The nature of the enemy is to go to earth and flood us with artillery
of large weight. When we were in the trenches it was a burden. When we
rested in the villages we found great ease. As to our food, it was like
a bunnia's marriage-feast. Everything given, nothing counted. Some of
us--especially among your cavalry--grew so fat that they were compelled
to wrestle to keep thin. This is because there was no marching.
The nature of the enemy is to commit shame upon women and children, and
to defile the shrines of his own faith with his own dung. It is done by
him as a drill. We believed till then they were some sort of caste
apart from the rest. We did not know they were outcaste. Now it is
established by the evidence of our senses. They attack on all fours
running like apes. They are specially careful for their faces. When
death is certain to them they offer gifts and repeat the number of
their children. They are very good single shots from cover.
It is the nature of the enemy to shower seductions from out of their
air-machines on our troops in the lines. They promised such as would
desert that they would become Rajahs among them. Some of the men went
over to see if this were true. No report came back. In this way we
cleaned out five bad characters from our Company exactly as it used to
be in the little wars on the Border. May the enemy be pleased with
them! No man of any caste disgraced our Regiment.
The nature of the enemy in this war is like the Nat [juggler] who is
compelled to climb a pole for his belly's sake. If he does not climb he
starves. If he stops he falls down. This is my thought concerning the
enemy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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