Kingdom’s End and Other Stories SAADAT HASAN MANTO Translated from the Urdu ‘Khalid Hasan 199718 Kingdom's nd ‘When Bishan Singh was brought out and asked to give bis mame to that it could be record ina register he asked the oficial behind the desk: "Whereis Toba Tek Singh? In India or Pakitan?” “Pakistan, he answered with a vulgar laugh. Bishan Singh tried to run, but was overpowered by the Pakistan guards wo tied to push im aeros the diving line towards India, However, he woulda't move. “This is ‘Toba Tet Singh, he announced Uper he ur gure aoe ‘heb doa rung the dof Tabs Tek Singh and Poison” "Many ellos were mace to explain to him that Toba Tek Singh had already been moved Tria, o would be moved immediately, but it had no effect on Bishan Singh. The {guards even tied fore, but sn gave ep. "There he stood in no man’s land on his swollen legs like + acalossus. ‘Since he was a harmless ol man, na farther attempt was made to push him into India. He was allowed 10 stand ‘where he Wanted, while the exchange continued. The night “Just belore sunrise, Bishan Singh, the man who ad stood ‘on hit legs for teen years, screamed and as oficial from the two sides mashed towards him, he collapsed to the round “There, behind barbed wire, on one side, lay India and behind more barbed wire, on the eter sie, lay Pakistan. Tn between, on a bit of earth which hed no name, lay Toba ‘Tek Sing The Dog of Titwat ee “The soldiers ad heen entrenched in their postions for several weeks, but there was lil, i any, fighting, excep for the dezen rounds they ritually exchanged every day. The ‘weather wae extremely pleasant. The ai was heavy with the cent of wild flowers and nature seemed to be following its course, quite mind af the soldiers hiding behind rocks “and eamouflaged by mountain shrubbery. The binds sang fas they always bad and the flowers were in bloom. Bees ‘buzzed sbout lazily. ‘Only when a shot rang out, the beds got starled and took fight, as fa musician had struck a jarring note on his instrament. Ie was almost the end of September, neither hot nor oold seemed asf summer and winter had made the peace. In the blue skies, cotton clouds ated all day Barges on a lake “The soldiers seemed to be geting tired of this indecisive war where nothing much ever happened. Their positions ‘were quite impregnable, The two hills on which they were placed faced each other andl were about the sare height, so ho one side had an advantage, Down below in the valley, a ‘Stream zgaagged furiouly on its stony bed like a snake. "The ae force was not involved in th corabat and neither ‘ofthe adversaries had leary guns or mortars. At night, they ‘would light huge Sires and hear each others voies echoing through the bil »20 Kingdom's Bud “The ast round of aad Just Deen taken. The Are had gone cold The sky was clear and there was. chil in the air and a sharp, though not unpleasant, smell of pine cones ‘Most of the soldiers were already asleep, except Jamadar Hlarnam Singh, who was on night watch. At two olock, he woke up Ganda Singh to tae over. Then he lay down, but leep was afar away from his eyes as the star in the sy. ‘Me began to hum a Puna fll sone! Buy me. pair of shoes my lover ‘Air of shoes with stars on them Sell your bulla, f you have 19 But buy mea par of shoes ‘With star on thera 1K made him fel good and a bit seatimental. He woke up ‘he atbers one by one. Banta Singh, the youngest of the toldier, who hacl @ sweet voice, began to sng lovelom ‘verse from Her Ranjha, that timeless Punjabi epic of love find tragedy. A deep sainess fell over them. Even the grey hills seemed to have been affected by the melancholy ofthe sg ‘This mond wae shattered by the barking of dog Jamadar Harnam Singh sid, Where has thie son ofa bitch ‘materialized fom? “The dog barked again. He sounded closer. There was a rustle in the bushes. Banta Singh got up to investigate and fame back with an ordinary mongrel in tow; He was wag- fing his tal. "Tfound im behind the bushes and he told me his name was Jhun Jun, Banta Singh announced, Every= body burt out laughing, ‘The dog went to Harnam Singh who produced a cracker from his kitbag and threw it on the ground. The dog sniffed atic and was about ta eat, when Harnam Singh snatched itaway. -. Wait, you could be a Pakistani dog” “They laughed, Banta Singh patted the animal and said to The Dog of Titoat 21 ‘tarmam Singh, Jamadar sais, JJ a aie do “Drove your identity," Haram Singh ordered the dog, ‘who began to wag hi al “This ino proof of identity, All dogs can wag thei ails? Hammam Singh ssi "He is only a poor refuge,’ Banta Singh sad, playing ith is ail ‘Haram Singh threw the dog a cracker which he caught in mide ‘Even dogs will now have to decide if they are ian of Pakistan one ofthe soldiers observed, Hamam Singh produced another cracker from his tbag. And al Pakistanis, including dogs, vl be shot? ‘Asliee shouted, "Indl Zndabad” ‘The dg, who was about to munch his cracker, stopped ‘dead in his racks, put bis tal between his legs and looked ‘scared. Hamam Singh laughed. ‘Why ate you alsid of ‘your wa country? Here, Jum Jhun, have anther cracker” ‘The morning broke very suddenly, as if someone had switched on alight in a dar room, Tt spread across the ils And valleys of Teva, whichis whac the area was alld “The war had been going on for months, but nobody could be quite sure wh was winning it JJamadar Hamam Singh surveyed che area with bit binoculars, He could see smoke rising from the opposite hill, which meant dat, ike them, the enemy was busy preparing breakfast. ‘Subedar Himmat Khan of the Pakistan army gave bis hhuge moustache a twirl and began o study the map of the “Titwal sector, Nex o him sat his witeles operator who was toying to esablih eontact withthe platoon commander to fbiaininsractions, A few fect awny the solder Bashir sat fon the ground, his tack agaist a nock and his ie in front ‘fim, He was humming: ‘Where id you spend the night, my love, 3y mean? ‘Where did you spend the night?22 Kingdom's Bad joyng hel he Boga 4 sng ur oly, savoutng the words. Suddenly, he heard Sedan imma Khan sere, Where i eespend the nigh” ‘But this was ot sds o Basi twas dog be was shoutingat Head eome to them rm nowhere days 2c, stayed in he camp quite apply and then suddenly lnappeared las night However, he hed ow feared Hike Abad eon Bashir sie and began sing to the dog. Where did you spend the igh, where did you spend the nigh” Bat he only waged his a Subedar Hinmat Khar tne Pebble ath Al he cn do wag hia thet” “What as ie got around his eek Bashir asked, One of the solders reed the og ad und hs makes ope colar. Thee wan sol piece of tardboand Ged ove ‘Wha doesiesay? the sole, who could met ed, ashed Bashir stepped frei snd wit some difcallywas abe 10 decipher writing. ey Jas Jan” Subedar Hinmat Khan give hit fous moustache nother mighty til and sai, Peshape isa code Dost ty anything be, Basi? "Yessir, sas it iran Ladin dog. “What dees that mean? SubedatHinmat Khan asd “Peshpritiea sere Bshianowered soy, “fthereisa set tin thet word hun Jn anater sole vented na wie guess “You may have something there? Subedar Himmat Khan abe Dual Bashi ead the whole thing again, Jun Jhun ‘This isan Indian dog.’ Semana SubedarTimmt Khan picked up the wires et and spoke this pstown commander, roiding him wh Aftaed account ofthe dogs siden appearance in thet poson, his equal sudden dkapperance te night before Se bs reture that morning. "Whar are you talking abou” the platoon commander asked. The Dog of Taal 23 fave Ho Bashir. Now trie on Kf Gurmu, the Epa ee SSSR may anes ne granite h _fustamareee triers yea ce a a ie eed tea eo marapete tt sig nema2 Kingdom's En ‘who? Jamadar Harnara Singh asked “What was his ame? Thun Thun, the soldier answered “Whats he doing?” Hammam Singh asked. Just coming our way,” the soldier replied, peering ‘rough his binocular. ‘Subedar Hamam Singh snatched them ffom him. “That's him all sight and thete's something round his neck. But, wait, that's the Pakistani hill he's coming from, the motherfucker” He picked up his rll, simed and fired, The bullet hit some rocks close to where the dog was. He stopped, SSubedar Himmat Khan heard the report and looked though his binocular, The dog had turned round and was running back "The brave never un away fram bate Go orward and complete your mission he shouted at the dos "To seare him, he Bred in his general ditecion. Haram Singh fred at the same time. The bullet passed within inches of the dog, who leapt in the air, Napping his ers. Suibeiar Himmat Khan feel again, hitting some stones 1 soon became a game between the two soldier with the dog running round in cizcles in a sate of great teror. Both Himmat Khan and Hamam Singh were laughing Doisterousy. The dog began torun towards Harmam Singh, ‘who abused him loudly and fred. The bullet caught him in the leg. He yelped, timed sround and began to run towards Himmat Khan, only to meet more Ge, which was meant to seae hit. Bea brave boy, Iyou ae injured, lon’ et that stand between you and your duty. Go, 0,80, the Pakistani shouted ‘The dog turned. One of his legs was nov quite useless. ‘He began to drag himelf towarde Haram Singh, wha picked up hierife, aimed carefully and shot him des. Subedar Himmat Khan sighed, “The poor bugger has been martyred, "Jamadar Himmat Singh ran his hand over the sil-hot Dbvel of his ile and muttered, He died a dog's death” The Last Salute —“ “This Kashmir war Was @ very odd alr. Subedar Rab Nawae often fel aif is bran hal tured into rile with 2 Fale safety each, He had fought with disinction on many major fronts in the Second World War. He was respected by bot his Seniors and junios because of his intligence and valour Hie was always given the most dificult and dangerous assignments and he had never failed the trust placed in im, ‘But he had never been in a war like this one. He had ‘ome toi fll of enthusiasm and with the ite to ht and Tiquidste the enemy. However, the fist encounter had shown thatthe men armyedl aginst them on the ter side ‘were mostly old frends and comrades with whom he tad Touglt inthe old British Indian army against the Germans tnd the Taians. The frends of yesterday had been trans- formed into the enemies of today. ‘At times, the whole thing felt Lke a dream to Subedar [Rab Nawar. He could remember the day the Second Werk War was declared, He had enlisted immediately. They hd ‘been given some basi taining and then packed off to the front, He had been moved Irom one theatre of war to ‘another and, one day the war had ended. Then had come Pakistan and the new war be as now Sting. So much hhad happened in these las few years at such breakneck %