9th Mile Stone, Bagalagunte, Bangalore-560 073

Aff No: 830918

How the Camel got his Hump

Rudyard Kipling

About the Author

Rudyard Kipling, in full Joseph Rudyard Kipling, (born December 30, 1865, Bombay [now
Mumbai], India—died January 18, 1936, London, England), English short-story writer, poet,
and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, his tales and
poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. He received the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1907.

Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India, to a British family. When he was five years
old, he was taken to England to begin his education, where he suffered deep feelings of
abandonment and confusion after living a pampered lifestyle as a colonial. He returned to
India at the age of seventeen to work as a journalist and editor for the Civil and Military
Gazette in Lahore. Kipling published his first collection of verse, Departmental Ditties and
Other Verses, in 1886 and his first collection of stories, Plain Tales from the Hills, in 1888.

Story Narration

Introduction:
How the Camel got his Hump is a fable about a lazy camel. He would not work and would
just say ‘Humph!’ to everyone who asked him to work. The horse, the dog, and the ox went
to him to ask him to work. But he did not listen to them.

All three had to work double-time due to this. Thus, they decided to complain about the
camel to the Djinn of All Deserts. When the camel did not listen to the Djinn also, he
punished him by giving him a hump. With the help of this hump, a camel can now work for
three days without even eating or drinking.

About the Characters:

Camel: The camel in described as a grumpy and idle creature. He does not want to work. He
liked sitting idle which is why he ate prickles, sticks and thorns.
Djinn: Djinn was the in charge of all deserts and knew about everything happening in
relation to his deserts. He warned and later punished the camel for not behaving properly.

Setting: The story is set in Arabia, when the world was new and camels did not have humps.
It was the time when the world had just begun.

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 9th Mile Stone, Bagalagunte, Bangalore-560 073
Aff No: 830918
Theme: The story brings out the theme of laziness effectively. The main idea here is to
understand the importance of hard work. Laziness will not lead us to success. In fact, by
avoiding work we will end up piling lot more than we can do.

In the beginning of time, when the world is new, there is a Camel. The Camel is very lazy
and he sits in the middle of the Howling Dessert, eating prickles and milkweeds. When
anyone speaks to the Camel he responds with, “Humph”.

On Monday, the Horse comes and asks the Camel to help trot. The Camel replies, “Humph”.
The Horse goes away and tells the Man. On Tuesday, the Dog comes and asks the Camel to
help fetch and carry. The Camel responds, “Humph”. The Dog goes away and tells the Man.
On Wednesday, the Ox comes and asks the Camel to help plough. The Camel states,
“Humph”. The Ox goes away and tells the Man. At the end of the day, the Man calls the
three animals together. The Man says that since the Camel will not work, they will have to
do extra work to make up for him. This makes the Three very angry, and they talk and
complain about the Camel.

In rolls a Djinn, the man in charge of all deserts, and he confers with the three. They ask if it
is all right for someone to be so lazy and not work. The Djinn, of course, says it is not.

The Djinn heads to the middle of the desert where the Camel is ogling his reflection. The
Djinn asks the Camel why he is not doing any work and the Camel responds, “Humph”. The
Djinn tells the Camel that since he has chosen not to work, he has given the three extra work.
The Camel says, “Humph”. The Djinn warns the Camel that if he says ‘humph’ again,
something bad may happen. As soon as the Camel responds with “humph” again, and a huge
hump grows on the back of the Camel!

The Djinn tells the Camel that is his very own hump, brought on by his selfishness and lack
of activity. The Djinn says the Camel has to work, and the Camel asks how can he work with
a giant hump on his back. The Djinn explains that the hump will hold enough fuel for him to
be able to work for three days without eating.

The Camel goes to join the Three, and from that day always has a hump. The Camel has yet
to catch up with the work he missed in the beginning of time, and he has not yet learned how
to behave.

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 9th Mile Stone, Bagalagunte, Bangalore-560 073
Aff No: 830918
Keywords

1. idleness : laziness
2. puffing up: growing bigger
3. hump: a round raised part on an animal’s back
4. saddle: a seat, usually made of leather, used on a horse
5. trot : gait of animals like horse
6. yoke : a wooden bar that is tied over the necks of two animals, especially cattle, and
connected to the vehicle or load that they are pulling
7. edge : the outside limit of an area
8. cud : partly digested food returned from the first stomach of ruminating animals to the
mouth for further chewing
9. ogling: to look at especially with greedy or interested attention

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