Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). Verse: 1885–1918. 1922.
Chapter Headings, IV
W
Because of the seas outside;
When the ship goes wop (with a wiggle between)
And the steward falls into the soup-tureen,
And the trunks begin to slide;
When Nursey lies on the floor in a heap,
And Mummy tells you to let her sleep,
And you are n’t waked or washed or dressed,
Why, then you will know (if you have n’t guessed)
You ’re “Fifty North and Forty West!”
Which well you may see at the Zoo;
But uglier yet is the hump we get
From having too little to do.
If we have n’t enough to do-oo-oo,
We get the hump—
Cameelious hump—
The hump that is black and blue!
And a snarly-yarly voice.
We shiver and scowl and we grunt and we growl
At our bath and our boots and our toys;
(And I know there is one for you)
When we get the hump—
Cameelious hump—
The hump that is black and blue!
Or frowst with a book by the fire;
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And dig till you gently perspire;
And the Djinn of the Garden too,
Have lifted the hump—
The horrible hump—
The hump that is black and blue!
If I haven’t enough to do-oo-oo!
We all get hump—
Cameelious hump—
Kiddies and grown-ups too!
“Let us melt into the landscape—just us two by our lones.”
People have come—in a carriage—calling. But Mummy is there….
Yes, I can go if you take me—Nurse says she don’t care.
Let’s go up to the pig-styes and sit on the farmyard rails!
Let’s—oh, anything, daddy, so long as it’s you and me,
And going truly exploring, and not being in till tea!
Here’s your boots (I’ve brought ’em), and here’s your cap and stick,
And here’s your pipe and tobacco. Oh, come along out of it—quick!
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small—
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!
From the second she opens her eyes—
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!
Run in a single burst—only event of its kind—
Started by Big God Nqong from Warrigaborrigarooma,
Old Man Kangaroo first, Yellow-Dog Dingo behind.
Bounded from morning till dark, twenty-five feet at a bound.
Yellow-Dog Dingo lay like a yellow cloud in the distance—
Much too busy to bark. My! but they covered the ground!
For that Continent had n’t been given a name.
They ran thirty degrees, from Torres Straits to the Leeuwin
(Look at the Atlas, please), then they ran back as they came.
For an afternoon’s run—half what these gentlemen did—
You would feel rather hot, but your legs would develop terrific—
Yes, my importunate son, you’d be a Marvellous Kid!
I’ve never reached Brazil;
But the Don and Magdalena,
They can go there when they will!
Great steamers, white and gold,
Go rolling down to Rio
(Roll down—roll down to Rio!).
And I’d like to roll to Rio
Some day before I’m old!
Nor yet an Armadill—
O dilloing in his armour,
And I s’pose I never will,
These wonders to behold—
Roll down—roll down to Rio—
Roll really down to Rio!
Oh, I’d love to roll to Rio
Some day before I’m old!
Pass Pau Amma’s playground close,
And his Pusat Tasek lies
Near the track of most B. I.’s
N.Y.K. and N.D.L.
Know Pau Amma’s home as well
As the Fisher of the Sea knows
“Bens,” M.M.’s, and Rubattinos.
But (and this is rather queer)
A.T.L.’s can not come here;
O. and O. and D.O.A.
Must go round another way.
Orient, Anchor, Bibby, Hall,
Never go that way at all.
U.C.S. would have a fit
If it found itself on it.
And if “Beavers” took their cargoes
To Penang instead of Lagos,
Or a fat Shaw-Savill bore
Passengers to Singapore,
Or a White Star were to try a
Little trip to Sourabaya,
Or a B.S.A. went on
Past Natal to Cheribon,
Then great Mr. Lloyds would come
With a wire and drag them home!
You’ll know what my riddle means
When you’ve eaten mangosteens.
Pussy can climb a tree,
Or play with a silly old cork and string
To ’muse herself, not me.
But I like Binkie my dog, because
He knows how to behave;
So, Binkie’s the same as the First Friend was,
And I am the Man in the Cave!
It’s time to wet her paw
And make her walk on the window-sill
(For the footprint Crusoe saw);
Then she fluffles her tail and mews,
And scratches and won’t attend.
But Binkie will play whatever I choose,
And he is my true First Friend!
Pretending she loves me hard;
But the very minute I go to my bed
Pussy runs out in the yard,
And there she stays till the morning-light;
So I know it is only pretend;
But Binkie, he snores at my feet all night,
And he is my Firstest Friend!
From here to the wide world’s end;
But Balkis talked to a butterfly
As you would talk to a friend.
Not since the world began;
But Solomon talked to a butterfly
As a man would talk to a man.
And he was Asia’s Lord—
But they both of ’em talked to butterflies
When they took their walks abroad!