Kish

“ Evidence has already been cited which proves that Urumush was anterior to Shar-Gani-sharri and Narâm-Sin. In Manishtusu, therefore, we have another Semitic king under whom the city of Kish enjoyed the hegemony in Babylonia, which afterwards passed to Akkad. That the kingdom of Kish, under these two rulers, was not separated by a long interval from the empire of Akkad would seem to follow from the references to the latter city on Manishtusu's obelisk. ”

“ PORTION OF A BLACK BASALT MORTAR BEARING AN INSCRIPTION OF EANNATUM, PATESI OF SHIRPURLA.—Brit. Mus., No. 90832; photo, by Messrs. Mansell & Co.
It is interesting to note that Kish and the king of Kish represented the most dreaded enemies of Lagash, at least during a portion of the reign of Eannatum. For on a mortar of black basalt which is preserved in the British Museum, [34] Eannatum, after recording that he has dedicated it to Ninâ, "the Lady of the Holy [Pg 147] Mountain," prays that no man may damage it or carry it away; and he then adds the petition, "May the King of Kish not seize it!" ”

“ If we set this interval at one hundred and [Pg 65] fifty years, [16] we obtain for Narâm-Sin a date of 2600 B.C., and for Shar-Gani-Sharri one of 2650 B.C. For the later Semitic kings of Kish, headed by Sharru-Gi, one hundred years is not too much to allow; [17] we thus obtain for Sharru-Gi the approximate date of 2750 B.C. It is possible that Manishtusu, King of Kish, was the contemporary of Urukagina of Lagash, but the evidence in favour of the synchronism is not sufficiently strong to justify its acceptance. ”

“ Such an incident would have formed ample excuse for the invasion of the territory of Lagash by the injured party, though, according to the records of Eannatum himself and of Entemena, it would appear that the raid of the men of Umma was unprovoked. But, whatever may have been the immediate cause of the outbreak of hostilities, we shall see reason for believing that the war was ultimately due to the influence of Kish. ”

“ The asses of Kish - were lost - What a wonderful train of occurrences were connected in order to bring Saul to the throne of Israel! Every thing seems to go on according to the common course of events, and yet all conspired to favor the election of a man to the kingdom who certainly did not come there by the approbation of God.
Asses grow to great perfection in the East; and at this time, as there were no horses in Judea, they were very useful ”

“ We here learn the name of one of the enemies with whom Kish had to fight in the early stages of its existence as an independent city-state, and we may conjecture that many more such battles had to be fought and won before its influence was felt beyond the boundaries of Akkad by the Sumerian cities in the south. The fact that after his victory Utug deposited the vase at Nippur as a thank-offering proves that in his time the shrine of Enlil was already regarded as the central sanctuary of Babylonia. ”

“ And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go
ye every man unto his city.
09:009:001 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son
of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of
Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.
09:009:002 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
09:009:003 And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost. ”

“ She employed one Kishen-dâs, a pretended pilgrim to Juggernath, to carry them off in boats down the Ganges. Once on the river, Kishen steered, not for the sea, but for Calcutta. It is difficult to say whether the Governor and Council knew what they were harbouring, but the fact remains that the treasures sought and found British protection, one Omichand, a Hindu merchant, giving Kishen-dâs hospitality.
Surâj-ud-daula took the business very badly. He made a scene at his grandfather's death-bed, and accused the English of siding with the faction that was against his succession. ”

“ Mai Kishnu would say shortly to their remonstrances over the nasty substitute for the delicacy. "'Twas she forced me into giving your stomachsful of my best pickles to some dirty beast of a beggar in the street. God forgive me if he was a holy man, but he may have been a Mohammedan for all I know, and what good will that do to my soul?"
But despite the "crickets" and the examinations, despite the vague leavening of Western freethought, the boys fought shy of their Aunt Râdha, perhaps from the veil of uncertainty which their education was necessarily throwing over all things. ”

“ Hundreds of small birds fluttered out of the tall grass, disturbed by our approach, and flocks of wild ducks and geese now and then flew across the plain toward the marshes, and sea-gulls flapped their wings above us. We crossed the drifted sand hills, and cantered along the smooth sea-shore toward the Kishon. Men were standing on its banks, throwing large floating nets, assisted by boys in a little boat in the middle of the river. The fishes of the Kishon are rather small, but abundant, and delicate in flavor.
There were seven ships off Hâifa—Greek, French, and Turkish. ”

“ There are 682 Sunni Musalmans; the rest of the population of 3,480 are Hindus. The Brabmans and Baniáns are generally the followers of Vishnu, Chhattris and Káyaths of Shiva. There is a vernacular school in which 75 pupils are taught, and a weekly market, where the average sales arc Rs. 180. For history of the place, see pargana article, KISHNI–Pargana JAGDISPUR-Tahsil MUSÁFIRKHANA-District SULTAN- PUR.--Kishni is situated on the right bank of the river Gumti and occupies a high plateau, surrounded by ravines, which open on the river about 46 miles north-west of Sultanpur. ”

“ KIKI-THE-DEMURE
Close them tighter!
TOBY-DOG
But I'm afraid of hurting her—and my tongue, horrified, tastes the slimy mawkish stuff. I choke and spit, my poor face is convulsed and the end of this torture is long in coming.... You've seen me afterwards dragging myself around, melancholy, my head hanging, listening to the unwholesome glouglou the oil makes in my stomach. ...
KIKI-THE-DEMURE
Once when I was little She tried to give me castor oil. I scratched and bit her so, she never tried again. Ha! She must have thought she held the devil between her knees. ”

“ And I am a Sahib.”
“Friend of all the World,”—the lama looked directly at Kim—“I am an old man—pleased with shows as are children. To those who follow the Way there is neither black nor white, Hind nor Bhotiyal. We be all souls seeking escape. No matter what thy wisdom learned among Sahibs, when we come to my River thou wilt be freed from all illusion—at my side. Hai! My bones ache for that River, as they ached in the te-rain; but my spirit sits above my bones, waiting. ”

“ Think, Sahib, of where I should have been if my lamp had gone out. I thought of that myself. "Billy," I said, "you are a fool. You are running into danger like an ass that has no wit to keep out of it. Go back! Tell them at the camp what you have found, and bring the rajah and his men with you to search this place in the daylight." That would have been the wisest plan, Sahib. Why did I not take it? As I live I cannot tell you. Sometimes,' his voice dropped mysteriously, 'I have thought that it was not of my own will I went forward. The Sahib, being a wise man, will understand. ”

“ She drew a corner of her veil across her eyes and hid the suggestion of a smile under the semblance of tears. "A pious widow vowed to the sonless shrine of my ancestors."
The Kâzi's son drew a step nearer.
"Thou art too young and too well favoured for a religious. Every one says so," he began.
"The Lord looks not at beauty, Mir Sahib," retorted Suttu, gravely; "and 'tis well for some of us that it is so."
"A sharp weapon is no weapon against enemies, and thou hast enemies. My house would protect you. Think! I am the Kâzi's son." ”

“ Hereupon I told him my tale, and for proof, as we topped the hill, pointed out the little group round my car.
All supreme emotion is dumb. Kysh put on the brake and hugged me to his bosom till I groaned. Then, as I remember, he crooned like a mother returned to her suckling.
“Divine! Divine!” he murmured. “Command me.”
“Take charge of the situation,” I said. “You’ll find a Mr. Pyecroft on the quarter-deck. I’m altogether out of it.” ”

“ Kim heard tales of shots missed upon ibex, serow, or markhor, by Sahibs twenty years in their graves—every detail lighted from behind like twigs on tree-tops seen against lightning. They told him of their little diseases, and, more important, the diseases of their tiny, sure-footed cattle; of trips as far as Kotgarh, where the strange missionaries live, and beyond even to marvellous Simla, where the streets are paved with silver, and any one, look you, can get service with the Sahibs, who ride about in two-wheeled carts and spend money with a spade. ”

“ Death Smote at us in a slaughter-pen, and Kysh Was mute as Yabosh, though the goats were slain; And the Red Horse grazed nightly by the stream, And later, outward, towards the Unlighted Shrine, And those that heard him sickened where they lay. Then said Bisesa to the Priests at dusk, When the white mist rose up breast-high, and choked The voices in the houses of the dead: — “Yabosh and Kysh avail not. If the Horse Reach the Unlighted Shrine we surely die. Ye have forgotten of all Gods the Chief, Taman!” Here rolled the thunder through the Hills And Yabosh shook upon his pedestal. ”

“ But perhaps the Sahibs may chase us here. Then it would not be wrong to shoot them with their own guns, heh?'
'One is paid, I think, already,' said Kim between his teeth. 'I kicked him in the groin as we went down hill. Would I had killed him!'
'It is well to be brave when one does not live in Rampur,' said one whose hut lay within a few miles of the Rajah's rickety palace. 'If we get a bad name among the Sahibs, none will employ us as shikarris any more.'
'Oh, but these are not Angrezi Sahibs—not merry-minded men like Fostum Sahib or Yankling Sahib. ”

“ If my turn comes again, Sahib, I will not hang you nor cut your throat.'
'Thank you,' said the Subaltern gravely, as he looked along the line of guns that could pound the City to powder in half an hour. 'Let us go into our own quarters, Khem Singh. Come and talk with me after dinner.'
Khem Singh would sit on his own cushion at the Subaltern's feet, drinking heavy, scented anise-seed brandy in great gulps, and telling strange stories of Fort Amara, which had been a palace in the old days, of Begums and Ranees tortured to death—aye, in the very vaulted chamber that now served as a Mess-room ”

“ I am still of opinion, and so are many individuals much more experienced than myself, that if a passport could be obtained from the Russian Government, the Bible Society would do well in despatching an agent to Kiachta, to see what might be done at, or rather from, that place in the great cause. Kiachta is little more than 800 miles from Pekin, and not more than half that distance from Manjuria; he might therefore, trusting in the Lord, not unreasonably hope to be able to penetrate to the Tartar of the capital and the desert. ”

“ He rose to go, and as an afterthought asked: “Who is that angry-faced Sahib who lost the cheroot-case?”
“Oh, he is only Creighton Sahib—a very foolish Sahib, who is a Colonel Sahib without a regiment.”
“What is his business?”
“God knows. He is always buying horses which he cannot ride, and asking riddles about the works of God—such as plants and stones and the customs of people. The dealers call him the father of fools, because he is so easily cheated about a horse. Mahbub Ali says he is madder than most other Sahibs.”
“Oh!” said Kim, and departed. ”

“ Kim gathered the import of the next few sentences and began thus:
'Holy One, the thin fool who looks like a camel says that I am the son of a Sahib.'
'But how?'
'Oh, it is true. I knew it since my birth, but he could only find it out by rending the amulet from my neck and reading all the papers. He thinks that once a Sahib is always a Sahib, and between the two of them they purpose to keep me in this regiment or send me to a madrissah (a school) . I have always avoided that. The fat fool is of one mind and the camel-like one of another. ”

“ Kim nodded. “Good,” said he, “and who is Lurgan Sahib? Nay”—he caught Mahbub’s sword-keen glance—“indeed I have never heard his name. Is he by chance—he lowered his voice—“one of us?”
“What talk is this of us, Sahib?” Mahbub Ali returned, in the tone he used towards Europeans. “I am a Pathan; thou art a Sahib and the son of a Sahib. Lurgan Sahib has a shop among the European shops. All Simla knows it. Ask there ... and, Friend of all the World, he is one to be obeyed to the last wink of his eyelashes. Men say he does magic, but that should not touch thee. Go up the hill and ask. ”

“ Life as a Sahib was amusing so far; but he touched it with a very cautious hand. Then they marched him back in charge of a drummer-boy to empty, lime-washed barracks, whose floors were covered with rubbish and string and paper, and whose ceilings gave back his lonely footfall. Native fashion, he curled himself up on a stripped cot and went to sleep. An angry man stumped down the verandah, woke him up, and said he was a schoolmaster. This was enough for Kim, and he retired into his shell. ”