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| IT was an artless Bandar 1 and he danced upon a pine, | |
| And much I wondered how he lived, and where the beast might dine, | |
| And many many other things, till, o’er my morning smoke, | |
| I slept the sleep of idleness and dreamt that Bandar spoke. | |
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| He said:—“O man of many clothes! Sad crawler on the Hills! | 5 |
| “Observe, I know not Ranken’s shop, nor Ranken’s monthly bills! | |
| “I take no heed to trousers or the coats that you call dress; | |
| “Nor am I plagued with little cards for little drinks at Mess. | |
| |
| “I steal the bunnia’s grain at morn, at noon and eventide | |
| “(For he is fat and I am spare), I roam the mountain-side, | 10 |
| “I follow no man’s carriage, and no, never in my life | |
| “Have I flirted at Peliti’s with another Bandar’s wife. | |
| |
| “O man of futile fopperies—unnecessary wraps; | |
| “I own no ponies in the hills, I drive no tallwheeled traps, | |
| “I buy me not twelve-button gloves, ‘short-sixes’ eke, or rings, | 15 |
| “Nor do I waste at Hamilton’s my wealth on ‘pretty things.’ | |
| |
| “I quarrel with my wife at home, we never fight abroad; | |
| “But Mrs. B. has grasped the fact I am her only lord. | |
| “I never heard of fever—dumps nor debts depress my soul; | |
| “And I pity and despise you!” Here he pouched my breakfast-roll. | 20 |
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| His hide was very mangey and his face was very red, | |
| And ever and anon he scratched with energy his head. | |
| His manners were not always nice, but how my spirit cried | |
| To be an artless Bandar loose upon the mountain-side! | |
| |
| So I answered:—“Gentle Bandar, an inscrutable Decree, | 25 |
| “Makes thee a gleesome fleasome Thou, and me a wretched Me. | |
| “Go! Depart in peace, my brother, to thy home amid the pine; | |
| “Yet forget not once a mortal wished to change his lot with thine.” | |
