The Opium Dream

I had forgotten,
that to those fasting and unused, the opium is worse than any wine. Those who die in Gunga go to the Gods. Still, I have no desire to present myself before such great ones. Can the Sahib swim?
What need? He can fly--fly as swiftly as the wind,
He is mad!
And he threw me aside like a bundle of dung-cakes. Well, he will not know his death. The boat cannot live an hour here even if she strike nothing. It is not good to look at death with a clear eye.
She cannot live,
Her seams open already. If she were even a dinghy with oars we could have ridden it out; but a box with holes is no good. Finlinson Sahib, she fills.
Accha! I am going away. Come thou also.
How very ridiculous!
that--is Findlayson--chief of the Kashi Bridge. The poor beast is going to be drowned, too. Drowned when it’s close to shore. I’m--I’m on shore already. Why doesn’t it come along?

About Rudyard Kipling

British poet and novelist, known for his strong narrative style and influential works.

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