The Man Who Would Be King: Selected Stories of Rudyard Kipling

by Rudyard Kipling

  NABOTH

  First published in the Civil and Military Gazette, 26 August 1886; collected in Life’s Handicap (1891).

  The title is from 1 Kings 21. Naboth possessed a vineyard close to the palace of King Ahab who wanted it for his garden. When Naboth refused to sell ‘the inheritance of my fathers’, Ahab’s wife Jezebel had him stoned to death on a false charge of blasphemy, for which she and Ahab were cursed by the prophet Elijah (‘Hast thou killed, and also taken possession?’). ‘Naboth’s vineyard’ used to be a proverbial term for a poor man’s small possession coveted by the wealthy and unscrupulous.

  1. an allegory of Empire: A cynical allegory, since ‘Naboth’ is a would-be empire-builder preying on the narrator’s weakness, while the narrator himself plays the role of the bad king Ahab who destroys the poor man’s small property.

  2. sap: Undermining.

  3. Isabella-coloured: Yellowish-grey.

  4. feudatory: Vassal.

  5. illicit still: A means of illegally manufacturing spirits. ‘Naboth’ is running an illicit spirit-shop.

  6. Suzerain: Sovereign.

  7. phaeton: A light open carriage drawn by one horse.

  8. sweetmeats instead of salt: In the ancient world, the lands of defeated enemies might be sown with salt to prevent anyone from tilling them again. The victorious Abimelech does this to the fields of Shechem (Judges 9:45), and the Romans were said to have salted the land around Carthage when they destroyed the city in 146 BC after the Third Punic War.

  9. how Ahab felt: Kipling’s reversal of Scripture in making Ahab the injured party contests, not quite convincingly, Ahab’s reputation for greed and violence.

  ON THE CITY WALL

  First published in In Black and White, no. 3 of the Indian Railway Library (1888); collected in Soldiers Three (1892).

  1. she: Rahab the harlot, who hid two Israelite spies in her house on Jericho wall and helped them to escape by letting them down from her window: Joshua 2: 1–16.

  2. Lilith: Mythical first wife of Adam.

  3. jujube-tree: Zizyphus trees bearing edible berries.

  4. Pax Britannica: ‘British peace’: the peace imposed by the Empire (Latin, cf. Pax Romana).

  5. Peshawur and Cape Comorin: The most northerly and southerly points of British India (NRG).

  6. chunam: Lime made of burnt shells (Hobson-Jobson).

  7. Shiahs: Adherents of the Muslim Shia denomination who reverence Mohammed’s cousin Ali and his successors the Eleven Imams.

  8. Sufis: Muslim mystics.

  9. Golden Temple: Sikh temple at Amritsar, the headquarters of Sikh religion.

  10. electic: Wali Dad’s slip for ‘eclectic’.

  11. the Athenians – always hearing and telling some new thing: Acts 17: 21.

  12. a Demnition Product: Alludes to the idiom of Mr Mantalini, a comic character in Charles Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby (1838).

  13. sitar: Stringed instrument like a guitar.

  14. kites: Scavenging birds of prey.

  15. Sivaji: (1627–80) founder of the Mahratta empire (NRG).

  16. Mahratta laonee: Maratha ballad.

  17. in ’46 … in ’57 … in ’71: In the Sutlej campaign (1845–6), the Mutiny (1857) and the Kuka rising (1871–2), all Sikh rebellions suppressed by the British.

  18. Wahabi: Follower of violent fundamentalist Islam sect, founded by ibn-al-Wahab (1703–93).

  19. whoring after strange gods: Exodus 34: 15.

  20. Subadar Sahib: Respectful address; ‘Sahib’ means ‘Sir’ and subadar was the highest rank of Native officers, equivalent of a Regimental Sergeant-Major (see also Drums of the Fore and Aft, n. 40, below).

  21. Sobraon: Battle in the Sutlej campaign where the Sikhs were defeated.

  22. ‘niggers’, which besides being extreme bad form, shows gross ignorance: The narrator objects both to the rudeness of the derogatory word and to the confusion of Indians with Africans.

  23. ‘Sikhs?’: The Subaltern hints that it is unwise to have Khem Singh guarded by men of his own faith.

  24. Sikhs, Pathans, Dogras: Different peoples of north India.

  25. heterodox women: Hetairas, ancient Greek courtesans.

  26. Vizier: High state official.

  27. Mohurrum, the great mourning-festival: Annual Shia festival commemorating the death of Hassan and his brother Husain, heirs of the Prophet. Their heroic death at the hands of usurpers is staged every year in plays and processions by Shia peoples (as in the medieval European ‘mystery plays’ enacting the Passion of Christ).

  28. tazias: wood and fabric replicas of the tomb of Imam Husain carried in the ‘Mohurrum’ procession.

  29. Ladakh: province of northern India.

  30. Vox Populi is Vox Dei: ‘The voice of the people is the voice of God’ (dog-Latin).

  31. “Ya Hasan! Ya Hussain!”: Ritual invocation of martyred heroes, accompanied by breast-beating.

  32. ‘Into thy hands, O Lord!’: Luke 23: 41: Christ’s last words from the cross.

  33. Sirkar: Government of India.

  34. killing kine in their temples: Slaughtering cattle sacred to Hindus.

  35. the iron bangle of the Sikhs: Sikhs are required at all times to wear an iron bangle, together with uncut hair, a small comb, a dagger and a special undergarment (David Simmonds, Believers All: A Study of Six World Religions (Nelson Thomas, 1992), p. 120).

  36. A lakh: One hundred thousand.

  37. bunnias: money-lenders.

  38. ‘It is expedient that one man should die for the people’: The words of Caiaphas planning the death of Jesus (John 18: 14).

  39. ‘Two Lovely Black Eyes’: Music-hall song.

  ‘THE CITY OF DREADFUL NIGHT’

  First published in the Civil and Military Gazette, 10 September 1885; collected in Life’s Handicap (1891). The title is taken from the title of a poem by James Thomson (1834–82).

  1. ekka-ponies: See ‘In the House of Suddhoo’, n. 7, above.

  2. gunny-bags: Jute sacks (Hobson-Jobson).

  3. pariahs: Stray dogs (Hobson-Jobson).

  4. grampuses: Whales.

  5. the Mosque of Wazir Khan: See ‘The Gate of the Hundred Sorrows’, n. 3, above.

  6. Minars: Towers of the mosque (minarets).

  7. kite: Scavenging bird of prey.

  8. Doré … Zola: Gustave Doré (1833–83), French black-and-white artist and engraver, whose 1871 engravings of London scenes were criticized for dwelling on poverty. He also engraved the darkly numinous illustrations for an edition of Dante’s Divine Comedy (1868). Emile Zola (1840–1902), author of powerful naturalist novels considered shocking by contemporaries.

  9. Ravee: River by which Lahore stands.

  10. heliographic signals: A heliograph is an early telegraph using mirrors to flash messages in Morse code. It was employed by the British army in the 1880s.

  11. Muezzin: Crier calling Muslims to prayer.

  12. ‘Allah ho Akbar!’: God is great.

  13. ‘La ilaha Illallah!’: There is no God but Allah.

  14. ram: Instrument for compressing bales of fabric.

  AT THE END OF THE PASSAGE

  First published in the USA in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, August 1890; collected in Life’s Handicap (1891).

  1. Himalayan: The epigraph is the first stanza of Kipling’s poem ‘Himalaya’.

  2. ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’: Quoted from the American Declaration of Independence, 1776.

  3. The room was darkened: The curtains were drawn to keep out the sun.

  4. punkah: Swinging fan.

  5. apoplexy: Heatstroke.

  6. Indian Survey: The institution responsible for mapping India.

  7. on special duty in the Political Department: Lowndes was a resident official advising the prince of a Native State (see above, head-note to ‘The Man Who Would Be King’).

  8. bumble-puppy: Any game played unscientifically; in this context, whist.

  9.
vestrymen: Members of a parish council, responsible for local government.

  10. drag: Four-wheeled coach.

  11. Heidsieck: Champagne.

  12. Chlorodyne: A mixture of chloroform and opium (NRG).

  13. nitre: Potassium nitrate, diluted to use as a saline diuretic, so unlikely to benefit dehydrated cholera patients (NRG).

  14. black cholera: Turning a patient’s face blue from lack of oxygen.

  15. sextant: Instrument used by land surveyors for calculating angles of altitude.

  16. ophthalmia: Inflammation of the eyes.

  17. the Graphic: Illustrated magazine, similar to the Illustrated London News.

  18. Chucks: Character from the novel Peter Simple by Frederick Marryat (1792–1842).

  19. Babu: See ‘The Gate of the Hundred Sorrows’, n. 7, above.

  20. Job: Proverbially unfortunate protagonist of the Old Testament Book of Job. A good man persecuted by Satan, Job loses his wealth, his children all die, and he is covered with boils ‘from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head’.

  21. a gold mohur on the rub: A mohur was the highest value coin in British India, worth 16 rupees; ‘rub’ is a rubber, meaning a set of three or five games (NRG).

  22. prestissimo: Very quickly, a musical direction.

  23. ‘Glory to thee … light’: From the Evening Hymn of Bishop Ken (1637–1711), no. 23 of Hymns Ancient and Modern; Hummil’s version of the fifth stanza, probably quoted from memory, is not quite accurate. It should run ‘When in the night I sleepless lie, My soul with heavenly thoughts supply; Let no ill dreams disturb my rest, No powers of darkness me molest.’ Kipling also uses the numinous phrase ‘powers of darkness’, in ‘The Phantom ’Rickshaw’ and in Kim.

  24. cockchafer: Large flying beetle.

  25. bandbox: Large circular box for women’s hats.

  26. seven fathom: Forty-two feet (one fathom = six feet).

  27. ‘Well done, David!’ ‘Look after Saul, then’: King Saul was possessed by an evil spirit which left him when David played the harp: 1 Samuel 16: 23.

  28. where I dines I sleeps: Quotation from Handley Cross by Robert Surtees (1803–64), featuring Mr Jorrocks, grocer and Master of Foxhounds.

  29. Heaven-born: Deferential title addressed to an English officer.

  30. the reeving and unreeving of the bed-tapes: Pulling tapes through and out of holes in the sheets.

  31. the tremendous words: The funeral service in the Book of Common Prayer begins, ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life’.

  32. ‘There may be Heaven … We-ell?’: Robert Browning, ‘Time’s Revenges’, Bells and Pomegranates (1845): ‘There may be heaven; there must be hell; / Meantime there is our earth here – well!’

  THE DRUMS OF THE FORE AND AFT

  First published in Wee Willie Winkie, no. 6 of the Indian Railway Library (1888); collected in Wee Willie Winkie and Other Stories (1895).

  1. above proof: ‘Proof spirit’ contains 58 per cent alcohol; spirits ‘above proof’ are extremely strong.

  2. to encourage the others: Captain John Byng was shot for cowardice; Voltaire wryly commented that this was done ‘pour encourager les autres’.

  3. the Pocket-book: This was The Soldier’s Pocket-book by General Sir Garnet Wolseley (1833–1913), first published 1869 and frequently reprinted in the nineteenth century (NRG).

  4. drummer-boys: Boys enrolled at 12, under command of the Drum-Major. They could enter the regular army at 18 (NRG).

  5. through Dr Barnardo’s hands: Dr Barnardo was the founder of the orphanages named after him, which are still functioning.

  6. Ishmaels: Outcasts. Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar: ‘his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him’ (Genesis 16: 12).

  7. plug tobacco: Strong tobacco pressed into bricks or plugs.

  8. the Bazar-Sergeant’s son: A Bazar-Sergeant was an NCO responsible for supervising the local bazaar or shopping district (NRG).

  9. jarnwar: Soldier’s pronounciation of Hindi janwar, animal (NRG).

  10. Lance: Lance-corporal: lowest rank of NCO (NRG).

  11. ‘The War of the Lost Tribes’: The Afghan War: the Afghans were supposed to be the ‘Lost Tribes of Israel’ (NRG).

  12. the Cape: Cape of Good Hope.

  13. Colours: The regimental flag, regarded as sacred.

  14. batta: Field allowance (Hobson-Jobson).

  15. CB … KCB: Commander or Knight Commander of the Bath.

  16. ’coutrements: Accoutrements: a soldier’s belt, pouches, haversack, etc. (NRG).

  17. housewife: A rolled cloth case for needle and scissors, pronounced ‘hussif’.

  18. Commissariat: Officers and men in charge of food supplies.

  19. steers: Bullocks (for slaughter).

  20. Hussars: Light cavalry.

  21. sons of the Beni-Israel: Members of one of the Lost Tribes of Israel.

  22. puckrowed: Seized (Hobson-Jobson).

  23. Kiswasti?: Why? (NRG).

  24. Khana get, peenikapanee get – live like a bloomin’ Rajah ke marfik … bundobust: ‘You will have food, drinking water, and will live as luxuriously as a Rajah’ (NRG).

  25. kushy: Easy, soft (cushy).

  26. EP tent: European Privates’ tent (NRG).

  27. wither-wrung: Sore-shouldered.

  28. hammered iron slug: Handmade bullet (NRG).

  29. big men dressed in women’s clothes: Highland regiments, wearing kilts.

  30. a driven donkey: A donkey driven towards the enemy to draw his fire.

  31. ‘two o’clock in the morning courage’: Unprepared courage.

  32. screw-guns: Small field artillery that could be dismantled and carried by mules.

  33. zymotic: Infectious.

  34. ill taking the breeks off a Highlander: An allusion to Sir Walter Scott’s The Fortunes of Nigel (ch. 5). ‘Breeks’ are breeches or trousers.

  35. regiments attired in red coats: The Afghan army.

  36. Martini-Henry bullets: Martini-Henry guns, issued to the British Army (see ‘The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes’, n. 11, above), presumably looted or stolen.

  37. brazed: Soldered.

  38. Ghazis: Fanatical Muslims who have sworn to kill unbelievers (NRG).

  39. kukris: Curved Nepalese knives used by Gurkha regiments (Hobson-Jobson).

  40. Subadar-Major: Highest rank of ‘Native’ officer, equivalent to Regimental Sergeant-Major (NRG).

  41. Senior Jemadar: ‘Native’ officer, ranking below ‘Subadar’ (Hobson-Jobson).

  42. Snider bullets: See ‘The Man Who Would Be King’, n. 47, above.

  43. ‘stung by the splendour of a sudden thought’: Browning, ‘A Death in the Desert’, line 59.

  44. fife: Shrill military flute.

  45. ‘British Grenadiers’: A famous military marching song.

  46. Rissaldar: Cavalry equivalent of Subadar or sergeant (NRG)

  47. carbine: Gun, shorter and lighter than a rifle (NRG).

  48. doolies: Cots used as litters (Hobson-Jobson).

  49. blooded: Alludes to the fox-hunting ceremony of smearing children with blood from the dead beast’s tail at their first hunt.

  WITH THE MAIN GUARD

  First published in The Week’s News, 28 July 1888, issued in Soldiers Three, no. 1 of the Indian Railway Library (1888); collected in Soldiers Three (1895).

  1. C. G. Leland: From ‘Breitmann in Bivouac’, Hans Breitmann Ballads (1884).

  2. skinful of water: From a goat-skin bag.

  3. glacis: Ground sloping upwards to a fort.

  4. mess-kid: Tin for holding food.

  5. Faynians: Fenians, precursors of the IRA.

  6. the Widdy: Queen Victoria, the ‘Widow of Windsor’.

  7. tattered Colours: Flags embroidered with regimental arms and battle honours.

  8. fell acrost: Bumped into.

  9. “Knee to knee!” … “Breast to breast!” … “hand over back!”: Phrases from the
Masonic Third Degree Ritual, hence the colonel’s thanks to ‘Brother Inner Guard’.

  10. “We’ve seen our dead”: The corpses had been mutilated by the Afghans.

  11. lockin’-ring: Ring securing bayonet to rifle-muzzle.

  12. asp on a leaf: Leaf of the aspen, also called the Trembling Poplar.

  13. holted: Halted.

  14. Roshus: Roscius, a famous Roman actor.

  15. “Blood the young whelp!”: Alludes to ceremony of ‘blooding’ (see ‘The Drums of the Fore and Aft’, n. 49, above). A whelp is a puppy.

  16. batman: Soldier acting as officer’s servant.

  ON GREENHOW HILL

  First published in Harper’s Magazine and Macmillan’s Magazine, September 1890; collected in Life’s Handicap (1891).

  1. Rivals: A poem by Alice Kipling, Rudyard’s mother.

  2. Snider: See ‘The Man Who Would Be King’, n. 47, above.

  3. a hound on a broken trail: A foxhound trotting to and fro in search of scent.

  4. ’list: Enlist.

  5. Don Juan … Lotharius: Don Juan is a legendary seducer; Lothario a heartless libertine in Rowe’s The Fair Penitent (Mulvaney has been a theatre-goer).

  6. bight: Loop.

  7. drift: Passage in a mine.

  8. sumph: sump, drainage-pit.

  9. agaate: Doing.

  10. jealoused: Scottish jaloused; suspected.

  11. class-meetin’s: A ‘class’ was a small devotional group within the larger congregation. Active Methodists were expected to attend their weekly class-meeting.

  12. shebeen: Drinking-shop.

  13. Sitha: (Yorkshire) See here.

  14. white choaker: Slang for a clergyman’s white collar.

  15. “Th’ sword o’ th’ Lord and o’ Gideon”: Judges 7: 18.

  16. th’ whole armour o’ righteousness: Echoes both Ephesians 6: 11 and 2 Corinthians 6: 7.

  17. fightin’ the good fight: 1 Timothy 6: 12.

  18. Forders: Cabmen (slang).

  19. boggart: Ghost.

  WITHOUT BENEFIT OF CLERGY

  First published in Macmillan’s Magazine, June 1890; collected in Life’s Handicap (1891).

  1. Bitter Waters: Poem by Kipling.