Rudyard Kipling | Lecturia

Rudyard Kipling: The Cat That Walked by Himself

“The Cat That Walked by Himself” is a short story by Rudyard Kipling, published in July 1902 in Ladies’ Home Journal. A long time ago, when all animals and humans were still wild, a woman decided to leave her nomadic life behind and build a home. Little by little, various animals approach her cave and seal pacts that make them domesticated. Only one of them remains apart: the proud and solitary cat watches from a distance and cunningly plots his own way of approaching the fire without giving up his independence.

Rudyard Kipling: The Mark of the Beast

“The Mark of the Beast,” a short story by Rudyard Kipling published in 1890, plunges into the depths of mysticism and cultural tensions in colonial India. The story recounts the experience of Fleete, an Englishman newly arrived in India, who, while under the influence of alcohol during a New Year’s Eve celebration, desecrates a temple of Hanuman, the monkey god. His disrespectful and mocking action towards the sacred provokes supernatural revenge when he is branded on the chest by a mysterious leper known as the Silver Man. As the mark on Fleete’s chest transforms, he changes alarmingly, displaying animalistic behaviors and appetites. His friends are then embroiled in a desperate attempt to understand and remedy his condition, facing the clash between Western rationality and the inexplicable forces of an ancient local faith.