The Eyes of Asia
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Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling (1876-1936) was one of the most popular writers of the late-19th and early 20th centuries. A novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist, Kipling was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India while the country was still under colonial rule. Much of his fiction is set in and inspired by the land of his birth.He is best known for his the two novels of the Jungle Book series as well as the books Kim, Captains Courageous, the collection of Just So Stories and his many works of short fiction, which includes Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and The Man Who Would Be King. His most famous poems include "Mandalay" (1890), "Gunga Din" (1890), "The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If-"(1910). After being educated in Great Britain and returning to India, Kipling immediately began work in newspapers, banging out stories at a furious clip and, in whatever spare time he can, churning out a vast number of poems and short stories. He soon graduated to longer works and as he did so, his fame grew larger and larger. By 1907, his literary reputation had grown to such an astonishing extent that he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature at the age of 41. He was not only the first English-language speaker to receive the prize but, to this day, Kipling remains the youngest writer ever to have received this award).Though not without controversy (for his pro-colonial views of India and Ireland), Kipling's works have never been out of print and his works have been adapted into dozens of stage, screen and television productions over the years.Kipling died of a perforated ulcer in 1936 at the age of 70 and his ashes are interred in "Poets' Corner" of Westminster Abbey in London.
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The Eyes of Asia - Rudyard Kipling
THE EYES OF ASIA
..................
Rudyard Kipling
KYPROS PRESS
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This book is a work of fiction; its contents are wholly imagined.
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Copyright © 2015 by Rudyard Kipling
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Eyes of Asia
A Retired Gentleman
The Fumes of the Heart
The Private Account
A Trooper of Horse
THE EYES OF ASIA
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A RETIRED GENTLEMAN
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FROM BISHEN SINGH SAKTAWUT, SUBEDAR Major, 215th Indurgurh [Todd’s] Rajputs, now at Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England, this letter is sent to Madhu Singh, Sawant, Risaldar Major [retired] 146th [Dublana] Horse, on his fief which he holds under the Thakore Sahib of Pech at Bukani by the River, near Chiturkaira, Kotah, Rajputana, written in the fifth month of the year 1916, English count.
Having experienced five months of this war, I became infected with fever and a strong coldness of the stomach [rupture]. The doctor ordered me out of it altogether. They have also cut me with knives for a wound on my leg. It is now healed but the strength is gone, and it is very frightened of the ground. I have been in many hospitals for a long time. At this present I am living in a hospital for Indian troops in a forest-reservation called New,
which was established by a King’s order in ages past. There is no order for my return to India. I do not desire it. My Regiment has now gone out of France — to Egypt, or Africa. My officer Sahibs are for the most part dead or in hospitals. During a railway journey when two people sit side by side for two hours one feels the absence of the other when he alights. How great then was my anguish at being severed from my Regiment after thirty-three years! Now, however, I am finished. If I return to India I cannot drill the new men between my two crutches. I should subsist in my village on my wound-pension among old and young who have never seen war. Here I have great consideration. Though I am useless they are patient with me.
Having knowledge of the English tongue, I am sometimes invited to interpret between those in the hospital for the Indian troops and visitors of high position. I advance eminent visitors, such as relatives of Kings and Princes into the presence of the Colonel Doctor Sahib. I enjoy a small room apart from the hospital wards. I have a servant. The Colonel Doctor Sahib examines my body at certain times. I am forbidden to stoop even for my crutches. They are instantly restored to me by orderlies and my friends among the English. I come and go at my pleasure where I will, and my presence is solicited by the honourable.
You say I made a mistake to join the war at the end of my service? I have endured five months of it. Come you out and endure two and a half. You are three years younger than I. Why do you sit at home and drill new men? Remember:
The Brahman who steals,
The widow who wears ornaments,
The Rajput who avoids the battle,
Are only fit for crows’ meat.
You write me that this is a war for young men? The old are not entirely useless. The Badshah [the King] himself gave me the medal for fetching in my captain from out of the wires upon my back. That work caused me the coldness in my stomach. Old men should not do coolie-work. Your cavalry were useless in France. Infantry can fight in this war — not cavalry. It is as impossible for us to get out of our trenches and exterminate the enemy as it is for the enemy to attack us. Doubtless the cavalry brigades will show what they