'I will get me one and break his back.' 'Why?
He is upon the Wheel as we are--a life ascending or descending--very far from deliverance.

Great evil must the soul have done that is cast into this shape.' 'I hate all snakes,' said Kim.

No native training can quench the white man's horror of the Serpent.
'Let him live out his life.' The coiled thing hissed and half opened its hood.

'May thy release come soon, brother!' the lama continued placidly.

'Hast thou knowledge, by chance, of my River ?' 'Never have I seen such a man as thou art,' Kim whispered, overwhelmed.
'Do the very snakes understand thy talk ?' 'Who knows ?' He passed within a foot of the cobra's poised head.