Introduction

Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India on the 30th December 1865. In 1907 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature; he was the first English language writer to receive this honour and, to date, he remains its youngest recipient. In the later 19th and early 20th century he was one of the most popular writers in English in both prose and verse. However he remains inexorably linked to the British Empire and all that implies. The First World War changed many of the preconceptions of the European powers. The slaughter of millions of young men in the fields of France caused many to see prejudice and militarism in Kipling’s colonial vision. Today much of his work is considered politically incorrect and he is seen as an apologist for imperialism. However, despite his more jingoistic work, he always defended the lot of the common soldier and twice turned down a knighthood. As the age of the empire recedes his stories remain as an invaluable, if controversial, interpretation of how the empire was experienced. Many of his works are still well known. Walt Disney made a highly popular adaption of “The Jungle Book” in 1967 and his poem “If” was voted Britain’s favourite poem in a 1995 BBC opinion poll.
He died on 18th January 1936.

In the recent film adaption of “The Curious Life of Benjamin Button” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the protagonist, Ben is read Kipling’s “Just So Stories” by an older lady. The “Just So Stories” were written by Kipling for the amusement of his young niece. Whilst much of his work may have fallen from grace, the “Just So Stories” have rightly become classics of children’s literature. They are written in a mock grand style with many invented words and Kipling gives amusing explanations for such questions as “How the leopard got his spots”, “How the whale got his throat” and “How the rhinoceros got his skin”. Each story includes a short poem.

How the Camel Got His Hump

NOW this is the next tale, and it tells how the Camel got his big hump.

In the beginning of years, when the world was so new and all, and the
Animals were just beginning to work for Man, there was a Camel, and he lived in the middle of a Howling Desert because he did not want to work; and besides, he was a Howler himself. So he ate sticks and thorns and tamarisks and milkweed and prickles, most 'scruciating idle; and when anybody spoke to him he said 'Humph!' Just 'Humph!' and no more.

Presently the Horse came to him on Monday morning, with a saddle on his back and a bit in his mouth, and said, 'Camel, O Camel, come out and trot like the rest of us.'

'Humph!' said the Camel; and the Horse went away and told the Man.

Presently the Dog came to him, with a stick in his mouth, and said,
'Camel, O Camel, come and fetch and carry like the rest of us.'

'Humph!' said the Camel; and the Dog went away and told the Man.

Presently the Ox came to him, with the yoke on his neck and said,
'Camel, O Camel, come and plough like the rest of us.'

'Humph!' said the Camel; and the Ox went away and told the Man.

At the end of the day the Man called the Horse and the Dog and the Ox
together, and said, 'Three, O Three, I'm very sorry for you (with the
world so new-and-all); but that Humph-thing in the Desert can't work,
or he would have been here by now, so I am going to leave him alone, and you must work double-time to make up for it.'

That made the Three very angry (with the world so new-and-all), and they held a palaver, and an indaba, and a punchayet, and a pow-wow on the edge of the Desert; and the Camel came chewing on milkweed most 'scruciating idle, and laughed at them. Then he said 'Humph!' and went away again.

Presently there came along the Djinn in charge of All Deserts, rolling in a cloud of dust (Djinns always travel that way because it is Magic), and he stopped to palaver and pow-pow with the Three.

'Djinn of All Deserts,' said the Horse, 'is it right for any one to be idle, with the world so new-and-all?'

'Certainly not,' said the Djinn.

'Well,' said the Horse, 'there's a thing in the middle of your Howling Desert (and he's a Howler himself) with a long neck and long legs, and he hasn't done a stroke of work since Monday morning. He won't trot.'

'Whew!' said the Djinn, whistling, 'that's my Camel, for all the gold in Arabia! What does he say about it?'

'He says "Humph!"' said the Dog; 'and he won't fetch and carry.'

'Does he say anything else?'

'Only "Humph!"; and he won't plough,' said the Ox.

'Very good,' said the Djinn. 'I'll humph him if you will kindly wait a minute.'

The Djinn rolled himself up in his dust-cloak, and took a bearing across the desert, and found the Camel most 'scruciatingly idle, looking at his own reflection in a pool of water.

'My long and bubbling friend,' said the Djinn, 'what's this I hear of your doing no work, with the world so new-and-all?'

'Humph!' said the Camel.

The Djinn sat down, with his chin in his hand, and began to think a Great Magic, while the Camel looked at his own reflection in the pool of water.

'You've given the Three extra work ever since Monday morning, all on account of your 'scruciating idleness,' said the Djinn; and he went on thinking Magics, with his chin in his hand.

'Humph!' said the Camel.

'I shouldn't say that again if I were you,' said the Djinn; you might say it once too often. Bubbles, I want you to work.'

And the Camel said 'Humph!' again; but no sooner had he said it than he saw his back, that he was so proud of, puffing up and puffing up into a great big lolloping humph.

'Do you see that?' said the Djinn. 'That's your very own humph that you've brought upon your very own self by not working. To-day is Thursday, and you've done no work since Monday, when the work began. Now you are going to work.'

'How can I,' said the Camel, 'with this humph on my back?'

'That's made a-purpose,' said the Djinn, 'all because you missed those three days. You will be able to work now for three days without eating, because you can live on your humph; and don't you ever say I never did anything for you. Come out of the Desert and go to the Three, and
behave. Humph yourself!'

And the Camel humphed himself, humph and all, and went away to join the Three. And from that day to this the Camel always wears a humph (we call it 'hump' now, not to hurt his feelings); but he has never yet caught up with the three days that he missed at the beginning of the world, and he has never yet learned how to behave.


     THE Camel's hump is an ugly lump
       Which well you may see at the Zoo;
     But uglier yet is the hump we get
       From having too little to do.

     Kiddies and grown-ups too-oo-oo,
     If we haven't enough to do-oo-oo,
         We get the hump--
         Cameelious hump--
     The hump that is black and blue!

     We climb out of bed with a frouzly head
       And a snarly-yarly voice.
     We shiver and scowl and we grunt and we growl
       At our bath and our boots and our toys;

     And there ought to be a corner for me
     (And I know there is one for you)
         When we get the hump--
         Cameelious hump--
     The hump that is black and blue!

     The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
       Or frowst with a book by the fire;
     But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
       And dig till you gently perspire;

     And then you will find that the sun and the wind.
     And the Djinn of the Garden too,
         Have lifted the hump--
         The horrible hump--
     The hump that is black and blue!

     I get it as well as you-oo-oo--
     If I haven't enough to do-oo-oo--
         We all get hump--
         Cameelious hump--
     Kiddies and grown-ups too!

Glossary

Prose (noun) - Ordinary speech or writing

Verse (noun) - Poetry

Apologist (noun) - Defender of, someone who argues in the defence of something

Jingoistic (adj) - Extremely nationalistic

Lot (noun) - Fate, one’s fortune in life

Knighthood (noun)  Rank of a knight bestowed by the king or queen and giving the holder the title “Sir” or “Lady’

Fallen from grace (idiom) - Experience a reduction in status, prestige and popularity

Mock (adj) - False, pretend, sham

Hump (noun) - Rounded mass or protuberance, such as on a camel’s back

Howling (adj) - Sound of the wind; a howling wind, desolate, dreary

Thorns (noun) - Hard sharp points sticking out from certain plants

Tamarisks (noun) - Species of small tree or shrub

Milkweed (noun) - Plants with milky juices

Prickles (noun) - Small sharp points or thorns

'scruciating idle (noun) - Very lazy (Kipling is taking the word excruciating and changing it a little; excruciating means very intense and idle means lazy)

Humph! (interj) - Used to express displeasure or contempt

Saddle (noun) - Seat for a rider, usually made of leather, placed on a horse’s back

Bit (noun) - Metal mouthpiece used to control a horse

Trot (verb) - Movement of a horse faster than a walk, like jog for people

Ox (noun) - Large bull

Yoke (noun) - Crossbar that encircles the necks of a pair of oxen

Plough (verb) - Break and turn over the earth      

Palaver (noun) - A conference

Indaba  (noun) - Council or meeting of indigenous peoples of southern Africa to discuss an important  matter

Punchayet (noun) - Village council in India or southern Pakistan

Pow-wow (noun) - Native American council or meeting

Djinn (noun) - Spirit in Muslim legend

Hasn’t done a stroke of work (idiom) - Hasn’t any work at all

Chin (noun) - Lower part of the face, central forward portion of the jaw

Lolloping (adj) - Move with a bobbing motion (Kipling uses an adjective usually associated with movement to describe a sound)

Frouzly (adj) - An invented word by Kipling meaning cross or angry

Snarly-yarly (adj) - Another invented Kipling word meaning bad tempered

Hoe (noun) - Tool with a flat blade used for weeding and gardening

Shovel (noun) - Tool like a spade used for digging,

Perspire (verb) - Sweat