Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, |
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat; |
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, |
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come |
from the ends of the earth! |
|
Kamal is out with twenty men to raise the Border-side, |
And he has lifted the Colonel's mare that is the Colonel’s pride. |
He has lifted her out of the stable-door between the dawn and the day, |
And turned the calkins upon her feet, and ridden her far away. |
Then up and spoke the Colonel’s son that led a troop of the Guides: |
«Is there never a man off all my men can say where Kamal hides?» |
Then up and spoke Mohammed Khan, the son of the Ressaldar: |
«If ye know the track of the morning-mist, ye know where his pickets are. |
«At dusk he harries the Abazai - at dawn he is in to Bonair, |
«But he must go by Fort Bukloh to his own place to fare. |
«So if ye gallop to Fort Bukloh as fast as a bird can fly, |
«By the favour of God ye may cut him off ere he win to the Tongue of Jagai. |
«But if he be past the Tongue of Jagai, right swiftly turn ye then, |
«For the length and the breadth of that grisly plain is sown |
with Kamal's men. |
«There is rock to the left, and rock to the right, and low |
lean thorn between, |
«And ye may hear a breech-bolt snick where never a man is seen.» |
The Colonel's son has taken horse, and a raw rough dun was he, |
With the mouth of a bell and the heart of Hell and the |
head of a gallows-tree. |
The Colonel’s son to the Fort has won, they bid him stay to eat |
Who rides at the tail of a Border thief, he sits not long at his meat. |
He's up and away from Fort Bukloh as fast as he can fly, |
|
Till he was aware of his father's mare in the gut of the Tongue of Jagai, |
Till he was aware of his father's mare with Kamal upon her back, |
And when he could spy the white of her eye, he made the pistol crack. |
He has fired once, he has fired twice, but the whistling ball went wide. |
«Ye shoot like a soldier», Kamal said. «Show now if ye can ride!» |
It's up and over the Tongue of Jagai, as blown dust-devils go, |
The dun he fled like a stag of ten, but the шаге like a barren doe. |
The dun he leaned against the bit and slugged his head above, |
But the red mare played with the snaffle-bars, as a maiden |
plays with a glove. |
There was rock to the left and rock to the right, and low |
lean thorn between, |
And thrice he heard a breech-bolt snick tho' never a man was seen. |
|
drum up the dawn, |
The dun went like a wounded bull, but the mare like a new-roused fawn. |
The dun he fell at a water-course - in a woeful heap fell he, |
And Kamal has turned the red mare back, and pulled the rider free. |
He has knocked the pistol out of his hand - small room |
was there to strive, |
«'Twas only by favour of mine», quoth he, «ye rode so long alive: |
«There was not a rock for twenty miles, there was not a clump of tree, |
«But covered a man of my own men with his rifle cocked on his knee. |
«If I had raised my bridle-hand, as I have held it low, |
The little jackals that flee so fast were feasting all in a row. |
If I had bowed my head on my breast, as I have held it high, |
«The kite that whistles above us now were gorged till she could not fly.» |
Lightly answered the Colonel’s son: «Do good to bird and beast, |
«But count who come for the broken meats before thou makest a feast. |
«If there should follow a thousand swords to carry my bones away, |
«Belike the price of a jackal's meal' were more than a thief could pay. |
«They will feed their horse on the standing crop, their men |
on the garnered grain. |
«The thatch of the byres will serve their fires when all the cattle are slain. |
«But if thou thinkest the price be fair, - thy brethren wait to sup, |
«The hound is kin to the jackal-spawn, - howl, dog, and call them up! |
«And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer and gear and stack, |
«Give me my father’s mare again, and I’ll fight my own way back!» |
|
Kamal has gripped him by the hand and set him upon his feet. |
«No talk shall be of dogs», said he, «when wolf and grey wolf meet. |
«Мау I eat dirt if thou hast hurt of me in deed or breath; |
«What dam of lances brought thee forth to jest at the dawn with Death?» |
Lightly answered the Colonel’s son: «I hold by the blood of my clan: |
«Take up the mare for my father’s gift - by God, she has carried a man!» |
The red шаге ran to the Colonel's son, and nuzzled against his breast; |
«We be two strong men», said Kamal then, «but she loveth |
the younger best. |
«So she shall go with a lifter's dower, my turquoise-studded rein, |
«My 'broidered saddle and saddle-cloth, and silver stirrups twain.» |
|
«Ye have taken the one from a foe», said he. «Will ye take |
the mate from a friend?» |
«А gift for a gift», said Kamal straight; «a limb for the risk of a limb. |
«Thy father has sent his son to me, I’ll send my son to him!» |
|
He trod the ling like a buck in spring, and he looked like a lance in rest. |
«Now here is thy master», Kamal said, «who leads a troop of the Guides, |
«And thou must ride at his left side as shield on shoulder rides. |
«Till Death or I cut loose the tie, at camp and board and bed, |
«Thy life is his - thy fate it is to guard him with thy head. |
«So, thou must eat the White Queen's meat, and all her foes are thine, |
«And thou must harry thy father’s hold for the peace of the Border-line. |
«And thou must make a trooper tough and hack thy way to power - |
«Belike they will raise thee to Ressaldar when I am hanged in Peshawur!» |
|
they found no fault. |
They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-Blood on |
leavened bread and salt: |
They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-Blood on fire |
|
On the hilt and the haft of the Khyber knife, and the |
Wondrous Names of God. |
The Colonel's son he rides the mare and Kamal's boy the dun, |
And two have come back to Fort Bukloh where there went forth but one. |
|
swords flew clear - |
|
There was not a man but carried his feud with the blood |
of the mountaineer. |
«На' done! ha’ done!», said the Colonel's son. «Put up the |
|
«Last night ye had struck at a Border thief - to-night |
'tis a man of the Guides!» |
|
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, |
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat; |
|
When two strong men stand, face to face, though they come |
from the ends of the earth! |