Kim Page #3

and ran away in the shape

of a green mouse.

I saw it with my own eyes.

- Where is your lama?

- At the gate.

Last week, he made a blind man see...

and took in payment a handful of rice.

Thy blessing on this child, Holy One.

A blessing on this and all children.

Thou art indeed a wonderful provider.

The Grand Trunk Road...

running straight across India

for 1,500 miles.

Such a river of life

as exists nowhere else in the world.

They walked in silence.

The lama, as usual, deep in meditation.

There were new sights at every stride.

The drum and flute

of a marriage procession mingled...

with the laughter of the dancing girls

as they journeyed to a village wedding.

Of the five million holy men in India...

none were more startling than the sadhus,

with their weird antics.

Kim's eyes were bright and wide open...

drinking in the sights

of this endless highway.

Kim and his lama rubbed elbows

with all humanity...

from the lowly beggar to the maharajah...

who traveled the Grand Trunk Road

in lordly state...

accepting homage from those who passed,

and giving alms to those who pled.

Only when the lama saw a river

or a stream did they pause.

Chela, look, another river!

India's full of rivers.

Perhaps it is the one I seek.

Tell me, little mother,

is this the River of the Arrow?

The River of the Arrow?

No, that is the Chambok River.

The sacred river would not be known

as the River of the Arrow.

But I shall be given the power

to know it when I see it.

What ails your holy man?

He's quite sane until he sees a river.

Then he's quite mad.

See, Holy One?

It's just another little stream.

No, Holy One, don't go there!

See, a cobra. King cobra.

No.

Let him live out his life.

He's bound up on the wheel of life

as we are.

Great evil must this soul have done

to be reborn in this shape.

No, Holy One, don't go.

Please!

May thy release come soon.

Never have I seen such a holy man.

Do even the snakes understand your talk?

Who knows?

Come.

No, I will go around.

Come. He will do thee no hurt.

Be not afraid. Come.

Oh, Holy One!

After the miracle of the cobra,

there grew in the boy's heart...

a real love for the old priest.

Kim and the lama journeyed on,

and there were long, dusty days...

on the Grand Trunk Road.

But Kim, inspired by his new faith...

found joy in serving his holy man.

Willingly, he followed the lama

in his search for the sacred river...

proudly assuming the role of disciple...

begging a place for them

by some campfire at night...

pleading, conniving, and cajoling

for their food by day.

O protector of the poor,

give food for a holy man.

Stand farther off, beggar!

Since when does a hillman

own all Hindustan?

Begone, thou filth of the earth. Thou

infected descendant of unspeakable slime!

Thy father rooted for offal in the alleys

while thy mother begged in the streets.

Where I come from,

they call that the beginning of love talk.

Fill the beggar's belly!

Look, Holy One.

What are they doing?

See, it is a green flag, and the bull is red.

A red bull in a green field!

This touches thy search.

See, Holy One? It is as written.

Not only the red bull on the green field...

but the 900 devils

and the colonel on the big, white horse.

This is sorcery.

- Are you there, Ainsley?

- Come in, Father.

That is a sahib priest.

Go, talk to him of thy search.

Perhaps he might also have heard

of my river.

Gotcha!

Stop that, you little heathen!

- What goes on here?

- I caught him sneaking around the tents.

Let's take a look at him.

Come on, up you get.

In you go.

Boys who steal are punished.

I suppose you know that.

I am no thief.

Give it to me! That is my charm!

Do not thieve it from me!

- Better take a look at it, Father.

- Give it back to me and let me go!

Powers of darkness.

The honorable discharge

of Colonel Sergeant Kimball O'Hara...

and the birth certificate of his son.

Why, Ainsley, I married them myself,

O'Hara and Annie Scott.

- Where did you get these, boy?

- They are mine.

Will you listen to this, now?

Scrolled in O'Hara's hand.

"Take care of the boy.

"Please take care of the boy. O'Hara. "

- Where did you steal these from?

- I do not steal. They are mine.

You see, Ainsley?

He's white, white as you and me.

- What's your name?

- Kim.

Or, Kimball, like your father.

- I say Kim. Now let me go.

- No one's going to hurt you.

Now, sit down

and tell me all about yourself.

What happened to your father

after he left the regiment?

He is dead in Lahore city,

since I was very little.

- And your mother?

- She died when I was born.

What are you doing in those clothes?

They send white boys to school.

What brings you

on the Grand Trunk Road?

At present, I am the disciple of a holy man.

- What?

- I follow in the footsteps of the Lord.

That's more than

I was able to teach the father.

I do not lie.

I saw the red bull on the green field.

The red bull?

The camp markers

with the regimental insignia.

It was my father's prophecy to the woman

who took care of me when I was little.

That and the 900 devils,

and the colonel riding the white horse.

The day of miracles is not done.

- He could be O'Hara's son, all right.

- He's an O'Hara, and that's no lie.

The dad was a good man, I'm telling you.

And a good soldier

when he wasn't drinking.

There's a school for regimental orphans

that'll make a good man of you, too.

I wish only to stay with my holy man.

If you try to take me from him,

he will give you very bad curses.

Who would take thee from me?

Holy One, tell them that I am thy chela.

Tell them I help thee seek a sacred river.

Then they won't send me

to the school of the sahibs.

Why would they send a son of India

to the school of the sahibs?

Because he is a sahib

and the son of a sahib.

It is true. I've known it since my birth.

But no sahib knows the people

and customs of the land...

- as thou knowest them.

- He carries with him proof.

If further proof were needed...

there's his skin

where the sun has not scorched it.

Thou hast done a wrong to an old man...

because my heart went out to thee.

And mine to thee.

But how could I know the red bull

would bring me to this?

What difference is it between us

because I am a sahib?

If thou art a sahib...

- thou belongest amongst thy people.

- No, I belong to thee.

Do they give or sell learning

among the sahibs?

That depends.

Regimental funds would take care

of the boy at the military orphanage.

I do not want to go to the sahib school.

And the more money paid,

the better the learning given?

That is so.

What should I learn

that thou does not teach?

The best schooling

is at St. Xavier's at Lucknow.

But that's out of the question.

It costs 400 rupees a year.

No rajah has such sums.

Write the school name

and the amount of money upon a paper...

and it shall be received.

I ask thee, as one priest to another.

I am still thy chela.

Travel towards Benares.

- Later, I will find thee on the road.

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