THE JEWELLER’S WINDOW

Press, Volume C, Issue 29608, 2 September 1961, Page 8

THE JEWELLER’S WINDOW

[Specially written for ''The Press” by ARNOLD WALL] pROFESSOR Arnold Wall, in the present series of articles, discusses the origin of many familiar expressions and phrases, some of them dating front the time of World War I, or even well before then. He wishes to make it clear that he cannot undertake to reply personally to readers who muv comment on any of them. This article is the fifth of the scries.

Unique Chance Missed October 23, 1932, I spent in Delhi and in the morning visited the famous Ridge where, during the Mutiny, a small British force held out under heroic circumstances. If I had gone in the afternoon I should have seen something even more interesting than that place of pilgrimage. Next day’s paper reported this incident. A party of tourists were being shown round the Ridge when they came upon a mongoose fighting a cobra, and all stood by to watch.

Such combats are not uncommon and I have seen one on a film—but this one was, as far as I knew, unique. The cobra was killed— but the little beast was so tightly bound up in the snake's coils that he could not break free. While he struggled in vain his mate appeared from nearby cover, pounced upon the snake’s body and bit it through here and there and in fact cut it to pieces and so released her little husband. Many a naturalist, like myself, would have given a year’s earnings to see that miniature drama, and I missed it by two or three hours.