Thou dost not , then , know the River ? ' ` Not I , ' Kim laughed uneasily . ' I go to look for -- for a bull -- a Red . Bull on a green field who shall help me . ' Boylike , if an acquaintance had a scheme , Kim was quite ready with one of his own ; and , boylike , he had really thought for as much as twenty minutes at a time of his father 's prophecy . ` To what , child ? ' said the lama . ` God knows , but so my father told me ' . I heard thy talk in the Wonder House of all those new strange places in the Hills , and if one so old and so little -- so used to truth-telling -- may go out for the small matter of a river , it seemed to me that I too must go a-travelling . If it is our fate to find those things we shall find them -- thou , thy River ; and I , my Bull , and the Strong Pillars and some other matters that I forget . ' ` It is not pillars but a Wheel from which I would be free , ' said the lama . ` That is all one . Perhaps they will make me a king , ' said Kim , serenely prepared for anything . ' I will teach thee other and better desires upon the road , ' the lama replied in the voice of authority . ` Let us go to Benares . ' ` Not by night . Thieves are abroad . Wait till the day . ' ` But there is no place to sleep . ' The old man was used to the order of his monastery , and though he slept on the ground , as the Rule decrees , preferred a decency in these things .
` We shall get good lodging at the Kashmir Serai , ' said XXXXX , laughing at his perplexity . '
Benares Boylike Hills Kim Red Rule lama minutes night truth-telling