“I don’t know, I’ve never Kippled”. Ba-doom tish.
I recently read 27 short stories in 27 days and am going to keep going, but instead of a blogpost per story, I am going to have this page for the 13 “Just-So” Stories what Kipling wrote in 1902. Then I am going to Barbenheimer it with interspersing an Isaac Asimov collection with a George Saunders collection.
| How the Whale got his throat Date read– 05/10/2025 Words I had to look up – Sloka – a couplet of Sanskrit verse, especially one in which each line contains sixteen syllables. Allusions I had to look up– nil Commentary – Hmmm. Not sure about this one. |
| How the camel got his hump Date read– 05/10/2025 Quotes: “When the world was so new -and-all and the Animals were just beginning to work for Man.” Words I had to look up – Indaba – Indaba is a Zulu word for “important meeting” that seeks “to gather the right people together at the right time to discuss. Allusions I had to look up– nil Commentary – Oh wow, who knew that a Victorian imperialist could be so anthropocentric? … the camels are there to serve man, except the camel didn’t get the memo, or did but ignored it (huzzah- I am on Team Camel). |
| How the Rhinoceros got his skin Date read– 06/10/2025 Quotes: “And it spoiled his temper, but it didn’t make the least difference to the cake crumbs.” Words I had to look up – Allusions I had to look up– none Commentary – So, the rhino gets punished for sating its appetite. Does man ever get punished for sating his? |
| How the leopard got his spots Date read– 06/10/2025 Quotes: “Well, calling names won’t catch dinner.” Words I had to look up – Fulvous – reddish yellow; tawny. Allusions I had to look up– none Commentary – Ah, camouflage… (as per that Stan Ridgway son about the ghost Marine) |
| The elephant’s child Date read– 07/10/2025 Quotes: none Words I had to look up – none Allusions I had to look up– none Commentary – Fascinating that his curiosity should be so overtly punished?! Se also Kipling on “seven hard-working men” – the questions who and what and why and how and where and when |
| The Sing-Song of Old man Kangaroo Date read– 7/10/2025 Quotes: none Words I had to look up – none Allusions I had to look up– none Commentary – Adelaide gets a mention |
| The beginning of the Armadillos Date read– 7/10/2025 Quotes: none Words I had to look up – none Allusions I had to look up– none Commentary – Hedgehog plus Tortoise = armadillo! |
| How the First Letter was written Date read– 8/10/2025 Quotes – “But a time will come, O Babe of Tegumai, when we shall make letters – all twenty-six of ’em- and when we shall be able to read as well as to write, and then we shall always say exactly what we mean without any mistakes.” Words I had to look up – adscript – Adscript (from Latin ad, “on” or “to”, and scribere, “to write”) means something written after, as opposed to subscript which means written under. heriot – Heriot, from Old English heregeat (“war-gear”), was originally a death-duty in late Anglo-Saxon England, which required that at death, a nobleman provided to his king a given set of military equipment, often including horses, swords, shields, spears and helmets. It later developed into a kind of tenurial feudal relief due from villeins. The equivalent term in French was droit du meilleur catel. Allusions I had to look up– none Commentary – a nice just so story – but of course Kipling has to go and say girls are so flighty as only wanting to draw. Sigh |
| How the Alphabet was made Date read– x8/10/2025 Quotes – none Words I had to look up – none Allusions I had to look up– none Commentary – A sequel to the last one. Meh. |
| The crab that played with the sea Date read– 08/10/2025 Words I had to look up – none Allusions I had to look up– none Commentary – Yes, well, I am reading more per day because I want this to be over with… |
| The cat that walked by himself Date read– 9/10/2025 Quote – “I am the cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me.” Words I had to look up – fernugreek – Fenugreek (/ˈfɛnjʊɡriːk/; Trigonella foenum-graecum) is an annual plant in the family Fabaceae, with leaves consisting of three small obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semiarid crop. Its leaves and seeds are common ingredients in dishes from the Indian subcontinent, and have been used as a culinary ingredient since ancient times.[2] Its use as a food ingredient in small quantities is safe. granadilla – Granadilla is a flowering plant species of genus Passiflora, or the fruit of these plants (passion fruit). It is often confused with passion fruit. Allusions I had to look up– none Commentary – The best of the bunch – nails the cunning of a cat… |
| The butterfly that stamped Date read– 9/10/2025 Quotes Then Suleiman-bin-Daoud fell flat on his face and said, “O Animal! I gave that dinner to show what a great and rich king I was, and not because I really wanted to be kind to the animals. Now I am ashamed, and it serves me right.” Suleiman-bin-Daoud was a really truly wise man, best Beloved. After that he never forgot that it was silly to show off, an now the real story part of my story begins. Words I had to look up – hyssop – Hyssopus officinalis or hyssop is a shrub in the Lamiaceae or mint family native to Southern Europe, the Middle East, and the region surrounding the Caspian afreet/afrits – djinns Allusions I had to look up– non Commentary – nicely done – sexist of course, but also about humility |
Date read– 9/10/2025
Words I had to look up –
Allusions I had to look up– xx
Commentary – xx
Single best story – the cat one, inevitably (bloody cats).
A I glad I did this? Sure, but would have been better done (as so many things) aged about 11 or so…
marchudson.net 