Very foolish it is to use the wrong word to a stranger; for though the heart may be clean of offence, how is the stranger to know that?
He is more like to search truth with a dagger.' 'True.

True talk,' said Kim solemnly.

'Fools speak of a cat when a woman is brought to bed, for instance.

I have heard them.' 'Therefore, in one situate as thou art, it particularly behoves thee to remember this with both kinds of faces.

Among Sahibs, never forgetting thou art a Sahib; among the folk of Hind, always remembering thou art--' He paused, with a puzzled smile.
'What am I?
Mussalman, Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist?
That is a hard knot.' 'Thou art beyond question an unbeliever, and therefore thou wilt be damned.