GUNGA DIN<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You may talk o\u2019 gin and beer<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re quartered safe out \u2019ere,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 you\u2019re sent to penny-fights an\u2019 Aldershot it;<\/p>\n
But when it comes to slaughter<\/p>\n
You will do your work on water,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 you\u2019ll lick the bloomin\u2019 boots of \u2019im that\u2019s got it,<\/p>\n
Now in Injia\u2019s sunny clime,<\/p>\n
Where I used to spend my time<\/p>\n
A-servin\u2019 of \u2019Er Majesty the Queen,<\/p>\n
Of all them blackfaced crew<\/p>\n
The finest man I knew<\/p>\n
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din.<\/p>\n
He was \u2018Din! Din! Din!<\/p>\n
You limping lump o\u2019 brick-dust, Gunga Din!<\/p>\n
Hi! slippery hitherao!<\/p>\n
Water, get it! Panee lao!<\/p>\n
You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din.\u2019<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The uniform \u2019e wore<\/p>\n
Was nothin\u2019 much before,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 rather less than \u2019arf o\u2019 that be\u2019ind,<\/p>\n
For a piece o\u2019 twisty rag<\/p>\n
An\u2019 a goatskin water-bag<\/p>\n
Was all the field-equipment \u2019e could find.<\/p>\n
When the sweatin\u2019 troop-train lay<\/p>\n
In a sidin\u2019 through the day,<\/p>\n
Where the \u2019eat would make your bloomin\u2019 eyebrows crawl,<\/p>\n
We shouted \u2018Harry By!\u2019<\/p>\n
Till our throats were bricky-dry,<\/p>\n
Then we wopped \u2019im \u2019cause \u2019e couldn\u2019t serve us all.<\/p>\n
It was \u2018Din! Din! Din!<\/p>\n
You \u2019eathen, where the mischief \u2019ave you been?<\/p>\n
You put some juldee in it<\/p>\n
Or I\u2019ll marrow you this minute<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t fill up my helmet, Gunga Din!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2019E would dot an\u2019 carry one<\/p>\n
Till the longest day was done;<\/p>\n
An\u2019 \u2019e didn\u2019t seem to know the use o\u2019 fear.<\/p>\n
If we charged or broke or cut,<\/p>\n
You could bet your bloomin\u2019 nut,<\/p>\n
\u2019E\u2019d be waitin\u2019 fifty paces right flank rear.<\/p>\n
With \u2019is mussick on \u2019is back,<\/p>\n
\u2019E would skip with our attack,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 watch us till the bugles made \u2018Retire,\u2019<\/p>\n
An\u2019 for all \u2019is dirty \u2019ide<\/p>\n
\u2019E was white, clear white, inside<\/p>\n
When \u2019e went to tend the wounded under fire!<\/p>\n
It was \u2018Din! Din! Din!\u2019<\/p>\n
With the bullets kickin\u2019 dust-spots on the green.<\/p>\n
When the cartridges ran out,<\/p>\n
You could hear the front-files shout,<\/p>\n
\u2018Hi! ammunition-mules an\u2019 Gunga Din!\u2019<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I sha\u2019n\u2019t forgit the night;<\/p>\n
When I dropped be\u2019ind the fight<\/p>\n
With a bullet where my belt-plate should \u2019a\u2019 been.<\/p>\n
I was chokin\u2019 mad with thirst,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 the man that spied me first<\/p>\n
Was our good old grinnin\u2019, gruntin\u2019 Gunga Din.<\/p>\n
\u2019E lifted up my \u2019ead,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 he plugged me where I bled,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 \u2019e guv me \u2019arf-a-pint o\u2019 water-green:<\/p>\n
It was crawlin\u2019 and it stunk,<\/p>\n
But of all the drinks I\u2019ve drunk,<\/p>\n
I\u2019m gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.<\/p>\n
It was \u2018Din! Din! Din!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2019Ere\u2019s a beggar with a bullet through \u2019is spleen;<\/p>\n
\u2019E\u2019s chawin\u2019 up the ground,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 \u2019e\u2019s kickin\u2019 all around:<\/p>\n
For Gawd\u2019s sake git the water, Gunga Din!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2019E carried me away<\/p>\n
To where a dooli lay,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 a bullet come an\u2019 drilled the beggar clean.<\/p>\n
\u2019E put me safe inside,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 just before \u2019e died:<\/p>\n
\u2018I \u2019ope you liked your drink,\u2019 sez Gunga Din.<\/p>\n
So I\u2019ll meet \u2019im later on<\/p>\n
At the place where \u2019e is gone\u2014<\/p>\n
Where it\u2019s always double drill and no canteen;<\/p>\n
\u2019E\u2019ll be squattin\u2019 on the coals,<\/p>\n
Givin\u2019 drink to poor damned souls,<\/p>\n
An\u2019 I\u2019ll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!<\/p>\n
Yes, Din! Din! Din!<\/p>\n
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!<\/p>\n
Though I\u2019ve belted you and flayed you,<\/p>\n
By the living Gawd that made you,<\/p>\n
You\u2019re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rudyard Kipling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GUNGA DIN You may talk o\u2019 gin and beer When you\u2019re quartered safe out \u2019ere, An\u2019 you\u2019re sent to penny-fights an\u2019 Aldershot it; But<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[701],"tags":[744,746],"class_list":["post-23890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quote-of-the-day","tag-quote-of-the-day","tag-rudyard-kipling"],"yoast_head":"\n