How the Alphabet Was Made

by Rudyard Kipling

　　THE week after Taffimai Metallumai (we will still call her Taffy,Best Beloved) made that little mistake about her Daddy's spearand the Stranger-man and the picture-letter and all, she wentcarp-fishing again with her Daddy. Her Mummy wanted her to stayat home and help hang up hides to dry on the big drying-polesoutside their Neolithic Cave, but Taffy slipped away down to herDaddy quite early, and they fished. Presently she began togiggle, and her Daddy said, 'Don't be silly, child.''But wasn't it inciting!' said Taffy. 'Don't you remember how theHead Chief puffed out his cheeks, and how funny the niceStranger-man looked with the mud in his hair?''Well do I,' said Tegumai. 'I had to pay two deerskins--soft oneswith fringes--to the Stranger-man for the things we did to him.''We didn't do anything,' said Taffy. 'It was Mummy and the otherNeolithic ladies--and the mud.''We won't talk about that,' said her Daddy, 'Let's have lunch.'Taffy took a marrow-bone and sat mousy-quiet for ten wholeminutes, while her Daddy scratched on pieces of birch-bark with ashark's tooth. Then she said, 'Daddy, I've thinked of a secretsurprise. You make a noise--any sort of noise.''Ah!' said Tegumai. 'Will that do to begin with?''Yes,' said Taffy. 'You look just like a carp-fish with its mouthopen. Say it again, please.''Ah! ah! ah!' said her Daddy. 'Don't be rude, my daughter.''I'm not meaning rude, really and truly,' said Taffy. 'It's partof my secret-surprise-think. Do say ah, Daddy, and keep yourmouth open at the end, and lend me that tooth. I'm going to drawa carp-fish's mouth wide-open.''What for?' said her Daddy.'Don't you see?' said Taffy, scratching away on the bark. 'Thatwill be our little secret s'prise. When I draw a carp-fish withhis mouth open in the smoke at the back of our Cave--if Mummydoesn't mind--it will remind you of that ah-noise. Then we canplay that it was me jumped out of the dark and s'prised you withthat noise--same as I did in the beaver-swamp last winter.''Really?' said her Daddy, in the voice that grown-ups use whenthey are truly attending. 'Go on, Taffy.''Oh bother!' she said. 'I can't draw all of a carp-fish, but Ican draw something that means a carp-fish's mouth. Don't you knowhow they stand on their heads rooting in the mud? Well, here's apretence carp-fish (we can play that the rest of him is drawn).Here's just his mouth, and that means ah.' And she drew this.(1.)'That's not bad,' said Tegumai, and scratched on his own piece ofbark for himself; but you've forgotten the feeler that hangsacross his mouth.''But I can't draw, Daddy.''You needn't draw anything of him except just the opening of hismouth and the feeler across. Then we'll know he's a carp-fish,'cause the perches and trouts haven't got feelers. Look here,Taffy.' And he drew this. (2.)'Now I'll copy it.' said Taffy. 'Will you understand this whenyou see it?''Perfectly,' said her Daddy.And she drew this. (3.) 'And I'll be quite as s'prised when I seeit anywhere, as if you had jumped out from behind a tree and said'"Ah!"''Now, make another noise,' said Taffy, very proud.'Yah!' said her Daddy, very loud.'H'm,' said Taffy. 'That's a mixy noise. The end part isah-carp-fish-mouth; but what can we do about the front part? Yer-yer-yer and ah! Ya!''It's very like the carp-fish-mouth noise. Let's draw anotherbit of the carp-fish and join 'em,' said her Daddy. He was quiteincited too.'No. If they're joined, I'll forget. Draw it separate. Draw histail. If he's standing on his head the tail will come first.'Sides, I think I can draw tails easiest,' said Taffy.'A good notion,' said Tegumai. "Here's a carp-fish tail for theyer-noise.' And he drew this. (4.)'I'll try now,' said Taffy. ''Member I can't draw like you,Daddy. Will it do if I just draw the split part of the tail, andthe sticky-down line for where it joins?' And she drew this. (5.)Her Daddy nodded, and his eyes were shiny bright with 'citement.'That's beautiful,' she said. 'Now make another noise, Daddy.''Oh!' said her Daddy, very loud.'That's quite easy,' said Taffy. 'You make your mouth all aroundlike an egg or a stone. So an egg or a stone will do for that.''You can't always find eggs or stones. We'll have to scratch around something like one.' And he drew this. (6.)'My gracious!' said Taffy, 'what a lot of noise-pictures we'vemade,--carp-mouth, carp-tail, and egg! Now, make another noise,Daddy.''Ssh!' said her Daddy, and frowned to himself, but Taffy was tooincited to notice.'That's quite easy,' she said, scratching on the bark.'Eh, what?' said her Daddy. 'I meant I was thinking, and didn'twant to be disturbed.''It's a noise just the same. It's the noise a snake makes,Daddy, when it is thinking and doesn't want to be disturbed.Let's make the ssh-noise a snake. Will this do?' And she drewthis. (7.)'There,' she said. 'That's another s'prise-secret. When you drawa hissy-snake by the door of your little back-cave where you mendthe spears, I'll know you're thinking hard; and I'll come in mostmousy-quiet. And if you draw it on a tree by the river when youare fishing, I'll know you want me to walk most most mousy-quiet,so as not to shake the banks.''Perfectly true,' said Tegumai. And there's more in this gamethan you think. Taffy, dear, I've a notion that your Daddy'sdaughter has hit upon the finest thing that there ever was sincethe Tribe of Tegumai took to using shark's teeth instead offlints for their spear-heads. I believe we've found out the bigsecret of the world.''Why?' said Taffy, and her eyes shone too with incitement.'I'll show,' said her Daddy. 'What's water in the Tegumailanguage?''Ya, of course, and it means river too--like Wagai-ya--the Wagairiver.''What is bad water that gives you fever if you drinkit--black water--swamp-water?''Yo, of course.''Now look,' said her Daddy. 'S'pose you saw this scratched by theside of a pool in the beaver-swamp?' And he drew this. (8.)'Carp-tail and round egg. Two noises mixed! Yo, bad water,'said Taffy. ''Course I wouldn't drink that water because I'dknow you said it was bad.''But I needn't be near the water at all. I might be miles away,hunting, and still--''And still it would be just the same as if you stood there andsaid, "G'way, Taffy, or you'll get fever." All that in acarp-fish-tail and a round egg! O Daddy, we must tell Mummy,quick!' and Taffy danced all round him.'Not yet,' said Tegumai; 'not till we've gone a little further.Let's see. Yo is bad water, but So is food cooked on the fire,isn't it?' And he drew this. (9.)'Yes. Snake and egg,' said Taffy 'So that means dinner's ready.If you saw that scratched on a tree you'd know it was time tocome to the Cave. So'd I.''My Winkie!' said Tegumai. 'That's true too. But wait a minute.I see a difficulty. SO means "come and have dinner," but shomeans the drying-poles where we hang our hides.''Horrid old drying-poles!' said Taffy. 'I hate helping to hangheavy, hot, hairy hides on them. If you drew the snake and egg,and I thought it meant dinner, and I came in from the wood andfound that it meant I was to help Mummy hang the two hides on thedrying-poles, what would I do?''You'd be cross. So'd Mummy. We must make a new picture for sho.We must draw a spotty snake that hisses sh-sh, and we'll playthat the plain snake only hisses ssss.''I couldn't be sure how to put in the spots,' said Taffy. 'Andp'raps if you were in a hurry you might leave them out, and I'dthink it was so when it was sho, and then Mummy would catch mejust the same. No! I think we'd better draw a picture of thehorrid high drying-poles their very selves, and make quite sure.I'll put them in just after the hissy-snake. Look!' And shedrew this. (10.)'P'raps that's safest. It's very like our drying-poles, anyhow,'said her Daddy, laughing. 'Now I'll make a new noise with asnake and drying-pole sound in it. I'll say shi. That's Tegumaifor spear, Taffy.' And he laughed.'Don't make fun of me,' said Taffy, as she thought of herpicture-letter and the mud in the Stranger-man's hair. 'You drawit, Daddy.''We won't have beavers or hills this time, eh?' said her Daddy,'I'll just draw a straight line for my spear.' and he drew this.(11.)'Even Mummy couldn't mistake that for me being killed.''Please don't, Daddy. It makes me uncomfy. Do some more noises.We're getting on beautifully.''Er-hm!' said Tegumai, looking up. 'We'll say shu. That meanssky.'Taffy drew the snake and the drying-pole. Then she stopped. 'Wemust make a new picture for that end sound, mustn't we?''Shu-shu-u-u-u!' said her Daddy. 'Why, it's just like theround-egg-sound made thin.''Then s'pose we draw a thin round egg, and pretend it's a frogthat hasn't eaten anything for years.''N-no,' said her Daddy. 'If we drew that in a hurry we mightmistake it for the round egg itself. Shu-shu-shu! 'I tell youwhat we'll do. We'll open a little hole at the end of the roundegg to show how the O-noise runs out all thin, ooo-oo-oo. Likethis.' And he drew this. (12.)'Oh, that's lovely ! Much better than a thin frog. Go on,' saidTaffy, using her shark's tooth. Her Daddy went on drawing, andhis hand shook with incitement. He went on till he had drawnthis. (13.)'Don't look up, Taffy,' he said. 'Try if you can make out whatthat means in the Tegumai language. If you can, we've found theSecret.''Snake--pole--broken--egg--carp--tail and carp-mouth,' saidTaffy. 'Shu-ya. Sky-water (rain).' Just then a drop fell on herhand, for the day had clouded over. 'Why, Daddy, it's raining.Was that what you meant to tell me?''Of course,' said her Daddy. 'And I told it you without saying aword, didn't I?''Well, I think I would have known it in a minute, but thatraindrop made me quite sure. I'll always remember now. Shu-yameans rain, or "it is going to rain." Why, Daddy!' She gotup anddanced round him. 'S'pose you went out before I was awake, anddrawed shu-ya in the smoke on the wall, I'd know it was going torain and I'd take my beaver-skin hood. Wouldn't Mummy besurprised?'Tegumai got up and danced. (Daddies didn't mind doing thosethings in those days.) 'More than that! More than that!' he said.'S'pose I wanted to tell you it wasn't going to rain much and youmust come down to the river, what would we draw? Say the wordsin Tegumai-talk first.''Shu-ya-las, ya maru. (Sky-water ending. River come to.) what alot of new sounds! I don't see how we can draw them.''But I do--but I do!' said Tegumai. 'Just attend a minute, Taffy,and we won't do any more to-day. We've got shu-ya all right,haven't we? But this las is a teaser. La-la-la' and he waved hisshark-tooth.'There's the hissy-snake at the end and the carp-mouth before thesnake--as-as-as. We only want la-la,' said Taffy.'I know it, but we have to make la-la. And we're the first peoplein all the world who've ever tried to do it, Taffimai!''Well,' said Taffy, yawning, for she was rather tired. 'Lasmeans breaking or finishing as well as ending, doesn't it?''So it does,' said Tegumai. 'To-las means that there's no waterin the tank for Mummy to cook with--just when I'm going hunting,too.''And shi-las means that your spear is broken. If I'd only thoughtof that instead of drawing silly beaver pictures for theStranger!''La! La! La!' said Tegumai, waiving his stick and frowning. 'Ohbother!''I could have drawn shi quite easily,' Taffy went on. 'Then I'dhave drawn your spear all broken--this way!' And she drew. (14.)'The very thing,' said Tegumai. 'That's la all over. It isn'tlike any of the other marks either.' And he drew this. (15.)'Now for ya. Oh, we've done that before. Now for maru.Mum-mum-mum. Mum shuts one's mouth up, doesn't it? We'll draw ashut mouth like this.' And he drew. (16.)'Then the carp-mouth open. That makes Ma-ma-ma! But what aboutthis rrrrr-thing, Taffy?''It sounds all rough and edgy, like your shark-tooth saw whenyou're cutting out a plank for the canoe,' said Taffy.'You mean all sharp at the edges, like this?' said Tegumai. Andhe drew. (17.)''Xactly,' said Taffy. 'But we don't want all those teeth: onlyput two.''I'll only put in one,' said Tegumai. 'If this game of ours isgoing to be what I think it will, the easier we make our sound-pictures the better for everybody.' And he drew. (18.)'Now, we've got it,' said Tegumai, standing on one leg. 'I'lldraw 'em all in a string like fish.''Hadn't we better put a little bit of stick or something betweeneach word, so's they won't rub up against each other and jostle,same as if they were carps?''Oh, I'll leave a space for that,' said her Daddy. And veryincitedly he drew them all without stopping, on a big new bit ofbirch-bark. (19.)'Shu-ya-las ya-maru,' said Taffy, reading it out sound by sound.'That's enough for to-day,' said Tegumai. 'Besides, you'regetting tired, Taffy. Never mind, dear. We'll finish it all to-morrow, and then we'll be remembered for years and years afterthe biggest trees you can see are all chopped up for firewood.'So they went home, and all that evening Tegumai sat on one sideof the fire and Taffy on the other, drawing ya's and yo's andshu's and shi's in the smoke on the wall and giggling togethertill her Mummy said, 'Really, Tegumai, you're worse than myTaffy.''Please don't mind,' said Taffy. 'It's only oursecret-s'prise, Mummy dear, and we'll tell you all about it thevery minute it's done; but please don't ask me what it is now, orelse I'll have to tell.'So her Mummy most carefully didn't; and bright and early nextmorning Tegumai went down to the river to think about new soundpictures, and when Taffy got up she saw Ya-las (water is endingor running out) chalked on the side of the big stone water-tank,outside the Cave.'Um,' said Taffy. 'These picture-sounds are rather a bother!Daddy's just as good as come here himself and told me to get morewater for Mummy to cook with.' She went to the spring at the backof the house and filled the tank from a bark bucket, and then sheran down to the river and pulled her Daddy's left ear--the onethat belonged to her to pull when she was good.'Now come along and we'll draw all the left-over sound-pictures,'said her Daddy, and they had a most inciting day of it, and abeautiful lunch in the middle, and two games of romps. When theycame to T, Taffy said that as her name, and her Daddy's, and herMummy's all began with that sound, they should draw a sort of familygroup of themselves holding hands. That was all very well to drawonce or twice; but when it came to drawing it six or seventimes, Taffy and Tegumai drew it scratchier and scratchier, tillat last the T-sound was only a thin long Tegumai with his armsout to hold Taffy and Teshumai. You can see from these threepictures partly how it happened. (20, 21, 22.)Many of the other pictures were much too beautiful to begin with,especially before lunch, but as they were drawn over and overagain on birch-bark, they became plainer and easier, till at lasteven Tegumai said he could find no fault with them. They turnedthe hissy-snake the other way round for the Z-sound, to show itwas hissing backwards in a soft and gentle way (23); and theyjust made a twiddle for E, because it came into the pictures sooften (24); and they drew pictures of the sacred Beaver of theTegumais for the B-sound (25, 26, 27, 28); and because it was anasty, nosy noise, they just drew noses for the N-sound, tillthey were tired (29); and they drew a picture of the big lake-pike'smouth for the greedy Ga-sound (30); and they drew the pike's mouthagain with a spear behind it for the scratchy, hurty Ka-sound (31);and they drew pictures of a little bit of the winding Wagai riverfor the nice windy-windy Wa-sound (32, 33); and so on and so forthand so following till they had done and drawn all the sound-picturesthat they wanted, and there was the Alphabet, all complete.And after thousands and thousands and thousands of years, andafter Hieroglyphics and Demotics, and Nilotics, and Cryptics, andCufics, and Runics, and Dorics, and Ionics, and all sorts ofother ricks and tricks (because the Woons, and the Neguses, andthe Akhoonds, and the Repositories of Tradition would never leavea good thing alone when they saw it), the fine old easy,understandable Alphabet--A, B, C, D, E, and the rest of 'em--gotback into its proper shape again for all Best Beloveds to learnwhen they are old enough.But I remember Tegumai Bopsulai, and Taffimai Metallumai andTeshumai Tewindrow, her dear Mummy, and all the days gone by. Andit was so--just so--a little time ago--on the banks of the bigWagai! OF all the Tribe of Tegumai Who cut that figure, none remain,-- On Merrow Down the cuckoos cry The silence and the sun remain. But as the faithful years return And hearts unwounded sing again, Comes Taffy dancing through the fern To lead the Surrey spring again. Her brows are bound with bracken-fronds, And golden elf-locks fly above; Her eyes are bright as diamonds And bluer than the skies above. In mocassins and deer-skin cloak, Unfearing, free and fair she flits, And lights her little damp-wood smoke To show her Daddy where she flits. For far--oh, very far behind, So far she cannot call to him, Comes Tegumai alone to find The daughter that was all to him.