"
He unscrewed the mouthpiece of his silver water-pipe, fitted a plain
amber one, and passed the pipe to me.
He unscrewed the mouthpiece of his silver water-pipe, fitted a plain
amber one, and passed the pipe to me.
Kipling - Poems
" said I.
"Firstly, he is an 'outlander,' and no man of mine own people. Secondly,
since of my favor I gave him land upon his coming, he refuses to pay
revenue. Am I not the lord of the earth, above and below--entitled by
right and custom to one-eighth of the crop? Yet this devil, establishing
himself, refuses to pay a single tax. . . and he brings a poisonous
spawn of babes. "
"Cast him into jail," I said.
"Sahib," the king answered, shifting a little on the cushions, "once and
only once in these forty years sickness came upon me so that I was not
able to go abroad. In that hour I made a vow to my God that I would
never again cut man or woman from the light of the sun and the air of
God, for I perceived the nature of the punishment. How can I break my
vow? Were it only the lopping off of a hand or a foot, I should not
delay. But even that is impossible now that the English have rule. One
or another of my people"--he looked obliquely at the director-general
of public education--"would at once write a letter to the viceroy, and
perhaps I should be deprived of that ruffle of drums.
"
He unscrewed the mouthpiece of his silver water-pipe, fitted a plain
amber one, and passed the pipe to me. "Not content with refusing
revenue," he continued, "this outlander refuses also to beegar" (this is
the corvee or forced labor on the roads), "and stirs my people up to the
like treason. Yet he is, if so he wills, an expert log-snatcher. There
is none better or bolder among my people to clear a block of the river
when the logs stick fast. "
"But he worships strange gods," said the prime minister, deferentially.
"For that I have no concern," said the king, who was as tolerant as
Akbar in matters of belief. "To each man his own god, and the fire or
Mother Earth for us all at the last. It is the rebellion that offends
me. "
"The king has an army," I suggested. "Has not the king burned the man's
house, and left him naked to the night dews? "
"Nay. A hut is a hut, and it holds the life of a man. But once I sent
my army against him when his excuses became wearisome. Of their heads
he brake three across the top with a stick. The other two men ran away.
Also the guns would not shoot.
"Firstly, he is an 'outlander,' and no man of mine own people. Secondly,
since of my favor I gave him land upon his coming, he refuses to pay
revenue. Am I not the lord of the earth, above and below--entitled by
right and custom to one-eighth of the crop? Yet this devil, establishing
himself, refuses to pay a single tax. . . and he brings a poisonous
spawn of babes. "
"Cast him into jail," I said.
"Sahib," the king answered, shifting a little on the cushions, "once and
only once in these forty years sickness came upon me so that I was not
able to go abroad. In that hour I made a vow to my God that I would
never again cut man or woman from the light of the sun and the air of
God, for I perceived the nature of the punishment. How can I break my
vow? Were it only the lopping off of a hand or a foot, I should not
delay. But even that is impossible now that the English have rule. One
or another of my people"--he looked obliquely at the director-general
of public education--"would at once write a letter to the viceroy, and
perhaps I should be deprived of that ruffle of drums.
"
He unscrewed the mouthpiece of his silver water-pipe, fitted a plain
amber one, and passed the pipe to me. "Not content with refusing
revenue," he continued, "this outlander refuses also to beegar" (this is
the corvee or forced labor on the roads), "and stirs my people up to the
like treason. Yet he is, if so he wills, an expert log-snatcher. There
is none better or bolder among my people to clear a block of the river
when the logs stick fast. "
"But he worships strange gods," said the prime minister, deferentially.
"For that I have no concern," said the king, who was as tolerant as
Akbar in matters of belief. "To each man his own god, and the fire or
Mother Earth for us all at the last. It is the rebellion that offends
me. "
"The king has an army," I suggested. "Has not the king burned the man's
house, and left him naked to the night dews? "
"Nay. A hut is a hut, and it holds the life of a man. But once I sent
my army against him when his excuses became wearisome. Of their heads
he brake three across the top with a stick. The other two men ran away.
Also the guns would not shoot.
