Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1899-08-17
BEYOND THE PALE.
By RUDYARD K1PL1Ne.

A man should, whatever happens, keep
to his own caste, race and breed. Let
the white go to the white and the black
to the black. Then whatever trouble
falls is in the ordinary course of things
neither sudden, alien nor unexpected.
This is the story Of man who will
fully stepped beyond the safe limits of
decent everyday society and paid for it
heavily
He knew too much in the first in
stance, and he saw too much in the
second. He took too deep an interest in
native life. But he will never do so
again.
Deep away in the heart of the city,
behind Jitha Megji's bustee, lies Amir
Mathis gully, which ends in a dead
wall pierced by one grated window. At
the head Of the gully is big cowbyre,
and the walls on either side of the gully
are without windows Neither Suchet
Singh nor Gaur Chand approves of his
women folk looking into the world. If
Durga Charan had been of their opin-
ion, he would have been happier man
today, and little Bisesa would have
been able to knead her own bread Her
room looked out through the grated
window into the narrow dark gully.
where the sun never came and where
the buffaloes wallowed in the blue slime
She was a widow, about 5 years DID,
and she prayed the gods day and night
to send her lover. for she did not APP
prove of living alone.
nro dow Tho ,,o,, L.,
was-came into Amir Maths gully en-
an aimless wandering, and after he had
passed the buffaloes stumbled over big
heap of cattle food
Then he saw that the gully ended in
a trap and heard little laugh from
behind the grated window. 1t was a
pretty little laugh, and Trejago know
ing that for all practical purposes the
old Arabian Nights" are good guides,
went forward to the window and whis-
pered that verse of ''The Love Song of
Har Dyal, which begins
Can man stand upright in the face of the
naked sun or lover in the presence of his be
loved?
l to blame, being blinded by the glimpse OF
your beauty?
There came the faint tchinks Of a
womans bracelets from behind the
grating, and little voice went on with
the song at the fifth verse;
Alas, alas! Can the moon tell the Lotus of he,
love when the gate of heaven is shut and the
clouds gather for the rains2
They have taken my beloved and driven her
with the pack horses to the north.
There are iron chains on the feet that were
set on my heart.
Call to the bowmen to make ready
The voice stopped suddenly, and Ire.
jago walked out Of Amir Maths gully
wondering who in the world could have
capped 1.-The Love Song of Har Dyal
so neatly.
Office, an old woman threw a packet
into his dogcart. In the packet was the
half of d broken glass bangle, one flowe,
of the blood red dhak, pinch of bhuss
or cattle food and II cardamoms That
packet was letter-not clumsy, com
promising letter, but an innocent unin
telligible lovers epistle
Trejago knew far too much about
these things. as l have said No Eng
lishman should be able to translate OBJ
ject letters. But Trejago spread all the
trifes on the lid of his office box and
began to puzzle them out.
A broken glass bangle stands for
Hindoo widow all India over. because
when her husband dies, a woman'
bracelets are broken on her wrists. Ire
jago saw the meaning of the little bi
of the glass. The flower of the dial
means adversely "desire, come,
write or danger, according to tn,
other things with it, One cardamon
means jealousy, but when any arti
Gle is duplicated in an object letter i
loses its symbolic meaning and stand
merely for one of number indicating
time. or, if incense. curds or saffron b,
sent also, place. The message ran then
"a widow-dhak flower and bhusa-
at II o'clock : The pinch of bhusa en-
lightend Trejago. He saw-this kind O
letter leaves much to instructive knowl
edge-that the bhusa referred to tn
big heap of cattle food over which b.
had fallen in Amir Mathis gully, ant
that the message must come from tn
person behind the grating, she being
widow So the message ran then: *
widow, in the gully in which is the heat
of bhusa, desires you to come at 1
O'Clock.
So he went that very night at 4 int,
Amir Nath gully, clad in boorka
which cloaks a man as we'll as WON
an. Directly the gongs in the city mad
the hour the little voice behind tn
grating took up 1.-THE Love Song of Ha
Dyal'' at the verse where the Paythal
girl calls upon Har Dyal to return TIL
song is really pretty in the vernacular
In the English you miss the wall of it
1t runs something like this:
Alone upon the house tops. to the north
turn and watch the lightning in the sky
The glamour of thy footsteps in the north
Come back to me- beloved. or die!
Below my feet the still bazaar is laid;
Far, far below the weary camels lie
The camels and the captives of thy raid
Come back to me- beloved, or die!
NV fathers wife is old and harsh with years
And drudge of all my fathers house am l.
My bread is sorrow, and my drink is tears
Come back to me, beloved. or diel