Kim felt all the European 's lust for flesh-meat , which is not accessible in a Jain temple . Yet , instead of going out at once with the begging-bowl , he stayed his stomach on slabs of cold rice till the full dawn . It brought the farmer , voluble , stuttering with gratitude . ` In the night the fever broke and the sweat came , ' he cried . ` Feel here -- his skin is fresh and new ! He esteemed the salt lozenges , and took milk with greed . ' He drew the cloth from the child 's face , and it smiled sleepily at Kim . A little knot of Jain priests , silent but all-observant , gathered by the temple door . They knew , and Kim knew that they knew , how the old lama had met his disciple . Being courteous folk , they had not obtruded themselves overnight by presence , word , or gesture . Wherefore Kim repaid them as the sun rose . ` Thank the Gods of the Jains , brother , ' he said , not knowing how those Gods were named . ` The fever is indeed broken . ' ` Look ! See ! ' The lama beamed in the background upon his hosts of three years . ` Was there ever such a chela ? He follows our Lord the Healer . ' Now the Jains officially recognize all the Gods of the Hindu creed , as well as the Lingam and the Snake . They wear the Brahminical thread ; they adhere to every claim of Hindu caste-law .
But , because they knew and loved the XXXXX , because he was an old man , because he sought the Way , because he was their guest , and because he collogued long of nights with the head-priest -- as free-thinking a metaphysician as ever split one hair into seventy -- they murmured assent .
Brahminical Hindu Jains Lingam begging-bowl chela lama night slabs years