WHAT HAPPENED Hurree Chunder Mookergee, pride of Bow Bazar, Waited on the Government with a claim to wear Then the Indian Government winked a wicked wink, Hurree Chunder Mookerjee sought the gunsmith and Bought the tubes of Lancaster, Ballard, Dean, and Bland, Bought a shiny bowie-knife, bought a town-made sword, Jingled like a carriage-horse when he went abroad. But the Indian Government, always keen to please, Killar Khan the Marri chief, Jowar Singh the Sikh, Nubbee Baksh Punjabi Jat, Abdul Huq Rafiq Khan: Chief. Sikh: A religious sect, specifically a fighting man. He was a Wahabi; last, little Boh Hla-00 Took advantage of the act-took a Snider, too. They were unenlightened men, Ballard knew them not, They procured their swords and guns, chiefly on the spot, And the lore of centuries, plus a hundred fights, With a unanimity dear to patriot hearts All those hairy gentlemen out of foreign parts war!" Swaggered down the Grand Trunk Road, into Bow Bazar. Nubbee Baksh Punjabi Jat found a hide-bound flail, Chimbu Sinkh from Bikaneer oiled his Tonk jezail, Yar Mahommed Yusufzai spat and grinned with glee As he ground the butcher-knife of the Khyberee. Jowar Singh the Sikh procured saber, quoit, and mace, Abdul Huq, Wahabi, took the dagger from its place, While amid the jungle-grass danced and grinned and jabbered Little Boh Hla-oo and cleared the dah-blade from the scabbard. Wahabi: A Moslem sect. Dah-blade The Burmese sword-blade, a sort of machete. What Happened What became of Mookerjee? Soothly, who can say ? Jowar Singh is reticent, Chimbu Singh is mute, What became of Ballard's guns? Afghans black and grubby Sell them for their silver weight to the men of Pubbi; And the shiny bowie-knite and the town-made sword are Hanging in a Marri camp just across the Border. What became of Mookerjee ? Ask Mahommed Yar Prodding Siva's sacred bull down the Bow Bazar. Speak to placid Nubbee Baksh question land and sea Ask the Indian Congressmen-only don't ask me! PINK DOMINOES "They are fools who kiss and tell," Man may hold all sorts of posts Jenny and Me were engaged, you see, Jenny would go in a domino Pretty and pink but warm; While I attended, clad in a splendid Austrian uniform. Now we had arranged, through notes exchanged Early that afternoon, At Number Four to waltz no more, But to sit in the dusk and spoon. (I wish you to see that Jenny and me When Three was over, an eager lover, And a Domino came out also Whom I took for my future bride. Pink Dominoes That is to say, in a casual way, With a kiss or two (which is nothing to you), She turned her head and the name she said But ere I could speak, with a smothered shriek Then Jenny came, and I saw with shame She'd doffed her domino; And I had embraced an alien waist But I did not tell her so. Next morn I knew that there were two Dominoes pink, and one Had cloaked the spouse of Sir Julian Vouse, Our big political gun. Sir J. was old, and her hair was gold, And her eye was a blue cerulean; And the name she said when she turned her head Was not in the least like " 'Julian." Now was n't it nice, when want of pice Pice: $0.00125 = about d of a rupee. |