He is the Friend of the Stars ! ' ` At least it does not concern us , ' a man cried . ' O thou young soothsayer , if the gift abides with thee at all seasons , I have a red-spotted cow . She may be sister to thy Bull for aught I know -- ' ` Or I care , ' said Kim . ` My Stars do not concern themselves with thy cattle . ' ` Nay , but she is very sick , ' a woman struck in . ` My man is a buffalo , or he would have chosen his words better . Tell me if she recover ? ' Had Kim been at all an ordinary boy , he would have carried on the play ; but one does not know Lahore city , and least of all the fakirs by the Taksali Gate , for thirteen years without also knowing human nature . The priest looked at him sideways , something bitterly -- a dry and blighting smile . ` Is there no priest , then , in the village ? I thought I had seen a great one even now , ' cried Kim . ` Ay -- but -- ' the woman began . ` But thou and thy husband hoped to get the cow cured for a handful of thanks . ' The shot told : they were notoriously the closest-fisted couple in the village . ` It is not well to cheat the temples . Give a young calf to thine own priest , and , unless thy Gods are angry past recall , she will give milk within a month . ' ' A master-beggar art thou , ' purred the priest approvingly . ` Not the cunning of forty years could have done better . Surely thou hast made the old man rich ? ' '
A little flour , a little butter and a mouthful of cardamoms , ' XXXXX retorted , flushed with the praise , but still cautious -- ` Does one grow rich on that ?
Ay Gate Kim Lahore aught fakirs month temples village years