A BALLAD OF EAST AND WEST
By Rudyard Kipling
No man has written more stirring tales, in prose or verse, in recent times than Rudyard Kipling. Born (1865) in Bombay, India, the son of an Englishman in the civil service, he became steeped in the ways of the men of the East. Consequently his first writings were sketches of Anglo-Indian life, written for Indian newspapers with which he was connected. Then followed a series of books on Eastern themes, some in prose and others in verse. Among these was Departmental Ditties from which the following narrative poem is taken. Read it through first to get the story and the atmosphere in mind.
Kamal is out with twenty men to raise the Border side,
And he has lifted the Colonel's mare that is the
Colonel's pride:
He has lifted her out of the stable door between the dawn
and the day, 5
And turned the calkins upon her feet, and ridden her far
away.
Then up and spoke the Colonel's son that led a troop of the
Guides:
"Is there never a man of all my men can say where Kamal 10
hides?"
Then up and spoke Mahommed Khan, the son of the
Ressaldar,
"If ye know the track of the morning mist, ye know where
his pickets are. 15
"At dusk he harries the Abazai—at dawn he is in Bonair;
But he must go by Fort Bukloh to his own place to fare
So if ye gallop to Fort Bukloh as fast as a bird can fly,
By the favor of God ye may cut him off ere he win to the
Tongue of Jagai. 5
But if he be passed the Tongue of Jagai, right swiftly turn
ye then,
For the length and the breadth of that grisly plain is sown
with Kamal's men.
There is rock to the left, and rock to the right, and low10
lean thorn between,
And ye may hear a breech bolt snick where never a man is
seen."
The Colonel's son has taken a horse, and a raw, rough dun
was he,15
With the mouth of a bell, and the heart of Hell, and the
head of the gallows tree.
The Colonel's son to the fort has won, they bid him stay
to eat—
Who rides at the tail of a Border thief, he sits not long at 20
his meat.
He's up and away from Fort Bukloh as fast as he can fly,
Till he was aware of his father's mare in the gut of the
Tongue of Jagai;
Till he was aware of his father's mare with Kamal upon her 25
back,
And when he could spy the white of her eye, he made the
pistol crack.
He has fired once, he has fired twice, but the whistling ball
went wide.30
"Ye shoot like a soldier," Kamal said. "Show now if ye
can ride."
It's up and over the Tongue of Jagai, as blown dust-devils
go,
The dun he fled like a stag of ten, but the mare like a barren 5
doe.
The dun he leaned against the bit and slugged his head
above,
But the red mare played with the snaffle bars, as a maiden
plays with a glove. 10
There was rock to the left and rock to the right, and low,
lean thorn between,
And thrice he heard a breech bolt snick tho' never a man
was seen.
They have ridden the low moon out of the sky, their hoofs15
drum up the dawn,
The dun he went like a wounded bull, but the mare like a
new-roused fawn.
The dun he fell at a watercourse—in a woeful heap fell he,
And Kamal has turned the red mare back, and pulled the 20
rider free.
He has knocked the pistol out of his hand—small room
was there to strive,
"'Twas only by favor of mine," quoth he, "ye rode so long
alive:25
There was not a rock for twenty mile, there was not a clump
of tree,
But covered a man of my own men with his rifle cocked on
his knee.
"If I had raised my bridle hand, as I have held it low,
The little jackals that flee so fast were feasting all in a row:
If I had bowed my head on my breast, as I have held it high,
The kite that whistles above us now were gorged till she
could not fly." 5
Lightly answered the Colonel's son: "Do good to bird and
beast,
But count who come for the broken meats before thou
makest a feast.
If there should follow a thousand swords to carry my 10
bones away,
Belike the price of a jackal's meal were more than a thief
could pay.
"They will feed their horse on the standing crop, their men
on the garnered grain,15
The thatch of the byres will serve their fires when all the
cattle are slain.
But if thou thinkest the price be fair,—thy brethren wait
to sup.
The hound is kin to the jackal spawn,—howl, dog, and 20
call them up!
And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer and gear and
stack,
Give me my father's mare again, and I'll fight my own way
back!"25
Kamal has gripped him by the hand and set him upon his
feet.
"No talk shall be of dogs," said he, "when wolf and gray
wolf meet.
May I eat dirt if thou hast hurt of me in deed or breath;
What dam of lances brought thee forth to jest at the dawn
with Death?"
Lightly answered the Colonel's son: "I hold by the blood
of my clan: 5
Take up the mare of my father's gift—by God, she has
carried a man!"
The red mare ran to the Colonel's son and nuzzled against
his breast,
"We be two strong men," said Kamal then, "but she loveth 10
the younger best.
So she shall go with the lifter's dower, my turquoise-studded
rein,
My broidered saddle and saddlecloth, and silver stirrups
twain." 15
The Colonel's son a pistol drew and held it muzzle end,
"Ye have taken the one from a foe," said he; "will ye take
the mate from a friend?"
"A gift for a gift," said Kamal straight; "a limb for the
risk of a limb.20
Thy father has sent his son to me, I'll send my son to him!"
With that he whistled his only son, that dropped from a
mountain crest—
He trod the ling like a buck in spring, and he looked like
a lance in rest. 25
"Now here is thy master," Kamal said, "who leads a troop
of the Guides,
And thou must ride at his left side as shield on shoulder
rides.
"Till Death or I cut loose the tie, at camp and board and
bed.
Thy life is his—thy fate it is to guard him with thy head.
So thou must eat the White Queen's meat, and all her foes
are thine, 5
And thou must harry thy father's hold for the peace of the
Border line,
And thou must make a trooper tough and hack thy way to
power—
Belike they will raise thee to Ressaldar when I am hanged10
in Peshawar."
They have looked each other between the eyes and there
they found no fault,
They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-Blood on
leavened bread and salt; 15
They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-Blood on fire
and fresh-cut sod,
On the hilt and the haft of the Khyber knife, and the
wondrous Names of God.
The Colonel's son he rides the mare and Kamal's boy the 20
dun,
And two have come back to Fort Bukloh where there went
forth but one.
And when they drew to the Quarter Guard, full twenty
swords flew clear— 25
There was not a man but carried his feud with the blood of
the mountaineer.
"Ha' done! ha' done!" said the Colonel's son. "Put up
the steel at your sides!
Last night ye had struck at a Border thief—to-night 'tis a 30
man of the Guides!"
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain
shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment
Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor5
Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come
from the ends of the earth!
—Departmental Ditties.
1. What do you think Kipling means by "East is East, and West is West"? Who in the poem represented the East? Who the West? Where is the scene of the poem laid?
2. What incident gave rise to the ride? Interpret the advice given by Mahommed Khan. What did he mean in lines 14-15, page 168, and lines 12-13, page 169?
3. What happened in the first lap of the ride? In the second? How was Mahommed Khan's advice shown to be true? What was the climax of the chase?
4. What happened when the two chief characters met face to face? What kind of man was Kamal? Prove your comments from the poem.
5. How did the whole affair turn out?
6. You doubtless have read Kipling's Jungle Books, and you will wish to read Captains Courageous, and some of his short stories like "Wee Willie Winkie."
Kipling married an American woman and lived for a time at Brattleboro, Vt. He now resides in England.
UNDER THE OPEN SKY
Love had he found in huts where poor men lie;
His daily teachers had been woods and rills,
The silence that is in the starry sky,
The sleep that is among the lonely hills.
—William Wordsworth.
A Night Among the Pines
(See following page)