Poetry · Chapter
Jackal and Child explained
In Bengal, a jackal scavenges on carrion, but during the Sepoy Rebellion, an English Colonel and his wife leave their daughter at home, only for rebels to kidnap her.
What happens
In Bengal, a jackal scavenges on carrion, but during the Sepoy Rebellion, an English Colonel and his wife leave their daughter at home, only for rebels to kidnap her. The Colonel pursues them, and the rebels leave the child by a river to drown. A jackal, seeking water, carries the child off, intending to eat her. The Colonel chases the jackal, which drops the unharmed child and flees. The Colonel joyfully reunites the child with her mother.
Themes in this chapter
Moral Lessons and Domestic Virtue
The poem illustrates the virtue of parental courage and divine providence in rescuing a child from danger.
Characters to notice
- The Colonel
An English Colonel who rescues his daughter from a jackal after rebels kidnapped her.
- Jackal
A scavenger jackal that carries off the Colonel's daughter but drops her when chased.
Key passages
“Seapoys by the river side Left child to drown in rising tide, But Jackal went there for water, And spied the Colonel’s daughter.”
The rebels abandoned the child by the river to drown, but a jackal came to drink and noticed her.
The jackal's arrival inadvertently leads to the child's rescue.
“The coward beast then dropped the child And fled away in terror wild.”
The frightened jackal dropped the child and ran away in panic.
The jackal's cowardice results in the child being safely recovered.