The Truce of the BearRudyard KiplingLorie A. Vanchena, The University of Kansas Editorial BranchEncoded byJanelle Fox4.31MBKansas State University and The University of KansasThe University of KansasCreative Commons license for electronic versionAmerican World War I Digital ArchiveThe University of KansasKU Max Kade Center2080 Wescoe Hall1445 Jayhawk BlvdLawrence, KS 66045-7594The FatherlandThe Truce of the BearRudyard KiplingGeorge Sylvester Viereck, Frederick F. SchraderThe International Monthly Inc.New York08-31-1914Page 15, 08-31-1914WeeklyINo. 415294.5219
Janelle Fox, The University of Kansas Editorial Branch
All affectations and typos from the original text have been preserved.
EnglishTHE TRUCE OF THE BEARBy RUDYARD KIPLING.World War I poem
(Alfred Noyes, William Watson and Robert Bridges have defended England in driveling verse. England's
one great poet, Kipling, has not been heard from. Perhaps the following poem which first appeared in 1898
explains Mr. Kipling's silence. Evidently Mr. Kipling cannot approve of an alliance with Russia, for Adam-
zad means Russia and the old blind beggar is England.)
YEARLY, with tent and rifle, our careless whitemen goBy the pass called Muttianee, to shoot in the vale below.Yearly by Muttianee he follows our white men inU+2014Matun, the old blind beggar, bandaged from brow tochin.Eyeless, noseless and liplessU+2014toothless, broken ofspeech,Seeking a dole at the doorway he mumbles his tale toeach;Over and over the story, ending as he began:U+201CMake ye no truce with Adam-zadU+2014the Bear that walkslike a man!U+201CThere was a flint in my musketU+2014pricked and primedwas the pan,When I went hunting Adam-zadU+2014the Bear that standslike a man.I looked my last on the timber, I looked my last on thesnow,When I went hunting Adam-zad fifty Summers ago!U+201CI knew his times and his season, as he knew mine, thatfedBy night in the ripened maizefield and robbed my houseof bread;I knew his strength and cunning, as he knew mine, thatcreptAt dawn to the crowded goat-pens and plundered while Islept.U+201CUP from his stony playgroundU+2014down from his well-digged lairU+2014Out of the naked ridges ran Adam-zad the Bear;Groaning, grunting and roaring, heavy with stolen meals,Two long marches to northward, and I was at his heels!U+201CTwo full marches to the northward, at the fall of thesecond night,I came on mine enemy Adam-zad all panting from hisflight.There was charge in the musketU+2014pricked and primedwas the panU+2014My finger crooked on the triggerU+2014when he reared uplike a man.U+201CHorrible, hairy, human, with paws like hands in prayer,Making his supplication, rose Adam-zad the Bear!I looked at the swaying shoulders, at the paunchU+2019s swagand swing,And my heart was touched with pity for the monstrous,pleading thing,U+201CTouched with pity and wonder, I did not fire then . . .I have looked no more on womenU+2014I have walked nomore with men.Nearer he tottered and nearer, with paws like hands thatprayU+2014From brow to jaw that steel-shod paw, it ripped my faceaway!U+201CSudden, silent, and savageFaceless I fell before his feet, fifty Summers ago.I heard him grunt and chuckleU+2014I heard him pass to hisden,He left me blind to the darkened years and the littlemercy of men.U+201CNow ye go down in the morning with guns of the newerstyle,That load (I have felt) in the middle and range (I haveheard) a mile?Luck to the white manU+2019s rifle, that shoots so fast and true,ButU+2014pay, and I lift my bandage and show what the Bearcan do!U+201D(Flesh like slag in the furnace, knobbed and witheredand grayU+2014Matun, the old blind beggar, he gives good worth for hispay).U+201CRouse him at noon in the bushes, follow and press himhardU+2014Not for his ragings and roarings flinch ye from Adam-zad.U+201CBut (pay, and I put back the bandage) this is the timeto fear,When he stands up like a tired man, tottering near andnear;When he stands up as pleading, in wavering, man-bruteguise,When he veils the hate and cunning of the little, swinisheyes;U+201CWhen he shows as seeking quarter, with paws likehands in prayer,That is the time of perilU+2014the time of the Truce of theBear!U+201DEyeless, noseless and lipless, asking a dole at the door,Matun, the ol dblind beggar, he tells it oU+2019er and oU+2019er;Fumbling and feeling the rifles, warming his hands atthe flame,Hearing our careless white men talk of the morrow'sgame;Over and over the story, ending as he began;U+201CThere is no truce with Adam-zad, the Bear that lookslike a man!U+201D And after this the blind beggar made a truce with theBear in Persia, and what the bear did there, he will tryto do again in TurkeyU+2014if Germany does not stop himU+2014but she will.EnglandRussiaGermanyTurkeyAlfred NoyesWilliam WatsonRobert BridgesRudyard KiplingAnti-Russian sentiment
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