Page:Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads (1892).djvu/175

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GUNGA DIN

You may talk o’ gin and beer
When you’re quartered safe out ’ere,
An’ you’re sent to penny-fights an’ Aldershot it;
But when it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An’ you’ll lick the bloomin’ boots of ’im that’s got it,
Now in Injia’s sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time
A-servin’ of ’Er Majesty the Queen,
Of all them blackfaced crew
The finest man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din.
   He was ‘Din! Din! Din!
   You limping lump o’ brick-dust, Gunga Din!
   Hi! slippery hitherao!
   Water, get it! Panee lao![1]
   You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din.’

The uniform ’e wore
Was nothin’ much before,

  1. Bring water swiftly.