He says that first you shall be beaten, both of
you, until your backs and the soles of your feet run blood, in order
that the ants may have an entrance!"
"Is he going to do all this?"
The Beluchi passed the question on, and the fakir tossed him an answer
to it.
"He says, sahib, that the gods will see to it."
"So the gods obey his orders, do they. Well, they've a queer sense
of duty! What else does he prophesy?"
"About your soul, sahib, and the sentry's soul."
"That's interesting! Translate!"
"He says, sahib, that for countless centuries you and your man shall
inhabit the carcasses of snakes, to eat dirt and be trodden on and
crushed, until you learn to have respect for very holy persons!"
"Is he going to have the ordering of that?"
"He says that the gods have already ordered it."
"It won't make much difference, then, what I do now. If that's in
store for me in any case, I may as well get my money's worth before
the fun begins! Tell him that unless he can give me a satisfactory
reason for being here I shall treat him to a little more rifle-butt,
and something else afterward that he will like even less!"
"He says," explained the Beluchi, after a moment's conversation with
the fakir, "that he is here to see what the gods have prophesied.
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