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“Civility is All That Counts”

S.J Duncan’s short story “Civility is All That Counts” was first published in Khasi as “Ka
Akor Kaba lam” in Phuit! Ka Sabuit! in 1968 and has been translated into English by
Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih. The translated text was published by Katha in 2003 in The
Heart of the Matter. The narrative is a hilarious tongue-in-cheek comedy exploring the
transformation of the honest, simple Father of Bor into a nasty, suspicious character and how he
subsequently regains his lost faith in his fellow being. Regarding the narrative technique, there is
no inverted comma; the writer is taking liberty in grammar and punctuation to create an
atmosphere. What is striking is that it is a humourous story of a man trying to sell his second-
hand jeep. Immediate contact is established with the reader as the narrator is the protagonist
himself. The language used is typical Khasi English which is prevalent amongst the illiterate.

In this narrative, a man tendered his jeep for sale and certain people came to ask about his
jeep. The protagonist, Father of Bor makes a fool of himself and his customers cheat him several
times. His first customer, Haripod stole his rear wheel, his second customer, Holira used his jeep
to catch the Guwahati bus and the third customer, Dadakhwandew bargain him at a very low
price making complaints about the condition of the jeep which also reflects the illiterate Khasi
English and the language the author used adds to the poignancy of the narrative:

Inside engine gone bad, piston must change, carbetar also must change, kalatch
also gone bad, birake also not working. I give one thousand one hundred…(17)

The fourth customer wants to buy the jeep but he loses his trust as he has been swindled
by his earlier customers. As soon as Bah Horshan came, he fired questions at him:

Who are you, where are you from, have you come to buy the jeep… I want five
thousand for the jeep, I declared, but you, how much will you offer, five hundred?
I asked, giving the tip of my tongue another bite for I suddenly remembered that
potbelly.((19)

This outburst offended Bah Horshan but before he leaves, the protagonist’s wife came to the
rescue. She sold the jeep with the price he asked for. When Father of Bor asks Mother of Bor
how she could manage, she simply replies:
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Civility is all that counts, it pays its own price … When you take anything out of a
person’s hand, you must do it graciously. (22)

The narrative is unconventional and untraditional and there are elements of stream of
consciousness. This is depicted when Father of Bor tries to sell his jeep for the fourth time:

But I kept seeing visions of Haripod, Holira and Dadakhwandew. Those churlish,
hoggish swindlers had made me so suspicious and ill humoured that I could not
even be civil to Bah Horshon. (20)

At this point, transformation of a man takes place and he is turning into suspicious and paranoid
man. As the protagonist is very frustrated in his encounter with his customers, he does not know
which one to trust and which one to distrust. So, when a good man tries to but the jeep, he
questions him uncivilly. Moreover, he bit the tip of his tongue, his left hand gave the left ear a
hard pinch and stuck out his tongue at him believing that he will not be swindled by doing it.
Father of Bor is not angry with Horshon, but to those who had cheated him. However, his
frustration falls upon him.

Conclusively, this short story depicted that politeness is all that counts and the title is
very appropriate. Since Father of Bor treats Horshan uncivilly, he is about to leave but the
politeness of his wife saves them both and ultimately the jeep is sold with the price Father of Bor
asks for. In this way, he regains his lost faith in his fellow being.