We and they

Father and Mother, and Me,
  Sister and Auntie say
All the people like us are We,
  And every one else is They.
And They live over the sea,
  While We live over the way,
But-would you believe it? --They look upon We
  As only a sort of They!

We eat pork and beef
  With cow-horn-handled knives.
They who gobble Their rice off a leaf,
  Are horrified out of Their lives;
While they who live up a tree,
  And feast on grubs and clay,
(Isn't it scandalous? ) look upon We
  As a simply disgusting They!

We shoot birds with a gun.
  They stick lions with spears.
Their full-dress is un-.
  We dress up to Our ears.
They like Their friends for tea.
  We like Our friends to stay;
And, after all that, They look upon We
  As an utterly ignorant They!

We eat kitcheny food.
  We have doors that latch.
They drink milk or blood,
  Under an open thatch.
We have Doctors to fee.
  They have Wizards to pay.
And (impudent heathen!) They look upon We
  As a quite impossible They!

All good people agree,
  And all good people say,
All nice people, like Us, are We
  And every one else is They:
But if you cross over the sea,
  Instead of over the way,
You may end by (think of it!) looking on We
  As only a sort of They!

da vida e da obra III

Rudyard Kipling

Nasceu em Bombaim e, aos quase 6 anos, foi deixado pelos pais em Inglaterra para ser educado. Seus pais não o informaram que voltariam para a Índia sem ele. Só voltaria a ver a mãe 6 anos mais tarde. Foi entregue aos cuidados de um casal que o maltratava. Chamou 'The House of Desolation' à casa de seus cuidadores. Na escola, onde o seu desempenho era pobre, era vítima de bullying. Cada noite era obrigado a relatar como tinha sido o seu dia na escola, e cada vez que o rapaz assustado e ensonado caía em contradição, era tratado como se estivesse a mentir e era maldosamente castigado. Kipling chamava a estes castigos, 'calculated torture'.
Traduzido livremente de "Solitude", de Anthony Storr