Has anyone any thoughts on Lizzie's interesting questions ?
John R
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Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 9:25 AM
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> 1_surname: Welby
> 2_firstname: Lizzy
> 3_email: [log in to unmask]
> 4_Problems: I have two rather niggling questions that have been working
> their irritateing way steadily through my brain and would be grateful for
> any thoughts/opinions other members might have:
>
> 1)After a long, long search I can find no indication as to why Kipling
> chose the characters 'Punch and Judy' in 'Baa, Baa, Black Sheep'. The more
> I research on the origins of the glove puppet the more interesting it
> becomes for a choice of name. Kipling was well-known for layering his
> texts with tints and textures so to speak and I would love to know what
> other members make of it - you all know Kipling so much better than I can
> after my modest four year study.
>
> 2)In 'The Potted Princess'(Victorian Fairy Tales, Routledge, 1987), p.312
> Kipling has Punch say:
> 'Like the holy men I saw at Nassick on the mountain? They were all
> nungapunga (naked), but they showed me their little gods, and I burned
> stuff that smelt in a pot before them all, and they said I was a Hindu,
> and-' Punch stopped, out of breath'
> What do members imagine Punch was just about to say? It's just such a
> tantalising puzzle and one of the things that is maddenly wonderful about
> studying Kipling!Does anyone know if 'nungapunga'is a Hindi/Urdu word? I'm
> unable to locate it in the magnificent online dictionaries of South Asia -
> the closest I can find is 'nanga' which denotes nakedness in terms of
> being free from cares - as a child, which in itself is noteworthy, I feel.
> Goodness, Kipling takes my breath away with the complexity of his work.
>
> Any ideas would be greatly welcomed and appreciated.
>
>
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