"Be still, hog of the
backwoods!
Kipling - Poems
One
could snatch all manner of nice things from the roadside then.
"But you, you fussy old pig, must stay behind and work. "
The twinkle died out as Moti Guj tried to look delighted. He hated
stump-hauling on the plantation. It hurt his teeth.
"I shall be gone for ten days, oh, delectable one! Hold up your near
forefoot and I'll impress the fact upon it, warty toad of a dried
mud-puddle. " Deesa took a tent-peg and banged Moti Guj ten times on the
nails. Moti Guj grunted and shuffled from foot to foot.
"Ten days," said Deesa, "you will work and haul and root the trees as
Chihun here shall order you. Take up Chihun and set him on your neck! "
Moti Guj curled the tip of his trunk, Chihun put his foot there, and
was swung on to the neck. Deesa handed Chihun the heavy ankus--the iron
elephant goad.
Chihun thumped Moti Guj's bald head as a paver thumps a curbstone.
Moti Guj trumpeted.
"Be still, hog of the backwoods! Chihun's your mahout for ten days. And
now bid me goodbye, beast after mine own heart. Oh, my lord, my king!
Jewel of all created elephants, lily of the herd, preserve your honored
health; be virtuous. Adieu! "
Moti Guj lapped his trunk round Deesa and swung him into the air twice.
That was his way of bidding him goodbye.
"He'll work now," said Deesa to the planter. "Have I leave to go? "
The planter nodded, and Deesa dived into the woods. Moti Guj went back
to haul stumps.
Chihun was very kind to him, but he felt unhappy and forlorn for all
that. Chihun gave him a ball of spices, and tickled him under the chin,
and Chihun's little baby cooed to him after work was over, and Chihun's
wife called him a darling; but Moti Guj was a bachelor by instinct, as
Deesa was. He did not understand the domestic emotions. He wanted the
light of his universe back again--the drink and the drunken slumber, the
savage beatings and the savage caresses.
could snatch all manner of nice things from the roadside then.
"But you, you fussy old pig, must stay behind and work. "
The twinkle died out as Moti Guj tried to look delighted. He hated
stump-hauling on the plantation. It hurt his teeth.
"I shall be gone for ten days, oh, delectable one! Hold up your near
forefoot and I'll impress the fact upon it, warty toad of a dried
mud-puddle. " Deesa took a tent-peg and banged Moti Guj ten times on the
nails. Moti Guj grunted and shuffled from foot to foot.
"Ten days," said Deesa, "you will work and haul and root the trees as
Chihun here shall order you. Take up Chihun and set him on your neck! "
Moti Guj curled the tip of his trunk, Chihun put his foot there, and
was swung on to the neck. Deesa handed Chihun the heavy ankus--the iron
elephant goad.
Chihun thumped Moti Guj's bald head as a paver thumps a curbstone.
Moti Guj trumpeted.
"Be still, hog of the backwoods! Chihun's your mahout for ten days. And
now bid me goodbye, beast after mine own heart. Oh, my lord, my king!
Jewel of all created elephants, lily of the herd, preserve your honored
health; be virtuous. Adieu! "
Moti Guj lapped his trunk round Deesa and swung him into the air twice.
That was his way of bidding him goodbye.
"He'll work now," said Deesa to the planter. "Have I leave to go? "
The planter nodded, and Deesa dived into the woods. Moti Guj went back
to haul stumps.
Chihun was very kind to him, but he felt unhappy and forlorn for all
that. Chihun gave him a ball of spices, and tickled him under the chin,
and Chihun's little baby cooed to him after work was over, and Chihun's
wife called him a darling; but Moti Guj was a bachelor by instinct, as
Deesa was. He did not understand the domestic emotions. He wanted the
light of his universe back again--the drink and the drunken slumber, the
savage beatings and the savage caresses.
