Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 6, 2025
It was in the black heart of the night, the rain drumming like a thousand drums, that he was roused by a plucking at his blanket, and, stretching out, felt the little hand of a langur. "It is better here than in the trees," he said sleepily, loosening a fold of blanket; "take it and be warm." The monkey caught his hand and pulled hard. "Is it food, then?" said Purun Bhagat.
And the white sahib that holds the license is not to know that White-Coat is in the herd at all." The circle nodded again, and contracted toward the speaker. "We will hire beaters and drivers, the best that can be found. To-morrow we will take the elephants and go." Langur Dass pretended to waken. "I have gone hungry many days," he said.
Not only the jungle folk marvelled at the sound. At an encampment three miles distant Ahmad Din and his men heard the wild call, and looked with wondering eyes upon each other. Then out of the silence spoke Langur Dass. "My lord Muztagh has come back to his herd that is his salute," he said. Ahmad Din looked darkly about the circle. "And how long shall he stay?" he asked.
Through all the turmoil and pandemonium he crouched at the end of the stockade wing, tense, and silent and alone. To one that could have looked into his eyes, it would have seemed that his thoughts were far and far away. It was just old Langur Dass, named for a monkey and despised of men.
But there was no denying the fact that Barr-Saggott was phenomenally ugly; and all his attempts to adorn himself only made him more grotesque. He was not christened "The Langur" which means gray ape for nothing.
Shall purple trappings please thee? Shall some fat rajah of the plains make a beast of burden of thee? Answer, lord of mighty memories!" And Muztagh answered in his own way, without sound or emphasis, but giving his love to Langur Dass, a love as large as the big elephant heart from which it had sprung. No other man could even win his friendship. The smell of the jungle was on Langur Dass.
Langur Dass's face lit suddenly. "Then it could be none but Muztagh, escaped from Dugan Sahib fifteen years ago. That calf was also white. He was also overgrown for his years." One of the trackers suddenly gasped. "Then that is why he spared Khusru!" he cried. "He remembered men." The others nodded gravely. "They never forget," said Langur Dass.
"Wait awhile, and I will prepare some." As he kneeled to throw fuel on the fire the langur ran to the door of the shrine, crooned and ran back again, plucking at the man's knee. "What is it? What is thy trouble, Brother?" said Purun Bhagat, for the langur's eyes were full of things that he could not tell.
"For two rupees additional I will hold one of the wings," replied old Langur Dass. Ahmad Din glanced at him at his hard, bright eyes and determined face. Then he peered hard, and tried in vain to read the thoughts behind the eyes. "You are a madman, Langur Dass," he said wonderingly. "But thou shalt lie behind the right-wing men to pass them torches. I have spoken." "And the two extra rupees?"
For Langur Dass was speaking to my lord the elephant: "Take me with thee, Muztagh! Monarch of the hills! Thou and I are not of the world of men, but of the jungle and the rain, the silence, and the cold touch of rivers. We are brothers, Muztagh. O beloved, wilt thou leave me here to die!"
Word Of The Day
Others Looking