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 . So says my Law -- or I think it does . But thou art also my Little Friend of all the World , and I love thee . So says my heart . This matter of creeds is like horseflesh . The wise man knows horses are good -- that there is a profit to be made from all ; and for myself -- but that I am a good Sunni and hate the men of Tirah -- I could believe the same of all the Faiths . Now manifestly a Kathiawar mare taken from the sands of her birthplace and removed to the west of Bengal founders -- nor is even a Balkh stallion -LRB- and there are no better horses than those of Balkh , were they not so heavy in the shoulder -RRB- of any account in the great Northern deserts beside the snow-camels I have seen . Therefore I say in my heart the Faiths are like the horses . Each has merit in its own country . '
` But my lama XXXXX altogether a different thing . '
art believe hate knows puzzled remember remembering said say says