THE COLLECTED WORKS OF RUDYARD KIPLING (Illustrated). Rudyard 1865-1936 Kipling

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Parade-Song of the Camp Animals

       Table of Contents

      Elephants of the Gun-Team

      We lent to Alexander the strength of Hercules,

       The wisdom of our foreheads, the cunning of our knees;

       We bowed our necks to service; they ne'er were loosed again,—

       Make way there, way for the ten-foot teams

       Of the Forty-Pounder train!

      Gun-Bullocks

       Those heroes in their harnesses avoid a cannon-ball,

       And what they know of powder upsets them one and all;

       Then we come into action and tug the guns again,—

       Make way there, way for the twenty yoke

       Of the Forty-Pounder train!

      Cavalry Horses

      By the brand on my withers, the finest of tunes

       Is played by the Lancers, Hussars, and Dragoons,

       And it's sweeter than "Stables" or "Water" to me,

       The Cavalry Canter of "Bonnie Dundee"!

       Then feed us and break us and handle and groom,

       And give us good riders and plenty of room,

       And launch us in column of squadrons and see

       The way of the war-horse to "Bonnie Dundee"!

      Screw-Gun Mules

      As me and my companions were scrambling up a hill,

       The path was lost in rolling stones, but we went forward still;

       For we can wriggle and climb, my lads, and turn up everywhere,

       And it's our delight on a mountain height, with a leg or two to spare!

       Good luck to every sergeant, then, that lets us pick our road;

       Bad luck to all the driver-men that cannot pack a load:

       For we can wriggle and climb, my lads, and turn up everywhere,

       And it's our delight on a mountain height with a leg or two to spare!

      Commissariat Camels

      We haven't a camelty tune of our own

       To help us trollop along,

       But every neck is a hairy trombone

       (Rtt-ta-ta-ta! is a hairy trombone!) And this is our marching song: Can't! Don't! Shan't! Won't! Pass it along the line! Somebody's pack has slid from his back, Wish it were only mine! Somebody's load has tipped off in the road— Cheer for a halt and a row! Urrr! Yarrh! Grr! Arrh! Somebody's catching it now!

      All the Beasts Together

       Children of the Camp are we,

       Serving each in his degree;

       Children of the yoke and goad,

       Pack and harness, pad and load.

       See our line across the plain,

       Like a heel-rope bent again.

       Reaching, writhing, rolling far,

       Sweeping all away to war!

       While the men that walk beside,

       Dusty, silent, heavy-eyed,

       Cannot tell why we or they

       March and suffer day by day.

       Children of the Camp are we,

       Serving each in his degree;

       Children of the yoke and goad,

       Pack and harness, pad and load.