the Mugger said . `` They do not think for others ; that is all . But I have noticed , lying at my station below the ford , that the stairs of the new bridge are cruelly hard to climb , both for old people and young children . The old , indeed , are not so worthy of consideration , but I am grieved -- I am truly grieved -- on account of the fat children . Still , I think , in a little while , when the newness of the bridge has worn away , we shall see my people 's bare brown legs bravely splashing through the ford as before . Then the old Mugger will be honoured again . '' `` But surely I saw Marigold wreaths floating off the edge of the Ghaut only this noon , '' said the Adjutant . Marigold wreaths are a sign of reverence all India over . `` An error -- an error . 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 XXXXX .
Adjutant Ghaut India Jackal Kasi Marigold Mugger Prayag newness sweetmeat-seller