Wee Willie Winkie.
Rudyard Kipling
His full name was Percival William Williams, but he picked up the other name in a nursery-book, and that was the end of the christened titles. His motherТs ayah called him Willie-Baba, but as he never paid the faintest attention to anything that the ayah said, her wisdom did not help matters.
His father was the Colonel of the 195th, and as soon as Wee Willie Winkie was old enough to understand what Military Discipline meant, Colonel Williams put him under it. There was no other way of managing the child. When he was good for a week, he drew good-conduct pay; and when he was bad, he was deprived of his good-conduct stripe. Generally he was bad, for India offers many chances of going wrong to little six-year-olds.
Children resent familiarity from strangers, and Wee Willie Winkie was a very particular child. Once he accepted an acquaintance, he was graciously pleased to thaw. He accepted Brandis, a subaltern of the 195th, on sight. Brandis was having tea at the ColonelТs, and Wee Willie Winkie entered strong in the possession of a good-conduct badge won for not chasing the hens round the compound. He regarded Brandis with gravity for at least ten minutes, and then delivered himself of his opinion.
СI like you,Т said he slowly, getting off his chair and coming over to Brandis. СI like you. I shall call you Coppy, because of your hair. Do you mind being called Coppy? It is because of ve hair, you know.Т
Here was one of the most embarrassing of Wee Willie WinkieТs peculiarities. He would look at a stranger for some time, and then, without warning or explanation, would give him a name. And the name stuck. No regimental penalties could break Wee Willie Winkie of this habit. He lost his good-conduct badge for christening the CommissionerТs wife СPobsТ; but nothing that the Colonel could do made the Station forego the nickname, and Mrs. Collen remained СPobsТ till the end of her stay. So Brandis was christened СCoppy,Т and rose, therefore, in the estimation of the regiment.
If Wee Willie Winkie took an interest in any one, the fortunate man was envied alike by the mess and the rank and file. And in their envy lay no suspicion of self-interest. СThe ColonelТs sonТ was idolised on his own merits entirely. Yet Wee Willie Winkie was not lovely. His face was permanently freckled, as his legs were permanently scratched, and in spite of his motherТs almost tearful remonstrances he had insisted upon having his long yellow locks cut short in the military fashion. СI want my hair like Sergeant TummilТs,Т said Wee Willie Winkie, and, his father abetting, the sacrifice was accomplished.
Three weeks after the bestowal of his youthful affections on Lieutenant BrandisЧhenceforward to be called СCoppyТ for the sake of brevityЧWee Willie Winkie was destined to behold strange things and far beyond his comprehension.
Coppy returned his liking with interest. Coppy had let him wear for five rapturous minutes his own big swordЧjust as tall as Wee Willie Winkie. Coppy had promised him a terrier puppy; and Coppy had permitted him to witness the miraculous operation of shaving. Nay, moreЧCoppy had said that even he, Wee Willie Winkie, would rise in time to the ownership of a box of shiny knives, a silver soap-box, and a silver-handled Сsputterbrush,Т as Wee Willie Winkie called it. Decidedly, there was no one except his father, who could give or take away good-conduct badges at pleasure, half so wise, strong, and valiant as Coppy with the Afghan and Egyptian medals on his breast. Why, then, should Coppy be guilty of the unmanly weakness of kissingЧvehemently kissingЧ a Сbig girl,Т Miss Allardyce to wit? In the course of a morning ride Wee Willie Winkie had seen Coppy so doing, and, like the gentleman he was, had promptly wheeled round and cantered back to his groom, lest the groom should also see.
Under ordinary circumstances he would have spoken to his father, but he felt instinctively that this was a matter on which Coppy ought first to be consulted.
СCoppy,Т shouted Wee Willie Winkie, reining up outside that subalternТs bungalow early one morningЧСI want to see you, Coppy!Т
СCome in, young Тun,Т returned Coppy, who was at early breakfast in the midst of his dogs. СWhat mischief have you been getting into now?Т
Wee Willie Winkie had done nothing notoriously bad for three days, and so stood on a pinnacle of virtue.
СIТve been doing nothing bad,Т said he, curling himself into a long chair with a studious affectation of the ColonelТs languor after a hot parade. He buried his freckled nose in a tea-cup and, with eyes staring roundly over the rim, asked: СI say, Coppy, is it pwoper to kiss big girls?Т
СBy Jove! YouТre beginning early. Who do you want to kiss?Т
СNo one. My muvverТs always kissing me if I donТt stop her. If it isnТt pwoper, how was you kissing Major AllardyceТs big girl last morning, by ve canal?Т
CoppyТs brow wrinkled. He and Miss Allardyce had with great craft managed to keep their engagement secret for a fortnight. There were urgent and imperative reasons why Major Allardyce should not know how matters stood for at least another month, and this small marplot had discovered a great deal too much.
СI saw you,Т said Wee Willie Winkie calmly. СBut ve sais didnТt see. I said, ССHut jao!Ф Т
СOh, you had that much sense, you young rip,Т groaned poor Coppy, half amused and half angry. СAnd how many people may you have told about it?Т
СOnly me myself. You didnТt tell when I twied to wide ve buffalo ven my pony was lame; and I fought you wouldnТt like.Т
СWinkie,Т said Coppy enthusiastically, shaking the small hand, СyouТre the best of good fellows. Look here, you canТt understand all these things. One of these daysЧhang it, how can I make you see it!ЧIТm going to marry Miss Allardyce, and then sheТll be Mrs. Coppy, as you say. If your young mind is so scandalised at the idea of kissing big girls, go and tell your father.Т
СWhat will happen?Т said Wee Willie Winkie, who firmly believed that his father was omnipotent.
СI shall get into trouble,Т said Coppy, playing his trump card with an appealing look at the holder of the ace.
СVen I wonТt,Т said Wee Willie Winkie briefly. СBut my faver says itТs un-man-ly to be always kissing, and I didnТt fink youТd do vat, Coppy.Т
СIТm not always kissing, old chap. ItТs only now and then, and when youТre bigger youТll do it too. Your father meant itТs not good for little boys.Т
СAh!Т said Wee Willie Winkie, now fully enlightened. СItТs like ve sputter-brush?Т
СExactly,Т said Coppy gravely.
СBut I donТt fink IТll ever want to kiss big girls, nor no one, Тcept my muvver. And I must vat, you know.Т
There was a long pause, broken by Wee Willie Winkie.
СAre you fond of vis big girl, Coppy?Т
СAwfully!Т said Coppy.
СFonder van you are of Bell or ve ButchaЧor me?Т
СItТs in a different way,Т said Coppy. СYou see, one of these days Miss Allardyce will belong to me, but youТll grow up and command the Regiment andЧall sorts of things. ItТs quite different, you see.Т
СVery well,Т said Wee Willie Winkie, rising. СIf youТre fond of ve big girl I wonТt tell any one. I must go now.Т
Coppy rose and escorted his small guest to the door, addingЧСYouТre the best of little fellows, Winkie. I tell you what. In thirty days from now you can tell if you likeЧtell any one you like.Т
Thus the secret of the Brandis-Allardyce engagement was dependent on a little childТs word. Coppy, who knew Wee Willie WinkieТs idea of truth, was at ease, for he felt that he would not break promises. Wee Willie Winkie betrayed a special and unusual interest in Miss Allardyce, and, slowly revolving round that embarrassed young lady, was used to regard her gravely with unwinking eye. He was trying to discover why Coppy should have kissed her. She was not half so nice as his own mother. On the other hand, she was CoppyТs property, and would in time belong to him. Therefore it behoved him to treat her with as much respect as CoppyТs big sword or shiny pistol.
The idea that he shared a great secret in common with Coppy kept Wee Willie Winkie unusually virtuous for three weeks. Then the Old Adam broke out, and he made what he called a Сcamp-fireТ at the bottom of the garden. How could he have foreseen that the flying sparks would have lighted the ColonelТs little hay-rick and consumed a weekТs store for the horses? Sudden and swift was the punishmentЧdeprivation of the good-conduct badge and, most sorrowful of all, two daysТ confinement to barracksЧthe house and verandahЧcoupled with the withdrawal of the light of his fatherТs countenance.
He took the sentence like the man he strove to be, drew himself up with a quivering under-lip, saluted, and, once clear of the room, ran to weep bitterly in his nurseryЧcalled by him Сmy quarters.Т Coppy came in the afternoon and attempted to console the culprit.
СIТm under awwest,Т said Wee Willie Winkie mournfully, Сand I didnТt ought to speak to you.Т
Very early the next morning he climbed on to the roof of the houseЧthat was not forbiddenЧand beheld Miss Allardyce going for a ride.
СWhere are you going?Т cried Wee Willie Winkie.
СAcross the river,Т she answered, and trotted forward.
Now the cantonment in which the 195th lay was bounded on the north by a riverЧdry in the winter. From his earliest years, Wee Willie Winkie had been forbidden to go across the river, and had noted that even CoppyЧthe almost almighty CoppyЧhad never set foot beyond it. Wee Willie Winkie had once been read to, out of a big blue book, the history of the Princess and the GoblinsЧa most wonderful tale of a land where the Goblins were always warring with the children of men until they were defeated by one Curdie. Ever since that date it seemed to him that the bare black and purple hills across the river were inhabited by Goblins, and, in truth, every one had said that there lived the Bad Men. Even in his own house the lower halves of the windows were covered with green paper on account of the Bad Men who might, if allowed clear view, fire into peaceful drawing-rooms and comfortable bedrooms. Certainly, beyond the river, which was the end of all the Earth, lived the Bad Men. And here was Major AllardyceТs big girl, CoppyТs property, preparing to venture into their borders! What would Coppy say if anything happened to her? If the Goblins ran off with her as they did with CurdieТs Princess? She must at all hazards be turned back.
The house was still. Wee Willie Winkie reflected for a moment on the very terrible wrath of his father; and thenЧbroke his arrest! It was a crime unspeakable. The low sun threw his shadow, very large and very black, on the trim garden-paths, as he went down to the stables and ordered his pony. It seemed to him in the hush of the dawn that all the big world had been bidden to stand still and look at Wee Willie Winkie guilty of mutiny. The drowsy sais gave him his mount, and, since the one great sin made all others insignificant, Wee Willie Winkie said that he was going to ride over to Coppy Sahib, and went out at a foot-pace, stepping on the soft mould of the flower-borders.
The devastating track of the ponyТs feet was the last misdeed that cut him off from all sympathy of Humanity. He turned into the road, leaned forward, and rode as fast as the pony could put foot to the ground in the direction of the river.
But the liveliest of twelve-two ponies can do little against the long canter of a Waler. Miss Allardyce was far ahead, had passed through the crops, beyond the Police-posts, when all the guards were asleep, and her mount was scattering the pebbles of the river-bed as Wee Willie Winkie left the cantonment and British India behind him. Bowed forward and still flogging, Wee Willie Winkie shot into Afghan territory, and could just see Miss Allardyce, a black speck, flickering across the stony plain. The reason of her wandering was simple enough. Coppy, in a tone of too-hastily-assumed authority, had told her overnight that she must not ride out by the river. And she had gone to prove her own spirit and teach Coppy a lesson.
Almost at the foot of the inhospitable hills, Wee Willie Winkie saw the Waler blunder and come down heavily. Miss Allardyce struggled clear, but her ankle had been severely twisted, and she could not stand. Having fully shown her spirit, she wept, and was surprised by the apparition of a white, wide-eyed child in khaki, on a nearly spent pony.
СAre you badly, badly hurted?Т shouted Wee Willie Winkie, as soon as he was within range. СYou didnТt ought to be here.Т
СI donТt know,Т said Miss Allardyce ruefully, ignoring the reproof. СGood gracious, child, what are you doing here?Т
СYou said you was going acwoss ve wiver,Т panted Wee Willie Winkie, throwing himself off his pony. СAnd nobodyЧnot even CoppyЧmust go acwoss ve wiver, and I came after you ever so hard, but you wouldnТt stop, and now youТve hurted yourself, and Coppy will be angwy wiv me, andЧIТve bwoken my awwest! IТve bwoken my awwest!Т
The future Colonel of the 195th sat down and sobbed. In spite of the pain in her ankle the girl was moved.
СHave you ridden all the way from cantonments, little man? What for?Т
СYou belonged to Coppy. Coppy told me so!Т wailed Wee Willie Winkie disconsolately. СI saw him kissing you, and he said he was fonder of you van Bell or ve Butcha or me. And so I came. You must get up and come back. You didnТt ought to be here. Vis is a bad place, and IТve bwoken my awwest.Т
СI canТt move, Winkie,Т said Miss Allardyce, with a groan. СIТve hurt my foot. What shall I do?Т
She showed a readiness to weep anew, which steadied Wee Willie Winkie, who had been brought up to believe that tears were the depth of unmanliness. Still, when one is as great a sinner as Wee Willie Winkie, even a man may be permitted to break down.
СWinkie,Т said Miss Allardyce, Сwhen youТve rested a little, ride back and tell them to send out something to carry me back in. It hurts fearfully.Т
The child sat still for a little time and Miss Allardyce closed her eyes; the pain was nearly making her faint. She was roused by Wee Willie Winkie tying up the reins on his ponyТs neck and setting it free with a vicious cut of his whip that made it whicker. The little animal headed towards the cantonments.
СOh, Winkie, what are you doing?Т
СHush!Т said Wee Willie Winkie. СVereТs a man comingЧone of ve Bad Men. I must stay wiv you. My faver says a man must always look after a girl. Jack will go home, and ven veyТll come and look for us. VatТs why I let him go.Т
Not one man but two or three had appeared from behind the rocks of the hills, and the heart of Wee Willie Winkie sank within him, for just in this manner were the Goblins wont to steal out and vex CurdieТs soul. Thus had they played in CurdieТs gardenЧhe had seen the pictureЧand thus had they frightened the PrincessТs nurse. He heard them talking to each other, and recognised with joy the bastard Pushto that he had picked up from one of his fatherТs grooms lately dismissed. People who spoke that tongue could not be the Bad Men. They were only natives after all.
They came up to the boulders on which Miss AllardyceТs horse had blundered.
Then rose from the rock Wee Willie Winkie, child of the Dominant Race, aged six and three-quarters, and said briefly and emphatically СJao!Т The pony had crossed the river-bed.
The men laughed, and laughter from natives was the one thing Wee Willie Winkie could not tolerate. He asked them what they wanted and why they did not depart. Other men with most evil faces and crooked-stocked guns crept out of the shadows of the hills, till, soon, Wee Willie Winkie was face to face with an audience some twenty strong. Miss Allardyce screamed.
СWho are you?Т said one of the men.
СI am the Colonel SahibТs son, and my order is that you go at once. You black men are frightening the Miss Sahib. One of you must run into cantonments and take the news that the Miss Sahib has hurt herself, and that the ColonelТs son is here with her.Т
СPut our feet into the trap?Т was the laughing reply. СHear this boyТs speech!Т
СSay that I sent youЧI, the ColonelТs son. They will give you money.Т
СWhat is the use of this talk? Take up the child and the girl, and we can at least ask for the ransom. Ours are the villages on the heights,Т said a voice in the background.
These were the Bad MenЧworse than GoblinsЧand it needed all Wee Willie WinkieТs training to prevent him from bursting into tears. But he felt that to cry before a native, excepting only his motherТs ayah, would be an infamy greater than any mutiny. Moreover, he, as future Colonel of the 195th, had that grim regiment at his back.
СAre you going to carry us away?Т said Wee Willie Winkie, very blanched and uncomfortable.
СYes, my little Sahib Bahadur,Т said the tallest of the men, Сand eat you afterwards.Т
СThat is childТs talk,Т said Wee Willie Winkie. СMen do not eat men.Т
A yell of laughter interrupted him, but he went on firmlyЧСAnd if you do carry us away, I tell you that all my regiment will come up in a day and kill you all without leaving one. Who will take my message to the Colonel Sahib?Т
Speech in any vernacularЧand Wee Willie Winkie had a colloquial acquaintance with threeЧwas easy to the boy who could not yet manage his СrТsТ and СthТsТ aright.
Another man joined the conference, crying: СO foolish men! What this babe says is true. He is the heartТs heart of those white troops. For the sake of peace let them go both, for if he be taken, the regiment will break loose and gut the valley. Our villages are in the valley, and we shall not escape. That regiment are devils. They broke Khoda YarТs breastbone with kicks when he tried to take the rifles; and if we touch this child they will fire and rape and plunder for a month, till nothing remains. Better to send a man back to take the message and get a reward. I say that this child is their God, and that they will spare none of us, nor our women, if we harm him.Т
It was Din Mahommed, the dismissed groom of the Colonel, who made the diversion, and an angry and heated discussion followed. Wee Willie Winkie, standing over Miss Allardyce, waited the upshot. Surely his СWegiment,Т his own СWegiment,Т would not desert him if they knew of his extremity.
. . . . .
The riderless pony brought the news to the 195th, though there had been consternation in the ColonelТs household for an hour before. The little beast came in through the parade-ground in front of the main barracks, where the men were settling down to play Spoil-five till the afternoon. Devlin, the Colour-Sergeant of E Company, glanced at the empty saddle and tumbled through the barrack-rooms, kicking up each Room Corporal as he passed. СUp, ye beggars! ThereТs something happened to the ColonelТs son,Т he shouted. СHe couldnТt fall off! SТelp me, Тe couldnТt fall off,Т blubbered a drummer-boy. СGo anТ hunt acrost the river. HeТs over there if heТs anywhere, anТ maybe those Pathans have got Тim. For the love oТ Gawd donТt look for Тim in the nullahs! LetТs go over the river.ТСThereТs sense in Mott yet,Т said Devlin. СE Company, double out to the riverЧsharp!Т
So E Company, in its shirt-sleeves mainly, doubled for the dear life, and in the rear toiled the perspiring Sergeant, adjuring it to double yet faster. The cantonment was alive with the men of the 195th hunting for Wee Willie Winkie, and the Colonel finally overtook E Company, far too exhausted to swear, struggling in the pebbles of the river-bed.
Up the hill under which Wee Willie WinkieТs Bad Men were discussing the wisdom of carrying off the child and the girl, a look-out fired two shots.
СWhat have I said?Т shouted Din Mahommed. СThere is the warning! The pulton are out already and are coming across the plain! Get away! Let us not be seen with the boy.Т
The men waited for an instant, and then, as another shot was fired, withdrew into the hills, silently as they had appeared.
СVe Wegiment is coming,Т said Wee Willie Winkie confidently to Miss Allardyce, Сand itТs all wight. DonТt cwy!Т
He needed the advice himself, for ten minutes later, when his father came up, he was weeping bitterly with his head in Miss AllardyceТs lap.
And the men of the 195th carried him home with shouts and rejoicings; and Coppy, who had ridden a horse into a lather, met him, and, to his intense disgust, kissed him openly in the presence of the men.
But there was balm for his dignity. His father assured him that not only would the breaking of arrest be condoned, but that the good-conduct badge would be restored as soon as his mother could sew it on his blouse-sleeve. Miss Allardyce had told the Colonel a story that made him proud of his son.
СShe belonged to you, Coppy,Т said Wee Willie Winkie, indicating Miss Allardyce with a grimy forefinger. СI knew she didnТt ought to go acwoss ve wiver, and I knew ve Wegiment would come to me if I sent Jack home.Т
СYouТre a hero, Winkie,Т said CoppyЧСa pukka hero!Т
СI donТt know what vat means,Т said Wee Willie Winkie, Сbut you mustnТt call me Winkie any no more. IТm Percival WillТam WillТams.Т
And in this manner did Wee Willie Winkie enter into his manhood.
Original text from Wee Willie Winkie, MacMillan and Co., Ltd, St. Martins St., London 1951
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