From behind the shaking curtains came one volley of invective . It did not last long , but in kind and quality , in blistering , biting appropriateness , it was beyond anything that even Kim had heard . He could see the carter 's bare chest collapse with amazement , as the man salaamed reverently to the voice , leaped from the pole , and helped the escort haul their volcano on to the main road . Here the voice told him truthfully what sort of wife he had wedded , and what she was doing in his absence . ` Oh , shabash ! ' murmured Kim , unable to contain himself , as the man slunk away . ` Well done , indeed ? It is a shame and a scandal that a poor woman may not go to make prayer to her Gods except she be jostled and insulted by all the refuse of Hindustan -- that she must eat gali -LSB- abuse -RSB- as men eat ghi . But I have yet a wag left to my tongue -- a word or two well spoken that serves the occasion . And still am I without my tobacco ! Who is the one-eyed and luckless son of shame that has not yet prepared my pipe ? ' It was hastily thrust in by a hillman , and a trickle of thick smoke from each corner of the curtains showed that peace was restored . If Kim had walked proudly the day before , disciple of a holy man , today he paced with tenfold pride in the train of a semi-royal procession , with a recognized place under the patronage of an old lady of charming manners and infinite resource . The escort , their heads tied up native-fashion , fell in on either side the cart , shuffling enormous clouds of dust . The lama and Kim walked a little to one side ; Kim chewing his stick of sugarcane , and making way for no one under the status of a priest . They could hear the old lady 's tongue clack as steadily as a rice-husker . She bade the escort tell her what was going on on the road ; and so soon as they were clear of the parao she flung back the curtains and peered out , her veil a third across her face . Her men did not eye her directly when she addressed them , and thus the proprieties were more or less observed . A dark , sallowish District Superintendent of Police , faultlessly uniformed , an Englishman , trotted by on a tired horse , and , seeing from her retinue what manner of person she was , chaffed her . ' O mother , ' he cried , ` do they do this in the zenanas ?
Suppose an XXXXX came by and saw that thou hast no nose ? '
Englishman Hindustan gali ghi invective lama proprieties sugarcane tobacco zenanas