Selected Stories by Rudyard Kipling

by Rudyard Kipling

  ‘Indeed! This is my ninth time since the Armistice. Not on my own account. I haven’t lost anyone, thank God – but, like everyone else, I’ve a lot of friends at home who have. Coming over as often as I do, I find it helps them to have someone just look at the – the place and tell them about it afterwards. And one can take photos for them, too. I get quite a list of commissions to execute.’ She laughed nervously and tapped her slung Kodak. ‘There are two or three to see at Sugar Factory this time, and plenty of others in the cemeteries all about. My system is to save them up, and arrange them, you know. And when I’ve got enough commissions for one area to make it worth while, I pop over and execute them. It does comfort people.’

  ‘I suppose so,’ Helen answered, shivering as they entered the little train.

  ‘Of course it does. (Isn’t it lucky we’ve got window-seats?) It must do or they wouldn’t ask one to do it, would they? I’ve a list of quite twelve or fifteen commissions here’ – she tapped the Kodak again – ‘I must sort them out tonight. Oh, I forgot to ask you. What’s yours?’

  ‘My nephew,’ said Helen. ‘But I was very fond of him.’

  ‘Ah, yes! I sometimes wonder whether they know after death? What do you think?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t – I haven’t dared to think much about that sort of thing,’ said Helen, almost lifting her hands to keep her off.

  ‘Perhaps that’s better,’ the woman answered. ‘The sense of loss must be enough, I expect. Well, I won’t worry you any more.’

  Helen was grateful, but when they reached the hotel Mrs Scarsworth (they had exchanged names) insisted on dining at the same table with her, and after the meal, in the little, hideous salon full of low-voiced relatives, took Helen through her ‘commissions’ with biographies of the dead, where she happened to know them, and sketches of their next of kin. Helen endured till nearly half-past nine, ere she fled to her room.

  Almost at once there was a knock at her door and Mrs Scarsworth entered; her hands, holding the dreadful list, clasped before her.

  ‘Yes – yes – I know,’ she began. ‘You’re sick of me, but I want to tell you something. You – you aren’t married, are you? Then perhaps you won’t… But it doesn’t matter. I’ve got to tell someone. I can’t go on any longer like this.’

  ‘But please –’ Mrs Scarsworth had backed against the shut door, and her mouth worked dryly.

  ‘In a minute,’ she said. ‘You – you know about these graves of mine I was telling you about downstairs, just now? They really are commissions. At least several of them are.’ Her eye wandered round the room. ‘What extraordinary wall-papers they have in Belgium, don’t you think?… Yes. I swear they are commissions. But there’s one, d’you see, and – and he was more to me than anything else in the world. Do you understand?’

  Helen nodded.

  ‘More than anyone else. And, of course, he oughtn’t to have been. He ought to have been nothing to me. But he was. He is. That’s why I do the commissions, you see. That’s all.’

  ‘But why do you tell me?’ Helen asked desperately.

  ‘Because I’m so tired of lying. Tired of lying – always lying – year in and year out. When I don’t tell lies I’ve got to act ’em and I’ve got to think ’em, always. You don’t know what that means. He was everything to me that he oughtn’t to have been – the one real thing – the only thing that ever happened to me in all my life; and I’ve had to pretend he wasn’t. I’ve had to watch every word I said, and think out what lie I’d tell next, for years and years!’

  ‘How many years?’ Helen asked.

  ‘Six years and four months before, and two and three-quarters after. I’ve gone to him eight times, since. Tomorrow’ll make the ninth, and – and I can’t –I can’t go to him again with nobody in the world knowing. I want to be honest with someone before I go. Do you understand? It doesn’t matter about me. I was never truthful, even as a girl. But it isn’t worthy of him. So – so I – I had to tell you. I can’t keep it up any longer. Oh, I can’t!’

  She lifted her joined hands almost to the level of her mouth, and brought them down sharply, still joined, to full arms’ length below her waist. Helen reached forward, caught them, bowed her head over them, and murmured: ‘Oh, my dear! My dear!’ Mrs Scarsworth stepped back, her face all mottled.

  ‘My God!’ said she. ‘Is that how you take it?’

  Helen could not speak, and the woman went out; but it was a long while before Helen was able to sleep.

  Next morning Mrs Scarsworth left early on her round of commissions, and Helen walked alone to Hagenzeele Third. The place was still in the making, and stood some five or six feet above the metalled road, which it flanked for hundreds of yards. Culverts across a deep ditch served for entrances through the unfinished boundary wall. She climbed a few wooden-faced earthen steps and then met the entire crowded level of the thing in one held breath. She did not know that Hagenzeele Third counted twenty-one thousand dead already. All she saw was a merciless sea of black crosses, bearing little strips of stamped tin at all angles across their faces. She could distinguish no order or arrangement in their mass; nothing but a waist-high wilderness as of weeds stricken dead, rushing at her. She went forward, moved to the left and the right hopelessly, wondering by what guidance she should ever come to her own. A great distance away there was a line of whiteness. It proved to be a block of some two or three hundred graves whose headstones had already been set, whose flowers were planted out, and whose new-sown grass showed green. Here she could see clear-cut letters at the ends of the rows, and, referring to her slip, realized that it was not here she must look.

  A man knelt behind a line of headstones – evidently a gardener, for he was firming a young plant in the soft earth. She went towards him, her paper in her hand. He rose at her approach and without prelude or salutation asked: ‘Who are you looking for?’

  ‘Lieutenant Michael Turrell – my nephew,’ said Helen slowly and word for word, as she had many thousands of times in her life.

  The man lifted his eyes and looked at her with infinite compassion before he turned from the fresh-sown grass toward the naked black crosses.

  ‘Come with me,’ he said, ‘and I will show you where your son lies.’

  When Helen left the Cemetery she turned for a last look. In the distance she saw the man bending over his young plants; and she went away, supposing him to be the gardener.8

  Notes

  The Gate of the Hundred Sorrows

  1. The Gate of the Hundred Sorrows: First published in the Civil and Military Gazette, 26 September 1884; collected in Plain Tales from the Hills, 1888.

  2. pice: Coin of very small value.

  3. the City: Lahore in the Punjab, where Kipling worked as a journalist on the Civil and Military Gazette from 1882 to 1887.

  4. pukka: Proper.

  5. chandoo-khanas: Opium dens.

  6. Baboos: English-speaking, educated Bengalis; clerks.

  7. Anarkulli: Area of Lahore.

  8. first chop: Top quality.

  The Story of Muhammad Din

  1. The Story of Muhammad Din: First published in the Civil and Military Gazette, 8 September 1886; collected in Plain Tales from the Hills.

  2. Professor Peterson: Then Professor of Sanscrit at Elphinstone College, Bombay.

  3. khitmatgar: Table servant.

  4. budmash: Evil-doer.

  5. jail-khana: Prison.

  The Other Man

  1. The Other Man: First published in the Civil and Military Gazette, 15 November 1886; collected in Plain Tales from the Hills.

  2. Simla: The summer capital of the Government of India, in the lower Himalayas.

  3. Jakko: Mountain at Simla.

  4. P.W.D.: Public Works Department.

  5. Terai hat: A felt hat with a wide brim.

  6. tonga: A light, two-wheeled carriage drawn by two horses, much used on the roads to and from Hill Stations.

  7. bukshish: A tip.

  8. Peterhoff: The
Viceregal residence at Simla before Lord Dufferin had a grander Viceregal Lodge built. This was completed in 1887.

  Lispeth

  1. Lispeth: First published in the Civil and Military Gazette, 29 November 1886; collected in Plain Tales from the Hills.

  2. Kotgarh: A small settlement north-east of Simla.

  3. Moravian missionaries: Representatives of a Protestant sect which originated in Czechoslovakia in the eighteenth century.

  4. Diana: The virgin goddess of hunting.

  5. Narkunda: About ten miles from Kotgarh.

  6. P. & O.: The Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company, whose ships plied between England and India.

  7. pahari: Hill-man.

  8. Tarka Devi: A Hindu goddess.

  Venus Annodomini

  1. Venus Annodomini: First published in the Civil and Military Gazette, 4 December 1886; collected in Plain Tales from the Hills,

  2. Number Eighteen in the Braccio Nuovo: Presumably the copy in the Vatican gallery of the statue by Praxiteles of Venus Anadyomene (rising from the sea), with a pun on ‘Annodomini’ used as slang for old age.

  3. Bengal Civilian: Member of the Bengal Civil Service.

  4. Mrs Hauksbee and Mrs Reiver: Characters in other ‘Plain Tales’.

  5. Ninon de L’Enclos: A seventeenth-century Frenchwoman famous for her wit and beauty even in her old age.

  6. Darjiling: The Hill Station for the Government of Bengal.

  His Wedded Wife

  1. His Wedded Wife: First published in the Civil and Military Gazette, 25 February 1887; collected in Plain Tales from the Hills.

  2. giants or beetles: ‘And the poor beetle that we tread upon / In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great / As when a giant dies’(Measure for Measure, Act III, Scene 1).

  3. Shikarris: Literally, ‘Hunters’; a fictional regiment.

  4. broke: Cashiered.

  In the Pride of his Youth

  1. In the Pride of his Youth: First published in the Civil and Military Gazette, 5 May 1887; collected in Plain Tales from the Hills.

  2. weight-cloths: Used in handicapping horses.

  3. Gravesend: Where passengers embarked by tender on P. & O. liners for India.

  4. at 1—: An exchange rate of one rupee for one shilling, six and seven-eighths pence (old currency, at twelve pennies to the shilling and twenty shillings to the pound).

  5. screw: Slang for salary; in billiards an element of spin on the ball.

  The Daughter of the Regiment

  1. The Daughter of the Regiment: First published in the Civil and Military Gazette, 11 May 1887; collected in Plain Tales from the Hills.

  2. Jhansi: A town south-west of Cawnpore.

  3. Pummeloe: A large, orange-like fruit.

  4. Presidincy: In the days of the East India Company Bengal, Bombay and Madras and the territories they controlled were known as Presidencies, each being governed by a Council headed by a President.

  5. Saint Lawrence: Martyred by being broiled on a grid-iron.

  6. tope: Grove.

  7. lotah: A small brass pot.

  8. a three-year-ould: A short-service soldier.

  9. Perhaps I will tell you…: See ‘In the Matter of a Private’, Soldiers Three and Other Stories.

  Thrown Away

  1. Thrown Away: First published in Plain Tales from the Hills, 1888.

  2. lunge: Make a horse canter in a circle while controlling it by a long rope.

  3. two-goldmohur: The goldmohur was a coin worth fifteen rupees (about £1 sterling), so a two-goldmohur race would be an unimportant one.

  4. maiden: A horse that has never won a race.

  5. ekka: A one-horse carriage often used by Indians.

  6. Rest House: For the use of officials travelling on business, but available to other travellers.

  7. tetur: Partridge.

  8. shikar-kit: Shooting-clothes.

  9. A country-bred: As opposed to imported horses.

  10. Valley of the Shadow: See Psalms 23:4.

  Beyond the Pale

  1. Beyond the Pale: First published in Plain Tales from the Hills, 1888.

  2. bustee: Quarter.

  3. dhak: A tree sometimes known as ‘Flame of the Forest’.

  4. boorka: A long enveloping garment often worn by Moslem women.

  A Wayside Comedy

  1. A Wayside Comedy: First published in the Week’s News, 21 January 1888; collected in Under the Deodars, 1888, and subsequently included in Wee Willie Winkie and Other Stories.

  2. jhils: Marshy lakes.

  3. Samson… Gaza: See Judges 16:29–30.

  4. dâk: Stage of journey; used here in the sense of arrangements for travelling post (i.e., by relays of horses).

  5. terai hat: A felt hat with a wide brim.

  6. purdah: Curtain.

  7. sais: Groom.

  Dray Wara Yow Dee

  1. Dray Wara Yow Dee: First published in the Week’s News, 28 April 1888; collected in In Black and White, 1888; subsequently included in Soldiers Three and Other Stories.

  2. Thirteen-three: Thirteen hands, three inches in height (4 feet 7 inches to the shoulder, the upper limit for a polo pony).

  3. Kurshed…: The reference is obscure.

  4. Imams: Religious leaders and agents of divine illumination for Shi’ite Moslems.

  5. Tirah: A valley in the North-West Frontier area.

  6. this accursed land: Kipling was now working in Allahabad, far from the Punjab and the Frontier.

  7. Kamal: A notorious freebooter whom Kipling later celebrated in ‘The Ballad of East and West’.

  8. Jumrud: A fort near Peshawar on the North-West Frontier.

  9. the Amir: The ruler of Afghanistan.

  10. Thana: Police station.

  11. Allah-al-Mumit: God the Giver of Death.

  12. Rahman: An eighteenth-century Moslem sage.

  13. the Pindi camp: At Rawalpindi where the Amir of Afghanistan visited the Viceroy in 1885; the Uzbegs were his cavalry escort. Kipling attended this Durbar as a special correspondent.

  14. the Fakr to the Isha: The dawn prayer to the prayer after sunset.

  15. the Devil Atala…: Reference unidentified.

  16. charpoy: Bedstead.

  17. your Law: The Arms Act which forbade the carrying of arms in British territory.

  18. Ali Musjid: A fort in the Khyber Pass, beyond the bounds of British territory.

  19. Ghor Kuttri: A Hindu temple in Peshawar, which was under British rule.

  20. not Jamun but Ak: Not ‘fruit tree’ but ‘twisted shrub’.

  21. Alghias: Woe(?).

  22. Djinns: Spirits or demons of Moslem mythology.

  23. Chenab: One of the great rivers of the Punjab.

  Little Tobrah

  1. Little Tobrah: First published in the Civil and Military Gazette, 17 July 1888; collected in Life’s Handicap, 1891.

  2. a forced voyage: To penal servitude in the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

  3. the other Black Water. The ocean.

  4. Bapri-bap: O Father – an exclamation of grief.

  5. bunnia-folk: Corn-merchants.

  Black Jack

  1. Black Jack: First published in Soldiers Three, 1888; subsequently collected in Soldiers Three and Other Stories.

  2. Robert Buchanan: Poet and novelist (1841–1901), author of London Poems, 1866.

  3. Corner Shop: The Guard-Room cells.

  4. whip him on the peg: Put him on a charge.

  5. kiddy: Dish in which sailors measure their ration.

  6. peg: Drink with soda.

  7. the Tyrone: A fictional Irish regiment which figures, often as the Black Tyrone, in several of Kipling’s works.

  8. wishful for to desert: See ‘The Madness of Private Ortheris’ in Plain Tales from the Hills.

  9. the woman at Devizes: Said to have been struck dead on committing perjury in 1753.

  10. crackin’ on: Swearing.

  11. palammers: Slang for ca
rds?

  12. stiffin’: Swearing.

  13. Martini-Henry: The new rifle which had superseded the Snider as standard issue in the British Army.

  14. dooli: Covered litter.

  15. stoppages: Stoppages of pay to cover the cost of damage to Government property.

  On the City Wall

  1. On the City Wall: First published in In Black and White, 1888; subsequently collected in Soldiers Three and Other Stories.

  2. Lilith: Adam’s first wife, according to Rabbinical tradition.

  3. jujube-tree: A bush with plum-like fruit.

  4. chunam: Plaster.

  5. Shiahs: Adherents of one of the two main branches of Islam, as opposed to the more orthodox Sunnites.

  6. Sufis: Adherents of a mystical and pantheistic Moslem sect.

  7. the Athenians: See Acts 17:21: ‘For all the Athenians… spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.’

  8. a Demnition Product: ‘Demnition’ is a favourite epithet of Mr Mantalini in Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby.

  9. sitar: Indian guitar.

  10. a great battle: Pannipat in 1761, where the Afghans defeated the Mahrattas under the Peshwa or Chief Minister. See Kipling’s poem ‘With Scindia to Delhi’.

  11. laonee: Ballad. The verses are from a novel Lalun the Baragun or The Battle of Paniput, by Mirza Murad Ali Beg (Bombay, 1884).

  12. Wahabi: A member of a fanatical Moslem sect.

  13. Subadar: Indian officer; ‘Subadar Sahib’ is a respectful form of address.

  14. Begums and Ranees: Moslem and Hindu princesses.

  15. Sobraon: Battle in which the British defeated the Sikhs in 1846.

  16. the Kuka rising: The Kuka Movement was a Sikh sect which came into conflict with the British Government and fostered a rebellion in 1871–2. This was ruthlessly suppressed: its leader was imprisoned in Burma and many others were blown from cannons.