Landsbydrengen "Pip", der er opdraget hos sin svoger, grovsmeden Joe, modtager som ung en anonym pengeunderstøttelse, der sætter ham i stand til at leve i lediggang i London, indtil pengene slipper op, og han vender tilbage til ærligt arbejde i landsbyen.
First published in 1888, Plain Tales from the Hills was Kipling's first volume of prose fiction. Most of the stories it includes had already appeared in the Civil and Military Gazette they were written before he reached the age of 22; and they show a remarkably precocious literary talent. His vignettes of life in Brittish India a hundred years ago give vivid insight into Anglo-India at work and play, into a barrack-room life, and into the character of Indians themselves.