` And so thou art not frightened at anything . Eh , Prince ? ' ' I was frightened because my father was frightened . I felt his arms shake . ' ` Oh , chicken-man ! ' said Kim , and even the abashed Jat laughed . ' I have done a healing on this poor trader . He must forsake his gains and his account-books , and sit by the wayside three nights to overcome the malignity of his enemies . The Stars are against him . ' ` The fewer money-lenders the better , say I ; but , Saddhu or no Saddhu , he should pay for my stuff on his shoulders . ' ` So ? But that is thy child on thy shoulder -- given over to the burning-ghat not two days ago . There remains one thing more . I did this charm in thy presence because need was great . I changed his shape and his soul . None the less , if , by any chance , O man from Jullundur , thou rememberest what thou hast seen , either among the elders sitting under the village tree , or in thine own house , or in company of thy priest when he blesses thy cattle , a murrain will come among the buffaloes , and a fire in thy thatch , and rats in the corn-bins , and the curse of our Gods upon thy fields that they may be barren before thy feet and after thy ploughshare . ' This was part of an old curse picked up from a fakir by the Taksali Gate in the days of Kim 's innocence . It lost nothing by repetition . ` Cease , Holy One ! In mercy , cease ! '
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Jat Jullundur Kim Prince Saddhu burning-ghat corn-bins money-lenders ploughshare thatch