` Never mind him , ' said . Kim . ` That is the Government 's house and there is no idolatry in it , but only a Sahib with a white beard . Come with me and I will show . ' ` Strange priests eat boys , ' whispered Chota Lal . ` And he is a stranger and a but-parast -LSB- idolater -RSB- , ' said Abdullah , the Mohammedan . Kim laughed . ` He is new . Run to your mothers ' laps , and be safe . Come ! ' Kim clicked round the self-registering turnstile ; the old man followed and halted amazed . In the entrance-hall stood the larger figures of the Greco-Buddhist sculptures done , savants know how long since , by forgotten workmen whose hands were feeling , and not unskilfully , for the mysteriously transmitted Grecian touch . There were hundreds of pieces , friezes of figures in relief , fragments of statues and slabs crowded with figures that had encrusted the brick walls of the Buddhist stupas and viharas of the North Country and now , dug up and labelled , made the pride of the Museum . In open-mouthed wonder the lama turned to this and that , and finally checked in rapt attention before a large alto-relief representing a coronation or apotheosis of the Lord Buddha . The Master was represented seated on a lotus the petals of which were so deeply undercut as to show almost detached . Round Him was an adoring hierarchy of kings , elders , and old-time Buddhas . Below were lotus-covered waters with fishes and water-birds . Two butterfly-winged devas held a wreath over His head ; above them another pair supported an umbrella surmounted by the jewelled headdress of the Bodhisat . ` The Lord ! The Lord !
It is Sakya Muni himself , ' the lama half sobbed ; and under his breath began the wonderful Buddhist invocation : To Him the Way , the Law , apart , Whom Maya held beneath her heart , Ananda 's Lord , the XXXXX .
Abdullah Bodhisat Greco-Buddhist Kim Sahib devas idolater savants slabs turnstile