Part 186 (2/2)
It was an artless Bandar, and he danced upon a pine, And much I wondered how he lived, and where the beast might dine, And many, many other things, till, o'er my morning smoke, I slept the sleep of idleness and dreamed that Bandar spoke.
He said: ”Oh, man of many clothes! sad crawler on the Hills!
Observe, I know not Ranken's shop, nor Ranken's monthly bills!
I take no heed to trousers or the coats that you call dress; Nor am I plagued with little cards for little drinks at Mess.
”I steal the bunnia's grain at morn, at noon and eventide (For he is fat and I am spare), I roam the mountainside, I follow no man's carriage, and no, never in my life Have I flirted at Peliti's with another Bandar's wife.
”Oh, man of futile fopperies--unnecessary wraps; I own no ponies in the Hills, I drive no tall-wheeled traps; I buy me not twelve-b.u.t.ton gloves, 'short-sixes' eke, or rings, Nor do I waste at Hamilton's my wealth on pretty things.
”I quarrel with my wife at home, we never fight abroad; But Mrs. B. has grasped the fact I am her only lord.
I never heard of fever--dumps nor debts depress my soul; And I pity and despise you!” Here he pouched my breakfast-roll.
His hide was very mangy and his face was very red, And undisguisedly he scratched with energy his head.
His manners were not always nice, but how my spirit cried To be an artless Bandar loose upon the mountainside!
So I answered: ”Gentle Bandar, an inscrutable Decree Makes thee a gleesome, fleasome Thou, and me a wretched Me.
Go! Depart in peace, my brother, to thy home amid the pine; Yet forget not once a mortal wished to change his lot with thine.”
_Rudyard Kipling._
THE VIPER
Yet another great truth I record in my verse, That some Vipers are venomous, some the reverse; A fact you may prove if you try, By procuring two Vipers and letting them bite; With the first you are only the worse for a fright, But after the second you die.
_Hilaire Belloc._
THE LLAMA
The Llama is a woolly sort of fleecy, hairy goat, With an indolent expression and an undulating throat, Like an unsuccessful literary man.
And I know the place he lives in (or at least I think I do) It is Ecuador, Brazil or Chile--possibly Peru; You must find it in the Atlas if you can.
The Llama of the Pampases you never should confound (In spite of a deceptive similarity of sound), With the Lhama who is Lord of Turkestan.
For the former is a beautiful and valuable beast, But the latter is not lovable nor useful in the least; And the Ruminant is preferable surely to the Priest Who battens on the woful superst.i.tions of the East, The Mongol of the Monastery of Shan.
_Hilaire Belloc._
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