Short Fiction · Chapter
The Flying Man explained
An ethnologist interviews a lieutenant about a local legend of a flying man.
What happens
An ethnologist interviews a lieutenant about a local legend of a flying man. The lieutenant recounts a military expedition during the Lushai campaign where his unit was ambushed and forced to retreat. Trapped on a cliff ledge, he improvised a parachute from a tent and jumped, surviving the fall and inadvertently creating the myth of a flying man among the local Chin people.
Themes in this chapter
War and Civilization
The chapter depicts a colonial military expedition, ambush, and retreat, highlighting the brutality and absurdity of war.
Artifice vs. Authenticity
The lieutenant's improvised parachute jump creates a false legend of a flying man, contrasting the real event with the mythical story told by the locals.
Characters to notice
- Hooker
One of the Derbyshire men in the lieutenant's expedition; he shoots a Chin at long range.
- Winter Wedderburn
Mentioned as 'Winter' in the camp where the lieutenant reported after his escape.
Key passages
“The Ethnologist looked at the bhimraj feather thoughtfully. 'They seemed loth to part with it,' he said. 'It is sacred to the Chiefs,' said the lieutenant; 'just as yellow silk, you know, is sacred to the Chinese Emperor.'”
The ethnologist examines a feather, noting the locals' reluctance to give it up. The lieutenant explains its sacred status among chiefs, comparing it to yellow silk's significance to the Chinese emperor.
Opens the chapter with cultural exchange and the lieutenant's casual explanation of local customs.
“I’m not a Xenophon to spin much of a yarn about my retreating army.”
The lieutenant admits he is not a great storyteller like Xenophon, downplaying his account of the retreat.
The lieutenant uses a classical reference to modestly frame his narrative.
“The thing filled with air like a sail, but at the edge I will confess I funked and pulled up.”
The improvised parachute inflated like a sail, but the lieutenant hesitated at the cliff edge and stopped.
Describes the moment of fear before the jump, showing the lieutenant's human vulnerability.
“You have heard what kind of a yarn the Chins made of it. Wings as long as a mule, eh?—And black feathers! The gay lieutenant bird!”
The lieutenant laughs at how the Chin people transformed his jump into a legend of a bird-like flying man with black wings.
Highlights the theme of artifice vs. authenticity, as the real event becomes a mythical story.