This 1912 image by J M Gleeson illustrates Kipling’s How the first letter was written. Tegumai Bopsulai, a neolithic man, lived in a cave with his wife Teshumai Tewindrow and their daughter Taffy. One day he and Taffy went to the Wagai river to catch fish. He accidentally broke his fishing-spear. He started to mend it, having left his other spear at home. A stranger came along who did not speak their language. Taffy asked him to take a message to her mother and bring Tegumai’s other spear. The stranger gave her a piece of birch bark to show his good intent. She thought he meant her to draw her
Image details
Contributor:
Ivy Close Images / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2JFP42TFile size:
53.6 MB (4 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
3660 x 5117 px | 31 x 43.3 cm | 12.2 x 17.1 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
14 May 2022More information:
This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
This 1912 image by J M Gleeson illustrates Kipling’s How the first letter was written. Tegumai Bopsulai, a neolithic man, lived in a cave with his wife Teshumai Tewindrow and their daughter Taffy. One day he and Taffy went to the Wagai river to catch fish. He accidentally broke his fishing-spear. He started to mend it, having left his other spear at home. A stranger came along who did not speak their language. Taffy asked him to take a message to her mother and bring Tegumai’s other spear. The stranger gave her a piece of birch bark to show his good intent. She thought he meant her to draw her message on it, since she could not write. With a shark’s tooth from her necklace, she drew her father, a broken spear, herself and the man, also a swamp full of beavers on the way to their cave. The stranger believed her shark’s tooth was magic and that her father, who was concentrating on his task, was a great chief, in danger from his enemies (the beavers). The stranger found the cave, where Teshumai had invited some neolithic ladies to lunch. On seeing Taffy’s picture, she thought it meant that the stranger had attacked Tegumai, terrified Taffy and drawn their picture in triumph. So she and her friends knocked him down, sat on him and beat drums to summon the whole tribe. The stranger led them all to the river, where Taffy had to explain what her picture really meant, and an angry scene ended in laughter. The stranger was then adopted into the tribe. Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1936) was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. Kipling's works of fiction include the Jungle Book dilogy, Kim, the Just So Stories (published 1902) and many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King. Joseph Michael Gleeson (1861-1917) was an American painter and illustrator.