HOW THE FIRST LETTER WAS WRITTEN by RUDYARD KIPLING
1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales
Jon Hagadorn
4.5 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 27 November 2022
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this delightful tale, which is one of Kipling's beloved "Just So Stories", a neolithic father and daughter are fishing far from their cave when he spear breaks and he turns all his attention toward fixing it. While he is occupied his daughter meets a native from another tribe who, due to her lack of fear and somewhat bossy nature, believes she must be a great chief's daughter.. Unable to understand her language, he hands her a piece of birchbark to show his heart is pure, and she misunderstands his intention, believing he his handing her a means by which she can communicate. She proceeds to draw a map back to her cave where he can find her mother who will provide a replacement spear.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | And the Yeah, Come back everyone to one thousand one Classic Short Stories and Tales. |
| 0:33.4 | This is your host, John Hagenhorn. |
| 0:35.8 | Today, how the first letter was written, |
| 0:38.8 | A Tall Tale by Rudyard Kipling |
| 0:41.6 | from his very popular Just Soes stories written in |
| 0:44.8 | 1902. If any of you have ever wondered how and when the first letter was |
| 0:50.0 | written, this story explains it all. Once upon a most early time was a Neolithic man. |
| 0:58.0 | He was not a jute or an angle, or even a Dravidian, which he might well have been, best beloved. But never mind why. |
| 1:06.0 | He was a primitive and he lived cavely in a cave and he wore very few clothes and he couldn't read and he couldn't write and he didn't want to and except when he was hungry he was quite happy. |
| 1:20.0 | His name was Tegjiby Bopsulai. And that means man who does not put his foot forward in a hurry. |
| 1:27.0 | But we, O best beloved, will call him Tegumai, for short, and wife's name was Téchemy Tewindro and that means |
| 1:35.6 | lady who asks a very many questions but we oh best beloved will call her Teshymal for short. |
| 1:44.7 | And his little girl daughter's name was Taffymai, |
| 1:47.8 | metallamai, and that means small person without any manners who ought to be spanked. but I'm going to call her Taffy. |
| 1:55.6 | And she was Tegumy's best beloved and her own mummies best beloved, and she was not spanked |
| 2:01.5 | half as much as was good for her and they were all three very happy |
| 2:06.2 | As soon as Taffy could run about she went everywhere with her daddy Tegumai and |
| 2:10.3 | Sometimes they would not come home to the cave till they were hungry. |
| 2:14.0 | And then Teshyamy Tewindra would say, |
| 2:16.0 | Where in the world of you two been to, to get so shockingly dirty? |
| 2:21.0 | Really, my Teagymai, you're no better than my Taffy. Now attend and listen. One day, |
| 2:26.8 | Tegumai Bump July went down to the beaver swamp to the Wigai River to spear carpfish |
... |
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