Gunga Din

This reading of Rudyard Kipling's "Gunga Din" has a couple of mistakes, but I hope it will pass muster.

You may talk o' gin and beer

When you're quartered safe out 'ere,

An' you're sent to penny-fights an' Aldershot it;

But when it comes to slaughter

You will do your work on water,

An' you'll lick the bloomin' boots of 'im that's got it.


Now in Injia's sunny clime,

Where I used to spend my time

A-servin' of 'Er Majesty the Queen,

Of all them blackfaced crew

The finest man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din.




He was "Din! Din! Din!
 You limpin' lump o' brick-dust, Gunga Din!




Hi! slippery ~hitherao~!




Water, get it! ~Panee lao~! [Bring water swiftly.]

You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din."



The uniform 'e wore

Was nothin' much before,

An' rather less than 'arf o' that be'ind,

For a piece o' twisty rag

An' a goatskin water-bag

Was all the field-equipment 'e could find.

When the sweatin' troop-train lay

In a sidin' through the day,

Where the 'eat would make your bloomin' eyebrows crawl,

We shouted "Harry By!" [Mr. Atkins's equivalent for "O brother."]

Till our throats were bricky-dry,

Then we wopped 'im 'cause 'e couldn't serve us all.




It was "Din! Din! Din!

You 'eathen, where the mischief 'ave you been?




You put some ~juldee~ in it [Be quick.] Or I'll ~marrow~ you this minute [Hit you.]

If you don't fill up my helmet, Gunga Din!"


'E would dot an' carry one

Till the longest day was done;

An' 'e didn't seem to know the use o' fear.
If we charged or broke or cut,
You could bet your bloomin' nut,
'E'd be waitin' fifty paces right flank rear.

With 'is ~mussick~ on 'is back, [Water-skin.]

'E would skip with our attack,

An' watch us till the bugles made "Retire",

An' for all 'is dirty 'ide

'E was white, clear white, inside

When 'e went to tend the wounded under fire!




It was "Din! Din! Din!"

With the bullets kickin' dust-spots on the green.




When the cartridges ran out,




You could hear the front-files shout,

"Hi! ammunition-mules an' Gunga Din!"



I shan't forgit the night
When I dropped
be'ind the fight

With a bullet where my belt-plate should 'a' been.

I was chokin' mad with thirst,

An' the man that spied me first

Was our good old grinnin', gruntin' Gunga Din.


'E lifted up my 'ead,

An' he plugged me where I bled,

An' 'e guv me 'arf-a-pint o' water-green:
It was crawlin' and it stunk,

But of all the drinks I've drunk,

I'm gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.




It was "Din! Din! Din!

'Ere's a beggar with a bullet through 'is spleen;




'E's chawin' up the ground,




An' 'e's kickin' all around:

For Gawd's sake git the water, Gunga Din!"



'E carried me away

To where a dooli lay,

An' a bullet come an' drilled the beggar clean.

'E put me safe inside,

An' just before 'e died,

"I 'ope you liked your drink", sez Gunga Din.

So I'll meet 'im later on

At the place where 'e is gone --

Where it's always double drill and no canteen;

'E'll be squattin' on the coals

Givin' drink to poor damned souls,

An' I'll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!




Yes, Din! Din! Din!

You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din! Though I've belted you and flayed you,




By the livin' Gawd that made you,

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Gunga Din
• Rudyard Kipling
• British Raj
• India
• water
• regimental bhisti

[KasparHauser4]

Hey Larry! Just thought I would drop by and tell you that I corresponded with a Kipling society via email in the UK and you were correct "Din" is indeed pronounced Deem.

Thanks for putting me straight.

[Largo64]

No problem, Tom. I just followed the rhyme skim. ;^)

[SSSlappy138]

it was me.. & THANK YOU FOR READING IT!!

[Largo64]

Glad to be of service. I like the poem, too!

[KasparHauser4]

I loved it! But please forgive a crabby old man for one criticism.

The word sin is not pronounced seen same with the words: tin, kin, pin, fin etc.

the name din is not pronounced deen either.

Now after I have gotten you thoroughly pissed off at me, maybe I will make a video reciting Kipling's Mandalay.

[Largo64]

Sorry, Tom, but you are mistaken about pronunciation. It IS pronounced deen. Kipling rhymes it with queen, green and spleen. Nothing in that poem rhymes with tin. The name Din is not English but probably Hindi. Most languages other than English say the letter "I" as we say "E," and they say the letter "E" as we say "A." What do they say for "A"? They say "Ah." That includes Spanish and German among many others.

[dustlandfairy]

I read this poem last year and had forgotten all about it. Thanks for this. :)

[BlackWaltz5]

I'm glad that I stayed a while and listened.

Have a great Halloween now, you hear?

[YogiToad]

Bravo!

[tonemenolc]

Funny, I'd seen the movie decades ago but never took the time to read the poem. Thank you.

[macnutz]

That's a good thought KasperH. I can't pretend to have an authoritative answer to this question. It may lie in the mouth of the speaker. :)

[KasparHauser4]

macnutz

I think the confusion lies in people thinking that Rudyard Kipling used "proper English" where in fact it is clear in reading this poem and others of his "Barrack room Ballads and ditties"

That they are in Cockney slang NOT proper queen's English. Just a thought here.