Little Anklebone sat by the milken pond, and piped away

John Lockwood Kipling (1837-1911)

1894

Illustration for "Little Anklebone" in Tales of the Punjab: Told by the People, facing p.120.

This lovely illustration, which is also used as the frontispiece of the book, shows the beasts, birds and fish all listening entranced to the piping, and an old woman too pausing to listen. Actually, the boy had been eaten by a wolf, and this is just the magical mirage of his bone, which even a jealous king is unable to trap: "and there he sits still, and plays his shepherd's pipe" (123).

Scanned image and text by Jacqueline Banerjee.

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