It was the wife of the sweetmeat-seller . She loses her eyesight year by year , and can not tell a log from me -- the Mugger of the Ghaut . I saw the mistake when she threw the garland , for I was lying at the very foot of the Ghaut , and had she taken another step I might have shown her some little difference . Yet she meant well , and we must consider the spirit of the offering . '' `` What good are marigold wreaths when one is on the rubbish-heap ? '' said the Jackal , hunting for fleas , but keeping one wary eye on his Protector of the Poor . `` True , but they have not yet begun to make the rubbish-heap that shall carry ME . Five times have I seen the river draw back from the village and make new land at the foot of the street . Five times have I seen the village rebuilt on the banks , and I shall see it built yet five times more . I am no faithless , fish-hunting Gavial , I , at Kasi to-day and Prayag to-morrow , as the saying is , but the true and constant watcher of the ford . It is not for nothing , child , that the village bears my name , and ` he who watches long , ' as the saying is , ` shall at last have his reward . ' '' '' I have watched long -- very long -- nearly all my life , and my reward has been bites and blows , '' said the Jackal . `` Ho ! ho ! ho ! '' roared the Adjutant . `` In August was the Jackal born ; The Rains fell in September ; ` Now such a fearful flood as this , ' Says he , ' I ca n't remember ! ' '' There is one very unpleasant peculiarity about the Adjutant . At uncertain times he suffers from acute attacks of the fidgets or cramp in his legs , and though he is more virtuous to behold than any of the cranes , who are all immensely respectable , he flies off into wild , cripple-stilt war-dances , half opening his wings and bobbing his bald head up and down ; while for reasons best known to himself he is very careful to time his worst attacks with his nastiest remarks . At the last word of his song he came to attention again , ten times adjutaunter than before .
The XXXXX winced , though he was full three seasons old , but you can not resent an insult from a person with a beak a yard long , and the power of driving it like a javelin .
Adjutant Ghaut Jackal Kasi Prayag attacks fidgets flood ho war-dances