Kim (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Read online

  Table of Contents

  From the Pages of Kim

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Rudyard Kipling

  The World of Rudyard Kipling and Kim

  Introduction

  NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION

  A Note on the Notes

  Chapter I

  Chapter II

  Chapter III

  Chapter IV

  Chapter V

  Chapter VI

  Chapter VII

  Chapter VIII

  Chapter IX

  Chapter X

  Chapter XI

  Chapter XII

  Chapter XIII

  Chapter XIV

  Chapter XV

  Inspired by Kim

  Comments & Questions

  For Further Reading

  From the Pages of Kim

  Though he was burned black as any native; though he spoke the vernacular by preference, and his mother-tongue in a clipped uncertain sing-song; though he consorted on terms of perfect equality with the small boys of the bazar; Kim was white—a poor white of the very poorest. (page 3)

  His nickname through the wards was ‘Little Friend of all the World.’ (page 5)

  India is the only democratic land in the world. (page 7)

  The hot and crowded bazars blazed with light as they made their way through the press of all the races in Upper India, and the lama mooned through it like a man in a dream. (page 20)

  All India is full of holy men stammering gospels in strange tongues; shaken and consumed in the fires of their own zeal; dreamers, babblers, and visionaries: as it has been from the beginning and will continue to the end. (page 35)

  Had Kim been at all an ordinary boy, he would have carried on the play; but one does not know Lahore city, and least of all the fakirs by the Taksali Gate, for thirteen years without also knowing human nature. (page 50)

  The diamond-bright dawn woke men and crows and bullocks together. Kim sat up and yawned, shook himself, and thrilled with delight. This was seeing the world in real truth; this was life as he would have it—bustling and shouting, the buckling of belts, and beating of bullocks and creaking of wheels, lighting of fires and cooking of food, and new sights at every turn of the approving eye. The morning mist swept off in a whorl of silver, the parrots shot away to some distant river in shrieking green hosts: all the well-wheels within earshot went to work. India was awake, and Kim was in the middle of it. (page 74)

  ‘Very foolish it is to use the wrong word to a stranger; for though the heart may be clean of offence, how is the stranger to know that? He is more like to search truth with a dagger.’ (page 140)

  ‘In all India is no one so alone as I! If I die to-day, who shall bring the news—and to whom? If I live and God is good, there will be a price upon my head, for I am a Son of the Charm—I, Kim.’

  (page 181)

  One does not own to the possession of money in India. (page 193)

  The Englishman is not, as a rule, familiar with the Asiatic.

  (page 230)

  ‘You cannot occupy two places in space simultaneously. That is axiomatic.’ (page 242)

  At moonrise the cautious coolies got under way. The lama, refreshed by his sleep and the spirit, needed no more than Kim’s shoulder to bear him along—a silent, swift-striding man.

  (page 243)

  ‘I am Kim. I am Kim. And what is Kim?’ (page 272)

  The lama held his peace. Except for the click of the rosary and a faint clop-clop of Mahbub’s retreating feet, the soft, smoky silence of evening in India wrapped them close. (page 276)

  Published by Barnes & Noble Books

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  Kim was first published in 1901.

  Published in 2003 by Barnes & Noble Classics with new Introduction, Notes,

  Biography, Chronology, Inspired By, Comments & Questions, and For

  Further Reading.

  Introduction, Notes, and For Further Reading

  Copyright © 2003 by Jeffrey Meyers.

  Note on Rudyard Kipling, The World of Rudyard Kipling and Kim,

  Inspired by Kim, and Comments & Questions

  Copyright © 2003 by Barnes & Noble, Inc.

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  Barnes & Noble Classics and the Barnes & Noble Classics colophon are

  trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc.

  Kim

  ISBN-13: 978-1-59308-192-8 ISBN-10: 1-59308-192-8

  eISBN : 978-1-411-43248-2

  LC Control Number 2003109510

  Produced and published in conjunction with:

  Fine Creative Media, Inc.

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  Michael J. Fine, President and Publisher

  Printed in the United States of America

  QM

  5 7 9 10 8 6 4

  Rudyard Kipling

  Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865, in Bombay, India, to a prominent couple. In 1871 Rudyard and his sister, Alice, were sent to England to live under the foster care of the Holloway family in Southsea. During six years there, the young boy was the subject of frequent physical and emotional abuse, an experience that left him deeply scarred. In 1878, at age twelve, he enrolled at the United Services College in Devon, where he remained for four years. At school he discovered his love of literature and began to write, taking Edgar Allan Poe as his primary model. His first work, Schoolboy Lyrics, was published in 1881.

  Kipling returned to India in 1882 and began working at a Lahore newspaper, the Civil and Military Gazette, followed by a three-year stint at another paper, the Pioneer, in Allahabad. At a time when British expansionism was near its zenith, Kipling began writing stories about Western colonization. His volume of poems Departmental Ditties was published in 1886, and in 1888 several collections of Indian stories, including Plain Tales from the Hills and his six-volume Indian Railway Library series, appeared, bringing him immense popularity. Returning to England in 1889 by way of Burma, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and America, Kipling attained literary celebrity, though he suffered a nervous breakdown in 1890. After recovering he published a novel, The Light That Failed, and a collection of stories, Life’s Handicap.

  In 1892 Kipling married an American, Caroline Balestier, the sister of his friend and agent Wolcott Balestier, with whom he collaborated on a second novel, The Naulahka, published that same year. Barrack-Room Ballads also appeared in 1892. The Kiplings settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where their daughters, Josephine and Elsie, were born. There Kipling wrote Many Inventions (1893) and the two Jungle Books (1894 and 1895), and began working on Kim. After a violent argument with his brother-in-law, Kipling returned to England in 1896 and settled on the Sussex coast in 1897, the year his son, John, was born and Kipling’s novel Captains Courageous was published. Two years later Kipling became seriously ill with pneumonia, and his daughter Josephine died, yet he brought out Stalky & Co. and a travel book, From Sea to Sea.

  Kim was published in 1901, and the following year Kipling moved to Burwash, Sussex, where he produced his children’s books Just So Stories (1902) and Puck of Pook’s Hill (1906). In 1907 he became the first English writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1915 Kipling’s son, John, was killed in battle during World War I. Haunted by this event and in declini
ng health, Kipling nonetheless continued to write.

  George Orwell described Kipling as “the prophet of British Imperialism,” and his imperialist sentiments were reflected in such poems as “The White Man’s Burden” (1899). These convictions strengthened as he grew older, putting him at an increasing distance from the political and moral realities of the changing world. Later in life Kipling became highly critical of the Liberal government that won control of the British parliament, finding fault with its pacifist policies during World War I and actively supporting an increase in military spending for national defense. He did not live to see the extinction of his imperialist visions. On January 18, 1936, Rudyard Kipling died, shortly before World War II and the subsequent decline of the British Empire. His autobiography, Something of Myself, was published posthumously.

  The World of Rudyard Kipling and Kim

  1775 The thirteen American colonies rebel against British rule, in a revolution that will last until 1783. Throoughout the late eighteenth and the nineteeth centuries, the British Empire gains more teritory including parts of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and india.

  1837-1838 Oliver Twist,byCharles Dickens, is published; the title Character is generally considered the first child hero in the British novel.

  1857-1858 The Indian Mutiny takes place, a bird for independence fron British East India Company,incorporated in 1600 to exploit trade,has long since evolved into an agent of British imperialism. The rebelion results in the company’s dissolution, and in 1858 the British government assumes direct rule of India, ending the Mohgul Empire and begins the British Raj. The British Empire expands to the Mediterranean eand the Persian Gulf in the west and to the Malay states, Hong Kong, and Shanghai in the east.

  1859 Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection appears, the work has a profound influence on popular views of the natural world.

  1865 Joseph Rudyard Kipling is born on December 30 in Bombay, India, to John Lockwood Kipling, a professor of architectural sculpture at the Bombay school of Art, and Alice Macdonald Kipling, an in- law of the pre-Raphaelite painter Sir Edward Brune-Jones. Lewis Carroll Publishes Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

  1868 In March the Kipling family arrives in England, where Rudyard,s sister, Alice, is born. Shortly thereafter the Kiplings return to India. Louisa May Alcott Publishes Little Women.

  1869 Matthew Arnold publishes his influential text Culture and Anarchy, which warns that anarchy results form worshipping freedom as an end in itself

  1870 Rudyard’s brother, John, is born but dies in infancy.

  1871 The family sails again for England, where Rudyard and Alice are placed in foster care with the Holloway family at a house in Southsea that the Kipling later calledʻʻThe House of Desolationʼʼ; their parents return to India. Rudyard’s subjection to physical and emotion abuse in the foster home leaves him scarred.

  1876 Mrs. Kipling returns to England and discovers the mistreatment of her children. She removes Rudyard from the Holloway home. Queen Elisabeth is declared Empress of India.

  1878 Kipling enters the United Services College, a private boarding school where he develops a love of literature.

  1881 Kipling’s Schoolboy Lyrics is published. the Boers, white farmers of Dutch decent in South Africa, revolt against the Empire continues to expand on the African continent.

  1882 Kipling leaves the college and returns to Lahore, India, where he takes a job as assistant editor of the Civil and Military Gazette. For the next seven years, he writes about Anglo-Indian relations and the problem arising out of the British colonialism.

  1884 Mark Twain publishes Huckleberry Finn.

  1885 Kipling becomes a Freemason, a member of a secret fraternal order officially known as the Free and accepted Masons.

  1886 He writes numerous stories for the Gazette and publishes Departmental Ditties, a collection of satirical poems about the english in India originally written for the paper.

  1887 He leaves the Gazette and heads for Allahabad, where he begins work as editor of a larger paper, the Pioneer, a sister publication of the Gazette

  1888 Kipling publishes Plain Tales from the Hills, a collection of stories about colonial life in India, and his six-volume Indian Railway Library series: Soldiers Three, The Story of the Gadsbys, In Black and White, Under the Deodars, The Phantom Rickshaw, and Wee Willie Winkie.

  1889 He leaves India with a commissionn from the Pioneer to write travel articles about his journey to England via Burma, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and America (later collecred in From Sea to Sea, published in 1899). He settles in London and develops a reputation as a brilliant writer. The reissue in England of his India Railway Library series originally published in India in 1888, furthur elevates his status as a writer.

  1890 In January Kipling suffers a nervous breakdown. His first novel, The Light That Failed, is published in a twelve-chapter version and meets with modest success.

  1891 He travels to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and India (his last visit to that country). He publishes Life’s Handicap, a collection of Indian stories. The Light That Failed is published in a fourteen-chapter version.

  1892 Alfred, Lord Tennyson dies. Kipling marries Caroline Balestier, an American and the sister of his friend and agent Wolcott Balestier. The couple plan a trip around the world, and travel as far as japan. Their Voyage is interupted because the bank that holds Kipling’s savings fails and because Caroline becomes Pregnant. The couple sets up house in Battleboro, Vermont, the Balestiers’hometown, where Kipling begins to compose the Jungle Bookstories. Kipling publishes Barrack-Room Ballads, a book of verse celebrating army life in the British Empire (including the famous ʻʻGunga Din,ʼʼabout a Hindu carrier for a British Indian regiment, and ʻʻFuzzy Wuzzyʼʼ), and a second novel, The Naulahka, written in collaboration with Wolcott Balestier. The Kiplings’ first child, Josephine, is born.

  1893 Many Inventions, another Volume of Kipling’s short stories,is published.

  1894-1895 Two collections of animal stories for children set in India,The Jungle Book andThe Second Jungle Book, featuring such memorable characters as Mowgli, Baloo, and Bagheera, are published.

  1896 The Kiplings’ second child, Elsie, is born. A violent argument with his unstable brother-in-law Beatty Balestier prompts Kipling to move back to England.

  1897 Kipling settles in Rottingdean, on the Sussex coast. He publishesCaptains Courageour, A seafaring novel. His son John, is born.

  1898-1907 Kipling spends winters in South Africa and forms a close relationship with British imperialist,Cecil Rhodes.

  1899 By this time the British Empire includes almost a quarter of the world’ s land surface and population.The Boer War, a conflict of the South African Republic and Orange Free

  States against Great Britain, begins and continues until 1902. Kipling visits the United States for the last time, survives a near-fatal vout of pneumonia, and experiances the sudden death of his elder daughter, Josephine. Stalky & Co.,based on the time he spent at the United Services College, is published.From Sea to Sea is published (See entry for 1889).Joseph Conrad publishes his novel Heat Of Darkness.

  1900 The Kipling Reader, a selection of his works, is published. Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim appears.

  1901 Kim,Kipling’s last and best novel, becomes a best-seller, it tells the story of an Irish orphan raised in India who eventually becomes a member of the English Secret Service. Queen Victoria of England dies and Edward VII becomes king; U.S. president William McKinley is assassinated and suceeded by Theodore Roosevelt. Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first wireless messages. German writer Thomes Mann publishesBuddembrooks and Swedish playwright August Strindberg The Dance of Death. Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (La Traviatia, Regoletto, etc.) and French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec die. French novelist and critic André Malraux and American film producer Walt Disney are born.

  1902 Kipling purchases a hopuse known as Bateman’s in Burwash, Sussex, where he wri
tes among other works,Just So Stories,a collection of fables for children, published this year.The Boer War ends in May with the Treaty of Vereeniging. The Tale of Peter Rabbit, By Beatrix Potter, appears.

  1903 Jack London’s The Call of the While appears.

  1906 Kipling publishes Puck of Pook’s Hill,a volume of poems and historical stories intended for children. A Libral government is elected in Great Britain. Kipling becomes critical of the regime’s pacifist sentiments and actively supports a militerized government.

  1907 Kipling becomes the first English author to receive the Nobel Price for Literature. In spite of this honor , he is rapidly losing the favour of the British literary establishment. He visits Canada.

  1908 Lor Robert Baden-Powell,kipling’s friend since the 1880s, founde the Boy Scouts movement. He incorporates names and ideals form The Jungle Books and Kim into much of the literature and Philosophy regarding the Boy Scouts,

  1910 Kipling’s most-quoted poem,ʻʻIf,ʼʼ is published in a collection titledRewards and Fairies.

  1911 A School History of England, a collaborative work by Kipling and the historian C.R.L.Fletcher, is published. J.N.Barrie publishes his novelPeter and Wendy, more commonly published today under the title Peter Pan

  1914 On September 2, shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Britain’s War Propaganda Bureau holds a symposium of leading British writers (including Arthur Conan Doyle, Ford Madox Ford, and H.G.Wells) to discuss how to foreword the nation’s interests in the war. Kipling’s invitation is withdrawn because of his political views, but he is subsequently allowed to tour Britain’s army camps.This experiance leads to the publication of The New Army in Training and,after a visit to the Western Front in 1915, France in Warand a commissioned work on the Royal Navy.The Fringes of the Fleet (Both published in 1915). Edgar Rice Burroughs publishes Tarzan of the Apes.