After getting to know an old tramp back in the nineteen seventies, I decided to write the following story…
~~~
Dhobi
I walked into the autopsy room at the beginning of the day to find a body awaiting my undivided attention which had been found in the woods above the neighbouring village where I grew up. I was equally shocked and saddened. It was my childhood friend Dhobi.
Back then most of the kids in our village were merciless towards him, throwing stones, shouting obscenities. None of them knew the simple gentle man hidden beneath the grime the way I did.
I was the only kid who didn’t pick on him. There was something very special about this loner who had shunned society for the woods. Never once did I wonder why he lived the way he did, nor did he ever offer an explanation. Dhobi was a man of few words. He taught me how to live off the land by showing me how to make snares, what plants and fungi were edible and those that were not, and what were best for simple medicinal uses – the extent of his knowledge was endless.
He was nicknamed Dhobi (a British military slang term for washing clothes) for as long as he could remember. The reason was simply because he hated to wash. To keep out the ravages of the elements, he wore all the clothes he possessed beneath his tattered ex army greatcoat.
No one knew where he came from; or cared much come to that. I often asked him, but he merely ignored me. Most parents in our village wanted him arrested, assuming the worst about him and fearing that he was some kind of perverted weirdo. If my parents had ever found out about my childhood friendship with this solitary man they would have been horrified! I used to walk up the hill from my home in the village every couple of days with my pockets and school satchel stuffed with food stolen from my mother’s larder for him.
Dhobi’s natural gentleness was apparent to anyone if only they would have spent time in his wonderful company. Mice lived in his pockets. Hedgehogs curled up in the folds of his old army greatcoat around his legs as the sun disappeared beneath the western horizon until it was time for them to hunt for food. He never ever trapped an animal to eat from his own patch in the woods, just in case he may eat a friend of his by mistake.
Each spring a fresh Cock Robin appeared in Dhobi’s camp and spent its time in the evenings on his shoulder meticulously pecking mites from his hair and beard. Obviously the respect this gentle man had for all wildlife was passed down through each generation of the creatures he loved. On one occasion I watched totally spellbound as a Sparrow Hawk brought Dhobi a gift of wildfowl.
Dhobi’s greatest friend was an old battle scarred, one-eyed fox that lived with him, keeping him company and sharing the warmth of his constant campfire, while at night sleeping at Dhobi’s feet beneath the rough leanto that was Dhobi’s bedroom, lounge and kitchen. Sparrows nested in the bracken that covered the leanto, knowing their young were completely safe.
As I began carefully removing his clothing I found among the few personal possessions he had about him, a faded newspaper cutting from the nineteen fifties showing a photograph of him in uniform with a few lines beneath it explaining the photo and giving his real name.
On his chest I could see his row of medals. The first in the line was the Victoria Cross, won for an act of total selflessness in the heat of battle when he rescued his comrades one by one while under constant machine gun fire on a nondescript long forgotten hill in the Korean peninsula.
Whatever happened to him to make him retreat from the world of humanity into the natural world? Maybe Dhobi and his mates fought for a hill too far. No one would ever know for certain. No one would care except for me.
After conducting a thorough autopsy, determining that he had simply expired due to natural circumstances, brought on by his lifestyle, I had him cremated then took his ashes back to his campsite in the woods he loved so much, where I silently scattered them witnessed by the creatures who called him their friend and protector.
Rest in peace Corporal Phillip “Dhobi” Anderson VC…
😉
Very poignant Jack.
Hugs
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There is a lesson in this tale for us all David – never judge people by the way they look, or indeed in any other way…
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Good tale.
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Inspiring story, Jack! Some gifted, sensitive kids connect with people in a much different way than others. They see beyond the surface appearance! 💛 Christine
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Glad you liked it Christine 😉 x
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Old Dhobi sounds like a lovely man. A wonderful, sad tale.
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The character in this story isn’t real AJ. Merely an example of the thousands of service personnel who returned home broken, of which I am one…
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Yeah, I gathered he is fictional, and I enjoyed reading about him and speculating on his past.
I’m sorry to hear that, I hope all is well with you. At least you can still delight us with a story or two.
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Writing is what keeps me sane 🙂
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Wonderful story, Jack. Tugged on my heart strings.
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😉
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Reblogged this on Have We Had Help? and commented:
I knew someone like Dhobi, salt of the earth…
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Such a beautiful tale and few could see him for who he truly was. I believe I would have visited him as well. “Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise.”
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We often tend to make assumptions based on race, creed, colour, or in this instance – appearance…
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And as your story proves, we miss so much. Thank you Jack. xx
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Reblogged this on poetry, photos and musings oh my! and commented:
“Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise.”
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I particularly liked the ending, very fitting.
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