NINTH NIGHT
THE STORY OF UNT, THE CAMEL
The clink of a loose chain; the complaining wail of a swinging irondoor; the squeak of a key turning an unwilling lock--a heavy-boltedlock; a flutter of wings; the crunch of giant feet on the echoinggravel; huge forms slipping through the moonlight, like prehistoricmonsters; a slim, ribbon-like body gliding noiselessly over the grasscushion of the Park's sward; muffled laughter, bird calls and aremonstrative grunt from Wild Boar; the merry chatter of Magh theOrang; a guarded "Phrut-t-t, Phrut-t-t" from Hathi, the hugeElephant--ah, yes, all these; surely it was the gathering of oldfriends, who, like the listeners of the Arabian Night's tales, had formany evenings talked of their Jungle life in front of Black Panther'scage.
"You are all welcome," growled Pardus.
Magh hopped on the end of Hathi's trunk, and the latter lifted hergracefully to a seat on his broad forehead. She had Blitz, the FoxTerrier, with her. "You will hear some lies to-night, Pup," sheconfided to him. "But who is to talk?" she asked suddenly; "Chee-he!Sa'-zada, our good Keeper, who's to talk?"
"Camel is to tell us of his life," answered the Keeper.
"That stupid creature, who is too lazy to brace up and look spry, talkto us? Next we know we'll have a tale from Turtle."
"That's it," sneered Boar, "if one is honest and a plodder like Unt,bandy-legged creatures like Magh will call him stupid."
Unt, with a bubbling grunt, knelt down, doubled his hind legs under himlike a jack-knife, made himself comfortable, and commenced his personalhistory.
"Bul-lul-luh!" he muttered. "I was born in Baluchistan, on the nicewhite sand plains of the Sibi _Put_ (desert). As Mooswa has said, theremust be some great Animal who arranges things for us. Think of it,Comrades, I had the good fortune to be born in just the loveliest spotany animal could wish for. As far as I could see on every side was thehot, dry sand of the beautiful Sibi desert."
"I know," interrupted Ostrich; "my home in Arabia was like that. I'velistened to Arna here, and Bagh, telling of the thick Jungles where onecould scarce see three lengths of his own body, and I must say that Ithink it very bad taste."
"Yes, it was lovely there," bubbled Unt. "No wonder that Bagh, when hewas chased by the Beaters, fled to the sand _damar_ and hid in thekorinda thorns. Such sweet eating they are, firm under one's teeth. Thegreen food is dreadful stuff. Once crossing the Sibi _Put_, when I wasthree days without food, I remember coming to Jacobabad, a place wherethe foolish ones of the Men-kind had planted trees, and bushes, andgrass, and kept them green with water. I ate of these three greenthings, and nearly died from a swelling in my stomach.
"Well, as I have said, I was born in that nice sand place, and forthree or four years did nothing but follow mother Unt about. Then theyput a button in my nose, and tied me with a cord to the tail of anotherUnt, and put merchandise on my back for me to carry. There was a longline of us, and in front walked Dera Khan, the Master. We seemed to bealways working, always carrying something; our only rest was when wewere being loaded or unloaded. We were made to lie down when the packswere put on our backs, and many a time I have got up suddenly when theboxes were nearly all on, rose up first from behind, you know, and sentthe things flying over my head. I would get a longer rest that way, butalso I got much abuse, though I didn't mind it, to be sure; for, asMooswa has said, our way of life is all arranged for us, and the abusethat was thrust upon me was a part of my way.
"But one year there came to Sibi many Men of the war-kind, and withthem were the black ones from Bengal. It was a fat one of this kind,one of little knowledge of the ways of an Unt, a 'Baboo,' Dera Khancalled him, who caused me much misery. It was my lot to take him andhis goods to the Bolan Pass, so Dera said, for the One-in-Charge, aSahib, had so ordered it. When I sought to rise, as usual, when theload was but half in place, he got angry and beat me with a big-leafedstick he carried to keep the heat from his head. But in the end Ibrought to his knowledge the method of an Unt who has been beatenwithout cause.
"When all his pots and pans, and boxes of books, wherein was writing,had been bound to my saddle, the Baboo clambered on top. I must saythat I could understand little of his speech, for my Master, Dera Khan,was a Man of not many words, but the Baboo was as full of talk as evenMagh is; and of very much the same intent, too--of little value."
"Big lip! Crooked neck! Frightener of Young!" screamed Magh, hurlingthe epithets at Camel with vindictive fury.
"Unt's tale is truly a most interesting one; there is much wit in hislong head," commented Pardus. Camel rolled the cud in his mouth threeor four times, dropped his heavy eyelids reflectively, bubbled a sighof meek resignation and proceeded:
"When I rose from behind, the Baboo nearly fell over my neck; when Icame sharply to my forefeet (for I was always a very spry, active Unt),he declared to Dera Khan that I had broken his back. But I knew thiscouldn't be true, for I was always a most unlucky Unt. Of course, thistime I was not tied to the tail of a mate, but my leading line was withthe Baboo. He shouted 'Jao' to me, and in addition called me the Son ofan Evil Pig.
"Have any of you ever seen one of my kind run away?" Camel asked,swinging his big head inquiringly about the circle.
"I have," answered Black Panther. "Once, being hungry, I crept close toan Unt to ask him if he could tell me where I might find a Chinkara orother Jungle Dweller for my dinner. I saw _that_ Camel run. For a smallpart of the journey I was on his back; but though I can cling toanything pretty well, yet the twists of his long legs were too much forme, and I landed on my head in the sand, nearly breaking my back."
"Well," resumed Camel, "you will understand how the Baboo and his potsand pans fared when I ran away with him, which I did as soon as DeraKhan moved a little to one side. At first I couldn't get well into mystride, for the Baboo pulled at the nose rope, and called to Dera ingreat fear. Dera also ran beside me, holding to the ropes that were onthe boxes; many things fell, coming away like cocoanuts from a tree. Aniron pot going down with much speed struck my Master on his head, andhe said the same fierce words that he always used when I caused himtrouble of any kind.
"You know, though I ran fast, yet by tipping my head a little to oneside I could see what was doing behind, and I saw a basket in whichwere many round, white things----"
"Eggs," suggested Cockatoo. "Those were the round white things Potaibrought from bazaar in a basket."
"Yes, they were in a basket," repeated Camel, solemnly; "so, as yousay, Cocky, I suppose they were eggs; but, however, they came down allat once on the face and shoulders of my loved Master."
"And broke, Cah-cah-cah!" laughed Kauwa the Crow; "I know. More thanonce I've seen relatives of mine have their eggs broken through beingthrown out of the nest by Cuckoo Bird."
"As I have said," continued Camel, "my Master was a Man of few words,but at this he let go of the rope, and the language he used still ringsin my ears. Dry chewing! how I fled. And behind chased Dera Khan, a bigknife in his hand--in spite of his violence I had to laugh at the colorthe eggs had left on his long beard--a knife in his hand, and cryingaloud that he would cut the Baboo's throat.
"I REMAINED IN THE JHIL UNTIL MY MASTER HAD LOST THEFIERCE KILL-LOOK."]
"As I swung first one side of my legs, and then the other over thesweet sand desert, I could feel the Baboo thumping up and down on myback, for he was clinging to the saddle with both hands. Sometimes heabused me, and sometimes he begged me to stop; that I was a goodUnt--his Father and Mother, and his greatest friend. As he would not beshaken off because of his fear of Dera Khan's knife, I carried him intoa _jhil_ of much water; there he was forced to let go, and when he gotto the bank, if it had not been for a Sahib he would most surely havebeen killed by my Master. Hathi has told us of the fear-look he hasseen in the faces of the Men-kind, and there was much of this in theeyes of that Baboo. I remained in the _jhil_ until my Master had lostthe fierce kill-look, then I came out, and save for some of the oldabuse there was nothing done to me.
"But we all went to the Bo
lan Pass, carrying food for those thatlabored there making a path for the Fire Caravan, the bearer of burdensthat is neither Bullock, nor Unt, nor aught that I know of."
"It was a railroad," Sa'-zada, the Keeper, explained.
"Perhaps," grunted Unt, licking his pendulous upper lip; "perhaps, butwe Unts spoke of it as the Fire Caravan. Still it was an evil thing, adestroyer of lives, many lives, for never in that whole land ofsand-hills and desert was there so much heat and so much death.
"First the _Bail_ (Bullocks) died as though Bagh the Killer had takeneach one by the throat; then those of my kind fell down by thefire-path and could not rise again. And the air, that is always sosweet on the hot sand plains, became like the evil breath of the placewherein nests Boar."
"Ugh, ugh!" grunted Wild Boar, "even there, by this stupid tale ofUnt's, there was something evil to be likened to my kind."
"The water that had been sweet ran full of a sickness because of allthis, and the Men that drank of it were stricken with the Black Death.At first it was those of the Black-kind, and then the others, theSahibs, became possessed of it. And then the Burra-Sahib, Huzoor theGovernor, was taken with it; so said one of the Sahibs who came to DeraKhan just as he was tying a rope about my foreleg so that I could notrise and wander in the night.
"'It is sixty miles to Sibi,' this Sahib, who was but young, said to myMaster.
"'By the Grace of Allah, it is more,' Dera answered him.
"'The Big Sahib, who is my friend, is stricken with the Black Death,'said the young Sahib, 'and also the Baboo Doctor is the same, beingclose to his death; and unless I get a Healer from Sibi to-morrow, theSahib who is my friend will surely die.'
"'If Allah wills it so, Kismet,' answered my Master.
"'Have you a fast Camel?' asked the young Sahib.
"'This is Moti,' replied my Master, putting his hand on my hump, 'andwhen he paces, the wind remains behind.'
"Then the young Sahib promised my Master many rupees and much work forthe other Unts, so be it he might ride me to Sibi for a Doctor.
"By a meal of brown paper such as one picks up in a bazaar, I swearthat I understood more of what that meant to my Master than many aCamel would have known, for had I not seen it all, this that I am aboutto tell? You know, Comrades, that the Burra-Sahib was a Man of a drytemper, and it so happened that one day Dera Khan had displeased him,which I just say was a way my Master had often. That was a full moonbefore the coming of the Black Sickness. Oh, Friends, but I had seen itall; it made me tremble, knowing of the readiness with which Dera Khanargued with his knife, like unto the manner of Pathans.
"The Big Sahib would have struck my Master but for this same youngSahib who had now come with his offer of many rupees--this Sahib whohad been there at that time. So, Comrades, there was _good_ hate forthe sick man in Dera's heart.
"'Will you send the Camel?' said the young Sahib; and Dera, drawinghimself up straight, even as I do under a heavy load, held out his handand said, 'Allah! thou art a Man. My goods are your goods, but for theother, the one who is your friend and my enemy, the wrath of Allah uponhim.'
"The Sahib was on my back in a little.
"I have said before that with the Baboo and many kettles on my back Iran fast, but think you, Comrades, of the weight, and also of the poorrider, for there is nothing an Unt dislikes so much as the knock,knock, against his hump of one having no knowledge of proper pace. Howthe Sahib sat! Close as a pad that had been tied on; and he coaxed andurged--even swore a little at times, but not after an unreasoningmanner as had the Baboo. He called me a Bikaneer, even his Dromedary,which means one of great speed; and begged me, if I wished food for alltime, to hasten. How we fled in the long night, down the hot paths,splashing many times through the cool water that crossed ourpath--Bolan River, it is called, the water that comes from thehigh-reaching sand lands that are all white on their tops."
"The snow mountains," explained Sa'-zada, for Camel's description wasmore or less vague.
"As I have said," continued Camel, "the water was cool. Never once didI fall, though the round stones were like evil things that twist atone's feet to bring him down. 'Hurry, hurry, hurry!' the young Sahibcalled to me, and I laughed, thinking he would tire before I should.
"On we went, passing little fires where those of the Cooly kind restedas they fled from the Black Death. Just as we came out on the flat sandwhich is the Sibi Desert, there were gathered in one place many Men.For a space we stopped, and my Rider asked if there was a Healer withthem. They answered that they were Men of the war-kind going up to keepthe workers from running away from the Black Death; even those at thelittle fires would be turned back, they said.
"Then on again I raced. I could hear my Rider talking back to hisfriend, the Burra-Sahib, who lay stricken with the evil sickness,though I know not how he could hear him, for we were full half way toSibi.
"'Keep up your courage, Jack,' he would say, speaking to his Friend.'Please God, I'll have a Surgeon there in time to save you yet.'
"Then he would fall to abusing some other of the Men-kind, perhaps hewas not a friend, whom he blamed for all that was wrong. 'You puffed-upbeast,' he would say, speaking to this other, 'to send a lot of Men tosuch a death hole with a brute of a Bengali-Baboo to doctorthem--murder them, and a medicine chest that was emptied in a day. It'sa bit of luck that Baboo died, but it doesn't help matters much.'
"That was the Baboo I had run away with; perhaps even the medicinechest had lost much through its fall from my back.
"Then to me, 'Hurry, hurry, hurry! Shabaz!' (push on); then to hisFriend, 'Poor old Man, Jack! what will _She_ say if I don't pull youout of this? I'll never go back to England as long as I live if thisbeastly thing snuffs you out.'
"Then to the other, the one who had done this evil: 'Curse you, withyour red tape economy! You're a C. I. E.'--whatever that meant I don'tknow--'but you've murdered old Jack, who is a Man. You're out of thistrouble up at Simla, but you'll roast for this yet.'
"You know, Comrades," said Unt, plaintively, "I didn't know all aboutthis thing--I couldn't understand it, you see, being an Unt, and, asMagh says, stupid; but someway I felt like doing my best for the youngSahib who did not make me cross by beating me, but only cried 'Hurry!Shabaz! my swift runner,' and shook a little at the nose line in hishaste."
"I have often felt that way," encouraged Hathi; "once I remember, itwas in Rangoon, that time I was working in the timber yards. I had aMahout who never stuck the sharp iron goad in my head at all. He alwaystold me everything I was to do by different little knocks on my earswith his knees as he sat on my neck. And also by soft speech, ofcourse, for, as you say, Unt, it keeps one from getting cross, orfilled with fear, and so one has only to think of what the Masterrequires. You were right to run fast with such a rider."
"This is Camel's story," pleaded Sa'-zada.
"BUT SOME WAY I FELT LIKE DOING MY BEST."]
"Never mind," bubbled Unt; "I was just trying to remember what time wegot to Sibi--I know it was before the sands grew hot from the sun.Straight to the _Teshil_ (Government office) the young Sahib rode me.Here he made an orderly bring me food and drink while he went quick tobring a Healer for his Friend. I had scarce time to store half the_raji_ away for future cud-chewing, when back he came with a Healer ofthe White Kind.
"Now, the _Teshildar_, who was Chief of Sibi, was a slow-motioned Man,not given to hurry; that was because the hump on his stomach was largewith the fat of great eating; and when the Sahib asked for another Untto carry the Healer, this Man who was Chief made no haste--not atfirst; but when the young Sahib, no doubt thinking of his friend Jack,threatened him with the wrath of the Governor, also the smaller angerof his own fists, the _Teshildar_ had an Unt of great speed quicklybrought forth. Then the young Sahib, speaking to me, said, 'Myheavy-eyed Friend, also one of much strength, can you go straight backthe sixty miles?'
"Of course, at that time I couldn't speak in his words, though I couldunderstand, so I just shook myself, and stretched out my long hin
dlegs, as much as to say, 'Mount to my back, and I will try.'
"We started, the Healer on the other Unt, and the Sahib on my back. Ishall never forget that ride. Sore legs! but at first it was not easyto keep up with my Comrade, who was fresh; but also was he a triflelike the _Teshildar_, fat in the hump, so in the end that had itseffect, and I managed to keep pace with him.
"We reached back in the Bolan just as the sun was straight over ourheads. By the _raji_ that was still in my gullet I was tired; so wasthe young Sahib, for when I knelt down, and he slipped quickly from myback, he spun round and round like a box that has broken loose, andcame to the ground in haste. Just as he fell, Dera Khan caught him, andlifted him up; then he and the Healer went to the tent where was hisfriend Jack. And I heard my Master, Dera, say afterward, that thelittle Sahib never slept while it was twice dark and twice light; thatwas until the Healer said the stricken one, Jack, the Burra-Sahib, wasagain free of the Black Death."
"I think it is a true tale," remarked Adjutant, putting down his leftleg and taking up his right. "I have seen much of this Black Death inmy forty years of life, and the Men of the White-kind take great careof each other. Now, those of the Black-kind get the Man-fear whichHathi has spoken of, in their eyes, and flee fast from this terriblesickness, crying aloud that their livers have turned to water. I,myself, though I am a bird of little speech, could tell tales of bothmethods."
"But what became of you, Unt?" queried Magh; "did you catch thissickness and die?"
"No," replied Camel, solemnly, not noticing the sarcasm; "the littleSahib took me from Dera Khan by a present of silver, and kept me toride on, and in the end I was sent here to Sa'-zada."
"It's bed-time," broke in the Keeper; "let each one go quickly to hiscage or corral."
Tenth Night
The Story of Big Tusk, the Wild Boar
The Sa'-Zada Tales Page 12
