The Taking of Lungtungpen
Encyclopedia
The Taking of Lungtungpen is a short story by Rudyard Kipling
which was first published in the Civil and Military Gazette
on April 11, 1887, and in book form in the first Indian edition of Plain Tales from the Hills in 1888, and in subsequent editions of that collection. The story is about one of Kipling's three private soldiers, Learoyd, Mulvaney and Ortheris
, whose adventures are further related in his collection of short stories Soldiers Three
: Terence Mulvaney. This story tells "how Privit Mulvaney tuk the town av Lungtungpen", in his own words (Kipling represents him conventionally as an Irish speaker of English). Mulvaney, who continually blots his copybook (and loses promotions and goods conduct badges from his habit of "wan big dhrink a month") is nevertheless a fine soldier. When he is patrolling Burmah against dacoits with 24 young recruits under Lieutenant Brazenose, they capture a suspect. Mulvaney, with an interpreter, takes the prisoner aside and "trates him tinderly" [='treats him tenderly'] with a cleaning rod. This example of army brutality extracts the information that there is a town called Lungtungpen, a haunt of dacoits, 9 miles away, 'across the river'. Mulvaney persuades the Lieutenant not to await reinforcements, but to "visit" Lungtungpen that night. Mulvaney is in the lead when they come to the river, and tells the four men with him to strip and swim across. Two of them can't swim, but they use a tree trunk for flotation and cross the river - despite their discovery that "That shtrame [= stream] was miles woide!" When they reach the other side, in the dark they have landed on the river wall of L
The moral of this story, to Mulvaney, is that it shows what three-year enlisted men can do, and why he values them above more experienced men, who would have been much more cautious. These would defeat European armies as well as dacoits. "They tuk Lungtungpen nakid; an' they'd take St. Pethersburg
in their dhrawers!" Kipling appears to value the British soldier highly (see arrack-Room Ballads (1892), Soldiers Three
(1888) and many other works throughout his career); but the modern western reader (often lacking experience in similar cultures) may wonder at the casual imperial acceptance of brutality and a shocking casualty rate. To such a reader, it stretches credibility that women who have been widowed in this attack - and impoverished by the looting that Mulvaney relates - would laugh at the naked invaders. George Orwell
while serving with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, observed this type of behavior and found it extremely distasteful. Such experiences provided some of the material for his later literary career.
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
which was first published in the Civil and Military Gazette
Civil and Military Gazette
The Civil and Military Gazette was a daily English language newspaper founded in 1872 in British India. It was published from Lahore, Simla and Karachi, some times simultaneously, until its closure in 1963.-History:...
on April 11, 1887, and in book form in the first Indian edition of Plain Tales from the Hills in 1888, and in subsequent editions of that collection. The story is about one of Kipling's three private soldiers, Learoyd, Mulvaney and Ortheris
Learoyd, Mulvaney and Ortheris
"Mulvaney, Ortheris, and Learoyd are Privates in B Company of a Line regiment, and personal friends of mine." - Thus Rudyard Kipling introduces, in the story The Three Musketeers three characters who were to reappear in many stories, and to give their name to his next collection Soldiers Three...
, whose adventures are further related in his collection of short stories Soldiers Three
Soldiers Three
Soldiers Three is a collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. The three soldiers of the title are Learoyd, Mulvaney and Ortheris, who had also appeared previously in the collection Plain Tales from the Hills...
: Terence Mulvaney. This story tells "how Privit Mulvaney tuk the town av Lungtungpen", in his own words (Kipling represents him conventionally as an Irish speaker of English). Mulvaney, who continually blots his copybook (and loses promotions and goods conduct badges from his habit of "wan big dhrink a month") is nevertheless a fine soldier. When he is patrolling Burmah against dacoits with 24 young recruits under Lieutenant Brazenose, they capture a suspect. Mulvaney, with an interpreter, takes the prisoner aside and "trates him tinderly" [='treats him tenderly'] with a cleaning rod. This example of army brutality extracts the information that there is a town called Lungtungpen, a haunt of dacoits, 9 miles away, 'across the river'. Mulvaney persuades the Lieutenant not to await reinforcements, but to "visit" Lungtungpen that night. Mulvaney is in the lead when they come to the river, and tells the four men with him to strip and swim across. Two of them can't swim, but they use a tree trunk for flotation and cross the river - despite their discovery that "That shtrame [= stream] was miles woide!" When they reach the other side, in the dark they have landed on the river wall of L
The moral of this story, to Mulvaney, is that it shows what three-year enlisted men can do, and why he values them above more experienced men, who would have been much more cautious. These would defeat European armies as well as dacoits. "They tuk Lungtungpen nakid; an' they'd take St. Pethersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in their dhrawers!" Kipling appears to value the British soldier highly (see arrack-Room Ballads (1892), Soldiers Three
Soldiers Three
Soldiers Three is a collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. The three soldiers of the title are Learoyd, Mulvaney and Ortheris, who had also appeared previously in the collection Plain Tales from the Hills...
(1888) and many other works throughout his career); but the modern western reader (often lacking experience in similar cultures) may wonder at the casual imperial acceptance of brutality and a shocking casualty rate. To such a reader, it stretches credibility that women who have been widowed in this attack - and impoverished by the looting that Mulvaney relates - would laugh at the naked invaders. George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
while serving with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, observed this type of behavior and found it extremely distasteful. Such experiences provided some of the material for his later literary career.
- All quotations in this article have been taken from the Uniform Edition of Plain Tales from the HillsPlain Tales from the HillsPlain Tales from the Hills is the first collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. Out of its 40 stories, "eight-and-twenty", according to Kipling's Preface, were initially published in the Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore, Punjab, British India, between November 1886 and June 1887...
published by Macmillan & Co., Limited in London in 1899. The text is that of the third edition (1890), and the author of the article has used his own copy of the 1923 reprint. Further comment, including page-by-page notes, can be found on the Kipling Society's website, at http://www.kipling.org.uk/rg_lungtungpen1.htm.