Then Tods, with
infinite
compassion:
"You don't speak my talk, do you, Councillor Sahib?
"You don't speak my talk, do you, Councillor Sahib?
Kipling - Poems
"
Tods caught the one native word, and lifting up his small voice
said:--"Oh, I know ALL about that! Has it been murramutted yet,
Councillor Sahib? "
"How much? " said the Legal Member.
"Murramutted--mended. --Put theek, you know--made nice to please Ditta
Mull! "
The Legal Member left his place and moved up next to Tods.
"What do you know about Ryotwari, little man? " he said.
"I'm not a little man, I'm Tods, and I know ALL about it. Ditta Mull,
and Choga Lall, and Amir Nath, and--oh, lakhs of my friends tell me
about it in the bazars when I talk to them. "
"Oh, they do--do they? What do they say, Tods? "
Tods tucked his feet under his red flannel dressing-gown and said:--"I
must fink. "
The Legal Member waited patiently.
Then Tods, with infinite compassion:
"You don't speak my talk, do you, Councillor Sahib? "
"No; I am sorry to say I do not," said the Legal' Member.
"Very well," said Tods. "I must fink in English. "
He spent a minute putting his ideas in order, and began very slowly,
translating in his mind from the vernacular to English, as many
Anglo-Indian children do. You must remember that the Legal Member
helped him on by questions when he halted, for Tods was not equal to the
sustained flight of oratory that follows.
"Ditta Mull says:--'This thing is the talk of a child, and was made up
by fools. ' But I don't think you are a fool, Councillor Sahib," said
Tods, hastily. "You caught my goat. This is what Ditta Mull says:--'I am
not a fool, and why should the Sirkar say I am a child? I can see if
the land is good and if the landlord is good. If I am a fool, the sin is
upon my own head. For five years I take my ground for which I have saved
money, and a wife I take too, and a little son is born. ' Ditta Mull has
one daughter now, but he SAYS he will have a son, soon. And he says: 'At
the end of five years, by this new bundobust, I must go. If I do not go,
I must get fresh seals and takkus-stamps on the papers, perhaps in the
middle of the harvest, and to go to the law-courts once is wisdom, but
to go twice is Jehannum.
Tods caught the one native word, and lifting up his small voice
said:--"Oh, I know ALL about that! Has it been murramutted yet,
Councillor Sahib? "
"How much? " said the Legal Member.
"Murramutted--mended. --Put theek, you know--made nice to please Ditta
Mull! "
The Legal Member left his place and moved up next to Tods.
"What do you know about Ryotwari, little man? " he said.
"I'm not a little man, I'm Tods, and I know ALL about it. Ditta Mull,
and Choga Lall, and Amir Nath, and--oh, lakhs of my friends tell me
about it in the bazars when I talk to them. "
"Oh, they do--do they? What do they say, Tods? "
Tods tucked his feet under his red flannel dressing-gown and said:--"I
must fink. "
The Legal Member waited patiently.
Then Tods, with infinite compassion:
"You don't speak my talk, do you, Councillor Sahib? "
"No; I am sorry to say I do not," said the Legal' Member.
"Very well," said Tods. "I must fink in English. "
He spent a minute putting his ideas in order, and began very slowly,
translating in his mind from the vernacular to English, as many
Anglo-Indian children do. You must remember that the Legal Member
helped him on by questions when he halted, for Tods was not equal to the
sustained flight of oratory that follows.
"Ditta Mull says:--'This thing is the talk of a child, and was made up
by fools. ' But I don't think you are a fool, Councillor Sahib," said
Tods, hastily. "You caught my goat. This is what Ditta Mull says:--'I am
not a fool, and why should the Sirkar say I am a child? I can see if
the land is good and if the landlord is good. If I am a fool, the sin is
upon my own head. For five years I take my ground for which I have saved
money, and a wife I take too, and a little son is born. ' Ditta Mull has
one daughter now, but he SAYS he will have a son, soon. And he says: 'At
the end of five years, by this new bundobust, I must go. If I do not go,
I must get fresh seals and takkus-stamps on the papers, perhaps in the
middle of the harvest, and to go to the law-courts once is wisdom, but
to go twice is Jehannum.
