He who intrudes on a neighbor may receive what he does not expect. Nor may the neighbor be blamed.
The fire will not be harmed; but the neighbor may be. And every deed of every kind bears corresponding consequences to the doer. You may spend a thousand lives repaying wrong done to a neighbor.
Therefore, of the two indiscretions prefer thrusting your own hand into the fire.
But there is a Middle Way, which avoids all trespassing.
From the Book of the Sayings of Tsiang Samdup.
CHAPTER V
THE HOUSE AT THE END OF THE PASSAGE.
Chutter Chand’s usefulness had vanished. His brain did not function now that fear had the upper hand. He could think of nothing but the Hillman’s knife and of the possibility that there might be more Hillmen, who would knock down the policeman at the door, storm the shop, loot everything and slay.
“I tell you, Ommonee, you have only lived in India twenty years. You do not know these people!”
He began hurriedly putting in order a mechanical system of wire and weights by which the snakes might be released in an emergency, all the while complaining bitterly against a government whose laws forbade the keeping of firearms by responsible, reputable, law-abiding citizens.