Here are the quotations for the coming week, June
27th to July 3rd:
1. …The
three closed round the monkey, hanging on his every motion with an earnestness
almost equal to ours. The great judge's head - seamed and vertical forehead,
iron mouth, and pike-like under-jaw, all set on that thick neck rising out of
the white flanneled collar - was thrown against the puckered green silk of the
organ front as it might have been a cameo of Titus...
2.
..The train had lost patience at last, and was coming into
the station directly beneath me to see what was the matter. Happy voices sang
and heads were thrust out all along the compartments, but none answered their
songs or greetings. She halted, and the people began to get out. Then they began
to get in again, as their friends in the waiting-rooms advised…
3. ...I saw both Front Benches bend forward, some with their
foreheads on their despatch boxes, the rest with their faces in their hands; and
their moving shoulders jolted the house out of its last rag of decency. Only the
Speaker remained unmoved. The entire press of Great Britain bore witness next
day that he had not even bowed his head…
The sources of last week's extracts (June 20th to
26th) are as follows:
1. (...' all orders after eight bells
was to be executed in inverse ration to the cube o' the
velocity....') This is from "The Bonds of Discipline" in Traffics
and Discoveries.
2. (...'Get out of this and conduct
your own damned manoeuvres in your own damned tinker fashion...') This is
from "Their Lawful Occasions" in Traffics and
Discoveries.
3. (...'What's her speed ?' he demanded of the engineer.
'Twenty-five', said
that loyal man...) This is from "Steam Tactics" in
Traffics and Discoveries.
Good wishes to all, John R
PS1 People who are following the New Readers' Guide may like to note that We
have just published notes by Alastair Wilson on ".007" and John McGivering on "The Strange Ride of Morrowbie
Jukes, and by Roberta Baldi on two further
Departmental Ditties, "The
Post that Fitted", and "Public Waste", together
with the text of the poems. We have also put up the last sections of Gillian
Sheehan's massive articel on "Kipling and Medicine".
PS2 I now have copies of David
Stewart's excellent "Kipling's America". These are available at a cost of £16.95
(Amazon have been charging £35.00). If you want a copy please drop me a line
with a cheque for that amount. I will be also bringing some to the AGM.