me. Why?
Wolf Pack, ye have cast me out too. The Jungle
is shut to me and the
village gates are shut. Why?
As Mang flies between the beasts and birds so fly
I between the
village and the Jungle. Why?
I dance on the hide of Shere Khan, but my heart is
very heavy. My
mouth is cut and wounded with the
stones from the village, but
my heart is very light, because
I have come back to the Jungle.
Why?
These two things fight together in me as the snakes
fight in the
spring. The water comes out
of my eyes; yet I laugh while it
falls. Why?
I am two Mowglis, but the hide of Shere Khan is under
my feet.
All the Jungle knows that I have killed Shere Khan.
Look, look
well, O Wolves!
Ahae! my heart is heavy with the things that I do
not understand.
The World hath set its heavy
yoke
Upon the old white-bearded folk
Who strive to please the King.
God’s mercy is upon the young,
God’s wisdom in the baby tongue
That fears not anything.
The Parable of Chajju
Bhagat.
Now Tods’ Mamma was a singularly charming woman,
and every one in Simla knew Tods. Most men had
saved him from death on occasions. He was beyond
his ayah’s control altogether, and perilled
his life daily to find out what would happen if you
pulled a Mountain Battery mule’s tail.
He was an utterly fearless young Pagan, about six years
old, and the only baby who ever broke the holy calm
of the Supreme Legislative Council.
It happened this way: Tods’ pet kid got
loose, and fled up the hill, off the Boileaugunge
Road, Tods after it, until it burst in to the Viceregal
Lodge lawn, then attached to ‘Peterhoff.’
The Council were sitting at the time, and the windows
were open because it was warm. The Red Lancer
in the porch told Tods to go away; but Tods knew the
Red Lancer and most of the Members of Council personally.
Moreover, he had firm hold of the kid’s collar,
and was being dragged all across the flower-beds.
’Give my salaam to the long Councillor
Sahib, and ask him to help me take Moti
back!’ gasped Tods. The Council heard the
noise through the open windows; and, after an interval,
was seen the shocking spectacle of a Legal Member and
a Lieutenant-Governor helping, under the direct patronage
of a Commander-in-Chief and a Viceroy, one small and
very dirty boy, in a sailor’s suit and a tangle
of brown hair, to coerce a lively and rebellious kid.
They headed it off down the path to the Mall, and
Tods went home in triumph and told his Mamma that all
the Councillor Sahibs had been helping him
to catch Moti. Whereat his Mamma smacked
Tods for interfering with the administration of the
Empire; but Tods met the Legal Member the next day,
and told him in confidence that if the Legal Member
ever wanted to catch a goat, he, Tods, would give
him all the help in his power. ‘Thank you,
Tods,’ said the Legal Member.
