(August 3rd to 9th)
Format: Triple
‘Tell them’, he cried, ‘that if a hair of any one of their heads is touched by any official on any account whatever, all England shall ring with it. Good God! What callous oppression! The dark places of the earth are full of cruelty’. He wiped his face … |
This is from “Little Foxes” in Actions and Reactions. A visiting Member of Parliament has heard a rumour, told him as a joke across a dinner table, but taken seriously, of the brutal treament of the natives in an African colony. He is addressing a crowd out there, whose language he does not understand, and is about to make a fool of himself… |
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They were always just going to have a leader, and laws and customs of their own, but they never did, because their memories would not hold over from day to day… |
This is from “Kaa’s Hunting” in The Jungle Book. The Bandar-log, the shiftless leaderless lawless monkey people, have tried to make friends with Mowgli, and will soon take him prisoner… |
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In a raucous voice he cried aloud little matters, like the hope of Honour and the dream of Glory… He pointed them to shining goals with fingers which smudged out all radiance on the horizons. He profaned the most secret places of their souls with outcries and gesticulations… |
This is from “The Flag of their Country” in Stalky & Co.. A visiting Member of Parliament is addressing the school about patriotism. His rhetoric offends the boys deeply. |
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