which Bukawai suffers the very fate he had intended for his enemy.
The Lion. Tarzan vainly attempts to impress on his ape tribe the necessity of maintaining a strict watch against the hazards and perils surrounding them. To drive home the lesson, he dons the skin of a lion he has killed and suddenly appears among them, only to find them more vigilant than he had thought, as they mob him and nearly beat him to death. He is saved only by the courage of his monkey friend Manu, which he had also previously under-rated, who risks all to reveal to Teeka and Taug that the "lion" is actually Tarzan.
The Nightmare. Having been unsuccessful hunting, Tarzan robs the native village of some rotten elephant meat, which he eats. Becoming ill from the tainted meal, he has a horrible nightmare, in which he dreams himself menaced by a huge snake with the head of the village's witch doctor and is carried off by a giant bird. Waking, he realizes the incidents were not real. Subsequently attacked by a gorilla, he assumes that this too is a product of his fevered imagination, until actually wounded and hurt. He kills the beast, but is left to wonder what is real and what is fantasy. The only thing he is certain of is that he will never again eat the meat of an elephant.
The Battle for Teeka. Discovering bullet cartridges in his deceased father's cabin, Tarzan takes them with him as curios. Subsequently, Teeka is taken by an ape from another tribe, and Tarzan and Taug join forces to trail the kidnapper and rescue her. When they catch up they are surrounded by the enemy tribe and nearly overwhelmed, until Teeka starts the cartridges at their foes in an apparently futile effort to help. When some of them hit a rock, they explode, frightening the hostile apes and saving her "rescuers."
A Jungle Joke. As part of his campaign of torment and trickery against the native village, whose members he holds responsible for his ape foster mother's death, Tarzan captures Rabba Kega, the local witch doctor, and puts him in a trap the natives have set to catch a lion. The next day the warriors find they have caught the lion, but it has killed the witch doctor. They take the lion to the village. Tarzan secretly releases it and appears among them dressed in the lion skin he had previously used to trick the apes. Dropping the disguise, he reveals himself and leaves. When the natives muster enough courage, they follow, only to encounter the real lion, which they assume is Tarzan in his disguise again. They are quickly disabused.
Tarzan Rescues the Moon. Tarzan frees a native warrior the apes have caught on being impressed by the man's bravery, angering the rest of the ape tribe. Alienated, he exiles himself to his parents' cabin. Later, frightened by an eclipse in which darkness appears to devour the moon, they summon him back. Tarzan reassures them by shooting arrows at the "devourer," and as the eclipse passes is given credit by the creatures for the "rescue."
According to Tarzan Alive
Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke
Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke is a fictional biography by Philip José Farmer. It presents the life story of Edgar Rice Burroughs' literary hero Tarzan as if he were a real person....
, Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories....
's study of the ape man's life and career, the incidents of this book occurred from February, 1907-August, 1908 (aside from the eclipse incident, there apparently having been no such eclipse visible from equatorial Africa during this period).
Comic adaptations
Stories from the book have been adapted into comicTarzan (comics)
Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in 23 sequels. The character proved immensely popular and quickly made the jump to other media, including comics.-Comic strips:...
form on a number of occasions.
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
adapted eight of the stories, including "The Capture of Tarzan," "The Fight for the Balu," "The God of Tarzan," "The Lion," "The Nightmare," "The Battle for Teeka," "A Jungle Joke,", and "Tarzan Rescues the Moon" in Jungle Tales of Tarzan nos. 1-4, dated December 1964-June 1965.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
adapted six of the stories, including "The God of Tarzan," "The End of Bukawai," "The Battle for Teeka," and "A Jungle Joke" in Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle nos. 7, 9, and 13-14, dated December 1977, February 1978, and June-July 1978, as well as "Tarzan's First Love" and "Tarzan Rescues the Moon" in Tarzan Annual no. 1, dated December 1977.
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.-History:...
adapted four of the stories, including "The Capture of Tarzan," "The God of Tarzan," "Tarzan and the Black Boy" and "A Jungle Joke" in Tarzan nos. 169-170, dated January-February 1969, with scripts by Gaylord DuBois
Gaylord DuBois
Gaylord McIlvaine Du Bois , or DuBois In his lifetime he wrote well over 3000 comic book stories and comic strips as well as Big Little Books and juvenile adventure...
and art by Alberto Giolitti
Alberto Giolitti
Alberto Giolitti was an Italian-American comic book artist.He was born in Rome, where his family held one of the most famous café, Giolitti, where he also worked for a while. He debuted as artist for Il Vittorioso in the late 1940s...
.
Burne Hogarth
Burne Hogarth
Burne Hogarth was an American cartoonist, illustrator, educator, author and theoretician, best known for his pioneering work on the Tarzan newspaper comic strip and his series of anatomy books.-Biography:...
, illustrator and former Tarzan comic strip artist, adapted four of the stories, including "Tarzan's First Love," "The Capture of Tarzan," "The God of Tarzan" and "The Nightmare" in his showcase graphic novel Jungle Tales of Tarzan (1976), a follow-up to his earlier earlier graphic novel Tarzan of the Apes (1972), which adapted the original Tarzan novel.
DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
adapted three of the stories, including "The Capture of Tarzan," "The Fight for the Balu" and "The Nightmare" in Tarzan nos. 212-214, dated September-November 1972, reprinting the second two in Tarzan nos. 252-253, dated August-September 1976, and 257, dated January 1977.
Malibu Comics
Malibu Comics
Malibu Comics was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. The company's headquarters was in Calabasas, California. Malibu imprints included Aircel Comics and Eternity Comics...
adapted one of the stories, "Tarzan's First Love," in Tarzan: Love, Lies...and the Lost City no. 1, 1992.
Only one story, "The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance," has not been adapted into comic form.
Copyright
The copyrightCopyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
for these stories has expired in the United States, and thus now reside in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
there. The text is available via Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
.