{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_1267/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_1267","id":"gutenberg_1267","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1267","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Humour","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Novels","Fantasy","Fantasy fiction","Kai Lung (Fictitious character) -- Fiction"],"text":"KAI LUNG\u2019S GOLDEN HOURS\n\n                                  BY\n\n                            ERNEST BRAMAH\n\n\n                          With a Preface by\n                            Hilaire Belloc\n\n\n                               LONDON\n                          GRANT RICHARDS LTD.\n                          ST MARTIN\u2019S STREET\n                             MDCCCCXXII\n\n\n\n\n                               PREFACE\n\n_Homo faber_. Man is born to make. His business is to construct: to\nplan: to carry out the plan: to fit together, and to produce a\nfinished thing.\n\nThat human art in which it is most difficult to achieve this end (and\nin which it is far easier to neglect it than in any other) is the art\nof writing. Yet this much is certain, that unconstructed writing is at\nonce worthless and ephemeral: and nearly the whole of our modern\nEnglish writing is unconstructed.\n\nThe matter of survival is perhaps not the most important, though it is\na test of a kind, and it is a test which every serious writer feels\nmost intimately. The essential is the matter of excellence: that a\npiece of work should achieve its end. But in either character, the\ncharacter of survival or the character of intrinsic excellence,\nconstruction deliberate and successful is the fundamental condition.\n\nIt may be objected that the mass of writing must in any age neglect\nconstruction. We write to establish a record for a few days: or to\nsend a thousand unimportant messages: or to express for others or for\nourselves something very vague and perhaps very weak in the way of\nemotion, which does not demand construction and at any rate cannot\ncommand it. No writer can be judged by the entirety of his writings,\nfor these would include every note he ever sent round the corner;\nevery memorandum he ever made upon his shirt cuff. But when a man sets\nout to write as a serious business, proclaiming that by the nature of\nhis publication and presentment that he is doing something he thinks\nworthy of the time and place in which he lives and of the people to\nwhom he belongs, then if he does not construct he is negligible.\n\nYet, I say, the great mass of men to-day do not attempt it in the\nEnglish tongue, and the proof is that you can discover in their\nslipshod pages nothing of a seal or stamp. You do not, opening a book\nat random, say at once: \u201cThis is the voice of such and such a one.\u201d It\nis no one\u2019s manner or voice. It is part of a common babel.\n\nTherefore in such a time as that of our decline, to come across work\nwhich is planned, executed and achieved has something of the effect\nproduced by the finding of a wrought human thing in the wild. It is\nlike finding, as I once found, deep hidden in the tangled rank grass\nof autumn in Burgundy, on the edge of a wood not far from Dijon, a\nneglected statue of the eighteenth century. It is like coming round\nthe corner of some wholly desolate upper valley in the mountains and\nseeing before one a well-cultivated close and a strong house in the\nmidst.\n\nIt is now many years--I forget how many; it may be twenty or more, or\nit may be a little less--since _The Wallet of Kai Lung_ was sent me by\na friend. The effect produced upon my mind at the first opening of its\npages was in the same category as the effect produced by the discovery\nof that hidden statue in Burgundy, or the coming upon an unexpected\nhouse in the turn of a high Pyrenean gorge. Here was something worth\ndoing and done. It was not a plan attempted and only part achieved\n(though even that would be rare enough to-day, and a memorable\nexception); it was a thing intended, wrought out, completed and\nestablished. Therefore it was destined to endure and, what is more\nimportant, it was a success.\n\nThe time in which we live affords very few of such moments of relief:\nhere and there a good piece of verse, in _The New Age_ or in the now\ndefunct _Westminster_: here and there a lapidary phrase such as a\nscore or more of Blatchford\u2019s which remain fixed in my memory. Here\nand there a letter written to the newspapers in a moment of\nindignation when the writer, not trained to the craft, strikes out the\nmetal justly at white heat. But, I say, the thing is extremely rare,\nand in the shape of a complete book rarest of all.\n\n_The Wallet of Kai Lung_ was a thing made deliberately, in hard\nmaterial and completely successful. It was meant to produce a\nparticular effect of humour by the use of a foreign convention, the\nChinese convention, in the English tongue. It was meant to produce a\ncertain effect of philosophy and at the same time it was meant to\nproduce a certain completed interest of fiction, of relation, of a\nshort epic. It did all these things.\n\nIt is one of the tests of excellent work that such work is economic,\nthat is, that there is nothing redundant in order or in vocabulary,\nand at the same time nothing elliptic--in the full sense of that word:\nthat is, no sentence in which so much is omitted that the reader is\nleft puzzled. That is the quality you get in really good statuary--in\nHoudon, for instance, or in that triumph the archaic _Archer_ in the\nLouvre. _The Wallet of Kai Lung_ satisfied all these conditions.\n\nI do not know how often I have read it since I first possessed it. I\nknow how many copies there are in my house--just over a dozen. I know\nwith what care I have bound it constantly for presentation to friends.\nI have been asked for an introduction to this its successor, _Kai\nLung\u2019s Golden Hours_. It is worthy of its forerunner. There is the\nsame plan, exactitude, working-out and achievement; and therefore the\nsame complete satisfaction in the reading, or to be more accurate, in\nthe incorporation of the work with oneself.\n\nAll this is not extravagant praise, nor even praise at all in the\nconventional sense of that term. It is merely a judgment: a putting\ninto as carefully exact words as I can find the appreciation I make of\nthis style and its triumph.\n\nThe reviewer in his art must quote passages. It is hardly the part of\na Preface writer to do that. But to show what I mean I can at least\nquote the following:\n\n    \u201cYour insight is clear and unbiased,\u201d said the gracious\n    Sovereign. \u201cBut however entrancing it is to wander unchecked\n    through a garden of bright images, are we not enticing your\n    mind from another subject of almost equal importance?\u201d\n\nOr again:\n\n    \u201cIt has been said,\u201d he began at length, withdrawing his eyes\n    reluctantly from an unusually large insect upon the ceiling and\n    addressing himself to the maiden, \u201cthat there are few\n    situations in life that cannot be honourably settled, and\n    without any loss of time, either by suicide, a bag of gold, or\n    by thrusting a despised antagonist over the edge of a\n    precipice on a dark night.\u201d\n\nOr again:\n\n    \u201cAfter secretly observing the unstudied grace of her\n    movements, the most celebrated picture-maker of the province\n    burned the implements of his craft, and began life anew as a\n    trainer of performing elephants.\u201d\n\nYou cannot read these sentences, I think, without agreeing with what\nhas been said above. If you doubt it, take the old test and try to\nwrite that kind of thing yourself.\n\nIn connection with such achievements it is customary to-day to deplore\nthe lack of public appreciation. Either to blame the hurried millions\nof chance readers because they have only bought a few thousands of a\nmasterpiece; or, what is worse still, to pretend that good work is for\nthe few and that the mass will never appreciate it--in reply to which\nit is sufficient to say that the critic himself is one of the mass and\ncould not be distinguished from others of the mass by his very own\nself were he a looker-on.\n\nIn the best of times (the most stable, the least hurried) the date at\nwhich general appreciation comes is a matter of chance, and to-day the\npresentation of any achieved work is like the reading of Keats to a\nfootball crowd. It is of no significance whatsoever to English Letters\nwhether one of its glories be appreciated at the moment it issues from\nthe press or ten years later, or twenty, or fifty. Further, after a\nvery small margin is passed, a margin of a few hundreds at the most, it\nmatters little whether strong permanent work finds a thousand or fifty\nthousand or a million of readers. Rock stands and mud washes away.\n\nWhat is indeed to be deplored is the lack of communication between\nthose who desire to find good stuff and those who can produce it: it\nis in the attempt to build a bridge between the one and the other that\nmen who have the privilege of hearing a good thing betimes write such\nwords as I am writing here.\n                                                        HILAIRE BELLOC\n\n\n\n                       KAI LUNG\u2019S GOLDEN HOURS\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER I\n\n                The Encountering of Six within a Wood\n\nOnly at one point along the straight earth-road leading from Loo-chow\nto Yu-ping was there any shade, a wood of stunted growth, and here Kai\nLung cast himself down in refuge from the noontide sun and slept.\n\nWhen he woke it was with the sound of discreet laughter trickling\nthrough his dreams. He sat up and looked around. Across the glade two\nmaidens stood in poised expectancy within the shadow of a wild\nfig-tree, both their gaze and their manner denoting a fixed intention\nto be prepared for any emergency. Not being desirous that this should\ntend towards their abrupt departure, Kai Lung rose guardedly to his\nfeet, with many gestures of polite reassurance, and having bowed\nseveral times to indicate his pacific nature, he stood in an attitude\nof deferential admiration. At this display the elder and less\nattractive of the maidens fled, uttering loud and continuous cries of\napprehension in order to conceal the direction of her flight. The\nother remained, however, and even moved a few steps nearer to Kai\nLung, as though encouraged by his appearance, so that he was able to\nregard her varying details more appreciably. As she advanced she\nplucked a red blossom from a thorny bush, and from time to time she\nshortened the broken stalk between her jade teeth.\n\n\u201cCourteous loiterer,\u201d she said, in a very pearl-like voice, when they\nhad thus regarded one another for a few beats of time, \u201cwhat is your\nhonourable name, and who are you who tarry here, journeying neither to\nthe east nor to the west?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe answer is necessarily commonplace and unworthy of your polite\ninterest,\u201d was the diffident reply. \u201cMy unbecoming name is Kai, to\nwhich has been added that of Lung. By profession I am an incapable\nrelater of imagined tales, and to this end I spread my mat wherever my\nuplifted voice can entice together a company to listen. Should my\nfeeble efforts be deemed worthy of reward, those who stand around may\nperchance contribute to my scanty store, but sometimes this is judged\nsuperfluous. For this cause I now turn my expectant feet from Loo-chow\ntowards the untried city of Yu-ping, but the undiminished li\nstretching relentlessly before me, I sought beneath these trees a\nrefuge from the noontide sun.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe occupation is a dignified one, being to no great degree removed\nfrom that of the Sages who compiled The Books,\u201d remarked the maiden,\nwith an encouraging smile. \u201cAre there many stories known to your\nretentive mind?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn one form or another, all that exist are within my mental grasp,\u201d\n admitted Kai Lung modestly. \u201cThus equipped, there is no arising\nemergency for which I am unprepared.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are other things that I would learn of your craft. What kind of\nstory is the most favourably received, and the one whereby your\ncollecting bowl is the least ignored?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat depends on the nature and condition of those who stand around,\nand therein lies much that is essential to the art,\u201d replied Kai Lung,\nnot without an element of pride. \u201cShould the company be chiefly formed\nof the illiterate and the immature of both sexes, stories depicting\nthe embarrassment of unnaturally round-bodied mandarins, the\nunpremeditated flight of eccentrically-garbed passers-by into vats of\npowdered rice, the despair of guardians of the street when assailed by\nshowers of eggs and overripe lo-quats, or any other variety of\nhumiliating pain inflicted upon the innocent and unwary, never fail to\nwin approval. The prosperous and substantial find contentment in\nhearing of the unassuming virtues and frugal lives of the poor and\nunsuccessful. Those of humble origin, especially tea-house maidens and\nthe like, are only really at home among stories of the exalted and\nquick-moving, the profusion of their robes, the magnificence of their\npalaces, and the general high-minded depravity of their lives.\nOrdinary persons require stories dealing lavishly with all the\nemotions, so that they may thereby have a feeling of sufficiency when\ncontributing to the collecting bowl.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese things being so,\u201d remarked the maiden, \u201cwhat story would you\nconsider most appropriate to a company composed of such as she who is\nnow conversing with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch a company could never be obtained,\u201d replied Kai Lung, with\nconviction in his tone. \u201cIt is not credible that throughout the Empire\ncould be found even another possessing all the engaging attributes of\nthe one before me. But should it be my miraculous fortune to be given\nthe opportunity, my presumptuous choice for her discriminating ears\nalone would be the story of the peerless Princess Taik and of the\nnoble minstrel Ch\u2019eng, who to regain her presence chained his wrist to\na passing star and was carried into the assembly of the gods.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it,\u201d inquired the maiden, with an agreeable glance towards the\nopportune recumbence of a fallen tree, \u201cis it a narration that would\nlie within the passage of the sun from one branch of this willow to\nanother?\u201d\n\n\u201cAdequately set forth, the history of the Princess Taik and of the\nvirtuous youth occupies all the energies of an agile story-teller for\nseven weeks,\u201d replied Kai Lung, not entirely gladdened that she should\ndeem him capable of offering so meagre an entertainment as that she\nindicated. \u201cThere is a much-flattened version which may be compressed\nwithin the narrow limits of a single day and night, but even that\nrequires for certain of the more moving passages the accompaniment of\na powerful drum or a hollow wooden fish.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed the maiden, \u201cthough the time should pass like a\nflash of lightning beneath the allurement of your art, it is\nquestionable if those who await this one\u2019s returning footsteps would\nexperience a like illusion. Even now--\u201d With a magnanimous wave of her\nwell-formed hand she indicated the other maiden, who, finding that the\ndanger of pursuit was not sustained, had returned to claim her part.\n\n\u201cOne advances along the westward road,\u201d reported the second maiden.\n\u201cLet us fly elsewhere, O allurer of mankind! It may be--\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless in Yu-ping the sound of your uplifted voice--\u201d But at this\npoint a noise upon the earth-road, near at hand, impelled them both to\nsudden flight into the deeper recesses of the wood.\n\nThus deprived, Kai Lung moved from the shadow of the trees and sought\nthe track, to see if by chance he from whom they fled might turn to\nhis advantage. On the road he found one who staggered behind a\nlaborious wheel-barrow in the direction of Loo-chow. At that moment he\nhad stopped to take down the sail, as the breeze was bereft of power\namong the obstruction of the trees, and also because he was weary.\n\n\u201cGreeting,\u201d called down Kai Lung, saluting him. \u201cThere is here\nprotection from the fierceness of the sun and a stream wherein to wash\nyour feet.\u201d\n\n\u201cHaply,\u201d replied the other; \u201cand a greatly over-burdened one would\ngladly leave this ill-nurtured earth-road even for the fields of hell,\nwere it not that all his goods are here contained upon an utterly\nintractable wheel-barrow.\u201d\n\nNevertheless he drew himself up from the road to the level of the wood\nand there reclined, yet not permitting the wheel-barrow to pass beyond\nhis sight, though he must thereby lie half in the shade and half in\nthe heat beyond. \u201cGreeting, wayfarer.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlthough you are evidently a man of some wealth, we are for the time\nbrought to a common level by the forces that control us,\u201d remarked Kai\nLung. \u201cI have here two onions, a gourd and a sufficiency of millet\npaste. Partake equally with me, therefore, before you resume your way.\nIn the meanwhile I will procure water from the stream near by, and to\nthis end my collecting bowl will serve.\u201d\n\nWhen Kai Lung returned he found that the other had added to their\nstore a double handful of dates, some snuff and a little jar of oil.\nAs they ate together the stranger thus disclosed his mind:\n\n\u201cThe times are doubtful and it behoves each to guard himself. In the\nnorth the banners of the \u2018Spreading Lotus\u2019 and the \u2018Avenging Knife\u2019\nare already raised and pressing nearer every day, while the signs and\npasswords are so widely flung that every man speaks slowly and with a\ndouble tongue. Lately there have been slicings and other forms of\nvigorous justice no farther distant than Loo-chow, and now the\nMandarin Shan Tien comes to Yu-ping to flatten any signs of\ndiscontent. The occupation of this person is that of a maker of\nsandals and coverings for the head, but very soon there will be more\nwooden feet required than leather sandals in Yu-ping, and artificial\nears will be greater in demand than hats. For this reason he has got\ntogether all his goods, sold the more burdensome, and now ventures on\nan untried way.\u201d\n\n\u201cProsperity attend your goings. Yet, as one who has set his face\ntowards Yu-ping, is it not possible for an ordinary person of simple\nlife and unassuming aims to escape persecution under this same Shan\nTien?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf the Mandarin himself those who know speak with vague lips. What is\ndone is done by the pressing hand of one Ming-shu, who takes down his\nspoken word; of whom it is truly said that he has little resemblance\nto a man and still less to an angel.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d protested the story-teller hopefully, \u201cit is wisely written:\n\u2018He who never opens his mouth in strife can always close his eyes in\npeace.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless,\u201d assented the other. \u201cHe can close his eyes assuredly.\nWhether he will ever again open them is another matter.\u201d\n\nWith this timely warning the sandal-maker rose and prepared to resume\nhis journey. Nor did he again take up the burden of his task until he\nhad satisfied himself that the westward road was destitute of traffic.\n\n\u201cA tranquil life and a painless death,\u201d was his farewell parting.\n\u201cJung, of the line of Hai, wishes you well.\u201d Then, with many\nimprecations on the relentless sun above, the inexorable road beneath,\nand on every detail of the evilly-balanced load before him, he passed\nout on his way.\n\nIt would have been well for Kai Lung had he also forced his reluctant\nfeet to raise the dust, but his body clung to the moist umbrage of his\ncouch, and his mind made reassurance that perchance the maiden would\nreturn. Thus it fell that when two others, who looked from side to\nside as they hastened on the road, turned as at a venture to the wood\nthey found him still there.\n\n\u201cRestrain your greetings,\u201d said the leader of the two harshly, in the\nmidst of Kai Lung\u2019s courteous obeisance; \u201cand do not presume to\ndisparage yourself as if in equality with the one who stands before\nyou. Have two of the inner chamber, attired thus and thus, passed this\nway? Speak, and that to a narrow edge.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe road lies beyond the perception of my incapable vision,\nchiefest,\u201d replied Kai lung submissively. \u201cFurthermore, I have slept.\u201d\n\n\u201cUnless you would sleep more deeply, shape your stubborn tongue to a\nspecific point,\u201d commanded the other, touching a meaning sword. \u201cWho\nare you who loiter here, and for what purpose do you lurk? Speak\nfully, and be assured that your word will be put to a corroding test.\u201d\n\nThus encouraged, Kai Lung freely disclosed his name and ancestry, the\nmeans whereby he earned a frugal sustenance and the nature of his\njourney. In addition, he professed a willingness to relate his most\nrecently-acquired story, that entitled \u201cWu-yong: or The Politely\nInquiring Stranger\u201d, but the offer was thrust ungracefully aside.\n\n\u201cEverything you say deepens the suspicion which your criminal-looking\nface naturally provokes,\u201d said the questioner, putting away his\ntablets on which he had recorded the replies. \u201cAt Yu-ping the matter\nwill be probed with a very definite result. You, Li-loe, remain about\nthis spot in case she whom we seek should pass. I return to speak of\nour unceasing effort.\u201d\n\n\u201cI obey,\u201d replied the dog-like Li-loe. \u201cWhat men can do we have done.\nWe are no demons to see through solid matter.\u201d\n\nWhen they were alone, Li-loe drew nearer to Kai Lung and, allowing his\nface to assume a more pacific bend, he cast himself down by the\nstory-teller\u2019s side.\n\n\u201cThe account which you gave of yourself was ill contrived,\u201d he said.\n\u201cBeing put to the test, its falsity cannot fail to be discovered.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d protested Kai Lung earnestly, \u201cin no single detail did it\ndeviate from the iron line of truth.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen your case is even more desperate than before,\u201d exclaimed Li-loe.\n\u201cKnow now that the repulsive-featured despot who has just left us is\nMing-shu, he who takes down the Mandarin Shan Tien\u2019s spoken word. By\nadmitting that you are from Loo-chow, where disaffection reigns, you\nhave noosed a rope about your neck, and by proclaiming yourself as one\nwhose habit it is to call together a company to listen to your word,\nyou have drawn it tight.\u201d\n\n\u201cEvery rope has two ends,\u201d remarked Kai Lung philosophically, \u201cand\nto-morrow is yet to come. Tell me rather, since that is our present\nerrand, who is she whom you pursue and to what intent?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is not so simple as to be contained within the hollow of an\nacorn sheath. Let it suffice that she has the left ear of Shan Tien,\neven as Ming-shu has the right, but on which side his hearing is\nbetter it might be hazardous to guess.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd her meritorious name?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is of the house of K\u2019ang, her name being Hwa-mei, though from the\nnature of her charm she is ofttime called the Golden Mouse. But\ntouching this affair of your own immediate danger: we being both but\ncommon men of the idler sort, it is only fitting that when high ones\nthreaten I should stand by you.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak definitely,\u201d assented Kai Lung, \u201cyet with the understanding\nthat the full extent of my store does not exceed four or five strings\nof cash.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe soil is somewhat shallow for the growth of deep friendship, but\nwhat we have we will share equally between us.\u201d With these auspicious\nwords Li-loe possessed himself of three of the strings of cash and\ndisplayed an empty sleeve. \u201cI, alas, have nothing. The benefits I have\nin mind are of a subtler and more priceless kind. At Yu-ping my office\nwill be that of the keeper of the doors of the yamen, including that\nof the prison-house. Thus I shall doubtless be able to render you\nfrequent service of an inconspicuous kind. Do not forget the name of\nLi-loe.\u201d\n\nBy this time the approaching sound of heavy traffic, heralded by the\nbeating of drums, the blowing of horns and the discharge of an\noccasional firework, indicated the passage of some dignified official.\nThis, declared Li-loe, could be none other than the Mandarin Shan\nTien, resuming his march towards Yu-ping, and the doorkeeper prepared\nto join the procession at his appointed place. Kai Lung, however,\nremained unseen among the trees, not being desirous of obtruding\nhimself upon Ming-shu unnecessarily. When the noise had almost died\naway in the distance he came forth, believing that all would by this\ntime have passed, and approached the road. As he reached it a single\nchair was hurried by, its carriers striving by increased exertion to\nregain their fellows. It was too late for Kai Lung to retreat, whoever\nmight be within. As it passed a curtain moved somewhat, a symmetrical\nhand came discreetly forth, and that which it held fell at his feet.\nWithout varying his attitude he watched the chair until it was out of\nsight, then stooped and picked something up--a red blossom on a thorny\nstalk, the flower already parched but the stem moist and softened to\nhis touch.\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II\n\n           The Inexorable Justice of the Mandarin Shan Tien\n\n\u201cBy having access to this enclosure you will be able to walk where\notherwise you must stand. That in itself is cheap at the price of\nthree reputed strings of inferior cash. Furthermore, it is possible to\nbreathe.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe outlook, in one direction, is an extensive one,\u201d admitted Kai\nLung, gazing towards the sky. \u201cHere, moreover, is a shutter through\nwhich the vista doubtless lengthens.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo long as there is no chance of you exploring it any farther than\nyour neck, it does not matter,\u201d said Li-loe. \u201cOutside lies a barren\nregion of the yamen garden where no one ever comes. I will now leave\nyou, having to meet one with whom I would traffic for a goat. When I\nreturn be prepared to retrace your steps to the prison cell.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe shadow moves as the sun directs,\u201d replied Kai Lung, and with\ncourteous afterthought he added the wonted parting: \u201cSlowly, slowly;\nwalk slowly.\u201d\n\nIn such a manner the story-teller found himself in a highly-walled\nenclosure, lying between the prison-house and the yamen garden, a few\ndays after his arrival in Yu-ping. Ming-shu had not eaten his word.\n\nThe yard itself possessed no attraction for Kai Lung. Almost before\nLi-loe had disappeared he was at the shutter in the wall, had forced\nit open and was looking out. Thus long he waited, motionless, but\nobserving every leaf that stirred among the trees and shrubs and\nneglected growth beyond. At last a figure passed across a distant\nglade and at the sight Kai Lung lifted up a restrained voice in song:\n\n    \u201cAt the foot of a bleak and inhospitable mountain\n    An insignificant stream winds its uncared way;\n    Although inferior to the Yangtze-kiang in every detail\n    Yet fish glide to and fro among its crannies\n    Nor would they change their home for the depths of the widest\n        river.\n\n    The palace of the sublime Emperor is made rich with hanging\n        curtains.\n    While here rough stone walls forbid repose.\n    Yet there is one who unhesitatingly prefers the latter;\n    For from an open shutter here he can look forth,\n    And perchance catch a glimpse of one who may pass by.\n\n    The occupation of the Imperial viceroy is both lucrative and\n        noble;\n    While that of a relater of imagined tales is by no means\n        esteemed.\n    But he who thus expressed himself would not exchange with the\n        other;\n    For around the identity of each heroine he can entwine the\n        personality of one whom he has encountered.\n    And thus she is ever by his side.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour uplifted voice comes from an unexpected quarter, minstrel,\u201d said\na melodious voice, and the maiden whom he had encountered in the wood\nstood before him. \u201cWhat crime have you now committed?\u201d\n\n\u201cAn ancient one. I presumed to raise my unworthy eyes--\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, story-teller,\u201d interposed the maiden hastily, \u201cit would seem\nthat the star to which you chained _your_ wrist has not carried you\ninto the assembly of the gods.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet already it has borne me half-way--into a company of malefactors.\nDoubtless on the morrow the obliging Mandarin Shan Tien will arrange\nfor the journey to be complete.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet have you then no further wish to continue in an ordinary\nexistence?\u201d asked the maiden.\n\n\u201cTo this person,\u201d replied Kai Lung, with a deep-seated look,\n\u201cexistence can never again be ordinary. Admittedly it may be short.\u201d\n\nAs they conversed together in this inoffensive manner she whom Li-loe\nhad called the Golden Mouse held in her delicately-formed hands a\npriceless bowl filled with ripe fruit of the rarer kinds which she had\ngathered. These from time to time she threw up to the opening, rightly\ndeciding that one in Kai Lung\u2019s position would stand in need of\nsustenance, and he no less dexterously held and retained them. When\nthe bowl was empty she continued for a space to regard it silently, as\nthough exploring the many-sided recesses of her mind.\n\n\u201cYou have claimed to be a story-teller and have indeed made a boast\nthat there is no arising emergency for which you are unprepared,\u201d she\nsaid at length. \u201cIt now befalls that you may be put to a speedy test.\nIs the nature of this imagined scene\u201d--thus she indicated the\nembellishment of the bowl--\u201cfamiliar to your eyes?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is that known as \u2018The Willow,\u2019\u201d replied Kai Lung. \u201cThere is a\nstory--\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is a story!\u201d exclaimed the maiden, loosening from her brow the\noverhanging look of care. \u201cThus and thus. Frequently have I importuned\nhim before whom you will appear to explain to me the meaning of the\nscene. When you are called upon to plead your cause, see to it well\nthat your knowledge of such a tale is clearly shown. He before whom\nyou kneel, craftily plied meanwhile by my unceasing petulance, will\nthen desire to hear it from your lips . . . At the striking of the\nfourth gong the day is done. What lies between rests with your\ndiscriminating wit.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are deep in the subtler kinds of wisdom, such as the weak\npossess,\u201d confessed Kai Lung. \u201cYet how will this avail to any length?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat which is put off from to-day is put off from to-morrow,\u201d was the\nconfident reply. \u201cFor the rest--at a corresponding gong-stroke of each\nday it is this person\u2019s custom to gather fruit. Farewell, minstrel.\u201d\n\nWhen Li-loe returned a little later Kai Lung threw his two remaining\nstrings of cash about that rapacious person\u2019s neck and embraced him as\nhe exclaimed:\n\n\u201cChieftain among doorkeepers, when I go to the Capital to receive the\nall-coveted title \u2018Leaf-crowned\u2019 and to chant ceremonial odes before\nthe Court, thou shalt accompany me as forerunner, and an agile tribe\nof selected goats shall sport about thy path.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, manlet,\u201d replied the other, weeping readily, \u201cgreatly do I fear\nthat the next journey thou wilt take will be in an upward or a\ndownward rather than a sideway direction. This much have I learned,\nand to this end, at some cost admittedly, I enticed into loquacity one\nwho knows another whose brother holds the key of Ming-shu\u2019s\nconfidence: that to-morrow the Mandarin will begin to distribute\njustice here, and out of the depths of Ming-shu\u2019s malignity the name\nof Kai Lung is the first set down.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith the title,\u201d continued Kai Lung cheerfully, \u201cthere goes a\nsufficiency of taels; also a vat of a potent wine of a certain kind.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf,\u201d suggested Li-loe, looking anxiously around, \u201cyou have really\ndiscovered hidden about this place a secret store of wine, consider\nwell whether it would not be prudent to entrust it to a faithful\nfriend before it is too late.\u201d\n\nIt was indeed as Li-loe had foretold. On the following day, at the\nsecond gong-stroke after noon, the order came and, closely guarded,\nKai Lung was led forth. The middle court had been duly arranged, with\na formidable display of chains, weights, presses, saws, branding irons\nand other implements for securing justice. At the head of a table\ndraped with red sat the Mandarin Shan Tien, on his right the secretary\nof his hand, the contemptible Ming-shu. Round about were positioned\nothers who in one necessity or another might be relied upon to play an\nordered part. After a lavish explosion of fire-crackers had been\ndischarged, sonorous bells rung and gongs beaten, a venerable\ngeomancer disclosed by means of certain tests that all doubtful\ninfluences had been driven off and that truth and impartiality alone\nremained.\n\n\u201cExcept on the part of the prisoners, doubtless,\u201d remarked the\nMandarin, thereby imperilling the gravity of all who stood around.\n\n\u201cThe first of those to prostrate themselves before your enlightened\nclemency, Excellence, is a notorious assassin who, under another name,\nhas committed many crimes,\u201d began the execrable Ming-shu. \u201cHe\nconfesses that, now calling himself Kai Lung, he has recently\njourneyed from Loo-chow, where treason ever wears a smiling face.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerchance he is saddened by our city\u2019s loyalty,\u201d interposed the\nbenign Shan Tien, \u201cfor if he is smiling now it is on the side of his\nface removed from this one\u2019s gaze.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe other side of his face is assuredly where he will be made to\nsmile ere long,\u201d acquiesced Ming-shu, not altogether to his chief\u2019s\napproval, as the analogy was already his. \u201cFurthermore, he has been\ndetected lurking in secret meeting-places by the wayside, and on\nreaching Yu-ping he raised his rebellious voice inviting all to gather\nround and join his unlawful band. The usual remedy in such cases\nduring periods of stress, Excellence, is strangulation.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe times are indeed pressing,\u201d remarked the agile-minded Mandarin,\n\u201cand the penalty would appear to be adequate.\u201d As no one suffered\ninconvenience at his attitude, however, Shan Tien\u2019s expression assumed\na more unbending cast.\n\n\u201cLet the witnesses appear,\u201d he commanded sharply.\n\n\u201cIn so clear a case it has not been thought necessary to incur the\nexpense of hiring the usual witnesses,\u201d urged Ming-shu; \u201cbut they are\ndoubtless clustered about the opium floor and will, if necessary,\ntestify to whatever is required.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe argument is a timely one,\u201d admitted the Mandarin. \u201cAs the result\ncannot fail to be the same in either case, perhaps the accommodating\nprisoner will assist the ends of justice by making a full confession\nof his crimes?\u201d\n\n\u201cHigh Excellence,\u201d replied the story-teller, speaking for the first\ntime, \u201cit is truly said that that which would appear as a mountain in\nthe evening may stand revealed as a mud-hut by the light of day. Hear\nmy unpainted word. I am of the abject House of Kai and my inoffensive\nrice is earned as a narrator of imagined tales. Unrolling my\nthreadbare mat at the middle hour of yesterday, I had raised my\ndistressing voice and announced an intention to relate the Story of\nWong Ts\u2019in, that which is known as \u2018The Legend of the Willow Plate\nEmbellishment,\u2019 when a company of armed warriors, converging upon\nme--\u201d\n\n\u201cRestrain the melodious flow of your admitted eloquence,\u201d interrupted\nthe Mandarin, veiling his arising interest. \u201cIs the story, to which\nyou have made reference, that of the scene widely depicted on plates\nand earthenware?\u201d\n\n\u201cUndoubtedly. It is the true and authentic legend as related by the\neminent Tso-yi.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn that case,\u201d declared Shan Tien dispassionately, \u201cit will be\nnecessary for you to relate it now, in order to uphold your claim.\nProceed.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, Excellence,\u201d protested Ming-shu from a bitter throat, \u201cthis\nmatter will attenuate down to the stroke of evening rice. Kowtowing\nbeneath your authoritative hand, that which the prisoner only had the\nintention to relate does not come within the confines of his\nevidence.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe objection is superficial and cannot be sustained,\u201d replied Shan\nTien. \u201cIf an evilly-disposed one raised a sword to strike this person,\nbut was withheld before the blow could fall, none but a leper would\ncontend that because he did not progress beyond the intention thereby\nhe should go free. Justice must be impartially upheld and greatly do I\nfear that we must all submit.\u201d\n\nWith these opportune words the discriminating personage signified to\nKai Lung that he should begin.\n\n\n      The Story of Wong Ts\u2019in and the Willow Plate Embellishment\n\nWong Ts\u2019in, the rich porcelain maker, was ill at ease within himself.\nHe had partaken of his customary midday meal, flavoured the repast by\nunsealing a jar of matured wine, consumed a little fruit, a few\nsweetmeats and half a dozen cups of unapproachable tea, and then\nretired to an inner chamber to contemplate philosophically from the\nreposeful attitude of a reclining couch.\n\nBut upon this occasion the merchant did not contemplate restfully. He\npaced the floor in deep dejection and when he did use the couch at all\nit was to roll upon it in a sudden access of internal pain. The cause\nof his distress was well known to the unhappy person thus concerned,\nnor did it lessen the pangs of his emotion that it arose entirely from\nhis own ill-considered action.\n\nWhen Wong Ts\u2019in had discovered, by the side of a remote and obscure\nriver, the inexhaustible bed of porcelain clay that ensured his\nprosperity, his first care was to erect adequate sheds and\nlabouring-places; his next to build a house sufficient for himself and\nthose in attendance round about him.\n\nSo far prudence had ruled his actions, for there is a keen edge to the\nsaying: \u201cHe who sleeps over his workshop brings four eyes into the\nbusiness,\u201d but in one detail Wong Ts\u2019in\u2019s head and feet went on\ndifferent journeys, for with incredible oversight he omitted to secure\nthe experience of competent astrologers and omen-casters in fixing the\nexact site of his mansion.\n\nThe result was what might have been expected. In excavating for the\nfoundations, Wong Ts\u2019in\u2019s slaves disturbed the repose of a small but\nrapacious earth-demon that had already been sleeping there for nine\nhundred and ninety-nine years. With the insatiable cunning of its\nkind, this vindictive creature waited until the house was completed\nand then proceeded to transfer its unseen but formidable presence to\nthe quarters that were designed for Wong Ts\u2019in himself. Thenceforth,\nfrom time to time, it continued to revenge itself for the trouble to\nwhich it had been put by an insidious persecution. This frequently\ntook the form of fastening its claws upon the merchant\u2019s digestive\norgans, especially after he had partaken of an unusually rich repast\n(for in some way the display of certain viands excited its unreasoning\nanimosity), pressing heavily upon his chest, invading his repose with\ndragon-dreams while he slept, and the like. Only by the exercise of an\ningenuity greater than its own could Wong Ts\u2019in succeed in baffling\nits ill-conditioned spite.\n\nOn this occasion, recognizing from the nature of his pangs what was\ntaking place, Wong Ts\u2019in resorted to a stratagem that rarely failed\nhim. Announcing in a loud voice that it was his intention to refresh\nthe surface of his body by the purifying action of heated vapour, and\nthen to proceed to his mixing-floor, the merchant withdrew. The demon,\nbeing an earth-dweller with the ineradicable objection of this class\nof creatures towards all the elements of moisture, at once\nrelinquished its hold, and going direct to the part of the works\nindicated, it there awaited its victim with the design of resuming its\ndiscreditable persecution.\n\nWong Ts\u2019in had spoken with a double tongue. On leaving the inner\nchamber he quickly traversed certain obscure passages of his house\nuntil he reached an inferior portal. Even if the demon had suspected\nhis purpose it would not have occurred to a creature of its narrow\noutlook that anyone of Wong Ts\u2019in\u2019s importance would make use of so\nmenial an outway. The merchant therefore reached his garden\nunperceived and thenceforward maintained an undeviating face in the\ndirection of the Outer Expanses. Before he had covered many li he was\nassured that he had indeed succeeded for the time in shaking off his\nunscrupulous tormentor. His internal organs again resumed their\nhabitual calm and his mind was lightened as from an overhanging cloud.\n\nThere was another reason why Wong Ts\u2019in sought the solitude of the\nthinly-peopled outer places, away from the influence and distraction\nof his own estate. For some time past a problem that had once been\nremote was assuming dimensions of increasing urgency. This detail\nconcerns Fa Fai, who had already been referred to by a person of\nliterary distinction, in a poetical analogy occupying three written\nvolumes, as a pearl-tinted peach-blossom shielded and restrained by\nthe silken net-work of wise parental affection (and recognizing the\njustice of the comparison, Wong Ts\u2019in had been induced to purchase the\nwork in question). Now that Fa Fai had attained an age when she could\nfittingly be sought in marriage the contingency might occur at any\ntime, and the problem confronting her father\u2019s decision was this:\nowing to her incomparable perfection Fa Fai must be accounted one of\nWong Ts\u2019in\u2019s chief possessions, the other undoubtedly being his secret\nprocess of simulating the lustrous effect of pure gold embellishment\non china by the application of a much less expensive substitute. Would\nit be more prudent to concentrate the power of both influences and let\nit become known that with Fa Fai would go the essential part of his\nvery remunerative clay enterprise, or would it be more prudent to\ndivide these attractions and secure two distinct influences, both\nconcerned about his welfare? In the first case there need be no\nreasonable limit to the extending vista of his ambition, and he might\neven aspire to greet as a son the highest functionary of the\nprovince--an official of such heavily-sustained importance that when\nhe went about it required six chosen slaves to carry him, and of late\nit had been considered more prudent to employ eight.\n\nIf, on the other hand, Fa Fai went without any added inducement, a\nmandarin of moderate rank would probably be as high as Wong Ts\u2019in\ncould look, but he would certainly be able to adopt another of at\nleast equal position, at the price of making over to him the ultimate\nbenefit of his discovery. He could thus acquire either two sons of\nreasonable influence, or one who exercised almost unlimited authority.\nIn view of his own childlessness, and of his final dependence on the\nservices of others, which arrangement promised the most regular and\nliberal transmission of supplies to his expectant spirit when he had\npassed into the Upper Air, and would his connection with one very\nimportant official or with two subordinate ones secure him the greater\namount of honour and serviceable recognition among the more useful\ndeities?\n\nTo Wong Ts\u2019in\u2019s logical mind it seemed as though there must be a\ndefinite answer to this problem. If one manner of behaving was right\nthe other must prove wrong, for as the wise philosopher Ning-hy was\nwont to say: \u201cWhere the road divides, there stand two Ning-hys.\u201d The\ndecision on a matter so essential to his future comfort ought not to\nbe left to chance. Thus it had become a habit of Wong Ts\u2019in\u2019s to\npenetrate the Outer Spaces in the hope of there encountering a\nspecific omen.\n\nAlas, it has been well written: \u201cHe who thinks that he is raising a\nmound may only in reality be digging a pit.\u201d In his continual search\nfor a celestial portent among the solitudes Wong Ts\u2019in had of late\nnecessarily somewhat neglected his earthly (as it may thus be\nexpressed) interests. In these emergencies certain of the more\nturbulent among his workers had banded themselves together into a\nconfederacy under the leadership of a craftsman named Fang. It was the\ncustom of these men, who wore a badge and recognized a mutual oath and\nimprecation, to present themselves suddenly before Wong Ts\u2019in and\ndemand a greater reward for their exertions than they had previously\nagreed to, threatening that unless this was accorded they would cast\ndown the implements of their labour in unison and involve in idleness\nthose who otherwise would have continued at their task. This menace\nWong Ts\u2019in bought off from time to time by agreeing to their\nexactions, but it began presently to appear that this way of appeasing\nthem resembled Chou Hong\u2019s method of extinguishing a fire by directing\njets of wind against it. On the day with which this related story has\nso far concerned itself, a band of the most highly remunerated and\nprivileged of the craftsmen had appeared before Wong Ts\u2019in with the\nintolerable Fang at their head. These men were they whose skill\nenabled them laboriously to copy upon the surfaces of porcelain a\ngiven scene without appreciable deviation from one to the other, for\nin those remote cycles of history no other method was yet known or\neven dreamed of.\n\n\u201cSuitable greetings, employer of our worthless services,\u201d remarked\ntheir leader, seating himself upon the floor unbidden. \u201cThese who\nspeak through the mouth of the cringing mendicant before you are the\nBound-together Brotherhood of Colour-mixers and Putters-on of\nThought-out Designs, bent upon a just cause.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay their Ancestral Tablets never fall into disrepair,\u201d replied Wong\nTs\u2019in courteously. \u201cFor the rest--let the mouth referred to shape\nitself into the likeness of a narrow funnel, for the lengthening\ngong-strokes press round about my unfinished labours.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat which in justice requires the amplitude of a full-sized cask\nshall be pressed down into the confines of an inadequate vessel,\u201d\n assented Fang. \u201cKnow then, O battener upon our ill-requited skill, how\nit has come to our knowledge that one who is not of our Brotherhood\nmoves among us and performs an equal task for a less reward. This is\nour spoken word in consequence: in place of one tael every man among\nus shall now take two, and he who before has laboured eight gongs to\nreceive it shall henceforth labour four. Furthermore, he who is\nspeaking shall, as their recognized head and authority, always be\naddressed by the honourable title of \u2018Polished,\u2019 and the dog who is\nnot one of us shall be cast forth.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy hand itches to reward you in accordance with the inner prompting\nof a full heart,\u201d replied the merchant, after a well-sustained pause.\n\u201cBut in this matter my very deficient ears must be leading my\nthreadbare mind astray. The moon has not been eaten up since the day\nwhen you stood before me in a like attitude and bargained that every\nman should henceforth receive a full tael where hitherto a half had\nbeen his portion, and that in place of the toil of sixteen\ngong-strokes eight should suffice. Upon this being granted all bound\nthemselves by spoken word that the matter should stand thus and thus\nbetween us until the gathering-in of the next rice harvest.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may have been so at the time,\u201d admitted Fang, with dog-like\nobstinacy, \u201cbut it was not then known that you had pledged yourself to\nHien Nan for tenscore embellished plates of porcelain within a stated\ntime, and that our services would therefore be essential to your\nreputation. There has thus arisen what may be regarded as a new vista\nof eventualities, and this frees us from the bondage of our spoken\nword. Having thus moderately stated our unbending demand, we will\ndepart until the like gong-stroke of to-morrow, when, if our claim be\nnot agreed to, all will cast down their implements of labour with the\nswiftness of a lightning-flash and thereby involve the whole of your\ntoo-profitable undertaking in well-merited stagnation. We go,\nvenerable head; auspicious omens attend your movements!\u201d\n\n\u201cMay the All-Seeing guide your footsteps,\u201d responded Wong Ts\u2019in, and\nwith courteous forbearance he waited until they were out of hearing\nbefore he added--\u201cinto a vat of boiling sulphur!\u201d\n\nThus may the position be outlined when Wei Chang, the unassuming youth\nwhom the black-hearted Fang had branded with so degrading a\ncomparison, sat at his appointed place rather than join in the\ndiscreditable conspiracy, and strove by his unaided dexterity to\nenable Wong Ts\u2019in to complete the tenscore embellished plates by the\nappointed time. Yet already he knew that in this commendable ambition\nhis head grew larger than his hands, for he was the slowest-working\namong all Wong Ts\u2019in\u2019s craftsmen, and even then his copy could\nfrequently be detected from the original. Not to overwhelm his memory\nwith unmerited contempt it is fitting now to reveal somewhat more of\nthe unfolding curtain of events.\n\nWei Chang was not in reality a worker in the art of applying coloured\ndesigns to porcelain at all. He was a student of the literary\nexcellences and had decided to devote his entire life to the engaging\ntask of reducing the most perfectly matched analogy to the least\npossible number of words when the unexpected appearance of Fa Fai\nunsettled his ambitions. She was restraining the impatience of a\npowerful horse and controlling its movements by means of a leather\nthong, while at the same time she surveyed the landscape with a\ndisinterested glance in which Wei Chang found himself becoming\ninvolved. Without stopping even to consult the spirits of his revered\nancestors on so important a decision, he at once burned the greater\npart of his collection of classical analogies and engaged himself, as\none who is willing to become more proficient, about Wong Ts\u2019in\u2019s\nearth-yards. Here, without any reasonable intention of ever becoming\nin any way personally congenial to her, he was in a position\noccasionally to see the distant outline of Fa Fai\u2019s movements, and\nwhen a day passed and even this was withheld he was content that the\nshadow of the many-towered building that contained her should obscure\nthe sunlight from the window before which he worked.\n\nWhile Wei Chang was thus engaged the door of the enclosure in which he\nlaboured was thrust cautiously inwards, and presently he became aware\nthat the being whose individuality was never completely absent from\nhis thoughts was standing in an expectant attitude at no great\ndistance from him. As no other person was present, the craftsmen\nhaving departed in order to consult an oracle that dwelt beneath an\nappropriate sign, and Wong Ts\u2019in being by this time among the Outer\nWays seeking an omen as to Fa Fai\u2019s disposal, Wei Chang did not think\nit respectful to become aware of the maiden\u2019s presence until a\npersistent distress of her throat compelled him to recognize the\nincident.\n\n\u201cUnapproachable perfection,\u201d he said, with becoming deference, \u201cis it\npermissible that in the absence of your enlightened sire you should\ndescend from your golden eminence and stand, entirely unattended, at\nno great distance from so ordinary a person as myself?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhether it be strictly permissible or not, it is only on like\noccasions that she ever has the opportunity of descending from the\nsolitary pinnacle referred to,\u201d replied Fa Fai, not only with no\noutward appearance of alarm at being directly addressed by one of a\ndifferent sex, but even moving nearer to Wei Chang as she spoke. \u201cA\nmore essential detail in the circumstances concerns the length of time\nthat he may be prudently relied upon to be away?\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless several gong-strokes will intervene before his returning\nfootsteps gladden our expectant vision,\u201d replied Wei Chang. \u201cHe is\nspoken of as having set his face towards the Outer Ways, there\nperchance to come within the influence of a portent.\u201d\n\n\u201cIts probable object is not altogether unknown to the one who stands\nbefore you,\u201d admitted Fa Fai, \u201cand as a dutiful and affectionate\ndaughter it has become a consideration with her whether she ought not\nto press forward, as it were, to a solution on her own account. . . .\nIf the one whom I am addressing could divert his attention from the\nembellishment of the very inadequate claw of a wholly superfluous\nwinged dragon, possibly he might add his sage counsel on that point.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is said that a bull-frog once rent his throat in a well-meant\nendeavour to advise an eagle in the art of flying,\u201d replied Wei Chang,\nconcealing the bitterness of his heart beneath an easy tongue. \u201cFor\nthis reason it is inexpedient for earthlings to fix their eyes on\nthose who dwell in very high places.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the intrepid, very high places exist solely to be scaled; with\nothers, however, the only scaling they attempt is lavished on the\narmour of preposterous flying monsters, O youth of the House of Wei!\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it possible,\u201d exclaimed Wei Chang, moving forward with so sudden\nan ardour that the maiden hastily withdrew herself several paces from\nbeyond his enthusiasm, \u201cis it possible that this person\u2019s hitherto\nobscure and execrated name is indeed known to your incomparable lips?\u201d\n\n\u201cAs the one who periodically casts up the computations of the sums of\nmoney due to those who labour about the earth-yards, it would be\nstrange if the name had so far escaped my notice,\u201d replied Fa Fai,\nwith a distance in her voice that the few paces between them very\ninadequately represented. \u201cCertain details engrave themselves upon the\ntablets of recollection by their persistence. For instance, the name\nof Fang is generally at the head of each list; that of Wei Chang is\ninvariably at the foot.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is undeniable,\u201d admitted Wei Chang, in a tone of well-merited\nhumiliation; \u201cand the attainment of never having yet applied a design\nin such a manner that the copy might be mistaken for the original has\nentirely flattened-out this person\u2019s self-esteem.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless,\u201d suggested Fa Fai, with delicate encouragement, \u201cthere are\nother pursuits in which you would disclose a more highly developed\nproficiency--as that of watching the gyrations of untamed horses, for\nexample. Our more immediate need, however, is to discover a means of\ndefeating the malignity of the detestable Fang. With this object I\nhave for some time past secretly applied myself to the task of\ncontriving a design which, by blending simplicity with picturesque\neffect, will enable one person in a given length of time to achieve\nthe amount of work hitherto done by two.\u201d\n\nWith these auspicious words the accomplished maiden disclosed a plate\nof translucent porcelain, embellished in the manner which she had\ndescribed. At the sight of the ingenious way in which trees and\npersons, stream and buildings, and objects of a widely differing\nnature had been so arranged as to give the impression that they all\nexisted at the same time, and were equally visible without undue\nexertion on the part of the spectator who regarded them, Wei Chang\ncould not restrain an exclamation of delight.\n\n\u201cHow cunningly imagined is the device by which objects so varied in\nsize as an orange and an island can be depicted within the narrow\ncompass of a porcelain plate without the larger one completely\nobliterating the smaller or the smaller becoming actually invisible by\ncomparison with the other! Hitherto this unimaginative person had not\nconsidered the possibility of showing other than dragons, demons,\nspirits, and the forces which from their celestial nature may be\nregarded as possessing no real thickness of substance and therefore\nbeing particularly suitable for treatment on a flat surface. But this\nengaging display might indeed be a scene having an actual existence at\nno great space away.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch is assuredly the case,\u201d admitted Fa Fai. \u201cWithin certain\nlimitations, imposed by this new art of depicting realities as they\nare, we may be regarded as standing before an open window. The\nimportant-looking building on the right is that erected by this\nperson\u2019s venerated father. Its prosperity is indicated by the\nluxurious profusion of the fruit-tree overhanging it. Pressed somewhat\nto the back, but of dignified proportion, are the outer buildings of\nthose who labour among the clay.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn a state of actuality, they are of measurably less dignified\ndimensions,\u201d suggested Wei Chang.\n\n\u201cThe objection is inept,\u201d replied Fa Fai. \u201cThe buildings in question\nundoubtedly exist at the indicated position. If, therefore, the\nactuality is to be maintained, it is necessary either to raise their\nstature or to cut down the trees obscuring them. To this gentle-minded\nperson the former alternative seemed the less drastic. As, however, it\nis regarded in a spirit of no-satisfaction--\u201d\n\n\u201cProceed, incomparable one, proceed,\u201d implored Wei Chang. \u201cIt was but\na breath of thought, arising from a recollection of the many times\nthat this incapable person has struck his unworthy head against the\nroof-beams of those nobly-proportioned buildings.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe three stunted individuals crossing the bridge in undignified\nattitudes are the debased Fang and two of his mercenary accomplices.\nThey are, as usual, bending their footsteps in the direction of the\nhospitality of a house that announces its purpose beneath the sign of\na spreading bush. They are positioned as crossing the river to a set\npurpose, and the bridge is devoid of a rail in the hope that on their\nreturn they may all fall into the torrent in a helpless condition and\nbe drowned, to the satisfaction of the beholders.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt would be a fitting conclusion to their ill-spent lives,\u201d agreed\nWei Chang. \u201cWould it not add to their indignity to depict them as\nstruggling beneath the waves?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt might do so,\u201d admitted Fa Fai graciously, \u201cbut in order to express\nthe arisement adequately it would be necessary to display them\ntwice--first on the bridge with their faces turned towards the west,\nand then in the flood with their faces towards the east; and the\nsuperficial might hastily assume that the three on the bridge would\nrescue the three in the river.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are all-wise,\u201d said Wei Chang, with well-marked admiration in his\nvoice. \u201cThis person\u2019s suggestion was opaque.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn any case,\u201d continued Fa Fai, with a reassuring glance, \u201cit is a\ndetail that is not essential to the frustration of Fang\u2019s malignant\nscheme, for already well on its way towards Hien Nan may be seen a\ntrustworthy junk, laden with two formidable crates, each one\ncontaining fivescore plates of the justly esteemed Wong Ts\u2019in\nporcelain.\u201d\n\n\u201cNevertheless,\u201d maintained Wei Chang mildly, \u201cthe out-passing of Fang\nwould have been a satisfactory detail of the occurrence.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not despair,\u201d replied Fa Fai. \u201cNot idly is it written: \u2018Destiny\nhas four feet, eight hands and sixteen eyes: how then shall the\nill-doer with only two of each hope to escape?\u2019 An even more\nignominious end may await Fang, should he escape drowning, for,\nconveniently placed by the side of the stream, this person has\nintroduced a spreading willow-tree. Any of its lower branches is\ncapable of sustaining Fang\u2019s weight, should a reliable rope connect\nthe two.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is something about that which this person now learns is a\nwillow that distinguishes it above all the other trees of the design,\u201d\n remarked Wei Chang admiringly. \u201cIt has a wild and yet a romantic\naspect.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis person had not yet chanced upon a suitable title for the\ndevice,\u201d said Fa Fai, \u201cand a distinguishing name is necessary, for\npossibly scores of copies may be made before its utility is exhausted.\nYour discriminating praise shall be accepted as a fortunate omen, and\nhenceforth this shall be known as the Willow Pattern Embellishment.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe honour of suggesting the title is more than this commonplace\nperson can reasonably carry,\u201d protested Wei Chang, feeling that very\nlittle worth considering existed outside the earth-shed. \u201cNot only\nscores, but even hundreds of copies may be required in the process of\ntime, for a crust of rice-bread and handful of dried figs eaten from\nsuch a plate would be more satisfying than a repast of many-coursed\nrichness elsewhere.\u201d\n\nIn this well-sustained and painless manner Fa Fai and Wei Chang\ncontinued to express themselves agreeably to each other, until the\nlengthening gong-strokes warned the former person that her absence\nmight inconvenience Wong Ts\u2019in\u2019s sense of tranquillity on his return,\nnor did Wei Chang contest the desirability of a great space\nintervening between them should the merchant chance to pass that way.\nIn the meanwhile Chang had explained many of the inner details of his\ncraft so that Fa Fai should the better understand the requirements of\nher new art.\n\n\u201cYet where is the Willow plate itself?\u201d said the maiden, as she began\nto arrange her mind towards departure. \u201cAs the colours were still in a\nreceptive state this person placed it safely aside for the time. It\nwas somewhat near the spot where you--\u201d\n\nDuring the amiable exchange of shafts of polished conversation Wei\nChang had followed Fa Fai\u2019s indication and had seated himself upon a\nlow bench without any very definite perception of his movements. He\nnow arose with the unstudied haste of one who has inconvenienced a\nscorpion.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d he exclaimed, in a tone of the acutest mental distress; \u201ccan\nit be possible that this utterly profane outcast has so desecrated--\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly comment of an admittedly crushing nature has been imposed\non this one\u2019s well-meant handiwork,\u201d said Fa Fai. With these\nlightly-barbed words, which were plainly devised to restore the other\nperson\u2019s face towards himself, the magnanimous maiden examined the\nplate which Wei Chang\u2019s uprising had revealed.\n\n\u201cNot only has the embellishment suffered no real detriment,\u201d she\ncontinued, after an adequate glance, \u201cbut there has been imparted to\nthe higher lights--doubtless owing to the nature of the fabric in\nwhich your lower half is encased--a certain nebulous quality that adds\ngreatly to the successful effect of the various tones.\u201d\n\nAt the first perception of the indignity to which he had subjected the\nentrancing Fa Fai\u2019s work, and the swift feeling that much more than\nthe coloured adornment of a plate would thereby be destroyed, all\npower of retention had forsaken Wei Chang\u2019s incapable knees and he\nsank down heavily upon another bench. From this dejection the maiden\u2019s\nwell-chosen encouragement recalled him to a position of ordinary\nuprightness.\n\n\u201cA tombstone is lifted from this person\u2019s mind by your\ngracefully-placed words,\u201d he declared, and he was continuing to\nindicate the nature of his self-reproach by means of a suitable\nanalogy when the expression of Fa Fai\u2019s eyes turned him to a point\nbehind himself. There, lying on the spot from which he had just risen,\nwas a second Willow plate, differing in no detail of resemblance from\nthe first.\n\n\u201cShadow of the Great Image!\u201d exclaimed Chang, in an awe-filled voice.\n\u201cIt is no marvel that miracles should attend your footsteps, celestial\none, but it is incredible that this clay-souled person should be\ninvolved in the display.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d declared Fa Fai, not hesitating to allude to things as they\nexisted, in the highly-raised stress of the discovery, \u201cit would\nappear that the miracle is not specifically connected with this\nperson\u2019s feet. Would you not, in furtherance of this line of\nsuggestion, place yourself in a similar attitude on yet another plate,\nWei Chang?\u201d\n\nNot without many protests that it was scarcely becoming thus to sit\nrepeatedly in her presence, Chang complied with the request, and upon\nFa Fai\u2019s further insistence he continued to impress himself, as it\nwere, upon a succession of porcelain plates, with a like result. Not\nuntil the eleventh process was reached did the Willow design begin to\nlose its potency.\n\n\u201cTen perfect copies produced within as many moments, and not one\ndistinguishable from the first!\u201d exclaimed Wei Chang, regarding the\narray of plates with pleasurable emotion. \u201cHere is a means of baffling\nFang\u2019s crafty confederacy that will fill Wong Ts\u2019in\u2019s ears with waves\nof gladness on his return.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless,\u201d agreed Fa Fai, with a dark intent. She was standing by\nthe door of the enclosure in the process of making her departure, and\nshe regarded Wei Chang with a set deliberation. \u201cYet,\u201d she continued\ndefinitely, \u201cif this person possessed that which was essential to Wong\nTs\u2019in\u2019s prosperity, and Wong Ts\u2019in held that which was necessary for\nthis one\u2019s tranquillity, a locked bolt would be upon the one until the\nother was pledged in return.\u201d\n\nWith these opportune words the maiden vanished, leaving Wei Chang\nprostrating himself in spirit before the many-sidedness of her wisdom.\n\nWong Ts\u2019in was not altogether benevolently inclined towards the\nuniverse on his return a little later. The persistent image of Fang\u2019s\noverthreatening act still corroded the merchant\u2019s throat with\nbitterness, for on his right he saw the extinction of his business as\nunremunerative if he agreed, and on his left he saw the extinction of\nhis business as undependable if he refused to agree.\n\nFurthermore, the omens were ill-arranged.\n\nOn his way outwards he had encountered an aged man who possessed two\nfruit-trees, on which he relied for sustenance. As Wong Ts\u2019in drew\nnear, this venerable person carried from his dwelling two beaten cakes\nof dog-dung and began to bury them about the root of the larger tree.\nThis action, on the part of one who might easily be a disguised\nwizard, aroused Wong Ts\u2019in\u2019s interest.\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d he demanded, \u201chaving two cakes of dung and two fruit-trees, do\nyou not allot one to each tree, so that both may benefit and return to\nyou their produce in the time of your necessity?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe season promises to be one of rigour and great need,\u201d replied the\nother. \u201cA single cake of dung might not provide sufficient nourishment\nfor either tree, so that both should wither away. By reducing life to\na bare necessity I could pass from one harvest to another on the fruit\nof this tree alone, but if both should fail I am undone. To this end I\nsafeguard my existence by ensuring that at least the better of the two\nshall thrive.\u201d\n\n\u201cPeace attend your efforts!\u201d said Wong Ts\u2019in, and he began to retrace\nhis footsteps, well content.\n\nYet he had not covered half the distance back when his progress was\nimpeded by an elderly hag who fed two goats, whose milk alone\npreserved her from starvation. One small measure of dry grass was all\nthat she was able to provide them with, but she divided it equally\nbetween them, to the discontent of both.\n\n\u201cThe season promises to be one of rigour and great need,\u201d remarked\nWong Ts\u2019in affably, for the being before him might well be a creature\nof another part who had assumed that form for his guidance. \u201cWhy do\nyou not therefore ensure sustenance to the better of the two goats by\ndevoting to it the whole of the measure of dry grass? In this way you\nwould receive at least some nourishment in return and thereby\nsafeguard your own existence until the rice is grown again.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the matter of the two goats,\u201d replied the aged hag, \u201cthere is no\nbetter, both being equally stubborn and perverse, though one may be\nfiner-looking and more vainglorious than the other. Yet should I\nfoster this one to the detriment of her fellow, what would be this\nperson\u2019s plight if haply the weaker died and the stronger broke away\nand fled! By treating both alike I retain a double thread on life,\neven if neither is capable of much.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay the Unseen weigh your labours!\u201d exclaimed Wong Ts\u2019in in a\ntwo-edged voice, and he departed.\n\nWhen he reached his own house he would have closed himself in his own\nchamber with himself had not Wei Chang persisted that he sought his\nmaster\u2019s inner ear with a heavy project. This interruption did not\nplease Wong Ts\u2019in, for he had begun to recognize the day as being\nunlucky, yet Chang succeeded by a device in reaching his side, bearing\nin his hands a guarded burden.\n\nThough no written record of this memorable interview exists, it is now\ngenerally admitted that Wei Chang either involved himself in an\nunbearably attenuated caution before he would reveal his errand, or\nelse that he made a definite allusion to Fa Fai with a too sudden\nconciseness, for the slaves who stood without heard Wong Ts\u2019in clear\nhis voice of all restraint and express himself freely on a variety of\nsubjects. But this gave place to a subdued murmur, ending with the\nceremonial breaking of a plate, and later Wong Ts\u2019in beat on a silver\nbell and called for wine and fruit.\n\nThe next day Fang presented himself a few gong-strokes later than the\nappointed time, and being met by an unbending word he withdrew the\nlabour of those whom he controlled. Thenceforth these men, providing\nthemselves with knives and axes, surrounded the gate of the\nearth-yards and by the pacific argument of their attitudes succeeded\nin persuading others who would willingly have continued at their task\nthat the air of Wong Ts\u2019in\u2019s sheds was not congenial to their health.\nTowards Wei Chang, whose efforts they despised, they raised a cloud of\nderision, and presently noticing that henceforth he invariably clad\nhimself in lower garments of a dark blue material (to a set purpose\nthat will be as crystal to the sagacious), they greeted his appearance\nwith cries of: \u201cBehold the sombre one! Thou dark leg!\u201d so that this\nreproach continues to be hurled even to this day at those in a like\ncase, though few could answer why.\n\nLong before the stipulated time the tenscore plates were delivered to\nHien Nan. So greatly were they esteemed, both on account of their\naccuracy of unvarying detail and the ingenuity of their novel\nembellishment, that orders for scores, hundreds and even thousands\nbegan to arrive from all quarters of the Empire. The clay enterprise\nof Wong Ts\u2019in took upon itself an added lustre, and in order to deal\nadequately with so vast an undertaking the grateful merchant adopted\nWei Chang and placed him upon an equal footing with himself. On the\nsame day Wong Ts\u2019in honourably fulfilled his spoken word and the\nmarriage of Wei Chang and Fa Fai took place, accompanied by the most\nlavish display of fireworks and coloured lights that the province had\never seen. The controlling deities approved, and they had seven sons,\none of whom had seven fingers upon each hand. All these sons became\nexpert in Wei Chang\u2019s process of transferring porcelain embellishment,\nfor some centuries elapsed before it was discovered that it was not\nabsolutely necessary to sit upon each plate to produce the desired\neffect.\n\nThis chronicle of an event that is now regarded as almost classical\nwould not be complete without an added reference to the ultimate end\nof the sordid Fang.\n\nFallen into disrepute among his fellows owing to the evil plight\ntowards which he had enticed them, it became his increasing purpose to\nfrequent the house beyond the river. On his return at nightfall he\ninvariably drew aside on reaching the bridge, well knowing that he\ncould not prudently rely upon his feet among so insecure a crossing,\nand composed himself to sleep amid the rushes. While in this position\none night he was discovered and pushed into the river by a devout ox\n(an instrument of high destinies), where he perished incapably.\n\nThose who found his body, not being able to withdraw so formidable a\nweight direct, cast a rope across the lower branch of a convenient\nwillow-tree and thus raised it to the shore. In this striking manner\nFa Fai\u2019s definite opinion achieved a destined end.\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER III\n\n           The Degraded Persistence of the Effete Ming-shu\n\nAt about the same gong-stroke as before, Kai Lung again stood at the\nopen shutter, and to him presently came the maiden Hwa-mei, bearing in\nher hands a gift of fruit.\n\n\u201cThe story of the much-harassed merchant Wong Ts\u2019in and of the\nassiduous youth Wei Chang has reached this person\u2019s ears by a devious\nroad, and though it doubtless lost some of the subtler qualities in\nthe telling, the ultimate tragedy had a convincing tone,\u201d she remarked\npleasantly.\n\n\u201cIt is scarcely to be expected that one who has spent his life beneath\nan official umbrella should have at his command the finer analogies of\nlight and shade,\u201d tolerantly replied Kai Lung. \u201cThough by no means\ncomparable with the unapproachable history of the Princess Taik and\nthe minstrel Ch\u2019eng as a means for conveying the unexpressed\naspirations of the one who relates towards the one who is receptive,\nthere are many passages even in the behaviour of Wei Chang into which\nthis person could infuse an unmistakable stress of significance were\nhe but given the opportunity.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe day of that opportunity has not yet dawned,\u201d replied the Golden\nMouse; \u201cnor has the night preceding it yet run its gloomy course.\nFoiled in his first attempt, the vindictive Ming-shu now creeps\ntowards his end by a more tortuous path. Whether or not dimly\nsuspecting something of the strategy by which your imperishable life\nwas preserved to-day, it is no part of his depraved scheme that you\nshould be given a like opportunity again. To-morrow another will be\nled to judgment, one Cho-kow, a tribesman of the barbarian land of\nKhim.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith him I have already conversed and shared rice,\u201d interposed Kai\nLung. \u201cProceed, elegance.\u201d\n\n\u201cAccused of plundering mountain tombs and of other crimes now held in\ndisrepute, he will be offered a comparatively painless death if he\nwill implicate his fellows, of whom you will be held to be the chief.\nBy this ignoble artifice you will be condemned on his testimony in\nyour absence, nor will you have any warning of your fate until you are\nled forth to suffer.\u201d\n\nThen replied Kai Lung, after a space of thought: \u201cNot ineptly is it\nwritten: \u2018When the leading carriage is upset the next one is more\ncareful,\u2019 and Ming-shu has taken the proverb to his heart. To\ncounteract his detestable plot will not be easy, but it should not be\nbeyond our united power, backed by a reasonable activity on the part\nof our protecting ancestors.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe devotional side of the emergency has had this one\u2019s early care,\u201d\n remarked Hwa-mei. \u201cFrom daybreak to-morrow six zealous and\ndeep-throated monks will curse Ming-shu and all his ways unceasingly,\nwhile a like number will invoke blessings and success upon your\nenlightened head. In the matter of noise and illumination everything\nthat can contribute has been suitably prepared.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is difficult to conjecture what more could be done in that\ndirection,\u201d confessed Kai Lung gratefully.\n\n\u201cYet as regards a more material effort--?\u201d suggested the maiden, amid\na cloud of involving doubt.\n\n\u201cIf there is a subject in which the imagination of the Mandarin Shan\nTien can be again enmeshed it might be yet accomplished,\u201d replied Kai\nLung. \u201cHave you a knowledge of any such deep concern?\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly there is a matter that disturbs his peace of late. He has\ndreamed a dream three times, and its meaning is beyond the skill of\nany man to solve. Yet how shall this avail you who are no geomancer?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the nature of the dream?\u201d inquired Kai Lung. \u201cFor remember,\n\u2018Though Shen-fi has but one gate, many roads lead to it.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cThe substance of the dream is this: that herein he who sleeps walks\nfreely in the ways of men wearing no robe or covering of any kind, yet\nsuffering no concern or indignity therefrom; that the secret and\nhidden things of the earth are revealed to his seeing eyes; and that\nhe can float in space and project himself upon the air at will. These\nthree things are alien to his nature, and being three times repeated,\nthe uncertainty assails his ease.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet it, under your persistent care, assail him more and that\nunceasingly,\u201d exclaimed Kai Lung, with renewed lightness in his voice.\n\u201cBreathe on the surface of his self-repose as a summer breeze moves\nthe smooth water of a mountain lake--not deeply, but never quite at\nrest. Be assured: it is no longer possible to doubt that powerful\nBeings are interested in our cause.\u201d\n\n\u201cI go, oppressed one,\u201d replied Hwa-mei. \u201cMay this period of your\nignoble trial be brought to a distinguished close.\u201d\n\nOn the following day at the appointed hour Cho-kow was led before the\nMandarin Shan Tien, and the nature of his crimes having been explained\nto him by the contemptible Ming-shu, he was bidden to implicate Kai\nLung and thus come to an earlier and less painful end.\n\n\u201cAll-powerful,\u201d he replied, addressing himself to the Mandarin, \u201cthe\nwords that have been spoken are bent to a deceptive end. They of our\ncommunity are a simple race and doubtless in the past their ways were\nthus and thus. But, as it is truly said, \u2018Tian went bare, his eyes\ncould pierce the earth and his body float in space, but they of his\nseed do but dream the dream.\u2019 We, being but the puny descendants--\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have spoken of one Tian whose attributes were such, and of those\nwho dream thereof,\u201d interrupted the Mandarin, as one who performs a\nreluctant duty. \u201cThat which you adduce to uphold your cause must bear\nthe full light of day.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, omnipotence,\u201d replied Cho-kow, \u201cthis concerns the doing of the\ngods and those who share their line. Now I am but an ill-conditioned\noutcast from the obscure land of Khim, and possess no lore beyond what\nhappens there. Haply the gods that rule in Khim have a different\nmanner of behaving from those in the Upper Air above Yu-ping, and this\nperson\u2019s narration would avoid the semblance of the things that are\nand he himself would thereby be brought to disrepute.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuffer not that apprehension to retard your impending eloquence,\u201d\n replied Shan Tien affably. \u201cBe assured that the gods have exactly the\nsame manner of behaving in every land.\u201d\n\n\u201cFurthermore,\u201d continued Cho-kow, with patient craft, \u201cI am a man of\nbarbarian tongue, the full half of my speech being foreign to your\near. The history of the much-accomplished Tian and the meaning of the\ndreams that mark those of his race require for a full understanding\nthe subtle analogies of an acquired style. Now that same Kai Lung whom\nyou have implicated to my band--\u201d\n\n\u201cExcellence!\u201d protested Ming-shu, with a sudden apprehension in his\nthroat, \u201cyesterday our labours dissolved in air through the very\ndoubtful precedent of allowing one to testify what he had had the\nintention to relate. Now we are asked to allow a tomb-haunter to call\na parricide to disclose that which he himself is ignorant of. Press\ndown your autocratic thumb--\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, instructor,\u201d interposed Shan Tien compassionately, \u201cthe\nsympathetic concern of my mind overflows upon the spectacle of your\nill-used forbearance, yet you having banded together the two in a\ncommon infamy, it is the ancient privilege of this one to call the\nother to his cause. We are but the feeble mouthpieces of a benevolent\nscheme of all-embracing justice and greatly do I fear that we must\nagain submit.\u201d\n\nWith these well-timed words the broad-minded personage settled himself\nmore reposefully among his cushions and signified that Kai Lung should\nbe led forward and begin.\n\n\n          The Story of Ning, the Captive God, and the Dreams\n                          that mark his Race\n\n                   i. THE MALICE OF THE DEMON, LEOU\n\nWhen Sun Wei definitely understood that the deities were against him\n(for on every occasion his enemies prospered and the voice of his own\nauthority grew less), he looked this way and that with a\nwell-considering mind.\n\nHe did nothing hastily, but when once a decision was reached it was as\nunbending as iron and as smoothly finished as polished jade. At about\nthe evening hour when others were preparing to offer sacrifice he took\nthe images and the altars of his Rites down from their honourable\npositions and cast them into a heap on a waste expanse beyond his\ncourtyard. Then with an axe he unceremoniously detached their\nincomparable limbs from their sublime bodies and flung the parts into\na fire that he had prepared.\n\n\u201cIt is better,\u201d declared Sun Wei, standing beside the pile, his hands\nburied within his sleeves--\u201cit is better to be struck down at once,\nrather than to wither away slowly like a half-uprooted cassia-tree.\u201d\n\nWhen this act of defiance was reported in the Upper World the air grew\nthick with the cries of indignation of the lesser deities, and the\nsound of their passage as they projected themselves across vast\nregions of space and into the presence of the supreme N\u2019guk was like\nthe continuous rending of innumerable pieces of the finest silk.\n\nIn his musk-scented heaven, however, N\u2019guk slept, as his habit was at\nthe close of each celestial day. It was with some difficulty that he\ncould be aroused and made to understand the nature of Sun Wei\u2019s\nprofanity, for his mind was dull with the smoke of never-ending\nincense.\n\n\u201cTo-morrow,\u201d he promised, with a benignant gesture, turning over again\non his crystal throne, \u201csome time to-morrow impartial justice shall be\ndone. In the meanwhile--courteous dismissal attend your opportune\nfootsteps.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is becoming old and obese,\u201d murmured the less respectful of the\ndemons. \u201cHe is not the god he was, even ten thousand cycles ago. It\nwere well--\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, omnipotence,\u201d protested certain conciliatory spirits, pressing\nto the front, \u201cconsider, if but for a short breath of time. A day here\nis as threescore of their years as these mortals live. By to-morrow\nnight not only Sun Wei, but most of those now dwelling down below,\nwill have Passed Beyond. But the story of his unpunished infamy will\nlive. We shall become discredited and our altar fires extinct.\nSacrifice of either food or raiment will cease to reach us. The Season\nof White Rain is approaching and will find us ill provided. We who\nspeak are but Beings of small part--\u201d\n\n\u201cPeace!\u201d commanded N\u2019guk, now thoroughly disturbed, for the voices of\nthe few had grown into a tumult; \u201chow is it possible to consider with\na torrent like the Hoang-Ho in flood pouring through my very ordinary\nears? Your omniscient but quite inadequate Chief would think.\u201d\n\nAt this rebuke the uproar ceased. So deep became the nature of N\u2019guk\u2019s\nprofound thoughts that they could be heard rolling like thunder among\nthe caverns of his gigantic brain. To aid the process, female slaves\non either side fanned his fiery head with celestial lotus leaves. On\nthe earth, far beneath, cyclones, sand-storms and sweeping\nwater-spouts were forced into being.\n\n\u201cHear the contemptible wisdom of my ill-formed mouth,\u201d said N\u2019guk at\nlength. \u201cIf we at once put forth our strength, the degraded Wun Sei is\nground--\u201d\n\n\u201cSun Wei, All-knowing One,\u201d murmured an attending spirit beneath his\nbreath.\n\n\u201c--the unmentionable outcast whom we are discussing is immediately\nground into powder,\u201d continued the Highest, looking fixedly at a\ndistant spot situated directly beyond his painstaking attendant. \u201cBut\nwhat follows? Henceforth no man can be allowed to whisper ill of us\nbut we must at once seek him out and destroy him, or the obtuse and\nsuperficial will exclaim: \u2018It was not so in the days of--of So-and-So.\nBehold\u2019\u201d--here the Great One bent a look of sudden resentment on the\nband of those who would have reproached him--\u201c\u2018behold the gods become\nold and obese. They are not the Powers they were. It would be better\nto address ourselves to other altars.\u2019\u201d\n\nAt this prospect many of the more venerable spirits began to lose\ntheir enthusiasm. If every mortal who spoke ill of them was to be\npursued what leisure for dignified seclusion would remain?\n\n\u201cIf, however,\u201d continued the dispassionate Being, \u201cthe profaner is\nleft to himself he will, sooner or later, in the ordinary course of\nhuman intelligence, become involved in some disaster of his own\ncontriving. Then they who dwell around will say: \u2018He destroyed the\naltars! Truly the hands of the Unseen are slow to close, but their\narms are very long. Lo, we have this day ourselves beheld it. Come,\nlet us burn incense lest some forgotten misdeed from the past lurk in\nour path.\u2019\u201d\n\nWhen he had finished speaking all the more reputable of those present\nextolled his judgment. Some still whispered together, however,\nwhereupon the sagacious N\u2019guk opened his mouth more fully and shot\nforth tongues of consuming fire among the murmurers so that they fled\nhowling from his presence.\n\nNow among the spirits who had stood before the Pearly Ruler without\ntaking any share in the decision were two who at this point are drawn\ninto the narration, Leou and Ning. Leou was a revengeful demon, ever\nat enmity with one or another of the gods and striving how he might\nenmesh his feet in destruction. Ning was a better-class deity,\nvoluptuous but well-meaning, and little able to cope with Leou\u2019s\nsubtlety. Thus it came about that the latter one, seeing in the\noutcome a chance to achieve his end, at once dropped headlong down to\nearth and sought out Sun Wei.\n\nSun Wei was reclining at his evening rice when Leou found him.\nBecoming invisible, the demon entered a date that Sun Wei held in his\nhand and took the form of a stone. Sun Wei recognized the doubtful\nnature of the stone as it passed between his teeth, and he would have\nspat it forth again, but Leou had the questionable agility of the\nserpent and slipped down the other\u2019s throat. He was thus able to\nconverse familiarly with Sun Wei without fear of interruption.\n\n\u201cSun Wei,\u201d said the voice of Leou inwardly, \u201cthe position you have\nchosen is a desperate one, and we of the Upper Air who are well\ndisposed towards you find the path of assistance fringed with\ntwo-edged swords.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well said: \u2018He who lacks a single tael sees many bargains,\u2019\u201d\n replied Sun Wei, a refined bitterness weighing the import of his\nwords. \u201cTruly this person\u2019s friends in the Upper Air are a\nnever-failing lantern behind his back.\u201d\n\nAt this justly-barbed reproach Leou began to shake with disturbed\ngravity until he remembered that the motion might not be pleasing to\nSun Wei\u2019s inner feelings.\n\n\u201cIt is not that the well-disposed are slow to urge your claims, but\nthat your enemies number some of the most influential demons in all\nthe Nine Spaces,\u201d he declared, speaking with a false smoothness that\nmarked all his detestable plans. \u201cAssuredly in the past you must have\nled a very abandoned life, Sun Wei, to come within the circle of their\nmalignity.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy no means,\u201d replied Sun Wei. \u201cUntil driven to despair this person\nnot only duly observed the Rites and Ceremonies, but he even avoided\nthe Six Offences. He remained by the side of his parents while they\nlived, provided an adequate posterity, forbore to tread on any of the\nbenevolent insects, safeguarded all printed paper, did not consume the\nmeat of the industrious ox, and was charitable towards the needs of\nhungry and homeless ghosts.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese observances are well enough,\u201d admitted Leou, restraining his\nnarrow-minded impatience; \u201cand with an ordinary number of written\ncharms worn about the head and body they would doubtless carry you\nthrough the lesser contingencies of existence. But by, as it were,\nextending contempt, you have invited the retaliatory propulsion of the\nsandal of authority.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo one who has been pushed over the edge of a precipice, a rut across\nthe path is devoid of menace; nor do the destitute tremble at the\ndeparting watchman\u2019s cry: \u2018Sleep warily; robbers are about.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cAs regards bodily suffering and material extortion, it is possible to\nattain such a limit as no longer to excite the cupidity of even the\nmost rapacious deity,\u201d admitted Leou. \u201cOther forms of flattening-out a\ntransgressor\u2019s self-content remain however. For instance, it has come\nwithin the knowledge of the controlling Powers that seven generations\nof your distinguished ancestors occupy positions of dignified\nseclusion in the Upper Air.\u201d\n\nFor the first time Sun Wei\u2019s attitude was not entirely devoid of an\nemotion of concern.\n\n\u201cThey would not--?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo mark their sense of your really unsupportable behaviour it has\nbeen decided that all seven shall return to the humiliating scenes of\ntheir former existences in admittedly objectionable forms,\u201d replied\nthe outrageous Leou. \u201cSun Chen, your venerated sire, will become an\nagile grasshopper; your incomparable grandfather, Yuen, will have the\nsimilitude of a yellow goat; as a tortoise your leisurely-minded\nancestor Huang, the high public official--\u201d\n\n\u201cForbear!\u201d exclaimed the conscience-stricken Sun Wei; \u201crather would\nthis person suffer every imaginable form of torture than that the\nspirit of one of his revered ancestors should be submitted to so\nintolerable a bondage. Is there no amiable form of compromise whereby\nthe ancestors of some less devoted and liberally-inspired son might be\nimperceptibly, as it were, substituted?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn ordinary cases some such arrangement is generally possible,\u201d\n conceded Leou; \u201cbut not idly is it written: \u2018There is a time to\nsilence an adversary with the honey of logical persuasion, and there\nis a time to silence him with the argument of a heavily-directed\nclub.\u2019 In your extremity a hostage is the only efficient safeguard.\nSeize the person of one of the gods themselves and raise a strong wall\naround your destiny by holding him to ransom.\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018Ho Tai, requiring a light for his pipe, stretched out his hand\ntowards the great sky-lantern,\u2019\u201d quoted Sun Wei.\n\n\u201c\u2018Do not despise Ching To because his armour is invisible,\u2019\u201d retorted\nLeou, with equal point. \u201cYour friends in the Above are neither feeble\nnor inept. Do as I shall instruct you and no less a Being than Ning\nwill be delivered into your hand.\u201d\n\nThen replied Sun Wei dubiously: \u201cA spreading mango-tree affords a\npleasant shade within one\u2019s courtyard, and a captive god might for a\nseason undoubtedly confer an enviable distinction. But presently the\ntree\u2019s encroaching roots may disturb the foundation of the house so\nthat the walls fall and crush those who are within, and the head of a\nrestrained god would in the end certainly displace my very inadequate\nroof-tree.\u201d\n\n\u201cA too-prolific root can be pruned back,\u201d replied Leou, \u201cand the\nactivities of a bondaged god may be efficiently curtailed. How this\nshall be accomplished will be revealed to you in a dream: take heed\nthat you do not fail by the deviation of a single hair.\u201d\n\nHaving thus prepared his discreditable plot, Leou twice struck the\nwalls enclosing him, so that Sun Wei coughed violently. The demon was\nthereby enabled to escape, and he never actually appeared in a\ntangible form again, although he frequently communicated, by means of\nsigns and omens, with those whom he wished to involve in his sinister\ndesigns.\n\n\n              ii. THE PART PLAYED BY THE SLAVE-GIRL, HIA\n\nAmong the remaining possessions that the hostility of the deities\nstill left to Sun Wei at the time of these happenings was a young\nslave of many-sided attraction. The name of Hia had been given to her,\nbut she was generally known as Tsing-ai on account of the extremely\naffectionate gladness of her nature.\n\nOn the day following that in which Sun Wei and the demon Leou had\nconversed together, Hia was disporting herself in the dark shades of a\nsecluded pool, as her custom was after the heat of her labours, when a\nphoenix, flying across the glade, dropped a pearl of unusual size and\nlustre into the stream. Possessing herself of the jewel and placing it\nin her mouth, so that it should not impede the action of her hands,\nHia sought the bank and would have drawn herself up when she became\naware of the presence of one having the guise of a noble commander. He\nwas regarding her with a look in which well-expressed admiration was\nblended with a delicate intimation that owing to the unparalleled\nbrilliance of her eyes he was unable to perceive any other detail of\nher appearance, and was, indeed, under the impression that she was\ndevoid of ordinary outline. At the same time, without permitting her\nglance to be in any but an entirely opposite direction, Hia was able\nto satisfy herself that the stranger was a person on whom she might\nprudently lavish the full depths of her regard if the necessity arose.\nHis apparel was rich, voluminous and of colours then unknown within the\nEmpire; his hair long and abundant; his face placid but sincere. He\ncarried no weapons, but wherever he trod there came a yellow flame\nfrom below his right foot and a white vapour from beneath his left.\nHis insignia were those of a royal prince, and when he spoke his voice\nresembled the noise of arrows passing through the upper branches of a\nprickly forest. His long and pointed nails indicated the high and\ndignified nature of all his occupations; each nail was protected by a\nsolid sheath, there being amethyst, ruby, topaz, ivory, emerald, white\njade, iron, chalcedony, gold and malachite.\n\nWhen the distinguished-looking personage had thus regarded Hia for\nsome moments he drew an instrument of hollow tubes from a fold of his\ngarment and began to sing of two who, as the outcome of a romantic\nencounter similar to that then existing, had professed an agreeable\nattachment for one another and had, without unnecessary delay, entered\nupon a period of incomparable felicity. Doubtless Hia would have\nuttered words of high-minded rebuke at some of the more detailed\nanalogies of the recital had not the pearl deprived her of the power\nof expressing herself clearly on any subject whatever, nor did it seem\npracticable to her to remove it without withdrawing her hands from the\nmodest attitudes into which she had at once distributed them. Thus\npositioned, she was compelled to listen to the stranger\u2019s\nwell-considered flattery, and this (together with the increasing\ncoldness of the stream as the evening deepened) convincingly explains\nher ultimate acquiescence to his questionable offers.\n\nYet it cannot be denied that Ning (as he may now fittingly be\nrevealed) conducted the enterprise with a seemly liberality; for upon\nreceiving from Hia a glance not expressive of discouragement he at\nonce caused the appearance of a suitably-furnished tent, a train of\nNubian slaves offering rich viands, rare wine and costly perfumes,\ncompanies of expert dancers and musicians, a retinue of discreet\nelderly women to robe her and to attend her movements, a carpet of\ngolden silk stretching from the water\u2019s edge to the tent, and all the\naccessories of a high-class profligacy.\n\nWhen the night was advanced and Hia and Ning, after partaking of a\nmany-coursed feast, were reclining on an ebony couch, the Being freely\nexpressed the delight that he discovered in her amiable society,\nincautiously adding: \u201cDemand any recompense that is within the power\nof this one to grant, O most delectable of water-nymphs, and its\naccomplishment will be written by a flash of lightning.\u201d In this,\nhowever, he merely spoke as the treacherous Leou (who had enticed him\ninto the adventure) had assured him was usual in similar\ncircumstances, he himself being privately of the opinion that the\nexpenditure already incurred was more than adequate to the occasion.\n\nThen replied Hia, as she had been fully instructed against the\nemergency: \u201cThe word has been spoken. But what is precious metal after\nlistening to the pure gold of thy lips, or who shall again esteem gems\nwhile gazing upon the full round radiance of thy moon-like face? One\nthing only remains: remove the various sheaths from off thy hands, for\nthey not only conceal the undoubted perfection of the nails within,\nbut their massive angularity renders the affectionate ardour of your\nembrace almost intolerable.\u201d\n\nAt this very ordinary request a sudden flatness overspread Ning\u2019s\nmanner and he began to describe the many much more profitable rewards\nthat Hia might fittingly demand. As none of these appeared to entice\nher imagination, he went on to rebuke her want of foresight, and,\nstill later, having unsuccessfully pointed out to her the inevitable\npenury and degradation in which her thriftless perversity would\ninvolve her later years, to kick the less substantial appointments\nacross the tent.\n\n\u201cThe night thickens, with every indication of a storm,\u201d remarked Hia\npleasantly. \u201cYet that same impending flash of promised lightning\ntarries somewhat.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly is it written: \u2018A gracious woman will cause more strife than\ntwelve armed men can quell,\u2019\u201d retorted Ning bitterly.\n\n\u201cNot, perchance, if one of them bares his nails?\u201d Thus she lightly\nmocked him, but always with a set intent, as a poised dragon-fly sips\nwater yet does not wet his wings. Whereupon, finally, Ning tore the\nsheaths from off his fingers and cast them passionately about her\nfeet, immediately afterwards sinking into a profound sleep, for both\nthe measure and the potency of the wine he had consumed exceeded his\nusual custom. Otherwise he would scarcely have acted in this incapable\nmanner, for each sheath was inscribed with one symbol of a magic charm\nand in the possession of the complete sentence resided the whole of\nthe Being\u2019s authority and power.\n\nThen Hia, seeing that he could no longer control her movements, and\nthat the end to which she had been bending was attained, gathered\ntogether the fruits of her conscientious strategy and fled.\n\nWhen Ning returned to the condition of ordinary perceptions he was\nlying alone in the field by the river-side. The great sky-fire made no\npretence of averting its rays from his uncovered head, and the lesser\ncreatures of the ground did not hesitate to walk over his once sacred\nform. The tent and all the other circumstances of the quest of Hia had\npassed into a state of no-existence, for with a somewhat narrow-minded\neconomy the deity had called them into being with the express\nprovision that they need only be of such a quality as would last for a\nsingle night.\n\nWith this recollection, other details began to assail his mind. His\nirreplaceable nail-sheaths--there was no trace of one of them. He\nlooked again. Alas! his incomparable nails were also gone, shorn off\nto the level of his finger-ends. For all their evidence he might be\none who had passed his days in discreditable industry. Each moment a\nfresh point of degradation met his benumbed vision. His profuse and\nornamental locks were reduced to a single roughly-plaited coil; his\nsandals were inelegant and harsh; in place of his many-coloured\nflowing robes a scanty blue gown clothed his form. He who had been a\ngod was undistinguishable from the labourers of the fields. Only in\none thing did the resemblance fail: about his neck he found a weighty\nblock of wood controlled by an iron ring: while they at least were\nfree he was a captive slave.\n\nA shadow on the grass caused him to turn. Sun Wei approached, a\nknotted thong in one hand, in the other a hoe. He pointed to an\nunweeded rice-field and with many ceremonious bows pressed the hoe\nupon Ning as one who confers high honours. As Ning hesitated, Sun Wei\npressed the knotted thong upon him until it would have been obtuse to\ndisregard his meaning. Then Ning definitely understood that he had\nbecome involved in the workings of very powerful forces, hostile to\nhimself, and picking up the hoe he bent his submissive footsteps in\nthe direction of the laborious rice-field.\n\n\n                iii. THE IN-COMING OF THE YOUTH, TIAN\n\nIt was dawn in the High Heaven and the illimitable N\u2019guk, waking to\nhis labours for the day, looked graciously around on the assembled\nmyriads who were there to carry his word through boundless space. Not\nwanting are they who speak two-sided words of the Venerable One from\nbehind fan-like hands, but when his voice takes upon it the authority\nof a brazen drum knees become flaccid.\n\n\u201cThere is a void in the unanimity of our council,\u201d remarked the\nSupreme, his eye resting like a flash of lightning on a vacant place.\n\u201cWherefore tarries Ning, the son of Shin, the Seed-sower?\u201d\n\nFor a moment there was an edging of N\u2019guk\u2019s inquiring glance from each\nBeing to his neighbour. Then Leou stood audaciously forth.\n\n\u201cHe is reported to be engaged on a private family matter,\u201d he replied\ngravely. \u201cHaply his feet have become entangled in a mesh of hair.\u201d\n\nN\u2019guk turned his benevolent gaze upon another--one higher in\nauthority.\n\n\u201cPerchance,\u201d admitted the superior Being tolerantly. \u201cSuch things are.\nHow comes it else that among the earth-creatures we find the faces of\nthe deities--both the good and the bad?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow long has he been absent from our paths?\u201d\n\nThey pressed another forward--keeper of the Outer Path of the West\nExpanses, he.\n\n\u201cHe went, High Excellence, in the fifteenth of the earth-ruler Chun,\nwhom your enlightened tolerance has allowed to occupy the lower dragon\nthrone for twoscore years, as these earthlings count. Thus and thus--\u201d\n\n\u201cEnough!\u201d exclaimed the Supreme. \u201cHear my iron word. When the\nbuffoon-witted Ning rises from his congenial slough this shall be his\nlot: for sixty thousand ages he shall fail to find the path of his\nreturn, but shall, instead, thread an aimless flight among the frozen\nambits of the outer stars, carrying a tormenting rain of fire at his\ntail. And Leou, the Whisperer,\u201d added the Divining One, with the\ninscrutable wisdom that marked even his most opaque moments, \u201cLeou\nshall meanwhile perform Ning\u2019s neglected task.\u201d\n                                   *\n\nFor five and twenty years Ning had laboured in the fields of Sun Wei\nwith a wooden collar girt about his neck, and Sun Wei had prospered.\nYet it is to be doubted whether this last detail deliberately hinged\non the policy of Leou or whether Sun Wei had not rather been drawn\ninto some wider sphere of destiny and among converging lines of\npurpose. The ways of the gods are deep and sombre, and water once\npoured out will flow as freely to the north as to the south. The wise\nkowtows acquiescently whatever happens and thus his face is to the\nground. \u201cRespect the deities,\u201d says the imperishable Sage, \u201cbut do not\nbecome familiar with them.\u201d Sun Wei was clearly wrong.\n\nTo Ning, however, standing on a grassy space on the edge of a flowing\nriver, such thoughts do not extend. He is now a little hairy man of\ngnarled appearance, and his skin of a colour and texture like a ripe\nlo-quat. As he stands there, something in the outline of the vista\nstirs the retentive tablets of his mind: it was on this spot that he\nfirst encountered Hia, and from that involvement began the cycle of\nhis unending ill.\n\nAs he stood thus, implicated with his own inner emotions, a figure\nemerged from the river at its nearest point and, crossing the\nintervening sward, approached. He had the aspect of being a young man\nof high and dignified manner, and walked with the air of one\naccustomed to a silk umbrella, but when Ning looked more closely, to\nsee by his insignia what amount of reverence he should pay, he\ndiscovered that the youth was destitute of the meagrest garment.\n\n\u201cRise, venerable,\u201d said the stranger affably, for Ning had prostrated\nhimself as being more prudent in the circumstances. \u201cThe one before\nyou is only Tian, of obscure birth, and himself of no particular merit\nor attainment. You, doubtless, are of considerably more honourable\nlineage?\u201d\n\n\u201cFar from that being the case,\u201d replied Ning, \u201cthe one who speaks\nbears now the commonplace name of Lieu, and is branded with the brand\nof Sun Wei. Formerly, indeed, he was a god, moving in the Upper Space\nand known to the devout as Ning, but now deposed by treachery.\u201d\n\n\u201cUnless the subject is one that has painful associations,\u201d remarked\nTian considerately, \u201cit is one on which this person would willingly\nlearn somewhat deeper. What, in short, are the various differences\nexisting between gods and men?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe gods are gods; men are men,\u201d replied Ning. \u201cThere is no other\ndifference.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet why do not the gods now exert their strength and raise from your\npresent admittedly inferior position one who is of their band?\u201d\n\n\u201cBehind their barrier the gods laugh at all men. How much more, then,\nis their gravity removed at the sight of one of themselves who has\nfallen lower than mankind?\u201d\n\n\u201cYour plight would certainly seem to be an ill-destined one,\u201d admitted\nTian, \u201cfor, as the Verses say: \u2018Gold sinks deeper than dross.\u2019 Is\nthere anything that an ordinary person can do to alleviate your\nsubjection?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe offer is a gracious one,\u201d replied Ning, \u201cand such an occasion\nundoubtedly exists. Some time ago a pearl of unusual size and lustre\nslipped from its setting about this spot. I have looked for it in\nvain, but your acuter eyes, perchance--\u201d\n\nThus urged, the youth Tian searched the ground, but to no avail. Then\nchancing to look upwards, he exclaimed:\n\n\u201cAmong the higher branches of the tallest bamboo there is an ancient\nphoenix nest, and concealed within its wall is a pearl such as you\ndescribe.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat manifestly is what I seek,\u201d said Ning. \u201cBut it might as well be\nat the bottom of its native sea, for no ladder could reach to such a\nheight nor would the slender branch support a living form.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet the emergency is one easily disposed of.\u201d With these opportune\nwords the amiable person rose from the ground without any appearance\nof effort or conscious movement, and floating upward through the air\nhe procured the jewel and restored it to Ning.\n\nWhen Ning had thus learned that Tian possessed these three attainments\nwhich are united in the gods alone--that he could stand naked before\nothers without consciousness of shame, that his eyes were able to\npenetrate matter impervious to those of ordinary persons, and that he\ncontrolled the power of rising through the air unaided--he understood\nthat the one before him was a deity of some degree. He therefore\nquestioned him closely about his history, the various omens connected\nwith his life and the position of the planets at his birth. Finding\nthat these presented no element of conflict, and that, furthermore,\nthe youth\u2019s mother was a slave, formerly known as Hia, Ning declared\nhimself more fully and greeted Tian as his undoubted son.\n\n\u201cThe absence of such a relation is the one thing that has pressed\nheavily against this person\u2019s satisfaction in the past, and the\ndeficiency is now happily removed,\u201d exclaimed Tian. \u201cThe distinction\nof having a deity for a father outweighs even the present admittedly\ndistressing condition in which he reveals himself. His word shall\nhenceforth be my law.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe sentiment is a dutiful one,\u201d admitted Ning, \u201cand it is possible\nthat you are now thus discovered in pursuance of some scheme among my\nmore influential accomplices in the Upper Air for restoring to me my\nformer eminence.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn so meritorious a cause this person is prepared to immerse himself\nto any depth,\u201d declared Tian readily. \u201cNothing but the absence of\nprecise details restrains his hurrying feet.\u201d\n\n\u201cThose will doubtless be communicated to us by means of omens and\nportents as the requirement becomes more definite. In the meanwhile\nthe first necessity is to enable this person\u2019s nails to grow again;\nfor to present himself thus in the Upper Air would be to cover him\nwith ridicule. When the Emperor Chow-sin endeavoured to pass himself\noff as a menial by throwing aside his jewelled crown, the rebels who\nhad taken him replied: \u2018Omnipotence, you cannot throw away your\nknees.\u2019 To claim kinship with those Above and at the same time to\nextend towards them a hand obviously inured to probing among the stony\nearth would be to invite the averted face of recognition.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet recognition be extended in other directions and the task of\nreturning to a forfeited inheritance will be lightened materially,\u201d\n remarked a significant voice.\n\n\u201cEstimable mother,\u201d exclaimed Tian, \u201cthis opportune stranger is my\nvenerated father, whose continuous absence has been an overhanging\ncloud above my gladness, but now happily revealed and restored to our\ndomestic altar.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d interposed Ning, \u201cthe opening of this enterprise forecasts a\nquestionable omen. Before this person stands the one who enticed him\ninto the beginning of all his evil; how then--\u201d\n\n\u201cLet the word remain unspoken,\u201d interrupted Hia. \u201cWomen do not entice\nmen--though they admittedly accompany them, with an extreme absence of\nreluctance, in any direction. In her youth this person\u2019s feet\nundoubtedly bore her occasionally along a light and fantastic path,\nfor in the nature of spring a leaf is green and pliable, and in the\nnature of autumn it is brown and austere, and through changeless ages\nthus and thus. But, as it is truly said: \u2018Milk by repeated agitation\nturns to butter,\u2019 and for many years it has been this one\u2019s ceaseless\nstudy of the Arts whereby she might avert that which she helped to\nbring about in her unstable youth.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe intention is a commendable one, though expressed with unnecessary\nverbiage,\u201d replied Ning. \u201cTo what solution did your incantations\ntrend?\u201d\n\n\u201cConcealed somewhere within the walled city of Ti-foo are the sacred\nnail-sheaths on which your power so essentially depends, sent thither\nby Sun Wei at the crafty instance of the demon Leou, who hopes at a\nconvenient time to secure them for himself. To discover these and bear\nthem forth will be the part allotted to Tian, and to this end has the\ntraining of his youth been bent. By what means he shall strive to the\naccomplishment of the project the unrolling curtain of the future\nshall disclose.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is as the destinies shall decide and as the omens may direct,\u201d\n said Tian. \u201cIn the meanwhile this person\u2019s face is inexorably fixed in\nthe direction of Ti-foo.\u201d\n\n\u201cProceed with all possible discretion,\u201d advised Ning. \u201cIn so critical\nan undertaking you cannot be too cautious, but at the same time do not\nsuffer the rice to grow around your advancing feet.\u201d\n\n\u201cA moment,\u201d counselled Hia. \u201cTarry yet a moment. Here is one whose\nrapidly-moving attitude may convey a message.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is Lin Fa!\u201d exclaimed Ning, as the one alluded to drew near--\u201cLin\nFa who guards the coffers of Sun Wei. Some calamity pursues him.\u201d\n\n\u201cHence!\u201d cried Lin Fa, as he caught sight of them, yet scarcely\npausing in his flight: \u201cflee to the woods and caves until the time of\nthis catastrophe be past. Has not the tiding reached you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe be but dwellers on the farther bounds and no word has reached our\near, O great Lin Fa. Fill in, we pray you, the warning that has been\nso suddenly outlined.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe usurper Ah-tang has lit the torch of swift rebellion and is\nflattening-down the land that bars his way. Already the villages of\nYeng, Leu, Liang-li and the Dwellings by the Three Pure Wells are as\ndust beneath his trampling feet, and they who stayed there have passed\nup in smoke. Sun Wei swings from the roof-tree of his own ruined\nyamen. Ah-tang now lays siege to walled Ti-foo so that he may possess\nthe Northern Way. Guard this bag of silver meanwhile, for what I have\nis more than I can reasonably bear, and when the land is once again at\npeace, assemble to meet me by the Five-Horned Pagoda, ready with a\nstrict account.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll this is plainly part of an orderly scheme for my advancement,\nbrought about by my friends in the Upper World,\u201d remarked Ning, with\nsome complacency. \u201cLin Fa has been influenced to the extent of\nproviding us with the means for our immediate need; Sun Wei has been\nopportunely removed to the end that this person may now retire to a\nhidden spot and there suffer his dishonoured nails to grow again:\nAh-tang has been impelled to raise the banner of insurrection outside\nTi-foo so that Tian may make use of the necessities of either side in\npursuit of his design. Assuredly the long line of our misfortunes is\nnow practically at an end.\u201d\n\n\n                    iv. EVENTS ROUND WALLED TI-FOO\n\nNevertheless, the alternative forced on Tian was not an alluring one.\nIf he joined the band of Ah-tang and the usurper failed, Tian himself\nmight never get inside Ti-foo; if, however, he allied himself with the\ndefenders of Ti-foo and Ah-tang did not fail, he might never get out\nof Ti-foo. Doubtless he would have reverently submitted his cause to\nthe inspired decision of the Sticks, or some other reliable augur, had\nhe not, while immersed in the consideration, walked into the camp of\nAh-tang. The omen of this occurrence was of too specific a nature not\nto be regarded as conclusive.\n\nAh-tang was one who had neglected the Classics from his youth upwards.\nFor this reason his detestable name is never mentioned in the\nHistories, and the various catastrophes he wrought are charitably\nascribed to the action of earthquakes, thunderbolts and other admitted\nforces. He himself, with his lamentable absence of literary style, was\nwont to declare that while confessedly weak in analogies he was strong\nin holocausts. In the end he drove the sublime emperor from his\ncapital and into the Outer Lands; with true refinement the annalists\nof the period explain that the condescending monarch made a journey of\ninspection among the barbarian tribes on the confines of his Empire.\n\nWhen Tian, charged with being a hostile spy, was led into the presence\nof Ah-tang, it was the youth\u2019s intention to relate somewhat of his\nhistory, but the usurper, excusing himself on the ground of literary\ndeficiency, merely commanded five of his immediate guard to bear the\nprisoner away and to return with his head after a fitting interval.\nMisunderstanding the exact requirement, Tian returned at the appointed\ntime with the heads of the five who had charge of him and the excuse\nthat in those times of scarcity it was easier to keep one head than\nfive. This aptitude so pleased Ah-tang (who had expected at the most a\nfarewell apophthegm) that he at once made Tian captain of a chosen\nband.\n\nThus was Tian positioned outside the city of Ti-foo, materially\ncontributing to its ultimate surrender by the resourceful courage of\nhis arms. For the first time in the history of opposing forces he\ntamed the strength and swiftness of wild horses to the use of man, and\nplacing copper loops upon their feet and iron bars between their\nteeth, he and his band encircled Ti-foo with an ever-moving shield\nthrough which no outside word could reach the town. Cut off in this\nmanner from all hope of succour, the stomachs of those within the\nwalls grew very small, and their eyes became weary of watching for\nthat which never came. On the third day of the third moon of their\nencirclement they sent a submissive banner, and one bearing a written\nmessage, into the camp of Ah-tang.\n\n    \u201cWe are convinced\u201d (it ran) \u201cof the justice of your cause. Let\n    six of your lordly nobles appear unarmed before our ill-kept\n    Lantern Gate at the middle gong-stroke of to-morrow and they\n    will be freely admitted within our midst. Upon receiving a\n    bound assurance safeguarding the limits of our temples, the\n    persons and possessions of our chiefs, and the undepreciated\n    condition of the first wives and virgin daughters of such as\n    be of mandarin rank or literary degree, the inadequate keys of\n    our broken-down defences will be laid at their sumptuous feet.\n\n    \u201cWith a fervent hand-clasp as of one brother to another, and a\n    passionate assurance of mutual good-will,\n\n                                                      \u201cKO\u2019EN CHENG,\n                                              \u201c_Important Official_.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is received,\u201d replied Ah-tang, when the message had been made\nknown to him. \u201cSix captains will attend.\u201d\n\nAlas! it is well written: \u201cThere is often a space between the fish and\nthe fish-plate.\u201d Mentally inflated at the success of their efforts and\nthe impending surrender of Ti-foo, Tian\u2019s band suffered their energies\nto relax. In the dusk of that same evening one disguised in the skin\nof a goat browsed from bush to bush until he reached the town. There,\nthrowing off all restraint, he declared his errand to Ko\u2019en Cheng.\n\n\u201cBehold!\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cthe period of your illustrious suffering is\nalmost at an end. With an army capable in size and invincible in\ndetermination, the ever-victorious Wu Sien is marching to your aid.\nDefy the puny Ah-tang for yet three days more and great glory will be\nyours.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless,\u201d replied Ko\u2019en Cheng, with velvet bitterness: \u201cbut the sun\nhas long since set and the moon is not yet risen. The appearance of a\nsolitary star yesterday would have been more foot-guiding than the\nforecast of a meteor next week. This person\u2019s thumb-signed word is\npassed and to-morrow Ah-tang will hold him to it.\u201d\n\nNow there was present among the council one wrapped in a mantle made\nof rustling leaves, who spoke in a smooth, low voice, very cunning and\npersuasive, with a plan already shaped that seemed to offer well and\nto safeguard Ko\u2019en Cheng\u2019s word. None remembered to have seen him\nthere before, and for this reason it is now held by some that this was\nLeou, the Whisperer, perturbed lest the sacred nail-sheaths of Ning\nshould pass beyond his grasp. As to this, says not the Wise One: \u201cWhen\ntwo men cannot agree over the price of an onion who shall decide what\nhappened in the time of Yu?\u201d But the voice of the unknown prevailed,\nall saying: \u201cAt the worst it is but as it will be; perchance it may be\nbetter.\u201d\n\nThat night there was much gladness in the camp of Ah-tang, and men\nsang songs of victory and cups of wine were freely passed, though in\nthe outer walks a strict watch was kept. When it was dark the word was\npassed that an engaging company was approaching from the town, openly\nand with lights. These being admitted revealed themselves as a band of\nmaidens, bearing gifts of fruit and wine and assurances of their\nagreeable behaviour. Distributing themselves impartially about the\ntents of the chiefs and upper ones, they melted the hours of the night\nin graceful accomplishments and by their seemly compliance dispelled\nall thought of treachery. Having thus gained the esteem of their\ncompanions, and by the lavish persuasion of bemusing wine dimmed their\nalertness, all this band, while it was still dark, crept back to the\ntown, each secretly carrying with her the arms, robes and insignia of\nthe one who had possessed her.\n\nWhen the morning broke and the sound of trumpets called each man to an\nappointed spot, direful was the outcry from the tents of all the\nchiefs, and though many heads were out-thrust in rage of indignation,\nno single person could be prevailed upon wholly to emerge. Only the\nlesser warriors, the slaves and the bearers of the loads moved freely\nto and fro and from between closed teeth and with fluttering eyelids\ntossed doubtful jests among themselves.\n\nIt was close upon the middle gong-stroke of the day when Ah-tang,\nhimself clad in a shred torn from his tent (for in all the camp there\ndid not remain a single garment bearing a sign of noble rank), got\ntogether a council of his chiefs. Some were clad in like attire,\nothers carried a henchman\u2019s shield, a paper lantern or a branch of\nflowers; Tian alone displayed himself without reserve.\n\n\u201cThere are moments,\u201d said Ah-tang, \u201cwhen this person\u2019s admitted\naccomplishment of transfixing three foemen with a single javelin at a\nscore of measured paces does not seem to provide a possible solution.\nUndoubtedly we are face to face with a crafty plan, and Ko\u2019en Cheng\nhas surely heard that Wu Sien is marching from the west. If we fail to\nknock upon the outer gate of Ti-foo at noon to-day Ko\u2019en Cheng will\nsay: \u2018My word returns. It is as naught.\u2019 If they who go are clad as\nunderlings, Ko\u2019en Cheng will cry: \u2018What slaves be these! Do men break\nplate with dogs? Our message was for six of noble style. Ah-tang but\nmocks.\u2019\u201d He sat down again moodily. \u201cLet others speak.\u201d\n\n\u201cChieftain\u201d--Tian threw forth his voice--\u201cyour word must be as\niron--\u2018Six captains shall attend.\u2019 There is yet another way.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak on,\u201d Ah-tang commanded.\n\n\u201cThe quality of Ah-tang\u2019s chiefs resides not in a cloak of silk nor in\na silver-hilted sword, but in the sinews of their arms and the\nlightning of their eyes. If they but carry these they proclaim their\nrank for all to see. Let six attend taking neither sword nor shield,\nneither hat nor sandal, nor yet anything between. \u2018There are six\nthousand more,\u2019 shall be their taunt, \u2018but Ko\u2019en Cheng\u2019s hospitality\ndrew rein at six. He feared lest they might carry arms; behold they\nhave come naked. Ti-foo need not tremble.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d agreed Ah-tang. \u201cAt least, nothing better offers. Let\nfive accompany you.\u201d\n\nSeated on a powerful horse Tian led the way. The others, not being of\nhis immediate band, had not acquired the necessary control, so that\nthey walked in a company. Coming to the Lantern Gate Tian turned his\nhorse suddenly so that its angry hoof struck the gate. Looking back he\nsaw the others following, with no great space between, and so passed\nin.\n\nWhen the five naked captains reached the open gate they paused. Within\nstood a great concourse of the people, these being equally of both\nsexes, but they of the inner chambers pressing resolutely to the\nfront. Through the throng of these their way must lead, and at the\nsight the hearts of all became as stagnant water in the sun.\n\n\u201cTarry not for me, O brothers,\u201d said the one who led. \u201cA thorn has\npierced my foot. Take honourable precedence while I draw it forth.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever,\u201d declared the second of the band, \u201cnever shall it be cast\nabroad that Kang of the House of Ka failed his brother in necessity. I\nsustain thy shoulder, comrade.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed the third. \u201cThis person broke his fast on rhubarb\nstewed in fat. Inopportunely--\u201d So he too turned aside.\n\n\u201cHave we considered well,\u201d said they who remained, \u201cwhether this be\nnot a subtle snare, and while the camp is denuded of its foremost\nwarriors a strong force--?\u201d\n\nUnconscious of these details, Tian went on alone. In spite of the\nabsence of gravity on the part of the more explicit portion of the\nthrong he suffered no embarrassment, partly because of his position,\nbut chiefly through his inability to understand that his condition\ndiffered in any degree from theirs; for, owing to the piercing nature\nof his vision, they were to him as he to them. In this way he came to\nthe open space known as the Space of the Eight Directions, where Ko\u2019en\nCheng and his nobles were assembled.\n\n\u201cOne comes alone,\u201d they cried. \u201cThis guise is as a taunt.\u201d \u201cNaked to a\nnaked town--the analogy is plain.\u201d \u201cShall the mocker be suffered to\nreturn?\u201d\n\nThus the murmur grew. Then one, more impetuous than the rest, swung\nclear his sword and drew it. For the first time Tian understood that\ntreachery was afoot. He looked round for any of his band, but found\nthat he was as a foam-tossed cork upon a turbulent Whang Hai. Cries of\nanger and derision filled the air; threatening arms waved\nencouragement to each other to begin. The one with drawn sword raised\nit above his head and made a step. Then Tian, recognizing that he was\nunarmed, and that a decisive moment had arrived, stooped low and tore\na copper hoop from off his horse\u2019s foot. High he swung its polished\nbrightness in the engaging sun, resolutely brought it down, so that it\npressed over the sword-warrior\u2019s shattered head and hung about his\nneck. Having thus effected as much bloodshed as could reasonably be\nexpected in the circumstances, Tian curved his feet about his horse\u2019s\nsides and imparting to it the virtue of his own condition they rose\ninto the air together. When those who stood below were able to exert\nthemselves a flight of arrows, spears and every kind of weapon\nfollowed, but horse and rider were by that time beyond their reach,\nand the only benevolent result attained was that many of their band\nwere themselves transfixed by the falling shafts.\n\nIn such a manner Tian continued his progress from the town until he\ncame above the Temple of Fire and Water Forces, where on a high tower\na strong box of many woods was chained beneath a canopy, guarded by an\nincantation laid upon it by Leou, that no one should lift it down.\nRecognizing the contents as the object of his search, Tian brought his\nhorse to rest upon the tower, and breaking the chains he bore the\nmagic sheaths away, the charm (owing to Leou\u2019s superficial habits)\nbeing powerless against one who instead of lifting the box down\ncarried it up.\n\nIn spite of this distinguished achievement it was many moons before\nTian was able to lay the filial tribute of restored power at Ning\u2019s\nfeet, for with shallow-witted obstinacy Ti-foo continued to hold out,\nand, scarcely less inept, Ah-tang declined to release Tian even to\ncarry on so charitable a mission. Yet when the latter one ultimately\nreturned and was, as the reward of his intrepid services, looking\nforward to a period of domestic reunion under the benevolent guidance\nof an affectionate father, it was but to point the seasoned proverb:\n\u201cThe fuller the cup the sooner the spill,\u201d for scarcely had Ning drawn\non the recovered sheaths and with incautious joy repeated the magic\nsentence than he was instantly projected across vast space and into\nthe trackless confines of the Outer Upper Paths. If this were an\nimagined tale, framed to entice the credulous, herein would its\nfalseness cry aloud, but even in this age Ning may still be seen from\ntime to time with a tail of fire in his wake, missing the path of his\nreturn as N\u2019guk ordained.\n\nThus bereft, Tian was on the point of giving way to a seemly despair\nwhen a message concerned with Mu, the only daughter of Ko\u2019en Cheng,\nreached him. It professed a high-minded regard for his welfare, and\nadded that although the one who was inspiring the communication had\nbeen careful to avoid seeing him on the occasion of his entry into\nTi-foo, it was impossible for her not to be impressed by the dignity\nof his bearing. Ko\u2019en Cheng having become vastly wealthy as the result\nof entering into an arrangement with Ah-tang before Ti-foo was sacked,\nit did not seem unreasonable to Tian that Ning was in some way\ninfluencing his destiny from afar. On this understanding he ultimately\nmarried Mu, and thereby founded a prolific posterity who inherited a\ngreat degree of his powers. In the course of countless generations the\nattributes have faded, but even to this day the true descendants of\nthe line of Ning are frequently vouchsafed dreams in which they stand\nnaked and without shame, see gems or metals hidden or buried in the\nearth and float at will through space.\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV\n\n           The Inopportune Behaviour of the Covetous Li-loe\n\nIt was upon the occasion of his next visit to the shutter in the wall\nthat Kai Lung discovered the obtuse-witted Li-loe moving about the\nenclosure. Though docile and well-meaning on the whole, the stunted\nintelligence of the latter person made him a doubtful accomplice, and\nKai Lung stood aside, hoping to be soon alone.\n\nLi-loe held in his hand an iron prong, and with this he industriously\nsearched the earth between the rocks and herbage. Ever since their\nprevious encounter upon that same spot it had been impossible to erase\nfrom his deformed mind the conviction that a store of rare and potent\nwine lay somewhere concealed within the walls of the enclosure.\nContinuously he besought the story-teller to reveal the secret of its\nhiding-place, saying: \u201cWhat an added bitterness will assail your noble\nthroat if, when you are led forth to die, your eye closes upon the one\nwho has faithfully upheld your cause lying with a protruded tongue\npanting in the noonday sun.\u201d\n\n\u201cPeace, witless,\u201d Kai Lung usually replied; \u201cthere is no such store.\u201d\n\n\u201cNevertheless,\u201d the doorkeeper would stubbornly insist, \u201cthe cask\ncannot yet be empty. It is beyond your immature powers.\u201d\n\nThus it again befell, for despite Kai Lung\u2019s desire to escape, Li-loe\nchanced to look up suddenly and observed him.\n\n\u201cAlas, brother,\u201d he remarked reproachfully, when they had thus\ncontended, \u201cthe vessel that returns whole the first time is chipped\nthe second and broken at the third essay, and it will yet be too late\nbetween us. If it be as you claim, to what end did you boast of a cask\nof wine and of running among a company of goats with leaves entwined\nin your hair?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat,\u201d replied Kai Lung, \u201cwas in the nature of a classical allusion,\ntoo abstruse for your deficient wit. It concerned the story of Kiau\nSun, who first attained the honour.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe that as it may,\u201d replied Li-loe, with mulish iteration, \u201cfive\ndeficient strings of home-made cash are a meagre return for a\nfriendship such as mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is a certain element of truth in what you claim,\u201d confessed Kai\nLung, \u201cbut until my literary style is more freely recognized it will\nbe impossible to reward you adequately. In anything not of a pecuniary\nnature, however, you may lean heavily upon my gratitude.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the meanwhile, then,\u201d demanded Li-loe, \u201crelate to me the story to\nwhich reference has been made, thereby proving the truth of your\nassertion, and at the same time affording an entertainment of a\nsomewhat exceptional kind.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe shadows lengthen,\u201d replied Kai Lung, \u201cbut as the narrative in\nquestion is of an inconspicuous span I will raise no barrier against\nyour flattering request, especially as it indicates an awakening taste\nhitherto unsuspected.\u201d\n\n\u201cProceed, manlet, proceed,\u201d said Li-loe, with a final probe among the\nsurrounding rocks before selecting one to lean against. \u201cYet if this\nperson could but lay his hand--\u201d\n\n\n                The Story of Wong Pao and the Minstrel\n\nTo Wong Pao, the merchant, pleasurably immersed in the calculation of\nan estimated profit on a junk-load of birds\u2019 nests, sharks\u2019 fins and\nother seasonable delicacies, there came a distracting interruption\noccasioned by a wandering poet who sat down within the shade provided\nby Wong Pao\u2019s ornamental gate in the street outside. As he reclined\nthere he sang ballads of ancient valour, from time to time beating a\nhollow wooden duck in unison with his voice, so that the charitable\nshould have no excuse for missing the entertainment.\n\nUnable any longer to continue his occupation, Wong Pao struck an iron\ngong.\n\n\u201cBear courteous greetings to the accomplished musician outside our\ngate,\u201d he said to the slave who had appeared, \u201cand convince him--by\nmeans of a heavily-weighted club if necessary--that the situation he\nhas taken up is quite unworthy of his incomparable efforts.\u201d\n\nWhen the slave returned it was with an entire absence of the\nenthusiasm of one who has succeeded in an enterprise.\n\n\u201cThe distinguished mendicant outside disarmed the one who is relating\nthe incident by means of an unworthy stratagem, and then struck him\nrepeatedly on the head with the image of a sonorous wooden duck,\u201d\n reported the slave submissively.\n\nMeanwhile the voice with its accompaniment continued to chant the\ndeeds of bygone heroes.\n\n\u201cIn that case,\u201d said Wong Pao coldly, \u201centice him into this inadequate\nchamber by words suggestive of liberal entertainment.\u201d\n\nThis device was successful, for very soon the slave returned with the\nstranger. He was a youth of studious appearance and an engaging\nopenness of manner. Hung about his neck by means of a cord were a\nvariety of poems suitable to most of the contingencies of an ordinary\nperson\u2019s existence. The name he bore was Sun and he was of the house\nof Kiau.\n\n\u201cHonourable greeting, minstrel,\u201d said Wong Pao, with dignified\ncondescension. \u201cWhy do you persist in exercising your illustrious\ntalent outside this person\u2019s insignificant abode?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause,\u201d replied Sun modestly, \u201cthe benevolent mandarin who has just\nspoken had not then invited me inside. Now, however, he will be able\nto hear to greater advantage the very doubtful qualities of my\nentertainment.\u201d\n\nWith these words Kiau Sun struck the duck so proficiently that it\nemitted a life-like call, and prepared to raise his voice in a chant.\n\n\u201cRestrain your undoubted capacity,\u201d exclaimed Wong Pao hastily. \u201cThe\ninquiry presented itself to you at an inaccurate angle. Why, to\nrestate it, did you continue before this uninviting hovel when, under\nthe external forms of true politeness, my slave endeavoured to remove\nyou hence?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the circumstances this person may have overlooked the delicacy of\nthe message, for, as it is well written, \u2018To the starving, a blow from\na skewer of meat is more acceptable than a caress from the hand of a\nmaiden,\u2019\u201d said Kiau Sun. \u201cWhereunto remember, thou two-stomached\nmerchant, that although the house in question is yours, the street is\nmine.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy what title?\u201d demanded Wong Pao contentiously.\n\n\u201cBy the same that confers this well-appointed palace upon you,\u201d\n replied Sun: \u201cbecause it is my home.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe point is one of some subtlety,\u201d admitted Wong Pao, \u201cand might be\npursued to an extreme delicacy of attenuation if it were argued by\nthose whose profession it is to give a variety of meanings to the same\nthing. Yet even allowing the claim, it is none the less an unendurable\naffliction that your voice should disturb my peacefully conducted\nenterprise.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs yours would have done mine, O concave-witted Wong Pao!\u201d\n\n\u201cThat,\u201d retorted the merchant, \u201cis a disadvantage that you could\neasily have averted by removing yourself to a more distant spot.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe solution is equally applicable to your own case, mandarin,\u201d\n replied Kiau Sun affably.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed Wong Pao, with an obvious inside bitterness, \u201cit is\na mistake to argue with persons of limited intelligence in terms of\ncourtesy. This, doubtless, was the meaning of the philosopher Nhy-hi\nwhen he penned the observation, \u2018Death, a woman and a dumb mute always\nhave the last word,\u2019 Why did I have you conducted hither to convince\nyou dispassionately, rather than send an armed guard to force you away\nby violence?\u201d\n\n\u201cPossibly,\u201d suggested the minstrel, \u201cbecause my profession is a\nlegally recognized one, and, moreover, under the direct protection of\nthe exalted Mandarin Shen-y-ling.\u201d\n\n\u201cProfession!\u201d retorted Wong Pao, stung by the reference to\nShen-y-ling, for that powerful official\u2019s attitude was indeed the\ninner reason why he had not pushed violence to a keener edge against\nKiau Sun, \u201can abject mendicancy, yielding two hands\u2019 grasp of copper\ncash a day on a stock composed of half a dozen threadbare odes.\u201d\n\n\u201cCompose me half a dozen better and one hand-count of cash shall be\napportioned to you each evening,\u201d suggested Sun.\n\n\u201cA handful of cash for _my_ labour!\u201d exclaimed the indignant Wong Pao.\n\u201cLearn, puny wayfarer, that in a single day the profit of my various\nenterprises exceeds a hundred taels of silver.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is less than the achievement of my occupation,\u201d said Kiau Sun.\n\n\u201cLess!\u201d repeated the merchant incredulously. \u201cCan you, O boaster,\ndisplay a single tael?\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless I should be the possessor of thousands if I made use of the\nattributes of a merchant--three hands and two faces. But that was not\nthe angle of my meaning: your labour only compels men to remember;\nmine enables them to forget.\u201d\n\nThus they continued to strive, each one contending for the\npre-eminence of his own state, regardless of the sage warning: \u201cIn\nthree moments a labourer will remove an obstructing rock, but three\nmoons will pass without two wise men agreeing on the meaning of a\nvowel\u201d; and assuredly they would have persisted in their intellectual\nentertainment until the great sky-lantern rose and the pangs of hunger\ncompelled them to desist, were it not for the manifestation of a very\nunusual occurrence.\n\nThe Emperor, N\u2019ang Wei, then reigning, is now generally regarded as\nbeing in no way profound or inspired, but possessing the faculty of\nbeing able to turn the dissensions among his subjects to a profitable\naccount, and other accomplishments useful in a ruler. As he passed\nalong the streets of his capital he heard the voices of two raised in\naltercation, and halting the bearer of his umbrella, he commanded\nthat the persons concerned should be brought before him and state the\nnature of their dispute.\n\n\u201cThe rivalry is an ancient one,\u201d remarked the Emperor when each had\nmade his claim. \u201cDoubtless we ourselves could devise a judgment, but\nin this cycle of progress it is more usual to leave decision to the\npronouncement of the populace--and much less exacting to our Imperial\ningenuity. An edict will therefore be published, stating that at a\ncertain hour Kiau Sun will stand upon the Western Hill of the city and\nrecite one of his incomparable epics, while at the same gong-stroke\nWong Pao will take his station on the Eastern Hill, let us say for the\npurpose of distributing pieces of silver among any who are able to\nabsent themselves from the competing attraction. It will then be\nclearly seen which entertainment draws the greater number.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour mind, O all-wisest, is only comparable to the peacock\u2019s tail in\nits spreading brilliance!\u201d exclaimed Wong Pao, well assured of an easy\ntriumph.\n\nKiau Sun, however, remained silent, but he observed closely the\nbenignly impartial expression of the Emperor\u2019s countenance.\n\nWhen the indicated time arrived, only two persons could have been\nobserved within the circumference of the Western Hill of the city--a\nblind mendicant who had lost his way and an extremely round-bodied\nmandarin who had been abandoned there by his carriers when they heard\nthe terms of the edict. But about the Eastern Hill the throng was so\ngreat that for some time after it was unusual to meet a person whose\noutline had not been permanently altered by the occasion. Even Kiau\nSun was present.\n\nOn a protected eminence stood N\u2019ang Wei. Near him was Wong Pao,\nconfidently awaiting the moment when the Emperor should declare\nhimself. When, therefore, the all-wisest graciously made a gesture of\ncommand, Wong Pao hastened to his side, an unbecoming elation gilding\nthe fullness of his countenance.\n\n\u201cWong Pao,\u201d said the Illimitable, \u201cthe people are here in gratifying\nprofusion. The moment has thus arrived for you to consummate your\ntriumph over Kiau Sun.\u201d\n\n\u201cOmnipotence?\u201d queried Wong Pao.\n\n\u201cThe silver that you were to distribute freely to all who came.\nDoubtless you have a retinue of slaves in attendance with weighty\nsacks of money for the purpose?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut that was only in the nature of an imagined condition, Sublime\nBeing, designed to test the trend of their preference,\u201d said Wong Pao,\nwith an incapable feeling of no-confidence in the innermost seat of\nhis self-esteem. \u201cThis abject person did not for a single\nbreathing-space contemplate or provide for so formidable an outlay.\u201d\n\nA shadow of inquiry appeared above the eyebrows of the Sublimest,\nalthough his refined imperturbability did not permit him to display\nany acute emotion.\n\n\u201cIt is not entirely a matter of what you contemplated, merchant, but\nwhat this multitudinous and, as we now perceive, generally well-armed\nconcourse imagined. Greatly do we fear that when the position has been\nexplained to them, the breathing-space remaining, O Wong Pao, will not\nbe in your body. What,\u201d continued the liberal-minded sovereign,\nturning to one of his attending nobles, \u201cwhat was it that happened to\nNing-lo who failed to satisfy the lottery ticket holders in somewhat\nsimilar circumstances?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe scorpion vat, Serenest,\u201d replied the vassal.\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d commented the Enlightened One, \u201cfor the moment we thought it was\nthe burning sulphur plaster.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat was Ching Yan, who lost approval in the inlaid coffin raffle,\nBenign Head,\u201d prompted the noble.\n\n\u201cTrue--there is a certain oneness in these cases. Well, Wong Pao, we\nare entirely surrounded by an expectant mob and their attitude, after\nmuch patient waiting, is tending towards a clearly-defined tragedy. By\nwhat means is it your intention to extricate us all from the position\ninto which your insatiable vanity has thrust us?\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, Imperishable Majesty, I only appear to have three pieces of\nsilver and a string of brass cash in my sleeve,\u201d confessed Wong Pao\ntremblingly.\n\n\u201cAnd that would not go very far--even if flung into the limits of the\npress,\u201d commented the Emperor. \u201cWe must look elsewhere for\ndeliverance, then. Kiau Sun, stand forth and try your means.\u201d\n\nUpon this invitation Sun appeared from the tent in which he had\nawaited the summons and advanced to the edge of the multitude. With no\nappearance of fear or concern, he stood before them, and bending his\nenergies to the great task imposed upon him, he struck the hollow duck\nso melodiously that the note of expectancy vibrated into the farthest\nconfines of the crowd. Then modulating his voice in unison Kiau Sun\nbegan to chant.\n\nAt first the narration was of times legendary, when dragons and demons\nmoved about the earth in more palpable forms than they usually\nmaintain to-day. A great mist overspread the Empire and men\u2019s minds\nwere vaporous, nor was their purpose keen. Later, deities and\nwell-disposed Forces began to exercise their powers. The mist was\nturned into a benevolent system of rivers and canals, and iron, rice\nand the silk-worm then appeared. Next, heroes and champions, whose\nnames have been preserved, arose. They fought the giants and an era of\nliterature and peaceful tranquillity set in. After this there was the\nGreat Invasion from the north, but the people rallied and by means of\na war lasting five years, five moons and five days the land was freed\nagain. This prefaced the Golden Age when chess was invented, printed\nbooks first made and the Examination System begun.\n\nSo far Kiau Sun had only sung of things that men knew dimly through a\nweb of time, but the melody of his voice and the valours of the deeds\nhe told had held their minds. Now he began skilfully to intertwine\namong the narration scenes and doings that were near to all--of the\ncoming of Spring across the mountains that surround the capital;\nsunrise on the great lagoon, with the splash of oars and the\ncormorants in flight; the appearance of the blossom in the peach\norchards; the Festival of Boats and of Lanterns, their daily task, and\nthe reward each saw beyond. Finally he spoke quite definitely of the\nhomes awaiting their return, the mulberry-tree about the gate, the\nfire then burning on the hearth, the pictures on the walls, the\nancestral tablets, and the voices calling each. And as he spoke and\nmade an end of speaking the people began silently to melt away, until\nnone remained but Kiau, Wong Pao and the Emperor and his band.\n\n\u201cKiau Sun,\u201d said the discriminating N\u2019ang Wei, \u201cin memory of this day\nthe office of Chanter of Congratulatory Odes in the Palace ceremonial\nis conferred on you, together with the title \u2018Leaf-crowned\u2019 and the\nyearly allowance of five hundred taels and a jar of rice wine. And\nWong Pao,\u201d he added thoughtfully--\u201cWong Pao shall be permitted to\nendow the post--also in memory of this day.\u201d\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER V\n\n    The Timely Intervention of the Mandarin Shan Tien\u2019s Lucky Day\n\nWhen Kai Lung at length reached the shutter, after the delay caused by\nLi-loe\u2019s inopportune presence, he found that Hwa-mei was already\nstanding there beneath the wall.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d he exclaimed, in an access of self-reproach, \u201cis it possible\nthat I have failed to greet your arriving footsteps? Hear the\ndegrading cause of my--\u201d\n\n\u201cForbear,\u201d interrupted the maiden, with a magnanimous gesture of the\nhand that was not engaged in bestowing a gift of fruit. \u201cThere is a\ntime to scatter flowers and a time to prepare the soil. To-morrow a\nfurther trial awaits you, for which we must conspire.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am in your large and all-embracing grasp,\u201d replied Kai Lung.\n\u201cProceed to spread your golden counsel.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe implacable Ming-shu has deliberated with himself, and deeming it\nunlikely that you should a third time allure the imagination of the\nMandarin Shan Tien by your art, he has ordered that you are again to\nbe the first led out to judgment. On this occasion, however, he has\nprepared a cloud of witnesses who will, once they are given a voice,\nquickly overwhelm you in a flood of calumny.\u201d\n\n\u201cEven a silver trumpet may not prevail above a score of brazen horns,\u201d\n confessed the story-teller doubtfully. \u201cWould it not be well to engage\nan even larger company who will outlast the first?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe effete Ming-shu has hired all there are,\u201d replied Hwa-mei, with a\ncurbing glance. \u201cNevertheless, do not despair. At a convenient hour a\ntrusty hand will let fall a skin of wine at their assembling place.\nTheir testimony, should any arrive, will entail some conflict.\u201d\n\n\u201cI bow before the practical many-sidedness of your mind, enchanting\none,\u201d murmured Kai Lung, in deep-felt admiration.\n\n\u201cTo-morrow, being the first of the Month of Gathering-in, will be one\nof Shan Tien\u2019s lucky days,\u201d continued the maiden, her look\nacknowledging the fitness of the compliment, but at the same time\nindicating that the moment was not a suitable one to pursue the detail\nfurther. \u201cAfter holding court the Mandarin will accordingly proceed to\nhazard his accustomed stake upon the chances of certain of the\ncompetitors in the approaching examinations. His mind will thus be\nalertly watchful for a guiding omen. The rest should lie within your\npersuasive tongue.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe story of Lao Ting--\u201d began Kai Lung.\n\n\u201cEnough,\u201d replied Hwa-mei, listening to a distant sound. \u201cAlready has\nthis one strayed beyond her appointed limit. May your virtuous cause\nprevail!\u201d\n\nWith this auspicious message the maiden fled, leaving Kai Lung more\nthan ever resolved to conduct the enterprise in a manner worthy of her\nhigh regard.\n\nOn the following day, at the appointed hour, Kai Lung was again led\nbefore the Mandarin Shan Tien. To the alert yet downcast gaze of the\nformer person it seemed as if the usually inscrutable expression of\nthat high official was not wholly stern as it moved in his direction.\nMing-shu, on the contrary, disclosed all his voracious teeth without\nrestraint.\n\n\u201cCalling himself Kai Lung,\u201d began the detestable accuser, in a voice\neven more repulsive than its wont, \u201cand claiming--\u201d\n\n\u201cThe name has a somewhat familiar echo,\u201d interrupted the Fountain of\nJustice, with a genial interest in what was going on, rare in one of\nhis exalted rank. \u201cHave we not seen the ill-conditioned thing before?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe has tasted of your unutterable clemency in the past,\u201d replied\nMing-shu, \u201cthis being by no means his first appearance thus. Claiming\nto be a story-teller--\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat,\u201d demanded the enlightened law-giver with leisurely precision,\n\u201cis a story-teller, and how is he defined?\u201d\n\n\u201cA story-teller, Excellence,\u201d replied the inscriber of his spoken\nword, with the concise manner of one who is not entirely grateful to\nanother, \u201cis one who tells stories. Having on--\u201d\n\n\u201cThe profession must be widely spread,\u201d remarked the gracious\nadministrator thoughtfully. \u201cAll those who supplicate in this very\naverage court practise it to a more or less degree.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe prisoner,\u201d continued the insufferable Ming-shu, so lost to true\nrefinement that he did not even relax his dignity at a remark handed\ndown as gravity-removing from times immemorial, \u201chas already been\ncharged and made his plea. It only remains, therefore, to call the\nwitnesses and to condemn him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe usual band appears to be more retiring than their custom is,\u201d\n observed Shan Tien, looking around. \u201cTheir lack of punctual respect\ndoes not enlarge our sympathy towards their cause.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey are all hard-striving persons of studious or commercial habits,\u201d\n replied Ming-shu, \u201cand have doubtless become immersed in their various\ntraffics.\u201d\n\n\u201cShould the immersion referred to prove to be so deep--\u201d\n\n\u201cA speedy messenger has already gone, but his returning footsteps\ntarry,\u201d urged Ming-shu anxiously. \u201cIn this extremity, Excellence, I\nwill myself--\u201d\n\n\u201cHigh Excellence,\u201d appealed Kai Lung, as soon as Ming-shu\u2019s departing\nsandals were obscured to view, \u201cout of the magnanimous condescension\nof your unworldly heart hear an added plea. Taught by the inoffensive\nexample of that Lao Ting whose success in the literary competitions\nwas brought about by a conjunction of miraculous omens--\u201d\n\n\u201cArrest the stream of your acknowledged oratory for a single\nbreathing-space,\u201d commanded the Mandarin dispassionately, yet at the\nsame time unostentatiously studying a list that lay within his sleeve.\n\u201cWhat was the auspicious name of the one of whom you spoke?\u201d\n\n\u201cLao Ting, exalted; to whom at various periods were subjoined those\nof Li, Tzu, Sun, Chu, Wang and Chin.\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly. Your prayer for a fuller hearing will reach our lenient\nears. In the meanwhile, in order to prove that the example upon which\nyou base your claim is a worthy one, proceed to narrate so much of the\nstory of Lao Ting as bears upon the means of his success.\u201d\n\n\n            The Story of Lao Ting and the Luminous Insect\n\nIt is of Lao Ting that the saying has arisen, \u201cHe who can grasp\nOpportunity as she slips by does not need a lucky dream.\u201d\n\nSo far, however, Lao Ting may be judged to have had neither\nopportunities nor lucky dreams. He was one of studious nature and from\nan early age had devoted himself to a veneration of the Classics. Yet\nwith that absence of foresight on the part of the providing deities\n(for this, of course, took place during an earlier, and probably\nusurping, dynasty), which then frequently resulted in the unworthy and\nilliterate prospering, his sleeve was so empty that at times it seemed\nalmost impossible for him to continue in his high ambition.\n\nAs the date of the examinations drew near, Lao Ting\u2019s efforts\nincreased, and he grudged every moment spent away from books. His few\navailable cash scarcely satisfied his ever-moving brush, and his\nsleeve grew so light that it seemed as though it might become a\nballoon and carry him into the Upper Air; for, as the Wisdom has it,\n\u201cA well-filled purse is a trusty earth anchor.\u201d On food he spent even\nless, but the inability to procure light after the sun had withdrawn\nhis benevolence from the narrow street in which he lived was an\never-present shadow across his hopes. On this extremity he patiently\nand with noiseless skill bored a hole through the wall into the house\nof a wealthy neighbour, and by this inoffensive stratagem he was able\nto distinguish the imperishable writings of the Sages far into the\nnight. Soon, however, the gross hearted person in question discovered\nthe device, owing to the symmetrical breathing of Lao Ting, and\napplying himself to the opening unperceived, he suddenly blew a jet of\nwater through and afterwards nailed in a wooden skewer. This he did\nbecause he himself was also entering for the competitions, though he\ndid not really fear Lao Ting.\n\nThus denied, Lao Ting sought other means to continue his study, if for\nonly a few minutes longer daily, and it became his custom to leave his\nill-equipped room when it grew dusk and to walk into the outer ways,\nalways with his face towards the west, so that he might prolong the\nbenefit of the great luminary to the last possible moment. When the\ntime of no-light definitely arrived he would climb up into one of the\nhigh places to await the first beam of the great sky-lantern, and also\nin the reasonable belief that the nearer he got to it the more\npowerful would be its light.\n\nIt was upon such an occasion that Lao Ting first became aware of the\nentrancing presence of Chun Hoa-mi, and although he plainly recognized\nfrom the outset that the graceful determination with which she led a\nwater-buffalo across the landscape by means of a slender cord attached\nto its nose was not conducive to his taking a high place in the\ncompetitions, he soon found that he was unable to withdraw himself\nfrom frequenting the spot at the same hour on each succeeding day.\nPresently, however, he decided that his previous misgiving was\ninaccurate, as her existence inspired him with an all-conquering\ndetermination to outdistance every other candidate in so marked a\nmanner that his name would at once become famous throughout the\nprovince, to attain high office without delay, to lead a victorious\narmy against the encroaching barbarian foe and thus to save the Empire\nin a moment of emergency, to acquire vast riches (in a not clearly\ndefined manner), to become the intimate counsellor of the grateful\nEmperor, and finally to receive posthumous honours of unique\ndistinction, the harmonious personality of Hoa-Mi being inextricably\nentwined among these achievements.\n\nAt other times, however, he became subject to a funereal conviction\nthat he would fail discreditably in the examinations to an\naccompaniment of the ridicule and contempt of all who knew him, that\nhe would never succeed in acquiring sufficient brass cash to ensure a\nmeagre sustenance even for himself, and that he would probably end his\nlower existence by ignominious decapitation, so that his pale and\nhungry ghost would be unable to find its way from place to place and\nbe compelled to remain on the same spot through all eternity. Yet so\nquickly did these two widely diverging vistas alternate in Lao Ting\u2019s\nmind that on many occasions he was under the influence of both\npresentiments at the same time.\n\nIt will thus be seen that Lao Ting was becoming involved in emotions\nof a many-sided hue, by which his whole future would inevitably be\naffected, when an event took place which greatly tended to restore his\ntranquillity of mind. He was, at the usual hour, lurking unseen on the\npath of Hoa-mi\u2019s approach when the water-buffalo, with the perversity\nof its kind, suddenly withdrew itself from the amiable control of its\nattendant\u2019s restraining hand and precipitated its resistless footsteps\ntowards the long grass in which Lao Ting lay concealed. Recognizing\nthat a decisive moment in the maiden\u2019s esteem lay before him, the\nlatter, in spite of an incapable doubt as to the habits and manner of\nbehaviour of creatures of this part, set out resolutely to subdue\nit. . . . At a later period, by clinging tenaciously to its tail, he\nundoubtedly impeded its progress, and thereby enabled Hoa-mi to greet\nhim as one who had a claim upon her gratitude.\n\n\u201cThe person who has performed this slight service is Ting, of the\noutcast line of Lao,\u201d said the student with an admiring bow in spite\nof a benumbing pain that involved all his lower attributes. \u201cHaving as\nyet achieved nothing, the world lies before him.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe who speaks is Hoa-mi, her father\u2019s house being Chun,\u201d replied the\nmaiden agreeably. \u201cIn addition to the erratic but now repentant animal\nthat has thus, as it were, brought us within the same narrow compass,\nhe possesses a wooden plough, two wheel-barrows, a red bow with\nthreescore arrows, and a rice-field, and is therefore a person of\nsome consequence.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue,\u201d agreed Lao Ting, \u201cthough perhaps the dignity is less imposing\nthan might be imagined in the eye of one who, by means of successive\nexaminations, may ultimately become the Right hand of the Emperor.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs the contingency an impending one?\u201d inquired Hoa-mi, with polite\ninterest.\n\n\u201cSo far,\u201d admitted Lao Ting, \u201cit is more in the nature of a vision.\nThere are, of necessity, many trials, and few can reach the ultimate\nend. Yet even the Yangtze-kiang has a source.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf your unswerving tenacity this person has already been witness,\u201d\n said the maiden, with a glance of refined encouragement.\n\n\u201cYour words are more inspiring than the example of the aged woman of\nShang-li to the student Tsung,\u201d declared Lao Ting gratefully. \u201cUnless\nthe Omens are asleep they should tend to the same auspicious end.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe exact instance of the moment escapes my recollection.\u201d Probably\nHoa-mi was by no means willing that one of studious mind should\nassociate her exclusively with water-buffaloes. \u201cIs it related in the\nClassics?\u201d\n\n\u201cPossibly, though in which actual masterpiece just now evades my\ngrasp. The youth referred to was on the point of abandoning a literary\ncareer, appalled at the magnitude of the task before him, when he\nencountered an aged woman who was employed in laboriously rubbing away\nthe surface of an iron crowbar on a block of stone. To his inquiry she\ncheerfully replied: \u2018The one who is thus engaged required a needle to\ncomplete a task. Being unable to procure one she was about to give way\nto an ignoble despair when chance put into her hands this bar, which\nonly requires bringing down to the necessary size.\u2019 Encouraged by this\npainstaking example Tsung returned to his books and in due course\nbecame a high official.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless in the time of his prosperity he retraced his footsteps and\nlavishly rewarded the one to whom he was thus indebted,\u201d suggested\nHoa-mi gracefully.\n\n\u201cDoubtless,\u201d admitted Lao Ting, \u201cbut the detail is not pursued to so\nremote an extremity in the Classic. The delicate poise of the analogy\nis what is chiefly dwelt upon, the sign for a needle harmonizing with\nthat for official, and there being a similar balance between crowbar\nand books.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour words are like a page written in vermilion ink,\u201d exclaimed\nHoa-mi, with a sideway-expressed admiration.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d he declared, with conscious humility, \u201cmy style is meagre and\nalmost wholly threadbare. To remedy this, each day I strive to\nperfect myself in the correct formation of five new written signs.\nWhen equipped with a knowledge of every one there is I shall be\ncompetent to write so striking and original an essay on any subject\nthat it will no longer be possible to exclude my name from the list of\nofficial appointments.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be a day of well-achieved triumph for the spirits of your\nexpectant ancestors,\u201d said Hoa-mi sympathetically.\n\n\u201cIt will also have a beneficial effect on my own material prospects,\u201d\n replied Lao Ting, with a commendable desire to awaken images of a more\nspecific nature in the maiden\u2019s imagination. \u201cWhere hitherto it has\nbeen difficult to support one, there will then be a lavish profusion\nfor two. The moment the announcement is made, my impatient feet will\ncarry me to this spot. Can it be hoped--?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt has long been this one\u2019s favourite resort also,\u201d confessed Hoa-mi,\nwith every appearance of having adequately grasped Lao Ting\u2019s desired\ninference, \u201cYet to what number do the written signs in question\nstretch?\u201d\n\n\u201cSo highly favoured is our unapproachable language that the number can\nonly be faintly conjectured. Some claim fivescore thousand different\nwritten symbols; the least exacting agree to fourscore thousand.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are all-knowing,\u201d responded the maiden absently. With her face in\nan opposing direction her lips moved rapidly, as though she might be\nin the act of addressing some petition to a Power. Yet it is to be\ndoubted if this accurately represents the nature of her inner\nthoughts, for when she again turned towards Lao Ting the engaging\nfrankness of her expression had imperceptibly deviated, as she\ncontinued:\n\n\u201cIn about nine and forty years, then, O impetuous one, our converging\nfootsteps will doubtless again encounter upon this spot. In the\nmeanwhile, however, this person\u2019s awaiting father is certainly\npreparing something against her tardy return which the sign for a\ncrowbar would fittingly represent.\u201d\n\nThen urging the water-buffalo to increased exertion she fled, leaving\nLao Ting a prey to emotions of a very distinguished intensity.\n\nIn spite of the admittedly rough-edged nature of Hoa-mi\u2019s\nleave-taking, Lao Ting retraced his steps in an exalted frame of mind.\nHe had spoken to the maiden and heard her incomparable voice. He now\nknew her name and the path leading to her father\u2019s house. It only\nremained for him to win a position worthy of her acceptance (if the\nEmpire could offer such a thing), and their future happiness might be\nregarded as assured.\n\nThus engaged, Lao Ting walked on, seeing within his head the arrival\nof the bridal chair, partaking of the well-spread wedding feast,\nhearing the felicitations of the guests: \u201cA hundred sons and a\nthousand grandsons!\u201d Something white fluttering by the wayside\nrecalled him to the realities of the day. He had reached the buildings\nof the outer city, and on a wall before him a printed notice was\ndisplayed.\n\nIt has already been set forth that the few solitary cash which from\ntime to time fell into the student\u2019s sleeve were barely sufficient to\nfeed his thirsty brush with ink. For the material on which to write\nand to practise the graceful curves essential to a style he was driven\nto various unworthy expedients. It had thus become his habit to lurk\nin the footsteps of those who affix public proclamations in the ways\nand spaces of the city, and when they had passed on to remove, as\nunostentatiously as possible, the more suitable pronouncements and to\ncarry them to his own abode. For this reason he regarded every notice\nfrom a varying angle, being concerned less with what appeared upon it\nthan with what did not appear. Accordingly he now crossed the way and\nendeavoured to secure the sheet that had attracted his attention. In\nthis he was unsuccessful, however, for he could only detach a meagre\nfragment.\n\nWhen Lao Ting reached his uninviting room the last pretence of\ndaylight had faded. He recognized that he had lost many precious\nmoments in Hoa-mi\u2019s engaging society, and although he would willingly\nhave lost many more, there was now a deeper pang in his regret that he\ncould not continue his study further into the night. As this was\nimpossible, he drew his scanty night coverings around him and composed\nhis mind for sleep, conscious of an increasing rigour in the air; for,\nas he found when the morning came, one who wished him well, passing in\nhis absence, had written a lucky saying on a stone and cast it through\nthe paper window.\n\nWhen Lao Ting awoke it was still night, but the room was no longer\nentirely devoid of light. As his custom was, an open page lay on the\nfloor beside him, ready to be caught up eagerly with the first gleam\nof day; above this a faint but sufficient radiance now hung, enabling\nhim to read the written signs. At first the student regarded the\nsurroundings with some awe, not doubting that this was in the nature\nof a visitation, but presently he discovered that the light was\nprovided by a living creature, winged but docile, which carried a\nglowing lustre in its tail. When he had read to the end, Lao Ting\nendeavoured to indicate by a sign that he wished to turn the page. To\nhis delight he found that the winged creature intelligently grasped\nthe requirement and at once transferred its presence to the required\nspot. All through the night the youth eagerly read on, nor did this\nmiraculously endowed visitor ever fail him. By dawn he had more than\nmade up the time in which the admiration of Hoa-mi had involved him.\nIf such a state of things could be assured for the future, the vista\nwould stretch like a sunlit glade before his feet.\n\nEarly in the day he set out to visit an elderly monk, who lived in a\ncave on the mountain above. Before he went, however, he did not fail\nto procure a variety of leaves and herbs, and to display them about\nthe room in order to indicate to his unassuming companion that he had\na continued interest in his welfare. The venerable hermit received him\nhospitably, and after inviting him to sit upon the floor and to\npartake of such food as he had brought with him, listened attentively\nto his story.\n\n\u201cYour fear that in this manifestation you may be the sport of a\nmalicious Force, conspiring to some secret ill, is merely\nsuperstition,\u201d remarked Tzu-lu when Lao Ting had reached an end.\n\u201cAlthough creatures such as you describe are unknown in this province,\nthey undoubtedly exist in outer barbarian lands, as do apes with the\ntails of peacocks, ducks with their bones outside their skins, beings\nwhose pale green eyes can discover the precious hidden things of the\nearth, and men with a hole through their chests so that they require\nno chair to carry them, but are transposed from spot to spot by means\nof poles.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour mind is widely opened, esteemed,\u201d replied Lao Ting respectfully.\n\u201cYet the omen must surely tend towards a definite course?\u201d\n\n\u201cBe guided by the mature philosophy of the resolute Heng-ki, who,\nafter an unfortunate augury, exclaimed to his desponding warriors: \u2018Do\nyour best and let the Omens do their worst!\u2019 What has happened is as\nclear as the iridescence of a dragon\u2019s eye. In the past you have lent\na sum of money to a friend who has thereupon passed into the Upper\nAir, leaving you unrequited.\u201d\n\n\u201cA friend receiving a sum of money from this person would have every\nexcuse for passing away suddenly.\u201d\n\n\u201cOr,\u201d continued the accommodating recluse, \u201cyou have in some other way\nplaced so formidable an obligation upon one now in the Beyond that his\ndisturbed spirit can no longer endure the burden. For this reason it\nhas taken the form of a luminous insect, and has thus returned to\nearth in order that it may assist you and thereby discharge the debt.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe explanation is a convincing one,\u201d replied Lao Ting. \u201cMight it not\nhave been more satisfactory in the end, however, if the gracious\nperson in question had clothed himself with the attributes of the\nexamining chancellor or some high mandarin, so that he could have\nupheld my cause in any extremity?\u201d\n\nWithout actually smiling, a form of entertainment that was contrary to\nhis strict vow, the patriarchal anchorite moved his features somewhat\nat the youth\u2019s innocence.\n\n\u201cDo not forget that it is written: \u2018Though you set a monkey on\nhorseback yet will his hands and feet remain hairy,\u2019\u201d he remarked.\n\u201cThe one whose conduct we are discussing may well be aware of his own\ndeficiencies, and know that if he adopted such a course a humiliating\nexposure would await him. Do not have any fear for the future,\nhowever: thus protected, this person is inspired to prophesy that you\nwill certainly take a high place in the examinations. . . . Indeed,\u201d\n he added thoughtfully, \u201cit might be prudent to venture a string of\ncash upon your lucky number.\u201d\n\nWith this auspicious leave-taking Tzu-lu dismissed him, and Lao Ting\nreturned to the city greatly refreshed in spirit by the encounter.\nInstead of retiring to his home he continued into the more reputable\nways beyond, it then being about the hour at which the affixers of\nofficial notices were wont to display their energies.\n\nSo it chanced indeed, but walking with his feet off the ground, owing\nto the obliging solitary\u2019s encouragement, Lao Ting forgot his usual\ncaution, and came suddenly into the midst of a band of these men at an\nangle of the paths.\n\n\u201cHonourable greetings,\u201d he exclaimed, feeling that if he passed them\nby unregarded his purpose might be suspected. \u201cHave you eaten your\nrice?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow is your warmth and cold?\u201d they replied courteously. \u201cYet why do\nyou arrest your dignified footsteps to converse with outcasts so\nilliterate as ourselves?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe reason,\u201d admitted Lao Ting frankly, \u201cneed not be buried in a\nwell. Had I avoided the encounter you might have said among\nyourselves: \u2018Here is one who shuns our gaze. This, perchance, is he\nwho of late has lurked within the shadow of our backs to bear away our\nlabour.\u2019 Not to create this unworthy suspicion I freely came among\nyou, for, as the Ancient Wisdom says: \u2018Do not adjust your sandals\nwhile passing through a melon-field, nor yet arrange your hat beneath\nan orange-tree.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d said the leader of the band, \u201cwe were waiting thus in\nexpectation of the one whom you describe. The incredible leper who\nrules our goings has, even at this hour and notwithstanding that now\nis the appointed day and time for the gathering together of the\nHarmonious Constellation of Paste Appliers and Long Brush Wielders,\nthrust within our hands a double task.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay bats defile his Ancestral Tablets and goats propagate within his\nneglected tomb!\u201d chanted the band in unison. \u201cMay the sinews of his\nhams snap suddenly in moments of achievement! May the principles of\nhis warmth and cold never be properly adjusted but--\u201d\n\n\u201cThus positioned,\u201d continued the leader, indicating by a gesture that\nwhile he agreed with these sentiments the moment was not opportune for\ntheir full recital, \u201cwe await. If he who lurks in our past draws near\nhe will doubtless accept from our hands that which he will assuredly\npossess behind our backs. Thus mutual help will lighten the toil of\nall.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe one whom you require dwells beneath my scanty roof,\u201d said the\nyouth. \u201cHe is now, however, absent on a secret mission. Entrust to me\nthe burden of your harassment and I will answer, by the sanctity of\nthe Four-eyed Image, that it shall reach his speedy hand.\u201d\n\nWhen Lao Ting gained his own room, bowed down but rejoicing beneath\nthe weight of his unexpected fortune, his eyes were gladdened by the\nsoft light that hung about his books. Although it was not yet dark,\nthe radiance of the glow seemed greater than before. Going to the spot\nthe delighted student saw that in place of one there were now four,\nthe grateful insect having meanwhile summoned others to his cause. All\nthese stood in an expectant attitude awaiting his control, so that\nthrough the night he plied an untiring brush and leapt onward in the\ngarden of similitudes.\n\nFrom this time forward Lao Ting could not fail to be aware that the\nfaces of those whom he familiarly encountered were changed towards\nhim. Men greeted him as one worthy of their consideration, and he even\nheard his name spoken of respectfully in the society of learned\nstrangers. More than once he found garlands of flowers hung upon his\nouter door, harmonious messages, and--once--a gift of food. Incredible\nas it seemed to him it had come to be freely admitted that the unknown\nscholar Lao Ting would take a very high place in the forthcoming\ncompetition, and those who were alert and watchful did not hesitate to\nplace him first. To this general feeling a variety of portents had\ncontributed. Doubtless the beginning was the significant fact, known\nto the few at first, that the miracle-working Tzu-lu had staked his\ninner garment on Lao Ting\u2019s success. Brilliant lights were seen\nthroughout the night to be moving in the meagre dwelling (for the four\nefficacious creatures had by this time greatly added to their\nnumbers), and the one within was credited with being assisted by the\nForces. It is well said that that which passes out of one mouth passes\ninto a hundred ears, and before dawn had become dusk all the early and\nastute were following the inspired hermit\u2019s example. They who\nconducted the lotteries, becoming suddenly aware of the burden of the\nhazard they incurred, thereat declared that upon the venture of Lao\nTing\u2019s success there must be set two taels in return for one.\nWhereupon the desire of those who had refrained waxed larger than\nbefore, and thus the omens grew.\n\nWhen the days that remained before the opening of the trial could be\ncounted on the fingers of one hand, there came, at a certain hour, a\nsummons on the outer door of Lao Ting\u2019s house, and in response to his\nspoken invitation there entered one, Sheng-yin, a competitor.\n\n\u201cLao Ting,\u201d said this person, when they had exchanged formalities, \u201cin\nspite of the flattering attentions of the shallow\u201d--he here threw upon\nthe floor a garland which he had conveyed from off Lao Ting\u2019s\ndoor--\u201cit is exceedingly unlikely that at the first attempt your name\nwill be among those of the chosen, and the possibility of it heading\nthe list may be dismissed as vapid.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour experience is deep and wide,\u201d replied Lao Ting, the circumstance\nthat Sheng-yin had already tried and failed three and thirty times\nadding an edge to the words; \u201cyet if it is written it is written.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless,\u201d retorted Sheng-yin no less capably; \u201cbut it will never be\nset to music. Now, until your inconsiderate activities prevailed, this\nperson was confidently greeted as the one who would be first.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe names of Wang-san and Yin Ho were not unknown to the expectant,\u201d\n suggested Lao Ting mildly.\n\n\u201cThe mind of Wang-san is only comparable with a wastepaper basket,\u201d\n exclaimed the visitor harshly; \u201cand Yin Ho is in reality as dull as\nsplit ebony. But in your case, unfortunately, there is nothing to go\non, and, unlikely though it be, it is just possible that this person\u2019s\nwell-arranged ambitions may thereby be brought to a barren end. For\nthat reason he is here to discuss this matter as between virtuous\nfriends.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet your auspicious mouth be widely opened,\u201d replied Lao Ting\nguardedly. \u201cMy ears will not refrain.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs there not, perchance, some venerable relative in a distant part of\nthe province whose failing eyes crave, at this juncture, to rest upon\nyour wholesome features before he passes Upwards?\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly some such inopportune person might be forthcoming,\u201d\n admitted Lao Ting. \u201cYet the cost of so formidable a journey would be\nfar beyond this necessitous one\u2019s means.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn so charitable a cause affluent friends would not be lacking.\nDepart on the third day and remain until the ninth and twenty taels of\nsilver will glide imperceptibly into your awaiting sleeve.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe prospect of not taking the foremost place in the\ncompetition--added to the pangs of those who have hazarded their store\nupon the unworthy name of Lao--is an ignoble one,\u201d replied the\nstudent, after a moment\u2019s thought. \u201cThe journey will be a costly task\nat this season of the rains; it cannot possibly be accomplished for\nless than fifty taels.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well said, \u2018Do not look at robbers sharing out their spoil:\nlook at them being executed,\u2019\u201d urged Sheng-yin. \u201cShould you be so\nill-destined as to compete, and, as would certainly be the case, be\nawarded a position of contempt, how unendurable would be your anguish\nwhen, amidst the execrations of the deluded mob, you remembered that\nthirty taels of the purest had slipped from your effete grasp.\u201d\n\n\u201cShould the Bridge of the Camel Back be passable, five and forty might\nsuffice,\u201d mused Lao Tung to himself.\n\n\u201cThirty-seven taels, five hundred cash, are the utmost that your\nobliging friends would hazard in the quest,\u201d announced Sheng-yin\ndefinitely. \u201cOn the day following that of the final competition the\nsum will be honourably--\u201d\n\n\u201cBy no means,\u201d interrupted the other, with unswerving firmness. \u201cHow\nthus is the journey to be defrayed? In advance, assuredly.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe requirement is unusual. Yet upon satisfactory oaths being\noffered--\u201d\n\n\u201cThis person will pledge the repose of the spirits of his venerated\nancestors practically back to prehistoric times,\u201d agreed Lao Ting\nreadily. \u201cFrom the third to the ninth day he will be absent from the\ncity and will take no part in anything therein. Should he eat his\nwords, may his body be suffocated beneath five cart-loads of books and\nhis weary ghost chained to that of a leprous mule. It is spoken.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly. But it may as well be written also.\u201d With this expression of\nnarrow-minded suspicion Sheng-yin would have taken up one from a\nconsiderable mass of papers lying near at hand, had not Lao Ting\nsuddenly restrained him.\n\n\u201cIt shall be written with clarified ink on paper of a special\nexcellence,\u201d declared the student. \u201cTake the brush, Seng-yin, and\nwrite. It almost repays this person for the loss of a degree to behold\nthe formation of signs so unapproachable as yours.\u201d\n\n\u201cLao Ting,\u201d replied the visitor, pausing in his task, \u201cyou are\noccasionally inspired, but the weakness of your character results in a\nlack of caution. In this matter, therefore, be warned: \u2018The crocodile\nopens his jaws; the rat-trap closes his; keep yours shut.\u2019\u201d\n\nWhen Lao Ting returned after a scrupulously observed six days of\nabsence he could not fail to become aware that the city was in an\nuproar, and the evidence of this increased as he approached the cheap\nand lightly esteemed quarter in which those of literary ambitions\nfound it convenient to reside. Remembering Sheng-yin\u2019s parting, he\nforbore to draw attention to himself by questioning any, but when he\nreached the door of his own dwelling he discovered the one of whom he\nwas thinking, standing, as it were, between the posts.\n\n\u201cLao Ting,\u201d exclaimed Sheng-yin, without waiting to make any polite\nreference to the former person\u2019s food or condition, \u201cin spite of this\ncalamity you are doubtless prepared to carry out the spirit of your\noath?\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless,\u201d replied Lao Ting affably. \u201cYet what is the nature of the\ncalamity referred to, and how does it affect the burden of my vow?\u201d\n\n\u201cHas not the tiding reached your ear? The examinations, alas! have\nbeen withheld for seven full days. Your journey has been in vain!\u201d\n\n\u201cBy no means!\u201d declared the youth. \u201cDebarred by your enticement from a\nliterary career this person turned his mind to other aims, and has now\ngained a deep insight into the habits and behaviour of\nwater-buffaloes.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey who control the competitions from the Capital,\u201d continued\nSheng-yin, without even hearing the other\u2019s words, \u201cwhen all had been\narranged, learned from the Chief Astrologer (may subterranean fires\nsinge his venerable moustaches!) that a forgotten obscuration of the\nsun would take place on the opening day of the test. In the face of so\nformidable a portent they acted thus and thus.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow then fares it that due warning of the change was not set forth?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe matter is as long as The Wall and as deep as seven wells,\u201d\n grumbled Sheng-yin, \u201cand the Hoang Ho in flood is limpid by its side.\nProclamations were sent forth, yet none appeared, and they entrusted\nwith their wide disposal have a dragon-story of a shining lordly youth\nwho ever followed in their steps. . . . Thus in a manner of expressing\nit, the spirit--\u201d\n\n\u201cSheng-yin,\u201d said Lao Ting, with courteous firmness, yet so moving the\ndoor so that while he passed in the former person remained outside,\n\u201cyou have sought, at the expenditure of thirty-seven taels five\nhundred cash, to deflect Destiny from her appointed line. The result\nhas been lamentable to all--or nearly all--concerned. The lawless\neffort must not be repeated, for when heaven itself goes out of its\nway to set a correcting omen in the sky, who dare disobey?\u201d\n\nWhen the list and order of the competition was proclaimed, the name of\nWang-san stood at the very head and that of Yin Ho was next. Lao Ting\nwas the very last of those who were successful; Sheng-yin was the\nnext, and was thus the first of those who were unsuccessful. It was as\nmuch as the youth had secretly dared to hope, and much better than he\nhad generally feared. In Sheng-yin\u2019s case, however, it was infinitely\nworse than he had ever contemplated. Regarding Lao Ting as the cause\nof his disgrace he planned a sordid revenge. Waiting until night had\nfallen he sought the student\u2019s door-step and there took a potent drug,\nlaying upon his ghost a strict injunction to devote itself to haunting\nand thwarting the ambitions of the one who dwelt within. But even in\nthis he was inept, for the poison was less speedy than he thought, and\nLao Ting returned in time to convey him to another door.\n\nOn the strength of his degree Lao Ting found no difficulty in earning\na meagre competence by instructing others who wished to follow in his\nfootsteps. He was also now free to compete for the next degree, where\nsuccess would bring him higher honour and a slightly less meagre\ncompetence. In the meanwhile he married Hoa-mi, being able to display\nthirty-seven taels and nearly five hundred cash towards that end.\nUltimately he rose to a position of remunerative ease, but it is\nunderstood that he attained this more by a habit of acting as the\nnecessities of the moment required than by his literary achievements.\n\nOver the door of his country residence in the days of his profusion he\ncaused the image of a luminous insect to be depicted, and he engraved\nits semblance on his seal. He would also have added the presentment of\na water-buffalo, but Hoa-mi deemed this inexpedient.\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VI\n\n           The High-minded Strategy of the Amiable Hwa-mei\n\nWarned by the mischance attending his previous meeting with Hwa-mei,\nKai Lung sought the walled enclosure at the earliest moment of his\npermitted freedom, and secreting himself among the interlacing growth\nhe anxiously awaited the maiden\u2019s coming.\n\nPresently a movement in the trees without betrayed a presence, and the\nstory-teller was on the point of disclosing himself at the shutter\nwhen the approaching one displayed an unfamiliar outline. Instead of a\nmaiden of exceptional symmetry and peach-like charm an elderly and\ndeformed hag drew near. As she might be hostile to his cause, Kai Lung\ndeemed it prudent to remain concealed; but in case she should prove to\nbe an emissary from Hwa-mei seeking him, his purpose was to stand\nrevealed. To combine these two attitudes until she should declare\nherself was by no means an easy task, but she looked neither near nor\nfar in scrutiny until she stood, mumbling and infirm, beneath the\nshutter.\n\n\u201cIt is well, minstrel,\u201d she called aloud. \u201cShe whom you await bid me\ngreet you with a sign.\u201d At Kai Lung\u2019s feet there fell a crimson\nflower, growing on a thorny stem. \u201cWhat word shall I in turn bear\nback? Speak freely, for her mind is as my open hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me rather,\u201d said Kai Lung, looking out, \u201chow she fares and what\naverts her footsteps?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will appear in due time,\u201d replied the aged one. \u201cIn the\nmeanwhile I have her message to declare. Three times foiled in his\nmalignant scheme the now obscene Ming-shu sets all the Axioms at\nnaught. Distrusting you and those about your path, it is his sinister\nintention to call up for judgment Kai-moo, who lies within the\nwomen\u2019s cell beyond the Water Way.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is her crime and how will this avail him?\u201d\n\n\u201cCharged with the murder of her man by means of the supple splinter\nher condemnation is assured. The penalty is piecemeal slicing, and in\nit are involved those of her direct line, in the humane effort to\neradicate so treacherous a strain.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is but just,\u201d agreed Kai Lung.\n\n\u201cTruly. But on the slender ligament of a kindred name you will be\njoined with her in that end. Ming-shu will see to it that records of\nyour kinship are not lacking. Being accused of no crime on your own\nbehalf there will be nothing for you to appear against.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is written: \u2018Even leprosy may be cured, but the enmity of an\nofficial underling can never be dispelled,\u2019 and the malice of the\npersistent Ming-shu certainly points to the wisdom of the verse. Is\nthe person of Kai-moo known to you, and where is the prison-house you\nspeak of?\u201d\n\nTo this the venerable creature replied that the cell in question was\nin a distant quarter of the city. Kai-moo, she continued, might be\nregarded as fashioned like herself, being deformed in shape and\nrepellent in appearance. Furthermore, she was of deficient\nunderstanding, these things aiding Ming-shu\u2019s plan, as she would be\ndifficult to reach and impossible to instruct when reached.\n\n\u201cThe extremity is almost hopeless enough to be left to the\never-protecting spirits of one\u2019s all-powerful Ancestors,\u201d declared Kai\nLung at length. \u201cDid she from whom you come forecast any confidence?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe had some assurance in a certain plan, which it is my message to\ndeclare to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cHer wisdom is to be computed neither by a rule nor by a measure. Say\non.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe keeper of the women\u2019s prison-house lies within her hollowed hand,\nnor will silver be wanting to still any arising doubt. Wrapped in\nprison garb, and with her face disguised by art, she whose word I bear\nwill come forth at the appointed call and, taking her place before\nShan Tien, will play a fictitious part.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! dotard,\u201d interrupted Kai Lung impatiently, \u201cit would be well if\nI spent my few remaining hours in kowtowing to the Powers whom I shall\nshortly meet. An aged and unsightly hag! Know you not, O venerable\nbat, that the smooth perfection of the one you serve would shine\ndazzling through a beaten mask of tempered steel? Her matchless hair,\nglossier than a starling\u2019s wing, floats like an autumn cloud. Her eyes\nstrike fire from damp clay, or make the touch of velvet harsh and\nstubborn, according to her several moods. Peach-bloom held against her\ncheek withers incapably by comparison. Her feet, if indeed she has\nsuch commonplace attributes at all, are smaller--\u201d\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d interrupted the hag, in a changed and quite melodious voice,\n\u201cif it is possible to delude the imagination of one whose longing eyes\ndwell so constantly on these threadbare charms, what then will be the\nposition of the obtuse Ming-shu and the superficial Mandarin Shan\nTien, burdened as they now are by outside cares?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are times when the classical perfection of our graceful tongue\nis strangely inadequate to express emotion,\u201d confessed Kai Lung,\ncolouring deeply, as Hwa-mei stood revealed before him. \u201cIt is truly\nsaid: \u2018The ingenuity of a guileless woman will undermine nine\nmountains.\u2019 You have cut off all the words of my misgivings.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo that end have I wrought, for in this I also need your skill.\nListen well and think deeply as I speak. Everywhere the outcome of the\nstrife grows more uncertain day by day and no man really knows which\nside to favour yet. In this emergency each plays a double part. While\nvisibly loyal to the Imperial cause, the Mandarin Shan Tien fans the\nwhisper that in secret he upholds the rebellious banners. Ming-shu now\nopenly avers that if this and that are thus and thus the rising has\njustice in its ranks, while at the same time he has it put abroad that\nthis is but a cloak the better to serve the state. Thus every man\nmaintains a double face in the hope that if the one side fails the\nother will preserve him, and as a band all pledge to save (or if need\nbe to betray) each other.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is the more readily understood as it is the common case on every\nlike occasion.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen doubtless there are instances waiting on your lips. Teach me\nsuch a story whereby the hope of those who are thus swayed may be\nengaged and leave the rest to my arranging hand.\u201d\n\nOn the following day at the appointed hour a bent and forbidding hag\nwas brought before Shan Tien, and the nature of her offence\nproclaimed.\n\n\u201cIt is possible to find an excuse for almost everything, regarding it\nfrom one angle or another,\u201d remarked the Mandarin impartially; \u201cbut\nthe crime of destroying a husband--and by a means so unpleasantly\ninsinuating--really seems to leave nothing to be said.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet, imperishable, even a bad coin must have two sides,\u201d replied the\nhag. \u201cThat I should be guilty and yet innocent would be no more\nwonderful than the case of Weng Cho, who, when faced with the\nalternative of either defying the Avenging Societies or of opposing\nfixed authority found a way out of escaping both.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat should be worth--that is to say, if you base your defence upon\nan existing case--\u201d\n\n\u201cProviding the notorious thug Kai Lung is not thereby brought in,\u201d\n suggested the narrow-minded Ming-shu, who equally desired to learn the\nstratagem involved.\n\n\u201cWeng Cho was the only one concerned,\u201d replied the ancient\nobtusely--\u201che who escaped the consequences. Is it permitted to this\none to make clear her plea?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf the fatigue is not more than your venerable personality can\nreasonably bear,\u201d replied Shan Tien courteously.\n\n\u201cTo bear is the lot of every woman, be she young or old,\u201d replied the\none before them. \u201cI comply, omnipotence.\u201d\n\n\n          The Story of Weng Cho; or, the One Devoid of Name\n\nThere was peach-blossom in the orchards of Kien-fi, a blue sky above,\nand in the air much gladness; but in Wu Chi\u2019s yamen gloom hung like\nthe herald of a thunderstorm. At one end of a table in the ceremonial\nhall sat Wu Chi, heaviness upon his brow, deceit in his eyes, and a\nsour enmity about the lines of his mouth; at the other end stood his\nson Weng, and between them, as it were, his whole life lay.\n\nWu Chi was an official of some consequence and had two wives, as\nbecame him. His union with the first had failed in its essential\npurpose; therefore he had taken another to carry on the direct line\nwhich alone could bring him contentment in this world and a reputable\nexistence in the next. This degree of happiness was supplied by Weng\u2019s\nmother, yet she must ever remain but a \u201csecondary wife,\u201d with no\nrights and a very insecure position. In the heart of the chief wife\nsmouldered a most bitter hatred, but the hour of her ascendancy came,\nfor after many years she also bore her lord a son. Thenceforward she\nwas strong in her authority; but Weng\u2019s mother remained, for she was\nvery beautiful, and despite all the arts of the other woman Wu Chi\ncould not be prevailed upon to dismiss her. The easy solution of this\ndifficulty was that she soon died--the \u201cwhite powder death\u201d was the\nshrewd comment of the inner chambers of Kien-fi.\n\nWu Chi put on no mourning, custom did not require it; and now that the\nwoman had Passed Beyond he saw no necessity to honour her memory at\nthe expense of his own domestic peace. His wife donned her gayest\nrobes and made a feast. Weng alone stood apart, and in funereal\nsackcloth moved through the house like an accusing ghost. Each day his\nfather met him with a frown, the woman whom alone he must regard as\nhis mother with a mocking smile, but he passed them without any word\nof dutiful and submissive greeting. The period of all seemly mourning\nended--it touched that allotted to a legal parent; still Weng cast\nhimself down and made no pretence to hide his grief. His father\u2019s\nfrown became a scowl, his mother\u2019s smile framed a biting word. A wise\nand venerable friend who loved the youth took him aside one day and\nwith many sympathetic words counselled restraint.\n\n\u201cFor,\u201d he said, \u201cyour conduct, though affectionate towards the dead,\nmay be urged by the ill-disposed as disrespectful towards the living.\nIf you have a deeper end in view, strive towards it by a less open\npath.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are subtle and esteemed in wisdom,\u201d replied Weng, \u201cbut neither of\nthose virtues can restore a broken jar. The wayside fountain must one\nday dry up at its source, but until then not even a mountain placed\nupon its mouth can pen back its secret stores. So is it with unfeigned\ngrief.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe analogy may be exact,\u201d replied the aged friend, shaking his head,\n\u201cbut it is no less truly said: \u2018The wise tortoise keeps his pain\ninside.\u2019 Rest assured, on the disinterested advice of one who has no\ngreat experience of mountains and hidden springs, but a life-long\nknowledge of Wu Chi and of his amiable wife, that if you mourn too\nmuch you will have reason to mourn more.\u201d\n\nHis words were pointed to a sharp edge. At that moment Wu Chi was\nbeing confronted by his wife, who stood before him in his inner\nchamber. \u201cWho am I?\u201d she exclaimed vehemently, \u201cthat my authority\nshould be denied before my very eyes? Am I indeed Che of the house of\nMeng, whose ancestors wore the Yellow Scabbard, or am I some nameless\none? Or does my lord sleep, or has he fallen blind upon the side by\nwhich Weng approaches?\u201d\n\n\u201cHis heart is bad and his instincts perverted,\u201d replied Wu Chi dully.\n\u201cHe ignores the rites, custom, and the Emperor\u2019s example, and sets at\ndefiance all the principles of domestic government. Do not fear that I\nshall not shortly call him to account with a very heavy call.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo so, my lord,\u201d said his wife darkly, \u201cor many valiant champions of\nthe House of Meng may press forward to make a cast of that same\naccount. To those of our ancient line it would not seem a trivial\nthing that their daughter should share her rights with a purchased\nslave.\u201d\n\n\u201cPeace, cockatrice! the woman was well enough,\u201d exclaimed Wu Chi, with\nslow resentment. \u201cBut the matter of this obstinacy touches the dignity\nof my own authority, and before to-day has passed Weng shall bring up\nhis footsteps suddenly before a solid wall.\u201d\n\nAccordingly, when Weng returned at his usual hour he found his father\nawaiting him with curbed impatience. That Wu Chi should summon him\ninto his presence in the great hall was of itself an omen that the\nmatter was one of moment, but the profusion of lights before the\nAncestral Tablets and the various symbols arranged upon the table\nshowed that the occasion was to be regarded as one involving\nirrevocable issues.\n\n\u201cWeng Cho,\u201d said his father dispassionately, from his seat at the head\nof the table, \u201cdraw near, and first pledge the Ancient Ones whose\nspirits hover above their Tablets in a vessel of wine.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am drinking affliction and move under the compact of a solemn vow,\u201d\n replied Weng fixedly, \u201ctherefore I cannot do this; nor, as signs are\ngiven me to declare, will the forerunners of our line, who from their\nhigh places look down deep into the mind and measure the heart with an\nimpartial rod, deem this an action of disrespect to their illustrious\nshades.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well to be a sharer of their councils,\u201d said Wu Chi, with\npointed insincerity. \u201cBut,\u201d he continued, in the same tone, \u201cfor whom\ncan Weng Cho of the House of Wu mourn? His father is before him in his\nwonted health; in the inner chamber his mother plies an unfaltering\nneedle; while from the Dragon Throne the supreme Emperor still rules\nthe world. Haply, however, a thorn has pierced his little finger, or\ndoes he perchance bewail the loss of a favourite bird?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat thorn has sunk deeply into his existence, and the memory of that\nloss still dims his eyes with bitterness,\u201d replied Weng. \u201cBid the rain\ncease to fall when the clouds are heavy.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe comparison is ill-chosen,\u201d cried Whu Chi harshly. \u201cRather should\nthe allusion be to the evil tendency of a self-willed branch which, in\nspite of the continual watering of precept and affection, maintains\nits perverted course, and must henceforth either submit to be bound\ndown into an appointed line, or be utterly cut off so that the tree\nmay not suffer. Long and patiently have I marked your footsteps, Weng\nCho, and they are devious. This is not a single offence, but it is no\nlight one. Appointed by the Board of Ceremony, approved of by the\nEmperor, and observed in every loyal and high-minded subject are the\ndetails of the rites and formalities which alone serve to distinguish\na people refined and humane from those who are rude and barbarous. By\nsetting these observances at defiance you insult their framers, act\ntraitorously towards your sovereign, and assail the foundations of\nyour House; for your attitude is a direct reflection upon others; and\nif you render such a tribute to one who is incompetent to receive it,\nhow will you maintain a seemly balance when a greater occasion\narises?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen the earth that has nourished it grows cold the leaves of the\nbranch fall--doubtless the edicts of the Board referred to having\nfailed to reach their ears,\u201d replied Weng bitterly. \u201cRevered father,\nis it not permitted that I should now depart? Behold I am stricken and\nout of place.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are evil and your heart is fat with presumptuous pride!\u201d\n exclaimed Wu Chi, releasing the cords of his hatred and anger so that\nthey leapt out from his throat like the sudden spring of a tiger from\na cave. \u201cEvil in birth, grown under an evil star and now come to a\nfull maturity. Go you shall, Weng Cho, and that on a straight journey\nforthwith or else bend your knees with an acquiescent face.\u201d With\nthese words he beat furiously on a gong, and summoning the entire\nhousehold he commanded that before Weng should be placed a jar of wine\nand two glass vessels, and on the other side a staff and a pair of\nsandals. From an open shutter the face of the woman Che looked down in\nmocking triumph.\n\nThe alternatives thus presented were simple and irrevocable. On the\none hand Weng must put from him all further grief, ignore his vows,\nand join in mirth and feast; on the other he must depart, never to\nreturn, and be deprived of every tie of kinship, relinquishing\nancestry, possessions and name. It was a course severer than anything\nthat Wu Chi had intended when he sent for his son, but resentment had\ndistorted his eyesight. It was a greater test than Weng had\nanticipated, but his mind was clear, and his heart charged with\nfragrant memories of his loss. Deliberately but with silent dignity he\npoured the untasted wine upon the ground, drew his sword and touched\nthe vessels lightly so that they broke, took from off his thumb the\njade ring inscribed with the sign of the House of Wu, and putting on\nthe sandals grasped the staff and prepared to leave the hall.\n\n\u201cWeng Cho, for the last time spoken of as of the House of Wu, now\nalienated from that noble line, and henceforth and for ever an\noutcast, you have made a choice and chosen as befits your rebellious\nlife. Between us stretches a barrier wider and deeper than the Yellow\nSea, and throughout all future time no sign shall pass from that\ndistant shore to this. From every record of our race your name shall\nbe cut out; no mention of it shall profane the Tablets, and both in\nthis world and the next it shall be to us as though you have never\nbeen. As I break this bowl so are all ties broken, as I quench this\ncandle so are all memories extinguished, and as, when you go, the\nspace is filled with empty air, so shall it be.\u201d\n\n\u201cHo, nameless stranger,\u201d laughed the woman from above, \u201chere is food\nand drink to bear you on your way\u201d; and from the grille she threw a\nwithered fig and spat.\n\n\u201cThe fruit is the cankered effort of a barren tree,\u201d cast back Weng\nover his shoulder. \u201cLook to your own offspring, basilisk. It is given\nme to speak.\u201d Even as he spoke there was a great cry from the upper\npart of the house, the sound of many feet and much turmoil, but he\nwent on his way without another word.\n\nThus it was that Weng Cho came to be cut off from the past. From his\nfather\u2019s house he stepped out into the streets of Kien-fi a being\nwithout a name, destitute, and suffering the pangs of many keen\nemotions. Friends whom he encountered he saluted distantly, not\ndesirous of sharing their affection until they should have learned his\nstate; but there was one who stood in his mind as removed above the\npossibility of change, and to the summer-house of Tiao\u2019s home he\ntherefore turned his steps.\n\nTiao was the daughter of a minor official, an unsuccessful man of no\nparticular descent. He had many daughters, and had encouraged Weng\u2019s\naffection, with frequent professions that he regarded only the youth\u2019s\nvirtuous life and discernment, and would otherwise have desired one\nnot so highly placed. Tiao also had spoken of rice and contentment in\na ruined pagoda. Yet as she listened to Weng\u2019s relation a new\nexpression gradually revealed itself about her face, and when he had\nfinished many paces lay between them.\n\n\u201cA breaker of sacred customs, a disobeyer of parents and an outcast!\nHow do you disclose yourself!\u201d she exclaimed wildly. \u201cWhat vile thing\nhas possessed you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOne hitherto which now rejects me,\u201d replied Weng slowly. \u201cI had\nthought that here alone I might find a familiar greeting, but that\nalso fails.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat other seemly course presents itself?\u201d demanded the maiden\nunsympathetically. \u201cHow degrading a position might easily become that\nof the one who linked her lot with yours if all fit and proper\nsequences are to be reversed! What menial one might supplant her not\nonly in your affections but also in your Rites! He had defied the\nPrinciples!\u201d she exclaimed, as her father entered from behind a\nscreen.\n\n\u201cHe has lost his inheritance,\u201d muttered the little old man, eyeing him\ncontemptuously. \u201cWeng Cho,\u201d he continued aloud, \u201cyou have played a\ndouble part and crossed our step with only half your heart. Now the\npast is past and the future an unwritten sheet.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be written in vermilion ink,\u201d replied Weng, regaining an\nimpassive dignity; \u201cand upon that darker half of my heart can now be\ntraced two added names.\u201d\n\nHe had no aim now, but instinct drove him towards the mountains, the\nretreat of the lost and despairing. A three days\u2019 journey lay between.\nHe went forward vacantly, without food and without rest. A falling\nleaf, as it is said, would have turned the balance of his destiny, and\nat the wayside village of Li-yong so it chanced. The noisome smell of\nburning thatch stung his face as he approached, and presently the\nobject came into view. It was the bare cabin of a needy widow who had\nbecome involved in a lawsuit through the rapacity of a tax-gatherer.\nAs she had the means neither to satisfy the tax nor to discharge the\ndues, the powerful Mandarin before whom she had been called ordered\nall her possessions to be seized, and that she should then be burned\nwithin her hut as a warning to others. This was the act of justice\nbeing carried out, and even as Weng heard the tale the Mandarin in\nquestion drew near, carried in his state chair to satisfy his eyes\nthat his authority was scrupulously maintained. All those villagers\nwho had not drawn off unseen at once fell upon their faces, so that\nWeng alone remained standing, doubtful what course to take.\n\n\u201cIll-nurtured dog!\u201d exclaimed the Mandarin, stepping up to him,\n\u201cprostrate yourself! Do you not know that I am of the Sapphire Button,\nand have fivescore bowmen at my yamen, ready to do my word?\u201d And he\nstruck the youth across the face with a jewelled rod.\n\n\u201cI have only one sword, but it is in my hand,\u201d cried Weng, reckless\nbeneath the blow, and drawing it he at one stroke cut down the\nMandarin before any could raise a hand. Then breaking in the door of\nthe hovel he would have saved the woman, but it was too late, so he\ntook the head and body and threw them into the fire, saying: \u201cThere,\nMandarin, follow to secure justice. They shall not bear witness\nagainst you Up There in your absence.\u201d\n\nThe chair-carriers had fled in terror, but the villagers murmured\nagainst Weng as he passed through them. \u201cIt was a small thing that one\nhouse and one person should be burned; now, through this, the whole\nvillage will assuredly be consumed. He was a high official and visited\njustice impartially on us all. It was our affair, and you, who are a\nstranger, have done ill.\u201d\n\n\u201cI did you wrong, Mandarin,\u201d said Weng, resuming his journey; \u201cyou\ntook me for one of them. I pass you the parting of the woman Che,\nburrowers in the cow-heap called Li-yong.\u201d\n\n\u201cOi-ye!\u201d exclaimed a voice behind, \u201cbut yonder earth-beetles haply\nhave not been struck off the Tablets and found that a maiden with\nwell-matched eyes can watch two ways at once, all of a morning: and\nthereby death through red spectacles is not that same death through\nblue spectacles. Things in their appointed places, noble companion.\u201d\n\n\u201cGreetings, wayfarer,\u201d said Weng, stopping. \u201cThe path narrows somewhat\ninconveniently hereabout. Take honourable precedence.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe narrower the better to defend then,\u201d replied the stranger\ngood-humouredly. \u201cWhereto, also, two swords cut a larger slice than\none. Without doubt fivescore valiant bowmen will soon be a-ranging\nwhen they hear that the enemy goes upon two feet, and then ill befall\nwho knows not the passes.\u201d As he spoke an arrow, shot from a distance,\nflew above their heads.\n\n\u201cWhy should you bear a part with me, and who are you who know these\nrecent things?\u201d demanded Weng doubtfully.\n\n\u201cI am one of many, we being a branch of that great spreading lotus the\nTriad, though called by the tillers here around the League of\nTomb-Haunters, because we must be sought in secret places. The things\nI have spoken I know because we have many ears, and in our care a\nwhisper passes from east to west and from north to south without a\nword being spilled.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd the price of your sword is that I should join the confederacy?\u201d\n asked Weng thoughtfully.\n\n\u201cI had set out to greet you before the estimable Mandarin who is now\nsaluting his ancestors was so inopportune as to do so,\u201d replied the\nemissary. \u201cYet it is not to be denied that we offer an adequate\nprotection among each other, while at the same time punishing guilt\nand administering a rigorous justice secretly.\u201d\n\n\u201cLead me to your meeting-place, then,\u201d said Weng determinedly. \u201cI have\ndone with the outer things.\u201d\n\nThe guide pointed to a rock, shaped like a locust\u2019s head, which marked\nthe highest point of the steep mountain before them. Soon the fertile\nlowlands ended and they passed beyond the limit of the inhabitable\nregion. Still ascending they reached the Tiger\u2019s High Retreat, which\ndefines the spot where even the animal kind turn back and where\nwatercourses cease to flow. Beyond this the most meagre indication of\nvegetable sustenance came to an end, and thenceforward their passage\nwas rendered more slow and laborious by frequent snow-storms, barriers\nof ice, and sudden tempests which strove to hurl them to destruction.\nNevertheless, by about the hour of midnight they reached the rock\nshaped like a locust\u2019s head, which stood in the wildest and most\ninaccessible part of the mountain, and masked the entrance to a\nstrongly-guarded cave. Here Weng suffered himself to be blindfolded,\nand being led forward he was taken into the innermost council. Closely\nquestioned, he professed a spontaneous desire to be admitted into\ntheir band, to join in their dangers and share their honours;\nwhereupon the oath was administered to him, the passwords and secret\nsigns revealed, and he was bound from that time forth, under the bonds\nof a most painful death and torments in the afterworld, to submerge\nall passions save those for the benefit of their community, and to\ncherish no interests, wrongs or possessions that did not affect them\nall alike.\n\nFor the space of seven years Weng remained about the shadow of the\nmountain, carrying out, together with the other members of the band,\nthe instructions which from time to time they received from the higher\ncircles of the Society, as well as such acts of retributive justice as\nthey themselves determined upon, and in this quiet and unostentatious\nmanner maintaining peace and greatly purifying the entire province. In\nthis passionless subservience to the principles of the Order none\nexceeded him; yet at no time have men been forbidden to burn\njoss-sticks to the spirit of the destinies, and who shall say?\n\nAt the end of seven years the first breath from out of the past\nreached Weng (or Thang, as he had announced himself to be when cast\nout nameless). One day he was summoned before the chief of their\ncompany and a mission laid upon him.\n\n\u201cYou have proved yourself to be capable and sincere in the past, and\nthis matter is one of delicacy,\u201d said the leader. \u201cFurthermore, it is\nreported that you know something of the paths about Kien-fi?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is not a forgotten turn within those paths by which I might\nstumble in the dark,\u201d replied Weng, striving to subdue his mind.\n\n\u201cSee that out of so poignant a memory no more formidable barrier than\na forgotten path arises,\u201d said the leader, observing him closely.\n\u201cKnow you, then a house bearing as a sign the figure of a golden\nibis?\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly; I have noted it,\u201d replied Weng, changing his position, so that\nhe now leaned against a rock. \u201cThere dwelt an old man of some lower\nofficial rank, who had no son but many daughters.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe has Passed, and one of those--Tiao by name,\u201d said the other,\nreferring to a parchment--\u201chas schemingly driven out the rest and held\nthe patrimony. Crafty and ambitious, she has of late married a high\nofficial who has ever been hostile to ourselves. Out of a private\nenmity the woman seeks the lives of two who are under our most solemn\nprotection, and now uses her husband\u2019s wealth and influence to that\nend. It is on him that the blow must fall, for men kill only men, and\nshe, having no son, will then be discredited and impotent.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd concerning this official?\u201d asked Weng.\n\n\u201cIt has not been thought prudent to speak of him by name,\u201d replied the\nchief. \u201cStricken with a painful but not dangerous malady he has\nretired for a time to the healthier seclusion of his wife\u2019s house, and\nthere he may be found. The woman you will know with certainty by a\ncrescent scar--above the right eye.\u201d\n\n\u201cBeneath the eye,\u201d corrected Weng instantly.\n\n\u201cAssuredly, beneath: I misread the sign,\u201d said the head, appearing to\nconsult the scroll. \u201cYet, out of a keen regard for your virtues,\nThang, let me point a warning that it is antagonistic to our strict\nrule to remember these ancient scars too well. Further, in accordance\nwith that same esteem, do not stoop too closely nor too long to\nidentify the mark. By our pure and exacting standard no high\nattainment in the past can justify defection. The pains and penalties\nof failure you well know.\u201d\n\n\u201cI bow, chieftain,\u201d replied Weng acquiescently.\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d said the chief. \u201cYour strategy will be easy. To cure\nthis lord\u2019s disorder a celebrated physician is even now travelling\nfrom the Capital towards Kien-fi. A day\u2019s journey from that place he\nwill encounter obstacles and fall into the hands of those who will\ntake away his robes and papers. About the same place you will meet one\nwith a bowl on the roadside who will hail you, saying, \u2018Charity, out\nof your superfluity, noble mandarin coming from the north!\u2019 To him you\nwill reply, \u2018Do mandarins garb thus and thus and go afoot? It is I who\nneed a change of raiment and a chair; aye, by the token of the\nLocust\u2019s Head!\u2019 He will then lead you to a place where you will find\nall ready and a suitable chair with trusty bearers. The rest lies\nbeneath your grinding heel. Prosperity!\u201d\n\nWeng prostrated himself and withdrew. The meeting by the wayside\nbefell as he had received assurance--they who serve the Triad do not\nstumble--and at the appointed time he stood before Tiao\u2019s door and\ncalled for admission. He looked to the right and the left as one who\nexamines a new prospect, and among the azalea flowers the burnished\nroof of the summer-house glittered in the sun.\n\n\u201cLucky omens attend your coming, benevolence,\u201d said the chief\nattendant obsequiously; \u201cfor since he sent for you an unpropitious\nplanet has cast its influence upon our master, so that his power\nlanguishes.\u201d\n\n\u201cIts malignity must be controlled,\u201d said Weng, in a feigned voice, for\nhe recognized the one before him. \u201cDoes any watch?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot now,\u201d replied the attendant; \u201cfor he has slept since these two\nhours. Would your graciousness have speech with the one of the inner\nchamber?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn season perchance. First lead me to your lord\u2019s side and then see\nthat we are undisturbed until I reappear. It may be expedient to\ninvoke a powerful charm without delay.\u201d\n\nIn another minute Weng stood alone in the sick man\u2019s room, between\nthem no more barrier than the silk-hung curtains of the couch. He slid\ndown his right hand and drew a keen-edged knife; about his left he\nlooped the even more fatal cord; then advancing with a noiseless step\nhe pulled back the drapery and looked down. It was the moment for\nswift and silent action; nothing but hesitation and delay could\nimperil him, yet in that supreme moment he stepped back, released the\ncurtain from his faltering grasp and, suffering the weapons to fall\nunheeded to the floor, covered his face with his hands, for lying\nbefore him he had seen the outstretched form, the hard contemptuous\nfeatures, of his father.\n\nYet most solemnly alienated from him in every degree. By Wu Chi\u2019s own\nacts every tie of kinship had been effaced between them: the bowl had\nbeen broken, the taper blown out, empty air had filled his place. Wu\nChi acknowledged no memory of a son; he could claim no reverence as a\nfather. . . . Tiao\u2019s husband. . . . Then he was doubly\nchildless. . . . The woman and her seed had withered, as he had\nprophesied.\n\nOn the one hand stood the Society, powerful enough to protect him in\nevery extremity, yet holding failure as treason; most terrible and\ninexorable towards set disobedience. His body might find a painless\nescape from their earthly torments, but by his oaths his spirit lay in\ntheir keeping to be punished through all eternity.\n\nThat he was no longer Wu Chi\u2019s son, that he had no father--this\nconviction had been strong enough to rule him in every contingency of\nlife save this. By every law of men and deities the ties between them\nhad been dissolved, and they stood as a man and man; yet the salt can\nnever be quite washed out of sea-water.\n\nFor a time which ceased to be hours or minutes, but seemed as a\nfragment broken off eternity, he stood, motionless but most deeply\nracked. With an effort he stooped to take the cord, and paused again;\ntwice he would have seized the dagger, but doubt again possessed him.\nFrom a distant point of the house came the chant of a monk singing a\nprayer and beating upon a wooden drum. The rays of the sun falling\nupon the gilded roof in the garden again caught his eyes; nothing else\nstirred.\n\n\u201cThese in their turn have settled great issues lightly,\u201d thought Weng\nbitterly. \u201cMust I wait upon an omen?\u201d\n\n\u201c. . . submitting oneself to purifying scars,\u201d droned the voice far\noff; \u201cpropitiating if need be by even greater self-inflictions . . .\u201d\n\n\u201cIt suffices,\u201d said Weng dispassionately, and picking up the knife he\nturned to leave the room.\n\nAt the door he paused again, but not in an arising doubt. \u201cI will\nleave a token for Tiao to wear as a jest,\u201d was the image that had\nsprung from his new abasement, and taking a sheet of parchment he\nquickly wrote thereon: \u201cA wave has beat from that distant shore to\nthis, and now sinks in the unknown depths.\u201d\n\nAgain he stepped noiselessly to the couch, drew the curtain and\ndropped the paper lightly on the form. As he did so his breath\nstopped; his fingers stiffened. Cautiously, on one knee, he listened\nintently, lightly touched the face; then recklessly taking a hand he\nraised the arm and suffered it to fall again. No power restrained it;\nno alertness of awakening life came into the dull face. Wu Chi had\nalready Passed Beyond.\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VII\n\n            Not Concerned with any Particular Attribute of\n                        Those who are Involved\n\nUnendurable was the intermingling of hopes and fears with which Kai\nLung sought the shutter on the next occasion after the avowal of\nHwa-mei\u2019s devoted strategy. While repeatedly assuring himself that it\nwould have been better to submit to piecemeal slicing without a\nprotesting word rather than that she should incur so formidable a\nrisk, he was compelled as often to admit that when once her mind had\nformed its image no effort on his part would have held her back.\nDoubtless Hwa-mei readily grasped the emotion that would possess the\none whose welfare was now her chief concern, for without waiting to\ngum her hair or to gild her lips she hastened to the spot beneath the\nwall at the earliest moment that Kai Lung could be there.\n\n\u201cSeven marble tombstones are lifted from off my chest!\u201d exclaimed the\nstory-teller when he could greet her. \u201cHow did your subterfuge\nproceed, and with what satisfaction was the history of Weng Cho\nreceived?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat,\u201d replied Hwa-mei modestly, \u201cwill provide the matter for an\nautumn tale, when seated around a pine-cone fire. In the meanwhile\nthis protracted ordeal takes an ambiguous bend.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo what further end does the malignity of the ill-made Ming-shu now\nshape itself? Should it entail a second peril to your head--\u201d\n\n\u201cThe one whom you so justly name fades for a moment out of our\nconcern. Burdened with a secret mission he journeys to Hing-poo, nor\ndoes the Mandarin Shan Tien hold another court until the day of his\nreturn.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat gives a breathing space of time to our ambitions?\u201d\n\n\u201cSo much is assured. Yet even in that a subtle danger lurks. Certain\ncontingencies have become involved in the recital of your admittedly\ningenious stories which the future unfolding of events may not always\njustify. For instance, the very speculative Shan Tien, casting his\nusual moderate limit to the skies, has accepted the Luminous Insect as\na beckoning omen, and immersed himself deeply in the chances of every\ncandidate bearing the name of Lao, Ting, Li, Tzu, Sung, Chu, Wang or\nChin. Should all these fail incapably at the trials a very undignified\nperiod in the Mandarin\u2019s general manner of expressing himself may\nintervene.\u201d\n\n\u201cHad the time at the disposal of this person been sufficiently\nenlarged he would not have omitted the various maxims arising from the\ntale,\u201d admitted Kai Lung, with a shadow of remorse. \u201cThat suited to\nthe need of a credulous and ill-balanced mind would doubtless be the\nproverb: \u2018He who believes in gambling will live to sell his sandals.\u2019\nIt is regrettable if the well-intending Mandarin took the wrong one.\nFortunately another moon will fade before the results are known--\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the meantime,\u201d continued the maiden, indicating by a glance that\nwhat she had to relate was more essential to the requirements of the\nmoment than anything he was saying: \u201cShan Tien is by no means\nindisposed towards your cause. Your unassuming attitude and deep\nresearch have enlarged your wisdom in his eyes. To-morrow he will send\nfor you to lean upon your well-stored mind.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs the emergency one for which any special preparation is required?\u201d\n questioned Kai Lung.\n\n\u201cThat is the message of my warning. Of late a company of grateful\nfriends has given the Mandarin an inlaid coffin to mark the sense of\ntheir indebtedness, the critical nature of the times rendering the\ngift peculiarly appropriate. Thus provided, Shan Tien has cast his\neyes around to secure a burial robe worthy of the casket. The\nmerchants proffer many, each endowed with all the qualities, but\nmeanwhile doubts arise, and now Shan Tien would turn to you to learn\nwhat is the true and ancient essential of the garment, and wherein its\nvirtue should reside.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe call will not find me inept,\u201d replied Kai Lung. \u201cThe story of\nWang Ho--\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is enough,\u201d exclaimed the maiden warningly. \u201cThe time for\nwandering together in the garden of the imagination has not yet\narrived. Ming-shu\u2019s feet are on a journey, it is true, but his eyes\nare doubtless left behind. Until a like hour to-morrow gladdens our\nexpectant gaze, farewell!\u201d\n\nOn the following day, at about the stroke of the usual court, Li-loe\napproached Kai Lung with a grievous look.\n\n\u201cAlas, manlet,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201chere is one direct from the presence of\nour high commander, requiring you against his thumb-signed bond. Go\nyou must, and that alone, whether it be for elevation on a tree or on\na couch. Out of an insatiable friendship this one would accompany you,\nwere it possible, equally to hold your hand if you are to die or hold\nyour cup if you are to feast. Yet touching that same cask of hidden\nwine there is still time--\u201d\n\n\u201cCease, mooncalf,\u201d replied Kai Lung reprovingly. \u201cThis is but an eddy\non the surface of a moving stream. It comes, it goes; and the waters\npress on as before.\u201d\n\nThen Kai Lung, neither bound nor wearing the wooden block, was led\ninto the presence of Shan Tien, and allowed to seat himself upon the\nfloor as though he plied his daily trade.\n\n\u201cSooner or later it will certainly devolve upon this person to condemn\nyou to a violent end,\u201d remarked the far-seeing Mandarin reassuringly.\n\u201cIn the ensuing interval, however, there is no need for either of us\nto dwell upon what must be regarded as an unpleasant necessity.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet no crime has been committed, beneficence,\u201d Kai Lung ventured to\nprotest; \u201cnor in his attitude before your virtuous self has this one\nbeen guilty of any act of disrespect.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have shown your mind to be both wide and deep, and suitably\nlined,\u201d declared Shan Tien, dexterously avoiding the weightier part of\nthe story-teller\u2019s plea. \u201cA question now arises as to the efficacy of\nembroidered coffin cloths, and wherein their potent merit lies. Out of\nyour well-stored memory declare your knowledge of this sort, conveying\nthe solid information in your usual palatable way.\u201d\n\n\u201cI bow, High Excellence,\u201d replied Kai Lung. \u201cThis concerns the story\nof Wang Ho.\u201d\n\n\n               The Story of Wang Ho and the Burial Robe\n\nThere was a time when it did not occur to anyone in this pure and\nenlightened Empire to question the settled and existing order of\naffairs. It would have been well for the merchant Wang Ho had he lived\nin that happy era. But, indeed, it is now no unheard-of thing for an\nordinary person to suggest that customs which have been established\nfor centuries might with advantage be changed--a form of impiety which\nis in no degree removed from declaring oneself to be wiser or more\nprofound than one\u2019s ancestors! Scarcely more seemly is this than\nirregularity in maintaining the Tablets or observing the Rites; and\nhow narrow is the space dividing these delinquencies from the actual\ncrimes of overturning images, counselling rebellion, joining in\ninsurrection and resorting to indiscriminate piracy and bloodshed.\n\nCertainly the merchant Wang Ho would be a thousand taels wealthier\nto-day if he had fully considered this in advance. Nor would Cheng\nLin--but who attempts to eat an orange without first disposing of the\npeel, or what manner of a dwelling could be erected unless an adequate\nfoundation be first provided?\n\nWang Ho, then, let it be stated, was one who had early in life amassed\na considerable fortune by advising those whose intention it was to\nhazard their earnings in the State Lotteries as to the numbers that\nmight be relied upon to be successful, or, if not actually successful,\nthose at least that were not already predestined by malign influences\nto be absolutely incapable of success. These chances Wang Ho at first\nforecast by means of dreams, portents and other manifestations of an\nadmittedly supernatural tendency, but as his name grew large and the\nnumber of his clients increased vastly, while his capacity for\ndreaming remained the same, he found it no less effective to close his\neyes and to become inspired rapidly of numbers as they were thus\nrevealed to him.\n\nOccasionally Wang Ho was the recipient of an appropriate bag of money\nfrom one who had profited by his advice, but it was not his custom to\nrely upon this contingency as a source of income, nor did he in any\neventuality return the amount which had been agreed upon (and\ninvariably deposited with him in advance) as the reward of his\ninspired efforts. To those who sought him in a contentious spirit,\ninquiring why he did not find it more profitable to secure the prizes\nfor himself, Wang Ho replied that his enterprise consisted in\nforecasting the winning numbers for State Lotteries and not in solving\nenigmas, writing deprecatory odes, composing epitaphs or conducting\nany of the other numerous occupations that could be mentioned. As this\nplausible evasion was accompanied by the courteous display of the many\nweapons which he always wore at different convenient points of his\nattire, the incident invariably ended in a manner satisfactory to Wang\nHo.\n\nThus positioned Wang Ho prospered, and had in the course of years\nacquired a waist of honourable proportions, when the unrolling course\nof events influenced him to abandon his lucrative enterprise. It was\nnot that he failed in any way to become as inspired as before; indeed,\nwith increasing practice he attained a fluency that enabled him to\noutdistance every rival, so that on the occasion of one lottery he\nafterwards privately discovered that he had predicted the success of\nevery possible combination of numbers, thus enabling those who followed\nhis advice (as he did not fail to announce in inscriptions of\nvermilion assurance) to secure--among them--every variety of prize\noffered.\n\nBut, about this time, the chief wife of Wang Ho having been greeted\nwith amiable condescension by the chief wife of a high official of the\nProvince, and therefrom in an almost equal manner by the wives of even\nhigher officials, the one in question began to abandon herself to a\nmore rapidly outlined manner of existence than formerly, and to\ninvolve Wang Ho in a like attitude, so that presently this\nill-considering merchant, who but a short time before would have\nunhesitatingly cast himself bodily to earth on the approach of a city\nmagistrate, now acquired the habit of alluding to mandarins in casual\nconversation by names of affectionate abbreviation. Also, being\nadvised of the expediency by a voice speaking in an undertone, he\nsought still further to extend beyond himself by suffering his nails\nto grow long and obliterating his name from the public announcements\nupon the city walls.\n\nIn spite of this ambitious sacrifice Wang Ho could not entirely shed\nfrom his habit a propensity to associate with those requiring advice\non matters involving financial transactions. He could no longer\nconduct enterprises which entailed many clients and the lavish display\nof his name, but in the society of necessitous persons who were\nrelated to others of distinction he allowed it to be inferred that he\nwas benevolently disposed and had a greater sufficiency of taels than\nhe could otherwise make use of. He also involved himself, for the\nbenefit of those whom he esteemed, in transactions connected with\npieces of priceless jade, jars of wine of an especially fragrant\ncharacter, and pictures of reputable antiquity. In the written manner\nof these transactions (for it is useless to conceal the fact that Wang\nHo was incapable of tracing the characters of his own name) he\nemployed a youth whom he never suffered to appear from beyond the\nbackground. Cheng Lin is thus brought naturally and unobtrusively into\nthe narrative.\n\nHad Cheng Lin come into the world when a favourably disposed band of\ndemons was in the ascendant he would certainly have merited an earlier\nand more embellished appearance in this written chronicle. So far,\nhowever, nothing but omens of an ill-destined obscurity had beset his\ncareer. For many years two ambitions alone had contained his mind,\nboth inextricably merged into one current and neither with any\nappearance of ever flowing into its desired end. The first was to pass\nthe examination of the fourth degree of proficiency in the great\nliterary competitions, and thereby qualify for a small official post\nwhere, in the course of a few years, he might reasonably hope to be\nforgotten in all beyond the detail of being allotted every third moon\nan unostentatious adequacy of taels. This distinction Cheng Lin felt\nto be well within his power of attainment could he but set aside three\nuninterrupted years for study, but to do this would necessitate the\npossession of something like a thousand taels of silver, and Lin might\nas well fix his eyes upon the great sky-lantern itself.\n\nDependent on this, but in no great degree removed from it, was the\nhope of being able to entwine into that future the actuality of Hsi\nMean, a very desirable maiden whom it was Cheng Lin\u2019s practice to meet\nby chance on the river bank when his heavily-weighted duties for the\nday were over.\n\nTo those who will naturally ask why Cheng Lin, if really sincere in\nhis determination, could not imperceptibly acquire even so large a sum\nas a thousand taels while in the house of the wealthy Wang Ho,\nimmersed as the latter person was with the pursuit of the full face of\nhigh mandarins and further embarrassed by a profuse illiteracy, it\nshould be sufficient to apply the warning: \u201cBeware of helping yourself\nto corn from the manger of the blind mule.\u201d\n\nIn spite of his preoccupation Wang Ho never suffered his mind to\nwander when sums of money were concerned, and his inability to express\nhimself by written signs only engendered in his alert brain an\never-present decision not to be entrapped by their use. Frequently,\nCheng Lin found small sums of money lying in such a position as to\ninduce the belief that they had been forgotten, but upon examining\nthem closely he invariably found upon them marks by which they could\nbe recognized if the necessity arose; he therefore had no hesitation\nin returning them to Wang Ho with a seemly reference to the extreme\nimprobability of the merchant actually leaving money thus unguarded,\nand to the lack of respect which it showed to Cheng Lin himself to\nexpect that a person of his integrity should be tempted by so\ninsignificant an amount. Wang Ho always admitted the justice of the\nreproach, but he did not on any future occasion materially increase\nthe sum in question, so that it is to be doubted if his heart was\nsincere.\n\nIt was on the evening of such an incident that Lin walked with Mean by\nthe side of the lotus-burdened Hoang-keng expressing himself to the\neffect that instead of lilies her hair was worthy to be bound up with\npearls of a like size, and that beneath her feet there should be\nspread a carpet not of verdure, but of the finest Chang-hi silk,\nembroidered with five-clawed dragons and other emblems of royal\nauthority, nor was Mean in any way displeased by this indication of\nextravagant taste on her lover\u2019s part, though she replied:\n\n\u201cThe only jewels that this person desires are the enduring glances of\npure affection with which you, O my phoenix one, entwined the lilies\nabout her hair, and the only carpet that she would crave would be the\nembroidered design created by the four feet of the two persons who are\nnow conversing together for ever henceforth walking in uninterrupted\nharmony.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet, alas!\u201d exclaimed Lin, \u201cthat enchanting possibility seems to be\nmore remotely positioned than ever. Again has the clay-souled Wang Ho,\non the pretext that he can no longer make his in and out taels meet,\nsought to diminish the monthly inadequacy of cash with which he\nrewards this person\u2019s conscientious services.\u201d\n\n\u201cUndoubtedly that opaque-eyed merchant will shortly meet a revengeful\nfire-breathing vampire when walking alone on the edge of a narrow\nprecipice,\u201d exclaimed Mean sympathetically. \u201cYet have you pressingly\nlaid the facts before the spirits of your distinguished ancestors with\na request for their direct intervention?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe expedient has not been neglected,\u201d replied Lin, \u201cand appropriate\nsacrifices have accompanied the request. But even while in the form of\nan ordinary existence the venerable ones in question were becoming\ndistant in their powers of hearing, and doubtless with increasing\nyears the ineptitude has grown. It would almost seem that in the case\nof a person so obtuse as Wang Ho is, more direct means would have to\nbe employed.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well said,\u201d assented Mean, \u201cthat those who are unmoved by the\nthreat of a vat of flaming sulphur in the Beyond, rend the air if they\nchance to step on a burning cinder here on earth.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe suggestion is a timely one,\u201d replied Lin. \u201cWang Ho\u2019s weak spot\nlies between his hat and his sandals. Only of late, feeling the\nnatural infirmities of time pressing about him, he has expended a\nthousand taels in the purchase of an elaborate burial robe, which he\nwears on every fit occasion, so that the necessity for its ultimate\nuse may continue to be remote.\u201d\n\n\u201cA thousand taels!\u201d repeated Mean. \u201cWith that sum you could--\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly. The coincidence may embody something in the nature of an\nomen favourable to ourselves. At the moment, however, this person has\nnot any clear-cut perception of how the benefit may be attained.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe amount referred to has already passed into the hands of the\nmerchant in burial robes?\u201d\n\n\u201cIrrevocably. In the detail of the transference of actual sums of\nmoney Wang Ho walks hand in hand with himself from door to door. The\npieces of silver are by this time beneath the floor of Shen Heng\u2019s\ninner chamber.\u201d\n\n\u201cShen Heng?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe merchant in silk and costly fabrics, who lives beneath the sign\nof the Golden Abacus. It was from him--\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly. It is for him that this person\u2019s sister Min works the finest\nembroideries. Doubtless this very robe--\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is of blue silk edged with sand pearls in a line of three depths.\nFelicitations on long life and a list of the most venerable persons of\nall times serve to remind the controlling deities to what length human\nendurance can proceed if suitably encouraged. These are designed in\nletters of threaded gold. Inferior spirits are equally invoked in\ncharacters of silver.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe description is sharp-pointed. It is upon this robe that the one\nreferred to has been ceaselessly engaged for several moons. On account\nof her narrow span of years, no less than her nimble-jointed\ndexterity, she is justly esteemed among those whose wares are\nguaranteed to be permeated with the spirit of rejuvenation.\u201d\n\n\u201cThereby enabling the enterprising Shen Heng to impose a special\ndetail into his account: \u2018For employing the services of one who will\nembroider into the fabric of the robe the vital principles of youth\nand long-life-to-come--an added fifty taels.\u2019 Did she of your house\nbenefit to a proportionate extent?\u201d\n\nMean indicated a contrary state of things by a graceful movement of\nher well-arranged eyebrows.\n\n\u201cNot only that,\u201d she added, \u201cbut the sordid-minded Shen Heng, on a\nvariety of pretexts, has diminished the sum Min was to receive at the\ncompletion of the work, until that which should have required a full\nhand to grasp could be efficiently covered by two attenuated fingers.\nFrom this cause Min is vindictively inclined towards him and,\nsteadfastly refusing to bend her feet in the direction of his\nworkshop, she has, between one melancholy and another, involved\nherself in a dark distemper.\u201d\n\nAs Mean unfolded the position lying between her sister Min and the\nmerchant Shen Heng, Lin grew thoughtful, and, although it was not his\nnature to express the changing degrees of emotion by varying the\nappearance of his face, he did not conceal from Mean that her words\nhad fastened themselves upon his imagination.\n\n\u201cLet us rest here a while,\u201d he suggested presently. \u201cThat which you\nsay, added to what I already know, may, under the guidance of a\nsincere mind, put a much more rainbow-like outlook on our combined\nfuture than hitherto appeared probable.\u201d\n\nSo they composed themselves about the bank of the river, while Lin\nquestioned her more closely as to those things of which she had\nspoken. Finally, he laid certain injunctions upon her for her\nimmediate guidance. Then, it being now the hour of middle light, they\nreturned, Mean accompanying her voice to the melody of stringed wood,\nas she related songs of those who have passed through great endurances\nto a state of assured contentment. To Lin it seemed as though the city\nleapt forward to meet them, so narrow was the space of time involved\nin reaching it.\n\nA few days later Wang Ho was engaged in the congenial occupation of\nmarking a few pieces of brass cash before secreting them where Cheng\nLin must inevitably displace them, when the person in question quietly\nstood before him. Thereupon Wang Ho returned the money to his inner\nsleeve, ineptly remarking that when the sun rose it was futile to\nraise a lantern to the sky to guide the stars.\n\n\u201cRather is it said, \u2018From three things cross the road to avoid: a\nfalling tree, your chief and second wives whispering in agreement, and\na goat wearing a leopard\u2019s tail,\u2019\u201d replied Lin, thus rebuking Wang Ho,\nnot only for his crafty intention, but also as to the obtuseness of\nthe proverb he had quoted. \u201cNevertheless, O Wang Ho, I approach you on\na matter of weighty consequence.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo-morrow approaches,\u201d replied the merchant evasively. \u201cIf it\nconcerns the detail of the reduction of your monthly adequacy, my word\nhas become unbending iron.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is written: \u2018Cho Sing collected feathers to make a garment for his\ncanary when it began to moult,\u2019\u201d replied Lin acquiescently. \u201cThe care\nof so insignificant a person as myself may safely be left to the\nProtecting Forces, esteemed. This matter touches your own condition.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn that case you cannot be too specific.\u201d Wang Ho lowered himself\ninto a reclining couch, thereby indicating that the subject was not\none for hasty dismissal, at the same time motioning to Lin that he\nshould sit upon the floor. \u201cDoubtless you have some remunerative form\nof enterprise to suggest to me?\u201d\n\n\u201cCan a palsied finger grasp a proffered coin? The matter strikes more\ndeeply at your very existence, honoured chief.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed Wang Ho, unable to retain the usual colour of his\nappearance, \u201cthe attention of a devoted servant is somewhat like\nTohen-hi Yang\u2019s spiked throne--it torments those whom it supports.\nHowever, the word has been spoken--let the sentence be filled in.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe full roundness of your illustrious outline is as a display of\ncoloured lights to gladden my commonplace vision,\u201d replied Lin\nsubmissively. \u201cAdmittedly of late, however, an element of dampness has\ninterfered with the brilliance of the display.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak clearly and regardless of polite evasion,\u201d commanded Wang Ho.\n\u201cMy internal organs have for some time suspected that hostile\ninfluences were at work. For how long have you noticed this, as it may\nbe expressed, falling off?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy mind is as refined crystal before your compelling glance,\u201d\n admitted Lin. \u201cEver since it has been your custom to wear the funeral\nrobe fashioned by Shen Heng has your noble shadow suffered erosion.\u201d\n\nThis answer, converging as it did upon the doubts that had already\nassailed the merchant\u2019s satisfaction, convinced him of Cheng Lin\u2019s\ndiscrimination, while it increased his own suspicion. He had for some\nlittle time found that after wearing the robe he invariably suffered\npangs that could only be attributed to the influence of malign and\nobscure Beings. It is true that the occasions of his wearing the robe\nwere elaborate and many-coursed feasts, when he and his guests had\npartaken lavishly of birds\u2019 nests, sharks\u2019 fins, sea snails and other\nviands of a rich and glutinous nature. But if he could not both wear\nthe funeral robe and partake unstintingly of well-spiced food, the\nharmonious relation of things was imperilled; and, as it was since the\nintroduction of the funeral robe into his habit that matters had\nassumed a more poignant phase, it was clear that the influence of the\nfuneral robe was at the root of the trouble.\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d protested Wang Ho, \u201cthe Mandarin Ling-ni boasts that he has\nalready lengthened the span of his natural life several years by such\nan expedient, and my friend the high official T\u2019cheng asserts that,\nwhile wearing a much less expensive robe than mine, he feels the\nessence of an increased vitality passing continuously into his being.\nWhy, then, am I marked out for this infliction, Cheng Lin?\u201d\n\n\u201cRevered,\u201d replied Lin, with engaging candour, \u201cthe inconveniences of\nliving in a country so densely populated with demons, vampires,\nspirits, ghouls, dragons, omens, forces and influences, both good and\nbad, as our own unapproachably favoured Empire is, cannot be evaded\nfrom one end of life to the other. How much greater is the difficulty\nwhen the prescribed forms for baffling the ill-disposed among the\nunseen appear to have been wrongly angled by those framing the Rites!\u201d\n\nWang Ho made a gesture of despair. It conveyed to Lin\u2019s mind the wise\nreminder of N\u2019sy-hing: \u201cWhen one is inquiring for a way to escape from\nan advancing tiger, flowers of speech assume the form of noisome\nbird-weed.\u201d He therefore continued:\n\n\u201cHitherto it has been assumed that for a funeral robe to exercise its\nmost beneficial force it should be the work of a maiden of immature\nyears, the assumption being that, having a prolonged period of\nexistence before her, the influence of longevity would pass through\nher fingers into the garment and in turn fortify the wearer.\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly,\u201d agreed Wang Ho anxiously. \u201cThus was the analogy outlined\nto me by one skilled in the devices, and the logic of it seems\nunassailable.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d objected Lin, with sympathetic concern in his voice, \u201chow\nunfortunate must be the position of a person involved in a robe that\nhas been embroidered by one who, instead of a long life, has been\nmarked out by the Destinies for premature decay and an untimely death!\nFor in that case the influence--\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch instances,\u201d interrupted Wang Ho, helping himself profusely to\nrice-spirit from a jar near at hand, \u201cmust providentially be of rare\noccurrence?\u201d\n\n\u201cEsteemed head,\u201d replied Lin, helping Wang Ho to yet another\nsuperfluity of rice-spirit, \u201cthere are moments when it behoves each of\nus to maintain an unflaccid outline. Suspecting the true cause of your\ndeclining radiance, I have, at an involved expenditure of seven taels\nand three hand counts of brash cash, pursued this matter to its\nultimate source. The robe in question owes its attainment to one Min,\nof the obscure house of Hsi, who recently ceased to have an existence\nwhile her years yet numbered short of a score. Not only was it the last\nwork upon which she was engaged, but so closely were the two\nidentified that her abrupt Passing Beyond must certainly exercise a\ncorresponding effect upon any subsequent wearer.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed Wang Ho, feeling many of the symptoms of contagion\nalready manifesting themselves about his body. \u201cWas the infliction of\na painless nature?\u201d\n\n\u201cAs to whether it was leprosy, the spotted plague, or acute demoniacal\npossession, the degraded Shen Heng maintains an unworthy silence.\nIndeed, at the mention of Hsi Min\u2019s name he wraps his garment about\nhis head and rolls upon the floor--from which the worst may be\ninferred. They of Min\u2019s house, however, are less capable of guile, and\nfor an adequate consideration, while not denying that Shen Heng has\npaid them to maintain a stealthy silence, they freely admit that the\nfacts are as they have been stated.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn that case, Shen Heng shall certainly return the thousand taels in\nexchange for this discreditable burial robe,\u201d exclaimed Wang Ho\nvindictively.\n\n\u201cVenerated personality,\u201d said Lin, with unabated loyalty, \u201cthe\nessential part of the development is to safeguard your own\nincomparable being against every danger. Shen Heng may be safely left\nto the avenging demons that are ever lying in wait for the\ncontemptible.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe first part of your remark is inspired,\u201d agreed Wang Ho, his\nincapable mind already beginning to assume a less funereal forecast.\n\u201cProceed, regardless of all obstacles.\u201d\n\n\u201cConsider the outcome of publicly compelling Shen Heng to undo the\ntransaction, even if it could be legally achieved! Word of the\ncalamity would pass on heated breath, each succeeding one becoming\nmore heavily embroidered than the robe itself. The yamens and palaces\nof your distinguished friends would echo with the once honoured name\nof Wang Ho, now associated with every form of malignant distemper and\nimpending fate. All would hasten to withdraw themselves from the\ncontagion of your overhanging end.\u201d\n\n\u201cAm I, then,\u201d demanded Wang Ho, \u201cto suffer the loss of a thousand\ntaels and retain an inadequate and detestable burial robe that will\ncontinue to exercise its malign influence over my being?\u201d\n\n\u201cBy no means,\u201d replied Lin confidently. \u201cBut be warned by the precept:\n\u2018Do not burn down your house in order to inconvenience even your chief\nwife\u2019s mother.\u2019 Sooner or later a relation of Shen Heng\u2019s will turn\nhis steps towards your inner office. You can then, without undue\neffort, impose on him the thousand taels that you have suffered loss\nfrom those of his house. In the meantime a device must be sought for\nexchanging your dangerous but imposing-looking robe for one of proved\nefficiency.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt begins to assume a definite problem in this person\u2019s mind as to\nwhether such a burial robe exists,\u201d declared Wang Ho stubbornly.\n\n\u201cYet it cannot be denied, when a reliable system is adopted in the\nfabrication,\u201d protested Lin. \u201cFor a score and five years the one to\nwhom this person owes his being has worn such a robe.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo what age did your venerated father attain?\u201d inquired the merchant,\nwith courteous interest.\n\n\u201cFourscore years and three parts of yet another score.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd the robe in question eventually accompanied him when he Passed\nBeyond?\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless it will. He is still wearing it,\u201d replied Lin, as one who\nspeaks of casual occurrences.\n\n\u201cIs he, then, at so advanced an age, in the state of an ordinary\nexistence?\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly. Fortified by the virtue emanating from the garment\nreferred to, it is his deliberate intention to continue here for yet\nanother score of years at least.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut if such robes are of so dubious a nature how can reliance be\nplaced on any one?\u201d\n\n\u201cEsteemed,\u201d replied Lin, \u201cit is a matter that has long been suspected\namong the observant. Unfortunately, the Ruby Buttons of the past\nmistakenly formulated that the essence of continuous existence was\nimparted to a burial robe through the hands of a young maiden--hence\nso many deplorable experiences. The proper person to be so employed is\nundoubtedly one of ripe attainment, for only thereby can the claim to\npossess the vital principle be assured.\u201d\n\n\u201cWas the robe which has so effectively sustained your meritorious\nfather thus constructed?\u201d inquired Wang Ho, inviting Lin to recline\nhimself upon a couch by a gesture as of one who discovers for the\nfirst time that an honoured guest has been overlooked.\n\n\u201cIt is of ancient make, and thereby in the undiscriminating eye\nperhaps somewhat threadbare; but to the desert-traveller all wells are\nsparkling,\u201d replied Lin. \u201cA venerable woman, inspired of certain magic\nwisdom, which she wove into the texture, to the exclusion of the\nshowier qualities, designed it at the age of threescore years and\nthree short of another score. She was engaged upon its fabrication yet\nanother seven, and finally Passed Upwards at an attainment of three\nhundred and thirty-three years, three moons, and three days, thus\nconforming to all the principles of allowed witchcraft.\u201d\n\n\u201cCheng Lin,\u201d said Wang Ho amiably, pouring out for the one whom he\naddressed a full measure of rice-spirit, \u201cthe duty that an obedient\nson owes even to a grasping and self-indulgent father has in the past\nbeen pressed to a too-conspicuous front, at the expense of the\nharmonious relation that should exist between a comfortably-positioned\nservant and a generous and broad-minded master. Now in the matter of\nthese two coffin cloths--\u201d\n\n\u201cMy ears are widely opened towards your auspicious words,\nbenevolence,\u201d replied Lin.\n\n\u201cYou, Cheng Lin, are still too young to be concerned with the question\nof Passing Beyond; your imperishable father is, one is compelled to\nsay, already old enough to go. As regards both persons, therefore, the\nassumed virtue of one burial robe above another should be merely a\nmatter of speculative interest. Now if some arrangement should be\nsuggested, not unprofitable to yourself, by which one robe might be\nimperceptibly substituted for another--and, after all, one burial robe\nis very like another--\u201d\n\n\u201cThe prospect of deceiving a trustful and venerated sire is so ignoble\nthat scarcely any material gain would be a fitting compensation--were\nit not for the fact that an impending loss of vision renders the\ndeception somewhat easy to accomplish. Proceed, therefore,\nmunificence, towards a precise statement of your open-handed\nprodigality.\u201d\n                                   *\n\nIndescribable was the bitterness of Shen Heng\u2019s throat when Cheng Lin\nunfolded his burden and revealed the Wang Ho thousand-tael burial\nrobe, with an unassuming request for the return of the purchase money,\neither in gold or honourable paper, as the article was found\nunsuitable. Shen Heng shook the rafters of the Golden Abacus with\nindignation, and called upon his domestic demons, the spirits of\neleven generations of embroidering ancestors, and the illuminated\ntablets containing the High Code and Authority of the Distinguished\nBrotherhood of Coffin Cloth and Burial Robe Makers in protest against\nso barbarous an innovation.\n\nBowing repeatedly and modestly expressing himself to the effect that\nit was incredible that he was not justly struck dead before the\nsublime spectacle of Shen Heng\u2019s virtuous indignation, Cheng Lin\ncarefully produced the written lines of the agreement, gently\ndirecting the Distinguished Brother\u2019s fire-kindling eyes to an\nindicated detail. It was a provision that the robe should be returned\nand the purchase money restored if the garment was not all that was\ntherein stipulated: with his invariable painstaking loyalty Lin had\ninsisted upon this safeguard when he drew up the form, although,\nprobably from a disinclination to extol his own services, he had\nomitted mentioning the fact to Wang Ho in their recent conversation.\n\nWith deprecating firmness Lin directed Shen Heng\u2019s reluctant eyes to\nanother line--the unfortunate exaction of fifty taels in return for\nthe guarantee that the robe should be permeated with the spirit of\nrejuvenation. As the undoubted embroiderer of the robe--one Min of the\nfamily of Hsi--had admittedly Passed Beyond almost with the last\nstitch, it was evident that she could only have conveyed by her touch\nan entirely contrary emanation. If, as Shen Heng never ceased to\ndeclare, Min was still somewhere alive, let her be produced and a\nfitting token of reconciliation would be forthcoming; otherwise,\nalthough with the acutest reluctance, it would be necessary to carry\nthe claim to the court of the chief District Mandarin, and (Cheng Lin\ntrembled at the sacrilegious thought) it would be impossible to\nconceal the fact that Shen Heng employed persons of inauspicious omen,\nand the high repute of coffin cloths from the Golden Abacus would be\nlost. The hint arrested Shen Heng\u2019s fingers in the act of tearing out\na handful of his beautiful pigtail. For the first time he noticed,\nwith intense self-reproach, that Lin was not reclining on a couch.\n\nThe amiable discussion that followed, conducted with discriminating\ndignity by Shen Heng and conscientious humility on the part of Cheng\nLin, extended from one gong-stroke before noon until close upon the\ntime for the evening rice. The details arrived at were that Shen Heng\nshould deliver to Lin eight-hundred and seventy-five taels against the\nreturn of the robe. He would also press upon that person a silk purse\nwith an onyx clasp, containing twenty-five taels, as a deliberate mark\nof his individual appreciation and quite apart from anything to do\nwith the transaction on hand. All suggestions of anything other than\nthe strictest high-mindedness were withdrawn from both sides. In order\nthat the day should not be wholly destitute of sunshine at the Golden\nAbacus, Lin declared his intention of purchasing, at a price not\nexceeding three taels and a half, the oldest and most unattractive\nburial robe that the stock contained. So moved was Shen Heng by this\ndelicate consideration that he refused to accept more than two taels\nand three-quarters. Moreover, he added for Lin\u2019s acceptance a small\njar of crystallized limpets.\n\nTo those short-sighted ones who profess to discover in the conduct of\nCheng Lin (now an official of the seventeenth grade and drawing his\nquarterly sufficiency of taels in a distant province) something not\nabsolutely honourably arranged, it is only necessary to display the\nultimate end as it affected those persons in any way connected.\n\nWang Ho thus obtained a burial robe in which he was able to repose\nabsolute confidence. Doubtless it would have sustained him to an\nadvanced age had he not committed self-ending, in the ordinary way of\nbusiness, a few years later.\n\nShen Heng soon disposed of the returned garment for two thousand taels\nto a person who had become prematurely wealthy owing to the distressed\nstate of the Empire. In addition he had sold, for more than two taels,\na robe which he had no real expectation of ever selling at all.\n\nMin, made welcome at the house of Mean and Lin, removed with them to\nthat distant province. There she found that the remuneration for\nburial robe embroidery was greater than she had ever obtained before.\nWith the money thus amassed she was able to marry an official of noble\nrank.\n\nThe father of Cheng Lin had passed into the Upper Air many years\nbefore the incidents with which this related narrative concerns\nitself. He is thus in no way affected. But Lin did not neglect, in the\ntime of his prosperity, to transmit to him frequent sacrifices of\nseasonable delicacies suited to his condition.\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VIII\n\n               The Timely Disputation among Those of an\n                       Inner Chamber of Yu-ping\n\nFor the space of three days Ming-shu remained absent from Yu-ping, and\nthe affections of Kai Lung and Hwa-mei prospered. On the evening of\nthe third day the maiden stood beneath the shutter with a more\ndefinite look, and Kai Lung understood that a further period of\nunworthy trial was now at hand.\n\n\u201cBehold!\u201d she explained, \u201cat dawn the corrupt Ming-shu will pass\nwithin our gates again, nor is it prudent to assume that his enmity\nhas lessened.\u201d\n\n\u201cOn the contrary,\u201d replied Kai Lung, \u201clike that unnatural reptile that\nlives on air, his malice will have grown upon the voidness of its\ncause. As the wise Ling-kwang remarks: \u2018He who plants a vineyard with\none hand--\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly, beloved,\u201d interposed Hwa-mei dexterously. \u201cBut our\nimmediate need is less to describe Ming-shu\u2019s hate in terms of\nclassical analogy than to find a potent means of baffling its venom.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are all-wise as usual,\u201d confessed Kai Lung, with due humility. \u201cI\nwill restrain my much too verbose tongue.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe invading Banners from the north have for the moment failed and\nthose who drew swords in their cause are flying to the hills. In\nYu-ping, therefore, loyalty wears a fully round face and about the\nyamen of Shan Tien men speak almost in set terms. While these\nconditions prevail, justice will continue to be administered precisely\nas before. We have thus nothing to hope in that direction.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet in the ideal state of purity aimed at by the illustrious founders\nof our race--\u201d began Kai Lung, and ceased abruptly, remembering.\n\n\u201cAs it is, we are in the state of Tsin in the fourteenth of the\nheaven-sent Ching,\u201d retorted Hwa-mei capably. \u201cThe insatiable Ming-shu\nwill continue to seek your life, calling to his aid every degraded\nsubterfuge. When the nature of these can be learned somewhat in\nadvance, as the means within my power have hitherto enabled us to do,\na trusty shield is raised in your defence.\u201d\n\nKai Lung would have spoken of the length and the breadth of his\nindebtedness, but she who stood below did not encourage this.\n\n\u201cMing-shu\u2019s absence makes this plan fruitless here to-day, and as a\nconsequence he may suddenly disclose a subtle snare to which your feet\nmust bend. In this emergency my strategy has been towards safeguarding\nyour irreplaceable life to-morrow at all hazard. Should this avail,\nMing-shu\u2019s later schemes will present no baffling veil.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour virtuous little finger is as strong as Ming-shu\u2019s offensive\nthumb,\u201d remarked Kai Lung. \u201cThis person has no fear.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless,\u201d acquiesced Hwa-mei. \u201cBut she who has spun the thread\nknows the weakness of the net. Heed well to the end that no ineptness\nmay arise. Shan Tien of late extols your art, claiming that in every\ncircumstance you have a story fitted to the need.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe measures with a golden rule,\u201d agreed Kai Lung. \u201cLeft to himself,\nShan Tien is a just, if superficial, judge.\u201d\n\nThe knowledge of this boast, Hwa-mei continued to relate, had spread\nto the inner chambers of the yamen, where the lesser ones vied with\neach other in proclaiming the merit of the captive minstrel. Amid this\neulogy Hwa-mei moved craftily and played an insidious part, until she\nwho was their appointed head was committed to the claim. Then the\nmaiden raised a contentious voice.\n\n\u201cOur lord\u2019s trout were ever salmon,\u201d she declared, \u201cand lo! here is\nanother great and weighty fish! Assuredly no living man is thus and\nthus; or are the T\u2019ang epicists returned to earth? Truly our noble one\nis easily pleased--in many ways!\u201d With these well-fitted words she\nfixed her eyes upon the countenance of Shan Tien\u2019s chief wife and\nwaited.\n\n\u201cThe sun shines through his words and the moon adorns his utterances,\u201d\n replied the chief wife, with unswerving loyalty, though she added, no\nless suitably: \u201cThat one should please him easily and another therein\nfail, despite her ceaseless efforts, is as the Destinies provide.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are all-seeing,\u201d admitted Hwa-mei generously; \u201cnor is a locked\ndoor any obstacle to your discovering eye. Let this arisement be\nsubmitted to a facile test. Dependent from my ill-formed ears are\nrings of priceless jade that have ever tinged your thoughts, while\nabout your shapely neck is a crystal charm, to which an unclouded\nbackground would doubtless give some lustre. I will set aside the\nrings and thou shalt set aside the charm. Then, at a chosen time, this\nvaunted one shall attend before us here, and I having disclosed the\nsubstance of a theme, he shall make good the claim. If he so does,\ncapably and without delay, thou shalt possess the jewels. But if, in\nthe judgment of these around, he shall fail therein, then are both\njewels mine. Is it so agreed?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is agreed!\u201d cried those who were the least concerned, seeing some\nentertainment to themselves. \u201cShall the trial take place at once?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so,\u201d replied Hwa-mei. \u201cA sufficient space must be allowed for\nthis one wherein to select the matter of the test. To-morrow let it\nbe, before the hour of evening rice. And thou?\u201d\n\n\u201cInasmuch as it will enlarge the prescience of our lord in minds that\nare light and vaporous, I also do consent,\u201d replied the chief wife.\n\u201cYet must he too be of our company, to be witness of the upholding of\nhis word and, if need be, to cast a decisive voice.\u201d\n\n\u201cThus,\u201d continued Hwa-mei, as she narrated these events, \u201cShan Tien\nis committed to the trial and thereby he must preserve you until that\nhour. Tell me now the answer to the test, that I may frame the\nquestion to agree.\u201d\n\nKai Lung thought a while, then said:\n\n\u201cThere is the story of Chang Tao. It concerns one who, bidden to do an\nimpossible task, succeeded though he failed, and shows how two\nidentically similar beings may be essentially diverse. To this should\nbe subjoined the apophthegm that that which we are eager to obtain may\nbe that which we have striven to avoid.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt suffices,\u201d agreed Hwa-mei. \u201cBear well your part.\u201d\n\n\u201cStill,\u201d suggested Kai Lung, hoping to detain her retiring footsteps\nfor yet another span, \u201cwere it not better that I should fall short at\nthe test, thus to enlarge your word before your fellows?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd in so doing demean yourself, darken the face of Shan Tien\u2019s\npresent regard, and alienate all those who stand around! O most obtuse\nKai Lung!\u201d\n\n\u201cI will then bare my throat,\u201d confessed Kai Lung. \u201cThe barbed thought\nhad assailed my mind that perchance the rings of precious jade lay\ncoiled around your heart. Thus and thus I spoke.\u201d\n\n\u201cThus also will I speak,\u201d replied Hwa-mei, and her uplifted eyes held\nKai Lung by the inner fibre of his being. \u201cDid I value them as I do,\nand were they a single hair of my superfluous head, the whole head\nwere freely offered to a like result.\u201d\n\nWith these noticeable words, which plainly testified the strength of\nher emotion, the maiden turned and hastened on her way, leaving Kai\nLung gazing from the shutter in a very complicated state of\ndisquietude.\n\n\n       The Story of Chang Tao, Melodious Vision and the Dragon\n\nAfter Chang Tao had reached the age of manhood his grandfather took\nhim apart one day and spoke of a certain matter, speaking as a\nphilosopher whose mind has at length overflowed.\n\n\u201cBehold!\u201d he said, when they were at a discreet distance aside, \u201cyour\nyears are now thus and thus, but there are still empty chairs where\nthere should be occupied cradles in your inner chamber, and the only\nupraised voice heard in this spacious residence is that of your\nesteemed father repeating the Analects. The prolific portion of the\ntree of our illustrious House consists of its roots; its existence\nonwards narrows down to a single branch which as yet has put forth no\nblossoms.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe loftiest tower rises from the ground,\u201d remarked Chang Tao\nevasively, not wishing to implicate himself on either side as yet.\n\n\u201cDoubtless; and as an obedient son it is commendable that you should\nclose your ears, but as a discriminating father there is no reason why\nI should not open my mouth,\u201d continued the venerable Chang in a voice\nfrom which every sympathetic modulation was withdrawn. \u201cIt is\nadmittedly a meritorious resolve to devote one\u2019s existence to\nexplaining the meaning of a single obscure passage of one of the Odes,\nbut if the detachment necessary to the achievement results in a\nhitherto carefully-preserved line coming to an incapable end, it would\nhave been more satisfactory to the dependent shades of our revered\nancestors that the one in question should have collected street\ngarbage rather than literary instances, or turned somersaults in place\nof the pages of the Classics, had he but given his first care to\nproviding you with a wife and thereby safeguarding our unbroken\ncontinuity.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy father is all-wise,\u201d ventured Chang Tao dutifully, but observing\nthe nature of the other\u2019s expression he hastened to add considerately,\n\u201cbut my father\u2019s father is even wiser.\u201d\n\n\u201cInevitably,\u201d assented the one referred to; \u201cnot merely because he is\nthe more mature by a generation, but also in that he is thereby nearer\nto the inspired ancients in whom the Cardinal Principles reside.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet, assuredly, there must be occasional exceptions to this rule of\nprogressive deterioration?\u201d suggested Chang Tao, feeling that the\nprocess was not without a definite application to himself.\n\n\u201cNot in our pure and orthodox line,\u201d replied the other person firmly.\n\u201cTo suggest otherwise is to admit the possibility of a son being the\nsuperior of his own father, and to what a discordant state of things\nwould that contention lead! However immaturely you may think at\npresent, you will see the position at its true angle when you have\nsons of your own.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe contingency is not an overhanging one,\u201d said Chang Tao. \u201cOn the\nlast occasion when I reminded my venerated father of my age and\nunmarried state, he remarked that, whether he looked backwards or\nforwards, extinction seemed to be the kindest destiny to which our\nHouse could be subjected.\u201d\n\n\u201cOriginality, carried to the length of eccentricity, is a censurable\naccomplishment in one of official rank,\u201d remarked the elder Chang\ncoldly. \u201cPlainly it is time that I should lengthen the authority of my\nown arm very perceptibly. If a father is so neglectful of his duty, it\nis fitting that a grandfather should supply his place. This person\nwill himself procure a bride for you without delay.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe function might perhaps seem an unusual one,\u201d suggested Chang Tao,\nwho secretly feared the outcome of an enterprise conducted under these\nauspices.\n\n\u201cSo, admittedly, are the circumstances. What suitable maiden suggests\nherself to your doubtless better-informed mind? Is there one of the\nhouse of Tung?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are eleven,\u201d replied Chang Tao, with a gesture of despair, \u201call\nreputed to be untiring with their needle, skilled in the frugal\nmanipulation of cold rice, devout, discreet in the lines of their\nattire, and so sombre of feature as to be collectively known to the\navailable manhood of the city as the Terror that Lurks for the Unwary.\nSuffer not your discriminating footsteps to pause before that house, O\nfather of my father! Now had you spoken of Golden Eyebrows, daughter\nof Kuo Wang--\u201d\n\n\u201cIt would be as well to open a paper umbrella in a thunderstorm as to\nseek profit from an alliance with Kuo Wang. Crafty and ambitious, he\nis already deep in questionable ventures, and high as he carries his\nhead at present, there will assuredly come a day when Kuo Wang will\nappear in public with his feet held even higher than his crown.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe rod!\u201d exclaimed Chang Tao in astonishment. \u201cCan it really be that\none who is so invariably polite to me is not in every way immaculate?\u201d\n\n\u201cEither bamboo will greet his feet or hemp adorn his neck,\u201d persisted\nthe other, with a significant movement of his hands in the proximity\nof his throat. \u201cWalk backwards in the direction of that house, son of\nmy son. Is there not one Ning of the worthy line of Lo, dwelling\nbeneath the emblem of a Sprouting Aloe?\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d agreed the youth, \u201cbut at an early age she came under the\nmalign influence of a spectral vampire, and in order to deceive the\ncreature she was adopted to the navigable portion of the river here,\nand being announced as having Passed Above was henceforth regarded as\na red mullet.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet in what detail does that deter you?\u201d inquired Chang, for the\nnature of his grandson\u2019s expression betrayed an acute absence of\nenthusiasm towards the maiden thus concerned.\n\n\u201cPerchance the vampire was not deceived after all. In any case this\nperson dislikes red mullet,\u201d replied the youth indifferently.\n\nThe venerable shook his head reprovingly.\n\n\u201cIt is imprudent to be fanciful in matters of business,\u201d he remarked.\n\u201cLo Chiu, her father, is certainly the possessor of many bars of\nsilver, and, as it is truly written: \u2018With wealth one may command\ndemons; without it one cannot summon even a slave.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is also said: \u2018When the tree is full the doubtful fruit remains\nupon the branch,\u2019\u201d retorted Chang Tao. \u201cAre not maidens in this city\nas the sand upon a broad seashore? If one opens and closes one\u2019s hands\nsuddenly out in the Ways on a dark night, the chances are that three\nor four will be grasped. A stone cast at a venture--\u201d\n\n\u201cPeace!\u201d interrupted the elder. \u201cWitless spoke thus even in the days\nof this person\u2019s remote youth--only the virtuous did not then open and\nclose their hands suddenly in the Ways on dark nights. Is aught\nreported of the inner affairs of Shen Yi, a rich philosopher who\ndwells somewhat remotely on the Stone Path, out beyond the Seven\nTerraced Bridge?\u201d\n\nChang Tao looked up with a sharply awakening interest.\n\n\u201cIt is well not to forget that one,\u201d he replied. \u201cHe is spoken of as\ncourteous but reserved, in that he drinks tea with few though his\nposition is assured. Is not his house that which fronts on a\nsummer-seat domed with red copper?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is the same,\u201d agreed the other. \u201cSpeak on.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat I recall is meagre and destitute of point. Nevertheless, it so\nchanced that some time ago this person was proceeding along the\nfurther Stone Path when an aged female mendicant, seated by the\nwayside, besought his charity. Struck by her destitute appearance he\nbestowed upon her a few unserviceable broken cash, such as one retains\nfor the indigent, together with an appropriate blessing, when the hag\nchanged abruptly into the appearance of a young and alluring maiden,\nwho smilingly extended to this one her staff, which had meanwhile\nbecome a graceful branch of flowering lotus. The manifestation was not\nsustained, however, for as he who is relating the incident would have\nreceived the proffered flower he found that his hand was closing on\nthe neck of an expectant serpent, which held in its mouth an agate\ncharm. The damsel had likewise altered, imperceptibly merging into the\nform of an overhanging fig-tree, among whose roots the serpent twined\nitself. When this person would have eaten one of the ripe fruit of the\ntree he found that the skin was filled with a bitter dust, whereupon\nhe withdrew, convinced that no ultimate profit was likely to result\nfrom the encounter. His departure was accompanied by the sound of\nlaughter, mocking yet more melodious than a carillon of silver gongs\nhung in a porcelain tower, which seemed to proceed from the\nsummer-seat domed with red copper.\u201d\n\n\u201cSome omen doubtless lay within the meeting,\u201d said the elder Chang.\n\u201cHad you but revealed the happening fully on your return, capable\ngeomancers might have been consulted. In this matter you have fallen\nshort.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is admittedly easier to rule a kingdom than to control one\u2019s\nthoughts,\u201d confessed Chang Tao frankly. \u201cA great storm of wind met\nthis person on his way back, and when he had passed through it, all\nrecollection of the incident had, for the time, been magically blown\nfrom his mind.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is now too late to question the augurs. But in the face of so\ninvolved a portent it would be well to avert all thought from\nMelodious Vision, wealthy Shen Yi\u2019s incredibly attractive daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is unwise to be captious in affairs of negotiation,\u201d remarked the\nyoung man thoughtfully. \u201cIs the smile of the one referred to such that\nat the vision of it the internal organs of an ordinary person begin to\nclash together, beyond the power of all control?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot in the case of the one who is speaking,\u201d replied the grandfather\nof Chang Tao, \u201cbut a very illustrious poet, whom Shen Yi charitably\nemployed about his pig-yard, certainly described it as a ripple on the\nsurface of a dark lake of wine, when the moon reveals the hidden\npearls beneath; and after secretly observing the unstudied grace of\nher movements, the most celebrated picture-maker of the province\nburned the implements of his craft, and began life anew as a trainer\nof performing elephants. But when maidens are as numerous as the\ngrains of sand--\u201d\n\n\u201cEsteemed,\u201d interposed Chang Tao, with smooth determination, \u201cwisdom\nlurks in the saying: \u2018He who considers everything decides nothing.\u2019\nAlready this person has spent an unprofitable score of years through\nhaving no choice in the matter; at this rate he will spend yet another\nscore through having too much. Your timely word shall be his beacon.\nNeither the disadvantage of Shen Yi\u2019s oppressive wealth nor the\ninconvenience of Melodious Vision\u2019s excessive beauty shall deter him\nfrom striving to fulfil your delicately expressed wish.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d objected the elder Chang, by no means gladdened at having the\ndecision thus abruptly lifted from his mouth, \u201cso far, only a\npartially formed project--\u201d\n\n\u201cTo a thoroughly dutiful grandson half a word from your benevolent\nlips carries further than a full-throated command does from a less\nrevered authority.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerchance. This person\u2019s feet, however, are not liable to a similar\nacceleration, and a period of adequate consideration must intervene\nbefore they are definitely moving in the direction of Shen Yi\u2019s\nmansion. \u2018Where the road bends abruptly take short steps,\u2019 Chang Tao.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe necessity will be lifted from your venerable shoulders, revered,\u201d\n replied Chang Tao firmly. \u201cFortified by your approving choice, this\nperson will himself confront Shen Yi\u2019s doubtful countenance, and that\nsame bend in the road will be taken at a very sharp angle and upon a\nsingle foot.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn person! It is opposed to the Usages!\u201d exclaimed the venerable; and\nat the contemplation of so undignified a course his voice prudently\nwithdrew itself, though his mouth continued to open and close for a\nfurther period.\n\n\u201c\u2018As the mountains rise, so the river winds,\u2019\u201d replied Chang Tao, and\nwith unquenchable deference he added respectfully as he took his\nleave, \u201cFear not, eminence; you will yet remain to see five\ngenerations of stalwart he-children, all pressing forward to worship\nyour imperishable memory.\u201d\n\nIn such a manner Chang Tao set forth to defy the Usages and--if\nperchance it might be--to speak to Shen Yi face to face of Melodious\nVision. Yet in this it may be that the youth was not so much hopeful\nof success by his own efforts as that he was certain of failure by the\nelder Chang\u2019s. And in the latter case the person in question might\nthen irrevocably contract him to a maiden of the house of Tung, or to\nanother equally forbidding. Not inaptly is it written: \u201cTo escape from\nfire men will plunge into boiling water.\u201d\n\nNevertheless, along the Stone Path many doubts and disturbances arose\nwithin Chang Tao\u2019s mind. It was not in this manner that men of weight\nand dignity sought wives. Even if Shen Yi graciously overlooked the\nabsence of polite formality, would not the romantic imagination of\nMelodious Vision be distressed when she learned that she had been\napproached with so indelicate an absence of ceremony? \u201cHere, again,\u201d\n said Chang Tao\u2019s self-reproach accusingly, \u201cyou have, as usual, gone\non in advance of both your feet and of your head. \u2018It is one thing to\nignore the Rites: it is quite another to expect the gods to ignore the\nPenalties.\u2019 Assuredly you will suffer for it.\u201d\n\nIt was at this point that Chang Tao was approached by one who had\nnoted his coming from afar, and had awaited him, for passers-by were\nsparse and remote.\n\n\u201cProsperity attend your opportune footsteps,\u201d said the stranger\nrespectfully. \u201cA misbegotten goat-track enticed this person from his\nappointed line by the elusive semblance of an avoided li. Is there,\nwithin your enlightened knowledge, the house of one Shen Yi, who makes\na feast to-day, positioned about this inauspicious region? It is\nfurther described as fronting on a summer-seat domed with red copper.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is such a house as you describe, at no great distance to the\nwest,\u201d replied Chang Tao. \u201cBut that he marks the day with music had\nnot reached these superficial ears.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is but among those of his inner chamber, this being the name-day\nof one whom he would honour in a refined and at the same time\ninexpensive manner. To that end am I bidden.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf what does your incomparable exhibition consist?\u201d inquired Chang\nTao.\n\n\u201cOf a variety of quite commonplace efforts. It is entitled\n\u2018Half-a-gong-stroke among the No-realities; or Gravity-removing devoid\nof Inelegance.\u2019 Thus, borrowing the neck-scarf of the most\ndignified-looking among the lesser ones assembled I will at once\ndiscover among its folds the unsuspected presence of a family of\ntortoises; from all parts of the person of the roundest-bodied\nmandarin available I will control the appearance of an inexhaustible\nstream of copper cash, and beneath the scrutinizing eyes of all a\nbunch of paper chrysanthemums will change into the similitude of a\ncrystal bowl in whose clear depth a company of gold and silver carp\nglide from side to side.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese things are well enough for the immature, and the sight of an\nunnaturally stout official having an interminable succession of white\nrabbits produced from the various recesses of his waistcloth\nadmittedly melts the austerity of the superficial of both sexes. But\ncan you, beneath the undeceptive light of day, turn a sere and\nunattractive hag into the substantial image of a young and beguiling\nmaiden, and by a further complexity into a fruitful fig-tree; or\ninduce a serpent so far to forsake its natural instincts as to poise\non the extremity of its tail and hold a charm within its mouth?\u201d\n\n\u201cNone of these things lies within my admitted powers,\u201d confessed the\nstranger. \u201cTo what end does your gracious inquiry tend?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is in the nature of a warning, for within the shadow of the house\nyou seek manifestations such as I describe pass almost without remark.\nIndeed it is not unlikely that while in the act of displaying your\nengaging but simple skill you may find yourself transformed into a\nchameleon or saddled with the necessity of finishing your\ngravity-removing entertainment under the outward form of a Manchurian\nape.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed the other. \u201cThe eleventh of the moon was ever this\nperson\u2019s unlucky day, and he would have done well to be warned by a\ndream in which he saw an unsuspecting kid walk into the mouth of a\nvoracious tiger.\u201d\n\n\u201cUndoubtedly the tiger was an allusion to the dangers awaiting you,\nbut it is not yet too late for you to prove that you are no kid,\u201d\n counselled Chang Tao. \u201cTake this piece of silver so that the\nenterprise of the day may not have been unfruitful and depart with all\nspeed on a homeward path. He who speaks is going westward, and at the\nlattice of Shen Yi he will not fail to leave a sufficient excuse for\nyour no-appearance.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour voice has the compelling ring of authority, beneficence,\u201d\n replied the stranger gratefully. \u201cThe obscure name of the one who\nprostrates himself is Wo, that of his degraded father being Weh. For\nthis service he binds his ghost to attend your ghost through three\ncycles of time in the After.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is remitted,\u201d said Chang Tao generously, as he resumed his way.\n\u201cMay the path be flattened before your weary feet.\u201d\n\nThus, unsought as it were, there was placed within Chang Tao\u2019s grasp a\nstaff that might haply bear his weight into the very presence of\nMelodious Vision herself. The exact strategy of the undertaking did\nnot clearly yet reveal itself, but \u201cWhen fully ripe the fruit falls of\nits own accord,\u201d and Chang Tao was content to leave such detail to the\nguiding spirits of his destinies. As he approached the outer door he\nsang cheerful ballads of heroic doings, partly because he was glad,\nbut also to reassure himself.\n\n\u201cOne whom he expects awaits,\u201d he announced to the keeper of the gate.\n\u201cThe name of Wo, the son of Weh, should suffice.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt does not,\u201d replied the keeper, swinging his roomy sleeve\nspecifically. \u201cSo far it has an empty, short-stopping sound. It lacks\nsparkle; it has no metallic ring. . . . He sleeps.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless the sound of these may awaken him,\u201d said Chang Tao, shaking\nout a score of cash.\n\n\u201cPass in munificence. Already his expectant eyes rebuke the unopen\ndoor.\u201d\n\nAlthough he had been in a measure prepared by Wo, Chang Tao was\nsurprised to find that three persons alone occupied the chamber to\nwhich he was conducted. Two of these were Shen Yi and a trusted slave;\nat the sight of the third Chang Tao\u2019s face grew very red and the\ndeficiencies of his various attributes began to fill his mind with\ndark forebodings, for this was Melodious Vision and no man could look\nupon her without her splendour engulfing his imagination. No record of\nher pearly beauty is preserved beyond a scattered phrase or two; for\nthe poets and minstrels of the age all burned what they had written,\nin despair at the inadequacy of words. Yet it remains that whatever a\nman looked for, that he found, and the measure of his requirement was\nnot stinted.\n\n\u201cGreeting,\u201d said Shen Yi, with easy-going courtesy. He was a more\nmeagre man than Chang Tao had expected, his face not subtle, and his\nmanner restrained rather than oppressive. \u201cYou have come on a long and\nwinding path; have you taken your rice?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing remains lacking,\u201d replied Chang Tao, his eyes again\nelsewhere. \u201cCommand your slave, Excellence.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn what particular direction do your agreeable powers of\nleisure-beguiling extend?\u201d\n\nSo far Chang Tao had left the full consideration of this inevitable\ndetail to the inspiration of the moment, but when the moment came the\nprompting spirits did not disclose themselves. His hesitation became\nmore elaborate under the expression of gathering enlightenment that\nbegan to appear in Melodious Vision\u2019s eyes.\n\n\u201cAn indifferent store of badly sung ballads,\u201d he was constrained to\nreply at length, \u201cand--perchance--a threadbare assortment of involved\nquestions and replies.\u201d\n\n\u201cWas it your harmonious voice that we were privileged to hear raised\nbeneath our ill-fitting window a brief space ago?\u201d inquired Shen Yi.\n\n\u201cAdmittedly at the sight of this noble palace I was impelled to put my\npresumptuous gladness into song.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen let it fain be the other thing,\u201d interposed the maiden, with\ndecision. \u201cYour gladness came to a sad end, minstrel.\u201d\n\n\u201cInvolved questions are by no means void of divertisement,\u201d remarked\nShen Yi, with conciliatory mildness in his voice. \u201cThere was one,\nturning on the contradictory nature of a door which under favourable\nconditions was indistinguishable from an earthenware vessel, that\nseldom failed to baffle the unalert in the days before the binding of\nthis person\u2019s hair.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat was the one which it had been my feeble intention to propound,\u201d\n confessed Chang Tao.\n\n\u201cDoubtless there are many others equally enticing,\u201d suggested Shen Yi\nhelpfully.\n\n\u201cAlas,\u201d admitted Chang Tao with conscious humiliation; \u201cof all those\nwherein I retain an adequate grasp of the solution, the complication\neludes me at the moment, and thus in a like but converse manner with\nthe others.\u201d\n\n\u201cEsteemed parent,\u201d remarked Melodious Vision, without emotion, \u201cthis\nis neither a minstrel nor one in any way entertaining. It is merely\nAnother.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnother!\u201d exclaimed Chang Tao in refined bitterness. \u201cIs it possible\nthat after taking so extreme and unorthodox a course as to ignore the\nUsages and advance myself in person I am to find that I have not even\nthe mediocre originality of being the first, as a recommendation?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf the matter is thus and thus, so far from being the first, you are\nonly the last of a considerable line of worthy and enterprising youths\nwho have succeeded in gaining access to the inner part of this not\nreally attractive residence on one pretext or another,\u201d replied the\ntolerant Shen Yi. \u201cIn any case you are honourably welcome. From the\nposition of your various features I now judge you to be Tao, only son\nof the virtuous house of Chang. May you prove more successful in your\nenterprise than those who have preceded you.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe adventure appears to be tending in unforeseen directions,\u201d said\nChang Tao uneasily. \u201cYour felicitation, benign, though doubtless gold\nat heart, is set in a doubtful frame.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is for your stalwart endeavour to assure a happy picture,\u201d replied\nShen Yi, with undisturbed cordiality. \u201cYou bear a sword.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat added involvement is this?\u201d demanded Chang Tao. \u201cThis one\u2019s\nthoughts and intention were not turned towards savagery and arms, but\nin the direction of a pacific union of two distinguished lines.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn such cases my attitude has invariably been one of sympathetic\nunconcern,\u201d declared Shen Yi. \u201cThe weight of either side produces an\natmosphere of absolute poise that cannot fail to give full play to the\ndecision of the destinies.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut if this attitude is maintained on your part how can the proposal\nprogress to a definite issue?\u201d inquired Chang Tao.\n\n\u201cSo far, it never has so progressed,\u201d admitted Shen Yi. \u201cNone of the\nworthy and hard-striving young men--any of whom I should have been\noverjoyed to greet as a son-in-law had my inopportune sense of\nimpartiality permitted it--has yet returned from the trial to claim\nthe reward.\u201d\n\n\u201cEven the Classics become obscure in the dark. Clear your throat of\nall doubtfulness, O Shen Yi, and speak to a definite end.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat duty devolves upon this person, O would-be propounder of\ninvolved questions,\u201d interposed Melodious Vision. Her voice was more\nmusical than a stand of hanging jewels touched by a rod of jade, and\neach word fell like a separate pearl. \u201cHe who ignores the Usages must\nexpect to find the Usages ignored. Since the day when K\u2019ung-tsz framed\nthe Ceremonies much water has passed beneath the Seven Terraced\nBridge, and that which has overflowed can never be picked up again. It\nis no longer enough that you should come and thereby I must go; that\nyou should speak and I be silent; that you should beckon and I meekly\nobey. Inspired by the uprisen sisterhood of the outer barbarian lands,\nwe of the inner chambers of the Illimitable Kingdom demand the right\nto express ourselves freely on every occasion and on every subject,\nwhether the matter involved is one that we understand or not.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour clear-cut words will carry far,\u201d said Chang Tao deferentially,\nand, indeed, Melodious Vision\u2019s voice had imperceptibly assumed a\npenetrating quality that justified the remark. \u201cYet is it fitting that\nbeings so superior in every way should be swayed by the example of\nthose who are necessarily uncivilized and rude?\u201d\n\n\u201cEven a mole may instruct a philosopher in the art of digging,\u201d\n replied the maiden, with graceful tolerance. \u201cThus among those uncouth\ntribes it is the custom, when a valiant youth would enlarge his face\nin the eyes of a maiden, that he should encounter forth and slay\ndragons, to the imperishable glory of her name. By this beneficent\nhabit not only are the feeble and inept automatically disposed of, but\nthe difficulty of choosing one from among a company of suitors, all\napparently possessing the same superficial attributes, is materially\nlightened.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe system may be advantageous in those dark regions,\u201d admitted Chang\nTao reluctantly, \u201cbut it must prove unsatisfactory in our more\nfavoured land.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn what detail?\u201d demanded the maiden, pausing in her attitude of\nassured superiority.\n\n\u201cBy the essential drawback that whereas in those neglected outer parts\nthere really are no dragons, here there really are. Thus--\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless there are barbarian maidens for those who prefer to\nencounter barbarian dragons, then,\u201d exclaimed Melodious Vision, with a\nvery elaborately sustained air of no-concern.\n\n\u201cDoubtless,\u201d assented Chang Tao mildly. \u201cYet having set forth in the\ndirection of a specific Vision it is this person\u2019s intention to pursue\nit to an ultimate end.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe quiet duck puts his foot on the unobservant worm,\u201d murmured Shen\nYi, with delicate encouragement, adding \u201cThis one casts a more\ndefinite shadow than those before.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d continued the maiden, \u201cto all, my unbending word is this: he\nwho would return for approval must experience difficulties, overcome\ndangers and conquer dragons. Those who do not adventure on the quest\nwill pass outward from this person\u2019s mind.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd those who do will certainly Pass Upward from their own bodies,\u201d\n ran the essence of the youth\u2019s inner thoughts. Yet the network of her\nunevadable power and presence was upon him; he acquiescently replied:\n\n\u201cIt is accepted. On such an errand difficulties and dangers will not\nrequire any especial search. Yet how many dragons slain will suffice\nto win approval?\u201d\n\n\u201cCrocodile-eyed one!\u201d exclaimed Melodious Vision, surprised into\nwrathfulness. \u201cHow many--\u201d Here she withdrew in abrupt vehemence.\n\n\u201cYour progress has been rapid and profound,\u201d remarked Shen Yi, as,\nwith flattering attention, he accompanied Chang Tao some part of the\nway towards the door. \u201cNever before has that one been known to leave a\nremark unsaid; I do not altogether despair of seeing her married yet.\nAs regards the encounter with the dragon--well, in the case of the one\nwhispering in your ear there was the revered mother of the one whom he\nsought. After all, a dragon is soon done with--one way or the other.\u201d\n\nIn such a manner Chang Tao set forth to encounter dragons, assured\nthat difficulties and dangers would accompany him on either side. In\nthis latter detail he was inspired, but as the great light faded and\nthe sky-lantern rose in interminable succession, while the\nunconquerable li ever stretched before his expectant feet, the\nessential part of the undertaking began to assume a dubious facet. In\nthe valleys and fertile places he learned that creatures of this part\nnow chiefly inhabited the higher fastnesses, such regions being more\ncongenial to their wild and intractable natures. When, however, after\nmany laborious marches he reached the upper peaks of pathless\nmountains the scanty crag-dwellers did not vary in their assertion\nthat the dragons had for some time past forsaken those heights for the\nmore settled profusion of the plains. Formerly, in both places they\nhad been plentiful, and all those whom Chang Tao questioned spoke\nopenly of many encounters between their immediate forefathers and such\nBeings.\n\nIt was in the downcast frame of mind to which the delays in\naccomplishing his mission gave rise that Chang Tao found himself\nwalking side by side with one who bore the appearance of an affluent\nmerchant. The northernward way was remote and solitary, but seeing\nthat the stranger carried no outward arms Chang Tao greeted him\nsuitably and presently spoke of the difficulty of meeting dragons, or\nof discovering their retreats from dwellers in that region.\n\n\u201cIn such delicate matters those who know don\u2019t talk, and those who\ntalk don\u2019t know,\u201d replied the other sympathetically. \u201cYet for what\npurpose should one who would pass as a pacific student seek to\nencounter dragons?\u201d\n\n\u201cFor a sufficient private reason it is necessary that I should kill a\ncertain number,\u201d replied Chang Tao freely. \u201cThus their absence\ninvolves me in much ill-spared delay.\u201d\n\nAt this avowal the stranger\u2019s looks became more sombre, and he\nbreathed inwards several times between his formidable teeth before he\nmade reply.\n\n\u201cThis is doubtless your angle, but there is another; nor is it well to\nignore the saying, \u2018Should you miss the tiger be assured that he will\nnot miss you,\u2019\u201d he remarked at length. \u201cHave you sufficiently\nconsidered the eventuality of a dragon killing you?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is no less aptly said: \u2018To be born is in the course of nature, but\nto die is according to the decree of destiny.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a two-edged weapon, and the dragon may be the first to apply\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn that case this person will fall back upon the point of the adage:\n\u2018It is better to die two years too soon than to live one year too\nlong,\u2019\u201d replied Chang Tao. \u201cShould he fail in the adventure and thus\nlose all hope of Melodious Vision, of the house of Shen, there will be\nno further object in prolonging a wearisome career.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou speak of Melodious Vision, she being of the house of Shen,\u201d said\nthe stranger, regarding his companion with an added scrutiny. \u201cIs the\nunmentioned part of her father\u2019s honourable name Yi, and is his\nagreeable house so positioned that it fronts upon a summer-seat domed\nwith red copper?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe description is exact,\u201d admitted Chang Tao. \u201cHave you, then, in\nthe course of your many-sided travels, passed that way?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not unknown to me,\u201d replied the other briefly. \u201cLearn now how\nincautious had been your speech, and how narrowly you have avoided the\nexact fate of which I warned you. The one speaking to you is in\nreality a powerful dragon, his name being Pe-lung, from the\ncircumstance that the northern limits are within his sway. Had it not\nbeen for a chance reference you would certainly have been struck dead\nat the parting of our ways.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf this is so it admittedly puts a new face upon the matter,\u201d agreed\nChang Tao. \u201cYet how can reliance be spontaneously placed upon so\nincredible a claim? You are a man of moderate cast, neither diffident\nnor austere, and with no unnatural attributes. All the dragons with\nwhich history is concerned possess a long body and a scaly skin, and\nhave, moreover, the power of breathing fire at will.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is easily put to the test.\u201d No sooner had Pe-lung uttered these\nwords than he faded, and in his place appeared a formidable monster\npossessing all the terror-inspiring characteristics of his kind. Yet\nin spite of his tree-like eyebrows, fiercely-moving whiskers and\nfire-breathing jaws, his voice was mild and pacific as he continued:\n\u201cWhat further proof can be required? Assuredly, the self-opinionated\nspirit in which you conduct your quest will bring you no nearer to a\ndesired end.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet this will!\u201d exclaimed Chang Tao, and suddenly drawing his\nreliable sword he drove it through the middle part of the dragon\u2019s\nbody. So expertly was the thrust weighted that the point of the weapon\nprotruded on the other side and scarred the earth. Instead of falling\nlifeless to the ground, however, the Being continued to regard its\nassailant with benignant composure, whereupon the youth withdrew the\nblade and drove it through again, five or six times more. As this\nproduced no effect beyond rendering the edge of the weapon unfit for\nfurther use, and almost paralysing the sinews of his own right arm,\nChang Tao threw away the sword and sat down on the road in order to\nrecall his breath. When he raised his head again the dragon had\ndisappeared and Pe-lung stood there as before.\n\n\u201cFortunately it is possible to take a broad-minded view of your\nuncourteous action, owing to your sense of the fitnesses being for the\ntime in abeyance through allegiance to so engaging a maiden as\nMelodious Vision,\u201d said Pe-lung in a voice not devoid of reproach.\n\u201cHad you but confided in me more fully I should certainly have\ncautioned you in time. As it is, you have ended by notching your\notherwise capable weapon beyond repair and seriously damaging the\nscanty cloak I wear\u201d--indicating the numerous rents that marred his\ndress of costly fur. \u201cNo wonder dejection sits upon your downcast\nbrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour priceless robe is a matter of profuse regret and my self-esteem\ncan only be restored by your accepting in its place this threadbare\none of mine. My rust-eaten sword is unworthy of your second thought.\nBut certainly neither of these two details is the real reason of my\ndark despair.\u201d\n\n\u201cDisclose yourself more openly,\u201d urged Pe-lung.\n\n\u201cI now plainly recognize the futility of my well-intentioned quest.\nObviously it is impossible to kill a dragon, and I am thus the sport\neither of Melodious Vision\u2019s deliberate ridicule or of my own\nill-arranged presumption.\u201d\n\n\u201cSet your mind at rest upon that score: each blow was competently\nstruck and convincingly fatal. You may quite fittingly claim to have\nslain half a dozen dragons at the least--none of the legendary\nchampions of the past has done more.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet how can so arrogant a claim be held, seeing that you stand before\nme in the unimpaired state of an ordinary existence?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe explanation is simple and assuring. It is, in reality, very easy\nto kill a dragon, but it is impossible to keep him dead. The reason\nfor this is that the Five Essential Constituents of fire, water,\nearth, wood and metal are blended in our bodies in the Sublime or\nIndivisible proportion. Thus although it is not difficult by extreme\nviolence to disturb the harmonious balance of the Constituents, and so\nbring about the effect of no-existence, they at once re-tranquillize\nagain, and all effect of the ill usage is spontaneously repaired.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is certainly a logical solution, but it stands in doubtful stead\nwhen applied to the familiar requirements of life; nor is it probable\nthat one so acute-witted as Melodious Vision would greet the claim\nwith an acquiescent face,\u201d replied Chang Tao. \u201cNot unnaturally is it\nsaid: \u2018He who kills tigers does not wear rat-skin sleeves.\u2019 It would\nbe one thing to make a boast of having slain six dragons; it would be\nquite another to be bidden to bring in their tails.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a difficulty which must be considered,\u201d admitted Pe-lung,\n\u201cbut a path round it will inevitably be found. In the meantime night\nis beginning to encircle us, and many dark Powers will be freed and\nresort to these inaccessible slopes. Accompany me, therefore, to my\nbankrupt hovel, where you will be safe until you care to resume your\njourney.\u201d\n\nTo this agreeable proposal Chang Tao at once assented. The way was\nlong and laborious, \u201cFor,\u201d remarked Pe-lung, \u201cin an ordinary course I\nshould fly there in a single breath of time; but to seize an honoured\nguest by the body-cloth and thus transfer him over the side of a\nmountain is toilsome to the one and humiliating to the other.\u201d\n\nTo beguile the time he spoke freely of the hardships of his lot.\n\n\u201cWe dragons are frequently objects of envy at the hands of the\nundiscriminating, but the few superficial privileges we enjoy are\nheavily balanced by the exacting scope of our duties. Thus to-night it\nis my degraded task to divert the course of the river flowing below\nus, so as to overwhelm the misguided town of Yang, wherein swells a\nsordid outcast who has reviled the Sacred Claw. In order to do this\nproperly it will be my distressing part to lie across the bed of the\nstream, my head resting upon one bank and my tail upon the other, and\nso remain throughout the rigour of the night.\u201d\n\nAs they approached the cloudy pinnacle whereon was situated the\ndragon\u2019s cave, one came forth at a distance to meet them. As she drew\nnear, alternating emotions from time to time swayed Chang Tao\u2019s mind.\nFrom beneath a well-ruled eyebrow Pe-lung continued to observe him\nclosely.\n\n\u201cFuh-sang, the unattractive daughter of my dwindling line,\u201d remarked\nthe former person, with refined indifference. \u201cI have rendered you\ninvisible, and she, as her custom is, would advance to greet me.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut this enchanting apparition is Melodious Vision!\u201d exclaimed Chang\nTao. \u201cWhat new bewilderment is here?\u201d\n\n\u201cSince you have thus expressed yourself, I will now throw off the mask\nand reveal fully why I have hitherto spared your life, and for what\npurpose I have brought you to these barren heights,\u201d replied Pe-lung.\n\u201cIn the past Shen Yi provoked the Deities, and to mark their\ndispleasure it was decided to take away his she-child and to\nsubstitute for it one of demoniac birth. Accordingly Fuh-sang, being\nof like age, was moulded to its counterpart, and an attendant gnome\nwas despatched with her secretly to make the change. Becoming\noverwhelmed with the fumes of rice-spirit, until then unknown to his\nsimple taste, this clay-brained earth-pig left the two she-children\nalone for a space while he slept. Discovering each other to be the\ncreature of another part, they battled together and tore from one\nanother the signs of recognition. When the untrustworthy gnome\nrecovered from his stupor he saw what he had done, but being\nterror-driven he took up one of the she-children at a venture and\nreturned with a pliant tale. It was not until a few moons ago that\nwhile in a close extremity he confessed his crime. Meanwhile Shen Yi\nhad made his peace with those Above and the order being revoked the\nshe-children had been exchanged again. Thus the matter rests.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhich, then, of the twain is she inherent of your house and which\nMelodious Vision?\u201d demanded Chang Tao in some concern. \u201cThe matter can\nassuredly not rest thus.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat,\u201d replied Pe-lung affably, \u201cit will be your engaging task to\nunravel, and to this end will be your opportunity of closely watching\nFuh-sang\u2019s unsuspecting movements in my absence through the night.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet how should I, to whom the way of either maiden is as yet no more\nthan the title-page of a many-volumed book, succeed where the father\nnative to one has failed?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause in your case the incentive will be deeper. Destined, as you\ndoubtless are, to espouse Melodious Vision, the Forces connected with\nmarriage and its Rites will certainly endeavour to inspire you. This\nperson admittedly has no desire to nurture one who should prove to be\nof merely human seed, but your objection to propagating a race of\ndragonets turns on a keener edge. Added to all, a not unnatural\ndisinclination to be dropped from so great a height as this into so\ndeep and rocky a valley as that will conceivably lend wings to your\nusually nimble-footed mind.\u201d\n\nWhile speaking to Chang Tao in this encouraging strain, Pe-lung was\nalso conversing suitably with Fuh-sang, who had by this time joined\nthem, warning her of his absence until the dawn, and the like. When he\nhad completed his instruction he stroked her face affectionately,\ngreeting Chang Tao with a short but appropriate farewell, and changing\nhis form projected himself downwards into the darkness of the valley\nbelow. Recognizing that the situation into which he had been drawn\npossessed no other outlet, Chang Tao followed Fuh-sang on her backward\npath, and with her passed unsuspected into the dragon\u2019s cave.\n\nEarly as was Pe-lung\u2019s return on the ensuing morning, Chang Tao stood\non a rocky eminence to greet him, and the outline of his face, though\nnot altogether free of doubt, was by no means hopeless. Pe-lung still\nretained the impressive form of a gigantic dragon as he cleft the\nMiddle Air, shining and iridescent, each beat of his majestic wings\nbeing as a roll of thunder and the skittering of sand and water from\nhis crepitant scales leaving blights and rain-storms in his wake. When\nhe saw Chang Tao he drove an earthward angle and alighting near at\nhand considerately changed into the semblance of an affluent merchant\nas he approached.\n\n\u201cGreeting,\u201d he remarked cheerfully. \u201cDid you find your early rice?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt has sufficed,\u201d replied Chang Tao. \u201cHow is your own incomparable\nstomach?\u201d\n\nPe-lung pointed to the empty bed of the deflected river and moved his\nhead from side to side as one who draws an analogy to his own\ncondition. \u201cBut of your more pressing enterprise,\u201d he continued, with\nsympathetic concern: \u201chave you persevered to a fruitful end, or will\nit be necessary--?\u201d And with tactful feeling he indicated the gesture\nof propelling an antagonist over the side of a precipice rather than\nallude to the disagreeable contingency in spoken words.\n\n\u201cWhen the oil is exhausted the lamp goes out,\u201d admitted Chang Tao,\n\u201cbut my time is not yet come. During the visionary watches of the\nnight my poising mind was sustained by Forces as you so presciently\nforetold, and my groping hand was led to an inspired solution of the\ntruth.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis points to a specific end. Proceed,\u201d urged Pe-lung, for Chang Tao\nhad hesitated among his words as though their import might not be\nsoothing to the other\u2019s mind.\n\n\u201cThus it is given me to declare: she who is called Melodious Vision is\nrightly of the house of Shen, and Fuh-sang is no less innate of your\nexalted tribe. The erring gnome, in spite of his misdeed, was but a\nfinger of the larger hand of destiny, and as it is, it is.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis assurance gladdens my face, no less for your sake than for my\nown,\u201d declared Pe-lung heartily. \u201cFor my part, I have found a way to\nenlarge you in the eyes of those whom you solicit. It is a custom with\nme that every thousand years I should discard my outer skin--not that\nit requires it, but there are certain standards to which we\nbetter-class dragons must conform. These sloughs are hidden beneath a\nsecret stone, beyond the reach of the merely vain or curious. When you\nhave disclosed the signs by which I shall have securance of Fuh-sang\u2019s\nidentity I will pronounce the word and the stone being thus released\nyou shall bear away six suits of scales in token of your prowess.\u201d\n\nThen replied Chang Tao: \u201cThe signs, assuredly. Yet, omnipotence,\nwithout your express command the specific detail would be elusive to\nmy respectful tongue.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have the authority of my extended hand,\u201d conceded Pe-lung\nreadily, raising it as he spoke. \u201cSpeak freely.\u201d\n\n\u201cI claim the protection of its benignant shadow,\u201d said Chang Tao, with\ncontent. \u201cYou, O Pe-lung, are one who has mingled freely with\ncreatures of every kind in all the Nine Spaces. Yet have you not, out\nof your vast experience thus gained, perceived the essential wherein\nmen and dragons differ? Briefly and devoid of graceful metaphor, every\ndragon, esteemed, would seem to possess a tail; beings of my part have\nnone.\u201d\n\nFor a concise moment the nature of Pe-lung\u2019s reflection was clouded in\nambiguity, though the fact that he became entirely enveloped in a\ndense purple vapour indicated feelings of more than usual vigour. When\nthis cleared away it left his outer form unchanged indeed, but the\naffable condescension of his manner was merged into one of dignified\naloofness.\n\n\u201cCertainly all members of our enlightened tribe have tails,\u201d he\nreplied, with distant precision, \u201cnor does this one see how any other\nstate is possible. Changing as we constantly do, both male and female,\ninto Beings, Influences, Shadows and unclothed creatures of the lower\nparts, it is essential for our mutual self-esteem that in every\nmanifestation we should be thus equipped. At this moment, though in\nthe guise of a substantial trader, I possess a tail--small but\nadequate. Is it possible that you and those of your insolvent race are\ndestitute?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn this particular, magnificence, I and those of my threadbare\nspecies are most lamentably deficient. To the proving of this end\nshall I display myself?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not necessary,\u201d said Pe-lung coldly. \u201cIt is inconceivable that,\nwere it otherwise, you would admit the humiliating fact.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet out of your millenaries of experience you must already--\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well said that after passing a commonplace object a hundred\ntimes a day, at nightfall its size and colour are unknown to one,\u201d\n replied Pe-lung. \u201cIn this matter, from motives which cannot have been\notherwise than delicate, I took too much for granted it would\nseem. . . . Then you--all--Shen Yi, Melodious Vision, the military\ngovernor of this province, even the sublime Emperor--all--?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll tailless,\u201d admitted Chang Tao, with conscious humility.\n\u201cNevertheless there is a tradition that in distant aeons--\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless on some issue you roused the High Ones past forgiveness and\nwere thus deprived as the most signal mark of their displeasure.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless,\u201d assented Chang Tao, with unquenchable politeness.\n\n\u201cComing to the correct attitude that you have maintained throughout, it\nwould appear that during the silent gong-strokes of the night, by some\nobscure and indirect guidance it was revealed to you that Fuh--that\nany Being of my superior race was, on the contrary--\u201d The menace of\nPe-lung\u2019s challenging eye, though less direct and assured than\nformerly, had the manner of being uncertainly restrained by a single\nmuch-frayed thread, but Chang Tao continued to meet it with respectful\nself-possession.\n\n\u201cThe inference is unflinching,\u201d he replied acquiescently. \u201cI prostrate\nmyself expectantly.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have competently performed your part,\u201d admitted Pe-lung, although\nan occasional jet of purple vapour clouded his upper person and the\npassage of his breath among his teeth would have been distasteful to\none of sensitive refinement. \u201cNothing remains but the fulfilling of my\niron word.\u201d\n\nThereupon he pronounced a mystic sign and revealing the opening to a\ncave he presently brought forth six sets of armoured skin. Binding\nthese upon Chang Tao\u2019s back, he dismissed him, yet the manner of his\nparting was as of one who is doubtful even to the end.\n\nThus equipped--\n\nBut who having made a distant journey into Outer Land speaks lengthily\nof the level path of his return, or of the evening glow upon the\ngilded roof of his awaiting home? Thus, this limit being reached in\nthe essential story of Chang Tao, Melodious Vision and the Dragon, he\nwho relates their commonplace happenings bows submissively.\n\nNevertheless it is true that once again in a later time Chang Tao\nencountered in the throng one whom he recognized. Encouraged by the\npresence of so many of his kind, he approached the other and saluted\nhim.\n\n\u201cGreeting, O Pe-lung,\u201d he said, with outward confidence. \u201cWhat bends\nyour footsteps to this busy place of men?\u201d\n\n\u201cI come to buy an imitation pig-tail to pass for one,\u201d replied\nPe-lung, with quiet composure. \u201cGreeting, valorous champion! How fares\nMelodious Vision?\u201d\n\n\u201cAgreeably so,\u201d admitted Chang Tao, and then, fearing that so far his\nreply had been inadequate, he added: \u201cYet, despite the facts, there\nare moments when this person almost doubts if he did not make a wrong\ndecision in the matter after all.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a very common complaint,\u201d said Pe-lung, becoming most\noffensively amused.\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IX\n\n         The Propitious Dissension between Two whose General\n         Attributes have already been sufficiently Described\n\nWhen Kai Lung had related the story of Chang Tao and had made an end\nof speaking, those who were seated there agreed with an undivided\nvoice that he had competently fulfilled his task. Nor did Shan Tien\nomit an approving word, adding:\n\n\u201cOn one point the historical balance of a certain detail seemed open\nto contention. Accompany me, therefore, to my own severe retreat,\nwhere this necessarily flat and unentertaining topic can be looked at\nfrom all round.\u201d\n\nWhen they were alone together the Mandarin unsealed a jar of wine,\napportioned melon seeds, and indicated to Kai Lung that he should sit\nupon the floor at a suitable distance from himself.\n\n\u201cSo long as we do not lose sight of the necessity whereby my official\nposition will presently involve me in condemning you to a painful\ndeath, and your loyal subjection will necessitate your whole-hearted\nco-operation in the act, there is no reason why the flower of literary\nexcellence should wither for lack of mutual husbandry,\u201d remarked the\nbroad-minded official tolerantly.\n\n\u201cYour enlightened patronage is a continual nourishment to the soil of\nmy imagination,\u201d replied the story teller.\n\n\u201cAs regards the doings of Chang Tao and of the various other\npersonages who unite with him to form the fabric of the narrative,\nwould not a strict adherence to the fable in its classical simplicity\nrequire the filling in of certain details which under your elusive\ntongue seemed, as you proceeded, to melt imperceptibly into a discreet\nbackground?\u201d\n\n\u201cYour voice is just,\u201d confessed Kai Lung, \u201cand your harmonious ear\ncorrects the deficiencies of my afflicted style. Admittedly in the\nstory of Chang Tao there are here and there analogies which may be\nfittingly left to the imagination as the occasion should demand. Is it\nnot rightly said: \u2018Discretion is the handmaiden of Truth\u2019? and in that\nspacious and well-appointed palace there is every kind of vessel, but\nthe meaner are not to be seen in the more ceremonial halls. Thus he\nwho tells a story prudently suits his furnishing to the condition of\nhis hearers.\u201d\n\n\u201cWisdom directs your course,\u201d replied Shan Tien, \u201cand propriety sits\nbeneath your supple tongue. As the necessity for this very seemly\nexpurgation is now over, I would myself listen to your recital of the\nfullest and most detailed version--purely, let it be freely stated, in\norder to judge whether its literary qualities transcend those of the\nother.\u201d\n\n\u201cI comply, benevolence,\u201d replied Kai Lung. \u201cThis rendering shall be to\nthe one that has gone before as a spreading banyan-tree overshadowing\nan immature shrub.\u201d\n\n\u201cForbear!\u201d exclaimed a discordant voice, and the sour-eyed Ming-shu\nrevealed his inopportune presence from behind a hanging veil. \u201cIs it\nmeet, O eminence, that in this person\u2019s absence you should thus\nconsort on terms of fraternity with tomb-riflers and grain-thieves?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe reproach is easily removed,\u201d replied Shan Tien hospitably. \u201cJoin\nthe circle of our refined felicity and hear at full length by what\nmeans the ingenious Chang Tao--\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are moments when one despairs before the spectacle of authority\nthus displayed,\u201d murmured Ming-shu, his throat thickening with\nacrimony. \u201cUnderstand, pre-eminence,\u201d he continued more aloud, \u201cthat\nnot this one\u2019s absence but your own presence is the distressing\nfeature, as being an obstacle in the path of that undeviating justice\nin which our legal system is embedded. From the first moment of our\nencountering it had been my well-intentioned purpose that loyal\nconfidence should be strengthened and rebellion cowed by submitting\nthis opportune but otherwise inoffensive stranger to a sordid and\ndegrading end. Yet how shall this beneficent example be attained if on\nevery occasion--\u201d\n\n\u201cYour design is a worthy and enlightened one,\u201d interposed the\nMandarin, with dignity. \u201cWhat you have somewhat incapably overlooked,\nMing-shu, is the fact that I never greet this intelligent and\npainstaking young man without reminding him of the imminence of his\nfate and of his suitability for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruth adorns your lips and accuracy anoints your palate,\u201d\n volunteered Kai Lung.\n\n\u201cBe this as the destinies permit, there is much that is circuitous in\nthe bending of events,\u201d contended Ming-shu stubbornly. \u201cIs it by\nchance or through some hidden tricklage that occasion always finds Kai\nLung so adequately prepared?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is, as the story of Chang Tao has this day justified, and as this\ndiscriminating person has frequently maintained, that the one in\nquestion has a story framed to meet the requirement of every\ncircumstance,\u201d declared Shan Tien.\n\n\u201cOr that each requirement is subtly shaped to meet his preparation,\u201d\n retorted Ming-shu darkly. \u201cBe that as it shall perchance ultimately\nappear, it is undeniable that your admitted weaknesses--\u201d\n\n\u201cWeaknesses!\u201d exclaimed the astonished Mandarin, looking around the\nroom as though to discover in what crevice the unheard-of attributes\nwere hidden. \u201cThis person\u2019s weaknesses? Can the sounding properties of\nthis ill-constructed roof thus pervert one word into the semblance of\nanother? If not, the bounds set to the admissible from the taker-down\nof the spoken word, Ming-shu, do not in their most elastic moods\nextend to calumny and distortion. . . . The one before you has no\nweaknesses. . . . Doubtless before another moon has changed you will\nimpute to him actual faults!\u201d\n\n\u201cHumility directs my gaze,\u201d replied Ming-shu, with downcast eyes, and\nhe plainly recognized that his presumption had been too maintained.\n\u201cYet,\u201d he added, with polished irony, \u201cthere is a well-timed adage\nthat rises to the lips: \u2018Do not despair; even Yuen Yan once cast a\nmissile at the Tablets!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d agreed Shan Tien, with smooth concurrence, \u201cthe line is not\nunknown to me. Who, however, was the one in question and under what\nprovocation did he so behave?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is beyond the province of the saying,\u201d replied Ming-shu. \u201cNor is\nit known to my remembrance.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen out of your own mouth a fitting test is set, which if Kai Lung\ncan agreeably perform will at once demonstrate a secret and a guilty\nconfederacy between you both. Proceed, O story-teller, to incriminate\nMing-shu together with yourself!\u201d\n\n\u201cI proceed, High Excellence, but chiefly to the glorification of your\nall-discerning mind,\u201d replied Kai Lung.\n\n\n            The Story of Yuen Yan, of the Barber Chou-hu,\n                        and His Wife Tsae-che\n\n\u201cDo not despair; even Yuen Yan once cast a missile at the Tablets,\u201d is\na proverb of encouragement well worn throughout the Empire; but\nalthough it is daily on the lips of some it is doubtful if a single\nperson could give an intelligent account of the Yuen Yan in question\nbeyond repeating the outside facts that he was of a humane and\nconsistent disposition and during the greater part of his life\npossessed every desirable attribute of wealth, family and virtuous\nesteem. If more closely questioned with reference to the specific\nincident alluded to, these persons would not hesitate to assert that\nthe proverb was not to be understood in so superficial a sense,\nprotesting, with much indignation, that Yuen Yan was of too courteous\nand lofty a nature to be guilty of so unseemly an action, and\ncontemptuously inquiring what possible reason one who enjoyed every\nadvantage in this world and every prospect of an unruffled felicity in\nThe Beyond could have for behaving in so outrageous a manner. This\nexplanation by no means satisfied the one who now narrates, and after\nmuch research he has brought to light the forgotten story of Yuen\nYan\u2019s early life, which may be thus related.\n\nAt the period with which this part of the narrative is concerned, Yuen\nYan dwelt with his mother in one of the least attractive of the arches\nbeneath the city wall. As a youth it had been his intention to take an\nexceptionally high place in the public examinations, and, rising at\nonce to a position of responsible authority, to mark himself out for\ncontinual promotion by the exercise of unfailing discretion and\nindomitable zeal. Having saved his country in a moment of acute\nnational danger, he contemplated accepting a title of unique\ndistinction and retiring to his native province, where he would build\nan adequate palace which he had already planned out down to the most\ntrivial detail. There he purposed spending the remainder of his life,\nreceiving frequent tokens of regard from the hand of the gratified\nEmperor, marrying an accomplished and refined wife who would doubtless\nbe one of the princesses of the Imperial House, and conscientiously\nregarding The Virtues throughout. The transition from this sumptuously\ncontrived residence to a damp arch in the city wall, and from the high\ndestiny indicated to the occupation of leading from place to place a\ncompany of sightless mendicants, had been neither instantaneous nor\npainless, but Yuen Yan had never for a moment wavered from the\nenlightened maxims which he had adopted as his guiding principles, nor\ndid he suffer unending trials to lessen his reverence for The Virtues.\n\u201cHaving set out with the full intention of becoming a wealthy\nmandarin, it would have been a small achievement to have reached that\nposition with unshattered ideals,\u201d he frequently remarked; \u201cbut having\nthus set out it is a matter for more than ordinary congratulation to\nhave fallen to the position of leading a string of blind beggars about\nthe city and still to retain unimpaired the ingenuous beliefs and\naspirations of youth.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless,\u201d replied his aged mother, whenever she chanced to overhear\nthis honourable reflection, \u201cdoubtless the foolish calf who innocently\nputs his foot into the jelly finds a like consolation. This person,\nhowever, would gladly exchange the most illimitable moral satisfaction\nengendered by acute poverty for a few of the material comforts of a\nsordid competence, nor would she hesitate to throw into the balance\nall the aspirations and improving sayings to be found within the\nClassics.\u201d\n\n\u201cEsteemed mother,\u201d protested Yan, \u201cmore than three thousand years ago\nthe royal philosopher Nin-hyo made the observation: \u2018Better an\nearth-lined cave from which the stars are visible than a golden pagoda\nroofed over with iniquity,\u2019 and the saying has stood the test of\ntime.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe remark would have carried a weightier conviction if the\nbroad-minded sovereign had himself first stood the test of lying for a\nfew years with enlarged joints and afflicted bones in the abode he so\nprudently recommended for others,\u201d replied his mother, and without\ngiving Yuen Yan any opportunity of bringing forward further proof of\ntheir highly-favoured destiny she betook herself to her own straw at\nthe farthest end of the arch.\n\nUp to this period of his life Yuen Yan\u2019s innate reverence and courtesy\nof manner had enabled him to maintain an impassive outlook in the face\nof every discouragement, but now he was exposed to a fresh series of\ntrials in addition to the unsympathetic attitude which his mother\nnever failed to unroll before him. It has already been expressed that\nYuen Yan\u2019s occupation and the manner by which he gained his livelihood\nconsisted in leading a number of blind mendicants about the streets of\nthe city and into the shops and dwelling-places of those who might\nreasonably be willing to pay in order to be relieved of their\npresence. In this profession Yan\u2019s venerating and custom-regarding\nnature compelled him to act as leaders of blind beggars had acted\nthroughout all historical times and far back into the dim recesses of\nlegendary epochs and this, in an era when the leisurely habits of the\npast were falling into disuse, and when rivals and competitors were\nspringing up on all sides, tended almost daily to decrease the\nproceeds of his labour and to sow an insidious doubt even in his\nunquestioning mind.\n\nIn particular, among those whom Yan regarded most objectionably was\none named Ho. Although only recently arrived in the city from a\ncountry beyond the Bitter Water, Ho was already known in every quarter\nboth to the merchants and stallkeepers, who trembled at his\napproaching shadow, and to the competing mendicants who now counted\ntheir cash with two fingers where they had before needed both hands.\nThis distressingly active person made no secret of his methods and\nintention; for, upon his arrival, he plainly announced that his object\nwas to make the foundations of benevolence vibrate like the strings of\na many-toned lute, and he compared his general progress through the\nhaunts of the charitably disposed to the passage of a highly-charged\nfirework through an assembly of meditative turtles. He was usually\nknown, he added, as \u201cthe rapidly-moving person,\u201d or \u201cthe one devoid of\noutline,\u201d and it soon became apparent that he was also quite destitute\nof all dignified restraint. Selecting the place of commerce of some\nwealthy merchant, Ho entered without hesitation and thrusting aside\nthe waiting customers he continued to strike the boards impatiently\nuntil he gained the attention of the chief merchant himself.\n\u201cHonourable salutations,\u201d he would say, \u201cbut do not entreat this\nilliterate person to enter the inner room, for he cannot tarry to\ndiscuss the movements of the planets or the sublime Emperor\u2019s health.\nBehold, for half-a-tael of silver you may purchase immunity from his\ndiscreditable persistence for seven days; here is the acknowledgement\nduly made out and attested. Let the payment be made in pieces of metal\nand not in paper obligations.\u201d Unless immediate compliance followed Ho\nat once began noisily to cast down the articles of commerce, to roll\nbodily upon the more fragile objects, to become demoniacally possessed\non the floor, and to resort to a variety of expedients until all the\ncustomers were driven forth in panic.\n\nIn the case of an excessively stubborn merchant he had not hesitated\nto draw a formidable knife and to gash himself in a superficial but\nvery imposing manner; then he had rushed out uttering cries of terror,\nand sinking down by the door had remained there for the greater part\nof the day, warning those who would have entered to be upon their\nguard against being enticed in and murdered, at the same time groaning\naloud and displaying his own wounds. Even this seeming disregard of\ntime was well considered, for when the tidings spread about the city\nother merchants did not wait for Ho to enter and greet them, but\nstanding at their doors money in hand they pressed it upon him the\nmoment he appeared and besought him to remove his distinguished\npresence from their plague-infected street. To the ordinary mendicants\nof the city this stress of competition was disastrous, but to Yuen Yan\nit was overwhelming. Thoroughly imbued with the deferential systems of\nantiquity, he led his band from place to place with a fitting regard\nfor the requirements of ceremonial etiquette and a due observance of\nleisurely unconcern. Those to whom he addressed himself he approached\nwith obsequious tact, and in the face of refusal to contribute to his\nstore his most violent expedient did not go beyond marshalling his\ncompany of suppliants in an orderly group upon the shop floor, where\nthey sang in unison a composed chant extolling the fruits of\nmunificence and setting forth the evil plight which would certainly\nattend the flinty-stomached in the Upper Air. In this way Yuen Yan had\nbeen content to devote several hours to a single shop in the hope of\nreceiving finally a few pieces of brass money; but now his\npersecutions were so mild that the merchants and vendors rather\nwelcomed him by comparison with the intolerable Ho, and would on no\naccount pay to be relieved of the infliction of his presence. \u201cHave we\nnot disbursed in one day to the piratical Ho thrice the sum which we\nhad set by to serve its purpose for a hand-count of moons; and do we\npossess the Great Secret?\u201d they cried. \u201cNevertheless, dispose your\nengaging band of mendicants about the place freely until it suits your\nrefined convenience to proceed elsewhere, O meritorious Yuen Yan, for\nyour unassuming qualities have won our consistent regard; but an\ninsatiable sponge has already been laid upon the well-spring of our\nbenevolence and the tenacity of our closed hand is inflexible.\u201d\n\nEven the passive mendicants began to murmur against his leadership,\nurging him that he should adopt some of the simpler methods of the\ngifted Ho and thereby save them all from an otherwise inevitable\nstarvation. The Emperor Kai-tsing, said the one who led their voices\n(referring in his malignant bitterness to a sovereign of the previous\ndynasty), was dead, although the fact had doubtless escaped Yuen Yan\u2019s\ndeliberate perception. The methods of four thousand years ago were\nbecoming obsolete in the face of a strenuous competition, and unless\nYuen Yan was disposed to assume a more highly-coiled appearance they\nmust certainly address themselves to another leader.\n\nIt was on this occasion that the incident took place which has passed\ndown in the form of an inspiriting proverb. Yuen Yan had\nconscientiously delivered at the door of his abode the last of his\ncompany and was turning his footsteps towards his own arch when he\nencountered the contumelious Ho, who was likewise returning at the\nclose of a day\u2019s mendicancy--but with this distinction: that, whereas\nHo was followed by two stalwart attendants carrying between them a\nsack full of money, Yan\u2019s share of his band\u2019s enterprise consisted\nsolely of one base coin of a kind which the charitable set aside for\nbestowing upon the blind and quite useless for all ordinary purposes\nof exchange. A few paces farther on Yan reached the Temple of the\nUnseen Forces and paused for a moment, as his custom was, to cast his\neyes up to the tablets engraved with The Virtues, before which some\ndevout person nightly hung a lantern. Goaded by a sudden impulse, Yan\nlooked each way about the deserted street, and perceiving that he was\nalone he deliberately extended his out-thrust tongue towards the\ninspired precepts. Then taking from an inner sleeve the base coin he\nflung it at the inscribed characters and observed with satisfaction\nthat it struck the verse beginning, \u201cThe Rewards of a Quiescent and\nMentally-introspective Life are Unbounded--\u201d\n\nWhen Yan entered his arch some hours later his mother could not fail\nto perceive that a subtle change had come over his manner of behaving.\nMuch of the leisurely dignity had melted out of his footsteps, and he\nwore his hat and outer garments at an angle which plainly testified\nthat he was a person who might be supposed to have a marked objection\nto returning home before the early hours of the morning. Furthermore,\nas he entered he was chanting certain melodious words by which he\nendeavoured to convey the misleading impression that his chief\namusement consisted in defying the official watchers of the town, and\nhe continually reiterated a claim to be regarded as \u201cone of the\nbeardless goats.\u201d Thus expressing himself, Yan sank down in his\nappointed corner and would doubtlessly soon have been floating\npeacefully in the Middle Distance had not the door been again thrown\nopen and a stranger named Chou-hu entered.\n\n\u201cProsperity!\u201d said Chou-hu courteously, addressing himself to Yan\u2019s\nmother. \u201cHave you eaten your rice? Behold, I come to lay before you a\nvery attractive proposal regarding your son.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe flower attracts the bee, but when he departs it is to his lips\nthat the honey clings,\u201d replied the woman cautiously; for after Yan\u2019s\nboastful words on entering she had a fear lest haply this person might\nbe one on behalf of some guardian of the night whom her son had flung\nacross the street (as he had specifically declared his habitual\ntreatment of them to be) come to take him by stratagem.\n\n\u201cDoes the pacific lamb become a wolf by night?\u201d said Chou-hu,\ndisplaying himself reassuringly. \u201cWrap your ears well round my words,\nfor they may prove very remunerative. It cannot be a matter outside\nyour knowledge that the profession of conducting an assembly of blind\nmendicants from place to place no longer yields the wage of even a\nfrugal existence in this city. In the future, for all the sympathy\nthat he will arouse, Yan might as well go begging with a silver bowl.\nIn consequence of his speechless condition he will be unable to\nsupport either you or himself by any other form of labour, and your\nline will thereupon become extinct and your standing in the Upper Air\nbe rendered intolerable.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a remote contingency, but, as the proverb says, \u2018The wise hen\nis never too old to dread the Spring,\u2019\u201d replied Yan\u2019s mother, with\ncommendable prudence. \u201cBy what means, then, may this calamity be\naverted?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe person before you,\u201d continued Chou-hu, \u201cis a barber and\nembellisher of pig-tails from the street leading to the Three-tiered\nPagoda of Eggs. He has long observed the restraint and moderation of\nYan\u2019s demeanour and now being in need of one to assist him his\nearliest thought turns to him. The affliction which would be an\ninsuperable barrier in all ordinary cases may here be used to\nadvantage, for being unable to converse with those seated before him,\nor to hear their salutations, Yan will be absolved from the necessity\nof engaging in diffuse and refined conversation, and in consequence he\nwill submit at least twice the number of persons to his dexterous\nenergies. In that way he will secure a higher reward than this person\ncould otherwise afford and many additional comforts will doubtless\nfall into the sleeve of his engaging mother.\u201d\n\nAt this point the woman began to understand that the sense in which\nChou-hu had referred to Yan\u2019s speechless condition was not that which\nshe had at the time deemed it to be. It may here be made clear that it\nwas Yuen Yan\u2019s custom to wear suspended about his neck an inscribed\nboard bearing the words, \u201cSpeechless, and devoid of the faculty of\nhearing,\u201d but this originated out of his courteous and deferential\nnature (for to his self-obliterative mind it did not seem respectful\nthat he should appear to be better endowed than those whom he led),\nnor could it be asserted that he wilfully deceived even the passing\nstranger, for he would freely enter into conversation with anyone whom\nhe encountered. Nevertheless an impression had thus been formed in\nChou-hu\u2019s mind and the woman forbore to correct it, thinking that it\nwould be scarcely polite to assert herself better informed on any\nsubject than he was, especially as he had spoken of Yan thereby\nreceiving a higher wage. Yan himself would certainly have revealed\nsomething had he not been otherwise employed. Hearing the conversation\nturn towards his afflictions, he at once began to search very\nindustriously among the straw upon which he lay for the inscribed\nboard in question; for to his somewhat confused imagination it seemed\nat the time that only by displaying it openly could he prove to\nChou-hu that he was in no way deficient. As the board was found on the\nfollowing morning nailed to the great outer door of the Hall of Public\nJustice (where it remained for many days owing to the official\nimpression that so bold and undeniable a pronouncement must have\nreceived the direct authority of the sublime Emperor), Yan was not\nunnaturally engaged for a considerable time, and in the meanwhile his\nmother contrived to impress upon him by an unmistakable sign that he\nshould reveal nothing, but leave the matter in her hands.\n\nThen said Yan\u2019s mother: \u201cTruly the proposal is not altogether wanting\nin alluring colours, but in what manner will Yan interpret the\ncommands of those who place themselves before him, when he has\nattained sufficient proficiency to be entrusted with the knife and the\nshearing irons?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe objection is a superficial one,\u201d replied Chou-hu. \u201cWhen a person\nseats himself upon the operating stool he either throws back his head,\nfixing his eyes upon the upper room with a set and resolute air, or\ninclines it slightly forward as in a reverent tranquillity. In the\nformer case he requires his uneven surfaces to be made smooth; in the\nlatter he is desirous that his pig-tail should be drawn out and\ntrimmed. Do not doubt Yan\u2019s capability to conduct himself in a\ndiscreet and becoming manner, but communicate to him, by the usual\nmeans which you adopt, the offer thus laid out, and unless he should\nbe incredibly obtuse or unfilial to a criminal degree he will present\nhimself at the Sign of the Gilt Thunderbolt at an early hour\nto-morrow.\u201d\n\nThere is a prudent caution expressed in the proverb, \u201cThe hand that\nfeeds the ox grasps the knife when it is fattened: crawl backwards\nfrom the presence of a munificent official.\u201d Chou-hu, in spite of his\nplausible pretext, would have experienced no difficulty in obtaining\nthe services of one better equipped to assist him than was Yuen Yan,\nso that in order to discover his real object it becomes necessary to\nlook underneath his words. He was indeed, as he had stated, a barber\nand an embellisher of pig-tails, and for many years he had grown rich\nand round-bodied on the reputation of being one of the most skilful\nwithin his quarter of the city. In an evil moment, however, he had\nabandoned the moderation of his past life and surrounded himself with\nan atmosphere of opium smoke and existed continually in the\nmind-dimming effects of rice-spirit. From this cause his custom began\nto languish; his hand no longer swept in the graceful and unhesitating\ncurves which had once been the admiration of all beholders, but\ndisplayed on the contrary a very disconcerting irregularity of\nmovement, and on the day of his visit he had shorn away the venerable\nmoustaches of the baker Heng-cho under a mistaken impression as to the\nreality of things and a wavering vision of their exact position. Now\nthe baker had been inordinately proud of his long white moustaches and\nvalued them above all his possessions, so that, invoking the spirits\nof his ancestors to behold his degradation and to support him in his\nresolve, and calling in all the passers-by to bear witness to his\noath, he had solemnly bound himself either to cut down Chou-hu\nfatally, or, should that prove too difficult an accomplishment, to\ncommit suicide within his shop. This twofold danger thoroughly\nstupefied Chou-hu and made him incapable of taking any action beyond\nconsuming further and more unstinted portions of rice-spirit and\nrending article after article of his apparel until his wife Tsae-che\nmodestly dismissed such persons as loitered, and barred the outer\ndoor.\n\n\u201cOpen your eyes upon the facts by which you are surrounded, O\ncontemptible Chou-hu,\u201d she said, returning to his side and standing\nover him. \u201cAlready your degraded instincts have brought us within\nmeasurable distance of poverty, and if you neglect your business to\navoid Heng-cho, actual want will soon beset us. If you remain openly\nwithin his sight you will certainly be removed forcibly to the Upper\nAir, leaving this inoffensive person destitute and abandoned, and if\nby the exercise of unfailing vigilance you escape both these dangers,\nyou will be reserved to an even worse plight, for Heng-cho in\ndesperation will inevitably carry out the latter part of his threat,\ndedicating his spirit to the duty of continually haunting you and\nfrustrating your ambitions here on earth and calling to his assistance\nmyriads of ancestors and relations to torment you in the Upper Air.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow attractively and in what brilliantly-coloured outlines do you\npresent the various facts of existence!\u201d exclaimed Chou-hu, with\ninelegant resentment. \u201cDo not neglect to add that, to-morrow being the\noccasion of the Moon Festival, the inexorable person who owns this\nresidence will present himself to collect his dues, that, in\nconsequence of the rebellion in the south, the sagacious viceroy has\ndoubled the price of opium, that some irredeemable outcast has carried\naway this person\u2019s blue silk umbrella, and then doubtless the alluring\npicture of internal felicity around the Ancestral Altar of the Gilt\nThunderbolt will be complete.\u201d\n\n\u201cLight words are easily spoken behind barred doors,\u201d said his wife\nscornfully. \u201cLet my lord, then, recline indolently upon the floor of\nhis inner chamber while this person sumptuously lulls him into\noblivion with the music of her voice, regardless of the morrow and of\nthe fate in which his apathy involves us both.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy no means!\u201d exclaimed Chou-hu, rising hastily and tearing away much\nof his elaborately arranged pigtail in his uncontrollable rage; \u201cthere\nis yet a more pleasurable alternative than that and one which will\nensure to this person a period of otherwise unattainable domestic calm\nand at the same time involve a detestable enemy in confusion.\nAnticipating the dull-witted Heng-cho _this_ one will now proceed\nacross the street and, committing suicide within _his_ door, will\nhenceforth enjoy the honourable satisfaction of haunting _his_\nfootsteps and rending his bakehouses and ovens untenable.\u201d With this\nassurance Chou-hu seized one of his most formidable business weapons\nand caused it to revolve around his head with great rapidity, but at\nthe same time with extreme carefulness.\n\n\u201cThere is a ready saying: \u2018The new-born lamb does not fear a tiger,\nbut before he becomes a sheep he will flee from a wolf,\u2019\u201d said\nTsae-che without in any way deeming it necessary to arrest Chou-hu\u2019s\nhand. \u201cFull confidently will you set out, O Chou-hu, but to reach the\nshop of Heng-cho it is necessary to pass the stall of the dealer in\nabandoned articles, and next to it are enticingly spread out the wares\nof Kong, the merchant in distilled spirits. Put aside your reliable\nscraping iron while you still have it, and this not ill-disposed\nperson will lay before you a plan by which you may even yet avoid all\ninconveniences and at the same time regain your failing commerce.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is also said: \u2018The advice of a wise woman will ruin a walled\ncity,\u2019\u201d replied Chou-hu, somewhat annoyed at his wife so opportunely\ncomparing him to a sheep, but still more concerned to hear by what\npossible expedient she could successfully avert all the contending\ndangers of his position. \u201cNevertheless, proceed.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn one of the least reputable quarters of the city there dwells a\nperson called Yuen Yan,\u201d said the woman. \u201cHe is the leader of a band\nof sightless mendicants and in this position he has frequently passed\nyour open door, though--probably being warned by the benevolent--he\nhas never yet entered. Now this Yuen Yan, save for one or two\nunimportant details, is the reflected personification of your own\nexalted image, nor would those most intimate with your form and\noutline be able to pronounce definitely unless you stood side by side\nbefore them. Furthermore, he is by nature unable to hear any remark\naddressed to him, and is incapable of expressing himself in spoken\nwords. Doubtless by these indications my lord\u2019s locust-like\nintelligence will already have leapt to an inspired understanding of\nthe full project?\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly,\u201d replied Chou-hu, caressing himself approvingly. \u201cThe\nessential details of the scheme are built about the ease with which\nthis person could present himself at the abode of Yuen Yan in his\nabsence and, gathering together that one\u2019s store of wealth\nunquestioned, retire with it to a distant and unknown spot and thereby\nelude the implacable Heng-cho\u2019s vengeance.\u201d\n\n\u201cLeaving your menial one in the \u2018walled city\u2019 referred to, to share\nits fate, and, in particular, to undertake the distressing obligation\nof gathering up the atrocious Heng-cho after he has carried his final\nthreat into effect? Truly must the crystal stream of your usually\nundimmed intelligence have become vaporized. Listen well. Disguising\nyour external features slightly so that the resemblance may pass\nwithout remark, present yourself openly at the residence of the Yuen\nYan in question--\u201d\n\n\u201cFirst learning where it is situated?\u201d interposed Chou-hu, with a\ndesire to grasp the details competently.\n\n\u201cUnless a person of your retrospective taste would prefer to leave so\ntrivial a point until afterwards,\u201d replied his wife in a tone of\nconcentrated no-sincerity. \u201cIn either case, however, having arrived\nthere, bargain with the one who has authority over Yuen Yan\u2019s\nmovements, praising his demeanour and offering to accept him into the\nhonours and profits of your craft. The words of acquiescence should\nspring to meet your own, for the various branches of mendicancy are\nlanguishing, and Yuen Yan can have no secret store of wealth. Do not\nhesitate to offer a higher wage than you would as an affair of\nordinary commerce, for your safety depends upon it. Having secured\nYan, teach him quickly the unpolished outlines of your business and\nthen clothing him in robes similar to your own let him take his stand\nwithin the shop and withdraw yourself to the inner chamber. None will\nsuspect the artifice, and Yuen Yan is manifestly incapable of\nbetraying it. Heng-cho, seeing him display himself openly, will not\ndeem it necessary to commit suicide yet, and, should he cut down Yan\nfatally, the officials of the street will seize him and your own\nsafety will be assured. Finally, if nothing particular happens, at\nleast your prosperity will be increased, for Yuen Yan will prove\n_industrious_, _frugal_, _not addicted to excesses_ and in every way\n_reliable_, and towards the shop of so exceptional a barber customers\nwill turn in an unending stream.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed Chou-hu, \u201cwhen you boasted of an inspired scheme\nthis person for a moment foolishly allowed his mind to contemplate the\npossibility of your having accidentally stumbled upon such an\nexpedient haply, but your suggestion is only comparable with a company\nof ducks attempting to cross an ice-bound stream--an excessive outlay\nof action but no beneficial progress. Should Yuen Yan freely present\nhimself here on the morrow, pleading destitution and craving to be\nemployed, this person will consider the petition with an open head,\nbut it is beneath his dignity to wait upon so low-class an object.\u201d\n Affecting to recollect an arranged meeting of some importance, Chou-hu\nthen clad himself in other robes, altered the appearance of his face,\nand set out to act in the manner already described, confident that the\nexact happening would never reach his lesser one\u2019s ears.\n\nOn the following day Yuen Yan presented himself at the door of the\nGilt Thunderbolt, and quickly perfecting himself in the simpler\nmethods of smoothing surfaces and adorning pig-tails he took his stand\nwithin the shop and operated upon all who came to submit themselves to\nhis embellishment. To those who addressed him with salutations he\nreplied by a gesture, tactfully bestowing an agreeable welcome yet at\nthe same time conveying the impression that he was desirous of\nremaining undisturbed in the philosophical reflection upon which he\nwas engaged. In spite of this it was impossible to lead his mind\nastray from any weighty detail, and those who, presuming upon his\nabsorbed attitude, endeavoured to evade a just payment on any pretext\nwhatever invariably found themselves firmly but courteously pressed to\nthe wall by the neck, while a highly polished smoothing blade was\nflashed to and fro before their eyes with an action of unmistakable\nsignificance. The number of customers increased almost daily, for Yan\nquickly proved himself to be expert above all comparison, while others\ncame from every quarter of the city to test with their own eyes and\nears the report that had reached them, to the effect that in the\nstreet leading to the Three-tiered Pagoda of Eggs there dwelt a barber\nwho made no pretence of elegant and refined conversation and who did\nnot even press upon those lying helpless in his power miraculous\nointments and infallible charm-waters. Thus Chou-hu prospered greatly,\nbut Yan still obeyed his mother\u2019s warning and raised a mask before his\nface so that Chou-hu and his wife never doubted the reality of his\ninfirmities. From this cause they did not refrain from conversing\ntogether freely before him on subjects of the most poignant detail,\nwhereby Yan learned much of their past lives and conduct while\nmaintaining an attitude of impassive unconcern.\n\nUpon a certain evening in the month when the grass-blades are\ntransformed into silk-worms Yan was alone in the shop, improving the\nedge and reflecting brilliance of some of his implements, when he heard\nthe woman exclaim from the inner room: \u201cTruly the air from the desert\nis as hot and devoid of relief as the breath of the Great Dragon. Let\nus repose for the time in the outer chamber.\u201d Whereupon they entered\nthe shop and seating themselves upon a couch resumed their\noccupations, the barber fanning himself while he smoked, his wife\ngumming her hair and coiling it into the semblance of a bird with\noutstretched wings.\n\n\u201cThe necessity for the elaborate caution of the past no longer\nexists,\u201d remarked Chou-hu presently. \u201cThe baker Heng-cho is desirous\nof becoming one of those who select the paving-stones and regulate the\nnumber of hanging lanterns for the district lying around the\nThree-tiered Pagoda. In this ambition he is opposed by Kong, the\ndistilled-spirit vendor, who claims to be a more competent judge of\npaving-stones and hanging lanterns and one who will exercise a\nlynx-eyed vigilance upon the public outlay and especially devote\nhimself to curbing the avarice of those bread-makers who habitually\nmix powdered white earth with their flour. Heng-cho is therefore very\nconcerned that many should bear honourable testimony of his engaging\nqualities when the day of trial arrives, and thus positioned he has\ninscribed and sent to this person a written message offering a\ndignified reconciliation and adding that he is convinced of the\nnecessity of an enactment compelling all persons to wear a smooth face\nand a neatly braided pig-tail.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a creditable solution of the matter,\u201d said Tsae-che, speaking\nbetween the ivory pins which she held in her mouth. \u201cHenceforth, then,\nyou will take up your accustomed stand as in the past?\u201d\n\n\u201cUndoubtedly,\u201d replied Chou-hu. \u201cYuen Yan is painstaking, and has\nperhaps done as well as could be expected of one of his shallow\nintellect, but the absence of suave and high-minded conversation\ncannot fail to be alienating the custom of the more polished. Plainly\nit is a short-sighted policy for a person to try and evade his destiny.\nYan seems to have been born for the express purpose of leading blind\nbeggars about the streets of the city and to that profession he must\nreturn.\u201d\n\n\u201cO distressingly superficial Chou-hu!\u201d exclaimed his wife, \u201cdo men\nturn willingly from wine to partake of vinegar, or having been clothed\nin silk do they accept sackcloth without a struggle? Indeed, your\neyes, which are large to regard your own deeds and comforts, grow\nsmall when they are turned towards the attainments of another. In no\ncase will Yan return to his mendicants, for his band is by this time\nscattered and dispersed. His sleeve being now well lined and his hand\nproficient in every detail of his craft, he will erect a stall,\nperchance even directly opposite or next to ourselves, and by\nsubtlety, low charges and diligence he will draw away the greater part\nof your custom.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d cried Chou-hu, turning an exceedingly inferior yellow, \u201cthere\nis a deeper wisdom in the proverb, \u2018Do not seek to escape from a flood\nby clinging to a tiger\u2019s tail,\u2019 than appears at a casual glance. Now\nthat this person is contemplating gathering again into his own hands\nthe execution of his business, he cannot reasonably afford to employ\nanother, yet it is an intolerable thought that Yan should make use of\nhis experience to set up a sign opposed to the Gilt Thunderbolt.\nObviously the only really safe course out of an unpleasant dilemma\nwill be to slay Yan with as little delay as possible. After receiving\ncontinuous marks of our approval for so long it is certainly very\nthoughtless of him to put us to so unpardonable an inconvenience.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not an alluring alternative,\u201d confessed Tsae-che, crossing the\nroom to where Yan was seated in order to survey her hair to greater\nadvantage in a hanging mirror of three sides composed of burnished\ncopper; \u201cbut there seems nothing else to be done in the difficult\ncircumstances.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe street is opportunely empty and there is little likelihood of\nanyone approaching at this hour,\u201d suggested Chou-hu. \u201cWhat better\nscheme could be devised than that I should indicate to Yan by signs\nthat I would honour him, and at the same time instruct him further in\nthe correct pose of some of the recognized attitudes, by making smooth\nthe surface of his face? Then during the operation I might perchance\nslip upon an overripe whampee lying unperceived upon the floor; my\nhand--\u201d\n\n\u201cAh-_ah_!\u201d cried Tsae-che aloud, pressing her symmetrical fingers\nagainst her gracefully-proportioned ears; \u201cdo not, thou dragon-headed\none, lead the conversation to such an extremity of detail, still less\ncarry the resolution into effect before the very eyes of this\ndelicately-susceptible person. Now to-morrow, after the midday meal,\nshe will be journeying as far as the street of the venders of woven\nfabrics in order to procure a piece of silk similar to the pearl-grey\nrobe which she is wearing. The opportunity will be a favourable one,\nfor to-morrow is the weekly occasion on which you raise the shutters\nand deny customers at an earlier hour; and it is really more modest\nthat one of my impressionable refinement should be away from the house\naltogether and not merely in the inner chamber when that which is now\nhere passes out.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe suggestion is well timed,\u201d replied Chou-hu. \u201cNo interruption will\nthen be possible.\u201d\n\n\u201cFurthermore,\u201d continued his wife, sprinkling upon her hair a perfumed\npowder of gold which made it sparkle as it engaged the light at every\npoint with a most entrancing lustre, \u201cwould it not be desirable to use\na weapon less identified with your own hand? In the corner nearest to\nYan there stands a massive and heavily knotted club which could\nafterwards be burned. It would be an easy matter to call the simple\nYan\u2019s attention to some object upon the floor and then as he bent down\nsuffer him to Pass Beyond.\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly,\u201d agreed Chou-hu, at once perceiving the wisdom of the\nchange; \u201calso, in that case, there would be less--\u201d\n\n\u201c_Ah_!\u201d again cried the woman, shaking her upraised finger reprovingly\nat Chou-hu (for so daintily endowed was her mind that she shrank from\nany of the grosser realities of the act unless they were clothed in\nthe very gilded flowers of speech). \u201cDesist, O crimson-minded\nbarbarian! Let us now walk side by side along the river bank and drink\nin the soul-stirring melody of the musicians who at this hour will be\nmaking the spot doubly attractive with the concord of stringed woods\nand instruments of brass struck with harmonious unison.\u201d\n\nThe scheme for freeing Chou-hu from the embarrassment of Yan\u2019s position\nwas not really badly arranged, nor would it have failed in most cases,\nbut the barber was not sufficiently broad-witted to see that many of\nthe inspired sayings which he used as arguments could be taken in\nanother light and conveyed a decisive warning to himself. A pleasantly\ndevised proverb has been aptly compared to a precious jewel, and as\nthe one has a hundred light-reflecting surfaces, so has the other a\ndiversity of applications, until it is not infrequently beyond the\ncomprehension of an ordinary person to know upon which side wisdom and\nprudence lie. On the following afternoon Yan was seated in his\naccustomed corner when Chou-hu entered the shop with uneven feet. The\nbarriers against the street had been raised and the outer door was\nbarred so that none might intrude, while Chou-hu had already carefully\nexamined the walls to ensure that no crevices remained unsealed. As he\nentered he was seeking, somewhat incoherently, to justify himself by\nassuring the deities that he had almost changed his mind until he\nremembered the many impious acts on Yan\u2019s part in the past, to avenge\nwhich he felt himself to be their duly appointed instrument.\nFurthermore, to convince them of the excellence of his motive (and\nalso to protect himself against the influence of evil spirits) he\nadvanced repeating the words of an invocation which in his youth he\nhad been accustomed to say daily in the temple, and thereupon Yan knew\nthat the moment was at hand.\n\n\u201cBehold, master!\u201d he exclaimed suddenly, in clearly expressed words,\n\u201csomething lies at your feet.\u201d\n\nChou-hu looked down to the floor and lying before him was a piece of\nsilver. To his dull and confused faculties it sounded an inaccurate\ndetail of his pre-arranged plan that Yan should have addressed him,\nand the remark itself seemed dimly to remind him of something that he\nhad intended to say, but he was too involved with himself to be able\nto attach any logical significance to the facts and he at once stooped\ngreedily to possess the coin. Then Yan, who had an unfaltering grasp\nupon the necessities of each passing second, sprang agilely forward,\nswung the staff, and brought it so proficiently down upon Chou-hu\u2019s\nlowered head that the barber dropped lifeless to the ground and the\nweapon itself was shattered by the blow. Without a pause Yan clothed\nhimself with his master\u2019s robes and ornaments, wrapped his own garment\nabout Chou-hu instead, and opening a stone door let into the ground\nrolled the body through so that it dropped down into the cave beneath.\nHe next altered the binding of his hair a little, cut his lips deeply\nfor a set purpose, and then reposing upon the couch of the inner\nchamber he took up one of Chou-hu\u2019s pipes and awaited Tsae-che\u2019s\nreturn.\n\n\u201cIt is unendurable that they of the silk market should be so\nill-equipped,\u201d remarked Tsae-che discontentedly as she entered. \u201cThis\npitiable one has worn away the heels of her sandals in a vain\nendeavour to procure a suitable embroidery, and has turned over the\ncontents of every stall to no material end. How have the events of the\nday progressed with you, my lord?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the fulfilling of a written destiny. Yet in a measure darkly, for\na light has gone out,\u201d replied Yuen Yan.\n\n\u201cThere was no unanticipated divergence?\u201d inquired the woman with\ninterest and a marked approval of this delicate way of expressing the\noperation of an unpleasant necessity.\n\n\u201cFrom detail to detail it was as this person desired and contrived,\u201d\n said Yan.\n\n\u201cAnd, of a surety, this one also?\u201d claimed Tsae-che, with an internal\nemotion that something was insidiously changed in which she had no\nadequate part.\n\n\u201cThe language may be fully expressed in six styles of writing, but who\nshall read the mind of a woman?\u201d replied Yan evasively. \u201cNevertheless,\nin explicit words, the overhanging shadow has departed and the future\nis assured.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d said Tsae-che. \u201cYet how altered is your voice, and for\nwhat reason do you hold a cloth before your mouth?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe staff broke and a splinter flying upwards pierced my lips,\u201d said\nYan, lowering the cloth. \u201cYou speak truly, for the pain attending each\nword is by no means slight, and scarcely can this person recognize his\nown voice.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, incomparable Chou-hu, how valiantly do you bear your sufferings!\u201d\n exclaimed Tsae-che remorsefully. \u201cAnd while this heedless one has been\npassing the time pleasantly in handling rich brocades you have been\nlying here in anguish. Behold now, without delay she will prepare food\nto divert your mind, and to mark the occasion she had already\npurchased a little jar of gold-fish gills, two eggs branded with the\nassurance that they have been earth-buried for eleven years, and a\nsmall serpent preserved in oil.\u201d\n\nWhen they had eaten for some time in silence Yuen Yan again spoke.\n\u201cAttend closely to my words,\u201d he said, \u201cand if you perceive any\ndisconcerting oversight in the scheme which I am about to lay before\nyou do not hesitate to declare it. The threat which Heng-cho the baker\nswore he swore openly, and many reputable witnesses could be gathered\ntogether who would confirm his words, while the written message of\nreconciliation which he sent will be known to none. Let us therefore\ntake that which lies in the cave beneath and clothing it in my robes\nbear it unperceived as soon as the night has descended and leave it in\nthe courtyard of Heng-cho\u2019s house. Now Heng-cho has a fig plantation\noutside the city, so that when he rises early, as his custom is, and\nfinds the body, he will carry it away to bury it secretly there,\nremembering his impetuous words and well knowing the net of entangling\ncircumstances which must otherwise close around him. At that moment\nyou will appear before him, searching for your husband, and suspecting\nhis burden raise an outcry that may draw the neighbours to your side\nif necessary. On this point, however, be discreetly observant, for if\nthe tumult calls down the official watch it will go evilly with\nHeng-cho, but we shall profit little. The greater likelihood is that\nas soon as you lift up your voice the baker will implore you to\naccompany him back to his house so that he may make a full and\nhonourable compensation. This you will do, and hastening the\nnegotiation as much as is consistent with a seemly regard for your\noverwhelming grief, you will accept not less than five hundred taels\nand an undertaking that a suitable funeral will be provided.\u201d\n\n\u201cO thrice-versatile Chou-hu!\u201d exclaimed Tsae-che, whose eyes had\nreflected an ever-increasing sparkle of admiration as Yan unfolded the\ndetails of his scheme, \u201chow insignificant are the minds of others\ncompared with yours! Assuredly you have been drinking at some magic\nwell in this one\u2019s absence, for never before was your intellect so\nkeen and lustreful. Let us at once carry your noble stratagem into\neffect, for this person\u2019s toes vibrate to bear her on a project of\nsuch remunerative ingenuity.\u201d\n\nAccordingly they descended into the cave beneath and taking up Chou-hu\nthey again dressed him in his own robes. In his inner sleeve Yan\nplaced some parchments of slight importance; he returned the jade\nbracelet to his wrist and by other signs he made his identity\nunmistakable; then lifting him between them, when the night was well\nadvanced, they carried him through unfrequented ways and left him\nunperceived within Heng-cho\u2019s gate.\n\n\u201cThere is yet another precaution which will ensure to you the\nsympathetic voices of all if it should become necessary to appeal\nopenly,\u201d said Yuen Yan when they had returned. \u201cI will make out a deed\nof final intention conferring all I possess upon Yuen Yan as a mark of\nesteem for his conscientious services, and this you can produce if\nnecessary in order to crush the niggard baker in the wine-press of\nyour necessitous destitution.\u201d Thereupon Yan drew up such a document\nas he had described, signing it with Chou-hu\u2019s name and sealing it\nwith his ring, while Tsae-che also added her sign and attestation. He\nthen sent her to lurk upon the roof, strictly commanding her to keep\nan undeviating watch upon Heng-cho\u2019s movements.\n\nIt was about the hour before dawn when Heng-cho appeared, bearing\nacross his back a well-filled sack and carrying in his right hand a\nspade. His steps were turned towards the fig orchard of which Yan had\nspoken, so that he must pass Chou-hu\u2019s house, but before he reached it\nTsae-che had glided out and with loosened hair and trailing robes she\nsped along the street. Presently there came to Yuen Yan\u2019s waiting ear\na long-drawn cry and the sounds of many shutters being flung open and\nthe tread of hurrying feet. The moments hung about him like the wings\nof a dragon-dream, but a prudent restraint chained him to the inner\nchamber.\n\nIt was fully light when Tsae-che returned, accompanied by one whom she\ndismissed before she entered. \u201cFelicity,\u201d she explained, placing\nbefore Yan a heavy bag of silver. \u201cYour word has been accomplished.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is sufficient,\u201d replied Yan in a tone from which every tender\nmodulation was absent, as he laid the silver by the side of the\nparchment which he had drawn up. \u201cFor what reason is the outer door\nnow barred and they who drink tea with us prevented from entering to\nwish Yuen Yan prosperity?\u201d\n\n\u201cStrange are my lord\u2019s words, and the touch of his breath is cold to\nhis menial one,\u201d said the woman in doubting reproach.\n\n\u201cIt will scarcely warm even the roots of Heng-cho\u2019s fig-trees,\u201d\n replied Yuen Yan with unveiled contempt. \u201cStretch across your hand.\u201d\n\nIn trembling wonder Tsae-che laid her hand upon the ebony table which\nstood between them and slowly advanced it until Yan seized it and held\nit firmly in his own. For a moment he held it, compelling the woman to\ngaze with a soul-crushing dread into his face, then his features\nrelaxed somewhat from the effort by which he had controlled them, and\nat the sight Tsae-che tore away her hand and with a scream which\ncaused those outside to forget the memory of every other cry they had\never heard, she cast herself from the house and was seen in the city\nno more.\n\nThese are the pages of the forgotten incident in the life of Yuen Yan\nwhich this narrator has sought out and discovered. Elsewhere, in the\nlesser Classics, it may be read that the person in question afterwards\nlived to a venerable age and finally Passed Above surrounded by every\nluxury, after leading an existence consistently benevolent and marked\nby an even exceptional adherence to the principles and requirements of\nThe Virtues.\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER X\n\n          The Incredible Obtuseness of Those who had Opposed\n                        the Virtuous Kai Lung\n\nIt was later than the appointed hour that same day when Kai Lung and\nHwa-mei met about the shutter, for the Mandarin\u2019s importunity had\ndisturbed the harmonious balance of their fixed arrangement. As the\nstory-teller left the inner chamber a message of understanding, veiled\nfrom those who stood around, had passed between their eyes, and so\ncomplete was the sympathy that now directed them that without a spoken\nword their plans were understood. Li-loe\u2019s acquiescence had been\nsecured by the bestowal of a flask of wine (provided already by\nHwa-mei against such an emergency), and though the door-keeper had\nindicated reproach by a variety of sounds, he forbore from speaking\nopenly of any vaster store.\n\n\u201cLet the bitterness of this one\u2019s message be that which is first\nspoken, so that the later and more enduring words of our remembrance\nmay be devoid of sting. A star has shone across my mediocre path which\nnow an envious cloud has conspired to obscure. This meeting will\ndoubtless be our last.\u201d\n\nThen replied Kai Lung from the darkness of the space above, his voice\nunhurried as its wont:\n\n\u201cIf this is indeed the end, then to the spirits of the destinies I\nprostrate myself in thanks for those golden hours that have gone\nbefore, and had there been no others to recall then would I equally\naccount myself repaid in life and death by this.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy words ascend with yours in a pale spiral to the bosom of the\nuniversal mother,\u201d Hwa-mei made response. \u201cI likewise am content,\nhaving tasted this felicity.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is yet one other thing, esteemed, if such a presumption is to\nbe endured,\u201d Kai Lung ventured to request. \u201cEach day a stone has been\ndisplaced from off the wall and these now lie about your gentle feet.\nIf you should inconvenience yourself to the extent of standing upon\nthe mound thus raised, and would stretch up your hand, I, leaning\nforth, could touch it with my finger-tips.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis also will I dare to do and feel it no reproach,\u201d replied\nHwa-mei; thus for the first time their fingers met.\n\n\u201cLet me now continue the ignoble message that my unworthy lips must\nbear,\u201d resumed the maiden, with a gesture of refined despair.\n\u201cMing-shu and Shan Tien, recognizing a mutual need in each, have\nagreed to forego their wordy strife and have entered upon a common\ncause. To mark this reconciliation the Mandarin to-morrow night will\nmake a feast of wine and song in honour of Ming-shu and into this\nassembly you will be led, bound and wearing the wooden cang, to\ncontribute to their offensive mirth. To this end you will not be\narraigned to-morrow, but on the following morning at a special court\nswift sentence will be passed and carried out, neither will Shan Tien\nsuffer any interruption nor raise an arresting hand.\u201d\n\nThe darkness by this time encompassed them so that neither could see\nthe other\u2019s face, but across the scent-laden air Hwa-mei was conscious\nof a subtle change, as of a poise or the tightening of a responsive\ncord.\n\n\u201cThis is the end?\u201d she whispered up, unable to sustain. \u201cAh, is it not\nthe end?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the high wall of destiny that bounds our lives there is ever a\nhidden gap to which the Pure Ones may guide our unconscious steps\nperchance, if they see fit to intervene. . . . So that to-morrow,\nbeing the eleventh of the Moon of Gathering-in, is to be celebrated by\nthe noble Mandarin with song and wine? Truly the nimble-witted\nMing-shu must have slumbered by the way!\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly he has but now returned from a long journey.\u201d\n\n\u201cHaply he may start upon a longer. Have the musicians been commanded\nyet?\u201d\n\n\u201cEven now one goes to inform the leader of their voices and to bid him\nhold his band in readiness.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet it be your continual aim that nothing bars their progress. Where\ndoes that just official dwell of whom you lately spoke?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Censor K\u2019o-yih, he who rebuked Shan Tien\u2019s ambitions and made him\nmend his questionable life? His yamen is about the Three-eyed Gate of\nTai, a half-day\u2019s journey to the south.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe lines converge and the issues of Shan Tien, Ming-shu and we who\nlinger here will presently be brought to a very decisive point where\neach must play a clear-cut part. To that end is your purpose firm?\u201d\n\n\u201cLay your commands,\u201d replied Hwa-mei steadfastly, \u201cand measure not the\nburden of their weight.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d agreed Kai Lung. \u201cLet Shan Tien give the feast and the\ntime of acquiescence will have passed. . . . The foothold of to-morrow\nlooms insecure, yet a very pressing message must meanwhile reach your\nhands.\u201d\n\n\u201cAt the feast?\u201d\n\n\u201cThus: about the door of the inner hall are two great jars of shining\nbrass, one on either side, and at their approach a step. Being led, at\nthat step I shall stumble. . . . the message you will thereafter find\nin the jar from which I seek support.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be to me as your spoken word. Alas! the moment of recall is\nalready here.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubt not; we stand on the edge of an era that is immeasurable. For\nthat emergency I now go to consult the spirits who have so far guided\nus.\u201d\n\nOn the following day at an evening hour Kai Lung received an imperious\nsummons to accompany one who led him to the inner courts. Yet neither\nthe cords about his arms nor the pillory around his neck could contain\nthe gladness of his heart. From within came the sounds of instruments\nof wood and string with the measured beating of a drum; nothing had\nfallen short, for on that forbidden day, incredibly blind to the\ndepths of his impiety, the ill-starred Mandarin Shan Tien was having\nmusic!\n\n\u201cGall of a misprocured she-mule!\u201d exclaimed the unsympathetic voice of\nthe one who had charge of him, and the rope was jerked to quicken his\nloitering feet. In an effort to comply Kai Lung missed the step that\ncrossed his path and stumbling blindly forward would have fallen had\nhe not struck heavily against a massive jar of lacquered brass, one of\ntwo that flanked the door.\n\n\u201cThy province is to tell a tale rather than to dance a grotesque, as I\nunderstand the matter,\u201d said the attendant, mollified by the\namusement. \u201cIn any case, restrain thy admitted ardour for a while;\nthe call is not yet for us.\u201d\n\nFrom a group that stood apart some distance from the door one moved\nforth and leisurely crossed the hall. Kai Lung\u2019s wounded head ceased\nto pain him.\n\n\u201cWhat slave is this,\u201d she demanded of the other in a slow and level\ntone, \u201cand wherefore do the two of you intrude on this occasion?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe exalted lord commands that this one of the prisoners should\nattend here thus, to divert them with his fancies, he having a certain\nwit of the more foolish kind. Kai Lung, the dog\u2019s name is.\u201d\n\n\u201cApproach yet nearer to the inner door,\u201d enjoined the maiden,\nindicating the direction; \u201cso that when the message comes there shall\nbe no inept delay.\u201d As they moved off to obey she stood in languid\nunconcern, leaning across the opening of a tall brass vase, one hand\nswinging idly in its depths, until they reached their station. Kai\nLung did not need his eyes to know.\n\nPresently the music ceased, and summoned to appear in turn, Kai Lung\nstood forth among the guests. On the right hand of the Mandarin\nreclined the base Ming-shu, his mind already vapoury with the fumes of\nwine, the secret malice of his envious mind now boldly leaping from\nhis eyes.\n\n\u201cThe overrated person now about to try your refined patience to its\nlimit is one who calls himself Kai Lung,\u201d declared Ming-shu\noffensively. \u201cFrom an early age he has combined minstrelsy with other\nand more lucrative forms of crime. It is the boast of this\ncontumacious mendicant that he can recite a story to fit any set of\ncircumstances, this, indeed, being the only merit claimed for his\nfeeble entertainment. The test selected for your tolerant amusement on\nthis very second-rate occasion is that he relates the story of a\npresuming youth who fixes his covetous hopes upon one so far above his\ndegraded state that she and all who behold his uncouth efforts are\nconsumed by helpless laughter. Ultimately he is to be delivered to a\nsevere but well-earned death by a conscientious official whose\nleisurely purpose is to possess the maiden for himself. Although\noccasionally bordering on the funereal, the details of the narrative\nare to be of a light and gravity-removing nature on the whole.\nProceed.\u201d\n\nThe story-teller made obeisance towards the Mandarin, whose face\nmeanwhile revealed a complete absence of every variety of emotion.\n\n\u201cHave I your genial permission to comply, nobility?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cThe word is spoken,\u201d replied Shan Tien unwillingly. \u201cLet the vaunt be\njustified.\u201d\n\n\u201cI obey, High Excellence. This involves the story of Hien and the\nChief Examiner.\u201d\n\n\n               The Story of Hien and the Chief Examiner\n\nIn the reign of the Emperor K\u2019ong there lived at Ho Chow an official\nnamed Thang-li, whose degree was that of Chief Examiner of Literary\nCompetitions for the district. He had an only daughter, Fa Fei, whose\nmind was so liberally stored with graceful accomplishments as to give\nrise to the saying that to be in her presence was more refreshing than\nto sit in a garden of perfumes listening to the wisdom of seven\nelderly philosophers, while her glossy floating hair, skin of crystal\nlustre, crescent nails and feet smaller and more symmetrical than an\nopening lotus made her the most beautiful creature in all Ho Chow.\nPossessing no son, and maintaining an open contempt towards all his\nnearer relations, it had become a habit for Thang-li to converse with\nhis daughter almost on terms of equality, so that she was not\nsurprised on one occasion, when, calling her into his presence, he\ngraciously commanded her to express herself freely on whatever subject\nseemed most important in her mind.\n\n\u201cThe Great Middle Kingdom in which we live is not only inhabited by\nthe most enlightened, humane and courteous-minded race, but is itself\nfittingly the central and most desirable point of the Universe,\nsurrounded by other less favoured countries peopled by races of\npig-tailless men and large-footed women, all destitute of refined\nintelligence,\u201d replied Fa Fei modestly. \u201cThe sublime Emperor is of all\npersons the wisest, purest and--\u201d\n\n\u201cUndoubtedly,\u201d interrupted Thang-li. \u201cThese truths are of gem-like\nbrilliance, and the ears of a patriotic subject can never be closed to\nthe beauty and music of their ceaseless repetition. Yet between father\nand daughter in the security of an inner chamber there not unnaturally\narise topics of more engrossing interest. For example, now that you\nare of a marriageable age, have your eyes turned in the direction of\nany particular suitor?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, thrice-venerated sire!\u201d exclaimed Fa Fei, looking vainly round\nfor some attainable object behind which to conceal her honourable\nconfusion, \u201cshould the thoughts of a maiden dwell definitely on a\nmatter of such delicate consequence?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey should not,\u201d replied her father; \u201cbut as they invariably do, the\nspeculation is one outside our immediate concern. Nor, as it is your\nwonted custom to ascend upon the outside roof at a certain hour of the\nmorning, is it reasonable to assume that you are ignorant of the\nmovements of the two young men who daily contrive to linger before\nthis in no way attractive residence without any justifiable pretext.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy father is all-seeing,\u201d replied Fa Fei in a commendable spirit of\ndutiful acquiescence, and also because it seemed useless to deny the\ncircumstance.\n\n\u201cIt is unnecessary,\u201d said Thang-li. \u201cSurrounded, as he is, by a\nretinue of eleven female attendants, it is enough to be all-hearing.\nBut which of the two has impressed you in the more favourable light?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can the inclinations of an obedient daughter affect the matter?\u201d\n said Fa Fei evasively. \u201cUnless, O most indulgent, it is your amiable\nintention to permit me to follow the inspiration of my own unfettered\nchoice?\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly,\u201d replied the benevolent Thang-li. \u201cProvided, of course,\nthat the choice referred to should by no evil mischance run in a\ncontrary direction to my own maturer judgment.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet if such an eventuality did haply arise?\u201d persisted Fa Fei.\n\n\u201cNone but the irredeemably foolish spend their time in discussing the\nprobable sensation of being struck by a thunderbolt,\u201d said Thang-li\nmore coldly. \u201cFrom this day forth, also, be doubly guarded in the\nundeviating balance of your attitude. Restrain the swallow-like\nflights of your admittedly brilliant eyes, and control the movements\nof your expressive fan within the narrowest bounds of necessity. This\nperson\u2019s position between the two is one of exceptional delicacy and\nhe has by no means yet decided which to favour.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn such a case,\u201d inquired Fa Fei, caressing his pig-tail\npersuasively, \u201chow does a wise man act, and by what manner of omens is\nhe influenced in his decision?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn such a case,\u201d replied Thang-li, \u201ca very wise man does not act; but\nmaintaining an impassive countenance, he awaits the unrolling of\nevents until he sees what must inevitably take place. It is thus that\nhis reputation for wisdom is built up.\u201d\n\n\u201cFurthermore,\u201d said Fa Fei hopefully, \u201cthe ultimate pronouncement\nrests with the guarding deities?\u201d\n\n\u201cUnquestionably,\u201d agreed Thang-li. \u201cYet, by a venerable custom, the\nesteem of the maiden\u2019s parents is the detail to which the suitors\nusually apply themselves with the greatest diligence.\u201d\n                                   *\n\nOf the two persons thus referred to by Thang-li, one, Tsin Lung, lived\nbeneath the sign of the Righteous Ink Brush. By hereditary right Tsin\nLung followed the profession of copying out the more difficult\nClassics in minute characters upon parchments so small that an entire\nlibrary could be concealed among the folds of a garment, in this\npainstaking way enabling many persons who might otherwise have failed\nat the public examination, and been driven to spend an idle and\nperhaps even dissolute life, to pass with honourable distinction to\nthemselves and widespread credit to his resourceful system. One\ngratified candidate, indeed, had compared his triumphal passage\nthrough the many grades of the competition to the luxurious ease of\nbeing carried in a sedan-chair, and from that time Tsin Lung was\njestingly referred to as a \u201csedan-chair.\u201d\n\nIt might reasonably be thought that a person enjoying this enviable\nposition would maintain a loyal pride in the venerable traditions of\nhis house and suffer the requirements of his craft to become the four\nwalls of his ambition. Alas! Tsin Lung must certainly have been born\nunder the influence of a very evil planet, for the literary quality of\nhis profession did not entice his imagination at all, and his sole and\nfrequently-expressed desire was to become a pirate. Nothing but the\nnecessity of obtaining a large sum of money with which to purchase a\nformidable junk and to procure the services of a band of capable and\nbloodthirsty outlaws bound him to Ho Chow, unless, perchance, it might\nbe the presence there of Fa Fei after he had once cast his piratical\neye upon her overwhelming beauty.\n\nThe other of the two persons was Hien, a youth of studious desires and\nunassuming manner. His father had been the chief tax-collector of the\nChunling mountains, beyond the town, and although the exact nature of\nthe tax and the reason for its extortion had become forgotten in the\nprocess of interminable ages, he himself never admitted any doubt of\nhis duty to collect it from all who passed over the mountains, even\nthough the disturbed state of the country made it impossible for him\nto transmit the proceeds to the capital. To those who uncharitably\nextended the envenomed tongue of suspicion towards the very existence\nof any Imperial tax, the father of Hien replied with unshaken loyalty\nthat in such a case the sublime Emperor had been very treacherously\nserved by his advisers, as the difficulty of the paths and the\nintricate nature of the passes rendered the spot peculiarly suitable\nfor the purpose, and as he was accompanied by a well-armed and\nsomewhat impetuous band of followers, his arguments were inevitably\nsuccessful. When he Passed Beyond, Hien accepted the leadership, but\nsolely out of a conscientious respect for his father\u2019s memory, for his\nheart was never really in the occupation. His time was almost wholly\ntaken up in reading the higher Classics, and even before he had seen\nFa Fei his determination had been taken that when once he had\nsucceeded in passing the examination for the second degree and thereby\nbecome entitled to an inferior mandarinship he would abandon his\nformer life forever. From this resolution the entreaties of his\ndevoted followers could not shake him, and presently they ceased to\nargue, being reassured by the fact that although Hien presented\nhimself unfailingly for every examination his name appeared at the\nfoot of each successive list with unvarying frequency. It was at this\nperiod that he first came under the ennobling spell of Fa Fei\u2019s\ninfluence and from that time forth he redoubled his virtuous efforts.\n\nAfter conversing with her father, as already related, Fa Fei spent the\nday in an unusually thoughtful spirit. As soon as it was dark she\nstepped out from the house and veiling her purpose under the pretext\nof gathering some herbs to complete a charm she presently entered a\ngrove of overhanging cedars where Hien had long been awaiting her\nfootsteps.\n\n\u201cRainbow of my prosaic existence!\u201d he exclaimed, shaking hands with\nhimself courteously, \u201chave you yet carried out your bold suggestion?\u201d\n and so acute was his anxiety for her reply that he continued to hold\nhis hand unconsciously until Fa Fei turned away her face in very\nbecoming confusion.\n\n\u201cAlas, O my dragon-hearted one,\u201d she replied at length, \u201cI have indeed\ndared to read the scroll, but how shall this person\u2019s inelegant lips\nutter so detestable a truth?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is already revealed,\u201d said Hien, striving to conceal from her his\nbitterness. \u201cWhen the list of competitors at the late examination is\npublicly proclaimed to-morrow at the four gates of the city, the last\nname to be announced will again, and for the eleventh time, be that of\nthe degraded Hien.\u201d\n\n\u201cBeloved,\u201d exclaimed Fa Fei, resolved that as she could not honourably\ndeny that her Hien\u2019s name was again indeed the last one to appear she\nwould endeavour to lead his mind subtly away to the contemplation of\nmore pleasurable thoughts, \u201cit is as you have said, but although your\nname is the last, it is by far the most dignified and\nromantic-sounding of all, nor is there another throughout the list\nwhich can be compared to it for the ornamental grace of its flowing\ncurves.\u201d\n\n\u201cNevertheless,\u201d replied Hien, in a violent access of self-contempt,\n\u201cit is a name of abandoned omen and is destined only to reach the ears\nof posterity to embellish the proverb of scorn, \u2018The lame duck should\navoid the ploughed field.\u2019 Can there--can there by no chance have been\nsome hope-inspiring error?\u201d\n\n\u201cThus were the names inscribed on the parchment which after the public\nannouncement will be affixed to the Hall of Ten Thousand Lustres,\u201d\n replied Fa Fei. \u201cWith her own unworthy eyes this incapable person\nbeheld it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe name \u2018Hien\u2019 is in no way striking or profound,\u201d continued the one\nin question, endeavouring to speak as though the subject referred to\nsome person standing at a considerable distance away. \u201cFurthermore, so\ncommonplace and devoid of character are its written outlines that it\nhas very much the same appearance whichever way up it is looked\nat. . . . The possibility that in your graceful confusion you held the\nlist in such a position that what appeared to be the end was in\nreality the beginning is remote in the extreme, yet--\u201d\n\nIn spite of an absorbing affection Fa Fei could not disguise from\nherself that her feelings would have been more pleasantly arranged if\nher lover had been inspired to accept his position unquestioningly.\n\u201cThere is a detail, hitherto unrevealed, which disposes of all such\namiable suggestions,\u201d she replied. \u201cAfter the name referred to,\nsomeone in authority had inscribed the undeniable comment \u2018As usual.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cThe omen is a most encouraging one,\u201d exclaimed Hien, throwing aside\nall his dejection. \u201cHitherto this person\u2019s untiring efforts had met\nwith no official recognition whatever. It is now obvious that far from\nbeing lost in the crowd he is becoming an object of honourable\ninterest to the examiners.\u201d\n\n\u201cOne frequently hears it said, \u2018After being struck on the head with an\naxe it is a positive pleasure to be beaten about the body with a\nwooden club,\u2019\u201d said Fa Fei, \u201cand the meaning of the formerly elusive\nproverb is now explained. Would it not be prudent to avail yourself at\nlength of the admittedly outrageous Tsin Lung\u2019s services, so that this\nperiod of unworthy trial may be brought to a distinguished close?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is said, \u2018Do not eat the fruit of the stricken branch,\u2019\u201d replied\nHien, \u201cand this person will never owe his success to one who is so\ndetestable in his life and morals that with every facility for a\nscholarly and contemplative existence he freely announces his\nbarbarous intention of becoming a pirate. Truly the Dragon of Justice\ndoes but sleep for a little time, and when he awakens all that will be\nleft of the mercenary Tsin Lung and those who associate with him will\nscarcely be enough to fill an orange skin.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoubtless it will be so,\u201d agreed Fa Fei, regretting, however, that\nHien had not been content to prophesy a more limited act of vengeance,\nuntil, at least, her father had come to a definite decision regarding\nher own future. \u201cAlas, though, the Book of Dynasties expressly says,\n\u2018The one-legged never stumble,\u2019 and Tsin Lung is so morally\nill-balanced that the proverb may even apply to him.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not fear,\u201d said Hien. \u201cIt is elsewhere written, \u2018Love and leprosy\nfew escape,\u2019 and the spirit of Tsin Lung\u2019s destiny is perhaps even at\nthis moment lurking unsuspected behind some secret place.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf,\u201d exclaimed a familiar voice, \u201cthe secret place alluded to should\nchance to be a hollow cedar-tree of inadequate girth, the unfortunate\nspirit in question will have my concentrated sympathy.\u201d\n\n\u201cJust and magnanimous father!\u201d exclaimed Fa Fei, thinking it more\nprudent not to recognize that he had learned of their meeting-place\nand concealing himself there had awaited their coming, \u201cwhen your\nabsence was discovered a heaven-sent inspiration led me to this spot.\nHave I indeed been permitted here to find you?\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly you have,\u201d replied Thang-li, who was equally desirous of\nconcealing the real circumstances, although the difficulty of the\nposition into which he had hastily and incautiously thrust his body on\ntheir approach compelled him to reveal himself. \u201cThe same inspiration\nled me to lose myself in this secluded spot, as being the one which\nyou would inevitably search.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet by what incredible perversity does it arise, venerable Thang-li,\nthat a leisurely and philosophical stroll should result in a person of\nyour dignified proportions occupying so unattractive a position?\u201d said\nHien, who appeared to be too ingenuous to suspect Thang-li\u2019s craft, in\nspite of a warning glance from Fa Fei\u2019s expressive eyes.\n\n\u201cThe remark is a natural one, O estimable youth,\u201d replied Thang-li,\ndoubtless smiling benevolently, although nothing of his person could\nbe actually seen by Hien or Fa Fei, \u201cbut the recital is not devoid of\nhumiliation. While peacefully studying the position of the heavens\nthis person happened to glance into the upper branches of a tree and\namong them he beheld a bird\u2019s nest of unusual size and richness--one\nthat would promise to yield a dish of the rarest flavour. Lured on by\nthe anticipation of so sumptuous a course, he rashly trusted his body\nto an unworthy branch, and the next moment, notwithstanding his\nunceasing protests to the protecting Powers, he was impetuously\ndeposited within this hollow trunk.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot unreasonably is it said, \u2018A bird in the soup is better than an\neagle\u2019s nest in the desert,\u2019\u201d exclaimed Hien. \u201cThe pursuit of a fair\nand lofty object is set about with hidden pitfalls to others beyond\nyou, O noble Chief Examiner! By what nimble-witted act of adroitness\nis it now your enlightened purpose to extricate yourself?\u201d\n\nAt this admittedly polite but in no way inspiring question a silence\nof a very acute intensity seemed to fall on that part of the forest.\nThe mild and inscrutable expression of Hien\u2019s face did not vary, but\ninto Fa Fei\u2019s eyes there came an unexpected but not altogether\ndisapproving radiance, while, without actually altering, the\nappearance of the tree encircling Thang-li\u2019s form undoubtedly conveyed\nthe impression that the benevolent smile which might hitherto have\nbeen reasonably assumed to exist within had been abruptly withdrawn.\n\n\u201cYour meaning is perhaps well-intentioned, gracious Hien,\u201d said\nThang-li at length, \u201cbut as an offer of disinterested assistance your\nwords lack the gong-like clash of spontaneous enthusiasm.\nNevertheless, if you will inconvenience yourself to the extent of\nclimbing this not really difficult tree for a short distance you will\nbe able to grasp some outlying portion of this one\u2019s body without any\nexcessive fatigue.\u201d\n\n\u201cMandarin,\u201d replied Hien, \u201cto touch even the extremity of your\nincomparable pig-tail would be an honour repaying all earthly\nfatigue--\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not hesitate to seize it, then,\u201d said Thang-li, as Hien paused.\n\u201cYet, if this person may without ostentation continue the analogy, to\ngrasp him firmly by the shoulders must confer a higher distinction and\nwould be even more agreeable to his own feelings.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe proposal is a flattering one,\u201d continued Hien, \u201cbut my hands are\nbound down by the decree of the High Powers, for among the most\ninviolable of the edicts is it not written: \u2018Do the lame offer to\ncarry the footsore; the blind to protect the one-eyed? Distrust the\nthreadbare person who from an upper back room invites you to join him\nin an infallible process of enrichment; turn aside from the one devoid\nof pig-tail who says, \u201cBehold, a few drops daily at the hour of the\nmorning sacrifice and your virtuous head shall be again like a\nwell-sown rice-field at the time of harvest\u201d; and towards the passing\nstranger who offers you that mark of confidence which your friends\nwithhold close and yet again open a different eye. So shall you grow\nobese in wisdom\u2019?\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed Thang-li, \u201cthe inconveniences of living in an Empire\nwhere a person has to regulate the affairs of his everyday life by the\nsacred but antiquated proverbial wisdom of his remote ancestors are by\nno means trivial. Cannot this possibly mythical obstacle be\nflattened-out by the amiable acceptance of a jar of sea snails or some\nother seasonable delicacy, honourable Hien?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing but a really well-grounded encouragement as regards Fa Fei\ncan persuade this person to regard himself as anything but a solitary\noutcast,\u201d replied Hien, \u201cand one paralysed in every useful impulse.\nRather than abandon the opportunity of coming to such an arrangement\nhe would almost be prepared to give up all idea of ever passing the\nexamination for the second degree.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy no means,\u201d exclaimed Thang-li hastily. \u201cThe sacrifice would be too\nexcessive. Do not relinquish your sleuth-hound-like persistence, and\nsuccess will inevitably reward your ultimate end.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan it really be,\u201d said Hien incredulously, \u201cthat my contemptible\nefforts are a matter of sympathetic interest to one so high up in\nevery way as the renowned Chief Examiner?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey are indeed,\u201d replied Thang-li, with that ingratiating candour\nthat marked his whole existence. \u201cDoubtless so prosaic a detail as the\nsystem of remuneration has never occupied your refined thoughts, but\nwhen it is understood that those in the position of this person are\nrewarded according to the success of the candidates you will begin to\ngrasp the attitude.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn that case,\u201d remarked Hien, with conscious humiliation, \u201cnothing\nbut a really sublime tolerance can have restrained you from upbraiding\nthis obscure competitor as a thoroughly corrupt egg.\u201d\n\n\u201cOn the contrary,\u201d replied Thang-li reassuringly, \u201cI have long\nregarded you as the auriferous fowl itself. It is necessary to\nexplain, perhaps, that the payment by result alluded to is not based\non the number of successful candidates, but--much more reasonably as\nall those have to be provided with lucrative appointments by the\nauthorities--on the economy effected to the State by those whom I can\nconscientiously reject. Owing to the malignant Tsin Lung\u2019s sinister\ndexterity these form an ever-decreasing band, so that you may now be\nfittingly deemed the chief prop of a virtuous but poverty-afflicted\nline. When you reflect that for the past eleven years you have thus\nreally had the honour of providing the engaging Fa Fei with all the\nnecessities of her very ornamental existence you will see that you\nalready possess practically all the advantages of matrimony.\nNevertheless, if you will now bring our agreeable conversation to an\nend by releasing this inauspicious person he will consider the matter\nwith the most indulgent sympathies.\u201d\n\n\u201cWithhold!\u201d exclaimed a harsh voice before Hien could reply, and from\nbehind a tree where he had heard Thang-li\u2019s impolite reference to\nhimself Tsin Lung stood forth. \u201cHow does it chance, O two-complexioned\nChief Examiner, that after weighing this one\u2019s definite\nproposals--even to the extent of demanding a certain proportion in\nadvance--you are now engaged in holding out the same alluring hope to\nanother? Assuredly, if your existence is so critically imperilled this\nperson and none other will release you and claim the reward.\u201d\n\n\u201cTurn your face backwards, imperious Tsin Lung,\u201d cried Hien. \u201cThese\nincapable hands alone shall have the overwhelming distinction of\ndrawing forth the illustrious Thang-li.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not get entangled among my advancing footsteps, immature one,\u201d\n contemptuously replied Tsin Lung, shaking the massive armour in which\nhe was encased from head to foot. \u201cIt is inept for pigmies to stand\nbefore one who has every intention of becoming a rapacious pirate\nshortly.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe sedan-chair is certainly in need of new shafts,\u201d retorted Hien,\nand drawing his sword with an expression of ferocity he caused it to\nwhistle around his head so loudly that a flock of migratory doves\nbegan to arrive, under the impression that others of their tribe were\ncalling them to assemble.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed Thang-li, in an accent of despair, \u201cdoubtless the\nwise Nung-yu was surrounded by disciples all eager that no other\nshould succour him when he remarked: \u2018A humble friend in the same\nvillage is better than sixteen influential brothers in the Royal\nPalace.\u2019 In all this illimitable Empire is there not room for one\nwhose aspirations are bounded by the submerged walls of a predatory\njunk and another whose occupation is limited to the upper passes of the\nChunling mountains? Consider the poignant nature of this person\u2019s vain\nregrets if by a couple of evilly directed blows you succeeded at this\ninopportune moment in exterminating one another!\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not fear, exalted Thang-li,\u201d cried Hien, who, being necessarily\nsomewhat occupied in preparing himself against Tsin Lung\u2019s attack,\nfailed to interpret these words as anything but a direct encouragement\nto his own cause. \u201cBefore the polluting hands of one who disdains the\nClassics shall be laid upon your sacred extremities this tenacious\nperson will fix upon his antagonist with a serpent-like embrace and,\nif necessary, suffer the spirits of both to Pass Upward in one\nbreath.\u201d And to impress Tsin Lung with his resolution he threw away\nhis scabbard and picked it up again several times.\n\n\u201cGrow large in hope, worthy Chief Examiner,\u201d cried Tsin Lung, who from\na like cause was involved in a similar misapprehension. \u201cRather shall\nyour imperishable bones adorn the interior of a hollow cedar-tree\nthroughout all futurity than you shall suffer the indignity of being\nextricated by an earth-nurtured sleeve-snatcher.\u201d And to intimidate\nHien by the display he continued to clash his open hand against his\nleg armour until the pain became intolerable.\n\n\u201cHonourable warriors!\u201d implored Thang-li in so agonized a voice--and\nalso because they were weary of the exercise--that Hien and Tsin Lung\npaused, \u201ccurb your bloodthirsty ambitions for a breathing-space and\nlisten to what will probably be a Last Expression. Believe the\npassionate sincerity of this one\u2019s throat when he proclaims that there\nwould be nothing repugnant to his very keenest susceptibilities if an\nescaping parricide, who was also guilty of rebellion, temple-robbing,\nbook-burning, murder and indiscriminate violence, and the pollution of\ntombs, took him familiarly by the hand at this moment. What,\ntherefore, would be his gratified feelings if two such nobly-born\nsubjects joined forces and drew him up dexterously by the body-cloth?\nAccept his definite assurance that without delay a specific\npronouncement would be made respecting the bestowal of the one around\nwhose jade-like personality this encounter has arisen.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe proposal casts a reasonable shadow, gracious Hien,\u201d remarked\nTsin Lung, turning towards the other with courteous deference. \u201cShall\nwe bring a scene of irrational carnage to an end and agree to regard\nthe incomparable Thang-li\u2019s benevolent tongue as an outstretched olive\nbranch?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is admittedly said, \u2018Every road leads in two directions,\u2019 and the\nalternative you suggest, O virtue-loving Tsin Lung, is both reputable\nand just,\u201d replied Hien pleasantly. In this amiable spirit they\nextricated Thang-li and bore him to the ground. At an appointed hour\nhe received them with becoming ceremony and after a many-coursed\nrepast rose to fulfil the specific terms of his pledge.\n\n\u201cThe Line of Thang,\u201d he remarked with inoffensive pride, \u201chas for\nseven generations been identified with a high standard of literary\nachievement. Undeniably it is a very creditable thing to control the\nmovements of an ofttime erratic vessel and to emerge triumphantly from\na combat with every junk you encounter, and it is no less worthy of\nesteem to gather round about one, on the sterile slopes of the\nChunlings, a devoted band of followers. Despite these virtues,\nhowever, neither occupation is marked by any appreciable literary\nflavour, and my word is, therefore, that both persons shall present\nthemselves for the next examination, and when in due course the result\nis declared the more successful shall be hailed as the chosen suitor.\nLo, I have spoken into a sealed bottle, and my voice cannot vary.\u201d\n\nThen replied Tsin Lung: \u201cTruly, it is as it is said, astute Thang-li,\nthough the encircling wall of a hollow cedar-tree, for example, might\nimpart to the voice in question a less uncompromising ring of finality\nthan it possesses when raised in a silk-lined chamber and surrounded\nby a band of armed retainers. Nevertheless the pronouncement is one\nwhich appeals to this person\u2019s sense of justice, and the only\nimprovement he can suggest is that the superfluous Hien should hasten\nthat ceremony at which he will be an honoured guest by now signifying\nhis intention of retiring from so certain a defeat. For by what\nexpedient,\u201d he continued, with arrogant persistence, \u201ccan you avert\nthat end, O ill-destined Hien? Have you not burned joss-sticks to the\ndeities, both good and bad, for eleven years unceasingly? Can you, as\nthis person admittedly can, inscribe the Classics with such inimitable\ndelicacy that an entire volume of the Book of Decorum, copied in his\nmost painstaking style, may be safely carried about within a hollow\ntooth, a lengthy ode, traced on a shred of silk, wrapped undetectably\naround a single eyelash?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is true that the one before you cannot bend his brush to such\ndeceptive ends,\u201d replied Hien modestly. \u201cA detail, however, has\nescaped your reckoning. Hitherto Hien has been opposed by a thousand,\nand against so many it is true that the spirits of his ancestors have\nbeen able to afford him very little help. On this occasion he need\nregard one adversary alone. Giving those Forces which he invokes\nclearly to understand that they need not concern themselves with any\nother, he will plainly intimate that after so many sacrifices on his\npart something of a really tangible affliction is required to\noverwhelm Tsin Lung. Whether this shall take the form of mental\nstagnation, bodily paralysis, demoniacal possession, derangement of\nthe internal faculties, or being changed into one of the lower\nanimals, it might be presumptuous on this person\u2019s part to stipulate,\nbut by invoking every accessible power and confining himself to this\nsole petition a very definite tragedy may be expected. Beware, O\ncontumacious Lung, \u2018However high the tree the shortest axe can reach\nits trunk.\u2019\u201d\n                                   *\n\nAs the time for the examination drew near the streets of Ho Chow began\nto wear a fuller and more animated appearance both by day and night.\nTsin Lung\u2019s outer hall was never clear of anxious suppliants all\nentreating him to supply them with minute and reliable copies of the\npassages which they found most difficult in the selected works, but\nalthough his low and avaricious nature was incapable of rejecting this\nmeans of gain he devoted his closest energies and his most inspired\nmoments to his own personal copies, a set of books so ethereal that\nthey floated in the air without support and so cunningly devised in\nthe blending of their colour as to be, in fact, quite invisible to any\nbut his microscopic eyes. Hien, on the other hand, devoted himself\nsolely to interesting the Powers against his rival\u2019s success by every\nvariety of incentive, omen, sacrifice, imprecation, firework,\ninscribed curse, promise, threat or combination of inducements.\nThrough the crowded streets and by-ways of Ho Chow moved the\nimperturbable Thang-li, smiling benevolently on those whom he\nencountered and encouraging each competitor, and especially Hien and\nTsin Lung, with a cheerful proverb suited to the moment.\n\nAn outside cause had further contributed to make this period one of\nthe most animated in the annals of Ho Chow, for not only was the city,\ntogether with the rest of the imperishable Empire, celebrating a great\nand popular victory, but, as a direct consequence of that event, the\nsublime Emperor himself was holding his court at no great distance\naway. An armed and turbulent rabble of illiterate barbarians had\nsuddenly appeared in the north and, not giving a really sufficient\nindication of their purpose, had traitorously assaulted the capital.\nHad he followed the prompting of his own excessive magnanimity, the\ncharitable Monarch would have refused to take any notice whatever of\nso puny and contemptible a foe, but so unmistakable became the wishes\nof the Ever-victorious Army that, yielding to their importunity, he\nplaced himself at their head and resolutely led them backward. Had the\nopposing army been more intelligent, this crafty move would certainly\nhave enticed them on into the plains, where they would have fallen an\neasy victim to the Imperial troops and all perished miserably. Owing\nto their low standard of reasoning, however, the mule-like invaders\nutterly failed to grasp the advantage which, as far as the appearance\ntended, they might reasonably be supposed to reap by an immediate\npursuit. They remained incapably within the capital slavishly\nincreasing its defences, while the Ever-victorious lurked\nresourcefully in the neighbourhood of Ho Chow, satisfied that with so\ndull-witted an adversary they could, if the necessity arose, go still\nfurther.\n\nUpon a certain day of the period thus indicated there arrived at the\ngate of the royal pavilion one having the appearance of an aged seer,\nwho craved to be led into the Imperial Presence.\n\n\u201cLo, Mightiest,\u201d said a slave, bearing in this message, \u201cthere stands\nat the outer gate one resembling an ancient philosopher, desiring to\ngladden his failing eyesight before he Passes Up with a brief vision\nof your illuminated countenance.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe petition is natural but inopportune,\u201d replied the agreeable\nMonarch. \u201cLet the worthy soothsayer be informed that after an\nexceptionally fatiguing day we are now snatching a few short hours of\nnecessary repose, from which it would be unseemly to recall us.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe received your gracious words with distended ears and then observed\nthat it was for your All-wisdom to decide whether an inspired message\nwhich he had read among the stars was not of more consequence than\neven a refreshing sleep,\u201d reported the slave, returning.\n\n\u201cIn that case,\u201d replied the Sublimest, \u201ctell the persevering wizard\nthat we have changed our minds and are religiously engaged in\nworshipping our ancestors, so that it would be really sacrilegious to\ninterrupt us.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe kowtowed profoundly at the mere mention of your charitable\noccupation and proceeded to depart, remarking that it would indeed be\ncorrupt to disturb so meritorious an exercise with a scheme simply for\nyour earthly enrichment,\u201d again reported the message-bearer.\n\n\u201cRestrain him!\u201d hastily exclaimed the broadminded Sovereign. \u201cGive the\nvenerable necromancer clearly to understand that we have worshipped\nthem enough for one day. Doubtless the accommodating soothsayer has\ndiscovered some rare jewel which he is loyally bringing to embellish\nour crown.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are rarer jewels than those which can be pasted in a crown,\nSupreme Head,\u201d said the stranger, entering unperceived behind the\nattending slave. He bore the external signs of an infirm magician,\nwhile his face was hidden in a cloth to mark the imposition of a\nsolemn vow. \u201cWith what apter simile,\u201d he continued, \u201ccan this person\ndescribe an imperishable set of verses which he heard this morning\nfalling from the lips of a wandering musician like a seven-roped cable\nof pearls pouring into a silver bucket? The striking and original\ntitle was \u2018Concerning Spring,\u2019 and although the snow lay deep at the\ntime several bystanders agreed that an azalea bush within hearing came\ninto blossom at the eighty-seventh verse.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have heard of the poem to which you refer with so just a sense of\nbalance,\u201d said the impartial Monarch encouragingly. (Though not to\ncreate a two-sided impression it may be freely stated that he himself\nwas the author of the inspired composition.) \u201cWhich part, in your\nmature judgment, reflected the highest genius and maintained the most\nperfectly-matched analogy?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is aptly said: \u2018When it is dark the sun no longer shines, but who\nshall forget the colours of the rainbow?\u2019\u201d replied the astrologer\nevasively. \u201cHow is it possible to suspend topaz in one cup of the\nbalance and weigh it against amethyst in the other; or who in a single\nlanguage can compare the tranquillizing grace of a maiden with the\ninvigorating pleasure of witnessing a well-contested rat-fight?\u201d\n\n\u201cYour insight is clear and unbiased,\u201d said the gracious Sovereign.\n\u201cBut however entrancing it is to wander unchecked through a garden of\nbright images, are we not enticing your mind from another subject of\nalmost equal importance?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is yet another detail, it is true,\u201d admitted the sage, \u201cbut\nregarding its comparative importance a thoroughly loyal subject may be\npermitted to amend the remark of a certain wise Emperor of a former\ndynasty: \u2018Any person in the City can discover a score of gold mines if\nnecessary, but One only could possibly have written \u201cConcerning\nSpring.\u201d\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cThe arts may indeed be regarded as lost,\u201d acquiesced the magnanimous\nHead, \u201cwith the exception of a solitary meteor here and there. Yet in\nthe trivial matter of mere earthly enrichment--\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d agreed the other. \u201cThere is, then, a whisper in the province\nthat the floor of the Imperial treasury is almost visible.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe rumour, as usual, exaggerates the facts grossly,\u201d replied the\nGreatest. \u201cThe floor of the Imperial treasury is quite visible.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet on the first day of the next moon the not inconsiderable revenue\ncontributed by those who present themselves for the examination will\nflow in.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd by an effete and unworthy custom almost immediately flow out\nagain to reward the efforts of the successful,\u201d replied the Wearer of\nthe Yellow in an accent of refined bitterness. \u201cOn other occasions it\nis possible to assist the overworked treasurer with a large and\nglutinous hand, but from time immemorial the claims of the competitors\nhave been inviolable.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet if by a heaven-sent chance none, or very few, reached the\nnecessary standard of excellence--?\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch a chance, whether proceeding from the Upper Air or the Other\nParts would be equally welcome to a very hard-lined Ruler,\u201d replied\nthe one who thus described himself.\n\n\u201cThen listen, O K\u2019ong-hi, of the imperishable dynasty of Chung,\u201d said\nthe stranger. \u201cThus was it laid upon me in the form of a spontaneous\ndream. For seven centuries the Book of the Observances has been the\nunvarying Classic of the examinations because during that period it\nhas never been surpassed. Yet as the Empire has admittedly existed\nfrom all time, and as it would be impious not to agree that the\nimmortal System is equally antique, it is reasonable to suppose that\nthe Book of the Observances displaced an earlier and inferior work,\nand is destined in the cycle of time to be itself laid aside for a\nstill greater.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe inference is self-evident,\u201d acknowledged the Emperor uneasily,\n\u201cbut the logical development is one which this diffident Monarch\nhesitates to commit to spoken words.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not a matter for words but for a stroke of the Vermilion\nPencil,\u201d replied the other in a tone of inspired authority. \u201cAcross\nthe faint and puny effusions of the past this person sees written in\nvery large and obliterating strokes the words \u2018Concerning Spring.\u2019\nWhere else can be found so novel a conception combined with so unique\na way of carrying it out? What other poem contains so many thoughts\nthat one instinctively remembers as having heard before, so many\ninvolved allusions that baffle the imagination of the keenest, and so\nmuch sound in so many words? With the possible exception of Meng-hu\u2019s\nmasterpiece, \u2018The Empty Coffin,\u2019 what other work so skilfully conveys\nthe impression of being taken down farther than one can ever again\ncome up and then suddenly upraised beyond the possible descent? Where\nelse can be found so complete a defiance of all that has hitherto been\ndeemed essential, and, to insert a final wedge, what other poem is\nhalf so long?\u201d\n\n\u201cYour criticism is severe but just,\u201d replied the Sovereign, \u201cexcept\nthat part having reference to Meng-hu. Nevertheless, the atmosphere of\nthe proposal, though reasonable, looms a degree stormily into a\ntroubled future. Can it be permissible even for--\u201d\n\n\u201cOmnipotence!\u201d exclaimed the seer.\n\n\u201cThe title is well recalled,\u201d confessed the Emperor. \u201cYet although\nunquestionably omnipotent there must surely be some limits to our\npowers in dealing with so old established a system as that of the\nexaminations.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho can doubt a universal admission that the composer of \u2018Concerning\nSpring\u2019 is capable of doing anything?\u201d was the profound reply. \u201cLet\nthe mandate be sent out--but, to an obvious end, let it be withheld\nuntil the eve of the competitions.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe moment of hesitancy has faded; go forth in the certainty,\nesteemed,\u201d said the Emperor reassuringly. \u201cYou have carried your\nmessage with a discreet hand. Yet before you go, if there is any\nparticular mark of Imperial favour that we can show--something of a\nspecial but necessarily honorary nature--do not set an iron screen\nbetween your ambition and the light of our favourable countenance.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is indeed such a signal reward,\u201d assented the aged person, with\nan air of prepossessing diffidence. \u201cA priceless copy of the immortal\nwork--\u201d\n\n\u201cBy all means,\u201d exclaimed the liberal-minded Sovereign, with an\nexpression of great relief. \u201cTake three or four in case any of your\nfascinating relations have large literary appetites. Or, still more\nconveniently arranged, here is an unopened package from the stall of\nthose who send forth the printed leaves--\u2018thirteen in the semblance of\ntwelve,\u2019 as the quaint and harmonious phrase of their craft has it.\nWalk slowly, revered, and a thousand rainbows guide your retiring\nfootsteps.\u201d\n\nConcerning the episode of this discreetly-veiled personage the\nhistorians who have handed down the story of the imperishable\naffection of Hien and Fa Fei have maintained an illogical silence. Yet\nit is related that about the same time, as Hien was walking by the\nside of a bamboo forest of stunted growth, he was astonished by the\nmaiden suddenly appearing before him from the direction of the royal\ncamp. She was incomparably radiant and had the appearance of being\nexceptionally well satisfied with herself. Commanding him that he\nshould stand motionless with closed eyes, in order to ascertain what\nthe presiding deities would allot him, she bound a somewhat weighty\nobject to the end of his pig-tail, at the same time asking him in how\nshort a period he could commit about nineteen thousand lines of\natrociously ill-arranged verse to the tablets of his mind.\n\n\u201cThen do not suffer the rice to grow above your ankles,\u201d she\ncontinued, when Hien had modestly replied that six days with good\nomens should be sufficient, \u201cbut retiring to your innermost chamber\nbar the door and digest this scroll as though it contained the last\nexpression of an eccentric and vastly rich relation,\u201d and with a laugh\nmore musical than the vibrating of a lute of the purest Yun-nan jade\nin the Grotto of Ten Thousand Echoes she vanished.\n\nIt has been sympathetically remarked that no matter how painstakingly\na person may strive to lead Destiny along a carefully-prepared path\nand towards a fit and thoroughly virtuous end there is never lacking\nsome inopportune creature to thrust his superfluous influence into an\nopposing balance. This naturally suggests the intolerable Tsin Lung,\nwhose ghoulish tastes led him to seek the depths of that same glade on\nthe following day. Walking with downcast eyes, after his degraded\ncustom, he presently became aware of an object lying some distance\nfrom his way. To those who have already fathomed the real character of\nthis repulsive person it will occasion no surprise to know that, urged\non by the insatiable curiosity that was deeply grafted on to his\navaricious nature, he turned aside to probe into a matter with which\nhe had no possible concern, and at length succeeded in drawing a\npackage from the thick bush in which it had been hastily concealed.\nFinding that it contained twelve lengthy poems entitled \u201cConcerning\nSpring\u201d, he greedily thrust one in his sleeve, and upon his return,\nwith no other object than the prompting of an ill-regulated mind, he\nspent all the time that remained before the contest in learning it\nfrom end to end.\n\nThere have been many remarkable scenes enacted in the great\nExamination Halls and in the narrow cells around, but it can at once\nbe definitely stated that nothing either before or since has\napproached the unanimous burst of frenzy that shook the dynasty of\nChung when in the third year of his reign the well-meaning but\ntoo-easily-led-aside Emperor K\u2019ong inopportunely sought to replace the\nsublime Classic then in use with a work that has since been recognized\nto be not only shallow but inept. At Ho Chow nine hundred and\nninety-eight voices blended into one soul-benumbing cry of rage,\nhaving all the force and precision of a carefully drilled chorus, when\nthe papers were opened, and had not the candidates been securely\nbarred within their solitary pens a popular rising must certainly have\ntaken place. There they remained for three days and nights, until the\nclamour had subsided into a low but continuous hum, and they were too\nweak to carry out a combined effort.\n\nThroughout this turmoil Hien and Tsin Lung each plied an unfaltering\nbrush. It may here be advantageously stated that the former person was\nnot really slow or obtuse and his previous failures were occasioned\nsolely by the inequality he strove under in relying upon his memory\nalone when every other competitor without exception had provided\nhimself with a concealed scrip. Tsin Lung also had a very retentive\nmind. The inevitable consequence was, therefore, that when the papers\nwere collected Hien and Tsin Lung had accomplished an identical number\nof correct lines and no other person had made even an attempt.\n\nIn explaining Thang-li\u2019s subsequent behaviour it has been claimed by\nmany that the strain of being compelled, in the exercise of his duty,\nto remain for three days and three nights in the middle of the Hall\nsurrounded by that ferocious horde, all clamouring to reach him, and\nthe contemplation of the immense sum which he would gain by so\nunparalleled a batch of rejections, contorted his faculties of\ndiscrimination and sapped the resources of his usually active mind.\nWhatever cause is accepted, it is agreed that as soon as he returned\nto his house he summoned Hien and Tsin Lung together and leaving them\nfor a moment presently returned, leading Fa Fei by the hand. It is\nfurther agreed by all that these three persons noticed upon his face a\nsomewhat preoccupied expression, and on the one side much has been\nmade of the admitted fact that as he spoke he wandered round the room\ncatching flies, an occupation eminently suited to his age and\nleisurely tastes but, it may be confessed, not altogether well chosen\nat so ceremonious a moment.\n\n\u201cIt has been said,\u201d he began at length, withdrawing his eyes\nreluctantly from an unusually large insect upon the ceiling and\naddressing himself to the maiden, \u201cthat there are few situations in\nlife that cannot be honourably settled, and without loss of time,\neither by suicide, a bag of gold, or by thrusting a despised\nantagonist over the edge of a precipice upon a dark night. This\ninoffensive person, however, has striven to arrive at the conclusion\nof a slight domestic arrangement both by passively waiting for the\nevent to unroll itself and, at a later period, by the offer of a\ndefinite omen. Both of the male persons concerned have applied\nthemselves so tenaciously to the ordeal that the result, to this\nsimple one\u2019s antique mind, savours overmuch of the questionable arts.\nThe genial and light-witted Emperor appears to have put his foot into\nthe embarrassment ineffectually; and Destiny herself has every\nindication of being disinclined to settle so doubtful a point. As a\nlast resort it now remains for you yourself to decide which of these\nstrenuous and evenly-balanced suitors I may acclaim with ten thousand\nfelicitations.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn that case, venerated and commanding sire,\u201d replied Fa Fei simply,\nyet concealing her real regard behind the retiring mask of a modest\nindifference, \u201cit shall be Hien, because his complexion goes the more\nprettily with my favourite heliotrope silk.\u201d\n\nWhen the results of the examination were announced it was at once\nassumed by those with whom he had trafficked that Tsin Lung had been\nguilty of the most degraded treachery. Understanding the dangers of\nhis position, that person decided upon an immediate flight. Disguised\nas a wild-beast tamer, and leading several apparently ferocious\ncreatures by a cord, he succeeded in making his way undetected through\nthe crowds of competitors watching his house, and hastily collecting\nhis wealth together he set out towards the coast. But the evil spirits\nwhich had hitherto protected him now withdrew their aid. In the\nwildest passes of the Chunlings Hien\u2019s band was celebrating his\nunexpected success by a costly display of fireworks, varied with music\nand dancing. . . . So heavily did they tax him that when he reached\nhis destination he was only able to purchase a small and dilapidated\njunk and to enlist the services of three thoroughly incompetent\nmercenaries. The vessels which he endeavoured to pursue stealthily in\nthe hope of restoring his fortunes frequently sailed towards him under\nthe impression that he was sinking and trying to attract their\nbenevolent assistance. When his real intention was at length\nunderstood both he and his crew were invariably beaten about the head\nwith clubs, so that although he persevered until the three hired\nassassins rebelled, he never succeeded in committing a single act of\npiracy. Afterwards he gained a precarious livelihood by entering into\nconversation with strangers, and still later he stood upon a board and\ndived for small coins which the charitable threw into the water. In\nthis pursuit he was one day overtaken by a voracious sea-monster and\nperished miserably.\n\nThe large-meaning but never fully-accomplishing Emperor K\u2019ong reigned\nfor yet another year, when he was deposed by the powerful League of\nthe Three Brothers. To the end of his life he steadfastly persisted\nthat the rebellion was insidiously fanned, if not actually carried\nout, by a secret confederacy of all the verse-makers of the Empire,\nwho were distrustful of his superior powers. He spent the years of his\nexile in composing a poetical epitaph to be carved upon his tomb, but\nhis successor, the practical-minded Liu-yen, declined to sanction the\nexpense of procuring so fabulous a supply of marble.\n                                  *\n\nWhen Kai Lung had repeated the story of the well-intentioned youth\nHien and of the Chief Examiner Thang-li and had ceased to speak, a\npause of questionable import filled the room, broken only by the\nundignified sleep-noises of the gross Ming-shu. Glances of implied\nperplexity were freely passed among the guests, but it remained for\nShan Tien to voice their doubt.\n\n\u201cYet wherein is the essence of the test maintained,\u201d he asked, \u201cseeing\nthat the one whom you call Hien obtained all that which he desired and\nhe who chiefly opposed his aims was himself involved in ridicule and\ndelivered to a sudden end?\u201d\n\n\u201cBeneficence,\u201d replied Kai Lung, with courteous ease, despite the\npinions that restrained him, \u201cherein it is one thing to demand and\nanother to comply, for among the Platitudes is the admission made: \u2018No\nneedle has two sharp points.\u2019 The conditions which the subtlety of\nMing-shu imposed ceased to bind, for their corollary was inexact. In\nno romance composed by poet or sage are the unassuming hopes of\nvirtuous love brought to a barren end or the one who holds them\ndelivered to an ignominious doom. That which was called for does not\ntherefore exist, but the story of Hien may be taken as indicating the\nactual course of events should the case arise in an ordinary state of\nlife.\u201d\n\nThis reply was not deemed inept by most of those who heard, and they\neven pressed upon the one who spoke slight gifts of snuff and wine.\nThe Mandarin Shan Tien, however, held himself apart.\n\n\u201cIt is doubtful if your lips will be able thus to frame so confident a\nboast when to-morrow fades,\u201d was his dark forecast.\n\n\u201cDoubtless their tenor will be changed, revered, in accordance with\nyour far-seeing word,\u201d replied Kai Lung submissively as he was led\naway.\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XI\n\n          Of Which it is Written: \u201cIn Shallow Water Dragons\n                become the Laughing-stock of Shrimps\u201d\n\nAt an early gong-stroke of the following day Kai Lung was finally\nbrought up for judgment in accordance with the venomous scheme of the\nreptilian Ming-shu. In order to obscure their guilty plans all\njustice-loving persons were excluded from the court, so that when the\nstory-teller was led in by a single guard he saw before him only the\ntwo whose enmity he faced, and one who stood at a distance prepared to\nserve their purpose.\n\n\u201cCommitter of every infamy and inceptor of nameless crimes,\u201d began\nMing-shu, moistening his brush, \u201cin the past, by the variety of\ndiscreditable subterfuges, you have parried the stroke of a just\nretribution. On this occasion, however, your admitted powers of\nevasion will avail you nothing. By a special form of administration,\ndesigned to meet such cases, your guilt will be taken as proved. The\ntechnicalities of passing sentence and seeing it carried out will\nfollow automatically.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn spite of the urgency of the case,\u201d remarked the Mandarin, with an\nassumption of the evenly-balanced expression that at one time\nthreatened to obtain for him the title of \u201cThe Just\u201d, \u201cthere is one\ndetail which must not be ignored--especially as our ruling will\ndoubtless become a lantern to the feet of later ones. You appear,\nmalefactor, to have committed crimes--and of all these you have been\nproved guilty by the ingenious arrangement invoked by the learned\nrecorder of my spoken word--which render you liable to hanging,\nslicing, pressing, boiling, roasting, grilling, freezing, vatting,\nracking, twisting, drawing, compressing, inflating, rending, spiking,\ngouging, limb-tying, piecemeal-pruning and a variety of less tersely\ndescribable discomforts with which the time of this court need not be\ntaken up. The important consideration is, in what order are we to\nproceed and when, if ever, are we to stop?\u201d\n\n\u201cUnder your benumbing eye, Excellence,\u201d suggested Ming-shu\nresourcefully, \u201cthe precedent of taking first that for which the\nwritten sign is the longest might be established. Failing that, the\nnames of all the various punishments might be inscribed on separate\nshreds of parchment and these deposited within your state umbrella.\nThe first withdrawn by an unbiased--\u201d\n\n\u201cHigh Excellence,\u201d Kai Lung ventured to interrupt, \u201ca further plan\nsuggests itself which--\u201d\n\n\u201cIf,\u201d exclaimed Ming-shu in irrational haste, \u201cif the criminal\nproposes to narrate a story of one who in like circumstances--\u201d\n\n\u201cPeace!\u201d interposed Shan Tien tactfully. \u201cThe felon will only be\nallowed the usual ten short measures of time for his suggestion, nor\nmust he, under that guise, endeavour to insert an imagined tale.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour ruling shall keep straight my bending feet, munificence,\u201d\n replied Kai Lung. \u201cHear now my simplifying way. In place of cited\nwrongs--which, after all, are comparatively trivial matters, as being\nmerely offences against another or in defiance of a local\nusage--substitute one really overwhelming crime for which the penalty\nis sharp and explicit.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo that end you would suggest--?\u201d Uncertainty sat upon the brow of\nboth Shan Tien and Ming-shu.\n\n\u201cTo straighten out the entangled thread this person would plead guilty\nto the act--in a lesser capacity and against his untrammelled will--of\nrejoicing musically on a day set apart for universal woe: a crime\naimed directly at the sacred person of the Sublime Head and all those\nof his Line.\u201d\n\nAt this significant admission the Mandarin\u2019s expression faded; he\nstroked the lower part of his face several times and unostentatiously\nindicated to the two attendants that they should retire to a more\ndistant obscurity. Then he spoke.\n\n\u201cWhen did this--this alleged indiscretion occur, Kai Lung?\u201d he asked\nin a considerate voice.\n\n\u201cIt is useless to raise a cloud of evasion before the sun of your\npenetrating intellect,\u201d replied the story-teller. \u201cThe eleventh day of\nthe existing moon was its inauspicious date.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat being yesterday? Ming-shu, you upon whom the duty of regulating\nmy admittedly vagarious mind devolves, what happened officially on the\neleventh day of the Month of Gathering-in?\u201d demanded the Mandarin in\nan ominous tone.\n\n\u201cOn such and such a day, benevolence, threescore and fifteen years\nago, the imperishable founder of the existing dynasty ascended on a\nfiery dragon to be a guest on high,\u201d confessed the conscience-stricken\nscribe, after consulting his printed tablets. \u201cOwing to the stress of\na sudden journey significance of the date had previously escaped my\nweed-grown memory, tolerance.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed Shan Tien bitterly, \u201camong the innumerable drawbacks\nof an exacting position the enforced reliance upon an unusually inept\nand more than ordinarily self-opinionated inscriber of the spoken word\nis perhaps the most illimitable. Owing to your profuse incompetence\nthat which began as an agreeable prelude to a busy day has turned into\na really serious matter.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet, lenience,\u201d pleaded the hapless Ming-shu, lowering his voice for\nthe Mandarin\u2019s private ear, \u201cso far the danger resides in this one\nthroat alone. That disposed of--\u201d\n\n\u201cPerchance,\u201d replied Shan Tien; then turning to Kai Lung: \u201cDoubtless,\nO story-teller, you were so overcome by the burden of your guilt that\nuntil this moment you have hidden the knowledge of it deep within your\nheart?\u201d\n\n\u201cMagnificence, the commanding quality of your enduring voice would\ndraw the inner matter from a marrow-bone,\u201d frankly replied Kai Lung.\n\u201cFearful lest this crime might go unconfessed and my weak and\ntrembling ghost therefrom be held to bear its weight unto the end of\ntime, I set out the full happening in a written scroll and sent it at\ndaybreak by a sure and secret hand to a scrupulous official to deal\nwith as he sees fit.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour worthy confidant would assuredly be a person of incorruptible\nintegrity?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe repute of the upright Censor K\u2019o-yih had reached even these\nstunted ears.\u201d\n\n\u201cInevitably: the Censor K\u2019o-yih!\u201d Shan Tien\u2019s hasty glance took in the\nangle of the sun and for a moment rested on the door leading to the\npart where his swiftest horses lay. \u201cBy this time the message will\nhave reached him?\u201d\n\n\u201cOmnipotence,\u201d replied Kai Lung, spreading out his hands to indicate\nthe full extent of his submission, \u201cnot even a piece of the finest\nPing-hi silk could be inserted between the deepest secret of this\nperson\u2019s heart and your all-extracting gaze. Should you, in your\nmeritorious sense of justice, impose upon me a punishment that would\nseem to be adequate, it would be superfluous to trouble the obliging\nCensor in the matter. To this end the one who bears the message lurks\nin a hidden corner of Tai until a certain hour. If I am in a position\nto intercept him there he will return the message to my hand; if not,\nhe will straightway bear it to the integritous K\u2019o-yih.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay the President of Hades reward you--I am no longer in a position\nto do so!\u201d murmured Shan Tien with concentrated feeling. \u201cDraw near,\nKai Lung,\u201d he continued sympathetically, \u201cand indicate--with as little\ndelay as possible--what in your opinion would constitute a sufficient\npunishment.\u201d\n\nThus invited and with his cords unbound, Kai Lung advanced and took\nhis station near the table, Ming-shu noticeably making room for him.\n\n\u201cTo be driven from your lofty presence and never again permitted to\nlisten to the wisdom of your inspired lips would undoubtedly be the\nfirst essential of my penance, High Excellence.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is gran--inflicted,\u201d agreed Shan Tien, with swift decision.\n\n\u201cThe necessary edict may conveniently be drafted in the form of a\nsafe-conduct for this person and all others of his band to a point\nbeyond the confines of your jurisdiction--when the usually\nagile-witted Ming-shu can sufficiently shake off the benumbing torpor\nnow assailing him so as to use his brush.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is already begun, O virtuous harbinger of joy,\u201d protested the\ndazed Ming-shu, overturning all the four precious implements in his\npassion to comply. \u201cA mere breath of time--\u201d\n\n\u201cLet it be signed, sealed and thumb-pressed at every available point\nof ambiguity,\u201d enjoined Shan Tien.\n\n\u201cHaving thus oppressed the vainglory of my self-willed mind, the\npresumption of this unworthy body must be subdued likewise. The burden\nof five hundred taels of silver should suffice. If not--\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the form of paper obligations, estimable Kai Lung, the same amount\nwould go more conveniently within your scrip,\u201d suggested the Mandarin\nhopefully.\n\n\u201cNot convenience, O Mandarin, but bodily exhaustion is the essence of\nmy task,\u201d reproved the story-teller.\n\n\u201cYet consider the anguish of my internal pang, if thus encumbered, you\nsank spent by the wayside, and being thereby unable to withhold the\nmessage, you were called upon to endure a further ill.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat, indeed, is worthy of our thought,\u201d confessed Kai Lung. \u201cTo this\nend I will further mortify myself by adventuring upon the uncertain\napex of a trustworthy steed (a mode of progress new to my experience)\nuntil I enter Tai.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe swiftest and most reputable awaits your guiding hand,\u201d replied\nShan Tien.\n\n\u201cLet it be enticed forth into a quiet and discreet spot. In the\ninterval, while the obliging Ming-shu plies an unfaltering brush, the\ntask of weighing out my humiliating burden shall be ours.\u201d\n\nIn an incredibly short space of time, being continually urged on by\nthe flattering anxiety of Shan Tien (whose precipitancy at one point\nbecame so acute that he mistook fourscore taels for five), all things\nwere prepared. With the inscribed parchment well within his sleeve and\nthe bags of silver ranged about his body, Kai Lung approached the\nplatform that had been raised to enable him to subdue the expectant\nanimal.\n\n\u201cOnce in the desired position, weighted down as you are, there is\nlittle danger of your becoming displaced,\u201d remarked the Mandarin\nauspiciously.\n\n\u201cYour words are, as usual, many-sided in their wise application,\nbenignity,\u201d replied Kai Lung. \u201cOne thing only yet remains. It is apart\nfrom the expression of this one\u2019s will, but as an act of justice to\nyourself and in order to complete the analogy--\u201d And he indicated the\ndirection of Ming-shu.\n\n\u201cNevertheless you are agreeably understood,\u201d declared Shan Tien,\nmoving apart. \u201cFarewell.\u201d\n\nAs those who controlled the front part of the horse at this moment\nrelaxed their tenacity, Kai Lung did not deem it prudent to reply, nor\nwas he specifically observant of the things about. But a little later,\nwhile in the act of permitting the creature whose power he ruled to\nturn round for a last look at its former home, he saw that the\nunworthy no longer flourished. Ming-shu, with his own discarded cang\naround his vindictive neck, was being led off in the direction of the\nprison-house.\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XII\n\n       The Out-passing into a State of Assured Felicity of the\n           Much-enduring Two With Whom These Printed Leaves\n                     Have Chiefly Been Concerned\n\nAlthough it was towards sunset, the heat of the day still hung above\nthe dusty earth-road, and two who tarried within the shadow of an\nancient arch were loath to resume their way. They had walked far, for\nthe uncertain steed, having revealed a too contentious nature, had\nbeen disposed of in distant Tai to an honest stranger who freely\nexplained the imperfection of its ignoble outline.\n\n\u201cLet us remain another space of time,\u201d pleaded Hwa-mei reposefully,\n\u201cand as without your all-embracing art the course of events would\nundoubtedly have terminated very differently from what it has, will\nyou not, out of an emotion of gratitude, relate a story for my ear\nalone, weaving into it the substance of this ancient arch whose shade\nproves our rest?\u201d\n\n\u201cYour wish is the crown of my attainment, unearthly one,\u201d replied Kai\nLung, preparing to obey. \u201cThis concerns the story of Ten-teh, whose\nname adorns the keystone of the fabric.\u201d\n\n\n         The Story of the Loyalty of Ten-teh, the Fisherman\n\n                 \u201cDevotion to the Emperor--\u201d\n\n                                       _The Five Great Principles_\n\nThe reign of the enlightened Emperor Tung Kwei had closed amid scenes\nof treachery and lust, and in his perfidiously-spilled blood was\nextinguished the last pale hope of those faithful to his line. His\nonly son was a nameless fugitive--by ceaseless report already Passed\nBeyond--his party scattered and crushed out like the sparks from his\nblackened Capital, while nothing that men thought dare pass their\nlips. The usurper Fuh-chi sat upon the dragon throne and spake with\nthe voice of brass cymbals and echoing drums, his right hand shedding\nblood and his left hand spreading fire. To raise an eye before him was\nto ape with death, and a whisper in the outer ways foreran swift\ntorture. With harrows he uprooted the land until no household could\ngather round its ancestral tablets, and with marble rollers he\nflattened it until none dare lift his head. For the body of each one\nwho had opposed his ambition there was offered an equal weight of fine\nsilver, and upon the head of the child-prince was set the reward of\nten times his weight in pure gold. Yet in noisome swamps and forests,\nhidden in caves, lying on desolate islands, and concealing themselves\nin every kind of solitary place were those who daily prostrated\nthemselves to the memory of Tung Kwei and by a sign acknowledged the\nauthority of his infant son Kwo Kam. In the Crystal City there was a\ngreat roar of violence and drunken song, and men and women lapped from\ndeep lakes filled up with wine; but the ricesacks of the poor had long\nbeen turned out and shaken for a little dust; their eyes were closing\nand in their hearts they were as powder between the mill-stones. On\nthe north and the west the barbarians had begun to press forward in\nresistless waves, and from The Island to The Beak pirates laid waste\nthe coast.\n\n\n                      i. UNDER THE DRAGON\u2019S WING\n\nAmong the lagoons of the Upper Seng river a cormorant fisher, Ten-teh\nby name, daily followed his occupation. In seasons of good harvest,\nwhen they of the villages had grain in abundance and money with which\nto procure a more varied diet, Ten-teh was able to regard the\never-changeful success of his venture without anxiety, and even to add\nperchance somewhat to his store; but when affliction lay upon the land\nthe carefully gathered hoard melted away and he did not cease to\nupbraid himself for adopting so uncertain a means of livelihood. At\nthese times the earth-tillers, having neither money to spend nor crops\nto harvest, caught such fish as they could for themselves. Others in\ntheir extremity did not scruple to drown themselves and their\ndependents in Ten-teh\u2019s waters, so that while none contributed to his\nprosperity the latter ones even greatly added to the embarrassment of\nhis craft. When, therefore, his own harvest failed him in addition, or\ntempests drove him back to a dwelling which was destitute of food\neither for himself, his household, or his cormorants, his\nself-reproach did not appear to be ill-reasoned. Yet in spite of all\nTen-teh was of a genial disposition, benevolent, respectful and\nincapable of guile. He sacrificed adequately at all festivals, and his\nonly regret was that he had no son of his own and very scanty chances\nof ever becoming rich enough to procure one by adoption.\n\nThe sun was setting one day when Ten-teh reluctantly took up his\npropelling staff and began to urge his raft towards the shore. It was\na season of parched crops and destitution in the villages, when\ndisease could fondle the bones of even the most rotund and leprosy was\nthe insidious condiment in every dish; yet never had the Imperial dues\nbeen higher, and each succeeding official had larger hands and a more\ninexorable face than the one before him. Ten-teh\u2019s hoarded resources\nhad already followed the snows of the previous winter, his shelf was\nlike the heart of a despot to whom the oppressed cry for pity, and the\ncontents of the creel at his feet were too insignificant to tempt the\ncuriosity even of his hungry cormorants. But the mists of the evening\nwere by this time lapping the surface of the waters and he had no\nalternative but to abandon his fishing for the day.\n\n\u201cTruly they who go forth to fish, even in shallow waters, experience\nstrange things when none are by to credit them,\u201d suddenly exclaimed\nhis assistant--a mentally deficient youth of the villages whom Ten-teh\ncharitably employed because all others rejected him. \u201cBehold, master,\na spectre bird approaches.\u201d\n\n\u201cPeace, witless,\u201d replied Ten-teh, not turning from his occupation,\nfor it was no uncommon incident for the deficient youth to mistake\nwidely-differing objects for one another or to claim a demoniacal\ninsight into the most trivial happenings. \u201cVisions do not materialize\nfor such as thou and I.\u201d\n\n\u201cNevertheless,\u201d continued the weakling, \u201cif you will but slacken your\nagile proficiency with the pole, chieftain, our supper to-night may\nyet consist of something more substantial than the fish which it is\nour intention to catch to-morrow.\u201d\n\nWhen the defective youth had continued for some time in this\nmeaningless strain Ten-teh turned to rebuke him, when to his\nastonishment he perceived that a strange cormorant was endeavouring to\nreach them, its progress being impeded by an object which it carried\nin its mouth. Satisfying himself that his own birds were still on the\nraft, Ten-teh looked round in expectation for the boat of another\nfisherman, although none but he had ever within his memory sought\nthose waters, but as far as he could see the wide-stretching lagoon\nwas deserted by all but themselves. He accordingly waited, drawing in\nhis pole, and inciting the bird on by cries of encouragement.\n\n\u201cA nobly-born cormorant without doubt,\u201d exclaimed the youth\napprovingly. \u201cHe is lacking the throat-strap, yet he holds his prey\ndexterously and makes no movement to consume it. But the fish itself\nis outlined strangely.\u201d\n\nAs the bird drew near Ten-teh also saw that it was devoid of the usual\nstrap which in the exercise of his craft was necessary as a barrier\nagainst the gluttonous instincts of the race. It was unnaturally\nlarge, and even at a distance Ten-teh could see that its plumage was\nsmoothed to a polished lustre, its eye alert, and the movement of its\nflight untamed. But, as the youth had said, the fish it carried loomed\nmysteriously.\n\n\u201cThe Wise One and the Crafty Image--behold they prostrate themselves!\u201d\n cried the youth in a tone of awe-inspired surprise, and without a\npause he stepped off the raft and submerged himself beneath the\nwaters.\n\nIt was even as he asserted; Ten-teh turned his eyes and lo, his two\ncormorants, instead of rising in anger, as their contentious nature\nprompted, had sunk to the ground and were doing obeisance. Much\nperturbed as to his own most prudent action, for the bird was nearing\nthe craft, Ten-teh judged it safest to accept this token and falling\ndown he thrice knocked his forehead submissively. When he looked up\nagain the majestic bird had vanished as utterly as the flame that is\nquenched, and lying at his feet was a naked man-child.\n\n\u201cO master,\u201d said the voice of the assistant, as he cautiously\nprotruded his head above the surface of the raft, \u201chas the vision\nfaded, or do creatures of the air before whom even their own kind\nkowtow still haunt the spot?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe manifestation has withdrawn,\u201d replied Ten-teh reassuringly, \u201cbut\nlike the touch of the omnipotent Buddha it has left behind it that\nwhich proves its reality,\u201d and he pointed to the man-child.\n\n\u201cBeware, alas!\u201d exclaimed the youth, preparing to immerse himself a\nsecond time if the least cause arose; \u201cand on no account permit\nyourself to be drawn into the snare. Inevitably the affair tends to\nevil from the beginning and presently that which now appears as a\nman-child will assume the form of a devouring vampire and consume us\nall. Such occurrences are by no means uncommon when the great\nsky-lantern is at its full distension.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo maintain otherwise would be impious,\u201d admitted his master, \u201cbut at\nthe same time there is nothing to indicate that the beneficial deities\nare not the ones responsible for this apparition.\u201d With these humane\nwords the kindly-disposed Ten-teh wrapped his outer robe about the\nman-child and turned to lay him in the empty creel, when to his\nprofound astonishment he saw that it was now filled with fish of the\nrarest and most unapproachable kinds.\n\n\u201cFootsteps of the dragon!\u201d exclaimed the youth, scrambling back on to\nthe raft hastily; \u201cundoubtedly your acuter angle of looking at the\nvisitation was the inspired one. Let us abandon the man-child in an\nunfrequented spot and then proceed to divide the result of the\nadventure equally among us.\u201d\n\n\u201cAn agreed portion shall be allotted,\u201d replied Ten-teh, \u201cbut to\nabandon so miraculously-endowed a being would cover even an outcast\nwith shame.\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018Shame fades in the morning; debts remain from day to day,\u2019\u201d replied\nthe youth, the allusion of the proverb being to the difficulty of\nsustaining life in times so exacting, when men pledged their household\ngoods, their wives, even their ancestral records for a little flour or\na jar of oil. \u201cTo the starving the taste of a grain of corn is more\nsatisfying than the thought of a roasted ox, but as many years must\npass as this creel now holds fish before the little one can disengage\na catch or handle the pole.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is as the Many-Eyed One sees,\u201d replied Ten-teh, with unmoved\ndetermination. \u201cThis person has long desired a son, and those who walk\ninto an earthquake while imploring heaven for a sign are unworthy of\nconsideration. Take this fish and depart until the morrow. Also,\nunless you would have the villagers regard you as not only deficient\nbut profane, reveal nothing of this happening to those whom you\nencounter.\u201d With these words Ten-teh dismissed him, not greatly\ndisturbed at the thought of whatever he might do; for in no case would\nany believe a word he spoke, while the greater likelihood tended\ntowards his forgetting everything before he had reached his home.\n\nAs Ten-teh approached his own door his wife came forth to meet him.\n\u201cMuch gladness!\u201d she cried aloud before she saw his burden; \u201ctempered\nonly by a regret that you did not abandon your chase at an earlier\nhour. Fear not for the present that the wolf-tusk of famine shall gnaw\nour repose or that the dreaded wings of the white and scaly one shall\nhover about our house-top. Your wealthy cousin, journeying back to the\nCapital from the land of the spice forests, has been here in your\nabsence, leaving you gifts of fur, silk, carved ivory, oil, wine, nuts\nand rice and rich foods of many kinds. He would have stayed to embrace\nyou were it not that his company of bearers awaited him at an arranged\nspot and he had already been long delayed.\u201d\n\nThen said Ten-teh, well knowing that he had no such desirable\nrelative, but drawn to secrecy by the unnatural course of events: \u201cThe\nyears pass unperceived and all changes but the heart of man; how\nappeared my cousin, and has he greatly altered under the enervating\nsun of a barbarian land?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is now a little man, with a loose skin the colour of a\nfinely-lacquered apricot,\u201d replied the woman. \u201cHis teeth are large and\njagged, his expression open and sincere, and the sound of his\nbreathing is like the continuous beating of waves upon a stony beach.\nFurthermore, he has ten fingers upon his left hand and a girdle of\nrubies about his waist.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe description is unmistakable,\u201d said Ten-teh evasively. \u201cDid he\nchance to leave a parting message of any moment?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe twice remarked: \u2018When the sun sets the moon rises, but to-morrow\nthe drawn will break again,\u2019\u201d replied his wife. \u201cAlso, upon leaving he\nasked for ink, brushes and a fan, and upon it he inscribed certain\nwords.\u201d She thereupon handed the fan to Ten-teh, who read, written in\ncharacters of surpassing beauty and exactness, the proverb:\n\u201cWell-guarded lips, patient alertness and a heart conscientiously\ndischarging its accepted duty: these three things have a sure reward.\u201d\n\nAt that moment Ten-teh\u2019s wife saw that he carried something beyond his\ncreel and discovering the man-child she cried out with delight,\npouring forth a torrent of inquiries and striving to possess it. \u201cA\ntale half told is the father of many lies,\u201d exclaimed Ten-teh at\nlength, \u201cand of the greater part of what you ask this person knows\nneither the beginning nor the end. Let what is written on the fan\nsuffice.\u201d With this he explained to her the meaning of the characters\nand made their significance clear. Then without another word he placed\nthe man-child in her arms and led her back into the house.\n\nFrom that time Hoang, as he was thenceforward called, was received\ninto the household of Ten-teh, and from that time Ten-teh prospered.\nWithout ever approaching a condition of affluence or dignified ease,\nhe was never exposed to the penury and vicissitudes which he had been\nwont to experience; so that none had need to go hungry or ill-clad. If\nfamine ravaged the villages Ten-teh\u2019s store of grain was miraculously\nmaintained; his success on the lagoons was unvaried, fish even leaping\non to the structure of the raft. Frequently in dark and undisturbed\nparts of the house he found sums of money and other valuable articles\nof which he had no remembrance, while it was no uncommon thing for\npassing merchants to leave bales of goods at his door in mistake and\nto meet with some accident which prevented them from ever again\nvisiting that part of the country. In the meanwhile Hoang grew from\ninfancy into childhood, taking part with Ten-teh in all his pursuits,\nyet even in the most menial occupation never wholly shaking off the\nair of command and nobility of bearing which lay upon him. In strength\nand endurance he outpaced all the youths around, while in the\nmanipulation of the raft and the dexterous handling of the cormorants\nhe covered Ten-teh with gratified shame. So excessive was the devotion\nwhich he aroused in those who knew him that the deficient youth wept\nopenly if Hoang chanced to cough or sneeze; and it is even asserted\nthat on more than one occasion high officials, struck by the authority\nof his presence, though he might be in the act of carrying fish along\nthe road, hastily descended from their chairs and prostrated\nthemselves before him.\n\nIn the fourteenth year of the reign of the usurper Fuh-chi a little\nbreeze rising in the Province of Sz-chuen began to spread through all\nthe land and men\u2019s minds were again agitated by the memory of a hope\nwhich had long seemed dead. At that period the tyrannical Fuh-chi\nfinally abandoned the last remaining vestige of restraint and by his\ncrimes and excesses alienated even the protection of the evil spirits\nand the fidelity of his chosen guard; so that he conspired with\nhimself to bring about his own destruction. One discriminating adviser\nalone had stood at the foot of the throne, and being no less resolute\nthan far-seeing, he did not hesitate to warn Fuh-chi and to hold the\nprophetic threat of rebellion before his eyes. Such sincerity met with\nthe reward not difficult to conjecture.\n\n\u201cWho are our enemies?\u201d exclaimed Fuh-chi, turning to a notorious\nflatterer at his side, \u201cand where are they who are displeased with our\ntoo lenient rule?\u201d\n\n\u201cYour enemies, O Brother of the Sun and Prototype of the Red-legged\nCrane, are dead and unmourned. The living do naught but speak of your\nclemency and bask in the radiance of your eye-light,\u201d protested the\nflatterer.\n\n\u201cIt is well said,\u201d replied Fuh-chi. \u201cHow is it, then, that any can eat\nof our rice and receive our bounty and yet repay us with ingratitude\nand taunts, holding their joints stiffly in our presence? Lo, even\nlambs have the grace to suck kneeling.\u201d\n\n\u201cOmnipotence,\u201d replied the just minister, \u201cif this person is deficient\nin the more supple graces of your illustrious Court it is because the\ngreater part of his life has been spent in waging your wars in\nuncivilized regions. Nevertheless, the alarm can be as competently\nsounded upon a brass drum as by a silver trumpet, and his words came\nforth from a sincere throat.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen the opportunity is by no means to be lost,\u201d exclaimed Fuh-chi,\nwho was by this time standing some distance from himself in the\neffects of distilled pear juice; \u201cfor we have long desired to see the\ndifference which must undoubtedly exist between a sincere throat and\none bent to the continual use of evasive flattery.\u201d\n\nWithout further consideration he ordered that both persons should be\nbeheaded and that their bodies should be brought for his inspection.\nFrom that time there was none to stay his hand or to guide his policy,\nso that he mixed blood and wine in foolishness and lust until the land\nwas sick and heaved.\n\nThe whisper starting from Sz-chuen passed from house to house and from\ntown to town until it had cast a network over every province, yet no\nman could say whence it came or by whom the word was passed. It might\nbe in the manner of a greeting or the pledging of a cup of tea, by the\noffer of a coin to a blind beggar at the gate, in the fold of a\ncarelessly-worn garment, or even by the passing of a leper through a\ntown. Oppression still lay heavily upon the people; but it was without\naim and carried no restraint; famine and pestilence still went hand in\nhand, but the message rode on their backs and was hospitably received.\nSoon, growing bolder, men stood face to face and spoke of settled\nplans, gave signs, and openly declared themselves. On all sides\nproclamations began to be affixed; next weapons were distributed,\nhands were made proficient in their uses, until nothing remained but\ndefinite instruction and a swift summons for the appointed day. At\nintervals omens had appeared in the sky and prophecies had been put\ninto the mouths of sooth-sayers, so that of the success of the\nundertaking and of its justice none doubted. On the north and the west\nentire districts had reverted to barbarism, and on the coasts the\npirates anchored by the water-gates of walled cities and tossed jests\nto the watchmen on the towers.\n\nThroughout this period Ten-teh had surrounded Hoang with an added\ncare, never permitting him to wander beyond his sight, and distrusting\nall men in spite of his confiding nature. One night, when a fierce\nstorm beyond the memory of man was raging, there came at the middle\nhour a knocking upon the outer wall, loud and insistent; nevertheless\nTen-teh did not at once throw open the door in courteous invitation,\nbut drawing aside a shutter he looked forth. Before the house stood one\nof commanding stature, clad from head to foot in robes composed of\nplaited grasses, dyed in many colours. Around him ran a stream of\nwater, while the lightning issuing in never-ceasing flashes from his\neyes revealed that his features were rugged and his ears pierced with\nmany holes from which the wind whistled until the sound resembled the\nshrieks of ten thousand tortured ones under the branding-iron. From\nhim the tempest proceeded in every direction, but he stood unmoved\namong it, without so much as a petal of the flowers he wore\ndisarranged.\n\nIn spite of these indications, and of the undoubted fact that the\nBeing could destroy the house with a single glance, Ten-teh still\nhesitated.\n\n\u201cThe night is dark and stormy, and robbers and evil spirits are\ncertainly about in large numbers, striving to enter unperceived by any\nopen door,\u201d he protested, but with becoming deference. \u201cWith what does\nyour welcome and opportune visit concern itself, honourable stranger?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe one before you is not accustomed to be questioned in his doings,\nor even to be spoken to by ordinary persons,\u201d replied the Being.\n\u201cNevertheless, Ten-teh, there is that in your history for the past\nfourteen years which saves you from the usual fatal consequences of so\ngross an indiscretion. Let it suffice that it is concerned with the\nflight of the cormorant.\u201d\n\nUpon this assurance Ten-teh no longer sought evasion. He hastened to\nthrow open the outer door and the stranger entered, whereupon the\ntempest ceased, although the thunder and lightning still lingered\namong the higher mountains. In passing through the doorway the robe of\nplaited grasses caught for a moment on the staple and pulling aside\nrevealed that the Being wore upon his left foot a golden sandal and\nupon his right foot one of iron, while embedded in his throat was a\ngreat pearl. Convinced by this that he was indeed one of the Immortal\nEight, Ten-teh prostrated himself fittingly, and explained that the\napparent disrespect of his reception arose from a conscientious\ninterest in the safety of the one committed to his care.\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d replied the Being affably; \u201cand your unvarying fidelity\nshall not go unrewarded when the proper time arrives. Now bring\nforward the one whom hitherto you have wisely called Hoang.\u201d\n\nIn secret during the past years Ten-teh had prepared for such an\nemergency a yellow silk robe bearing embroidered on it the Imperial\nDragon with Five Claws. He had also provided suitable ornaments, fur\ncoverings for the hands and face, and a sword and shield. Waking\nHoang, he quickly dressed him, sprinkled a costly perfume about his\nhead and face, and taking him for the last time by the hand he led him\ninto the presence of the stranger.\n\n\u201cKwo Kam, chosen representative of the sacred line of Tang,\u201d began the\nBeing, when he and Hoang had exchanged signs and greetings of equality\nin an obscure tongue, \u201cthe grafted peach-tree on the Crystal Wall is\nstricken and the fruit is ripe and rotten to the touch. The flies that\nhave fed upon its juice are drunk with it and lie helpless on the\nground; the skin is empty and blown out with air, the leaves withered,\nand about the root is coiled a great worm which has secretly worked to\nthis end. From the Five Points of the kingdom and beyond the Outer\nWillow Circle the Sheaf-binders have made a full report and it has\nbeen judged that the time is come for the tree to be roughly shaken.\nTo this destiny the Old Ones of your race now call you; but beware of\nsetting out unless your face should be unchangingly fixed and your\nheart pure from all earthly desires and base considerations.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe decision is too ever-present in my mind to need reflection,\u201d\n replied Hoang resolutely. \u201cTo grind to powder that presumptuous tyrant\nutterly, to restore the integrity of the violated boundaries of the\nland, and to set up again the venerable Tablets of the true Tang\nline--these desires have long since worn away the softer portion of\nthis person\u2019s heart by constant thought.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe choice has been made and the words have been duly set down,\u201d said\nthe Being. \u201cIf you maintain your high purpose to a prosperous end\nnothing can exceed your honour in the Upper Air; if you fail culpably,\nor even through incapacity, the lot of Fuh-chi himself will be\nenviable compared with yours.\u201d\n\nUnderstanding that the time had now come for his departure, Hoang\napproached Ten-teh as though he would have embraced him, but the Being\nmade a gesture of restraint.\n\n\u201cYet, O instructor, for the space of fourteen years--\u201d protested\nHoang.\n\n\u201cIt has been well and discreetly accomplished,\u201d replied the Being in a\nfirm but not unsympathetic voice, \u201cand Ten-teh\u2019s reward, which shall\nbe neither slight nor grudging, is awaiting him in the Upper Air,\nwhere already his immediate ancestors are very honourably regarded in\nconsequence. For many years, O Ten-teh, there has dwelt beneath your\nroof one who from this moment must be regarded as having passed away\nwithout leaving even a breath of memory behind. Before you stands your\nsovereign, to whom it is seemly that you should prostrate yourself in\nunquestioning obeisance. Do not look for any recompense or distinction\nhere below in return for that which you have done towards a nameless\none; for in the State there are many things which for high reasons\ncannot be openly proclaimed for the ill-disposed to use as feathers in\ntheir darts. Yet take this ring; the ears of the Illimitable Emperor\nare never closed to the supplicating petition of his children and\nshould such a contingency arise you may freely lay your cause before\nhim with the full assurance of an unswerving justice.\u201d\n\nA moment later the storm broke out again with redoubled vigour, and\nraising his face from the ground Ten-teh perceived that he was again\nalone.\n\n\n                 ii. THE MESSAGE FROM THE OUTER LAND\n\nAfter the departure of Hoang the affairs of Ten-teh ceased to prosper.\nThe fish which for so many years had leaped to meet his hand now\nmaintained an unparalleled dexterity in avoiding it; continual storms\ndrove him day after day back to the shore, and the fostering\nbeneficence of the deities seemed to be withdrawn, so that he no\nlonger found forgotten stores of wealth nor did merchants ever again\nmistake his door for that of another to whom they were indebted.\n\nIn the year that followed there passed from time to time through the\nsecluded villages lying in the Upper Seng valley persons who spoke of\nthe tumultuous events progressing everywhere. In such a manner those\nwho had remained behind learned that the great rising had been\nhonourably received by the justice-loving in every province, but that\nmany of official rank, inspired by no friendship towards Fuh-chi, but\nterror-stricken at the alternatives before them, had closed certain\nstrong cities against the Army of the Avenging Pure. It was at this\ncrisis, when the balance of the nation\u2019s destiny hung poised, that Kwo\nKam, the only son of the Emperor Tung Kwei, and rightful heir of the\ndynasty of the glorious Tang, miraculously appeared at the head of the\nAvenging Pure and being acclaimed their leader with a unanimous shout\nled them on through a series of overwhelming and irresistible\nvictories. At a later period it was told how Kwo Kam had been crowned\nand installed upon his father\u2019s throne, after receiving a mark of\ncelestial approbation in the Temple of Heaven, how Fuh-chi had escaped\nand fled and how his misleading records had been publicly burned and\nhis detestable name utterly blotted out.\n\nAt this period an even greater misfortune than his consistent ill\nsuccess met Ten-teh. A neighbouring mandarin, on a false pretext,\ncaused him to be brought before him, and speaking very sternly of\ncertain matters in the past, which, he said, out of a well-intentioned\nregard for the memory of Ten-teh\u2019s father he would not cast abroad, he\nfined him a much larger sum than all he possessed, and then at once\ncaused the raft and the cormorants to be seized in satisfaction of the\nclaim. This he did because his heart was bad, and the sight of Ten-teh\nbearing a cheerful countenance under continual privation had become\noffensive to him.\n\nThe story of this act of rapine Ten-teh at once carried to the\nappointed head of the village communities, assuring him that he was\nignorant of the cause, but that no crime or wrong-doing had been\ncommitted to call for so overwhelming an affliction in return, and\nentreating him to compel a just restitution and liberty to pursue his\ninoffensive calling peaceably in the future.\n\n\u201cListen well, O unassuming Ten-teh, for you are a person of\ndiscernment and one with a mature knowledge of the habits of all\nswimming creatures,\u201d said the headman after attending patiently to\nTen-teh\u2019s words. \u201cIf two lean and insignificant carp encountered a\nvoracious pike and one at length fell into his jaws, by what means\nwould the other compel the assailant to release his prey?\u201d\n\n\u201cSo courageous an emotion would serve no useful purpose,\u201d replied\nTen-teh. \u201cBeing ill-equipped for such a conflict, it would inevitably\nresult in the second fish also falling a prey to the voracious pike,\nand recognizing this, the more fortunate of the two would endeavour to\nescape by lying unperceived among the reeds about.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe answer is inspired and at the same time sufficiently concise to\nlie within the hollow bowl of an opium pipe,\u201d replied the headman, and\nturning to his bench he continued in his occupation of beating flax\nwith a wooden mallet.\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d protested Ten-teh, when at length the other paused, \u201csurely the\nmatter could be placed before those in authority in so convincing a\nlight by one possessing your admitted eloquence that Justice would\nstumble over herself in her haste to liberate the oppressed and to\ndegrade the guilty.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe phenomenon has occasionally been witnessed, but latterly it would\nappear that the conscientious deity in question must have lost all\npower of movement, or perhaps even fatally injured herself, as the\nresult of some such act of rash impulsiveness in the past,\u201d replied\nthe headman sympathetically.\n\n\u201cAlas, then,\u201d exclaimed Ten-teh, \u201cis there, under the most enlightened\nform of government in the world, no prescribed method of obtaining\nredress?\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly,\u201d replied the headman; \u201cthe prescribed method is the part\nof the system that has received the most attention. As the one of whom\nyou complain is a mandarin of the fifth degree, you may fittingly\naddress yourself to his superiors of the fourth, third, second and\nfirst degrees. Then there are the city governors, the district\nprefects, the provincial rulers, the Imperial Assessors, the Board of\nCensors, the Guider of the Vermilion Pencil, and, finally, the supreme\nEmperor himself. To each of these, if you are wealthy enough to reach\nhis actual presence, you may prostrate yourself in turn, and each one,\nwith many courteous expressions of intolerable regret that the matter\ndoes not come within his office, will refer you to another. The more\nprudent course, therefore, would seem to be that of beginning with the\nEmperor rather than reaching him as the last resort, and as you are\nnow without means of livelihood if you remain here there is no reason\nwhy you should not journey to the Capital and make the attempt.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Highest!\u201d exclaimed Ten-teh, with a pang of unfathomable emotion.\n\u201cIs there, then, no middle way? Who is Ten-teh, the obscure and\nilliterate fisherman, that he should thrust himself into the presence\nof the Son of Heaven? If the mother of the dutiful Chou Yii could\ndestroy herself and her family at one blow to the end that her son\nmight serve his sovereign with a single heart, how degraded an outcast\nmust he be who would obtrude his own trivial misfortunes at so\ncritical a time.\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018A thorn in one\u2019s own little finger is more difficult to endure than\na sword piercing the sublime Emperor\u2019s arm,\u2019\u201d replied the headman,\nresuming his occupation. \u201cBut if your angle of regarding the various\nobligations is as you have stated it, then there is obviously nothing\nmore to be said. In any case it is more than doubtful whether the\nFountain of Justice would raise an eyelash if you, by every\ncombination of fortunate circumstance, succeeded in reaching his\npresence.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe headman has spoken, and his word is ten times more weighty than\nthat of an ill-educated fisherman,\u201d replied Ten-teh submissively, and\nhe departed.\n\nFrom that time Ten-teh sought to sustain life upon roots and wild\nherbs which he collected laboriously and not always in sufficient\nquantities from the woods and rank wastes around. Soon even this\nresource failed him in a great measure, for a famine of unprecedented\nharshness swept over that part of the province. All supplies of\nadequate food ceased, and those who survived were driven by the pangs\nof hunger to consume weeds and the bark of trees, fallen leaves,\ninsects of the lowest orders and the bones of wild animals which had\ndied in the forest. To carry a little rice openly was a rash challenge\nto those who still valued life, and a loaf of chaff and black mould\nwas guarded as a precious jewel. No wife or daughter could weigh in\nthe balance against a measure of corn, and men sold themselves into\ncaptivity to secure the coarse nourishment which the rich allotted to\ntheir slaves. Those who remained in the villages followed in Ten-teh\u2019s\nfootsteps, so that the meagre harvest that hitherto had failed to\nsupply one household now constituted the whole provision for many. At\nlength these persons, seeing a lingering but inevitable death before\nthem all, came together and spoke of how this might perchance be\navoided.\n\n\u201cLet us consider well,\u201d said one of their number, \u201cfor it may be that\nsuccour would not be withheld did we but know the precise manner in\nwhich to invoke it.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour words are light, O Tan-yung, and your eyes too bright in looking\nat things which present no encouragement whatever,\u201d replied another.\n\u201cWe who remain are old, infirm, or in some way deficient, or we would\nere this have sold ourselves into slavery or left this accursed desert\nin search of a more prolific land. Therefore our existence is of no\nvalue to the State, so that they will not take any pains to preserve\nit. Furthermore, now being beyond the grasp of the most covetous\nextortion, the district officials have no reason for maintaining an\ninterest in our lives. Assuredly there is no escape except by the\nWhite Door of which each one himself holds the key.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d objected a third, \u201cthe aged Ning has often recounted how in the\nlatter years of the reign of the charitable Emperor Kwong, when a\nsimilar infliction lay upon the land, a bullock-load of rice was sent\ndaily into the villages of the valley and freely distributed by the\nheadman. Now that same munificent Kwong was a direct ancestor to the\nthird degree of our own Kwo Kam.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d remarked a person who had lost many of his features during a\nraid of brigands, \u201csince the days of the commendable Kwong, while the\nfeet of our lesser ones have been growing smaller the hands of our\ngreater ones have been growing larger. Yet even nowadays, by the\nprotection of the deities, the bullock might reach us.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe wheel-grease of the cart would alone make the day memorable,\u201d\n murmured another.\n\n\u201cO brothers,\u201d interposed one who had not yet spoken, \u201cdo not cause our\nthroats to twitch convulsively; nor is it in any way useful to leave\nthe date of solid reflection in pursuit of the stone of light and\nversatile fancy. Is it thought to be expedient that we should send an\nemissary to those in authority, pleading our straits?\u201d\n\n\u201cHave not two already journeyed to Kuing-yi in our cause, and to what\nend?\u201d replied the second one who had raised his voice.\n\n\u201cThey did but seek the city mandarin and failed to reach his ear,\nbeing empty-handed,\u201d urged Tan-yung. \u201cThe distance to the Capital is\nadmittedly great, yet it is no more than a persevering and\nresolute-minded man could certainly achieve. There prostrating himself\nbefore the Sublime One and invoking the memory of the imperishable\nKwong he could so outline our necessity and despair that the one\nwagon-load referred to would be increased by nine and the unwieldy\noxen give place to relays of swift horses.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Emperor!\u201d exclaimed the one who had last spoken, in tones of\nundisguised contempt towards Tan-yung. \u201cIs the eye of the\nUnapproachable Sovereign less than that of a city mandarin, that\nhaving failed to come near the one we should now strive to reach the\nother; or are we, peradventure, to fill the sleeves of our messenger\nwith gold and his inner scrip with sapphires!\u201d Nevertheless the\ngreater part of those who stood around zealously supported Tan-yung,\ncrying aloud: \u201cThe Emperor! The suggestion is inspired! Undoubtedly\nthe beneficent Kwo Kam will uphold our cause and our troubles may now\nbe considered as almost at an end.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet,\u201d interposed a faltering voice, \u201cwho among us is to go?\u201d\n\nAt the mention of this necessary detail of the plan the cries which\nwere the loudest raised in exultation suddenly leapt back upon\nthemselves as each person looked in turn at all the others and then at\nhimself. The one who had urged the opportune but disconcerting point\nwas lacking in the power of movement in his lower limbs and progressed\nat a pace little advanced to that of a shell-cow upon two slabs of\nwood. Tan-yung was subject to a disorder which without any warning\ncast him to the ground almost daily in a condition of writhing frenzy;\nthe one who had opposed him was paralysed in all but his head and\nfeet, while those who stood about were either blind, lame,\ncamel-backed, leprous, armless, misshapen, or in some way mentally or\nbodily deficient in an insuperable degree. \u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed one, as\nthe true understanding of their deformities possessed him, \u201cnot only\nwould they of the Court receive it as a most detestable insult if we\nsent such as ourselves, but the probability of anyone so harassed\novercoming the difficulties of river, desert and mountain barrier is\nso remote that this person is more than willing to stake his entire\nshare of the anticipated bounty against a span-length of succulent\nlotus root or an embossed coffin handle.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet unworthy despair fade!\u201d suddenly exclaimed Tan-yung, who\nnevertheless had been more downcast than any other a moment before;\n\u201cfor among us has been retained one who has probably been especially\ndestined for this very service. There is yet Ten-teh. Let us seek him\nout.\u201d\n\nWith this design they sought for Ten-teh and finding him in his hut\nthey confidently invoked his assistance, pointing out how he would\nsave all their lives and receive great honour. To their dismay Ten-teh\nreceived them with solemn curses and drove them from his door with\nblows, calling them traitors, ungrateful ones, and rebellious subjects\nwhose minds were so far removed from submissive loyalty that rather\nthan perish harmlessly they would inopportunely thrust themselves in\nupon the attention of the divine Emperor when his mind was full of\ngreat matters and his thoughts tenaciously fixed upon the scheme for\nreclaiming the abandoned outer lands of his forefathers. \u201cBehold,\u201d he\ncried, \u201cwhen a hand is raised to sweep into oblivion a thousand\nearthworms they lift no voice in protest, and in this matter ye are\nless than earthworms. The dogs are content to starve dumbly while\ntheir masters feast, and ye are less than dogs. The dutiful son\ncheerfully submits himself to torture on the chance that his father\u2019s\nsufferings may be lessened, and the Emperor, as the supreme head, is\nmore to be venerated than any father; but your hearts are sheathed in\navarice and greed.\u201d Thus he drove them away, and their last hope being\ngone they wandered back to the forest, wailing and filling the air\nwith their despairing moans; for the brief light that had inspired\nthem was extinguished and the thought that by a patient endurance they\nmight spare the Emperor an unnecessary pang was not a sufficient\nrecompense in their eyes.\n\nThe time of warmth and green life passed. With winter came floods and\nsnow-storms, great tempests from the north and bitter winds that cut\nmen down as though they had been smitten by the sword. The rivers and\nlagoons were frozen over; the meagre sustenance of the earth lay\nhidden beneath an impenetrable crust of snow and ice, until those who\nhad hitherto found it a desperate chance to live from day to day now\nabandoned the unequal struggle for the more attractive certainty of a\nswift and painless death. One by one the fires went out in the houses\nof the dead; the ever-increasing snow broke down the walls. Wild\nbeasts from the mountains walked openly about the deserted streets,\nthrust themselves through such doors as were closed against them and\nlurked by night in the most sacred recesses of the ruined temples. The\nstrong and the wealthy had long since fled, and presently out of all\nthe eleven villages of the valley but one man remained alive and\nTen-teh lay upon the floor of his inner chamber, dying.\n\n\u201cThere was a sign--there was a sign in the past that more was yet to\nbe accomplished,\u201d ran the one thought of his mind as he lay there\nhelpless, his last grain consumed and the ashes on his hearthstone\nblack. \u201cCan it be that so solemn an omen has fallen unfulfilled to the\nground; or has this person long walked hand in hand with shadows in\nthe Middle Air?\u201d\n\n\u201cDwellers of Yin; dwellers of Chung-yo; of Wei, Shan-ta, Feng, the\nRock of the Bleak Pagoda and all the eleven villages of the valley!\u201d\n cried a voice from without. \u201cHo, inhospitable sleeping ones, I have\nreached the last dwelling of the plain and no one has as yet bidden me\nenter, no voice invited me to unlace my sandals and partake of tea. Do\nthey fear that this person is a robber in disguise, or is this the\ncourtesy of the Upper Seng valley?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey sleep more deeply,\u201d said Ten-teh, speaking back to the full\nextent of his failing power; \u201cperchance your voice was not raised high\nenough, O estimable wayfarer. Nevertheless, whether you come in peace\nor armed with violence, enter here, for the one who lies within is\npast help and beyond injury.\u201d\n\nUpon this invitation the stranger entered and stood before Ten-teh. He\nwas of a fierce and martial aspect, carrying a sword at his belt and a\nbow and arrows slung across his back, but privation had set a deep\nmark upon his features and his body bore unmistakable traces of a long\nand arduous march. His garments were ragged, his limbs torn by rocks\nand thorny undergrowth, while his ears had fallen away before the\nrigour of the ice-laden blasts. In his right hand he carried a staff\nupon which he leaned at every step, and glancing to the ground Ten-teh\nperceived that the lower part of his sandals were worn away so that he\ntrod painfully upon his bruised and naked feet.\n\n\u201cGreeting,\u201d said Ten-teh, when they had regarded each other for a\nmoment; \u201cyet, alas, no more substantial than of the lips, for the\nhospitality of the eleven villages is shrunk to what you see before\nyou,\u201d and he waved his arm feebly towards the empty bowl and the\nblackened hearth. \u201cWhence come you?\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom the outer land of Im-kau,\u201d replied the other. \u201cOver the\nKang-ling mountains.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a moon-to-moon journey,\u201d said Ten-teh. \u201cFew travellers have\never reached the valley by that inaccessible track.\u201d\n\n\u201cMore may come before the snow has melted,\u201d replied the stranger, with\na stress of significance. \u201cLess than seven days ago this person stood\nupon the northern plains.\u201d\n\nTen-teh raised himself upon his arm. \u201cThere existed, many cycles ago,\na path--of a single foot\u2019s width, it is said--along the edge of the\nPass called the Ram\u2019s Horn, but it has been lost beyond the memory of\nman.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt has been found again,\u201d said the stranger, \u201cand Kha-hia and his\nhorde of Kins, joined by the vengeance-breathing Fuh-chi, lie encamped\nless than a short march beyond the Pass.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt can matter little,\u201d said Ten-teh, trembling but speaking to\nreassure himself. \u201cThe people are at peace among themselves, the\nCapital adequately defended, and an army sufficiently large to meet\nany invasion can march out and engage the enemy at a spot most\nconvenient to ourselves.\u201d\n\n\u201cA few days hence, when all preparation is made,\u201d continued the\nstranger, \u201ca cloud of armed men will suddenly appear openly, menacing\nthe western boundaries. The Capital and the fortified places will be\ndenuded, and all who are available will march out to meet them. They\nwill be but as an empty shell designed to serve a crafty purpose, for\nin the meanwhile Kha-hia will creep unsuspected through the Kang-lings\nby the Ram\u2019s Horn and before the army can be recalled he will swiftly\nfall upon the defenceless Capital and possess it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d exclaimed Ten-teh, \u201cwhy has the end tarried thus long if it be\nbut for this person\u2019s ears to carry to the grave so tormenting a\nmessage! Yet how comes it, O stranger, that having been admitted to\nKha-hia\u2019s innermost council you now betray his trust, or how can\nreliance be placed upon the word of one so treacherous?\u201d\n\n\u201cTouching the reason,\u201d replied the stranger, with no appearance of\nresentment, \u201cthat is a matter which must one day lie between Kha-hia,\nthis person, and one long since Passed Beyond, and to this end have I\nuncomplainingly striven for the greater part of a lifetime. For the\nrest, men do not cross the King-langs in midwinter, wearing away their\nlives upon those stormy heights, to make a jest of empty words.\nAlready sinking into the Under World, even as I am now powerless to\nraise myself above the ground, I, Nau-Kaou, swear and attest what I\nhave spoken.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet, alas!\u201d exclaimed Ten-teh, striking his breast bitterly in his\ndejection, \u201cto what end is it that you have journeyed? Know that out\nof all the eleven villages by famine and pestilence not another man\nremains. Beyond the valley stretch the uninhabited sand plains, so\nthat between here and the Capital not a solitary dweller could be\nfound to bear the message.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Silent One laughs!\u201d replied Nau-Kaou dispassionately; and drawing\nhis cloak more closely about him he would have composed himself into a\nreverent attitude to Pass Beyond.\n\n\u201cNot so!\u201d cried Ten-teh, rising in his inspired purpose and standing\nupright despite the fever that possessed him; \u201cthe jewel is precious\nbeyond comparison and the casket mean and falling to pieces, but there\nis none other. This person will bear the warning.\u201d\n\nThe stranger looked up from the ground in an increasing wonder. \u201cYou\ndo but dream, old man,\u201d he said in a compassionate voice. \u201cBefore me\nstands one of trembling limbs and infirm appearance. His face is the\ncolour of potter\u2019s clay; his eyes sunken and yellow. His bones\nprotrude everywhere like the points of armour, while his garment is\nscarcely fitted to afford protection against a summer breeze.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch dreams do not fade with the light,\u201d replied Ten-teh resolutely.\n\u201cHis feet are whole and untired; his mind clear. His heart is as\ninflexibly fixed as the decrees of destiny, and, above all, his\npurpose is one which may reasonably demand divine encouragement.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet there are the Han-sing mountains, flung as an insurmountable\nbarrier across the way,\u201d said Nau-Kaou.\n\n\u201cThe wind passes over them,\u201d replied Ten-teh, binding on his sandals.\n\n\u201cThe Girdle,\u201d continued the other, thereby indicating the formidable\nobstacle presented by the tempestuous river, swollen by the mountain\nsnows.\n\n\u201cThe fish, moved by no great purpose, swim from bank to bank,\u201d again\nreplied Ten-teh. \u201cTell me rather, for the time presses when such\nissues hang on the lips of dying men, to what extent Kha-hia\u2019s legions\nstretch?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn number,\u201d replied Nau-Kaou, closing his eyes, \u201cthey are as the\nstars on a very clear night, when the thousands in front do but serve\nto conceal the innumerable throng behind. Yet even a small and\nresolute army taking up its stand secretly in this valley and falling\nupon them unexpectedly when half were crossed could throw them into\ndisorder and rout, and utterly destroy the power of Kha-hia for all\ntime.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo shall it be,\u201d said Ten-Teh from the door. \u201cPass Upward with a\ntranquil mind, O stranger from the outer land. The torch which you\nhave borne so far will not fail until his pyre is lit.\u201d\n\n\u201cStay but a moment,\u201d cried Nau-Kaou. \u201cThis person, full of vigour and\nresource, needed the spur of a most poignant hate to urge his trailing\nfootsteps. Have you, O decrepit one, any such incentive to your\nfailing powers?\u201d\n\n\u201cA mightier one,\u201d came back the voice of Ten-teh, across the snow from\nafar. \u201cFear not.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well; they are the great twin brothers,\u201d exclaimed Nau-Kaou.\n\u201cKha-hia is doomed!\u201d Then twice beating the ground with his open hand\nhe loosened his spirit and passed contentedly into the Upper Air.\n\n\n                        iii. THE LAST SERVICE\n\nThe wise and accomplished Emperor Kwo Kam (to whom later historians\nhave justly given the title \u201cProfound\u201d) sat upon his agate throne in\nthe Hall of Audience. Around him were gathered the most illustrious\nfrom every province of the Empire, while emissaries from the courts of\nother rulers throughout the world passed in procession before him,\nprostrating themselves in token of the dependence which their\nsovereigns confessed, and imploring his tolerant acceptance of the\npriceless gifts they brought. Along the walls stood musicians and\nsingers who filled the air with melodious visions, while fan-bearing\nslaves dexterously wafted perfumed breezes into every group. So\nunparalleled was the splendour of the scene that rare embroidered\nsilks were trodden under foot and a great fountain was composed of\ndiamonds dropping into a jade basin full of pearls, but Kwo Kam\noutshone all else by the dignity of his air and the magnificence of\nhis apparel.\n\nSuddenly, and without any of the heralding strains of drums and\ncymbals by which persons of distinction had been announced, the arras\nbefore the chief door was plucked aside and a figure, blinded by so\nmuch jewelled brilliance, stumbled into the chamber, still holding\nthrust out before him the engraved ring bearing the Imperial emblem\nwhich alone had enabled him to pass the keepers of the outer gates\nalive. He had the appearance of being a very aged man, for his hair\nwas white and scanty, his face deep with shadows and lined like a\nriver bank when the waters have receded, and as he advanced, bent down\nwith infirmity, he mumbled certain words in ceaseless repetition. From\nhis feet and garment there fell a sprinkling of sand as he moved, and\nblood dropped to the floor from many an unhealed wound, but his eyes\nwere very bright, and though sword-handles were grasped on all sides\nat the sight of so presumptuous an intrusion, yet none opposed him.\nRather, they fell back, leaving an open passage to the foot of the\nthrone; so that when the Emperor lifted his eyes he saw the aged man\nmoving slowly forward to do obeisance.\n\n\u201cTen-teh, revered father!\u201d exclaimed Kwo Kam, and without pausing a\nmoment he leapt down from off his throne, thrust aside those who stood\nabout him and casting his own outer robe of state about Ten-teh\u2019s\nshoulders embraced him affectionately.\n\n\u201cSupreme ruler,\u201d murmured Ten-teh, speaking for the Emperor\u2019s ear\nalone, and in such a tone of voice as of one who has taught himself a\nlesson which remains after all other consciousness has passed away,\n\u201can army swiftly to the north! Let them dispose themselves about the\neleven villages and, overlooking the invaders as they assemble, strike\nwhen they are sufficiently numerous for the victory to be lasting and\ndecisive. The passage of the Ram\u2019s Horn has been found and the\nmalignant Fuh-chi, banded in an unnatural alliance with the barbarian\nKins, lies with itching feet beyond the Kang-lings. The invasion\nthreatening on the west is but a snare; let a single camp, feigning to\nbe a multitudinous legion, be thrown against it. Suffer delay from no\ncause. Weigh no alternative. He who speaks is Ten-teh, at whose\nassuring word the youth Hoang was wont to cast himself into the\ndeepest waters fearlessly. His eyes are no less clear to-day, but his\nheart is made small with overwhelming deference or in unshrinking\nloyalty he would cry: \u2018Hear and obey! All, all--Flags, Ironcaps,\nTigers, Braves--all to the Seng valley, leaving behind them the\nswallow in their march and moving with the guile and secrecy of the\nringed tree-snake.\u2019\u201d With these words Ten-teh\u2019s endurance passed its\ndrawn-out limit and again repeating in a clear and decisive voice,\n\u201cAll, all to the north!\u201d he released his joints and would have fallen\nto the ground had it not been for the Emperor\u2019s restraining arms.\n\nWhen Ten-teh again returned to a knowledge of the lower world he was\nseated upon the throne to which the Emperor had borne him. His rest\nhad been made easy by the luxurious cloaks of the courtiers and\nemissaries which had been lavishly heaped about him, while during his\ntrance the truly high-minded Kwo Kam had not disdained to wash his\nfeet in a golden basin of perfumed water, to shave his limbs, and to\nanoint his head. The greater part of the assembly had been dismissed,\nbut some of the most trusted among the ministers and officials still\nwaited in attendance about the door.\n\n\u201cGreat and enlightened one,\u201d said Ten-teh, as soon as his stupor was\nlifted, \u201chas this person delivered his message competently, for his\nmind was still a seared vision of snow and sand and perchance his\ntongue has stumbled?\u201d\n\n\u201cBend your ears to the wall, O my father,\u201d replied the Emperor, \u201cand\nbe assured.\u201d\n\nA radiance of the fullest satisfaction lifted the settling shadows for\na moment from Ten-teh\u2019s countenance as from the outer court came at\nintervals the low and guarded words of command, the orderly clashing\nof weapons as they fell into their appointed places, and the regular\nand unceasing tread of armed men marching forth. \u201cTo the Seng\nvalley--by no chance to the west?\u201d he demanded, trembling between\nanxiety and hope, and drinking in the sound of the rhythmic tramp\nwhich to his ears possessed a more alluring charm than if it were the\nmelody of blind singing girls.\n\n\u201cEven to the eleven villages,\u201d replied the Emperor. \u201cAt your\nunquestioned word, though my kingdom should hang upon the outcome.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is sufficient to have lived so long,\u201d said Ten-teh. Then\nperceiving that it was evening, for the jade and crystal lamps were\nlighted, he cried out: \u201cThe time has leapt unnoted. How many are by\nthis hour upon the march?\u201d\n\n\u201cSixscore companies of a hundred spearmen each,\u201d said Kwo Kam. \u201cBy\ndawn four times that number will be on their way. In less than three\ndays a like force will be disposed about the passes of the Han-sing\nmountains and the river fords, while at the same time the guards from\nless important towns will have been withdrawn to take their place upon\nthe city walls.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch words are more melodious than the sound of many marble lutes,\u201d\n said Ten-teh, sinking back as though in repose. \u201cNow is mine that\npeace spoken of by the philosopher Chi-chey as the greatest: \u2018The eye\nclosing upon its accomplished work.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cAssuredly do you stand in need of the healing sleep of nature,\u201d said\nthe Emperor, not grasping the inner significance of the words. \u201cNow\nthat you are somewhat rested, esteemed sire, suffer this one to show\nyou the various apartments of the palace so that you may select for\nyour own such as most pleasingly attract your notice.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet a little longer,\u201d entreated Ten-teh. \u201cA little longer by your\nside and listening to your voice alone, if it may be permitted, O\nsublime one.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is for my father to command,\u201d replied Kwo Kam. \u201cPerchance they of\nthe eleven villages sent some special message of gratifying loyalty\nwhich you would relate without delay?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey slept, omnipotence, or without doubt it would be so,\u201d replied\nTen-teh.\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d agreed the Emperor. \u201cIt was night when you set forth, my\nfather?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe shadows had fallen deeply upon the Upper Seng Valley,\u201d said\nTen-teh evasively.\n\n\u201cThe Keeper of the Imperial Stores has frequently conveyed to us their\nexpressions of unfeigned gratitude for the bounty by which we have\nsought to keep alive the memory of their hospitality and our own\nindebtedness,\u201d said the Emperor.\n\n\u201cThe sympathetic person cannot have overstated their words,\u201d replied\nTen-teh falteringly. \u201cNever, as their own utterances bear testimony,\nnever was food more welcome, fuel more eagerly sought for, and\nclothing more necessary than in the years of the most recent past.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe assurance is as dew upon the drooping lotus,\u201d said Kwo Kam, with\na lightening countenance. \u201cTo maintain the people in an unshaken\nprosperity, to frown heavily upon extortion and to establish justice\nthroughout the land--these have been the achievements of the years of\npeace. Yet often, O my father, this one\u2019s mind has turned yearningly\nto the happier absence of strife and the simple abundance which you\nand they of the valley know.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe deities ordain and the balance weighs; your reward will be the\ngreater,\u201d replied Ten-teh. Already he spoke with difficulty, and his\neyes were fast closing, but he held himself rigidly, well knowing that\nhis spirit must still obey his will.\n\n\u201cDo you not crave now to partake of food and wine?\u201d inquired the\nEmperor, with tender solicitude. \u201cA feast has long been prepared of\nthe choicest dishes in your honour. Consider well the fatigue through\nwhich you have passed.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt has faded,\u201d replied Ten-teh, in a voice scarcely above a whisper,\n\u201cthe earthly body has ceased to sway the mind. A little longer,\nrestored one; a very brief span of time.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour words are my breath, my father,\u201d said the Emperor,\ndeferentially. \u201cYet there is one matter which we had reserved for\naffectionate censure. It would have spared the feet of one who is\nforemost in our concern if you had been content to send the warning by\none of the slaves whose acceptance we craved last year, while you\nfollowed more leisurely by the chariot and the eight white horses\nwhich we deemed suited to your use.\u201d\n\nTen-teh was no longer able to express himself in words, but at this\nindication of the Emperor\u2019s unceasing thought a great happiness shone\non his face. \u201cWhat remains?\u201d must reasonably have been his reflection;\n\u201cor who shall leave the shade of the fruitful palm-tree to search for\nraisins?\u201d Therefore having reached so supreme an eminence that there\nwas nothing human above, he relaxed the effort by which he had so long\nsustained himself, and suffering his spirit to pass unchecked, he at\nonce fell back lifeless among the cushions of the throne.\n\nThat all who should come after might learn by his example, the history\nof Ten-teh was inscribed upon eighteen tablets of jade, carved\npatiently and with graceful skill by the most expert stone-cutters of\nthe age. A triumphal arch of seven heights was also erected outside\nthe city and called by his name, but the efforts of story-tellers and\npoets will keep alive the memory of Ten-teh even when these\nimperishable monuments shall have long fallen from their destined use.\n                                  *\n\nWhen Kai Lung had completed the story of the loyalty of Ten-teh and\nhad pointed out the forgotten splendour of the crumbling arch, the\ncoolness of the evening tempted them to resume their way. Moving\nwithout discomfort to themselves before nightfall they reached a small\nbut seemly cottage conveniently placed upon the mountain-side. At the\ngate stood an aged person whose dignified appearance was greatly added\nto by his long white moustaches. These possessions he pointed out to\nHwa-mei with inoffensive pride as he welcomed the two who stood before\nhim.\n\n\u201cVenerated father,\u201d explained Kai Lung dutifully, \u201cthis is she who has\nbeen destined from the beginning of time to raise up a hundred sons to\nkeep your line extant.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn that case,\u201d remarked the patriarch, \u201cyour troubles are only just\nbeginning. As for me, since all that is now arranged, I can see about\nmy own departure--\u2018Whatever height the tree, its leaves return to the\nearth at last.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is thus at evening-time--to-morrow the light will again shine\nforth,\u201d whispered Kai Lung. \u201cAlas, radiance, that you who have dwelt\nabout a palace should be brought to so mean a hut!\u201d\n\n\u201cIf it is small, your presence will pervade it; in a palace there are\nmany empty rooms,\u201d replied Hwa-mei, with a reassuring glance. \u201cI enter\nto prepare our evening rice.\u201d","title":"Kai Lung's Golden Hours","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":82105}