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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1076 ***
+
+THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG
+
+By Ernest Bramah
+
+
+
+  “Ho, illustrious passers-by!” says Kai Lung as he spreads out his
+  embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. “It is indeed unlikely
+  that you could condescend to stop and listen to the foolish words
+  of such an insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself.
+  Nevertheless, if you will but retard your elegant footsteps for a
+  few moments, this exceedingly unprepossessing individual will
+  endeavour to entertain you.” This is a collection of Kai Lung’s
+  entertaining tales, told professionally in the market places as he
+  travelled about; told sometimes to occupy and divert the minds of
+  his enemies when they were intent on torturing him.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+THE TRANSMUTATION OF LING
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+The sun had dipped behind the western mountains before Kai Lung, with
+twenty li or more still between him and the city of Knei Yang, entered
+the camphor-laurel forest which stretched almost to his destination.
+No person of consequence ever made the journey unattended; but Kai Lung
+professed to have no fear, remarking with extempore wisdom, when warned
+at the previous village, that a worthless garment covered one with
+better protection than that afforded by an army of bowmen. Nevertheless,
+when within the gloomy aisles, Kai Lung more than once wished himself
+back at the village, or safely behind the mud walls of Knei Yang; and,
+making many vows concerning the amount of prayer-paper which he would
+assuredly burn when he was actually through the gates, he stepped
+out more quickly, until suddenly, at a turn in the glade, he stopped
+altogether, while the watchful expression into which he had unguardedly
+dropped at once changed into a mask of impassiveness and extreme
+unconcern. From behind the next tree projected a long straight rod, not
+unlike a slender bamboo at a distance, but, to Kai Lung’s all-seeing
+eye, in reality the barrel of a matchlock, which would come into line
+with his breast if he took another step. Being a prudent man, more
+accustomed to guile and subservience to destiny than to force, he
+therefore waited, spreading out his hands in proof of his peaceful
+acquiescence, and smiling cheerfully until it should please the owner
+of the weapon to step forth. This the unseen did a moment later, still
+keeping his gun in an easy and convenient attitude, revealing a stout
+body and a scarred face, which in conjunction made it plain to Kai Lung
+that he was in the power of Lin Yi, a noted brigand of whom he had heard
+much in the villages.
+
+“O illustrious person,” said Kai Lung very earnestly, “this is evidently
+an unfortunate mistake. Doubtless you were expecting some exalted
+Mandarin to come and render you homage, and were preparing to overwhelm
+him with gratified confusion by escorting him yourself to your
+well-appointed abode. Indeed, I passed such a one on the road, very
+richly apparelled, who inquired of me the way to the mansion of the
+dignified and upright Lin Yi. By this time he is perhaps two or three li
+towards the east.”
+
+“However distinguished a Mandarin may be, it is fitting that I should
+first attend to one whose manners and accomplishments betray him to be
+of the Royal House,” replied Lin Yi, with extreme affability. “Precede
+me, therefore, to my mean and uninviting hovel, while I gain more
+honour than I can reasonably bear by following closely in your elegant
+footsteps, and guarding your Imperial person with this inadequate but
+heavily-loaded weapon.”
+
+Seeing no chance of immediate escape, Kai Lung led the way, instructed
+by the brigand, along a very difficult and bewildering path, until they
+reached a cave hidden among the crags. Here Lin Yi called out some words
+in the Miaotze tongue, whereupon a follower appeared, and opened a gate
+in the stockade of prickly mimosa which guarded the mouth of the den.
+Within the enclosure a fire burned, and food was being prepared. At a
+word from the chief, the unfortunate Kai Lung found his hands seized and
+tied behind his back, while a second later a rough hemp rope was fixed
+round his neck, and the other end tied to an overhanging tree.
+
+Lin Yi smiled pleasantly and critically upon these preparations, and
+when they were complete dismissed his follower.
+
+“Now we can converse at our ease and without restraint,” he remarked to
+Kai Lung. “It will be a distinguished privilege for a person occupying
+the important public position which you undoubtedly do; for myself,
+my instincts are so degraded and low-minded that nothing gives me more
+gratification than to dispense with ceremony.”
+
+To this Kai Lung made no reply, chiefly because at that moment the wind
+swayed the tree, and compelled him to stand on his toes in order to
+escape suffocation.
+
+“It would be useless to try to conceal from a person of your inspired
+intelligence that I am indeed Lin Yi,” continued the robber. “It is a
+dignified position to occupy, and one for which I am quite incompetent.
+In the sixth month of the third year ago, it chanced that this unworthy
+person, at that time engaged in commercial affairs at Knei Yang, became
+inextricably immersed in the insidious delights of quail-fighting.
+Having been entrusted with a large number of taels with which to
+purchase elephants’ teeth, it suddenly occurred to him that if he
+doubled the number of taels by staking them upon an exceedingly powerful
+and agile quail, he would be able to purchase twice the number of teeth,
+and so benefit his patron to a large extent. This matter was clearly
+forced upon his notice by a dream, in which he perceived one whom he
+then understood to be the benevolent spirit of an ancestor in the act
+of stroking a particular quail, upon whose chances he accordingly
+placed all he possessed. Doubtless evil spirits had been employed in the
+matter; for, to this person’s great astonishment, the quail in question
+failed in a very discreditable manner at the encounter. Unfortunately,
+this person had risked not only the money which had been entrusted to
+him, but all that he had himself become possessed of by some years of
+honourable toil and assiduous courtesy as a professional witness in
+law cases. Not doubting that his patron would see that he was himself
+greatly to blame in confiding so large a sum of money to a comparatively
+young man of whom he knew little, this person placed the matter before
+him, at the same time showing him that he would suffer in the eyes of
+the virtuous if he did not restore this person’s savings, which but for
+the presence of the larger sum, and a generous desire to benefit his
+patron, he would never have risked in so uncertain a venture as that of
+quail-fighting. Although the facts were laid in the form of a dignified
+request instead of a demand by legal means, and the reasoning carefully
+drawn up in columns of fine parchment by a very illustrious writer, the
+reply which this person received showed him plainly that a wrong view
+had been taken of the matter, and that the time had arrived when it
+became necessary for him to make a suitable rejoinder by leaving the
+city without delay.”
+
+“It was a high-minded and disinterested course to take,” said Kai
+Lung with great conviction, as Lin Yi paused. “Without doubt evil will
+shortly overtake the avaricious-souled person at Knei Yang.”
+
+“It has already done so,” replied Lin Yi. “While passing through this
+forest in the season of Many White Vapours, the spirits of his bad deeds
+appeared to him in misleading and symmetrical shapes, and drew him out
+of the path and away from his bowmen. After suffering many torments, he
+found his way here, where, in spite of our continual care, he perished
+miserably and in great bodily pain.... But I cannot conceal from
+myself, in spite of your distinguished politeness, that I am becoming
+intolerably tiresome with my commonplace talk.”
+
+“On the contrary,” replied Kai Lung, “while listening to your voice I
+seemed to hear the beating of many gongs of the finest and most polished
+brass. I floated in the Middle Air, and for the time I even became
+unconscious of the fact that this honourable appendage, though
+fashioned, as I perceive, out of the most delicate silk, makes it
+exceedingly difficult for me to breathe.”
+
+“Such a thing cannot be permitted,” exclaimed Lin Yi, with some
+indignation, as with his own hands he slackened the rope and, taking it
+from Kai Lung’s neck, fastened it around his ankle. “Now, in return for
+my uninviting confidences, shall not my senses be gladdened by a recital
+of the titles and honours borne by your distinguished family? Doubtless,
+at this moment many Mandarins of the highest degree are anxiously
+awaiting your arrival at Knei Yang, perhaps passing the time by outdoing
+one another in protesting the number of taels each would give rather
+than permit you to be tormented by fire-brands, or even to lose a single
+ear.”
+
+“Alas!” replied Kai Lung, “never was there a truer proverb than that
+which says, ‘It is a mark of insincerity of purpose to spend one’s
+time in looking for the sacred Emperor in the low-class tea-shops.’
+Do Mandarins or the friends of Mandarins travel in mean garments and
+unattended? Indeed, the person who is now before you is none other than
+the outcast Kai Lung, the story-teller, one of degraded habits and no
+very distinguished or reputable ancestors. His friends are few, and
+mostly of the criminal class; his wealth is not more than some six or
+eight cash, concealed in his left sandal; and his entire stock-in-trade
+consists of a few unendurable and badly told stories, to which, however,
+it is his presumptuous intention shortly to add a dignified narrative
+of the high-born Lin Yi, setting out his domestic virtues and the
+honour which he has reflected upon his house, his valour in war, the
+destruction of his enemies, and, above all, his great benevolence and
+the protection which he extends to the poor and those engaged in the
+distinguished arts.”
+
+“The absence of friends is unfortunate,” said Lin Yi thoughtfully, after
+he had possessed himself of the coins indicated by Kai Lung, and also
+of a much larger amount concealed elsewhere among the story-teller’s
+clothing. “My followers are mostly outlawed Miaotze, who have been
+driven from their own tribes in Yun Nan for man-eating and disregarding
+the sacred laws of hospitality. They are somewhat rapacious, and in this
+way it has become a custom that they should have as their own, for
+the purpose of exchanging for money, persons such as yourself, whose
+insatiable curiosity has led them to this place.”
+
+“The wise and all-knowing Emperor Fohy instituted three degrees of
+attainment: Being poor, to obtain justice; being rich, to escape
+flattery; and being human, to avoid the passions,” replied Kai Lung.
+“To these the practical and enlightened Kang added yet another, the
+greatest: Being lean, to yield fatness.”
+
+“In such cases,” observed the brigand, “the Miaotze keep an honoured and
+very venerable rite, which chiefly consists in suspending the offender
+by a pigtail from a low tree, and placing burning twigs of hemp-palm
+between his toes. To this person it seems a foolish and meaningless
+habit; but it would not be well to interfere with their religious
+observances, however trivial they may appear.”
+
+“Such a course must inevitably end in great loss,” suggested Kai Lung;
+“for undoubtedly there are many poor yet honourable persons who would
+leave with them a bond for a large number of taels and save the money
+with which to redeem it, rather than take part in a ceremony which is
+not according to one’s own Book of Rites.”
+
+“They have already suffered in that way on one or two occasions,”
+ replied Lin Yi; “so that such a proposal, no matter how nobly intended,
+would not gladden their faces. Yet they are simple and docile persons,
+and would, without doubt, be moved to any feeling you should desire by
+the recital of one of your illustrious stories.”
+
+“An intelligent and discriminating assemblage is more to a story-teller
+than much reward of cash from hands that conceal open mouths,” replied
+Kai Lung with great feeling. “Nothing would confer more pleasurable
+agitation upon this unworthy person than an opportunity of narrating
+his entire stock to them. If also the accomplished Lin Yi would bestow
+renown upon the occasion by his presence, no omen of good would be
+wanting.”
+
+“The pleasures of the city lie far behind me,” said Lin Yi, after
+some thought, “and I would cheerfully submit myself to an intellectual
+accomplishment such as you are undoubtedly capable of. But as we have
+necessity to leave this spot before the hour when the oak-leaves change
+into night-moths, one of your amiable stories will be the utmost we can
+strengthen our intellects with. Select which you will. In the meantime,
+food will be brought to refresh you after your benevolent exertions
+in conversing with a person of my vapid understanding. When you have
+partaken, or thrown it away as utterly unendurable, the time will have
+arrived, and this person, together with all his accomplices, will put
+themselves in a position to be subjected to all the most dignified
+emotions.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+“The story which I have selected for this gratifying occasion,” said Kai
+Lung, when, an hour or so later, still pinioned, but released from the
+halter, he sat surrounded by the brigands, “is entitled ‘Good and
+Evil,’ and it is concerned with the adventures of one Ling, who bore the
+honourable name of Ho. The first, and indeed the greater, part of
+the narrative, as related by the venerable and accomplished writer
+of history Chow-Tan, is taken up by showing how Ling was assuredly
+descended from an enlightened Emperor of the race of Tsin; but as the
+no less omniscient Ta-lin-hi proves beyond doubt that the person in
+question was in no way connected with any but a line of hereditary
+ape-worshippers, who entered China from an unknown country many
+centuries ago, it would ill become this illiterate person to express
+an opinion on either side, and he will in consequence omit the first
+seventeen books of the story, and only deal with the three which refer
+to the illustrious Ling himself.”
+
+
+THE STORY OF LING
+
+Narrated by Kai Lung when a prisoner in the camp of Lin Yi.
+
+Ling was the youngest of three sons, and from his youth upwards proved
+to be of a mild and studious disposition. Most of his time was spent in
+reading the sacred books, and at an early age he found the worship of
+apes to be repulsive to his gentle nature, and resolved to break through
+the venerable traditions of his family by devoting his time to literary
+pursuits, and presenting himself for the public examinations at Canton.
+In this his resolution was strengthened by a rumour that an army of
+bowmen was shortly to be raised from the Province in which he lived,
+so that if he remained he would inevitably be forced into an occupation
+which was even more distasteful to him than the one he was leaving.
+
+Having arrived at Canton, Ling’s first care was to obtain particulars of
+the examinations, which he clearly perceived, from the unusual
+activity displayed on all sides, to be near at hand. On inquiring from
+passers-by, he received very conflicting information; for the persons to
+whom he spoke were themselves entered for the competition, and therefore
+naturally misled him in order to increase their own chances of success.
+Perceiving this, Ling determined to apply at once, although the light
+was past, to a Mandarin who was concerned in the examinations, lest by
+delay he should lose his chance for the year.
+
+“It is an unfortunate event that so distinguished a person should have
+selected this day and hour on which to overwhelm us with his affable
+politeness!” exclaimed the porter at the gate of the Yamen, when Ling
+had explained his reason for going. “On such a day, in the reign of the
+virtuous Emperor Hoo Chow, a very benevolent and unassuming ancestor of
+my good lord the Mandarin was destroyed by treachery, and ever since his
+family has observed the occasion by fasting and no music. This person
+would certainly be punished with death if he entered the inner room from
+any cause.”
+
+At these words, Ling, who had been simply brought up, and chiefly in the
+society of apes, was going away with many expressions of self-reproach
+at selecting such a time, when the gate-keeper called him back.
+
+“I am overwhelmed with confusion at the position in which I find
+myself,” he remarked, after he had examined his mind for a short time.
+“I may meet with an ungraceful and objectionable death if I carry out
+your estimable instructions, but I shall certainly merit and receive
+a similar fate if I permit so renowned and versatile a person to leave
+without a fitting reception. In such matters a person can only trust to
+the intervention of good spirits; if, therefore, you will permit this
+unworthy individual to wear, while making the venture, the ring which he
+perceives upon your finger, and which he recognizes as a very powerful
+charm against evil, misunderstandings, and extortion, he will go without
+fear.”
+
+Overjoyed at the amiable porter’s efforts on his behalf, Ling did as he
+was desired, and the other retired. Presently the door of the Yamen was
+opened by an attendant of the house, and Ling bidden to enter. He
+was covered with astonishment to find that this person was entirely
+unacquainted with his name or purpose.
+
+“Alas!” said the attendant, when Ling had explained his object, “well
+said the renowned and inspired Ting Fo, ‘When struck by a thunderbolt it
+is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise meaning
+of the omen.’ At this moment my noble-minded master is engaged in
+conversation with all the most honourable and refined persons in Canton,
+while singers and dancers of a very expert and nimble order have been
+sent for. The entertainment will undoubtedly last far into the night,
+and to present myself even with the excuse of your graceful and delicate
+inquiry would certainly result in very objectionable consequences to
+this person.”
+
+“It is indeed a day of unprepossessing circumstances,” replied Ling,
+and after many honourable remarks concerning his own intellect and
+appearance, and those of the person to whom he was speaking, he had
+turned to leave when the other continued:
+
+“Ever since your dignified presence illumined this very ordinary
+chamber, this person has been endeavouring to bring to his mind an
+incident which occurred to him last night while he slept. Now it has
+come back to him with a diamond clearness, and he is satisfied that it
+was as follows: While he floated in the Middle Air a benevolent spirit
+in the form of an elderly and toothless vampire appeared, leading by
+the hand a young man, of elegant personality. Smiling encouragingly upon
+this person, the spirit said, ‘O Fou, recipient of many favours from
+Mandarins and of innumerable taels from gratified persons whom you have
+obliged, I am, even at this moment, guiding this exceptional young man
+towards your presence; when he arrives do not hesitate, but do as he
+desires, no matter how great the danger seems or how inadequately you
+may appear to be rewarded on earth.’ The vision then melted, but I now
+clearly perceive that with the exception of the embroidered cloak which
+you wear, you are the person thus indicated to me. Remove your cloak,
+therefore, in order to give the amiable spirit no opportunity of denying
+the fact, and I will advance your wishes; for, as the Book of Verses
+indicates, ‘The person who patiently awaits a sign from the clouds
+for many years, and yet fails to notice the earthquake at his feet, is
+devoid of intellect.’”
+
+Convinced that he was assuredly under the especial protection of the
+Deities, and that the end of his search was in view, Ling gave his rich
+cloak to the attendant, and was immediately shown into another room,
+where he was left alone.
+
+After a considerable space of time the door opened and there entered a
+person whom Ling at first supposed to be the Mandarin. Indeed, he was
+addressing him by his titles when the other interrupted him. “Do not
+distress your incomparable mind by searching for honourable names
+to apply to so inferior a person as myself,” he said agreeably. “The
+mistake is, nevertheless, very natural; for, however miraculous it may
+appear, this unseemly individual, who is in reality merely a writer of
+spoken words, is admitted to be exceedingly like the dignified Mandarin
+himself, though somewhat stouter, clad in better garments, and, it is
+said, less obtuse of intellect. This last matter he very much doubts,
+for he now finds himself unable to recognize by name one who is
+undoubtedly entitled to wear the Royal Yellow.”
+
+With this encouragement Ling once more explained his position, narrating
+the events which had enabled him to reach the second chamber of the
+Yamen. When he had finished the secretary was overpowered with a
+high-minded indignation.
+
+“Assuredly those depraved and rapacious persons who have both misled and
+robbed you shall suffer bow-stringing when the whole matter is brought
+to light,” he exclaimed. “The noble Mandarin neither fasts nor receives
+guests, for, indeed, he has slept since the sun went down. This person
+would unhesitatingly break his slumber for so commendable a purpose were
+it not for a circumstance of intolerable unavoidableness. It must not
+even be told in a low breath beyond the walls of the Yamen, but my
+benevolent and high-born lord is in reality a person of very miserly
+instinct, and nothing will call him from his natural sleep but the sound
+of taels shaken beside his bed. In an unexpected manner it comes about
+that this person is quite unsupplied with anything but thin printed
+papers of a thousand taels each, and these are quite useless for the
+purpose.”
+
+“It is unendurable that so obliging a person should be put to such
+inconvenience on behalf of one who will certainly become a public
+laughing-stock at the examinations,” said Ling, with deep feeling; and
+taking from a concealed spot in his garments a few taels, he placed them
+before the secretary for the use he had indicated.
+
+Ling was again left alone for upwards of two strokes of the gong, and
+was on the point of sleep when the secretary returned with an expression
+of dignified satisfaction upon his countenance. Concluding that he
+had been successful in the manner of awakening the Mandarin, Ling was
+opening his mouth for a polite speech, which should contain a delicate
+allusion to the taels, when the secretary warned him, by affecting a
+sudden look of terror, that silence was exceedingly desirable, and at
+the same time opened another door and indicated to Ling that he should
+pass through.
+
+In the next room Ling was overjoyed to find himself in the presence
+of the Mandarin, who received him graciously, and paid many estimable
+compliments to the name he bore and the country from which he came.
+When at length Ling tore himself from this enchanting conversation, and
+explained the reason of his presence, the Mandarin at once became a prey
+to the whitest and most melancholy emotions, even plucking two hairs
+from his pigtail to prove the extent and conscientiousness of his grief.
+
+“Behold,” he cried at length, “I am resolved that the extortionate and
+many-handed persons at Peking who have control of the examination rites
+and customs shall no longer grow round-bodied without remark. This
+person will unhesitatingly proclaim the true facts of the case without
+regarding the danger that the versatile Chancellor or even the sublime
+Emperor himself may, while he speaks, be concealed in some part of this
+unassuming room to hear his words; for, as it is wisely said, ‘When
+marked out by destiny, a person will assuredly be drowned, even though
+he passes the whole of his existence among the highest branches of a
+date tree.’”
+
+“I am overwhelmed that I should be the cause of such an engaging display
+of polished agitation,” said Ling, as the Mandarin paused. “If it would
+make your own stomach less heavy, this person will willingly follow your
+estimable example, either with or without knowing the reason.”
+
+“The matter is altogether on your account, O most unobtrusive young
+man,” replied the Mandarin, when a voice without passion was restored
+to him. “It tears me internally with hooks to reflect that you, whose
+refined ancestors I might reasonably have known had I passed my youth
+in another Province, should be victim to the cupidity of the ones in
+authority at Peking. A very short time before you arrived there came a
+messenger in haste from those persons, clearly indicating that a legal
+toll of sixteen taels was to be made on each printed paper setting forth
+the time and manner of the examinations, although, as you may see, the
+paper is undoubtedly marked, ‘Persons are given notice that they are
+defrauded of any sum which they may be induced to exchange for this
+matter.’ Furthermore, there is a legal toll of nine taels on all persons
+who have previously been examined--”
+
+“I am happily escaped from that,” exclaimed Ling with some satisfaction
+as the Mandarin paused.
+
+“--and twelve taels on all who present themselves for the first time.
+This is to be delivered over when the paper is purchased, so that you,
+by reason of this unworthy proceeding at Peking, are required to forward
+to that place, through this person, no less than thirty-two taels.”
+
+“It is a circumstance of considerable regret,” replied Ling; “for had
+I only reached Canton a day earlier, I should, it appears, have avoided
+this evil.”
+
+“Undoubtedly it would have been so,” replied the Mandarin, who had
+become engrossed in exalted meditation. “However,” he continued a
+moment later, as he bowed to Ling with an accomplished smile, “it
+would certainly be a more pleasant thought for a person of your refined
+intelligence that had you delayed until to-morrow the insatiable persons
+at Peking might be demanding twice the amount.”
+
+Pondering the deep wisdom of this remark, Ling took his departure; but
+in spite of the most assiduous watchfulness he was unable to discern any
+of the three obliging persons to whose efforts his success had been due.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+It was very late when Ling again reached the small room which he had
+selected as soon as he reached Canton, but without waiting for food or
+sleep he made himself fully acquainted with the times of the forthcoming
+examinations and the details of the circumstances connected with them.
+With much satisfaction he found that he had still a week in which to
+revive his intellect on the most difficult subjects. Having become
+relieved on these points, Ling retired for a few hours’ sleep, but rose
+again very early, and gave the whole day with great steadfastness to
+contemplation of the sacred classics Y-King, with the exception of a
+short period spent in purchasing ink, brushes and writing-leaves. The
+following day, having become mentally depressed through witnessing
+unaccountable hordes of candidates thronging the streets of Canton,
+Ling put aside his books, and passed the time in visiting all the most
+celebrated tombs in the neighbourhood of the city. Lightened in mind
+by this charitable and agreeable occupation, he returned to his studies
+with a fixed resolution, nor did he again falter in his purpose. On the
+evening of the examination, when he was sitting alone, reading by the
+aid of a single light, as his custom was, a person arrived to see him,
+at the same time manifesting a considerable appearance of secrecy
+and reserve. Inwardly sighing at the interruption, Ling nevertheless
+received him with distinguished consideration and respect, setting tea
+before him, and performing towards it many honourable actions with his
+own hands. Not until some hours had sped in conversation relating to
+the health of the Emperor, the unexpected appearance of a fiery dragon
+outside the city, and the insupportable price of opium, did the visitor
+allude to the object of his presence.
+
+“It has been observed,” he remarked, “that the accomplished Ling, who
+aspires to a satisfactory rank at the examinations, has never before
+made the attempt. Doubtless in this case a preternatural wisdom will
+avail much, and its fortunate possessor will not go unrewarded. Yet
+it is as precious stones among ashes for one to triumph in such
+circumstances.”
+
+“The fact is known to this person,” replied Ling sadly, “and the thought
+of the years he may have to wait before he shall have passed even the
+first degree weighs down his soul with bitterness from time to time.”
+
+“It is no infrequent thing for men of accomplished perseverance, but
+merely ordinary intellects, to grow venerable within the four walls
+of the examination cell,” continued the other. “Some, again, become
+afflicted with various malignant evils, while not a few, chiefly those
+who are presenting themselves for the first time, are so overcome on
+perceiving the examination paper, and understanding the inadequate
+nature of their own accomplishments, that they become an easy prey to
+the malicious spirits which are ever on the watch in those places; and,
+after covering their leaves with unpresentable remarks and drawings
+of men and women of distinguished rank, have at length to be forcibly
+carried away by the attendants and secured with heavy chains.”
+
+“Such things undoubtedly exist,” agreed Ling; “yet by a due regard paid
+to spirits, both good and bad, a proper esteem for one’s ancestors, and
+a sufficiency of charms about the head and body, it is possible to be
+closeted with all manner of demons and yet to suffer no evil.”
+
+“It is undoubtedly possible to do so, according to the Immortal
+Principles,” admitted the stranger; “but it is not an undertaking in
+which a refined person would take intelligent pleasure; as the proverb
+says, ‘He is a wise and enlightened suppliant who seeks to discover
+an honourable Mandarin, but he is a fool who cries out, “I have found
+one.”’ However, it is obvious that the reason of my visit is understood,
+and that your distinguished confidence in yourself is merely a graceful
+endeavour to obtain my services for a less amount of taels than I should
+otherwise have demanded. For half the usual sum, therefore, this person
+will take your place in the examination cell, and enable your versatile
+name to appear in the winning lists, while you pass your moments in
+irreproachable pleasures elsewhere.”
+
+Such a course had never presented itself to Ling. As the person who
+narrates this story has already marked, he had passed his life beyond
+the influence of the ways and manners of towns, and at the same time
+he had naturally been endowed with an unobtrusive highmindedness. It
+appeared to him, in consequence, that by accepting this engaging offer
+he would be placing those who were competing with him at a disadvantage.
+This person clearly sees that it is a difficult matter for him to
+explain how this could be, as Ling would undoubtedly reward the services
+of the one who took his place, nor would the number of the competitors
+be in any way increased; yet in such a way the thing took shape before
+his eyes. Knowing, however, that few persons would be able to understand
+this action, and being desirous of not injuring the estimable emotions
+of the obliging person who had come to him, Ling made a number of
+polished excuses in declining, hiding the true reason within himself. In
+this way he earned the powerful malignity of the person in question,
+who would not depart until he had effected a number of very disagreeable
+prophecies connected with unpropitious omens and internal torments, all
+of which undoubtedly had a great influence on Ling’s life beyond that
+time.
+
+Each day of the examination found Ling alternately elated or depressed,
+according to the length and style of the essay which he had written
+while enclosed in his solitary examination cell. The trials each lasted
+a complete day, and long before the fifteen days which composed the full
+examination were passed, Ling found himself half regretting that he had
+not accepted his visitor’s offer, or even reviling the day on which he
+had abandoned the hereditary calling of his ancestors. However, when,
+after all was over, he came to deliberate with himself on his chances of
+attaining a degree, he could not disguise from his own mind that he had
+well-formed hopes; he was not conscious of any undignified errors, and,
+in reply to several questions, he had been able to introduce
+curious knowledge which he possessed by means of his exceptional
+circumstances--knowledge which it was unlikely that any other candidate
+would have been able to make himself master of.
+
+At length the day arrived on which the results were to be made public;
+and Ling, together with all the other competitors and many distinguished
+persons, attended at the great Hall of Intellectual Coloured Lights
+to hear the reading of the lists. Eight thousand candidates had been
+examined, and from this number less than two hundred were to be selected
+for appointments. Amid a most distinguished silence the winning names
+were read out. Waves of most undignified but inevitable emotion passed
+over those assembled as the list neared its end, and the chances of
+success became less at each spoken word; and then, finding that his
+was not among them, together with the greater part of those present, he
+became a prey to very inelegant thoughts, which were not lessened by the
+refined cries of triumph of the successful persons. Among this confusion
+the one who had read the lists was observed to be endeavouring to make
+his voice known, whereupon, in the expectation that he had omitted a
+name, the tumult was quickly subdued by those who again had pleasurable
+visions.
+
+“There was among the candidates one of the name of Ling,” said he, when
+no-noise had been obtained. “The written leaves produced by this person
+are of a most versatile and conflicting order, so that, indeed, the
+accomplished examiners themselves are unable to decide whether they
+are very good or very bad. In this matter, therefore, it is clearly
+impossible to place the expert and inimitable Ling among the foremost,
+as his very uncertain success may have been brought about with the
+assistance of evil spirits; nor would it be safe to pass over his
+efforts without reward, as he may be under the protection of powerful
+but exceedingly ill-advised deities. The estimable Ling is told to
+appear again at this place after the gong has been struck three times,
+when the matter will have been looked at from all round.”
+
+At this announcement there arose another great tumult, several crying
+out that assuredly their written leaves were either very good or very
+bad; but no further proclamation was made, and very soon the hall was
+cleared by force.
+
+At the time stated Ling again presented himself at the Hall, and was
+honourably received.
+
+“The unusual circumstances of the matter have already been put forth,”
+ said an elderly Mandarin of engaging appearance, “so that nothing
+remains to be made known except the end of our despicable efforts to
+come to an agreeable conclusion. In this we have been made successful,
+and now desire to notify the result. A very desirable and not
+unremunerative office, rarely bestowed in this manner, is lately vacant,
+and taking into our minds the circumstances of the event, and the fact
+that Ling comes from a Province very esteemed for the warlike instincts
+of its inhabitants, we have decided to appoint him commander of the
+valiant and blood-thirsty band of archers now stationed at Si-chow, in
+the Province of Hu-Nan. We have spoken. Let three guns go off in honour
+of the noble and invincible Ling, now and henceforth a commander in
+the ever-victorious Army of the Sublime Emperor, brother of the Sun and
+Moon, and Upholder of the Four Corners of the World.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Many hours passed before Ling, now more downcast in mind than the most
+unsuccessful student in Canton, returned to his room and sought his
+couch of dried rushes. All his efforts to have his distinguished
+appointment set aside had been without avail, and he had been ordered to
+reach Si-chow within a week. As he passed through the streets, elegant
+processions in honour of the winners met him at every corner, and drove
+him into the outskirts for the object of quietness. There he remained
+until the beating of paper drums and the sound of exulting voices could
+be heard no more; but even when he returned lanterns shone in many
+dwellings, for two hundred persons were composing verses, setting forth
+their renown and undoubted accomplishments, ready to affix to their
+doors and send to friends on the next day. Not giving any portion of
+his mind to this desirable act of behaviour, Ling flung himself upon the
+floor, and, finding sleep unattainable, plunged himself into profound
+meditation of a very uninviting order. “Without doubt,” he exclaimed,
+“evil can only arise from evil, and as this person has always
+endeavoured to lead a life in which his devotions have been equally
+divided between the sacred Emperor, his illustrious parents, and his
+venerable ancestors, the fault cannot lie with him. Of the excellence of
+his parents he has full knowledge; regarding the Emperor, it might
+not be safe to conjecture. It is therefore probable that some of his
+ancestors were persons of abandoned manner and inelegant habits, to
+worship whom results in evil rather than good. Otherwise, how could it
+be that one whose chief delight lies in the passive contemplation of the
+Four Books and the Five Classics, should be selected by destiny to fill
+a position calling for great personal courage and an aggressive nature?
+Assuredly it can only end in a mean and insignificant death, perhaps not
+even followed by burial.”
+
+In this manner of thought he fell asleep, and after certain very base
+and impressive dreams, from which good omens were altogether absent, he
+awoke, and rose to begin his preparations for leaving the city. After
+two days spent chiefly in obtaining certain safeguards against treachery
+and the bullets of foemen, purchasing opium and other gifts with
+which to propitiate the soldiers under his charge, and in consulting
+well-disposed witches and readers of the future, he set out, and by
+travelling in extreme discomfort, reached Si-chow within five days.
+During his journey he learned that the entire Province was engaged in
+secret rebellion, several towns, indeed, having declared against
+the Imperial army without reserve. Those persons to whom Ling spoke
+described the rebels, with respectful admiration, as fierce and
+unnaturally skilful in all methods of fighting, revengeful and merciless
+towards their enemies, very numerous and above the ordinary height of
+human beings, and endowed with qualities which made their skin capable
+of turning aside every kind of weapon. Furthermore, he was assured that
+a large band of the most abandoned and best trained was at that moment
+in the immediate neighbourhood of Si-chow.
+
+Ling was not destined long to remain in any doubt concerning the truth
+of these matters, for as he made his way through a dark cypress wood,
+a few li from the houses of Si-chow, the sounds of a confused outcry
+reached his ears, and on stepping aside to a hidden glade some distance
+from the path, he beheld a young and elegant maiden of incomparable
+beauty being carried away by two persons of most repulsive and
+undignified appearance, whose dress and manner clearly betrayed them to
+be rebels of the lowest and worst-paid type. At this sight Ling became
+possessed of feelings of a savage yet agreeable order, which until
+that time he had not conjectured to have any place within his mind, and
+without even pausing to consider whether the planets were in favourable
+positions for the enterprise to be undertaken at that time, he drew his
+sword, and ran forward with loud cries. Unsettled in their intentions
+at this unexpected action, the two persons turned and advanced upon Ling
+with whirling daggers, discussing among themselves whether it would be
+better to kill him at the first blow or to take him alive, and, when
+the day had become sufficiently cool for the full enjoyment of the
+spectacle, submit him to various objectionable tortures of so degraded a
+nature that they were rarely used in the army of the Emperor except upon
+the persons of barbarians. Observing that the maiden was not bound, Ling
+cried out to her to escape and seek protection within the town, adding,
+with a magnanimous absence of vanity:
+
+“Should this person chance to fall, the repose which the presence of
+so lovely and graceful a being would undoubtedly bring to his departing
+spirit would be out-balanced by the unendurable thought that his
+commonplace efforts had not been sufficient to save her from the two
+evilly-disposed individuals who are, as he perceives, at this moment,
+neglecting no means within their power to accomplish his destruction.”
+ Accepting the discernment of these words, the maiden fled, first
+bestowing a look upon Ling which clearly indicated an honourable regard
+for himself, a high-minded desire that the affair might end profitably
+on his account, and an amiable hope that they should meet again, when
+these subjects could be expressed more clearly between them.
+
+In the meantime Ling had become at a disadvantage, for the time occupied
+in speaking and in making the necessary number of bows in reply to
+her entrancing glance had given the other persons an opportunity
+of arranging their charms and sacred written sentences to greater
+advantage, and of occupying the most favourable ground for the
+encounter. Nevertheless, so great was the force of the new emotion which
+had entered into Ling’s nature that, without waiting to consider the
+dangers or the best method of attack, he rushed upon them, waving his
+sword with such force that he appeared as though surrounded by a circle
+of very brilliant fire. In this way he reached the rebels, who both fell
+unexpectedly at one blow, they, indeed, being under the impression that
+the encounter had not commenced in reality, and that Ling was merely
+menacing them in order to inspire their minds with terror and raise his
+own spirits. However much he regretted this act of the incident which
+he had been compelled to take, Ling could not avoid being filled with
+intellectual joy at finding that his own charms and omens were more
+distinguished than those possessed by the rebels, none of whom, as he
+now plainly understood, he need fear.
+
+Examining these things within his mind, and reflecting on the events
+of the past few days, by which he had been thrown into a class of
+circumstances greatly differing from anything which he had ever sought,
+Ling continued his journey, and soon found himself before the southern
+gate of Si-chow. Entering the town, he at once formed the resolution of
+going before the Mandarin for Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, so that he
+might present, without delay, the papers and seals which he had brought
+with him from Canton.
+
+“The noble Mandarin Li Keen?” replied the first person to whom Ling
+addressed himself. “It would indeed be a difficult and hazardous
+conjecture to make concerning his sacred person. By chance he is in the
+strongest and best-concealed cellar in Si-chow, unless the sumptuous
+attractions of the deepest dry well have induced him to make a short
+journey”; and, with a look of great unfriendliness at Ling’s dress and
+weapons, this person passed on.
+
+“Doubtless he is fighting single-handed against the armed men by whom
+the place is surrounded,” said another; “or perhaps he is constructing
+an underground road from the Yamen to Peking, so that we may all escape
+when the town is taken. All that can be said with certainty is that the
+Heaven-sent and valorous Mandarin has not been seen outside the walls of
+his well-fortified residence since the trouble arose; but, as you carry
+a sword of conspicuous excellence, you will doubtless be welcome.”
+
+Upon making a third attempt Ling was more successful, for he inquired
+of an aged woman, who had neither a reputation for keen and polished
+sentences to maintain, nor any interest in the acts of the Mandarin
+or of the rebels. From her he learned how to reach the Yamen, and
+accordingly turned his footsteps in that direction. When at length
+he arrived at the gate, Ling desired his tablets to be carried to the
+Mandarin with many expressions of an impressive and engaging nature,
+nor did he neglect to reward the porter. It was therefore with the
+expression of a misunderstanding mind that he received a reply setting
+forth that Li Keen was unable to receive him. In great doubt he
+prevailed upon the porter, by means of a still larger reward, again to
+carry in his message, and on this occasion an answer in this detail was
+placed before him.
+
+“Li Keen,” he was informed, “is indeed awaiting the arrival of one Ling,
+a noble and valiant Commander of Bowmen. He is given to understand,
+it is true, that a certain person claiming the same honoured name is
+standing in somewhat undignified attitudes at the gate, but he is unable
+in any way to make these two individuals meet within his intellect. He
+would further remind all persons that the refined observances laid down
+by the wise and exalted Board of Rites and Ceremonies have a marked and
+irreproachable significance when the country is in a state of disorder,
+the town surrounded by rebels, and every breathing-space of time of more
+than ordinary value.”
+
+Overpowered with becoming shame at having been connected with so
+unseemly a breach of civility, for which his great haste had in reality
+been accountable, Ling hastened back into the town, and spent many hours
+endeavouring to obtain a chair of the requisite colour in which to
+visit the Mandarin. In this he was unsuccessful, until it was at length
+suggested to him that an ordinary chair, such as stood for hire in the
+streets of Si-chow, would be acceptable if covered with blue paper.
+Still in some doubt as to what the nature of his reception would be,
+Ling had no choice but to take this course, and accordingly he again
+reached the Yamen in such a manner, carried by two persons whom he had
+obtained for the purpose. While yet hardly at the residence a salute was
+suddenly fired; all the gates and doors were, without delay, thrown open
+with embarrassing and hospitable profusion, and the Mandarin himself
+passed out, and would have assisted Ling to step down from his chair
+had not that person, clearly perceiving that such a course would be
+too great an honour, evaded him by an unobtrusive display of versatile
+dexterity. So numerous and profound were the graceful remarks which each
+made concerning the habits and accomplishments of the other that more
+than the space of an hour was passed in traversing the small enclosed
+ground which led up to the principal door of the Yamen. There an almost
+greater time was agreeably spent, both Ling and the Mandarin having
+determined that the other should enter first. Undoubtedly Ling, who
+was the more powerful of the two, would have conferred this courteous
+distinction upon Li Keen had not that person summoned to his side
+certain attendants who succeeded in frustrating Ling in his high-minded
+intentions, and in forcing him through the doorway in spite of his
+conscientious protests against the unsurmountable obligation under which
+the circumstance placed him.
+
+Conversing in this intellectual and dignified manner, the strokes of
+the gong passed unheeded; tea had been brought into their presence many
+times, and night had fallen before the Mandarin allowed Ling to refer
+to the matter which had brought him to the place, and to present his
+written papers and seals.
+
+“It is a valuable privilege to have so intelligent a person as the
+illustrious Ling occupying this position,” remarked the Mandarin, as he
+returned the papers; “and not less so on account of the one who
+preceded him proving himself to be a person of feeble attainments and an
+unendurable deficiency of resource.”
+
+“To one with the all-knowing Li Keen’s mental acquisitions, such a
+person must indeed have become excessively offensive,” replied Ling
+delicately; “for, as it is truly said, ‘Although there exist many
+thousand subjects for elegant conversation, there are persons who cannot
+meet a cripple without talking about feet.’”
+
+“He to whom I have referred was such a one,” said Li Keen, appreciating
+with an expression of countenance the fitness of Ling’s proverb. “He was
+totally inadequate to the requirements of his position; for he possessed
+no military knowledge, and was placed in command by those at Peking as
+a result of his taking a high place at one of the examinations. But more
+than this, although his three years of service were almost completed,
+I was quite unsuccessful in convincing him that an unseemly degradation
+probably awaited him unless he could furnish me with the means with
+which to propitiate the persons in authority at Peking. This he
+neglected to do with obstinate pertinacity, which compelled this person
+to inquire within himself whether one of so little discernment could be
+trusted with an important and arduous office. After much deliberation,
+this person came to the decision that the Commander in question was not
+a fit person, and he therefore reported him to the Imperial Board
+of Punishment at Peking as one subject to frequent and periodical
+eccentricities, and possessed of less than ordinary intellect. In
+consequence of this act of justice, the Commander was degraded to the
+rank of common bowman, and compelled to pay a heavy fine in addition.”
+
+“It was a just and enlightened conclusion of the affair,” said Ling, in
+spite of a deep feeling of no enthusiasm, “and one which surprisingly
+bore out your own prophecy in the matter.”
+
+“It was an inspired warning to persons who should chance to be in a like
+position at any time,” replied Li Keen. “So grasping and corrupt are
+those who control affairs in Peking that I have no doubt they would
+scarcely hesitate in debasing even one so immaculate as the exceptional
+Ling, and placing him in some laborious and ill-paid civil department
+should he not accede to their extortionate demands.”
+
+This suggestion did not carry with it the unpleasurable emotions which
+the Mandarin anticipated it would. The fierce instincts which had been
+aroused within Ling by the incident in the cypress wood had died out,
+while his lamentable ignorance of military affairs was ever before his
+mind. These circumstances, together with his naturally gentle habits,
+made him regard such a degradation rather favourably than otherwise.
+He was meditating within himself whether he could arrange such a course
+without delay when the Mandarin continued:
+
+“That, however, is a possibility which is remote to the extent of at
+least two or three years; do not, therefore, let so unpleasing a thought
+cast darkness upon your brows or remove the unparalleled splendour of
+so refined an occasion... Doubtless the accomplished Ling is a master of
+the art of chess-play, for many of our most thoughtful philosophers have
+declared war to be nothing but such a game; let this slow-witted and
+cumbersome person have an opportunity, therefore, of polishing his
+declining facilities by a pleasant and dignified encounter.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+On the next day, having completed his business at the Yamen, Ling left
+the town, and without desiring any ceremony quietly betook himself to
+his new residence within the camp, which was situated among the millet
+fields some distance from Si-chow. As soon as his presence became known
+all those who occupied positions of command, and whose years of service
+would shortly come to an end, hastened to present themselves before
+him, bringing with them offerings according to the rank they held, they
+themselves requiring a similar service from those beneath them. First
+among these, and next in command to Ling himself, was the Chief of
+Bowmen, a person whom Ling observed with extreme satisfaction to be very
+powerful in body and possessing a strong and dignified countenance
+which showed unquestionable resolution and shone with a tiger-like
+tenaciousness of purpose.
+
+“Undoubtedly,” thought Ling, as he observed this noble and prepossessing
+person, “here is one who will be able to assist me in whatever
+perplexities may arise. Never was there an individual who seemed more
+worthy to command and lead; assuredly to him the most intricate and
+prolonged military positions will be an enjoyment; the most crafty
+stratagems of the enemy as the full moon rising from behind a screen
+of rushes. Without making any pretence of knowledge, this person will
+explain the facts of the case to him and place himself without limit in
+his hands.”
+
+For this purpose he therefore detained the Chief of Bowmen when the
+others departed, and complimented him, with many expressive phrases, on
+the excellence of his appearance, as the thought occurred to him that
+by this means, without disclosing the full measure of his ignorance, the
+person in question might be encouraged to speak unrestrainedly of the
+nature of his exploits, and perchance thereby explain the use of the
+appliances employed and the meaning of the various words of order,
+in all of which details the Commander was as yet most disagreeably
+imperfect. In this, however, he was disappointed, for the Chief of
+Bowmen, greatly to Ling’s surprise, received all his polished sentences
+with somewhat foolish smiles of great self-satisfaction, merely replying
+from time to time as he displayed his pigtail to greater advantage or
+rearranged his gold-embroidered cloak:
+
+“This person must really pray you to desist; the honour is indeed too
+great.”
+
+Disappointed in his hope, and not desiring after this circumstance to
+expose his shortcomings to one who was obviously not of a highly-refined
+understanding, no matter how great his valour in war or his knowledge of
+military affairs might be, Ling endeavoured to lead him to converse of
+the bowmen under his charge. In this matter he was more successful, for
+the Chief spoke at great length and with evilly-inspired contempt of
+their inelegance, their undiscriminating and excessive appetites, and
+the frequent use which they made of low words and gestures. Desiring to
+become acquainted rather with their methods of warfare than with their
+domestic details, Ling inquired of him what formation they relied upon
+when receiving the foemen.
+
+“It is a matter which has not engaged the attention of this one,”
+ replied the Chief, with an excessive absence of interest. “There are so
+many affairs of intelligent dignity which cannot be put aside, and
+which occupy one from beginning to end. As an example, this person may
+describe how the accomplished Li-Lu, generally depicted as the Blue-eyed
+Dove of Virtuous and Serpent-like Attitudes, has been scattering glory
+upon the Si-chow Hall of Celestial Harmony for many days past. It is
+an enlightened display which the high-souled Ling should certainly
+endeavour to dignify with his presence, especially at the portion
+where the amiable Li-Lu becomes revealed in the appearance of a Peking
+sedan-chair bearer and describes the manner and likenesses of certain
+persons--chiefly high-priests of Buddha, excessively round-bodied
+merchants who feign to be detained within Peking on affairs of commerce,
+maidens who attend at the tables of tea-houses, and those of both sexes
+who are within the city for the first time to behold its temples and
+open spaces--who are conveyed from place to place in the chair.”
+
+“And the bowmen?” suggested Ling, with difficulty restraining an
+undignified emotion.
+
+“Really, the elegant Ling will discover them to be persons of deficient
+manners, and quite unworthy of occupying his well-bred conversation,”
+ replied the Chief. “As regards their methods--if the renowned Ling
+insists--they fight by means of their bows, with which they discharge
+arrows at the foemen, they themselves hiding behind trees and rocks.
+Should the enemy be undisconcerted by the cloud of arrows, and advance,
+the bowmen are instructed to make a last endeavour to frighten them back
+by uttering loud shouts and feigning the voices of savage beasts of the
+forest and deadly snakes.”
+
+“And beyond that?” inquired Ling.
+
+“Beyond that there are no instructions,” replied the Chief. “The
+bowmen would then naturally take to flight, or, if such a course became
+impossible, run to meet the enemy, protesting that they were convinced
+of the justice of their cause, and were determined to fight on their
+side in the future.”
+
+“Would it not be of advantage to arm them with cutting weapons also?”
+ inquired Ling; “so that when all their arrows were discharged they would
+still be able to take part in the fight, and not be lost to us?”
+
+“They would not be lost to us, of course,” replied the Chief, “as we
+would still be with them. But such a course as the one you suggest could
+not fail to end in dismay. Being as well armed as ourselves, they
+would then turn upon us, and, having destroyed us, proceed to establish
+leaders of their own.”
+
+As Ling and the Chief of Bowmen conversed in this enlightened manner,
+there arose a great outcry from among the tents, and presently there
+entered to them a spy who had discovered a strong force of the enemy not
+more than ten or twelve li away, who showed every indication of marching
+shortly in the direction of Si-chow. In numbers alone, he continued,
+they were greatly superior to the bowmen, and all were well armed. The
+spreading of this news threw the entire camp into great confusion, many
+protesting that the day was not a favourable one on which to fight,
+others crying that it was their duty to fall back on Si-chow and protect
+the women and children. In the midst of this tumult the Chief of Bowmen
+returned to Ling, bearing in his hand a written paper which he regarded
+in uncontrollable anguish.
+
+“Oh, illustrious Ling,” he cried, restraining his grief with difficulty,
+and leaning for support upon the shoulders of two bowmen, “how
+prosperous indeed are you! What greater misfortune can engulf a person
+who is both an ambitious soldier and an affectionate son, than to lose
+such a chance of glory and promotion as only occurs once within the
+lifetime, and an affectionate and venerable father upon the same day?
+Behold this mandate to attend, without a moment’s delay, at the funeral
+obsequies of one whom I left, only last week, in the fullness of health
+and power. The occasion being an unsuitable one, I will not call upon
+the courteous Ling to join me in sorrow; but his own devout filial piety
+is so well known that I can conscientiously rely upon an application for
+absence to be only a matter of official ceremony.”
+
+“The application will certainly be regarded as merely official
+ceremony,” replied Ling, without resorting to any delicate pretence of
+meaning, “and the refined scruples of the person who is addressing me
+will be fully met by the official date of his venerated father’s
+death being fixed for a more convenient season. In the meantime, the
+unobtrusive Chief of Bowmen may take the opportunity of requesting that
+the family tomb be kept unsealed until he is heard from again.”
+
+Ling turned away, as he finished this remark, with a dignified feeling
+of not inelegant resentment. In this way he chanced to observe a large
+body of soldiers which was leaving the camp accompanied by their lesser
+captains, all crowned with garlands of flowers and creeping plants. In
+spite of his very inadequate attainments regarding words of order, the
+Commander made it understood by means of an exceedingly short sentence
+that he was desirous of the men returning without delay.
+
+“Doubtless the accomplished Commander, being but newly arrived in this
+neighbourhood, is unacquainted with the significance of this display,”
+ said one of the lesser captains pleasantly. “Know then, O wise and
+custom-respecting Ling, that on a similar day many years ago this
+valiant band of bowmen was engaged in a very honourable affair with
+certain of the enemy. Since then it has been the practice to commemorate
+the matter with music and other forms of delight within the large square
+at Si-chow.”
+
+“Such customs are excellent,” said Ling affably. “On this occasion,
+however, the public square will be so insufferably thronged with the
+number of timorous and credulous villagers who have pressed into the
+town that insufficient justice would be paid to your entrancing display.
+In consequence of this, we will select for the purpose some convenient
+spot in the neighbourhood. The proceedings will be commenced by a
+display of arrow-shooting at moving objects, followed by racing and
+dancing, in which this person will lead. I have spoken.”
+
+At these words many of the more courageous among the bowmen became
+destructively inspired, and raised shouts of defiance against the enemy,
+enumerating at great length the indignities which they would heap upon
+their prisoners. Cries of distinction were also given on behalf of Ling,
+even the more terrified exclaiming:
+
+“The noble Commander Ling will lead us! He has promised, and assuredly
+he will not depart from his word. Shielded by his broad and sacred body,
+from which the bullets glance aside harmlessly, we will advance upon the
+enemy in the stealthy manner affected by ducks when crossing the swamp.
+How altogether superior a person our Commander is when likened unto the
+leaders of the foemen--they who go into battle completely surrounded by
+their archers!”
+
+Upon this, perceiving the clear direction in which matters were turning,
+the Chief of Bowmen again approached Ling.
+
+“Doubtless the highly-favoured person whom I am now addressing has been
+endowed with exceptional authority direct from Peking,” he remarked with
+insidious politeness. “Otherwise this narrow-minded individual would
+suggest that such a decision does not come within the judgment of a
+Commander.”
+
+In his ignorance of military matters it had not entered the mind of
+Ling that his authority did not give him the power to commence an
+attack without consulting other and more distinguished persons. At the
+suggestion, which he accepted as being composed of truth, he paused, the
+enlightened zeal with which he had been inspired dying out as he plainly
+understood the difficulties by which he was enclosed. There seemed a
+single expedient path for him in the matter; so, directing a person
+of exceptional trustworthiness to prepare himself for a journey, he
+inscribed a communication to the Mandarin Li Keen, in which he narrated
+the facts and asked for speedy directions, and then despatched it with
+great urgency to Si-chow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+When these matters were arranged, Ling returned to his tent, a victim
+to feelings of a deep and confused doubt, for all courses seemed to
+be surrounded by extreme danger, with the strong possibility of final
+disaster. While he was considering these things attentively, the spy who
+had brought word of the presence of the enemy again sought him. As he
+entered, Ling perceived that his face was the colour of a bleached linen
+garment, while there came with him the odour of sickness.
+
+“There are certain matters which this person has not made known,” he
+said, having first expressed a request that he might not be compelled to
+stand while he conversed. “The bowmen are as an inferior kind of jackal,
+and they who lead them are pigs, but this person has observed that the
+Heaven-sent Commander has internal organs like steel hardened in a white
+fire and polished by running water. For this reason he will narrate
+to him the things he has seen--things at which the lesser ones would
+undoubtedly perish in terror without offering to strike a blow.”
+
+“Speak,” said Ling, “without fear and without concealment.”
+
+“In numbers the rebels are as three to one with the bowmen, and are,
+in addition, armed with matchlocks and other weapons; this much I have
+already told,” said the spy. “Yesterday they entered the village of Ki
+without resistance, as the dwellers there were all peaceable persons,
+who gain a living from the fields, and who neither understood nor
+troubled about the matters between the rebels and the army. Relying on
+the promises made by the rebel chiefs, the villagers even welcomed them,
+as they had been assured that they came as buyers of their corn and
+rice. To-day not a house stands in the street of Ki, not a person lives.
+The men they slew quickly, or held for torture, as they desired at the
+moment; the boys they hung from the trees as marks for their arrows.
+Of the women and children this person, who has since been subject to
+several attacks of fainting and vomiting, desires not to speak. The
+wells of Ki are filled with the bodies of such as had the good fortune
+to be warned in time to slay themselves. The cattle drag themselves from
+place to place on their forefeet; the fish in the Heng-Kiang are dying,
+for they cannot live on water thickened into blood. All these things
+this person has seen.”
+
+When he had finished speaking, Ling remained in deep and funereal
+thought for some time. In spite of his mild nature, the words which
+he had heard filled him with an inextinguishable desire to slay in
+hand-to-hand fighting. He regretted that he had placed the decision of
+the matter before Li Keen.
+
+“If only this person had a mere handful of brave and expert warriors, he
+would not hesitate to fall upon those savage and barbarous characters,
+and either destroy them to the last one, or let his band suffer a like
+fate,” he murmured to himself.
+
+The return of the messenger found him engaged in reviewing the bowmen,
+and still in this mood, so that it was with a commendable feeling of
+satisfaction, no less than virtuous contempt, that he learned of the
+Mandarin’s journey to Peking as soon as he understood that the rebels
+were certainly in the neighbourhood.
+
+“The wise and ornamental Li Keen is undoubtedly consistent in all
+matters,” said Ling, with some refined bitterness. “The only
+information regarding his duties which this person obtained from him
+chanced to be a likening of war to skilful chess-play, and to this end
+the accomplished person in question has merely availed himself of a
+common expedient which places him at the remote side of the divine
+Emperor. Yet this act is not unwelcome, for the responsibility of
+deciding what course is to be adopted now clearly rests with this
+person. He is, as those who are standing by may perceive, of under the
+usual height, and of no particular mental or bodily attainments. But he
+has eaten the rice of the Emperor, and wears the Imperial sign
+embroidered upon his arm. Before him are encamped the enemies of his
+master and of his land, and in no way will he turn his back upon them.
+Against brave and skilful men, such as those whom this person commands,
+rebels of a low and degraded order are powerless, and are, moreover,
+openly forbidden to succeed by the Forty-second Mandate in the Sacred
+Book of Arguments. Should it have happened that into this assembly any
+person of a perfidious or uncourageous nature has gained entrance by
+guile, and has not been detected and driven forth by his outraged
+companions (as would certainly occur if such a person were discovered),
+I, Ling, Commander of Bowmen, make an especial and well-considered
+request that he shall be struck by a molten thunderbolt if he turns to
+flight or holds thoughts of treachery.”
+
+Having thus addressed and encouraged the soldiers, Ling instructed them
+that each one should cut and fashion for himself a graceful but weighty
+club from among the branches of the trees around, and then return to the
+tents for the purpose of receiving food and rice spirit.
+
+When noon was passed, allowing such time as would enable him to reach
+the camp of the enemy an hour before darkness, Ling arranged the bowmen
+in companies of convenient numbers, and commenced the march, sending
+forward spies, who were to work silently and bring back tidings from
+every point. In this way he penetrated to within a single li of the
+ruins of Ki, being informed by the spies that no outposts of the enemy
+were between him and that place. Here the first rest was made to
+enable the more accurate and bold spies to reach them with trustworthy
+information regarding the position and movements of the camp. With
+little delay there returned the one who had brought the earliest
+tidings, bruised and torn with his successful haste through the forest,
+but wearing a complacent and well-satisfied expression of countenance.
+Without hesitation or waiting to demand money before he would reveal his
+knowledge, he at once disclosed that the greater part of the enemy were
+rejoicing among the ruins of Ki, they having discovered there a quantity
+of opium and a variety of liquids, while only a small guard remained in
+the camp with their weapons ready. At these words Ling sprang from
+the ground in gladness, so great was his certainty of destroying the
+invaders utterly. It was, however, with less pleasurable emotions that
+he considered how he should effect the matter, for it was in no way
+advisable to divide his numbers into two bands. Without any feeling of
+unendurable conceit, he understood that no one but himself could hold
+the bowmen before an assault, however weak. In a similar manner, he
+determined that it would be more advisable to attack those in the
+village first. These he might have reasonable hopes of cutting down
+without warning the camp, or, in any event, before those from the camp
+arrived. To assail the camp first would assuredly, by the firing, draw
+upon them those from the village, and in whatever evil state these might
+arrive, they would, by their numbers, terrify the bowmen, who without
+doubt would have suffered some loss from the matchlocks.
+
+Waiting for the last light of day, Ling led on the men again, and
+sending forward some of the most reliable, surrounded the place of the
+village silently and without detection. In the open space, among broken
+casks and other inconsiderable matters, plainly shown by the large fires
+at which burned the last remains of the houses of Ki, many men moved
+or lay, some already dull or in heavy sleep. As the darkness dropped
+suddenly, the signal of a peacock’s shriek, three times uttered, rang
+forth, and immediately a cloud of arrows, directed from all sides,
+poured in among those who feasted. Seeing their foemen defenceless
+before them, the archers neglected the orders they had received, and
+throwing away their bows they rushed in with uplifted clubs, uttering
+loud shouts of triumph. The next moment a shot was fired in the wood,
+drums beat, and in an unbelievably short space of time a small but
+well-armed band of the enemy was among them. Now that all need of
+caution was at an end, Ling rushed forward with raised sword, calling
+to his men that victory was certainly theirs, and dealing discriminating
+and inspiriting blows whenever he met a foeman. Three times he formed
+the bowmen into a figure emblematic of triumph, and led them against the
+line of matchlocks. Twice they fell back, leaving mingled dead under
+the feet of the enemy. The third time they stood firm, and Ling threw
+himself against the waving rank in a noble and inspired endeavour to
+lead the way through. At that moment, when a very distinguished victory
+seemed within his hand, his elegant and well-constructed sword broke
+upon an iron shield, leaving him defenceless and surrounded by the
+enemy.
+
+“Chief among the sublime virtues enjoined by the divine Confucius,”
+ began Ling, folding his arms and speaking in an unmoved voice, “is an
+intelligent submission--” but at that word he fell beneath a rain of
+heavy and unquestionably well-aimed blows.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+Between Si-chow and the village of Ki, in a house completely hidden from
+travellers by the tall and black trees which surrounded it, lived an
+aged and very wise person whose ways and manner of living had become so
+distasteful to his neighbours that they at length agreed to regard him
+as a powerful and ill-disposed magician. In this way it became a custom
+that all very unseemly deeds committed by those who, in the ordinary
+course, would not be guilty of such behaviour, should be attributed
+to his influence, so that justice might be effected without persons of
+assured respectability being put to any inconvenience. Apart from the
+feeling which resulted from this just decision, the uncongenial person
+in question had become exceedingly unpopular on account of certain
+definite actions of his own, as that of causing the greater part of
+Si-chow to be burned down by secretly breathing upon the seven sacred
+water-jugs to which the town owed its prosperity and freedom from fire.
+Furthermore, although possessed of many taels, and able to afford such
+food as is to be found upon the tables of Mandarins, he selected from
+choice dishes of an objectionable nature; he had been observed to eat
+eggs of unbecoming freshness, and the Si-chow Official Printed Leaf made
+it public that he had, on an excessively hot occasion, openly partaken
+of cow’s milk. It is not a matter for wonder, therefore, that when
+unnaturally loud thunder was heard in the neighbourhood of Si-chow
+the more ignorant and credulous persons refused to continue in any
+description of work until certain ceremonies connected with rice spirit,
+and the adherence to a reclining position for some hours, had been
+conscientiously observed as a protection against evil.
+
+Not even the most venerable person in Si-chow could remember the time
+when the magician had not lived there, and as there existed no written
+record narrating the incident, it was with well-founded probability
+that he was said to be incapable of death. Contrary to the most general
+practice, although quite unmarried, he had adopted no son to found a
+line which would worship his memory in future years, but had instead
+brought up and caused to be educated in the most difficult varieties
+of embroidery a young girl, to whom he referred, for want of a more
+suitable description, as the daughter of his sister, although he would
+admit without hesitation, when closely questioned, that he had never
+possessed a sister, at the same time, however, alluding with some
+pride to many illustrious brothers, who had all obtained distinction in
+various employments.
+
+Few persons of any high position penetrated into the house of the
+magician, and most of these retired with inelegant haste on perceiving
+that no domestic altar embellished the great hall. Indeed, not to make
+concealment of the fact, the magician was a person who had entirely
+neglected the higher virtues in an avaricious pursuit of wealth. In that
+way all his time and a very large number of taels had been expended,
+testing results by means of the four elements, and putting together
+things which had been inadequately arrived at by others. It was
+confidently asserted in Si-chow that he possessed every manner of
+printed leaf which had been composed in whatsoever language, and all the
+most precious charms, including many snake-skins of more than ordinary
+rarity, and the fang of a black wolf which had been stung by seven
+scorpions.
+
+On the death of his father the magician had become possessed of great
+wealth, yet he contributed little to the funeral obsequies nor did any
+suggestion of a durable and expensive nature conveying his enlightened
+name and virtues down to future times cause his face to become
+gladdened. In order to preserve greater secrecy about the enchantments
+which he certainly performed, he employed only two persons within the
+house, one of whom was blind and the other deaf. In this ingenious
+manner he hoped to receive attention and yet be unobserved, the
+blind one being unable to see the nature of the incantations which he
+undertook, and the deaf one being unable to hear the words. In this,
+however, he was unsuccessful, as the two persons always contrived to
+be present together, and to explain to one another the nature of the
+various matters afterwards; but as they were of somewhat deficient
+understanding, the circumstance was unimportant.
+
+It was with more uneasiness that the magician perceived one day that the
+maiden whom he had adopted was no longer a child. As he desired secrecy
+above all things until he should have completed the one important
+matter for which he had laboured all his life, he decided with extreme
+unwillingness to put into operation a powerful charm towards her, which
+would have the effect of diminishing all her attributes until such time
+as he might release her again. Owing to his reluctance in the matter,
+however, the magic did not act fully, but only in such a way that her
+feet became naturally and without binding the most perfect and beautiful
+in the entire province of Hu Nan, so that ever afterwards she was called
+Pan Fei Mian, in delicate reference to that Empress whose feet were so
+symmetrical that a golden lily sprang up wherever she trod. Afterwards
+the magician made no further essay in the matter, chiefly because he
+was ever convinced that the accomplishment of his desire was within his
+grasp.
+
+The rumours of armed men in the neighbourhood of Si-chow threw the
+magician into an unendurable condition of despair. To lose all, as would
+most assuredly happen if he had to leave his arranged rooms and secret
+preparations and take to flight, was the more bitter because he felt
+surer than ever that success was even standing by his side. The very
+subtle liquid, which would mix itself into the component parts of the
+living creature which drank it, and by an insidious and harmless process
+so work that, when the spirit departed, the flesh would become resolved
+into a figure of pure and solid gold of the finest quality, had engaged
+the refined minds of many of the most expert individuals of remote
+ages. With most of these inspired persons, however, the search had
+been undertaken in pure-minded benevolence, their chief aim being an
+honourable desire to discover a method by which one’s ancestors might
+be permanently and effectively preserved in a fit and becoming manner to
+receive the worship and veneration of posterity. Yet, in spite of these
+amiable motives, and of the fact that the magician merely desired the
+possession of the secret to enable him to become excessively wealthy,
+the affair had been so arranged that it should come into his possession.
+
+The matter which concerned Mian in the dark wood, when she was only
+saved by the appearance of the person who is already known as Ling,
+entirely removed all pleasurable emotions from the magician’s mind, and
+on many occasions he stated in a definite and systematic manner that he
+would shortly end an ignoble career which seemed to be destined only
+to gloom and disappointment. In this way an important misunderstanding
+arose, for when, two days later, during the sound of matchlock
+firing, the magician suddenly approached the presence of Mian with an
+uncontrollable haste and an entire absence of dignified demeanour,
+and fell dead at her feet without expressing himself on any subject
+whatever, she deliberately judged that in this manner he had carried his
+remark into effect, nor did the closed vessel of yellow liquid which he
+held in his hand seem to lead away from this decision. In reality, the
+magician had fallen owing to the heavy and conflicting emotions which
+success had engendered in an intellect already greatly weakened by
+his continual disregard of the higher virtues; for the bottle, indeed,
+contained the perfection of his entire life’s study, the very expensive
+and three-times purified gold liquid.
+
+On perceiving the magician’s condition, Mian at once called for the two
+attendants, and directed them to bring from an inner chamber all the
+most effective curing substances, whether in the form of powder or
+liquid. When these proved useless, no matter in what way they were
+applied, it became evident that there could be very little hope of
+restoring the magician, yet so courageous and grateful for the benefits
+which she had received from the person in question was Mian, that, in
+spite of the uninviting dangers of the enterprise, she determined to
+journey to Ki to invoke the assistance of a certain person who was known
+to be very successful in casting out malicious demons from the bodies
+of animals, and from casks and barrels, in which they frequently took
+refuge, to the great detriment of the quality of the liquid placed
+therein.
+
+Not without many hidden fears, Mian set out on her journey, greatly
+desiring not to be subjected to an encounter of a nature similar to the
+one already recorded; for in such a case she could hardly again hope for
+the inspired arrival of the one whom she now often thought of in secret
+as the well-formed and symmetrical young sword-user. Nevertheless, an
+event of equal significance was destined to prove the wisdom of
+the well-known remark concerning thoughts which are occupying one’s
+intellect and the unexpected appearance of a very formidable evil
+spirit; for as she passed along, quickly yet with so dignified a motion
+that the moss received no impression beneath her footsteps, she became
+aware of a circumstance which caused her to stop by imparting to her
+mind two definite and greatly dissimilar emotions.
+
+In a grassy and open space, on the verge of which she stood, lay
+the dead bodies of seventeen rebels, all disposed in very degraded
+attitudes, which contrasted strongly with the easy and becoming position
+adopted by the eighteenth--one who bore the unmistakable emblems of the
+Imperial army. In this brave and noble-looking personage Mian at once
+saw her preserver, and not doubting that an inopportune and treacherous
+death had overtaken him, she ran forward and raised him in her arms,
+being well assured that however indiscreet such an action might appear
+in the case of an ordinary person, the most select maiden need not
+hesitate to perform so honourable a service in regard to one whose
+virtues had by that time undoubtedly placed him among the Three Thousand
+Pure Ones. Being disturbed in this providential manner, Ling opened his
+eyes, and faintly murmuring, “Oh, sainted and adorable Koon Yam, Goddess
+of Charity, intercede for me with Buddha!” he again lost possession of
+himself in the Middle Air. At this remark, which plainly proved Ling to
+be still alive, in spite of the fact that both the maiden and the person
+himself had thoughts to the contrary, Mian found herself surrounded by
+a variety of embarrassing circumstances, among which occurred a
+remembrance of the dead magician and the wise person at Ki whom she had
+set out to summon; but on considering the various natural and sublime
+laws which bore directly on the alternative before her, she discovered
+that her plain destiny was to endeavour to restore the breath in the
+person who was still alive rather than engage on the very unsatisfactory
+chance of attempting to call it back to the body from which it had so
+long been absent.
+
+Having been inspired to this conclusion--which, when she later examined
+her mind, she found not to be repulsive to her own inner feelings--Mian
+returned to the house with dexterous speed, and calling together the two
+attendants, she endeavoured by means of signs and drawings to explain to
+them what she desired to accomplish. Succeeding in this after some delay
+(for the persons in question, being very illiterate and narrow-minded,
+were unable at first to understand the existence of any recumbent male
+person other than the dead magician, whom they thereupon commenced to
+bury in the garden with expressions of great satisfaction at their
+own intelligence in comprehending Mian’s meaning so readily) they all
+journeyed to the wood, and bearing Ling between them, they carried him
+to the house without further adventure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+It was in the month of Hot Dragon Breaths, many weeks after the fight in
+the woods of Ki, that Ling again opened his eyes to find himself in an
+unknown chamber, and to recognize in the one who visited him from time
+to time the incomparable maiden whose life he had saved in the cypress
+glade. Not a day had passed in the meanwhile on which Mian had neglected
+to offer sacrifices to Chang-Chung, the deity interested in drugs and
+healing substances, nor had she wavered in her firm resolve to bring
+Ling back to an ordinary existence even when the attendants had
+protested that the person in question might without impropriety be sent
+to the Restoring Establishment of the Last Chance, so little did his
+hope of recovering rest upon the efforts of living beings.
+
+After he had beheld Mian’s face and understood the circumstances of his
+escape and recovery, Ling quickly shook off the evil vapours which had
+held him down so long, and presently he was able to walk slowly in the
+courtyard and in the shady paths of the wood beyond, leaning upon Mian
+for the support he still required.
+
+“Oh, graceful one,” he said on such an occasion, when little stood
+between him and the full powers which he had known before the battle,
+“there is a matter which has been pressing upon this person’s mind for
+some time past. It is as dark after light to let the thoughts dwell
+around it, yet the thing itself must inevitably soon be regarded, for in
+this life one’s actions are for ever regulated by conditions which are
+neither of one’s own seeking nor within one’s power of controlling.”
+
+At these words all brightness left Mian’s manner, for she at once
+understood that Ling referred to his departure, of which she herself had
+lately come to think with unrestrained agitation.
+
+“Oh, Ling,” she exclaimed at length, “most expert of sword-users and
+most noble of men, surely never was a maiden more inelegantly placed
+than the one who is now by your side. To you she owes her life, yet it
+is unseemly for her even to speak of the incident; to you she must
+look for protection, yet she cannot ask you to stay by her side. She is
+indeed alone. The magician is dead, Ki has fallen, Ling is going, and
+Mian is undoubtedly the most unhappy and solitary person between the
+Wall and the Nan Hai.”
+
+“Beloved Mian,” exclaimed Ling, with inspiring vehemence, “and is not
+the utterly unworthy person before you indebted to you in a double
+measure that life is still within him? Is not the strength which now
+promotes him to such exceptional audacity as to aspire to your
+lovely hand, of your own creating? Only encourage Ling to entertain a
+well-founded hope that on his return he shall not find you partaking
+of the wedding feast of some wealthy and exceptionally round-bodied
+Mandarin, and this person will accomplish the journey to Canton and back
+as it were in four strides.”
+
+“Oh, Ling, reflexion of my ideal, holder of my soul, it would indeed
+be very disagreeable to my own feelings to make any reply save one,”
+ replied Mian, scarcely above a breath-voice. “Gratitude alone would
+direct me, were it not that the great love which fills me leaves no
+resting-place for any other emotion than itself. Go if you must,
+but return quickly, for your absence will weigh upon Mian like a
+dragon-dream.”
+
+“Violet light of my eyes,” exclaimed Ling, “even in surroundings which
+with the exception of the matter before us are uninspiring in the
+extreme, your virtuous and retiring encouragement yet raises me to such
+a commanding eminence of demonstrative happiness that I fear I
+shall become intolerably self-opinionated towards my fellow-men in
+consequence.”
+
+“Such a thing is impossible with my Ling,” said Mian, with conviction.
+“But must you indeed journey to Canton?”
+
+“Alas!” replied Ling, “gladly would this person decide against such
+a course did the matter rest with him, for as the Verses say, ‘It
+is needless to apply the ram’s head to the unlocked door.’ But Ki is
+demolished, the unassuming Mandarin Li Keen has retired to Peking, and
+of the fortunes of his bowmen this person is entirely ignorant.”
+
+“Such as survived returned to their homes,” replied Mian, “and Si-chow
+is safe, for the scattered and broken rebels fled to the mountains
+again; so much this person has learned.”
+
+“In that case Si-chow is undoubtedly safe for the time, and can be left
+with prudence,” said Ling. “It is an unfortunate circumstance that there
+is no Mandarin of authority between here and Canton who can receive from
+this person a statement of past facts and give him instructions for the
+future.”
+
+“And what will be the nature of such instructions as will be given at
+Canton?” demanded Mian.
+
+“By chance they may take the form of raising another company of bowmen,”
+ said Ling, with a sigh, “but, indeed, if this person can obtain any
+weight by means of his past service, they will tend towards a pleasant
+and unambitious civil appointment.”
+
+“Oh, my artless and noble-minded lover!” exclaimed Mian, “assuredly a
+veil has been before your eyes during your residence in Canton, and your
+naturally benevolent mind has turned all things into good, or you would
+not thus hopefully refer to your brilliant exploits in the past. Of what
+commercial benefit have they been to the sordid and miserly persons
+in authority, or in what way have they diverted a stream of taels into
+their insatiable pockets? Far greater is the chance that had Si-chow
+fallen many of its household goods would have found their way into the
+Yamens of Canton. Assuredly in Li Keen you will have a friend who will
+make many delicate allusions to your ancestors when you meet, and yet
+one who will float many barbed whispers to follow you when you have
+passed; for you have planted shame before him in the eyes of those who
+would otherwise neither have eyes to see nor tongues to discuss the
+matter. It is for such a reason that this person distrusts all things
+connected with the journey, except your constancy, oh, my true and
+strong one.”
+
+“Such faithfulness would alone be sufficient to assure my safe return if
+the matter were properly represented to the supreme Deities,” said Ling.
+“Let not the thin curtain of bitter water stand before your lustrous
+eyes any longer, then, the events which have followed one another in the
+past few days in a fashion that can only be likened to thunder following
+lightning are indeed sufficient to distress one with so refined and
+swan-like an organization, but they are now assuredly at an end.”
+
+“It is a hope of daily recurrence to this person,” replied Mian,
+honourably endeavouring to restrain the emotion which openly exhibited
+itself in her eyes; “for what maiden would not rather make successful
+offerings to the Great Mother Kum-Fa than have the most imposing and
+verbose Triumphal Arch erected to commemorate an empty and unsatisfying
+constancy?”
+
+In this amiable manner the matter was arranged between Ling and Mian, as
+they sat together in the magician’s garden drinking peach-tea, which the
+two attendants--not without discriminating and significant expressions
+between themselves--brought to them from time to time. Here Ling made
+clear the whole manner of his life from his earliest memory to the
+time when he fell in dignified combat, nor did Mian withhold anything,
+explaining in particular such charms and spells of the magician as she
+had knowledge of, and in this graceful manner materially assisting her
+lover in the many disagreeable encounters and conflicts which he was
+shortly to experience.
+
+It was with even more objectionable feelings than before that Ling now
+contemplated his journey to Canton, involving as it did the separation
+from one who had become as the shadow of his existence, and by whose
+side he had an undoubted claim to stand. Yet the necessity of the
+undertaking was no less than before, and the full possession of all his
+natural powers took away his only excuse for delaying in the matter.
+Without any pleasurable anticipations, therefore, he consulted the
+Sacred Flat and Round Sticks, and learning that the following day would
+be propitious for the journey, he arranged to set out in accordance with
+the omen.
+
+When the final moment arrived at which the invisible threads of
+constantly passing emotions from one to the other must be broken, and
+when Mian perceived that her lover’s horse was restrained at the door by
+the two attendants, who with unsuspected delicacy of feeling had taken
+this opportunity of withdrawing, the noble endurance which had hitherto
+upheld her melted away, and she became involved in very melancholy
+and obscure meditations until she observed that Ling also was quickly
+becoming affected by a similar gloom.
+
+“Alas!” she exclaimed, “how unworthy a person I am thus to impose upon
+my lord a greater burden than that which already weighs him down! Rather
+ought this one to dwell upon the happiness of that day, when, after
+successfully evading or overthrowing the numerous bands of assassins
+which infest the road from here to Canton, and after escaping or
+recovering from the many deadly pestilences which invariably reduce that
+city at this season of the year, he shall triumphantly return. Assuredly
+there is a highly-polished surface united to every action in life,
+no matter how funereal it may at first appear. Indeed, there are many
+incidents compared with which death itself is welcome, and to this end
+Mian has reserved a farewell gift.”
+
+Speaking in this manner the devoted and magnanimous maiden placed in
+Ling’s hands the transparent vessel of liquid which the magician had
+grasped when he fell. “This person,” she continued, speaking with
+difficulty, “places her lover’s welfare incomparably before her own
+happiness, and should he ever find himself in a situation which is
+unendurably oppressive, and from which death is the only escape--such
+as inevitable tortures, the infliction of violent madness, or the
+subjection by magic to the will of some designing woman--she begs him
+to accept this means of freeing himself without regarding her anguish
+beyond expressing a clearly defined last wish that the two persons in
+question may be in the end happily reunited in another existence.”
+
+Assured by this last evidence of affection, Ling felt that he had no
+longer any reason for internal heaviness; his spirits were immeasurably
+raised by the fragrant incense of Mian’s great devotion, and under its
+influence he was even able to breathe towards her a few words of similar
+comfort as he left the spot and began his journey.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+On entering Canton, which he successfully accomplished without any
+unpleasant adventure, the marked absence of any dignified ostentation
+which had been accountable for many of Ling’s misfortunes in the past,
+impelled him again to reside in the same insignificant apartment that
+he had occupied when he first visited the city as an unknown
+and unimportant candidate. In consequence of this, when Ling was
+communicating to any person the signs by which messengers might
+find him, he was compelled to add, “the neighbourhood in which this
+contemptible person resides is that officially known as ‘the mean
+quarter favoured by the lower class of those who murder by treachery,’”
+ and for this reason he was not always treated with the regard to which
+his attainments entitled him, or which he would have unquestionably
+received had he been able to describe himself as of “the partly-drained
+and uninfected area reserved to Mandarins and their friends.”
+
+It was with an ignoble feeling of mental distress that Ling exhibited
+himself at the Chief Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements on the
+following day; for the many disadvantageous incidents of his past life
+had repeated themselves before his eyes while he slept, and the not
+unhopeful emotions which he had felt when in the inspiring presence of
+Mian were now altogether absent. In spite of the fact that he reached
+the office during the early gong strokes of the morning, it was not
+until the withdrawal of light that he reached any person who was in a
+position to speak with him on the matter, so numerous were the lesser
+ones through whose chambers he had to pass in the process. At length he
+found himself in the presence of an upper one who had the appearance
+of being acquainted with the circumstances, and who received him with
+dignity, though not with any embarrassing exhibition of respect or
+servility.
+
+“‘The hero of the illustrious encounter beyond the walls of Si-chow,’”
+ exclaimed that official, reading the words from the tablet of
+introduction which Ling had caused to be carried into him, and at the
+same time examining the person in question closely. “Indeed, no such one
+is known to those within this office, unless the words chance to point
+to the courteous and unassuming Mandarin Li Keen, who, however, is at
+this moment recovering his health at Peking, as set forth in the amiable
+and impartial report which we have lately received from him.”
+
+At these words Ling plainly understood that there was little hope of the
+last events becoming profitable on his account.
+
+“Did not the report to which allusion has been made bear reference to
+one Ling, Commander of the Archers, who thrice led on the fighting men,
+and who was finally successful in causing the rebels to disperse towards
+the mountains?” he asked, in a voice which somewhat trembled.
+
+“There is certainly reference to one of the name you mention,” said
+the other; “but regarding the terms--perhaps this person would better
+protect his own estimable time by displaying the report within your
+sight.”
+
+With these words the upper one struck a gong several times, and after
+receiving from an inner chamber the parchment in question, he placed
+it before Ling, at the same time directing a lesser one to interpose
+between it and the one who read it a large sheet of transparent
+substance, so that destruction might not come to it, no matter in
+what way its contents affected the reader. Thereon Ling perceived the
+following facts, very skilfully inscribed with the evident purpose of
+inducing persons to believe, without question, that words so elegantly
+traced must of necessity be truthful also.
+
+  A Benevolent Example of the Intelligent Arrangement by which the
+  most Worthy Persons outlive those who are Incapable.
+
+  The circumstances connected with the office of the valuable and
+  accomplished Mandarin of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements at Si-chow
+  have, in recent times, been of anything but a prepossessing order.
+  Owing to the very inadequate methods adopted by those who earn a
+  livelihood by conveying necessities from the more enlightened
+  portions of the Empire to that place, it so came about that for a
+  period of five days the Yamen was entirely unsupplied with the
+  fins of sharks or even with goats’ eyes. To add to the polished
+  Mandarin’s distress of mind the barbarous and slow-witted rebels
+  who infest those parts took this opportunity to destroy the town
+  and most of its inhabitants, the matter coming about as follows:
+
+  The feeble and commonplace person named Ling who commands the
+  bowmen had but recently been elevated to that distinguished
+  position from a menial and degraded occupation (for which, indeed,
+  his stunted intellect more aptly fitted him); and being in
+  consequence very greatly puffed out in self-gratification, he
+  became an easy prey to the cunning of the rebels, and allowed
+  himself to be beguiled into a trap, paying for this contemptible
+  stupidity with his life. The town of Si-chow was then attacked,
+  and being in this manner left defenceless through the weakness--or
+  treachery--of the person Ling, who had contrived to encompass the
+  entire destruction of his unyielding company, it fell after a
+  determined and irreproachable resistance; the Mandarin Li Keen
+  being told, as, covered with the blood of the foemen, he was
+  dragged away from the thickest part of the unequal conflict by his
+  followers, that he was the last person to leave the town. On his
+  way to Peking with news of this valiant defence, the Mandarin was
+  joined by the Chief of Bowmen, who had understood and avoided the
+  very obvious snare into which the stagnant-minded Commander had
+  led his followers, in spite of disinterested advice to the
+  contrary. For this intelligent perception, and for general
+  nobility of conduct when in battle, the versatile Chief of Bowmen
+  is by this written paper strongly recommended to the dignity of
+  receiving the small metal Embellishment of Valour.
+
+  It has been suggested to the Mandarin Li Keen that the bestowal of
+  the Crystal Button would only be a fit and graceful reward for his
+  indefatigable efforts to uphold the dignity of the sublime
+  Emperor; but to all such persons the Mandarin has sternly replied
+  that such a proposal would more fitly originate from the renowned
+  and valuable Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, he well
+  knowing that the wise and engaging persons who conduct that
+  indispensable and well-regulated department are gracefully
+  voracious in their efforts to reward merit, even when it is
+  displayed, as in the case in question, by one who from his
+  position will inevitably soon be urgently petitioning in a like
+  manner on their behalf.
+
+When Ling had finished reading this elegantly arranged but exceedingly
+misleading parchment, he looked up with eyes from which he vainly
+endeavoured to restrain the signs of undignified emotion, and said to
+the upper one:
+
+“It is difficult employment for a person to refrain from unendurable
+thoughts when his unassuming and really conscientious efforts are
+represented in a spirit of no satisfaction, yet in this matter the very
+expert Li Keen appears to have gone beyond himself; the Commander Ling,
+who is herein represented as being slain by the enemy, is, indeed, the
+person who is standing before you, and all the other statements are in a
+like exactness.”
+
+“The short-sighted individual who for some hidden desire of his own is
+endeavouring to present himself as the corrupt and degraded creature
+Ling, has overlooked one important circumstance,” said the upper one,
+smiling in a very intolerable manner, at the same time causing his head
+to move slightly from side to side in the fashion of one who rebukes
+with assumed geniality; and, turning over the written paper, he
+displayed upon the under side the Imperial vermilion Sign. “Perhaps,”
+ he continued, “the omniscient person will still continue in his remarks,
+even with the evidence of the Emperor’s unerring pencil to refute him.”
+
+At these words and the undoubted testimony of the red mark, which
+plainly declared the whole of the written matter to be composed of
+truth, no matter what might afterwards transpire, Ling understood that
+very little prosperity remained with him.
+
+“But the town of Si-chow,” he suggested, after examining his mind; “if
+any person in authority visited the place, he would inevitably find it
+standing and its inhabitants in agreeable health.”
+
+“The persistent person who is so assiduously occupying my intellectual
+moments with empty words seems to be unaccountably deficient in his
+knowledge of the customs of refined society and of the meaning of the
+Imperial Signet,” said the other, with an entire absence of benevolent
+consideration. “That Si-chow has fallen and that Ling is dead are two
+utterly uncontroversial matters truthfully recorded. If a person visited
+Si-chow, he might find it rebuilt or even inhabited by those from the
+neighbouring villages or by evil spirits taking the forms of the ones
+who formerly lived there; as in a like manner, Ling might be restored
+to existence by magic, or his body might be found and possessed by
+an outcast demon who desired to revisit the earth for a period. Such
+circumstances do not in any way disturb the announcement that Si-chow
+has without question fallen, and that Ling has officially ceased to
+live, of which events notifications have been sent to all who are
+concerned in the matters.”
+
+As the upper one ceased speaking, four strokes sounded upon the gong,
+and Ling immediately found himself carried into the street by the
+current of both lesser and upper ones who poured forth at the signal.
+The termination of this conversation left Ling in a more unenviable
+state of dejection than any of the many preceding misfortunes had
+done, for with enlarged inducements to possess himself of a competent
+appointment he seemed to be even further removed from this attainment
+than he had been at any time in his life. He might, indeed, present
+himself again for the public examinations; but in order to do even that
+it would be necessary for him to wait almost a year, nor could he assure
+himself that his efforts would again be likely to result in an equal
+success. Doubts also arose within his mind of the course which he should
+follow in such a case; whether to adopt a new name, involving as it
+would certain humiliation and perhaps disgrace if detection overtook
+his footsteps, or still to possess the title of one who was in a measure
+dead, and hazard the likelihood of having any prosperity which he might
+obtain reduced to nothing if the fact should become public.
+
+As Ling reflected upon such details he found himself without intention
+before the house of a wise person who had become very wealthy by
+advising others on all matters, but chiefly on those connected with
+strange occurrences and such events as could not be settled definitely
+either one way or the other until a remote period had been reached.
+Becoming assailed by a curious desire to know what manner of evils
+particularly attached themselves to such as were officially dead but who
+nevertheless had an ordinary existence, Ling placed himself before this
+person, and after arranging the manner of reward related to him so many
+of the circumstances as were necessary to enable a full understanding to
+be reached, but at the same time in no way betraying his own interest in
+the matter.
+
+“Such inflictions are to no degree frequent,” said the wise person after
+he had consulted a polished sphere of the finest red jade for some
+time; “and this is in a measure to be regretted, as the hair of these
+persons--provided they die a violent death, which is invariably the
+case--constitutes a certain protection against being struck by falling
+stars, or becoming involved in unsuccessful law cases. The persons in
+question can be recognized with certainty in the public ways by the
+unnatural pallor of their faces and by the general repulsiveness of
+their appearance, but as they soon take refuge in suicide, unless
+they have the fortune to be removed previously by accident, it is an
+infrequent matter that one is gratified by the sight. During their
+existence they are subject to many disorders from which the generality
+of human beings are benevolently preserved; they possess no rights
+of any kind, and if by any chance they are detected in an act of a
+seemingly depraved nature, they are liable to judgment at the hands of
+the passers-by without any form whatever, and to punishment of a more
+severe order than that administered to commonplace criminals. There
+are many other disadvantages affecting such persons when they reach the
+Middle Air, of which the chief--”
+
+“This person is immeasurably indebted for such a clear explanation of
+the position,” interrupted Ling, who had a feeling of not desiring
+to penetrate further into the detail; “but as he perceives a line
+of anxious ones eagerly waiting at the door to obtain advice and
+consolation from so expert and amiable a wizard, he will not make
+himself uncongenial any longer with his very feeble topics of
+conversation.”
+
+By this time Ling plainly comprehended that he had been marked out
+from the beginning--perhaps for all the knowledge which he had to the
+opposite effect, from a period in the life of a far-removed ancestor--to
+be an object of marked derision and the victim of all manner of
+malevolent demons in whatever actions he undertook. In this condition
+of understanding his mind turned gratefully to the parting gift of Mian
+whom he had now no hope of possessing; for the intolerable thought
+of uniting her to so objectionable a being as himself would have been
+dismissed as utterly inelegant even had he been in a manner of living
+to provide for her adequately, which itself seemed clearly impossible.
+Disregarding all similar emotions, therefore, he walked without pausing
+to his abode, and stretching his body upon the rushes, drank the entire
+liquid unhesitatingly, and prepared to pass beyond with a tranquil mind
+entirely given up to thoughts and images of Mian.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+Upon a certain occasion, the particulars of which have already been
+recorded, Ling had judged himself to have passed into the form of a
+spirit on beholding the ethereal form of Mian bending over him. After
+swallowing the entire liquid, which had cost the dead magician so much
+to distil and make perfect, it was with a well-assured determination of
+never again awakening that he lost the outward senses and floated in the
+Middle Air, so that when his eyes next opened upon what seemed to be
+the bare walls of his own chamber, his first thought was a natural
+conviction that the matter had been so arranged either out of a
+charitable desire that he should not be overcome by a too sudden
+transition to unparalleled splendour, or that such a reception was the
+outcome of some dignified jest on the part of certain lesser and more
+cheerful spirits. After waiting in one position for several hours,
+however, and receiving no summons or manifestation of a celestial
+nature, he began to doubt the qualities of the liquid, and applying
+certain tests, he soon ascertained that he was still in the lower world
+and unharmed. Nevertheless, this circumstance did not tend in any way
+to depress his mind, for, doubtless owing to some hidden virtue of
+the fluid, he felt an enjoyable emotion that he still lived; all his
+attributes appeared to be purified, and he experienced an inspired
+certainty of feeling that an illustrious and highly-remunerative future
+lay before one who still had an ordinary existence after being both
+officially killed and self-poisoned.
+
+In this intelligent disposition thoughts of Mian recurred to him with
+unreproved persistence, and in order to convey to her an account of the
+various matters which had engaged him since his arrival at the city, and
+a well-considered declaration of the unchanged state of his own feelings
+towards her, he composed and despatched with impetuous haste the
+following delicate verses:
+
+
+
+CONSTANCY
+
+  About the walls and gates of Canton
+  Are many pleasing and entertaining maidens;
+  Indeed, in the eyes of their friends and of the passers-by
+  Some of them are exceptionally adorable.
+  The person who is inscribing these lines, however,
+  Sees before him, as it were, an assemblage of deformed and un-prepossessing hags,
+  Venerable in age and inconsiderable in appearance;
+  For the dignified and majestic image of Mian is ever before him,
+  Making all others very inferior.
+
+  Within the houses and streets of Canton
+  Hang many bright lanterns.
+  The ordinary person who has occasion to walk by night
+  Professes to find them highly lustrous.
+  But there is one who thinks contrary facts,
+  And when he goes forth he carries two long curved poles
+  To prevent him from stumbling among the dark and hidden places;
+  For he has gazed into the brilliant and pellucid orbs of Mian,
+  And all other lights are dull and practically opaque.
+
+  In various parts of the literary quarter of Canton
+  Reside such as spend their time in inward contemplation.
+  In spite of their generally uninviting exteriors
+  Their reflexions are often of a very profound order.
+  Yet the unpopular and persistently-abused Ling
+  Would unhesitatingly prefer his own thoughts to theirs,
+  For what makes this person’s thoughts far more pleasing
+  Is that they are invariably connected with the virtuous and ornamental Mian.
+
+Becoming very amiably disposed after this agreeable occupation, Ling
+surveyed himself at the disc of polished metal, and observed with
+surprise and shame the rough and uninviting condition of his person. He
+had, indeed, although it was not until some time later that he became
+aware of the circumstance, slept for five days without interruption, and
+it need not therefore be a matter of wonder or of reproach to him that
+his smooth surfaces had become covered with short hair. Reviling himself
+bitterly for the appearance which he conceived he must have exhibited
+when he conducted his business, and to which he now in part attributed
+his ill-success, Ling went forth without delay, and quickly discovering
+one of those who remove hair publicly for a very small sum, he placed
+himself in the chair, and directed that his face, arms, and legs should
+be denuded after the manner affected by the ones who make a practice of
+observing the most recent customs.
+
+“Did the illustrious individual who is now conferring distinction on
+this really worn-out chair by occupying it express himself in favour of
+having the face entirely denuded?” demanded the one who conducted the
+operation; for these persons have become famous for their elegant and
+persistent ability to discourse, and frequently assume ignorance in
+order that they themselves may make reply, and not for the purpose
+of gaining knowledge. “Now, in the objectionable opinion of this
+unintelligent person, who has a presumptuous habit of offering his
+very undesirable advice, a slight covering on the upper lip, delicately
+arranged and somewhat fiercely pointed at the extremities, would
+bestow an appearance of--how shall this illiterate person explain
+himself?--dignity?--matured reflexion?--doubtless the accomplished
+nobleman before me will understand what is intended with a more
+knife-like accuracy than this person can describe it--but confer that
+highly desirable effect upon the face of which at present it is entirely
+destitute... ‘Entirely denuded?’ Then without fail it shall certainly be
+so, O incomparable personage... Does the versatile Mandarin now present
+profess any concern as to the condition of the rice plants?... Indeed,
+the remark is an inspired one; the subject is totally devoid of interest
+to a person of intelligence ... A remarkable and gravity-removing event
+transpired within the notice of this unassuming person recently. A
+discriminating individual had purchased from him a portion of his justly
+renowned Thrice-extracted Essence of Celestial Herb Oil--a preparation
+which in this experienced person’s opinion, indeed, would greatly
+relieve the undoubted afflictions from which the one before him is
+evidently suffering--when after once anointing himself--”
+
+A lengthy period containing no words caused Ling, who had in the
+meantime closed his eyes and lost Canton and all else in delicate
+thoughts of Mian, to look up. That which met his attention on doing so
+filled him with an intelligent wonder, for the person before him held in
+his hand what had the appearance of a tuft of bright yellow hair, which
+shone in the light of the sun with a most engaging splendour, but which
+he nevertheless regarded with a most undignified expression of confusion
+and awe.
+
+“Illustrious demon,” he cried at length, kow-towing very respectfully,
+“have the extreme amiableness to be of a benevolent disposition, and do
+not take an unworthy and entirely unremunerative revenge upon this
+very unimportant person for failing to detect and honour you from the
+beginning.”
+
+“Such words indicate nothing beyond an excess of hemp spirit,” answered
+Ling, with signs of displeasure. “To gain my explicit esteem, make me
+smooth without delay, and do not exhibit before me the lock of hair
+which, from its colour and appearance, has evidently adorned the head of
+one of those maidens whose duty it is to quench the thirst of travellers
+in the long narrow rooms of this city.”
+
+“Majestic and anonymous spirit,” said the other, with extreme reverence,
+and an entire absence of the appearance of one who had gazed into
+too many vessels, “if such be your plainly-expressed desire, this
+superficial person will at once proceed to make smooth your peach-like
+skin, and with a carefulness inspired by the certainty that the most
+unimportant wound would give forth liquid fire, in which he would
+undoubtedly perish. Nevertheless, he desires to make it evident that
+this hair is from the head of no maiden, being, indeed, the uneven
+termination of your own sacred pigtail, which this excessively
+self-confident slave took the inexcusable liberty of removing, and which
+changed in this manner within his hand in order to administer a fit
+reproof for his intolerable presumption.”
+
+Impressed by the mien and unquestionable earnestness of the remover of
+hair, Ling took the matter which had occasioned these various emotions
+in his hand and examined it. His amazement was still greater when he
+perceived that--in spite of the fact that it presented every appearance
+of having been cut from his own person--none of the qualities of hair
+remained in it; it was hard and wire-like, possessing, indeed, both the
+nature and the appearance of a metal.
+
+As he gazed fixedly and with astonishment, there came back into
+the remembrance of Ling certain obscure and little-understood facts
+connected with the limitless wealth possessed by the Yellow Emperor--of
+which the great gold life-like image in the Temple of Internal Symmetry
+at Peking alone bears witness now--and of his lost secret. Many very
+forcible prophecies and omens in his own earlier life, of which
+the rendering and accomplishment had hitherto seemed to be dark and
+incomplete, passed before him, and various matters which Mian had
+related to him concerning the habits and speech of the magician took
+definite form within his mind. Deeply impressed by the exact manner in
+which all these circumstances fitted together, one into another, Ling
+rewarded the person before him greatly beyond his expectation, and
+hurried without delay to his own chamber.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+For many hours Ling remained in his room, examining in his mind all
+passages, either in his own life or in the lives of others, which might
+by any chance have influence on the event before him. In this thorough
+way he became assured that the competition and its results, his journey
+to Si-chow with the encounter in the cypress wood, the flight of the
+incapable and treacherous Mandarin, and the battle of Ki, were all,
+down to the matter of the smallest detail, parts of a symmetrical and
+complete scheme, tending to his present condition. Cheered and upheld
+by this proof of the fact that very able deities were at work on
+his behalf, he turned his intellect from the entrancing subject to a
+contemplation of the manner in which his condition would enable him to
+frustrate the uninventive villainies of the obstinate person Li Keen,
+and to provide a suitable house and mode of living to which he would be
+justified in introducing Mian, after adequate marriage ceremonies had
+been observed between them. In this endeavour he was less successful
+than he had imagined would be the case, for when he had first fully
+understood that his body was of such a substance that nothing was
+wanting to transmute it into fine gold but the absence of the living
+spirit, he had naturally, and without deeply examining the detail,
+assumed that so much gold might be considered to be in his possession.
+Now, however, a very definite thought arose within him that his own
+wishes and interests would have been better secured had the benevolent
+spirits who undertook the matter placed the secret within his knowledge
+in such a way as to enable him to administer the fluid to some very
+heavy and inexpensive animal, so that the issue which seemed inevitable
+before the enjoyment of the riches could be entered upon should not
+have touched his own comfort so closely. To a person of Ling’s refined
+imagination it could not fail to be a subject of internal reproach that
+while he would become the most precious dead body in the world, his
+value in life might not be very honourably placed even by the most
+complimentary one who should require his services. Then came the
+thought, which, however degraded, he found himself unable to put quite
+beyond him, that if in the meantime he were able to gain a sufficiency
+for Mian and himself, even her pure and delicate love might not be able
+to bear so offensive a test as that of seeing him grow old and remain
+intolerably healthy--perhaps with advancing years actually becoming
+lighter day by day, and thereby lessening in value before her eyes--when
+the natural infirmities of age and the presence of an ever-increasing
+posterity would make even a moderate amount of taels of inestimable
+value.
+
+No doubt remained in Ling’s mind that the process of frequently making
+smooth his surfaces would yield an amount of gold enough to suffice for
+his own needs, but a brief consideration of the matter convinced him
+that this source would be inadequate to maintain an entire household
+even if he continually denuded himself to an almost ignominious extent.
+As he fully weighed these varying chances the certainty became more
+clear to him with every thought that for the virtuous enjoyment of
+Mian’s society one great sacrifice was required of him. This act, it
+seemed to be intimated, would without delay provide for an affluent
+and lengthy future, and at the same time would influence all the
+spirits--even those who had been hitherto evilly-disposed towards
+him--in such a manner that his enemies would be removed from his path
+by a process which would expose them to public ridicule, and he would be
+assured in founding an illustrious and enduring line. To accomplish this
+successfully necessitated the loss of at least the greater part of one
+entire member, and for some time the disadvantages of going through an
+existence with only a single leg or arm seemed more than a sufficient
+price to pay even for the definite advantages which would be made
+over to him in return. This unworthy thought, however, could not long
+withstand the memory of Mian’s steadfast and high-minded affection,
+and the certainty of her enlightened gladness at his return even in the
+imperfect condition which he anticipated. Nor was there absent from his
+mind a dimly-understood hope that the matter did not finally rest with
+him, but that everything which he might be inspired to do was in reality
+only a portion of the complete and arranged system into which he had
+been drawn, and in which his part had been assigned to him from the
+beginning without power for him to deviate, no matter how much to the
+contrary the thing should appear.
+
+As no advantage would be gained by making any delay, Ling at once sought
+the most favourable means of putting his resolution into practice, and
+after many skilful and insidious inquiries he learnt of an accomplished
+person who made a consistent habit of cutting off limbs which had become
+troublesome to their possessors either through accident or disease.
+Furthermore, he was said to be of a sincere and charitable disposition,
+and many persons declared that on no occasion had he been known to
+make use of the helpless condition of those who visited him in order to
+extort money from them.
+
+Coming to the ill-considered conclusion that he would be able to conceal
+within his own breast the true reason for the operation, Ling placed
+himself before the person in question, and exhibited the matter to
+him so that it would appear as though his desires were promoted by the
+presence of a small but persistent sprite which had taken its abode
+within his left thigh, and there resisted every effort of the most
+experienced wise persons to induce it to come forth again. Satisfied
+with this explanation of the necessity of the deed, the one who
+undertook the matter proceeded, with Ling’s assistance, to sharpen his
+cutting instruments and to heat the hardening irons; but no sooner had
+he made a shallow mark to indicate the lines which his knife should
+take, than his subtle observation at once showed him that the facts had
+been represented to him in a wrong sense, and that his visitor, indeed,
+was composed of no common substance. Being of a gentle and forbearing
+disposition, he did not manifest any indication of rage at the
+discovery, but amiably and unassumingly pointed out that such a course
+was not respectful towards himself, and that, moreover, Ling might incur
+certain well-defined and highly undesirable maladies as a punishment for
+the deception.
+
+Overcome with remorse at deceiving so courteous and noble-minded
+a person, Ling fully explained the circumstances to him, not even
+concealing from him certain facts which related to the actions of remote
+ancestors, but which, nevertheless, appeared to have influenced the
+succession of events. When he had made an end of the narrative, the
+other said:
+
+“Behold now, it is truly remarked that every Mandarin has three hands
+and every soldier a like number of feet, yet it is a saying which is
+rather to be regarded as manifesting the deep wisdom and discrimination
+of the speaker than as an actual fact which can be taken advantage of
+when one is so minded--least of all by so valiant a Commander as the one
+before me, who has clearly proved that in time of battle he has exactly
+reversed the position.”
+
+“The loss would undoubtedly be of considerable inconvenience
+occasionally,” admitted Ling, “yet none the less the sage remark of Huai
+Mei-shan, ‘When actually in the embrace of a voracious and powerful
+wild animal, the desirability of leaving a limb is not a matter to be
+subjected to lengthy consideration,’ is undoubtedly a valuable guide for
+general conduct. This person has endured many misfortunes and suffered
+many injustices; he has known the wolf-gnawings of great hopes, which
+have withered and daily grown less when the difficulties of maintaining
+an honourable and illustrious career have unfolded themselves within his
+sight. Before him still lie the attractions of a moderate competency to
+be shared with the one whose absence would make even the Upper Region
+unendurable, and after having this entrancing future once shattered
+by the tiger-like cupidity of a depraved and incapable Mandarin, he is
+determined to welcome even the sacrifice which you condemn rather than
+let the opportunity vanish through indecision.”
+
+“It is not an unworthy or abandoned decision,” said the one whose aid
+Ling had invoked, “nor a matter in which this person would refrain from
+taking part, were there no other and more agreeable means by which the
+same results may be attained. A circumstance has occurred within
+this superficial person’s mind, however: A brother of the one who
+is addressing you is by profession one of those who purchase large
+undertakings for which they have not the money to pay, and who thereupon
+by various expedients gain the ear of the thrifty, enticing them by fair
+offers of return to entrust their savings for the purpose of paying off
+the debt. These persons are ever on the watch for transactions by which
+they inevitably prosper without incurring any obligation, and doubtless
+my brother will be able to gather a just share of the value of your
+highly-remunerative body without submitting you to the insufferable
+annoyance of losing a great part of it prematurely.”
+
+Without clearly understanding how so inviting an arrangement could be
+effected, the manner of speaking was exceedingly alluring to Ling’s
+mind, perplexed as he had become through weighing and considering
+the various attitudes of the entire matter. To receive a certain and
+sufficient sum of money without his person being in any way mutilated
+would be a satisfactory, but as far as he had been able to observe an
+unapproachable, solution to the difficulty. In the mind of the amiable
+person with whom he was conversing, however, the accomplishment did not
+appear to be surrounded by unnatural obstacles, so that Ling was content
+to leave the entire design in his hands, after stating that he would
+again present himself on a certain occasion when it was asserted that
+the brother in question would be present.
+
+So internally lightened did Ling feel after this inspiring conversation,
+and so confident of a speedy success had the obliging person’s words
+made him become, that for the first time since his return to Canton he
+was able to take an intellectual interest in the pleasures of the city.
+Becoming aware that the celebrated play entitled “The Precious Lamp
+of Spotted Butterfly Temple” was in process of being shown at the Tea
+Garden of Rainbow Lights and Voices, he purchased an entrance, and after
+passing several hours in this conscientious enjoyment, returned to
+his chamber, and passed a night untroubled by any manifestations of an
+unpleasant nature.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Chang-ch’un, the brother of the one to whom Ling had applied in his
+determination, was confidently stated to be one of the richest persons
+in Canton. So great was the number of enterprises in which he had
+possessions, that he himself was unable to keep an account of them,
+and it was asserted that upon occasions he had run through the streets,
+crying aloud that such an undertaking had been the subject of most
+inferior and uninviting dreams and omens (a custom observed by those who
+wish a venture ill), whereas upon returning and consulting his written
+parchments, it became plain to him that he had indulged in a very
+objectionable exhibition, as he himself was the person most interested
+in the success of the matter. Far from discouraging him, however, such
+incidents tended to his advantage, as he could consistently point to
+them in proof of his unquestionable commercial honourableness, and in
+this way many persons of all classes, not only in Canton, or in the
+Province, but all over the Empire, would unhesitatingly entrust money
+to be placed in undertakings which he had purchased and was willing to
+describe as “of much good.” A certain class of printed leaves--those in
+which Chang-ch’un did not insert purchased mentions of his forthcoming
+ventures or verses recording his virtues (in return for buying many
+examples of the printed leaf containing them)--took frequent occasion of
+reminding persons that Chang-ch’un owed the beginning of his prosperity
+to finding a written parchment connected with a Mandarin of exalted rank
+and a low caste attendant at the Ti-i tea-house among the paper
+heaps, which it was at that time his occupation to assort into various
+departments according to their quality and commercial value. Such
+printed leaves freely and unhesitatingly predicted that the day on which
+he would publicly lose face was incomparably nearer than that on which
+the Imperial army would receive its back pay, and in a quaint and
+gravity-removing manner advised him to protect himself against an
+obscure but inevitable poverty by learning the accomplishment of
+chair-carrying--an occupation for which his talents and achievements
+fitted him in a high degree, they remarked.
+
+In spite of these evilly intentioned remarks, and of illustrations
+representing him as being bowstrung for treacherous killing, being
+seized in the action of secretly conveying money from passers-by to
+himself and other similar annoying references to his private life,
+Chang-ch’un did not fail to prosper, and his undertakings succeeded to
+such an extent that without inquiry into the detail many persons were
+content to describe as “gold-lined” anything to which he affixed his
+sign, and to hazard their savings for staking upon the ventures. In all
+other departments of life Chang was equally successful; his chief wife
+was the daughter of one who stood high in the Emperor’s favour; his
+repast table was never unsupplied with sea-snails, rats’ tongues,
+or delicacies of an equally expensive nature, and it was confidently
+maintained that there was no official in Canton, not even putting aside
+the Taotai, who dare neglect to fondle Chang’s hand if he publicly
+offered it to him for that purpose.
+
+It was at the most illustrious point of his existence--at the time,
+indeed, when after purchasing without money the renowned and proficient
+charm-water Ho-Ko for a million taels, he had sold it again for
+ten--that Chang was informed by his brother of the circumstances
+connected with Ling. After becoming specially assured that the matter
+was indeed such as it was represented to be, Chang at once discerned
+that the venture was of too certain and profitable a nature to be put
+before those who entrusted their money to him in ordinary and doubtful
+cases. He accordingly called together certain persons whom he was
+desirous of obliging, and informing them privately and apart
+from business terms that the opportunity was one of exceptional
+attractiveness, he placed the facts before them. After displaying a
+number of diagrams bearing upon the matter, he proposed that they should
+form an enterprise to be called “The Ling (After Death) Without Much
+Risk Assembly.” The manner of conducting this undertaking he explained
+to be as follows: The body of Ling, whenever the spirit left it, should
+become as theirs to be used for profit. For this benefit they would pay
+Ling fifty thousand taels when the understanding was definitely arrived
+at, five thousand taels each year until the matter ended, and when that
+period arrived another fifty thousand taels to persons depending upon
+him during his life. Having stated the figure business, Chang-ch’un
+put down his written papers, and causing his face to assume the look of
+irrepressible but dignified satisfaction which it was his custom to wear
+on most occasions, and especially when he had what appeared at first
+sight to be evil news to communicate to public assemblages of those
+who had entrusted money to his ventures, he proceeded to disclose the
+advantages of such a system. At the extreme, he said, the amount which
+they would be required to pay would be two hundred and fifty
+thousand taels; but this was in reality a very misleading view of the
+circumstance, as he would endeavour to show them. For one detail, he had
+allotted to Ling thirty years of existence, which was the extreme amount
+according to the calculations of those skilled in such prophecies; but,
+as they were all undoubtedly aware, persons of very expert intellects
+were known to enjoy a much shorter period of life than the gross and
+ordinary, and as Ling was clearly one of the former, by the fact of his
+contriving so ingenious a method of enriching himself, they might with
+reasonable foresight rely upon his departing when half the period had
+been attained; in that way seventy-five thousand taels would be restored
+to them, for every year represented a saving of five thousand. Another
+agreeable contemplation was that of the last sum, for by such a time
+they would have arrived at the most pleasurable part of the enterprise:
+a million taels’ worth of pure gold would be displayed before them, and
+the question of the final fifty thousand could be disposed of by cutting
+off an arm or half a leg. Whether they adopted that course, or decided
+to increase their fortunes by exposing so exceptional and symmetrical a
+wonder to the public gaze in all the principal cities of the Empire, was
+a circumstance which would have to be examined within their minds when
+the time approached. In such a way the detail of purchase stood
+revealed as only fifty thousand taels in reality, a sum so despicably
+insignificant that he had internal pains at mentioning it to so wealthy
+a group of Mandarins, and he had not yet made clear to them that each
+year they would receive gold to the amount of almost a thousand taels.
+This would be the result of Ling making smooth his surfaces, and it
+would enable them to know that the person in question actually existed,
+and to keep the circumstances before their intellects.
+
+When Chang-Ch’un had made the various facts clear to this extent, those
+who were assembled expressed their feelings as favourably turned towards
+the project, provided the tests to which Ling was to be put should prove
+encouraging, and a secure and intelligent understanding of things to be
+done and not to be done could be arrived at between them. To this end
+Ling was brought into the chamber, and fixing his thoughts steadfastly
+upon Mian, he permitted portions to be cut from various parts of his
+body without betraying any signs of ignoble agitation. No sooner had
+the pieces been separated and the virtue of Ling’s existence passed from
+them than they changed colour and hardened, nor could the most delicate
+and searching trials to which they were exposed by a skilful worker
+in metals, who was obtained for the purpose, disclose any particular,
+however minute, in which they differed from the finest gold. The hair,
+the nails, and the teeth were similarly affected, and even Ling’s
+blood dried into a fine gold powder. This detail of the trial being
+successfully completed, Ling subjected himself to intricate questioning
+on all matters connected with his religion and manner of conducting
+himself, both in public and privately, the history and behaviour of his
+ancestors, the various omens and remarkable sayings which had reference
+to his life and destiny, and the intentions which he then possessed
+regarding his future movements and habits of living. All the wise
+sayings and written and printed leaves which made any allusion to the
+existence of and possibility of discovery of the wonderful gold fluid
+were closely examined, and found to be in agreement, whereupon those
+present made no further delay in admitting that the facts were indeed
+as they had been described, and indulged in a dignified stroking of
+each other’s faces as an expression of pleasure and in proof of their
+satisfaction at taking part in so entrancing and remunerative an affair.
+At Chang’s command many rare and expensive wines were then brought
+in, and partaken of without restraint by all persons, the repast being
+lightened by numerous well-considered and gravity-removing jests having
+reference to Ling and the unusual composition of his person. So amiably
+were the hours occupied that it was past the time of no light when Chang
+rose and read at full length the statement of things to be done and
+things not to be done, which was to be sealed by Ling for his part and
+the other persons who were present for theirs. It so happened, however,
+that at that period Ling’s mind was filled with brilliant and versatile
+thoughts and images of Mian, and many-hued visions of the manner in
+which they would spend the entrancing future which was now before them,
+and in this way it chanced that he did not give any portion of his
+intellect to the reading, mistaking it, indeed, for a delicate and very
+ably-composed set of verses which Chang-ch’un was reciting as a formal
+blessing on parting. Nor was it until he was desired to affix his
+sign that Ling discovered his mistake, and being of too respectful and
+unobtrusive a disposition to require the matter to be repeated then, he
+carried out the obligation without in any particular understanding the
+written words to which he was agreeing.
+
+As Ling walked through the streets to his chamber after leaving the
+house and company of Chang-Ch’un, holding firmly among his garments the
+thin printed papers to the amount of fifty thousand taels which he had
+received, and repeatedly speaking to himself in terms of general and
+specific encouragement at the fortunate events of the past few days, he
+became aware that a person of mean and rapacious appearance, whom he
+had some memory of having observed within the residence he had but
+just left, was continually by his side. Not at first doubting that
+the circumstance resulted from a benevolent desire on the part of
+Chang-ch’un that he should be protected on his passage through the city,
+Ling affected not to observe the incident; but upon reaching his own
+door the person in question persistently endeavoured to pass in also.
+Forming a fresh judgment about the matter, Ling, who was very powerfully
+constructed, and whose natural instincts were enhanced in every degree
+by the potent fluid of which he had lately partaken, repeatedly threw
+him across the street until he became weary of the diversion. At
+length, however, the thought arose that one who patiently submitted
+to continually striking the opposite houses with his head must have
+something of importance to communicate, whereupon he courteously invited
+him to enter the apartment and unweigh his mind.
+
+“The facts of the case appear to have been somewhat inadequately
+represented,” said the stranger, bowing obsequiously, “for this
+unornamental person was assured by the benignant Chang-ch’un that the
+one whose shadow he was to become was of a mild and forbearing nature.”
+
+“Such words are as the conversation of birds to me,” replied Ling, not
+conjecturing how the matter had fallen about. “This person has just left
+the presence of the elegant and successful Chang-ch’un, and no word that
+he spoke gave indication of such a follower or such a service.”
+
+“Then it is indeed certain that the various transactions have not been
+fully understood,” exclaimed the other, “for the exact communication to
+this unseemly one was, ‘The valuable and enlightened Ling has heard and
+agreed to the different things to be done and not to be done, one
+phrase of which arranges for your continual presence, so that he will
+anticipate your attentions.’”
+
+At these words the truth became as daylight before Ling’s eyes, and
+he perceived that the written paper to which he had affixed his sign
+contained the detail of such an office as that of the person before him.
+When too late, more than ever did he regret that he had not formed some
+pretext for causing the document to be read a second time, as in view of
+his immediate intentions such an arrangement as the one to which he had
+agreed had every appearance of becoming of an irksome and perplexing
+nature. Desiring to know the length of the attendant’s commands, Ling
+asked him for a clear statement of his duties, feigning that he had
+missed that portion of the reading through a momentary attack of the
+giddy sickness. To this request the stranger, who explained that his
+name was Wang, instantly replied that his written and spoken orders
+were: never to permit more than an arm’s length of space to separate
+them; to prevent, by whatever force was necessary for the purpose, all
+attempts at evading the things to be done and not to be done, and to
+ignore as of no interest all other circumstances. It seemed to Ling,
+in consequence, that little seclusion would be enjoyed unless an
+arrangement could be effected between Wang and himself; so to this end,
+after noticing the evident poverty and covetousness of the person in
+question, he made him an honourable offer of frequent rewards, provided
+a greater distance was allowed to come between them as soon as Si-chow
+was reached. On his side, Ling undertook not to break through the
+wording of the things to be done and not to be done, and to notify to
+Wang any movements upon which he meditated. In this reputable manner
+the obstacle was ingeniously removed, and the intelligent nature of the
+device was clearly proved by the fact that not only Ling but Wang also
+had in the future a much greater liberty of action than would have
+been possible if it had been necessary to observe the short-sighted and
+evidently hastily-thought-of condition which Chang-ch’un had endeavoured
+to impose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+In spite of his natural desire to return to Mian as quickly as possible,
+Ling judged it expedient to give several days to the occupation of
+purchasing apparel of the richest kinds, weapons and armour in large
+quantities, jewels and ornaments of worked metals and other objects to
+indicate his changed position. Nor did he neglect actions of a pious
+and charitable nature, for almost his first care was to arrange with the
+chief ones at the Temple of Benevolent Intentions that each year, on the
+day corresponding to that on which he drank the gold fluid, a sumptuous
+and well-constructed coffin should be presented to the most deserving
+poor and aged person within that quarter of the city in which he had
+resided. When these preparations were completed, Ling set out with an
+extensive train of attendants; but riding on before, accompanied only by
+Wang, he quickly reached Si-chow without adventure.
+
+The meeting between Ling and Mian was affecting to such an extent
+that the blind and deaf attendants wept openly without reproach,
+notwithstanding the fact that neither could become possessed of more
+than a half of the occurrence. Eagerly the two reunited ones examined
+each other’s features to discover whether the separation had brought
+about any change in the beloved and well-remembered lines. Ling
+discovered upon Mian the shadow of an anxious care at his absence, while
+the disappointments and trials which Ling had experienced in Canton had
+left traces which were plainly visible to Mian’s penetrating gaze. In
+such an entrancing occupation the time was to them without hours until
+a feeling of hunger recalled them to lesser matters, when a variety
+of very select foods and liquids was placed before them without delay.
+After this elegant repast had been partaken of, Mian, supporting herself
+upon Ling’s shoulder, made a request that he would disclose to her all
+the matters which had come under his observation both within the city
+and during his journey to and from that place. Upon this encouragement,
+Ling proceeded to unfold his mind, not withholding anything which
+appeared to be of interest, no matter how slight. When he had reached
+Canton without any perilous adventure, Mian breathed more freely; as he
+recorded the interview at the Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements,
+she trembled at the insidious malignity of the evil person Li Keen. The
+conversation with the wise reader of the future concerning the various
+states of such as be officially dead almost threw her into the rigid
+sickness, from which, however, the wonderful circumstance of the
+discovered properties of the gold fluid quickly recalled her. But to
+Ling’s great astonishment no sooner had he made plain the exceptional
+advantages which he had derived from the circumstances, and the nature
+of the undertaking at which he had arrived with Chang-ch’un, than she
+became a prey to the most intolerable and unrestrained anguish.
+
+“Oh, my devoted but excessively ill-advised lover,” she exclaimed
+wildly, and in tones which clearly indicated that she was inspired by
+every variety of affectionate emotion, “has the unendurable position
+in which you and all your household will be placed by the degrading
+commercial schemes and instincts of the mercenary-souled person
+Chang-ch’un occupied no place in your generally well-regulated
+intellect? Inevitably will those who drink our almond tea, in order
+to have an opportunity of judging the value of the appointments of the
+house, pass the jesting remark that while the Lings assuredly have ‘a
+dead person’s bones in the secret chamber,’ at the present they will not
+have one in the family graveyard by reason of the death of Ling himself.
+Better to lose a thousand limbs during life than the entire person after
+death; nor would your adoring Mian hesitate to clasp proudly to her
+organ of affection the veriest trunk that had parted with all its
+attributes in a noble and sacrificing endeavour to preserve at least
+some dignified proportions to embellish the Ancestral Temple and to
+receive the worship of posterity.”
+
+“Alas!” replied Ling, with extravagant humiliation, “it is indeed true;
+and this person is degraded beyond the common lot of those who break
+images and commit thefts from sacred places. The side of the transaction
+which is at present engaging our attention never occurred to this
+superficial individual until now.”
+
+“Wise and incomparable one,” said Mian, in no degree able to restrain
+the fountains of bitter water which clouded her delicate and expressive
+eyes, “in spite of this person’s biting and ungracious words do not, she
+makes a formal petition, doubt the deathless strength of her affection.
+Cheerfully, in order to avert the matter in question, or even to save
+her lover the anguish of unavailing and soul-eating remorse, would she
+consign herself to a badly-constructed and slow-consuming fire or expose
+her body to various undignified tortures. Happy are those even to whom
+is left a little ash to be placed in a precious urn and diligently
+guarded, for it, in any event, truly represents all that is left of the
+once living person, whereas after an honourable and spotless existence
+my illustrious but unthinking lord will be blended with a variety of
+baser substances and passed from hand to hand, his immaculate organs
+serving to reward murderers for their deeds and to tempt the weak and
+vicious to all manner of unmentionable crimes.”
+
+So overcome was Ling by the distressing nature of the oversight he had
+permitted that he could find no words with which to comfort Mian, who,
+after some moments, continued:
+
+“There are even worse visions of degradation which occur to this person.
+By chance, that which was once the noble-minded Ling may be disposed of,
+not to the Imperial Treasury for converting into pieces of exchange, but
+to some undiscriminating worker in metals who will fashion out of his
+beautiful and symmetrical stomach an elegant food-dish, so that from the
+ultimate developments of the circumstance may arise the fact that his
+own descendants, instead of worshipping him, use his internal organs
+for this doubtful if not absolutely unclean purpose, and thereby suffer
+numerous well-merited afflictions, to the end that the finally-despised
+Ling and this discredited person, instead of founding a vigorous and
+prolific generation, become the parents of a line of feeble-minded and
+physically-depressed lepers.”
+
+“Oh, my peacock-eyed one!” exclaimed Ling, in immeasurable distress, “so
+proficient an exhibition of virtuous grief crushes this misguided person
+completely to the ground. Rather would he uncomplainingly lose his
+pigtail than--”
+
+“Such a course,” said a discordant voice, as the unpresentable person
+Wang stepped forth from behind a hanging curtain, where, indeed, he had
+stood concealed during the entire conversation, “is especially forbidden
+by the twenty-third detail of the things to be done and not to be done.”
+
+“What new adversity is this?” cried Mian, pressing to Ling with a still
+closer embrace. “Having disposed of your incomparable body after death,
+surely an adequate amount of liberty and seclusion remains to us during
+life.”
+
+“Nevertheless,” interposed the dog-like Wang, “the refined person in
+question must not attempt to lose or to dispose of his striking and
+invaluable pigtail; for by such an action he would be breaking through
+his spoken and written word whereby he undertook to be ruled by the
+things to be done and not to be done; and he would also be robbing the
+ingenious-minded Chang-ch’un.”
+
+“Alas!” lamented the unhappy Ling, “that which appeared to be the end of
+all this person’s troubles is obviously simply the commencement of a new
+and more extensive variety. Understand, O conscientious but exceedingly
+inopportune Wang, that the words which passed from this person’s mouth
+did not indicate a fixed determination, but merely served to show the
+unfeigned depth of his emotion. Be content that he has no intention of
+evading the definite principles of the things to be done and not to
+be done, and in the meantime honour this commonplace establishment by
+retiring to the hot and ill-ventilated chamber, and there partaking of a
+suitable repast which shall be prepared without delay.”
+
+When Wang had departed, which he did with somewhat unseemly haste,
+Ling made an end of recording his narrative, which Mian’s grief had
+interrupted. In this way he explained to her the reason of Wang’s
+presence, and assured her that by reason of the arrangement he had made
+with that person, his near existence would not be so unsupportable to
+them as might at first appear to be the case.
+
+While they were still conversing together, and endeavouring to divert
+their minds from the objectionable facts which had recently come within
+their notice, an attendant entered and disclosed that the train of
+servants and merchandise which Ling had preceded on the journey was
+arriving. At this fresh example of her lover’s consistent thought
+for her, Mian almost forgot her recent agitation, and eagerly lending
+herself to the entrancing occupation of unfolding and displaying the
+various objects, her brow finally lost the last trace of sadness.
+Greatly beyond the imaginings of anticipation were the expensive
+articles with which Ling proudly surrounded her; and in examining and
+learning the cost of the set jewels and worked metals, the ornamental
+garments for both persons, the wood and paper appointments for the
+house--even incenses, perfumes, spices and rare viands had not been
+forgotten--the day was quickly and profitably spent.
+
+When the hour of sunset arrived, Ling, having learned that certain
+preparations which he had commanded were fully carried out, took Mian by
+the hand and led her into the chief apartment of the house, where were
+assembled all the followers and attendants, even down to the illiterate
+and superfluous Wang. In the centre of the room upon a table of the
+finest ebony stood a vessel of burning incense, some dishes of the most
+highly-esteemed fruit, and an abundance of old and very sweet wine.
+Before these emblems Ling and Mian placed themselves in an attitude of
+deep humiliation, and formally expressed their gratitude to the Chief
+Deity for having called them into existence, to the cultivated earth
+for supplying them with the means of sustaining life, to the Emperor for
+providing the numerous safeguards by which their persons were protected
+at all times, and to their parents for educating them. This adequate
+ceremony being completed, Ling explicitly desired all those present to
+observe the fact that the two persons in question were, by that fact and
+from that time, made as one being, and the bond between them, incapable
+of severance.
+
+When the ruling night-lantern came out from among the clouds, Ling and
+Mian became possessed of a great desire to go forth with pressed hands
+and look again on the forest paths and glades in which they had spent
+many hours of exceptional happiness before Ling’s journey to Canton.
+Leaving the attendants to continue the feasting and drum-beating in a
+completely unrestrained manner, they therefore passed out unperceived,
+and wandering among the trees, presently stood on the banks of the
+Heng-Kiang.
+
+“Oh, my beloved!” exclaimed Mian, gazing at the brilliant and unruffled
+water, “greatly would this person esteem a short river journey, such as
+we often enjoyed together in the days when you were recovering.”
+
+Ling, to whom the expressed desires of Mian were as the word of the
+Emperor, instantly prepared the small and ornamental junk which was
+fastened near for this purpose, and was about to step in, when a
+presumptuous and highly objectionable hand restrained him.
+
+“Behold,” remarked a voice which Ling had some difficulty in ascribing
+to any known person, so greatly had it changed from its usual tone,
+“behold how the immature and altogether too-inferior Ling observes his
+spoken and written assertions!”
+
+At this low-conditioned speech, Ling drew his well-tempered sword
+without further thought, in spite of the restraining arms of Mian,
+but at the sight of the utterly incapable person Wang, who stood near
+smiling meaninglessly and waving his arms with a continuous and backward
+motion, he again replaced it.
+
+“Such remarks can be left to fall unheeded from the lips of one who
+bears every indication of being steeped in rice spirit,” he said with
+unprovoked dignity.
+
+“It will be the plain duty of this expert and uncorruptible person
+to furnish the unnecessary, but, nevertheless, very severe and
+self-opinionated Chang-ch’un with a written account of how the
+traitorous and deceptive Ling has endeavoured to break through the
+thirty-fourth vessel of the liquids to be consumed and not to be
+consumed,” continued Wang with increased deliberation and an entire
+absence of attention to Ling’s action and speech, “and how by this
+refined person’s unfailing civility and resourceful strategy he has been
+frustrated.”
+
+“Perchance,” said Ling, after examining his thoughts for a short space,
+and reflecting that the list of things to be done and not to be done was
+to him as a blank leaf, “there may even be some small portion of that
+which is accurate in his statement. In what manner,” he continued,
+addressing the really unendurable person, who was by this time preparing
+to pass the night in the cool swamp by the river’s edge, “does this
+one endanger any detail of the written and sealed parchment by such an
+action?”
+
+“Inasmuch,” replied Wang, pausing in the process of removing his
+outer garments, “as the seventy-ninth--the intricate name given
+to it escapes this person’s tongue at the moment--but the
+ninety-seventh--experLingknowswhamean--provides that any person, with or
+without, attempting or not avoiding to travel by sea, lake, or river,
+or to place himself in such a position as he may reasonably and
+intelligently be drowned in salt water, fresh water, or--or honourable
+rice spirit, shall be guilty of, and suffer--complete loss of memory.”
+ With these words the immoderate and contemptible person sank down in a
+very profound slumber.
+
+“Alas!” said Ling, turning to Mian, who stood near, unable to retire
+even had she desired, by reason of the extreme agitation into which
+the incident had thrown her delicate mind and body, “how intensely
+aggravating a circumstance that we are compelled to entertain so
+dissolute a one by reason of this person’s preoccupation when the matter
+was read. Nevertheless, it is not unlikely that the detail he spoke of
+was such as he insisted, to the extent of making it a thing not to be
+done to journey in any manner by water. It shall be an early endeavour
+of this person to get these restraining details equitably amended; but
+in the meantime we will retrace our footsteps through the wood, and
+the enraptured Ling will make a well-thought-out attempt to lighten the
+passage by a recital of his recently-composed verses on the subject of
+‘Exile from the Loved One; or, Farewell and Return.’”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+“My beloved lord!” said Mian sadly, on a morning after many days had
+passed since the return of Ling, “have you not every possession for
+which the heart of a wise person searches? Yet the dark mark is scarcely
+ever absent from your symmetrical brow. If she who stands before you,
+and is henceforth an integral part of your organization, has failed you
+in any particular, no matter how unimportant, explain the matter to her,
+and the amendment will be a speedy and a joyful task.”
+
+It was indeed true that Ling’s mind was troubled, but the fault did not
+lie with Mian, as the person in question was fully aware, for before
+her eyes as before those of Ling the unevadable compact which had been
+entered into with Chang-ch’un was ever present, insidiously planting
+bitterness within even the most select and accomplished delights. Nor
+with increasing time did the obstinate and intrusive person Wang become
+more dignified in his behaviour; on the contrary, he freely made use of
+his position to indulge in every variety of abandonment, and almost each
+day he prevented, by reason of his knowledge of the things to be done
+and not to be done, some refined and permissible entertainment
+upon which Ling and Mian had determined. Ling had despatched many
+communications upon this subject to Chang-ch’un, praying also that
+some expert way out of the annoyance of the lesser and more unimportant
+things not to be done should be arrived at, but the time when he might
+reasonably expect an answer to these written papers had not yet arrived.
+
+It was about this period that intelligence was brought to Ling from the
+villages on the road to Peking, how Li Keen, having secretly ascertained
+that his Yamen was standing and his goods uninjured, had determined
+to return, and was indeed at that hour within a hundred li of Si-chow.
+Furthermore, he had repeatedly been understood to pronounce clearly
+that he considered Ling to be the head and beginning of all his
+inconveniences, and to declare that the first act of justice which
+he should accomplish on his return would be to submit the person in
+question to the most unbearable tortures, and then cause him to lose his
+head publicly as an outrager of the settled state of things and an
+enemy of those who loved tranquillity. Not doubting that Li Keen would
+endeavour to gain an advantage by treachery if the chance presented
+itself, Ling determined to go forth to meet him, and without delay
+settle the entire disturbance in one well-chosen and fatally-destructive
+encounter. To this end, rather than disturb the placid mind of Mian,
+to whom the thought of the engagement would be weighted with many
+disquieting fears, he gave out that he was going upon an expedition
+to surprise and capture certain fish of a very delicate flavour, and
+attended by only two persons, he set forth in the early part of the day.
+
+Some hours later, owing to an ill-considered remark on the part of the
+deaf attendant, to whom the matter had been explained in an imperfect
+light, Mian became possessed of the true facts of the case, and
+immediately all the pleasure of existence went from her. She despaired
+of ever again beholding Ling in an ordinary state, and mournfully
+reproached herself for the bitter words which had risen to her lips when
+the circumstance of his condition and the arrangement with Chang-ch’un
+first became known to her. After spending an interval in a polished
+lament at the manner in which things were inevitably tending, the
+thought occurred to Mian whether by any means in her power she could
+influence the course and settled method of affairs. In this situation
+the memory of the person Wang, and the fact that on several occasions he
+had made himself objectionable when Ling had proposed to place himself
+in such a position that he incurred some very remote chance of death
+by drowning or by fire, recurred to her. Subduing the natural and
+pure-minded repulsion which she invariably experienced at the mere
+thought of so debased an individual, she sought for him, and discovering
+him in the act of constructing cardboard figures of men and animals,
+which it was his custom to dispose skilfully in little-frequented paths
+for the purpose of enjoying the sudden terror of those who passed by,
+she quickly put the matter before him, urging him, by some means, to
+prevent the encounter, which must assuredly cost the life of the one
+whom he had so often previously obstructed from incurring the slightest
+risk.
+
+“By no means,” exclaimed Wang, when he at length understood the full
+meaning of the project; “it would be a most unpresentable action for
+this commonplace person to interfere in so honourable an undertaking.
+Had the priceless body of the intrepid Ling been in any danger of
+disappearing, as, for example, by drowning or being consumed in fire,
+the nature of the circumstance would have been different. As the
+matter exists, however, there is every appearance that the far-seeing
+Chang-ch’un will soon reap the deserved reward of his somewhat
+speculative enterprise, and to that end this person will immediately
+procure a wooden barrier and the services of four robust carriers, and
+proceed to the scene of the conflict.”
+
+Deprived of even this hope of preventing the encounter, Mian betook
+herself in extreme dejection to the secret room of the magician, which
+had been unopened since the day when the two attendants had searched for
+substances to apply to their master, and there she diligently examined
+every object in the remote chance of discovering something which might
+prove of value in averting the matter in question.
+
+Not anticipating that the true reason of his journey would become known
+to Mian, Ling continued on his way without haste, and passing through
+Si-chow before the sun had risen, entered upon the great road to Peking.
+At a convenient distance from the town he came to a favourable piece of
+ground where he decided to await the arrival of Li Keen, spending the
+time profitably in polishing his already brilliant sword, and making
+observations upon the nature of the spot and the condition of the
+surrounding omens, on which the success of his expedition would largely
+depend.
+
+As the sun reached the highest point in the open sky the sound of an
+approaching company could be plainly heard; but at the moment when the
+chair of the Mandarin appeared within the sight of those who waited, the
+great luminary, upon which all portents depend directly or indirectly,
+changed to the colour of new-drawn blood and began to sink towards
+the earth. Without any misgivings, therefore, Ling disposed his two
+attendants in the wood, with instructions to step forth and aid him if
+he should be attacked by overwhelming numbers, while he himself remained
+in the way. As the chair approached, the Mandarin observed a person
+standing alone, and thinking that it was one who, hearing of his return,
+had come out of the town to honour him, he commanded the bearers to
+pause. Thereupon, stepping up to the opening, Ling struck the deceptive
+and incapable Li Keen on the cheek, at the same time crying in a full
+voice, “Come forth, O traitorous and two-stomached Mandarin! for this
+person is very desirous of assisting you in the fulfilment of your
+boastful words. Here is a most irreproachable sword which will serve
+excellently to cut off this person’s undignified head; here is a
+waistcord which can be tightened around his breast, thereby producing
+excruciating pains over the entire body.”
+
+At the knowledge of who the one before him was, and when he heard the
+words which unhesitatingly announced Ling’s fixed purpose, Li Keen first
+urged the carriers to fall upon Ling and slay him, and then, perceiving
+that such a course was exceedingly distasteful to their natural
+tendencies, to take up the chair and save him by flight. But Ling in
+the meantime engaged their attention, and fully explained to them the
+treacherous and unworthy conduct of Li Keen, showing them how his death
+would be a just retribution for his ill-spent life, and promising them
+each a considerable reward in addition to their arranged payment when
+the matter in question had been accomplished. Becoming convinced of the
+justice of Ling’s cause, they turned upon Li Keen, insisting that he
+should at once attempt to carry out the ill-judged threats against Ling,
+of which they were consistent witnesses, and announcing that, if he
+failed to do so, they would certainly bear him themselves to a not far
+distant well of stagnant water, and there gain the approbation of the
+good spirits by freeing the land of so unnatural a monster.
+
+Seeing only a dishonourable death on either side, Li Keen drew his
+sword, and made use of every artifice of which he had knowledge in
+order to disarm Ling or to take him at a disadvantage. In this he was
+unsuccessful, for Ling, who was by nature a very expert sword-user,
+struck him repeatedly, until he at length fell in an expiring condition,
+remarking with his last words that he had indeed been a narrow-minded
+and extortionate person during his life, and that his death was an
+enlightened act of celestial accuracy.
+
+Directing Wang and his four hired persons, who had in the meantime
+arrived, to give the body of the Mandarin an honourable burial in the
+deep of the wood, Ling rewarded and dismissed the chairbearers, and
+without delay proceeded to Si-chow, where he charitably distributed the
+goods and possessions of Li Keen among the poor of the town. Having
+in this able and conscientious manner completely proved the misleading
+nature of the disgraceful statements which the Mandarin had spread
+abroad concerning him, Ling turned his footsteps towards Mian, whose
+entrancing joy at his safe return was judged by both persons to be a
+sufficient reward for the mental distress with which their separation
+had been accompanied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+After the departure of Ling from Canton, the commercial affairs of
+Chang-ch’un began, from a secret and undetectable cause, to assume an
+ill-regulated condition. No venture which he undertook maintained a
+profitable attitude, so that many persons who in former times had been
+content to display the printed papers setting forth his name and
+virtues in an easily-seen position in their receiving-rooms, now placed
+themselves daily before his house in order to accuse him of using their
+taels in ways which they themselves had not sufficiently understood, and
+for the purpose of warning passers-by against his inducements. It was
+in vain that Chang proposed new undertakings, each of an infallibly
+more prosperous nature than those before; the persons who had hitherto
+supported him were all entrusting their money to one named Pung Soo, who
+required millions where Chang had been content with thousands, and who
+persistently insisted on greeting the sacred Emperor as an equal.
+
+In this unenviable state Chang’s mind continually returned to thoughts
+of Ling, whose lifeless body would so opportunely serve to dispel the
+embarrassing perplexities of existence which were settling thickly about
+him. Urged forward by a variety of circumstances which placed him in
+an entirely different spirit from the honourable bearing which he had
+formerly maintained, he now closely examined all the papers connected
+with the matter, to discover whether he might not be able to effect his
+purpose with an outward exhibition of law forms. While engaged in this
+degrading occupation, a detail came to his notice which caused him to
+become very amiably disposed and confident of success. Proceeding with
+the matter, he caused a well-supported report to be spread about that
+Ling was suffering from a wasting sickness, which, without in any
+measure shortening his life, would cause him to return to the size and
+weight of a newly-born child, and being by these means enabled to secure
+the entire matter of “The Ling (After Death) Without Much Risk Assembly”
+ at a very small outlay, he did so, and then, calling together a company
+of those who hire themselves out for purposes of violence, journeyed to
+Si-chow.
+
+Ling and Mian were seated together at a table in the great room,
+examining a vessel of some clear liquid, when Chang-ch’un entered with
+his armed ones, in direct opposition to the general laws of ordinary
+conduct and the rulings of hospitality. At the sight, which plainly
+indicated a threatened display of violence, Ling seized his renowned
+sword, which was never far distant from him, and prepared to carry out
+his spoken vow, that any person overstepping a certain mark on the floor
+would assuredly fall.
+
+“Put away your undoubtedly competent weapon, O Ling,” said Chang, who
+was desirous that the matter should be arranged if possible without any
+loss to himself, “for such a course can be honourably adopted when it
+is taken into consideration that we are as twenty to one, and have,
+moreover, the appearance of being inspired by law forms.”
+
+“There are certain matters of allowed justice which over-rule all
+other law forms,” replied Ling, taking a surer hold of his sword-grasp.
+“Explain, for your part, O obviously double-dealing Chang-ch’un, from
+whom this person only recently parted on terms of equality and courtesy,
+why you come not with an agreeable face and a peaceful following,
+but with a countenance which indicates both violence and terror, and
+accompanied by many whom this person recognizes as the most outcast and
+degraded from the narrow and evil-smelling ways of Canton?”
+
+“In spite of your blustering words,” said Chang, with some attempt at an
+exhibition of dignity, “this person is endowed by every right, and
+comes only for the obtaining, by the help of this expert and proficient
+gathering, should such a length become necessary, of his just claims.
+Understand that in the time since the venture was arranged this person
+has become possessed of all the property of ‘The Ling (After Death)
+Without Much Risk Assembly,’ and thereby he is competent to act fully
+in the matter. It has now come within his attention that the one Ling
+to whom the particulars refer is officially dead, and as the written
+and sealed document clearly undertook that the person’s body was to be
+delivered up for whatever use the Assembly decided whenever death should
+possess it, this person has now come for the honourable carrying out of
+the undertaking.”
+
+At these words the true nature of the hidden contrivance into which he
+had fallen descended upon Ling like a heavy and unavoidable thunderbolt.
+Nevertheless, being by nature and by reason of his late exploits
+fearless of death, except for the sake of the loved one by his side, he
+betrayed no sign of discreditable emotion at the discovery.
+
+“In such a case,” he replied, with an appearance of entirely
+disregarding the danger of the position, “the complete parchment must be
+of necessity overthrown; for if this person is now officially dead, he
+was equally so at the time of sealing, and arrangements entered into by
+dead persons have no actual existence.”
+
+“That is a matter which has never been efficiently decided,” admitted
+Chang-ch’un, with no appearance of being thrown into a state of
+confusion at the suggestion, “and doubtless the case in question can by
+various means be brought in the end before the Court of Final Settlement
+at Peking, where it may indeed be judged in the manner you assert. But
+as such a process must infallibly consume the wealth of a province and
+the years of an ordinary lifetime, and as it is this person’s unmoved
+intention to carry out his own view of the undertaking without delay,
+such speculations are not matters of profound interest.”
+
+Upon this Chang gave certain instructions to his followers, who
+thereupon prepared to advance. Perceiving that the last detail of the
+affair had been arrived at, Ling threw back his hanging garment, and
+was on the point of rushing forward to meet them, when Mian, who had
+maintained a possessed and reliant attitude throughout, pushed towards
+him the vessel of pure and sparkling liquid with which they had been
+engaged when so presumptuously broken in upon, at the same time speaking
+to him certain words in an outside language. A new and Heaven-sent
+confidence immediately took possession of Ling, and striking his sword
+against the wall with such irresistible force that the entire chamber
+trembled and the feeble-minded assassins shrank back in unrestrained
+terror, he leapt upon the table, grasping in one hand the open vessel.
+
+“Behold the end, O most uninventive and slow-witted Chang-ch’un!” he
+cried in a dreadful and awe-compelling voice. “As a reward for your
+faithless and traitorous behaviour, learn how such avaricious-minded
+incompetence turns and fastens itself upon the vitals of those who beget
+it. In spite of many things which were not of a graceful nature
+towards him, this person has unassumingly maintained his part of the
+undertaking, and would have followed such a course conscientiously to
+the last. As it is, when he has made an end of speaking, the body
+which you are already covetously estimating in taels will in no way
+be distinguishable from that of the meanest and most ordinary maker of
+commercial ventures in Canton. For, behold! the fluid which he holds in
+his hand, and which it is his fixed intention to drain to the last drop,
+is in truth nothing but a secret and exceedingly powerful counteractor
+against the virtues of the gold drug; and though but a single particle
+passed his lips, and the swords of your brilliant and versatile
+murderers met the next moment in his breast, the body which fell at your
+feet would be meet for worms rather than for the melting-pot.”
+
+It was indeed such a substance as Ling represented it to be, Mian
+having discovered it during her very systematic examination of the dead
+magician’s inner room. Its composition and distillation had involved
+that self-opinionated person in many years of arduous toil, for with a
+somewhat unintelligent lack of foresight he had obstinately determined
+to perfect the antidote before he turned his attention to the drug
+itself. Had the matter been more ingeniously arranged, he would
+undoubtedly have enjoyed an earlier triumph and an affluent and
+respected old age.
+
+At Ling’s earnest words and prepared attitude an instant conviction of
+the truth of his assertions took possession of Chang. Therefore, seeing
+nothing but immediate and unevadable ruin at the next step, he called
+out in a loud and imploring voice that he should desist, and no harm
+would come upon him. To this Ling consented, first insisting that the
+followers should be dismissed without delay, and Chang alone remain to
+have conversation on the matter. By this just act the lower parts of
+Canton were greatly purified, for the persons in question being driven
+forth into the woods, mostly perished by encounters with wild animals,
+or at the hands of the enraged villagers, to whom Ling had by this time
+become greatly endeared.
+
+When the usual state had been restored, Ling made clear to Chang the
+altered nature of the conditions to which he would alone agree. “It is
+a noble-minded and magnanimous proposal on your part, and one to which
+this misguided person had no claim,” admitted Chang, as he affixed his
+seal to the written undertaking and committed the former parchment to
+be consumed by fire. By this arrangement it was agreed that Ling should
+receive only one-half of the yearly payment which had formerly been
+promised, and that no sum of taels should become due to those depending
+on him at his death. In return for these valuable allowances, there were
+to exist no details of things to be done and not to be done, Ling merely
+giving an honourable promise to observe the matter in a just spirit,
+while--most esteemed of all--only a portion of his body was to pass to
+Chang when the end arrived, the upper part remaining to embellish the
+family altar and receive the veneration of posterity.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the great sky-lantern rose above the trees and the time of no-noise
+fell upon the woods, a flower-laden pleasure-junk moved away from its
+restraining cords, and, without any sense of motion, gently bore Ling
+and Mian between the sweet-smelling banks of the Heng-Kiang. Presently
+Mian drew from beneath her flowing garment an instrument of stringed
+wood, and touching it with a quick but delicate stroke, like the flight
+and pausing of a butterfly, told in well-balanced words a refined
+narrative of two illustrious and noble-looking persons, and how, after
+many disagreeable evils and unendurable separations, they entered upon a
+destined state of earthly prosperity and celestial favour. When she made
+an end of the verses, Ling turned the junk’s head by one well-directed
+stroke of the paddle, and prepared by using similar means to return to
+the place of mooring.
+
+“Indeed,” he remarked, ceasing for a moment to continue this skilful
+occupation, “the words which you have just spoken might, without
+injustice, be applied to the two persons who are now conversing
+together. For after suffering misfortunes and wrongs beyond an
+appropriate portion, they have now reached that period of existence when
+a tranquil and contemplative future is assured to them. In this manner
+is the sage and matured utterance of the inspired philosopher Nien-tsu
+again proved: that the life of every person is largely composed of two
+varieties of circumstances which together build up his existence--the
+Good and the Evil.”
+
+                     THE END OF THE STORY OF LING
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+When Kai Lung, the story-teller, made an end of speaking, he was
+immediately greeted with a variety of delicate and pleasing remarks, all
+persons who had witnessed the matter, down even to the lowest type of
+Miaotze, who by reason of their obscure circumstances had been unable to
+understand the meaning of a word that had been spoken, maintaining
+that Kai Lung’s accomplishment of continuing for upwards of three hours
+without a pause had afforded an entertainment of a very high and refined
+order. While these polished sayings were being composed, together with
+many others of a similar nature, Lin Yi suddenly leapt to his feet with
+a variety of highly objectionable remarks concerning the ancestors of
+all those who were present, and declaring that the story of Ling
+was merely a well-considered stratagem to cause them to forget the
+expedition which they had determined upon, for by that time it should
+have been completely carried out. It was undoubtedly a fact that the
+hour spoken of for the undertaking had long passed, Lin Yi having
+completely overlooked the speed of time in his benevolent anxiety that
+the polite and valorous Ling should in the end attain to a high and
+remunerative destiny.
+
+In spite of Kai Lung’s consistent denials of any treachery, he could not
+but be aware that the incident tended greatly to his disadvantage in
+the eyes of those whom he had fixed a desire to conciliate, nor did
+his well-intentioned offer that he would without hesitation repeat the
+display for a like number of hours effect his amiable purpose. How the
+complication would finally have been determined without interruption is
+a matter merely of imagination, for at that moment an outpost, who had
+been engaged in guarding the secrecy of the expedition, threw himself
+into the enclosure in a torn and breathless condition, having run
+through the forest many li in a winding direction for the explicit
+purpose of warning Lin Yi that his intentions had become known, and that
+he and his followers would undoubtedly be surprised and overcome if they
+left the camp.
+
+At this intimation of the eminent service which Kai Lung had rendered
+them, the nature of their faces towards him at once changed completely,
+those who only a moment before had been demanding his death particularly
+hailing him as their inspired and unobtrusive protector, and in all
+probability, indeed, a virtuous and benignant spirit in disguise.
+
+Bending under the weight of offerings which Lin Yi and his followers
+pressed upon him, together with many clearly set out desires for his
+future prosperity, and assured of their unalterable protection on all
+future occasions, Kai Lung again turned his face towards the lanterns
+of Knei Yang. Far down the side of the mountain they followed his
+footsteps, now by a rolling stone, now by a snapping branch of yellow
+pine. Once again they heard his voice, cheerfully repeating to himself;
+“Among the highest virtues of a pure existence--” But beyond that point
+the gentle forest breath bore him away.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+THE STORY OF YUNG CHANG
+
+
+  Narrated by Kai Lung, in the open space of the tea-shop of The
+  Celestial Principles, at Wu-whei.
+
+“Ho, illustrious passers-by!” said Kai Lung, the story-teller, as he
+spread out his embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. “It is indeed
+unlikely that you would condescend to stop and listen to the foolish
+words of such an insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself.
+Nevertheless, if you will but retard your elegant footsteps for a few
+moments, this exceedingly unprepossessing individual will endeavour
+to entertain you with the recital of the adventures of the noble Yung
+Chang, as recorded by the celebrated Pe-ku-hi.”
+
+Thus adjured, the more leisurely-minded drew near to hear the history
+of Yung Chang. There was Sing You the fruit-seller, and Li Ton-ti the
+wood-carver; Hi Seng left his clients to cry in vain for water; and Wang
+Yu, the idle pipe-maker, closed his shop of “The Fountain of Beauty,”
+ and hung on the shutter the gilt dragon to keep away customers in his
+absence. These, together with a few more shopkeepers and a dozen or so
+loafers, constituted a respectable audience by the time Kai Lung was
+ready.
+
+“It would be more seemly if this ill-conditioned person who is now
+addressing such a distinguished assembly were to reward his fine and
+noble-looking hearers for their trouble,” apologized the story-teller.
+“But, as the Book of Verses says, ‘The meaner the slave, the greater the
+lord’; and it is, therefore, not unlikely that this majestic concourse
+will reward the despicable efforts of their servant by handfuls of coins
+till the air appears as though filled with swarms of locusts in the
+season of much heat. In particular, there is among this august crowd
+of Mandarins one Wang Yu, who has departed on three previous occasions
+without bestowing the reward of a single cash. If the feeble and
+covetous-minded Wang Yu will place within this very ordinary bowl the
+price of one of his exceedingly ill-made pipes, this unworthy person
+will proceed.”
+
+“Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man never,” quoted the
+pipe-maker in retort. “Oh, most incapable of story-tellers, have you
+not on two separate occasions slept beneath my utterly inadequate roof
+without payment?”
+
+But he, nevertheless, deposited three cash in the bowl, and drew nearer
+among the front row of the listeners.
+
+“It was during the reign of the enlightened Emperor Tsing Nung,” began
+Kai Lung, without further introduction, “that there lived at a village
+near Honan a wealthy and avaricious maker of idols, named Ti Hung. So
+skilful had he become in the making of clay idols that his fame had
+spread for many li round, and idol-sellers from all the neighbouring
+villages, and even from the towns, came to him for their stock. No other
+idol-maker between Honan and Nanking employed so many clay-gatherers or
+so many modellers; yet, with all his riches, his avarice increased till
+at length he employed men whom he called ‘agents’ and ‘travellers,’ who
+went from house to house selling his idols and extolling his virtues in
+verses composed by the most illustrious poets of the day. He did this
+in order that he might turn into his own pocket the full price of the
+idols, grudging those who would otherwise have sold them the few cash
+which they would make. Owing to this he had many enemies, and his army
+of travellers made him still more; for they were more rapacious than
+the scorpion, and more obstinate than the ox. Indeed, there is still the
+proverb, ‘With honey it is possible to soften the heart of the he-goat;
+but a blow from an iron cleaver is taken as a mark of welcome by an
+agent of Ti Hung.’ So that people barred the doors at their approach,
+and even hung out signs of death and mourning.
+
+“Now, among all his travellers there was none more successful, more
+abandoned, and more valuable to Ti Hung than Li Ting. So depraved was
+Li Ting that he was never known to visit the tombs of his ancestors;
+indeed, it was said that he had been heard to mock their venerable
+memories, and that he had jestingly offered to sell them to anyone who
+should chance to be without ancestors of his own. This objectionable
+person would call at the houses of the most illustrious Mandarins, and
+would command the slaves to carry to their masters his tablets, on which
+were inscribed his name and his virtues. Reaching their presence, he
+would salute them with the greeting of an equal, ‘How is your stomach?’
+and then proceed to exhibit samples of his wares, greatly overrating
+their value. ‘Behold!’ he would exclaim, ‘is not this elegantly-moulded
+idol worthy of the place of honour in this sumptuous mansion which my
+presence defiles to such an extent that twelve basins of rose-water
+will not remove the stain? Are not its eyes more delicate than the most
+select of almonds? and is not its stomach rounder than the cupolas upon
+the high temple at Peking? Yet, in spite of its perfections, it is not
+worthy of the acceptance of so distinguished a Mandarin, and therefore
+I will accept in return the quarter-tael, which, indeed, is less than my
+illustrious master gives for the clay alone.’
+
+“In this manner Li Ting disposed of many idols at high rates, and
+thereby endeared himself so much to the avaricious heart of Ti Hung that
+he promised him his beautiful daughter Ning in marriage.
+
+“Ning was indeed very lovely. Her eyelashes were like the finest willow
+twigs that grow in the marshes by the Yang-tse-Kiang; her cheeks were
+fairer than poppies; and when she bathed in the Hoang Ho, her body
+seemed transparent. Her brow was finer than the most polished jade;
+while she seemed to walk, like a winged bird, without weight, her hair
+floating in a cloud. Indeed, she was the most beautiful creature that
+has ever existed.”
+
+“Now may you grow thin and shrivel up like a fallen lemon; but it is
+false!” cried Wang Yu, starting up suddenly and unexpectedly. “At
+Chee Chou, at the shop of ‘The Heaven-sent Sugar-cane,’ there lives a
+beautiful and virtuous girl who is more than all that. Her eyes are like
+the inside circles on the peacock’s feathers; her teeth are finer than
+the scales on the Sacred Dragon; her--”
+
+“If it is the wish of this illustriously-endowed gathering that this
+exceedingly illiterate paper tiger should occupy their august moments
+with a description of the deformities of the very ordinary young person
+at Chee Chou,” said Kai Lung imperturbably, “then the remainder of the
+history of the noble-minded Yung Chang can remain until an evil fate has
+overtaken Wang Yu, as it assuredly will shortly.”
+
+“A fair wind raises no storm,” said Wang Yu sulkily; and Kai Lung
+continued:
+
+“Such loveliness could not escape the evil eye of Li Ting, and
+accordingly, as he grew in favour with Ti Hung, he obtained his consent
+to the drawing up of the marriage contracts. More than this, he had
+already sent to Ning two bracelets of the finest gold, tied together
+with a scarlet thread, as a betrothal present. But, as the proverb
+says, ‘The good bee will not touch the faded flower,’ and Ning, although
+compelled by the second of the Five Great Principles to respect her
+father, was unable to regard the marriage with anything but abhorrence.
+Perhaps this was not altogether the fault of Li Ting, for on the evening
+of the day on which she had received his present, she walked in the
+rice fields, and sitting down at the foot of a funereal cypress, whose
+highest branches pierced the Middle Air, she cried aloud:
+
+“‘I cannot control my bitterness. Of what use is it that I should be
+called the “White Pigeon among Golden Lilies,” if my beauty is but for
+the hog-like eyes of the exceedingly objectionable Li Ting? Ah, Yung
+Chang, my unfortunate lover! what evil spirit pursues you that you
+cannot pass your examination for the second degree? My noble-minded but
+ambitious boy, why were you not content with an agricultural or even a
+manufacturing career and happiness? By aspiring to a literary degree,
+you have placed a barrier wider than the Whang Hai between us.’
+
+“‘As the earth seems small to the soaring swallow, so shall insuperable
+obstacles be overcome by the heart worn smooth with a fixed purpose,’
+said a voice beside her, and Yung Chang stepped from behind the cypress
+tree, where he had been waiting for Ning. ‘O one more symmetrical than
+the chrysanthemum,’ he continued, ‘I shall yet, with the aid of my
+ancestors, pass the second degree, and even obtain a position of high
+trust in the public office at Peking.’
+
+“‘And in the meantime,’ pouted Ning, ‘I shall have partaken of the
+wedding-cake of the utterly unpresentable Li Ting.’ And she exhibited
+the bracelets which she had that day received.
+
+“‘Alas!’ said Yung Chang, ‘there are times when one is tempted to doubt
+even the most efficacious and violent means. I had hoped that by this
+time Li Ting would have come to a sudden and most unseemly end; for I
+have drawn up and affixed in the most conspicuous places notifications
+of his character, similar to the one here.’
+
+“Ning turned, and beheld fastened to the trunk of the cypress an
+exceedingly elegantly written and composed notice, which Yung read to
+her as follows:
+
+             “‘BEWARE OF INCURRING DEATH FROM STARVATION
+
+  “‘Let the distinguished inhabitants of this district observe the
+  exceedingly ungraceful walk and bearing of the low person who
+  calls himself Li Ting. Truthfully, it is that of a dog in the act
+  of being dragged to the river because his sores and diseases
+  render him objectionable in the house of his master. So will this
+  hunchbacked person be dragged to the place of execution, and be
+  bowstrung, to the great relief of all who respect the five senses;
+  A Respectful Physiognomy, Passionless Reflexion, Soft Speech,
+  Acute Hearing, Piercing Sight.
+
+  “‘He hopes to attain to the Red Button and the Peacock’s Feather;
+  but the right hand of the Deity itches, and Li Ting will assuredly
+  be removed suddenly.’
+
+“‘Li Ting must certainly be in league with the evil forces if he can
+withstand so powerful a weapon,’ said Ning admiringly, when her lover
+had finished reading. ‘Even now he is starting on a journey, nor will he
+return till the first day of the month when the sparrows go to the sea
+and are changed into oysters. Perhaps the fate will overtake him while
+he is away. If not--’
+
+“‘If not,’ said Yung, taking up her words as she paused, ‘then I have
+yet another hope. A moment ago you were regretting my choice of a
+literary career. Learn, then, the value of knowledge. By its aid
+(assisted, indeed, by the spirits of my ancestors) I have discovered a
+new and strange thing, for which I can find no word. By using this new
+system of reckoning, your illustrious but exceedingly narrow-minded and
+miserly father would be able to make five taels where he now makes one.
+Would he not, in consideration for this, consent to receive me as a
+son-in-law, and dismiss the inelegant and unworthy Li Ting?’
+
+“‘In the unlikely event of your being able to convince my illustrious
+parent of what you say, it would assuredly be so,’ replied Ning. ‘But
+in what way could you do so? My sublime and charitable father already
+employs all the means in his power to reap the full reward of his sacred
+industry. His “solid house-hold gods” are in reality mere shells of
+clay; higher-priced images are correspondingly constructed, and his clay
+gatherers and modellers are all paid on a “profit-sharing system.”
+ Nay, further, it is beyond likelihood that he should wish for more
+purchasers, for so great is his fame that those who come to buy have
+sometimes to wait for days in consequence of those before them; for my
+exceedingly methodical sire entrusts none with the receiving of money,
+and the exchanges are therefore made slowly. Frequently an unnaturally
+devout person will require as many as a hundred idols, and so the
+greater part of the day will be passed.’
+
+“‘In what way?’ inquired Yung tremulously.
+
+“‘Why, in order that the countings may not get mixed, of course; it is
+necessary that when he has paid for one idol he should carry it to a
+place aside, and then return and pay for the second, carrying it to the
+first, and in such a manner to the end. In this way the sun sinks behind
+the mountains.’
+
+“‘But,’ said Yung, his voice thick with his great discovery, ‘if he
+could pay for the entire quantity at once, then it would take but a
+hundredth part of the time, and so more idols could be sold.’
+
+“‘How could this be done?’ inquired Ning wonderingly. ‘Surely it is
+impossible to conjecture the value of so many idols.’
+
+“‘To the unlearned it would indeed be impossible,’ replied Yung proudly,
+‘but by the aid of my literary researches I have been enabled to
+discover a process by which such results would be not a matter of
+conjecture, but of certainty. These figures I have committed to tablets,
+which I am prepared to give to your mercenary and slow-witted father
+in return for your incomparable hand, a share of the profits, and the
+dismissal of the uninventive and morally threadbare Li Ting.’
+
+“‘When the earth-worm boasts of his elegant wings, the eagle can afford
+to be silent,’ said a harsh voice behind them; and turning hastily they
+beheld Li Ting, who had come upon them unawares. ‘Oh, most insignificant
+of table-spoilers,’ he continued, ‘it is very evident that much
+over-study has softened your usually well-educated brains. Were it
+not that you are obviously mentally afflicted, I should unhesitatingly
+persuade my beautiful and refined sword to introduce you to the spirits
+of your ignoble ancestors. As it is, I will merely cut off your nose and
+your left ear, so that people may not say that the Dragon of the Earth
+sleeps and wickedness goes unpunished.’
+
+“Both had already drawn their swords, and very soon the blows were so
+hard and swift that, in the dusk of the evening, it seemed as though the
+air were filled with innumerable and many-coloured fireworks. Each was
+a practised swordsman, and there was no advantage gained on either side,
+when Ning, who had fled on the appearance of Li Ting, reappeared, urging
+on her father, whose usually leisurely footsteps were quickened by
+the dread that the duel must surely result in certain loss to himself,
+either of a valuable servant, or of the discovery which Ning had briefly
+explained to him, and of which he at once saw the value.
+
+“‘Oh, most distinguished and expert persons,’ he exclaimed breathlessly,
+as soon as he was within hearing distance, ‘do not trouble to give so
+marvellous an exhibition for the benefit of this unworthy individual,
+who is the only observer of your illustrious dexterity! Indeed, your
+honourable condescension so fills this illiterate person with shame that
+his hearing is thereby preternaturally sharpened, and he can plainly
+distinguish many voices from beyond the Hoang Ho, crying for the
+Heaven-sent representative of the degraded Ti Hung to bring them more
+idols. Bend, therefore, your refined footsteps in the direction of
+Poo Chow, O Li Ting, and leave me to make myself objectionable to this
+exceptional young man with my intolerable commonplaces.’
+
+“‘The shadow falls in such a direction as the sun wills,’ said Li Ting,
+as he replaced his sword and departed.
+
+“‘Yung Chang,’ said the merchant, ‘I am informed that you have made a
+discovery that would be of great value to me, as it undoubtedly would if
+it is all that you say. Let us discuss the matter without ceremony. Can
+you prove to me that your system possesses the merit you claim for it?
+If so, then the matter of arrangement will be easy.’
+
+“‘I am convinced of the absolute certainty and accuracy of the
+discovery,’ replied Yung Chang. ‘It is not as though it were an ordinary
+matter of human intelligence, for this was discovered to me as I was
+worshipping at the tomb of my ancestors. The method is regulated by
+a system of squares, triangles, and cubes. But as the practical proof
+might be long, and as I hesitate to keep your adorable daughter out in
+the damp night air, may I not call at your inimitable dwelling in the
+morning, when we can go into the matter thoroughly?’
+
+“I will not weary this intelligent gathering, each member of which
+doubtless knows all the books on mathematics off by heart, with a
+recital of the means by which Yung Chang proved to Ti Hung the accuracy
+of his tables and the value of his discovery of the multiplication
+table, which till then had been undreamt of,” continued the
+story-teller. “It is sufficient to know that he did so, and that Ti Hung
+agreed to his terms, only stipulating that Li Ting should not be made
+aware of his dismissal until he had returned and given in his accounts.
+The share of the profits that Yung was to receive was cut down very low
+by Ti Hung, but the young man did not mind that, as he would live with
+his father-in-law for the future.
+
+“With the introduction of this new system, the business increased like
+a river at flood-time. All rivals were left far behind, and Ti Hung put
+out this sign:
+
+                          “NO WAITING HERE!
+
+  “Good-morning! Have you worshipped one of Ti Hung’s refined
+  ninety-nine cash idols?
+
+  “Let the purchasers of ill-constructed idols at other
+  establishments, where they have grown old and venerable while
+  waiting for the all-thumb proprietors to count up to ten, come to
+  the shop of Ti Hung and regain their lost youth. Our ninety-nine
+  cash idols are worth a tael a set. We do not, however, claim that
+  they will do everything. The ninety-nine cash idols of Ti Hung
+  will not, for example, purify linen, but even the most contented
+  and frozen-brained person cannot be happy until he possesses one.
+  What is happiness? The exceedingly well-educated Philosopher
+  defines it as the accomplishment of all our desires. Everyone
+  desires one of the Ti Hung’s ninety-nine cash idols, therefore get
+  one; but be sure that it is Ti Hung’s.
+
+  “Have you a bad idol? If so, dismiss it, and get one of Ti Hung’s
+  ninety-nine cash specimens.
+
+  “Why does your idol look old sooner than your neighbours? Because
+  yours is not one of Ti Hung’s ninety-nine cash marvels.
+
+    “They bring all delights to the old and the young,
+    The elegant idols supplied by Ti Hung.
+
+  “N.B.--The ‘Great Sacrifice’ idol, forty-five cash; delivered,
+  carriage free, in quantities of not less than twelve, at any
+  temple, on the evening before the sacrifice.
+
+“It was about this time that Li Ting returned. His journey had been more
+than usually successful, and he was well satisfied in consequence. It
+was not until he had made out his accounts and handed in his money that
+Ti Hung informed him of his agreement with Yung Chang.
+
+“‘Oh, most treacherous and excessively unpopular Ti Hung,’ exclaimed
+Li Ting, in a terrible voice, ‘this is the return you make for all my
+entrancing efforts in your services, then? It is in this way that you
+reward my exceedingly unconscientious recommendations of your very
+inferior and unendurable clay idols, with their goggle eyes and concave
+stomachs! Before I go, however, I request to be inspired to make the
+following remark--that I confidently predict your ruin. And now this
+low and undignified person will finally shake the elegant dust of your
+distinguished house from his thoroughly inadequate feet, and proceed to
+offer his incapable services to the rival establishment over the way.’
+
+“‘The machinations of such an evilly-disposed person as Li Ting will
+certainly be exceedingly subtle,’ said Ti Hung to his son-in-law when
+the traveller had departed. ‘I must counteract his omens. Herewith I
+wish to prophecy that henceforth I shall enjoy an unbroken run of good
+fortune. I have spoken, and assuredly I shall not eat my words.’
+
+“As the time went on, it seemed as though Ti Hung had indeed spoken
+truly. The ease and celerity with which he transacted his business
+brought him customers and dealers from more remote regions than ever,
+for they could spend days on the journey and still save time. The
+army of clay-gatherers and modellers grew larger and larger, and the
+work-sheds stretched almost down to the river’s edge. Only one thing
+troubled Ti Hung, and that was the uncongenial disposition of his
+son-in-law, for Yung took no further interest in the industry to which
+his discovery had given so great an impetus, but resolutely set to work
+again to pass his examination for the second degree.
+
+“‘It is an exceedingly distinguished and honourable thing to have failed
+thirty-five times, and still to be undiscouraged,’ admitted Ti Hung;
+‘but I cannot cleanse my throat from bitterness when I consider that
+my noble and lucrative business must pass into the hands of strangers,
+perhaps even into the possession of the unendurable Li Ting.’
+
+“But it had been appointed that this degrading thing should not happen,
+however, and it was indeed fortunate that Yung did not abandon his
+literary pursuits; for after some time it became very apparent to Ti
+Hung that there was something radically wrong with his business. It was
+not that his custom was falling off in any way; indeed, it had lately
+increased in a manner that was phenomenal, and when the merchant came to
+look into the matter, he found to his astonishment that the least order
+he had received in the past week had been for a hundred idols. All the
+sales had been large, and yet Ti Hung found himself most unaccountably
+deficient in taels. He was puzzled and alarmed, and for the next few
+days he looked into the business closely. Then it was that the reason
+was revealed, both for the falling off in the receipts and for the
+increase in the orders. The calculations of the unfortunate Yung Chang
+were correct up to a hundred, but at that number he had made a gigantic
+error--which, however, he was never able to detect and rectify--with
+the result that all transactions above that point worked out at a
+considerable loss to the seller. It was in vain that the panic-stricken
+Ti Hung goaded his miserable son-in-law to correct the mistake; it
+was equally in vain that he tried to stem the current of his enormous
+commercial popularity. He had competed for public favour, and he had won
+it, and every day his business increased till ruin grasped him by the
+pigtail. Then came an order from one firm at Peking for five millions of
+the ninety-nine cash idols, and at that Ti Hung put up his shutters, and
+sat down in the dust.
+
+“‘Behold!’ he exclaimed, ‘in the course of a lifetime there are many
+very disagreeable evils that may overtake a person. He may offend the
+Sacred Dragon, and be in consequence reduced to a fine dry powder; or he
+may incur the displeasure of the benevolent and pure-minded Emperor, and
+be condemned to death by roasting; he may also be troubled by demons or
+by the disturbed spirits of his ancestors, or be struck by thunderbolts.
+Indeed, there are numerous annoyances, but they become as Heaven-sent
+blessings in comparison to a self-opinionated and more than ordinarily
+weak-minded son-in-law. Of what avail is it that I have habitually
+sold one idol for the value of a hundred? The very objectionable man in
+possession sits in my delectable summer-house, and the unavoidable
+legal documents settle around me like a flock of pigeons. It is indeed
+necessary that I should declare myself to be in voluntary liquidation,
+and make an assignment of my book debts for the benefit of my creditors.
+Having accomplished this, I will proceed to the well-constructed tomb
+of my illustrious ancestors, and having kow-towed at their incomparable
+shrines, I will put an end to my distinguished troubles with this
+exceedingly well-polished sword.’
+
+“‘The wise man can adapt himself to circumstances as water takes the
+shape of the vase that contains it,’ said the well-known voice of
+Li Ting. ‘Let not the lion and the tiger fight at the bidding of the
+jackal. By combining our forces all may be well with you yet. Assist
+me to dispose of the entirely superfluous Yung Chang and to marry
+the elegant and symmetrical Ning, and in return I will allot to you a
+portion of my not inconsiderable income.’
+
+“‘However high the tree, the leaves fall to the ground, and your hour
+has come at last, O detestable Li Ting!’ said Yung, who had heard the
+speakers and crept upon them unperceived. ‘As for my distinguished
+and immaculate father-in-law, doubtless the heat has affected his
+indefatigable brains, or he would not have listened to your contemptible
+suggestion. For yourself, draw!’
+
+“Both swords flashed, but before a blow could be struck the spirits
+of his ancestors hurled Li Ting lifeless to the ground, to avenge the
+memories that their unworthy descendant had so often reviled.
+
+“‘So perish all the enemies of Yung Chang,’ said the victor. ‘And now,
+my venerated but exceedingly short-sighted father-in-law, learn how
+narrowly you have escaped making yourself exceedingly objectionable
+to yourself. I have just received intelligence from Peking that I have
+passed the second degree, and have in consequence been appointed to a
+remunerative position under the Government. This will enable us to live
+in comfort, if not in affluence, and the rest of your engaging days can
+be peacefully spent in flying kites.’”
+
+
+
+
+III.
+THE PROBATION OF SEN HENG
+
+
+  Related by Kai Lung, at Wu-whei, as a rebuke to Wang Yu and
+  certain others who had questioned the practical value of his
+  stories.
+
+“It is an undoubted fact that this person has not realized the direct
+remunerative advantage which he confidently anticipated,” remarked the
+idle and discontented pipe-maker Wang Yu, as, with a few other persons
+of similar inclination, he sat in the shade of the great mulberry tree
+at Wu-whei, waiting for the evil influence of certain very mysterious
+sounds, which had lately been heard, to pass away before he resumed
+his occupation. “When the seemingly proficient and trustworthy Kai Lung
+first made it his practice to journey to Wu-whei, and narrate to us the
+doings of persons of all classes of life,” he continued, “it seemed to
+this one that by closely following the recital of how Mandarins obtained
+their high position, and exceptionally rich persons their wealth, he
+must, in the end, inevitably be rendered competent to follow in their
+illustrious footsteps. Yet in how entirely contrary a direction has
+the whole course of events tended! In spite of the honourable intention
+which involved a frequent absence from his place of commerce, those
+who journeyed thither with the set purpose of possessing one of his
+justly-famed opium pipes so perversely regarded the matter that, after
+two or three fruitless visits, they deliberately turned their footsteps
+towards the workshop of the inelegant Ming-yo, whose pipes are
+confessedly greatly inferior to those produced by the person who is now
+speaking. Nevertheless, the rapacious Kai Lung, to whose influence
+the falling off in custom was thus directly attributable, persistently
+declined to bear any share whatever in the loss which his profession
+caused, and, indeed, regarded the circumstance from so grasping and
+narrow-minded a point of observation that he would not even go to the
+length of suffering this much-persecuted one to join the circle of his
+hearers without on every occasion making the customary offering. In this
+manner a well-intentioned pursuit of riches has insidiously led this
+person within measurable distance of the bolted dungeon for those who do
+not meet their just debts, while the only distinction likely to result
+from his assiduous study of the customs and methods of those high
+in power is that of being publicly bowstrung as a warning to others.
+Manifestedly the pointed finger of the unreliable Kai Lung is a very
+treacherous guide.”
+
+“It is related,” said a dispassionate voice behind them, “that a person
+of limited intelligence, on being assured that he would certainly one
+day enjoy an adequate competence if he closely followed the industrious
+habits of the thrifty bee, spent the greater part of his life in
+anointing his thighs with the yellow powder which he laboriously
+collected from the flowers of the field. It is not so recorded; but
+doubtless the nameless one in question was by profession a maker of
+opium pipes, for this person has observed from time to time how that
+occupation, above all others, tends to degrade the mental faculties, and
+to debase its followers to a lower position than that of the beasts of
+labour. Learn therefrom, O superficial Wang Yu, that wisdom lies in
+an intelligent perception of great principles, and not in a slavish
+imitation of details which are, for the most part, beyond your simple
+and insufficient understanding.”
+
+“Such may, indeed, be the case, Kai Lung,” replied Wang Yu sullenly--for
+it was the story-teller in question who had approached unperceived, and
+who now stood before them--“but it is none the less a fact that, on the
+last occasion when this misguided person joined the attending circle
+at your uplifted voice, a Mandarin of the third degree chanced to
+pass through Wu-whei, and halted at the door-step of ‘The Fountain of
+Beauty,’ fully intending to entrust this one with the designing and
+fashioning of a pipe of exceptional elaborateness. This matter, by his
+absence, has now passed from him, and to-day, through listening to the
+narrative of how the accomplished Yuin-Pel doubled his fortune, he is
+the poorer by many taels.”
+
+“Yet to-morrow, when the name of the Mandarin of the third degree
+appears in the list of persons who have transferred their entire
+property to those who are nearly related to them in order to avoid it
+being seized to satisfy the just claims made against them,” replied Kai
+Lung, “you will be able to regard yourself the richer by so many taels.”
+
+At these words, which recalled to the minds of all who were present the
+not uncommon manner of behaving observed by those of exalted rank, who
+freely engaged persons to supply them with costly articles without in
+any way regarding the price to be paid, Wang Yu was silent.
+
+“Nevertheless,” exclaimed a thin voice from the edge of the group which
+surrounded Kai Lung, “it in nowise follows that the stories are in
+themselves excellent, or of such a nature that the hearing of their
+recital will profit a person. Wang Yu may be satisfied with empty words,
+but there are others present who were studying deep matters when Wang
+Yu was learning the art of walking. If Kai Lung’s stories are of such
+remunerative benefit as the person in question claims, how does it
+chance that Kai Lung himself who is assuredly the best acquainted with
+them, stands before us in mean apparel, and on all occasions confessing
+an unassuming poverty?”
+
+“It is Yan-hi Pung,” went from mouth to mouth among the
+bystanders--“Yan-hi Pung, who traces on paper the words of chants and
+historical tales, and sells them to such as can afford to buy. And
+although his motive in exposing the emptiness of Kai Lung’s stories may
+not be Heaven-sent--inasmuch as Kai Lung provides us with such matter
+as he himself purveys, only at a much more moderate price--yet his words
+are well considered, and must therefore be regarded.”
+
+“O Yan-hi Pung,” replied Kai Lung, hearing the name from those who
+stood about him, and moving towards the aged person, who stood meanwhile
+leaning upon his staff, and looking from side to side with quickly
+moving eyelids in a manner very offensive towards the story-teller,
+“your just remark shows you to be a person of exceptional wisdom, even
+as your well-bowed legs prove you to be one of great bodily strength;
+for justice is ever obvious and wisdom hidden, and they who build
+structures for endurance discard the straight and upright and insist
+upon such an arch as you so symmetrically exemplify.”
+
+Speaking in this conciliatory manner, Kai Lung came up to Yan-hi Pung,
+and taking between his fingers a disc of thick polished crystal,
+which the aged and short-sighted chant-writer used for the purpose of
+magnifying and bringing nearer the letters upon which he was engaged,
+and which hung around his neck by an embroidered cord, the story-teller
+held it aloft, crying aloud:
+
+“Observe closely, and presently it will be revealed and made clear how
+the apparently very conflicting words of the wise Yan-hi Pung, and those
+of this unassuming but nevertheless conscientious person who is now
+addressing you, are, in reality, as one great truth.”
+
+With this assurance Kai Lung moved the crystal somewhat, so that it
+engaged the sun’s rays, and concentrated them upon the uncovered crown
+of the unsuspecting and still objectionably-engaged person before
+him. Without a moment’s pause, Yan-hi Pung leapt high into the air,
+repeatedly pressing his hand to the spot thus selected and crying aloud:
+
+“Evil dragons and thunderbolts! but the touch was as hot as a scar left
+by the uncut nail of the sublime Buddha!”
+
+“Yet the crystal--” remarked Kai Lung composedly, passing it into the
+hands of those who stood near.
+
+“Is as cool as the innermost leaves of the riverside sycamore,” they
+declared.
+
+Kai Lung said nothing further, but raised both his hands above his head,
+as if demanding their judgment. Thereupon a loud shout went up on his
+behalf, for the greater part of them loved to see the manner in which
+he brushed aside those who would oppose him; and the sight of the aged
+person Yan-hi Pung leaping far into the air had caused them to become
+exceptionally amused, and, in consequence, very amiably disposed towards
+the one who had afforded them the entertainment.
+
+“The story of Sen Heng,” began Kai Lung, when the discussion had
+terminated in the manner already recorded, “concerns itself with one who
+possessed an unsuspecting and ingenious nature, which ill-fitted him
+to take an ordinary part in the everyday affairs of life, no matter how
+engaging such a character rendered him among his friends and relations.
+Having at an early age been entrusted with a burden of rice and other
+produce from his father’s fields to dispose of in the best possible
+manner at a neighbouring mart, and having completed the transaction in a
+manner extremely advantageous to those with whom he trafficked but very
+intolerable to the one who had sent him, it at once became apparent that
+some other means of gaining a livelihood must be discovered for him.
+
+“‘Beyond all doubt,’ said his father, after considering the matter for a
+period, ‘it is a case in which one should be governed by the wise advice
+and example of the Mandarin Poo-chow.’
+
+“‘Illustrious sire,’ exclaimed Sen Heng, who chanced to be present, ‘the
+illiterate person who stands before you is entirely unacquainted
+with the one to whom you have referred; nevertheless, he will, as you
+suggest, at once set forth, and journeying with all speed to the abode
+of the estimable Poo-chow, solicit his experience and advice.’
+
+“‘Unless a more serious loss should be occasioned,’ replied the father
+coldly, ‘there is no necessity to adopt so extreme a course. The
+benevolent Mandarin in question existed at a remote period of the Thang
+dynasty, and the incident to which an allusion has been made arose in
+the following way: To the public court of the enlightened Poo-chow there
+came one day a youth of very inferior appearance and hesitating
+manner, who besought his explicit advice, saying: “The degraded and
+unprepossessing being before you, O select and venerable Mandarin, is by
+nature and attainments a person of the utmost timidity and fearfulness.
+From this cause life itself has become a detestable observance in his
+eyes, for those who should be his companions of both sexes hold him in
+undisguised contempt, making various unendurable allusions to the colour
+and nature of his internal organs whenever he would endeavour to join
+them. Instruct him, therefore, the manner in which this cowardice may be
+removed, and no service in return will be esteemed too great.” “There
+is a remedy,” replied the benevolent Mandarin, without any hesitation
+whatever, “which if properly carried out is efficacious beyond the
+possibility of failure. Certain component parts of your body are
+lacking, and before the desired result can be obtained these must be
+supplied from without. Of all courageous things the tiger is the most
+fearless, and in consequence it combines all those ingredients which you
+require; furthermore, as the teeth of the tiger are the instruments with
+which it accomplishes its vengeful purpose, there reside the essential
+principles of its inimitable courage. Let the person who seeks
+instruction in the matter, therefore, do as follows: taking the teeth of
+a full-grown tiger as soon as it is slain, and before the essences
+have time to return into the body, he shall grind them to a powder, and
+mixing the powder with a portion of rice, consume it. After seven days
+he must repeat the observance, and yet again a third time, after another
+similar lapse. Let him, then, return for further guidance; for the
+present the matter interests this person no further.” At these words the
+youth departed, filled with a new and inspired hope; for the wisdom of
+the sagacious Poo-chow was a matter which did not admit of any doubt
+whatever, and he had spoken with well-defined certainty of the success
+of the experiment. Nevertheless, after several days industriously spent
+in endeavouring to obtain by purchase the teeth of a newly-slain tiger,
+the details of the undertaking began to assume a new and entirely
+unforeseen aspect; for those whom he approached as being the most
+likely to possess what he required either became very immoderately and
+disagreeably amused at the nature of the request, or regarded it as a
+new and ill-judged form of ridicule, which they prepared to avenge by
+blows and by base remarks of the most personal variety. At length it
+became unavoidably obvious to the youth that if he was to obtain the
+articles in question it would first be necessary that he should become
+adept in the art of slaying tigers, for in no other way were the
+required conditions likely to be present. Although the prospect was one
+which did not greatly tend to allure him, yet he did not regard it
+with the utterly incapable emotions which would have been present on an
+earlier occasion; for the habit of continually guarding himself from
+the onslaughts of those who received his inquiry in an attitude of
+narrow-minded distrust had inspired him with a new-found valour, while
+his amiable and unrestrained manner of life increased his bodily vigour
+in every degree. First perfecting himself in the use of the bow and
+arrow, therefore, he betook himself to a wild and very extensive forest,
+and there concealed himself among the upper foliage of a tall tree
+standing by the side of a pool of water. On the second night of his
+watch, the youth perceived a large but somewhat ill-conditioned tiger
+approaching the pool for the purpose of quenching its thirst, whereupon
+he tremblingly fitted an arrow to his bowstring, and profiting by the
+instruction he had received, succeeded in piercing the creature to
+the heart. After fulfilling the observance laid upon him by the
+discriminating Poo-chow, the youth determined to remain in the forest,
+and sustain himself upon such food as fell to his weapons, until the
+time arrived when he should carry out the rite for the last time. At the
+end of seven days, so subtle had he become in all kinds of hunting, and
+so strengthened by the meat and herbs upon which he existed, that he
+disdained to avail himself of the shelter of a tree, but standing openly
+by the side of the water, he engaged the attention of the first tiger
+which came to drink, and discharged arrow after arrow into its body with
+unfailing power and precision. So entrancing, indeed, had the pursuit
+become that the next seven days lengthened out into the apparent period
+of as many moons, in such a leisurely manner did they rise and fall. On
+the appointed day, without waiting for the evening to arrive, the youth
+set out with the first appearance of light, and penetrated into the most
+inaccessible jungles, crying aloud words of taunt-laden challenge to all
+the beasts therein, and accusing the ancestors of their race of every
+imaginable variety of evil behaviour. Yet so great had become the renown
+of the one who stood forth, and so widely had the warning voice been
+passed from tree to tree, preparing all who dwelt in the forest against
+his anger, that not even the fiercest replied openly, though low growls
+and mutterings proceeded from every cave within a bow-shot’s distance
+around. Wearying quickly of such feeble and timorous demonstrations, the
+youth rushed into the cave from which the loudest murmurs proceeded, and
+there discovered a tiger of unnatural size, surrounded by the bones of
+innumerable ones whom it had devoured; for from time to time its
+ravages became so great and unbearable, that armies were raised in
+the neighbouring villages and sent to destroy it, but more than a
+few stragglers never returned. Plainly recognizing that a just and
+inevitable vengeance had overtaken it, the tiger made only a very
+inferior exhibition of resistance, and the youth, having first stunned
+it with a blow of his closed hand, seized it by the middle, and
+repeatedly dashed its head against the rocky sides of its retreat. He
+then performed for the third time the ceremony enjoined by the Mandarin,
+and having cast upon the cringing and despicable forms concealed in the
+surrounding woods and caves a look of dignified and ineffable contempt,
+set out upon his homeward journey, and in the space of three days’ time
+reached the town of the versatile Poo-chow. “Behold,” exclaimed that
+person, when, lifting up his eyes, he saw the youth approaching laden
+with the skins of the tigers and other spoils, “now at least the youths
+and maidens of your native village will no longer withdraw themselves
+from the company of so undoubtedly heroic a person.” “Illustrious
+Mandarin,” replied the other, casting both his weapons and his trophies
+before his inspired adviser’s feet, “what has this person to do with the
+little ones of either sex? Give him rather the foremost place in your
+ever-victorious company of bowmen, so that he may repay in part the
+undoubted debt under which he henceforth exists.” This proposal found
+favour with the pure-minded Poo-chow, so that in course of time the
+unassuming youth who had come supplicating his advice became the
+valiant commander of his army, and the one eventually chosen to present
+plighting gifts to his only daughter.’
+
+“When the father had completed the narrative of how the faint-hearted
+youth became in the end a courageous and resourceful leader of bowmen,
+Sen looked up, and not in any degree understanding the purpose of the
+story, or why it had been set forth before him, exclaimed:
+
+“‘Undoubtedly the counsel of the graceful and intelligent Mandarin
+Poo-chow was of inestimable service in the case recorded, and this
+person would gladly adopt it as his guide for the future, on the chance
+of it leading to a similar honourable career; but alas! there are no
+tigers to be found throughout this Province.’
+
+“‘It is a loss which those who are engaged in commerce in the city of
+Hankow strive to supply adequately,’ replied his father, who had an
+assured feeling that it would be of no avail to endeavour to show
+Sen that the story which he had just related was one setting forth a
+definite precept rather than fixing an exact manner of behaviour. ‘For
+that reason,’ he continued, ‘this person has concluded an arrangement by
+which you will journey to that place, and there enter into the house of
+commerce of an expert and conscientious vendor of moving contrivances.
+Among so rapacious and keen-witted a class of persons as they of Hankow,
+it is exceedingly unlikely that your amiable disposition will involve
+any individual one in an unavoidably serious loss, and even should
+such an unforeseen event come to pass, there will, at least, be the
+undeniable satisfaction of the thought that the unfortunate occurrence
+will in no way affect the prosperity of those to whom you are bound by
+the natural ties of affection.’
+
+“‘Benevolent and virtuous-minded father,’ replied Sen gently, but
+speaking with an inspired conviction; ‘from his earliest infancy this
+unassuming one has been instructed in an inviolable regard for the Five
+General Principles of Fidelity to the Emperor, Respect for Parents,
+Harmony between Husband and Wife, Agreement among Brothers, and
+Constancy in Friendship. It will be entirely unnecessary to inform so
+pious-minded a person as the one now being addressed that no evil can
+attend the footsteps of an individual who courteously observes these
+enactments.’
+
+“‘Without doubt it is so arranged by the protecting Deities,’ replied
+the father; ‘yet it is an exceedingly desirable thing for those who are
+responsible in the matter that the footsteps to which reference has been
+made should not linger in the neighbourhood of the village, but should,
+with all possible speed, turn in the direction of Hankow.’
+
+“In this manner it came to pass that Sen Heng set forth on the following
+day, and coming without delay to the great and powerful city of Hankow,
+sought out the house of commerce known as ‘The Pure Gilt Dragon of
+Exceptional Symmetry,’ where the versatile King-y-Yang engaged in the
+entrancing occupation of contriving moving figures, and other devices of
+an ingenious and mirth-provoking character, which he entrusted into the
+hands of numerous persons to sell throughout the Province. From this
+cause, although enjoying a very agreeable recompense from the sale
+of the objects, the greatly perturbed King-y-Yang suffered continual
+internal misgivings; for the habit of behaving of those whom he
+appointed to go forth in the manner described was such that he could not
+entirely dismiss from his mind an assured conviction that the details
+were not invariably as they were represented to be. Frequently would
+one return in a very deficient and unpresentable condition of garment,
+asserting that on his return, while passing through a lonely and
+unprotected district, he had been assailed by an armed band of robbers,
+and despoiled of all he possessed. Another would claim to have been made
+the sport of evil spirits, who led him astray by means of false signs
+in the forest, and finally destroyed his entire burden of commodities,
+accompanying the unworthy act by loud cries of triumph and remarks of
+an insulting nature concerning King-y-Yang; for the honourable character
+and charitable actions of the person in question had made him very
+objectionable to that class of beings. Others continually accounted
+for the absence of the required number of taels by declaring that at
+a certain point of their journey they were made the object of marks
+of amiable condescension on the part of a high and dignified public
+official, who, on learning in whose service they were, immediately
+professed an intimate personal friendship with the estimable
+King-y-Yang, and, out of a feeling of gratified respect for him, took
+away all such contrivances as remained undisposed of, promising to
+arrange the payment with the refined King-y-Yang himself when they
+should next meet. For these reasons King-y-Yang was especially desirous
+of obtaining one whose spoken word could be received, upon all points,
+as an assured fact, and it was, therefore, with an emotion of internal
+lightness that he confidently heard from those who were acquainted
+with the person that Sen Heng was, by nature and endowments, utterly
+incapable of representing matters of even the most insignificant degree
+to be otherwise than what they really were.
+
+Filled with an acute anxiety to discover what amount of success would
+be accorded to his latest contrivance, King-y-Yang led Sen Heng to a
+secluded chamber, and there instructed him in the method of selling
+certain apparently very ingeniously constructed ducks, which would have
+the appearance of swimming about on the surface of an open vessel of
+water, at the same time uttering loud and ever-increasing cries, after
+the manner of their kind. With ill-restrained admiration at the skilful
+nature of the deception, King-y-Yang pointed out that the ducks which
+were to be disposed of, and upon which a seemingly very low price was
+fixed, did not, in reality, possess any of these accomplishments, but
+would, on the contrary, if placed in water, at once sink to the bottom
+in a most incapable manner; it being part of Sen’s duty to exhibit only
+a specially prepared creature which was restrained upon the surface by
+means of hidden cords, and, while bending over it, to simulate the cries
+as agreed upon. After satisfying himself that Sen could perform these
+movements competently, King-y-Yang sent him forth, particularly charging
+him that he should not return without a sum of money which fully
+represented the entire number of ducks entrusted to him, or an adequate
+number of unsold ducks to compensate for the deficiency.
+
+“At the end of seven days Sen returned to King-y-Yang, and although
+entirely without money, even to the extent of being unable to provide
+himself with the merest necessities of a frugal existence, he honourably
+returned the full number of ducks with which he had set out. It then
+became evident that although Sen had diligently perfected himself in the
+sounds and movements which King-y-Yang had contrived, he had not
+fully understood that they were to be executed stealthily, but had,
+in consequence, manifested the accomplishment openly, not unreasonably
+supposing that such an exhibition would be an additional inducement to
+those who appeared to be well-disposed towards the purchase. From this
+cause it came about that although large crowds were attracted by Sen’s
+manner of conducting the enterprise, none actually engaged to purchase
+even the least expensively-valued of the ducks, although several
+publicly complimented Sen on his exceptional proficiency, and repeatedly
+urged him to louder and more frequent cries, suggesting that by such
+means possible buyers might be attracted to the spot from remote and
+inaccessible villages in the neighbourhood.
+
+“When King-y-Yang learned how the venture had been carried out, he
+became most intolerably self-opinionated in his expressions towards
+Sen’s mental attainments and the manner of his bringing up. It was
+entirely in vain that the one referred to pointed out in a tone of
+persuasive and courteous restraint that he had not, down to the most
+minute particulars, transgressed either the general or the specific
+obligations of the Five General Principles, and that, therefore, he was
+blameless, and even worthy of commendation for the manner in which he
+had acted. With an inelegant absence of all refined feeling, King-y-Yang
+most incapably declined to discuss the various aspects of the
+controversy in an amiable manner, asserting, indeed, that for the
+consideration of as many brass cash as Sen had mentioned principles
+he would cause him to be thrown into prison as a person of unnatural
+ineptitude. Then, without rewarding Sen for the time spent in his
+service, or even inviting him to partake of food and wine, the
+insufferable deviser of very indifferent animated contrivances again
+sent him out, this time into the streets of Hankow with a number of
+delicately inlaid boxes, remarking in a tone of voice which plainly
+indicated an exactly contrary desire that he would be filled with an
+overwhelming satisfaction if Sen could discover any excuse for returning
+a second time without disposing of anything. This remark Sen’s ingenuous
+nature led him to regard as a definite fact, so that when a passer-by,
+who tarried to examine the boxes chanced to remark that the colours
+might have been arranged to greater advantage, in which case he would
+certainly have purchased at least one of the articles, Sen hastened
+back, although in a distant part of the city, to inform King-y-Yang of
+the suggestion, adding that he himself had been favourably impressed
+with the improvement which could be effected by such an alteration.
+
+“The nature of King-y-Yang’s emotion when Sen again presented himself
+before him--and when by repeatedly applied tests on various parts of his
+body he understood that he was neither the victim of malicious demons,
+nor wandering in an insensible condition in the Middle Air, but that the
+cause of the return was such as had been plainly stated--was of so mixed
+and benumbing a variety, that for a considerable space of time he was
+quite unable to express himself in any way, either by words or by signs.
+By the time these attributes returned there had formed itself within
+King-y-Yang’s mind a design of most contemptible malignity, which seemed
+to present to his enfeebled intellect a scheme by which Sen would be
+adequately punished, and finally disposed of, without causing him any
+further trouble in the matter. For this purpose he concealed the real
+condition of his sentiments towards Sen, and warmly expressed himself in
+terms of delicate flattery regarding that one’s sumptuous and unfailing
+taste in the matter of the blending of the colours. Without doubt, he
+continued, such an alteration as the one proposed would greatly increase
+the attractiveness of the inlaid boxes, and the matter should be engaged
+upon without delay. In the meantime, however, not to waste the immediate
+services of so discriminating and persevering a servant, he would
+entrust Sen with a mission of exceptional importance, which would
+certainly tend greatly to his remunerative benefit. In the district
+of Yun, in the north-western part of the Province, said the crafty
+and treacherous King-y-Yang, a particular kind of insect was greatly
+esteemed on account of the beneficent influence which it exercised over
+the rice plants, causing them to mature earlier, and to attain a greater
+size than ever happened in its absence. In recent years this creature
+had rarely been seen in the neighbourhood of Yun, and, in consequence,
+the earth-tillers throughout that country had been brought into a most
+disconcerting state of poverty, and would, inevitably, be prepared to
+exchange whatever they still possessed for even a few of the insects, in
+order that they might liberate them to increase, and so entirely reverse
+the objectionable state of things. Speaking in this manner, King-y-Yang
+entrusted to Sen a carefully prepared box containing a score of the
+insects, obtained at a great cost from a country beyond the Bitter
+Water, and after giving him further directions concerning the journey,
+and enjoining the utmost secrecy about the valuable contents of the box,
+he sent him forth.
+
+“The discreet and sagacious will already have understood the nature of
+King-y-Yang’s intolerable artifice; but, for the benefit of the amiable
+and unsuspecting, it is necessary to make it clear that the words which
+he had spoken bore no sort of resemblance to affairs as they really
+existed. The district around Yun was indeed involved in a most
+unprepossessing destitution, but this had been caused, not by the
+absence of any rare and auspicious insect, but by the presence of vast
+hordes of locusts, which had overwhelmed and devoured the entire face
+the country. It so chanced that among the recently constructed devices
+at ‘The Pure Gilt Dragon of Exceptional Symmetry’ were a number of
+elegant representations of rice fields and fruit gardens so skilfully
+fashioned that they deceived even the creatures, and attracted, among
+other living things, all the locusts in Hankow into that place of
+commerce. It was a number of these insects that King-y-Yang vindictively
+placed in the box which he instructed Sen to carry to Yun, well knowing
+that the reception which would be accorded to anyone who appeared there
+on such a mission would be of so fatally destructive a kind that the
+consideration of his return need not engage a single conjecture.
+
+“Entirely tranquil in intellect--for the possibility of King-y-Yang’s
+intention being in any way other than what he had represented it to
+be did not arise within Sen’s ingenuous mind--the person in question
+cheerfully set forth on his long but unavoidable march towards the
+region of Yun. As he journeyed along the way, the nature of his
+meditation brought up before him the events which had taken place since
+his arrival at Hankow; and, for the first time, it was brought within
+his understanding that the story of the youth and the three tigers,
+which his father had related to him, was in the likeness of a proverb,
+by which counsel and warning is conveyed in a graceful and inoffensive
+manner. Readily applying the fable to his own condition, he could not
+doubt but that the first two animals to be overthrown were represented
+by the two undertakings which he had already conscientiously performed
+in the matter of the mechanical ducks and the inlaid boxes, and the
+conviction that he was even then engaged on the third and last trial
+filled him with an intelligent gladness so unobtrusive and refined that
+he could express his entrancing emotions in no other way than by lifting
+up his voice and uttering the far-reaching cries which he had used on
+the first of the occasions just referred to.
+
+“In this manner the first part of the journey passed away with engaging
+celerity. Anxious as Sen undoubtedly was to complete the third task, and
+approach the details which, in his own case, would correspond with the
+command of the bowmen and the marriage with the Mandarin’s daughter of
+the person in the story, the noontide heat compelled him to rest in the
+shade by the wayside for a lengthy period each day. During one of
+these pauses it occurred to his versatile mind that the time which was
+otherwise uselessly expended might be well disposed of in endeavouring
+to increase the value and condition of the creatures under his care by
+instructing them in the performance of some simple accomplishments,
+such as might not be too laborious for their feeble and immature
+understanding. In this he was more successful than he had imagined could
+possibly be the case, for the discriminating insects, from the first,
+had every appearance of recognizing that Sen was inspired by a sincere
+regard for their ultimate benefit, and was not merely using them for
+his own advancement. So assiduously did they devote themselves to their
+allotted tasks, that in a very short space of time there was no detail
+in connexion with their own simple domestic arrangements that was not
+understood and daily carried out by an appointed band. Entranced at this
+intelligent manner of conducting themselves, Sen industriously applied
+his time to the more congenial task of instructing them in the refined
+arts, and presently he had the enchanting satisfaction of witnessing a
+number of the most cultivated faultlessly and unhesitatingly perform a
+portion of the well-known gravity-removing play entitled “The Benevolent
+Omen of White Dragon Tea Garden; or, Three Times a Mandarin.” Not even
+content with this elevating display, Sen ingeniously contrived, from
+various objects which he discovered at different points by the wayside,
+an effective and life-like representation of a war-junk, for which he
+trained a crew, who, at an agreed signal, would take up their appointed
+places and go through the required movements, both of sailing, and of
+discharging the guns, in a reliable and efficient manner.
+
+“As Sen was one day educating the least competent of the insects in the
+simpler parts of banner-carriers, gong-beaters, and the like, to their
+more graceful and versatile companions, he lifted up his eyes and
+beheld, standing by his side, a person of very elaborately embroidered
+apparel and commanding personality, who had all the appearance of one
+who had been observing his movements for some space of time. Calling
+up within his remembrance the warning which he had received from
+King-y-Yang, Sen was preparing to restore the creatures to their closed
+box, when the stranger, in a loud and dignified voice, commanded him to
+refrain, adding:
+
+“‘There is, resting at a spot within the immediate neighbourhood,
+a person of illustrious name and ancestry, who would doubtless be
+gratified to witness the diverting actions of which this one has
+recently been a spectator. As the reward of a tael cannot be unwelcome
+to a person of your inferior appearance and unpresentable garments, take
+up your box without delay, and follow the one who is now before you.’
+
+“With these words the richly-clad stranger led the way through a narrow
+woodland path, closely followed by Sen, to whom the attraction of the
+promised reward--a larger sum, indeed, than he had ever possessed--was
+sufficiently alluring to make him determined that the other should not,
+for the briefest possible moment, pass beyond his sight.
+
+“Not to withhold that which Sen was entirely ignorant of until a later
+period, it is now revealed that the person in question was the official
+Provider of Diversions and Pleasurable Occupations to the sacred
+and illimitable Emperor, who was then engaged in making an unusually
+extensive march through the eight Provinces surrounding his Capital--for
+the acute and well-educated will not need to be reminded that Nanking
+occupied that position at the time now engaged with. Until his
+providential discovery of Sen, the distinguished Provider had been
+immersed in a most unenviable condition of despair, for his enlightened
+but exceedingly perverse-minded master had, of late, declined to be
+in any way amused, or even interested, by the simple and unpretentious
+entertainment which could be obtained in so inaccessible a region. The
+well-intentioned efforts of the followers of the Court, who engagingly
+endeavoured to divert the Imperial mind by performing certain feats
+which they remembered to have witnessed on previous occasions, but
+which, until the necessity arose, they had never essayed, were entirely
+without result of a beneficial order. Even the accomplished Provider’s
+one attainment--that of striking together both the hands and the feet
+thrice simultaneously, while leaping into the air, and at the same time
+producing a sound not unlike that emitted by a large and vigorous bee
+when held captive in the fold of a robe, an action which never failed
+to throw the illustrious Emperor into a most uncontrollable state of
+amusement when performed within the Imperial Palace--now only drew
+from him the unsympathetic, if not actually offensive, remark that the
+attitude and the noise bore a marked resemblance to those produced by a
+person when being bowstrung, adding, with unprepossessing significance,
+that of the two entertainments he had an unevadable conviction that the
+bowstringing would be the more acceptable and gravity-removing.
+
+“When Sen beheld the size and the silk-hung magnificence of the camp
+into which his guide led him, he was filled with astonishment, and at
+the same time recognized that he had acted in an injudicious and hasty
+manner by so readily accepting the offer of a tael; whereas, if he had
+been in possession of the true facts of the case, as they now appeared,
+he would certainly have endeavoured to obtain double that amount before
+consenting. As he was hesitating within himself whether the matter might
+not even yet be arranged in a more advantageous manner, he was suddenly
+led forward into the most striking and ornamental of the tents, and
+commanded to engage the attention of the one in whose presence he found
+himself, without delay.
+
+“From the first moment when the inimitable creatures began, at Sen’s
+spoken word, to go through the ordinary details of their domestic
+affairs, there was no sort of doubt as to the nature of the success with
+which their well-trained exertions would be received. The dark shadows
+instantly forsook the enraptured Emperor’s select brow, and from time
+to time he expressed himself in words of most unrestrained and intimate
+encouragement. So exuberant became the overjoyed Provider’s emotion at
+having at length succeeded in obtaining the services of one who was
+able to recall his Imperial master’s unclouded countenance, that he came
+forward in a most unpresentable state of haste, and rose into the air
+uncommanded, for the display of his usually not unwelcome acquirement.
+This he would doubtless have executed competently had not Sen, who stood
+immediately behind him, suddenly and unexpectedly raised his voice in
+a very vigorous and proficient duck cry, thereby causing the one before
+him to endeavour to turn around in alarm, while yet in the air--an
+intermingled state of movements of both the body and the mind that
+caused him to abandon his original intention in a manner which removed
+the gravity of the Emperor to an even more pronounced degree than had
+been effected by the diverting attitudes of the insects.
+
+“When the gratified Emperor had beheld every portion of the tasks
+which Sen had instilled into the minds of the insects, down even to the
+minutest detail, he called the well-satisfied Provider before him,
+and addressing him in a voice which might be designed to betray either
+sternness or an amiable indulgence, said:
+
+“‘You, O Shan-se, are reported to be a person of no particular intellect
+or discernment, and, for this reason, these ones who are speaking have a
+desire to know how the matter will present itself in your eyes. Which
+is it the more commendable and honourable for a person to train to
+a condition of unfailing excellence, human beings of confessed
+intelligence or insects of a low and degraded standard?’
+
+“To this remark the discriminating Shan-se made no reply, being, indeed,
+undecided in his mind whether such a course was expected of him. On
+several previous occasions the somewhat introspective Emperor had
+addressed himself to persons in what they judged to be the form of a
+question, as one might say, ‘How blue is the unapproachable air canopy,
+and how delicately imagined the colour of the clouds!’ yet when they had
+expressed their deliberate opinion on the subjects referred to,
+stating the exact degree of blueness, and the like, the nature of
+their reception ever afterwards was such that, for the future, persons
+endeavoured to determine exactly the intention of the Emperor’s mind
+before declaring themselves in words. Being exceedingly doubtful on this
+occasion, therefore, the very cautious Shan-se adopted the more prudent
+and uncompromising attitude, and smiling acquiescently, he raised both
+his hands with a self-deprecatory movement.
+
+“‘Alas!’ exclaimed the Emperor, in a tone which plainly indicated that
+the evasive Shan-se had adopted a course which did not commend itself,
+‘how unendurable a condition of affairs is it for a person of acute
+mental perception to be annoyed by the inopportune behaviour of one
+who is only fit to mix on terms of equality with beggars, and low-caste
+street cleaners--’
+
+“‘Such a condition of affairs is indeed most offensively unbearable,
+illustrious Being,’ remarked Shan-se, who clearly perceived that his
+former silence had not been productive of a delicate state of feeling
+towards himself.
+
+“‘It has frequently been said,’ continued the courteous and pure-minded
+Emperor, only signifying his refined displeasure at Shan-se’s really
+ill-considered observation by so arranging his position that the person
+in question on longer enjoyed the sublime distinction of gazing upon his
+benevolent face, ‘that titles and offices have been accorded, from time
+to time, without any regard for the fitting qualifications of those to
+whom they were presented. The truth that such a state of things does
+occasionally exist has been brought before our eyes during the past
+few days by the abandoned and inefficient behaviour of one who will
+henceforth be a marked official; yet it has always been our endeavour
+to reward expert and unassuming merit, whenever it is discovered. As
+we were setting forth, when we were interrupted in a most obstinate and
+superfluous manner, the one who can guide and cultivate the minds of
+unthinking, and not infrequently obstinate and rapacious, insects would
+certainly enjoy an even greater measure of success if entrusted with the
+discriminating intellects of human beings. For this reason it appears
+that no more fitting person could be found to occupy the important and
+well-rewarded position of Chief Arranger of the Competitive Examinations
+than the one before us--provided his opinions and manner of expressing
+himself are such as commend themselves to us. To satisfy us on this
+point let Sen Heng now stand forth and declare his beliefs.’
+
+“On this invitation Sen advanced the requisite number of paces, and not
+in any degree understanding what was required of him, determined that
+the occasion was one when he might fittingly declare the Five General
+Principles which were ever present in his mind. ‘Unquestioning Fidelity
+to the Sacred Emperor--’ he began, when the person in question signified
+that the trial was over.
+
+“‘After so competent and inspired an expression as that which has just
+been uttered, which, if rightly considered, includes all lesser things,
+it is unnecessary to say more,’ he declared affably. ‘The appointment
+which has already been specified is now declared to be legally
+conferred. The evening will be devoted to a repetition of the entrancing
+manoeuvres performed by the insects, to be followed by a feast and music
+in honour of the recognized worth and position of the accomplished Sen
+Heng. There is really no necessity for the apparently over-fatigued
+Shan-se to attend the festival.’
+
+“In such a manner was the foundation of Sen’s ultimate prosperity
+established, by which he came in the process of time to occupy a very
+high place in public esteem. Yet, being a person of honourably-minded
+conscientiousness, he did not hesitate, when questioned by those who
+made pilgrimages to him for the purpose of learning by what means he
+had risen to so remunerative a position, to ascribe his success, not
+entirely to his own intelligent perception of persons and events, but,
+in part, also to a never-failing regard for the dictates of the Five
+General Principles, and a discriminating subservience to the inspired
+wisdom of the venerable Poo-chow, as conveyed to him in the story of
+the faint-hearted youth and the three tigers. This story Sen furthermore
+caused to be inscribed in letters of gold, and displayed in a prominent
+position in his native village, where it has since doubtless been the
+means of instructing and advancing countless observant ones who have not
+been too insufferable to be guided by the experience of those who have
+gone before.”
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+THE EXPERIMENT OF THE MANDARIN CHAN HUNG
+
+
+  Related by Kai Lung at Shan Tzu, on the occasion of his receiving
+  a very unexpected reward.
+
+“There are certainly many occasions when the principles of the Mandarin
+Chan Hung appear to find practical favour in the eyes of those who form
+this usually uncomplaining person’s audiences at Shan Tzu,” remarked Kai
+Lung, with patient resignation, as he took up his collecting-bowl and
+transferred the few brass coins which it held to a concealed place among
+his garments. “Has the village lately suffered from a visit of one
+of those persons who come armed with authority to remove by force or
+stratagem such goods as bear names other than those possessed by their
+holders? or is it, indeed--as they of Wu-whei confidently assert--that
+when the Day of Vows arrives the people of Shan Tzu, with one accord,
+undertake to deny themselves in the matter of gifts and free offerings,
+in spite of every conflicting impulse?”
+
+“They of Wu-whei!” exclaimed a self-opinionated bystander, who had
+by some means obtained an inferior public office, and who was, in
+consequence, enabled to be present on all occasions without contributing
+any offering. “Well is that village named ‘The Refuge of Unworthiness,’
+for its dwellers do little but rob and illtreat strangers, and spread
+evil and lying reports concerning better endowed ones than themselves.”
+
+“Such a condition of affairs may exist,” replied Kai Lung, without
+any indication of concern either one way or the other; “yet it is an
+undeniable fact that they reward this commonplace story-teller’s too
+often underestimated efforts in a manner which betrays them either to
+be of noble birth, or very desirous of putting to shame their less
+prosperous neighbouring places.”
+
+“Such exhibitions of uncalled-for lavishness are merely the signs of an
+ill-regulated and inordinate vanity,” remarked a Mandarin of the eighth
+grade, who chanced to be passing, and who stopped to listen to Kai
+Lung’s words. “Nevertheless, it is not fitting that a collection of
+decaying hovels, which Wu-whei assuredly is, should, in however small
+a detail, appear to rise above Shan Tzu, so that if the versatile and
+unassuming Kai Lung will again honour this assembly by allowing his
+well-constructed bowl to pass freely to and fro, this obscure and
+otherwise entirely superfluous individual will make it his especial care
+that the brass of Wu-whei shall be answered with solid copper, and its
+debased pewter with doubly refined silver.”
+
+With these encouraging words the very opportune Mandarin of the eighth
+grade himself followed the story-teller’s collecting-bowl, observing
+closely what each person contributed, so that, although he gave nothing
+from his own store, Kai Lung had never before received so honourable an
+amount.
+
+“O illustrious Kai Lung,” exclaimed a very industrious and ill-clad
+herb-gatherer, who, in spite of his poverty, could not refrain from
+mingling with listeners whenever the story-teller appeared in Shan Tzu,
+“a single piece of brass money is to this person more than a block
+of solid gold to many of Wu-whei; yet he has twice made the customary
+offering, once freely, once because a courteous and pure-minded
+individual who possesses certain written papers of his connected with
+the repayment of some few taels walked behind the bowl and engaged
+his eyes with an unmistakable and very significant glance. This fact
+emboldens him to make the following petition: that in place of the not
+altogether unknown story of Yung Chang which had been announced the
+proficient and nimble-minded Kai Lung will entice our attention with the
+history of the Mandarin Chan Hung, to which reference has already been
+made.”
+
+“The occasion is undoubtedly one which calls for recognition to an
+unusual degree,” replied Kai Lung with extreme affability. “To that end
+this person will accordingly narrate the story which has been suggested,
+notwithstanding the fact that it has been specially prepared for
+the ears of the sublime Emperor, who is at this moment awaiting this
+unseemly one’s arrival in Peking with every mark of ill-restrained
+impatience, tempered only by his expectation of being the first to hear
+the story of the well-meaning but somewhat premature Chan Hung.
+
+“The Mandarin in question lived during the reign of the accomplished
+Emperor Tsint-Sin, his Yamen being at Fow Hou, in the Province of
+Shan-Tung, of which place he was consequently the chief official. In his
+conscientious desire to administer a pure and beneficent rule, he not
+infrequently made himself a very prominent object for public disregard,
+especially by his attempts to introduce untried things, when from
+time to time such matters arose within his mind and seemed to promise
+agreeable and remunerative results. In this manner it came about that
+the streets of Fow Hou were covered with large flat stones, to the great
+inconvenience of those persons who had, from a very remote period, been
+in the habit of passing the night on the soft clay which at all
+seasons of the year afforded a pleasant and efficient resting-place.
+Nevertheless, in certain matters his engaging efforts were attended by
+an obvious success. Having noticed that misfortunes and losses are much
+less keenly felt when they immediately follow in the steps of an earlier
+evil, the benevolent and humane-minded Chan Hung devised an ingenious
+method of lightening the burden of a necessary taxation by arranging
+that those persons who were the most heavily involved should be made the
+victims of an attack and robbery on the night before the matter became
+due. By this thoughtful expedient the unpleasant duty of parting from so
+many taels was almost imperceptibly led up to, and when, after the lapse
+of some slight period, the first sums of money were secretly returned,
+with a written proverb appropriate to the occasion, the public rejoicing
+of those who, had the matter been left to its natural course,
+would still have been filling the air with bitter and unendurable
+lamentations, plainly testified to the inspired wisdom of the
+enlightened Mandarin.
+
+“The well-merited success of this amiable expedient caused the Mandarin
+Chan Hung every variety of intelligent emotion, and no day passed
+without him devoting a portion of his time to the labour of discovering
+other advantages of a similar nature. Engrossed in deep and very sublime
+thought of this order, he chanced upon a certain day to be journeying
+through Fow Hou, when he met a person of irregular intellect, who
+made an uncertain livelihood by following the unassuming and
+charitably-disposed from place to place, chanting in a loud voice set
+verses recording their virtues, which he composed in their honour. On
+account of his undoubted infirmities this person was permitted a greater
+freedom of speech with those above him than would have been the case had
+his condition been merely ordinary; so that when Chan Hung observed him
+becoming very grossly amused on his approach, to such an extent indeed,
+that he neglected to perform any of the fitting acts of obeisance,
+the wise and noble-minded Mandarin did not in any degree suffer his
+complacency to be affected, but, drawing near, addressed him in a calm
+and dignified manner.
+
+“‘Why, O Ming-hi,’ he said, ‘do you permit your gravity to be removed
+to such an exaggerated degree at the sight of this in no way striking
+or exceptional person? and why, indeed, do you stand in so unbecoming
+an attitude in the presence of one who, in spite of his depraved
+inferiority, is unquestionably your official superior, and could,
+without any hesitation, condemn you to the tortures or even to
+bowstringing on the spot?’
+
+“‘Mandarin,’ exclaimed Ming-hi, stepping up to Chan Hung, and, without
+any hesitation, pressing the gilt button which adorned the official’s
+body garment, accompanying the action by a continuous muffled noise
+which suggested the repeated striking of a hidden bell, ‘you wonder that
+this person stands erect on your approach, neither rolling his lowered
+head repeatedly from side to side, nor tracing circles in the dust
+of Fow Hou with his submissive stomach? Know then, the meaning of the
+proverb, “Distrust an inordinate appearance of servility. The estimable
+person who retires from your presence walking backwards may adopt that
+deferential manner in order to keep concealed the long double-edged
+knife with which he had hoped to slay you.” The excessive amusement that
+seized this offensive person when he beheld your well-defined figure in
+the distance arose from his perception of your internal satisfaction,
+which is, indeed, unmistakably reflected in your symmetrical
+countenance. For, O Mandarin, in spite of your honourable endeavours
+to turn things which are devious into a straight line, the matters upon
+which you engage your versatile intellect--little as you suspect the
+fact--are as grains of the finest Foo-chow sand in comparison with that
+which escapes your attention.’
+
+“‘Strange are your words, O Ming-hi, and dark to this person your
+meaning,’ replied Chan Hung, whose feelings were evenly balanced between
+a desire to know what thing he had neglected and a fear that his dignity
+might suffer if he were observed to remain long conversing with a person
+of Ming-hi’s low mental attainments. ‘Without delay, and with an entire
+absence of lengthy and ornamental forms of speech, express the omission
+to which you have made reference; for this person has an uneasy inside
+emotion that you are merely endeavouring to engage his attention to
+the end that you may make an unseemly and irrelevant reply, and thereby
+involve him in an undeserved ridicule.’
+
+“‘Such a device would be the pastime of one of immature years, and could
+have no place in this person’s habit of conduct,’ replied Ming-hi, with
+every appearance of a fixed sincerity. ‘Moreover, the matter is one
+which touches his own welfare closely, and, expressed in the fashion
+which the proficient Mandarin has commanded, may be set forth as
+follows: By a wise and all-knowing divine system, it is arranged that
+certain honourable occupations, which by their nature cannot become
+remunerative to any marked degree, shall be singled out for special
+marks of reverence, so that those who engage therein may be compensated
+in dignity for what they must inevitably lack in taels. By this
+refined dispensation the literary occupations, which are in general the
+highroads to the Establishment of Public Support and Uniform Apparel,
+are held in the highest veneration. Agriculture, from which it is
+possible to wrest a competency, follows in esteem; while the various
+branches of commerce, leading as they do to vast possessions and the
+attendant luxury, are very justly deprived of all the attributes
+of dignity and respect. Yet observe, O justice-loving Mandarin, how
+unbecomingly this ingenious system of universal compensation has been
+debased at the instance of grasping and avaricious ones. Dignity, riches
+and ease now go hand in hand, and the highest rewarded in all matters
+are also the most esteemed, whereas, if the discriminating provision of
+those who have gone before and so arranged it was observed, the direct
+contrary would be the case.’
+
+“‘It is a state of things which is somewhat difficult to imagine in
+general matters of life, in spite of the fair-seemingness of your
+words,’ said the Mandarin thoughtfully; ‘nor can this rather obtuse and
+slow-witted person fully grasp the practical application of the system
+on the edge of the moment. In what manner would it operate in the case
+of ordinary persons, for example?’
+
+“‘There should be a fixed and settled arrangement that the low-minded
+and degrading occupations--such as that of following charitable persons
+from place to place, chanting verses composed in their honour, that of
+misleading travellers who inquire the way, so that they fall into the
+hands of robbers, and the like callings--should be the most highly
+rewarded to the end that those who are engaged therein may obtain
+some solace for the loss of dignity they experience, and the mean
+intellectual position which they are compelled to maintain. By this
+device they would be enabled to possess certain advantages and degrees
+of comfort which at present are utterly beyond their grasp, so that in
+the end they would escape being entirely debased. To turn to the other
+foot, those who are now high in position, and engaged in professions
+which enjoy the confidence of all persons, have that which in itself is
+sufficient to insure contentment. Furthermore, the most proficient
+and engaging in every department, mean or high-minded, have certain
+attributes of respect among those beneath them, so that they might
+justly be content with the lowest reward in whatever calling they
+professed, the least skilful and most left-handed being compensated for
+the mental anguish which they must undoubtedly suffer by receiving the
+greatest number of taels.’
+
+“‘Such a scheme would, as far as the matter has been expressed, appear
+to possess all the claims of respect, and to be, indeed, what was
+originally intended by those who framed the essentials of existence,’
+said Chan Hung, when he had for some space of time considered the
+details. ‘In one point, however, this person fails to perceive how
+the arrangement could be amiably conducted in Fow Hou. The one who
+is addressing you maintains, as a matter of right, a position of
+exceptional respect, nor, if he must express himself upon such a detail,
+are his excessively fatiguing duties entirely unremunerative...’
+
+“‘In the case of the distinguished and unalterable Mandarin,’ exclaimed
+Ming-hi, with no appearance of hesitation, ‘the matter would of
+necessity be arranged otherwise. Being from that time, as it were, the
+controller of the destinies and remunerations of all those in Fow Hou,
+he would, manifestly, be outside the working of the scheme; standing
+apart and regulating, like the person who turns the handle of the
+corn-mill, but does not suffer himself to be drawn between the
+stones, he could still maintain both his respect and his remuneration
+unaltered.’
+
+“‘If the detail could honourably be regarded in such a light,’ said Chan
+Hung, ‘this person would, without delay, so rearrange matters in Fow
+Hou, and thereby create universal justice and an unceasing contentment
+within the minds of all.’
+
+“‘Undoubtedly such a course could be justly followed,’ assented Ming-hi,
+‘for in precisely that manner of working was the complete scheme
+revealed to this highly-favoured person.’
+
+“Entirely wrapped up in thoughts concerning the inception and manner of
+operation of this project Chan Hung began to retrace his steps towards
+the Yamen, failing to observe in his benevolent abstraction of mind,
+that the unaffectedly depraved person Ming-hi was stretching out his
+feet towards him and indulging in every other form of low-minded and
+undignified contempt.
+
+“Before he reached the door of his residence the Mandarin overtook
+one who occupied a high position of confidence and remuneration in the
+Department of Public Fireworks and Coloured Lights. Fully assured of
+this versatile person’s enthusiasm on behalf of so humane and charitable
+a device, Chan Hung explained the entire matter to him without delay,
+and expressly desired that if there were any details which appeared
+capable of improvement, he would declare himself clearly regarding them.
+
+“‘Alas!’ exclaimed the person with whom the Mandarin was conversing,
+speaking in so unfeignedly disturbed and terrified a voice that several
+who were passing by stopped in order to learn the full circumstance,
+‘have this person’s ears been made the object of some unnaturally
+light-minded demon’s ill-disposed pastime, or does the usually
+well-balanced Chan Hung in reality contemplate so violent and un-Chinese
+an action? What but evil could arise from a single word of the change
+which he proposes to the extent of a full written book? The entire fixed
+nature of events would become reversed; persons would no longer be fully
+accountable to one another; and Fow Hou being thus thrown into a most
+unendurable state of confusion, the protecting Deities would doubtless
+withdraw their influence, and the entire region would soon be given over
+to the malicious guardianship of rapacious and evilly-disposed spirits.
+Let this person entreat the almost invariably clear-sighted Chan Hung
+to return at once to his adequately equipped and sumptuous Yamen, and
+barring well the door of his inner chamber, so that it can only be
+opened from the outside, partake of several sleeping essences of unusual
+strength, after which he will awake in an undoubtedly refreshed state
+of mind, and in a condition to observe matters with his accustomed
+diamond-like penetration.’
+
+“‘By no means!’ cried one of those who had stopped to learn the occasion
+of the incident--a very inferior maker of unserviceable imitation
+pigtails--‘the devout and conscientious-minded Mandarin Chan Hung speaks
+as the inspired mouth-piece of the omnipotent Buddha, and must, for
+that reason, be obeyed in every detail. This person would unhesitatingly
+counsel the now invaluable Mandarin to proceed to his well-constructed
+residence without delay, and there calling together his entire staff of
+those who set down his spoken words, put the complete Heaven-sent
+plan into operation, and beyond recall, before he retires to his inner
+chamber.’
+
+“Upon this there arose a most inelegant display of undignified emotions
+on the part of the assembly which had by this time gathered together.
+While those who occupied honourable and remunerative positions very
+earnestly entreated the Mandarin to act in the manner which had been
+suggested by the first speaker, others--who had, in the meantime, made
+use of imagined figures, and thereby discovered that the proposed change
+would be greatly to their advantage--raised shouts of encouragement
+towards the proposal of the pigtail-maker, urging the noble Mandarin not
+to become small in the face towards the insignificant few who were ever
+opposed to enlightened reform, but to maintain an unflaccid upper lip,
+and carry the entire matter through to its destined end. In the course
+of this very unseemly tumult, which soon involved all persons present
+in hostile demonstrations towards each other, both the Mandarin and
+the official from the Fireworks and Coloured Lights Department found
+an opportunity to pass away secretly, the former to consider well the
+various sides of the matter, towards which he became better disposed
+with every thought, the latter to find a purchaser of his appointment
+and leave Fow Hou before the likelihood of Chan Hung’s scheme became
+generally known.
+
+“At this point an earlier circumstance, which affected the future
+unrolling of events to no insignificant degree, must be made known,
+concerning as it does Lila, the fair and very accomplished daughter
+of Chan Hung. Possessing no son or heir to succeed him, the Mandarin
+exhibited towards Lila a very unusual depth of affection, so marked,
+indeed, that when certain evil-minded ones endeavoured to encompass
+his degradation, on the plea of eccentricity of character, the written
+papers which they dispatched to the high ones at Peking contained no
+other accusation in support of the contention than that the individual
+in question regarded his daughter with an obvious pride and pleasure
+which no person of well-balanced intellect lavished on any but a son.
+
+“It was his really conscientious desire to establish Lila’s welfare
+above all things that had caused Chan Hung to become in some degree
+undecided when conversing with Ming-hi on the detail of the scheme; for,
+unaffected as the Mandarin himself would have been at the prospect of
+an honourable poverty, it was no part of his intention that the adorable
+and exceptionally-refined Lila should be drawn into such an existence.
+That, indeed, had been the essential of his reply on a certain and not
+far removed occasion, when two persons of widely differing positions
+had each made a formal request that he might be allowed to present
+marriage-pledging gifts to the very desirable Lila. Maintaining an
+enlightened openness of mind upon the subject, the Mandarin had replied
+that nothing but the merit of undoubted suitableness of a person would
+affect him in such a decision. As it was ordained by the wise and
+unchanging Deities that merit should always be fittingly rewarded,
+he went on to express himself, and as the most suitable person was
+obviously the one who could the most agreeably provide for her, the
+two circumstances inevitably tended to the decision that the one chosen
+should be the person who could amass the greatest number of taels. To
+this end he instructed them both to present themselves at the end of
+a year, bringing with them the entire profits of their undertakings
+between the two periods.
+
+“This deliberate pronouncement affected the two persons in question in
+an entirely opposite manner, for one of them was little removed from a
+condition of incessant and most uninviting poverty, while the other was
+the very highly-rewarded picture-maker Pe-tsing. Both to this latter
+person, and to the other one, Lee Sing, the ultimate conclusion of the
+matter did not seem to be a question of any conjecture therefore, and,
+in consequence, the one became most offensively self-confident, and
+the other leaden-minded to an equal degree, neither remembering the
+unswerving wisdom of the proverb, ‘Wait! all men are but as the black,
+horn-cased beetles which overrun the inferior cooking-rooms of the city,
+and even at this moment the heavily-shod and unerring foot of Buddha may
+be lifted.’
+
+“Lee Sing was, by profession, one of those who hunt and ensnare the
+brilliantly-coloured winged insects which are to be found in various
+parts of the Empire in great variety and abundance, it being his duty
+to send a certain number every year to Peking to contribute to the
+amusement of the dignified Emperor. In spite of the not too intelligent
+nature of the occupation, Lee Sing took an honourable pride in all
+matters connected with it. He disdained, with well-expressed contempt,
+to avail himself of the stealthy and somewhat deceptive methods employed
+by others engaged in a similar manner of life. In this way he had, from
+necessity, acquired agility to an exceptional degree, so that he could
+leap far into the air, and while in that position select from a passing
+band of insects any which he might desire. This useful accomplishment
+was, in a measure, the direct means of bringing together the person in
+question and the engaging Lila; for, on a certain occasion, when Lee
+Sing was passing through the streets of Fow Hou, he heard a great
+outcry, and beheld persons of all ranks running towards him, pointing
+at the same time in an upward direction. Turning his gaze in the manner
+indicated, Lee beheld, with every variety of astonishment, a powerful
+and unnaturally large bird of prey, carrying in its talons the
+lovely and now insensible Lila, to whom it had been attracted by the
+magnificence of her raiment. The rapacious and evilly-inspired creature
+was already above the highest dwelling-houses when Lee first beheld it,
+and was plainly directing its course towards the inaccessible mountain
+crags beyond the city walls. Nevertheless, Lee resolved upon an
+inspired effort, and without any hesitation bounded towards it with such
+well-directed proficiency, that if he had not stretched forth his hand
+on passing he would inevitably have been carried far above the desired
+object. In this manner he succeeded in dragging the repulsive and
+completely disconcerted monster to the ground, where its graceful and
+unassuming prisoner was released, and the presumptuous bird itself
+torn to pieces amid continuous shouts of a most respectful and engaging
+description in honour of Lee and of his versatile attainment.
+
+“In consequence of this incident the grateful Lila would often
+deliberately leave the society of the rich and well-endowed in order
+to accompany Lee on his journeys in pursuit of exceptionally-precious
+winged insects. Regarding his unusual ability as the undoubted cause of
+her existence at that moment, she took an all-absorbing pride in such
+displays, and would utter loud and frequent exclamations of triumph when
+Lee leaped out from behind some rock, where he had lain concealed, and
+with unfailing regularity secured the object of his adroit movement. In
+this manner a state of feeling which was by no means favourable to
+the aspiring picture-maker Pe-tsing had long existed between the two
+persons; but when Lee Sing put the matter in the form of an explicit
+petition before Chan Hung (to which adequate reference has already been
+made), the nature of the decision then arrived at seemed to clothe
+the realization of their virtuous and estimable desires with an air of
+extreme improbability.
+
+“‘Oh, Lee,’ exclaimed the greatly-disappointed maiden when her lover had
+explained to her the nature of the arrangement--for in her unassuming
+admiration of the noble qualities of Lee she had anticipated that Chan
+Hung would at once have received him with ceremonious embraces and
+assurances of his permanent affection--‘how unendurable a state of
+things is this in which we have become involved! Far removed from this
+one’s anticipations was the thought of becoming inalienably associated
+with that outrageous person Pe-tsing, or of entering upon an existence
+which will necessitate a feigned admiration of his really unpresentable
+efforts. Yet in such a manner must the entire circumstance complete its
+course unless some ingenious method of evading it can be discovered in
+the meantime. Alas, my beloved one! the occupation of ensnaring winged
+insects is indeed an alluring one, but as far as this person has
+observed, it is also exceedingly unproductive of taels. Could not some
+more expeditious means of enriching yourself be discovered? Frequently
+has the unnoticed but nevertheless very attentive Lila heard her father
+and the round-bodied ones who visit him speak of exploits which seem
+to consist of assuming the shapes of certain wild animals, and in that
+guise appearing from time to time at the place of exchange within
+the city walls. As this form of entertainment is undoubtedly very
+remunerative in its results, could not the versatile and ready-witted
+Lee conceal himself within the skin of a bear, or some other untamed
+beast, and in this garb, joining them unperceived, play an appointed
+part and receive a just share of the reward?’
+
+“‘The result of such an enterprise might, if the matter chanced to take
+an unforeseen development, prove of a very doubtful nature,’ replied
+Lee Sing, to whom, indeed, the proposed venture appeared in a somewhat
+undignified light, although, with refined consideration, he withheld
+such a thought from Lila, who had proposed it for him, and also
+confessed that her usually immaculate father had taken part in such an
+exhibition. ‘Nevertheless, do not permit the dark shadow of an inward
+cloud to reflect itself upon your almost invariably amiable countenance,
+for this person has become possessed of a valuable internal suggestion
+which, although he has hitherto neglected, being content with a small
+but assured competency, would doubtless bring together a serviceable
+number of taels if rightly utilized.’
+
+“‘Greatly does this person fear that the valuable internal suggestion
+of Lee Sing will weigh but lightly in the commercial balance against
+the very rapidly executed pictures of Pe-tsing,’ said Lila, who had not
+fully recalled from her mind a disturbing emotion that Lee would
+have been well advised to have availed himself of her ingenious and
+well-thought-out suggestion. ‘But of what does the matter consist?’
+
+“‘It is the best explained by a recital of the circumstances leading up
+to it,’ said Lee. ‘Upon an occasion when this person was passing through
+the streets of Fow Hou, there gathered around him a company of those who
+had, on previous occasions, beheld his exceptional powers of hurtling
+himself through the air in an upward direction, praying that he would
+again delight their senses by a similar spectacle. Not being unwilling
+to afford those estimable persons of the amusement they desired, this
+one, without any elaborate show of affected hesitancy, put himself
+into the necessary position, and would without doubt have risen
+uninterruptedly almost into the Middle Air, had he not, in making the
+preparatory movements, placed his left foot upon an over-ripe wampee
+which lay unperceived on the ground. In consequence of this really
+blameworthy want of caution the entire manner and direction of this
+short-sighted individual’s movements underwent a sudden and complete
+change, so that to those who stood around it appeared as though he were
+making a well-directed endeavour to penetrate through the upper surface
+of the earth. This unexpected display had the effect of removing the
+gravity of even the most aged and severe-minded persons present, and for
+the space of some moments the behaviour and positions of those who stood
+around were such that they were quite unable to render any assistance,
+greatly as they doubtless wished to do so. Being in this manner allowed
+a period for inward reflexion of a very concentrated order, it arose
+within this one’s mind that at every similar occurrence which he had
+witnessed, those who observed the event had been seized in a like
+fashion, being very excessively amused. The fact was made even more
+undoubted by the manner of behaving of an exceedingly stout and
+round-faced person, who had not been present from the beginning, but who
+was affected to a most incredible extent when the details, as they had
+occurred, were made plain to him, he declaring, with many references to
+the Sacred Dragon and the Seven Walled Temple at Peking, that he would
+willingly have contributed a specified number of taels rather than
+have missed the diversion. When at length this person reached his own
+chamber, he diligently applied himself to the task of carrying into
+practical effect the suggestion which had arisen in his mind. By an
+arrangement of transparent glasses and reflecting surfaces--which, were
+it not for a well-defined natural modesty, he would certainly be tempted
+to describe as highly ingenious--he ultimately succeeded in bringing
+about the effect he desired.’
+
+“With these words Lee put into Lila’s hands an object which closely
+resembled the contrivances by which those who are not sufficiently
+powerful to obtain positions near the raised platform, in the Halls of
+Celestial Harmony, are nevertheless enabled to observe the complexions
+and attire of all around them. Regulating it by means of a hidden
+spring, he requested her to follow closely the actions of a
+heavily-burdened passerby who was at that moment some little distance
+beyond them. Scarcely had Lila raised the glass to her eyes than she
+became irresistibly amused to a most infectious degree, greatly to the
+satisfaction of Lee, who therein beheld the realization of his hopes.
+Not for the briefest space of time would she permit the object to pass
+from her, but directed it at every person who came within her sight,
+with frequent and unfeigned exclamations of wonder and delight.
+
+“‘How pleasant and fascinating a device is this!’ exclaimed Lila at
+length. ‘By what means is so diverting and gravity-removing a result
+obtained?’
+
+“‘Further than that it is the concentration of much labour of
+continually trying with glasses and reflecting surfaces, this person is
+totally unable to explain it,’ replied Lee. ‘The chief thing, however,
+is that at whatever moving object it is directed--no matter whether a
+person so observed is being carried in a chair, riding upon an animal,
+or merely walking--at a certain point he has every appearance of being
+unexpectedly hurled to the ground in a most violent and mirth-provoking
+manner. Would not the stout and round-faced one, who would cheerfully
+have contributed a certain number of taels to see this person manifest a
+similar exhibition, unhesitatingly lay out that sum to secure the means
+of so gratifying his emotions whenever he felt the desire, even with
+the revered persons of the most dignified ones in the Empire? Is there,
+indeed, a single person between the Wall and the Bitter Waters on the
+South who is so devoid of ambition that he would miss the opportunity of
+subjecting, as it were, perhaps even the sacred Emperor himself to the
+exceptional feat?’
+
+“‘The temptation to possess one would inevitably prove overwhelming to
+any person of ordinary intelligence,’ admitted Lila. ‘Yet, in spite of
+this one’s unassumed admiration for the contrivance, internal doubts
+regarding the ultimate happiness of the two persons who are now
+discussing the matter again attack her. She recollects, somewhat dimly,
+an almost forgotten, but nevertheless, very unassailable proverb, which
+declares that more contentment of mind can assuredly be obtained from
+the unexpected discovery of a tael among the folds of a discarded
+garment than could, in the most favourable circumstances, ensue from
+the well-thought-out construction of a new and hitherto unknown
+device. Furthermore, although the span of a year may seem unaccountably
+protracted when persons who reciprocate engaging sentiments are
+parted, yet when the acceptance or refusal of Pe-tsing’s undesirable
+pledging-gifts hangs upon the accomplishment of a remote and not very
+probable object within that period, it becomes as a breath of wind
+passing through an autumn forest.’
+
+“Since the day when Lila and Lee had sat together side by side, and
+conversed in this unrestrained and irreproachable manner, the great
+sky-lantern had many times been obscured for a period. Only an
+insignificant portion of the year remained, yet the affairs of Lee Sing
+were in no more prosperous a condition than before, nor had he found an
+opportunity to set aside any store of taels. Each day the unsupportable
+Pe-tsing became more and more obtrusive and self-conceited, even to
+the extent of throwing far into the air coins of insignificant value
+whenever he chanced to pass Lee in the street, at the same time urging
+him to leap after them and thereby secure at least one or two pieces of
+money against the day of calculating. In a similar but entirely opposite
+fashion, Lila and Lee experienced the acutest pangs of an ever-growing
+despair, until their only form of greeting consisted in gazing into each
+other’s eyes with a soul-benumbing expression of self-reproach.
+
+“Yet at this very time, when even the natural and unalterable powers
+seemed to be conspiring against the success of Lee’s modest and
+inoffensive hopes, an event was taking place which was shortly to
+reverse the entire settled arrangement of persons and affairs, and
+involved Fow Hou in a very inextricable state of uncertainty. For, not
+to make a pretence of concealing a matter which has been already in part
+revealed, the Mandarin Chan Hung had by this time determined to act in
+the manner which Ming-hi had suggested; so that on a certain morning
+Lee Sing was visited by two persons, bearing between them a very weighty
+sack of taels, who also conveyed to him the fact that a like amount
+would be deposited within his door at the end of each succeeding seven
+days. Although Lee’s occupation had in the past been very meagrely
+rewarded, either by taels or by honour, the circumstance which resulted
+in his now receiving so excessively large a sum is not made clear until
+the detail of Ming-hi’s scheme is closely examined. The matter then
+becomes plain, for it had been suggested by that person that the most
+proficient in any occupation should be rewarded to a certain extent,
+and the least proficient to another stated extent, the original amounts
+being reversed. When those engaged by Chang Hung to draw up the various
+rates came to the profession of ensnaring winged insects, however, they
+discovered that Lee Sing was the only one of that description in Fow
+Hou, so that it became necessary in consequence to allot him a double
+portion, one amount as the most proficient, and a much larger amount as
+the least proficient.
+
+“It is unnecessary now to follow the not altogether satisfactory
+condition of affairs which began to exist in Fow Hou as soon as the
+scheme was put into operation. The full written papers dealing with the
+matter are in the Hall of Public Reference at Peking, and can be seen by
+any person on the payment of a few taels to everyone connected with
+the establishment. Those who found their possessions reduced thereby
+completely overlooked the obvious justice of the arrangement, and
+immediately began to take most severe measures to have the order put
+aside; while those who suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves
+raised to positions of affluence tended to the same end by conducting
+themselves in a most incapable and undiscriminating manner. And during
+the entire period that this state of things existed in Fow Hou the
+really contemptible Ming-hi continually followed Chan Hung about from
+place to place, spreading out his feet towards him, and allowing himself
+to become openly amused to a most unseemly extent.
+
+“Chief among those who sought to have the original manner of rewarding
+persons again established was the picture-maker, Pe-tsing, who now found
+himself in a condition of most abject poverty, so unbearable, indeed,
+that he frequently went by night, carrying a lantern, in the hope that
+he might discover some of the small pieces of money which he had been
+accustomed to throw into the air on meeting Lee Sing. To his pangs of
+hunger was added the fear that he would certainly lose Lila, so that
+from day to day he redoubled his efforts, and in the end, by using false
+statements and other artifices of a questionable nature, the party which
+he led was successful in obtaining the degradation of Chan Hung and his
+dismissal from office, together with an entire reversal of all his plans
+and enactments.
+
+“On the last day of the year which Chan Hung had appointed as the period
+of test for his daughter’s suitors, the person in question was seated
+in a chamber of his new abode--a residence of unassuming appearance but
+undoubted comfort--surrounded by Lila and Lee, when the hanging curtains
+were suddenly flung aside, and Pe-tsing, followed by two persons of low
+rank bearing sacks of money, appeared among them.
+
+“‘Chan Hung,’ he said at length, ‘in the past events arose which
+compelled this person to place himself against you in your official
+position. Nevertheless, he has always maintained towards you personally
+an unchanging affection, and understanding full well that you are one of
+those who maintain their spoken word in spite of all happenings, he has
+now come to exhibit the taels which he has collected together, and to
+claim the fulfilment of your deliberate promise.’
+
+“With these words the commonplace picture-maker poured forth the
+contents of the sacks, and stood looking at Lila in a most confident and
+unprepossessing manner.
+
+“‘Pe-tsing,’ replied Chan Hung, rising from his couch and speaking in so
+severe and impressive a voice that the two servants of Pe-tsing at once
+fled in great apprehension, ‘this person has also found it necessary, in
+his official position, to oppose you; but here the similarity ends,
+for, on his part, he has never felt towards you the remotest degree of
+affection. Nevertheless, he is always desirous, as you say, that persons
+should regard their spoken word, and as you seem to hold a promise
+from the Chief Mandarin of Fow Hou regarding marriage-gifts towards
+his daughter, he would advise you to go at once to that person.
+A misunderstanding has evidently arisen, for the one whom you are
+addressing is merely Chan Hung, and the words spoken by the Mandarin
+have no sort of interest for him--indeed, he understands that all that
+person’s acts have been reversed, so that he fails to see how anyone
+at all can regard you and your claim in other than a gravity-removing
+light. Furthermore, the maiden in question is now definitely and
+irretrievably pledged to this faithful and successful one by my side,
+who, as you will doubtless be gracefully overjoyed to learn, has
+recently disposed of a most ingenious and diverting contrivance for an
+enormous number of taels, so many, indeed, that both the immediate and
+the far-distant future of all the persons who are here before you are
+now in no sort of doubt whatever.’
+
+“At these words the three persons whom he had interrupted again turned
+their attention to the matter before them; but as Pe-tsing walked away,
+he observed, though he failed to understand the meaning, that they all
+raised certain objects to their eyes, and at once became amused to a
+most striking and uncontrollable degree.”
+
+
+
+
+V.
+THE CONFESSION OF KAI LUNG
+
+
+     Related by himself at Wu-whei when other matter failed him.
+
+As Kai Lung, the story-teller, unrolled his mat and selected, with grave
+deliberation, the spot under the mulberry-tree which would the longest
+remain sheltered from the sun’s rays, his impassive eye wandered round
+the thin circle of listeners who had been drawn together by his uplifted
+voice, with a glance which, had it expressed his actual thoughts, would
+have betrayed a keen desire that the assembly should be composed of
+strangers rather than of his most consistent patrons, to whom his stock
+of tales was indeed becoming embarrassingly familiar. Nevertheless, when
+he began there was nothing in his voice but a trace of insufficiently
+restrained triumph, such as might be fitly assumed by one who has
+discovered and makes known for the first time a story by the renowned
+historian Lo Cha.
+
+“The adventures of the enlightened and nobly-born Yuin-Pel--”
+
+“Have already thrice been narrated within Wu-whei by the versatile but
+exceedingly uninventive Kai Lung,” remarked Wang Yu placidly. “Indeed,
+has there not come to be a saying by which an exceptionally frugal
+host’s rice, having undoubtedly seen the inside of the pot many times,
+is now known in this town as Kai-Pel?”
+
+“Alas!” exclaimed Kai Lung, “well was this person warned of Wu-whei
+in the previous village, as a place of desolation and excessively
+bad taste, whose inhabitants, led by an evil-minded maker of very
+commonplace pipes, named Wang Yu, are unable to discriminate in all
+matters not connected with the cooking of food and the evasion of just
+debts. They at Shan Tzu hung on to my cloak as I strove to leave them,
+praying that I would again entrance their ears with what they termed the
+melodious word-music of this person’s inimitable version of the inspired
+story of Yuin-Pel.”
+
+“Truly the story of Yuin-Pel is in itself excellent,” interposed the
+conciliatory Hi Seng; “and Kai Lung’s accomplishment of having three
+times repeated it here without deviating in the particular of a single
+word from the first recital stamps him as a story-teller of no ordinary
+degree. Yet the saying ‘Although it is desirable to lose persistently
+when playing at squares and circles with the broad-minded and sagacious
+Emperor, it is none the less a fact that the observance of this
+etiquette deprives the intellectual diversion of much of its interest
+for both players,’ is no less true today than when the all knowing H’sou
+uttered it.”
+
+“They well said--they of Shan Tzu--that the people of Wu-whei were
+intolerably ignorant and of low descent,” continued Kai Lung, without
+heeding the interruption; “that although invariably of a timorous
+nature, even to the extent of retiring to the woods on the approach of
+those who select bowmen for the Imperial army, all they require in a
+story is that it shall be garnished with deeds of bloodshed and violence
+to the exclusion of the higher qualities of well-imagined metaphors and
+literary style which alone constitute true excellence.”
+
+“Yet it has been said,” suggested Hi Seng, “that the inimitable Kai
+Lung can so mould a narrative in the telling that all the emotions
+are conveyed therein without unduly disturbing the intellects of the
+hearers.”
+
+“O amiable Hi Seng,” replied Kai Lung with extreme affability,
+“doubtless you are the most expert of water-carriers, and on a hot
+and dusty day, when the insatiable desire of all persons is towards a
+draught of unusual length without much regard to its composition, the
+sight of your goat-skins is indeed a welcome omen; yet when in the
+season of Cold White Rains you chance to meet the belated chair-carrier
+who has been reluctantly persuaded into conveying persons beyond the
+limit of the city, the solitary official watchman who knows that his
+chief is not at hand, or a returning band of those who make a practise
+of remaining in the long narrow rooms until they are driven forth at a
+certain gong-stroke, can you supply them with the smallest portion of
+that invigorating rice spirit for which alone they crave? From this
+simple and homely illustration, specially conceived to meet the
+requirements of your stunted and meagre understanding, learn not to
+expect both grace and thorns from the willow-tree. Nevertheless, your
+very immature remarks on the art of story-telling are in no degree more
+foolish than those frequently uttered by persons who make a living by
+such a practice; in proof of which this person will relate to the select
+and discriminating company now assembled an entirely new and unrecorded
+story--that, indeed, of the unworthy, but frequently highly-rewarded Kai
+Lung himself.”
+
+“The story of Kai Lung!” exclaimed Wang Yu. “Why not the story of Ting,
+the sightless beggar, who has sat all his life outside the Temple of
+Miraculous Cures? Who is Kai Lung, that he should have a story? Is he
+not known to us all here? Is not his speech that of this Province, his
+food mean, his arms and legs unshaven? Does he carry a sword or wear
+silk raiment? Frequently have we seen him fatigued with journeying; many
+times has he arrived destitute of money; nor, on those occasions when a
+newly-appointed and unnecessarily officious Mandarin has commanded
+him to betake himself elsewhere and struck him with a rod has Kai Lung
+caused the stick to turn into a deadly serpent and destroy its master,
+as did the just and dignified Lu Fei. How, then, can Kai Lung have a
+story that is not also the story of Wang Yu and Hi Seng, and all others
+here?”
+
+“Indeed, if the refined and enlightened Wang Yu so decides, it must
+assuredly be true,” said Kai Lung patiently; “yet (since even trifles
+serve to dispel the darker thoughts of existence) would not the
+history of so small a matter as an opium pipe chain his intelligent
+consideration? such a pipe, for example, as this person beheld only
+today exposed for sale, the bowl composed of the finest red clay,
+delicately baked and fashioned, the long bamboo stem smoother than the
+sacred tooth of the divine Buddha, the spreading support patiently and
+cunningly carved with scenes representing the Seven Joys, and the Tenth
+Hell of unbelievers.”
+
+“Ah!” exclaimed Wang Yu eagerly, “it is indeed as you say, a Mandarin
+among masterpieces. That pipe, O most unobserving Kai Lung, is the work
+of this retiring and superficial person who is now addressing you, and,
+though the fact evidently escaped your all-seeing glance, the place
+where it is exposed is none other than his shop of ‘The Fountain of
+Beauty,’ which you have on many occasions endowed with your honourable
+presence.”
+
+“Doubtless the carving is the work of the accomplished Wang Yu, and the
+fitting together,” replied Kai Lung; “but the materials for so refined
+and ornamental a production must of necessity have been brought many
+thousand li; the clay perhaps from the renowned beds of Honan, the wood
+from Peking, and the bamboo from one of the great forests of the North.”
+
+“For what reason?” said Wang Yu proudly. “At this person’s very door
+is a pit of red clay, purer and infinitely more regular than any to
+be found at Honan; the hard wood of Wu-whei is extolled among carvers
+throughout the Empire, while no bamboo is straighter or more smooth than
+that which grows in the neighbouring woods.”
+
+“O most inconsistent Wang Yu!” cried the story-teller, “assuredly a very
+commendable local pride has dimmed your usually penetrating eyesight.
+Is not the clay pit of which you speak that in which you fashioned
+exceedingly unsymmetrical imitations of rat-pies in your childhood? How,
+then, can it be equal to those of Honan, which you have never seen?
+In the dark glades of these woods have you not chased the gorgeous
+butterfly, and, in later years, the no less gaily attired maidens of
+Wu-whei in the entrancing game of Kiss in the Circle? Have not the
+bamboo-trees to which you have referred provided you with the ideal
+material wherewith to roof over those cunningly-constructed pits into
+which it has ever been the chief delight of the young and audacious to
+lure dignified and unnaturally stout Mandarins? All these things you
+have seen and used ever since your mother made a successful offering to
+the Goddess Kum-Fa. How, then, can they be even equal to the products of
+remote Honan and fabulous Peking? Assuredly the generally veracious Wang
+Yu speaks this time with closed eyes and will, upon mature reflexion,
+eat his words.”
+
+The silence was broken by a very aged man who arose from among the
+bystanders.
+
+“Behold the length of this person’s pigtail,” he exclaimed, “the
+whiteness of his moustaches and the venerable appearance of his beard!
+There is no more aged person present--if, indeed, there be such a one
+in all the Province. It accordingly devolves upon him to speak in this
+matter, which shall be as follows: The noble-minded and proficient Kai
+Lung shall relate the story as he has proposed, and the garrulous Wang
+Yu shall twice contribute to Kai Lung’s bowl when it is passed round,
+once for himself and once for this person, in order that he may learn
+either to be more discreet or more proficient in the art of aptly
+replying.”
+
+“The events which it is this person’s presumptuous intention to describe
+to this large-hearted and providentially indulgent gathering,” began
+Kai Lung, when his audience had become settled, and the wooden bowl had
+passed to and fro among them, “did not occupy many years, although they
+were of a nature which made them of far more importance than all the
+remainder of his existence, thereby supporting the sage discernment of
+the philosopher Wen-weng, who first made the observation that man is
+greatly inferior to the meanest fly, inasmuch as that creature, although
+granted only a day’s span of life, contrives during that period to
+fulfil all the allotted functions of existence.
+
+“Unutterably to the astonishment and dismay of this person and all those
+connected with him (for several of the most expensive readers of the
+future to be found in the Empire had declared that his life would be
+marked by great events, his career a source of continual wonder, and his
+death a misfortune to those who had dealings with him) his efforts to
+take a degree at the public literary competitions were not attended with
+any adequate success. In view of the plainly expressed advice of his
+father it therefore became desirable that this person should turn his
+attention to some other method of regaining the esteem of those upon
+whom he was dependent for all the necessaries of existence. Not having
+the means wherewith to engage in any form of commerce, and being
+entirely ignorant of all matters save the now useless details of
+attempting to pass public examinations, he reluctantly decided that he
+was destined to become one of those who imagine and write out stories
+and similar devices for printed leaves and books.
+
+“This determination was favourably received, and upon learning it, this
+person’s dignified father took him aside, and with many assurances of
+regard presented to him a written sentence, which, he said, would be of
+incomparable value to one engaged in a literary career, and should
+in fact, without any particular qualifications, insure an honourable
+competency. He himself, he added, with what at the time appeared to
+this one as an unnecessary regard for detail, having taken a very
+high degree, and being in consequence appointed to a distinguished and
+remunerative position under the Board of Fines and Tortures, had never
+made any use of it.
+
+“The written sentence, indeed, was all that it had been pronounced. It
+had been composed by a remote ancestor, who had spent his entire life in
+crystallizing all his knowledge and experience into a few written lines,
+which as a result became correspondingly precious. It defined in a very
+original and profound manner several undisputable principles, and was so
+engagingly subtle in its manner of expression that the most superficial
+person was irresistibly thrown into a deep inward contemplation upon
+reading it. When it was complete, the person who had contrived this
+ingenious masterpiece, discovering by means of omens that he still had
+ten years to live, devoted each remaining year to the task of reducing
+the sentence by one word without in any way altering its meaning. This
+unapproachable example of conciseness found such favour in the eyes
+of those who issue printed leaves that as fast as this person could
+inscribe stories containing it they were eagerly purchased; and had it
+not been for a very incapable want of foresight on this narrow-minded
+individual’s part, doubtless it would still be affording him an
+agreeable and permanent means of living.
+
+“Unquestionably the enlightened Wen-weng was well acquainted with the
+subject when he exclaimed, ‘Better a frugal dish of olives flavoured
+with honey than the most sumptuously devised puppy-pie of which the
+greater portion is sent forth in silver-lined boxes and partaken of
+by others.’ At that time, however, this versatile saying--which so
+gracefully conveys the truth of the undeniable fact that what a person
+possesses is sufficient if he restrain his mind from desiring
+aught else--would have been lightly treated by this self-conceited
+story-teller even if his immature faculties had enabled him fully to
+understand the import of so profound and well-digested a remark.
+
+“At that time Tiao Ts’un was undoubtedly the most beautiful maiden in
+all Peking. So frequently were the verses describing her habits and
+appearances affixed in the most prominent places of the city, that many
+persons obtained an honourable livelihood by frequenting those spots
+and disposing of the sacks of written papers which they collected to
+merchants who engaged in that commerce. Owing to the fame attained by
+his written sentence, this really very much inferior being had many
+opportunities of meeting the incomparable maiden Tiao at flower-feasts,
+melon-seed assemblies, and those gatherings where persons of both sexes
+exhibit themselves in revolving attitudes, and are permitted to embrace
+openly without reproach; whereupon he became so subservient to her
+charms and virtues that he lost no opportunity of making himself utterly
+unendurable to any who might chance to speak to, or even gaze upon, this
+Heaven-sent creature.
+
+“So successful was this person in his endeavour to meet the sublime
+Tiao and to gain her conscientious esteem that all emotions of prudence
+forsook him, or it would soon have become apparent even to his enfeebled
+understanding that such consistent good fortune could only be the work
+of unforgiving and malignant spirits whose ill-will he had in some way
+earned, and who were luring him on in order that they might accomplish
+his destruction. That object was achieved on a certain evening when this
+person stood alone with Tiao upon an eminence overlooking the city and
+watched the great sky-lantern rise from behind the hills. Under these
+delicate and ennobling influences he gave speech to many very ornamental
+and refined thoughts which arose within his mind concerning the graceful
+brilliance of the light which was cast all around, yet notwithstanding
+which a still more exceptional and brilliant light was shining in his
+own internal organs by reason of the nearness of an even purer and more
+engaging orb. There was no need, this person felt, to hide even his most
+inside thoughts from the dignified and sympathetic being at his side, so
+without hesitation he spoke--in what he believes even now must have been
+a very decorative manner--of the many thousand persons who were then
+wrapped in sleep, of the constantly changing lights which appeared in
+the city beneath, and of the vastness which everywhere lay around.
+
+“‘O Kai Lung,’ exclaimed the lovely Tiao, when this person had made an
+end of speaking, ‘how expertly and in what a proficient manner do you
+express yourself, uttering even the sentiments which this person has
+felt inwardly, but for which she has no words. Why, indeed, do you not
+inscribe them in a book?’
+
+“Under her elevating influence it had already occurred to this
+illiterate individual that it would be a more dignified and, perhaps,
+even a more profitable course for him to write out and dispose of, to
+those who print such matters, the versatile and high-minded expressions
+which now continually formed his thoughts, rather than be dependent upon
+the concise sentence for which, indeed, he was indebted to the wisdom of
+a remote ancestor. Tiao’s spoken word fully settled his determination,
+so that without delay he set himself to the task of composing a story
+which should omit the usual sentence, but should contain instead a large
+number of his most graceful and diamond-like thoughts. So engrossed did
+this near-sighted and superficial person become in the task (which daily
+seemed to increase rather than lessen as new and still more sublime
+images arose within his mind) that many months passed before the
+matter was complete. In the end, instead of a story, it had assumed the
+proportions of an important and many-volumed book; while Tiao had in the
+meantime accepted the wedding gifts of an objectionable and excessively
+round-bodied individual, who had amassed an inconceivable number of
+taels by inducing persons to take part in what at first sight appeared
+to be an ingenious but very easy competition connected with the order in
+which certain horses should arrive at a given and clearly defined spot.
+By that time, however, this unduly sanguine story-teller had become
+completely entranced in his work, and merely regarded Tiao-Ts’un as a
+Heaven-sent but no longer necessary incentive to his success. With
+every hope, therefore, he went forth to dispose of his written leaves,
+confident of finding some very wealthy person who would be in a
+condition to pay him the correct value of the work.
+
+“At the end of two years this somewhat disillusionized but still
+undaunted person chanced to hear of a benevolent and unassuming body of
+men who made a habit of issuing works in which they discerned merit,
+but which, nevertheless, others were unanimous in describing as ‘of no
+good.’ Here this person was received with gracious effusion, and
+being in a position to impress those with whom he was dealing with his
+undoubted knowledge of the subject, he finally succeeded in making a
+very advantageous arrangement by which he was to pay one-half of the
+number of taels expended in producing the work, and to receive in return
+all the profits which should result from the undertaking. Those who
+were concerned in the matter were so engagingly impressed with the
+incomparable literary merit displayed in the production that they
+counselled a great number of copies being made ready in order, as they
+said, that this person should not lose by there being any delay
+when once the accomplishment became the one topic of conversation in
+tea-houses and yamens. From this cause it came about that the matter of
+taels to be expended was much greater than had been anticipated at the
+beginning, so that when the day arrived on which the volumes were to
+be sent forth this person found that almost his last piece of money had
+disappeared.
+
+“Alas! how small a share has a person in the work of controlling his own
+destiny. Had only the necessarily penurious and now almost degraded Kai
+Lung been born a brief span before the great writer Lo Kuan Chang, his
+name would have been received with every mark of esteem from one end of
+the Empire to the other, while taels and honourable decorations would
+have been showered upon him. For the truth, which could no longer be
+concealed, revealed the fact that this inopportune individual possessed
+a mind framed in such a manner that his thoughts had already been the
+thoughts of the inspired Lo Kuan, who, as this person would not be so
+presumptuous as to inform this ornamental and well-informed gathering,
+was the most ingenious and versatile-minded composer of written words
+that this Empire--and therefore the entire world--has seen, as, indeed,
+his honourable title of ‘The Many-hued Mandarin Duck of the Yang-tse’
+plainly indicates.
+
+“Although this self-opinionated person had frequently been greatly
+surprised himself during the writing of his long work by the brilliance
+and manysidedness of the thoughts and metaphors which arose in his mind
+without conscious effort, it was not until the appearance of the printed
+leaves which make a custom of warning persons against being persuaded
+into buying certain books that he definitely understood how all these
+things had been fully expressed many dynasties ago by the all-knowing
+Lo Kuan Chang, and formed, indeed, the great national standard of
+unapproachable excellence. Unfortunately, this person had been so deeply
+engrossed all his life in literary pursuits that he had never found an
+opportunity to glance at the works in question, or he would have escaped
+the embarrassing position in which he now found himself.
+
+“It was with a hopeless sense of illness of ease that this unhappy one
+reached the day on which the printed leaves already alluded to would
+make known their deliberate opinion of his writing, the extremity of his
+hope being that some would at least credit him with honourable motives,
+and perhaps a knowledge that if the inspired Lo Kuan Chan had never
+been born the entire matter might have been brought to a very different
+conclusion. Alas! only one among the many printed leaves which
+made reference to the venture contained any words of friendship or
+encouragement. This benevolent exception was sent forth from a city
+in the extreme Northern Province of the Empire, and contained many
+inspiring though delicately guarded messages of hope for the one to whom
+they gracefully alluded as ‘this undoubtedly youthful, but nevertheless,
+distinctly promising writer of books.’ While admitting that altogether
+they found the production undeniably tedious, they claimed to have
+discovered indications of an obvious talent, and therefore they
+unhesitatingly counselled the person in question to take courage at the
+prospect of a moderate competency which was certainly within his grasp
+if he restrained his somewhat over-ambitious impulses and closely
+observed the simple subjects and manner of expression of their own Chang
+Chow, whose ‘Lines to a Wayside Chrysanthemum,’ ‘Mongolians who Have,’
+and several other composed pieces, they then set forth. Although it
+became plain that the writer of this amiably devised notice was, like
+this incapable person, entirely unacquainted with the masterpieces of
+Lo Kuan Chang, yet the indisputable fact remained that, entirely on
+its merit, the work had been greeted with undoubted enthusiasm, so that
+after purchasing many examples of the refined printed leaf containing
+it, this person sat far into the night continually reading over the one
+unprejudiced and discriminating expression.
+
+“All the other printed leaves displayed a complete absence of good
+taste in dealing with the matter. One boldly asserted that the entire
+circumstance was the outcome of a foolish jest or wager on the part of
+a person who possessed a million taels; another predicted that it was a
+cunning and elaborately thought-out method of obtaining the attention of
+the people on the part of certain persons who claimed to vend a reliable
+and fragrantly-scented cleansing substance. The _Valley of Hoang Rose
+Leaves and Sweetness_ hoped, in a spirit of no sincerity, that the
+ingenious Kai Lung would not rest on his tea-leaves, but would soon
+send forth an equally entertaining amended example of the _Sayings of
+Confucious_ and other sacred works, while the _Pure Essence of the Seven
+Days’ Happenings_ merely printed side by side portions from the two
+books under the large inscription, ‘IS THERE REALLY ANY NEED FOR US TO
+EXPRESS OURSELVES MORE CLEARLY?’
+
+“The disappointment both as regards public esteem and taels--for, after
+the manner in which the work had been received by those who advise
+on such productions, not a single example was purchased--threw this
+ill-destined individual into a condition of most unendurable depression,
+from which he was only aroused by a remarkable example of the unfailing
+wisdom of the proverb which says ‘Before hastening to secure a possible
+reward of five taels by dragging an unobservant person away from a
+falling building, examine well his features lest you find, when too
+late, that it is one to whom you are indebted for double that amount.’
+Disappointed in the hope of securing large gains from the sale of his
+great work, this person now turned his attention again to his former
+means of living, only to find, however, that the discredit in which he
+had become involved even attached itself to his concise sentence; for in
+place of the remunerative and honourable manner in which it was formerly
+received, it was now regarded on all hands with open suspicion. Instead
+of meekly kow-towing to an evidently pre-arranged doom, the last
+misfortune aroused this usually resigned story-teller to an ungovernable
+frenzy. Regarding the accomplished but at the same time exceedingly
+over-productive Lo Kuan Chang as the beginning of all his evils, he took
+a solemn oath as a mark of disapproval that he had not been content to
+inscribe on paper only half of his brilliant thoughts, leaving the other
+half for the benefit of this hard-striving and equally well-endowed
+individual, in which case there would have been a sufficiency of taels
+and of fame for both.
+
+“For a very considerable space of time this person could conceive no
+method by which he might attain his object. At length, however, as
+a result of very keen and subtle intellectual searching, and many
+well-selected sacrifices, it was conveyed by means of a dream that
+one very ingenious yet simple way was possible. The renowned and
+universally-admired writings of the distinguished Lo Kuan for the most
+part take their action within a few dynasties of their creator’s
+own time: all that remained for this inventive person to accomplish,
+therefore, was to trace out the entire matter, making the words and
+speeches to proceed from the mouths of those who existed in still
+earlier periods. By this crafty method it would at once appear as though
+the not-too-original Lo Kuan had been indebted to one who came before
+him for all his most subtle thoughts, and, in consequence, his tomb
+would become dishonoured and his memory execrated. Without any delay
+this person cheerfully set himself to the somewhat laborious task
+before him. Lo Kuan’s well-known exclamation of the Emperor Tsing on the
+battlefield of Shih-ho, ‘A sedan-chair! a sedan-chair! This person will
+unhesitatingly exchange his entire and well-regulated Empire for such an
+article,’ was attributed to an Emperor who lived several thousand years
+before the treacherous and unpopular Tsing. The new matter of a no less
+frequently quoted portion ran: ‘O nobly intentioned but nevertheless
+exceedingly morose Tung-shin, the object before you is your
+distinguished and evilly-disposed-of father’s honourably-inspired
+demon,’ the change of a name effecting whatever alteration was
+necessary; while the delicately-imagined speech beginning ‘The person
+who becomes amused at matters resulting from double-edged knives has
+assuredly never felt the effect of a well-directed blow himself’ was
+taken from the mouth of one person and placed in that of one of his
+remote ancestors. In such a manner, without in any great degree altering
+the matter of Lo Kuan’s works, all the scenes and persons introduced
+were transferred to much earlier dynasties than those affected by the
+incomparable writer himself, the final effect being to give an air of
+extreme unoriginality to his really undoubtedly genuine conceptions.
+
+“Satisfied with his accomplishment, and followed by a hired person
+of low class bearing the writings, which, by nature of the research
+necessary in fixing the various dates and places so that even the wary
+should be deceived, had occupied the greater part of a year, this now
+fully confident story-teller--unmindful of the well-tried excellence of
+the inspired saying, ‘Money is hundred-footed; upon perceiving a
+tael lying apparently unobserved upon the floor, do not lose the time
+necessary in stooping, but quickly place your foot upon it, for one
+fails nothing in dignity thereby; but should it be a gold piece,
+distrust all things, and valuing dignity but as an empty name, cast your
+entire body upon it’--went forth to complete his great task of finally
+erasing from the mind and records of the Empire the hitherto venerated
+name of Lo Kuan Chang. Entering the place of commerce of the one who
+seemed the most favourable for the purpose, he placed the facts as they
+would in future be represented before him, explained the undoubtedly
+remunerative fame that would ensue to all concerned in the enterprise
+of sending forth the printed books in their new form, and, opening at a
+venture the written leaves which he had brought with him, read out the
+following words as an indication of the similarity of the entire work:
+
+  “‘_Whai-Keng_. Friends, Chinamen, labourers who are engaged in
+  agricultural pursuits, entrust to this person your acute and
+  well-educated ears;
+
+  “‘He has merely come to assist in depositing the body of Ko’ung in
+  the Family Temple, not for the purpose of making remarks about him
+  of a graceful and highly complimentary nature;
+
+  “‘The unremunerative actions of which persons may have been guilty
+  possess an exceedingly undesirable amount of endurance;
+
+  “‘The successful and well-considered almost invariably are
+  involved in a directly contrary course;
+
+  “‘This person desires nothing more than a like fate to await
+  Ko’ung.’
+
+“When this one had read so far, he paused in order to give the other
+an opportunity of breaking in and offering half his possessions to
+be allowed to share in the undertaking. As he remained unaccountably
+silent, however, an inelegant pause occurred which this person at length
+broke by desiring an expressed opinion on the matter.
+
+“‘O exceedingly painstaking, but nevertheless highly inopportune Kai
+Lung,’ he replied at length, while in his countenance this person
+read an expression of no-encouragement towards his venture, ‘all your
+entrancing efforts do undoubtedly appear to attract the undesirable
+attention of some spiteful and tyrannical demon. This closely-written
+and elaborately devised work is in reality not worth the labour of a
+single stroke, nor is there in all Peking a sender forth of printed
+leaves who would encourage any project connected with its issue.’
+
+“‘But the importance of such a fact as that which would clearly show the
+hitherto venerated Lo Kuan Chang to be a person who passed off as his
+own the work of an earlier one!’ cried this person in despair, well
+knowing that the deliberately expressed opinion of the one before him
+was a matter that would rule all others. ‘Consider the interest of the
+discovery.’
+
+“‘The interest would not demand more than a few lines in the ordinary
+printed leaves,’ replied the other calmly. ‘Indeed, in a manner of
+speaking, it is entirely a detail of no consequence whether or not the
+sublime Lo Kuan ever existed. In reality his very commonplace name may
+have been simply Lung; his inspired work may have been written a score
+of dynasties before him by some other person, or they may have been
+composed by the enlightened Emperor of the period, who desired to
+conceal the fact, yet these matters would not for a moment engage the
+interest of any ordinary passer-by. Lo Kuan Chang is not a person in the
+ordinary expression; he is an embodiment of a distinguished and utterly
+unassailable national institution. The Heaven-sent works with which
+he is, by general consent, connected form the necessary unchangeable
+standard of literary excellence, and remain for ever above rivalry and
+above mistrust. For this reason the matter is plainly one which does not
+interest this person.’
+
+“In the course of a not uneventful existence this self-deprecatory
+person has suffered many reverses and disappointments. During his youth
+the high-minded Empress on one occasion stopped and openly complimented
+him on the dignified outline presented by his body in profile, and when
+he was relying upon this incident to secure him a very remunerative
+public office, a jealous and powerful Mandarin substituted a somewhat
+similar, though really very much inferior, person for him at the
+interview which the Empress had commanded. Frequently in matters of
+commerce which have appeared to promise very satisfactorily at the
+beginning this person has been induced to entrust sums of money to
+others, when he had hoped from the indications and the manner of
+speaking that the exact contrary would be the case; and in one
+instance he was released at a vast price from the torture dungeon in
+Canton--where he had been thrown by the subtle and unconscientious
+plots of one who could not relate stories in so accurate and unvarying
+a manner as himself--on the day before that on which all persons were
+freely set at liberty on account of exceptional public rejoicing. Yet in
+spite of these and many other very unendurable incidents, this impetuous
+and ill-starred being never felt so great a desire to retire to a
+solitary place and there disfigure himself permanently as a mark of
+his unfeigned internal displeasure, as on the occasion when he endured
+extreme poverty and great personal inconvenience for an entire year in
+order that he might take away face from the memory of a person who was
+so placed that no one expressed any interest in the matter.
+
+“Since then this very ill-clad and really necessitous person has
+devoted himself to the honourable but exceedingly arduous and in general
+unremunerative occupation of story-telling. To this he would add nothing
+save that not infrequently a nobly-born and highly-cultured audience
+is so entranced with his commonplace efforts to hold the attention,
+especially when a story not hitherto known has been related, that in
+order to afford it an opportunity of expressing its gratification, he
+has been requested to allow another offering to be made by all persons
+present at the conclusion of the entertainment.”
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+THE VENGEANCE OF TUNG FEL
+
+
+For a period not to be measured by days or weeks the air of Ching-fow
+had been as unrestful as that of the locust plains beyond the Great
+Wall, for every speech which passed bore two faces, one fair to hear,
+as a greeting, but the other insidiously speaking behind a screen, of
+rebellion, violence, and the hope of overturning the fixed order of
+events. With those whom they did not mistrust of treachery persons spoke
+in low voices of definite plans, while at all times there might appear
+in prominent places of the city skilfully composed notices setting
+forth great wrongs and injustices towards which resignation and a lowly
+bearing were outwardly counselled, yet with the same words cunningly
+inflaming the minds, even of the patient, as no pouring out of
+passionate thoughts and undignified threatenings could have done. Among
+the people, unknown, unseen, and unsuspected, except to the proved ones
+to whom they desired to reveal themselves, moved the agents of the Three
+Societies. While to the many of Ching-fow nothing was desired or even
+thought of behind the downfall of their own officials, and, chief of
+all, the execution of the evil-minded and depraved Mandarin Ping Siang,
+whose cruelties and extortions had made his name an object of wide and
+deserved loathing, the agents only regarded the city as a bright spot in
+the line of blood and fire which they were fanning into life from Peking
+to Canton, and which would presumably burst forth and involve the entire
+Empire.
+
+Although it had of late become a plain fact, by reason of the manner
+of behaving of the people, that events of a sudden and turbulent nature
+could not long be restrained, yet outwardly there was no exhibition of
+violence, not even to the length of resisting those whom Ping Siang sent
+to enforce his unjust demands, chiefly because a well-founded whisper
+had been sent round that nothing was to be done until Tung Fel should
+arrive, which would not be until the seventh day in the month of Winged
+Dragons. To this all persons agreed, for the more aged among them,
+who, by virtue of their years, were also the formers of opinion in all
+matters, called up within their memories certain events connected with
+the two persons in question which appeared to give to Tung Fel the
+privilege of expressing himself clearly when the matter of finally
+dealing with the malicious and self-willed Mandarin should be engaged
+upon.
+
+Among the mountains which enclose Ching-fow on the southern side dwelt
+a jade-seeker, who also kept goats. Although a young man and entirely
+without relations, he had, by patient industry, contrived to collect
+together a large flock of the best-formed and most prolific goats to be
+found in the neighbourhood, all the money which he received in exchange
+for jade being quickly bartered again for the finest animals which he
+could obtain. He was dauntless in penetrating to the most inaccessible
+parts of the mountains in search of the stone, unfailing in his skilful
+care of the flock, in which he took much honourable pride, and on all
+occasions discreet and unassumingly restrained in his discourse and
+manner of life. Knowing this to be his invariable practice, it was with
+emotions of an agreeable curiosity that on the seventh day of the month
+of Winged Dragons those persons who were passing from place to place in
+the city beheld this young man, Yang Hu, descending the mountain path
+with unmistakable signs of profound agitation, and an entire absence of
+prudent care. Following him closely to the inner square of the city, on
+the continually expressed plea that they themselves had business in
+that quarter, these persons observed Yang Hu take up a position of
+unendurable dejection as he gazed reproachfully at the figure of the
+all-knowing Buddha which surmounted the Temple where it was his custom
+to sacrifice.
+
+“Alas!” he exclaimed, lifting up his voice, when it became plain that
+a large number of people was assembled awaiting his words, “to what end
+does a person strive in this excessively evilly-regulated district? Or
+is it that this obscure and ill-destined one alone is marked out as with
+a deep white cross for humiliation and ruin? Father, and Sacred Temple
+of Ancestral Virtues, wherein the meanest can repose their trust, he has
+none; while now, being more destitute than the beggar at the gate, the
+hope of honourable marriage and a robust family of sons is more remote
+than the chance of finding the miracle-working Crystal Image which marks
+the last footstep of the Pure One. Yesterday this person possessed no
+secret store of silver or gold, nor had he knowledge of any special
+amount of jade hidden among the mountains, but to his call there
+responded four score goats, the most select and majestic to be found in
+all the Province, of which, nevertheless, it was his yearly custom to
+sacrifice one, as those here can testify, and to offer another as a duty
+to the Yamen of Ping Siang, in neither case opening his eyes widely when
+the hour for selecting arrived. Yet in what an unseemly manner is his
+respectful piety and courteous loyalty rewarded! To-day, before this
+person went forth on his usual quest, there came those bearing written
+papers by which they claimed, on the authority of Ping Siang, the
+whole of this person’s flock, as a punishment and fine for his not
+contributing without warning to the Celebration of Kissing the Emperor’s
+Face--the very obligation of such a matter being entirely unknown to
+him. Nevertheless, those who came drove off this person’s entire
+wealth, the desperately won increase of a life full of great toil and
+uncomplainingly endured hardship, leaving him only his cave in the
+rocks, which even the most grasping of many-handed Mandarins cannot
+remove, his cloak of skins, which no beggar would gratefully receive,
+and a bright and increasing light of deep hate scorching within his mind
+which nothing but the blood of the obdurate extortioner can efficiently
+quench. No protection of charms or heavily-mailed bowmen shall
+avail him, for in his craving for just revenge this person will meet
+witchcraft with a Heaven-sent cause and oppose an unsleeping subtlety
+against strength. Therefore let not the innocent suffer through an
+insufficient understanding, O Divine One, but direct the hand of your
+faithful worshipper towards the heart that is proud in tyranny, and
+holds as empty words the clearly defined promise of an all-seeing
+justice.”
+
+Scarcely had Yang Hu made an end of speaking before there happened an
+event which could be regarded in no other light than as a direct answer
+to his plainly expressed request for a definite sign. Upon the clear
+air, which had become unnaturally still at Yang Hu’s words, as though
+to remove any chance of doubt that this indeed was the requested answer,
+came the loud beating of many very powerful brass gongs, indicating the
+approach of some person of undoubted importance. In a very brief period
+the procession reached the square, the gong-beaters being followed
+by persons carrying banners, bowmen in armour, others bearing various
+weapons and instruments of torture, slaves displaying innumerable
+changes of raiment to prove the rank and consequence of their master,
+umbrella carriers and fan wavers, and finally, preceded by incense
+burners and surrounded by servants who cleared away all obstructions by
+means of their formidable and heavily knotted lashes, the unworthy and
+deceitful Mandarin Ping Siang, who sat in a silk-hung and elaborately
+wrought chair, looking from side to side with gestures and expressions
+of contempt and ill-restrained cupidity.
+
+At the sign of this powerful but unscrupulous person all those who were
+present fell upon their faces, leaving a broad space in their midst,
+except Yang Hu, who stepped back into the shadow of a doorway, being
+resolved that he would not prostrate himself before one whom Heaven had
+pointed out as the proper object of his just vengeance.
+
+When the chair of Ping Siang could no longer be observed in the
+distance, and the sound of his many gongs had died away, all the persons
+who had knelt at his approach rose to their feet, meeting each other’s
+eyes with glances of assured and profound significance. At length there
+stepped forth an exceedingly aged man, who was generally believed to
+have the power of reading omens and forecasting futures, so that at his
+upraised hand all persons became silent.
+
+“Behold!” he exclaimed, “none can turn aside in doubt from the
+deliberately pointed finger of Buddha. Henceforth, in spite of the
+well-intentioned suggestions of those who would shield him under the
+plea of exacting orders from high ones at Peking or extortions practised
+by slaves under him of which he is ignorant, there can no longer be any
+two voices concerning the guilty one. Yet what does the knowledge of
+the cormorant’s cry avail the golden carp in the shallow waters of the
+Yuen-Kiang? A prickly mormosa is an adequate protection against a naked
+man armed only with a just cause, and a company of bowmen has been known
+to quench an entire city’s Heaven-felt desire for retribution. This
+person, and doubtless others also, would have experienced a more
+heartfelt enthusiasm in the matter if the sublime and omnipotent
+Buddha had gone a step further, and pointed out not only the one to
+be punished, but also the instrument by which the destiny could be
+prudently and effectively accomplished.”
+
+From the mountain path which led to Yang Hu’s cave came a voice, like
+an expressly devised reply to this speech. It was that of some person
+uttering the “Chant of Rewards and Penalties”:
+
+  “How strong is the mountain sycamore!
+  “Its branches reach the Middle Air, and the eye of none can pierce
+      its foliage;
+  “It draws power and nourishment from all around, so that weeds
+      alone may flourish under its shadow.
+  “Robbers find safety within the hollow of its trunk; its branches
+      hide vampires and all manner of evil things which prey upon
+      the innocent;
+  “The wild boar of the forest sharpen their tusks against the bark,
+      for it is harder than flint, and the axe of the woodsman turns
+      back upon the striker.
+  “Then cries the sycamore, ‘Hail and rain have no power against me,
+      nor can the fiercest sun penetrate beyond my outside fringe;
+  “‘The man who impiously raises his hand against me falls by his
+      own stroke and weapon.
+  “‘Can there be a greater or a more powerful than this one?
+      Assuredly, _I_ am Buddha; let all things obey me.’
+  “Whereupon the weeds bow their heads, whispering among themselves,
+      ‘The voice of the Tall One we hear, but not that of Buddha.
+      Indeed, it is doubtless as he says.’
+  “In his musk-scented Heaven Buddha laughs, and not deigning to
+      raise his head from the lap of the Phœnix Goddess, he thrusts
+      forth a stone which lies by his foot.
+  “Saying, ‘A god’s present for a god. Take it carefully, O
+      presumptuous Little One, for it is hot to the touch.’
+  “The thunderbolt falls and the mighty tree is rent in twain. ‘They
+      asked for my messenger,’ said the Pure One, turning again to
+      repose.
+  “_Lo, he comes_!”
+
+With the last spoken word there came into the sight of those who were
+collected together a person of stern yet engaging appearance. His hands
+and face were the colour of mulberry stain by long exposure to the sun,
+while his eyes looked forth like two watch-fires outside a wolf-haunted
+camp. His long pigtail was tangled with the binding tendrils of the
+forest, and damp with the dew of an open couch. His apparel was in no
+way striking or brilliant, yet he strode with the dignity and air of a
+high official, pushing before him a covered box upon wheels.
+
+“It is Tung Fel!” cried many who stood there watching his approach,
+in tones which showed those who spoke to be inspired by a variety of
+impressive emotions. “Undoubtedly this is the seventh day of the month
+of Winged Dragons, and, as he specifically stated would be the case, lo!
+he has come.”
+
+Few were the words of greeting which Tung Fel accorded even to the most
+venerable of those who awaited him.
+
+“This person has slept, partaken of fruit and herbs, and devoted an
+allotted time to inward contemplation,” he said briefly. “Other and
+more weighty matters than the exchange of dignified compliments and the
+admiration of each other’s profiles remain to be accomplished. What, for
+example, is the significance of the written parchment which is displayed
+in so obtrusive a manner before our eyes? Bring it to this person
+without delay.”
+
+At these words all those present followed Tung Fel’s gaze with
+astonishment, for conspicuously displayed upon the wall of the Temple
+was a written notice which all joined in asserting had not been there
+the moment before, though no man had approached the spot. Nevertheless
+it was quickly brought to Tung Fel, who took it without any fear or
+hesitation and read aloud the words which it contained.
+
+           “TO THE CUSTOM-RESPECTING PERSONS OF CHING-FOW.
+
+  “Truly the span of existence of any upon this earth is brief and
+  not to be considered; therefore, O unfortunate dwellers of
+  Ching-fow, let it not affect your digestion that your bodies are
+  in peril of sudden and most excruciating tortures and your Family
+  Temples in danger of humiliating disregard.
+
+  “Why do your thoughts follow the actions of the noble Mandarin
+  Ping Siang so insidiously, and why after each unjust exaction do
+  your eyes look redly towards the Yamen?
+
+  “Is he not the little finger of those at Peking, obeying their
+  commands and only carrying out the taxation which others have
+  devised? Indeed, he himself has stated such to be the fact. If,
+  therefore, a terrible and unforeseen fate overtook the usually
+  cautious and well-armed Ping Siang, doubtless--perhaps after the
+  lapse of some considerable time--another would be sent from Peking
+  for a like purpose, and in this way, after a too-brief period of
+  heaven-sent rest and prosperity, affairs would regulate themselves
+  into almost as unendurable a condition as before.
+
+  “Therefore ponder these things well, O passer-by. Yesterday the
+  only man-child of Huang the wood-carver was taken away to be sold
+  into slavery by the emissaries of the most just Ping Siang (who
+  would not have acted thus, we are assured, were it not for the
+  insatiable ones at Peking), as it had become plain that the very
+  necessitous Huang had no other possession to contribute to the
+  amount to be expended in coloured lights as a mark of public
+  rejoicing on the occasion of the moonday of the sublime Emperor.
+  The illiterate and prosaic-minded Huang, having in a most unseemly
+  manner reviled and even assailed those who acted in the matter,
+  has been effectively disposed of, and his wife now alternately
+  laughs and shrieks in the Establishment of Irregular Intellects.
+
+  “For this reason, gazer, and because the matter touches you more
+  closely than, in your self-imagined security, you are prone to
+  think, deal expediently with the time at your disposal. Look twice
+  and lingeringly to-night upon the face of your first-born, and
+  clasp the form of your favourite one in a closer embrace, for he
+  by whose hand the blow is directed may already have cast devouring
+  eyes upon their fairness, and to-morrow he may say to his armed
+  men: ‘The time is come; bring her to me.’”
+
+“From the last sentence of the well-intentioned and undoubtedly
+moderately-framed notice this person will take two phrases,” remarked
+Tung Fel, folding the written paper and placing it among his
+garments, “which shall serve him as the title of the lifelike and
+accurately-represented play which it is his self-conceited intention
+now to disclose to this select and unprejudiced gathering. The scene
+represents an enlightened and well-merited justice overtaking an
+arrogant and intolerable being who--need this person add?--existed many
+dynasties ago, and the title is:
+
+                         “THE TIME IS COME!
+                           BY WHOSE HAND?”
+
+Delivering himself in this manner, Tung Fel drew back the hanging
+drapery which concealed the front of his large box, and disclosed to
+those who were gathered round, not, as they had expected, a passage
+from the Record of the Three Kingdoms, or some other dramatic work of
+undoubted merit, but an ingeniously constructed representation of a
+scene outside the walls of their own Ching-fow. On one side was a small
+but minutely accurate copy of a wood-burner’s hut, which was known to
+all present, while behind stood out the distant but nevertheless
+unmistakable walls of the city. But it was the nearest part of the
+spectacle that first held the attention of the entranced beholders, for
+there disported themselves, in every variety of guileless and
+attractive attitude, a number of young and entirely unconcerned doves.
+Scarcely had the delighted onlookers fully observed the pleasing and
+effective scene, or uttered their expressions of polished satisfaction
+at the graceful and unassuming behaviour of the pretty creatures before
+them, than the view entirely changed, and, as if by magic, the massive
+and inelegant building of Ping Siang’s Yamen was presented before them.
+As all gazed, astonished, the great door of the Yamen opened
+stealthily, and without a moment’s pause a lean and ill-conditioned
+rat, of unnatural size and rapacity, dashed out and seized the most
+select and engaging of the unsuspecting prey in its hungry jaws. With
+the expiring cry of the innocent victim the entire box was immediately,
+and in the most unexpected manner, involved in a profound darkness,
+which cleared away as suddenly and revealed the forms of the despoiler
+and the victim lying dead by each other’s side.
+
+Tung Fel came forward to receive the well-selected compliments of all
+who had witnessed the entertainment.
+
+“It may be objected,” he remarked, “that the play is, in a manner of
+expressing one’s self, incomplete; for it is unrevealed by whose hand
+the act of justice was accomplished. Yet in this detail is the accuracy
+of the representation justified, for though the time has come, the hand
+by which retribution is accorded shall never be observed.”
+
+In such a manner did Tung Fel come to Ching-fow on the seventh day of
+the month of Winged Dragons, throwing aside all restraint, and no longer
+urging prudence or delay. Of all the throng which stood before him
+scarcely one was without a deep offence against Ping Siang, while those
+who had not as yet suffered feared what the morrow might display.
+
+A wandering monk from the Island of Irredeemable Plagues was the first
+to step forth in response to Tung Fel’s plainly understood suggestion.
+
+“There is no necessity for this person to undertake further acts of
+benevolence,” he remarked, dropping the cloak from his shoulder and
+displaying the hundred and eight scars of extreme virtue; “nor,” he
+continued, holding up his left hand, from which three fingers were burnt
+away, “have greater endurances been neglected. Yet the matter before
+this distinguished gathering is one which merits the favourable
+consideration of all persons, and this one will in no manner turn away,
+recounting former actions, while he allows others to press forward
+towards the accomplishment of the just and divinely-inspired act.”
+
+With these words the devout and unassuming person in question inscribed
+his name upon a square piece of rice-paper, attesting his sincerity to
+the fixed purpose for which it was designed by dipping his thumb into
+the mixed blood of the slain animals and impressing this unalterable
+seal upon the paper also. He was followed by a seller of drugs and
+subtle medicines, whose entire stock had been seized and destroyed by
+order of Ping Siang, so that no one in Ching-fow might obtain poison
+for his destruction. Then came an overwhelming stream of persons, all of
+whom had received some severe and well-remembered injury at the hands
+of the malicious and vindictive Mandarin. All these followed a similar
+observance, inscribing their names and binding themselves by the Blood
+Oath. Last of all Yang Hu stepped up, partly from a natural modesty
+which restrained him from offering himself when so many more versatile
+persons of proved excellence were willing to engage in the matter, and
+partly because an ill-advised conflict was taking place within his mind
+as to whether the extreme course which was contemplated was the most
+expedient to pursue. At last, however, he plainly perceived that he
+could not honourably withhold himself from an affair that was in a
+measure the direct outcome of his own unendurable loss, so that without
+further hesitation he added his obscure name to the many illustrious
+ones already in Tung Fel’s keeping.
+
+When at length dark fell upon the city and the cries of the watchmen,
+warning all prudent ones to bar well their doors against robbers,
+as they themselves were withdrawing until the morrow, no longer rang
+through the narrow ways of Ching-fow, all those persons who had pledged
+themselves by name and seal went forth silently, and came together at
+the place whereof Tung Fel had secretly conveyed them knowledge. There
+Tung Fel, standing somewhat apart, placed all the folded papers in the
+form of a circle, and having performed over them certain observances
+designed to insure a just decision and to keep away evil influences,
+submitted the selection to the discriminating choice of the Sacred
+Flat and Round Sticks. Having in this manner secured the name of
+the appointed person who should carry out the act of justice and
+retribution, Tung Fel unfolded the paper, inscribed certain words upon
+it, and replaced it among the others.
+
+“The moment before great deeds,” began Tung Fel, stepping forward and
+addressing himself to the expectant ones who were gathered round, “is
+not the time for light speech, nor, indeed, for sentences of dignified
+length, no matter how pleasantly turned to the ear they may be. Before
+this person stand many who are undoubtedly illustrious in various
+arts and virtues, yet one among them is pre-eminently marked out for
+distinction in that his name shall be handed down in imperishable
+history as that of a patriot of a pure-minded and uncompromising degree.
+With him there is no need of further speech, and to this end I have
+inscribed certain words upon his namepaper. To everyone this person will
+now return the paper which has been entrusted to him, folded so that
+the nature of its contents shall be an unwritten leaf to all others. Nor
+shall the papers be unfolded by any until he is within his own chamber,
+with barred doors, where all, save the one who shall find the message,
+shall remain, not venturing forth until daybreak. I, Tung Fel, have
+spoken, and assuredly I shall not eat my word, which is that a certain
+and most degrading death awaits any who transgress these commands.”
+
+It was with the short and sudden breath of the cowering antelope when
+the stealthy tread of the pitiless tiger approaches its lair, that Yang
+Hu opened his paper in the seclusion of his own cave; for his mind was
+darkened with an inspired inside emotion that he, the one doubting among
+the eagerly proffering and destructively inclined multitude, would
+be chosen to accomplish the high aim for which, indeed, he felt
+exceptionally unworthy. The written sentence which he perceived
+immediately upon unfolding the paper, instructing him to appear again
+before Tung Fel at the hour of midnight, was, therefore, nothing but
+the echo and fulfilment of his own thoughts, and served in reality to
+impress his mind with calmer feelings of dignified unconcern than would
+have been the case had he not been chosen. Having neither possessions
+nor relations, the occupation of disposing of his goods and making
+ceremonious and affectionate leavetakings of his family, against the
+occurrence of any unforeseen disaster, engrossed no portion of Yang Hu’s
+time. Yet there was one matter to which no reference has yet been made,
+but which now forces itself obtrusively upon the attention, which was
+in a large measure responsible for many of the most prominent actions
+of Yang Hu’s life, and, indeed, in no small degree influenced his
+hesitation in offering himself before Tung Fel.
+
+Not a bowshot distance from the place where the mountain path entered
+the outskirts of the city lived Hiya-ai-Shao with her parents, who
+were persons of assured position, though of no particular wealth. For a
+period not confined to a single year it had been the custom of Yang Hu
+to offer to this elegant and refined maiden all the rarest pieces
+of jade which he could discover, while the most symmetrical and
+remunerative she-goat in his flock enjoyed the honourable distinction of
+bearing her incomparable name. Towards the almond garden of Hiya’s abode
+Yang Hu turned his footsteps upon leaving his cave, and standing there,
+concealed from all sides by the white and abundant flower-laden foliage,
+he uttered a sound which had long been an agreed signal between them.
+Presently a faint perfume of choo-lan spoke of her near approach, and
+without delay Hiya herself stood by his side.
+
+“Well-endowed one,” said Yang Hu, when at length they had gazed upon
+each other’s features and made renewals of their protestations of mutual
+regard, “the fixed intentions of a person have often been fitly likened
+to the seed of the tree-peony, so ineffectual are their efforts among
+the winds of constantly changing circumstance. The definite hope of
+this person had long pointed towards a small but adequate habitation,
+surrounded by sweet-smelling olive-trees and not far distant from the
+jade cliffs and pastures which would afford a sufficient remuneration
+and a means of living. This entrancing picture has been blotted out for
+the time, and in its place this person finds himself face to face with
+an arduous and dangerous undertaking, followed, perhaps, by hasty and
+immediate flight. Yet if the adorable Hiya will prove the unchanging
+depths of her constantly expressed intention by accompanying him as
+far as the village of Hing where suitable marriage ceremonies can be
+observed without delay, the exile will in reality be in the nature of
+a triumphal procession, and the emotions with which this person has
+hitherto regarded the entire circumstance will undergo a complete and
+highly accomplished change.”
+
+“Oh, Yang!” exclaimed the maiden, whose feelings at hearing these words
+were in no way different from those of her lover when he was on the
+point of opening the folded paper upon which Tung Fel had written; “what
+is the nature of the mission upon which you are so impetuously resolved?
+and why will it be followed by flight?”
+
+“The nature of the undertaking cannot be revealed by reason of a
+deliberately taken oath,” replied Yang Hu; “and the reason of its
+possible consequence is a less important question to the two persons who
+are here conversing together than of whether the amiable and graceful
+Hiya is willing to carry out her often-expressed desire for an
+opportunity of displaying the true depths of her emotions towards this
+one.”
+
+“Alas!” said Hiya, “the sentiments which this person expressed with
+irreproachable honourableness when the sun was high in the heavens and
+the probability of secretly leaving an undoubtedly well-appointed home
+was engagingly remote, seem to have an entirely different significance
+when recalled by night in a damp orchard, and on the eve of their
+fulfilment. To deceive one’s parents is an ignoble prospect;
+furthermore, it is often an exceedingly difficult undertaking. Let the
+matter be arranged in this way: that Yang leaves the ultimate details
+of the scheme to Hiya’s expedient care, he proceeding without delay
+to Hing, or, even more desirable, to the further town of Liyunnan,
+and there awaiting her coming. By such means the risk of discovery and
+pursuit will be lessened, Yang will be able to set forth on his journey
+with greater speed, and this one will have an opportunity of getting
+together certain articles without which, indeed, she would be very
+inadequately equipped.”
+
+In spite of his conscientious desire that Hiya should be by his side
+on the journey, together with an unendurable certainty that evil would
+arise from the course she proposed, Yang was compelled by an innate
+feeling of respect to agree to her wishes, and in this manner the
+arrangement was definitely concluded. Thereupon Hiya, without delay,
+returned to the dwelling, remarking that otherwise her absence might be
+detected and the entire circumstance thereby discovered, leaving Yang Hu
+to continue his journey and again present himself before Tung Fel, as he
+had been instructed.
+
+Tung Fel was engaged with brush and ink when Yang Hu entered. Round him
+were many written parchments, some venerable with age, and a variety
+of other matters, among which might be clearly perceived weapons, and
+devices for reading the future. He greeted Yang with many tokens of
+dignified respect, and with an evidently restrained emotion led him
+towards the light of a hanging lantern, where he gazed into his face for
+a considerable period with every indication of exceptional concern.
+
+“Yang Hu,” he said at length, “at such a moment many dark and searching
+thoughts may naturally arise in the mind concerning objects and reasons,
+omens, and the moving cycle of events. Yet in all these, out of a wisdom
+gained by deep endurance and a hardly-won experience beyond the common
+lot, this person would say, Be content. The hand of destiny, though it
+may at times appear to move in a devious manner, is ever approaching its
+appointed aim. To this end were you chosen.”
+
+“The choice was openly made by wise and proficient omens,” replied Yang
+Hu, without any display of uncertainty of purpose, “and this person is
+content.”
+
+Tung Fel then administered to Yang the Oath of Buddha’s Face and the One
+called the Unutterable (which may not be further described in written
+words) thereby binding his body and soul, and the souls and repose of
+all who had gone before him in direct line and all who should in a like
+manner follow after, to the accomplishment of the design. All spoken
+matter being thus complete between them, he gave him a mask with which
+he should pass unknown through the streets and into the presence of Ping
+Siang, a variety of weapons to use as the occasion arose, and a sign
+by which the attendants at the Yamen would admit him without further
+questioning.
+
+As Yang Hu passed through the streets of Ching-fow, which were in a
+great measure deserted owing to the command of Tung Fel, he was aware of
+many mournful and foreboding sounds which accompanied him on all sides,
+while shadowy faces, bearing signs of intolerable anguish and despair,
+continually formed themselves out of the wind. By the time he reached
+the Yamen a tempest of exceptional violence was in progress, nor were
+other omens absent which tended to indicate that matters of a very
+unpropitious nature were about to take place.
+
+At each successive door of the Yamen the attendant stepped back and
+covered his face, so that he should by no chance perceive who had come
+upon so destructive a mission, the instant Yang Hu uttered the sign with
+which Tung Fel had provided him. In this manner Yang quickly reached the
+door of the inner chamber upon which was inscribed: “Let the person who
+comes with a doubtful countenance, unbidden, or meditating treachery,
+remember the curse and manner of death which attended Lai Kuen, who
+slew the one over him; so shall he turn and go forth in safety.” This
+unworthy safeguard at the hands of a person who passed his entire life
+in altering the fixed nature of justice, and who never went beyond his
+outer gate without an armed company of bowmen, inspired Yang Hu with
+so incautious a contempt, that without any hesitation he drew forth his
+brush and ink, and in a spirit of bitter signification added the words,
+“‘Come, let us eat together,’ said the wolf to the she-goat.”
+
+Being now within a step of Ping Siang and the completion of his
+undertaking, Yang Hu drew tighter the cords of his mask, tested and
+proved his weapons, and then, without further delay, threw open the door
+before him and stepped into the chamber, barring the door quickly so
+that no person might leave or enter without his consent.
+
+At this interruption and manner of behaving, which clearly indicated
+the nature of the errand upon which the person before him had come,
+Ping Siang rose from his couch and stretched out his hand towards a gong
+which lay beside him.
+
+“All summonses for aid are now unavailing, Ping Siang,” exclaimed Yang,
+without in any measure using delicate or set phrases of speech; “for,
+as you have doubtless informed yourself, the slaves of tyrants are the
+first to welcome the downfall of their lord.”
+
+“The matter of your speech is as emptiness to this person,” replied the
+Mandarin, affecting with extreme difficulty an appearance of no-concern.
+“In what manner has he fallen? And how will the depraved and self-willed
+person before him avoid the well-deserved tortures which certainly await
+him in the public square on the morrow, as the reward of his intolerable
+presumptions?”
+
+“O Mandarin,” cried Yang Hu, “the fitness and occasion for such speeches
+as the one to which you have just given utterance lie as far behind you
+as the smoke of yesterday’s sacrifice. With what manner of eyes have you
+frequently journeyed through Ching-fow of late, if the signs and
+omens there have not already warned you to prepare a coffin adequately
+designed to receive your well-proportioned body? Has not the pungent
+vapour of burning houses assailed your senses at every turn, or the salt
+tears from the eyes of forlorn ones dashed your peach-tea and spiced
+foods with bitterness?”
+
+“Alas!” exclaimed Ping Siang, “this person now certainly begins to
+perceive that many things which he has unthinkingly allowed would
+present a very unendurable face to others.”
+
+“In such a manner has it appeared to all Ching-fow,” said Yang Hu; “and
+the justice of your death has been universally admitted. Even should
+this one fail there would be an innumerable company eager to take his
+place. Therefore, O Ping Siang, as the only favour which it is within
+this person’s power to accord, select that which in your opinion is the
+most agreeable manner and weapon for your end.”
+
+“It is truly said that at the Final Gate of the Two Ways the necessity
+for elegant and well-chosen sentences ends,” remarked Ping Siang with a
+sigh, “otherwise the manner of your address would be open to reproach.
+By your side this person perceives a long and apparently highly-tempered
+sword, which, in his opinion, will serve the purpose efficiently. Having
+no remarks of an improving but nevertheless exceedingly tedious nature
+with which to imprint the occasion for the benefit of those who come
+after, his only request is that the blow shall be an unhesitating and
+sufficiently well-directed one.”
+
+At these words Yang Hu threw back his cloak to grasp the sword-handle,
+when the Mandarin, with his eyes fixed on the naked arm, and evidently
+inspired by every manner of conflicting emotions, uttered a cry of
+unspeakable wonder and incomparable surprise.
+
+“The Serpent!” he cried, in a voice from which all evenness and control
+were absent. “The Sacred Serpent of our Race! O mysterious one, who and
+whence are you?”
+
+Engulfed in an all-absorbing doubt at the nature of events, Yang could
+only gaze at the form of the serpent which had been clearly impressed
+upon his arm from the earliest time of his remembrance, while Ping
+Siang, tearing the silk garment from his own arm and displaying thereon
+a similar form, continued:
+
+“Behold the inevitable and unvarying birthmark of our race! So it was
+with this person’s father and the ones before him; so it was with his
+treacherously-stolen son; so it will be to the end of all time.”
+
+Trembling beyond all power of restraint, Yang removed the mask which had
+hitherto concealed his face.
+
+“Father or race has this person none,” he said, looking into Ping
+Siang’s features with an all-engaging hope, tempered in a measure by a
+soul-benumbing dread; “nor memory or tradition of an earlier state than
+when he herded goats and sought for jade in the southern mountains.”
+
+“Nevertheless,” exclaimed the Mandarin, whose countenance was lightened
+with an interest and a benevolent emotion which had never been seen
+there before, “beyond all possibility of doubting, you are this
+person’s lost and greatly-desired son, stolen away many years ago by
+the treacherous conduct of an unworthy woman, yet now happily and
+miraculously restored to cherish his declining years and perpetuate an
+honourable name and race.”
+
+“Happily!” exclaimed Yang, with fervent indications of uncontrollable
+bitterness. “Oh, my illustrious sire, at whose venerated feet this
+unworthy person now prostrates himself with well-merited marks of
+reverence and self-abasement, has the errand upon which an ignoble son
+entered--the every memory of which now causes him the acutest agony
+of the lost, but which nevertheless he is pledged to Tung Fel by the
+Unutterable Oath to perform--has this unnatural and eternally cursed
+thing escaped your versatile mind?”
+
+“Tung Fel!” cried Ping Siang. “Is, then, this blow also by the hand of
+that malicious and vindictive person? Oh, what a cycle of events and
+interchanging lines of destiny do your words disclose!”
+
+“Who, then, is Tung Fel, my revered Father?” demanded Yang.
+
+“It is a matter which must be made clear from the beginning,” replied
+Ping Siang. “At one time this person and Tung Fel were, by nature
+and endowments, united in the most amiable bonds of an inseparable
+friendship. Presently Tung Fel signed the preliminary contract of
+a marriage with one who seemed to be endowed with every variety of
+enchanting and virtuous grace, but who was, nevertheless, as the
+unrolling of future events irresistibly discovered, a person of
+irregular character and undignified habits. On the eve of the marriage
+ceremony this person was made known to her by the undoubtedly enraptured
+Tung Fel, whereupon he too fell into the snare of her engaging
+personality, and putting aside all thoughts of prudent restraint, made
+her more remunerative offers of marriage than Tung Fel could by any
+possible chance overbid. In such a manner--for after the nature of
+her kind riches were exceptionally attractive to her degraded
+imagination--she became this person’s wife, and the mother of his only
+son. In spite of these great honours, however, the undoubted perversity
+of her nature made her an easy accomplice to the duplicity of Tung
+Fel, who, by means of various disguises, found frequent opportunity of
+uttering in her presence numerous well-thought-out suggestions specially
+designed to lead her imagination towards an existence in which this
+person had no adequate representation. Becoming at length terrified at
+the possibility of these unworthy emotions, obtruding themselves upon
+this person’s notice, the two in question fled together, taking with
+them the one who without any doubt is now before me. Despite the most
+assiduous search and very tempting and profitable offers of reward, no
+information of a reliable nature could be obtained, and at length
+this dispirited and completely changed person gave up the pursuit as
+unavailing. With his son and heir, upon whose future he had greatly
+hoped, all emotions of a generous and high-minded nature left him, and
+in a very short space of time he became the avaricious and deservedly
+unpopular individual against whose extortions the amiable and
+long-suffering ones of Ching-fow have for so many years protested
+mildly. The sudden and not altogether unexpected fate which is now
+on the point of reaching him is altogether too lenient to be entirely
+adequate.”
+
+“Oh, my distinguished and really immaculate sire!” cried Yang Hu, in a
+voice which expressed the deepest feelings of contrition. “No oaths or
+vows, however sacred, can induce this person to stretch forth his hand
+against the one who stands before him.”
+
+“Nevertheless,” replied Ping Siang, speaking of the matter as though it
+were one which did not closely concern his own existence, “to neglect
+the Unutterable Oath would inevitably involve not only the two persons
+who are now conversing together, but also those before and those who are
+to come after in direct line, in a much worse condition of affairs. That
+is a fate which this person would by no means permit to exist, for one
+of his chief desires has ever been to establish a strong and vigorous
+line, to which end, indeed, he was even now concluding a marriage
+arrangement with the beautiful and refined Hiya-ai-Shao, whom he had
+at length persuaded into accepting his betrothal tokens without
+reluctance.”
+
+“Hiya-ai-Shao!” exclaimed Yang; “she has accepted your silk-bound
+gifts?”
+
+“The matter need not concern us now,” replied the Mandarin, not
+observing in his complicated emotions the manner in which the name of
+Hiya had affected Yang, revealing as it undoubtedly did the treachery of
+his beloved one. “There only appears to be one honourable way in which
+the full circumstances can be arranged, and this person will in no
+measure endeavour to avoid it.”
+
+“Such an end is neither ignoble nor painful,” he said, in an unchanging
+voice; “nor will this one in any way shrink from so easy and honourable
+a solution.”
+
+“The affairs of the future do not exhibit themselves in delicately
+coloured hues to this person,” said Yang Hu; “and he would, if the thing
+could be so arranged, cheerfully submit to a similar fate in order that
+a longer period of existence should be assured to one who has every
+variety of claim upon his affection.”
+
+“The proposal is a graceful and conscientious one,” said Ping Siang,
+“and is, moreover, a gratifying omen of the future of our race, which
+must of necessity be left in your hands. But, for that reason itself,
+such a course cannot be pursued. Nevertheless, the events of the past
+few hours have been of so exceedingly prosperous and agreeable a nature
+that this short-sighted and frequently desponding person can now
+pass beyond with a tranquil countenance and every assurance of divine
+favour.”
+
+With these words Ping Siang indicated that he was desirous of setting
+forth the Final Expression, and arranging the necessary matters upon the
+table beside him, he stretched forth his hands over Yang Hu, who placed
+himself in a suitable attitude of reverence and abasement.
+
+“Yang Hu,” began the Mandarin, “undoubted son, and, after the
+accomplishment of the intention which it is our fixed purpose to carry
+out, fitting representative of the person who is here before you,
+engrave well within your mind the various details upon which he now
+gives utterance. Regard the virtues; endeavour to pass an amiable and
+at the same time not unremunerative existence; and on all occasions
+sacrifice freely, to the end that the torments of those who have gone
+before may be made lighter, and that others may be induced in turn to
+perform a like benevolent charity for yourself. Having expressed
+himself upon these general subjects, this person now makes a last and
+respectfully-considered desire, which it is his deliberate wish should
+be carried to the proper deities as his final expression of opinion:
+That Yang Hu may grow as supple as the dried juice of the bending-palm,
+and as straight as the most vigorous bamboo from the forests of the
+North. That he may increase beyond the prolificness of the white-necked
+crow and cover the ground after the fashion of the binding grass.
+That in battle his sword may be as a vividly-coloured and many-forked
+lightning flash, accompanied by thunderbolts as irresistible as Buddha’s
+divine wrath; in peace his voice as resounding as the rolling of many
+powerful drums among the Khingan Mountains. That when the kindled fire
+of his existence returns to the great Mountain of Pure Flame the earth
+shall accept again its component parts, and in no way restrain the
+divine essence from journeying to its destined happiness. These words
+are Ping Siang’s last expression of opinion before he passes beyond,
+given in the unvarying assurance that so sacred and important a petition
+will in no way be neglected.”
+
+Having in this manner completed all the affairs which seemed to be of
+a necessary and urgent nature, and fixing his last glance upon Yang Hu
+with every variety of affectionate and estimable emotion, the Mandarin
+drank a sufficient quantity of the liquid, and placing himself upon a
+couch in an attitude of repose, passed in this dignified and unassuming
+manner into the Upper Air.
+
+After the space of a few moments spent in arranging certain objects and
+in inward contemplation, Yang Hu crossed the chamber, still holding
+the half-filled vessel of gold-leaf in his hand, and drawing back the
+hanging silk, gazed over the silent streets of Ching-fow and towards the
+great sky-lantern above.
+
+“Hiya is faithless,” he said at length in an unspeaking voice; “this
+person’s mother a bitter-tasting memory, his father a swiftly passing
+shadow that is now for ever lost.” His eyes rested upon the closed
+vessel in his hand. “Gladly would--” his thoughts began, but with
+this unworthy image a new impression formed itself within his mind. “A
+clearly-expressed wish was uttered,” he concluded, “and Tung Fel still
+remains.” With this resolution he stepped back into the chamber and
+struck the gong loudly.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+THE CAREER OF THE CHARITABLE QUEN-KI-TONG
+
+
+                     FIRST PERIOD
+                  THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL
+
+“The motives which inspired the actions of the devout Quen-Ki-Tong have
+long been ill-reported,” said Kai Lung the story-teller, upon a certain
+occasion at Wu-whei, “and, as a consequence, his illustrious memory has
+suffered somewhat. Even as the insignificant earth-worm may bring
+the precious and many coloured jewel to the surface, so has it been
+permitted to this obscure and superficially educated one to discover
+the truth of the entire matter among the badly-arranged and frequently
+really illegible documents preserved at the Hall of Public Reference at
+Peking. Without fear of contradiction, therefore, he now sets forth the
+credible version.
+
+“Quen-Ki-Tong was one who throughout his life had been compelled by
+the opposing force of circumstances to be content with what was offered
+rather than attain to that which he desired. Having been allowed to
+wander over the edge of an exceedingly steep crag, while still a child,
+by the aged and untrustworthy person who had the care of him, and yet
+suffering little hurt, he was carried back to the city in triumph,
+by the one in question, who, to cover her neglect, declared amid
+many chants of exultation that as he slept a majestic winged form had
+snatched him from her arms and traced magical figures with his body on
+the ground in token of the distinguished sacred existence for which he
+was undoubtedly set apart. In such a manner he became famed at a very
+early age for an unassuming mildness of character and an almost inspired
+piety of life, so that on every side frequent opportunity was given him
+for the display of these amiable qualities. Should it chance that an
+insufficient quantity of puppy-pie had been prepared for the family
+repast, the undesirable but necessary portion of cold dried rat would
+inevitably be allotted to the uncomplaining Quen, doubtless accompanied
+by the engaging but unnecessary remark that he alone had a Heaven-sent
+intellect which was fixed upon more sublime images than even the
+best constructed puppy-pie. Should the number of sedan-chairs not be
+sufficient to bear to the Exhibition of Kites all who were desirous of
+becoming entertained in such a fashion, inevitably would Quen be the one
+left behind, in order that he might have adequate leisure for dignified
+and pure-minded internal reflexion.
+
+“In this manner it came about that when a very wealthy but unnaturally
+avaricious and evil-tempered person who was connected with Quen’s father
+in matters of commerce expressed his fixed determination that the most
+deserving and enlightened of his friend’s sons should enter into a
+marriage agreement with his daughter, there was no manner of hesitation
+among those concerned, who admitted without any questioning between
+themselves that Quen was undeniably the one referred to.
+
+“Though naturally not possessing an insignificant intellect, a
+continuous habit, together with a most irreproachable sense of filial
+duty, subdued within Quen’s internal organs whatever reluctance he might
+have otherwise displayed in the matter, so that as courteously as was
+necessary he presented to the undoubtedly very ordinary and slow-witted
+maiden in question the gifts of irretrievable intention, and honourably
+carried out his spoken and written words towards her.
+
+“For a period of years the circumstances of the various persons did not
+in any degree change, Quen in the meantime becoming more pure-souled
+and inward-seeing with each moon-change, after the manner of the sublime
+Lien-ti, who studied to maintain an unmoved endurance in all varieties
+of events by placing his body to a greater extent each day in a vessel
+of boiling liquid. Nevertheless, the good and charitable deities to
+whom Quen unceasingly sacrificed were not altogether unmindful of his
+virtues; for a son was born, and an evil disease which arose from a most
+undignified display of uncontrollable emotion on her part ended in his
+wife being deposited with becoming ceremony in the Family Temple.
+
+“Upon a certain evening, when Quen sat in his inner chamber deliberating
+upon the really beneficent yet somewhat inexplicable arrangement of the
+all-seeing ones to whom he was very amiably disposed in consequence of
+the unwonted tranquillity which he now enjoyed, yet who, it appeared to
+him, could have set out the entire matter in a much more satisfactory
+way from the beginning, he was made aware by the unexpected beating of
+many gongs, and by other signs of refined and deferential welcome, that
+a person of exalted rank was approaching his residence. While he was
+still hesitating in his uncertainty regarding the most courteous and
+delicate form of self-abasement with which to honour so important a
+visitor--whether to rush forth and allow the chair-carriers to pass over
+his prostrate form, to make a pretence of being a low-caste slave, and
+in that guise doing menial service, or to conceal himself beneath
+a massive and overhanging table until his guest should have availed
+himself of the opportunity to examine at his leisure whatever the room
+contained--the person in question stood before him. In every detail of
+dress and appointment he had the undoubted appearance of being one to
+whom no door might be safely closed.
+
+“‘Alas!’ exclaimed Quen, ‘how inferior and ill-contrived is the mind
+of a person of my feeble intellectual attainments. Even at this moment,
+when the near approach of one who obviously commands every engaging
+accomplishment might reasonably be expected to call up within it an
+adequate amount of commonplace resource, its ill-destined possessor
+finds himself entirely incapable of conducting himself with the fitting
+outward marks of his great internal respect. This residence is certainly
+unprepossessing in the extreme, yet it contains many objects of some
+value and of great rarity; illiterate as this person is, he would not
+be so presumptuous as to offer any for your acceptance, but if you will
+confer upon him the favour of selecting that which appears to be the
+most priceless and unreplaceable, he will immediately, and with every
+manifestation of extreme delight, break it irredeemably in your honour,
+to prove the unaffected depth of his gratified emotions.’
+
+“‘Quen-Ki-Tong,’ replied the person before him, speaking with an evident
+sincerity of purpose, ‘pleasant to this one’s ears are your words,
+breathing as they do an obvious hospitality and a due regard for the
+forms of etiquette. But if, indeed, you are desirous of gaining this
+person’s explicit regard, break no articles of fine porcelain or rare
+inlaid wood in proof of it, but immediately dismiss to a very distant
+spot the three-score gong-beaters who have enclosed him within two solid
+rings, and who are now carrying out their duties in so diligent a manner
+that he greatly doubts if the unimpaired faculties of hearing will ever
+be fully restored. Furthermore, if your exceedingly amiable intentions
+desire fuller expression, cause an unstinted number of vessels of some
+uninflammable liquid to be conveyed into your chrysanthemum garden and
+there poured over the numerous fireworks and coloured lights which still
+appear to be in progress. Doubtless they are well-intentioned marks of
+respect, but they caused this person considerable apprehension as he
+passed among them, and, indeed, give to this unusually pleasant and
+unassuming spot the by no means inviting atmosphere of a low-class
+tea-house garden during the festivities attending the birthday of the
+sacred Emperor.’
+
+“‘This person is overwhelmed with a most unendurable confusion that the
+matters referred to should have been regarded in such a light,’ replied
+Quen humbly. ‘Although he himself had no knowledge of them until this
+moment, he is confident that they in no wise differ from the usual
+honourable manifestations with which it is customary in this Province to
+welcome strangers of exceptional rank and titles.’
+
+“‘The welcome was of a most dignified and impressive nature,’ replied
+the stranger, with every appearance of not desiring to cause Quen any
+uneasy internal doubts; ‘yet the fact is none the less true that at the
+moment this person’s head seems to contain an exceedingly powerful and
+well-equipped band; and also, that as he passed through the courtyard
+an ingeniously constructed but somewhat unmanageable figure of gigantic
+size, composed entirely of jets of many-coloured flame, leaped out
+suddenly from behind a dark wall and made an almost successful attempt
+to embrace him in its ever-revolving arms. Lo Yuen greatly fears that
+the time when he would have rejoiced in the necessary display of agility
+to which the incident gave rise has for ever passed away.’
+
+“‘Lo Yuen!’ exclaimed Quen, with an unaffected mingling of the emotions
+of reverential awe and pleasureable anticipation. ‘Can it indeed be
+an uncontroversial fact that so learned and ornamental a person as the
+renowned Controller of Unsolicited Degrees stands beneath this inelegant
+person’s utterly unpresentable roof! Now, indeed, he plainly understands
+why this ill-conditioned chamber has the appearance of being filled with
+a Heaven-sent brilliance, and why at the first spoken words of the one
+before him a melodious sound, like the rushing waters of the sacred
+Tien-Kiang, seemed to fill his ears.’
+
+“‘Undoubtedly the chamber is pervaded by a very exceptional splendour,’
+replied Lo Yuen, who, in spite of his high position, regarded graceful
+talk and well-imagined compliments in a spirit of no-satisfaction; ‘yet
+this commonplace-minded one has a fixed conviction that it is caused
+by the crimson-eyed and pink-fire-breathing dragon which, despite your
+slave’s most assiduous efforts, is now endeavouring to climb through
+the aperture behind you. The noise which still fills his ears, also,
+resembles rather the despairing cries of the Ten Thousand Lost Ones at
+the first sight of the Pit of Liquid and Red-hot Malachite, yet
+without question both proceed from the same cause. Laying aside further
+ceremony, therefore, permit this greatly over-estimated person to
+disclose the object of his inopportune visit. Long have your amiable
+virtues been observed and appreciated by the high ones at Peking, O
+Quen-Ki-Tong. Too long have they been unrewarded and passed over in
+silence. Nevertheless, the moment of acknowledgement and advancement has
+at length arrived; for, as the Book of Verses clearly says, “Even the
+three-legged mule may contrive to reach the agreed spot in advance of
+the others, provided a circular running space has been selected and
+the number of rounds be sufficiently ample.” It is this otherwise
+uninteresting and obtrusive person’s graceful duty to convey to you the
+agreeable intelligence that the honourable and not ill-rewarded office
+of Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms has been conferred upon you, and
+to require you to proceed without delay to Peking, so that fitting
+ceremonies of admittance may be performed before the fifteenth day of
+the month of Feathered Insects.’
+
+“Alas! how frequently does the purchaser of seemingly vigorous and
+exceptionally low-priced flower-seeds discover, when too late, that they
+are, in reality, fashioned from the root of the prolific and valueless
+tzu-ka, skilfully covered with a disguising varnish! Instead of
+presenting himself at the place of commerce frequented by those who
+entrust money to others on the promise of an increased repayment when
+certain very probable events have come to pass (so that if all
+else failed he would still possess a serviceable number of taels),
+Quen-Ki-Tong entirely neglected the demands of a most ordinary prudence,
+nor could he be induced to set out on his journey until he had passed
+seven days in public feasting to mark his good fortune, and then devoted
+fourteen more days to fasting and various acts of penance, in order to
+make known the regret with which he acknowledged his entire unworthiness
+for the honour before him. Owing to this very conscientious, but
+nevertheless somewhat short-sighted manner of behaving, Quen found
+himself unable to reach Peking before the day preceding that to which Lo
+Yuen had made special reference. From this cause it came about that only
+sufficient time remained to perform the various ceremonies of admission,
+without in any degree counselling Quen as to his duties and procedure in
+the fulfilment of his really important office.
+
+“Among the many necessary and venerable ceremonies observed during the
+changing periods of the year, none occupy a more important place than
+those for which the fifteenth day of the month of Feathered Insects is
+reserved, conveying as they do a respectful and delicately-fashioned
+petition that the various affairs upon which persons in every
+condition of life are engaged may arrive at a pleasant and remunerative
+conclusion. At the earliest stroke of the gong the versatile Emperor,
+accompanied by many persons of irreproachable ancestry and certain
+others, very elaborately attired, proceeds to an open space set apart
+for the occasion. With unassuming dexterity the benevolent Emperor for
+a brief span of time engages in the menial occupation of a person of
+low class, and with his own hands ploughs an assigned portion of land in
+order that the enlightened spirits under whose direct guardianship the
+earth is placed may not become lax in their disinterested efforts to
+promote its fruitfulness. In this charitable exertion he is followed
+by various other persons of recognized position, the first being, by
+custom, the Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms, while at the same time
+the amiably-disposed Empress plants an allotted number of mulberry
+trees, and deposits upon their leaves the carefully reared insects
+which she receives from the hands of their Guarder. In the case of the
+accomplished Emperor an ingenious contrivance is resorted to by which
+the soil is drawn aside by means of hidden strings as the plough passes
+by, the implement in question being itself constructed from paper of the
+highest quality, while the oxen which draw it are, in reality,
+ordinary persons cunningly concealed within masks of cardboard. In this
+thoughtful manner the actual labours of the sublime Emperor are greatly
+lessened, while no chance is afforded for an inauspicious omen to be
+created by the rebellious behaviour of a maliciously-inclined ox, or by
+any other event of an unforeseen nature. All the other persons, however,
+are required to make themselves proficient in the art of ploughing,
+before the ceremony, so that the chances of the attendant spirits
+discovering the deception which has been practised upon them in the case
+of the Emperor may not be increased by its needless repetition. It was
+chiefly for this reason that Lo Yuen had urged Quen to journey to Peking
+as speedily as possible, but owing to the very short time which remained
+between his arrival and the ceremony of ploughing, not only had the
+person in question neglected to profit by instruction, but he was not
+even aware of the obligation which awaited him. When, therefore, in
+spite of every respectful protest on his part, he was led up to a
+massively-constructed implement drawn by two powerful and undeniably
+evilly-intentioned-looking animals, it was with every sign of great
+internal misgivings, and an entire absence of enthusiasm in the
+entertainment, that he commenced his not too well understood task. In
+this matter he was by no means mistaken, for it soon became plain to all
+observers--of whom an immense concourse was assembled--that the usually
+self-possessed Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms was conducting
+himself in a most undignified manner; for though he still clung to the
+plough-handles with an inspired tenacity, his body assumed every variety
+of base and uninviting attitude. Encouraged by this inelegant state
+of affairs, the evil spirits which are ever on the watch to turn into
+derision the charitable intentions of the pure-minded entered into
+the bodies of the oxen and provoked within their minds a sudden and
+malignant confidence that the time had arrived when they might with
+safety break into revolt and throw off the outward signs of their
+dependent condition. From these various causes it came about that Quen
+was, without warning, borne with irresistible certainty against the
+majestic person of the sacred Emperor, the inlaid box of Imperial
+silkworms, which up to that time had remained safely among the folds
+of his silk garment, alone serving to avert an even more violent and
+ill-destined blow.
+
+“Well said the wise and deep-thinking Ye-te, in his book entitled
+_Proverbs of Everyday Happenings_, ‘Should a person on returning from
+the city discover his house to be in flames, let him examine well the
+change which he has received from the chair-carrier before it is too
+late; for evil never travels alone.’ Scarcely had the unfortunate Quen
+recovered his natural attributes from the effect of the disgraceful
+occurrence which has been recorded (which, indeed, furnished the matter
+of a song and many unpresentable jests among the low-class persons
+of the city), than the magnanimous Empress reached that detail of the
+tree-planting ceremony when it was requisite that she should deposit the
+living emblems of the desired increase and prosperity upon the leaves.
+Stretching forth her delicately-proportioned hand to Quen for this
+purpose, she received from the still greatly confused person in question
+the Imperial silkworms in so unseemly a condition that her eyes had
+scarcely rested upon them before she was seized with the rigid
+sickness, and in that state fell to the ground. At this new and entirely
+unforeseen calamity a very disagreeable certainty of approaching evil
+began to take possession of all those who stood around, many crying
+aloud that every omen of good was wanting, and declaring that unless
+something of a markedly propitiatory nature was quickly accomplished,
+the agriculture of the entire Empire would cease to flourish, and the
+various departments of the commerce in silk would undoubtedly be thrown
+into a state of most inextricable confusion. Indeed, in spite of all
+things designed to have a contrary effect, the matter came about in the
+way predicted, for the Hoang-Ho seven times overcame its restraining
+barriers, and poured its waters over the surrounding country, thereby
+gaining for the first time its well-deserved title of ‘The Sorrow of
+China,’ by which dishonourable but exceedingly appropriate designation
+it is known to this day.
+
+“The manner of greeting which would have been accorded to Quen had
+he returned to the official quarter of the city, or the nature of his
+treatment by the baser class of the ordinary people if they succeeded
+in enticing him to come among them, formed a topic of such uninviting
+conjecture that the humane-minded Lo Yuen, who had observed the
+entire course of events from an elevated spot, determined to make
+a well-directed effort towards his safety. To this end he quickly
+purchased the esteem of several of those who make a profession of their
+strength, holding out the hope of still further reward if they conducted
+the venture to a successful termination. Uttering loud cries of an
+impending vengeance, as Lo Yuen had instructed them in the matter,
+and displaying their exceptional proportions to the astonishment and
+misgivings of all beholders, these persons tore open the opium-tent in
+which Quen had concealed himself, and, thrusting aside all opposition,
+quickly dragged him forth. Holding him high upon their shoulders, in
+spite of his frequent and ill-advised endeavours to cast himself to
+the ground, some surrounded those who bore him--after the manner of
+disposing his troops affected by a skilful leader when the enemy begin
+to waver--and crying aloud that it was their unchanging purpose to
+submit him to the test of burning splinters and afterwards to torture
+him, they succeeded by this stratagem in bringing him through the
+crowd; and hurling back or outstripping those who endeavoured to follow,
+conveyed him secretly and unperceived to a deserted and appointed
+spot. Here Quen was obliged to remain until other events caused the
+recollection of the many to become clouded and unconcerned towards him,
+suffering frequent inconveniences in spite of the powerful protection
+of Lo Yuen, and not at all times being able to regard the most necessary
+repast as an appointment of undoubted certainty. At length, in the guise
+of a wandering conjurer who was unable to display his accomplishments
+owing to an entire loss of the power of movement in his arms, Quen
+passed undetected from the city, and safely reaching the distant and
+unimportant town of Lu-Kwo, gave himself up to a protracted period of
+lamentation and self-reproach at the unprepossessing manner in which he
+had conducted his otherwise very inviting affairs.
+
+
+                     SECOND PERIOD
+                  THE TEMPLE BUILDER
+
+Two hand-counts of years passed away and Quen still remained at Lu-kwo,
+all desire of returning either to Peking or to the place of his birth
+having by this time faded into nothingness. Accepting the inevitable
+fact that he was not destined ever to become a person with whom taels
+were plentiful, and yet being unwilling to forego the charitable manner
+of life which he had always been accustomed to observe, it came about
+that he spent the greater part of his time in collecting together such
+sums of money as he could procure from the amiable and well-disposed,
+and with them building temples and engaging in other benevolent works.
+From this cause it arose the Quen obtained around Lu-kwo a reputation
+for high-minded piety, in no degree less than that which had been
+conferred upon him in earlier times, so that pilgrims from far distant
+places would purposely contrive their journey so as to pass through the
+town containing so unassuming and virtuous a person.
+
+“During this entire period Quen had been accompanied by his only son, a
+youth of respectful personality, in whose entertaining society he took
+an intelligent interest. Even when deeply engaged in what he justly
+regarded as the crowning work of his existence--the planning and
+erecting of an exceptionally well-endowed marble temple, which was to
+be entirely covered on the outside with silver paper, and on the inside
+with gold-leaf--he did not fail to observe the various conditions of
+Liao’s existence, and the changing emotions which from time to
+time possessed him. Therefore, when the person in question, without
+displaying any signs of internal sickness, and likewise persistently
+denying that he had lost any considerable sum of money, disclosed a
+continuous habit of turning aside with an unaffected expression of
+distaste from all manner of food, and passed the entire night in
+observing the course of the great sky-lantern rather than in sleep, the
+sage and discriminating Quen took him one day aside, and asked him, as
+one who might aid him in the matter, who the maiden was, and what class
+and position her father occupied.
+
+“‘Alas!’ exclaimed Liao, with many unfeigned manifestations of an
+unbearable fate, ‘to what degree do the class and position of her
+entirely unnecessary parents affect the question? or how little hope
+can this sacrilegious one reasonably have of ever progressing as far as
+earthly details of a pecuniary character in the case of so adorable and
+far-removed a Being? The uttermost extent of this wildly-hoping person’s
+ambition is that when the incomparably symmetrical Ts’ain learns of
+the steadfast light of his devotion, she may be inspired to deposit an
+emblematic chrysanthemum upon his tomb in the Family Temple. For such a
+reward he will cheerfully devote the unswerving fidelity of a lifetime
+to her service, not distressing her gentle and retiring nature by the
+expression of what must inevitably be a hopeless passion, but patiently
+and uncomplainingly guarding her footsteps as from a distance.’
+
+“Being in this manner made aware of the reason of Liao’s frequent and
+unrestrained exclamations of intolerable despair, and of his fixed
+determination with regard to the maiden Ts’ain (which seemed, above
+all else, to indicate a resolution to shun her presence) Quen could not
+regard the immediately-following actions of his son with anything but an
+emotion of confusion. For when his eyes next rested upon the exceedingly
+contradictory Liao, he was seated in the open space before the house in
+which Ts’ain dwelt, playing upon an instrument of stringed woods, and
+chanting verses into which the names of the two persons in question
+had been skilfully introduced without restraint, his whole manner of
+behaving being with the evident purpose of attracting the maiden’s
+favourable attention. After an absence of many days, spent in this
+graceful and complimentary manner, Liao returned suddenly to the house
+of his father, and, prostrating his body before him, made a specific
+request for his assistance.
+
+“‘As regards Ts’ain and myself,’ he continued, ‘all things are arranged,
+and but for the unfortunate coincidence of this person’s poverty and
+of her father’s cupidity, the details of the wedding ceremony would
+undoubtedly now be in a very advanced condition. Upon these entrancing
+and well-discussed plans, however, the shadow of the grasping and
+commonplace Ah-Ping has fallen like the inopportune opium-pipe from the
+mouth of a person examining substances of an explosive nature; for the
+one referred to demands a large and utterly unobtainable amount of taels
+before he will suffer his greatly-sought-after daughter to accept the
+gifts of irretrievable intention.’
+
+“‘Grievous indeed is your plight,’ replied Quen, when he thus understood
+the manner of obstacle which impeded his son’s hopes; ‘for in the nature
+of taels the most diverse men are to be measured through the same mesh.
+As the proverb says, “‘All money is evil,’ exclaimed the philosopher
+with extreme weariness, as he gathered up the gold pieces in exchange,
+but presently discovering that one among them was such indeed as he had
+described, he rushed forth without tarrying to take up a street garment;
+and with an entire absence of dignity traversed all the ways of the city
+in the hope of finding the one who had defrauded him.” Well does this
+person know the mercenary Ah-Ping, and the unyielding nature of his
+closed hand; for often, but always fruitlessly, he has entered his
+presence on affairs connected with the erecting of certain temples.
+Nevertheless, the matter is one which does not admit of any incapable
+faltering, to which end this one will seek out the obdurate Ah-Ping
+without delay, and endeavour to entrap him by some means in the course
+of argument.’
+
+“From the time of his earliest youth Ah-Ping had unceasingly devoted
+himself to the object of getting together an overwhelming number of
+taels, using for this purpose various means which, without being really
+degrading or contrary to the written law, were not such as might have
+been cheerfully engaged in by a person of high-minded honourableness. In
+consequence of this, as he grew more feeble in body, and more venerable
+in appearance, he began to express frequent and bitter doubts as to
+whether his manner of life had been really well arranged; for, in spite
+of his great wealth, he had grown to adopt a most inexpensive habit
+on all occasions, having no desire to spend; and an ever-increasing
+apprehension began to possess him that after he had passed beyond, his
+sons would be very disinclined to sacrifice and burn money sufficient to
+keep him in an affluent condition in the Upper Air. In such a state of
+mind was Ah-Ping when Quen-Ki-Tong appeared before him, for it had just
+been revealed to him that his eldest and favourite son had, by flattery
+and by openly praising the dexterity with which he used his brush
+and ink, entrapped him into inscribing his entire name upon certain
+unwritten sheets of parchment, which the one in question immediately
+sold to such as were heavily indebted to Ah-Ping.
+
+“‘If a person can be guilty of this really unfilial behaviour during the
+lifetime of his father,’ exclaimed Ah-Ping, in a tone of unrestrained
+vexation, ‘can it be prudently relied upon that he will carry out his
+wishes after death, when they involve the remitting to him of several
+thousand taels each year? O estimable Quen-Ki-Tong, how immeasurably
+superior is the celestial outlook upon which you may safely rely as your
+portion! When you are enjoying every variety of sumptuous profusion,
+as the reward of your untiring charitable exertions here on earth, the
+spirit of this short-sighted person will be engaged in doing menial
+servitude for the inferior deities, and perhaps scarcely able, even by
+those means, to clothe himself according to the changing nature of the
+seasons.’
+
+“‘Yet,’ replied Quen, ‘the necessity for so laborious and unremunerative
+an existence may even now be averted by taking efficient precautions
+before you pass to the Upper Air.’
+
+“‘In what way?’ demanded Ah-Ping, with an awakening hope that the matter
+might not be entirely destitute of cheerfulness, yet at the same time
+preparing to examine with even unbecoming intrusiveness any expedient
+which Quen might lay before him. ‘Is it not explicitly stated that
+sacrifices and acts of a like nature, when performed at the end of one’s
+existence by a person who to that time has professed no sort of interest
+in such matters, shall in no degree be entered as to his good, but
+rather regarded as examples of deliberate presumptuousness, and made the
+excuse for subjecting him to more severe tortures and acts of penance
+than would be his portion if he neglected the custom altogether?’
+
+“‘Undoubtedly such is the case,’ replied Quen; ‘and on that account it
+would indicate a most regrettable want of foresight for you to conduct
+your affairs in the manner indicated. The only undeniably safe course
+is for you to entrust the amount you will require to a person of
+exceptional piety, receiving in return his written word to repay the
+full sum whenever you shall claim it from him in the Upper Air. By this
+crafty method the amount will be placed at the disposal of the person
+in question as soon as he has passed beyond, and he will be held by his
+written word to return it to you whenever you shall demand it.’
+
+“So amiably impressed with this ingenious scheme was Ah-Ping that he
+would at once have entered more fully into the detail had the thought
+not arisen in his mind that the person before him was the father of
+Liao, who urgently required a certain large sum, and that for this
+reason he might with prudence inquire more fully into the matter
+elsewhere, in case Quen himself should have been imperceptibly led
+aside, even though he possessed intentions of a most unswerving
+honourableness. To this end, therefore, he desired to converse again
+with Quen on the matter, pleading that at that moment a gathering
+of those who direct enterprises of a commercial nature required his
+presence. Nevertheless, he would not permit the person referred to to
+depart until he had complimented him, in both general and specific
+terms, on the high character of his life and actions, and the
+intelligent nature of his understanding, which had enabled him with so
+little mental exertion to discover an efficient plan.
+
+“Without delay Ah-Ping sought out those most skilled in all varieties
+of law-forms, in extorting money by devices capable of very different
+meanings, and in expedients for evading just debts; but all agreed that
+such an arrangement as the one he put before them would be unavoidably
+binding, provided the person who received the money alluded to spent it
+in the exercise of his charitable desires, and provided also that the
+written agreement bore the duty seal of the high ones at Peking, and was
+deposited in the coffin of the lender. Fully satisfied, and rejoicing
+greatly that he could in this way adequately provide for his future and
+entrap the avaricious ones of his house, Ah-Ping collected together the
+greater part of his possessions, and converting it into pieces of gold,
+entrusted them to Quen on the exact understanding that has already been
+described, he receiving in turn Quen’s written and thumb-signed paper
+of repayment, and his assurance that the whole amount should be expended
+upon the silver-paper and gold-leaf Temple with which he was still
+engaged.
+
+“It is owing to this circumstance that Quen-Ki-Tong’s irreproachable
+name has come to be lightly regarded by many who may be fitly likened to
+the latter person in the subtle and experienced proverb, ‘The wise man’s
+eyes fell before the gaze of the fool, fearing that if he looked he
+must cry aloud, “Thou hopeless one!” “There,” said the fool to himself,
+“behold this person’s power!”’ These badly educated and undiscriminating
+persons, being entirely unable to explain the ensuing train of events,
+unhesitatingly declare that Quen-Ki-Tong applied a portion of the money
+which he had received from Ah-Ping in the manner described to the object
+of acquiring Ts’ain for his son Liao. In this feeble and incapable
+fashion they endeavour to stigmatize the pure-minded Quen as one who
+acted directly contrary to his deliberately spoken word, whereas the
+desired result was brought about in a much more artful manner; they
+describe the commercially successful Ah-Ping as a person of very
+inferior prudence, and one easily imposed upon; while they entirely pass
+over, as a detail outside the true facts, the written paper preserved
+among the sacred relics in the Temple, which announces, among other
+gifts of a small and uninviting character, ‘Thirty thousand taels from
+an elderly ginseng merchant of Lu-kwo, who desires to remain nameless,
+through the hand of Quen-Ki-Tong.’ The full happening in its real and
+harmless face is now set forth for the first time.
+
+“Some weeks after the recorded arrangement had been arrived at by
+Ah-Ping and Quen, when the taels in question had been expended upon the
+Temple and were, therefore, infallibly beyond recall, the former person
+chanced to be passing through the public garden in Lu-kwo when he heard
+a voice lifted up in the expression of every unendurable feeling of
+dejection to which one can give utterance. Stepping aside to learn the
+cause of so unprepossessing a display of unrestrained agitation, and
+in the hope that perhaps he might be able to use the incident in a
+remunerative manner, Ah-Ping quickly discovered the unhappy being who,
+entirely regardless of the embroidered silk robe which he wore, reclined
+upon a raised bank of uninviting earth, and waved his hands from side to
+side as his internal emotions urged him.
+
+“‘Quen-Ki-Tong!’ exclaimed Ah-Ping, not fully convinced that the fact
+was as he stated it in spite of the image clearly impressed upon his
+imagination; ‘to what unpropitious occurrence is so unlooked-for an
+exhibition due? Are those who traffic in gold-leaf demanding a high and
+prohibitive price for that commodity, or has some evil and vindicative
+spirit taken up its abode within the completed portion of the Temple,
+and by its offensive but nevertheless diverting remarks and actions
+removed all semblance of gravity from the countenances of those who
+daily come to admire the construction?’
+
+“‘O thrice unfortunate Ah-Ping,’ replied Quen when he observed the
+distinguishing marks of the person before him, ‘scarcely can this
+greatly overwhelmed one raise his eyes to your open and intelligent
+countenance; for through him you are on the point of experiencing a very
+severe financial blow, and it is, indeed, on your account more than on
+his own that he is now indulging in these outward signs of a grief too
+far down to be expressed in spoken words.’ And at the memory of his
+former occupation, Quen again waved his arms from side to side with
+untiring assiduousness.
+
+“‘Strange indeed to this person’s ears are your words,’ said Ah-Ping,
+outwardly unmoved, but with an apprehensive internal pain that he would
+have regarded Quen’s display of emotion with an easier stomach if his
+own taels were safely concealed under the floor of his inner chamber.
+‘The sum which this one entrusted to you has, without any pretence
+been expended upon the Temple, while the written paper concerning the
+repayment bears the duty seal of the high ones at Peking. How, then, can
+Ah-Ping suffer a loss at the hands of Quen-Ki-Tong?’
+
+“‘Ah-Ping,’ said Quen, with every appearance of desiring that both
+persons should regard the matter in a conciliatory spirit, ‘do not
+permit the awaiting demons, which are ever on the alert to enter into
+a person’s mind when he becomes distressed out of the common order of
+events, to take possession of your usually discriminating faculties
+until you have fully understood how this affair has come about. It is no
+unknown thing for a person of even exceptional intelligence to reverse
+his entire manner of living towards the end of a long and consistent
+existence; the far-seeing and not lightly-moved Ah-Ping himself has
+already done so. In a similar, but entirely contrary manner, the person
+who is now before you finds himself impelled towards that which will
+certainly bear a very unpresentable face when the circumstances
+become known; yet by no other means is he capable of attaining his
+greatly-desired object.’
+
+“‘And to what end does that trend?’ demanded Ah-Ping, in no degree
+understanding how the matter affected him.
+
+“‘While occupied with enterprises which those of an engaging and
+complimentary nature are accustomed to refer to as charitable,
+this person has almost entirely neglected a duty of scarcely less
+importance--that of establishing an unending line, through which his
+name and actions shall be kept alive to all time,’ replied Quen. ‘Having
+now inquired into the matter, he finds that his only son, through whom
+alone the desired result can be obtained, has become unbearably attached
+to a maiden for whom a very large sum is demanded in exchange. The
+thought of obtaining no advantage from an entire life of self-denial
+is certainly unprepossessing in the extreme, but so, even to a more
+advanced degree, is the certainty that otherwise the family monuments
+will be untended, and the temple of domestic virtues become an early
+ruin. This person has submitted the dilemma to the test of omens, and
+after considering well the reply, he has decided to obtain the price of
+the maiden in a not very honourable manner, which now presents itself,
+so that Liao may send out his silk-bound gifts without delay.’
+
+“‘It is an unalluring alternative,’ said Ah-Ping, whose only inside
+thought was one of gratification that the exchange money for Ts’ain
+would so soon be in his possession, ‘yet this person fails to perceive
+how you could act otherwise after the decision of the omens. He now
+understands, moreover, that the loss you referred to on his part was in
+the nature of a figure of speech, as one makes use of thunderbolts
+and delicately-scented flowers to convey ideas of harsh and amiable
+passions, and alluded in reality to the forthcoming departure of his
+daughter, who is, as you so versatilely suggested, the comfort and
+riches of his old age.’
+
+“‘O venerable, but at this moment somewhat obtuse, Ah-Ping,’ cried
+Quen, with a recurrence to his former method of expressing his unfeigned
+agitation, ‘is your evenly-balanced mind unable to grasp the essential
+fact of how this person’s contemplated action will affect your own
+celestial condition? It is a distressing but entirely unavoidable fact,
+that if this person acts in the manner which he has determined upon, he
+will be condemned to the lowest place of torment reserved for those
+who fail at the end of an otherwise pure existence, and in this he
+will never have an opportunity of meeting the very much higher placed
+Ah-Ping, and of restoring to him the thirty-thousand taels as agreed
+upon.’
+
+“At these ill-destined words, all power of rigidness departed from
+Ah-Ping’s limbs, and he sank down upon the forbidding earth by Quen’s
+side.
+
+“‘O most unfortunate one who is now speaking,’ he exclaimed, when at
+length his guarding spirit deemed it prudent to restore his power of
+expressing himself in words, ‘happy indeed would have been your lot had
+you been content to traffic in ginseng and other commodities of which
+you have actual knowledge. O amiable Quen, this matter must be in some
+way arranged without causing you to deviate from the entrancing paths of
+your habitual virtue. Could not the very reasonable Liao be induced to
+look favourably upon the attractions of some low-priced maiden, in which
+case this not really hard-stomached person would be willing to advance
+the necessary amount, until such time as it could be restored, at a very
+low and unremunerative rate of interest?’
+
+“‘This person has observed every variety of practical humility in the
+course of his life,’ replied Quen with commendable dignity, ‘yet he now
+finds himself totally unable to overcome an inward repugnance to the
+thought of perpetuating his honoured name and race through the medium of
+any low-priced maiden. To this end has he decided.’
+
+“Those who were well acquainted with Ah-Ping in matters of commerce did
+not hesitate to declare that his great wealth had been acquired by his
+consistent habit of forming an opinion quickly while others hesitated.
+On the occasion in question he only engaged his mind with the opposing
+circumstances for a few moments before he definitely fixed upon the
+course which he should pursue.
+
+“‘Quen-Ki-Tong,’ he said, with an evident intermingling of many very
+conflicting emotions, ‘retain to the end this well-merited reputation
+for unaffected honourableness which you have so fittingly earned. Few
+in the entire Empire, with powers so versatilely pointing to an eminent
+position in any chosen direction, would have been content to pass their
+lives in an unremunerative existence devoted to actions of charity. Had
+you selected an entirely different manner of living, this person has
+every confidence that he, and many others in Lu-kwo, would by this time
+be experiencing a very ignoble poverty. For this reason he will make
+it his most prominent ambition to hasten the realization of the amiable
+hopes expressed both by Liao and by Ts’ain, concerning their
+future relationship. In this, indeed, he himself will be more than
+exceptionally fortunate should the former one prove to possess even a
+portion of the clear-sighted sagaciousness exhibited by his engaging
+father.’
+
+           “VERSES COMPOSED BY A MUSICIAN OF LU-KWO, ON THE
+                 OCCASION OF THE WEDDING CEREMONY OF
+                           LIAO AND TS’AIN
+
+  “Bright hued is the morning, the dark clouds have fallen;
+  At the mere waving of Quen’s virtuous hands they melted away.
+  Happy is Liao in the possession of so accomplished a parent,
+  Happy also is Quen to have so discriminating a son.
+
+  “The two persons in question sit, side by side, upon an
+      embroidered couch,
+  Listening to the well-expressed compliments of those who pass to
+      and fro.
+  From time to time their eyes meet, and glances of a very
+      significant amusement pass between them;
+  Can it be that on so ceremonious an occasion they are recalling
+      events of a gravity-removing nature?
+
+  “The gentle and rainbow-like Ts’ain has already arrived,
+  With the graceful motion of a silver carp gliding through a screen
+      of rushes, she moves among those who are assembled.
+  On the brow of her somewhat contentious father there rests the
+      shadow of an ill-repressed sorrow;
+  Doubtless the frequently-misjudged Ah-Ping is thinking of his
+      lonely hearth, now that he is for ever parted from that which
+      he holds most precious.
+
+  “In the most commodious chamber of the house the elegant
+      wedding-gifts are conspicuously displayed; let us stand beside
+      the one which we have contributed, and point out its
+      excellence to those who pass by.
+  Surely the time cannot be far distant when the sound of many gongs
+      will announce that the very desirable repast is at length to
+      be partaken of.”
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+THE VISION OF YIN, THE SON OF YAT HUANG
+
+
+When Yin, the son of Yat Huang, had passed beyond the years assigned
+to the pursuit of boyhood, he was placed in the care of the hunchback
+Quang, so that he might be fully instructed in the management of the
+various weapons used in warfare, and also in the art of stratagem, by
+which a skilful leader is often enabled to conquer when opposed to an
+otherwise overwhelming multitude. In all these accomplishments Quang
+excelled to an exceptional degree; for although unprepossessing in
+appearance he united matchless strength to an untiring subtlety. No
+other person in the entire Province of Kiang-si could hurl a javelin so
+unerringly while uttering sounds of terrifying menace, or could cause
+his sword to revolve around him so rapidly, while his face looked
+out from the glittering circles with an expression of ill-intentioned
+malignity that never failed to inspire his adversary with irrepressible
+emotions of alarm. No other person could so successfully feign to
+be devoid of life for almost any length of time, or by his manner of
+behaving create the fixed impression that he was one of insufficient
+understanding, and therefore harmless. It was for these reasons that
+Quang was chosen as the instructor of Yin by Yat Huang, who, without
+possessing any official degree, was a person to whom marks of obeisance
+were paid not only within his own town, but for a distance of many li
+around it.
+
+At length the time arrived when Yin would in the ordinary course of
+events pass from the instructorship of Quang in order to devote himself
+to the commerce in which his father was engaged, and from time to time
+the unavoidable thought arose persistently within his mind that although
+Yat Huang doubtless knew better than he did what the circumstances of
+the future required, yet his manner of life for the past years was not
+such that he could contemplate engaging in the occupation of buying and
+selling porcelain clay with feelings of an overwhelming interest. Quang,
+however, maintained with every manifestation of inspired assurance that
+Yat Huang was to be commended down to the smallest detail, inasmuch
+as proficiency in the use of both blunt and sharp-edged weapons, and a
+faculty for passing undetected through the midst of an encamped body
+of foemen, fitted a person for the every-day affairs of life above all
+other accomplishments.
+
+“Without doubt the very accomplished Yat Huan is well advised on this
+point,” continued Quang, “for even this mentally short-sighted person
+can call up within his understanding numerous specific incidents in the
+ordinary career of one engaged in the commerce of porcelain clay when
+such attainments would be of great remunerative benefit. Does the
+well-endowed Yin think, for example, that even the most depraved person
+would endeavour to gain an advantage over him in the matter of buying or
+selling porcelain clay if he fully understood the fact that the one with
+whom he was trafficking could unhesitatingly transfix four persons with
+one arrow at the distance of a hundred paces? Or to what advantage would
+it be that a body of unscrupulous outcasts who owned a field of inferior
+clay should surround it with drawn swords by day and night, endeavouring
+meanwhile to dispose of it as material of the finest quality, if the one
+whom they endeavoured to ensnare in this manner possessed the power of
+being able to pass through their ranks unseen and examine the clay at
+his leisure?”
+
+“In the cases to which reference has been made, the possession of those
+qualities would undoubtedly be of considerable use,” admitted Yin;
+“yet, in spite of his entire ignorance of commercial matters, this one
+has a confident feeling that it would be more profitable to avoid such
+very doubtful forms of barter altogether rather than spend eight years
+in acquiring the arts by which to defeat them. That, however, is a
+question which concerns this person’s virtuous and engaging father more
+than his unworthy self, and his only regret is that no opportunity has
+offered by which he might prove that he has applied himself diligently
+to your instruction and example, O amiable Quang.”
+
+It had long been a regret to Quang also that no incident of a disturbing
+nature had arisen whereby Yin could have shown himself proficient in the
+methods of defence and attack which he had taught him. This deficiency
+he had endeavoured to overcome, as far as possible, by constructing
+life-like models of all the most powerful and ferocious types of
+warriors and the fiercest and most relentless animals of the forest,
+so that Yin might become familiar with their appearance and discover in
+what manner each could be the most expeditiously engaged.
+
+“Nevertheless,” remarked Quang, on an occasion when Yin appeared to be
+covered with honourable pride at having approached an unusually large
+and repulsive-looking tiger so stealthily that had the animal been
+really alive it would certainly have failed to perceive him, “such
+accomplishments are by no means to be regarded as conclusive in
+themselves. To steal insidiously upon a destructively-included wild
+beast and transfix it with one well-directed blow of a spear is attended
+by difficulties and emotions which are entirely absent in the case of a
+wickerwork animal covered with canvas-cloth, no matter how deceptive in
+appearance the latter may be.”
+
+To afford Yin a more trustworthy example of how he should engage with
+an adversary of formidable proportions, Quang resolved upon an ingenious
+plan. Procuring the skin of a grey wolf, he concealed himself within it,
+and in the early morning, while the mist-damp was still upon the ground,
+he set forth to meet Yin, who had on a previous occasion spoken to
+him of his intention to be at a certain spot at such an hour. In this
+conscientious enterprise, the painstaking Quang would doubtless have
+been successful, and Yin gained an assured proficiency and experience,
+had it not chanced that on the journey Quang encountered a labourer of
+low caste who was crossing the enclosed ground on his way to the rice
+field in which he worked. This contemptible and inopportune person,
+not having at any period of his existence perfected himself in the
+recognized and elegant methods of attack and defence, did not act in
+the manner which would assuredly have been adopted by Yin in similar
+circumstances, and for which Quang would have been fully prepared. On
+the contrary, without the least indication of what his intention was,
+he suddenly struck Quang, who was hesitating for a moment what action to
+take, a most intolerable blow with a formidable staff which he carried.
+The stroke in question inflicted itself upon Quang upon that part of the
+body where the head becomes connected with the neck, and would certainly
+have been followed by others of equal force and precision had not Quang
+in the meantime decided that the most dignified course for him to adopt
+would be to disclose his name and titles without delay. Upon learning
+these facts, the one who stood before him became very grossly and
+offensively amused, and having taken from Quang everything of value
+which he carried among his garments, went on his way, leaving Yin’s
+instructor to retrace his steps in unendurable dejection, as he then
+found that he possessed no further interest whatever in the undertaking.
+
+When Yat Huang was satisfied that his son was sufficiently skilled in
+the various arts of warfare, he called him to his inner chamber, and
+having barred the door securely, he placed Yin under a very binding oath
+not to reveal, until an appointed period, the matter which he was going
+to put before him.
+
+“From father to son, in unbroken line for ten generations, has such a
+custom been observed,” he said, “for the course of events is not to be
+lightly entered upon. At the commencement of that cycle, which period is
+now fully fifteen score years ago, a very wise person chanced to incur
+the displeasure of the Emperor of that time, and being in consequence
+driven out of the capital, he fled to the mountains. There his subtle
+discernment and the pure and solitary existence which he led resulted in
+his becoming endowed with faculties beyond those possessed by ordinary
+beings. When he felt the end of his earthly career to be at hand he
+descended into the plain, where, in a state of great destitution and
+bodily anguish, he was discovered by the one whom this person has
+referred to as the first of the line of ancestors. In return for the
+care and hospitality with which he was unhesitatingly received,
+the admittedly inspired hermit spent the remainder of his days in
+determining the destinies of his rescuer’s family and posterity. It
+is an undoubted fact that he predicted how one would, by well-directed
+enterprise and adventure, rise to a position of such eminence in the
+land that he counselled the details to be kept secret, lest the envy
+and hostility of the ambitious and unworthy should be raised. From this
+cause it has been customary to reveal the matter fully from father
+to son, at stated periods, and the setting out of the particulars in
+written words has been severely discouraged. Wise as this precaution
+certainly was, it has resulted in a very inconvenient state of things;
+for a remote ancestor--the fifth in line from the beginning--experienced
+such vicissitudes that he returned from his travels in a state of most
+abandoned idiocy, and when the time arrived that he should, in turn,
+communicate to his son, he was only able to repeat over and over again
+the name of the pious hermit to whom the family was so greatly indebted,
+coupling it each time with a new and markedly offensive epithet. The
+essential details of the undertaking having in this manner passed beyond
+recall, succeeding generations, which were merely acquainted with the
+fact that a very prosperous future awaited the one who fulfilled the
+conditions, have in vain attempted to conform to them. It is not an
+alluring undertaking, inasmuch as nothing of the method to be pursued
+can be learned, except that it was the custom of the early ones, who
+held the full knowledge, to set out from home and return after a period
+of years. Yet so clearly expressed was the prophecy, and so great the
+reward of the successful, that all have eagerly journeyed forth when
+the time came, knowing nothing beyond that which this person has now
+unfolded to you.”
+
+When Yat Huang reached the end of the matter which it was his duty to
+disclose, Yin for some time pondered the circumstances before replying.
+In spite of a most engaging reverence for everything of a sacred nature,
+he could not consider the inspired remark of the well-intentioned hermit
+without feelings of a most persistent doubt, for it occurred to him that
+if the person in question had really been as wise as he was represented
+to be, he might reasonably have been expected to avoid the unaccountable
+error of offending the enlightened and powerful Emperor under whom he
+lived. Nevertheless, the prospect of engaging in the trade of porcelain
+clay was less attractive in his eyes than that of setting forth upon a
+journey of adventure, so that at length he expressed his willingness to
+act after the manner of those who had gone before him.
+
+This decision was received by Yat Huang with an equal intermingling of
+the feelings of delight and concern, for although he would have by no
+means pleasurably contemplated Yin breaking through a venerable and
+esteemed custom, he was unable to put entirely from him the thought of
+the degrading fate which had overtaken the fifth in line who made the
+venture. It was, indeed, to guard Yin as much as possible against
+the dangers to which he would become exposed, if he determined on the
+expedition, that the entire course of his training had been selected. In
+order that no precaution of a propitious nature should be neglected, Yat
+Huang at once despatched written words of welcome to all with whom he
+was acquainted, bidding them partake of a great banquet which he was
+preparing to mark the occasion of his son’s leave-taking. Every variety
+of sacrifice was offered up to the controlling deities, both good and
+bad; the ten ancestors were continuously exhorted to take Yin under
+their special protection, and sets of verses recording his virtues and
+ambitions were freely distributed among the necessitous and low-caste
+who could not be received at the feast.
+
+The dinner itself exceeded in magnificence any similar event that
+had ever taken place in Ching-toi. So great was the polished ceremony
+observed on the occasion, that each guest had half a score of cups of
+the finest apricot-tea successively placed before him and taken away
+untasted, while Yat Huang went to each in turn protesting vehemently
+that the honour of covering such pure-minded and distinguished persons
+was more than his badly designed roof could reasonably bear, and
+wittingly giving an entrancing air of reality to the spoken compliment
+by begging them to move somewhat to one side so that they might escape
+the heavy central beam if the event which he alluded to chanced to take
+place. After several hours had been spent in this congenial occupation,
+Yat Huang proceeded to read aloud several of the sixteen discourses on
+education which, taken together, form the discriminating and infallible
+example of conduct known as the Holy Edict. As each detail was dwelt
+upon Yin arose from his couch and gave his deliberate testimony that
+all the required tests and rites had been observed in his own case.
+The first part of the repast was then partaken of, the nature of the
+ingredients and the manner of preparing them being fully explained,
+and in a like manner through each succeeding one of the four-and-forty
+courses. At the conclusion Yin again arose, being encouraged by the
+repeated uttering of his name by those present, and with extreme modesty
+and brilliance set forth his manner of thinking concerning all subjects
+with which he was acquainted.
+
+Early on the morning of the following day Yin set out on his travels,
+entirely unaccompanied, and carrying with him nothing beyond a sum of
+money, a silk robe, and a well-tried and reliable spear. For many days
+he journeyed in a northerly direction, without encountering anything
+sufficiently unusual to engage his attention. This, however, was
+doubtless part of a pre-arranged scheme so that he should not be drawn
+from a destined path, for at a small village lying on the southern shore
+of a large lake, called by those around Silent Water, he heard of the
+existence of a certain sacred island, distant a full day’s sailing,
+which was barren of all forms of living things, and contained only a
+single gigantic rock of divine origin and majestic appearance. Many
+persons, the villagers asserted, had sailed to the island in the hope
+of learning the portent of the rock, but none ever returned, and they
+themselves avoided coming even within sight of it; for the sacred stone,
+they declared, exercised an evil influence over their ships, and would,
+if permitted, draw them out of their course and towards itself. For this
+reason Yin could find no guide, whatever reward he offered, who would
+accompany him; but having with difficulty succeeded in hiring a small
+boat of inconsiderable value, he embarked with food, incense, and
+materials for building fires, and after rowing consistently for nearly
+the whole of the day, came within sight of the island at evening.
+Thereafter the necessity of further exertion ceased, for, as they of the
+village had declared would be the case, the vessel moved gently forward,
+in an unswerving line, without being in any way propelled, and reaching
+its destination in a marvellously short space of time, passed behind a
+protecting spur of land and came to rest. It then being night, Yin did
+no more than carry his stores to a place of safety, and after lighting
+a sacrificial fire and prostrating himself before the rock, passed into
+the Middle Air.
+
+In the morning Yin’s spirit came back to the earth amid the sound of
+music of a celestial origin, which ceased immediately he recovered full
+consciousness. Accepting this manifestation as an omen of Divine favour,
+Yin journeyed towards the centre of the island where the rock stood,
+at every step passing the bones of innumerable ones who had come on a
+similar quest to his, and perished. Many of these had left behind them
+inscriptions on wood or bone testifying their deliberate opinion of the
+sacred rock, the island, their protecting deities, and the entire train
+of circumstances, which had resulted in their being in such a condition.
+These were for the most part of a maledictory and unencouraging nature,
+so that after reading a few, Yin endeavoured to pass without being in
+any degree influenced by such ill-judged outbursts.
+
+“Accursed be the ancestors of this tormented one to four generations
+back!” was prominently traced upon an unusually large shoulder-blade.
+“May they at this moment be simmering in a vat of unrefined dragon’s
+blood, as a reward for having so undiscriminatingly reared the person
+who inscribes these words only to attain this end!” “Be warned, O later
+one, by the signs around!” Another and more practical-minded person had
+written: “Retreat with all haste to your vessel, and escape while
+there is yet time. Should you, by chance, again reach land through this
+warning, do not neglect, out of an emotion of gratitude, to burn an
+appropriate amount of sacrifice paper for the lessening of the torments
+of the spirit of Li-Kao,” to which an unscrupulous one, who was plainly
+desirous of sharing in the benefit of the requested sacrifice, without
+suffering the exertion of inscribing a warning after the amiable manner
+of Li-Kao, had added the words, “and that of Huan Sin.”
+
+Halting at a convenient distance from one side of the rock which,
+without being carved by any person’s hand, naturally resembled the
+symmetrical countenance of a recumbent dragon (which he therefore
+conjectured to be the chief point of the entire mass), Yin built
+his fire and began an unremitting course of sacrifice and respectful
+ceremony. This manner of conduct he observed conscientiously for
+the space of seven days. Towards the end of that period a feeling of
+unendurable dejection began to possess him, for his stores of all kinds
+were beginning to fail, and he could not entirely put behind him the
+memory of the various well-intentioned warnings which he had received,
+or the sight of the fleshless ones who had lined his path. On the eighth
+day, being weak with hunger and, by reason of an intolerable thirst,
+unable to restrain his body any longer in the spot where he had hitherto
+continuously prostrated himself nine-and-ninety times each hour without
+ceasing, he rose to his feet and retraced his steps to the boat in order
+that he might fill his water-skins and procure a further supply of food.
+
+With a complicated emotion, in which was present every abandoned and
+disagreeable thought to which a person becomes a prey in moments of
+exceptional mental and bodily anguish, he perceived as soon as
+he reached the edge of the water that the boat, upon which he was
+confidently relying to carry him back when all else failed, had
+disappeared as entirely as the smoke from an extinguished opium pipe.
+At this sight Yin clearly understood the meaning of Li-Kao’s unregarded
+warning, and recognized that nothing could now save him from adding his
+incorruptible parts to those of the unfortunate ones whose unhappy
+fate had, seven days ago, engaged his refined pity. Unaccountably
+strengthened in body by the indignation which possessed him, and
+inspired with a virtuous repulsion at the treacherous manner of behaving
+on the part of those who guided his destinies, he hastened back to
+his place of obeisance, and perceiving that the habitually placid and
+introspective expression on the dragon face had imperceptibly changed
+into one of offensive cunning and unconcealed contempt, he snatched up
+his spear and, without the consideration of a moment, hurled it at
+a score of paces distance full into the sacred but nevertheless very
+unprepossessing face before him.
+
+At the instant when the presumptuous weapon touched the holy stone the
+entire intervening space between the earth and the sky was filled with
+innumerable flashes of forked and many-tongued lightning, so that the
+island had the appearance of being the scene of a very extensive but
+somewhat badly-arranged display of costly fireworks. At the same
+time the thunder rolled among the clouds and beneath the sea in an
+exceedingly disconcerting manner. At the first indication of these
+celestial movements a sudden blindness came upon Yin, and all power of
+thought or movement forsook him; nevertheless, he experienced an emotion
+of flight through the air, as though borne upwards upon the back of a
+winged creature. When this emotion ceased, the blindness went from him
+as suddenly and entirely as if a cloth had been pulled away from his
+eyes, and he perceived that he was held in the midst of a boundless
+space, with no other object in view than the sacred rock, which had
+opened, as it were, revealing a mighty throng within, at the sight of
+whom Yin’s internal organs trembled as they would never have moved at
+ordinary danger, for it was put into his spirit that these in whose
+presence he stood were the sacred Emperors of his country from the
+earliest time until the usurpation of the Chinese throne by the
+devouring Tartar hordes from the North.
+
+As Yin gazed in fear-stricken amazement, a knowledge of the various Pure
+Ones who composed the assembly came upon him. He understood that the
+three unclad and commanding figures which stood together were the
+Emperors of the Heaven, Earth, and Man, whose reigns covered a space of
+more than eighty thousand years, commencing from the time when the world
+began its span of existence. Next to them stood one wearing a robe of
+leopard-skin, his hand resting upon a staff of a massive club, while on
+his face the expression of tranquillity which marked his predecessors
+had changed into one of alert wakefulness; it was the Emperor of Houses,
+whose reign marked the opening of the never-ending strife between man
+and all other creatures. By his side stood his successor, the Emperor of
+Fire, holding in his right hand the emblem of the knotted cord, by which
+he taught man to cultivate his mental faculties, while from his mouth
+issued smoke and flame, signifying that by the introduction of fire he
+had raised his subjects to a state of civilized life.
+
+On the other side of the boundless chamber which seemed to be contained
+within the rocks were Fou-Hy, Tchang-Ki, Tcheng-Nung, and Huang,
+standing or reclining together. The first of these framed the calendar,
+organized property, thought out the eight Essential Diagrams, encouraged
+the various branches of hunting, and the rearing of domestic animals,
+and instituted marriage. From his couch floated melodious sounds
+in remembrance of his discovery of the property of stringed woods.
+Tchang-Ki, who manifested the property of herbs and growing plants, wore
+a robe signifying his attainments by means of embroidered symbols.
+His hand rested on the head of the dragon, while at his feet flowed a
+bottomless canal of the purest water. The discovery of written letters
+by Tcheng-Nung, and his ingenious plan of grouping them after the manner
+of the constellations of stars, was emblemized in a similar manner,
+while Huang, or the Yellow Emperor, was surrounded by ores of the
+useful and precious metals, weapons of warfare, written books, silks
+and articles of attire, coined money, and a variety of objects, all
+testifying to his ingenuity and inspired energy.
+
+These illustrious ones, being the greatest, were the first to take
+Yin’s attention, but beyond them he beheld an innumerable concourse of
+Emperors who not infrequently outshone their majestic predecessors in
+the richness of their apparel and the magnificence of the jewels which
+they wore. There Yin perceived Hung-Hoang, who first caused the chants
+to be collected, and other rulers of the Tcheon dynasty; Yong-Tching,
+who compiled the Holy Edict; Thang rulers whose line is rightly called
+“the golden,” from the unsurpassed excellence of the composed verses
+which it produced; renowned Emperors of the versatile Han dynasty; and,
+standing apart, and shunned by all, the malignant and narrow-minded
+Tsing-Su-Hoang, who caused the Sacred Books to be burned.
+
+Even while Yin looked and wondered, in great fear, a rolling voice,
+coming from one who sat in the midst of all, holding in his right hand
+the sun, and in his left the moon, sounded forth, like the music of many
+brass instruments playing in unison. It was the First Man who spoke.
+
+“Yin, son of Yat Huang, and creature of the Lower Part,” he said,
+“listen well to the words I speak, for brief is the span of your
+tarrying in the Upper Air, nor will the utterance I now give forth ever
+come unto your ears again, either on the earth, or when, blindly groping
+in the Middle Distance, your spirit takes its nightly flight. They who
+are gathered around, and whose voices I speak, bid me say this: Although
+immeasurably above you in all matters, both of knowledge and of power,
+yet we greet you as one who is well-intentioned, and inspired with
+honourable ambition. Had you been content to entreat and despair, as did
+all the feeble and incapable ones whose white bones formed your pathway,
+your ultimate fate would have in no wise differed from theirs. But
+inasmuch as you held yourself valiantly, and, being taken, raised an
+instinctive hand in return, you have been chosen; for the day to mute
+submission has, for the time or for ever, passed away, and the hour is
+when China shall be saved, not by supplication, but by the spear.”
+
+“A state of things which would have been highly unnecessary if I had
+been permitted to carry out my intention fully, and restore man to his
+prehistoric simplicity,” interrupted Tsin-Su-Hoang. “For that reason,
+when the voice of the assemblage expresses itself, it must be understood
+that it represents in no measure the views of Tsin-Su-Hoang.”
+
+“In the matter of what has gone before, and that which will follow
+hereafter,” continued the Voice dispassionately, “Yin, the son
+of Yat-Huang, must concede that it is in no part the utterance of
+Tsin-Su-Hoang--Tsin-Su-Hoang who burned the Sacred Books.”
+
+At the mention of the name and offence of this degraded being a great
+sound went up from the entire multitude--a universal cry of execration,
+not greatly dissimilar from that which may be frequently heard in the
+crowded Temple of Impartiality when the one whose duty it is to take up,
+at a venture, the folded papers, announces that the sublime Emperor,
+or some mandarin of exalted rank, has been so fortunate as to hold
+the winning number in the Annual State Lottery. So vengeance-laden and
+mournful was the combined and evidently preconcerted wail, that Yin
+was compelled to shield his ears against it; yet the inconsiderable
+Tsin-Su-Hoang, on whose account it was raised, seemed in no degree to
+be affected by it, he, doubtless, having become hardened by hearing
+a similar outburst, at fixed hours, throughout interminable cycles of
+time.
+
+When the last echo of the cry had passed away the Voice continued to
+speak.
+
+“Soon the earth will again receive you, Yin,” it said, “for it is not
+respectful that a lower one should be long permitted to gaze upon our
+exalted faces. Yet when you go forth and stand once more among men this
+is laid on you: that henceforth you are as a being devoted to a fixed
+and unchanging end, and whatever moves towards the restoring of the
+throne of the Central Empire the outcast but unalterably sacred line of
+its true sovereigns shall have your arm and mind. By what combination
+of force and stratagem this can be accomplished may not be honourably
+revealed by us, the all-knowing. Nevertheless, omens and guidance shall
+not be lacking from time to time, and from the beginning the weapon by
+which you have attained to this distinction shall be as a sign of our
+favour and protection over you.”
+
+When the Voice made an end of speaking the sudden blindness came upon
+Yin, as it had done before, and from the sense of motion which he
+experienced, he conjectured that he was being conveyed back to the
+island. Undoubtedly this was the case, for presently there came upon him
+the feeling that he was awakening from a deep and refreshing sleep,
+and opening his eyes, which he now found himself able to do without
+any difficulty, he immediately discovered that he was reclining at full
+length on the ground, and at a distance of about a score of paces from
+the dragon head. His first thought was to engage in a lengthy course
+of self-abasement before it, but remembering the words which had been
+spoken to him while in the Upper Air, he refrained, and even ventured to
+go forward with a confident but somewhat self-deprecatory air, to
+regain the spear, which he perceived lying at the foot of the rock. With
+feelings of a reassuring nature he then saw that the very undesirable
+expression which he had last beheld upon the dragon face had melted into
+one of encouraging urbanity and benignant esteem.
+
+Close by the place where he had landed he discovered his boat, newly
+furnished with wine and food of a much more attractive profusion than
+that which he had purchased in the village. Embarking in it, he made as
+though he would have returned to the south, but the spear which he held
+turned within his grasp, and pointed in an exactly opposite direction.
+Regarding this fact as an express command on the part of the Deities,
+Yin turned his boat to the north, and in the space of two days’
+time--being continually guided by the fixed indication of the spear--he
+reached the shore and prepared to continue his travels in the same
+direction, upheld and inspired by the knowledge that henceforth he moved
+under the direct influence of very powerful spirits.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+THE ILL-REGULATED DESTINY OF KIN YEN, THE PICTURE-MAKER
+
+
+  As recorded by himself before his sudden departure from Peking,
+  owing to circumstances which are made plain in the following
+  narrative.
+
+There are moments in the life of a person when the saying of the wise
+Ni-Hyu that “Misfortune comes to all men and to most women” is endowed
+with double force. At such times the faithful child of the Sun is a prey
+to the whitest and most funereal thoughts, and even the inspired
+wisdom of his illustrious ancestors seems more than doubtful, while the
+continued inactivity of the Sacred Dragon appears for the time to give
+colour to the scoffs of the Western barbarian. A little while ago these
+misgivings would have found no resting-place in the bosom of the writer.
+Now, however--but the matter must be made clear from the beginning.
+
+The name of the despicable person who here sets forth his immature story
+is Kin Yen, and he is a native of Kia-Lu in the Province of Che-Kiang.
+Having purchased from a very aged man the position of Hereditary
+Instructor in the Art of Drawing Birds and Flowers, he gave lessons in
+these accomplishments until he had saved sufficient money to journey
+to Peking. Here it was his presumptuous intention to learn the art of
+drawing figures in order that he might illustrate printed leaves of
+a more distinguished class than those which would accept what true
+politeness compels him to call his exceedingly unsymmetrical pictures
+of birds and flowers. Accordingly, when the time arrived, he disposed of
+his Hereditary Instructorship, having first ascertained in the interests
+of his pupils that his successor was a person of refined morals and
+great filial piety.
+
+Alas! it is well written, “The road to eminence lies through the cheap
+and exceedingly uninviting eating-houses.” In spite of this person’s
+great economy, and of his having begged his way from Kia-Lu to Peking in
+the guise of a pilgrim, journeying to burn incense in the sacred Temple
+of Truth near that city, when once within the latter place his taels
+melted away like the smile of a person of low class when he discovers
+that the mandarin’s stern words were not intended as a jest. Moreover,
+he found that the story-makers of Peking, receiving higher rewards
+than those at Kia-Lu, considered themselves bound to introduce living
+characters into all their tales, and in consequence the very ornamental
+drawings of birds and flowers which he had entwined into a legend
+entitled “The Last Fight of the Heaven-sent Tcheng”--a story which
+had been entrusted to him for illustration as a test of his skill--was
+returned to him with a communication in which the writer revealed his
+real meaning by stating contrary facts. It therefore became necessary
+that he should become competent in the art of drawing figures without
+delay, and with this object he called at the picture-room of Tieng Lin,
+a person whose experience was so great that he could, without discomfort
+to himself, draw men and women of all classes, both good and bad. When
+the person who is setting forth this narrative revealed to Tieng Lin the
+utmost amount of money he could afford to give for instruction in the
+art of drawing living figures, Tieng Lin’s face became as overcast as
+the sky immediately before the Great Rains, for in his ignorance of
+this incapable person’s poverty he had treated him with equality and
+courtesy, nor had he kept him waiting in the mean room on the plea that
+he was at that moment closeted with the Sacred Emperor. However, upon
+receiving an assurance that a rumour would be spread in which the number
+of taels should be multiplied by ten, and that the sum itself should be
+brought in advance, Tieng Lin promised to instruct this person in the
+art of drawing five characters, which, he said, would be sufficient
+to illustrate all stories except those by the most expensive and
+highly-rewarded story-tellers--men who have become so proficient that
+they not infrequently introduce a score or more of living persons into
+their tales without confusion.
+
+After considerable deliberation, this unassuming person selected the
+following characters, judging them to be the most useful, and the most
+readily applicable to all phases and situations of life:
+
+1. A bad person, wearing a long dark pigtail and smoking an opium pipe.
+His arms to be folded, and his clothes new and very expensive.
+
+2. A woman of low class. One who removes dust and useless things from
+the rooms of the over-fastidious and of those who have long nails; she
+to be carrying her trade-signs.
+
+3. A person from Pe-ling, endowed with qualities which cause the
+beholder to be amused. This character to be especially designed to go
+with the short sayings which remove gravity.
+
+4. One who, having incurred the displeasure of the sublime Emperor, has
+been decapitated in consequence.
+
+5. An ordinary person of no striking or distinguished appearance. One
+who can be safely introduced in all places and circumstances without
+great fear of detection.
+
+After many months spent in constant practice and in taking measurements,
+this unenviable person attained a very high degree of proficiency, and
+could draw any of the five characters without hesitation. With renewed
+hope, therefore, he again approached those who sit in easy-chairs, and
+concealing his identity (for they are stiff at bending, and when once
+a picture-maker is classed as “of no good” he remains so to the end, in
+spite of change), he succeeded in getting entrusted with a story by
+the elegant and refined Kyen Tal. This writer, as he remembered with
+distrust, confines his distinguished efforts entirely to the doings of
+sailors and of those connected with the sea, and this tale, indeed, he
+found upon reading to be the narrative of how a Hang-Chow junk and its
+crew, consisting mostly of aged persons, were beguiled out of their
+course by an exceedingly ill-disposed dragon, and wrecked upon an island
+of naked barbarians. It was, therefore, with a somewhat heavy stomach
+that this person set himself the task of arranging his five characters
+as so to illustrate the words of the story.
+
+The sayings of the ancient philosopher Tai Loo are indeed very subtle,
+and the truth of his remark, “After being disturbed in one’s dignity by
+a mandarin’s foot it is no unusual occurrence to fall flat on the
+face in crossing a muddy street,” was now apparent. Great as was the
+disadvantage owing to the nature of the five characters, this became as
+nothing when it presently appeared that the avaricious and clay-souled
+Tieng Lin, taking advantage of the blindness of this person’s
+enthusiasm, had taught him the figures so that they all gazed in the
+same direction. In consequence of this it would have been impossible
+that two should be placed as in the act of conversing together had not
+the noble Kyen Tal been inspired to write that “his companions turned
+from him in horror.” This incident the ingenious person who is recording
+these facts made the subject of three separate drawings, and having
+in one or two other places effected skilful changes in the writing, so
+similar in style to the strokes of the illustrious Kyen Tal as to
+be undetectable, he found little difficulty in making use of all his
+characters. The risks of the future, however, were too great to be run
+with impunity; therefore it was arranged, by means of money--for this
+person was fast becoming acquainted with the ways of Peking--that an
+emissary from one who sat in an easy-chair should call upon him for a
+conference, the narrative of which appeared in this form in the _Peking
+Printed Leaves of Thrice-distilled Truth:_
+
+  The brilliant and amiable young picture-maker Kin Yen, in spite of
+  the immediate and universal success of his accomplished efforts,
+  is still quite rotund in intellect, nor is he, if we may use a
+  form of speaking affected by our friends across the Hoang Hai,
+  “suffering from swollen feet.” A person with no recognized
+  position, but one who occasionally does inferior work of this
+  nature for us, recently surprised Kin Yen without warning, and
+  found him in his sumptuously appointed picture-room, busy with
+  compasses and tracing-paper. About the place were scattered in
+  elegant confusion several of his recent masterpieces. From the
+  subsequent conversation we are in a position to make it known that
+  in future this refined and versatile person will confine himself
+  entirely to illustrations of processions, funerals, armies on the
+  march, persons pursued by others, and kindred subjects which
+  appeal strongly to his imagination. Kin Yen has severe emotions on
+  the subject of individuality in art, and does not hesitate to
+  express himself forcibly with reference to those who are content
+  to degrade the names of their ancestors by turning out what he
+  wittily describes as “so much of varied mediocrity.”
+
+The prominence obtained by this pleasantly-composed notice--for it was
+copied by others who were unaware of the circumstance of its origin--had
+the desired effect. In future, when one of those who sit in easy-chairs
+wished for a picture after the kind mentioned, he would say to his
+lesser one: “Oh, send to the graceful and versatile Kin Yen; he becomes
+inspired on the subject of funerals,” or persons escaping from prison,
+or families walking to the temple, or whatever it might be. In that way
+this narrow-minded and illiterate person was soon both looked at and
+rich, so that it was his daily practice to be carried, in silk garments,
+past the houses of those who had known him in poverty, and on these
+occasions he would puff out his cheeks and pull his moustaches, looking
+fiercely from side to side.
+
+True are the words written in the elegant and distinguished Book of
+Verses: “Beware lest when being kissed by the all-seeing Emperor, you
+step upon the elusive banana-peel.” It was at the height of eminence in
+this altogether degraded person’s career that he encountered the being
+who led him on to his present altogether too lamentable condition.
+
+Tien Nung is the earthly name by which is known she who combines all the
+most illustrious attributes which have been possessed of women since the
+days of the divine Fou-Hy. Her father is a person of very gross habits,
+and lives by selling inferior merchandise covered with some of good
+quality. Upon past occasions, when under the direct influence of Tien,
+and in the hope of gaining some money benefit, this person may have
+spoken of him in terms of praise, and may even have recommended friends
+to entrust articles of value to him, or to procure goods on his advice.
+Now, however, he records it as his unalterable decision that the father
+of Tien Nung is by profession a person who obtains goods by stratagem,
+and that, moreover, it is impossible to gain an advantage over him on
+matters of exchange.
+
+The events that have happened prove the deep wisdom of Li Pen when
+he exclaimed “The whitest of pigeons, no matter how excellent in the
+silk-hung chamber, is not to be followed on the field of battle.” Tien
+herself was all that the most exacting of persons could demand, but
+her opinions on the subject of picture-making were not formed by heavy
+thought, and it would have been well if this had been borne in mind by
+this person. One morning he chanced to meet her while carrying open in
+his hands four sets of printed leaves containing his pictures.
+
+“I have observed,” said Tien, after the usual personal inquiries had
+been exchanged, “that the renowned Kin Yen, who is the object of the
+keenest envy among his brother picture-makers, so little regards the
+sacredness of his accomplished art that never by any chance does he
+depict persons of the very highest excellence. Let not the words of an
+impetuous maiden disarrange his digestive organs if they should seem
+too bold to the high-souled Kin Yen, but this matter has, since she has
+known him, troubled the eyelids of Tien. Here,” she continued, taking
+from this person’s hand one of the printed leaves which he was carrying,
+“in this illustration of persons returning from extinguishing a fire,
+is there one who appears to possess those qualities which appeal to
+all that is intellectual and competitive within one? Can it be that the
+immaculate Kin Yen is unacquainted with the subtle distinction between
+the really select and the vastly ordinary? Ah, undiscriminating Kin Yen!
+are not the eyelashes of the person who is addressing you as threads
+of fine gold to junk’s cables when compared with those of the extremely
+commonplace female who is here pictured in the art of carrying a bucket?
+Can the most refined lack of vanity hide from you the fact that your own
+person is infinitely rounder than this of the evilly-intentioned-looking
+individual with the opium pipe? O blind Kin Yen!”
+
+Here she fled in honourable confusion, leaving this person standing in
+the street, astounded, and a prey to the most distinguished emotions of
+a complicated nature.
+
+“Oh, Tien,” he cried at length, “inspired by those bright eyes, narrower
+than the most select of the three thousand and one possessed by the
+sublime Buddha, the almost fallen Kin Yen will yet prove himself worthy
+of your esteemed consideration. He will, without delay, learn to draw
+two new living persons, and will incorporate in them the likenesses
+which you have suggested.”
+
+Returning swiftly to his abode, he therefore inscribed and despatched
+this letter, in proof of his resolve:
+
+“To the Heaven-sent human chrysanthemum, in whose body reside the
+Celestial Principles and the imprisoned colours of the rainbow.
+
+“From the very offensive and self-opinionated picture-maker.
+
+“Henceforth this person will take no rest, nor eat any but the commonest
+food, until he shall have carried out the wishes of his one Jade Star,
+she whose teeth he is not worthy to blacken.
+
+“When Kin Yen has been entrusted with a story which contains a being in
+some degree reflecting the character of Tien, he will embellish it with
+her irreproachable profile and come to hear her words. Till then he bids
+her farewell.”
+
+From that moment most of this person’s time was necessarily spent in
+learning to draw the two new characters, and in consequence of this he
+lost much work, and, indeed, the greater part of the connexion which
+he had been at such pains to form gradually slipped away from him. Many
+months passed before he was competent to reproduce persons resembling
+Tien and himself, for in this he was unassisted by Tieng Lin, and his
+progress was slow.
+
+At length, being satisfied, he called upon the least fierce of those
+who sit in easy-chairs, and requested that he might be entrusted with a
+story for picture-making.
+
+“We should have been covered with honourable joy to set in operation
+the brush of the inspired Kin Yen,” replied the other with agreeable
+condescension; “only at the moment, it does not chance that we have
+before us any stories in which funerals, or beggars being driven from
+the city, form the chief incidents. Perhaps if the polished Kin Yen
+should happen to be passing this ill-constructed office in about six
+months’ time--”
+
+“The brush of Kin Yen will never again depict funerals, or labourers
+arranging themselves to receive pay or similar subjects,” exclaimed this
+person impetuously, “for, as it is well said, ‘The lightning discovers
+objects which the paper-lantern fails to reveal.’ In future none
+but tales dealing with the most distinguished persons shall have his
+attention.”
+
+“If this be the true word of the dignified Kin Yen, it is possible that
+we may be able to animate his inspired faculties,” was the response.
+“But in that case, as a new style must be in the nature of an
+experiment, and as our public has come to regard Kin Yen as the
+great exponent of Art Facing in One Direction, we cannot continue the
+exceedingly liberal payment with which we have been accustomed to reward
+his elegant exertions.”
+
+“Provided the story be suitable, that is a matter of less importance,”
+ replied this person.
+
+“The story,” said the one in the easy-chair, “is by the refined
+Tong-king, and it treats of the high-minded and conscientious doubts
+of one who would become a priest of Fo. When preparing for this
+distinguished office he discovers within himself leanings towards
+the religion of Lao-Tse. His illustrious scruples are enhanced by his
+affection for Wu Ping, who now appears in the story.”
+
+“And the ending?” inquired this person, for it was desirable that the
+two should marry happily.
+
+“The inimitable stories of Tong-king never have any real ending, and
+this one, being in his most elevated style, has even less end than
+most of them. But the whole narrative is permeated with the odour of
+joss-sticks and honourable high-mindedness, and the two characters are
+both of noble birth.”
+
+As it might be some time before another story so suitable should be
+offered, or one which would afford so good an opportunity of wafting
+incense to Tien, and of displaying her incomparable outline in dignified
+and magnanimous attitudes, this was eagerly accepted, and for the next
+week this obscure person spent all his days and nights in picturing the
+lovely Tien and his debased self in the characters of the nobly-born
+young priest of Fo and Wu Ping. The pictures finished, he caused them to
+be carefully conveyed to the office, and then, sitting down, spent
+many hours in composing the following letter, to be sent to Tien,
+accompanying a copy of the printed leaves wherein the story and his
+drawing should appear:
+
+“When the light has for a period been hidden from a person, it is
+no uncommon thing for him to be struck blind on gazing at the sun;
+therefore, if the sublime Tien values the eyes of Kin Yen, let her hide
+herself behind a gauze screen on his approach.
+
+“The trembling words of Tien have sunk deep into the inside of Kin Yen
+and become part of his being. Never again can he depict persons of the
+quality and in the position he was wont to do.
+
+“With this he sends his latest efforts. In each case he conceives his
+drawings to be the pictures of the written words; in the noble Tien’s
+case it is undoubtedly so, in his own he aspires to it. Doubtless the
+unobtrusive Tien would make no claim to the character and manner of
+behaving of the one in the story, yet Kin Yen confidently asserts that
+she is to the other as the glove is to the hand, and he is filled with
+the most intelligent delight at being able to exhibit her in her true
+robes, by which she will be known to all who see her, in spite of her
+dignified protests. Kin Yen hopes; he will come this evening after
+sunset.”
+
+The week which passed between the finishing of the pictures and the
+appearance of the eminent printed leaves containing them was the longest
+in this near-sighted person’s ill-spent life. But at length the day
+arrived, and going with exceedingly mean haste to the place of sale, he
+purchased a copy and sent it, together with the letter of his honourable
+intention, on which he had bestowed so much care, to Tien.
+
+Not till then did it occur to this inconsiderable one that the
+impetuousness of his action was ill-judged; for might it not be that the
+pictures were evilly-printed, or that the delicate and fragrant words
+painting the character of the one who now bore the features of Tien had
+undergone some change?
+
+To satisfy himself, scarce as taels had become with him, he purchased
+another copy.
+
+There are many exalted sayings of the wise and venerable Confucious
+constructed so as to be of service and consolation in moments of strong
+mental distress. These for the greater part recommend tranquillity
+of mind, a complete abnegation of the human passions and the
+like behaviour. The person who is here endeavouring to bring this
+badly-constructed account of his dishonourable career to a close
+pondered these for some moments after twice glancing through the matter
+in the printed leaves, and then, finding the faculties of speech and
+movement restored to him, procured a two-edged knife of distinguished
+brilliance and went forth to call upon the one who sits in an
+easy-chair.
+
+“Behold,” said the lesser one, insidiously stepping in between this
+person an the inner door, “my intellectual and all-knowing chief is not
+here to-day. May his entirely insufficient substitute offer words of
+congratulation to the inspired Kin Yen on his effective and striking
+pictures in this week’s issue?”
+
+“His altogether insufficient substitute,” answered this person, with
+difficulty mastering his great rage, “may and shall offer words of
+explanation to the inspired Kin Yen, setting forth the reason of his
+pictures being used, not with the high-minded story of the elegant
+Tong-king for which they were executed, but accompanying exceedingly
+base, foolish, and ungrammatical words written by Klan-hi, the Peking
+remover of gravity--words which will evermore brand the dew-like Tien
+as a person of light speech and no refinement”; and in his agony this
+person struck the lacquered table several times with his elegant knife.
+
+“O Kin Yen,” exclaimed the lesser one, “this matter rests not here. It
+is a thing beyond the sphere of the individual who is addressing you.
+All he can tell is that the graceful Tong-king withdrew his exceedingly
+tedious story for some reason at the final moment, and as your eminent
+drawings had been paid for, my chief of the inner office decided to use
+them with this story of Klan-hi. But surely it cannot be that there is
+aught in the story to displease your illustrious personality?”
+
+“Judge for yourself,” this person said, “first understanding that the
+two immaculate characters figuring as the personages of the narrative
+are exact copies of this dishonoured person himself and of the willowy
+Tien, daughter of the vastly rich Pe-li-Chen, whom he was hopeful of
+marrying.”
+
+Selecting one of the least offensive of the passages in the work, this
+unhappy person read the following immature and inelegant words:
+
+“This well-satisfied writer of printed leaves had a highly-distinguished
+time last night. After Chow had departed to see about food, and the junk
+had been fastened up at the lock of Kilung, on the Yang-tse-Kiang, he
+and the round-bodied Shang were journeying along the narrow path by the
+river-side when the right leg of the graceful and popular person who
+is narrating these events disappeared into the river. Suffering no
+apprehension in the dark, but that the vanishing limb was the left leg
+of Shang, this intelligent writer allowed his impassiveness to melt away
+to an exaggerated degree; but at that moment the circumstance became
+plain to the round-bodied Shang, who was in consequence very grossly
+amused at the mishap and misapprehension of your good lord, the writer,
+at the same time pointing out the matter as it really was. Then it
+chanced that there came by one of the maidens who carry tea and jest for
+small sums of money to the sitters at the little tables with round white
+tops, at which this remarkable person, the confidant of many mandarins,
+ever desirous of displaying his priceless power of removing gravity,
+said to her:
+
+“‘How much of gladness, Ning-Ning? By the Sacred Serpent this is plainly
+your night out.’
+
+“Perceiving the true facts of the predicament of this commendable
+writer, she replied:
+
+“‘Suffer not your illustrious pigtail to be removed, venerable Wang; for
+in this maiden’s estimation it is indeed your night in.’
+
+“There are times when this valued person wonders whether his method
+of removing gravity be in reality very antique or quite new. On such
+occasions the world, with all its schools, and those who interfere in
+the concerns of others, continues to revolve around him. The wondrous
+sky-lanterns come out silently two by two like to the crystallized music
+of stringed woods. Then, in the mystery of no-noise, his head becomes
+greatly enlarged with celestial and highly-profound thoughts; his
+groping hand seems to touch matter which may be written out in his
+impressive style and sold to those who print leaves, and he goes home to
+write out such.”
+
+When this person looked up after reading, with tears of shame in his
+eyes, he perceived that the lesser one had cautiously disappeared.
+Therefore, being unable to gain admittance to the inner office, he
+returned to his home.
+
+Here the remark of the omniscient Tai Loo again fixes itself upon the
+attention. No sooner had this incapable person reached his house than he
+became aware that a parcel had arrived for him from the still adorable
+Tien. Retiring to a distance from it, he opened the accompanying letter
+and read:
+
+“When a virtuous maiden has been made the victim of a heartless jest or
+a piece of coarse stupidity at a person’s hands, it is no uncommon thing
+for him to be struck blind on meeting her father. Therefore, if the
+degraded and evil-minded Kin Yen values his eyes, ears, nose, pigtail,
+even his dishonourable breath, let him hide himself behind a fortified
+wall at Pe-li-Chen’s approach.
+
+“With this Tien returns everything she has ever accepted from Kin Yen.
+She even includes the brace of puppies which she received anonymously
+about a month ago, and which she did not eat, but kept for reasons of
+her own--reasons entirely unconnected with the vapid and exceedingly
+conceited Kin Yen.”
+
+As though this letter, and the puppies of which this person now heard
+for the first time, making him aware of the existence of a rival lover,
+were not enough, there almost immediately arrived a letter from Tien’s
+father:
+
+“This person has taken the advice of those skilled in extorting money by
+means of law forms, and he finds that Kin Yen has been guilty of a grave
+and highly expensive act. This is increased by the fact that Tien had
+conveyed his seemingly distinguished intentions to all her friends,
+before whom she now stands in an exceedingly ungraceful attitude. The
+machinery for depriving Kin Yen of all the necessaries of existence
+shall be put into operation at once.”
+
+At this point, the person who is now concluding his obscure and
+commonplace history, having spent his last piece of money on joss-sticks
+and incense-paper, and being convinced of the presence of the spirits of
+his ancestors, is inspired to make the following prophecies: That Tieng
+Lin, who imposed upon him in the matter of picture-making, shall come
+to a sudden end, accompanied by great internal pains, after suffering
+extreme poverty; that the one who sits in an easy-chair, together with
+his lesser one and all who make stories for them, shall, while sailing
+to a rice feast during the Festival of Flowers, be precipitated into the
+water and slowly devoured by sea monsters, Klan-hi in particular being
+tortured in the process; that Pel-li-Chen, the father of Tien, shall
+be seized with the dancing sickness when in the presence of the august
+Emperor, and being in consequence suspected of treachery, shall, to
+prove the truth of his denials, be submitted to the tests of boiling
+tar, red-hot swords, and of being dropped from a great height on to the
+Sacred Stone of Goodness and Badness, in each of which he shall fail to
+convince his judges or to establish his innocence, to the amusement of
+all beholders.
+
+These are the true words of Kin Yen, the picture-maker, who, having
+unweighed his mind and exposed the avaricious villainy of certain
+persons, is now retiring by night to a very select and hidden spot in
+the Khingan Mountains.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1076 ***
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+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1076 ***</div>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:55%;">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" />
+</div>
+
+<h1>THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG</h1>
+
+<h2 class="no-break">By Ernest Bramah</h2>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;Ho, illustrious passers-by!&rdquo; says Kai Lung as he spreads out his
+embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. &ldquo;It is indeed unlikely that you
+could condescend to stop and listen to the foolish words of such an
+insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself. Nevertheless, if you
+will but retard your elegant footsteps for a few moments, this exceedingly
+unprepossessing individual will endeavour to entertain you.&rdquo; This is a
+collection of Kai Lung&rsquo;s entertaining tales, told professionally in the
+market places as he travelled about; told sometimes to occupy and divert the
+minds of his enemies when they were intent on torturing him.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0001">I. THE TRANSMUTATION OF LING</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0002">II. THE STORY OF YUNG CHANG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0003">III. THE PROBATION OF SEN HENG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0004">IV. THE EXPERIMENT OF THE MANDARIN CHAN HUNG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0005">V. THE CONFESSION OF KAI LUNG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0006">VI. THE VENGEANCE OF TUNG FEL</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0007">VII. THE CAREER OF THE CHARITABLE QUEN-KI-TONG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0008">VIII. THE VISION OF YIN, THE SON OF YAT HUANG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0009">IX. THE ILL-REGULATED DESTINY OF KIN YEN, THE PICTURE-MAKER</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<hr />
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"></a>
+I.<br />
+THE TRANSMUTATION OF LING</h2>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER I<br />
+INTRODUCTION</h3>
+
+<p>
+The sun had dipped behind the western mountains before Kai Lung, with twenty li
+or more still between him and the city of Knei Yang, entered the camphor-laurel
+forest which stretched almost to his destination. No person of consequence ever
+made the journey unattended; but Kai Lung professed to have no fear, remarking
+with extempore wisdom, when warned at the previous village, that a worthless
+garment covered one with better protection than that afforded by an army of
+bowmen. Nevertheless, when within the gloomy aisles, Kai Lung more than once
+wished himself back at the village, or safely behind the mud walls of Knei
+Yang; and, making many vows concerning the amount of prayer-paper which he
+would assuredly burn when he was actually through the gates, he stepped out
+more quickly, until suddenly, at a turn in the glade, he stopped altogether,
+while the watchful expression into which he had unguardedly dropped at once
+changed into a mask of impassiveness and extreme unconcern. From behind the
+next tree projected a long straight rod, not unlike a slender bamboo at a
+distance, but, to Kai Lung&rsquo;s all-seeing eye, in reality the barrel of a
+matchlock, which would come into line with his breast if he took another step.
+Being a prudent man, more accustomed to guile and subservience to destiny than
+to force, he therefore waited, spreading out his hands in proof of his peaceful
+acquiescence, and smiling cheerfully until it should please the owner of the
+weapon to step forth. This the unseen did a moment later, still keeping his gun
+in an easy and convenient attitude, revealing a stout body and a scarred face,
+which in conjunction made it plain to Kai Lung that he was in the power of Lin
+Yi, a noted brigand of whom he had heard much in the villages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O illustrious person,&rdquo; said Kai Lung very earnestly, &ldquo;this
+is evidently an unfortunate mistake. Doubtless you were expecting some exalted
+Mandarin to come and render you homage, and were preparing to overwhelm him
+with gratified confusion by escorting him yourself to your well-appointed
+abode. Indeed, I passed such a one on the road, very richly apparelled, who
+inquired of me the way to the mansion of the dignified and upright Lin Yi. By
+this time he is perhaps two or three li towards the east.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;However distinguished a Mandarin may be, it is fitting that I should
+first attend to one whose manners and accomplishments betray him to be of the
+Royal House,&rdquo; replied Lin Yi, with extreme affability. &ldquo;Precede me,
+therefore, to my mean and uninviting hovel, while I gain more honour than I can
+reasonably bear by following closely in your elegant footsteps, and guarding
+your Imperial person with this inadequate but heavily-loaded weapon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seeing no chance of immediate escape, Kai Lung led the way, instructed by the
+brigand, along a very difficult and bewildering path, until they reached a cave
+hidden among the crags. Here Lin Yi called out some words in the Miaotze
+tongue, whereupon a follower appeared, and opened a gate in the stockade of
+prickly mimosa which guarded the mouth of the den. Within the enclosure a fire
+burned, and food was being prepared. At a word from the chief, the unfortunate
+Kai Lung found his hands seized and tied behind his back, while a second later
+a rough hemp rope was fixed round his neck, and the other end tied to an
+overhanging tree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lin Yi smiled pleasantly and critically upon these preparations, and when they
+were complete dismissed his follower.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now we can converse at our ease and without restraint,&rdquo; he
+remarked to Kai Lung. &ldquo;It will be a distinguished privilege for a person
+occupying the important public position which you undoubtedly do; for myself,
+my instincts are so degraded and low-minded that nothing gives me more
+gratification than to dispense with ceremony.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To this Kai Lung made no reply, chiefly because at that moment the wind swayed
+the tree, and compelled him to stand on his toes in order to escape
+suffocation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It would be useless to try to conceal from a person of your inspired
+intelligence that I am indeed Lin Yi,&rdquo; continued the robber. &ldquo;It is
+a dignified position to occupy, and one for which I am quite incompetent. In
+the sixth month of the third year ago, it chanced that this unworthy person, at
+that time engaged in commercial affairs at Knei Yang, became inextricably
+immersed in the insidious delights of quail-fighting. Having been entrusted
+with a large number of taels with which to purchase elephants&rsquo; teeth, it
+suddenly occurred to him that if he doubled the number of taels by staking them
+upon an exceedingly powerful and agile quail, he would be able to purchase
+twice the number of teeth, and so benefit his patron to a large extent. This
+matter was clearly forced upon his notice by a dream, in which he perceived one
+whom he then understood to be the benevolent spirit of an ancestor in the act
+of stroking a particular quail, upon whose chances he accordingly placed all he
+possessed. Doubtless evil spirits had been employed in the matter; for, to this
+person&rsquo;s great astonishment, the quail in question failed in a very
+discreditable manner at the encounter. Unfortunately, this person had risked
+not only the money which had been entrusted to him, but all that he had himself
+become possessed of by some years of honourable toil and assiduous courtesy as
+a professional witness in law cases. Not doubting that his patron would see
+that he was himself greatly to blame in confiding so large a sum of money to a
+comparatively young man of whom he knew little, this person placed the matter
+before him, at the same time showing him that he would suffer in the eyes of
+the virtuous if he did not restore this person&rsquo;s savings, which but for
+the presence of the larger sum, and a generous desire to benefit his patron, he
+would never have risked in so uncertain a venture as that of quail-fighting.
+Although the facts were laid in the form of a dignified request instead of a
+demand by legal means, and the reasoning carefully drawn up in columns of fine
+parchment by a very illustrious writer, the reply which this person received
+showed him plainly that a wrong view had been taken of the matter, and that the
+time had arrived when it became necessary for him to make a suitable rejoinder
+by leaving the city without delay.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was a high-minded and disinterested course to take,&rdquo; said Kai
+Lung with great conviction, as Lin Yi paused. &ldquo;Without doubt evil will
+shortly overtake the avaricious-souled person at Knei Yang.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It has already done so,&rdquo; replied Lin Yi. &ldquo;While passing
+through this forest in the season of Many White Vapours, the spirits of his bad
+deeds appeared to him in misleading and symmetrical shapes, and drew him out of
+the path and away from his bowmen. After suffering many torments, he found his
+way here, where, in spite of our continual care, he perished miserably and in
+great bodily pain.... But I cannot conceal from myself, in spite of your
+distinguished politeness, that I am becoming intolerably tiresome with my
+commonplace talk.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the contrary,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung, &ldquo;while listening to your
+voice I seemed to hear the beating of many gongs of the finest and most
+polished brass. I floated in the Middle Air, and for the time I even became
+unconscious of the fact that this honourable appendage, though fashioned, as I
+perceive, out of the most delicate silk, makes it exceedingly difficult for me
+to breathe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such a thing cannot be permitted,&rdquo; exclaimed Lin Yi, with some
+indignation, as with his own hands he slackened the rope and, taking it from
+Kai Lung&rsquo;s neck, fastened it around his ankle. &ldquo;Now, in return for
+my uninviting confidences, shall not my senses be gladdened by a recital of the
+titles and honours borne by your distinguished family? Doubtless, at this
+moment many Mandarins of the highest degree are anxiously awaiting your arrival
+at Knei Yang, perhaps passing the time by outdoing one another in protesting
+the number of taels each would give rather than permit you to be tormented by
+fire-brands, or even to lose a single ear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; replied Kai Lung, &ldquo;never was there a truer proverb
+than that which says, &lsquo;It is a mark of insincerity of purpose to spend
+one&rsquo;s time in looking for the sacred Emperor in the low-class
+tea-shops.&rsquo; Do Mandarins or the friends of Mandarins travel in mean
+garments and unattended? Indeed, the person who is now before you is none other
+than the outcast Kai Lung, the story-teller, one of degraded habits and no very
+distinguished or reputable ancestors. His friends are few, and mostly of the
+criminal class; his wealth is not more than some six or eight cash, concealed
+in his left sandal; and his entire stock-in-trade consists of a few unendurable
+and badly told stories, to which, however, it is his presumptuous intention
+shortly to add a dignified narrative of the high-born Lin Yi, setting out his
+domestic virtues and the honour which he has reflected upon his house, his
+valour in war, the destruction of his enemies, and, above all, his great
+benevolence and the protection which he extends to the poor and those engaged
+in the distinguished arts.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The absence of friends is unfortunate,&rdquo; said Lin Yi thoughtfully,
+after he had possessed himself of the coins indicated by Kai Lung, and also of
+a much larger amount concealed elsewhere among the story-teller&rsquo;s
+clothing. &ldquo;My followers are mostly outlawed Miaotze, who have been driven
+from their own tribes in Yun Nan for man-eating and disregarding the sacred
+laws of hospitality. They are somewhat rapacious, and in this way it has become
+a custom that they should have as their own, for the purpose of exchanging for
+money, persons such as yourself, whose insatiable curiosity has led them to
+this place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The wise and all-knowing Emperor Fohy instituted three degrees of
+attainment: Being poor, to obtain justice; being rich, to escape flattery; and
+being human, to avoid the passions,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung. &ldquo;To these
+the practical and enlightened Kang added yet another, the greatest: Being lean,
+to yield fatness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In such cases,&rdquo; observed the brigand, &ldquo;the Miaotze keep an
+honoured and very venerable rite, which chiefly consists in suspending the
+offender by a pigtail from a low tree, and placing burning twigs of hemp-palm
+between his toes. To this person it seems a foolish and meaningless habit; but
+it would not be well to interfere with their religious observances, however
+trivial they may appear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such a course must inevitably end in great loss,&rdquo; suggested Kai
+Lung; &ldquo;for undoubtedly there are many poor yet honourable persons who
+would leave with them a bond for a large number of taels and save the money
+with which to redeem it, rather than take part in a ceremony which is not
+according to one&rsquo;s own Book of Rites.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They have already suffered in that way on one or two occasions,&rdquo;
+replied Lin Yi; &ldquo;so that such a proposal, no matter how nobly intended,
+would not gladden their faces. Yet they are simple and docile persons, and
+would, without doubt, be moved to any feeling you should desire by the recital
+of one of your illustrious stories.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;An intelligent and discriminating assemblage is more to a story-teller
+than much reward of cash from hands that conceal open mouths,&rdquo; replied
+Kai Lung with great feeling. &ldquo;Nothing would confer more pleasurable
+agitation upon this unworthy person than an opportunity of narrating his entire
+stock to them. If also the accomplished Lin Yi would bestow renown upon the
+occasion by his presence, no omen of good would be wanting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The pleasures of the city lie far behind me,&rdquo; said Lin Yi, after
+some thought, &ldquo;and I would cheerfully submit myself to an intellectual
+accomplishment such as you are undoubtedly capable of. But as we have necessity
+to leave this spot before the hour when the oak-leaves change into night-moths,
+one of your amiable stories will be the utmost we can strengthen our intellects
+with. Select which you will. In the meantime, food will be brought to refresh
+you after your benevolent exertions in conversing with a person of my vapid
+understanding. When you have partaken, or thrown it away as utterly
+unendurable, the time will have arrived, and this person, together with all his
+accomplices, will put themselves in a position to be subjected to all the most
+dignified emotions.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The story which I have selected for this gratifying occasion,&rdquo;
+said Kai Lung, when, an hour or so later, still pinioned, but released from the
+halter, he sat surrounded by the brigands, &ldquo;is entitled &lsquo;Good and
+Evil,&rsquo; and it is concerned with the adventures of one Ling, who bore the
+honourable name of Ho. The first, and indeed the greater, part of the
+narrative, as related by the venerable and accomplished writer of history
+Chow-Tan, is taken up by showing how Ling was assuredly descended from an
+enlightened Emperor of the race of Tsin; but as the no less omniscient
+Ta-lin-hi proves beyond doubt that the person in question was in no way
+connected with any but a line of hereditary ape-worshippers, who entered China
+from an unknown country many centuries ago, it would ill become this illiterate
+person to express an opinion on either side, and he will in consequence omit
+the first seventeen books of the story, and only deal with the three which
+refer to the illustrious Ling himself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+THE STORY OF LING
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Narrated by Kai Lung when a prisoner in the camp of Lin Yi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling was the youngest of three sons, and from his youth upwards proved to be of
+a mild and studious disposition. Most of his time was spent in reading the
+sacred books, and at an early age he found the worship of apes to be repulsive
+to his gentle nature, and resolved to break through the venerable traditions of
+his family by devoting his time to literary pursuits, and presenting himself
+for the public examinations at Canton. In this his resolution was strengthened
+by a rumour that an army of bowmen was shortly to be raised from the Province
+in which he lived, so that if he remained he would inevitably be forced into an
+occupation which was even more distasteful to him than the one he was leaving.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having arrived at Canton, Ling&rsquo;s first care was to obtain particulars of
+the examinations, which he clearly perceived, from the unusual activity
+displayed on all sides, to be near at hand. On inquiring from passers-by, he
+received very conflicting information; for the persons to whom he spoke were
+themselves entered for the competition, and therefore naturally misled him in
+order to increase their own chances of success. Perceiving this, Ling
+determined to apply at once, although the light was past, to a Mandarin who was
+concerned in the examinations, lest by delay he should lose his chance for the
+year.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is an unfortunate event that so distinguished a person should have
+selected this day and hour on which to overwhelm us with his affable
+politeness!&rdquo; exclaimed the porter at the gate of the Yamen, when Ling had
+explained his reason for going. &ldquo;On such a day, in the reign of the
+virtuous Emperor Hoo Chow, a very benevolent and unassuming ancestor of my good
+lord the Mandarin was destroyed by treachery, and ever since his family has
+observed the occasion by fasting and no music. This person would certainly be
+punished with death if he entered the inner room from any cause.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words, Ling, who had been simply brought up, and chiefly in the
+society of apes, was going away with many expressions of self-reproach at
+selecting such a time, when the gate-keeper called him back.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am overwhelmed with confusion at the position in which I find
+myself,&rdquo; he remarked, after he had examined his mind for a short time.
+&ldquo;I may meet with an ungraceful and objectionable death if I carry out
+your estimable instructions, but I shall certainly merit and receive a similar
+fate if I permit so renowned and versatile a person to leave without a fitting
+reception. In such matters a person can only trust to the intervention of good
+spirits; if, therefore, you will permit this unworthy individual to wear, while
+making the venture, the ring which he perceives upon your finger, and which he
+recognizes as a very powerful charm against evil, misunderstandings, and
+extortion, he will go without fear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Overjoyed at the amiable porter&rsquo;s efforts on his behalf, Ling did as he
+was desired, and the other retired. Presently the door of the Yamen was opened
+by an attendant of the house, and Ling bidden to enter. He was covered with
+astonishment to find that this person was entirely unacquainted with his name
+or purpose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; said the attendant, when Ling had explained his object,
+&ldquo;well said the renowned and inspired Ting Fo, &lsquo;When struck by a
+thunderbolt it is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise
+meaning of the omen.&rsquo; At this moment my noble-minded master is engaged in
+conversation with all the most honourable and refined persons in Canton, while
+singers and dancers of a very expert and nimble order have been sent for. The
+entertainment will undoubtedly last far into the night, and to present myself
+even with the excuse of your graceful and delicate inquiry would certainly
+result in very objectionable consequences to this person.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is indeed a day of unprepossessing circumstances,&rdquo; replied
+Ling, and after many honourable remarks concerning his own intellect and
+appearance, and those of the person to whom he was speaking, he had turned to
+leave when the other continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ever since your dignified presence illumined this very ordinary chamber,
+this person has been endeavouring to bring to his mind an incident which
+occurred to him last night while he slept. Now it has come back to him with a
+diamond clearness, and he is satisfied that it was as follows: While he floated
+in the Middle Air a benevolent spirit in the form of an elderly and toothless
+vampire appeared, leading by the hand a young man, of elegant personality.
+Smiling encouragingly upon this person, the spirit said, &lsquo;O Fou,
+recipient of many favours from Mandarins and of innumerable taels from
+gratified persons whom you have obliged, I am, even at this moment, guiding
+this exceptional young man towards your presence; when he arrives do not
+hesitate, but do as he desires, no matter how great the danger seems or how
+inadequately you may appear to be rewarded on earth.&rsquo; The vision then
+melted, but I now clearly perceive that with the exception of the embroidered
+cloak which you wear, you are the person thus indicated to me. Remove your
+cloak, therefore, in order to give the amiable spirit no opportunity of denying
+the fact, and I will advance your wishes; for, as the Book of Verses indicates,
+&lsquo;The person who patiently awaits a sign from the clouds for many years,
+and yet fails to notice the earthquake at his feet, is devoid of
+intellect.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Convinced that he was assuredly under the especial protection of the Deities,
+and that the end of his search was in view, Ling gave his rich cloak to the
+attendant, and was immediately shown into another room, where he was left
+alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a considerable space of time the door opened and there entered a person
+whom Ling at first supposed to be the Mandarin. Indeed, he was addressing him
+by his titles when the other interrupted him. &ldquo;Do not distress your
+incomparable mind by searching for honourable names to apply to so inferior a
+person as myself,&rdquo; he said agreeably. &ldquo;The mistake is,
+nevertheless, very natural; for, however miraculous it may appear, this
+unseemly individual, who is in reality merely a writer of spoken words, is
+admitted to be exceedingly like the dignified Mandarin himself, though somewhat
+stouter, clad in better garments, and, it is said, less obtuse of intellect.
+This last matter he very much doubts, for he now finds himself unable to
+recognize by name one who is undoubtedly entitled to wear the Royal
+Yellow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With this encouragement Ling once more explained his position, narrating the
+events which had enabled him to reach the second chamber of the Yamen. When he
+had finished the secretary was overpowered with a high-minded indignation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Assuredly those depraved and rapacious persons who have both misled and
+robbed you shall suffer bow-stringing when the whole matter is brought to
+light,&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;The noble Mandarin neither fasts nor
+receives guests, for, indeed, he has slept since the sun went down. This person
+would unhesitatingly break his slumber for so commendable a purpose were it not
+for a circumstance of intolerable unavoidableness. It must not even be told in
+a low breath beyond the walls of the Yamen, but my benevolent and high-born
+lord is in reality a person of very miserly instinct, and nothing will call him
+from his natural sleep but the sound of taels shaken beside his bed. In an
+unexpected manner it comes about that this person is quite unsupplied with
+anything but thin printed papers of a thousand taels each, and these are quite
+useless for the purpose.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is unendurable that so obliging a person should be put to such
+inconvenience on behalf of one who will certainly become a public
+laughing-stock at the examinations,&rdquo; said Ling, with deep feeling; and
+taking from a concealed spot in his garments a few taels, he placed them before
+the secretary for the use he had indicated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling was again left alone for upwards of two strokes of the gong, and was on
+the point of sleep when the secretary returned with an expression of dignified
+satisfaction upon his countenance. Concluding that he had been successful in
+the manner of awakening the Mandarin, Ling was opening his mouth for a polite
+speech, which should contain a delicate allusion to the taels, when the
+secretary warned him, by affecting a sudden look of terror, that silence was
+exceedingly desirable, and at the same time opened another door and indicated
+to Ling that he should pass through.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the next room Ling was overjoyed to find himself in the presence of the
+Mandarin, who received him graciously, and paid many estimable compliments to
+the name he bore and the country from which he came. When at length Ling tore
+himself from this enchanting conversation, and explained the reason of his
+presence, the Mandarin at once became a prey to the whitest and most melancholy
+emotions, even plucking two hairs from his pigtail to prove the extent and
+conscientiousness of his grief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold,&rdquo; he cried at length, &ldquo;I am resolved that the
+extortionate and many-handed persons at Peking who have control of the
+examination rites and customs shall no longer grow round-bodied without remark.
+This person will unhesitatingly proclaim the true facts of the case without
+regarding the danger that the versatile Chancellor or even the sublime Emperor
+himself may, while he speaks, be concealed in some part of this unassuming room
+to hear his words; for, as it is wisely said, &lsquo;When marked out by
+destiny, a person will assuredly be drowned, even though he passes the whole of
+his existence among the highest branches of a date tree.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am overwhelmed that I should be the cause of such an engaging display
+of polished agitation,&rdquo; said Ling, as the Mandarin paused. &ldquo;If it
+would make your own stomach less heavy, this person will willingly follow your
+estimable example, either with or without knowing the reason.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The matter is altogether on your account, O most unobtrusive young
+man,&rdquo; replied the Mandarin, when a voice without passion was restored to
+him. &ldquo;It tears me internally with hooks to reflect that you, whose
+refined ancestors I might reasonably have known had I passed my youth in
+another Province, should be victim to the cupidity of the ones in authority at
+Peking. A very short time before you arrived there came a messenger in haste
+from those persons, clearly indicating that a legal toll of sixteen taels was
+to be made on each printed paper setting forth the time and manner of the
+examinations, although, as you may see, the paper is undoubtedly marked,
+&lsquo;Persons are given notice that they are defrauded of any sum which they
+may be induced to exchange for this matter.&rsquo; Furthermore, there is a
+legal toll of nine taels on all persons who have previously been
+examined&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am happily escaped from that,&rdquo; exclaimed Ling with some
+satisfaction as the Mandarin paused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&mdash;and twelve taels on all who present themselves for the first
+time. This is to be delivered over when the paper is purchased, so that you, by
+reason of this unworthy proceeding at Peking, are required to forward to that
+place, through this person, no less than thirty-two taels.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a circumstance of considerable regret,&rdquo; replied Ling;
+&ldquo;for had I only reached Canton a day earlier, I should, it appears, have
+avoided this evil.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Undoubtedly it would have been so,&rdquo; replied the Mandarin, who had
+become engrossed in exalted meditation. &ldquo;However,&rdquo; he continued a
+moment later, as he bowed to Ling with an accomplished smile, &ldquo;it would
+certainly be a more pleasant thought for a person of your refined intelligence
+that had you delayed until to-morrow the insatiable persons at Peking might be
+demanding twice the amount.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pondering the deep wisdom of this remark, Ling took his departure; but in spite
+of the most assiduous watchfulness he was unable to discern any of the three
+obliging persons to whose efforts his success had been due.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+
+<p>
+It was very late when Ling again reached the small room which he had selected
+as soon as he reached Canton, but without waiting for food or sleep he made
+himself fully acquainted with the times of the forthcoming examinations and the
+details of the circumstances connected with them. With much satisfaction he
+found that he had still a week in which to revive his intellect on the most
+difficult subjects. Having become relieved on these points, Ling retired for a
+few hours&rsquo; sleep, but rose again very early, and gave the whole day with
+great steadfastness to contemplation of the sacred classics Y-King, with the
+exception of a short period spent in purchasing ink, brushes and
+writing-leaves. The following day, having become mentally depressed through
+witnessing unaccountable hordes of candidates thronging the streets of Canton,
+Ling put aside his books, and passed the time in visiting all the most
+celebrated tombs in the neighbourhood of the city. Lightened in mind by this
+charitable and agreeable occupation, he returned to his studies with a fixed
+resolution, nor did he again falter in his purpose. On the evening of the
+examination, when he was sitting alone, reading by the aid of a single light,
+as his custom was, a person arrived to see him, at the same time manifesting a
+considerable appearance of secrecy and reserve. Inwardly sighing at the
+interruption, Ling nevertheless received him with distinguished consideration
+and respect, setting tea before him, and performing towards it many honourable
+actions with his own hands. Not until some hours had sped in conversation
+relating to the health of the Emperor, the unexpected appearance of a fiery
+dragon outside the city, and the insupportable price of opium, did the visitor
+allude to the object of his presence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It has been observed,&rdquo; he remarked, &ldquo;that the accomplished
+Ling, who aspires to a satisfactory rank at the examinations, has never before
+made the attempt. Doubtless in this case a preternatural wisdom will avail
+much, and its fortunate possessor will not go unrewarded. Yet it is as precious
+stones among ashes for one to triumph in such circumstances.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The fact is known to this person,&rdquo; replied Ling sadly, &ldquo;and
+the thought of the years he may have to wait before he shall have passed even
+the first degree weighs down his soul with bitterness from time to time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is no infrequent thing for men of accomplished perseverance, but
+merely ordinary intellects, to grow venerable within the four walls of the
+examination cell,&rdquo; continued the other. &ldquo;Some, again, become
+afflicted with various malignant evils, while not a few, chiefly those who are
+presenting themselves for the first time, are so overcome on perceiving the
+examination paper, and understanding the inadequate nature of their own
+accomplishments, that they become an easy prey to the malicious spirits which
+are ever on the watch in those places; and, after covering their leaves with
+unpresentable remarks and drawings of men and women of distinguished rank, have
+at length to be forcibly carried away by the attendants and secured with heavy
+chains.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such things undoubtedly exist,&rdquo; agreed Ling; &ldquo;yet by a due
+regard paid to spirits, both good and bad, a proper esteem for one&rsquo;s
+ancestors, and a sufficiency of charms about the head and body, it is possible
+to be closeted with all manner of demons and yet to suffer no evil.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is undoubtedly possible to do so, according to the Immortal
+Principles,&rdquo; admitted the stranger; &ldquo;but it is not an undertaking
+in which a refined person would take intelligent pleasure; as the proverb says,
+&lsquo;He is a wise and enlightened suppliant who seeks to discover an
+honourable Mandarin, but he is a fool who cries out, &ldquo;I have found
+one.&rdquo;&rsquo; However, it is obvious that the reason of my visit is
+understood, and that your distinguished confidence in yourself is merely a
+graceful endeavour to obtain my services for a less amount of taels than I
+should otherwise have demanded. For half the usual sum, therefore, this person
+will take your place in the examination cell, and enable your versatile name to
+appear in the winning lists, while you pass your moments in irreproachable
+pleasures elsewhere.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such a course had never presented itself to Ling. As the person who narrates
+this story has already marked, he had passed his life beyond the influence of
+the ways and manners of towns, and at the same time he had naturally been
+endowed with an unobtrusive highmindedness. It appeared to him, in consequence,
+that by accepting this engaging offer he would be placing those who were
+competing with him at a disadvantage. This person clearly sees that it is a
+difficult matter for him to explain how this could be, as Ling would
+undoubtedly reward the services of the one who took his place, nor would the
+number of the competitors be in any way increased; yet in such a way the thing
+took shape before his eyes. Knowing, however, that few persons would be able to
+understand this action, and being desirous of not injuring the estimable
+emotions of the obliging person who had come to him, Ling made a number of
+polished excuses in declining, hiding the true reason within himself. In this
+way he earned the powerful malignity of the person in question, who would not
+depart until he had effected a number of very disagreeable prophecies connected
+with unpropitious omens and internal torments, all of which undoubtedly had a
+great influence on Ling&rsquo;s life beyond that time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Each day of the examination found Ling alternately elated or depressed,
+according to the length and style of the essay which he had written while
+enclosed in his solitary examination cell. The trials each lasted a complete
+day, and long before the fifteen days which composed the full examination were
+passed, Ling found himself half regretting that he had not accepted his
+visitor&rsquo;s offer, or even reviling the day on which he had abandoned the
+hereditary calling of his ancestors. However, when, after all was over, he came
+to deliberate with himself on his chances of attaining a degree, he could not
+disguise from his own mind that he had well-formed hopes; he was not conscious
+of any undignified errors, and, in reply to several questions, he had been able
+to introduce curious knowledge which he possessed by means of his exceptional
+circumstances&mdash;knowledge which it was unlikely that any other candidate
+would have been able to make himself master of.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length the day arrived on which the results were to be made public; and
+Ling, together with all the other competitors and many distinguished persons,
+attended at the great Hall of Intellectual Coloured Lights to hear the reading
+of the lists. Eight thousand candidates had been examined, and from this number
+less than two hundred were to be selected for appointments. Amid a most
+distinguished silence the winning names were read out. Waves of most
+undignified but inevitable emotion passed over those assembled as the list
+neared its end, and the chances of success became less at each spoken word; and
+then, finding that his was not among them, together with the greater part of
+those present, he became a prey to very inelegant thoughts, which were not
+lessened by the refined cries of triumph of the successful persons. Among this
+confusion the one who had read the lists was observed to be endeavouring to
+make his voice known, whereupon, in the expectation that he had omitted a name,
+the tumult was quickly subdued by those who again had pleasurable visions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There was among the candidates one of the name of Ling,&rdquo; said he,
+when no-noise had been obtained. &ldquo;The written leaves produced by this
+person are of a most versatile and conflicting order, so that, indeed, the
+accomplished examiners themselves are unable to decide whether they are very
+good or very bad. In this matter, therefore, it is clearly impossible to place
+the expert and inimitable Ling among the foremost, as his very uncertain
+success may have been brought about with the assistance of evil spirits; nor
+would it be safe to pass over his efforts without reward, as he may be under
+the protection of powerful but exceedingly ill-advised deities. The estimable
+Ling is told to appear again at this place after the gong has been struck three
+times, when the matter will have been looked at from all round.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this announcement there arose another great tumult, several crying out that
+assuredly their written leaves were either very good or very bad; but no
+further proclamation was made, and very soon the hall was cleared by force.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the time stated Ling again presented himself at the Hall, and was honourably
+received.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The unusual circumstances of the matter have already been put
+forth,&rdquo; said an elderly Mandarin of engaging appearance, &ldquo;so that
+nothing remains to be made known except the end of our despicable efforts to
+come to an agreeable conclusion. In this we have been made successful, and now
+desire to notify the result. A very desirable and not unremunerative office,
+rarely bestowed in this manner, is lately vacant, and taking into our minds the
+circumstances of the event, and the fact that Ling comes from a Province very
+esteemed for the warlike instincts of its inhabitants, we have decided to
+appoint him commander of the valiant and blood-thirsty band of archers now
+stationed at Si-chow, in the Province of Hu-Nan. We have spoken. Let three guns
+go off in honour of the noble and invincible Ling, now and henceforth a
+commander in the ever-victorious Army of the Sublime Emperor, brother of the
+Sun and Moon, and Upholder of the Four Corners of the World.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+
+<p>
+Many hours passed before Ling, now more downcast in mind than the most
+unsuccessful student in Canton, returned to his room and sought his couch of
+dried rushes. All his efforts to have his distinguished appointment set aside
+had been without avail, and he had been ordered to reach Si-chow within a week.
+As he passed through the streets, elegant processions in honour of the winners
+met him at every corner, and drove him into the outskirts for the object of
+quietness. There he remained until the beating of paper drums and the sound of
+exulting voices could be heard no more; but even when he returned lanterns
+shone in many dwellings, for two hundred persons were composing verses, setting
+forth their renown and undoubted accomplishments, ready to affix to their doors
+and send to friends on the next day. Not giving any portion of his mind to this
+desirable act of behaviour, Ling flung himself upon the floor, and, finding
+sleep unattainable, plunged himself into profound meditation of a very
+uninviting order. &ldquo;Without doubt,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;evil can
+only arise from evil, and as this person has always endeavoured to lead a life
+in which his devotions have been equally divided between the sacred Emperor,
+his illustrious parents, and his venerable ancestors, the fault cannot lie with
+him. Of the excellence of his parents he has full knowledge; regarding the
+Emperor, it might not be safe to conjecture. It is therefore probable that some
+of his ancestors were persons of abandoned manner and inelegant habits, to
+worship whom results in evil rather than good. Otherwise, how could it be that
+one whose chief delight lies in the passive contemplation of the Four Books and
+the Five Classics, should be selected by destiny to fill a position calling for
+great personal courage and an aggressive nature? Assuredly it can only end in a
+mean and insignificant death, perhaps not even followed by burial.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this manner of thought he fell asleep, and after certain very base and
+impressive dreams, from which good omens were altogether absent, he awoke, and
+rose to begin his preparations for leaving the city. After two days spent
+chiefly in obtaining certain safeguards against treachery and the bullets of
+foemen, purchasing opium and other gifts with which to propitiate the soldiers
+under his charge, and in consulting well-disposed witches and readers of the
+future, he set out, and by travelling in extreme discomfort, reached Si-chow
+within five days. During his journey he learned that the entire Province was
+engaged in secret rebellion, several towns, indeed, having declared against the
+Imperial army without reserve. Those persons to whom Ling spoke described the
+rebels, with respectful admiration, as fierce and unnaturally skilful in all
+methods of fighting, revengeful and merciless towards their enemies, very
+numerous and above the ordinary height of human beings, and endowed with
+qualities which made their skin capable of turning aside every kind of weapon.
+Furthermore, he was assured that a large band of the most abandoned and best
+trained was at that moment in the immediate neighbourhood of Si-chow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling was not destined long to remain in any doubt concerning the truth of these
+matters, for as he made his way through a dark cypress wood, a few li from the
+houses of Si-chow, the sounds of a confused outcry reached his ears, and on
+stepping aside to a hidden glade some distance from the path, he beheld a young
+and elegant maiden of incomparable beauty being carried away by two persons of
+most repulsive and undignified appearance, whose dress and manner clearly
+betrayed them to be rebels of the lowest and worst-paid type. At this sight
+Ling became possessed of feelings of a savage yet agreeable order, which until
+that time he had not conjectured to have any place within his mind, and without
+even pausing to consider whether the planets were in favourable positions for
+the enterprise to be undertaken at that time, he drew his sword, and ran
+forward with loud cries. Unsettled in their intentions at this unexpected
+action, the two persons turned and advanced upon Ling with whirling daggers,
+discussing among themselves whether it would be better to kill him at the first
+blow or to take him alive, and, when the day had become sufficiently cool for
+the full enjoyment of the spectacle, submit him to various objectionable
+tortures of so degraded a nature that they were rarely used in the army of the
+Emperor except upon the persons of barbarians. Observing that the maiden was
+not bound, Ling cried out to her to escape and seek protection within the town,
+adding, with a magnanimous absence of vanity:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Should this person chance to fall, the repose which the presence of so
+lovely and graceful a being would undoubtedly bring to his departing spirit
+would be out-balanced by the unendurable thought that his commonplace efforts
+had not been sufficient to save her from the two evilly-disposed individuals
+who are, as he perceives, at this moment, neglecting no means within their
+power to accomplish his destruction.&rdquo; Accepting the discernment of these
+words, the maiden fled, first bestowing a look upon Ling which clearly
+indicated an honourable regard for himself, a high-minded desire that the
+affair might end profitably on his account, and an amiable hope that they
+should meet again, when these subjects could be expressed more clearly between
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the meantime Ling had become at a disadvantage, for the time occupied in
+speaking and in making the necessary number of bows in reply to her entrancing
+glance had given the other persons an opportunity of arranging their charms and
+sacred written sentences to greater advantage, and of occupying the most
+favourable ground for the encounter. Nevertheless, so great was the force of
+the new emotion which had entered into Ling&rsquo;s nature that, without
+waiting to consider the dangers or the best method of attack, he rushed upon
+them, waving his sword with such force that he appeared as though surrounded by
+a circle of very brilliant fire. In this way he reached the rebels, who both
+fell unexpectedly at one blow, they, indeed, being under the impression that
+the encounter had not commenced in reality, and that Ling was merely menacing
+them in order to inspire their minds with terror and raise his own spirits.
+However much he regretted this act of the incident which he had been compelled
+to take, Ling could not avoid being filled with intellectual joy at finding
+that his own charms and omens were more distinguished than those possessed by
+the rebels, none of whom, as he now plainly understood, he need fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Examining these things within his mind, and reflecting on the events of the
+past few days, by which he had been thrown into a class of circumstances
+greatly differing from anything which he had ever sought, Ling continued his
+journey, and soon found himself before the southern gate of Si-chow. Entering
+the town, he at once formed the resolution of going before the Mandarin for
+Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, so that he might present, without delay, the
+papers and seals which he had brought with him from Canton.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The noble Mandarin Li Keen?&rdquo; replied the first person to whom Ling
+addressed himself. &ldquo;It would indeed be a difficult and hazardous
+conjecture to make concerning his sacred person. By chance he is in the
+strongest and best-concealed cellar in Si-chow, unless the sumptuous
+attractions of the deepest dry well have induced him to make a short
+journey&rdquo;; and, with a look of great unfriendliness at Ling&rsquo;s dress
+and weapons, this person passed on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Doubtless he is fighting single-handed against the armed men by whom the
+place is surrounded,&rdquo; said another; &ldquo;or perhaps he is constructing
+an underground road from the Yamen to Peking, so that we may all escape when
+the town is taken. All that can be said with certainty is that the Heaven-sent
+and valorous Mandarin has not been seen outside the walls of his well-fortified
+residence since the trouble arose; but, as you carry a sword of conspicuous
+excellence, you will doubtless be welcome.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Upon making a third attempt Ling was more successful, for he inquired of an
+aged woman, who had neither a reputation for keen and polished sentences to
+maintain, nor any interest in the acts of the Mandarin or of the rebels. From
+her he learned how to reach the Yamen, and accordingly turned his footsteps in
+that direction. When at length he arrived at the gate, Ling desired his tablets
+to be carried to the Mandarin with many expressions of an impressive and
+engaging nature, nor did he neglect to reward the porter. It was therefore with
+the expression of a misunderstanding mind that he received a reply setting
+forth that Li Keen was unable to receive him. In great doubt he prevailed upon
+the porter, by means of a still larger reward, again to carry in his message,
+and on this occasion an answer in this detail was placed before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Li Keen,&rdquo; he was informed, &ldquo;is indeed awaiting the arrival
+of one Ling, a noble and valiant Commander of Bowmen. He is given to
+understand, it is true, that a certain person claiming the same honoured name
+is standing in somewhat undignified attitudes at the gate, but he is unable in
+any way to make these two individuals meet within his intellect. He would
+further remind all persons that the refined observances laid down by the wise
+and exalted Board of Rites and Ceremonies have a marked and irreproachable
+significance when the country is in a state of disorder, the town surrounded by
+rebels, and every breathing-space of time of more than ordinary value.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Overpowered with becoming shame at having been connected with so unseemly a
+breach of civility, for which his great haste had in reality been accountable,
+Ling hastened back into the town, and spent many hours endeavouring to obtain a
+chair of the requisite colour in which to visit the Mandarin. In this he was
+unsuccessful, until it was at length suggested to him that an ordinary chair,
+such as stood for hire in the streets of Si-chow, would be acceptable if
+covered with blue paper. Still in some doubt as to what the nature of his
+reception would be, Ling had no choice but to take this course, and accordingly
+he again reached the Yamen in such a manner, carried by two persons whom he had
+obtained for the purpose. While yet hardly at the residence a salute was
+suddenly fired; all the gates and doors were, without delay, thrown open with
+embarrassing and hospitable profusion, and the Mandarin himself passed out, and
+would have assisted Ling to step down from his chair had not that person,
+clearly perceiving that such a course would be too great an honour, evaded him
+by an unobtrusive display of versatile dexterity. So numerous and profound were
+the graceful remarks which each made concerning the habits and accomplishments
+of the other that more than the space of an hour was passed in traversing the
+small enclosed ground which led up to the principal door of the Yamen. There an
+almost greater time was agreeably spent, both Ling and the Mandarin having
+determined that the other should enter first. Undoubtedly Ling, who was the
+more powerful of the two, would have conferred this courteous distinction upon
+Li Keen had not that person summoned to his side certain attendants who
+succeeded in frustrating Ling in his high-minded intentions, and in forcing him
+through the doorway in spite of his conscientious protests against the
+unsurmountable obligation under which the circumstance placed him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Conversing in this intellectual and dignified manner, the strokes of the gong
+passed unheeded; tea had been brought into their presence many times, and night
+had fallen before the Mandarin allowed Ling to refer to the matter which had
+brought him to the place, and to present his written papers and seals.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a valuable privilege to have so intelligent a person as the
+illustrious Ling occupying this position,&rdquo; remarked the Mandarin, as he
+returned the papers; &ldquo;and not less so on account of the one who preceded
+him proving himself to be a person of feeble attainments and an unendurable
+deficiency of resource.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To one with the all-knowing Li Keen&rsquo;s mental acquisitions, such a
+person must indeed have become excessively offensive,&rdquo; replied Ling
+delicately; &ldquo;for, as it is truly said, &lsquo;Although there exist many
+thousand subjects for elegant conversation, there are persons who cannot meet a
+cripple without talking about feet.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He to whom I have referred was such a one,&rdquo; said Li Keen,
+appreciating with an expression of countenance the fitness of Ling&rsquo;s
+proverb. &ldquo;He was totally inadequate to the requirements of his position;
+for he possessed no military knowledge, and was placed in command by those at
+Peking as a result of his taking a high place at one of the examinations. But
+more than this, although his three years of service were almost completed, I
+was quite unsuccessful in convincing him that an unseemly degradation probably
+awaited him unless he could furnish me with the means with which to propitiate
+the persons in authority at Peking. This he neglected to do with obstinate
+pertinacity, which compelled this person to inquire within himself whether one
+of so little discernment could be trusted with an important and arduous office.
+After much deliberation, this person came to the decision that the Commander in
+question was not a fit person, and he therefore reported him to the Imperial
+Board of Punishment at Peking as one subject to frequent and periodical
+eccentricities, and possessed of less than ordinary intellect. In consequence
+of this act of justice, the Commander was degraded to the rank of common
+bowman, and compelled to pay a heavy fine in addition.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was a just and enlightened conclusion of the affair,&rdquo; said
+Ling, in spite of a deep feeling of no enthusiasm, &ldquo;and one which
+surprisingly bore out your own prophecy in the matter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was an inspired warning to persons who should chance to be in a like
+position at any time,&rdquo; replied Li Keen. &ldquo;So grasping and corrupt
+are those who control affairs in Peking that I have no doubt they would
+scarcely hesitate in debasing even one so immaculate as the exceptional Ling,
+and placing him in some laborious and ill-paid civil department should he not
+accede to their extortionate demands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This suggestion did not carry with it the unpleasurable emotions which the
+Mandarin anticipated it would. The fierce instincts which had been aroused
+within Ling by the incident in the cypress wood had died out, while his
+lamentable ignorance of military affairs was ever before his mind. These
+circumstances, together with his naturally gentle habits, made him regard such
+a degradation rather favourably than otherwise. He was meditating within
+himself whether he could arrange such a course without delay when the Mandarin
+continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That, however, is a possibility which is remote to the extent of at
+least two or three years; do not, therefore, let so unpleasing a thought cast
+darkness upon your brows or remove the unparalleled splendour of so refined an
+occasion... Doubtless the accomplished Ling is a master of the art of
+chess-play, for many of our most thoughtful philosophers have declared war to
+be nothing but such a game; let this slow-witted and cumbersome person have an
+opportunity, therefore, of polishing his declining facilities by a pleasant and
+dignified encounter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER V</h3>
+
+<p>
+On the next day, having completed his business at the Yamen, Ling left the
+town, and without desiring any ceremony quietly betook himself to his new
+residence within the camp, which was situated among the millet fields some
+distance from Si-chow. As soon as his presence became known all those who
+occupied positions of command, and whose years of service would shortly come to
+an end, hastened to present themselves before him, bringing with them offerings
+according to the rank they held, they themselves requiring a similar service
+from those beneath them. First among these, and next in command to Ling
+himself, was the Chief of Bowmen, a person whom Ling observed with extreme
+satisfaction to be very powerful in body and possessing a strong and dignified
+countenance which showed unquestionable resolution and shone with a tiger-like
+tenaciousness of purpose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Undoubtedly,&rdquo; thought Ling, as he observed this noble and
+prepossessing person, &ldquo;here is one who will be able to assist me in
+whatever perplexities may arise. Never was there an individual who seemed more
+worthy to command and lead; assuredly to him the most intricate and prolonged
+military positions will be an enjoyment; the most crafty stratagems of the
+enemy as the full moon rising from behind a screen of rushes. Without making
+any pretence of knowledge, this person will explain the facts of the case to
+him and place himself without limit in his hands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For this purpose he therefore detained the Chief of Bowmen when the others
+departed, and complimented him, with many expressive phrases, on the excellence
+of his appearance, as the thought occurred to him that by this means, without
+disclosing the full measure of his ignorance, the person in question might be
+encouraged to speak unrestrainedly of the nature of his exploits, and perchance
+thereby explain the use of the appliances employed and the meaning of the
+various words of order, in all of which details the Commander was as yet most
+disagreeably imperfect. In this, however, he was disappointed, for the Chief of
+Bowmen, greatly to Ling&rsquo;s surprise, received all his polished sentences
+with somewhat foolish smiles of great self-satisfaction, merely replying from
+time to time as he displayed his pigtail to greater advantage or rearranged his
+gold-embroidered cloak:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This person must really pray you to desist; the honour is indeed too
+great.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Disappointed in his hope, and not desiring after this circumstance to expose
+his shortcomings to one who was obviously not of a highly-refined
+understanding, no matter how great his valour in war or his knowledge of
+military affairs might be, Ling endeavoured to lead him to converse of the
+bowmen under his charge. In this matter he was more successful, for the Chief
+spoke at great length and with evilly-inspired contempt of their inelegance,
+their undiscriminating and excessive appetites, and the frequent use which they
+made of low words and gestures. Desiring to become acquainted rather with their
+methods of warfare than with their domestic details, Ling inquired of him what
+formation they relied upon when receiving the foemen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a matter which has not engaged the attention of this one,&rdquo;
+replied the Chief, with an excessive absence of interest. &ldquo;There are so
+many affairs of intelligent dignity which cannot be put aside, and which occupy
+one from beginning to end. As an example, this person may describe how the
+accomplished Li-Lu, generally depicted as the Blue-eyed Dove of Virtuous and
+Serpent-like Attitudes, has been scattering glory upon the Si-chow Hall of
+Celestial Harmony for many days past. It is an enlightened display which the
+high-souled Ling should certainly endeavour to dignify with his presence,
+especially at the portion where the amiable Li-Lu becomes revealed in the
+appearance of a Peking sedan-chair bearer and describes the manner and
+likenesses of certain persons&mdash;chiefly high-priests of Buddha, excessively
+round-bodied merchants who feign to be detained within Peking on affairs of
+commerce, maidens who attend at the tables of tea-houses, and those of both
+sexes who are within the city for the first time to behold its temples and open
+spaces&mdash;who are conveyed from place to place in the chair.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And the bowmen?&rdquo; suggested Ling, with difficulty restraining an
+undignified emotion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Really, the elegant Ling will discover them to be persons of deficient
+manners, and quite unworthy of occupying his well-bred conversation,&rdquo;
+replied the Chief. &ldquo;As regards their methods&mdash;if the renowned Ling
+insists&mdash;they fight by means of their bows, with which they discharge
+arrows at the foemen, they themselves hiding behind trees and rocks. Should the
+enemy be undisconcerted by the cloud of arrows, and advance, the bowmen are
+instructed to make a last endeavour to frighten them back by uttering loud
+shouts and feigning the voices of savage beasts of the forest and deadly
+snakes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And beyond that?&rdquo; inquired Ling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Beyond that there are no instructions,&rdquo; replied the Chief.
+&ldquo;The bowmen would then naturally take to flight, or, if such a course
+became impossible, run to meet the enemy, protesting that they were convinced
+of the justice of their cause, and were determined to fight on their side in
+the future.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would it not be of advantage to arm them with cutting weapons
+also?&rdquo; inquired Ling; &ldquo;so that when all their arrows were
+discharged they would still be able to take part in the fight, and not be lost
+to us?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They would not be lost to us, of course,&rdquo; replied the Chief,
+&ldquo;as we would still be with them. But such a course as the one you suggest
+could not fail to end in dismay. Being as well armed as ourselves, they would
+then turn upon us, and, having destroyed us, proceed to establish leaders of
+their own.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Ling and the Chief of Bowmen conversed in this enlightened manner, there
+arose a great outcry from among the tents, and presently there entered to them
+a spy who had discovered a strong force of the enemy not more than ten or
+twelve li away, who showed every indication of marching shortly in the
+direction of Si-chow. In numbers alone, he continued, they were greatly
+superior to the bowmen, and all were well armed. The spreading of this news
+threw the entire camp into great confusion, many protesting that the day was
+not a favourable one on which to fight, others crying that it was their duty to
+fall back on Si-chow and protect the women and children. In the midst of this
+tumult the Chief of Bowmen returned to Ling, bearing in his hand a written
+paper which he regarded in uncontrollable anguish.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, illustrious Ling,&rdquo; he cried, restraining his grief with
+difficulty, and leaning for support upon the shoulders of two bowmen,
+&ldquo;how prosperous indeed are you! What greater misfortune can engulf a
+person who is both an ambitious soldier and an affectionate son, than to lose
+such a chance of glory and promotion as only occurs once within the lifetime,
+and an affectionate and venerable father upon the same day? Behold this mandate
+to attend, without a moment&rsquo;s delay, at the funeral obsequies of one whom
+I left, only last week, in the fullness of health and power. The occasion being
+an unsuitable one, I will not call upon the courteous Ling to join me in
+sorrow; but his own devout filial piety is so well known that I can
+conscientiously rely upon an application for absence to be only a matter of
+official ceremony.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The application will certainly be regarded as merely official
+ceremony,&rdquo; replied Ling, without resorting to any delicate pretence of
+meaning, &ldquo;and the refined scruples of the person who is addressing me
+will be fully met by the official date of his venerated father&rsquo;s death
+being fixed for a more convenient season. In the meantime, the unobtrusive
+Chief of Bowmen may take the opportunity of requesting that the family tomb be
+kept unsealed until he is heard from again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling turned away, as he finished this remark, with a dignified feeling of not
+inelegant resentment. In this way he chanced to observe a large body of
+soldiers which was leaving the camp accompanied by their lesser captains, all
+crowned with garlands of flowers and creeping plants. In spite of his very
+inadequate attainments regarding words of order, the Commander made it
+understood by means of an exceedingly short sentence that he was desirous of
+the men returning without delay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Doubtless the accomplished Commander, being but newly arrived in this
+neighbourhood, is unacquainted with the significance of this display,&rdquo;
+said one of the lesser captains pleasantly. &ldquo;Know then, O wise and
+custom-respecting Ling, that on a similar day many years ago this valiant band
+of bowmen was engaged in a very honourable affair with certain of the enemy.
+Since then it has been the practice to commemorate the matter with music and
+other forms of delight within the large square at Si-chow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such customs are excellent,&rdquo; said Ling affably. &ldquo;On this
+occasion, however, the public square will be so insufferably thronged with the
+number of timorous and credulous villagers who have pressed into the town that
+insufficient justice would be paid to your entrancing display. In consequence
+of this, we will select for the purpose some convenient spot in the
+neighbourhood. The proceedings will be commenced by a display of arrow-shooting
+at moving objects, followed by racing and dancing, in which this person will
+lead. I have spoken.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words many of the more courageous among the bowmen became
+destructively inspired, and raised shouts of defiance against the enemy,
+enumerating at great length the indignities which they would heap upon their
+prisoners. Cries of distinction were also given on behalf of Ling, even the
+more terrified exclaiming:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The noble Commander Ling will lead us! He has promised, and assuredly he
+will not depart from his word. Shielded by his broad and sacred body, from
+which the bullets glance aside harmlessly, we will advance upon the enemy in
+the stealthy manner affected by ducks when crossing the swamp. How altogether
+superior a person our Commander is when likened unto the leaders of the
+foemen&mdash;they who go into battle completely surrounded by their
+archers!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Upon this, perceiving the clear direction in which matters were turning, the
+Chief of Bowmen again approached Ling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Doubtless the highly-favoured person whom I am now addressing has been
+endowed with exceptional authority direct from Peking,&rdquo; he remarked with
+insidious politeness. &ldquo;Otherwise this narrow-minded individual would
+suggest that such a decision does not come within the judgment of a
+Commander.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In his ignorance of military matters it had not entered the mind of Ling that
+his authority did not give him the power to commence an attack without
+consulting other and more distinguished persons. At the suggestion, which he
+accepted as being composed of truth, he paused, the enlightened zeal with which
+he had been inspired dying out as he plainly understood the difficulties by
+which he was enclosed. There seemed a single expedient path for him in the
+matter; so, directing a person of exceptional trustworthiness to prepare
+himself for a journey, he inscribed a communication to the Mandarin Li Keen, in
+which he narrated the facts and asked for speedy directions, and then
+despatched it with great urgency to Si-chow.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VI</h3>
+
+<p>
+When these matters were arranged, Ling returned to his tent, a victim to
+feelings of a deep and confused doubt, for all courses seemed to be surrounded
+by extreme danger, with the strong possibility of final disaster. While he was
+considering these things attentively, the spy who had brought word of the
+presence of the enemy again sought him. As he entered, Ling perceived that his
+face was the colour of a bleached linen garment, while there came with him the
+odour of sickness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are certain matters which this person has not made known,&rdquo;
+he said, having first expressed a request that he might not be compelled to
+stand while he conversed. &ldquo;The bowmen are as an inferior kind of jackal,
+and they who lead them are pigs, but this person has observed that the
+Heaven-sent Commander has internal organs like steel hardened in a white fire
+and polished by running water. For this reason he will narrate to him the
+things he has seen&mdash;things at which the lesser ones would undoubtedly
+perish in terror without offering to strike a blow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Speak,&rdquo; said Ling, &ldquo;without fear and without
+concealment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In numbers the rebels are as three to one with the bowmen, and are, in
+addition, armed with matchlocks and other weapons; this much I have already
+told,&rdquo; said the spy. &ldquo;Yesterday they entered the village of Ki
+without resistance, as the dwellers there were all peaceable persons, who gain
+a living from the fields, and who neither understood nor troubled about the
+matters between the rebels and the army. Relying on the promises made by the
+rebel chiefs, the villagers even welcomed them, as they had been assured that
+they came as buyers of their corn and rice. To-day not a house stands in the
+street of Ki, not a person lives. The men they slew quickly, or held for
+torture, as they desired at the moment; the boys they hung from the trees as
+marks for their arrows. Of the women and children this person, who has since
+been subject to several attacks of fainting and vomiting, desires not to speak.
+The wells of Ki are filled with the bodies of such as had the good fortune to
+be warned in time to slay themselves. The cattle drag themselves from place to
+place on their forefeet; the fish in the Heng-Kiang are dying, for they cannot
+live on water thickened into blood. All these things this person has
+seen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he had finished speaking, Ling remained in deep and funereal thought for
+some time. In spite of his mild nature, the words which he had heard filled him
+with an inextinguishable desire to slay in hand-to-hand fighting. He regretted
+that he had placed the decision of the matter before Li Keen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If only this person had a mere handful of brave and expert warriors, he
+would not hesitate to fall upon those savage and barbarous characters, and
+either destroy them to the last one, or let his band suffer a like fate,&rdquo;
+he murmured to himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The return of the messenger found him engaged in reviewing the bowmen, and
+still in this mood, so that it was with a commendable feeling of satisfaction,
+no less than virtuous contempt, that he learned of the Mandarin&rsquo;s journey
+to Peking as soon as he understood that the rebels were certainly in the
+neighbourhood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The wise and ornamental Li Keen is undoubtedly consistent in all
+matters,&rdquo; said Ling, with some refined bitterness. &ldquo;The only
+information regarding his duties which this person obtained from him chanced to
+be a likening of war to skilful chess-play, and to this end the accomplished
+person in question has merely availed himself of a common expedient which
+places him at the remote side of the divine Emperor. Yet this act is not
+unwelcome, for the responsibility of deciding what course is to be adopted now
+clearly rests with this person. He is, as those who are standing by may
+perceive, of under the usual height, and of no particular mental or bodily
+attainments. But he has eaten the rice of the Emperor, and wears the Imperial
+sign embroidered upon his arm. Before him are encamped the enemies of his
+master and of his land, and in no way will he turn his back upon them. Against
+brave and skilful men, such as those whom this person commands, rebels of a low
+and degraded order are powerless, and are, moreover, openly forbidden to
+succeed by the Forty-second Mandate in the Sacred Book of Arguments. Should it
+have happened that into this assembly any person of a perfidious or
+uncourageous nature has gained entrance by guile, and has not been detected and
+driven forth by his outraged companions (as would certainly occur if such a
+person were discovered), I, Ling, Commander of Bowmen, make an especial and
+well-considered request that he shall be struck by a molten thunderbolt if he
+turns to flight or holds thoughts of treachery.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having thus addressed and encouraged the soldiers, Ling instructed them that
+each one should cut and fashion for himself a graceful but weighty club from
+among the branches of the trees around, and then return to the tents for the
+purpose of receiving food and rice spirit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When noon was passed, allowing such time as would enable him to reach the camp
+of the enemy an hour before darkness, Ling arranged the bowmen in companies of
+convenient numbers, and commenced the march, sending forward spies, who were to
+work silently and bring back tidings from every point. In this way he
+penetrated to within a single li of the ruins of Ki, being informed by the
+spies that no outposts of the enemy were between him and that place. Here the
+first rest was made to enable the more accurate and bold spies to reach them
+with trustworthy information regarding the position and movements of the camp.
+With little delay there returned the one who had brought the earliest tidings,
+bruised and torn with his successful haste through the forest, but wearing a
+complacent and well-satisfied expression of countenance. Without hesitation or
+waiting to demand money before he would reveal his knowledge, he at once
+disclosed that the greater part of the enemy were rejoicing among the ruins of
+Ki, they having discovered there a quantity of opium and a variety of liquids,
+while only a small guard remained in the camp with their weapons ready. At
+these words Ling sprang from the ground in gladness, so great was his certainty
+of destroying the invaders utterly. It was, however, with less pleasurable
+emotions that he considered how he should effect the matter, for it was in no
+way advisable to divide his numbers into two bands. Without any feeling of
+unendurable conceit, he understood that no one but himself could hold the
+bowmen before an assault, however weak. In a similar manner, he determined that
+it would be more advisable to attack those in the village first. These he might
+have reasonable hopes of cutting down without warning the camp, or, in any
+event, before those from the camp arrived. To assail the camp first would
+assuredly, by the firing, draw upon them those from the village, and in
+whatever evil state these might arrive, they would, by their numbers, terrify
+the bowmen, who without doubt would have suffered some loss from the
+matchlocks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Waiting for the last light of day, Ling led on the men again, and sending
+forward some of the most reliable, surrounded the place of the village silently
+and without detection. In the open space, among broken casks and other
+inconsiderable matters, plainly shown by the large fires at which burned the
+last remains of the houses of Ki, many men moved or lay, some already dull or
+in heavy sleep. As the darkness dropped suddenly, the signal of a
+peacock&rsquo;s shriek, three times uttered, rang forth, and immediately a
+cloud of arrows, directed from all sides, poured in among those who feasted.
+Seeing their foemen defenceless before them, the archers neglected the orders
+they had received, and throwing away their bows they rushed in with uplifted
+clubs, uttering loud shouts of triumph. The next moment a shot was fired in the
+wood, drums beat, and in an unbelievably short space of time a small but
+well-armed band of the enemy was among them. Now that all need of caution was
+at an end, Ling rushed forward with raised sword, calling to his men that
+victory was certainly theirs, and dealing discriminating and inspiriting blows
+whenever he met a foeman. Three times he formed the bowmen into a figure
+emblematic of triumph, and led them against the line of matchlocks. Twice they
+fell back, leaving mingled dead under the feet of the enemy. The third time
+they stood firm, and Ling threw himself against the waving rank in a noble and
+inspired endeavour to lead the way through. At that moment, when a very
+distinguished victory seemed within his hand, his elegant and well-constructed
+sword broke upon an iron shield, leaving him defenceless and surrounded by the
+enemy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Chief among the sublime virtues enjoined by the divine Confucius,&rdquo;
+began Ling, folding his arms and speaking in an unmoved voice, &ldquo;is an
+intelligent submission&mdash;&rdquo; but at that word he fell beneath a rain of
+heavy and unquestionably well-aimed blows.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VII</h3>
+
+<p>
+Between Si-chow and the village of Ki, in a house completely hidden from
+travellers by the tall and black trees which surrounded it, lived an aged and
+very wise person whose ways and manner of living had become so distasteful to
+his neighbours that they at length agreed to regard him as a powerful and
+ill-disposed magician. In this way it became a custom that all very unseemly
+deeds committed by those who, in the ordinary course, would not be guilty of
+such behaviour, should be attributed to his influence, so that justice might be
+effected without persons of assured respectability being put to any
+inconvenience. Apart from the feeling which resulted from this just decision,
+the uncongenial person in question had become exceedingly unpopular on account
+of certain definite actions of his own, as that of causing the greater part of
+Si-chow to be burned down by secretly breathing upon the seven sacred
+water-jugs to which the town owed its prosperity and freedom from fire.
+Furthermore, although possessed of many taels, and able to afford such food as
+is to be found upon the tables of Mandarins, he selected from choice dishes of
+an objectionable nature; he had been observed to eat eggs of unbecoming
+freshness, and the Si-chow Official Printed Leaf made it public that he had, on
+an excessively hot occasion, openly partaken of cow&rsquo;s milk. It is not a
+matter for wonder, therefore, that when unnaturally loud thunder was heard in
+the neighbourhood of Si-chow the more ignorant and credulous persons refused to
+continue in any description of work until certain ceremonies connected with
+rice spirit, and the adherence to a reclining position for some hours, had been
+conscientiously observed as a protection against evil.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not even the most venerable person in Si-chow could remember the time when the
+magician had not lived there, and as there existed no written record narrating
+the incident, it was with well-founded probability that he was said to be
+incapable of death. Contrary to the most general practice, although quite
+unmarried, he had adopted no son to found a line which would worship his memory
+in future years, but had instead brought up and caused to be educated in the
+most difficult varieties of embroidery a young girl, to whom he referred, for
+want of a more suitable description, as the daughter of his sister, although he
+would admit without hesitation, when closely questioned, that he had never
+possessed a sister, at the same time, however, alluding with some pride to many
+illustrious brothers, who had all obtained distinction in various employments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Few persons of any high position penetrated into the house of the magician, and
+most of these retired with inelegant haste on perceiving that no domestic altar
+embellished the great hall. Indeed, not to make concealment of the fact, the
+magician was a person who had entirely neglected the higher virtues in an
+avaricious pursuit of wealth. In that way all his time and a very large number
+of taels had been expended, testing results by means of the four elements, and
+putting together things which had been inadequately arrived at by others. It
+was confidently asserted in Si-chow that he possessed every manner of printed
+leaf which had been composed in whatsoever language, and all the most precious
+charms, including many snake-skins of more than ordinary rarity, and the fang
+of a black wolf which had been stung by seven scorpions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the death of his father the magician had become possessed of great wealth,
+yet he contributed little to the funeral obsequies nor did any suggestion of a
+durable and expensive nature conveying his enlightened name and virtues down to
+future times cause his face to become gladdened. In order to preserve greater
+secrecy about the enchantments which he certainly performed, he employed only
+two persons within the house, one of whom was blind and the other deaf. In this
+ingenious manner he hoped to receive attention and yet be unobserved, the blind
+one being unable to see the nature of the incantations which he undertook, and
+the deaf one being unable to hear the words. In this, however, he was
+unsuccessful, as the two persons always contrived to be present together, and
+to explain to one another the nature of the various matters afterwards; but as
+they were of somewhat deficient understanding, the circumstance was
+unimportant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was with more uneasiness that the magician perceived one day that the maiden
+whom he had adopted was no longer a child. As he desired secrecy above all
+things until he should have completed the one important matter for which he had
+laboured all his life, he decided with extreme unwillingness to put into
+operation a powerful charm towards her, which would have the effect of
+diminishing all her attributes until such time as he might release her again.
+Owing to his reluctance in the matter, however, the magic did not act fully,
+but only in such a way that her feet became naturally and without binding the
+most perfect and beautiful in the entire province of Hu Nan, so that ever
+afterwards she was called Pan Fei Mian, in delicate reference to that Empress
+whose feet were so symmetrical that a golden lily sprang up wherever she trod.
+Afterwards the magician made no further essay in the matter, chiefly because he
+was ever convinced that the accomplishment of his desire was within his grasp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rumours of armed men in the neighbourhood of Si-chow threw the magician
+into an unendurable condition of despair. To lose all, as would most assuredly
+happen if he had to leave his arranged rooms and secret preparations and take
+to flight, was the more bitter because he felt surer than ever that success was
+even standing by his side. The very subtle liquid, which would mix itself into
+the component parts of the living creature which drank it, and by an insidious
+and harmless process so work that, when the spirit departed, the flesh would
+become resolved into a figure of pure and solid gold of the finest quality, had
+engaged the refined minds of many of the most expert individuals of remote
+ages. With most of these inspired persons, however, the search had been
+undertaken in pure-minded benevolence, their chief aim being an honourable
+desire to discover a method by which one&rsquo;s ancestors might be permanently
+and effectively preserved in a fit and becoming manner to receive the worship
+and veneration of posterity. Yet, in spite of these amiable motives, and of the
+fact that the magician merely desired the possession of the secret to enable
+him to become excessively wealthy, the affair had been so arranged that it
+should come into his possession.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The matter which concerned Mian in the dark wood, when she was only saved by
+the appearance of the person who is already known as Ling, entirely removed all
+pleasurable emotions from the magician&rsquo;s mind, and on many occasions he
+stated in a definite and systematic manner that he would shortly end an ignoble
+career which seemed to be destined only to gloom and disappointment. In this
+way an important misunderstanding arose, for when, two days later, during the
+sound of matchlock firing, the magician suddenly approached the presence of
+Mian with an uncontrollable haste and an entire absence of dignified demeanour,
+and fell dead at her feet without expressing himself on any subject whatever,
+she deliberately judged that in this manner he had carried his remark into
+effect, nor did the closed vessel of yellow liquid which he held in his hand
+seem to lead away from this decision. In reality, the magician had fallen owing
+to the heavy and conflicting emotions which success had engendered in an
+intellect already greatly weakened by his continual disregard of the higher
+virtues; for the bottle, indeed, contained the perfection of his entire
+life&rsquo;s study, the very expensive and three-times purified gold liquid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On perceiving the magician&rsquo;s condition, Mian at once called for the two
+attendants, and directed them to bring from an inner chamber all the most
+effective curing substances, whether in the form of powder or liquid. When
+these proved useless, no matter in what way they were applied, it became
+evident that there could be very little hope of restoring the magician, yet so
+courageous and grateful for the benefits which she had received from the person
+in question was Mian, that, in spite of the uninviting dangers of the
+enterprise, she determined to journey to Ki to invoke the assistance of a
+certain person who was known to be very successful in casting out malicious
+demons from the bodies of animals, and from casks and barrels, in which they
+frequently took refuge, to the great detriment of the quality of the liquid
+placed therein.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not without many hidden fears, Mian set out on her journey, greatly desiring
+not to be subjected to an encounter of a nature similar to the one already
+recorded; for in such a case she could hardly again hope for the inspired
+arrival of the one whom she now often thought of in secret as the well-formed
+and symmetrical young sword-user. Nevertheless, an event of equal significance
+was destined to prove the wisdom of the well-known remark concerning thoughts
+which are occupying one&rsquo;s intellect and the unexpected appearance of a
+very formidable evil spirit; for as she passed along, quickly yet with so
+dignified a motion that the moss received no impression beneath her footsteps,
+she became aware of a circumstance which caused her to stop by imparting to her
+mind two definite and greatly dissimilar emotions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a grassy and open space, on the verge of which she stood, lay the dead
+bodies of seventeen rebels, all disposed in very degraded attitudes, which
+contrasted strongly with the easy and becoming position adopted by the
+eighteenth&mdash;one who bore the unmistakable emblems of the Imperial army. In
+this brave and noble-looking personage Mian at once saw her preserver, and not
+doubting that an inopportune and treacherous death had overtaken him, she ran
+forward and raised him in her arms, being well assured that however indiscreet
+such an action might appear in the case of an ordinary person, the most select
+maiden need not hesitate to perform so honourable a service in regard to one
+whose virtues had by that time undoubtedly placed him among the Three Thousand
+Pure Ones. Being disturbed in this providential manner, Ling opened his eyes,
+and faintly murmuring, &ldquo;Oh, sainted and adorable Koon Yam, Goddess of
+Charity, intercede for me with Buddha!&rdquo; he again lost possession of
+himself in the Middle Air. At this remark, which plainly proved Ling to be
+still alive, in spite of the fact that both the maiden and the person himself
+had thoughts to the contrary, Mian found herself surrounded by a variety of
+embarrassing circumstances, among which occurred a remembrance of the dead
+magician and the wise person at Ki whom she had set out to summon; but on
+considering the various natural and sublime laws which bore directly on the
+alternative before her, she discovered that her plain destiny was to endeavour
+to restore the breath in the person who was still alive rather than engage on
+the very unsatisfactory chance of attempting to call it back to the body from
+which it had so long been absent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having been inspired to this conclusion&mdash;which, when she later examined
+her mind, she found not to be repulsive to her own inner feelings&mdash;Mian
+returned to the house with dexterous speed, and calling together the two
+attendants, she endeavoured by means of signs and drawings to explain to them
+what she desired to accomplish. Succeeding in this after some delay (for the
+persons in question, being very illiterate and narrow-minded, were unable at
+first to understand the existence of any recumbent male person other than the
+dead magician, whom they thereupon commenced to bury in the garden with
+expressions of great satisfaction at their own intelligence in comprehending
+Mian&rsquo;s meaning so readily) they all journeyed to the wood, and bearing
+Ling between them, they carried him to the house without further adventure.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3>
+
+<p>
+It was in the month of Hot Dragon Breaths, many weeks after the fight in the
+woods of Ki, that Ling again opened his eyes to find himself in an unknown
+chamber, and to recognize in the one who visited him from time to time the
+incomparable maiden whose life he had saved in the cypress glade. Not a day had
+passed in the meanwhile on which Mian had neglected to offer sacrifices to
+Chang-Chung, the deity interested in drugs and healing substances, nor had she
+wavered in her firm resolve to bring Ling back to an ordinary existence even
+when the attendants had protested that the person in question might without
+impropriety be sent to the Restoring Establishment of the Last Chance, so
+little did his hope of recovering rest upon the efforts of living beings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After he had beheld Mian&rsquo;s face and understood the circumstances of his
+escape and recovery, Ling quickly shook off the evil vapours which had held him
+down so long, and presently he was able to walk slowly in the courtyard and in
+the shady paths of the wood beyond, leaning upon Mian for the support he still
+required.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, graceful one,&rdquo; he said on such an occasion, when little stood
+between him and the full powers which he had known before the battle,
+&ldquo;there is a matter which has been pressing upon this person&rsquo;s mind
+for some time past. It is as dark after light to let the thoughts dwell around
+it, yet the thing itself must inevitably soon be regarded, for in this life
+one&rsquo;s actions are for ever regulated by conditions which are neither of
+one&rsquo;s own seeking nor within one&rsquo;s power of controlling.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words all brightness left Mian&rsquo;s manner, for she at once
+understood that Ling referred to his departure, of which she herself had lately
+come to think with unrestrained agitation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Ling,&rdquo; she exclaimed at length, &ldquo;most expert of
+sword-users and most noble of men, surely never was a maiden more inelegantly
+placed than the one who is now by your side. To you she owes her life, yet it
+is unseemly for her even to speak of the incident; to you she must look for
+protection, yet she cannot ask you to stay by her side. She is indeed alone.
+The magician is dead, Ki has fallen, Ling is going, and Mian is undoubtedly the
+most unhappy and solitary person between the Wall and the Nan Hai.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Beloved Mian,&rdquo; exclaimed Ling, with inspiring vehemence,
+&ldquo;and is not the utterly unworthy person before you indebted to you in a
+double measure that life is still within him? Is not the strength which now
+promotes him to such exceptional audacity as to aspire to your lovely hand, of
+your own creating? Only encourage Ling to entertain a well-founded hope that on
+his return he shall not find you partaking of the wedding feast of some wealthy
+and exceptionally round-bodied Mandarin, and this person will accomplish the
+journey to Canton and back as it were in four strides.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Ling, reflexion of my ideal, holder of my soul, it would indeed be
+very disagreeable to my own feelings to make any reply save one,&rdquo; replied
+Mian, scarcely above a breath-voice. &ldquo;Gratitude alone would direct me,
+were it not that the great love which fills me leaves no resting-place for any
+other emotion than itself. Go if you must, but return quickly, for your absence
+will weigh upon Mian like a dragon-dream.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Violet light of my eyes,&rdquo; exclaimed Ling, &ldquo;even in
+surroundings which with the exception of the matter before us are uninspiring
+in the extreme, your virtuous and retiring encouragement yet raises me to such
+a commanding eminence of demonstrative happiness that I fear I shall become
+intolerably self-opinionated towards my fellow-men in consequence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such a thing is impossible with my Ling,&rdquo; said Mian, with
+conviction. &ldquo;But must you indeed journey to Canton?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; replied Ling, &ldquo;gladly would this person decide
+against such a course did the matter rest with him, for as the Verses say,
+&lsquo;It is needless to apply the ram&rsquo;s head to the unlocked
+door.&rsquo; But Ki is demolished, the unassuming Mandarin Li Keen has retired
+to Peking, and of the fortunes of his bowmen this person is entirely
+ignorant.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such as survived returned to their homes,&rdquo; replied Mian,
+&ldquo;and Si-chow is safe, for the scattered and broken rebels fled to the
+mountains again; so much this person has learned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In that case Si-chow is undoubtedly safe for the time, and can be left
+with prudence,&rdquo; said Ling. &ldquo;It is an unfortunate circumstance that
+there is no Mandarin of authority between here and Canton who can receive from
+this person a statement of past facts and give him instructions for the
+future.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what will be the nature of such instructions as will be given at
+Canton?&rdquo; demanded Mian.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By chance they may take the form of raising another company of
+bowmen,&rdquo; said Ling, with a sigh, &ldquo;but, indeed, if this person can
+obtain any weight by means of his past service, they will tend towards a
+pleasant and unambitious civil appointment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, my artless and noble-minded lover!&rdquo; exclaimed Mian,
+&ldquo;assuredly a veil has been before your eyes during your residence in
+Canton, and your naturally benevolent mind has turned all things into good, or
+you would not thus hopefully refer to your brilliant exploits in the past. Of
+what commercial benefit have they been to the sordid and miserly persons in
+authority, or in what way have they diverted a stream of taels into their
+insatiable pockets? Far greater is the chance that had Si-chow fallen many of
+its household goods would have found their way into the Yamens of Canton.
+Assuredly in Li Keen you will have a friend who will make many delicate
+allusions to your ancestors when you meet, and yet one who will float many
+barbed whispers to follow you when you have passed; for you have planted shame
+before him in the eyes of those who would otherwise neither have eyes to see
+nor tongues to discuss the matter. It is for such a reason that this person
+distrusts all things connected with the journey, except your constancy, oh, my
+true and strong one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such faithfulness would alone be sufficient to assure my safe return if
+the matter were properly represented to the supreme Deities,&rdquo; said Ling.
+&ldquo;Let not the thin curtain of bitter water stand before your lustrous eyes
+any longer, then, the events which have followed one another in the past few
+days in a fashion that can only be likened to thunder following lightning are
+indeed sufficient to distress one with so refined and swan-like an
+organization, but they are now assuredly at an end.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a hope of daily recurrence to this person,&rdquo; replied Mian,
+honourably endeavouring to restrain the emotion which openly exhibited itself
+in her eyes; &ldquo;for what maiden would not rather make successful offerings
+to the Great Mother Kum-Fa than have the most imposing and verbose Triumphal
+Arch erected to commemorate an empty and unsatisfying constancy?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this amiable manner the matter was arranged between Ling and Mian, as they
+sat together in the magician&rsquo;s garden drinking peach-tea, which the two
+attendants&mdash;not without discriminating and significant expressions between
+themselves&mdash;brought to them from time to time. Here Ling made clear the
+whole manner of his life from his earliest memory to the time when he fell in
+dignified combat, nor did Mian withhold anything, explaining in particular such
+charms and spells of the magician as she had knowledge of, and in this graceful
+manner materially assisting her lover in the many disagreeable encounters and
+conflicts which he was shortly to experience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was with even more objectionable feelings than before that Ling now
+contemplated his journey to Canton, involving as it did the separation from one
+who had become as the shadow of his existence, and by whose side he had an
+undoubted claim to stand. Yet the necessity of the undertaking was no less than
+before, and the full possession of all his natural powers took away his only
+excuse for delaying in the matter. Without any pleasurable anticipations,
+therefore, he consulted the Sacred Flat and Round Sticks, and learning that the
+following day would be propitious for the journey, he arranged to set out in
+accordance with the omen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the final moment arrived at which the invisible threads of constantly
+passing emotions from one to the other must be broken, and when Mian perceived
+that her lover&rsquo;s horse was restrained at the door by the two attendants,
+who with unsuspected delicacy of feeling had taken this opportunity of
+withdrawing, the noble endurance which had hitherto upheld her melted away, and
+she became involved in very melancholy and obscure meditations until she
+observed that Ling also was quickly becoming affected by a similar gloom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; she exclaimed, &ldquo;how unworthy a person I am thus to
+impose upon my lord a greater burden than that which already weighs him down!
+Rather ought this one to dwell upon the happiness of that day, when, after
+successfully evading or overthrowing the numerous bands of assassins which
+infest the road from here to Canton, and after escaping or recovering from the
+many deadly pestilences which invariably reduce that city at this season of the
+year, he shall triumphantly return. Assuredly there is a highly-polished
+surface united to every action in life, no matter how funereal it may at first
+appear. Indeed, there are many incidents compared with which death itself is
+welcome, and to this end Mian has reserved a farewell gift.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Speaking in this manner the devoted and magnanimous maiden placed in
+Ling&rsquo;s hands the transparent vessel of liquid which the magician had
+grasped when he fell. &ldquo;This person,&rdquo; she continued, speaking with
+difficulty, &ldquo;places her lover&rsquo;s welfare incomparably before her own
+happiness, and should he ever find himself in a situation which is unendurably
+oppressive, and from which death is the only escape&mdash;such as inevitable
+tortures, the infliction of violent madness, or the subjection by magic to the
+will of some designing woman&mdash;she begs him to accept this means of freeing
+himself without regarding her anguish beyond expressing a clearly defined last
+wish that the two persons in question may be in the end happily reunited in
+another existence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Assured by this last evidence of affection, Ling felt that he had no longer any
+reason for internal heaviness; his spirits were immeasurably raised by the
+fragrant incense of Mian&rsquo;s great devotion, and under its influence he was
+even able to breathe towards her a few words of similar comfort as he left the
+spot and began his journey.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IX</h3>
+
+<p>
+On entering Canton, which he successfully accomplished without any unpleasant
+adventure, the marked absence of any dignified ostentation which had been
+accountable for many of Ling&rsquo;s misfortunes in the past, impelled him
+again to reside in the same insignificant apartment that he had occupied when
+he first visited the city as an unknown and unimportant candidate. In
+consequence of this, when Ling was communicating to any person the signs by
+which messengers might find him, he was compelled to add, &ldquo;the
+neighbourhood in which this contemptible person resides is that officially
+known as &lsquo;the mean quarter favoured by the lower class of those who
+murder by treachery,&rsquo;&rdquo; and for this reason he was not always
+treated with the regard to which his attainments entitled him, or which he
+would have unquestionably received had he been able to describe himself as of
+&ldquo;the partly-drained and uninfected area reserved to Mandarins and their
+friends.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was with an ignoble feeling of mental distress that Ling exhibited himself
+at the Chief Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements on the following day; for
+the many disadvantageous incidents of his past life had repeated themselves
+before his eyes while he slept, and the not unhopeful emotions which he had
+felt when in the inspiring presence of Mian were now altogether absent. In
+spite of the fact that he reached the office during the early gong strokes of
+the morning, it was not until the withdrawal of light that he reached any
+person who was in a position to speak with him on the matter, so numerous were
+the lesser ones through whose chambers he had to pass in the process. At length
+he found himself in the presence of an upper one who had the appearance of
+being acquainted with the circumstances, and who received him with dignity,
+though not with any embarrassing exhibition of respect or servility.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The hero of the illustrious encounter beyond the walls of
+Si-chow,&rsquo;&rdquo; exclaimed that official, reading the words from the
+tablet of introduction which Ling had caused to be carried into him, and at the
+same time examining the person in question closely. &ldquo;Indeed, no such one
+is known to those within this office, unless the words chance to point to the
+courteous and unassuming Mandarin Li Keen, who, however, is at this moment
+recovering his health at Peking, as set forth in the amiable and impartial
+report which we have lately received from him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words Ling plainly understood that there was little hope of the last
+events becoming profitable on his account.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did not the report to which allusion has been made bear reference to one
+Ling, Commander of the Archers, who thrice led on the fighting men, and who was
+finally successful in causing the rebels to disperse towards the
+mountains?&rdquo; he asked, in a voice which somewhat trembled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is certainly reference to one of the name you mention,&rdquo; said
+the other; &ldquo;but regarding the terms&mdash;perhaps this person would
+better protect his own estimable time by displaying the report within your
+sight.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With these words the upper one struck a gong several times, and after receiving
+from an inner chamber the parchment in question, he placed it before Ling, at
+the same time directing a lesser one to interpose between it and the one who
+read it a large sheet of transparent substance, so that destruction might not
+come to it, no matter in what way its contents affected the reader. Thereon
+Ling perceived the following facts, very skilfully inscribed with the evident
+purpose of inducing persons to believe, without question, that words so
+elegantly traced must of necessity be truthful also.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;<i>A Benevolent Example of the Intelligent Arrangement by which the most
+Worthy Persons outlive those who are Incapable.</i><br/>
+<br/>
+    The circumstances connected with the office of the valuable and
+accomplished Mandarin of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements at Si-chow have, in
+recent times, been of anything but a prepossessing order. Owing to the very
+inadequate methods adopted by those who earn a livelihood by conveying
+necessities from the more enlightened portions of the Empire to that place, it
+so came about that for a period of five days the Yamen was entirely unsupplied
+with the fins of sharks or even with goats&rsquo; eyes. To add to the polished
+Mandarin&rsquo;s distress of mind the barbarous and slow-witted rebels who
+infest those parts took this opportunity to destroy the town and most of its
+inhabitants, the matter coming about as follows:<br/>
+    &ldquo;The feeble and commonplace person named Ling who commands the bowmen
+had but recently been elevated to that distinguished position from a menial and
+degraded occupation (for which, indeed, his stunted intellect more aptly fitted
+him); and being in consequence very greatly puffed out in self-gratification,
+he became an easy prey to the cunning of the rebels, and allowed himself to be
+beguiled into a trap, paying for this contemptible stupidity with his life. The
+town of Si-chow was then attacked, and being in this manner left defenceless
+through the weakness&mdash;or treachery&mdash;of the person Ling, who had
+contrived to encompass the entire destruction of his unyielding company, it
+fell after a determined and irreproachable resistance; the Mandarin Li Keen
+being told, as, covered with the blood of the foemen, he was dragged away from
+the thickest part of the unequal conflict by his followers, that he was the
+last person to leave the town. On his way to Peking with news of this valiant
+defence, the Mandarin was joined by the Chief of Bowmen, who had understood and
+avoided the very obvious snare into which the stagnant-minded Commander had led
+his followers, in spite of disinterested advice to the contrary. For this
+intelligent perception, and for general nobility of conduct when in battle, the
+versatile Chief of Bowmen is by this written paper strongly recommended to the
+dignity of receiving the small metal Embellishment of Valour.<br/>
+    &ldquo;It has been suggested to the Mandarin Li Keen that the bestowal of
+the Crystal Button would only be a fit and graceful reward for his
+indefatigable efforts to uphold the dignity of the sublime Emperor; but to all
+such persons the Mandarin has sternly replied that such a proposal would more
+fitly originate from the renowned and valuable Office of Warlike Deeds and
+Arrangements, he well knowing that the wise and engaging persons who conduct
+that indispensable and well-regulated department are gracefully voracious in
+their efforts to reward merit, even when it is displayed, as in the case in
+question, by one who from his position will inevitably soon be urgently
+petitioning in a like manner on their behalf.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Ling had finished reading this elegantly arranged but exceedingly
+misleading parchment, he looked up with eyes from which he vainly endeavoured
+to restrain the signs of undignified emotion, and said to the upper one:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is difficult employment for a person to refrain from unendurable
+thoughts when his unassuming and really conscientious efforts are represented
+in a spirit of no satisfaction, yet in this matter the very expert Li Keen
+appears to have gone beyond himself; the Commander Ling, who is herein
+represented as being slain by the enemy, is, indeed, the person who is standing
+before you, and all the other statements are in a like exactness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The short-sighted individual who for some hidden desire of his own is
+endeavouring to present himself as the corrupt and degraded creature Ling, has
+overlooked one important circumstance,&rdquo; said the upper one, smiling in a
+very intolerable manner, at the same time causing his head to move slightly
+from side to side in the fashion of one who rebukes with assumed geniality;
+and, turning over the written paper, he displayed upon the under side the
+Imperial vermilion Sign. &ldquo;Perhaps,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;the
+omniscient person will still continue in his remarks, even with the evidence of
+the Emperor&rsquo;s unerring pencil to refute him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words and the undoubted testimony of the red mark, which plainly
+declared the whole of the written matter to be composed of truth, no matter
+what might afterwards transpire, Ling understood that very little prosperity
+remained with him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But the town of Si-chow,&rdquo; he suggested, after examining his mind;
+&ldquo;if any person in authority visited the place, he would inevitably find
+it standing and its inhabitants in agreeable health.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The persistent person who is so assiduously occupying my intellectual
+moments with empty words seems to be unaccountably deficient in his knowledge
+of the customs of refined society and of the meaning of the Imperial
+Signet,&rdquo; said the other, with an entire absence of benevolent
+consideration. &ldquo;That Si-chow has fallen and that Ling is dead are two
+utterly uncontroversial matters truthfully recorded. If a person visited
+Si-chow, he might find it rebuilt or even inhabited by those from the
+neighbouring villages or by evil spirits taking the forms of the ones who
+formerly lived there; as in a like manner, Ling might be restored to existence
+by magic, or his body might be found and possessed by an outcast demon who
+desired to revisit the earth for a period. Such circumstances do not in any way
+disturb the announcement that Si-chow has without question fallen, and that
+Ling has officially ceased to live, of which events notifications have been
+sent to all who are concerned in the matters.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the upper one ceased speaking, four strokes sounded upon the gong, and Ling
+immediately found himself carried into the street by the current of both lesser
+and upper ones who poured forth at the signal. The termination of this
+conversation left Ling in a more unenviable state of dejection than any of the
+many preceding misfortunes had done, for with enlarged inducements to possess
+himself of a competent appointment he seemed to be even further removed from
+this attainment than he had been at any time in his life. He might, indeed,
+present himself again for the public examinations; but in order to do even that
+it would be necessary for him to wait almost a year, nor could he assure
+himself that his efforts would again be likely to result in an equal success.
+Doubts also arose within his mind of the course which he should follow in such
+a case; whether to adopt a new name, involving as it would certain humiliation
+and perhaps disgrace if detection overtook his footsteps, or still to possess
+the title of one who was in a measure dead, and hazard the likelihood of having
+any prosperity which he might obtain reduced to nothing if the fact should
+become public.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Ling reflected upon such details he found himself without intention before
+the house of a wise person who had become very wealthy by advising others on
+all matters, but chiefly on those connected with strange occurrences and such
+events as could not be settled definitely either one way or the other until a
+remote period had been reached. Becoming assailed by a curious desire to know
+what manner of evils particularly attached themselves to such as were
+officially dead but who nevertheless had an ordinary existence, Ling placed
+himself before this person, and after arranging the manner of reward related to
+him so many of the circumstances as were necessary to enable a full
+understanding to be reached, but at the same time in no way betraying his own
+interest in the matter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such inflictions are to no degree frequent,&rdquo; said the wise person
+after he had consulted a polished sphere of the finest red jade for some time;
+&ldquo;and this is in a measure to be regretted, as the hair of these
+persons&mdash;provided they die a violent death, which is invariably the
+case&mdash;constitutes a certain protection against being struck by falling
+stars, or becoming involved in unsuccessful law cases. The persons in question
+can be recognized with certainty in the public ways by the unnatural pallor of
+their faces and by the general repulsiveness of their appearance, but as they
+soon take refuge in suicide, unless they have the fortune to be removed
+previously by accident, it is an infrequent matter that one is gratified by the
+sight. During their existence they are subject to many disorders from which the
+generality of human beings are benevolently preserved; they possess no rights
+of any kind, and if by any chance they are detected in an act of a seemingly
+depraved nature, they are liable to judgment at the hands of the passers-by
+without any form whatever, and to punishment of a more severe order than that
+administered to commonplace criminals. There are many other disadvantages
+affecting such persons when they reach the Middle Air, of which the
+chief&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This person is immeasurably indebted for such a clear explanation of the
+position,&rdquo; interrupted Ling, who had a feeling of not desiring to
+penetrate further into the detail; &ldquo;but as he perceives a line of anxious
+ones eagerly waiting at the door to obtain advice and consolation from so
+expert and amiable a wizard, he will not make himself uncongenial any longer
+with his very feeble topics of conversation.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By this time Ling plainly comprehended that he had been marked out from the
+beginning&mdash;perhaps for all the knowledge which he had to the opposite
+effect, from a period in the life of a far-removed ancestor&mdash;to be an
+object of marked derision and the victim of all manner of malevolent demons in
+whatever actions he undertook. In this condition of understanding his mind
+turned gratefully to the parting gift of Mian whom he had now no hope of
+possessing; for the intolerable thought of uniting her to so objectionable a
+being as himself would have been dismissed as utterly inelegant even had he
+been in a manner of living to provide for her adequately, which itself seemed
+clearly impossible. Disregarding all similar emotions, therefore, he walked
+without pausing to his abode, and stretching his body upon the rushes, drank
+the entire liquid unhesitatingly, and prepared to pass beyond with a tranquil
+mind entirely given up to thoughts and images of Mian.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER X</h3>
+
+<p>
+Upon a certain occasion, the particulars of which have already been recorded,
+Ling had judged himself to have passed into the form of a spirit on beholding
+the ethereal form of Mian bending over him. After swallowing the entire liquid,
+which had cost the dead magician so much to distil and make perfect, it was
+with a well-assured determination of never again awakening that he lost the
+outward senses and floated in the Middle Air, so that when his eyes next opened
+upon what seemed to be the bare walls of his own chamber, his first thought was
+a natural conviction that the matter had been so arranged either out of a
+charitable desire that he should not be overcome by a too sudden transition to
+unparalleled splendour, or that such a reception was the outcome of some
+dignified jest on the part of certain lesser and more cheerful spirits. After
+waiting in one position for several hours, however, and receiving no summons or
+manifestation of a celestial nature, he began to doubt the qualities of the
+liquid, and applying certain tests, he soon ascertained that he was still in
+the lower world and unharmed. Nevertheless, this circumstance did not tend in
+any way to depress his mind, for, doubtless owing to some hidden virtue of the
+fluid, he felt an enjoyable emotion that he still lived; all his attributes
+appeared to be purified, and he experienced an inspired certainty of feeling
+that an illustrious and highly-remunerative future lay before one who still had
+an ordinary existence after being both officially killed and self-poisoned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this intelligent disposition thoughts of Mian recurred to him with
+unreproved persistence, and in order to convey to her an account of the various
+matters which had engaged him since his arrival at the city, and a
+well-considered declaration of the unchanged state of his own feelings towards
+her, he composed and despatched with impetuous haste the following delicate
+verses:
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+CONSTANCY
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+About the walls and gates of Canton<br/>
+Are many pleasing and entertaining maidens;<br/>
+Indeed, in the eyes of their friends and of the passers-by<br/>
+Some of them are exceptionally adorable.<br/>
+The person who is inscribing these lines, however,<br/>
+Sees before him, as it were, an assemblage of deformed and un-prepossessing
+hags,<br/>
+Venerable in age and inconsiderable in appearance;<br/>
+For the dignified and majestic image of Mian is ever before him,<br/>
+Making all others very inferior.<br/>
+<br/>
+Within the houses and streets of Canton<br/>
+Hang many bright lanterns.<br/>
+The ordinary person who has occasion to walk by night<br/>
+Professes to find them highly lustrous.<br/>
+But there is one who thinks contrary facts,<br/>
+And when he goes forth he carries two long curved poles<br/>
+To prevent him from stumbling among the dark and hidden places;<br/>
+For he has gazed into the brilliant and pellucid orbs of Mian,<br/>
+And all other lights are dull and practically opaque.<br/>
+<br/>
+In various parts of the literary quarter of Canton<br/>
+Reside such as spend their time in inward contemplation.<br/>
+In spite of their generally uninviting exteriors<br/>
+Their reflexions are often of a very profound order.<br/>
+Yet the unpopular and persistently-abused Ling<br/>
+Would unhesitatingly prefer his own thoughts to theirs,<br/>
+For what makes this person&rsquo;s thoughts far more pleasing<br/>
+Is that they are invariably connected with the virtuous and ornamental Mian.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Becoming very amiably disposed after this agreeable occupation, Ling surveyed
+himself at the disc of polished metal, and observed with surprise and shame the
+rough and uninviting condition of his person. He had, indeed, although it was
+not until some time later that he became aware of the circumstance, slept for
+five days without interruption, and it need not therefore be a matter of wonder
+or of reproach to him that his smooth surfaces had become covered with short
+hair. Reviling himself bitterly for the appearance which he conceived he must
+have exhibited when he conducted his business, and to which he now in part
+attributed his ill-success, Ling went forth without delay, and quickly
+discovering one of those who remove hair publicly for a very small sum, he
+placed himself in the chair, and directed that his face, arms, and legs should
+be denuded after the manner affected by the ones who make a practice of
+observing the most recent customs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did the illustrious individual who is now conferring distinction on this
+really worn-out chair by occupying it express himself in favour of having the
+face entirely denuded?&rdquo; demanded the one who conducted the operation; for
+these persons have become famous for their elegant and persistent ability to
+discourse, and frequently assume ignorance in order that they themselves may
+make reply, and not for the purpose of gaining knowledge. &ldquo;Now, in the
+objectionable opinion of this unintelligent person, who has a presumptuous
+habit of offering his very undesirable advice, a slight covering on the upper
+lip, delicately arranged and somewhat fiercely pointed at the extremities,
+would bestow an appearance of&mdash;how shall this illiterate person explain
+himself?&mdash;dignity?&mdash;matured reflexion?&mdash;doubtless the
+accomplished nobleman before me will understand what is intended with a more
+knife-like accuracy than this person can describe it&mdash;but confer that
+highly desirable effect upon the face of which at present it is entirely
+destitute... &lsquo;Entirely denuded?&rsquo; Then without fail it shall
+certainly be so, O incomparable personage... Does the versatile Mandarin now
+present profess any concern as to the condition of the rice plants?... Indeed,
+the remark is an inspired one; the subject is totally devoid of interest to a
+person of intelligence ... A remarkable and gravity-removing event transpired
+within the notice of this unassuming person recently. A discriminating
+individual had purchased from him a portion of his justly renowned
+Thrice-extracted Essence of Celestial Herb Oil&mdash;a preparation which in
+this experienced person&rsquo;s opinion, indeed, would greatly relieve the
+undoubted afflictions from which the one before him is evidently
+suffering&mdash;when after once anointing himself&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A lengthy period containing no words caused Ling, who had in the meantime
+closed his eyes and lost Canton and all else in delicate thoughts of Mian, to
+look up. That which met his attention on doing so filled him with an
+intelligent wonder, for the person before him held in his hand what had the
+appearance of a tuft of bright yellow hair, which shone in the light of the sun
+with a most engaging splendour, but which he nevertheless regarded with a most
+undignified expression of confusion and awe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Illustrious demon,&rdquo; he cried at length, kow-towing very
+respectfully, &ldquo;have the extreme amiableness to be of a benevolent
+disposition, and do not take an unworthy and entirely unremunerative revenge
+upon this very unimportant person for failing to detect and honour you from the
+beginning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such words indicate nothing beyond an excess of hemp spirit,&rdquo;
+answered Ling, with signs of displeasure. &ldquo;To gain my explicit esteem,
+make me smooth without delay, and do not exhibit before me the lock of hair
+which, from its colour and appearance, has evidently adorned the head of one of
+those maidens whose duty it is to quench the thirst of travellers in the long
+narrow rooms of this city.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Majestic and anonymous spirit,&rdquo; said the other, with extreme
+reverence, and an entire absence of the appearance of one who had gazed into
+too many vessels, &ldquo;if such be your plainly-expressed desire, this
+superficial person will at once proceed to make smooth your peach-like skin,
+and with a carefulness inspired by the certainty that the most unimportant
+wound would give forth liquid fire, in which he would undoubtedly perish.
+Nevertheless, he desires to make it evident that this hair is from the head of
+no maiden, being, indeed, the uneven termination of your own sacred pigtail,
+which this excessively self-confident slave took the inexcusable liberty of
+removing, and which changed in this manner within his hand in order to
+administer a fit reproof for his intolerable presumption.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Impressed by the mien and unquestionable earnestness of the remover of hair,
+Ling took the matter which had occasioned these various emotions in his hand
+and examined it. His amazement was still greater when he perceived
+that&mdash;in spite of the fact that it presented every appearance of having
+been cut from his own person&mdash;none of the qualities of hair remained in
+it; it was hard and wire-like, possessing, indeed, both the nature and the
+appearance of a metal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he gazed fixedly and with astonishment, there came back into the remembrance
+of Ling certain obscure and little-understood facts connected with the
+limitless wealth possessed by the Yellow Emperor&mdash;of which the great gold
+life-like image in the Temple of Internal Symmetry at Peking alone bears
+witness now&mdash;and of his lost secret. Many very forcible prophecies and
+omens in his own earlier life, of which the rendering and accomplishment had
+hitherto seemed to be dark and incomplete, passed before him, and various
+matters which Mian had related to him concerning the habits and speech of the
+magician took definite form within his mind. Deeply impressed by the exact
+manner in which all these circumstances fitted together, one into another, Ling
+rewarded the person before him greatly beyond his expectation, and hurried
+without delay to his own chamber.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XI</h3>
+
+<p>
+For many hours Ling remained in his room, examining in his mind all passages,
+either in his own life or in the lives of others, which might by any chance
+have influence on the event before him. In this thorough way he became assured
+that the competition and its results, his journey to Si-chow with the encounter
+in the cypress wood, the flight of the incapable and treacherous Mandarin, and
+the battle of Ki, were all, down to the matter of the smallest detail, parts of
+a symmetrical and complete scheme, tending to his present condition. Cheered
+and upheld by this proof of the fact that very able deities were at work on his
+behalf, he turned his intellect from the entrancing subject to a contemplation
+of the manner in which his condition would enable him to frustrate the
+uninventive villainies of the obstinate person Li Keen, and to provide a
+suitable house and mode of living to which he would be justified in introducing
+Mian, after adequate marriage ceremonies had been observed between them. In
+this endeavour he was less successful than he had imagined would be the case,
+for when he had first fully understood that his body was of such a substance
+that nothing was wanting to transmute it into fine gold but the absence of the
+living spirit, he had naturally, and without deeply examining the detail,
+assumed that so much gold might be considered to be in his possession. Now,
+however, a very definite thought arose within him that his own wishes and
+interests would have been better secured had the benevolent spirits who
+undertook the matter placed the secret within his knowledge in such a way as to
+enable him to administer the fluid to some very heavy and inexpensive animal,
+so that the issue which seemed inevitable before the enjoyment of the riches
+could be entered upon should not have touched his own comfort so closely. To a
+person of Ling&rsquo;s refined imagination it could not fail to be a subject of
+internal reproach that while he would become the most precious dead body in the
+world, his value in life might not be very honourably placed even by the most
+complimentary one who should require his services. Then came the thought,
+which, however degraded, he found himself unable to put quite beyond him, that
+if in the meantime he were able to gain a sufficiency for Mian and himself,
+even her pure and delicate love might not be able to bear so offensive a test
+as that of seeing him grow old and remain intolerably healthy&mdash;perhaps
+with advancing years actually becoming lighter day by day, and thereby
+lessening in value before her eyes&mdash;when the natural infirmities of age
+and the presence of an ever-increasing posterity would make even a moderate
+amount of taels of inestimable value.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No doubt remained in Ling&rsquo;s mind that the process of frequently making
+smooth his surfaces would yield an amount of gold enough to suffice for his own
+needs, but a brief consideration of the matter convinced him that this source
+would be inadequate to maintain an entire household even if he continually
+denuded himself to an almost ignominious extent. As he fully weighed these
+varying chances the certainty became more clear to him with every thought that
+for the virtuous enjoyment of Mian&rsquo;s society one great sacrifice was
+required of him. This act, it seemed to be intimated, would without delay
+provide for an affluent and lengthy future, and at the same time would
+influence all the spirits&mdash;even those who had been hitherto
+evilly-disposed towards him&mdash;in such a manner that his enemies would be
+removed from his path by a process which would expose them to public ridicule,
+and he would be assured in founding an illustrious and enduring line. To
+accomplish this successfully necessitated the loss of at least the greater part
+of one entire member, and for some time the disadvantages of going through an
+existence with only a single leg or arm seemed more than a sufficient price to
+pay even for the definite advantages which would be made over to him in return.
+This unworthy thought, however, could not long withstand the memory of
+Mian&rsquo;s steadfast and high-minded affection, and the certainty of her
+enlightened gladness at his return even in the imperfect condition which he
+anticipated. Nor was there absent from his mind a dimly-understood hope that
+the matter did not finally rest with him, but that everything which he might be
+inspired to do was in reality only a portion of the complete and arranged
+system into which he had been drawn, and in which his part had been assigned to
+him from the beginning without power for him to deviate, no matter how much to
+the contrary the thing should appear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As no advantage would be gained by making any delay, Ling at once sought the
+most favourable means of putting his resolution into practice, and after many
+skilful and insidious inquiries he learnt of an accomplished person who made a
+consistent habit of cutting off limbs which had become troublesome to their
+possessors either through accident or disease. Furthermore, he was said to be
+of a sincere and charitable disposition, and many persons declared that on no
+occasion had he been known to make use of the helpless condition of those who
+visited him in order to extort money from them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Coming to the ill-considered conclusion that he would be able to conceal within
+his own breast the true reason for the operation, Ling placed himself before
+the person in question, and exhibited the matter to him so that it would appear
+as though his desires were promoted by the presence of a small but persistent
+sprite which had taken its abode within his left thigh, and there resisted
+every effort of the most experienced wise persons to induce it to come forth
+again. Satisfied with this explanation of the necessity of the deed, the one
+who undertook the matter proceeded, with Ling&rsquo;s assistance, to sharpen
+his cutting instruments and to heat the hardening irons; but no sooner had he
+made a shallow mark to indicate the lines which his knife should take, than his
+subtle observation at once showed him that the facts had been represented to
+him in a wrong sense, and that his visitor, indeed, was composed of no common
+substance. Being of a gentle and forbearing disposition, he did not manifest
+any indication of rage at the discovery, but amiably and unassumingly pointed
+out that such a course was not respectful towards himself, and that, moreover,
+Ling might incur certain well-defined and highly undesirable maladies as a
+punishment for the deception.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Overcome with remorse at deceiving so courteous and noble-minded a person, Ling
+fully explained the circumstances to him, not even concealing from him certain
+facts which related to the actions of remote ancestors, but which,
+nevertheless, appeared to have influenced the succession of events. When he had
+made an end of the narrative, the other said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold now, it is truly remarked that every Mandarin has three hands and
+every soldier a like number of feet, yet it is a saying which is rather to be
+regarded as manifesting the deep wisdom and discrimination of the speaker than
+as an actual fact which can be taken advantage of when one is so
+minded&mdash;least of all by so valiant a Commander as the one before me, who
+has clearly proved that in time of battle he has exactly reversed the
+position.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The loss would undoubtedly be of considerable inconvenience
+occasionally,&rdquo; admitted Ling, &ldquo;yet none the less the sage remark of
+Huai Mei-shan, &lsquo;When actually in the embrace of a voracious and powerful
+wild animal, the desirability of leaving a limb is not a matter to be subjected
+to lengthy consideration,&rsquo; is undoubtedly a valuable guide for general
+conduct. This person has endured many misfortunes and suffered many injustices;
+he has known the wolf-gnawings of great hopes, which have withered and daily
+grown less when the difficulties of maintaining an honourable and illustrious
+career have unfolded themselves within his sight. Before him still lie the
+attractions of a moderate competency to be shared with the one whose absence
+would make even the Upper Region unendurable, and after having this entrancing
+future once shattered by the tiger-like cupidity of a depraved and incapable
+Mandarin, he is determined to welcome even the sacrifice which you condemn
+rather than let the opportunity vanish through indecision.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not an unworthy or abandoned decision,&rdquo; said the one whose
+aid Ling had invoked, &ldquo;nor a matter in which this person would refrain
+from taking part, were there no other and more agreeable means by which the
+same results may be attained. A circumstance has occurred within this
+superficial person&rsquo;s mind, however: A brother of the one who is
+addressing you is by profession one of those who purchase large undertakings
+for which they have not the money to pay, and who thereupon by various
+expedients gain the ear of the thrifty, enticing them by fair offers of return
+to entrust their savings for the purpose of paying off the debt. These persons
+are ever on the watch for transactions by which they inevitably prosper without
+incurring any obligation, and doubtless my brother will be able to gather a
+just share of the value of your highly-remunerative body without submitting you
+to the insufferable annoyance of losing a great part of it prematurely.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Without clearly understanding how so inviting an arrangement could be effected,
+the manner of speaking was exceedingly alluring to Ling&rsquo;s mind, perplexed
+as he had become through weighing and considering the various attitudes of the
+entire matter. To receive a certain and sufficient sum of money without his
+person being in any way mutilated would be a satisfactory, but as far as he had
+been able to observe an unapproachable, solution to the difficulty. In the mind
+of the amiable person with whom he was conversing, however, the accomplishment
+did not appear to be surrounded by unnatural obstacles, so that Ling was
+content to leave the entire design in his hands, after stating that he would
+again present himself on a certain occasion when it was asserted that the
+brother in question would be present.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So internally lightened did Ling feel after this inspiring conversation, and so
+confident of a speedy success had the obliging person&rsquo;s words made him
+become, that for the first time since his return to Canton he was able to take
+an intellectual interest in the pleasures of the city. Becoming aware that the
+celebrated play entitled &ldquo;The Precious Lamp of Spotted Butterfly
+Temple&rdquo; was in process of being shown at the Tea Garden of Rainbow Lights
+and Voices, he purchased an entrance, and after passing several hours in this
+conscientious enjoyment, returned to his chamber, and passed a night untroubled
+by any manifestations of an unpleasant nature.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XII</h3>
+
+<p>
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un, the brother of the one to whom Ling had applied in his
+determination, was confidently stated to be one of the richest persons in
+Canton. So great was the number of enterprises in which he had possessions,
+that he himself was unable to keep an account of them, and it was asserted that
+upon occasions he had run through the streets, crying aloud that such an
+undertaking had been the subject of most inferior and uninviting dreams and
+omens (a custom observed by those who wish a venture ill), whereas upon
+returning and consulting his written parchments, it became plain to him that he
+had indulged in a very objectionable exhibition, as he himself was the person
+most interested in the success of the matter. Far from discouraging him,
+however, such incidents tended to his advantage, as he could consistently point
+to them in proof of his unquestionable commercial honourableness, and in this
+way many persons of all classes, not only in Canton, or in the Province, but
+all over the Empire, would unhesitatingly entrust money to be placed in
+undertakings which he had purchased and was willing to describe as &ldquo;of
+much good.&rdquo; A certain class of printed leaves&mdash;those in which
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un did not insert purchased mentions of his forthcoming ventures
+or verses recording his virtues (in return for buying many examples of the
+printed leaf containing them)&mdash;took frequent occasion of reminding persons
+that Chang-ch&rsquo;un owed the beginning of his prosperity to finding a
+written parchment connected with a Mandarin of exalted rank and a low caste
+attendant at the Ti-i tea-house among the paper heaps, which it was at that
+time his occupation to assort into various departments according to their
+quality and commercial value. Such printed leaves freely and unhesitatingly
+predicted that the day on which he would publicly lose face was incomparably
+nearer than that on which the Imperial army would receive its back pay, and in
+a quaint and gravity-removing manner advised him to protect himself against an
+obscure but inevitable poverty by learning the accomplishment of
+chair-carrying&mdash;an occupation for which his talents and achievements
+fitted him in a high degree, they remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In spite of these evilly intentioned remarks, and of illustrations representing
+him as being bowstrung for treacherous killing, being seized in the action of
+secretly conveying money from passers-by to himself and other similar annoying
+references to his private life, Chang-ch&rsquo;un did not fail to prosper, and
+his undertakings succeeded to such an extent that without inquiry into the
+detail many persons were content to describe as &ldquo;gold-lined&rdquo;
+anything to which he affixed his sign, and to hazard their savings for staking
+upon the ventures. In all other departments of life Chang was equally
+successful; his chief wife was the daughter of one who stood high in the
+Emperor&rsquo;s favour; his repast table was never unsupplied with sea-snails,
+rats&rsquo; tongues, or delicacies of an equally expensive nature, and it was
+confidently maintained that there was no official in Canton, not even putting
+aside the Taotai, who dare neglect to fondle Chang&rsquo;s hand if he publicly
+offered it to him for that purpose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was at the most illustrious point of his existence&mdash;at the time,
+indeed, when after purchasing without money the renowned and proficient
+charm-water Ho-Ko for a million taels, he had sold it again for ten&mdash;that
+Chang was informed by his brother of the circumstances connected with Ling.
+After becoming specially assured that the matter was indeed such as it was
+represented to be, Chang at once discerned that the venture was of too certain
+and profitable a nature to be put before those who entrusted their money to him
+in ordinary and doubtful cases. He accordingly called together certain persons
+whom he was desirous of obliging, and informing them privately and apart from
+business terms that the opportunity was one of exceptional attractiveness, he
+placed the facts before them. After displaying a number of diagrams bearing
+upon the matter, he proposed that they should form an enterprise to be called
+&ldquo;The Ling (After Death) Without Much Risk Assembly.&rdquo; The manner of
+conducting this undertaking he explained to be as follows: The body of Ling,
+whenever the spirit left it, should become as theirs to be used for profit. For
+this benefit they would pay Ling fifty thousand taels when the understanding
+was definitely arrived at, five thousand taels each year until the matter
+ended, and when that period arrived another fifty thousand taels to persons
+depending upon him during his life. Having stated the figure business,
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un put down his written papers, and causing his face to assume
+the look of irrepressible but dignified satisfaction which it was his custom to
+wear on most occasions, and especially when he had what appeared at first sight
+to be evil news to communicate to public assemblages of those who had entrusted
+money to his ventures, he proceeded to disclose the advantages of such a
+system. At the extreme, he said, the amount which they would be required to pay
+would be two hundred and fifty thousand taels; but this was in reality a very
+misleading view of the circumstance, as he would endeavour to show them. For
+one detail, he had allotted to Ling thirty years of existence, which was the
+extreme amount according to the calculations of those skilled in such
+prophecies; but, as they were all undoubtedly aware, persons of very expert
+intellects were known to enjoy a much shorter period of life than the gross and
+ordinary, and as Ling was clearly one of the former, by the fact of his
+contriving so ingenious a method of enriching himself, they might with
+reasonable foresight rely upon his departing when half the period had been
+attained; in that way seventy-five thousand taels would be restored to them,
+for every year represented a saving of five thousand. Another agreeable
+contemplation was that of the last sum, for by such a time they would have
+arrived at the most pleasurable part of the enterprise: a million taels&rsquo;
+worth of pure gold would be displayed before them, and the question of the
+final fifty thousand could be disposed of by cutting off an arm or half a leg.
+Whether they adopted that course, or decided to increase their fortunes by
+exposing so exceptional and symmetrical a wonder to the public gaze in all the
+principal cities of the Empire, was a circumstance which would have to be
+examined within their minds when the time approached. In such a way the detail
+of purchase stood revealed as only fifty thousand taels in reality, a sum so
+despicably insignificant that he had internal pains at mentioning it to so
+wealthy a group of Mandarins, and he had not yet made clear to them that each
+year they would receive gold to the amount of almost a thousand taels. This
+would be the result of Ling making smooth his surfaces, and it would enable
+them to know that the person in question actually existed, and to keep the
+circumstances before their intellects.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Chang-Ch&rsquo;un had made the various facts clear to this extent, those
+who were assembled expressed their feelings as favourably turned towards the
+project, provided the tests to which Ling was to be put should prove
+encouraging, and a secure and intelligent understanding of things to be done
+and not to be done could be arrived at between them. To this end Ling was
+brought into the chamber, and fixing his thoughts steadfastly upon Mian, he
+permitted portions to be cut from various parts of his body without betraying
+any signs of ignoble agitation. No sooner had the pieces been separated and the
+virtue of Ling&rsquo;s existence passed from them than they changed colour and
+hardened, nor could the most delicate and searching trials to which they were
+exposed by a skilful worker in metals, who was obtained for the purpose,
+disclose any particular, however minute, in which they differed from the finest
+gold. The hair, the nails, and the teeth were similarly affected, and even
+Ling&rsquo;s blood dried into a fine gold powder. This detail of the trial
+being successfully completed, Ling subjected himself to intricate questioning
+on all matters connected with his religion and manner of conducting himself,
+both in public and privately, the history and behaviour of his ancestors, the
+various omens and remarkable sayings which had reference to his life and
+destiny, and the intentions which he then possessed regarding his future
+movements and habits of living. All the wise sayings and written and printed
+leaves which made any allusion to the existence of and possibility of discovery
+of the wonderful gold fluid were closely examined, and found to be in
+agreement, whereupon those present made no further delay in admitting that the
+facts were indeed as they had been described, and indulged in a dignified
+stroking of each other&rsquo;s faces as an expression of pleasure and in proof
+of their satisfaction at taking part in so entrancing and remunerative an
+affair. At Chang&rsquo;s command many rare and expensive wines were then
+brought in, and partaken of without restraint by all persons, the repast being
+lightened by numerous well-considered and gravity-removing jests having
+reference to Ling and the unusual composition of his person. So amiably were
+the hours occupied that it was past the time of no light when Chang rose and
+read at full length the statement of things to be done and things not to be
+done, which was to be sealed by Ling for his part and the other persons who
+were present for theirs. It so happened, however, that at that period
+Ling&rsquo;s mind was filled with brilliant and versatile thoughts and images
+of Mian, and many-hued visions of the manner in which they would spend the
+entrancing future which was now before them, and in this way it chanced that he
+did not give any portion of his intellect to the reading, mistaking it, indeed,
+for a delicate and very ably-composed set of verses which Chang-ch&rsquo;un was
+reciting as a formal blessing on parting. Nor was it until he was desired to
+affix his sign that Ling discovered his mistake, and being of too respectful
+and unobtrusive a disposition to require the matter to be repeated then, he
+carried out the obligation without in any particular understanding the written
+words to which he was agreeing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Ling walked through the streets to his chamber after leaving the house and
+company of Chang-Ch&rsquo;un, holding firmly among his garments the thin
+printed papers to the amount of fifty thousand taels which he had received, and
+repeatedly speaking to himself in terms of general and specific encouragement
+at the fortunate events of the past few days, he became aware that a person of
+mean and rapacious appearance, whom he had some memory of having observed
+within the residence he had but just left, was continually by his side. Not at
+first doubting that the circumstance resulted from a benevolent desire on the
+part of Chang-ch&rsquo;un that he should be protected on his passage through
+the city, Ling affected not to observe the incident; but upon reaching his own
+door the person in question persistently endeavoured to pass in also. Forming a
+fresh judgment about the matter, Ling, who was very powerfully constructed, and
+whose natural instincts were enhanced in every degree by the potent fluid of
+which he had lately partaken, repeatedly threw him across the street until he
+became weary of the diversion. At length, however, the thought arose that one
+who patiently submitted to continually striking the opposite houses with his
+head must have something of importance to communicate, whereupon he courteously
+invited him to enter the apartment and unweigh his mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The facts of the case appear to have been somewhat inadequately
+represented,&rdquo; said the stranger, bowing obsequiously, &ldquo;for this
+unornamental person was assured by the benignant Chang-ch&rsquo;un that the one
+whose shadow he was to become was of a mild and forbearing nature.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such words are as the conversation of birds to me,&rdquo; replied Ling,
+not conjecturing how the matter had fallen about. &ldquo;This person has just
+left the presence of the elegant and successful Chang-ch&rsquo;un, and no word
+that he spoke gave indication of such a follower or such a service.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then it is indeed certain that the various transactions have not been
+fully understood,&rdquo; exclaimed the other, &ldquo;for the exact
+communication to this unseemly one was, &lsquo;The valuable and enlightened
+Ling has heard and agreed to the different things to be done and not to be
+done, one phrase of which arranges for your continual presence, so that he will
+anticipate your attentions.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words the truth became as daylight before Ling&rsquo;s eyes, and he
+perceived that the written paper to which he had affixed his sign contained the
+detail of such an office as that of the person before him. When too late, more
+than ever did he regret that he had not formed some pretext for causing the
+document to be read a second time, as in view of his immediate intentions such
+an arrangement as the one to which he had agreed had every appearance of
+becoming of an irksome and perplexing nature. Desiring to know the length of
+the attendant&rsquo;s commands, Ling asked him for a clear statement of his
+duties, feigning that he had missed that portion of the reading through a
+momentary attack of the giddy sickness. To this request the stranger, who
+explained that his name was Wang, instantly replied that his written and spoken
+orders were: never to permit more than an arm&rsquo;s length of space to
+separate them; to prevent, by whatever force was necessary for the purpose, all
+attempts at evading the things to be done and not to be done, and to ignore as
+of no interest all other circumstances. It seemed to Ling, in consequence, that
+little seclusion would be enjoyed unless an arrangement could be effected
+between Wang and himself; so to this end, after noticing the evident poverty
+and covetousness of the person in question, he made him an honourable offer of
+frequent rewards, provided a greater distance was allowed to come between them
+as soon as Si-chow was reached. On his side, Ling undertook not to break
+through the wording of the things to be done and not to be done, and to notify
+to Wang any movements upon which he meditated. In this reputable manner the
+obstacle was ingeniously removed, and the intelligent nature of the device was
+clearly proved by the fact that not only Ling but Wang also had in the future a
+much greater liberty of action than would have been possible if it had been
+necessary to observe the short-sighted and evidently hastily-thought-of
+condition which Chang-ch&rsquo;un had endeavoured to impose.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIII</h3>
+
+<p>
+In spite of his natural desire to return to Mian as quickly as possible, Ling
+judged it expedient to give several days to the occupation of purchasing
+apparel of the richest kinds, weapons and armour in large quantities, jewels
+and ornaments of worked metals and other objects to indicate his changed
+position. Nor did he neglect actions of a pious and charitable nature, for
+almost his first care was to arrange with the chief ones at the Temple of
+Benevolent Intentions that each year, on the day corresponding to that on which
+he drank the gold fluid, a sumptuous and well-constructed coffin should be
+presented to the most deserving poor and aged person within that quarter of the
+city in which he had resided. When these preparations were completed, Ling set
+out with an extensive train of attendants; but riding on before, accompanied
+only by Wang, he quickly reached Si-chow without adventure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The meeting between Ling and Mian was affecting to such an extent that the
+blind and deaf attendants wept openly without reproach, notwithstanding the
+fact that neither could become possessed of more than a half of the occurrence.
+Eagerly the two reunited ones examined each other&rsquo;s features to discover
+whether the separation had brought about any change in the beloved and
+well-remembered lines. Ling discovered upon Mian the shadow of an anxious care
+at his absence, while the disappointments and trials which Ling had experienced
+in Canton had left traces which were plainly visible to Mian&rsquo;s
+penetrating gaze. In such an entrancing occupation the time was to them without
+hours until a feeling of hunger recalled them to lesser matters, when a variety
+of very select foods and liquids was placed before them without delay. After
+this elegant repast had been partaken of, Mian, supporting herself upon
+Ling&rsquo;s shoulder, made a request that he would disclose to her all the
+matters which had come under his observation both within the city and during
+his journey to and from that place. Upon this encouragement, Ling proceeded to
+unfold his mind, not withholding anything which appeared to be of interest, no
+matter how slight. When he had reached Canton without any perilous adventure,
+Mian breathed more freely; as he recorded the interview at the Office of
+Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, she trembled at the insidious malignity of the
+evil person Li Keen. The conversation with the wise reader of the future
+concerning the various states of such as be officially dead almost threw her
+into the rigid sickness, from which, however, the wonderful circumstance of the
+discovered properties of the gold fluid quickly recalled her. But to
+Ling&rsquo;s great astonishment no sooner had he made plain the exceptional
+advantages which he had derived from the circumstances, and the nature of the
+undertaking at which he had arrived with Chang-ch&rsquo;un, than she became a
+prey to the most intolerable and unrestrained anguish.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, my devoted but excessively ill-advised lover,&rdquo; she exclaimed
+wildly, and in tones which clearly indicated that she was inspired by every
+variety of affectionate emotion, &ldquo;has the unendurable position in which
+you and all your household will be placed by the degrading commercial schemes
+and instincts of the mercenary-souled person Chang-ch&rsquo;un occupied no
+place in your generally well-regulated intellect? Inevitably will those who
+drink our almond tea, in order to have an opportunity of judging the value of
+the appointments of the house, pass the jesting remark that while the Lings
+assuredly have &lsquo;a dead person&rsquo;s bones in the secret chamber,&rsquo;
+at the present they will not have one in the family graveyard by reason of the
+death of Ling himself. Better to lose a thousand limbs during life than the
+entire person after death; nor would your adoring Mian hesitate to clasp
+proudly to her organ of affection the veriest trunk that had parted with all
+its attributes in a noble and sacrificing endeavour to preserve at least some
+dignified proportions to embellish the Ancestral Temple and to receive the
+worship of posterity.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; replied Ling, with extravagant humiliation, &ldquo;it is
+indeed true; and this person is degraded beyond the common lot of those who
+break images and commit thefts from sacred places. The side of the transaction
+which is at present engaging our attention never occurred to this superficial
+individual until now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wise and incomparable one,&rdquo; said Mian, in no degree able to
+restrain the fountains of bitter water which clouded her delicate and
+expressive eyes, &ldquo;in spite of this person&rsquo;s biting and ungracious
+words do not, she makes a formal petition, doubt the deathless strength of her
+affection. Cheerfully, in order to avert the matter in question, or even to
+save her lover the anguish of unavailing and soul-eating remorse, would she
+consign herself to a badly-constructed and slow-consuming fire or expose her
+body to various undignified tortures. Happy are those even to whom is left a
+little ash to be placed in a precious urn and diligently guarded, for it, in
+any event, truly represents all that is left of the once living person, whereas
+after an honourable and spotless existence my illustrious but unthinking lord
+will be blended with a variety of baser substances and passed from hand to
+hand, his immaculate organs serving to reward murderers for their deeds and to
+tempt the weak and vicious to all manner of unmentionable crimes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So overcome was Ling by the distressing nature of the oversight he had
+permitted that he could find no words with which to comfort Mian, who, after
+some moments, continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are even worse visions of degradation which occur to this person.
+By chance, that which was once the noble-minded Ling may be disposed of, not to
+the Imperial Treasury for converting into pieces of exchange, but to some
+undiscriminating worker in metals who will fashion out of his beautiful and
+symmetrical stomach an elegant food-dish, so that from the ultimate
+developments of the circumstance may arise the fact that his own descendants,
+instead of worshipping him, use his internal organs for this doubtful if not
+absolutely unclean purpose, and thereby suffer numerous well-merited
+afflictions, to the end that the finally-despised Ling and this discredited
+person, instead of founding a vigorous and prolific generation, become the
+parents of a line of feeble-minded and physically-depressed lepers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, my peacock-eyed one!&rdquo; exclaimed Ling, in immeasurable
+distress, &ldquo;so proficient an exhibition of virtuous grief crushes this
+misguided person completely to the ground. Rather would he uncomplainingly lose
+his pigtail than&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such a course,&rdquo; said a discordant voice, as the unpresentable
+person Wang stepped forth from behind a hanging curtain, where, indeed, he had
+stood concealed during the entire conversation, &ldquo;is especially forbidden
+by the twenty-third detail of the things to be done and not to be done.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What new adversity is this?&rdquo; cried Mian, pressing to Ling with a
+still closer embrace. &ldquo;Having disposed of your incomparable body after
+death, surely an adequate amount of liberty and seclusion remains to us during
+life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; interposed the dog-like Wang, &ldquo;the refined
+person in question must not attempt to lose or to dispose of his striking and
+invaluable pigtail; for by such an action he would be breaking through his
+spoken and written word whereby he undertook to be ruled by the things to be
+done and not to be done; and he would also be robbing the ingenious-minded
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; lamented the unhappy Ling, &ldquo;that which appeared to be
+the end of all this person&rsquo;s troubles is obviously simply the
+commencement of a new and more extensive variety. Understand, O conscientious
+but exceedingly inopportune Wang, that the words which passed from this
+person&rsquo;s mouth did not indicate a fixed determination, but merely served
+to show the unfeigned depth of his emotion. Be content that he has no intention
+of evading the definite principles of the things to be done and not to be done,
+and in the meantime honour this commonplace establishment by retiring to the
+hot and ill-ventilated chamber, and there partaking of a suitable repast which
+shall be prepared without delay.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Wang had departed, which he did with somewhat unseemly haste, Ling made an
+end of recording his narrative, which Mian&rsquo;s grief had interrupted. In
+this way he explained to her the reason of Wang&rsquo;s presence, and assured
+her that by reason of the arrangement he had made with that person, his near
+existence would not be so unsupportable to them as might at first appear to be
+the case.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While they were still conversing together, and endeavouring to divert their
+minds from the objectionable facts which had recently come within their notice,
+an attendant entered and disclosed that the train of servants and merchandise
+which Ling had preceded on the journey was arriving. At this fresh example of
+her lover&rsquo;s consistent thought for her, Mian almost forgot her recent
+agitation, and eagerly lending herself to the entrancing occupation of
+unfolding and displaying the various objects, her brow finally lost the last
+trace of sadness. Greatly beyond the imaginings of anticipation were the
+expensive articles with which Ling proudly surrounded her; and in examining and
+learning the cost of the set jewels and worked metals, the ornamental garments
+for both persons, the wood and paper appointments for the house&mdash;even
+incenses, perfumes, spices and rare viands had not been forgotten&mdash;the day
+was quickly and profitably spent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the hour of sunset arrived, Ling, having learned that certain preparations
+which he had commanded were fully carried out, took Mian by the hand and led
+her into the chief apartment of the house, where were assembled all the
+followers and attendants, even down to the illiterate and superfluous Wang. In
+the centre of the room upon a table of the finest ebony stood a vessel of
+burning incense, some dishes of the most highly-esteemed fruit, and an
+abundance of old and very sweet wine. Before these emblems Ling and Mian placed
+themselves in an attitude of deep humiliation, and formally expressed their
+gratitude to the Chief Deity for having called them into existence, to the
+cultivated earth for supplying them with the means of sustaining life, to the
+Emperor for providing the numerous safeguards by which their persons were
+protected at all times, and to their parents for educating them. This adequate
+ceremony being completed, Ling explicitly desired all those present to observe
+the fact that the two persons in question were, by that fact and from that
+time, made as one being, and the bond between them, incapable of severance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the ruling night-lantern came out from among the clouds, Ling and Mian
+became possessed of a great desire to go forth with pressed hands and look
+again on the forest paths and glades in which they had spent many hours of
+exceptional happiness before Ling&rsquo;s journey to Canton. Leaving the
+attendants to continue the feasting and drum-beating in a completely
+unrestrained manner, they therefore passed out unperceived, and wandering among
+the trees, presently stood on the banks of the Heng-Kiang.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, my beloved!&rdquo; exclaimed Mian, gazing at the brilliant and
+unruffled water, &ldquo;greatly would this person esteem a short river journey,
+such as we often enjoyed together in the days when you were recovering.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling, to whom the expressed desires of Mian were as the word of the Emperor,
+instantly prepared the small and ornamental junk which was fastened near for
+this purpose, and was about to step in, when a presumptuous and highly
+objectionable hand restrained him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold,&rdquo; remarked a voice which Ling had some difficulty in
+ascribing to any known person, so greatly had it changed from its usual tone,
+&ldquo;behold how the immature and altogether too-inferior Ling observes his
+spoken and written assertions!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this low-conditioned speech, Ling drew his well-tempered sword without
+further thought, in spite of the restraining arms of Mian, but at the sight of
+the utterly incapable person Wang, who stood near smiling meaninglessly and
+waving his arms with a continuous and backward motion, he again replaced it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such remarks can be left to fall unheeded from the lips of one who bears
+every indication of being steeped in rice spirit,&rdquo; he said with
+unprovoked dignity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It will be the plain duty of this expert and uncorruptible person to
+furnish the unnecessary, but, nevertheless, very severe and self-opinionated
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un with a written account of how the traitorous and deceptive
+Ling has endeavoured to break through the thirty-fourth vessel of the liquids
+to be consumed and not to be consumed,&rdquo; continued Wang with increased
+deliberation and an entire absence of attention to Ling&rsquo;s action and
+speech, &ldquo;and how by this refined person&rsquo;s unfailing civility and
+resourceful strategy he has been frustrated.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perchance,&rdquo; said Ling, after examining his thoughts for a short
+space, and reflecting that the list of things to be done and not to be done was
+to him as a blank leaf, &ldquo;there may even be some small portion of that
+which is accurate in his statement. In what manner,&rdquo; he continued,
+addressing the really unendurable person, who was by this time preparing to
+pass the night in the cool swamp by the river&rsquo;s edge, &ldquo;does this
+one endanger any detail of the written and sealed parchment by such an
+action?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Inasmuch,&rdquo; replied Wang, pausing in the process of removing his
+outer garments, &ldquo;as the seventy-ninth&mdash;the intricate name given to
+it escapes this person&rsquo;s tongue at the moment&mdash;but the
+ninety-seventh&mdash;experLingknowswhamean&mdash;provides that any person, with
+or without, attempting or not avoiding to travel by sea, lake, or river, or to
+place himself in such a position as he may reasonably and intelligently be
+drowned in salt water, fresh water, or&mdash;or honourable rice spirit, shall
+be guilty of, and suffer&mdash;complete loss of memory.&rdquo; With these words
+the immoderate and contemptible person sank down in a very profound slumber.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; said Ling, turning to Mian, who stood near, unable to
+retire even had she desired, by reason of the extreme agitation into which the
+incident had thrown her delicate mind and body, &ldquo;how intensely
+aggravating a circumstance that we are compelled to entertain so dissolute a
+one by reason of this person&rsquo;s preoccupation when the matter was read.
+Nevertheless, it is not unlikely that the detail he spoke of was such as he
+insisted, to the extent of making it a thing not to be done to journey in any
+manner by water. It shall be an early endeavour of this person to get these
+restraining details equitably amended; but in the meantime we will retrace our
+footsteps through the wood, and the enraptured Ling will make a
+well-thought-out attempt to lighten the passage by a recital of his
+recently-composed verses on the subject of &lsquo;Exile from the Loved One; or,
+Farewell and Return.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIV</h3>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My beloved lord!&rdquo; said Mian sadly, on a morning after many days
+had passed since the return of Ling, &ldquo;have you not every possession for
+which the heart of a wise person searches? Yet the dark mark is scarcely ever
+absent from your symmetrical brow. If she who stands before you, and is
+henceforth an integral part of your organization, has failed you in any
+particular, no matter how unimportant, explain the matter to her, and the
+amendment will be a speedy and a joyful task.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was indeed true that Ling&rsquo;s mind was troubled, but the fault did not
+lie with Mian, as the person in question was fully aware, for before her eyes
+as before those of Ling the unevadable compact which had been entered into with
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un was ever present, insidiously planting bitterness within even
+the most select and accomplished delights. Nor with increasing time did the
+obstinate and intrusive person Wang become more dignified in his behaviour; on
+the contrary, he freely made use of his position to indulge in every variety of
+abandonment, and almost each day he prevented, by reason of his knowledge of
+the things to be done and not to be done, some refined and permissible
+entertainment upon which Ling and Mian had determined. Ling had despatched many
+communications upon this subject to Chang-ch&rsquo;un, praying also that some
+expert way out of the annoyance of the lesser and more unimportant things not
+to be done should be arrived at, but the time when he might reasonably expect
+an answer to these written papers had not yet arrived.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was about this period that intelligence was brought to Ling from the
+villages on the road to Peking, how Li Keen, having secretly ascertained that
+his Yamen was standing and his goods uninjured, had determined to return, and
+was indeed at that hour within a hundred li of Si-chow. Furthermore, he had
+repeatedly been understood to pronounce clearly that he considered Ling to be
+the head and beginning of all his inconveniences, and to declare that the first
+act of justice which he should accomplish on his return would be to submit the
+person in question to the most unbearable tortures, and then cause him to lose
+his head publicly as an outrager of the settled state of things and an enemy of
+those who loved tranquillity. Not doubting that Li Keen would endeavour to gain
+an advantage by treachery if the chance presented itself, Ling determined to go
+forth to meet him, and without delay settle the entire disturbance in one
+well-chosen and fatally-destructive encounter. To this end, rather than disturb
+the placid mind of Mian, to whom the thought of the engagement would be
+weighted with many disquieting fears, he gave out that he was going upon an
+expedition to surprise and capture certain fish of a very delicate flavour, and
+attended by only two persons, he set forth in the early part of the day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some hours later, owing to an ill-considered remark on the part of the deaf
+attendant, to whom the matter had been explained in an imperfect light, Mian
+became possessed of the true facts of the case, and immediately all the
+pleasure of existence went from her. She despaired of ever again beholding Ling
+in an ordinary state, and mournfully reproached herself for the bitter words
+which had risen to her lips when the circumstance of his condition and the
+arrangement with Chang-ch&rsquo;un first became known to her. After spending an
+interval in a polished lament at the manner in which things were inevitably
+tending, the thought occurred to Mian whether by any means in her power she
+could influence the course and settled method of affairs. In this situation the
+memory of the person Wang, and the fact that on several occasions he had made
+himself objectionable when Ling had proposed to place himself in such a
+position that he incurred some very remote chance of death by drowning or by
+fire, recurred to her. Subduing the natural and pure-minded repulsion which she
+invariably experienced at the mere thought of so debased an individual, she
+sought for him, and discovering him in the act of constructing cardboard
+figures of men and animals, which it was his custom to dispose skilfully in
+little-frequented paths for the purpose of enjoying the sudden terror of those
+who passed by, she quickly put the matter before him, urging him, by some
+means, to prevent the encounter, which must assuredly cost the life of the one
+whom he had so often previously obstructed from incurring the slightest risk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By no means,&rdquo; exclaimed Wang, when he at length understood the
+full meaning of the project; &ldquo;it would be a most unpresentable action for
+this commonplace person to interfere in so honourable an undertaking. Had the
+priceless body of the intrepid Ling been in any danger of disappearing, as, for
+example, by drowning or being consumed in fire, the nature of the circumstance
+would have been different. As the matter exists, however, there is every
+appearance that the far-seeing Chang-ch&rsquo;un will soon reap the deserved
+reward of his somewhat speculative enterprise, and to that end this person will
+immediately procure a wooden barrier and the services of four robust carriers,
+and proceed to the scene of the conflict.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Deprived of even this hope of preventing the encounter, Mian betook herself in
+extreme dejection to the secret room of the magician, which had been unopened
+since the day when the two attendants had searched for substances to apply to
+their master, and there she diligently examined every object in the remote
+chance of discovering something which might prove of value in averting the
+matter in question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not anticipating that the true reason of his journey would become known to
+Mian, Ling continued on his way without haste, and passing through Si-chow
+before the sun had risen, entered upon the great road to Peking. At a
+convenient distance from the town he came to a favourable piece of ground where
+he decided to await the arrival of Li Keen, spending the time profitably in
+polishing his already brilliant sword, and making observations upon the nature
+of the spot and the condition of the surrounding omens, on which the success of
+his expedition would largely depend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the sun reached the highest point in the open sky the sound of an
+approaching company could be plainly heard; but at the moment when the chair of
+the Mandarin appeared within the sight of those who waited, the great luminary,
+upon which all portents depend directly or indirectly, changed to the colour of
+new-drawn blood and began to sink towards the earth. Without any misgivings,
+therefore, Ling disposed his two attendants in the wood, with instructions to
+step forth and aid him if he should be attacked by overwhelming numbers, while
+he himself remained in the way. As the chair approached, the Mandarin observed
+a person standing alone, and thinking that it was one who, hearing of his
+return, had come out of the town to honour him, he commanded the bearers to
+pause. Thereupon, stepping up to the opening, Ling struck the deceptive and
+incapable Li Keen on the cheek, at the same time crying in a full voice,
+&ldquo;Come forth, O traitorous and two-stomached Mandarin! for this person is
+very desirous of assisting you in the fulfilment of your boastful words. Here
+is a most irreproachable sword which will serve excellently to cut off this
+person&rsquo;s undignified head; here is a waistcord which can be tightened
+around his breast, thereby producing excruciating pains over the entire
+body.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the knowledge of who the one before him was, and when he heard the words
+which unhesitatingly announced Ling&rsquo;s fixed purpose, Li Keen first urged
+the carriers to fall upon Ling and slay him, and then, perceiving that such a
+course was exceedingly distasteful to their natural tendencies, to take up the
+chair and save him by flight. But Ling in the meantime engaged their attention,
+and fully explained to them the treacherous and unworthy conduct of Li Keen,
+showing them how his death would be a just retribution for his ill-spent life,
+and promising them each a considerable reward in addition to their arranged
+payment when the matter in question had been accomplished. Becoming convinced
+of the justice of Ling&rsquo;s cause, they turned upon Li Keen, insisting that
+he should at once attempt to carry out the ill-judged threats against Ling, of
+which they were consistent witnesses, and announcing that, if he failed to do
+so, they would certainly bear him themselves to a not far distant well of
+stagnant water, and there gain the approbation of the good spirits by freeing
+the land of so unnatural a monster.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seeing only a dishonourable death on either side, Li Keen drew his sword, and
+made use of every artifice of which he had knowledge in order to disarm Ling or
+to take him at a disadvantage. In this he was unsuccessful, for Ling, who was
+by nature a very expert sword-user, struck him repeatedly, until he at length
+fell in an expiring condition, remarking with his last words that he had indeed
+been a narrow-minded and extortionate person during his life, and that his
+death was an enlightened act of celestial accuracy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Directing Wang and his four hired persons, who had in the meantime arrived, to
+give the body of the Mandarin an honourable burial in the deep of the wood,
+Ling rewarded and dismissed the chairbearers, and without delay proceeded to
+Si-chow, where he charitably distributed the goods and possessions of Li Keen
+among the poor of the town. Having in this able and conscientious manner
+completely proved the misleading nature of the disgraceful statements which the
+Mandarin had spread abroad concerning him, Ling turned his footsteps towards
+Mian, whose entrancing joy at his safe return was judged by both persons to be
+a sufficient reward for the mental distress with which their separation had
+been accompanied.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XV</h3>
+
+<p>
+After the departure of Ling from Canton, the commercial affairs of
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un began, from a secret and undetectable cause, to assume an
+ill-regulated condition. No venture which he undertook maintained a profitable
+attitude, so that many persons who in former times had been content to display
+the printed papers setting forth his name and virtues in an easily-seen
+position in their receiving-rooms, now placed themselves daily before his house
+in order to accuse him of using their taels in ways which they themselves had
+not sufficiently understood, and for the purpose of warning passers-by against
+his inducements. It was in vain that Chang proposed new undertakings, each of
+an infallibly more prosperous nature than those before; the persons who had
+hitherto supported him were all entrusting their money to one named Pung Soo,
+who required millions where Chang had been content with thousands, and who
+persistently insisted on greeting the sacred Emperor as an equal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this unenviable state Chang&rsquo;s mind continually returned to thoughts of
+Ling, whose lifeless body would so opportunely serve to dispel the embarrassing
+perplexities of existence which were settling thickly about him. Urged forward
+by a variety of circumstances which placed him in an entirely different spirit
+from the honourable bearing which he had formerly maintained, he now closely
+examined all the papers connected with the matter, to discover whether he might
+not be able to effect his purpose with an outward exhibition of law forms.
+While engaged in this degrading occupation, a detail came to his notice which
+caused him to become very amiably disposed and confident of success. Proceeding
+with the matter, he caused a well-supported report to be spread about that Ling
+was suffering from a wasting sickness, which, without in any measure shortening
+his life, would cause him to return to the size and weight of a newly-born
+child, and being by these means enabled to secure the entire matter of
+&ldquo;The Ling (After Death) Without Much Risk Assembly&rdquo; at a very small
+outlay, he did so, and then, calling together a company of those who hire
+themselves out for purposes of violence, journeyed to Si-chow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling and Mian were seated together at a table in the great room, examining a
+vessel of some clear liquid, when Chang-ch&rsquo;un entered with his armed
+ones, in direct opposition to the general laws of ordinary conduct and the
+rulings of hospitality. At the sight, which plainly indicated a threatened
+display of violence, Ling seized his renowned sword, which was never far
+distant from him, and prepared to carry out his spoken vow, that any person
+overstepping a certain mark on the floor would assuredly fall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Put away your undoubtedly competent weapon, O Ling,&rdquo; said Chang,
+who was desirous that the matter should be arranged if possible without any
+loss to himself, &ldquo;for such a course can be honourably adopted when it is
+taken into consideration that we are as twenty to one, and have, moreover, the
+appearance of being inspired by law forms.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are certain matters of allowed justice which over-rule all other
+law forms,&rdquo; replied Ling, taking a surer hold of his sword-grasp.
+&ldquo;Explain, for your part, O obviously double-dealing Chang-ch&rsquo;un,
+from whom this person only recently parted on terms of equality and courtesy,
+why you come not with an agreeable face and a peaceful following, but with a
+countenance which indicates both violence and terror, and accompanied by many
+whom this person recognizes as the most outcast and degraded from the narrow
+and evil-smelling ways of Canton?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In spite of your blustering words,&rdquo; said Chang, with some attempt
+at an exhibition of dignity, &ldquo;this person is endowed by every right, and
+comes only for the obtaining, by the help of this expert and proficient
+gathering, should such a length become necessary, of his just claims.
+Understand that in the time since the venture was arranged this person has
+become possessed of all the property of &lsquo;The Ling (After Death) Without
+Much Risk Assembly,&rsquo; and thereby he is competent to act fully in the
+matter. It has now come within his attention that the one Ling to whom the
+particulars refer is officially dead, and as the written and sealed document
+clearly undertook that the person&rsquo;s body was to be delivered up for
+whatever use the Assembly decided whenever death should possess it, this person
+has now come for the honourable carrying out of the undertaking.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words the true nature of the hidden contrivance into which he had
+fallen descended upon Ling like a heavy and unavoidable thunderbolt.
+Nevertheless, being by nature and by reason of his late exploits fearless of
+death, except for the sake of the loved one by his side, he betrayed no sign of
+discreditable emotion at the discovery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In such a case,&rdquo; he replied, with an appearance of entirely
+disregarding the danger of the position, &ldquo;the complete parchment must be
+of necessity overthrown; for if this person is now officially dead, he was
+equally so at the time of sealing, and arrangements entered into by dead
+persons have no actual existence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is a matter which has never been efficiently decided,&rdquo;
+admitted Chang-ch&rsquo;un, with no appearance of being thrown into a state of
+confusion at the suggestion, &ldquo;and doubtless the case in question can by
+various means be brought in the end before the Court of Final Settlement at
+Peking, where it may indeed be judged in the manner you assert. But as such a
+process must infallibly consume the wealth of a province and the years of an
+ordinary lifetime, and as it is this person&rsquo;s unmoved intention to carry
+out his own view of the undertaking without delay, such speculations are not
+matters of profound interest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Upon this Chang gave certain instructions to his followers, who thereupon
+prepared to advance. Perceiving that the last detail of the affair had been
+arrived at, Ling threw back his hanging garment, and was on the point of
+rushing forward to meet them, when Mian, who had maintained a possessed and
+reliant attitude throughout, pushed towards him the vessel of pure and
+sparkling liquid with which they had been engaged when so presumptuously broken
+in upon, at the same time speaking to him certain words in an outside language.
+A new and Heaven-sent confidence immediately took possession of Ling, and
+striking his sword against the wall with such irresistible force that the
+entire chamber trembled and the feeble-minded assassins shrank back in
+unrestrained terror, he leapt upon the table, grasping in one hand the open
+vessel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold the end, O most uninventive and slow-witted
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un!&rdquo; he cried in a dreadful and awe-compelling voice.
+&ldquo;As a reward for your faithless and traitorous behaviour, learn how such
+avaricious-minded incompetence turns and fastens itself upon the vitals of
+those who beget it. In spite of many things which were not of a graceful nature
+towards him, this person has unassumingly maintained his part of the
+undertaking, and would have followed such a course conscientiously to the last.
+As it is, when he has made an end of speaking, the body which you are already
+covetously estimating in taels will in no way be distinguishable from that of
+the meanest and most ordinary maker of commercial ventures in Canton. For,
+behold! the fluid which he holds in his hand, and which it is his fixed
+intention to drain to the last drop, is in truth nothing but a secret and
+exceedingly powerful counteractor against the virtues of the gold drug; and
+though but a single particle passed his lips, and the swords of your brilliant
+and versatile murderers met the next moment in his breast, the body which fell
+at your feet would be meet for worms rather than for the melting-pot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was indeed such a substance as Ling represented it to be, Mian having
+discovered it during her very systematic examination of the dead
+magician&rsquo;s inner room. Its composition and distillation had involved that
+self-opinionated person in many years of arduous toil, for with a somewhat
+unintelligent lack of foresight he had obstinately determined to perfect the
+antidote before he turned his attention to the drug itself. Had the matter been
+more ingeniously arranged, he would undoubtedly have enjoyed an earlier triumph
+and an affluent and respected old age.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Ling&rsquo;s earnest words and prepared attitude an instant conviction of
+the truth of his assertions took possession of Chang. Therefore, seeing nothing
+but immediate and unevadable ruin at the next step, he called out in a loud and
+imploring voice that he should desist, and no harm would come upon him. To this
+Ling consented, first insisting that the followers should be dismissed without
+delay, and Chang alone remain to have conversation on the matter. By this just
+act the lower parts of Canton were greatly purified, for the persons in
+question being driven forth into the woods, mostly perished by encounters with
+wild animals, or at the hands of the enraged villagers, to whom Ling had by
+this time become greatly endeared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the usual state had been restored, Ling made clear to Chang the altered
+nature of the conditions to which he would alone agree. &ldquo;It is a
+noble-minded and magnanimous proposal on your part, and one to which this
+misguided person had no claim,&rdquo; admitted Chang, as he affixed his seal to
+the written undertaking and committed the former parchment to be consumed by
+fire. By this arrangement it was agreed that Ling should receive only one-half
+of the yearly payment which had formerly been promised, and that no sum of
+taels should become due to those depending on him at his death. In return for
+these valuable allowances, there were to exist no details of things to be done
+and not to be done, Ling merely giving an honourable promise to observe the
+matter in a just spirit, while&mdash;most esteemed of all&mdash;only a portion
+of his body was to pass to Chang when the end arrived, the upper part remaining
+to embellish the family altar and receive the veneration of posterity.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>
+As the great sky-lantern rose above the trees and the time of no-noise fell
+upon the woods, a flower-laden pleasure-junk moved away from its restraining
+cords, and, without any sense of motion, gently bore Ling and Mian between the
+sweet-smelling banks of the Heng-Kiang. Presently Mian drew from beneath her
+flowing garment an instrument of stringed wood, and touching it with a quick
+but delicate stroke, like the flight and pausing of a butterfly, told in
+well-balanced words a refined narrative of two illustrious and noble-looking
+persons, and how, after many disagreeable evils and unendurable separations,
+they entered upon a destined state of earthly prosperity and celestial favour.
+When she made an end of the verses, Ling turned the junk&rsquo;s head by one
+well-directed stroke of the paddle, and prepared by using similar means to
+return to the place of mooring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed,&rdquo; he remarked, ceasing for a moment to continue this
+skilful occupation, &ldquo;the words which you have just spoken might, without
+injustice, be applied to the two persons who are now conversing together. For
+after suffering misfortunes and wrongs beyond an appropriate portion, they have
+now reached that period of existence when a tranquil and contemplative future
+is assured to them. In this manner is the sage and matured utterance of the
+inspired philosopher Nien-tsu again proved: that the life of every person is
+largely composed of two varieties of circumstances which together build up his
+existence&mdash;the Good and the Evil.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+THE END OF THE STORY OF LING
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XVI</h3>
+
+<p>
+When Kai Lung, the story-teller, made an end of speaking, he was immediately
+greeted with a variety of delicate and pleasing remarks, all persons who had
+witnessed the matter, down even to the lowest type of Miaotze, who by reason of
+their obscure circumstances had been unable to understand the meaning of a word
+that had been spoken, maintaining that Kai Lung&rsquo;s accomplishment of
+continuing for upwards of three hours without a pause had afforded an
+entertainment of a very high and refined order. While these polished sayings
+were being composed, together with many others of a similar nature, Lin Yi
+suddenly leapt to his feet with a variety of highly objectionable remarks
+concerning the ancestors of all those who were present, and declaring that the
+story of Ling was merely a well-considered stratagem to cause them to forget
+the expedition which they had determined upon, for by that time it should have
+been completely carried out. It was undoubtedly a fact that the hour spoken of
+for the undertaking had long passed, Lin Yi having completely overlooked the
+speed of time in his benevolent anxiety that the polite and valorous Ling
+should in the end attain to a high and remunerative destiny.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In spite of Kai Lung&rsquo;s consistent denials of any treachery, he could not
+but be aware that the incident tended greatly to his disadvantage in the eyes
+of those whom he had fixed a desire to conciliate, nor did his well-intentioned
+offer that he would without hesitation repeat the display for a like number of
+hours effect his amiable purpose. How the complication would finally have been
+determined without interruption is a matter merely of imagination, for at that
+moment an outpost, who had been engaged in guarding the secrecy of the
+expedition, threw himself into the enclosure in a torn and breathless
+condition, having run through the forest many li in a winding direction for the
+explicit purpose of warning Lin Yi that his intentions had become known, and
+that he and his followers would undoubtedly be surprised and overcome if they
+left the camp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this intimation of the eminent service which Kai Lung had rendered them, the
+nature of their faces towards him at once changed completely, those who only a
+moment before had been demanding his death particularly hailing him as their
+inspired and unobtrusive protector, and in all probability, indeed, a virtuous
+and benignant spirit in disguise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bending under the weight of offerings which Lin Yi and his followers pressed
+upon him, together with many clearly set out desires for his future prosperity,
+and assured of their unalterable protection on all future occasions, Kai Lung
+again turned his face towards the lanterns of Knei Yang. Far down the side of
+the mountain they followed his footsteps, now by a rolling stone, now by a
+snapping branch of yellow pine. Once again they heard his voice, cheerfully
+repeating to himself; &ldquo;Among the highest virtues of a pure
+existence&mdash;&rdquo; But beyond that point the gentle forest breath bore him
+away.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"></a>
+II.<br />
+THE STORY OF YUNG CHANG</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+Narrated by Kai Lung, in the open space of the tea-shop of The Celestial
+Principles, at Wu-whei.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ho, illustrious passers-by!&rdquo; said Kai Lung, the story-teller, as
+he spread out his embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. &ldquo;It is indeed
+unlikely that you would condescend to stop and listen to the foolish words of
+such an insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself. Nevertheless,
+if you will but retard your elegant footsteps for a few moments, this
+exceedingly unprepossessing individual will endeavour to entertain you with the
+recital of the adventures of the noble Yung Chang, as recorded by the
+celebrated Pe-ku-hi.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus adjured, the more leisurely-minded drew near to hear the history of Yung
+Chang. There was Sing You the fruit-seller, and Li Ton-ti the wood-carver; Hi
+Seng left his clients to cry in vain for water; and Wang Yu, the idle
+pipe-maker, closed his shop of &ldquo;The Fountain of Beauty,&rdquo; and hung
+on the shutter the gilt dragon to keep away customers in his absence. These,
+together with a few more shopkeepers and a dozen or so loafers, constituted a
+respectable audience by the time Kai Lung was ready.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It would be more seemly if this ill-conditioned person who is now
+addressing such a distinguished assembly were to reward his fine and
+noble-looking hearers for their trouble,&rdquo; apologized the story-teller.
+&ldquo;But, as the Book of Verses says, &lsquo;The meaner the slave, the
+greater the lord&rsquo;; and it is, therefore, not unlikely that this majestic
+concourse will reward the despicable efforts of their servant by handfuls of
+coins till the air appears as though filled with swarms of locusts in the
+season of much heat. In particular, there is among this august crowd of
+Mandarins one Wang Yu, who has departed on three previous occasions without
+bestowing the reward of a single cash. If the feeble and covetous-minded Wang
+Yu will place within this very ordinary bowl the price of one of his
+exceedingly ill-made pipes, this unworthy person will proceed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man never,&rdquo; quoted the
+pipe-maker in retort. &ldquo;Oh, most incapable of story-tellers, have you not
+on two separate occasions slept beneath my utterly inadequate roof without
+payment?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But he, nevertheless, deposited three cash in the bowl, and drew nearer among
+the front row of the listeners.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was during the reign of the enlightened Emperor Tsing Nung,&rdquo;
+began Kai Lung, without further introduction, &ldquo;that there lived at a
+village near Honan a wealthy and avaricious maker of idols, named Ti Hung. So
+skilful had he become in the making of clay idols that his fame had spread for
+many li round, and idol-sellers from all the neighbouring villages, and even
+from the towns, came to him for their stock. No other idol-maker between Honan
+and Nanking employed so many clay-gatherers or so many modellers; yet, with all
+his riches, his avarice increased till at length he employed men whom he called
+&lsquo;agents&rsquo; and &lsquo;travellers,&rsquo; who went from house to house
+selling his idols and extolling his virtues in verses composed by the most
+illustrious poets of the day. He did this in order that he might turn into his
+own pocket the full price of the idols, grudging those who would otherwise have
+sold them the few cash which they would make. Owing to this he had many
+enemies, and his army of travellers made him still more; for they were more
+rapacious than the scorpion, and more obstinate than the ox. Indeed, there is
+still the proverb, &lsquo;With honey it is possible to soften the heart of the
+he-goat; but a blow from an iron cleaver is taken as a mark of welcome by an
+agent of Ti Hung.&rsquo; So that people barred the doors at their approach, and
+even hung out signs of death and mourning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, among all his travellers there was none more successful, more
+abandoned, and more valuable to Ti Hung than Li Ting. So depraved was Li Ting
+that he was never known to visit the tombs of his ancestors; indeed, it was
+said that he had been heard to mock their venerable memories, and that he had
+jestingly offered to sell them to anyone who should chance to be without
+ancestors of his own. This objectionable person would call at the houses of the
+most illustrious Mandarins, and would command the slaves to carry to their
+masters his tablets, on which were inscribed his name and his virtues. Reaching
+their presence, he would salute them with the greeting of an equal, &lsquo;How
+is your stomach?&rsquo; and then proceed to exhibit samples of his wares,
+greatly overrating their value. &lsquo;Behold!&rsquo; he would exclaim,
+&lsquo;is not this elegantly-moulded idol worthy of the place of honour in this
+sumptuous mansion which my presence defiles to such an extent that twelve
+basins of rose-water will not remove the stain? Are not its eyes more delicate
+than the most select of almonds? and is not its stomach rounder than the
+cupolas upon the high temple at Peking? Yet, in spite of its perfections, it is
+not worthy of the acceptance of so distinguished a Mandarin, and therefore I
+will accept in return the quarter-tael, which, indeed, is less than my
+illustrious master gives for the clay alone.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In this manner Li Ting disposed of many idols at high rates, and thereby
+endeared himself so much to the avaricious heart of Ti Hung that he promised
+him his beautiful daughter Ning in marriage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ning was indeed very lovely. Her eyelashes were like the finest willow
+twigs that grow in the marshes by the Yang-tse-Kiang; her cheeks were fairer
+than poppies; and when she bathed in the Hoang Ho, her body seemed transparent.
+Her brow was finer than the most polished jade; while she seemed to walk, like
+a winged bird, without weight, her hair floating in a cloud. Indeed, she was
+the most beautiful creature that has ever existed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now may you grow thin and shrivel up like a fallen lemon; but it is
+false!&rdquo; cried Wang Yu, starting up suddenly and unexpectedly. &ldquo;At
+Chee Chou, at the shop of &lsquo;The Heaven-sent Sugar-cane,&rsquo; there lives
+a beautiful and virtuous girl who is more than all that. Her eyes are like the
+inside circles on the peacock&rsquo;s feathers; her teeth are finer than the
+scales on the Sacred Dragon; her&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If it is the wish of this illustriously-endowed gathering that this
+exceedingly illiterate paper tiger should occupy their august moments with a
+description of the deformities of the very ordinary young person at Chee
+Chou,&rdquo; said Kai Lung imperturbably, &ldquo;then the remainder of the
+history of the noble-minded Yung Chang can remain until an evil fate has
+overtaken Wang Yu, as it assuredly will shortly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A fair wind raises no storm,&rdquo; said Wang Yu sulkily; and Kai Lung
+continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such loveliness could not escape the evil eye of Li Ting, and
+accordingly, as he grew in favour with Ti Hung, he obtained his consent to the
+drawing up of the marriage contracts. More than this, he had already sent to
+Ning two bracelets of the finest gold, tied together with a scarlet thread, as
+a betrothal present. But, as the proverb says, &lsquo;The good bee will not
+touch the faded flower,&rsquo; and Ning, although compelled by the second of
+the Five Great Principles to respect her father, was unable to regard the
+marriage with anything but abhorrence. Perhaps this was not altogether the
+fault of Li Ting, for on the evening of the day on which she had received his
+present, she walked in the rice fields, and sitting down at the foot of a
+funereal cypress, whose highest branches pierced the Middle Air, she cried
+aloud:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;I cannot control my bitterness. Of what use is it that I should
+be called the &ldquo;White Pigeon among Golden Lilies,&rdquo; if my beauty is
+but for the hog-like eyes of the exceedingly objectionable Li Ting? Ah, Yung
+Chang, my unfortunate lover! what evil spirit pursues you that you cannot pass
+your examination for the second degree? My noble-minded but ambitious boy, why
+were you not content with an agricultural or even a manufacturing career and
+happiness? By aspiring to a literary degree, you have placed a barrier wider
+than the Whang Hai between us.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;As the earth seems small to the soaring swallow, so shall
+insuperable obstacles be overcome by the heart worn smooth with a fixed
+purpose,&rsquo; said a voice beside her, and Yung Chang stepped from behind the
+cypress tree, where he had been waiting for Ning. &lsquo;O one more symmetrical
+than the chrysanthemum,&rsquo; he continued, &lsquo;I shall yet, with the aid
+of my ancestors, pass the second degree, and even obtain a position of high
+trust in the public office at Peking.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;And in the meantime,&rsquo; pouted Ning, &lsquo;I shall have
+partaken of the wedding-cake of the utterly unpresentable Li Ting.&rsquo; And
+she exhibited the bracelets which she had that day received.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Alas!&rsquo; said Yung Chang, &lsquo;there are times when one is
+tempted to doubt even the most efficacious and violent means. I had hoped that
+by this time Li Ting would have come to a sudden and most unseemly end; for I
+have drawn up and affixed in the most conspicuous places notifications of his
+character, similar to the one here.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ning turned, and beheld fastened to the trunk of the cypress an
+exceedingly elegantly written and composed notice, which Yung read to her as
+follows:
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;&lsquo;BEWARE OF INCURRING DEATH FROM STARVATION
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Let the distinguished inhabitants of this district observe the
+exceedingly ungraceful walk and bearing of the low person who calls himself Li
+Ting. Truthfully, it is that of a dog in the act of being dragged to the river
+because his sores and diseases render him objectionable in the house of his
+master. So will this hunchbacked person be dragged to the place of execution,
+and be bowstrung, to the great relief of all who respect the five senses; A
+Respectful Physiognomy, Passionless Reflexion, Soft Speech, Acute Hearing,
+Piercing Sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;He hopes to attain to the Red Button and the Peacock&rsquo;s
+Feather; but the right hand of the Deity itches, and Li Ting will assuredly be
+removed suddenly.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Li Ting must certainly be in league with the evil forces if he
+can withstand so powerful a weapon,&rsquo; said Ning admiringly, when her lover
+had finished reading. &lsquo;Even now he is starting on a journey, nor will he
+return till the first day of the month when the sparrows go to the sea and are
+changed into oysters. Perhaps the fate will overtake him while he is away. If
+not&mdash;&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;If not,&rsquo; said Yung, taking up her words as she paused,
+&lsquo;then I have yet another hope. A moment ago you were regretting my choice
+of a literary career. Learn, then, the value of knowledge. By its aid
+(assisted, indeed, by the spirits of my ancestors) I have discovered a new and
+strange thing, for which I can find no word. By using this new system of
+reckoning, your illustrious but exceedingly narrow-minded and miserly father
+would be able to make five taels where he now makes one. Would he not, in
+consideration for this, consent to receive me as a son-in-law, and dismiss the
+inelegant and unworthy Li Ting?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;In the unlikely event of your being able to convince my
+illustrious parent of what you say, it would assuredly be so,&rsquo; replied
+Ning. &lsquo;But in what way could you do so? My sublime and charitable father
+already employs all the means in his power to reap the full reward of his
+sacred industry. His &ldquo;solid house-hold gods&rdquo; are in reality mere
+shells of clay; higher-priced images are correspondingly constructed, and his
+clay gatherers and modellers are all paid on a &ldquo;profit-sharing
+system.&rdquo; Nay, further, it is beyond likelihood that he should wish for
+more purchasers, for so great is his fame that those who come to buy have
+sometimes to wait for days in consequence of those before them; for my
+exceedingly methodical sire entrusts none with the receiving of money, and the
+exchanges are therefore made slowly. Frequently an unnaturally devout person
+will require as many as a hundred idols, and so the greater part of the day
+will be passed.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;In what way?&rsquo; inquired Yung tremulously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Why, in order that the countings may not get mixed, of course; it
+is necessary that when he has paid for one idol he should carry it to a place
+aside, and then return and pay for the second, carrying it to the first, and in
+such a manner to the end. In this way the sun sinks behind the
+mountains.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;But,&rsquo; said Yung, his voice thick with his great discovery,
+&lsquo;if he could pay for the entire quantity at once, then it would take but
+a hundredth part of the time, and so more idols could be sold.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;How could this be done?&rsquo; inquired Ning wonderingly.
+&lsquo;Surely it is impossible to conjecture the value of so many idols.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;To the unlearned it would indeed be impossible,&rsquo; replied
+Yung proudly, &lsquo;but by the aid of my literary researches I have been
+enabled to discover a process by which such results would be not a matter of
+conjecture, but of certainty. These figures I have committed to tablets, which
+I am prepared to give to your mercenary and slow-witted father in return for
+your incomparable hand, a share of the profits, and the dismissal of the
+uninventive and morally threadbare Li Ting.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;When the earth-worm boasts of his elegant wings, the eagle can
+afford to be silent,&rsquo; said a harsh voice behind them; and turning hastily
+they beheld Li Ting, who had come upon them unawares. &lsquo;Oh, most
+insignificant of table-spoilers,&rsquo; he continued, &lsquo;it is very evident
+that much over-study has softened your usually well-educated brains. Were it
+not that you are obviously mentally afflicted, I should unhesitatingly persuade
+my beautiful and refined sword to introduce you to the spirits of your ignoble
+ancestors. As it is, I will merely cut off your nose and your left ear, so that
+people may not say that the Dragon of the Earth sleeps and wickedness goes
+unpunished.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Both had already drawn their swords, and very soon the blows were so
+hard and swift that, in the dusk of the evening, it seemed as though the air
+were filled with innumerable and many-coloured fireworks. Each was a practised
+swordsman, and there was no advantage gained on either side, when Ning, who had
+fled on the appearance of Li Ting, reappeared, urging on her father, whose
+usually leisurely footsteps were quickened by the dread that the duel must
+surely result in certain loss to himself, either of a valuable servant, or of
+the discovery which Ning had briefly explained to him, and of which he at once
+saw the value.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, most distinguished and expert persons,&rsquo; he exclaimed
+breathlessly, as soon as he was within hearing distance, &lsquo;do not trouble
+to give so marvellous an exhibition for the benefit of this unworthy
+individual, who is the only observer of your illustrious dexterity! Indeed,
+your honourable condescension so fills this illiterate person with shame that
+his hearing is thereby preternaturally sharpened, and he can plainly
+distinguish many voices from beyond the Hoang Ho, crying for the Heaven-sent
+representative of the degraded Ti Hung to bring them more idols. Bend,
+therefore, your refined footsteps in the direction of Poo Chow, O Li Ting, and
+leave me to make myself objectionable to this exceptional young man with my
+intolerable commonplaces.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The shadow falls in such a direction as the sun wills,&rsquo;
+said Li Ting, as he replaced his sword and departed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Yung Chang,&rsquo; said the merchant, &lsquo;I am informed that
+you have made a discovery that would be of great value to me, as it undoubtedly
+would if it is all that you say. Let us discuss the matter without ceremony.
+Can you prove to me that your system possesses the merit you claim for it? If
+so, then the matter of arrangement will be easy.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;I am convinced of the absolute certainty and accuracy of the
+discovery,&rsquo; replied Yung Chang. &lsquo;It is not as though it were an
+ordinary matter of human intelligence, for this was discovered to me as I was
+worshipping at the tomb of my ancestors. The method is regulated by a system of
+squares, triangles, and cubes. But as the practical proof might be long, and as
+I hesitate to keep your adorable daughter out in the damp night air, may I not
+call at your inimitable dwelling in the morning, when we can go into the matter
+thoroughly?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will not weary this intelligent gathering, each member of which
+doubtless knows all the books on mathematics off by heart, with a recital of
+the means by which Yung Chang proved to Ti Hung the accuracy of his tables and
+the value of his discovery of the multiplication table, which till then had
+been undreamt of,&rdquo; continued the story-teller. &ldquo;It is sufficient to
+know that he did so, and that Ti Hung agreed to his terms, only stipulating
+that Li Ting should not be made aware of his dismissal until he had returned
+and given in his accounts. The share of the profits that Yung was to receive
+was cut down very low by Ti Hung, but the young man did not mind that, as he
+would live with his father-in-law for the future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With the introduction of this new system, the business increased like a
+river at flood-time. All rivals were left far behind, and Ti Hung put out this
+sign:
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;NO WAITING HERE!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good-morning! Have you worshipped one of Ti Hung&rsquo;s refined
+ninety-nine cash idols?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let the purchasers of ill-constructed idols at other establishments,
+where they have grown old and venerable while waiting for the all-thumb
+proprietors to count up to ten, come to the shop of Ti Hung and regain their
+lost youth. Our ninety-nine cash idols are worth a tael a set. We do not,
+however, claim that they will do everything. The ninety-nine cash idols of Ti
+Hung will not, for example, purify linen, but even the most contented and
+frozen-brained person cannot be happy until he possesses one. What is
+happiness? The exceedingly well-educated Philosopher defines it as the
+accomplishment of all our desires. Everyone desires one of the Ti Hung&rsquo;s
+ninety-nine cash idols, therefore get one; but be sure that it is Ti
+Hung&rsquo;s.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you a bad idol? If so, dismiss it, and get one of Ti Hung&rsquo;s
+ninety-nine cash specimens.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why does your idol look old sooner than your neighbours? Because yours
+is not one of Ti Hung&rsquo;s ninety-nine cash marvels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They bring all delights to the old and the young, The elegant idols
+supplied by Ti Hung.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;N.B.&mdash;The &lsquo;Great Sacrifice&rsquo; idol, forty-five cash;
+delivered, carriage free, in quantities of not less than twelve, at any temple,
+on the evening before the sacrifice.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+&ldquo;It was about this time that Li Ting returned. His journey had been more
+than usually successful, and he was well satisfied in consequence. It was not
+until he had made out his accounts and handed in his money that Ti Hung
+informed him of his agreement with Yung Chang.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, most treacherous and excessively unpopular Ti Hung,&rsquo;
+exclaimed Li Ting, in a terrible voice, &lsquo;this is the return you make for
+all my entrancing efforts in your services, then? It is in this way that you
+reward my exceedingly unconscientious recommendations of your very inferior and
+unendurable clay idols, with their goggle eyes and concave stomachs! Before I
+go, however, I request to be inspired to make the following remark&mdash;that I
+confidently predict your ruin. And now this low and undignified person will
+finally shake the elegant dust of your distinguished house from his thoroughly
+inadequate feet, and proceed to offer his incapable services to the rival
+establishment over the way.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The machinations of such an evilly-disposed person as Li Ting
+will certainly be exceedingly subtle,&rsquo; said Ti Hung to his son-in-law
+when the traveller had departed. &lsquo;I must counteract his omens. Herewith I
+wish to prophecy that henceforth I shall enjoy an unbroken run of good fortune.
+I have spoken, and assuredly I shall not eat my words.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As the time went on, it seemed as though Ti Hung had indeed spoken
+truly. The ease and celerity with which he transacted his business brought him
+customers and dealers from more remote regions than ever, for they could spend
+days on the journey and still save time. The army of clay-gatherers and
+modellers grew larger and larger, and the work-sheds stretched almost down to
+the river&rsquo;s edge. Only one thing troubled Ti Hung, and that was the
+uncongenial disposition of his son-in-law, for Yung took no further interest in
+the industry to which his discovery had given so great an impetus, but
+resolutely set to work again to pass his examination for the second degree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It is an exceedingly distinguished and honourable thing to have
+failed thirty-five times, and still to be undiscouraged,&rsquo; admitted Ti
+Hung; &lsquo;but I cannot cleanse my throat from bitterness when I consider
+that my noble and lucrative business must pass into the hands of strangers,
+perhaps even into the possession of the unendurable Li Ting.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But it had been appointed that this degrading thing should not happen,
+however, and it was indeed fortunate that Yung did not abandon his literary
+pursuits; for after some time it became very apparent to Ti Hung that there was
+something radically wrong with his business. It was not that his custom was
+falling off in any way; indeed, it had lately increased in a manner that was
+phenomenal, and when the merchant came to look into the matter, he found to his
+astonishment that the least order he had received in the past week had been for
+a hundred idols. All the sales had been large, and yet Ti Hung found himself
+most unaccountably deficient in taels. He was puzzled and alarmed, and for the
+next few days he looked into the business closely. Then it was that the reason
+was revealed, both for the falling off in the receipts and for the increase in
+the orders. The calculations of the unfortunate Yung Chang were correct up to a
+hundred, but at that number he had made a gigantic error&mdash;which, however,
+he was never able to detect and rectify&mdash;with the result that all
+transactions above that point worked out at a considerable loss to the seller.
+It was in vain that the panic-stricken Ti Hung goaded his miserable son-in-law
+to correct the mistake; it was equally in vain that he tried to stem the
+current of his enormous commercial popularity. He had competed for public
+favour, and he had won it, and every day his business increased till ruin
+grasped him by the pigtail. Then came an order from one firm at Peking for five
+millions of the ninety-nine cash idols, and at that Ti Hung put up his
+shutters, and sat down in the dust.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Behold!&rsquo; he exclaimed, &lsquo;in the course of a lifetime
+there are many very disagreeable evils that may overtake a person. He may
+offend the Sacred Dragon, and be in consequence reduced to a fine dry powder;
+or he may incur the displeasure of the benevolent and pure-minded Emperor, and
+be condemned to death by roasting; he may also be troubled by demons or by the
+disturbed spirits of his ancestors, or be struck by thunderbolts. Indeed, there
+are numerous annoyances, but they become as Heaven-sent blessings in comparison
+to a self-opinionated and more than ordinarily weak-minded son-in-law. Of what
+avail is it that I have habitually sold one idol for the value of a hundred?
+The very objectionable man in possession sits in my delectable summer-house,
+and the unavoidable legal documents settle around me like a flock of pigeons.
+It is indeed necessary that I should declare myself to be in voluntary
+liquidation, and make an assignment of my book debts for the benefit of my
+creditors. Having accomplished this, I will proceed to the well-constructed
+tomb of my illustrious ancestors, and having kow-towed at their incomparable
+shrines, I will put an end to my distinguished troubles with this exceedingly
+well-polished sword.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The wise man can adapt himself to circumstances as water takes
+the shape of the vase that contains it,&rsquo; said the well-known voice of Li
+Ting. &lsquo;Let not the lion and the tiger fight at the bidding of the jackal.
+By combining our forces all may be well with you yet. Assist me to dispose of
+the entirely superfluous Yung Chang and to marry the elegant and symmetrical
+Ning, and in return I will allot to you a portion of my not inconsiderable
+income.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;However high the tree, the leaves fall to the ground, and your
+hour has come at last, O detestable Li Ting!&rsquo; said Yung, who had heard
+the speakers and crept upon them unperceived. &lsquo;As for my distinguished
+and immaculate father-in-law, doubtless the heat has affected his indefatigable
+brains, or he would not have listened to your contemptible suggestion. For
+yourself, draw!&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Both swords flashed, but before a blow could be struck the spirits of
+his ancestors hurled Li Ting lifeless to the ground, to avenge the memories
+that their unworthy descendant had so often reviled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;So perish all the enemies of Yung Chang,&rsquo; said the victor.
+&lsquo;And now, my venerated but exceedingly short-sighted father-in-law, learn
+how narrowly you have escaped making yourself exceedingly objectionable to
+yourself. I have just received intelligence from Peking that I have passed the
+second degree, and have in consequence been appointed to a remunerative
+position under the Government. This will enable us to live in comfort, if not
+in affluence, and the rest of your engaging days can be peacefully spent in
+flying kites.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"></a>
+III.<br />
+THE PROBATION OF SEN HENG</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+Related by Kai Lung, at Wu-whei, as a rebuke to Wang Yu and certain others who
+had questioned the practical value of his stories.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is an undoubted fact that this person has not realized the direct
+remunerative advantage which he confidently anticipated,&rdquo; remarked the
+idle and discontented pipe-maker Wang Yu, as, with a few other persons of
+similar inclination, he sat in the shade of the great mulberry tree at Wu-whei,
+waiting for the evil influence of certain very mysterious sounds, which had
+lately been heard, to pass away before he resumed his occupation. &ldquo;When
+the seemingly proficient and trustworthy Kai Lung first made it his practice to
+journey to Wu-whei, and narrate to us the doings of persons of all classes of
+life,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;it seemed to this one that by closely
+following the recital of how Mandarins obtained their high position, and
+exceptionally rich persons their wealth, he must, in the end, inevitably be
+rendered competent to follow in their illustrious footsteps. Yet in how
+entirely contrary a direction has the whole course of events tended! In spite
+of the honourable intention which involved a frequent absence from his place of
+commerce, those who journeyed thither with the set purpose of possessing one of
+his justly-famed opium pipes so perversely regarded the matter that, after two
+or three fruitless visits, they deliberately turned their footsteps towards the
+workshop of the inelegant Ming-yo, whose pipes are confessedly greatly inferior
+to those produced by the person who is now speaking. Nevertheless, the
+rapacious Kai Lung, to whose influence the falling off in custom was thus
+directly attributable, persistently declined to bear any share whatever in the
+loss which his profession caused, and, indeed, regarded the circumstance from
+so grasping and narrow-minded a point of observation that he would not even go
+to the length of suffering this much-persecuted one to join the circle of his
+hearers without on every occasion making the customary offering. In this manner
+a well-intentioned pursuit of riches has insidiously led this person within
+measurable distance of the bolted dungeon for those who do not meet their just
+debts, while the only distinction likely to result from his assiduous study of
+the customs and methods of those high in power is that of being publicly
+bowstrung as a warning to others. Manifestedly the pointed finger of the
+unreliable Kai Lung is a very treacherous guide.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is related,&rdquo; said a dispassionate voice behind them,
+&ldquo;that a person of limited intelligence, on being assured that he would
+certainly one day enjoy an adequate competence if he closely followed the
+industrious habits of the thrifty bee, spent the greater part of his life in
+anointing his thighs with the yellow powder which he laboriously collected from
+the flowers of the field. It is not so recorded; but doubtless the nameless one
+in question was by profession a maker of opium pipes, for this person has
+observed from time to time how that occupation, above all others, tends to
+degrade the mental faculties, and to debase its followers to a lower position
+than that of the beasts of labour. Learn therefrom, O superficial Wang Yu, that
+wisdom lies in an intelligent perception of great principles, and not in a
+slavish imitation of details which are, for the most part, beyond your simple
+and insufficient understanding.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such may, indeed, be the case, Kai Lung,&rdquo; replied Wang Yu
+sullenly&mdash;for it was the story-teller in question who had approached
+unperceived, and who now stood before them&mdash;&ldquo;but it is none the less
+a fact that, on the last occasion when this misguided person joined the
+attending circle at your uplifted voice, a Mandarin of the third degree chanced
+to pass through Wu-whei, and halted at the door-step of &lsquo;The Fountain of
+Beauty,&rsquo; fully intending to entrust this one with the designing and
+fashioning of a pipe of exceptional elaborateness. This matter, by his absence,
+has now passed from him, and to-day, through listening to the narrative of how
+the accomplished Yuin-Pel doubled his fortune, he is the poorer by many
+taels.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet to-morrow, when the name of the Mandarin of the third degree appears
+in the list of persons who have transferred their entire property to those who
+are nearly related to them in order to avoid it being seized to satisfy the
+just claims made against them,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung, &ldquo;you will be able
+to regard yourself the richer by so many taels.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words, which recalled to the minds of all who were present the not
+uncommon manner of behaving observed by those of exalted rank, who freely
+engaged persons to supply them with costly articles without in any way
+regarding the price to be paid, Wang Yu was silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; exclaimed a thin voice from the edge of the group
+which surrounded Kai Lung, &ldquo;it in nowise follows that the stories are in
+themselves excellent, or of such a nature that the hearing of their recital
+will profit a person. Wang Yu may be satisfied with empty words, but there are
+others present who were studying deep matters when Wang Yu was learning the art
+of walking. If Kai Lung&rsquo;s stories are of such remunerative benefit as the
+person in question claims, how does it chance that Kai Lung himself who is
+assuredly the best acquainted with them, stands before us in mean apparel, and
+on all occasions confessing an unassuming poverty?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is Yan-hi Pung,&rdquo; went from mouth to mouth among the
+bystanders&mdash;&ldquo;Yan-hi Pung, who traces on paper the words of chants
+and historical tales, and sells them to such as can afford to buy. And although
+his motive in exposing the emptiness of Kai Lung&rsquo;s stories may not be
+Heaven-sent&mdash;inasmuch as Kai Lung provides us with such matter as he
+himself purveys, only at a much more moderate price&mdash;yet his words are
+well considered, and must therefore be regarded.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Yan-hi Pung,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung, hearing the name from those who
+stood about him, and moving towards the aged person, who stood meanwhile
+leaning upon his staff, and looking from side to side with quickly moving
+eyelids in a manner very offensive towards the story-teller, &ldquo;your just
+remark shows you to be a person of exceptional wisdom, even as your well-bowed
+legs prove you to be one of great bodily strength; for justice is ever obvious
+and wisdom hidden, and they who build structures for endurance discard the
+straight and upright and insist upon such an arch as you so symmetrically
+exemplify.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Speaking in this conciliatory manner, Kai Lung came up to Yan-hi Pung, and
+taking between his fingers a disc of thick polished crystal, which the aged and
+short-sighted chant-writer used for the purpose of magnifying and bringing
+nearer the letters upon which he was engaged, and which hung around his neck by
+an embroidered cord, the story-teller held it aloft, crying aloud:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Observe closely, and presently it will be revealed and made clear how
+the apparently very conflicting words of the wise Yan-hi Pung, and those of
+this unassuming but nevertheless conscientious person who is now addressing
+you, are, in reality, as one great truth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With this assurance Kai Lung moved the crystal somewhat, so that it engaged the
+sun&rsquo;s rays, and concentrated them upon the uncovered crown of the
+unsuspecting and still objectionably-engaged person before him. Without a
+moment&rsquo;s pause, Yan-hi Pung leapt high into the air, repeatedly pressing
+his hand to the spot thus selected and crying aloud:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Evil dragons and thunderbolts! but the touch was as hot as a scar left
+by the uncut nail of the sublime Buddha!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet the crystal&mdash;&rdquo; remarked Kai Lung composedly, passing it
+into the hands of those who stood near.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is as cool as the innermost leaves of the riverside sycamore,&rdquo;
+they declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kai Lung said nothing further, but raised both his hands above his head, as if
+demanding their judgment. Thereupon a loud shout went up on his behalf, for the
+greater part of them loved to see the manner in which he brushed aside those
+who would oppose him; and the sight of the aged person Yan-hi Pung leaping far
+into the air had caused them to become exceptionally amused, and, in
+consequence, very amiably disposed towards the one who had afforded them the
+entertainment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The story of Sen Heng,&rdquo; began Kai Lung, when the discussion had
+terminated in the manner already recorded, &ldquo;concerns itself with one who
+possessed an unsuspecting and ingenious nature, which ill-fitted him to take an
+ordinary part in the everyday affairs of life, no matter how engaging such a
+character rendered him among his friends and relations. Having at an early age
+been entrusted with a burden of rice and other produce from his father&rsquo;s
+fields to dispose of in the best possible manner at a neighbouring mart, and
+having completed the transaction in a manner extremely advantageous to those
+with whom he trafficked but very intolerable to the one who had sent him, it at
+once became apparent that some other means of gaining a livelihood must be
+discovered for him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Beyond all doubt,&rsquo; said his father, after considering the
+matter for a period, &lsquo;it is a case in which one should be governed by the
+wise advice and example of the Mandarin Poo-chow.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Illustrious sire,&rsquo; exclaimed Sen Heng, who chanced to be
+present, &lsquo;the illiterate person who stands before you is entirely
+unacquainted with the one to whom you have referred; nevertheless, he will, as
+you suggest, at once set forth, and journeying with all speed to the abode of
+the estimable Poo-chow, solicit his experience and advice.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Unless a more serious loss should be occasioned,&rsquo; replied
+the father coldly, &lsquo;there is no necessity to adopt so extreme a course.
+The benevolent Mandarin in question existed at a remote period of the Thang
+dynasty, and the incident to which an allusion has been made arose in the
+following way: To the public court of the enlightened Poo-chow there came one
+day a youth of very inferior appearance and hesitating manner, who besought his
+explicit advice, saying: &ldquo;The degraded and unprepossessing being before
+you, O select and venerable Mandarin, is by nature and attainments a person of
+the utmost timidity and fearfulness. From this cause life itself has become a
+detestable observance in his eyes, for those who should be his companions of
+both sexes hold him in undisguised contempt, making various unendurable
+allusions to the colour and nature of his internal organs whenever he would
+endeavour to join them. Instruct him, therefore, the manner in which this
+cowardice may be removed, and no service in return will be esteemed too
+great.&rdquo; &ldquo;There is a remedy,&rdquo; replied the benevolent Mandarin,
+without any hesitation whatever, &ldquo;which if properly carried out is
+efficacious beyond the possibility of failure. Certain component parts of your
+body are lacking, and before the desired result can be obtained these must be
+supplied from without. Of all courageous things the tiger is the most fearless,
+and in consequence it combines all those ingredients which you require;
+furthermore, as the teeth of the tiger are the instruments with which it
+accomplishes its vengeful purpose, there reside the essential principles of its
+inimitable courage. Let the person who seeks instruction in the matter,
+therefore, do as follows: taking the teeth of a full-grown tiger as soon as it
+is slain, and before the essences have time to return into the body, he shall
+grind them to a powder, and mixing the powder with a portion of rice, consume
+it. After seven days he must repeat the observance, and yet again a third time,
+after another similar lapse. Let him, then, return for further guidance; for
+the present the matter interests this person no further.&rdquo; At these words
+the youth departed, filled with a new and inspired hope; for the wisdom of the
+sagacious Poo-chow was a matter which did not admit of any doubt whatever, and
+he had spoken with well-defined certainty of the success of the experiment.
+Nevertheless, after several days industriously spent in endeavouring to obtain
+by purchase the teeth of a newly-slain tiger, the details of the undertaking
+began to assume a new and entirely unforeseen aspect; for those whom he
+approached as being the most likely to possess what he required either became
+very immoderately and disagreeably amused at the nature of the request, or
+regarded it as a new and ill-judged form of ridicule, which they prepared to
+avenge by blows and by base remarks of the most personal variety. At length it
+became unavoidably obvious to the youth that if he was to obtain the articles
+in question it would first be necessary that he should become adept in the art
+of slaying tigers, for in no other way were the required conditions likely to
+be present. Although the prospect was one which did not greatly tend to allure
+him, yet he did not regard it with the utterly incapable emotions which would
+have been present on an earlier occasion; for the habit of continually guarding
+himself from the onslaughts of those who received his inquiry in an attitude of
+narrow-minded distrust had inspired him with a new-found valour, while his
+amiable and unrestrained manner of life increased his bodily vigour in every
+degree. First perfecting himself in the use of the bow and arrow, therefore, he
+betook himself to a wild and very extensive forest, and there concealed himself
+among the upper foliage of a tall tree standing by the side of a pool of water.
+On the second night of his watch, the youth perceived a large but somewhat
+ill-conditioned tiger approaching the pool for the purpose of quenching its
+thirst, whereupon he tremblingly fitted an arrow to his bowstring, and
+profiting by the instruction he had received, succeeded in piercing the
+creature to the heart. After fulfilling the observance laid upon him by the
+discriminating Poo-chow, the youth determined to remain in the forest, and
+sustain himself upon such food as fell to his weapons, until the time arrived
+when he should carry out the rite for the last time. At the end of seven days,
+so subtle had he become in all kinds of hunting, and so strengthened by the
+meat and herbs upon which he existed, that he disdained to avail himself of the
+shelter of a tree, but standing openly by the side of the water, he engaged the
+attention of the first tiger which came to drink, and discharged arrow after
+arrow into its body with unfailing power and precision. So entrancing, indeed,
+had the pursuit become that the next seven days lengthened out into the
+apparent period of as many moons, in such a leisurely manner did they rise and
+fall. On the appointed day, without waiting for the evening to arrive, the
+youth set out with the first appearance of light, and penetrated into the most
+inaccessible jungles, crying aloud words of taunt-laden challenge to all the
+beasts therein, and accusing the ancestors of their race of every imaginable
+variety of evil behaviour. Yet so great had become the renown of the one who
+stood forth, and so widely had the warning voice been passed from tree to tree,
+preparing all who dwelt in the forest against his anger, that not even the
+fiercest replied openly, though low growls and mutterings proceeded from every
+cave within a bow-shot&rsquo;s distance around. Wearying quickly of such feeble
+and timorous demonstrations, the youth rushed into the cave from which the
+loudest murmurs proceeded, and there discovered a tiger of unnatural size,
+surrounded by the bones of innumerable ones whom it had devoured; for from time
+to time its ravages became so great and unbearable, that armies were raised in
+the neighbouring villages and sent to destroy it, but more than a few
+stragglers never returned. Plainly recognizing that a just and inevitable
+vengeance had overtaken it, the tiger made only a very inferior exhibition of
+resistance, and the youth, having first stunned it with a blow of his closed
+hand, seized it by the middle, and repeatedly dashed its head against the rocky
+sides of its retreat. He then performed for the third time the ceremony
+enjoined by the Mandarin, and having cast upon the cringing and despicable
+forms concealed in the surrounding woods and caves a look of dignified and
+ineffable contempt, set out upon his homeward journey, and in the space of
+three days&rsquo; time reached the town of the versatile Poo-chow.
+&ldquo;Behold,&rdquo; exclaimed that person, when, lifting up his eyes, he saw
+the youth approaching laden with the skins of the tigers and other spoils,
+&ldquo;now at least the youths and maidens of your native village will no
+longer withdraw themselves from the company of so undoubtedly heroic a
+person.&rdquo; &ldquo;Illustrious Mandarin,&rdquo; replied the other, casting
+both his weapons and his trophies before his inspired adviser&rsquo;s feet,
+&ldquo;what has this person to do with the little ones of either sex? Give him
+rather the foremost place in your ever-victorious company of bowmen, so that he
+may repay in part the undoubted debt under which he henceforth exists.&rdquo;
+This proposal found favour with the pure-minded Poo-chow, so that in course of
+time the unassuming youth who had come supplicating his advice became the
+valiant commander of his army, and the one eventually chosen to present
+plighting gifts to his only daughter.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When the father had completed the narrative of how the faint-hearted
+youth became in the end a courageous and resourceful leader of bowmen, Sen
+looked up, and not in any degree understanding the purpose of the story, or why
+it had been set forth before him, exclaimed:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Undoubtedly the counsel of the graceful and intelligent Mandarin
+Poo-chow was of inestimable service in the case recorded, and this person would
+gladly adopt it as his guide for the future, on the chance of it leading to a
+similar honourable career; but alas! there are no tigers to be found throughout
+this Province.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It is a loss which those who are engaged in commerce in the city
+of Hankow strive to supply adequately,&rsquo; replied his father, who had an
+assured feeling that it would be of no avail to endeavour to show Sen that the
+story which he had just related was one setting forth a definite precept rather
+than fixing an exact manner of behaviour. &lsquo;For that reason,&rsquo; he
+continued, &lsquo;this person has concluded an arrangement by which you will
+journey to that place, and there enter into the house of commerce of an expert
+and conscientious vendor of moving contrivances. Among so rapacious and
+keen-witted a class of persons as they of Hankow, it is exceedingly unlikely
+that your amiable disposition will involve any individual one in an unavoidably
+serious loss, and even should such an unforeseen event come to pass, there
+will, at least, be the undeniable satisfaction of the thought that the
+unfortunate occurrence will in no way affect the prosperity of those to whom
+you are bound by the natural ties of affection.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Benevolent and virtuous-minded father,&rsquo; replied Sen gently,
+but speaking with an inspired conviction; &lsquo;from his earliest infancy this
+unassuming one has been instructed in an inviolable regard for the Five General
+Principles of Fidelity to the Emperor, Respect for Parents, Harmony between
+Husband and Wife, Agreement among Brothers, and Constancy in Friendship. It
+will be entirely unnecessary to inform so pious-minded a person as the one now
+being addressed that no evil can attend the footsteps of an individual who
+courteously observes these enactments.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Without doubt it is so arranged by the protecting Deities,&rsquo;
+replied the father; &lsquo;yet it is an exceedingly desirable thing for those
+who are responsible in the matter that the footsteps to which reference has
+been made should not linger in the neighbourhood of the village, but should,
+with all possible speed, turn in the direction of Hankow.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In this manner it came to pass that Sen Heng set forth on the following
+day, and coming without delay to the great and powerful city of Hankow, sought
+out the house of commerce known as &lsquo;The Pure Gilt Dragon of Exceptional
+Symmetry,&rsquo; where the versatile King-y-Yang engaged in the entrancing
+occupation of contriving moving figures, and other devices of an ingenious and
+mirth-provoking character, which he entrusted into the hands of numerous
+persons to sell throughout the Province. From this cause, although enjoying a
+very agreeable recompense from the sale of the objects, the greatly perturbed
+King-y-Yang suffered continual internal misgivings; for the habit of behaving
+of those whom he appointed to go forth in the manner described was such that he
+could not entirely dismiss from his mind an assured conviction that the details
+were not invariably as they were represented to be. Frequently would one return
+in a very deficient and unpresentable condition of garment, asserting that on
+his return, while passing through a lonely and unprotected district, he had
+been assailed by an armed band of robbers, and despoiled of all he possessed.
+Another would claim to have been made the sport of evil spirits, who led him
+astray by means of false signs in the forest, and finally destroyed his entire
+burden of commodities, accompanying the unworthy act by loud cries of triumph
+and remarks of an insulting nature concerning King-y-Yang; for the honourable
+character and charitable actions of the person in question had made him very
+objectionable to that class of beings. Others continually accounted for the
+absence of the required number of taels by declaring that at a certain point of
+their journey they were made the object of marks of amiable condescension on
+the part of a high and dignified public official, who, on learning in whose
+service they were, immediately professed an intimate personal friendship with
+the estimable King-y-Yang, and, out of a feeling of gratified respect for him,
+took away all such contrivances as remained undisposed of, promising to arrange
+the payment with the refined King-y-Yang himself when they should next meet.
+For these reasons King-y-Yang was especially desirous of obtaining one whose
+spoken word could be received, upon all points, as an assured fact, and it was,
+therefore, with an emotion of internal lightness that he confidently heard from
+those who were acquainted with the person that Sen Heng was, by nature and
+endowments, utterly incapable of representing matters of even the most
+insignificant degree to be otherwise than what they really were.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Filled with an acute anxiety to discover what amount of success would be
+accorded to his latest contrivance, King-y-Yang led Sen Heng to a secluded
+chamber, and there instructed him in the method of selling certain apparently
+very ingeniously constructed ducks, which would have the appearance of swimming
+about on the surface of an open vessel of water, at the same time uttering loud
+and ever-increasing cries, after the manner of their kind. With ill-restrained
+admiration at the skilful nature of the deception, King-y-Yang pointed out that
+the ducks which were to be disposed of, and upon which a seemingly very low
+price was fixed, did not, in reality, possess any of these accomplishments, but
+would, on the contrary, if placed in water, at once sink to the bottom in a
+most incapable manner; it being part of Sen&rsquo;s duty to exhibit only a
+specially prepared creature which was restrained upon the surface by means of
+hidden cords, and, while bending over it, to simulate the cries as agreed upon.
+After satisfying himself that Sen could perform these movements competently,
+King-y-Yang sent him forth, particularly charging him that he should not return
+without a sum of money which fully represented the entire number of ducks
+entrusted to him, or an adequate number of unsold ducks to compensate for the
+deficiency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At the end of seven days Sen returned to King-y-Yang, and although
+entirely without money, even to the extent of being unable to provide himself
+with the merest necessities of a frugal existence, he honourably returned the
+full number of ducks with which he had set out. It then became evident that
+although Sen had diligently perfected himself in the sounds and movements which
+King-y-Yang had contrived, he had not fully understood that they were to be
+executed stealthily, but had, in consequence, manifested the accomplishment
+openly, not unreasonably supposing that such an exhibition would be an
+additional inducement to those who appeared to be well-disposed towards the
+purchase. From this cause it came about that although large crowds were
+attracted by Sen&rsquo;s manner of conducting the enterprise, none actually
+engaged to purchase even the least expensively-valued of the ducks, although
+several publicly complimented Sen on his exceptional proficiency, and
+repeatedly urged him to louder and more frequent cries, suggesting that by such
+means possible buyers might be attracted to the spot from remote and
+inaccessible villages in the neighbourhood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When King-y-Yang learned how the venture had been carried out, he became
+most intolerably self-opinionated in his expressions towards Sen&rsquo;s mental
+attainments and the manner of his bringing up. It was entirely in vain that the
+one referred to pointed out in a tone of persuasive and courteous restraint
+that he had not, down to the most minute particulars, transgressed either the
+general or the specific obligations of the Five General Principles, and that,
+therefore, he was blameless, and even worthy of commendation for the manner in
+which he had acted. With an inelegant absence of all refined feeling,
+King-y-Yang most incapably declined to discuss the various aspects of the
+controversy in an amiable manner, asserting, indeed, that for the consideration
+of as many brass cash as Sen had mentioned principles he would cause him to be
+thrown into prison as a person of unnatural ineptitude. Then, without rewarding
+Sen for the time spent in his service, or even inviting him to partake of food
+and wine, the insufferable deviser of very indifferent animated contrivances
+again sent him out, this time into the streets of Hankow with a number of
+delicately inlaid boxes, remarking in a tone of voice which plainly indicated
+an exactly contrary desire that he would be filled with an overwhelming
+satisfaction if Sen could discover any excuse for returning a second time
+without disposing of anything. This remark Sen&rsquo;s ingenuous nature led him
+to regard as a definite fact, so that when a passer-by, who tarried to examine
+the boxes chanced to remark that the colours might have been arranged to
+greater advantage, in which case he would certainly have purchased at least one
+of the articles, Sen hastened back, although in a distant part of the city, to
+inform King-y-Yang of the suggestion, adding that he himself had been
+favourably impressed with the improvement which could be effected by such an
+alteration.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The nature of King-y-Yang&rsquo;s emotion when Sen again presented
+himself before him&mdash;and when by repeatedly applied tests on various parts
+of his body he understood that he was neither the victim of malicious demons,
+nor wandering in an insensible condition in the Middle Air, but that the cause
+of the return was such as had been plainly stated&mdash;was of so mixed and
+benumbing a variety, that for a considerable space of time he was quite unable
+to express himself in any way, either by words or by signs. By the time these
+attributes returned there had formed itself within King-y-Yang&rsquo;s mind a
+design of most contemptible malignity, which seemed to present to his enfeebled
+intellect a scheme by which Sen would be adequately punished, and finally
+disposed of, without causing him any further trouble in the matter. For this
+purpose he concealed the real condition of his sentiments towards Sen, and
+warmly expressed himself in terms of delicate flattery regarding that
+one&rsquo;s sumptuous and unfailing taste in the matter of the blending of the
+colours. Without doubt, he continued, such an alteration as the one proposed
+would greatly increase the attractiveness of the inlaid boxes, and the matter
+should be engaged upon without delay. In the meantime, however, not to waste
+the immediate services of so discriminating and persevering a servant, he would
+entrust Sen with a mission of exceptional importance, which would certainly
+tend greatly to his remunerative benefit. In the district of Yun, in the
+north-western part of the Province, said the crafty and treacherous
+King-y-Yang, a particular kind of insect was greatly esteemed on account of the
+beneficent influence which it exercised over the rice plants, causing them to
+mature earlier, and to attain a greater size than ever happened in its absence.
+In recent years this creature had rarely been seen in the neighbourhood of Yun,
+and, in consequence, the earth-tillers throughout that country had been brought
+into a most disconcerting state of poverty, and would, inevitably, be prepared
+to exchange whatever they still possessed for even a few of the insects, in
+order that they might liberate them to increase, and so entirely reverse the
+objectionable state of things. Speaking in this manner, King-y-Yang entrusted
+to Sen a carefully prepared box containing a score of the insects, obtained at
+a great cost from a country beyond the Bitter Water, and after giving him
+further directions concerning the journey, and enjoining the utmost secrecy
+about the valuable contents of the box, he sent him forth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The discreet and sagacious will already have understood the nature of
+King-y-Yang&rsquo;s intolerable artifice; but, for the benefit of the amiable
+and unsuspecting, it is necessary to make it clear that the words which he had
+spoken bore no sort of resemblance to affairs as they really existed. The
+district around Yun was indeed involved in a most unprepossessing destitution,
+but this had been caused, not by the absence of any rare and auspicious insect,
+but by the presence of vast hordes of locusts, which had overwhelmed and
+devoured the entire face the country. It so chanced that among the recently
+constructed devices at &lsquo;The Pure Gilt Dragon of Exceptional
+Symmetry&rsquo; were a number of elegant representations of rice fields and
+fruit gardens so skilfully fashioned that they deceived even the creatures, and
+attracted, among other living things, all the locusts in Hankow into that place
+of commerce. It was a number of these insects that King-y-Yang vindictively
+placed in the box which he instructed Sen to carry to Yun, well knowing that
+the reception which would be accorded to anyone who appeared there on such a
+mission would be of so fatally destructive a kind that the consideration of his
+return need not engage a single conjecture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Entirely tranquil in intellect&mdash;for the possibility of
+King-y-Yang&rsquo;s intention being in any way other than what he had
+represented it to be did not arise within Sen&rsquo;s ingenuous mind&mdash;the
+person in question cheerfully set forth on his long but unavoidable march
+towards the region of Yun. As he journeyed along the way, the nature of his
+meditation brought up before him the events which had taken place since his
+arrival at Hankow; and, for the first time, it was brought within his
+understanding that the story of the youth and the three tigers, which his
+father had related to him, was in the likeness of a proverb, by which counsel
+and warning is conveyed in a graceful and inoffensive manner. Readily applying
+the fable to his own condition, he could not doubt but that the first two
+animals to be overthrown were represented by the two undertakings which he had
+already conscientiously performed in the matter of the mechanical ducks and the
+inlaid boxes, and the conviction that he was even then engaged on the third and
+last trial filled him with an intelligent gladness so unobtrusive and refined
+that he could express his entrancing emotions in no other way than by lifting
+up his voice and uttering the far-reaching cries which he had used on the first
+of the occasions just referred to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In this manner the first part of the journey passed away with engaging
+celerity. Anxious as Sen undoubtedly was to complete the third task, and
+approach the details which, in his own case, would correspond with the command
+of the bowmen and the marriage with the Mandarin&rsquo;s daughter of the person
+in the story, the noontide heat compelled him to rest in the shade by the
+wayside for a lengthy period each day. During one of these pauses it occurred
+to his versatile mind that the time which was otherwise uselessly expended
+might be well disposed of in endeavouring to increase the value and condition
+of the creatures under his care by instructing them in the performance of some
+simple accomplishments, such as might not be too laborious for their feeble and
+immature understanding. In this he was more successful than he had imagined
+could possibly be the case, for the discriminating insects, from the first, had
+every appearance of recognizing that Sen was inspired by a sincere regard for
+their ultimate benefit, and was not merely using them for his own advancement.
+So assiduously did they devote themselves to their allotted tasks, that in a
+very short space of time there was no detail in connexion with their own simple
+domestic arrangements that was not understood and daily carried out by an
+appointed band. Entranced at this intelligent manner of conducting themselves,
+Sen industriously applied his time to the more congenial task of instructing
+them in the refined arts, and presently he had the enchanting satisfaction of
+witnessing a number of the most cultivated faultlessly and unhesitatingly
+perform a portion of the well-known gravity-removing play entitled &ldquo;The
+Benevolent Omen of White Dragon Tea Garden; or, Three Times a Mandarin.&rdquo;
+Not even content with this elevating display, Sen ingeniously contrived, from
+various objects which he discovered at different points by the wayside, an
+effective and life-like representation of a war-junk, for which he trained a
+crew, who, at an agreed signal, would take up their appointed places and go
+through the required movements, both of sailing, and of discharging the guns,
+in a reliable and efficient manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As Sen was one day educating the least competent of the insects in the
+simpler parts of banner-carriers, gong-beaters, and the like, to their more
+graceful and versatile companions, he lifted up his eyes and beheld, standing
+by his side, a person of very elaborately embroidered apparel and commanding
+personality, who had all the appearance of one who had been observing his
+movements for some space of time. Calling up within his remembrance the warning
+which he had received from King-y-Yang, Sen was preparing to restore the
+creatures to their closed box, when the stranger, in a loud and dignified
+voice, commanded him to refrain, adding:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;There is, resting at a spot within the immediate neighbourhood, a
+person of illustrious name and ancestry, who would doubtless be gratified to
+witness the diverting actions of which this one has recently been a spectator.
+As the reward of a tael cannot be unwelcome to a person of your inferior
+appearance and unpresentable garments, take up your box without delay, and
+follow the one who is now before you.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With these words the richly-clad stranger led the way through a narrow
+woodland path, closely followed by Sen, to whom the attraction of the promised
+reward&mdash;a larger sum, indeed, than he had ever possessed&mdash;was
+sufficiently alluring to make him determined that the other should not, for the
+briefest possible moment, pass beyond his sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not to withhold that which Sen was entirely ignorant of until a later
+period, it is now revealed that the person in question was the official
+Provider of Diversions and Pleasurable Occupations to the sacred and
+illimitable Emperor, who was then engaged in making an unusually extensive
+march through the eight Provinces surrounding his Capital&mdash;for the acute
+and well-educated will not need to be reminded that Nanking occupied that
+position at the time now engaged with. Until his providential discovery of Sen,
+the distinguished Provider had been immersed in a most unenviable condition of
+despair, for his enlightened but exceedingly perverse-minded master had, of
+late, declined to be in any way amused, or even interested, by the simple and
+unpretentious entertainment which could be obtained in so inaccessible a
+region. The well-intentioned efforts of the followers of the Court, who
+engagingly endeavoured to divert the Imperial mind by performing certain feats
+which they remembered to have witnessed on previous occasions, but which, until
+the necessity arose, they had never essayed, were entirely without result of a
+beneficial order. Even the accomplished Provider&rsquo;s one
+attainment&mdash;that of striking together both the hands and the feet thrice
+simultaneously, while leaping into the air, and at the same time producing a
+sound not unlike that emitted by a large and vigorous bee when held captive in
+the fold of a robe, an action which never failed to throw the illustrious
+Emperor into a most uncontrollable state of amusement when performed within the
+Imperial Palace&mdash;now only drew from him the unsympathetic, if not actually
+offensive, remark that the attitude and the noise bore a marked resemblance to
+those produced by a person when being bowstrung, adding, with unprepossessing
+significance, that of the two entertainments he had an unevadable conviction
+that the bowstringing would be the more acceptable and gravity-removing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When Sen beheld the size and the silk-hung magnificence of the camp into
+which his guide led him, he was filled with astonishment, and at the same time
+recognized that he had acted in an injudicious and hasty manner by so readily
+accepting the offer of a tael; whereas, if he had been in possession of the
+true facts of the case, as they now appeared, he would certainly have
+endeavoured to obtain double that amount before consenting. As he was
+hesitating within himself whether the matter might not even yet be arranged in
+a more advantageous manner, he was suddenly led forward into the most striking
+and ornamental of the tents, and commanded to engage the attention of the one
+in whose presence he found himself, without delay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From the first moment when the inimitable creatures began, at
+Sen&rsquo;s spoken word, to go through the ordinary details of their domestic
+affairs, there was no sort of doubt as to the nature of the success with which
+their well-trained exertions would be received. The dark shadows instantly
+forsook the enraptured Emperor&rsquo;s select brow, and from time to time he
+expressed himself in words of most unrestrained and intimate encouragement. So
+exuberant became the overjoyed Provider&rsquo;s emotion at having at length
+succeeded in obtaining the services of one who was able to recall his Imperial
+master&rsquo;s unclouded countenance, that he came forward in a most
+unpresentable state of haste, and rose into the air uncommanded, for the
+display of his usually not unwelcome acquirement. This he would doubtless have
+executed competently had not Sen, who stood immediately behind him, suddenly
+and unexpectedly raised his voice in a very vigorous and proficient duck cry,
+thereby causing the one before him to endeavour to turn around in alarm, while
+yet in the air&mdash;an intermingled state of movements of both the body and
+the mind that caused him to abandon his original intention in a manner which
+removed the gravity of the Emperor to an even more pronounced degree than had
+been effected by the diverting attitudes of the insects.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When the gratified Emperor had beheld every portion of the tasks which
+Sen had instilled into the minds of the insects, down even to the minutest
+detail, he called the well-satisfied Provider before him, and addressing him in
+a voice which might be designed to betray either sternness or an amiable
+indulgence, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;You, O Shan-se, are reported to be a person of no particular
+intellect or discernment, and, for this reason, these ones who are speaking
+have a desire to know how the matter will present itself in your eyes. Which is
+it the more commendable and honourable for a person to train to a condition of
+unfailing excellence, human beings of confessed intelligence or insects of a
+low and degraded standard?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To this remark the discriminating Shan-se made no reply, being, indeed,
+undecided in his mind whether such a course was expected of him. On several
+previous occasions the somewhat introspective Emperor had addressed himself to
+persons in what they judged to be the form of a question, as one might say,
+&lsquo;How blue is the unapproachable air canopy, and how delicately imagined
+the colour of the clouds!&rsquo; yet when they had expressed their deliberate
+opinion on the subjects referred to, stating the exact degree of blueness, and
+the like, the nature of their reception ever afterwards was such that, for the
+future, persons endeavoured to determine exactly the intention of the
+Emperor&rsquo;s mind before declaring themselves in words. Being exceedingly
+doubtful on this occasion, therefore, the very cautious Shan-se adopted the
+more prudent and uncompromising attitude, and smiling acquiescently, he raised
+both his hands with a self-deprecatory movement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Alas!&rsquo; exclaimed the Emperor, in a tone which plainly
+indicated that the evasive Shan-se had adopted a course which did not commend
+itself, &lsquo;how unendurable a condition of affairs is it for a person of
+acute mental perception to be annoyed by the inopportune behaviour of one who
+is only fit to mix on terms of equality with beggars, and low-caste street
+cleaners&mdash;&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Such a condition of affairs is indeed most offensively
+unbearable, illustrious Being,&rsquo; remarked Shan-se, who clearly perceived
+that his former silence had not been productive of a delicate state of feeling
+towards himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It has frequently been said,&rsquo; continued the courteous and
+pure-minded Emperor, only signifying his refined displeasure at Shan-se&rsquo;s
+really ill-considered observation by so arranging his position that the person
+in question on longer enjoyed the sublime distinction of gazing upon his
+benevolent face, &lsquo;that titles and offices have been accorded, from time
+to time, without any regard for the fitting qualifications of those to whom
+they were presented. The truth that such a state of things does occasionally
+exist has been brought before our eyes during the past few days by the
+abandoned and inefficient behaviour of one who will henceforth be a marked
+official; yet it has always been our endeavour to reward expert and unassuming
+merit, whenever it is discovered. As we were setting forth, when we were
+interrupted in a most obstinate and superfluous manner, the one who can guide
+and cultivate the minds of unthinking, and not infrequently obstinate and
+rapacious, insects would certainly enjoy an even greater measure of success if
+entrusted with the discriminating intellects of human beings. For this reason
+it appears that no more fitting person could be found to occupy the important
+and well-rewarded position of Chief Arranger of the Competitive Examinations
+than the one before us&mdash;provided his opinions and manner of expressing
+himself are such as commend themselves to us. To satisfy us on this point let
+Sen Heng now stand forth and declare his beliefs.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On this invitation Sen advanced the requisite number of paces, and not
+in any degree understanding what was required of him, determined that the
+occasion was one when he might fittingly declare the Five General Principles
+which were ever present in his mind. &lsquo;Unquestioning Fidelity to the
+Sacred Emperor&mdash;&rsquo; he began, when the person in question signified
+that the trial was over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;After so competent and inspired an expression as that which has
+just been uttered, which, if rightly considered, includes all lesser things, it
+is unnecessary to say more,&rsquo; he declared affably. &lsquo;The appointment
+which has already been specified is now declared to be legally conferred. The
+evening will be devoted to a repetition of the entrancing manoeuvres performed
+by the insects, to be followed by a feast and music in honour of the recognized
+worth and position of the accomplished Sen Heng. There is really no necessity
+for the apparently over-fatigued Shan-se to attend the festival.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In such a manner was the foundation of Sen&rsquo;s ultimate prosperity
+established, by which he came in the process of time to occupy a very high
+place in public esteem. Yet, being a person of honourably-minded
+conscientiousness, he did not hesitate, when questioned by those who made
+pilgrimages to him for the purpose of learning by what means he had risen to so
+remunerative a position, to ascribe his success, not entirely to his own
+intelligent perception of persons and events, but, in part, also to a
+never-failing regard for the dictates of the Five General Principles, and a
+discriminating subservience to the inspired wisdom of the venerable Poo-chow,
+as conveyed to him in the story of the faint-hearted youth and the three
+tigers. This story Sen furthermore caused to be inscribed in letters of gold,
+and displayed in a prominent position in his native village, where it has since
+doubtless been the means of instructing and advancing countless observant ones
+who have not been too insufferable to be guided by the experience of those who
+have gone before.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"></a>
+IV.<br />
+THE EXPERIMENT OF THE MANDARIN CHAN HUNG</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+Related by Kai Lung at Shan Tzu, on the occasion of his receiving a very
+unexpected reward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are certainly many occasions when the principles of the Mandarin
+Chan Hung appear to find practical favour in the eyes of those who form this
+usually uncomplaining person&rsquo;s audiences at Shan Tzu,&rdquo; remarked Kai
+Lung, with patient resignation, as he took up his collecting-bowl and
+transferred the few brass coins which it held to a concealed place among his
+garments. &ldquo;Has the village lately suffered from a visit of one of those
+persons who come armed with authority to remove by force or stratagem such
+goods as bear names other than those possessed by their holders? or is it,
+indeed&mdash;as they of Wu-whei confidently assert&mdash;that when the Day of
+Vows arrives the people of Shan Tzu, with one accord, undertake to deny
+themselves in the matter of gifts and free offerings, in spite of every
+conflicting impulse?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They of Wu-whei!&rdquo; exclaimed a self-opinionated bystander, who had
+by some means obtained an inferior public office, and who was, in consequence,
+enabled to be present on all occasions without contributing any offering.
+&ldquo;Well is that village named &lsquo;The Refuge of Unworthiness,&rsquo; for
+its dwellers do little but rob and illtreat strangers, and spread evil and
+lying reports concerning better endowed ones than themselves.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such a condition of affairs may exist,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung, without
+any indication of concern either one way or the other; &ldquo;yet it is an
+undeniable fact that they reward this commonplace story-teller&rsquo;s too
+often underestimated efforts in a manner which betrays them either to be of
+noble birth, or very desirous of putting to shame their less prosperous
+neighbouring places.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such exhibitions of uncalled-for lavishness are merely the signs of an
+ill-regulated and inordinate vanity,&rdquo; remarked a Mandarin of the eighth
+grade, who chanced to be passing, and who stopped to listen to Kai Lung&rsquo;s
+words. &ldquo;Nevertheless, it is not fitting that a collection of decaying
+hovels, which Wu-whei assuredly is, should, in however small a detail, appear
+to rise above Shan Tzu, so that if the versatile and unassuming Kai Lung will
+again honour this assembly by allowing his well-constructed bowl to pass freely
+to and fro, this obscure and otherwise entirely superfluous individual will
+make it his especial care that the brass of Wu-whei shall be answered with
+solid copper, and its debased pewter with doubly refined silver.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With these encouraging words the very opportune Mandarin of the eighth grade
+himself followed the story-teller&rsquo;s collecting-bowl, observing closely
+what each person contributed, so that, although he gave nothing from his own
+store, Kai Lung had never before received so honourable an amount.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O illustrious Kai Lung,&rdquo; exclaimed a very industrious and ill-clad
+herb-gatherer, who, in spite of his poverty, could not refrain from mingling
+with listeners whenever the story-teller appeared in Shan Tzu, &ldquo;a single
+piece of brass money is to this person more than a block of solid gold to many
+of Wu-whei; yet he has twice made the customary offering, once freely, once
+because a courteous and pure-minded individual who possesses certain written
+papers of his connected with the repayment of some few taels walked behind the
+bowl and engaged his eyes with an unmistakable and very significant glance.
+This fact emboldens him to make the following petition: that in place of the
+not altogether unknown story of Yung Chang which had been announced the
+proficient and nimble-minded Kai Lung will entice our attention with the
+history of the Mandarin Chan Hung, to which reference has already been
+made.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The occasion is undoubtedly one which calls for recognition to an
+unusual degree,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung with extreme affability. &ldquo;To that
+end this person will accordingly narrate the story which has been suggested,
+notwithstanding the fact that it has been specially prepared for the ears of
+the sublime Emperor, who is at this moment awaiting this unseemly one&rsquo;s
+arrival in Peking with every mark of ill-restrained impatience, tempered only
+by his expectation of being the first to hear the story of the well-meaning but
+somewhat premature Chan Hung.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Mandarin in question lived during the reign of the accomplished
+Emperor Tsint-Sin, his Yamen being at Fow Hou, in the Province of Shan-Tung, of
+which place he was consequently the chief official. In his conscientious desire
+to administer a pure and beneficent rule, he not infrequently made himself a
+very prominent object for public disregard, especially by his attempts to
+introduce untried things, when from time to time such matters arose within his
+mind and seemed to promise agreeable and remunerative results. In this manner
+it came about that the streets of Fow Hou were covered with large flat stones,
+to the great inconvenience of those persons who had, from a very remote period,
+been in the habit of passing the night on the soft clay which at all seasons of
+the year afforded a pleasant and efficient resting-place. Nevertheless, in
+certain matters his engaging efforts were attended by an obvious success.
+Having noticed that misfortunes and losses are much less keenly felt when they
+immediately follow in the steps of an earlier evil, the benevolent and
+humane-minded Chan Hung devised an ingenious method of lightening the burden of
+a necessary taxation by arranging that those persons who were the most heavily
+involved should be made the victims of an attack and robbery on the night
+before the matter became due. By this thoughtful expedient the unpleasant duty
+of parting from so many taels was almost imperceptibly led up to, and when,
+after the lapse of some slight period, the first sums of money were secretly
+returned, with a written proverb appropriate to the occasion, the public
+rejoicing of those who, had the matter been left to its natural course, would
+still have been filling the air with bitter and unendurable lamentations,
+plainly testified to the inspired wisdom of the enlightened Mandarin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The well-merited success of this amiable expedient caused the Mandarin
+Chan Hung every variety of intelligent emotion, and no day passed without him
+devoting a portion of his time to the labour of discovering other advantages of
+a similar nature. Engrossed in deep and very sublime thought of this order, he
+chanced upon a certain day to be journeying through Fow Hou, when he met a
+person of irregular intellect, who made an uncertain livelihood by following
+the unassuming and charitably-disposed from place to place, chanting in a loud
+voice set verses recording their virtues, which he composed in their honour. On
+account of his undoubted infirmities this person was permitted a greater
+freedom of speech with those above him than would have been the case had his
+condition been merely ordinary; so that when Chan Hung observed him becoming
+very grossly amused on his approach, to such an extent indeed, that he
+neglected to perform any of the fitting acts of obeisance, the wise and
+noble-minded Mandarin did not in any degree suffer his complacency to be
+affected, but, drawing near, addressed him in a calm and dignified manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Why, O Ming-hi,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;do you permit your gravity
+to be removed to such an exaggerated degree at the sight of this in no way
+striking or exceptional person? and why, indeed, do you stand in so unbecoming
+an attitude in the presence of one who, in spite of his depraved inferiority,
+is unquestionably your official superior, and could, without any hesitation,
+condemn you to the tortures or even to bowstringing on the spot?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Mandarin,&rsquo; exclaimed Ming-hi, stepping up to Chan Hung,
+and, without any hesitation, pressing the gilt button which adorned the
+official&rsquo;s body garment, accompanying the action by a continuous muffled
+noise which suggested the repeated striking of a hidden bell, &lsquo;you wonder
+that this person stands erect on your approach, neither rolling his lowered
+head repeatedly from side to side, nor tracing circles in the dust of Fow Hou
+with his submissive stomach? Know then, the meaning of the proverb,
+&ldquo;Distrust an inordinate appearance of servility. The estimable person who
+retires from your presence walking backwards may adopt that deferential manner
+in order to keep concealed the long double-edged knife with which he had hoped
+to slay you.&rdquo; The excessive amusement that seized this offensive person
+when he beheld your well-defined figure in the distance arose from his
+perception of your internal satisfaction, which is, indeed, unmistakably
+reflected in your symmetrical countenance. For, O Mandarin, in spite of your
+honourable endeavours to turn things which are devious into a straight line,
+the matters upon which you engage your versatile intellect&mdash;little as you
+suspect the fact&mdash;are as grains of the finest Foo-chow sand in comparison
+with that which escapes your attention.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Strange are your words, O Ming-hi, and dark to this person your
+meaning,&rsquo; replied Chan Hung, whose feelings were evenly balanced between
+a desire to know what thing he had neglected and a fear that his dignity might
+suffer if he were observed to remain long conversing with a person of
+Ming-hi&rsquo;s low mental attainments. &lsquo;Without delay, and with an
+entire absence of lengthy and ornamental forms of speech, express the omission
+to which you have made reference; for this person has an uneasy inside emotion
+that you are merely endeavouring to engage his attention to the end that you
+may make an unseemly and irrelevant reply, and thereby involve him in an
+undeserved ridicule.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Such a device would be the pastime of one of immature years, and
+could have no place in this person&rsquo;s habit of conduct,&rsquo; replied
+Ming-hi, with every appearance of a fixed sincerity. &lsquo;Moreover, the
+matter is one which touches his own welfare closely, and, expressed in the
+fashion which the proficient Mandarin has commanded, may be set forth as
+follows: By a wise and all-knowing divine system, it is arranged that certain
+honourable occupations, which by their nature cannot become remunerative to any
+marked degree, shall be singled out for special marks of reverence, so that
+those who engage therein may be compensated in dignity for what they must
+inevitably lack in taels. By this refined dispensation the literary
+occupations, which are in general the highroads to the Establishment of Public
+Support and Uniform Apparel, are held in the highest veneration. Agriculture,
+from which it is possible to wrest a competency, follows in esteem; while the
+various branches of commerce, leading as they do to vast possessions and the
+attendant luxury, are very justly deprived of all the attributes of dignity and
+respect. Yet observe, O justice-loving Mandarin, how unbecomingly this
+ingenious system of universal compensation has been debased at the instance of
+grasping and avaricious ones. Dignity, riches and ease now go hand in hand, and
+the highest rewarded in all matters are also the most esteemed, whereas, if the
+discriminating provision of those who have gone before and so arranged it was
+observed, the direct contrary would be the case.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It is a state of things which is somewhat difficult to imagine in
+general matters of life, in spite of the fair-seemingness of your words,&rsquo;
+said the Mandarin thoughtfully; &lsquo;nor can this rather obtuse and
+slow-witted person fully grasp the practical application of the system on the
+edge of the moment. In what manner would it operate in the case of ordinary
+persons, for example?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;There should be a fixed and settled arrangement that the
+low-minded and degrading occupations&mdash;such as that of following charitable
+persons from place to place, chanting verses composed in their honour, that of
+misleading travellers who inquire the way, so that they fall into the hands of
+robbers, and the like callings&mdash;should be the most highly rewarded to the
+end that those who are engaged therein may obtain some solace for the loss of
+dignity they experience, and the mean intellectual position which they are
+compelled to maintain. By this device they would be enabled to possess certain
+advantages and degrees of comfort which at present are utterly beyond their
+grasp, so that in the end they would escape being entirely debased. To turn to
+the other foot, those who are now high in position, and engaged in professions
+which enjoy the confidence of all persons, have that which in itself is
+sufficient to insure contentment. Furthermore, the most proficient and engaging
+in every department, mean or high-minded, have certain attributes of respect
+among those beneath them, so that they might justly be content with the lowest
+reward in whatever calling they professed, the least skilful and most
+left-handed being compensated for the mental anguish which they must
+undoubtedly suffer by receiving the greatest number of taels.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Such a scheme would, as far as the matter has been expressed,
+appear to possess all the claims of respect, and to be, indeed, what was
+originally intended by those who framed the essentials of existence,&rsquo;
+said Chan Hung, when he had for some space of time considered the details.
+&lsquo;In one point, however, this person fails to perceive how the arrangement
+could be amiably conducted in Fow Hou. The one who is addressing you maintains,
+as a matter of right, a position of exceptional respect, nor, if he must
+express himself upon such a detail, are his excessively fatiguing duties
+entirely unremunerative...&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;In the case of the distinguished and unalterable Mandarin,&rsquo;
+exclaimed Ming-hi, with no appearance of hesitation, &lsquo;the matter would of
+necessity be arranged otherwise. Being from that time, as it were, the
+controller of the destinies and remunerations of all those in Fow Hou, he
+would, manifestly, be outside the working of the scheme; standing apart and
+regulating, like the person who turns the handle of the corn-mill, but does not
+suffer himself to be drawn between the stones, he could still maintain both his
+respect and his remuneration unaltered.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;If the detail could honourably be regarded in such a
+light,&rsquo; said Chan Hung, &lsquo;this person would, without delay, so
+rearrange matters in Fow Hou, and thereby create universal justice and an
+unceasing contentment within the minds of all.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Undoubtedly such a course could be justly followed,&rsquo;
+assented Ming-hi, &lsquo;for in precisely that manner of working was the
+complete scheme revealed to this highly-favoured person.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Entirely wrapped up in thoughts concerning the inception and manner of
+operation of this project Chan Hung began to retrace his steps towards the
+Yamen, failing to observe in his benevolent abstraction of mind, that the
+unaffectedly depraved person Ming-hi was stretching out his feet towards him
+and indulging in every other form of low-minded and undignified contempt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Before he reached the door of his residence the Mandarin overtook one
+who occupied a high position of confidence and remuneration in the Department
+of Public Fireworks and Coloured Lights. Fully assured of this versatile
+person&rsquo;s enthusiasm on behalf of so humane and charitable a device, Chan
+Hung explained the entire matter to him without delay, and expressly desired
+that if there were any details which appeared capable of improvement, he would
+declare himself clearly regarding them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Alas!&rsquo; exclaimed the person with whom the Mandarin was
+conversing, speaking in so unfeignedly disturbed and terrified a voice that
+several who were passing by stopped in order to learn the full circumstance,
+&lsquo;have this person&rsquo;s ears been made the object of some unnaturally
+light-minded demon&rsquo;s ill-disposed pastime, or does the usually
+well-balanced Chan Hung in reality contemplate so violent and un-Chinese an
+action? What but evil could arise from a single word of the change which he
+proposes to the extent of a full written book? The entire fixed nature of
+events would become reversed; persons would no longer be fully accountable to
+one another; and Fow Hou being thus thrown into a most unendurable state of
+confusion, the protecting Deities would doubtless withdraw their influence, and
+the entire region would soon be given over to the malicious guardianship of
+rapacious and evilly-disposed spirits. Let this person entreat the almost
+invariably clear-sighted Chan Hung to return at once to his adequately equipped
+and sumptuous Yamen, and barring well the door of his inner chamber, so that it
+can only be opened from the outside, partake of several sleeping essences of
+unusual strength, after which he will awake in an undoubtedly refreshed state
+of mind, and in a condition to observe matters with his accustomed diamond-like
+penetration.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;By no means!&rsquo; cried one of those who had stopped to learn
+the occasion of the incident&mdash;a very inferior maker of unserviceable
+imitation pigtails&mdash;&lsquo;the devout and conscientious-minded Mandarin
+Chan Hung speaks as the inspired mouth-piece of the omnipotent Buddha, and
+must, for that reason, be obeyed in every detail. This person would
+unhesitatingly counsel the now invaluable Mandarin to proceed to his
+well-constructed residence without delay, and there calling together his entire
+staff of those who set down his spoken words, put the complete Heaven-sent plan
+into operation, and beyond recall, before he retires to his inner
+chamber.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Upon this there arose a most inelegant display of undignified emotions
+on the part of the assembly which had by this time gathered together. While
+those who occupied honourable and remunerative positions very earnestly
+entreated the Mandarin to act in the manner which had been suggested by the
+first speaker, others&mdash;who had, in the meantime, made use of imagined
+figures, and thereby discovered that the proposed change would be greatly to
+their advantage&mdash;raised shouts of encouragement towards the proposal of
+the pigtail-maker, urging the noble Mandarin not to become small in the face
+towards the insignificant few who were ever opposed to enlightened reform, but
+to maintain an unflaccid upper lip, and carry the entire matter through to its
+destined end. In the course of this very unseemly tumult, which soon involved
+all persons present in hostile demonstrations towards each other, both the
+Mandarin and the official from the Fireworks and Coloured Lights Department
+found an opportunity to pass away secretly, the former to consider well the
+various sides of the matter, towards which he became better disposed with every
+thought, the latter to find a purchaser of his appointment and leave Fow Hou
+before the likelihood of Chan Hung&rsquo;s scheme became generally known.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At this point an earlier circumstance, which affected the future
+unrolling of events to no insignificant degree, must be made known, concerning
+as it does Lila, the fair and very accomplished daughter of Chan Hung.
+Possessing no son or heir to succeed him, the Mandarin exhibited towards Lila a
+very unusual depth of affection, so marked, indeed, that when certain
+evil-minded ones endeavoured to encompass his degradation, on the plea of
+eccentricity of character, the written papers which they dispatched to the high
+ones at Peking contained no other accusation in support of the contention than
+that the individual in question regarded his daughter with an obvious pride and
+pleasure which no person of well-balanced intellect lavished on any but a son.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was his really conscientious desire to establish Lila&rsquo;s welfare
+above all things that had caused Chan Hung to become in some degree undecided
+when conversing with Ming-hi on the detail of the scheme; for, unaffected as
+the Mandarin himself would have been at the prospect of an honourable poverty,
+it was no part of his intention that the adorable and exceptionally-refined
+Lila should be drawn into such an existence. That, indeed, had been the
+essential of his reply on a certain and not far removed occasion, when two
+persons of widely differing positions had each made a formal request that he
+might be allowed to present marriage-pledging gifts to the very desirable Lila.
+Maintaining an enlightened openness of mind upon the subject, the Mandarin had
+replied that nothing but the merit of undoubted suitableness of a person would
+affect him in such a decision. As it was ordained by the wise and unchanging
+Deities that merit should always be fittingly rewarded, he went on to express
+himself, and as the most suitable person was obviously the one who could the
+most agreeably provide for her, the two circumstances inevitably tended to the
+decision that the one chosen should be the person who could amass the greatest
+number of taels. To this end he instructed them both to present themselves at
+the end of a year, bringing with them the entire profits of their undertakings
+between the two periods.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This deliberate pronouncement affected the two persons in question in an
+entirely opposite manner, for one of them was little removed from a condition
+of incessant and most uninviting poverty, while the other was the very
+highly-rewarded picture-maker Pe-tsing. Both to this latter person, and to the
+other one, Lee Sing, the ultimate conclusion of the matter did not seem to be a
+question of any conjecture therefore, and, in consequence, the one became most
+offensively self-confident, and the other leaden-minded to an equal degree,
+neither remembering the unswerving wisdom of the proverb, &lsquo;Wait! all men
+are but as the black, horn-cased beetles which overrun the inferior
+cooking-rooms of the city, and even at this moment the heavily-shod and
+unerring foot of Buddha may be lifted.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lee Sing was, by profession, one of those who hunt and ensnare the
+brilliantly-coloured winged insects which are to be found in various parts of
+the Empire in great variety and abundance, it being his duty to send a certain
+number every year to Peking to contribute to the amusement of the dignified
+Emperor. In spite of the not too intelligent nature of the occupation, Lee Sing
+took an honourable pride in all matters connected with it. He disdained, with
+well-expressed contempt, to avail himself of the stealthy and somewhat
+deceptive methods employed by others engaged in a similar manner of life. In
+this way he had, from necessity, acquired agility to an exceptional degree, so
+that he could leap far into the air, and while in that position select from a
+passing band of insects any which he might desire. This useful accomplishment
+was, in a measure, the direct means of bringing together the person in question
+and the engaging Lila; for, on a certain occasion, when Lee Sing was passing
+through the streets of Fow Hou, he heard a great outcry, and beheld persons of
+all ranks running towards him, pointing at the same time in an upward
+direction. Turning his gaze in the manner indicated, Lee beheld, with every
+variety of astonishment, a powerful and unnaturally large bird of prey,
+carrying in its talons the lovely and now insensible Lila, to whom it had been
+attracted by the magnificence of her raiment. The rapacious and evilly-inspired
+creature was already above the highest dwelling-houses when Lee first beheld
+it, and was plainly directing its course towards the inaccessible mountain
+crags beyond the city walls. Nevertheless, Lee resolved upon an inspired
+effort, and without any hesitation bounded towards it with such well-directed
+proficiency, that if he had not stretched forth his hand on passing he would
+inevitably have been carried far above the desired object. In this manner he
+succeeded in dragging the repulsive and completely disconcerted monster to the
+ground, where its graceful and unassuming prisoner was released, and the
+presumptuous bird itself torn to pieces amid continuous shouts of a most
+respectful and engaging description in honour of Lee and of his versatile
+attainment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In consequence of this incident the grateful Lila would often
+deliberately leave the society of the rich and well-endowed in order to
+accompany Lee on his journeys in pursuit of exceptionally-precious winged
+insects. Regarding his unusual ability as the undoubted cause of her existence
+at that moment, she took an all-absorbing pride in such displays, and would
+utter loud and frequent exclamations of triumph when Lee leaped out from behind
+some rock, where he had lain concealed, and with unfailing regularity secured
+the object of his adroit movement. In this manner a state of feeling which was
+by no means favourable to the aspiring picture-maker Pe-tsing had long existed
+between the two persons; but when Lee Sing put the matter in the form of an
+explicit petition before Chan Hung (to which adequate reference has already
+been made), the nature of the decision then arrived at seemed to clothe the
+realization of their virtuous and estimable desires with an air of extreme
+improbability.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, Lee,&rsquo; exclaimed the greatly-disappointed maiden when
+her lover had explained to her the nature of the arrangement&mdash;for in her
+unassuming admiration of the noble qualities of Lee she had anticipated that
+Chan Hung would at once have received him with ceremonious embraces and
+assurances of his permanent affection&mdash;&lsquo;how unendurable a state of
+things is this in which we have become involved! Far removed from this
+one&rsquo;s anticipations was the thought of becoming inalienably associated
+with that outrageous person Pe-tsing, or of entering upon an existence which
+will necessitate a feigned admiration of his really unpresentable efforts. Yet
+in such a manner must the entire circumstance complete its course unless some
+ingenious method of evading it can be discovered in the meantime. Alas, my
+beloved one! the occupation of ensnaring winged insects is indeed an alluring
+one, but as far as this person has observed, it is also exceedingly
+unproductive of taels. Could not some more expeditious means of enriching
+yourself be discovered? Frequently has the unnoticed but nevertheless very
+attentive Lila heard her father and the round-bodied ones who visit him speak
+of exploits which seem to consist of assuming the shapes of certain wild
+animals, and in that guise appearing from time to time at the place of exchange
+within the city walls. As this form of entertainment is undoubtedly very
+remunerative in its results, could not the versatile and ready-witted Lee
+conceal himself within the skin of a bear, or some other untamed beast, and in
+this garb, joining them unperceived, play an appointed part and receive a just
+share of the reward?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The result of such an enterprise might, if the matter chanced to
+take an unforeseen development, prove of a very doubtful nature,&rsquo; replied
+Lee Sing, to whom, indeed, the proposed venture appeared in a somewhat
+undignified light, although, with refined consideration, he withheld such a
+thought from Lila, who had proposed it for him, and also confessed that her
+usually immaculate father had taken part in such an exhibition.
+&lsquo;Nevertheless, do not permit the dark shadow of an inward cloud to
+reflect itself upon your almost invariably amiable countenance, for this person
+has become possessed of a valuable internal suggestion which, although he has
+hitherto neglected, being content with a small but assured competency, would
+doubtless bring together a serviceable number of taels if rightly
+utilized.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Greatly does this person fear that the valuable internal
+suggestion of Lee Sing will weigh but lightly in the commercial balance against
+the very rapidly executed pictures of Pe-tsing,&rsquo; said Lila, who had not
+fully recalled from her mind a disturbing emotion that Lee would have been well
+advised to have availed himself of her ingenious and well-thought-out
+suggestion. &lsquo;But of what does the matter consist?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It is the best explained by a recital of the circumstances
+leading up to it,&rsquo; said Lee. &lsquo;Upon an occasion when this person was
+passing through the streets of Fow Hou, there gathered around him a company of
+those who had, on previous occasions, beheld his exceptional powers of hurtling
+himself through the air in an upward direction, praying that he would again
+delight their senses by a similar spectacle. Not being unwilling to afford
+those estimable persons of the amusement they desired, this one, without any
+elaborate show of affected hesitancy, put himself into the necessary position,
+and would without doubt have risen uninterruptedly almost into the Middle Air,
+had he not, in making the preparatory movements, placed his left foot upon an
+over-ripe wampee which lay unperceived on the ground. In consequence of this
+really blameworthy want of caution the entire manner and direction of this
+short-sighted individual&rsquo;s movements underwent a sudden and complete
+change, so that to those who stood around it appeared as though he were making
+a well-directed endeavour to penetrate through the upper surface of the earth.
+This unexpected display had the effect of removing the gravity of even the most
+aged and severe-minded persons present, and for the space of some moments the
+behaviour and positions of those who stood around were such that they were
+quite unable to render any assistance, greatly as they doubtless wished to do
+so. Being in this manner allowed a period for inward reflexion of a very
+concentrated order, it arose within this one&rsquo;s mind that at every similar
+occurrence which he had witnessed, those who observed the event had been seized
+in a like fashion, being very excessively amused. The fact was made even more
+undoubted by the manner of behaving of an exceedingly stout and round-faced
+person, who had not been present from the beginning, but who was affected to a
+most incredible extent when the details, as they had occurred, were made plain
+to him, he declaring, with many references to the Sacred Dragon and the Seven
+Walled Temple at Peking, that he would willingly have contributed a specified
+number of taels rather than have missed the diversion. When at length this
+person reached his own chamber, he diligently applied himself to the task of
+carrying into practical effect the suggestion which had arisen in his mind. By
+an arrangement of transparent glasses and reflecting surfaces&mdash;which, were
+it not for a well-defined natural modesty, he would certainly be tempted to
+describe as highly ingenious&mdash;he ultimately succeeded in bringing about
+the effect he desired.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With these words Lee put into Lila&rsquo;s hands an object which closely
+resembled the contrivances by which those who are not sufficiently powerful to
+obtain positions near the raised platform, in the Halls of Celestial Harmony,
+are nevertheless enabled to observe the complexions and attire of all around
+them. Regulating it by means of a hidden spring, he requested her to follow
+closely the actions of a heavily-burdened passerby who was at that moment some
+little distance beyond them. Scarcely had Lila raised the glass to her eyes
+than she became irresistibly amused to a most infectious degree, greatly to the
+satisfaction of Lee, who therein beheld the realization of his hopes. Not for
+the briefest space of time would she permit the object to pass from her, but
+directed it at every person who came within her sight, with frequent and
+unfeigned exclamations of wonder and delight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;How pleasant and fascinating a device is this!&rsquo; exclaimed
+Lila at length. &lsquo;By what means is so diverting and gravity-removing a
+result obtained?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Further than that it is the concentration of much labour of
+continually trying with glasses and reflecting surfaces, this person is totally
+unable to explain it,&rsquo; replied Lee. &lsquo;The chief thing, however, is
+that at whatever moving object it is directed&mdash;no matter whether a person
+so observed is being carried in a chair, riding upon an animal, or merely
+walking&mdash;at a certain point he has every appearance of being unexpectedly
+hurled to the ground in a most violent and mirth-provoking manner. Would not
+the stout and round-faced one, who would cheerfully have contributed a certain
+number of taels to see this person manifest a similar exhibition,
+unhesitatingly lay out that sum to secure the means of so gratifying his
+emotions whenever he felt the desire, even with the revered persons of the most
+dignified ones in the Empire? Is there, indeed, a single person between the
+Wall and the Bitter Waters on the South who is so devoid of ambition that he
+would miss the opportunity of subjecting, as it were, perhaps even the sacred
+Emperor himself to the exceptional feat?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The temptation to possess one would inevitably prove overwhelming
+to any person of ordinary intelligence,&rsquo; admitted Lila. &lsquo;Yet, in
+spite of this one&rsquo;s unassumed admiration for the contrivance, internal
+doubts regarding the ultimate happiness of the two persons who are now
+discussing the matter again attack her. She recollects, somewhat dimly, an
+almost forgotten, but nevertheless, very unassailable proverb, which declares
+that more contentment of mind can assuredly be obtained from the unexpected
+discovery of a tael among the folds of a discarded garment than could, in the
+most favourable circumstances, ensue from the well-thought-out construction of
+a new and hitherto unknown device. Furthermore, although the span of a year may
+seem unaccountably protracted when persons who reciprocate engaging sentiments
+are parted, yet when the acceptance or refusal of Pe-tsing&rsquo;s undesirable
+pledging-gifts hangs upon the accomplishment of a remote and not very probable
+object within that period, it becomes as a breath of wind passing through an
+autumn forest.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Since the day when Lila and Lee had sat together side by side, and
+conversed in this unrestrained and irreproachable manner, the great sky-lantern
+had many times been obscured for a period. Only an insignificant portion of the
+year remained, yet the affairs of Lee Sing were in no more prosperous a
+condition than before, nor had he found an opportunity to set aside any store
+of taels. Each day the unsupportable Pe-tsing became more and more obtrusive
+and self-conceited, even to the extent of throwing far into the air coins of
+insignificant value whenever he chanced to pass Lee in the street, at the same
+time urging him to leap after them and thereby secure at least one or two
+pieces of money against the day of calculating. In a similar but entirely
+opposite fashion, Lila and Lee experienced the acutest pangs of an ever-growing
+despair, until their only form of greeting consisted in gazing into each
+other&rsquo;s eyes with a soul-benumbing expression of self-reproach.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet at this very time, when even the natural and unalterable powers
+seemed to be conspiring against the success of Lee&rsquo;s modest and
+inoffensive hopes, an event was taking place which was shortly to reverse the
+entire settled arrangement of persons and affairs, and involved Fow Hou in a
+very inextricable state of uncertainty. For, not to make a pretence of
+concealing a matter which has been already in part revealed, the Mandarin Chan
+Hung had by this time determined to act in the manner which Ming-hi had
+suggested; so that on a certain morning Lee Sing was visited by two persons,
+bearing between them a very weighty sack of taels, who also conveyed to him the
+fact that a like amount would be deposited within his door at the end of each
+succeeding seven days. Although Lee&rsquo;s occupation had in the past been
+very meagrely rewarded, either by taels or by honour, the circumstance which
+resulted in his now receiving so excessively large a sum is not made clear
+until the detail of Ming-hi&rsquo;s scheme is closely examined. The matter then
+becomes plain, for it had been suggested by that person that the most
+proficient in any occupation should be rewarded to a certain extent, and the
+least proficient to another stated extent, the original amounts being reversed.
+When those engaged by Chang Hung to draw up the various rates came to the
+profession of ensnaring winged insects, however, they discovered that Lee Sing
+was the only one of that description in Fow Hou, so that it became necessary in
+consequence to allot him a double portion, one amount as the most proficient,
+and a much larger amount as the least proficient.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is unnecessary now to follow the not altogether satisfactory
+condition of affairs which began to exist in Fow Hou as soon as the scheme was
+put into operation. The full written papers dealing with the matter are in the
+Hall of Public Reference at Peking, and can be seen by any person on the
+payment of a few taels to everyone connected with the establishment. Those who
+found their possessions reduced thereby completely overlooked the obvious
+justice of the arrangement, and immediately began to take most severe measures
+to have the order put aside; while those who suddenly and unexpectedly found
+themselves raised to positions of affluence tended to the same end by
+conducting themselves in a most incapable and undiscriminating manner. And
+during the entire period that this state of things existed in Fow Hou the
+really contemptible Ming-hi continually followed Chan Hung about from place to
+place, spreading out his feet towards him, and allowing himself to become
+openly amused to a most unseemly extent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Chief among those who sought to have the original manner of rewarding
+persons again established was the picture-maker, Pe-tsing, who now found
+himself in a condition of most abject poverty, so unbearable, indeed, that he
+frequently went by night, carrying a lantern, in the hope that he might
+discover some of the small pieces of money which he had been accustomed to
+throw into the air on meeting Lee Sing. To his pangs of hunger was added the
+fear that he would certainly lose Lila, so that from day to day he redoubled
+his efforts, and in the end, by using false statements and other artifices of a
+questionable nature, the party which he led was successful in obtaining the
+degradation of Chan Hung and his dismissal from office, together with an entire
+reversal of all his plans and enactments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the last day of the year which Chan Hung had appointed as the period
+of test for his daughter&rsquo;s suitors, the person in question was seated in
+a chamber of his new abode&mdash;a residence of unassuming appearance but
+undoubted comfort&mdash;surrounded by Lila and Lee, when the hanging curtains
+were suddenly flung aside, and Pe-tsing, followed by two persons of low rank
+bearing sacks of money, appeared among them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Chan Hung,&rsquo; he said at length, &lsquo;in the past events
+arose which compelled this person to place himself against you in your official
+position. Nevertheless, he has always maintained towards you personally an
+unchanging affection, and understanding full well that you are one of those who
+maintain their spoken word in spite of all happenings, he has now come to
+exhibit the taels which he has collected together, and to claim the fulfilment
+of your deliberate promise.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With these words the commonplace picture-maker poured forth the contents
+of the sacks, and stood looking at Lila in a most confident and unprepossessing
+manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Pe-tsing,&rsquo; replied Chan Hung, rising from his couch and
+speaking in so severe and impressive a voice that the two servants of Pe-tsing
+at once fled in great apprehension, &lsquo;this person has also found it
+necessary, in his official position, to oppose you; but here the similarity
+ends, for, on his part, he has never felt towards you the remotest degree of
+affection. Nevertheless, he is always desirous, as you say, that persons should
+regard their spoken word, and as you seem to hold a promise from the Chief
+Mandarin of Fow Hou regarding marriage-gifts towards his daughter, he would
+advise you to go at once to that person. A misunderstanding has evidently
+arisen, for the one whom you are addressing is merely Chan Hung, and the words
+spoken by the Mandarin have no sort of interest for him&mdash;indeed, he
+understands that all that person&rsquo;s acts have been reversed, so that he
+fails to see how anyone at all can regard you and your claim in other than a
+gravity-removing light. Furthermore, the maiden in question is now definitely
+and irretrievably pledged to this faithful and successful one by my side, who,
+as you will doubtless be gracefully overjoyed to learn, has recently disposed
+of a most ingenious and diverting contrivance for an enormous number of taels,
+so many, indeed, that both the immediate and the far-distant future of all the
+persons who are here before you are now in no sort of doubt whatever.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At these words the three persons whom he had interrupted again turned
+their attention to the matter before them; but as Pe-tsing walked away, he
+observed, though he failed to understand the meaning, that they all raised
+certain objects to their eyes, and at once became amused to a most striking and
+uncontrollable degree.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"></a>
+V.<br />
+THE CONFESSION OF KAI LUNG</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+Related by himself at Wu-whei when other matter failed him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Kai Lung, the story-teller, unrolled his mat and selected, with grave
+deliberation, the spot under the mulberry-tree which would the longest remain
+sheltered from the sun&rsquo;s rays, his impassive eye wandered round the thin
+circle of listeners who had been drawn together by his uplifted voice, with a
+glance which, had it expressed his actual thoughts, would have betrayed a keen
+desire that the assembly should be composed of strangers rather than of his
+most consistent patrons, to whom his stock of tales was indeed becoming
+embarrassingly familiar. Nevertheless, when he began there was nothing in his
+voice but a trace of insufficiently restrained triumph, such as might be fitly
+assumed by one who has discovered and makes known for the first time a story by
+the renowned historian Lo Châ.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The adventures of the enlightened and nobly-born Yuin-Pel&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have already thrice been narrated within Wu-whei by the versatile but
+exceedingly uninventive Kai Lung,&rdquo; remarked Wang Yu placidly.
+&ldquo;Indeed, has there not come to be a saying by which an exceptionally
+frugal host&rsquo;s rice, having undoubtedly seen the inside of the pot many
+times, is now known in this town as Kai-Pel?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; exclaimed Kai Lung, &ldquo;well was this person warned of
+Wu-whei in the previous village, as a place of desolation and excessively bad
+taste, whose inhabitants, led by an evil-minded maker of very commonplace
+pipes, named Wang Yu, are unable to discriminate in all matters not connected
+with the cooking of food and the evasion of just debts. They at Shan Tzu hung
+on to my cloak as I strove to leave them, praying that I would again entrance
+their ears with what they termed the melodious word-music of this
+person&rsquo;s inimitable version of the inspired story of Yuin-Pel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Truly the story of Yuin-Pel is in itself excellent,&rdquo; interposed
+the conciliatory Hi Seng; &ldquo;and Kai Lung&rsquo;s accomplishment of having
+three times repeated it here without deviating in the particular of a single
+word from the first recital stamps him as a story-teller of no ordinary degree.
+Yet the saying &lsquo;Although it is desirable to lose persistently when
+playing at squares and circles with the broad-minded and sagacious Emperor, it
+is none the less a fact that the observance of this etiquette deprives the
+intellectual diversion of much of its interest for both players,&rsquo; is no
+less true today than when the all knowing H&rsquo;sou uttered it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They well said&mdash;they of Shan Tzu&mdash;that the people of Wu-whei
+were intolerably ignorant and of low descent,&rdquo; continued Kai Lung,
+without heeding the interruption; &ldquo;that although invariably of a timorous
+nature, even to the extent of retiring to the woods on the approach of those
+who select bowmen for the Imperial army, all they require in a story is that it
+shall be garnished with deeds of bloodshed and violence to the exclusion of the
+higher qualities of well-imagined metaphors and literary style which alone
+constitute true excellence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet it has been said,&rdquo; suggested Hi Seng, &ldquo;that the
+inimitable Kai Lung can so mould a narrative in the telling that all the
+emotions are conveyed therein without unduly disturbing the intellects of the
+hearers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O amiable Hi Seng,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung with extreme affability,
+&ldquo;doubtless you are the most expert of water-carriers, and on a hot and
+dusty day, when the insatiable desire of all persons is towards a draught of
+unusual length without much regard to its composition, the sight of your
+goat-skins is indeed a welcome omen; yet when in the season of Cold White Rains
+you chance to meet the belated chair-carrier who has been reluctantly persuaded
+into conveying persons beyond the limit of the city, the solitary official
+watchman who knows that his chief is not at hand, or a returning band of those
+who make a practise of remaining in the long narrow rooms until they are driven
+forth at a certain gong-stroke, can you supply them with the smallest portion
+of that invigorating rice spirit for which alone they crave? From this simple
+and homely illustration, specially conceived to meet the requirements of your
+stunted and meagre understanding, learn not to expect both grace and thorns
+from the willow-tree. Nevertheless, your very immature remarks on the art of
+story-telling are in no degree more foolish than those frequently uttered by
+persons who make a living by such a practice; in proof of which this person
+will relate to the select and discriminating company now assembled an entirely
+new and unrecorded story&mdash;that, indeed, of the unworthy, but frequently
+highly-rewarded Kai Lung himself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The story of Kai Lung!&rdquo; exclaimed Wang Yu. &ldquo;Why not the
+story of Ting, the sightless beggar, who has sat all his life outside the
+Temple of Miraculous Cures? Who is Kai Lung, that he should have a story? Is he
+not known to us all here? Is not his speech that of this Province, his food
+mean, his arms and legs unshaven? Does he carry a sword or wear silk raiment?
+Frequently have we seen him fatigued with journeying; many times has he arrived
+destitute of money; nor, on those occasions when a newly-appointed and
+unnecessarily officious Mandarin has commanded him to betake himself elsewhere
+and struck him with a rod has Kai Lung caused the stick to turn into a deadly
+serpent and destroy its master, as did the just and dignified Lu Fei. How,
+then, can Kai Lung have a story that is not also the story of Wang Yu and Hi
+Seng, and all others here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed, if the refined and enlightened Wang Yu so decides, it must
+assuredly be true,&rdquo; said Kai Lung patiently; &ldquo;yet (since even
+trifles serve to dispel the darker thoughts of existence) would not the history
+of so small a matter as an opium pipe chain his intelligent consideration? such
+a pipe, for example, as this person beheld only today exposed for sale, the
+bowl composed of the finest red clay, delicately baked and fashioned, the long
+bamboo stem smoother than the sacred tooth of the divine Buddha, the spreading
+support patiently and cunningly carved with scenes representing the Seven Joys,
+and the Tenth Hell of unbelievers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; exclaimed Wang Yu eagerly, &ldquo;it is indeed as you say, a
+Mandarin among masterpieces. That pipe, O most unobserving Kai Lung, is the
+work of this retiring and superficial person who is now addressing you, and,
+though the fact evidently escaped your all-seeing glance, the place where it is
+exposed is none other than his shop of &lsquo;The Fountain of Beauty,&rsquo;
+which you have on many occasions endowed with your honourable presence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Doubtless the carving is the work of the accomplished Wang Yu, and the
+fitting together,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung; &ldquo;but the materials for so
+refined and ornamental a production must of necessity have been brought many
+thousand li; the clay perhaps from the renowned beds of Honan, the wood from
+Peking, and the bamboo from one of the great forests of the North.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For what reason?&rdquo; said Wang Yu proudly. &ldquo;At this
+person&rsquo;s very door is a pit of red clay, purer and infinitely more
+regular than any to be found at Honan; the hard wood of Wu-whei is extolled
+among carvers throughout the Empire, while no bamboo is straighter or more
+smooth than that which grows in the neighbouring woods.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O most inconsistent Wang Yu!&rdquo; cried the story-teller,
+&ldquo;assuredly a very commendable local pride has dimmed your usually
+penetrating eyesight. Is not the clay pit of which you speak that in which you
+fashioned exceedingly unsymmetrical imitations of rat-pies in your childhood?
+How, then, can it be equal to those of Honan, which you have never seen? In the
+dark glades of these woods have you not chased the gorgeous butterfly, and, in
+later years, the no less gaily attired maidens of Wu-whei in the entrancing
+game of Kiss in the Circle? Have not the bamboo-trees to which you have
+referred provided you with the ideal material wherewith to roof over those
+cunningly-constructed pits into which it has ever been the chief delight of the
+young and audacious to lure dignified and unnaturally stout Mandarins? All
+these things you have seen and used ever since your mother made a successful
+offering to the Goddess Kum-Fa. How, then, can they be even equal to the
+products of remote Honan and fabulous Peking? Assuredly the generally veracious
+Wang Yu speaks this time with closed eyes and will, upon mature reflexion, eat
+his words.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The silence was broken by a very aged man who arose from among the bystanders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold the length of this person&rsquo;s pigtail,&rdquo; he exclaimed,
+&ldquo;the whiteness of his moustaches and the venerable appearance of his
+beard! There is no more aged person present&mdash;if, indeed, there be such a
+one in all the Province. It accordingly devolves upon him to speak in this
+matter, which shall be as follows: The noble-minded and proficient Kai Lung
+shall relate the story as he has proposed, and the garrulous Wang Yu shall
+twice contribute to Kai Lung&rsquo;s bowl when it is passed round, once for
+himself and once for this person, in order that he may learn either to be more
+discreet or more proficient in the art of aptly replying.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The events which it is this person&rsquo;s presumptuous intention to
+describe to this large-hearted and providentially indulgent gathering,&rdquo;
+began Kai Lung, when his audience had become settled, and the wooden bowl had
+passed to and fro among them, &ldquo;did not occupy many years, although they
+were of a nature which made them of far more importance than all the remainder
+of his existence, thereby supporting the sage discernment of the philosopher
+Wen-weng, who first made the observation that man is greatly inferior to the
+meanest fly, inasmuch as that creature, although granted only a day&rsquo;s
+span of life, contrives during that period to fulfil all the allotted functions
+of existence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Unutterably to the astonishment and dismay of this person and all those
+connected with him (for several of the most expensive readers of the future to
+be found in the Empire had declared that his life would be marked by great
+events, his career a source of continual wonder, and his death a misfortune to
+those who had dealings with him) his efforts to take a degree at the public
+literary competitions were not attended with any adequate success. In view of
+the plainly expressed advice of his father it therefore became desirable that
+this person should turn his attention to some other method of regaining the
+esteem of those upon whom he was dependent for all the necessaries of
+existence. Not having the means wherewith to engage in any form of commerce,
+and being entirely ignorant of all matters save the now useless details of
+attempting to pass public examinations, he reluctantly decided that he was
+destined to become one of those who imagine and write out stories and similar
+devices for printed leaves and books.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This determination was favourably received, and upon learning it, this
+person&rsquo;s dignified father took him aside, and with many assurances of
+regard presented to him a written sentence, which, he said, would be of
+incomparable value to one engaged in a literary career, and should in fact,
+without any particular qualifications, insure an honourable competency. He
+himself, he added, with what at the time appeared to this one as an unnecessary
+regard for detail, having taken a very high degree, and being in consequence
+appointed to a distinguished and remunerative position under the Board of Fines
+and Tortures, had never made any use of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The written sentence, indeed, was all that it had been pronounced. It
+had been composed by a remote ancestor, who had spent his entire life in
+crystallizing all his knowledge and experience into a few written lines, which
+as a result became correspondingly precious. It defined in a very original and
+profound manner several undisputable principles, and was so engagingly subtle
+in its manner of expression that the most superficial person was irresistibly
+thrown into a deep inward contemplation upon reading it. When it was complete,
+the person who had contrived this ingenious masterpiece, discovering by means
+of omens that he still had ten years to live, devoted each remaining year to
+the task of reducing the sentence by one word without in any way altering its
+meaning. This unapproachable example of conciseness found such favour in the
+eyes of those who issue printed leaves that as fast as this person could
+inscribe stories containing it they were eagerly purchased; and had it not been
+for a very incapable want of foresight on this narrow-minded individual&rsquo;s
+part, doubtless it would still be affording him an agreeable and permanent
+means of living.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Unquestionably the enlightened Wen-weng was well acquainted with the
+subject when he exclaimed, &lsquo;Better a frugal dish of olives flavoured with
+honey than the most sumptuously devised puppy-pie of which the greater portion
+is sent forth in silver-lined boxes and partaken of by others.&rsquo; At that
+time, however, this versatile saying&mdash;which so gracefully conveys the
+truth of the undeniable fact that what a person possesses is sufficient if he
+restrain his mind from desiring aught else&mdash;would have been lightly
+treated by this self-conceited story-teller even if his immature faculties had
+enabled him fully to understand the import of so profound and well-digested a
+remark.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At that time Tiao Ts&rsquo;un was undoubtedly the most beautiful maiden
+in all Peking. So frequently were the verses describing her habits and
+appearances affixed in the most prominent places of the city, that many persons
+obtained an honourable livelihood by frequenting those spots and disposing of
+the sacks of written papers which they collected to merchants who engaged in
+that commerce. Owing to the fame attained by his written sentence, this really
+very much inferior being had many opportunities of meeting the incomparable
+maiden Tiao at flower-feasts, melon-seed assemblies, and those gatherings where
+persons of both sexes exhibit themselves in revolving attitudes, and are
+permitted to embrace openly without reproach; whereupon he became so
+subservient to her charms and virtues that he lost no opportunity of making
+himself utterly unendurable to any who might chance to speak to, or even gaze
+upon, this Heaven-sent creature.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So successful was this person in his endeavour to meet the sublime Tiao
+and to gain her conscientious esteem that all emotions of prudence forsook him,
+or it would soon have become apparent even to his enfeebled understanding that
+such consistent good fortune could only be the work of unforgiving and
+malignant spirits whose ill-will he had in some way earned, and who were luring
+him on in order that they might accomplish his destruction. That object was
+achieved on a certain evening when this person stood alone with Tiao upon an
+eminence overlooking the city and watched the great sky-lantern rise from
+behind the hills. Under these delicate and ennobling influences he gave speech
+to many very ornamental and refined thoughts which arose within his mind
+concerning the graceful brilliance of the light which was cast all around, yet
+notwithstanding which a still more exceptional and brilliant light was shining
+in his own internal organs by reason of the nearness of an even purer and more
+engaging orb. There was no need, this person felt, to hide even his most inside
+thoughts from the dignified and sympathetic being at his side, so without
+hesitation he spoke&mdash;in what he believes even now must have been a very
+decorative manner&mdash;of the many thousand persons who were then wrapped in
+sleep, of the constantly changing lights which appeared in the city beneath,
+and of the vastness which everywhere lay around.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;O Kai Lung,&rsquo; exclaimed the lovely Tiao, when this person
+had made an end of speaking, &lsquo;how expertly and in what a proficient
+manner do you express yourself, uttering even the sentiments which this person
+has felt inwardly, but for which she has no words. Why, indeed, do you not
+inscribe them in a book?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Under her elevating influence it had already occurred to this illiterate
+individual that it would be a more dignified and, perhaps, even a more
+profitable course for him to write out and dispose of, to those who print such
+matters, the versatile and high-minded expressions which now continually formed
+his thoughts, rather than be dependent upon the concise sentence for which,
+indeed, he was indebted to the wisdom of a remote ancestor. Tiao&rsquo;s spoken
+word fully settled his determination, so that without delay he set himself to
+the task of composing a story which should omit the usual sentence, but should
+contain instead a large number of his most graceful and diamond-like thoughts.
+So engrossed did this near-sighted and superficial person become in the task
+(which daily seemed to increase rather than lessen as new and still more
+sublime images arose within his mind) that many months passed before the matter
+was complete. In the end, instead of a story, it had assumed the proportions of
+an important and many-volumed book; while Tiao had in the meantime accepted the
+wedding gifts of an objectionable and excessively round-bodied individual, who
+had amassed an inconceivable number of taels by inducing persons to take part
+in what at first sight appeared to be an ingenious but very easy competition
+connected with the order in which certain horses should arrive at a given and
+clearly defined spot. By that time, however, this unduly sanguine story-teller
+had become completely entranced in his work, and merely regarded
+Tiao-Ts&rsquo;un as a Heaven-sent but no longer necessary incentive to his
+success. With every hope, therefore, he went forth to dispose of his written
+leaves, confident of finding some very wealthy person who would be in a
+condition to pay him the correct value of the work.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At the end of two years this somewhat disillusionized but still
+undaunted person chanced to hear of a benevolent and unassuming body of men who
+made a habit of issuing works in which they discerned merit, but which,
+nevertheless, others were unanimous in describing as &lsquo;of no good.&rsquo;
+Here this person was received with gracious effusion, and being in a position
+to impress those with whom he was dealing with his undoubted knowledge of the
+subject, he finally succeeded in making a very advantageous arrangement by
+which he was to pay one-half of the number of taels expended in producing the
+work, and to receive in return all the profits which should result from the
+undertaking. Those who were concerned in the matter were so engagingly
+impressed with the incomparable literary merit displayed in the production that
+they counselled a great number of copies being made ready in order, as they
+said, that this person should not lose by there being any delay when once the
+accomplishment became the one topic of conversation in tea-houses and yamens.
+From this cause it came about that the matter of taels to be expended was much
+greater than had been anticipated at the beginning, so that when the day
+arrived on which the volumes were to be sent forth this person found that
+almost his last piece of money had disappeared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas! how small a share has a person in the work of controlling his own
+destiny. Had only the necessarily penurious and now almost degraded Kai Lung
+been born a brief span before the great writer Lo Kuan Chang, his name would
+have been received with every mark of esteem from one end of the Empire to the
+other, while taels and honourable decorations would have been showered upon
+him. For the truth, which could no longer be concealed, revealed the fact that
+this inopportune individual possessed a mind framed in such a manner that his
+thoughts had already been the thoughts of the inspired Lo Kuan, who, as this
+person would not be so presumptuous as to inform this ornamental and
+well-informed gathering, was the most ingenious and versatile-minded composer
+of written words that this Empire&mdash;and therefore the entire
+world&mdash;has seen, as, indeed, his honourable title of &lsquo;The Many-hued
+Mandarin Duck of the Yang-tse&rsquo; plainly indicates.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Although this self-opinionated person had frequently been greatly
+surprised himself during the writing of his long work by the brilliance and
+manysidedness of the thoughts and metaphors which arose in his mind without
+conscious effort, it was not until the appearance of the printed leaves which
+make a custom of warning persons against being persuaded into buying certain
+books that he definitely understood how all these things had been fully
+expressed many dynasties ago by the all-knowing Lo Kuan Chang, and formed,
+indeed, the great national standard of unapproachable excellence.
+Unfortunately, this person had been so deeply engrossed all his life in
+literary pursuits that he had never found an opportunity to glance at the works
+in question, or he would have escaped the embarrassing position in which he now
+found himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was with a hopeless sense of illness of ease that this unhappy one
+reached the day on which the printed leaves already alluded to would make known
+their deliberate opinion of his writing, the extremity of his hope being that
+some would at least credit him with honourable motives, and perhaps a knowledge
+that if the inspired Lo Kuan Chan had never been born the entire matter might
+have been brought to a very different conclusion. Alas! only one among the many
+printed leaves which made reference to the venture contained any words of
+friendship or encouragement. This benevolent exception was sent forth from a
+city in the extreme Northern Province of the Empire, and contained many
+inspiring though delicately guarded messages of hope for the one to whom they
+gracefully alluded as &lsquo;this undoubtedly youthful, but nevertheless,
+distinctly promising writer of books.&rsquo; While admitting that altogether
+they found the production undeniably tedious, they claimed to have discovered
+indications of an obvious talent, and therefore they unhesitatingly counselled
+the person in question to take courage at the prospect of a moderate competency
+which was certainly within his grasp if he restrained his somewhat
+over-ambitious impulses and closely observed the simple subjects and manner of
+expression of their own Chang Chow, whose &lsquo;Lines to a Wayside
+Chrysanthemum,&rsquo; &lsquo;Mongolians who Have,&rsquo; and several other
+composed pieces, they then set forth. Although it became plain that the writer
+of this amiably devised notice was, like this incapable person, entirely
+unacquainted with the masterpieces of Lo Kuan Chang, yet the indisputable fact
+remained that, entirely on its merit, the work had been greeted with undoubted
+enthusiasm, so that after purchasing many examples of the refined printed leaf
+containing it, this person sat far into the night continually reading over the
+one unprejudiced and discriminating expression.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All the other printed leaves displayed a complete absence of good taste
+in dealing with the matter. One boldly asserted that the entire circumstance
+was the outcome of a foolish jest or wager on the part of a person who
+possessed a million taels; another predicted that it was a cunning and
+elaborately thought-out method of obtaining the attention of the people on the
+part of certain persons who claimed to vend a reliable and fragrantly-scented
+cleansing substance. The <i>Valley of Hoang Rose Leaves and Sweetness</i>
+hoped, in a spirit of no sincerity, that the ingenious Kai Lung would not rest
+on his tea-leaves, but would soon send forth an equally entertaining amended
+example of the <i>Sayings of Confucious</i> and other sacred works, while the
+<i>Pure Essence of the Seven Days&rsquo; Happenings</i> merely printed side by
+side portions from the two books under the large inscription, &lsquo;I<small>S
+THERE REALLY ANY</small> N<small>EED FOR</small> U<small>S TO EXPRESS</small>
+O<small>URSELVES MORE CLEARLY</small>?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The disappointment both as regards public esteem and taels&mdash;for,
+after the manner in which the work had been received by those who advise on
+such productions, not a single example was purchased&mdash;threw this
+ill-destined individual into a condition of most unendurable depression, from
+which he was only aroused by a remarkable example of the unfailing wisdom of
+the proverb which says &lsquo;Before hastening to secure a possible reward of
+five taels by dragging an unobservant person away from a falling building,
+examine well his features lest you find, when too late, that it is one to whom
+you are indebted for double that amount.&rsquo; Disappointed in the hope of
+securing large gains from the sale of his great work, this person now turned
+his attention again to his former means of living, only to find, however, that
+the discredit in which he had become involved even attached itself to his
+concise sentence; for in place of the remunerative and honourable manner in
+which it was formerly received, it was now regarded on all hands with open
+suspicion. Instead of meekly kow-towing to an evidently pre-arranged doom, the
+last misfortune aroused this usually resigned story-teller to an ungovernable
+frenzy. Regarding the accomplished but at the same time exceedingly
+over-productive Lo Kuan Chang as the beginning of all his evils, he took a
+solemn oath as a mark of disapproval that he had not been content to inscribe
+on paper only half of his brilliant thoughts, leaving the other half for the
+benefit of this hard-striving and equally well-endowed individual, in which
+case there would have been a sufficiency of taels and of fame for both.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For a very considerable space of time this person could conceive no
+method by which he might attain his object. At length, however, as a result of
+very keen and subtle intellectual searching, and many well-selected sacrifices,
+it was conveyed by means of a dream that one very ingenious yet simple way was
+possible. The renowned and universally-admired writings of the distinguished Lo
+Kuan for the most part take their action within a few dynasties of their
+creator&rsquo;s own time: all that remained for this inventive person to
+accomplish, therefore, was to trace out the entire matter, making the words and
+speeches to proceed from the mouths of those who existed in still earlier
+periods. By this crafty method it would at once appear as though the
+not-too-original Lo Kuan had been indebted to one who came before him for all
+his most subtle thoughts, and, in consequence, his tomb would become
+dishonoured and his memory execrated. Without any delay this person cheerfully
+set himself to the somewhat laborious task before him. Lo Kuan&rsquo;s
+well-known exclamation of the Emperor Tsing on the battlefield of Shih-ho,
+&lsquo;A sedan-chair! a sedan-chair! This person will unhesitatingly exchange
+his entire and well-regulated Empire for such an article,&rsquo; was attributed
+to an Emperor who lived several thousand years before the treacherous and
+unpopular Tsing. The new matter of a no less frequently quoted portion ran:
+&lsquo;O nobly intentioned but nevertheless exceedingly morose Tung-shin, the
+object before you is your distinguished and evilly-disposed-of father&rsquo;s
+honourably-inspired demon,&rsquo; the change of a name effecting whatever
+alteration was necessary; while the delicately-imagined speech beginning
+&lsquo;The person who becomes amused at matters resulting from double-edged
+knives has assuredly never felt the effect of a well-directed blow
+himself&rsquo; was taken from the mouth of one person and placed in that of one
+of his remote ancestors. In such a manner, without in any great degree altering
+the matter of Lo Kuan&rsquo;s works, all the scenes and persons introduced were
+transferred to much earlier dynasties than those affected by the incomparable
+writer himself, the final effect being to give an air of extreme unoriginality
+to his really undoubtedly genuine conceptions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Satisfied with his accomplishment, and followed by a hired person of low
+class bearing the writings, which, by nature of the research necessary in
+fixing the various dates and places so that even the wary should be deceived,
+had occupied the greater part of a year, this now fully confident
+story-teller&mdash;unmindful of the well-tried excellence of the inspired
+saying, &lsquo;Money is hundred-footed; upon perceiving a tael lying apparently
+unobserved upon the floor, do not lose the time necessary in stooping, but
+quickly place your foot upon it, for one fails nothing in dignity thereby; but
+should it be a gold piece, distrust all things, and valuing dignity but as an
+empty name, cast your entire body upon it&rsquo;&mdash;went forth to complete
+his great task of finally erasing from the mind and records of the Empire the
+hitherto venerated name of Lo Kuan Chang. Entering the place of commerce of the
+one who seemed the most favourable for the purpose, he placed the facts as they
+would in future be represented before him, explained the undoubtedly
+remunerative fame that would ensue to all concerned in the enterprise of
+sending forth the printed books in their new form, and, opening at a venture
+the written leaves which he had brought with him, read out the following words
+as an indication of the similarity of the entire work:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;<i>Whai-Keng</i>. Friends, Chinamen, labourers who are engaged in
+agricultural pursuits, entrust to this person your acute and well-educated
+ears;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;He has merely come to assist in depositing the body of
+Ko&rsquo;ung in the Family Temple, not for the purpose of making remarks about
+him of a graceful and highly complimentary nature;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The unremunerative actions of which persons may have been guilty
+possess an exceedingly undesirable amount of endurance;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The successful and well-considered almost invariably are involved
+in a directly contrary course;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;This person desires nothing more than a like fate to await
+Ko&rsquo;ung.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When this one had read so far, he paused in order to give the other an
+opportunity of breaking in and offering half his possessions to be allowed to
+share in the undertaking. As he remained unaccountably silent, however, an
+inelegant pause occurred which this person at length broke by desiring an
+expressed opinion on the matter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;O exceedingly painstaking, but nevertheless highly inopportune
+Kai Lung,&rsquo; he replied at length, while in his countenance this person
+read an expression of no-encouragement towards his venture, &lsquo;all your
+entrancing efforts do undoubtedly appear to attract the undesirable attention
+of some spiteful and tyrannical demon. This closely-written and elaborately
+devised work is in reality not worth the labour of a single stroke, nor is
+there in all Peking a sender forth of printed leaves who would encourage any
+project connected with its issue.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;But the importance of such a fact as that which would clearly
+show the hitherto venerated Lo Kuan Chang to be a person who passed off as his
+own the work of an earlier one!&rsquo; cried this person in despair, well
+knowing that the deliberately expressed opinion of the one before him was a
+matter that would rule all others. &lsquo;Consider the interest of the
+discovery.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The interest would not demand more than a few lines in the
+ordinary printed leaves,&rsquo; replied the other calmly. &lsquo;Indeed, in a
+manner of speaking, it is entirely a detail of no consequence whether or not
+the sublime Lo Kuan ever existed. In reality his very commonplace name may have
+been simply Lung; his inspired work may have been written a score of dynasties
+before him by some other person, or they may have been composed by the
+enlightened Emperor of the period, who desired to conceal the fact, yet these
+matters would not for a moment engage the interest of any ordinary passer-by.
+Lo Kuan Chang is not a person in the ordinary expression; he is an embodiment
+of a distinguished and utterly unassailable national institution. The
+Heaven-sent works with which he is, by general consent, connected form the
+necessary unchangeable standard of literary excellence, and remain for ever
+above rivalry and above mistrust. For this reason the matter is plainly one
+which does not interest this person.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In the course of a not uneventful existence this self-deprecatory person
+has suffered many reverses and disappointments. During his youth the
+high-minded Empress on one occasion stopped and openly complimented him on the
+dignified outline presented by his body in profile, and when he was relying
+upon this incident to secure him a very remunerative public office, a jealous
+and powerful Mandarin substituted a somewhat similar, though really very much
+inferior, person for him at the interview which the Empress had commanded.
+Frequently in matters of commerce which have appeared to promise very
+satisfactorily at the beginning this person has been induced to entrust sums of
+money to others, when he had hoped from the indications and the manner of
+speaking that the exact contrary would be the case; and in one instance he was
+released at a vast price from the torture dungeon in Canton&mdash;where he had
+been thrown by the subtle and unconscientious plots of one who could not relate
+stories in so accurate and unvarying a manner as himself&mdash;on the day
+before that on which all persons were freely set at liberty on account of
+exceptional public rejoicing. Yet in spite of these and many other very
+unendurable incidents, this impetuous and ill-starred being never felt so great
+a desire to retire to a solitary place and there disfigure himself permanently
+as a mark of his unfeigned internal displeasure, as on the occasion when he
+endured extreme poverty and great personal inconvenience for an entire year in
+order that he might take away face from the memory of a person who was so
+placed that no one expressed any interest in the matter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Since then this very ill-clad and really necessitous person has devoted
+himself to the honourable but exceedingly arduous and in general unremunerative
+occupation of story-telling. To this he would add nothing save that not
+infrequently a nobly-born and highly-cultured audience is so entranced with his
+commonplace efforts to hold the attention, especially when a story not hitherto
+known has been related, that in order to afford it an opportunity of expressing
+its gratification, he has been requested to allow another offering to be made
+by all persons present at the conclusion of the entertainment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"></a>
+VI.<br />
+THE VENGEANCE OF TUNG FEL</h2>
+
+<p>
+For a period not to be measured by days or weeks the air of Ching-fow had been
+as unrestful as that of the locust plains beyond the Great Wall, for every
+speech which passed bore two faces, one fair to hear, as a greeting, but the
+other insidiously speaking behind a screen, of rebellion, violence, and the
+hope of overturning the fixed order of events. With those whom they did not
+mistrust of treachery persons spoke in low voices of definite plans, while at
+all times there might appear in prominent places of the city skilfully composed
+notices setting forth great wrongs and injustices towards which resignation and
+a lowly bearing were outwardly counselled, yet with the same words cunningly
+inflaming the minds, even of the patient, as no pouring out of passionate
+thoughts and undignified threatenings could have done. Among the people,
+unknown, unseen, and unsuspected, except to the proved ones to whom they
+desired to reveal themselves, moved the agents of the Three Societies. While to
+the many of Ching-fow nothing was desired or even thought of behind the
+downfall of their own officials, and, chief of all, the execution of the
+evil-minded and depraved Mandarin Ping Siang, whose cruelties and extortions
+had made his name an object of wide and deserved loathing, the agents only
+regarded the city as a bright spot in the line of blood and fire which they
+were fanning into life from Peking to Canton, and which would presumably burst
+forth and involve the entire Empire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Although it had of late become a plain fact, by reason of the manner of
+behaving of the people, that events of a sudden and turbulent nature could not
+long be restrained, yet outwardly there was no exhibition of violence, not even
+to the length of resisting those whom Ping Siang sent to enforce his unjust
+demands, chiefly because a well-founded whisper had been sent round that
+nothing was to be done until Tung Fel should arrive, which would not be until
+the seventh day in the month of Winged Dragons. To this all persons agreed, for
+the more aged among them, who, by virtue of their years, were also the formers
+of opinion in all matters, called up within their memories certain events
+connected with the two persons in question which appeared to give to Tung Fel
+the privilege of expressing himself clearly when the matter of finally dealing
+with the malicious and self-willed Mandarin should be engaged upon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Among the mountains which enclose Ching-fow on the southern side dwelt a
+jade-seeker, who also kept goats. Although a young man and entirely without
+relations, he had, by patient industry, contrived to collect together a large
+flock of the best-formed and most prolific goats to be found in the
+neighbourhood, all the money which he received in exchange for jade being
+quickly bartered again for the finest animals which he could obtain. He was
+dauntless in penetrating to the most inaccessible parts of the mountains in
+search of the stone, unfailing in his skilful care of the flock, in which he
+took much honourable pride, and on all occasions discreet and unassumingly
+restrained in his discourse and manner of life. Knowing this to be his
+invariable practice, it was with emotions of an agreeable curiosity that on the
+seventh day of the month of Winged Dragons those persons who were passing from
+place to place in the city beheld this young man, Yang Hu, descending the
+mountain path with unmistakable signs of profound agitation, and an entire
+absence of prudent care. Following him closely to the inner square of the city,
+on the continually expressed plea that they themselves had business in that
+quarter, these persons observed Yang Hu take up a position of unendurable
+dejection as he gazed reproachfully at the figure of the all-knowing Buddha
+which surmounted the Temple where it was his custom to sacrifice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; he exclaimed, lifting up his voice, when it became plain
+that a large number of people was assembled awaiting his words, &ldquo;to what
+end does a person strive in this excessively evilly-regulated district? Or is
+it that this obscure and ill-destined one alone is marked out as with a deep
+white cross for humiliation and ruin? Father, and Sacred Temple of Ancestral
+Virtues, wherein the meanest can repose their trust, he has none; while now,
+being more destitute than the beggar at the gate, the hope of honourable
+marriage and a robust family of sons is more remote than the chance of finding
+the miracle-working Crystal Image which marks the last footstep of the Pure
+One. Yesterday this person possessed no secret store of silver or gold, nor had
+he knowledge of any special amount of jade hidden among the mountains, but to
+his call there responded four score goats, the most select and majestic to be
+found in all the Province, of which, nevertheless, it was his yearly custom to
+sacrifice one, as those here can testify, and to offer another as a duty to the
+Yamen of Ping Siang, in neither case opening his eyes widely when the hour for
+selecting arrived. Yet in what an unseemly manner is his respectful piety and
+courteous loyalty rewarded! To-day, before this person went forth on his usual
+quest, there came those bearing written papers by which they claimed, on the
+authority of Ping Siang, the whole of this person&rsquo;s flock, as a
+punishment and fine for his not contributing without warning to the Celebration
+of Kissing the Emperor&rsquo;s Face&mdash;the very obligation of such a matter
+being entirely unknown to him. Nevertheless, those who came drove off this
+person&rsquo;s entire wealth, the desperately won increase of a life full of
+great toil and uncomplainingly endured hardship, leaving him only his cave in
+the rocks, which even the most grasping of many-handed Mandarins cannot remove,
+his cloak of skins, which no beggar would gratefully receive, and a bright and
+increasing light of deep hate scorching within his mind which nothing but the
+blood of the obdurate extortioner can efficiently quench. No protection of
+charms or heavily-mailed bowmen shall avail him, for in his craving for just
+revenge this person will meet witchcraft with a Heaven-sent cause and oppose an
+unsleeping subtlety against strength. Therefore let not the innocent suffer
+through an insufficient understanding, O Divine One, but direct the hand of
+your faithful worshipper towards the heart that is proud in tyranny, and holds
+as empty words the clearly defined promise of an all-seeing justice.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Scarcely had Yang Hu made an end of speaking before there happened an event
+which could be regarded in no other light than as a direct answer to his
+plainly expressed request for a definite sign. Upon the clear air, which had
+become unnaturally still at Yang Hu&rsquo;s words, as though to remove any
+chance of doubt that this indeed was the requested answer, came the loud
+beating of many very powerful brass gongs, indicating the approach of some
+person of undoubted importance. In a very brief period the procession reached
+the square, the gong-beaters being followed by persons carrying banners, bowmen
+in armour, others bearing various weapons and instruments of torture, slaves
+displaying innumerable changes of raiment to prove the rank and consequence of
+their master, umbrella carriers and fan wavers, and finally, preceded by
+incense burners and surrounded by servants who cleared away all obstructions by
+means of their formidable and heavily knotted lashes, the unworthy and
+deceitful Mandarin Ping Siang, who sat in a silk-hung and elaborately wrought
+chair, looking from side to side with gestures and expressions of contempt and
+ill-restrained cupidity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the sign of this powerful but unscrupulous person all those who were present
+fell upon their faces, leaving a broad space in their midst, except Yang Hu,
+who stepped back into the shadow of a doorway, being resolved that he would not
+prostrate himself before one whom Heaven had pointed out as the proper object
+of his just vengeance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the chair of Ping Siang could no longer be observed in the distance, and
+the sound of his many gongs had died away, all the persons who had knelt at his
+approach rose to their feet, meeting each other&rsquo;s eyes with glances of
+assured and profound significance. At length there stepped forth an exceedingly
+aged man, who was generally believed to have the power of reading omens and
+forecasting futures, so that at his upraised hand all persons became silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold!&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;none can turn aside in doubt from
+the deliberately pointed finger of Buddha. Henceforth, in spite of the
+well-intentioned suggestions of those who would shield him under the plea of
+exacting orders from high ones at Peking or extortions practised by slaves
+under him of which he is ignorant, there can no longer be any two voices
+concerning the guilty one. Yet what does the knowledge of the cormorant&rsquo;s
+cry avail the golden carp in the shallow waters of the Yuen-Kiang? A prickly
+mormosa is an adequate protection against a naked man armed only with a just
+cause, and a company of bowmen has been known to quench an entire city&rsquo;s
+Heaven-felt desire for retribution. This person, and doubtless others also,
+would have experienced a more heartfelt enthusiasm in the matter if the sublime
+and omnipotent Buddha had gone a step further, and pointed out not only the one
+to be punished, but also the instrument by which the destiny could be prudently
+and effectively accomplished.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the mountain path which led to Yang Hu&rsquo;s cave came a voice, like an
+expressly devised reply to this speech. It was that of some person uttering the
+&ldquo;Chant of Rewards and Penalties&rdquo;:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;How strong is the mountain sycamore!<br/>
+    &ldquo;Its branches reach the Middle Air, and the eye of none can pierce
+its foliage;<br/>
+    &ldquo;It draws power and nourishment from all around, so that weeds alone
+may flourish under its shadow.<br/>
+    &ldquo;Robbers find safety within the hollow of its trunk; its branches
+hide vampires and all manner of evil things which prey upon the innocent;<br/>
+    &ldquo;The wild boar of the forest sharpen their tusks against the bark,
+for it is harder than flint, and the axe of the woodsman turns back upon the
+striker.<br/>
+    &ldquo;Then cries the sycamore, &lsquo;Hail and rain have no power against
+me, nor can the fiercest sun penetrate beyond my outside fringe;<br/>
+    &ldquo;&lsquo;The man who impiously raises his hand against me falls by his
+own stroke and weapon.<br/>
+    &ldquo;&lsquo;Can there be a greater or a more powerful than this one?
+Assuredly, <i>I</i> am Buddha; let all things obey me.&rsquo;<br/>
+    &ldquo;Whereupon the weeds bow their heads, whispering among themselves,
+&lsquo;The voice of the Tall One we hear, but not that of Buddha. Indeed, it is
+doubtless as he says.&rsquo;<br/>
+    &ldquo;In his musk-scented Heaven Buddha laughs, and not deigning to raise
+his head from the lap of the Phœnix Goddess, he thrusts forth a stone which
+lies by his foot.<br/>
+    &ldquo;Saying, &lsquo;A god&rsquo;s present for a god. Take it carefully, O
+presumptuous Little One, for it is hot to the touch.&rsquo;<br/>
+    &ldquo;The thunderbolt falls and the mighty tree is rent in twain.
+&lsquo;They asked for my messenger,&rsquo; said the Pure One, turning again to
+repose.<br/>
+    &ldquo;<i>Lo, he comes</i>!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With the last spoken word there came into the sight of those who were collected
+together a person of stern yet engaging appearance. His hands and face were the
+colour of mulberry stain by long exposure to the sun, while his eyes looked
+forth like two watch-fires outside a wolf-haunted camp. His long pigtail was
+tangled with the binding tendrils of the forest, and damp with the dew of an
+open couch. His apparel was in no way striking or brilliant, yet he strode with
+the dignity and air of a high official, pushing before him a covered box upon
+wheels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is Tung Fel!&rdquo; cried many who stood there watching his approach,
+in tones which showed those who spoke to be inspired by a variety of impressive
+emotions. &ldquo;Undoubtedly this is the seventh day of the month of Winged
+Dragons, and, as he specifically stated would be the case, lo! he has
+come.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Few were the words of greeting which Tung Fel accorded even to the most
+venerable of those who awaited him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This person has slept, partaken of fruit and herbs, and devoted an
+allotted time to inward contemplation,&rdquo; he said briefly. &ldquo;Other and
+more weighty matters than the exchange of dignified compliments and the
+admiration of each other&rsquo;s profiles remain to be accomplished. What, for
+example, is the significance of the written parchment which is displayed in so
+obtrusive a manner before our eyes? Bring it to this person without
+delay.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words all those present followed Tung Fel&rsquo;s gaze with
+astonishment, for conspicuously displayed upon the wall of the Temple was a
+written notice which all joined in asserting had not been there the moment
+before, though no man had approached the spot. Nevertheless it was quickly
+brought to Tung Fel, who took it without any fear or hesitation and read aloud
+the words which it contained.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;TO THE CUSTOM-RESPECTING PERSONS OF CHING-FOW.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Truly the span of existence of any upon this earth is brief and not to
+be considered; therefore, O unfortunate dwellers of Ching-fow, let it not
+affect your digestion that your bodies are in peril of sudden and most
+excruciating tortures and your Family Temples in danger of humiliating
+disregard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do your thoughts follow the actions of the noble Mandarin Ping Siang
+so insidiously, and why after each unjust exaction do your eyes look redly
+towards the Yamen?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is he not the little finger of those at Peking, obeying their commands
+and only carrying out the taxation which others have devised? Indeed, he
+himself has stated such to be the fact. If, therefore, a terrible and
+unforeseen fate overtook the usually cautious and well-armed Ping Siang,
+doubtless&mdash;perhaps after the lapse of some considerable time&mdash;another
+would be sent from Peking for a like purpose, and in this way, after a
+too-brief period of heaven-sent rest and prosperity, affairs would regulate
+themselves into almost as unendurable a condition as before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Therefore ponder these things well, O passer-by. Yesterday the only
+man-child of Huang the wood-carver was taken away to be sold into slavery by
+the emissaries of the most just Ping Siang (who would not have acted thus, we
+are assured, were it not for the insatiable ones at Peking), as it had become
+plain that the very necessitous Huang had no other possession to contribute to
+the amount to be expended in coloured lights as a mark of public rejoicing on
+the occasion of the moonday of the sublime Emperor. The illiterate and
+prosaic-minded Huang, having in a most unseemly manner reviled and even
+assailed those who acted in the matter, has been effectively disposed of, and
+his wife now alternately laughs and shrieks in the Establishment of Irregular
+Intellects.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For this reason, gazer, and because the matter touches you more closely
+than, in your self-imagined security, you are prone to think, deal expediently
+with the time at your disposal. Look twice and lingeringly to-night upon the
+face of your first-born, and clasp the form of your favourite one in a closer
+embrace, for he by whose hand the blow is directed may already have cast
+devouring eyes upon their fairness, and to-morrow he may say to his armed men:
+&lsquo;The time is come; bring her to me.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From the last sentence of the well-intentioned and undoubtedly
+moderately-framed notice this person will take two phrases,&rdquo; remarked
+Tung Fel, folding the written paper and placing it among his garments,
+&ldquo;which shall serve him as the title of the lifelike and
+accurately-represented play which it is his self-conceited intention now to
+disclose to this select and unprejudiced gathering. The scene represents an
+enlightened and well-merited justice overtaking an arrogant and intolerable
+being who&mdash;need this person add?&mdash;existed many dynasties ago, and the
+title is:
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;THE TIME IS COME!<br />
+BY WHOSE HAND?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Delivering himself in this manner, Tung Fel drew back the hanging drapery which
+concealed the front of his large box, and disclosed to those who were gathered
+round, not, as they had expected, a passage from the Record of the Three
+Kingdoms, or some other dramatic work of undoubted merit, but an ingeniously
+constructed representation of a scene outside the walls of their own Ching-fow.
+On one side was a small but minutely accurate copy of a wood-burner&rsquo;s
+hut, which was known to all present, while behind stood out the distant but
+nevertheless unmistakable walls of the city. But it was the nearest part of the
+spectacle that first held the attention of the entranced beholders, for there
+disported themselves, in every variety of guileless and attractive attitude, a
+number of young and entirely unconcerned doves. Scarcely had the delighted
+onlookers fully observed the pleasing and effective scene, or uttered their
+expressions of polished satisfaction at the graceful and unassuming behaviour
+of the pretty creatures before them, than the view entirely changed, and, as if
+by magic, the massive and inelegant building of Ping Siang&rsquo;s Yamen was
+presented before them. As all gazed, astonished, the great door of the Yamen
+opened stealthily, and without a moment&rsquo;s pause a lean and
+ill-conditioned rat, of unnatural size and rapacity, dashed out and seized the
+most select and engaging of the unsuspecting prey in its hungry jaws. With the
+expiring cry of the innocent victim the entire box was immediately, and in the
+most unexpected manner, involved in a profound darkness, which cleared away as
+suddenly and revealed the forms of the despoiler and the victim lying dead by
+each other&rsquo;s side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tung Fel came forward to receive the well-selected compliments of all who had
+witnessed the entertainment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may be objected,&rdquo; he remarked, &ldquo;that the play is, in a
+manner of expressing one&rsquo;s self, incomplete; for it is unrevealed by
+whose hand the act of justice was accomplished. Yet in this detail is the
+accuracy of the representation justified, for though the time has come, the
+hand by which retribution is accorded shall never be observed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In such a manner did Tung Fel come to Ching-fow on the seventh day of the month
+of Winged Dragons, throwing aside all restraint, and no longer urging prudence
+or delay. Of all the throng which stood before him scarcely one was without a
+deep offence against Ping Siang, while those who had not as yet suffered feared
+what the morrow might display.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A wandering monk from the Island of Irredeemable Plagues was the first to step
+forth in response to Tung Fel&rsquo;s plainly understood suggestion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is no necessity for this person to undertake further acts of
+benevolence,&rdquo; he remarked, dropping the cloak from his shoulder and
+displaying the hundred and eight scars of extreme virtue; &ldquo;nor,&rdquo; he
+continued, holding up his left hand, from which three fingers were burnt away,
+&ldquo;have greater endurances been neglected. Yet the matter before this
+distinguished gathering is one which merits the favourable consideration of all
+persons, and this one will in no manner turn away, recounting former actions,
+while he allows others to press forward towards the accomplishment of the just
+and divinely-inspired act.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With these words the devout and unassuming person in question inscribed his
+name upon a square piece of rice-paper, attesting his sincerity to the fixed
+purpose for which it was designed by dipping his thumb into the mixed blood of
+the slain animals and impressing this unalterable seal upon the paper also. He
+was followed by a seller of drugs and subtle medicines, whose entire stock had
+been seized and destroyed by order of Ping Siang, so that no one in Ching-fow
+might obtain poison for his destruction. Then came an overwhelming stream of
+persons, all of whom had received some severe and well-remembered injury at the
+hands of the malicious and vindictive Mandarin. All these followed a similar
+observance, inscribing their names and binding themselves by the Blood Oath.
+Last of all Yang Hu stepped up, partly from a natural modesty which restrained
+him from offering himself when so many more versatile persons of proved
+excellence were willing to engage in the matter, and partly because an
+ill-advised conflict was taking place within his mind as to whether the extreme
+course which was contemplated was the most expedient to pursue. At last,
+however, he plainly perceived that he could not honourably withhold himself
+from an affair that was in a measure the direct outcome of his own unendurable
+loss, so that without further hesitation he added his obscure name to the many
+illustrious ones already in Tung Fel&rsquo;s keeping.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When at length dark fell upon the city and the cries of the watchmen, warning
+all prudent ones to bar well their doors against robbers, as they themselves
+were withdrawing until the morrow, no longer rang through the narrow ways of
+Ching-fow, all those persons who had pledged themselves by name and seal went
+forth silently, and came together at the place whereof Tung Fel had secretly
+conveyed them knowledge. There Tung Fel, standing somewhat apart, placed all
+the folded papers in the form of a circle, and having performed over them
+certain observances designed to insure a just decision and to keep away evil
+influences, submitted the selection to the discriminating choice of the Sacred
+Flat and Round Sticks. Having in this manner secured the name of the appointed
+person who should carry out the act of justice and retribution, Tung Fel
+unfolded the paper, inscribed certain words upon it, and replaced it among the
+others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The moment before great deeds,&rdquo; began Tung Fel, stepping forward
+and addressing himself to the expectant ones who were gathered round, &ldquo;is
+not the time for light speech, nor, indeed, for sentences of dignified length,
+no matter how pleasantly turned to the ear they may be. Before this person
+stand many who are undoubtedly illustrious in various arts and virtues, yet one
+among them is pre-eminently marked out for distinction in that his name shall
+be handed down in imperishable history as that of a patriot of a pure-minded
+and uncompromising degree. With him there is no need of further speech, and to
+this end I have inscribed certain words upon his namepaper. To everyone this
+person will now return the paper which has been entrusted to him, folded so
+that the nature of its contents shall be an unwritten leaf to all others. Nor
+shall the papers be unfolded by any until he is within his own chamber, with
+barred doors, where all, save the one who shall find the message, shall remain,
+not venturing forth until daybreak. I, Tung Fel, have spoken, and assuredly I
+shall not eat my word, which is that a certain and most degrading death awaits
+any who transgress these commands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was with the short and sudden breath of the cowering antelope when the
+stealthy tread of the pitiless tiger approaches its lair, that Yang Hu opened
+his paper in the seclusion of his own cave; for his mind was darkened with an
+inspired inside emotion that he, the one doubting among the eagerly proffering
+and destructively inclined multitude, would be chosen to accomplish the high
+aim for which, indeed, he felt exceptionally unworthy. The written sentence
+which he perceived immediately upon unfolding the paper, instructing him to
+appear again before Tung Fel at the hour of midnight, was, therefore, nothing
+but the echo and fulfilment of his own thoughts, and served in reality to
+impress his mind with calmer feelings of dignified unconcern than would have
+been the case had he not been chosen. Having neither possessions nor relations,
+the occupation of disposing of his goods and making ceremonious and
+affectionate leavetakings of his family, against the occurrence of any
+unforeseen disaster, engrossed no portion of Yang Hu&rsquo;s time. Yet there
+was one matter to which no reference has yet been made, but which now forces
+itself obtrusively upon the attention, which was in a large measure responsible
+for many of the most prominent actions of Yang Hu&rsquo;s life, and, indeed, in
+no small degree influenced his hesitation in offering himself before Tung Fel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not a bowshot distance from the place where the mountain path entered the
+outskirts of the city lived Hiya-ai-Shao with her parents, who were persons of
+assured position, though of no particular wealth. For a period not confined to
+a single year it had been the custom of Yang Hu to offer to this elegant and
+refined maiden all the rarest pieces of jade which he could discover, while the
+most symmetrical and remunerative she-goat in his flock enjoyed the honourable
+distinction of bearing her incomparable name. Towards the almond garden of
+Hiya&rsquo;s abode Yang Hu turned his footsteps upon leaving his cave, and
+standing there, concealed from all sides by the white and abundant flower-laden
+foliage, he uttered a sound which had long been an agreed signal between them.
+Presently a faint perfume of choo-lan spoke of her near approach, and without
+delay Hiya herself stood by his side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well-endowed one,&rdquo; said Yang Hu, when at length they had gazed
+upon each other&rsquo;s features and made renewals of their protestations of
+mutual regard, &ldquo;the fixed intentions of a person have often been fitly
+likened to the seed of the tree-peony, so ineffectual are their efforts among
+the winds of constantly changing circumstance. The definite hope of this person
+had long pointed towards a small but adequate habitation, surrounded by
+sweet-smelling olive-trees and not far distant from the jade cliffs and
+pastures which would afford a sufficient remuneration and a means of living.
+This entrancing picture has been blotted out for the time, and in its place
+this person finds himself face to face with an arduous and dangerous
+undertaking, followed, perhaps, by hasty and immediate flight. Yet if the
+adorable Hiya will prove the unchanging depths of her constantly expressed
+intention by accompanying him as far as the village of Hing where suitable
+marriage ceremonies can be observed without delay, the exile will in reality be
+in the nature of a triumphal procession, and the emotions with which this
+person has hitherto regarded the entire circumstance will undergo a complete
+and highly accomplished change.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Yang!&rdquo; exclaimed the maiden, whose feelings at hearing these
+words were in no way different from those of her lover when he was on the point
+of opening the folded paper upon which Tung Fel had written; &ldquo;what is the
+nature of the mission upon which you are so impetuously resolved? and why will
+it be followed by flight?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The nature of the undertaking cannot be revealed by reason of a
+deliberately taken oath,&rdquo; replied Yang Hu; &ldquo;and the reason of its
+possible consequence is a less important question to the two persons who are
+here conversing together than of whether the amiable and graceful Hiya is
+willing to carry out her often-expressed desire for an opportunity of
+displaying the true depths of her emotions towards this one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; said Hiya, &ldquo;the sentiments which this person
+expressed with irreproachable honourableness when the sun was high in the
+heavens and the probability of secretly leaving an undoubtedly well-appointed
+home was engagingly remote, seem to have an entirely different significance
+when recalled by night in a damp orchard, and on the eve of their fulfilment.
+To deceive one&rsquo;s parents is an ignoble prospect; furthermore, it is often
+an exceedingly difficult undertaking. Let the matter be arranged in this way:
+that Yang leaves the ultimate details of the scheme to Hiya&rsquo;s expedient
+care, he proceeding without delay to Hing, or, even more desirable, to the
+further town of Liyunnan, and there awaiting her coming. By such means the risk
+of discovery and pursuit will be lessened, Yang will be able to set forth on
+his journey with greater speed, and this one will have an opportunity of
+getting together certain articles without which, indeed, she would be very
+inadequately equipped.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In spite of his conscientious desire that Hiya should be by his side on the
+journey, together with an unendurable certainty that evil would arise from the
+course she proposed, Yang was compelled by an innate feeling of respect to
+agree to her wishes, and in this manner the arrangement was definitely
+concluded. Thereupon Hiya, without delay, returned to the dwelling, remarking
+that otherwise her absence might be detected and the entire circumstance
+thereby discovered, leaving Yang Hu to continue his journey and again present
+himself before Tung Fel, as he had been instructed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tung Fel was engaged with brush and ink when Yang Hu entered. Round him were
+many written parchments, some venerable with age, and a variety of other
+matters, among which might be clearly perceived weapons, and devices for
+reading the future. He greeted Yang with many tokens of dignified respect, and
+with an evidently restrained emotion led him towards the light of a hanging
+lantern, where he gazed into his face for a considerable period with every
+indication of exceptional concern.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yang Hu,&rdquo; he said at length, &ldquo;at such a moment many dark and
+searching thoughts may naturally arise in the mind concerning objects and
+reasons, omens, and the moving cycle of events. Yet in all these, out of a
+wisdom gained by deep endurance and a hardly-won experience beyond the common
+lot, this person would say, Be content. The hand of destiny, though it may at
+times appear to move in a devious manner, is ever approaching its appointed
+aim. To this end were you chosen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The choice was openly made by wise and proficient omens,&rdquo; replied
+Yang Hu, without any display of uncertainty of purpose, &ldquo;and this person
+is content.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tung Fel then administered to Yang the Oath of Buddha&rsquo;s Face and the One
+called the Unutterable (which may not be further described in written words)
+thereby binding his body and soul, and the souls and repose of all who had gone
+before him in direct line and all who should in a like manner follow after, to
+the accomplishment of the design. All spoken matter being thus complete between
+them, he gave him a mask with which he should pass unknown through the streets
+and into the presence of Ping Siang, a variety of weapons to use as the
+occasion arose, and a sign by which the attendants at the Yamen would admit him
+without further questioning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Yang Hu passed through the streets of Ching-fow, which were in a great
+measure deserted owing to the command of Tung Fel, he was aware of many
+mournful and foreboding sounds which accompanied him on all sides, while
+shadowy faces, bearing signs of intolerable anguish and despair, continually
+formed themselves out of the wind. By the time he reached the Yamen a tempest
+of exceptional violence was in progress, nor were other omens absent which
+tended to indicate that matters of a very unpropitious nature were about to
+take place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At each successive door of the Yamen the attendant stepped back and covered his
+face, so that he should by no chance perceive who had come upon so destructive
+a mission, the instant Yang Hu uttered the sign with which Tung Fel had
+provided him. In this manner Yang quickly reached the door of the inner chamber
+upon which was inscribed: &ldquo;Let the person who comes with a doubtful
+countenance, unbidden, or meditating treachery, remember the curse and manner
+of death which attended Lai Kuen, who slew the one over him; so shall he turn
+and go forth in safety.&rdquo; This unworthy safeguard at the hands of a person
+who passed his entire life in altering the fixed nature of justice, and who
+never went beyond his outer gate without an armed company of bowmen, inspired
+Yang Hu with so incautious a contempt, that without any hesitation he drew
+forth his brush and ink, and in a spirit of bitter signification added the
+words, &ldquo;&lsquo;Come, let us eat together,&rsquo; said the wolf to the
+she-goat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Being now within a step of Ping Siang and the completion of his undertaking,
+Yang Hu drew tighter the cords of his mask, tested and proved his weapons, and
+then, without further delay, threw open the door before him and stepped into
+the chamber, barring the door quickly so that no person might leave or enter
+without his consent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this interruption and manner of behaving, which clearly indicated the nature
+of the errand upon which the person before him had come, Ping Siang rose from
+his couch and stretched out his hand towards a gong which lay beside him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All summonses for aid are now unavailing, Ping Siang,&rdquo; exclaimed
+Yang, without in any measure using delicate or set phrases of speech;
+&ldquo;for, as you have doubtless informed yourself, the slaves of tyrants are
+the first to welcome the downfall of their lord.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The matter of your speech is as emptiness to this person,&rdquo; replied
+the Mandarin, affecting with extreme difficulty an appearance of no-concern.
+&ldquo;In what manner has he fallen? And how will the depraved and self-willed
+person before him avoid the well-deserved tortures which certainly await him in
+the public square on the morrow, as the reward of his intolerable
+presumptions?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Mandarin,&rdquo; cried Yang Hu, &ldquo;the fitness and occasion for
+such speeches as the one to which you have just given utterance lie as far
+behind you as the smoke of yesterday&rsquo;s sacrifice. With what manner of
+eyes have you frequently journeyed through Ching-fow of late, if the signs and
+omens there have not already warned you to prepare a coffin adequately designed
+to receive your well-proportioned body? Has not the pungent vapour of burning
+houses assailed your senses at every turn, or the salt tears from the eyes of
+forlorn ones dashed your peach-tea and spiced foods with bitterness?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; exclaimed Ping Siang, &ldquo;this person now certainly
+begins to perceive that many things which he has unthinkingly allowed would
+present a very unendurable face to others.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In such a manner has it appeared to all Ching-fow,&rdquo; said Yang Hu;
+&ldquo;and the justice of your death has been universally admitted. Even should
+this one fail there would be an innumerable company eager to take his place.
+Therefore, O Ping Siang, as the only favour which it is within this
+person&rsquo;s power to accord, select that which in your opinion is the most
+agreeable manner and weapon for your end.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is truly said that at the Final Gate of the Two Ways the necessity
+for elegant and well-chosen sentences ends,&rdquo; remarked Ping Siang with a
+sigh, &ldquo;otherwise the manner of your address would be open to reproach. By
+your side this person perceives a long and apparently highly-tempered sword,
+which, in his opinion, will serve the purpose efficiently. Having no remarks of
+an improving but nevertheless exceedingly tedious nature with which to imprint
+the occasion for the benefit of those who come after, his only request is that
+the blow shall be an unhesitating and sufficiently well-directed one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words Yang Hu threw back his cloak to grasp the sword-handle, when the
+Mandarin, with his eyes fixed on the naked arm, and evidently inspired by every
+manner of conflicting emotions, uttered a cry of unspeakable wonder and
+incomparable surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Serpent!&rdquo; he cried, in a voice from which all evenness and
+control were absent. &ldquo;The Sacred Serpent of our Race! O mysterious one,
+who and whence are you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Engulfed in an all-absorbing doubt at the nature of events, Yang could only
+gaze at the form of the serpent which had been clearly impressed upon his arm
+from the earliest time of his remembrance, while Ping Siang, tearing the silk
+garment from his own arm and displaying thereon a similar form, continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold the inevitable and unvarying birthmark of our race! So it was
+with this person&rsquo;s father and the ones before him; so it was with his
+treacherously-stolen son; so it will be to the end of all time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Trembling beyond all power of restraint, Yang removed the mask which had
+hitherto concealed his face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Father or race has this person none,&rdquo; he said, looking into Ping
+Siang&rsquo;s features with an all-engaging hope, tempered in a measure by a
+soul-benumbing dread; &ldquo;nor memory or tradition of an earlier state than
+when he herded goats and sought for jade in the southern mountains.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; exclaimed the Mandarin, whose countenance was
+lightened with an interest and a benevolent emotion which had never been seen
+there before, &ldquo;beyond all possibility of doubting, you are this
+person&rsquo;s lost and greatly-desired son, stolen away many years ago by the
+treacherous conduct of an unworthy woman, yet now happily and miraculously
+restored to cherish his declining years and perpetuate an honourable name and
+race.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Happily!&rdquo; exclaimed Yang, with fervent indications of
+uncontrollable bitterness. &ldquo;Oh, my illustrious sire, at whose venerated
+feet this unworthy person now prostrates himself with well-merited marks of
+reverence and self-abasement, has the errand upon which an ignoble son
+entered&mdash;the every memory of which now causes him the acutest agony of the
+lost, but which nevertheless he is pledged to Tung Fel by the Unutterable Oath
+to perform&mdash;has this unnatural and eternally cursed thing escaped your
+versatile mind?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tung Fel!&rdquo; cried Ping Siang. &ldquo;Is, then, this blow also by
+the hand of that malicious and vindictive person? Oh, what a cycle of events
+and interchanging lines of destiny do your words disclose!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who, then, is Tung Fel, my revered Father?&rdquo; demanded Yang.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a matter which must be made clear from the beginning,&rdquo;
+replied Ping Siang. &ldquo;At one time this person and Tung Fel were, by nature
+and endowments, united in the most amiable bonds of an inseparable friendship.
+Presently Tung Fel signed the preliminary contract of a marriage with one who
+seemed to be endowed with every variety of enchanting and virtuous grace, but
+who was, nevertheless, as the unrolling of future events irresistibly
+discovered, a person of irregular character and undignified habits. On the eve
+of the marriage ceremony this person was made known to her by the undoubtedly
+enraptured Tung Fel, whereupon he too fell into the snare of her engaging
+personality, and putting aside all thoughts of prudent restraint, made her more
+remunerative offers of marriage than Tung Fel could by any possible chance
+overbid. In such a manner&mdash;for after the nature of her kind riches were
+exceptionally attractive to her degraded imagination&mdash;she became this
+person&rsquo;s wife, and the mother of his only son. In spite of these great
+honours, however, the undoubted perversity of her nature made her an easy
+accomplice to the duplicity of Tung Fel, who, by means of various disguises,
+found frequent opportunity of uttering in her presence numerous
+well-thought-out suggestions specially designed to lead her imagination towards
+an existence in which this person had no adequate representation. Becoming at
+length terrified at the possibility of these unworthy emotions, obtruding
+themselves upon this person&rsquo;s notice, the two in question fled together,
+taking with them the one who without any doubt is now before me. Despite the
+most assiduous search and very tempting and profitable offers of reward, no
+information of a reliable nature could be obtained, and at length this
+dispirited and completely changed person gave up the pursuit as unavailing.
+With his son and heir, upon whose future he had greatly hoped, all emotions of
+a generous and high-minded nature left him, and in a very short space of time
+he became the avaricious and deservedly unpopular individual against whose
+extortions the amiable and long-suffering ones of Ching-fow have for so many
+years protested mildly. The sudden and not altogether unexpected fate which is
+now on the point of reaching him is altogether too lenient to be entirely
+adequate.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, my distinguished and really immaculate sire!&rdquo; cried Yang Hu,
+in a voice which expressed the deepest feelings of contrition. &ldquo;No oaths
+or vows, however sacred, can induce this person to stretch forth his hand
+against the one who stands before him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; replied Ping Siang, speaking of the matter as
+though it were one which did not closely concern his own existence, &ldquo;to
+neglect the Unutterable Oath would inevitably involve not only the two persons
+who are now conversing together, but also those before and those who are to
+come after in direct line, in a much worse condition of affairs. That is a fate
+which this person would by no means permit to exist, for one of his chief
+desires has ever been to establish a strong and vigorous line, to which end,
+indeed, he was even now concluding a marriage arrangement with the beautiful
+and refined Hiya-ai-Shao, whom he had at length persuaded into accepting his
+betrothal tokens without reluctance.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hiya-ai-Shao!&rdquo; exclaimed Yang; &ldquo;she has accepted your
+silk-bound gifts?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The matter need not concern us now,&rdquo; replied the Mandarin, not
+observing in his complicated emotions the manner in which the name of Hiya had
+affected Yang, revealing as it undoubtedly did the treachery of his beloved
+one. &ldquo;There only appears to be one honourable way in which the full
+circumstances can be arranged, and this person will in no measure endeavour to
+avoid it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such an end is neither ignoble nor painful,&rdquo; he said, in an
+unchanging voice; &ldquo;nor will this one in any way shrink from so easy and
+honourable a solution.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The affairs of the future do not exhibit themselves in delicately
+coloured hues to this person,&rdquo; said Yang Hu; &ldquo;and he would, if the
+thing could be so arranged, cheerfully submit to a similar fate in order that a
+longer period of existence should be assured to one who has every variety of
+claim upon his affection.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The proposal is a graceful and conscientious one,&rdquo; said Ping
+Siang, &ldquo;and is, moreover, a gratifying omen of the future of our race,
+which must of necessity be left in your hands. But, for that reason itself,
+such a course cannot be pursued. Nevertheless, the events of the past few hours
+have been of so exceedingly prosperous and agreeable a nature that this
+short-sighted and frequently desponding person can now pass beyond with a
+tranquil countenance and every assurance of divine favour.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With these words Ping Siang indicated that he was desirous of setting forth the
+Final Expression, and arranging the necessary matters upon the table beside
+him, he stretched forth his hands over Yang Hu, who placed himself in a
+suitable attitude of reverence and abasement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yang Hu,&rdquo; began the Mandarin, &ldquo;undoubted son, and, after the
+accomplishment of the intention which it is our fixed purpose to carry out,
+fitting representative of the person who is here before you, engrave well
+within your mind the various details upon which he now gives utterance. Regard
+the virtues; endeavour to pass an amiable and at the same time not
+unremunerative existence; and on all occasions sacrifice freely, to the end
+that the torments of those who have gone before may be made lighter, and that
+others may be induced in turn to perform a like benevolent charity for
+yourself. Having expressed himself upon these general subjects, this person now
+makes a last and respectfully-considered desire, which it is his deliberate
+wish should be carried to the proper deities as his final expression of
+opinion: That Yang Hu may grow as supple as the dried juice of the
+bending-palm, and as straight as the most vigorous bamboo from the forests of
+the North. That he may increase beyond the prolificness of the white-necked
+crow and cover the ground after the fashion of the binding grass. That in
+battle his sword may be as a vividly-coloured and many-forked lightning flash,
+accompanied by thunderbolts as irresistible as Buddha&rsquo;s divine wrath; in
+peace his voice as resounding as the rolling of many powerful drums among the
+Khingan Mountains. That when the kindled fire of his existence returns to the
+great Mountain of Pure Flame the earth shall accept again its component parts,
+and in no way restrain the divine essence from journeying to its destined
+happiness. These words are Ping Siang&rsquo;s last expression of opinion before
+he passes beyond, given in the unvarying assurance that so sacred and important
+a petition will in no way be neglected.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having in this manner completed all the affairs which seemed to be of a
+necessary and urgent nature, and fixing his last glance upon Yang Hu with every
+variety of affectionate and estimable emotion, the Mandarin drank a sufficient
+quantity of the liquid, and placing himself upon a couch in an attitude of
+repose, passed in this dignified and unassuming manner into the Upper Air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the space of a few moments spent in arranging certain objects and in
+inward contemplation, Yang Hu crossed the chamber, still holding the
+half-filled vessel of gold-leaf in his hand, and drawing back the hanging silk,
+gazed over the silent streets of Ching-fow and towards the great sky-lantern
+above.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hiya is faithless,&rdquo; he said at length in an unspeaking voice;
+&ldquo;this person&rsquo;s mother a bitter-tasting memory, his father a swiftly
+passing shadow that is now for ever lost.&rdquo; His eyes rested upon the
+closed vessel in his hand. &ldquo;Gladly would&mdash;&rdquo; his thoughts
+began, but with this unworthy image a new impression formed itself within his
+mind. &ldquo;A clearly-expressed wish was uttered,&rdquo; he concluded,
+&ldquo;and Tung Fel still remains.&rdquo; With this resolution he stepped back
+into the chamber and struck the gong loudly.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"></a>
+VII.<br />
+THE CAREER OF THE CHARITABLE QUEN-KI-TONG</h2>
+
+<h3>FIRST PERIOD:<br />
+THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL</h3>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The motives which inspired the actions of the devout Quen-Ki-Tong have
+long been ill-reported,&rdquo; said Kai Lung the story-teller, upon a certain
+occasion at Wu-whei, &ldquo;and, as a consequence, his illustrious memory has
+suffered somewhat. Even as the insignificant earth-worm may bring the precious
+and many coloured jewel to the surface, so has it been permitted to this
+obscure and superficially educated one to discover the truth of the entire
+matter among the badly-arranged and frequently really illegible documents
+preserved at the Hall of Public Reference at Peking. Without fear of
+contradiction, therefore, he now sets forth the credible version.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quen-Ki-Tong was one who throughout his life had been compelled by the
+opposing force of circumstances to be content with what was offered rather than
+attain to that which he desired. Having been allowed to wander over the edge of
+an exceedingly steep crag, while still a child, by the aged and untrustworthy
+person who had the care of him, and yet suffering little hurt, he was carried
+back to the city in triumph, by the one in question, who, to cover her neglect,
+declared amid many chants of exultation that as he slept a majestic winged form
+had snatched him from her arms and traced magical figures with his body on the
+ground in token of the distinguished sacred existence for which he was
+undoubtedly set apart. In such a manner he became famed at a very early age for
+an unassuming mildness of character and an almost inspired piety of life, so
+that on every side frequent opportunity was given him for the display of these
+amiable qualities. Should it chance that an insufficient quantity of puppy-pie
+had been prepared for the family repast, the undesirable but necessary portion
+of cold dried rat would inevitably be allotted to the uncomplaining Quen,
+doubtless accompanied by the engaging but unnecessary remark that he alone had
+a Heaven-sent intellect which was fixed upon more sublime images than even the
+best constructed puppy-pie. Should the number of sedan-chairs not be sufficient
+to bear to the Exhibition of Kites all who were desirous of becoming
+entertained in such a fashion, inevitably would Quen be the one left behind, in
+order that he might have adequate leisure for dignified and pure-minded
+internal reflexion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In this manner it came about that when a very wealthy but unnaturally
+avaricious and evil-tempered person who was connected with Quen&rsquo;s father
+in matters of commerce expressed his fixed determination that the most
+deserving and enlightened of his friend&rsquo;s sons should enter into a
+marriage agreement with his daughter, there was no manner of hesitation among
+those concerned, who admitted without any questioning between themselves that
+Quen was undeniably the one referred to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Though naturally not possessing an insignificant intellect, a continuous
+habit, together with a most irreproachable sense of filial duty, subdued within
+Quen&rsquo;s internal organs whatever reluctance he might have otherwise
+displayed in the matter, so that as courteously as was necessary he presented
+to the undoubtedly very ordinary and slow-witted maiden in question the gifts
+of irretrievable intention, and honourably carried out his spoken and written
+words towards her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For a period of years the circumstances of the various persons did not
+in any degree change, Quen in the meantime becoming more pure-souled and
+inward-seeing with each moon-change, after the manner of the sublime Lien-ti,
+who studied to maintain an unmoved endurance in all varieties of events by
+placing his body to a greater extent each day in a vessel of boiling liquid.
+Nevertheless, the good and charitable deities to whom Quen unceasingly
+sacrificed were not altogether unmindful of his virtues; for a son was born,
+and an evil disease which arose from a most undignified display of
+uncontrollable emotion on her part ended in his wife being deposited with
+becoming ceremony in the Family Temple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Upon a certain evening, when Quen sat in his inner chamber deliberating
+upon the really beneficent yet somewhat inexplicable arrangement of the
+all-seeing ones to whom he was very amiably disposed in consequence of the
+unwonted tranquillity which he now enjoyed, yet who, it appeared to him, could
+have set out the entire matter in a much more satisfactory way from the
+beginning, he was made aware by the unexpected beating of many gongs, and by
+other signs of refined and deferential welcome, that a person of exalted rank
+was approaching his residence. While he was still hesitating in his uncertainty
+regarding the most courteous and delicate form of self-abasement with which to
+honour so important a visitor&mdash;whether to rush forth and allow the
+chair-carriers to pass over his prostrate form, to make a pretence of being a
+low-caste slave, and in that guise doing menial service, or to conceal himself
+beneath a massive and overhanging table until his guest should have availed
+himself of the opportunity to examine at his leisure whatever the room
+contained&mdash;the person in question stood before him. In every detail of
+dress and appointment he had the undoubted appearance of being one to whom no
+door might be safely closed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Alas!&rsquo; exclaimed Quen, &lsquo;how inferior and
+ill-contrived is the mind of a person of my feeble intellectual attainments.
+Even at this moment, when the near approach of one who obviously commands every
+engaging accomplishment might reasonably be expected to call up within it an
+adequate amount of commonplace resource, its ill-destined possessor finds
+himself entirely incapable of conducting himself with the fitting outward marks
+of his great internal respect. This residence is certainly unprepossessing in
+the extreme, yet it contains many objects of some value and of great rarity;
+illiterate as this person is, he would not be so presumptuous as to offer any
+for your acceptance, but if you will confer upon him the favour of selecting
+that which appears to be the most priceless and unreplaceable, he will
+immediately, and with every manifestation of extreme delight, break it
+irredeemably in your honour, to prove the unaffected depth of his gratified
+emotions.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Quen-Ki-Tong,&rsquo; replied the person before him, speaking with
+an evident sincerity of purpose, &lsquo;pleasant to this one&rsquo;s ears are
+your words, breathing as they do an obvious hospitality and a due regard for
+the forms of etiquette. But if, indeed, you are desirous of gaining this
+person&rsquo;s explicit regard, break no articles of fine porcelain or rare
+inlaid wood in proof of it, but immediately dismiss to a very distant spot the
+three-score gong-beaters who have enclosed him within two solid rings, and who
+are now carrying out their duties in so diligent a manner that he greatly
+doubts if the unimpaired faculties of hearing will ever be fully restored.
+Furthermore, if your exceedingly amiable intentions desire fuller expression,
+cause an unstinted number of vessels of some uninflammable liquid to be
+conveyed into your chrysanthemum garden and there poured over the numerous
+fireworks and coloured lights which still appear to be in progress. Doubtless
+they are well-intentioned marks of respect, but they caused this person
+considerable apprehension as he passed among them, and, indeed, give to this
+unusually pleasant and unassuming spot the by no means inviting atmosphere of a
+low-class tea-house garden during the festivities attending the birthday of the
+sacred Emperor.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;This person is overwhelmed with a most unendurable confusion that
+the matters referred to should have been regarded in such a light,&rsquo;
+replied Quen humbly. &lsquo;Although he himself had no knowledge of them until
+this moment, he is confident that they in no wise differ from the usual
+honourable manifestations with which it is customary in this Province to
+welcome strangers of exceptional rank and titles.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The welcome was of a most dignified and impressive nature,&rsquo;
+replied the stranger, with every appearance of not desiring to cause Quen any
+uneasy internal doubts; &lsquo;yet the fact is none the less true that at the
+moment this person&rsquo;s head seems to contain an exceedingly powerful and
+well-equipped band; and also, that as he passed through the courtyard an
+ingeniously constructed but somewhat unmanageable figure of gigantic size,
+composed entirely of jets of many-coloured flame, leaped out suddenly from
+behind a dark wall and made an almost successful attempt to embrace him in its
+ever-revolving arms. Lo Yuen greatly fears that the time when he would have
+rejoiced in the necessary display of agility to which the incident gave rise
+has for ever passed away.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Lo Yuen!&rsquo; exclaimed Quen, with an unaffected mingling of
+the emotions of reverential awe and pleasureable anticipation. &lsquo;Can it
+indeed be an uncontroversial fact that so learned and ornamental a person as
+the renowned Controller of Unsolicited Degrees stands beneath this inelegant
+person&rsquo;s utterly unpresentable roof! Now, indeed, he plainly understands
+why this ill-conditioned chamber has the appearance of being filled with a
+Heaven-sent brilliance, and why at the first spoken words of the one before him
+a melodious sound, like the rushing waters of the sacred Tien-Kiang, seemed to
+fill his ears.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Undoubtedly the chamber is pervaded by a very exceptional
+splendour,&rsquo; replied Lo Yuen, who, in spite of his high position, regarded
+graceful talk and well-imagined compliments in a spirit of no-satisfaction;
+&lsquo;yet this commonplace-minded one has a fixed conviction that it is caused
+by the crimson-eyed and pink-fire-breathing dragon which, despite your
+slave&rsquo;s most assiduous efforts, is now endeavouring to climb through the
+aperture behind you. The noise which still fills his ears, also, resembles
+rather the despairing cries of the Ten Thousand Lost Ones at the first sight of
+the Pit of Liquid and Red-hot Malachite, yet without question both proceed from
+the same cause. Laying aside further ceremony, therefore, permit this greatly
+over-estimated person to disclose the object of his inopportune visit. Long
+have your amiable virtues been observed and appreciated by the high ones at
+Peking, O Quen-Ki-Tong. Too long have they been unrewarded and passed over in
+silence. Nevertheless, the moment of acknowledgement and advancement has at
+length arrived; for, as the Book of Verses clearly says, &ldquo;Even the
+three-legged mule may contrive to reach the agreed spot in advance of the
+others, provided a circular running space has been selected and the number of
+rounds be sufficiently ample.&rdquo; It is this otherwise uninteresting and
+obtrusive person&rsquo;s graceful duty to convey to you the agreeable
+intelligence that the honourable and not ill-rewarded office of Guarder of the
+Imperial Silkworms has been conferred upon you, and to require you to proceed
+without delay to Peking, so that fitting ceremonies of admittance may be
+performed before the fifteenth day of the month of Feathered Insects.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas! how frequently does the purchaser of seemingly vigorous and
+exceptionally low-priced flower-seeds discover, when too late, that they are,
+in reality, fashioned from the root of the prolific and valueless tzu-ka,
+skilfully covered with a disguising varnish! Instead of presenting himself at
+the place of commerce frequented by those who entrust money to others on the
+promise of an increased repayment when certain very probable events have come
+to pass (so that if all else failed he would still possess a serviceable number
+of taels), Quen-Ki-Tong entirely neglected the demands of a most ordinary
+prudence, nor could he be induced to set out on his journey until he had passed
+seven days in public feasting to mark his good fortune, and then devoted
+fourteen more days to fasting and various acts of penance, in order to make
+known the regret with which he acknowledged his entire unworthiness for the
+honour before him. Owing to this very conscientious, but nevertheless somewhat
+short-sighted manner of behaving, Quen found himself unable to reach Peking
+before the day preceding that to which Lo Yuen had made special reference. From
+this cause it came about that only sufficient time remained to perform the
+various ceremonies of admission, without in any degree counselling Quen as to
+his duties and procedure in the fulfilment of his really important office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Among the many necessary and venerable ceremonies observed during the
+changing periods of the year, none occupy a more important place than those for
+which the fifteenth day of the month of Feathered Insects is reserved,
+conveying as they do a respectful and delicately-fashioned petition that the
+various affairs upon which persons in every condition of life are engaged may
+arrive at a pleasant and remunerative conclusion. At the earliest stroke of the
+gong the versatile Emperor, accompanied by many persons of irreproachable
+ancestry and certain others, very elaborately attired, proceeds to an open
+space set apart for the occasion. With unassuming dexterity the benevolent
+Emperor for a brief span of time engages in the menial occupation of a person
+of low class, and with his own hands ploughs an assigned portion of land in
+order that the enlightened spirits under whose direct guardianship the earth is
+placed may not become lax in their disinterested efforts to promote its
+fruitfulness. In this charitable exertion he is followed by various other
+persons of recognized position, the first being, by custom, the Guarder of the
+Imperial Silkworms, while at the same time the amiably-disposed Empress plants
+an allotted number of mulberry trees, and deposits upon their leaves the
+carefully reared insects which she receives from the hands of their Guarder. In
+the case of the accomplished Emperor an ingenious contrivance is resorted to by
+which the soil is drawn aside by means of hidden strings as the plough passes
+by, the implement in question being itself constructed from paper of the
+highest quality, while the oxen which draw it are, in reality, ordinary persons
+cunningly concealed within masks of cardboard. In this thoughtful manner the
+actual labours of the sublime Emperor are greatly lessened, while no chance is
+afforded for an inauspicious omen to be created by the rebellious behaviour of
+a maliciously-inclined ox, or by any other event of an unforeseen nature. All
+the other persons, however, are required to make themselves proficient in the
+art of ploughing, before the ceremony, so that the chances of the attendant
+spirits discovering the deception which has been practised upon them in the
+case of the Emperor may not be increased by its needless repetition. It was
+chiefly for this reason that Lo Yuen had urged Quen to journey to Peking as
+speedily as possible, but owing to the very short time which remained between
+his arrival and the ceremony of ploughing, not only had the person in question
+neglected to profit by instruction, but he was not even aware of the obligation
+which awaited him. When, therefore, in spite of every respectful protest on his
+part, he was led up to a massively-constructed implement drawn by two powerful
+and undeniably evilly-intentioned-looking animals, it was with every sign of
+great internal misgivings, and an entire absence of enthusiasm in the
+entertainment, that he commenced his not too well understood task. In this
+matter he was by no means mistaken, for it soon became plain to all
+observers&mdash;of whom an immense concourse was assembled&mdash;that the
+usually self-possessed Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms was conducting himself
+in a most undignified manner; for though he still clung to the plough-handles
+with an inspired tenacity, his body assumed every variety of base and
+uninviting attitude. Encouraged by this inelegant state of affairs, the evil
+spirits which are ever on the watch to turn into derision the charitable
+intentions of the pure-minded entered into the bodies of the oxen and provoked
+within their minds a sudden and malignant confidence that the time had arrived
+when they might with safety break into revolt and throw off the outward signs
+of their dependent condition. From these various causes it came about that Quen
+was, without warning, borne with irresistible certainty against the majestic
+person of the sacred Emperor, the inlaid box of Imperial silkworms, which up to
+that time had remained safely among the folds of his silk garment, alone
+serving to avert an even more violent and ill-destined blow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well said the wise and deep-thinking Ye-te, in his book entitled
+<i>Proverbs of Everyday Happenings</i>, &lsquo;Should a person on returning
+from the city discover his house to be in flames, let him examine well the
+change which he has received from the chair-carrier before it is too late; for
+evil never travels alone.&rsquo; Scarcely had the unfortunate Quen recovered
+his natural attributes from the effect of the disgraceful occurrence which has
+been recorded (which, indeed, furnished the matter of a song and many
+unpresentable jests among the low-class persons of the city), than the
+magnanimous Empress reached that detail of the tree-planting ceremony when it
+was requisite that she should deposit the living emblems of the desired
+increase and prosperity upon the leaves. Stretching forth her
+delicately-proportioned hand to Quen for this purpose, she received from the
+still greatly confused person in question the Imperial silkworms in so unseemly
+a condition that her eyes had scarcely rested upon them before she was seized
+with the rigid sickness, and in that state fell to the ground. At this new and
+entirely unforeseen calamity a very disagreeable certainty of approaching evil
+began to take possession of all those who stood around, many crying aloud that
+every omen of good was wanting, and declaring that unless something of a
+markedly propitiatory nature was quickly accomplished, the agriculture of the
+entire Empire would cease to flourish, and the various departments of the
+commerce in silk would undoubtedly be thrown into a state of most inextricable
+confusion. Indeed, in spite of all things designed to have a contrary effect,
+the matter came about in the way predicted, for the Hoang-Ho seven times
+overcame its restraining barriers, and poured its waters over the surrounding
+country, thereby gaining for the first time its well-deserved title of
+&lsquo;The Sorrow of China,&rsquo; by which dishonourable but exceedingly
+appropriate designation it is known to this day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The manner of greeting which would have been accorded to Quen had he
+returned to the official quarter of the city, or the nature of his treatment by
+the baser class of the ordinary people if they succeeded in enticing him to
+come among them, formed a topic of such uninviting conjecture that the
+humane-minded Lo Yuen, who had observed the entire course of events from an
+elevated spot, determined to make a well-directed effort towards his safety. To
+this end he quickly purchased the esteem of several of those who make a
+profession of their strength, holding out the hope of still further reward if
+they conducted the venture to a successful termination. Uttering loud cries of
+an impending vengeance, as Lo Yuen had instructed them in the matter, and
+displaying their exceptional proportions to the astonishment and misgivings of
+all beholders, these persons tore open the opium-tent in which Quen had
+concealed himself, and, thrusting aside all opposition, quickly dragged him
+forth. Holding him high upon their shoulders, in spite of his frequent and
+ill-advised endeavours to cast himself to the ground, some surrounded those who
+bore him&mdash;after the manner of disposing his troops affected by a skilful
+leader when the enemy begin to waver&mdash;and crying aloud that it was their
+unchanging purpose to submit him to the test of burning splinters and
+afterwards to torture him, they succeeded by this stratagem in bringing him
+through the crowd; and hurling back or outstripping those who endeavoured to
+follow, conveyed him secretly and unperceived to a deserted and appointed spot.
+Here Quen was obliged to remain until other events caused the recollection of
+the many to become clouded and unconcerned towards him, suffering frequent
+inconveniences in spite of the powerful protection of Lo Yuen, and not at all
+times being able to regard the most necessary repast as an appointment of
+undoubted certainty. At length, in the guise of a wandering conjurer who was
+unable to display his accomplishments owing to an entire loss of the power of
+movement in his arms, Quen passed undetected from the city, and safely reaching
+the distant and unimportant town of Lu-Kwo, gave himself up to a protracted
+period of lamentation and self-reproach at the unprepossessing manner in which
+he had conducted his otherwise very inviting affairs.
+</p>
+
+<h3>SECOND PERIOD<br/>
+THE TEMPLE BUILDER</h3>
+
+<p>
+Two hand-counts of years passed away and Quen still remained at Lu-kwo, all
+desire of returning either to Peking or to the place of his birth having by
+this time faded into nothingness. Accepting the inevitable fact that he was not
+destined ever to become a person with whom taels were plentiful, and yet being
+unwilling to forego the charitable manner of life which he had always been
+accustomed to observe, it came about that he spent the greater part of his time
+in collecting together such sums of money as he could procure from the amiable
+and well-disposed, and with them building temples and engaging in other
+benevolent works. From this cause it arose the Quen obtained around Lu-kwo a
+reputation for high-minded piety, in no degree less than that which had been
+conferred upon him in earlier times, so that pilgrims from far distant places
+would purposely contrive their journey so as to pass through the town
+containing so unassuming and virtuous a person.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;During this entire period Quen had been accompanied by his only son, a
+youth of respectful personality, in whose entertaining society he took an
+intelligent interest. Even when deeply engaged in what he justly regarded as
+the crowning work of his existence&mdash;the planning and erecting of an
+exceptionally well-endowed marble temple, which was to be entirely covered on
+the outside with silver paper, and on the inside with gold-leaf&mdash;he did
+not fail to observe the various conditions of Liao&rsquo;s existence, and the
+changing emotions which from time to time possessed him. Therefore, when the
+person in question, without displaying any signs of internal sickness, and
+likewise persistently denying that he had lost any considerable sum of money,
+disclosed a continuous habit of turning aside with an unaffected expression of
+distaste from all manner of food, and passed the entire night in observing the
+course of the great sky-lantern rather than in sleep, the sage and
+discriminating Quen took him one day aside, and asked him, as one who might aid
+him in the matter, who the maiden was, and what class and position her father
+occupied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Alas!&rsquo; exclaimed Liao, with many unfeigned manifestations
+of an unbearable fate, &lsquo;to what degree do the class and position of her
+entirely unnecessary parents affect the question? or how little hope can this
+sacrilegious one reasonably have of ever progressing as far as earthly details
+of a pecuniary character in the case of so adorable and far-removed a Being?
+The uttermost extent of this wildly-hoping person&rsquo;s ambition is that when
+the incomparably symmetrical Ts&rsquo;ain learns of the steadfast light of his
+devotion, she may be inspired to deposit an emblematic chrysanthemum upon his
+tomb in the Family Temple. For such a reward he will cheerfully devote the
+unswerving fidelity of a lifetime to her service, not distressing her gentle
+and retiring nature by the expression of what must inevitably be a hopeless
+passion, but patiently and uncomplainingly guarding her footsteps as from a
+distance.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Being in this manner made aware of the reason of Liao&rsquo;s frequent
+and unrestrained exclamations of intolerable despair, and of his fixed
+determination with regard to the maiden Ts&rsquo;ain (which seemed, above all
+else, to indicate a resolution to shun her presence) Quen could not regard the
+immediately-following actions of his son with anything but an emotion of
+confusion. For when his eyes next rested upon the exceedingly contradictory
+Liao, he was seated in the open space before the house in which Ts&rsquo;ain
+dwelt, playing upon an instrument of stringed woods, and chanting verses into
+which the names of the two persons in question had been skilfully introduced
+without restraint, his whole manner of behaving being with the evident purpose
+of attracting the maiden&rsquo;s favourable attention. After an absence of many
+days, spent in this graceful and complimentary manner, Liao returned suddenly
+to the house of his father, and, prostrating his body before him, made a
+specific request for his assistance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;As regards Ts&rsquo;ain and myself,&rsquo; he continued,
+&lsquo;all things are arranged, and but for the unfortunate coincidence of this
+person&rsquo;s poverty and of her father&rsquo;s cupidity, the details of the
+wedding ceremony would undoubtedly now be in a very advanced condition. Upon
+these entrancing and well-discussed plans, however, the shadow of the grasping
+and commonplace Ah-Ping has fallen like the inopportune opium-pipe from the
+mouth of a person examining substances of an explosive nature; for the one
+referred to demands a large and utterly unobtainable amount of taels before he
+will suffer his greatly-sought-after daughter to accept the gifts of
+irretrievable intention.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Grievous indeed is your plight,&rsquo; replied Quen, when he thus
+understood the manner of obstacle which impeded his son&rsquo;s hopes;
+&lsquo;for in the nature of taels the most diverse men are to be measured
+through the same mesh. As the proverb says, &ldquo;&lsquo;All money is
+evil,&rsquo; exclaimed the philosopher with extreme weariness, as he gathered
+up the gold pieces in exchange, but presently discovering that one among them
+was such indeed as he had described, he rushed forth without tarrying to take
+up a street garment; and with an entire absence of dignity traversed all the
+ways of the city in the hope of finding the one who had defrauded him.&rdquo;
+Well does this person know the mercenary Ah-Ping, and the unyielding nature of
+his closed hand; for often, but always fruitlessly, he has entered his presence
+on affairs connected with the erecting of certain temples. Nevertheless, the
+matter is one which does not admit of any incapable faltering, to which end
+this one will seek out the obdurate Ah-Ping without delay, and endeavour to
+entrap him by some means in the course of argument.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From the time of his earliest youth Ah-Ping had unceasingly devoted
+himself to the object of getting together an overwhelming number of taels,
+using for this purpose various means which, without being really degrading or
+contrary to the written law, were not such as might have been cheerfully
+engaged in by a person of high-minded honourableness. In consequence of this,
+as he grew more feeble in body, and more venerable in appearance, he began to
+express frequent and bitter doubts as to whether his manner of life had been
+really well arranged; for, in spite of his great wealth, he had grown to adopt
+a most inexpensive habit on all occasions, having no desire to spend; and an
+ever-increasing apprehension began to possess him that after he had passed
+beyond, his sons would be very disinclined to sacrifice and burn money
+sufficient to keep him in an affluent condition in the Upper Air. In such a
+state of mind was Ah-Ping when Quen-Ki-Tong appeared before him, for it had
+just been revealed to him that his eldest and favourite son had, by flattery
+and by openly praising the dexterity with which he used his brush and ink,
+entrapped him into inscribing his entire name upon certain unwritten sheets of
+parchment, which the one in question immediately sold to such as were heavily
+indebted to Ah-Ping.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;If a person can be guilty of this really unfilial behaviour
+during the lifetime of his father,&rsquo; exclaimed Ah-Ping, in a tone of
+unrestrained vexation, &lsquo;can it be prudently relied upon that he will
+carry out his wishes after death, when they involve the remitting to him of
+several thousand taels each year? O estimable Quen-Ki-Tong, how immeasurably
+superior is the celestial outlook upon which you may safely rely as your
+portion! When you are enjoying every variety of sumptuous profusion, as the
+reward of your untiring charitable exertions here on earth, the spirit of this
+short-sighted person will be engaged in doing menial servitude for the inferior
+deities, and perhaps scarcely able, even by those means, to clothe himself
+according to the changing nature of the seasons.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Yet,&rsquo; replied Quen, &lsquo;the necessity for so laborious
+and unremunerative an existence may even now be averted by taking efficient
+precautions before you pass to the Upper Air.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;In what way?&rsquo; demanded Ah-Ping, with an awakening hope that
+the matter might not be entirely destitute of cheerfulness, yet at the same
+time preparing to examine with even unbecoming intrusiveness any expedient
+which Quen might lay before him. &lsquo;Is it not explicitly stated that
+sacrifices and acts of a like nature, when performed at the end of one&rsquo;s
+existence by a person who to that time has professed no sort of interest in
+such matters, shall in no degree be entered as to his good, but rather regarded
+as examples of deliberate presumptuousness, and made the excuse for subjecting
+him to more severe tortures and acts of penance than would be his portion if he
+neglected the custom altogether?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Undoubtedly such is the case,&rsquo; replied Quen; &lsquo;and on
+that account it would indicate a most regrettable want of foresight for you to
+conduct your affairs in the manner indicated. The only undeniably safe course
+is for you to entrust the amount you will require to a person of exceptional
+piety, receiving in return his written word to repay the full sum whenever you
+shall claim it from him in the Upper Air. By this crafty method the amount will
+be placed at the disposal of the person in question as soon as he has passed
+beyond, and he will be held by his written word to return it to you whenever
+you shall demand it.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So amiably impressed with this ingenious scheme was Ah-Ping that he
+would at once have entered more fully into the detail had the thought not
+arisen in his mind that the person before him was the father of Liao, who
+urgently required a certain large sum, and that for this reason he might with
+prudence inquire more fully into the matter elsewhere, in case Quen himself
+should have been imperceptibly led aside, even though he possessed intentions
+of a most unswerving honourableness. To this end, therefore, he desired to
+converse again with Quen on the matter, pleading that at that moment a
+gathering of those who direct enterprises of a commercial nature required his
+presence. Nevertheless, he would not permit the person referred to to depart
+until he had complimented him, in both general and specific terms, on the high
+character of his life and actions, and the intelligent nature of his
+understanding, which had enabled him with so little mental exertion to discover
+an efficient plan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Without delay Ah-Ping sought out those most skilled in all varieties of
+law-forms, in extorting money by devices capable of very different meanings,
+and in expedients for evading just debts; but all agreed that such an
+arrangement as the one he put before them would be unavoidably binding,
+provided the person who received the money alluded to spent it in the exercise
+of his charitable desires, and provided also that the written agreement bore
+the duty seal of the high ones at Peking, and was deposited in the coffin of
+the lender. Fully satisfied, and rejoicing greatly that he could in this way
+adequately provide for his future and entrap the avaricious ones of his house,
+Ah-Ping collected together the greater part of his possessions, and converting
+it into pieces of gold, entrusted them to Quen on the exact understanding that
+has already been described, he receiving in turn Quen&rsquo;s written and
+thumb-signed paper of repayment, and his assurance that the whole amount should
+be expended upon the silver-paper and gold-leaf Temple with which he was still
+engaged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is owing to this circumstance that Quen-Ki-Tong&rsquo;s
+irreproachable name has come to be lightly regarded by many who may be fitly
+likened to the latter person in the subtle and experienced proverb, &lsquo;The
+wise man&rsquo;s eyes fell before the gaze of the fool, fearing that if he
+looked he must cry aloud, &ldquo;Thou hopeless one!&rdquo; &ldquo;There,&rdquo;
+said the fool to himself, &ldquo;behold this person&rsquo;s
+power!&rdquo;&rsquo; These badly educated and undiscriminating persons, being
+entirely unable to explain the ensuing train of events, unhesitatingly declare
+that Quen-Ki-Tong applied a portion of the money which he had received from
+Ah-Ping in the manner described to the object of acquiring Ts&rsquo;ain for his
+son Liao. In this feeble and incapable fashion they endeavour to stigmatize the
+pure-minded Quen as one who acted directly contrary to his deliberately spoken
+word, whereas the desired result was brought about in a much more artful
+manner; they describe the commercially successful Ah-Ping as a person of very
+inferior prudence, and one easily imposed upon; while they entirely pass over,
+as a detail outside the true facts, the written paper preserved among the
+sacred relics in the Temple, which announces, among other gifts of a small and
+uninviting character, &lsquo;Thirty thousand taels from an elderly ginseng
+merchant of Lu-kwo, who desires to remain nameless, through the hand of
+Quen-Ki-Tong.&rsquo; The full happening in its real and harmless face is now
+set forth for the first time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Some weeks after the recorded arrangement had been arrived at by Ah-Ping
+and Quen, when the taels in question had been expended upon the Temple and
+were, therefore, infallibly beyond recall, the former person chanced to be
+passing through the public garden in Lu-kwo when he heard a voice lifted up in
+the expression of every unendurable feeling of dejection to which one can give
+utterance. Stepping aside to learn the cause of so unprepossessing a display of
+unrestrained agitation, and in the hope that perhaps he might be able to use
+the incident in a remunerative manner, Ah-Ping quickly discovered the unhappy
+being who, entirely regardless of the embroidered silk robe which he wore,
+reclined upon a raised bank of uninviting earth, and waved his hands from side
+to side as his internal emotions urged him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Quen-Ki-Tong!&rsquo; exclaimed Ah-Ping, not fully convinced that
+the fact was as he stated it in spite of the image clearly impressed upon his
+imagination; &lsquo;to what unpropitious occurrence is so unlooked-for an
+exhibition due? Are those who traffic in gold-leaf demanding a high and
+prohibitive price for that commodity, or has some evil and vindicative spirit
+taken up its abode within the completed portion of the Temple, and by its
+offensive but nevertheless diverting remarks and actions removed all semblance
+of gravity from the countenances of those who daily come to admire the
+construction?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;O thrice unfortunate Ah-Ping,&rsquo; replied Quen when he
+observed the distinguishing marks of the person before him, &lsquo;scarcely can
+this greatly overwhelmed one raise his eyes to your open and intelligent
+countenance; for through him you are on the point of experiencing a very severe
+financial blow, and it is, indeed, on your account more than on his own that he
+is now indulging in these outward signs of a grief too far down to be expressed
+in spoken words.&rsquo; And at the memory of his former occupation, Quen again
+waved his arms from side to side with untiring assiduousness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Strange indeed to this person&rsquo;s ears are your words,&rsquo;
+said Ah-Ping, outwardly unmoved, but with an apprehensive internal pain that he
+would have regarded Quen&rsquo;s display of emotion with an easier stomach if
+his own taels were safely concealed under the floor of his inner chamber.
+&lsquo;The sum which this one entrusted to you has, without any pretence been
+expended upon the Temple, while the written paper concerning the repayment
+bears the duty seal of the high ones at Peking. How, then, can Ah-Ping suffer a
+loss at the hands of Quen-Ki-Tong?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Ah-Ping,&rsquo; said Quen, with every appearance of desiring that
+both persons should regard the matter in a conciliatory spirit, &lsquo;do not
+permit the awaiting demons, which are ever on the alert to enter into a
+person&rsquo;s mind when he becomes distressed out of the common order of
+events, to take possession of your usually discriminating faculties until you
+have fully understood how this affair has come about. It is no unknown thing
+for a person of even exceptional intelligence to reverse his entire manner of
+living towards the end of a long and consistent existence; the far-seeing and
+not lightly-moved Ah-Ping himself has already done so. In a similar, but
+entirely contrary manner, the person who is now before you finds himself
+impelled towards that which will certainly bear a very unpresentable face when
+the circumstances become known; yet by no other means is he capable of
+attaining his greatly-desired object.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;And to what end does that trend?&rsquo; demanded Ah-Ping, in no
+degree understanding how the matter affected him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;While occupied with enterprises which those of an engaging and
+complimentary nature are accustomed to refer to as charitable, this person has
+almost entirely neglected a duty of scarcely less importance&mdash;that of
+establishing an unending line, through which his name and actions shall be kept
+alive to all time,&rsquo; replied Quen. &lsquo;Having now inquired into the
+matter, he finds that his only son, through whom alone the desired result can
+be obtained, has become unbearably attached to a maiden for whom a very large
+sum is demanded in exchange. The thought of obtaining no advantage from an
+entire life of self-denial is certainly unprepossessing in the extreme, but so,
+even to a more advanced degree, is the certainty that otherwise the family
+monuments will be untended, and the temple of domestic virtues become an early
+ruin. This person has submitted the dilemma to the test of omens, and after
+considering well the reply, he has decided to obtain the price of the maiden in
+a not very honourable manner, which now presents itself, so that Liao may send
+out his silk-bound gifts without delay.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It is an unalluring alternative,&rsquo; said Ah-Ping, whose only
+inside thought was one of gratification that the exchange money for
+Ts&rsquo;ain would so soon be in his possession, &lsquo;yet this person fails
+to perceive how you could act otherwise after the decision of the omens. He now
+understands, moreover, that the loss you referred to on his part was in the
+nature of a figure of speech, as one makes use of thunderbolts and
+delicately-scented flowers to convey ideas of harsh and amiable passions, and
+alluded in reality to the forthcoming departure of his daughter, who is, as you
+so versatilely suggested, the comfort and riches of his old age.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;O venerable, but at this moment somewhat obtuse, Ah-Ping,&rsquo;
+cried Quen, with a recurrence to his former method of expressing his unfeigned
+agitation, &lsquo;is your evenly-balanced mind unable to grasp the essential
+fact of how this person&rsquo;s contemplated action will affect your own
+celestial condition? It is a distressing but entirely unavoidable fact, that if
+this person acts in the manner which he has determined upon, he will be
+condemned to the lowest place of torment reserved for those who fail at the end
+of an otherwise pure existence, and in this he will never have an opportunity
+of meeting the very much higher placed Ah-Ping, and of restoring to him the
+thirty-thousand taels as agreed upon.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At these ill-destined words, all power of rigidness departed from
+Ah-Ping&rsquo;s limbs, and he sank down upon the forbidding earth by
+Quen&rsquo;s side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;O most unfortunate one who is now speaking,&rsquo; he exclaimed,
+when at length his guarding spirit deemed it prudent to restore his power of
+expressing himself in words, &lsquo;happy indeed would have been your lot had
+you been content to traffic in ginseng and other commodities of which you have
+actual knowledge. O amiable Quen, this matter must be in some way arranged
+without causing you to deviate from the entrancing paths of your habitual
+virtue. Could not the very reasonable Liao be induced to look favourably upon
+the attractions of some low-priced maiden, in which case this not really
+hard-stomached person would be willing to advance the necessary amount, until
+such time as it could be restored, at a very low and unremunerative rate of
+interest?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;This person has observed every variety of practical humility in
+the course of his life,&rsquo; replied Quen with commendable dignity,
+&lsquo;yet he now finds himself totally unable to overcome an inward repugnance
+to the thought of perpetuating his honoured name and race through the medium of
+any low-priced maiden. To this end has he decided.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Those who were well acquainted with Ah-Ping in matters of commerce did
+not hesitate to declare that his great wealth had been acquired by his
+consistent habit of forming an opinion quickly while others hesitated. On the
+occasion in question he only engaged his mind with the opposing circumstances
+for a few moments before he definitely fixed upon the course which he should
+pursue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Quen-Ki-Tong,&rsquo; he said, with an evident intermingling of
+many very conflicting emotions, &lsquo;retain to the end this well-merited
+reputation for unaffected honourableness which you have so fittingly earned.
+Few in the entire Empire, with powers so versatilely pointing to an eminent
+position in any chosen direction, would have been content to pass their lives
+in an unremunerative existence devoted to actions of charity. Had you selected
+an entirely different manner of living, this person has every confidence that
+he, and many others in Lu-kwo, would by this time be experiencing a very
+ignoble poverty. For this reason he will make it his most prominent ambition to
+hasten the realization of the amiable hopes expressed both by Liao and by
+Ts&rsquo;ain, concerning their future relationship. In this, indeed, he himself
+will be more than exceptionally fortunate should the former one prove to
+possess even a portion of the clear-sighted sagaciousness exhibited by his
+engaging father.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;VERSES COMPOSED BY A MUSICIAN OF LU-KWO, ON THE OCCASION OF THE WEDDING
+CEREMONY OF LIAO AND TS&rsquo;AIN
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Bright hued is the morning, the dark clouds have fallen;<br/>
+At the mere waving of Quen&rsquo;s virtuous hands they melted away.<br/>
+Happy is Liao in the possession of so accomplished a parent,<br/>
+Happy also is Quen to have so discriminating a son.<br/>
+<br/>
+&ldquo;The two persons in question sit, side by side, upon an embroidered
+couch,<br/>
+Listening to the well-expressed compliments of those who pass to and fro.<br/>
+From time to time their eyes meet, and glances of a very significant amusement
+pass between them;<br/>
+Can it be that on so ceremonious an occasion they are recalling events of a
+gravity-removing nature?<br/>
+<br/>
+&ldquo;The gentle and rainbow-like Ts&rsquo;ain has already arrived,<br/>
+With the graceful motion of a silver carp gliding through a screen of rushes,
+she moves among those who are assembled.<br/>
+On the brow of her somewhat contentious father there rests the shadow of an
+ill-repressed sorrow;<br/>
+Doubtless the frequently-misjudged Ah-Ping is thinking of his lonely hearth,
+now that he is for ever parted from that which he holds most precious.<br/>
+<br/>
+&ldquo;In the most commodious chamber of the house the elegant wedding-gifts
+are conspicuously displayed; let us stand beside the one which we have
+contributed, and point out its excellence to those who pass by.<br/>
+Surely the time cannot be far distant when the sound of many gongs will
+announce that the very desirable repast is at length to be partaken
+of.&rdquo;<br/>
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"></a>
+VIII.<br />
+THE VISION OF YIN, THE SON OF YAT HUANG</h2>
+
+<p>
+When Yin, the son of Yat Huang, had passed beyond the years assigned to the
+pursuit of boyhood, he was placed in the care of the hunchback Quang, so that
+he might be fully instructed in the management of the various weapons used in
+warfare, and also in the art of stratagem, by which a skilful leader is often
+enabled to conquer when opposed to an otherwise overwhelming multitude. In all
+these accomplishments Quang excelled to an exceptional degree; for although
+unprepossessing in appearance he united matchless strength to an untiring
+subtlety. No other person in the entire Province of Kiang-si could hurl a
+javelin so unerringly while uttering sounds of terrifying menace, or could
+cause his sword to revolve around him so rapidly, while his face looked out
+from the glittering circles with an expression of ill-intentioned malignity
+that never failed to inspire his adversary with irrepressible emotions of
+alarm. No other person could so successfully feign to be devoid of life for
+almost any length of time, or by his manner of behaving create the fixed
+impression that he was one of insufficient understanding, and therefore
+harmless. It was for these reasons that Quang was chosen as the instructor of
+Yin by Yat Huang, who, without possessing any official degree, was a person to
+whom marks of obeisance were paid not only within his own town, but for a
+distance of many li around it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length the time arrived when Yin would in the ordinary course of events pass
+from the instructorship of Quang in order to devote himself to the commerce in
+which his father was engaged, and from time to time the unavoidable thought
+arose persistently within his mind that although Yat Huang doubtless knew
+better than he did what the circumstances of the future required, yet his
+manner of life for the past years was not such that he could contemplate
+engaging in the occupation of buying and selling porcelain clay with feelings
+of an overwhelming interest. Quang, however, maintained with every
+manifestation of inspired assurance that Yat Huang was to be commended down to
+the smallest detail, inasmuch as proficiency in the use of both blunt and
+sharp-edged weapons, and a faculty for passing undetected through the midst of
+an encamped body of foemen, fitted a person for the every-day affairs of life
+above all other accomplishments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Without doubt the very accomplished Yat Huan is well advised on this
+point,&rdquo; continued Quang, &ldquo;for even this mentally short-sighted
+person can call up within his understanding numerous specific incidents in the
+ordinary career of one engaged in the commerce of porcelain clay when such
+attainments would be of great remunerative benefit. Does the well-endowed Yin
+think, for example, that even the most depraved person would endeavour to gain
+an advantage over him in the matter of buying or selling porcelain clay if he
+fully understood the fact that the one with whom he was trafficking could
+unhesitatingly transfix four persons with one arrow at the distance of a
+hundred paces? Or to what advantage would it be that a body of unscrupulous
+outcasts who owned a field of inferior clay should surround it with drawn
+swords by day and night, endeavouring meanwhile to dispose of it as material of
+the finest quality, if the one whom they endeavoured to ensnare in this manner
+possessed the power of being able to pass through their ranks unseen and
+examine the clay at his leisure?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In the cases to which reference has been made, the possession of those
+qualities would undoubtedly be of considerable use,&rdquo; admitted Yin;
+&ldquo;yet, in spite of his entire ignorance of commercial matters, this one
+has a confident feeling that it would be more profitable to avoid such very
+doubtful forms of barter altogether rather than spend eight years in acquiring
+the arts by which to defeat them. That, however, is a question which concerns
+this person&rsquo;s virtuous and engaging father more than his unworthy self,
+and his only regret is that no opportunity has offered by which he might prove
+that he has applied himself diligently to your instruction and example, O
+amiable Quang.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It had long been a regret to Quang also that no incident of a disturbing nature
+had arisen whereby Yin could have shown himself proficient in the methods of
+defence and attack which he had taught him. This deficiency he had endeavoured
+to overcome, as far as possible, by constructing life-like models of all the
+most powerful and ferocious types of warriors and the fiercest and most
+relentless animals of the forest, so that Yin might become familiar with their
+appearance and discover in what manner each could be the most expeditiously
+engaged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; remarked Quang, on an occasion when Yin appeared to
+be covered with honourable pride at having approached an unusually large and
+repulsive-looking tiger so stealthily that had the animal been really alive it
+would certainly have failed to perceive him, &ldquo;such accomplishments are by
+no means to be regarded as conclusive in themselves. To steal insidiously upon
+a destructively-included wild beast and transfix it with one well-directed blow
+of a spear is attended by difficulties and emotions which are entirely absent
+in the case of a wickerwork animal covered with canvas-cloth, no matter how
+deceptive in appearance the latter may be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To afford Yin a more trustworthy example of how he should engage with an
+adversary of formidable proportions, Quang resolved upon an ingenious plan.
+Procuring the skin of a grey wolf, he concealed himself within it, and in the
+early morning, while the mist-damp was still upon the ground, he set forth to
+meet Yin, who had on a previous occasion spoken to him of his intention to be
+at a certain spot at such an hour. In this conscientious enterprise, the
+painstaking Quang would doubtless have been successful, and Yin gained an
+assured proficiency and experience, had it not chanced that on the journey
+Quang encountered a labourer of low caste who was crossing the enclosed ground
+on his way to the rice field in which he worked. This contemptible and
+inopportune person, not having at any period of his existence perfected himself
+in the recognized and elegant methods of attack and defence, did not act in the
+manner which would assuredly have been adopted by Yin in similar circumstances,
+and for which Quang would have been fully prepared. On the contrary, without
+the least indication of what his intention was, he suddenly struck Quang, who
+was hesitating for a moment what action to take, a most intolerable blow with a
+formidable staff which he carried. The stroke in question inflicted itself upon
+Quang upon that part of the body where the head becomes connected with the
+neck, and would certainly have been followed by others of equal force and
+precision had not Quang in the meantime decided that the most dignified course
+for him to adopt would be to disclose his name and titles without delay. Upon
+learning these facts, the one who stood before him became very grossly and
+offensively amused, and having taken from Quang everything of value which he
+carried among his garments, went on his way, leaving Yin&rsquo;s instructor to
+retrace his steps in unendurable dejection, as he then found that he possessed
+no further interest whatever in the undertaking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Yat Huang was satisfied that his son was sufficiently skilled in the
+various arts of warfare, he called him to his inner chamber, and having barred
+the door securely, he placed Yin under a very binding oath not to reveal, until
+an appointed period, the matter which he was going to put before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From father to son, in unbroken line for ten generations, has such a
+custom been observed,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;for the course of events is not to
+be lightly entered upon. At the commencement of that cycle, which period is now
+fully fifteen score years ago, a very wise person chanced to incur the
+displeasure of the Emperor of that time, and being in consequence driven out of
+the capital, he fled to the mountains. There his subtle discernment and the
+pure and solitary existence which he led resulted in his becoming endowed with
+faculties beyond those possessed by ordinary beings. When he felt the end of
+his earthly career to be at hand he descended into the plain, where, in a state
+of great destitution and bodily anguish, he was discovered by the one whom this
+person has referred to as the first of the line of ancestors. In return for the
+care and hospitality with which he was unhesitatingly received, the admittedly
+inspired hermit spent the remainder of his days in determining the destinies of
+his rescuer&rsquo;s family and posterity. It is an undoubted fact that he
+predicted how one would, by well-directed enterprise and adventure, rise to a
+position of such eminence in the land that he counselled the details to be kept
+secret, lest the envy and hostility of the ambitious and unworthy should be
+raised. From this cause it has been customary to reveal the matter fully from
+father to son, at stated periods, and the setting out of the particulars in
+written words has been severely discouraged. Wise as this precaution certainly
+was, it has resulted in a very inconvenient state of things; for a remote
+ancestor&mdash;the fifth in line from the beginning&mdash;experienced such
+vicissitudes that he returned from his travels in a state of most abandoned
+idiocy, and when the time arrived that he should, in turn, communicate to his
+son, he was only able to repeat over and over again the name of the pious
+hermit to whom the family was so greatly indebted, coupling it each time with a
+new and markedly offensive epithet. The essential details of the undertaking
+having in this manner passed beyond recall, succeeding generations, which were
+merely acquainted with the fact that a very prosperous future awaited the one
+who fulfilled the conditions, have in vain attempted to conform to them. It is
+not an alluring undertaking, inasmuch as nothing of the method to be pursued
+can be learned, except that it was the custom of the early ones, who held the
+full knowledge, to set out from home and return after a period of years. Yet so
+clearly expressed was the prophecy, and so great the reward of the successful,
+that all have eagerly journeyed forth when the time came, knowing nothing
+beyond that which this person has now unfolded to you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Yat Huang reached the end of the matter which it was his duty to disclose,
+Yin for some time pondered the circumstances before replying. In spite of a
+most engaging reverence for everything of a sacred nature, he could not
+consider the inspired remark of the well-intentioned hermit without feelings of
+a most persistent doubt, for it occurred to him that if the person in question
+had really been as wise as he was represented to be, he might reasonably have
+been expected to avoid the unaccountable error of offending the enlightened and
+powerful Emperor under whom he lived. Nevertheless, the prospect of engaging in
+the trade of porcelain clay was less attractive in his eyes than that of
+setting forth upon a journey of adventure, so that at length he expressed his
+willingness to act after the manner of those who had gone before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This decision was received by Yat Huang with an equal intermingling of the
+feelings of delight and concern, for although he would have by no means
+pleasurably contemplated Yin breaking through a venerable and esteemed custom,
+he was unable to put entirely from him the thought of the degrading fate which
+had overtaken the fifth in line who made the venture. It was, indeed, to guard
+Yin as much as possible against the dangers to which he would become exposed,
+if he determined on the expedition, that the entire course of his training had
+been selected. In order that no precaution of a propitious nature should be
+neglected, Yat Huang at once despatched written words of welcome to all with
+whom he was acquainted, bidding them partake of a great banquet which he was
+preparing to mark the occasion of his son&rsquo;s leave-taking. Every variety
+of sacrifice was offered up to the controlling deities, both good and bad; the
+ten ancestors were continuously exhorted to take Yin under their special
+protection, and sets of verses recording his virtues and ambitions were freely
+distributed among the necessitous and low-caste who could not be received at
+the feast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dinner itself exceeded in magnificence any similar event that had ever
+taken place in Ching-toi. So great was the polished ceremony observed on the
+occasion, that each guest had half a score of cups of the finest apricot-tea
+successively placed before him and taken away untasted, while Yat Huang went to
+each in turn protesting vehemently that the honour of covering such pure-minded
+and distinguished persons was more than his badly designed roof could
+reasonably bear, and wittingly giving an entrancing air of reality to the
+spoken compliment by begging them to move somewhat to one side so that they
+might escape the heavy central beam if the event which he alluded to chanced to
+take place. After several hours had been spent in this congenial occupation,
+Yat Huang proceeded to read aloud several of the sixteen discourses on
+education which, taken together, form the discriminating and infallible example
+of conduct known as the Holy Edict. As each detail was dwelt upon Yin arose
+from his couch and gave his deliberate testimony that all the required tests
+and rites had been observed in his own case. The first part of the repast was
+then partaken of, the nature of the ingredients and the manner of preparing
+them being fully explained, and in a like manner through each succeeding one of
+the four-and-forty courses. At the conclusion Yin again arose, being encouraged
+by the repeated uttering of his name by those present, and with extreme modesty
+and brilliance set forth his manner of thinking concerning all subjects with
+which he was acquainted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Early on the morning of the following day Yin set out on his travels, entirely
+unaccompanied, and carrying with him nothing beyond a sum of money, a silk
+robe, and a well-tried and reliable spear. For many days he journeyed in a
+northerly direction, without encountering anything sufficiently unusual to
+engage his attention. This, however, was doubtless part of a pre-arranged
+scheme so that he should not be drawn from a destined path, for at a small
+village lying on the southern shore of a large lake, called by those around
+Silent Water, he heard of the existence of a certain sacred island, distant a
+full day&rsquo;s sailing, which was barren of all forms of living things, and
+contained only a single gigantic rock of divine origin and majestic appearance.
+Many persons, the villagers asserted, had sailed to the island in the hope of
+learning the portent of the rock, but none ever returned, and they themselves
+avoided coming even within sight of it; for the sacred stone, they declared,
+exercised an evil influence over their ships, and would, if permitted, draw
+them out of their course and towards itself. For this reason Yin could find no
+guide, whatever reward he offered, who would accompany him; but having with
+difficulty succeeded in hiring a small boat of inconsiderable value, he
+embarked with food, incense, and materials for building fires, and after rowing
+consistently for nearly the whole of the day, came within sight of the island
+at evening. Thereafter the necessity of further exertion ceased, for, as they
+of the village had declared would be the case, the vessel moved gently forward,
+in an unswerving line, without being in any way propelled, and reaching its
+destination in a marvellously short space of time, passed behind a protecting
+spur of land and came to rest. It then being night, Yin did no more than carry
+his stores to a place of safety, and after lighting a sacrificial fire and
+prostrating himself before the rock, passed into the Middle Air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the morning Yin&rsquo;s spirit came back to the earth amid the sound of
+music of a celestial origin, which ceased immediately he recovered full
+consciousness. Accepting this manifestation as an omen of Divine favour, Yin
+journeyed towards the centre of the island where the rock stood, at every step
+passing the bones of innumerable ones who had come on a similar quest to his,
+and perished. Many of these had left behind them inscriptions on wood or bone
+testifying their deliberate opinion of the sacred rock, the island, their
+protecting deities, and the entire train of circumstances, which had resulted
+in their being in such a condition. These were for the most part of a
+maledictory and unencouraging nature, so that after reading a few, Yin
+endeavoured to pass without being in any degree influenced by such ill-judged
+outbursts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Accursed be the ancestors of this tormented one to four generations
+back!&rdquo; was prominently traced upon an unusually large shoulder-blade.
+&ldquo;May they at this moment be simmering in a vat of unrefined
+dragon&rsquo;s blood, as a reward for having so undiscriminatingly reared the
+person who inscribes these words only to attain this end!&rdquo; &ldquo;Be
+warned, O later one, by the signs around!&rdquo; Another and more
+practical-minded person had written: &ldquo;Retreat with all haste to your
+vessel, and escape while there is yet time. Should you, by chance, again reach
+land through this warning, do not neglect, out of an emotion of gratitude, to
+burn an appropriate amount of sacrifice paper for the lessening of the torments
+of the spirit of Li-Kao,&rdquo; to which an unscrupulous one, who was plainly
+desirous of sharing in the benefit of the requested sacrifice, without
+suffering the exertion of inscribing a warning after the amiable manner of
+Li-Kao, had added the words, &ldquo;and that of Huan Sin.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Halting at a convenient distance from one side of the rock which, without being
+carved by any person&rsquo;s hand, naturally resembled the symmetrical
+countenance of a recumbent dragon (which he therefore conjectured to be the
+chief point of the entire mass), Yin built his fire and began an unremitting
+course of sacrifice and respectful ceremony. This manner of conduct he observed
+conscientiously for the space of seven days. Towards the end of that period a
+feeling of unendurable dejection began to possess him, for his stores of all
+kinds were beginning to fail, and he could not entirely put behind him the
+memory of the various well-intentioned warnings which he had received, or the
+sight of the fleshless ones who had lined his path. On the eighth day, being
+weak with hunger and, by reason of an intolerable thirst, unable to restrain
+his body any longer in the spot where he had hitherto continuously prostrated
+himself nine-and-ninety times each hour without ceasing, he rose to his feet
+and retraced his steps to the boat in order that he might fill his water-skins
+and procure a further supply of food.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With a complicated emotion, in which was present every abandoned and
+disagreeable thought to which a person becomes a prey in moments of exceptional
+mental and bodily anguish, he perceived as soon as he reached the edge of the
+water that the boat, upon which he was confidently relying to carry him back
+when all else failed, had disappeared as entirely as the smoke from an
+extinguished opium pipe. At this sight Yin clearly understood the meaning of
+Li-Kao&rsquo;s unregarded warning, and recognized that nothing could now save
+him from adding his incorruptible parts to those of the unfortunate ones whose
+unhappy fate had, seven days ago, engaged his refined pity. Unaccountably
+strengthened in body by the indignation which possessed him, and inspired with
+a virtuous repulsion at the treacherous manner of behaving on the part of those
+who guided his destinies, he hastened back to his place of obeisance, and
+perceiving that the habitually placid and introspective expression on the
+dragon face had imperceptibly changed into one of offensive cunning and
+unconcealed contempt, he snatched up his spear and, without the consideration
+of a moment, hurled it at a score of paces distance full into the sacred but
+nevertheless very unprepossessing face before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the instant when the presumptuous weapon touched the holy stone the entire
+intervening space between the earth and the sky was filled with innumerable
+flashes of forked and many-tongued lightning, so that the island had the
+appearance of being the scene of a very extensive but somewhat badly-arranged
+display of costly fireworks. At the same time the thunder rolled among the
+clouds and beneath the sea in an exceedingly disconcerting manner. At the first
+indication of these celestial movements a sudden blindness came upon Yin, and
+all power of thought or movement forsook him; nevertheless, he experienced an
+emotion of flight through the air, as though borne upwards upon the back of a
+winged creature. When this emotion ceased, the blindness went from him as
+suddenly and entirely as if a cloth had been pulled away from his eyes, and he
+perceived that he was held in the midst of a boundless space, with no other
+object in view than the sacred rock, which had opened, as it were, revealing a
+mighty throng within, at the sight of whom Yin&rsquo;s internal organs trembled
+as they would never have moved at ordinary danger, for it was put into his
+spirit that these in whose presence he stood were the sacred Emperors of his
+country from the earliest time until the usurpation of the Chinese throne by
+the devouring Tartar hordes from the North.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Yin gazed in fear-stricken amazement, a knowledge of the various Pure Ones
+who composed the assembly came upon him. He understood that the three unclad
+and commanding figures which stood together were the Emperors of the Heaven,
+Earth, and Man, whose reigns covered a space of more than eighty thousand
+years, commencing from the time when the world began its span of existence.
+Next to them stood one wearing a robe of leopard-skin, his hand resting upon a
+staff of a massive club, while on his face the expression of tranquillity which
+marked his predecessors had changed into one of alert wakefulness; it was the
+Emperor of Houses, whose reign marked the opening of the never-ending strife
+between man and all other creatures. By his side stood his successor, the
+Emperor of Fire, holding in his right hand the emblem of the knotted cord, by
+which he taught man to cultivate his mental faculties, while from his mouth
+issued smoke and flame, signifying that by the introduction of fire he had
+raised his subjects to a state of civilized life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the other side of the boundless chamber which seemed to be contained within
+the rocks were Fou-Hy, Tchang-Ki, Tcheng-Nung, and Huang, standing or reclining
+together. The first of these framed the calendar, organized property, thought
+out the eight Essential Diagrams, encouraged the various branches of hunting,
+and the rearing of domestic animals, and instituted marriage. From his couch
+floated melodious sounds in remembrance of his discovery of the property of
+stringed woods. Tchang-Ki, who manifested the property of herbs and growing
+plants, wore a robe signifying his attainments by means of embroidered symbols.
+His hand rested on the head of the dragon, while at his feet flowed a
+bottomless canal of the purest water. The discovery of written letters by
+Tcheng-Nung, and his ingenious plan of grouping them after the manner of the
+constellations of stars, was emblemized in a similar manner, while Huang, or
+the Yellow Emperor, was surrounded by ores of the useful and precious metals,
+weapons of warfare, written books, silks and articles of attire, coined money,
+and a variety of objects, all testifying to his ingenuity and inspired energy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These illustrious ones, being the greatest, were the first to take Yin&rsquo;s
+attention, but beyond them he beheld an innumerable concourse of Emperors who
+not infrequently outshone their majestic predecessors in the richness of their
+apparel and the magnificence of the jewels which they wore. There Yin perceived
+Hung-Hoang, who first caused the chants to be collected, and other rulers of
+the Tcheon dynasty; Yong-Tching, who compiled the Holy Edict; Thang rulers
+whose line is rightly called &ldquo;the golden,&rdquo; from the unsurpassed
+excellence of the composed verses which it produced; renowned Emperors of the
+versatile Han dynasty; and, standing apart, and shunned by all, the malignant
+and narrow-minded Tsing-Su-Hoang, who caused the Sacred Books to be burned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Even while Yin looked and wondered, in great fear, a rolling voice, coming from
+one who sat in the midst of all, holding in his right hand the sun, and in his
+left the moon, sounded forth, like the music of many brass instruments playing
+in unison. It was the First Man who spoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yin, son of Yat Huang, and creature of the Lower Part,&rdquo; he said,
+&ldquo;listen well to the words I speak, for brief is the span of your tarrying
+in the Upper Air, nor will the utterance I now give forth ever come unto your
+ears again, either on the earth, or when, blindly groping in the Middle
+Distance, your spirit takes its nightly flight. They who are gathered around,
+and whose voices I speak, bid me say this: Although immeasurably above you in
+all matters, both of knowledge and of power, yet we greet you as one who is
+well-intentioned, and inspired with honourable ambition. Had you been content
+to entreat and despair, as did all the feeble and incapable ones whose white
+bones formed your pathway, your ultimate fate would have in no wise differed
+from theirs. But inasmuch as you held yourself valiantly, and, being taken,
+raised an instinctive hand in return, you have been chosen; for the day to mute
+submission has, for the time or for ever, passed away, and the hour is when
+China shall be saved, not by supplication, but by the spear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A state of things which would have been highly unnecessary if I had been
+permitted to carry out my intention fully, and restore man to his prehistoric
+simplicity,&rdquo; interrupted Tsin-Su-Hoang. &ldquo;For that reason, when the
+voice of the assemblage expresses itself, it must be understood that it
+represents in no measure the views of Tsin-Su-Hoang.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In the matter of what has gone before, and that which will follow
+hereafter,&rdquo; continued the Voice dispassionately, &ldquo;Yin, the son of
+Yat-Huang, must concede that it is in no part the utterance of
+Tsin-Su-Hoang&mdash;Tsin-Su-Hoang who burned the Sacred Books.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the mention of the name and offence of this degraded being a great sound
+went up from the entire multitude&mdash;a universal cry of execration, not
+greatly dissimilar from that which may be frequently heard in the crowded
+Temple of Impartiality when the one whose duty it is to take up, at a venture,
+the folded papers, announces that the sublime Emperor, or some mandarin of
+exalted rank, has been so fortunate as to hold the winning number in the Annual
+State Lottery. So vengeance-laden and mournful was the combined and evidently
+preconcerted wail, that Yin was compelled to shield his ears against it; yet
+the inconsiderable Tsin-Su-Hoang, on whose account it was raised, seemed in no
+degree to be affected by it, he, doubtless, having become hardened by hearing a
+similar outburst, at fixed hours, throughout interminable cycles of time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the last echo of the cry had passed away the Voice continued to speak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Soon the earth will again receive you, Yin,&rdquo; it said, &ldquo;for
+it is not respectful that a lower one should be long permitted to gaze upon our
+exalted faces. Yet when you go forth and stand once more among men this is laid
+on you: that henceforth you are as a being devoted to a fixed and unchanging
+end, and whatever moves towards the restoring of the throne of the Central
+Empire the outcast but unalterably sacred line of its true sovereigns shall
+have your arm and mind. By what combination of force and stratagem this can be
+accomplished may not be honourably revealed by us, the all-knowing.
+Nevertheless, omens and guidance shall not be lacking from time to time, and
+from the beginning the weapon by which you have attained to this distinction
+shall be as a sign of our favour and protection over you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the Voice made an end of speaking the sudden blindness came upon Yin, as
+it had done before, and from the sense of motion which he experienced, he
+conjectured that he was being conveyed back to the island. Undoubtedly this was
+the case, for presently there came upon him the feeling that he was awakening
+from a deep and refreshing sleep, and opening his eyes, which he now found
+himself able to do without any difficulty, he immediately discovered that he
+was reclining at full length on the ground, and at a distance of about a score
+of paces from the dragon head. His first thought was to engage in a lengthy
+course of self-abasement before it, but remembering the words which had been
+spoken to him while in the Upper Air, he refrained, and even ventured to go
+forward with a confident but somewhat self-deprecatory air, to regain the
+spear, which he perceived lying at the foot of the rock. With feelings of a
+reassuring nature he then saw that the very undesirable expression which he had
+last beheld upon the dragon face had melted into one of encouraging urbanity
+and benignant esteem.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Close by the place where he had landed he discovered his boat, newly furnished
+with wine and food of a much more attractive profusion than that which he had
+purchased in the village. Embarking in it, he made as though he would have
+returned to the south, but the spear which he held turned within his grasp, and
+pointed in an exactly opposite direction. Regarding this fact as an express
+command on the part of the Deities, Yin turned his boat to the north, and in
+the space of two days&rsquo; time&mdash;being continually guided by the fixed
+indication of the spear&mdash;he reached the shore and prepared to continue his
+travels in the same direction, upheld and inspired by the knowledge that
+henceforth he moved under the direct influence of very powerful spirits.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"></a>
+IX.<br />
+THE ILL-REGULATED DESTINY OF KIN YEN, THE PICTURE-MAKER</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+As recorded by himself before his sudden departure from Peking, owing to
+circumstances which are made plain in the following narrative.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are moments in the life of a person when the saying of the wise Ni-Hyu
+that &ldquo;Misfortune comes to all men and to most women&rdquo; is endowed
+with double force. At such times the faithful child of the Sun is a prey to the
+whitest and most funereal thoughts, and even the inspired wisdom of his
+illustrious ancestors seems more than doubtful, while the continued inactivity
+of the Sacred Dragon appears for the time to give colour to the scoffs of the
+Western barbarian. A little while ago these misgivings would have found no
+resting-place in the bosom of the writer. Now, however&mdash;but the matter
+must be made clear from the beginning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The name of the despicable person who here sets forth his immature story is Kin
+Yen, and he is a native of Kia-Lu in the Province of Che-Kiang. Having
+purchased from a very aged man the position of Hereditary Instructor in the Art
+of Drawing Birds and Flowers, he gave lessons in these accomplishments until he
+had saved sufficient money to journey to Peking. Here it was his presumptuous
+intention to learn the art of drawing figures in order that he might illustrate
+printed leaves of a more distinguished class than those which would accept what
+true politeness compels him to call his exceedingly unsymmetrical pictures of
+birds and flowers. Accordingly, when the time arrived, he disposed of his
+Hereditary Instructorship, having first ascertained in the interests of his
+pupils that his successor was a person of refined morals and great filial
+piety.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! it is well written, &ldquo;The road to eminence lies through the cheap
+and exceedingly uninviting eating-houses.&rdquo; In spite of this
+person&rsquo;s great economy, and of his having begged his way from Kia-Lu to
+Peking in the guise of a pilgrim, journeying to burn incense in the sacred
+Temple of Truth near that city, when once within the latter place his taels
+melted away like the smile of a person of low class when he discovers that the
+mandarin&rsquo;s stern words were not intended as a jest. Moreover, he found
+that the story-makers of Peking, receiving higher rewards than those at Kia-Lu,
+considered themselves bound to introduce living characters into all their
+tales, and in consequence the very ornamental drawings of birds and flowers
+which he had entwined into a legend entitled &ldquo;The Last Fight of the
+Heaven-sent Tcheng&rdquo;&mdash;a story which had been entrusted to him for
+illustration as a test of his skill&mdash;was returned to him with a
+communication in which the writer revealed his real meaning by stating contrary
+facts. It therefore became necessary that he should become competent in the art
+of drawing figures without delay, and with this object he called at the
+picture-room of Tieng Lin, a person whose experience was so great that he
+could, without discomfort to himself, draw men and women of all classes, both
+good and bad. When the person who is setting forth this narrative revealed to
+Tieng Lin the utmost amount of money he could afford to give for instruction in
+the art of drawing living figures, Tieng Lin&rsquo;s face became as overcast as
+the sky immediately before the Great Rains, for in his ignorance of this
+incapable person&rsquo;s poverty he had treated him with equality and courtesy,
+nor had he kept him waiting in the mean room on the plea that he was at that
+moment closeted with the Sacred Emperor. However, upon receiving an assurance
+that a rumour would be spread in which the number of taels should be multiplied
+by ten, and that the sum itself should be brought in advance, Tieng Lin
+promised to instruct this person in the art of drawing five characters, which,
+he said, would be sufficient to illustrate all stories except those by the most
+expensive and highly-rewarded story-tellers&mdash;men who have become so
+proficient that they not infrequently introduce a score or more of living
+persons into their tales without confusion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After considerable deliberation, this unassuming person selected the following
+characters, judging them to be the most useful, and the most readily applicable
+to all phases and situations of life:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+1. A bad person, wearing a long dark pigtail and smoking an opium pipe. His
+arms to be folded, and his clothes new and very expensive.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+2. A woman of low class. One who removes dust and useless things from the rooms
+of the over-fastidious and of those who have long nails; she to be carrying her
+trade-signs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+3. A person from Pe-ling, endowed with qualities which cause the beholder to be
+amused. This character to be especially designed to go with the short sayings
+which remove gravity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+4. One who, having incurred the displeasure of the sublime Emperor, has been
+decapitated in consequence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+5. An ordinary person of no striking or distinguished appearance. One who can
+be safely introduced in all places and circumstances without great fear of
+detection.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After many months spent in constant practice and in taking measurements, this
+unenviable person attained a very high degree of proficiency, and could draw
+any of the five characters without hesitation. With renewed hope, therefore, he
+again approached those who sit in easy-chairs, and concealing his identity (for
+they are stiff at bending, and when once a picture-maker is classed as
+&ldquo;of no good&rdquo; he remains so to the end, in spite of change), he
+succeeded in getting entrusted with a story by the elegant and refined Kyen
+Tal. This writer, as he remembered with distrust, confines his distinguished
+efforts entirely to the doings of sailors and of those connected with the sea,
+and this tale, indeed, he found upon reading to be the narrative of how a
+Hang-Chow junk and its crew, consisting mostly of aged persons, were beguiled
+out of their course by an exceedingly ill-disposed dragon, and wrecked upon an
+island of naked barbarians. It was, therefore, with a somewhat heavy stomach
+that this person set himself the task of arranging his five characters as so to
+illustrate the words of the story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sayings of the ancient philosopher Tai Loo are indeed very subtle, and the
+truth of his remark, &ldquo;After being disturbed in one&rsquo;s dignity by a
+mandarin&rsquo;s foot it is no unusual occurrence to fall flat on the face in
+crossing a muddy street,&rdquo; was now apparent. Great as was the disadvantage
+owing to the nature of the five characters, this became as nothing when it
+presently appeared that the avaricious and clay-souled Tieng Lin, taking
+advantage of the blindness of this person&rsquo;s enthusiasm, had taught him
+the figures so that they all gazed in the same direction. In consequence of
+this it would have been impossible that two should be placed as in the act of
+conversing together had not the noble Kyen Tal been inspired to write that
+&ldquo;his companions turned from him in horror.&rdquo; This incident the
+ingenious person who is recording these facts made the subject of three
+separate drawings, and having in one or two other places effected skilful
+changes in the writing, so similar in style to the strokes of the illustrious
+Kyen Tal as to be undetectable, he found little difficulty in making use of all
+his characters. The risks of the future, however, were too great to be run with
+impunity; therefore it was arranged, by means of money&mdash;for this person
+was fast becoming acquainted with the ways of Peking&mdash;that an emissary
+from one who sat in an easy-chair should call upon him for a conference, the
+narrative of which appeared in this form in the <i>Peking Printed Leaves of
+Thrice-distilled Truth:</i>
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+The brilliant and amiable young picture-maker Kin Yen, in spite of the
+immediate and universal success of his accomplished efforts, is still quite
+rotund in intellect, nor is he, if we may use a form of speaking affected by
+our friends across the Hoang Hai, &ldquo;suffering from swollen feet.&rdquo; A
+person with no recognized position, but one who occasionally does inferior work
+of this nature for us, recently surprised Kin Yen without warning, and found
+him in his sumptuously appointed picture-room, busy with compasses and
+tracing-paper. About the place were scattered in elegant confusion several of
+his recent masterpieces. From the subsequent conversation we are in a position
+to make it known that in future this refined and versatile person will confine
+himself entirely to illustrations of processions, funerals, armies on the
+march, persons pursued by others, and kindred subjects which appeal strongly to
+his imagination. Kin Yen has severe emotions on the subject of individuality in
+art, and does not hesitate to express himself forcibly with reference to those
+who are content to degrade the names of their ancestors by turning out what he
+wittily describes as &ldquo;so much of varied mediocrity.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The prominence obtained by this pleasantly-composed notice&mdash;for it was
+copied by others who were unaware of the circumstance of its origin&mdash;had
+the desired effect. In future, when one of those who sit in easy-chairs wished
+for a picture after the kind mentioned, he would say to his lesser one:
+&ldquo;Oh, send to the graceful and versatile Kin Yen; he becomes inspired on
+the subject of funerals,&rdquo; or persons escaping from prison, or families
+walking to the temple, or whatever it might be. In that way this narrow-minded
+and illiterate person was soon both looked at and rich, so that it was his
+daily practice to be carried, in silk garments, past the houses of those who
+had known him in poverty, and on these occasions he would puff out his cheeks
+and pull his moustaches, looking fiercely from side to side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+True are the words written in the elegant and distinguished Book of Verses:
+&ldquo;Beware lest when being kissed by the all-seeing Emperor, you step upon
+the elusive banana-peel.&rdquo; It was at the height of eminence in this
+altogether degraded person&rsquo;s career that he encountered the being who led
+him on to his present altogether too lamentable condition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tien Nung is the earthly name by which is known she who combines all the most
+illustrious attributes which have been possessed of women since the days of the
+divine Fou-Hy. Her father is a person of very gross habits, and lives by
+selling inferior merchandise covered with some of good quality. Upon past
+occasions, when under the direct influence of Tien, and in the hope of gaining
+some money benefit, this person may have spoken of him in terms of praise, and
+may even have recommended friends to entrust articles of value to him, or to
+procure goods on his advice. Now, however, he records it as his unalterable
+decision that the father of Tien Nung is by profession a person who obtains
+goods by stratagem, and that, moreover, it is impossible to gain an advantage
+over him on matters of exchange.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The events that have happened prove the deep wisdom of Li Pen when he exclaimed
+&ldquo;The whitest of pigeons, no matter how excellent in the silk-hung
+chamber, is not to be followed on the field of battle.&rdquo; Tien herself was
+all that the most exacting of persons could demand, but her opinions on the
+subject of picture-making were not formed by heavy thought, and it would have
+been well if this had been borne in mind by this person. One morning he chanced
+to meet her while carrying open in his hands four sets of printed leaves
+containing his pictures.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have observed,&rdquo; said Tien, after the usual personal inquiries
+had been exchanged, &ldquo;that the renowned Kin Yen, who is the object of the
+keenest envy among his brother picture-makers, so little regards the sacredness
+of his accomplished art that never by any chance does he depict persons of the
+very highest excellence. Let not the words of an impetuous maiden disarrange
+his digestive organs if they should seem too bold to the high-souled Kin Yen,
+but this matter has, since she has known him, troubled the eyelids of Tien.
+Here,&rdquo; she continued, taking from this person&rsquo;s hand one of the
+printed leaves which he was carrying, &ldquo;in this illustration of persons
+returning from extinguishing a fire, is there one who appears to possess those
+qualities which appeal to all that is intellectual and competitive within one?
+Can it be that the immaculate Kin Yen is unacquainted with the subtle
+distinction between the really select and the vastly ordinary? Ah,
+undiscriminating Kin Yen! are not the eyelashes of the person who is addressing
+you as threads of fine gold to junk&rsquo;s cables when compared with those of
+the extremely commonplace female who is here pictured in the art of carrying a
+bucket? Can the most refined lack of vanity hide from you the fact that your
+own person is infinitely rounder than this of the evilly-intentioned-looking
+individual with the opium pipe? O blind Kin Yen!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here she fled in honourable confusion, leaving this person standing in the
+street, astounded, and a prey to the most distinguished emotions of a
+complicated nature.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Tien,&rdquo; he cried at length, &ldquo;inspired by those bright
+eyes, narrower than the most select of the three thousand and one possessed by
+the sublime Buddha, the almost fallen Kin Yen will yet prove himself worthy of
+your esteemed consideration. He will, without delay, learn to draw two new
+living persons, and will incorporate in them the likenesses which you have
+suggested.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Returning swiftly to his abode, he therefore inscribed and despatched this
+letter, in proof of his resolve:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To the Heaven-sent human chrysanthemum, in whose body reside the
+Celestial Principles and the imprisoned colours of the rainbow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From the very offensive and self-opinionated picture-maker.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Henceforth this person will take no rest, nor eat any but the commonest
+food, until he shall have carried out the wishes of his one Jade Star, she
+whose teeth he is not worthy to blacken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When Kin Yen has been entrusted with a story which contains a being in
+some degree reflecting the character of Tien, he will embellish it with her
+irreproachable profile and come to hear her words. Till then he bids her
+farewell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From that moment most of this person&rsquo;s time was necessarily spent in
+learning to draw the two new characters, and in consequence of this he lost
+much work, and, indeed, the greater part of the connexion which he had been at
+such pains to form gradually slipped away from him. Many months passed before
+he was competent to reproduce persons resembling Tien and himself, for in this
+he was unassisted by Tieng Lin, and his progress was slow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length, being satisfied, he called upon the least fierce of those who sit in
+easy-chairs, and requested that he might be entrusted with a story for
+picture-making.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We should have been covered with honourable joy to set in operation the
+brush of the inspired Kin Yen,&rdquo; replied the other with agreeable
+condescension; &ldquo;only at the moment, it does not chance that we have
+before us any stories in which funerals, or beggars being driven from the city,
+form the chief incidents. Perhaps if the polished Kin Yen should happen to be
+passing this ill-constructed office in about six months&rsquo;
+time&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The brush of Kin Yen will never again depict funerals, or labourers
+arranging themselves to receive pay or similar subjects,&rdquo; exclaimed this
+person impetuously, &ldquo;for, as it is well said, &lsquo;The lightning
+discovers objects which the paper-lantern fails to reveal.&rsquo; In future
+none but tales dealing with the most distinguished persons shall have his
+attention.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If this be the true word of the dignified Kin Yen, it is possible that
+we may be able to animate his inspired faculties,&rdquo; was the response.
+&ldquo;But in that case, as a new style must be in the nature of an experiment,
+and as our public has come to regard Kin Yen as the great exponent of Art
+Facing in One Direction, we cannot continue the exceedingly liberal payment
+with which we have been accustomed to reward his elegant exertions.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Provided the story be suitable, that is a matter of less
+importance,&rdquo; replied this person.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The story,&rdquo; said the one in the easy-chair, &ldquo;is by the
+refined Tong-king, and it treats of the high-minded and conscientious doubts of
+one who would become a priest of Fo. When preparing for this distinguished
+office he discovers within himself leanings towards the religion of Lao-Tse.
+His illustrious scruples are enhanced by his affection for Wu Ping, who now
+appears in the story.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And the ending?&rdquo; inquired this person, for it was desirable that
+the two should marry happily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The inimitable stories of Tong-king never have any real ending, and this
+one, being in his most elevated style, has even less end than most of them. But
+the whole narrative is permeated with the odour of joss-sticks and honourable
+high-mindedness, and the two characters are both of noble birth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it might be some time before another story so suitable should be offered, or
+one which would afford so good an opportunity of wafting incense to Tien, and
+of displaying her incomparable outline in dignified and magnanimous attitudes,
+this was eagerly accepted, and for the next week this obscure person spent all
+his days and nights in picturing the lovely Tien and his debased self in the
+characters of the nobly-born young priest of Fo and Wu Ping. The pictures
+finished, he caused them to be carefully conveyed to the office, and then,
+sitting down, spent many hours in composing the following letter, to be sent to
+Tien, accompanying a copy of the printed leaves wherein the story and his
+drawing should appear:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When the light has for a period been hidden from a person, it is no
+uncommon thing for him to be struck blind on gazing at the sun; therefore, if
+the sublime Tien values the eyes of Kin Yen, let her hide herself behind a
+gauze screen on his approach.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The trembling words of Tien have sunk deep into the inside of Kin Yen
+and become part of his being. Never again can he depict persons of the quality
+and in the position he was wont to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With this he sends his latest efforts. In each case he conceives his
+drawings to be the pictures of the written words; in the noble Tien&rsquo;s
+case it is undoubtedly so, in his own he aspires to it. Doubtless the
+unobtrusive Tien would make no claim to the character and manner of behaving of
+the one in the story, yet Kin Yen confidently asserts that she is to the other
+as the glove is to the hand, and he is filled with the most intelligent delight
+at being able to exhibit her in her true robes, by which she will be known to
+all who see her, in spite of her dignified protests. Kin Yen hopes; he will
+come this evening after sunset.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The week which passed between the finishing of the pictures and the appearance
+of the eminent printed leaves containing them was the longest in this
+near-sighted person&rsquo;s ill-spent life. But at length the day arrived, and
+going with exceedingly mean haste to the place of sale, he purchased a copy and
+sent it, together with the letter of his honourable intention, on which he had
+bestowed so much care, to Tien.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not till then did it occur to this inconsiderable one that the impetuousness of
+his action was ill-judged; for might it not be that the pictures were
+evilly-printed, or that the delicate and fragrant words painting the character
+of the one who now bore the features of Tien had undergone some change?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To satisfy himself, scarce as taels had become with him, he purchased another
+copy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are many exalted sayings of the wise and venerable Confucious constructed
+so as to be of service and consolation in moments of strong mental distress.
+These for the greater part recommend tranquillity of mind, a complete
+abnegation of the human passions and the like behaviour. The person who is here
+endeavouring to bring this badly-constructed account of his dishonourable
+career to a close pondered these for some moments after twice glancing through
+the matter in the printed leaves, and then, finding the faculties of speech and
+movement restored to him, procured a two-edged knife of distinguished
+brilliance and went forth to call upon the one who sits in an easy-chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold,&rdquo; said the lesser one, insidiously stepping in between this
+person an the inner door, &ldquo;my intellectual and all-knowing chief is not
+here to-day. May his entirely insufficient substitute offer words of
+congratulation to the inspired Kin Yen on his effective and striking pictures
+in this week&rsquo;s issue?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;His altogether insufficient substitute,&rdquo; answered this person,
+with difficulty mastering his great rage, &ldquo;may and shall offer words of
+explanation to the inspired Kin Yen, setting forth the reason of his pictures
+being used, not with the high-minded story of the elegant Tong-king for which
+they were executed, but accompanying exceedingly base, foolish, and
+ungrammatical words written by Klan-hi, the Peking remover of
+gravity&mdash;words which will evermore brand the dew-like Tien as a person of
+light speech and no refinement&rdquo;; and in his agony this person struck the
+lacquered table several times with his elegant knife.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Kin Yen,&rdquo; exclaimed the lesser one, &ldquo;this matter rests not
+here. It is a thing beyond the sphere of the individual who is addressing you.
+All he can tell is that the graceful Tong-king withdrew his exceedingly tedious
+story for some reason at the final moment, and as your eminent drawings had
+been paid for, my chief of the inner office decided to use them with this story
+of Klan-hi. But surely it cannot be that there is aught in the story to
+displease your illustrious personality?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Judge for yourself,&rdquo; this person said, &ldquo;first understanding
+that the two immaculate characters figuring as the personages of the narrative
+are exact copies of this dishonoured person himself and of the willowy Tien,
+daughter of the vastly rich Pe-li-Chen, whom he was hopeful of marrying.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Selecting one of the least offensive of the passages in the work, this unhappy
+person read the following immature and inelegant words:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This well-satisfied writer of printed leaves had a highly-distinguished
+time last night. After Chow had departed to see about food, and the junk had
+been fastened up at the lock of Kilung, on the Yang-tse-Kiang, he and the
+round-bodied Shang were journeying along the narrow path by the river-side when
+the right leg of the graceful and popular person who is narrating these events
+disappeared into the river. Suffering no apprehension in the dark, but that the
+vanishing limb was the left leg of Shang, this intelligent writer allowed his
+impassiveness to melt away to an exaggerated degree; but at that moment the
+circumstance became plain to the round-bodied Shang, who was in consequence
+very grossly amused at the mishap and misapprehension of your good lord, the
+writer, at the same time pointing out the matter as it really was. Then it
+chanced that there came by one of the maidens who carry tea and jest for small
+sums of money to the sitters at the little tables with round white tops, at
+which this remarkable person, the confidant of many mandarins, ever desirous of
+displaying his priceless power of removing gravity, said to her:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;How much of gladness, Ning-Ning? By the Sacred Serpent this is
+plainly your night out.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perceiving the true facts of the predicament of this commendable writer,
+she replied:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Suffer not your illustrious pigtail to be removed, venerable
+Wang; for in this maiden&rsquo;s estimation it is indeed your night in.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are times when this valued person wonders whether his method of
+removing gravity be in reality very antique or quite new. On such occasions the
+world, with all its schools, and those who interfere in the concerns of others,
+continues to revolve around him. The wondrous sky-lanterns come out silently
+two by two like to the crystallized music of stringed woods. Then, in the
+mystery of no-noise, his head becomes greatly enlarged with celestial and
+highly-profound thoughts; his groping hand seems to touch matter which may be
+written out in his impressive style and sold to those who print leaves, and he
+goes home to write out such.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When this person looked up after reading, with tears of shame in his eyes, he
+perceived that the lesser one had cautiously disappeared. Therefore, being
+unable to gain admittance to the inner office, he returned to his home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here the remark of the omniscient Tai Loo again fixes itself upon the
+attention. No sooner had this incapable person reached his house than he became
+aware that a parcel had arrived for him from the still adorable Tien. Retiring
+to a distance from it, he opened the accompanying letter and read:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When a virtuous maiden has been made the victim of a heartless jest or a
+piece of coarse stupidity at a person&rsquo;s hands, it is no uncommon thing
+for him to be struck blind on meeting her father. Therefore, if the degraded
+and evil-minded Kin Yen values his eyes, ears, nose, pigtail, even his
+dishonourable breath, let him hide himself behind a fortified wall at
+Pe-li-Chen&rsquo;s approach.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With this Tien returns everything she has ever accepted from Kin Yen.
+She even includes the brace of puppies which she received anonymously about a
+month ago, and which she did not eat, but kept for reasons of her
+own&mdash;reasons entirely unconnected with the vapid and exceedingly conceited
+Kin Yen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As though this letter, and the puppies of which this person now heard for the
+first time, making him aware of the existence of a rival lover, were not
+enough, there almost immediately arrived a letter from Tien&rsquo;s father:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This person has taken the advice of those skilled in extorting money by
+means of law forms, and he finds that Kin Yen has been guilty of a grave and
+highly expensive act. This is increased by the fact that Tien had conveyed his
+seemingly distinguished intentions to all her friends, before whom she now
+stands in an exceedingly ungraceful attitude. The machinery for depriving Kin
+Yen of all the necessaries of existence shall be put into operation at
+once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this point, the person who is now concluding his obscure and commonplace
+history, having spent his last piece of money on joss-sticks and incense-paper,
+and being convinced of the presence of the spirits of his ancestors, is
+inspired to make the following prophecies: That Tieng Lin, who imposed upon him
+in the matter of picture-making, shall come to a sudden end, accompanied by
+great internal pains, after suffering extreme poverty; that the one who sits in
+an easy-chair, together with his lesser one and all who make stories for them,
+shall, while sailing to a rice feast during the Festival of Flowers, be
+precipitated into the water and slowly devoured by sea monsters, Klan-hi in
+particular being tortured in the process; that Pel-li-Chen, the father of Tien,
+shall be seized with the dancing sickness when in the presence of the august
+Emperor, and being in consequence suspected of treachery, shall, to prove the
+truth of his denials, be submitted to the tests of boiling tar, red-hot swords,
+and of being dropped from a great height on to the Sacred Stone of Goodness and
+Badness, in each of which he shall fail to convince his judges or to establish
+his innocence, to the amusement of all beholders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These are the true words of Kin Yen, the picture-maker, who, having unweighed
+his mind and exposed the avaricious villainy of certain persons, is now
+retiring by night to a very select and hidden spot in the Khingan Mountains.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1076 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+
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+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #1076 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1076)
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Wallet of Kai Lung, by Ernest Bramah
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: The Wallet of Kai Lung
+
+Author: Ernest Bramah
+
+Release Date: October, 1997 [eBook #1076]
+[Most recently updated: November 25, 2021]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: John Bickers and David Widger
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG ***
+
+
+
+
+THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG
+
+By Ernest Bramah
+
+
+
+  “Ho, illustrious passers-by!” says Kai Lung as he spreads out his
+  embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. “It is indeed unlikely
+  that you could condescend to stop and listen to the foolish words
+  of such an insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself.
+  Nevertheless, if you will but retard your elegant footsteps for a
+  few moments, this exceedingly unprepossessing individual will
+  endeavour to entertain you.” This is a collection of Kai Lung’s
+  entertaining tales, told professionally in the market places as he
+  travelled about; told sometimes to occupy and divert the minds of
+  his enemies when they were intent on torturing him.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+THE TRANSMUTATION OF LING
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+The sun had dipped behind the western mountains before Kai Lung, with
+twenty li or more still between him and the city of Knei Yang, entered
+the camphor-laurel forest which stretched almost to his destination.
+No person of consequence ever made the journey unattended; but Kai Lung
+professed to have no fear, remarking with extempore wisdom, when warned
+at the previous village, that a worthless garment covered one with
+better protection than that afforded by an army of bowmen. Nevertheless,
+when within the gloomy aisles, Kai Lung more than once wished himself
+back at the village, or safely behind the mud walls of Knei Yang; and,
+making many vows concerning the amount of prayer-paper which he would
+assuredly burn when he was actually through the gates, he stepped
+out more quickly, until suddenly, at a turn in the glade, he stopped
+altogether, while the watchful expression into which he had unguardedly
+dropped at once changed into a mask of impassiveness and extreme
+unconcern. From behind the next tree projected a long straight rod, not
+unlike a slender bamboo at a distance, but, to Kai Lung’s all-seeing
+eye, in reality the barrel of a matchlock, which would come into line
+with his breast if he took another step. Being a prudent man, more
+accustomed to guile and subservience to destiny than to force, he
+therefore waited, spreading out his hands in proof of his peaceful
+acquiescence, and smiling cheerfully until it should please the owner
+of the weapon to step forth. This the unseen did a moment later, still
+keeping his gun in an easy and convenient attitude, revealing a stout
+body and a scarred face, which in conjunction made it plain to Kai Lung
+that he was in the power of Lin Yi, a noted brigand of whom he had heard
+much in the villages.
+
+“O illustrious person,” said Kai Lung very earnestly, “this is evidently
+an unfortunate mistake. Doubtless you were expecting some exalted
+Mandarin to come and render you homage, and were preparing to overwhelm
+him with gratified confusion by escorting him yourself to your
+well-appointed abode. Indeed, I passed such a one on the road, very
+richly apparelled, who inquired of me the way to the mansion of the
+dignified and upright Lin Yi. By this time he is perhaps two or three li
+towards the east.”
+
+“However distinguished a Mandarin may be, it is fitting that I should
+first attend to one whose manners and accomplishments betray him to be
+of the Royal House,” replied Lin Yi, with extreme affability. “Precede
+me, therefore, to my mean and uninviting hovel, while I gain more
+honour than I can reasonably bear by following closely in your elegant
+footsteps, and guarding your Imperial person with this inadequate but
+heavily-loaded weapon.”
+
+Seeing no chance of immediate escape, Kai Lung led the way, instructed
+by the brigand, along a very difficult and bewildering path, until they
+reached a cave hidden among the crags. Here Lin Yi called out some words
+in the Miaotze tongue, whereupon a follower appeared, and opened a gate
+in the stockade of prickly mimosa which guarded the mouth of the den.
+Within the enclosure a fire burned, and food was being prepared. At a
+word from the chief, the unfortunate Kai Lung found his hands seized and
+tied behind his back, while a second later a rough hemp rope was fixed
+round his neck, and the other end tied to an overhanging tree.
+
+Lin Yi smiled pleasantly and critically upon these preparations, and
+when they were complete dismissed his follower.
+
+“Now we can converse at our ease and without restraint,” he remarked to
+Kai Lung. “It will be a distinguished privilege for a person occupying
+the important public position which you undoubtedly do; for myself,
+my instincts are so degraded and low-minded that nothing gives me more
+gratification than to dispense with ceremony.”
+
+To this Kai Lung made no reply, chiefly because at that moment the wind
+swayed the tree, and compelled him to stand on his toes in order to
+escape suffocation.
+
+“It would be useless to try to conceal from a person of your inspired
+intelligence that I am indeed Lin Yi,” continued the robber. “It is a
+dignified position to occupy, and one for which I am quite incompetent.
+In the sixth month of the third year ago, it chanced that this unworthy
+person, at that time engaged in commercial affairs at Knei Yang, became
+inextricably immersed in the insidious delights of quail-fighting.
+Having been entrusted with a large number of taels with which to
+purchase elephants’ teeth, it suddenly occurred to him that if he
+doubled the number of taels by staking them upon an exceedingly powerful
+and agile quail, he would be able to purchase twice the number of teeth,
+and so benefit his patron to a large extent. This matter was clearly
+forced upon his notice by a dream, in which he perceived one whom he
+then understood to be the benevolent spirit of an ancestor in the act
+of stroking a particular quail, upon whose chances he accordingly
+placed all he possessed. Doubtless evil spirits had been employed in the
+matter; for, to this person’s great astonishment, the quail in question
+failed in a very discreditable manner at the encounter. Unfortunately,
+this person had risked not only the money which had been entrusted to
+him, but all that he had himself become possessed of by some years of
+honourable toil and assiduous courtesy as a professional witness in
+law cases. Not doubting that his patron would see that he was himself
+greatly to blame in confiding so large a sum of money to a comparatively
+young man of whom he knew little, this person placed the matter before
+him, at the same time showing him that he would suffer in the eyes of
+the virtuous if he did not restore this person’s savings, which but for
+the presence of the larger sum, and a generous desire to benefit his
+patron, he would never have risked in so uncertain a venture as that of
+quail-fighting. Although the facts were laid in the form of a dignified
+request instead of a demand by legal means, and the reasoning carefully
+drawn up in columns of fine parchment by a very illustrious writer, the
+reply which this person received showed him plainly that a wrong view
+had been taken of the matter, and that the time had arrived when it
+became necessary for him to make a suitable rejoinder by leaving the
+city without delay.”
+
+“It was a high-minded and disinterested course to take,” said Kai
+Lung with great conviction, as Lin Yi paused. “Without doubt evil will
+shortly overtake the avaricious-souled person at Knei Yang.”
+
+“It has already done so,” replied Lin Yi. “While passing through this
+forest in the season of Many White Vapours, the spirits of his bad deeds
+appeared to him in misleading and symmetrical shapes, and drew him out
+of the path and away from his bowmen. After suffering many torments, he
+found his way here, where, in spite of our continual care, he perished
+miserably and in great bodily pain.... But I cannot conceal from
+myself, in spite of your distinguished politeness, that I am becoming
+intolerably tiresome with my commonplace talk.”
+
+“On the contrary,” replied Kai Lung, “while listening to your voice I
+seemed to hear the beating of many gongs of the finest and most polished
+brass. I floated in the Middle Air, and for the time I even became
+unconscious of the fact that this honourable appendage, though
+fashioned, as I perceive, out of the most delicate silk, makes it
+exceedingly difficult for me to breathe.”
+
+“Such a thing cannot be permitted,” exclaimed Lin Yi, with some
+indignation, as with his own hands he slackened the rope and, taking it
+from Kai Lung’s neck, fastened it around his ankle. “Now, in return for
+my uninviting confidences, shall not my senses be gladdened by a recital
+of the titles and honours borne by your distinguished family? Doubtless,
+at this moment many Mandarins of the highest degree are anxiously
+awaiting your arrival at Knei Yang, perhaps passing the time by outdoing
+one another in protesting the number of taels each would give rather
+than permit you to be tormented by fire-brands, or even to lose a single
+ear.”
+
+“Alas!” replied Kai Lung, “never was there a truer proverb than that
+which says, ‘It is a mark of insincerity of purpose to spend one’s
+time in looking for the sacred Emperor in the low-class tea-shops.’
+Do Mandarins or the friends of Mandarins travel in mean garments and
+unattended? Indeed, the person who is now before you is none other than
+the outcast Kai Lung, the story-teller, one of degraded habits and no
+very distinguished or reputable ancestors. His friends are few, and
+mostly of the criminal class; his wealth is not more than some six or
+eight cash, concealed in his left sandal; and his entire stock-in-trade
+consists of a few unendurable and badly told stories, to which, however,
+it is his presumptuous intention shortly to add a dignified narrative
+of the high-born Lin Yi, setting out his domestic virtues and the
+honour which he has reflected upon his house, his valour in war, the
+destruction of his enemies, and, above all, his great benevolence and
+the protection which he extends to the poor and those engaged in the
+distinguished arts.”
+
+“The absence of friends is unfortunate,” said Lin Yi thoughtfully, after
+he had possessed himself of the coins indicated by Kai Lung, and also
+of a much larger amount concealed elsewhere among the story-teller’s
+clothing. “My followers are mostly outlawed Miaotze, who have been
+driven from their own tribes in Yun Nan for man-eating and disregarding
+the sacred laws of hospitality. They are somewhat rapacious, and in this
+way it has become a custom that they should have as their own, for
+the purpose of exchanging for money, persons such as yourself, whose
+insatiable curiosity has led them to this place.”
+
+“The wise and all-knowing Emperor Fohy instituted three degrees of
+attainment: Being poor, to obtain justice; being rich, to escape
+flattery; and being human, to avoid the passions,” replied Kai Lung.
+“To these the practical and enlightened Kang added yet another, the
+greatest: Being lean, to yield fatness.”
+
+“In such cases,” observed the brigand, “the Miaotze keep an honoured and
+very venerable rite, which chiefly consists in suspending the offender
+by a pigtail from a low tree, and placing burning twigs of hemp-palm
+between his toes. To this person it seems a foolish and meaningless
+habit; but it would not be well to interfere with their religious
+observances, however trivial they may appear.”
+
+“Such a course must inevitably end in great loss,” suggested Kai Lung;
+“for undoubtedly there are many poor yet honourable persons who would
+leave with them a bond for a large number of taels and save the money
+with which to redeem it, rather than take part in a ceremony which is
+not according to one’s own Book of Rites.”
+
+“They have already suffered in that way on one or two occasions,”
+ replied Lin Yi; “so that such a proposal, no matter how nobly intended,
+would not gladden their faces. Yet they are simple and docile persons,
+and would, without doubt, be moved to any feeling you should desire by
+the recital of one of your illustrious stories.”
+
+“An intelligent and discriminating assemblage is more to a story-teller
+than much reward of cash from hands that conceal open mouths,” replied
+Kai Lung with great feeling. “Nothing would confer more pleasurable
+agitation upon this unworthy person than an opportunity of narrating
+his entire stock to them. If also the accomplished Lin Yi would bestow
+renown upon the occasion by his presence, no omen of good would be
+wanting.”
+
+“The pleasures of the city lie far behind me,” said Lin Yi, after
+some thought, “and I would cheerfully submit myself to an intellectual
+accomplishment such as you are undoubtedly capable of. But as we have
+necessity to leave this spot before the hour when the oak-leaves change
+into night-moths, one of your amiable stories will be the utmost we can
+strengthen our intellects with. Select which you will. In the meantime,
+food will be brought to refresh you after your benevolent exertions
+in conversing with a person of my vapid understanding. When you have
+partaken, or thrown it away as utterly unendurable, the time will have
+arrived, and this person, together with all his accomplices, will put
+themselves in a position to be subjected to all the most dignified
+emotions.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+“The story which I have selected for this gratifying occasion,” said Kai
+Lung, when, an hour or so later, still pinioned, but released from the
+halter, he sat surrounded by the brigands, “is entitled ‘Good and
+Evil,’ and it is concerned with the adventures of one Ling, who bore the
+honourable name of Ho. The first, and indeed the greater, part of
+the narrative, as related by the venerable and accomplished writer
+of history Chow-Tan, is taken up by showing how Ling was assuredly
+descended from an enlightened Emperor of the race of Tsin; but as the
+no less omniscient Ta-lin-hi proves beyond doubt that the person in
+question was in no way connected with any but a line of hereditary
+ape-worshippers, who entered China from an unknown country many
+centuries ago, it would ill become this illiterate person to express
+an opinion on either side, and he will in consequence omit the first
+seventeen books of the story, and only deal with the three which refer
+to the illustrious Ling himself.”
+
+
+THE STORY OF LING
+
+Narrated by Kai Lung when a prisoner in the camp of Lin Yi.
+
+Ling was the youngest of three sons, and from his youth upwards proved
+to be of a mild and studious disposition. Most of his time was spent in
+reading the sacred books, and at an early age he found the worship of
+apes to be repulsive to his gentle nature, and resolved to break through
+the venerable traditions of his family by devoting his time to literary
+pursuits, and presenting himself for the public examinations at Canton.
+In this his resolution was strengthened by a rumour that an army of
+bowmen was shortly to be raised from the Province in which he lived,
+so that if he remained he would inevitably be forced into an occupation
+which was even more distasteful to him than the one he was leaving.
+
+Having arrived at Canton, Ling’s first care was to obtain particulars of
+the examinations, which he clearly perceived, from the unusual
+activity displayed on all sides, to be near at hand. On inquiring from
+passers-by, he received very conflicting information; for the persons to
+whom he spoke were themselves entered for the competition, and therefore
+naturally misled him in order to increase their own chances of success.
+Perceiving this, Ling determined to apply at once, although the light
+was past, to a Mandarin who was concerned in the examinations, lest by
+delay he should lose his chance for the year.
+
+“It is an unfortunate event that so distinguished a person should have
+selected this day and hour on which to overwhelm us with his affable
+politeness!” exclaimed the porter at the gate of the Yamen, when Ling
+had explained his reason for going. “On such a day, in the reign of the
+virtuous Emperor Hoo Chow, a very benevolent and unassuming ancestor of
+my good lord the Mandarin was destroyed by treachery, and ever since his
+family has observed the occasion by fasting and no music. This person
+would certainly be punished with death if he entered the inner room from
+any cause.”
+
+At these words, Ling, who had been simply brought up, and chiefly in the
+society of apes, was going away with many expressions of self-reproach
+at selecting such a time, when the gate-keeper called him back.
+
+“I am overwhelmed with confusion at the position in which I find
+myself,” he remarked, after he had examined his mind for a short time.
+“I may meet with an ungraceful and objectionable death if I carry out
+your estimable instructions, but I shall certainly merit and receive
+a similar fate if I permit so renowned and versatile a person to leave
+without a fitting reception. In such matters a person can only trust to
+the intervention of good spirits; if, therefore, you will permit this
+unworthy individual to wear, while making the venture, the ring which he
+perceives upon your finger, and which he recognizes as a very powerful
+charm against evil, misunderstandings, and extortion, he will go without
+fear.”
+
+Overjoyed at the amiable porter’s efforts on his behalf, Ling did as he
+was desired, and the other retired. Presently the door of the Yamen was
+opened by an attendant of the house, and Ling bidden to enter. He
+was covered with astonishment to find that this person was entirely
+unacquainted with his name or purpose.
+
+“Alas!” said the attendant, when Ling had explained his object, “well
+said the renowned and inspired Ting Fo, ‘When struck by a thunderbolt it
+is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise meaning
+of the omen.’ At this moment my noble-minded master is engaged in
+conversation with all the most honourable and refined persons in Canton,
+while singers and dancers of a very expert and nimble order have been
+sent for. The entertainment will undoubtedly last far into the night,
+and to present myself even with the excuse of your graceful and delicate
+inquiry would certainly result in very objectionable consequences to
+this person.”
+
+“It is indeed a day of unprepossessing circumstances,” replied Ling,
+and after many honourable remarks concerning his own intellect and
+appearance, and those of the person to whom he was speaking, he had
+turned to leave when the other continued:
+
+“Ever since your dignified presence illumined this very ordinary
+chamber, this person has been endeavouring to bring to his mind an
+incident which occurred to him last night while he slept. Now it has
+come back to him with a diamond clearness, and he is satisfied that it
+was as follows: While he floated in the Middle Air a benevolent spirit
+in the form of an elderly and toothless vampire appeared, leading by
+the hand a young man, of elegant personality. Smiling encouragingly upon
+this person, the spirit said, ‘O Fou, recipient of many favours from
+Mandarins and of innumerable taels from gratified persons whom you have
+obliged, I am, even at this moment, guiding this exceptional young man
+towards your presence; when he arrives do not hesitate, but do as he
+desires, no matter how great the danger seems or how inadequately you
+may appear to be rewarded on earth.’ The vision then melted, but I now
+clearly perceive that with the exception of the embroidered cloak which
+you wear, you are the person thus indicated to me. Remove your cloak,
+therefore, in order to give the amiable spirit no opportunity of denying
+the fact, and I will advance your wishes; for, as the Book of Verses
+indicates, ‘The person who patiently awaits a sign from the clouds
+for many years, and yet fails to notice the earthquake at his feet, is
+devoid of intellect.’”
+
+Convinced that he was assuredly under the especial protection of the
+Deities, and that the end of his search was in view, Ling gave his rich
+cloak to the attendant, and was immediately shown into another room,
+where he was left alone.
+
+After a considerable space of time the door opened and there entered a
+person whom Ling at first supposed to be the Mandarin. Indeed, he was
+addressing him by his titles when the other interrupted him. “Do not
+distress your incomparable mind by searching for honourable names
+to apply to so inferior a person as myself,” he said agreeably. “The
+mistake is, nevertheless, very natural; for, however miraculous it may
+appear, this unseemly individual, who is in reality merely a writer of
+spoken words, is admitted to be exceedingly like the dignified Mandarin
+himself, though somewhat stouter, clad in better garments, and, it is
+said, less obtuse of intellect. This last matter he very much doubts,
+for he now finds himself unable to recognize by name one who is
+undoubtedly entitled to wear the Royal Yellow.”
+
+With this encouragement Ling once more explained his position, narrating
+the events which had enabled him to reach the second chamber of the
+Yamen. When he had finished the secretary was overpowered with a
+high-minded indignation.
+
+“Assuredly those depraved and rapacious persons who have both misled and
+robbed you shall suffer bow-stringing when the whole matter is brought
+to light,” he exclaimed. “The noble Mandarin neither fasts nor receives
+guests, for, indeed, he has slept since the sun went down. This person
+would unhesitatingly break his slumber for so commendable a purpose were
+it not for a circumstance of intolerable unavoidableness. It must not
+even be told in a low breath beyond the walls of the Yamen, but my
+benevolent and high-born lord is in reality a person of very miserly
+instinct, and nothing will call him from his natural sleep but the sound
+of taels shaken beside his bed. In an unexpected manner it comes about
+that this person is quite unsupplied with anything but thin printed
+papers of a thousand taels each, and these are quite useless for the
+purpose.”
+
+“It is unendurable that so obliging a person should be put to such
+inconvenience on behalf of one who will certainly become a public
+laughing-stock at the examinations,” said Ling, with deep feeling; and
+taking from a concealed spot in his garments a few taels, he placed them
+before the secretary for the use he had indicated.
+
+Ling was again left alone for upwards of two strokes of the gong, and
+was on the point of sleep when the secretary returned with an expression
+of dignified satisfaction upon his countenance. Concluding that he
+had been successful in the manner of awakening the Mandarin, Ling was
+opening his mouth for a polite speech, which should contain a delicate
+allusion to the taels, when the secretary warned him, by affecting a
+sudden look of terror, that silence was exceedingly desirable, and at
+the same time opened another door and indicated to Ling that he should
+pass through.
+
+In the next room Ling was overjoyed to find himself in the presence
+of the Mandarin, who received him graciously, and paid many estimable
+compliments to the name he bore and the country from which he came.
+When at length Ling tore himself from this enchanting conversation, and
+explained the reason of his presence, the Mandarin at once became a prey
+to the whitest and most melancholy emotions, even plucking two hairs
+from his pigtail to prove the extent and conscientiousness of his grief.
+
+“Behold,” he cried at length, “I am resolved that the extortionate and
+many-handed persons at Peking who have control of the examination rites
+and customs shall no longer grow round-bodied without remark. This
+person will unhesitatingly proclaim the true facts of the case without
+regarding the danger that the versatile Chancellor or even the sublime
+Emperor himself may, while he speaks, be concealed in some part of this
+unassuming room to hear his words; for, as it is wisely said, ‘When
+marked out by destiny, a person will assuredly be drowned, even though
+he passes the whole of his existence among the highest branches of a
+date tree.’”
+
+“I am overwhelmed that I should be the cause of such an engaging display
+of polished agitation,” said Ling, as the Mandarin paused. “If it would
+make your own stomach less heavy, this person will willingly follow your
+estimable example, either with or without knowing the reason.”
+
+“The matter is altogether on your account, O most unobtrusive young
+man,” replied the Mandarin, when a voice without passion was restored
+to him. “It tears me internally with hooks to reflect that you, whose
+refined ancestors I might reasonably have known had I passed my youth
+in another Province, should be victim to the cupidity of the ones in
+authority at Peking. A very short time before you arrived there came a
+messenger in haste from those persons, clearly indicating that a legal
+toll of sixteen taels was to be made on each printed paper setting forth
+the time and manner of the examinations, although, as you may see, the
+paper is undoubtedly marked, ‘Persons are given notice that they are
+defrauded of any sum which they may be induced to exchange for this
+matter.’ Furthermore, there is a legal toll of nine taels on all persons
+who have previously been examined--”
+
+“I am happily escaped from that,” exclaimed Ling with some satisfaction
+as the Mandarin paused.
+
+“--and twelve taels on all who present themselves for the first time.
+This is to be delivered over when the paper is purchased, so that you,
+by reason of this unworthy proceeding at Peking, are required to forward
+to that place, through this person, no less than thirty-two taels.”
+
+“It is a circumstance of considerable regret,” replied Ling; “for had
+I only reached Canton a day earlier, I should, it appears, have avoided
+this evil.”
+
+“Undoubtedly it would have been so,” replied the Mandarin, who had
+become engrossed in exalted meditation. “However,” he continued a
+moment later, as he bowed to Ling with an accomplished smile, “it
+would certainly be a more pleasant thought for a person of your refined
+intelligence that had you delayed until to-morrow the insatiable persons
+at Peking might be demanding twice the amount.”
+
+Pondering the deep wisdom of this remark, Ling took his departure; but
+in spite of the most assiduous watchfulness he was unable to discern any
+of the three obliging persons to whose efforts his success had been due.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+It was very late when Ling again reached the small room which he had
+selected as soon as he reached Canton, but without waiting for food or
+sleep he made himself fully acquainted with the times of the forthcoming
+examinations and the details of the circumstances connected with them.
+With much satisfaction he found that he had still a week in which to
+revive his intellect on the most difficult subjects. Having become
+relieved on these points, Ling retired for a few hours’ sleep, but rose
+again very early, and gave the whole day with great steadfastness to
+contemplation of the sacred classics Y-King, with the exception of a
+short period spent in purchasing ink, brushes and writing-leaves. The
+following day, having become mentally depressed through witnessing
+unaccountable hordes of candidates thronging the streets of Canton,
+Ling put aside his books, and passed the time in visiting all the most
+celebrated tombs in the neighbourhood of the city. Lightened in mind
+by this charitable and agreeable occupation, he returned to his studies
+with a fixed resolution, nor did he again falter in his purpose. On the
+evening of the examination, when he was sitting alone, reading by the
+aid of a single light, as his custom was, a person arrived to see him,
+at the same time manifesting a considerable appearance of secrecy
+and reserve. Inwardly sighing at the interruption, Ling nevertheless
+received him with distinguished consideration and respect, setting tea
+before him, and performing towards it many honourable actions with his
+own hands. Not until some hours had sped in conversation relating to
+the health of the Emperor, the unexpected appearance of a fiery dragon
+outside the city, and the insupportable price of opium, did the visitor
+allude to the object of his presence.
+
+“It has been observed,” he remarked, “that the accomplished Ling, who
+aspires to a satisfactory rank at the examinations, has never before
+made the attempt. Doubtless in this case a preternatural wisdom will
+avail much, and its fortunate possessor will not go unrewarded. Yet
+it is as precious stones among ashes for one to triumph in such
+circumstances.”
+
+“The fact is known to this person,” replied Ling sadly, “and the thought
+of the years he may have to wait before he shall have passed even the
+first degree weighs down his soul with bitterness from time to time.”
+
+“It is no infrequent thing for men of accomplished perseverance, but
+merely ordinary intellects, to grow venerable within the four walls
+of the examination cell,” continued the other. “Some, again, become
+afflicted with various malignant evils, while not a few, chiefly those
+who are presenting themselves for the first time, are so overcome on
+perceiving the examination paper, and understanding the inadequate
+nature of their own accomplishments, that they become an easy prey to
+the malicious spirits which are ever on the watch in those places; and,
+after covering their leaves with unpresentable remarks and drawings
+of men and women of distinguished rank, have at length to be forcibly
+carried away by the attendants and secured with heavy chains.”
+
+“Such things undoubtedly exist,” agreed Ling; “yet by a due regard paid
+to spirits, both good and bad, a proper esteem for one’s ancestors, and
+a sufficiency of charms about the head and body, it is possible to be
+closeted with all manner of demons and yet to suffer no evil.”
+
+“It is undoubtedly possible to do so, according to the Immortal
+Principles,” admitted the stranger; “but it is not an undertaking in
+which a refined person would take intelligent pleasure; as the proverb
+says, ‘He is a wise and enlightened suppliant who seeks to discover
+an honourable Mandarin, but he is a fool who cries out, “I have found
+one.”’ However, it is obvious that the reason of my visit is understood,
+and that your distinguished confidence in yourself is merely a graceful
+endeavour to obtain my services for a less amount of taels than I should
+otherwise have demanded. For half the usual sum, therefore, this person
+will take your place in the examination cell, and enable your versatile
+name to appear in the winning lists, while you pass your moments in
+irreproachable pleasures elsewhere.”
+
+Such a course had never presented itself to Ling. As the person who
+narrates this story has already marked, he had passed his life beyond
+the influence of the ways and manners of towns, and at the same time
+he had naturally been endowed with an unobtrusive highmindedness. It
+appeared to him, in consequence, that by accepting this engaging offer
+he would be placing those who were competing with him at a disadvantage.
+This person clearly sees that it is a difficult matter for him to
+explain how this could be, as Ling would undoubtedly reward the services
+of the one who took his place, nor would the number of the competitors
+be in any way increased; yet in such a way the thing took shape before
+his eyes. Knowing, however, that few persons would be able to understand
+this action, and being desirous of not injuring the estimable emotions
+of the obliging person who had come to him, Ling made a number of
+polished excuses in declining, hiding the true reason within himself. In
+this way he earned the powerful malignity of the person in question,
+who would not depart until he had effected a number of very disagreeable
+prophecies connected with unpropitious omens and internal torments, all
+of which undoubtedly had a great influence on Ling’s life beyond that
+time.
+
+Each day of the examination found Ling alternately elated or depressed,
+according to the length and style of the essay which he had written
+while enclosed in his solitary examination cell. The trials each lasted
+a complete day, and long before the fifteen days which composed the full
+examination were passed, Ling found himself half regretting that he had
+not accepted his visitor’s offer, or even reviling the day on which he
+had abandoned the hereditary calling of his ancestors. However, when,
+after all was over, he came to deliberate with himself on his chances of
+attaining a degree, he could not disguise from his own mind that he had
+well-formed hopes; he was not conscious of any undignified errors, and,
+in reply to several questions, he had been able to introduce
+curious knowledge which he possessed by means of his exceptional
+circumstances--knowledge which it was unlikely that any other candidate
+would have been able to make himself master of.
+
+At length the day arrived on which the results were to be made public;
+and Ling, together with all the other competitors and many distinguished
+persons, attended at the great Hall of Intellectual Coloured Lights
+to hear the reading of the lists. Eight thousand candidates had been
+examined, and from this number less than two hundred were to be selected
+for appointments. Amid a most distinguished silence the winning names
+were read out. Waves of most undignified but inevitable emotion passed
+over those assembled as the list neared its end, and the chances of
+success became less at each spoken word; and then, finding that his
+was not among them, together with the greater part of those present, he
+became a prey to very inelegant thoughts, which were not lessened by the
+refined cries of triumph of the successful persons. Among this confusion
+the one who had read the lists was observed to be endeavouring to make
+his voice known, whereupon, in the expectation that he had omitted a
+name, the tumult was quickly subdued by those who again had pleasurable
+visions.
+
+“There was among the candidates one of the name of Ling,” said he, when
+no-noise had been obtained. “The written leaves produced by this person
+are of a most versatile and conflicting order, so that, indeed, the
+accomplished examiners themselves are unable to decide whether they
+are very good or very bad. In this matter, therefore, it is clearly
+impossible to place the expert and inimitable Ling among the foremost,
+as his very uncertain success may have been brought about with the
+assistance of evil spirits; nor would it be safe to pass over his
+efforts without reward, as he may be under the protection of powerful
+but exceedingly ill-advised deities. The estimable Ling is told to
+appear again at this place after the gong has been struck three times,
+when the matter will have been looked at from all round.”
+
+At this announcement there arose another great tumult, several crying
+out that assuredly their written leaves were either very good or very
+bad; but no further proclamation was made, and very soon the hall was
+cleared by force.
+
+At the time stated Ling again presented himself at the Hall, and was
+honourably received.
+
+“The unusual circumstances of the matter have already been put forth,”
+ said an elderly Mandarin of engaging appearance, “so that nothing
+remains to be made known except the end of our despicable efforts to
+come to an agreeable conclusion. In this we have been made successful,
+and now desire to notify the result. A very desirable and not
+unremunerative office, rarely bestowed in this manner, is lately vacant,
+and taking into our minds the circumstances of the event, and the fact
+that Ling comes from a Province very esteemed for the warlike instincts
+of its inhabitants, we have decided to appoint him commander of the
+valiant and blood-thirsty band of archers now stationed at Si-chow, in
+the Province of Hu-Nan. We have spoken. Let three guns go off in honour
+of the noble and invincible Ling, now and henceforth a commander in
+the ever-victorious Army of the Sublime Emperor, brother of the Sun and
+Moon, and Upholder of the Four Corners of the World.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Many hours passed before Ling, now more downcast in mind than the most
+unsuccessful student in Canton, returned to his room and sought his
+couch of dried rushes. All his efforts to have his distinguished
+appointment set aside had been without avail, and he had been ordered to
+reach Si-chow within a week. As he passed through the streets, elegant
+processions in honour of the winners met him at every corner, and drove
+him into the outskirts for the object of quietness. There he remained
+until the beating of paper drums and the sound of exulting voices could
+be heard no more; but even when he returned lanterns shone in many
+dwellings, for two hundred persons were composing verses, setting forth
+their renown and undoubted accomplishments, ready to affix to their
+doors and send to friends on the next day. Not giving any portion of
+his mind to this desirable act of behaviour, Ling flung himself upon the
+floor, and, finding sleep unattainable, plunged himself into profound
+meditation of a very uninviting order. “Without doubt,” he exclaimed,
+“evil can only arise from evil, and as this person has always
+endeavoured to lead a life in which his devotions have been equally
+divided between the sacred Emperor, his illustrious parents, and his
+venerable ancestors, the fault cannot lie with him. Of the excellence of
+his parents he has full knowledge; regarding the Emperor, it might
+not be safe to conjecture. It is therefore probable that some of his
+ancestors were persons of abandoned manner and inelegant habits, to
+worship whom results in evil rather than good. Otherwise, how could it
+be that one whose chief delight lies in the passive contemplation of the
+Four Books and the Five Classics, should be selected by destiny to fill
+a position calling for great personal courage and an aggressive nature?
+Assuredly it can only end in a mean and insignificant death, perhaps not
+even followed by burial.”
+
+In this manner of thought he fell asleep, and after certain very base
+and impressive dreams, from which good omens were altogether absent, he
+awoke, and rose to begin his preparations for leaving the city. After
+two days spent chiefly in obtaining certain safeguards against treachery
+and the bullets of foemen, purchasing opium and other gifts with
+which to propitiate the soldiers under his charge, and in consulting
+well-disposed witches and readers of the future, he set out, and by
+travelling in extreme discomfort, reached Si-chow within five days.
+During his journey he learned that the entire Province was engaged in
+secret rebellion, several towns, indeed, having declared against
+the Imperial army without reserve. Those persons to whom Ling spoke
+described the rebels, with respectful admiration, as fierce and
+unnaturally skilful in all methods of fighting, revengeful and merciless
+towards their enemies, very numerous and above the ordinary height of
+human beings, and endowed with qualities which made their skin capable
+of turning aside every kind of weapon. Furthermore, he was assured that
+a large band of the most abandoned and best trained was at that moment
+in the immediate neighbourhood of Si-chow.
+
+Ling was not destined long to remain in any doubt concerning the truth
+of these matters, for as he made his way through a dark cypress wood,
+a few li from the houses of Si-chow, the sounds of a confused outcry
+reached his ears, and on stepping aside to a hidden glade some distance
+from the path, he beheld a young and elegant maiden of incomparable
+beauty being carried away by two persons of most repulsive and
+undignified appearance, whose dress and manner clearly betrayed them to
+be rebels of the lowest and worst-paid type. At this sight Ling became
+possessed of feelings of a savage yet agreeable order, which until
+that time he had not conjectured to have any place within his mind, and
+without even pausing to consider whether the planets were in favourable
+positions for the enterprise to be undertaken at that time, he drew his
+sword, and ran forward with loud cries. Unsettled in their intentions
+at this unexpected action, the two persons turned and advanced upon Ling
+with whirling daggers, discussing among themselves whether it would be
+better to kill him at the first blow or to take him alive, and, when
+the day had become sufficiently cool for the full enjoyment of the
+spectacle, submit him to various objectionable tortures of so degraded a
+nature that they were rarely used in the army of the Emperor except upon
+the persons of barbarians. Observing that the maiden was not bound, Ling
+cried out to her to escape and seek protection within the town, adding,
+with a magnanimous absence of vanity:
+
+“Should this person chance to fall, the repose which the presence of
+so lovely and graceful a being would undoubtedly bring to his departing
+spirit would be out-balanced by the unendurable thought that his
+commonplace efforts had not been sufficient to save her from the two
+evilly-disposed individuals who are, as he perceives, at this moment,
+neglecting no means within their power to accomplish his destruction.”
+ Accepting the discernment of these words, the maiden fled, first
+bestowing a look upon Ling which clearly indicated an honourable regard
+for himself, a high-minded desire that the affair might end profitably
+on his account, and an amiable hope that they should meet again, when
+these subjects could be expressed more clearly between them.
+
+In the meantime Ling had become at a disadvantage, for the time occupied
+in speaking and in making the necessary number of bows in reply to
+her entrancing glance had given the other persons an opportunity
+of arranging their charms and sacred written sentences to greater
+advantage, and of occupying the most favourable ground for the
+encounter. Nevertheless, so great was the force of the new emotion which
+had entered into Ling’s nature that, without waiting to consider the
+dangers or the best method of attack, he rushed upon them, waving his
+sword with such force that he appeared as though surrounded by a circle
+of very brilliant fire. In this way he reached the rebels, who both fell
+unexpectedly at one blow, they, indeed, being under the impression that
+the encounter had not commenced in reality, and that Ling was merely
+menacing them in order to inspire their minds with terror and raise his
+own spirits. However much he regretted this act of the incident which
+he had been compelled to take, Ling could not avoid being filled with
+intellectual joy at finding that his own charms and omens were more
+distinguished than those possessed by the rebels, none of whom, as he
+now plainly understood, he need fear.
+
+Examining these things within his mind, and reflecting on the events
+of the past few days, by which he had been thrown into a class of
+circumstances greatly differing from anything which he had ever sought,
+Ling continued his journey, and soon found himself before the southern
+gate of Si-chow. Entering the town, he at once formed the resolution of
+going before the Mandarin for Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, so that he
+might present, without delay, the papers and seals which he had brought
+with him from Canton.
+
+“The noble Mandarin Li Keen?” replied the first person to whom Ling
+addressed himself. “It would indeed be a difficult and hazardous
+conjecture to make concerning his sacred person. By chance he is in the
+strongest and best-concealed cellar in Si-chow, unless the sumptuous
+attractions of the deepest dry well have induced him to make a short
+journey”; and, with a look of great unfriendliness at Ling’s dress and
+weapons, this person passed on.
+
+“Doubtless he is fighting single-handed against the armed men by whom
+the place is surrounded,” said another; “or perhaps he is constructing
+an underground road from the Yamen to Peking, so that we may all escape
+when the town is taken. All that can be said with certainty is that the
+Heaven-sent and valorous Mandarin has not been seen outside the walls of
+his well-fortified residence since the trouble arose; but, as you carry
+a sword of conspicuous excellence, you will doubtless be welcome.”
+
+Upon making a third attempt Ling was more successful, for he inquired
+of an aged woman, who had neither a reputation for keen and polished
+sentences to maintain, nor any interest in the acts of the Mandarin
+or of the rebels. From her he learned how to reach the Yamen, and
+accordingly turned his footsteps in that direction. When at length
+he arrived at the gate, Ling desired his tablets to be carried to the
+Mandarin with many expressions of an impressive and engaging nature,
+nor did he neglect to reward the porter. It was therefore with the
+expression of a misunderstanding mind that he received a reply setting
+forth that Li Keen was unable to receive him. In great doubt he
+prevailed upon the porter, by means of a still larger reward, again to
+carry in his message, and on this occasion an answer in this detail was
+placed before him.
+
+“Li Keen,” he was informed, “is indeed awaiting the arrival of one Ling,
+a noble and valiant Commander of Bowmen. He is given to understand,
+it is true, that a certain person claiming the same honoured name is
+standing in somewhat undignified attitudes at the gate, but he is unable
+in any way to make these two individuals meet within his intellect. He
+would further remind all persons that the refined observances laid down
+by the wise and exalted Board of Rites and Ceremonies have a marked and
+irreproachable significance when the country is in a state of disorder,
+the town surrounded by rebels, and every breathing-space of time of more
+than ordinary value.”
+
+Overpowered with becoming shame at having been connected with so
+unseemly a breach of civility, for which his great haste had in reality
+been accountable, Ling hastened back into the town, and spent many hours
+endeavouring to obtain a chair of the requisite colour in which to
+visit the Mandarin. In this he was unsuccessful, until it was at length
+suggested to him that an ordinary chair, such as stood for hire in the
+streets of Si-chow, would be acceptable if covered with blue paper.
+Still in some doubt as to what the nature of his reception would be,
+Ling had no choice but to take this course, and accordingly he again
+reached the Yamen in such a manner, carried by two persons whom he had
+obtained for the purpose. While yet hardly at the residence a salute was
+suddenly fired; all the gates and doors were, without delay, thrown open
+with embarrassing and hospitable profusion, and the Mandarin himself
+passed out, and would have assisted Ling to step down from his chair
+had not that person, clearly perceiving that such a course would be
+too great an honour, evaded him by an unobtrusive display of versatile
+dexterity. So numerous and profound were the graceful remarks which each
+made concerning the habits and accomplishments of the other that more
+than the space of an hour was passed in traversing the small enclosed
+ground which led up to the principal door of the Yamen. There an almost
+greater time was agreeably spent, both Ling and the Mandarin having
+determined that the other should enter first. Undoubtedly Ling, who
+was the more powerful of the two, would have conferred this courteous
+distinction upon Li Keen had not that person summoned to his side
+certain attendants who succeeded in frustrating Ling in his high-minded
+intentions, and in forcing him through the doorway in spite of his
+conscientious protests against the unsurmountable obligation under which
+the circumstance placed him.
+
+Conversing in this intellectual and dignified manner, the strokes of
+the gong passed unheeded; tea had been brought into their presence many
+times, and night had fallen before the Mandarin allowed Ling to refer
+to the matter which had brought him to the place, and to present his
+written papers and seals.
+
+“It is a valuable privilege to have so intelligent a person as the
+illustrious Ling occupying this position,” remarked the Mandarin, as he
+returned the papers; “and not less so on account of the one who
+preceded him proving himself to be a person of feeble attainments and an
+unendurable deficiency of resource.”
+
+“To one with the all-knowing Li Keen’s mental acquisitions, such a
+person must indeed have become excessively offensive,” replied Ling
+delicately; “for, as it is truly said, ‘Although there exist many
+thousand subjects for elegant conversation, there are persons who cannot
+meet a cripple without talking about feet.’”
+
+“He to whom I have referred was such a one,” said Li Keen, appreciating
+with an expression of countenance the fitness of Ling’s proverb. “He was
+totally inadequate to the requirements of his position; for he possessed
+no military knowledge, and was placed in command by those at Peking as
+a result of his taking a high place at one of the examinations. But more
+than this, although his three years of service were almost completed,
+I was quite unsuccessful in convincing him that an unseemly degradation
+probably awaited him unless he could furnish me with the means with
+which to propitiate the persons in authority at Peking. This he
+neglected to do with obstinate pertinacity, which compelled this person
+to inquire within himself whether one of so little discernment could be
+trusted with an important and arduous office. After much deliberation,
+this person came to the decision that the Commander in question was not
+a fit person, and he therefore reported him to the Imperial Board
+of Punishment at Peking as one subject to frequent and periodical
+eccentricities, and possessed of less than ordinary intellect. In
+consequence of this act of justice, the Commander was degraded to the
+rank of common bowman, and compelled to pay a heavy fine in addition.”
+
+“It was a just and enlightened conclusion of the affair,” said Ling, in
+spite of a deep feeling of no enthusiasm, “and one which surprisingly
+bore out your own prophecy in the matter.”
+
+“It was an inspired warning to persons who should chance to be in a like
+position at any time,” replied Li Keen. “So grasping and corrupt are
+those who control affairs in Peking that I have no doubt they would
+scarcely hesitate in debasing even one so immaculate as the exceptional
+Ling, and placing him in some laborious and ill-paid civil department
+should he not accede to their extortionate demands.”
+
+This suggestion did not carry with it the unpleasurable emotions which
+the Mandarin anticipated it would. The fierce instincts which had been
+aroused within Ling by the incident in the cypress wood had died out,
+while his lamentable ignorance of military affairs was ever before his
+mind. These circumstances, together with his naturally gentle habits,
+made him regard such a degradation rather favourably than otherwise.
+He was meditating within himself whether he could arrange such a course
+without delay when the Mandarin continued:
+
+“That, however, is a possibility which is remote to the extent of at
+least two or three years; do not, therefore, let so unpleasing a thought
+cast darkness upon your brows or remove the unparalleled splendour of
+so refined an occasion... Doubtless the accomplished Ling is a master of
+the art of chess-play, for many of our most thoughtful philosophers have
+declared war to be nothing but such a game; let this slow-witted and
+cumbersome person have an opportunity, therefore, of polishing his
+declining facilities by a pleasant and dignified encounter.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+On the next day, having completed his business at the Yamen, Ling left
+the town, and without desiring any ceremony quietly betook himself to
+his new residence within the camp, which was situated among the millet
+fields some distance from Si-chow. As soon as his presence became known
+all those who occupied positions of command, and whose years of service
+would shortly come to an end, hastened to present themselves before
+him, bringing with them offerings according to the rank they held, they
+themselves requiring a similar service from those beneath them. First
+among these, and next in command to Ling himself, was the Chief of
+Bowmen, a person whom Ling observed with extreme satisfaction to be very
+powerful in body and possessing a strong and dignified countenance
+which showed unquestionable resolution and shone with a tiger-like
+tenaciousness of purpose.
+
+“Undoubtedly,” thought Ling, as he observed this noble and prepossessing
+person, “here is one who will be able to assist me in whatever
+perplexities may arise. Never was there an individual who seemed more
+worthy to command and lead; assuredly to him the most intricate and
+prolonged military positions will be an enjoyment; the most crafty
+stratagems of the enemy as the full moon rising from behind a screen
+of rushes. Without making any pretence of knowledge, this person will
+explain the facts of the case to him and place himself without limit in
+his hands.”
+
+For this purpose he therefore detained the Chief of Bowmen when the
+others departed, and complimented him, with many expressive phrases, on
+the excellence of his appearance, as the thought occurred to him that
+by this means, without disclosing the full measure of his ignorance, the
+person in question might be encouraged to speak unrestrainedly of the
+nature of his exploits, and perchance thereby explain the use of the
+appliances employed and the meaning of the various words of order,
+in all of which details the Commander was as yet most disagreeably
+imperfect. In this, however, he was disappointed, for the Chief of
+Bowmen, greatly to Ling’s surprise, received all his polished sentences
+with somewhat foolish smiles of great self-satisfaction, merely replying
+from time to time as he displayed his pigtail to greater advantage or
+rearranged his gold-embroidered cloak:
+
+“This person must really pray you to desist; the honour is indeed too
+great.”
+
+Disappointed in his hope, and not desiring after this circumstance to
+expose his shortcomings to one who was obviously not of a highly-refined
+understanding, no matter how great his valour in war or his knowledge of
+military affairs might be, Ling endeavoured to lead him to converse of
+the bowmen under his charge. In this matter he was more successful, for
+the Chief spoke at great length and with evilly-inspired contempt of
+their inelegance, their undiscriminating and excessive appetites, and
+the frequent use which they made of low words and gestures. Desiring to
+become acquainted rather with their methods of warfare than with their
+domestic details, Ling inquired of him what formation they relied upon
+when receiving the foemen.
+
+“It is a matter which has not engaged the attention of this one,”
+ replied the Chief, with an excessive absence of interest. “There are so
+many affairs of intelligent dignity which cannot be put aside, and
+which occupy one from beginning to end. As an example, this person may
+describe how the accomplished Li-Lu, generally depicted as the Blue-eyed
+Dove of Virtuous and Serpent-like Attitudes, has been scattering glory
+upon the Si-chow Hall of Celestial Harmony for many days past. It is
+an enlightened display which the high-souled Ling should certainly
+endeavour to dignify with his presence, especially at the portion
+where the amiable Li-Lu becomes revealed in the appearance of a Peking
+sedan-chair bearer and describes the manner and likenesses of certain
+persons--chiefly high-priests of Buddha, excessively round-bodied
+merchants who feign to be detained within Peking on affairs of commerce,
+maidens who attend at the tables of tea-houses, and those of both sexes
+who are within the city for the first time to behold its temples and
+open spaces--who are conveyed from place to place in the chair.”
+
+“And the bowmen?” suggested Ling, with difficulty restraining an
+undignified emotion.
+
+“Really, the elegant Ling will discover them to be persons of deficient
+manners, and quite unworthy of occupying his well-bred conversation,”
+ replied the Chief. “As regards their methods--if the renowned Ling
+insists--they fight by means of their bows, with which they discharge
+arrows at the foemen, they themselves hiding behind trees and rocks.
+Should the enemy be undisconcerted by the cloud of arrows, and advance,
+the bowmen are instructed to make a last endeavour to frighten them back
+by uttering loud shouts and feigning the voices of savage beasts of the
+forest and deadly snakes.”
+
+“And beyond that?” inquired Ling.
+
+“Beyond that there are no instructions,” replied the Chief. “The
+bowmen would then naturally take to flight, or, if such a course became
+impossible, run to meet the enemy, protesting that they were convinced
+of the justice of their cause, and were determined to fight on their
+side in the future.”
+
+“Would it not be of advantage to arm them with cutting weapons also?”
+ inquired Ling; “so that when all their arrows were discharged they would
+still be able to take part in the fight, and not be lost to us?”
+
+“They would not be lost to us, of course,” replied the Chief, “as we
+would still be with them. But such a course as the one you suggest could
+not fail to end in dismay. Being as well armed as ourselves, they
+would then turn upon us, and, having destroyed us, proceed to establish
+leaders of their own.”
+
+As Ling and the Chief of Bowmen conversed in this enlightened manner,
+there arose a great outcry from among the tents, and presently there
+entered to them a spy who had discovered a strong force of the enemy not
+more than ten or twelve li away, who showed every indication of marching
+shortly in the direction of Si-chow. In numbers alone, he continued,
+they were greatly superior to the bowmen, and all were well armed. The
+spreading of this news threw the entire camp into great confusion, many
+protesting that the day was not a favourable one on which to fight,
+others crying that it was their duty to fall back on Si-chow and protect
+the women and children. In the midst of this tumult the Chief of Bowmen
+returned to Ling, bearing in his hand a written paper which he regarded
+in uncontrollable anguish.
+
+“Oh, illustrious Ling,” he cried, restraining his grief with difficulty,
+and leaning for support upon the shoulders of two bowmen, “how
+prosperous indeed are you! What greater misfortune can engulf a person
+who is both an ambitious soldier and an affectionate son, than to lose
+such a chance of glory and promotion as only occurs once within the
+lifetime, and an affectionate and venerable father upon the same day?
+Behold this mandate to attend, without a moment’s delay, at the funeral
+obsequies of one whom I left, only last week, in the fullness of health
+and power. The occasion being an unsuitable one, I will not call upon
+the courteous Ling to join me in sorrow; but his own devout filial piety
+is so well known that I can conscientiously rely upon an application for
+absence to be only a matter of official ceremony.”
+
+“The application will certainly be regarded as merely official
+ceremony,” replied Ling, without resorting to any delicate pretence of
+meaning, “and the refined scruples of the person who is addressing me
+will be fully met by the official date of his venerated father’s
+death being fixed for a more convenient season. In the meantime, the
+unobtrusive Chief of Bowmen may take the opportunity of requesting that
+the family tomb be kept unsealed until he is heard from again.”
+
+Ling turned away, as he finished this remark, with a dignified feeling
+of not inelegant resentment. In this way he chanced to observe a large
+body of soldiers which was leaving the camp accompanied by their lesser
+captains, all crowned with garlands of flowers and creeping plants. In
+spite of his very inadequate attainments regarding words of order, the
+Commander made it understood by means of an exceedingly short sentence
+that he was desirous of the men returning without delay.
+
+“Doubtless the accomplished Commander, being but newly arrived in this
+neighbourhood, is unacquainted with the significance of this display,”
+ said one of the lesser captains pleasantly. “Know then, O wise and
+custom-respecting Ling, that on a similar day many years ago this
+valiant band of bowmen was engaged in a very honourable affair with
+certain of the enemy. Since then it has been the practice to commemorate
+the matter with music and other forms of delight within the large square
+at Si-chow.”
+
+“Such customs are excellent,” said Ling affably. “On this occasion,
+however, the public square will be so insufferably thronged with the
+number of timorous and credulous villagers who have pressed into the
+town that insufficient justice would be paid to your entrancing display.
+In consequence of this, we will select for the purpose some convenient
+spot in the neighbourhood. The proceedings will be commenced by a
+display of arrow-shooting at moving objects, followed by racing and
+dancing, in which this person will lead. I have spoken.”
+
+At these words many of the more courageous among the bowmen became
+destructively inspired, and raised shouts of defiance against the enemy,
+enumerating at great length the indignities which they would heap upon
+their prisoners. Cries of distinction were also given on behalf of Ling,
+even the more terrified exclaiming:
+
+“The noble Commander Ling will lead us! He has promised, and assuredly
+he will not depart from his word. Shielded by his broad and sacred body,
+from which the bullets glance aside harmlessly, we will advance upon the
+enemy in the stealthy manner affected by ducks when crossing the swamp.
+How altogether superior a person our Commander is when likened unto the
+leaders of the foemen--they who go into battle completely surrounded by
+their archers!”
+
+Upon this, perceiving the clear direction in which matters were turning,
+the Chief of Bowmen again approached Ling.
+
+“Doubtless the highly-favoured person whom I am now addressing has been
+endowed with exceptional authority direct from Peking,” he remarked with
+insidious politeness. “Otherwise this narrow-minded individual would
+suggest that such a decision does not come within the judgment of a
+Commander.”
+
+In his ignorance of military matters it had not entered the mind of
+Ling that his authority did not give him the power to commence an
+attack without consulting other and more distinguished persons. At the
+suggestion, which he accepted as being composed of truth, he paused, the
+enlightened zeal with which he had been inspired dying out as he plainly
+understood the difficulties by which he was enclosed. There seemed a
+single expedient path for him in the matter; so, directing a person
+of exceptional trustworthiness to prepare himself for a journey, he
+inscribed a communication to the Mandarin Li Keen, in which he narrated
+the facts and asked for speedy directions, and then despatched it with
+great urgency to Si-chow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+When these matters were arranged, Ling returned to his tent, a victim
+to feelings of a deep and confused doubt, for all courses seemed to
+be surrounded by extreme danger, with the strong possibility of final
+disaster. While he was considering these things attentively, the spy who
+had brought word of the presence of the enemy again sought him. As he
+entered, Ling perceived that his face was the colour of a bleached linen
+garment, while there came with him the odour of sickness.
+
+“There are certain matters which this person has not made known,” he
+said, having first expressed a request that he might not be compelled to
+stand while he conversed. “The bowmen are as an inferior kind of jackal,
+and they who lead them are pigs, but this person has observed that the
+Heaven-sent Commander has internal organs like steel hardened in a white
+fire and polished by running water. For this reason he will narrate
+to him the things he has seen--things at which the lesser ones would
+undoubtedly perish in terror without offering to strike a blow.”
+
+“Speak,” said Ling, “without fear and without concealment.”
+
+“In numbers the rebels are as three to one with the bowmen, and are,
+in addition, armed with matchlocks and other weapons; this much I have
+already told,” said the spy. “Yesterday they entered the village of Ki
+without resistance, as the dwellers there were all peaceable persons,
+who gain a living from the fields, and who neither understood nor
+troubled about the matters between the rebels and the army. Relying on
+the promises made by the rebel chiefs, the villagers even welcomed them,
+as they had been assured that they came as buyers of their corn and
+rice. To-day not a house stands in the street of Ki, not a person lives.
+The men they slew quickly, or held for torture, as they desired at the
+moment; the boys they hung from the trees as marks for their arrows.
+Of the women and children this person, who has since been subject to
+several attacks of fainting and vomiting, desires not to speak. The
+wells of Ki are filled with the bodies of such as had the good fortune
+to be warned in time to slay themselves. The cattle drag themselves from
+place to place on their forefeet; the fish in the Heng-Kiang are dying,
+for they cannot live on water thickened into blood. All these things
+this person has seen.”
+
+When he had finished speaking, Ling remained in deep and funereal
+thought for some time. In spite of his mild nature, the words which
+he had heard filled him with an inextinguishable desire to slay in
+hand-to-hand fighting. He regretted that he had placed the decision of
+the matter before Li Keen.
+
+“If only this person had a mere handful of brave and expert warriors, he
+would not hesitate to fall upon those savage and barbarous characters,
+and either destroy them to the last one, or let his band suffer a like
+fate,” he murmured to himself.
+
+The return of the messenger found him engaged in reviewing the bowmen,
+and still in this mood, so that it was with a commendable feeling of
+satisfaction, no less than virtuous contempt, that he learned of the
+Mandarin’s journey to Peking as soon as he understood that the rebels
+were certainly in the neighbourhood.
+
+“The wise and ornamental Li Keen is undoubtedly consistent in all
+matters,” said Ling, with some refined bitterness. “The only
+information regarding his duties which this person obtained from him
+chanced to be a likening of war to skilful chess-play, and to this end
+the accomplished person in question has merely availed himself of a
+common expedient which places him at the remote side of the divine
+Emperor. Yet this act is not unwelcome, for the responsibility of
+deciding what course is to be adopted now clearly rests with this
+person. He is, as those who are standing by may perceive, of under the
+usual height, and of no particular mental or bodily attainments. But he
+has eaten the rice of the Emperor, and wears the Imperial sign
+embroidered upon his arm. Before him are encamped the enemies of his
+master and of his land, and in no way will he turn his back upon them.
+Against brave and skilful men, such as those whom this person commands,
+rebels of a low and degraded order are powerless, and are, moreover,
+openly forbidden to succeed by the Forty-second Mandate in the Sacred
+Book of Arguments. Should it have happened that into this assembly any
+person of a perfidious or uncourageous nature has gained entrance by
+guile, and has not been detected and driven forth by his outraged
+companions (as would certainly occur if such a person were discovered),
+I, Ling, Commander of Bowmen, make an especial and well-considered
+request that he shall be struck by a molten thunderbolt if he turns to
+flight or holds thoughts of treachery.”
+
+Having thus addressed and encouraged the soldiers, Ling instructed them
+that each one should cut and fashion for himself a graceful but weighty
+club from among the branches of the trees around, and then return to the
+tents for the purpose of receiving food and rice spirit.
+
+When noon was passed, allowing such time as would enable him to reach
+the camp of the enemy an hour before darkness, Ling arranged the bowmen
+in companies of convenient numbers, and commenced the march, sending
+forward spies, who were to work silently and bring back tidings from
+every point. In this way he penetrated to within a single li of the
+ruins of Ki, being informed by the spies that no outposts of the enemy
+were between him and that place. Here the first rest was made to
+enable the more accurate and bold spies to reach them with trustworthy
+information regarding the position and movements of the camp. With
+little delay there returned the one who had brought the earliest
+tidings, bruised and torn with his successful haste through the forest,
+but wearing a complacent and well-satisfied expression of countenance.
+Without hesitation or waiting to demand money before he would reveal his
+knowledge, he at once disclosed that the greater part of the enemy were
+rejoicing among the ruins of Ki, they having discovered there a quantity
+of opium and a variety of liquids, while only a small guard remained in
+the camp with their weapons ready. At these words Ling sprang from
+the ground in gladness, so great was his certainty of destroying the
+invaders utterly. It was, however, with less pleasurable emotions that
+he considered how he should effect the matter, for it was in no way
+advisable to divide his numbers into two bands. Without any feeling of
+unendurable conceit, he understood that no one but himself could hold
+the bowmen before an assault, however weak. In a similar manner, he
+determined that it would be more advisable to attack those in the
+village first. These he might have reasonable hopes of cutting down
+without warning the camp, or, in any event, before those from the camp
+arrived. To assail the camp first would assuredly, by the firing, draw
+upon them those from the village, and in whatever evil state these might
+arrive, they would, by their numbers, terrify the bowmen, who without
+doubt would have suffered some loss from the matchlocks.
+
+Waiting for the last light of day, Ling led on the men again, and
+sending forward some of the most reliable, surrounded the place of the
+village silently and without detection. In the open space, among broken
+casks and other inconsiderable matters, plainly shown by the large fires
+at which burned the last remains of the houses of Ki, many men moved
+or lay, some already dull or in heavy sleep. As the darkness dropped
+suddenly, the signal of a peacock’s shriek, three times uttered, rang
+forth, and immediately a cloud of arrows, directed from all sides,
+poured in among those who feasted. Seeing their foemen defenceless
+before them, the archers neglected the orders they had received, and
+throwing away their bows they rushed in with uplifted clubs, uttering
+loud shouts of triumph. The next moment a shot was fired in the wood,
+drums beat, and in an unbelievably short space of time a small but
+well-armed band of the enemy was among them. Now that all need of
+caution was at an end, Ling rushed forward with raised sword, calling
+to his men that victory was certainly theirs, and dealing discriminating
+and inspiriting blows whenever he met a foeman. Three times he formed
+the bowmen into a figure emblematic of triumph, and led them against the
+line of matchlocks. Twice they fell back, leaving mingled dead under
+the feet of the enemy. The third time they stood firm, and Ling threw
+himself against the waving rank in a noble and inspired endeavour to
+lead the way through. At that moment, when a very distinguished victory
+seemed within his hand, his elegant and well-constructed sword broke
+upon an iron shield, leaving him defenceless and surrounded by the
+enemy.
+
+“Chief among the sublime virtues enjoined by the divine Confucius,”
+ began Ling, folding his arms and speaking in an unmoved voice, “is an
+intelligent submission--” but at that word he fell beneath a rain of
+heavy and unquestionably well-aimed blows.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+Between Si-chow and the village of Ki, in a house completely hidden from
+travellers by the tall and black trees which surrounded it, lived an
+aged and very wise person whose ways and manner of living had become so
+distasteful to his neighbours that they at length agreed to regard him
+as a powerful and ill-disposed magician. In this way it became a custom
+that all very unseemly deeds committed by those who, in the ordinary
+course, would not be guilty of such behaviour, should be attributed
+to his influence, so that justice might be effected without persons of
+assured respectability being put to any inconvenience. Apart from the
+feeling which resulted from this just decision, the uncongenial person
+in question had become exceedingly unpopular on account of certain
+definite actions of his own, as that of causing the greater part of
+Si-chow to be burned down by secretly breathing upon the seven sacred
+water-jugs to which the town owed its prosperity and freedom from fire.
+Furthermore, although possessed of many taels, and able to afford such
+food as is to be found upon the tables of Mandarins, he selected from
+choice dishes of an objectionable nature; he had been observed to eat
+eggs of unbecoming freshness, and the Si-chow Official Printed Leaf made
+it public that he had, on an excessively hot occasion, openly partaken
+of cow’s milk. It is not a matter for wonder, therefore, that when
+unnaturally loud thunder was heard in the neighbourhood of Si-chow
+the more ignorant and credulous persons refused to continue in any
+description of work until certain ceremonies connected with rice spirit,
+and the adherence to a reclining position for some hours, had been
+conscientiously observed as a protection against evil.
+
+Not even the most venerable person in Si-chow could remember the time
+when the magician had not lived there, and as there existed no written
+record narrating the incident, it was with well-founded probability
+that he was said to be incapable of death. Contrary to the most general
+practice, although quite unmarried, he had adopted no son to found a
+line which would worship his memory in future years, but had instead
+brought up and caused to be educated in the most difficult varieties
+of embroidery a young girl, to whom he referred, for want of a more
+suitable description, as the daughter of his sister, although he would
+admit without hesitation, when closely questioned, that he had never
+possessed a sister, at the same time, however, alluding with some
+pride to many illustrious brothers, who had all obtained distinction in
+various employments.
+
+Few persons of any high position penetrated into the house of the
+magician, and most of these retired with inelegant haste on perceiving
+that no domestic altar embellished the great hall. Indeed, not to make
+concealment of the fact, the magician was a person who had entirely
+neglected the higher virtues in an avaricious pursuit of wealth. In that
+way all his time and a very large number of taels had been expended,
+testing results by means of the four elements, and putting together
+things which had been inadequately arrived at by others. It was
+confidently asserted in Si-chow that he possessed every manner of
+printed leaf which had been composed in whatsoever language, and all the
+most precious charms, including many snake-skins of more than ordinary
+rarity, and the fang of a black wolf which had been stung by seven
+scorpions.
+
+On the death of his father the magician had become possessed of great
+wealth, yet he contributed little to the funeral obsequies nor did any
+suggestion of a durable and expensive nature conveying his enlightened
+name and virtues down to future times cause his face to become
+gladdened. In order to preserve greater secrecy about the enchantments
+which he certainly performed, he employed only two persons within the
+house, one of whom was blind and the other deaf. In this ingenious
+manner he hoped to receive attention and yet be unobserved, the
+blind one being unable to see the nature of the incantations which he
+undertook, and the deaf one being unable to hear the words. In this,
+however, he was unsuccessful, as the two persons always contrived to
+be present together, and to explain to one another the nature of the
+various matters afterwards; but as they were of somewhat deficient
+understanding, the circumstance was unimportant.
+
+It was with more uneasiness that the magician perceived one day that the
+maiden whom he had adopted was no longer a child. As he desired secrecy
+above all things until he should have completed the one important
+matter for which he had laboured all his life, he decided with extreme
+unwillingness to put into operation a powerful charm towards her, which
+would have the effect of diminishing all her attributes until such time
+as he might release her again. Owing to his reluctance in the matter,
+however, the magic did not act fully, but only in such a way that her
+feet became naturally and without binding the most perfect and beautiful
+in the entire province of Hu Nan, so that ever afterwards she was called
+Pan Fei Mian, in delicate reference to that Empress whose feet were so
+symmetrical that a golden lily sprang up wherever she trod. Afterwards
+the magician made no further essay in the matter, chiefly because he
+was ever convinced that the accomplishment of his desire was within his
+grasp.
+
+The rumours of armed men in the neighbourhood of Si-chow threw the
+magician into an unendurable condition of despair. To lose all, as would
+most assuredly happen if he had to leave his arranged rooms and secret
+preparations and take to flight, was the more bitter because he felt
+surer than ever that success was even standing by his side. The very
+subtle liquid, which would mix itself into the component parts of the
+living creature which drank it, and by an insidious and harmless process
+so work that, when the spirit departed, the flesh would become resolved
+into a figure of pure and solid gold of the finest quality, had engaged
+the refined minds of many of the most expert individuals of remote
+ages. With most of these inspired persons, however, the search had
+been undertaken in pure-minded benevolence, their chief aim being an
+honourable desire to discover a method by which one’s ancestors might
+be permanently and effectively preserved in a fit and becoming manner to
+receive the worship and veneration of posterity. Yet, in spite of these
+amiable motives, and of the fact that the magician merely desired the
+possession of the secret to enable him to become excessively wealthy,
+the affair had been so arranged that it should come into his possession.
+
+The matter which concerned Mian in the dark wood, when she was only
+saved by the appearance of the person who is already known as Ling,
+entirely removed all pleasurable emotions from the magician’s mind, and
+on many occasions he stated in a definite and systematic manner that he
+would shortly end an ignoble career which seemed to be destined only
+to gloom and disappointment. In this way an important misunderstanding
+arose, for when, two days later, during the sound of matchlock
+firing, the magician suddenly approached the presence of Mian with an
+uncontrollable haste and an entire absence of dignified demeanour,
+and fell dead at her feet without expressing himself on any subject
+whatever, she deliberately judged that in this manner he had carried his
+remark into effect, nor did the closed vessel of yellow liquid which he
+held in his hand seem to lead away from this decision. In reality, the
+magician had fallen owing to the heavy and conflicting emotions which
+success had engendered in an intellect already greatly weakened by
+his continual disregard of the higher virtues; for the bottle, indeed,
+contained the perfection of his entire life’s study, the very expensive
+and three-times purified gold liquid.
+
+On perceiving the magician’s condition, Mian at once called for the two
+attendants, and directed them to bring from an inner chamber all the
+most effective curing substances, whether in the form of powder or
+liquid. When these proved useless, no matter in what way they were
+applied, it became evident that there could be very little hope of
+restoring the magician, yet so courageous and grateful for the benefits
+which she had received from the person in question was Mian, that, in
+spite of the uninviting dangers of the enterprise, she determined to
+journey to Ki to invoke the assistance of a certain person who was known
+to be very successful in casting out malicious demons from the bodies
+of animals, and from casks and barrels, in which they frequently took
+refuge, to the great detriment of the quality of the liquid placed
+therein.
+
+Not without many hidden fears, Mian set out on her journey, greatly
+desiring not to be subjected to an encounter of a nature similar to the
+one already recorded; for in such a case she could hardly again hope for
+the inspired arrival of the one whom she now often thought of in secret
+as the well-formed and symmetrical young sword-user. Nevertheless, an
+event of equal significance was destined to prove the wisdom of
+the well-known remark concerning thoughts which are occupying one’s
+intellect and the unexpected appearance of a very formidable evil
+spirit; for as she passed along, quickly yet with so dignified a motion
+that the moss received no impression beneath her footsteps, she became
+aware of a circumstance which caused her to stop by imparting to her
+mind two definite and greatly dissimilar emotions.
+
+In a grassy and open space, on the verge of which she stood, lay
+the dead bodies of seventeen rebels, all disposed in very degraded
+attitudes, which contrasted strongly with the easy and becoming position
+adopted by the eighteenth--one who bore the unmistakable emblems of the
+Imperial army. In this brave and noble-looking personage Mian at once
+saw her preserver, and not doubting that an inopportune and treacherous
+death had overtaken him, she ran forward and raised him in her arms,
+being well assured that however indiscreet such an action might appear
+in the case of an ordinary person, the most select maiden need not
+hesitate to perform so honourable a service in regard to one whose
+virtues had by that time undoubtedly placed him among the Three Thousand
+Pure Ones. Being disturbed in this providential manner, Ling opened his
+eyes, and faintly murmuring, “Oh, sainted and adorable Koon Yam, Goddess
+of Charity, intercede for me with Buddha!” he again lost possession of
+himself in the Middle Air. At this remark, which plainly proved Ling to
+be still alive, in spite of the fact that both the maiden and the person
+himself had thoughts to the contrary, Mian found herself surrounded by
+a variety of embarrassing circumstances, among which occurred a
+remembrance of the dead magician and the wise person at Ki whom she had
+set out to summon; but on considering the various natural and sublime
+laws which bore directly on the alternative before her, she discovered
+that her plain destiny was to endeavour to restore the breath in the
+person who was still alive rather than engage on the very unsatisfactory
+chance of attempting to call it back to the body from which it had so
+long been absent.
+
+Having been inspired to this conclusion--which, when she later examined
+her mind, she found not to be repulsive to her own inner feelings--Mian
+returned to the house with dexterous speed, and calling together the two
+attendants, she endeavoured by means of signs and drawings to explain to
+them what she desired to accomplish. Succeeding in this after some delay
+(for the persons in question, being very illiterate and narrow-minded,
+were unable at first to understand the existence of any recumbent male
+person other than the dead magician, whom they thereupon commenced to
+bury in the garden with expressions of great satisfaction at their
+own intelligence in comprehending Mian’s meaning so readily) they all
+journeyed to the wood, and bearing Ling between them, they carried him
+to the house without further adventure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+It was in the month of Hot Dragon Breaths, many weeks after the fight in
+the woods of Ki, that Ling again opened his eyes to find himself in an
+unknown chamber, and to recognize in the one who visited him from time
+to time the incomparable maiden whose life he had saved in the cypress
+glade. Not a day had passed in the meanwhile on which Mian had neglected
+to offer sacrifices to Chang-Chung, the deity interested in drugs and
+healing substances, nor had she wavered in her firm resolve to bring
+Ling back to an ordinary existence even when the attendants had
+protested that the person in question might without impropriety be sent
+to the Restoring Establishment of the Last Chance, so little did his
+hope of recovering rest upon the efforts of living beings.
+
+After he had beheld Mian’s face and understood the circumstances of his
+escape and recovery, Ling quickly shook off the evil vapours which had
+held him down so long, and presently he was able to walk slowly in the
+courtyard and in the shady paths of the wood beyond, leaning upon Mian
+for the support he still required.
+
+“Oh, graceful one,” he said on such an occasion, when little stood
+between him and the full powers which he had known before the battle,
+“there is a matter which has been pressing upon this person’s mind for
+some time past. It is as dark after light to let the thoughts dwell
+around it, yet the thing itself must inevitably soon be regarded, for in
+this life one’s actions are for ever regulated by conditions which are
+neither of one’s own seeking nor within one’s power of controlling.”
+
+At these words all brightness left Mian’s manner, for she at once
+understood that Ling referred to his departure, of which she herself had
+lately come to think with unrestrained agitation.
+
+“Oh, Ling,” she exclaimed at length, “most expert of sword-users and
+most noble of men, surely never was a maiden more inelegantly placed
+than the one who is now by your side. To you she owes her life, yet it
+is unseemly for her even to speak of the incident; to you she must
+look for protection, yet she cannot ask you to stay by her side. She is
+indeed alone. The magician is dead, Ki has fallen, Ling is going, and
+Mian is undoubtedly the most unhappy and solitary person between the
+Wall and the Nan Hai.”
+
+“Beloved Mian,” exclaimed Ling, with inspiring vehemence, “and is not
+the utterly unworthy person before you indebted to you in a double
+measure that life is still within him? Is not the strength which now
+promotes him to such exceptional audacity as to aspire to your
+lovely hand, of your own creating? Only encourage Ling to entertain a
+well-founded hope that on his return he shall not find you partaking
+of the wedding feast of some wealthy and exceptionally round-bodied
+Mandarin, and this person will accomplish the journey to Canton and back
+as it were in four strides.”
+
+“Oh, Ling, reflexion of my ideal, holder of my soul, it would indeed
+be very disagreeable to my own feelings to make any reply save one,”
+ replied Mian, scarcely above a breath-voice. “Gratitude alone would
+direct me, were it not that the great love which fills me leaves no
+resting-place for any other emotion than itself. Go if you must,
+but return quickly, for your absence will weigh upon Mian like a
+dragon-dream.”
+
+“Violet light of my eyes,” exclaimed Ling, “even in surroundings which
+with the exception of the matter before us are uninspiring in the
+extreme, your virtuous and retiring encouragement yet raises me to such
+a commanding eminence of demonstrative happiness that I fear I
+shall become intolerably self-opinionated towards my fellow-men in
+consequence.”
+
+“Such a thing is impossible with my Ling,” said Mian, with conviction.
+“But must you indeed journey to Canton?”
+
+“Alas!” replied Ling, “gladly would this person decide against such
+a course did the matter rest with him, for as the Verses say, ‘It
+is needless to apply the ram’s head to the unlocked door.’ But Ki is
+demolished, the unassuming Mandarin Li Keen has retired to Peking, and
+of the fortunes of his bowmen this person is entirely ignorant.”
+
+“Such as survived returned to their homes,” replied Mian, “and Si-chow
+is safe, for the scattered and broken rebels fled to the mountains
+again; so much this person has learned.”
+
+“In that case Si-chow is undoubtedly safe for the time, and can be left
+with prudence,” said Ling. “It is an unfortunate circumstance that there
+is no Mandarin of authority between here and Canton who can receive from
+this person a statement of past facts and give him instructions for the
+future.”
+
+“And what will be the nature of such instructions as will be given at
+Canton?” demanded Mian.
+
+“By chance they may take the form of raising another company of bowmen,”
+ said Ling, with a sigh, “but, indeed, if this person can obtain any
+weight by means of his past service, they will tend towards a pleasant
+and unambitious civil appointment.”
+
+“Oh, my artless and noble-minded lover!” exclaimed Mian, “assuredly a
+veil has been before your eyes during your residence in Canton, and your
+naturally benevolent mind has turned all things into good, or you would
+not thus hopefully refer to your brilliant exploits in the past. Of what
+commercial benefit have they been to the sordid and miserly persons
+in authority, or in what way have they diverted a stream of taels into
+their insatiable pockets? Far greater is the chance that had Si-chow
+fallen many of its household goods would have found their way into the
+Yamens of Canton. Assuredly in Li Keen you will have a friend who will
+make many delicate allusions to your ancestors when you meet, and yet
+one who will float many barbed whispers to follow you when you have
+passed; for you have planted shame before him in the eyes of those who
+would otherwise neither have eyes to see nor tongues to discuss the
+matter. It is for such a reason that this person distrusts all things
+connected with the journey, except your constancy, oh, my true and
+strong one.”
+
+“Such faithfulness would alone be sufficient to assure my safe return if
+the matter were properly represented to the supreme Deities,” said Ling.
+“Let not the thin curtain of bitter water stand before your lustrous
+eyes any longer, then, the events which have followed one another in the
+past few days in a fashion that can only be likened to thunder following
+lightning are indeed sufficient to distress one with so refined and
+swan-like an organization, but they are now assuredly at an end.”
+
+“It is a hope of daily recurrence to this person,” replied Mian,
+honourably endeavouring to restrain the emotion which openly exhibited
+itself in her eyes; “for what maiden would not rather make successful
+offerings to the Great Mother Kum-Fa than have the most imposing and
+verbose Triumphal Arch erected to commemorate an empty and unsatisfying
+constancy?”
+
+In this amiable manner the matter was arranged between Ling and Mian, as
+they sat together in the magician’s garden drinking peach-tea, which the
+two attendants--not without discriminating and significant expressions
+between themselves--brought to them from time to time. Here Ling made
+clear the whole manner of his life from his earliest memory to the
+time when he fell in dignified combat, nor did Mian withhold anything,
+explaining in particular such charms and spells of the magician as she
+had knowledge of, and in this graceful manner materially assisting her
+lover in the many disagreeable encounters and conflicts which he was
+shortly to experience.
+
+It was with even more objectionable feelings than before that Ling now
+contemplated his journey to Canton, involving as it did the separation
+from one who had become as the shadow of his existence, and by whose
+side he had an undoubted claim to stand. Yet the necessity of the
+undertaking was no less than before, and the full possession of all his
+natural powers took away his only excuse for delaying in the matter.
+Without any pleasurable anticipations, therefore, he consulted the
+Sacred Flat and Round Sticks, and learning that the following day would
+be propitious for the journey, he arranged to set out in accordance with
+the omen.
+
+When the final moment arrived at which the invisible threads of
+constantly passing emotions from one to the other must be broken, and
+when Mian perceived that her lover’s horse was restrained at the door by
+the two attendants, who with unsuspected delicacy of feeling had taken
+this opportunity of withdrawing, the noble endurance which had hitherto
+upheld her melted away, and she became involved in very melancholy
+and obscure meditations until she observed that Ling also was quickly
+becoming affected by a similar gloom.
+
+“Alas!” she exclaimed, “how unworthy a person I am thus to impose upon
+my lord a greater burden than that which already weighs him down! Rather
+ought this one to dwell upon the happiness of that day, when, after
+successfully evading or overthrowing the numerous bands of assassins
+which infest the road from here to Canton, and after escaping or
+recovering from the many deadly pestilences which invariably reduce that
+city at this season of the year, he shall triumphantly return. Assuredly
+there is a highly-polished surface united to every action in life,
+no matter how funereal it may at first appear. Indeed, there are many
+incidents compared with which death itself is welcome, and to this end
+Mian has reserved a farewell gift.”
+
+Speaking in this manner the devoted and magnanimous maiden placed in
+Ling’s hands the transparent vessel of liquid which the magician had
+grasped when he fell. “This person,” she continued, speaking with
+difficulty, “places her lover’s welfare incomparably before her own
+happiness, and should he ever find himself in a situation which is
+unendurably oppressive, and from which death is the only escape--such
+as inevitable tortures, the infliction of violent madness, or the
+subjection by magic to the will of some designing woman--she begs him
+to accept this means of freeing himself without regarding her anguish
+beyond expressing a clearly defined last wish that the two persons in
+question may be in the end happily reunited in another existence.”
+
+Assured by this last evidence of affection, Ling felt that he had no
+longer any reason for internal heaviness; his spirits were immeasurably
+raised by the fragrant incense of Mian’s great devotion, and under its
+influence he was even able to breathe towards her a few words of similar
+comfort as he left the spot and began his journey.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+On entering Canton, which he successfully accomplished without any
+unpleasant adventure, the marked absence of any dignified ostentation
+which had been accountable for many of Ling’s misfortunes in the past,
+impelled him again to reside in the same insignificant apartment that
+he had occupied when he first visited the city as an unknown
+and unimportant candidate. In consequence of this, when Ling was
+communicating to any person the signs by which messengers might
+find him, he was compelled to add, “the neighbourhood in which this
+contemptible person resides is that officially known as ‘the mean
+quarter favoured by the lower class of those who murder by treachery,’”
+ and for this reason he was not always treated with the regard to which
+his attainments entitled him, or which he would have unquestionably
+received had he been able to describe himself as of “the partly-drained
+and uninfected area reserved to Mandarins and their friends.”
+
+It was with an ignoble feeling of mental distress that Ling exhibited
+himself at the Chief Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements on the
+following day; for the many disadvantageous incidents of his past life
+had repeated themselves before his eyes while he slept, and the not
+unhopeful emotions which he had felt when in the inspiring presence of
+Mian were now altogether absent. In spite of the fact that he reached
+the office during the early gong strokes of the morning, it was not
+until the withdrawal of light that he reached any person who was in a
+position to speak with him on the matter, so numerous were the lesser
+ones through whose chambers he had to pass in the process. At length he
+found himself in the presence of an upper one who had the appearance
+of being acquainted with the circumstances, and who received him with
+dignity, though not with any embarrassing exhibition of respect or
+servility.
+
+“‘The hero of the illustrious encounter beyond the walls of Si-chow,’”
+ exclaimed that official, reading the words from the tablet of
+introduction which Ling had caused to be carried into him, and at the
+same time examining the person in question closely. “Indeed, no such one
+is known to those within this office, unless the words chance to point
+to the courteous and unassuming Mandarin Li Keen, who, however, is at
+this moment recovering his health at Peking, as set forth in the amiable
+and impartial report which we have lately received from him.”
+
+At these words Ling plainly understood that there was little hope of the
+last events becoming profitable on his account.
+
+“Did not the report to which allusion has been made bear reference to
+one Ling, Commander of the Archers, who thrice led on the fighting men,
+and who was finally successful in causing the rebels to disperse towards
+the mountains?” he asked, in a voice which somewhat trembled.
+
+“There is certainly reference to one of the name you mention,” said
+the other; “but regarding the terms--perhaps this person would better
+protect his own estimable time by displaying the report within your
+sight.”
+
+With these words the upper one struck a gong several times, and after
+receiving from an inner chamber the parchment in question, he placed
+it before Ling, at the same time directing a lesser one to interpose
+between it and the one who read it a large sheet of transparent
+substance, so that destruction might not come to it, no matter in
+what way its contents affected the reader. Thereon Ling perceived the
+following facts, very skilfully inscribed with the evident purpose of
+inducing persons to believe, without question, that words so elegantly
+traced must of necessity be truthful also.
+
+  A Benevolent Example of the Intelligent Arrangement by which the
+  most Worthy Persons outlive those who are Incapable.
+
+  The circumstances connected with the office of the valuable and
+  accomplished Mandarin of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements at Si-chow
+  have, in recent times, been of anything but a prepossessing order.
+  Owing to the very inadequate methods adopted by those who earn a
+  livelihood by conveying necessities from the more enlightened
+  portions of the Empire to that place, it so came about that for a
+  period of five days the Yamen was entirely unsupplied with the
+  fins of sharks or even with goats’ eyes. To add to the polished
+  Mandarin’s distress of mind the barbarous and slow-witted rebels
+  who infest those parts took this opportunity to destroy the town
+  and most of its inhabitants, the matter coming about as follows:
+
+  The feeble and commonplace person named Ling who commands the
+  bowmen had but recently been elevated to that distinguished
+  position from a menial and degraded occupation (for which, indeed,
+  his stunted intellect more aptly fitted him); and being in
+  consequence very greatly puffed out in self-gratification, he
+  became an easy prey to the cunning of the rebels, and allowed
+  himself to be beguiled into a trap, paying for this contemptible
+  stupidity with his life. The town of Si-chow was then attacked,
+  and being in this manner left defenceless through the weakness--or
+  treachery--of the person Ling, who had contrived to encompass the
+  entire destruction of his unyielding company, it fell after a
+  determined and irreproachable resistance; the Mandarin Li Keen
+  being told, as, covered with the blood of the foemen, he was
+  dragged away from the thickest part of the unequal conflict by his
+  followers, that he was the last person to leave the town. On his
+  way to Peking with news of this valiant defence, the Mandarin was
+  joined by the Chief of Bowmen, who had understood and avoided the
+  very obvious snare into which the stagnant-minded Commander had
+  led his followers, in spite of disinterested advice to the
+  contrary. For this intelligent perception, and for general
+  nobility of conduct when in battle, the versatile Chief of Bowmen
+  is by this written paper strongly recommended to the dignity of
+  receiving the small metal Embellishment of Valour.
+
+  It has been suggested to the Mandarin Li Keen that the bestowal of
+  the Crystal Button would only be a fit and graceful reward for his
+  indefatigable efforts to uphold the dignity of the sublime
+  Emperor; but to all such persons the Mandarin has sternly replied
+  that such a proposal would more fitly originate from the renowned
+  and valuable Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, he well
+  knowing that the wise and engaging persons who conduct that
+  indispensable and well-regulated department are gracefully
+  voracious in their efforts to reward merit, even when it is
+  displayed, as in the case in question, by one who from his
+  position will inevitably soon be urgently petitioning in a like
+  manner on their behalf.
+
+When Ling had finished reading this elegantly arranged but exceedingly
+misleading parchment, he looked up with eyes from which he vainly
+endeavoured to restrain the signs of undignified emotion, and said to
+the upper one:
+
+“It is difficult employment for a person to refrain from unendurable
+thoughts when his unassuming and really conscientious efforts are
+represented in a spirit of no satisfaction, yet in this matter the very
+expert Li Keen appears to have gone beyond himself; the Commander Ling,
+who is herein represented as being slain by the enemy, is, indeed, the
+person who is standing before you, and all the other statements are in a
+like exactness.”
+
+“The short-sighted individual who for some hidden desire of his own is
+endeavouring to present himself as the corrupt and degraded creature
+Ling, has overlooked one important circumstance,” said the upper one,
+smiling in a very intolerable manner, at the same time causing his head
+to move slightly from side to side in the fashion of one who rebukes
+with assumed geniality; and, turning over the written paper, he
+displayed upon the under side the Imperial vermilion Sign. “Perhaps,”
+ he continued, “the omniscient person will still continue in his remarks,
+even with the evidence of the Emperor’s unerring pencil to refute him.”
+
+At these words and the undoubted testimony of the red mark, which
+plainly declared the whole of the written matter to be composed of
+truth, no matter what might afterwards transpire, Ling understood that
+very little prosperity remained with him.
+
+“But the town of Si-chow,” he suggested, after examining his mind; “if
+any person in authority visited the place, he would inevitably find it
+standing and its inhabitants in agreeable health.”
+
+“The persistent person who is so assiduously occupying my intellectual
+moments with empty words seems to be unaccountably deficient in his
+knowledge of the customs of refined society and of the meaning of the
+Imperial Signet,” said the other, with an entire absence of benevolent
+consideration. “That Si-chow has fallen and that Ling is dead are two
+utterly uncontroversial matters truthfully recorded. If a person visited
+Si-chow, he might find it rebuilt or even inhabited by those from the
+neighbouring villages or by evil spirits taking the forms of the ones
+who formerly lived there; as in a like manner, Ling might be restored
+to existence by magic, or his body might be found and possessed by
+an outcast demon who desired to revisit the earth for a period. Such
+circumstances do not in any way disturb the announcement that Si-chow
+has without question fallen, and that Ling has officially ceased to
+live, of which events notifications have been sent to all who are
+concerned in the matters.”
+
+As the upper one ceased speaking, four strokes sounded upon the gong,
+and Ling immediately found himself carried into the street by the
+current of both lesser and upper ones who poured forth at the signal.
+The termination of this conversation left Ling in a more unenviable
+state of dejection than any of the many preceding misfortunes had
+done, for with enlarged inducements to possess himself of a competent
+appointment he seemed to be even further removed from this attainment
+than he had been at any time in his life. He might, indeed, present
+himself again for the public examinations; but in order to do even that
+it would be necessary for him to wait almost a year, nor could he assure
+himself that his efforts would again be likely to result in an equal
+success. Doubts also arose within his mind of the course which he should
+follow in such a case; whether to adopt a new name, involving as it
+would certain humiliation and perhaps disgrace if detection overtook
+his footsteps, or still to possess the title of one who was in a measure
+dead, and hazard the likelihood of having any prosperity which he might
+obtain reduced to nothing if the fact should become public.
+
+As Ling reflected upon such details he found himself without intention
+before the house of a wise person who had become very wealthy by
+advising others on all matters, but chiefly on those connected with
+strange occurrences and such events as could not be settled definitely
+either one way or the other until a remote period had been reached.
+Becoming assailed by a curious desire to know what manner of evils
+particularly attached themselves to such as were officially dead but who
+nevertheless had an ordinary existence, Ling placed himself before this
+person, and after arranging the manner of reward related to him so many
+of the circumstances as were necessary to enable a full understanding to
+be reached, but at the same time in no way betraying his own interest in
+the matter.
+
+“Such inflictions are to no degree frequent,” said the wise person after
+he had consulted a polished sphere of the finest red jade for some
+time; “and this is in a measure to be regretted, as the hair of these
+persons--provided they die a violent death, which is invariably the
+case--constitutes a certain protection against being struck by falling
+stars, or becoming involved in unsuccessful law cases. The persons in
+question can be recognized with certainty in the public ways by the
+unnatural pallor of their faces and by the general repulsiveness of
+their appearance, but as they soon take refuge in suicide, unless
+they have the fortune to be removed previously by accident, it is an
+infrequent matter that one is gratified by the sight. During their
+existence they are subject to many disorders from which the generality
+of human beings are benevolently preserved; they possess no rights
+of any kind, and if by any chance they are detected in an act of a
+seemingly depraved nature, they are liable to judgment at the hands of
+the passers-by without any form whatever, and to punishment of a more
+severe order than that administered to commonplace criminals. There
+are many other disadvantages affecting such persons when they reach the
+Middle Air, of which the chief--”
+
+“This person is immeasurably indebted for such a clear explanation of
+the position,” interrupted Ling, who had a feeling of not desiring
+to penetrate further into the detail; “but as he perceives a line
+of anxious ones eagerly waiting at the door to obtain advice and
+consolation from so expert and amiable a wizard, he will not make
+himself uncongenial any longer with his very feeble topics of
+conversation.”
+
+By this time Ling plainly comprehended that he had been marked out
+from the beginning--perhaps for all the knowledge which he had to the
+opposite effect, from a period in the life of a far-removed ancestor--to
+be an object of marked derision and the victim of all manner of
+malevolent demons in whatever actions he undertook. In this condition
+of understanding his mind turned gratefully to the parting gift of Mian
+whom he had now no hope of possessing; for the intolerable thought
+of uniting her to so objectionable a being as himself would have been
+dismissed as utterly inelegant even had he been in a manner of living
+to provide for her adequately, which itself seemed clearly impossible.
+Disregarding all similar emotions, therefore, he walked without pausing
+to his abode, and stretching his body upon the rushes, drank the entire
+liquid unhesitatingly, and prepared to pass beyond with a tranquil mind
+entirely given up to thoughts and images of Mian.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+Upon a certain occasion, the particulars of which have already been
+recorded, Ling had judged himself to have passed into the form of a
+spirit on beholding the ethereal form of Mian bending over him. After
+swallowing the entire liquid, which had cost the dead magician so much
+to distil and make perfect, it was with a well-assured determination of
+never again awakening that he lost the outward senses and floated in the
+Middle Air, so that when his eyes next opened upon what seemed to be
+the bare walls of his own chamber, his first thought was a natural
+conviction that the matter had been so arranged either out of a
+charitable desire that he should not be overcome by a too sudden
+transition to unparalleled splendour, or that such a reception was the
+outcome of some dignified jest on the part of certain lesser and more
+cheerful spirits. After waiting in one position for several hours,
+however, and receiving no summons or manifestation of a celestial
+nature, he began to doubt the qualities of the liquid, and applying
+certain tests, he soon ascertained that he was still in the lower world
+and unharmed. Nevertheless, this circumstance did not tend in any way
+to depress his mind, for, doubtless owing to some hidden virtue of
+the fluid, he felt an enjoyable emotion that he still lived; all his
+attributes appeared to be purified, and he experienced an inspired
+certainty of feeling that an illustrious and highly-remunerative future
+lay before one who still had an ordinary existence after being both
+officially killed and self-poisoned.
+
+In this intelligent disposition thoughts of Mian recurred to him with
+unreproved persistence, and in order to convey to her an account of the
+various matters which had engaged him since his arrival at the city, and
+a well-considered declaration of the unchanged state of his own feelings
+towards her, he composed and despatched with impetuous haste the
+following delicate verses:
+
+
+
+CONSTANCY
+
+  About the walls and gates of Canton
+  Are many pleasing and entertaining maidens;
+  Indeed, in the eyes of their friends and of the passers-by
+  Some of them are exceptionally adorable.
+  The person who is inscribing these lines, however,
+  Sees before him, as it were, an assemblage of deformed and un-prepossessing hags,
+  Venerable in age and inconsiderable in appearance;
+  For the dignified and majestic image of Mian is ever before him,
+  Making all others very inferior.
+
+  Within the houses and streets of Canton
+  Hang many bright lanterns.
+  The ordinary person who has occasion to walk by night
+  Professes to find them highly lustrous.
+  But there is one who thinks contrary facts,
+  And when he goes forth he carries two long curved poles
+  To prevent him from stumbling among the dark and hidden places;
+  For he has gazed into the brilliant and pellucid orbs of Mian,
+  And all other lights are dull and practically opaque.
+
+  In various parts of the literary quarter of Canton
+  Reside such as spend their time in inward contemplation.
+  In spite of their generally uninviting exteriors
+  Their reflexions are often of a very profound order.
+  Yet the unpopular and persistently-abused Ling
+  Would unhesitatingly prefer his own thoughts to theirs,
+  For what makes this person’s thoughts far more pleasing
+  Is that they are invariably connected with the virtuous and ornamental Mian.
+
+Becoming very amiably disposed after this agreeable occupation, Ling
+surveyed himself at the disc of polished metal, and observed with
+surprise and shame the rough and uninviting condition of his person. He
+had, indeed, although it was not until some time later that he became
+aware of the circumstance, slept for five days without interruption, and
+it need not therefore be a matter of wonder or of reproach to him that
+his smooth surfaces had become covered with short hair. Reviling himself
+bitterly for the appearance which he conceived he must have exhibited
+when he conducted his business, and to which he now in part attributed
+his ill-success, Ling went forth without delay, and quickly discovering
+one of those who remove hair publicly for a very small sum, he placed
+himself in the chair, and directed that his face, arms, and legs should
+be denuded after the manner affected by the ones who make a practice of
+observing the most recent customs.
+
+“Did the illustrious individual who is now conferring distinction on
+this really worn-out chair by occupying it express himself in favour of
+having the face entirely denuded?” demanded the one who conducted the
+operation; for these persons have become famous for their elegant and
+persistent ability to discourse, and frequently assume ignorance in
+order that they themselves may make reply, and not for the purpose
+of gaining knowledge. “Now, in the objectionable opinion of this
+unintelligent person, who has a presumptuous habit of offering his
+very undesirable advice, a slight covering on the upper lip, delicately
+arranged and somewhat fiercely pointed at the extremities, would
+bestow an appearance of--how shall this illiterate person explain
+himself?--dignity?--matured reflexion?--doubtless the accomplished
+nobleman before me will understand what is intended with a more
+knife-like accuracy than this person can describe it--but confer that
+highly desirable effect upon the face of which at present it is entirely
+destitute... ‘Entirely denuded?’ Then without fail it shall certainly be
+so, O incomparable personage... Does the versatile Mandarin now present
+profess any concern as to the condition of the rice plants?... Indeed,
+the remark is an inspired one; the subject is totally devoid of interest
+to a person of intelligence ... A remarkable and gravity-removing event
+transpired within the notice of this unassuming person recently. A
+discriminating individual had purchased from him a portion of his justly
+renowned Thrice-extracted Essence of Celestial Herb Oil--a preparation
+which in this experienced person’s opinion, indeed, would greatly
+relieve the undoubted afflictions from which the one before him is
+evidently suffering--when after once anointing himself--”
+
+A lengthy period containing no words caused Ling, who had in the
+meantime closed his eyes and lost Canton and all else in delicate
+thoughts of Mian, to look up. That which met his attention on doing so
+filled him with an intelligent wonder, for the person before him held in
+his hand what had the appearance of a tuft of bright yellow hair, which
+shone in the light of the sun with a most engaging splendour, but which
+he nevertheless regarded with a most undignified expression of confusion
+and awe.
+
+“Illustrious demon,” he cried at length, kow-towing very respectfully,
+“have the extreme amiableness to be of a benevolent disposition, and do
+not take an unworthy and entirely unremunerative revenge upon this
+very unimportant person for failing to detect and honour you from the
+beginning.”
+
+“Such words indicate nothing beyond an excess of hemp spirit,” answered
+Ling, with signs of displeasure. “To gain my explicit esteem, make me
+smooth without delay, and do not exhibit before me the lock of hair
+which, from its colour and appearance, has evidently adorned the head of
+one of those maidens whose duty it is to quench the thirst of travellers
+in the long narrow rooms of this city.”
+
+“Majestic and anonymous spirit,” said the other, with extreme reverence,
+and an entire absence of the appearance of one who had gazed into
+too many vessels, “if such be your plainly-expressed desire, this
+superficial person will at once proceed to make smooth your peach-like
+skin, and with a carefulness inspired by the certainty that the most
+unimportant wound would give forth liquid fire, in which he would
+undoubtedly perish. Nevertheless, he desires to make it evident that
+this hair is from the head of no maiden, being, indeed, the uneven
+termination of your own sacred pigtail, which this excessively
+self-confident slave took the inexcusable liberty of removing, and which
+changed in this manner within his hand in order to administer a fit
+reproof for his intolerable presumption.”
+
+Impressed by the mien and unquestionable earnestness of the remover of
+hair, Ling took the matter which had occasioned these various emotions
+in his hand and examined it. His amazement was still greater when he
+perceived that--in spite of the fact that it presented every appearance
+of having been cut from his own person--none of the qualities of hair
+remained in it; it was hard and wire-like, possessing, indeed, both the
+nature and the appearance of a metal.
+
+As he gazed fixedly and with astonishment, there came back into
+the remembrance of Ling certain obscure and little-understood facts
+connected with the limitless wealth possessed by the Yellow Emperor--of
+which the great gold life-like image in the Temple of Internal Symmetry
+at Peking alone bears witness now--and of his lost secret. Many very
+forcible prophecies and omens in his own earlier life, of which
+the rendering and accomplishment had hitherto seemed to be dark and
+incomplete, passed before him, and various matters which Mian had
+related to him concerning the habits and speech of the magician took
+definite form within his mind. Deeply impressed by the exact manner in
+which all these circumstances fitted together, one into another, Ling
+rewarded the person before him greatly beyond his expectation, and
+hurried without delay to his own chamber.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+For many hours Ling remained in his room, examining in his mind all
+passages, either in his own life or in the lives of others, which might
+by any chance have influence on the event before him. In this thorough
+way he became assured that the competition and its results, his journey
+to Si-chow with the encounter in the cypress wood, the flight of the
+incapable and treacherous Mandarin, and the battle of Ki, were all,
+down to the matter of the smallest detail, parts of a symmetrical and
+complete scheme, tending to his present condition. Cheered and upheld
+by this proof of the fact that very able deities were at work on
+his behalf, he turned his intellect from the entrancing subject to a
+contemplation of the manner in which his condition would enable him to
+frustrate the uninventive villainies of the obstinate person Li Keen,
+and to provide a suitable house and mode of living to which he would be
+justified in introducing Mian, after adequate marriage ceremonies had
+been observed between them. In this endeavour he was less successful
+than he had imagined would be the case, for when he had first fully
+understood that his body was of such a substance that nothing was
+wanting to transmute it into fine gold but the absence of the living
+spirit, he had naturally, and without deeply examining the detail,
+assumed that so much gold might be considered to be in his possession.
+Now, however, a very definite thought arose within him that his own
+wishes and interests would have been better secured had the benevolent
+spirits who undertook the matter placed the secret within his knowledge
+in such a way as to enable him to administer the fluid to some very
+heavy and inexpensive animal, so that the issue which seemed inevitable
+before the enjoyment of the riches could be entered upon should not
+have touched his own comfort so closely. To a person of Ling’s refined
+imagination it could not fail to be a subject of internal reproach that
+while he would become the most precious dead body in the world, his
+value in life might not be very honourably placed even by the most
+complimentary one who should require his services. Then came the
+thought, which, however degraded, he found himself unable to put quite
+beyond him, that if in the meantime he were able to gain a sufficiency
+for Mian and himself, even her pure and delicate love might not be able
+to bear so offensive a test as that of seeing him grow old and remain
+intolerably healthy--perhaps with advancing years actually becoming
+lighter day by day, and thereby lessening in value before her eyes--when
+the natural infirmities of age and the presence of an ever-increasing
+posterity would make even a moderate amount of taels of inestimable
+value.
+
+No doubt remained in Ling’s mind that the process of frequently making
+smooth his surfaces would yield an amount of gold enough to suffice for
+his own needs, but a brief consideration of the matter convinced him
+that this source would be inadequate to maintain an entire household
+even if he continually denuded himself to an almost ignominious extent.
+As he fully weighed these varying chances the certainty became more
+clear to him with every thought that for the virtuous enjoyment of
+Mian’s society one great sacrifice was required of him. This act, it
+seemed to be intimated, would without delay provide for an affluent
+and lengthy future, and at the same time would influence all the
+spirits--even those who had been hitherto evilly-disposed towards
+him--in such a manner that his enemies would be removed from his path
+by a process which would expose them to public ridicule, and he would be
+assured in founding an illustrious and enduring line. To accomplish this
+successfully necessitated the loss of at least the greater part of one
+entire member, and for some time the disadvantages of going through an
+existence with only a single leg or arm seemed more than a sufficient
+price to pay even for the definite advantages which would be made
+over to him in return. This unworthy thought, however, could not long
+withstand the memory of Mian’s steadfast and high-minded affection,
+and the certainty of her enlightened gladness at his return even in the
+imperfect condition which he anticipated. Nor was there absent from his
+mind a dimly-understood hope that the matter did not finally rest with
+him, but that everything which he might be inspired to do was in reality
+only a portion of the complete and arranged system into which he had
+been drawn, and in which his part had been assigned to him from the
+beginning without power for him to deviate, no matter how much to the
+contrary the thing should appear.
+
+As no advantage would be gained by making any delay, Ling at once sought
+the most favourable means of putting his resolution into practice, and
+after many skilful and insidious inquiries he learnt of an accomplished
+person who made a consistent habit of cutting off limbs which had become
+troublesome to their possessors either through accident or disease.
+Furthermore, he was said to be of a sincere and charitable disposition,
+and many persons declared that on no occasion had he been known to
+make use of the helpless condition of those who visited him in order to
+extort money from them.
+
+Coming to the ill-considered conclusion that he would be able to conceal
+within his own breast the true reason for the operation, Ling placed
+himself before the person in question, and exhibited the matter to
+him so that it would appear as though his desires were promoted by the
+presence of a small but persistent sprite which had taken its abode
+within his left thigh, and there resisted every effort of the most
+experienced wise persons to induce it to come forth again. Satisfied
+with this explanation of the necessity of the deed, the one who
+undertook the matter proceeded, with Ling’s assistance, to sharpen his
+cutting instruments and to heat the hardening irons; but no sooner had
+he made a shallow mark to indicate the lines which his knife should
+take, than his subtle observation at once showed him that the facts had
+been represented to him in a wrong sense, and that his visitor, indeed,
+was composed of no common substance. Being of a gentle and forbearing
+disposition, he did not manifest any indication of rage at the
+discovery, but amiably and unassumingly pointed out that such a course
+was not respectful towards himself, and that, moreover, Ling might incur
+certain well-defined and highly undesirable maladies as a punishment for
+the deception.
+
+Overcome with remorse at deceiving so courteous and noble-minded
+a person, Ling fully explained the circumstances to him, not even
+concealing from him certain facts which related to the actions of remote
+ancestors, but which, nevertheless, appeared to have influenced the
+succession of events. When he had made an end of the narrative, the
+other said:
+
+“Behold now, it is truly remarked that every Mandarin has three hands
+and every soldier a like number of feet, yet it is a saying which is
+rather to be regarded as manifesting the deep wisdom and discrimination
+of the speaker than as an actual fact which can be taken advantage of
+when one is so minded--least of all by so valiant a Commander as the one
+before me, who has clearly proved that in time of battle he has exactly
+reversed the position.”
+
+“The loss would undoubtedly be of considerable inconvenience
+occasionally,” admitted Ling, “yet none the less the sage remark of Huai
+Mei-shan, ‘When actually in the embrace of a voracious and powerful
+wild animal, the desirability of leaving a limb is not a matter to be
+subjected to lengthy consideration,’ is undoubtedly a valuable guide for
+general conduct. This person has endured many misfortunes and suffered
+many injustices; he has known the wolf-gnawings of great hopes, which
+have withered and daily grown less when the difficulties of maintaining
+an honourable and illustrious career have unfolded themselves within his
+sight. Before him still lie the attractions of a moderate competency to
+be shared with the one whose absence would make even the Upper Region
+unendurable, and after having this entrancing future once shattered
+by the tiger-like cupidity of a depraved and incapable Mandarin, he is
+determined to welcome even the sacrifice which you condemn rather than
+let the opportunity vanish through indecision.”
+
+“It is not an unworthy or abandoned decision,” said the one whose aid
+Ling had invoked, “nor a matter in which this person would refrain from
+taking part, were there no other and more agreeable means by which the
+same results may be attained. A circumstance has occurred within
+this superficial person’s mind, however: A brother of the one who
+is addressing you is by profession one of those who purchase large
+undertakings for which they have not the money to pay, and who thereupon
+by various expedients gain the ear of the thrifty, enticing them by fair
+offers of return to entrust their savings for the purpose of paying off
+the debt. These persons are ever on the watch for transactions by which
+they inevitably prosper without incurring any obligation, and doubtless
+my brother will be able to gather a just share of the value of your
+highly-remunerative body without submitting you to the insufferable
+annoyance of losing a great part of it prematurely.”
+
+Without clearly understanding how so inviting an arrangement could be
+effected, the manner of speaking was exceedingly alluring to Ling’s
+mind, perplexed as he had become through weighing and considering
+the various attitudes of the entire matter. To receive a certain and
+sufficient sum of money without his person being in any way mutilated
+would be a satisfactory, but as far as he had been able to observe an
+unapproachable, solution to the difficulty. In the mind of the amiable
+person with whom he was conversing, however, the accomplishment did not
+appear to be surrounded by unnatural obstacles, so that Ling was content
+to leave the entire design in his hands, after stating that he would
+again present himself on a certain occasion when it was asserted that
+the brother in question would be present.
+
+So internally lightened did Ling feel after this inspiring conversation,
+and so confident of a speedy success had the obliging person’s words
+made him become, that for the first time since his return to Canton he
+was able to take an intellectual interest in the pleasures of the city.
+Becoming aware that the celebrated play entitled “The Precious Lamp
+of Spotted Butterfly Temple” was in process of being shown at the Tea
+Garden of Rainbow Lights and Voices, he purchased an entrance, and after
+passing several hours in this conscientious enjoyment, returned to
+his chamber, and passed a night untroubled by any manifestations of an
+unpleasant nature.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Chang-ch’un, the brother of the one to whom Ling had applied in his
+determination, was confidently stated to be one of the richest persons
+in Canton. So great was the number of enterprises in which he had
+possessions, that he himself was unable to keep an account of them,
+and it was asserted that upon occasions he had run through the streets,
+crying aloud that such an undertaking had been the subject of most
+inferior and uninviting dreams and omens (a custom observed by those who
+wish a venture ill), whereas upon returning and consulting his written
+parchments, it became plain to him that he had indulged in a very
+objectionable exhibition, as he himself was the person most interested
+in the success of the matter. Far from discouraging him, however, such
+incidents tended to his advantage, as he could consistently point to
+them in proof of his unquestionable commercial honourableness, and in
+this way many persons of all classes, not only in Canton, or in the
+Province, but all over the Empire, would unhesitatingly entrust money
+to be placed in undertakings which he had purchased and was willing to
+describe as “of much good.” A certain class of printed leaves--those in
+which Chang-ch’un did not insert purchased mentions of his forthcoming
+ventures or verses recording his virtues (in return for buying many
+examples of the printed leaf containing them)--took frequent occasion of
+reminding persons that Chang-ch’un owed the beginning of his prosperity
+to finding a written parchment connected with a Mandarin of exalted rank
+and a low caste attendant at the Ti-i tea-house among the paper
+heaps, which it was at that time his occupation to assort into various
+departments according to their quality and commercial value. Such
+printed leaves freely and unhesitatingly predicted that the day on which
+he would publicly lose face was incomparably nearer than that on which
+the Imperial army would receive its back pay, and in a quaint and
+gravity-removing manner advised him to protect himself against an
+obscure but inevitable poverty by learning the accomplishment of
+chair-carrying--an occupation for which his talents and achievements
+fitted him in a high degree, they remarked.
+
+In spite of these evilly intentioned remarks, and of illustrations
+representing him as being bowstrung for treacherous killing, being
+seized in the action of secretly conveying money from passers-by to
+himself and other similar annoying references to his private life,
+Chang-ch’un did not fail to prosper, and his undertakings succeeded to
+such an extent that without inquiry into the detail many persons were
+content to describe as “gold-lined” anything to which he affixed his
+sign, and to hazard their savings for staking upon the ventures. In all
+other departments of life Chang was equally successful; his chief wife
+was the daughter of one who stood high in the Emperor’s favour; his
+repast table was never unsupplied with sea-snails, rats’ tongues,
+or delicacies of an equally expensive nature, and it was confidently
+maintained that there was no official in Canton, not even putting aside
+the Taotai, who dare neglect to fondle Chang’s hand if he publicly
+offered it to him for that purpose.
+
+It was at the most illustrious point of his existence--at the time,
+indeed, when after purchasing without money the renowned and proficient
+charm-water Ho-Ko for a million taels, he had sold it again for
+ten--that Chang was informed by his brother of the circumstances
+connected with Ling. After becoming specially assured that the matter
+was indeed such as it was represented to be, Chang at once discerned
+that the venture was of too certain and profitable a nature to be put
+before those who entrusted their money to him in ordinary and doubtful
+cases. He accordingly called together certain persons whom he was
+desirous of obliging, and informing them privately and apart
+from business terms that the opportunity was one of exceptional
+attractiveness, he placed the facts before them. After displaying a
+number of diagrams bearing upon the matter, he proposed that they should
+form an enterprise to be called “The Ling (After Death) Without Much
+Risk Assembly.” The manner of conducting this undertaking he explained
+to be as follows: The body of Ling, whenever the spirit left it, should
+become as theirs to be used for profit. For this benefit they would pay
+Ling fifty thousand taels when the understanding was definitely arrived
+at, five thousand taels each year until the matter ended, and when that
+period arrived another fifty thousand taels to persons depending upon
+him during his life. Having stated the figure business, Chang-ch’un
+put down his written papers, and causing his face to assume the look of
+irrepressible but dignified satisfaction which it was his custom to wear
+on most occasions, and especially when he had what appeared at first
+sight to be evil news to communicate to public assemblages of those
+who had entrusted money to his ventures, he proceeded to disclose the
+advantages of such a system. At the extreme, he said, the amount which
+they would be required to pay would be two hundred and fifty
+thousand taels; but this was in reality a very misleading view of the
+circumstance, as he would endeavour to show them. For one detail, he had
+allotted to Ling thirty years of existence, which was the extreme amount
+according to the calculations of those skilled in such prophecies; but,
+as they were all undoubtedly aware, persons of very expert intellects
+were known to enjoy a much shorter period of life than the gross and
+ordinary, and as Ling was clearly one of the former, by the fact of his
+contriving so ingenious a method of enriching himself, they might with
+reasonable foresight rely upon his departing when half the period had
+been attained; in that way seventy-five thousand taels would be restored
+to them, for every year represented a saving of five thousand. Another
+agreeable contemplation was that of the last sum, for by such a time
+they would have arrived at the most pleasurable part of the enterprise:
+a million taels’ worth of pure gold would be displayed before them, and
+the question of the final fifty thousand could be disposed of by cutting
+off an arm or half a leg. Whether they adopted that course, or decided
+to increase their fortunes by exposing so exceptional and symmetrical a
+wonder to the public gaze in all the principal cities of the Empire, was
+a circumstance which would have to be examined within their minds when
+the time approached. In such a way the detail of purchase stood
+revealed as only fifty thousand taels in reality, a sum so despicably
+insignificant that he had internal pains at mentioning it to so wealthy
+a group of Mandarins, and he had not yet made clear to them that each
+year they would receive gold to the amount of almost a thousand taels.
+This would be the result of Ling making smooth his surfaces, and it
+would enable them to know that the person in question actually existed,
+and to keep the circumstances before their intellects.
+
+When Chang-Ch’un had made the various facts clear to this extent, those
+who were assembled expressed their feelings as favourably turned towards
+the project, provided the tests to which Ling was to be put should prove
+encouraging, and a secure and intelligent understanding of things to be
+done and not to be done could be arrived at between them. To this end
+Ling was brought into the chamber, and fixing his thoughts steadfastly
+upon Mian, he permitted portions to be cut from various parts of his
+body without betraying any signs of ignoble agitation. No sooner had
+the pieces been separated and the virtue of Ling’s existence passed from
+them than they changed colour and hardened, nor could the most delicate
+and searching trials to which they were exposed by a skilful worker
+in metals, who was obtained for the purpose, disclose any particular,
+however minute, in which they differed from the finest gold. The hair,
+the nails, and the teeth were similarly affected, and even Ling’s
+blood dried into a fine gold powder. This detail of the trial being
+successfully completed, Ling subjected himself to intricate questioning
+on all matters connected with his religion and manner of conducting
+himself, both in public and privately, the history and behaviour of his
+ancestors, the various omens and remarkable sayings which had reference
+to his life and destiny, and the intentions which he then possessed
+regarding his future movements and habits of living. All the wise
+sayings and written and printed leaves which made any allusion to the
+existence of and possibility of discovery of the wonderful gold fluid
+were closely examined, and found to be in agreement, whereupon those
+present made no further delay in admitting that the facts were indeed
+as they had been described, and indulged in a dignified stroking of
+each other’s faces as an expression of pleasure and in proof of their
+satisfaction at taking part in so entrancing and remunerative an affair.
+At Chang’s command many rare and expensive wines were then brought
+in, and partaken of without restraint by all persons, the repast being
+lightened by numerous well-considered and gravity-removing jests having
+reference to Ling and the unusual composition of his person. So amiably
+were the hours occupied that it was past the time of no light when Chang
+rose and read at full length the statement of things to be done and
+things not to be done, which was to be sealed by Ling for his part and
+the other persons who were present for theirs. It so happened, however,
+that at that period Ling’s mind was filled with brilliant and versatile
+thoughts and images of Mian, and many-hued visions of the manner in
+which they would spend the entrancing future which was now before them,
+and in this way it chanced that he did not give any portion of his
+intellect to the reading, mistaking it, indeed, for a delicate and very
+ably-composed set of verses which Chang-ch’un was reciting as a formal
+blessing on parting. Nor was it until he was desired to affix his
+sign that Ling discovered his mistake, and being of too respectful and
+unobtrusive a disposition to require the matter to be repeated then, he
+carried out the obligation without in any particular understanding the
+written words to which he was agreeing.
+
+As Ling walked through the streets to his chamber after leaving the
+house and company of Chang-Ch’un, holding firmly among his garments the
+thin printed papers to the amount of fifty thousand taels which he had
+received, and repeatedly speaking to himself in terms of general and
+specific encouragement at the fortunate events of the past few days, he
+became aware that a person of mean and rapacious appearance, whom he
+had some memory of having observed within the residence he had but
+just left, was continually by his side. Not at first doubting that
+the circumstance resulted from a benevolent desire on the part of
+Chang-ch’un that he should be protected on his passage through the city,
+Ling affected not to observe the incident; but upon reaching his own
+door the person in question persistently endeavoured to pass in also.
+Forming a fresh judgment about the matter, Ling, who was very powerfully
+constructed, and whose natural instincts were enhanced in every degree
+by the potent fluid of which he had lately partaken, repeatedly threw
+him across the street until he became weary of the diversion. At
+length, however, the thought arose that one who patiently submitted
+to continually striking the opposite houses with his head must have
+something of importance to communicate, whereupon he courteously invited
+him to enter the apartment and unweigh his mind.
+
+“The facts of the case appear to have been somewhat inadequately
+represented,” said the stranger, bowing obsequiously, “for this
+unornamental person was assured by the benignant Chang-ch’un that the
+one whose shadow he was to become was of a mild and forbearing nature.”
+
+“Such words are as the conversation of birds to me,” replied Ling, not
+conjecturing how the matter had fallen about. “This person has just left
+the presence of the elegant and successful Chang-ch’un, and no word that
+he spoke gave indication of such a follower or such a service.”
+
+“Then it is indeed certain that the various transactions have not been
+fully understood,” exclaimed the other, “for the exact communication to
+this unseemly one was, ‘The valuable and enlightened Ling has heard and
+agreed to the different things to be done and not to be done, one
+phrase of which arranges for your continual presence, so that he will
+anticipate your attentions.’”
+
+At these words the truth became as daylight before Ling’s eyes, and
+he perceived that the written paper to which he had affixed his sign
+contained the detail of such an office as that of the person before him.
+When too late, more than ever did he regret that he had not formed some
+pretext for causing the document to be read a second time, as in view of
+his immediate intentions such an arrangement as the one to which he had
+agreed had every appearance of becoming of an irksome and perplexing
+nature. Desiring to know the length of the attendant’s commands, Ling
+asked him for a clear statement of his duties, feigning that he had
+missed that portion of the reading through a momentary attack of the
+giddy sickness. To this request the stranger, who explained that his
+name was Wang, instantly replied that his written and spoken orders
+were: never to permit more than an arm’s length of space to separate
+them; to prevent, by whatever force was necessary for the purpose, all
+attempts at evading the things to be done and not to be done, and to
+ignore as of no interest all other circumstances. It seemed to Ling,
+in consequence, that little seclusion would be enjoyed unless an
+arrangement could be effected between Wang and himself; so to this end,
+after noticing the evident poverty and covetousness of the person in
+question, he made him an honourable offer of frequent rewards, provided
+a greater distance was allowed to come between them as soon as Si-chow
+was reached. On his side, Ling undertook not to break through the
+wording of the things to be done and not to be done, and to notify to
+Wang any movements upon which he meditated. In this reputable manner
+the obstacle was ingeniously removed, and the intelligent nature of the
+device was clearly proved by the fact that not only Ling but Wang also
+had in the future a much greater liberty of action than would have
+been possible if it had been necessary to observe the short-sighted and
+evidently hastily-thought-of condition which Chang-ch’un had endeavoured
+to impose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+In spite of his natural desire to return to Mian as quickly as possible,
+Ling judged it expedient to give several days to the occupation of
+purchasing apparel of the richest kinds, weapons and armour in large
+quantities, jewels and ornaments of worked metals and other objects to
+indicate his changed position. Nor did he neglect actions of a pious
+and charitable nature, for almost his first care was to arrange with the
+chief ones at the Temple of Benevolent Intentions that each year, on the
+day corresponding to that on which he drank the gold fluid, a sumptuous
+and well-constructed coffin should be presented to the most deserving
+poor and aged person within that quarter of the city in which he had
+resided. When these preparations were completed, Ling set out with an
+extensive train of attendants; but riding on before, accompanied only by
+Wang, he quickly reached Si-chow without adventure.
+
+The meeting between Ling and Mian was affecting to such an extent
+that the blind and deaf attendants wept openly without reproach,
+notwithstanding the fact that neither could become possessed of more
+than a half of the occurrence. Eagerly the two reunited ones examined
+each other’s features to discover whether the separation had brought
+about any change in the beloved and well-remembered lines. Ling
+discovered upon Mian the shadow of an anxious care at his absence, while
+the disappointments and trials which Ling had experienced in Canton had
+left traces which were plainly visible to Mian’s penetrating gaze. In
+such an entrancing occupation the time was to them without hours until
+a feeling of hunger recalled them to lesser matters, when a variety
+of very select foods and liquids was placed before them without delay.
+After this elegant repast had been partaken of, Mian, supporting herself
+upon Ling’s shoulder, made a request that he would disclose to her all
+the matters which had come under his observation both within the city
+and during his journey to and from that place. Upon this encouragement,
+Ling proceeded to unfold his mind, not withholding anything which
+appeared to be of interest, no matter how slight. When he had reached
+Canton without any perilous adventure, Mian breathed more freely; as he
+recorded the interview at the Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements,
+she trembled at the insidious malignity of the evil person Li Keen. The
+conversation with the wise reader of the future concerning the various
+states of such as be officially dead almost threw her into the rigid
+sickness, from which, however, the wonderful circumstance of the
+discovered properties of the gold fluid quickly recalled her. But to
+Ling’s great astonishment no sooner had he made plain the exceptional
+advantages which he had derived from the circumstances, and the nature
+of the undertaking at which he had arrived with Chang-ch’un, than she
+became a prey to the most intolerable and unrestrained anguish.
+
+“Oh, my devoted but excessively ill-advised lover,” she exclaimed
+wildly, and in tones which clearly indicated that she was inspired by
+every variety of affectionate emotion, “has the unendurable position
+in which you and all your household will be placed by the degrading
+commercial schemes and instincts of the mercenary-souled person
+Chang-ch’un occupied no place in your generally well-regulated
+intellect? Inevitably will those who drink our almond tea, in order
+to have an opportunity of judging the value of the appointments of the
+house, pass the jesting remark that while the Lings assuredly have ‘a
+dead person’s bones in the secret chamber,’ at the present they will not
+have one in the family graveyard by reason of the death of Ling himself.
+Better to lose a thousand limbs during life than the entire person after
+death; nor would your adoring Mian hesitate to clasp proudly to her
+organ of affection the veriest trunk that had parted with all its
+attributes in a noble and sacrificing endeavour to preserve at least
+some dignified proportions to embellish the Ancestral Temple and to
+receive the worship of posterity.”
+
+“Alas!” replied Ling, with extravagant humiliation, “it is indeed true;
+and this person is degraded beyond the common lot of those who break
+images and commit thefts from sacred places. The side of the transaction
+which is at present engaging our attention never occurred to this
+superficial individual until now.”
+
+“Wise and incomparable one,” said Mian, in no degree able to restrain
+the fountains of bitter water which clouded her delicate and expressive
+eyes, “in spite of this person’s biting and ungracious words do not, she
+makes a formal petition, doubt the deathless strength of her affection.
+Cheerfully, in order to avert the matter in question, or even to save
+her lover the anguish of unavailing and soul-eating remorse, would she
+consign herself to a badly-constructed and slow-consuming fire or expose
+her body to various undignified tortures. Happy are those even to whom
+is left a little ash to be placed in a precious urn and diligently
+guarded, for it, in any event, truly represents all that is left of the
+once living person, whereas after an honourable and spotless existence
+my illustrious but unthinking lord will be blended with a variety of
+baser substances and passed from hand to hand, his immaculate organs
+serving to reward murderers for their deeds and to tempt the weak and
+vicious to all manner of unmentionable crimes.”
+
+So overcome was Ling by the distressing nature of the oversight he had
+permitted that he could find no words with which to comfort Mian, who,
+after some moments, continued:
+
+“There are even worse visions of degradation which occur to this person.
+By chance, that which was once the noble-minded Ling may be disposed of,
+not to the Imperial Treasury for converting into pieces of exchange, but
+to some undiscriminating worker in metals who will fashion out of his
+beautiful and symmetrical stomach an elegant food-dish, so that from the
+ultimate developments of the circumstance may arise the fact that his
+own descendants, instead of worshipping him, use his internal organs
+for this doubtful if not absolutely unclean purpose, and thereby suffer
+numerous well-merited afflictions, to the end that the finally-despised
+Ling and this discredited person, instead of founding a vigorous and
+prolific generation, become the parents of a line of feeble-minded and
+physically-depressed lepers.”
+
+“Oh, my peacock-eyed one!” exclaimed Ling, in immeasurable distress, “so
+proficient an exhibition of virtuous grief crushes this misguided person
+completely to the ground. Rather would he uncomplainingly lose his
+pigtail than--”
+
+“Such a course,” said a discordant voice, as the unpresentable person
+Wang stepped forth from behind a hanging curtain, where, indeed, he had
+stood concealed during the entire conversation, “is especially forbidden
+by the twenty-third detail of the things to be done and not to be done.”
+
+“What new adversity is this?” cried Mian, pressing to Ling with a still
+closer embrace. “Having disposed of your incomparable body after death,
+surely an adequate amount of liberty and seclusion remains to us during
+life.”
+
+“Nevertheless,” interposed the dog-like Wang, “the refined person in
+question must not attempt to lose or to dispose of his striking and
+invaluable pigtail; for by such an action he would be breaking through
+his spoken and written word whereby he undertook to be ruled by the
+things to be done and not to be done; and he would also be robbing the
+ingenious-minded Chang-ch’un.”
+
+“Alas!” lamented the unhappy Ling, “that which appeared to be the end of
+all this person’s troubles is obviously simply the commencement of a new
+and more extensive variety. Understand, O conscientious but exceedingly
+inopportune Wang, that the words which passed from this person’s mouth
+did not indicate a fixed determination, but merely served to show the
+unfeigned depth of his emotion. Be content that he has no intention of
+evading the definite principles of the things to be done and not to
+be done, and in the meantime honour this commonplace establishment by
+retiring to the hot and ill-ventilated chamber, and there partaking of a
+suitable repast which shall be prepared without delay.”
+
+When Wang had departed, which he did with somewhat unseemly haste,
+Ling made an end of recording his narrative, which Mian’s grief had
+interrupted. In this way he explained to her the reason of Wang’s
+presence, and assured her that by reason of the arrangement he had made
+with that person, his near existence would not be so unsupportable to
+them as might at first appear to be the case.
+
+While they were still conversing together, and endeavouring to divert
+their minds from the objectionable facts which had recently come within
+their notice, an attendant entered and disclosed that the train of
+servants and merchandise which Ling had preceded on the journey was
+arriving. At this fresh example of her lover’s consistent thought
+for her, Mian almost forgot her recent agitation, and eagerly lending
+herself to the entrancing occupation of unfolding and displaying the
+various objects, her brow finally lost the last trace of sadness.
+Greatly beyond the imaginings of anticipation were the expensive
+articles with which Ling proudly surrounded her; and in examining and
+learning the cost of the set jewels and worked metals, the ornamental
+garments for both persons, the wood and paper appointments for the
+house--even incenses, perfumes, spices and rare viands had not been
+forgotten--the day was quickly and profitably spent.
+
+When the hour of sunset arrived, Ling, having learned that certain
+preparations which he had commanded were fully carried out, took Mian by
+the hand and led her into the chief apartment of the house, where were
+assembled all the followers and attendants, even down to the illiterate
+and superfluous Wang. In the centre of the room upon a table of the
+finest ebony stood a vessel of burning incense, some dishes of the most
+highly-esteemed fruit, and an abundance of old and very sweet wine.
+Before these emblems Ling and Mian placed themselves in an attitude of
+deep humiliation, and formally expressed their gratitude to the Chief
+Deity for having called them into existence, to the cultivated earth
+for supplying them with the means of sustaining life, to the Emperor for
+providing the numerous safeguards by which their persons were protected
+at all times, and to their parents for educating them. This adequate
+ceremony being completed, Ling explicitly desired all those present to
+observe the fact that the two persons in question were, by that fact and
+from that time, made as one being, and the bond between them, incapable
+of severance.
+
+When the ruling night-lantern came out from among the clouds, Ling and
+Mian became possessed of a great desire to go forth with pressed hands
+and look again on the forest paths and glades in which they had spent
+many hours of exceptional happiness before Ling’s journey to Canton.
+Leaving the attendants to continue the feasting and drum-beating in a
+completely unrestrained manner, they therefore passed out unperceived,
+and wandering among the trees, presently stood on the banks of the
+Heng-Kiang.
+
+“Oh, my beloved!” exclaimed Mian, gazing at the brilliant and unruffled
+water, “greatly would this person esteem a short river journey, such as
+we often enjoyed together in the days when you were recovering.”
+
+Ling, to whom the expressed desires of Mian were as the word of the
+Emperor, instantly prepared the small and ornamental junk which was
+fastened near for this purpose, and was about to step in, when a
+presumptuous and highly objectionable hand restrained him.
+
+“Behold,” remarked a voice which Ling had some difficulty in ascribing
+to any known person, so greatly had it changed from its usual tone,
+“behold how the immature and altogether too-inferior Ling observes his
+spoken and written assertions!”
+
+At this low-conditioned speech, Ling drew his well-tempered sword
+without further thought, in spite of the restraining arms of Mian,
+but at the sight of the utterly incapable person Wang, who stood near
+smiling meaninglessly and waving his arms with a continuous and backward
+motion, he again replaced it.
+
+“Such remarks can be left to fall unheeded from the lips of one who
+bears every indication of being steeped in rice spirit,” he said with
+unprovoked dignity.
+
+“It will be the plain duty of this expert and uncorruptible person
+to furnish the unnecessary, but, nevertheless, very severe and
+self-opinionated Chang-ch’un with a written account of how the
+traitorous and deceptive Ling has endeavoured to break through the
+thirty-fourth vessel of the liquids to be consumed and not to be
+consumed,” continued Wang with increased deliberation and an entire
+absence of attention to Ling’s action and speech, “and how by this
+refined person’s unfailing civility and resourceful strategy he has been
+frustrated.”
+
+“Perchance,” said Ling, after examining his thoughts for a short space,
+and reflecting that the list of things to be done and not to be done was
+to him as a blank leaf, “there may even be some small portion of that
+which is accurate in his statement. In what manner,” he continued,
+addressing the really unendurable person, who was by this time preparing
+to pass the night in the cool swamp by the river’s edge, “does this
+one endanger any detail of the written and sealed parchment by such an
+action?”
+
+“Inasmuch,” replied Wang, pausing in the process of removing his
+outer garments, “as the seventy-ninth--the intricate name given
+to it escapes this person’s tongue at the moment--but the
+ninety-seventh--experLingknowswhamean--provides that any person, with or
+without, attempting or not avoiding to travel by sea, lake, or river,
+or to place himself in such a position as he may reasonably and
+intelligently be drowned in salt water, fresh water, or--or honourable
+rice spirit, shall be guilty of, and suffer--complete loss of memory.”
+ With these words the immoderate and contemptible person sank down in a
+very profound slumber.
+
+“Alas!” said Ling, turning to Mian, who stood near, unable to retire
+even had she desired, by reason of the extreme agitation into which
+the incident had thrown her delicate mind and body, “how intensely
+aggravating a circumstance that we are compelled to entertain so
+dissolute a one by reason of this person’s preoccupation when the matter
+was read. Nevertheless, it is not unlikely that the detail he spoke of
+was such as he insisted, to the extent of making it a thing not to be
+done to journey in any manner by water. It shall be an early endeavour
+of this person to get these restraining details equitably amended; but
+in the meantime we will retrace our footsteps through the wood, and
+the enraptured Ling will make a well-thought-out attempt to lighten the
+passage by a recital of his recently-composed verses on the subject of
+‘Exile from the Loved One; or, Farewell and Return.’”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+“My beloved lord!” said Mian sadly, on a morning after many days had
+passed since the return of Ling, “have you not every possession for
+which the heart of a wise person searches? Yet the dark mark is scarcely
+ever absent from your symmetrical brow. If she who stands before you,
+and is henceforth an integral part of your organization, has failed you
+in any particular, no matter how unimportant, explain the matter to her,
+and the amendment will be a speedy and a joyful task.”
+
+It was indeed true that Ling’s mind was troubled, but the fault did not
+lie with Mian, as the person in question was fully aware, for before
+her eyes as before those of Ling the unevadable compact which had been
+entered into with Chang-ch’un was ever present, insidiously planting
+bitterness within even the most select and accomplished delights. Nor
+with increasing time did the obstinate and intrusive person Wang become
+more dignified in his behaviour; on the contrary, he freely made use of
+his position to indulge in every variety of abandonment, and almost each
+day he prevented, by reason of his knowledge of the things to be done
+and not to be done, some refined and permissible entertainment
+upon which Ling and Mian had determined. Ling had despatched many
+communications upon this subject to Chang-ch’un, praying also that
+some expert way out of the annoyance of the lesser and more unimportant
+things not to be done should be arrived at, but the time when he might
+reasonably expect an answer to these written papers had not yet arrived.
+
+It was about this period that intelligence was brought to Ling from the
+villages on the road to Peking, how Li Keen, having secretly ascertained
+that his Yamen was standing and his goods uninjured, had determined
+to return, and was indeed at that hour within a hundred li of Si-chow.
+Furthermore, he had repeatedly been understood to pronounce clearly
+that he considered Ling to be the head and beginning of all his
+inconveniences, and to declare that the first act of justice which
+he should accomplish on his return would be to submit the person in
+question to the most unbearable tortures, and then cause him to lose his
+head publicly as an outrager of the settled state of things and an
+enemy of those who loved tranquillity. Not doubting that Li Keen would
+endeavour to gain an advantage by treachery if the chance presented
+itself, Ling determined to go forth to meet him, and without delay
+settle the entire disturbance in one well-chosen and fatally-destructive
+encounter. To this end, rather than disturb the placid mind of Mian,
+to whom the thought of the engagement would be weighted with many
+disquieting fears, he gave out that he was going upon an expedition
+to surprise and capture certain fish of a very delicate flavour, and
+attended by only two persons, he set forth in the early part of the day.
+
+Some hours later, owing to an ill-considered remark on the part of the
+deaf attendant, to whom the matter had been explained in an imperfect
+light, Mian became possessed of the true facts of the case, and
+immediately all the pleasure of existence went from her. She despaired
+of ever again beholding Ling in an ordinary state, and mournfully
+reproached herself for the bitter words which had risen to her lips when
+the circumstance of his condition and the arrangement with Chang-ch’un
+first became known to her. After spending an interval in a polished
+lament at the manner in which things were inevitably tending, the
+thought occurred to Mian whether by any means in her power she could
+influence the course and settled method of affairs. In this situation
+the memory of the person Wang, and the fact that on several occasions he
+had made himself objectionable when Ling had proposed to place himself
+in such a position that he incurred some very remote chance of death
+by drowning or by fire, recurred to her. Subduing the natural and
+pure-minded repulsion which she invariably experienced at the mere
+thought of so debased an individual, she sought for him, and discovering
+him in the act of constructing cardboard figures of men and animals,
+which it was his custom to dispose skilfully in little-frequented paths
+for the purpose of enjoying the sudden terror of those who passed by,
+she quickly put the matter before him, urging him, by some means, to
+prevent the encounter, which must assuredly cost the life of the one
+whom he had so often previously obstructed from incurring the slightest
+risk.
+
+“By no means,” exclaimed Wang, when he at length understood the full
+meaning of the project; “it would be a most unpresentable action for
+this commonplace person to interfere in so honourable an undertaking.
+Had the priceless body of the intrepid Ling been in any danger of
+disappearing, as, for example, by drowning or being consumed in fire,
+the nature of the circumstance would have been different. As the
+matter exists, however, there is every appearance that the far-seeing
+Chang-ch’un will soon reap the deserved reward of his somewhat
+speculative enterprise, and to that end this person will immediately
+procure a wooden barrier and the services of four robust carriers, and
+proceed to the scene of the conflict.”
+
+Deprived of even this hope of preventing the encounter, Mian betook
+herself in extreme dejection to the secret room of the magician, which
+had been unopened since the day when the two attendants had searched for
+substances to apply to their master, and there she diligently examined
+every object in the remote chance of discovering something which might
+prove of value in averting the matter in question.
+
+Not anticipating that the true reason of his journey would become known
+to Mian, Ling continued on his way without haste, and passing through
+Si-chow before the sun had risen, entered upon the great road to Peking.
+At a convenient distance from the town he came to a favourable piece of
+ground where he decided to await the arrival of Li Keen, spending the
+time profitably in polishing his already brilliant sword, and making
+observations upon the nature of the spot and the condition of the
+surrounding omens, on which the success of his expedition would largely
+depend.
+
+As the sun reached the highest point in the open sky the sound of an
+approaching company could be plainly heard; but at the moment when the
+chair of the Mandarin appeared within the sight of those who waited, the
+great luminary, upon which all portents depend directly or indirectly,
+changed to the colour of new-drawn blood and began to sink towards
+the earth. Without any misgivings, therefore, Ling disposed his two
+attendants in the wood, with instructions to step forth and aid him if
+he should be attacked by overwhelming numbers, while he himself remained
+in the way. As the chair approached, the Mandarin observed a person
+standing alone, and thinking that it was one who, hearing of his return,
+had come out of the town to honour him, he commanded the bearers to
+pause. Thereupon, stepping up to the opening, Ling struck the deceptive
+and incapable Li Keen on the cheek, at the same time crying in a full
+voice, “Come forth, O traitorous and two-stomached Mandarin! for this
+person is very desirous of assisting you in the fulfilment of your
+boastful words. Here is a most irreproachable sword which will serve
+excellently to cut off this person’s undignified head; here is a
+waistcord which can be tightened around his breast, thereby producing
+excruciating pains over the entire body.”
+
+At the knowledge of who the one before him was, and when he heard the
+words which unhesitatingly announced Ling’s fixed purpose, Li Keen first
+urged the carriers to fall upon Ling and slay him, and then, perceiving
+that such a course was exceedingly distasteful to their natural
+tendencies, to take up the chair and save him by flight. But Ling in
+the meantime engaged their attention, and fully explained to them the
+treacherous and unworthy conduct of Li Keen, showing them how his death
+would be a just retribution for his ill-spent life, and promising them
+each a considerable reward in addition to their arranged payment when
+the matter in question had been accomplished. Becoming convinced of the
+justice of Ling’s cause, they turned upon Li Keen, insisting that he
+should at once attempt to carry out the ill-judged threats against Ling,
+of which they were consistent witnesses, and announcing that, if he
+failed to do so, they would certainly bear him themselves to a not far
+distant well of stagnant water, and there gain the approbation of the
+good spirits by freeing the land of so unnatural a monster.
+
+Seeing only a dishonourable death on either side, Li Keen drew his
+sword, and made use of every artifice of which he had knowledge in
+order to disarm Ling or to take him at a disadvantage. In this he was
+unsuccessful, for Ling, who was by nature a very expert sword-user,
+struck him repeatedly, until he at length fell in an expiring condition,
+remarking with his last words that he had indeed been a narrow-minded
+and extortionate person during his life, and that his death was an
+enlightened act of celestial accuracy.
+
+Directing Wang and his four hired persons, who had in the meantime
+arrived, to give the body of the Mandarin an honourable burial in the
+deep of the wood, Ling rewarded and dismissed the chairbearers, and
+without delay proceeded to Si-chow, where he charitably distributed the
+goods and possessions of Li Keen among the poor of the town. Having
+in this able and conscientious manner completely proved the misleading
+nature of the disgraceful statements which the Mandarin had spread
+abroad concerning him, Ling turned his footsteps towards Mian, whose
+entrancing joy at his safe return was judged by both persons to be a
+sufficient reward for the mental distress with which their separation
+had been accompanied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+After the departure of Ling from Canton, the commercial affairs of
+Chang-ch’un began, from a secret and undetectable cause, to assume an
+ill-regulated condition. No venture which he undertook maintained a
+profitable attitude, so that many persons who in former times had been
+content to display the printed papers setting forth his name and
+virtues in an easily-seen position in their receiving-rooms, now placed
+themselves daily before his house in order to accuse him of using their
+taels in ways which they themselves had not sufficiently understood, and
+for the purpose of warning passers-by against his inducements. It was
+in vain that Chang proposed new undertakings, each of an infallibly
+more prosperous nature than those before; the persons who had hitherto
+supported him were all entrusting their money to one named Pung Soo, who
+required millions where Chang had been content with thousands, and who
+persistently insisted on greeting the sacred Emperor as an equal.
+
+In this unenviable state Chang’s mind continually returned to thoughts
+of Ling, whose lifeless body would so opportunely serve to dispel the
+embarrassing perplexities of existence which were settling thickly about
+him. Urged forward by a variety of circumstances which placed him in
+an entirely different spirit from the honourable bearing which he had
+formerly maintained, he now closely examined all the papers connected
+with the matter, to discover whether he might not be able to effect his
+purpose with an outward exhibition of law forms. While engaged in this
+degrading occupation, a detail came to his notice which caused him to
+become very amiably disposed and confident of success. Proceeding with
+the matter, he caused a well-supported report to be spread about that
+Ling was suffering from a wasting sickness, which, without in any
+measure shortening his life, would cause him to return to the size and
+weight of a newly-born child, and being by these means enabled to secure
+the entire matter of “The Ling (After Death) Without Much Risk Assembly”
+ at a very small outlay, he did so, and then, calling together a company
+of those who hire themselves out for purposes of violence, journeyed to
+Si-chow.
+
+Ling and Mian were seated together at a table in the great room,
+examining a vessel of some clear liquid, when Chang-ch’un entered with
+his armed ones, in direct opposition to the general laws of ordinary
+conduct and the rulings of hospitality. At the sight, which plainly
+indicated a threatened display of violence, Ling seized his renowned
+sword, which was never far distant from him, and prepared to carry out
+his spoken vow, that any person overstepping a certain mark on the floor
+would assuredly fall.
+
+“Put away your undoubtedly competent weapon, O Ling,” said Chang, who
+was desirous that the matter should be arranged if possible without any
+loss to himself, “for such a course can be honourably adopted when it
+is taken into consideration that we are as twenty to one, and have,
+moreover, the appearance of being inspired by law forms.”
+
+“There are certain matters of allowed justice which over-rule all
+other law forms,” replied Ling, taking a surer hold of his sword-grasp.
+“Explain, for your part, O obviously double-dealing Chang-ch’un, from
+whom this person only recently parted on terms of equality and courtesy,
+why you come not with an agreeable face and a peaceful following,
+but with a countenance which indicates both violence and terror, and
+accompanied by many whom this person recognizes as the most outcast and
+degraded from the narrow and evil-smelling ways of Canton?”
+
+“In spite of your blustering words,” said Chang, with some attempt at an
+exhibition of dignity, “this person is endowed by every right, and
+comes only for the obtaining, by the help of this expert and proficient
+gathering, should such a length become necessary, of his just claims.
+Understand that in the time since the venture was arranged this person
+has become possessed of all the property of ‘The Ling (After Death)
+Without Much Risk Assembly,’ and thereby he is competent to act fully
+in the matter. It has now come within his attention that the one Ling
+to whom the particulars refer is officially dead, and as the written
+and sealed document clearly undertook that the person’s body was to be
+delivered up for whatever use the Assembly decided whenever death should
+possess it, this person has now come for the honourable carrying out of
+the undertaking.”
+
+At these words the true nature of the hidden contrivance into which he
+had fallen descended upon Ling like a heavy and unavoidable thunderbolt.
+Nevertheless, being by nature and by reason of his late exploits
+fearless of death, except for the sake of the loved one by his side, he
+betrayed no sign of discreditable emotion at the discovery.
+
+“In such a case,” he replied, with an appearance of entirely
+disregarding the danger of the position, “the complete parchment must be
+of necessity overthrown; for if this person is now officially dead, he
+was equally so at the time of sealing, and arrangements entered into by
+dead persons have no actual existence.”
+
+“That is a matter which has never been efficiently decided,” admitted
+Chang-ch’un, with no appearance of being thrown into a state of
+confusion at the suggestion, “and doubtless the case in question can by
+various means be brought in the end before the Court of Final Settlement
+at Peking, where it may indeed be judged in the manner you assert. But
+as such a process must infallibly consume the wealth of a province and
+the years of an ordinary lifetime, and as it is this person’s unmoved
+intention to carry out his own view of the undertaking without delay,
+such speculations are not matters of profound interest.”
+
+Upon this Chang gave certain instructions to his followers, who
+thereupon prepared to advance. Perceiving that the last detail of the
+affair had been arrived at, Ling threw back his hanging garment, and
+was on the point of rushing forward to meet them, when Mian, who had
+maintained a possessed and reliant attitude throughout, pushed towards
+him the vessel of pure and sparkling liquid with which they had been
+engaged when so presumptuously broken in upon, at the same time speaking
+to him certain words in an outside language. A new and Heaven-sent
+confidence immediately took possession of Ling, and striking his sword
+against the wall with such irresistible force that the entire chamber
+trembled and the feeble-minded assassins shrank back in unrestrained
+terror, he leapt upon the table, grasping in one hand the open vessel.
+
+“Behold the end, O most uninventive and slow-witted Chang-ch’un!” he
+cried in a dreadful and awe-compelling voice. “As a reward for your
+faithless and traitorous behaviour, learn how such avaricious-minded
+incompetence turns and fastens itself upon the vitals of those who beget
+it. In spite of many things which were not of a graceful nature
+towards him, this person has unassumingly maintained his part of the
+undertaking, and would have followed such a course conscientiously to
+the last. As it is, when he has made an end of speaking, the body
+which you are already covetously estimating in taels will in no way
+be distinguishable from that of the meanest and most ordinary maker of
+commercial ventures in Canton. For, behold! the fluid which he holds in
+his hand, and which it is his fixed intention to drain to the last drop,
+is in truth nothing but a secret and exceedingly powerful counteractor
+against the virtues of the gold drug; and though but a single particle
+passed his lips, and the swords of your brilliant and versatile
+murderers met the next moment in his breast, the body which fell at your
+feet would be meet for worms rather than for the melting-pot.”
+
+It was indeed such a substance as Ling represented it to be, Mian
+having discovered it during her very systematic examination of the dead
+magician’s inner room. Its composition and distillation had involved
+that self-opinionated person in many years of arduous toil, for with a
+somewhat unintelligent lack of foresight he had obstinately determined
+to perfect the antidote before he turned his attention to the drug
+itself. Had the matter been more ingeniously arranged, he would
+undoubtedly have enjoyed an earlier triumph and an affluent and
+respected old age.
+
+At Ling’s earnest words and prepared attitude an instant conviction of
+the truth of his assertions took possession of Chang. Therefore, seeing
+nothing but immediate and unevadable ruin at the next step, he called
+out in a loud and imploring voice that he should desist, and no harm
+would come upon him. To this Ling consented, first insisting that the
+followers should be dismissed without delay, and Chang alone remain to
+have conversation on the matter. By this just act the lower parts of
+Canton were greatly purified, for the persons in question being driven
+forth into the woods, mostly perished by encounters with wild animals,
+or at the hands of the enraged villagers, to whom Ling had by this time
+become greatly endeared.
+
+When the usual state had been restored, Ling made clear to Chang the
+altered nature of the conditions to which he would alone agree. “It is
+a noble-minded and magnanimous proposal on your part, and one to which
+this misguided person had no claim,” admitted Chang, as he affixed his
+seal to the written undertaking and committed the former parchment to
+be consumed by fire. By this arrangement it was agreed that Ling should
+receive only one-half of the yearly payment which had formerly been
+promised, and that no sum of taels should become due to those depending
+on him at his death. In return for these valuable allowances, there were
+to exist no details of things to be done and not to be done, Ling merely
+giving an honourable promise to observe the matter in a just spirit,
+while--most esteemed of all--only a portion of his body was to pass to
+Chang when the end arrived, the upper part remaining to embellish the
+family altar and receive the veneration of posterity.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the great sky-lantern rose above the trees and the time of no-noise
+fell upon the woods, a flower-laden pleasure-junk moved away from its
+restraining cords, and, without any sense of motion, gently bore Ling
+and Mian between the sweet-smelling banks of the Heng-Kiang. Presently
+Mian drew from beneath her flowing garment an instrument of stringed
+wood, and touching it with a quick but delicate stroke, like the flight
+and pausing of a butterfly, told in well-balanced words a refined
+narrative of two illustrious and noble-looking persons, and how, after
+many disagreeable evils and unendurable separations, they entered upon a
+destined state of earthly prosperity and celestial favour. When she made
+an end of the verses, Ling turned the junk’s head by one well-directed
+stroke of the paddle, and prepared by using similar means to return to
+the place of mooring.
+
+“Indeed,” he remarked, ceasing for a moment to continue this skilful
+occupation, “the words which you have just spoken might, without
+injustice, be applied to the two persons who are now conversing
+together. For after suffering misfortunes and wrongs beyond an
+appropriate portion, they have now reached that period of existence when
+a tranquil and contemplative future is assured to them. In this manner
+is the sage and matured utterance of the inspired philosopher Nien-tsu
+again proved: that the life of every person is largely composed of two
+varieties of circumstances which together build up his existence--the
+Good and the Evil.”
+
+                     THE END OF THE STORY OF LING
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+When Kai Lung, the story-teller, made an end of speaking, he was
+immediately greeted with a variety of delicate and pleasing remarks, all
+persons who had witnessed the matter, down even to the lowest type of
+Miaotze, who by reason of their obscure circumstances had been unable to
+understand the meaning of a word that had been spoken, maintaining
+that Kai Lung’s accomplishment of continuing for upwards of three hours
+without a pause had afforded an entertainment of a very high and refined
+order. While these polished sayings were being composed, together with
+many others of a similar nature, Lin Yi suddenly leapt to his feet with
+a variety of highly objectionable remarks concerning the ancestors of
+all those who were present, and declaring that the story of Ling
+was merely a well-considered stratagem to cause them to forget the
+expedition which they had determined upon, for by that time it should
+have been completely carried out. It was undoubtedly a fact that the
+hour spoken of for the undertaking had long passed, Lin Yi having
+completely overlooked the speed of time in his benevolent anxiety that
+the polite and valorous Ling should in the end attain to a high and
+remunerative destiny.
+
+In spite of Kai Lung’s consistent denials of any treachery, he could not
+but be aware that the incident tended greatly to his disadvantage in
+the eyes of those whom he had fixed a desire to conciliate, nor did
+his well-intentioned offer that he would without hesitation repeat the
+display for a like number of hours effect his amiable purpose. How the
+complication would finally have been determined without interruption is
+a matter merely of imagination, for at that moment an outpost, who had
+been engaged in guarding the secrecy of the expedition, threw himself
+into the enclosure in a torn and breathless condition, having run
+through the forest many li in a winding direction for the explicit
+purpose of warning Lin Yi that his intentions had become known, and that
+he and his followers would undoubtedly be surprised and overcome if they
+left the camp.
+
+At this intimation of the eminent service which Kai Lung had rendered
+them, the nature of their faces towards him at once changed completely,
+those who only a moment before had been demanding his death particularly
+hailing him as their inspired and unobtrusive protector, and in all
+probability, indeed, a virtuous and benignant spirit in disguise.
+
+Bending under the weight of offerings which Lin Yi and his followers
+pressed upon him, together with many clearly set out desires for his
+future prosperity, and assured of their unalterable protection on all
+future occasions, Kai Lung again turned his face towards the lanterns
+of Knei Yang. Far down the side of the mountain they followed his
+footsteps, now by a rolling stone, now by a snapping branch of yellow
+pine. Once again they heard his voice, cheerfully repeating to himself;
+“Among the highest virtues of a pure existence--” But beyond that point
+the gentle forest breath bore him away.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+THE STORY OF YUNG CHANG
+
+
+  Narrated by Kai Lung, in the open space of the tea-shop of The
+  Celestial Principles, at Wu-whei.
+
+“Ho, illustrious passers-by!” said Kai Lung, the story-teller, as he
+spread out his embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. “It is indeed
+unlikely that you would condescend to stop and listen to the foolish
+words of such an insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself.
+Nevertheless, if you will but retard your elegant footsteps for a few
+moments, this exceedingly unprepossessing individual will endeavour
+to entertain you with the recital of the adventures of the noble Yung
+Chang, as recorded by the celebrated Pe-ku-hi.”
+
+Thus adjured, the more leisurely-minded drew near to hear the history
+of Yung Chang. There was Sing You the fruit-seller, and Li Ton-ti the
+wood-carver; Hi Seng left his clients to cry in vain for water; and Wang
+Yu, the idle pipe-maker, closed his shop of “The Fountain of Beauty,”
+ and hung on the shutter the gilt dragon to keep away customers in his
+absence. These, together with a few more shopkeepers and a dozen or so
+loafers, constituted a respectable audience by the time Kai Lung was
+ready.
+
+“It would be more seemly if this ill-conditioned person who is now
+addressing such a distinguished assembly were to reward his fine and
+noble-looking hearers for their trouble,” apologized the story-teller.
+“But, as the Book of Verses says, ‘The meaner the slave, the greater the
+lord’; and it is, therefore, not unlikely that this majestic concourse
+will reward the despicable efforts of their servant by handfuls of coins
+till the air appears as though filled with swarms of locusts in the
+season of much heat. In particular, there is among this august crowd
+of Mandarins one Wang Yu, who has departed on three previous occasions
+without bestowing the reward of a single cash. If the feeble and
+covetous-minded Wang Yu will place within this very ordinary bowl the
+price of one of his exceedingly ill-made pipes, this unworthy person
+will proceed.”
+
+“Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man never,” quoted the
+pipe-maker in retort. “Oh, most incapable of story-tellers, have you
+not on two separate occasions slept beneath my utterly inadequate roof
+without payment?”
+
+But he, nevertheless, deposited three cash in the bowl, and drew nearer
+among the front row of the listeners.
+
+“It was during the reign of the enlightened Emperor Tsing Nung,” began
+Kai Lung, without further introduction, “that there lived at a village
+near Honan a wealthy and avaricious maker of idols, named Ti Hung. So
+skilful had he become in the making of clay idols that his fame had
+spread for many li round, and idol-sellers from all the neighbouring
+villages, and even from the towns, came to him for their stock. No other
+idol-maker between Honan and Nanking employed so many clay-gatherers or
+so many modellers; yet, with all his riches, his avarice increased till
+at length he employed men whom he called ‘agents’ and ‘travellers,’ who
+went from house to house selling his idols and extolling his virtues in
+verses composed by the most illustrious poets of the day. He did this
+in order that he might turn into his own pocket the full price of the
+idols, grudging those who would otherwise have sold them the few cash
+which they would make. Owing to this he had many enemies, and his army
+of travellers made him still more; for they were more rapacious than
+the scorpion, and more obstinate than the ox. Indeed, there is still the
+proverb, ‘With honey it is possible to soften the heart of the he-goat;
+but a blow from an iron cleaver is taken as a mark of welcome by an
+agent of Ti Hung.’ So that people barred the doors at their approach,
+and even hung out signs of death and mourning.
+
+“Now, among all his travellers there was none more successful, more
+abandoned, and more valuable to Ti Hung than Li Ting. So depraved was
+Li Ting that he was never known to visit the tombs of his ancestors;
+indeed, it was said that he had been heard to mock their venerable
+memories, and that he had jestingly offered to sell them to anyone who
+should chance to be without ancestors of his own. This objectionable
+person would call at the houses of the most illustrious Mandarins, and
+would command the slaves to carry to their masters his tablets, on which
+were inscribed his name and his virtues. Reaching their presence, he
+would salute them with the greeting of an equal, ‘How is your stomach?’
+and then proceed to exhibit samples of his wares, greatly overrating
+their value. ‘Behold!’ he would exclaim, ‘is not this elegantly-moulded
+idol worthy of the place of honour in this sumptuous mansion which my
+presence defiles to such an extent that twelve basins of rose-water
+will not remove the stain? Are not its eyes more delicate than the most
+select of almonds? and is not its stomach rounder than the cupolas upon
+the high temple at Peking? Yet, in spite of its perfections, it is not
+worthy of the acceptance of so distinguished a Mandarin, and therefore
+I will accept in return the quarter-tael, which, indeed, is less than my
+illustrious master gives for the clay alone.’
+
+“In this manner Li Ting disposed of many idols at high rates, and
+thereby endeared himself so much to the avaricious heart of Ti Hung that
+he promised him his beautiful daughter Ning in marriage.
+
+“Ning was indeed very lovely. Her eyelashes were like the finest willow
+twigs that grow in the marshes by the Yang-tse-Kiang; her cheeks were
+fairer than poppies; and when she bathed in the Hoang Ho, her body
+seemed transparent. Her brow was finer than the most polished jade;
+while she seemed to walk, like a winged bird, without weight, her hair
+floating in a cloud. Indeed, she was the most beautiful creature that
+has ever existed.”
+
+“Now may you grow thin and shrivel up like a fallen lemon; but it is
+false!” cried Wang Yu, starting up suddenly and unexpectedly. “At
+Chee Chou, at the shop of ‘The Heaven-sent Sugar-cane,’ there lives a
+beautiful and virtuous girl who is more than all that. Her eyes are like
+the inside circles on the peacock’s feathers; her teeth are finer than
+the scales on the Sacred Dragon; her--”
+
+“If it is the wish of this illustriously-endowed gathering that this
+exceedingly illiterate paper tiger should occupy their august moments
+with a description of the deformities of the very ordinary young person
+at Chee Chou,” said Kai Lung imperturbably, “then the remainder of the
+history of the noble-minded Yung Chang can remain until an evil fate has
+overtaken Wang Yu, as it assuredly will shortly.”
+
+“A fair wind raises no storm,” said Wang Yu sulkily; and Kai Lung
+continued:
+
+“Such loveliness could not escape the evil eye of Li Ting, and
+accordingly, as he grew in favour with Ti Hung, he obtained his consent
+to the drawing up of the marriage contracts. More than this, he had
+already sent to Ning two bracelets of the finest gold, tied together
+with a scarlet thread, as a betrothal present. But, as the proverb
+says, ‘The good bee will not touch the faded flower,’ and Ning, although
+compelled by the second of the Five Great Principles to respect her
+father, was unable to regard the marriage with anything but abhorrence.
+Perhaps this was not altogether the fault of Li Ting, for on the evening
+of the day on which she had received his present, she walked in the
+rice fields, and sitting down at the foot of a funereal cypress, whose
+highest branches pierced the Middle Air, she cried aloud:
+
+“‘I cannot control my bitterness. Of what use is it that I should be
+called the “White Pigeon among Golden Lilies,” if my beauty is but for
+the hog-like eyes of the exceedingly objectionable Li Ting? Ah, Yung
+Chang, my unfortunate lover! what evil spirit pursues you that you
+cannot pass your examination for the second degree? My noble-minded but
+ambitious boy, why were you not content with an agricultural or even a
+manufacturing career and happiness? By aspiring to a literary degree,
+you have placed a barrier wider than the Whang Hai between us.’
+
+“‘As the earth seems small to the soaring swallow, so shall insuperable
+obstacles be overcome by the heart worn smooth with a fixed purpose,’
+said a voice beside her, and Yung Chang stepped from behind the cypress
+tree, where he had been waiting for Ning. ‘O one more symmetrical than
+the chrysanthemum,’ he continued, ‘I shall yet, with the aid of my
+ancestors, pass the second degree, and even obtain a position of high
+trust in the public office at Peking.’
+
+“‘And in the meantime,’ pouted Ning, ‘I shall have partaken of the
+wedding-cake of the utterly unpresentable Li Ting.’ And she exhibited
+the bracelets which she had that day received.
+
+“‘Alas!’ said Yung Chang, ‘there are times when one is tempted to doubt
+even the most efficacious and violent means. I had hoped that by this
+time Li Ting would have come to a sudden and most unseemly end; for I
+have drawn up and affixed in the most conspicuous places notifications
+of his character, similar to the one here.’
+
+“Ning turned, and beheld fastened to the trunk of the cypress an
+exceedingly elegantly written and composed notice, which Yung read to
+her as follows:
+
+             “‘BEWARE OF INCURRING DEATH FROM STARVATION
+
+  “‘Let the distinguished inhabitants of this district observe the
+  exceedingly ungraceful walk and bearing of the low person who
+  calls himself Li Ting. Truthfully, it is that of a dog in the act
+  of being dragged to the river because his sores and diseases
+  render him objectionable in the house of his master. So will this
+  hunchbacked person be dragged to the place of execution, and be
+  bowstrung, to the great relief of all who respect the five senses;
+  A Respectful Physiognomy, Passionless Reflexion, Soft Speech,
+  Acute Hearing, Piercing Sight.
+
+  “‘He hopes to attain to the Red Button and the Peacock’s Feather;
+  but the right hand of the Deity itches, and Li Ting will assuredly
+  be removed suddenly.’
+
+“‘Li Ting must certainly be in league with the evil forces if he can
+withstand so powerful a weapon,’ said Ning admiringly, when her lover
+had finished reading. ‘Even now he is starting on a journey, nor will he
+return till the first day of the month when the sparrows go to the sea
+and are changed into oysters. Perhaps the fate will overtake him while
+he is away. If not--’
+
+“‘If not,’ said Yung, taking up her words as she paused, ‘then I have
+yet another hope. A moment ago you were regretting my choice of a
+literary career. Learn, then, the value of knowledge. By its aid
+(assisted, indeed, by the spirits of my ancestors) I have discovered a
+new and strange thing, for which I can find no word. By using this new
+system of reckoning, your illustrious but exceedingly narrow-minded and
+miserly father would be able to make five taels where he now makes one.
+Would he not, in consideration for this, consent to receive me as a
+son-in-law, and dismiss the inelegant and unworthy Li Ting?’
+
+“‘In the unlikely event of your being able to convince my illustrious
+parent of what you say, it would assuredly be so,’ replied Ning. ‘But
+in what way could you do so? My sublime and charitable father already
+employs all the means in his power to reap the full reward of his sacred
+industry. His “solid house-hold gods” are in reality mere shells of
+clay; higher-priced images are correspondingly constructed, and his clay
+gatherers and modellers are all paid on a “profit-sharing system.”
+ Nay, further, it is beyond likelihood that he should wish for more
+purchasers, for so great is his fame that those who come to buy have
+sometimes to wait for days in consequence of those before them; for my
+exceedingly methodical sire entrusts none with the receiving of money,
+and the exchanges are therefore made slowly. Frequently an unnaturally
+devout person will require as many as a hundred idols, and so the
+greater part of the day will be passed.’
+
+“‘In what way?’ inquired Yung tremulously.
+
+“‘Why, in order that the countings may not get mixed, of course; it is
+necessary that when he has paid for one idol he should carry it to a
+place aside, and then return and pay for the second, carrying it to the
+first, and in such a manner to the end. In this way the sun sinks behind
+the mountains.’
+
+“‘But,’ said Yung, his voice thick with his great discovery, ‘if he
+could pay for the entire quantity at once, then it would take but a
+hundredth part of the time, and so more idols could be sold.’
+
+“‘How could this be done?’ inquired Ning wonderingly. ‘Surely it is
+impossible to conjecture the value of so many idols.’
+
+“‘To the unlearned it would indeed be impossible,’ replied Yung proudly,
+‘but by the aid of my literary researches I have been enabled to
+discover a process by which such results would be not a matter of
+conjecture, but of certainty. These figures I have committed to tablets,
+which I am prepared to give to your mercenary and slow-witted father
+in return for your incomparable hand, a share of the profits, and the
+dismissal of the uninventive and morally threadbare Li Ting.’
+
+“‘When the earth-worm boasts of his elegant wings, the eagle can afford
+to be silent,’ said a harsh voice behind them; and turning hastily they
+beheld Li Ting, who had come upon them unawares. ‘Oh, most insignificant
+of table-spoilers,’ he continued, ‘it is very evident that much
+over-study has softened your usually well-educated brains. Were it
+not that you are obviously mentally afflicted, I should unhesitatingly
+persuade my beautiful and refined sword to introduce you to the spirits
+of your ignoble ancestors. As it is, I will merely cut off your nose and
+your left ear, so that people may not say that the Dragon of the Earth
+sleeps and wickedness goes unpunished.’
+
+“Both had already drawn their swords, and very soon the blows were so
+hard and swift that, in the dusk of the evening, it seemed as though the
+air were filled with innumerable and many-coloured fireworks. Each was
+a practised swordsman, and there was no advantage gained on either side,
+when Ning, who had fled on the appearance of Li Ting, reappeared, urging
+on her father, whose usually leisurely footsteps were quickened by
+the dread that the duel must surely result in certain loss to himself,
+either of a valuable servant, or of the discovery which Ning had briefly
+explained to him, and of which he at once saw the value.
+
+“‘Oh, most distinguished and expert persons,’ he exclaimed breathlessly,
+as soon as he was within hearing distance, ‘do not trouble to give so
+marvellous an exhibition for the benefit of this unworthy individual,
+who is the only observer of your illustrious dexterity! Indeed, your
+honourable condescension so fills this illiterate person with shame that
+his hearing is thereby preternaturally sharpened, and he can plainly
+distinguish many voices from beyond the Hoang Ho, crying for the
+Heaven-sent representative of the degraded Ti Hung to bring them more
+idols. Bend, therefore, your refined footsteps in the direction of
+Poo Chow, O Li Ting, and leave me to make myself objectionable to this
+exceptional young man with my intolerable commonplaces.’
+
+“‘The shadow falls in such a direction as the sun wills,’ said Li Ting,
+as he replaced his sword and departed.
+
+“‘Yung Chang,’ said the merchant, ‘I am informed that you have made a
+discovery that would be of great value to me, as it undoubtedly would if
+it is all that you say. Let us discuss the matter without ceremony. Can
+you prove to me that your system possesses the merit you claim for it?
+If so, then the matter of arrangement will be easy.’
+
+“‘I am convinced of the absolute certainty and accuracy of the
+discovery,’ replied Yung Chang. ‘It is not as though it were an ordinary
+matter of human intelligence, for this was discovered to me as I was
+worshipping at the tomb of my ancestors. The method is regulated by
+a system of squares, triangles, and cubes. But as the practical proof
+might be long, and as I hesitate to keep your adorable daughter out in
+the damp night air, may I not call at your inimitable dwelling in the
+morning, when we can go into the matter thoroughly?’
+
+“I will not weary this intelligent gathering, each member of which
+doubtless knows all the books on mathematics off by heart, with a
+recital of the means by which Yung Chang proved to Ti Hung the accuracy
+of his tables and the value of his discovery of the multiplication
+table, which till then had been undreamt of,” continued the
+story-teller. “It is sufficient to know that he did so, and that Ti Hung
+agreed to his terms, only stipulating that Li Ting should not be made
+aware of his dismissal until he had returned and given in his accounts.
+The share of the profits that Yung was to receive was cut down very low
+by Ti Hung, but the young man did not mind that, as he would live with
+his father-in-law for the future.
+
+“With the introduction of this new system, the business increased like
+a river at flood-time. All rivals were left far behind, and Ti Hung put
+out this sign:
+
+                          “NO WAITING HERE!
+
+  “Good-morning! Have you worshipped one of Ti Hung’s refined
+  ninety-nine cash idols?
+
+  “Let the purchasers of ill-constructed idols at other
+  establishments, where they have grown old and venerable while
+  waiting for the all-thumb proprietors to count up to ten, come to
+  the shop of Ti Hung and regain their lost youth. Our ninety-nine
+  cash idols are worth a tael a set. We do not, however, claim that
+  they will do everything. The ninety-nine cash idols of Ti Hung
+  will not, for example, purify linen, but even the most contented
+  and frozen-brained person cannot be happy until he possesses one.
+  What is happiness? The exceedingly well-educated Philosopher
+  defines it as the accomplishment of all our desires. Everyone
+  desires one of the Ti Hung’s ninety-nine cash idols, therefore get
+  one; but be sure that it is Ti Hung’s.
+
+  “Have you a bad idol? If so, dismiss it, and get one of Ti Hung’s
+  ninety-nine cash specimens.
+
+  “Why does your idol look old sooner than your neighbours? Because
+  yours is not one of Ti Hung’s ninety-nine cash marvels.
+
+    “They bring all delights to the old and the young,
+    The elegant idols supplied by Ti Hung.
+
+  “N.B.--The ‘Great Sacrifice’ idol, forty-five cash; delivered,
+  carriage free, in quantities of not less than twelve, at any
+  temple, on the evening before the sacrifice.
+
+“It was about this time that Li Ting returned. His journey had been more
+than usually successful, and he was well satisfied in consequence. It
+was not until he had made out his accounts and handed in his money that
+Ti Hung informed him of his agreement with Yung Chang.
+
+“‘Oh, most treacherous and excessively unpopular Ti Hung,’ exclaimed
+Li Ting, in a terrible voice, ‘this is the return you make for all my
+entrancing efforts in your services, then? It is in this way that you
+reward my exceedingly unconscientious recommendations of your very
+inferior and unendurable clay idols, with their goggle eyes and concave
+stomachs! Before I go, however, I request to be inspired to make the
+following remark--that I confidently predict your ruin. And now this
+low and undignified person will finally shake the elegant dust of your
+distinguished house from his thoroughly inadequate feet, and proceed to
+offer his incapable services to the rival establishment over the way.’
+
+“‘The machinations of such an evilly-disposed person as Li Ting will
+certainly be exceedingly subtle,’ said Ti Hung to his son-in-law when
+the traveller had departed. ‘I must counteract his omens. Herewith I
+wish to prophecy that henceforth I shall enjoy an unbroken run of good
+fortune. I have spoken, and assuredly I shall not eat my words.’
+
+“As the time went on, it seemed as though Ti Hung had indeed spoken
+truly. The ease and celerity with which he transacted his business
+brought him customers and dealers from more remote regions than ever,
+for they could spend days on the journey and still save time. The
+army of clay-gatherers and modellers grew larger and larger, and the
+work-sheds stretched almost down to the river’s edge. Only one thing
+troubled Ti Hung, and that was the uncongenial disposition of his
+son-in-law, for Yung took no further interest in the industry to which
+his discovery had given so great an impetus, but resolutely set to work
+again to pass his examination for the second degree.
+
+“‘It is an exceedingly distinguished and honourable thing to have failed
+thirty-five times, and still to be undiscouraged,’ admitted Ti Hung;
+‘but I cannot cleanse my throat from bitterness when I consider that
+my noble and lucrative business must pass into the hands of strangers,
+perhaps even into the possession of the unendurable Li Ting.’
+
+“But it had been appointed that this degrading thing should not happen,
+however, and it was indeed fortunate that Yung did not abandon his
+literary pursuits; for after some time it became very apparent to Ti
+Hung that there was something radically wrong with his business. It was
+not that his custom was falling off in any way; indeed, it had lately
+increased in a manner that was phenomenal, and when the merchant came to
+look into the matter, he found to his astonishment that the least order
+he had received in the past week had been for a hundred idols. All the
+sales had been large, and yet Ti Hung found himself most unaccountably
+deficient in taels. He was puzzled and alarmed, and for the next few
+days he looked into the business closely. Then it was that the reason
+was revealed, both for the falling off in the receipts and for the
+increase in the orders. The calculations of the unfortunate Yung Chang
+were correct up to a hundred, but at that number he had made a gigantic
+error--which, however, he was never able to detect and rectify--with
+the result that all transactions above that point worked out at a
+considerable loss to the seller. It was in vain that the panic-stricken
+Ti Hung goaded his miserable son-in-law to correct the mistake; it
+was equally in vain that he tried to stem the current of his enormous
+commercial popularity. He had competed for public favour, and he had won
+it, and every day his business increased till ruin grasped him by the
+pigtail. Then came an order from one firm at Peking for five millions of
+the ninety-nine cash idols, and at that Ti Hung put up his shutters, and
+sat down in the dust.
+
+“‘Behold!’ he exclaimed, ‘in the course of a lifetime there are many
+very disagreeable evils that may overtake a person. He may offend the
+Sacred Dragon, and be in consequence reduced to a fine dry powder; or he
+may incur the displeasure of the benevolent and pure-minded Emperor, and
+be condemned to death by roasting; he may also be troubled by demons or
+by the disturbed spirits of his ancestors, or be struck by thunderbolts.
+Indeed, there are numerous annoyances, but they become as Heaven-sent
+blessings in comparison to a self-opinionated and more than ordinarily
+weak-minded son-in-law. Of what avail is it that I have habitually
+sold one idol for the value of a hundred? The very objectionable man in
+possession sits in my delectable summer-house, and the unavoidable
+legal documents settle around me like a flock of pigeons. It is indeed
+necessary that I should declare myself to be in voluntary liquidation,
+and make an assignment of my book debts for the benefit of my creditors.
+Having accomplished this, I will proceed to the well-constructed tomb
+of my illustrious ancestors, and having kow-towed at their incomparable
+shrines, I will put an end to my distinguished troubles with this
+exceedingly well-polished sword.’
+
+“‘The wise man can adapt himself to circumstances as water takes the
+shape of the vase that contains it,’ said the well-known voice of
+Li Ting. ‘Let not the lion and the tiger fight at the bidding of the
+jackal. By combining our forces all may be well with you yet. Assist
+me to dispose of the entirely superfluous Yung Chang and to marry
+the elegant and symmetrical Ning, and in return I will allot to you a
+portion of my not inconsiderable income.’
+
+“‘However high the tree, the leaves fall to the ground, and your hour
+has come at last, O detestable Li Ting!’ said Yung, who had heard the
+speakers and crept upon them unperceived. ‘As for my distinguished
+and immaculate father-in-law, doubtless the heat has affected his
+indefatigable brains, or he would not have listened to your contemptible
+suggestion. For yourself, draw!’
+
+“Both swords flashed, but before a blow could be struck the spirits
+of his ancestors hurled Li Ting lifeless to the ground, to avenge the
+memories that their unworthy descendant had so often reviled.
+
+“‘So perish all the enemies of Yung Chang,’ said the victor. ‘And now,
+my venerated but exceedingly short-sighted father-in-law, learn how
+narrowly you have escaped making yourself exceedingly objectionable
+to yourself. I have just received intelligence from Peking that I have
+passed the second degree, and have in consequence been appointed to a
+remunerative position under the Government. This will enable us to live
+in comfort, if not in affluence, and the rest of your engaging days can
+be peacefully spent in flying kites.’”
+
+
+
+
+III.
+THE PROBATION OF SEN HENG
+
+
+  Related by Kai Lung, at Wu-whei, as a rebuke to Wang Yu and
+  certain others who had questioned the practical value of his
+  stories.
+
+“It is an undoubted fact that this person has not realized the direct
+remunerative advantage which he confidently anticipated,” remarked the
+idle and discontented pipe-maker Wang Yu, as, with a few other persons
+of similar inclination, he sat in the shade of the great mulberry tree
+at Wu-whei, waiting for the evil influence of certain very mysterious
+sounds, which had lately been heard, to pass away before he resumed
+his occupation. “When the seemingly proficient and trustworthy Kai Lung
+first made it his practice to journey to Wu-whei, and narrate to us the
+doings of persons of all classes of life,” he continued, “it seemed to
+this one that by closely following the recital of how Mandarins obtained
+their high position, and exceptionally rich persons their wealth, he
+must, in the end, inevitably be rendered competent to follow in their
+illustrious footsteps. Yet in how entirely contrary a direction has
+the whole course of events tended! In spite of the honourable intention
+which involved a frequent absence from his place of commerce, those
+who journeyed thither with the set purpose of possessing one of his
+justly-famed opium pipes so perversely regarded the matter that, after
+two or three fruitless visits, they deliberately turned their footsteps
+towards the workshop of the inelegant Ming-yo, whose pipes are
+confessedly greatly inferior to those produced by the person who is now
+speaking. Nevertheless, the rapacious Kai Lung, to whose influence
+the falling off in custom was thus directly attributable, persistently
+declined to bear any share whatever in the loss which his profession
+caused, and, indeed, regarded the circumstance from so grasping and
+narrow-minded a point of observation that he would not even go to the
+length of suffering this much-persecuted one to join the circle of his
+hearers without on every occasion making the customary offering. In this
+manner a well-intentioned pursuit of riches has insidiously led this
+person within measurable distance of the bolted dungeon for those who do
+not meet their just debts, while the only distinction likely to result
+from his assiduous study of the customs and methods of those high
+in power is that of being publicly bowstrung as a warning to others.
+Manifestedly the pointed finger of the unreliable Kai Lung is a very
+treacherous guide.”
+
+“It is related,” said a dispassionate voice behind them, “that a person
+of limited intelligence, on being assured that he would certainly one
+day enjoy an adequate competence if he closely followed the industrious
+habits of the thrifty bee, spent the greater part of his life in
+anointing his thighs with the yellow powder which he laboriously
+collected from the flowers of the field. It is not so recorded; but
+doubtless the nameless one in question was by profession a maker of
+opium pipes, for this person has observed from time to time how that
+occupation, above all others, tends to degrade the mental faculties, and
+to debase its followers to a lower position than that of the beasts of
+labour. Learn therefrom, O superficial Wang Yu, that wisdom lies in
+an intelligent perception of great principles, and not in a slavish
+imitation of details which are, for the most part, beyond your simple
+and insufficient understanding.”
+
+“Such may, indeed, be the case, Kai Lung,” replied Wang Yu sullenly--for
+it was the story-teller in question who had approached unperceived, and
+who now stood before them--“but it is none the less a fact that, on the
+last occasion when this misguided person joined the attending circle
+at your uplifted voice, a Mandarin of the third degree chanced to
+pass through Wu-whei, and halted at the door-step of ‘The Fountain of
+Beauty,’ fully intending to entrust this one with the designing and
+fashioning of a pipe of exceptional elaborateness. This matter, by his
+absence, has now passed from him, and to-day, through listening to the
+narrative of how the accomplished Yuin-Pel doubled his fortune, he is
+the poorer by many taels.”
+
+“Yet to-morrow, when the name of the Mandarin of the third degree
+appears in the list of persons who have transferred their entire
+property to those who are nearly related to them in order to avoid it
+being seized to satisfy the just claims made against them,” replied Kai
+Lung, “you will be able to regard yourself the richer by so many taels.”
+
+At these words, which recalled to the minds of all who were present the
+not uncommon manner of behaving observed by those of exalted rank, who
+freely engaged persons to supply them with costly articles without in
+any way regarding the price to be paid, Wang Yu was silent.
+
+“Nevertheless,” exclaimed a thin voice from the edge of the group which
+surrounded Kai Lung, “it in nowise follows that the stories are in
+themselves excellent, or of such a nature that the hearing of their
+recital will profit a person. Wang Yu may be satisfied with empty words,
+but there are others present who were studying deep matters when Wang
+Yu was learning the art of walking. If Kai Lung’s stories are of such
+remunerative benefit as the person in question claims, how does it
+chance that Kai Lung himself who is assuredly the best acquainted with
+them, stands before us in mean apparel, and on all occasions confessing
+an unassuming poverty?”
+
+“It is Yan-hi Pung,” went from mouth to mouth among the
+bystanders--“Yan-hi Pung, who traces on paper the words of chants and
+historical tales, and sells them to such as can afford to buy. And
+although his motive in exposing the emptiness of Kai Lung’s stories may
+not be Heaven-sent--inasmuch as Kai Lung provides us with such matter
+as he himself purveys, only at a much more moderate price--yet his words
+are well considered, and must therefore be regarded.”
+
+“O Yan-hi Pung,” replied Kai Lung, hearing the name from those who
+stood about him, and moving towards the aged person, who stood meanwhile
+leaning upon his staff, and looking from side to side with quickly
+moving eyelids in a manner very offensive towards the story-teller,
+“your just remark shows you to be a person of exceptional wisdom, even
+as your well-bowed legs prove you to be one of great bodily strength;
+for justice is ever obvious and wisdom hidden, and they who build
+structures for endurance discard the straight and upright and insist
+upon such an arch as you so symmetrically exemplify.”
+
+Speaking in this conciliatory manner, Kai Lung came up to Yan-hi Pung,
+and taking between his fingers a disc of thick polished crystal,
+which the aged and short-sighted chant-writer used for the purpose of
+magnifying and bringing nearer the letters upon which he was engaged,
+and which hung around his neck by an embroidered cord, the story-teller
+held it aloft, crying aloud:
+
+“Observe closely, and presently it will be revealed and made clear how
+the apparently very conflicting words of the wise Yan-hi Pung, and those
+of this unassuming but nevertheless conscientious person who is now
+addressing you, are, in reality, as one great truth.”
+
+With this assurance Kai Lung moved the crystal somewhat, so that it
+engaged the sun’s rays, and concentrated them upon the uncovered crown
+of the unsuspecting and still objectionably-engaged person before
+him. Without a moment’s pause, Yan-hi Pung leapt high into the air,
+repeatedly pressing his hand to the spot thus selected and crying aloud:
+
+“Evil dragons and thunderbolts! but the touch was as hot as a scar left
+by the uncut nail of the sublime Buddha!”
+
+“Yet the crystal--” remarked Kai Lung composedly, passing it into the
+hands of those who stood near.
+
+“Is as cool as the innermost leaves of the riverside sycamore,” they
+declared.
+
+Kai Lung said nothing further, but raised both his hands above his head,
+as if demanding their judgment. Thereupon a loud shout went up on his
+behalf, for the greater part of them loved to see the manner in which
+he brushed aside those who would oppose him; and the sight of the aged
+person Yan-hi Pung leaping far into the air had caused them to become
+exceptionally amused, and, in consequence, very amiably disposed towards
+the one who had afforded them the entertainment.
+
+“The story of Sen Heng,” began Kai Lung, when the discussion had
+terminated in the manner already recorded, “concerns itself with one who
+possessed an unsuspecting and ingenious nature, which ill-fitted him
+to take an ordinary part in the everyday affairs of life, no matter how
+engaging such a character rendered him among his friends and relations.
+Having at an early age been entrusted with a burden of rice and other
+produce from his father’s fields to dispose of in the best possible
+manner at a neighbouring mart, and having completed the transaction in a
+manner extremely advantageous to those with whom he trafficked but very
+intolerable to the one who had sent him, it at once became apparent that
+some other means of gaining a livelihood must be discovered for him.
+
+“‘Beyond all doubt,’ said his father, after considering the matter for a
+period, ‘it is a case in which one should be governed by the wise advice
+and example of the Mandarin Poo-chow.’
+
+“‘Illustrious sire,’ exclaimed Sen Heng, who chanced to be present, ‘the
+illiterate person who stands before you is entirely unacquainted
+with the one to whom you have referred; nevertheless, he will, as you
+suggest, at once set forth, and journeying with all speed to the abode
+of the estimable Poo-chow, solicit his experience and advice.’
+
+“‘Unless a more serious loss should be occasioned,’ replied the father
+coldly, ‘there is no necessity to adopt so extreme a course. The
+benevolent Mandarin in question existed at a remote period of the Thang
+dynasty, and the incident to which an allusion has been made arose in
+the following way: To the public court of the enlightened Poo-chow there
+came one day a youth of very inferior appearance and hesitating
+manner, who besought his explicit advice, saying: “The degraded and
+unprepossessing being before you, O select and venerable Mandarin, is by
+nature and attainments a person of the utmost timidity and fearfulness.
+From this cause life itself has become a detestable observance in his
+eyes, for those who should be his companions of both sexes hold him in
+undisguised contempt, making various unendurable allusions to the colour
+and nature of his internal organs whenever he would endeavour to join
+them. Instruct him, therefore, the manner in which this cowardice may be
+removed, and no service in return will be esteemed too great.” “There
+is a remedy,” replied the benevolent Mandarin, without any hesitation
+whatever, “which if properly carried out is efficacious beyond the
+possibility of failure. Certain component parts of your body are
+lacking, and before the desired result can be obtained these must be
+supplied from without. Of all courageous things the tiger is the most
+fearless, and in consequence it combines all those ingredients which you
+require; furthermore, as the teeth of the tiger are the instruments with
+which it accomplishes its vengeful purpose, there reside the essential
+principles of its inimitable courage. Let the person who seeks
+instruction in the matter, therefore, do as follows: taking the teeth of
+a full-grown tiger as soon as it is slain, and before the essences
+have time to return into the body, he shall grind them to a powder, and
+mixing the powder with a portion of rice, consume it. After seven days
+he must repeat the observance, and yet again a third time, after another
+similar lapse. Let him, then, return for further guidance; for the
+present the matter interests this person no further.” At these words the
+youth departed, filled with a new and inspired hope; for the wisdom of
+the sagacious Poo-chow was a matter which did not admit of any doubt
+whatever, and he had spoken with well-defined certainty of the success
+of the experiment. Nevertheless, after several days industriously spent
+in endeavouring to obtain by purchase the teeth of a newly-slain tiger,
+the details of the undertaking began to assume a new and entirely
+unforeseen aspect; for those whom he approached as being the most
+likely to possess what he required either became very immoderately and
+disagreeably amused at the nature of the request, or regarded it as a
+new and ill-judged form of ridicule, which they prepared to avenge by
+blows and by base remarks of the most personal variety. At length it
+became unavoidably obvious to the youth that if he was to obtain the
+articles in question it would first be necessary that he should become
+adept in the art of slaying tigers, for in no other way were the
+required conditions likely to be present. Although the prospect was one
+which did not greatly tend to allure him, yet he did not regard it
+with the utterly incapable emotions which would have been present on an
+earlier occasion; for the habit of continually guarding himself from
+the onslaughts of those who received his inquiry in an attitude of
+narrow-minded distrust had inspired him with a new-found valour, while
+his amiable and unrestrained manner of life increased his bodily vigour
+in every degree. First perfecting himself in the use of the bow and
+arrow, therefore, he betook himself to a wild and very extensive forest,
+and there concealed himself among the upper foliage of a tall tree
+standing by the side of a pool of water. On the second night of his
+watch, the youth perceived a large but somewhat ill-conditioned tiger
+approaching the pool for the purpose of quenching its thirst, whereupon
+he tremblingly fitted an arrow to his bowstring, and profiting by the
+instruction he had received, succeeded in piercing the creature to
+the heart. After fulfilling the observance laid upon him by the
+discriminating Poo-chow, the youth determined to remain in the forest,
+and sustain himself upon such food as fell to his weapons, until the
+time arrived when he should carry out the rite for the last time. At the
+end of seven days, so subtle had he become in all kinds of hunting, and
+so strengthened by the meat and herbs upon which he existed, that he
+disdained to avail himself of the shelter of a tree, but standing openly
+by the side of the water, he engaged the attention of the first tiger
+which came to drink, and discharged arrow after arrow into its body with
+unfailing power and precision. So entrancing, indeed, had the pursuit
+become that the next seven days lengthened out into the apparent period
+of as many moons, in such a leisurely manner did they rise and fall. On
+the appointed day, without waiting for the evening to arrive, the youth
+set out with the first appearance of light, and penetrated into the most
+inaccessible jungles, crying aloud words of taunt-laden challenge to all
+the beasts therein, and accusing the ancestors of their race of every
+imaginable variety of evil behaviour. Yet so great had become the renown
+of the one who stood forth, and so widely had the warning voice been
+passed from tree to tree, preparing all who dwelt in the forest against
+his anger, that not even the fiercest replied openly, though low growls
+and mutterings proceeded from every cave within a bow-shot’s distance
+around. Wearying quickly of such feeble and timorous demonstrations, the
+youth rushed into the cave from which the loudest murmurs proceeded, and
+there discovered a tiger of unnatural size, surrounded by the bones of
+innumerable ones whom it had devoured; for from time to time its
+ravages became so great and unbearable, that armies were raised in
+the neighbouring villages and sent to destroy it, but more than a
+few stragglers never returned. Plainly recognizing that a just and
+inevitable vengeance had overtaken it, the tiger made only a very
+inferior exhibition of resistance, and the youth, having first stunned
+it with a blow of his closed hand, seized it by the middle, and
+repeatedly dashed its head against the rocky sides of its retreat. He
+then performed for the third time the ceremony enjoined by the Mandarin,
+and having cast upon the cringing and despicable forms concealed in the
+surrounding woods and caves a look of dignified and ineffable contempt,
+set out upon his homeward journey, and in the space of three days’ time
+reached the town of the versatile Poo-chow. “Behold,” exclaimed that
+person, when, lifting up his eyes, he saw the youth approaching laden
+with the skins of the tigers and other spoils, “now at least the youths
+and maidens of your native village will no longer withdraw themselves
+from the company of so undoubtedly heroic a person.” “Illustrious
+Mandarin,” replied the other, casting both his weapons and his trophies
+before his inspired adviser’s feet, “what has this person to do with the
+little ones of either sex? Give him rather the foremost place in your
+ever-victorious company of bowmen, so that he may repay in part the
+undoubted debt under which he henceforth exists.” This proposal found
+favour with the pure-minded Poo-chow, so that in course of time the
+unassuming youth who had come supplicating his advice became the
+valiant commander of his army, and the one eventually chosen to present
+plighting gifts to his only daughter.’
+
+“When the father had completed the narrative of how the faint-hearted
+youth became in the end a courageous and resourceful leader of bowmen,
+Sen looked up, and not in any degree understanding the purpose of the
+story, or why it had been set forth before him, exclaimed:
+
+“‘Undoubtedly the counsel of the graceful and intelligent Mandarin
+Poo-chow was of inestimable service in the case recorded, and this
+person would gladly adopt it as his guide for the future, on the chance
+of it leading to a similar honourable career; but alas! there are no
+tigers to be found throughout this Province.’
+
+“‘It is a loss which those who are engaged in commerce in the city of
+Hankow strive to supply adequately,’ replied his father, who had an
+assured feeling that it would be of no avail to endeavour to show
+Sen that the story which he had just related was one setting forth a
+definite precept rather than fixing an exact manner of behaviour. ‘For
+that reason,’ he continued, ‘this person has concluded an arrangement by
+which you will journey to that place, and there enter into the house of
+commerce of an expert and conscientious vendor of moving contrivances.
+Among so rapacious and keen-witted a class of persons as they of Hankow,
+it is exceedingly unlikely that your amiable disposition will involve
+any individual one in an unavoidably serious loss, and even should
+such an unforeseen event come to pass, there will, at least, be the
+undeniable satisfaction of the thought that the unfortunate occurrence
+will in no way affect the prosperity of those to whom you are bound by
+the natural ties of affection.’
+
+“‘Benevolent and virtuous-minded father,’ replied Sen gently, but
+speaking with an inspired conviction; ‘from his earliest infancy this
+unassuming one has been instructed in an inviolable regard for the Five
+General Principles of Fidelity to the Emperor, Respect for Parents,
+Harmony between Husband and Wife, Agreement among Brothers, and
+Constancy in Friendship. It will be entirely unnecessary to inform so
+pious-minded a person as the one now being addressed that no evil can
+attend the footsteps of an individual who courteously observes these
+enactments.’
+
+“‘Without doubt it is so arranged by the protecting Deities,’ replied
+the father; ‘yet it is an exceedingly desirable thing for those who are
+responsible in the matter that the footsteps to which reference has been
+made should not linger in the neighbourhood of the village, but should,
+with all possible speed, turn in the direction of Hankow.’
+
+“In this manner it came to pass that Sen Heng set forth on the following
+day, and coming without delay to the great and powerful city of Hankow,
+sought out the house of commerce known as ‘The Pure Gilt Dragon of
+Exceptional Symmetry,’ where the versatile King-y-Yang engaged in the
+entrancing occupation of contriving moving figures, and other devices of
+an ingenious and mirth-provoking character, which he entrusted into the
+hands of numerous persons to sell throughout the Province. From this
+cause, although enjoying a very agreeable recompense from the sale
+of the objects, the greatly perturbed King-y-Yang suffered continual
+internal misgivings; for the habit of behaving of those whom he
+appointed to go forth in the manner described was such that he could not
+entirely dismiss from his mind an assured conviction that the details
+were not invariably as they were represented to be. Frequently would
+one return in a very deficient and unpresentable condition of garment,
+asserting that on his return, while passing through a lonely and
+unprotected district, he had been assailed by an armed band of robbers,
+and despoiled of all he possessed. Another would claim to have been made
+the sport of evil spirits, who led him astray by means of false signs
+in the forest, and finally destroyed his entire burden of commodities,
+accompanying the unworthy act by loud cries of triumph and remarks of
+an insulting nature concerning King-y-Yang; for the honourable character
+and charitable actions of the person in question had made him very
+objectionable to that class of beings. Others continually accounted
+for the absence of the required number of taels by declaring that at
+a certain point of their journey they were made the object of marks
+of amiable condescension on the part of a high and dignified public
+official, who, on learning in whose service they were, immediately
+professed an intimate personal friendship with the estimable
+King-y-Yang, and, out of a feeling of gratified respect for him, took
+away all such contrivances as remained undisposed of, promising to
+arrange the payment with the refined King-y-Yang himself when they
+should next meet. For these reasons King-y-Yang was especially desirous
+of obtaining one whose spoken word could be received, upon all points,
+as an assured fact, and it was, therefore, with an emotion of internal
+lightness that he confidently heard from those who were acquainted
+with the person that Sen Heng was, by nature and endowments, utterly
+incapable of representing matters of even the most insignificant degree
+to be otherwise than what they really were.
+
+Filled with an acute anxiety to discover what amount of success would
+be accorded to his latest contrivance, King-y-Yang led Sen Heng to a
+secluded chamber, and there instructed him in the method of selling
+certain apparently very ingeniously constructed ducks, which would have
+the appearance of swimming about on the surface of an open vessel of
+water, at the same time uttering loud and ever-increasing cries, after
+the manner of their kind. With ill-restrained admiration at the skilful
+nature of the deception, King-y-Yang pointed out that the ducks which
+were to be disposed of, and upon which a seemingly very low price was
+fixed, did not, in reality, possess any of these accomplishments, but
+would, on the contrary, if placed in water, at once sink to the bottom
+in a most incapable manner; it being part of Sen’s duty to exhibit only
+a specially prepared creature which was restrained upon the surface by
+means of hidden cords, and, while bending over it, to simulate the cries
+as agreed upon. After satisfying himself that Sen could perform these
+movements competently, King-y-Yang sent him forth, particularly charging
+him that he should not return without a sum of money which fully
+represented the entire number of ducks entrusted to him, or an adequate
+number of unsold ducks to compensate for the deficiency.
+
+“At the end of seven days Sen returned to King-y-Yang, and although
+entirely without money, even to the extent of being unable to provide
+himself with the merest necessities of a frugal existence, he honourably
+returned the full number of ducks with which he had set out. It then
+became evident that although Sen had diligently perfected himself in the
+sounds and movements which King-y-Yang had contrived, he had not
+fully understood that they were to be executed stealthily, but had,
+in consequence, manifested the accomplishment openly, not unreasonably
+supposing that such an exhibition would be an additional inducement to
+those who appeared to be well-disposed towards the purchase. From this
+cause it came about that although large crowds were attracted by Sen’s
+manner of conducting the enterprise, none actually engaged to purchase
+even the least expensively-valued of the ducks, although several
+publicly complimented Sen on his exceptional proficiency, and repeatedly
+urged him to louder and more frequent cries, suggesting that by such
+means possible buyers might be attracted to the spot from remote and
+inaccessible villages in the neighbourhood.
+
+“When King-y-Yang learned how the venture had been carried out, he
+became most intolerably self-opinionated in his expressions towards
+Sen’s mental attainments and the manner of his bringing up. It was
+entirely in vain that the one referred to pointed out in a tone of
+persuasive and courteous restraint that he had not, down to the most
+minute particulars, transgressed either the general or the specific
+obligations of the Five General Principles, and that, therefore, he was
+blameless, and even worthy of commendation for the manner in which he
+had acted. With an inelegant absence of all refined feeling, King-y-Yang
+most incapably declined to discuss the various aspects of the
+controversy in an amiable manner, asserting, indeed, that for the
+consideration of as many brass cash as Sen had mentioned principles
+he would cause him to be thrown into prison as a person of unnatural
+ineptitude. Then, without rewarding Sen for the time spent in his
+service, or even inviting him to partake of food and wine, the
+insufferable deviser of very indifferent animated contrivances again
+sent him out, this time into the streets of Hankow with a number of
+delicately inlaid boxes, remarking in a tone of voice which plainly
+indicated an exactly contrary desire that he would be filled with an
+overwhelming satisfaction if Sen could discover any excuse for returning
+a second time without disposing of anything. This remark Sen’s ingenuous
+nature led him to regard as a definite fact, so that when a passer-by,
+who tarried to examine the boxes chanced to remark that the colours
+might have been arranged to greater advantage, in which case he would
+certainly have purchased at least one of the articles, Sen hastened
+back, although in a distant part of the city, to inform King-y-Yang of
+the suggestion, adding that he himself had been favourably impressed
+with the improvement which could be effected by such an alteration.
+
+“The nature of King-y-Yang’s emotion when Sen again presented himself
+before him--and when by repeatedly applied tests on various parts of his
+body he understood that he was neither the victim of malicious demons,
+nor wandering in an insensible condition in the Middle Air, but that the
+cause of the return was such as had been plainly stated--was of so mixed
+and benumbing a variety, that for a considerable space of time he was
+quite unable to express himself in any way, either by words or by signs.
+By the time these attributes returned there had formed itself within
+King-y-Yang’s mind a design of most contemptible malignity, which seemed
+to present to his enfeebled intellect a scheme by which Sen would be
+adequately punished, and finally disposed of, without causing him any
+further trouble in the matter. For this purpose he concealed the real
+condition of his sentiments towards Sen, and warmly expressed himself in
+terms of delicate flattery regarding that one’s sumptuous and unfailing
+taste in the matter of the blending of the colours. Without doubt, he
+continued, such an alteration as the one proposed would greatly increase
+the attractiveness of the inlaid boxes, and the matter should be engaged
+upon without delay. In the meantime, however, not to waste the immediate
+services of so discriminating and persevering a servant, he would
+entrust Sen with a mission of exceptional importance, which would
+certainly tend greatly to his remunerative benefit. In the district
+of Yun, in the north-western part of the Province, said the crafty
+and treacherous King-y-Yang, a particular kind of insect was greatly
+esteemed on account of the beneficent influence which it exercised over
+the rice plants, causing them to mature earlier, and to attain a greater
+size than ever happened in its absence. In recent years this creature
+had rarely been seen in the neighbourhood of Yun, and, in consequence,
+the earth-tillers throughout that country had been brought into a most
+disconcerting state of poverty, and would, inevitably, be prepared to
+exchange whatever they still possessed for even a few of the insects, in
+order that they might liberate them to increase, and so entirely reverse
+the objectionable state of things. Speaking in this manner, King-y-Yang
+entrusted to Sen a carefully prepared box containing a score of the
+insects, obtained at a great cost from a country beyond the Bitter
+Water, and after giving him further directions concerning the journey,
+and enjoining the utmost secrecy about the valuable contents of the box,
+he sent him forth.
+
+“The discreet and sagacious will already have understood the nature of
+King-y-Yang’s intolerable artifice; but, for the benefit of the amiable
+and unsuspecting, it is necessary to make it clear that the words which
+he had spoken bore no sort of resemblance to affairs as they really
+existed. The district around Yun was indeed involved in a most
+unprepossessing destitution, but this had been caused, not by the
+absence of any rare and auspicious insect, but by the presence of vast
+hordes of locusts, which had overwhelmed and devoured the entire face
+the country. It so chanced that among the recently constructed devices
+at ‘The Pure Gilt Dragon of Exceptional Symmetry’ were a number of
+elegant representations of rice fields and fruit gardens so skilfully
+fashioned that they deceived even the creatures, and attracted, among
+other living things, all the locusts in Hankow into that place of
+commerce. It was a number of these insects that King-y-Yang vindictively
+placed in the box which he instructed Sen to carry to Yun, well knowing
+that the reception which would be accorded to anyone who appeared there
+on such a mission would be of so fatally destructive a kind that the
+consideration of his return need not engage a single conjecture.
+
+“Entirely tranquil in intellect--for the possibility of King-y-Yang’s
+intention being in any way other than what he had represented it to
+be did not arise within Sen’s ingenuous mind--the person in question
+cheerfully set forth on his long but unavoidable march towards the
+region of Yun. As he journeyed along the way, the nature of his
+meditation brought up before him the events which had taken place since
+his arrival at Hankow; and, for the first time, it was brought within
+his understanding that the story of the youth and the three tigers,
+which his father had related to him, was in the likeness of a proverb,
+by which counsel and warning is conveyed in a graceful and inoffensive
+manner. Readily applying the fable to his own condition, he could not
+doubt but that the first two animals to be overthrown were represented
+by the two undertakings which he had already conscientiously performed
+in the matter of the mechanical ducks and the inlaid boxes, and the
+conviction that he was even then engaged on the third and last trial
+filled him with an intelligent gladness so unobtrusive and refined that
+he could express his entrancing emotions in no other way than by lifting
+up his voice and uttering the far-reaching cries which he had used on
+the first of the occasions just referred to.
+
+“In this manner the first part of the journey passed away with engaging
+celerity. Anxious as Sen undoubtedly was to complete the third task, and
+approach the details which, in his own case, would correspond with the
+command of the bowmen and the marriage with the Mandarin’s daughter of
+the person in the story, the noontide heat compelled him to rest in the
+shade by the wayside for a lengthy period each day. During one of
+these pauses it occurred to his versatile mind that the time which was
+otherwise uselessly expended might be well disposed of in endeavouring
+to increase the value and condition of the creatures under his care by
+instructing them in the performance of some simple accomplishments,
+such as might not be too laborious for their feeble and immature
+understanding. In this he was more successful than he had imagined could
+possibly be the case, for the discriminating insects, from the first,
+had every appearance of recognizing that Sen was inspired by a sincere
+regard for their ultimate benefit, and was not merely using them for
+his own advancement. So assiduously did they devote themselves to their
+allotted tasks, that in a very short space of time there was no detail
+in connexion with their own simple domestic arrangements that was not
+understood and daily carried out by an appointed band. Entranced at this
+intelligent manner of conducting themselves, Sen industriously applied
+his time to the more congenial task of instructing them in the refined
+arts, and presently he had the enchanting satisfaction of witnessing a
+number of the most cultivated faultlessly and unhesitatingly perform a
+portion of the well-known gravity-removing play entitled “The Benevolent
+Omen of White Dragon Tea Garden; or, Three Times a Mandarin.” Not even
+content with this elevating display, Sen ingeniously contrived, from
+various objects which he discovered at different points by the wayside,
+an effective and life-like representation of a war-junk, for which he
+trained a crew, who, at an agreed signal, would take up their appointed
+places and go through the required movements, both of sailing, and of
+discharging the guns, in a reliable and efficient manner.
+
+“As Sen was one day educating the least competent of the insects in the
+simpler parts of banner-carriers, gong-beaters, and the like, to their
+more graceful and versatile companions, he lifted up his eyes and
+beheld, standing by his side, a person of very elaborately embroidered
+apparel and commanding personality, who had all the appearance of one
+who had been observing his movements for some space of time. Calling
+up within his remembrance the warning which he had received from
+King-y-Yang, Sen was preparing to restore the creatures to their closed
+box, when the stranger, in a loud and dignified voice, commanded him to
+refrain, adding:
+
+“‘There is, resting at a spot within the immediate neighbourhood,
+a person of illustrious name and ancestry, who would doubtless be
+gratified to witness the diverting actions of which this one has
+recently been a spectator. As the reward of a tael cannot be unwelcome
+to a person of your inferior appearance and unpresentable garments, take
+up your box without delay, and follow the one who is now before you.’
+
+“With these words the richly-clad stranger led the way through a narrow
+woodland path, closely followed by Sen, to whom the attraction of the
+promised reward--a larger sum, indeed, than he had ever possessed--was
+sufficiently alluring to make him determined that the other should not,
+for the briefest possible moment, pass beyond his sight.
+
+“Not to withhold that which Sen was entirely ignorant of until a later
+period, it is now revealed that the person in question was the official
+Provider of Diversions and Pleasurable Occupations to the sacred
+and illimitable Emperor, who was then engaged in making an unusually
+extensive march through the eight Provinces surrounding his Capital--for
+the acute and well-educated will not need to be reminded that Nanking
+occupied that position at the time now engaged with. Until his
+providential discovery of Sen, the distinguished Provider had been
+immersed in a most unenviable condition of despair, for his enlightened
+but exceedingly perverse-minded master had, of late, declined to be
+in any way amused, or even interested, by the simple and unpretentious
+entertainment which could be obtained in so inaccessible a region. The
+well-intentioned efforts of the followers of the Court, who engagingly
+endeavoured to divert the Imperial mind by performing certain feats
+which they remembered to have witnessed on previous occasions, but
+which, until the necessity arose, they had never essayed, were entirely
+without result of a beneficial order. Even the accomplished Provider’s
+one attainment--that of striking together both the hands and the feet
+thrice simultaneously, while leaping into the air, and at the same time
+producing a sound not unlike that emitted by a large and vigorous bee
+when held captive in the fold of a robe, an action which never failed
+to throw the illustrious Emperor into a most uncontrollable state of
+amusement when performed within the Imperial Palace--now only drew
+from him the unsympathetic, if not actually offensive, remark that the
+attitude and the noise bore a marked resemblance to those produced by a
+person when being bowstrung, adding, with unprepossessing significance,
+that of the two entertainments he had an unevadable conviction that the
+bowstringing would be the more acceptable and gravity-removing.
+
+“When Sen beheld the size and the silk-hung magnificence of the camp
+into which his guide led him, he was filled with astonishment, and at
+the same time recognized that he had acted in an injudicious and hasty
+manner by so readily accepting the offer of a tael; whereas, if he had
+been in possession of the true facts of the case, as they now appeared,
+he would certainly have endeavoured to obtain double that amount before
+consenting. As he was hesitating within himself whether the matter might
+not even yet be arranged in a more advantageous manner, he was suddenly
+led forward into the most striking and ornamental of the tents, and
+commanded to engage the attention of the one in whose presence he found
+himself, without delay.
+
+“From the first moment when the inimitable creatures began, at Sen’s
+spoken word, to go through the ordinary details of their domestic
+affairs, there was no sort of doubt as to the nature of the success with
+which their well-trained exertions would be received. The dark shadows
+instantly forsook the enraptured Emperor’s select brow, and from time
+to time he expressed himself in words of most unrestrained and intimate
+encouragement. So exuberant became the overjoyed Provider’s emotion at
+having at length succeeded in obtaining the services of one who was
+able to recall his Imperial master’s unclouded countenance, that he came
+forward in a most unpresentable state of haste, and rose into the air
+uncommanded, for the display of his usually not unwelcome acquirement.
+This he would doubtless have executed competently had not Sen, who stood
+immediately behind him, suddenly and unexpectedly raised his voice in
+a very vigorous and proficient duck cry, thereby causing the one before
+him to endeavour to turn around in alarm, while yet in the air--an
+intermingled state of movements of both the body and the mind that
+caused him to abandon his original intention in a manner which removed
+the gravity of the Emperor to an even more pronounced degree than had
+been effected by the diverting attitudes of the insects.
+
+“When the gratified Emperor had beheld every portion of the tasks
+which Sen had instilled into the minds of the insects, down even to the
+minutest detail, he called the well-satisfied Provider before him,
+and addressing him in a voice which might be designed to betray either
+sternness or an amiable indulgence, said:
+
+“‘You, O Shan-se, are reported to be a person of no particular intellect
+or discernment, and, for this reason, these ones who are speaking have a
+desire to know how the matter will present itself in your eyes. Which
+is it the more commendable and honourable for a person to train to
+a condition of unfailing excellence, human beings of confessed
+intelligence or insects of a low and degraded standard?’
+
+“To this remark the discriminating Shan-se made no reply, being, indeed,
+undecided in his mind whether such a course was expected of him. On
+several previous occasions the somewhat introspective Emperor had
+addressed himself to persons in what they judged to be the form of a
+question, as one might say, ‘How blue is the unapproachable air canopy,
+and how delicately imagined the colour of the clouds!’ yet when they had
+expressed their deliberate opinion on the subjects referred to,
+stating the exact degree of blueness, and the like, the nature of
+their reception ever afterwards was such that, for the future, persons
+endeavoured to determine exactly the intention of the Emperor’s mind
+before declaring themselves in words. Being exceedingly doubtful on this
+occasion, therefore, the very cautious Shan-se adopted the more prudent
+and uncompromising attitude, and smiling acquiescently, he raised both
+his hands with a self-deprecatory movement.
+
+“‘Alas!’ exclaimed the Emperor, in a tone which plainly indicated that
+the evasive Shan-se had adopted a course which did not commend itself,
+‘how unendurable a condition of affairs is it for a person of acute
+mental perception to be annoyed by the inopportune behaviour of one
+who is only fit to mix on terms of equality with beggars, and low-caste
+street cleaners--’
+
+“‘Such a condition of affairs is indeed most offensively unbearable,
+illustrious Being,’ remarked Shan-se, who clearly perceived that his
+former silence had not been productive of a delicate state of feeling
+towards himself.
+
+“‘It has frequently been said,’ continued the courteous and pure-minded
+Emperor, only signifying his refined displeasure at Shan-se’s really
+ill-considered observation by so arranging his position that the person
+in question on longer enjoyed the sublime distinction of gazing upon his
+benevolent face, ‘that titles and offices have been accorded, from time
+to time, without any regard for the fitting qualifications of those to
+whom they were presented. The truth that such a state of things does
+occasionally exist has been brought before our eyes during the past
+few days by the abandoned and inefficient behaviour of one who will
+henceforth be a marked official; yet it has always been our endeavour
+to reward expert and unassuming merit, whenever it is discovered. As
+we were setting forth, when we were interrupted in a most obstinate and
+superfluous manner, the one who can guide and cultivate the minds of
+unthinking, and not infrequently obstinate and rapacious, insects would
+certainly enjoy an even greater measure of success if entrusted with the
+discriminating intellects of human beings. For this reason it appears
+that no more fitting person could be found to occupy the important and
+well-rewarded position of Chief Arranger of the Competitive Examinations
+than the one before us--provided his opinions and manner of expressing
+himself are such as commend themselves to us. To satisfy us on this
+point let Sen Heng now stand forth and declare his beliefs.’
+
+“On this invitation Sen advanced the requisite number of paces, and not
+in any degree understanding what was required of him, determined that
+the occasion was one when he might fittingly declare the Five General
+Principles which were ever present in his mind. ‘Unquestioning Fidelity
+to the Sacred Emperor--’ he began, when the person in question signified
+that the trial was over.
+
+“‘After so competent and inspired an expression as that which has just
+been uttered, which, if rightly considered, includes all lesser things,
+it is unnecessary to say more,’ he declared affably. ‘The appointment
+which has already been specified is now declared to be legally
+conferred. The evening will be devoted to a repetition of the entrancing
+manoeuvres performed by the insects, to be followed by a feast and music
+in honour of the recognized worth and position of the accomplished Sen
+Heng. There is really no necessity for the apparently over-fatigued
+Shan-se to attend the festival.’
+
+“In such a manner was the foundation of Sen’s ultimate prosperity
+established, by which he came in the process of time to occupy a very
+high place in public esteem. Yet, being a person of honourably-minded
+conscientiousness, he did not hesitate, when questioned by those who
+made pilgrimages to him for the purpose of learning by what means he
+had risen to so remunerative a position, to ascribe his success, not
+entirely to his own intelligent perception of persons and events, but,
+in part, also to a never-failing regard for the dictates of the Five
+General Principles, and a discriminating subservience to the inspired
+wisdom of the venerable Poo-chow, as conveyed to him in the story of
+the faint-hearted youth and the three tigers. This story Sen furthermore
+caused to be inscribed in letters of gold, and displayed in a prominent
+position in his native village, where it has since doubtless been the
+means of instructing and advancing countless observant ones who have not
+been too insufferable to be guided by the experience of those who have
+gone before.”
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+THE EXPERIMENT OF THE MANDARIN CHAN HUNG
+
+
+  Related by Kai Lung at Shan Tzu, on the occasion of his receiving
+  a very unexpected reward.
+
+“There are certainly many occasions when the principles of the Mandarin
+Chan Hung appear to find practical favour in the eyes of those who form
+this usually uncomplaining person’s audiences at Shan Tzu,” remarked Kai
+Lung, with patient resignation, as he took up his collecting-bowl and
+transferred the few brass coins which it held to a concealed place among
+his garments. “Has the village lately suffered from a visit of one
+of those persons who come armed with authority to remove by force or
+stratagem such goods as bear names other than those possessed by their
+holders? or is it, indeed--as they of Wu-whei confidently assert--that
+when the Day of Vows arrives the people of Shan Tzu, with one accord,
+undertake to deny themselves in the matter of gifts and free offerings,
+in spite of every conflicting impulse?”
+
+“They of Wu-whei!” exclaimed a self-opinionated bystander, who had
+by some means obtained an inferior public office, and who was, in
+consequence, enabled to be present on all occasions without contributing
+any offering. “Well is that village named ‘The Refuge of Unworthiness,’
+for its dwellers do little but rob and illtreat strangers, and spread
+evil and lying reports concerning better endowed ones than themselves.”
+
+“Such a condition of affairs may exist,” replied Kai Lung, without
+any indication of concern either one way or the other; “yet it is an
+undeniable fact that they reward this commonplace story-teller’s too
+often underestimated efforts in a manner which betrays them either to
+be of noble birth, or very desirous of putting to shame their less
+prosperous neighbouring places.”
+
+“Such exhibitions of uncalled-for lavishness are merely the signs of an
+ill-regulated and inordinate vanity,” remarked a Mandarin of the eighth
+grade, who chanced to be passing, and who stopped to listen to Kai
+Lung’s words. “Nevertheless, it is not fitting that a collection of
+decaying hovels, which Wu-whei assuredly is, should, in however small
+a detail, appear to rise above Shan Tzu, so that if the versatile and
+unassuming Kai Lung will again honour this assembly by allowing his
+well-constructed bowl to pass freely to and fro, this obscure and
+otherwise entirely superfluous individual will make it his especial care
+that the brass of Wu-whei shall be answered with solid copper, and its
+debased pewter with doubly refined silver.”
+
+With these encouraging words the very opportune Mandarin of the eighth
+grade himself followed the story-teller’s collecting-bowl, observing
+closely what each person contributed, so that, although he gave nothing
+from his own store, Kai Lung had never before received so honourable an
+amount.
+
+“O illustrious Kai Lung,” exclaimed a very industrious and ill-clad
+herb-gatherer, who, in spite of his poverty, could not refrain from
+mingling with listeners whenever the story-teller appeared in Shan Tzu,
+“a single piece of brass money is to this person more than a block
+of solid gold to many of Wu-whei; yet he has twice made the customary
+offering, once freely, once because a courteous and pure-minded
+individual who possesses certain written papers of his connected with
+the repayment of some few taels walked behind the bowl and engaged
+his eyes with an unmistakable and very significant glance. This fact
+emboldens him to make the following petition: that in place of the not
+altogether unknown story of Yung Chang which had been announced the
+proficient and nimble-minded Kai Lung will entice our attention with the
+history of the Mandarin Chan Hung, to which reference has already been
+made.”
+
+“The occasion is undoubtedly one which calls for recognition to an
+unusual degree,” replied Kai Lung with extreme affability. “To that end
+this person will accordingly narrate the story which has been suggested,
+notwithstanding the fact that it has been specially prepared for
+the ears of the sublime Emperor, who is at this moment awaiting this
+unseemly one’s arrival in Peking with every mark of ill-restrained
+impatience, tempered only by his expectation of being the first to hear
+the story of the well-meaning but somewhat premature Chan Hung.
+
+“The Mandarin in question lived during the reign of the accomplished
+Emperor Tsint-Sin, his Yamen being at Fow Hou, in the Province of
+Shan-Tung, of which place he was consequently the chief official. In his
+conscientious desire to administer a pure and beneficent rule, he not
+infrequently made himself a very prominent object for public disregard,
+especially by his attempts to introduce untried things, when from
+time to time such matters arose within his mind and seemed to promise
+agreeable and remunerative results. In this manner it came about that
+the streets of Fow Hou were covered with large flat stones, to the great
+inconvenience of those persons who had, from a very remote period, been
+in the habit of passing the night on the soft clay which at all
+seasons of the year afforded a pleasant and efficient resting-place.
+Nevertheless, in certain matters his engaging efforts were attended by
+an obvious success. Having noticed that misfortunes and losses are much
+less keenly felt when they immediately follow in the steps of an earlier
+evil, the benevolent and humane-minded Chan Hung devised an ingenious
+method of lightening the burden of a necessary taxation by arranging
+that those persons who were the most heavily involved should be made the
+victims of an attack and robbery on the night before the matter became
+due. By this thoughtful expedient the unpleasant duty of parting from so
+many taels was almost imperceptibly led up to, and when, after the lapse
+of some slight period, the first sums of money were secretly returned,
+with a written proverb appropriate to the occasion, the public rejoicing
+of those who, had the matter been left to its natural course,
+would still have been filling the air with bitter and unendurable
+lamentations, plainly testified to the inspired wisdom of the
+enlightened Mandarin.
+
+“The well-merited success of this amiable expedient caused the Mandarin
+Chan Hung every variety of intelligent emotion, and no day passed
+without him devoting a portion of his time to the labour of discovering
+other advantages of a similar nature. Engrossed in deep and very sublime
+thought of this order, he chanced upon a certain day to be journeying
+through Fow Hou, when he met a person of irregular intellect, who
+made an uncertain livelihood by following the unassuming and
+charitably-disposed from place to place, chanting in a loud voice set
+verses recording their virtues, which he composed in their honour. On
+account of his undoubted infirmities this person was permitted a greater
+freedom of speech with those above him than would have been the case had
+his condition been merely ordinary; so that when Chan Hung observed him
+becoming very grossly amused on his approach, to such an extent indeed,
+that he neglected to perform any of the fitting acts of obeisance,
+the wise and noble-minded Mandarin did not in any degree suffer his
+complacency to be affected, but, drawing near, addressed him in a calm
+and dignified manner.
+
+“‘Why, O Ming-hi,’ he said, ‘do you permit your gravity to be removed
+to such an exaggerated degree at the sight of this in no way striking
+or exceptional person? and why, indeed, do you stand in so unbecoming
+an attitude in the presence of one who, in spite of his depraved
+inferiority, is unquestionably your official superior, and could,
+without any hesitation, condemn you to the tortures or even to
+bowstringing on the spot?’
+
+“‘Mandarin,’ exclaimed Ming-hi, stepping up to Chan Hung, and, without
+any hesitation, pressing the gilt button which adorned the official’s
+body garment, accompanying the action by a continuous muffled noise
+which suggested the repeated striking of a hidden bell, ‘you wonder that
+this person stands erect on your approach, neither rolling his lowered
+head repeatedly from side to side, nor tracing circles in the dust
+of Fow Hou with his submissive stomach? Know then, the meaning of the
+proverb, “Distrust an inordinate appearance of servility. The estimable
+person who retires from your presence walking backwards may adopt that
+deferential manner in order to keep concealed the long double-edged
+knife with which he had hoped to slay you.” The excessive amusement that
+seized this offensive person when he beheld your well-defined figure in
+the distance arose from his perception of your internal satisfaction,
+which is, indeed, unmistakably reflected in your symmetrical
+countenance. For, O Mandarin, in spite of your honourable endeavours
+to turn things which are devious into a straight line, the matters upon
+which you engage your versatile intellect--little as you suspect the
+fact--are as grains of the finest Foo-chow sand in comparison with that
+which escapes your attention.’
+
+“‘Strange are your words, O Ming-hi, and dark to this person your
+meaning,’ replied Chan Hung, whose feelings were evenly balanced between
+a desire to know what thing he had neglected and a fear that his dignity
+might suffer if he were observed to remain long conversing with a person
+of Ming-hi’s low mental attainments. ‘Without delay, and with an entire
+absence of lengthy and ornamental forms of speech, express the omission
+to which you have made reference; for this person has an uneasy inside
+emotion that you are merely endeavouring to engage his attention to
+the end that you may make an unseemly and irrelevant reply, and thereby
+involve him in an undeserved ridicule.’
+
+“‘Such a device would be the pastime of one of immature years, and could
+have no place in this person’s habit of conduct,’ replied Ming-hi, with
+every appearance of a fixed sincerity. ‘Moreover, the matter is one
+which touches his own welfare closely, and, expressed in the fashion
+which the proficient Mandarin has commanded, may be set forth as
+follows: By a wise and all-knowing divine system, it is arranged that
+certain honourable occupations, which by their nature cannot become
+remunerative to any marked degree, shall be singled out for special
+marks of reverence, so that those who engage therein may be compensated
+in dignity for what they must inevitably lack in taels. By this
+refined dispensation the literary occupations, which are in general the
+highroads to the Establishment of Public Support and Uniform Apparel,
+are held in the highest veneration. Agriculture, from which it is
+possible to wrest a competency, follows in esteem; while the various
+branches of commerce, leading as they do to vast possessions and the
+attendant luxury, are very justly deprived of all the attributes
+of dignity and respect. Yet observe, O justice-loving Mandarin, how
+unbecomingly this ingenious system of universal compensation has been
+debased at the instance of grasping and avaricious ones. Dignity, riches
+and ease now go hand in hand, and the highest rewarded in all matters
+are also the most esteemed, whereas, if the discriminating provision of
+those who have gone before and so arranged it was observed, the direct
+contrary would be the case.’
+
+“‘It is a state of things which is somewhat difficult to imagine in
+general matters of life, in spite of the fair-seemingness of your
+words,’ said the Mandarin thoughtfully; ‘nor can this rather obtuse and
+slow-witted person fully grasp the practical application of the system
+on the edge of the moment. In what manner would it operate in the case
+of ordinary persons, for example?’
+
+“‘There should be a fixed and settled arrangement that the low-minded
+and degrading occupations--such as that of following charitable persons
+from place to place, chanting verses composed in their honour, that of
+misleading travellers who inquire the way, so that they fall into the
+hands of robbers, and the like callings--should be the most highly
+rewarded to the end that those who are engaged therein may obtain
+some solace for the loss of dignity they experience, and the mean
+intellectual position which they are compelled to maintain. By this
+device they would be enabled to possess certain advantages and degrees
+of comfort which at present are utterly beyond their grasp, so that in
+the end they would escape being entirely debased. To turn to the other
+foot, those who are now high in position, and engaged in professions
+which enjoy the confidence of all persons, have that which in itself is
+sufficient to insure contentment. Furthermore, the most proficient
+and engaging in every department, mean or high-minded, have certain
+attributes of respect among those beneath them, so that they might
+justly be content with the lowest reward in whatever calling they
+professed, the least skilful and most left-handed being compensated for
+the mental anguish which they must undoubtedly suffer by receiving the
+greatest number of taels.’
+
+“‘Such a scheme would, as far as the matter has been expressed, appear
+to possess all the claims of respect, and to be, indeed, what was
+originally intended by those who framed the essentials of existence,’
+said Chan Hung, when he had for some space of time considered the
+details. ‘In one point, however, this person fails to perceive how
+the arrangement could be amiably conducted in Fow Hou. The one who
+is addressing you maintains, as a matter of right, a position of
+exceptional respect, nor, if he must express himself upon such a detail,
+are his excessively fatiguing duties entirely unremunerative...’
+
+“‘In the case of the distinguished and unalterable Mandarin,’ exclaimed
+Ming-hi, with no appearance of hesitation, ‘the matter would of
+necessity be arranged otherwise. Being from that time, as it were, the
+controller of the destinies and remunerations of all those in Fow Hou,
+he would, manifestly, be outside the working of the scheme; standing
+apart and regulating, like the person who turns the handle of the
+corn-mill, but does not suffer himself to be drawn between the
+stones, he could still maintain both his respect and his remuneration
+unaltered.’
+
+“‘If the detail could honourably be regarded in such a light,’ said Chan
+Hung, ‘this person would, without delay, so rearrange matters in Fow
+Hou, and thereby create universal justice and an unceasing contentment
+within the minds of all.’
+
+“‘Undoubtedly such a course could be justly followed,’ assented Ming-hi,
+‘for in precisely that manner of working was the complete scheme
+revealed to this highly-favoured person.’
+
+“Entirely wrapped up in thoughts concerning the inception and manner of
+operation of this project Chan Hung began to retrace his steps towards
+the Yamen, failing to observe in his benevolent abstraction of mind,
+that the unaffectedly depraved person Ming-hi was stretching out his
+feet towards him and indulging in every other form of low-minded and
+undignified contempt.
+
+“Before he reached the door of his residence the Mandarin overtook
+one who occupied a high position of confidence and remuneration in the
+Department of Public Fireworks and Coloured Lights. Fully assured of
+this versatile person’s enthusiasm on behalf of so humane and charitable
+a device, Chan Hung explained the entire matter to him without delay,
+and expressly desired that if there were any details which appeared
+capable of improvement, he would declare himself clearly regarding them.
+
+“‘Alas!’ exclaimed the person with whom the Mandarin was conversing,
+speaking in so unfeignedly disturbed and terrified a voice that several
+who were passing by stopped in order to learn the full circumstance,
+‘have this person’s ears been made the object of some unnaturally
+light-minded demon’s ill-disposed pastime, or does the usually
+well-balanced Chan Hung in reality contemplate so violent and un-Chinese
+an action? What but evil could arise from a single word of the change
+which he proposes to the extent of a full written book? The entire fixed
+nature of events would become reversed; persons would no longer be fully
+accountable to one another; and Fow Hou being thus thrown into a most
+unendurable state of confusion, the protecting Deities would doubtless
+withdraw their influence, and the entire region would soon be given over
+to the malicious guardianship of rapacious and evilly-disposed spirits.
+Let this person entreat the almost invariably clear-sighted Chan Hung
+to return at once to his adequately equipped and sumptuous Yamen, and
+barring well the door of his inner chamber, so that it can only be
+opened from the outside, partake of several sleeping essences of unusual
+strength, after which he will awake in an undoubtedly refreshed state
+of mind, and in a condition to observe matters with his accustomed
+diamond-like penetration.’
+
+“‘By no means!’ cried one of those who had stopped to learn the occasion
+of the incident--a very inferior maker of unserviceable imitation
+pigtails--‘the devout and conscientious-minded Mandarin Chan Hung speaks
+as the inspired mouth-piece of the omnipotent Buddha, and must, for
+that reason, be obeyed in every detail. This person would unhesitatingly
+counsel the now invaluable Mandarin to proceed to his well-constructed
+residence without delay, and there calling together his entire staff of
+those who set down his spoken words, put the complete Heaven-sent
+plan into operation, and beyond recall, before he retires to his inner
+chamber.’
+
+“Upon this there arose a most inelegant display of undignified emotions
+on the part of the assembly which had by this time gathered together.
+While those who occupied honourable and remunerative positions very
+earnestly entreated the Mandarin to act in the manner which had been
+suggested by the first speaker, others--who had, in the meantime, made
+use of imagined figures, and thereby discovered that the proposed change
+would be greatly to their advantage--raised shouts of encouragement
+towards the proposal of the pigtail-maker, urging the noble Mandarin not
+to become small in the face towards the insignificant few who were ever
+opposed to enlightened reform, but to maintain an unflaccid upper lip,
+and carry the entire matter through to its destined end. In the course
+of this very unseemly tumult, which soon involved all persons present
+in hostile demonstrations towards each other, both the Mandarin and
+the official from the Fireworks and Coloured Lights Department found
+an opportunity to pass away secretly, the former to consider well the
+various sides of the matter, towards which he became better disposed
+with every thought, the latter to find a purchaser of his appointment
+and leave Fow Hou before the likelihood of Chan Hung’s scheme became
+generally known.
+
+“At this point an earlier circumstance, which affected the future
+unrolling of events to no insignificant degree, must be made known,
+concerning as it does Lila, the fair and very accomplished daughter
+of Chan Hung. Possessing no son or heir to succeed him, the Mandarin
+exhibited towards Lila a very unusual depth of affection, so marked,
+indeed, that when certain evil-minded ones endeavoured to encompass
+his degradation, on the plea of eccentricity of character, the written
+papers which they dispatched to the high ones at Peking contained no
+other accusation in support of the contention than that the individual
+in question regarded his daughter with an obvious pride and pleasure
+which no person of well-balanced intellect lavished on any but a son.
+
+“It was his really conscientious desire to establish Lila’s welfare
+above all things that had caused Chan Hung to become in some degree
+undecided when conversing with Ming-hi on the detail of the scheme; for,
+unaffected as the Mandarin himself would have been at the prospect of
+an honourable poverty, it was no part of his intention that the adorable
+and exceptionally-refined Lila should be drawn into such an existence.
+That, indeed, had been the essential of his reply on a certain and not
+far removed occasion, when two persons of widely differing positions
+had each made a formal request that he might be allowed to present
+marriage-pledging gifts to the very desirable Lila. Maintaining an
+enlightened openness of mind upon the subject, the Mandarin had replied
+that nothing but the merit of undoubted suitableness of a person would
+affect him in such a decision. As it was ordained by the wise and
+unchanging Deities that merit should always be fittingly rewarded,
+he went on to express himself, and as the most suitable person was
+obviously the one who could the most agreeably provide for her, the
+two circumstances inevitably tended to the decision that the one chosen
+should be the person who could amass the greatest number of taels. To
+this end he instructed them both to present themselves at the end of
+a year, bringing with them the entire profits of their undertakings
+between the two periods.
+
+“This deliberate pronouncement affected the two persons in question in
+an entirely opposite manner, for one of them was little removed from a
+condition of incessant and most uninviting poverty, while the other was
+the very highly-rewarded picture-maker Pe-tsing. Both to this latter
+person, and to the other one, Lee Sing, the ultimate conclusion of the
+matter did not seem to be a question of any conjecture therefore, and,
+in consequence, the one became most offensively self-confident, and
+the other leaden-minded to an equal degree, neither remembering the
+unswerving wisdom of the proverb, ‘Wait! all men are but as the black,
+horn-cased beetles which overrun the inferior cooking-rooms of the city,
+and even at this moment the heavily-shod and unerring foot of Buddha may
+be lifted.’
+
+“Lee Sing was, by profession, one of those who hunt and ensnare the
+brilliantly-coloured winged insects which are to be found in various
+parts of the Empire in great variety and abundance, it being his duty
+to send a certain number every year to Peking to contribute to the
+amusement of the dignified Emperor. In spite of the not too intelligent
+nature of the occupation, Lee Sing took an honourable pride in all
+matters connected with it. He disdained, with well-expressed contempt,
+to avail himself of the stealthy and somewhat deceptive methods employed
+by others engaged in a similar manner of life. In this way he had, from
+necessity, acquired agility to an exceptional degree, so that he could
+leap far into the air, and while in that position select from a passing
+band of insects any which he might desire. This useful accomplishment
+was, in a measure, the direct means of bringing together the person in
+question and the engaging Lila; for, on a certain occasion, when Lee
+Sing was passing through the streets of Fow Hou, he heard a great
+outcry, and beheld persons of all ranks running towards him, pointing
+at the same time in an upward direction. Turning his gaze in the manner
+indicated, Lee beheld, with every variety of astonishment, a powerful
+and unnaturally large bird of prey, carrying in its talons the
+lovely and now insensible Lila, to whom it had been attracted by the
+magnificence of her raiment. The rapacious and evilly-inspired creature
+was already above the highest dwelling-houses when Lee first beheld it,
+and was plainly directing its course towards the inaccessible mountain
+crags beyond the city walls. Nevertheless, Lee resolved upon an
+inspired effort, and without any hesitation bounded towards it with such
+well-directed proficiency, that if he had not stretched forth his hand
+on passing he would inevitably have been carried far above the desired
+object. In this manner he succeeded in dragging the repulsive and
+completely disconcerted monster to the ground, where its graceful and
+unassuming prisoner was released, and the presumptuous bird itself
+torn to pieces amid continuous shouts of a most respectful and engaging
+description in honour of Lee and of his versatile attainment.
+
+“In consequence of this incident the grateful Lila would often
+deliberately leave the society of the rich and well-endowed in order
+to accompany Lee on his journeys in pursuit of exceptionally-precious
+winged insects. Regarding his unusual ability as the undoubted cause of
+her existence at that moment, she took an all-absorbing pride in such
+displays, and would utter loud and frequent exclamations of triumph when
+Lee leaped out from behind some rock, where he had lain concealed, and
+with unfailing regularity secured the object of his adroit movement. In
+this manner a state of feeling which was by no means favourable to
+the aspiring picture-maker Pe-tsing had long existed between the two
+persons; but when Lee Sing put the matter in the form of an explicit
+petition before Chan Hung (to which adequate reference has already been
+made), the nature of the decision then arrived at seemed to clothe
+the realization of their virtuous and estimable desires with an air of
+extreme improbability.
+
+“‘Oh, Lee,’ exclaimed the greatly-disappointed maiden when her lover had
+explained to her the nature of the arrangement--for in her unassuming
+admiration of the noble qualities of Lee she had anticipated that Chan
+Hung would at once have received him with ceremonious embraces and
+assurances of his permanent affection--‘how unendurable a state of
+things is this in which we have become involved! Far removed from this
+one’s anticipations was the thought of becoming inalienably associated
+with that outrageous person Pe-tsing, or of entering upon an existence
+which will necessitate a feigned admiration of his really unpresentable
+efforts. Yet in such a manner must the entire circumstance complete its
+course unless some ingenious method of evading it can be discovered in
+the meantime. Alas, my beloved one! the occupation of ensnaring winged
+insects is indeed an alluring one, but as far as this person has
+observed, it is also exceedingly unproductive of taels. Could not some
+more expeditious means of enriching yourself be discovered? Frequently
+has the unnoticed but nevertheless very attentive Lila heard her father
+and the round-bodied ones who visit him speak of exploits which seem
+to consist of assuming the shapes of certain wild animals, and in that
+guise appearing from time to time at the place of exchange within
+the city walls. As this form of entertainment is undoubtedly very
+remunerative in its results, could not the versatile and ready-witted
+Lee conceal himself within the skin of a bear, or some other untamed
+beast, and in this garb, joining them unperceived, play an appointed
+part and receive a just share of the reward?’
+
+“‘The result of such an enterprise might, if the matter chanced to take
+an unforeseen development, prove of a very doubtful nature,’ replied
+Lee Sing, to whom, indeed, the proposed venture appeared in a somewhat
+undignified light, although, with refined consideration, he withheld
+such a thought from Lila, who had proposed it for him, and also
+confessed that her usually immaculate father had taken part in such an
+exhibition. ‘Nevertheless, do not permit the dark shadow of an inward
+cloud to reflect itself upon your almost invariably amiable countenance,
+for this person has become possessed of a valuable internal suggestion
+which, although he has hitherto neglected, being content with a small
+but assured competency, would doubtless bring together a serviceable
+number of taels if rightly utilized.’
+
+“‘Greatly does this person fear that the valuable internal suggestion
+of Lee Sing will weigh but lightly in the commercial balance against
+the very rapidly executed pictures of Pe-tsing,’ said Lila, who had not
+fully recalled from her mind a disturbing emotion that Lee would
+have been well advised to have availed himself of her ingenious and
+well-thought-out suggestion. ‘But of what does the matter consist?’
+
+“‘It is the best explained by a recital of the circumstances leading up
+to it,’ said Lee. ‘Upon an occasion when this person was passing through
+the streets of Fow Hou, there gathered around him a company of those who
+had, on previous occasions, beheld his exceptional powers of hurtling
+himself through the air in an upward direction, praying that he would
+again delight their senses by a similar spectacle. Not being unwilling
+to afford those estimable persons of the amusement they desired, this
+one, without any elaborate show of affected hesitancy, put himself
+into the necessary position, and would without doubt have risen
+uninterruptedly almost into the Middle Air, had he not, in making the
+preparatory movements, placed his left foot upon an over-ripe wampee
+which lay unperceived on the ground. In consequence of this really
+blameworthy want of caution the entire manner and direction of this
+short-sighted individual’s movements underwent a sudden and complete
+change, so that to those who stood around it appeared as though he were
+making a well-directed endeavour to penetrate through the upper surface
+of the earth. This unexpected display had the effect of removing the
+gravity of even the most aged and severe-minded persons present, and for
+the space of some moments the behaviour and positions of those who stood
+around were such that they were quite unable to render any assistance,
+greatly as they doubtless wished to do so. Being in this manner allowed
+a period for inward reflexion of a very concentrated order, it arose
+within this one’s mind that at every similar occurrence which he had
+witnessed, those who observed the event had been seized in a like
+fashion, being very excessively amused. The fact was made even more
+undoubted by the manner of behaving of an exceedingly stout and
+round-faced person, who had not been present from the beginning, but who
+was affected to a most incredible extent when the details, as they had
+occurred, were made plain to him, he declaring, with many references to
+the Sacred Dragon and the Seven Walled Temple at Peking, that he would
+willingly have contributed a specified number of taels rather than
+have missed the diversion. When at length this person reached his own
+chamber, he diligently applied himself to the task of carrying into
+practical effect the suggestion which had arisen in his mind. By an
+arrangement of transparent glasses and reflecting surfaces--which, were
+it not for a well-defined natural modesty, he would certainly be tempted
+to describe as highly ingenious--he ultimately succeeded in bringing
+about the effect he desired.’
+
+“With these words Lee put into Lila’s hands an object which closely
+resembled the contrivances by which those who are not sufficiently
+powerful to obtain positions near the raised platform, in the Halls of
+Celestial Harmony, are nevertheless enabled to observe the complexions
+and attire of all around them. Regulating it by means of a hidden
+spring, he requested her to follow closely the actions of a
+heavily-burdened passerby who was at that moment some little distance
+beyond them. Scarcely had Lila raised the glass to her eyes than she
+became irresistibly amused to a most infectious degree, greatly to the
+satisfaction of Lee, who therein beheld the realization of his hopes.
+Not for the briefest space of time would she permit the object to pass
+from her, but directed it at every person who came within her sight,
+with frequent and unfeigned exclamations of wonder and delight.
+
+“‘How pleasant and fascinating a device is this!’ exclaimed Lila at
+length. ‘By what means is so diverting and gravity-removing a result
+obtained?’
+
+“‘Further than that it is the concentration of much labour of
+continually trying with glasses and reflecting surfaces, this person is
+totally unable to explain it,’ replied Lee. ‘The chief thing, however,
+is that at whatever moving object it is directed--no matter whether a
+person so observed is being carried in a chair, riding upon an animal,
+or merely walking--at a certain point he has every appearance of being
+unexpectedly hurled to the ground in a most violent and mirth-provoking
+manner. Would not the stout and round-faced one, who would cheerfully
+have contributed a certain number of taels to see this person manifest a
+similar exhibition, unhesitatingly lay out that sum to secure the means
+of so gratifying his emotions whenever he felt the desire, even with
+the revered persons of the most dignified ones in the Empire? Is there,
+indeed, a single person between the Wall and the Bitter Waters on the
+South who is so devoid of ambition that he would miss the opportunity of
+subjecting, as it were, perhaps even the sacred Emperor himself to the
+exceptional feat?’
+
+“‘The temptation to possess one would inevitably prove overwhelming to
+any person of ordinary intelligence,’ admitted Lila. ‘Yet, in spite of
+this one’s unassumed admiration for the contrivance, internal doubts
+regarding the ultimate happiness of the two persons who are now
+discussing the matter again attack her. She recollects, somewhat dimly,
+an almost forgotten, but nevertheless, very unassailable proverb, which
+declares that more contentment of mind can assuredly be obtained from
+the unexpected discovery of a tael among the folds of a discarded
+garment than could, in the most favourable circumstances, ensue from
+the well-thought-out construction of a new and hitherto unknown
+device. Furthermore, although the span of a year may seem unaccountably
+protracted when persons who reciprocate engaging sentiments are
+parted, yet when the acceptance or refusal of Pe-tsing’s undesirable
+pledging-gifts hangs upon the accomplishment of a remote and not very
+probable object within that period, it becomes as a breath of wind
+passing through an autumn forest.’
+
+“Since the day when Lila and Lee had sat together side by side, and
+conversed in this unrestrained and irreproachable manner, the great
+sky-lantern had many times been obscured for a period. Only an
+insignificant portion of the year remained, yet the affairs of Lee Sing
+were in no more prosperous a condition than before, nor had he found an
+opportunity to set aside any store of taels. Each day the unsupportable
+Pe-tsing became more and more obtrusive and self-conceited, even to
+the extent of throwing far into the air coins of insignificant value
+whenever he chanced to pass Lee in the street, at the same time urging
+him to leap after them and thereby secure at least one or two pieces of
+money against the day of calculating. In a similar but entirely opposite
+fashion, Lila and Lee experienced the acutest pangs of an ever-growing
+despair, until their only form of greeting consisted in gazing into each
+other’s eyes with a soul-benumbing expression of self-reproach.
+
+“Yet at this very time, when even the natural and unalterable powers
+seemed to be conspiring against the success of Lee’s modest and
+inoffensive hopes, an event was taking place which was shortly to
+reverse the entire settled arrangement of persons and affairs, and
+involved Fow Hou in a very inextricable state of uncertainty. For, not
+to make a pretence of concealing a matter which has been already in part
+revealed, the Mandarin Chan Hung had by this time determined to act in
+the manner which Ming-hi had suggested; so that on a certain morning
+Lee Sing was visited by two persons, bearing between them a very weighty
+sack of taels, who also conveyed to him the fact that a like amount
+would be deposited within his door at the end of each succeeding seven
+days. Although Lee’s occupation had in the past been very meagrely
+rewarded, either by taels or by honour, the circumstance which resulted
+in his now receiving so excessively large a sum is not made clear until
+the detail of Ming-hi’s scheme is closely examined. The matter then
+becomes plain, for it had been suggested by that person that the most
+proficient in any occupation should be rewarded to a certain extent,
+and the least proficient to another stated extent, the original amounts
+being reversed. When those engaged by Chang Hung to draw up the various
+rates came to the profession of ensnaring winged insects, however, they
+discovered that Lee Sing was the only one of that description in Fow
+Hou, so that it became necessary in consequence to allot him a double
+portion, one amount as the most proficient, and a much larger amount as
+the least proficient.
+
+“It is unnecessary now to follow the not altogether satisfactory
+condition of affairs which began to exist in Fow Hou as soon as the
+scheme was put into operation. The full written papers dealing with the
+matter are in the Hall of Public Reference at Peking, and can be seen by
+any person on the payment of a few taels to everyone connected with
+the establishment. Those who found their possessions reduced thereby
+completely overlooked the obvious justice of the arrangement, and
+immediately began to take most severe measures to have the order put
+aside; while those who suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves
+raised to positions of affluence tended to the same end by conducting
+themselves in a most incapable and undiscriminating manner. And during
+the entire period that this state of things existed in Fow Hou the
+really contemptible Ming-hi continually followed Chan Hung about from
+place to place, spreading out his feet towards him, and allowing himself
+to become openly amused to a most unseemly extent.
+
+“Chief among those who sought to have the original manner of rewarding
+persons again established was the picture-maker, Pe-tsing, who now found
+himself in a condition of most abject poverty, so unbearable, indeed,
+that he frequently went by night, carrying a lantern, in the hope that
+he might discover some of the small pieces of money which he had been
+accustomed to throw into the air on meeting Lee Sing. To his pangs of
+hunger was added the fear that he would certainly lose Lila, so that
+from day to day he redoubled his efforts, and in the end, by using false
+statements and other artifices of a questionable nature, the party which
+he led was successful in obtaining the degradation of Chan Hung and his
+dismissal from office, together with an entire reversal of all his plans
+and enactments.
+
+“On the last day of the year which Chan Hung had appointed as the period
+of test for his daughter’s suitors, the person in question was seated
+in a chamber of his new abode--a residence of unassuming appearance but
+undoubted comfort--surrounded by Lila and Lee, when the hanging curtains
+were suddenly flung aside, and Pe-tsing, followed by two persons of low
+rank bearing sacks of money, appeared among them.
+
+“‘Chan Hung,’ he said at length, ‘in the past events arose which
+compelled this person to place himself against you in your official
+position. Nevertheless, he has always maintained towards you personally
+an unchanging affection, and understanding full well that you are one of
+those who maintain their spoken word in spite of all happenings, he has
+now come to exhibit the taels which he has collected together, and to
+claim the fulfilment of your deliberate promise.’
+
+“With these words the commonplace picture-maker poured forth the
+contents of the sacks, and stood looking at Lila in a most confident and
+unprepossessing manner.
+
+“‘Pe-tsing,’ replied Chan Hung, rising from his couch and speaking in so
+severe and impressive a voice that the two servants of Pe-tsing at once
+fled in great apprehension, ‘this person has also found it necessary, in
+his official position, to oppose you; but here the similarity ends,
+for, on his part, he has never felt towards you the remotest degree of
+affection. Nevertheless, he is always desirous, as you say, that persons
+should regard their spoken word, and as you seem to hold a promise
+from the Chief Mandarin of Fow Hou regarding marriage-gifts towards
+his daughter, he would advise you to go at once to that person.
+A misunderstanding has evidently arisen, for the one whom you are
+addressing is merely Chan Hung, and the words spoken by the Mandarin
+have no sort of interest for him--indeed, he understands that all that
+person’s acts have been reversed, so that he fails to see how anyone
+at all can regard you and your claim in other than a gravity-removing
+light. Furthermore, the maiden in question is now definitely and
+irretrievably pledged to this faithful and successful one by my side,
+who, as you will doubtless be gracefully overjoyed to learn, has
+recently disposed of a most ingenious and diverting contrivance for an
+enormous number of taels, so many, indeed, that both the immediate and
+the far-distant future of all the persons who are here before you are
+now in no sort of doubt whatever.’
+
+“At these words the three persons whom he had interrupted again turned
+their attention to the matter before them; but as Pe-tsing walked away,
+he observed, though he failed to understand the meaning, that they all
+raised certain objects to their eyes, and at once became amused to a
+most striking and uncontrollable degree.”
+
+
+
+
+V.
+THE CONFESSION OF KAI LUNG
+
+
+     Related by himself at Wu-whei when other matter failed him.
+
+As Kai Lung, the story-teller, unrolled his mat and selected, with grave
+deliberation, the spot under the mulberry-tree which would the longest
+remain sheltered from the sun’s rays, his impassive eye wandered round
+the thin circle of listeners who had been drawn together by his uplifted
+voice, with a glance which, had it expressed his actual thoughts, would
+have betrayed a keen desire that the assembly should be composed of
+strangers rather than of his most consistent patrons, to whom his stock
+of tales was indeed becoming embarrassingly familiar. Nevertheless, when
+he began there was nothing in his voice but a trace of insufficiently
+restrained triumph, such as might be fitly assumed by one who has
+discovered and makes known for the first time a story by the renowned
+historian Lo Cha.
+
+“The adventures of the enlightened and nobly-born Yuin-Pel--”
+
+“Have already thrice been narrated within Wu-whei by the versatile but
+exceedingly uninventive Kai Lung,” remarked Wang Yu placidly. “Indeed,
+has there not come to be a saying by which an exceptionally frugal
+host’s rice, having undoubtedly seen the inside of the pot many times,
+is now known in this town as Kai-Pel?”
+
+“Alas!” exclaimed Kai Lung, “well was this person warned of Wu-whei
+in the previous village, as a place of desolation and excessively
+bad taste, whose inhabitants, led by an evil-minded maker of very
+commonplace pipes, named Wang Yu, are unable to discriminate in all
+matters not connected with the cooking of food and the evasion of just
+debts. They at Shan Tzu hung on to my cloak as I strove to leave them,
+praying that I would again entrance their ears with what they termed the
+melodious word-music of this person’s inimitable version of the inspired
+story of Yuin-Pel.”
+
+“Truly the story of Yuin-Pel is in itself excellent,” interposed the
+conciliatory Hi Seng; “and Kai Lung’s accomplishment of having three
+times repeated it here without deviating in the particular of a single
+word from the first recital stamps him as a story-teller of no ordinary
+degree. Yet the saying ‘Although it is desirable to lose persistently
+when playing at squares and circles with the broad-minded and sagacious
+Emperor, it is none the less a fact that the observance of this
+etiquette deprives the intellectual diversion of much of its interest
+for both players,’ is no less true today than when the all knowing H’sou
+uttered it.”
+
+“They well said--they of Shan Tzu--that the people of Wu-whei were
+intolerably ignorant and of low descent,” continued Kai Lung, without
+heeding the interruption; “that although invariably of a timorous
+nature, even to the extent of retiring to the woods on the approach of
+those who select bowmen for the Imperial army, all they require in a
+story is that it shall be garnished with deeds of bloodshed and violence
+to the exclusion of the higher qualities of well-imagined metaphors and
+literary style which alone constitute true excellence.”
+
+“Yet it has been said,” suggested Hi Seng, “that the inimitable Kai
+Lung can so mould a narrative in the telling that all the emotions
+are conveyed therein without unduly disturbing the intellects of the
+hearers.”
+
+“O amiable Hi Seng,” replied Kai Lung with extreme affability,
+“doubtless you are the most expert of water-carriers, and on a hot
+and dusty day, when the insatiable desire of all persons is towards a
+draught of unusual length without much regard to its composition, the
+sight of your goat-skins is indeed a welcome omen; yet when in the
+season of Cold White Rains you chance to meet the belated chair-carrier
+who has been reluctantly persuaded into conveying persons beyond the
+limit of the city, the solitary official watchman who knows that his
+chief is not at hand, or a returning band of those who make a practise
+of remaining in the long narrow rooms until they are driven forth at a
+certain gong-stroke, can you supply them with the smallest portion of
+that invigorating rice spirit for which alone they crave? From this
+simple and homely illustration, specially conceived to meet the
+requirements of your stunted and meagre understanding, learn not to
+expect both grace and thorns from the willow-tree. Nevertheless, your
+very immature remarks on the art of story-telling are in no degree more
+foolish than those frequently uttered by persons who make a living by
+such a practice; in proof of which this person will relate to the select
+and discriminating company now assembled an entirely new and unrecorded
+story--that, indeed, of the unworthy, but frequently highly-rewarded Kai
+Lung himself.”
+
+“The story of Kai Lung!” exclaimed Wang Yu. “Why not the story of Ting,
+the sightless beggar, who has sat all his life outside the Temple of
+Miraculous Cures? Who is Kai Lung, that he should have a story? Is he
+not known to us all here? Is not his speech that of this Province, his
+food mean, his arms and legs unshaven? Does he carry a sword or wear
+silk raiment? Frequently have we seen him fatigued with journeying; many
+times has he arrived destitute of money; nor, on those occasions when a
+newly-appointed and unnecessarily officious Mandarin has commanded
+him to betake himself elsewhere and struck him with a rod has Kai Lung
+caused the stick to turn into a deadly serpent and destroy its master,
+as did the just and dignified Lu Fei. How, then, can Kai Lung have a
+story that is not also the story of Wang Yu and Hi Seng, and all others
+here?”
+
+“Indeed, if the refined and enlightened Wang Yu so decides, it must
+assuredly be true,” said Kai Lung patiently; “yet (since even trifles
+serve to dispel the darker thoughts of existence) would not the
+history of so small a matter as an opium pipe chain his intelligent
+consideration? such a pipe, for example, as this person beheld only
+today exposed for sale, the bowl composed of the finest red clay,
+delicately baked and fashioned, the long bamboo stem smoother than the
+sacred tooth of the divine Buddha, the spreading support patiently and
+cunningly carved with scenes representing the Seven Joys, and the Tenth
+Hell of unbelievers.”
+
+“Ah!” exclaimed Wang Yu eagerly, “it is indeed as you say, a Mandarin
+among masterpieces. That pipe, O most unobserving Kai Lung, is the work
+of this retiring and superficial person who is now addressing you, and,
+though the fact evidently escaped your all-seeing glance, the place
+where it is exposed is none other than his shop of ‘The Fountain of
+Beauty,’ which you have on many occasions endowed with your honourable
+presence.”
+
+“Doubtless the carving is the work of the accomplished Wang Yu, and the
+fitting together,” replied Kai Lung; “but the materials for so refined
+and ornamental a production must of necessity have been brought many
+thousand li; the clay perhaps from the renowned beds of Honan, the wood
+from Peking, and the bamboo from one of the great forests of the North.”
+
+“For what reason?” said Wang Yu proudly. “At this person’s very door
+is a pit of red clay, purer and infinitely more regular than any to
+be found at Honan; the hard wood of Wu-whei is extolled among carvers
+throughout the Empire, while no bamboo is straighter or more smooth than
+that which grows in the neighbouring woods.”
+
+“O most inconsistent Wang Yu!” cried the story-teller, “assuredly a very
+commendable local pride has dimmed your usually penetrating eyesight.
+Is not the clay pit of which you speak that in which you fashioned
+exceedingly unsymmetrical imitations of rat-pies in your childhood? How,
+then, can it be equal to those of Honan, which you have never seen?
+In the dark glades of these woods have you not chased the gorgeous
+butterfly, and, in later years, the no less gaily attired maidens of
+Wu-whei in the entrancing game of Kiss in the Circle? Have not the
+bamboo-trees to which you have referred provided you with the ideal
+material wherewith to roof over those cunningly-constructed pits into
+which it has ever been the chief delight of the young and audacious to
+lure dignified and unnaturally stout Mandarins? All these things you
+have seen and used ever since your mother made a successful offering to
+the Goddess Kum-Fa. How, then, can they be even equal to the products of
+remote Honan and fabulous Peking? Assuredly the generally veracious Wang
+Yu speaks this time with closed eyes and will, upon mature reflexion,
+eat his words.”
+
+The silence was broken by a very aged man who arose from among the
+bystanders.
+
+“Behold the length of this person’s pigtail,” he exclaimed, “the
+whiteness of his moustaches and the venerable appearance of his beard!
+There is no more aged person present--if, indeed, there be such a one
+in all the Province. It accordingly devolves upon him to speak in this
+matter, which shall be as follows: The noble-minded and proficient Kai
+Lung shall relate the story as he has proposed, and the garrulous Wang
+Yu shall twice contribute to Kai Lung’s bowl when it is passed round,
+once for himself and once for this person, in order that he may learn
+either to be more discreet or more proficient in the art of aptly
+replying.”
+
+“The events which it is this person’s presumptuous intention to describe
+to this large-hearted and providentially indulgent gathering,” began
+Kai Lung, when his audience had become settled, and the wooden bowl had
+passed to and fro among them, “did not occupy many years, although they
+were of a nature which made them of far more importance than all the
+remainder of his existence, thereby supporting the sage discernment of
+the philosopher Wen-weng, who first made the observation that man is
+greatly inferior to the meanest fly, inasmuch as that creature, although
+granted only a day’s span of life, contrives during that period to
+fulfil all the allotted functions of existence.
+
+“Unutterably to the astonishment and dismay of this person and all those
+connected with him (for several of the most expensive readers of the
+future to be found in the Empire had declared that his life would be
+marked by great events, his career a source of continual wonder, and his
+death a misfortune to those who had dealings with him) his efforts to
+take a degree at the public literary competitions were not attended with
+any adequate success. In view of the plainly expressed advice of his
+father it therefore became desirable that this person should turn his
+attention to some other method of regaining the esteem of those upon
+whom he was dependent for all the necessaries of existence. Not having
+the means wherewith to engage in any form of commerce, and being
+entirely ignorant of all matters save the now useless details of
+attempting to pass public examinations, he reluctantly decided that he
+was destined to become one of those who imagine and write out stories
+and similar devices for printed leaves and books.
+
+“This determination was favourably received, and upon learning it, this
+person’s dignified father took him aside, and with many assurances of
+regard presented to him a written sentence, which, he said, would be of
+incomparable value to one engaged in a literary career, and should
+in fact, without any particular qualifications, insure an honourable
+competency. He himself, he added, with what at the time appeared to
+this one as an unnecessary regard for detail, having taken a very
+high degree, and being in consequence appointed to a distinguished and
+remunerative position under the Board of Fines and Tortures, had never
+made any use of it.
+
+“The written sentence, indeed, was all that it had been pronounced. It
+had been composed by a remote ancestor, who had spent his entire life in
+crystallizing all his knowledge and experience into a few written lines,
+which as a result became correspondingly precious. It defined in a very
+original and profound manner several undisputable principles, and was so
+engagingly subtle in its manner of expression that the most superficial
+person was irresistibly thrown into a deep inward contemplation upon
+reading it. When it was complete, the person who had contrived this
+ingenious masterpiece, discovering by means of omens that he still had
+ten years to live, devoted each remaining year to the task of reducing
+the sentence by one word without in any way altering its meaning. This
+unapproachable example of conciseness found such favour in the eyes
+of those who issue printed leaves that as fast as this person could
+inscribe stories containing it they were eagerly purchased; and had it
+not been for a very incapable want of foresight on this narrow-minded
+individual’s part, doubtless it would still be affording him an
+agreeable and permanent means of living.
+
+“Unquestionably the enlightened Wen-weng was well acquainted with the
+subject when he exclaimed, ‘Better a frugal dish of olives flavoured
+with honey than the most sumptuously devised puppy-pie of which the
+greater portion is sent forth in silver-lined boxes and partaken of
+by others.’ At that time, however, this versatile saying--which so
+gracefully conveys the truth of the undeniable fact that what a person
+possesses is sufficient if he restrain his mind from desiring
+aught else--would have been lightly treated by this self-conceited
+story-teller even if his immature faculties had enabled him fully to
+understand the import of so profound and well-digested a remark.
+
+“At that time Tiao Ts’un was undoubtedly the most beautiful maiden in
+all Peking. So frequently were the verses describing her habits and
+appearances affixed in the most prominent places of the city, that many
+persons obtained an honourable livelihood by frequenting those spots
+and disposing of the sacks of written papers which they collected to
+merchants who engaged in that commerce. Owing to the fame attained by
+his written sentence, this really very much inferior being had many
+opportunities of meeting the incomparable maiden Tiao at flower-feasts,
+melon-seed assemblies, and those gatherings where persons of both sexes
+exhibit themselves in revolving attitudes, and are permitted to embrace
+openly without reproach; whereupon he became so subservient to her
+charms and virtues that he lost no opportunity of making himself utterly
+unendurable to any who might chance to speak to, or even gaze upon, this
+Heaven-sent creature.
+
+“So successful was this person in his endeavour to meet the sublime
+Tiao and to gain her conscientious esteem that all emotions of prudence
+forsook him, or it would soon have become apparent even to his enfeebled
+understanding that such consistent good fortune could only be the work
+of unforgiving and malignant spirits whose ill-will he had in some way
+earned, and who were luring him on in order that they might accomplish
+his destruction. That object was achieved on a certain evening when this
+person stood alone with Tiao upon an eminence overlooking the city and
+watched the great sky-lantern rise from behind the hills. Under these
+delicate and ennobling influences he gave speech to many very ornamental
+and refined thoughts which arose within his mind concerning the graceful
+brilliance of the light which was cast all around, yet notwithstanding
+which a still more exceptional and brilliant light was shining in his
+own internal organs by reason of the nearness of an even purer and more
+engaging orb. There was no need, this person felt, to hide even his most
+inside thoughts from the dignified and sympathetic being at his side, so
+without hesitation he spoke--in what he believes even now must have been
+a very decorative manner--of the many thousand persons who were then
+wrapped in sleep, of the constantly changing lights which appeared in
+the city beneath, and of the vastness which everywhere lay around.
+
+“‘O Kai Lung,’ exclaimed the lovely Tiao, when this person had made an
+end of speaking, ‘how expertly and in what a proficient manner do you
+express yourself, uttering even the sentiments which this person has
+felt inwardly, but for which she has no words. Why, indeed, do you not
+inscribe them in a book?’
+
+“Under her elevating influence it had already occurred to this
+illiterate individual that it would be a more dignified and, perhaps,
+even a more profitable course for him to write out and dispose of, to
+those who print such matters, the versatile and high-minded expressions
+which now continually formed his thoughts, rather than be dependent upon
+the concise sentence for which, indeed, he was indebted to the wisdom of
+a remote ancestor. Tiao’s spoken word fully settled his determination,
+so that without delay he set himself to the task of composing a story
+which should omit the usual sentence, but should contain instead a large
+number of his most graceful and diamond-like thoughts. So engrossed did
+this near-sighted and superficial person become in the task (which daily
+seemed to increase rather than lessen as new and still more sublime
+images arose within his mind) that many months passed before the
+matter was complete. In the end, instead of a story, it had assumed the
+proportions of an important and many-volumed book; while Tiao had in the
+meantime accepted the wedding gifts of an objectionable and excessively
+round-bodied individual, who had amassed an inconceivable number of
+taels by inducing persons to take part in what at first sight appeared
+to be an ingenious but very easy competition connected with the order in
+which certain horses should arrive at a given and clearly defined spot.
+By that time, however, this unduly sanguine story-teller had become
+completely entranced in his work, and merely regarded Tiao-Ts’un as a
+Heaven-sent but no longer necessary incentive to his success. With
+every hope, therefore, he went forth to dispose of his written leaves,
+confident of finding some very wealthy person who would be in a
+condition to pay him the correct value of the work.
+
+“At the end of two years this somewhat disillusionized but still
+undaunted person chanced to hear of a benevolent and unassuming body of
+men who made a habit of issuing works in which they discerned merit,
+but which, nevertheless, others were unanimous in describing as ‘of no
+good.’ Here this person was received with gracious effusion, and
+being in a position to impress those with whom he was dealing with his
+undoubted knowledge of the subject, he finally succeeded in making a
+very advantageous arrangement by which he was to pay one-half of the
+number of taels expended in producing the work, and to receive in return
+all the profits which should result from the undertaking. Those who
+were concerned in the matter were so engagingly impressed with the
+incomparable literary merit displayed in the production that they
+counselled a great number of copies being made ready in order, as they
+said, that this person should not lose by there being any delay
+when once the accomplishment became the one topic of conversation in
+tea-houses and yamens. From this cause it came about that the matter of
+taels to be expended was much greater than had been anticipated at the
+beginning, so that when the day arrived on which the volumes were to
+be sent forth this person found that almost his last piece of money had
+disappeared.
+
+“Alas! how small a share has a person in the work of controlling his own
+destiny. Had only the necessarily penurious and now almost degraded Kai
+Lung been born a brief span before the great writer Lo Kuan Chang, his
+name would have been received with every mark of esteem from one end of
+the Empire to the other, while taels and honourable decorations would
+have been showered upon him. For the truth, which could no longer be
+concealed, revealed the fact that this inopportune individual possessed
+a mind framed in such a manner that his thoughts had already been the
+thoughts of the inspired Lo Kuan, who, as this person would not be so
+presumptuous as to inform this ornamental and well-informed gathering,
+was the most ingenious and versatile-minded composer of written words
+that this Empire--and therefore the entire world--has seen, as, indeed,
+his honourable title of ‘The Many-hued Mandarin Duck of the Yang-tse’
+plainly indicates.
+
+“Although this self-opinionated person had frequently been greatly
+surprised himself during the writing of his long work by the brilliance
+and manysidedness of the thoughts and metaphors which arose in his mind
+without conscious effort, it was not until the appearance of the printed
+leaves which make a custom of warning persons against being persuaded
+into buying certain books that he definitely understood how all these
+things had been fully expressed many dynasties ago by the all-knowing
+Lo Kuan Chang, and formed, indeed, the great national standard of
+unapproachable excellence. Unfortunately, this person had been so deeply
+engrossed all his life in literary pursuits that he had never found an
+opportunity to glance at the works in question, or he would have escaped
+the embarrassing position in which he now found himself.
+
+“It was with a hopeless sense of illness of ease that this unhappy one
+reached the day on which the printed leaves already alluded to would
+make known their deliberate opinion of his writing, the extremity of his
+hope being that some would at least credit him with honourable motives,
+and perhaps a knowledge that if the inspired Lo Kuan Chan had never
+been born the entire matter might have been brought to a very different
+conclusion. Alas! only one among the many printed leaves which
+made reference to the venture contained any words of friendship or
+encouragement. This benevolent exception was sent forth from a city
+in the extreme Northern Province of the Empire, and contained many
+inspiring though delicately guarded messages of hope for the one to whom
+they gracefully alluded as ‘this undoubtedly youthful, but nevertheless,
+distinctly promising writer of books.’ While admitting that altogether
+they found the production undeniably tedious, they claimed to have
+discovered indications of an obvious talent, and therefore they
+unhesitatingly counselled the person in question to take courage at the
+prospect of a moderate competency which was certainly within his grasp
+if he restrained his somewhat over-ambitious impulses and closely
+observed the simple subjects and manner of expression of their own Chang
+Chow, whose ‘Lines to a Wayside Chrysanthemum,’ ‘Mongolians who Have,’
+and several other composed pieces, they then set forth. Although it
+became plain that the writer of this amiably devised notice was, like
+this incapable person, entirely unacquainted with the masterpieces of
+Lo Kuan Chang, yet the indisputable fact remained that, entirely on
+its merit, the work had been greeted with undoubted enthusiasm, so that
+after purchasing many examples of the refined printed leaf containing
+it, this person sat far into the night continually reading over the one
+unprejudiced and discriminating expression.
+
+“All the other printed leaves displayed a complete absence of good
+taste in dealing with the matter. One boldly asserted that the entire
+circumstance was the outcome of a foolish jest or wager on the part of
+a person who possessed a million taels; another predicted that it was a
+cunning and elaborately thought-out method of obtaining the attention of
+the people on the part of certain persons who claimed to vend a reliable
+and fragrantly-scented cleansing substance. The _Valley of Hoang Rose
+Leaves and Sweetness_ hoped, in a spirit of no sincerity, that the
+ingenious Kai Lung would not rest on his tea-leaves, but would soon
+send forth an equally entertaining amended example of the _Sayings of
+Confucious_ and other sacred works, while the _Pure Essence of the Seven
+Days’ Happenings_ merely printed side by side portions from the two
+books under the large inscription, ‘IS THERE REALLY ANY NEED FOR US TO
+EXPRESS OURSELVES MORE CLEARLY?’
+
+“The disappointment both as regards public esteem and taels--for, after
+the manner in which the work had been received by those who advise
+on such productions, not a single example was purchased--threw this
+ill-destined individual into a condition of most unendurable depression,
+from which he was only aroused by a remarkable example of the unfailing
+wisdom of the proverb which says ‘Before hastening to secure a possible
+reward of five taels by dragging an unobservant person away from a
+falling building, examine well his features lest you find, when too
+late, that it is one to whom you are indebted for double that amount.’
+Disappointed in the hope of securing large gains from the sale of his
+great work, this person now turned his attention again to his former
+means of living, only to find, however, that the discredit in which he
+had become involved even attached itself to his concise sentence; for in
+place of the remunerative and honourable manner in which it was formerly
+received, it was now regarded on all hands with open suspicion. Instead
+of meekly kow-towing to an evidently pre-arranged doom, the last
+misfortune aroused this usually resigned story-teller to an ungovernable
+frenzy. Regarding the accomplished but at the same time exceedingly
+over-productive Lo Kuan Chang as the beginning of all his evils, he took
+a solemn oath as a mark of disapproval that he had not been content to
+inscribe on paper only half of his brilliant thoughts, leaving the other
+half for the benefit of this hard-striving and equally well-endowed
+individual, in which case there would have been a sufficiency of taels
+and of fame for both.
+
+“For a very considerable space of time this person could conceive no
+method by which he might attain his object. At length, however, as
+a result of very keen and subtle intellectual searching, and many
+well-selected sacrifices, it was conveyed by means of a dream that
+one very ingenious yet simple way was possible. The renowned and
+universally-admired writings of the distinguished Lo Kuan for the most
+part take their action within a few dynasties of their creator’s
+own time: all that remained for this inventive person to accomplish,
+therefore, was to trace out the entire matter, making the words and
+speeches to proceed from the mouths of those who existed in still
+earlier periods. By this crafty method it would at once appear as though
+the not-too-original Lo Kuan had been indebted to one who came before
+him for all his most subtle thoughts, and, in consequence, his tomb
+would become dishonoured and his memory execrated. Without any delay
+this person cheerfully set himself to the somewhat laborious task
+before him. Lo Kuan’s well-known exclamation of the Emperor Tsing on the
+battlefield of Shih-ho, ‘A sedan-chair! a sedan-chair! This person will
+unhesitatingly exchange his entire and well-regulated Empire for such an
+article,’ was attributed to an Emperor who lived several thousand years
+before the treacherous and unpopular Tsing. The new matter of a no less
+frequently quoted portion ran: ‘O nobly intentioned but nevertheless
+exceedingly morose Tung-shin, the object before you is your
+distinguished and evilly-disposed-of father’s honourably-inspired
+demon,’ the change of a name effecting whatever alteration was
+necessary; while the delicately-imagined speech beginning ‘The person
+who becomes amused at matters resulting from double-edged knives has
+assuredly never felt the effect of a well-directed blow himself’ was
+taken from the mouth of one person and placed in that of one of his
+remote ancestors. In such a manner, without in any great degree altering
+the matter of Lo Kuan’s works, all the scenes and persons introduced
+were transferred to much earlier dynasties than those affected by the
+incomparable writer himself, the final effect being to give an air of
+extreme unoriginality to his really undoubtedly genuine conceptions.
+
+“Satisfied with his accomplishment, and followed by a hired person
+of low class bearing the writings, which, by nature of the research
+necessary in fixing the various dates and places so that even the wary
+should be deceived, had occupied the greater part of a year, this now
+fully confident story-teller--unmindful of the well-tried excellence of
+the inspired saying, ‘Money is hundred-footed; upon perceiving a
+tael lying apparently unobserved upon the floor, do not lose the time
+necessary in stooping, but quickly place your foot upon it, for one
+fails nothing in dignity thereby; but should it be a gold piece,
+distrust all things, and valuing dignity but as an empty name, cast your
+entire body upon it’--went forth to complete his great task of finally
+erasing from the mind and records of the Empire the hitherto venerated
+name of Lo Kuan Chang. Entering the place of commerce of the one who
+seemed the most favourable for the purpose, he placed the facts as they
+would in future be represented before him, explained the undoubtedly
+remunerative fame that would ensue to all concerned in the enterprise
+of sending forth the printed books in their new form, and, opening at a
+venture the written leaves which he had brought with him, read out the
+following words as an indication of the similarity of the entire work:
+
+  “‘_Whai-Keng_. Friends, Chinamen, labourers who are engaged in
+  agricultural pursuits, entrust to this person your acute and
+  well-educated ears;
+
+  “‘He has merely come to assist in depositing the body of Ko’ung in
+  the Family Temple, not for the purpose of making remarks about him
+  of a graceful and highly complimentary nature;
+
+  “‘The unremunerative actions of which persons may have been guilty
+  possess an exceedingly undesirable amount of endurance;
+
+  “‘The successful and well-considered almost invariably are
+  involved in a directly contrary course;
+
+  “‘This person desires nothing more than a like fate to await
+  Ko’ung.’
+
+“When this one had read so far, he paused in order to give the other
+an opportunity of breaking in and offering half his possessions to
+be allowed to share in the undertaking. As he remained unaccountably
+silent, however, an inelegant pause occurred which this person at length
+broke by desiring an expressed opinion on the matter.
+
+“‘O exceedingly painstaking, but nevertheless highly inopportune Kai
+Lung,’ he replied at length, while in his countenance this person
+read an expression of no-encouragement towards his venture, ‘all your
+entrancing efforts do undoubtedly appear to attract the undesirable
+attention of some spiteful and tyrannical demon. This closely-written
+and elaborately devised work is in reality not worth the labour of a
+single stroke, nor is there in all Peking a sender forth of printed
+leaves who would encourage any project connected with its issue.’
+
+“‘But the importance of such a fact as that which would clearly show the
+hitherto venerated Lo Kuan Chang to be a person who passed off as his
+own the work of an earlier one!’ cried this person in despair, well
+knowing that the deliberately expressed opinion of the one before him
+was a matter that would rule all others. ‘Consider the interest of the
+discovery.’
+
+“‘The interest would not demand more than a few lines in the ordinary
+printed leaves,’ replied the other calmly. ‘Indeed, in a manner of
+speaking, it is entirely a detail of no consequence whether or not the
+sublime Lo Kuan ever existed. In reality his very commonplace name may
+have been simply Lung; his inspired work may have been written a score
+of dynasties before him by some other person, or they may have been
+composed by the enlightened Emperor of the period, who desired to
+conceal the fact, yet these matters would not for a moment engage the
+interest of any ordinary passer-by. Lo Kuan Chang is not a person in the
+ordinary expression; he is an embodiment of a distinguished and utterly
+unassailable national institution. The Heaven-sent works with which
+he is, by general consent, connected form the necessary unchangeable
+standard of literary excellence, and remain for ever above rivalry and
+above mistrust. For this reason the matter is plainly one which does not
+interest this person.’
+
+“In the course of a not uneventful existence this self-deprecatory
+person has suffered many reverses and disappointments. During his youth
+the high-minded Empress on one occasion stopped and openly complimented
+him on the dignified outline presented by his body in profile, and when
+he was relying upon this incident to secure him a very remunerative
+public office, a jealous and powerful Mandarin substituted a somewhat
+similar, though really very much inferior, person for him at the
+interview which the Empress had commanded. Frequently in matters of
+commerce which have appeared to promise very satisfactorily at the
+beginning this person has been induced to entrust sums of money to
+others, when he had hoped from the indications and the manner of
+speaking that the exact contrary would be the case; and in one
+instance he was released at a vast price from the torture dungeon in
+Canton--where he had been thrown by the subtle and unconscientious
+plots of one who could not relate stories in so accurate and unvarying
+a manner as himself--on the day before that on which all persons were
+freely set at liberty on account of exceptional public rejoicing. Yet in
+spite of these and many other very unendurable incidents, this impetuous
+and ill-starred being never felt so great a desire to retire to a
+solitary place and there disfigure himself permanently as a mark of
+his unfeigned internal displeasure, as on the occasion when he endured
+extreme poverty and great personal inconvenience for an entire year in
+order that he might take away face from the memory of a person who was
+so placed that no one expressed any interest in the matter.
+
+“Since then this very ill-clad and really necessitous person has
+devoted himself to the honourable but exceedingly arduous and in general
+unremunerative occupation of story-telling. To this he would add nothing
+save that not infrequently a nobly-born and highly-cultured audience
+is so entranced with his commonplace efforts to hold the attention,
+especially when a story not hitherto known has been related, that in
+order to afford it an opportunity of expressing its gratification, he
+has been requested to allow another offering to be made by all persons
+present at the conclusion of the entertainment.”
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+THE VENGEANCE OF TUNG FEL
+
+
+For a period not to be measured by days or weeks the air of Ching-fow
+had been as unrestful as that of the locust plains beyond the Great
+Wall, for every speech which passed bore two faces, one fair to hear,
+as a greeting, but the other insidiously speaking behind a screen, of
+rebellion, violence, and the hope of overturning the fixed order of
+events. With those whom they did not mistrust of treachery persons spoke
+in low voices of definite plans, while at all times there might appear
+in prominent places of the city skilfully composed notices setting
+forth great wrongs and injustices towards which resignation and a lowly
+bearing were outwardly counselled, yet with the same words cunningly
+inflaming the minds, even of the patient, as no pouring out of
+passionate thoughts and undignified threatenings could have done. Among
+the people, unknown, unseen, and unsuspected, except to the proved ones
+to whom they desired to reveal themselves, moved the agents of the Three
+Societies. While to the many of Ching-fow nothing was desired or even
+thought of behind the downfall of their own officials, and, chief of
+all, the execution of the evil-minded and depraved Mandarin Ping Siang,
+whose cruelties and extortions had made his name an object of wide and
+deserved loathing, the agents only regarded the city as a bright spot in
+the line of blood and fire which they were fanning into life from Peking
+to Canton, and which would presumably burst forth and involve the entire
+Empire.
+
+Although it had of late become a plain fact, by reason of the manner
+of behaving of the people, that events of a sudden and turbulent nature
+could not long be restrained, yet outwardly there was no exhibition of
+violence, not even to the length of resisting those whom Ping Siang sent
+to enforce his unjust demands, chiefly because a well-founded whisper
+had been sent round that nothing was to be done until Tung Fel should
+arrive, which would not be until the seventh day in the month of Winged
+Dragons. To this all persons agreed, for the more aged among them,
+who, by virtue of their years, were also the formers of opinion in all
+matters, called up within their memories certain events connected with
+the two persons in question which appeared to give to Tung Fel the
+privilege of expressing himself clearly when the matter of finally
+dealing with the malicious and self-willed Mandarin should be engaged
+upon.
+
+Among the mountains which enclose Ching-fow on the southern side dwelt
+a jade-seeker, who also kept goats. Although a young man and entirely
+without relations, he had, by patient industry, contrived to collect
+together a large flock of the best-formed and most prolific goats to be
+found in the neighbourhood, all the money which he received in exchange
+for jade being quickly bartered again for the finest animals which he
+could obtain. He was dauntless in penetrating to the most inaccessible
+parts of the mountains in search of the stone, unfailing in his skilful
+care of the flock, in which he took much honourable pride, and on all
+occasions discreet and unassumingly restrained in his discourse and
+manner of life. Knowing this to be his invariable practice, it was with
+emotions of an agreeable curiosity that on the seventh day of the month
+of Winged Dragons those persons who were passing from place to place in
+the city beheld this young man, Yang Hu, descending the mountain path
+with unmistakable signs of profound agitation, and an entire absence of
+prudent care. Following him closely to the inner square of the city, on
+the continually expressed plea that they themselves had business in
+that quarter, these persons observed Yang Hu take up a position of
+unendurable dejection as he gazed reproachfully at the figure of the
+all-knowing Buddha which surmounted the Temple where it was his custom
+to sacrifice.
+
+“Alas!” he exclaimed, lifting up his voice, when it became plain that
+a large number of people was assembled awaiting his words, “to what end
+does a person strive in this excessively evilly-regulated district? Or
+is it that this obscure and ill-destined one alone is marked out as with
+a deep white cross for humiliation and ruin? Father, and Sacred Temple
+of Ancestral Virtues, wherein the meanest can repose their trust, he has
+none; while now, being more destitute than the beggar at the gate, the
+hope of honourable marriage and a robust family of sons is more remote
+than the chance of finding the miracle-working Crystal Image which marks
+the last footstep of the Pure One. Yesterday this person possessed no
+secret store of silver or gold, nor had he knowledge of any special
+amount of jade hidden among the mountains, but to his call there
+responded four score goats, the most select and majestic to be found in
+all the Province, of which, nevertheless, it was his yearly custom to
+sacrifice one, as those here can testify, and to offer another as a duty
+to the Yamen of Ping Siang, in neither case opening his eyes widely when
+the hour for selecting arrived. Yet in what an unseemly manner is his
+respectful piety and courteous loyalty rewarded! To-day, before this
+person went forth on his usual quest, there came those bearing written
+papers by which they claimed, on the authority of Ping Siang, the
+whole of this person’s flock, as a punishment and fine for his not
+contributing without warning to the Celebration of Kissing the Emperor’s
+Face--the very obligation of such a matter being entirely unknown to
+him. Nevertheless, those who came drove off this person’s entire
+wealth, the desperately won increase of a life full of great toil and
+uncomplainingly endured hardship, leaving him only his cave in the
+rocks, which even the most grasping of many-handed Mandarins cannot
+remove, his cloak of skins, which no beggar would gratefully receive,
+and a bright and increasing light of deep hate scorching within his mind
+which nothing but the blood of the obdurate extortioner can efficiently
+quench. No protection of charms or heavily-mailed bowmen shall
+avail him, for in his craving for just revenge this person will meet
+witchcraft with a Heaven-sent cause and oppose an unsleeping subtlety
+against strength. Therefore let not the innocent suffer through an
+insufficient understanding, O Divine One, but direct the hand of your
+faithful worshipper towards the heart that is proud in tyranny, and
+holds as empty words the clearly defined promise of an all-seeing
+justice.”
+
+Scarcely had Yang Hu made an end of speaking before there happened an
+event which could be regarded in no other light than as a direct answer
+to his plainly expressed request for a definite sign. Upon the clear
+air, which had become unnaturally still at Yang Hu’s words, as though
+to remove any chance of doubt that this indeed was the requested answer,
+came the loud beating of many very powerful brass gongs, indicating the
+approach of some person of undoubted importance. In a very brief period
+the procession reached the square, the gong-beaters being followed
+by persons carrying banners, bowmen in armour, others bearing various
+weapons and instruments of torture, slaves displaying innumerable
+changes of raiment to prove the rank and consequence of their master,
+umbrella carriers and fan wavers, and finally, preceded by incense
+burners and surrounded by servants who cleared away all obstructions by
+means of their formidable and heavily knotted lashes, the unworthy and
+deceitful Mandarin Ping Siang, who sat in a silk-hung and elaborately
+wrought chair, looking from side to side with gestures and expressions
+of contempt and ill-restrained cupidity.
+
+At the sign of this powerful but unscrupulous person all those who were
+present fell upon their faces, leaving a broad space in their midst,
+except Yang Hu, who stepped back into the shadow of a doorway, being
+resolved that he would not prostrate himself before one whom Heaven had
+pointed out as the proper object of his just vengeance.
+
+When the chair of Ping Siang could no longer be observed in the
+distance, and the sound of his many gongs had died away, all the persons
+who had knelt at his approach rose to their feet, meeting each other’s
+eyes with glances of assured and profound significance. At length there
+stepped forth an exceedingly aged man, who was generally believed to
+have the power of reading omens and forecasting futures, so that at his
+upraised hand all persons became silent.
+
+“Behold!” he exclaimed, “none can turn aside in doubt from the
+deliberately pointed finger of Buddha. Henceforth, in spite of the
+well-intentioned suggestions of those who would shield him under the
+plea of exacting orders from high ones at Peking or extortions practised
+by slaves under him of which he is ignorant, there can no longer be any
+two voices concerning the guilty one. Yet what does the knowledge of
+the cormorant’s cry avail the golden carp in the shallow waters of the
+Yuen-Kiang? A prickly mormosa is an adequate protection against a naked
+man armed only with a just cause, and a company of bowmen has been known
+to quench an entire city’s Heaven-felt desire for retribution. This
+person, and doubtless others also, would have experienced a more
+heartfelt enthusiasm in the matter if the sublime and omnipotent
+Buddha had gone a step further, and pointed out not only the one to
+be punished, but also the instrument by which the destiny could be
+prudently and effectively accomplished.”
+
+From the mountain path which led to Yang Hu’s cave came a voice, like
+an expressly devised reply to this speech. It was that of some person
+uttering the “Chant of Rewards and Penalties”:
+
+  “How strong is the mountain sycamore!
+  “Its branches reach the Middle Air, and the eye of none can pierce
+      its foliage;
+  “It draws power and nourishment from all around, so that weeds
+      alone may flourish under its shadow.
+  “Robbers find safety within the hollow of its trunk; its branches
+      hide vampires and all manner of evil things which prey upon
+      the innocent;
+  “The wild boar of the forest sharpen their tusks against the bark,
+      for it is harder than flint, and the axe of the woodsman turns
+      back upon the striker.
+  “Then cries the sycamore, ‘Hail and rain have no power against me,
+      nor can the fiercest sun penetrate beyond my outside fringe;
+  “‘The man who impiously raises his hand against me falls by his
+      own stroke and weapon.
+  “‘Can there be a greater or a more powerful than this one?
+      Assuredly, _I_ am Buddha; let all things obey me.’
+  “Whereupon the weeds bow their heads, whispering among themselves,
+      ‘The voice of the Tall One we hear, but not that of Buddha.
+      Indeed, it is doubtless as he says.’
+  “In his musk-scented Heaven Buddha laughs, and not deigning to
+      raise his head from the lap of the Phœnix Goddess, he thrusts
+      forth a stone which lies by his foot.
+  “Saying, ‘A god’s present for a god. Take it carefully, O
+      presumptuous Little One, for it is hot to the touch.’
+  “The thunderbolt falls and the mighty tree is rent in twain. ‘They
+      asked for my messenger,’ said the Pure One, turning again to
+      repose.
+  “_Lo, he comes_!”
+
+With the last spoken word there came into the sight of those who were
+collected together a person of stern yet engaging appearance. His hands
+and face were the colour of mulberry stain by long exposure to the sun,
+while his eyes looked forth like two watch-fires outside a wolf-haunted
+camp. His long pigtail was tangled with the binding tendrils of the
+forest, and damp with the dew of an open couch. His apparel was in no
+way striking or brilliant, yet he strode with the dignity and air of a
+high official, pushing before him a covered box upon wheels.
+
+“It is Tung Fel!” cried many who stood there watching his approach,
+in tones which showed those who spoke to be inspired by a variety of
+impressive emotions. “Undoubtedly this is the seventh day of the month
+of Winged Dragons, and, as he specifically stated would be the case, lo!
+he has come.”
+
+Few were the words of greeting which Tung Fel accorded even to the most
+venerable of those who awaited him.
+
+“This person has slept, partaken of fruit and herbs, and devoted an
+allotted time to inward contemplation,” he said briefly. “Other and
+more weighty matters than the exchange of dignified compliments and the
+admiration of each other’s profiles remain to be accomplished. What, for
+example, is the significance of the written parchment which is displayed
+in so obtrusive a manner before our eyes? Bring it to this person
+without delay.”
+
+At these words all those present followed Tung Fel’s gaze with
+astonishment, for conspicuously displayed upon the wall of the Temple
+was a written notice which all joined in asserting had not been there
+the moment before, though no man had approached the spot. Nevertheless
+it was quickly brought to Tung Fel, who took it without any fear or
+hesitation and read aloud the words which it contained.
+
+           “TO THE CUSTOM-RESPECTING PERSONS OF CHING-FOW.
+
+  “Truly the span of existence of any upon this earth is brief and
+  not to be considered; therefore, O unfortunate dwellers of
+  Ching-fow, let it not affect your digestion that your bodies are
+  in peril of sudden and most excruciating tortures and your Family
+  Temples in danger of humiliating disregard.
+
+  “Why do your thoughts follow the actions of the noble Mandarin
+  Ping Siang so insidiously, and why after each unjust exaction do
+  your eyes look redly towards the Yamen?
+
+  “Is he not the little finger of those at Peking, obeying their
+  commands and only carrying out the taxation which others have
+  devised? Indeed, he himself has stated such to be the fact. If,
+  therefore, a terrible and unforeseen fate overtook the usually
+  cautious and well-armed Ping Siang, doubtless--perhaps after the
+  lapse of some considerable time--another would be sent from Peking
+  for a like purpose, and in this way, after a too-brief period of
+  heaven-sent rest and prosperity, affairs would regulate themselves
+  into almost as unendurable a condition as before.
+
+  “Therefore ponder these things well, O passer-by. Yesterday the
+  only man-child of Huang the wood-carver was taken away to be sold
+  into slavery by the emissaries of the most just Ping Siang (who
+  would not have acted thus, we are assured, were it not for the
+  insatiable ones at Peking), as it had become plain that the very
+  necessitous Huang had no other possession to contribute to the
+  amount to be expended in coloured lights as a mark of public
+  rejoicing on the occasion of the moonday of the sublime Emperor.
+  The illiterate and prosaic-minded Huang, having in a most unseemly
+  manner reviled and even assailed those who acted in the matter,
+  has been effectively disposed of, and his wife now alternately
+  laughs and shrieks in the Establishment of Irregular Intellects.
+
+  “For this reason, gazer, and because the matter touches you more
+  closely than, in your self-imagined security, you are prone to
+  think, deal expediently with the time at your disposal. Look twice
+  and lingeringly to-night upon the face of your first-born, and
+  clasp the form of your favourite one in a closer embrace, for he
+  by whose hand the blow is directed may already have cast devouring
+  eyes upon their fairness, and to-morrow he may say to his armed
+  men: ‘The time is come; bring her to me.’”
+
+“From the last sentence of the well-intentioned and undoubtedly
+moderately-framed notice this person will take two phrases,” remarked
+Tung Fel, folding the written paper and placing it among his
+garments, “which shall serve him as the title of the lifelike and
+accurately-represented play which it is his self-conceited intention
+now to disclose to this select and unprejudiced gathering. The scene
+represents an enlightened and well-merited justice overtaking an
+arrogant and intolerable being who--need this person add?--existed many
+dynasties ago, and the title is:
+
+                         “THE TIME IS COME!
+                           BY WHOSE HAND?”
+
+Delivering himself in this manner, Tung Fel drew back the hanging
+drapery which concealed the front of his large box, and disclosed to
+those who were gathered round, not, as they had expected, a passage
+from the Record of the Three Kingdoms, or some other dramatic work of
+undoubted merit, but an ingeniously constructed representation of a
+scene outside the walls of their own Ching-fow. On one side was a small
+but minutely accurate copy of a wood-burner’s hut, which was known to
+all present, while behind stood out the distant but nevertheless
+unmistakable walls of the city. But it was the nearest part of the
+spectacle that first held the attention of the entranced beholders, for
+there disported themselves, in every variety of guileless and
+attractive attitude, a number of young and entirely unconcerned doves.
+Scarcely had the delighted onlookers fully observed the pleasing and
+effective scene, or uttered their expressions of polished satisfaction
+at the graceful and unassuming behaviour of the pretty creatures before
+them, than the view entirely changed, and, as if by magic, the massive
+and inelegant building of Ping Siang’s Yamen was presented before them.
+As all gazed, astonished, the great door of the Yamen opened
+stealthily, and without a moment’s pause a lean and ill-conditioned
+rat, of unnatural size and rapacity, dashed out and seized the most
+select and engaging of the unsuspecting prey in its hungry jaws. With
+the expiring cry of the innocent victim the entire box was immediately,
+and in the most unexpected manner, involved in a profound darkness,
+which cleared away as suddenly and revealed the forms of the despoiler
+and the victim lying dead by each other’s side.
+
+Tung Fel came forward to receive the well-selected compliments of all
+who had witnessed the entertainment.
+
+“It may be objected,” he remarked, “that the play is, in a manner of
+expressing one’s self, incomplete; for it is unrevealed by whose hand
+the act of justice was accomplished. Yet in this detail is the accuracy
+of the representation justified, for though the time has come, the hand
+by which retribution is accorded shall never be observed.”
+
+In such a manner did Tung Fel come to Ching-fow on the seventh day of
+the month of Winged Dragons, throwing aside all restraint, and no longer
+urging prudence or delay. Of all the throng which stood before him
+scarcely one was without a deep offence against Ping Siang, while those
+who had not as yet suffered feared what the morrow might display.
+
+A wandering monk from the Island of Irredeemable Plagues was the first
+to step forth in response to Tung Fel’s plainly understood suggestion.
+
+“There is no necessity for this person to undertake further acts of
+benevolence,” he remarked, dropping the cloak from his shoulder and
+displaying the hundred and eight scars of extreme virtue; “nor,” he
+continued, holding up his left hand, from which three fingers were burnt
+away, “have greater endurances been neglected. Yet the matter before
+this distinguished gathering is one which merits the favourable
+consideration of all persons, and this one will in no manner turn away,
+recounting former actions, while he allows others to press forward
+towards the accomplishment of the just and divinely-inspired act.”
+
+With these words the devout and unassuming person in question inscribed
+his name upon a square piece of rice-paper, attesting his sincerity to
+the fixed purpose for which it was designed by dipping his thumb into
+the mixed blood of the slain animals and impressing this unalterable
+seal upon the paper also. He was followed by a seller of drugs and
+subtle medicines, whose entire stock had been seized and destroyed by
+order of Ping Siang, so that no one in Ching-fow might obtain poison
+for his destruction. Then came an overwhelming stream of persons, all of
+whom had received some severe and well-remembered injury at the hands
+of the malicious and vindictive Mandarin. All these followed a similar
+observance, inscribing their names and binding themselves by the Blood
+Oath. Last of all Yang Hu stepped up, partly from a natural modesty
+which restrained him from offering himself when so many more versatile
+persons of proved excellence were willing to engage in the matter, and
+partly because an ill-advised conflict was taking place within his mind
+as to whether the extreme course which was contemplated was the most
+expedient to pursue. At last, however, he plainly perceived that he
+could not honourably withhold himself from an affair that was in a
+measure the direct outcome of his own unendurable loss, so that without
+further hesitation he added his obscure name to the many illustrious
+ones already in Tung Fel’s keeping.
+
+When at length dark fell upon the city and the cries of the watchmen,
+warning all prudent ones to bar well their doors against robbers,
+as they themselves were withdrawing until the morrow, no longer rang
+through the narrow ways of Ching-fow, all those persons who had pledged
+themselves by name and seal went forth silently, and came together at
+the place whereof Tung Fel had secretly conveyed them knowledge. There
+Tung Fel, standing somewhat apart, placed all the folded papers in the
+form of a circle, and having performed over them certain observances
+designed to insure a just decision and to keep away evil influences,
+submitted the selection to the discriminating choice of the Sacred
+Flat and Round Sticks. Having in this manner secured the name of
+the appointed person who should carry out the act of justice and
+retribution, Tung Fel unfolded the paper, inscribed certain words upon
+it, and replaced it among the others.
+
+“The moment before great deeds,” began Tung Fel, stepping forward and
+addressing himself to the expectant ones who were gathered round, “is
+not the time for light speech, nor, indeed, for sentences of dignified
+length, no matter how pleasantly turned to the ear they may be. Before
+this person stand many who are undoubtedly illustrious in various
+arts and virtues, yet one among them is pre-eminently marked out for
+distinction in that his name shall be handed down in imperishable
+history as that of a patriot of a pure-minded and uncompromising degree.
+With him there is no need of further speech, and to this end I have
+inscribed certain words upon his namepaper. To everyone this person will
+now return the paper which has been entrusted to him, folded so that
+the nature of its contents shall be an unwritten leaf to all others. Nor
+shall the papers be unfolded by any until he is within his own chamber,
+with barred doors, where all, save the one who shall find the message,
+shall remain, not venturing forth until daybreak. I, Tung Fel, have
+spoken, and assuredly I shall not eat my word, which is that a certain
+and most degrading death awaits any who transgress these commands.”
+
+It was with the short and sudden breath of the cowering antelope when
+the stealthy tread of the pitiless tiger approaches its lair, that Yang
+Hu opened his paper in the seclusion of his own cave; for his mind was
+darkened with an inspired inside emotion that he, the one doubting among
+the eagerly proffering and destructively inclined multitude, would
+be chosen to accomplish the high aim for which, indeed, he felt
+exceptionally unworthy. The written sentence which he perceived
+immediately upon unfolding the paper, instructing him to appear again
+before Tung Fel at the hour of midnight, was, therefore, nothing but
+the echo and fulfilment of his own thoughts, and served in reality to
+impress his mind with calmer feelings of dignified unconcern than would
+have been the case had he not been chosen. Having neither possessions
+nor relations, the occupation of disposing of his goods and making
+ceremonious and affectionate leavetakings of his family, against the
+occurrence of any unforeseen disaster, engrossed no portion of Yang Hu’s
+time. Yet there was one matter to which no reference has yet been made,
+but which now forces itself obtrusively upon the attention, which was
+in a large measure responsible for many of the most prominent actions
+of Yang Hu’s life, and, indeed, in no small degree influenced his
+hesitation in offering himself before Tung Fel.
+
+Not a bowshot distance from the place where the mountain path entered
+the outskirts of the city lived Hiya-ai-Shao with her parents, who
+were persons of assured position, though of no particular wealth. For a
+period not confined to a single year it had been the custom of Yang Hu
+to offer to this elegant and refined maiden all the rarest pieces
+of jade which he could discover, while the most symmetrical and
+remunerative she-goat in his flock enjoyed the honourable distinction of
+bearing her incomparable name. Towards the almond garden of Hiya’s abode
+Yang Hu turned his footsteps upon leaving his cave, and standing there,
+concealed from all sides by the white and abundant flower-laden foliage,
+he uttered a sound which had long been an agreed signal between them.
+Presently a faint perfume of choo-lan spoke of her near approach, and
+without delay Hiya herself stood by his side.
+
+“Well-endowed one,” said Yang Hu, when at length they had gazed upon
+each other’s features and made renewals of their protestations of mutual
+regard, “the fixed intentions of a person have often been fitly likened
+to the seed of the tree-peony, so ineffectual are their efforts among
+the winds of constantly changing circumstance. The definite hope of
+this person had long pointed towards a small but adequate habitation,
+surrounded by sweet-smelling olive-trees and not far distant from the
+jade cliffs and pastures which would afford a sufficient remuneration
+and a means of living. This entrancing picture has been blotted out for
+the time, and in its place this person finds himself face to face with
+an arduous and dangerous undertaking, followed, perhaps, by hasty and
+immediate flight. Yet if the adorable Hiya will prove the unchanging
+depths of her constantly expressed intention by accompanying him as
+far as the village of Hing where suitable marriage ceremonies can be
+observed without delay, the exile will in reality be in the nature of
+a triumphal procession, and the emotions with which this person has
+hitherto regarded the entire circumstance will undergo a complete and
+highly accomplished change.”
+
+“Oh, Yang!” exclaimed the maiden, whose feelings at hearing these words
+were in no way different from those of her lover when he was on the
+point of opening the folded paper upon which Tung Fel had written; “what
+is the nature of the mission upon which you are so impetuously resolved?
+and why will it be followed by flight?”
+
+“The nature of the undertaking cannot be revealed by reason of a
+deliberately taken oath,” replied Yang Hu; “and the reason of its
+possible consequence is a less important question to the two persons who
+are here conversing together than of whether the amiable and graceful
+Hiya is willing to carry out her often-expressed desire for an
+opportunity of displaying the true depths of her emotions towards this
+one.”
+
+“Alas!” said Hiya, “the sentiments which this person expressed with
+irreproachable honourableness when the sun was high in the heavens and
+the probability of secretly leaving an undoubtedly well-appointed home
+was engagingly remote, seem to have an entirely different significance
+when recalled by night in a damp orchard, and on the eve of their
+fulfilment. To deceive one’s parents is an ignoble prospect;
+furthermore, it is often an exceedingly difficult undertaking. Let the
+matter be arranged in this way: that Yang leaves the ultimate details
+of the scheme to Hiya’s expedient care, he proceeding without delay
+to Hing, or, even more desirable, to the further town of Liyunnan,
+and there awaiting her coming. By such means the risk of discovery and
+pursuit will be lessened, Yang will be able to set forth on his journey
+with greater speed, and this one will have an opportunity of getting
+together certain articles without which, indeed, she would be very
+inadequately equipped.”
+
+In spite of his conscientious desire that Hiya should be by his side
+on the journey, together with an unendurable certainty that evil would
+arise from the course she proposed, Yang was compelled by an innate
+feeling of respect to agree to her wishes, and in this manner the
+arrangement was definitely concluded. Thereupon Hiya, without delay,
+returned to the dwelling, remarking that otherwise her absence might be
+detected and the entire circumstance thereby discovered, leaving Yang Hu
+to continue his journey and again present himself before Tung Fel, as he
+had been instructed.
+
+Tung Fel was engaged with brush and ink when Yang Hu entered. Round him
+were many written parchments, some venerable with age, and a variety
+of other matters, among which might be clearly perceived weapons, and
+devices for reading the future. He greeted Yang with many tokens of
+dignified respect, and with an evidently restrained emotion led him
+towards the light of a hanging lantern, where he gazed into his face for
+a considerable period with every indication of exceptional concern.
+
+“Yang Hu,” he said at length, “at such a moment many dark and searching
+thoughts may naturally arise in the mind concerning objects and reasons,
+omens, and the moving cycle of events. Yet in all these, out of a wisdom
+gained by deep endurance and a hardly-won experience beyond the common
+lot, this person would say, Be content. The hand of destiny, though it
+may at times appear to move in a devious manner, is ever approaching its
+appointed aim. To this end were you chosen.”
+
+“The choice was openly made by wise and proficient omens,” replied Yang
+Hu, without any display of uncertainty of purpose, “and this person is
+content.”
+
+Tung Fel then administered to Yang the Oath of Buddha’s Face and the One
+called the Unutterable (which may not be further described in written
+words) thereby binding his body and soul, and the souls and repose of
+all who had gone before him in direct line and all who should in a like
+manner follow after, to the accomplishment of the design. All spoken
+matter being thus complete between them, he gave him a mask with which
+he should pass unknown through the streets and into the presence of Ping
+Siang, a variety of weapons to use as the occasion arose, and a sign
+by which the attendants at the Yamen would admit him without further
+questioning.
+
+As Yang Hu passed through the streets of Ching-fow, which were in a
+great measure deserted owing to the command of Tung Fel, he was aware of
+many mournful and foreboding sounds which accompanied him on all sides,
+while shadowy faces, bearing signs of intolerable anguish and despair,
+continually formed themselves out of the wind. By the time he reached
+the Yamen a tempest of exceptional violence was in progress, nor were
+other omens absent which tended to indicate that matters of a very
+unpropitious nature were about to take place.
+
+At each successive door of the Yamen the attendant stepped back and
+covered his face, so that he should by no chance perceive who had come
+upon so destructive a mission, the instant Yang Hu uttered the sign with
+which Tung Fel had provided him. In this manner Yang quickly reached the
+door of the inner chamber upon which was inscribed: “Let the person who
+comes with a doubtful countenance, unbidden, or meditating treachery,
+remember the curse and manner of death which attended Lai Kuen, who
+slew the one over him; so shall he turn and go forth in safety.” This
+unworthy safeguard at the hands of a person who passed his entire life
+in altering the fixed nature of justice, and who never went beyond his
+outer gate without an armed company of bowmen, inspired Yang Hu with
+so incautious a contempt, that without any hesitation he drew forth his
+brush and ink, and in a spirit of bitter signification added the words,
+“‘Come, let us eat together,’ said the wolf to the she-goat.”
+
+Being now within a step of Ping Siang and the completion of his
+undertaking, Yang Hu drew tighter the cords of his mask, tested and
+proved his weapons, and then, without further delay, threw open the door
+before him and stepped into the chamber, barring the door quickly so
+that no person might leave or enter without his consent.
+
+At this interruption and manner of behaving, which clearly indicated
+the nature of the errand upon which the person before him had come,
+Ping Siang rose from his couch and stretched out his hand towards a gong
+which lay beside him.
+
+“All summonses for aid are now unavailing, Ping Siang,” exclaimed Yang,
+without in any measure using delicate or set phrases of speech; “for,
+as you have doubtless informed yourself, the slaves of tyrants are the
+first to welcome the downfall of their lord.”
+
+“The matter of your speech is as emptiness to this person,” replied the
+Mandarin, affecting with extreme difficulty an appearance of no-concern.
+“In what manner has he fallen? And how will the depraved and self-willed
+person before him avoid the well-deserved tortures which certainly await
+him in the public square on the morrow, as the reward of his intolerable
+presumptions?”
+
+“O Mandarin,” cried Yang Hu, “the fitness and occasion for such speeches
+as the one to which you have just given utterance lie as far behind you
+as the smoke of yesterday’s sacrifice. With what manner of eyes have you
+frequently journeyed through Ching-fow of late, if the signs and
+omens there have not already warned you to prepare a coffin adequately
+designed to receive your well-proportioned body? Has not the pungent
+vapour of burning houses assailed your senses at every turn, or the salt
+tears from the eyes of forlorn ones dashed your peach-tea and spiced
+foods with bitterness?”
+
+“Alas!” exclaimed Ping Siang, “this person now certainly begins to
+perceive that many things which he has unthinkingly allowed would
+present a very unendurable face to others.”
+
+“In such a manner has it appeared to all Ching-fow,” said Yang Hu; “and
+the justice of your death has been universally admitted. Even should
+this one fail there would be an innumerable company eager to take his
+place. Therefore, O Ping Siang, as the only favour which it is within
+this person’s power to accord, select that which in your opinion is the
+most agreeable manner and weapon for your end.”
+
+“It is truly said that at the Final Gate of the Two Ways the necessity
+for elegant and well-chosen sentences ends,” remarked Ping Siang with a
+sigh, “otherwise the manner of your address would be open to reproach.
+By your side this person perceives a long and apparently highly-tempered
+sword, which, in his opinion, will serve the purpose efficiently. Having
+no remarks of an improving but nevertheless exceedingly tedious nature
+with which to imprint the occasion for the benefit of those who come
+after, his only request is that the blow shall be an unhesitating and
+sufficiently well-directed one.”
+
+At these words Yang Hu threw back his cloak to grasp the sword-handle,
+when the Mandarin, with his eyes fixed on the naked arm, and evidently
+inspired by every manner of conflicting emotions, uttered a cry of
+unspeakable wonder and incomparable surprise.
+
+“The Serpent!” he cried, in a voice from which all evenness and control
+were absent. “The Sacred Serpent of our Race! O mysterious one, who and
+whence are you?”
+
+Engulfed in an all-absorbing doubt at the nature of events, Yang could
+only gaze at the form of the serpent which had been clearly impressed
+upon his arm from the earliest time of his remembrance, while Ping
+Siang, tearing the silk garment from his own arm and displaying thereon
+a similar form, continued:
+
+“Behold the inevitable and unvarying birthmark of our race! So it was
+with this person’s father and the ones before him; so it was with his
+treacherously-stolen son; so it will be to the end of all time.”
+
+Trembling beyond all power of restraint, Yang removed the mask which had
+hitherto concealed his face.
+
+“Father or race has this person none,” he said, looking into Ping
+Siang’s features with an all-engaging hope, tempered in a measure by a
+soul-benumbing dread; “nor memory or tradition of an earlier state than
+when he herded goats and sought for jade in the southern mountains.”
+
+“Nevertheless,” exclaimed the Mandarin, whose countenance was lightened
+with an interest and a benevolent emotion which had never been seen
+there before, “beyond all possibility of doubting, you are this
+person’s lost and greatly-desired son, stolen away many years ago by
+the treacherous conduct of an unworthy woman, yet now happily and
+miraculously restored to cherish his declining years and perpetuate an
+honourable name and race.”
+
+“Happily!” exclaimed Yang, with fervent indications of uncontrollable
+bitterness. “Oh, my illustrious sire, at whose venerated feet this
+unworthy person now prostrates himself with well-merited marks of
+reverence and self-abasement, has the errand upon which an ignoble son
+entered--the every memory of which now causes him the acutest agony
+of the lost, but which nevertheless he is pledged to Tung Fel by the
+Unutterable Oath to perform--has this unnatural and eternally cursed
+thing escaped your versatile mind?”
+
+“Tung Fel!” cried Ping Siang. “Is, then, this blow also by the hand of
+that malicious and vindictive person? Oh, what a cycle of events and
+interchanging lines of destiny do your words disclose!”
+
+“Who, then, is Tung Fel, my revered Father?” demanded Yang.
+
+“It is a matter which must be made clear from the beginning,” replied
+Ping Siang. “At one time this person and Tung Fel were, by nature
+and endowments, united in the most amiable bonds of an inseparable
+friendship. Presently Tung Fel signed the preliminary contract of
+a marriage with one who seemed to be endowed with every variety of
+enchanting and virtuous grace, but who was, nevertheless, as the
+unrolling of future events irresistibly discovered, a person of
+irregular character and undignified habits. On the eve of the marriage
+ceremony this person was made known to her by the undoubtedly enraptured
+Tung Fel, whereupon he too fell into the snare of her engaging
+personality, and putting aside all thoughts of prudent restraint, made
+her more remunerative offers of marriage than Tung Fel could by any
+possible chance overbid. In such a manner--for after the nature of
+her kind riches were exceptionally attractive to her degraded
+imagination--she became this person’s wife, and the mother of his only
+son. In spite of these great honours, however, the undoubted perversity
+of her nature made her an easy accomplice to the duplicity of Tung
+Fel, who, by means of various disguises, found frequent opportunity of
+uttering in her presence numerous well-thought-out suggestions specially
+designed to lead her imagination towards an existence in which this
+person had no adequate representation. Becoming at length terrified at
+the possibility of these unworthy emotions, obtruding themselves upon
+this person’s notice, the two in question fled together, taking with
+them the one who without any doubt is now before me. Despite the most
+assiduous search and very tempting and profitable offers of reward, no
+information of a reliable nature could be obtained, and at length
+this dispirited and completely changed person gave up the pursuit as
+unavailing. With his son and heir, upon whose future he had greatly
+hoped, all emotions of a generous and high-minded nature left him, and
+in a very short space of time he became the avaricious and deservedly
+unpopular individual against whose extortions the amiable and
+long-suffering ones of Ching-fow have for so many years protested
+mildly. The sudden and not altogether unexpected fate which is now
+on the point of reaching him is altogether too lenient to be entirely
+adequate.”
+
+“Oh, my distinguished and really immaculate sire!” cried Yang Hu, in a
+voice which expressed the deepest feelings of contrition. “No oaths or
+vows, however sacred, can induce this person to stretch forth his hand
+against the one who stands before him.”
+
+“Nevertheless,” replied Ping Siang, speaking of the matter as though it
+were one which did not closely concern his own existence, “to neglect
+the Unutterable Oath would inevitably involve not only the two persons
+who are now conversing together, but also those before and those who are
+to come after in direct line, in a much worse condition of affairs. That
+is a fate which this person would by no means permit to exist, for one
+of his chief desires has ever been to establish a strong and vigorous
+line, to which end, indeed, he was even now concluding a marriage
+arrangement with the beautiful and refined Hiya-ai-Shao, whom he had
+at length persuaded into accepting his betrothal tokens without
+reluctance.”
+
+“Hiya-ai-Shao!” exclaimed Yang; “she has accepted your silk-bound
+gifts?”
+
+“The matter need not concern us now,” replied the Mandarin, not
+observing in his complicated emotions the manner in which the name of
+Hiya had affected Yang, revealing as it undoubtedly did the treachery of
+his beloved one. “There only appears to be one honourable way in which
+the full circumstances can be arranged, and this person will in no
+measure endeavour to avoid it.”
+
+“Such an end is neither ignoble nor painful,” he said, in an unchanging
+voice; “nor will this one in any way shrink from so easy and honourable
+a solution.”
+
+“The affairs of the future do not exhibit themselves in delicately
+coloured hues to this person,” said Yang Hu; “and he would, if the thing
+could be so arranged, cheerfully submit to a similar fate in order that
+a longer period of existence should be assured to one who has every
+variety of claim upon his affection.”
+
+“The proposal is a graceful and conscientious one,” said Ping Siang,
+“and is, moreover, a gratifying omen of the future of our race, which
+must of necessity be left in your hands. But, for that reason itself,
+such a course cannot be pursued. Nevertheless, the events of the past
+few hours have been of so exceedingly prosperous and agreeable a nature
+that this short-sighted and frequently desponding person can now
+pass beyond with a tranquil countenance and every assurance of divine
+favour.”
+
+With these words Ping Siang indicated that he was desirous of setting
+forth the Final Expression, and arranging the necessary matters upon the
+table beside him, he stretched forth his hands over Yang Hu, who placed
+himself in a suitable attitude of reverence and abasement.
+
+“Yang Hu,” began the Mandarin, “undoubted son, and, after the
+accomplishment of the intention which it is our fixed purpose to carry
+out, fitting representative of the person who is here before you,
+engrave well within your mind the various details upon which he now
+gives utterance. Regard the virtues; endeavour to pass an amiable and
+at the same time not unremunerative existence; and on all occasions
+sacrifice freely, to the end that the torments of those who have gone
+before may be made lighter, and that others may be induced in turn to
+perform a like benevolent charity for yourself. Having expressed
+himself upon these general subjects, this person now makes a last and
+respectfully-considered desire, which it is his deliberate wish should
+be carried to the proper deities as his final expression of opinion:
+That Yang Hu may grow as supple as the dried juice of the bending-palm,
+and as straight as the most vigorous bamboo from the forests of the
+North. That he may increase beyond the prolificness of the white-necked
+crow and cover the ground after the fashion of the binding grass.
+That in battle his sword may be as a vividly-coloured and many-forked
+lightning flash, accompanied by thunderbolts as irresistible as Buddha’s
+divine wrath; in peace his voice as resounding as the rolling of many
+powerful drums among the Khingan Mountains. That when the kindled fire
+of his existence returns to the great Mountain of Pure Flame the earth
+shall accept again its component parts, and in no way restrain the
+divine essence from journeying to its destined happiness. These words
+are Ping Siang’s last expression of opinion before he passes beyond,
+given in the unvarying assurance that so sacred and important a petition
+will in no way be neglected.”
+
+Having in this manner completed all the affairs which seemed to be of
+a necessary and urgent nature, and fixing his last glance upon Yang Hu
+with every variety of affectionate and estimable emotion, the Mandarin
+drank a sufficient quantity of the liquid, and placing himself upon a
+couch in an attitude of repose, passed in this dignified and unassuming
+manner into the Upper Air.
+
+After the space of a few moments spent in arranging certain objects and
+in inward contemplation, Yang Hu crossed the chamber, still holding
+the half-filled vessel of gold-leaf in his hand, and drawing back the
+hanging silk, gazed over the silent streets of Ching-fow and towards the
+great sky-lantern above.
+
+“Hiya is faithless,” he said at length in an unspeaking voice; “this
+person’s mother a bitter-tasting memory, his father a swiftly passing
+shadow that is now for ever lost.” His eyes rested upon the closed
+vessel in his hand. “Gladly would--” his thoughts began, but with
+this unworthy image a new impression formed itself within his mind. “A
+clearly-expressed wish was uttered,” he concluded, “and Tung Fel still
+remains.” With this resolution he stepped back into the chamber and
+struck the gong loudly.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+THE CAREER OF THE CHARITABLE QUEN-KI-TONG
+
+
+                     FIRST PERIOD
+                  THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL
+
+“The motives which inspired the actions of the devout Quen-Ki-Tong have
+long been ill-reported,” said Kai Lung the story-teller, upon a certain
+occasion at Wu-whei, “and, as a consequence, his illustrious memory has
+suffered somewhat. Even as the insignificant earth-worm may bring
+the precious and many coloured jewel to the surface, so has it been
+permitted to this obscure and superficially educated one to discover
+the truth of the entire matter among the badly-arranged and frequently
+really illegible documents preserved at the Hall of Public Reference at
+Peking. Without fear of contradiction, therefore, he now sets forth the
+credible version.
+
+“Quen-Ki-Tong was one who throughout his life had been compelled by
+the opposing force of circumstances to be content with what was offered
+rather than attain to that which he desired. Having been allowed to
+wander over the edge of an exceedingly steep crag, while still a child,
+by the aged and untrustworthy person who had the care of him, and yet
+suffering little hurt, he was carried back to the city in triumph,
+by the one in question, who, to cover her neglect, declared amid
+many chants of exultation that as he slept a majestic winged form had
+snatched him from her arms and traced magical figures with his body on
+the ground in token of the distinguished sacred existence for which he
+was undoubtedly set apart. In such a manner he became famed at a very
+early age for an unassuming mildness of character and an almost inspired
+piety of life, so that on every side frequent opportunity was given him
+for the display of these amiable qualities. Should it chance that an
+insufficient quantity of puppy-pie had been prepared for the family
+repast, the undesirable but necessary portion of cold dried rat would
+inevitably be allotted to the uncomplaining Quen, doubtless accompanied
+by the engaging but unnecessary remark that he alone had a Heaven-sent
+intellect which was fixed upon more sublime images than even the
+best constructed puppy-pie. Should the number of sedan-chairs not be
+sufficient to bear to the Exhibition of Kites all who were desirous of
+becoming entertained in such a fashion, inevitably would Quen be the one
+left behind, in order that he might have adequate leisure for dignified
+and pure-minded internal reflexion.
+
+“In this manner it came about that when a very wealthy but unnaturally
+avaricious and evil-tempered person who was connected with Quen’s father
+in matters of commerce expressed his fixed determination that the most
+deserving and enlightened of his friend’s sons should enter into a
+marriage agreement with his daughter, there was no manner of hesitation
+among those concerned, who admitted without any questioning between
+themselves that Quen was undeniably the one referred to.
+
+“Though naturally not possessing an insignificant intellect, a
+continuous habit, together with a most irreproachable sense of filial
+duty, subdued within Quen’s internal organs whatever reluctance he might
+have otherwise displayed in the matter, so that as courteously as was
+necessary he presented to the undoubtedly very ordinary and slow-witted
+maiden in question the gifts of irretrievable intention, and honourably
+carried out his spoken and written words towards her.
+
+“For a period of years the circumstances of the various persons did not
+in any degree change, Quen in the meantime becoming more pure-souled
+and inward-seeing with each moon-change, after the manner of the sublime
+Lien-ti, who studied to maintain an unmoved endurance in all varieties
+of events by placing his body to a greater extent each day in a vessel
+of boiling liquid. Nevertheless, the good and charitable deities to
+whom Quen unceasingly sacrificed were not altogether unmindful of his
+virtues; for a son was born, and an evil disease which arose from a most
+undignified display of uncontrollable emotion on her part ended in his
+wife being deposited with becoming ceremony in the Family Temple.
+
+“Upon a certain evening, when Quen sat in his inner chamber deliberating
+upon the really beneficent yet somewhat inexplicable arrangement of the
+all-seeing ones to whom he was very amiably disposed in consequence of
+the unwonted tranquillity which he now enjoyed, yet who, it appeared to
+him, could have set out the entire matter in a much more satisfactory
+way from the beginning, he was made aware by the unexpected beating of
+many gongs, and by other signs of refined and deferential welcome, that
+a person of exalted rank was approaching his residence. While he was
+still hesitating in his uncertainty regarding the most courteous and
+delicate form of self-abasement with which to honour so important a
+visitor--whether to rush forth and allow the chair-carriers to pass over
+his prostrate form, to make a pretence of being a low-caste slave, and
+in that guise doing menial service, or to conceal himself beneath
+a massive and overhanging table until his guest should have availed
+himself of the opportunity to examine at his leisure whatever the room
+contained--the person in question stood before him. In every detail of
+dress and appointment he had the undoubted appearance of being one to
+whom no door might be safely closed.
+
+“‘Alas!’ exclaimed Quen, ‘how inferior and ill-contrived is the mind
+of a person of my feeble intellectual attainments. Even at this moment,
+when the near approach of one who obviously commands every engaging
+accomplishment might reasonably be expected to call up within it an
+adequate amount of commonplace resource, its ill-destined possessor
+finds himself entirely incapable of conducting himself with the fitting
+outward marks of his great internal respect. This residence is certainly
+unprepossessing in the extreme, yet it contains many objects of some
+value and of great rarity; illiterate as this person is, he would not
+be so presumptuous as to offer any for your acceptance, but if you will
+confer upon him the favour of selecting that which appears to be the
+most priceless and unreplaceable, he will immediately, and with every
+manifestation of extreme delight, break it irredeemably in your honour,
+to prove the unaffected depth of his gratified emotions.’
+
+“‘Quen-Ki-Tong,’ replied the person before him, speaking with an evident
+sincerity of purpose, ‘pleasant to this one’s ears are your words,
+breathing as they do an obvious hospitality and a due regard for the
+forms of etiquette. But if, indeed, you are desirous of gaining this
+person’s explicit regard, break no articles of fine porcelain or rare
+inlaid wood in proof of it, but immediately dismiss to a very distant
+spot the three-score gong-beaters who have enclosed him within two solid
+rings, and who are now carrying out their duties in so diligent a manner
+that he greatly doubts if the unimpaired faculties of hearing will ever
+be fully restored. Furthermore, if your exceedingly amiable intentions
+desire fuller expression, cause an unstinted number of vessels of some
+uninflammable liquid to be conveyed into your chrysanthemum garden and
+there poured over the numerous fireworks and coloured lights which still
+appear to be in progress. Doubtless they are well-intentioned marks of
+respect, but they caused this person considerable apprehension as he
+passed among them, and, indeed, give to this unusually pleasant and
+unassuming spot the by no means inviting atmosphere of a low-class
+tea-house garden during the festivities attending the birthday of the
+sacred Emperor.’
+
+“‘This person is overwhelmed with a most unendurable confusion that the
+matters referred to should have been regarded in such a light,’ replied
+Quen humbly. ‘Although he himself had no knowledge of them until this
+moment, he is confident that they in no wise differ from the usual
+honourable manifestations with which it is customary in this Province to
+welcome strangers of exceptional rank and titles.’
+
+“‘The welcome was of a most dignified and impressive nature,’ replied
+the stranger, with every appearance of not desiring to cause Quen any
+uneasy internal doubts; ‘yet the fact is none the less true that at the
+moment this person’s head seems to contain an exceedingly powerful and
+well-equipped band; and also, that as he passed through the courtyard
+an ingeniously constructed but somewhat unmanageable figure of gigantic
+size, composed entirely of jets of many-coloured flame, leaped out
+suddenly from behind a dark wall and made an almost successful attempt
+to embrace him in its ever-revolving arms. Lo Yuen greatly fears that
+the time when he would have rejoiced in the necessary display of agility
+to which the incident gave rise has for ever passed away.’
+
+“‘Lo Yuen!’ exclaimed Quen, with an unaffected mingling of the emotions
+of reverential awe and pleasureable anticipation. ‘Can it indeed be
+an uncontroversial fact that so learned and ornamental a person as the
+renowned Controller of Unsolicited Degrees stands beneath this inelegant
+person’s utterly unpresentable roof! Now, indeed, he plainly understands
+why this ill-conditioned chamber has the appearance of being filled with
+a Heaven-sent brilliance, and why at the first spoken words of the one
+before him a melodious sound, like the rushing waters of the sacred
+Tien-Kiang, seemed to fill his ears.’
+
+“‘Undoubtedly the chamber is pervaded by a very exceptional splendour,’
+replied Lo Yuen, who, in spite of his high position, regarded graceful
+talk and well-imagined compliments in a spirit of no-satisfaction; ‘yet
+this commonplace-minded one has a fixed conviction that it is caused
+by the crimson-eyed and pink-fire-breathing dragon which, despite your
+slave’s most assiduous efforts, is now endeavouring to climb through
+the aperture behind you. The noise which still fills his ears, also,
+resembles rather the despairing cries of the Ten Thousand Lost Ones at
+the first sight of the Pit of Liquid and Red-hot Malachite, yet
+without question both proceed from the same cause. Laying aside further
+ceremony, therefore, permit this greatly over-estimated person to
+disclose the object of his inopportune visit. Long have your amiable
+virtues been observed and appreciated by the high ones at Peking, O
+Quen-Ki-Tong. Too long have they been unrewarded and passed over in
+silence. Nevertheless, the moment of acknowledgement and advancement has
+at length arrived; for, as the Book of Verses clearly says, “Even the
+three-legged mule may contrive to reach the agreed spot in advance of
+the others, provided a circular running space has been selected and
+the number of rounds be sufficiently ample.” It is this otherwise
+uninteresting and obtrusive person’s graceful duty to convey to you the
+agreeable intelligence that the honourable and not ill-rewarded office
+of Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms has been conferred upon you, and
+to require you to proceed without delay to Peking, so that fitting
+ceremonies of admittance may be performed before the fifteenth day of
+the month of Feathered Insects.’
+
+“Alas! how frequently does the purchaser of seemingly vigorous and
+exceptionally low-priced flower-seeds discover, when too late, that they
+are, in reality, fashioned from the root of the prolific and valueless
+tzu-ka, skilfully covered with a disguising varnish! Instead of
+presenting himself at the place of commerce frequented by those who
+entrust money to others on the promise of an increased repayment when
+certain very probable events have come to pass (so that if all
+else failed he would still possess a serviceable number of taels),
+Quen-Ki-Tong entirely neglected the demands of a most ordinary prudence,
+nor could he be induced to set out on his journey until he had passed
+seven days in public feasting to mark his good fortune, and then devoted
+fourteen more days to fasting and various acts of penance, in order to
+make known the regret with which he acknowledged his entire unworthiness
+for the honour before him. Owing to this very conscientious, but
+nevertheless somewhat short-sighted manner of behaving, Quen found
+himself unable to reach Peking before the day preceding that to which Lo
+Yuen had made special reference. From this cause it came about that only
+sufficient time remained to perform the various ceremonies of admission,
+without in any degree counselling Quen as to his duties and procedure in
+the fulfilment of his really important office.
+
+“Among the many necessary and venerable ceremonies observed during the
+changing periods of the year, none occupy a more important place than
+those for which the fifteenth day of the month of Feathered Insects is
+reserved, conveying as they do a respectful and delicately-fashioned
+petition that the various affairs upon which persons in every
+condition of life are engaged may arrive at a pleasant and remunerative
+conclusion. At the earliest stroke of the gong the versatile Emperor,
+accompanied by many persons of irreproachable ancestry and certain
+others, very elaborately attired, proceeds to an open space set apart
+for the occasion. With unassuming dexterity the benevolent Emperor for
+a brief span of time engages in the menial occupation of a person of
+low class, and with his own hands ploughs an assigned portion of land in
+order that the enlightened spirits under whose direct guardianship the
+earth is placed may not become lax in their disinterested efforts to
+promote its fruitfulness. In this charitable exertion he is followed
+by various other persons of recognized position, the first being, by
+custom, the Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms, while at the same time
+the amiably-disposed Empress plants an allotted number of mulberry
+trees, and deposits upon their leaves the carefully reared insects
+which she receives from the hands of their Guarder. In the case of the
+accomplished Emperor an ingenious contrivance is resorted to by which
+the soil is drawn aside by means of hidden strings as the plough passes
+by, the implement in question being itself constructed from paper of the
+highest quality, while the oxen which draw it are, in reality,
+ordinary persons cunningly concealed within masks of cardboard. In this
+thoughtful manner the actual labours of the sublime Emperor are greatly
+lessened, while no chance is afforded for an inauspicious omen to be
+created by the rebellious behaviour of a maliciously-inclined ox, or by
+any other event of an unforeseen nature. All the other persons, however,
+are required to make themselves proficient in the art of ploughing,
+before the ceremony, so that the chances of the attendant spirits
+discovering the deception which has been practised upon them in the case
+of the Emperor may not be increased by its needless repetition. It was
+chiefly for this reason that Lo Yuen had urged Quen to journey to Peking
+as speedily as possible, but owing to the very short time which remained
+between his arrival and the ceremony of ploughing, not only had the
+person in question neglected to profit by instruction, but he was not
+even aware of the obligation which awaited him. When, therefore, in
+spite of every respectful protest on his part, he was led up to a
+massively-constructed implement drawn by two powerful and undeniably
+evilly-intentioned-looking animals, it was with every sign of great
+internal misgivings, and an entire absence of enthusiasm in the
+entertainment, that he commenced his not too well understood task. In
+this matter he was by no means mistaken, for it soon became plain to all
+observers--of whom an immense concourse was assembled--that the usually
+self-possessed Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms was conducting
+himself in a most undignified manner; for though he still clung to the
+plough-handles with an inspired tenacity, his body assumed every variety
+of base and uninviting attitude. Encouraged by this inelegant state
+of affairs, the evil spirits which are ever on the watch to turn into
+derision the charitable intentions of the pure-minded entered into
+the bodies of the oxen and provoked within their minds a sudden and
+malignant confidence that the time had arrived when they might with
+safety break into revolt and throw off the outward signs of their
+dependent condition. From these various causes it came about that Quen
+was, without warning, borne with irresistible certainty against the
+majestic person of the sacred Emperor, the inlaid box of Imperial
+silkworms, which up to that time had remained safely among the folds
+of his silk garment, alone serving to avert an even more violent and
+ill-destined blow.
+
+“Well said the wise and deep-thinking Ye-te, in his book entitled
+_Proverbs of Everyday Happenings_, ‘Should a person on returning from
+the city discover his house to be in flames, let him examine well the
+change which he has received from the chair-carrier before it is too
+late; for evil never travels alone.’ Scarcely had the unfortunate Quen
+recovered his natural attributes from the effect of the disgraceful
+occurrence which has been recorded (which, indeed, furnished the matter
+of a song and many unpresentable jests among the low-class persons
+of the city), than the magnanimous Empress reached that detail of the
+tree-planting ceremony when it was requisite that she should deposit the
+living emblems of the desired increase and prosperity upon the leaves.
+Stretching forth her delicately-proportioned hand to Quen for this
+purpose, she received from the still greatly confused person in question
+the Imperial silkworms in so unseemly a condition that her eyes had
+scarcely rested upon them before she was seized with the rigid
+sickness, and in that state fell to the ground. At this new and entirely
+unforeseen calamity a very disagreeable certainty of approaching evil
+began to take possession of all those who stood around, many crying
+aloud that every omen of good was wanting, and declaring that unless
+something of a markedly propitiatory nature was quickly accomplished,
+the agriculture of the entire Empire would cease to flourish, and the
+various departments of the commerce in silk would undoubtedly be thrown
+into a state of most inextricable confusion. Indeed, in spite of all
+things designed to have a contrary effect, the matter came about in the
+way predicted, for the Hoang-Ho seven times overcame its restraining
+barriers, and poured its waters over the surrounding country, thereby
+gaining for the first time its well-deserved title of ‘The Sorrow of
+China,’ by which dishonourable but exceedingly appropriate designation
+it is known to this day.
+
+“The manner of greeting which would have been accorded to Quen had
+he returned to the official quarter of the city, or the nature of his
+treatment by the baser class of the ordinary people if they succeeded
+in enticing him to come among them, formed a topic of such uninviting
+conjecture that the humane-minded Lo Yuen, who had observed the
+entire course of events from an elevated spot, determined to make
+a well-directed effort towards his safety. To this end he quickly
+purchased the esteem of several of those who make a profession of their
+strength, holding out the hope of still further reward if they conducted
+the venture to a successful termination. Uttering loud cries of an
+impending vengeance, as Lo Yuen had instructed them in the matter,
+and displaying their exceptional proportions to the astonishment and
+misgivings of all beholders, these persons tore open the opium-tent in
+which Quen had concealed himself, and, thrusting aside all opposition,
+quickly dragged him forth. Holding him high upon their shoulders, in
+spite of his frequent and ill-advised endeavours to cast himself to
+the ground, some surrounded those who bore him--after the manner of
+disposing his troops affected by a skilful leader when the enemy begin
+to waver--and crying aloud that it was their unchanging purpose to
+submit him to the test of burning splinters and afterwards to torture
+him, they succeeded by this stratagem in bringing him through the
+crowd; and hurling back or outstripping those who endeavoured to follow,
+conveyed him secretly and unperceived to a deserted and appointed
+spot. Here Quen was obliged to remain until other events caused the
+recollection of the many to become clouded and unconcerned towards him,
+suffering frequent inconveniences in spite of the powerful protection
+of Lo Yuen, and not at all times being able to regard the most necessary
+repast as an appointment of undoubted certainty. At length, in the guise
+of a wandering conjurer who was unable to display his accomplishments
+owing to an entire loss of the power of movement in his arms, Quen
+passed undetected from the city, and safely reaching the distant and
+unimportant town of Lu-Kwo, gave himself up to a protracted period of
+lamentation and self-reproach at the unprepossessing manner in which he
+had conducted his otherwise very inviting affairs.
+
+
+                     SECOND PERIOD
+                  THE TEMPLE BUILDER
+
+Two hand-counts of years passed away and Quen still remained at Lu-kwo,
+all desire of returning either to Peking or to the place of his birth
+having by this time faded into nothingness. Accepting the inevitable
+fact that he was not destined ever to become a person with whom taels
+were plentiful, and yet being unwilling to forego the charitable manner
+of life which he had always been accustomed to observe, it came about
+that he spent the greater part of his time in collecting together such
+sums of money as he could procure from the amiable and well-disposed,
+and with them building temples and engaging in other benevolent works.
+From this cause it arose the Quen obtained around Lu-kwo a reputation
+for high-minded piety, in no degree less than that which had been
+conferred upon him in earlier times, so that pilgrims from far distant
+places would purposely contrive their journey so as to pass through the
+town containing so unassuming and virtuous a person.
+
+“During this entire period Quen had been accompanied by his only son, a
+youth of respectful personality, in whose entertaining society he took
+an intelligent interest. Even when deeply engaged in what he justly
+regarded as the crowning work of his existence--the planning and
+erecting of an exceptionally well-endowed marble temple, which was to
+be entirely covered on the outside with silver paper, and on the inside
+with gold-leaf--he did not fail to observe the various conditions of
+Liao’s existence, and the changing emotions which from time to
+time possessed him. Therefore, when the person in question, without
+displaying any signs of internal sickness, and likewise persistently
+denying that he had lost any considerable sum of money, disclosed a
+continuous habit of turning aside with an unaffected expression of
+distaste from all manner of food, and passed the entire night in
+observing the course of the great sky-lantern rather than in sleep, the
+sage and discriminating Quen took him one day aside, and asked him, as
+one who might aid him in the matter, who the maiden was, and what class
+and position her father occupied.
+
+“‘Alas!’ exclaimed Liao, with many unfeigned manifestations of an
+unbearable fate, ‘to what degree do the class and position of her
+entirely unnecessary parents affect the question? or how little hope
+can this sacrilegious one reasonably have of ever progressing as far as
+earthly details of a pecuniary character in the case of so adorable and
+far-removed a Being? The uttermost extent of this wildly-hoping person’s
+ambition is that when the incomparably symmetrical Ts’ain learns of
+the steadfast light of his devotion, she may be inspired to deposit an
+emblematic chrysanthemum upon his tomb in the Family Temple. For such a
+reward he will cheerfully devote the unswerving fidelity of a lifetime
+to her service, not distressing her gentle and retiring nature by the
+expression of what must inevitably be a hopeless passion, but patiently
+and uncomplainingly guarding her footsteps as from a distance.’
+
+“Being in this manner made aware of the reason of Liao’s frequent and
+unrestrained exclamations of intolerable despair, and of his fixed
+determination with regard to the maiden Ts’ain (which seemed, above
+all else, to indicate a resolution to shun her presence) Quen could not
+regard the immediately-following actions of his son with anything but an
+emotion of confusion. For when his eyes next rested upon the exceedingly
+contradictory Liao, he was seated in the open space before the house in
+which Ts’ain dwelt, playing upon an instrument of stringed woods, and
+chanting verses into which the names of the two persons in question
+had been skilfully introduced without restraint, his whole manner of
+behaving being with the evident purpose of attracting the maiden’s
+favourable attention. After an absence of many days, spent in this
+graceful and complimentary manner, Liao returned suddenly to the house
+of his father, and, prostrating his body before him, made a specific
+request for his assistance.
+
+“‘As regards Ts’ain and myself,’ he continued, ‘all things are arranged,
+and but for the unfortunate coincidence of this person’s poverty and
+of her father’s cupidity, the details of the wedding ceremony would
+undoubtedly now be in a very advanced condition. Upon these entrancing
+and well-discussed plans, however, the shadow of the grasping and
+commonplace Ah-Ping has fallen like the inopportune opium-pipe from the
+mouth of a person examining substances of an explosive nature; for the
+one referred to demands a large and utterly unobtainable amount of taels
+before he will suffer his greatly-sought-after daughter to accept the
+gifts of irretrievable intention.’
+
+“‘Grievous indeed is your plight,’ replied Quen, when he thus understood
+the manner of obstacle which impeded his son’s hopes; ‘for in the nature
+of taels the most diverse men are to be measured through the same mesh.
+As the proverb says, “‘All money is evil,’ exclaimed the philosopher
+with extreme weariness, as he gathered up the gold pieces in exchange,
+but presently discovering that one among them was such indeed as he had
+described, he rushed forth without tarrying to take up a street garment;
+and with an entire absence of dignity traversed all the ways of the city
+in the hope of finding the one who had defrauded him.” Well does this
+person know the mercenary Ah-Ping, and the unyielding nature of his
+closed hand; for often, but always fruitlessly, he has entered his
+presence on affairs connected with the erecting of certain temples.
+Nevertheless, the matter is one which does not admit of any incapable
+faltering, to which end this one will seek out the obdurate Ah-Ping
+without delay, and endeavour to entrap him by some means in the course
+of argument.’
+
+“From the time of his earliest youth Ah-Ping had unceasingly devoted
+himself to the object of getting together an overwhelming number of
+taels, using for this purpose various means which, without being really
+degrading or contrary to the written law, were not such as might have
+been cheerfully engaged in by a person of high-minded honourableness. In
+consequence of this, as he grew more feeble in body, and more venerable
+in appearance, he began to express frequent and bitter doubts as to
+whether his manner of life had been really well arranged; for, in spite
+of his great wealth, he had grown to adopt a most inexpensive habit
+on all occasions, having no desire to spend; and an ever-increasing
+apprehension began to possess him that after he had passed beyond, his
+sons would be very disinclined to sacrifice and burn money sufficient to
+keep him in an affluent condition in the Upper Air. In such a state of
+mind was Ah-Ping when Quen-Ki-Tong appeared before him, for it had just
+been revealed to him that his eldest and favourite son had, by flattery
+and by openly praising the dexterity with which he used his brush
+and ink, entrapped him into inscribing his entire name upon certain
+unwritten sheets of parchment, which the one in question immediately
+sold to such as were heavily indebted to Ah-Ping.
+
+“‘If a person can be guilty of this really unfilial behaviour during the
+lifetime of his father,’ exclaimed Ah-Ping, in a tone of unrestrained
+vexation, ‘can it be prudently relied upon that he will carry out his
+wishes after death, when they involve the remitting to him of several
+thousand taels each year? O estimable Quen-Ki-Tong, how immeasurably
+superior is the celestial outlook upon which you may safely rely as your
+portion! When you are enjoying every variety of sumptuous profusion,
+as the reward of your untiring charitable exertions here on earth, the
+spirit of this short-sighted person will be engaged in doing menial
+servitude for the inferior deities, and perhaps scarcely able, even by
+those means, to clothe himself according to the changing nature of the
+seasons.’
+
+“‘Yet,’ replied Quen, ‘the necessity for so laborious and unremunerative
+an existence may even now be averted by taking efficient precautions
+before you pass to the Upper Air.’
+
+“‘In what way?’ demanded Ah-Ping, with an awakening hope that the matter
+might not be entirely destitute of cheerfulness, yet at the same time
+preparing to examine with even unbecoming intrusiveness any expedient
+which Quen might lay before him. ‘Is it not explicitly stated that
+sacrifices and acts of a like nature, when performed at the end of one’s
+existence by a person who to that time has professed no sort of interest
+in such matters, shall in no degree be entered as to his good, but
+rather regarded as examples of deliberate presumptuousness, and made the
+excuse for subjecting him to more severe tortures and acts of penance
+than would be his portion if he neglected the custom altogether?’
+
+“‘Undoubtedly such is the case,’ replied Quen; ‘and on that account it
+would indicate a most regrettable want of foresight for you to conduct
+your affairs in the manner indicated. The only undeniably safe course
+is for you to entrust the amount you will require to a person of
+exceptional piety, receiving in return his written word to repay the
+full sum whenever you shall claim it from him in the Upper Air. By this
+crafty method the amount will be placed at the disposal of the person
+in question as soon as he has passed beyond, and he will be held by his
+written word to return it to you whenever you shall demand it.’
+
+“So amiably impressed with this ingenious scheme was Ah-Ping that he
+would at once have entered more fully into the detail had the thought
+not arisen in his mind that the person before him was the father of
+Liao, who urgently required a certain large sum, and that for this
+reason he might with prudence inquire more fully into the matter
+elsewhere, in case Quen himself should have been imperceptibly led
+aside, even though he possessed intentions of a most unswerving
+honourableness. To this end, therefore, he desired to converse again
+with Quen on the matter, pleading that at that moment a gathering
+of those who direct enterprises of a commercial nature required his
+presence. Nevertheless, he would not permit the person referred to to
+depart until he had complimented him, in both general and specific
+terms, on the high character of his life and actions, and the
+intelligent nature of his understanding, which had enabled him with so
+little mental exertion to discover an efficient plan.
+
+“Without delay Ah-Ping sought out those most skilled in all varieties
+of law-forms, in extorting money by devices capable of very different
+meanings, and in expedients for evading just debts; but all agreed that
+such an arrangement as the one he put before them would be unavoidably
+binding, provided the person who received the money alluded to spent it
+in the exercise of his charitable desires, and provided also that the
+written agreement bore the duty seal of the high ones at Peking, and was
+deposited in the coffin of the lender. Fully satisfied, and rejoicing
+greatly that he could in this way adequately provide for his future and
+entrap the avaricious ones of his house, Ah-Ping collected together the
+greater part of his possessions, and converting it into pieces of gold,
+entrusted them to Quen on the exact understanding that has already been
+described, he receiving in turn Quen’s written and thumb-signed paper
+of repayment, and his assurance that the whole amount should be expended
+upon the silver-paper and gold-leaf Temple with which he was still
+engaged.
+
+“It is owing to this circumstance that Quen-Ki-Tong’s irreproachable
+name has come to be lightly regarded by many who may be fitly likened to
+the latter person in the subtle and experienced proverb, ‘The wise man’s
+eyes fell before the gaze of the fool, fearing that if he looked he
+must cry aloud, “Thou hopeless one!” “There,” said the fool to himself,
+“behold this person’s power!”’ These badly educated and undiscriminating
+persons, being entirely unable to explain the ensuing train of events,
+unhesitatingly declare that Quen-Ki-Tong applied a portion of the money
+which he had received from Ah-Ping in the manner described to the object
+of acquiring Ts’ain for his son Liao. In this feeble and incapable
+fashion they endeavour to stigmatize the pure-minded Quen as one who
+acted directly contrary to his deliberately spoken word, whereas the
+desired result was brought about in a much more artful manner; they
+describe the commercially successful Ah-Ping as a person of very
+inferior prudence, and one easily imposed upon; while they entirely pass
+over, as a detail outside the true facts, the written paper preserved
+among the sacred relics in the Temple, which announces, among other
+gifts of a small and uninviting character, ‘Thirty thousand taels from
+an elderly ginseng merchant of Lu-kwo, who desires to remain nameless,
+through the hand of Quen-Ki-Tong.’ The full happening in its real and
+harmless face is now set forth for the first time.
+
+“Some weeks after the recorded arrangement had been arrived at by
+Ah-Ping and Quen, when the taels in question had been expended upon the
+Temple and were, therefore, infallibly beyond recall, the former person
+chanced to be passing through the public garden in Lu-kwo when he heard
+a voice lifted up in the expression of every unendurable feeling of
+dejection to which one can give utterance. Stepping aside to learn the
+cause of so unprepossessing a display of unrestrained agitation, and
+in the hope that perhaps he might be able to use the incident in a
+remunerative manner, Ah-Ping quickly discovered the unhappy being who,
+entirely regardless of the embroidered silk robe which he wore, reclined
+upon a raised bank of uninviting earth, and waved his hands from side to
+side as his internal emotions urged him.
+
+“‘Quen-Ki-Tong!’ exclaimed Ah-Ping, not fully convinced that the fact
+was as he stated it in spite of the image clearly impressed upon his
+imagination; ‘to what unpropitious occurrence is so unlooked-for an
+exhibition due? Are those who traffic in gold-leaf demanding a high and
+prohibitive price for that commodity, or has some evil and vindicative
+spirit taken up its abode within the completed portion of the Temple,
+and by its offensive but nevertheless diverting remarks and actions
+removed all semblance of gravity from the countenances of those who
+daily come to admire the construction?’
+
+“‘O thrice unfortunate Ah-Ping,’ replied Quen when he observed the
+distinguishing marks of the person before him, ‘scarcely can this
+greatly overwhelmed one raise his eyes to your open and intelligent
+countenance; for through him you are on the point of experiencing a very
+severe financial blow, and it is, indeed, on your account more than on
+his own that he is now indulging in these outward signs of a grief too
+far down to be expressed in spoken words.’ And at the memory of his
+former occupation, Quen again waved his arms from side to side with
+untiring assiduousness.
+
+“‘Strange indeed to this person’s ears are your words,’ said Ah-Ping,
+outwardly unmoved, but with an apprehensive internal pain that he would
+have regarded Quen’s display of emotion with an easier stomach if his
+own taels were safely concealed under the floor of his inner chamber.
+‘The sum which this one entrusted to you has, without any pretence
+been expended upon the Temple, while the written paper concerning the
+repayment bears the duty seal of the high ones at Peking. How, then, can
+Ah-Ping suffer a loss at the hands of Quen-Ki-Tong?’
+
+“‘Ah-Ping,’ said Quen, with every appearance of desiring that both
+persons should regard the matter in a conciliatory spirit, ‘do not
+permit the awaiting demons, which are ever on the alert to enter into
+a person’s mind when he becomes distressed out of the common order of
+events, to take possession of your usually discriminating faculties
+until you have fully understood how this affair has come about. It is no
+unknown thing for a person of even exceptional intelligence to reverse
+his entire manner of living towards the end of a long and consistent
+existence; the far-seeing and not lightly-moved Ah-Ping himself has
+already done so. In a similar, but entirely contrary manner, the person
+who is now before you finds himself impelled towards that which will
+certainly bear a very unpresentable face when the circumstances
+become known; yet by no other means is he capable of attaining his
+greatly-desired object.’
+
+“‘And to what end does that trend?’ demanded Ah-Ping, in no degree
+understanding how the matter affected him.
+
+“‘While occupied with enterprises which those of an engaging and
+complimentary nature are accustomed to refer to as charitable,
+this person has almost entirely neglected a duty of scarcely less
+importance--that of establishing an unending line, through which his
+name and actions shall be kept alive to all time,’ replied Quen. ‘Having
+now inquired into the matter, he finds that his only son, through whom
+alone the desired result can be obtained, has become unbearably attached
+to a maiden for whom a very large sum is demanded in exchange. The
+thought of obtaining no advantage from an entire life of self-denial
+is certainly unprepossessing in the extreme, but so, even to a more
+advanced degree, is the certainty that otherwise the family monuments
+will be untended, and the temple of domestic virtues become an early
+ruin. This person has submitted the dilemma to the test of omens, and
+after considering well the reply, he has decided to obtain the price of
+the maiden in a not very honourable manner, which now presents itself,
+so that Liao may send out his silk-bound gifts without delay.’
+
+“‘It is an unalluring alternative,’ said Ah-Ping, whose only inside
+thought was one of gratification that the exchange money for Ts’ain
+would so soon be in his possession, ‘yet this person fails to perceive
+how you could act otherwise after the decision of the omens. He now
+understands, moreover, that the loss you referred to on his part was in
+the nature of a figure of speech, as one makes use of thunderbolts
+and delicately-scented flowers to convey ideas of harsh and amiable
+passions, and alluded in reality to the forthcoming departure of his
+daughter, who is, as you so versatilely suggested, the comfort and
+riches of his old age.’
+
+“‘O venerable, but at this moment somewhat obtuse, Ah-Ping,’ cried
+Quen, with a recurrence to his former method of expressing his unfeigned
+agitation, ‘is your evenly-balanced mind unable to grasp the essential
+fact of how this person’s contemplated action will affect your own
+celestial condition? It is a distressing but entirely unavoidable fact,
+that if this person acts in the manner which he has determined upon, he
+will be condemned to the lowest place of torment reserved for those
+who fail at the end of an otherwise pure existence, and in this he
+will never have an opportunity of meeting the very much higher placed
+Ah-Ping, and of restoring to him the thirty-thousand taels as agreed
+upon.’
+
+“At these ill-destined words, all power of rigidness departed from
+Ah-Ping’s limbs, and he sank down upon the forbidding earth by Quen’s
+side.
+
+“‘O most unfortunate one who is now speaking,’ he exclaimed, when at
+length his guarding spirit deemed it prudent to restore his power of
+expressing himself in words, ‘happy indeed would have been your lot had
+you been content to traffic in ginseng and other commodities of which
+you have actual knowledge. O amiable Quen, this matter must be in some
+way arranged without causing you to deviate from the entrancing paths of
+your habitual virtue. Could not the very reasonable Liao be induced to
+look favourably upon the attractions of some low-priced maiden, in which
+case this not really hard-stomached person would be willing to advance
+the necessary amount, until such time as it could be restored, at a very
+low and unremunerative rate of interest?’
+
+“‘This person has observed every variety of practical humility in the
+course of his life,’ replied Quen with commendable dignity, ‘yet he now
+finds himself totally unable to overcome an inward repugnance to the
+thought of perpetuating his honoured name and race through the medium of
+any low-priced maiden. To this end has he decided.’
+
+“Those who were well acquainted with Ah-Ping in matters of commerce did
+not hesitate to declare that his great wealth had been acquired by his
+consistent habit of forming an opinion quickly while others hesitated.
+On the occasion in question he only engaged his mind with the opposing
+circumstances for a few moments before he definitely fixed upon the
+course which he should pursue.
+
+“‘Quen-Ki-Tong,’ he said, with an evident intermingling of many very
+conflicting emotions, ‘retain to the end this well-merited reputation
+for unaffected honourableness which you have so fittingly earned. Few
+in the entire Empire, with powers so versatilely pointing to an eminent
+position in any chosen direction, would have been content to pass their
+lives in an unremunerative existence devoted to actions of charity. Had
+you selected an entirely different manner of living, this person has
+every confidence that he, and many others in Lu-kwo, would by this time
+be experiencing a very ignoble poverty. For this reason he will make
+it his most prominent ambition to hasten the realization of the amiable
+hopes expressed both by Liao and by Ts’ain, concerning their
+future relationship. In this, indeed, he himself will be more than
+exceptionally fortunate should the former one prove to possess even a
+portion of the clear-sighted sagaciousness exhibited by his engaging
+father.’
+
+           “VERSES COMPOSED BY A MUSICIAN OF LU-KWO, ON THE
+                 OCCASION OF THE WEDDING CEREMONY OF
+                           LIAO AND TS’AIN
+
+  “Bright hued is the morning, the dark clouds have fallen;
+  At the mere waving of Quen’s virtuous hands they melted away.
+  Happy is Liao in the possession of so accomplished a parent,
+  Happy also is Quen to have so discriminating a son.
+
+  “The two persons in question sit, side by side, upon an
+      embroidered couch,
+  Listening to the well-expressed compliments of those who pass to
+      and fro.
+  From time to time their eyes meet, and glances of a very
+      significant amusement pass between them;
+  Can it be that on so ceremonious an occasion they are recalling
+      events of a gravity-removing nature?
+
+  “The gentle and rainbow-like Ts’ain has already arrived,
+  With the graceful motion of a silver carp gliding through a screen
+      of rushes, she moves among those who are assembled.
+  On the brow of her somewhat contentious father there rests the
+      shadow of an ill-repressed sorrow;
+  Doubtless the frequently-misjudged Ah-Ping is thinking of his
+      lonely hearth, now that he is for ever parted from that which
+      he holds most precious.
+
+  “In the most commodious chamber of the house the elegant
+      wedding-gifts are conspicuously displayed; let us stand beside
+      the one which we have contributed, and point out its
+      excellence to those who pass by.
+  Surely the time cannot be far distant when the sound of many gongs
+      will announce that the very desirable repast is at length to
+      be partaken of.”
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+THE VISION OF YIN, THE SON OF YAT HUANG
+
+
+When Yin, the son of Yat Huang, had passed beyond the years assigned
+to the pursuit of boyhood, he was placed in the care of the hunchback
+Quang, so that he might be fully instructed in the management of the
+various weapons used in warfare, and also in the art of stratagem, by
+which a skilful leader is often enabled to conquer when opposed to an
+otherwise overwhelming multitude. In all these accomplishments Quang
+excelled to an exceptional degree; for although unprepossessing in
+appearance he united matchless strength to an untiring subtlety. No
+other person in the entire Province of Kiang-si could hurl a javelin so
+unerringly while uttering sounds of terrifying menace, or could cause
+his sword to revolve around him so rapidly, while his face looked
+out from the glittering circles with an expression of ill-intentioned
+malignity that never failed to inspire his adversary with irrepressible
+emotions of alarm. No other person could so successfully feign to
+be devoid of life for almost any length of time, or by his manner of
+behaving create the fixed impression that he was one of insufficient
+understanding, and therefore harmless. It was for these reasons that
+Quang was chosen as the instructor of Yin by Yat Huang, who, without
+possessing any official degree, was a person to whom marks of obeisance
+were paid not only within his own town, but for a distance of many li
+around it.
+
+At length the time arrived when Yin would in the ordinary course of
+events pass from the instructorship of Quang in order to devote himself
+to the commerce in which his father was engaged, and from time to time
+the unavoidable thought arose persistently within his mind that although
+Yat Huang doubtless knew better than he did what the circumstances of
+the future required, yet his manner of life for the past years was not
+such that he could contemplate engaging in the occupation of buying and
+selling porcelain clay with feelings of an overwhelming interest. Quang,
+however, maintained with every manifestation of inspired assurance that
+Yat Huang was to be commended down to the smallest detail, inasmuch
+as proficiency in the use of both blunt and sharp-edged weapons, and a
+faculty for passing undetected through the midst of an encamped body
+of foemen, fitted a person for the every-day affairs of life above all
+other accomplishments.
+
+“Without doubt the very accomplished Yat Huan is well advised on this
+point,” continued Quang, “for even this mentally short-sighted person
+can call up within his understanding numerous specific incidents in the
+ordinary career of one engaged in the commerce of porcelain clay when
+such attainments would be of great remunerative benefit. Does the
+well-endowed Yin think, for example, that even the most depraved person
+would endeavour to gain an advantage over him in the matter of buying or
+selling porcelain clay if he fully understood the fact that the one with
+whom he was trafficking could unhesitatingly transfix four persons with
+one arrow at the distance of a hundred paces? Or to what advantage would
+it be that a body of unscrupulous outcasts who owned a field of inferior
+clay should surround it with drawn swords by day and night, endeavouring
+meanwhile to dispose of it as material of the finest quality, if the one
+whom they endeavoured to ensnare in this manner possessed the power of
+being able to pass through their ranks unseen and examine the clay at
+his leisure?”
+
+“In the cases to which reference has been made, the possession of those
+qualities would undoubtedly be of considerable use,” admitted Yin;
+“yet, in spite of his entire ignorance of commercial matters, this one
+has a confident feeling that it would be more profitable to avoid such
+very doubtful forms of barter altogether rather than spend eight years
+in acquiring the arts by which to defeat them. That, however, is a
+question which concerns this person’s virtuous and engaging father more
+than his unworthy self, and his only regret is that no opportunity has
+offered by which he might prove that he has applied himself diligently
+to your instruction and example, O amiable Quang.”
+
+It had long been a regret to Quang also that no incident of a disturbing
+nature had arisen whereby Yin could have shown himself proficient in the
+methods of defence and attack which he had taught him. This deficiency
+he had endeavoured to overcome, as far as possible, by constructing
+life-like models of all the most powerful and ferocious types of
+warriors and the fiercest and most relentless animals of the forest,
+so that Yin might become familiar with their appearance and discover in
+what manner each could be the most expeditiously engaged.
+
+“Nevertheless,” remarked Quang, on an occasion when Yin appeared to be
+covered with honourable pride at having approached an unusually large
+and repulsive-looking tiger so stealthily that had the animal been
+really alive it would certainly have failed to perceive him, “such
+accomplishments are by no means to be regarded as conclusive in
+themselves. To steal insidiously upon a destructively-included wild
+beast and transfix it with one well-directed blow of a spear is attended
+by difficulties and emotions which are entirely absent in the case of a
+wickerwork animal covered with canvas-cloth, no matter how deceptive in
+appearance the latter may be.”
+
+To afford Yin a more trustworthy example of how he should engage with
+an adversary of formidable proportions, Quang resolved upon an ingenious
+plan. Procuring the skin of a grey wolf, he concealed himself within it,
+and in the early morning, while the mist-damp was still upon the ground,
+he set forth to meet Yin, who had on a previous occasion spoken to
+him of his intention to be at a certain spot at such an hour. In this
+conscientious enterprise, the painstaking Quang would doubtless have
+been successful, and Yin gained an assured proficiency and experience,
+had it not chanced that on the journey Quang encountered a labourer of
+low caste who was crossing the enclosed ground on his way to the rice
+field in which he worked. This contemptible and inopportune person,
+not having at any period of his existence perfected himself in the
+recognized and elegant methods of attack and defence, did not act in
+the manner which would assuredly have been adopted by Yin in similar
+circumstances, and for which Quang would have been fully prepared. On
+the contrary, without the least indication of what his intention was,
+he suddenly struck Quang, who was hesitating for a moment what action to
+take, a most intolerable blow with a formidable staff which he carried.
+The stroke in question inflicted itself upon Quang upon that part of the
+body where the head becomes connected with the neck, and would certainly
+have been followed by others of equal force and precision had not Quang
+in the meantime decided that the most dignified course for him to adopt
+would be to disclose his name and titles without delay. Upon learning
+these facts, the one who stood before him became very grossly and
+offensively amused, and having taken from Quang everything of value
+which he carried among his garments, went on his way, leaving Yin’s
+instructor to retrace his steps in unendurable dejection, as he then
+found that he possessed no further interest whatever in the undertaking.
+
+When Yat Huang was satisfied that his son was sufficiently skilled in
+the various arts of warfare, he called him to his inner chamber, and
+having barred the door securely, he placed Yin under a very binding oath
+not to reveal, until an appointed period, the matter which he was going
+to put before him.
+
+“From father to son, in unbroken line for ten generations, has such a
+custom been observed,” he said, “for the course of events is not to be
+lightly entered upon. At the commencement of that cycle, which period is
+now fully fifteen score years ago, a very wise person chanced to incur
+the displeasure of the Emperor of that time, and being in consequence
+driven out of the capital, he fled to the mountains. There his subtle
+discernment and the pure and solitary existence which he led resulted in
+his becoming endowed with faculties beyond those possessed by ordinary
+beings. When he felt the end of his earthly career to be at hand he
+descended into the plain, where, in a state of great destitution and
+bodily anguish, he was discovered by the one whom this person has
+referred to as the first of the line of ancestors. In return for the
+care and hospitality with which he was unhesitatingly received,
+the admittedly inspired hermit spent the remainder of his days in
+determining the destinies of his rescuer’s family and posterity. It
+is an undoubted fact that he predicted how one would, by well-directed
+enterprise and adventure, rise to a position of such eminence in the
+land that he counselled the details to be kept secret, lest the envy
+and hostility of the ambitious and unworthy should be raised. From this
+cause it has been customary to reveal the matter fully from father
+to son, at stated periods, and the setting out of the particulars in
+written words has been severely discouraged. Wise as this precaution
+certainly was, it has resulted in a very inconvenient state of things;
+for a remote ancestor--the fifth in line from the beginning--experienced
+such vicissitudes that he returned from his travels in a state of most
+abandoned idiocy, and when the time arrived that he should, in turn,
+communicate to his son, he was only able to repeat over and over again
+the name of the pious hermit to whom the family was so greatly indebted,
+coupling it each time with a new and markedly offensive epithet. The
+essential details of the undertaking having in this manner passed beyond
+recall, succeeding generations, which were merely acquainted with the
+fact that a very prosperous future awaited the one who fulfilled the
+conditions, have in vain attempted to conform to them. It is not an
+alluring undertaking, inasmuch as nothing of the method to be pursued
+can be learned, except that it was the custom of the early ones, who
+held the full knowledge, to set out from home and return after a period
+of years. Yet so clearly expressed was the prophecy, and so great the
+reward of the successful, that all have eagerly journeyed forth when
+the time came, knowing nothing beyond that which this person has now
+unfolded to you.”
+
+When Yat Huang reached the end of the matter which it was his duty to
+disclose, Yin for some time pondered the circumstances before replying.
+In spite of a most engaging reverence for everything of a sacred nature,
+he could not consider the inspired remark of the well-intentioned hermit
+without feelings of a most persistent doubt, for it occurred to him that
+if the person in question had really been as wise as he was represented
+to be, he might reasonably have been expected to avoid the unaccountable
+error of offending the enlightened and powerful Emperor under whom he
+lived. Nevertheless, the prospect of engaging in the trade of porcelain
+clay was less attractive in his eyes than that of setting forth upon a
+journey of adventure, so that at length he expressed his willingness to
+act after the manner of those who had gone before him.
+
+This decision was received by Yat Huang with an equal intermingling of
+the feelings of delight and concern, for although he would have by no
+means pleasurably contemplated Yin breaking through a venerable and
+esteemed custom, he was unable to put entirely from him the thought of
+the degrading fate which had overtaken the fifth in line who made the
+venture. It was, indeed, to guard Yin as much as possible against
+the dangers to which he would become exposed, if he determined on the
+expedition, that the entire course of his training had been selected. In
+order that no precaution of a propitious nature should be neglected, Yat
+Huang at once despatched written words of welcome to all with whom he
+was acquainted, bidding them partake of a great banquet which he was
+preparing to mark the occasion of his son’s leave-taking. Every variety
+of sacrifice was offered up to the controlling deities, both good and
+bad; the ten ancestors were continuously exhorted to take Yin under
+their special protection, and sets of verses recording his virtues and
+ambitions were freely distributed among the necessitous and low-caste
+who could not be received at the feast.
+
+The dinner itself exceeded in magnificence any similar event that
+had ever taken place in Ching-toi. So great was the polished ceremony
+observed on the occasion, that each guest had half a score of cups of
+the finest apricot-tea successively placed before him and taken away
+untasted, while Yat Huang went to each in turn protesting vehemently
+that the honour of covering such pure-minded and distinguished persons
+was more than his badly designed roof could reasonably bear, and
+wittingly giving an entrancing air of reality to the spoken compliment
+by begging them to move somewhat to one side so that they might escape
+the heavy central beam if the event which he alluded to chanced to take
+place. After several hours had been spent in this congenial occupation,
+Yat Huang proceeded to read aloud several of the sixteen discourses on
+education which, taken together, form the discriminating and infallible
+example of conduct known as the Holy Edict. As each detail was dwelt
+upon Yin arose from his couch and gave his deliberate testimony that
+all the required tests and rites had been observed in his own case.
+The first part of the repast was then partaken of, the nature of the
+ingredients and the manner of preparing them being fully explained,
+and in a like manner through each succeeding one of the four-and-forty
+courses. At the conclusion Yin again arose, being encouraged by the
+repeated uttering of his name by those present, and with extreme modesty
+and brilliance set forth his manner of thinking concerning all subjects
+with which he was acquainted.
+
+Early on the morning of the following day Yin set out on his travels,
+entirely unaccompanied, and carrying with him nothing beyond a sum of
+money, a silk robe, and a well-tried and reliable spear. For many days
+he journeyed in a northerly direction, without encountering anything
+sufficiently unusual to engage his attention. This, however, was
+doubtless part of a pre-arranged scheme so that he should not be drawn
+from a destined path, for at a small village lying on the southern shore
+of a large lake, called by those around Silent Water, he heard of the
+existence of a certain sacred island, distant a full day’s sailing,
+which was barren of all forms of living things, and contained only a
+single gigantic rock of divine origin and majestic appearance. Many
+persons, the villagers asserted, had sailed to the island in the hope
+of learning the portent of the rock, but none ever returned, and they
+themselves avoided coming even within sight of it; for the sacred stone,
+they declared, exercised an evil influence over their ships, and would,
+if permitted, draw them out of their course and towards itself. For this
+reason Yin could find no guide, whatever reward he offered, who would
+accompany him; but having with difficulty succeeded in hiring a small
+boat of inconsiderable value, he embarked with food, incense, and
+materials for building fires, and after rowing consistently for nearly
+the whole of the day, came within sight of the island at evening.
+Thereafter the necessity of further exertion ceased, for, as they of the
+village had declared would be the case, the vessel moved gently forward,
+in an unswerving line, without being in any way propelled, and reaching
+its destination in a marvellously short space of time, passed behind a
+protecting spur of land and came to rest. It then being night, Yin did
+no more than carry his stores to a place of safety, and after lighting
+a sacrificial fire and prostrating himself before the rock, passed into
+the Middle Air.
+
+In the morning Yin’s spirit came back to the earth amid the sound of
+music of a celestial origin, which ceased immediately he recovered full
+consciousness. Accepting this manifestation as an omen of Divine favour,
+Yin journeyed towards the centre of the island where the rock stood,
+at every step passing the bones of innumerable ones who had come on a
+similar quest to his, and perished. Many of these had left behind them
+inscriptions on wood or bone testifying their deliberate opinion of the
+sacred rock, the island, their protecting deities, and the entire train
+of circumstances, which had resulted in their being in such a condition.
+These were for the most part of a maledictory and unencouraging nature,
+so that after reading a few, Yin endeavoured to pass without being in
+any degree influenced by such ill-judged outbursts.
+
+“Accursed be the ancestors of this tormented one to four generations
+back!” was prominently traced upon an unusually large shoulder-blade.
+“May they at this moment be simmering in a vat of unrefined dragon’s
+blood, as a reward for having so undiscriminatingly reared the person
+who inscribes these words only to attain this end!” “Be warned, O later
+one, by the signs around!” Another and more practical-minded person had
+written: “Retreat with all haste to your vessel, and escape while
+there is yet time. Should you, by chance, again reach land through this
+warning, do not neglect, out of an emotion of gratitude, to burn an
+appropriate amount of sacrifice paper for the lessening of the torments
+of the spirit of Li-Kao,” to which an unscrupulous one, who was plainly
+desirous of sharing in the benefit of the requested sacrifice, without
+suffering the exertion of inscribing a warning after the amiable manner
+of Li-Kao, had added the words, “and that of Huan Sin.”
+
+Halting at a convenient distance from one side of the rock which,
+without being carved by any person’s hand, naturally resembled the
+symmetrical countenance of a recumbent dragon (which he therefore
+conjectured to be the chief point of the entire mass), Yin built
+his fire and began an unremitting course of sacrifice and respectful
+ceremony. This manner of conduct he observed conscientiously for
+the space of seven days. Towards the end of that period a feeling of
+unendurable dejection began to possess him, for his stores of all kinds
+were beginning to fail, and he could not entirely put behind him the
+memory of the various well-intentioned warnings which he had received,
+or the sight of the fleshless ones who had lined his path. On the eighth
+day, being weak with hunger and, by reason of an intolerable thirst,
+unable to restrain his body any longer in the spot where he had hitherto
+continuously prostrated himself nine-and-ninety times each hour without
+ceasing, he rose to his feet and retraced his steps to the boat in order
+that he might fill his water-skins and procure a further supply of food.
+
+With a complicated emotion, in which was present every abandoned and
+disagreeable thought to which a person becomes a prey in moments of
+exceptional mental and bodily anguish, he perceived as soon as
+he reached the edge of the water that the boat, upon which he was
+confidently relying to carry him back when all else failed, had
+disappeared as entirely as the smoke from an extinguished opium pipe.
+At this sight Yin clearly understood the meaning of Li-Kao’s unregarded
+warning, and recognized that nothing could now save him from adding his
+incorruptible parts to those of the unfortunate ones whose unhappy
+fate had, seven days ago, engaged his refined pity. Unaccountably
+strengthened in body by the indignation which possessed him, and
+inspired with a virtuous repulsion at the treacherous manner of behaving
+on the part of those who guided his destinies, he hastened back to
+his place of obeisance, and perceiving that the habitually placid and
+introspective expression on the dragon face had imperceptibly changed
+into one of offensive cunning and unconcealed contempt, he snatched up
+his spear and, without the consideration of a moment, hurled it at
+a score of paces distance full into the sacred but nevertheless very
+unprepossessing face before him.
+
+At the instant when the presumptuous weapon touched the holy stone the
+entire intervening space between the earth and the sky was filled with
+innumerable flashes of forked and many-tongued lightning, so that the
+island had the appearance of being the scene of a very extensive but
+somewhat badly-arranged display of costly fireworks. At the same
+time the thunder rolled among the clouds and beneath the sea in an
+exceedingly disconcerting manner. At the first indication of these
+celestial movements a sudden blindness came upon Yin, and all power of
+thought or movement forsook him; nevertheless, he experienced an emotion
+of flight through the air, as though borne upwards upon the back of a
+winged creature. When this emotion ceased, the blindness went from him
+as suddenly and entirely as if a cloth had been pulled away from his
+eyes, and he perceived that he was held in the midst of a boundless
+space, with no other object in view than the sacred rock, which had
+opened, as it were, revealing a mighty throng within, at the sight of
+whom Yin’s internal organs trembled as they would never have moved at
+ordinary danger, for it was put into his spirit that these in whose
+presence he stood were the sacred Emperors of his country from the
+earliest time until the usurpation of the Chinese throne by the
+devouring Tartar hordes from the North.
+
+As Yin gazed in fear-stricken amazement, a knowledge of the various Pure
+Ones who composed the assembly came upon him. He understood that the
+three unclad and commanding figures which stood together were the
+Emperors of the Heaven, Earth, and Man, whose reigns covered a space of
+more than eighty thousand years, commencing from the time when the world
+began its span of existence. Next to them stood one wearing a robe of
+leopard-skin, his hand resting upon a staff of a massive club, while on
+his face the expression of tranquillity which marked his predecessors
+had changed into one of alert wakefulness; it was the Emperor of Houses,
+whose reign marked the opening of the never-ending strife between man
+and all other creatures. By his side stood his successor, the Emperor of
+Fire, holding in his right hand the emblem of the knotted cord, by which
+he taught man to cultivate his mental faculties, while from his mouth
+issued smoke and flame, signifying that by the introduction of fire he
+had raised his subjects to a state of civilized life.
+
+On the other side of the boundless chamber which seemed to be contained
+within the rocks were Fou-Hy, Tchang-Ki, Tcheng-Nung, and Huang,
+standing or reclining together. The first of these framed the calendar,
+organized property, thought out the eight Essential Diagrams, encouraged
+the various branches of hunting, and the rearing of domestic animals,
+and instituted marriage. From his couch floated melodious sounds
+in remembrance of his discovery of the property of stringed woods.
+Tchang-Ki, who manifested the property of herbs and growing plants, wore
+a robe signifying his attainments by means of embroidered symbols.
+His hand rested on the head of the dragon, while at his feet flowed a
+bottomless canal of the purest water. The discovery of written letters
+by Tcheng-Nung, and his ingenious plan of grouping them after the manner
+of the constellations of stars, was emblemized in a similar manner,
+while Huang, or the Yellow Emperor, was surrounded by ores of the
+useful and precious metals, weapons of warfare, written books, silks
+and articles of attire, coined money, and a variety of objects, all
+testifying to his ingenuity and inspired energy.
+
+These illustrious ones, being the greatest, were the first to take
+Yin’s attention, but beyond them he beheld an innumerable concourse of
+Emperors who not infrequently outshone their majestic predecessors in
+the richness of their apparel and the magnificence of the jewels which
+they wore. There Yin perceived Hung-Hoang, who first caused the chants
+to be collected, and other rulers of the Tcheon dynasty; Yong-Tching,
+who compiled the Holy Edict; Thang rulers whose line is rightly called
+“the golden,” from the unsurpassed excellence of the composed verses
+which it produced; renowned Emperors of the versatile Han dynasty; and,
+standing apart, and shunned by all, the malignant and narrow-minded
+Tsing-Su-Hoang, who caused the Sacred Books to be burned.
+
+Even while Yin looked and wondered, in great fear, a rolling voice,
+coming from one who sat in the midst of all, holding in his right hand
+the sun, and in his left the moon, sounded forth, like the music of many
+brass instruments playing in unison. It was the First Man who spoke.
+
+“Yin, son of Yat Huang, and creature of the Lower Part,” he said,
+“listen well to the words I speak, for brief is the span of your
+tarrying in the Upper Air, nor will the utterance I now give forth ever
+come unto your ears again, either on the earth, or when, blindly groping
+in the Middle Distance, your spirit takes its nightly flight. They who
+are gathered around, and whose voices I speak, bid me say this: Although
+immeasurably above you in all matters, both of knowledge and of power,
+yet we greet you as one who is well-intentioned, and inspired with
+honourable ambition. Had you been content to entreat and despair, as did
+all the feeble and incapable ones whose white bones formed your pathway,
+your ultimate fate would have in no wise differed from theirs. But
+inasmuch as you held yourself valiantly, and, being taken, raised an
+instinctive hand in return, you have been chosen; for the day to mute
+submission has, for the time or for ever, passed away, and the hour is
+when China shall be saved, not by supplication, but by the spear.”
+
+“A state of things which would have been highly unnecessary if I had
+been permitted to carry out my intention fully, and restore man to his
+prehistoric simplicity,” interrupted Tsin-Su-Hoang. “For that reason,
+when the voice of the assemblage expresses itself, it must be understood
+that it represents in no measure the views of Tsin-Su-Hoang.”
+
+“In the matter of what has gone before, and that which will follow
+hereafter,” continued the Voice dispassionately, “Yin, the son
+of Yat-Huang, must concede that it is in no part the utterance of
+Tsin-Su-Hoang--Tsin-Su-Hoang who burned the Sacred Books.”
+
+At the mention of the name and offence of this degraded being a great
+sound went up from the entire multitude--a universal cry of execration,
+not greatly dissimilar from that which may be frequently heard in the
+crowded Temple of Impartiality when the one whose duty it is to take up,
+at a venture, the folded papers, announces that the sublime Emperor,
+or some mandarin of exalted rank, has been so fortunate as to hold
+the winning number in the Annual State Lottery. So vengeance-laden and
+mournful was the combined and evidently preconcerted wail, that Yin
+was compelled to shield his ears against it; yet the inconsiderable
+Tsin-Su-Hoang, on whose account it was raised, seemed in no degree to
+be affected by it, he, doubtless, having become hardened by hearing
+a similar outburst, at fixed hours, throughout interminable cycles of
+time.
+
+When the last echo of the cry had passed away the Voice continued to
+speak.
+
+“Soon the earth will again receive you, Yin,” it said, “for it is not
+respectful that a lower one should be long permitted to gaze upon our
+exalted faces. Yet when you go forth and stand once more among men this
+is laid on you: that henceforth you are as a being devoted to a fixed
+and unchanging end, and whatever moves towards the restoring of the
+throne of the Central Empire the outcast but unalterably sacred line of
+its true sovereigns shall have your arm and mind. By what combination
+of force and stratagem this can be accomplished may not be honourably
+revealed by us, the all-knowing. Nevertheless, omens and guidance shall
+not be lacking from time to time, and from the beginning the weapon by
+which you have attained to this distinction shall be as a sign of our
+favour and protection over you.”
+
+When the Voice made an end of speaking the sudden blindness came upon
+Yin, as it had done before, and from the sense of motion which he
+experienced, he conjectured that he was being conveyed back to the
+island. Undoubtedly this was the case, for presently there came upon him
+the feeling that he was awakening from a deep and refreshing sleep,
+and opening his eyes, which he now found himself able to do without
+any difficulty, he immediately discovered that he was reclining at full
+length on the ground, and at a distance of about a score of paces from
+the dragon head. His first thought was to engage in a lengthy course
+of self-abasement before it, but remembering the words which had been
+spoken to him while in the Upper Air, he refrained, and even ventured to
+go forward with a confident but somewhat self-deprecatory air, to
+regain the spear, which he perceived lying at the foot of the rock. With
+feelings of a reassuring nature he then saw that the very undesirable
+expression which he had last beheld upon the dragon face had melted into
+one of encouraging urbanity and benignant esteem.
+
+Close by the place where he had landed he discovered his boat, newly
+furnished with wine and food of a much more attractive profusion than
+that which he had purchased in the village. Embarking in it, he made as
+though he would have returned to the south, but the spear which he held
+turned within his grasp, and pointed in an exactly opposite direction.
+Regarding this fact as an express command on the part of the Deities,
+Yin turned his boat to the north, and in the space of two days’
+time--being continually guided by the fixed indication of the spear--he
+reached the shore and prepared to continue his travels in the same
+direction, upheld and inspired by the knowledge that henceforth he moved
+under the direct influence of very powerful spirits.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+THE ILL-REGULATED DESTINY OF KIN YEN, THE PICTURE-MAKER
+
+
+  As recorded by himself before his sudden departure from Peking,
+  owing to circumstances which are made plain in the following
+  narrative.
+
+There are moments in the life of a person when the saying of the wise
+Ni-Hyu that “Misfortune comes to all men and to most women” is endowed
+with double force. At such times the faithful child of the Sun is a prey
+to the whitest and most funereal thoughts, and even the inspired
+wisdom of his illustrious ancestors seems more than doubtful, while the
+continued inactivity of the Sacred Dragon appears for the time to give
+colour to the scoffs of the Western barbarian. A little while ago these
+misgivings would have found no resting-place in the bosom of the writer.
+Now, however--but the matter must be made clear from the beginning.
+
+The name of the despicable person who here sets forth his immature story
+is Kin Yen, and he is a native of Kia-Lu in the Province of Che-Kiang.
+Having purchased from a very aged man the position of Hereditary
+Instructor in the Art of Drawing Birds and Flowers, he gave lessons in
+these accomplishments until he had saved sufficient money to journey
+to Peking. Here it was his presumptuous intention to learn the art of
+drawing figures in order that he might illustrate printed leaves of
+a more distinguished class than those which would accept what true
+politeness compels him to call his exceedingly unsymmetrical pictures
+of birds and flowers. Accordingly, when the time arrived, he disposed of
+his Hereditary Instructorship, having first ascertained in the interests
+of his pupils that his successor was a person of refined morals and
+great filial piety.
+
+Alas! it is well written, “The road to eminence lies through the cheap
+and exceedingly uninviting eating-houses.” In spite of this person’s
+great economy, and of his having begged his way from Kia-Lu to Peking in
+the guise of a pilgrim, journeying to burn incense in the sacred Temple
+of Truth near that city, when once within the latter place his taels
+melted away like the smile of a person of low class when he discovers
+that the mandarin’s stern words were not intended as a jest. Moreover,
+he found that the story-makers of Peking, receiving higher rewards
+than those at Kia-Lu, considered themselves bound to introduce living
+characters into all their tales, and in consequence the very ornamental
+drawings of birds and flowers which he had entwined into a legend
+entitled “The Last Fight of the Heaven-sent Tcheng”--a story which
+had been entrusted to him for illustration as a test of his skill--was
+returned to him with a communication in which the writer revealed his
+real meaning by stating contrary facts. It therefore became necessary
+that he should become competent in the art of drawing figures without
+delay, and with this object he called at the picture-room of Tieng Lin,
+a person whose experience was so great that he could, without discomfort
+to himself, draw men and women of all classes, both good and bad. When
+the person who is setting forth this narrative revealed to Tieng Lin the
+utmost amount of money he could afford to give for instruction in the
+art of drawing living figures, Tieng Lin’s face became as overcast as
+the sky immediately before the Great Rains, for in his ignorance of
+this incapable person’s poverty he had treated him with equality and
+courtesy, nor had he kept him waiting in the mean room on the plea that
+he was at that moment closeted with the Sacred Emperor. However, upon
+receiving an assurance that a rumour would be spread in which the number
+of taels should be multiplied by ten, and that the sum itself should be
+brought in advance, Tieng Lin promised to instruct this person in the
+art of drawing five characters, which, he said, would be sufficient
+to illustrate all stories except those by the most expensive and
+highly-rewarded story-tellers--men who have become so proficient that
+they not infrequently introduce a score or more of living persons into
+their tales without confusion.
+
+After considerable deliberation, this unassuming person selected the
+following characters, judging them to be the most useful, and the most
+readily applicable to all phases and situations of life:
+
+1. A bad person, wearing a long dark pigtail and smoking an opium pipe.
+His arms to be folded, and his clothes new and very expensive.
+
+2. A woman of low class. One who removes dust and useless things from
+the rooms of the over-fastidious and of those who have long nails; she
+to be carrying her trade-signs.
+
+3. A person from Pe-ling, endowed with qualities which cause the
+beholder to be amused. This character to be especially designed to go
+with the short sayings which remove gravity.
+
+4. One who, having incurred the displeasure of the sublime Emperor, has
+been decapitated in consequence.
+
+5. An ordinary person of no striking or distinguished appearance. One
+who can be safely introduced in all places and circumstances without
+great fear of detection.
+
+After many months spent in constant practice and in taking measurements,
+this unenviable person attained a very high degree of proficiency, and
+could draw any of the five characters without hesitation. With renewed
+hope, therefore, he again approached those who sit in easy-chairs, and
+concealing his identity (for they are stiff at bending, and when once
+a picture-maker is classed as “of no good” he remains so to the end, in
+spite of change), he succeeded in getting entrusted with a story by
+the elegant and refined Kyen Tal. This writer, as he remembered with
+distrust, confines his distinguished efforts entirely to the doings of
+sailors and of those connected with the sea, and this tale, indeed, he
+found upon reading to be the narrative of how a Hang-Chow junk and its
+crew, consisting mostly of aged persons, were beguiled out of their
+course by an exceedingly ill-disposed dragon, and wrecked upon an island
+of naked barbarians. It was, therefore, with a somewhat heavy stomach
+that this person set himself the task of arranging his five characters
+as so to illustrate the words of the story.
+
+The sayings of the ancient philosopher Tai Loo are indeed very subtle,
+and the truth of his remark, “After being disturbed in one’s dignity by
+a mandarin’s foot it is no unusual occurrence to fall flat on the
+face in crossing a muddy street,” was now apparent. Great as was the
+disadvantage owing to the nature of the five characters, this became as
+nothing when it presently appeared that the avaricious and clay-souled
+Tieng Lin, taking advantage of the blindness of this person’s
+enthusiasm, had taught him the figures so that they all gazed in the
+same direction. In consequence of this it would have been impossible
+that two should be placed as in the act of conversing together had not
+the noble Kyen Tal been inspired to write that “his companions turned
+from him in horror.” This incident the ingenious person who is recording
+these facts made the subject of three separate drawings, and having
+in one or two other places effected skilful changes in the writing, so
+similar in style to the strokes of the illustrious Kyen Tal as to
+be undetectable, he found little difficulty in making use of all his
+characters. The risks of the future, however, were too great to be run
+with impunity; therefore it was arranged, by means of money--for this
+person was fast becoming acquainted with the ways of Peking--that an
+emissary from one who sat in an easy-chair should call upon him for a
+conference, the narrative of which appeared in this form in the _Peking
+Printed Leaves of Thrice-distilled Truth:_
+
+  The brilliant and amiable young picture-maker Kin Yen, in spite of
+  the immediate and universal success of his accomplished efforts,
+  is still quite rotund in intellect, nor is he, if we may use a
+  form of speaking affected by our friends across the Hoang Hai,
+  “suffering from swollen feet.” A person with no recognized
+  position, but one who occasionally does inferior work of this
+  nature for us, recently surprised Kin Yen without warning, and
+  found him in his sumptuously appointed picture-room, busy with
+  compasses and tracing-paper. About the place were scattered in
+  elegant confusion several of his recent masterpieces. From the
+  subsequent conversation we are in a position to make it known that
+  in future this refined and versatile person will confine himself
+  entirely to illustrations of processions, funerals, armies on the
+  march, persons pursued by others, and kindred subjects which
+  appeal strongly to his imagination. Kin Yen has severe emotions on
+  the subject of individuality in art, and does not hesitate to
+  express himself forcibly with reference to those who are content
+  to degrade the names of their ancestors by turning out what he
+  wittily describes as “so much of varied mediocrity.”
+
+The prominence obtained by this pleasantly-composed notice--for it was
+copied by others who were unaware of the circumstance of its origin--had
+the desired effect. In future, when one of those who sit in easy-chairs
+wished for a picture after the kind mentioned, he would say to his
+lesser one: “Oh, send to the graceful and versatile Kin Yen; he becomes
+inspired on the subject of funerals,” or persons escaping from prison,
+or families walking to the temple, or whatever it might be. In that way
+this narrow-minded and illiterate person was soon both looked at and
+rich, so that it was his daily practice to be carried, in silk garments,
+past the houses of those who had known him in poverty, and on these
+occasions he would puff out his cheeks and pull his moustaches, looking
+fiercely from side to side.
+
+True are the words written in the elegant and distinguished Book of
+Verses: “Beware lest when being kissed by the all-seeing Emperor, you
+step upon the elusive banana-peel.” It was at the height of eminence in
+this altogether degraded person’s career that he encountered the being
+who led him on to his present altogether too lamentable condition.
+
+Tien Nung is the earthly name by which is known she who combines all the
+most illustrious attributes which have been possessed of women since the
+days of the divine Fou-Hy. Her father is a person of very gross habits,
+and lives by selling inferior merchandise covered with some of good
+quality. Upon past occasions, when under the direct influence of Tien,
+and in the hope of gaining some money benefit, this person may have
+spoken of him in terms of praise, and may even have recommended friends
+to entrust articles of value to him, or to procure goods on his advice.
+Now, however, he records it as his unalterable decision that the father
+of Tien Nung is by profession a person who obtains goods by stratagem,
+and that, moreover, it is impossible to gain an advantage over him on
+matters of exchange.
+
+The events that have happened prove the deep wisdom of Li Pen when
+he exclaimed “The whitest of pigeons, no matter how excellent in the
+silk-hung chamber, is not to be followed on the field of battle.” Tien
+herself was all that the most exacting of persons could demand, but
+her opinions on the subject of picture-making were not formed by heavy
+thought, and it would have been well if this had been borne in mind by
+this person. One morning he chanced to meet her while carrying open in
+his hands four sets of printed leaves containing his pictures.
+
+“I have observed,” said Tien, after the usual personal inquiries had
+been exchanged, “that the renowned Kin Yen, who is the object of the
+keenest envy among his brother picture-makers, so little regards the
+sacredness of his accomplished art that never by any chance does he
+depict persons of the very highest excellence. Let not the words of an
+impetuous maiden disarrange his digestive organs if they should seem
+too bold to the high-souled Kin Yen, but this matter has, since she has
+known him, troubled the eyelids of Tien. Here,” she continued, taking
+from this person’s hand one of the printed leaves which he was carrying,
+“in this illustration of persons returning from extinguishing a fire,
+is there one who appears to possess those qualities which appeal to
+all that is intellectual and competitive within one? Can it be that the
+immaculate Kin Yen is unacquainted with the subtle distinction between
+the really select and the vastly ordinary? Ah, undiscriminating Kin Yen!
+are not the eyelashes of the person who is addressing you as threads
+of fine gold to junk’s cables when compared with those of the extremely
+commonplace female who is here pictured in the art of carrying a bucket?
+Can the most refined lack of vanity hide from you the fact that your own
+person is infinitely rounder than this of the evilly-intentioned-looking
+individual with the opium pipe? O blind Kin Yen!”
+
+Here she fled in honourable confusion, leaving this person standing in
+the street, astounded, and a prey to the most distinguished emotions of
+a complicated nature.
+
+“Oh, Tien,” he cried at length, “inspired by those bright eyes, narrower
+than the most select of the three thousand and one possessed by the
+sublime Buddha, the almost fallen Kin Yen will yet prove himself worthy
+of your esteemed consideration. He will, without delay, learn to draw
+two new living persons, and will incorporate in them the likenesses
+which you have suggested.”
+
+Returning swiftly to his abode, he therefore inscribed and despatched
+this letter, in proof of his resolve:
+
+“To the Heaven-sent human chrysanthemum, in whose body reside the
+Celestial Principles and the imprisoned colours of the rainbow.
+
+“From the very offensive and self-opinionated picture-maker.
+
+“Henceforth this person will take no rest, nor eat any but the commonest
+food, until he shall have carried out the wishes of his one Jade Star,
+she whose teeth he is not worthy to blacken.
+
+“When Kin Yen has been entrusted with a story which contains a being in
+some degree reflecting the character of Tien, he will embellish it with
+her irreproachable profile and come to hear her words. Till then he bids
+her farewell.”
+
+From that moment most of this person’s time was necessarily spent in
+learning to draw the two new characters, and in consequence of this he
+lost much work, and, indeed, the greater part of the connexion which
+he had been at such pains to form gradually slipped away from him. Many
+months passed before he was competent to reproduce persons resembling
+Tien and himself, for in this he was unassisted by Tieng Lin, and his
+progress was slow.
+
+At length, being satisfied, he called upon the least fierce of those
+who sit in easy-chairs, and requested that he might be entrusted with a
+story for picture-making.
+
+“We should have been covered with honourable joy to set in operation
+the brush of the inspired Kin Yen,” replied the other with agreeable
+condescension; “only at the moment, it does not chance that we have
+before us any stories in which funerals, or beggars being driven from
+the city, form the chief incidents. Perhaps if the polished Kin Yen
+should happen to be passing this ill-constructed office in about six
+months’ time--”
+
+“The brush of Kin Yen will never again depict funerals, or labourers
+arranging themselves to receive pay or similar subjects,” exclaimed this
+person impetuously, “for, as it is well said, ‘The lightning discovers
+objects which the paper-lantern fails to reveal.’ In future none
+but tales dealing with the most distinguished persons shall have his
+attention.”
+
+“If this be the true word of the dignified Kin Yen, it is possible that
+we may be able to animate his inspired faculties,” was the response.
+“But in that case, as a new style must be in the nature of an
+experiment, and as our public has come to regard Kin Yen as the
+great exponent of Art Facing in One Direction, we cannot continue the
+exceedingly liberal payment with which we have been accustomed to reward
+his elegant exertions.”
+
+“Provided the story be suitable, that is a matter of less importance,”
+ replied this person.
+
+“The story,” said the one in the easy-chair, “is by the refined
+Tong-king, and it treats of the high-minded and conscientious doubts
+of one who would become a priest of Fo. When preparing for this
+distinguished office he discovers within himself leanings towards
+the religion of Lao-Tse. His illustrious scruples are enhanced by his
+affection for Wu Ping, who now appears in the story.”
+
+“And the ending?” inquired this person, for it was desirable that the
+two should marry happily.
+
+“The inimitable stories of Tong-king never have any real ending, and
+this one, being in his most elevated style, has even less end than
+most of them. But the whole narrative is permeated with the odour of
+joss-sticks and honourable high-mindedness, and the two characters are
+both of noble birth.”
+
+As it might be some time before another story so suitable should be
+offered, or one which would afford so good an opportunity of wafting
+incense to Tien, and of displaying her incomparable outline in dignified
+and magnanimous attitudes, this was eagerly accepted, and for the next
+week this obscure person spent all his days and nights in picturing the
+lovely Tien and his debased self in the characters of the nobly-born
+young priest of Fo and Wu Ping. The pictures finished, he caused them to
+be carefully conveyed to the office, and then, sitting down, spent
+many hours in composing the following letter, to be sent to Tien,
+accompanying a copy of the printed leaves wherein the story and his
+drawing should appear:
+
+“When the light has for a period been hidden from a person, it is
+no uncommon thing for him to be struck blind on gazing at the sun;
+therefore, if the sublime Tien values the eyes of Kin Yen, let her hide
+herself behind a gauze screen on his approach.
+
+“The trembling words of Tien have sunk deep into the inside of Kin Yen
+and become part of his being. Never again can he depict persons of the
+quality and in the position he was wont to do.
+
+“With this he sends his latest efforts. In each case he conceives his
+drawings to be the pictures of the written words; in the noble Tien’s
+case it is undoubtedly so, in his own he aspires to it. Doubtless the
+unobtrusive Tien would make no claim to the character and manner of
+behaving of the one in the story, yet Kin Yen confidently asserts that
+she is to the other as the glove is to the hand, and he is filled with
+the most intelligent delight at being able to exhibit her in her true
+robes, by which she will be known to all who see her, in spite of her
+dignified protests. Kin Yen hopes; he will come this evening after
+sunset.”
+
+The week which passed between the finishing of the pictures and the
+appearance of the eminent printed leaves containing them was the longest
+in this near-sighted person’s ill-spent life. But at length the day
+arrived, and going with exceedingly mean haste to the place of sale, he
+purchased a copy and sent it, together with the letter of his honourable
+intention, on which he had bestowed so much care, to Tien.
+
+Not till then did it occur to this inconsiderable one that the
+impetuousness of his action was ill-judged; for might it not be that the
+pictures were evilly-printed, or that the delicate and fragrant words
+painting the character of the one who now bore the features of Tien had
+undergone some change?
+
+To satisfy himself, scarce as taels had become with him, he purchased
+another copy.
+
+There are many exalted sayings of the wise and venerable Confucious
+constructed so as to be of service and consolation in moments of strong
+mental distress. These for the greater part recommend tranquillity
+of mind, a complete abnegation of the human passions and the
+like behaviour. The person who is here endeavouring to bring this
+badly-constructed account of his dishonourable career to a close
+pondered these for some moments after twice glancing through the matter
+in the printed leaves, and then, finding the faculties of speech and
+movement restored to him, procured a two-edged knife of distinguished
+brilliance and went forth to call upon the one who sits in an
+easy-chair.
+
+“Behold,” said the lesser one, insidiously stepping in between this
+person an the inner door, “my intellectual and all-knowing chief is not
+here to-day. May his entirely insufficient substitute offer words of
+congratulation to the inspired Kin Yen on his effective and striking
+pictures in this week’s issue?”
+
+“His altogether insufficient substitute,” answered this person, with
+difficulty mastering his great rage, “may and shall offer words of
+explanation to the inspired Kin Yen, setting forth the reason of his
+pictures being used, not with the high-minded story of the elegant
+Tong-king for which they were executed, but accompanying exceedingly
+base, foolish, and ungrammatical words written by Klan-hi, the Peking
+remover of gravity--words which will evermore brand the dew-like Tien
+as a person of light speech and no refinement”; and in his agony this
+person struck the lacquered table several times with his elegant knife.
+
+“O Kin Yen,” exclaimed the lesser one, “this matter rests not here. It
+is a thing beyond the sphere of the individual who is addressing you.
+All he can tell is that the graceful Tong-king withdrew his exceedingly
+tedious story for some reason at the final moment, and as your eminent
+drawings had been paid for, my chief of the inner office decided to use
+them with this story of Klan-hi. But surely it cannot be that there is
+aught in the story to displease your illustrious personality?”
+
+“Judge for yourself,” this person said, “first understanding that the
+two immaculate characters figuring as the personages of the narrative
+are exact copies of this dishonoured person himself and of the willowy
+Tien, daughter of the vastly rich Pe-li-Chen, whom he was hopeful of
+marrying.”
+
+Selecting one of the least offensive of the passages in the work, this
+unhappy person read the following immature and inelegant words:
+
+“This well-satisfied writer of printed leaves had a highly-distinguished
+time last night. After Chow had departed to see about food, and the junk
+had been fastened up at the lock of Kilung, on the Yang-tse-Kiang, he
+and the round-bodied Shang were journeying along the narrow path by the
+river-side when the right leg of the graceful and popular person who
+is narrating these events disappeared into the river. Suffering no
+apprehension in the dark, but that the vanishing limb was the left leg
+of Shang, this intelligent writer allowed his impassiveness to melt away
+to an exaggerated degree; but at that moment the circumstance became
+plain to the round-bodied Shang, who was in consequence very grossly
+amused at the mishap and misapprehension of your good lord, the writer,
+at the same time pointing out the matter as it really was. Then it
+chanced that there came by one of the maidens who carry tea and jest for
+small sums of money to the sitters at the little tables with round white
+tops, at which this remarkable person, the confidant of many mandarins,
+ever desirous of displaying his priceless power of removing gravity,
+said to her:
+
+“‘How much of gladness, Ning-Ning? By the Sacred Serpent this is plainly
+your night out.’
+
+“Perceiving the true facts of the predicament of this commendable
+writer, she replied:
+
+“‘Suffer not your illustrious pigtail to be removed, venerable Wang; for
+in this maiden’s estimation it is indeed your night in.’
+
+“There are times when this valued person wonders whether his method
+of removing gravity be in reality very antique or quite new. On such
+occasions the world, with all its schools, and those who interfere in
+the concerns of others, continues to revolve around him. The wondrous
+sky-lanterns come out silently two by two like to the crystallized music
+of stringed woods. Then, in the mystery of no-noise, his head becomes
+greatly enlarged with celestial and highly-profound thoughts; his
+groping hand seems to touch matter which may be written out in his
+impressive style and sold to those who print leaves, and he goes home to
+write out such.”
+
+When this person looked up after reading, with tears of shame in his
+eyes, he perceived that the lesser one had cautiously disappeared.
+Therefore, being unable to gain admittance to the inner office, he
+returned to his home.
+
+Here the remark of the omniscient Tai Loo again fixes itself upon the
+attention. No sooner had this incapable person reached his house than he
+became aware that a parcel had arrived for him from the still adorable
+Tien. Retiring to a distance from it, he opened the accompanying letter
+and read:
+
+“When a virtuous maiden has been made the victim of a heartless jest or
+a piece of coarse stupidity at a person’s hands, it is no uncommon thing
+for him to be struck blind on meeting her father. Therefore, if the
+degraded and evil-minded Kin Yen values his eyes, ears, nose, pigtail,
+even his dishonourable breath, let him hide himself behind a fortified
+wall at Pe-li-Chen’s approach.
+
+“With this Tien returns everything she has ever accepted from Kin Yen.
+She even includes the brace of puppies which she received anonymously
+about a month ago, and which she did not eat, but kept for reasons of
+her own--reasons entirely unconnected with the vapid and exceedingly
+conceited Kin Yen.”
+
+As though this letter, and the puppies of which this person now heard
+for the first time, making him aware of the existence of a rival lover,
+were not enough, there almost immediately arrived a letter from Tien’s
+father:
+
+“This person has taken the advice of those skilled in extorting money by
+means of law forms, and he finds that Kin Yen has been guilty of a grave
+and highly expensive act. This is increased by the fact that Tien had
+conveyed his seemingly distinguished intentions to all her friends,
+before whom she now stands in an exceedingly ungraceful attitude. The
+machinery for depriving Kin Yen of all the necessaries of existence
+shall be put into operation at once.”
+
+At this point, the person who is now concluding his obscure and
+commonplace history, having spent his last piece of money on joss-sticks
+and incense-paper, and being convinced of the presence of the spirits of
+his ancestors, is inspired to make the following prophecies: That Tieng
+Lin, who imposed upon him in the matter of picture-making, shall come
+to a sudden end, accompanied by great internal pains, after suffering
+extreme poverty; that the one who sits in an easy-chair, together with
+his lesser one and all who make stories for them, shall, while sailing
+to a rice feast during the Festival of Flowers, be precipitated into the
+water and slowly devoured by sea monsters, Klan-hi in particular being
+tortured in the process; that Pel-li-Chen, the father of Tien, shall
+be seized with the dancing sickness when in the presence of the august
+Emperor, and being in consequence suspected of treachery, shall, to
+prove the truth of his denials, be submitted to the tests of boiling
+tar, red-hot swords, and of being dropped from a great height on to the
+Sacred Stone of Goodness and Badness, in each of which he shall fail to
+convince his judges or to establish his innocence, to the amusement of
+all beholders.
+
+These are the true words of Kin Yen, the picture-maker, who, having
+unweighed his mind and exposed the avaricious villainy of certain
+persons, is now retiring by night to a very select and hidden spot in
+the Khingan Mountains.
+
+
+
+
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+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Wallet of Kai Lung, by Ernest Bramah</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
+at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Wallet of Kai Lung</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Ernest Bramah</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October, 1997 [eBook #1076]<br />
+[Most recently updated: November 25, 2021]</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: John Bickers and David Widger</div>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG ***</div>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:55%;">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" />
+</div>
+
+<h1>THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG</h1>
+
+<h2 class="no-break">By Ernest Bramah</h2>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;Ho, illustrious passers-by!&rdquo; says Kai Lung as he spreads out his
+embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. &ldquo;It is indeed unlikely that you
+could condescend to stop and listen to the foolish words of such an
+insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself. Nevertheless, if you
+will but retard your elegant footsteps for a few moments, this exceedingly
+unprepossessing individual will endeavour to entertain you.&rdquo; This is a
+collection of Kai Lung&rsquo;s entertaining tales, told professionally in the
+market places as he travelled about; told sometimes to occupy and divert the
+minds of his enemies when they were intent on torturing him.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0001">I. THE TRANSMUTATION OF LING</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0002">II. THE STORY OF YUNG CHANG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0003">III. THE PROBATION OF SEN HENG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0004">IV. THE EXPERIMENT OF THE MANDARIN CHAN HUNG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0005">V. THE CONFESSION OF KAI LUNG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0006">VI. THE VENGEANCE OF TUNG FEL</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0007">VII. THE CAREER OF THE CHARITABLE QUEN-KI-TONG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0008">VIII. THE VISION OF YIN, THE SON OF YAT HUANG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#link2HCH0009">IX. THE ILL-REGULATED DESTINY OF KIN YEN, THE PICTURE-MAKER</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<hr />
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"></a>
+I.<br />
+THE TRANSMUTATION OF LING</h2>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER I<br />
+INTRODUCTION</h3>
+
+<p>
+The sun had dipped behind the western mountains before Kai Lung, with twenty li
+or more still between him and the city of Knei Yang, entered the camphor-laurel
+forest which stretched almost to his destination. No person of consequence ever
+made the journey unattended; but Kai Lung professed to have no fear, remarking
+with extempore wisdom, when warned at the previous village, that a worthless
+garment covered one with better protection than that afforded by an army of
+bowmen. Nevertheless, when within the gloomy aisles, Kai Lung more than once
+wished himself back at the village, or safely behind the mud walls of Knei
+Yang; and, making many vows concerning the amount of prayer-paper which he
+would assuredly burn when he was actually through the gates, he stepped out
+more quickly, until suddenly, at a turn in the glade, he stopped altogether,
+while the watchful expression into which he had unguardedly dropped at once
+changed into a mask of impassiveness and extreme unconcern. From behind the
+next tree projected a long straight rod, not unlike a slender bamboo at a
+distance, but, to Kai Lung&rsquo;s all-seeing eye, in reality the barrel of a
+matchlock, which would come into line with his breast if he took another step.
+Being a prudent man, more accustomed to guile and subservience to destiny than
+to force, he therefore waited, spreading out his hands in proof of his peaceful
+acquiescence, and smiling cheerfully until it should please the owner of the
+weapon to step forth. This the unseen did a moment later, still keeping his gun
+in an easy and convenient attitude, revealing a stout body and a scarred face,
+which in conjunction made it plain to Kai Lung that he was in the power of Lin
+Yi, a noted brigand of whom he had heard much in the villages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O illustrious person,&rdquo; said Kai Lung very earnestly, &ldquo;this
+is evidently an unfortunate mistake. Doubtless you were expecting some exalted
+Mandarin to come and render you homage, and were preparing to overwhelm him
+with gratified confusion by escorting him yourself to your well-appointed
+abode. Indeed, I passed such a one on the road, very richly apparelled, who
+inquired of me the way to the mansion of the dignified and upright Lin Yi. By
+this time he is perhaps two or three li towards the east.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;However distinguished a Mandarin may be, it is fitting that I should
+first attend to one whose manners and accomplishments betray him to be of the
+Royal House,&rdquo; replied Lin Yi, with extreme affability. &ldquo;Precede me,
+therefore, to my mean and uninviting hovel, while I gain more honour than I can
+reasonably bear by following closely in your elegant footsteps, and guarding
+your Imperial person with this inadequate but heavily-loaded weapon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seeing no chance of immediate escape, Kai Lung led the way, instructed by the
+brigand, along a very difficult and bewildering path, until they reached a cave
+hidden among the crags. Here Lin Yi called out some words in the Miaotze
+tongue, whereupon a follower appeared, and opened a gate in the stockade of
+prickly mimosa which guarded the mouth of the den. Within the enclosure a fire
+burned, and food was being prepared. At a word from the chief, the unfortunate
+Kai Lung found his hands seized and tied behind his back, while a second later
+a rough hemp rope was fixed round his neck, and the other end tied to an
+overhanging tree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lin Yi smiled pleasantly and critically upon these preparations, and when they
+were complete dismissed his follower.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now we can converse at our ease and without restraint,&rdquo; he
+remarked to Kai Lung. &ldquo;It will be a distinguished privilege for a person
+occupying the important public position which you undoubtedly do; for myself,
+my instincts are so degraded and low-minded that nothing gives me more
+gratification than to dispense with ceremony.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To this Kai Lung made no reply, chiefly because at that moment the wind swayed
+the tree, and compelled him to stand on his toes in order to escape
+suffocation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It would be useless to try to conceal from a person of your inspired
+intelligence that I am indeed Lin Yi,&rdquo; continued the robber. &ldquo;It is
+a dignified position to occupy, and one for which I am quite incompetent. In
+the sixth month of the third year ago, it chanced that this unworthy person, at
+that time engaged in commercial affairs at Knei Yang, became inextricably
+immersed in the insidious delights of quail-fighting. Having been entrusted
+with a large number of taels with which to purchase elephants&rsquo; teeth, it
+suddenly occurred to him that if he doubled the number of taels by staking them
+upon an exceedingly powerful and agile quail, he would be able to purchase
+twice the number of teeth, and so benefit his patron to a large extent. This
+matter was clearly forced upon his notice by a dream, in which he perceived one
+whom he then understood to be the benevolent spirit of an ancestor in the act
+of stroking a particular quail, upon whose chances he accordingly placed all he
+possessed. Doubtless evil spirits had been employed in the matter; for, to this
+person&rsquo;s great astonishment, the quail in question failed in a very
+discreditable manner at the encounter. Unfortunately, this person had risked
+not only the money which had been entrusted to him, but all that he had himself
+become possessed of by some years of honourable toil and assiduous courtesy as
+a professional witness in law cases. Not doubting that his patron would see
+that he was himself greatly to blame in confiding so large a sum of money to a
+comparatively young man of whom he knew little, this person placed the matter
+before him, at the same time showing him that he would suffer in the eyes of
+the virtuous if he did not restore this person&rsquo;s savings, which but for
+the presence of the larger sum, and a generous desire to benefit his patron, he
+would never have risked in so uncertain a venture as that of quail-fighting.
+Although the facts were laid in the form of a dignified request instead of a
+demand by legal means, and the reasoning carefully drawn up in columns of fine
+parchment by a very illustrious writer, the reply which this person received
+showed him plainly that a wrong view had been taken of the matter, and that the
+time had arrived when it became necessary for him to make a suitable rejoinder
+by leaving the city without delay.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was a high-minded and disinterested course to take,&rdquo; said Kai
+Lung with great conviction, as Lin Yi paused. &ldquo;Without doubt evil will
+shortly overtake the avaricious-souled person at Knei Yang.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It has already done so,&rdquo; replied Lin Yi. &ldquo;While passing
+through this forest in the season of Many White Vapours, the spirits of his bad
+deeds appeared to him in misleading and symmetrical shapes, and drew him out of
+the path and away from his bowmen. After suffering many torments, he found his
+way here, where, in spite of our continual care, he perished miserably and in
+great bodily pain.... But I cannot conceal from myself, in spite of your
+distinguished politeness, that I am becoming intolerably tiresome with my
+commonplace talk.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the contrary,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung, &ldquo;while listening to your
+voice I seemed to hear the beating of many gongs of the finest and most
+polished brass. I floated in the Middle Air, and for the time I even became
+unconscious of the fact that this honourable appendage, though fashioned, as I
+perceive, out of the most delicate silk, makes it exceedingly difficult for me
+to breathe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such a thing cannot be permitted,&rdquo; exclaimed Lin Yi, with some
+indignation, as with his own hands he slackened the rope and, taking it from
+Kai Lung&rsquo;s neck, fastened it around his ankle. &ldquo;Now, in return for
+my uninviting confidences, shall not my senses be gladdened by a recital of the
+titles and honours borne by your distinguished family? Doubtless, at this
+moment many Mandarins of the highest degree are anxiously awaiting your arrival
+at Knei Yang, perhaps passing the time by outdoing one another in protesting
+the number of taels each would give rather than permit you to be tormented by
+fire-brands, or even to lose a single ear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; replied Kai Lung, &ldquo;never was there a truer proverb
+than that which says, &lsquo;It is a mark of insincerity of purpose to spend
+one&rsquo;s time in looking for the sacred Emperor in the low-class
+tea-shops.&rsquo; Do Mandarins or the friends of Mandarins travel in mean
+garments and unattended? Indeed, the person who is now before you is none other
+than the outcast Kai Lung, the story-teller, one of degraded habits and no very
+distinguished or reputable ancestors. His friends are few, and mostly of the
+criminal class; his wealth is not more than some six or eight cash, concealed
+in his left sandal; and his entire stock-in-trade consists of a few unendurable
+and badly told stories, to which, however, it is his presumptuous intention
+shortly to add a dignified narrative of the high-born Lin Yi, setting out his
+domestic virtues and the honour which he has reflected upon his house, his
+valour in war, the destruction of his enemies, and, above all, his great
+benevolence and the protection which he extends to the poor and those engaged
+in the distinguished arts.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The absence of friends is unfortunate,&rdquo; said Lin Yi thoughtfully,
+after he had possessed himself of the coins indicated by Kai Lung, and also of
+a much larger amount concealed elsewhere among the story-teller&rsquo;s
+clothing. &ldquo;My followers are mostly outlawed Miaotze, who have been driven
+from their own tribes in Yun Nan for man-eating and disregarding the sacred
+laws of hospitality. They are somewhat rapacious, and in this way it has become
+a custom that they should have as their own, for the purpose of exchanging for
+money, persons such as yourself, whose insatiable curiosity has led them to
+this place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The wise and all-knowing Emperor Fohy instituted three degrees of
+attainment: Being poor, to obtain justice; being rich, to escape flattery; and
+being human, to avoid the passions,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung. &ldquo;To these
+the practical and enlightened Kang added yet another, the greatest: Being lean,
+to yield fatness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In such cases,&rdquo; observed the brigand, &ldquo;the Miaotze keep an
+honoured and very venerable rite, which chiefly consists in suspending the
+offender by a pigtail from a low tree, and placing burning twigs of hemp-palm
+between his toes. To this person it seems a foolish and meaningless habit; but
+it would not be well to interfere with their religious observances, however
+trivial they may appear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such a course must inevitably end in great loss,&rdquo; suggested Kai
+Lung; &ldquo;for undoubtedly there are many poor yet honourable persons who
+would leave with them a bond for a large number of taels and save the money
+with which to redeem it, rather than take part in a ceremony which is not
+according to one&rsquo;s own Book of Rites.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They have already suffered in that way on one or two occasions,&rdquo;
+replied Lin Yi; &ldquo;so that such a proposal, no matter how nobly intended,
+would not gladden their faces. Yet they are simple and docile persons, and
+would, without doubt, be moved to any feeling you should desire by the recital
+of one of your illustrious stories.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;An intelligent and discriminating assemblage is more to a story-teller
+than much reward of cash from hands that conceal open mouths,&rdquo; replied
+Kai Lung with great feeling. &ldquo;Nothing would confer more pleasurable
+agitation upon this unworthy person than an opportunity of narrating his entire
+stock to them. If also the accomplished Lin Yi would bestow renown upon the
+occasion by his presence, no omen of good would be wanting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The pleasures of the city lie far behind me,&rdquo; said Lin Yi, after
+some thought, &ldquo;and I would cheerfully submit myself to an intellectual
+accomplishment such as you are undoubtedly capable of. But as we have necessity
+to leave this spot before the hour when the oak-leaves change into night-moths,
+one of your amiable stories will be the utmost we can strengthen our intellects
+with. Select which you will. In the meantime, food will be brought to refresh
+you after your benevolent exertions in conversing with a person of my vapid
+understanding. When you have partaken, or thrown it away as utterly
+unendurable, the time will have arrived, and this person, together with all his
+accomplices, will put themselves in a position to be subjected to all the most
+dignified emotions.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The story which I have selected for this gratifying occasion,&rdquo;
+said Kai Lung, when, an hour or so later, still pinioned, but released from the
+halter, he sat surrounded by the brigands, &ldquo;is entitled &lsquo;Good and
+Evil,&rsquo; and it is concerned with the adventures of one Ling, who bore the
+honourable name of Ho. The first, and indeed the greater, part of the
+narrative, as related by the venerable and accomplished writer of history
+Chow-Tan, is taken up by showing how Ling was assuredly descended from an
+enlightened Emperor of the race of Tsin; but as the no less omniscient
+Ta-lin-hi proves beyond doubt that the person in question was in no way
+connected with any but a line of hereditary ape-worshippers, who entered China
+from an unknown country many centuries ago, it would ill become this illiterate
+person to express an opinion on either side, and he will in consequence omit
+the first seventeen books of the story, and only deal with the three which
+refer to the illustrious Ling himself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+THE STORY OF LING
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Narrated by Kai Lung when a prisoner in the camp of Lin Yi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling was the youngest of three sons, and from his youth upwards proved to be of
+a mild and studious disposition. Most of his time was spent in reading the
+sacred books, and at an early age he found the worship of apes to be repulsive
+to his gentle nature, and resolved to break through the venerable traditions of
+his family by devoting his time to literary pursuits, and presenting himself
+for the public examinations at Canton. In this his resolution was strengthened
+by a rumour that an army of bowmen was shortly to be raised from the Province
+in which he lived, so that if he remained he would inevitably be forced into an
+occupation which was even more distasteful to him than the one he was leaving.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having arrived at Canton, Ling&rsquo;s first care was to obtain particulars of
+the examinations, which he clearly perceived, from the unusual activity
+displayed on all sides, to be near at hand. On inquiring from passers-by, he
+received very conflicting information; for the persons to whom he spoke were
+themselves entered for the competition, and therefore naturally misled him in
+order to increase their own chances of success. Perceiving this, Ling
+determined to apply at once, although the light was past, to a Mandarin who was
+concerned in the examinations, lest by delay he should lose his chance for the
+year.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is an unfortunate event that so distinguished a person should have
+selected this day and hour on which to overwhelm us with his affable
+politeness!&rdquo; exclaimed the porter at the gate of the Yamen, when Ling had
+explained his reason for going. &ldquo;On such a day, in the reign of the
+virtuous Emperor Hoo Chow, a very benevolent and unassuming ancestor of my good
+lord the Mandarin was destroyed by treachery, and ever since his family has
+observed the occasion by fasting and no music. This person would certainly be
+punished with death if he entered the inner room from any cause.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words, Ling, who had been simply brought up, and chiefly in the
+society of apes, was going away with many expressions of self-reproach at
+selecting such a time, when the gate-keeper called him back.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am overwhelmed with confusion at the position in which I find
+myself,&rdquo; he remarked, after he had examined his mind for a short time.
+&ldquo;I may meet with an ungraceful and objectionable death if I carry out
+your estimable instructions, but I shall certainly merit and receive a similar
+fate if I permit so renowned and versatile a person to leave without a fitting
+reception. In such matters a person can only trust to the intervention of good
+spirits; if, therefore, you will permit this unworthy individual to wear, while
+making the venture, the ring which he perceives upon your finger, and which he
+recognizes as a very powerful charm against evil, misunderstandings, and
+extortion, he will go without fear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Overjoyed at the amiable porter&rsquo;s efforts on his behalf, Ling did as he
+was desired, and the other retired. Presently the door of the Yamen was opened
+by an attendant of the house, and Ling bidden to enter. He was covered with
+astonishment to find that this person was entirely unacquainted with his name
+or purpose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; said the attendant, when Ling had explained his object,
+&ldquo;well said the renowned and inspired Ting Fo, &lsquo;When struck by a
+thunderbolt it is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise
+meaning of the omen.&rsquo; At this moment my noble-minded master is engaged in
+conversation with all the most honourable and refined persons in Canton, while
+singers and dancers of a very expert and nimble order have been sent for. The
+entertainment will undoubtedly last far into the night, and to present myself
+even with the excuse of your graceful and delicate inquiry would certainly
+result in very objectionable consequences to this person.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is indeed a day of unprepossessing circumstances,&rdquo; replied
+Ling, and after many honourable remarks concerning his own intellect and
+appearance, and those of the person to whom he was speaking, he had turned to
+leave when the other continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ever since your dignified presence illumined this very ordinary chamber,
+this person has been endeavouring to bring to his mind an incident which
+occurred to him last night while he slept. Now it has come back to him with a
+diamond clearness, and he is satisfied that it was as follows: While he floated
+in the Middle Air a benevolent spirit in the form of an elderly and toothless
+vampire appeared, leading by the hand a young man, of elegant personality.
+Smiling encouragingly upon this person, the spirit said, &lsquo;O Fou,
+recipient of many favours from Mandarins and of innumerable taels from
+gratified persons whom you have obliged, I am, even at this moment, guiding
+this exceptional young man towards your presence; when he arrives do not
+hesitate, but do as he desires, no matter how great the danger seems or how
+inadequately you may appear to be rewarded on earth.&rsquo; The vision then
+melted, but I now clearly perceive that with the exception of the embroidered
+cloak which you wear, you are the person thus indicated to me. Remove your
+cloak, therefore, in order to give the amiable spirit no opportunity of denying
+the fact, and I will advance your wishes; for, as the Book of Verses indicates,
+&lsquo;The person who patiently awaits a sign from the clouds for many years,
+and yet fails to notice the earthquake at his feet, is devoid of
+intellect.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Convinced that he was assuredly under the especial protection of the Deities,
+and that the end of his search was in view, Ling gave his rich cloak to the
+attendant, and was immediately shown into another room, where he was left
+alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a considerable space of time the door opened and there entered a person
+whom Ling at first supposed to be the Mandarin. Indeed, he was addressing him
+by his titles when the other interrupted him. &ldquo;Do not distress your
+incomparable mind by searching for honourable names to apply to so inferior a
+person as myself,&rdquo; he said agreeably. &ldquo;The mistake is,
+nevertheless, very natural; for, however miraculous it may appear, this
+unseemly individual, who is in reality merely a writer of spoken words, is
+admitted to be exceedingly like the dignified Mandarin himself, though somewhat
+stouter, clad in better garments, and, it is said, less obtuse of intellect.
+This last matter he very much doubts, for he now finds himself unable to
+recognize by name one who is undoubtedly entitled to wear the Royal
+Yellow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With this encouragement Ling once more explained his position, narrating the
+events which had enabled him to reach the second chamber of the Yamen. When he
+had finished the secretary was overpowered with a high-minded indignation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Assuredly those depraved and rapacious persons who have both misled and
+robbed you shall suffer bow-stringing when the whole matter is brought to
+light,&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;The noble Mandarin neither fasts nor
+receives guests, for, indeed, he has slept since the sun went down. This person
+would unhesitatingly break his slumber for so commendable a purpose were it not
+for a circumstance of intolerable unavoidableness. It must not even be told in
+a low breath beyond the walls of the Yamen, but my benevolent and high-born
+lord is in reality a person of very miserly instinct, and nothing will call him
+from his natural sleep but the sound of taels shaken beside his bed. In an
+unexpected manner it comes about that this person is quite unsupplied with
+anything but thin printed papers of a thousand taels each, and these are quite
+useless for the purpose.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is unendurable that so obliging a person should be put to such
+inconvenience on behalf of one who will certainly become a public
+laughing-stock at the examinations,&rdquo; said Ling, with deep feeling; and
+taking from a concealed spot in his garments a few taels, he placed them before
+the secretary for the use he had indicated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling was again left alone for upwards of two strokes of the gong, and was on
+the point of sleep when the secretary returned with an expression of dignified
+satisfaction upon his countenance. Concluding that he had been successful in
+the manner of awakening the Mandarin, Ling was opening his mouth for a polite
+speech, which should contain a delicate allusion to the taels, when the
+secretary warned him, by affecting a sudden look of terror, that silence was
+exceedingly desirable, and at the same time opened another door and indicated
+to Ling that he should pass through.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the next room Ling was overjoyed to find himself in the presence of the
+Mandarin, who received him graciously, and paid many estimable compliments to
+the name he bore and the country from which he came. When at length Ling tore
+himself from this enchanting conversation, and explained the reason of his
+presence, the Mandarin at once became a prey to the whitest and most melancholy
+emotions, even plucking two hairs from his pigtail to prove the extent and
+conscientiousness of his grief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold,&rdquo; he cried at length, &ldquo;I am resolved that the
+extortionate and many-handed persons at Peking who have control of the
+examination rites and customs shall no longer grow round-bodied without remark.
+This person will unhesitatingly proclaim the true facts of the case without
+regarding the danger that the versatile Chancellor or even the sublime Emperor
+himself may, while he speaks, be concealed in some part of this unassuming room
+to hear his words; for, as it is wisely said, &lsquo;When marked out by
+destiny, a person will assuredly be drowned, even though he passes the whole of
+his existence among the highest branches of a date tree.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am overwhelmed that I should be the cause of such an engaging display
+of polished agitation,&rdquo; said Ling, as the Mandarin paused. &ldquo;If it
+would make your own stomach less heavy, this person will willingly follow your
+estimable example, either with or without knowing the reason.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The matter is altogether on your account, O most unobtrusive young
+man,&rdquo; replied the Mandarin, when a voice without passion was restored to
+him. &ldquo;It tears me internally with hooks to reflect that you, whose
+refined ancestors I might reasonably have known had I passed my youth in
+another Province, should be victim to the cupidity of the ones in authority at
+Peking. A very short time before you arrived there came a messenger in haste
+from those persons, clearly indicating that a legal toll of sixteen taels was
+to be made on each printed paper setting forth the time and manner of the
+examinations, although, as you may see, the paper is undoubtedly marked,
+&lsquo;Persons are given notice that they are defrauded of any sum which they
+may be induced to exchange for this matter.&rsquo; Furthermore, there is a
+legal toll of nine taels on all persons who have previously been
+examined&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am happily escaped from that,&rdquo; exclaimed Ling with some
+satisfaction as the Mandarin paused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&mdash;and twelve taels on all who present themselves for the first
+time. This is to be delivered over when the paper is purchased, so that you, by
+reason of this unworthy proceeding at Peking, are required to forward to that
+place, through this person, no less than thirty-two taels.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a circumstance of considerable regret,&rdquo; replied Ling;
+&ldquo;for had I only reached Canton a day earlier, I should, it appears, have
+avoided this evil.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Undoubtedly it would have been so,&rdquo; replied the Mandarin, who had
+become engrossed in exalted meditation. &ldquo;However,&rdquo; he continued a
+moment later, as he bowed to Ling with an accomplished smile, &ldquo;it would
+certainly be a more pleasant thought for a person of your refined intelligence
+that had you delayed until to-morrow the insatiable persons at Peking might be
+demanding twice the amount.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pondering the deep wisdom of this remark, Ling took his departure; but in spite
+of the most assiduous watchfulness he was unable to discern any of the three
+obliging persons to whose efforts his success had been due.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+
+<p>
+It was very late when Ling again reached the small room which he had selected
+as soon as he reached Canton, but without waiting for food or sleep he made
+himself fully acquainted with the times of the forthcoming examinations and the
+details of the circumstances connected with them. With much satisfaction he
+found that he had still a week in which to revive his intellect on the most
+difficult subjects. Having become relieved on these points, Ling retired for a
+few hours&rsquo; sleep, but rose again very early, and gave the whole day with
+great steadfastness to contemplation of the sacred classics Y-King, with the
+exception of a short period spent in purchasing ink, brushes and
+writing-leaves. The following day, having become mentally depressed through
+witnessing unaccountable hordes of candidates thronging the streets of Canton,
+Ling put aside his books, and passed the time in visiting all the most
+celebrated tombs in the neighbourhood of the city. Lightened in mind by this
+charitable and agreeable occupation, he returned to his studies with a fixed
+resolution, nor did he again falter in his purpose. On the evening of the
+examination, when he was sitting alone, reading by the aid of a single light,
+as his custom was, a person arrived to see him, at the same time manifesting a
+considerable appearance of secrecy and reserve. Inwardly sighing at the
+interruption, Ling nevertheless received him with distinguished consideration
+and respect, setting tea before him, and performing towards it many honourable
+actions with his own hands. Not until some hours had sped in conversation
+relating to the health of the Emperor, the unexpected appearance of a fiery
+dragon outside the city, and the insupportable price of opium, did the visitor
+allude to the object of his presence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It has been observed,&rdquo; he remarked, &ldquo;that the accomplished
+Ling, who aspires to a satisfactory rank at the examinations, has never before
+made the attempt. Doubtless in this case a preternatural wisdom will avail
+much, and its fortunate possessor will not go unrewarded. Yet it is as precious
+stones among ashes for one to triumph in such circumstances.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The fact is known to this person,&rdquo; replied Ling sadly, &ldquo;and
+the thought of the years he may have to wait before he shall have passed even
+the first degree weighs down his soul with bitterness from time to time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is no infrequent thing for men of accomplished perseverance, but
+merely ordinary intellects, to grow venerable within the four walls of the
+examination cell,&rdquo; continued the other. &ldquo;Some, again, become
+afflicted with various malignant evils, while not a few, chiefly those who are
+presenting themselves for the first time, are so overcome on perceiving the
+examination paper, and understanding the inadequate nature of their own
+accomplishments, that they become an easy prey to the malicious spirits which
+are ever on the watch in those places; and, after covering their leaves with
+unpresentable remarks and drawings of men and women of distinguished rank, have
+at length to be forcibly carried away by the attendants and secured with heavy
+chains.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such things undoubtedly exist,&rdquo; agreed Ling; &ldquo;yet by a due
+regard paid to spirits, both good and bad, a proper esteem for one&rsquo;s
+ancestors, and a sufficiency of charms about the head and body, it is possible
+to be closeted with all manner of demons and yet to suffer no evil.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is undoubtedly possible to do so, according to the Immortal
+Principles,&rdquo; admitted the stranger; &ldquo;but it is not an undertaking
+in which a refined person would take intelligent pleasure; as the proverb says,
+&lsquo;He is a wise and enlightened suppliant who seeks to discover an
+honourable Mandarin, but he is a fool who cries out, &ldquo;I have found
+one.&rdquo;&rsquo; However, it is obvious that the reason of my visit is
+understood, and that your distinguished confidence in yourself is merely a
+graceful endeavour to obtain my services for a less amount of taels than I
+should otherwise have demanded. For half the usual sum, therefore, this person
+will take your place in the examination cell, and enable your versatile name to
+appear in the winning lists, while you pass your moments in irreproachable
+pleasures elsewhere.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such a course had never presented itself to Ling. As the person who narrates
+this story has already marked, he had passed his life beyond the influence of
+the ways and manners of towns, and at the same time he had naturally been
+endowed with an unobtrusive highmindedness. It appeared to him, in consequence,
+that by accepting this engaging offer he would be placing those who were
+competing with him at a disadvantage. This person clearly sees that it is a
+difficult matter for him to explain how this could be, as Ling would
+undoubtedly reward the services of the one who took his place, nor would the
+number of the competitors be in any way increased; yet in such a way the thing
+took shape before his eyes. Knowing, however, that few persons would be able to
+understand this action, and being desirous of not injuring the estimable
+emotions of the obliging person who had come to him, Ling made a number of
+polished excuses in declining, hiding the true reason within himself. In this
+way he earned the powerful malignity of the person in question, who would not
+depart until he had effected a number of very disagreeable prophecies connected
+with unpropitious omens and internal torments, all of which undoubtedly had a
+great influence on Ling&rsquo;s life beyond that time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Each day of the examination found Ling alternately elated or depressed,
+according to the length and style of the essay which he had written while
+enclosed in his solitary examination cell. The trials each lasted a complete
+day, and long before the fifteen days which composed the full examination were
+passed, Ling found himself half regretting that he had not accepted his
+visitor&rsquo;s offer, or even reviling the day on which he had abandoned the
+hereditary calling of his ancestors. However, when, after all was over, he came
+to deliberate with himself on his chances of attaining a degree, he could not
+disguise from his own mind that he had well-formed hopes; he was not conscious
+of any undignified errors, and, in reply to several questions, he had been able
+to introduce curious knowledge which he possessed by means of his exceptional
+circumstances&mdash;knowledge which it was unlikely that any other candidate
+would have been able to make himself master of.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length the day arrived on which the results were to be made public; and
+Ling, together with all the other competitors and many distinguished persons,
+attended at the great Hall of Intellectual Coloured Lights to hear the reading
+of the lists. Eight thousand candidates had been examined, and from this number
+less than two hundred were to be selected for appointments. Amid a most
+distinguished silence the winning names were read out. Waves of most
+undignified but inevitable emotion passed over those assembled as the list
+neared its end, and the chances of success became less at each spoken word; and
+then, finding that his was not among them, together with the greater part of
+those present, he became a prey to very inelegant thoughts, which were not
+lessened by the refined cries of triumph of the successful persons. Among this
+confusion the one who had read the lists was observed to be endeavouring to
+make his voice known, whereupon, in the expectation that he had omitted a name,
+the tumult was quickly subdued by those who again had pleasurable visions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There was among the candidates one of the name of Ling,&rdquo; said he,
+when no-noise had been obtained. &ldquo;The written leaves produced by this
+person are of a most versatile and conflicting order, so that, indeed, the
+accomplished examiners themselves are unable to decide whether they are very
+good or very bad. In this matter, therefore, it is clearly impossible to place
+the expert and inimitable Ling among the foremost, as his very uncertain
+success may have been brought about with the assistance of evil spirits; nor
+would it be safe to pass over his efforts without reward, as he may be under
+the protection of powerful but exceedingly ill-advised deities. The estimable
+Ling is told to appear again at this place after the gong has been struck three
+times, when the matter will have been looked at from all round.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this announcement there arose another great tumult, several crying out that
+assuredly their written leaves were either very good or very bad; but no
+further proclamation was made, and very soon the hall was cleared by force.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the time stated Ling again presented himself at the Hall, and was honourably
+received.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The unusual circumstances of the matter have already been put
+forth,&rdquo; said an elderly Mandarin of engaging appearance, &ldquo;so that
+nothing remains to be made known except the end of our despicable efforts to
+come to an agreeable conclusion. In this we have been made successful, and now
+desire to notify the result. A very desirable and not unremunerative office,
+rarely bestowed in this manner, is lately vacant, and taking into our minds the
+circumstances of the event, and the fact that Ling comes from a Province very
+esteemed for the warlike instincts of its inhabitants, we have decided to
+appoint him commander of the valiant and blood-thirsty band of archers now
+stationed at Si-chow, in the Province of Hu-Nan. We have spoken. Let three guns
+go off in honour of the noble and invincible Ling, now and henceforth a
+commander in the ever-victorious Army of the Sublime Emperor, brother of the
+Sun and Moon, and Upholder of the Four Corners of the World.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+
+<p>
+Many hours passed before Ling, now more downcast in mind than the most
+unsuccessful student in Canton, returned to his room and sought his couch of
+dried rushes. All his efforts to have his distinguished appointment set aside
+had been without avail, and he had been ordered to reach Si-chow within a week.
+As he passed through the streets, elegant processions in honour of the winners
+met him at every corner, and drove him into the outskirts for the object of
+quietness. There he remained until the beating of paper drums and the sound of
+exulting voices could be heard no more; but even when he returned lanterns
+shone in many dwellings, for two hundred persons were composing verses, setting
+forth their renown and undoubted accomplishments, ready to affix to their doors
+and send to friends on the next day. Not giving any portion of his mind to this
+desirable act of behaviour, Ling flung himself upon the floor, and, finding
+sleep unattainable, plunged himself into profound meditation of a very
+uninviting order. &ldquo;Without doubt,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;evil can
+only arise from evil, and as this person has always endeavoured to lead a life
+in which his devotions have been equally divided between the sacred Emperor,
+his illustrious parents, and his venerable ancestors, the fault cannot lie with
+him. Of the excellence of his parents he has full knowledge; regarding the
+Emperor, it might not be safe to conjecture. It is therefore probable that some
+of his ancestors were persons of abandoned manner and inelegant habits, to
+worship whom results in evil rather than good. Otherwise, how could it be that
+one whose chief delight lies in the passive contemplation of the Four Books and
+the Five Classics, should be selected by destiny to fill a position calling for
+great personal courage and an aggressive nature? Assuredly it can only end in a
+mean and insignificant death, perhaps not even followed by burial.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this manner of thought he fell asleep, and after certain very base and
+impressive dreams, from which good omens were altogether absent, he awoke, and
+rose to begin his preparations for leaving the city. After two days spent
+chiefly in obtaining certain safeguards against treachery and the bullets of
+foemen, purchasing opium and other gifts with which to propitiate the soldiers
+under his charge, and in consulting well-disposed witches and readers of the
+future, he set out, and by travelling in extreme discomfort, reached Si-chow
+within five days. During his journey he learned that the entire Province was
+engaged in secret rebellion, several towns, indeed, having declared against the
+Imperial army without reserve. Those persons to whom Ling spoke described the
+rebels, with respectful admiration, as fierce and unnaturally skilful in all
+methods of fighting, revengeful and merciless towards their enemies, very
+numerous and above the ordinary height of human beings, and endowed with
+qualities which made their skin capable of turning aside every kind of weapon.
+Furthermore, he was assured that a large band of the most abandoned and best
+trained was at that moment in the immediate neighbourhood of Si-chow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling was not destined long to remain in any doubt concerning the truth of these
+matters, for as he made his way through a dark cypress wood, a few li from the
+houses of Si-chow, the sounds of a confused outcry reached his ears, and on
+stepping aside to a hidden glade some distance from the path, he beheld a young
+and elegant maiden of incomparable beauty being carried away by two persons of
+most repulsive and undignified appearance, whose dress and manner clearly
+betrayed them to be rebels of the lowest and worst-paid type. At this sight
+Ling became possessed of feelings of a savage yet agreeable order, which until
+that time he had not conjectured to have any place within his mind, and without
+even pausing to consider whether the planets were in favourable positions for
+the enterprise to be undertaken at that time, he drew his sword, and ran
+forward with loud cries. Unsettled in their intentions at this unexpected
+action, the two persons turned and advanced upon Ling with whirling daggers,
+discussing among themselves whether it would be better to kill him at the first
+blow or to take him alive, and, when the day had become sufficiently cool for
+the full enjoyment of the spectacle, submit him to various objectionable
+tortures of so degraded a nature that they were rarely used in the army of the
+Emperor except upon the persons of barbarians. Observing that the maiden was
+not bound, Ling cried out to her to escape and seek protection within the town,
+adding, with a magnanimous absence of vanity:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Should this person chance to fall, the repose which the presence of so
+lovely and graceful a being would undoubtedly bring to his departing spirit
+would be out-balanced by the unendurable thought that his commonplace efforts
+had not been sufficient to save her from the two evilly-disposed individuals
+who are, as he perceives, at this moment, neglecting no means within their
+power to accomplish his destruction.&rdquo; Accepting the discernment of these
+words, the maiden fled, first bestowing a look upon Ling which clearly
+indicated an honourable regard for himself, a high-minded desire that the
+affair might end profitably on his account, and an amiable hope that they
+should meet again, when these subjects could be expressed more clearly between
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the meantime Ling had become at a disadvantage, for the time occupied in
+speaking and in making the necessary number of bows in reply to her entrancing
+glance had given the other persons an opportunity of arranging their charms and
+sacred written sentences to greater advantage, and of occupying the most
+favourable ground for the encounter. Nevertheless, so great was the force of
+the new emotion which had entered into Ling&rsquo;s nature that, without
+waiting to consider the dangers or the best method of attack, he rushed upon
+them, waving his sword with such force that he appeared as though surrounded by
+a circle of very brilliant fire. In this way he reached the rebels, who both
+fell unexpectedly at one blow, they, indeed, being under the impression that
+the encounter had not commenced in reality, and that Ling was merely menacing
+them in order to inspire their minds with terror and raise his own spirits.
+However much he regretted this act of the incident which he had been compelled
+to take, Ling could not avoid being filled with intellectual joy at finding
+that his own charms and omens were more distinguished than those possessed by
+the rebels, none of whom, as he now plainly understood, he need fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Examining these things within his mind, and reflecting on the events of the
+past few days, by which he had been thrown into a class of circumstances
+greatly differing from anything which he had ever sought, Ling continued his
+journey, and soon found himself before the southern gate of Si-chow. Entering
+the town, he at once formed the resolution of going before the Mandarin for
+Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, so that he might present, without delay, the
+papers and seals which he had brought with him from Canton.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The noble Mandarin Li Keen?&rdquo; replied the first person to whom Ling
+addressed himself. &ldquo;It would indeed be a difficult and hazardous
+conjecture to make concerning his sacred person. By chance he is in the
+strongest and best-concealed cellar in Si-chow, unless the sumptuous
+attractions of the deepest dry well have induced him to make a short
+journey&rdquo;; and, with a look of great unfriendliness at Ling&rsquo;s dress
+and weapons, this person passed on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Doubtless he is fighting single-handed against the armed men by whom the
+place is surrounded,&rdquo; said another; &ldquo;or perhaps he is constructing
+an underground road from the Yamen to Peking, so that we may all escape when
+the town is taken. All that can be said with certainty is that the Heaven-sent
+and valorous Mandarin has not been seen outside the walls of his well-fortified
+residence since the trouble arose; but, as you carry a sword of conspicuous
+excellence, you will doubtless be welcome.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Upon making a third attempt Ling was more successful, for he inquired of an
+aged woman, who had neither a reputation for keen and polished sentences to
+maintain, nor any interest in the acts of the Mandarin or of the rebels. From
+her he learned how to reach the Yamen, and accordingly turned his footsteps in
+that direction. When at length he arrived at the gate, Ling desired his tablets
+to be carried to the Mandarin with many expressions of an impressive and
+engaging nature, nor did he neglect to reward the porter. It was therefore with
+the expression of a misunderstanding mind that he received a reply setting
+forth that Li Keen was unable to receive him. In great doubt he prevailed upon
+the porter, by means of a still larger reward, again to carry in his message,
+and on this occasion an answer in this detail was placed before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Li Keen,&rdquo; he was informed, &ldquo;is indeed awaiting the arrival
+of one Ling, a noble and valiant Commander of Bowmen. He is given to
+understand, it is true, that a certain person claiming the same honoured name
+is standing in somewhat undignified attitudes at the gate, but he is unable in
+any way to make these two individuals meet within his intellect. He would
+further remind all persons that the refined observances laid down by the wise
+and exalted Board of Rites and Ceremonies have a marked and irreproachable
+significance when the country is in a state of disorder, the town surrounded by
+rebels, and every breathing-space of time of more than ordinary value.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Overpowered with becoming shame at having been connected with so unseemly a
+breach of civility, for which his great haste had in reality been accountable,
+Ling hastened back into the town, and spent many hours endeavouring to obtain a
+chair of the requisite colour in which to visit the Mandarin. In this he was
+unsuccessful, until it was at length suggested to him that an ordinary chair,
+such as stood for hire in the streets of Si-chow, would be acceptable if
+covered with blue paper. Still in some doubt as to what the nature of his
+reception would be, Ling had no choice but to take this course, and accordingly
+he again reached the Yamen in such a manner, carried by two persons whom he had
+obtained for the purpose. While yet hardly at the residence a salute was
+suddenly fired; all the gates and doors were, without delay, thrown open with
+embarrassing and hospitable profusion, and the Mandarin himself passed out, and
+would have assisted Ling to step down from his chair had not that person,
+clearly perceiving that such a course would be too great an honour, evaded him
+by an unobtrusive display of versatile dexterity. So numerous and profound were
+the graceful remarks which each made concerning the habits and accomplishments
+of the other that more than the space of an hour was passed in traversing the
+small enclosed ground which led up to the principal door of the Yamen. There an
+almost greater time was agreeably spent, both Ling and the Mandarin having
+determined that the other should enter first. Undoubtedly Ling, who was the
+more powerful of the two, would have conferred this courteous distinction upon
+Li Keen had not that person summoned to his side certain attendants who
+succeeded in frustrating Ling in his high-minded intentions, and in forcing him
+through the doorway in spite of his conscientious protests against the
+unsurmountable obligation under which the circumstance placed him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Conversing in this intellectual and dignified manner, the strokes of the gong
+passed unheeded; tea had been brought into their presence many times, and night
+had fallen before the Mandarin allowed Ling to refer to the matter which had
+brought him to the place, and to present his written papers and seals.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a valuable privilege to have so intelligent a person as the
+illustrious Ling occupying this position,&rdquo; remarked the Mandarin, as he
+returned the papers; &ldquo;and not less so on account of the one who preceded
+him proving himself to be a person of feeble attainments and an unendurable
+deficiency of resource.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To one with the all-knowing Li Keen&rsquo;s mental acquisitions, such a
+person must indeed have become excessively offensive,&rdquo; replied Ling
+delicately; &ldquo;for, as it is truly said, &lsquo;Although there exist many
+thousand subjects for elegant conversation, there are persons who cannot meet a
+cripple without talking about feet.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He to whom I have referred was such a one,&rdquo; said Li Keen,
+appreciating with an expression of countenance the fitness of Ling&rsquo;s
+proverb. &ldquo;He was totally inadequate to the requirements of his position;
+for he possessed no military knowledge, and was placed in command by those at
+Peking as a result of his taking a high place at one of the examinations. But
+more than this, although his three years of service were almost completed, I
+was quite unsuccessful in convincing him that an unseemly degradation probably
+awaited him unless he could furnish me with the means with which to propitiate
+the persons in authority at Peking. This he neglected to do with obstinate
+pertinacity, which compelled this person to inquire within himself whether one
+of so little discernment could be trusted with an important and arduous office.
+After much deliberation, this person came to the decision that the Commander in
+question was not a fit person, and he therefore reported him to the Imperial
+Board of Punishment at Peking as one subject to frequent and periodical
+eccentricities, and possessed of less than ordinary intellect. In consequence
+of this act of justice, the Commander was degraded to the rank of common
+bowman, and compelled to pay a heavy fine in addition.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was a just and enlightened conclusion of the affair,&rdquo; said
+Ling, in spite of a deep feeling of no enthusiasm, &ldquo;and one which
+surprisingly bore out your own prophecy in the matter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was an inspired warning to persons who should chance to be in a like
+position at any time,&rdquo; replied Li Keen. &ldquo;So grasping and corrupt
+are those who control affairs in Peking that I have no doubt they would
+scarcely hesitate in debasing even one so immaculate as the exceptional Ling,
+and placing him in some laborious and ill-paid civil department should he not
+accede to their extortionate demands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This suggestion did not carry with it the unpleasurable emotions which the
+Mandarin anticipated it would. The fierce instincts which had been aroused
+within Ling by the incident in the cypress wood had died out, while his
+lamentable ignorance of military affairs was ever before his mind. These
+circumstances, together with his naturally gentle habits, made him regard such
+a degradation rather favourably than otherwise. He was meditating within
+himself whether he could arrange such a course without delay when the Mandarin
+continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That, however, is a possibility which is remote to the extent of at
+least two or three years; do not, therefore, let so unpleasing a thought cast
+darkness upon your brows or remove the unparalleled splendour of so refined an
+occasion... Doubtless the accomplished Ling is a master of the art of
+chess-play, for many of our most thoughtful philosophers have declared war to
+be nothing but such a game; let this slow-witted and cumbersome person have an
+opportunity, therefore, of polishing his declining facilities by a pleasant and
+dignified encounter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER V</h3>
+
+<p>
+On the next day, having completed his business at the Yamen, Ling left the
+town, and without desiring any ceremony quietly betook himself to his new
+residence within the camp, which was situated among the millet fields some
+distance from Si-chow. As soon as his presence became known all those who
+occupied positions of command, and whose years of service would shortly come to
+an end, hastened to present themselves before him, bringing with them offerings
+according to the rank they held, they themselves requiring a similar service
+from those beneath them. First among these, and next in command to Ling
+himself, was the Chief of Bowmen, a person whom Ling observed with extreme
+satisfaction to be very powerful in body and possessing a strong and dignified
+countenance which showed unquestionable resolution and shone with a tiger-like
+tenaciousness of purpose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Undoubtedly,&rdquo; thought Ling, as he observed this noble and
+prepossessing person, &ldquo;here is one who will be able to assist me in
+whatever perplexities may arise. Never was there an individual who seemed more
+worthy to command and lead; assuredly to him the most intricate and prolonged
+military positions will be an enjoyment; the most crafty stratagems of the
+enemy as the full moon rising from behind a screen of rushes. Without making
+any pretence of knowledge, this person will explain the facts of the case to
+him and place himself without limit in his hands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For this purpose he therefore detained the Chief of Bowmen when the others
+departed, and complimented him, with many expressive phrases, on the excellence
+of his appearance, as the thought occurred to him that by this means, without
+disclosing the full measure of his ignorance, the person in question might be
+encouraged to speak unrestrainedly of the nature of his exploits, and perchance
+thereby explain the use of the appliances employed and the meaning of the
+various words of order, in all of which details the Commander was as yet most
+disagreeably imperfect. In this, however, he was disappointed, for the Chief of
+Bowmen, greatly to Ling&rsquo;s surprise, received all his polished sentences
+with somewhat foolish smiles of great self-satisfaction, merely replying from
+time to time as he displayed his pigtail to greater advantage or rearranged his
+gold-embroidered cloak:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This person must really pray you to desist; the honour is indeed too
+great.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Disappointed in his hope, and not desiring after this circumstance to expose
+his shortcomings to one who was obviously not of a highly-refined
+understanding, no matter how great his valour in war or his knowledge of
+military affairs might be, Ling endeavoured to lead him to converse of the
+bowmen under his charge. In this matter he was more successful, for the Chief
+spoke at great length and with evilly-inspired contempt of their inelegance,
+their undiscriminating and excessive appetites, and the frequent use which they
+made of low words and gestures. Desiring to become acquainted rather with their
+methods of warfare than with their domestic details, Ling inquired of him what
+formation they relied upon when receiving the foemen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a matter which has not engaged the attention of this one,&rdquo;
+replied the Chief, with an excessive absence of interest. &ldquo;There are so
+many affairs of intelligent dignity which cannot be put aside, and which occupy
+one from beginning to end. As an example, this person may describe how the
+accomplished Li-Lu, generally depicted as the Blue-eyed Dove of Virtuous and
+Serpent-like Attitudes, has been scattering glory upon the Si-chow Hall of
+Celestial Harmony for many days past. It is an enlightened display which the
+high-souled Ling should certainly endeavour to dignify with his presence,
+especially at the portion where the amiable Li-Lu becomes revealed in the
+appearance of a Peking sedan-chair bearer and describes the manner and
+likenesses of certain persons&mdash;chiefly high-priests of Buddha, excessively
+round-bodied merchants who feign to be detained within Peking on affairs of
+commerce, maidens who attend at the tables of tea-houses, and those of both
+sexes who are within the city for the first time to behold its temples and open
+spaces&mdash;who are conveyed from place to place in the chair.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And the bowmen?&rdquo; suggested Ling, with difficulty restraining an
+undignified emotion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Really, the elegant Ling will discover them to be persons of deficient
+manners, and quite unworthy of occupying his well-bred conversation,&rdquo;
+replied the Chief. &ldquo;As regards their methods&mdash;if the renowned Ling
+insists&mdash;they fight by means of their bows, with which they discharge
+arrows at the foemen, they themselves hiding behind trees and rocks. Should the
+enemy be undisconcerted by the cloud of arrows, and advance, the bowmen are
+instructed to make a last endeavour to frighten them back by uttering loud
+shouts and feigning the voices of savage beasts of the forest and deadly
+snakes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And beyond that?&rdquo; inquired Ling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Beyond that there are no instructions,&rdquo; replied the Chief.
+&ldquo;The bowmen would then naturally take to flight, or, if such a course
+became impossible, run to meet the enemy, protesting that they were convinced
+of the justice of their cause, and were determined to fight on their side in
+the future.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would it not be of advantage to arm them with cutting weapons
+also?&rdquo; inquired Ling; &ldquo;so that when all their arrows were
+discharged they would still be able to take part in the fight, and not be lost
+to us?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They would not be lost to us, of course,&rdquo; replied the Chief,
+&ldquo;as we would still be with them. But such a course as the one you suggest
+could not fail to end in dismay. Being as well armed as ourselves, they would
+then turn upon us, and, having destroyed us, proceed to establish leaders of
+their own.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Ling and the Chief of Bowmen conversed in this enlightened manner, there
+arose a great outcry from among the tents, and presently there entered to them
+a spy who had discovered a strong force of the enemy not more than ten or
+twelve li away, who showed every indication of marching shortly in the
+direction of Si-chow. In numbers alone, he continued, they were greatly
+superior to the bowmen, and all were well armed. The spreading of this news
+threw the entire camp into great confusion, many protesting that the day was
+not a favourable one on which to fight, others crying that it was their duty to
+fall back on Si-chow and protect the women and children. In the midst of this
+tumult the Chief of Bowmen returned to Ling, bearing in his hand a written
+paper which he regarded in uncontrollable anguish.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, illustrious Ling,&rdquo; he cried, restraining his grief with
+difficulty, and leaning for support upon the shoulders of two bowmen,
+&ldquo;how prosperous indeed are you! What greater misfortune can engulf a
+person who is both an ambitious soldier and an affectionate son, than to lose
+such a chance of glory and promotion as only occurs once within the lifetime,
+and an affectionate and venerable father upon the same day? Behold this mandate
+to attend, without a moment&rsquo;s delay, at the funeral obsequies of one whom
+I left, only last week, in the fullness of health and power. The occasion being
+an unsuitable one, I will not call upon the courteous Ling to join me in
+sorrow; but his own devout filial piety is so well known that I can
+conscientiously rely upon an application for absence to be only a matter of
+official ceremony.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The application will certainly be regarded as merely official
+ceremony,&rdquo; replied Ling, without resorting to any delicate pretence of
+meaning, &ldquo;and the refined scruples of the person who is addressing me
+will be fully met by the official date of his venerated father&rsquo;s death
+being fixed for a more convenient season. In the meantime, the unobtrusive
+Chief of Bowmen may take the opportunity of requesting that the family tomb be
+kept unsealed until he is heard from again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling turned away, as he finished this remark, with a dignified feeling of not
+inelegant resentment. In this way he chanced to observe a large body of
+soldiers which was leaving the camp accompanied by their lesser captains, all
+crowned with garlands of flowers and creeping plants. In spite of his very
+inadequate attainments regarding words of order, the Commander made it
+understood by means of an exceedingly short sentence that he was desirous of
+the men returning without delay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Doubtless the accomplished Commander, being but newly arrived in this
+neighbourhood, is unacquainted with the significance of this display,&rdquo;
+said one of the lesser captains pleasantly. &ldquo;Know then, O wise and
+custom-respecting Ling, that on a similar day many years ago this valiant band
+of bowmen was engaged in a very honourable affair with certain of the enemy.
+Since then it has been the practice to commemorate the matter with music and
+other forms of delight within the large square at Si-chow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such customs are excellent,&rdquo; said Ling affably. &ldquo;On this
+occasion, however, the public square will be so insufferably thronged with the
+number of timorous and credulous villagers who have pressed into the town that
+insufficient justice would be paid to your entrancing display. In consequence
+of this, we will select for the purpose some convenient spot in the
+neighbourhood. The proceedings will be commenced by a display of arrow-shooting
+at moving objects, followed by racing and dancing, in which this person will
+lead. I have spoken.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words many of the more courageous among the bowmen became
+destructively inspired, and raised shouts of defiance against the enemy,
+enumerating at great length the indignities which they would heap upon their
+prisoners. Cries of distinction were also given on behalf of Ling, even the
+more terrified exclaiming:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The noble Commander Ling will lead us! He has promised, and assuredly he
+will not depart from his word. Shielded by his broad and sacred body, from
+which the bullets glance aside harmlessly, we will advance upon the enemy in
+the stealthy manner affected by ducks when crossing the swamp. How altogether
+superior a person our Commander is when likened unto the leaders of the
+foemen&mdash;they who go into battle completely surrounded by their
+archers!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Upon this, perceiving the clear direction in which matters were turning, the
+Chief of Bowmen again approached Ling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Doubtless the highly-favoured person whom I am now addressing has been
+endowed with exceptional authority direct from Peking,&rdquo; he remarked with
+insidious politeness. &ldquo;Otherwise this narrow-minded individual would
+suggest that such a decision does not come within the judgment of a
+Commander.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In his ignorance of military matters it had not entered the mind of Ling that
+his authority did not give him the power to commence an attack without
+consulting other and more distinguished persons. At the suggestion, which he
+accepted as being composed of truth, he paused, the enlightened zeal with which
+he had been inspired dying out as he plainly understood the difficulties by
+which he was enclosed. There seemed a single expedient path for him in the
+matter; so, directing a person of exceptional trustworthiness to prepare
+himself for a journey, he inscribed a communication to the Mandarin Li Keen, in
+which he narrated the facts and asked for speedy directions, and then
+despatched it with great urgency to Si-chow.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VI</h3>
+
+<p>
+When these matters were arranged, Ling returned to his tent, a victim to
+feelings of a deep and confused doubt, for all courses seemed to be surrounded
+by extreme danger, with the strong possibility of final disaster. While he was
+considering these things attentively, the spy who had brought word of the
+presence of the enemy again sought him. As he entered, Ling perceived that his
+face was the colour of a bleached linen garment, while there came with him the
+odour of sickness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are certain matters which this person has not made known,&rdquo;
+he said, having first expressed a request that he might not be compelled to
+stand while he conversed. &ldquo;The bowmen are as an inferior kind of jackal,
+and they who lead them are pigs, but this person has observed that the
+Heaven-sent Commander has internal organs like steel hardened in a white fire
+and polished by running water. For this reason he will narrate to him the
+things he has seen&mdash;things at which the lesser ones would undoubtedly
+perish in terror without offering to strike a blow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Speak,&rdquo; said Ling, &ldquo;without fear and without
+concealment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In numbers the rebels are as three to one with the bowmen, and are, in
+addition, armed with matchlocks and other weapons; this much I have already
+told,&rdquo; said the spy. &ldquo;Yesterday they entered the village of Ki
+without resistance, as the dwellers there were all peaceable persons, who gain
+a living from the fields, and who neither understood nor troubled about the
+matters between the rebels and the army. Relying on the promises made by the
+rebel chiefs, the villagers even welcomed them, as they had been assured that
+they came as buyers of their corn and rice. To-day not a house stands in the
+street of Ki, not a person lives. The men they slew quickly, or held for
+torture, as they desired at the moment; the boys they hung from the trees as
+marks for their arrows. Of the women and children this person, who has since
+been subject to several attacks of fainting and vomiting, desires not to speak.
+The wells of Ki are filled with the bodies of such as had the good fortune to
+be warned in time to slay themselves. The cattle drag themselves from place to
+place on their forefeet; the fish in the Heng-Kiang are dying, for they cannot
+live on water thickened into blood. All these things this person has
+seen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he had finished speaking, Ling remained in deep and funereal thought for
+some time. In spite of his mild nature, the words which he had heard filled him
+with an inextinguishable desire to slay in hand-to-hand fighting. He regretted
+that he had placed the decision of the matter before Li Keen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If only this person had a mere handful of brave and expert warriors, he
+would not hesitate to fall upon those savage and barbarous characters, and
+either destroy them to the last one, or let his band suffer a like fate,&rdquo;
+he murmured to himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The return of the messenger found him engaged in reviewing the bowmen, and
+still in this mood, so that it was with a commendable feeling of satisfaction,
+no less than virtuous contempt, that he learned of the Mandarin&rsquo;s journey
+to Peking as soon as he understood that the rebels were certainly in the
+neighbourhood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The wise and ornamental Li Keen is undoubtedly consistent in all
+matters,&rdquo; said Ling, with some refined bitterness. &ldquo;The only
+information regarding his duties which this person obtained from him chanced to
+be a likening of war to skilful chess-play, and to this end the accomplished
+person in question has merely availed himself of a common expedient which
+places him at the remote side of the divine Emperor. Yet this act is not
+unwelcome, for the responsibility of deciding what course is to be adopted now
+clearly rests with this person. He is, as those who are standing by may
+perceive, of under the usual height, and of no particular mental or bodily
+attainments. But he has eaten the rice of the Emperor, and wears the Imperial
+sign embroidered upon his arm. Before him are encamped the enemies of his
+master and of his land, and in no way will he turn his back upon them. Against
+brave and skilful men, such as those whom this person commands, rebels of a low
+and degraded order are powerless, and are, moreover, openly forbidden to
+succeed by the Forty-second Mandate in the Sacred Book of Arguments. Should it
+have happened that into this assembly any person of a perfidious or
+uncourageous nature has gained entrance by guile, and has not been detected and
+driven forth by his outraged companions (as would certainly occur if such a
+person were discovered), I, Ling, Commander of Bowmen, make an especial and
+well-considered request that he shall be struck by a molten thunderbolt if he
+turns to flight or holds thoughts of treachery.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having thus addressed and encouraged the soldiers, Ling instructed them that
+each one should cut and fashion for himself a graceful but weighty club from
+among the branches of the trees around, and then return to the tents for the
+purpose of receiving food and rice spirit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When noon was passed, allowing such time as would enable him to reach the camp
+of the enemy an hour before darkness, Ling arranged the bowmen in companies of
+convenient numbers, and commenced the march, sending forward spies, who were to
+work silently and bring back tidings from every point. In this way he
+penetrated to within a single li of the ruins of Ki, being informed by the
+spies that no outposts of the enemy were between him and that place. Here the
+first rest was made to enable the more accurate and bold spies to reach them
+with trustworthy information regarding the position and movements of the camp.
+With little delay there returned the one who had brought the earliest tidings,
+bruised and torn with his successful haste through the forest, but wearing a
+complacent and well-satisfied expression of countenance. Without hesitation or
+waiting to demand money before he would reveal his knowledge, he at once
+disclosed that the greater part of the enemy were rejoicing among the ruins of
+Ki, they having discovered there a quantity of opium and a variety of liquids,
+while only a small guard remained in the camp with their weapons ready. At
+these words Ling sprang from the ground in gladness, so great was his certainty
+of destroying the invaders utterly. It was, however, with less pleasurable
+emotions that he considered how he should effect the matter, for it was in no
+way advisable to divide his numbers into two bands. Without any feeling of
+unendurable conceit, he understood that no one but himself could hold the
+bowmen before an assault, however weak. In a similar manner, he determined that
+it would be more advisable to attack those in the village first. These he might
+have reasonable hopes of cutting down without warning the camp, or, in any
+event, before those from the camp arrived. To assail the camp first would
+assuredly, by the firing, draw upon them those from the village, and in
+whatever evil state these might arrive, they would, by their numbers, terrify
+the bowmen, who without doubt would have suffered some loss from the
+matchlocks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Waiting for the last light of day, Ling led on the men again, and sending
+forward some of the most reliable, surrounded the place of the village silently
+and without detection. In the open space, among broken casks and other
+inconsiderable matters, plainly shown by the large fires at which burned the
+last remains of the houses of Ki, many men moved or lay, some already dull or
+in heavy sleep. As the darkness dropped suddenly, the signal of a
+peacock&rsquo;s shriek, three times uttered, rang forth, and immediately a
+cloud of arrows, directed from all sides, poured in among those who feasted.
+Seeing their foemen defenceless before them, the archers neglected the orders
+they had received, and throwing away their bows they rushed in with uplifted
+clubs, uttering loud shouts of triumph. The next moment a shot was fired in the
+wood, drums beat, and in an unbelievably short space of time a small but
+well-armed band of the enemy was among them. Now that all need of caution was
+at an end, Ling rushed forward with raised sword, calling to his men that
+victory was certainly theirs, and dealing discriminating and inspiriting blows
+whenever he met a foeman. Three times he formed the bowmen into a figure
+emblematic of triumph, and led them against the line of matchlocks. Twice they
+fell back, leaving mingled dead under the feet of the enemy. The third time
+they stood firm, and Ling threw himself against the waving rank in a noble and
+inspired endeavour to lead the way through. At that moment, when a very
+distinguished victory seemed within his hand, his elegant and well-constructed
+sword broke upon an iron shield, leaving him defenceless and surrounded by the
+enemy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Chief among the sublime virtues enjoined by the divine Confucius,&rdquo;
+began Ling, folding his arms and speaking in an unmoved voice, &ldquo;is an
+intelligent submission&mdash;&rdquo; but at that word he fell beneath a rain of
+heavy and unquestionably well-aimed blows.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VII</h3>
+
+<p>
+Between Si-chow and the village of Ki, in a house completely hidden from
+travellers by the tall and black trees which surrounded it, lived an aged and
+very wise person whose ways and manner of living had become so distasteful to
+his neighbours that they at length agreed to regard him as a powerful and
+ill-disposed magician. In this way it became a custom that all very unseemly
+deeds committed by those who, in the ordinary course, would not be guilty of
+such behaviour, should be attributed to his influence, so that justice might be
+effected without persons of assured respectability being put to any
+inconvenience. Apart from the feeling which resulted from this just decision,
+the uncongenial person in question had become exceedingly unpopular on account
+of certain definite actions of his own, as that of causing the greater part of
+Si-chow to be burned down by secretly breathing upon the seven sacred
+water-jugs to which the town owed its prosperity and freedom from fire.
+Furthermore, although possessed of many taels, and able to afford such food as
+is to be found upon the tables of Mandarins, he selected from choice dishes of
+an objectionable nature; he had been observed to eat eggs of unbecoming
+freshness, and the Si-chow Official Printed Leaf made it public that he had, on
+an excessively hot occasion, openly partaken of cow&rsquo;s milk. It is not a
+matter for wonder, therefore, that when unnaturally loud thunder was heard in
+the neighbourhood of Si-chow the more ignorant and credulous persons refused to
+continue in any description of work until certain ceremonies connected with
+rice spirit, and the adherence to a reclining position for some hours, had been
+conscientiously observed as a protection against evil.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not even the most venerable person in Si-chow could remember the time when the
+magician had not lived there, and as there existed no written record narrating
+the incident, it was with well-founded probability that he was said to be
+incapable of death. Contrary to the most general practice, although quite
+unmarried, he had adopted no son to found a line which would worship his memory
+in future years, but had instead brought up and caused to be educated in the
+most difficult varieties of embroidery a young girl, to whom he referred, for
+want of a more suitable description, as the daughter of his sister, although he
+would admit without hesitation, when closely questioned, that he had never
+possessed a sister, at the same time, however, alluding with some pride to many
+illustrious brothers, who had all obtained distinction in various employments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Few persons of any high position penetrated into the house of the magician, and
+most of these retired with inelegant haste on perceiving that no domestic altar
+embellished the great hall. Indeed, not to make concealment of the fact, the
+magician was a person who had entirely neglected the higher virtues in an
+avaricious pursuit of wealth. In that way all his time and a very large number
+of taels had been expended, testing results by means of the four elements, and
+putting together things which had been inadequately arrived at by others. It
+was confidently asserted in Si-chow that he possessed every manner of printed
+leaf which had been composed in whatsoever language, and all the most precious
+charms, including many snake-skins of more than ordinary rarity, and the fang
+of a black wolf which had been stung by seven scorpions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the death of his father the magician had become possessed of great wealth,
+yet he contributed little to the funeral obsequies nor did any suggestion of a
+durable and expensive nature conveying his enlightened name and virtues down to
+future times cause his face to become gladdened. In order to preserve greater
+secrecy about the enchantments which he certainly performed, he employed only
+two persons within the house, one of whom was blind and the other deaf. In this
+ingenious manner he hoped to receive attention and yet be unobserved, the blind
+one being unable to see the nature of the incantations which he undertook, and
+the deaf one being unable to hear the words. In this, however, he was
+unsuccessful, as the two persons always contrived to be present together, and
+to explain to one another the nature of the various matters afterwards; but as
+they were of somewhat deficient understanding, the circumstance was
+unimportant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was with more uneasiness that the magician perceived one day that the maiden
+whom he had adopted was no longer a child. As he desired secrecy above all
+things until he should have completed the one important matter for which he had
+laboured all his life, he decided with extreme unwillingness to put into
+operation a powerful charm towards her, which would have the effect of
+diminishing all her attributes until such time as he might release her again.
+Owing to his reluctance in the matter, however, the magic did not act fully,
+but only in such a way that her feet became naturally and without binding the
+most perfect and beautiful in the entire province of Hu Nan, so that ever
+afterwards she was called Pan Fei Mian, in delicate reference to that Empress
+whose feet were so symmetrical that a golden lily sprang up wherever she trod.
+Afterwards the magician made no further essay in the matter, chiefly because he
+was ever convinced that the accomplishment of his desire was within his grasp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rumours of armed men in the neighbourhood of Si-chow threw the magician
+into an unendurable condition of despair. To lose all, as would most assuredly
+happen if he had to leave his arranged rooms and secret preparations and take
+to flight, was the more bitter because he felt surer than ever that success was
+even standing by his side. The very subtle liquid, which would mix itself into
+the component parts of the living creature which drank it, and by an insidious
+and harmless process so work that, when the spirit departed, the flesh would
+become resolved into a figure of pure and solid gold of the finest quality, had
+engaged the refined minds of many of the most expert individuals of remote
+ages. With most of these inspired persons, however, the search had been
+undertaken in pure-minded benevolence, their chief aim being an honourable
+desire to discover a method by which one&rsquo;s ancestors might be permanently
+and effectively preserved in a fit and becoming manner to receive the worship
+and veneration of posterity. Yet, in spite of these amiable motives, and of the
+fact that the magician merely desired the possession of the secret to enable
+him to become excessively wealthy, the affair had been so arranged that it
+should come into his possession.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The matter which concerned Mian in the dark wood, when she was only saved by
+the appearance of the person who is already known as Ling, entirely removed all
+pleasurable emotions from the magician&rsquo;s mind, and on many occasions he
+stated in a definite and systematic manner that he would shortly end an ignoble
+career which seemed to be destined only to gloom and disappointment. In this
+way an important misunderstanding arose, for when, two days later, during the
+sound of matchlock firing, the magician suddenly approached the presence of
+Mian with an uncontrollable haste and an entire absence of dignified demeanour,
+and fell dead at her feet without expressing himself on any subject whatever,
+she deliberately judged that in this manner he had carried his remark into
+effect, nor did the closed vessel of yellow liquid which he held in his hand
+seem to lead away from this decision. In reality, the magician had fallen owing
+to the heavy and conflicting emotions which success had engendered in an
+intellect already greatly weakened by his continual disregard of the higher
+virtues; for the bottle, indeed, contained the perfection of his entire
+life&rsquo;s study, the very expensive and three-times purified gold liquid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On perceiving the magician&rsquo;s condition, Mian at once called for the two
+attendants, and directed them to bring from an inner chamber all the most
+effective curing substances, whether in the form of powder or liquid. When
+these proved useless, no matter in what way they were applied, it became
+evident that there could be very little hope of restoring the magician, yet so
+courageous and grateful for the benefits which she had received from the person
+in question was Mian, that, in spite of the uninviting dangers of the
+enterprise, she determined to journey to Ki to invoke the assistance of a
+certain person who was known to be very successful in casting out malicious
+demons from the bodies of animals, and from casks and barrels, in which they
+frequently took refuge, to the great detriment of the quality of the liquid
+placed therein.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not without many hidden fears, Mian set out on her journey, greatly desiring
+not to be subjected to an encounter of a nature similar to the one already
+recorded; for in such a case she could hardly again hope for the inspired
+arrival of the one whom she now often thought of in secret as the well-formed
+and symmetrical young sword-user. Nevertheless, an event of equal significance
+was destined to prove the wisdom of the well-known remark concerning thoughts
+which are occupying one&rsquo;s intellect and the unexpected appearance of a
+very formidable evil spirit; for as she passed along, quickly yet with so
+dignified a motion that the moss received no impression beneath her footsteps,
+she became aware of a circumstance which caused her to stop by imparting to her
+mind two definite and greatly dissimilar emotions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a grassy and open space, on the verge of which she stood, lay the dead
+bodies of seventeen rebels, all disposed in very degraded attitudes, which
+contrasted strongly with the easy and becoming position adopted by the
+eighteenth&mdash;one who bore the unmistakable emblems of the Imperial army. In
+this brave and noble-looking personage Mian at once saw her preserver, and not
+doubting that an inopportune and treacherous death had overtaken him, she ran
+forward and raised him in her arms, being well assured that however indiscreet
+such an action might appear in the case of an ordinary person, the most select
+maiden need not hesitate to perform so honourable a service in regard to one
+whose virtues had by that time undoubtedly placed him among the Three Thousand
+Pure Ones. Being disturbed in this providential manner, Ling opened his eyes,
+and faintly murmuring, &ldquo;Oh, sainted and adorable Koon Yam, Goddess of
+Charity, intercede for me with Buddha!&rdquo; he again lost possession of
+himself in the Middle Air. At this remark, which plainly proved Ling to be
+still alive, in spite of the fact that both the maiden and the person himself
+had thoughts to the contrary, Mian found herself surrounded by a variety of
+embarrassing circumstances, among which occurred a remembrance of the dead
+magician and the wise person at Ki whom she had set out to summon; but on
+considering the various natural and sublime laws which bore directly on the
+alternative before her, she discovered that her plain destiny was to endeavour
+to restore the breath in the person who was still alive rather than engage on
+the very unsatisfactory chance of attempting to call it back to the body from
+which it had so long been absent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having been inspired to this conclusion&mdash;which, when she later examined
+her mind, she found not to be repulsive to her own inner feelings&mdash;Mian
+returned to the house with dexterous speed, and calling together the two
+attendants, she endeavoured by means of signs and drawings to explain to them
+what she desired to accomplish. Succeeding in this after some delay (for the
+persons in question, being very illiterate and narrow-minded, were unable at
+first to understand the existence of any recumbent male person other than the
+dead magician, whom they thereupon commenced to bury in the garden with
+expressions of great satisfaction at their own intelligence in comprehending
+Mian&rsquo;s meaning so readily) they all journeyed to the wood, and bearing
+Ling between them, they carried him to the house without further adventure.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3>
+
+<p>
+It was in the month of Hot Dragon Breaths, many weeks after the fight in the
+woods of Ki, that Ling again opened his eyes to find himself in an unknown
+chamber, and to recognize in the one who visited him from time to time the
+incomparable maiden whose life he had saved in the cypress glade. Not a day had
+passed in the meanwhile on which Mian had neglected to offer sacrifices to
+Chang-Chung, the deity interested in drugs and healing substances, nor had she
+wavered in her firm resolve to bring Ling back to an ordinary existence even
+when the attendants had protested that the person in question might without
+impropriety be sent to the Restoring Establishment of the Last Chance, so
+little did his hope of recovering rest upon the efforts of living beings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After he had beheld Mian&rsquo;s face and understood the circumstances of his
+escape and recovery, Ling quickly shook off the evil vapours which had held him
+down so long, and presently he was able to walk slowly in the courtyard and in
+the shady paths of the wood beyond, leaning upon Mian for the support he still
+required.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, graceful one,&rdquo; he said on such an occasion, when little stood
+between him and the full powers which he had known before the battle,
+&ldquo;there is a matter which has been pressing upon this person&rsquo;s mind
+for some time past. It is as dark after light to let the thoughts dwell around
+it, yet the thing itself must inevitably soon be regarded, for in this life
+one&rsquo;s actions are for ever regulated by conditions which are neither of
+one&rsquo;s own seeking nor within one&rsquo;s power of controlling.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words all brightness left Mian&rsquo;s manner, for she at once
+understood that Ling referred to his departure, of which she herself had lately
+come to think with unrestrained agitation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Ling,&rdquo; she exclaimed at length, &ldquo;most expert of
+sword-users and most noble of men, surely never was a maiden more inelegantly
+placed than the one who is now by your side. To you she owes her life, yet it
+is unseemly for her even to speak of the incident; to you she must look for
+protection, yet she cannot ask you to stay by her side. She is indeed alone.
+The magician is dead, Ki has fallen, Ling is going, and Mian is undoubtedly the
+most unhappy and solitary person between the Wall and the Nan Hai.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Beloved Mian,&rdquo; exclaimed Ling, with inspiring vehemence,
+&ldquo;and is not the utterly unworthy person before you indebted to you in a
+double measure that life is still within him? Is not the strength which now
+promotes him to such exceptional audacity as to aspire to your lovely hand, of
+your own creating? Only encourage Ling to entertain a well-founded hope that on
+his return he shall not find you partaking of the wedding feast of some wealthy
+and exceptionally round-bodied Mandarin, and this person will accomplish the
+journey to Canton and back as it were in four strides.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Ling, reflexion of my ideal, holder of my soul, it would indeed be
+very disagreeable to my own feelings to make any reply save one,&rdquo; replied
+Mian, scarcely above a breath-voice. &ldquo;Gratitude alone would direct me,
+were it not that the great love which fills me leaves no resting-place for any
+other emotion than itself. Go if you must, but return quickly, for your absence
+will weigh upon Mian like a dragon-dream.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Violet light of my eyes,&rdquo; exclaimed Ling, &ldquo;even in
+surroundings which with the exception of the matter before us are uninspiring
+in the extreme, your virtuous and retiring encouragement yet raises me to such
+a commanding eminence of demonstrative happiness that I fear I shall become
+intolerably self-opinionated towards my fellow-men in consequence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such a thing is impossible with my Ling,&rdquo; said Mian, with
+conviction. &ldquo;But must you indeed journey to Canton?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; replied Ling, &ldquo;gladly would this person decide
+against such a course did the matter rest with him, for as the Verses say,
+&lsquo;It is needless to apply the ram&rsquo;s head to the unlocked
+door.&rsquo; But Ki is demolished, the unassuming Mandarin Li Keen has retired
+to Peking, and of the fortunes of his bowmen this person is entirely
+ignorant.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such as survived returned to their homes,&rdquo; replied Mian,
+&ldquo;and Si-chow is safe, for the scattered and broken rebels fled to the
+mountains again; so much this person has learned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In that case Si-chow is undoubtedly safe for the time, and can be left
+with prudence,&rdquo; said Ling. &ldquo;It is an unfortunate circumstance that
+there is no Mandarin of authority between here and Canton who can receive from
+this person a statement of past facts and give him instructions for the
+future.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what will be the nature of such instructions as will be given at
+Canton?&rdquo; demanded Mian.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By chance they may take the form of raising another company of
+bowmen,&rdquo; said Ling, with a sigh, &ldquo;but, indeed, if this person can
+obtain any weight by means of his past service, they will tend towards a
+pleasant and unambitious civil appointment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, my artless and noble-minded lover!&rdquo; exclaimed Mian,
+&ldquo;assuredly a veil has been before your eyes during your residence in
+Canton, and your naturally benevolent mind has turned all things into good, or
+you would not thus hopefully refer to your brilliant exploits in the past. Of
+what commercial benefit have they been to the sordid and miserly persons in
+authority, or in what way have they diverted a stream of taels into their
+insatiable pockets? Far greater is the chance that had Si-chow fallen many of
+its household goods would have found their way into the Yamens of Canton.
+Assuredly in Li Keen you will have a friend who will make many delicate
+allusions to your ancestors when you meet, and yet one who will float many
+barbed whispers to follow you when you have passed; for you have planted shame
+before him in the eyes of those who would otherwise neither have eyes to see
+nor tongues to discuss the matter. It is for such a reason that this person
+distrusts all things connected with the journey, except your constancy, oh, my
+true and strong one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such faithfulness would alone be sufficient to assure my safe return if
+the matter were properly represented to the supreme Deities,&rdquo; said Ling.
+&ldquo;Let not the thin curtain of bitter water stand before your lustrous eyes
+any longer, then, the events which have followed one another in the past few
+days in a fashion that can only be likened to thunder following lightning are
+indeed sufficient to distress one with so refined and swan-like an
+organization, but they are now assuredly at an end.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a hope of daily recurrence to this person,&rdquo; replied Mian,
+honourably endeavouring to restrain the emotion which openly exhibited itself
+in her eyes; &ldquo;for what maiden would not rather make successful offerings
+to the Great Mother Kum-Fa than have the most imposing and verbose Triumphal
+Arch erected to commemorate an empty and unsatisfying constancy?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this amiable manner the matter was arranged between Ling and Mian, as they
+sat together in the magician&rsquo;s garden drinking peach-tea, which the two
+attendants&mdash;not without discriminating and significant expressions between
+themselves&mdash;brought to them from time to time. Here Ling made clear the
+whole manner of his life from his earliest memory to the time when he fell in
+dignified combat, nor did Mian withhold anything, explaining in particular such
+charms and spells of the magician as she had knowledge of, and in this graceful
+manner materially assisting her lover in the many disagreeable encounters and
+conflicts which he was shortly to experience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was with even more objectionable feelings than before that Ling now
+contemplated his journey to Canton, involving as it did the separation from one
+who had become as the shadow of his existence, and by whose side he had an
+undoubted claim to stand. Yet the necessity of the undertaking was no less than
+before, and the full possession of all his natural powers took away his only
+excuse for delaying in the matter. Without any pleasurable anticipations,
+therefore, he consulted the Sacred Flat and Round Sticks, and learning that the
+following day would be propitious for the journey, he arranged to set out in
+accordance with the omen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the final moment arrived at which the invisible threads of constantly
+passing emotions from one to the other must be broken, and when Mian perceived
+that her lover&rsquo;s horse was restrained at the door by the two attendants,
+who with unsuspected delicacy of feeling had taken this opportunity of
+withdrawing, the noble endurance which had hitherto upheld her melted away, and
+she became involved in very melancholy and obscure meditations until she
+observed that Ling also was quickly becoming affected by a similar gloom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; she exclaimed, &ldquo;how unworthy a person I am thus to
+impose upon my lord a greater burden than that which already weighs him down!
+Rather ought this one to dwell upon the happiness of that day, when, after
+successfully evading or overthrowing the numerous bands of assassins which
+infest the road from here to Canton, and after escaping or recovering from the
+many deadly pestilences which invariably reduce that city at this season of the
+year, he shall triumphantly return. Assuredly there is a highly-polished
+surface united to every action in life, no matter how funereal it may at first
+appear. Indeed, there are many incidents compared with which death itself is
+welcome, and to this end Mian has reserved a farewell gift.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Speaking in this manner the devoted and magnanimous maiden placed in
+Ling&rsquo;s hands the transparent vessel of liquid which the magician had
+grasped when he fell. &ldquo;This person,&rdquo; she continued, speaking with
+difficulty, &ldquo;places her lover&rsquo;s welfare incomparably before her own
+happiness, and should he ever find himself in a situation which is unendurably
+oppressive, and from which death is the only escape&mdash;such as inevitable
+tortures, the infliction of violent madness, or the subjection by magic to the
+will of some designing woman&mdash;she begs him to accept this means of freeing
+himself without regarding her anguish beyond expressing a clearly defined last
+wish that the two persons in question may be in the end happily reunited in
+another existence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Assured by this last evidence of affection, Ling felt that he had no longer any
+reason for internal heaviness; his spirits were immeasurably raised by the
+fragrant incense of Mian&rsquo;s great devotion, and under its influence he was
+even able to breathe towards her a few words of similar comfort as he left the
+spot and began his journey.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IX</h3>
+
+<p>
+On entering Canton, which he successfully accomplished without any unpleasant
+adventure, the marked absence of any dignified ostentation which had been
+accountable for many of Ling&rsquo;s misfortunes in the past, impelled him
+again to reside in the same insignificant apartment that he had occupied when
+he first visited the city as an unknown and unimportant candidate. In
+consequence of this, when Ling was communicating to any person the signs by
+which messengers might find him, he was compelled to add, &ldquo;the
+neighbourhood in which this contemptible person resides is that officially
+known as &lsquo;the mean quarter favoured by the lower class of those who
+murder by treachery,&rsquo;&rdquo; and for this reason he was not always
+treated with the regard to which his attainments entitled him, or which he
+would have unquestionably received had he been able to describe himself as of
+&ldquo;the partly-drained and uninfected area reserved to Mandarins and their
+friends.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was with an ignoble feeling of mental distress that Ling exhibited himself
+at the Chief Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements on the following day; for
+the many disadvantageous incidents of his past life had repeated themselves
+before his eyes while he slept, and the not unhopeful emotions which he had
+felt when in the inspiring presence of Mian were now altogether absent. In
+spite of the fact that he reached the office during the early gong strokes of
+the morning, it was not until the withdrawal of light that he reached any
+person who was in a position to speak with him on the matter, so numerous were
+the lesser ones through whose chambers he had to pass in the process. At length
+he found himself in the presence of an upper one who had the appearance of
+being acquainted with the circumstances, and who received him with dignity,
+though not with any embarrassing exhibition of respect or servility.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The hero of the illustrious encounter beyond the walls of
+Si-chow,&rsquo;&rdquo; exclaimed that official, reading the words from the
+tablet of introduction which Ling had caused to be carried into him, and at the
+same time examining the person in question closely. &ldquo;Indeed, no such one
+is known to those within this office, unless the words chance to point to the
+courteous and unassuming Mandarin Li Keen, who, however, is at this moment
+recovering his health at Peking, as set forth in the amiable and impartial
+report which we have lately received from him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words Ling plainly understood that there was little hope of the last
+events becoming profitable on his account.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did not the report to which allusion has been made bear reference to one
+Ling, Commander of the Archers, who thrice led on the fighting men, and who was
+finally successful in causing the rebels to disperse towards the
+mountains?&rdquo; he asked, in a voice which somewhat trembled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is certainly reference to one of the name you mention,&rdquo; said
+the other; &ldquo;but regarding the terms&mdash;perhaps this person would
+better protect his own estimable time by displaying the report within your
+sight.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With these words the upper one struck a gong several times, and after receiving
+from an inner chamber the parchment in question, he placed it before Ling, at
+the same time directing a lesser one to interpose between it and the one who
+read it a large sheet of transparent substance, so that destruction might not
+come to it, no matter in what way its contents affected the reader. Thereon
+Ling perceived the following facts, very skilfully inscribed with the evident
+purpose of inducing persons to believe, without question, that words so
+elegantly traced must of necessity be truthful also.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;<i>A Benevolent Example of the Intelligent Arrangement by which the most
+Worthy Persons outlive those who are Incapable.</i><br/>
+<br/>
+    The circumstances connected with the office of the valuable and
+accomplished Mandarin of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements at Si-chow have, in
+recent times, been of anything but a prepossessing order. Owing to the very
+inadequate methods adopted by those who earn a livelihood by conveying
+necessities from the more enlightened portions of the Empire to that place, it
+so came about that for a period of five days the Yamen was entirely unsupplied
+with the fins of sharks or even with goats&rsquo; eyes. To add to the polished
+Mandarin&rsquo;s distress of mind the barbarous and slow-witted rebels who
+infest those parts took this opportunity to destroy the town and most of its
+inhabitants, the matter coming about as follows:<br/>
+    &ldquo;The feeble and commonplace person named Ling who commands the bowmen
+had but recently been elevated to that distinguished position from a menial and
+degraded occupation (for which, indeed, his stunted intellect more aptly fitted
+him); and being in consequence very greatly puffed out in self-gratification,
+he became an easy prey to the cunning of the rebels, and allowed himself to be
+beguiled into a trap, paying for this contemptible stupidity with his life. The
+town of Si-chow was then attacked, and being in this manner left defenceless
+through the weakness&mdash;or treachery&mdash;of the person Ling, who had
+contrived to encompass the entire destruction of his unyielding company, it
+fell after a determined and irreproachable resistance; the Mandarin Li Keen
+being told, as, covered with the blood of the foemen, he was dragged away from
+the thickest part of the unequal conflict by his followers, that he was the
+last person to leave the town. On his way to Peking with news of this valiant
+defence, the Mandarin was joined by the Chief of Bowmen, who had understood and
+avoided the very obvious snare into which the stagnant-minded Commander had led
+his followers, in spite of disinterested advice to the contrary. For this
+intelligent perception, and for general nobility of conduct when in battle, the
+versatile Chief of Bowmen is by this written paper strongly recommended to the
+dignity of receiving the small metal Embellishment of Valour.<br/>
+    &ldquo;It has been suggested to the Mandarin Li Keen that the bestowal of
+the Crystal Button would only be a fit and graceful reward for his
+indefatigable efforts to uphold the dignity of the sublime Emperor; but to all
+such persons the Mandarin has sternly replied that such a proposal would more
+fitly originate from the renowned and valuable Office of Warlike Deeds and
+Arrangements, he well knowing that the wise and engaging persons who conduct
+that indispensable and well-regulated department are gracefully voracious in
+their efforts to reward merit, even when it is displayed, as in the case in
+question, by one who from his position will inevitably soon be urgently
+petitioning in a like manner on their behalf.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Ling had finished reading this elegantly arranged but exceedingly
+misleading parchment, he looked up with eyes from which he vainly endeavoured
+to restrain the signs of undignified emotion, and said to the upper one:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is difficult employment for a person to refrain from unendurable
+thoughts when his unassuming and really conscientious efforts are represented
+in a spirit of no satisfaction, yet in this matter the very expert Li Keen
+appears to have gone beyond himself; the Commander Ling, who is herein
+represented as being slain by the enemy, is, indeed, the person who is standing
+before you, and all the other statements are in a like exactness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The short-sighted individual who for some hidden desire of his own is
+endeavouring to present himself as the corrupt and degraded creature Ling, has
+overlooked one important circumstance,&rdquo; said the upper one, smiling in a
+very intolerable manner, at the same time causing his head to move slightly
+from side to side in the fashion of one who rebukes with assumed geniality;
+and, turning over the written paper, he displayed upon the under side the
+Imperial vermilion Sign. &ldquo;Perhaps,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;the
+omniscient person will still continue in his remarks, even with the evidence of
+the Emperor&rsquo;s unerring pencil to refute him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words and the undoubted testimony of the red mark, which plainly
+declared the whole of the written matter to be composed of truth, no matter
+what might afterwards transpire, Ling understood that very little prosperity
+remained with him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But the town of Si-chow,&rdquo; he suggested, after examining his mind;
+&ldquo;if any person in authority visited the place, he would inevitably find
+it standing and its inhabitants in agreeable health.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The persistent person who is so assiduously occupying my intellectual
+moments with empty words seems to be unaccountably deficient in his knowledge
+of the customs of refined society and of the meaning of the Imperial
+Signet,&rdquo; said the other, with an entire absence of benevolent
+consideration. &ldquo;That Si-chow has fallen and that Ling is dead are two
+utterly uncontroversial matters truthfully recorded. If a person visited
+Si-chow, he might find it rebuilt or even inhabited by those from the
+neighbouring villages or by evil spirits taking the forms of the ones who
+formerly lived there; as in a like manner, Ling might be restored to existence
+by magic, or his body might be found and possessed by an outcast demon who
+desired to revisit the earth for a period. Such circumstances do not in any way
+disturb the announcement that Si-chow has without question fallen, and that
+Ling has officially ceased to live, of which events notifications have been
+sent to all who are concerned in the matters.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the upper one ceased speaking, four strokes sounded upon the gong, and Ling
+immediately found himself carried into the street by the current of both lesser
+and upper ones who poured forth at the signal. The termination of this
+conversation left Ling in a more unenviable state of dejection than any of the
+many preceding misfortunes had done, for with enlarged inducements to possess
+himself of a competent appointment he seemed to be even further removed from
+this attainment than he had been at any time in his life. He might, indeed,
+present himself again for the public examinations; but in order to do even that
+it would be necessary for him to wait almost a year, nor could he assure
+himself that his efforts would again be likely to result in an equal success.
+Doubts also arose within his mind of the course which he should follow in such
+a case; whether to adopt a new name, involving as it would certain humiliation
+and perhaps disgrace if detection overtook his footsteps, or still to possess
+the title of one who was in a measure dead, and hazard the likelihood of having
+any prosperity which he might obtain reduced to nothing if the fact should
+become public.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Ling reflected upon such details he found himself without intention before
+the house of a wise person who had become very wealthy by advising others on
+all matters, but chiefly on those connected with strange occurrences and such
+events as could not be settled definitely either one way or the other until a
+remote period had been reached. Becoming assailed by a curious desire to know
+what manner of evils particularly attached themselves to such as were
+officially dead but who nevertheless had an ordinary existence, Ling placed
+himself before this person, and after arranging the manner of reward related to
+him so many of the circumstances as were necessary to enable a full
+understanding to be reached, but at the same time in no way betraying his own
+interest in the matter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such inflictions are to no degree frequent,&rdquo; said the wise person
+after he had consulted a polished sphere of the finest red jade for some time;
+&ldquo;and this is in a measure to be regretted, as the hair of these
+persons&mdash;provided they die a violent death, which is invariably the
+case&mdash;constitutes a certain protection against being struck by falling
+stars, or becoming involved in unsuccessful law cases. The persons in question
+can be recognized with certainty in the public ways by the unnatural pallor of
+their faces and by the general repulsiveness of their appearance, but as they
+soon take refuge in suicide, unless they have the fortune to be removed
+previously by accident, it is an infrequent matter that one is gratified by the
+sight. During their existence they are subject to many disorders from which the
+generality of human beings are benevolently preserved; they possess no rights
+of any kind, and if by any chance they are detected in an act of a seemingly
+depraved nature, they are liable to judgment at the hands of the passers-by
+without any form whatever, and to punishment of a more severe order than that
+administered to commonplace criminals. There are many other disadvantages
+affecting such persons when they reach the Middle Air, of which the
+chief&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This person is immeasurably indebted for such a clear explanation of the
+position,&rdquo; interrupted Ling, who had a feeling of not desiring to
+penetrate further into the detail; &ldquo;but as he perceives a line of anxious
+ones eagerly waiting at the door to obtain advice and consolation from so
+expert and amiable a wizard, he will not make himself uncongenial any longer
+with his very feeble topics of conversation.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By this time Ling plainly comprehended that he had been marked out from the
+beginning&mdash;perhaps for all the knowledge which he had to the opposite
+effect, from a period in the life of a far-removed ancestor&mdash;to be an
+object of marked derision and the victim of all manner of malevolent demons in
+whatever actions he undertook. In this condition of understanding his mind
+turned gratefully to the parting gift of Mian whom he had now no hope of
+possessing; for the intolerable thought of uniting her to so objectionable a
+being as himself would have been dismissed as utterly inelegant even had he
+been in a manner of living to provide for her adequately, which itself seemed
+clearly impossible. Disregarding all similar emotions, therefore, he walked
+without pausing to his abode, and stretching his body upon the rushes, drank
+the entire liquid unhesitatingly, and prepared to pass beyond with a tranquil
+mind entirely given up to thoughts and images of Mian.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER X</h3>
+
+<p>
+Upon a certain occasion, the particulars of which have already been recorded,
+Ling had judged himself to have passed into the form of a spirit on beholding
+the ethereal form of Mian bending over him. After swallowing the entire liquid,
+which had cost the dead magician so much to distil and make perfect, it was
+with a well-assured determination of never again awakening that he lost the
+outward senses and floated in the Middle Air, so that when his eyes next opened
+upon what seemed to be the bare walls of his own chamber, his first thought was
+a natural conviction that the matter had been so arranged either out of a
+charitable desire that he should not be overcome by a too sudden transition to
+unparalleled splendour, or that such a reception was the outcome of some
+dignified jest on the part of certain lesser and more cheerful spirits. After
+waiting in one position for several hours, however, and receiving no summons or
+manifestation of a celestial nature, he began to doubt the qualities of the
+liquid, and applying certain tests, he soon ascertained that he was still in
+the lower world and unharmed. Nevertheless, this circumstance did not tend in
+any way to depress his mind, for, doubtless owing to some hidden virtue of the
+fluid, he felt an enjoyable emotion that he still lived; all his attributes
+appeared to be purified, and he experienced an inspired certainty of feeling
+that an illustrious and highly-remunerative future lay before one who still had
+an ordinary existence after being both officially killed and self-poisoned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this intelligent disposition thoughts of Mian recurred to him with
+unreproved persistence, and in order to convey to her an account of the various
+matters which had engaged him since his arrival at the city, and a
+well-considered declaration of the unchanged state of his own feelings towards
+her, he composed and despatched with impetuous haste the following delicate
+verses:
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+CONSTANCY
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+About the walls and gates of Canton<br/>
+Are many pleasing and entertaining maidens;<br/>
+Indeed, in the eyes of their friends and of the passers-by<br/>
+Some of them are exceptionally adorable.<br/>
+The person who is inscribing these lines, however,<br/>
+Sees before him, as it were, an assemblage of deformed and un-prepossessing
+hags,<br/>
+Venerable in age and inconsiderable in appearance;<br/>
+For the dignified and majestic image of Mian is ever before him,<br/>
+Making all others very inferior.<br/>
+<br/>
+Within the houses and streets of Canton<br/>
+Hang many bright lanterns.<br/>
+The ordinary person who has occasion to walk by night<br/>
+Professes to find them highly lustrous.<br/>
+But there is one who thinks contrary facts,<br/>
+And when he goes forth he carries two long curved poles<br/>
+To prevent him from stumbling among the dark and hidden places;<br/>
+For he has gazed into the brilliant and pellucid orbs of Mian,<br/>
+And all other lights are dull and practically opaque.<br/>
+<br/>
+In various parts of the literary quarter of Canton<br/>
+Reside such as spend their time in inward contemplation.<br/>
+In spite of their generally uninviting exteriors<br/>
+Their reflexions are often of a very profound order.<br/>
+Yet the unpopular and persistently-abused Ling<br/>
+Would unhesitatingly prefer his own thoughts to theirs,<br/>
+For what makes this person&rsquo;s thoughts far more pleasing<br/>
+Is that they are invariably connected with the virtuous and ornamental Mian.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Becoming very amiably disposed after this agreeable occupation, Ling surveyed
+himself at the disc of polished metal, and observed with surprise and shame the
+rough and uninviting condition of his person. He had, indeed, although it was
+not until some time later that he became aware of the circumstance, slept for
+five days without interruption, and it need not therefore be a matter of wonder
+or of reproach to him that his smooth surfaces had become covered with short
+hair. Reviling himself bitterly for the appearance which he conceived he must
+have exhibited when he conducted his business, and to which he now in part
+attributed his ill-success, Ling went forth without delay, and quickly
+discovering one of those who remove hair publicly for a very small sum, he
+placed himself in the chair, and directed that his face, arms, and legs should
+be denuded after the manner affected by the ones who make a practice of
+observing the most recent customs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did the illustrious individual who is now conferring distinction on this
+really worn-out chair by occupying it express himself in favour of having the
+face entirely denuded?&rdquo; demanded the one who conducted the operation; for
+these persons have become famous for their elegant and persistent ability to
+discourse, and frequently assume ignorance in order that they themselves may
+make reply, and not for the purpose of gaining knowledge. &ldquo;Now, in the
+objectionable opinion of this unintelligent person, who has a presumptuous
+habit of offering his very undesirable advice, a slight covering on the upper
+lip, delicately arranged and somewhat fiercely pointed at the extremities,
+would bestow an appearance of&mdash;how shall this illiterate person explain
+himself?&mdash;dignity?&mdash;matured reflexion?&mdash;doubtless the
+accomplished nobleman before me will understand what is intended with a more
+knife-like accuracy than this person can describe it&mdash;but confer that
+highly desirable effect upon the face of which at present it is entirely
+destitute... &lsquo;Entirely denuded?&rsquo; Then without fail it shall
+certainly be so, O incomparable personage... Does the versatile Mandarin now
+present profess any concern as to the condition of the rice plants?... Indeed,
+the remark is an inspired one; the subject is totally devoid of interest to a
+person of intelligence ... A remarkable and gravity-removing event transpired
+within the notice of this unassuming person recently. A discriminating
+individual had purchased from him a portion of his justly renowned
+Thrice-extracted Essence of Celestial Herb Oil&mdash;a preparation which in
+this experienced person&rsquo;s opinion, indeed, would greatly relieve the
+undoubted afflictions from which the one before him is evidently
+suffering&mdash;when after once anointing himself&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A lengthy period containing no words caused Ling, who had in the meantime
+closed his eyes and lost Canton and all else in delicate thoughts of Mian, to
+look up. That which met his attention on doing so filled him with an
+intelligent wonder, for the person before him held in his hand what had the
+appearance of a tuft of bright yellow hair, which shone in the light of the sun
+with a most engaging splendour, but which he nevertheless regarded with a most
+undignified expression of confusion and awe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Illustrious demon,&rdquo; he cried at length, kow-towing very
+respectfully, &ldquo;have the extreme amiableness to be of a benevolent
+disposition, and do not take an unworthy and entirely unremunerative revenge
+upon this very unimportant person for failing to detect and honour you from the
+beginning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such words indicate nothing beyond an excess of hemp spirit,&rdquo;
+answered Ling, with signs of displeasure. &ldquo;To gain my explicit esteem,
+make me smooth without delay, and do not exhibit before me the lock of hair
+which, from its colour and appearance, has evidently adorned the head of one of
+those maidens whose duty it is to quench the thirst of travellers in the long
+narrow rooms of this city.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Majestic and anonymous spirit,&rdquo; said the other, with extreme
+reverence, and an entire absence of the appearance of one who had gazed into
+too many vessels, &ldquo;if such be your plainly-expressed desire, this
+superficial person will at once proceed to make smooth your peach-like skin,
+and with a carefulness inspired by the certainty that the most unimportant
+wound would give forth liquid fire, in which he would undoubtedly perish.
+Nevertheless, he desires to make it evident that this hair is from the head of
+no maiden, being, indeed, the uneven termination of your own sacred pigtail,
+which this excessively self-confident slave took the inexcusable liberty of
+removing, and which changed in this manner within his hand in order to
+administer a fit reproof for his intolerable presumption.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Impressed by the mien and unquestionable earnestness of the remover of hair,
+Ling took the matter which had occasioned these various emotions in his hand
+and examined it. His amazement was still greater when he perceived
+that&mdash;in spite of the fact that it presented every appearance of having
+been cut from his own person&mdash;none of the qualities of hair remained in
+it; it was hard and wire-like, possessing, indeed, both the nature and the
+appearance of a metal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he gazed fixedly and with astonishment, there came back into the remembrance
+of Ling certain obscure and little-understood facts connected with the
+limitless wealth possessed by the Yellow Emperor&mdash;of which the great gold
+life-like image in the Temple of Internal Symmetry at Peking alone bears
+witness now&mdash;and of his lost secret. Many very forcible prophecies and
+omens in his own earlier life, of which the rendering and accomplishment had
+hitherto seemed to be dark and incomplete, passed before him, and various
+matters which Mian had related to him concerning the habits and speech of the
+magician took definite form within his mind. Deeply impressed by the exact
+manner in which all these circumstances fitted together, one into another, Ling
+rewarded the person before him greatly beyond his expectation, and hurried
+without delay to his own chamber.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XI</h3>
+
+<p>
+For many hours Ling remained in his room, examining in his mind all passages,
+either in his own life or in the lives of others, which might by any chance
+have influence on the event before him. In this thorough way he became assured
+that the competition and its results, his journey to Si-chow with the encounter
+in the cypress wood, the flight of the incapable and treacherous Mandarin, and
+the battle of Ki, were all, down to the matter of the smallest detail, parts of
+a symmetrical and complete scheme, tending to his present condition. Cheered
+and upheld by this proof of the fact that very able deities were at work on his
+behalf, he turned his intellect from the entrancing subject to a contemplation
+of the manner in which his condition would enable him to frustrate the
+uninventive villainies of the obstinate person Li Keen, and to provide a
+suitable house and mode of living to which he would be justified in introducing
+Mian, after adequate marriage ceremonies had been observed between them. In
+this endeavour he was less successful than he had imagined would be the case,
+for when he had first fully understood that his body was of such a substance
+that nothing was wanting to transmute it into fine gold but the absence of the
+living spirit, he had naturally, and without deeply examining the detail,
+assumed that so much gold might be considered to be in his possession. Now,
+however, a very definite thought arose within him that his own wishes and
+interests would have been better secured had the benevolent spirits who
+undertook the matter placed the secret within his knowledge in such a way as to
+enable him to administer the fluid to some very heavy and inexpensive animal,
+so that the issue which seemed inevitable before the enjoyment of the riches
+could be entered upon should not have touched his own comfort so closely. To a
+person of Ling&rsquo;s refined imagination it could not fail to be a subject of
+internal reproach that while he would become the most precious dead body in the
+world, his value in life might not be very honourably placed even by the most
+complimentary one who should require his services. Then came the thought,
+which, however degraded, he found himself unable to put quite beyond him, that
+if in the meantime he were able to gain a sufficiency for Mian and himself,
+even her pure and delicate love might not be able to bear so offensive a test
+as that of seeing him grow old and remain intolerably healthy&mdash;perhaps
+with advancing years actually becoming lighter day by day, and thereby
+lessening in value before her eyes&mdash;when the natural infirmities of age
+and the presence of an ever-increasing posterity would make even a moderate
+amount of taels of inestimable value.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No doubt remained in Ling&rsquo;s mind that the process of frequently making
+smooth his surfaces would yield an amount of gold enough to suffice for his own
+needs, but a brief consideration of the matter convinced him that this source
+would be inadequate to maintain an entire household even if he continually
+denuded himself to an almost ignominious extent. As he fully weighed these
+varying chances the certainty became more clear to him with every thought that
+for the virtuous enjoyment of Mian&rsquo;s society one great sacrifice was
+required of him. This act, it seemed to be intimated, would without delay
+provide for an affluent and lengthy future, and at the same time would
+influence all the spirits&mdash;even those who had been hitherto
+evilly-disposed towards him&mdash;in such a manner that his enemies would be
+removed from his path by a process which would expose them to public ridicule,
+and he would be assured in founding an illustrious and enduring line. To
+accomplish this successfully necessitated the loss of at least the greater part
+of one entire member, and for some time the disadvantages of going through an
+existence with only a single leg or arm seemed more than a sufficient price to
+pay even for the definite advantages which would be made over to him in return.
+This unworthy thought, however, could not long withstand the memory of
+Mian&rsquo;s steadfast and high-minded affection, and the certainty of her
+enlightened gladness at his return even in the imperfect condition which he
+anticipated. Nor was there absent from his mind a dimly-understood hope that
+the matter did not finally rest with him, but that everything which he might be
+inspired to do was in reality only a portion of the complete and arranged
+system into which he had been drawn, and in which his part had been assigned to
+him from the beginning without power for him to deviate, no matter how much to
+the contrary the thing should appear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As no advantage would be gained by making any delay, Ling at once sought the
+most favourable means of putting his resolution into practice, and after many
+skilful and insidious inquiries he learnt of an accomplished person who made a
+consistent habit of cutting off limbs which had become troublesome to their
+possessors either through accident or disease. Furthermore, he was said to be
+of a sincere and charitable disposition, and many persons declared that on no
+occasion had he been known to make use of the helpless condition of those who
+visited him in order to extort money from them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Coming to the ill-considered conclusion that he would be able to conceal within
+his own breast the true reason for the operation, Ling placed himself before
+the person in question, and exhibited the matter to him so that it would appear
+as though his desires were promoted by the presence of a small but persistent
+sprite which had taken its abode within his left thigh, and there resisted
+every effort of the most experienced wise persons to induce it to come forth
+again. Satisfied with this explanation of the necessity of the deed, the one
+who undertook the matter proceeded, with Ling&rsquo;s assistance, to sharpen
+his cutting instruments and to heat the hardening irons; but no sooner had he
+made a shallow mark to indicate the lines which his knife should take, than his
+subtle observation at once showed him that the facts had been represented to
+him in a wrong sense, and that his visitor, indeed, was composed of no common
+substance. Being of a gentle and forbearing disposition, he did not manifest
+any indication of rage at the discovery, but amiably and unassumingly pointed
+out that such a course was not respectful towards himself, and that, moreover,
+Ling might incur certain well-defined and highly undesirable maladies as a
+punishment for the deception.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Overcome with remorse at deceiving so courteous and noble-minded a person, Ling
+fully explained the circumstances to him, not even concealing from him certain
+facts which related to the actions of remote ancestors, but which,
+nevertheless, appeared to have influenced the succession of events. When he had
+made an end of the narrative, the other said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold now, it is truly remarked that every Mandarin has three hands and
+every soldier a like number of feet, yet it is a saying which is rather to be
+regarded as manifesting the deep wisdom and discrimination of the speaker than
+as an actual fact which can be taken advantage of when one is so
+minded&mdash;least of all by so valiant a Commander as the one before me, who
+has clearly proved that in time of battle he has exactly reversed the
+position.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The loss would undoubtedly be of considerable inconvenience
+occasionally,&rdquo; admitted Ling, &ldquo;yet none the less the sage remark of
+Huai Mei-shan, &lsquo;When actually in the embrace of a voracious and powerful
+wild animal, the desirability of leaving a limb is not a matter to be subjected
+to lengthy consideration,&rsquo; is undoubtedly a valuable guide for general
+conduct. This person has endured many misfortunes and suffered many injustices;
+he has known the wolf-gnawings of great hopes, which have withered and daily
+grown less when the difficulties of maintaining an honourable and illustrious
+career have unfolded themselves within his sight. Before him still lie the
+attractions of a moderate competency to be shared with the one whose absence
+would make even the Upper Region unendurable, and after having this entrancing
+future once shattered by the tiger-like cupidity of a depraved and incapable
+Mandarin, he is determined to welcome even the sacrifice which you condemn
+rather than let the opportunity vanish through indecision.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not an unworthy or abandoned decision,&rdquo; said the one whose
+aid Ling had invoked, &ldquo;nor a matter in which this person would refrain
+from taking part, were there no other and more agreeable means by which the
+same results may be attained. A circumstance has occurred within this
+superficial person&rsquo;s mind, however: A brother of the one who is
+addressing you is by profession one of those who purchase large undertakings
+for which they have not the money to pay, and who thereupon by various
+expedients gain the ear of the thrifty, enticing them by fair offers of return
+to entrust their savings for the purpose of paying off the debt. These persons
+are ever on the watch for transactions by which they inevitably prosper without
+incurring any obligation, and doubtless my brother will be able to gather a
+just share of the value of your highly-remunerative body without submitting you
+to the insufferable annoyance of losing a great part of it prematurely.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Without clearly understanding how so inviting an arrangement could be effected,
+the manner of speaking was exceedingly alluring to Ling&rsquo;s mind, perplexed
+as he had become through weighing and considering the various attitudes of the
+entire matter. To receive a certain and sufficient sum of money without his
+person being in any way mutilated would be a satisfactory, but as far as he had
+been able to observe an unapproachable, solution to the difficulty. In the mind
+of the amiable person with whom he was conversing, however, the accomplishment
+did not appear to be surrounded by unnatural obstacles, so that Ling was
+content to leave the entire design in his hands, after stating that he would
+again present himself on a certain occasion when it was asserted that the
+brother in question would be present.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So internally lightened did Ling feel after this inspiring conversation, and so
+confident of a speedy success had the obliging person&rsquo;s words made him
+become, that for the first time since his return to Canton he was able to take
+an intellectual interest in the pleasures of the city. Becoming aware that the
+celebrated play entitled &ldquo;The Precious Lamp of Spotted Butterfly
+Temple&rdquo; was in process of being shown at the Tea Garden of Rainbow Lights
+and Voices, he purchased an entrance, and after passing several hours in this
+conscientious enjoyment, returned to his chamber, and passed a night untroubled
+by any manifestations of an unpleasant nature.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XII</h3>
+
+<p>
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un, the brother of the one to whom Ling had applied in his
+determination, was confidently stated to be one of the richest persons in
+Canton. So great was the number of enterprises in which he had possessions,
+that he himself was unable to keep an account of them, and it was asserted that
+upon occasions he had run through the streets, crying aloud that such an
+undertaking had been the subject of most inferior and uninviting dreams and
+omens (a custom observed by those who wish a venture ill), whereas upon
+returning and consulting his written parchments, it became plain to him that he
+had indulged in a very objectionable exhibition, as he himself was the person
+most interested in the success of the matter. Far from discouraging him,
+however, such incidents tended to his advantage, as he could consistently point
+to them in proof of his unquestionable commercial honourableness, and in this
+way many persons of all classes, not only in Canton, or in the Province, but
+all over the Empire, would unhesitatingly entrust money to be placed in
+undertakings which he had purchased and was willing to describe as &ldquo;of
+much good.&rdquo; A certain class of printed leaves&mdash;those in which
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un did not insert purchased mentions of his forthcoming ventures
+or verses recording his virtues (in return for buying many examples of the
+printed leaf containing them)&mdash;took frequent occasion of reminding persons
+that Chang-ch&rsquo;un owed the beginning of his prosperity to finding a
+written parchment connected with a Mandarin of exalted rank and a low caste
+attendant at the Ti-i tea-house among the paper heaps, which it was at that
+time his occupation to assort into various departments according to their
+quality and commercial value. Such printed leaves freely and unhesitatingly
+predicted that the day on which he would publicly lose face was incomparably
+nearer than that on which the Imperial army would receive its back pay, and in
+a quaint and gravity-removing manner advised him to protect himself against an
+obscure but inevitable poverty by learning the accomplishment of
+chair-carrying&mdash;an occupation for which his talents and achievements
+fitted him in a high degree, they remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In spite of these evilly intentioned remarks, and of illustrations representing
+him as being bowstrung for treacherous killing, being seized in the action of
+secretly conveying money from passers-by to himself and other similar annoying
+references to his private life, Chang-ch&rsquo;un did not fail to prosper, and
+his undertakings succeeded to such an extent that without inquiry into the
+detail many persons were content to describe as &ldquo;gold-lined&rdquo;
+anything to which he affixed his sign, and to hazard their savings for staking
+upon the ventures. In all other departments of life Chang was equally
+successful; his chief wife was the daughter of one who stood high in the
+Emperor&rsquo;s favour; his repast table was never unsupplied with sea-snails,
+rats&rsquo; tongues, or delicacies of an equally expensive nature, and it was
+confidently maintained that there was no official in Canton, not even putting
+aside the Taotai, who dare neglect to fondle Chang&rsquo;s hand if he publicly
+offered it to him for that purpose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was at the most illustrious point of his existence&mdash;at the time,
+indeed, when after purchasing without money the renowned and proficient
+charm-water Ho-Ko for a million taels, he had sold it again for ten&mdash;that
+Chang was informed by his brother of the circumstances connected with Ling.
+After becoming specially assured that the matter was indeed such as it was
+represented to be, Chang at once discerned that the venture was of too certain
+and profitable a nature to be put before those who entrusted their money to him
+in ordinary and doubtful cases. He accordingly called together certain persons
+whom he was desirous of obliging, and informing them privately and apart from
+business terms that the opportunity was one of exceptional attractiveness, he
+placed the facts before them. After displaying a number of diagrams bearing
+upon the matter, he proposed that they should form an enterprise to be called
+&ldquo;The Ling (After Death) Without Much Risk Assembly.&rdquo; The manner of
+conducting this undertaking he explained to be as follows: The body of Ling,
+whenever the spirit left it, should become as theirs to be used for profit. For
+this benefit they would pay Ling fifty thousand taels when the understanding
+was definitely arrived at, five thousand taels each year until the matter
+ended, and when that period arrived another fifty thousand taels to persons
+depending upon him during his life. Having stated the figure business,
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un put down his written papers, and causing his face to assume
+the look of irrepressible but dignified satisfaction which it was his custom to
+wear on most occasions, and especially when he had what appeared at first sight
+to be evil news to communicate to public assemblages of those who had entrusted
+money to his ventures, he proceeded to disclose the advantages of such a
+system. At the extreme, he said, the amount which they would be required to pay
+would be two hundred and fifty thousand taels; but this was in reality a very
+misleading view of the circumstance, as he would endeavour to show them. For
+one detail, he had allotted to Ling thirty years of existence, which was the
+extreme amount according to the calculations of those skilled in such
+prophecies; but, as they were all undoubtedly aware, persons of very expert
+intellects were known to enjoy a much shorter period of life than the gross and
+ordinary, and as Ling was clearly one of the former, by the fact of his
+contriving so ingenious a method of enriching himself, they might with
+reasonable foresight rely upon his departing when half the period had been
+attained; in that way seventy-five thousand taels would be restored to them,
+for every year represented a saving of five thousand. Another agreeable
+contemplation was that of the last sum, for by such a time they would have
+arrived at the most pleasurable part of the enterprise: a million taels&rsquo;
+worth of pure gold would be displayed before them, and the question of the
+final fifty thousand could be disposed of by cutting off an arm or half a leg.
+Whether they adopted that course, or decided to increase their fortunes by
+exposing so exceptional and symmetrical a wonder to the public gaze in all the
+principal cities of the Empire, was a circumstance which would have to be
+examined within their minds when the time approached. In such a way the detail
+of purchase stood revealed as only fifty thousand taels in reality, a sum so
+despicably insignificant that he had internal pains at mentioning it to so
+wealthy a group of Mandarins, and he had not yet made clear to them that each
+year they would receive gold to the amount of almost a thousand taels. This
+would be the result of Ling making smooth his surfaces, and it would enable
+them to know that the person in question actually existed, and to keep the
+circumstances before their intellects.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Chang-Ch&rsquo;un had made the various facts clear to this extent, those
+who were assembled expressed their feelings as favourably turned towards the
+project, provided the tests to which Ling was to be put should prove
+encouraging, and a secure and intelligent understanding of things to be done
+and not to be done could be arrived at between them. To this end Ling was
+brought into the chamber, and fixing his thoughts steadfastly upon Mian, he
+permitted portions to be cut from various parts of his body without betraying
+any signs of ignoble agitation. No sooner had the pieces been separated and the
+virtue of Ling&rsquo;s existence passed from them than they changed colour and
+hardened, nor could the most delicate and searching trials to which they were
+exposed by a skilful worker in metals, who was obtained for the purpose,
+disclose any particular, however minute, in which they differed from the finest
+gold. The hair, the nails, and the teeth were similarly affected, and even
+Ling&rsquo;s blood dried into a fine gold powder. This detail of the trial
+being successfully completed, Ling subjected himself to intricate questioning
+on all matters connected with his religion and manner of conducting himself,
+both in public and privately, the history and behaviour of his ancestors, the
+various omens and remarkable sayings which had reference to his life and
+destiny, and the intentions which he then possessed regarding his future
+movements and habits of living. All the wise sayings and written and printed
+leaves which made any allusion to the existence of and possibility of discovery
+of the wonderful gold fluid were closely examined, and found to be in
+agreement, whereupon those present made no further delay in admitting that the
+facts were indeed as they had been described, and indulged in a dignified
+stroking of each other&rsquo;s faces as an expression of pleasure and in proof
+of their satisfaction at taking part in so entrancing and remunerative an
+affair. At Chang&rsquo;s command many rare and expensive wines were then
+brought in, and partaken of without restraint by all persons, the repast being
+lightened by numerous well-considered and gravity-removing jests having
+reference to Ling and the unusual composition of his person. So amiably were
+the hours occupied that it was past the time of no light when Chang rose and
+read at full length the statement of things to be done and things not to be
+done, which was to be sealed by Ling for his part and the other persons who
+were present for theirs. It so happened, however, that at that period
+Ling&rsquo;s mind was filled with brilliant and versatile thoughts and images
+of Mian, and many-hued visions of the manner in which they would spend the
+entrancing future which was now before them, and in this way it chanced that he
+did not give any portion of his intellect to the reading, mistaking it, indeed,
+for a delicate and very ably-composed set of verses which Chang-ch&rsquo;un was
+reciting as a formal blessing on parting. Nor was it until he was desired to
+affix his sign that Ling discovered his mistake, and being of too respectful
+and unobtrusive a disposition to require the matter to be repeated then, he
+carried out the obligation without in any particular understanding the written
+words to which he was agreeing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Ling walked through the streets to his chamber after leaving the house and
+company of Chang-Ch&rsquo;un, holding firmly among his garments the thin
+printed papers to the amount of fifty thousand taels which he had received, and
+repeatedly speaking to himself in terms of general and specific encouragement
+at the fortunate events of the past few days, he became aware that a person of
+mean and rapacious appearance, whom he had some memory of having observed
+within the residence he had but just left, was continually by his side. Not at
+first doubting that the circumstance resulted from a benevolent desire on the
+part of Chang-ch&rsquo;un that he should be protected on his passage through
+the city, Ling affected not to observe the incident; but upon reaching his own
+door the person in question persistently endeavoured to pass in also. Forming a
+fresh judgment about the matter, Ling, who was very powerfully constructed, and
+whose natural instincts were enhanced in every degree by the potent fluid of
+which he had lately partaken, repeatedly threw him across the street until he
+became weary of the diversion. At length, however, the thought arose that one
+who patiently submitted to continually striking the opposite houses with his
+head must have something of importance to communicate, whereupon he courteously
+invited him to enter the apartment and unweigh his mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The facts of the case appear to have been somewhat inadequately
+represented,&rdquo; said the stranger, bowing obsequiously, &ldquo;for this
+unornamental person was assured by the benignant Chang-ch&rsquo;un that the one
+whose shadow he was to become was of a mild and forbearing nature.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such words are as the conversation of birds to me,&rdquo; replied Ling,
+not conjecturing how the matter had fallen about. &ldquo;This person has just
+left the presence of the elegant and successful Chang-ch&rsquo;un, and no word
+that he spoke gave indication of such a follower or such a service.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then it is indeed certain that the various transactions have not been
+fully understood,&rdquo; exclaimed the other, &ldquo;for the exact
+communication to this unseemly one was, &lsquo;The valuable and enlightened
+Ling has heard and agreed to the different things to be done and not to be
+done, one phrase of which arranges for your continual presence, so that he will
+anticipate your attentions.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words the truth became as daylight before Ling&rsquo;s eyes, and he
+perceived that the written paper to which he had affixed his sign contained the
+detail of such an office as that of the person before him. When too late, more
+than ever did he regret that he had not formed some pretext for causing the
+document to be read a second time, as in view of his immediate intentions such
+an arrangement as the one to which he had agreed had every appearance of
+becoming of an irksome and perplexing nature. Desiring to know the length of
+the attendant&rsquo;s commands, Ling asked him for a clear statement of his
+duties, feigning that he had missed that portion of the reading through a
+momentary attack of the giddy sickness. To this request the stranger, who
+explained that his name was Wang, instantly replied that his written and spoken
+orders were: never to permit more than an arm&rsquo;s length of space to
+separate them; to prevent, by whatever force was necessary for the purpose, all
+attempts at evading the things to be done and not to be done, and to ignore as
+of no interest all other circumstances. It seemed to Ling, in consequence, that
+little seclusion would be enjoyed unless an arrangement could be effected
+between Wang and himself; so to this end, after noticing the evident poverty
+and covetousness of the person in question, he made him an honourable offer of
+frequent rewards, provided a greater distance was allowed to come between them
+as soon as Si-chow was reached. On his side, Ling undertook not to break
+through the wording of the things to be done and not to be done, and to notify
+to Wang any movements upon which he meditated. In this reputable manner the
+obstacle was ingeniously removed, and the intelligent nature of the device was
+clearly proved by the fact that not only Ling but Wang also had in the future a
+much greater liberty of action than would have been possible if it had been
+necessary to observe the short-sighted and evidently hastily-thought-of
+condition which Chang-ch&rsquo;un had endeavoured to impose.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIII</h3>
+
+<p>
+In spite of his natural desire to return to Mian as quickly as possible, Ling
+judged it expedient to give several days to the occupation of purchasing
+apparel of the richest kinds, weapons and armour in large quantities, jewels
+and ornaments of worked metals and other objects to indicate his changed
+position. Nor did he neglect actions of a pious and charitable nature, for
+almost his first care was to arrange with the chief ones at the Temple of
+Benevolent Intentions that each year, on the day corresponding to that on which
+he drank the gold fluid, a sumptuous and well-constructed coffin should be
+presented to the most deserving poor and aged person within that quarter of the
+city in which he had resided. When these preparations were completed, Ling set
+out with an extensive train of attendants; but riding on before, accompanied
+only by Wang, he quickly reached Si-chow without adventure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The meeting between Ling and Mian was affecting to such an extent that the
+blind and deaf attendants wept openly without reproach, notwithstanding the
+fact that neither could become possessed of more than a half of the occurrence.
+Eagerly the two reunited ones examined each other&rsquo;s features to discover
+whether the separation had brought about any change in the beloved and
+well-remembered lines. Ling discovered upon Mian the shadow of an anxious care
+at his absence, while the disappointments and trials which Ling had experienced
+in Canton had left traces which were plainly visible to Mian&rsquo;s
+penetrating gaze. In such an entrancing occupation the time was to them without
+hours until a feeling of hunger recalled them to lesser matters, when a variety
+of very select foods and liquids was placed before them without delay. After
+this elegant repast had been partaken of, Mian, supporting herself upon
+Ling&rsquo;s shoulder, made a request that he would disclose to her all the
+matters which had come under his observation both within the city and during
+his journey to and from that place. Upon this encouragement, Ling proceeded to
+unfold his mind, not withholding anything which appeared to be of interest, no
+matter how slight. When he had reached Canton without any perilous adventure,
+Mian breathed more freely; as he recorded the interview at the Office of
+Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, she trembled at the insidious malignity of the
+evil person Li Keen. The conversation with the wise reader of the future
+concerning the various states of such as be officially dead almost threw her
+into the rigid sickness, from which, however, the wonderful circumstance of the
+discovered properties of the gold fluid quickly recalled her. But to
+Ling&rsquo;s great astonishment no sooner had he made plain the exceptional
+advantages which he had derived from the circumstances, and the nature of the
+undertaking at which he had arrived with Chang-ch&rsquo;un, than she became a
+prey to the most intolerable and unrestrained anguish.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, my devoted but excessively ill-advised lover,&rdquo; she exclaimed
+wildly, and in tones which clearly indicated that she was inspired by every
+variety of affectionate emotion, &ldquo;has the unendurable position in which
+you and all your household will be placed by the degrading commercial schemes
+and instincts of the mercenary-souled person Chang-ch&rsquo;un occupied no
+place in your generally well-regulated intellect? Inevitably will those who
+drink our almond tea, in order to have an opportunity of judging the value of
+the appointments of the house, pass the jesting remark that while the Lings
+assuredly have &lsquo;a dead person&rsquo;s bones in the secret chamber,&rsquo;
+at the present they will not have one in the family graveyard by reason of the
+death of Ling himself. Better to lose a thousand limbs during life than the
+entire person after death; nor would your adoring Mian hesitate to clasp
+proudly to her organ of affection the veriest trunk that had parted with all
+its attributes in a noble and sacrificing endeavour to preserve at least some
+dignified proportions to embellish the Ancestral Temple and to receive the
+worship of posterity.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; replied Ling, with extravagant humiliation, &ldquo;it is
+indeed true; and this person is degraded beyond the common lot of those who
+break images and commit thefts from sacred places. The side of the transaction
+which is at present engaging our attention never occurred to this superficial
+individual until now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wise and incomparable one,&rdquo; said Mian, in no degree able to
+restrain the fountains of bitter water which clouded her delicate and
+expressive eyes, &ldquo;in spite of this person&rsquo;s biting and ungracious
+words do not, she makes a formal petition, doubt the deathless strength of her
+affection. Cheerfully, in order to avert the matter in question, or even to
+save her lover the anguish of unavailing and soul-eating remorse, would she
+consign herself to a badly-constructed and slow-consuming fire or expose her
+body to various undignified tortures. Happy are those even to whom is left a
+little ash to be placed in a precious urn and diligently guarded, for it, in
+any event, truly represents all that is left of the once living person, whereas
+after an honourable and spotless existence my illustrious but unthinking lord
+will be blended with a variety of baser substances and passed from hand to
+hand, his immaculate organs serving to reward murderers for their deeds and to
+tempt the weak and vicious to all manner of unmentionable crimes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So overcome was Ling by the distressing nature of the oversight he had
+permitted that he could find no words with which to comfort Mian, who, after
+some moments, continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are even worse visions of degradation which occur to this person.
+By chance, that which was once the noble-minded Ling may be disposed of, not to
+the Imperial Treasury for converting into pieces of exchange, but to some
+undiscriminating worker in metals who will fashion out of his beautiful and
+symmetrical stomach an elegant food-dish, so that from the ultimate
+developments of the circumstance may arise the fact that his own descendants,
+instead of worshipping him, use his internal organs for this doubtful if not
+absolutely unclean purpose, and thereby suffer numerous well-merited
+afflictions, to the end that the finally-despised Ling and this discredited
+person, instead of founding a vigorous and prolific generation, become the
+parents of a line of feeble-minded and physically-depressed lepers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, my peacock-eyed one!&rdquo; exclaimed Ling, in immeasurable
+distress, &ldquo;so proficient an exhibition of virtuous grief crushes this
+misguided person completely to the ground. Rather would he uncomplainingly lose
+his pigtail than&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such a course,&rdquo; said a discordant voice, as the unpresentable
+person Wang stepped forth from behind a hanging curtain, where, indeed, he had
+stood concealed during the entire conversation, &ldquo;is especially forbidden
+by the twenty-third detail of the things to be done and not to be done.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What new adversity is this?&rdquo; cried Mian, pressing to Ling with a
+still closer embrace. &ldquo;Having disposed of your incomparable body after
+death, surely an adequate amount of liberty and seclusion remains to us during
+life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; interposed the dog-like Wang, &ldquo;the refined
+person in question must not attempt to lose or to dispose of his striking and
+invaluable pigtail; for by such an action he would be breaking through his
+spoken and written word whereby he undertook to be ruled by the things to be
+done and not to be done; and he would also be robbing the ingenious-minded
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; lamented the unhappy Ling, &ldquo;that which appeared to be
+the end of all this person&rsquo;s troubles is obviously simply the
+commencement of a new and more extensive variety. Understand, O conscientious
+but exceedingly inopportune Wang, that the words which passed from this
+person&rsquo;s mouth did not indicate a fixed determination, but merely served
+to show the unfeigned depth of his emotion. Be content that he has no intention
+of evading the definite principles of the things to be done and not to be done,
+and in the meantime honour this commonplace establishment by retiring to the
+hot and ill-ventilated chamber, and there partaking of a suitable repast which
+shall be prepared without delay.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Wang had departed, which he did with somewhat unseemly haste, Ling made an
+end of recording his narrative, which Mian&rsquo;s grief had interrupted. In
+this way he explained to her the reason of Wang&rsquo;s presence, and assured
+her that by reason of the arrangement he had made with that person, his near
+existence would not be so unsupportable to them as might at first appear to be
+the case.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While they were still conversing together, and endeavouring to divert their
+minds from the objectionable facts which had recently come within their notice,
+an attendant entered and disclosed that the train of servants and merchandise
+which Ling had preceded on the journey was arriving. At this fresh example of
+her lover&rsquo;s consistent thought for her, Mian almost forgot her recent
+agitation, and eagerly lending herself to the entrancing occupation of
+unfolding and displaying the various objects, her brow finally lost the last
+trace of sadness. Greatly beyond the imaginings of anticipation were the
+expensive articles with which Ling proudly surrounded her; and in examining and
+learning the cost of the set jewels and worked metals, the ornamental garments
+for both persons, the wood and paper appointments for the house&mdash;even
+incenses, perfumes, spices and rare viands had not been forgotten&mdash;the day
+was quickly and profitably spent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the hour of sunset arrived, Ling, having learned that certain preparations
+which he had commanded were fully carried out, took Mian by the hand and led
+her into the chief apartment of the house, where were assembled all the
+followers and attendants, even down to the illiterate and superfluous Wang. In
+the centre of the room upon a table of the finest ebony stood a vessel of
+burning incense, some dishes of the most highly-esteemed fruit, and an
+abundance of old and very sweet wine. Before these emblems Ling and Mian placed
+themselves in an attitude of deep humiliation, and formally expressed their
+gratitude to the Chief Deity for having called them into existence, to the
+cultivated earth for supplying them with the means of sustaining life, to the
+Emperor for providing the numerous safeguards by which their persons were
+protected at all times, and to their parents for educating them. This adequate
+ceremony being completed, Ling explicitly desired all those present to observe
+the fact that the two persons in question were, by that fact and from that
+time, made as one being, and the bond between them, incapable of severance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the ruling night-lantern came out from among the clouds, Ling and Mian
+became possessed of a great desire to go forth with pressed hands and look
+again on the forest paths and glades in which they had spent many hours of
+exceptional happiness before Ling&rsquo;s journey to Canton. Leaving the
+attendants to continue the feasting and drum-beating in a completely
+unrestrained manner, they therefore passed out unperceived, and wandering among
+the trees, presently stood on the banks of the Heng-Kiang.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, my beloved!&rdquo; exclaimed Mian, gazing at the brilliant and
+unruffled water, &ldquo;greatly would this person esteem a short river journey,
+such as we often enjoyed together in the days when you were recovering.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling, to whom the expressed desires of Mian were as the word of the Emperor,
+instantly prepared the small and ornamental junk which was fastened near for
+this purpose, and was about to step in, when a presumptuous and highly
+objectionable hand restrained him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold,&rdquo; remarked a voice which Ling had some difficulty in
+ascribing to any known person, so greatly had it changed from its usual tone,
+&ldquo;behold how the immature and altogether too-inferior Ling observes his
+spoken and written assertions!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this low-conditioned speech, Ling drew his well-tempered sword without
+further thought, in spite of the restraining arms of Mian, but at the sight of
+the utterly incapable person Wang, who stood near smiling meaninglessly and
+waving his arms with a continuous and backward motion, he again replaced it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such remarks can be left to fall unheeded from the lips of one who bears
+every indication of being steeped in rice spirit,&rdquo; he said with
+unprovoked dignity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It will be the plain duty of this expert and uncorruptible person to
+furnish the unnecessary, but, nevertheless, very severe and self-opinionated
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un with a written account of how the traitorous and deceptive
+Ling has endeavoured to break through the thirty-fourth vessel of the liquids
+to be consumed and not to be consumed,&rdquo; continued Wang with increased
+deliberation and an entire absence of attention to Ling&rsquo;s action and
+speech, &ldquo;and how by this refined person&rsquo;s unfailing civility and
+resourceful strategy he has been frustrated.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perchance,&rdquo; said Ling, after examining his thoughts for a short
+space, and reflecting that the list of things to be done and not to be done was
+to him as a blank leaf, &ldquo;there may even be some small portion of that
+which is accurate in his statement. In what manner,&rdquo; he continued,
+addressing the really unendurable person, who was by this time preparing to
+pass the night in the cool swamp by the river&rsquo;s edge, &ldquo;does this
+one endanger any detail of the written and sealed parchment by such an
+action?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Inasmuch,&rdquo; replied Wang, pausing in the process of removing his
+outer garments, &ldquo;as the seventy-ninth&mdash;the intricate name given to
+it escapes this person&rsquo;s tongue at the moment&mdash;but the
+ninety-seventh&mdash;experLingknowswhamean&mdash;provides that any person, with
+or without, attempting or not avoiding to travel by sea, lake, or river, or to
+place himself in such a position as he may reasonably and intelligently be
+drowned in salt water, fresh water, or&mdash;or honourable rice spirit, shall
+be guilty of, and suffer&mdash;complete loss of memory.&rdquo; With these words
+the immoderate and contemptible person sank down in a very profound slumber.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; said Ling, turning to Mian, who stood near, unable to
+retire even had she desired, by reason of the extreme agitation into which the
+incident had thrown her delicate mind and body, &ldquo;how intensely
+aggravating a circumstance that we are compelled to entertain so dissolute a
+one by reason of this person&rsquo;s preoccupation when the matter was read.
+Nevertheless, it is not unlikely that the detail he spoke of was such as he
+insisted, to the extent of making it a thing not to be done to journey in any
+manner by water. It shall be an early endeavour of this person to get these
+restraining details equitably amended; but in the meantime we will retrace our
+footsteps through the wood, and the enraptured Ling will make a
+well-thought-out attempt to lighten the passage by a recital of his
+recently-composed verses on the subject of &lsquo;Exile from the Loved One; or,
+Farewell and Return.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIV</h3>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My beloved lord!&rdquo; said Mian sadly, on a morning after many days
+had passed since the return of Ling, &ldquo;have you not every possession for
+which the heart of a wise person searches? Yet the dark mark is scarcely ever
+absent from your symmetrical brow. If she who stands before you, and is
+henceforth an integral part of your organization, has failed you in any
+particular, no matter how unimportant, explain the matter to her, and the
+amendment will be a speedy and a joyful task.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was indeed true that Ling&rsquo;s mind was troubled, but the fault did not
+lie with Mian, as the person in question was fully aware, for before her eyes
+as before those of Ling the unevadable compact which had been entered into with
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un was ever present, insidiously planting bitterness within even
+the most select and accomplished delights. Nor with increasing time did the
+obstinate and intrusive person Wang become more dignified in his behaviour; on
+the contrary, he freely made use of his position to indulge in every variety of
+abandonment, and almost each day he prevented, by reason of his knowledge of
+the things to be done and not to be done, some refined and permissible
+entertainment upon which Ling and Mian had determined. Ling had despatched many
+communications upon this subject to Chang-ch&rsquo;un, praying also that some
+expert way out of the annoyance of the lesser and more unimportant things not
+to be done should be arrived at, but the time when he might reasonably expect
+an answer to these written papers had not yet arrived.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was about this period that intelligence was brought to Ling from the
+villages on the road to Peking, how Li Keen, having secretly ascertained that
+his Yamen was standing and his goods uninjured, had determined to return, and
+was indeed at that hour within a hundred li of Si-chow. Furthermore, he had
+repeatedly been understood to pronounce clearly that he considered Ling to be
+the head and beginning of all his inconveniences, and to declare that the first
+act of justice which he should accomplish on his return would be to submit the
+person in question to the most unbearable tortures, and then cause him to lose
+his head publicly as an outrager of the settled state of things and an enemy of
+those who loved tranquillity. Not doubting that Li Keen would endeavour to gain
+an advantage by treachery if the chance presented itself, Ling determined to go
+forth to meet him, and without delay settle the entire disturbance in one
+well-chosen and fatally-destructive encounter. To this end, rather than disturb
+the placid mind of Mian, to whom the thought of the engagement would be
+weighted with many disquieting fears, he gave out that he was going upon an
+expedition to surprise and capture certain fish of a very delicate flavour, and
+attended by only two persons, he set forth in the early part of the day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some hours later, owing to an ill-considered remark on the part of the deaf
+attendant, to whom the matter had been explained in an imperfect light, Mian
+became possessed of the true facts of the case, and immediately all the
+pleasure of existence went from her. She despaired of ever again beholding Ling
+in an ordinary state, and mournfully reproached herself for the bitter words
+which had risen to her lips when the circumstance of his condition and the
+arrangement with Chang-ch&rsquo;un first became known to her. After spending an
+interval in a polished lament at the manner in which things were inevitably
+tending, the thought occurred to Mian whether by any means in her power she
+could influence the course and settled method of affairs. In this situation the
+memory of the person Wang, and the fact that on several occasions he had made
+himself objectionable when Ling had proposed to place himself in such a
+position that he incurred some very remote chance of death by drowning or by
+fire, recurred to her. Subduing the natural and pure-minded repulsion which she
+invariably experienced at the mere thought of so debased an individual, she
+sought for him, and discovering him in the act of constructing cardboard
+figures of men and animals, which it was his custom to dispose skilfully in
+little-frequented paths for the purpose of enjoying the sudden terror of those
+who passed by, she quickly put the matter before him, urging him, by some
+means, to prevent the encounter, which must assuredly cost the life of the one
+whom he had so often previously obstructed from incurring the slightest risk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By no means,&rdquo; exclaimed Wang, when he at length understood the
+full meaning of the project; &ldquo;it would be a most unpresentable action for
+this commonplace person to interfere in so honourable an undertaking. Had the
+priceless body of the intrepid Ling been in any danger of disappearing, as, for
+example, by drowning or being consumed in fire, the nature of the circumstance
+would have been different. As the matter exists, however, there is every
+appearance that the far-seeing Chang-ch&rsquo;un will soon reap the deserved
+reward of his somewhat speculative enterprise, and to that end this person will
+immediately procure a wooden barrier and the services of four robust carriers,
+and proceed to the scene of the conflict.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Deprived of even this hope of preventing the encounter, Mian betook herself in
+extreme dejection to the secret room of the magician, which had been unopened
+since the day when the two attendants had searched for substances to apply to
+their master, and there she diligently examined every object in the remote
+chance of discovering something which might prove of value in averting the
+matter in question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not anticipating that the true reason of his journey would become known to
+Mian, Ling continued on his way without haste, and passing through Si-chow
+before the sun had risen, entered upon the great road to Peking. At a
+convenient distance from the town he came to a favourable piece of ground where
+he decided to await the arrival of Li Keen, spending the time profitably in
+polishing his already brilliant sword, and making observations upon the nature
+of the spot and the condition of the surrounding omens, on which the success of
+his expedition would largely depend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the sun reached the highest point in the open sky the sound of an
+approaching company could be plainly heard; but at the moment when the chair of
+the Mandarin appeared within the sight of those who waited, the great luminary,
+upon which all portents depend directly or indirectly, changed to the colour of
+new-drawn blood and began to sink towards the earth. Without any misgivings,
+therefore, Ling disposed his two attendants in the wood, with instructions to
+step forth and aid him if he should be attacked by overwhelming numbers, while
+he himself remained in the way. As the chair approached, the Mandarin observed
+a person standing alone, and thinking that it was one who, hearing of his
+return, had come out of the town to honour him, he commanded the bearers to
+pause. Thereupon, stepping up to the opening, Ling struck the deceptive and
+incapable Li Keen on the cheek, at the same time crying in a full voice,
+&ldquo;Come forth, O traitorous and two-stomached Mandarin! for this person is
+very desirous of assisting you in the fulfilment of your boastful words. Here
+is a most irreproachable sword which will serve excellently to cut off this
+person&rsquo;s undignified head; here is a waistcord which can be tightened
+around his breast, thereby producing excruciating pains over the entire
+body.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the knowledge of who the one before him was, and when he heard the words
+which unhesitatingly announced Ling&rsquo;s fixed purpose, Li Keen first urged
+the carriers to fall upon Ling and slay him, and then, perceiving that such a
+course was exceedingly distasteful to their natural tendencies, to take up the
+chair and save him by flight. But Ling in the meantime engaged their attention,
+and fully explained to them the treacherous and unworthy conduct of Li Keen,
+showing them how his death would be a just retribution for his ill-spent life,
+and promising them each a considerable reward in addition to their arranged
+payment when the matter in question had been accomplished. Becoming convinced
+of the justice of Ling&rsquo;s cause, they turned upon Li Keen, insisting that
+he should at once attempt to carry out the ill-judged threats against Ling, of
+which they were consistent witnesses, and announcing that, if he failed to do
+so, they would certainly bear him themselves to a not far distant well of
+stagnant water, and there gain the approbation of the good spirits by freeing
+the land of so unnatural a monster.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seeing only a dishonourable death on either side, Li Keen drew his sword, and
+made use of every artifice of which he had knowledge in order to disarm Ling or
+to take him at a disadvantage. In this he was unsuccessful, for Ling, who was
+by nature a very expert sword-user, struck him repeatedly, until he at length
+fell in an expiring condition, remarking with his last words that he had indeed
+been a narrow-minded and extortionate person during his life, and that his
+death was an enlightened act of celestial accuracy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Directing Wang and his four hired persons, who had in the meantime arrived, to
+give the body of the Mandarin an honourable burial in the deep of the wood,
+Ling rewarded and dismissed the chairbearers, and without delay proceeded to
+Si-chow, where he charitably distributed the goods and possessions of Li Keen
+among the poor of the town. Having in this able and conscientious manner
+completely proved the misleading nature of the disgraceful statements which the
+Mandarin had spread abroad concerning him, Ling turned his footsteps towards
+Mian, whose entrancing joy at his safe return was judged by both persons to be
+a sufficient reward for the mental distress with which their separation had
+been accompanied.
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XV</h3>
+
+<p>
+After the departure of Ling from Canton, the commercial affairs of
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un began, from a secret and undetectable cause, to assume an
+ill-regulated condition. No venture which he undertook maintained a profitable
+attitude, so that many persons who in former times had been content to display
+the printed papers setting forth his name and virtues in an easily-seen
+position in their receiving-rooms, now placed themselves daily before his house
+in order to accuse him of using their taels in ways which they themselves had
+not sufficiently understood, and for the purpose of warning passers-by against
+his inducements. It was in vain that Chang proposed new undertakings, each of
+an infallibly more prosperous nature than those before; the persons who had
+hitherto supported him were all entrusting their money to one named Pung Soo,
+who required millions where Chang had been content with thousands, and who
+persistently insisted on greeting the sacred Emperor as an equal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this unenviable state Chang&rsquo;s mind continually returned to thoughts of
+Ling, whose lifeless body would so opportunely serve to dispel the embarrassing
+perplexities of existence which were settling thickly about him. Urged forward
+by a variety of circumstances which placed him in an entirely different spirit
+from the honourable bearing which he had formerly maintained, he now closely
+examined all the papers connected with the matter, to discover whether he might
+not be able to effect his purpose with an outward exhibition of law forms.
+While engaged in this degrading occupation, a detail came to his notice which
+caused him to become very amiably disposed and confident of success. Proceeding
+with the matter, he caused a well-supported report to be spread about that Ling
+was suffering from a wasting sickness, which, without in any measure shortening
+his life, would cause him to return to the size and weight of a newly-born
+child, and being by these means enabled to secure the entire matter of
+&ldquo;The Ling (After Death) Without Much Risk Assembly&rdquo; at a very small
+outlay, he did so, and then, calling together a company of those who hire
+themselves out for purposes of violence, journeyed to Si-chow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ling and Mian were seated together at a table in the great room, examining a
+vessel of some clear liquid, when Chang-ch&rsquo;un entered with his armed
+ones, in direct opposition to the general laws of ordinary conduct and the
+rulings of hospitality. At the sight, which plainly indicated a threatened
+display of violence, Ling seized his renowned sword, which was never far
+distant from him, and prepared to carry out his spoken vow, that any person
+overstepping a certain mark on the floor would assuredly fall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Put away your undoubtedly competent weapon, O Ling,&rdquo; said Chang,
+who was desirous that the matter should be arranged if possible without any
+loss to himself, &ldquo;for such a course can be honourably adopted when it is
+taken into consideration that we are as twenty to one, and have, moreover, the
+appearance of being inspired by law forms.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are certain matters of allowed justice which over-rule all other
+law forms,&rdquo; replied Ling, taking a surer hold of his sword-grasp.
+&ldquo;Explain, for your part, O obviously double-dealing Chang-ch&rsquo;un,
+from whom this person only recently parted on terms of equality and courtesy,
+why you come not with an agreeable face and a peaceful following, but with a
+countenance which indicates both violence and terror, and accompanied by many
+whom this person recognizes as the most outcast and degraded from the narrow
+and evil-smelling ways of Canton?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In spite of your blustering words,&rdquo; said Chang, with some attempt
+at an exhibition of dignity, &ldquo;this person is endowed by every right, and
+comes only for the obtaining, by the help of this expert and proficient
+gathering, should such a length become necessary, of his just claims.
+Understand that in the time since the venture was arranged this person has
+become possessed of all the property of &lsquo;The Ling (After Death) Without
+Much Risk Assembly,&rsquo; and thereby he is competent to act fully in the
+matter. It has now come within his attention that the one Ling to whom the
+particulars refer is officially dead, and as the written and sealed document
+clearly undertook that the person&rsquo;s body was to be delivered up for
+whatever use the Assembly decided whenever death should possess it, this person
+has now come for the honourable carrying out of the undertaking.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words the true nature of the hidden contrivance into which he had
+fallen descended upon Ling like a heavy and unavoidable thunderbolt.
+Nevertheless, being by nature and by reason of his late exploits fearless of
+death, except for the sake of the loved one by his side, he betrayed no sign of
+discreditable emotion at the discovery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In such a case,&rdquo; he replied, with an appearance of entirely
+disregarding the danger of the position, &ldquo;the complete parchment must be
+of necessity overthrown; for if this person is now officially dead, he was
+equally so at the time of sealing, and arrangements entered into by dead
+persons have no actual existence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is a matter which has never been efficiently decided,&rdquo;
+admitted Chang-ch&rsquo;un, with no appearance of being thrown into a state of
+confusion at the suggestion, &ldquo;and doubtless the case in question can by
+various means be brought in the end before the Court of Final Settlement at
+Peking, where it may indeed be judged in the manner you assert. But as such a
+process must infallibly consume the wealth of a province and the years of an
+ordinary lifetime, and as it is this person&rsquo;s unmoved intention to carry
+out his own view of the undertaking without delay, such speculations are not
+matters of profound interest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Upon this Chang gave certain instructions to his followers, who thereupon
+prepared to advance. Perceiving that the last detail of the affair had been
+arrived at, Ling threw back his hanging garment, and was on the point of
+rushing forward to meet them, when Mian, who had maintained a possessed and
+reliant attitude throughout, pushed towards him the vessel of pure and
+sparkling liquid with which they had been engaged when so presumptuously broken
+in upon, at the same time speaking to him certain words in an outside language.
+A new and Heaven-sent confidence immediately took possession of Ling, and
+striking his sword against the wall with such irresistible force that the
+entire chamber trembled and the feeble-minded assassins shrank back in
+unrestrained terror, he leapt upon the table, grasping in one hand the open
+vessel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold the end, O most uninventive and slow-witted
+Chang-ch&rsquo;un!&rdquo; he cried in a dreadful and awe-compelling voice.
+&ldquo;As a reward for your faithless and traitorous behaviour, learn how such
+avaricious-minded incompetence turns and fastens itself upon the vitals of
+those who beget it. In spite of many things which were not of a graceful nature
+towards him, this person has unassumingly maintained his part of the
+undertaking, and would have followed such a course conscientiously to the last.
+As it is, when he has made an end of speaking, the body which you are already
+covetously estimating in taels will in no way be distinguishable from that of
+the meanest and most ordinary maker of commercial ventures in Canton. For,
+behold! the fluid which he holds in his hand, and which it is his fixed
+intention to drain to the last drop, is in truth nothing but a secret and
+exceedingly powerful counteractor against the virtues of the gold drug; and
+though but a single particle passed his lips, and the swords of your brilliant
+and versatile murderers met the next moment in his breast, the body which fell
+at your feet would be meet for worms rather than for the melting-pot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was indeed such a substance as Ling represented it to be, Mian having
+discovered it during her very systematic examination of the dead
+magician&rsquo;s inner room. Its composition and distillation had involved that
+self-opinionated person in many years of arduous toil, for with a somewhat
+unintelligent lack of foresight he had obstinately determined to perfect the
+antidote before he turned his attention to the drug itself. Had the matter been
+more ingeniously arranged, he would undoubtedly have enjoyed an earlier triumph
+and an affluent and respected old age.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Ling&rsquo;s earnest words and prepared attitude an instant conviction of
+the truth of his assertions took possession of Chang. Therefore, seeing nothing
+but immediate and unevadable ruin at the next step, he called out in a loud and
+imploring voice that he should desist, and no harm would come upon him. To this
+Ling consented, first insisting that the followers should be dismissed without
+delay, and Chang alone remain to have conversation on the matter. By this just
+act the lower parts of Canton were greatly purified, for the persons in
+question being driven forth into the woods, mostly perished by encounters with
+wild animals, or at the hands of the enraged villagers, to whom Ling had by
+this time become greatly endeared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the usual state had been restored, Ling made clear to Chang the altered
+nature of the conditions to which he would alone agree. &ldquo;It is a
+noble-minded and magnanimous proposal on your part, and one to which this
+misguided person had no claim,&rdquo; admitted Chang, as he affixed his seal to
+the written undertaking and committed the former parchment to be consumed by
+fire. By this arrangement it was agreed that Ling should receive only one-half
+of the yearly payment which had formerly been promised, and that no sum of
+taels should become due to those depending on him at his death. In return for
+these valuable allowances, there were to exist no details of things to be done
+and not to be done, Ling merely giving an honourable promise to observe the
+matter in a just spirit, while&mdash;most esteemed of all&mdash;only a portion
+of his body was to pass to Chang when the end arrived, the upper part remaining
+to embellish the family altar and receive the veneration of posterity.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>
+As the great sky-lantern rose above the trees and the time of no-noise fell
+upon the woods, a flower-laden pleasure-junk moved away from its restraining
+cords, and, without any sense of motion, gently bore Ling and Mian between the
+sweet-smelling banks of the Heng-Kiang. Presently Mian drew from beneath her
+flowing garment an instrument of stringed wood, and touching it with a quick
+but delicate stroke, like the flight and pausing of a butterfly, told in
+well-balanced words a refined narrative of two illustrious and noble-looking
+persons, and how, after many disagreeable evils and unendurable separations,
+they entered upon a destined state of earthly prosperity and celestial favour.
+When she made an end of the verses, Ling turned the junk&rsquo;s head by one
+well-directed stroke of the paddle, and prepared by using similar means to
+return to the place of mooring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed,&rdquo; he remarked, ceasing for a moment to continue this
+skilful occupation, &ldquo;the words which you have just spoken might, without
+injustice, be applied to the two persons who are now conversing together. For
+after suffering misfortunes and wrongs beyond an appropriate portion, they have
+now reached that period of existence when a tranquil and contemplative future
+is assured to them. In this manner is the sage and matured utterance of the
+inspired philosopher Nien-tsu again proved: that the life of every person is
+largely composed of two varieties of circumstances which together build up his
+existence&mdash;the Good and the Evil.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+THE END OF THE STORY OF LING
+</p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XVI</h3>
+
+<p>
+When Kai Lung, the story-teller, made an end of speaking, he was immediately
+greeted with a variety of delicate and pleasing remarks, all persons who had
+witnessed the matter, down even to the lowest type of Miaotze, who by reason of
+their obscure circumstances had been unable to understand the meaning of a word
+that had been spoken, maintaining that Kai Lung&rsquo;s accomplishment of
+continuing for upwards of three hours without a pause had afforded an
+entertainment of a very high and refined order. While these polished sayings
+were being composed, together with many others of a similar nature, Lin Yi
+suddenly leapt to his feet with a variety of highly objectionable remarks
+concerning the ancestors of all those who were present, and declaring that the
+story of Ling was merely a well-considered stratagem to cause them to forget
+the expedition which they had determined upon, for by that time it should have
+been completely carried out. It was undoubtedly a fact that the hour spoken of
+for the undertaking had long passed, Lin Yi having completely overlooked the
+speed of time in his benevolent anxiety that the polite and valorous Ling
+should in the end attain to a high and remunerative destiny.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In spite of Kai Lung&rsquo;s consistent denials of any treachery, he could not
+but be aware that the incident tended greatly to his disadvantage in the eyes
+of those whom he had fixed a desire to conciliate, nor did his well-intentioned
+offer that he would without hesitation repeat the display for a like number of
+hours effect his amiable purpose. How the complication would finally have been
+determined without interruption is a matter merely of imagination, for at that
+moment an outpost, who had been engaged in guarding the secrecy of the
+expedition, threw himself into the enclosure in a torn and breathless
+condition, having run through the forest many li in a winding direction for the
+explicit purpose of warning Lin Yi that his intentions had become known, and
+that he and his followers would undoubtedly be surprised and overcome if they
+left the camp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this intimation of the eminent service which Kai Lung had rendered them, the
+nature of their faces towards him at once changed completely, those who only a
+moment before had been demanding his death particularly hailing him as their
+inspired and unobtrusive protector, and in all probability, indeed, a virtuous
+and benignant spirit in disguise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bending under the weight of offerings which Lin Yi and his followers pressed
+upon him, together with many clearly set out desires for his future prosperity,
+and assured of their unalterable protection on all future occasions, Kai Lung
+again turned his face towards the lanterns of Knei Yang. Far down the side of
+the mountain they followed his footsteps, now by a rolling stone, now by a
+snapping branch of yellow pine. Once again they heard his voice, cheerfully
+repeating to himself; &ldquo;Among the highest virtues of a pure
+existence&mdash;&rdquo; But beyond that point the gentle forest breath bore him
+away.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"></a>
+II.<br />
+THE STORY OF YUNG CHANG</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+Narrated by Kai Lung, in the open space of the tea-shop of The Celestial
+Principles, at Wu-whei.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ho, illustrious passers-by!&rdquo; said Kai Lung, the story-teller, as
+he spread out his embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. &ldquo;It is indeed
+unlikely that you would condescend to stop and listen to the foolish words of
+such an insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself. Nevertheless,
+if you will but retard your elegant footsteps for a few moments, this
+exceedingly unprepossessing individual will endeavour to entertain you with the
+recital of the adventures of the noble Yung Chang, as recorded by the
+celebrated Pe-ku-hi.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus adjured, the more leisurely-minded drew near to hear the history of Yung
+Chang. There was Sing You the fruit-seller, and Li Ton-ti the wood-carver; Hi
+Seng left his clients to cry in vain for water; and Wang Yu, the idle
+pipe-maker, closed his shop of &ldquo;The Fountain of Beauty,&rdquo; and hung
+on the shutter the gilt dragon to keep away customers in his absence. These,
+together with a few more shopkeepers and a dozen or so loafers, constituted a
+respectable audience by the time Kai Lung was ready.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It would be more seemly if this ill-conditioned person who is now
+addressing such a distinguished assembly were to reward his fine and
+noble-looking hearers for their trouble,&rdquo; apologized the story-teller.
+&ldquo;But, as the Book of Verses says, &lsquo;The meaner the slave, the
+greater the lord&rsquo;; and it is, therefore, not unlikely that this majestic
+concourse will reward the despicable efforts of their servant by handfuls of
+coins till the air appears as though filled with swarms of locusts in the
+season of much heat. In particular, there is among this august crowd of
+Mandarins one Wang Yu, who has departed on three previous occasions without
+bestowing the reward of a single cash. If the feeble and covetous-minded Wang
+Yu will place within this very ordinary bowl the price of one of his
+exceedingly ill-made pipes, this unworthy person will proceed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man never,&rdquo; quoted the
+pipe-maker in retort. &ldquo;Oh, most incapable of story-tellers, have you not
+on two separate occasions slept beneath my utterly inadequate roof without
+payment?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But he, nevertheless, deposited three cash in the bowl, and drew nearer among
+the front row of the listeners.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was during the reign of the enlightened Emperor Tsing Nung,&rdquo;
+began Kai Lung, without further introduction, &ldquo;that there lived at a
+village near Honan a wealthy and avaricious maker of idols, named Ti Hung. So
+skilful had he become in the making of clay idols that his fame had spread for
+many li round, and idol-sellers from all the neighbouring villages, and even
+from the towns, came to him for their stock. No other idol-maker between Honan
+and Nanking employed so many clay-gatherers or so many modellers; yet, with all
+his riches, his avarice increased till at length he employed men whom he called
+&lsquo;agents&rsquo; and &lsquo;travellers,&rsquo; who went from house to house
+selling his idols and extolling his virtues in verses composed by the most
+illustrious poets of the day. He did this in order that he might turn into his
+own pocket the full price of the idols, grudging those who would otherwise have
+sold them the few cash which they would make. Owing to this he had many
+enemies, and his army of travellers made him still more; for they were more
+rapacious than the scorpion, and more obstinate than the ox. Indeed, there is
+still the proverb, &lsquo;With honey it is possible to soften the heart of the
+he-goat; but a blow from an iron cleaver is taken as a mark of welcome by an
+agent of Ti Hung.&rsquo; So that people barred the doors at their approach, and
+even hung out signs of death and mourning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, among all his travellers there was none more successful, more
+abandoned, and more valuable to Ti Hung than Li Ting. So depraved was Li Ting
+that he was never known to visit the tombs of his ancestors; indeed, it was
+said that he had been heard to mock their venerable memories, and that he had
+jestingly offered to sell them to anyone who should chance to be without
+ancestors of his own. This objectionable person would call at the houses of the
+most illustrious Mandarins, and would command the slaves to carry to their
+masters his tablets, on which were inscribed his name and his virtues. Reaching
+their presence, he would salute them with the greeting of an equal, &lsquo;How
+is your stomach?&rsquo; and then proceed to exhibit samples of his wares,
+greatly overrating their value. &lsquo;Behold!&rsquo; he would exclaim,
+&lsquo;is not this elegantly-moulded idol worthy of the place of honour in this
+sumptuous mansion which my presence defiles to such an extent that twelve
+basins of rose-water will not remove the stain? Are not its eyes more delicate
+than the most select of almonds? and is not its stomach rounder than the
+cupolas upon the high temple at Peking? Yet, in spite of its perfections, it is
+not worthy of the acceptance of so distinguished a Mandarin, and therefore I
+will accept in return the quarter-tael, which, indeed, is less than my
+illustrious master gives for the clay alone.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In this manner Li Ting disposed of many idols at high rates, and thereby
+endeared himself so much to the avaricious heart of Ti Hung that he promised
+him his beautiful daughter Ning in marriage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ning was indeed very lovely. Her eyelashes were like the finest willow
+twigs that grow in the marshes by the Yang-tse-Kiang; her cheeks were fairer
+than poppies; and when she bathed in the Hoang Ho, her body seemed transparent.
+Her brow was finer than the most polished jade; while she seemed to walk, like
+a winged bird, without weight, her hair floating in a cloud. Indeed, she was
+the most beautiful creature that has ever existed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now may you grow thin and shrivel up like a fallen lemon; but it is
+false!&rdquo; cried Wang Yu, starting up suddenly and unexpectedly. &ldquo;At
+Chee Chou, at the shop of &lsquo;The Heaven-sent Sugar-cane,&rsquo; there lives
+a beautiful and virtuous girl who is more than all that. Her eyes are like the
+inside circles on the peacock&rsquo;s feathers; her teeth are finer than the
+scales on the Sacred Dragon; her&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If it is the wish of this illustriously-endowed gathering that this
+exceedingly illiterate paper tiger should occupy their august moments with a
+description of the deformities of the very ordinary young person at Chee
+Chou,&rdquo; said Kai Lung imperturbably, &ldquo;then the remainder of the
+history of the noble-minded Yung Chang can remain until an evil fate has
+overtaken Wang Yu, as it assuredly will shortly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A fair wind raises no storm,&rdquo; said Wang Yu sulkily; and Kai Lung
+continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such loveliness could not escape the evil eye of Li Ting, and
+accordingly, as he grew in favour with Ti Hung, he obtained his consent to the
+drawing up of the marriage contracts. More than this, he had already sent to
+Ning two bracelets of the finest gold, tied together with a scarlet thread, as
+a betrothal present. But, as the proverb says, &lsquo;The good bee will not
+touch the faded flower,&rsquo; and Ning, although compelled by the second of
+the Five Great Principles to respect her father, was unable to regard the
+marriage with anything but abhorrence. Perhaps this was not altogether the
+fault of Li Ting, for on the evening of the day on which she had received his
+present, she walked in the rice fields, and sitting down at the foot of a
+funereal cypress, whose highest branches pierced the Middle Air, she cried
+aloud:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;I cannot control my bitterness. Of what use is it that I should
+be called the &ldquo;White Pigeon among Golden Lilies,&rdquo; if my beauty is
+but for the hog-like eyes of the exceedingly objectionable Li Ting? Ah, Yung
+Chang, my unfortunate lover! what evil spirit pursues you that you cannot pass
+your examination for the second degree? My noble-minded but ambitious boy, why
+were you not content with an agricultural or even a manufacturing career and
+happiness? By aspiring to a literary degree, you have placed a barrier wider
+than the Whang Hai between us.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;As the earth seems small to the soaring swallow, so shall
+insuperable obstacles be overcome by the heart worn smooth with a fixed
+purpose,&rsquo; said a voice beside her, and Yung Chang stepped from behind the
+cypress tree, where he had been waiting for Ning. &lsquo;O one more symmetrical
+than the chrysanthemum,&rsquo; he continued, &lsquo;I shall yet, with the aid
+of my ancestors, pass the second degree, and even obtain a position of high
+trust in the public office at Peking.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;And in the meantime,&rsquo; pouted Ning, &lsquo;I shall have
+partaken of the wedding-cake of the utterly unpresentable Li Ting.&rsquo; And
+she exhibited the bracelets which she had that day received.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Alas!&rsquo; said Yung Chang, &lsquo;there are times when one is
+tempted to doubt even the most efficacious and violent means. I had hoped that
+by this time Li Ting would have come to a sudden and most unseemly end; for I
+have drawn up and affixed in the most conspicuous places notifications of his
+character, similar to the one here.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ning turned, and beheld fastened to the trunk of the cypress an
+exceedingly elegantly written and composed notice, which Yung read to her as
+follows:
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;&lsquo;BEWARE OF INCURRING DEATH FROM STARVATION
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Let the distinguished inhabitants of this district observe the
+exceedingly ungraceful walk and bearing of the low person who calls himself Li
+Ting. Truthfully, it is that of a dog in the act of being dragged to the river
+because his sores and diseases render him objectionable in the house of his
+master. So will this hunchbacked person be dragged to the place of execution,
+and be bowstrung, to the great relief of all who respect the five senses; A
+Respectful Physiognomy, Passionless Reflexion, Soft Speech, Acute Hearing,
+Piercing Sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;He hopes to attain to the Red Button and the Peacock&rsquo;s
+Feather; but the right hand of the Deity itches, and Li Ting will assuredly be
+removed suddenly.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Li Ting must certainly be in league with the evil forces if he
+can withstand so powerful a weapon,&rsquo; said Ning admiringly, when her lover
+had finished reading. &lsquo;Even now he is starting on a journey, nor will he
+return till the first day of the month when the sparrows go to the sea and are
+changed into oysters. Perhaps the fate will overtake him while he is away. If
+not&mdash;&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;If not,&rsquo; said Yung, taking up her words as she paused,
+&lsquo;then I have yet another hope. A moment ago you were regretting my choice
+of a literary career. Learn, then, the value of knowledge. By its aid
+(assisted, indeed, by the spirits of my ancestors) I have discovered a new and
+strange thing, for which I can find no word. By using this new system of
+reckoning, your illustrious but exceedingly narrow-minded and miserly father
+would be able to make five taels where he now makes one. Would he not, in
+consideration for this, consent to receive me as a son-in-law, and dismiss the
+inelegant and unworthy Li Ting?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;In the unlikely event of your being able to convince my
+illustrious parent of what you say, it would assuredly be so,&rsquo; replied
+Ning. &lsquo;But in what way could you do so? My sublime and charitable father
+already employs all the means in his power to reap the full reward of his
+sacred industry. His &ldquo;solid house-hold gods&rdquo; are in reality mere
+shells of clay; higher-priced images are correspondingly constructed, and his
+clay gatherers and modellers are all paid on a &ldquo;profit-sharing
+system.&rdquo; Nay, further, it is beyond likelihood that he should wish for
+more purchasers, for so great is his fame that those who come to buy have
+sometimes to wait for days in consequence of those before them; for my
+exceedingly methodical sire entrusts none with the receiving of money, and the
+exchanges are therefore made slowly. Frequently an unnaturally devout person
+will require as many as a hundred idols, and so the greater part of the day
+will be passed.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;In what way?&rsquo; inquired Yung tremulously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Why, in order that the countings may not get mixed, of course; it
+is necessary that when he has paid for one idol he should carry it to a place
+aside, and then return and pay for the second, carrying it to the first, and in
+such a manner to the end. In this way the sun sinks behind the
+mountains.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;But,&rsquo; said Yung, his voice thick with his great discovery,
+&lsquo;if he could pay for the entire quantity at once, then it would take but
+a hundredth part of the time, and so more idols could be sold.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;How could this be done?&rsquo; inquired Ning wonderingly.
+&lsquo;Surely it is impossible to conjecture the value of so many idols.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;To the unlearned it would indeed be impossible,&rsquo; replied
+Yung proudly, &lsquo;but by the aid of my literary researches I have been
+enabled to discover a process by which such results would be not a matter of
+conjecture, but of certainty. These figures I have committed to tablets, which
+I am prepared to give to your mercenary and slow-witted father in return for
+your incomparable hand, a share of the profits, and the dismissal of the
+uninventive and morally threadbare Li Ting.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;When the earth-worm boasts of his elegant wings, the eagle can
+afford to be silent,&rsquo; said a harsh voice behind them; and turning hastily
+they beheld Li Ting, who had come upon them unawares. &lsquo;Oh, most
+insignificant of table-spoilers,&rsquo; he continued, &lsquo;it is very evident
+that much over-study has softened your usually well-educated brains. Were it
+not that you are obviously mentally afflicted, I should unhesitatingly persuade
+my beautiful and refined sword to introduce you to the spirits of your ignoble
+ancestors. As it is, I will merely cut off your nose and your left ear, so that
+people may not say that the Dragon of the Earth sleeps and wickedness goes
+unpunished.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Both had already drawn their swords, and very soon the blows were so
+hard and swift that, in the dusk of the evening, it seemed as though the air
+were filled with innumerable and many-coloured fireworks. Each was a practised
+swordsman, and there was no advantage gained on either side, when Ning, who had
+fled on the appearance of Li Ting, reappeared, urging on her father, whose
+usually leisurely footsteps were quickened by the dread that the duel must
+surely result in certain loss to himself, either of a valuable servant, or of
+the discovery which Ning had briefly explained to him, and of which he at once
+saw the value.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, most distinguished and expert persons,&rsquo; he exclaimed
+breathlessly, as soon as he was within hearing distance, &lsquo;do not trouble
+to give so marvellous an exhibition for the benefit of this unworthy
+individual, who is the only observer of your illustrious dexterity! Indeed,
+your honourable condescension so fills this illiterate person with shame that
+his hearing is thereby preternaturally sharpened, and he can plainly
+distinguish many voices from beyond the Hoang Ho, crying for the Heaven-sent
+representative of the degraded Ti Hung to bring them more idols. Bend,
+therefore, your refined footsteps in the direction of Poo Chow, O Li Ting, and
+leave me to make myself objectionable to this exceptional young man with my
+intolerable commonplaces.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The shadow falls in such a direction as the sun wills,&rsquo;
+said Li Ting, as he replaced his sword and departed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Yung Chang,&rsquo; said the merchant, &lsquo;I am informed that
+you have made a discovery that would be of great value to me, as it undoubtedly
+would if it is all that you say. Let us discuss the matter without ceremony.
+Can you prove to me that your system possesses the merit you claim for it? If
+so, then the matter of arrangement will be easy.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;I am convinced of the absolute certainty and accuracy of the
+discovery,&rsquo; replied Yung Chang. &lsquo;It is not as though it were an
+ordinary matter of human intelligence, for this was discovered to me as I was
+worshipping at the tomb of my ancestors. The method is regulated by a system of
+squares, triangles, and cubes. But as the practical proof might be long, and as
+I hesitate to keep your adorable daughter out in the damp night air, may I not
+call at your inimitable dwelling in the morning, when we can go into the matter
+thoroughly?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will not weary this intelligent gathering, each member of which
+doubtless knows all the books on mathematics off by heart, with a recital of
+the means by which Yung Chang proved to Ti Hung the accuracy of his tables and
+the value of his discovery of the multiplication table, which till then had
+been undreamt of,&rdquo; continued the story-teller. &ldquo;It is sufficient to
+know that he did so, and that Ti Hung agreed to his terms, only stipulating
+that Li Ting should not be made aware of his dismissal until he had returned
+and given in his accounts. The share of the profits that Yung was to receive
+was cut down very low by Ti Hung, but the young man did not mind that, as he
+would live with his father-in-law for the future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With the introduction of this new system, the business increased like a
+river at flood-time. All rivals were left far behind, and Ti Hung put out this
+sign:
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;NO WAITING HERE!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good-morning! Have you worshipped one of Ti Hung&rsquo;s refined
+ninety-nine cash idols?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let the purchasers of ill-constructed idols at other establishments,
+where they have grown old and venerable while waiting for the all-thumb
+proprietors to count up to ten, come to the shop of Ti Hung and regain their
+lost youth. Our ninety-nine cash idols are worth a tael a set. We do not,
+however, claim that they will do everything. The ninety-nine cash idols of Ti
+Hung will not, for example, purify linen, but even the most contented and
+frozen-brained person cannot be happy until he possesses one. What is
+happiness? The exceedingly well-educated Philosopher defines it as the
+accomplishment of all our desires. Everyone desires one of the Ti Hung&rsquo;s
+ninety-nine cash idols, therefore get one; but be sure that it is Ti
+Hung&rsquo;s.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you a bad idol? If so, dismiss it, and get one of Ti Hung&rsquo;s
+ninety-nine cash specimens.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why does your idol look old sooner than your neighbours? Because yours
+is not one of Ti Hung&rsquo;s ninety-nine cash marvels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They bring all delights to the old and the young, The elegant idols
+supplied by Ti Hung.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;N.B.&mdash;The &lsquo;Great Sacrifice&rsquo; idol, forty-five cash;
+delivered, carriage free, in quantities of not less than twelve, at any temple,
+on the evening before the sacrifice.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+&ldquo;It was about this time that Li Ting returned. His journey had been more
+than usually successful, and he was well satisfied in consequence. It was not
+until he had made out his accounts and handed in his money that Ti Hung
+informed him of his agreement with Yung Chang.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, most treacherous and excessively unpopular Ti Hung,&rsquo;
+exclaimed Li Ting, in a terrible voice, &lsquo;this is the return you make for
+all my entrancing efforts in your services, then? It is in this way that you
+reward my exceedingly unconscientious recommendations of your very inferior and
+unendurable clay idols, with their goggle eyes and concave stomachs! Before I
+go, however, I request to be inspired to make the following remark&mdash;that I
+confidently predict your ruin. And now this low and undignified person will
+finally shake the elegant dust of your distinguished house from his thoroughly
+inadequate feet, and proceed to offer his incapable services to the rival
+establishment over the way.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The machinations of such an evilly-disposed person as Li Ting
+will certainly be exceedingly subtle,&rsquo; said Ti Hung to his son-in-law
+when the traveller had departed. &lsquo;I must counteract his omens. Herewith I
+wish to prophecy that henceforth I shall enjoy an unbroken run of good fortune.
+I have spoken, and assuredly I shall not eat my words.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As the time went on, it seemed as though Ti Hung had indeed spoken
+truly. The ease and celerity with which he transacted his business brought him
+customers and dealers from more remote regions than ever, for they could spend
+days on the journey and still save time. The army of clay-gatherers and
+modellers grew larger and larger, and the work-sheds stretched almost down to
+the river&rsquo;s edge. Only one thing troubled Ti Hung, and that was the
+uncongenial disposition of his son-in-law, for Yung took no further interest in
+the industry to which his discovery had given so great an impetus, but
+resolutely set to work again to pass his examination for the second degree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It is an exceedingly distinguished and honourable thing to have
+failed thirty-five times, and still to be undiscouraged,&rsquo; admitted Ti
+Hung; &lsquo;but I cannot cleanse my throat from bitterness when I consider
+that my noble and lucrative business must pass into the hands of strangers,
+perhaps even into the possession of the unendurable Li Ting.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But it had been appointed that this degrading thing should not happen,
+however, and it was indeed fortunate that Yung did not abandon his literary
+pursuits; for after some time it became very apparent to Ti Hung that there was
+something radically wrong with his business. It was not that his custom was
+falling off in any way; indeed, it had lately increased in a manner that was
+phenomenal, and when the merchant came to look into the matter, he found to his
+astonishment that the least order he had received in the past week had been for
+a hundred idols. All the sales had been large, and yet Ti Hung found himself
+most unaccountably deficient in taels. He was puzzled and alarmed, and for the
+next few days he looked into the business closely. Then it was that the reason
+was revealed, both for the falling off in the receipts and for the increase in
+the orders. The calculations of the unfortunate Yung Chang were correct up to a
+hundred, but at that number he had made a gigantic error&mdash;which, however,
+he was never able to detect and rectify&mdash;with the result that all
+transactions above that point worked out at a considerable loss to the seller.
+It was in vain that the panic-stricken Ti Hung goaded his miserable son-in-law
+to correct the mistake; it was equally in vain that he tried to stem the
+current of his enormous commercial popularity. He had competed for public
+favour, and he had won it, and every day his business increased till ruin
+grasped him by the pigtail. Then came an order from one firm at Peking for five
+millions of the ninety-nine cash idols, and at that Ti Hung put up his
+shutters, and sat down in the dust.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Behold!&rsquo; he exclaimed, &lsquo;in the course of a lifetime
+there are many very disagreeable evils that may overtake a person. He may
+offend the Sacred Dragon, and be in consequence reduced to a fine dry powder;
+or he may incur the displeasure of the benevolent and pure-minded Emperor, and
+be condemned to death by roasting; he may also be troubled by demons or by the
+disturbed spirits of his ancestors, or be struck by thunderbolts. Indeed, there
+are numerous annoyances, but they become as Heaven-sent blessings in comparison
+to a self-opinionated and more than ordinarily weak-minded son-in-law. Of what
+avail is it that I have habitually sold one idol for the value of a hundred?
+The very objectionable man in possession sits in my delectable summer-house,
+and the unavoidable legal documents settle around me like a flock of pigeons.
+It is indeed necessary that I should declare myself to be in voluntary
+liquidation, and make an assignment of my book debts for the benefit of my
+creditors. Having accomplished this, I will proceed to the well-constructed
+tomb of my illustrious ancestors, and having kow-towed at their incomparable
+shrines, I will put an end to my distinguished troubles with this exceedingly
+well-polished sword.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The wise man can adapt himself to circumstances as water takes
+the shape of the vase that contains it,&rsquo; said the well-known voice of Li
+Ting. &lsquo;Let not the lion and the tiger fight at the bidding of the jackal.
+By combining our forces all may be well with you yet. Assist me to dispose of
+the entirely superfluous Yung Chang and to marry the elegant and symmetrical
+Ning, and in return I will allot to you a portion of my not inconsiderable
+income.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;However high the tree, the leaves fall to the ground, and your
+hour has come at last, O detestable Li Ting!&rsquo; said Yung, who had heard
+the speakers and crept upon them unperceived. &lsquo;As for my distinguished
+and immaculate father-in-law, doubtless the heat has affected his indefatigable
+brains, or he would not have listened to your contemptible suggestion. For
+yourself, draw!&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Both swords flashed, but before a blow could be struck the spirits of
+his ancestors hurled Li Ting lifeless to the ground, to avenge the memories
+that their unworthy descendant had so often reviled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;So perish all the enemies of Yung Chang,&rsquo; said the victor.
+&lsquo;And now, my venerated but exceedingly short-sighted father-in-law, learn
+how narrowly you have escaped making yourself exceedingly objectionable to
+yourself. I have just received intelligence from Peking that I have passed the
+second degree, and have in consequence been appointed to a remunerative
+position under the Government. This will enable us to live in comfort, if not
+in affluence, and the rest of your engaging days can be peacefully spent in
+flying kites.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"></a>
+III.<br />
+THE PROBATION OF SEN HENG</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+Related by Kai Lung, at Wu-whei, as a rebuke to Wang Yu and certain others who
+had questioned the practical value of his stories.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is an undoubted fact that this person has not realized the direct
+remunerative advantage which he confidently anticipated,&rdquo; remarked the
+idle and discontented pipe-maker Wang Yu, as, with a few other persons of
+similar inclination, he sat in the shade of the great mulberry tree at Wu-whei,
+waiting for the evil influence of certain very mysterious sounds, which had
+lately been heard, to pass away before he resumed his occupation. &ldquo;When
+the seemingly proficient and trustworthy Kai Lung first made it his practice to
+journey to Wu-whei, and narrate to us the doings of persons of all classes of
+life,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;it seemed to this one that by closely
+following the recital of how Mandarins obtained their high position, and
+exceptionally rich persons their wealth, he must, in the end, inevitably be
+rendered competent to follow in their illustrious footsteps. Yet in how
+entirely contrary a direction has the whole course of events tended! In spite
+of the honourable intention which involved a frequent absence from his place of
+commerce, those who journeyed thither with the set purpose of possessing one of
+his justly-famed opium pipes so perversely regarded the matter that, after two
+or three fruitless visits, they deliberately turned their footsteps towards the
+workshop of the inelegant Ming-yo, whose pipes are confessedly greatly inferior
+to those produced by the person who is now speaking. Nevertheless, the
+rapacious Kai Lung, to whose influence the falling off in custom was thus
+directly attributable, persistently declined to bear any share whatever in the
+loss which his profession caused, and, indeed, regarded the circumstance from
+so grasping and narrow-minded a point of observation that he would not even go
+to the length of suffering this much-persecuted one to join the circle of his
+hearers without on every occasion making the customary offering. In this manner
+a well-intentioned pursuit of riches has insidiously led this person within
+measurable distance of the bolted dungeon for those who do not meet their just
+debts, while the only distinction likely to result from his assiduous study of
+the customs and methods of those high in power is that of being publicly
+bowstrung as a warning to others. Manifestedly the pointed finger of the
+unreliable Kai Lung is a very treacherous guide.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is related,&rdquo; said a dispassionate voice behind them,
+&ldquo;that a person of limited intelligence, on being assured that he would
+certainly one day enjoy an adequate competence if he closely followed the
+industrious habits of the thrifty bee, spent the greater part of his life in
+anointing his thighs with the yellow powder which he laboriously collected from
+the flowers of the field. It is not so recorded; but doubtless the nameless one
+in question was by profession a maker of opium pipes, for this person has
+observed from time to time how that occupation, above all others, tends to
+degrade the mental faculties, and to debase its followers to a lower position
+than that of the beasts of labour. Learn therefrom, O superficial Wang Yu, that
+wisdom lies in an intelligent perception of great principles, and not in a
+slavish imitation of details which are, for the most part, beyond your simple
+and insufficient understanding.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such may, indeed, be the case, Kai Lung,&rdquo; replied Wang Yu
+sullenly&mdash;for it was the story-teller in question who had approached
+unperceived, and who now stood before them&mdash;&ldquo;but it is none the less
+a fact that, on the last occasion when this misguided person joined the
+attending circle at your uplifted voice, a Mandarin of the third degree chanced
+to pass through Wu-whei, and halted at the door-step of &lsquo;The Fountain of
+Beauty,&rsquo; fully intending to entrust this one with the designing and
+fashioning of a pipe of exceptional elaborateness. This matter, by his absence,
+has now passed from him, and to-day, through listening to the narrative of how
+the accomplished Yuin-Pel doubled his fortune, he is the poorer by many
+taels.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet to-morrow, when the name of the Mandarin of the third degree appears
+in the list of persons who have transferred their entire property to those who
+are nearly related to them in order to avoid it being seized to satisfy the
+just claims made against them,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung, &ldquo;you will be able
+to regard yourself the richer by so many taels.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words, which recalled to the minds of all who were present the not
+uncommon manner of behaving observed by those of exalted rank, who freely
+engaged persons to supply them with costly articles without in any way
+regarding the price to be paid, Wang Yu was silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; exclaimed a thin voice from the edge of the group
+which surrounded Kai Lung, &ldquo;it in nowise follows that the stories are in
+themselves excellent, or of such a nature that the hearing of their recital
+will profit a person. Wang Yu may be satisfied with empty words, but there are
+others present who were studying deep matters when Wang Yu was learning the art
+of walking. If Kai Lung&rsquo;s stories are of such remunerative benefit as the
+person in question claims, how does it chance that Kai Lung himself who is
+assuredly the best acquainted with them, stands before us in mean apparel, and
+on all occasions confessing an unassuming poverty?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is Yan-hi Pung,&rdquo; went from mouth to mouth among the
+bystanders&mdash;&ldquo;Yan-hi Pung, who traces on paper the words of chants
+and historical tales, and sells them to such as can afford to buy. And although
+his motive in exposing the emptiness of Kai Lung&rsquo;s stories may not be
+Heaven-sent&mdash;inasmuch as Kai Lung provides us with such matter as he
+himself purveys, only at a much more moderate price&mdash;yet his words are
+well considered, and must therefore be regarded.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Yan-hi Pung,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung, hearing the name from those who
+stood about him, and moving towards the aged person, who stood meanwhile
+leaning upon his staff, and looking from side to side with quickly moving
+eyelids in a manner very offensive towards the story-teller, &ldquo;your just
+remark shows you to be a person of exceptional wisdom, even as your well-bowed
+legs prove you to be one of great bodily strength; for justice is ever obvious
+and wisdom hidden, and they who build structures for endurance discard the
+straight and upright and insist upon such an arch as you so symmetrically
+exemplify.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Speaking in this conciliatory manner, Kai Lung came up to Yan-hi Pung, and
+taking between his fingers a disc of thick polished crystal, which the aged and
+short-sighted chant-writer used for the purpose of magnifying and bringing
+nearer the letters upon which he was engaged, and which hung around his neck by
+an embroidered cord, the story-teller held it aloft, crying aloud:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Observe closely, and presently it will be revealed and made clear how
+the apparently very conflicting words of the wise Yan-hi Pung, and those of
+this unassuming but nevertheless conscientious person who is now addressing
+you, are, in reality, as one great truth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With this assurance Kai Lung moved the crystal somewhat, so that it engaged the
+sun&rsquo;s rays, and concentrated them upon the uncovered crown of the
+unsuspecting and still objectionably-engaged person before him. Without a
+moment&rsquo;s pause, Yan-hi Pung leapt high into the air, repeatedly pressing
+his hand to the spot thus selected and crying aloud:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Evil dragons and thunderbolts! but the touch was as hot as a scar left
+by the uncut nail of the sublime Buddha!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet the crystal&mdash;&rdquo; remarked Kai Lung composedly, passing it
+into the hands of those who stood near.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is as cool as the innermost leaves of the riverside sycamore,&rdquo;
+they declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kai Lung said nothing further, but raised both his hands above his head, as if
+demanding their judgment. Thereupon a loud shout went up on his behalf, for the
+greater part of them loved to see the manner in which he brushed aside those
+who would oppose him; and the sight of the aged person Yan-hi Pung leaping far
+into the air had caused them to become exceptionally amused, and, in
+consequence, very amiably disposed towards the one who had afforded them the
+entertainment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The story of Sen Heng,&rdquo; began Kai Lung, when the discussion had
+terminated in the manner already recorded, &ldquo;concerns itself with one who
+possessed an unsuspecting and ingenious nature, which ill-fitted him to take an
+ordinary part in the everyday affairs of life, no matter how engaging such a
+character rendered him among his friends and relations. Having at an early age
+been entrusted with a burden of rice and other produce from his father&rsquo;s
+fields to dispose of in the best possible manner at a neighbouring mart, and
+having completed the transaction in a manner extremely advantageous to those
+with whom he trafficked but very intolerable to the one who had sent him, it at
+once became apparent that some other means of gaining a livelihood must be
+discovered for him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Beyond all doubt,&rsquo; said his father, after considering the
+matter for a period, &lsquo;it is a case in which one should be governed by the
+wise advice and example of the Mandarin Poo-chow.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Illustrious sire,&rsquo; exclaimed Sen Heng, who chanced to be
+present, &lsquo;the illiterate person who stands before you is entirely
+unacquainted with the one to whom you have referred; nevertheless, he will, as
+you suggest, at once set forth, and journeying with all speed to the abode of
+the estimable Poo-chow, solicit his experience and advice.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Unless a more serious loss should be occasioned,&rsquo; replied
+the father coldly, &lsquo;there is no necessity to adopt so extreme a course.
+The benevolent Mandarin in question existed at a remote period of the Thang
+dynasty, and the incident to which an allusion has been made arose in the
+following way: To the public court of the enlightened Poo-chow there came one
+day a youth of very inferior appearance and hesitating manner, who besought his
+explicit advice, saying: &ldquo;The degraded and unprepossessing being before
+you, O select and venerable Mandarin, is by nature and attainments a person of
+the utmost timidity and fearfulness. From this cause life itself has become a
+detestable observance in his eyes, for those who should be his companions of
+both sexes hold him in undisguised contempt, making various unendurable
+allusions to the colour and nature of his internal organs whenever he would
+endeavour to join them. Instruct him, therefore, the manner in which this
+cowardice may be removed, and no service in return will be esteemed too
+great.&rdquo; &ldquo;There is a remedy,&rdquo; replied the benevolent Mandarin,
+without any hesitation whatever, &ldquo;which if properly carried out is
+efficacious beyond the possibility of failure. Certain component parts of your
+body are lacking, and before the desired result can be obtained these must be
+supplied from without. Of all courageous things the tiger is the most fearless,
+and in consequence it combines all those ingredients which you require;
+furthermore, as the teeth of the tiger are the instruments with which it
+accomplishes its vengeful purpose, there reside the essential principles of its
+inimitable courage. Let the person who seeks instruction in the matter,
+therefore, do as follows: taking the teeth of a full-grown tiger as soon as it
+is slain, and before the essences have time to return into the body, he shall
+grind them to a powder, and mixing the powder with a portion of rice, consume
+it. After seven days he must repeat the observance, and yet again a third time,
+after another similar lapse. Let him, then, return for further guidance; for
+the present the matter interests this person no further.&rdquo; At these words
+the youth departed, filled with a new and inspired hope; for the wisdom of the
+sagacious Poo-chow was a matter which did not admit of any doubt whatever, and
+he had spoken with well-defined certainty of the success of the experiment.
+Nevertheless, after several days industriously spent in endeavouring to obtain
+by purchase the teeth of a newly-slain tiger, the details of the undertaking
+began to assume a new and entirely unforeseen aspect; for those whom he
+approached as being the most likely to possess what he required either became
+very immoderately and disagreeably amused at the nature of the request, or
+regarded it as a new and ill-judged form of ridicule, which they prepared to
+avenge by blows and by base remarks of the most personal variety. At length it
+became unavoidably obvious to the youth that if he was to obtain the articles
+in question it would first be necessary that he should become adept in the art
+of slaying tigers, for in no other way were the required conditions likely to
+be present. Although the prospect was one which did not greatly tend to allure
+him, yet he did not regard it with the utterly incapable emotions which would
+have been present on an earlier occasion; for the habit of continually guarding
+himself from the onslaughts of those who received his inquiry in an attitude of
+narrow-minded distrust had inspired him with a new-found valour, while his
+amiable and unrestrained manner of life increased his bodily vigour in every
+degree. First perfecting himself in the use of the bow and arrow, therefore, he
+betook himself to a wild and very extensive forest, and there concealed himself
+among the upper foliage of a tall tree standing by the side of a pool of water.
+On the second night of his watch, the youth perceived a large but somewhat
+ill-conditioned tiger approaching the pool for the purpose of quenching its
+thirst, whereupon he tremblingly fitted an arrow to his bowstring, and
+profiting by the instruction he had received, succeeded in piercing the
+creature to the heart. After fulfilling the observance laid upon him by the
+discriminating Poo-chow, the youth determined to remain in the forest, and
+sustain himself upon such food as fell to his weapons, until the time arrived
+when he should carry out the rite for the last time. At the end of seven days,
+so subtle had he become in all kinds of hunting, and so strengthened by the
+meat and herbs upon which he existed, that he disdained to avail himself of the
+shelter of a tree, but standing openly by the side of the water, he engaged the
+attention of the first tiger which came to drink, and discharged arrow after
+arrow into its body with unfailing power and precision. So entrancing, indeed,
+had the pursuit become that the next seven days lengthened out into the
+apparent period of as many moons, in such a leisurely manner did they rise and
+fall. On the appointed day, without waiting for the evening to arrive, the
+youth set out with the first appearance of light, and penetrated into the most
+inaccessible jungles, crying aloud words of taunt-laden challenge to all the
+beasts therein, and accusing the ancestors of their race of every imaginable
+variety of evil behaviour. Yet so great had become the renown of the one who
+stood forth, and so widely had the warning voice been passed from tree to tree,
+preparing all who dwelt in the forest against his anger, that not even the
+fiercest replied openly, though low growls and mutterings proceeded from every
+cave within a bow-shot&rsquo;s distance around. Wearying quickly of such feeble
+and timorous demonstrations, the youth rushed into the cave from which the
+loudest murmurs proceeded, and there discovered a tiger of unnatural size,
+surrounded by the bones of innumerable ones whom it had devoured; for from time
+to time its ravages became so great and unbearable, that armies were raised in
+the neighbouring villages and sent to destroy it, but more than a few
+stragglers never returned. Plainly recognizing that a just and inevitable
+vengeance had overtaken it, the tiger made only a very inferior exhibition of
+resistance, and the youth, having first stunned it with a blow of his closed
+hand, seized it by the middle, and repeatedly dashed its head against the rocky
+sides of its retreat. He then performed for the third time the ceremony
+enjoined by the Mandarin, and having cast upon the cringing and despicable
+forms concealed in the surrounding woods and caves a look of dignified and
+ineffable contempt, set out upon his homeward journey, and in the space of
+three days&rsquo; time reached the town of the versatile Poo-chow.
+&ldquo;Behold,&rdquo; exclaimed that person, when, lifting up his eyes, he saw
+the youth approaching laden with the skins of the tigers and other spoils,
+&ldquo;now at least the youths and maidens of your native village will no
+longer withdraw themselves from the company of so undoubtedly heroic a
+person.&rdquo; &ldquo;Illustrious Mandarin,&rdquo; replied the other, casting
+both his weapons and his trophies before his inspired adviser&rsquo;s feet,
+&ldquo;what has this person to do with the little ones of either sex? Give him
+rather the foremost place in your ever-victorious company of bowmen, so that he
+may repay in part the undoubted debt under which he henceforth exists.&rdquo;
+This proposal found favour with the pure-minded Poo-chow, so that in course of
+time the unassuming youth who had come supplicating his advice became the
+valiant commander of his army, and the one eventually chosen to present
+plighting gifts to his only daughter.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When the father had completed the narrative of how the faint-hearted
+youth became in the end a courageous and resourceful leader of bowmen, Sen
+looked up, and not in any degree understanding the purpose of the story, or why
+it had been set forth before him, exclaimed:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Undoubtedly the counsel of the graceful and intelligent Mandarin
+Poo-chow was of inestimable service in the case recorded, and this person would
+gladly adopt it as his guide for the future, on the chance of it leading to a
+similar honourable career; but alas! there are no tigers to be found throughout
+this Province.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It is a loss which those who are engaged in commerce in the city
+of Hankow strive to supply adequately,&rsquo; replied his father, who had an
+assured feeling that it would be of no avail to endeavour to show Sen that the
+story which he had just related was one setting forth a definite precept rather
+than fixing an exact manner of behaviour. &lsquo;For that reason,&rsquo; he
+continued, &lsquo;this person has concluded an arrangement by which you will
+journey to that place, and there enter into the house of commerce of an expert
+and conscientious vendor of moving contrivances. Among so rapacious and
+keen-witted a class of persons as they of Hankow, it is exceedingly unlikely
+that your amiable disposition will involve any individual one in an unavoidably
+serious loss, and even should such an unforeseen event come to pass, there
+will, at least, be the undeniable satisfaction of the thought that the
+unfortunate occurrence will in no way affect the prosperity of those to whom
+you are bound by the natural ties of affection.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Benevolent and virtuous-minded father,&rsquo; replied Sen gently,
+but speaking with an inspired conviction; &lsquo;from his earliest infancy this
+unassuming one has been instructed in an inviolable regard for the Five General
+Principles of Fidelity to the Emperor, Respect for Parents, Harmony between
+Husband and Wife, Agreement among Brothers, and Constancy in Friendship. It
+will be entirely unnecessary to inform so pious-minded a person as the one now
+being addressed that no evil can attend the footsteps of an individual who
+courteously observes these enactments.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Without doubt it is so arranged by the protecting Deities,&rsquo;
+replied the father; &lsquo;yet it is an exceedingly desirable thing for those
+who are responsible in the matter that the footsteps to which reference has
+been made should not linger in the neighbourhood of the village, but should,
+with all possible speed, turn in the direction of Hankow.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In this manner it came to pass that Sen Heng set forth on the following
+day, and coming without delay to the great and powerful city of Hankow, sought
+out the house of commerce known as &lsquo;The Pure Gilt Dragon of Exceptional
+Symmetry,&rsquo; where the versatile King-y-Yang engaged in the entrancing
+occupation of contriving moving figures, and other devices of an ingenious and
+mirth-provoking character, which he entrusted into the hands of numerous
+persons to sell throughout the Province. From this cause, although enjoying a
+very agreeable recompense from the sale of the objects, the greatly perturbed
+King-y-Yang suffered continual internal misgivings; for the habit of behaving
+of those whom he appointed to go forth in the manner described was such that he
+could not entirely dismiss from his mind an assured conviction that the details
+were not invariably as they were represented to be. Frequently would one return
+in a very deficient and unpresentable condition of garment, asserting that on
+his return, while passing through a lonely and unprotected district, he had
+been assailed by an armed band of robbers, and despoiled of all he possessed.
+Another would claim to have been made the sport of evil spirits, who led him
+astray by means of false signs in the forest, and finally destroyed his entire
+burden of commodities, accompanying the unworthy act by loud cries of triumph
+and remarks of an insulting nature concerning King-y-Yang; for the honourable
+character and charitable actions of the person in question had made him very
+objectionable to that class of beings. Others continually accounted for the
+absence of the required number of taels by declaring that at a certain point of
+their journey they were made the object of marks of amiable condescension on
+the part of a high and dignified public official, who, on learning in whose
+service they were, immediately professed an intimate personal friendship with
+the estimable King-y-Yang, and, out of a feeling of gratified respect for him,
+took away all such contrivances as remained undisposed of, promising to arrange
+the payment with the refined King-y-Yang himself when they should next meet.
+For these reasons King-y-Yang was especially desirous of obtaining one whose
+spoken word could be received, upon all points, as an assured fact, and it was,
+therefore, with an emotion of internal lightness that he confidently heard from
+those who were acquainted with the person that Sen Heng was, by nature and
+endowments, utterly incapable of representing matters of even the most
+insignificant degree to be otherwise than what they really were.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Filled with an acute anxiety to discover what amount of success would be
+accorded to his latest contrivance, King-y-Yang led Sen Heng to a secluded
+chamber, and there instructed him in the method of selling certain apparently
+very ingeniously constructed ducks, which would have the appearance of swimming
+about on the surface of an open vessel of water, at the same time uttering loud
+and ever-increasing cries, after the manner of their kind. With ill-restrained
+admiration at the skilful nature of the deception, King-y-Yang pointed out that
+the ducks which were to be disposed of, and upon which a seemingly very low
+price was fixed, did not, in reality, possess any of these accomplishments, but
+would, on the contrary, if placed in water, at once sink to the bottom in a
+most incapable manner; it being part of Sen&rsquo;s duty to exhibit only a
+specially prepared creature which was restrained upon the surface by means of
+hidden cords, and, while bending over it, to simulate the cries as agreed upon.
+After satisfying himself that Sen could perform these movements competently,
+King-y-Yang sent him forth, particularly charging him that he should not return
+without a sum of money which fully represented the entire number of ducks
+entrusted to him, or an adequate number of unsold ducks to compensate for the
+deficiency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At the end of seven days Sen returned to King-y-Yang, and although
+entirely without money, even to the extent of being unable to provide himself
+with the merest necessities of a frugal existence, he honourably returned the
+full number of ducks with which he had set out. It then became evident that
+although Sen had diligently perfected himself in the sounds and movements which
+King-y-Yang had contrived, he had not fully understood that they were to be
+executed stealthily, but had, in consequence, manifested the accomplishment
+openly, not unreasonably supposing that such an exhibition would be an
+additional inducement to those who appeared to be well-disposed towards the
+purchase. From this cause it came about that although large crowds were
+attracted by Sen&rsquo;s manner of conducting the enterprise, none actually
+engaged to purchase even the least expensively-valued of the ducks, although
+several publicly complimented Sen on his exceptional proficiency, and
+repeatedly urged him to louder and more frequent cries, suggesting that by such
+means possible buyers might be attracted to the spot from remote and
+inaccessible villages in the neighbourhood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When King-y-Yang learned how the venture had been carried out, he became
+most intolerably self-opinionated in his expressions towards Sen&rsquo;s mental
+attainments and the manner of his bringing up. It was entirely in vain that the
+one referred to pointed out in a tone of persuasive and courteous restraint
+that he had not, down to the most minute particulars, transgressed either the
+general or the specific obligations of the Five General Principles, and that,
+therefore, he was blameless, and even worthy of commendation for the manner in
+which he had acted. With an inelegant absence of all refined feeling,
+King-y-Yang most incapably declined to discuss the various aspects of the
+controversy in an amiable manner, asserting, indeed, that for the consideration
+of as many brass cash as Sen had mentioned principles he would cause him to be
+thrown into prison as a person of unnatural ineptitude. Then, without rewarding
+Sen for the time spent in his service, or even inviting him to partake of food
+and wine, the insufferable deviser of very indifferent animated contrivances
+again sent him out, this time into the streets of Hankow with a number of
+delicately inlaid boxes, remarking in a tone of voice which plainly indicated
+an exactly contrary desire that he would be filled with an overwhelming
+satisfaction if Sen could discover any excuse for returning a second time
+without disposing of anything. This remark Sen&rsquo;s ingenuous nature led him
+to regard as a definite fact, so that when a passer-by, who tarried to examine
+the boxes chanced to remark that the colours might have been arranged to
+greater advantage, in which case he would certainly have purchased at least one
+of the articles, Sen hastened back, although in a distant part of the city, to
+inform King-y-Yang of the suggestion, adding that he himself had been
+favourably impressed with the improvement which could be effected by such an
+alteration.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The nature of King-y-Yang&rsquo;s emotion when Sen again presented
+himself before him&mdash;and when by repeatedly applied tests on various parts
+of his body he understood that he was neither the victim of malicious demons,
+nor wandering in an insensible condition in the Middle Air, but that the cause
+of the return was such as had been plainly stated&mdash;was of so mixed and
+benumbing a variety, that for a considerable space of time he was quite unable
+to express himself in any way, either by words or by signs. By the time these
+attributes returned there had formed itself within King-y-Yang&rsquo;s mind a
+design of most contemptible malignity, which seemed to present to his enfeebled
+intellect a scheme by which Sen would be adequately punished, and finally
+disposed of, without causing him any further trouble in the matter. For this
+purpose he concealed the real condition of his sentiments towards Sen, and
+warmly expressed himself in terms of delicate flattery regarding that
+one&rsquo;s sumptuous and unfailing taste in the matter of the blending of the
+colours. Without doubt, he continued, such an alteration as the one proposed
+would greatly increase the attractiveness of the inlaid boxes, and the matter
+should be engaged upon without delay. In the meantime, however, not to waste
+the immediate services of so discriminating and persevering a servant, he would
+entrust Sen with a mission of exceptional importance, which would certainly
+tend greatly to his remunerative benefit. In the district of Yun, in the
+north-western part of the Province, said the crafty and treacherous
+King-y-Yang, a particular kind of insect was greatly esteemed on account of the
+beneficent influence which it exercised over the rice plants, causing them to
+mature earlier, and to attain a greater size than ever happened in its absence.
+In recent years this creature had rarely been seen in the neighbourhood of Yun,
+and, in consequence, the earth-tillers throughout that country had been brought
+into a most disconcerting state of poverty, and would, inevitably, be prepared
+to exchange whatever they still possessed for even a few of the insects, in
+order that they might liberate them to increase, and so entirely reverse the
+objectionable state of things. Speaking in this manner, King-y-Yang entrusted
+to Sen a carefully prepared box containing a score of the insects, obtained at
+a great cost from a country beyond the Bitter Water, and after giving him
+further directions concerning the journey, and enjoining the utmost secrecy
+about the valuable contents of the box, he sent him forth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The discreet and sagacious will already have understood the nature of
+King-y-Yang&rsquo;s intolerable artifice; but, for the benefit of the amiable
+and unsuspecting, it is necessary to make it clear that the words which he had
+spoken bore no sort of resemblance to affairs as they really existed. The
+district around Yun was indeed involved in a most unprepossessing destitution,
+but this had been caused, not by the absence of any rare and auspicious insect,
+but by the presence of vast hordes of locusts, which had overwhelmed and
+devoured the entire face the country. It so chanced that among the recently
+constructed devices at &lsquo;The Pure Gilt Dragon of Exceptional
+Symmetry&rsquo; were a number of elegant representations of rice fields and
+fruit gardens so skilfully fashioned that they deceived even the creatures, and
+attracted, among other living things, all the locusts in Hankow into that place
+of commerce. It was a number of these insects that King-y-Yang vindictively
+placed in the box which he instructed Sen to carry to Yun, well knowing that
+the reception which would be accorded to anyone who appeared there on such a
+mission would be of so fatally destructive a kind that the consideration of his
+return need not engage a single conjecture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Entirely tranquil in intellect&mdash;for the possibility of
+King-y-Yang&rsquo;s intention being in any way other than what he had
+represented it to be did not arise within Sen&rsquo;s ingenuous mind&mdash;the
+person in question cheerfully set forth on his long but unavoidable march
+towards the region of Yun. As he journeyed along the way, the nature of his
+meditation brought up before him the events which had taken place since his
+arrival at Hankow; and, for the first time, it was brought within his
+understanding that the story of the youth and the three tigers, which his
+father had related to him, was in the likeness of a proverb, by which counsel
+and warning is conveyed in a graceful and inoffensive manner. Readily applying
+the fable to his own condition, he could not doubt but that the first two
+animals to be overthrown were represented by the two undertakings which he had
+already conscientiously performed in the matter of the mechanical ducks and the
+inlaid boxes, and the conviction that he was even then engaged on the third and
+last trial filled him with an intelligent gladness so unobtrusive and refined
+that he could express his entrancing emotions in no other way than by lifting
+up his voice and uttering the far-reaching cries which he had used on the first
+of the occasions just referred to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In this manner the first part of the journey passed away with engaging
+celerity. Anxious as Sen undoubtedly was to complete the third task, and
+approach the details which, in his own case, would correspond with the command
+of the bowmen and the marriage with the Mandarin&rsquo;s daughter of the person
+in the story, the noontide heat compelled him to rest in the shade by the
+wayside for a lengthy period each day. During one of these pauses it occurred
+to his versatile mind that the time which was otherwise uselessly expended
+might be well disposed of in endeavouring to increase the value and condition
+of the creatures under his care by instructing them in the performance of some
+simple accomplishments, such as might not be too laborious for their feeble and
+immature understanding. In this he was more successful than he had imagined
+could possibly be the case, for the discriminating insects, from the first, had
+every appearance of recognizing that Sen was inspired by a sincere regard for
+their ultimate benefit, and was not merely using them for his own advancement.
+So assiduously did they devote themselves to their allotted tasks, that in a
+very short space of time there was no detail in connexion with their own simple
+domestic arrangements that was not understood and daily carried out by an
+appointed band. Entranced at this intelligent manner of conducting themselves,
+Sen industriously applied his time to the more congenial task of instructing
+them in the refined arts, and presently he had the enchanting satisfaction of
+witnessing a number of the most cultivated faultlessly and unhesitatingly
+perform a portion of the well-known gravity-removing play entitled &ldquo;The
+Benevolent Omen of White Dragon Tea Garden; or, Three Times a Mandarin.&rdquo;
+Not even content with this elevating display, Sen ingeniously contrived, from
+various objects which he discovered at different points by the wayside, an
+effective and life-like representation of a war-junk, for which he trained a
+crew, who, at an agreed signal, would take up their appointed places and go
+through the required movements, both of sailing, and of discharging the guns,
+in a reliable and efficient manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As Sen was one day educating the least competent of the insects in the
+simpler parts of banner-carriers, gong-beaters, and the like, to their more
+graceful and versatile companions, he lifted up his eyes and beheld, standing
+by his side, a person of very elaborately embroidered apparel and commanding
+personality, who had all the appearance of one who had been observing his
+movements for some space of time. Calling up within his remembrance the warning
+which he had received from King-y-Yang, Sen was preparing to restore the
+creatures to their closed box, when the stranger, in a loud and dignified
+voice, commanded him to refrain, adding:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;There is, resting at a spot within the immediate neighbourhood, a
+person of illustrious name and ancestry, who would doubtless be gratified to
+witness the diverting actions of which this one has recently been a spectator.
+As the reward of a tael cannot be unwelcome to a person of your inferior
+appearance and unpresentable garments, take up your box without delay, and
+follow the one who is now before you.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With these words the richly-clad stranger led the way through a narrow
+woodland path, closely followed by Sen, to whom the attraction of the promised
+reward&mdash;a larger sum, indeed, than he had ever possessed&mdash;was
+sufficiently alluring to make him determined that the other should not, for the
+briefest possible moment, pass beyond his sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not to withhold that which Sen was entirely ignorant of until a later
+period, it is now revealed that the person in question was the official
+Provider of Diversions and Pleasurable Occupations to the sacred and
+illimitable Emperor, who was then engaged in making an unusually extensive
+march through the eight Provinces surrounding his Capital&mdash;for the acute
+and well-educated will not need to be reminded that Nanking occupied that
+position at the time now engaged with. Until his providential discovery of Sen,
+the distinguished Provider had been immersed in a most unenviable condition of
+despair, for his enlightened but exceedingly perverse-minded master had, of
+late, declined to be in any way amused, or even interested, by the simple and
+unpretentious entertainment which could be obtained in so inaccessible a
+region. The well-intentioned efforts of the followers of the Court, who
+engagingly endeavoured to divert the Imperial mind by performing certain feats
+which they remembered to have witnessed on previous occasions, but which, until
+the necessity arose, they had never essayed, were entirely without result of a
+beneficial order. Even the accomplished Provider&rsquo;s one
+attainment&mdash;that of striking together both the hands and the feet thrice
+simultaneously, while leaping into the air, and at the same time producing a
+sound not unlike that emitted by a large and vigorous bee when held captive in
+the fold of a robe, an action which never failed to throw the illustrious
+Emperor into a most uncontrollable state of amusement when performed within the
+Imperial Palace&mdash;now only drew from him the unsympathetic, if not actually
+offensive, remark that the attitude and the noise bore a marked resemblance to
+those produced by a person when being bowstrung, adding, with unprepossessing
+significance, that of the two entertainments he had an unevadable conviction
+that the bowstringing would be the more acceptable and gravity-removing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When Sen beheld the size and the silk-hung magnificence of the camp into
+which his guide led him, he was filled with astonishment, and at the same time
+recognized that he had acted in an injudicious and hasty manner by so readily
+accepting the offer of a tael; whereas, if he had been in possession of the
+true facts of the case, as they now appeared, he would certainly have
+endeavoured to obtain double that amount before consenting. As he was
+hesitating within himself whether the matter might not even yet be arranged in
+a more advantageous manner, he was suddenly led forward into the most striking
+and ornamental of the tents, and commanded to engage the attention of the one
+in whose presence he found himself, without delay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From the first moment when the inimitable creatures began, at
+Sen&rsquo;s spoken word, to go through the ordinary details of their domestic
+affairs, there was no sort of doubt as to the nature of the success with which
+their well-trained exertions would be received. The dark shadows instantly
+forsook the enraptured Emperor&rsquo;s select brow, and from time to time he
+expressed himself in words of most unrestrained and intimate encouragement. So
+exuberant became the overjoyed Provider&rsquo;s emotion at having at length
+succeeded in obtaining the services of one who was able to recall his Imperial
+master&rsquo;s unclouded countenance, that he came forward in a most
+unpresentable state of haste, and rose into the air uncommanded, for the
+display of his usually not unwelcome acquirement. This he would doubtless have
+executed competently had not Sen, who stood immediately behind him, suddenly
+and unexpectedly raised his voice in a very vigorous and proficient duck cry,
+thereby causing the one before him to endeavour to turn around in alarm, while
+yet in the air&mdash;an intermingled state of movements of both the body and
+the mind that caused him to abandon his original intention in a manner which
+removed the gravity of the Emperor to an even more pronounced degree than had
+been effected by the diverting attitudes of the insects.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When the gratified Emperor had beheld every portion of the tasks which
+Sen had instilled into the minds of the insects, down even to the minutest
+detail, he called the well-satisfied Provider before him, and addressing him in
+a voice which might be designed to betray either sternness or an amiable
+indulgence, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;You, O Shan-se, are reported to be a person of no particular
+intellect or discernment, and, for this reason, these ones who are speaking
+have a desire to know how the matter will present itself in your eyes. Which is
+it the more commendable and honourable for a person to train to a condition of
+unfailing excellence, human beings of confessed intelligence or insects of a
+low and degraded standard?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To this remark the discriminating Shan-se made no reply, being, indeed,
+undecided in his mind whether such a course was expected of him. On several
+previous occasions the somewhat introspective Emperor had addressed himself to
+persons in what they judged to be the form of a question, as one might say,
+&lsquo;How blue is the unapproachable air canopy, and how delicately imagined
+the colour of the clouds!&rsquo; yet when they had expressed their deliberate
+opinion on the subjects referred to, stating the exact degree of blueness, and
+the like, the nature of their reception ever afterwards was such that, for the
+future, persons endeavoured to determine exactly the intention of the
+Emperor&rsquo;s mind before declaring themselves in words. Being exceedingly
+doubtful on this occasion, therefore, the very cautious Shan-se adopted the
+more prudent and uncompromising attitude, and smiling acquiescently, he raised
+both his hands with a self-deprecatory movement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Alas!&rsquo; exclaimed the Emperor, in a tone which plainly
+indicated that the evasive Shan-se had adopted a course which did not commend
+itself, &lsquo;how unendurable a condition of affairs is it for a person of
+acute mental perception to be annoyed by the inopportune behaviour of one who
+is only fit to mix on terms of equality with beggars, and low-caste street
+cleaners&mdash;&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Such a condition of affairs is indeed most offensively
+unbearable, illustrious Being,&rsquo; remarked Shan-se, who clearly perceived
+that his former silence had not been productive of a delicate state of feeling
+towards himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It has frequently been said,&rsquo; continued the courteous and
+pure-minded Emperor, only signifying his refined displeasure at Shan-se&rsquo;s
+really ill-considered observation by so arranging his position that the person
+in question on longer enjoyed the sublime distinction of gazing upon his
+benevolent face, &lsquo;that titles and offices have been accorded, from time
+to time, without any regard for the fitting qualifications of those to whom
+they were presented. The truth that such a state of things does occasionally
+exist has been brought before our eyes during the past few days by the
+abandoned and inefficient behaviour of one who will henceforth be a marked
+official; yet it has always been our endeavour to reward expert and unassuming
+merit, whenever it is discovered. As we were setting forth, when we were
+interrupted in a most obstinate and superfluous manner, the one who can guide
+and cultivate the minds of unthinking, and not infrequently obstinate and
+rapacious, insects would certainly enjoy an even greater measure of success if
+entrusted with the discriminating intellects of human beings. For this reason
+it appears that no more fitting person could be found to occupy the important
+and well-rewarded position of Chief Arranger of the Competitive Examinations
+than the one before us&mdash;provided his opinions and manner of expressing
+himself are such as commend themselves to us. To satisfy us on this point let
+Sen Heng now stand forth and declare his beliefs.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On this invitation Sen advanced the requisite number of paces, and not
+in any degree understanding what was required of him, determined that the
+occasion was one when he might fittingly declare the Five General Principles
+which were ever present in his mind. &lsquo;Unquestioning Fidelity to the
+Sacred Emperor&mdash;&rsquo; he began, when the person in question signified
+that the trial was over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;After so competent and inspired an expression as that which has
+just been uttered, which, if rightly considered, includes all lesser things, it
+is unnecessary to say more,&rsquo; he declared affably. &lsquo;The appointment
+which has already been specified is now declared to be legally conferred. The
+evening will be devoted to a repetition of the entrancing manoeuvres performed
+by the insects, to be followed by a feast and music in honour of the recognized
+worth and position of the accomplished Sen Heng. There is really no necessity
+for the apparently over-fatigued Shan-se to attend the festival.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In such a manner was the foundation of Sen&rsquo;s ultimate prosperity
+established, by which he came in the process of time to occupy a very high
+place in public esteem. Yet, being a person of honourably-minded
+conscientiousness, he did not hesitate, when questioned by those who made
+pilgrimages to him for the purpose of learning by what means he had risen to so
+remunerative a position, to ascribe his success, not entirely to his own
+intelligent perception of persons and events, but, in part, also to a
+never-failing regard for the dictates of the Five General Principles, and a
+discriminating subservience to the inspired wisdom of the venerable Poo-chow,
+as conveyed to him in the story of the faint-hearted youth and the three
+tigers. This story Sen furthermore caused to be inscribed in letters of gold,
+and displayed in a prominent position in his native village, where it has since
+doubtless been the means of instructing and advancing countless observant ones
+who have not been too insufferable to be guided by the experience of those who
+have gone before.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"></a>
+IV.<br />
+THE EXPERIMENT OF THE MANDARIN CHAN HUNG</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+Related by Kai Lung at Shan Tzu, on the occasion of his receiving a very
+unexpected reward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are certainly many occasions when the principles of the Mandarin
+Chan Hung appear to find practical favour in the eyes of those who form this
+usually uncomplaining person&rsquo;s audiences at Shan Tzu,&rdquo; remarked Kai
+Lung, with patient resignation, as he took up his collecting-bowl and
+transferred the few brass coins which it held to a concealed place among his
+garments. &ldquo;Has the village lately suffered from a visit of one of those
+persons who come armed with authority to remove by force or stratagem such
+goods as bear names other than those possessed by their holders? or is it,
+indeed&mdash;as they of Wu-whei confidently assert&mdash;that when the Day of
+Vows arrives the people of Shan Tzu, with one accord, undertake to deny
+themselves in the matter of gifts and free offerings, in spite of every
+conflicting impulse?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They of Wu-whei!&rdquo; exclaimed a self-opinionated bystander, who had
+by some means obtained an inferior public office, and who was, in consequence,
+enabled to be present on all occasions without contributing any offering.
+&ldquo;Well is that village named &lsquo;The Refuge of Unworthiness,&rsquo; for
+its dwellers do little but rob and illtreat strangers, and spread evil and
+lying reports concerning better endowed ones than themselves.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such a condition of affairs may exist,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung, without
+any indication of concern either one way or the other; &ldquo;yet it is an
+undeniable fact that they reward this commonplace story-teller&rsquo;s too
+often underestimated efforts in a manner which betrays them either to be of
+noble birth, or very desirous of putting to shame their less prosperous
+neighbouring places.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such exhibitions of uncalled-for lavishness are merely the signs of an
+ill-regulated and inordinate vanity,&rdquo; remarked a Mandarin of the eighth
+grade, who chanced to be passing, and who stopped to listen to Kai Lung&rsquo;s
+words. &ldquo;Nevertheless, it is not fitting that a collection of decaying
+hovels, which Wu-whei assuredly is, should, in however small a detail, appear
+to rise above Shan Tzu, so that if the versatile and unassuming Kai Lung will
+again honour this assembly by allowing his well-constructed bowl to pass freely
+to and fro, this obscure and otherwise entirely superfluous individual will
+make it his especial care that the brass of Wu-whei shall be answered with
+solid copper, and its debased pewter with doubly refined silver.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With these encouraging words the very opportune Mandarin of the eighth grade
+himself followed the story-teller&rsquo;s collecting-bowl, observing closely
+what each person contributed, so that, although he gave nothing from his own
+store, Kai Lung had never before received so honourable an amount.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O illustrious Kai Lung,&rdquo; exclaimed a very industrious and ill-clad
+herb-gatherer, who, in spite of his poverty, could not refrain from mingling
+with listeners whenever the story-teller appeared in Shan Tzu, &ldquo;a single
+piece of brass money is to this person more than a block of solid gold to many
+of Wu-whei; yet he has twice made the customary offering, once freely, once
+because a courteous and pure-minded individual who possesses certain written
+papers of his connected with the repayment of some few taels walked behind the
+bowl and engaged his eyes with an unmistakable and very significant glance.
+This fact emboldens him to make the following petition: that in place of the
+not altogether unknown story of Yung Chang which had been announced the
+proficient and nimble-minded Kai Lung will entice our attention with the
+history of the Mandarin Chan Hung, to which reference has already been
+made.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The occasion is undoubtedly one which calls for recognition to an
+unusual degree,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung with extreme affability. &ldquo;To that
+end this person will accordingly narrate the story which has been suggested,
+notwithstanding the fact that it has been specially prepared for the ears of
+the sublime Emperor, who is at this moment awaiting this unseemly one&rsquo;s
+arrival in Peking with every mark of ill-restrained impatience, tempered only
+by his expectation of being the first to hear the story of the well-meaning but
+somewhat premature Chan Hung.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Mandarin in question lived during the reign of the accomplished
+Emperor Tsint-Sin, his Yamen being at Fow Hou, in the Province of Shan-Tung, of
+which place he was consequently the chief official. In his conscientious desire
+to administer a pure and beneficent rule, he not infrequently made himself a
+very prominent object for public disregard, especially by his attempts to
+introduce untried things, when from time to time such matters arose within his
+mind and seemed to promise agreeable and remunerative results. In this manner
+it came about that the streets of Fow Hou were covered with large flat stones,
+to the great inconvenience of those persons who had, from a very remote period,
+been in the habit of passing the night on the soft clay which at all seasons of
+the year afforded a pleasant and efficient resting-place. Nevertheless, in
+certain matters his engaging efforts were attended by an obvious success.
+Having noticed that misfortunes and losses are much less keenly felt when they
+immediately follow in the steps of an earlier evil, the benevolent and
+humane-minded Chan Hung devised an ingenious method of lightening the burden of
+a necessary taxation by arranging that those persons who were the most heavily
+involved should be made the victims of an attack and robbery on the night
+before the matter became due. By this thoughtful expedient the unpleasant duty
+of parting from so many taels was almost imperceptibly led up to, and when,
+after the lapse of some slight period, the first sums of money were secretly
+returned, with a written proverb appropriate to the occasion, the public
+rejoicing of those who, had the matter been left to its natural course, would
+still have been filling the air with bitter and unendurable lamentations,
+plainly testified to the inspired wisdom of the enlightened Mandarin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The well-merited success of this amiable expedient caused the Mandarin
+Chan Hung every variety of intelligent emotion, and no day passed without him
+devoting a portion of his time to the labour of discovering other advantages of
+a similar nature. Engrossed in deep and very sublime thought of this order, he
+chanced upon a certain day to be journeying through Fow Hou, when he met a
+person of irregular intellect, who made an uncertain livelihood by following
+the unassuming and charitably-disposed from place to place, chanting in a loud
+voice set verses recording their virtues, which he composed in their honour. On
+account of his undoubted infirmities this person was permitted a greater
+freedom of speech with those above him than would have been the case had his
+condition been merely ordinary; so that when Chan Hung observed him becoming
+very grossly amused on his approach, to such an extent indeed, that he
+neglected to perform any of the fitting acts of obeisance, the wise and
+noble-minded Mandarin did not in any degree suffer his complacency to be
+affected, but, drawing near, addressed him in a calm and dignified manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Why, O Ming-hi,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;do you permit your gravity
+to be removed to such an exaggerated degree at the sight of this in no way
+striking or exceptional person? and why, indeed, do you stand in so unbecoming
+an attitude in the presence of one who, in spite of his depraved inferiority,
+is unquestionably your official superior, and could, without any hesitation,
+condemn you to the tortures or even to bowstringing on the spot?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Mandarin,&rsquo; exclaimed Ming-hi, stepping up to Chan Hung,
+and, without any hesitation, pressing the gilt button which adorned the
+official&rsquo;s body garment, accompanying the action by a continuous muffled
+noise which suggested the repeated striking of a hidden bell, &lsquo;you wonder
+that this person stands erect on your approach, neither rolling his lowered
+head repeatedly from side to side, nor tracing circles in the dust of Fow Hou
+with his submissive stomach? Know then, the meaning of the proverb,
+&ldquo;Distrust an inordinate appearance of servility. The estimable person who
+retires from your presence walking backwards may adopt that deferential manner
+in order to keep concealed the long double-edged knife with which he had hoped
+to slay you.&rdquo; The excessive amusement that seized this offensive person
+when he beheld your well-defined figure in the distance arose from his
+perception of your internal satisfaction, which is, indeed, unmistakably
+reflected in your symmetrical countenance. For, O Mandarin, in spite of your
+honourable endeavours to turn things which are devious into a straight line,
+the matters upon which you engage your versatile intellect&mdash;little as you
+suspect the fact&mdash;are as grains of the finest Foo-chow sand in comparison
+with that which escapes your attention.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Strange are your words, O Ming-hi, and dark to this person your
+meaning,&rsquo; replied Chan Hung, whose feelings were evenly balanced between
+a desire to know what thing he had neglected and a fear that his dignity might
+suffer if he were observed to remain long conversing with a person of
+Ming-hi&rsquo;s low mental attainments. &lsquo;Without delay, and with an
+entire absence of lengthy and ornamental forms of speech, express the omission
+to which you have made reference; for this person has an uneasy inside emotion
+that you are merely endeavouring to engage his attention to the end that you
+may make an unseemly and irrelevant reply, and thereby involve him in an
+undeserved ridicule.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Such a device would be the pastime of one of immature years, and
+could have no place in this person&rsquo;s habit of conduct,&rsquo; replied
+Ming-hi, with every appearance of a fixed sincerity. &lsquo;Moreover, the
+matter is one which touches his own welfare closely, and, expressed in the
+fashion which the proficient Mandarin has commanded, may be set forth as
+follows: By a wise and all-knowing divine system, it is arranged that certain
+honourable occupations, which by their nature cannot become remunerative to any
+marked degree, shall be singled out for special marks of reverence, so that
+those who engage therein may be compensated in dignity for what they must
+inevitably lack in taels. By this refined dispensation the literary
+occupations, which are in general the highroads to the Establishment of Public
+Support and Uniform Apparel, are held in the highest veneration. Agriculture,
+from which it is possible to wrest a competency, follows in esteem; while the
+various branches of commerce, leading as they do to vast possessions and the
+attendant luxury, are very justly deprived of all the attributes of dignity and
+respect. Yet observe, O justice-loving Mandarin, how unbecomingly this
+ingenious system of universal compensation has been debased at the instance of
+grasping and avaricious ones. Dignity, riches and ease now go hand in hand, and
+the highest rewarded in all matters are also the most esteemed, whereas, if the
+discriminating provision of those who have gone before and so arranged it was
+observed, the direct contrary would be the case.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It is a state of things which is somewhat difficult to imagine in
+general matters of life, in spite of the fair-seemingness of your words,&rsquo;
+said the Mandarin thoughtfully; &lsquo;nor can this rather obtuse and
+slow-witted person fully grasp the practical application of the system on the
+edge of the moment. In what manner would it operate in the case of ordinary
+persons, for example?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;There should be a fixed and settled arrangement that the
+low-minded and degrading occupations&mdash;such as that of following charitable
+persons from place to place, chanting verses composed in their honour, that of
+misleading travellers who inquire the way, so that they fall into the hands of
+robbers, and the like callings&mdash;should be the most highly rewarded to the
+end that those who are engaged therein may obtain some solace for the loss of
+dignity they experience, and the mean intellectual position which they are
+compelled to maintain. By this device they would be enabled to possess certain
+advantages and degrees of comfort which at present are utterly beyond their
+grasp, so that in the end they would escape being entirely debased. To turn to
+the other foot, those who are now high in position, and engaged in professions
+which enjoy the confidence of all persons, have that which in itself is
+sufficient to insure contentment. Furthermore, the most proficient and engaging
+in every department, mean or high-minded, have certain attributes of respect
+among those beneath them, so that they might justly be content with the lowest
+reward in whatever calling they professed, the least skilful and most
+left-handed being compensated for the mental anguish which they must
+undoubtedly suffer by receiving the greatest number of taels.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Such a scheme would, as far as the matter has been expressed,
+appear to possess all the claims of respect, and to be, indeed, what was
+originally intended by those who framed the essentials of existence,&rsquo;
+said Chan Hung, when he had for some space of time considered the details.
+&lsquo;In one point, however, this person fails to perceive how the arrangement
+could be amiably conducted in Fow Hou. The one who is addressing you maintains,
+as a matter of right, a position of exceptional respect, nor, if he must
+express himself upon such a detail, are his excessively fatiguing duties
+entirely unremunerative...&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;In the case of the distinguished and unalterable Mandarin,&rsquo;
+exclaimed Ming-hi, with no appearance of hesitation, &lsquo;the matter would of
+necessity be arranged otherwise. Being from that time, as it were, the
+controller of the destinies and remunerations of all those in Fow Hou, he
+would, manifestly, be outside the working of the scheme; standing apart and
+regulating, like the person who turns the handle of the corn-mill, but does not
+suffer himself to be drawn between the stones, he could still maintain both his
+respect and his remuneration unaltered.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;If the detail could honourably be regarded in such a
+light,&rsquo; said Chan Hung, &lsquo;this person would, without delay, so
+rearrange matters in Fow Hou, and thereby create universal justice and an
+unceasing contentment within the minds of all.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Undoubtedly such a course could be justly followed,&rsquo;
+assented Ming-hi, &lsquo;for in precisely that manner of working was the
+complete scheme revealed to this highly-favoured person.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Entirely wrapped up in thoughts concerning the inception and manner of
+operation of this project Chan Hung began to retrace his steps towards the
+Yamen, failing to observe in his benevolent abstraction of mind, that the
+unaffectedly depraved person Ming-hi was stretching out his feet towards him
+and indulging in every other form of low-minded and undignified contempt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Before he reached the door of his residence the Mandarin overtook one
+who occupied a high position of confidence and remuneration in the Department
+of Public Fireworks and Coloured Lights. Fully assured of this versatile
+person&rsquo;s enthusiasm on behalf of so humane and charitable a device, Chan
+Hung explained the entire matter to him without delay, and expressly desired
+that if there were any details which appeared capable of improvement, he would
+declare himself clearly regarding them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Alas!&rsquo; exclaimed the person with whom the Mandarin was
+conversing, speaking in so unfeignedly disturbed and terrified a voice that
+several who were passing by stopped in order to learn the full circumstance,
+&lsquo;have this person&rsquo;s ears been made the object of some unnaturally
+light-minded demon&rsquo;s ill-disposed pastime, or does the usually
+well-balanced Chan Hung in reality contemplate so violent and un-Chinese an
+action? What but evil could arise from a single word of the change which he
+proposes to the extent of a full written book? The entire fixed nature of
+events would become reversed; persons would no longer be fully accountable to
+one another; and Fow Hou being thus thrown into a most unendurable state of
+confusion, the protecting Deities would doubtless withdraw their influence, and
+the entire region would soon be given over to the malicious guardianship of
+rapacious and evilly-disposed spirits. Let this person entreat the almost
+invariably clear-sighted Chan Hung to return at once to his adequately equipped
+and sumptuous Yamen, and barring well the door of his inner chamber, so that it
+can only be opened from the outside, partake of several sleeping essences of
+unusual strength, after which he will awake in an undoubtedly refreshed state
+of mind, and in a condition to observe matters with his accustomed diamond-like
+penetration.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;By no means!&rsquo; cried one of those who had stopped to learn
+the occasion of the incident&mdash;a very inferior maker of unserviceable
+imitation pigtails&mdash;&lsquo;the devout and conscientious-minded Mandarin
+Chan Hung speaks as the inspired mouth-piece of the omnipotent Buddha, and
+must, for that reason, be obeyed in every detail. This person would
+unhesitatingly counsel the now invaluable Mandarin to proceed to his
+well-constructed residence without delay, and there calling together his entire
+staff of those who set down his spoken words, put the complete Heaven-sent plan
+into operation, and beyond recall, before he retires to his inner
+chamber.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Upon this there arose a most inelegant display of undignified emotions
+on the part of the assembly which had by this time gathered together. While
+those who occupied honourable and remunerative positions very earnestly
+entreated the Mandarin to act in the manner which had been suggested by the
+first speaker, others&mdash;who had, in the meantime, made use of imagined
+figures, and thereby discovered that the proposed change would be greatly to
+their advantage&mdash;raised shouts of encouragement towards the proposal of
+the pigtail-maker, urging the noble Mandarin not to become small in the face
+towards the insignificant few who were ever opposed to enlightened reform, but
+to maintain an unflaccid upper lip, and carry the entire matter through to its
+destined end. In the course of this very unseemly tumult, which soon involved
+all persons present in hostile demonstrations towards each other, both the
+Mandarin and the official from the Fireworks and Coloured Lights Department
+found an opportunity to pass away secretly, the former to consider well the
+various sides of the matter, towards which he became better disposed with every
+thought, the latter to find a purchaser of his appointment and leave Fow Hou
+before the likelihood of Chan Hung&rsquo;s scheme became generally known.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At this point an earlier circumstance, which affected the future
+unrolling of events to no insignificant degree, must be made known, concerning
+as it does Lila, the fair and very accomplished daughter of Chan Hung.
+Possessing no son or heir to succeed him, the Mandarin exhibited towards Lila a
+very unusual depth of affection, so marked, indeed, that when certain
+evil-minded ones endeavoured to encompass his degradation, on the plea of
+eccentricity of character, the written papers which they dispatched to the high
+ones at Peking contained no other accusation in support of the contention than
+that the individual in question regarded his daughter with an obvious pride and
+pleasure which no person of well-balanced intellect lavished on any but a son.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was his really conscientious desire to establish Lila&rsquo;s welfare
+above all things that had caused Chan Hung to become in some degree undecided
+when conversing with Ming-hi on the detail of the scheme; for, unaffected as
+the Mandarin himself would have been at the prospect of an honourable poverty,
+it was no part of his intention that the adorable and exceptionally-refined
+Lila should be drawn into such an existence. That, indeed, had been the
+essential of his reply on a certain and not far removed occasion, when two
+persons of widely differing positions had each made a formal request that he
+might be allowed to present marriage-pledging gifts to the very desirable Lila.
+Maintaining an enlightened openness of mind upon the subject, the Mandarin had
+replied that nothing but the merit of undoubted suitableness of a person would
+affect him in such a decision. As it was ordained by the wise and unchanging
+Deities that merit should always be fittingly rewarded, he went on to express
+himself, and as the most suitable person was obviously the one who could the
+most agreeably provide for her, the two circumstances inevitably tended to the
+decision that the one chosen should be the person who could amass the greatest
+number of taels. To this end he instructed them both to present themselves at
+the end of a year, bringing with them the entire profits of their undertakings
+between the two periods.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This deliberate pronouncement affected the two persons in question in an
+entirely opposite manner, for one of them was little removed from a condition
+of incessant and most uninviting poverty, while the other was the very
+highly-rewarded picture-maker Pe-tsing. Both to this latter person, and to the
+other one, Lee Sing, the ultimate conclusion of the matter did not seem to be a
+question of any conjecture therefore, and, in consequence, the one became most
+offensively self-confident, and the other leaden-minded to an equal degree,
+neither remembering the unswerving wisdom of the proverb, &lsquo;Wait! all men
+are but as the black, horn-cased beetles which overrun the inferior
+cooking-rooms of the city, and even at this moment the heavily-shod and
+unerring foot of Buddha may be lifted.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lee Sing was, by profession, one of those who hunt and ensnare the
+brilliantly-coloured winged insects which are to be found in various parts of
+the Empire in great variety and abundance, it being his duty to send a certain
+number every year to Peking to contribute to the amusement of the dignified
+Emperor. In spite of the not too intelligent nature of the occupation, Lee Sing
+took an honourable pride in all matters connected with it. He disdained, with
+well-expressed contempt, to avail himself of the stealthy and somewhat
+deceptive methods employed by others engaged in a similar manner of life. In
+this way he had, from necessity, acquired agility to an exceptional degree, so
+that he could leap far into the air, and while in that position select from a
+passing band of insects any which he might desire. This useful accomplishment
+was, in a measure, the direct means of bringing together the person in question
+and the engaging Lila; for, on a certain occasion, when Lee Sing was passing
+through the streets of Fow Hou, he heard a great outcry, and beheld persons of
+all ranks running towards him, pointing at the same time in an upward
+direction. Turning his gaze in the manner indicated, Lee beheld, with every
+variety of astonishment, a powerful and unnaturally large bird of prey,
+carrying in its talons the lovely and now insensible Lila, to whom it had been
+attracted by the magnificence of her raiment. The rapacious and evilly-inspired
+creature was already above the highest dwelling-houses when Lee first beheld
+it, and was plainly directing its course towards the inaccessible mountain
+crags beyond the city walls. Nevertheless, Lee resolved upon an inspired
+effort, and without any hesitation bounded towards it with such well-directed
+proficiency, that if he had not stretched forth his hand on passing he would
+inevitably have been carried far above the desired object. In this manner he
+succeeded in dragging the repulsive and completely disconcerted monster to the
+ground, where its graceful and unassuming prisoner was released, and the
+presumptuous bird itself torn to pieces amid continuous shouts of a most
+respectful and engaging description in honour of Lee and of his versatile
+attainment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In consequence of this incident the grateful Lila would often
+deliberately leave the society of the rich and well-endowed in order to
+accompany Lee on his journeys in pursuit of exceptionally-precious winged
+insects. Regarding his unusual ability as the undoubted cause of her existence
+at that moment, she took an all-absorbing pride in such displays, and would
+utter loud and frequent exclamations of triumph when Lee leaped out from behind
+some rock, where he had lain concealed, and with unfailing regularity secured
+the object of his adroit movement. In this manner a state of feeling which was
+by no means favourable to the aspiring picture-maker Pe-tsing had long existed
+between the two persons; but when Lee Sing put the matter in the form of an
+explicit petition before Chan Hung (to which adequate reference has already
+been made), the nature of the decision then arrived at seemed to clothe the
+realization of their virtuous and estimable desires with an air of extreme
+improbability.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, Lee,&rsquo; exclaimed the greatly-disappointed maiden when
+her lover had explained to her the nature of the arrangement&mdash;for in her
+unassuming admiration of the noble qualities of Lee she had anticipated that
+Chan Hung would at once have received him with ceremonious embraces and
+assurances of his permanent affection&mdash;&lsquo;how unendurable a state of
+things is this in which we have become involved! Far removed from this
+one&rsquo;s anticipations was the thought of becoming inalienably associated
+with that outrageous person Pe-tsing, or of entering upon an existence which
+will necessitate a feigned admiration of his really unpresentable efforts. Yet
+in such a manner must the entire circumstance complete its course unless some
+ingenious method of evading it can be discovered in the meantime. Alas, my
+beloved one! the occupation of ensnaring winged insects is indeed an alluring
+one, but as far as this person has observed, it is also exceedingly
+unproductive of taels. Could not some more expeditious means of enriching
+yourself be discovered? Frequently has the unnoticed but nevertheless very
+attentive Lila heard her father and the round-bodied ones who visit him speak
+of exploits which seem to consist of assuming the shapes of certain wild
+animals, and in that guise appearing from time to time at the place of exchange
+within the city walls. As this form of entertainment is undoubtedly very
+remunerative in its results, could not the versatile and ready-witted Lee
+conceal himself within the skin of a bear, or some other untamed beast, and in
+this garb, joining them unperceived, play an appointed part and receive a just
+share of the reward?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The result of such an enterprise might, if the matter chanced to
+take an unforeseen development, prove of a very doubtful nature,&rsquo; replied
+Lee Sing, to whom, indeed, the proposed venture appeared in a somewhat
+undignified light, although, with refined consideration, he withheld such a
+thought from Lila, who had proposed it for him, and also confessed that her
+usually immaculate father had taken part in such an exhibition.
+&lsquo;Nevertheless, do not permit the dark shadow of an inward cloud to
+reflect itself upon your almost invariably amiable countenance, for this person
+has become possessed of a valuable internal suggestion which, although he has
+hitherto neglected, being content with a small but assured competency, would
+doubtless bring together a serviceable number of taels if rightly
+utilized.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Greatly does this person fear that the valuable internal
+suggestion of Lee Sing will weigh but lightly in the commercial balance against
+the very rapidly executed pictures of Pe-tsing,&rsquo; said Lila, who had not
+fully recalled from her mind a disturbing emotion that Lee would have been well
+advised to have availed himself of her ingenious and well-thought-out
+suggestion. &lsquo;But of what does the matter consist?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It is the best explained by a recital of the circumstances
+leading up to it,&rsquo; said Lee. &lsquo;Upon an occasion when this person was
+passing through the streets of Fow Hou, there gathered around him a company of
+those who had, on previous occasions, beheld his exceptional powers of hurtling
+himself through the air in an upward direction, praying that he would again
+delight their senses by a similar spectacle. Not being unwilling to afford
+those estimable persons of the amusement they desired, this one, without any
+elaborate show of affected hesitancy, put himself into the necessary position,
+and would without doubt have risen uninterruptedly almost into the Middle Air,
+had he not, in making the preparatory movements, placed his left foot upon an
+over-ripe wampee which lay unperceived on the ground. In consequence of this
+really blameworthy want of caution the entire manner and direction of this
+short-sighted individual&rsquo;s movements underwent a sudden and complete
+change, so that to those who stood around it appeared as though he were making
+a well-directed endeavour to penetrate through the upper surface of the earth.
+This unexpected display had the effect of removing the gravity of even the most
+aged and severe-minded persons present, and for the space of some moments the
+behaviour and positions of those who stood around were such that they were
+quite unable to render any assistance, greatly as they doubtless wished to do
+so. Being in this manner allowed a period for inward reflexion of a very
+concentrated order, it arose within this one&rsquo;s mind that at every similar
+occurrence which he had witnessed, those who observed the event had been seized
+in a like fashion, being very excessively amused. The fact was made even more
+undoubted by the manner of behaving of an exceedingly stout and round-faced
+person, who had not been present from the beginning, but who was affected to a
+most incredible extent when the details, as they had occurred, were made plain
+to him, he declaring, with many references to the Sacred Dragon and the Seven
+Walled Temple at Peking, that he would willingly have contributed a specified
+number of taels rather than have missed the diversion. When at length this
+person reached his own chamber, he diligently applied himself to the task of
+carrying into practical effect the suggestion which had arisen in his mind. By
+an arrangement of transparent glasses and reflecting surfaces&mdash;which, were
+it not for a well-defined natural modesty, he would certainly be tempted to
+describe as highly ingenious&mdash;he ultimately succeeded in bringing about
+the effect he desired.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With these words Lee put into Lila&rsquo;s hands an object which closely
+resembled the contrivances by which those who are not sufficiently powerful to
+obtain positions near the raised platform, in the Halls of Celestial Harmony,
+are nevertheless enabled to observe the complexions and attire of all around
+them. Regulating it by means of a hidden spring, he requested her to follow
+closely the actions of a heavily-burdened passerby who was at that moment some
+little distance beyond them. Scarcely had Lila raised the glass to her eyes
+than she became irresistibly amused to a most infectious degree, greatly to the
+satisfaction of Lee, who therein beheld the realization of his hopes. Not for
+the briefest space of time would she permit the object to pass from her, but
+directed it at every person who came within her sight, with frequent and
+unfeigned exclamations of wonder and delight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;How pleasant and fascinating a device is this!&rsquo; exclaimed
+Lila at length. &lsquo;By what means is so diverting and gravity-removing a
+result obtained?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Further than that it is the concentration of much labour of
+continually trying with glasses and reflecting surfaces, this person is totally
+unable to explain it,&rsquo; replied Lee. &lsquo;The chief thing, however, is
+that at whatever moving object it is directed&mdash;no matter whether a person
+so observed is being carried in a chair, riding upon an animal, or merely
+walking&mdash;at a certain point he has every appearance of being unexpectedly
+hurled to the ground in a most violent and mirth-provoking manner. Would not
+the stout and round-faced one, who would cheerfully have contributed a certain
+number of taels to see this person manifest a similar exhibition,
+unhesitatingly lay out that sum to secure the means of so gratifying his
+emotions whenever he felt the desire, even with the revered persons of the most
+dignified ones in the Empire? Is there, indeed, a single person between the
+Wall and the Bitter Waters on the South who is so devoid of ambition that he
+would miss the opportunity of subjecting, as it were, perhaps even the sacred
+Emperor himself to the exceptional feat?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The temptation to possess one would inevitably prove overwhelming
+to any person of ordinary intelligence,&rsquo; admitted Lila. &lsquo;Yet, in
+spite of this one&rsquo;s unassumed admiration for the contrivance, internal
+doubts regarding the ultimate happiness of the two persons who are now
+discussing the matter again attack her. She recollects, somewhat dimly, an
+almost forgotten, but nevertheless, very unassailable proverb, which declares
+that more contentment of mind can assuredly be obtained from the unexpected
+discovery of a tael among the folds of a discarded garment than could, in the
+most favourable circumstances, ensue from the well-thought-out construction of
+a new and hitherto unknown device. Furthermore, although the span of a year may
+seem unaccountably protracted when persons who reciprocate engaging sentiments
+are parted, yet when the acceptance or refusal of Pe-tsing&rsquo;s undesirable
+pledging-gifts hangs upon the accomplishment of a remote and not very probable
+object within that period, it becomes as a breath of wind passing through an
+autumn forest.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Since the day when Lila and Lee had sat together side by side, and
+conversed in this unrestrained and irreproachable manner, the great sky-lantern
+had many times been obscured for a period. Only an insignificant portion of the
+year remained, yet the affairs of Lee Sing were in no more prosperous a
+condition than before, nor had he found an opportunity to set aside any store
+of taels. Each day the unsupportable Pe-tsing became more and more obtrusive
+and self-conceited, even to the extent of throwing far into the air coins of
+insignificant value whenever he chanced to pass Lee in the street, at the same
+time urging him to leap after them and thereby secure at least one or two
+pieces of money against the day of calculating. In a similar but entirely
+opposite fashion, Lila and Lee experienced the acutest pangs of an ever-growing
+despair, until their only form of greeting consisted in gazing into each
+other&rsquo;s eyes with a soul-benumbing expression of self-reproach.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet at this very time, when even the natural and unalterable powers
+seemed to be conspiring against the success of Lee&rsquo;s modest and
+inoffensive hopes, an event was taking place which was shortly to reverse the
+entire settled arrangement of persons and affairs, and involved Fow Hou in a
+very inextricable state of uncertainty. For, not to make a pretence of
+concealing a matter which has been already in part revealed, the Mandarin Chan
+Hung had by this time determined to act in the manner which Ming-hi had
+suggested; so that on a certain morning Lee Sing was visited by two persons,
+bearing between them a very weighty sack of taels, who also conveyed to him the
+fact that a like amount would be deposited within his door at the end of each
+succeeding seven days. Although Lee&rsquo;s occupation had in the past been
+very meagrely rewarded, either by taels or by honour, the circumstance which
+resulted in his now receiving so excessively large a sum is not made clear
+until the detail of Ming-hi&rsquo;s scheme is closely examined. The matter then
+becomes plain, for it had been suggested by that person that the most
+proficient in any occupation should be rewarded to a certain extent, and the
+least proficient to another stated extent, the original amounts being reversed.
+When those engaged by Chang Hung to draw up the various rates came to the
+profession of ensnaring winged insects, however, they discovered that Lee Sing
+was the only one of that description in Fow Hou, so that it became necessary in
+consequence to allot him a double portion, one amount as the most proficient,
+and a much larger amount as the least proficient.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is unnecessary now to follow the not altogether satisfactory
+condition of affairs which began to exist in Fow Hou as soon as the scheme was
+put into operation. The full written papers dealing with the matter are in the
+Hall of Public Reference at Peking, and can be seen by any person on the
+payment of a few taels to everyone connected with the establishment. Those who
+found their possessions reduced thereby completely overlooked the obvious
+justice of the arrangement, and immediately began to take most severe measures
+to have the order put aside; while those who suddenly and unexpectedly found
+themselves raised to positions of affluence tended to the same end by
+conducting themselves in a most incapable and undiscriminating manner. And
+during the entire period that this state of things existed in Fow Hou the
+really contemptible Ming-hi continually followed Chan Hung about from place to
+place, spreading out his feet towards him, and allowing himself to become
+openly amused to a most unseemly extent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Chief among those who sought to have the original manner of rewarding
+persons again established was the picture-maker, Pe-tsing, who now found
+himself in a condition of most abject poverty, so unbearable, indeed, that he
+frequently went by night, carrying a lantern, in the hope that he might
+discover some of the small pieces of money which he had been accustomed to
+throw into the air on meeting Lee Sing. To his pangs of hunger was added the
+fear that he would certainly lose Lila, so that from day to day he redoubled
+his efforts, and in the end, by using false statements and other artifices of a
+questionable nature, the party which he led was successful in obtaining the
+degradation of Chan Hung and his dismissal from office, together with an entire
+reversal of all his plans and enactments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the last day of the year which Chan Hung had appointed as the period
+of test for his daughter&rsquo;s suitors, the person in question was seated in
+a chamber of his new abode&mdash;a residence of unassuming appearance but
+undoubted comfort&mdash;surrounded by Lila and Lee, when the hanging curtains
+were suddenly flung aside, and Pe-tsing, followed by two persons of low rank
+bearing sacks of money, appeared among them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Chan Hung,&rsquo; he said at length, &lsquo;in the past events
+arose which compelled this person to place himself against you in your official
+position. Nevertheless, he has always maintained towards you personally an
+unchanging affection, and understanding full well that you are one of those who
+maintain their spoken word in spite of all happenings, he has now come to
+exhibit the taels which he has collected together, and to claim the fulfilment
+of your deliberate promise.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With these words the commonplace picture-maker poured forth the contents
+of the sacks, and stood looking at Lila in a most confident and unprepossessing
+manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Pe-tsing,&rsquo; replied Chan Hung, rising from his couch and
+speaking in so severe and impressive a voice that the two servants of Pe-tsing
+at once fled in great apprehension, &lsquo;this person has also found it
+necessary, in his official position, to oppose you; but here the similarity
+ends, for, on his part, he has never felt towards you the remotest degree of
+affection. Nevertheless, he is always desirous, as you say, that persons should
+regard their spoken word, and as you seem to hold a promise from the Chief
+Mandarin of Fow Hou regarding marriage-gifts towards his daughter, he would
+advise you to go at once to that person. A misunderstanding has evidently
+arisen, for the one whom you are addressing is merely Chan Hung, and the words
+spoken by the Mandarin have no sort of interest for him&mdash;indeed, he
+understands that all that person&rsquo;s acts have been reversed, so that he
+fails to see how anyone at all can regard you and your claim in other than a
+gravity-removing light. Furthermore, the maiden in question is now definitely
+and irretrievably pledged to this faithful and successful one by my side, who,
+as you will doubtless be gracefully overjoyed to learn, has recently disposed
+of a most ingenious and diverting contrivance for an enormous number of taels,
+so many, indeed, that both the immediate and the far-distant future of all the
+persons who are here before you are now in no sort of doubt whatever.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At these words the three persons whom he had interrupted again turned
+their attention to the matter before them; but as Pe-tsing walked away, he
+observed, though he failed to understand the meaning, that they all raised
+certain objects to their eyes, and at once became amused to a most striking and
+uncontrollable degree.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"></a>
+V.<br />
+THE CONFESSION OF KAI LUNG</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+Related by himself at Wu-whei when other matter failed him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Kai Lung, the story-teller, unrolled his mat and selected, with grave
+deliberation, the spot under the mulberry-tree which would the longest remain
+sheltered from the sun&rsquo;s rays, his impassive eye wandered round the thin
+circle of listeners who had been drawn together by his uplifted voice, with a
+glance which, had it expressed his actual thoughts, would have betrayed a keen
+desire that the assembly should be composed of strangers rather than of his
+most consistent patrons, to whom his stock of tales was indeed becoming
+embarrassingly familiar. Nevertheless, when he began there was nothing in his
+voice but a trace of insufficiently restrained triumph, such as might be fitly
+assumed by one who has discovered and makes known for the first time a story by
+the renowned historian Lo Châ.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The adventures of the enlightened and nobly-born Yuin-Pel&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have already thrice been narrated within Wu-whei by the versatile but
+exceedingly uninventive Kai Lung,&rdquo; remarked Wang Yu placidly.
+&ldquo;Indeed, has there not come to be a saying by which an exceptionally
+frugal host&rsquo;s rice, having undoubtedly seen the inside of the pot many
+times, is now known in this town as Kai-Pel?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; exclaimed Kai Lung, &ldquo;well was this person warned of
+Wu-whei in the previous village, as a place of desolation and excessively bad
+taste, whose inhabitants, led by an evil-minded maker of very commonplace
+pipes, named Wang Yu, are unable to discriminate in all matters not connected
+with the cooking of food and the evasion of just debts. They at Shan Tzu hung
+on to my cloak as I strove to leave them, praying that I would again entrance
+their ears with what they termed the melodious word-music of this
+person&rsquo;s inimitable version of the inspired story of Yuin-Pel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Truly the story of Yuin-Pel is in itself excellent,&rdquo; interposed
+the conciliatory Hi Seng; &ldquo;and Kai Lung&rsquo;s accomplishment of having
+three times repeated it here without deviating in the particular of a single
+word from the first recital stamps him as a story-teller of no ordinary degree.
+Yet the saying &lsquo;Although it is desirable to lose persistently when
+playing at squares and circles with the broad-minded and sagacious Emperor, it
+is none the less a fact that the observance of this etiquette deprives the
+intellectual diversion of much of its interest for both players,&rsquo; is no
+less true today than when the all knowing H&rsquo;sou uttered it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They well said&mdash;they of Shan Tzu&mdash;that the people of Wu-whei
+were intolerably ignorant and of low descent,&rdquo; continued Kai Lung,
+without heeding the interruption; &ldquo;that although invariably of a timorous
+nature, even to the extent of retiring to the woods on the approach of those
+who select bowmen for the Imperial army, all they require in a story is that it
+shall be garnished with deeds of bloodshed and violence to the exclusion of the
+higher qualities of well-imagined metaphors and literary style which alone
+constitute true excellence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet it has been said,&rdquo; suggested Hi Seng, &ldquo;that the
+inimitable Kai Lung can so mould a narrative in the telling that all the
+emotions are conveyed therein without unduly disturbing the intellects of the
+hearers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O amiable Hi Seng,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung with extreme affability,
+&ldquo;doubtless you are the most expert of water-carriers, and on a hot and
+dusty day, when the insatiable desire of all persons is towards a draught of
+unusual length without much regard to its composition, the sight of your
+goat-skins is indeed a welcome omen; yet when in the season of Cold White Rains
+you chance to meet the belated chair-carrier who has been reluctantly persuaded
+into conveying persons beyond the limit of the city, the solitary official
+watchman who knows that his chief is not at hand, or a returning band of those
+who make a practise of remaining in the long narrow rooms until they are driven
+forth at a certain gong-stroke, can you supply them with the smallest portion
+of that invigorating rice spirit for which alone they crave? From this simple
+and homely illustration, specially conceived to meet the requirements of your
+stunted and meagre understanding, learn not to expect both grace and thorns
+from the willow-tree. Nevertheless, your very immature remarks on the art of
+story-telling are in no degree more foolish than those frequently uttered by
+persons who make a living by such a practice; in proof of which this person
+will relate to the select and discriminating company now assembled an entirely
+new and unrecorded story&mdash;that, indeed, of the unworthy, but frequently
+highly-rewarded Kai Lung himself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The story of Kai Lung!&rdquo; exclaimed Wang Yu. &ldquo;Why not the
+story of Ting, the sightless beggar, who has sat all his life outside the
+Temple of Miraculous Cures? Who is Kai Lung, that he should have a story? Is he
+not known to us all here? Is not his speech that of this Province, his food
+mean, his arms and legs unshaven? Does he carry a sword or wear silk raiment?
+Frequently have we seen him fatigued with journeying; many times has he arrived
+destitute of money; nor, on those occasions when a newly-appointed and
+unnecessarily officious Mandarin has commanded him to betake himself elsewhere
+and struck him with a rod has Kai Lung caused the stick to turn into a deadly
+serpent and destroy its master, as did the just and dignified Lu Fei. How,
+then, can Kai Lung have a story that is not also the story of Wang Yu and Hi
+Seng, and all others here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed, if the refined and enlightened Wang Yu so decides, it must
+assuredly be true,&rdquo; said Kai Lung patiently; &ldquo;yet (since even
+trifles serve to dispel the darker thoughts of existence) would not the history
+of so small a matter as an opium pipe chain his intelligent consideration? such
+a pipe, for example, as this person beheld only today exposed for sale, the
+bowl composed of the finest red clay, delicately baked and fashioned, the long
+bamboo stem smoother than the sacred tooth of the divine Buddha, the spreading
+support patiently and cunningly carved with scenes representing the Seven Joys,
+and the Tenth Hell of unbelievers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; exclaimed Wang Yu eagerly, &ldquo;it is indeed as you say, a
+Mandarin among masterpieces. That pipe, O most unobserving Kai Lung, is the
+work of this retiring and superficial person who is now addressing you, and,
+though the fact evidently escaped your all-seeing glance, the place where it is
+exposed is none other than his shop of &lsquo;The Fountain of Beauty,&rsquo;
+which you have on many occasions endowed with your honourable presence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Doubtless the carving is the work of the accomplished Wang Yu, and the
+fitting together,&rdquo; replied Kai Lung; &ldquo;but the materials for so
+refined and ornamental a production must of necessity have been brought many
+thousand li; the clay perhaps from the renowned beds of Honan, the wood from
+Peking, and the bamboo from one of the great forests of the North.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For what reason?&rdquo; said Wang Yu proudly. &ldquo;At this
+person&rsquo;s very door is a pit of red clay, purer and infinitely more
+regular than any to be found at Honan; the hard wood of Wu-whei is extolled
+among carvers throughout the Empire, while no bamboo is straighter or more
+smooth than that which grows in the neighbouring woods.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O most inconsistent Wang Yu!&rdquo; cried the story-teller,
+&ldquo;assuredly a very commendable local pride has dimmed your usually
+penetrating eyesight. Is not the clay pit of which you speak that in which you
+fashioned exceedingly unsymmetrical imitations of rat-pies in your childhood?
+How, then, can it be equal to those of Honan, which you have never seen? In the
+dark glades of these woods have you not chased the gorgeous butterfly, and, in
+later years, the no less gaily attired maidens of Wu-whei in the entrancing
+game of Kiss in the Circle? Have not the bamboo-trees to which you have
+referred provided you with the ideal material wherewith to roof over those
+cunningly-constructed pits into which it has ever been the chief delight of the
+young and audacious to lure dignified and unnaturally stout Mandarins? All
+these things you have seen and used ever since your mother made a successful
+offering to the Goddess Kum-Fa. How, then, can they be even equal to the
+products of remote Honan and fabulous Peking? Assuredly the generally veracious
+Wang Yu speaks this time with closed eyes and will, upon mature reflexion, eat
+his words.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The silence was broken by a very aged man who arose from among the bystanders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold the length of this person&rsquo;s pigtail,&rdquo; he exclaimed,
+&ldquo;the whiteness of his moustaches and the venerable appearance of his
+beard! There is no more aged person present&mdash;if, indeed, there be such a
+one in all the Province. It accordingly devolves upon him to speak in this
+matter, which shall be as follows: The noble-minded and proficient Kai Lung
+shall relate the story as he has proposed, and the garrulous Wang Yu shall
+twice contribute to Kai Lung&rsquo;s bowl when it is passed round, once for
+himself and once for this person, in order that he may learn either to be more
+discreet or more proficient in the art of aptly replying.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The events which it is this person&rsquo;s presumptuous intention to
+describe to this large-hearted and providentially indulgent gathering,&rdquo;
+began Kai Lung, when his audience had become settled, and the wooden bowl had
+passed to and fro among them, &ldquo;did not occupy many years, although they
+were of a nature which made them of far more importance than all the remainder
+of his existence, thereby supporting the sage discernment of the philosopher
+Wen-weng, who first made the observation that man is greatly inferior to the
+meanest fly, inasmuch as that creature, although granted only a day&rsquo;s
+span of life, contrives during that period to fulfil all the allotted functions
+of existence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Unutterably to the astonishment and dismay of this person and all those
+connected with him (for several of the most expensive readers of the future to
+be found in the Empire had declared that his life would be marked by great
+events, his career a source of continual wonder, and his death a misfortune to
+those who had dealings with him) his efforts to take a degree at the public
+literary competitions were not attended with any adequate success. In view of
+the plainly expressed advice of his father it therefore became desirable that
+this person should turn his attention to some other method of regaining the
+esteem of those upon whom he was dependent for all the necessaries of
+existence. Not having the means wherewith to engage in any form of commerce,
+and being entirely ignorant of all matters save the now useless details of
+attempting to pass public examinations, he reluctantly decided that he was
+destined to become one of those who imagine and write out stories and similar
+devices for printed leaves and books.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This determination was favourably received, and upon learning it, this
+person&rsquo;s dignified father took him aside, and with many assurances of
+regard presented to him a written sentence, which, he said, would be of
+incomparable value to one engaged in a literary career, and should in fact,
+without any particular qualifications, insure an honourable competency. He
+himself, he added, with what at the time appeared to this one as an unnecessary
+regard for detail, having taken a very high degree, and being in consequence
+appointed to a distinguished and remunerative position under the Board of Fines
+and Tortures, had never made any use of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The written sentence, indeed, was all that it had been pronounced. It
+had been composed by a remote ancestor, who had spent his entire life in
+crystallizing all his knowledge and experience into a few written lines, which
+as a result became correspondingly precious. It defined in a very original and
+profound manner several undisputable principles, and was so engagingly subtle
+in its manner of expression that the most superficial person was irresistibly
+thrown into a deep inward contemplation upon reading it. When it was complete,
+the person who had contrived this ingenious masterpiece, discovering by means
+of omens that he still had ten years to live, devoted each remaining year to
+the task of reducing the sentence by one word without in any way altering its
+meaning. This unapproachable example of conciseness found such favour in the
+eyes of those who issue printed leaves that as fast as this person could
+inscribe stories containing it they were eagerly purchased; and had it not been
+for a very incapable want of foresight on this narrow-minded individual&rsquo;s
+part, doubtless it would still be affording him an agreeable and permanent
+means of living.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Unquestionably the enlightened Wen-weng was well acquainted with the
+subject when he exclaimed, &lsquo;Better a frugal dish of olives flavoured with
+honey than the most sumptuously devised puppy-pie of which the greater portion
+is sent forth in silver-lined boxes and partaken of by others.&rsquo; At that
+time, however, this versatile saying&mdash;which so gracefully conveys the
+truth of the undeniable fact that what a person possesses is sufficient if he
+restrain his mind from desiring aught else&mdash;would have been lightly
+treated by this self-conceited story-teller even if his immature faculties had
+enabled him fully to understand the import of so profound and well-digested a
+remark.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At that time Tiao Ts&rsquo;un was undoubtedly the most beautiful maiden
+in all Peking. So frequently were the verses describing her habits and
+appearances affixed in the most prominent places of the city, that many persons
+obtained an honourable livelihood by frequenting those spots and disposing of
+the sacks of written papers which they collected to merchants who engaged in
+that commerce. Owing to the fame attained by his written sentence, this really
+very much inferior being had many opportunities of meeting the incomparable
+maiden Tiao at flower-feasts, melon-seed assemblies, and those gatherings where
+persons of both sexes exhibit themselves in revolving attitudes, and are
+permitted to embrace openly without reproach; whereupon he became so
+subservient to her charms and virtues that he lost no opportunity of making
+himself utterly unendurable to any who might chance to speak to, or even gaze
+upon, this Heaven-sent creature.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So successful was this person in his endeavour to meet the sublime Tiao
+and to gain her conscientious esteem that all emotions of prudence forsook him,
+or it would soon have become apparent even to his enfeebled understanding that
+such consistent good fortune could only be the work of unforgiving and
+malignant spirits whose ill-will he had in some way earned, and who were luring
+him on in order that they might accomplish his destruction. That object was
+achieved on a certain evening when this person stood alone with Tiao upon an
+eminence overlooking the city and watched the great sky-lantern rise from
+behind the hills. Under these delicate and ennobling influences he gave speech
+to many very ornamental and refined thoughts which arose within his mind
+concerning the graceful brilliance of the light which was cast all around, yet
+notwithstanding which a still more exceptional and brilliant light was shining
+in his own internal organs by reason of the nearness of an even purer and more
+engaging orb. There was no need, this person felt, to hide even his most inside
+thoughts from the dignified and sympathetic being at his side, so without
+hesitation he spoke&mdash;in what he believes even now must have been a very
+decorative manner&mdash;of the many thousand persons who were then wrapped in
+sleep, of the constantly changing lights which appeared in the city beneath,
+and of the vastness which everywhere lay around.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;O Kai Lung,&rsquo; exclaimed the lovely Tiao, when this person
+had made an end of speaking, &lsquo;how expertly and in what a proficient
+manner do you express yourself, uttering even the sentiments which this person
+has felt inwardly, but for which she has no words. Why, indeed, do you not
+inscribe them in a book?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Under her elevating influence it had already occurred to this illiterate
+individual that it would be a more dignified and, perhaps, even a more
+profitable course for him to write out and dispose of, to those who print such
+matters, the versatile and high-minded expressions which now continually formed
+his thoughts, rather than be dependent upon the concise sentence for which,
+indeed, he was indebted to the wisdom of a remote ancestor. Tiao&rsquo;s spoken
+word fully settled his determination, so that without delay he set himself to
+the task of composing a story which should omit the usual sentence, but should
+contain instead a large number of his most graceful and diamond-like thoughts.
+So engrossed did this near-sighted and superficial person become in the task
+(which daily seemed to increase rather than lessen as new and still more
+sublime images arose within his mind) that many months passed before the matter
+was complete. In the end, instead of a story, it had assumed the proportions of
+an important and many-volumed book; while Tiao had in the meantime accepted the
+wedding gifts of an objectionable and excessively round-bodied individual, who
+had amassed an inconceivable number of taels by inducing persons to take part
+in what at first sight appeared to be an ingenious but very easy competition
+connected with the order in which certain horses should arrive at a given and
+clearly defined spot. By that time, however, this unduly sanguine story-teller
+had become completely entranced in his work, and merely regarded
+Tiao-Ts&rsquo;un as a Heaven-sent but no longer necessary incentive to his
+success. With every hope, therefore, he went forth to dispose of his written
+leaves, confident of finding some very wealthy person who would be in a
+condition to pay him the correct value of the work.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At the end of two years this somewhat disillusionized but still
+undaunted person chanced to hear of a benevolent and unassuming body of men who
+made a habit of issuing works in which they discerned merit, but which,
+nevertheless, others were unanimous in describing as &lsquo;of no good.&rsquo;
+Here this person was received with gracious effusion, and being in a position
+to impress those with whom he was dealing with his undoubted knowledge of the
+subject, he finally succeeded in making a very advantageous arrangement by
+which he was to pay one-half of the number of taels expended in producing the
+work, and to receive in return all the profits which should result from the
+undertaking. Those who were concerned in the matter were so engagingly
+impressed with the incomparable literary merit displayed in the production that
+they counselled a great number of copies being made ready in order, as they
+said, that this person should not lose by there being any delay when once the
+accomplishment became the one topic of conversation in tea-houses and yamens.
+From this cause it came about that the matter of taels to be expended was much
+greater than had been anticipated at the beginning, so that when the day
+arrived on which the volumes were to be sent forth this person found that
+almost his last piece of money had disappeared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas! how small a share has a person in the work of controlling his own
+destiny. Had only the necessarily penurious and now almost degraded Kai Lung
+been born a brief span before the great writer Lo Kuan Chang, his name would
+have been received with every mark of esteem from one end of the Empire to the
+other, while taels and honourable decorations would have been showered upon
+him. For the truth, which could no longer be concealed, revealed the fact that
+this inopportune individual possessed a mind framed in such a manner that his
+thoughts had already been the thoughts of the inspired Lo Kuan, who, as this
+person would not be so presumptuous as to inform this ornamental and
+well-informed gathering, was the most ingenious and versatile-minded composer
+of written words that this Empire&mdash;and therefore the entire
+world&mdash;has seen, as, indeed, his honourable title of &lsquo;The Many-hued
+Mandarin Duck of the Yang-tse&rsquo; plainly indicates.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Although this self-opinionated person had frequently been greatly
+surprised himself during the writing of his long work by the brilliance and
+manysidedness of the thoughts and metaphors which arose in his mind without
+conscious effort, it was not until the appearance of the printed leaves which
+make a custom of warning persons against being persuaded into buying certain
+books that he definitely understood how all these things had been fully
+expressed many dynasties ago by the all-knowing Lo Kuan Chang, and formed,
+indeed, the great national standard of unapproachable excellence.
+Unfortunately, this person had been so deeply engrossed all his life in
+literary pursuits that he had never found an opportunity to glance at the works
+in question, or he would have escaped the embarrassing position in which he now
+found himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was with a hopeless sense of illness of ease that this unhappy one
+reached the day on which the printed leaves already alluded to would make known
+their deliberate opinion of his writing, the extremity of his hope being that
+some would at least credit him with honourable motives, and perhaps a knowledge
+that if the inspired Lo Kuan Chan had never been born the entire matter might
+have been brought to a very different conclusion. Alas! only one among the many
+printed leaves which made reference to the venture contained any words of
+friendship or encouragement. This benevolent exception was sent forth from a
+city in the extreme Northern Province of the Empire, and contained many
+inspiring though delicately guarded messages of hope for the one to whom they
+gracefully alluded as &lsquo;this undoubtedly youthful, but nevertheless,
+distinctly promising writer of books.&rsquo; While admitting that altogether
+they found the production undeniably tedious, they claimed to have discovered
+indications of an obvious talent, and therefore they unhesitatingly counselled
+the person in question to take courage at the prospect of a moderate competency
+which was certainly within his grasp if he restrained his somewhat
+over-ambitious impulses and closely observed the simple subjects and manner of
+expression of their own Chang Chow, whose &lsquo;Lines to a Wayside
+Chrysanthemum,&rsquo; &lsquo;Mongolians who Have,&rsquo; and several other
+composed pieces, they then set forth. Although it became plain that the writer
+of this amiably devised notice was, like this incapable person, entirely
+unacquainted with the masterpieces of Lo Kuan Chang, yet the indisputable fact
+remained that, entirely on its merit, the work had been greeted with undoubted
+enthusiasm, so that after purchasing many examples of the refined printed leaf
+containing it, this person sat far into the night continually reading over the
+one unprejudiced and discriminating expression.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All the other printed leaves displayed a complete absence of good taste
+in dealing with the matter. One boldly asserted that the entire circumstance
+was the outcome of a foolish jest or wager on the part of a person who
+possessed a million taels; another predicted that it was a cunning and
+elaborately thought-out method of obtaining the attention of the people on the
+part of certain persons who claimed to vend a reliable and fragrantly-scented
+cleansing substance. The <i>Valley of Hoang Rose Leaves and Sweetness</i>
+hoped, in a spirit of no sincerity, that the ingenious Kai Lung would not rest
+on his tea-leaves, but would soon send forth an equally entertaining amended
+example of the <i>Sayings of Confucious</i> and other sacred works, while the
+<i>Pure Essence of the Seven Days&rsquo; Happenings</i> merely printed side by
+side portions from the two books under the large inscription, &lsquo;I<small>S
+THERE REALLY ANY</small> N<small>EED FOR</small> U<small>S TO EXPRESS</small>
+O<small>URSELVES MORE CLEARLY</small>?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The disappointment both as regards public esteem and taels&mdash;for,
+after the manner in which the work had been received by those who advise on
+such productions, not a single example was purchased&mdash;threw this
+ill-destined individual into a condition of most unendurable depression, from
+which he was only aroused by a remarkable example of the unfailing wisdom of
+the proverb which says &lsquo;Before hastening to secure a possible reward of
+five taels by dragging an unobservant person away from a falling building,
+examine well his features lest you find, when too late, that it is one to whom
+you are indebted for double that amount.&rsquo; Disappointed in the hope of
+securing large gains from the sale of his great work, this person now turned
+his attention again to his former means of living, only to find, however, that
+the discredit in which he had become involved even attached itself to his
+concise sentence; for in place of the remunerative and honourable manner in
+which it was formerly received, it was now regarded on all hands with open
+suspicion. Instead of meekly kow-towing to an evidently pre-arranged doom, the
+last misfortune aroused this usually resigned story-teller to an ungovernable
+frenzy. Regarding the accomplished but at the same time exceedingly
+over-productive Lo Kuan Chang as the beginning of all his evils, he took a
+solemn oath as a mark of disapproval that he had not been content to inscribe
+on paper only half of his brilliant thoughts, leaving the other half for the
+benefit of this hard-striving and equally well-endowed individual, in which
+case there would have been a sufficiency of taels and of fame for both.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For a very considerable space of time this person could conceive no
+method by which he might attain his object. At length, however, as a result of
+very keen and subtle intellectual searching, and many well-selected sacrifices,
+it was conveyed by means of a dream that one very ingenious yet simple way was
+possible. The renowned and universally-admired writings of the distinguished Lo
+Kuan for the most part take their action within a few dynasties of their
+creator&rsquo;s own time: all that remained for this inventive person to
+accomplish, therefore, was to trace out the entire matter, making the words and
+speeches to proceed from the mouths of those who existed in still earlier
+periods. By this crafty method it would at once appear as though the
+not-too-original Lo Kuan had been indebted to one who came before him for all
+his most subtle thoughts, and, in consequence, his tomb would become
+dishonoured and his memory execrated. Without any delay this person cheerfully
+set himself to the somewhat laborious task before him. Lo Kuan&rsquo;s
+well-known exclamation of the Emperor Tsing on the battlefield of Shih-ho,
+&lsquo;A sedan-chair! a sedan-chair! This person will unhesitatingly exchange
+his entire and well-regulated Empire for such an article,&rsquo; was attributed
+to an Emperor who lived several thousand years before the treacherous and
+unpopular Tsing. The new matter of a no less frequently quoted portion ran:
+&lsquo;O nobly intentioned but nevertheless exceedingly morose Tung-shin, the
+object before you is your distinguished and evilly-disposed-of father&rsquo;s
+honourably-inspired demon,&rsquo; the change of a name effecting whatever
+alteration was necessary; while the delicately-imagined speech beginning
+&lsquo;The person who becomes amused at matters resulting from double-edged
+knives has assuredly never felt the effect of a well-directed blow
+himself&rsquo; was taken from the mouth of one person and placed in that of one
+of his remote ancestors. In such a manner, without in any great degree altering
+the matter of Lo Kuan&rsquo;s works, all the scenes and persons introduced were
+transferred to much earlier dynasties than those affected by the incomparable
+writer himself, the final effect being to give an air of extreme unoriginality
+to his really undoubtedly genuine conceptions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Satisfied with his accomplishment, and followed by a hired person of low
+class bearing the writings, which, by nature of the research necessary in
+fixing the various dates and places so that even the wary should be deceived,
+had occupied the greater part of a year, this now fully confident
+story-teller&mdash;unmindful of the well-tried excellence of the inspired
+saying, &lsquo;Money is hundred-footed; upon perceiving a tael lying apparently
+unobserved upon the floor, do not lose the time necessary in stooping, but
+quickly place your foot upon it, for one fails nothing in dignity thereby; but
+should it be a gold piece, distrust all things, and valuing dignity but as an
+empty name, cast your entire body upon it&rsquo;&mdash;went forth to complete
+his great task of finally erasing from the mind and records of the Empire the
+hitherto venerated name of Lo Kuan Chang. Entering the place of commerce of the
+one who seemed the most favourable for the purpose, he placed the facts as they
+would in future be represented before him, explained the undoubtedly
+remunerative fame that would ensue to all concerned in the enterprise of
+sending forth the printed books in their new form, and, opening at a venture
+the written leaves which he had brought with him, read out the following words
+as an indication of the similarity of the entire work:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;<i>Whai-Keng</i>. Friends, Chinamen, labourers who are engaged in
+agricultural pursuits, entrust to this person your acute and well-educated
+ears;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;He has merely come to assist in depositing the body of
+Ko&rsquo;ung in the Family Temple, not for the purpose of making remarks about
+him of a graceful and highly complimentary nature;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The unremunerative actions of which persons may have been guilty
+possess an exceedingly undesirable amount of endurance;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The successful and well-considered almost invariably are involved
+in a directly contrary course;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;This person desires nothing more than a like fate to await
+Ko&rsquo;ung.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When this one had read so far, he paused in order to give the other an
+opportunity of breaking in and offering half his possessions to be allowed to
+share in the undertaking. As he remained unaccountably silent, however, an
+inelegant pause occurred which this person at length broke by desiring an
+expressed opinion on the matter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;O exceedingly painstaking, but nevertheless highly inopportune
+Kai Lung,&rsquo; he replied at length, while in his countenance this person
+read an expression of no-encouragement towards his venture, &lsquo;all your
+entrancing efforts do undoubtedly appear to attract the undesirable attention
+of some spiteful and tyrannical demon. This closely-written and elaborately
+devised work is in reality not worth the labour of a single stroke, nor is
+there in all Peking a sender forth of printed leaves who would encourage any
+project connected with its issue.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;But the importance of such a fact as that which would clearly
+show the hitherto venerated Lo Kuan Chang to be a person who passed off as his
+own the work of an earlier one!&rsquo; cried this person in despair, well
+knowing that the deliberately expressed opinion of the one before him was a
+matter that would rule all others. &lsquo;Consider the interest of the
+discovery.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The interest would not demand more than a few lines in the
+ordinary printed leaves,&rsquo; replied the other calmly. &lsquo;Indeed, in a
+manner of speaking, it is entirely a detail of no consequence whether or not
+the sublime Lo Kuan ever existed. In reality his very commonplace name may have
+been simply Lung; his inspired work may have been written a score of dynasties
+before him by some other person, or they may have been composed by the
+enlightened Emperor of the period, who desired to conceal the fact, yet these
+matters would not for a moment engage the interest of any ordinary passer-by.
+Lo Kuan Chang is not a person in the ordinary expression; he is an embodiment
+of a distinguished and utterly unassailable national institution. The
+Heaven-sent works with which he is, by general consent, connected form the
+necessary unchangeable standard of literary excellence, and remain for ever
+above rivalry and above mistrust. For this reason the matter is plainly one
+which does not interest this person.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In the course of a not uneventful existence this self-deprecatory person
+has suffered many reverses and disappointments. During his youth the
+high-minded Empress on one occasion stopped and openly complimented him on the
+dignified outline presented by his body in profile, and when he was relying
+upon this incident to secure him a very remunerative public office, a jealous
+and powerful Mandarin substituted a somewhat similar, though really very much
+inferior, person for him at the interview which the Empress had commanded.
+Frequently in matters of commerce which have appeared to promise very
+satisfactorily at the beginning this person has been induced to entrust sums of
+money to others, when he had hoped from the indications and the manner of
+speaking that the exact contrary would be the case; and in one instance he was
+released at a vast price from the torture dungeon in Canton&mdash;where he had
+been thrown by the subtle and unconscientious plots of one who could not relate
+stories in so accurate and unvarying a manner as himself&mdash;on the day
+before that on which all persons were freely set at liberty on account of
+exceptional public rejoicing. Yet in spite of these and many other very
+unendurable incidents, this impetuous and ill-starred being never felt so great
+a desire to retire to a solitary place and there disfigure himself permanently
+as a mark of his unfeigned internal displeasure, as on the occasion when he
+endured extreme poverty and great personal inconvenience for an entire year in
+order that he might take away face from the memory of a person who was so
+placed that no one expressed any interest in the matter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Since then this very ill-clad and really necessitous person has devoted
+himself to the honourable but exceedingly arduous and in general unremunerative
+occupation of story-telling. To this he would add nothing save that not
+infrequently a nobly-born and highly-cultured audience is so entranced with his
+commonplace efforts to hold the attention, especially when a story not hitherto
+known has been related, that in order to afford it an opportunity of expressing
+its gratification, he has been requested to allow another offering to be made
+by all persons present at the conclusion of the entertainment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"></a>
+VI.<br />
+THE VENGEANCE OF TUNG FEL</h2>
+
+<p>
+For a period not to be measured by days or weeks the air of Ching-fow had been
+as unrestful as that of the locust plains beyond the Great Wall, for every
+speech which passed bore two faces, one fair to hear, as a greeting, but the
+other insidiously speaking behind a screen, of rebellion, violence, and the
+hope of overturning the fixed order of events. With those whom they did not
+mistrust of treachery persons spoke in low voices of definite plans, while at
+all times there might appear in prominent places of the city skilfully composed
+notices setting forth great wrongs and injustices towards which resignation and
+a lowly bearing were outwardly counselled, yet with the same words cunningly
+inflaming the minds, even of the patient, as no pouring out of passionate
+thoughts and undignified threatenings could have done. Among the people,
+unknown, unseen, and unsuspected, except to the proved ones to whom they
+desired to reveal themselves, moved the agents of the Three Societies. While to
+the many of Ching-fow nothing was desired or even thought of behind the
+downfall of their own officials, and, chief of all, the execution of the
+evil-minded and depraved Mandarin Ping Siang, whose cruelties and extortions
+had made his name an object of wide and deserved loathing, the agents only
+regarded the city as a bright spot in the line of blood and fire which they
+were fanning into life from Peking to Canton, and which would presumably burst
+forth and involve the entire Empire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Although it had of late become a plain fact, by reason of the manner of
+behaving of the people, that events of a sudden and turbulent nature could not
+long be restrained, yet outwardly there was no exhibition of violence, not even
+to the length of resisting those whom Ping Siang sent to enforce his unjust
+demands, chiefly because a well-founded whisper had been sent round that
+nothing was to be done until Tung Fel should arrive, which would not be until
+the seventh day in the month of Winged Dragons. To this all persons agreed, for
+the more aged among them, who, by virtue of their years, were also the formers
+of opinion in all matters, called up within their memories certain events
+connected with the two persons in question which appeared to give to Tung Fel
+the privilege of expressing himself clearly when the matter of finally dealing
+with the malicious and self-willed Mandarin should be engaged upon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Among the mountains which enclose Ching-fow on the southern side dwelt a
+jade-seeker, who also kept goats. Although a young man and entirely without
+relations, he had, by patient industry, contrived to collect together a large
+flock of the best-formed and most prolific goats to be found in the
+neighbourhood, all the money which he received in exchange for jade being
+quickly bartered again for the finest animals which he could obtain. He was
+dauntless in penetrating to the most inaccessible parts of the mountains in
+search of the stone, unfailing in his skilful care of the flock, in which he
+took much honourable pride, and on all occasions discreet and unassumingly
+restrained in his discourse and manner of life. Knowing this to be his
+invariable practice, it was with emotions of an agreeable curiosity that on the
+seventh day of the month of Winged Dragons those persons who were passing from
+place to place in the city beheld this young man, Yang Hu, descending the
+mountain path with unmistakable signs of profound agitation, and an entire
+absence of prudent care. Following him closely to the inner square of the city,
+on the continually expressed plea that they themselves had business in that
+quarter, these persons observed Yang Hu take up a position of unendurable
+dejection as he gazed reproachfully at the figure of the all-knowing Buddha
+which surmounted the Temple where it was his custom to sacrifice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; he exclaimed, lifting up his voice, when it became plain
+that a large number of people was assembled awaiting his words, &ldquo;to what
+end does a person strive in this excessively evilly-regulated district? Or is
+it that this obscure and ill-destined one alone is marked out as with a deep
+white cross for humiliation and ruin? Father, and Sacred Temple of Ancestral
+Virtues, wherein the meanest can repose their trust, he has none; while now,
+being more destitute than the beggar at the gate, the hope of honourable
+marriage and a robust family of sons is more remote than the chance of finding
+the miracle-working Crystal Image which marks the last footstep of the Pure
+One. Yesterday this person possessed no secret store of silver or gold, nor had
+he knowledge of any special amount of jade hidden among the mountains, but to
+his call there responded four score goats, the most select and majestic to be
+found in all the Province, of which, nevertheless, it was his yearly custom to
+sacrifice one, as those here can testify, and to offer another as a duty to the
+Yamen of Ping Siang, in neither case opening his eyes widely when the hour for
+selecting arrived. Yet in what an unseemly manner is his respectful piety and
+courteous loyalty rewarded! To-day, before this person went forth on his usual
+quest, there came those bearing written papers by which they claimed, on the
+authority of Ping Siang, the whole of this person&rsquo;s flock, as a
+punishment and fine for his not contributing without warning to the Celebration
+of Kissing the Emperor&rsquo;s Face&mdash;the very obligation of such a matter
+being entirely unknown to him. Nevertheless, those who came drove off this
+person&rsquo;s entire wealth, the desperately won increase of a life full of
+great toil and uncomplainingly endured hardship, leaving him only his cave in
+the rocks, which even the most grasping of many-handed Mandarins cannot remove,
+his cloak of skins, which no beggar would gratefully receive, and a bright and
+increasing light of deep hate scorching within his mind which nothing but the
+blood of the obdurate extortioner can efficiently quench. No protection of
+charms or heavily-mailed bowmen shall avail him, for in his craving for just
+revenge this person will meet witchcraft with a Heaven-sent cause and oppose an
+unsleeping subtlety against strength. Therefore let not the innocent suffer
+through an insufficient understanding, O Divine One, but direct the hand of
+your faithful worshipper towards the heart that is proud in tyranny, and holds
+as empty words the clearly defined promise of an all-seeing justice.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Scarcely had Yang Hu made an end of speaking before there happened an event
+which could be regarded in no other light than as a direct answer to his
+plainly expressed request for a definite sign. Upon the clear air, which had
+become unnaturally still at Yang Hu&rsquo;s words, as though to remove any
+chance of doubt that this indeed was the requested answer, came the loud
+beating of many very powerful brass gongs, indicating the approach of some
+person of undoubted importance. In a very brief period the procession reached
+the square, the gong-beaters being followed by persons carrying banners, bowmen
+in armour, others bearing various weapons and instruments of torture, slaves
+displaying innumerable changes of raiment to prove the rank and consequence of
+their master, umbrella carriers and fan wavers, and finally, preceded by
+incense burners and surrounded by servants who cleared away all obstructions by
+means of their formidable and heavily knotted lashes, the unworthy and
+deceitful Mandarin Ping Siang, who sat in a silk-hung and elaborately wrought
+chair, looking from side to side with gestures and expressions of contempt and
+ill-restrained cupidity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the sign of this powerful but unscrupulous person all those who were present
+fell upon their faces, leaving a broad space in their midst, except Yang Hu,
+who stepped back into the shadow of a doorway, being resolved that he would not
+prostrate himself before one whom Heaven had pointed out as the proper object
+of his just vengeance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the chair of Ping Siang could no longer be observed in the distance, and
+the sound of his many gongs had died away, all the persons who had knelt at his
+approach rose to their feet, meeting each other&rsquo;s eyes with glances of
+assured and profound significance. At length there stepped forth an exceedingly
+aged man, who was generally believed to have the power of reading omens and
+forecasting futures, so that at his upraised hand all persons became silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold!&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;none can turn aside in doubt from
+the deliberately pointed finger of Buddha. Henceforth, in spite of the
+well-intentioned suggestions of those who would shield him under the plea of
+exacting orders from high ones at Peking or extortions practised by slaves
+under him of which he is ignorant, there can no longer be any two voices
+concerning the guilty one. Yet what does the knowledge of the cormorant&rsquo;s
+cry avail the golden carp in the shallow waters of the Yuen-Kiang? A prickly
+mormosa is an adequate protection against a naked man armed only with a just
+cause, and a company of bowmen has been known to quench an entire city&rsquo;s
+Heaven-felt desire for retribution. This person, and doubtless others also,
+would have experienced a more heartfelt enthusiasm in the matter if the sublime
+and omnipotent Buddha had gone a step further, and pointed out not only the one
+to be punished, but also the instrument by which the destiny could be prudently
+and effectively accomplished.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the mountain path which led to Yang Hu&rsquo;s cave came a voice, like an
+expressly devised reply to this speech. It was that of some person uttering the
+&ldquo;Chant of Rewards and Penalties&rdquo;:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;How strong is the mountain sycamore!<br/>
+    &ldquo;Its branches reach the Middle Air, and the eye of none can pierce
+its foliage;<br/>
+    &ldquo;It draws power and nourishment from all around, so that weeds alone
+may flourish under its shadow.<br/>
+    &ldquo;Robbers find safety within the hollow of its trunk; its branches
+hide vampires and all manner of evil things which prey upon the innocent;<br/>
+    &ldquo;The wild boar of the forest sharpen their tusks against the bark,
+for it is harder than flint, and the axe of the woodsman turns back upon the
+striker.<br/>
+    &ldquo;Then cries the sycamore, &lsquo;Hail and rain have no power against
+me, nor can the fiercest sun penetrate beyond my outside fringe;<br/>
+    &ldquo;&lsquo;The man who impiously raises his hand against me falls by his
+own stroke and weapon.<br/>
+    &ldquo;&lsquo;Can there be a greater or a more powerful than this one?
+Assuredly, <i>I</i> am Buddha; let all things obey me.&rsquo;<br/>
+    &ldquo;Whereupon the weeds bow their heads, whispering among themselves,
+&lsquo;The voice of the Tall One we hear, but not that of Buddha. Indeed, it is
+doubtless as he says.&rsquo;<br/>
+    &ldquo;In his musk-scented Heaven Buddha laughs, and not deigning to raise
+his head from the lap of the Phœnix Goddess, he thrusts forth a stone which
+lies by his foot.<br/>
+    &ldquo;Saying, &lsquo;A god&rsquo;s present for a god. Take it carefully, O
+presumptuous Little One, for it is hot to the touch.&rsquo;<br/>
+    &ldquo;The thunderbolt falls and the mighty tree is rent in twain.
+&lsquo;They asked for my messenger,&rsquo; said the Pure One, turning again to
+repose.<br/>
+    &ldquo;<i>Lo, he comes</i>!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With the last spoken word there came into the sight of those who were collected
+together a person of stern yet engaging appearance. His hands and face were the
+colour of mulberry stain by long exposure to the sun, while his eyes looked
+forth like two watch-fires outside a wolf-haunted camp. His long pigtail was
+tangled with the binding tendrils of the forest, and damp with the dew of an
+open couch. His apparel was in no way striking or brilliant, yet he strode with
+the dignity and air of a high official, pushing before him a covered box upon
+wheels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is Tung Fel!&rdquo; cried many who stood there watching his approach,
+in tones which showed those who spoke to be inspired by a variety of impressive
+emotions. &ldquo;Undoubtedly this is the seventh day of the month of Winged
+Dragons, and, as he specifically stated would be the case, lo! he has
+come.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Few were the words of greeting which Tung Fel accorded even to the most
+venerable of those who awaited him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This person has slept, partaken of fruit and herbs, and devoted an
+allotted time to inward contemplation,&rdquo; he said briefly. &ldquo;Other and
+more weighty matters than the exchange of dignified compliments and the
+admiration of each other&rsquo;s profiles remain to be accomplished. What, for
+example, is the significance of the written parchment which is displayed in so
+obtrusive a manner before our eyes? Bring it to this person without
+delay.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words all those present followed Tung Fel&rsquo;s gaze with
+astonishment, for conspicuously displayed upon the wall of the Temple was a
+written notice which all joined in asserting had not been there the moment
+before, though no man had approached the spot. Nevertheless it was quickly
+brought to Tung Fel, who took it without any fear or hesitation and read aloud
+the words which it contained.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;TO THE CUSTOM-RESPECTING PERSONS OF CHING-FOW.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Truly the span of existence of any upon this earth is brief and not to
+be considered; therefore, O unfortunate dwellers of Ching-fow, let it not
+affect your digestion that your bodies are in peril of sudden and most
+excruciating tortures and your Family Temples in danger of humiliating
+disregard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do your thoughts follow the actions of the noble Mandarin Ping Siang
+so insidiously, and why after each unjust exaction do your eyes look redly
+towards the Yamen?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is he not the little finger of those at Peking, obeying their commands
+and only carrying out the taxation which others have devised? Indeed, he
+himself has stated such to be the fact. If, therefore, a terrible and
+unforeseen fate overtook the usually cautious and well-armed Ping Siang,
+doubtless&mdash;perhaps after the lapse of some considerable time&mdash;another
+would be sent from Peking for a like purpose, and in this way, after a
+too-brief period of heaven-sent rest and prosperity, affairs would regulate
+themselves into almost as unendurable a condition as before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Therefore ponder these things well, O passer-by. Yesterday the only
+man-child of Huang the wood-carver was taken away to be sold into slavery by
+the emissaries of the most just Ping Siang (who would not have acted thus, we
+are assured, were it not for the insatiable ones at Peking), as it had become
+plain that the very necessitous Huang had no other possession to contribute to
+the amount to be expended in coloured lights as a mark of public rejoicing on
+the occasion of the moonday of the sublime Emperor. The illiterate and
+prosaic-minded Huang, having in a most unseemly manner reviled and even
+assailed those who acted in the matter, has been effectively disposed of, and
+his wife now alternately laughs and shrieks in the Establishment of Irregular
+Intellects.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For this reason, gazer, and because the matter touches you more closely
+than, in your self-imagined security, you are prone to think, deal expediently
+with the time at your disposal. Look twice and lingeringly to-night upon the
+face of your first-born, and clasp the form of your favourite one in a closer
+embrace, for he by whose hand the blow is directed may already have cast
+devouring eyes upon their fairness, and to-morrow he may say to his armed men:
+&lsquo;The time is come; bring her to me.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From the last sentence of the well-intentioned and undoubtedly
+moderately-framed notice this person will take two phrases,&rdquo; remarked
+Tung Fel, folding the written paper and placing it among his garments,
+&ldquo;which shall serve him as the title of the lifelike and
+accurately-represented play which it is his self-conceited intention now to
+disclose to this select and unprejudiced gathering. The scene represents an
+enlightened and well-merited justice overtaking an arrogant and intolerable
+being who&mdash;need this person add?&mdash;existed many dynasties ago, and the
+title is:
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;THE TIME IS COME!<br />
+BY WHOSE HAND?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Delivering himself in this manner, Tung Fel drew back the hanging drapery which
+concealed the front of his large box, and disclosed to those who were gathered
+round, not, as they had expected, a passage from the Record of the Three
+Kingdoms, or some other dramatic work of undoubted merit, but an ingeniously
+constructed representation of a scene outside the walls of their own Ching-fow.
+On one side was a small but minutely accurate copy of a wood-burner&rsquo;s
+hut, which was known to all present, while behind stood out the distant but
+nevertheless unmistakable walls of the city. But it was the nearest part of the
+spectacle that first held the attention of the entranced beholders, for there
+disported themselves, in every variety of guileless and attractive attitude, a
+number of young and entirely unconcerned doves. Scarcely had the delighted
+onlookers fully observed the pleasing and effective scene, or uttered their
+expressions of polished satisfaction at the graceful and unassuming behaviour
+of the pretty creatures before them, than the view entirely changed, and, as if
+by magic, the massive and inelegant building of Ping Siang&rsquo;s Yamen was
+presented before them. As all gazed, astonished, the great door of the Yamen
+opened stealthily, and without a moment&rsquo;s pause a lean and
+ill-conditioned rat, of unnatural size and rapacity, dashed out and seized the
+most select and engaging of the unsuspecting prey in its hungry jaws. With the
+expiring cry of the innocent victim the entire box was immediately, and in the
+most unexpected manner, involved in a profound darkness, which cleared away as
+suddenly and revealed the forms of the despoiler and the victim lying dead by
+each other&rsquo;s side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tung Fel came forward to receive the well-selected compliments of all who had
+witnessed the entertainment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may be objected,&rdquo; he remarked, &ldquo;that the play is, in a
+manner of expressing one&rsquo;s self, incomplete; for it is unrevealed by
+whose hand the act of justice was accomplished. Yet in this detail is the
+accuracy of the representation justified, for though the time has come, the
+hand by which retribution is accorded shall never be observed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In such a manner did Tung Fel come to Ching-fow on the seventh day of the month
+of Winged Dragons, throwing aside all restraint, and no longer urging prudence
+or delay. Of all the throng which stood before him scarcely one was without a
+deep offence against Ping Siang, while those who had not as yet suffered feared
+what the morrow might display.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A wandering monk from the Island of Irredeemable Plagues was the first to step
+forth in response to Tung Fel&rsquo;s plainly understood suggestion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is no necessity for this person to undertake further acts of
+benevolence,&rdquo; he remarked, dropping the cloak from his shoulder and
+displaying the hundred and eight scars of extreme virtue; &ldquo;nor,&rdquo; he
+continued, holding up his left hand, from which three fingers were burnt away,
+&ldquo;have greater endurances been neglected. Yet the matter before this
+distinguished gathering is one which merits the favourable consideration of all
+persons, and this one will in no manner turn away, recounting former actions,
+while he allows others to press forward towards the accomplishment of the just
+and divinely-inspired act.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With these words the devout and unassuming person in question inscribed his
+name upon a square piece of rice-paper, attesting his sincerity to the fixed
+purpose for which it was designed by dipping his thumb into the mixed blood of
+the slain animals and impressing this unalterable seal upon the paper also. He
+was followed by a seller of drugs and subtle medicines, whose entire stock had
+been seized and destroyed by order of Ping Siang, so that no one in Ching-fow
+might obtain poison for his destruction. Then came an overwhelming stream of
+persons, all of whom had received some severe and well-remembered injury at the
+hands of the malicious and vindictive Mandarin. All these followed a similar
+observance, inscribing their names and binding themselves by the Blood Oath.
+Last of all Yang Hu stepped up, partly from a natural modesty which restrained
+him from offering himself when so many more versatile persons of proved
+excellence were willing to engage in the matter, and partly because an
+ill-advised conflict was taking place within his mind as to whether the extreme
+course which was contemplated was the most expedient to pursue. At last,
+however, he plainly perceived that he could not honourably withhold himself
+from an affair that was in a measure the direct outcome of his own unendurable
+loss, so that without further hesitation he added his obscure name to the many
+illustrious ones already in Tung Fel&rsquo;s keeping.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When at length dark fell upon the city and the cries of the watchmen, warning
+all prudent ones to bar well their doors against robbers, as they themselves
+were withdrawing until the morrow, no longer rang through the narrow ways of
+Ching-fow, all those persons who had pledged themselves by name and seal went
+forth silently, and came together at the place whereof Tung Fel had secretly
+conveyed them knowledge. There Tung Fel, standing somewhat apart, placed all
+the folded papers in the form of a circle, and having performed over them
+certain observances designed to insure a just decision and to keep away evil
+influences, submitted the selection to the discriminating choice of the Sacred
+Flat and Round Sticks. Having in this manner secured the name of the appointed
+person who should carry out the act of justice and retribution, Tung Fel
+unfolded the paper, inscribed certain words upon it, and replaced it among the
+others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The moment before great deeds,&rdquo; began Tung Fel, stepping forward
+and addressing himself to the expectant ones who were gathered round, &ldquo;is
+not the time for light speech, nor, indeed, for sentences of dignified length,
+no matter how pleasantly turned to the ear they may be. Before this person
+stand many who are undoubtedly illustrious in various arts and virtues, yet one
+among them is pre-eminently marked out for distinction in that his name shall
+be handed down in imperishable history as that of a patriot of a pure-minded
+and uncompromising degree. With him there is no need of further speech, and to
+this end I have inscribed certain words upon his namepaper. To everyone this
+person will now return the paper which has been entrusted to him, folded so
+that the nature of its contents shall be an unwritten leaf to all others. Nor
+shall the papers be unfolded by any until he is within his own chamber, with
+barred doors, where all, save the one who shall find the message, shall remain,
+not venturing forth until daybreak. I, Tung Fel, have spoken, and assuredly I
+shall not eat my word, which is that a certain and most degrading death awaits
+any who transgress these commands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was with the short and sudden breath of the cowering antelope when the
+stealthy tread of the pitiless tiger approaches its lair, that Yang Hu opened
+his paper in the seclusion of his own cave; for his mind was darkened with an
+inspired inside emotion that he, the one doubting among the eagerly proffering
+and destructively inclined multitude, would be chosen to accomplish the high
+aim for which, indeed, he felt exceptionally unworthy. The written sentence
+which he perceived immediately upon unfolding the paper, instructing him to
+appear again before Tung Fel at the hour of midnight, was, therefore, nothing
+but the echo and fulfilment of his own thoughts, and served in reality to
+impress his mind with calmer feelings of dignified unconcern than would have
+been the case had he not been chosen. Having neither possessions nor relations,
+the occupation of disposing of his goods and making ceremonious and
+affectionate leavetakings of his family, against the occurrence of any
+unforeseen disaster, engrossed no portion of Yang Hu&rsquo;s time. Yet there
+was one matter to which no reference has yet been made, but which now forces
+itself obtrusively upon the attention, which was in a large measure responsible
+for many of the most prominent actions of Yang Hu&rsquo;s life, and, indeed, in
+no small degree influenced his hesitation in offering himself before Tung Fel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not a bowshot distance from the place where the mountain path entered the
+outskirts of the city lived Hiya-ai-Shao with her parents, who were persons of
+assured position, though of no particular wealth. For a period not confined to
+a single year it had been the custom of Yang Hu to offer to this elegant and
+refined maiden all the rarest pieces of jade which he could discover, while the
+most symmetrical and remunerative she-goat in his flock enjoyed the honourable
+distinction of bearing her incomparable name. Towards the almond garden of
+Hiya&rsquo;s abode Yang Hu turned his footsteps upon leaving his cave, and
+standing there, concealed from all sides by the white and abundant flower-laden
+foliage, he uttered a sound which had long been an agreed signal between them.
+Presently a faint perfume of choo-lan spoke of her near approach, and without
+delay Hiya herself stood by his side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well-endowed one,&rdquo; said Yang Hu, when at length they had gazed
+upon each other&rsquo;s features and made renewals of their protestations of
+mutual regard, &ldquo;the fixed intentions of a person have often been fitly
+likened to the seed of the tree-peony, so ineffectual are their efforts among
+the winds of constantly changing circumstance. The definite hope of this person
+had long pointed towards a small but adequate habitation, surrounded by
+sweet-smelling olive-trees and not far distant from the jade cliffs and
+pastures which would afford a sufficient remuneration and a means of living.
+This entrancing picture has been blotted out for the time, and in its place
+this person finds himself face to face with an arduous and dangerous
+undertaking, followed, perhaps, by hasty and immediate flight. Yet if the
+adorable Hiya will prove the unchanging depths of her constantly expressed
+intention by accompanying him as far as the village of Hing where suitable
+marriage ceremonies can be observed without delay, the exile will in reality be
+in the nature of a triumphal procession, and the emotions with which this
+person has hitherto regarded the entire circumstance will undergo a complete
+and highly accomplished change.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Yang!&rdquo; exclaimed the maiden, whose feelings at hearing these
+words were in no way different from those of her lover when he was on the point
+of opening the folded paper upon which Tung Fel had written; &ldquo;what is the
+nature of the mission upon which you are so impetuously resolved? and why will
+it be followed by flight?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The nature of the undertaking cannot be revealed by reason of a
+deliberately taken oath,&rdquo; replied Yang Hu; &ldquo;and the reason of its
+possible consequence is a less important question to the two persons who are
+here conversing together than of whether the amiable and graceful Hiya is
+willing to carry out her often-expressed desire for an opportunity of
+displaying the true depths of her emotions towards this one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; said Hiya, &ldquo;the sentiments which this person
+expressed with irreproachable honourableness when the sun was high in the
+heavens and the probability of secretly leaving an undoubtedly well-appointed
+home was engagingly remote, seem to have an entirely different significance
+when recalled by night in a damp orchard, and on the eve of their fulfilment.
+To deceive one&rsquo;s parents is an ignoble prospect; furthermore, it is often
+an exceedingly difficult undertaking. Let the matter be arranged in this way:
+that Yang leaves the ultimate details of the scheme to Hiya&rsquo;s expedient
+care, he proceeding without delay to Hing, or, even more desirable, to the
+further town of Liyunnan, and there awaiting her coming. By such means the risk
+of discovery and pursuit will be lessened, Yang will be able to set forth on
+his journey with greater speed, and this one will have an opportunity of
+getting together certain articles without which, indeed, she would be very
+inadequately equipped.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In spite of his conscientious desire that Hiya should be by his side on the
+journey, together with an unendurable certainty that evil would arise from the
+course she proposed, Yang was compelled by an innate feeling of respect to
+agree to her wishes, and in this manner the arrangement was definitely
+concluded. Thereupon Hiya, without delay, returned to the dwelling, remarking
+that otherwise her absence might be detected and the entire circumstance
+thereby discovered, leaving Yang Hu to continue his journey and again present
+himself before Tung Fel, as he had been instructed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tung Fel was engaged with brush and ink when Yang Hu entered. Round him were
+many written parchments, some venerable with age, and a variety of other
+matters, among which might be clearly perceived weapons, and devices for
+reading the future. He greeted Yang with many tokens of dignified respect, and
+with an evidently restrained emotion led him towards the light of a hanging
+lantern, where he gazed into his face for a considerable period with every
+indication of exceptional concern.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yang Hu,&rdquo; he said at length, &ldquo;at such a moment many dark and
+searching thoughts may naturally arise in the mind concerning objects and
+reasons, omens, and the moving cycle of events. Yet in all these, out of a
+wisdom gained by deep endurance and a hardly-won experience beyond the common
+lot, this person would say, Be content. The hand of destiny, though it may at
+times appear to move in a devious manner, is ever approaching its appointed
+aim. To this end were you chosen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The choice was openly made by wise and proficient omens,&rdquo; replied
+Yang Hu, without any display of uncertainty of purpose, &ldquo;and this person
+is content.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tung Fel then administered to Yang the Oath of Buddha&rsquo;s Face and the One
+called the Unutterable (which may not be further described in written words)
+thereby binding his body and soul, and the souls and repose of all who had gone
+before him in direct line and all who should in a like manner follow after, to
+the accomplishment of the design. All spoken matter being thus complete between
+them, he gave him a mask with which he should pass unknown through the streets
+and into the presence of Ping Siang, a variety of weapons to use as the
+occasion arose, and a sign by which the attendants at the Yamen would admit him
+without further questioning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Yang Hu passed through the streets of Ching-fow, which were in a great
+measure deserted owing to the command of Tung Fel, he was aware of many
+mournful and foreboding sounds which accompanied him on all sides, while
+shadowy faces, bearing signs of intolerable anguish and despair, continually
+formed themselves out of the wind. By the time he reached the Yamen a tempest
+of exceptional violence was in progress, nor were other omens absent which
+tended to indicate that matters of a very unpropitious nature were about to
+take place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At each successive door of the Yamen the attendant stepped back and covered his
+face, so that he should by no chance perceive who had come upon so destructive
+a mission, the instant Yang Hu uttered the sign with which Tung Fel had
+provided him. In this manner Yang quickly reached the door of the inner chamber
+upon which was inscribed: &ldquo;Let the person who comes with a doubtful
+countenance, unbidden, or meditating treachery, remember the curse and manner
+of death which attended Lai Kuen, who slew the one over him; so shall he turn
+and go forth in safety.&rdquo; This unworthy safeguard at the hands of a person
+who passed his entire life in altering the fixed nature of justice, and who
+never went beyond his outer gate without an armed company of bowmen, inspired
+Yang Hu with so incautious a contempt, that without any hesitation he drew
+forth his brush and ink, and in a spirit of bitter signification added the
+words, &ldquo;&lsquo;Come, let us eat together,&rsquo; said the wolf to the
+she-goat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Being now within a step of Ping Siang and the completion of his undertaking,
+Yang Hu drew tighter the cords of his mask, tested and proved his weapons, and
+then, without further delay, threw open the door before him and stepped into
+the chamber, barring the door quickly so that no person might leave or enter
+without his consent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this interruption and manner of behaving, which clearly indicated the nature
+of the errand upon which the person before him had come, Ping Siang rose from
+his couch and stretched out his hand towards a gong which lay beside him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All summonses for aid are now unavailing, Ping Siang,&rdquo; exclaimed
+Yang, without in any measure using delicate or set phrases of speech;
+&ldquo;for, as you have doubtless informed yourself, the slaves of tyrants are
+the first to welcome the downfall of their lord.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The matter of your speech is as emptiness to this person,&rdquo; replied
+the Mandarin, affecting with extreme difficulty an appearance of no-concern.
+&ldquo;In what manner has he fallen? And how will the depraved and self-willed
+person before him avoid the well-deserved tortures which certainly await him in
+the public square on the morrow, as the reward of his intolerable
+presumptions?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Mandarin,&rdquo; cried Yang Hu, &ldquo;the fitness and occasion for
+such speeches as the one to which you have just given utterance lie as far
+behind you as the smoke of yesterday&rsquo;s sacrifice. With what manner of
+eyes have you frequently journeyed through Ching-fow of late, if the signs and
+omens there have not already warned you to prepare a coffin adequately designed
+to receive your well-proportioned body? Has not the pungent vapour of burning
+houses assailed your senses at every turn, or the salt tears from the eyes of
+forlorn ones dashed your peach-tea and spiced foods with bitterness?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; exclaimed Ping Siang, &ldquo;this person now certainly
+begins to perceive that many things which he has unthinkingly allowed would
+present a very unendurable face to others.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In such a manner has it appeared to all Ching-fow,&rdquo; said Yang Hu;
+&ldquo;and the justice of your death has been universally admitted. Even should
+this one fail there would be an innumerable company eager to take his place.
+Therefore, O Ping Siang, as the only favour which it is within this
+person&rsquo;s power to accord, select that which in your opinion is the most
+agreeable manner and weapon for your end.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is truly said that at the Final Gate of the Two Ways the necessity
+for elegant and well-chosen sentences ends,&rdquo; remarked Ping Siang with a
+sigh, &ldquo;otherwise the manner of your address would be open to reproach. By
+your side this person perceives a long and apparently highly-tempered sword,
+which, in his opinion, will serve the purpose efficiently. Having no remarks of
+an improving but nevertheless exceedingly tedious nature with which to imprint
+the occasion for the benefit of those who come after, his only request is that
+the blow shall be an unhesitating and sufficiently well-directed one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At these words Yang Hu threw back his cloak to grasp the sword-handle, when the
+Mandarin, with his eyes fixed on the naked arm, and evidently inspired by every
+manner of conflicting emotions, uttered a cry of unspeakable wonder and
+incomparable surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Serpent!&rdquo; he cried, in a voice from which all evenness and
+control were absent. &ldquo;The Sacred Serpent of our Race! O mysterious one,
+who and whence are you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Engulfed in an all-absorbing doubt at the nature of events, Yang could only
+gaze at the form of the serpent which had been clearly impressed upon his arm
+from the earliest time of his remembrance, while Ping Siang, tearing the silk
+garment from his own arm and displaying thereon a similar form, continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold the inevitable and unvarying birthmark of our race! So it was
+with this person&rsquo;s father and the ones before him; so it was with his
+treacherously-stolen son; so it will be to the end of all time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Trembling beyond all power of restraint, Yang removed the mask which had
+hitherto concealed his face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Father or race has this person none,&rdquo; he said, looking into Ping
+Siang&rsquo;s features with an all-engaging hope, tempered in a measure by a
+soul-benumbing dread; &ldquo;nor memory or tradition of an earlier state than
+when he herded goats and sought for jade in the southern mountains.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; exclaimed the Mandarin, whose countenance was
+lightened with an interest and a benevolent emotion which had never been seen
+there before, &ldquo;beyond all possibility of doubting, you are this
+person&rsquo;s lost and greatly-desired son, stolen away many years ago by the
+treacherous conduct of an unworthy woman, yet now happily and miraculously
+restored to cherish his declining years and perpetuate an honourable name and
+race.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Happily!&rdquo; exclaimed Yang, with fervent indications of
+uncontrollable bitterness. &ldquo;Oh, my illustrious sire, at whose venerated
+feet this unworthy person now prostrates himself with well-merited marks of
+reverence and self-abasement, has the errand upon which an ignoble son
+entered&mdash;the every memory of which now causes him the acutest agony of the
+lost, but which nevertheless he is pledged to Tung Fel by the Unutterable Oath
+to perform&mdash;has this unnatural and eternally cursed thing escaped your
+versatile mind?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tung Fel!&rdquo; cried Ping Siang. &ldquo;Is, then, this blow also by
+the hand of that malicious and vindictive person? Oh, what a cycle of events
+and interchanging lines of destiny do your words disclose!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who, then, is Tung Fel, my revered Father?&rdquo; demanded Yang.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a matter which must be made clear from the beginning,&rdquo;
+replied Ping Siang. &ldquo;At one time this person and Tung Fel were, by nature
+and endowments, united in the most amiable bonds of an inseparable friendship.
+Presently Tung Fel signed the preliminary contract of a marriage with one who
+seemed to be endowed with every variety of enchanting and virtuous grace, but
+who was, nevertheless, as the unrolling of future events irresistibly
+discovered, a person of irregular character and undignified habits. On the eve
+of the marriage ceremony this person was made known to her by the undoubtedly
+enraptured Tung Fel, whereupon he too fell into the snare of her engaging
+personality, and putting aside all thoughts of prudent restraint, made her more
+remunerative offers of marriage than Tung Fel could by any possible chance
+overbid. In such a manner&mdash;for after the nature of her kind riches were
+exceptionally attractive to her degraded imagination&mdash;she became this
+person&rsquo;s wife, and the mother of his only son. In spite of these great
+honours, however, the undoubted perversity of her nature made her an easy
+accomplice to the duplicity of Tung Fel, who, by means of various disguises,
+found frequent opportunity of uttering in her presence numerous
+well-thought-out suggestions specially designed to lead her imagination towards
+an existence in which this person had no adequate representation. Becoming at
+length terrified at the possibility of these unworthy emotions, obtruding
+themselves upon this person&rsquo;s notice, the two in question fled together,
+taking with them the one who without any doubt is now before me. Despite the
+most assiduous search and very tempting and profitable offers of reward, no
+information of a reliable nature could be obtained, and at length this
+dispirited and completely changed person gave up the pursuit as unavailing.
+With his son and heir, upon whose future he had greatly hoped, all emotions of
+a generous and high-minded nature left him, and in a very short space of time
+he became the avaricious and deservedly unpopular individual against whose
+extortions the amiable and long-suffering ones of Ching-fow have for so many
+years protested mildly. The sudden and not altogether unexpected fate which is
+now on the point of reaching him is altogether too lenient to be entirely
+adequate.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, my distinguished and really immaculate sire!&rdquo; cried Yang Hu,
+in a voice which expressed the deepest feelings of contrition. &ldquo;No oaths
+or vows, however sacred, can induce this person to stretch forth his hand
+against the one who stands before him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; replied Ping Siang, speaking of the matter as
+though it were one which did not closely concern his own existence, &ldquo;to
+neglect the Unutterable Oath would inevitably involve not only the two persons
+who are now conversing together, but also those before and those who are to
+come after in direct line, in a much worse condition of affairs. That is a fate
+which this person would by no means permit to exist, for one of his chief
+desires has ever been to establish a strong and vigorous line, to which end,
+indeed, he was even now concluding a marriage arrangement with the beautiful
+and refined Hiya-ai-Shao, whom he had at length persuaded into accepting his
+betrothal tokens without reluctance.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hiya-ai-Shao!&rdquo; exclaimed Yang; &ldquo;she has accepted your
+silk-bound gifts?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The matter need not concern us now,&rdquo; replied the Mandarin, not
+observing in his complicated emotions the manner in which the name of Hiya had
+affected Yang, revealing as it undoubtedly did the treachery of his beloved
+one. &ldquo;There only appears to be one honourable way in which the full
+circumstances can be arranged, and this person will in no measure endeavour to
+avoid it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such an end is neither ignoble nor painful,&rdquo; he said, in an
+unchanging voice; &ldquo;nor will this one in any way shrink from so easy and
+honourable a solution.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The affairs of the future do not exhibit themselves in delicately
+coloured hues to this person,&rdquo; said Yang Hu; &ldquo;and he would, if the
+thing could be so arranged, cheerfully submit to a similar fate in order that a
+longer period of existence should be assured to one who has every variety of
+claim upon his affection.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The proposal is a graceful and conscientious one,&rdquo; said Ping
+Siang, &ldquo;and is, moreover, a gratifying omen of the future of our race,
+which must of necessity be left in your hands. But, for that reason itself,
+such a course cannot be pursued. Nevertheless, the events of the past few hours
+have been of so exceedingly prosperous and agreeable a nature that this
+short-sighted and frequently desponding person can now pass beyond with a
+tranquil countenance and every assurance of divine favour.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With these words Ping Siang indicated that he was desirous of setting forth the
+Final Expression, and arranging the necessary matters upon the table beside
+him, he stretched forth his hands over Yang Hu, who placed himself in a
+suitable attitude of reverence and abasement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yang Hu,&rdquo; began the Mandarin, &ldquo;undoubted son, and, after the
+accomplishment of the intention which it is our fixed purpose to carry out,
+fitting representative of the person who is here before you, engrave well
+within your mind the various details upon which he now gives utterance. Regard
+the virtues; endeavour to pass an amiable and at the same time not
+unremunerative existence; and on all occasions sacrifice freely, to the end
+that the torments of those who have gone before may be made lighter, and that
+others may be induced in turn to perform a like benevolent charity for
+yourself. Having expressed himself upon these general subjects, this person now
+makes a last and respectfully-considered desire, which it is his deliberate
+wish should be carried to the proper deities as his final expression of
+opinion: That Yang Hu may grow as supple as the dried juice of the
+bending-palm, and as straight as the most vigorous bamboo from the forests of
+the North. That he may increase beyond the prolificness of the white-necked
+crow and cover the ground after the fashion of the binding grass. That in
+battle his sword may be as a vividly-coloured and many-forked lightning flash,
+accompanied by thunderbolts as irresistible as Buddha&rsquo;s divine wrath; in
+peace his voice as resounding as the rolling of many powerful drums among the
+Khingan Mountains. That when the kindled fire of his existence returns to the
+great Mountain of Pure Flame the earth shall accept again its component parts,
+and in no way restrain the divine essence from journeying to its destined
+happiness. These words are Ping Siang&rsquo;s last expression of opinion before
+he passes beyond, given in the unvarying assurance that so sacred and important
+a petition will in no way be neglected.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having in this manner completed all the affairs which seemed to be of a
+necessary and urgent nature, and fixing his last glance upon Yang Hu with every
+variety of affectionate and estimable emotion, the Mandarin drank a sufficient
+quantity of the liquid, and placing himself upon a couch in an attitude of
+repose, passed in this dignified and unassuming manner into the Upper Air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the space of a few moments spent in arranging certain objects and in
+inward contemplation, Yang Hu crossed the chamber, still holding the
+half-filled vessel of gold-leaf in his hand, and drawing back the hanging silk,
+gazed over the silent streets of Ching-fow and towards the great sky-lantern
+above.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hiya is faithless,&rdquo; he said at length in an unspeaking voice;
+&ldquo;this person&rsquo;s mother a bitter-tasting memory, his father a swiftly
+passing shadow that is now for ever lost.&rdquo; His eyes rested upon the
+closed vessel in his hand. &ldquo;Gladly would&mdash;&rdquo; his thoughts
+began, but with this unworthy image a new impression formed itself within his
+mind. &ldquo;A clearly-expressed wish was uttered,&rdquo; he concluded,
+&ldquo;and Tung Fel still remains.&rdquo; With this resolution he stepped back
+into the chamber and struck the gong loudly.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"></a>
+VII.<br />
+THE CAREER OF THE CHARITABLE QUEN-KI-TONG</h2>
+
+<h3>FIRST PERIOD:<br />
+THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL</h3>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The motives which inspired the actions of the devout Quen-Ki-Tong have
+long been ill-reported,&rdquo; said Kai Lung the story-teller, upon a certain
+occasion at Wu-whei, &ldquo;and, as a consequence, his illustrious memory has
+suffered somewhat. Even as the insignificant earth-worm may bring the precious
+and many coloured jewel to the surface, so has it been permitted to this
+obscure and superficially educated one to discover the truth of the entire
+matter among the badly-arranged and frequently really illegible documents
+preserved at the Hall of Public Reference at Peking. Without fear of
+contradiction, therefore, he now sets forth the credible version.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quen-Ki-Tong was one who throughout his life had been compelled by the
+opposing force of circumstances to be content with what was offered rather than
+attain to that which he desired. Having been allowed to wander over the edge of
+an exceedingly steep crag, while still a child, by the aged and untrustworthy
+person who had the care of him, and yet suffering little hurt, he was carried
+back to the city in triumph, by the one in question, who, to cover her neglect,
+declared amid many chants of exultation that as he slept a majestic winged form
+had snatched him from her arms and traced magical figures with his body on the
+ground in token of the distinguished sacred existence for which he was
+undoubtedly set apart. In such a manner he became famed at a very early age for
+an unassuming mildness of character and an almost inspired piety of life, so
+that on every side frequent opportunity was given him for the display of these
+amiable qualities. Should it chance that an insufficient quantity of puppy-pie
+had been prepared for the family repast, the undesirable but necessary portion
+of cold dried rat would inevitably be allotted to the uncomplaining Quen,
+doubtless accompanied by the engaging but unnecessary remark that he alone had
+a Heaven-sent intellect which was fixed upon more sublime images than even the
+best constructed puppy-pie. Should the number of sedan-chairs not be sufficient
+to bear to the Exhibition of Kites all who were desirous of becoming
+entertained in such a fashion, inevitably would Quen be the one left behind, in
+order that he might have adequate leisure for dignified and pure-minded
+internal reflexion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In this manner it came about that when a very wealthy but unnaturally
+avaricious and evil-tempered person who was connected with Quen&rsquo;s father
+in matters of commerce expressed his fixed determination that the most
+deserving and enlightened of his friend&rsquo;s sons should enter into a
+marriage agreement with his daughter, there was no manner of hesitation among
+those concerned, who admitted without any questioning between themselves that
+Quen was undeniably the one referred to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Though naturally not possessing an insignificant intellect, a continuous
+habit, together with a most irreproachable sense of filial duty, subdued within
+Quen&rsquo;s internal organs whatever reluctance he might have otherwise
+displayed in the matter, so that as courteously as was necessary he presented
+to the undoubtedly very ordinary and slow-witted maiden in question the gifts
+of irretrievable intention, and honourably carried out his spoken and written
+words towards her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For a period of years the circumstances of the various persons did not
+in any degree change, Quen in the meantime becoming more pure-souled and
+inward-seeing with each moon-change, after the manner of the sublime Lien-ti,
+who studied to maintain an unmoved endurance in all varieties of events by
+placing his body to a greater extent each day in a vessel of boiling liquid.
+Nevertheless, the good and charitable deities to whom Quen unceasingly
+sacrificed were not altogether unmindful of his virtues; for a son was born,
+and an evil disease which arose from a most undignified display of
+uncontrollable emotion on her part ended in his wife being deposited with
+becoming ceremony in the Family Temple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Upon a certain evening, when Quen sat in his inner chamber deliberating
+upon the really beneficent yet somewhat inexplicable arrangement of the
+all-seeing ones to whom he was very amiably disposed in consequence of the
+unwonted tranquillity which he now enjoyed, yet who, it appeared to him, could
+have set out the entire matter in a much more satisfactory way from the
+beginning, he was made aware by the unexpected beating of many gongs, and by
+other signs of refined and deferential welcome, that a person of exalted rank
+was approaching his residence. While he was still hesitating in his uncertainty
+regarding the most courteous and delicate form of self-abasement with which to
+honour so important a visitor&mdash;whether to rush forth and allow the
+chair-carriers to pass over his prostrate form, to make a pretence of being a
+low-caste slave, and in that guise doing menial service, or to conceal himself
+beneath a massive and overhanging table until his guest should have availed
+himself of the opportunity to examine at his leisure whatever the room
+contained&mdash;the person in question stood before him. In every detail of
+dress and appointment he had the undoubted appearance of being one to whom no
+door might be safely closed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Alas!&rsquo; exclaimed Quen, &lsquo;how inferior and
+ill-contrived is the mind of a person of my feeble intellectual attainments.
+Even at this moment, when the near approach of one who obviously commands every
+engaging accomplishment might reasonably be expected to call up within it an
+adequate amount of commonplace resource, its ill-destined possessor finds
+himself entirely incapable of conducting himself with the fitting outward marks
+of his great internal respect. This residence is certainly unprepossessing in
+the extreme, yet it contains many objects of some value and of great rarity;
+illiterate as this person is, he would not be so presumptuous as to offer any
+for your acceptance, but if you will confer upon him the favour of selecting
+that which appears to be the most priceless and unreplaceable, he will
+immediately, and with every manifestation of extreme delight, break it
+irredeemably in your honour, to prove the unaffected depth of his gratified
+emotions.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Quen-Ki-Tong,&rsquo; replied the person before him, speaking with
+an evident sincerity of purpose, &lsquo;pleasant to this one&rsquo;s ears are
+your words, breathing as they do an obvious hospitality and a due regard for
+the forms of etiquette. But if, indeed, you are desirous of gaining this
+person&rsquo;s explicit regard, break no articles of fine porcelain or rare
+inlaid wood in proof of it, but immediately dismiss to a very distant spot the
+three-score gong-beaters who have enclosed him within two solid rings, and who
+are now carrying out their duties in so diligent a manner that he greatly
+doubts if the unimpaired faculties of hearing will ever be fully restored.
+Furthermore, if your exceedingly amiable intentions desire fuller expression,
+cause an unstinted number of vessels of some uninflammable liquid to be
+conveyed into your chrysanthemum garden and there poured over the numerous
+fireworks and coloured lights which still appear to be in progress. Doubtless
+they are well-intentioned marks of respect, but they caused this person
+considerable apprehension as he passed among them, and, indeed, give to this
+unusually pleasant and unassuming spot the by no means inviting atmosphere of a
+low-class tea-house garden during the festivities attending the birthday of the
+sacred Emperor.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;This person is overwhelmed with a most unendurable confusion that
+the matters referred to should have been regarded in such a light,&rsquo;
+replied Quen humbly. &lsquo;Although he himself had no knowledge of them until
+this moment, he is confident that they in no wise differ from the usual
+honourable manifestations with which it is customary in this Province to
+welcome strangers of exceptional rank and titles.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The welcome was of a most dignified and impressive nature,&rsquo;
+replied the stranger, with every appearance of not desiring to cause Quen any
+uneasy internal doubts; &lsquo;yet the fact is none the less true that at the
+moment this person&rsquo;s head seems to contain an exceedingly powerful and
+well-equipped band; and also, that as he passed through the courtyard an
+ingeniously constructed but somewhat unmanageable figure of gigantic size,
+composed entirely of jets of many-coloured flame, leaped out suddenly from
+behind a dark wall and made an almost successful attempt to embrace him in its
+ever-revolving arms. Lo Yuen greatly fears that the time when he would have
+rejoiced in the necessary display of agility to which the incident gave rise
+has for ever passed away.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Lo Yuen!&rsquo; exclaimed Quen, with an unaffected mingling of
+the emotions of reverential awe and pleasureable anticipation. &lsquo;Can it
+indeed be an uncontroversial fact that so learned and ornamental a person as
+the renowned Controller of Unsolicited Degrees stands beneath this inelegant
+person&rsquo;s utterly unpresentable roof! Now, indeed, he plainly understands
+why this ill-conditioned chamber has the appearance of being filled with a
+Heaven-sent brilliance, and why at the first spoken words of the one before him
+a melodious sound, like the rushing waters of the sacred Tien-Kiang, seemed to
+fill his ears.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Undoubtedly the chamber is pervaded by a very exceptional
+splendour,&rsquo; replied Lo Yuen, who, in spite of his high position, regarded
+graceful talk and well-imagined compliments in a spirit of no-satisfaction;
+&lsquo;yet this commonplace-minded one has a fixed conviction that it is caused
+by the crimson-eyed and pink-fire-breathing dragon which, despite your
+slave&rsquo;s most assiduous efforts, is now endeavouring to climb through the
+aperture behind you. The noise which still fills his ears, also, resembles
+rather the despairing cries of the Ten Thousand Lost Ones at the first sight of
+the Pit of Liquid and Red-hot Malachite, yet without question both proceed from
+the same cause. Laying aside further ceremony, therefore, permit this greatly
+over-estimated person to disclose the object of his inopportune visit. Long
+have your amiable virtues been observed and appreciated by the high ones at
+Peking, O Quen-Ki-Tong. Too long have they been unrewarded and passed over in
+silence. Nevertheless, the moment of acknowledgement and advancement has at
+length arrived; for, as the Book of Verses clearly says, &ldquo;Even the
+three-legged mule may contrive to reach the agreed spot in advance of the
+others, provided a circular running space has been selected and the number of
+rounds be sufficiently ample.&rdquo; It is this otherwise uninteresting and
+obtrusive person&rsquo;s graceful duty to convey to you the agreeable
+intelligence that the honourable and not ill-rewarded office of Guarder of the
+Imperial Silkworms has been conferred upon you, and to require you to proceed
+without delay to Peking, so that fitting ceremonies of admittance may be
+performed before the fifteenth day of the month of Feathered Insects.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alas! how frequently does the purchaser of seemingly vigorous and
+exceptionally low-priced flower-seeds discover, when too late, that they are,
+in reality, fashioned from the root of the prolific and valueless tzu-ka,
+skilfully covered with a disguising varnish! Instead of presenting himself at
+the place of commerce frequented by those who entrust money to others on the
+promise of an increased repayment when certain very probable events have come
+to pass (so that if all else failed he would still possess a serviceable number
+of taels), Quen-Ki-Tong entirely neglected the demands of a most ordinary
+prudence, nor could he be induced to set out on his journey until he had passed
+seven days in public feasting to mark his good fortune, and then devoted
+fourteen more days to fasting and various acts of penance, in order to make
+known the regret with which he acknowledged his entire unworthiness for the
+honour before him. Owing to this very conscientious, but nevertheless somewhat
+short-sighted manner of behaving, Quen found himself unable to reach Peking
+before the day preceding that to which Lo Yuen had made special reference. From
+this cause it came about that only sufficient time remained to perform the
+various ceremonies of admission, without in any degree counselling Quen as to
+his duties and procedure in the fulfilment of his really important office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Among the many necessary and venerable ceremonies observed during the
+changing periods of the year, none occupy a more important place than those for
+which the fifteenth day of the month of Feathered Insects is reserved,
+conveying as they do a respectful and delicately-fashioned petition that the
+various affairs upon which persons in every condition of life are engaged may
+arrive at a pleasant and remunerative conclusion. At the earliest stroke of the
+gong the versatile Emperor, accompanied by many persons of irreproachable
+ancestry and certain others, very elaborately attired, proceeds to an open
+space set apart for the occasion. With unassuming dexterity the benevolent
+Emperor for a brief span of time engages in the menial occupation of a person
+of low class, and with his own hands ploughs an assigned portion of land in
+order that the enlightened spirits under whose direct guardianship the earth is
+placed may not become lax in their disinterested efforts to promote its
+fruitfulness. In this charitable exertion he is followed by various other
+persons of recognized position, the first being, by custom, the Guarder of the
+Imperial Silkworms, while at the same time the amiably-disposed Empress plants
+an allotted number of mulberry trees, and deposits upon their leaves the
+carefully reared insects which she receives from the hands of their Guarder. In
+the case of the accomplished Emperor an ingenious contrivance is resorted to by
+which the soil is drawn aside by means of hidden strings as the plough passes
+by, the implement in question being itself constructed from paper of the
+highest quality, while the oxen which draw it are, in reality, ordinary persons
+cunningly concealed within masks of cardboard. In this thoughtful manner the
+actual labours of the sublime Emperor are greatly lessened, while no chance is
+afforded for an inauspicious omen to be created by the rebellious behaviour of
+a maliciously-inclined ox, or by any other event of an unforeseen nature. All
+the other persons, however, are required to make themselves proficient in the
+art of ploughing, before the ceremony, so that the chances of the attendant
+spirits discovering the deception which has been practised upon them in the
+case of the Emperor may not be increased by its needless repetition. It was
+chiefly for this reason that Lo Yuen had urged Quen to journey to Peking as
+speedily as possible, but owing to the very short time which remained between
+his arrival and the ceremony of ploughing, not only had the person in question
+neglected to profit by instruction, but he was not even aware of the obligation
+which awaited him. When, therefore, in spite of every respectful protest on his
+part, he was led up to a massively-constructed implement drawn by two powerful
+and undeniably evilly-intentioned-looking animals, it was with every sign of
+great internal misgivings, and an entire absence of enthusiasm in the
+entertainment, that he commenced his not too well understood task. In this
+matter he was by no means mistaken, for it soon became plain to all
+observers&mdash;of whom an immense concourse was assembled&mdash;that the
+usually self-possessed Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms was conducting himself
+in a most undignified manner; for though he still clung to the plough-handles
+with an inspired tenacity, his body assumed every variety of base and
+uninviting attitude. Encouraged by this inelegant state of affairs, the evil
+spirits which are ever on the watch to turn into derision the charitable
+intentions of the pure-minded entered into the bodies of the oxen and provoked
+within their minds a sudden and malignant confidence that the time had arrived
+when they might with safety break into revolt and throw off the outward signs
+of their dependent condition. From these various causes it came about that Quen
+was, without warning, borne with irresistible certainty against the majestic
+person of the sacred Emperor, the inlaid box of Imperial silkworms, which up to
+that time had remained safely among the folds of his silk garment, alone
+serving to avert an even more violent and ill-destined blow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well said the wise and deep-thinking Ye-te, in his book entitled
+<i>Proverbs of Everyday Happenings</i>, &lsquo;Should a person on returning
+from the city discover his house to be in flames, let him examine well the
+change which he has received from the chair-carrier before it is too late; for
+evil never travels alone.&rsquo; Scarcely had the unfortunate Quen recovered
+his natural attributes from the effect of the disgraceful occurrence which has
+been recorded (which, indeed, furnished the matter of a song and many
+unpresentable jests among the low-class persons of the city), than the
+magnanimous Empress reached that detail of the tree-planting ceremony when it
+was requisite that she should deposit the living emblems of the desired
+increase and prosperity upon the leaves. Stretching forth her
+delicately-proportioned hand to Quen for this purpose, she received from the
+still greatly confused person in question the Imperial silkworms in so unseemly
+a condition that her eyes had scarcely rested upon them before she was seized
+with the rigid sickness, and in that state fell to the ground. At this new and
+entirely unforeseen calamity a very disagreeable certainty of approaching evil
+began to take possession of all those who stood around, many crying aloud that
+every omen of good was wanting, and declaring that unless something of a
+markedly propitiatory nature was quickly accomplished, the agriculture of the
+entire Empire would cease to flourish, and the various departments of the
+commerce in silk would undoubtedly be thrown into a state of most inextricable
+confusion. Indeed, in spite of all things designed to have a contrary effect,
+the matter came about in the way predicted, for the Hoang-Ho seven times
+overcame its restraining barriers, and poured its waters over the surrounding
+country, thereby gaining for the first time its well-deserved title of
+&lsquo;The Sorrow of China,&rsquo; by which dishonourable but exceedingly
+appropriate designation it is known to this day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The manner of greeting which would have been accorded to Quen had he
+returned to the official quarter of the city, or the nature of his treatment by
+the baser class of the ordinary people if they succeeded in enticing him to
+come among them, formed a topic of such uninviting conjecture that the
+humane-minded Lo Yuen, who had observed the entire course of events from an
+elevated spot, determined to make a well-directed effort towards his safety. To
+this end he quickly purchased the esteem of several of those who make a
+profession of their strength, holding out the hope of still further reward if
+they conducted the venture to a successful termination. Uttering loud cries of
+an impending vengeance, as Lo Yuen had instructed them in the matter, and
+displaying their exceptional proportions to the astonishment and misgivings of
+all beholders, these persons tore open the opium-tent in which Quen had
+concealed himself, and, thrusting aside all opposition, quickly dragged him
+forth. Holding him high upon their shoulders, in spite of his frequent and
+ill-advised endeavours to cast himself to the ground, some surrounded those who
+bore him&mdash;after the manner of disposing his troops affected by a skilful
+leader when the enemy begin to waver&mdash;and crying aloud that it was their
+unchanging purpose to submit him to the test of burning splinters and
+afterwards to torture him, they succeeded by this stratagem in bringing him
+through the crowd; and hurling back or outstripping those who endeavoured to
+follow, conveyed him secretly and unperceived to a deserted and appointed spot.
+Here Quen was obliged to remain until other events caused the recollection of
+the many to become clouded and unconcerned towards him, suffering frequent
+inconveniences in spite of the powerful protection of Lo Yuen, and not at all
+times being able to regard the most necessary repast as an appointment of
+undoubted certainty. At length, in the guise of a wandering conjurer who was
+unable to display his accomplishments owing to an entire loss of the power of
+movement in his arms, Quen passed undetected from the city, and safely reaching
+the distant and unimportant town of Lu-Kwo, gave himself up to a protracted
+period of lamentation and self-reproach at the unprepossessing manner in which
+he had conducted his otherwise very inviting affairs.
+</p>
+
+<h3>SECOND PERIOD<br/>
+THE TEMPLE BUILDER</h3>
+
+<p>
+Two hand-counts of years passed away and Quen still remained at Lu-kwo, all
+desire of returning either to Peking or to the place of his birth having by
+this time faded into nothingness. Accepting the inevitable fact that he was not
+destined ever to become a person with whom taels were plentiful, and yet being
+unwilling to forego the charitable manner of life which he had always been
+accustomed to observe, it came about that he spent the greater part of his time
+in collecting together such sums of money as he could procure from the amiable
+and well-disposed, and with them building temples and engaging in other
+benevolent works. From this cause it arose the Quen obtained around Lu-kwo a
+reputation for high-minded piety, in no degree less than that which had been
+conferred upon him in earlier times, so that pilgrims from far distant places
+would purposely contrive their journey so as to pass through the town
+containing so unassuming and virtuous a person.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;During this entire period Quen had been accompanied by his only son, a
+youth of respectful personality, in whose entertaining society he took an
+intelligent interest. Even when deeply engaged in what he justly regarded as
+the crowning work of his existence&mdash;the planning and erecting of an
+exceptionally well-endowed marble temple, which was to be entirely covered on
+the outside with silver paper, and on the inside with gold-leaf&mdash;he did
+not fail to observe the various conditions of Liao&rsquo;s existence, and the
+changing emotions which from time to time possessed him. Therefore, when the
+person in question, without displaying any signs of internal sickness, and
+likewise persistently denying that he had lost any considerable sum of money,
+disclosed a continuous habit of turning aside with an unaffected expression of
+distaste from all manner of food, and passed the entire night in observing the
+course of the great sky-lantern rather than in sleep, the sage and
+discriminating Quen took him one day aside, and asked him, as one who might aid
+him in the matter, who the maiden was, and what class and position her father
+occupied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Alas!&rsquo; exclaimed Liao, with many unfeigned manifestations
+of an unbearable fate, &lsquo;to what degree do the class and position of her
+entirely unnecessary parents affect the question? or how little hope can this
+sacrilegious one reasonably have of ever progressing as far as earthly details
+of a pecuniary character in the case of so adorable and far-removed a Being?
+The uttermost extent of this wildly-hoping person&rsquo;s ambition is that when
+the incomparably symmetrical Ts&rsquo;ain learns of the steadfast light of his
+devotion, she may be inspired to deposit an emblematic chrysanthemum upon his
+tomb in the Family Temple. For such a reward he will cheerfully devote the
+unswerving fidelity of a lifetime to her service, not distressing her gentle
+and retiring nature by the expression of what must inevitably be a hopeless
+passion, but patiently and uncomplainingly guarding her footsteps as from a
+distance.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Being in this manner made aware of the reason of Liao&rsquo;s frequent
+and unrestrained exclamations of intolerable despair, and of his fixed
+determination with regard to the maiden Ts&rsquo;ain (which seemed, above all
+else, to indicate a resolution to shun her presence) Quen could not regard the
+immediately-following actions of his son with anything but an emotion of
+confusion. For when his eyes next rested upon the exceedingly contradictory
+Liao, he was seated in the open space before the house in which Ts&rsquo;ain
+dwelt, playing upon an instrument of stringed woods, and chanting verses into
+which the names of the two persons in question had been skilfully introduced
+without restraint, his whole manner of behaving being with the evident purpose
+of attracting the maiden&rsquo;s favourable attention. After an absence of many
+days, spent in this graceful and complimentary manner, Liao returned suddenly
+to the house of his father, and, prostrating his body before him, made a
+specific request for his assistance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;As regards Ts&rsquo;ain and myself,&rsquo; he continued,
+&lsquo;all things are arranged, and but for the unfortunate coincidence of this
+person&rsquo;s poverty and of her father&rsquo;s cupidity, the details of the
+wedding ceremony would undoubtedly now be in a very advanced condition. Upon
+these entrancing and well-discussed plans, however, the shadow of the grasping
+and commonplace Ah-Ping has fallen like the inopportune opium-pipe from the
+mouth of a person examining substances of an explosive nature; for the one
+referred to demands a large and utterly unobtainable amount of taels before he
+will suffer his greatly-sought-after daughter to accept the gifts of
+irretrievable intention.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Grievous indeed is your plight,&rsquo; replied Quen, when he thus
+understood the manner of obstacle which impeded his son&rsquo;s hopes;
+&lsquo;for in the nature of taels the most diverse men are to be measured
+through the same mesh. As the proverb says, &ldquo;&lsquo;All money is
+evil,&rsquo; exclaimed the philosopher with extreme weariness, as he gathered
+up the gold pieces in exchange, but presently discovering that one among them
+was such indeed as he had described, he rushed forth without tarrying to take
+up a street garment; and with an entire absence of dignity traversed all the
+ways of the city in the hope of finding the one who had defrauded him.&rdquo;
+Well does this person know the mercenary Ah-Ping, and the unyielding nature of
+his closed hand; for often, but always fruitlessly, he has entered his presence
+on affairs connected with the erecting of certain temples. Nevertheless, the
+matter is one which does not admit of any incapable faltering, to which end
+this one will seek out the obdurate Ah-Ping without delay, and endeavour to
+entrap him by some means in the course of argument.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From the time of his earliest youth Ah-Ping had unceasingly devoted
+himself to the object of getting together an overwhelming number of taels,
+using for this purpose various means which, without being really degrading or
+contrary to the written law, were not such as might have been cheerfully
+engaged in by a person of high-minded honourableness. In consequence of this,
+as he grew more feeble in body, and more venerable in appearance, he began to
+express frequent and bitter doubts as to whether his manner of life had been
+really well arranged; for, in spite of his great wealth, he had grown to adopt
+a most inexpensive habit on all occasions, having no desire to spend; and an
+ever-increasing apprehension began to possess him that after he had passed
+beyond, his sons would be very disinclined to sacrifice and burn money
+sufficient to keep him in an affluent condition in the Upper Air. In such a
+state of mind was Ah-Ping when Quen-Ki-Tong appeared before him, for it had
+just been revealed to him that his eldest and favourite son had, by flattery
+and by openly praising the dexterity with which he used his brush and ink,
+entrapped him into inscribing his entire name upon certain unwritten sheets of
+parchment, which the one in question immediately sold to such as were heavily
+indebted to Ah-Ping.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;If a person can be guilty of this really unfilial behaviour
+during the lifetime of his father,&rsquo; exclaimed Ah-Ping, in a tone of
+unrestrained vexation, &lsquo;can it be prudently relied upon that he will
+carry out his wishes after death, when they involve the remitting to him of
+several thousand taels each year? O estimable Quen-Ki-Tong, how immeasurably
+superior is the celestial outlook upon which you may safely rely as your
+portion! When you are enjoying every variety of sumptuous profusion, as the
+reward of your untiring charitable exertions here on earth, the spirit of this
+short-sighted person will be engaged in doing menial servitude for the inferior
+deities, and perhaps scarcely able, even by those means, to clothe himself
+according to the changing nature of the seasons.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Yet,&rsquo; replied Quen, &lsquo;the necessity for so laborious
+and unremunerative an existence may even now be averted by taking efficient
+precautions before you pass to the Upper Air.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;In what way?&rsquo; demanded Ah-Ping, with an awakening hope that
+the matter might not be entirely destitute of cheerfulness, yet at the same
+time preparing to examine with even unbecoming intrusiveness any expedient
+which Quen might lay before him. &lsquo;Is it not explicitly stated that
+sacrifices and acts of a like nature, when performed at the end of one&rsquo;s
+existence by a person who to that time has professed no sort of interest in
+such matters, shall in no degree be entered as to his good, but rather regarded
+as examples of deliberate presumptuousness, and made the excuse for subjecting
+him to more severe tortures and acts of penance than would be his portion if he
+neglected the custom altogether?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Undoubtedly such is the case,&rsquo; replied Quen; &lsquo;and on
+that account it would indicate a most regrettable want of foresight for you to
+conduct your affairs in the manner indicated. The only undeniably safe course
+is for you to entrust the amount you will require to a person of exceptional
+piety, receiving in return his written word to repay the full sum whenever you
+shall claim it from him in the Upper Air. By this crafty method the amount will
+be placed at the disposal of the person in question as soon as he has passed
+beyond, and he will be held by his written word to return it to you whenever
+you shall demand it.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So amiably impressed with this ingenious scheme was Ah-Ping that he
+would at once have entered more fully into the detail had the thought not
+arisen in his mind that the person before him was the father of Liao, who
+urgently required a certain large sum, and that for this reason he might with
+prudence inquire more fully into the matter elsewhere, in case Quen himself
+should have been imperceptibly led aside, even though he possessed intentions
+of a most unswerving honourableness. To this end, therefore, he desired to
+converse again with Quen on the matter, pleading that at that moment a
+gathering of those who direct enterprises of a commercial nature required his
+presence. Nevertheless, he would not permit the person referred to to depart
+until he had complimented him, in both general and specific terms, on the high
+character of his life and actions, and the intelligent nature of his
+understanding, which had enabled him with so little mental exertion to discover
+an efficient plan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Without delay Ah-Ping sought out those most skilled in all varieties of
+law-forms, in extorting money by devices capable of very different meanings,
+and in expedients for evading just debts; but all agreed that such an
+arrangement as the one he put before them would be unavoidably binding,
+provided the person who received the money alluded to spent it in the exercise
+of his charitable desires, and provided also that the written agreement bore
+the duty seal of the high ones at Peking, and was deposited in the coffin of
+the lender. Fully satisfied, and rejoicing greatly that he could in this way
+adequately provide for his future and entrap the avaricious ones of his house,
+Ah-Ping collected together the greater part of his possessions, and converting
+it into pieces of gold, entrusted them to Quen on the exact understanding that
+has already been described, he receiving in turn Quen&rsquo;s written and
+thumb-signed paper of repayment, and his assurance that the whole amount should
+be expended upon the silver-paper and gold-leaf Temple with which he was still
+engaged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is owing to this circumstance that Quen-Ki-Tong&rsquo;s
+irreproachable name has come to be lightly regarded by many who may be fitly
+likened to the latter person in the subtle and experienced proverb, &lsquo;The
+wise man&rsquo;s eyes fell before the gaze of the fool, fearing that if he
+looked he must cry aloud, &ldquo;Thou hopeless one!&rdquo; &ldquo;There,&rdquo;
+said the fool to himself, &ldquo;behold this person&rsquo;s
+power!&rdquo;&rsquo; These badly educated and undiscriminating persons, being
+entirely unable to explain the ensuing train of events, unhesitatingly declare
+that Quen-Ki-Tong applied a portion of the money which he had received from
+Ah-Ping in the manner described to the object of acquiring Ts&rsquo;ain for his
+son Liao. In this feeble and incapable fashion they endeavour to stigmatize the
+pure-minded Quen as one who acted directly contrary to his deliberately spoken
+word, whereas the desired result was brought about in a much more artful
+manner; they describe the commercially successful Ah-Ping as a person of very
+inferior prudence, and one easily imposed upon; while they entirely pass over,
+as a detail outside the true facts, the written paper preserved among the
+sacred relics in the Temple, which announces, among other gifts of a small and
+uninviting character, &lsquo;Thirty thousand taels from an elderly ginseng
+merchant of Lu-kwo, who desires to remain nameless, through the hand of
+Quen-Ki-Tong.&rsquo; The full happening in its real and harmless face is now
+set forth for the first time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Some weeks after the recorded arrangement had been arrived at by Ah-Ping
+and Quen, when the taels in question had been expended upon the Temple and
+were, therefore, infallibly beyond recall, the former person chanced to be
+passing through the public garden in Lu-kwo when he heard a voice lifted up in
+the expression of every unendurable feeling of dejection to which one can give
+utterance. Stepping aside to learn the cause of so unprepossessing a display of
+unrestrained agitation, and in the hope that perhaps he might be able to use
+the incident in a remunerative manner, Ah-Ping quickly discovered the unhappy
+being who, entirely regardless of the embroidered silk robe which he wore,
+reclined upon a raised bank of uninviting earth, and waved his hands from side
+to side as his internal emotions urged him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Quen-Ki-Tong!&rsquo; exclaimed Ah-Ping, not fully convinced that
+the fact was as he stated it in spite of the image clearly impressed upon his
+imagination; &lsquo;to what unpropitious occurrence is so unlooked-for an
+exhibition due? Are those who traffic in gold-leaf demanding a high and
+prohibitive price for that commodity, or has some evil and vindicative spirit
+taken up its abode within the completed portion of the Temple, and by its
+offensive but nevertheless diverting remarks and actions removed all semblance
+of gravity from the countenances of those who daily come to admire the
+construction?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;O thrice unfortunate Ah-Ping,&rsquo; replied Quen when he
+observed the distinguishing marks of the person before him, &lsquo;scarcely can
+this greatly overwhelmed one raise his eyes to your open and intelligent
+countenance; for through him you are on the point of experiencing a very severe
+financial blow, and it is, indeed, on your account more than on his own that he
+is now indulging in these outward signs of a grief too far down to be expressed
+in spoken words.&rsquo; And at the memory of his former occupation, Quen again
+waved his arms from side to side with untiring assiduousness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Strange indeed to this person&rsquo;s ears are your words,&rsquo;
+said Ah-Ping, outwardly unmoved, but with an apprehensive internal pain that he
+would have regarded Quen&rsquo;s display of emotion with an easier stomach if
+his own taels were safely concealed under the floor of his inner chamber.
+&lsquo;The sum which this one entrusted to you has, without any pretence been
+expended upon the Temple, while the written paper concerning the repayment
+bears the duty seal of the high ones at Peking. How, then, can Ah-Ping suffer a
+loss at the hands of Quen-Ki-Tong?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Ah-Ping,&rsquo; said Quen, with every appearance of desiring that
+both persons should regard the matter in a conciliatory spirit, &lsquo;do not
+permit the awaiting demons, which are ever on the alert to enter into a
+person&rsquo;s mind when he becomes distressed out of the common order of
+events, to take possession of your usually discriminating faculties until you
+have fully understood how this affair has come about. It is no unknown thing
+for a person of even exceptional intelligence to reverse his entire manner of
+living towards the end of a long and consistent existence; the far-seeing and
+not lightly-moved Ah-Ping himself has already done so. In a similar, but
+entirely contrary manner, the person who is now before you finds himself
+impelled towards that which will certainly bear a very unpresentable face when
+the circumstances become known; yet by no other means is he capable of
+attaining his greatly-desired object.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;And to what end does that trend?&rsquo; demanded Ah-Ping, in no
+degree understanding how the matter affected him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;While occupied with enterprises which those of an engaging and
+complimentary nature are accustomed to refer to as charitable, this person has
+almost entirely neglected a duty of scarcely less importance&mdash;that of
+establishing an unending line, through which his name and actions shall be kept
+alive to all time,&rsquo; replied Quen. &lsquo;Having now inquired into the
+matter, he finds that his only son, through whom alone the desired result can
+be obtained, has become unbearably attached to a maiden for whom a very large
+sum is demanded in exchange. The thought of obtaining no advantage from an
+entire life of self-denial is certainly unprepossessing in the extreme, but so,
+even to a more advanced degree, is the certainty that otherwise the family
+monuments will be untended, and the temple of domestic virtues become an early
+ruin. This person has submitted the dilemma to the test of omens, and after
+considering well the reply, he has decided to obtain the price of the maiden in
+a not very honourable manner, which now presents itself, so that Liao may send
+out his silk-bound gifts without delay.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It is an unalluring alternative,&rsquo; said Ah-Ping, whose only
+inside thought was one of gratification that the exchange money for
+Ts&rsquo;ain would so soon be in his possession, &lsquo;yet this person fails
+to perceive how you could act otherwise after the decision of the omens. He now
+understands, moreover, that the loss you referred to on his part was in the
+nature of a figure of speech, as one makes use of thunderbolts and
+delicately-scented flowers to convey ideas of harsh and amiable passions, and
+alluded in reality to the forthcoming departure of his daughter, who is, as you
+so versatilely suggested, the comfort and riches of his old age.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;O venerable, but at this moment somewhat obtuse, Ah-Ping,&rsquo;
+cried Quen, with a recurrence to his former method of expressing his unfeigned
+agitation, &lsquo;is your evenly-balanced mind unable to grasp the essential
+fact of how this person&rsquo;s contemplated action will affect your own
+celestial condition? It is a distressing but entirely unavoidable fact, that if
+this person acts in the manner which he has determined upon, he will be
+condemned to the lowest place of torment reserved for those who fail at the end
+of an otherwise pure existence, and in this he will never have an opportunity
+of meeting the very much higher placed Ah-Ping, and of restoring to him the
+thirty-thousand taels as agreed upon.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At these ill-destined words, all power of rigidness departed from
+Ah-Ping&rsquo;s limbs, and he sank down upon the forbidding earth by
+Quen&rsquo;s side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;O most unfortunate one who is now speaking,&rsquo; he exclaimed,
+when at length his guarding spirit deemed it prudent to restore his power of
+expressing himself in words, &lsquo;happy indeed would have been your lot had
+you been content to traffic in ginseng and other commodities of which you have
+actual knowledge. O amiable Quen, this matter must be in some way arranged
+without causing you to deviate from the entrancing paths of your habitual
+virtue. Could not the very reasonable Liao be induced to look favourably upon
+the attractions of some low-priced maiden, in which case this not really
+hard-stomached person would be willing to advance the necessary amount, until
+such time as it could be restored, at a very low and unremunerative rate of
+interest?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;This person has observed every variety of practical humility in
+the course of his life,&rsquo; replied Quen with commendable dignity,
+&lsquo;yet he now finds himself totally unable to overcome an inward repugnance
+to the thought of perpetuating his honoured name and race through the medium of
+any low-priced maiden. To this end has he decided.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Those who were well acquainted with Ah-Ping in matters of commerce did
+not hesitate to declare that his great wealth had been acquired by his
+consistent habit of forming an opinion quickly while others hesitated. On the
+occasion in question he only engaged his mind with the opposing circumstances
+for a few moments before he definitely fixed upon the course which he should
+pursue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Quen-Ki-Tong,&rsquo; he said, with an evident intermingling of
+many very conflicting emotions, &lsquo;retain to the end this well-merited
+reputation for unaffected honourableness which you have so fittingly earned.
+Few in the entire Empire, with powers so versatilely pointing to an eminent
+position in any chosen direction, would have been content to pass their lives
+in an unremunerative existence devoted to actions of charity. Had you selected
+an entirely different manner of living, this person has every confidence that
+he, and many others in Lu-kwo, would by this time be experiencing a very
+ignoble poverty. For this reason he will make it his most prominent ambition to
+hasten the realization of the amiable hopes expressed both by Liao and by
+Ts&rsquo;ain, concerning their future relationship. In this, indeed, he himself
+will be more than exceptionally fortunate should the former one prove to
+possess even a portion of the clear-sighted sagaciousness exhibited by his
+engaging father.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;VERSES COMPOSED BY A MUSICIAN OF LU-KWO, ON THE OCCASION OF THE WEDDING
+CEREMONY OF LIAO AND TS&rsquo;AIN
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Bright hued is the morning, the dark clouds have fallen;<br/>
+At the mere waving of Quen&rsquo;s virtuous hands they melted away.<br/>
+Happy is Liao in the possession of so accomplished a parent,<br/>
+Happy also is Quen to have so discriminating a son.<br/>
+<br/>
+&ldquo;The two persons in question sit, side by side, upon an embroidered
+couch,<br/>
+Listening to the well-expressed compliments of those who pass to and fro.<br/>
+From time to time their eyes meet, and glances of a very significant amusement
+pass between them;<br/>
+Can it be that on so ceremonious an occasion they are recalling events of a
+gravity-removing nature?<br/>
+<br/>
+&ldquo;The gentle and rainbow-like Ts&rsquo;ain has already arrived,<br/>
+With the graceful motion of a silver carp gliding through a screen of rushes,
+she moves among those who are assembled.<br/>
+On the brow of her somewhat contentious father there rests the shadow of an
+ill-repressed sorrow;<br/>
+Doubtless the frequently-misjudged Ah-Ping is thinking of his lonely hearth,
+now that he is for ever parted from that which he holds most precious.<br/>
+<br/>
+&ldquo;In the most commodious chamber of the house the elegant wedding-gifts
+are conspicuously displayed; let us stand beside the one which we have
+contributed, and point out its excellence to those who pass by.<br/>
+Surely the time cannot be far distant when the sound of many gongs will
+announce that the very desirable repast is at length to be partaken
+of.&rdquo;<br/>
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"></a>
+VIII.<br />
+THE VISION OF YIN, THE SON OF YAT HUANG</h2>
+
+<p>
+When Yin, the son of Yat Huang, had passed beyond the years assigned to the
+pursuit of boyhood, he was placed in the care of the hunchback Quang, so that
+he might be fully instructed in the management of the various weapons used in
+warfare, and also in the art of stratagem, by which a skilful leader is often
+enabled to conquer when opposed to an otherwise overwhelming multitude. In all
+these accomplishments Quang excelled to an exceptional degree; for although
+unprepossessing in appearance he united matchless strength to an untiring
+subtlety. No other person in the entire Province of Kiang-si could hurl a
+javelin so unerringly while uttering sounds of terrifying menace, or could
+cause his sword to revolve around him so rapidly, while his face looked out
+from the glittering circles with an expression of ill-intentioned malignity
+that never failed to inspire his adversary with irrepressible emotions of
+alarm. No other person could so successfully feign to be devoid of life for
+almost any length of time, or by his manner of behaving create the fixed
+impression that he was one of insufficient understanding, and therefore
+harmless. It was for these reasons that Quang was chosen as the instructor of
+Yin by Yat Huang, who, without possessing any official degree, was a person to
+whom marks of obeisance were paid not only within his own town, but for a
+distance of many li around it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length the time arrived when Yin would in the ordinary course of events pass
+from the instructorship of Quang in order to devote himself to the commerce in
+which his father was engaged, and from time to time the unavoidable thought
+arose persistently within his mind that although Yat Huang doubtless knew
+better than he did what the circumstances of the future required, yet his
+manner of life for the past years was not such that he could contemplate
+engaging in the occupation of buying and selling porcelain clay with feelings
+of an overwhelming interest. Quang, however, maintained with every
+manifestation of inspired assurance that Yat Huang was to be commended down to
+the smallest detail, inasmuch as proficiency in the use of both blunt and
+sharp-edged weapons, and a faculty for passing undetected through the midst of
+an encamped body of foemen, fitted a person for the every-day affairs of life
+above all other accomplishments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Without doubt the very accomplished Yat Huan is well advised on this
+point,&rdquo; continued Quang, &ldquo;for even this mentally short-sighted
+person can call up within his understanding numerous specific incidents in the
+ordinary career of one engaged in the commerce of porcelain clay when such
+attainments would be of great remunerative benefit. Does the well-endowed Yin
+think, for example, that even the most depraved person would endeavour to gain
+an advantage over him in the matter of buying or selling porcelain clay if he
+fully understood the fact that the one with whom he was trafficking could
+unhesitatingly transfix four persons with one arrow at the distance of a
+hundred paces? Or to what advantage would it be that a body of unscrupulous
+outcasts who owned a field of inferior clay should surround it with drawn
+swords by day and night, endeavouring meanwhile to dispose of it as material of
+the finest quality, if the one whom they endeavoured to ensnare in this manner
+possessed the power of being able to pass through their ranks unseen and
+examine the clay at his leisure?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In the cases to which reference has been made, the possession of those
+qualities would undoubtedly be of considerable use,&rdquo; admitted Yin;
+&ldquo;yet, in spite of his entire ignorance of commercial matters, this one
+has a confident feeling that it would be more profitable to avoid such very
+doubtful forms of barter altogether rather than spend eight years in acquiring
+the arts by which to defeat them. That, however, is a question which concerns
+this person&rsquo;s virtuous and engaging father more than his unworthy self,
+and his only regret is that no opportunity has offered by which he might prove
+that he has applied himself diligently to your instruction and example, O
+amiable Quang.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It had long been a regret to Quang also that no incident of a disturbing nature
+had arisen whereby Yin could have shown himself proficient in the methods of
+defence and attack which he had taught him. This deficiency he had endeavoured
+to overcome, as far as possible, by constructing life-like models of all the
+most powerful and ferocious types of warriors and the fiercest and most
+relentless animals of the forest, so that Yin might become familiar with their
+appearance and discover in what manner each could be the most expeditiously
+engaged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless,&rdquo; remarked Quang, on an occasion when Yin appeared to
+be covered with honourable pride at having approached an unusually large and
+repulsive-looking tiger so stealthily that had the animal been really alive it
+would certainly have failed to perceive him, &ldquo;such accomplishments are by
+no means to be regarded as conclusive in themselves. To steal insidiously upon
+a destructively-included wild beast and transfix it with one well-directed blow
+of a spear is attended by difficulties and emotions which are entirely absent
+in the case of a wickerwork animal covered with canvas-cloth, no matter how
+deceptive in appearance the latter may be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To afford Yin a more trustworthy example of how he should engage with an
+adversary of formidable proportions, Quang resolved upon an ingenious plan.
+Procuring the skin of a grey wolf, he concealed himself within it, and in the
+early morning, while the mist-damp was still upon the ground, he set forth to
+meet Yin, who had on a previous occasion spoken to him of his intention to be
+at a certain spot at such an hour. In this conscientious enterprise, the
+painstaking Quang would doubtless have been successful, and Yin gained an
+assured proficiency and experience, had it not chanced that on the journey
+Quang encountered a labourer of low caste who was crossing the enclosed ground
+on his way to the rice field in which he worked. This contemptible and
+inopportune person, not having at any period of his existence perfected himself
+in the recognized and elegant methods of attack and defence, did not act in the
+manner which would assuredly have been adopted by Yin in similar circumstances,
+and for which Quang would have been fully prepared. On the contrary, without
+the least indication of what his intention was, he suddenly struck Quang, who
+was hesitating for a moment what action to take, a most intolerable blow with a
+formidable staff which he carried. The stroke in question inflicted itself upon
+Quang upon that part of the body where the head becomes connected with the
+neck, and would certainly have been followed by others of equal force and
+precision had not Quang in the meantime decided that the most dignified course
+for him to adopt would be to disclose his name and titles without delay. Upon
+learning these facts, the one who stood before him became very grossly and
+offensively amused, and having taken from Quang everything of value which he
+carried among his garments, went on his way, leaving Yin&rsquo;s instructor to
+retrace his steps in unendurable dejection, as he then found that he possessed
+no further interest whatever in the undertaking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Yat Huang was satisfied that his son was sufficiently skilled in the
+various arts of warfare, he called him to his inner chamber, and having barred
+the door securely, he placed Yin under a very binding oath not to reveal, until
+an appointed period, the matter which he was going to put before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From father to son, in unbroken line for ten generations, has such a
+custom been observed,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;for the course of events is not to
+be lightly entered upon. At the commencement of that cycle, which period is now
+fully fifteen score years ago, a very wise person chanced to incur the
+displeasure of the Emperor of that time, and being in consequence driven out of
+the capital, he fled to the mountains. There his subtle discernment and the
+pure and solitary existence which he led resulted in his becoming endowed with
+faculties beyond those possessed by ordinary beings. When he felt the end of
+his earthly career to be at hand he descended into the plain, where, in a state
+of great destitution and bodily anguish, he was discovered by the one whom this
+person has referred to as the first of the line of ancestors. In return for the
+care and hospitality with which he was unhesitatingly received, the admittedly
+inspired hermit spent the remainder of his days in determining the destinies of
+his rescuer&rsquo;s family and posterity. It is an undoubted fact that he
+predicted how one would, by well-directed enterprise and adventure, rise to a
+position of such eminence in the land that he counselled the details to be kept
+secret, lest the envy and hostility of the ambitious and unworthy should be
+raised. From this cause it has been customary to reveal the matter fully from
+father to son, at stated periods, and the setting out of the particulars in
+written words has been severely discouraged. Wise as this precaution certainly
+was, it has resulted in a very inconvenient state of things; for a remote
+ancestor&mdash;the fifth in line from the beginning&mdash;experienced such
+vicissitudes that he returned from his travels in a state of most abandoned
+idiocy, and when the time arrived that he should, in turn, communicate to his
+son, he was only able to repeat over and over again the name of the pious
+hermit to whom the family was so greatly indebted, coupling it each time with a
+new and markedly offensive epithet. The essential details of the undertaking
+having in this manner passed beyond recall, succeeding generations, which were
+merely acquainted with the fact that a very prosperous future awaited the one
+who fulfilled the conditions, have in vain attempted to conform to them. It is
+not an alluring undertaking, inasmuch as nothing of the method to be pursued
+can be learned, except that it was the custom of the early ones, who held the
+full knowledge, to set out from home and return after a period of years. Yet so
+clearly expressed was the prophecy, and so great the reward of the successful,
+that all have eagerly journeyed forth when the time came, knowing nothing
+beyond that which this person has now unfolded to you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Yat Huang reached the end of the matter which it was his duty to disclose,
+Yin for some time pondered the circumstances before replying. In spite of a
+most engaging reverence for everything of a sacred nature, he could not
+consider the inspired remark of the well-intentioned hermit without feelings of
+a most persistent doubt, for it occurred to him that if the person in question
+had really been as wise as he was represented to be, he might reasonably have
+been expected to avoid the unaccountable error of offending the enlightened and
+powerful Emperor under whom he lived. Nevertheless, the prospect of engaging in
+the trade of porcelain clay was less attractive in his eyes than that of
+setting forth upon a journey of adventure, so that at length he expressed his
+willingness to act after the manner of those who had gone before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This decision was received by Yat Huang with an equal intermingling of the
+feelings of delight and concern, for although he would have by no means
+pleasurably contemplated Yin breaking through a venerable and esteemed custom,
+he was unable to put entirely from him the thought of the degrading fate which
+had overtaken the fifth in line who made the venture. It was, indeed, to guard
+Yin as much as possible against the dangers to which he would become exposed,
+if he determined on the expedition, that the entire course of his training had
+been selected. In order that no precaution of a propitious nature should be
+neglected, Yat Huang at once despatched written words of welcome to all with
+whom he was acquainted, bidding them partake of a great banquet which he was
+preparing to mark the occasion of his son&rsquo;s leave-taking. Every variety
+of sacrifice was offered up to the controlling deities, both good and bad; the
+ten ancestors were continuously exhorted to take Yin under their special
+protection, and sets of verses recording his virtues and ambitions were freely
+distributed among the necessitous and low-caste who could not be received at
+the feast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dinner itself exceeded in magnificence any similar event that had ever
+taken place in Ching-toi. So great was the polished ceremony observed on the
+occasion, that each guest had half a score of cups of the finest apricot-tea
+successively placed before him and taken away untasted, while Yat Huang went to
+each in turn protesting vehemently that the honour of covering such pure-minded
+and distinguished persons was more than his badly designed roof could
+reasonably bear, and wittingly giving an entrancing air of reality to the
+spoken compliment by begging them to move somewhat to one side so that they
+might escape the heavy central beam if the event which he alluded to chanced to
+take place. After several hours had been spent in this congenial occupation,
+Yat Huang proceeded to read aloud several of the sixteen discourses on
+education which, taken together, form the discriminating and infallible example
+of conduct known as the Holy Edict. As each detail was dwelt upon Yin arose
+from his couch and gave his deliberate testimony that all the required tests
+and rites had been observed in his own case. The first part of the repast was
+then partaken of, the nature of the ingredients and the manner of preparing
+them being fully explained, and in a like manner through each succeeding one of
+the four-and-forty courses. At the conclusion Yin again arose, being encouraged
+by the repeated uttering of his name by those present, and with extreme modesty
+and brilliance set forth his manner of thinking concerning all subjects with
+which he was acquainted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Early on the morning of the following day Yin set out on his travels, entirely
+unaccompanied, and carrying with him nothing beyond a sum of money, a silk
+robe, and a well-tried and reliable spear. For many days he journeyed in a
+northerly direction, without encountering anything sufficiently unusual to
+engage his attention. This, however, was doubtless part of a pre-arranged
+scheme so that he should not be drawn from a destined path, for at a small
+village lying on the southern shore of a large lake, called by those around
+Silent Water, he heard of the existence of a certain sacred island, distant a
+full day&rsquo;s sailing, which was barren of all forms of living things, and
+contained only a single gigantic rock of divine origin and majestic appearance.
+Many persons, the villagers asserted, had sailed to the island in the hope of
+learning the portent of the rock, but none ever returned, and they themselves
+avoided coming even within sight of it; for the sacred stone, they declared,
+exercised an evil influence over their ships, and would, if permitted, draw
+them out of their course and towards itself. For this reason Yin could find no
+guide, whatever reward he offered, who would accompany him; but having with
+difficulty succeeded in hiring a small boat of inconsiderable value, he
+embarked with food, incense, and materials for building fires, and after rowing
+consistently for nearly the whole of the day, came within sight of the island
+at evening. Thereafter the necessity of further exertion ceased, for, as they
+of the village had declared would be the case, the vessel moved gently forward,
+in an unswerving line, without being in any way propelled, and reaching its
+destination in a marvellously short space of time, passed behind a protecting
+spur of land and came to rest. It then being night, Yin did no more than carry
+his stores to a place of safety, and after lighting a sacrificial fire and
+prostrating himself before the rock, passed into the Middle Air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the morning Yin&rsquo;s spirit came back to the earth amid the sound of
+music of a celestial origin, which ceased immediately he recovered full
+consciousness. Accepting this manifestation as an omen of Divine favour, Yin
+journeyed towards the centre of the island where the rock stood, at every step
+passing the bones of innumerable ones who had come on a similar quest to his,
+and perished. Many of these had left behind them inscriptions on wood or bone
+testifying their deliberate opinion of the sacred rock, the island, their
+protecting deities, and the entire train of circumstances, which had resulted
+in their being in such a condition. These were for the most part of a
+maledictory and unencouraging nature, so that after reading a few, Yin
+endeavoured to pass without being in any degree influenced by such ill-judged
+outbursts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Accursed be the ancestors of this tormented one to four generations
+back!&rdquo; was prominently traced upon an unusually large shoulder-blade.
+&ldquo;May they at this moment be simmering in a vat of unrefined
+dragon&rsquo;s blood, as a reward for having so undiscriminatingly reared the
+person who inscribes these words only to attain this end!&rdquo; &ldquo;Be
+warned, O later one, by the signs around!&rdquo; Another and more
+practical-minded person had written: &ldquo;Retreat with all haste to your
+vessel, and escape while there is yet time. Should you, by chance, again reach
+land through this warning, do not neglect, out of an emotion of gratitude, to
+burn an appropriate amount of sacrifice paper for the lessening of the torments
+of the spirit of Li-Kao,&rdquo; to which an unscrupulous one, who was plainly
+desirous of sharing in the benefit of the requested sacrifice, without
+suffering the exertion of inscribing a warning after the amiable manner of
+Li-Kao, had added the words, &ldquo;and that of Huan Sin.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Halting at a convenient distance from one side of the rock which, without being
+carved by any person&rsquo;s hand, naturally resembled the symmetrical
+countenance of a recumbent dragon (which he therefore conjectured to be the
+chief point of the entire mass), Yin built his fire and began an unremitting
+course of sacrifice and respectful ceremony. This manner of conduct he observed
+conscientiously for the space of seven days. Towards the end of that period a
+feeling of unendurable dejection began to possess him, for his stores of all
+kinds were beginning to fail, and he could not entirely put behind him the
+memory of the various well-intentioned warnings which he had received, or the
+sight of the fleshless ones who had lined his path. On the eighth day, being
+weak with hunger and, by reason of an intolerable thirst, unable to restrain
+his body any longer in the spot where he had hitherto continuously prostrated
+himself nine-and-ninety times each hour without ceasing, he rose to his feet
+and retraced his steps to the boat in order that he might fill his water-skins
+and procure a further supply of food.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With a complicated emotion, in which was present every abandoned and
+disagreeable thought to which a person becomes a prey in moments of exceptional
+mental and bodily anguish, he perceived as soon as he reached the edge of the
+water that the boat, upon which he was confidently relying to carry him back
+when all else failed, had disappeared as entirely as the smoke from an
+extinguished opium pipe. At this sight Yin clearly understood the meaning of
+Li-Kao&rsquo;s unregarded warning, and recognized that nothing could now save
+him from adding his incorruptible parts to those of the unfortunate ones whose
+unhappy fate had, seven days ago, engaged his refined pity. Unaccountably
+strengthened in body by the indignation which possessed him, and inspired with
+a virtuous repulsion at the treacherous manner of behaving on the part of those
+who guided his destinies, he hastened back to his place of obeisance, and
+perceiving that the habitually placid and introspective expression on the
+dragon face had imperceptibly changed into one of offensive cunning and
+unconcealed contempt, he snatched up his spear and, without the consideration
+of a moment, hurled it at a score of paces distance full into the sacred but
+nevertheless very unprepossessing face before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the instant when the presumptuous weapon touched the holy stone the entire
+intervening space between the earth and the sky was filled with innumerable
+flashes of forked and many-tongued lightning, so that the island had the
+appearance of being the scene of a very extensive but somewhat badly-arranged
+display of costly fireworks. At the same time the thunder rolled among the
+clouds and beneath the sea in an exceedingly disconcerting manner. At the first
+indication of these celestial movements a sudden blindness came upon Yin, and
+all power of thought or movement forsook him; nevertheless, he experienced an
+emotion of flight through the air, as though borne upwards upon the back of a
+winged creature. When this emotion ceased, the blindness went from him as
+suddenly and entirely as if a cloth had been pulled away from his eyes, and he
+perceived that he was held in the midst of a boundless space, with no other
+object in view than the sacred rock, which had opened, as it were, revealing a
+mighty throng within, at the sight of whom Yin&rsquo;s internal organs trembled
+as they would never have moved at ordinary danger, for it was put into his
+spirit that these in whose presence he stood were the sacred Emperors of his
+country from the earliest time until the usurpation of the Chinese throne by
+the devouring Tartar hordes from the North.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Yin gazed in fear-stricken amazement, a knowledge of the various Pure Ones
+who composed the assembly came upon him. He understood that the three unclad
+and commanding figures which stood together were the Emperors of the Heaven,
+Earth, and Man, whose reigns covered a space of more than eighty thousand
+years, commencing from the time when the world began its span of existence.
+Next to them stood one wearing a robe of leopard-skin, his hand resting upon a
+staff of a massive club, while on his face the expression of tranquillity which
+marked his predecessors had changed into one of alert wakefulness; it was the
+Emperor of Houses, whose reign marked the opening of the never-ending strife
+between man and all other creatures. By his side stood his successor, the
+Emperor of Fire, holding in his right hand the emblem of the knotted cord, by
+which he taught man to cultivate his mental faculties, while from his mouth
+issued smoke and flame, signifying that by the introduction of fire he had
+raised his subjects to a state of civilized life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the other side of the boundless chamber which seemed to be contained within
+the rocks were Fou-Hy, Tchang-Ki, Tcheng-Nung, and Huang, standing or reclining
+together. The first of these framed the calendar, organized property, thought
+out the eight Essential Diagrams, encouraged the various branches of hunting,
+and the rearing of domestic animals, and instituted marriage. From his couch
+floated melodious sounds in remembrance of his discovery of the property of
+stringed woods. Tchang-Ki, who manifested the property of herbs and growing
+plants, wore a robe signifying his attainments by means of embroidered symbols.
+His hand rested on the head of the dragon, while at his feet flowed a
+bottomless canal of the purest water. The discovery of written letters by
+Tcheng-Nung, and his ingenious plan of grouping them after the manner of the
+constellations of stars, was emblemized in a similar manner, while Huang, or
+the Yellow Emperor, was surrounded by ores of the useful and precious metals,
+weapons of warfare, written books, silks and articles of attire, coined money,
+and a variety of objects, all testifying to his ingenuity and inspired energy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These illustrious ones, being the greatest, were the first to take Yin&rsquo;s
+attention, but beyond them he beheld an innumerable concourse of Emperors who
+not infrequently outshone their majestic predecessors in the richness of their
+apparel and the magnificence of the jewels which they wore. There Yin perceived
+Hung-Hoang, who first caused the chants to be collected, and other rulers of
+the Tcheon dynasty; Yong-Tching, who compiled the Holy Edict; Thang rulers
+whose line is rightly called &ldquo;the golden,&rdquo; from the unsurpassed
+excellence of the composed verses which it produced; renowned Emperors of the
+versatile Han dynasty; and, standing apart, and shunned by all, the malignant
+and narrow-minded Tsing-Su-Hoang, who caused the Sacred Books to be burned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Even while Yin looked and wondered, in great fear, a rolling voice, coming from
+one who sat in the midst of all, holding in his right hand the sun, and in his
+left the moon, sounded forth, like the music of many brass instruments playing
+in unison. It was the First Man who spoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yin, son of Yat Huang, and creature of the Lower Part,&rdquo; he said,
+&ldquo;listen well to the words I speak, for brief is the span of your tarrying
+in the Upper Air, nor will the utterance I now give forth ever come unto your
+ears again, either on the earth, or when, blindly groping in the Middle
+Distance, your spirit takes its nightly flight. They who are gathered around,
+and whose voices I speak, bid me say this: Although immeasurably above you in
+all matters, both of knowledge and of power, yet we greet you as one who is
+well-intentioned, and inspired with honourable ambition. Had you been content
+to entreat and despair, as did all the feeble and incapable ones whose white
+bones formed your pathway, your ultimate fate would have in no wise differed
+from theirs. But inasmuch as you held yourself valiantly, and, being taken,
+raised an instinctive hand in return, you have been chosen; for the day to mute
+submission has, for the time or for ever, passed away, and the hour is when
+China shall be saved, not by supplication, but by the spear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A state of things which would have been highly unnecessary if I had been
+permitted to carry out my intention fully, and restore man to his prehistoric
+simplicity,&rdquo; interrupted Tsin-Su-Hoang. &ldquo;For that reason, when the
+voice of the assemblage expresses itself, it must be understood that it
+represents in no measure the views of Tsin-Su-Hoang.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In the matter of what has gone before, and that which will follow
+hereafter,&rdquo; continued the Voice dispassionately, &ldquo;Yin, the son of
+Yat-Huang, must concede that it is in no part the utterance of
+Tsin-Su-Hoang&mdash;Tsin-Su-Hoang who burned the Sacred Books.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the mention of the name and offence of this degraded being a great sound
+went up from the entire multitude&mdash;a universal cry of execration, not
+greatly dissimilar from that which may be frequently heard in the crowded
+Temple of Impartiality when the one whose duty it is to take up, at a venture,
+the folded papers, announces that the sublime Emperor, or some mandarin of
+exalted rank, has been so fortunate as to hold the winning number in the Annual
+State Lottery. So vengeance-laden and mournful was the combined and evidently
+preconcerted wail, that Yin was compelled to shield his ears against it; yet
+the inconsiderable Tsin-Su-Hoang, on whose account it was raised, seemed in no
+degree to be affected by it, he, doubtless, having become hardened by hearing a
+similar outburst, at fixed hours, throughout interminable cycles of time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the last echo of the cry had passed away the Voice continued to speak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Soon the earth will again receive you, Yin,&rdquo; it said, &ldquo;for
+it is not respectful that a lower one should be long permitted to gaze upon our
+exalted faces. Yet when you go forth and stand once more among men this is laid
+on you: that henceforth you are as a being devoted to a fixed and unchanging
+end, and whatever moves towards the restoring of the throne of the Central
+Empire the outcast but unalterably sacred line of its true sovereigns shall
+have your arm and mind. By what combination of force and stratagem this can be
+accomplished may not be honourably revealed by us, the all-knowing.
+Nevertheless, omens and guidance shall not be lacking from time to time, and
+from the beginning the weapon by which you have attained to this distinction
+shall be as a sign of our favour and protection over you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the Voice made an end of speaking the sudden blindness came upon Yin, as
+it had done before, and from the sense of motion which he experienced, he
+conjectured that he was being conveyed back to the island. Undoubtedly this was
+the case, for presently there came upon him the feeling that he was awakening
+from a deep and refreshing sleep, and opening his eyes, which he now found
+himself able to do without any difficulty, he immediately discovered that he
+was reclining at full length on the ground, and at a distance of about a score
+of paces from the dragon head. His first thought was to engage in a lengthy
+course of self-abasement before it, but remembering the words which had been
+spoken to him while in the Upper Air, he refrained, and even ventured to go
+forward with a confident but somewhat self-deprecatory air, to regain the
+spear, which he perceived lying at the foot of the rock. With feelings of a
+reassuring nature he then saw that the very undesirable expression which he had
+last beheld upon the dragon face had melted into one of encouraging urbanity
+and benignant esteem.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Close by the place where he had landed he discovered his boat, newly furnished
+with wine and food of a much more attractive profusion than that which he had
+purchased in the village. Embarking in it, he made as though he would have
+returned to the south, but the spear which he held turned within his grasp, and
+pointed in an exactly opposite direction. Regarding this fact as an express
+command on the part of the Deities, Yin turned his boat to the north, and in
+the space of two days&rsquo; time&mdash;being continually guided by the fixed
+indication of the spear&mdash;he reached the shore and prepared to continue his
+travels in the same direction, upheld and inspired by the knowledge that
+henceforth he moved under the direct influence of very powerful spirits.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"></a>
+IX.<br />
+THE ILL-REGULATED DESTINY OF KIN YEN, THE PICTURE-MAKER</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+As recorded by himself before his sudden departure from Peking, owing to
+circumstances which are made plain in the following narrative.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are moments in the life of a person when the saying of the wise Ni-Hyu
+that &ldquo;Misfortune comes to all men and to most women&rdquo; is endowed
+with double force. At such times the faithful child of the Sun is a prey to the
+whitest and most funereal thoughts, and even the inspired wisdom of his
+illustrious ancestors seems more than doubtful, while the continued inactivity
+of the Sacred Dragon appears for the time to give colour to the scoffs of the
+Western barbarian. A little while ago these misgivings would have found no
+resting-place in the bosom of the writer. Now, however&mdash;but the matter
+must be made clear from the beginning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The name of the despicable person who here sets forth his immature story is Kin
+Yen, and he is a native of Kia-Lu in the Province of Che-Kiang. Having
+purchased from a very aged man the position of Hereditary Instructor in the Art
+of Drawing Birds and Flowers, he gave lessons in these accomplishments until he
+had saved sufficient money to journey to Peking. Here it was his presumptuous
+intention to learn the art of drawing figures in order that he might illustrate
+printed leaves of a more distinguished class than those which would accept what
+true politeness compels him to call his exceedingly unsymmetrical pictures of
+birds and flowers. Accordingly, when the time arrived, he disposed of his
+Hereditary Instructorship, having first ascertained in the interests of his
+pupils that his successor was a person of refined morals and great filial
+piety.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! it is well written, &ldquo;The road to eminence lies through the cheap
+and exceedingly uninviting eating-houses.&rdquo; In spite of this
+person&rsquo;s great economy, and of his having begged his way from Kia-Lu to
+Peking in the guise of a pilgrim, journeying to burn incense in the sacred
+Temple of Truth near that city, when once within the latter place his taels
+melted away like the smile of a person of low class when he discovers that the
+mandarin&rsquo;s stern words were not intended as a jest. Moreover, he found
+that the story-makers of Peking, receiving higher rewards than those at Kia-Lu,
+considered themselves bound to introduce living characters into all their
+tales, and in consequence the very ornamental drawings of birds and flowers
+which he had entwined into a legend entitled &ldquo;The Last Fight of the
+Heaven-sent Tcheng&rdquo;&mdash;a story which had been entrusted to him for
+illustration as a test of his skill&mdash;was returned to him with a
+communication in which the writer revealed his real meaning by stating contrary
+facts. It therefore became necessary that he should become competent in the art
+of drawing figures without delay, and with this object he called at the
+picture-room of Tieng Lin, a person whose experience was so great that he
+could, without discomfort to himself, draw men and women of all classes, both
+good and bad. When the person who is setting forth this narrative revealed to
+Tieng Lin the utmost amount of money he could afford to give for instruction in
+the art of drawing living figures, Tieng Lin&rsquo;s face became as overcast as
+the sky immediately before the Great Rains, for in his ignorance of this
+incapable person&rsquo;s poverty he had treated him with equality and courtesy,
+nor had he kept him waiting in the mean room on the plea that he was at that
+moment closeted with the Sacred Emperor. However, upon receiving an assurance
+that a rumour would be spread in which the number of taels should be multiplied
+by ten, and that the sum itself should be brought in advance, Tieng Lin
+promised to instruct this person in the art of drawing five characters, which,
+he said, would be sufficient to illustrate all stories except those by the most
+expensive and highly-rewarded story-tellers&mdash;men who have become so
+proficient that they not infrequently introduce a score or more of living
+persons into their tales without confusion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After considerable deliberation, this unassuming person selected the following
+characters, judging them to be the most useful, and the most readily applicable
+to all phases and situations of life:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+1. A bad person, wearing a long dark pigtail and smoking an opium pipe. His
+arms to be folded, and his clothes new and very expensive.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+2. A woman of low class. One who removes dust and useless things from the rooms
+of the over-fastidious and of those who have long nails; she to be carrying her
+trade-signs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+3. A person from Pe-ling, endowed with qualities which cause the beholder to be
+amused. This character to be especially designed to go with the short sayings
+which remove gravity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+4. One who, having incurred the displeasure of the sublime Emperor, has been
+decapitated in consequence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+5. An ordinary person of no striking or distinguished appearance. One who can
+be safely introduced in all places and circumstances without great fear of
+detection.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After many months spent in constant practice and in taking measurements, this
+unenviable person attained a very high degree of proficiency, and could draw
+any of the five characters without hesitation. With renewed hope, therefore, he
+again approached those who sit in easy-chairs, and concealing his identity (for
+they are stiff at bending, and when once a picture-maker is classed as
+&ldquo;of no good&rdquo; he remains so to the end, in spite of change), he
+succeeded in getting entrusted with a story by the elegant and refined Kyen
+Tal. This writer, as he remembered with distrust, confines his distinguished
+efforts entirely to the doings of sailors and of those connected with the sea,
+and this tale, indeed, he found upon reading to be the narrative of how a
+Hang-Chow junk and its crew, consisting mostly of aged persons, were beguiled
+out of their course by an exceedingly ill-disposed dragon, and wrecked upon an
+island of naked barbarians. It was, therefore, with a somewhat heavy stomach
+that this person set himself the task of arranging his five characters as so to
+illustrate the words of the story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sayings of the ancient philosopher Tai Loo are indeed very subtle, and the
+truth of his remark, &ldquo;After being disturbed in one&rsquo;s dignity by a
+mandarin&rsquo;s foot it is no unusual occurrence to fall flat on the face in
+crossing a muddy street,&rdquo; was now apparent. Great as was the disadvantage
+owing to the nature of the five characters, this became as nothing when it
+presently appeared that the avaricious and clay-souled Tieng Lin, taking
+advantage of the blindness of this person&rsquo;s enthusiasm, had taught him
+the figures so that they all gazed in the same direction. In consequence of
+this it would have been impossible that two should be placed as in the act of
+conversing together had not the noble Kyen Tal been inspired to write that
+&ldquo;his companions turned from him in horror.&rdquo; This incident the
+ingenious person who is recording these facts made the subject of three
+separate drawings, and having in one or two other places effected skilful
+changes in the writing, so similar in style to the strokes of the illustrious
+Kyen Tal as to be undetectable, he found little difficulty in making use of all
+his characters. The risks of the future, however, were too great to be run with
+impunity; therefore it was arranged, by means of money&mdash;for this person
+was fast becoming acquainted with the ways of Peking&mdash;that an emissary
+from one who sat in an easy-chair should call upon him for a conference, the
+narrative of which appeared in this form in the <i>Peking Printed Leaves of
+Thrice-distilled Truth:</i>
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+The brilliant and amiable young picture-maker Kin Yen, in spite of the
+immediate and universal success of his accomplished efforts, is still quite
+rotund in intellect, nor is he, if we may use a form of speaking affected by
+our friends across the Hoang Hai, &ldquo;suffering from swollen feet.&rdquo; A
+person with no recognized position, but one who occasionally does inferior work
+of this nature for us, recently surprised Kin Yen without warning, and found
+him in his sumptuously appointed picture-room, busy with compasses and
+tracing-paper. About the place were scattered in elegant confusion several of
+his recent masterpieces. From the subsequent conversation we are in a position
+to make it known that in future this refined and versatile person will confine
+himself entirely to illustrations of processions, funerals, armies on the
+march, persons pursued by others, and kindred subjects which appeal strongly to
+his imagination. Kin Yen has severe emotions on the subject of individuality in
+art, and does not hesitate to express himself forcibly with reference to those
+who are content to degrade the names of their ancestors by turning out what he
+wittily describes as &ldquo;so much of varied mediocrity.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The prominence obtained by this pleasantly-composed notice&mdash;for it was
+copied by others who were unaware of the circumstance of its origin&mdash;had
+the desired effect. In future, when one of those who sit in easy-chairs wished
+for a picture after the kind mentioned, he would say to his lesser one:
+&ldquo;Oh, send to the graceful and versatile Kin Yen; he becomes inspired on
+the subject of funerals,&rdquo; or persons escaping from prison, or families
+walking to the temple, or whatever it might be. In that way this narrow-minded
+and illiterate person was soon both looked at and rich, so that it was his
+daily practice to be carried, in silk garments, past the houses of those who
+had known him in poverty, and on these occasions he would puff out his cheeks
+and pull his moustaches, looking fiercely from side to side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+True are the words written in the elegant and distinguished Book of Verses:
+&ldquo;Beware lest when being kissed by the all-seeing Emperor, you step upon
+the elusive banana-peel.&rdquo; It was at the height of eminence in this
+altogether degraded person&rsquo;s career that he encountered the being who led
+him on to his present altogether too lamentable condition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tien Nung is the earthly name by which is known she who combines all the most
+illustrious attributes which have been possessed of women since the days of the
+divine Fou-Hy. Her father is a person of very gross habits, and lives by
+selling inferior merchandise covered with some of good quality. Upon past
+occasions, when under the direct influence of Tien, and in the hope of gaining
+some money benefit, this person may have spoken of him in terms of praise, and
+may even have recommended friends to entrust articles of value to him, or to
+procure goods on his advice. Now, however, he records it as his unalterable
+decision that the father of Tien Nung is by profession a person who obtains
+goods by stratagem, and that, moreover, it is impossible to gain an advantage
+over him on matters of exchange.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The events that have happened prove the deep wisdom of Li Pen when he exclaimed
+&ldquo;The whitest of pigeons, no matter how excellent in the silk-hung
+chamber, is not to be followed on the field of battle.&rdquo; Tien herself was
+all that the most exacting of persons could demand, but her opinions on the
+subject of picture-making were not formed by heavy thought, and it would have
+been well if this had been borne in mind by this person. One morning he chanced
+to meet her while carrying open in his hands four sets of printed leaves
+containing his pictures.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have observed,&rdquo; said Tien, after the usual personal inquiries
+had been exchanged, &ldquo;that the renowned Kin Yen, who is the object of the
+keenest envy among his brother picture-makers, so little regards the sacredness
+of his accomplished art that never by any chance does he depict persons of the
+very highest excellence. Let not the words of an impetuous maiden disarrange
+his digestive organs if they should seem too bold to the high-souled Kin Yen,
+but this matter has, since she has known him, troubled the eyelids of Tien.
+Here,&rdquo; she continued, taking from this person&rsquo;s hand one of the
+printed leaves which he was carrying, &ldquo;in this illustration of persons
+returning from extinguishing a fire, is there one who appears to possess those
+qualities which appeal to all that is intellectual and competitive within one?
+Can it be that the immaculate Kin Yen is unacquainted with the subtle
+distinction between the really select and the vastly ordinary? Ah,
+undiscriminating Kin Yen! are not the eyelashes of the person who is addressing
+you as threads of fine gold to junk&rsquo;s cables when compared with those of
+the extremely commonplace female who is here pictured in the art of carrying a
+bucket? Can the most refined lack of vanity hide from you the fact that your
+own person is infinitely rounder than this of the evilly-intentioned-looking
+individual with the opium pipe? O blind Kin Yen!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here she fled in honourable confusion, leaving this person standing in the
+street, astounded, and a prey to the most distinguished emotions of a
+complicated nature.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Tien,&rdquo; he cried at length, &ldquo;inspired by those bright
+eyes, narrower than the most select of the three thousand and one possessed by
+the sublime Buddha, the almost fallen Kin Yen will yet prove himself worthy of
+your esteemed consideration. He will, without delay, learn to draw two new
+living persons, and will incorporate in them the likenesses which you have
+suggested.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Returning swiftly to his abode, he therefore inscribed and despatched this
+letter, in proof of his resolve:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To the Heaven-sent human chrysanthemum, in whose body reside the
+Celestial Principles and the imprisoned colours of the rainbow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From the very offensive and self-opinionated picture-maker.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Henceforth this person will take no rest, nor eat any but the commonest
+food, until he shall have carried out the wishes of his one Jade Star, she
+whose teeth he is not worthy to blacken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When Kin Yen has been entrusted with a story which contains a being in
+some degree reflecting the character of Tien, he will embellish it with her
+irreproachable profile and come to hear her words. Till then he bids her
+farewell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From that moment most of this person&rsquo;s time was necessarily spent in
+learning to draw the two new characters, and in consequence of this he lost
+much work, and, indeed, the greater part of the connexion which he had been at
+such pains to form gradually slipped away from him. Many months passed before
+he was competent to reproduce persons resembling Tien and himself, for in this
+he was unassisted by Tieng Lin, and his progress was slow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length, being satisfied, he called upon the least fierce of those who sit in
+easy-chairs, and requested that he might be entrusted with a story for
+picture-making.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We should have been covered with honourable joy to set in operation the
+brush of the inspired Kin Yen,&rdquo; replied the other with agreeable
+condescension; &ldquo;only at the moment, it does not chance that we have
+before us any stories in which funerals, or beggars being driven from the city,
+form the chief incidents. Perhaps if the polished Kin Yen should happen to be
+passing this ill-constructed office in about six months&rsquo;
+time&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The brush of Kin Yen will never again depict funerals, or labourers
+arranging themselves to receive pay or similar subjects,&rdquo; exclaimed this
+person impetuously, &ldquo;for, as it is well said, &lsquo;The lightning
+discovers objects which the paper-lantern fails to reveal.&rsquo; In future
+none but tales dealing with the most distinguished persons shall have his
+attention.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If this be the true word of the dignified Kin Yen, it is possible that
+we may be able to animate his inspired faculties,&rdquo; was the response.
+&ldquo;But in that case, as a new style must be in the nature of an experiment,
+and as our public has come to regard Kin Yen as the great exponent of Art
+Facing in One Direction, we cannot continue the exceedingly liberal payment
+with which we have been accustomed to reward his elegant exertions.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Provided the story be suitable, that is a matter of less
+importance,&rdquo; replied this person.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The story,&rdquo; said the one in the easy-chair, &ldquo;is by the
+refined Tong-king, and it treats of the high-minded and conscientious doubts of
+one who would become a priest of Fo. When preparing for this distinguished
+office he discovers within himself leanings towards the religion of Lao-Tse.
+His illustrious scruples are enhanced by his affection for Wu Ping, who now
+appears in the story.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And the ending?&rdquo; inquired this person, for it was desirable that
+the two should marry happily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The inimitable stories of Tong-king never have any real ending, and this
+one, being in his most elevated style, has even less end than most of them. But
+the whole narrative is permeated with the odour of joss-sticks and honourable
+high-mindedness, and the two characters are both of noble birth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it might be some time before another story so suitable should be offered, or
+one which would afford so good an opportunity of wafting incense to Tien, and
+of displaying her incomparable outline in dignified and magnanimous attitudes,
+this was eagerly accepted, and for the next week this obscure person spent all
+his days and nights in picturing the lovely Tien and his debased self in the
+characters of the nobly-born young priest of Fo and Wu Ping. The pictures
+finished, he caused them to be carefully conveyed to the office, and then,
+sitting down, spent many hours in composing the following letter, to be sent to
+Tien, accompanying a copy of the printed leaves wherein the story and his
+drawing should appear:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When the light has for a period been hidden from a person, it is no
+uncommon thing for him to be struck blind on gazing at the sun; therefore, if
+the sublime Tien values the eyes of Kin Yen, let her hide herself behind a
+gauze screen on his approach.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The trembling words of Tien have sunk deep into the inside of Kin Yen
+and become part of his being. Never again can he depict persons of the quality
+and in the position he was wont to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With this he sends his latest efforts. In each case he conceives his
+drawings to be the pictures of the written words; in the noble Tien&rsquo;s
+case it is undoubtedly so, in his own he aspires to it. Doubtless the
+unobtrusive Tien would make no claim to the character and manner of behaving of
+the one in the story, yet Kin Yen confidently asserts that she is to the other
+as the glove is to the hand, and he is filled with the most intelligent delight
+at being able to exhibit her in her true robes, by which she will be known to
+all who see her, in spite of her dignified protests. Kin Yen hopes; he will
+come this evening after sunset.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The week which passed between the finishing of the pictures and the appearance
+of the eminent printed leaves containing them was the longest in this
+near-sighted person&rsquo;s ill-spent life. But at length the day arrived, and
+going with exceedingly mean haste to the place of sale, he purchased a copy and
+sent it, together with the letter of his honourable intention, on which he had
+bestowed so much care, to Tien.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not till then did it occur to this inconsiderable one that the impetuousness of
+his action was ill-judged; for might it not be that the pictures were
+evilly-printed, or that the delicate and fragrant words painting the character
+of the one who now bore the features of Tien had undergone some change?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To satisfy himself, scarce as taels had become with him, he purchased another
+copy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are many exalted sayings of the wise and venerable Confucious constructed
+so as to be of service and consolation in moments of strong mental distress.
+These for the greater part recommend tranquillity of mind, a complete
+abnegation of the human passions and the like behaviour. The person who is here
+endeavouring to bring this badly-constructed account of his dishonourable
+career to a close pondered these for some moments after twice glancing through
+the matter in the printed leaves, and then, finding the faculties of speech and
+movement restored to him, procured a two-edged knife of distinguished
+brilliance and went forth to call upon the one who sits in an easy-chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold,&rdquo; said the lesser one, insidiously stepping in between this
+person an the inner door, &ldquo;my intellectual and all-knowing chief is not
+here to-day. May his entirely insufficient substitute offer words of
+congratulation to the inspired Kin Yen on his effective and striking pictures
+in this week&rsquo;s issue?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;His altogether insufficient substitute,&rdquo; answered this person,
+with difficulty mastering his great rage, &ldquo;may and shall offer words of
+explanation to the inspired Kin Yen, setting forth the reason of his pictures
+being used, not with the high-minded story of the elegant Tong-king for which
+they were executed, but accompanying exceedingly base, foolish, and
+ungrammatical words written by Klan-hi, the Peking remover of
+gravity&mdash;words which will evermore brand the dew-like Tien as a person of
+light speech and no refinement&rdquo;; and in his agony this person struck the
+lacquered table several times with his elegant knife.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Kin Yen,&rdquo; exclaimed the lesser one, &ldquo;this matter rests not
+here. It is a thing beyond the sphere of the individual who is addressing you.
+All he can tell is that the graceful Tong-king withdrew his exceedingly tedious
+story for some reason at the final moment, and as your eminent drawings had
+been paid for, my chief of the inner office decided to use them with this story
+of Klan-hi. But surely it cannot be that there is aught in the story to
+displease your illustrious personality?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Judge for yourself,&rdquo; this person said, &ldquo;first understanding
+that the two immaculate characters figuring as the personages of the narrative
+are exact copies of this dishonoured person himself and of the willowy Tien,
+daughter of the vastly rich Pe-li-Chen, whom he was hopeful of marrying.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Selecting one of the least offensive of the passages in the work, this unhappy
+person read the following immature and inelegant words:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This well-satisfied writer of printed leaves had a highly-distinguished
+time last night. After Chow had departed to see about food, and the junk had
+been fastened up at the lock of Kilung, on the Yang-tse-Kiang, he and the
+round-bodied Shang were journeying along the narrow path by the river-side when
+the right leg of the graceful and popular person who is narrating these events
+disappeared into the river. Suffering no apprehension in the dark, but that the
+vanishing limb was the left leg of Shang, this intelligent writer allowed his
+impassiveness to melt away to an exaggerated degree; but at that moment the
+circumstance became plain to the round-bodied Shang, who was in consequence
+very grossly amused at the mishap and misapprehension of your good lord, the
+writer, at the same time pointing out the matter as it really was. Then it
+chanced that there came by one of the maidens who carry tea and jest for small
+sums of money to the sitters at the little tables with round white tops, at
+which this remarkable person, the confidant of many mandarins, ever desirous of
+displaying his priceless power of removing gravity, said to her:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;How much of gladness, Ning-Ning? By the Sacred Serpent this is
+plainly your night out.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perceiving the true facts of the predicament of this commendable writer,
+she replied:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Suffer not your illustrious pigtail to be removed, venerable
+Wang; for in this maiden&rsquo;s estimation it is indeed your night in.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are times when this valued person wonders whether his method of
+removing gravity be in reality very antique or quite new. On such occasions the
+world, with all its schools, and those who interfere in the concerns of others,
+continues to revolve around him. The wondrous sky-lanterns come out silently
+two by two like to the crystallized music of stringed woods. Then, in the
+mystery of no-noise, his head becomes greatly enlarged with celestial and
+highly-profound thoughts; his groping hand seems to touch matter which may be
+written out in his impressive style and sold to those who print leaves, and he
+goes home to write out such.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When this person looked up after reading, with tears of shame in his eyes, he
+perceived that the lesser one had cautiously disappeared. Therefore, being
+unable to gain admittance to the inner office, he returned to his home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here the remark of the omniscient Tai Loo again fixes itself upon the
+attention. No sooner had this incapable person reached his house than he became
+aware that a parcel had arrived for him from the still adorable Tien. Retiring
+to a distance from it, he opened the accompanying letter and read:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When a virtuous maiden has been made the victim of a heartless jest or a
+piece of coarse stupidity at a person&rsquo;s hands, it is no uncommon thing
+for him to be struck blind on meeting her father. Therefore, if the degraded
+and evil-minded Kin Yen values his eyes, ears, nose, pigtail, even his
+dishonourable breath, let him hide himself behind a fortified wall at
+Pe-li-Chen&rsquo;s approach.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With this Tien returns everything she has ever accepted from Kin Yen.
+She even includes the brace of puppies which she received anonymously about a
+month ago, and which she did not eat, but kept for reasons of her
+own&mdash;reasons entirely unconnected with the vapid and exceedingly conceited
+Kin Yen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As though this letter, and the puppies of which this person now heard for the
+first time, making him aware of the existence of a rival lover, were not
+enough, there almost immediately arrived a letter from Tien&rsquo;s father:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This person has taken the advice of those skilled in extorting money by
+means of law forms, and he finds that Kin Yen has been guilty of a grave and
+highly expensive act. This is increased by the fact that Tien had conveyed his
+seemingly distinguished intentions to all her friends, before whom she now
+stands in an exceedingly ungraceful attitude. The machinery for depriving Kin
+Yen of all the necessaries of existence shall be put into operation at
+once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this point, the person who is now concluding his obscure and commonplace
+history, having spent his last piece of money on joss-sticks and incense-paper,
+and being convinced of the presence of the spirits of his ancestors, is
+inspired to make the following prophecies: That Tieng Lin, who imposed upon him
+in the matter of picture-making, shall come to a sudden end, accompanied by
+great internal pains, after suffering extreme poverty; that the one who sits in
+an easy-chair, together with his lesser one and all who make stories for them,
+shall, while sailing to a rice feast during the Festival of Flowers, be
+precipitated into the water and slowly devoured by sea monsters, Klan-hi in
+particular being tortured in the process; that Pel-li-Chen, the father of Tien,
+shall be seized with the dancing sickness when in the presence of the august
+Emperor, and being in consequence suspected of treachery, shall, to prove the
+truth of his denials, be submitted to the tests of boiling tar, red-hot swords,
+and of being dropped from a great height on to the Sacred Stone of Goodness and
+Badness, in each of which he shall fail to convince his judges or to establish
+his innocence, to the amusement of all beholders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These are the true words of Kin Yen, the picture-maker, who, having unweighed
+his mind and exposed the avaricious villainy of certain persons, is now
+retiring by night to a very select and hidden spot in the Khingan Mountains.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG ***</div>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wallet of Kai Lung, by Ernest Bramah
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Wallet of Kai Lung
+
+Author: Ernest Bramah
+
+Posting Date: August 7, 2008 [EBook #1076]
+Release Date: October, 1997
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers
+
+
+
+
+
+THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG
+
+By Ernest Bramah
+
+
+
+  "Ho, illustrious passers-by!" says Kai Lung as he spreads out his
+  embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. "It is indeed unlikely
+  that you could condescend to stop and listen to the foolish words
+  of such an insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself.
+  Nevertheless, if you will but retard your elegant footsteps for a
+  few moments, this exceedingly unprepossessing individual will
+  endeavour to entertain you." This is a collection of Kai Lung's
+  entertaining tales, told professionally in the market places as he
+  travelled about; told sometimes to occupy and divert the minds of
+  his enemies when they were intent on torturing him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I. THE TRANSMUTATION OF LING
+
+I: INTRODUCTION
+
+The sun had dipped behind the western mountains before Kai Lung, with
+twenty li or more still between him and the city of Knei Yang, entered
+the camphor-laurel forest which stretched almost to his destination.
+No person of consequence ever made the journey unattended; but Kai Lung
+professed to have no fear, remarking with extempore wisdom, when warned
+at the previous village, that a worthless garment covered one with
+better protection than that afforded by an army of bowmen. Nevertheless,
+when within the gloomy aisles, Kai Lung more than once wished himself
+back at the village, or safely behind the mud walls of Knei Yang; and,
+making many vows concerning the amount of prayer-paper which he would
+assuredly burn when he was actually through the gates, he stepped
+out more quickly, until suddenly, at a turn in the glade, he stopped
+altogether, while the watchful expression into which he had unguardedly
+dropped at once changed into a mask of impassiveness and extreme
+unconcern. From behind the next tree projected a long straight rod, not
+unlike a slender bamboo at a distance, but, to Kai Lung's all-seeing
+eye, in reality the barrel of a matchlock, which would come into line
+with his breast if he took another step. Being a prudent man, more
+accustomed to guile and subservience to destiny than to force, he
+therefore waited, spreading out his hands in proof of his peaceful
+acquiescence, and smiling cheerfully until it should please the owner
+of the weapon to step forth. This the unseen did a moment later, still
+keeping his gun in an easy and convenient attitude, revealing a stout
+body and a scarred face, which in conjunction made it plain to Kai Lung
+that he was in the power of Lin Yi, a noted brigand of whom he had heard
+much in the villages.
+
+"O illustrious person," said Kai Lung very earnestly, "this is evidently
+an unfortunate mistake. Doubtless you were expecting some exalted
+Mandarin to come and render you homage, and were preparing to overwhelm
+him with gratified confusion by escorting him yourself to your
+well-appointed abode. Indeed, I passed such a one on the road, very
+richly apparelled, who inquired of me the way to the mansion of the
+dignified and upright Lin Yi. By this time he is perhaps two or three li
+towards the east."
+
+"However distinguished a Mandarin may be, it is fitting that I should
+first attend to one whose manners and accomplishments betray him to be
+of the Royal House," replied Lin Yi, with extreme affability. "Precede
+me, therefore, to my mean and uninviting hovel, while I gain more
+honour than I can reasonably bear by following closely in your elegant
+footsteps, and guarding your Imperial person with this inadequate but
+heavily-loaded weapon."
+
+Seeing no chance of immediate escape, Kai Lung led the way, instructed
+by the brigand, along a very difficult and bewildering path, until they
+reached a cave hidden among the crags. Here Lin Yi called out some words
+in the Miaotze tongue, whereupon a follower appeared, and opened a gate
+in the stockade of prickly mimosa which guarded the mouth of the den.
+Within the enclosure a fire burned, and food was being prepared. At a
+word from the chief, the unfortunate Kai Lung found his hands seized and
+tied behind his back, while a second later a rough hemp rope was fixed
+round his neck, and the other end tied to an overhanging tree.
+
+Lin Yi smiled pleasantly and critically upon these preparations, and
+when they were complete dismissed his follower.
+
+"Now we can converse at our ease and without restraint," he remarked to
+Kai Lung. "It will be a distinguished privilege for a person occupying
+the important public position which you undoubtedly do; for myself,
+my instincts are so degraded and low-minded that nothing gives me more
+gratification than to dispense with ceremony."
+
+To this Kai Lung made no reply, chiefly because at that moment the wind
+swayed the tree, and compelled him to stand on his toes in order to
+escape suffocation.
+
+"It would be useless to try to conceal from a person of your inspired
+intelligence that I am indeed Lin Yi," continued the robber. "It is a
+dignified position to occupy, and one for which I am quite incompetent.
+In the sixth month of the third year ago, it chanced that this unworthy
+person, at that time engaged in commercial affairs at Knei Yang, became
+inextricably immersed in the insidious delights of quail-fighting.
+Having been entrusted with a large number of taels with which to
+purchase elephants' teeth, it suddenly occurred to him that if he
+doubled the number of taels by staking them upon an exceedingly powerful
+and agile quail, he would be able to purchase twice the number of teeth,
+and so benefit his patron to a large extent. This matter was clearly
+forced upon his notice by a dream, in which he perceived one whom he
+then understood to be the benevolent spirit of an ancestor in the act
+of stroking a particular quail, upon whose chances he accordingly
+placed all he possessed. Doubtless evil spirits had been employed in the
+matter; for, to this person's great astonishment, the quail in question
+failed in a very discreditable manner at the encounter. Unfortunately,
+this person had risked not only the money which had been entrusted to
+him, but all that he had himself become possessed of by some years of
+honourable toil and assiduous courtesy as a professional witness in
+law cases. Not doubting that his patron would see that he was himself
+greatly to blame in confiding so large a sum of money to a comparatively
+young man of whom he knew little, this person placed the matter before
+him, at the same time showing him that he would suffer in the eyes of
+the virtuous if he did not restore this person's savings, which but for
+the presence of the larger sum, and a generous desire to benefit his
+patron, he would never have risked in so uncertain a venture as that of
+quail-fighting. Although the facts were laid in the form of a dignified
+request instead of a demand by legal means, and the reasoning carefully
+drawn up in columns of fine parchment by a very illustrious writer, the
+reply which this person received showed him plainly that a wrong view
+had been taken of the matter, and that the time had arrived when it
+became necessary for him to make a suitable rejoinder by leaving the
+city without delay."
+
+"It was a high-minded and disinterested course to take," said Kai
+Lung with great conviction, as Lin Yi paused. "Without doubt evil will
+shortly overtake the avaricious-souled person at Knei Yang."
+
+"It has already done so," replied Lin Yi. "While passing through this
+forest in the season of Many White Vapours, the spirits of his bad deeds
+appeared to him in misleading and symmetrical shapes, and drew him out
+of the path and away from his bowmen. After suffering many torments, he
+found his way here, where, in spite of our continual care, he perished
+miserably and in great bodily pain.... But I cannot conceal from
+myself, in spite of your distinguished politeness, that I am becoming
+intolerably tiresome with my commonplace talk."
+
+"On the contrary," replied Kai Lung, "while listening to your voice I
+seemed to hear the beating of many gongs of the finest and most polished
+brass. I floated in the Middle Air, and for the time I even became
+unconscious of the fact that this honourable appendage, though
+fashioned, as I perceive, out of the most delicate silk, makes it
+exceedingly difficult for me to breathe."
+
+"Such a thing cannot be permitted," exclaimed Lin Yi, with some
+indignation, as with his own hands he slackened the rope and, taking it
+from Kai Lung's neck, fastened it around his ankle. "Now, in return for
+my uninviting confidences, shall not my senses be gladdened by a recital
+of the titles and honours borne by your distinguished family? Doubtless,
+at this moment many Mandarins of the highest degree are anxiously
+awaiting your arrival at Knei Yang, perhaps passing the time by outdoing
+one another in protesting the number of taels each would give rather
+than permit you to be tormented by fire-brands, or even to lose a single
+ear."
+
+"Alas!" replied Kai Lung, "never was there a truer proverb than that
+which says, 'It is a mark of insincerity of purpose to spend one's
+time in looking for the sacred Emperor in the low-class tea-shops.'
+Do Mandarins or the friends of Mandarins travel in mean garments and
+unattended? Indeed, the person who is now before you is none other than
+the outcast Kai Lung, the story-teller, one of degraded habits and no
+very distinguished or reputable ancestors. His friends are few, and
+mostly of the criminal class; his wealth is not more than some six or
+eight cash, concealed in his left sandal; and his entire stock-in-trade
+consists of a few unendurable and badly told stories, to which, however,
+it is his presumptuous intention shortly to add a dignified narrative
+of the high-born Lin Yi, setting out his domestic virtues and the
+honour which he has reflected upon his house, his valour in war, the
+destruction of his enemies, and, above all, his great benevolence and
+the protection which he extends to the poor and those engaged in the
+distinguished arts."
+
+"The absence of friends is unfortunate," said Lin Yi thoughtfully, after
+he had possessed himself of the coins indicated by Kai Lung, and also
+of a much larger amount concealed elsewhere among the story-teller's
+clothing. "My followers are mostly outlawed Miaotze, who have been
+driven from their own tribes in Yun Nan for man-eating and disregarding
+the sacred laws of hospitality. They are somewhat rapacious, and in this
+way it has become a custom that they should have as their own, for
+the purpose of exchanging for money, persons such as yourself, whose
+insatiable curiosity has led them to this place."
+
+"The wise and all-knowing Emperor Fohy instituted three degrees of
+attainment: Being poor, to obtain justice; being rich, to escape
+flattery; and being human, to avoid the passions," replied Kai Lung.
+"To these the practical and enlightened Kang added yet another, the
+greatest: Being lean, to yield fatness."
+
+"In such cases," observed the brigand, "the Miaotze keep an honoured and
+very venerable rite, which chiefly consists in suspending the offender
+by a pigtail from a low tree, and placing burning twigs of hemp-palm
+between his toes. To this person it seems a foolish and meaningless
+habit; but it would not be well to interfere with their religious
+observances, however trivial they may appear."
+
+"Such a course must inevitably end in great loss," suggested Kai Lung;
+"for undoubtedly there are many poor yet honourable persons who would
+leave with them a bond for a large number of taels and save the money
+with which to redeem it, rather than take part in a ceremony which is
+not according to one's own Book of Rites."
+
+"They have already suffered in that way on one or two occasions,"
+replied Lin Yi; "so that such a proposal, no matter how nobly intended,
+would not gladden their faces. Yet they are simple and docile persons,
+and would, without doubt, be moved to any feeling you should desire by
+the recital of one of your illustrious stories."
+
+"An intelligent and discriminating assemblage is more to a story-teller
+than much reward of cash from hands that conceal open mouths," replied
+Kai Lung with great feeling. "Nothing would confer more pleasurable
+agitation upon this unworthy person than an opportunity of narrating
+his entire stock to them. If also the accomplished Lin Yi would bestow
+renown upon the occasion by his presence, no omen of good would be
+wanting."
+
+"The pleasures of the city lie far behind me," said Lin Yi, after
+some thought, "and I would cheerfully submit myself to an intellectual
+accomplishment such as you are undoubtedly capable of. But as we have
+necessity to leave this spot before the hour when the oak-leaves change
+into night-moths, one of your amiable stories will be the utmost we can
+strengthen our intellects with. Select which you will. In the meantime,
+food will be brought to refresh you after your benevolent exertions
+in conversing with a person of my vapid understanding. When you have
+partaken, or thrown it away as utterly unendurable, the time will have
+arrived, and this person, together with all his accomplices, will put
+themselves in a position to be subjected to all the most dignified
+emotions."
+
+
+
+II
+
+"The story which I have selected for this gratifying occasion," said Kai
+Lung, when, an hour or so later, still pinioned, but released from the
+halter, he sat surrounded by the brigands, "is entitled 'Good and
+Evil,' and it is concerned with the adventures of one Ling, who bore the
+honourable name of Ho. The first, and indeed the greater, part of
+the narrative, as related by the venerable and accomplished writer
+of history Chow-Tan, is taken up by showing how Ling was assuredly
+descended from an enlightened Emperor of the race of Tsin; but as the
+no less omniscient Ta-lin-hi proves beyond doubt that the person in
+question was in no way connected with any but a line of hereditary
+ape-worshippers, who entered China from an unknown country many
+centuries ago, it would ill become this illiterate person to express
+an opinion on either side, and he will in consequence omit the first
+seventeen books of the story, and only deal with the three which refer
+to the illustrious Ling himself."
+
+
+THE STORY OF LING
+
+Narrated by Kai Lung when a prisoner in the camp of Lin Yi.
+
+Ling was the youngest of three sons, and from his youth upwards proved
+to be of a mild and studious disposition. Most of his time was spent in
+reading the sacred books, and at an early age he found the worship of
+apes to be repulsive to his gentle nature, and resolved to break through
+the venerable traditions of his family by devoting his time to literary
+pursuits, and presenting himself for the public examinations at Canton.
+In this his resolution was strengthened by a rumour that an army of
+bowmen was shortly to be raised from the Province in which he lived,
+so that if he remained he would inevitably be forced into an occupation
+which was even more distasteful to him than the one he was leaving.
+
+Having arrived at Canton, Ling's first care was to obtain particulars of
+the examinations, which he clearly perceived, from the unusual
+activity displayed on all sides, to be near at hand. On inquiring from
+passers-by, he received very conflicting information; for the persons to
+whom he spoke were themselves entered for the competition, and therefore
+naturally misled him in order to increase their own chances of success.
+Perceiving this, Ling determined to apply at once, although the light
+was past, to a Mandarin who was concerned in the examinations, lest by
+delay he should lose his chance for the year.
+
+"It is an unfortunate event that so distinguished a person should have
+selected this day and hour on which to overwhelm us with his affable
+politeness!" exclaimed the porter at the gate of the Yamen, when Ling
+had explained his reason for going. "On such a day, in the reign of the
+virtuous Emperor Hoo Chow, a very benevolent and unassuming ancestor of
+my good lord the Mandarin was destroyed by treachery, and ever since his
+family has observed the occasion by fasting and no music. This person
+would certainly be punished with death if he entered the inner room from
+any cause."
+
+At these words, Ling, who had been simply brought up, and chiefly in the
+society of apes, was going away with many expressions of self-reproach
+at selecting such a time, when the gate-keeper called him back.
+
+"I am overwhelmed with confusion at the position in which I find
+myself," he remarked, after he had examined his mind for a short time.
+"I may meet with an ungraceful and objectionable death if I carry out
+your estimable instructions, but I shall certainly merit and receive
+a similar fate if I permit so renowned and versatile a person to leave
+without a fitting reception. In such matters a person can only trust to
+the intervention of good spirits; if, therefore, you will permit this
+unworthy individual to wear, while making the venture, the ring which he
+perceives upon your finger, and which he recognizes as a very powerful
+charm against evil, misunderstandings, and extortion, he will go without
+fear."
+
+Overjoyed at the amiable porter's efforts on his behalf, Ling did as he
+was desired, and the other retired. Presently the door of the Yamen was
+opened by an attendant of the house, and Ling bidden to enter. He
+was covered with astonishment to find that this person was entirely
+unacquainted with his name or purpose.
+
+"Alas!" said the attendant, when Ling had explained his object, "well
+said the renowned and inspired Ting Fo, 'When struck by a thunderbolt it
+is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise meaning
+of the omen.' At this moment my noble-minded master is engaged in
+conversation with all the most honourable and refined persons in Canton,
+while singers and dancers of a very expert and nimble order have been
+sent for. The entertainment will undoubtedly last far into the night,
+and to present myself even with the excuse of your graceful and delicate
+inquiry would certainly result in very objectionable consequences to
+this person."
+
+"It is indeed a day of unprepossessing circumstances," replied Ling,
+and after many honourable remarks concerning his own intellect and
+appearance, and those of the person to whom he was speaking, he had
+turned to leave when the other continued:
+
+"Ever since your dignified presence illumined this very ordinary
+chamber, this person has been endeavouring to bring to his mind an
+incident which occurred to him last night while he slept. Now it has
+come back to him with a diamond clearness, and he is satisfied that it
+was as follows: While he floated in the Middle Air a benevolent spirit
+in the form of an elderly and toothless vampire appeared, leading by
+the hand a young man, of elegant personality. Smiling encouragingly upon
+this person, the spirit said, 'O Fou, recipient of many favours from
+Mandarins and of innumerable taels from gratified persons whom you have
+obliged, I am, even at this moment, guiding this exceptional young man
+towards your presence; when he arrives do not hesitate, but do as he
+desires, no matter how great the danger seems or how inadequately you
+may appear to be rewarded on earth.' The vision then melted, but I now
+clearly perceive that with the exception of the embroidered cloak which
+you wear, you are the person thus indicated to me. Remove your cloak,
+therefore, in order to give the amiable spirit no opportunity of denying
+the fact, and I will advance your wishes; for, as the Book of Verses
+indicates, 'The person who patiently awaits a sign from the clouds
+for many years, and yet fails to notice the earthquake at his feet, is
+devoid of intellect.'"
+
+Convinced that he was assuredly under the especial protection of the
+Deities, and that the end of his search was in view, Ling gave his rich
+cloak to the attendant, and was immediately shown into another room,
+where he was left alone.
+
+After a considerable space of time the door opened and there entered a
+person whom Ling at first supposed to be the Mandarin. Indeed, he was
+addressing him by his titles when the other interrupted him. "Do not
+distress your incomparable mind by searching for honourable names
+to apply to so inferior a person as myself," he said agreeably. "The
+mistake is, nevertheless, very natural; for, however miraculous it may
+appear, this unseemly individual, who is in reality merely a writer of
+spoken words, is admitted to be exceedingly like the dignified Mandarin
+himself, though somewhat stouter, clad in better garments, and, it is
+said, less obtuse of intellect. This last matter he very much doubts,
+for he now finds himself unable to recognize by name one who is
+undoubtedly entitled to wear the Royal Yellow."
+
+With this encouragement Ling once more explained his position, narrating
+the events which had enabled him to reach the second chamber of the
+Yamen. When he had finished the secretary was overpowered with a
+high-minded indignation.
+
+"Assuredly those depraved and rapacious persons who have both misled and
+robbed you shall suffer bow-stringing when the whole matter is brought
+to light," he exclaimed. "The noble Mandarin neither fasts nor receives
+guests, for, indeed, he has slept since the sun went down. This person
+would unhesitatingly break his slumber for so commendable a purpose were
+it not for a circumstance of intolerable unavoidableness. It must not
+even be told in a low breath beyond the walls of the Yamen, but my
+benevolent and high-born lord is in reality a person of very miserly
+instinct, and nothing will call him from his natural sleep but the sound
+of taels shaken beside his bed. In an unexpected manner it comes about
+that this person is quite unsupplied with anything but thin printed
+papers of a thousand taels each, and these are quite useless for the
+purpose."
+
+"It is unendurable that so obliging a person should be put to such
+inconvenience on behalf of one who will certainly become a public
+laughing-stock at the examinations," said Ling, with deep feeling; and
+taking from a concealed spot in his garments a few taels, he placed them
+before the secretary for the use he had indicated.
+
+Ling was again left alone for upwards of two strokes of the gong, and
+was on the point of sleep when the secretary returned with an expression
+of dignified satisfaction upon his countenance. Concluding that he
+had been successful in the manner of awakening the Mandarin, Ling was
+opening his mouth for a polite speech, which should contain a delicate
+allusion to the taels, when the secretary warned him, by affecting a
+sudden look of terror, that silence was exceedingly desirable, and at
+the same time opened another door and indicated to Ling that he should
+pass through.
+
+In the next room Ling was overjoyed to find himself in the presence
+of the Mandarin, who received him graciously, and paid many estimable
+compliments to the name he bore and the country from which he came.
+When at length Ling tore himself from this enchanting conversation, and
+explained the reason of his presence, the Mandarin at once became a prey
+to the whitest and most melancholy emotions, even plucking two hairs
+from his pigtail to prove the extent and conscientiousness of his grief.
+
+"Behold," he cried at length, "I am resolved that the extortionate and
+many-handed persons at Peking who have control of the examination rites
+and customs shall no longer grow round-bodied without remark. This
+person will unhesitatingly proclaim the true facts of the case without
+regarding the danger that the versatile Chancellor or even the sublime
+Emperor himself may, while he speaks, be concealed in some part of this
+unassuming room to hear his words; for, as it is wisely said, 'When
+marked out by destiny, a person will assuredly be drowned, even though
+he passes the whole of his existence among the highest branches of a
+date tree.'"
+
+"I am overwhelmed that I should be the cause of such an engaging display
+of polished agitation," said Ling, as the Mandarin paused. "If it would
+make your own stomach less heavy, this person will willingly follow your
+estimable example, either with or without knowing the reason."
+
+"The matter is altogether on your account, O most unobtrusive young
+man," replied the Mandarin, when a voice without passion was restored
+to him. "It tears me internally with hooks to reflect that you, whose
+refined ancestors I might reasonably have known had I passed my youth
+in another Province, should be victim to the cupidity of the ones in
+authority at Peking. A very short time before you arrived there came a
+messenger in haste from those persons, clearly indicating that a legal
+toll of sixteen taels was to be made on each printed paper setting forth
+the time and manner of the examinations, although, as you may see, the
+paper is undoubtedly marked, 'Persons are given notice that they are
+defrauded of any sum which they may be induced to exchange for this
+matter.' Furthermore, there is a legal toll of nine taels on all persons
+who have previously been examined--"
+
+"I am happily escaped from that," exclaimed Ling with some satisfaction
+as the Mandarin paused.
+
+"--and twelve taels on all who present themselves for the first time.
+This is to be delivered over when the paper is purchased, so that you,
+by reason of this unworthy proceeding at Peking, are required to forward
+to that place, through this person, no less than thirty-two taels."
+
+"It is a circumstance of considerable regret," replied Ling; "for had
+I only reached Canton a day earlier, I should, it appears, have avoided
+this evil."
+
+"Undoubtedly it would have been so," replied the Mandarin, who had
+become engrossed in exalted meditation. "However," he continued a
+moment later, as he bowed to Ling with an accomplished smile, "it
+would certainly be a more pleasant thought for a person of your refined
+intelligence that had you delayed until to-morrow the insatiable persons
+at Peking might be demanding twice the amount."
+
+Pondering the deep wisdom of this remark, Ling took his departure; but
+in spite of the most assiduous watchfulness he was unable to discern any
+of the three obliging persons to whose efforts his success had been due.
+
+
+
+III
+
+It was very late when Ling again reached the small room which he had
+selected as soon as he reached Canton, but without waiting for food or
+sleep he made himself fully acquainted with the times of the forthcoming
+examinations and the details of the circumstances connected with them.
+With much satisfaction he found that he had still a week in which to
+revive his intellect on the most difficult subjects. Having become
+relieved on these points, Ling retired for a few hours' sleep, but rose
+again very early, and gave the whole day with great steadfastness to
+contemplation of the sacred classics Y-King, with the exception of a
+short period spent in purchasing ink, brushes and writing-leaves. The
+following day, having become mentally depressed through witnessing
+unaccountable hordes of candidates thronging the streets of Canton,
+Ling put aside his books, and passed the time in visiting all the most
+celebrated tombs in the neighbourhood of the city. Lightened in mind
+by this charitable and agreeable occupation, he returned to his studies
+with a fixed resolution, nor did he again falter in his purpose. On the
+evening of the examination, when he was sitting alone, reading by the
+aid of a single light, as his custom was, a person arrived to see him,
+at the same time manifesting a considerable appearance of secrecy
+and reserve. Inwardly sighing at the interruption, Ling nevertheless
+received him with distinguished consideration and respect, setting tea
+before him, and performing towards it many honourable actions with his
+own hands. Not until some hours had sped in conversation relating to
+the health of the Emperor, the unexpected appearance of a fiery dragon
+outside the city, and the insupportable price of opium, did the visitor
+allude to the object of his presence.
+
+"It has been observed," he remarked, "that the accomplished Ling, who
+aspires to a satisfactory rank at the examinations, has never before
+made the attempt. Doubtless in this case a preternatural wisdom will
+avail much, and its fortunate possessor will not go unrewarded. Yet
+it is as precious stones among ashes for one to triumph in such
+circumstances."
+
+"The fact is known to this person," replied Ling sadly, "and the thought
+of the years he may have to wait before he shall have passed even the
+first degree weighs down his soul with bitterness from time to time."
+
+"It is no infrequent thing for men of accomplished perseverance, but
+merely ordinary intellects, to grow venerable within the four walls
+of the examination cell," continued the other. "Some, again, become
+afflicted with various malignant evils, while not a few, chiefly those
+who are presenting themselves for the first time, are so overcome on
+perceiving the examination paper, and understanding the inadequate
+nature of their own accomplishments, that they become an easy prey to
+the malicious spirits which are ever on the watch in those places; and,
+after covering their leaves with unpresentable remarks and drawings
+of men and women of distinguished rank, have at length to be forcibly
+carried away by the attendants and secured with heavy chains."
+
+"Such things undoubtedly exist," agreed Ling; "yet by a due regard paid
+to spirits, both good and bad, a proper esteem for one's ancestors, and
+a sufficiency of charms about the head and body, it is possible to be
+closeted with all manner of demons and yet to suffer no evil."
+
+"It is undoubtedly possible to do so, according to the Immortal
+Principles," admitted the stranger; "but it is not an undertaking in
+which a refined person would take intelligent pleasure; as the proverb
+says, 'He is a wise and enlightened suppliant who seeks to discover
+an honourable Mandarin, but he is a fool who cries out, "I have found
+one."' However, it is obvious that the reason of my visit is understood,
+and that your distinguished confidence in yourself is merely a graceful
+endeavour to obtain my services for a less amount of taels than I should
+otherwise have demanded. For half the usual sum, therefore, this person
+will take your place in the examination cell, and enable your versatile
+name to appear in the winning lists, while you pass your moments in
+irreproachable pleasures elsewhere."
+
+Such a course had never presented itself to Ling. As the person who
+narrates this story has already marked, he had passed his life beyond
+the influence of the ways and manners of towns, and at the same time
+he had naturally been endowed with an unobtrusive highmindedness. It
+appeared to him, in consequence, that by accepting this engaging offer
+he would be placing those who were competing with him at a disadvantage.
+This person clearly sees that it is a difficult matter for him to
+explain how this could be, as Ling would undoubtedly reward the services
+of the one who took his place, nor would the number of the competitors
+be in any way increased; yet in such a way the thing took shape before
+his eyes. Knowing, however, that few persons would be able to understand
+this action, and being desirous of not injuring the estimable emotions
+of the obliging person who had come to him, Ling made a number of
+polished excuses in declining, hiding the true reason within himself. In
+this way he earned the powerful malignity of the person in question,
+who would not depart until he had effected a number of very disagreeable
+prophecies connected with unpropitious omens and internal torments, all
+of which undoubtedly had a great influence on Ling's life beyond that
+time.
+
+Each day of the examination found Ling alternately elated or depressed,
+according to the length and style of the essay which he had written
+while enclosed in his solitary examination cell. The trials each lasted
+a complete day, and long before the fifteen days which composed the full
+examination were passed, Ling found himself half regretting that he had
+not accepted his visitor's offer, or even reviling the day on which he
+had abandoned the hereditary calling of his ancestors. However, when,
+after all was over, he came to deliberate with himself on his chances of
+attaining a degree, he could not disguise from his own mind that he had
+well-formed hopes; he was not conscious of any undignified errors, and,
+in reply to several questions, he had been able to introduce
+curious knowledge which he possessed by means of his exceptional
+circumstances--knowledge which it was unlikely that any other candidate
+would have been able to make himself master of.
+
+At length the day arrived on which the results were to be made public;
+and Ling, together with all the other competitors and many distinguished
+persons, attended at the great Hall of Intellectual Coloured Lights
+to hear the reading of the lists. Eight thousand candidates had been
+examined, and from this number less than two hundred were to be selected
+for appointments. Amid a most distinguished silence the winning names
+were read out. Waves of most undignified but inevitable emotion passed
+over those assembled as the list neared its end, and the chances of
+success became less at each spoken word; and then, finding that his
+was not among them, together with the greater part of those present, he
+became a prey to very inelegant thoughts, which were not lessened by the
+refined cries of triumph of the successful persons. Among this confusion
+the one who had read the lists was observed to be endeavouring to make
+his voice known, whereupon, in the expectation that he had omitted a
+name, the tumult was quickly subdued by those who again had pleasurable
+visions.
+
+"There was among the candidates one of the name of Ling," said he, when
+no-noise had been obtained. "The written leaves produced by this person
+are of a most versatile and conflicting order, so that, indeed, the
+accomplished examiners themselves are unable to decide whether they
+are very good or very bad. In this matter, therefore, it is clearly
+impossible to place the expert and inimitable Ling among the foremost,
+as his very uncertain success may have been brought about with the
+assistance of evil spirits; nor would it be safe to pass over his
+efforts without reward, as he may be under the protection of powerful
+but exceedingly ill-advised deities. The estimable Ling is told to
+appear again at this place after the gong has been struck three times,
+when the matter will have been looked at from all round."
+
+At this announcement there arose another great tumult, several crying
+out that assuredly their written leaves were either very good or very
+bad; but no further proclamation was made, and very soon the hall was
+cleared by force.
+
+At the time stated Ling again presented himself at the Hall, and was
+honourably received.
+
+"The unusual circumstances of the matter have already been put forth,"
+said an elderly Mandarin of engaging appearance, "so that nothing
+remains to be made known except the end of our despicable efforts to
+come to an agreeable conclusion. In this we have been made successful,
+and now desire to notify the result. A very desirable and not
+unremunerative office, rarely bestowed in this manner, is lately vacant,
+and taking into our minds the circumstances of the event, and the fact
+that Ling comes from a Province very esteemed for the warlike instincts
+of its inhabitants, we have decided to appoint him commander of the
+valiant and blood-thirsty band of archers now stationed at Si-chow, in
+the Province of Hu-Nan. We have spoken. Let three guns go off in honour
+of the noble and invincible Ling, now and henceforth a commander in
+the ever-victorious Army of the Sublime Emperor, brother of the Sun and
+Moon, and Upholder of the Four Corners of the World."
+
+
+
+IV
+
+Many hours passed before Ling, now more downcast in mind than the most
+unsuccessful student in Canton, returned to his room and sought his
+couch of dried rushes. All his efforts to have his distinguished
+appointment set aside had been without avail, and he had been ordered to
+reach Si-chow within a week. As he passed through the streets, elegant
+processions in honour of the winners met him at every corner, and drove
+him into the outskirts for the object of quietness. There he remained
+until the beating of paper drums and the sound of exulting voices could
+be heard no more; but even when he returned lanterns shone in many
+dwellings, for two hundred persons were composing verses, setting forth
+their renown and undoubted accomplishments, ready to affix to their
+doors and send to friends on the next day. Not giving any portion of
+his mind to this desirable act of behaviour, Ling flung himself upon the
+floor, and, finding sleep unattainable, plunged himself into profound
+meditation of a very uninviting order. "Without doubt," he exclaimed,
+"evil can only arise from evil, and as this person has always
+endeavoured to lead a life in which his devotions have been equally
+divided between the sacred Emperor, his illustrious parents, and his
+venerable ancestors, the fault cannot lie with him. Of the excellence of
+his parents he has full knowledge; regarding the Emperor, it might
+not be safe to conjecture. It is therefore probable that some of his
+ancestors were persons of abandoned manner and inelegant habits, to
+worship whom results in evil rather than good. Otherwise, how could it
+be that one whose chief delight lies in the passive contemplation of the
+Four Books and the Five Classics, should be selected by destiny to fill
+a position calling for great personal courage and an aggressive nature?
+Assuredly it can only end in a mean and insignificant death, perhaps not
+even followed by burial."
+
+In this manner of thought he fell asleep, and after certain very base
+and impressive dreams, from which good omens were altogether absent, he
+awoke, and rose to begin his preparations for leaving the city. After
+two days spent chiefly in obtaining certain safeguards against treachery
+and the bullets of foemen, purchasing opium and other gifts with
+which to propitiate the soldiers under his charge, and in consulting
+well-disposed witches and readers of the future, he set out, and by
+travelling in extreme discomfort, reached Si-chow within five days.
+During his journey he learned that the entire Province was engaged in
+secret rebellion, several towns, indeed, having declared against
+the Imperial army without reserve. Those persons to whom Ling spoke
+described the rebels, with respectful admiration, as fierce and
+unnaturally skilful in all methods of fighting, revengeful and merciless
+towards their enemies, very numerous and above the ordinary height of
+human beings, and endowed with qualities which made their skin capable
+of turning aside every kind of weapon. Furthermore, he was assured that
+a large band of the most abandoned and best trained was at that moment
+in the immediate neighbourhood of Si-chow.
+
+Ling was not destined long to remain in any doubt concerning the truth
+of these matters, for as he made his way through a dark cypress wood,
+a few li from the houses of Si-chow, the sounds of a confused outcry
+reached his ears, and on stepping aside to a hidden glade some distance
+from the path, he beheld a young and elegant maiden of incomparable
+beauty being carried away by two persons of most repulsive and
+undignified appearance, whose dress and manner clearly betrayed them to
+be rebels of the lowest and worst-paid type. At this sight Ling became
+possessed of feelings of a savage yet agreeable order, which until
+that time he had not conjectured to have any place within his mind, and
+without even pausing to consider whether the planets were in favourable
+positions for the enterprise to be undertaken at that time, he drew his
+sword, and ran forward with loud cries. Unsettled in their intentions
+at this unexpected action, the two persons turned and advanced upon Ling
+with whirling daggers, discussing among themselves whether it would be
+better to kill him at the first blow or to take him alive, and, when
+the day had become sufficiently cool for the full enjoyment of the
+spectacle, submit him to various objectionable tortures of so degraded a
+nature that they were rarely used in the army of the Emperor except upon
+the persons of barbarians. Observing that the maiden was not bound, Ling
+cried out to her to escape and seek protection within the town, adding,
+with a magnanimous absence of vanity:
+
+"Should this person chance to fall, the repose which the presence of
+so lovely and graceful a being would undoubtedly bring to his departing
+spirit would be out-balanced by the unendurable thought that his
+commonplace efforts had not been sufficient to save her from the two
+evilly-disposed individuals who are, as he perceives, at this moment,
+neglecting no means within their power to accomplish his destruction."
+Accepting the discernment of these words, the maiden fled, first
+bestowing a look upon Ling which clearly indicated an honourable regard
+for himself, a high-minded desire that the affair might end profitably
+on his account, and an amiable hope that they should meet again, when
+these subjects could be expressed more clearly between them.
+
+In the meantime Ling had become at a disadvantage, for the time occupied
+in speaking and in making the necessary number of bows in reply to
+her entrancing glance had given the other persons an opportunity
+of arranging their charms and sacred written sentences to greater
+advantage, and of occupying the most favourable ground for the
+encounter. Nevertheless, so great was the force of the new emotion which
+had entered into Ling's nature that, without waiting to consider the
+dangers or the best method of attack, he rushed upon them, waving his
+sword with such force that he appeared as though surrounded by a circle
+of very brilliant fire. In this way he reached the rebels, who both fell
+unexpectedly at one blow, they, indeed, being under the impression that
+the encounter had not commenced in reality, and that Ling was merely
+menacing them in order to inspire their minds with terror and raise his
+own spirits. However much he regretted this act of the incident which
+he had been compelled to take, Ling could not avoid being filled with
+intellectual joy at finding that his own charms and omens were more
+distinguished than those possessed by the rebels, none of whom, as he
+now plainly understood, he need fear.
+
+Examining these things within his mind, and reflecting on the events
+of the past few days, by which he had been thrown into a class of
+circumstances greatly differing from anything which he had ever sought,
+Ling continued his journey, and soon found himself before the southern
+gate of Si-chow. Entering the town, he at once formed the resolution of
+going before the Mandarin for Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, so that he
+might present, without delay, the papers and seals which he had brought
+with him from Canton.
+
+"The noble Mandarin Li Keen?" replied the first person to whom Ling
+addressed himself. "It would indeed be a difficult and hazardous
+conjecture to make concerning his sacred person. By chance he is in the
+strongest and best-concealed cellar in Si-chow, unless the sumptuous
+attractions of the deepest dry well have induced him to make a short
+journey"; and, with a look of great unfriendliness at Ling's dress and
+weapons, this person passed on.
+
+"Doubtless he is fighting single-handed against the armed men by whom
+the place is surrounded," said another; "or perhaps he is constructing
+an underground road from the Yamen to Peking, so that we may all escape
+when the town is taken. All that can be said with certainty is that the
+Heaven-sent and valorous Mandarin has not been seen outside the walls of
+his well-fortified residence since the trouble arose; but, as you carry
+a sword of conspicuous excellence, you will doubtless be welcome."
+
+Upon making a third attempt Ling was more successful, for he inquired
+of an aged woman, who had neither a reputation for keen and polished
+sentences to maintain, nor any interest in the acts of the Mandarin
+or of the rebels. From her he learned how to reach the Yamen, and
+accordingly turned his footsteps in that direction. When at length
+he arrived at the gate, Ling desired his tablets to be carried to the
+Mandarin with many expressions of an impressive and engaging nature,
+nor did he neglect to reward the porter. It was therefore with the
+expression of a misunderstanding mind that he received a reply setting
+forth that Li Keen was unable to receive him. In great doubt he
+prevailed upon the porter, by means of a still larger reward, again to
+carry in his message, and on this occasion an answer in this detail was
+placed before him.
+
+"Li Keen," he was informed, "is indeed awaiting the arrival of one Ling,
+a noble and valiant Commander of Bowmen. He is given to understand,
+it is true, that a certain person claiming the same honoured name is
+standing in somewhat undignified attitudes at the gate, but he is unable
+in any way to make these two individuals meet within his intellect. He
+would further remind all persons that the refined observances laid down
+by the wise and exalted Board of Rites and Ceremonies have a marked and
+irreproachable significance when the country is in a state of disorder,
+the town surrounded by rebels, and every breathing-space of time of more
+than ordinary value."
+
+Overpowered with becoming shame at having been connected with so
+unseemly a breach of civility, for which his great haste had in reality
+been accountable, Ling hastened back into the town, and spent many hours
+endeavouring to obtain a chair of the requisite colour in which to
+visit the Mandarin. In this he was unsuccessful, until it was at length
+suggested to him that an ordinary chair, such as stood for hire in the
+streets of Si-chow, would be acceptable if covered with blue paper.
+Still in some doubt as to what the nature of his reception would be,
+Ling had no choice but to take this course, and accordingly he again
+reached the Yamen in such a manner, carried by two persons whom he had
+obtained for the purpose. While yet hardly at the residence a salute was
+suddenly fired; all the gates and doors were, without delay, thrown open
+with embarrassing and hospitable profusion, and the Mandarin himself
+passed out, and would have assisted Ling to step down from his chair
+had not that person, clearly perceiving that such a course would be
+too great an honour, evaded him by an unobtrusive display of versatile
+dexterity. So numerous and profound were the graceful remarks which each
+made concerning the habits and accomplishments of the other that more
+than the space of an hour was passed in traversing the small enclosed
+ground which led up to the principal door of the Yamen. There an almost
+greater time was agreeably spent, both Ling and the Mandarin having
+determined that the other should enter first. Undoubtedly Ling, who
+was the more powerful of the two, would have conferred this courteous
+distinction upon Li Keen had not that person summoned to his side
+certain attendants who succeeded in frustrating Ling in his high-minded
+intentions, and in forcing him through the doorway in spite of his
+conscientious protests against the unsurmountable obligation under which
+the circumstance placed him.
+
+Conversing in this intellectual and dignified manner, the strokes of
+the gong passed unheeded; tea had been brought into their presence many
+times, and night had fallen before the Mandarin allowed Ling to refer
+to the matter which had brought him to the place, and to present his
+written papers and seals.
+
+"It is a valuable privilege to have so intelligent a person as the
+illustrious Ling occupying this position," remarked the Mandarin, as he
+returned the papers; "and not less so on account of the one who
+preceded him proving himself to be a person of feeble attainments and an
+unendurable deficiency of resource."
+
+"To one with the all-knowing Li Keen's mental acquisitions, such a
+person must indeed have become excessively offensive," replied Ling
+delicately; "for, as it is truly said, 'Although there exist many
+thousand subjects for elegant conversation, there are persons who cannot
+meet a cripple without talking about feet.'"
+
+"He to whom I have referred was such a one," said Li Keen, appreciating
+with an expression of countenance the fitness of Ling's proverb. "He was
+totally inadequate to the requirements of his position; for he possessed
+no military knowledge, and was placed in command by those at Peking as
+a result of his taking a high place at one of the examinations. But more
+than this, although his three years of service were almost completed,
+I was quite unsuccessful in convincing him that an unseemly degradation
+probably awaited him unless he could furnish me with the means with
+which to propitiate the persons in authority at Peking. This he
+neglected to do with obstinate pertinacity, which compelled this person
+to inquire within himself whether one of so little discernment could be
+trusted with an important and arduous office. After much deliberation,
+this person came to the decision that the Commander in question was not
+a fit person, and he therefore reported him to the Imperial Board
+of Punishment at Peking as one subject to frequent and periodical
+eccentricities, and possessed of less than ordinary intellect. In
+consequence of this act of justice, the Commander was degraded to the
+rank of common bowman, and compelled to pay a heavy fine in addition."
+
+"It was a just and enlightened conclusion of the affair," said Ling, in
+spite of a deep feeling of no enthusiasm, "and one which surprisingly
+bore out your own prophecy in the matter."
+
+"It was an inspired warning to persons who should chance to be in a like
+position at any time," replied Li Keen. "So grasping and corrupt are
+those who control affairs in Peking that I have no doubt they would
+scarcely hesitate in debasing even one so immaculate as the exceptional
+Ling, and placing him in some laborious and ill-paid civil department
+should he not accede to their extortionate demands."
+
+This suggestion did not carry with it the unpleasurable emotions which
+the Mandarin anticipated it would. The fierce instincts which had been
+aroused within Ling by the incident in the cypress wood had died out,
+while his lamentable ignorance of military affairs was ever before his
+mind. These circumstances, together with his naturally gentle habits,
+made him regard such a degradation rather favourably than otherwise.
+He was meditating within himself whether he could arrange such a course
+without delay when the Mandarin continued:
+
+"That, however, is a possibility which is remote to the extent of at
+least two or three years; do not, therefore, let so unpleasing a thought
+cast darkness upon your brows or remove the unparalleled splendour of
+so refined an occasion... Doubtless the accomplished Ling is a master of
+the art of chess-play, for many of our most thoughtful philosophers have
+declared war to be nothing but such a game; let this slow-witted and
+cumbersome person have an opportunity, therefore, of polishing his
+declining facilities by a pleasant and dignified encounter."
+
+
+
+V
+
+On the next day, having completed his business at the Yamen, Ling left
+the town, and without desiring any ceremony quietly betook himself to
+his new residence within the camp, which was situated among the millet
+fields some distance from Si-chow. As soon as his presence became known
+all those who occupied positions of command, and whose years of service
+would shortly come to an end, hastened to present themselves before
+him, bringing with them offerings according to the rank they held, they
+themselves requiring a similar service from those beneath them. First
+among these, and next in command to Ling himself, was the Chief of
+Bowmen, a person whom Ling observed with extreme satisfaction to be very
+powerful in body and possessing a strong and dignified countenance
+which showed unquestionable resolution and shone with a tiger-like
+tenaciousness of purpose.
+
+"Undoubtedly," thought Ling, as he observed this noble and prepossessing
+person, "here is one who will be able to assist me in whatever
+perplexities may arise. Never was there an individual who seemed more
+worthy to command and lead; assuredly to him the most intricate and
+prolonged military positions will be an enjoyment; the most crafty
+stratagems of the enemy as the full moon rising from behind a screen
+of rushes. Without making any pretence of knowledge, this person will
+explain the facts of the case to him and place himself without limit in
+his hands."
+
+For this purpose he therefore detained the Chief of Bowmen when the
+others departed, and complimented him, with many expressive phrases, on
+the excellence of his appearance, as the thought occurred to him that
+by this means, without disclosing the full measure of his ignorance, the
+person in question might be encouraged to speak unrestrainedly of the
+nature of his exploits, and perchance thereby explain the use of the
+appliances employed and the meaning of the various words of order,
+in all of which details the Commander was as yet most disagreeably
+imperfect. In this, however, he was disappointed, for the Chief of
+Bowmen, greatly to Ling's surprise, received all his polished sentences
+with somewhat foolish smiles of great self-satisfaction, merely replying
+from time to time as he displayed his pigtail to greater advantage or
+rearranged his gold-embroidered cloak:
+
+"This person must really pray you to desist; the honour is indeed too
+great."
+
+Disappointed in his hope, and not desiring after this circumstance to
+expose his shortcomings to one who was obviously not of a highly-refined
+understanding, no matter how great his valour in war or his knowledge of
+military affairs might be, Ling endeavoured to lead him to converse of
+the bowmen under his charge. In this matter he was more successful, for
+the Chief spoke at great length and with evilly-inspired contempt of
+their inelegance, their undiscriminating and excessive appetites, and
+the frequent use which they made of low words and gestures. Desiring to
+become acquainted rather with their methods of warfare than with their
+domestic details, Ling inquired of him what formation they relied upon
+when receiving the foemen.
+
+"It is a matter which has not engaged the attention of this one,"
+replied the Chief, with an excessive absence of interest. "There are so
+many affairs of intelligent dignity which cannot be put aside, and
+which occupy one from beginning to end. As an example, this person may
+describe how the accomplished Li-Lu, generally depicted as the Blue-eyed
+Dove of Virtuous and Serpent-like Attitudes, has been scattering glory
+upon the Si-chow Hall of Celestial Harmony for many days past. It is
+an enlightened display which the high-souled Ling should certainly
+endeavour to dignify with his presence, especially at the portion
+where the amiable Li-Lu becomes revealed in the appearance of a Peking
+sedan-chair bearer and describes the manner and likenesses of certain
+persons--chiefly high-priests of Buddha, excessively round-bodied
+merchants who feign to be detained within Peking on affairs of commerce,
+maidens who attend at the tables of tea-houses, and those of both sexes
+who are within the city for the first time to behold its temples and
+open spaces--who are conveyed from place to place in the chair."
+
+"And the bowmen?" suggested Ling, with difficulty restraining an
+undignified emotion.
+
+"Really, the elegant Ling will discover them to be persons of deficient
+manners, and quite unworthy of occupying his well-bred conversation,"
+replied the Chief. "As regards their methods--if the renowned Ling
+insists--they fight by means of their bows, with which they discharge
+arrows at the foemen, they themselves hiding behind trees and rocks.
+Should the enemy be undisconcerted by the cloud of arrows, and advance,
+the bowmen are instructed to make a last endeavour to frighten them back
+by uttering loud shouts and feigning the voices of savage beasts of the
+forest and deadly snakes."
+
+"And beyond that?" inquired Ling.
+
+"Beyond that there are no instructions," replied the Chief. "The
+bowmen would then naturally take to flight, or, if such a course became
+impossible, run to meet the enemy, protesting that they were convinced
+of the justice of their cause, and were determined to fight on their
+side in the future."
+
+"Would it not be of advantage to arm them with cutting weapons also?"
+inquired Ling; "so that when all their arrows were discharged they would
+still be able to take part in the fight, and not be lost to us?"
+
+"They would not be lost to us, of course," replied the Chief, "as we
+would still be with them. But such a course as the one you suggest could
+not fail to end in dismay. Being as well armed as ourselves, they
+would then turn upon us, and, having destroyed us, proceed to establish
+leaders of their own."
+
+As Ling and the Chief of Bowmen conversed in this enlightened manner,
+there arose a great outcry from among the tents, and presently there
+entered to them a spy who had discovered a strong force of the enemy not
+more than ten or twelve li away, who showed every indication of marching
+shortly in the direction of Si-chow. In numbers alone, he continued,
+they were greatly superior to the bowmen, and all were well armed. The
+spreading of this news threw the entire camp into great confusion, many
+protesting that the day was not a favourable one on which to fight,
+others crying that it was their duty to fall back on Si-chow and protect
+the women and children. In the midst of this tumult the Chief of Bowmen
+returned to Ling, bearing in his hand a written paper which he regarded
+in uncontrollable anguish.
+
+"Oh, illustrious Ling," he cried, restraining his grief with difficulty,
+and leaning for support upon the shoulders of two bowmen, "how
+prosperous indeed are you! What greater misfortune can engulf a person
+who is both an ambitious soldier and an affectionate son, than to lose
+such a chance of glory and promotion as only occurs once within the
+lifetime, and an affectionate and venerable father upon the same day?
+Behold this mandate to attend, without a moment's delay, at the funeral
+obsequies of one whom I left, only last week, in the fullness of health
+and power. The occasion being an unsuitable one, I will not call upon
+the courteous Ling to join me in sorrow; but his own devout filial piety
+is so well known that I can conscientiously rely upon an application for
+absence to be only a matter of official ceremony."
+
+"The application will certainly be regarded as merely official
+ceremony," replied Ling, without resorting to any delicate pretence of
+meaning, "and the refined scruples of the person who is addressing me
+will be fully met by the official date of his venerated father's
+death being fixed for a more convenient season. In the meantime, the
+unobtrusive Chief of Bowmen may take the opportunity of requesting that
+the family tomb be kept unsealed until he is heard from again."
+
+Ling turned away, as he finished this remark, with a dignified feeling
+of not inelegant resentment. In this way he chanced to observe a large
+body of soldiers which was leaving the camp accompanied by their lesser
+captains, all crowned with garlands of flowers and creeping plants. In
+spite of his very inadequate attainments regarding words of order, the
+Commander made it understood by means of an exceedingly short sentence
+that he was desirous of the men returning without delay.
+
+"Doubtless the accomplished Commander, being but newly arrived in this
+neighbourhood, is unacquainted with the significance of this display,"
+said one of the lesser captains pleasantly. "Know then, O wise and
+custom-respecting Ling, that on a similar day many years ago this
+valiant band of bowmen was engaged in a very honourable affair with
+certain of the enemy. Since then it has been the practice to commemorate
+the matter with music and other forms of delight within the large square
+at Si-chow."
+
+"Such customs are excellent," said Ling affably. "On this occasion,
+however, the public square will be so insufferably thronged with the
+number of timorous and credulous villagers who have pressed into the
+town that insufficient justice would be paid to your entrancing display.
+In consequence of this, we will select for the purpose some convenient
+spot in the neighbourhood. The proceedings will be commenced by a
+display of arrow-shooting at moving objects, followed by racing and
+dancing, in which this person will lead. I have spoken."
+
+At these words many of the more courageous among the bowmen became
+destructively inspired, and raised shouts of defiance against the enemy,
+enumerating at great length the indignities which they would heap upon
+their prisoners. Cries of distinction were also given on behalf of Ling,
+even the more terrified exclaiming:
+
+"The noble Commander Ling will lead us! He has promised, and assuredly
+he will not depart from his word. Shielded by his broad and sacred body,
+from which the bullets glance aside harmlessly, we will advance upon the
+enemy in the stealthy manner affected by ducks when crossing the swamp.
+How altogether superior a person our Commander is when likened unto the
+leaders of the foemen--they who go into battle completely surrounded by
+their archers!"
+
+Upon this, perceiving the clear direction in which matters were turning,
+the Chief of Bowmen again approached Ling.
+
+"Doubtless the highly-favoured person whom I am now addressing has been
+endowed with exceptional authority direct from Peking," he remarked with
+insidious politeness. "Otherwise this narrow-minded individual would
+suggest that such a decision does not come within the judgment of a
+Commander."
+
+In his ignorance of military matters it had not entered the mind of
+Ling that his authority did not give him the power to commence an
+attack without consulting other and more distinguished persons. At the
+suggestion, which he accepted as being composed of truth, he paused, the
+enlightened zeal with which he had been inspired dying out as he plainly
+understood the difficulties by which he was enclosed. There seemed a
+single expedient path for him in the matter; so, directing a person
+of exceptional trustworthiness to prepare himself for a journey, he
+inscribed a communication to the Mandarin Li Keen, in which he narrated
+the facts and asked for speedy directions, and then despatched it with
+great urgency to Si-chow.
+
+
+
+VI
+
+When these matters were arranged, Ling returned to his tent, a victim
+to feelings of a deep and confused doubt, for all courses seemed to
+be surrounded by extreme danger, with the strong possibility of final
+disaster. While he was considering these things attentively, the spy who
+had brought word of the presence of the enemy again sought him. As he
+entered, Ling perceived that his face was the colour of a bleached linen
+garment, while there came with him the odour of sickness.
+
+"There are certain matters which this person has not made known," he
+said, having first expressed a request that he might not be compelled to
+stand while he conversed. "The bowmen are as an inferior kind of jackal,
+and they who lead them are pigs, but this person has observed that the
+Heaven-sent Commander has internal organs like steel hardened in a white
+fire and polished by running water. For this reason he will narrate
+to him the things he has seen--things at which the lesser ones would
+undoubtedly perish in terror without offering to strike a blow."
+
+"Speak," said Ling, "without fear and without concealment."
+
+"In numbers the rebels are as three to one with the bowmen, and are,
+in addition, armed with matchlocks and other weapons; this much I have
+already told," said the spy. "Yesterday they entered the village of Ki
+without resistance, as the dwellers there were all peaceable persons,
+who gain a living from the fields, and who neither understood nor
+troubled about the matters between the rebels and the army. Relying on
+the promises made by the rebel chiefs, the villagers even welcomed them,
+as they had been assured that they came as buyers of their corn and
+rice. To-day not a house stands in the street of Ki, not a person lives.
+The men they slew quickly, or held for torture, as they desired at the
+moment; the boys they hung from the trees as marks for their arrows.
+Of the women and children this person, who has since been subject to
+several attacks of fainting and vomiting, desires not to speak. The
+wells of Ki are filled with the bodies of such as had the good fortune
+to be warned in time to slay themselves. The cattle drag themselves from
+place to place on their forefeet; the fish in the Heng-Kiang are dying,
+for they cannot live on water thickened into blood. All these things
+this person has seen."
+
+When he had finished speaking, Ling remained in deep and funereal
+thought for some time. In spite of his mild nature, the words which
+he had heard filled him with an inextinguishable desire to slay in
+hand-to-hand fighting. He regretted that he had placed the decision of
+the matter before Li Keen.
+
+"If only this person had a mere handful of brave and expert warriors, he
+would not hesitate to fall upon those savage and barbarous characters,
+and either destroy them to the last one, or let his band suffer a like
+fate," he murmured to himself.
+
+The return of the messenger found him engaged in reviewing the bowmen,
+and still in this mood, so that it was with a commendable feeling of
+satisfaction, no less than virtuous contempt, that he learned of the
+Mandarin's journey to Peking as soon as he understood that the rebels
+were certainly in the neighbourhood.
+
+"The wise and ornamental Li Keen is undoubtedly consistent in all
+matters," said Ling, with some refined bitterness. "The only information
+regarding his duties to which this person obtained from him chanced
+to be a likening of war to skilful chess-play, and to this end the
+accomplished person in question has merely availed himself of a common
+expedient which places him at the remote side of the divine Emperor.
+Yet this act is not unwelcome, for the responsibility of deciding what
+course is to be adopted now clearly rests with this person. He is, as
+those who are standing by may perceive, of under the usual height, and
+of no particular mental or bodily attainments. But he has eaten the rice
+of the Emperor, and wears the Imperial sign embroidered upon his arm.
+Before him are encamped the enemies of his master and of his land, and
+in no way will he turn his back upon them. Against brave and skilful
+men, such as those whom this person commands, rebels of a low and
+degraded order are powerless, and are, moreover, openly forbidden to
+succeed by the Forty-second Mandate in the Sacred Book of Arguments.
+Should it have happened that into this assembly any person of a
+perfidious or uncourageous nature has gained entrance by guile, and has
+not been detected and driven forth by his outraged companions (as would
+certainly occur if such a person were discovered), I, Ling, Commander
+of Bowmen, make an especial and well-considered request that he shall be
+struck by a molten thunderbolt if he turns to flight or holds thoughts
+of treachery."
+
+Having thus addressed and encouraged the soldiers, Ling instructed them
+that each one should cut and fashion for himself a graceful but weighty
+club from among the branches of the trees around, and then return to the
+tents for the purpose of receiving food and rice spirit.
+
+When noon was passed, allowing such time as would enable him to reach
+the camp of the enemy an hour before darkness, Ling arranged the bowmen
+in companies of convenient numbers, and commenced the march, sending
+forward spies, who were to work silently and bring back tidings from
+every point. In this way he penetrated to within a single li of the
+ruins of Ki, being informed by the spies that no outposts of the enemy
+were between him and that place. Here the first rest was made to
+enable the more accurate and bold spies to reach them with trustworthy
+information regarding the position and movements of the camp. With
+little delay there returned the one who had brought the earliest
+tidings, bruised and torn with his successful haste through the forest,
+but wearing a complacent and well-satisfied expression of countenance.
+Without hesitation or waiting to demand money before he would reveal his
+knowledge, he at once disclosed that the greater part of the enemy were
+rejoicing among the ruins of Ki, they having discovered there a quantity
+of opium and a variety of liquids, while only a small guard remained in
+the camp with their weapons ready. At these words Ling sprang from
+the ground in gladness, so great was his certainty of destroying the
+invaders utterly. It was, however, with less pleasurable emotions that
+he considered how he should effect the matter, for it was in no way
+advisable to divide his numbers into two bands. Without any feeling of
+unendurable conceit, he understood that no one but himself could hold
+the bowmen before an assault, however weak. In a similar manner, he
+determined that it would be more advisable to attack those in the
+village first. These he might have reasonable hopes of cutting down
+without warning the camp, or, in any event, before those from the camp
+arrived. To assail the camp first would assuredly, by the firing, draw
+upon them those from the village, and in whatever evil state these might
+arrive, they would, by their numbers, terrify the bowmen, who without
+doubt would have suffered some loss from the matchlocks.
+
+Waiting for the last light of day, Ling led on the men again, and
+sending forward some of the most reliable, surrounded the place of the
+village silently and without detection. In the open space, among broken
+casks and other inconsiderable matters, plainly shown by the large fires
+at which burned the last remains of the houses of Ki, many men moved
+or lay, some already dull or in heavy sleep. As the darkness dropped
+suddenly, the signal of a peacock's shriek, three times uttered, rang
+forth, and immediately a cloud of arrows, directed from all sides,
+poured in among those who feasted. Seeing their foemen defenceless
+before them, the archers neglected the orders they had received, and
+throwing away their bows they rushed in with uplifted clubs, uttering
+loud shouts of triumph. The next moment a shot was fired in the wood,
+drums beat, and in an unbelievably short space of time a small but
+well-armed band of the enemy was among them. Now that all need of
+caution was at an end, Ling rushed forward with raised sword, calling
+to his men that victory was certainly theirs, and dealing discriminating
+and inspiriting blows whenever he met a foeman. Three times he formed
+the bowmen into a figure emblematic of triumph, and led them against the
+line of matchlocks. Twice they fell back, leaving mingled dead under
+the feet of the enemy. The third time they stood firm, and Ling threw
+himself against the waving rank in a noble and inspired endeavour to
+lead the way through. At that moment, when a very distinguished victory
+seemed within his hand, his elegant and well-constructed sword broke
+upon an iron shield, leaving him defenceless and surrounded by the
+enemy.
+
+"Chief among the sublime virtues enjoined by the divine Confucius,"
+began Ling, folding his arms and speaking in an unmoved voice, "is an
+intelligent submission--" but at that word he fell beneath a rain of
+heavy and unquestionably well-aimed blows.
+
+
+
+VII
+
+Between Si-chow and the village of Ki, in a house completely hidden from
+travellers by the tall and black trees which surrounded it, lived an
+aged and very wise person whose ways and manner of living had become so
+distasteful to his neighbours that they at length agreed to regard him
+as a powerful and ill-disposed magician. In this way it became a custom
+that all very unseemly deeds committed by those who, in the ordinary
+course, would not be guilty of such behaviour, should be attributed
+to his influence, so that justice might be effected without persons of
+assured respectability being put to any inconvenience. Apart from the
+feeling which resulted from this just decision, the uncongenial person
+in question had become exceedingly unpopular on account of certain
+definite actions of his own, as that of causing the greater part of
+Si-chow to be burned down by secretly breathing upon the seven sacred
+water-jugs to which the town owed its prosperity and freedom from fire.
+Furthermore, although possessed of many taels, and able to afford such
+food as is to be found upon the tables of Mandarins, he selected from
+choice dishes of an objectionable nature; he had been observed to eat
+eggs of unbecoming freshness, and the Si-chow Official Printed Leaf made
+it public that he had, on an excessively hot occasion, openly partaken
+of cow's milk. It is not a matter for wonder, therefore, that when
+unnaturally loud thunder was heard in the neighbourhood of Si-chow
+the more ignorant and credulous persons refused to continue in any
+description of work until certain ceremonies connected with rice spirit,
+and the adherence to a reclining position for some hours, had been
+conscientiously observed as a protection against evil.
+
+Not even the most venerable person in Si-chow could remember the time
+when the magician had not lived there, and as there existed no written
+record narrating the incident, it was with well-founded probability
+that he was said to be incapable of death. Contrary to the most general
+practice, although quite unmarried, he had adopted no son to found a
+line which would worship his memory in future years, but had instead
+brought up and caused to be educated in the most difficult varieties
+of embroidery a young girl, to whom he referred, for want of a more
+suitable description, as the daughter of his sister, although he would
+admit without hesitation, when closely questioned, that he had never
+possessed a sister, at the same time, however, alluding with some
+pride to many illustrious brothers, who had all obtained distinction in
+various employments.
+
+Few persons of any high position penetrated into the house of the
+magician, and most of these retired with inelegant haste on perceiving
+that no domestic altar embellished the great hall. Indeed, not to make
+concealment of the fact, the magician was a person who had entirely
+neglected the higher virtues in an avaricious pursuit of wealth. In that
+way all his time and a very large number of taels had been expended,
+testing results by means of the four elements, and putting together
+things which had been inadequately arrived at by others. It was
+confidently asserted in Si-chow that he possessed every manner of
+printed leaf which had been composed in whatsoever language, and all the
+most precious charms, including many snake-skins of more than ordinary
+rarity, and the fang of a black wolf which had been stung by seven
+scorpions.
+
+On the death of his father the magician had become possessed of great
+wealth, yet he contributed little to the funeral obsequies nor did any
+suggestion of a durable and expensive nature conveying his enlightened
+name and virtues down to future times cause his face to become
+gladdened. In order to preserve greater secrecy about the enchantments
+which he certainly performed, he employed only two persons within the
+house, one of whom was blind and the other deaf. In this ingenious
+manner he hoped to receive attention and yet be unobserved, the
+blind one being unable to see the nature of the incantations which he
+undertook, and the deaf one being unable to hear the words. In this,
+however, he was unsuccessful, as the two persons always contrived to
+be present together, and to explain to one another the nature of the
+various matters afterwards; but as they were of somewhat deficient
+understanding, the circumstance was unimportant.
+
+It was with more uneasiness that the magician perceived one day that the
+maiden whom he had adopted was no longer a child. As he desired secrecy
+above all things until he should have completed the one important
+matter for which he had laboured all his life, he decided with extreme
+unwillingness to put into operation a powerful charm towards her, which
+would have the effect of diminishing all her attributes until such time
+as he might release her again. Owing to his reluctance in the matter,
+however, the magic did not act fully, but only in such a way that her
+feet became naturally and without binding the most perfect and beautiful
+in the entire province of Hu Nan, so that ever afterwards she was called
+Pan Fei Mian, in delicate reference to that Empress whose feet were so
+symmetrical that a golden lily sprang up wherever she trod. Afterwards
+the magician made no further essay in the matter, chiefly because he
+was ever convinced that the accomplishment of his desire was within his
+grasp.
+
+The rumours of armed men in the neighbourhood of Si-chow threw the
+magician into an unendurable condition of despair. To lose all, as would
+most assuredly happen if he had to leave his arranged rooms and secret
+preparations and take to flight, was the more bitter because he felt
+surer than ever that success was even standing by his side. The very
+subtle liquid, which would mix itself into the component parts of the
+living creature which drank it, and by an insidious and harmless process
+so work that, when the spirit departed, the flesh would become resolved
+into a figure of pure and solid gold of the finest quality, had engaged
+the refined minds of many of the most expert individuals of remote
+ages. With most of these inspired persons, however, the search had
+been undertaken in pure-minded benevolence, their chief aim being an
+honourable desire to discover a method by which one's ancestors might
+be permanently and effectively preserved in a fit and becoming manner to
+receive the worship and veneration of posterity. Yet, in spite of these
+amiable motives, and of the fact that the magician merely desired the
+possession of the secret to enable him to become excessively wealthy,
+the affair had been so arranged that it should come into his possession.
+
+The matter which concerned Mian in the dark wood, when she was only
+saved by the appearance of the person who is already known as Ling,
+entirely removed all pleasurable emotions from the magician's mind, and
+on many occasions he stated in a definite and systematic manner that he
+would shortly end an ignoble career which seemed to be destined only
+to gloom and disappointment. In this way an important misunderstanding
+arose, for when, two days later, during the sound of matchlock
+firing, the magician suddenly approached the presence of Mian with an
+uncontrollable haste and an entire absence of dignified demeanour,
+and fell dead at her feet without expressing himself on any subject
+whatever, she deliberately judged that in this manner he had carried his
+remark into effect, nor did the closed vessel of yellow liquid which he
+held in his hand seem to lead away from this decision. In reality, the
+magician had fallen owing to the heavy and conflicting emotions which
+success had engendered in an intellect already greatly weakened by
+his continual disregard of the higher virtues; for the bottle, indeed,
+contained the perfection of his entire life's study, the very expensive
+and three-times purified gold liquid.
+
+On perceiving the magician's condition, Mian at once called for the two
+attendants, and directed them to bring from an inner chamber all the
+most effective curing substances, whether in the form of powder or
+liquid. When these proved useless, no matter in what way they were
+applied, it became evident that there could be very little hope of
+restoring the magician, yet so courageous and grateful for the benefits
+which she had received from the person in question was Mian, that, in
+spite of the uninviting dangers of the enterprise, she determined to
+journey to Ki to invoke the assistance of a certain person who was known
+to be very successful in casting out malicious demons from the bodies
+of animals, and from casks and barrels, in which they frequently took
+refuge, to the great detriment of the quality of the liquid placed
+therein.
+
+Not without many hidden fears, Mian set out on her journey, greatly
+desiring not to be subjected to an encounter of a nature similar to the
+one already recorded; for in such a case she could hardly again hope for
+the inspired arrival of the one whom she now often thought of in secret
+as the well-formed and symmetrical young sword-user. Nevertheless, an
+event of equal significance was destined to prove the wisdom of
+the well-known remark concerning thoughts which are occupying one's
+intellect and the unexpected appearance of a very formidable evil
+spirit; for as she passed along, quickly yet with so dignified a motion
+that the moss received no impression beneath her footsteps, she became
+aware of a circumstance which caused her to stop by imparting to her
+mind two definite and greatly dissimilar emotions.
+
+In a grassy and open space, on the verge of which she stood, lay
+the dead bodies of seventeen rebels, all disposed in very degraded
+attitudes, which contrasted strongly with the easy and becoming position
+adopted by the eighteenth--one who bore the unmistakable emblems of the
+Imperial army. In this brave and noble-looking personage Mian at once
+saw her preserver, and not doubting that an inopportune and treacherous
+death had overtaken him, she ran forward and raised him in her arms,
+being well assured that however indiscreet such an action might appear
+in the case of an ordinary person, the most select maiden need not
+hesitate to perform so honourable a service in regard to one whose
+virtues had by that time undoubtedly placed him among the Three Thousand
+Pure Ones. Being disturbed in this providential manner, Ling opened his
+eyes, and faintly murmuring, "Oh, sainted and adorable Koon Yam, Goddess
+of Charity, intercede for me with Buddha!" he again lost possession of
+himself in the Middle Air. At this remark, which plainly proved Ling to
+be still alive, in spite of the fact that both the maiden and the person
+himself had thoughts to the contrary, Mian found herself surrounded by
+a variety of embarrassing circumstances, among which occurred a
+remembrance of the dead magician and the wise person at Ki whom she had
+set out to summon; but on considering the various natural and sublime
+laws which bore directly on the alternative before her, she discovered
+that her plain destiny was to endeavour to restore the breath in the
+person who was still alive rather than engage on the very unsatisfactory
+chance of attempting to call it back to the body from which it had so
+long been absent.
+
+Having been inspired to this conclusion--which, when she later examined
+her mind, she found not to be repulsive to her own inner feelings--Mian
+returned to the house with dexterous speed, and calling together the two
+attendants, she endeavoured by means of signs and drawings to explain to
+them what she desired to accomplish. Succeeding in this after some delay
+(for the persons in question, being very illiterate and narrow-minded,
+were unable at first to understand the existence of any recumbent male
+person other than the dead magician, whom they thereupon commenced to
+bury in the garden with expressions of great satisfaction at their
+own intelligence in comprehending Mian's meaning so readily) they all
+journeyed to the wood, and bearing Ling between them, they carried him
+to the house without further adventure.
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+It was in the month of Hot Dragon Breaths, many weeks after the fight in
+the woods of Ki, that Ling again opened his eyes to find himself in an
+unknown chamber, and to recognize in the one who visited him from time
+to time the incomparable maiden whose life he had saved in the cypress
+glade. Not a day had passed in the meanwhile on which Mian had neglected
+to offer sacrifices to Chang-Chung, the deity interested in drugs and
+healing substances, nor had she wavered in her firm resolve to bring
+Ling back to an ordinary existence even when the attendants had
+protested that the person in question might without impropriety be sent
+to the Restoring Establishment of the Last Chance, so little did his
+hope of recovering rest upon the efforts of living beings.
+
+After he had beheld Mian's face and understood the circumstances of his
+escape and recovery, Ling quickly shook off the evil vapours which had
+held him down so long, and presently he was able to walk slowly in the
+courtyard and in the shady paths of the wood beyond, leaning upon Mian
+for the support he still required.
+
+"Oh, graceful one," he said on such an occasion, when little stood
+between him and the full powers which he had known before the battle,
+"there is a matter which has been pressing upon this person's mind for
+some time past. It is as dark after light to let the thoughts dwell
+around it, yet the thing itself must inevitably soon be regarded, for in
+this life one's actions are for ever regulated by conditions which are
+neither of one's own seeking nor within one's power of controlling."
+
+At these words all brightness left Mian's manner, for she at once
+understood that Ling referred to his departure, of which she herself had
+lately come to think with unrestrained agitation.
+
+"Oh, Ling," she exclaimed at length, "most expert of sword-users and
+most noble of men, surely never was a maiden more inelegantly placed
+than the one who is now by your side. To you she owes her life, yet it
+is unseemly for her even to speak of the incident; to you she must
+look for protection, yet she cannot ask you to stay by her side. She is
+indeed alone. The magician is dead, Ki has fallen, Ling is going, and
+Mian is undoubtedly the most unhappy and solitary person between the
+Wall and the Nan Hai."
+
+"Beloved Mian," exclaimed Ling, with inspiring vehemence, "and is not
+the utterly unworthy person before you indebted to you in a double
+measure that life is still within him? Is not the strength which now
+promotes him to such exceptional audacity as to aspire to your
+lovely hand, of your own creating? Only encourage Ling to entertain a
+well-founded hope that on his return he shall not find you partaking
+of the wedding feast of some wealthy and exceptionally round-bodied
+Mandarin, and this person will accomplish the journey to Canton and back
+as it were in four strides."
+
+"Oh, Ling, reflexion of my ideal, holder of my soul, it would indeed
+be very disagreeable to my own feelings to make any reply save one,"
+replied Mian, scarcely above a breath-voice. "Gratitude alone would
+direct me, were it not that the great love which fills me leaves no
+resting-place for any other emotion than itself. Go if you must,
+but return quickly, for your absence will weigh upon Mian like a
+dragon-dream."
+
+"Violet light of my eyes," exclaimed Ling, "even in surroundings which
+with the exception of the matter before us are uninspiring in the
+extreme, your virtuous and retiring encouragement yet raises me to such
+a commanding eminence of demonstrative happiness that I fear I
+shall become intolerably self-opinionated towards my fellow-men in
+consequence."
+
+"Such a thing is impossible with my Ling," said Mian, with conviction.
+"But must you indeed journey to Canton?"
+
+"Alas!" replied Ling, "gladly would this person decide against such
+a course did the matter rest with him, for as the Verses say, 'It
+is needless to apply the ram's head to the unlocked door.' But Ki is
+demolished, the unassuming Mandarin Li Keen has retired to Peking, and
+of the fortunes of his bowmen this person is entirely ignorant."
+
+"Such as survived returned to their homes," replied Mian, "and Si-chow
+is safe, for the scattered and broken rebels fled to the mountains
+again; so much this person has learned."
+
+"In that case Si-chow is undoubtedly safe for the time, and can be left
+with prudence," said Ling. "It is an unfortunate circumstance that there
+is no Mandarin of authority between here and Canton who can receive from
+this person a statement of past facts and give him instructions for the
+future."
+
+"And what will be the nature of such instructions as will be given at
+Canton?" demanded Mian.
+
+"By chance they may take the form of raising another company of bowmen,"
+said Ling, with a sigh, "but, indeed, if this person can obtain any
+weight by means of his past service, they will tend towards a pleasant
+and unambitious civil appointment."
+
+"Oh, my artless and noble-minded lover!" exclaimed Mian, "assuredly a
+veil has been before your eyes during your residence in Canton, and your
+naturally benevolent mind has turned all things into good, or you would
+not thus hopefully refer to your brilliant exploits in the past. Of what
+commercial benefit have they been to the sordid and miserly persons
+in authority, or in what way have they diverted a stream of taels into
+their insatiable pockets? Far greater is the chance that had Si-chow
+fallen many of its household goods would have found their way into the
+Yamens of Canton. Assuredly in Li Keen you will have a friend who will
+make many delicate allusions to your ancestors when you meet, and yet
+one who will float many barbed whispers to follow you when you have
+passed; for you have planted shame before him in the eyes of those who
+would otherwise neither have eyes to see nor tongues to discuss the
+matter. It is for such a reason that this person distrusts all things
+connected with the journey, except your constancy, oh, my true and
+strong one."
+
+"Such faithfulness would alone be sufficient to assure my safe return if
+the matter were properly represented to the supreme Deities," said Ling.
+"Let not the thin curtain of bitter water stand before your lustrous
+eyes any longer, then, the events which have followed one another in the
+past few days in a fashion that can only be likened to thunder following
+lightning are indeed sufficient to distress one with so refined and
+swan-like an organization, but they are now assuredly at an end."
+
+"It is a hope of daily recurrence to this person," replied Mian,
+honourably endeavouring to restrain the emotion which openly exhibited
+itself in her eyes; "for what maiden would not rather make successful
+offerings to the Great Mother Kum-Fa than have the most imposing and
+verbose Triumphal Arch erected to commemorate an empty and unsatisfying
+constancy?"
+
+In this amiable manner the matter was arranged between Ling and Mian, as
+they sat together in the magician's garden drinking peach-tea, which the
+two attendants--not without discriminating and significant expressions
+between themselves--brought to them from time to time. Here Ling made
+clear the whole manner of his life from his earliest memory to the
+time when he fell in dignified combat, nor did Mian withhold anything,
+explaining in particular such charms and spells of the magician as she
+had knowledge of, and in this graceful manner materially assisting her
+lover in the many disagreeable encounters and conflicts which he was
+shortly to experience.
+
+It was with even more objectionable feelings than before that Ling now
+contemplated his journey to Canton, involving as it did the separation
+from one who had become as the shadow of his existence, and by whose
+side he had an undoubted claim to stand. Yet the necessity of the
+undertaking was no less than before, and the full possession of all his
+natural powers took away his only excuse for delaying in the matter.
+Without any pleasurable anticipations, therefore, he consulted the
+Sacred Flat and Round Sticks, and learning that the following day would
+be propitious for the journey, he arranged to set out in accordance with
+the omen.
+
+When the final moment arrived at which the invisible threads of
+constantly passing emotions from one to the other must be broken, and
+when Mian perceived that her lover's horse was restrained at the door by
+the two attendants, who with unsuspected delicacy of feeling had taken
+this opportunity of withdrawing, the noble endurance which had hitherto
+upheld her melted away, and she became involved in very melancholy
+and obscure meditations until she observed that Ling also was quickly
+becoming affected by a similar gloom.
+
+"Alas!" she exclaimed, "how unworthy a person I am thus to impose upon
+my lord a greater burden than that which already weighs him down! Rather
+ought this one to dwell upon the happiness of that day, when, after
+successfully evading or overthrowing the numerous bands of assassins
+which infest the road from here to Canton, and after escaping or
+recovering from the many deadly pestilences which invariably reduce that
+city at this season of the year, he shall triumphantly return. Assuredly
+there is a highly-polished surface united to every action in life,
+no matter how funereal it may at first appear. Indeed, there are many
+incidents compared with which death itself is welcome, and to this end
+Mian has reserved a farewell gift."
+
+Speaking in this manner the devoted and magnanimous maiden placed in
+Ling's hands the transparent vessel of liquid which the magician had
+grasped when he fell. "This person," she continued, speaking with
+difficulty, "places her lover's welfare incomparably before her own
+happiness, and should he ever find himself in a situation which is
+unendurably oppressive, and from which death is the only escape--such
+as inevitable tortures, the infliction of violent madness, or the
+subjection by magic to the will of some designing woman--she begs him
+to accept this means of freeing himself without regarding her anguish
+beyond expressing a clearly defined last wish that the two persons in
+question may be in the end happily reunited in another existence."
+
+Assured by this last evidence of affection, Ling felt that he had no
+longer any reason for internal heaviness; his spirits were immeasurably
+raised by the fragrant incense of Mian's great devotion, and under its
+influence he was even able to breathe towards her a few words of similar
+comfort as he left the spot and began his journey.
+
+
+
+IX
+
+On entering Canton, which he successfully accomplished without any
+unpleasant adventure, the marked absence of any dignified ostentation
+which had been accountable for many of Ling's misfortunes in the past,
+impelled him again to reside in the same insignificant apartment that
+he had occupied when he first visited the city as an unknown
+and unimportant candidate. In consequence of this, when Ling was
+communicating to any person the signs by which messengers might
+find him, he was compelled to add, "the neighbourhood in which this
+contemptible person resides is that officially known as 'the mean
+quarter favoured by the lower class of those who murder by treachery,'"
+and for this reason he was not always treated with the regard to which
+his attainments entitled him, or which he would have unquestionably
+received had he been able to describe himself as of "the partly-drained
+and uninfected area reserved to Mandarins and their friends."
+
+It was with an ignoble feeling of mental distress that Ling exhibited
+himself at the Chief Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements on the
+following day; for the many disadvantageous incidents of his past life
+had repeated themselves before his eyes while he slept, and the not
+unhopeful emotions which he had felt when in the inspiring presence of
+Mian were now altogether absent. In spite of the fact that he reached
+the office during the early gong strokes of the morning, it was not
+until the withdrawal of light that he reached any person who was in a
+position to speak with him on the matter, so numerous were the lesser
+ones through whose chambers he had to pass in the process. At length he
+found himself in the presence of an upper one who had the appearance
+of being acquainted with the circumstances, and who received him with
+dignity, though not with any embarrassing exhibition of respect or
+servility.
+
+"'The hero of the illustrious encounter beyond the walls of Si-chow,'"
+exclaimed that official, reading the words from the tablet of
+introduction which Ling had caused to be carried into him, and at the
+same time examining the person in question closely. "Indeed, no such one
+is known to those within this office, unless the words chance to point
+to the courteous and unassuming Mandarin Li Keen, who, however, is at
+this moment recovering his health at Peking, as set forth in the amiable
+and impartial report which we have lately received from him."
+
+At these words Ling plainly understood that there was little hope of the
+last events becoming profitable on his account.
+
+"Did not the report to which allusion has been made bear reference to
+one Ling, Commander of the Archers, who thrice led on the fighting men,
+and who was finally successful in causing the rebels to disperse towards
+the mountains?" he asked, in a voice which somewhat trembled.
+
+"There is certainly reference to one of the name you mention," said
+the other; "but regarding the terms--perhaps this person would better
+protect his own estimable time by displaying the report within your
+sight."
+
+With these words the upper one struck a gong several times, and after
+receiving from an inner chamber the parchment in question, he placed
+it before Ling, at the same time directing a lesser one to interpose
+between it and the one who read it a large sheet of transparent
+substance, so that destruction might not come to it, no matter in
+what way its contents affected the reader. Thereon Ling perceived the
+following facts, very skilfully inscribed with the evident purpose of
+inducing persons to believe, without question, that words so elegantly
+traced must of necessity be truthful also.
+
+  A Benevolent Example of the Intelligent Arrangement by which the
+  most Worthy Persons outlive those who are Incapable.
+
+  The circumstances connected with the office of the valuable and
+  accomplished Mandarin of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements at Si-chow
+  have, in recent times, been of anything but a prepossessing order.
+  Owing to the very inadequate methods adopted by those who earn a
+  livelihood by conveying necessities from the more enlightened
+  portions of the Empire to that place, it so came about that for a
+  period of five days the Yamen was entirely unsupplied with the
+  fins of sharks or even with goats' eyes. To add to the polished
+  Mandarin's distress of mind the barbarous and slow-witted rebels
+  who infest those parts took this opportunity to destroy the town
+  and most of its inhabitants, the matter coming about as follows:
+
+  The feeble and commonplace person named Ling who commands the
+  bowmen had but recently been elevated to that distinguished
+  position from a menial and degraded occupation (for which, indeed,
+  his stunted intellect more aptly fitted him); and being in
+  consequence very greatly puffed out in self-gratification, he
+  became an easy prey to the cunning of the rebels, and allowed
+  himself to be beguiled into a trap, paying for this contemptible
+  stupidity with his life. The town of Si-chow was then attacked,
+  and being in this manner left defenceless through the weakness--or
+  treachery--of the person Ling, who had contrived to encompass the
+  entire destruction of his unyielding company, it fell after a
+  determined and irreproachable resistance; the Mandarin Li Keen
+  being told, as, covered with the blood of the foemen, he was
+  dragged away from the thickest part of the unequal conflict by his
+  followers, that he was the last person to leave the town. On his
+  way to Peking with news of this valiant defence, the Mandarin was
+  joined by the Chief of Bowmen, who had understood and avoided the
+  very obvious snare into which the stagnant-minded Commander had
+  led his followers, in spite of disinterested advice to the
+  contrary. For this intelligent perception, and for general
+  nobility of conduct when in battle, the versatile Chief of Bowmen
+  is by this written paper strongly recommended to the dignity of
+  receiving the small metal Embellishment of Valour.
+
+  It has been suggested to the Mandarin Li Keen that the bestowal of
+  the Crystal Button would only be a fit and graceful reward for his
+  indefatigable efforts to uphold the dignity of the sublime
+  Emperor; but to all such persons the Mandarin has sternly replied
+  that such a proposal would more fitly originate from the renowned
+  and valuable Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, he well
+  knowing that the wise and engaging persons who conduct that
+  indispensable and well-regulated department are gracefully
+  voracious in their efforts to reward merit, even when it is
+  displayed, as in the case in question, by one who from his
+  position will inevitably soon be urgently petitioning in a like
+  manner on their behalf.
+
+When Ling had finished reading this elegantly arranged but exceedingly
+misleading parchment, he looked up with eyes from which he vainly
+endeavoured to restrain the signs of undignified emotion, and said to
+the upper one:
+
+"It is difficult employment for a person to refrain from unendurable
+thoughts when his unassuming and really conscientious efforts are
+represented in a spirit of no satisfaction, yet in this matter the very
+expert Li Keen appears to have gone beyond himself; the Commander Ling,
+who is herein represented as being slain by the enemy, is, indeed, the
+person who is standing before you, and all the other statements are in a
+like exactness."
+
+"The short-sighted individual who for some hidden desire of his own is
+endeavouring to present himself as the corrupt and degraded creature
+Ling, has overlooked one important circumstance," said the upper one,
+smiling in a very intolerable manner, at the same time causing his head
+to move slightly from side to side in the fashion of one who rebukes
+with assumed geniality; and, turning over the written paper, he
+displayed upon the under side the Imperial vermilion Sign. "Perhaps,"
+he continued, "the omniscient person will still continue in his remarks,
+even with the evidence of the Emperor's unerring pencil to refute him."
+
+At these words and the undoubted testimony of the red mark, which
+plainly declared the whole of the written matter to be composed of
+truth, no matter what might afterwards transpire, Ling understood that
+very little prosperity remained with him.
+
+"But the town of Si-chow," he suggested, after examining his mind; "if
+any person in authority visited the place, he would inevitably find it
+standing and its inhabitants in agreeable health."
+
+"The persistent person who is so assiduously occupying my intellectual
+moments with empty words seems to be unaccountably deficient in his
+knowledge of the customs of refined society and of the meaning of the
+Imperial Signet," said the other, with an entire absence of benevolent
+consideration. "That Si-chow has fallen and that Ling is dead are two
+utterly uncontroversial matters truthfully recorded. If a person visited
+Si-chow, he might find it rebuilt or even inhabited by those from the
+neighbouring villages or by evil spirits taking the forms of the ones
+who formerly lived there; as in a like manner, Ling might be restored
+to existence by magic, or his body might be found and possessed by
+an outcast demon who desired to revisit the earth for a period. Such
+circumstances do not in any way disturb the announcement that Si-chow
+has without question fallen, and that Ling has officially ceased to
+live, of which events notifications have been sent to all who are
+concerned in the matters."
+
+As the upper one ceased speaking, four strokes sounded upon the gong,
+and Ling immediately found himself carried into the street by the
+current of both lesser and upper ones who poured forth at the signal.
+The termination of this conversation left Ling in a more unenviable
+state of dejection than any of the many preceding misfortunes had
+done, for with enlarged inducements to possess himself of a competent
+appointment he seemed to be even further removed from this attainment
+than he had been at any time in his life. He might, indeed, present
+himself again for the public examinations; but in order to do even that
+it would be necessary for him to wait almost a year, nor could he assure
+himself that his efforts would again be likely to result in an equal
+success. Doubts also arose within his mind of the course which he should
+follow in such a case; whether to adopt a new name, involving as it
+would certain humiliation and perhaps disgrace if detection overtook
+his footsteps, or still to possess the title of one who was in a measure
+dead, and hazard the likelihood of having any prosperity which he might
+obtain reduced to nothing if the fact should become public.
+
+As Ling reflected upon such details he found himself without intention
+before the house of a wise person who had become very wealthy by
+advising others on all matters, but chiefly on those connected with
+strange occurrences and such events as could not be settled definitely
+either one way or the other until a remote period had been reached.
+Becoming assailed by a curious desire to know what manner of evils
+particularly attached themselves to such as were officially dead but who
+nevertheless had an ordinary existence, Ling placed himself before this
+person, and after arranging the manner of reward related to him so many
+of the circumstances as were necessary to enable a full understanding to
+be reached, but at the same time in no way betraying his own interest in
+the matter.
+
+"Such inflictions are to no degree frequent," said the wise person after
+he had consulted a polished sphere of the finest red jade for some
+time; "and this is in a measure to be regretted, as the hair of these
+persons--provided they die a violent death, which is invariably the
+case--constitutes a certain protection against being struck by falling
+stars, or becoming involved in unsuccessful law cases. The persons in
+question can be recognized with certainty in the public ways by the
+unnatural pallor of their faces and by the general repulsiveness of
+their appearance, but as they soon take refuge in suicide, unless
+they have the fortune to be removed previously by accident, it is an
+infrequent matter that one is gratified by the sight. During their
+existence they are subject to many disorders from which the generality
+of human beings are benevolently preserved; they possess no rights
+of any kind, and if by any chance they are detected in an act of a
+seemingly depraved nature, they are liable to judgment at the hands of
+the passers-by without any form whatever, and to punishment of a more
+severe order than that administered to commonplace criminals. There
+are many other disadvantages affecting such persons when they reach the
+Middle Air, of which the chief--"
+
+"This person is immeasurably indebted for such a clear explanation of
+the position," interrupted Ling, who had a feeling of not desiring
+to penetrate further into the detail; "but as he perceives a line
+of anxious ones eagerly waiting at the door to obtain advice and
+consolation from so expert and amiable a wizard, he will not make
+himself uncongenial any longer with his very feeble topics of
+conversation."
+
+By this time Ling plainly comprehended that he had been marked out
+from the beginning--perhaps for all the knowledge which he had to the
+opposite effect, from a period in the life of a far-removed ancestor--to
+be an object of marked derision and the victim of all manner of
+malevolent demons in whatever actions he undertook. In this condition
+of understanding his mind turned gratefully to the parting gift of Mian
+whom he had now no hope of possessing; for the intolerable thought
+of uniting her to so objectionable a being as himself would have been
+dismissed as utterly inelegant even had he been in a manner of living
+to provide for her adequately, which itself seemed clearly impossible.
+Disregarding all similar emotions, therefore, he walked without pausing
+to his abode, and stretching his body upon the rushes, drank the entire
+liquid unhesitatingly, and prepared to pass beyond with a tranquil mind
+entirely given up to thoughts and images of Mian.
+
+
+
+X
+
+Upon a certain occasion, the particulars of which have already been
+recorded, Ling had judged himself to have passed into the form of a
+spirit on beholding the ethereal form of Mian bending over him. After
+swallowing the entire liquid, which had cost the dead magician so much
+to distil and make perfect, it was with a well-assured determination of
+never again awakening that he lost the outward senses and floated in the
+Middle Air, so that when his eyes next opened upon what seemed to be
+the bare walls of his own chamber, his first thought was a natural
+conviction that the matter had been so arranged either out of a
+charitable desire that he should not be overcome by a too sudden
+transition to unparalleled splendour, or that such a reception was the
+outcome of some dignified jest on the part of certain lesser and more
+cheerful spirits. After waiting in one position for several hours,
+however, and receiving no summons or manifestation of a celestial
+nature, he began to doubt the qualities of the liquid, and applying
+certain tests, he soon ascertained that he was still in the lower world
+and unharmed. Nevertheless, this circumstance did not tend in any way
+to depress his mind, for, doubtless owing to some hidden virtue of
+the fluid, he felt an enjoyable emotion that he still lived; all his
+attributes appeared to be purified, and he experienced an inspired
+certainty of feeling that an illustrious and highly-remunerative future
+lay before one who still had an ordinary existence after being both
+officially killed and self-poisoned.
+
+In this intelligent disposition thoughts of Mian recurred to him with
+unreproved persistence, and in order to convey to her an account of the
+various matters which had engaged him since his arrival at the city, and
+a well-considered declaration of the unchanged state of his own feelings
+towards her, he composed and despatched with impetuous haste the
+following delicate verses:
+
+
+
+CONSTANCY
+
+  About the walls and gates of Canton
+  Are many pleasing and entertaining maidens;
+  Indeed, in the eyes of their friends and of the passers-by
+  Some of them are exceptionally adorable.
+  The person who is inscribing these lines, however,
+  Sees before him, as it were, an assemblage of deformed and
+    un-prepossessing hags,
+  Venerable in age and inconsiderable in appearance;
+  For the dignified and majestic image of Mian is ever before him,
+  Making all others very inferior.
+
+  Within the houses and streets of Canton
+  Hang many bright lanterns.
+  The ordinary person who has occasion to walk by night
+  Professes to find them highly lustrous.
+  But there is one who thinks contrary facts,
+  And when he goes forth he carries two long curved poles
+  To prevent him from stumbling among the dark and hidden places;
+  For he has gazed into the brilliant and pellucid orbs of Mian,
+  And all other lights are dull and practically opaque.
+
+  In various parts of the literary quarter of Canton
+  Reside such as spend their time in inward contemplation.
+  In spite of their generally uninviting exteriors
+  Their reflexions are often of a very profound order.
+  Yet the unpopular and persistently-abused Ling
+  Would unhesitatingly prefer his own thoughts to theirs,
+  For what makes this person's thoughts far more pleasing
+  Is that they are invariably connected with the virtuous and
+    ornamental Mian.
+
+Becoming very amiably disposed after this agreeable occupation, Ling
+surveyed himself at the disc of polished metal, and observed with
+surprise and shame the rough and uninviting condition of his person. He
+had, indeed, although it was not until some time later that he became
+aware of the circumstance, slept for five days without interruption, and
+it need not therefore be a matter of wonder or of reproach to him that
+his smooth surfaces had become covered with short hair. Reviling himself
+bitterly for the appearance which he conceived he must have exhibited
+when he conducted his business, and to which he now in part attributed
+his ill-success, Ling went forth without delay, and quickly discovering
+one of those who remove hair publicly for a very small sum, he placed
+himself in the chair, and directed that his face, arms, and legs should
+be denuded after the manner affected by the ones who make a practice of
+observing the most recent customs.
+
+"Did the illustrious individual who is now conferring distinction on
+this really worn-out chair by occupying it express himself in favour of
+having the face entirely denuded?" demanded the one who conducted the
+operation; for these persons have become famous for their elegant and
+persistent ability to discourse, and frequently assume ignorance in
+order that they themselves may make reply, and not for the purpose
+of gaining knowledge. "Now, in the objectionable opinion of this
+unintelligent person, who has a presumptuous habit of offering his
+very undesirable advice, a slight covering on the upper lip, delicately
+arranged and somewhat fiercely pointed at the extremities, would
+bestow an appearance of--how shall this illiterate person explain
+himself?--dignity?--matured reflexion?--doubtless the accomplished
+nobleman before me will understand what is intended with a more
+knife-like accuracy than this person can describe it--but confer that
+highly desirable effect upon the face of which at present it is entirely
+destitute... 'Entirely denuded?' Then without fail it shall certainly be
+so, O incomparable personage... Does the versatile Mandarin now present
+profess any concern as to the condition of the rice plants?... Indeed,
+the remark is an inspired one; the subject is totally devoid of interest
+to a person of intelligence ... A remarkable and gravity-removing event
+transpired within the notice of this unassuming person recently. A
+discriminating individual had purchased from him a portion of his justly
+renowned Thrice-extracted Essence of Celestial Herb Oil--a preparation
+which in this experienced person's opinion, indeed, would greatly
+relieve the undoubted afflictions from which the one before him is
+evidently suffering--when after once anointing himself--"
+
+A lengthy period containing no words caused Ling, who had in the
+meantime closed his eyes and lost Canton and all else in delicate
+thoughts of Mian, to look up. That which met his attention on doing so
+filled him with an intelligent wonder, for the person before him held in
+his hand what had the appearance of a tuft of bright yellow hair, which
+shone in the light of the sun with a most engaging splendour, but which
+he nevertheless regarded with a most undignified expression of confusion
+and awe.
+
+"Illustrious demon," he cried at length, kow-towing very respectfully,
+"have the extreme amiableness to be of a benevolent disposition, and do
+not take an unworthy and entirely unremunerative revenge upon this
+very unimportant person for failing to detect and honour you from the
+beginning."
+
+"Such words indicate nothing beyond an excess of hemp spirit," answered
+Ling, with signs of displeasure. "To gain my explicit esteem, make me
+smooth without delay, and do not exhibit before me the lock of hair
+which, from its colour and appearance, has evidently adorned the head of
+one of those maidens whose duty it is to quench the thirst of travellers
+in the long narrow rooms of this city."
+
+"Majestic and anonymous spirit," said the other, with extreme reverence,
+and an entire absence of the appearance of one who had gazed into
+too many vessels, "if such be your plainly-expressed desire, this
+superficial person will at once proceed to make smooth your peach-like
+skin, and with a carefulness inspired by the certainty that the most
+unimportant wound would give forth liquid fire, in which he would
+undoubtedly perish. Nevertheless, he desires to make it evident that
+this hair is from the head of no maiden, being, indeed, the uneven
+termination of your own sacred pigtail, which this excessively
+self-confident slave took the inexcusable liberty of removing, and which
+changed in this manner within his hand in order to administer a fit
+reproof for his intolerable presumption."
+
+Impressed by the mien and unquestionable earnestness of the remover of
+hair, Ling took the matter which had occasioned these various emotions
+in his hand and examined it. His amazement was still greater when he
+perceived that--in spite of the fact that it presented every appearance
+of having been cut from his own person--none of the qualities of hair
+remained in it; it was hard and wire-like, possessing, indeed, both the
+nature and the appearance of a metal.
+
+As he gazed fixedly and with astonishment, there came back into
+the remembrance of Ling certain obscure and little-understood facts
+connected with the limitless wealth possessed by the Yellow Emperor--of
+which the great gold life-like image in the Temple of Internal Symmetry
+at Peking alone bears witness now--and of his lost secret. Many very
+forcible prophecies and omens in his own earlier life, of which
+the rendering and accomplishment had hitherto seemed to be dark and
+incomplete, passed before him, and various matters which Mian had
+related to him concerning the habits and speech of the magician took
+definite form within his mind. Deeply impressed by the exact manner in
+which all these circumstances fitted together, one into another, Ling
+rewarded the person before him greatly beyond his expectation, and
+hurried without delay to his own chamber.
+
+
+
+XI
+
+For many hours Ling remained in his room, examining in his mind all
+passages, either in his own life or in the lives of others, which might
+by any chance have influence on the event before him. In this thorough
+way he became assured that the competition and its results, his journey
+to Si-chow with the encounter in the cypress wood, the flight of the
+incapable and treacherous Mandarin, and the battle of Ki, were all,
+down to the matter of the smallest detail, parts of a symmetrical and
+complete scheme, tending to his present condition. Cheered and upheld
+by this proof of the fact that very able deities were at work on
+his behalf, he turned his intellect from the entrancing subject to a
+contemplation of the manner in which his condition would enable him to
+frustrate the uninventive villainies of the obstinate person Li Keen,
+and to provide a suitable house and mode of living to which he would be
+justified in introducing Mian, after adequate marriage ceremonies had
+been observed between them. In this endeavour he was less successful
+than he had imagined would be the case, for when he had first fully
+understood that his body was of such a substance that nothing was
+wanting to transmute it into fine gold but the absence of the living
+spirit, he had naturally, and without deeply examining the detail,
+assumed that so much gold might be considered to be in his possession.
+Now, however, a very definite thought arose within him that his own
+wishes and interests would have been better secured had the benevolent
+spirits who undertook the matter placed the secret within his knowledge
+in such a way as to enable him to administer the fluid to some very
+heavy and inexpensive animal, so that the issue which seemed inevitable
+before the enjoyment of the riches could be entered upon should not
+have touched his own comfort so closely. To a person of Ling's refined
+imagination it could not fail to be a subject of internal reproach that
+while he would become the most precious dead body in the world, his
+value in life might not be very honourably placed even by the most
+complimentary one who should require his services. Then came the
+thought, which, however degraded, he found himself unable to put quite
+beyond him, that if in the meantime he were able to gain a sufficiency
+for Mian and himself, even her pure and delicate love might not be able
+to bear so offensive a test as that of seeing him grow old and remain
+intolerably healthy--perhaps with advancing years actually becoming
+lighter day by day, and thereby lessening in value before her eyes--when
+the natural infirmities of age and the presence of an ever-increasing
+posterity would make even a moderate amount of taels of inestimable
+value.
+
+No doubt remained in Ling's mind that the process of frequently making
+smooth his surfaces would yield an amount of gold enough to suffice for
+his own needs, but a brief consideration of the matter convinced him
+that this source would be inadequate to maintain an entire household
+even if he continually denuded himself to an almost ignominious extent.
+As he fully weighed these varying chances the certainty became more
+clear to him with every thought that for the virtuous enjoyment of
+Mian's society one great sacrifice was required of him. This act, it
+seemed to be intimated, would without delay provide for an affluent
+and lengthy future, and at the same time would influence all the
+spirits--even those who had been hitherto evilly-disposed towards
+him--in such a manner that his enemies would be removed from his path
+by a process which would expose them to public ridicule, and he would be
+assured in founding an illustrious and enduring line. To accomplish this
+successfully necessitated the loss of at least the greater part of one
+entire member, and for some time the disadvantages of going through an
+existence with only a single leg or arm seemed more than a sufficient
+price to pay even for the definite advantages which would be made
+over to him in return. This unworthy thought, however, could not long
+withstand the memory of Mian's steadfast and high-minded affection,
+and the certainty of her enlightened gladness at his return even in the
+imperfect condition which he anticipated. Nor was there absent from his
+mind a dimly-understood hope that the matter did not finally rest with
+him, but that everything which he might be inspired to do was in reality
+only a portion of the complete and arranged system into which he had
+been drawn, and in which his part had been assigned to him from the
+beginning without power for him to deviate, no matter how much to the
+contrary the thing should appear.
+
+As no advantage would be gained by making any delay, Ling at once sought
+the most favourable means of putting his resolution into practice, and
+after many skilful and insidious inquiries he learnt of an accomplished
+person who made a consistent habit of cutting off limbs which had become
+troublesome to their possessors either through accident or disease.
+Furthermore, he was said to be of a sincere and charitable disposition,
+and many persons declared that on no occasion had he been known to
+make use of the helpless condition of those who visited him in order to
+extort money from them.
+
+Coming to the ill-considered conclusion that he would be able to conceal
+within his own breast the true reason for the operation, Ling placed
+himself before the person in question, and exhibited the matter to
+him so that it would appear as though his desires were promoted by the
+presence of a small but persistent sprite which had taken its abode
+within his left thigh, and there resisted every effort of the most
+experienced wise persons to induce it to come forth again. Satisfied
+with this explanation of the necessity of the deed, the one who
+undertook the matter proceeded, with Ling's assistance, to sharpen his
+cutting instruments and to heat the hardening irons; but no sooner had
+he made a shallow mark to indicate the lines which his knife should
+take, than his subtle observation at once showed him that the facts had
+been represented to him in a wrong sense, and that his visitor, indeed,
+was composed of no common substance. Being of a gentle and forbearing
+disposition, he did not manifest any indication of rage at the
+discovery, but amiably and unassumingly pointed out that such a course
+was not respectful towards himself, and that, moreover, Ling might incur
+certain well-defined and highly undesirable maladies as a punishment for
+the deception.
+
+Overcome with remorse at deceiving so courteous and noble-minded
+a person, Ling fully explained the circumstances to him, not even
+concealing from him certain facts which related to the actions of remote
+ancestors, but which, nevertheless, appeared to have influenced the
+succession of events. When he had made an end of the narrative, the
+other said:
+
+"Behold now, it is truly remarked that every Mandarin has three hands
+and every soldier a like number of feet, yet it is a saying which is
+rather to be regarded as manifesting the deep wisdom and discrimination
+of the speaker than as an actual fact which can be taken advantage of
+when one is so minded--least of all by so valiant a Commander as the one
+before me, who has clearly proved that in time of battle he has exactly
+reversed the position."
+
+"The loss would undoubtedly be of considerable inconvenience
+occasionally," admitted Ling, "yet none the less the sage remark of Huai
+Mei-shan, 'When actually in the embrace of a voracious and powerful
+wild animal, the desirability of leaving a limb is not a matter to be
+subjected to lengthy consideration,' is undoubtedly a valuable guide for
+general conduct. This person has endured many misfortunes and suffered
+many injustices; he has known the wolf-gnawings of great hopes, which
+have withered and daily grown less when the difficulties of maintaining
+an honourable and illustrious career have unfolded themselves within his
+sight. Before him still lie the attractions of a moderate competency to
+be shared with the one whose absence would make even the Upper Region
+unendurable, and after having this entrancing future once shattered
+by the tiger-like cupidity of a depraved and incapable Mandarin, he is
+determined to welcome even the sacrifice which you condemn rather than
+let the opportunity vanish through indecision."
+
+"It is not an unworthy or abandoned decision," said the one whose aid
+Ling had invoked, "nor a matter in which this person would refrain from
+taking part, were there no other and more agreeable means by which the
+same results may be attained. A circumstance has occurred within
+this superficial person's mind, however: A brother of the one who
+is addressing you is by profession one of those who purchase large
+undertakings for which they have not the money to pay, and who thereupon
+by various expedients gain the ear of the thrifty, enticing them by fair
+offers of return to entrust their savings for the purpose of paying off
+the debt. These persons are ever on the watch for transactions by which
+they inevitably prosper without incurring any obligation, and doubtless
+my brother will be able to gather a just share of the value of your
+highly-remunerative body without submitting you to the insufferable
+annoyance of losing a great part of it prematurely."
+
+Without clearly understanding how so inviting an arrangement could be
+effected, the manner of speaking was exceedingly alluring to Ling's
+mind, perplexed as he had become through weighing and considering
+the various attitudes of the entire matter. To receive a certain and
+sufficient sum of money without his person being in any way mutilated
+would be a satisfactory, but as far as he had been able to observe an
+unapproachable, solution to the difficulty. In the mind of the amiable
+person with whom he was conversing, however, the accomplishment did not
+appear to be surrounded by unnatural obstacles, so that Ling was content
+to leave the entire design in his hands, after stating that he would
+again present himself on a certain occasion when it was asserted that
+the brother in question would be present.
+
+So internally lightened did Ling feel after this inspiring conversation,
+and so confident of a speedy success had the obliging person's words
+made him become, that for the first time since his return to Canton he
+was able to take an intellectual interest in the pleasures of the city.
+Becoming aware that the celebrated play entitled "The Precious Lamp
+of Spotted Butterfly Temple" was in process of being shown at the Tea
+Garden of Rainbow Lights and Voices, he purchased an entrance, and after
+passing several hours in this conscientious enjoyment, returned to
+his chamber, and passed a night untroubled by any manifestations of an
+unpleasant nature.
+
+
+
+XII
+
+Chang-ch'un, the brother of the one to whom Ling had applied in his
+determination, was confidently stated to be one of the richest persons
+in Canton. So great was the number of enterprises in which he had
+possessions, that he himself was unable to keep an account of them,
+and it was asserted that upon occasions he had run through the streets,
+crying aloud that such an undertaking had been the subject of most
+inferior and uninviting dreams and omens (a custom observed by those who
+wish a venture ill), whereas upon returning and consulting his written
+parchments, it became plain to him that he had indulged in a very
+objectionable exhibition, as he himself was the person most interested
+in the success of the matter. Far from discouraging him, however, such
+incidents tended to his advantage, as he could consistently point to
+them in proof of his unquestionable commercial honourableness, and in
+this way many persons of all classes, not only in Canton, or in the
+Province, but all over the Empire, would unhesitatingly entrust money
+to be placed in undertakings which he had purchased and was willing to
+describe as "of much good." A certain class of printed leaves--those in
+which Chang-ch'un did not insert purchased mentions of his forthcoming
+ventures or verses recording his virtues (in return for buying many
+examples of the printed leaf containing them)--took frequent occasion of
+reminding persons that Chang-ch'un owed the beginning of his prosperity
+to finding a written parchment connected with a Mandarin of exalted rank
+and a low caste attendant at the Ti-i tea-house among the paper
+heaps, which it was at that time his occupation to assort into various
+departments according to their quality and commercial value. Such
+printed leaves freely and unhesitatingly predicted that the day on which
+he would publicly lose face was incomparably nearer than that on which
+the Imperial army would receive its back pay, and in a quaint and
+gravity-removing manner advised him to protect himself against an
+obscure but inevitable poverty by learning the accomplishment of
+chair-carrying--an occupation for which his talents and achievements
+fitted him in a high degree, they remarked.
+
+In spite of these evilly intentioned remarks, and of illustrations
+representing him as being bowstrung for treacherous killing, being
+seized in the action of secretly conveying money from passers-by to
+himself and other similar annoying references to his private life,
+Chang-ch'un did not fail to prosper, and his undertakings succeeded to
+such an extent that without inquiry into the detail many persons were
+content to describe as "gold-lined" anything to which he affixed his
+sign, and to hazard their savings for staking upon the ventures. In all
+other departments of life Chang was equally successful; his chief wife
+was the daughter of one who stood high in the Emperor's favour; his
+repast table was never unsupplied with sea-snails, rats' tongues,
+or delicacies of an equally expensive nature, and it was confidently
+maintained that there was no official in Canton, not even putting aside
+the Taotai, who dare neglect to fondle Chang's hand if he publicly
+offered it to him for that purpose.
+
+It was at the most illustrious point of his existence--at the time,
+indeed, when after purchasing without money the renowned and proficient
+charm-water Ho-Ko for a million taels, he had sold it again for
+ten--that Chang was informed by his brother of the circumstances
+connected with Ling. After becoming specially assured that the matter
+was indeed such as it was represented to be, Chang at once discerned
+that the venture was of too certain and profitable a nature to be put
+before those who entrusted their money to him in ordinary and doubtful
+cases. He accordingly called together certain persons whom he was
+desirous of obliging, and informing them privately and apart
+from business terms that the opportunity was one of exceptional
+attractiveness, he placed the facts before them. After displaying a
+number of diagrams bearing upon the mater, he proposed that they should
+form an enterprise to be called "The Ling (After Death) Without Much
+Risk Assembly." The manner of conducting this undertaking he explained
+to be as follows: The body of Ling, whenever the spirit left it, should
+become as theirs to be used for profit. For this benefit they would pay
+Ling fifty thousand taels when the understanding was definitely arrived
+at, five thousand taels each year until the matter ended, and when that
+period arrived another fifty thousand taels to persons depending upon
+him during his life. Having stated the figure business, Chang-ch'un
+put down his written papers, and causing his face to assume the look of
+irrepressible but dignified satisfaction which it was his custom to wear
+on most occasions, and especially when he had what appeared at first
+sight to be evil news to communicate to public assemblages of those
+who had entrusted money to his ventures, he proceeded to disclose the
+advantages of such a system. At the extreme, he said, the amount which
+they would be required to pay would be two hundred and fifty
+thousand taels; but this was in reality a very misleading view of the
+circumstance, as he would endeavour to show them. For one detail, he had
+allotted to Ling thirty years of existence, which was the extreme amount
+according to the calculations of those skilled in such prophecies; but,
+as they were all undoubtedly aware, persons of very expert intellects
+were known to enjoy a much shorter period of life than the gross and
+ordinary, and as Ling was clearly one of the former, by the fact of his
+contriving so ingenious a method of enriching himself, they might with
+reasonable foresight rely upon his departing when half the period had
+been attained; in that way seventy-five thousand taels would be restored
+to them, for every year represented a saving of five thousand. Another
+agreeable contemplation was that of the last sum, for by such a time
+they would have arrived at the most pleasurable part of the enterprise:
+a million taels' worth of pure gold would be displayed before them, and
+the question of the final fifty thousand could be disposed of by cutting
+off an arm or half a leg. Whether they adopted that course, or decided
+to increase their fortunes by exposing so exceptional and symmetrical a
+wonder to the public gaze in all the principal cities of the Empire, was
+a circumstance which would have to be examined within their minds when
+the time approached. In such a way the detail of purchase stood
+revealed as only fifty thousand taels in reality, a sum so despicably
+insignificant that he had internal pains at mentioning it to so wealthy
+a group of Mandarins, and he had not yet made clear to them that each
+year they would receive gold to the amount of almost a thousand taels.
+This would be the result of Ling making smooth his surfaces, and it
+would enable them to know that the person in question actually existed,
+and to keep the circumstances before their intellects.
+
+When Chang-Ch'un had made the various facts clear to this extent, those
+who were assembled expressed their feelings as favourably turned towards
+the project, provided the tests to which Ling was to be put should prove
+encouraging, and a secure and intelligent understanding of things to be
+done and not to be done could be arrived at between them. To this end
+Ling was brought into the chamber, and fixing his thoughts steadfastly
+upon Mian, he permitted portions to be cut from various parts of his
+body without betraying any signs of ignoble agitation. No sooner had
+the pieces been separated and the virtue of Ling's existence passed from
+them than they changed colour and hardened, nor could the most delicate
+and searching trials to which they were exposed by a skilful worker
+in metals, who was obtained for the purpose, disclose any particular,
+however minute, in which they differed from the finest gold. The hair,
+the nails, and the teeth were similarly affected, and even Ling's
+blood dried into a fine gold powder. This detail of the trial being
+successfully completed, Ling subjected himself to intricate questioning
+on all matters connected with his religion and manner of conducting
+himself, both in public and privately, the history and behaviour of his
+ancestors, the various omens and remarkable sayings which had reference
+to his life and destiny, and the intentions which he then possessed
+regarding his future movements and habits of living. All the wise
+sayings and written and printed leaves which made any allusion to the
+existence of and possibility of discovery of the wonderful gold fluid
+were closely examined, and found to be in agreement, whereupon those
+present made no further delay in admitting that the facts were indeed
+as they had been described, and indulged in a dignified stroking of
+each other's faces as an expression of pleasure and in proof of their
+satisfaction at taking part in so entrancing and remunerative an affair.
+At Chang's command many rare and expensive wines were then brought
+in, and partaken of without restraint by all persons, the repast being
+lightened by numerous well-considered and gravity-removing jests having
+reference to Ling and the unusual composition of his person. So amiably
+were the hours occupied that it was past the time of no light when Chang
+rose and read at full length the statement of things to be done and
+things not to be done, which was to be sealed by Ling for his part and
+the other persons who were present for theirs. It so happened, however,
+that at that period Ling's mind was filled with brilliant and versatile
+thoughts and images of Mian, and many-hued visions of the manner in
+which they would spend the entrancing future which was now before them,
+and in this way it chanced that he did not give any portion of his
+intellect to the reading, mistaking it, indeed, for a delicate and very
+ably-composed set of verses which Chang-ch'un was reciting as a formal
+blessing on parting. Nor was it until he was desired to affix his
+sign that Ling discovered his mistake, and being of too respectful and
+unobtrusive a disposition to require the matter to be repeated then, he
+carried out the obligation without in any particular understanding the
+written words to which he was agreeing.
+
+As Ling walked through the streets to his chamber after leaving the
+house and company of Chang-Ch'un, holding firmly among his garments the
+thin printed papers to the amount of fifty thousand taels which he had
+received, and repeatedly speaking to himself in terms of general and
+specific encouragement at the fortunate events of the past few days, he
+became aware that a person of mean and rapacious appearance, whom he
+had some memory of having observed within the residence he had but
+just left, was continually by his side. Not at first doubting that
+the circumstance resulted from a benevolent desire on the part of
+Chang-ch'un that he should be protected on his passage through the city,
+Ling affected not to observe the incident; but upon reaching his own
+door the person in question persistently endeavoured to pass in also.
+Forming a fresh judgment about the matter, Ling, who was very powerfully
+constructed, and whose natural instincts were enhanced in every degree
+by the potent fluid of which he had lately partaken, repeatedly threw
+him across the street until he became weary of the diversion. At
+length, however, the thought arose that one who patiently submitted
+to continually striking the opposite houses with his head must have
+something of importance to communicate, whereupon he courteously invited
+him to enter the apartment and unweigh his mind.
+
+"The facts of the case appear to have been somewhat inadequately
+represented," said the stranger, bowing obsequiously, "for this
+unornamental person was assured by the benignant Chang-ch'un that the
+one whose shadow he was to become was of a mild and forbearing nature."
+
+"Such words are as the conversation of birds to me," replied Ling, not
+conjecturing how the matter had fallen about. "This person has just left
+the presence of the elegant and successful Chang-ch'un, and no word that
+he spoke gave indication of such a follower or such a service."
+
+"Then it is indeed certain that the various transactions have not been
+fully understood," exclaimed the other, "for the exact communication to
+this unseemly one was, 'The valuable and enlightened Ling has heard and
+agreed to the different things to be done and not to be done, one
+phrase of which arranges for your continual presence, so that he will
+anticipate your attentions.'"
+
+At these words the truth became as daylight before Ling's eyes, and
+he perceived that the written paper to which he had affixed his sign
+contained the detail of such an office as that of the person before him.
+When too late, more than ever did he regret that he had not formed some
+pretext for causing the document to be read a second time, as in view of
+his immediate intentions such an arrangement as the one to which he had
+agreed had every appearance of becoming of an irksome and perplexing
+nature. Desiring to know the length of the attendant's commands, Ling
+asked him for a clear statement of his duties, feigning that he had
+missed that portion of the reading through a momentary attack of the
+giddy sickness. To this request the stranger, who explained that his
+name was Wang, instantly replied that his written and spoken orders
+were: never to permit more than an arm's length of space to separate
+them; to prevent, by whatever force was necessary for the purpose, all
+attempts at evading the things to be done and not to be done, and to
+ignore as of no interest all other circumstances. It seemed to Ling,
+in consequence, that little seclusion would be enjoyed unless an
+arrangement could be effected between Wang and himself; so to this end,
+after noticing the evident poverty and covetousness of the person in
+question, he made him an honourable offer of frequent rewards, provided
+a greater distance was allowed to come between them as soon as Si-chow
+was reached. On his side, Ling undertook not to break through the
+wording of the things to be done and not to be done, and to notify to
+Wang any movements upon which he meditated. In this reputable manner
+the obstacle was ingeniously removed, and the intelligent nature of the
+device was clearly proved by the fact that not only Ling but Wang also
+had in the future a much greater liberty of action than would have
+been possible if it had been necessary to observe the short-sighted and
+evidently hastily-thought-of condition which Chang-ch'un had endeavoured
+to impose.
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+In spite of his natural desire to return to Mian as quickly as possible,
+Ling judged it expedient to give several days to the occupation of
+purchasing apparel of the richest kinds, weapons and armour in large
+quantities, jewels and ornaments of worked metals and other objects to
+indicate his changed position. Nor did he neglect actions of a pious
+and charitable nature, for almost his first care was to arrange with the
+chief ones at the Temple of Benevolent Intentions that each year, on the
+day corresponding to that on which he drank the gold fluid, a sumptuous
+and well-constructed coffin should be presented to the most deserving
+poor and aged person within that quarter of the city in which he had
+resided. When these preparations were completed, Ling set out with an
+extensive train of attendants; but riding on before, accompanied only by
+Wang, he quickly reached Si-chow without adventure.
+
+The meeting between Ling and Mian was affecting to such an extent
+that the blind and deaf attendants wept openly without reproach,
+notwithstanding the fact that neither could become possessed of more
+than a half of the occurrence. Eagerly the two reunited ones examined
+each other's features to discover whether the separation had brought
+about any change in the beloved and well-remembered lines. Ling
+discovered upon Mian the shadow of an anxious care at his absence, while
+the disappointments and trials which Ling had experienced in Canton had
+left traces which were plainly visible to Mian's penetrating gaze. In
+such an entrancing occupation the time was to them without hours until
+a feeling of hunger recalled them to lesser matters, when a variety
+of very select foods and liquids was placed before them without delay.
+After this elegant repast had been partaken of, Mian, supporting herself
+upon Ling's shoulder, made a request that he would disclose to her all
+the matters which had come under his observation both within the city
+and during his journey to and from that place. Upon this encouragement,
+Ling proceeded to unfold his mind, not withholding anything which
+appeared to be of interest, no matter how slight. When he had reached
+Canton without any perilous adventure, Mian breathed more freely; as he
+recorded the interview at the Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements,
+she trembled at the insidious malignity of the evil person Li Keen. The
+conversation with the wise reader of the future concerning the various
+states of such as be officially dead almost threw her into the rigid
+sickness, from which, however, the wonderful circumstance of the
+discovered properties of the gold fluid quickly recalled her. But to
+Ling's great astonishment no sooner had he made plain the exceptional
+advantages which he had derived from the circumstances, and the nature
+of the undertaking at which he had arrived with Chang-ch'un, than she
+became a prey to the most intolerable and unrestrained anguish.
+
+"Oh, my devoted but excessively ill-advised lover," she exclaimed
+wildly, and in tones which clearly indicated that she was inspired by
+every variety of affectionate emotion, "has the unendurable position
+in which you and all your household will be placed by the degrading
+commercial schemes and instincts of the mercenary-souled person
+Chang-ch'un occupied no place in your generally well-regulated
+intellect? Inevitably will those who drink our almond tea, in order
+to have an opportunity of judging the value of the appointments of the
+house, pass the jesting remark that while the Lings assuredly have 'a
+dead person's bones in the secret chamber,' at the present they will not
+have one in the family graveyard by reason of the death of Ling himself.
+Better to lose a thousand limbs during life than the entire person after
+death; nor would your adoring Mian hesitate to clasp proudly to her
+organ of affection the veriest trunk that had parted with all its
+attributes in a noble and sacrificing endeavour to preserve at least
+some dignified proportions to embellish the Ancestral Temple and to
+receive the worship of posterity."
+
+"Alas!" replied Ling, with extravagant humiliation, "it is indeed true;
+and this person is degraded beyond the common lot of those who break
+images and commit thefts from sacred places. The side of the transaction
+which is at present engaging our attention never occurred to this
+superficial individual until now."
+
+"Wise and incomparable one," said Mian, in no degree able to restrain
+the fountains of bitter water which clouded her delicate and expressive
+eyes, "in spite of this person's biting and ungracious words do not, she
+makes a formal petition, doubt the deathless strength of her affection.
+Cheerfully, in order to avert the matter in question, or even to save
+her lover the anguish of unavailing and soul-eating remorse, would she
+consign herself to a badly-constructed and slow-consuming fire or expose
+her body to various undignified tortures. Happy are those even to whom
+is left a little ash to be placed in a precious urn and diligently
+guarded, for it, in any event, truly represents all that is left of the
+once living person, whereas after an honourable and spotless existence
+my illustrious but unthinking lord will be blended with a variety of
+baser substances and passed from hand to hand, his immaculate organs
+serving to reward murderers for their deeds and to tempt the weak and
+vicious to all manner of unmentionable crimes."
+
+So overcome was Ling by the distressing nature of the oversight he had
+permitted that he could find no words with which to comfort Mian, who,
+after some moments, continued:
+
+"There are even worse visions of degradation which occur to this person.
+By chance, that which was once the noble-minded Ling may be disposed of,
+not to the Imperial Treasury for converting into pieces of exchange, but
+to some undiscriminating worker in metals who will fashion out of his
+beautiful and symmetrical stomach an elegant food-dish, so that from the
+ultimate developments of the circumstance may arise the fact that his
+own descendants, instead of worshipping him, use his internal organs
+for this doubtful if not absolutely unclean purpose, and thereby suffer
+numerous well-merited afflictions, to the end that the finally-despised
+Ling and this discredited person, instead of founding a vigorous and
+prolific generation, become the parents of a line of feeble-minded and
+physically-depressed lepers."
+
+"Oh, my peacock-eyed one!" exclaimed Ling, in immeasurable distress, "so
+proficient an exhibition of virtuous grief crushes this misguided person
+completely to the ground. Rather would he uncomplainingly lose his
+pigtail than--"
+
+"Such a course," said a discordant voice, as the unpresentable person
+Wang stepped forth from behind a hanging curtain, where, indeed, he had
+stood concealed during the entire conversation, "is especially forbidden
+by the twenty-third detail of the things to be done and not to be done."
+
+"What new adversity is this?" cried Mian, pressing to Ling with a still
+closer embrace. "Having disposed of your incomparable body after death,
+surely an adequate amount of liberty and seclusion remains to us during
+life."
+
+"Nevertheless," interposed the dog-like Wang, "the refined person in
+question must not attempt to lose or to dispose of his striking and
+invaluable pigtail; for by such an action he would be breaking through
+his spoken and written word whereby he undertook to be ruled by the
+things to be done and not to be done; and he would also be robbing the
+ingenious-minded Chang-ch'un."
+
+"Alas!" lamented the unhappy Ling, "that which appeared to be the end of
+all this person's troubles is obviously simply the commencement of a new
+and more extensive variety. Understand, O conscientious but exceedingly
+inopportune Wang, that the words which passed from this person's mouth
+did not indicate a fixed determination, but merely served to show the
+unfeigned depth of his emotion. Be content that he has no intention of
+evading the definite principles of the things to be done and not to
+be done, and in the meantime honour this commonplace establishment by
+retiring to the hot and ill-ventilated chamber, and there partaking of a
+suitable repast which shall be prepared without delay."
+
+When Wang had departed, which he did with somewhat unseemly haste,
+Ling made an end of recording his narrative, which Mian's grief had
+interrupted. In this way he explained to her the reason of Wang's
+presence, and assured her that by reason of the arrangement he had made
+with that person, his near existence would not be so unsupportable to
+them as might at first appear to be the case.
+
+While they were still conversing together, and endeavouring to divert
+their minds from the objectionable facts which had recently come within
+their notice, an attendant entered and disclosed that the train of
+servants and merchandise which Ling had preceded on the journey was
+arriving. At this fresh example of her lover's consistent thought
+for her, Mian almost forgot her recent agitation, and eagerly lending
+herself to the entrancing occupation of unfolding and displaying the
+various objects, her brow finally lost the last trace of sadness.
+Greatly beyond the imaginings of anticipation were the expensive
+articles with which Ling proudly surrounded her; and in examining and
+learning the cost of the set jewels and worked metals, the ornamental
+garments for both persons, the wood and paper appointments for the
+house--even incenses, perfumes, spices and rare viands had not been
+forgotten--the day was quickly and profitably spent.
+
+When the hour of sunset arrived, Ling, having learned that certain
+preparations which he had commanded were fully carried out, took Mian by
+the hand and led her into the chief apartment of the house, where were
+assembled all the followers and attendants, even down to the illiterate
+and superfluous Wang. In the centre of the room upon a table of the
+finest ebony stood a vessel of burning incense, some dishes of the most
+highly-esteemed fruit, and an abundance of old and very sweet wine.
+Before these emblems Ling and Mian placed themselves in an attitude of
+deep humiliation, and formally expressed their gratitude to the Chief
+Deity for having called them into existence, to the cultivated earth
+for supplying them with the means of sustaining life, to the Emperor for
+providing the numerous safeguards by which their persons were protected
+at all times, and to their parents for educating them. This adequate
+ceremony being completed, Ling explicitly desired all those present to
+observe the fact that the two persons in question were, by that fact and
+from that time, made as one being, and the bond between them, incapable
+of severance.
+
+When the ruling night-lantern came out from among the clouds, Ling and
+Mian became possessed of a great desire to go forth with pressed hands
+and look again on the forest paths and glades in which they had spent
+many hours of exceptional happiness before Ling's journey to Canton.
+Leaving the attendants to continue the feasting and drum-beating in a
+completely unrestrained manner, they therefore passed out unperceived,
+and wandering among the trees, presently stood on the banks of the
+Heng-Kiang.
+
+"Oh, my beloved!" exclaimed Mian, gazing at the brilliant and unruffled
+water, "greatly would this person esteem a short river journey, such as
+we often enjoyed together in the days when you were recovering."
+
+Ling, to whom the expressed desires of Mian were as the word of the
+Emperor, instantly prepared the small and ornamental junk which was
+fastened near for this purpose, and was about to step in, when a
+presumptuous and highly objectionable hand restrained him.
+
+"Behold," remarked a voice which Ling had some difficulty in ascribing
+to any known person, so greatly had it changed from its usual tone,
+"behold how the immature and altogether too-inferior Ling observes his
+spoken and written assertions!"
+
+At this low-conditioned speech, Ling drew his well-tempered sword
+without further thought, in spite of the restraining arms of Mian,
+but at the sight of the utterly incapable person Wang, who stood near
+smiling meaninglessly and waving his arms with a continuous and backward
+motion, he again replaced it.
+
+"Such remarks can be left to fall unheeded from the lips of one who
+bears every indication of being steeped in rice spirit," he said with
+unprovoked dignity.
+
+"It will be the plain duty of this expert and uncorruptible person
+to furnish the unnecessary, but, nevertheless, very severe and
+self-opinionated Chang-ch'un with a written account of how the
+traitorous and deceptive Ling has endeavoured to break through the
+thirty-fourth vessel of the liquids to be consumed and not to be
+consumed," continued Wang with increased deliberation and an entire
+absence of attention to Ling's action and speech, "and how by this
+refined person's unfailing civility and resourceful strategy he has been
+frustrated."
+
+"Perchance," said Ling, after examining his thoughts for a short space,
+and reflecting that the list of things to be done and not to be done was
+to him as a blank leaf, "there may even be some small portion of that
+which is accurate in his statement. In what manner," he continued,
+addressing the really unendurable person, who was by this time preparing
+to pass the night in the cool swamp by the river's edge, "does this
+one endanger any detail of the written and sealed parchment by such an
+action?"
+
+"Inasmuch," replied Wang, pausing in the process of removing his
+outer garments, "as the seventy-ninth--the intricate name given
+to it escapes this person's tongue at the moment--but the
+ninety-seventh--experLingknowswhamean--provides that any person, with or
+without, attempting or not avoiding to travel by sea, lake, or river,
+or to place himself in such a position as he may reasonably and
+intelligently be drowned in salt water, fresh water, or--or honourable
+rice spirit, shall be guilty of, and suffer--complete loss of memory."
+With these words the immoderate and contemptible person sank down in a
+very profound slumber.
+
+"Alas!" said Ling, turning to Mian, who stood near, unable to retire
+even had she desired, by reason of the extreme agitation into which
+the incident had thrown her delicate mind and body, "how intensely
+aggravating a circumstance that we are compelled to entertain so
+dissolute a one by reason of this person's preoccupation when the matter
+was read. Nevertheless, it is not unlikely that the detail he spoke of
+was such as he insisted, to the extent of making it a thing not to be
+done to journey in any manner by water. It shall be an early endeavour
+of this person to get these restraining details equitably amended; but
+in the meantime we will retrace our footsteps through the wood, and
+the enraptured Ling will make a well-thought-out attempt to lighten the
+passage by a recital of his recently-composed verses on the subject of
+'Exile from the Loved One; or, Farewell and Return.'"
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+"My beloved lord!" said Mian sadly, on a morning after many days had
+passed since the return of Ling, "have you not every possession for
+which the heart of a wise person searches? Yet the dark mark is scarcely
+ever absent from your symmetrical brow. If she who stands before you,
+and is henceforth an integral part of your organization, has failed you
+in any particular, no matter how unimportant, explain the matter to her,
+and the amendment will be a speedy and a joyful task."
+
+It was indeed true that Ling's mind was troubled, but the fault did not
+lie with Mian, as the person in question was fully aware, for before
+her eyes as before those of Ling the unevadable compact which had been
+entered into with Chang-ch'un was ever present, insidiously planting
+bitterness within even the most select and accomplished delights. Nor
+with increasing time did the obstinate and intrusive person Wang become
+more dignified in his behaviour; on the contrary, he freely made use of
+his position to indulge in every variety of abandonment, and almost each
+day he prevented, by reason of his knowledge of the things to be done
+and not to be done, some refined and permissible entertainment
+upon which Ling and Mian had determined. Ling had despatched many
+communications upon this subject to Chang-ch'un, praying also that
+some expert way out of the annoyance of the lesser and more unimportant
+things not to be done should be arrived at, but the time when he might
+reasonably expect an answer to these written papers had not yet arrived.
+
+It was about this period that intelligence was brought to Ling from the
+villages on the road to Peking, how Li Keen, having secretly ascertained
+that his Yamen was standing and his goods uninjured, had determined
+to return, and was indeed at that hour within a hundred li of Si-chow.
+Furthermore, he had repeatedly been understood to pronounce clearly
+that he considered Ling to be the head and beginning of all his
+inconveniences, and to declare that the first act of justice which
+he should accomplish on his return would be to submit the person in
+question to the most unbearable tortures, and then cause him to lose his
+head publicly as an outrager of the settled state of things and an
+enemy of those who loved tranquillity. Not doubting that Li Keen would
+endeavour to gain an advantage by treachery if the chance presented
+itself, Ling determined to go forth to meet him, and without delay
+settle the entire disturbance in one well-chosen and fatally-destructive
+encounter. To this end, rather than disturb the placid mind of Mian,
+to whom the thought of the engagement would be weighted with many
+disquieting fears, he gave out that he was going upon an expedition
+to surprise and capture certain fish of a very delicate flavour, and
+attended by only two persons, he set forth in the early part of the day.
+
+Some hours later, owing to an ill-considered remark on the part of the
+deaf attendant, to whom the matter had been explained in an imperfect
+light, Mian became possessed of the true facts of the case, and
+immediately all the pleasure of existence went from her. She despaired
+of ever again beholding Ling in an ordinary state, and mournfully
+reproached herself for the bitter words which had risen to her lips when
+the circumstance of his condition and the arrangement with Chang-ch'un
+first became known to her. After spending an interval in a polished
+lament at the manner in which things were inevitably tending, the
+thought occurred to Mian whether by any means in her power she could
+influence the course and settled method of affairs. In this situation
+the memory of the person Wang, and the fact that on several occasions he
+had made himself objectionable when Ling had proposed to place himself
+in such a position that he incurred some very remote chance of death
+by drowning or by fire, recurred to her. Subduing the natural and
+pure-minded repulsion which she invariably experienced at the mere
+thought of so debased an individual, she sought for him, and discovering
+him in the act of constructing cardboard figures of men and animals,
+which it was his custom to dispose skilfully in little-frequented paths
+for the purpose of enjoying the sudden terror of those who passed by,
+she quickly put the matter before him, urging him, by some means, to
+prevent the encounter, which must assuredly cost the life of the one
+whom he had so often previously obstructed from incurring the slightest
+risk.
+
+"By no means," exclaimed Wang, when he at length understood the full
+meaning of the project; "it would be a most unpresentable action for
+this commonplace person to interfere in so honourable an undertaking.
+Had the priceless body of the intrepid Ling been in any danger of
+disappearing, as, for example, by drowning or being consumed in fire,
+the nature of the circumstance would have been different. As the
+matter exists, however, there is every appearance that the far-seeing
+Chang-ch'un will soon reap the deserved reward of his somewhat
+speculative enterprise, and to that end this person will immediately
+procure a wooden barrier and the services of four robust carriers, and
+proceed to the scene of the conflict."
+
+Deprived of even this hope of preventing the encounter, Mian betook
+herself in extreme dejection to the secret room of the magician, which
+had been unopened since the day when the two attendants had searched for
+substances to apply to their master, and there she diligently examined
+every object in the remote chance of discovering something which might
+prove of value in averting the matter in question.
+
+Not anticipating that the true reason of his journey would become known
+to Mian, Ling continued on his way without haste, and passing through
+Si-chow before the sun had risen, entered upon the great road to Peking.
+At a convenient distance from the town he came to a favourable piece of
+ground where he decided to await the arrival of Li Keen, spending the
+time profitably in polishing his already brilliant sword, and making
+observations upon the nature of the spot and the condition of the
+surrounding omens, on which the success of his expedition would largely
+depend.
+
+As the sun reached the highest point in the open sky the sound of an
+approaching company could be plainly heard; but at the moment when the
+chair of the Mandarin appeared within the sight of those who waited, the
+great luminary, upon which all portents depend directly or indirectly,
+changed to the colour of new-drawn blood and began to sink towards
+the earth. Without any misgivings, therefore, Ling disposed his two
+attendants in the wood, with instructions to step forth and aid him if
+he should be attacked by overwhelming numbers, while he himself remained
+in the way. As the chair approached, the Mandarin observed a person
+standing alone, and thinking that it was one who, hearing of his return,
+had come out of the town to honour him, he commanded the bearers to
+pause. Thereupon, stepping up to the opening, Ling struck the deceptive
+and incapable Li Keen on the cheek, at the same time crying in a full
+voice, "Come forth, O traitorous and two-stomached Mandarin! for this
+person is very desirous of assisting you in the fulfilment of your
+boastful words. Here is a most irreproachable sword which will serve
+excellently to cut off this person's undignified head; here is a
+waistcord which can be tightened around his breast, thereby producing
+excruciating pains over the entire body."
+
+At the knowledge of who the one before him was, and when he heard the
+words which unhesitatingly announced Ling's fixed purpose, Li Keen first
+urged the carriers to fall upon Ling and slay him, and then, perceiving
+that such a course was exceedingly distasteful to their natural
+tendencies, to take up the chair and save him by flight. But Ling in
+the meantime engaged their attention, and fully explained to them the
+treacherous and unworthy conduct of Li Keen, showing them how his death
+would be a just retribution for his ill-spent life, and promising them
+each a considerable reward in addition to their arranged payment when
+the matter in question had been accomplished. Becoming convinced of the
+justice of Ling's cause, they turned upon Li Keen, insisting that he
+should at once attempt to carry out the ill-judged threats against Ling,
+of which they were consistent witnesses, and announcing that, if he
+failed to do so, they would certainly bear him themselves to a not far
+distant well of stagnant water, and there gain the approbation of the
+good spirits by freeing the land of so unnatural a monster.
+
+Seeing only a dishonourable death on either side, Li Keen drew his
+sword, and made use of every artifice of which he had knowledge in
+order to disarm Ling or to take him at a disadvantage. In this he was
+unsuccessful, for Ling, who was by nature a very expert sword-user,
+struck him repeatedly, until he at length fell in an expiring condition,
+remarking with his last words that he had indeed been a narrow-minded
+and extortionate person during his life, and that his death was an
+enlightened act of celestial accuracy.
+
+Directing Wang and his four hired persons, who had in the meantime
+arrived, to give the body of the Mandarin an honourable burial in the
+deep of the wood, Ling rewarded and dismissed the chairbearers, and
+without delay proceeded to Si-chow, where he charitably distributed the
+goods and possessions of Li Keen among the poor of the town. Having
+in this able and conscientious manner completely proved the misleading
+nature of the disgraceful statements which the Mandarin had spread
+abroad concerning him, Ling turned his footsteps towards Mian, whose
+entrancing joy at his safe return was judged by both persons to be a
+sufficient reward for the mental distress with which their separation
+had been accompanied.
+
+
+
+XV
+
+After the departure of Ling from Canton, the commercial affairs of
+Chang-ch'un began, from a secret and undetectable cause, to assume an
+ill-regulated condition. No venture which he undertook maintained a
+profitable attitude, so that many persons who in former times had been
+content to display the printed papers setting forth his name and
+virtues in an easily-seen position in their receiving-rooms, now placed
+themselves daily before his house in order to accuse him of using their
+taels in ways which they themselves had not sufficiently understood, and
+for the purpose of warning passers-by against his inducements. It was
+in vain that Chang proposed new undertakings, each of an infallibly
+more prosperous nature than those before; the persons who had hitherto
+supported him were all entrusting their money to one named Pung Soo, who
+required millions where Chang had been content with thousands, and who
+persistently insisted on greeting the sacred Emperor as an equal.
+
+In this unenviable state Chang's mind continually returned to thoughts
+of Ling, whose lifeless body would so opportunely serve to dispel the
+embarrassing perplexities of existence which were settling thickly about
+him. Urged forward by a variety of circumstances which placed him in
+an entirely different spirit from the honourable bearing which he had
+formerly maintained, he now closely examined all the papers connected
+with the matter, to discover whether he might not be able to effect his
+purpose with an outward exhibition of law forms. While engaged in this
+degrading occupation, a detail came to his notice which caused him to
+become very amiably disposed and confident of success. Proceeding with
+the matter, he caused a well-supported report to be spread about that
+Ling was suffering from a wasting sickness, which, without in any
+measure shortening his life, would cause him to return to the size and
+weight of a newly-born child, and being by these means enabled to secure
+the entire matter of "The Ling (After Death) Without Much Risk Assembly"
+at a very small outlay, he did so, and then, calling together a company
+of those who hire themselves out for purposes of violence, journeyed to
+Si-chow.
+
+Ling and Mian were seated together at a table in the great room,
+examining a vessel of some clear liquid, when Chang-ch'un entered with
+his armed ones, in direct opposition to the general laws of ordinary
+conduct and the rulings of hospitality. At the sight, which plainly
+indicated a threatened display of violence, Ling seized his renowned
+sword, which was never far distant from him, and prepared to carry out
+his spoken vow, that any person overstepping a certain mark on the floor
+would assuredly fall.
+
+"Put away your undoubtedly competent weapon, O Ling," said Chang, who
+was desirous that the matter should be arranged if possible without any
+loss to himself, "for such a course can be honourably adopted when it
+is taken into consideration that we are as twenty to one, and have,
+moreover, the appearance of being inspired by law forms."
+
+"There are certain matters of allowed justice which over-rule all
+other law forms," replied Ling, taking a surer hold of his sword-grasp.
+"Explain, for your part, O obviously double-dealing Chang-ch'un, from
+whom this person only recently parted on terms of equality and courtesy,
+why you come not with an agreeable face and a peaceful following,
+but with a countenance which indicates both violence and terror, and
+accompanied by many whom this person recognizes as the most outcast and
+degraded from the narrow and evil-smelling ways of Canton?"
+
+"In spite of your blustering words," said Chang, with some attempt at an
+exhibition of dignity, "this person is endowed by every right, and
+comes only for the obtaining, by the help of this expert and proficient
+gathering, should such a length become necessary, of his just claims.
+Understand that in the time since the venture was arranged this person
+has become possessed of all the property of 'The Ling (After Death)
+Without Much Risk Assembly,' and thereby he is competent to act fully
+in the matter. It has now come within his attention that the one Ling
+to whom the particulars refer is officially dead, and as the written
+and sealed document clearly undertook that the person's body was to be
+delivered up for whatever use the Assembly decided whenever death should
+possess it, this person has now come for the honourable carrying out of
+the undertaking."
+
+At these words the true nature of the hidden contrivance into which he
+had fallen descended upon Ling like a heavy and unavoidable thunderbolt.
+Nevertheless, being by nature and by reason of his late exploits
+fearless of death, except for the sake of the loved one by his side, he
+betrayed no sign of discreditable emotion at the discovery.
+
+"In such a case," he replied, with an appearance of entirely
+disregarding the danger of the position, "the complete parchment must be
+of necessity overthrown; for if this person is now officially dead, he
+was equally so at the time of sealing, and arrangements entered into by
+dead persons have no actual existence."
+
+"That is a matter which has never been efficiently decided," admitted
+Chang-ch'un, with no appearance of being thrown into a state of
+confusion at the suggestion, "and doubtless the case in question can by
+various means be brought in the end before the Court of Final Settlement
+at Peking, where it may indeed be judged in the manner you assert. But
+as such a process must infallibly consume the wealth of a province and
+the years of an ordinary lifetime, and as it is this person's unmoved
+intention to carry out his own view of the undertaking without delay,
+such speculations are not matters of profound interest."
+
+Upon this Chang gave certain instructions to his followers, who
+thereupon prepared to advance. Perceiving that the last detail of the
+affair had been arrived at, Ling threw back his hanging garment, and
+was on the point of rushing forward to meet them, when Mian, who had
+maintained a possessed and reliant attitude throughout, pushed towards
+him the vessel of pure and sparkling liquid with which they had been
+engaged when so presumptuously broken in upon, at the same time speaking
+to him certain words in an outside language. A new and Heaven-sent
+confidence immediately took possession of Ling, and striking his sword
+against the wall with such irresistible force that the entire chamber
+trembled and the feeble-minded assassins shrank back in unrestrained
+terror, he leapt upon the table, grasping in one hand the open vessel.
+
+"Behold the end, O most uninventive and slow-witted Chang-ch'un!" he
+cried in a dreadful and awe-compelling voice. "As a reward for your
+faithless and traitorous behaviour, learn how such avaricious-minded
+incompetence turns and fastens itself upon the vitals of those who beget
+it. In spite of many things which were not of a graceful nature
+towards him, this person has unassumingly maintained his part of the
+undertaking, and would have followed such a course conscientiously to
+the last. As it is, when he has made an end of speaking, the body
+which you are already covetously estimating in taels will in no way
+be distinguishable from that of the meanest and most ordinary maker of
+commercial ventures in Canton. For, behold! the fluid which he holds in
+his hand, and which it is his fixed intention to drain to the last drop,
+is in truth nothing but a secret and exceedingly powerful counteractor
+against the virtues of the gold drug; and though but a single particle
+passed his lips, and the swords of your brilliant and versatile
+murderers met the next moment in his breast, the body which fell at your
+feet would be meet for worms rather than for the melting-pot."
+
+It was indeed such a substance as Ling represented it to be, Mian
+having discovered it during her very systematic examination of the dead
+magician's inner room. Its composition and distillation had involved
+that self-opinionated person in many years of arduous toil, for with a
+somewhat unintelligent lack of foresight he had obstinately determined
+to perfect the antidote before he turned his attention to the drug
+itself. Had the matter been more ingeniously arranged, he would
+undoubtedly have enjoyed an earlier triumph and an affluent and
+respected old age.
+
+At Ling's earnest words and prepared attitude an instant conviction of
+the truth of his assertions took possession of Chang. Therefore, seeing
+nothing but immediate and unevadable ruin at the next step, he called
+out in a loud and imploring voice that he should desist, and no harm
+would come upon him. To this Ling consented, first insisting that the
+followers should be dismissed without delay, and Chang alone remain to
+have conversation on the matter. By this just act the lower parts of
+Canton were greatly purified, for the persons in question being driven
+forth into the woods, mostly perished by encounters with wild animals,
+or at the hands of the enraged villagers, to whom Ling had by this time
+become greatly endeared.
+
+When the usual state had been restored, Ling made clear to Chang the
+altered nature of the conditions to which he would alone agree. "It is
+a noble-minded and magnanimous proposal on your part, and one to which
+this misguided person had no claim," admitted Chang, as he affixed his
+seal to the written undertaking and committed the former parchment to
+be consumed by fire. By this arrangement it was agreed that Ling should
+receive only one-half of the yearly payment which had formerly been
+promised, and that no sum of taels should become due to those depending
+on him at his death. In return for these valuable allowances, there were
+to exist no details of things to be done and not to be done, Ling merely
+giving an honourable promise to observe the matter in a just spirit,
+while--most esteemed of all--only a portion of his body was to pass to
+Chang when the end arrived, the upper part remaining to embellish the
+family altar and receive the veneration of posterity.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the great sky-lantern rose above the trees and the time of no-noise
+fell upon the woods, a flower-laden pleasure-junk moved away from its
+restraining cords, and, without any sense of motion, gently bore Ling
+and Mian between the sweet-smelling banks of the Heng-Kiang. Presently
+Mian drew from beneath her flowing garment an instrument of stringed
+wood, and touching it with a quick but delicate stroke, like the flight
+and pausing of a butterfly, told in well-balanced words a refined
+narrative of two illustrious and noble-looking persons, and how, after
+many disagreeable evils and unendurable separations, they entered upon a
+destined state of earthly prosperity and celestial favour. When she made
+an end of the verses, Ling turned the junk's head by one well-directed
+stroke of the paddle, and prepared by using similar means to return to
+the place of mooring.
+
+"Indeed," he remarked, ceasing for a moment to continue this skilful
+occupation, "the words which you have just spoken might, without
+injustice, be applied to the two persons who are now conversing
+together. For after suffering misfortunes and wrongs beyond an
+appropriate portion, they have now reached that period of existence when
+a tranquil and contemplative future is assured to them. In this manner
+is the sage and matured utterance of the inspired philosopher Nien-tsu
+again proved: that the life of every person is largely composed of two
+varieties of circumstances which together build up his existence--the
+Good and the Evil."
+
+                     THE END OF THE STORY OF LING
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+When Kai Lung, the story-teller, made an end of speaking, he was
+immediately greeted with a variety of delicate and pleasing remarks, all
+persons who had witnessed the matter, down even to the lowest type of
+Miaotze, who by reason of their obscure circumstances had been unable to
+understand the meaning of a word that had been spoken, maintaining
+that Kai Lung's accomplishment of continuing for upwards of three hours
+without a pause had afforded an entertainment of a very high and refined
+order. While these polished sayings were being composed, together with
+many others of a similar nature, Lin Yi suddenly leapt to his feet with
+a variety of highly objectionable remarks concerning the ancestors of
+all those who were present, and declaring that the story of Ling
+was merely a well-considered stratagem to cause them to forget the
+expedition which they had determined upon, for by that time it should
+have been completely carried out. It was undoubtedly a fact that the
+hour spoken of for the undertaking had long passed, Lin Yi having
+completely overlooked the speed of time in his benevolent anxiety that
+the polite and valorous Ling should in the end attain to a high and
+remunerative destiny.
+
+In spite of Kai Lung's consistent denials of any treachery, he could not
+but be aware that the incident tended greatly to his disadvantage in
+the eyes of those whom he had fixed a desire to conciliate, nor did
+his well-intentioned offer that he would without hesitation repeat the
+display for a like number of hours effect his amiable purpose. How the
+complication would finally have been determined without interruption is
+a matter merely of imagination, for at that moment an outpost, who had
+been engaged in guarding the secrecy of the expedition, threw himself
+into the enclosure in a torn and breathless condition, having run
+through the forest many li in a winding direction for the explicit
+purpose of warning Lin Yi that his intentions had become known, and that
+he and his followers would undoubtedly be surprised and overcome if they
+left the camp.
+
+At this intimation of the eminent service which Kai Lung had rendered
+them, the nature of their faces towards him at once changed completely,
+those who only a moment before had been demanding his death particularly
+hailing him as their inspired and unobtrusive protector, and in all
+probability, indeed, a virtuous and benignant spirit in disguise.
+
+Bending under the weight of offerings which Lin Yi and his followers
+pressed upon him, together with many clearly set out desires for his
+future prosperity, and assured of their unalterable protection on all
+future occasions, Kai Lung again turned his face towards the lanterns
+of Knei Yang. Far down the side of the mountain they followed his
+footsteps, now by a rolling stone, now by a snapping branch of yellow
+pine. Once again they heard his voice, cheerfully repeating to himself;
+"Among the highest virtues of a pure existence--" But beyond that point
+the gentle forest breath bore him away.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II. THE STORY OF YUNG CHANG
+
+  Narrated by Kai Lung, in the open space of the tea-shop of The
+  Celestial Principles, at Wu-whei.
+
+"Ho, illustrious passers-by!" said Kai Lung, the story-teller, as he
+spread out his embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. "It is indeed
+unlikely that you would condescend to stop and listen to the foolish
+words of such an insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself.
+Nevertheless, if you will but retard your elegant footsteps for a few
+moments, this exceedingly unprepossessing individual will endeavour
+to entertain you with the recital of the adventures of the noble Yung
+Chang, as recorded by the celebrated Pe-ku-hi."
+
+Thus adjured, the more leisurely-minded drew near to hear the history
+of Yung Chang. There was Sing You the fruit-seller, and Li Ton-ti the
+wood-carver; Hi Seng left his clients to cry in vain for water; and Wang
+Yu, the idle pipe-maker, closed his shop of "The Fountain of Beauty,"
+and hung on the shutter the gilt dragon to keep away customers in his
+absence. These, together with a few more shopkeepers and a dozen or so
+loafers, constituted a respectable audience by the time Kai Lung was
+ready.
+
+"It would be more seemly if this ill-conditioned person who is now
+addressing such a distinguished assembly were to reward his fine and
+noble-looking hearers for their trouble," apologized the story-teller.
+"But, as the Book of Verses says, 'The meaner the slave, the greater the
+lord'; and it is, therefore, not unlikely that this majestic concourse
+will reward the despicable efforts of their servant by handfuls of coins
+till the air appears as though filled with swarms of locusts in the
+season of much heat. In particular, there is among this august crowd
+of Mandarins one Wang Yu, who has departed on three previous occasions
+without bestowing the reward of a single cash. If the feeble and
+covetous-minded Wang Yu will place within this very ordinary bowl the
+price of one of his exceedingly ill-made pipes, this unworthy person
+will proceed."
+
+"Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man never," quoted the
+pipe-maker in retort. "Oh, most incapable of story-tellers, have you
+not on two separate occasions slept beneath my utterly inadequate roof
+without payment?"
+
+But he, nevertheless, deposited three cash in the bowl, and drew nearer
+among the front row of the listeners.
+
+"It was during the reign of the enlightened Emperor Tsing Nung," began
+Kai Lung, without further introduction, "that there lived at a village
+near Honan a wealthy and avaricious maker of idols, named Ti Hung. So
+skilful had he become in the making of clay idols that his fame had
+spread for many li round, and idol-sellers from all the neighbouring
+villages, and even from the towns, came to him for their stock. No other
+idol-maker between Honan and Nanking employed so many clay-gatherers or
+so many modellers; yet, with all his riches, his avarice increased till
+at length he employed men whom he called 'agents' and 'travellers,' who
+went from house to house selling his idols and extolling his virtues in
+verses composed by the most illustrious poets of the day. He did this
+in order that he might turn into his own pocket the full price of the
+idols, grudging those who would otherwise have sold them the few cash
+which they would make. Owing to this he had many enemies, and his army
+of travellers made him still more; for they were more rapacious than
+the scorpion, and more obstinate than the ox. Indeed, there is still the
+proverb, 'With honey it is possible to soften the heart of the he-goat;
+but a blow from an iron cleaver is taken as a mark of welcome by an
+agent of Ti Hung.' So that people barred the doors at their approach,
+and even hung out signs of death and mourning.
+
+"Now, among all his travellers there was none more successful, more
+abandoned, and more valuable to Ti Hung than Li Ting. So depraved was
+Li Ting that he was never known to visit the tombs of his ancestors;
+indeed, it was said that he had been heard to mock their venerable
+memories, and that he had jestingly offered to sell them to anyone who
+should chance to be without ancestors of his own. This objectionable
+person would call at the houses of the most illustrious Mandarins, and
+would command the slaves to carry to their masters his tablets, on which
+were inscribed his name and his virtues. Reaching their presence, he
+would salute them with the greeting of an equal, 'How is your stomach?'
+and then proceed to exhibit samples of his wares, greatly overrating
+their value. 'Behold!' he would exclaim, 'is not this elegantly-moulded
+idol worthy of the place of honour in this sumptuous mansion which my
+presence defiles to such an extent that twelve basins of rose-water
+will not remove the stain? Are not its eyes more delicate than the most
+select of almonds? and is not its stomach rounder than the cupolas upon
+the high temple at Peking? Yet, in spite of its perfections, it is not
+worthy of the acceptance of so distinguished a Mandarin, and therefore
+I will accept in return the quarter-tael, which, indeed, is less than my
+illustrious master gives for the clay alone.'
+
+"In this manner Li Ting disposed of many idols at high rates, and
+thereby endeared himself so much to the avaricious heart of Ti Hung that
+he promised him his beautiful daughter Ning in marriage.
+
+"Ning was indeed very lovely. Her eyelashes were like the finest willow
+twigs that grow in the marshes by the Yang-tse-Kiang; her cheeks were
+fairer than poppies; and when she bathed in the Hoang Ho, her body
+seemed transparent. Her brow was finer than the most polished jade;
+while she seemed to walk, like a winged bird, without weight, her hair
+floating in a cloud. Indeed, she was the most beautiful creature that
+has ever existed."
+
+"Now may you grow thin and shrivel up like a fallen lemon; but it is
+false!" cried Wang Yu, starting up suddenly and unexpectedly. "At
+Chee Chou, at the shop of 'The Heaven-sent Sugar-cane,' there lives a
+beautiful and virtuous girl who is more than all that. Her eyes are like
+the inside circles on the peacock's feathers; her teeth are finer than
+the scales on the Sacred Dragon; her--"
+
+"If it is the wish of this illustriously-endowed gathering that this
+exceedingly illiterate paper tiger should occupy their august moments
+with a description of the deformities of the very ordinary young person
+at Chee Chou," said Kai Lung imperturbably, "then the remainder of the
+history of the noble-minded Yung Chang can remain until an evil fate has
+overtaken Wang Yu, as it assuredly will shortly."
+
+"A fair wind raises no storm," said Wang Yu sulkily; and Kai Lung
+continued:
+
+"Such loveliness could not escape the evil eye of Li Ting, and
+accordingly, as he grew in favour with Ti Hung, he obtained his consent
+to the drawing up of the marriage contracts. More than this, he had
+already sent to Ning two bracelets of the finest gold, tied together
+with a scarlet thread, as a betrothal present. But, as the proverb
+says, 'The good bee will not touch the faded flower,' and Ning, although
+compelled by the second of the Five Great Principles to respect her
+father, was unable to regard the marriage with anything but abhorrence.
+Perhaps this was not altogether the fault of Li Ting, for on the evening
+of the day on which she had received his present, she walked in the
+rice fields, and sitting down at the foot of a funereal cypress, whose
+highest branches pierced the Middle Air, she cried aloud:
+
+"'I cannot control my bitterness. Of what use is it that I should be
+called the "White Pigeon among Golden Lilies," if my beauty is but for
+the hog-like eyes of the exceedingly objectionable Li Ting? Ah, Yung
+Chang, my unfortunate lover! what evil spirit pursues you that you
+cannot pass your examination for the second degree? My noble-minded but
+ambitious boy, why were you not content with an agricultural or even a
+manufacturing career and happiness? By aspiring to a literary degree,
+you have placed a barrier wider than the Whang Hai between us.'
+
+"'As the earth seems small to the soaring swallow, so shall insuperable
+obstacles be overcome by the heart worn smooth with a fixed purpose,'
+said a voice beside her, and Yung Chang stepped from behind the cypress
+tree, where he had been waiting for Ning. 'O one more symmetrical than
+the chrysanthemum,' he continued, 'I shall yet, with the aid of my
+ancestors, pass the second degree, and even obtain a position of high
+trust in the public office at Peking.'
+
+"'And in the meantime,' pouted Ning, 'I shall have partaken of the
+wedding-cake of the utterly unpresentable Li Ting.' And she exhibited
+the bracelets which she had that day received.
+
+"'Alas!' said Yung Chang, 'there are times when one is tempted to doubt
+even the most efficacious and violent means. I had hoped that by this
+time Li Ting would have come to a sudden and most unseemly end; for I
+have drawn up and affixed in the most conspicuous places notifications
+of his character, similar to the one here.'
+
+"Ning turned, and beheld fastened to the trunk of the cypress an
+exceedingly elegantly written and composed notice, which Yung read to
+her as follows:
+
+             "'BEWARE OF INCURRING DEATH FROM STARVATION
+
+  "'Let the distinguished inhabitants of this district observe the
+  exceedingly ungraceful walk and bearing of the low person who
+  calls himself Li Ting. Truthfully, it is that of a dog in the act
+  of being dragged to the river because his sores and diseases
+  render him objectionable in the house of his master. So will this
+  hunchbacked person be dragged to the place of execution, and be
+  bowstrung, to the great relief of all who respect the five senses;
+  A Respectful Physiognomy, Passionless Reflexion, Soft Speech,
+  Acute Hearing, Piercing Sight.
+
+  "'He hopes to attain to the Red Button and the Peacock's Feather;
+  but the right hand of the Deity itches, and Li Ting will assuredly
+  be removed suddenly.'
+
+"'Li Ting must certainly be in league with the evil forces if he can
+withstand so powerful a weapon,' said Ning admiringly, when her lover
+had finished reading. 'Even now he is starting on a journey, nor will he
+return till the first day of the month when the sparrows go to the sea
+and are changed into oysters. Perhaps the fate will overtake him while
+he is away. If not--'
+
+"'If not,' said Yung, taking up her words as she paused, 'then I have
+yet another hope. A moment ago you were regretting my choice of a
+literary career. Learn, then, the value of knowledge. By its aid
+(assisted, indeed, by the spirits of my ancestors) I have discovered a
+new and strange thing, for which I can find no word. By using this new
+system of reckoning, your illustrious but exceedingly narrow-minded and
+miserly father would be able to make five taels where he now makes one.
+Would he not, in consideration for this, consent to receive me as a
+son-in-law, and dismiss the inelegant and unworthy Li Ting?'
+
+"'In the unlikely event of your being able to convince my illustrious
+parent of what you say, it would assuredly be so,' replied Ning. 'But
+in what way could you do so? My sublime and charitable father already
+employs all the means in his power to reap the full reward of his sacred
+industry. His "solid house-hold gods" are in reality mere shells of
+clay; higher-priced images are correspondingly constructed, and his clay
+gatherers and modellers are all paid on a "profit-sharing system."
+Nay, further, it is beyond likelihood that he should wish for more
+purchasers, for so great is his fame that those who come to buy have
+sometimes to wait for days in consequence of those before them; for my
+exceedingly methodical sire entrusts none with the receiving of money,
+and the exchanges are therefore made slowly. Frequently an unnaturally
+devout person will require as many as a hundred idols, and so the
+greater part of the day will be passed.'
+
+"'In what way?' inquired Yung tremulously.
+
+"'Why, in order that the countings may not get mixed, of course; it is
+necessary that when he has paid for one idol he should carry it to a
+place aside, and then return and pay for the second, carrying it to the
+first, and in such a manner to the end. In this way the sun sinks behind
+the mountains.'
+
+"'But,' said Yung, his voice thick with his great discovery, 'if he
+could pay for the entire quantity at once, then it would take but a
+hundredth part of the time, and so more idols could be sold.'
+
+"'How could this be done?' inquired Ning wonderingly. 'Surely it is
+impossible to conjecture the value of so many idols.'
+
+"'To the unlearned it would indeed be impossible,' replied Yung proudly,
+'but by the aid of my literary researches I have been enabled to
+discover a process by which such results would be not a matter of
+conjecture, but of certainty. These figures I have committed to tablets,
+which I am prepared to give to your mercenary and slow-witted father
+in return for your incomparable hand, a share of the profits, and the
+dismissal of the uninventive and morally threadbare Li Ting.'
+
+"'When the earth-worm boasts of his elegant wings, the eagle can afford
+to be silent,' said a harsh voice behind them; and turning hastily they
+beheld Li Ting, who had come upon them unawares. 'Oh, most insignificant
+of table-spoilers,' he continued, 'it is very evident that much
+over-study has softened your usually well-educated brains. Were it
+not that you are obviously mentally afflicted, I should unhesitatingly
+persuade my beautiful and refined sword to introduce you to the spirits
+of your ignoble ancestors. As it is, I will merely cut off your nose and
+your left ear, so that people may not say that the Dragon of the Earth
+sleeps and wickedness goes unpunished.'
+
+"Both had already drawn their swords, and very soon the blows were so
+hard and swift that, in the dusk of the evening, it seemed as though the
+air were filled with innumerable and many-coloured fireworks. Each was
+a practised swordsman, and there was no advantage gained on either side,
+when Ning, who had fled on the appearance of Li Ting, reappeared, urging
+on her father, whose usually leisurely footsteps were quickened by
+the dread that the duel must surely result in certain loss to himself,
+either of a valuable servant, or of the discovery which Ning had briefly
+explained to him, and of which he at once saw the value.
+
+"'Oh, most distinguished and expert persons,' he exclaimed breathlessly,
+as soon as he was within hearing distance, 'do not trouble to give so
+marvellous an exhibition for the benefit of this unworthy individual,
+who is the only observer of your illustrious dexterity! Indeed, your
+honourable condescension so fills this illiterate person with shame that
+his hearing is thereby preternaturally sharpened, and he can plainly
+distinguish many voices from beyond the Hoang Ho, crying for the
+Heaven-sent representative of the degraded Ti Hung to bring them more
+idols. Bend, therefore, your refined footsteps in the direction of
+Poo Chow, O Li Ting, and leave me to make myself objectionable to this
+exceptional young man with my intolerable commonplaces.'
+
+"'The shadow falls in such a direction as the sun wills,' said Li Ting,
+as he replaced his sword and departed.
+
+"'Yung Chang,' said the merchant, 'I am informed that you have made a
+discovery that would be of great value to me, as it undoubtedly would if
+it is all that you say. Let us discuss the matter without ceremony. Can
+you prove to me that your system possesses the merit you claim for it?
+If so, then the matter of arrangement will be easy.'
+
+"'I am convinced of the absolute certainty and accuracy of the
+discovery,' replied Yung Chang. 'It is not as though it were an ordinary
+matter of human intelligence, for this was discovered to me as I was
+worshipping at the tomb of my ancestors. The method is regulated by
+a system of squares, triangles, and cubes. But as the practical proof
+might be long, and as I hesitate to keep your adorable daughter out in
+the damp night air, may I not call at your inimitable dwelling in the
+morning, when we can go into the matter thoroughly?'
+
+"I will not weary this intelligent gathering, each member of which
+doubtless knows all the books on mathematics off by heart, with a
+recital of the means by which Yung Chang proved to Ti Hung the accuracy
+of his tables and the value of his discovery of the multiplication
+table, which till then had been undreamt of," continued the
+story-teller. "It is sufficient to know that he did so, and that Ti Hung
+agreed to his terms, only stipulating that Li Ting should not be made
+aware of his dismissal until he had returned and given in his accounts.
+The share of the profits that Yung was to receive was cut down very low
+by Ti Hung, but the young man did not mind that, as he would live with
+his father-in-law for the future.
+
+"With the introduction of this new system, the business increased like
+a river at flood-time. All rivals were left far behind, and Ti Hung put
+out this sign:
+
+                          "NO WAITING HERE!
+
+  "Good-morning! Have you worshipped one of Ti Hung's refined
+  ninety-nine cash idols?
+
+  "Let the purchasers of ill-constructed idols at other
+  establishments, where they have grown old and venerable while
+  waiting for the all-thumb proprietors to count up to ten, come to
+  the shop of Ti Hung and regain their lost youth. Our ninety-nine
+  cash idols are worth a tael a set. We do not, however, claim that
+  they will do everything. The ninety-nine cash idols of Ti Hung
+  will not, for example, purify linen, but even the most contented
+  and frozen-brained person cannot be happy until he possesses one.
+  What is happiness? The exceedingly well-educated Philosopher
+  defines it as the accomplishment of all our desires. Everyone
+  desires one of the Ti Hung's ninety-nine cash idols, therefore get
+  one; but be sure that it is Ti Hung's.
+
+  "Have you a bad idol? If so, dismiss it, and get one of Ti Hung's
+  ninety-nine cash specimens.
+
+  "Why does your idol look old sooner than your neighbours? Because
+  yours is not one of Ti Hung's ninety-nine cash marvels.
+
+    "They bring all delights to the old and the young,
+    The elegant idols supplied by Ti Hung.
+
+  "N.B.--The 'Great Sacrifice' idol, forty-five cash; delivered,
+  carriage free, in quantities of not less than twelve, at any
+  temple, on the evening before the sacrifice.
+
+"It was about this time that Li Ting returned. His journey had been more
+than usually successful, and he was well satisfied in consequence. It
+was not until he had made out his accounts and handed in his money that
+Ti Hung informed him of his agreement with Yung Chang.
+
+"'Oh, most treacherous and excessively unpopular Ti Hung,' exclaimed
+Li Ting, in a terrible voice, 'this is the return you make for all my
+entrancing efforts in your services, then? It is in this way that you
+reward my exceedingly unconscientious recommendations of your very
+inferior and unendurable clay idols, with their goggle eyes and concave
+stomachs! Before I go, however, I request to be inspired to make the
+following remark--that I confidently predict your ruin. And now this
+low and undignified person will finally shake the elegant dust of your
+distinguished house from his thoroughly inadequate feet, and proceed to
+offer his incapable services to the rival establishment over the way.'
+
+"'The machinations of such an evilly-disposed person as Li Ting will
+certainly be exceedingly subtle,' said Ti Hung to his son-in-law when
+the traveller had departed. 'I must counteract his omens. Herewith I
+wish to prophecy that henceforth I shall enjoy an unbroken run of good
+fortune. I have spoken, and assuredly I shall not eat my words.'
+
+"As the time went on, it seemed as though Ti Hung had indeed spoken
+truly. The ease and celerity with which he transacted his business
+brought him customers and dealers from more remote regions than ever,
+for they could spend days on the journey and still save time. The
+army of clay-gatherers and modellers grew larger and larger, and the
+work-sheds stretched almost down to the river's edge. Only one thing
+troubled Ti Hung, and that was the uncongenial disposition of his
+son-in-law, for Yung took no further interest in the industry to which
+his discovery had given so great an impetus, but resolutely set to work
+again to pass his examination for the second degree.
+
+"'It is an exceedingly distinguished and honourable thing to have failed
+thirty-five times, and still to be undiscouraged,' admitted Ti Hung;
+'but I cannot cleanse my throat from bitterness when I consider that
+my noble and lucrative business must pass into the hands of strangers,
+perhaps even into the possession of the unendurable Li Ting.'
+
+"But it had been appointed that this degrading thing should not happen,
+however, and it was indeed fortunate that Yung did not abandon his
+literary pursuits; for after some time it became very apparent to Ti
+Hung that there was something radically wrong with his business. It was
+not that his custom was falling off in any way; indeed, it had lately
+increased in a manner that was phenomenal, and when the merchant came to
+look into the matter, he found to his astonishment that the least order
+he had received in the past week had been for a hundred idols. All the
+sales had been large, and yet Ti Hung found himself most unaccountably
+deficient in taels. He was puzzled and alarmed, and for the next few
+days he looked into the business closely. Then it was that the reason
+was revealed, both for the falling off in the receipts and for the
+increase in the orders. The calculations of the unfortunate Yung Chang
+were correct up to a hundred, but at that number he had made a gigantic
+error--which, however, he was never able to detect and rectify--with
+the result that all transactions above that point worked out at a
+considerable loss to the seller. It was in vain that the panic-stricken
+Ti Hung goaded his miserable son-in-law to correct the mistake; it
+was equally in vain that he tried to stem the current of his enormous
+commercial popularity. He had competed for public favour, and he had won
+it, and every day his business increased till ruin grasped him by the
+pigtail. Then came an order from one firm at Peking for five millions of
+the ninety-nine cash idols, and at that Ti Hung put up his shutters, and
+sat down in the dust.
+
+"'Behold!' he exclaimed, 'in the course of a lifetime there are many
+very disagreeable evils that may overtake a person. He may offend the
+Sacred Dragon, and be in consequence reduced to a fine dry powder; or he
+may incur the displeasure of the benevolent and pure-minded Emperor, and
+be condemned to death by roasting; he may also be troubled by demons or
+by the disturbed spirits of his ancestors, or be struck by thunderbolts.
+Indeed, there are numerous annoyances, but they become as Heaven-sent
+blessings in comparison to a self-opinionated and more than ordinarily
+weak-minded son-in-law. Of what avail is it that I have habitually
+sold one idol for the value of a hundred? The very objectionable man in
+possession sits in my delectable summer-house, and the unavoidable
+legal documents settle around me like a flock of pigeons. It is indeed
+necessary that I should declare myself to be in voluntary liquidation,
+and make an assignment of my book debts for the benefit of my creditors.
+Having accomplished this, I will proceed to the well-constructed tomb
+of my illustrious ancestors, and having kow-towed at their incomparable
+shrines, I will put an end to my distinguished troubles with this
+exceedingly well-polished sword.'
+
+"'The wise man can adapt himself to circumstances as water takes the
+shape of the vase that contains it,' said the well-known voice of
+Li Ting. 'Let not the lion and the tiger fight at the bidding of the
+jackal. By combining our forces all may be well with you yet. Assist
+me to dispose of the entirely superfluous Yung Chang and to marry
+the elegant and symmetrical Ning, and in return I will allot to you a
+portion of my not inconsiderable income.'
+
+"'However high the tree, the leaves fall to the ground, and your hour
+has come at last, O detestable Li Ting!' said Yung, who had heard the
+speakers and crept upon them unperceived. 'As for my distinguished
+and immaculate father-in-law, doubtless the heat has affected his
+indefatigable brains, or he would not have listened to your contemptible
+suggestion. For yourself, draw!'
+
+"Both swords flashed, but before a blow could be struck the spirits
+of his ancestors hurled Li Ting lifeless to the ground, to avenge the
+memories that their unworthy descendant had so often reviled.
+
+"'So perish all the enemies of Yung Chang,' said the victor. 'And now,
+my venerated but exceedingly short-sighted father-in-law, learn how
+narrowly you have escaped making yourself exceedingly objectionable
+to yourself. I have just received intelligence from Peking that I have
+passed the second degree, and have in consequence been appointed to a
+remunerative position under the Government. This will enable us to live
+in comfort, if not in affluence, and the rest of your engaging days can
+be peacefully spent in flying kites.'"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III. THE PROBATION OF SEN HENG
+
+  Related by Kai Lung, at Wu-whei, as a rebuke to Wang Yu and
+  certain others who had questioned the practical value of his
+  stories.
+
+"It is an undoubted fact that this person has not realized the direct
+remunerative advantage which he confidently anticipated," remarked the
+idle and discontented pipe-maker Wang Yu, as, with a few other persons
+of similar inclination, he sat in the shade of the great mulberry tree
+at Wu-whei, waiting for the evil influence of certain very mysterious
+sounds, which had lately been heard, to pass away before he resumed
+his occupation. "When the seemingly proficient and trustworthy Kai Lung
+first made it his practice to journey to Wu-whei, and narrate to us the
+doings of persons of all classes of life," he continued, "it seemed to
+this one that by closely following the recital of how Mandarins obtained
+their high position, and exceptionally rich persons their wealth, he
+must, in the end, inevitably be rendered competent to follow in their
+illustrious footsteps. Yet in how entirely contrary a direction has
+the whole course of events tended! In spite of the honourable intention
+which involved a frequent absence from his place of commerce, those
+who journeyed thither with the set purpose of possessing one of his
+justly-famed opium pipes so perversely regarded the matter that, after
+two or three fruitless visits, they deliberately turned their footsteps
+towards the workshop of the inelegant Ming-yo, whose pipes are
+confessedly greatly inferior to those produced by the person who is now
+speaking. Nevertheless, the rapacious Kai Lung, to whose influence
+the falling off in custom was thus directly attributable, persistently
+declined to bear any share whatever in the loss which his profession
+caused, and, indeed, regarded the circumstance from so grasping and
+narrow-minded a point of observation that he would not even go to the
+length of suffering this much-persecuted one to join the circle of his
+hearers without on every occasion making the customary offering. In this
+manner a well-intentioned pursuit of riches has insidiously led this
+person within measurable distance of the bolted dungeon for those who do
+not meet their just debts, while the only distinction likely to result
+from his assiduous study of the customs and methods of those high
+in power is that of being publicly bowstrung as a warning to others.
+Manifestedly the pointed finger of the unreliable Kai Lung is a very
+treacherous guide."
+
+"It is related," said a dispassionate voice behind them, "that a person
+of limited intelligence, on being assured that he would certainly one
+day enjoy an adequate competence if he closely followed the industrious
+habits of the thrifty bee, spent the greater part of his life in
+anointing his thighs with the yellow powder which he laboriously
+collected from the flowers of the field. It is not so recorded; but
+doubtless the nameless one in question was by profession a maker of
+opium pipes, for this person has observed from time to time how that
+occupation, above all others, tends to degrade the mental faculties, and
+to debase its followers to a lower position than that of the beasts of
+labour. Learn therefrom, O superficial Wang Yu, that wisdom lies in
+an intelligent perception of great principles, and not in a slavish
+imitation of details which are, for the most part, beyond your simple
+and insufficient understanding."
+
+"Such may, indeed, be the case, Kai Lung," replied Wang Yu sullenly--for
+it was the story-teller in question who had approached unperceived, and
+who now stood before them--"but it is none the less a fact that, on the
+last occasion when this misguided person joined the attending circle
+at your uplifted voice, a Mandarin of the third degree chanced to
+pass through Wu-whei, and halted at the door-step of 'The Fountain of
+Beauty,' fully intending to entrust this one with the designing and
+fashioning of a pipe of exceptional elaborateness. This matter, by his
+absence, has now passed from him, and to-day, through listening to the
+narrative of how the accomplished Yuin-Pel doubled his fortune, he is
+the poorer by many taels."
+
+"Yet to-morrow, when the name of the Mandarin of the third degree
+appears in the list of persons who have transferred their entire
+property to those who are nearly related to them in order to avoid it
+being seized to satisfy the just claims made against them," replied Kai
+Lung, "you will be able to regard yourself the richer by so many taels."
+
+At these words, which recalled to the minds of all who were present the
+not uncommon manner of behaving observed by those of exalted rank, who
+freely engaged persons to supply them with costly articles without in
+any way regarding the price to be paid, Wang Yu was silent.
+
+"Nevertheless," exclaimed a thin voice from the edge of the group which
+surrounded Kai Lung, "it in nowise follows that the stories are in
+themselves excellent, or of such a nature that the hearing of their
+recital will profit a person. Wang Yu may be satisfied with empty words,
+but there are others present who were studying deep matters when Wang
+Yu was learning the art of walking. If Kai Lung's stories are of such
+remunerative benefit as the person in question claims, how does it
+chance that Kai Lung himself who is assuredly the best acquainted with
+them, stands before us in mean apparel, and on all occasions confessing
+an unassuming poverty?"
+
+"It is Yan-hi Pung," went from mouth to mouth among the
+bystanders--"Yan-hi Pung, who traces on paper the words of chants and
+historical tales, and sells them to such as can afford to buy. And
+although his motive in exposing the emptiness of Kai Lung's stories may
+not be Heaven-sent--inasmuch as Kai Lung provides us with such matter
+as he himself purveys, only at a much more moderate price--yet his words
+are well considered, and must therefore be regarded."
+
+"O Yan-hi Pung," replied Kai Lung, hearing the name from those who
+stood about him, and moving towards the aged person, who stood meanwhile
+leaning upon his staff, and looking from side to side with quickly
+moving eyelids in a manner very offensive towards the story-teller,
+"your just remark shows you to be a person of exceptional wisdom, even
+as your well-bowed legs prove you to be one of great bodily strength;
+for justice is ever obvious and wisdom hidden, and they who build
+structures for endurance discard the straight and upright and insist
+upon such an arch as you so symmetrically exemplify."
+
+Speaking in this conciliatory manner, Kai Lung came up to Yan-hi Pung,
+and taking between his fingers a disc of thick polished crystal,
+which the aged and short-sighted chant-writer used for the purpose of
+magnifying and bringing nearer the letters upon which he was engaged,
+and which hung around his neck by an embroidered cord, the story-teller
+held it aloft, crying aloud:
+
+"Observe closely, and presently it will be revealed and made clear how
+the apparently very conflicting words of the wise Yan-hi Pung, and those
+of this unassuming but nevertheless conscientious person who is now
+addressing you, are, in reality, as one great truth."
+
+With this assurance Kai Lung moved the crystal somewhat, so that it
+engaged the sun's rays, and concentrated them upon the uncovered crown
+of the unsuspecting and still objectionably-engaged person before
+him. Without a moment's pause, Yan-hi Pung leapt high into the air,
+repeatedly pressing his hand to the spot thus selected and crying aloud:
+
+"Evil dragons and thunderbolts! but the touch was as hot as a scar left
+by the uncut nail of the sublime Buddha!"
+
+"Yet the crystal--" remarked Kai Lung composedly, passing it into the
+hands of those who stood near.
+
+"Is as cool as the innermost leaves of the riverside sycamore," they
+declared.
+
+Kai Lung said nothing further, but raised both his hands above his head,
+as if demanding their judgment. Thereupon a loud shout went up on his
+behalf, for the greater part of them loved to see the manner in which
+he brushed aside those who would oppose him; and the sight of the aged
+person Yan-hi Pung leaping far into the air had caused them to become
+exceptionally amused, and, in consequence, very amiably disposed towards
+the one who had afforded them the entertainment.
+
+"The story of Sen Heng," began Kai Lung, when the discussion had
+terminated in the manner already recorded, "concerns itself with one who
+possessed an unsuspecting and ingenious nature, which ill-fitted him
+to take an ordinary part in the everyday affairs of life, no matter how
+engaging such a character rendered him among his friends and relations.
+Having at an early age been entrusted with a burden of rice and other
+produce from his father's fields to dispose of in the best possible
+manner at a neighbouring mart, and having completed the transaction in a
+manner extremely advantageous to those with whom he trafficked but very
+intolerable to the one who had sent him, it at once became apparent that
+some other means of gaining a livelihood must be discovered for him.
+
+"'Beyond all doubt,' said his father, after considering the matter for a
+period, 'it is a case in which one should be governed by the wise advice
+and example of the Mandarin Poo-chow.'
+
+"'Illustrious sire,' exclaimed Sen Heng, who chanced to be present, 'the
+illiterate person who stands before you is entirely unacquainted
+with the one to whom you have referred; nevertheless, he will, as you
+suggest, at once set forth, and journeying with all speed to the abode
+of the estimable Poo-chow, solicit his experience and advice.'
+
+"'Unless a more serious loss should be occasioned,' replied the father
+coldly, 'there is no necessity to adopt so extreme a course. The
+benevolent Mandarin in question existed at a remote period of the Thang
+dynasty, and the incident to which an allusion has been made arose in
+the following way: To the public court of the enlightened Poo-chow there
+came one day a youth of very inferior appearance and hesitating
+manner, who besought his explicit advice, saying: "The degraded and
+unprepossessing being before you, O select and venerable Mandarin, is by
+nature and attainments a person of the utmost timidity and fearfulness.
+From this cause life itself has become a detestable observance in his
+eyes, for those who should be his companions of both sexes hold him in
+undisguised contempt, making various unendurable allusions to the colour
+and nature of his internal organs whenever he would endeavour to join
+them. Instruct him, therefore, the manner in which this cowardice may be
+removed, and no service in return will be esteemed too great." "There
+is a remedy," replied the benevolent Mandarin, without any hesitation
+whatever, "which if properly carried out is efficacious beyond the
+possibility of failure. Certain component parts of your body are
+lacking, and before the desired result can be obtained these must be
+supplied from without. Of all courageous things the tiger is the most
+fearless, and in consequence it combines all those ingredients which you
+require; furthermore, as the teeth of the tiger are the instruments with
+which it accomplishes its vengeful purpose, there reside the essential
+principles of its inimitable courage. Let the person who seeks
+instruction in the matter, therefore, do as follows: taking the teeth of
+a full-grown tiger as soon as it is slain, and before the essences
+have time to return into the body, he shall grind them to a powder, and
+mixing the powder with a portion of rice, consume it. After seven days
+he must repeat the observance, and yet again a third time, after another
+similar lapse. Let him, then, return for further guidance; for the
+present the matter interests this person no further." At these words the
+youth departed, filled with a new and inspired hope; for the wisdom of
+the sagacious Poo-chow was a matter which did not admit of any doubt
+whatever, and he had spoken with well-defined certainty of the success
+of the experiment. Nevertheless, after several days industriously spent
+in endeavouring to obtain by purchase the teeth of a newly-slain tiger,
+the details of the undertaking began to assume a new and entirely
+unforeseen aspect; for those whom he approached as being the most
+likely to possess what he required either became very immoderately and
+disagreeably amused at the nature of the request, or regarded it as a
+new and ill-judged form of ridicule, which they prepared to avenge by
+blows and by base remarks of the most personal variety. At length it
+became unavoidably obvious to the youth that if he was to obtain the
+articles in question it would first be necessary that he should become
+adept in the art of slaying tigers, for in no other way were the
+required conditions likely to be present. Although the prospect was one
+which did not greatly tend to allure him, yet he did not regard it
+with the utterly incapable emotions which would have been present on an
+earlier occasion; for the habit of continually guarding himself from
+the onslaughts of those who received his inquiry in an attitude of
+narrow-minded distrust had inspired him with a new-found valour, while
+his amiable and unrestrained manner of life increased his bodily vigour
+in every degree. First perfecting himself in the use of the bow and
+arrow, therefore, he betook himself to a wild and very extensive forest,
+and there concealed himself among the upper foliage of a tall tree
+standing by the side of a pool of water. On the second night of his
+watch, the youth perceived a large but somewhat ill-conditioned tiger
+approaching the pool for the purpose of quenching its thirst, whereupon
+he tremblingly fitted an arrow to his bowstring, and profiting by the
+instruction he had received, succeeded in piercing the creature to
+the heart. After fulfilling the observance laid upon him by the
+discriminating Poo-chow, the youth determined to remain in the forest,
+and sustain himself upon such food as fell to his weapons, until the
+time arrived when he should carry out the rite for the last time. At the
+end of seven days, so subtle had he become in all kinds of hunting, and
+so strengthened by the meat and herbs upon which he existed, that he
+disdained to avail himself of the shelter of a tree, but standing openly
+by the side of the water, he engaged the attention of the first tiger
+which came to drink, and discharged arrow after arrow into its body with
+unfailing power and precision. So entrancing, indeed, had the pursuit
+become that the next seven days lengthened out into the apparent period
+of as many moons, in such a leisurely manner did they rise and fall. On
+the appointed day, without waiting for the evening to arrive, the youth
+set out with the first appearance of light, and penetrated into the most
+inaccessible jungles, crying aloud words of taunt-laden challenge to all
+the beasts therein, and accusing the ancestors of their race of every
+imaginable variety of evil behaviour. Yet so great had become the renown
+of the one who stood forth, and so widely had the warning voice been
+passed from tree to tree, preparing all who dwelt in the forest against
+his anger, that not even the fiercest replied openly, though low growls
+and mutterings proceeded from every cave within a bow-shot's distance
+around. Wearying quickly of such feeble and timorous demonstrations, the
+youth rushed into the cave from which the loudest murmurs proceeded, and
+there discovered a tiger of unnatural size, surrounded by the bones of
+innumerable ones whom it had devoured; for from time to time its
+ravages became so great and unbearable, that armies were raised in
+the neighbouring villages and sent to destroy it, but more than a
+few stragglers never returned. Plainly recognizing that a just and
+inevitable vengeance had overtaken it, the tiger made only a very
+inferior exhibition of resistance, and the youth, having first stunned
+it with a blow of his closed hand, seized it by the middle, and
+repeatedly dashed its head against the rocky sides of its retreat. He
+then performed for the third time the ceremony enjoined by the Mandarin,
+and having cast upon the cringing and despicable forms concealed in the
+surrounding woods and caves a look of dignified and ineffable contempt,
+set out upon his homeward journey, and in the space of three days' time
+reached the town of the versatile Poo-chow. "Behold," exclaimed that
+person, when, lifting up his eyes, he saw the youth approaching laden
+with the skins of the tigers and other spoils, "now at least the youths
+and maidens of your native village will no longer withdraw themselves
+from the company of so undoubtedly heroic a person." "Illustrious
+Mandarin," replied the other, casting both his weapons and his trophies
+before his inspired adviser's feet, "what has this person to do with the
+little ones of either sex? Give him rather the foremost place in your
+ever-victorious company of bowmen, so that he may repay in part the
+undoubted debt under which he henceforth exists." This proposal found
+favour with the pure-minded Poo-chow, so that in course of time the
+unassuming youth who had come supplicating his advice became the
+valiant commander of his army, and the one eventually chosen to present
+plighting gifts to his only daughter.'
+
+"When the father had completed the narrative of how the faint-hearted
+youth became in the end a courageous and resourceful leader of bowmen,
+Sen looked up, and not in any degree understanding the purpose of the
+story, or why it had been set forth before him, exclaimed:
+
+"'Undoubtedly the counsel of the graceful and intelligent Mandarin
+Poo-chow was of inestimable service in the case recorded, and this
+person would gladly adopt it as his guide for the future, on the chance
+of it leading to a similar honourable career; but alas! there are no
+tigers to be found throughout this Province.'
+
+"'It is a loss which those who are engaged in commerce in the city of
+Hankow strive to supply adequately,' replied his father, who had an
+assured feeling that it would be of no avail to endeavour to show
+Sen that the story which he had just related was one setting forth a
+definite precept rather than fixing an exact manner of behaviour. 'For
+that reason,' he continued, 'this person has concluded an arrangement by
+which you will journey to that place, and there enter into the house of
+commerce of an expert and conscientious vendor of moving contrivances.
+Among so rapacious and keen-witted a class of persons as they of Hankow,
+it is exceedingly unlikely that your amiable disposition will involve
+any individual one in an unavoidably serious loss, and even should
+such an unforeseen event come to pass, there will, at least, be the
+undeniable satisfaction of the thought that the unfortunate occurrence
+will in no way affect the prosperity of those to whom you are bound by
+the natural ties of affection.'
+
+"'Benevolent and virtuous-minded father,' replied Sen gently, but
+speaking with an inspired conviction; 'from his earliest infancy this
+unassuming one has been instructed in an inviolable regard for the Five
+General Principles of Fidelity to the Emperor, Respect for Parents,
+Harmony between Husband and Wife, Agreement among Brothers, and
+Constancy in Friendship. It will be entirely unnecessary to inform so
+pious-minded a person as the one now being addressed that no evil can
+attend the footsteps of an individual who courteously observes these
+enactments.'
+
+"'Without doubt it is so arranged by the protecting Deities,' replied
+the father; 'yet it is an exceedingly desirable thing for those who are
+responsible in the matter that the footsteps to which reference has been
+made should not linger in the neighbourhood of the village, but should,
+with all possible speed, turn in the direction of Hankow.'
+
+"In this manner it came to pass that Sen Heng set forth on the following
+day, and coming without delay to the great and powerful city of Hankow,
+sought out the house of commerce known as 'The Pure Gilt Dragon of
+Exceptional Symmetry,' where the versatile King-y-Yang engaged in the
+entrancing occupation of contriving moving figures, and other devices of
+an ingenious and mirth-provoking character, which he entrusted into the
+hands of numerous persons to sell throughout the Province. From this
+cause, although enjoying a very agreeable recompense from the sale
+of the objects, the greatly perturbed King-y-Yang suffered continual
+internal misgivings; for the habit of behaving of those whom he
+appointed to go forth in the manner described was such that he could not
+entirely dismiss from his mind an assured conviction that the details
+were not invariably as they were represented to be. Frequently would
+one return in a very deficient and unpresentable condition of garment,
+asserting that on his return, while passing through a lonely and
+unprotected district, he had been assailed by an armed band of robbers,
+and despoiled of all he possessed. Another would claim to have been made
+the sport of evil spirits, who led him astray by means of false signs
+in the forest, and finally destroyed his entire burden of commodities,
+accompanying the unworthy act by loud cries of triumph and remarks of
+an insulting nature concerning King-y-Yang; for the honourable character
+and charitable actions of the person in question had made him very
+objectionable to that class of beings. Others continually accounted
+for the absence of the required number of taels by declaring that at
+a certain point of their journey they were made the object of marks
+of amiable condescension on the part of a high and dignified public
+official, who, on learning in whose service they were, immediately
+professed an intimate personal friendship with the estimable
+King-y-Yang, and, out of a feeling of gratified respect for him, took
+away all such contrivances as remained undisposed of, promising to
+arrange the payment with the refined King-y-Yang himself when they
+should next meet. For these reasons King-y-Yang was especially desirous
+of obtaining one whose spoken word could be received, upon all points,
+as an assured fact, and it was, therefore, with an emotion of internal
+lightness that he confidently heard from those who were acquainted
+with the person that Sen Heng was, by nature and endowments, utterly
+incapable of representing matters of even the most insignificant degree
+to be otherwise than what they really were.
+
+Filled with an acute anxiety to discover what amount of success would
+be accorded to his latest contrivance, King-y-Yang led Sen Heng to a
+secluded chamber, and there instructed him in the method of selling
+certain apparently very ingeniously constructed ducks, which would have
+the appearance of swimming about on the surface of an open vessel of
+water, at the same time uttering loud and ever-increasing cries, after
+the manner of their kind. With ill-restrained admiration at the skilful
+nature of the deception, King-y-Yang pointed out that the ducks which
+were to be disposed of, and upon which a seemingly very low price was
+fixed, did not, in reality, possess any of these accomplishments, but
+would, on the contrary, if placed in water, at once sink to the bottom
+in a most incapable manner; it being part of Sen's duty to exhibit only
+a specially prepared creature which was restrained upon the surface by
+means of hidden cords, and, while bending over it, to simulate the cries
+as agreed upon. After satisfying himself that Sen could perform these
+movements competently, King-y-Yang sent him forth, particularly charging
+him that he should not return without a sum of money which fully
+represented the entire number of ducks entrusted to him, or an adequate
+number of unsold ducks to compensate for the deficiency.
+
+"At the end of seven days Sen returned to King-y-Yang, and although
+entirely without money, even to the extent of being unable to provide
+himself with the merest necessities of a frugal existence, he honourably
+returned the full number of ducks with which he had set out. It then
+became evident that although Sen had diligently perfected himself in the
+sounds and movements which King-y-Yang had contrived, he had not
+fully understood that they were to be executed stealthily, but had,
+in consequence, manifested the accomplishment openly, not unreasonably
+supposing that such an exhibition would be an additional inducement to
+those who appeared to be well-disposed towards the purchase. From this
+cause it came about that although large crowds were attracted by Sen's
+manner of conducting the enterprise, none actually engaged to purchase
+even the least expensively-valued of the ducks, although several
+publicly complimented Sen on his exceptional proficiency, and repeatedly
+urged him to louder and more frequent cries, suggesting that by such
+means possible buyers might be attracted to the spot from remote and
+inaccessible villages in the neighbourhood.
+
+"When King-y-Yang learned how the venture had been carried out, he
+became most intolerably self-opinionated in his expressions towards
+Sen's mental attainments and the manner of his bringing up. It was
+entirely in vain that the one referred to pointed out in a tone of
+persuasive and courteous restraint that he had not, down to the most
+minute particulars, transgressed either the general or the specific
+obligations of the Five General Principles, and that, therefore, he was
+blameless, and even worthy of commendation for the manner in which he
+had acted. With an inelegant absence of all refined feeling, King-y-Yang
+most incapably declined to discuss the various aspects of the
+controversy in an amiable manner, asserting, indeed, that for the
+consideration of as many brass cash as Sen had mentioned principles
+he would cause him to be thrown into prison as a person of unnatural
+ineptitude. Then, without rewarding Sen for the time spent in his
+service, or even inviting him to partake of food and wine, the
+insufferable deviser of very indifferent animated contrivances again
+sent him out, this time into the streets of Hankow with a number of
+delicately inlaid boxes, remarking in a tone of voice which plainly
+indicated an exactly contrary desire that he would be filled with an
+overwhelming satisfaction if Sen could discover any excuse for returning
+a second time without disposing of anything. This remark Sen's ingenuous
+nature led him to regard as a definite fact, so that when a passer-by,
+who tarried to examine the boxes chanced to remark that the colours
+might have been arranged to greater advantage, in which case he would
+certainly have purchased at least one of the articles, Sen hastened
+back, although in a distant part of the city, to inform King-y-Yang of
+the suggestion, adding that he himself had been favourably impressed
+with the improvement which could be effected by such an alteration.
+
+"The nature of King-y-Yang's emotion when Sen again presented himself
+before him--and when by repeatedly applied tests on various parts of his
+body he understood that he was neither the victim of malicious demons,
+nor wandering in an insensible condition in the Middle Air, but that the
+cause of the return was such as had been plainly stated--was of so mixed
+and benumbing a variety, that for a considerable space of time he was
+quite unable to express himself in any way, either by words or by signs.
+By the time these attributes returned there had formed itself within
+King-y-Yang's mind a design of most contemptible malignity, which seemed
+to present to his enfeebled intellect a scheme by which Sen would be
+adequately punished, and finally disposed of, without causing him any
+further trouble in the matter. For this purpose he concealed the real
+condition of his sentiments towards Sen, and warmly expressed himself in
+terms of delicate flattery regarding that one's sumptuous and unfailing
+taste in the matter of the blending of the colours. Without doubt, he
+continued, such an alteration as the one proposed would greatly increase
+the attractiveness of the inlaid boxes, and the matter should be engaged
+upon without delay. In the meantime, however, not to waste the immediate
+services of so discriminating and persevering a servant, he would
+entrust Sen with a mission of exceptional importance, which would
+certainly tend greatly to his remunerative benefit. In the district
+of Yun, in the north-western part of the Province, said the crafty
+and treacherous King-y-Yang, a particular kind of insect was greatly
+esteemed on account of the beneficent influence which it exercised over
+the rice plants, causing them to mature earlier, and to attain a greater
+size than ever happened in its absence. In recent years this creature
+had rarely been seen in the neighbourhood of Yun, and, in consequence,
+the earth-tillers throughout that country had been brought into a most
+disconcerting state of poverty, and would, inevitably, be prepared to
+exchange whatever they still possessed for even a few of the insects, in
+order that they might liberate them to increase, and so entirely reverse
+the objectionable state of things. Speaking in this manner, King-y-Yang
+entrusted to Sen a carefully prepared box containing a score of the
+insects, obtained at a great cost from a country beyond the Bitter
+Water, and after giving him further directions concerning the journey,
+and enjoining the utmost secrecy about the valuable contents of the box,
+he sent him forth.
+
+"The discreet and sagacious will already have understood the nature of
+King-y-Yang's intolerable artifice; but, for the benefit of the amiable
+and unsuspecting, it is necessary to make it clear that the words which
+he had spoken bore no sort of resemblance to affairs as they really
+existed. The district around Yun was indeed involved in a most
+unprepossessing destitution, but this had been caused, not by the
+absence of any rare and auspicious insect, but by the presence of vast
+hordes of locusts, which had overwhelmed and devoured the entire face
+the country. It so chanced that among the recently constructed devices
+at 'The Pure Gilt Dragon of Exceptional Symmetry' were a number of
+elegant representations of rice fields and fruit gardens so skilfully
+fashioned that they deceived even the creatures, and attracted, among
+other living things, all the locusts in Hankow into that place of
+commerce. It was a number of these insects that King-y-Yang vindictively
+placed in the box which he instructed Sen to carry to Yun, well knowing
+that the reception which would be accorded to anyone who appeared there
+on such a mission would be of so fatally destructive a kind that the
+consideration of his return need not engage a single conjecture.
+
+"Entirely tranquil in intellect--for the possibility of King-y-Yang's
+intention being in any way other than what he had represented it to
+be did not arise within Sen's ingenuous mind--the person in question
+cheerfully set forth on his long but unavoidable march towards the
+region of Yun. As he journeyed along the way, the nature of his
+meditation brought up before him the events which had taken place since
+his arrival at Hankow; and, for the first time, it was brought within
+his understanding that the story of the youth and the three tigers,
+which his father had related to him, was in the likeness of a proverb,
+by which counsel and warning is conveyed in a graceful and inoffensive
+manner. Readily applying the fable to his own condition, he could not
+doubt but that the first two animals to be overthrown were represented
+by the two undertakings which he had already conscientiously performed
+in the matter of the mechanical ducks and the inlaid boxes, and the
+conviction that he was even then engaged on the third and last trial
+filled him with an intelligent gladness so unobtrusive and refined that
+he could express his entrancing emotions in no other way that by lifting
+up his voice and uttering the far-reaching cries which he had used on
+the first of the occasions just referred to.
+
+"In this manner the first part of the journey passed away with engaging
+celerity. Anxious as Sen undoubtedly was to complete the third task, and
+approach the details which, in his own case, would correspond with the
+command of the bowmen and the marriage with the Mandarin's daughter of
+the person in the story, the noontide heat compelled him to rest in the
+shade by the wayside for a lengthy period each day. During one of
+these pauses it occurred to his versatile mind that the time which was
+otherwise uselessly expended might be well disposed of in endeavouring
+to increase the value and condition of the creatures under his care by
+instructing them in the performance of some simple accomplishments,
+such as might not be too laborious for their feeble and immature
+understanding. In this he was more successful than he had imagined could
+possibly be the case, for the discriminating insects, from the first,
+had every appearance of recognizing that Sen was inspired by a sincere
+regard for their ultimate benefit, and was not merely using them for
+his own advancement. So assiduously did they devote themselves to their
+allotted tasks, that in a very short space of time there was no detail
+in connexion with their own simple domestic arrangements that was not
+understood and daily carried out by an appointed band. Entranced at this
+intelligent manner of conducting themselves, Sen industriously applied
+his time to the more congenial task of instructing them in the refined
+arts, and presently he had the enchanting satisfaction of witnessing a
+number of the most cultivated faultlessly and unhesitatingly perform a
+portion of the well-known gravity-removing play entitled "The Benevolent
+Omen of White Dragon Tea Garden; or, Three Times a Mandarin." Not even
+content with this elevating display, Sen ingeniously contrived, from
+various objects which he discovered at different points by the wayside,
+an effective and life-like representation of a war-junk, for which he
+trained a crew, who, at an agreed signal, would take up their appointed
+places and go through the required movements, both of sailing, and of
+discharging the guns, in a reliable and efficient manner.
+
+"As Sen was one day educating the least competent of the insects in the
+simpler parts of banner-carriers, gong-beaters, and the like, to their
+more graceful and versatile companions, he lifted up his eyes and
+beheld, standing by his side, a person of very elaborately embroidered
+apparel and commanding personality, who had all the appearance of one
+who had been observing his movements for some space of time. Calling
+up within his remembrance the warning which he had received from
+King-y-Yang, Sen was preparing to restore the creatures to their closed
+box, when the stranger, in a loud and dignified voice, commanded him to
+refrain, adding:
+
+"'There is, resting at a spot within the immediate neighbourhood,
+a person of illustrious name and ancestry, who would doubtless be
+gratified to witness the diverting actions of which this one has
+recently been a spectator. As the reward of a tael cannot be unwelcome
+to a person of your inferior appearance and unpresentable garments, take
+up your box without delay, and follow the one who is now before you.'
+
+"With these words the richly-clad stranger led the way through a narrow
+woodland path, closely followed by Sen, to whom the attraction of the
+promised reward--a larger sum, indeed, than he had ever possessed--was
+sufficiently alluring to make him determined that the other should not,
+for the briefest possible moment, pass beyond his sight.
+
+"Not to withhold that which Sen was entirely ignorant of until a later
+period, it is now revealed that the person in question was the official
+Provider of Diversions and Pleasurable Occupations to the sacred
+and illimitable Emperor, who was then engaged in making an unusually
+extensive march through the eight Provinces surrounding his Capital--for
+the acute and well-educated will not need to be reminded that Nanking
+occupied that position at the time now engaged with. Until his
+providential discovery of Sen, the distinguished Provider had been
+immersed in a most unenviable condition of despair, for his enlightened
+but exceedingly perverse-minded master had, of late, declined to be
+in any way amused, or even interested, by the simple and unpretentious
+entertainment which could be obtained in so inaccessible a region. The
+well-intentioned efforts of the followers of the Court, who engagingly
+endeavoured to divert the Imperial mind by performing certain feats
+which they remembered to have witnessed on previous occasions, but
+which, until the necessity arose, they had never essayed, were entirely
+without result of a beneficial order. Even the accomplished Provider's
+one attainment--that of striking together both the hands and the feet
+thrice simultaneously, while leaping into the air, and at the same time
+producing a sound not unlike that emitted by a large and vigorous bee
+when held captive in the fold of a robe, an action which never failed
+to throw the illustrious Emperor into a most uncontrollable state of
+amusement when performed within the Imperial Palace--now only drew
+from him the unsympathetic, if not actually offensive, remark that the
+attitude and the noise bore a marked resemblance to those produced by a
+person when being bowstrung, adding, with unprepossessing significance,
+that of the two entertainments he had an unevadable conviction that the
+bowstringing would be the more acceptable and gravity-removing.
+
+"When Sen beheld the size and the silk-hung magnificence of the camp
+into which his guide led him, he was filled with astonishment, and at
+the same time recognized that he had acted in an injudicious and hasty
+manner by so readily accepting the offer of a tael; whereas, if he had
+been in possession of the true facts of the case, as they now appeared,
+he would certainly have endeavoured to obtain double that amount before
+consenting. As he was hesitating within himself whether the matter might
+not even yet be arranged in a more advantageous manner, he was suddenly
+led forward into the most striking and ornamental of the tents, and
+commanded to engage the attention of the one in whose presence he found
+himself, without delay.
+
+"From the first moment when the inimitable creatures began, at Sen's
+spoken word, to go through the ordinary details of their domestic
+affairs, there was no sort of doubt as to the nature of the success with
+which their well-trained exertions would be received. The dark shadows
+instantly forsook the enraptured Emperor's select brow, and from time
+to time he expressed himself in words of most unrestrained and intimate
+encouragement. So exuberant became the overjoyed Provider's emotion at
+having at length succeeded in obtaining the services of one who was
+able to recall his Imperial master's unclouded countenance, that he came
+forward in a most unpresentable state of haste, and rose into the air
+uncommanded, for the display of his usually not unwelcome acquirement.
+This he would doubtless have executed competently had not Sen, who stood
+immediately behind him, suddenly and unexpectedly raised his voice in
+a very vigorous and proficient duck cry, thereby causing the one before
+him to endeavour to turn around in alarm, while yet in the air--an
+intermingled state of movements of both the body and the mind that
+caused him to abandon his original intention in a manner which removed
+the gravity of the Emperor to an even more pronounced degree than had
+been effected by the diverting attitudes of the insects.
+
+"When the gratified Emperor had beheld every portion of the tasks
+which Sen had instilled into the minds of the insects, down even to the
+minutest detail, he called the well-satisfied Provider before him,
+and addressing him in a voice which might be designed to betray either
+sternness or an amiable indulgence, said:
+
+"'You, O Shan-se, are reported to be a person of no particular intellect
+or discernment, and, for this reason, these ones who are speaking have a
+desire to know how the matter will present itself in your eyes. Which
+is it the more commendable and honourable for a person to train to
+a condition of unfailing excellence, human beings of confessed
+intelligence or insects of a low and degraded standard?'
+
+"To this remark the discriminating Shan-se made no reply, being, indeed,
+undecided in his mind whether such a course was expected of him. On
+several previous occasions the somewhat introspective Emperor had
+addressed himself to persons in what they judged to be the form of a
+question, as one might say, 'How blue is the unapproachable air canopy,
+and how delicately imagined the colour of the clouds!' yet when they had
+expressed their deliberate opinion on the subjects referred to,
+stating the exact degree of blueness, and the like, the nature of
+their reception ever afterwards was such that, for the future, persons
+endeavoured to determine exactly the intention of the Emperor's mind
+before declaring themselves in words. Being exceedingly doubtful on this
+occasion, therefore, the very cautious Shan-se adopted the more prudent
+and uncompromising attitude, and smiling acquiescently, he raised both
+his hands with a self-deprecatory movement.
+
+"'Alas!' exclaimed the Emperor, in a tone which plainly indicated that
+the evasive Shan-se had adopted a course which did not commend itself,
+'how unendurable a condition of affairs is it for a person of acute
+mental perception to be annoyed by the inopportune behaviour of one
+who is only fit to mix on terms of equality with beggars, and low-caste
+street cleaners--'
+
+"'Such a condition of affairs is indeed most offensively unbearable,
+illustrious Being,' remarked Shan-se, who clearly perceived that his
+former silence had not been productive of a delicate state of feeling
+towards himself.
+
+"'It has frequently been said,' continued the courteous and pure-minded
+Emperor, only signifying his refined displeasure at Shan-se's really
+ill-considered observation by so arranging his position that the person
+in question on longer enjoyed the sublime distinction of gazing upon his
+benevolent face, 'that titles and offices have been accorded, from time
+to time, without any regard for the fitting qualifications of those to
+whom they were presented. The truth that such a state of things does
+occasionally exist has been brought before our eyes during the past
+few days by the abandoned and inefficient behaviour of one who will
+henceforth be a marked official; yet it has always been our endeavour
+to reward expert and unassuming merit, whenever it is discovered. As
+we were setting forth, when we were interrupted in a most obstinate and
+superfluous manner, the one who can guide and cultivate the minds of
+unthinking, and not infrequently obstinate and rapacious, insects would
+certainly enjoy an even greater measure of success if entrusted with the
+discriminating intellects of human beings. For this reason it appears
+that no more fitting person could be found to occupy the important and
+well-rewarded position of Chief Arranger of the Competitive Examinations
+than the one before us--provided his opinions and manner of expressing
+himself are such as commend themselves to us. To satisfy us on this
+point let Sen Heng now stand forth and declare his beliefs.'
+
+"On this invitation Sen advanced the requisite number of paces, and not
+in any degree understanding what was required of him, determined that
+the occasion was one when he might fittingly declare the Five General
+Principles which were ever present in his mind. 'Unquestioning Fidelity
+to the Sacred Emperor--' he began, when the person in question signified
+that the trial was over.
+
+"'After so competent and inspired an expression as that which has just
+been uttered, which, if rightly considered, includes all lesser things,
+it is unnecessary to say more,' he declared affably. 'The appointment
+which has already been specified is now declared to be legally
+conferred. The evening will be devoted to a repetition of the entrancing
+manoeuvres performed by the insects, to be followed by a feast and music
+in honour of the recognized worth and position of the accomplished Sen
+Heng. There is really no necessity for the apparently over-fatigued
+Shan-se to attend the festival.'
+
+"In such a manner was the foundation of Sen's ultimate prosperity
+established, by which he came in the process of time to occupy a very
+high place in public esteem. Yet, being a person of honourably-minded
+conscientiousness, he did not hesitate, when questioned by those who
+made pilgrimages to him for the purpose of learning by what means he
+had risen to so remunerative a position, to ascribe his success, not
+entirely to his own intelligent perception of persons and events, but,
+in part, also to a never-failing regard for the dictates of the Five
+General Principles, and a discriminating subservience to the inspired
+wisdom of the venerable Poo-chow, as conveyed to him in the story of
+the faint-hearted youth and the three tigers. This story Sen furthermore
+caused to be inscribed in letters of gold, and displayed in a prominent
+position in his native village, where it has since doubtless been the
+means of instructing and advancing countless observant ones who have not
+been too insufferable to be guided by the experience of those who have
+gone before."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV. THE EXPERIMENT OF THE MANDARIN CHAN HUNG
+
+  Related by Kai Lung at Shan Tzu, on the occasion of his receiving
+  a very unexpected reward.
+
+"There are certainly many occasions when the principles of the Mandarin
+Chan Hung appear to find practical favour in the eyes of those who form
+this usually uncomplaining person's audiences at Shan Tzu," remarked Kai
+Lung, with patient resignation, as he took up his collecting-bowl and
+transferred the few brass coins which it held to a concealed place among
+his garments. "Has the village lately suffered from a visit of one
+of those persons who come armed with authority to remove by force or
+stratagem such goods as bear names other than those possessed by their
+holders? or is it, indeed--as they of Wu-whei confidently assert--that
+when the Day of Vows arrives the people of Shan Tzu, with one accord,
+undertake to deny themselves in the matter of gifts and free offerings,
+in spite of every conflicting impulse?"
+
+"They of Wu-whei!" exclaimed a self-opinionated bystander, who had
+by some means obtained an inferior public office, and who was, in
+consequence, enabled to be present on all occasions without contributing
+any offering. "Well is that village named 'The Refuge of Unworthiness,'
+for its dwellers do little but rob and illtreat strangers, and spread
+evil and lying reports concerning better endowed ones than themselves."
+
+"Such a condition of affairs may exist," replied Kai Lung, without
+any indication of concern either one way or the other; "yet it is an
+undeniable fact that they reward this commonplace story-teller's too
+often underestimated efforts in a manner which betrays them either to
+be of noble birth, or very desirous of putting to shame their less
+prosperous neighbouring places."
+
+"Such exhibitions of uncalled-for lavishness are merely the signs of an
+ill-regulated and inordinate vanity," remarked a Mandarin of the eighth
+grade, who chanced to be passing, and who stopped to listen to Kai
+Lung's words. "Nevertheless, it is not fitting that a collection of
+decaying hovels, which Wu-whei assuredly is, should, in however small
+a detail, appear to rise above Shan Tzu, so that if the versatile and
+unassuming Kai Lung will again honour this assembly by allowing his
+well-constructed bowl to pass freely to and fro, this obscure and
+otherwise entirely superfluous individual will make it his especial care
+that the brass of Wu-whei shall be answered with solid copper, and its
+debased pewter with doubly refined silver."
+
+With these encouraging words the very opportune Mandarin of the eighth
+grade himself followed the story-teller's collecting-bowl, observing
+closely what each person contributed, so that, although he gave nothing
+from his own store, Kai Lung had never before received so honourable an
+amount.
+
+"O illustrious Kai Lung," exclaimed a very industrious and ill-clad
+herb-gatherer, who, in spite of his poverty, could not refrain from
+mingling with listeners whenever the story-teller appeared in Shan Tzu,
+"a single piece of brass money is to this person more than a block
+of solid gold to many of Wu-whei; yet he has twice made the customary
+offering, once freely, once because a courteous and pure-minded
+individual who possesses certain written papers of his connected with
+the repayment of some few taels walked behind the bowl and engaged
+his eyes with an unmistakable and very significant glance. This fact
+emboldens him to make the following petition: that in place of the not
+altogether unknown story of Yung Chang which had been announced the
+proficient and nimble-minded Kai Lung will entice our attention with the
+history of the Mandarin Chan Hung, to which reference has already been
+made."
+
+"The occasion is undoubtedly one which calls for recognition to an
+unusual degree," replied Kai Lung with extreme affability. "To that end
+this person will accordingly narrate the story which has been suggested,
+notwithstanding the fact that it has been specially prepared for
+the ears of the sublime Emperor, who is at this moment awaiting this
+unseemly one's arrival in Peking with every mark of ill-restrained
+impatience, tempered only by his expectation of being the first to hear
+the story of the well-meaning but somewhat premature Chan Hung.
+
+"The Mandarin in question lived during the reign of the accomplished
+Emperor Tsint-Sin, his Yamen being at Fow Hou, in the Province of
+Shan-Tung, of which place he was consequently the chief official. In his
+conscientious desire to administer a pure and beneficent rule, he not
+infrequently made himself a very prominent object for public disregard,
+especially by his attempts to introduce untried things, when from
+time to time such matters arose within his mind and seemed to promise
+agreeable and remunerative results. In this manner it came about that
+the streets of Fow Hou were covered with large flat stones, to the great
+inconvenience of those persons who had, from a very remote period, been
+in the habit of passing the night on the soft clay which at all
+seasons of the year afforded a pleasant and efficient resting-place.
+Nevertheless, in certain matters his engaging efforts were attended by
+an obvious success. Having noticed that misfortunes and losses are much
+less keenly felt when they immediately follow in the steps of an earlier
+evil, the benevolent and humane-minded Chan Hung devised an ingenious
+method of lightening the burden of a necessary taxation by arranging
+that those persons who were the most heavily involved should be made the
+victims of an attack and robbery on the night before the matter became
+due. By this thoughtful expedient the unpleasant duty of parting from so
+many taels was almost imperceptibly led up to, and when, after the lapse
+of some slight period, the first sums of money were secretly returned,
+with a written proverb appropriate to the occasion, the public rejoicing
+of those who, had the matter been left to its natural course,
+would still have been filling the air with bitter and unendurable
+lamentations, plainly testified to the inspired wisdom of the
+enlightened Mandarin.
+
+"The well-merited success of this amiable expedient caused the Mandarin
+Chan Hung every variety of intelligent emotion, and no day passed
+without him devoting a portion of his time to the labour of discovering
+other advantages of a similar nature. Engrossed in deep and very sublime
+thought of this order, he chanced upon a certain day to be journeying
+through Fow Hou, when he met a person of irregular intellect, who
+made an uncertain livelihood by following the unassuming and
+charitably-disposed from place to place, chanting in a loud voice set
+verses recording their virtues, which he composed in their honour. On
+account of his undoubted infirmities this person was permitted a greater
+freedom of speech with those above him than would have been the case had
+his condition been merely ordinary; so that when Chan Hung observed him
+becoming very grossly amused on his approach, to such an extent indeed,
+that he neglected to perform any of the fitting acts of obeisance,
+the wise and noble-minded Mandarin did not in any degree suffer his
+complacency to be affected, but, drawing near, addressed him in a calm
+and dignified manner.
+
+"'Why, O Ming-hi,' he said, 'do you permit your gravity to be removed
+to such an exaggerated degree at the sight of this in no way striking
+or exceptional person? and why, indeed, do you stand in so unbecoming
+an attitude in the presence of one who, in spite of his depraved
+inferiority, is unquestionably your official superior, and could,
+without any hesitation, condemn you to the tortures or even to
+bowstringing on the spot?'
+
+"'Mandarin,' exclaimed Ming-hi, stepping up to Chan Hung, and, without
+any hesitation, pressing the gilt button which adorned the official's
+body garment, accompanying the action by a continuous muffled noise
+which suggested the repeated striking of a hidden bell, 'you wonder that
+this person stands erect on your approach, neither rolling his lowered
+head repeatedly from side to side, nor tracing circles in the dust
+of Fow Hou with his submissive stomach? Know then, the meaning of the
+proverb, "Distrust an inordinate appearance of servility. The estimable
+person who retires from your presence walking backwards may adopt that
+deferential manner in order to keep concealed the long double-edged
+knife with which he had hoped to slay you." The excessive amusement that
+seized this offensive person when he beheld your well-defined figure in
+the distance arose from his perception of your internal satisfaction,
+which is, indeed, unmistakably reflected in your symmetrical
+countenance. For, O Mandarin, in spite of your honourable endeavours
+to turn things which are devious into a straight line, the matters upon
+which you engage your versatile intellect--little as you suspect the
+fact--are as grains of the finest Foo-chow sand in comparison with that
+which escapes your attention.'
+
+"'Strange are your words, O Ming-hi, and dark to this person your
+meaning,' replied Chan Hung, whose feelings were evenly balanced between
+a desire to know what thing he had neglected and a fear that his dignity
+might suffer if he were observed to remain long conversing with a person
+of Ming-hi's low mental attainments. 'Without delay, and with an entire
+absence of lengthy and ornamental forms of speech, express the omission
+to which you have made reference; for this person has an uneasy inside
+emotion that you are merely endeavouring to engage his attention to
+the end that you may make an unseemly and irrelevant reply, and thereby
+involve him in an undeserved ridicule.'
+
+"'Such a device would be the pastime of one of immature years, and could
+have no place in this person's habit of conduct,' replied Ming-hi, with
+every appearance of a fixed sincerity. 'Moreover, the matter is one
+which touches his own welfare closely, and, expressed in the fashion
+which the proficient Mandarin has commanded, may be set forth as
+follows: By a wise and all-knowing divine system, it is arranged that
+certain honourable occupations, which by their nature cannot become
+remunerative to any marked degree, shall be singled out for special
+marks of reverence, so that those who engage therein may be compensated
+in dignity for what they must inevitably lack in taels. By this
+refined dispensation the literary occupations, which are in general the
+highroads to the Establishment of Public Support and Uniform Apparel,
+are held in the highest veneration. Agriculture, from which it is
+possible to wrest a competency, follows in esteem; while the various
+branches of commerce, leading as they do to vast possessions and the
+attendant luxury, are very justly deprived of all the attributes
+of dignity and respect. Yet observe, O justice-loving Mandarin, how
+unbecomingly this ingenious system of universal compensation has been
+debased at the instance of grasping and avaricious ones. Dignity, riches
+and ease now go hand in hand, and the highest rewarded in all matters
+are also the most esteemed, whereas, if the discriminating provision of
+those who have gone before and so arranged it was observed, the direct
+contrary would be the case.'
+
+"'It is a state of things which is somewhat difficult to imagine in
+general matters of life, in spite of the fair-seemingness of your
+words,' said the Mandarin thoughtfully; 'nor can this rather obtuse and
+slow-witted person fully grasp the practical application of the system
+on the edge of the moment. In what manner would it operate in the case
+of ordinary persons, for example?'
+
+"'There should be a fixed and settled arrangement that the low-minded
+and degrading occupations--such as that of following charitable persons
+from place to place, chanting verses composed in their honour, that of
+misleading travellers who inquire the way, so that they fall into the
+hands of robbers, and the like callings--should be the most highly
+rewarded to the end that those who are engaged therein may obtain
+some solace for the loss of dignity they experience, and the mean
+intellectual position which they are compelled to maintain. By this
+device they would be enabled to possess certain advantages and degrees
+of comfort which at present are utterly beyond their grasp, so that in
+the end they would escape being entirely debased. To turn to the other
+foot, those who are now high in position, and engaged in professions
+which enjoy the confidence of all persons, have that which in itself is
+sufficient to insure contentment. Furthermore, the most proficient
+and engaging in every department, mean or high-minded, have certain
+attributes of respect among those beneath them, so that they might
+justly be content with the lowest reward in whatever calling they
+professed, the least skilful and most left-handed being compensated for
+the mental anguish which they must undoubtedly suffer by receiving the
+greatest number of taels.'
+
+"'Such a scheme would, as far as the matter has been expressed, appear
+to possess all the claims of respect, and to be, indeed, what was
+originally intended by those who framed the essentials of existence,'
+said Chan Hung, when he had for some space of time considered the
+details. 'In one point, however, this person fails to perceive how
+the arrangement could be amiably conducted in Fow Hou. The one who
+is addressing you maintains, as a matter of right, a position of
+exceptional respect, nor, if he must express himself upon such a detail,
+are his excessively fatiguing duties entirely unremunerative...'
+
+"'In the case of the distinguished and unalterable Mandarin,' exclaimed
+Ming-hi, with no appearance of hesitation, 'the matter would of
+necessity be arranged otherwise. Being from that time, as it were, the
+controller of the destinies and remunerations of all those in Fow Hou,
+he would, manifestly, be outside the working of the scheme; standing
+apart and regulating, like the person who turns the handle of the
+corn-mill, but does not suffer himself to be drawn between the
+stones, he could still maintain both his respect and his remuneration
+unaltered.'
+
+"'If the detail could honourably be regarded in such a light,' said Chan
+Hung, 'this person would, without delay, so rearrange matters in Fow
+Hou, and thereby create universal justice and an unceasing contentment
+within the minds of all.'
+
+"'Undoubtedly such a course could be justly followed,' assented Ming-hi,
+'for in precisely that manner of working was the complete scheme
+revealed to this highly-favoured person.'
+
+"Entirely wrapped up in thoughts concerning the inception and manner of
+operation of this project Chan Hung began to retrace his steps towards
+the Yamen, failing to observe in his benevolent abstraction of mind,
+that the unaffectedly depraved person Ming-hi was stretching out his
+feet towards him and indulging in every other form of low-minded and
+undignified contempt.
+
+"Before he reached the door of his residence the Mandarin overtook
+one who occupied a high position of confidence and remuneration in the
+Department of Public Fireworks and Coloured Lights. Fully assured of
+this versatile person's enthusiasm on behalf of so humane and charitable
+a device, Chan Hung explained the entire matter to him without delay,
+and expressly desired that if there were any details which appeared
+capable of improvement, he would declare himself clearly regarding them.
+
+"'Alas!' exclaimed the person with whom the Mandarin was conversing,
+speaking in so unfeignedly disturbed and terrified a voice that several
+who were passing by stopped in order to learn the full circumstance,
+'have this person's ears been made the object of some unnaturally
+light-minded demon's ill-disposed pastime, or does the usually
+well-balanced Chan Hung in reality contemplate so violent and un-Chinese
+an action? What but evil could arise from a single word of the change
+which he proposes to the extent of a full written book? The entire fixed
+nature of events would become reversed; persons would no longer be fully
+accountable to one another; and Fow Hou being thus thrown into a most
+unendurable state of confusion, the protecting Deities would doubtless
+withdraw their influence, and the entire region would soon be given over
+to the malicious guardianship of rapacious and evilly-disposed spirits.
+Let this person entreat the almost invariably clear-sighted Chan Hung
+to return at once to his adequately equipped and sumptuous Yamen, and
+barring well the door of his inner chamber, so that it can only be
+opened from the outside, partake of several sleeping essences of unusual
+strength, after which he will awake in an undoubtedly refreshed state
+of mind, and in a condition to observe matters with his accustomed
+diamond-like penetration.'
+
+"'By no means!' cried one of those who had stopped to learn the occasion
+of the incident--a very inferior maker of unserviceable imitation
+pigtails--'the devout and conscientious-minded Mandarin Chan Hung speaks
+as the inspired mouth-piece of the omnipotent Buddha, and must, for
+that reason, be obeyed in every detail. This person would unhesitatingly
+counsel the now invaluable Mandarin to proceed to his well-constructed
+residence without delay, and there calling together his entire staff of
+those who set down his spoken words, put the complete Heaven-sent
+plan into operation, and beyond recall, before he retires to his inner
+chamber.'
+
+"Upon this there arose a most inelegant display of undignified emotions
+on the part of the assembly which had by this time gathered together.
+While those who occupied honourable and remunerative positions very
+earnestly entreated the Mandarin to act in the manner which had been
+suggested by the first speaker, others--who had, in the meantime, made
+use of imagined figures, and thereby discovered that the proposed change
+would be greatly to their advantage--raised shouts of encouragement
+towards the proposal of the pigtail-maker, urging the noble Mandarin not
+to become small in the face towards the insignificant few who were ever
+opposed to enlightened reform, but to maintain an unflaccid upper lip,
+and carry the entire matter through to its destined end. In the course
+of this very unseemly tumult, which soon involved all persons present
+in hostile demonstrations towards each other, both the Mandarin and
+the official from the Fireworks and Coloured Lights Department found
+an opportunity to pass away secretly, the former to consider well the
+various sides of the matter, towards which he became better disposed
+with every thought, the latter to find a purchaser of his appointment
+and leave Fow Hou before the likelihood of Chan Hung's scheme became
+generally known.
+
+"At this point an earlier circumstance, which affected the future
+unrolling of events to no insignificant degree, must be made known,
+concerning as it does Lila, the fair and very accomplished daughter
+of Chan Hung. Possessing no son or heir to succeed him, the Mandarin
+exhibited towards Lila a very unusual depth of affection, so marked,
+indeed, that when certain evil-minded ones endeavoured to encompass
+his degradation, on the plea of eccentricity of character, the written
+papers which they dispatched to the high ones at Peking contained no
+other accusation in support of the contention than that the individual
+in question regarded his daughter with an obvious pride and pleasure
+which no person of well-balanced intellect lavished on any but a son.
+
+"It was his really conscientious desire to establish Lila's welfare
+above all things that had caused Chan Hung to become in some degree
+undecided when conversing with Ming-hi on the detail of the scheme; for,
+unaffected as the Mandarin himself would have been at the prospect of
+an honourable poverty, it was no part of his intention that the adorable
+and exceptionally-refined Lila should be drawn into such an existence.
+That, indeed, had been the essential of his reply on a certain and not
+far removed occasion, when two persons of widely differing positions
+had each made a formal request that he might be allowed to present
+marriage-pledging gifts to the very desirable Lila. Maintaining an
+enlightened openness of mind upon the subject, the Mandarin had replied
+that nothing but the merit of undoubted suitableness of a person would
+affect him in such a decision. As it was ordained by the wise and
+unchanging Deities that merit should always be fittingly rewarded,
+he went on to express himself, and as the most suitable person was
+obviously the one who could the most agreeably provide for her, the
+two circumstances inevitably tended to the decision that the one chosen
+should be the person who could amass the greatest number of taels. To
+this end he instructed them both to present themselves at the end of
+a year, bringing with them the entire profits of their undertakings
+between the two periods.
+
+"This deliberate pronouncement affected the two persons in question in
+an entirely opposite manner, for one of them was little removed from a
+condition of incessant and most uninviting poverty, while the other was
+the very highly-rewarded picture-maker Pe-tsing. Both to this latter
+person, and to the other one, Lee Sing, the ultimate conclusion of the
+matter did not seem to be a question of any conjecture therefore, and,
+in consequence, the one became most offensively self-confident, and
+the other leaden-minded to an equal degree, neither remembering the
+unswerving wisdom of the proverb, 'Wait! all men are but as the black,
+horn-cased beetles which overrun the inferior cooking-rooms of the city,
+and even at this moment the heavily-shod and unerring foot of Buddha may
+be lifted.'
+
+"Lee Sing was, by profession, one of those who hunt and ensnare the
+brilliantly-coloured winged insects which are to be found in various
+parts of the Empire in great variety and abundance, it being his duty
+to send a certain number every year to Peking to contribute to the
+amusement of the dignified Emperor. In spite of the not too intelligent
+nature of the occupation, Lee Sing took an honourable pride in all
+matters connected with it. He disdained, with well-expressed contempt,
+to avail himself of the stealthy and somewhat deceptive methods employed
+by others engaged in a similar manner of life. In this way he had, from
+necessity, acquired agility to an exceptional degree, so that he could
+leap far into the air, and while in that position select from a passing
+band of insects any which he might desire. This useful accomplishment
+was, in a measure, the direct means of bringing together the person in
+question and the engaging Lila; for, on a certain occasion, when Lee
+Sing was passing through the streets of Fow Hou, he heard a great
+outcry, and beheld persons of all ranks running towards him, pointing
+at the same time in an upward direction. Turning his gaze in the manner
+indicated, Lee beheld, with every variety of astonishment, a powerful
+and unnaturally large bird of prey, carrying in its talons the
+lovely and now insensible Lila, to whom it had been attracted by the
+magnificence of her raiment. The rapacious and evilly-inspired creature
+was already above the highest dwelling-houses when Lee first beheld it,
+and was plainly directing its course towards the inaccessible mountain
+crags beyond the city walls. Nevertheless, Lee resolved upon an
+inspired effort, and without any hesitation bounded towards it with such
+well-directed proficiency, that if he had not stretched forth his hand
+on passing he would inevitably have been carried far above the desired
+object. In this manner he succeeded in dragging the repulsive and
+completely disconcerted monster to the ground, where its graceful and
+unassuming prisoner was released, and the presumptuous bird itself
+torn to pieces amid continuous shouts of a most respectful and engaging
+description in honour of Lee and of his versatile attainment.
+
+"In consequence of this incident the grateful Lila would often
+deliberately leave the society of the rich and well-endowed in order
+to accompany Lee on his journeys in pursuit of exceptionally-precious
+winged insects. Regarding his unusual ability as the undoubted cause of
+her existence at that moment, she took an all-absorbing pride in such
+displays, and would utter loud and frequent exclamations of triumph when
+Lee leaped out from behind some rock, where he had lain concealed, and
+with unfailing regularity secured the object of his adroit movement. In
+this manner a state of feeling which was by no means favourable to
+the aspiring picture-maker Pe-tsing had long existed between the two
+persons; but when Lee Sing put the matter in the form of an explicit
+petition before Chan Hung (to which adequate reference has already been
+made), the nature of the decision then arrived at seemed to clothe
+the realization of their virtuous and estimable desires with an air of
+extreme improbability.
+
+"'Oh, Lee,' exclaimed the greatly-disappointed maiden when her lover had
+explained to her the nature of the arrangement--for in her unassuming
+admiration of the noble qualities of Lee she had anticipated that Chan
+Hung would at once have received him with ceremonious embraces and
+assurances of his permanent affection--'how unendurable a state of
+things is this in which we have become involved! Far removed from this
+one's anticipations was the thought of becoming inalienably associated
+with that outrageous person Pe-tsing, or of entering upon an existence
+which will necessitate a feigned admiration of his really unpresentable
+efforts. Yet in such a manner must the entire circumstance complete its
+course unless some ingenious method of evading it can be discovered in
+the meantime. Alas, my beloved one! the occupation of ensnaring winged
+insects is indeed an alluring one, but as far as this person has
+observed, it is also exceedingly unproductive of taels. Could not some
+more expeditious means of enriching yourself be discovered? Frequently
+has the unnoticed but nevertheless very attentive Lila heard her father
+and the round-bodied ones who visit him speak of exploits which seem
+to consist of assuming the shapes of certain wild animals, and in that
+guise appearing from time to time at the place of exchange within
+the city walls. As this form of entertainment is undoubtedly very
+remunerative in its results, could not the versatile and ready-witted
+Lee conceal himself within the skin of a bear, or some other untamed
+beast, and in this garb, joining them unperceived, play an appointed
+part and receive a just share of the reward?'
+
+"'The result of such an enterprise might, if the matter chanced to take
+an unforeseen development, prove of a very doubtful nature,' replied
+Lee Sing, to whom, indeed, the proposed venture appeared in a somewhat
+undignified light, although, with refined consideration, he withheld
+such a thought from Lila, who had proposed it for him, and also
+confessed that her usually immaculate father had taken part in such an
+exhibition. 'Nevertheless, do not permit the dark shadow of an inward
+cloud to reflect itself upon your almost invariably amiable countenance,
+for this person has become possessed of a valuable internal suggestion
+which, although he has hitherto neglected, being content with a small
+but assured competency, would doubtless bring together a serviceable
+number of taels if rightly utilized.'
+
+"'Greatly does this person fear that the valuable internal suggestion
+of Lee Sing will weigh but lightly in the commercial balance against
+the very rapidly executed pictures of Pe-tsing,' said Lila, who had not
+fully recalled from her mind a disturbing emotion that Lee would
+have been well advised to have availed himself of her ingenious and
+well-thought-out suggestion. 'But of what does the matter consist?'
+
+"'It is the best explained by a recital of the circumstances leading up
+to it,' said Lee. 'Upon an occasion when this person was passing through
+the streets of Fow Hou, there gathered around him a company of those who
+had, on previous occasions, beheld his exceptional powers of hurtling
+himself through the air in an upward direction, praying that he would
+again delight their senses by a similar spectacle. Not being unwilling
+to afford those estimable persons of the amusement they desired, this
+one, without any elaborate show of affected hesitancy, put himself
+into the necessary position, and would without doubt have risen
+uninterruptedly almost into the Middle Air, had he not, in making the
+preparatory movements, placed his left foot upon an over-ripe wampee
+which lay unperceived on the ground. In consequence of this really
+blameworthy want of caution the entire manner and direction of this
+short-sighted individual's movements underwent a sudden and complete
+change, so that to those who stood around it appeared as though he were
+making a well-directed endeavour to penetrate through the upper surface
+of the earth. This unexpected display had the effect of removing the
+gravity of even the most aged and severe-minded persons present, and for
+the space of some moments the behaviour and positions of those who stood
+around were such that they were quite unable to render any assistance,
+greatly as they doubtless wished to do so. Being in this manner allowed
+a period for inward reflexion of a very concentrated order, it arose
+within this one's mind that at every similar occurrence which he had
+witnessed, those who observed the event had been seized in a like
+fashion, being very excessively amused. The fact was made even more
+undoubted by the manner of behaving of an exceedingly stout and
+round-faced person, who had not been present from the beginning, but who
+was affected to a most incredible extent when the details, as they had
+occurred, were made plain to him, he declaring, with many references to
+the Sacred Dragon and the Seven Walled Temple at Peking, that he would
+willingly have contributed a specified number of taels rather than
+have missed the diversion. When at length this person reached his own
+chamber, he diligently applied himself to the task of carrying into
+practical effect the suggestion which had arisen in his mind. By an
+arrangement of transparent glasses and reflecting surfaces--which, were
+it not for a well-defined natural modesty, he would certainly be tempted
+to describe as highly ingenious--he ultimately succeeded in bringing
+about the effect he desired.'
+
+"With these words Lee put into Lila's hands an object which closely
+resembled the contrivances by which those who are not sufficiently
+powerful to obtain positions near the raised platform, in the Halls of
+Celestial Harmony, are nevertheless enabled to observe the complexions
+and attire of all around them. Regulating it by means of a hidden
+spring, he requested her to follow closely the actions of a
+heavily-burdened passerby who was at that moment some little distance
+beyond them. Scarcely had Lila raised the glass to her eyes than she
+became irresistibly amused to a most infectious degree, greatly to the
+satisfaction of Lee, who therein beheld the realization of his hopes.
+Not for the briefest space of time would she permit the object to pass
+from her, but directed it at every person who came within her sight,
+with frequent and unfeigned exclamations of wonder and delight.
+
+"'How pleasant and fascinating a device is this!' exclaimed Lila at
+length. 'By what means is so diverting and gravity-removing a result
+obtained?'
+
+"'Further than that it is the concentration of much labour of
+continually trying with glasses and reflecting surfaces, this person is
+totally unable to explain it,' replied Lee. 'The chief thing, however,
+is that at whatever moving object it is directed--no matter whether a
+person so observed is being carried in a chair, riding upon an animal,
+or merely walking--at a certain point he has every appearance of being
+unexpectedly hurled to the ground in a most violent and mirth-provoking
+manner. Would not the stout and round-faced one, who would cheerfully
+have contributed a certain number of taels to see this person manifest a
+similar exhibition, unhesitatingly lay out that sum to secure the means
+of so gratifying his emotions whenever he felt the desire, even with
+the revered persons of the most dignified ones in the Empire? Is there,
+indeed, a single person between the Wall and the Bitter Waters on the
+South who is so devoid of ambition that he would miss the opportunity of
+subjecting, as it were, perhaps even the sacred Emperor himself to the
+exceptional feat?'
+
+"'The temptation to possess one would inevitably prove overwhelming to
+any person of ordinary intelligence,' admitted Lila. 'Yet, in spite of
+this one's unassumed admiration for the contrivance, internal doubts
+regarding the ultimate happiness of the two persons who are now
+discussing the matter again attack her. She recollects, somewhat dimly,
+an almost forgotten, but nevertheless, very unassailable proverb, which
+declares that more contentment of mind can assuredly be obtained from
+the unexpected discovery of a tael among the folds of a discarded
+garment than could, in the most favourable circumstances, ensue from
+the well-thought-out construction of a new and hitherto unknown
+device. Furthermore, although the span of a year may seem unaccountably
+protracted when persons who reciprocate engaging sentiments are
+parted, yet when the acceptance or refusal of Pe-tsing's undesirable
+pledging-gifts hangs upon the accomplishment of a remote and not very
+probable object within that period, it becomes as a breath of wind
+passing through an autumn forest.'
+
+"Since the day when Lila and Lee had sat together side by side, and
+conversed in this unrestrained and irreproachable manner, the great
+sky-lantern had many times been obscured for a period. Only an
+insignificant portion of the year remained, yet the affairs of Lee Sing
+were in no more prosperous a condition than before, nor had he found an
+opportunity to set aside any store of taels. Each day the unsupportable
+Pe-tsing became more and more obtrusive and self-conceited, even to
+the extent of throwing far into the air coins of insignificant value
+whenever he chanced to pass Lee in the street, at the same time urging
+him to leap after them and thereby secure at least one or two pieces of
+money against the day of calculating. In a similar but entirely opposite
+fashion, Lila and Lee experienced the acutest pangs of an ever-growing
+despair, until their only form of greeting consisted in gazing into each
+other's eyes with a soul-benumbing expression of self-reproach.
+
+"Yet at this very time, when even the natural and unalterable powers
+seemed to be conspiring against the success of Lee's modest and
+inoffensive hopes, an event was taking place which was shortly to
+reverse the entire settled arrangement of persons and affairs, and
+involved Fow Hou in a very inextricable state of uncertainty. For, not
+to make a pretence of concealing a matter which has been already in part
+revealed, the Mandarin Chan Hung had by this time determined to act in
+the manner which Ming-hi had suggested; so that on a certain morning
+Lee Sing was visited by two persons, bearing between them a very weighty
+sack of taels, who also conveyed to him the fact that a like amount
+would be deposited within his door at the end of each succeeding seven
+days. Although Lee's occupation had in the past been very meagrely
+rewarded, either by taels or by honour, the circumstance which resulted
+in his now receiving so excessively large a sum is not made clear until
+the detail of Ming-hi's scheme is closely examined. The matter then
+becomes plain, for it had been suggested by that person that the most
+proficient in any occupation should be rewarded to a certain extent,
+and the least proficient to another stated extent, the original amounts
+being reversed. When those engaged by Chang Hung to draw up the various
+rates came to the profession of ensnaring winged insects, however, they
+discovered that Lee Sing was the only one of that description in Fow
+Hou, so that it became necessary in consequence to allot him a double
+portion, one amount as the most proficient, and a much larger amount as
+the least proficient.
+
+"It is unnecessary now to follow the not altogether satisfactory
+condition of affairs which began to exist in Fow Hou as soon as the
+scheme was put into operation. The full written papers dealing with the
+matter are in the Hall of Public Reference at Peking, and can be seen by
+any person on the payment of a few taels to everyone connected with
+the establishment. Those who found their possessions reduced thereby
+completely overlooked the obvious justice of the arrangement, and
+immediately began to take most severe measures to have the order put
+aside; while those who suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves
+raised to positions of affluence tended to the same end by conducting
+themselves in a most incapable and undiscriminating manner. And during
+the entire period that this state of things existed in Fow Hou the
+really contemptible Ming-hi continually followed Chan Hung about from
+place to place, spreading out his feet towards him, and allowing himself
+to become openly amused to a most unseemly extent.
+
+"Chief among those who sought to have the original manner of rewarding
+persons again established was the picture-maker, Pe-tsing, who now found
+himself in a condition of most abject poverty, so unbearable, indeed,
+that he frequently went by night, carrying a lantern, in the hope that
+he might discover some of the small pieces of money which he had been
+accustomed to throw into the air on meeting Lee Sing. To his pangs of
+hunger was added the fear that he would certainly lose Lila, so that
+from day to day he redoubled his efforts, and in the end, by using false
+statements and other artifices of a questionable nature, the party which
+he led was successful in obtaining the degradation of Chan Hung and his
+dismissal from office, together with an entire reversal of all his plans
+and enactments.
+
+"On the last day of the year which Chan Hung had appointed as the period
+of test for his daughter's suitors, the person in question was seated
+in a chamber of his new abode--a residence of unassuming appearance but
+undoubted comfort--surrounded by Lila and Lee, when the hanging curtains
+were suddenly flung aside, and Pe-tsing, followed by two persons of low
+rank bearing sacks of money, appeared among them.
+
+"'Chan Hung,' he said at length, 'in the past events arose which
+compelled this person to place himself against you in your official
+position. Nevertheless, he has always maintained towards you personally
+an unchanging affection, and understanding full well that you are one of
+those who maintain their spoken word in spite of all happenings, he has
+now come to exhibit the taels which he has collected together, and to
+claim the fulfilment of your deliberate promise.'
+
+"With these words the commonplace picture-maker poured forth the
+contents of the sacks, and stood looking at Lila in a most confident and
+unprepossessing manner.
+
+"'Pe-tsing,' replied Chan Hung, rising from his couch and speaking in so
+severe and impressive a voice that the two servants of Pe-tsing at once
+fled in great apprehension, 'this person has also found it necessary, in
+his official position, to oppose you; but here the similarity ends,
+for, on his part, he has never felt towards you the remotest degree of
+affection. Nevertheless, he is always desirous, as you say, that persons
+should regard their spoken word, and as you seem to hold a promise
+from the Chief Mandarin of Fow Hou regarding marriage-gifts towards
+his daughter, he would advise you to go at once to that person.
+A misunderstanding has evidently arisen, for the one whom you are
+addressing is merely Chan Hung, and the words spoken by the Mandarin
+have no sort of interest for him--indeed, he understands that all that
+person's acts have been reversed, so that he fails to see how anyone
+at all can regard you and your claim in other than a gravity-removing
+light. Furthermore, the maiden in question is now definitely and
+irretrievably pledged to this faithful and successful one by my side,
+who, as you will doubtless be gracefully overjoyed to learn, has
+recently disposed of a most ingenious and diverting contrivance for an
+enormous number of taels, so many, indeed, that both the immediate and
+the far-distant future of all the persons who are here before you are
+now in no sort of doubt whatever.'
+
+"At these words the three persons whom he had interrupted again turned
+their attention to the matter before them; but as Pe-tsing walked away,
+he observed, though he failed to understand the meaning, that they all
+raised certain objects to their eyes, and at once became amused to a
+most striking and uncontrollable degree."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V. THE CONFESSION OF KAI LUNG
+
+     Related by himself at Wu-whei when other matter failed him.
+
+As Kai Lung, the story-teller, unrolled his mat and selected, with grave
+deliberation, the spot under the mulberry-tree which would the longest
+remain sheltered from the sun's rays, his impassive eye wandered round
+the thin circle of listeners who had been drawn together by his uplifted
+voice, with a glance which, had it expressed his actual thoughts, would
+have betrayed a keen desire that the assembly should be composed of
+strangers rather than of his most consistent patrons, to whom his stock
+of tales was indeed becoming embarrassingly familiar. Nevertheless, when
+he began there was nothing in his voice but a trace of insufficiently
+restrained triumph, such as might be fitly assumed by one who has
+discovered and makes known for the first time a story by the renowned
+historian Lo Cha.
+
+"The adventures of the enlightened and nobly-born Yuin-Pel--"
+
+"Have already thrice been narrated within Wu-whei by the versatile but
+exceedingly uninventive Kai Lung," remarked Wang Yu placidly. "Indeed,
+has there not come to be a saying by which an exceptionally frugal
+host's rice, having undoubtedly seen the inside of the pot many times,
+is now known in this town as Kai-Pel?"
+
+"Alas!" exclaimed Kai Lung, "well was this person warned of Wu-whei
+in the previous village, as a place of desolation and excessively
+bad taste, whose inhabitants, led by an evil-minded maker of very
+commonplace pipes, named Wang Yu, are unable to discriminate in all
+matters not connected with the cooking of food and the evasion of just
+debts. They at Shan Tzu hung on to my cloak as I strove to leave them,
+praying that I would again entrance their ears with what they termed the
+melodious word-music of this person's inimitable version of the inspired
+story of Yuin-Pel."
+
+"Truly the story of Yuin-Pel is in itself excellent," interposed the
+conciliatory Hi Seng; "and Kai Lung's accomplishment of having three
+times repeated it here without deviating in the particular of a single
+word from the first recital stamps him as a story-teller of no ordinary
+degree. Yet the saying 'Although it is desirable to lose persistently
+when playing at squares and circles with the broad-minded and sagacious
+Emperor, it is none the less a fact that the observance of this
+etiquette deprives the intellectual diversion of much of its interest
+for both players,' is no less true today than when the all knowing H'sou
+uttered it."
+
+"They well said--they of Shan Tzu--that the people of Wu-whei were
+intolerably ignorant and of low descent," continued Kai Lung, without
+heeding the interruption; "that although invariably of a timorous
+nature, even to the extent of retiring to the woods on the approach of
+those who select bowmen for the Imperial army, all they require in a
+story is that it shall be garnished with deeds of bloodshed and violence
+to the exclusion of the higher qualities of well-imagined metaphors and
+literary style which alone constitute true excellence."
+
+"Yet it has been said," suggested Hi Seng, "that the inimitable Kai
+Lung can so mould a narrative in the telling that all the emotions
+are conveyed therein without unduly disturbing the intellects of the
+hearers."
+
+"O amiable Hi Seng," replied Kai Lung with extreme affability,
+"doubtless you are the most expert of water-carriers, and on a hot
+and dusty day, when the insatiable desire of all persons is towards a
+draught of unusual length without much regard to its composition, the
+sight of your goat-skins is indeed a welcome omen; yet when in the
+season of Cold White Rains you chance to meet the belated chair-carrier
+who has been reluctantly persuaded into conveying persons beyond the
+limit of the city, the solitary official watchman who knows that his
+chief is not at hand, or a returning band of those who make a practise
+of remaining in the long narrow rooms until they are driven forth at a
+certain gong-stroke, can you supply them with the smallest portion of
+that invigorating rice spirit for which alone they crave? From this
+simple and homely illustration, specially conceived to meet the
+requirements of your stunted and meagre understanding, learn not to
+expect both grace and thorns from the willow-tree. Nevertheless, your
+very immature remarks on the art of story-telling are in no degree more
+foolish than those frequently uttered by persons who make a living by
+such a practice; in proof of which this person will relate to the select
+and discriminating company now assembled an entirely new and unrecorded
+story--that, indeed, of the unworthy, but frequently highly-rewarded Kai
+Lung himself."
+
+"The story of Kai Lung!" exclaimed Wang Yu. "Why not the story of Ting,
+the sightless beggar, who has sat all his life outside the Temple of
+Miraculous Cures? Who is Kai Lung, that he should have a story? Is he
+not known to us all here? Is not his speech that of this Province, his
+food mean, his arms and legs unshaven? Does he carry a sword or wear
+silk raiment? Frequently have we seen him fatigued with journeying; many
+times has he arrived destitute of money; nor, on those occasions when a
+newly-appointed and unnecessarily officious Mandarin has commanded
+him to betake himself elsewhere and struck him with a rod has Kai Lung
+caused the stick to turn into a deadly serpent and destroy its master,
+as did the just and dignified Lu Fei. How, then, can Kai Lung have a
+story that is not also the story of Wang Yu and Hi Seng, and all others
+here?"
+
+"Indeed, if the refined and enlightened Wang Yu so decides, it must
+assuredly be true," said Kai Lung patiently; "yet (since even trifles
+serve to dispel the darker thoughts of existence) would not the
+history of so small a matter as an opium pipe chain his intelligent
+consideration? such a pipe, for example, as this person beheld only
+today exposed for sale, the bowl composed of the finest red clay,
+delicately baked and fashioned, the long bamboo stem smoother than the
+sacred tooth of the divine Buddha, the spreading support patiently and
+cunningly carved with scenes representing the Seven Joys, and the Tenth
+Hell of unbelievers."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Wang Yu eagerly, "it is indeed as you say, a Mandarin
+among masterpieces. That pipe, O most unobserving Kai Lung, is the work
+of this retiring and superficial person who is now addressing you, and,
+though the fact evidently escaped your all-seeing glance, the place
+where it is exposed is none other than his shop of 'The Fountain of
+Beauty,' which you have on many occasions endowed with your honourable
+presence."
+
+"Doubtless the carving is the work of the accomplished Wang Yu, and the
+fitting together," replied Kai Lung; "but the materials for so refined
+and ornamental a production must of necessity have been brought many
+thousand li; the clay perhaps from the renowned beds of Honan, the wood
+from Peking, and the bamboo from one of the great forests of the North."
+
+"For what reason?" said Wang Yu proudly. "At this person's very door
+is a pit of red clay, purer and infinitely more regular than any to
+be found at Honan; the hard wood of Wu-whei is extolled among carvers
+throughout the Empire, while no bamboo is straighter or more smooth than
+that which grows in the neighbouring woods."
+
+"O most inconsistent Wang Yu!" cried the story-teller, "assuredly a very
+commendable local pride has dimmed your usually penetrating eyesight.
+Is not the clay pit of which you speak that in which you fashioned
+exceedingly unsymmetrical imitations of rat-pies in your childhood? How,
+then, can it be equal to those of Honan, which you have never seen?
+In the dark glades of these woods have you not chased the gorgeous
+butterfly, and, in later years, the no less gaily attired maidens of
+Wu-whei in the entrancing game of Kiss in the Circle? Have not the
+bamboo-trees to which you have referred provided you with the ideal
+material wherewith to roof over those cunningly-constructed pits into
+which it has ever been the chief delight of the young and audacious to
+lure dignified and unnaturally stout Mandarins? All these things you
+have seen and used ever since your mother made a successful offering to
+the Goddess Kum-Fa. How, then, can they be even equal to the products of
+remote Honan and fabulous Peking? Assuredly the generally veracious Wang
+Yu speaks this time with closed eyes and will, upon mature reflexion,
+eat his words."
+
+The silence was broken by a very aged man who arose from among the
+bystanders.
+
+"Behold the length of this person's pigtail," he exclaimed, "the
+whiteness of his moustaches and the venerable appearance of his beard!
+There is no more aged person present--if, indeed, there be such a one
+in all the Province. It accordingly devolves upon him to speak in this
+matter, which shall be as follows: The noble-minded and proficient Kai
+Lung shall relate the story as he has proposed, and the garrulous Wang
+Yu shall twice contribute to Kai Lung's bowl when it is passed round,
+once for himself and once for this person, in order that he may learn
+either to be more discreet or more proficient in the art of aptly
+replying."
+
+"The events which it is this person's presumptuous intention to describe
+to this large-hearted and providentially indulgent gathering," began
+Kai Lung, when his audience had become settled, and the wooden bowl had
+passed to and fro among them, "did not occupy many years, although they
+were of a nature which made them of far more importance than all the
+remainder of his existence, thereby supporting the sage discernment of
+the philosopher Wen-weng, who first made the observation that man is
+greatly inferior to the meanest fly, inasmuch as that creature, although
+granted only a day's span of life, contrives during that period to
+fulfil all the allotted functions of existence.
+
+"Unutterably to the astonishment and dismay of this person and all those
+connected with him (for several of the most expensive readers of the
+future to be found in the Empire had declared that his life would be
+marked by great events, his career a source of continual wonder, and his
+death a misfortune to those who had dealings with him) his efforts to
+take a degree at the public literary competitions were not attended with
+any adequate success. In view of the plainly expressed advice of his
+father it therefore became desirable that this person should turn his
+attention to some other method of regaining the esteem of those upon
+whom he was dependent for all the necessaries of existence. Not having
+the means wherewith to engage in any form of commerce, and being
+entirely ignorant of all matters save the now useless details of
+attempting to pass public examinations, he reluctantly decided that he
+was destined to become one of those who imagine and write out stories
+and similar devices for printed leaves and books.
+
+"This determination was favourably received, and upon learning it, this
+person's dignified father took him aside, and with many assurances of
+regard presented to him a written sentence, which, he said, would be of
+incomparable value to one engaged in a literary career, and should
+in fact, without any particular qualifications, insure an honourable
+competency. He himself, he added, with what at the time appeared to
+this one as an unnecessary regard for detail, having taken a very
+high degree, and being in consequence appointed to a distinguished and
+remunerative position under the Board of Fines and Tortures, had never
+made any use of it.
+
+"The written sentence, indeed, was all that it had been pronounced. It
+had been composed by a remote ancestor, who had spent his entire life in
+crystallizing all his knowledge and experience into a few written lines,
+which as a result became correspondingly precious. It defined in a very
+original and profound manner several undisputable principles, and was so
+engagingly subtle in its manner of expression that the most superficial
+person was irresistibly thrown into a deep inward contemplation upon
+reading it. When it was complete, the person who had contrived this
+ingenious masterpiece, discovering by means of omens that he still had
+ten years to live, devoted each remaining year to the task of reducing
+the sentence by one word without in any way altering its meaning. This
+unapproachable example of conciseness found such favour in the eyes
+of those who issue printed leaves that as fast as this person could
+inscribe stories containing it they were eagerly purchased; and had it
+not been for a very incapable want of foresight on this narrow-minded
+individual's part, doubtless it would still be affording him an
+agreeable and permanent means of living.
+
+"Unquestionably the enlightened Wen-weng was well acquainted with the
+subject when he exclaimed, 'Better a frugal dish of olives flavoured
+with honey than the most sumptuously devised puppy-pie of which the
+greater portion is sent forth in silver-lined boxes and partaken of
+by others.' At that time, however, this versatile saying--which so
+gracefully conveys the truth of the undeniable fact that what a person
+possesses is sufficient if he restrain his mind from desiring
+aught else--would have been lightly treated by this self-conceited
+story-teller even if his immature faculties had enabled him fully to
+understand the import of so profound and well-digested a remark.
+
+"At that time Tiao Ts'un was undoubtedly the most beautiful maiden in
+all Peking. So frequently were the verses describing her habits and
+appearances affixed in the most prominent places of the city, that many
+persons obtained an honourable livelihood by frequenting those spots
+and disposing of the sacks of written papers which they collected to
+merchants who engaged in that commerce. Owing to the fame attained by
+his written sentence, this really very much inferior being had many
+opportunities of meeting the incomparable maiden Tiao at flower-feasts,
+melon-seed assemblies, and those gatherings where persons of both sexes
+exhibit themselves in revolving attitudes, and are permitted to embrace
+openly without reproach; whereupon he became so subservient to her
+charms and virtues that he lost no opportunity of making himself utterly
+unendurable to any who might chance to speak to, or even gaze upon, this
+Heaven-sent creature.
+
+"So successful was this person in his endeavour to meet the sublime
+Tiao and to gain her conscientious esteem that all emotions of prudence
+forsook him, or it would soon have become apparent even to his enfeebled
+understanding that such consistent good fortune could only be the work
+of unforgiving and malignant spirits whose ill-will he had in some way
+earned, and who were luring him on in order that they might accomplish
+his destruction. That object was achieved on a certain evening when this
+person stood alone with Tiao upon an eminence overlooking the city and
+watched the great sky-lantern rise from behind the hills. Under these
+delicate and ennobling influences he gave speech to many very ornamental
+and refined thoughts which arose within his mind concerning the graceful
+brilliance of the light which was cast all around, yet notwithstanding
+which a still more exceptional and brilliant light was shining in his
+own internal organs by reason of the nearness of an even purer and more
+engaging orb. There was no need, this person felt, to hide even his most
+inside thoughts from the dignified and sympathetic being at his side, so
+without hesitation he spoke--in what he believes even now must have been
+a very decorative manner--of the many thousand persons who were then
+wrapped in sleep, of the constantly changing lights which appeared in
+the city beneath, and of the vastness which everywhere lay around.
+
+"'O Kai Lung,' exclaimed the lovely Tiao, when this person had made an
+end of speaking, 'how expertly and in what a proficient manner do you
+express yourself, uttering even the sentiments which this person has
+felt inwardly, but for which she has no words. Why, indeed, do you not
+inscribe them in a book?'
+
+"Under her elevating influence it had already occurred to this
+illiterate individual that it would be a more dignified and, perhaps,
+even a more profitable course for him to write out and dispose of, to
+those who print such matters, the versatile and high-minded expressions
+which now continually formed his thoughts, rather than be dependent upon
+the concise sentence for which, indeed, he was indebted to the wisdom of
+a remote ancestor. Tiao's spoken word fully settled his determination,
+so that without delay he set himself to the task of composing a story
+which should omit the usual sentence, but should contain instead a large
+number of his most graceful and diamond-like thoughts. So engrossed did
+this near-sighted and superficial person become in the task (which daily
+seemed to increase rather than lessen as new and still more sublime
+images arose within his mind) that many months passed before the
+matter was complete. In the end, instead of a story, it had assumed the
+proportions of an important and many-volumed book; while Tiao had in the
+meantime accepted the wedding gifts of an objectionable and excessively
+round-bodied individual, who had amassed an inconceivable number of
+taels by inducing persons to take part in what at first sight appeared
+to be an ingenious but very easy competition connected with the order in
+which certain horses should arrive at a given and clearly defined spot.
+By that time, however, this unduly sanguine story-teller had become
+completely entranced in his work, and merely regarded Tiao-Ts'un as a
+Heaven-sent but no longer necessary incentive to his success. With
+every hope, therefore, he went forth to dispose of his written leaves,
+confident of finding some very wealthy person who would be in a
+condition to pay him the correct value of the work.
+
+"At the end of two years this somewhat disillusionized but still
+undaunted person chanced to hear of a benevolent and unassuming body of
+men who made a habit of issuing works in which they discerned merit,
+but which, nevertheless, others were unanimous in describing as 'of no
+good.' Here this person was received with gracious effusion, and
+being in a position to impress those with whom he was dealing with his
+undoubted knowledge of the subject, he finally succeeded in making a
+very advantageous arrangement by which he was to pay one-half of the
+number of taels expended in producing the work, and to receive in return
+all the profits which should result from the undertaking. Those who
+were concerned in the matter were so engagingly impressed with the
+incomparable literary merit displayed in the production that they
+counselled a great number of copies being made ready in order, as they
+said, that this person should not lose by there being any delay
+when once the accomplishment became the one topic of conversation in
+tea-houses and yamens. From this cause it came about that the matter of
+taels to be expended was much greater than had been anticipated at the
+beginning, so that when the day arrived on which the volumes were to
+be sent forth this person found that almost his last piece of money had
+disappeared.
+
+"Alas! how small a share has a person in the work of controlling his own
+destiny. Had only the necessarily penurious and now almost degraded Kai
+Lung been born a brief span before the great writer Lo Kuan Chang, his
+name would have been received with every mark of esteem from one end of
+the Empire to the other, while taels and honourable decorations would
+have been showered upon him. For the truth, which could no longer be
+concealed, revealed the fact that this inopportune individual possessed
+a mind framed in such a manner that his thoughts had already been the
+thoughts of the inspired Lo Kuan, who, as this person would not be so
+presumptuous as to inform this ornamental and well-informed gathering,
+was the most ingenious and versatile-minded composer of written words
+that this Empire--and therefore the entire world--has seen, as, indeed,
+his honourable title of 'The Many-hued Mandarin Duck of the Yang-tse'
+plainly indicates.
+
+"Although this self-opinionated person had frequently been greatly
+surprised himself during the writing of his long work by the brilliance
+and manysidedness of the thoughts and metaphors which arose in his mind
+without conscious effort, it was not until the appearance of the printed
+leaves which make a custom of warning persons against being persuaded
+into buying certain books that he definitely understood how all these
+things had been fully expressed many dynasties ago by the all-knowing
+Lo Kuan Chang, and formed, indeed, the great national standard of
+unapproachable excellence. Unfortunately, this person had been so deeply
+engrossed all his life in literary pursuits that he had never found an
+opportunity to glance at the works in question, or he would have escaped
+the embarrassing position in which he now found himself.
+
+"It was with a hopeless sense of illness of ease that this unhappy one
+reached the day on which the printed leaves already alluded to would
+make known their deliberate opinion of his writing, the extremity of his
+hope being that some would at least credit him with honourable motives,
+and perhaps a knowledge that if the inspired Lo Kuan Chan had never
+been born the entire matter might have been brought to a very different
+conclusion. Alas! only one among the many printed leaves which
+made reference to the venture contained any words of friendship or
+encouragement. This benevolent exception was sent forth from a city
+in the extreme Northern Province of the Empire, and contained many
+inspiring though delicately guarded messages of hope for the one to whom
+they gracefully alluded as 'this undoubtedly youthful, but nevertheless,
+distinctly promising writer of books.' While admitting that altogether
+they found the production undeniably tedious, they claimed to have
+discovered indications of an obvious talent, and therefore they
+unhesitatingly counselled the person in question to take courage at the
+prospect of a moderate competency which was certainly within his grasp
+if he restrained his somewhat over-ambitious impulses and closely
+observed the simple subjects and manner of expression of their own Chang
+Chow, whose 'Lines to a Wayside Chrysanthemum,' 'Mongolians who Have,'
+and several other composed pieces, they then set forth. Although it
+became plain that the writer of this amiably devised notice was, like
+this incapable person, entirely unacquainted with the masterpieces of
+Lo Kuan Chang, yet the indisputable fact remained that, entirely on
+its merit, the work had been greeted with undoubted enthusiasm, so that
+after purchasing many examples of the refined printed leaf containing
+it, this person sat far into the night continually reading over the one
+unprejudiced and discriminating expression.
+
+"All the other printed leaves displayed a complete absence of good
+taste in dealing with the matter. One boldly asserted that the entire
+circumstance was the outcome of a foolish jest or wager on the part of
+a person who possessed a million taels; another predicted that it was a
+cunning and elaborately thought-out method of obtaining the attention of
+the people on the part of certain persons who claimed to vend a reliable
+and fragrantly-scented cleansing substance. The _Valley of Hoang Rose
+Leaves and Sweetness_ hoped, in a spirit of no sincerity, that the
+ingenious Kai Lung would not rest on his tea-leaves, but would soon
+send forth an equally entertaining amended example of the _Sayings of
+Confucious_ and other sacred works, while the _Pure Essence of the Seven
+Days' Happenings_ merely printed side by side portions from the two
+books under the large inscription, 'IS THERE REALLY ANY NEED FOR US TO
+EXPRESS OURSELVES MORE CLEARLY?'
+
+"The disappointment both as regards public esteem and taels--for, after
+the manner in which the work had been received by those who advise
+on such productions, not a single example was purchased--threw this
+ill-destined individual into a condition of most unendurable depression,
+from which he was only aroused by a remarkable example of the unfailing
+wisdom of the proverb which says 'Before hastening to secure a possible
+reward of five taels by dragging an unobservant person away from a
+falling building, examine well his features lest you find, when too
+late, that it is one to whom you are indebted for double that amount.'
+Disappointed in the hope of securing large gains from the sale of his
+great work, this person now turned his attention again to his former
+means of living, only to find, however, that the discredit in which he
+had become involved even attached itself to his concise sentence; for in
+place of the remunerative and honourable manner in which it was formerly
+received, it was now regarded on all hands with open suspicion. Instead
+of meekly kow-towing to an evidently pre-arranged doom, the last
+misfortune aroused this usually resigned story-teller to an ungovernable
+frenzy. Regarding the accomplished but at the same time exceedingly
+over-productive Lo Kuan Chang as the beginning of all his evils, he took
+a solemn oath as a mark of disapproval that he had not been content to
+inscribe on paper only half of his brilliant thoughts, leaving the other
+half for the benefit of this hard-striving and equally well-endowed
+individual, in which case there would have been a sufficiency of taels
+and of fame for both.
+
+"For a very considerable space of time this person could conceive no
+method by which he might attain his object. At length, however, as
+a result of very keen and subtle intellectual searching, and many
+well-selected sacrifices, it was conveyed by means of a dream that
+one very ingenious yet simple way was possible. The renowned and
+universally-admired writings of the distinguished Lo Kuan for the most
+part take their action within a few dynasties of their creator's
+own time: all that remained for this inventive person to accomplish,
+therefore, was to trace out the entire matter, making the words and
+speeches to proceed from the mouths of those who existed in still
+earlier periods. By this crafty method it would at once appear as though
+the not-too-original Lo Kuan had been indebted to one who came before
+him for all his most subtle thoughts, and, in consequence, his tomb
+would become dishonoured and his memory execrated. Without any delay
+this person cheerfully set himself to the somewhat laborious task
+before him. Lo Kuan's well-known exclamation of the Emperor Tsing on the
+battlefield of Shih-ho, 'A sedan-chair! a sedan-chair! This person will
+unhesitatingly exchange his entire and well-regulated Empire for such an
+article,' was attributed to an Emperor who lived several thousand years
+before the treacherous and unpopular Tsing. The new matter of a no less
+frequently quoted portion ran: 'O nobly intentioned but nevertheless
+exceedingly morose Tung-shin, the object before you is your
+distinguished and evilly-disposed-of father's honourably-inspired
+demon,' the change of a name effecting whatever alteration was
+necessary; while the delicately-imagined speech beginning 'The person
+who becomes amused at matters resulting from double-edged knives has
+assuredly never felt the effect of a well-directed blow himself' was
+taken from the mouth of one person and placed in that of one of his
+remote ancestors. In such a manner, without in any great degree altering
+the matter of Lo Kuan's works, all the scenes and persons introduced
+were transferred to much earlier dynasties than those affected by the
+incomparable writer himself, the final effect being to give an air of
+extreme unoriginality to his really undoubtedly genuine conceptions.
+
+"Satisfied with his accomplishment, and followed by a hired person
+of low class bearing the writings, which, by nature of the research
+necessary in fixing the various dates and places so that even the wary
+should be deceived, had occupied the greater part of a year, this now
+fully confident story-teller--unmindful of the well-tried excellence of
+the inspired saying, 'Money is hundred-footed; upon perceiving a
+tael lying apparently unobserved upon the floor, do not lose the time
+necessary in stooping, but quickly place your foot upon it, for one
+fails nothing in dignity thereby; but should it be a gold piece,
+distrust all things, and valuing dignity but as an empty name, cast your
+entire body upon it'--went forth to complete his great task of finally
+erasing from the mind and records of the Empire the hitherto venerated
+name of Lo Kuan Chang. Entering the place of commerce of the one who
+seemed the most favourable for the purpose, he placed the facts as they
+would in future be represented before him, explained the undoubtedly
+remunerative fame that would ensue to all concerned in the enterprise
+of sending forth the printed books in their new form, and, opening at a
+venture the written leaves which he had brought with him, read out the
+following words as an indication of the similarity of the entire work:
+
+  "'_Whai-Keng_. Friends, Chinamen, labourers who are engaged in
+  agricultural pursuits, entrust to this person your acute and
+  well-educated ears;
+
+  "'He has merely come to assist in depositing the body of Ko'ung in
+  the Family Temple, not for the purpose of making remarks about him
+  of a graceful and highly complimentary nature;
+
+  "'The unremunerative actions of which persons may have been guilty
+  possess an exceedingly undesirable amount of endurance;
+
+  "'The successful and well-considered almost invariably are
+  involved in a directly contrary course;
+
+  "'This person desires nothing more than a like fate to await
+  Ko'ung.'
+
+"When this one had read so far, he paused in order to give the other
+an opportunity of breaking in and offering half his possessions to
+be allowed to share in the undertaking. As he remained unaccountably
+silent, however, an inelegant pause occurred which this person at length
+broke by desiring an expressed opinion on the matter.
+
+"'O exceedingly painstaking, but nevertheless highly inopportune Kai
+Lung,' he replied at length, while in his countenance this person
+read an expression of no-encouragement towards his venture, 'all your
+entrancing efforts do undoubtedly appear to attract the undesirable
+attention of some spiteful and tyrannical demon. This closely-written
+and elaborately devised work is in reality not worth the labour of a
+single stroke, nor is there in all Peking a sender forth of printed
+leaves who would encourage any project connected with its issue.'
+
+"'But the importance of such a fact as that which would clearly show the
+hitherto venerated Lo Kuan Chang to be a person who passed off as his
+own the work of an earlier one!' cried this person in despair, well
+knowing that the deliberately expressed opinion of the one before him
+was a matter that would rule all others. 'Consider the interest of the
+discovery.'
+
+"'The interest would not demand more than a few lines in the ordinary
+printed leaves,' replied the other calmly. 'Indeed, in a manner of
+speaking, it is entirely a detail of no consequence whether or not the
+sublime Lo Kuan ever existed. In reality his very commonplace name may
+have been simply Lung; his inspired work may have been written a score
+of dynasties before him by some other person, or they may have been
+composed by the enlightened Emperor of the period, who desired to
+conceal the fact, yet these matters would not for a moment engage the
+interest of any ordinary passer-by. Lo Kuan Chang is not a person in the
+ordinary expression; he is an embodiment of a distinguished and utterly
+unassailable national institution. The Heaven-sent works with which
+he is, by general consent, connected form the necessary unchangeable
+standard of literary excellence, and remain for ever above rivalry and
+above mistrust. For this reason the matter is plainly one which does not
+interest this person.'
+
+"In the course of a not uneventful existence this self-deprecatory
+person has suffered many reverses and disappointments. During his youth
+the high-minded Empress on one occasion stopped and openly complimented
+him on the dignified outline presented by his body in profile, and when
+he was relying upon this incident to secure him a very remunerative
+public office, a jealous and powerful Mandarin substituted a somewhat
+similar, though really very much inferior, person for him at the
+interview which the Empress had commanded. Frequently in matters of
+commerce which have appeared to promise very satisfactorily at the
+beginning this person has been induced to entrust sums of money to
+others, when he had hoped from the indications and the manner of
+speaking that the exact contrary would be the case; and in one
+instance he was released at a vast price from the torture dungeon in
+Canton--where he had been thrown by the subtle and unconscientious
+plots of one who could not relate stories in so accurate and unvarying
+a manner as himself--on the day before that on which all persons were
+freely set at liberty on account of exceptional public rejoicing. Yet in
+spite of these and many other very unendurable incidents, this impetuous
+and ill-starred being never felt so great a desire to retire to a
+solitary place and there disfigure himself permanently as a mark of
+his unfeigned internal displeasure, as on the occasion when he endured
+extreme poverty and great personal inconvenience for an entire year in
+order that he might take away face from the memory of a person who was
+so placed that no one expressed any interest in the matter.
+
+"Since then this very ill-clad and really necessitous person has
+devoted himself to the honourable but exceedingly arduous and in general
+unremunerative occupation of story-telling. To this he would add nothing
+save that not infrequently a nobly-born and highly-cultured audience
+is so entranced with his commonplace efforts to hold the attention,
+especially when a story not hitherto known has been related, that in
+order to afford it an opportunity of expressing its gratification, he
+has been requested to allow another offering to be made by all persons
+present at the conclusion of the entertainment."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI. THE VENGEANCE OF TUNG FEL
+
+For a period not to be measured by days or weeks the air of Ching-fow
+had been as unrestful as that of the locust plains beyond the Great
+Wall, for every speech which passed bore two faces, one fair to hear,
+as a greeting, but the other insidiously speaking behind a screen, of
+rebellion, violence, and the hope of overturning the fixed order of
+events. With those whom they did not mistrust of treachery persons spoke
+in low voices of definite plans, while at all times there might appear
+in prominent places of the city skilfully composed notices setting
+forth great wrongs and injustices towards which resignation and a lowly
+bearing were outwardly counselled, yet with the same words cunningly
+inflaming the minds, even of the patient, as no pouring out of
+passionate thoughts and undignified threatenings could have done. Among
+the people, unknown, unseen, and unsuspected, except to the proved ones
+to whom they desired to reveal themselves, moved the agents of the Three
+Societies. While to the many of Ching-fow nothing was desired or even
+thought of behind the downfall of their own officials, and, chief of
+all, the execution of the evil-minded and depraved Mandarin Ping Siang,
+whose cruelties and extortions had made his name an object of wide and
+deserved loathing, the agents only regarded the city as a bright spot in
+the line of blood and fire which they were fanning into life from Peking
+to Canton, and which would presumably burst forth and involve the entire
+Empire.
+
+Although it had of late become a plain fact, by reason of the manner
+of behaving of the people, that events of a sudden and turbulent nature
+could not long be restrained, yet outwardly there was no exhibition of
+violence, not even to the length of resisting those whom Ping Siang sent
+to enforce his unjust demands, chiefly because a well-founded whisper
+had been sent round that nothing was to be done until Tung Fel should
+arrive, which would not be until the seventh day in the month of Winged
+Dragons. To this all persons agreed, for the more aged among them,
+who, by virtue of their years, were also the formers of opinion in all
+matters, called up within their memories certain events connected with
+the two persons in question which appeared to give to Tung Fel the
+privilege of expressing himself clearly when the matter of finally
+dealing with the malicious and self-willed Mandarin should be engaged
+upon.
+
+Among the mountains which enclose Ching-fow on the southern side dwelt
+a jade-seeker, who also kept goats. Although a young man and entirely
+without relations, he had, by patient industry, contrived to collect
+together a large flock of the best-formed and most prolific goats to be
+found in the neighbourhood, all the money which he received in exchange
+for jade being quickly bartered again for the finest animals which he
+could obtain. He was dauntless in penetrating to the most inaccessible
+parts of the mountains in search of the stone, unfailing in his skilful
+care of the flock, in which he took much honourable pride, and on all
+occasions discreet and unassumingly restrained in his discourse and
+manner of life. Knowing this to be his invariable practice, it was with
+emotions of an agreeable curiosity that on the seventh day of the month
+of Winged Dragons those persons who were passing from place to place in
+the city beheld this young man, Yang Hu, descending the mountain path
+with unmistakable signs of profound agitation, and an entire absence of
+prudent care. Following him closely to the inner square of the city, on
+the continually expressed plea that they themselves had business in
+that quarter, these persons observed Yang Hu take up a position of
+unendurable dejection as he gazed reproachfully at the figure of the
+all-knowing Buddha which surmounted the Temple where it was his custom
+to sacrifice.
+
+"Alas!" he exclaimed, lifting up his voice, when it became plain that
+a large number of people was assembled awaiting his words, "to what end
+does a person strive in this excessively evilly-regulated district? Or
+is it that this obscure and ill-destined one alone is marked out as with
+a deep white cross for humiliation and ruin? Father, and Sacred Temple
+of Ancestral Virtues, wherein the meanest can repose their trust, he has
+none; while now, being more destitute than the beggar at the gate, the
+hope of honourable marriage and a robust family of sons is more remote
+than the chance of finding the miracle-working Crystal Image which marks
+the last footstep of the Pure One. Yesterday this person possessed no
+secret store of silver or gold, nor had he knowledge of any special
+amount of jade hidden among the mountains, but to his call there
+responded four score goats, the most select and majestic to be found in
+all the Province, of which, nevertheless, it was his yearly custom to
+sacrifice one, as those here can testify, and to offer another as a duty
+to the Yamen of Ping Siang, in neither case opening his eyes widely when
+the hour for selecting arrived. Yet in what an unseemly manner is his
+respectful piety and courteous loyalty rewarded! To-day, before this
+person went forth on his usual quest, there came those bearing written
+papers by which they claimed, on the authority of Ping Siang, the
+whole of this person's flock, as a punishment and fine for his not
+contributing without warning to the Celebration of Kissing the Emperor's
+Face--the very obligation of such a matter being entirely unknown to
+him. Nevertheless, those who came drove off this person's entire
+wealth, the desperately won increase of a life full of great toil and
+uncomplainingly endured hardship, leaving him only his cave in the
+rocks, which even the most grasping of many-handed Mandarins cannot
+remove, his cloak of skins, which no beggar would gratefully receive,
+and a bright and increasing light of deep hate scorching within his mind
+which nothing but the blood of the obdurate extortioner can efficiently
+quench. No protection of charms or heavily-mailed bowmen shall
+avail him, for in his craving for just revenge this person will meet
+witchcraft with a Heaven-sent cause and oppose an unsleeping subtlety
+against strength. Therefore let not the innocent suffer through an
+insufficient understanding, O Divine One, but direct the hand of your
+faithful worshipper towards the heart that is proud in tyranny, and
+holds as empty words the clearly defined promise of an all-seeing
+justice."
+
+Scarcely had Yang Hu made an end of speaking before there happened an
+event which could be regarded in no other light than as a direct answer
+to his plainly expressed request for a definite sign. Upon the clear
+air, which had become unnaturally still at Yang Hu's words, as though
+to remove any chance of doubt that this indeed was the requested answer,
+came the loud beating of many very powerful brass gongs, indicating the
+approach of some person of undoubted importance. In a very brief period
+the procession reached the square, the gong-beaters being followed
+by persons carrying banners, bowmen in armour, others bearing various
+weapons and instruments of torture, slaves displaying innumerable
+changes of raiment to prove the rank and consequence of their master,
+umbrella carriers and fan wavers, and finally, preceded by incense
+burners and surrounded by servants who cleared away all obstructions by
+means of their formidable and heavily knotted lashes, the unworthy and
+deceitful Mandarin Ping Siang, who sat in a silk-hung and elaborately
+wrought chair, looking from side to side with gestures and expressions
+of contempt and ill-restrained cupidity.
+
+At the sign of this powerful but unscrupulous person all those who were
+present fell upon their faces, leaving a broad space in their midst,
+except Yang Hu, who stepped back into the shadow of a doorway, being
+resolved that he would not prostrate himself before one whom Heaven had
+pointed out as the proper object of his just vengeance.
+
+When the chair of Ping Siang could no longer be observed in the
+distance, and the sound of his many gongs had died away, all the persons
+who had knelt at his approach rose to their feet, meeting each other's
+eyes with glances of assured and profound significance. At length there
+stepped forth an exceedingly aged man, who was generally believed to
+have the power of reading omens and forecasting futures, so that at his
+upraised hand all persons became silent.
+
+"Behold!" he exclaimed, "none can turn aside in doubt from the
+deliberately pointed finger of Buddha. Henceforth, in spite of the
+well-intentioned suggestions of those who would shield him under the
+plea of exacting orders from high ones at Peking or extortions practised
+by slaves under him of which he is ignorant, there can no longer be any
+two voices concerning the guilty one. Yet what does the knowledge of
+the cormorant's cry avail the golden carp in the shallow waters of the
+Yuen-Kiang? A prickly mormosa is an adequate protection against a naked
+man armed only with a just cause, and a company of bowmen has been known
+to quench an entire city's Heaven-felt desire for retribution. This
+person, and doubtless others also, would have experienced a more
+heartfelt enthusiasm in the matter if the sublime and omnipotent
+Buddha had gone a step further, and pointed out not only the one to
+be punished, but also the instrument by which the destiny could be
+prudently and effectively accomplished."
+
+From the mountain path which led to Yang Hu's cave came a voice, like
+an expressly devised reply to this speech. It was that of some person
+uttering the "Chant of Rewards and Penalties":
+
+  "How strong is the mountain sycamore!
+  "Its branches reach the Middle Air, and the eye of none can pierce
+      its foliage;
+  "It draws power and nourishment from all around, so that weeds
+      alone may flourish under its shadow.
+  "Robbers find safety within the hollow of its trunk; its branches
+      hide vampires and all manner of evil things which prey upon
+      the innocent;
+  "The wild boar of the forest sharpen their tusks against the bark,
+      for it is harder than flint, and the axe of the woodsman turns
+      back upon the striker.
+  "Then cries the sycamore, 'Hail and rain have no power against me,
+      nor can the fiercest sun penetrate beyond my outside fringe;
+  "'The man who impiously raises his hand against me falls by his
+      own stroke and weapon.
+  "'Can there be a greater or a more powerful than this one?
+      Assuredly, I am Buddha; let all things obey me.'
+  "Whereupon the weeds bow their heads, whispering among themselves,
+      'The voice of the Tall One we hear, but not that of Buddha.
+      Indeed, it is doubtless as he says.'
+  "In his musk-scented Heaven Buddha laughs, and not deigning to
+      raise his head from the lap of the Phoenix Goddess, he thrusts
+      forth a stone which lies by his foot.
+  "Saying, 'A god's present for a god. Take it carefully, O
+      presumptuous Little One, for it is hot to the touch.'
+  "The thunderbolt falls and the mighty tree is rent in twain. 'They
+      asked for my messenger,' said the Pure One, turning again to
+      repose.
+  "Lo, _he comes_!"
+
+With the last spoken word there came into the sight of those who were
+collected together a person of stern yet engaging appearance. His hands
+and face were the colour of mulberry stain by long exposure to the sun,
+while his eyes looked forth like two watch-fires outside a wolf-haunted
+camp. His long pigtail was tangled with the binding tendrils of the
+forest, and damp with the dew of an open couch. His apparel was in no
+way striking or brilliant, yet he strode with the dignity and air of a
+high official, pushing before him a covered box upon wheels.
+
+"It is Tung Fel!" cried many who stood there watching his approach,
+in tones which showed those who spoke to be inspired by a variety of
+impressive emotions. "Undoubtedly this is the seventh day of the month
+of Winged Dragons, and, as he specifically stated would be the case, lo!
+he has come."
+
+Few were the words of greeting which Tung Fel accorded even to the most
+venerable of those who awaited him.
+
+"This person has slept, partaken of fruit and herbs, and devoted an
+allotted time to inward contemplation," he said briefly. "Other and
+more weighty matters than the exchange of dignified compliments and the
+admiration of each other's profiles remain to be accomplished. What, for
+example, is the significance of the written parchment which is displayed
+in so obtrusive a manner before our eyes? Bring it to this person
+without delay."
+
+At these words all those present followed Tung Fel's gaze with
+astonishment, for conspicuously displayed upon the wall of the Temple
+was a written notice which all joined in asserting had not been there
+the moment before, though no man had approached the spot. Nevertheless
+it was quickly brought to Tung Fel, who took it without any fear or
+hesitation and read aloud the words which it contained.
+
+           "TO THE CUSTOM-RESPECTING PERSONS OF CHING-FOW.
+
+  "Truly the span of existence of any upon this earth is brief and
+  not to be considered; therefore, O unfortunate dwellers of
+  Ching-fow, let it not affect your digestion that your bodies are
+  in peril of sudden and most excruciating tortures and your Family
+  Temples in danger of humiliating disregard.
+
+  "Why do your thoughts follow the actions of the noble Mandarin
+  Ping Siang so insidiously, and why after each unjust exaction do
+  your eyes look redly towards the Yamen?
+
+  "Is he not the little finger of those at Peking, obeying their
+  commands and only carrying out the taxation which others have
+  devised? Indeed, he himself has stated such to be the fact. If,
+  therefore, a terrible and unforeseen fate overtook the usually
+  cautious and well-armed Ping Siang, doubtless--perhaps after the
+  lapse of some considerable time--another would be sent from Peking
+  for a like purpose, and in this way, after a too-brief period of
+  heaven-sent rest and prosperity, affairs would regulate themselves
+  into almost as unendurable a condition as before.
+
+  "Therefore ponder these things well, O passer-by. Yesterday the
+  only man-child of Huang the wood-carver was taken away to be sold
+  into slavery by the emissaries of the most just Ping Siang (who
+  would not have acted thus, we are assured, were it not for the
+  insatiable ones at Peking), as it had become plain that the very
+  necessitous Huang had no other possession to contribute to the
+  amount to be expended in coloured lights as a mark of public
+  rejoicing on the occasion of the moonday of the sublime Emperor.
+  The illiterate and prosaic-minded Huang, having in a most unseemly
+  manner reviled and even assailed those who acted in the matter,
+  has been effectively disposed of, and his wife now alternately
+  laughs and shrieks in the Establishment of Irregular Intellects.
+
+  "For this reason, gazer, and because the matter touches you more
+  closely than, in your self-imagined security, you are prone to
+  think, deal expediently with the time at your disposal. Look twice
+  and lingeringly to-night upon the face of your first-born, and
+  clasp the form of your favourite one in a closer embrace, for he
+  by whose hand the blow is directed may already have cast devouring
+  eyes upon their fairness, and to-morrow he may say to his armed
+  men: 'The time is come; bring her to me.'"
+
+"From the last sentence of the well-intentioned and undoubtedly
+moderately-framed notice this person will take two phrases," remarked
+Tung Fel, folding the written paper and placing it among his
+garments, "which shall serve him as the title of the lifelike and
+accurately-represented play which it is his self-conceited intention
+now to disclose to this select and unprejudiced gathering. The scene
+represents an enlightened and well-merited justice overtaking an
+arrogant and intolerable being who--need this person add?--existed many
+dynasties ago, and the title is:
+
+                         "THE TIME IS COME!
+                           BY WHOSE HAND?"
+
+Delivering himself in this manner, Tung Fel drew back the hanging
+drapery which concealed the front of his large box, and disclosed to
+those who were gathered round, not, as they had expected, a passage
+from the Record of the Three Kingdoms, or some other dramatic work of
+undoubted merit, but an ingeniously constructed representation of a
+scene outside the walls of their own Ching-fow. On one side was a small
+but minutely accurate copy of a wood-burner's hut, which was known
+to all present, while behind stood out the distant but nevertheless
+unmistakable walls of the city. But it was nearest part of the spectacle
+that first held the attention of the entranced beholders, for there
+disported themselves, in every variety of guileless and attractive
+attitude, a number of young and entirely unconcerned doves. Scarcely had
+the delighted onlookers fully observed the pleasing and effective scene,
+or uttered their expressions of polished satisfaction at the graceful
+and unassuming behaviour of the pretty creatures before them, than the
+view entirely changed, and, as if by magic, the massive and inelegant
+building of Ping Siang's Yamen was presented before them. As all gazed,
+astonished, the great door of the Yamen opened stealthily, and without
+a moment's pause a lean and ill-conditioned rat, of unnatural size and
+rapacity, dashed out and seized the most select and engaging of the
+unsuspecting prey in its hungry jaws. With the expiring cry of the
+innocent victim the entire box was immediately, and in the most
+unexpected manner, involved in a profound darkness, which cleared away
+as suddenly and revealed the forms of the despoiler and the victim lying
+dead by each other's side.
+
+Tung Fel came forward to receive the well-selected compliments of all
+who had witnessed the entertainment.
+
+"It may be objected," he remarked, "that the play is, in a manner of
+expressing one's self, incomplete; for it is unrevealed by whose hand
+the act of justice was accomplished. Yet in this detail is the accuracy
+of the representation justified, for though the time has come, the hand
+by which retribution is accorded shall never be observed."
+
+In such a manner did Tung Fel come to Ching-fow on the seventh day of
+the month of Winged Dragons, throwing aside all restraint, and no longer
+urging prudence or delay. Of all the throng which stood before him
+scarcely one was without a deep offence against Ping Siang, while those
+who had not as yet suffered feared what the morrow might display.
+
+A wandering monk from the Island of Irredeemable Plagues was the first
+to step forth in response to Tung Fel's plainly understood suggestion.
+
+"There is no necessity for this person to undertake further acts of
+benevolence," he remarked, dropping the cloak from his shoulder and
+displaying the hundred and eight scars of extreme virtue; "nor," he
+continued, holding up his left hand, from which three fingers were burnt
+away, "have greater endurances been neglected. Yet the matter before
+this distinguished gathering is one which merits the favourable
+consideration of all persons, and this one will in no manner turn away,
+recounting former actions, while he allows others to press forward
+towards the accomplishment of the just and divinely-inspired act."
+
+With these words the devout and unassuming person in question inscribed
+his name upon a square piece of rice-paper, attesting his sincerity to
+the fixed purpose for which it was designed by dipping his thumb into
+the mixed blood of the slain animals and impressing this unalterable
+seal upon the paper also. He was followed by a seller of drugs and
+subtle medicines, whose entire stock had been seized and destroyed by
+order of Ping Siang, so that no one in Ching-fow might obtain poison
+for his destruction. Then came an overwhelming stream of persons, all of
+whom had received some severe and well-remembered injury at the hands
+of the malicious and vindictive Mandarin. All these followed a similar
+observance, inscribing their names and binding themselves by the Blood
+Oath. Last of all Yang Hu stepped up, partly from a natural modesty
+which restrained him from offering himself when so many more versatile
+persons of proved excellence were willing to engage in the matter, and
+partly because an ill-advised conflict was taking place within his mind
+as to whether the extreme course which was contemplated was the most
+expedient to pursue. At last, however, he plainly perceived that he
+could not honourably withhold himself from an affair that was in a
+measure the direct outcome of his own unendurable loss, so that without
+further hesitation he added his obscure name to the many illustrious
+ones already in Tung Fel's keeping.
+
+When at length dark fell upon the city and the cries of the watchmen,
+warning all prudent ones to bar well their doors against robbers,
+as they themselves were withdrawing until the morrow, no longer rang
+through the narrow ways of Ching-fow, all those persons who had pledged
+themselves by name and seal went forth silently, and came together at
+the place whereof Tung Fel had secretly conveyed them knowledge. There
+Tung Fel, standing somewhat apart, placed all the folded papers in the
+form of a circle, and having performed over them certain observances
+designed to insure a just decision and to keep away evil influences,
+submitted the selection to the discriminating choice of the Sacred
+Flat and Round Sticks. Having in this manner secured the name of
+the appointed person who should carry out the act of justice and
+retribution, Tung Fel unfolded the paper, inscribed certain words upon
+it, and replaced it among the others.
+
+"The moment before great deeds," began Tung Fel, stepping forward and
+addressing himself to the expectant ones who were gathered round, "is
+not the time for light speech, nor, indeed, for sentences of dignified
+length, no matter how pleasantly turned to the ear they may be. Before
+this person stand many who are undoubtedly illustrious in various
+arts and virtues, yet one among them is pre-eminently marked out for
+distinction in that his name shall be handed down in imperishable
+history as that of a patriot of a pure-minded and uncompromising degree.
+With him there is no need of further speech, and to this end I have
+inscribed certain words upon his namepaper. To everyone this person will
+now return the paper which has been entrusted to him, folded so that
+the nature of its contents shall be an unwritten leaf to all others. Nor
+shall the papers be unfolded by any until he is within his own chamber,
+with barred doors, where all, save the one who shall find the message,
+shall remain, not venturing forth until daybreak. I, Tung Fel, have
+spoken, and assuredly I shall not eat my word, which is that a certain
+and most degrading death awaits any who transgress these commands."
+
+It was with the short and sudden breath of the cowering antelope when
+the stealthy tread of the pitiless tiger approaches its lair, that Yang
+Hu opened his paper in the seclusion of his own cave; for his mind was
+darkened with an inspired inside emotion that he, the one doubting among
+the eagerly proffering and destructively inclined multitude, would
+be chosen to accomplish the high aim for which, indeed, he felt
+exceptionally unworthy. The written sentence which he perceived
+immediately upon unfolding the paper, instructing him to appear again
+before Tung Fel at the hour of midnight, was, therefore, nothing but
+the echo and fulfilment of his own thoughts, and served in reality to
+impress his mind with calmer feelings of dignified unconcern than would
+have been the case had he not been chosen. Having neither possessions
+nor relations, the occupation of disposing of his goods and making
+ceremonious and affectionate leavetakings of his family, against the
+occurrence of any unforeseen disaster, engrossed no portion of Yang Hu's
+time. Yet there was one matter to which no reference has yet been made,
+but which now forces itself obtrusively upon the attention, which was
+in a large measure responsible for many of the most prominent actions
+of Yang Hu's life, and, indeed, in no small degree influenced his
+hesitation in offering himself before Tung Fel.
+
+Not a bowshot distance from the place where the mountain path entered
+the outskirts of the city lived Hiya-ai-Shao with her parents, who
+were persons of assured position, though of no particular wealth. For a
+period not confined to a single year it had been the custom of Yang Hu
+to offer to this elegant and refined maiden all the rarest pieces
+of jade which he could discover, while the most symmetrical and
+remunerative she-goat in his flock enjoyed the honourable distinction of
+bearing her incomparable name. Towards the almond garden of Hiya's abode
+Yang Hu turned his footsteps upon leaving his cave, and standing there,
+concealed from all sides by the white and abundant flower-laden foliage,
+he uttered a sound which had long been an agreed signal between them.
+Presently a faint perfume of choo-lan spoke of her near approach, and
+without delay Hiya herself stood by his side.
+
+"Well-endowed one," said Yang Hu, when at length they had gazed upon
+each other's features and made renewals of their protestations of mutual
+regard, "the fixed intentions of a person have often been fitly likened
+to the seed of the tree-peony, so ineffectual are their efforts among
+the winds of constantly changing circumstance. The definite hope of
+this person had long pointed towards a small but adequate habitation,
+surrounded by sweet-smelling olive-trees and not far distant from the
+jade cliffs and pastures which would afford a sufficient remuneration
+and a means of living. This entrancing picture has been blotted out for
+the time, and in its place this person finds himself face to face with
+an arduous and dangerous undertaking, followed, perhaps, by hasty and
+immediate flight. Yet if the adorable Hiya will prove the unchanging
+depths of her constantly expressed intention by accompanying him as
+far as the village of Hing where suitable marriage ceremonies can be
+observed without delay, the exile will in reality be in the nature of
+a triumphal procession, and the emotions with which this person has
+hitherto regarded the entire circumstance will undergo a complete and
+highly accomplished change."
+
+"Oh, Yang!" exclaimed the maiden, whose feelings at hearing these words
+were in no way different from those of her lover when he was on the
+point of opening the folded paper upon which Tung Fel had written; "what
+is the nature of the mission upon which you are so impetuously resolved?
+and why will it be followed by flight?"
+
+"The nature of the undertaking cannot be revealed by reason of a
+deliberately taken oath," replied Yang Hu; "and the reason of its
+possible consequence is a less important question to the two persons who
+are here conversing together than of whether the amiable and graceful
+Hiya is willing to carry out her often-expressed desire for an
+opportunity of displaying the true depths of her emotions towards this
+one."
+
+"Alas!" said Hiya, "the sentiments which this person expressed with
+irreproachable honourableness when the sun was high in the heavens and
+the probability of secretly leaving an undoubtedly well-appointed home
+was engagingly remote, seem to have an entirely different significance
+when recalled by night in a damp orchard, and on the eve of their
+fulfilment. To deceive one's parents is an ignoble prospect;
+furthermore, it is often an exceedingly difficult undertaking. Let the
+matter be arranged in this way: that Yang leaves the ultimate details
+of the scheme to Hiya's expedient care, he proceeding without delay
+to Hing, or, even more desirable, to the further town of Liyunnan,
+and there awaiting her coming. By such means the risk of discovery and
+pursuit will be lessened, Yang will be able to set forth on his journey
+with greater speed, and this one will have an opportunity of getting
+together certain articles without which, indeed, she would be very
+inadequately equipped."
+
+In spite of his conscientious desire that Hiya should be by his side
+on the journey, together with an unendurable certainty that evil would
+arise from the course she proposed, Yang was compelled by an innate
+feeling of respect to agree to her wishes, and in this manner the
+arrangement was definitely concluded. Thereupon Hiya, without delay,
+returned to the dwelling, remarking that otherwise her absence might be
+detected and the entire circumstance thereby discovered, leaving Yang Hu
+to continue his journey and again present himself before Tung Fel, as he
+had been instructed.
+
+Tung Fel was engaged with brush and ink when Yang Hu entered. Round him
+were many written parchments, some venerable with age, and a variety
+of other matters, among which might be clearly perceived weapons, and
+devices for reading the future. He greeted Yang with many tokens of
+dignified respect, and with an evidently restrained emotion led him
+towards the light of a hanging lantern, where he gazed into his face for
+a considerable period with every indication of exceptional concern.
+
+"Yang Hu," he said at length, "at such a moment many dark and searching
+thoughts may naturally arise in the mind concerning objects and reasons,
+omens, and the moving cycle of events. Yet in all these, out of a wisdom
+gained by deep endurance and a hardly-won experience beyond the common
+lot, this person would say, Be content. The hand of destiny, though it
+may at times appear to move in a devious manner, is ever approaching its
+appointed aim. To this end were you chosen."
+
+"The choice was openly made by wise and proficient omens," replied Yang
+Hu, without any display of uncertainty of purpose, "and this person is
+content."
+
+Tung Fel then administered to Yang the Oath of Buddha's Face and the One
+called the Unutterable (which may not be further described in written
+words) thereby binding his body and soul, and the souls and repose of
+all who had gone before him in direct line and all who should in a like
+manner follow after, to the accomplishment of the design. All spoken
+matter being thus complete between them, he gave him a mask with which
+he should pass unknown through the streets and into the presence of Ping
+Siang, a variety of weapons to use as the occasion arose, and a sign
+by which the attendants at the Yamen would admit him without further
+questioning.
+
+As Yang Hu passed through the streets of Ching-fow, which were in a
+great measure deserted owing to the command of Tung Fel, he was aware of
+many mournful and foreboding sounds which accompanied him on all sides,
+while shadowy faces, bearing signs of intolerable anguish and despair,
+continually formed themselves out of the wind. By the time he reached
+the Yamen a tempest of exceptional violence was in progress, nor were
+other omens absent which tended to indicate that matters of a very
+unpropitious nature were about to take place.
+
+At each successive door of the Yamen the attendant stepped back and
+covered his face, so that he should by no chance perceive who had come
+upon so destructive a mission, the instant Yang Hu uttered the sign with
+which Tung Fel had provided him. In this manner Yang quickly reached the
+door of the inner chamber upon which was inscribed: "Let the person who
+comes with a doubtful countenance, unbidden, or meditating treachery,
+remember the curse and manner of death which attended Lai Kuen, who
+slew the one over him; so shall he turn and go forth in safety." This
+unworthy safeguard at the hands of a person who passed his entire life
+in altering the fixed nature of justice, and who never went beyond his
+outer gate without an armed company of bowmen, inspired Yang Hu with
+so incautious a contempt, that without any hesitation he drew forth his
+brush and ink, and in a spirit of bitter signification added the words,
+"'Come, let us eat together,' said the wolf to the she-goat."
+
+Being now within a step of Ping Siang and the completion of his
+undertaking, Yang Hu drew tighter the cords of his mask, tested and
+proved his weapons, and then, without further delay, threw open the door
+before him and stepped into the chamber, barring the door quickly so
+that no person might leave or enter without his consent.
+
+At this interruption and manner of behaving, which clearly indicated
+the nature of the errand upon which the person before him had come,
+Ping Siang rose from his couch and stretched out his hand towards a gong
+which lay beside him.
+
+"All summonses for aid are now unavailing, Ping Siang," exclaimed Yang,
+without in any measure using delicate or set phrases of speech; "for,
+as you have doubtless informed yourself, the slaves of tyrants are the
+first to welcome the downfall of their lord."
+
+"The matter of your speech is as emptiness to this person," replied the
+Mandarin, affecting with extreme difficulty an appearance of no-concern.
+"In what manner has he fallen? And how will the depraved and self-willed
+person before him avoid the well-deserved tortures which certainly await
+him in the public square on the morrow, as the reward of his intolerable
+presumptions?"
+
+"O Mandarin," cried Yang Hu, "the fitness and occasion for such speeches
+as the one to which you have just given utterance lie as far behind you
+as the smoke of yesterday's sacrifice. With what manner of eyes have you
+frequently journeyed through Ching-fow of late, if the signs and
+omens there have not already warned you to prepare a coffin adequately
+designed to receive your well-proportioned body? Has not the pungent
+vapour of burning houses assailed your senses at every turn, or the salt
+tears from the eyes of forlorn ones dashed your peach-tea and spiced
+foods with bitterness?"
+
+"Alas!" exclaimed Ping Siang, "this person now certainly begins to
+perceive that many things which he has unthinkingly allowed would
+present a very unendurable face to others."
+
+"In such a manner has it appeared to all Ching-fow," said Yang Hu; "and
+the justice of your death has been universally admitted. Even should
+this one fail there would be an innumerable company eager to take his
+place. Therefore, O Ping Siang, as the only favour which it is within
+this person's power to accord, select that which in your opinion is the
+most agreeable manner and weapon for your end."
+
+"It is truly said that at the Final Gate of the Two Ways the necessity
+for elegant and well-chosen sentences ends," remarked Ping Siang with a
+sigh, "otherwise the manner of your address would be open to reproach.
+By your side this person perceives a long and apparently highly-tempered
+sword, which, in his opinion, will serve the purpose efficiently. Having
+no remarks of an improving but nevertheless exceedingly tedious nature
+with which to imprint the occasion for the benefit of those who come
+after, his only request is that the blow shall be an unhesitating and
+sufficiently well-directed one."
+
+At these words Yang Hu threw back his cloak to grasp the sword-handle,
+when the Mandarin, with his eyes fixed on the naked arm, and evidently
+inspired by every manner of conflicting emotions, uttered a cry of
+unspeakable wonder and incomparable surprise.
+
+"The Serpent!" he cried, in a voice from which all evenness and control
+were absent. "The Sacred Serpent of our Race! O mysterious one, who and
+whence are you?"
+
+Engulfed in an all-absorbing doubt at the nature of events, Yang could
+only gaze at the form of the serpent which had been clearly impressed
+upon his arm from the earliest time of his remembrance, while Ping
+Siang, tearing the silk garment from his own arm and displaying thereon
+a similar form, continued:
+
+"Behold the inevitable and unvarying birthmark of our race! So it was
+with this person's father and the ones before him; so it was with his
+treacherously-stolen son; so it will be to the end of all time."
+
+Trembling beyond all power of restraint, Yang removed the mask which had
+hitherto concealed his face.
+
+"Father or race has this person none," he said, looking into Ping
+Siang's features with an all-engaging hope, tempered in a measure by a
+soul-benumbing dread; "nor memory or tradition of an earlier state than
+when he herded goats and sought for jade in the southern mountains."
+
+"Nevertheless," exclaimed the Mandarin, whose countenance was lightened
+with an interest and a benevolent emotion which had never been seen
+there before, "beyond all possibility of doubting, you are this
+person's lost and greatly-desired son, stolen away many years ago by
+the treacherous conduct of an unworthy woman, yet now happily and
+miraculously restored to cherish his declining years and perpetuate an
+honourable name and race."
+
+"Happily!" exclaimed Yang, with fervent indications of uncontrollable
+bitterness. "Oh, my illustrious sire, at whose venerated feet this
+unworthy person now prostrates himself with well-merited marks of
+reverence and self-abasement, has the errand upon which an ignoble son
+entered--the every memory of which now causes him the acutest agony
+of the lost, but which nevertheless he is pledged to Tung Fel by the
+Unutterable Oath to perform--has this unnatural and eternally cursed
+thing escaped your versatile mind?"
+
+"Tung Fel!" cried Ping Siang. "Is, then, this blow also by the hand of
+that malicious and vindictive person? Oh, what a cycle of events and
+interchanging lines of destiny do your words disclose!"
+
+"Who, then, is Tung Fel, my revered Father?" demanded Yang.
+
+"It is a matter which must be made clear from the beginning," replied
+Ping Siang. "At one time this person and Tung Fel were, by nature
+and endowments, united in the most amiable bonds of an inseparable
+friendship. Presently Tung Fel signed the preliminary contract of
+a marriage with one who seemed to be endowed with every variety of
+enchanting and virtuous grace, but who was, nevertheless, as the
+unrolling of future events irresistibly discovered, a person of
+irregular character and undignified habits. On the eve of the marriage
+ceremony this person was made known to her by the undoubtedly enraptured
+Tung Fel, whereupon he too fell into the snare of her engaging
+personality, and putting aside all thoughts of prudent restraint, made
+her more remunerative offers of marriage than Tung Fel could by any
+possible chance overbid. In such a manner--for after the nature of
+her kind riches were exceptionally attractive to her degraded
+imagination--she became this person's wife, and the mother of his only
+son. In spite of these great honours, however, the undoubted perversity
+of her nature made her an easy accomplice to the duplicity of Tung
+Fel, who, by means of various disguises, found frequent opportunity of
+uttering in her presence numerous well-thought-out suggestions specially
+designed to lead her imagination towards an existence in which this
+person had no adequate representation. Becoming at length terrified at
+the possibility of these unworthy emotions, obtruding themselves upon
+this person's notice, the two in question fled together, taking with
+them the one who without any doubt is now before me. Despite the most
+assiduous search and very tempting and profitable offers of reward, no
+information of a reliable nature could be obtained, and at length
+this dispirited and completely changed person gave up the pursuit as
+unavailing. With his son and heir, upon whose future he had greatly
+hoped, all emotions of a generous and high-minded nature left him, and
+in a very short space of time he became the avaricious and deservedly
+unpopular individual against whose extortions the amiable and
+long-suffering ones of Ching-fow have for so many years protested
+mildly. The sudden and not altogether unexpected fate which is now
+on the point of reaching him is altogether too lenient to be entirely
+adequate."
+
+"Oh, my distinguished and really immaculate sire!" cried Yang Hu, in a
+voice which expressed the deepest feelings of contrition. "No oaths or
+vows, however sacred, can induce this person to stretch forth his hand
+against the one who stands before him."
+
+"Nevertheless," replied Ping Siang, speaking of the matter as though it
+were one which did not closely concern his own existence, "to neglect
+the Unutterable Oath would inevitably involve not only the two persons
+who are now conversing together, but also those before and those who are
+to come after in direct line, in a much worse condition of affairs. That
+is a fate which this person would by no means permit to exist, for one
+of his chief desires has ever been to establish a strong and vigorous
+line, to which end, indeed, he was even now concluding a marriage
+arrangement with the beautiful and refined Hiya-ai-Shao, whom he had
+at length persuaded into accepting his betrothal tokens without
+reluctance."
+
+"Hiya-ai-Shao!" exclaimed Yang; "she has accepted your silk-bound
+gifts?"
+
+"The matter need not concern us now," replied the Mandarin, not
+observing in his complicated emotions the manner in which the name of
+Hiya had affected Yang, revealing as it undoubtedly did the treachery of
+his beloved one. "There only appears to be one honourable way in which
+the full circumstances can be arranged, and this person will in no
+measure endeavour to avoid it."
+
+"Such an end is neither ignoble nor painful," he said, in an unchanging
+voice; "nor will this one in any way shrink from so easy and honourable
+a solution."
+
+"The affairs of the future do not exhibit themselves in delicately
+coloured hues to this person," said Yang Hu; "and he would, if the thing
+could be so arranged, cheerfully submit to a similar fate in order that
+a longer period of existence should be assured to one who has every
+variety of claim upon his affection."
+
+"The proposal is a graceful and conscientious one," said Ping Siang,
+"and is, moreover, a gratifying omen of the future of our race, which
+must of necessity be left in your hands. But, for that reason itself,
+such a course cannot be pursued. Nevertheless, the events of the past
+few hours have been of so exceedingly prosperous and agreeable a nature
+that this short-sighted and frequently desponding person can now
+pass beyond with a tranquil countenance and every assurance of divine
+favour."
+
+With these words Ping Siang indicated that he was desirous of setting
+forth the Final Expression, and arranging the necessary matters upon the
+table beside him, he stretched forth his hands over Yang Hu, who placed
+himself in a suitable attitude of reverence and abasement.
+
+"Yang Hu," began the Mandarin, "undoubted son, and, after the
+accomplishment of the intention which it is our fixed purpose to carry
+out, fitting representative of the person who is here before you,
+engrave well within your mind the various details upon which he now
+gives utterance. Regard the virtues; endeavour to pass an amiable and
+at the same time not unremunerative existence; and on all occasions
+sacrifice freely, to the end that the torments of those who have gone
+before may be made lighter, and that others may be induced in turn to
+perform a like benevolent charity for yourself. Having expressed
+himself upon these general subjects, this person now makes a last and
+respectfully-considered desire, which it is his deliberate wish should
+be carried to the proper deities as his final expression of opinion:
+That Yang Hu may grow as supple as the dried juice of the bending-palm,
+and as straight as the most vigorous bamboo from the forests of the
+North. That he may increase beyond the prolificness of the white-necked
+crow and cover the ground after the fashion of the binding grass.
+That in battle his sword may be as a vividly-coloured and many-forked
+lightning flash, accompanied by thunderbolts as irresistible as Buddha's
+divine wrath; in peace his voice as resounding as the rolling of many
+powerful drums among the Khingan Mountains. That when the kindled fire
+of his existence returns to the great Mountain of Pure Flame the earth
+shall accept again its component parts, and in no way restrain the
+divine essence from journeying to its destined happiness. These words
+are Ping Siang's last expression of opinion before he passes beyond,
+given in the unvarying assurance that so sacred and important a petition
+will in no way be neglected."
+
+Having in this manner completed all the affairs which seemed to be of
+a necessary and urgent nature, and fixing his last glance upon Yang Hu
+with every variety of affectionate and estimable emotion, the Mandarin
+drank a sufficient quantity of the liquid, and placing himself upon a
+couch in an attitude of repose, passed in this dignified and unassuming
+manner into the Upper Air.
+
+After the space of a few moments spent in arranging certain objects and
+in inward contemplation, Yang Hu crossed the chamber, still holding
+the half-filled vessel of gold-leaf in his hand, and drawing back the
+hanging silk, gazed over the silent streets of Ching-fow and towards the
+great sky-lantern above.
+
+"Hiya is faithless," he said at length in an unspeaking voice; "this
+person's mother a bitter-tasting memory, his father a swiftly passing
+shadow that is now for ever lost." His eyes rested upon the closed
+vessel in his hand. "Gladly would--" his thoughts began, but with
+this unworthy image a new impression formed itself within his mind. "A
+clearly-expressed wish was uttered," he concluded, "and Tung Fel still
+remains." With this resolution he stepped back into the chamber and
+struck the gong loudly.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII. THE CAREER OF THE CHARITABLE QUEN-KI-TONG
+
+
+                  FIRST PERIOD: THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL
+
+"The motives which inspired the actions of the devout Quen-Ki-Tong have
+long been ill-reported," said Kai Lung the story-teller, upon a certain
+occasion at Wu-whei, "and, as a consequence, his illustrious memory has
+suffered somewhat. Even as the insignificant earth-worm may bring
+the precious and many coloured jewel to the surface, so has it been
+permitted to this obscure and superficially educated one to discover
+the truth of the entire matter among the badly-arranged and frequently
+really illegible documents preserved at the Hall of Public Reference at
+Peking. Without fear of contradiction, therefore, he now sets forth the
+credible version.
+
+"Quen-Ki-Tong was one who throughout his life had been compelled by
+the opposing force of circumstances to be content with what was offered
+rather than attain to that which he desired. Having been allowed to
+wander over the edge of an exceedingly steep crag, while still a child,
+by the aged and untrustworthy person who had the care of him, and yet
+suffering little hurt, he was carried back to the city in triumph,
+by the one in question, who, to cover her neglect, declared amid
+many chants of exultation that as he slept a majestic winged form had
+snatched him from her arms and traced magical figures with his body on
+the ground in token of the distinguished sacred existence for which he
+was undoubtedly set apart. In such a manner he became famed at a very
+early age for an unassuming mildness of character and an almost inspired
+piety of life, so that on every side frequent opportunity was given him
+for the display of these amiable qualities. Should it chance that an
+insufficient quantity of puppy-pie had been prepared for the family
+repast, the undesirable but necessary portion of cold dried rat would
+inevitably be allotted to the uncomplaining Quen, doubtless accompanied
+by the engaging but unnecessary remark that he alone had a Heaven-sent
+intellect which was fixed upon more sublime images than even the
+best constructed puppy-pie. Should the number of sedan-chairs not be
+sufficient to bear to the Exhibition of Kites all who were desirous of
+becoming entertained in such a fashion, inevitably would Quen be the one
+left behind, in order that he might have adequate leisure for dignified
+and pure-minded internal reflexion.
+
+"In this manner it came about that when a very wealthy but unnaturally
+avaricious and evil-tempered person who was connected with Quen's father
+in matters of commerce expressed his fixed determination that the most
+deserving and enlightened of his friend's sons should enter into a
+marriage agreement with his daughter, there was no manner of hesitation
+among those concerned, who admitted without any questioning between
+themselves that Quen was undeniably the one referred to.
+
+"Though naturally not possessing an insignificant intellect, a
+continuous habit, together with a most irreproachable sense of filial
+duty, subdued within Quen's internal organs whatever reluctance he might
+have otherwise displayed in the matter, so that as courteously as was
+necessary he presented to the undoubtedly very ordinary and slow-witted
+maiden in question the gifts of irretrievable intention, and honourably
+carried out his spoken and written words towards her.
+
+"For a period of years the circumstances of the various persons did not
+in any degree change, Quen in the meantime becoming more pure-souled
+and inward-seeing with each moon-change, after the manner of the sublime
+Lien-ti, who studied to maintain an unmoved endurance in all varieties
+of events by placing his body to a greater extent each day in a vessel
+of boiling liquid. Nevertheless, the good and charitable deities to
+whom Quen unceasingly sacrificed were not altogether unmindful of his
+virtues; for a son was born, and an evil disease which arose from a most
+undignified display of uncontrollable emotion on her part ended in his
+wife being deposited with becoming ceremony in the Family Temple.
+
+"Upon a certain evening, when Quen sat in his inner chamber deliberating
+upon the really beneficent yet somewhat inexplicable arrangement of the
+all-seeing ones to whom he was very amiably disposed in consequence of
+the unwonted tranquillity which he now enjoyed, yet who, it appeared to
+him, could have set out the entire matter in a much more satisfactory
+way from the beginning, he was made aware by the unexpected beating of
+many gongs, and by other signs of refined and deferential welcome, that
+a person of exalted rank was approaching his residence. While he was
+still hesitating in his uncertainty regarding the most courteous and
+delicate form of self-abasement with which to honour so important a
+visitor--whether to rush forth and allow the chair-carriers to pass over
+his prostrate form, to make a pretence of being a low-caste slave, and
+in that guise doing menial service, or to conceal himself beneath
+a massive and overhanging table until his guest should have availed
+himself of the opportunity to examine at his leisure whatever the room
+contained--the person in question stood before him. In every detail of
+dress and appointment he had the undoubted appearance of being one to
+whom no door might be safely closed.
+
+"'Alas!' exclaimed Quen, 'how inferior and ill-contrived is the mind
+of a person of my feeble intellectual attainments. Even at this moment,
+when the near approach of one who obviously commands every engaging
+accomplishment might reasonably be expected to call up within it an
+adequate amount of commonplace resource, its ill-destined possessor
+finds himself entirely incapable of conducting himself with the fitting
+outward marks of his great internal respect. This residence is certainly
+unprepossessing in the extreme, yet it contains many objects of some
+value and of great rarity; illiterate as this person is, he would not
+be so presumptuous as to offer any for your acceptance, but if you will
+confer upon him the favour of selecting that which appears to be the
+most priceless and unreplaceable, he will immediately, and with every
+manifestation of extreme delight, break it irredeemably in your honour,
+to prove the unaffected depth of his gratified emotions.'
+
+"'Quen-Ki-Tong,' replied the person before him, speaking with an evident
+sincerity of purpose, 'pleasant to this one's ears are your words,
+breathing as they do an obvious hospitality and a due regard for the
+forms of etiquette. But if, indeed, you are desirous of gaining this
+person's explicit regard, break no articles of fine porcelain or rare
+inlaid wood in proof of it, but immediately dismiss to a very distant
+spot the three-score gong-beaters who have enclosed him within two solid
+rings, and who are now carrying out their duties in so diligent a manner
+that he greatly doubts if the unimpaired faculties of hearing will ever
+be fully restored. Furthermore, if your exceedingly amiable intentions
+desire fuller expression, cause an unstinted number of vessels of some
+uninflammable liquid to be conveyed into your chrysanthemum garden and
+there poured over the numerous fireworks and coloured lights which still
+appear to be in progress. Doubtless they are well-intentioned marks of
+respect, but they caused this person considerable apprehension as he
+passed among them, and, indeed, give to this unusually pleasant and
+unassuming spot the by no means inviting atmosphere of a low-class
+tea-house garden during the festivities attending the birthday of the
+sacred Emperor.'
+
+"'This person is overwhelmed with a most unendurable confusion that the
+matters referred to should have been regarded in such a light,' replied
+Quen humbly. 'Although he himself had no knowledge of them until this
+moment, he is confident that they in no wise differ from the usual
+honourable manifestations with which it is customary in this Province to
+welcome strangers of exceptional rank and titles.'
+
+"'The welcome was of a most dignified and impressive nature,' replied
+the stranger, with every appearance of not desiring to cause Quen any
+uneasy internal doubts; 'yet the fact is none the less true that at the
+moment this person's head seems to contain an exceedingly powerful and
+well-equipped band; and also, that as he passed through the courtyard
+an ingeniously constructed but somewhat unmanageable figure of gigantic
+size, composed entirely of jets of many-coloured flame, leaped out
+suddenly from behind a dark wall and made an almost successful attempt
+to embrace him in its ever-revolving arms. Lo Yuen greatly fears that
+the time when he would have rejoiced in the necessary display of agility
+to which the incident gave rise has for ever passed away.'
+
+"'Lo Yuen!' exclaimed Quen, with an unaffected mingling of the emotions
+of reverential awe and pleasureable anticipation. 'Can it indeed be
+an uncontroversial fact that so learned and ornamental a person as the
+renowned Controller of Unsolicited Degrees stands beneath this inelegant
+person's utterly unpresentable roof! Now, indeed, he plainly understands
+why this ill-conditioned chamber has the appearance of being filled with
+a Heaven-sent brilliance, and why at the first spoken words of the one
+before him a melodious sound, like the rushing waters of the sacred
+Tien-Kiang, seemed to fill his ears.'
+
+"'Undoubtedly the chamber is pervaded by a very exceptional splendour,'
+replied Lo Yuen, who, in spite of his high position, regarded graceful
+talk and well-imagined compliments in a spirit of no-satisfaction; 'yet
+this commonplace-minded one has a fixed conviction that it is caused
+by the crimson-eyed and pink-fire-breathing dragon which, despite your
+slave's most assiduous efforts, is now endeavouring to climb through
+the aperture behind you. The noise which still fills his ears, also,
+resembles rather the despairing cries of the Ten Thousand Lost Ones at
+the first sight of the Pit of Liquid and Red-hot Malachite, yet
+without question both proceed from the same cause. Laying aside further
+ceremony, therefore, permit this greatly over-estimated person to
+disclose the object of his inopportune visit. Long have your amiable
+virtues been observed and appreciated by the high ones at Peking, O
+Quen-Ki-Tong. Too long have they been unrewarded and passed over in
+silence. Nevertheless, the moment of acknowledgement and advancement has
+at length arrived; for, as the Book of Verses clearly says, "Even the
+three-legged mule may contrive to reach the agreed spot in advance of
+the others, provided a circular running space has been selected and
+the number of rounds be sufficiently ample." It is this otherwise
+uninteresting and obtrusive person's graceful duty to convey to you the
+agreeable intelligence that the honourable and not ill-rewarded office
+of Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms has been conferred upon you, and
+to require you to proceed without delay to Peking, so that fitting
+ceremonies of admittance may be performed before the fifteenth day of
+the month of Feathered Insects.'
+
+"Alas! how frequently does the purchaser of seemingly vigorous and
+exceptionally low-priced flower-seeds discover, when too late, that they
+are, in reality, fashioned from the root of the prolific and valueless
+tzu-ka, skilfully covered with a disguising varnish! Instead of
+presenting himself at the place of commerce frequented by those who
+entrust money to others on the promise of an increased repayment when
+certain very probable events have come to pass (so that if all
+else failed he would still possess a serviceable number of taels),
+Quen-Ki-Tong entirely neglected the demands of a most ordinary prudence,
+nor could he be induced to set out on his journey until he had passed
+seven days in public feasting to mark his good fortune, and then devoted
+fourteen more days to fasting and various acts of penance, in order to
+make known the regret with which he acknowledged his entire unworthiness
+for the honour before him. Owing to this very conscientious, but
+nevertheless somewhat short-sighted manner of behaving, Quen found
+himself unable to reach Peking before the day preceding that to which Lo
+Yuen had made special reference. From this cause it came about that only
+sufficient time remained to perform the various ceremonies of admission,
+without in any degree counselling Quen as to his duties and procedure in
+the fulfilment of his really important office.
+
+"Among the many necessary and venerable ceremonies observed during the
+changing periods of the year, none occupy a more important place than
+those for which the fifteenth day of the month of Feathered Insects is
+reserved, conveying as they do a respectful and delicately-fashioned
+petition that the various affairs upon which persons in every
+condition of life are engaged may arrive at a pleasant and remunerative
+conclusion. At the earliest stroke of the gong the versatile Emperor,
+accompanied by many persons of irreproachable ancestry and certain
+others, very elaborately attired, proceeds to an open space set apart
+for the occasion. With unassuming dexterity the benevolent Emperor for
+a brief span of time engages in the menial occupation of a person of
+low class, and with his own hands ploughs an assigned portion of land in
+order that the enlightened spirits under whose direct guardianship the
+earth is placed may not become lax in their disinterested efforts to
+promote its fruitfulness. In this charitable exertion he is followed
+by various other persons of recognized position, the first being, by
+custom, the Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms, while at the same time
+the amiably-disposed Empress plants an allotted number of mulberry
+trees, and deposits upon their leaves the carefully reared insects
+which she receives from the hands of their Guarder. In the case of the
+accomplished Emperor an ingenious contrivance is resorted to by which
+the soil is drawn aside by means of hidden strings as the plough passes
+by, the implement in question being itself constructed from paper of the
+highest quality, while the oxen which draw it are, in reality,
+ordinary persons cunningly concealed within masks of cardboard. In this
+thoughtful manner the actual labours of the sublime Emperor are greatly
+lessened, while no chance is afforded for an inauspicious omen to be
+created by the rebellious behaviour of a maliciously-inclined ox, or by
+any other event of an unforeseen nature. All the other persons, however,
+are required to make themselves proficient in the art of ploughing,
+before the ceremony, so that the chances of the attendant spirits
+discovering the deception which has been practised upon them in the case
+of the Emperor may not be increased by its needless repetition. It was
+chiefly for this reason that Lo Yuen had urged Quen to journey to Peking
+as speedily as possible, but owing to the very short time which remained
+between his arrival and the ceremony of ploughing, not only had the
+person in question neglected to profit by instruction, but he was not
+even aware of the obligation which awaited him. When, therefore, in
+spite of every respectful protest on his part, he was led up to a
+massively-constructed implement drawn by two powerful and undeniably
+evilly-intentioned-looking animals, it was with every sign of great
+internal misgivings, and an entire absence of enthusiasm in the
+entertainment, that he commenced his not too well understood task. In
+this matter he was by no means mistaken, for it soon became plain to all
+observers--of whom an immense concourse was assembled--that the usually
+self-possessed Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms was conducting
+himself in a most undignified manner; for though he still clung to the
+plough-handles with an inspired tenacity, his body assumed every variety
+of base and uninviting attitude. Encouraged by this inelegant state
+of affairs, the evil spirits which are ever on the watch to turn into
+derision the charitable intentions of the pure-minded entered into
+the bodies of the oxen and provoked within their minds a sudden and
+malignant confidence that the time had arrived when they might with
+safety break into revolt and throw off the outward signs of their
+dependent condition. From these various causes it came about that Quen
+was, without warning, borne with irresistible certainty against the
+majestic person of the sacred Emperor, the inlaid box of Imperial
+silkworms, which up to that time had remained safely among the folds
+of his silk garment, alone serving to avert an even more violent and
+ill-destined blow.
+
+"Well said the wise and deep-thinking Ye-te, in his book entitled
+_Proverbs of Everyday Happenings_, 'Should a person on returning from
+the city discover his house to be in flames, let him examine well the
+change which he has received from the chair-carrier before it is too
+late; for evil never travels alone.' Scarcely had the unfortunate Quen
+recovered his natural attributes from the effect of the disgraceful
+occurrence which has been recorded (which, indeed, furnished the matter
+of a song and many unpresentable jests among the low-class persons
+of the city), than the magnanimous Empress reached that detail of the
+tree-planting ceremony when it was requisite that she should deposit the
+living emblems of the desired increase and prosperity upon the leaves.
+Stretching forth her delicately-proportioned hand to Quen for this
+purpose, she received from the still greatly confused person in question
+the Imperial silkworms in so unseemly a condition that her eyes had
+scarcely rested upon them before she was seized with the rigid
+sickness, and in that state fell to the ground. At this new and entirely
+unforeseen calamity a very disagreeable certainty of approaching evil
+began to take possession of all those who stood around, many crying
+aloud that every omen of good was wanting, and declaring that unless
+something of a markedly propitiatory nature was quickly accomplished,
+the agriculture of the entire Empire would cease to flourish, and the
+various departments of the commerce in silk would undoubtedly be thrown
+into a state of most inextricable confusion. Indeed, in spite of all
+things designed to have a contrary effect, the matter came about in the
+way predicted, for the Hoang-Ho seven times overcame its restraining
+barriers, and poured its waters over the surrounding country, thereby
+gaining for the first time its well-deserved title of 'The Sorrow of
+China,' by which dishonourable but exceedingly appropriate designation
+it is known to this day.
+
+"The manner of greeting which would have been accorded to Quen had
+he returned to the official quarter of the city, or the nature of his
+treatment by the baser class of the ordinary people if they succeeded
+in enticing him to come among them, formed a topic of such uninviting
+conjecture that the humane-minded Lo Yuen, who had observed the
+entire course of events from an elevated spot, determined to make
+a well-directed effort towards his safety. To this end he quickly
+purchased the esteem of several of those who make a profession of their
+strength, holding out the hope of still further reward if they conducted
+the venture to a successful termination. Uttering loud cries of an
+impending vengeance, as Lo Yuen had instructed them in the matter,
+and displaying their exceptional proportions to the astonishment and
+misgivings of all beholders, these persons tore open the opium-tent in
+which Quen had concealed himself, and, thrusting aside all opposition,
+quickly dragged him forth. Holding him high upon their shoulders, in
+spite of his frequent and ill-advised endeavours to cast himself to
+the ground, some surrounded those who bore him--after the manner of
+disposing his troops affected by a skilful leader when the enemy begin
+to waver--and crying aloud that it was their unchanging purpose to
+submit him to the test of burning splinters and afterwards to torture
+him, they succeeded by this stratagem in bringing him through the
+crowd; and hurling back or outstripping those who endeavoured to follow,
+conveyed him secretly and unperceived to a deserted and appointed
+spot. Here Quen was obliged to remain until other events caused the
+recollection of the many to become clouded and unconcerned towards him,
+suffering frequent inconveniences in spite of the powerful protection
+of Lo Yuen, and not at all times being able to regard the most necessary
+repast as an appointment of undoubted certainty. At length, in the guise
+of a wandering conjurer who was unable to display his accomplishments
+owing to an entire loss of the power of movement in his arms, Quen
+passed undetected from the city, and safely reaching the distant and
+unimportant town of Lu-Kwo, gave himself up to a protracted period of
+lamentation and self-reproach at the unprepossessing manner in which he
+had conducted his otherwise very inviting affairs.
+
+
+                  SECOND PERIOD: THE TEMPLE BUILDER
+
+Two hand-counts of years passed away and Quen still remained at Lu-kwo,
+all desire of returning either to Peking or to the place of his birth
+having by this time faded into nothingness. Accepting the inevitable
+fact that he was not destined ever to become a person with whom taels
+were plentiful, and yet being unwilling to forego the charitable manner
+of life which he had always been accustomed to observe, it came about
+that he spent the greater part of his time in collecting together such
+sums of money as he could procure from the amiable and well-disposed,
+and with them building temples and engaging in other benevolent works.
+From this cause it arose the Quen obtained around Lu-kwo a reputation
+for high-minded piety, in no degree less than that which had been
+conferred upon him in earlier times, so that pilgrims from far distant
+places would purposely contrive their journey so as to pass through the
+town containing so unassuming and virtuous a person.
+
+"During this entire period Quen had been accompanied by his only son, a
+youth of respectful personality, in whose entertaining society he took
+an intelligent interest. Even when deeply engaged in what he justly
+regarded as the crowning work of his existence--the planning and
+erecting of an exceptionally well-endowed marble temple, which was to
+be entirely covered on the outside with silver paper, and on the inside
+with gold-leaf--he did not fail to observe the various conditions of
+Liao's existence, and the changing emotions which from time to
+time possessed him. Therefore, when the person in question, without
+displaying any signs of internal sickness, and likewise persistently
+denying that he had lost any considerable sum of money, disclosed a
+continuous habit of turning aside with an unaffected expression of
+distaste from all manner of food, and passed the entire night in
+observing the course of the great sky-lantern rather than in sleep, the
+sage and discriminating Quen took him one day aside, and asked him, as
+one who might aid him in the matter, who the maiden was, and what class
+and position her father occupied.
+
+"'Alas!' exclaimed Liao, with many unfeigned manifestations of an
+unbearable fate, 'to what degree do the class and position of her
+entirely unnecessary parents affect the question? or how little hope
+can this sacrilegious one reasonably have of ever progressing as far as
+earthly details of a pecuniary character in the case of so adorable and
+far-removed a Being? The uttermost extent of this wildly-hoping person's
+ambition is that when the incomparably symmetrical Ts'ain learns of
+the steadfast light of his devotion, she may be inspired to deposit an
+emblematic chrysanthemum upon his tomb in the Family Temple. For such a
+reward he will cheerfully devote the unswerving fidelity of a lifetime
+to her service, not distressing her gentle and retiring nature by the
+expression of what must inevitably be a hopeless passion, but patiently
+and uncomplainingly guarding her footsteps as from a distance.'
+
+"Being in this manner made aware of the reason of Liao's frequent and
+unrestrained exclamations of intolerable despair, and of his fixed
+determination with regard to the maiden Ts'ain (which seemed, above
+all else, to indicate a resolution to shun her presence) Quen could not
+regard the immediately-following actions of his son with anything but an
+emotion of confusion. For when his eyes next rested upon the exceedingly
+contradictory Liao, he was seated in the open space before the house in
+which Ts'ain dwelt, playing upon an instrument of stringed woods, and
+chanting verses into which the names of the two persons in question
+had been skilfully introduced without restraint, his whole manner of
+behaving being with the evident purpose of attracting the maiden's
+favourable attention. After an absence of many days, spent in this
+graceful and complimentary manner, Liao returned suddenly to the house
+of his father, and, prostrating his body before him, made a specific
+request for his assistance.
+
+"'As regards Ts'ain and myself,' he continued, 'all things are arranged,
+and but for the unfortunate coincidence of this person's poverty and
+of her father's cupidity, the details of the wedding ceremony would
+undoubtedly now be in a very advanced condition. Upon these entrancing
+and well-discussed plans, however, the shadow of the grasping and
+commonplace Ah-Ping has fallen like the inopportune opium-pipe from the
+mouth of a person examining substances of an explosive nature; for the
+one referred to demands a large and utterly unobtainable amount of taels
+before he will suffer his greatly-sought-after daughter to accept the
+gifts of irretrievable intention.'
+
+"'Grievous indeed is your plight,' replied Quen, when he thus understood
+the manner of obstacle which impeded his son's hopes; 'for in the nature
+of taels the most diverse men are to be measured through the same mesh.
+As the proverb says, "'All money is evil,' exclaimed the philosopher
+with extreme weariness, as he gathered up the gold pieces in exchange,
+but presently discovering that one among them was such indeed has he had
+described, he rushed forth without tarrying to take up a street garment;
+and with an entire absence of dignity traversed all the ways of the city
+in the hope of finding the one who had defrauded him." Well does this
+person know the mercenary Ah-Ping, and the unyielding nature of his
+closed hand; for often, but always fruitlessly, he has entered his
+presence on affairs connected with the erecting of certain temples.
+Nevertheless, the matter is one which does not admit of any incapable
+faltering, to which end this one will seek out the obdurate Ah-Ping
+without delay, and endeavour to entrap him by some means in the course
+of argument.'
+
+"From the time of his earliest youth Ah-Ping had unceasingly devoted
+himself to the object of getting together an overwhelming number of
+taels, using for this purpose various means which, without being really
+degrading or contrary to the written law, were not such as might have
+been cheerfully engaged in by a person of high-minded honourableness. In
+consequence of this, as he grew more feeble in body, and more venerable
+in appearance, he began to express frequent and bitter doubts as to
+whether his manner of life had been really well arranged; for, in spite
+of his great wealth, he had grown to adopt a most inexpensive habit
+on all occasions, having no desire to spend; and an ever-increasing
+apprehension began to possess him that after he had passed beyond, his
+sons would be very disinclined to sacrifice and burn money sufficient to
+keep him in an affluent condition in the Upper Air. In such a state of
+mind was Ah-Ping when Quen-Ki-Tong appeared before him, for it had just
+been revealed to him that his eldest and favourite son had, by flattery
+and by openly praising the dexterity with which he used his brush
+and ink, entrapped him into inscribing his entire name upon certain
+unwritten sheets of parchment, which the one in question immediately
+sold to such as were heavily indebted to Ah-Ping.
+
+"'If a person can be guilty of this really unfilial behaviour during the
+lifetime of his father,' exclaimed Ah-Ping, in a tone of unrestrained
+vexation, 'can it be prudently relied upon that he will carry out his
+wishes after death, when they involve the remitting to him of several
+thousand taels each year? O estimable Quen-Ki-Tong, how immeasurably
+superior is the celestial outlook upon which you may safely rely as your
+portion! When you are enjoying every variety of sumptuous profusion,
+as the reward of your untiring charitable exertions here on earth, the
+spirit of this short-sighted person will be engaged in doing menial
+servitude for the inferior deities, and perhaps scarcely able, even by
+those means, to clothe himself according to the changing nature of the
+seasons.'
+
+"'Yet,' replied Quen, 'the necessity for so laborious and unremunerative
+an existence may even now be averted by taking efficient precautions
+before you pass to the Upper Air.'
+
+"'In what way?' demanded Ah-Ping, with an awakening hope that the matter
+might not be entirely destitute of cheerfulness, yet at the same time
+preparing to examine with even unbecoming intrusiveness any expedient
+which Quen might lay before him. 'Is it not explicitly stated that
+sacrifices and acts of a like nature, when performed at the end of one's
+existence by a person who to that time has professed no sort of interest
+in such matters, shall in no degree be entered as to his good, but
+rather regarded as examples of deliberate presumptuousness, and made the
+excuse for subjecting him to more severe tortures and acts of penance
+than would be his portion if he neglected the custom altogether?'
+
+"'Undoubtedly such is the case,' replied Quen; 'and on that account it
+would indicate a most regrettable want of foresight for you to conduct
+your affairs in the manner indicated. The only undeniably safe course
+is for you to entrust the amount you will require to a person of
+exceptional piety, receiving in return his written word to repay the
+full sum whenever you shall claim it from him in the Upper Air. By this
+crafty method the amount will be placed at the disposal of the person
+in question as soon as he has passed beyond, and he will be held by his
+written word to return it to you whenever you shall demand it.'
+
+"So amiably impressed with this ingenious scheme was Ah-Ping that he
+would at once have entered more fully into the detail had the thought
+not arisen in his mind that the person before him was the father of
+Liao, who urgently required a certain large sum, and that for this
+reason he might with prudence inquire more fully into the matter
+elsewhere, in case Quen himself should have been imperceptibly led
+aside, even though he possessed intentions of a most unswerving
+honourableness. To this end, therefore, he desired to converse again
+with Quen on the matter, pleading that at that moment a gathering
+of those who direct enterprises of a commercial nature required his
+presence. Nevertheless, he would not permit the person referred to
+depart until he had complimented him, in both general and specific
+terms, on the high character of his life and actions, and the
+intelligent nature of his understanding, which had enabled him with so
+little mental exertion to discover an efficient plan.
+
+"Without delay Ah-Ping sought out those most skilled in all varieties
+of law-forms, in extorting money by devices capable of very different
+meanings, and in expedients for evading just debts; but all agreed that
+such an arrangement as the one he put before them would be unavoidably
+binding, provided the person who received the money alluded to spent it
+in the exercise of his charitable desires, and provided also that the
+written agreement bore the duty seal of the high ones at Peking, and was
+deposited in the coffin of the lender. Fully satisfied, and rejoicing
+greatly that he could in this way adequately provide for his future and
+entrap the avaricious ones of his house, Ah-Ping collected together the
+greater part of his possessions, and converting it into pieces of gold,
+entrusted them to Quen on the exact understanding that has already been
+described, he receiving in turn Quen's written and thumb-signed paper
+of repayment, and his assurance that the whole amount should be expended
+upon the silver-paper and gold-leaf Temple with which he was still
+engaged.
+
+"It is owing to this circumstance that Quen-Ki-Tong's irreproachable
+name has come to be lightly regarded by many who may be fitly likened to
+the latter person in the subtle and experienced proverb, 'The wise man's
+eyes fell before the gaze of the fool, fearing that if he looked he
+must cry aloud, "Thou hopeless one!" "There," said the fool to himself,
+"behold this person's power!"' These badly educated and undiscriminating
+persons, being entirely unable to explain the ensuing train of events,
+unhesitatingly declare that Quen-Ki-Tong applied a portion of the money
+which he had received from Ah-Ping in the manner described to the object
+of acquiring Ts'ain for his son Liao. In this feeble and incapable
+fashion they endeavour to stigmatize the pure-minded Quen as one who
+acted directly contrary to his deliberately spoken word, whereas the
+desired result was brought about in a much more artful manner; they
+describe the commercially successful Ah-Ping as a person of very
+inferior prudence, and one easily imposed upon; while they entirely pass
+over, as a detail outside the true facts, the written paper preserved
+among the sacred relics in the Temple, which announces, among other
+gifts of a small and uninviting character, 'Thirty thousand taels from
+an elderly ginseng merchant of Lu-kwo, who desires to remain nameless,
+through the hand of Quen-Ki-Tong.' The full happening in its real and
+harmless face is now set forth for the first time.
+
+"Some weeks after the recorded arrangement had been arrived at by
+Ah-Ping and Quen, when the taels in question had been expended upon the
+Temple and were, therefore, infallibly beyond recall, the former person
+chanced to be passing through the public garden in Lu-kwo when he heard
+a voice lifted up in the expression of every unendurable feeling of
+dejection to which one can give utterance. Stepping aside to learn the
+cause of so unprepossessing a display of unrestrained agitation, and
+in the hope that perhaps he might be able to use the incident in a
+remunerative manner, Ah-Ping quickly discovered the unhappy being who,
+entirely regardless of the embroidered silk robe which he wore, reclined
+upon a raised bank of uninviting earth, and waved his hands from side to
+side as his internal emotions urged him.
+
+"'Quen-Ki-Tong!' exclaimed Ah-Ping, not fully convinced that the fact
+was as he stated it in spite of the image clearly impressed upon his
+imagination; 'to what unpropitious occurrence is so unlooked-for an
+exhibition due? Are those who traffic in gold-leaf demanding a high and
+prohibitive price for that commodity, or has some evil and vindicative
+spirit taken up its abode within the completed portion of the Temple,
+and by its offensive but nevertheless diverting remarks and actions
+removed all semblance of gravity from the countenances of those who
+daily come to admire the construction?'
+
+"'O thrice unfortunate Ah-Ping,' replied Quen when he observed the
+distinguishing marks of the person before him, 'scarcely can this
+greatly overwhelmed one raise his eyes to your open and intelligent
+countenance; for through him you are on the point of experiencing a very
+severe financial blow, and it is, indeed, on your account more than on
+his own that he is now indulging in these outward signs of a grief too
+far down to be expressed in spoken words.' And at the memory of his
+former occupation, Quen again waved his arms from side to side with
+untiring assiduousness.
+
+"'Strange indeed to this person's ears are your words,' said Ah-Ping,
+outwardly unmoved, but with an apprehensive internal pain that he would
+have regarded Quen's display of emotion with an easier stomach if his
+own taels were safely concealed under the floor of his inner chamber.
+'The sum which this one entrusted to you has, without any pretence
+been expended upon the Temple, while the written paper concerning the
+repayment bears the duty seal of the high ones at Peking. How, then, can
+Ah-Ping suffer a loss at the hands of Quen-Ki-Tong?'
+
+"'Ah-Ping,' said Quen, with every appearance of desiring that both
+persons should regard the matter in a conciliatory spirit, 'do not
+permit the awaiting demons, which are ever on the alert to enter into
+a person's mind when he becomes distressed out of the common order of
+events, to take possession of your usually discriminating faculties
+until you have fully understood how this affair has come about. It is no
+unknown thing for a person of even exceptional intelligence to reverse
+his entire manner of living towards the end of a long and consistent
+existence; the far-seeing and not lightly-moved Ah-Ping himself has
+already done so. In a similar, but entirely contrary manner, the person
+who is now before you finds himself impelled towards that which will
+certainly bear a very unpresentable face when the circumstances
+become known; yet by no other means is he capable of attaining his
+greatly-desired object.'
+
+"'And to what end does that trend?' demanded Ah-Ping, in no degree
+understanding how the matter affected him.
+
+"'While occupied with enterprises which those of an engaging and
+complimentary nature are accustomed to refer to as charitable,
+this person has almost entirely neglected a duty of scarcely less
+importance--that of establishing an unending line, through which his
+name and actions shall be kept alive to all time,' replied Quen. 'Having
+now inquired into the matter, he finds that his only son, through whom
+alone the desired result can be obtained, has become unbearably attached
+to a maiden for whom a very large sum is demanded in exchange. The
+thought of obtaining no advantage from an entire life of self-denial
+is certainly unprepossessing in the extreme, but so, even to a more
+advanced degree, is the certainty that otherwise the family monuments
+will be untended, and the temple of domestic virtues become an early
+ruin. This person has submitted the dilemma to the test of omens, and
+after considering well the reply, he has decided to obtain the price of
+the maiden in a not very honourable manner, which now presents itself,
+so that Liao may send out his silk-bound gifts without delay.'
+
+"'It is an unalluring alternative,' said Ah-Ping, whose only inside
+thought was one of gratification that the exchange money for Ts'ain
+would so soon be in his possession, 'yet this person fails to perceive
+how you could act otherwise after the decision of the omens. He now
+understands, moreover, that the loss you referred to on his part was in
+the nature of a figure of speech, as one makes use of thunderbolts
+and delicately-scented flowers to convey ideas of harsh and amiable
+passions, and alluded in reality to the forthcoming departure of his
+daughter, who is, as you so versatilely suggested, the comfort and
+riches of his old age.'
+
+"'O venerable, but at this moment somewhat obtuse, Ah-Ping,' cried
+Quen, with a recurrence to his former method of expressing his unfeigned
+agitation, 'is your evenly-balanced mind unable to grasp the essential
+fact of how this person's contemplated action will affect your own
+celestial condition? It is a distressing but entirely unavoidable fact,
+that if this person acts in the manner which he has determined upon, he
+will be condemned to the lowest place of torment reserved for those
+who fail at the end of an otherwise pure existence, and in this he
+will never have an opportunity of meeting the very much higher placed
+Ah-Ping, and of restoring to him the thirty-thousand taels as agreed
+upon.'
+
+"At these ill-destined words, all power of rigidness departed from
+Ah-Ping's limbs, and he sank down upon the forbidding earth by Quen's
+side.
+
+"'O most unfortunate one who is now speaking,' he exclaimed, when at
+length his guarding spirit deemed it prudent to restore his power of
+expressing himself in words, 'happy indeed would have been your lot had
+you been content to traffic in ginseng and other commodities of which
+you have actual knowledge. O amiable Quen, this matter must be in some
+way arranged without causing you to deviate from the entrancing paths of
+your habitual virtue. Could not the very reasonable Liao be induced to
+look favourably upon the attractions of some low-priced maiden, in which
+case this not really hard-stomached person would be willing to advance
+the necessary amount, until such time as it could be restored, at a very
+low and unremunerative rate of interest?'
+
+"'This person has observed every variety of practical humility in the
+course of his life,' replied Quen with commendable dignity, 'yet he now
+finds himself totally unable to overcome an inward repugnance to the
+thought of perpetuating his honoured name and race through the medium of
+any low-priced maiden. To this end has he decided.'
+
+"Those who were well acquainted with Ah-Ping in matters of commerce did
+not hesitate to declare that his great wealth had been acquired by his
+consistent habit of forming an opinion quickly while others hesitated.
+On the occasion in question he only engaged his mind with the opposing
+circumstances for a few moments before he definitely fixed upon the
+course which he should pursue.
+
+"'Quen-Ki-Tong,' he said, with an evident intermingling of many very
+conflicting emotions, 'retain to the end this well-merited reputation
+for unaffected honourableness which you have so fittingly earned. Few
+in the entire Empire, with powers so versatilely pointing to an eminent
+position in any chosen direction, would have been content to pass their
+lives in an unremunerative existence devoted to actions of charity. Had
+you selected an entirely different manner of living, this person has
+every confidence that he, and many others in Lu-kwo, would by this time
+be experiencing a very ignoble poverty. For this reason he will make
+it his most prominent ambition to hasten the realization of the amiable
+hopes expressed both by Liao and by Ts'ain, concerning their
+future relationship. In this, indeed, he himself will be more than
+exceptionally fortunate should the former one prove to possess even a
+portion of the clear-sighted sagaciousness exhibited by his engaging
+father.'
+
+           "VERSES COMPOSED BY A MUSICIAN OF LU-KWO, ON THE
+                 OCCASION OF THE WEDDING CEREMONY OF
+                           LIAO AND TS'AIN
+
+  "Bright hued is the morning, the dark clouds have fallen;
+  At the mere waving of Quen's virtuous hands they melted away.
+  Happy is Liao in the possession of so accomplished a parent,
+  Happy also is Quen to have so discriminating a son.
+
+  "The two persons in question sit, side by side, upon an
+      embroidered couch,
+  Listening to the well-expressed compliments of those who pass to
+      and fro.
+  From time to time their eyes meet, and glances of a very
+      significant amusement pass between them;
+  Can it be that on so ceremonious an occasion they are recalling
+      events of a gravity-removing nature?
+
+  "The gentle and rainbow-like Ts'ain has already arrived,
+  With the graceful motion of a silver carp gliding through a screen
+      of rushes, she moves among those who are assembled.
+  On the brow of her somewhat contentious father there rests the
+      shadow of an ill-repressed sorrow;
+  Doubtless the frequently-misjudged Ah-Ping is thinking of his
+      lonely hearth, now that he is for ever parted from that which
+      he holds most precious.
+
+  "In the most commodious chamber of the house the elegant
+      wedding-gifts are conspicuously displayed; let us stand beside
+      the one which we have contributed, and point out its
+      excellence to those who pass by.
+  Surely the time cannot be far distant when the sound of many gongs
+      will announce that the very desirable repast is at length to
+      be partaken of."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII. THE VISION OF YIN, THE SON OF YAT HUANG
+
+When Yin, the son of Yat Huang, had passed beyond the years assigned
+to the pursuit of boyhood, he was placed in the care of the hunchback
+Quang, so that he might be fully instructed in the management of the
+various weapons used in warfare, and also in the art of stratagem, by
+which a skilful leader is often enabled to conquer when opposed to an
+otherwise overwhelming multitude. In all these accomplishments Quang
+excelled to an exceptional degree; for although unprepossessing in
+appearance he united matchless strength to an untiring subtlety. No
+other person in the entire Province of Kiang-si could hurl a javelin so
+unerringly while uttering sounds of terrifying menace, or could cause
+his sword to revolve around him so rapidly, while his face looked
+out from the glittering circles with an expression of ill-intentioned
+malignity that never failed to inspire his adversary with irrepressible
+emotions of alarm. No other person could so successfully feign to
+be devoid of life for almost any length of time, or by his manner of
+behaving create the fixed impression that he was one of insufficient
+understanding, and therefore harmless. It was for these reasons that
+Quang was chosen as the instructor of Yin by Yat Huang, who, without
+possessing any official degree, was a person to whom marks of obeisance
+were paid not only within his own town, but for a distance of many li
+around it.
+
+At length the time arrived when Yin would in the ordinary course of
+events pass from the instructorship of Quang in order to devote himself
+to the commerce in which his father was engaged, and from time to time
+the unavoidable thought arose persistently within his mind that although
+Yat Huang doubtless knew better than he did what the circumstances of
+the future required, yet his manner of life for the past years was not
+such that he could contemplate engaging in the occupation of buying and
+selling porcelain clay with feelings of an overwhelming interest. Quang,
+however, maintained with every manifestation of inspired assurance that
+Yat Huang was to be commended down to the smallest detail, inasmuch
+as proficiency in the use of both blunt and sharp-edged weapons, and a
+faculty for passing undetected through the midst of an encamped body
+of foemen, fitted a person for the every-day affairs of life above all
+other accomplishments.
+
+"Without doubt the very accomplished Yat Huan is well advised on this
+point," continued Quang, "for even this mentally short-sighted person
+can call up within his understanding numerous specific incidents in the
+ordinary career of one engaged in the commerce of porcelain clay when
+such attainments would be of great remunerative benefit. Does the
+well-endowed Yin think, for example, that even the most depraved person
+would endeavour to gain an advantage over him in the matter of buying or
+selling porcelain clay if he fully understood the fact that the one with
+whom he was trafficking could unhesitatingly transfix four persons with
+one arrow at the distance of a hundred paces? Or to what advantage would
+it be that a body of unscrupulous outcasts who owned a field of inferior
+clay should surround it with drawn swords by day and night, endeavouring
+meanwhile to dispose of it as material of the finest quality, if the one
+whom they endeavoured to ensnare in this manner possessed the power of
+being able to pass through their ranks unseen and examine the clay at
+his leisure?"
+
+"In the cases to which reference has been made, the possession of those
+qualities would undoubtedly be of considerable use," admitted Yin; yet,
+in spite of his entire ignorance of commercial matters, this one has a
+confident feeling that it would be more profitable to avoid such very
+doubtful forms of barter altogether rather than spend eight years
+in acquiring the arts by which to defeat them. "That, however, is a
+question which concerns this person's virtuous and engaging father more
+than his unworthy self, and his only regret is that no opportunity has
+offered by which he might prove that he has applied himself diligently
+to your instruction and example, O amiable Quang."
+
+It had long been a regret to Quang also that no incident of a disturbing
+nature had arisen whereby Yin could have shown himself proficient in the
+methods of defence and attack which he had taught him. This deficiency
+he had endeavoured to overcome, as far as possible, by constructing
+life-like models of all the most powerful and ferocious types of
+warriors and the fiercest and most relentless animals of the forest,
+so that Yin might become familiar with their appearance and discover in
+what manner each could be the most expeditiously engaged.
+
+"Nevertheless," remarked Quang, on an occasion when Yin appeared to be
+covered with honourable pride at having approached an unusually large
+and repulsive-looking tiger so stealthily that had the animal been
+really alive it would certainly have failed to perceive him, "such
+accomplishments are by no means to be regarded as conclusive in
+themselves. To steal insidiously upon a destructively-included wild
+beast and transfix it with one well-directed blow of a spear is attended
+by difficulties and emotions which are entirely absent in the case of a
+wickerwork animal covered with canvas-cloth, no matter how deceptive in
+appearance the latter may be."
+
+To afford Yin a more trustworthy example of how he should engage with
+an adversary of formidable proportions, Quang resolved upon an ingenious
+plan. Procuring the skin of a grey wolf, he concealed himself within it,
+and in the early morning, while the mist-damp was still upon the ground,
+he set forth to meet Yin, who had on a previous occasion spoken to
+him of his intention to be at a certain spot at such an hour. In this
+conscientious enterprise, the painstaking Quang would doubtless have
+been successful, and Yin gained an assured proficiency and experience,
+had it not chanced that on the journey Quang encountered a labourer of
+low caste who was crossing the enclosed ground on his way to the rice
+field in which he worked. This contemptible and inopportune person,
+not having at any period of his existence perfected himself in the
+recognized and elegant methods of attack and defence, did not act in
+the manner which would assuredly have been adopted by Yin in similar
+circumstances, and for which Quang would have been fully prepared. On
+the contrary, without the least indication of what his intention was,
+he suddenly struck Quang, who was hesitating for a moment what action to
+take, a most intolerable blow with a formidable staff which he carried.
+The stroke in question inflicted itself upon Quang upon that part of the
+body where the head becomes connected with the neck, and would certainly
+have been followed by others of equal force and precision had not Quang
+in the meantime decided that the most dignified course for him to adopt
+would be to disclose his name and titles without delay. Upon learning
+these facts, the one who stood before him became very grossly and
+offensively amused, and having taken from Quang everything of value
+which he carried among his garments, went on his way, leaving Yin's
+instructor to retrace his steps in unendurable dejection, as he then
+found that he possessed no further interest whatever in the undertaking.
+
+When Yat Huang was satisfied that his son was sufficiently skilled in
+the various arts of warfare, he called him to his inner chamber, and
+having barred the door securely, he placed Yin under a very binding oath
+not to reveal, until an appointed period, the matter which he was going
+to put before him.
+
+"From father to son, in unbroken line for ten generations, has such a
+custom been observed," he said, "for the course of events is not to be
+lightly entered upon. At the commencement of that cycle, which period is
+now fully fifteen score years ago, a very wise person chanced to incur
+the displeasure of the Emperor of that time, and being in consequence
+driven out of the capital, he fled to the mountains. There his subtle
+discernment and the pure and solitary existence which he led resulted in
+his becoming endowed with faculties beyond those possessed by ordinary
+beings. When he felt the end of his earthly career to be at hand he
+descended into the plain, where, in a state of great destitution and
+bodily anguish, he was discovered by the one whom this person has
+referred to as the first of the line of ancestors. In return for the
+care and hospitality with which he was unhesitatingly received,
+the admittedly inspired hermit spent the remainder of his days in
+determining the destinies of his rescuer's family and posterity. It
+is an undoubted fact that he predicted how one would, by well-directed
+enterprise and adventure, rise to a position of such eminence in the
+land that he counselled the details to be kept secret, lest the envy
+and hostility of the ambitious and unworthy should be raised. From this
+cause it has been customary to reveal the matter fully from father
+to son, at stated periods, and the setting out of the particulars in
+written words has been severely discouraged. Wise as this precaution
+certainly was, it has resulted in a very inconvenient state of things;
+for a remote ancestor--the fifth in line from the beginning--experienced
+such vicissitudes that he returned from his travels in a state of most
+abandoned idiocy, and when the time arrived that he should, in turn,
+communicate to his son, he was only able to repeat over and over again
+the name of the pious hermit to whom the family was so greatly indebted,
+coupling it each time with a new and markedly offensive epithet. The
+essential details of the undertaking having in this manner passed beyond
+recall, succeeding generations, which were merely acquainted with the
+fact that a very prosperous future awaited the one who fulfilled the
+conditions, have in vain attempted to conform to them. It is not an
+alluring undertaking, inasmuch as nothing of the method to be pursued
+can be learned, except that it was the custom of the early ones, who
+held the full knowledge, to set out from home and return after a period
+of years. Yet so clearly expressed was the prophecy, and so great the
+reward of the successful, that all have eagerly journeyed forth when
+the time came, knowing nothing beyond that which this person has now
+unfolded to you."
+
+When Yat Huang reached the end of the matter which it was his duty to
+disclose, Yin for some time pondered the circumstances before replying.
+In spite of a most engaging reverence for everything of a sacred nature,
+he could not consider the inspired remark of the well-intentioned hermit
+without feelings of a most persistent doubt, for it occurred to him that
+if the person in question had really been as wise as he was represented
+to be, he might reasonably have been expected to avoid the unaccountable
+error of offending the enlightened and powerful Emperor under whom he
+lived. Nevertheless, the prospect of engaging in the trade of porcelain
+clay was less attractive in his eyes than that of setting forth upon a
+journey of adventure, so that at length he expressed his willingness to
+act after the manner of those who had gone before him.
+
+This decision was received by Yat Huang with an equal intermingling of
+the feelings of delight and concern, for although he would have by no
+means pleasurably contemplated Yin breaking through a venerable and
+esteemed custom, he was unable to put entirely from him the thought of
+the degrading fate which had overtaken the fifth in line who made the
+venture. It was, indeed, to guard Yin as much as possible against
+the dangers to which he would become exposed, if he determined on the
+expedition, that the entire course of his training had been selected. In
+order that no precaution of a propitious nature should be neglected, Yat
+Huang at once despatched written words of welcome to all with whom he
+was acquainted, bidding them partake of a great banquet which he was
+preparing to mark the occasion of his son's leave-taking. Every variety
+of sacrifice was offered up to the controlling deities, both good and
+bad; the ten ancestors were continuously exhorted to take Yin under
+their special protection, and sets of verses recording his virtues and
+ambitions were freely distributed among the necessitous and low-caste
+who could not be received at the feast.
+
+The dinner itself exceeded in magnificence any similar event that
+had ever taken place in Ching-toi. So great was the polished ceremony
+observed on the occasion, that each guest had half a score of cups of
+the finest apricot-tea successively placed before him and taken away
+untasted, while Yat Huang went to each in turn protesting vehemently
+that the honour of covering such pure-minded and distinguished persons
+was more than his badly designed roof could reasonably bear, and
+wittingly giving an entrancing air of reality to the spoken compliment
+by begging them to move somewhat to one side so that they might escape
+the heavy central beam if the event which he alluded to chanced to take
+place. After several hours had been spent in this congenial occupation,
+Yat Huang proceeded to read aloud several of the sixteen discourses on
+education which, taken together, form the discriminating and infallible
+example of conduct known as the Holy Edict. As each detail was dwelt
+upon Yin arose from his couch and gave his deliberate testimony that
+all the required tests and rites had been observed in his own case.
+The first part of the repast was then partaken of, the nature of the
+ingredients and the manner of preparing them being fully explained,
+and in a like manner through each succeeding one of the four-and-forty
+courses. At the conclusion Yin again arose, being encouraged by the
+repeated uttering of his name by those present, and with extreme modesty
+and brilliance set forth his manner of thinking concerning all subjects
+with which he was acquainted.
+
+Early on the morning of the following day Yin set out on his travels,
+entirely unaccompanied, and carrying with him nothing beyond a sum of
+money, a silk robe, and a well-tried and reliable spear. For many days
+he journeyed in a northerly direction, without encountering anything
+sufficiently unusual to engage his attention. This, however, was
+doubtless part of a pre-arranged scheme so that he should not be drawn
+from a destined path, for at a small village lying on the southern shore
+of a large lake, called by those around Silent Water, he heard of the
+existence of a certain sacred island, distant a full day's sailing,
+which was barren of all forms of living things, and contained only a
+single gigantic rock of divine origin and majestic appearance. Many
+persons, the villagers asserted, had sailed to the island in the hope
+of learning the portent of the rock, but none ever returned, and they
+themselves avoided coming even within sight of it; for the sacred stone,
+they declared, exercised an evil influence over their ships, and would,
+if permitted, draw them out of their course and towards itself. For this
+reason Yin could find no guide, whatever reward he offered, who would
+accompany him; but having with difficulty succeeded in hiring a small
+boat of inconsiderable value, he embarked with food, incense, and
+materials for building fires, and after rowing consistently for nearly
+the whole of the day, came within sight of the island at evening.
+Thereafter the necessity of further exertion ceased, for, as they of the
+village had declared would be the case, the vessel moved gently forward,
+in an unswerving line, without being in any way propelled, and reaching
+its destination in a marvellously short space of time, passed behind a
+protecting spur of land and came to rest. It then being night, Yin did
+no more than carry his stores to a place of safety, and after lighting
+a sacrificial fire and prostrating himself before the rock, passed into
+the Middle Air.
+
+In the morning Yin's spirit came back to the earth amid the sound of
+music of a celestial origin, which ceased immediately he recovered full
+consciousness. Accepting this manifestation as an omen of Divine favour,
+Yin journeyed towards the centre of the island where the rock stood,
+at every step passing the bones of innumerable ones who had come on a
+similar quest to his, and perished. Many of these had left behind them
+inscriptions on wood or bone testifying their deliberate opinion of the
+sacred rock, the island, their protecting deities, and the entire train
+of circumstances, which had resulted in their being in such a condition.
+These were for the most part of a maledictory and unencouraging nature,
+so that after reading a few, Yin endeavoured to pass without being in
+any degree influenced by such ill-judged outbursts.
+
+"Accursed be the ancestors of this tormented one to four generations
+back!" was prominently traced upon an unusually large shoulder-blade.
+"May they at this moment be simmering in a vat of unrefined dragon's
+blood, as a reward for having so undiscriminatingly reared the person
+who inscribes these words only to attain this end!" "Be warned, O later
+one, by the signs around!" Another and more practical-minded person had
+written: "Retreat with all haste to your vessel, and escape while
+there is yet time. Should you, by chance, again reach land through this
+warning, do not neglect, out of an emotion of gratitude, to burn an
+appropriate amount of sacrifice paper for the lessening of the torments
+of the spirit of Li-Kao," to which an unscrupulous one, who was plainly
+desirous of sharing in the benefit of the requested sacrifice, without
+suffering the exertion of inscribing a warning after the amiable manner
+of Li-Kao, had added the words, "and that of Huan Sin."
+
+Halting at a convenient distance from one side of the rock which,
+without being carved by any person's hand, naturally resembled the
+symmetrical countenance of a recumbent dragon (which he therefore
+conjectured to be the chief point of the entire mass), Yin built
+his fire and began an unremitting course of sacrifice and respectful
+ceremony. This manner of conduct he observed conscientiously for
+the space of seven days. Towards the end of that period a feeling of
+unendurable dejection began to possess him, for his stores of all kinds
+were beginning to fail, and he could not entirely put behind him the
+memory of the various well-intentioned warnings which he had received,
+or the sight of the fleshless ones who had lined his path. On the eighth
+day, being weak with hunger and, by reason of an intolerable thirst,
+unable to restrain his body any longer in the spot where he had hitherto
+continuously prostrated himself nine-and-ninety times each hour without
+ceasing, he rose to his feet and retraced his steps to the boat in order
+that he might fill his water-skins and procure a further supply of food.
+
+With a complicated emotion, in which was present every abandoned and
+disagreeable thought to which a person becomes a prey in moments of
+exceptional mental and bodily anguish, he perceived as soon as
+he reached the edge of the water that the boat, upon which he was
+confidently relying to carry him back when all else failed, had
+disappeared as entirely as the smoke from an extinguished opium pipe.
+At this sight Yin clearly understood the meaning of Li-Kao's unregarded
+warning, and recognized that nothing could now save him from adding his
+incorruptible parts to those of the unfortunate ones whose unhappy
+fate had, seven days ago, engaged his refined pity. Unaccountably
+strengthened in body by the indignation which possessed him, and
+inspired with a virtuous repulsion at the treacherous manner of behaving
+on the part of those who guided his destinies, he hastened back to
+his place of obeisance, and perceiving that the habitually placid and
+introspective expression on the dragon face had imperceptibly changed
+into one of offensive cunning and unconcealed contempt, he snatched up
+his spear and, without the consideration of a moment, hurled it at
+a score of paces distance full into the sacred but nevertheless very
+unprepossessing face before him.
+
+At the instant when the presumptuous weapon touched the holy stone the
+entire intervening space between the earth and the sky was filled with
+innumerable flashes of forked and many-tongued lightning, so that the
+island had the appearance of being the scene of a very extensive but
+somewhat badly-arranged display of costly fireworks. At the same
+time the thunder rolled among the clouds and beneath the sea in an
+exceedingly disconcerting manner. At the first indication of these
+celestial movements a sudden blindness came upon Yin, and all power of
+thought or movement forsook him; nevertheless, he experienced an emotion
+of flight through the air, as though borne upwards upon the back of a
+winged creature. When this emotion ceased, the blindness went from him
+as suddenly and entirely as if a cloth had been pulled away from his
+eyes, and he perceived that he was held in the midst of a boundless
+space, with no other object in view than the sacred rock, which had
+opened, as it were, revealing a mighty throng within, at the sight of
+whom Yin's internal organs trembled as they would never have moved at
+ordinary danger, for it was put into his spirit that these in whose
+presence he stood were the sacred Emperors of his country from the
+earliest time until the usurpation of the Chinese throne by the
+devouring Tartar hordes from the North.
+
+As Yin gazed in fear-stricken amazement, a knowledge of the various Pure
+Ones who composed the assembly came upon him. He understood that the
+three unclad and commanding figures which stood together were the
+Emperors of the Heaven, Earth, and Man, whose reigns covered a space of
+more than eighty thousand years, commencing from the time when the world
+began its span of existence. Next to them stood one wearing a robe of
+leopard-skin, his hand resting upon a staff of a massive club, while on
+his face the expression of tranquillity which marked his predecessors
+had changed into one of alert wakefulness; it was the Emperor of Houses,
+whose reign marked the opening of the never-ending strife between man
+and all other creatures. By his side stood his successor, the Emperor of
+Fire, holding in his right hand the emblem of the knotted cord, by which
+he taught man to cultivate his mental faculties, while from his mouth
+issued smoke and flame, signifying that by the introduction of fire he
+had raised his subjects to a state of civilized life.
+
+On the other side of the boundless chamber which seemed to be contained
+within the rocks were Fou-Hy, Tchang-Ki, Tcheng-Nung, and Huang,
+standing or reclining together. The first of these framed the calendar,
+organized property, thought out the eight Essential Diagrams, encouraged
+the various branches of hunting, and the rearing of domestic animals,
+and instituted marriage. From his couch floated melodious sounds
+in remembrance of his discovery of the property of stringed woods.
+Tchang-Ki, who manifested the property of herbs and growing plants, wore
+a robe signifying his attainments by means of embroidered symbols.
+His hand rested on the head of the dragon, while at his feet flowed a
+bottomless canal of the purest water. The discovery of written letters
+by Tcheng-Nung, and his ingenious plan of grouping them after the manner
+of the constellations of stars, was emblemized in a similar manner,
+while Huang, or the Yellow Emperor, was surrounded by ores of the
+useful and precious metals, weapons of warfare, written books, silks
+and articles of attire, coined money, and a variety of objects, all
+testifying to his ingenuity and inspired energy.
+
+These illustrious ones, being the greatest, were the first to take
+Yin's attention, but beyond them he beheld an innumerable concourse of
+Emperors who not infrequently outshone their majestic predecessors in
+the richness of their apparel and the magnificence of the jewels which
+they wore. There Yin perceived Hung-Hoang, who first caused the chants
+to be collected, and other rulers of the Tcheon dynasty; Yong-Tching,
+who compiled the Holy Edict; Thang rulers whose line is rightly called
+"the golden," from the unsurpassed excellence of the composed verses
+which it produced; renowned Emperors of the versatile Han dynasty; and,
+standing apart, and shunned by all, the malignant and narrow-minded
+Tsing-Su-Hoang, who caused the Sacred Books to be burned.
+
+Even while Yin looked and wondered, in great fear, a rolling voice,
+coming from one who sat in the midst of all, holding in his right hand
+the sun, and in his left the moon, sounded forth, like the music of many
+brass instruments playing in unison. It was the First Man who spoke.
+
+"Yin, son of Yat Huang, and creature of the Lower Part," he said,
+"listen well to the words I speak, for brief is the span of your
+tarrying in the Upper Air, nor will the utterance I now give forth ever
+come unto your ears again, either on the earth, or when, blindly groping
+in the Middle Distance, your spirit takes its nightly flight. They who
+are gathered around, and whose voices I speak, bid me say this: Although
+immeasurably above you in all matters, both of knowledge and of power,
+yet we greet you as one who is well-intentioned, and inspired with
+honourable ambition. Had you been content to entreat and despair, as did
+all the feeble and incapable ones whose white bones formed your pathway,
+your ultimate fate would have in no wise differed from theirs. But
+inasmuch as you held yourself valiantly, and, being taken, raised an
+instinctive hand in return, you have been chosen; for the day to mute
+submission has, for the time or for ever, passed away, and the hour is
+when China shall be saved, not by supplication, but by the spear."
+
+"A state of things which would have been highly unnecessary if I had
+been permitted to carry out my intention fully, and restore man to his
+prehistoric simplicity," interrupted Tsin-Su-Hoang. "For that reason,
+when the voice of the assemblage expresses itself, it must be understood
+that it represents in no measure the views of Tsin-Su-Hoang."
+
+"In the matter of what has gone before, and that which will follow
+hereafter," continued the Voice dispassionately, "Yin, the son
+of Yat-Huang, must concede that it is in no part the utterance of
+Tsin-Su-Hoang--Tsin-Su-Hoang who burned the Sacred Books."
+
+At the mention of the name and offence of this degraded being a great
+sound went up from the entire multitude--a universal cry of execration,
+not greatly dissimilar from that which may be frequently heard in the
+crowded Temple of Impartiality when the one whose duty it is to take up,
+at a venture, the folded papers, announces that the sublime Emperor,
+or some mandarin of exalted rank, has been so fortunate as to hold
+the winning number in the Annual State Lottery. So vengeance-laden and
+mournful was the combined and evidently preconcerted wail, that Yin
+was compelled to shield his ears against it; yet the inconsiderable
+Tsin-Su-Hoang, on whose account it was raised, seemed in no degree to
+be affected by it, he, doubtless, having become hardened by hearing
+a similar outburst, at fixed hours, throughout interminable cycles of
+time.
+
+When the last echo of the cry had passed away the Voice continued to
+speak.
+
+"Soon the earth will again receive you, Yin," it said, "for it is not
+respectful that a lower one should be long permitted to gaze upon our
+exalted faces. Yet when you go forth and stand once more among men this
+is laid on you: that henceforth you are as a being devoted to a fixed
+and unchanging end, and whatever moves towards the restoring of the
+throne of the Central Empire the outcast but unalterably sacred line of
+its true sovereigns shall have your arm and mind. By what combination
+of force and stratagem this can be accomplished may not be honourably
+revealed by us, the all-knowing. Nevertheless, omens and guidance shall
+not be lacking from time to time, and from the beginning the weapon by
+which you have attained to this distinction shall be as a sign of our
+favour and protection over you."
+
+When the Voice made an end of speaking the sudden blindness came upon
+Yin, as it had done before, and from the sense of motion which he
+experienced, he conjectured that he was being conveyed back to the
+island. Undoubtedly this was the case, for presently there came upon him
+the feeling that he was awakening from a deep and refreshing sleep,
+and opening his eyes, which he now found himself able to do without
+any difficulty, he immediately discovered that he was reclining at full
+length on the ground, and at a distance of about a score of paces from
+the dragon head. His first thought was to engage in a lengthy course
+of self-abasement before it, but remembering the words which had been
+spoken to him while in the Upper Air, he refrained, and even ventured to
+go forward with a confident but somewhat self-deprecatory air, to
+regain the spear, which he perceived lying at the foot of the rock. With
+feelings of a reassuring nature he then saw that the very undesirable
+expression which he had last beheld upon the dragon face had melted into
+one of encouraging urbanity and benignant esteem.
+
+Close by the place where he had landed he discovered his boat, newly
+furnished with wine and food of a much more attractive profusion than
+that which he had purchased in the village. Embarking in it, he made as
+though he would have returned to the south, but the spear which he held
+turned within his grasp, and pointed in an exactly opposite direction.
+Regarding this fact as an express command on the part of the Deities,
+Yin turned his boat to the north, and in the space of two days'
+time--being continually guided by the fixed indication of the spear--he
+reached the shore and prepared to continue his travels in the same
+direction, upheld and inspired by the knowledge that henceforth he moved
+under the direct influence of very powerful spirits.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX. THE ILL-REGULATED DESTINY OF KIN YEN, THE PICTURE-MAKER
+
+  As recorded by himself before his sudden departure from Peking,
+  owing to circumstances which are made plain in the following
+  narrative.
+
+There are moments in the life of a person when the saying of the wise
+Ni-Hyu that "Misfortune comes to all men and to most women" is endowed
+with double force. At such times the faithful child of the Sun is a prey
+to the whitest and most funereal thoughts, and even the inspired
+wisdom of his illustrious ancestors seems more than doubtful, while the
+continued inactivity of the Sacred Dragon appears for the time to give
+colour to the scoffs of the Western barbarian. A little while ago these
+misgivings would have found no resting-place in the bosom of the writer.
+Now, however--but the matter must be made clear from the beginning.
+
+The name of the despicable person who here sets forth his immature story
+is Kin Yen, and he is a native of Kia-Lu in the Province of Che-Kiang.
+Having purchased from a very aged man the position of Hereditary
+Instructor in the Art of Drawing Birds and Flowers, he gave lessons in
+these accomplishments until he had saved sufficient money to journey
+to Peking. Here it was his presumptuous intention to learn the art of
+drawing figures in order that he might illustrate printed leaves of
+a more distinguished class than those which would accept what true
+politeness compels him to call his exceedingly unsymmetrical pictures
+of birds and flowers. Accordingly, when the time arrived, he disposed of
+his Hereditary Instructorship, having first ascertained in the interests
+of his pupils that his successor was a person of refined morals and
+great filial piety.
+
+Alas! it is well written, "The road to eminence lies through the cheap
+and exceedingly uninviting eating-houses." In spite of this person's
+great economy, and of his having begged his way from Kia-Lu to Peking in
+the guise of a pilgrim, journeying to burn incense in the sacred Temple
+of Truth near that city, when once within the latter place his taels
+melted away like the smile of a person of low class when he discovers
+that the mandarin's stern words were not intended as a jest. Moreover,
+he found that the story-makers of Peking, receiving higher rewards
+than those at Kia-Lu, considered themselves bound to introduce living
+characters into all their tales, and in consequence the very ornamental
+drawings of birds and flowers which he had entwined into a legend
+entitled "The Last Fight of the Heaven-sent Tcheng"--a story which
+had been entrusted to him for illustration as a test of his skill--was
+returned to him with a communication in which the writer revealed his
+real meaning by stating contrary facts. It therefore became necessary
+that he should become competent in the art of drawing figures without
+delay, and with this object he called at the picture-room of Tieng Lin,
+a person whose experience was so great that he could, without discomfort
+to himself, draw men and women of all classes, both good and bad. When
+the person who is setting forth this narrative revealed to Tieng Lin the
+utmost amount of money he could afford to give for instruction in the
+art of drawing living figures, Tieng Lin's face became as overcast as
+the sky immediately before the Great Rains, for in his ignorance of
+this incapable person's poverty he had treated him with equality and
+courtesy, nor had he kept him waiting in the mean room on the plea that
+he was at that moment closeted with the Sacred Emperor. However, upon
+receiving an assurance that a rumour would be spread in which the number
+of taels should be multiplied by ten, and that the sum itself should be
+brought in advance, Tieng Lin promised to instruct this person in the
+art of drawing five characters, which, he said, would be sufficient
+to illustrate all stories except those by the most expensive and
+highly-rewarded story-tellers--men who have become so proficient that
+they not infrequently introduce a score or more of living persons into
+their tales without confusion.
+
+After considerable deliberation, this unassuming person selected the
+following characters, judging them to be the most useful, and the most
+readily applicable to all phases and situations of life:
+
+1. A bad person, wearing a long dark pigtail and smoking an opium pipe.
+His arms to be folded, and his clothes new and very expensive.
+
+2. A woman of low class. One who removes dust and useless things from
+the rooms of the over-fastidious and of those who have long nails; she
+to be carrying her trade-signs.
+
+3. A person from Pe-ling, endowed with qualities which cause the
+beholder to be amused. This character to be especially designed to go
+with the short sayings which remove gravity.
+
+4. One who, having incurred the displeasure of the sublime Emperor, has
+been decapitated in consequence.
+
+5. An ordinary person of no striking or distinguished appearance. One
+who can be safely introduced in all places and circumstances without
+great fear of detection.
+
+After many months spent in constant practice and in taking measurements,
+this unenviable person attained a very high degree of proficiency, and
+could draw any of the five characters without hesitation. With renewed
+hope, therefore, he again approached those who sit in easy-chairs, and
+concealing his identity (for they are stiff at bending, and when once
+a picture-maker is classed as "of no good" he remains so to the end, in
+spite of change), he succeeded in getting entrusted with a story by
+the elegant and refined Kyen Tal. This writer, as he remembered with
+distrust, confines his distinguished efforts entirely to the doings of
+sailors and of those connected with the sea, and this tale, indeed, he
+found upon reading to be the narrative of how a Hang-Chow junk and its
+crew, consisting mostly of aged persons, were beguiled out of their
+course by an exceedingly ill-disposed dragon, and wrecked upon an island
+of naked barbarians. It was, therefore, with a somewhat heavy stomach
+that this person set himself the task of arranging his five characters
+as so to illustrate the words of the story.
+
+The sayings of the ancient philosopher Tai Loo are indeed very subtle,
+and the truth of his remark, "After being disturbed in one's dignity by
+a mandarin's foot it is no unusual occurrence to fall flat on the
+face in crossing a muddy street," was now apparent. Great as was the
+disadvantage owing to the nature of the five characters, this became as
+nothing when it presently appeared that the avaricious and clay-souled
+Tieng Lin, taking advantage of the blindness of this person's
+enthusiasm, had taught him the figures so that they all gazed in the
+same direction. In consequence of this it would have been impossible
+that two should be placed as in the act of conversing together had not
+the noble Kyen Tal been inspired to write that "his companions turned
+from him in horror." This incident the ingenious person who is recording
+these facts made the subject of three separate drawings, and having
+in one or two other places effected skilful changes in the writing, so
+similar in style to the strokes of the illustrious Kyen Tal as to
+be undetectable, he found little difficulty in making use of all his
+characters. The risks of the future, however, were too great to be run
+with impunity; therefore it was arranged, by means of money--for this
+person was fast becoming acquainted with the ways of Peking--that an
+emissary from one who sat in an easy-chair should call upon him for a
+conference, the narrative of which appeared in this form in the Peking
+Printed Leaves of Thrice-distilled Truth:
+
+  The brilliant and amiable young picture-maker Kin Yen, in spite of
+  the immediate and universal success of his accomplished efforts,
+  is still quite rotund in intellect, nor is he, if we may use a
+  form of speaking affected by our friends across the Hoang Hai,
+  "suffering from swollen feet." A person with no recognized
+  position, but one who occasionally does inferior work of this
+  nature for us, recently surprised Kin Yen without warning, and
+  found him in his sumptuously appointed picture-room, busy with
+  compasses and tracing-paper. About the place were scattered in
+  elegant confusion several of his recent masterpieces. From the
+  subsequent conversation we are in a position to make it known that
+  in future this refined and versatile person will confine himself
+  entirely to illustrations of processions, funerals, armies on the
+  march, persons pursued by others, and kindred subjects which
+  appeal strongly to his imagination. Kin Yen has severe emotions on
+  the subject of individuality in art, and does not hesitate to
+  express himself forcibly with reference to those who are content
+  to degrade the names of their ancestors by turning out what he
+  wittily describes as "so much of varied mediocrity."
+
+The prominence obtained by this pleasantly-composed notice--for it was
+copied by others who were unaware of the circumstance of its origin--had
+the desired effect. In future, when one of those who sit in easy-chairs
+wished for a picture after the kind mentioned, he would say to his
+lesser one: "Oh, send to the graceful and versatile Kin Yen; he becomes
+inspired on the subject of funerals," or persons escaping from prison,
+or families walking to the temple, or whatever it might be. In that way
+this narrow-minded and illiterate person was soon both looked at and
+rich, so that it was his daily practice to be carried, in silk garments,
+past the houses of those who had known him in poverty, and on these
+occasions he would puff out his cheeks and pull his moustaches, looking
+fiercely from side to side.
+
+True are the words written in the elegant and distinguished Book of
+Verses: "Beware lest when being kissed by the all-seeing Emperor, you
+step upon the elusive banana-peel." It was at the height of eminence in
+this altogether degraded person's career that he encountered the being
+who led him on to his present altogether too lamentable condition.
+
+Tien Nung is the earthly name by which is known she who combines all the
+most illustrious attributes which have been possessed of women since the
+days of the divine Fou-Hy. Her father is a person of very gross habits,
+and lives by selling inferior merchandise covered with some of good
+quality. Upon past occasions, when under the direct influence of Tien,
+and in the hope of gaining some money benefit, this person may have
+spoken of him in terms of praise, and may even have recommended friends
+to entrust articles of value to him, or to procure goods on his advice.
+Now, however, he records it as his unalterable decision that the father
+of Tien Nung is by profession a person who obtains goods by stratagem,
+and that, moreover, it is impossible to gain an advantage over him on
+matters of exchange.
+
+The events that have happened prove the deep wisdom of Li Pen when
+he exclaimed "The whitest of pigeons, no matter how excellent in the
+silk-hung chamber, is not to be followed on the field of battle." Tien
+herself was all that the most exacting of persons could demand, but
+her opinions on the subject of picture-making were not formed by heavy
+thought, and it would have been well if this had been borne in mind by
+this person. One morning he chanced to meet her while carrying open in
+his hands four sets of printed leaves containing his pictures.
+
+"I have observed," said Tien, after the usual personal inquiries had
+been exchanged, "that the renowned Kin Yen, who is the object of the
+keenest envy among his brother picture-makers, so little regards the
+sacredness of his accomplished art that never by any chance does he
+depict persons of the very highest excellence. Let not the words of an
+impetuous maiden disarrange his digestive organs if they should seem
+too bold to the high-souled Kin Yen, but this matter has, since she has
+known him, troubled the eyelids of Tien. Here," she continued, taking
+from this person's hand one of the printed leaves which he was carrying,
+"in this illustration of persons returning from extinguishing a fire,
+is there one who appears to possess those qualities which appeal to
+all that is intellectual and competitive within one? Can it be that the
+immaculate Kin Yen is unacquainted with the subtle distinction between
+the really select and the vastly ordinary? Ah, undiscriminating Kin Yen!
+are not the eyelashes of the person who is addressing you as threads
+of fine gold to junk's cables when compared with those of the extremely
+commonplace female who is here pictured in the art of carrying a bucket?
+Can the most refined lack of vanity hide from you the fact that your own
+person is infinitely rounder than this of the evilly-intentioned-looking
+individual with the opium pipe? O blind Kin Yen!"
+
+Here she fled in honourable confusion, leaving this person standing in
+the street, astounded, and a prey to the most distinguished emotions of
+a complicated nature.
+
+"Oh, Tien," he cried at length, "inspired by those bright eyes, narrower
+than the most select of the three thousand and one possessed by the
+sublime Buddha, the almost fallen Kin Yen will yet prove himself worthy
+of your esteemed consideration. He will, without delay, learn to draw
+two new living persons, and will incorporate in them the likenesses
+which you have suggested."
+
+Returning swiftly to his abode, he therefore inscribed and despatched
+this letter, in proof of his resolve:
+
+"To the Heaven-sent human chrysanthemum, in whose body reside the
+Celestial Principles and the imprisoned colours of the rainbow.
+
+"From the very offensive and self-opinionated picture-maker.
+
+"Henceforth this person will take no rest, nor eat any but the commonest
+food, until he shall have carried out the wishes of his one Jade Star,
+she whose teeth he is not worthy to blacken.
+
+"When Kin Yen has been entrusted with a story which contains a being in
+some degree reflecting the character of Tien, he will embellish it with
+her irreproachable profile and come to hear her words. Till then he bids
+her farewell."
+
+From that moment most of this person's time was necessarily spent in
+learning to draw the two new characters, and in consequence of this he
+lost much work, and, indeed, the greater part of the connexion which
+he had been at such pains to form gradually slipped away from him. Many
+months passed before he was competent to reproduce persons resembling
+Tien and himself, for in this he was unassisted by Tieng Lin, and his
+progress was slow.
+
+At length, being satisfied, he called upon the least fierce of those
+who sit in easy-chairs, and requested that he might be entrusted with a
+story for picture-making.
+
+"We should have been covered with honourable joy to set in operation
+the brush of the inspired Kin Yen," replied the other with agreeable
+condescension; "only at the moment, it does not chance that we have
+before us any stories in which funerals, or beggars being driven from
+the city, form the chief incidents. Perhaps if the polished Kin Yen
+should happen to be passing this ill-constructed office in about six
+months' time--"
+
+"The brush of Kin Yen will never again depict funerals, or labourers
+arranging themselves to receive pay or similar subjects," exclaimed this
+person impetuously, "for, as it is well said, 'The lightning discovers
+objects which the paper-lantern fails to reveal.' In future none
+but tales dealing with the most distinguished persons shall have his
+attention."
+
+"If this be the true word of the dignified Kin Yen, it is possible that
+we may be able to animate his inspired faculties," was the response.
+"But in that case, as a new style must be in the nature of an
+experiment, and as our public has come to regard Kin Yen as the
+great exponent of Art Facing in One Direction, we cannot continue the
+exceedingly liberal payment with which we have been accustomed to reward
+his elegant exertions."
+
+"Provided the story be suitable, that is a matter of less importance,"
+replied this person.
+
+"The story," said the one in the easy-chair, "is by the refined
+Tong-king, and it treats of the high-minded and conscientious doubts
+of one who would become a priest of Fo. When preparing for this
+distinguished office he discovers within himself leanings towards
+the religion of Lao-Tse. His illustrious scruples are enhanced by his
+affection for Wu Ping, who now appears in the story."
+
+"And the ending?" inquired this person, for it was desirable that the
+two should marry happily.
+
+"The inimitable stories of Tong-king never have any real ending, and
+this one, being in his most elevated style, has even less end than
+most of them. But the whole narrative is permeated with the odour of
+joss-sticks and honourable high-mindedness, and the two characters are
+both of noble birth."
+
+As it might be some time before another story so suitable should be
+offered, or one which would afford so good an opportunity of wafting
+incense to Tien, and of displaying her incomparable outline in dignified
+and magnanimous attitudes, this was eagerly accepted, and for the next
+week this obscure person spent all his days and nights in picturing the
+lovely Tien and his debased self in the characters of the nobly-born
+young priest of Fo and Wu Ping. The pictures finished, he caused them to
+be carefully conveyed to the office, and then, sitting down, spent
+many hours in composing the following letter, to be sent to Tien,
+accompanying a copy of the printed leaves wherein the story and his
+drawing should appear:
+
+"When the light has for a period been hidden from a person, it is
+no uncommon thing for him to be struck blind on gazing at the sun;
+therefore, if the sublime Tien values the eyes of Kin Yen, let her hide
+herself behind a gauze screen on his approach.
+
+"The trembling words of Tien have sunk deep into the inside of Kin Yen
+and become part of his being. Never again can he depict persons of the
+quality and in the position he was wont to do.
+
+"With this he sends his latest efforts. In each case he conceives his
+drawings to be the pictures of the written words; in the noble Tien's
+case it is undoubtedly so, in his own he aspires to it. Doubtless the
+unobtrusive Tien would make no claim to the character and manner of
+behaving of the one in the story, yet Kin Yen confidently asserts that
+she is to the other as the glove is to the hand, and he is filled with
+the most intelligent delight at being able to exhibit her in her true
+robes, by which she will be known to all who see her, in spite of her
+dignified protests. Kin Yen hopes; he will come this evening after
+sunset."
+
+The week which passed between the finishing of the pictures and the
+appearance of the eminent printed leaves containing them was the longest
+in this near-sighted person's ill-spent life. But at length the day
+arrived, and going with exceedingly mean haste to the place of sale, he
+purchased a copy and sent it, together with the letter of his honourable
+intention, on which he had bestowed so much care, to Tien.
+
+Not till then did it occur to this inconsiderable one that the
+impetuousness of his action was ill-judged; for might it not be that the
+pictures were evilly-printed, or that the delicate and fragrant words
+painting the character of the one who now bore the features of Tien had
+undergone some change?
+
+To satisfy himself, scarce as taels had become with him, he purchased
+another copy.
+
+There are many exalted sayings of the wise and venerable Confucious
+constructed so as to be of service and consolation in moments of strong
+mental distress. These for the greater part recommend tranquillity
+of mind, a complete abnegation of the human passions and the
+like behaviour. The person who is here endeavouring to bring this
+badly-constructed account of his dishonourable career to a close
+pondered these for some moments after twice glancing through the matter
+in the printed leaves, and then, finding the faculties of speech and
+movement restored to him, procured a two-edged knife of distinguished
+brilliance and went forth to call upon the one who sits in an
+easy-chair.
+
+"Behold," said the lesser one, insidiously stepping in between this
+person an the inner door, "my intellectual and all-knowing chief is not
+here to-day. May his entirely insufficient substitute offer words of
+congratulation to the inspired Kin Yen on his effective and striking
+pictures in this week's issue?"
+
+"His altogether insufficient substitute," answered this person, with
+difficulty mastering his great rage, "may and shall offer words of
+explanation to the inspired Kin Yen, setting forth the reason of his
+pictures being used, not with the high-minded story of the elegant
+Tong-king for which they were executed, but accompanying exceedingly
+base, foolish, and ungrammatical words written by Klan-hi, the Peking
+remover of gravity--words which will evermore brand the dew-like Tien
+as a person of light speech and no refinement"; and in his agony this
+person struck the lacquered table several times with his elegant knife.
+
+"O Kin Yen," exclaimed the lesser one, "this matter rests not here. It
+is a thing beyond the sphere of the individual who is addressing you.
+All he can tell is that the graceful Tong-king withdrew his exceedingly
+tedious story for some reason at the final moment, and as your eminent
+drawings had been paid for, my chief of the inner office decided to use
+them with this story of Klan-hi. But surely it cannot be that there is
+aught in the story to displease your illustrious personality?"
+
+"Judge for yourself," this person said, "first understanding that the
+two immaculate characters figuring as the personages of the narrative
+are exact copies of this dishonoured person himself and of the willowy
+Tien, daughter of the vastly rich Pe-li-Chen, whom he was hopeful of
+marrying."
+
+Selecting one of the least offensive of the passages in the work, this
+unhappy person read the following immature and inelegant words:
+
+"This well-satisfied writer of printed leaves had a highly-distinguished
+time last night. After Chow had departed to see about food, and the junk
+had been fastened up at the lock of Kilung, on the Yang-tse-Kiang, he
+and the round-bodied Shang were journeying along the narrow path by the
+river-side when the right leg of the graceful and popular person who
+is narrating these events disappeared into the river. Suffering no
+apprehension in the dark, but that the vanishing limb was the left leg
+of Shang, this intelligent writer allowed his impassiveness to melt away
+to an exaggerated degree; but at that moment the circumstance became
+plain to the round-bodied Shang, who was in consequence very grossly
+amused at the mishap and misapprehension of your good lord, the writer,
+at the same time pointing out the matter as it really was. Then it
+chanced that there came by one of the maidens who carry tea and jest for
+small sums of money to the sitters at the little tables with round white
+tops, at which this remarkable person, the confidant of many mandarins,
+ever desirous of displaying his priceless power of removing gravity,
+said to her:
+
+"'How much of gladness, Ning-Ning? By the Sacred Serpent this is plainly
+your night out.'
+
+"Perceiving the true facts of the predicament of this commendable
+writer, she replied:
+
+"'Suffer not your illustrious pigtail to be removed, venerable Wang; for
+in this maiden's estimation it is indeed your night in.'
+
+"There are times when this valued person wonders whether his method
+of removing gravity be in reality very antique or quite new. On such
+occasions the world, with all its schools, and those who interfere in
+the concerns of others, continues to revolve around him. The wondrous
+sky-lanterns come out silently two by two like to the crystallized music
+of stringed woods. Then, in the mystery of no-noise, his head becomes
+greatly enlarged with celestial and highly-profound thoughts; his
+groping hand seems to touch matter which may be written out in his
+impressive style and sold to those who print leaves, and he goes home to
+write out such."
+
+When this person looked up after reading, with tears of shame in his
+eyes, he perceived that the lesser one had cautiously disappeared.
+Therefore, being unable to gain admittance to the inner office, he
+returned to his home.
+
+Here the remark of the omniscient Tai Loo again fixes itself upon the
+attention. No sooner had this incapable person reached his house than he
+became aware that a parcel had arrived for him from the still adorable
+Tien. Retiring to a distance from it, he opened the accompanying letter
+and read:
+
+"When a virtuous maiden has been made the victim of a heartless jest or
+a piece of coarse stupidity at a person's hands, it is no uncommon thing
+for him to be struck blind on meeting her father. Therefore, if the
+degraded and evil-minded Kin Yen values his eyes, ears, nose, pigtail,
+even his dishonourable breath, let him hide himself behind a fortified
+wall at Pe-li-Chen's approach.
+
+"With this Tien returns everything she has ever accepted from Kin Yen.
+She even includes the brace of puppies which she received anonymously
+about a month ago, and which she did not eat, but kept for reasons of
+her own--reasons entirely unconnected with the vapid and exceedingly
+conceited Kin Yen."
+
+As though this letter, and the puppies of which this person now heard
+for the first time, making him aware of the existence of a rival lover,
+were not enough, there almost immediately arrived a letter from Tien's
+father:
+
+"This person has taken the advice of those skilled in extorting money by
+means of law forms, and he finds that Kin Yen has been guilty of a grave
+and highly expensive act. This is increased by the fact that Tien had
+conveyed his seemingly distinguished intentions to all her friends,
+before whom she now stands in an exceedingly ungraceful attitude. The
+machinery for depriving Kin Yen of all the necessaries of existence
+shall be put into operation at once."
+
+At this point, the person who is now concluding his obscure and
+commonplace history, having spent his last piece of money on joss-sticks
+and incense-paper, and being convinced of the presence of the spirits of
+his ancestors, is inspired to make the following prophecies: That Tieng
+Lin, who imposed upon him in the matter of picture-making, shall come
+to a sudden end, accompanied by great internal pains, after suffering
+extreme poverty; that the one who sits in an easy-chair, together with
+his lesser one and all who make stories for them, shall, while sailing
+to a rice feast during the Festival of Flowers, be precipitated into the
+water and slowly devoured by sea monsters, Klan-hi in particular being
+tortured in the process; that Pel-li-Chen, the father of Tien, shall
+be seized with the dancing sickness when in the presence of the august
+Emperor, and being in consequence suspected of treachery, shall, to
+prove the truth of his denials, be submitted to the tests of boiling
+tar, red-hot swords, and of being dropped from a great height on to the
+Sacred Stone of Goodness and Badness, in each of which he shall fail to
+convince his judges or to establish his innocence, to the amusement of
+all beholders.
+
+These are the true words of Kin Yen, the picture-maker, who, having
+unweighed his mind and exposed the avaricious villainy of certain
+persons, is now retiring by night to a very select and hidden spot in
+the Khingan Mountains.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wallet of Kai Lung, by Ernest Bramah
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Wallet of Kai Lung, by Bramah
+#1 in our series by Ernest Bramah
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+The Wallet of Kai Lung
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+by Ernest Bramah
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+October, 1997  [Etext #1076]
+[Date last updated: June 3, 2005]
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+
+THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG
+By Ernest Bramah
+
+First Published 1900 by Mr Grant Richards.
+
+Etext prepared by John Bickers.
+
+
+
+                        THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG
+
+                                  BY
+
+                            ERNEST BRAMAH
+
+
+
+  "Ho, illustrious passers-by!" says Kai Lung as he spreads out his
+  embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. "It is indeed unlikely
+  that you could condescend to stop and listen to the foolish words
+  of such an insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself.
+  Nevertheless, if you will but retard your elegant footsteps for a
+  few moments, this exceedingly unprepossessing individual will
+  endeavour to entertain you." This is a collection of Kai Lung's
+  entertaining tales, told professionally in the market places as he
+  travelled about; told sometimes to occupy and divert the minds of
+  his enemies when they were intent on torturing him.
+
+
+
+
+
+                        THE WALLET OF KAI LUNG
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I
+
+                      THE TRANSMUTATION OF LING
+
+
+                           I: INTRODUCTION
+
+The sun had dipped behind the western mountains before Kai Lung, with
+twenty li or more still between him and the city of Knei Yang, entered
+the camphor-laurel forest which stretched almost to his destination.
+No person of consequence ever made the journey unattended; but Kai
+Lung professed to have no fear, remarking with extempore wisdom, when
+warned at the previous village, that a worthless garment covered one
+with better protection than that afforded by an army of bowmen.
+Nevertheless, when within the gloomy aisles, Kai Lung more than once
+wished himself back at the village, or safely behind the mud walls of
+Knei Yang; and, making many vows concerning the amount of prayer-paper
+which he would assuredly burn when he was actually through the gates,
+he stepped out more quickly, until suddenly, at a turn in the glade,
+he stopped altogether, while the watchful expression into which he had
+unguardedly dropped at once changed into a mask of impassiveness and
+extreme unconcern. From behind the next tree projected a long straight
+rod, not unlike a slender bamboo at a distance, but, to Kai Lung's
+all-seeing eye, in reality the barrel of a matchlock, which would come
+into line with his breast if he took another step. Being a prudent
+man, more accustomed to guile and subservience to destiny than to
+force, he therefore waited, spreading out his hands in proof of his
+peaceful acquiescence, and smiling cheerfully until it should please
+the owner of the weapon to step forth. This the unseen did a moment
+later, still keeping his gun in an easy and convenient attitude,
+revealing a stout body and a scarred face, which in conjunction made
+it plain to Kai Lung that he was in the power of Lin Yi, a noted
+brigand of whom he had heard much in the villages.
+
+"O illustrious person," said Kai Lung very earnestly, "this is
+evidently an unfortunate mistake. Doubtless you were expecting some
+exalted Mandarin to come and render you homage, and were preparing to
+overwhelm him with gratified confusion by escorting him yourself to
+your well-appointed abode. Indeed, I passed such a one on the road,
+very richly apparelled, who inquired of me the way to the mansion of
+the dignified and upright Lin Yi. By this time he is perhaps two or
+three li towards the east."
+
+"However distinguished a Mandarin may be, it is fitting that I should
+first attend to one whose manners and accomplishments betray him to be
+of the Royal House," replied Lin Yi, with extreme affability. "Precede
+me, therefore, to my mean and uninviting hovel, while I gain more
+honour than I can reasonably bear by following closely in your elegant
+footsteps, and guarding your Imperial person with this inadequate but
+heavily-loaded weapon."
+
+Seeing no chance of immediate escape, Kai Lung led the way, instructed
+by the brigand, along a very difficult and bewildering path, until
+they reached a cave hidden among the crags. Here Lin Yi called out
+some words in the Miaotze tongue, whereupon a follower appeared, and
+opened a gate in the stockade of prickly mimosa which guarded the
+mouth of the den. Within the enclosure a fire burned, and food was
+being prepared. At a word from the chief, the unfortunate Kai Lung
+found his hands seized and tied behind his back, while a second later
+a rough hemp rope was fixed round his neck, and the other end tied to
+an overhanging tree.
+
+Lin Yi smiled pleasantly and critically upon these preparations, and
+when they were complete dismissed his follower.
+
+"Now we can converse at our ease and without restraint," he remarked
+to Kai Lung. "It will be a distinguished privilege for a person
+occupying the important public position which you undoubtedly do; for
+myself, my instincts are so degraded and low-minded that nothing gives
+me more gratification than to dispense with ceremony."
+
+To this Kai Lung made no reply, chiefly because at that moment the
+wind swayed the tree, and compelled him to stand on his toes in order
+to escape suffocation.
+
+"It would be useless to try to conceal from a person of your inspired
+intelligence that I am indeed Lin Yi," continued the robber. "It is a
+dignified position to occupy, and one for which I am quite
+incompetent. In the sixth month of the third year ago, it chanced that
+this unworthy person, at that time engaged in commercial affairs at
+Knei Yang, became inextricably immersed in the insidious delights of
+quail-fighting. Having been entrusted with a large number of taels
+with which to purchase elephants' teeth, it suddenly occurred to him
+that if he doubled the number of taels by staking them upon an
+exceedingly powerful and agile quail, he would be able to purchase
+twice the number of teeth, and so benefit his patron to a large
+extent. This matter was clearly forced upon his notice by a dream, in
+which he perceived one whom he then understood to be the benevolent
+spirit of an ancestor in the act of stroking a particular quail, upon
+whose chances he accordingly placed all he possessed. Doubtless evil
+spirits had been employed in the matter; for, to this person's great
+astonishment, the quail in question failed in a very discreditable
+manner at the encounter. Unfortunately, this person had risked not
+only the money which had been entrusted to him, but all that he had
+himself become possessed of by some years of honourable toil and
+assiduous courtesy as a professional witness in law cases. Not
+doubting that his patron would see that he was himself greatly to
+blame in confiding so large a sum of money to a comparatively young
+man of whom he knew little, this person placed the matter before him,
+at the same time showing him that he would suffer in the eyes of the
+virtuous if he did not restore this person's savings, which but for
+the presence of the larger sum, and a generous desire to benefit his
+patron, he would never have risked in so uncertain a venture as that
+of quail-fighting. Although the facts were laid in the form of a
+dignified request instead of a demand by legal means, and the
+reasoning carefully drawn up in columns of fine parchment by a very
+illustrious writer, the reply which this person received showed him
+plainly that a wrong view had been taken of the matter, and that the
+time had arrived when it became necessary for him to make a suitable
+rejoinder by leaving the city without delay."
+
+"It was a high-minded and disinterested course to take," said Kai Lung
+with great conviction, as Lin Yi paused. "Without doubt evil will
+shortly overtake the avaricious-souled person at Knei Yang."
+
+"It has already done so," replied Lin Yi. "While passing through this
+forest in the season of Many White Vapours, the spirits of his bad
+deeds appeared to him in misleading and symmetrical shapes, and drew
+him out of the path and away from his bowmen. After suffering many
+torments, he found his way here, where, in spite of our continual
+care, he perished miserably and in great bodily pain. . . . But I
+cannot conceal from myself, in spite of your distinguished politeness,
+that I am becoming intolerably tiresome with my commonplace talk."
+
+"On the contrary," replied Kai Lung, "while listening to your voice I
+seemed to hear the beating of many gongs of the finest and most
+polished brass. I floated in the Middle Air, and for the time I even
+became unconscious of the fact that this honourable appendage, though
+fashioned, as I perceive, out of the most delicate silk, makes it
+exceedingly difficult for me to breathe."
+
+"Such a thing cannot be permitted," exclaimed Lin Yi, with some
+indignation, as with his own hands he slackened the rope and, taking
+it from Kai Lung's neck, fastened it around his ankle. "Now, in return
+for my uninviting confidences, shall not my senses be gladdened by a
+recital of the titles and honours borne by your distinguished family?
+Doubtless, at this moment many Mandarins of the highest degree are
+anxiously awaiting your arrival at Knei Yang, perhaps passing the time
+by outdoing one another in protesting the number of taels each would
+give rather than permit you to be tormented by fire-brands, or even to
+lose a single ear."
+
+"Alas!" replied Kai Lung, "never was there a truer proverb than that
+which says, 'It is a mark of insincerity of purpose to spend one's
+time in looking for the sacred Emperor in the low-class tea-shops.' Do
+Mandarins or the friends of Mandarins travel in mean garments and
+unattended? Indeed, the person who is now before you is none other
+than the outcast Kai Lung, the story-teller, one of degraded habits
+and no very distinguished or reputable ancestors. His friends are few,
+and mostly of the criminal class; his wealth is not more than some six
+or eight cash, concealed in his left sandal; and his entire stock-in-
+trade consists of a few unendurable and badly told stories, to which,
+however, it is his presumptuous intention shortly to add a dignified
+narrative of the high-born Lin Yi, setting out his domestic virtues
+and the honour which he has reflected upon his house, his valour in
+war, the destruction of his enemies, and, above all, his great
+benevolence and the protection which he extends to the poor and those
+engaged in the distinguished arts."
+
+"The absence of friends is unfortunate," said Lin Yi thoughtfully,
+after he had possessed himself of the coins indicated by Kai Lung, and
+also of a much larger amount concealed elsewhere among the story-
+teller's clothing. "My followers are mostly outlawed Miaotze, who have
+been driven from their own tribes in Yun Nan for man-eating and
+disregarding the sacred laws of hospitality. They are somewhat
+rapacious, and in this way it has become a custom that they should
+have as their own, for the purpose of exchanging for money, persons
+such as yourself, whose insatiable curiosity has led them to this
+place."
+
+"The wise and all-knowing Emperor Fohy instituted three degrees of
+attainment: Being poor, to obtain justice; being rich, to escape
+flattery; and being human, to avoid the passions," replied Kai Lung.
+"To these the practical and enlightened Kang added yet another, the
+greatest: Being lean, to yield fatness."
+
+"In such cases," observed the brigand, "the Miaotze keep an honoured
+and very venerable rite, which chiefly consists in suspending the
+offender by a pigtail from a low tree, and placing burning twigs of
+hemp-palm between his toes. To this person it seems a foolish and
+meaningless habit; but it would not be well to interfere with their
+religious observances, however trivial they may appear."
+
+"Such a course must inevitably end in great loss," suggested Kai Lung;
+"for undoubtedly there are many poor yet honourable persons who would
+leave with them a bond for a large number of taels and save the money
+with which to redeem it, rather than take part in a ceremony which is
+not according to one's own Book of Rites."
+
+"They have already suffered in that way on one or two occasions,"
+replied Lin Yi; "so that such a proposal, no matter how nobly
+intended, would not gladden their faces. Yet they are simple and
+docile persons, and would, without doubt, be moved to any feeling you
+should desire by the recital of one of your illustrious stories."
+
+"An intelligent and discriminating assemblage is more to a story-
+teller than much reward of cash from hands that conceal open mouths,"
+replied Kai Lung with great feeling. "Nothing would confer more
+pleasurable agitation upon this unworthy person than an opportunity of
+narrating his entire stock to them. If also the accomplished Lin Yi
+would bestow renown upon the occasion by his presence, no omen of good
+would be wanting."
+
+"The pleasures of the city lie far behind me," said Lin Yi, after some
+thought, "and I would cheerfully submit myself to an intellectual
+accomplishment such as you are undoubtedly capable of. But as we have
+necessity to leave this spot before the hour when the oak-leaves
+change into night-moths, one of your amiable stories will be the
+utmost we can strengthen our intellects with. Select which you will.
+In the meantime, food will be brought to refresh you after your
+benevolent exertions in conversing with a person of my vapid
+understanding. When you have partaken, or thrown it away as utterly
+unendurable, the time will have arrived, and this person, together
+with all his accomplices, will put themselves in a position to be
+subjected to all the most dignified emotions."
+
+
+                                  II
+
+"The story which I have selected for this gratifying occasion," said
+Kai Lung, when, an hour or so later, still pinioned, but released from
+the halter, he sat surrounded by the brigands, "is entitled 'Good and
+Evil,' and it is concerned with the adventures of one Ling, who bore
+the honourable name of Ho. The first, and indeed the greater, part of
+the narrative, as related by the venerable and accomplished writer of
+history Chow-Tan, is taken up by showing how Ling was assuredly
+descended from an enlightened Emperor of the race of Tsin; but as the
+no less omniscient Ta-lin-hi proves beyond doubt that the person in
+question was in no way connected with any but a line of hereditary
+ape-worshippers, who entered China from an unknown country many
+centuries ago, it would ill become this illiterate person to express
+an opinion on either side, and he will in consequence omit the first
+seventeen books of the story, and only deal with the three which refer
+to the illustrious Ling himself."
+
+
+                          THE STORY OF LING
+
+     Narrated by Kai Lung when a prisoner in the camp of Lin Yi.
+
+Ling was the youngest of three sons, and from his youth upwards proved
+to be of a mild and studious disposition. Most of his time was spent
+in reading the sacred books, and at an early age he found the worship
+of apes to be repulsive to his gentle nature, and resolved to break
+through the venerable traditions of his family by devoting his time to
+literary pursuits, and presenting himself for the public examinations
+at Canton. In this his resolution was strengthened by a rumour that an
+army of bowmen was shortly to be raised from the Province in which he
+lived, so that if he remained he would inevitably be forced into an
+occupation which was even more distasteful to him than the one he was
+leaving.
+
+Having arrived at Canton, Ling's first care was to obtain particulars
+of the examinations, which he clearly perceived, from the unusual
+activity displayed on all sides, to be near at hand. On inquiring from
+passers-by, he received very conflicting information; for the persons
+to whom he spoke were themselves entered for the competition, and
+therefore naturally misled him in order to increase their own chances
+of success. Perceiving this, Ling determined to apply at once,
+although the light was past, to a Mandarin who was concerned in the
+examinations, lest by delay he should lose his chance for the year.
+
+"It is an unfortunate event that so distinguished a person should have
+selected this day and hour on which to overwhelm us with his affable
+politeness!" exclaimed the porter at the gate of the Yamen, when Ling
+had explained his reason for going. "On such a day, in the reign of
+the virtuous Emperor Hoo Chow, a very benevolent and unassuming
+ancestor of my good lord the Mandarin was destroyed by treachery, and
+ever since his family has observed the occasion by fasting and no
+music. This person would certainly be punished with death if he
+entered the inner room from any cause."
+
+At these words, Ling, who had been simply brought up, and chiefly in
+the society of apes, was going away with many expressions of self-
+reproach at selecting such a time, when the gate-keeper called him
+back.
+
+"I am overwhelmed with confusion at the position in which I find
+myself," he remarked, after he had examined his mind for a short time.
+"I may meet with an ungraceful and objectionable death if I carry out
+your estimable instructions, but I shall certainly merit and receive a
+similar fate if I permit so renowned and versatile a person to leave
+without a fitting reception. In such matters a person can only trust
+to the intervention of good spirits; if, therefore, you will permit
+this unworthy individual to wear, while making the venture, the ring
+which he perceives upon your finger, and which he recognizes as a very
+powerful charm against evil, misunderstandings, and extortion, he will
+go without fear."
+
+Overjoyed at the amiable porter's efforts on his behalf, Ling did as
+he was desired, and the other retired. Presently the door of the Yamen
+was opened by an attendant of the house, and Ling bidden to enter. He
+was covered with astonishment to find that this person was entirely
+unacquainted with his name or purpose.
+
+"Alas!" said the attendant, when Ling had explained his object, "well
+said the renowned and inspired Ting Fo, 'When struck by a thunderbolt
+it is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise
+meaning of the omen.' At this moment my noble-minded master is engaged
+in conversation with all the most honourable and refined persons in
+Canton, while singers and dancers of a very expert and nimble order
+have been sent for. The entertainment will undoubtedly last far into
+the night, and to present myself even with the excuse of your graceful
+and delicate inquiry would certainly result in very objectionable
+consequences to this person."
+
+"It is indeed a day of unprepossessing circumstances," replied Ling,
+and after many honourable remarks concerning his own intellect and
+appearance, and those of the person to whom he was speaking, he had
+turned to leave when the other continued:
+
+"Ever since your dignified presence illumined this very ordinary
+chamber, this person has been endeavouring to bring to his mind an
+incident which occurred to him last night while he slept. Now it has
+come back to him with a diamond clearness, and he is satisfied that it
+was as follows: While he floated in the Middle Air a benevolent spirit
+in the form of an elderly and toothless vampire appeared, leading by
+the hand a young man, of elegant personality. Smiling encouragingly
+upon this person, the spirit said, 'O Fou, recipient of many favours
+from Mandarins and of innumerable taels from gratified persons whom
+you have obliged, I am, even at this moment, guiding this exceptional
+young man towards your presence; when he arrives do not hesitate, but
+do as he desires, no matter how great the danger seems or how
+inadequately you may appear to be rewarded on earth.' The vision then
+melted, but I now clearly perceive that with the exception of the
+embroidered cloak which you wear, you are the person thus indicated to
+me. Remove your cloak, therefore, in order to give the amiable spirit
+no opportunity of denying the fact, and I will advance your wishes;
+for, as the Book of Verses indicates, 'The person who patiently awaits
+a sign from the clouds for many years, and yet fails to notice the
+earthquake at his feet, is devoid of intellect.'"
+
+Convinced that he was assuredly under the especial protection of the
+Deities, and that the end of his search was in view, Ling gave his
+rich cloak to the attendant, and was immediately shown into another
+room, where he was left alone.
+
+After a considerable space of time the door opened and there entered a
+person whom Ling at first supposed to be the Mandarin. Indeed, he was
+addressing him by his titles when the other interrupted him. "Do not
+distress your incomparable mind by searching for honourable names to
+apply to so inferior a person as myself," he said agreeably. "The
+mistake is, nevertheless, very natural; for, however miraculous it may
+appear, this unseemly individual, who is in reality merely a writer of
+spoken words, is admitted to be exceedingly like the dignified
+Mandarin himself, though somewhat stouter, clad in better garments,
+and, it is said, less obtuse of intellect. This last matter he very
+much doubts, for he now finds himself unable to recognize by name one
+who is undoubtedly entitled to wear the Royal Yellow."
+
+With this encouragement Ling once more explained his position,
+narrating the events which had enabled him to reach the second chamber
+of the Yamen. When he had finished the secretary was overpowered with
+a high-minded indignation.
+
+"Assuredly those depraved and rapacious persons who have both misled
+and robbed you shall suffer bow-stringing when the whole matter is
+brought to light," he exclaimed. "The noble Mandarin neither fasts nor
+receives guests, for, indeed, he has slept since the sun went down.
+This person would unhesitatingly break his slumber for so commendable
+a purpose were it not for a circumstance of intolerable
+unavoidableness. It must not even be told in a low breath beyond the
+walls of the Yamen, but my benevolent and high-born lord is in reality
+a person of very miserly instinct, and nothing will call him from his
+natural sleep but the sound of taels shaken beside his bed. In an
+unexpected manner it comes about that this person is quite unsupplied
+with anything but thin printed papers of a thousand taels each, and
+these are quite useless for the purpose."
+
+"It is unendurable that so obliging a person should be put to such
+inconvenience on behalf of one who will certainly become a public
+laughing-stock at the examinations," said Ling, with deep feeling; and
+taking from a concealed spot in his garments a few taels, he placed
+them before the secretary for the use he had indicated.
+
+Ling was again left alone for upwards of two strokes of the gong, and
+was on the point of sleep when the secretary returned with an
+expression of dignified satisfaction upon his countenance. Concluding
+that he had been successful in the manner of awakening the Mandarin,
+Ling was opening his mouth for a polite speech, which should contain a
+delicate allusion to the taels, when the secretary warned him, by
+affecting a sudden look of terror, that silence was exceedingly
+desirable, and at the same time opened another door and indicated to
+Ling that he should pass through.
+
+In the next room Ling was overjoyed to find himself in the presence of
+the Mandarin, who received him graciously, and paid many estimable
+compliments to the name he bore and the country from which he came.
+When at length Ling tore himself from this enchanting conversation,
+and explained the reason of his presence, the Mandarin at once became
+a prey to the whitest and most melancholy emotions, even plucking two
+hairs from his pigtail to prove the extent and conscientiousness of
+his grief.
+
+"Behold," he cried at length, "I am resolved that the extortionate and
+many-handed persons at Peking who have control of the examination
+rites and customs shall no longer grow round-bodied without remark.
+This person will unhesitatingly proclaim the true facts of the case
+without regarding the danger that the versatile Chancellor or even the
+sublime Emperor himself may, while he speaks, be concealed in some
+part of this unassuming room to hear his words; for, as it is wisely
+said, 'When marked out by destiny, a person will assuredly be drowned,
+even though he passes the whole of his existence among the highest
+branches of a date tree.'"
+
+"I am overwhelmed that I should be the cause of such an engaging
+display of polished agitation," said Ling, as the Mandarin paused. "If
+it would make your own stomach less heavy, this person will willingly
+follow your estimable example, either with or without knowing the
+reason."
+
+"The matter is altogether on your account, O most unobtrusive young
+man," replied the Mandarin, when a voice without passion was restored
+to him. "It tears me internally with hooks to reflect that you, whose
+refined ancestors I might reasonably have known had I passed my youth
+in another Province, should be victim to the cupidity of the ones in
+authority at Peking. A very short time before you arrived there came a
+messenger in haste from those persons, clearly indicating that a legal
+toll of sixteen taels was to be made on each printed paper setting
+forth the time and manner of the examinations, although, as you may
+see, the paper is undoubtedly marked, 'Persons are given notice that
+they are defrauded of any sum which they may be induced to exchange
+for this matter.' Furthermore, there is a legal toll of nine taels on
+all persons who have previously been examined--"
+
+"I am happily escaped from that," exclaimed Ling with some
+satisfaction as the Mandarin paused.
+
+"--and twelve taels on all who present themselves for the first time.
+This is to be delivered over when the paper is purchased, so that you,
+by reason of this unworthy proceeding at Peking, are required to
+forward to that place, through this person, no less than thirty-two
+taels."
+
+"It is a circumstance of considerable regret," replied Ling; "for had
+I only reached Canton a day earlier, I should, it appears, have
+avoided this evil."
+
+"Undoubtedly it would have been so," replied the Mandarin, who had
+become engrossed in exalted meditation. "However," he continued a
+moment later, as he bowed to Ling with an accomplished smile, "it
+would certainly be a more pleasant thought for a person of your
+refined intelligence that had you delayed until to-morrow the
+insatiable persons at Peking might be demanding twice the amount."
+
+Pondering the deep wisdom of this remark, Ling took his departure; but
+in spite of the most assiduous watchfulness he was unable to discern
+any of the three obliging persons to whose efforts his success had
+been due.
+
+
+                                 III
+
+It was very late when Ling again reached the small room which he had
+selected as soon as he reached Canton, but without waiting for food or
+sleep he made himself fully acquainted with the times of the
+forthcoming examinations and the details of the circumstances
+connected with them. With much satisfaction he found that he had still
+a week in which to revive his intellect on the most difficult
+subjects. Having become relieved on these points, Ling retired for a
+few hours' sleep, but rose again very early, and gave the whole day
+with great steadfastness to contemplation of the sacred classics
+Y-King, with the exception of a short period spent in purchasing ink,
+brushes and writing-leaves. The following day, having become mentally
+depressed through witnessing unaccountable hordes of candidates
+thronging the streets of Canton, Ling put aside his books, and passed
+the time in visiting all the most celebrated tombs in the
+neighbourhood of the city. Lightened in mind by this charitable and
+agreeable occupation, he returned to his studies with a fixed
+resolution, nor did he again falter in his purpose. On the evening of
+the examination, when he was sitting alone, reading by the aid of a
+single light, as his custom was, a person arrived to see him, at the
+same time manifesting a considerable appearance of secrecy and
+reserve. Inwardly sighing at the interruption, Ling nevertheless
+received him with distinguished consideration and respect, setting tea
+before him, and performing towards it many honourable actions with his
+own hands. Not until some hours had sped in conversation relating to
+the health of the Emperor, the unexpected appearance of a fiery dragon
+outside the city, and the insupportable price of opium, did the
+visitor allude to the object of his presence.
+
+"It has been observed," he remarked, "that the accomplished Ling, who
+aspires to a satisfactory rank at the examinations, has never before
+made the attempt. Doubtless in this case a preternatural wisdom will
+avail much, and its fortunate possessor will not go unrewarded. Yet it
+is as precious stones among ashes for one to triumph in such
+circumstances."
+
+"The fact is known to this person," replied Ling sadly, "and the
+thought of the years he may have to wait before he shall have passed
+even the first degree weighs down his soul with bitterness from time
+to time."
+
+"It is no infrequent thing for men of accomplished perseverance, but
+merely ordinary intellects, to grow venerable within the four walls of
+the examination cell," continued the other. "Some, again, become
+afflicted with various malignant evils, while not a few, chiefly those
+who are presenting themselves for the first time, are so overcome on
+perceiving the examination paper, and understanding the inadequate
+nature of their own accomplishments, that they become an easy prey to
+the malicious spirits which are ever on the watch in those places;
+and, after covering their leaves with unpresentable remarks and
+drawings of men and women of distinguished rank, have at length to be
+forcibly carried away by the attendants and secured with heavy
+chains."
+
+"Such things undoubtedly exist," agreed Ling; "yet by a due regard
+paid to spirits, both good and bad, a proper esteem for one's
+ancestors, and a sufficiency of charms about the head and body, it is
+possible to be closeted with all manner of demons and yet to suffer no
+evil."
+
+"It is undoubtedly possible to do so, according to the Immortal
+Principles," admitted the stranger; "but it is not an undertaking in
+which a refined person would take intelligent pleasure; as the proverb
+says, 'He is a wise and enlightened suppliant who seeks to discover an
+honourable Mandarin, but he is a fool who cries out, "I have found
+one."' However, it is obvious that the reason of my visit is
+understood, and that your distinguished confidence in yourself is
+merely a graceful endeavour to obtain my services for a less amount of
+taels than I should otherwise have demanded. For half the usual sum,
+therefore, this person will take your place in the examination cell,
+and enable your versatile name to appear in the winning lists, while
+you pass your moments in irreproachable pleasures elsewhere."
+
+Such a course had never presented itself to Ling. As the person who
+narrates this story has already marked, he had passed his life beyond
+the influence of the ways and manners of towns, and at the same time
+he had naturally been endowed with an unobtrusive highmindedness. It
+appeared to him, in consequence, that by accepting this engaging offer
+he would be placing those who were competing with him at a
+disadvantage. This person clearly sees that it is a difficult matter
+for him to explain how this could be, as Ling would undoubtedly reward
+the services of the one who took his place, nor would the number of
+the competitors be in any way increased; yet in such a way the thing
+took shape before his eyes. Knowing, however, that few persons would
+be able to understand this action, and being desirous of not injuring
+the estimable emotions of the obliging person who had come to him,
+Ling made a number of polished excuses in declining, hiding the true
+reason within himself. In this way he earned the powerful malignity of
+the person in question, who would not depart until he had effected a
+number of very disagreeable prophecies connected with unpropitious
+omens and internal torments, all of which undoubtedly had a great
+influence on Ling's life beyond that time.
+
+Each day of the examination found Ling alternately elated or
+depressed, according to the length and style of the essay which he had
+written while enclosed in his solitary examination cell. The trials
+each lasted a complete day, and long before the fifteen days which
+composed the full examination were passed, Ling found himself half
+regretting that he had not accepted his visitor's offer, or even
+reviling the day on which he had abandoned the hereditary calling of
+his ancestors. However, when, after all was over, he came to
+deliberate with himself on his chances of attaining a degree, he could
+not disguise from his own mind that he had well-formed hopes; he was
+not conscious of any undignified errors, and, in reply to several
+questions, he had been able to introduce curious knowledge which he
+possessed by means of his exceptional circumstances--knowledge which
+it was unlikely that any other candidate would have been able to make
+himself master of.
+
+At length the day arrived on which the results were to be made public;
+and Ling, together with all the other competitors and many
+distinguished persons, attended at the great Hall of Intellectual
+Coloured Lights to hear the reading of the lists. Eight thousand
+candidates had been examined, and from this number less than two
+hundred were to be selected for appointments. Amid a most
+distinguished silence the winning names were read out. Waves of most
+undignified but inevitable emotion passed over those assembled as the
+list neared its end, and the chances of success became less at each
+spoken word; and then, finding that his was not among them, together
+with the greater part of those present, he became a prey to very
+inelegant thoughts, which were not lessened by the refined cries of
+triumph of the successful persons. Among this confusion the one who
+had read the lists was observed to be endeavouring to make his voice
+known, whereupon, in the expectation that he had omitted a name, the
+tumult was quickly subdued by those who again had pleasurable visions.
+
+"There was among the candidates one of the name of Ling," said he,
+when no-noise had been obtained. "The written leaves produced by this
+person are of a most versatile and conflicting order, so that, indeed,
+the accomplished examiners themselves are unable to decide whether
+they are very good or very bad. In this matter, therefore, it is
+clearly impossible to place the expert and inimitable Ling among the
+foremost, as his very uncertain success may have been brought about
+with the assistance of evil spirits; nor would it be safe to pass over
+his efforts without reward, as he may be under the protection of
+powerful but exceedingly ill-advised deities. The estimable Ling is
+told to appear again at this place after the gong has been struck
+three times, when the matter will have been looked at from all round."
+
+At this announcement there arose another great tumult, several crying
+out that assuredly their written leaves were either very good or very
+bad; but no further proclamation was made, and very soon the hall was
+cleared by force.
+
+At the time stated Ling again presented himself at the Hall, and was
+honourably received.
+
+"The unusual circumstances of the matter have already been put forth,"
+said an elderly Mandarin of engaging appearance, "so that nothing
+remains to be made known except the end of our despicable efforts to
+come to an agreeable conclusion. In this we have been made successful,
+and now desire to notify the result. A very desirable and not
+unremunerative office, rarely bestowed in this manner, is lately
+vacant, and taking into our minds the circumstances of the event, and
+the fact that Ling comes from a Province very esteemed for the warlike
+instincts of its inhabitants, we have decided to appoint him commander
+of the valiant and blood-thirsty band of archers now stationed at
+Si-chow, in the Province of Hu-Nan. We have spoken. Let three guns go
+off in honour of the noble and invincible Ling, now and henceforth a
+commander in the ever-victorious Army of the Sublime Emperor, brother
+of the Sun and Moon, and Upholder of the Four Corners of the World."
+
+
+                                  IV
+
+Many hours passed before Ling, now more downcast in mind than the most
+unsuccessful student in Canton, returned to his room and sought his
+couch of dried rushes. All his efforts to have his distinguished
+appointment set aside had been without avail, and he had been ordered
+to reach Si-chow within a week. As he passed through the streets,
+elegant processions in honour of the winners met him at every corner,
+and drove him into the outskirts for the object of quietness. There he
+remained until the beating of paper drums and the sound of exulting
+voices could be heard no more; but even when he returned lanterns
+shone in many dwellings, for two hundred persons were composing
+verses, setting forth their renown and undoubted accomplishments,
+ready to affix to their doors and send to friends on the next day. Not
+giving any portion of his mind to this desirable act of behaviour,
+Ling flung himself upon the floor, and, finding sleep unattainable,
+plunged himself into profound meditation of a very uninviting order.
+"Without doubt," he exclaimed, "evil can only arise from evil, and as
+this person has always endeavoured to lead a life in which his
+devotions have been equally divided between the sacred Emperor, his
+illustrious parents, and his venerable ancestors, the fault cannot lie
+with him. Of the excellence of his parents he has full knowledge;
+regarding the Emperor, it might not be safe to conjecture. It is
+therefore probable that some of his ancestors were persons of
+abandoned manner and inelegant habits, to worship whom results in evil
+rather than good. Otherwise, how could it be that one whose chief
+delight lies in the passive contemplation of the Four Books and the
+Five Classics, should be selected by destiny to fill a position
+calling for great personal courage and an aggressive nature? Assuredly
+it can only end in a mean and insignificant death, perhaps not even
+followed by burial."
+
+In this manner of thought he fell asleep, and after certain very base
+and impressive dreams, from which good omens were altogether absent,
+he awoke, and rose to begin his preparations for leaving the city.
+After two days spent chiefly in obtaining certain safeguards against
+treachery and the bullets of foemen, purchasing opium and other gifts
+with which to propitiate the soldiers under his charge, and in
+consulting well-disposed witches and readers of the future, he set
+out, and by travelling in extreme discomfort, reached Si-chow within
+five days. During his journey he learned that the entire Province was
+engaged in secret rebellion, several towns, indeed, having declared
+against the Imperial army without reserve. Those persons to whom Ling
+spoke described the rebels, with respectful admiration, as fierce and
+unnaturally skilful in all methods of fighting, revengeful and
+merciless towards their enemies, very numerous and above the ordinary
+height of human beings, and endowed with qualities which made their
+skin capable of turning aside every kind of weapon. Furthermore, he
+was assured that a large band of the most abandoned and best trained
+was at that moment in the immediate neighbourhood of Si-chow.
+
+Ling was not destined long to remain in any doubt concerning the truth
+of these matters, for as he made his way through a dark cypress wood,
+a few li from the houses of Si-chow, the sounds of a confused outcry
+reached his ears, and on stepping aside to a hidden glade some
+distance from the path, he beheld a young and elegant maiden of
+incomparable beauty being carried away by two persons of most
+repulsive and undignified appearance, whose dress and manner clearly
+betrayed them to be rebels of the lowest and worst-paid type. At this
+sight Ling became possessed of feelings of a savage yet agreeable
+order, which until that time he had not conjectured to have any place
+within his mind, and without even pausing to consider whether the
+planets were in favourable positions for the enterprise to be
+undertaken at that time, he drew his sword, and ran forward with loud
+cries. Unsettled in their intentions at this unexpected action, the
+two persons turned and advanced upon Ling with whirling daggers,
+discussing among themselves whether it would be better to kill him at
+the first blow or to take him alive, and, when the day had become
+sufficiently cool for the full enjoyment of the spectacle, submit him
+to various objectionable tortures of so degraded a nature that they
+were rarely used in the army of the Emperor except upon the persons of
+barbarians. Observing that the maiden was not bound, Ling cried out to
+her to escape and seek protection within the town, adding, with a
+magnanimous absence of vanity:
+
+"Should this person chance to fall, the repose which the presence of
+so lovely and graceful a being would undoubtedly bring to his
+departing spirit would be out-balanced by the unendurable thought that
+his commonplace efforts had not been sufficient to save her from the
+two evilly-disposed individuals who are, as he perceives, at this
+moment, neglecting no means within their power to accomplish his
+destruction." Accepting the discernment of these words, the maiden
+fled, first bestowing a look upon Ling which clearly indicated an
+honourable regard for himself, a high-minded desire that the affair
+might end profitably on his account, and an amiable hope that they
+should meet again, when these subjects could be expressed more clearly
+between them.
+
+In the meantime Ling had become at a disadvantage, for the time
+occupied in speaking and in making the necessary number of bows in
+reply to her entrancing glance had given the other persons an
+opportunity of arranging their charms and sacred written sentences to
+greater advantage, and of occupying the most favourable ground for the
+encounter. Nevertheless, so great was the force of the new emotion
+which had entered into Ling's nature that, without waiting to consider
+the dangers or the best method of attack, he rushed upon them, waving
+his sword with such force that he appeared as though surrounded by a
+circle of very brilliant fire. In this way he reached the rebels, who
+both fell unexpectedly at one blow, they, indeed, being under the
+impression that the encounter had not commenced in reality, and that
+Ling was merely menacing them in order to inspire their minds with
+terror and raise his own spirits. However much he regretted this act
+of the incident which he had been compelled to take, Ling could not
+avoid being filled with intellectual joy at finding that his own
+charms and omens were more distinguished than those possessed by the
+rebels, none of whom, as he now plainly understood, he need fear.
+
+Examining these things within his mind, and reflecting on the events
+of the past few days, by which he had been thrown into a class of
+circumstances greatly differing from anything which he had ever
+sought, Ling continued his journey, and soon found himself before the
+southern gate of Si-chow. Entering the town, he at once formed the
+resolution of going before the Mandarin for Warlike Deeds and
+Arrangements, so that he might present, without delay, the papers and
+seals which he had brought with him from Canton.
+
+"The noble Mandarin Li Keen?" replied the first person to whom Ling
+addressed himself. "It would indeed be a difficult and hazardous
+conjecture to make concerning his sacred person. By chance he is in
+the strongest and best-concealed cellar in Si-chow, unless the
+sumptuous attractions of the deepest dry well have induced him to make
+a short journey"; and, with a look of great unfriendliness at Ling's
+dress and weapons, this person passed on.
+
+"Doubtless he is fighting single-handed against the armed men by whom
+the place is surrounded," said another; "or perhaps he is constructing
+an underground road from the Yamen to Peking, so that we may all
+escape when the town is taken. All that can be said with certainty is
+that the Heaven-sent and valorous Mandarin has not been seen outside
+the walls of his well-fortified residence since the trouble arose;
+but, as you carry a sword of conspicuous excellence, you will
+doubtless be welcome."
+
+Upon making a third attempt Ling was more successful, for he inquired
+of an aged woman, who had neither a reputation for keen and polished
+sentences to maintain, nor any interest in the acts of the Mandarin or
+of the rebels. From her he learned how to reach the Yamen, and
+accordingly turned his footsteps in that direction. When at length he
+arrived at the gate, Ling desired his tablets to be carried to the
+Mandarin with many expressions of an impressive and engaging nature,
+nor did he neglect to reward the porter. It was therefore with the
+expression of a misunderstanding mind that he received a reply setting
+forth that Li Keen was unable to receive him. In great doubt he
+prevailed upon the porter, by means of a still larger reward, again to
+carry in his message, and on this occasion an answer in this detail
+was placed before him.
+
+"Li Keen," he was informed, "is indeed awaiting the arrival of one
+Ling, a noble and valiant Commander of Bowmen. He is given to
+understand, it is true, that a certain person claiming the same
+honoured name is standing in somewhat undignified attitudes at the
+gate, but he is unable in any way to make these two individuals meet
+within his intellect. He would further remind all persons that the
+refined observances laid down by the wise and exalted Board of Rites
+and Ceremonies have a marked and irreproachable significance when the
+country is in a state of disorder, the town surrounded by rebels, and
+every breathing-space of time of more than ordinary value."
+
+Overpowered with becoming shame at having been connected with so
+unseemly a breach of civility, for which his great haste had in
+reality been accountable, Ling hastened back into the town, and spent
+many hours endeavouring to obtain a chair of the requisite colour in
+which to visit the Mandarin. In this he was unsuccessful, until it was
+at length suggested to him that an ordinary chair, such as stood for
+hire in the streets of Si-chow, would be acceptable if covered with
+blue paper. Still in some doubt as to what the nature of his reception
+would be, Ling had no choice but to take this course, and accordingly
+he again reached the Yamen in such a manner, carried by two persons
+whom he had obtained for the purpose. While yet hardly at the
+residence a salute was suddenly fired; all the gates and doors were,
+without delay, thrown open with embarrassing and hospitable profusion,
+and the Mandarin himself passed out, and would have assisted Ling to
+step down from his chair had not that person, clearly perceiving that
+such a course would be too great an honour, evaded him by an
+unobtrusive display of versatile dexterity. So numerous and profound
+were the graceful remarks which each made concerning the habits and
+accomplishments of the other that more than the space of an hour was
+passed in traversing the small enclosed ground which led up to the
+principal door of the Yamen. There an almost greater time was
+agreeably spent, both Ling and the Mandarin having determined that the
+other should enter first. Undoubtedly Ling, who was the more powerful
+of the two, would have conferred this courteous distinction upon Li
+Keen had not that person summoned to his side certain attendants who
+succeeded in frustrating Ling in his high-minded intentions, and in
+forcing him through the doorway in spite of his conscientious protests
+against the unsurmountable obligation under which the circumstance
+placed him.
+
+Conversing in this intellectual and dignified manner, the strokes of
+the gong passed unheeded; tea had been brought into their presence
+many times, and night had fallen before the Mandarin allowed Ling to
+refer to the matter which had brought him to the place, and to present
+his written papers and seals.
+
+"It is a valuable privilege to have so intelligent a person as the
+illustrious Ling occupying this position," remarked the Mandarin, as
+he returned the papers; "and not less so on account of the one who
+preceded him proving himself to be a person of feeble attainments and
+an unendurable deficiency of resource."
+
+"To one with the all-knowing Li Keen's mental acquisitions, such a
+person must indeed have become excessively offensive," replied Ling
+delicately; "for, as it is truly said, 'Although there exist many
+thousand subjects for elegant conversation, there are persons who
+cannot meet a cripple without talking about feet.'"
+
+"He to whom I have referred was such a one," said Li Keen,
+appreciating with an expression of countenance the fitness of Ling's
+proverb. "He was totally inadequate to the requirements of his
+position; for he possessed no military knowledge, and was placed in
+command by those at Peking as a result of his taking a high place at
+one of the examinations. But more than this, although his three years
+of service were almost completed, I was quite unsuccessful in
+convincing him that an unseemly degradation probably awaited him
+unless he could furnish me with the means with which to propitiate the
+persons in authority at Peking. This he neglected to do with obstinate
+pertinacity, which compelled this person to inquire within himself
+whether one of so little discernment could be trusted with an
+important and arduous office. After much deliberation, this person
+came to the decision that the Commander in question was not a fit
+person, and he therefore reported him to the Imperial Board of
+Punishment at Peking as one subject to frequent and periodical
+eccentricities, and possessed of less than ordinary intellect. In
+consequence of this act of justice, the Commander was degraded to the
+rank of common bowman, and compelled to pay a heavy fine in addition."
+
+"It was a just and enlightened conclusion of the affair," said Ling,
+in spite of a deep feeling of no enthusiasm, "and one which
+surprisingly bore out your own prophecy in the matter."
+
+"It was an inspired warning to persons who should chance to be in a
+like position at any time," replied Li Keen. "So grasping and corrupt
+are those who control affairs in Peking that I have no doubt they
+would scarcely hesitate in debasing even one so immaculate as the
+exceptional Ling, and placing him in some laborious and ill-paid civil
+department should he not accede to their extortionate demands."
+
+This suggestion did not carry with it the unpleasurable emotions which
+the Mandarin anticipated it would. The fierce instincts which had been
+aroused within Ling by the incident in the cypress wood had died out,
+while his lamentable ignorance of military affairs was ever before his
+mind. These circumstances, together with his naturally gentle habits,
+made him regard such a degradation rather favourably than otherwise.
+He was meditating within himself whether he could arrange such a
+course without delay when the Mandarin continued:
+
+"That, however, is a possibility which is remote to the extent of at
+least two or three years; do not, therefore, let so unpleasing a
+thought cast darkness upon your brows or remove the unparalleled
+splendour of so refined an occasion . . . Doubtless the accomplished
+Ling is a master of the art of chess-play, for many of our most
+thoughtful philosophers have declared war to be nothing but such a
+game; let this slow-witted and cumbersome person have an opportunity,
+therefore, of polishing his declining facilities by a pleasant and
+dignified encounter."
+
+
+                                  V
+
+On the next day, having completed his business at the Yamen, Ling left
+the town, and without desiring any ceremony quietly betook himself to
+his new residence within the camp, which was situated among the millet
+fields some distance from Si-chow. As soon as his presence became
+known all those who occupied positions of command, and whose years of
+service would shortly come to an end, hastened to present themselves
+before him, bringing with them offerings according to the rank they
+held, they themselves requiring a similar service from those beneath
+them. First among these, and next in command to Ling himself, was the
+Chief of Bowmen, a person whom Ling observed with extreme satisfaction
+to be very powerful in body and possessing a strong and dignified
+countenance which showed unquestionable resolution and shone with a
+tiger-like tenaciousness of purpose.
+
+"Undoubtedly," thought Ling, as he observed this noble and
+prepossessing person, "here is one who will be able to assist me in
+whatever perplexities may arise. Never was there an individual who
+seemed more worthy to command and lead; assuredly to him the most
+intricate and prolonged military positions will be an enjoyment; the
+most crafty stratagems of the enemy as the full moon rising from
+behind a screen of rushes. Without making any pretence of knowledge,
+this person will explain the facts of the case to him and place
+himself without limit in his hands."
+
+For this purpose he therefore detained the Chief of Bowmen when the
+others departed, and complimented him, with many expressive phrases,
+on the excellence of his appearance, as the thought occurred to him
+that by this means, without disclosing the full measure of his
+ignorance, the person in question might be encouraged to speak
+unrestrainedly of the nature of his exploits, and perchance thereby
+explain the use of the appliances employed and the meaning of the
+various words of order, in all of which details the Commander was as
+yet most disagreeably imperfect. In this, however, he was
+disappointed, for the Chief of Bowmen, greatly to Ling's surprise,
+received all his polished sentences with somewhat foolish smiles of
+great self-satisfaction, merely replying from time to time as he
+displayed his pigtail to greater advantage or rearranged his gold-
+embroidered cloak:
+
+"This person must really pray you to desist; the honour is indeed too
+great."
+
+Disappointed in his hope, and not desiring after this circumstance to
+expose his shortcomings to one who was obviously not of a highly-
+refined understanding, no matter how great his valour in war or his
+knowledge of military affairs might be, Ling endeavoured to lead him
+to converse of the bowmen under his charge. In this matter he was more
+successful, for the Chief spoke at great length and with evilly-
+inspired contempt of their inelegance, their undiscriminating and
+excessive appetites, and the frequent use which they made of low words
+and gestures. Desiring to become acquainted rather with their methods
+of warfare than with their domestic details, Ling inquired of him what
+formation they relied upon when receiving the foemen.
+
+"It is a matter which has not engaged the attention of this one,"
+replied the Chief, with an excessive absence of interest. "There are
+so many affairs of intelligent dignity which cannot be put aside, and
+which occupy one from beginning to end. As an example, this person may
+describe how the accomplished Li-Lu, generally depicted as the Blue-
+eyed Dove of Virtuous and Serpent-like Attitudes, has been scattering
+glory upon the Si-chow Hall of Celestial Harmony for many days past.
+It is an enlightened display which the high-souled Ling should
+certainly endeavour to dignify with his presence, especially at the
+portion where the amiable Li-Lu becomes revealed in the appearance of
+a Peking sedan-chair bearer and describes the manner and likenesses of
+certain persons--chiefly high-priests of Buddha, excessively round-
+bodied merchants who feign to be detained within Peking on affairs of
+commerce, maidens who attend at the tables of tea-houses, and those of
+both sexes who are within the city for the first time to behold its
+temples and open spaces--who are conveyed from place to place in the
+chair."
+
+"And the bowmen?" suggested Ling, with difficulty restraining an
+undignified emotion.
+
+"Really, the elegant Ling will discover them to be persons of
+deficient manners, and quite unworthy of occupying his well-bred
+conversation," replied the Chief. "As regards their methods--if the
+renowned Ling insists--they fight by means of their bows, with which
+they discharge arrows at the foemen, they themselves hiding behind
+trees and rocks. Should the enemy be undisconcerted by the cloud of
+arrows, and advance, the bowmen are instructed to make a last
+endeavour to frighten them back by uttering loud shouts and feigning
+the voices of savage beasts of the forest and deadly snakes."
+
+"And beyond that?" inquired Ling.
+
+"Beyond that there are no instructions," replied the Chief. "The
+bowmen would then naturally take to flight, or, if such a course
+became impossible, run to meet the enemy, protesting that they were
+convinced of the justice of their cause, and were determined to fight
+on their side in the future."
+
+"Would it not be of advantage to arm them with cutting weapons also?"
+inquired Ling; "so that when all their arrows were discharged they
+would still be able to take part in the fight, and not be lost to us?"
+
+"They would not be lost to us, of course," replied the Chief, "as we
+would still be with them. But such a course as the one you suggest
+could not fail to end in dismay. Being as well armed as ourselves,
+they would then turn upon us, and, having destroyed us, proceed to
+establish leaders of their own."
+
+As Ling and the Chief of Bowmen conversed in this enlightened manner,
+there arose a great outcry from among the tents, and presently there
+entered to them a spy who had discovered a strong force of the enemy
+not more than ten or twelve li away, who showed every indication of
+marching shortly in the direction of Si-chow. In numbers alone, he
+continued, they were greatly superior to the bowmen, and all were well
+armed. The spreading of this news threw the entire camp into great
+confusion, many protesting that the day was not a favourable one on
+which to fight, others crying that it was their duty to fall back on
+Si-chow and protect the women and children. In the midst of this
+tumult the Chief of Bowmen returned to Ling, bearing in his hand a
+written paper which he regarded in uncontrollable anguish.
+
+"Oh, illustrious Ling," he cried, restraining his grief with
+difficulty, and leaning for support upon the shoulders of two bowmen,
+"how prosperous indeed are you! What greater misfortune can engulf a
+person who is both an ambitious soldier and an affectionate son, than
+to lose such a chance of glory and promotion as only occurs once
+within the lifetime, and an affectionate and venerable father upon the
+same day? Behold this mandate to attend, without a moment's delay, at
+the funeral obsequies of one whom I left, only last week, in the
+fullness of health and power. The occasion being an unsuitable one, I
+will not call upon the courteous Ling to join me in sorrow; but his
+own devout filial piety is so well known that I can conscientiously
+rely upon an application for absence to be only a matter of official
+ceremony."
+
+"The application will certainly be regarded as merely official
+ceremony," replied Ling, without resorting to any delicate pretence of
+meaning, "and the refined scruples of the person who is addressing me
+will be fully met by the official date of his venerated father's death
+being fixed for a more convenient season. In the meantime, the
+unobtrusive Chief of Bowmen may take the opportunity of requesting
+that the family tomb be kept unsealed until he is heard from again."
+
+Ling turned away, as he finished this remark, with a dignified feeling
+of not inelegant resentment. In this way he chanced to observe a large
+body of soldiers which was leaving the camp accompanied by their
+lesser captains, all crowned with garlands of flowers and creeping
+plants. In spite of his very inadequate attainments regarding words of
+order, the Commander made it understood by means of an exceedingly
+short sentence that he was desirous of the men returning without
+delay.
+
+"Doubtless the accomplished Commander, being but newly arrived in this
+neighbourhood, is unacquainted with the significance of this display,"
+said one of the lesser captains pleasantly. "Know then, O wise and
+custom-respecting Ling, that on a similar day many years ago this
+valiant band of bowmen was engaged in a very honourable affair with
+certain of the enemy. Since then it has been the practice to
+commemorate the matter with music and other forms of delight within
+the large square at Si-chow."
+
+"Such customs are excellent," said Ling affably. "On this occasion,
+however, the public square will be so insufferably thronged with the
+number of timorous and credulous villagers who have pressed into the
+town that insufficient justice would be paid to your entrancing
+display. In consequence of this, we will select for the purpose some
+convenient spot in the neighbourhood. The proceedings will be
+commenced by a display of arrow-shooting at moving objects, followed
+by racing and dancing, in which this person will lead. I have spoken."
+
+At these words many of the more courageous among the bowmen became
+destructively inspired, and raised shouts of defiance against the
+enemy, enumerating at great length the indignities which they would
+heap upon their prisoners. Cries of distinction were also given on
+behalf of Ling, even the more terrified exclaiming:
+
+"The noble Commander Ling will lead us! He has promised, and assuredly
+he will not depart from his word. Shielded by his broad and sacred
+body, from which the bullets glance aside harmlessly, we will advance
+upon the enemy in the stealthy manner affected by ducks when crossing
+the swamp. How altogether superior a person our Commander is when
+likened unto the leaders of the foemen--they who go into battle
+completely surrounded by their archers!"
+
+Upon this, perceiving the clear direction in which matters were
+turning, the Chief of Bowmen again approached Ling.
+
+"Doubtless the highly-favoured person whom I am now addressing has
+been endowed with exceptional authority direct from Peking," he
+remarked with insidious politeness. "Otherwise this narrow-minded
+individual would suggest that such a decision does not come within the
+judgment of a Commander."
+
+In his ignorance of military matters it had not entered the mind of
+Ling that his authority did not give him the power to commence an
+attack without consulting other and more distinguished persons. At the
+suggestion, which he accepted as being composed of truth, he paused,
+the enlightened zeal with which he had been inspired dying out as he
+plainly understood the difficulties by which he was enclosed. There
+seemed a single expedient path for him in the matter; so, directing a
+person of exceptional trustworthiness to prepare himself for a
+journey, he inscribed a communication to the Mandarin Li Keen, in
+which he narrated the facts and asked for speedy directions, and then
+despatched it with great urgency to Si-chow.
+
+
+                                  VI
+
+When these matters were arranged, Ling returned to his tent, a victim
+to feelings of a deep and confused doubt, for all courses seemed to be
+surrounded by extreme danger, with the strong possibility of final
+disaster. While he was considering these things attentively, the spy
+who had brought word of the presence of the enemy again sought him. As
+he entered, Ling perceived that his face was the colour of a bleached
+linen garment, while there came with him the odour of sickness.
+
+"There are certain matters which this person has not made known," he
+said, having first expressed a request that he might not be compelled
+to stand while he conversed. "The bowmen are as an inferior kind of
+jackal, and they who lead them are pigs, but this person has observed
+that the Heaven-sent Commander has internal organs like steel hardened
+in a white fire and polished by running water. For this reason he will
+narrate to him the things he has seen--things at which the lesser ones
+would undoubtedly perish in terror without offering to strike a blow."
+
+"Speak," said Ling, "without fear and without concealment."
+
+"In numbers the rebels are as three to one with the bowmen, and are,
+in addition, armed with matchlocks and other weapons; this much I have
+already told," said the spy. "Yesterday they entered the village of Ki
+without resistance, as the dwellers there were all peaceable persons,
+who gain a living from the fields, and who neither understood nor
+troubled about the matters between the rebels and the army. Relying on
+the promises made by the rebel chiefs, the villagers even welcomed
+them, as they had been assured that they came as buyers of their corn
+and rice. To-day not a house stands in the street of Ki, not a person
+lives. The men they slew quickly, or held for torture, as they desired
+at the moment; the boys they hung from the trees as marks for their
+arrows. Of the women and children this person, who has since been
+subject to several attacks of fainting and vomiting, desires not to
+speak. The wells of Ki are filled with the bodies of such as had the
+good fortune to be warned in time to slay themselves. The cattle drag
+themselves from place to place on their forefeet; the fish in the
+Heng-Kiang are dying, for they cannot live on water thickened into
+blood. All these things this person has seen."
+
+When he had finished speaking, Ling remained in deep and funereal
+thought for some time. In spite of his mild nature, the words which he
+had heard filled him with an inextinguishable desire to slay in hand-
+to-hand fighting. He regretted that he had placed the decision of the
+matter before Li Keen.
+
+"If only this person had a mere handful of brave and expert warriors,
+he would not hesitate to fall upon those savage and barbarous
+characters, and either destroy them to the last one, or let his band
+suffer a like fate," he murmured to himself.
+
+The return of the messenger found him engaged in reviewing the bowmen,
+and still in this mood, so that it was with a commendable feeling of
+satisfaction, no less than virtuous contempt, that he learned of the
+Mandarin's journey to Peking as soon as he understood that the rebels
+were certainly in the neighbourhood.
+
+"The wise and ornamental Li Keen is undoubtedly consistent in all
+matters," said Ling, with some refined bitterness. "The only
+information regarding his duties to which this person obtained from
+him chanced to be a likening of war to skilful chess-play, and to this
+end the accomplished person in question has merely availed himself of
+a common expedient which places him at the remote side of the divine
+Emperor. Yet this act is not unwelcome, for the responsibility of
+deciding what course is to be adopted now clearly rests with this
+person. He is, as those who are standing by may perceive, of under the
+usual height, and of no particular mental or bodily attainments. But
+he has eaten the rice of the Emperor, and wears the Imperial sign
+embroidered upon his arm. Before him are encamped the enemies of his
+master and of his land, and in no way will he turn his back upon them.
+Against brave and skilful men, such as those whom this person
+commands, rebels of a low and degraded order are powerless, and are,
+moreover, openly forbidden to succeed by the Forty-second Mandate in
+the Sacred Book of Arguments. Should it have happened that into this
+assembly any person of a perfidious or uncourageous nature has gained
+entrance by guile, and has not been detected and driven forth by his
+outraged companions (as would certainly occur if such a person were
+discovered), I, Ling, Commander of Bowmen, make an especial and well-
+considered request that he shall be struck by a molten thunderbolt if
+he turns to flight or holds thoughts of treachery."
+
+Having thus addressed and encouraged the soldiers, Ling instructed
+them that each one should cut and fashion for himself a graceful but
+weighty club from among the branches of the trees around, and then
+return to the tents for the purpose of receiving food and rice spirit.
+
+When noon was passed, allowing such time as would enable him to reach
+the camp of the enemy an hour before darkness, Ling arranged the
+bowmen in companies of convenient numbers, and commenced the march,
+sending forward spies, who were to work silently and bring back
+tidings from every point. In this way he penetrated to within a single
+li of the ruins of Ki, being informed by the spies that no outposts of
+the enemy were between him and that place. Here the first rest was
+made to enable the more accurate and bold spies to reach them with
+trustworthy information regarding the position and movements of the
+camp. With little delay there returned the one who had brought the
+earliest tidings, bruised and torn with his successful haste through
+the forest, but wearing a complacent and well-satisfied expression of
+countenance. Without hesitation or waiting to demand money before he
+would reveal his knowledge, he at once disclosed that the greater part
+of the enemy were rejoicing among the ruins of Ki, they having
+discovered there a quantity of opium and a variety of liquids, while
+only a small guard remained in the camp with their weapons ready. At
+these words Ling sprang from the ground in gladness, so great was his
+certainty of destroying the invaders utterly. It was, however, with
+less pleasurable emotions that he considered how he should effect the
+matter, for it was in no way advisable to divide his numbers into two
+bands. Without any feeling of unendurable conceit, he understood that
+no one but himself could hold the bowmen before an assault, however
+weak. In a similar manner, he determined that it would be more
+advisable to attack those in the village first. These he might have
+reasonable hopes of cutting down without warning the camp, or, in any
+event, before those from the camp arrived. To assail the camp first
+would assuredly, by the firing, draw upon them those from the village,
+and in whatever evil state these might arrive, they would, by their
+numbers, terrify the bowmen, who without doubt would have suffered
+some loss from the matchlocks.
+
+Waiting for the last light of day, Ling led on the men again, and
+sending forward some of the most reliable, surrounded the place of the
+village silently and without detection. In the open space, among
+broken casks and other inconsiderable matters, plainly shown by the
+large fires at which burned the last remains of the houses of Ki, many
+men moved or lay, some already dull or in heavy sleep. As the darkness
+dropped suddenly, the signal of a peacock's shriek, three times
+uttered, rang forth, and immediately a cloud of arrows, directed from
+all sides, poured in among those who feasted. Seeing their foemen
+defenceless before them, the archers neglected the orders they had
+received, and throwing away their bows they rushed in with uplifted
+clubs, uttering loud shouts of triumph. The next moment a shot was
+fired in the wood, drums beat, and in an unbelievably short space of
+time a small but well-armed band of the enemy was among them. Now that
+all need of caution was at an end, Ling rushed forward with raised
+sword, calling to his men that victory was certainly theirs, and
+dealing discriminating and inspiriting blows whenever he met a foeman.
+Three times he formed the bowmen into a figure emblematic of triumph,
+and led them against the line of matchlocks. Twice they fell back,
+leaving mingled dead under the feet of the enemy. The third time they
+stood firm, and Ling threw himself against the waving rank in a noble
+and inspired endeavour to lead the way through. At that moment, when a
+very distinguished victory seemed within his hand, his elegant and
+well-constructed sword broke upon an iron shield, leaving him
+defenceless and surrounded by the enemy.
+
+"Chief among the sublime virtues enjoined by the divine Confucius,"
+began Ling, folding his arms and speaking in an unmoved voice, "is an
+intelligent submission--" but at that word he fell beneath a rain of
+heavy and unquestionably well-aimed blows.
+
+
+                                 VII
+
+Between Si-chow and the village of Ki, in a house completely hidden
+from travellers by the tall and black trees which surrounded it, lived
+an aged and very wise person whose ways and manner of living had
+become so distasteful to his neighbours that they at length agreed to
+regard him as a powerful and ill-disposed magician. In this way it
+became a custom that all very unseemly deeds committed by those who,
+in the ordinary course, would not be guilty of such behaviour, should
+be attributed to his influence, so that justice might be effected
+without persons of assured respectability being put to any
+inconvenience. Apart from the feeling which resulted from this just
+decision, the uncongenial person in question had become exceedingly
+unpopular on account of certain definite actions of his own, as that
+of causing the greater part of Si-chow to be burned down by secretly
+breathing upon the seven sacred water-jugs to which the town owed its
+prosperity and freedom from fire. Furthermore, although possessed of
+many taels, and able to afford such food as is to be found upon the
+tables of Mandarins, he selected from choice dishes of an
+objectionable nature; he had been observed to eat eggs of unbecoming
+freshness, and the Si-chow Official Printed Leaf made it public that
+he had, on an excessively hot occasion, openly partaken of cow's milk.
+It is not a matter for wonder, therefore, that when unnaturally loud
+thunder was heard in the neighbourhood of Si-chow the more ignorant
+and credulous persons refused to continue in any description of work
+until certain ceremonies connected with rice spirit, and the adherence
+to a reclining position for some hours, had been conscientiously
+observed as a protection against evil.
+
+Not even the most venerable person in Si-chow could remember the time
+when the magician had not lived there, and as there existed no written
+record narrating the incident, it was with well-founded probability
+that he was said to be incapable of death. Contrary to the most
+general practice, although quite unmarried, he had adopted no son to
+found a line which would worship his memory in future years, but had
+instead brought up and caused to be educated in the most difficult
+varieties of embroidery a young girl, to whom he referred, for want of
+a more suitable description, as the daughter of his sister, although
+he would admit without hesitation, when closely questioned, that he
+had never possessed a sister, at the same time, however, alluding with
+some pride to many illustrious brothers, who had all obtained
+distinction in various employments.
+
+Few persons of any high position penetrated into the house of the
+magician, and most of these retired with inelegant haste on perceiving
+that no domestic altar embellished the great hall. Indeed, not to make
+concealment of the fact, the magician was a person who had entirely
+neglected the higher virtues in an avaricious pursuit of wealth. In
+that way all his time and a very large number of taels had been
+expended, testing results by means of the four elements, and putting
+together things which had been inadequately arrived at by others. It
+was confidently asserted in Si-chow that he possessed every manner of
+printed leaf which had been composed in whatsoever language, and all
+the most precious charms, including many snake-skins of more than
+ordinary rarity, and the fang of a black wolf which had been stung by
+seven scorpions.
+
+On the death of his father the magician had become possessed of great
+wealth, yet he contributed little to the funeral obsequies nor did any
+suggestion of a durable and expensive nature conveying his enlightened
+name and virtues down to future times cause his face to become
+gladdened. In order to preserve greater secrecy about the enchantments
+which he certainly performed, he employed only two persons within the
+house, one of whom was blind and the other deaf. In this ingenious
+manner he hoped to receive attention and yet be unobserved, the blind
+one being unable to see the nature of the incantations which he
+undertook, and the deaf one being unable to hear the words. In this,
+however, he was unsuccessful, as the two persons always contrived to
+be present together, and to explain to one another the nature of the
+various matters afterwards; but as they were of somewhat deficient
+understanding, the circumstance was unimportant.
+
+It was with more uneasiness that the magician perceived one day that
+the maiden whom he had adopted was no longer a child. As he desired
+secrecy above all things until he should have completed the one
+important matter for which he had laboured all his life, he decided
+with extreme unwillingness to put into operation a powerful charm
+towards her, which would have the effect of diminishing all her
+attributes until such time as he might release her again. Owing to his
+reluctance in the matter, however, the magic did not act fully, but
+only in such a way that her feet became naturally and without binding
+the most perfect and beautiful in the entire province of Hu Nan, so
+that ever afterwards she was called Pan Fei Mian, in delicate
+reference to that Empress whose feet were so symmetrical that a golden
+lily sprang up wherever she trod. Afterwards the magician made no
+further essay in the matter, chiefly because he was ever convinced
+that the accomplishment of his desire was within his grasp.
+
+The rumours of armed men in the neighbourhood of Si-chow threw the
+magician into an unendurable condition of despair. To lose all, as
+would most assuredly happen if he had to leave his arranged rooms and
+secret preparations and take to flight, was the more bitter because he
+felt surer than ever that success was even standing by his side. The
+very subtle liquid, which would mix itself into the component parts of
+the living creature which drank it, and by an insidious and harmless
+process so work that, when the spirit departed, the flesh would become
+resolved into a figure of pure and solid gold of the finest quality,
+had engaged the refined minds of many of the most expert individuals
+of remote ages. With most of these inspired persons, however, the
+search had been undertaken in pure-minded benevolence, their chief aim
+being an honourable desire to discover a method by which one's
+ancestors might be permanently and effectively preserved in a fit and
+becoming manner to receive the worship and veneration of posterity.
+Yet, in spite of these amiable motives, and of the fact that the
+magician merely desired the possession of the secret to enable him to
+become excessively wealthy, the affair had been so arranged that it
+should come into his possession.
+
+The matter which concerned Mian in the dark wood, when she was only
+saved by the appearance of the person who is already known as Ling,
+entirely removed all pleasurable emotions from the magician's mind,
+and on many occasions he stated in a definite and systematic manner
+that he would shortly end an ignoble career which seemed to be
+destined only to gloom and disappointment. In this way an important
+misunderstanding arose, for when, two days later, during the sound of
+matchlock firing, the magician suddenly approached the presence of
+Mian with an uncontrollable haste and an entire absence of dignified
+demeanour, and fell dead at her feet without expressing himself on any
+subject whatever, she deliberately judged that in this manner he had
+carried his remark into effect, nor did the closed vessel of yellow
+liquid which he held in his hand seem to lead away from this decision.
+In reality, the magician had fallen owing to the heavy and conflicting
+emotions which success had engendered in an intellect already greatly
+weakened by his continual disregard of the higher virtues; for the
+bottle, indeed, contained the perfection of his entire life's study,
+the very expensive and three-times purified gold liquid.
+
+On perceiving the magician's condition, Mian at once called for the
+two attendants, and directed them to bring from an inner chamber all
+the most effective curing substances, whether in the form of powder or
+liquid. When these proved useless, no matter in what way they were
+applied, it became evident that there could be very little hope of
+restoring the magician, yet so courageous and grateful for the
+benefits which she had received from the person in question was Mian,
+that, in spite of the uninviting dangers of the enterprise, she
+determined to journey to Ki to invoke the assistance of a certain
+person who was known to be very successful in casting out malicious
+demons from the bodies of animals, and from casks and barrels, in
+which they frequently took refuge, to the great detriment of the
+quality of the liquid placed therein.
+
+Not without many hidden fears, Mian set out on her journey, greatly
+desiring not to be subjected to an encounter of a nature similar to
+the one already recorded; for in such a case she could hardly again
+hope for the inspired arrival of the one whom she now often thought of
+in secret as the well-formed and symmetrical young sword-user.
+Nevertheless, an event of equal significance was destined to prove the
+wisdom of the well-known remark concerning thoughts which are
+occupying one's intellect and the unexpected appearance of a very
+formidable evil spirit; for as she passed along, quickly yet with so
+dignified a motion that the moss received no impression beneath her
+footsteps, she became aware of a circumstance which caused her to stop
+by imparting to her mind two definite and greatly dissimilar emotions.
+
+In a grassy and open space, on the verge of which she stood, lay the
+dead bodies of seventeen rebels, all disposed in very degraded
+attitudes, which contrasted strongly with the easy and becoming
+position adopted by the eighteenth--one who bore the unmistakable
+emblems of the Imperial army. In this brave and noble-looking
+personage Mian at once saw her preserver, and not doubting that an
+inopportune and treacherous death had overtaken him, she ran forward
+and raised him in her arms, being well assured that however indiscreet
+such an action might appear in the case of an ordinary person, the
+most select maiden need not hesitate to perform so honourable a
+service in regard to one whose virtues had by that time undoubtedly
+placed him among the Three Thousand Pure Ones. Being disturbed in this
+providential manner, Ling opened his eyes, and faintly murmuring, "Oh,
+sainted and adorable Koon Yam, Goddess of Charity, intercede for me
+with Buddha!" he again lost possession of himself in the Middle Air.
+At this remark, which plainly proved Ling to be still alive, in spite
+of the fact that both the maiden and the person himself had thoughts
+to the contrary, Mian found herself surrounded by a variety of
+embarrassing circumstances, among which occurred a remembrance of the
+dead magician and the wise person at Ki whom she had set out to
+summon; but on considering the various natural and sublime laws which
+bore directly on the alternative before her, she discovered that her
+plain destiny was to endeavour to restore the breath in the person who
+was still alive rather than engage on the very unsatisfactory chance
+of attempting to call it back to the body from which it had so long
+been absent.
+
+Having been inspired to this conclusion--which, when she later
+examined her mind, she found not to be repulsive to her own inner
+feelings--Mian returned to the house with dexterous speed, and calling
+together the two attendants, she endeavoured by means of signs and
+drawings to explain to them what she desired to accomplish. Succeeding
+in this after some delay (for the persons in question, being very
+illiterate and narrow-minded, were unable at first to understand the
+existence of any recumbent male person other than the dead magician,
+whom they thereupon commenced to bury in the garden with expressions
+of great satisfaction at their own intelligence in comprehending
+Mian's meaning so readily) they all journeyed to the wood, and bearing
+Ling between them, they carried him to the house without further
+adventure.
+
+
+                                 VIII
+
+It was in the month of Hot Dragon Breaths, many weeks after the fight
+in the woods of Ki, that Ling again opened his eyes to find himself in
+an unknown chamber, and to recognize in the one who visited him from
+time to time the incomparable maiden whose life he had saved in the
+cypress glade. Not a day had passed in the meanwhile on which Mian had
+neglected to offer sacrifices to Chang-Chung, the deity interested in
+drugs and healing substances, nor had she wavered in her firm resolve
+to bring Ling back to an ordinary existence even when the attendants
+had protested that the person in question might without impropriety be
+sent to the Restoring Establishment of the Last Chance, so little did
+his hope of recovering rest upon the efforts of living beings.
+
+After he had beheld Mian's face and understood the circumstances of
+his escape and recovery, Ling quickly shook off the evil vapours which
+had held him down so long, and presently he was able to walk slowly in
+the courtyard and in the shady paths of the wood beyond, leaning upon
+Mian for the support he still required.
+
+"Oh, graceful one," he said on such an occasion, when little stood
+between him and the full powers which he had known before the battle,
+"there is a matter which has been pressing upon this person's mind for
+some time past. It is as dark after light to let the thoughts dwell
+around it, yet the thing itself must inevitably soon be regarded, for
+in this life one's actions are for ever regulated by conditions which
+are neither of one's own seeking nor within one's power of
+controlling."
+
+At these words all brightness left Mian's manner, for she at once
+understood that Ling referred to his departure, of which she herself
+had lately come to think with unrestrained agitation.
+
+"Oh, Ling," she exclaimed at length, "most expert of sword-users and
+most noble of men, surely never was a maiden more inelegantly placed
+than the one who is now by your side. To you she owes her life, yet it
+is unseemly for her even to speak of the incident; to you she must
+look for protection, yet she cannot ask you to stay by her side. She
+is indeed alone. The magician is dead, Ki has fallen, Ling is going,
+and Mian is undoubtedly the most unhappy and solitary person between
+the Wall and the Nan Hai."
+
+"Beloved Mian," exclaimed Ling, with inspiring vehemence, "and is not
+the utterly unworthy person before you indebted to you in a double
+measure that life is still within him? Is not the strength which now
+promotes him to such exceptional audacity as to aspire to your lovely
+hand, of your own creating? Only encourage Ling to entertain a well-
+founded hope that on his return he shall not find you partaking of the
+wedding feast of some wealthy and exceptionally round-bodied Mandarin,
+and this person will accomplish the journey to Canton and back as it
+were in four strides."
+
+"Oh, Ling, reflexion of my ideal, holder of my soul, it would indeed
+be very disagreeable to my own feelings to make any reply save one,"
+replied Mian, scarcely above a breath-voice. "Gratitude alone would
+direct me, were it not that the great love which fills me leaves no
+resting-place for any other emotion than itself. Go if you must, but
+return quickly, for your absence will weigh upon Mian like a dragon-
+dream."
+
+"Violet light of my eyes," exclaimed Ling, "even in surroundings which
+with the exception of the matter before us are uninspiring in the
+extreme, your virtuous and retiring encouragement yet raises me to
+such a commanding eminence of demonstrative happiness that I fear I
+shall become intolerably self-opinionated towards my fellow-men in
+consequence."
+
+"Such a thing is impossible with my Ling," said Mian, with conviction.
+"But must you indeed journey to Canton?"
+
+"Alas!" replied Ling, "gladly would this person decide against such a
+course did the matter rest with him, for as the Verses say, 'It is
+needless to apply the ram's head to the unlocked door.' But Ki is
+demolished, the unassuming Mandarin Li Keen has retired to Peking, and
+of the fortunes of his bowmen this person is entirely ignorant."
+
+"Such as survived returned to their homes," replied Mian, "and Si-chow
+is safe, for the scattered and broken rebels fled to the mountains
+again; so much this person has learned."
+
+"In that case Si-chow is undoubtedly safe for the time, and can be
+left with prudence," said Ling. "It is an unfortunate circumstance
+that there is no Mandarin of authority between here and Canton who can
+receive from this person a statement of past facts and give him
+instructions for the future."
+
+"And what will be the nature of such instructions as will be given at
+Canton?" demanded Mian.
+
+"By chance they may take the form of raising another company of
+bowmen," said Ling, with a sigh, "but, indeed, if this person can
+obtain any weight by means of his past service, they will tend towards
+a pleasant and unambitious civil appointment."
+
+"Oh, my artless and noble-minded lover!" exclaimed Mian, "assuredly a
+veil has been before your eyes during your residence in Canton, and
+your naturally benevolent mind has turned all things into good, or you
+would not thus hopefully refer to your brilliant exploits in the past.
+Of what commercial benefit have they been to the sordid and miserly
+persons in authority, or in what way have they diverted a stream of
+taels into their insatiable pockets? Far greater is the chance that
+had Si-chow fallen many of its household goods would have found their
+way into the Yamens of Canton. Assuredly in Li Keen you will have a
+friend who will make many delicate allusions to your ancestors when
+you meet, and yet one who will float many barbed whispers to follow
+you when you have passed; for you have planted shame before him in the
+eyes of those who would otherwise neither have eyes to see nor tongues
+to discuss the matter. It is for such a reason that this person
+distrusts all things connected with the journey, except your
+constancy, oh, my true and strong one."
+
+"Such faithfulness would alone be sufficient to assure my safe return
+if the matter were properly represented to the supreme Deities," said
+Ling. "Let not the thin curtain of bitter water stand before your
+lustrous eyes any longer, then, the events which have followed one
+another in the past few days in a fashion that can only be likened to
+thunder following lightning are indeed sufficient to distress one with
+so refined and swan-like an organization, but they are now assuredly
+at an end."
+
+"It is a hope of daily recurrence to this person," replied Mian,
+honourably endeavouring to restrain the emotion which openly exhibited
+itself in her eyes; "for what maiden would not rather make successful
+offerings to the Great Mother Kum-Fa than have the most imposing and
+verbose Triumphal Arch erected to commemorate an empty and
+unsatisfying constancy?"
+
+In this amiable manner the matter was arranged between Ling and Mian,
+as they sat together in the magician's garden drinking peach-tea,
+which the two attendants--not without discriminating and significant
+expressions between themselves--brought to them from time to time.
+Here Ling made clear the whole manner of his life from his earliest
+memory to the time when he fell in dignified combat, nor did Mian
+withhold anything, explaining in particular such charms and spells of
+the magician as she had knowledge of, and in this graceful manner
+materially assisting her lover in the many disagreeable encounters and
+conflicts which he was shortly to experience.
+
+It was with even more objectionable feelings than before that Ling now
+contemplated his journey to Canton, involving as it did the separation
+from one who had become as the shadow of his existence, and by whose
+side he had an undoubted claim to stand. Yet the necessity of the
+undertaking was no less than before, and the full possession of all
+his natural powers took away his only excuse for delaying in the
+matter. Without any pleasurable anticipations, therefore, he consulted
+the Sacred Flat and Round Sticks, and learning that the following day
+would be propitious for the journey, he arranged to set out in
+accordance with the omen.
+
+When the final moment arrived at which the invisible threads of
+constantly passing emotions from one to the other must be broken, and
+when Mian perceived that her lover's horse was restrained at the door
+by the two attendants, who with unsuspected delicacy of feeling had
+taken this opportunity of withdrawing, the noble endurance which had
+hitherto upheld her melted away, and she became involved in very
+melancholy and obscure meditations until she observed that Ling also
+was quickly becoming affected by a similar gloom.
+
+"Alas!" she exclaimed, "how unworthy a person I am thus to impose upon
+my lord a greater burden than that which already weighs him down!
+Rather ought this one to dwell upon the happiness of that day, when,
+after successfully evading or overthrowing the numerous bands of
+assassins which infest the road from here to Canton, and after
+escaping or recovering from the many deadly pestilences which
+invariably reduce that city at this season of the year, he shall
+triumphantly return. Assuredly there is a highly-polished surface
+united to every action in life, no matter how funereal it may at first
+appear. Indeed, there are many incidents compared with which death
+itself is welcome, and to this end Mian has reserved a farewell gift."
+
+Speaking in this manner the devoted and magnanimous maiden placed in
+Ling's hands the transparent vessel of liquid which the magician had
+grasped when he fell. "This person," she continued, speaking with
+difficulty, "places her lover's welfare incomparably before her own
+happiness, and should he ever find himself in a situation which is
+unendurably oppressive, and from which death is the only escape--such
+as inevitable tortures, the infliction of violent madness, or the
+subjection by magic to the will of some designing woman--she begs him
+to accept this means of freeing himself without regarding her anguish
+beyond expressing a clearly defined last wish that the two persons in
+question may be in the end happily reunited in another existence."
+
+Assured by this last evidence of affection, Ling felt that he had no
+longer any reason for internal heaviness; his spirits were
+immeasurably raised by the fragrant incense of Mian's great devotion,
+and under its influence he was even able to breathe towards her a few
+words of similar comfort as he left the spot and began his journey.
+
+
+                                  IX
+
+On entering Canton, which he successfully accomplished without any
+unpleasant adventure, the marked absence of any dignified ostentation
+which had been accountable for many of Ling's misfortunes in the past,
+impelled him again to reside in the same insignificant apartment that
+he had occupied when he first visited the city as an unknown and
+unimportant candidate. In consequence of this, when Ling was
+communicating to any person the signs by which messengers might find
+him, he was compelled to add, "the neighbourhood in which this
+contemptible person resides is that officially known as 'the mean
+quarter favoured by the lower class of those who murder by
+treachery,'" and for this reason he was not always treated with the
+regard to which his attainments entitled him, or which he would have
+unquestionably received had he been able to describe himself as of
+"the partly-drained and uninfected area reserved to Mandarins and
+their friends."
+
+It was with an ignoble feeling of mental distress that Ling exhibited
+himself at the Chief Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements on the
+following day; for the many disadvantageous incidents of his past life
+had repeated themselves before his eyes while he slept, and the not
+unhopeful emotions which he had felt when in the inspiring presence of
+Mian were now altogether absent. In spite of the fact that he reached
+the office during the early gong strokes of the morning, it was not
+until the withdrawal of light that he reached any person who was in a
+position to speak with him on the matter, so numerous were the lesser
+ones through whose chambers he had to pass in the process. At length
+he found himself in the presence of an upper one who had the
+appearance of being acquainted with the circumstances, and who
+received him with dignity, though not with any embarrassing exhibition
+of respect or servility.
+
+"'The hero of the illustrious encounter beyond the walls of Si-chow,'"
+exclaimed that official, reading the words from the tablet of
+introduction which Ling had caused to be carried into him, and at the
+same time examining the person in question closely. "Indeed, no such
+one is known to those within this office, unless the words chance to
+point to the courteous and unassuming Mandarin Li Keen, who, however,
+is at this moment recovering his health at Peking, as set forth in the
+amiable and impartial report which we have lately received from him."
+
+At these words Ling plainly understood that there was little hope of
+the last events becoming profitable on his account.
+
+"Did not the report to which allusion has been made bear reference to
+one Ling, Commander of the Archers, who thrice led on the fighting
+men, and who was finally successful in causing the rebels to disperse
+towards the mountains?" he asked, in a voice which somewhat trembled.
+
+"There is certainly reference to one of the name you mention," said
+the other; "but regarding the terms--perhaps this person would better
+protect his own estimable time by displaying the report within your
+sight."
+
+With these words the upper one struck a gong several times, and after
+receiving from an inner chamber the parchment in question, he placed
+it before Ling, at the same time directing a lesser one to interpose
+between it and the one who read it a large sheet of transparent
+substance, so that destruction might not come to it, no matter in what
+way its contents affected the reader. Thereon Ling perceived the
+following facts, very skilfully inscribed with the evident purpose of
+inducing persons to believe, without question, that words so elegantly
+traced must of necessity be truthful also.
+
+  A Benevolent Example of the Intelligent Arrangement by which the
+  most Worthy Persons outlive those who are Incapable.
+
+  The circumstances connected with the office of the valuable and
+  accomplished Mandarin of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements at Si-chow
+  have, in recent times, been of anything but a prepossessing order.
+  Owing to the very inadequate methods adopted by those who earn a
+  livelihood by conveying necessities from the more enlightened
+  portions of the Empire to that place, it so came about that for a
+  period of five days the Yamen was entirely unsupplied with the
+  fins of sharks or even with goats' eyes. To add to the polished
+  Mandarin's distress of mind the barbarous and slow-witted rebels
+  who infest those parts took this opportunity to destroy the town
+  and most of its inhabitants, the matter coming about as follows:
+
+  The feeble and commonplace person named Ling who commands the
+  bowmen had but recently been elevated to that distinguished
+  position from a menial and degraded occupation (for which, indeed,
+  his stunted intellect more aptly fitted him); and being in
+  consequence very greatly puffed out in self-gratification, he
+  became an easy prey to the cunning of the rebels, and allowed
+  himself to be beguiled into a trap, paying for this contemptible
+  stupidity with his life. The town of Si-chow was then attacked,
+  and being in this manner left defenceless through the weakness--or
+  treachery--of the person Ling, who had contrived to encompass the
+  entire destruction of his unyielding company, it fell after a
+  determined and irreproachable resistance; the Mandarin Li Keen
+  being told, as, covered with the blood of the foemen, he was
+  dragged away from the thickest part of the unequal conflict by his
+  followers, that he was the last person to leave the town. On his
+  way to Peking with news of this valiant defence, the Mandarin was
+  joined by the Chief of Bowmen, who had understood and avoided the
+  very obvious snare into which the stagnant-minded Commander had
+  led his followers, in spite of disinterested advice to the
+  contrary. For this intelligent perception, and for general
+  nobility of conduct when in battle, the versatile Chief of Bowmen
+  is by this written paper strongly recommended to the dignity of
+  receiving the small metal Embellishment of Valour.
+
+  It has been suggested to the Mandarin Li Keen that the bestowal of
+  the Crystal Button would only be a fit and graceful reward for his
+  indefatigable efforts to uphold the dignity of the sublime
+  Emperor; but to all such persons the Mandarin has sternly replied
+  that such a proposal would more fitly originate from the renowned
+  and valuable Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, he well
+  knowing that the wise and engaging persons who conduct that
+  indispensable and well-regulated department are gracefully
+  voracious in their efforts to reward merit, even when it is
+  displayed, as in the case in question, by one who from his
+  position will inevitably soon be urgently petitioning in a like
+  manner on their behalf.
+
+When Ling had finished reading this elegantly arranged but exceedingly
+misleading parchment, he looked up with eyes from which he vainly
+endeavoured to restrain the signs of undignified emotion, and said to
+the upper one:
+
+"It is difficult employment for a person to refrain from unendurable
+thoughts when his unassuming and really conscientious efforts are
+represented in a spirit of no satisfaction, yet in this matter the
+very expert Li Keen appears to have gone beyond himself; the Commander
+Ling, who is herein represented as being slain by the enemy, is,
+indeed, the person who is standing before you, and all the other
+statements are in a like exactness."
+
+"The short-sighted individual who for some hidden desire of his own is
+endeavouring to present himself as the corrupt and degraded creature
+Ling, has overlooked one important circumstance," said the upper one,
+smiling in a very intolerable manner, at the same time causing his
+head to move slightly from side to side in the fashion of one who
+rebukes with assumed geniality; and, turning over the written paper,
+he displayed upon the under side the Imperial vermilion Sign.
+"Perhaps," he continued, "the omniscient person will still continue in
+his remarks, even with the evidence of the Emperor's unerring pencil
+to refute him."
+
+At these words and the undoubted testimony of the red mark, which
+plainly declared the whole of the written matter to be composed of
+truth, no matter what might afterwards transpire, Ling understood that
+very little prosperity remained with him.
+
+"But the town of Si-chow," he suggested, after examining his mind; "if
+any person in authority visited the place, he would inevitably find it
+standing and its inhabitants in agreeable health."
+
+"The persistent person who is so assiduously occupying my intellectual
+moments with empty words seems to be unaccountably deficient in his
+knowledge of the customs of refined society and of the meaning of the
+Imperial Signet," said the other, with an entire absence of benevolent
+consideration. "That Si-chow has fallen and that Ling is dead are two
+utterly uncontroversial matters truthfully recorded. If a person
+visited Si-chow, he might find it rebuilt or even inhabited by those
+from the neighbouring villages or by evil spirits taking the forms of
+the ones who formerly lived there; as in a like manner, Ling might be
+restored to existence by magic, or his body might be found and
+possessed by an outcast demon who desired to revisit the earth for a
+period. Such circumstances do not in any way disturb the announcement
+that Si-chow has without question fallen, and that Ling has officially
+ceased to live, of which events notifications have been sent to all
+who are concerned in the matters."
+
+As the upper one ceased speaking, four strokes sounded upon the gong,
+and Ling immediately found himself carried into the street by the
+current of both lesser and upper ones who poured forth at the signal.
+The termination of this conversation left Ling in a more unenviable
+state of dejection than any of the many preceding misfortunes had
+done, for with enlarged inducements to possess himself of a competent
+appointment he seemed to be even further removed from this attainment
+than he had been at any time in his life. He might, indeed, present
+himself again for the public examinations; but in order to do even
+that it would be necessary for him to wait almost a year, nor could he
+assure himself that his efforts would again be likely to result in an
+equal success. Doubts also arose within his mind of the course which
+he should follow in such a case; whether to adopt a new name,
+involving as it would certain humiliation and perhaps disgrace if
+detection overtook his footsteps, or still to possess the title of one
+who was in a measure dead, and hazard the likelihood of having any
+prosperity which he might obtain reduced to nothing if the fact should
+become public.
+
+As Ling reflected upon such details he found himself without intention
+before the house of a wise person who had become very wealthy by
+advising others on all matters, but chiefly on those connected with
+strange occurrences and such events as could not be settled definitely
+either one way or the other until a remote period had been reached.
+Becoming assailed by a curious desire to know what manner of evils
+particularly attached themselves to such as were officially dead but
+who nevertheless had an ordinary existence, Ling placed himself before
+this person, and after arranging the manner of reward related to him
+so many of the circumstances as were necessary to enable a full
+understanding to be reached, but at the same time in no way betraying
+his own interest in the matter.
+
+"Such inflictions are to no degree frequent," said the wise person
+after he had consulted a polished sphere of the finest red jade for
+some time; "and this is in a measure to be regretted, as the hair of
+these persons--provided they die a violent death, which is invariably
+the case--constitutes a certain protection against being struck by
+falling stars, or becoming involved in unsuccessful law cases. The
+persons in question can be recognized with certainty in the public
+ways by the unnatural pallor of their faces and by the general
+repulsiveness of their appearance, but as they soon take refuge in
+suicide, unless they have the fortune to be removed previously by
+accident, it is an infrequent matter that one is gratified by the
+sight. During their existence they are subject to many disorders from
+which the generality of human beings are benevolently preserved; they
+possess no rights of any kind, and if by any chance they are detected
+in an act of a seemingly depraved nature, they are liable to judgment
+at the hands of the passers-by without any form whatever, and to
+punishment of a more severe order than that administered to
+commonplace criminals. There are many other disadvantages affecting
+such persons when they reach the Middle Air, of which the chief--"
+
+"This person is immeasurably indebted for such a clear explanation of
+the position," interrupted Ling, who had a feeling of not desiring to
+penetrate further into the detail; "but as he perceives a line of
+anxious ones eagerly waiting at the door to obtain advice and
+consolation from so expert and amiable a wizard, he will not make
+himself uncongenial any longer with his very feeble topics of
+conversation."
+
+By this time Ling plainly comprehended that he had been marked out
+from the beginning--perhaps for all the knowledge which he had to the
+opposite effect, from a period in the life of a far-removed ancestor--
+to be an object of marked derision and the victim of all manner of
+malevolent demons in whatever actions he undertook. In this condition
+of understanding his mind turned gratefully to the parting gift of
+Mian whom he had now no hope of possessing; for the intolerable
+thought of uniting her to so objectionable a being as himself would
+have been dismissed as utterly inelegant even had he been in a manner
+of living to provide for her adequately, which itself seemed clearly
+impossible. Disregarding all similar emotions, therefore, he walked
+without pausing to his abode, and stretching his body upon the rushes,
+drank the entire liquid unhesitatingly, and prepared to pass beyond
+with a tranquil mind entirely given up to thoughts and images of Mian.
+
+
+                                  X
+
+Upon a certain occasion, the particulars of which have already been
+recorded, Ling had judged himself to have passed into the form of a
+spirit on beholding the ethereal form of Mian bending over him. After
+swallowing the entire liquid, which had cost the dead magician so much
+to distil and make perfect, it was with a well-assured determination
+of never again awakening that he lost the outward senses and floated
+in the Middle Air, so that when his eyes next opened upon what seemed
+to be the bare walls of his own chamber, his first thought was a
+natural conviction that the matter had been so arranged either out of
+a charitable desire that he should not be overcome by a too sudden
+transition to unparalleled splendour, or that such a reception was the
+outcome of some dignified jest on the part of certain lesser and more
+cheerful spirits. After waiting in one position for several hours,
+however, and receiving no summons or manifestation of a celestial
+nature, he began to doubt the qualities of the liquid, and applying
+certain tests, he soon ascertained that he was still in the lower
+world and unharmed. Nevertheless, this circumstance did not tend in
+any way to depress his mind, for, doubtless owing to some hidden
+virtue of the fluid, he felt an enjoyable emotion that he still lived;
+all his attributes appeared to be purified, and he experienced an
+inspired certainty of feeling that an illustrious and highly-
+remunerative future lay before one who still had an ordinary existence
+after being both officially killed and self-poisoned.
+
+In this intelligent disposition thoughts of Mian recurred to him with
+unreproved persistence, and in order to convey to her an account of
+the various matters which had engaged him since his arrival at the
+city, and a well-considered declaration of the unchanged state of his
+own feelings towards her, he composed and despatched with impetuous
+haste the following delicate verses:
+
+                              CONSTANCY
+
+  About the walls and gates of Canton
+  Are many pleasing and entertaining maidens;
+  Indeed, in the eyes of their friends and of the passers-by
+  Some of them are exceptionally adorable.
+  The person who is inscribing these lines, however,
+  Sees before him, as it were, an assemblage of deformed and
+    un-prepossessing hags,
+  Venerable in age and inconsiderable in appearance;
+  For the dignified and majestic image of Mian is ever before him,
+  Making all others very inferior.
+
+  Within the houses and streets of Canton
+  Hang many bright lanterns.
+  The ordinary person who has occasion to walk by night
+  Professes to find them highly lustrous.
+  But there is one who thinks contrary facts,
+  And when he goes forth he carries two long curved poles
+  To prevent him from stumbling among the dark and hidden places;
+  For he has gazed into the brilliant and pellucid orbs of Mian,
+  And all other lights are dull and practically opaque.
+
+  In various parts of the literary quarter of Canton
+  Reside such as spend their time in inward contemplation.
+  In spite of their generally uninviting exteriors
+  Their reflexions are often of a very profound order.
+  Yet the unpopular and persistently-abused Ling
+  Would unhesitatingly prefer his own thoughts to theirs,
+  For what makes this person's thoughts far more pleasing
+  Is that they are invariably connected with the virtuous and
+    ornamental Mian.
+
+Becoming very amiably disposed after this agreeable occupation, Ling
+surveyed himself at the disc of polished metal, and observed with
+surprise and shame the rough and uninviting condition of his person.
+He had, indeed, although it was not until some time later that he
+became aware of the circumstance, slept for five days without
+interruption, and it need not therefore be a matter of wonder or of
+reproach to him that his smooth surfaces had become covered with short
+hair. Reviling himself bitterly for the appearance which he conceived
+he must have exhibited when he conducted his business, and to which he
+now in part attributed his ill-success, Ling went forth without delay,
+and quickly discovering one of those who remove hair publicly for a
+very small sum, he placed himself in the chair, and directed that his
+face, arms, and legs should be denuded after the manner affected by
+the ones who make a practice of observing the most recent customs.
+
+"Did the illustrious individual who is now conferring distinction on
+this really worn-out chair by occupying it express himself in favour
+of having the face entirely denuded?" demanded the one who conducted
+the operation; for these persons have become famous for their elegant
+and persistent ability to discourse, and frequently assume ignorance
+in order that they themselves may make reply, and not for the purpose
+of gaining knowledge. "Now, in the objectionable opinion of this
+unintelligent person, who has a presumptuous habit of offering his
+very undesirable advice, a slight covering on the upper lip,
+delicately arranged and somewhat fiercely pointed at the extremities,
+would bestow an appearance of--how shall this illiterate person
+explain himself?--dignity?--matured reflexion?--doubtless the
+accomplished nobleman before me will understand what is intended with
+a more knife-like accuracy than this person can describe it--but
+confer that highly desirable effect upon the face of which at present
+it is entirely destitute . . . 'Entirely denuded?' Then without fail
+it shall certainly be so, O incomparable personage . . . Does the
+versatile Mandarin now present profess any concern as to the condition
+of the rice plants? . . . Indeed, the remark is an inspired one; the
+subject is totally devoid of interest to a person of intelligence
+. . . A remarkable and gravity-removing event transpired within the
+notice of this unassuming person recently. A discriminating individual
+had purchased from him a portion of his justly renowned Thrice-
+extracted Essence of Celestial Herb Oil--a preparation which in this
+experienced person's opinion, indeed, would greatly relieve the
+undoubted afflictions from which the one before him is evidently
+suffering--when after once anointing himself--"
+
+A lengthy period containing no words caused Ling, who had in the
+meantime closed his eyes and lost Canton and all else in delicate
+thoughts of Mian, to look up. That which met his attention on doing so
+filled him with an intelligent wonder, for the person before him held
+in his hand what had the appearance of a tuft of bright yellow hair,
+which shone in the light of the sun with a most engaging splendour,
+but which he nevertheless regarded with a most undignified expression
+of confusion and awe.
+
+"Illustrious demon," he cried at length, kow-towing very respectfully,
+"have the extreme amiableness to be of a benevolent disposition, and
+do not take an unworthy and entirely unremunerative revenge upon this
+very unimportant person for failing to detect and honour you from the
+beginning."
+
+"Such words indicate nothing beyond an excess of hemp spirit,"
+answered Ling, with signs of displeasure. "To gain my explicit esteem,
+make me smooth without delay, and do not exhibit before me the lock of
+hair which, from its colour and appearance, has evidently adorned the
+head of one of those maidens whose duty it is to quench the thirst of
+travellers in the long narrow rooms of this city."
+
+"Majestic and anonymous spirit," said the other, with extreme
+reverence, and an entire absence of the appearance of one who had
+gazed into too many vessels, "if such be your plainly-expressed
+desire, this superficial person will at once proceed to make smooth
+your peach-like skin, and with a carefulness inspired by the certainty
+that the most unimportant wound would give forth liquid fire, in which
+he would undoubtedly perish. Nevertheless, he desires to make it
+evident that this hair is from the head of no maiden, being, indeed,
+the uneven termination of your own sacred pigtail, which this
+excessively self-confident slave took the inexcusable liberty of
+removing, and which changed in this manner within his hand in order to
+administer a fit reproof for his intolerable presumption."
+
+Impressed by the mien and unquestionable earnestness of the remover of
+hair, Ling took the matter which had occasioned these various emotions
+in his hand and examined it. His amazement was still greater when he
+perceived that--in spite of the fact that it presented every
+appearance of having been cut from his own person--none of the
+qualities of hair remained in it; it was hard and wire-like,
+possessing, indeed, both the nature and the appearance of a metal.
+
+As he gazed fixedly and with astonishment, there came back into the
+remembrance of Ling certain obscure and little-understood facts
+connected with the limitless wealth possessed by the Yellow Emperor--
+of which the great gold life-like image in the Temple of Internal
+Symmetry at Peking alone bears witness now--and of his lost secret.
+Many very forcible prophecies and omens in his own earlier life, of
+which the rendering and accomplishment had hitherto seemed to be dark
+and incomplete, passed before him, and various matters which Mian had
+related to him concerning the habits and speech of the magician took
+definite form within his mind. Deeply impressed by the exact manner in
+which all these circumstances fitted together, one into another, Ling
+rewarded the person before him greatly beyond his expectation, and
+hurried without delay to his own chamber.
+
+
+                                  XI
+
+For many hours Ling remained in his room, examining in his mind all
+passages, either in his own life or in the lives of others, which
+might by any chance have influence on the event before him. In this
+thorough way he became assured that the competition and its results,
+his journey to Si-chow with the encounter in the cypress wood, the
+flight of the incapable and treacherous Mandarin, and the battle of
+Ki, were all, down to the matter of the smallest detail, parts of a
+symmetrical and complete scheme, tending to his present condition.
+Cheered and upheld by this proof of the fact that very able deities
+were at work on his behalf, he turned his intellect from the
+entrancing subject to a contemplation of the manner in which his
+condition would enable him to frustrate the uninventive villainies of
+the obstinate person Li Keen, and to provide a suitable house and mode
+of living to which he would be justified in introducing Mian, after
+adequate marriage ceremonies had been observed between them. In this
+endeavour he was less successful than he had imagined would be the
+case, for when he had first fully understood that his body was of such
+a substance that nothing was wanting to transmute it into fine gold
+but the absence of the living spirit, he had naturally, and without
+deeply examining the detail, assumed that so much gold might be
+considered to be in his possession. Now, however, a very definite
+thought arose within him that his own wishes and interests would have
+been better secured had the benevolent spirits who undertook the
+matter placed the secret within his knowledge in such a way as to
+enable him to administer the fluid to some very heavy and inexpensive
+animal, so that the issue which seemed inevitable before the enjoyment
+of the riches could be entered upon should not have touched his own
+comfort so closely. To a person of Ling's refined imagination it could
+not fail to be a subject of internal reproach that while he would
+become the most precious dead body in the world, his value in life
+might not be very honourably placed even by the most complimentary one
+who should require his services. Then came the thought, which, however
+degraded, he found himself unable to put quite beyond him, that if in
+the meantime he were able to gain a sufficiency for Mian and himself,
+even her pure and delicate love might not be able to bear so offensive
+a test as that of seeing him grow old and remain intolerably healthy--
+perhaps with advancing years actually becoming lighter day by day, and
+thereby lessening in value before her eyes--when the natural
+infirmities of age and the presence of an ever-increasing posterity
+would make even a moderate amount of taels of inestimable value.
+
+No doubt remained in Ling's mind that the process of frequently making
+smooth his surfaces would yield an amount of gold enough to suffice
+for his own needs, but a brief consideration of the matter convinced
+him that this source would be inadequate to maintain an entire
+household even if he continually denuded himself to an almost
+ignominious extent. As he fully weighed these varying chances the
+certainty became more clear to him with every thought that for the
+virtuous enjoyment of Mian's society one great sacrifice was required
+of him. This act, it seemed to be intimated, would without delay
+provide for an affluent and lengthy future, and at the same time would
+influence all the spirits--even those who had been hitherto evilly-
+disposed towards him--in such a manner that his enemies would be
+removed from his path by a process which would expose them to public
+ridicule, and he would be assured in founding an illustrious and
+enduring line. To accomplish this successfully necessitated the loss
+of at least the greater part of one entire member, and for some time
+the disadvantages of going through an existence with only a single leg
+or arm seemed more than a sufficient price to pay even for the
+definite advantages which would be made over to him in return. This
+unworthy thought, however, could not long withstand the memory of
+Mian's steadfast and high-minded affection, and the certainty of her
+enlightened gladness at his return even in the imperfect condition
+which he anticipated. Nor was there absent from his mind a dimly-
+understood hope that the matter did not finally rest with him, but
+that everything which he might be inspired to do was in reality only a
+portion of the complete and arranged system into which he had been
+drawn, and in which his part had been assigned to him from the
+beginning without power for him to deviate, no matter how much to the
+contrary the thing should appear.
+
+As no advantage would be gained by making any delay, Ling at once
+sought the most favourable means of putting his resolution into
+practice, and after many skilful and insidious inquiries he learnt of
+an accomplished person who made a consistent habit of cutting off
+limbs which had become troublesome to their possessors either through
+accident or disease. Furthermore, he was said to be of a sincere and
+charitable disposition, and many persons declared that on no occasion
+had he been known to make use of the helpless condition of those who
+visited him in order to extort money from them.
+
+Coming to the ill-considered conclusion that he would be able to
+conceal within his own breast the true reason for the operation, Ling
+placed himself before the person in question, and exhibited the matter
+to him so that it would appear as though his desires were promoted by
+the presence of a small but persistent sprite which had taken its
+abode within his left thigh, and there resisted every effort of the
+most experienced wise persons to induce it to come forth again.
+Satisfied with this explanation of the necessity of the deed, the one
+who undertook the matter proceeded, with Ling's assistance, to sharpen
+his cutting instruments and to heat the hardening irons; but no sooner
+had he made a shallow mark to indicate the lines which his knife
+should take, than his subtle observation at once showed him that the
+facts had been represented to him in a wrong sense, and that his
+visitor, indeed, was composed of no common substance. Being of a
+gentle and forbearing disposition, he did not manifest any indication
+of rage at the discovery, but amiably and unassumingly pointed out
+that such a course was not respectful towards himself, and that,
+moreover, Ling might incur certain well-defined and highly undesirable
+maladies as a punishment for the deception.
+
+Overcome with remorse at deceiving so courteous and noble-minded a
+person, Ling fully explained the circumstances to him, not even
+concealing from him certain facts which related to the actions of
+remote ancestors, but which, nevertheless, appeared to have influenced
+the succession of events. When he had made an end of the narrative,
+the other said:
+
+"Behold now, it is truly remarked that every Mandarin has three hands
+and every soldier a like number of feet, yet it is a saying which is
+rather to be regarded as manifesting the deep wisdom and
+discrimination of the speaker than as an actual fact which can be
+taken advantage of when one is so minded--least of all by so valiant a
+Commander as the one before me, who has clearly proved that in time of
+battle he has exactly reversed the position."
+
+"The loss would undoubtedly be of considerable inconvenience
+occasionally," admitted Ling, "yet none the less the sage remark of
+Huai Mei-shan, 'When actually in the embrace of a voracious and
+powerful wild animal, the desirability of leaving a limb is not a
+matter to be subjected to lengthy consideration,' is undoubtedly a
+valuable guide for general conduct. This person has endured many
+misfortunes and suffered many injustices; he has known the wolf-
+gnawings of great hopes, which have withered and daily grown less when
+the difficulties of maintaining an honourable and illustrious career
+have unfolded themselves within his sight. Before him still lie the
+attractions of a moderate competency to be shared with the one whose
+absence would make even the Upper Region unendurable, and after having
+this entrancing future once shattered by the tiger-like cupidity of a
+depraved and incapable Mandarin, he is determined to welcome even the
+sacrifice which you condemn rather than let the opportunity vanish
+through indecision."
+
+"It is not an unworthy or abandoned decision," said the one whose aid
+Ling had invoked, "nor a matter in which this person would refrain
+from taking part, were there no other and more agreeable means by
+which the same results may be attained. A circumstance has occurred
+within this superficial person's mind, however: A brother of the one
+who is addressing you is by profession one of those who purchase large
+undertakings for which they have not the money to pay, and who
+thereupon by various expedients gain the ear of the thrifty, enticing
+them by fair offers of return to entrust their savings for the purpose
+of paying off the debt. These persons are ever on the watch for
+transactions by which they inevitably prosper without incurring any
+obligation, and doubtless my brother will be able to gather a just
+share of the value of your highly-remunerative body without submitting
+you to the insufferable annoyance of losing a great part of it
+prematurely."
+
+Without clearly understanding how so inviting an arrangement could be
+effected, the manner of speaking was exceedingly alluring to Ling's
+mind, perplexed as he had become through weighing and considering the
+various attitudes of the entire matter. To receive a certain and
+sufficient sum of money without his person being in any way mutilated
+would be a satisfactory, but as far as he had been able to observe an
+unapproachable, solution to the difficulty. In the mind of the amiable
+person with whom he was conversing, however, the accomplishment did
+not appear to be surrounded by unnatural obstacles, so that Ling was
+content to leave the entire design in his hands, after stating that he
+would again present himself on a certain occasion when it was asserted
+that the brother in question would be present.
+
+So internally lightened did Ling feel after this inspiring
+conversation, and so confident of a speedy success had the obliging
+person's words made him become, that for the first time since his
+return to Canton he was able to take an intellectual interest in the
+pleasures of the city. Becoming aware that the celebrated play
+entitled "The Precious Lamp of Spotted Butterfly Temple" was in
+process of being shown at the Tea Garden of Rainbow Lights and Voices,
+he purchased an entrance, and after passing several hours in this
+conscientious enjoyment, returned to his chamber, and passed a night
+untroubled by any manifestations of an unpleasant nature.
+
+
+                                 XII
+
+Chang-ch'un, the brother of the one to whom Ling had applied in his
+determination, was confidently stated to be one of the richest persons
+in Canton. So great was the number of enterprises in which he had
+possessions, that he himself was unable to keep an account of them,
+and it was asserted that upon occasions he had run through the
+streets, crying aloud that such an undertaking had been the subject of
+most inferior and uninviting dreams and omens (a custom observed by
+those who wish a venture ill), whereas upon returning and consulting
+his written parchments, it became plain to him that he had indulged in
+a very objectionable exhibition, as he himself was the person most
+interested in the success of the matter. Far from discouraging him,
+however, such incidents tended to his advantage, as he could
+consistently point to them in proof of his unquestionable commercial
+honourableness, and in this way many persons of all classes, not only
+in Canton, or in the Province, but all over the Empire, would
+unhesitatingly entrust money to be placed in undertakings which he had
+purchased and was willing to describe as "of much good." A certain
+class of printed leaves--those in which Chang-ch'un did not insert
+purchased mentions of his forthcoming ventures or verses recording his
+virtues (in return for buying many examples of the printed leaf
+containing them)--took frequent occasion of reminding persons that
+Chang-ch'un owed the beginning of his prosperity to finding a written
+parchment connected with a Mandarin of exalted rank and a low caste
+attendant at the Ti-i tea-house among the paper heaps, which it was at
+that time his occupation to assort into various departments according
+to their quality and commercial value. Such printed leaves freely and
+unhesitatingly predicted that the day on which he would publicly lose
+face was incomparably nearer than that on which the Imperial army
+would receive its back pay, and in a quaint and gravity-removing
+manner advised him to protect himself against an obscure but
+inevitable poverty by learning the accomplishment of chair-carrying--
+an occupation for which his talents and achievements fitted him in a
+high degree, they remarked.
+
+In spite of these evilly intentioned remarks, and of illustrations
+representing him as being bowstrung for treacherous killing, being
+seized in the action of secretly conveying money from passers-by to
+himself and other similar annoying references to his private life,
+Chang-ch'un did not fail to prosper, and his undertakings succeeded to
+such an extent that without inquiry into the detail many persons were
+content to describe as "gold-lined" anything to which he affixed his
+sign, and to hazard their savings for staking upon the ventures. In
+all other departments of life Chang was equally successful; his chief
+wife was the daughter of one who stood high in the Emperor's favour;
+his repast table was never unsupplied with sea-snails, rats' tongues,
+or delicacies of an equally expensive nature, and it was confidently
+maintained that there was no official in Canton, not even putting
+aside the Taotai, who dare neglect to fondle Chang's hand if he
+publicly offered it to him for that purpose.
+
+It was at the most illustrious point of his existence--at the time,
+indeed, when after purchasing without money the renowned and
+proficient charm-water Ho-Ko for a million taels, he had sold it again
+for ten--that Chang was informed by his brother of the circumstances
+connected with Ling. After becoming specially assured that the matter
+was indeed such as it was represented to be, Chang at once discerned
+that the venture was of too certain and profitable a nature to be put
+before those who entrusted their money to him in ordinary and doubtful
+cases. He accordingly called together certain persons whom he was
+desirous of obliging, and informing them privately and apart from
+business terms that the opportunity was one of exceptional
+attractiveness, he placed the facts before them. After displaying a
+number of diagrams bearing upon the mater, he proposed that they
+should form an enterprise to be called "The Ling (After Death) Without
+Much Risk Assembly." The manner of conducting this undertaking he
+explained to be as follows: The body of Ling, whenever the spirit left
+it, should become as theirs to be used for profit. For this benefit
+they would pay Ling fifty thousand taels when the understanding was
+definitely arrived at, five thousand taels each year until the matter
+ended, and when that period arrived another fifty thousand taels to
+persons depending upon him during his life. Having stated the figure
+business, Chang-ch'un put down his written papers, and causing his
+face to assume the look of irrepressible but dignified satisfaction
+which it was his custom to wear on most occasions, and especially when
+he had what appeared at first sight to be evil news to communicate to
+public assemblages of those who had entrusted money to his ventures,
+he proceeded to disclose the advantages of such a system. At the
+extreme, he said, the amount which they would be required to pay would
+be two hundred and fifty thousand taels; but this was in reality a
+very misleading view of the circumstance, as he would endeavour to
+show them. For one detail, he had allotted to Ling thirty years of
+existence, which was the extreme amount according to the calculations
+of those skilled in such prophecies; but, as they were all undoubtedly
+aware, persons of very expert intellects were known to enjoy a much
+shorter period of life than the gross and ordinary, and as Ling was
+clearly one of the former, by the fact of his contriving so ingenious
+a method of enriching himself, they might with reasonable foresight
+rely upon his departing when half the period had been attained; in
+that way seventy-five thousand taels would be restored to them, for
+every year represented a saving of five thousand. Another agreeable
+contemplation was that of the last sum, for by such a time they would
+have arrived at the most pleasurable part of the enterprise: a million
+taels' worth of pure gold would be displayed before them, and the
+question of the final fifty thousand could be disposed of by cutting
+off an arm or half a leg. Whether they adopted that course, or decided
+to increase their fortunes by exposing so exceptional and symmetrical
+a wonder to the public gaze in all the principal cities of the Empire,
+was a circumstance which would have to be examined within their minds
+when the time approached. In such a way the detail of purchase stood
+revealed as only fifty thousand taels in reality, a sum so despicably
+insignificant that he had internal pains at mentioning it to so
+wealthy a group of Mandarins, and he had not yet made clear to them
+that each year they would receive gold to the amount of almost a
+thousand taels. This would be the result of Ling making smooth his
+surfaces, and it would enable them to know that the person in question
+actually existed, and to keep the circumstances before their
+intellects.
+
+When Chang-Ch'un had made the various facts clear to this extent,
+those who were assembled expressed their feelings as favourably turned
+towards the project, provided the tests to which Ling was to be put
+should prove encouraging, and a secure and intelligent understanding
+of things to be done and not to be done could be arrived at between
+them. To this end Ling was brought into the chamber, and fixing his
+thoughts steadfastly upon Mian, he permitted portions to be cut from
+various parts of his body without betraying any signs of ignoble
+agitation. No sooner had the pieces been separated and the virtue of
+Ling's existence passed from them than they changed colour and
+hardened, nor could the most delicate and searching trials to which
+they were exposed by a skilful worker in metals, who was obtained for
+the purpose, disclose any particular, however minute, in which they
+differed from the finest gold. The hair, the nails, and the teeth were
+similarly affected, and even Ling's blood dried into a fine gold
+powder. This detail of the trial being successfully completed, Ling
+subjected himself to intricate questioning on all matters connected
+with his religion and manner of conducting himself, both in public and
+privately, the history and behaviour of his ancestors, the various
+omens and remarkable sayings which had reference to his life and
+destiny, and the intentions which he then possessed regarding his
+future movements and habits of living. All the wise sayings and
+written and printed leaves which made any allusion to the existence of
+and possibility of discovery of the wonderful gold fluid were closely
+examined, and found to be in agreement, whereupon those present made
+no further delay in admitting that the facts were indeed as they had
+been described, and indulged in a dignified stroking of each other's
+faces as an expression of pleasure and in proof of their satisfaction
+at taking part in so entrancing and remunerative an affair. At Chang's
+command many rare and expensive wines were then brought in, and
+partaken of without restraint by all persons, the repast being
+lightened by numerous well-considered and gravity-removing jests
+having reference to Ling and the unusual composition of his person. So
+amiably were the hours occupied that it was past the time of no light
+when Chang rose and read at full length the statement of things to be
+done and things not to be done, which was to be sealed by Ling for his
+part and the other persons who were present for theirs. It so
+happened, however, that at that period Ling's mind was filled with
+brilliant and versatile thoughts and images of Mian, and many-hued
+visions of the manner in which they would spend the entrancing future
+which was now before them, and in this way it chanced that he did not
+give any portion of his intellect to the reading, mistaking it,
+indeed, for a delicate and very ably-composed set of verses which
+Chang-ch'un was reciting as a formal blessing on parting. Nor was it
+until he was desired to affix his sign that Ling discovered his
+mistake, and being of too respectful and unobtrusive a disposition to
+require the matter to be repeated then, he carried out the obligation
+without in any particular understanding the written words to which he
+was agreeing.
+
+As Ling walked through the streets to his chamber after leaving the
+house and company of Chang-Ch'un, holding firmly among his garments
+the thin printed papers to the amount of fifty thousand taels which he
+had received, and repeatedly speaking to himself in terms of general
+and specific encouragement at the fortunate events of the past few
+days, he became aware that a person of mean and rapacious appearance,
+whom he had some memory of having observed within the residence he had
+but just left, was continually by his side. Not at first doubting that
+the circumstance resulted from a benevolent desire on the part of
+Chang-ch'un that he should be protected on his passage through the
+city, Ling affected not to observe the incident; but upon reaching his
+own door the person in question persistently endeavoured to pass in
+also. Forming a fresh judgment about the matter, Ling, who was very
+powerfully constructed, and whose natural instincts were enhanced in
+every degree by the potent fluid of which he had lately partaken,
+repeatedly threw him across the street until he became weary of the
+diversion. At length, however, the thought arose that one who
+patiently submitted to continually striking the opposite houses with
+his head must have something of importance to communicate, whereupon
+he courteously invited him to enter the apartment and unweigh his
+mind.
+
+"The facts of the case appear to have been somewhat inadequately
+represented," said the stranger, bowing obsequiously, "for this
+unornamental person was assured by the benignant Chang-ch'un that the
+one whose shadow he was to become was of a mild and forbearing
+nature."
+
+"Such words are as the conversation of birds to me," replied Ling, not
+conjecturing how the matter had fallen about. "This person has just
+left the presence of the elegant and successful Chang-ch'un, and no
+word that he spoke gave indication of such a follower or such a
+service."
+
+"Then it is indeed certain that the various transactions have not been
+fully understood," exclaimed the other, "for the exact communication
+to this unseemly one was, 'The valuable and enlightened Ling has heard
+and agreed to the different things to be done and not to be done, one
+phrase of which arranges for your continual presence, so that he will
+anticipate your attentions.'"
+
+At these words the truth became as daylight before Ling's eyes, and he
+perceived that the written paper to which he had affixed his sign
+contained the detail of such an office as that of the person before
+him. When too late, more than ever did he regret that he had not
+formed some pretext for causing the document to be read a second time,
+as in view of his immediate intentions such an arrangement as the one
+to which he had agreed had every appearance of becoming of an irksome
+and perplexing nature. Desiring to know the length of the attendant's
+commands, Ling asked him for a clear statement of his duties, feigning
+that he had missed that portion of the reading through a momentary
+attack of the giddy sickness. To this request the stranger, who
+explained that his name was Wang, instantly replied that his written
+and spoken orders were: never to permit more than an arm's length of
+space to separate them; to prevent, by whatever force was necessary
+for the purpose, all attempts at evading the things to be done and not
+to be done, and to ignore as of no interest all other circumstances.
+It seemed to Ling, in consequence, that little seclusion would be
+enjoyed unless an arrangement could be effected between Wang and
+himself; so to this end, after noticing the evident poverty and
+covetousness of the person in question, he made him an honourable
+offer of frequent rewards, provided a greater distance was allowed to
+come between them as soon as Si-chow was reached. On his side, Ling
+undertook not to break through the wording of the things to be done
+and not to be done, and to notify to Wang any movements upon which he
+meditated. In this reputable manner the obstacle was ingeniously
+removed, and the intelligent nature of the device was clearly proved
+by the fact that not only Ling but Wang also had in the future a much
+greater liberty of action than would have been possible if it had been
+necessary to observe the short-sighted and evidently hastily-thought-
+of condition which Chang-ch'un had endeavoured to impose.
+
+
+                                 XIII
+
+In spite of his natural desire to return to Mian as quickly as
+possible, Ling judged it expedient to give several days to the
+occupation of purchasing apparel of the richest kinds, weapons and
+armour in large quantities, jewels and ornaments of worked metals and
+other objects to indicate his changed position. Nor did he neglect
+actions of a pious and charitable nature, for almost his first care
+was to arrange with the chief ones at the Temple of Benevolent
+Intentions that each year, on the day corresponding to that on which
+he drank the gold fluid, a sumptuous and well-constructed coffin
+should be presented to the most deserving poor and aged person within
+that quarter of the city in which he had resided. When these
+preparations were completed, Ling set out with an extensive train of
+attendants; but riding on before, accompanied only by Wang, he quickly
+reached Si-chow without adventure.
+
+The meeting between Ling and Mian was affecting to such an extent that
+the blind and deaf attendants wept openly without reproach,
+notwithstanding the fact that neither could become possessed of more
+than a half of the occurrence. Eagerly the two reunited ones examined
+each other's features to discover whether the separation had brought
+about any change in the beloved and well-remembered lines. Ling
+discovered upon Mian the shadow of an anxious care at his absence,
+while the disappointments and trials which Ling had experienced in
+Canton had left traces which were plainly visible to Mian's
+penetrating gaze. In such an entrancing occupation the time was to
+them without hours until a feeling of hunger recalled them to lesser
+matters, when a variety of very select foods and liquids was placed
+before them without delay. After this elegant repast had been partaken
+of, Mian, supporting herself upon Ling's shoulder, made a request that
+he would disclose to her all the matters which had come under his
+observation both within the city and during his journey to and from
+that place. Upon this encouragement, Ling proceeded to unfold his
+mind, not withholding anything which appeared to be of interest, no
+matter how slight. When he had reached Canton without any perilous
+adventure, Mian breathed more freely; as he recorded the interview at
+the Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, she trembled at the
+insidious malignity of the evil person Li Keen. The conversation with
+the wise reader of the future concerning the various states of such as
+be officially dead almost threw her into the rigid sickness, from
+which, however, the wonderful circumstance of the discovered
+properties of the gold fluid quickly recalled her. But to Ling's great
+astonishment no sooner had he made plain the exceptional advantages
+which he had derived from the circumstances, and the nature of the
+undertaking at which he had arrived with Chang-ch'un, than she became
+a prey to the most intolerable and unrestrained anguish.
+
+"Oh, my devoted but excessively ill-advised lover," she exclaimed
+wildly, and in tones which clearly indicated that she was inspired by
+every variety of affectionate emotion, "has the unendurable position
+in which you and all your household will be placed by the degrading
+commercial schemes and instincts of the mercenary-souled person
+Chang-ch'un occupied no place in your generally well-regulated
+intellect? Inevitably will those who drink our almond tea, in order to
+have an opportunity of judging the value of the appointments of the
+house, pass the jesting remark that while the Lings assuredly have 'a
+dead person's bones in the secret chamber,' at the present they will
+not have one in the family graveyard by reason of the death of Ling
+himself. Better to lose a thousand limbs during life than the entire
+person after death; nor would your adoring Mian hesitate to clasp
+proudly to her organ of affection the veriest trunk that had parted
+with all its attributes in a noble and sacrificing endeavour to
+preserve at least some dignified proportions to embellish the
+Ancestral Temple and to receive the worship of posterity."
+
+"Alas!" replied Ling, with extravagant humiliation, "it is indeed
+true; and this person is degraded beyond the common lot of those who
+break images and commit thefts from sacred places. The side of the
+transaction which is at present engaging our attention never occurred
+to this superficial individual until now."
+
+"Wise and incomparable one," said Mian, in no degree able to restrain
+the fountains of bitter water which clouded her delicate and
+expressive eyes, "in spite of this person's biting and ungracious
+words do not, she makes a formal petition, doubt the deathless
+strength of her affection. Cheerfully, in order to avert the matter in
+question, or even to save her lover the anguish of unavailing and
+soul-eating remorse, would she consign herself to a badly-constructed
+and slow-consuming fire or expose her body to various undignified
+tortures. Happy are those even to whom is left a little ash to be
+placed in a precious urn and diligently guarded, for it, in any event,
+truly represents all that is left of the once living person, whereas
+after an honourable and spotless existence my illustrious but
+unthinking lord will be blended with a variety of baser substances and
+passed from hand to hand, his immaculate organs serving to reward
+murderers for their deeds and to tempt the weak and vicious to all
+manner of unmentionable crimes."
+
+So overcome was Ling by the distressing nature of the oversight he had
+permitted that he could find no words with which to comfort Mian, who,
+after some moments, continued:
+
+"There are even worse visions of degradation which occur to this
+person. By chance, that which was once the noble-minded Ling may be
+disposed of, not to the Imperial Treasury for converting into pieces
+of exchange, but to some undiscriminating worker in metals who will
+fashion out of his beautiful and symmetrical stomach an elegant food-
+dish, so that from the ultimate developments of the circumstance may
+arise the fact that his own descendants, instead of worshipping him,
+use his internal organs for this doubtful if not absolutely unclean
+purpose, and thereby suffer numerous well-merited afflictions, to the
+end that the finally-despised Ling and this discredited person,
+instead of founding a vigorous and prolific generation, become the
+parents of a line of feeble-minded and physically-depressed lepers."
+
+"Oh, my peacock-eyed one!" exclaimed Ling, in immeasurable distress,
+"so proficient an exhibition of virtuous grief crushes this misguided
+person completely to the ground. Rather would he uncomplainingly lose
+his pigtail than--"
+
+"Such a course," said a discordant voice, as the unpresentable person
+Wang stepped forth from behind a hanging curtain, where, indeed, he
+had stood concealed during the entire conversation, "is especially
+forbidden by the twenty-third detail of the things to be done and not
+to be done."
+
+"What new adversity is this?" cried Mian, pressing to Ling with a
+still closer embrace. "Having disposed of your incomparable body after
+death, surely an adequate amount of liberty and seclusion remains to
+us during life."
+
+"Nevertheless," interposed the dog-like Wang, "the refined person in
+question must not attempt to lose or to dispose of his striking and
+invaluable pigtail; for by such an action he would be breaking through
+his spoken and written word whereby he undertook to be ruled by the
+things to be done and not to be done; and he would also be robbing the
+ingenious-minded Chang-ch'un."
+
+"Alas!" lamented the unhappy Ling, "that which appeared to be the end
+of all this person's troubles is obviously simply the commencement of
+a new and more extensive variety. Understand, O conscientious but
+exceedingly inopportune Wang, that the words which passed from this
+person's mouth did not indicate a fixed determination, but merely
+served to show the unfeigned depth of his emotion. Be content that he
+has no intention of evading the definite principles of the things to
+be done and not to be done, and in the meantime honour this
+commonplace establishment by retiring to the hot and ill-ventilated
+chamber, and there partaking of a suitable repast which shall be
+prepared without delay."
+
+When Wang had departed, which he did with somewhat unseemly haste,
+Ling made an end of recording his narrative, which Mian's grief had
+interrupted. In this way he explained to her the reason of Wang's
+presence, and assured her that by reason of the arrangement he had
+made with that person, his near existence would not be so
+unsupportable to them as might at first appear to be the case.
+
+While they were still conversing together, and endeavouring to divert
+their minds from the objectionable facts which had recently come
+within their notice, an attendant entered and disclosed that the train
+of servants and merchandise which Ling had preceded on the journey was
+arriving. At this fresh example of her lover's consistent thought for
+her, Mian almost forgot her recent agitation, and eagerly lending
+herself to the entrancing occupation of unfolding and displaying the
+various objects, her brow finally lost the last trace of sadness.
+Greatly beyond the imaginings of anticipation were the expensive
+articles with which Ling proudly surrounded her; and in examining and
+learning the cost of the set jewels and worked metals, the ornamental
+garments for both persons, the wood and paper appointments for the
+house--even incenses, perfumes, spices and rare viands had not been
+forgotten--the day was quickly and profitably spent.
+
+When the hour of sunset arrived, Ling, having learned that certain
+preparations which he had commanded were fully carried out, took Mian
+by the hand and led her into the chief apartment of the house, where
+were assembled all the followers and attendants, even down to the
+illiterate and superfluous Wang. In the centre of the room upon a
+table of the finest ebony stood a vessel of burning incense, some
+dishes of the most highly-esteemed fruit, and an abundance of old and
+very sweet wine. Before these emblems Ling and Mian placed themselves
+in an attitude of deep humiliation, and formally expressed their
+gratitude to the Chief Deity for having called them into existence, to
+the cultivated earth for supplying them with the means of sustaining
+life, to the Emperor for providing the numerous safeguards by which
+their persons were protected at all times, and to their parents for
+educating them. This adequate ceremony being completed, Ling
+explicitly desired all those present to observe the fact that the two
+persons in question were, by that fact and from that time, made as one
+being, and the bond between them, incapable of severance.
+
+When the ruling night-lantern came out from among the clouds, Ling and
+Mian became possessed of a great desire to go forth with pressed hands
+and look again on the forest paths and glades in which they had spent
+many hours of exceptional happiness before Ling's journey to Canton.
+Leaving the attendants to continue the feasting and drum-beating in a
+completely unrestrained manner, they therefore passed out unperceived,
+and wandering among the trees, presently stood on the banks of the
+Heng-Kiang.
+
+"Oh, my beloved!" exclaimed Mian, gazing at the brilliant and
+unruffled water, "greatly would this person esteem a short river
+journey, such as we often enjoyed together in the days when you were
+recovering."
+
+Ling, to whom the expressed desires of Mian were as the word of the
+Emperor, instantly prepared the small and ornamental junk which was
+fastened near for this purpose, and was about to step in, when a
+presumptuous and highly objectionable hand restrained him.
+
+"Behold," remarked a voice which Ling had some difficulty in ascribing
+to any known person, so greatly had it changed from its usual tone,
+"behold how the immature and altogether too-inferior Ling observes his
+spoken and written assertions!"
+
+At this low-conditioned speech, Ling drew his well-tempered sword
+without further thought, in spite of the restraining arms of Mian, but
+at the sight of the utterly incapable person Wang, who stood near
+smiling meaninglessly and waving his arms with a continuous and
+backward motion, he again replaced it.
+
+"Such remarks can be left to fall unheeded from the lips of one who
+bears every indication of being steeped in rice spirit," he said with
+unprovoked dignity.
+
+"It will be the plain duty of this expert and uncorruptible person to
+furnish the unnecessary, but, nevertheless, very severe and self-
+opinionated Chang-ch'un with a written account of how the traitorous
+and deceptive Ling has endeavoured to break through the thirty-fourth
+vessel of the liquids to be consumed and not to be consumed,"
+continued Wang with increased deliberation and an entire absence of
+attention to Ling's action and speech, "and how by this refined
+person's unfailing civility and resourceful strategy he has been
+frustrated."
+
+"Perchance," said Ling, after examining his thoughts for a short
+space, and reflecting that the list of things to be done and not to be
+done was to him as a blank leaf, "there may even be some small portion
+of that which is accurate in his statement. In what manner," he
+continued, addressing the really unendurable person, who was by this
+time preparing to pass the night in the cool swamp by the river's
+edge, "does this one endanger any detail of the written and sealed
+parchment by such an action?"
+
+"Inasmuch," replied Wang, pausing in the process of removing his outer
+garments, "as the seventy-ninth--the intricate name given to it
+escapes this person's tongue at the moment--but the ninety-seventh--
+experLingknowswhamean--provides that any person, with or without,
+attempting or not avoiding to travel by sea, lake, or river, or to
+place himself in such a position as he may reasonably and
+intelligently be drowned in salt water, fresh water, or--or honourable
+rice spirit, shall be guilty of, and suffer--complete loss of memory."
+With these words the immoderate and contemptible person sank down in a
+very profound slumber.
+
+"Alas!" said Ling, turning to Mian, who stood near, unable to retire
+even had she desired, by reason of the extreme agitation into which
+the incident had thrown her delicate mind and body, "how intensely
+aggravating a circumstance that we are compelled to entertain so
+dissolute a one by reason of this person's preoccupation when the
+matter was read. Nevertheless, it is not unlikely that the detail he
+spoke of was such as he insisted, to the extent of making it a thing
+not to be done to journey in any manner by water. It shall be an early
+endeavour of this person to get these restraining details equitably
+amended; but in the meantime we will retrace our footsteps through the
+wood, and the enraptured Ling will make a well-thought-out attempt to
+lighten the passage by a recital of his recently-composed verses on
+the subject of 'Exile from the Loved One; or, Farewell and Return.'"
+
+
+                                 XIV
+
+"My beloved lord!" said Mian sadly, on a morning after many days had
+passed since the return of Ling, "have you not every possession for
+which the heart of a wise person searches? Yet the dark mark is
+scarcely ever absent from your symmetrical brow. If she who stands
+before you, and is henceforth an integral part of your organization,
+has failed you in any particular, no matter how unimportant, explain
+the matter to her, and the amendment will be a speedy and a joyful
+task."
+
+It was indeed true that Ling's mind was troubled, but the fault did
+not lie with Mian, as the person in question was fully aware, for
+before her eyes as before those of Ling the unevadable compact which
+had been entered into with Chang-ch'un was ever present, insidiously
+planting bitterness within even the most select and accomplished
+delights. Nor with increasing time did the obstinate and intrusive
+person Wang become more dignified in his behaviour; on the contrary,
+he freely made use of his position to indulge in every variety of
+abandonment, and almost each day he prevented, by reason of his
+knowledge of the things to be done and not to be done, some refined
+and permissible entertainment upon which Ling and Mian had determined.
+Ling had despatched many communications upon this subject to Chang-
+ch'un, praying also that some expert way out of the annoyance of the
+lesser and more unimportant things not to be done should be arrived
+at, but the time when he might reasonably expect an answer to these
+written papers had not yet arrived.
+
+It was about this period that intelligence was brought to Ling from
+the villages on the road to Peking, how Li Keen, having secretly
+ascertained that his Yamen was standing and his goods uninjured, had
+determined to return, and was indeed at that hour within a hundred li
+of Si-chow. Furthermore, he had repeatedly been understood to
+pronounce clearly that he considered Ling to be the head and beginning
+of all his inconveniences, and to declare that the first act of
+justice which he should accomplish on his return would be to submit
+the person in question to the most unbearable tortures, and then cause
+him to lose his head publicly as an outrager of the settled state of
+things and an enemy of those who loved tranquillity. Not doubting that
+Li Keen would endeavour to gain an advantage by treachery if the
+chance presented itself, Ling determined to go forth to meet him, and
+without delay settle the entire disturbance in one well-chosen and
+fatally-destructive encounter. To this end, rather than disturb the
+placid mind of Mian, to whom the thought of the engagement would be
+weighted with many disquieting fears, he gave out that he was going
+upon an expedition to surprise and capture certain fish of a very
+delicate flavour, and attended by only two persons, he set forth in
+the early part of the day.
+
+Some hours later, owing to an ill-considered remark on the part of the
+deaf attendant, to whom the matter had been explained in an imperfect
+light, Mian became possessed of the true facts of the case, and
+immediately all the pleasure of existence went from her. She despaired
+of ever again beholding Ling in an ordinary state, and mournfully
+reproached herself for the bitter words which had risen to her lips
+when the circumstance of his condition and the arrangement with Chang-
+ch'un first became known to her. After spending an interval in a
+polished lament at the manner in which things were inevitably tending,
+the thought occurred to Mian whether by any means in her power she
+could influence the course and settled method of affairs. In this
+situation the memory of the person Wang, and the fact that on several
+occasions he had made himself objectionable when Ling had proposed to
+place himself in such a position that he incurred some very remote
+chance of death by drowning or by fire, recurred to her. Subduing the
+natural and pure-minded repulsion which she invariably experienced at
+the mere thought of so debased an individual, she sought for him, and
+discovering him in the act of constructing cardboard figures of men
+and animals, which it was his custom to dispose skilfully in little-
+frequented paths for the purpose of enjoying the sudden terror of
+those who passed by, she quickly put the matter before him, urging
+him, by some means, to prevent the encounter, which must assuredly
+cost the life of the one whom he had so often previously obstructed
+from incurring the slightest risk.
+
+"By no means," exclaimed Wang, when he at length understood the full
+meaning of the project; "it would be a most unpresentable action for
+this commonplace person to interfere in so honourable an undertaking.
+Had the priceless body of the intrepid Ling been in any danger of
+disappearing, as, for example, by drowning or being consumed in fire,
+the nature of the circumstance would have been different. As the
+matter exists, however, there is every appearance that the far-seeing
+Chang-ch'un will soon reap the deserved reward of his somewhat
+speculative enterprise, and to that end this person will immediately
+procure a wooden barrier and the services of four robust carriers, and
+proceed to the scene of the conflict."
+
+Deprived of even this hope of preventing the encounter, Mian betook
+herself in extreme dejection to the secret room of the magician, which
+had been unopened since the day when the two attendants had searched
+for substances to apply to their master, and there she diligently
+examined every object in the remote chance of discovering something
+which might prove of value in averting the matter in question.
+
+Not anticipating that the true reason of his journey would become
+known to Mian, Ling continued on his way without haste, and passing
+through Si-chow before the sun had risen, entered upon the great road
+to Peking. At a convenient distance from the town he came to a
+favourable piece of ground where he decided to await the arrival of Li
+Keen, spending the time profitably in polishing his already brilliant
+sword, and making observations upon the nature of the spot and the
+condition of the surrounding omens, on which the success of his
+expedition would largely depend.
+
+As the sun reached the highest point in the open sky the sound of an
+approaching company could be plainly heard; but at the moment when the
+chair of the Mandarin appeared within the sight of those who waited,
+the great luminary, upon which all portents depend directly or
+indirectly, changed to the colour of new-drawn blood and began to sink
+towards the earth. Without any misgivings, therefore, Ling disposed
+his two attendants in the wood, with instructions to step forth and
+aid him if he should be attacked by overwhelming numbers, while he
+himself remained in the way. As the chair approached, the Mandarin
+observed a person standing alone, and thinking that it was one who,
+hearing of his return, had come out of the town to honour him, he
+commanded the bearers to pause. Thereupon, stepping up to the opening,
+Ling struck the deceptive and incapable Li Keen on the cheek, at the
+same time crying in a full voice, "Come forth, O traitorous and two-
+stomached Mandarin! for this person is very desirous of assisting you
+in the fulfilment of your boastful words. Here is a most
+irreproachable sword which will serve excellently to cut off this
+person's undignified head; here is a waistcord which can be tightened
+around his breast, thereby producing excruciating pains over the
+entire body."
+
+At the knowledge of who the one before him was, and when he heard the
+words which unhesitatingly announced Ling's fixed purpose, Li Keen
+first urged the carriers to fall upon Ling and slay him, and then,
+perceiving that such a course was exceedingly distasteful to their
+natural tendencies, to take up the chair and save him by flight. But
+Ling in the meantime engaged their attention, and fully explained to
+them the treacherous and unworthy conduct of Li Keen, showing them how
+his death would be a just retribution for his ill-spent life, and
+promising them each a considerable reward in addition to their
+arranged payment when the matter in question had been accomplished.
+Becoming convinced of the justice of Ling's cause, they turned upon Li
+Keen, insisting that he should at once attempt to carry out the ill-
+judged threats against Ling, of which they were consistent witnesses,
+and announcing that, if he failed to do so, they would certainly bear
+him themselves to a not far distant well of stagnant water, and there
+gain the approbation of the good spirits by freeing the land of so
+unnatural a monster.
+
+Seeing only a dishonourable death on either side, Li Keen drew his
+sword, and made use of every artifice of which he had knowledge in
+order to disarm Ling or to take him at a disadvantage. In this he was
+unsuccessful, for Ling, who was by nature a very expert sword-user,
+struck him repeatedly, until he at length fell in an expiring
+condition, remarking with his last words that he had indeed been a
+narrow-minded and extortionate person during his life, and that his
+death was an enlightened act of celestial accuracy.
+
+Directing Wang and his four hired persons, who had in the meantime
+arrived, to give the body of the Mandarin an honourable burial in the
+deep of the wood, Ling rewarded and dismissed the chairbearers, and
+without delay proceeded to Si-chow, where he charitably distributed
+the goods and possessions of Li Keen among the poor of the town.
+Having in this able and conscientious manner completely proved the
+misleading nature of the disgraceful statements which the Mandarin had
+spread abroad concerning him, Ling turned his footsteps towards Mian,
+whose entrancing joy at his safe return was judged by both persons to
+be a sufficient reward for the mental distress with which their
+separation had been accompanied.
+
+
+                                  XV
+
+After the departure of Ling from Canton, the commercial affairs of
+Chang-ch'un began, from a secret and undetectable cause, to assume an
+ill-regulated condition. No venture which he undertook maintained a
+profitable attitude, so that many persons who in former times had been
+content to display the printed papers setting forth his name and
+virtues in an easily-seen position in their receiving-rooms, now
+placed themselves daily before his house in order to accuse him of
+using their taels in ways which they themselves had not sufficiently
+understood, and for the purpose of warning passers-by against his
+inducements. It was in vain that Chang proposed new undertakings, each
+of an infallibly more prosperous nature than those before; the persons
+who had hitherto supported him were all entrusting their money to one
+named Pung Soo, who required millions where Chang had been content
+with thousands, and who persistently insisted on greeting the sacred
+Emperor as an equal.
+
+In this unenviable state Chang's mind continually returned to thoughts
+of Ling, whose lifeless body would so opportunely serve to dispel the
+embarrassing perplexities of existence which were settling thickly
+about him. Urged forward by a variety of circumstances which placed
+him in an entirely different spirit from the honourable bearing which
+he had formerly maintained, he now closely examined all the papers
+connected with the matter, to discover whether he might not be able to
+effect his purpose with an outward exhibition of law forms. While
+engaged in this degrading occupation, a detail came to his notice
+which caused him to become very amiably disposed and confident of
+success. Proceeding with the matter, he caused a well-supported report
+to be spread about that Ling was suffering from a wasting sickness,
+which, without in any measure shortening his life, would cause him to
+return to the size and weight of a newly-born child, and being by
+these means enabled to secure the entire matter of "The Ling (After
+Death) Without Much Risk Assembly" at a very small outlay, he did so,
+and then, calling together a company of those who hire themselves out
+for purposes of violence, journeyed to Si-chow.
+
+Ling and Mian were seated together at a table in the great room,
+examining a vessel of some clear liquid, when Chang-ch'un entered with
+his armed ones, in direct opposition to the general laws of ordinary
+conduct and the rulings of hospitality. At the sight, which plainly
+indicated a threatened display of violence, Ling seized his renowned
+sword, which was never far distant from him, and prepared to carry out
+his spoken vow, that any person overstepping a certain mark on the
+floor would assuredly fall.
+
+"Put away your undoubtedly competent weapon, O Ling," said Chang, who
+was desirous that the matter should be arranged if possible without
+any loss to himself, "for such a course can be honourably adopted when
+it is taken into consideration that we are as twenty to one, and have,
+moreover, the appearance of being inspired by law forms."
+
+"There are certain matters of allowed justice which over-rule all
+other law forms," replied Ling, taking a surer hold of his sword-
+grasp. "Explain, for your part, O obviously double-dealing Chang-
+ch'un, from whom this person only recently parted on terms of equality
+and courtesy, why you come not with an agreeable face and a peaceful
+following, but with a countenance which indicates both violence and
+terror, and accompanied by many whom this person recognizes as the
+most outcast and degraded from the narrow and evil-smelling ways of
+Canton?"
+
+"In spite of your blustering words," said Chang, with some attempt at
+an exhibition of dignity, "this person is endowed by every right, and
+comes only for the obtaining, by the help of this expert and
+proficient gathering, should such a length become necessary, of his
+just claims. Understand that in the time since the venture was
+arranged this person has become possessed of all the property of 'The
+Ling (After Death) Without Much Risk Assembly,' and thereby he is
+competent to act fully in the matter. It has now come within his
+attention that the one Ling to whom the particulars refer is
+officially dead, and as the written and sealed document clearly
+undertook that the person's body was to be delivered up for whatever
+use the Assembly decided whenever death should possess it, this person
+has now come for the honourable carrying out of the undertaking."
+
+At these words the true nature of the hidden contrivance into which he
+had fallen descended upon Ling like a heavy and unavoidable
+thunderbolt. Nevertheless, being by nature and by reason of his late
+exploits fearless of death, except for the sake of the loved one by
+his side, he betrayed no sign of discreditable emotion at the
+discovery.
+
+"In such a case," he replied, with an appearance of entirely
+disregarding the danger of the position, "the complete parchment must
+be of necessity overthrown; for if this person is now officially dead,
+he was equally so at the time of sealing, and arrangements entered
+into by dead persons have no actual existence."
+
+"That is a matter which has never been efficiently decided," admitted
+Chang-ch'un, with no appearance of being thrown into a state of
+confusion at the suggestion, "and doubtless the case in question can
+by various means be brought in the end before the Court of Final
+Settlement at Peking, where it may indeed be judged in the manner you
+assert. But as such a process must infallibly consume the wealth of a
+province and the years of an ordinary lifetime, and as it is this
+person's unmoved intention to carry out his own view of the
+undertaking without delay, such speculations are not matters of
+profound interest."
+
+Upon this Chang gave certain instructions to his followers, who
+thereupon prepared to advance. Perceiving that the last detail of the
+affair had been arrived at, Ling threw back his hanging garment, and
+was on the point of rushing forward to meet them, when Mian, who had
+maintained a possessed and reliant attitude throughout, pushed towards
+him the vessel of pure and sparkling liquid with which they had been
+engaged when so presumptuously broken in upon, at the same time
+speaking to him certain words in an outside language. A new and
+Heaven-sent confidence immediately took possession of Ling, and
+striking his sword against the wall with such irresistible force that
+the entire chamber trembled and the feeble-minded assassins shrank
+back in unrestrained terror, he leapt upon the table, grasping in one
+hand the open vessel.
+
+"Behold the end, O most uninventive and slow-witted Chang-ch'un!" he
+cried in a dreadful and awe-compelling voice. "As a reward for your
+faithless and traitorous behaviour, learn how such avaricious-minded
+incompetence turns and fastens itself upon the vitals of those who
+beget it. In spite of many things which were not of a graceful nature
+towards him, this person has unassumingly maintained his part of the
+undertaking, and would have followed such a course conscientiously to
+the last. As it is, when he has made an end of speaking, the body
+which you are already covetously estimating in taels will in no way be
+distinguishable from that of the meanest and most ordinary maker of
+commercial ventures in Canton. For, behold! the fluid which he holds
+in his hand, and which it is his fixed intention to drain to the last
+drop, is in truth nothing but a secret and exceedingly powerful
+counteractor against the virtues of the gold drug; and though but a
+single particle passed his lips, and the swords of your brilliant and
+versatile murderers met the next moment in his breast, the body which
+fell at your feet would be meet for worms rather than for the melting-
+pot."
+
+It was indeed such a substance as Ling represented it to be, Mian
+having discovered it during her very systematic examination of the
+dead magician's inner room. Its composition and distillation had
+involved that self-opinionated person in many years of arduous toil,
+for with a somewhat unintelligent lack of foresight he had obstinately
+determined to perfect the antidote before he turned his attention to
+the drug itself. Had the matter been more ingeniously arranged, he
+would undoubtedly have enjoyed an earlier triumph and an affluent and
+respected old age.
+
+At Ling's earnest words and prepared attitude an instant conviction of
+the truth of his assertions took possession of Chang. Therefore,
+seeing nothing but immediate and unevadable ruin at the next step, he
+called out in a loud and imploring voice that he should desist, and no
+harm would come upon him. To this Ling consented, first insisting that
+the followers should be dismissed without delay, and Chang alone
+remain to have conversation on the matter. By this just act the lower
+parts of Canton were greatly purified, for the persons in question
+being driven forth into the woods, mostly perished by encounters with
+wild animals, or at the hands of the enraged villagers, to whom Ling
+had by this time become greatly endeared.
+
+When the usual state had been restored, Ling made clear to Chang the
+altered nature of the conditions to which he would alone agree. "It is
+a noble-minded and magnanimous proposal on your part, and one to which
+this misguided person had no claim," admitted Chang, as he affixed his
+seal to the written undertaking and committed the former parchment to
+be consumed by fire. By this arrangement it was agreed that Ling
+should receive only one-half of the yearly payment which had formerly
+been promised, and that no sum of taels should become due to those
+depending on him at his death. In return for these valuable
+allowances, there were to exist no details of things to be done and
+not to be done, Ling merely giving an honourable promise to observe
+the matter in a just spirit, while--most esteemed of all--only a
+portion of his body was to pass to Chang when the end arrived, the
+upper part remaining to embellish the family altar and receive the
+veneration of posterity.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the great sky-lantern rose above the trees and the time of no-noise
+fell upon the woods, a flower-laden pleasure-junk moved away from its
+restraining cords, and, without any sense of motion, gently bore Ling
+and Mian between the sweet-smelling banks of the Heng-Kiang. Presently
+Mian drew from beneath her flowing garment an instrument of stringed
+wood, and touching it with a quick but delicate stroke, like the
+flight and pausing of a butterfly, told in well-balanced words a
+refined narrative of two illustrious and noble-looking persons, and
+how, after many disagreeable evils and unendurable separations, they
+entered upon a destined state of earthly prosperity and celestial
+favour. When she made an end of the verses, Ling turned the junk's
+head by one well-directed stroke of the paddle, and prepared by using
+similar means to return to the place of mooring.
+
+"Indeed," he remarked, ceasing for a moment to continue this skilful
+occupation, "the words which you have just spoken might, without
+injustice, be applied to the two persons who are now conversing
+together. For after suffering misfortunes and wrongs beyond an
+appropriate portion, they have now reached that period of existence
+when a tranquil and contemplative future is assured to them. In this
+manner is the sage and matured utterance of the inspired philosopher
+Nien-tsu again proved: that the life of every person is largely
+composed of two varieties of circumstances which together build up his
+existence--the Good and the Evil."
+
+                     THE END OF THE STORY OF LING
+
+
+                                 XVI
+
+When Kai Lung, the story-teller, made an end of speaking, he was
+immediately greeted with a variety of delicate and pleasing remarks,
+all persons who had witnessed the matter, down even to the lowest type
+of Miaotze, who by reason of their obscure circumstances had been
+unable to understand the meaning of a word that had been spoken,
+maintaining that Kai Lung's accomplishment of continuing for upwards
+of three hours without a pause had afforded an entertainment of a very
+high and refined order. While these polished sayings were being
+composed, together with many others of a similar nature, Lin Yi
+suddenly leapt to his feet with a variety of highly objectionable
+remarks concerning the ancestors of all those who were present, and
+declaring that the story of Ling was merely a well-considered
+stratagem to cause them to forget the expedition which they had
+determined upon, for by that time it should have been completely
+carried out. It was undoubtedly a fact that the hour spoken of for the
+undertaking had long passed, Lin Yi having completely overlooked the
+speed of time in his benevolent anxiety that the polite and valorous
+Ling should in the end attain to a high and remunerative destiny.
+
+In spite of Kai Lung's consistent denials of any treachery, he could
+not but be aware that the incident tended greatly to his disadvantage
+in the eyes of those whom he had fixed a desire to conciliate, nor did
+his well-intentioned offer that he would without hesitation repeat the
+display for a like number of hours effect his amiable purpose. How the
+complication would finally have been determined without interruption
+is a matter merely of imagination, for at that moment an outpost, who
+had been engaged in guarding the secrecy of the expedition, threw
+himself into the enclosure in a torn and breathless condition, having
+run through the forest many li in a winding direction for the explicit
+purpose of warning Lin Yi that his intentions had become known, and
+that he and his followers would undoubtedly be surprised and overcome
+if they left the camp.
+
+At this intimation of the eminent service which Kai Lung had rendered
+them, the nature of their faces towards him at once changed
+completely, those who only a moment before had been demanding his
+death particularly hailing him as their inspired and unobtrusive
+protector, and in all probability, indeed, a virtuous and benignant
+spirit in disguise.
+
+Bending under the weight of offerings which Lin Yi and his followers
+pressed upon him, together with many clearly set out desires for his
+future prosperity, and assured of their unalterable protection on all
+future occasions, Kai Lung again turned his face towards the lanterns
+of Knei Yang. Far down the side of the mountain they followed his
+footsteps, now by a rolling stone, now by a snapping branch of yellow
+pine. Once again they heard his voice, cheerfully repeating to
+himself; "Among the highest virtues of a pure existence--" But beyond
+that point the gentle forest breath bore him away.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II
+
+                       THE STORY OF YUNG CHANG
+
+  Narrated by Kai Lung, in the open space of the tea-shop of The
+  Celestial Principles, at Wu-whei.
+
+"Ho, illustrious passers-by!" said Kai Lung, the story-teller, as he
+spread out his embroidered mat under the mulberry-tree. "It is indeed
+unlikely that you would condescend to stop and listen to the foolish
+words of such an insignificant and altogether deformed person as
+myself. Nevertheless, if you will but retard your elegant footsteps
+for a few moments, this exceedingly unprepossessing individual will
+endeavour to entertain you with the recital of the adventures of the
+noble Yung Chang, as recorded by the celebrated Pe-ku-hi."
+
+Thus adjured, the more leisurely-minded drew near to hear the history
+of Yung Chang. There was Sing You the fruit-seller, and Li Ton-ti the
+wood-carver; Hi Seng left his clients to cry in vain for water; and
+Wang Yu, the idle pipe-maker, closed his shop of "The Fountain of
+Beauty," and hung on the shutter the gilt dragon to keep away
+customers in his absence. These, together with a few more shopkeepers
+and a dozen or so loafers, constituted a respectable audience by the
+time Kai Lung was ready.
+
+"It would be more seemly if this ill-conditioned person who is now
+addressing such a distinguished assembly were to reward his fine and
+noble-looking hearers for their trouble," apologized the story-teller.
+"But, as the Book of Verses says, 'The meaner the slave, the greater
+the lord'; and it is, therefore, not unlikely that this majestic
+concourse will reward the despicable efforts of their servant by
+handfuls of coins till the air appears as though filled with swarms of
+locusts in the season of much heat. In particular, there is among this
+august crowd of Mandarins one Wang Yu, who has departed on three
+previous occasions without bestowing the reward of a single cash. If
+the feeble and covetous-minded Wang Yu will place within this very
+ordinary bowl the price of one of his exceedingly ill-made pipes, this
+unworthy person will proceed."
+
+"Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man never," quoted the
+pipe-maker in retort. "Oh, most incapable of story-tellers, have you
+not on two separate occasions slept beneath my utterly inadequate roof
+without payment?"
+
+But he, nevertheless, deposited three cash in the bowl, and drew
+nearer among the front row of the listeners.
+
+"It was during the reign of the enlightened Emperor Tsing Nung," began
+Kai Lung, without further introduction, "that there lived at a village
+near Honan a wealthy and avaricious maker of idols, named Ti Hung. So
+skilful had he become in the making of clay idols that his fame had
+spread for many li round, and idol-sellers from all the neighbouring
+villages, and even from the towns, came to him for their stock. No
+other idol-maker between Honan and Nanking employed so many clay-
+gatherers or so many modellers; yet, with all his riches, his avarice
+increased till at length he employed men whom he called 'agents' and
+'travellers,' who went from house to house selling his idols and
+extolling his virtues in verses composed by the most illustrious poets
+of the day. He did this in order that he might turn into his own
+pocket the full price of the idols, grudging those who would otherwise
+have sold them the few cash which they would make. Owing to this he
+had many enemies, and his army of travellers made him still more; for
+they were more rapacious than the scorpion, and more obstinate than
+the ox. Indeed, there is still the proverb, 'With honey it is possible
+to soften the heart of the he-goat; but a blow from an iron cleaver is
+taken as a mark of welcome by an agent of Ti Hung.' So that people
+barred the doors at their approach, and even hung out signs of death
+and mourning.
+
+"Now, among all his travellers there was none more successful, more
+abandoned, and more valuable to Ti Hung than Li Ting. So depraved was
+Li Ting that he was never known to visit the tombs of his ancestors;
+indeed, it was said that he had been heard to mock their venerable
+memories, and that he had jestingly offered to sell them to anyone who
+should chance to be without ancestors of his own. This objectionable
+person would call at the houses of the most illustrious Mandarins, and
+would command the slaves to carry to their masters his tablets, on
+which were inscribed his name and his virtues. Reaching their
+presence, he would salute them with the greeting of an equal, 'How is
+your stomach?' and then proceed to exhibit samples of his wares,
+greatly overrating their value. 'Behold!' he would exclaim, 'is not
+this elegantly-moulded idol worthy of the place of honour in this
+sumptuous mansion which my presence defiles to such an extent that
+twelve basins of rose-water will not remove the stain? Are not its
+eyes more delicate than the most select of almonds? and is not its
+stomach rounder than the cupolas upon the high temple at Peking? Yet,
+in spite of its perfections, it is not worthy of the acceptance of so
+distinguished a Mandarin, and therefore I will accept in return the
+quarter-tael, which, indeed, is less than my illustrious master gives
+for the clay alone.'
+
+"In this manner Li Ting disposed of many idols at high rates, and
+thereby endeared himself so much to the avaricious heart of Ti Hung
+that he promised him his beautiful daughter Ning in marriage.
+
+"Ning was indeed very lovely. Her eyelashes were like the finest
+willow twigs that grow in the marshes by the Yang-tse-Kiang; her
+cheeks were fairer than poppies; and when she bathed in the Hoang Ho,
+her body seemed transparent. Her brow was finer than the most polished
+jade; while she seemed to walk, like a winged bird, without weight,
+her hair floating in a cloud. Indeed, she was the most beautiful
+creature that has ever existed."
+
+"Now may you grow thin and shrivel up like a fallen lemon; but it is
+false!" cried Wang Yu, starting up suddenly and unexpectedly. "At Chee
+Chou, at the shop of 'The Heaven-sent Sugar-cane,' there lives a
+beautiful and virtuous girl who is more than all that. Her eyes are
+like the inside circles on the peacock's feathers; her teeth are finer
+than the scales on the Sacred Dragon; her--"
+
+"If it is the wish of this illustriously-endowed gathering that this
+exceedingly illiterate paper tiger should occupy their august moments
+with a description of the deformities of the very ordinary young
+person at Chee Chou," said Kai Lung imperturbably, "then the remainder
+of the history of the noble-minded Yung Chang can remain until an evil
+fate has overtaken Wang Yu, as it assuredly will shortly."
+
+"A fair wind raises no storm," said Wang Yu sulkily; and Kai Lung
+continued:
+
+"Such loveliness could not escape the evil eye of Li Ting, and
+accordingly, as he grew in favour with Ti Hung, he obtained his
+consent to the drawing up of the marriage contracts. More than this,
+he had already sent to Ning two bracelets of the finest gold, tied
+together with a scarlet thread, as a betrothal present. But, as the
+proverb says, 'The good bee will not touch the faded flower,' and
+Ning, although compelled by the second of the Five Great Principles to
+respect her father, was unable to regard the marriage with anything
+but abhorrence. Perhaps this was not altogether the fault of Li Ting,
+for on the evening of the day on which she had received his present,
+she walked in the rice fields, and sitting down at the foot of a
+funereal cypress, whose highest branches pierced the Middle Air, she
+cried aloud:
+
+"'I cannot control my bitterness. Of what use is it that I should be
+called the "White Pigeon among Golden Lilies," if my beauty is but for
+the hog-like eyes of the exceedingly objectionable Li Ting? Ah, Yung
+Chang, my unfortunate lover! what evil spirit pursues you that you
+cannot pass your examination for the second degree? My noble-minded
+but ambitious boy, why were you not content with an agricultural or
+even a manufacturing career and happiness? By aspiring to a literary
+degree, you have placed a barrier wider than the Whang Hai between
+us.'
+
+"'As the earth seems small to the soaring swallow, so shall
+insuperable obstacles be overcome by the heart worn smooth with a
+fixed purpose,' said a voice beside her, and Yung Chang stepped from
+behind the cypress tree, where he had been waiting for Ning. 'O one
+more symmetrical than the chrysanthemum,' he continued, 'I shall yet,
+with the aid of my ancestors, pass the second degree, and even obtain
+a position of high trust in the public office at Peking.'
+
+"'And in the meantime,' pouted Ning, 'I shall have partaken of the
+wedding-cake of the utterly unpresentable Li Ting.' And she exhibited
+the bracelets which she had that day received.
+
+"'Alas!' said Yung Chang, 'there are times when one is tempted to
+doubt even the most efficacious and violent means. I had hoped that by
+this time Li Ting would have come to a sudden and most unseemly end;
+for I have drawn up and affixed in the most conspicuous places
+notifications of his character, similar to the one here.'
+
+"Ning turned, and beheld fastened to the trunk of the cypress an
+exceedingly elegantly written and composed notice, which Yung read to
+her as follows:
+
+             "'BEWARE OF INCURRING DEATH FROM STARVATION
+
+  "'Let the distinguished inhabitants of this district observe the
+  exceedingly ungraceful walk and bearing of the low person who
+  calls himself Li Ting. Truthfully, it is that of a dog in the act
+  of being dragged to the river because his sores and diseases
+  render him objectionable in the house of his master. So will this
+  hunchbacked person be dragged to the place of execution, and be
+  bowstrung, to the great relief of all who respect the five senses;
+  A Respectful Physiognomy, Passionless Reflexion, Soft Speech,
+  Acute Hearing, Piercing Sight.
+
+  "'He hopes to attain to the Red Button and the Peacock's Feather;
+  but the right hand of the Deity itches, and Li Ting will assuredly
+  be removed suddenly.'
+
+"'Li Ting must certainly be in league with the evil forces if he can
+withstand so powerful a weapon,' said Ning admiringly, when her lover
+had finished reading. 'Even now he is starting on a journey, nor will
+he return till the first day of the month when the sparrows go to the
+sea and are changed into oysters. Perhaps the fate will overtake him
+while he is away. If not--'
+
+"'If not,' said Yung, taking up her words as she paused, 'then I have
+yet another hope. A moment ago you were regretting my choice of a
+literary career. Learn, then, the value of knowledge. By its aid
+(assisted, indeed, by the spirits of my ancestors) I have discovered a
+new and strange thing, for which I can find no word. By using this new
+system of reckoning, your illustrious but exceedingly narrow-minded
+and miserly father would be able to make five taels where he now makes
+one. Would he not, in consideration for this, consent to receive me as
+a son-in-law, and dismiss the inelegant and unworthy Li Ting?'
+
+"'In the unlikely event of your being able to convince my illustrious
+parent of what you say, it would assuredly be so,' replied Ning. 'But
+in what way could you do so? My sublime and charitable father already
+employs all the means in his power to reap the full reward of his
+sacred industry. His "solid house-hold gods" are in reality mere
+shells of clay; higher-priced images are correspondingly constructed,
+and his clay gatherers and modellers are all paid on a "profit-sharing
+system." Nay, further, it is beyond likelihood that he should wish for
+more purchasers, for so great is his fame that those who come to buy
+have sometimes to wait for days in consequence of those before them;
+for my exceedingly methodical sire entrusts none with the receiving of
+money, and the exchanges are therefore made slowly. Frequently an
+unnaturally devout person will require as many as a hundred idols, and
+so the greater part of the day will be passed.'
+
+"'In what way?' inquired Yung tremulously.
+
+"'Why, in order that the countings may not get mixed, of course; it is
+necessary that when he has paid for one idol he should carry it to a
+place aside, and then return and pay for the second, carrying it to
+the first, and in such a manner to the end. In this way the sun sinks
+behind the mountains.'
+
+"'But,' said Yung, his voice thick with his great discovery, 'if he
+could pay for the entire quantity at once, then it would take but a
+hundredth part of the time, and so more idols could be sold.'
+
+"'How could this be done?' inquired Ning wonderingly. 'Surely it is
+impossible to conjecture the value of so many idols.'
+
+"'To the unlearned it would indeed be impossible,' replied Yung
+proudly, 'but by the aid of my literary researches I have been enabled
+to discover a process by which such results would be not a matter of
+conjecture, but of certainty. These figures I have committed to
+tablets, which I am prepared to give to your mercenary and slow-witted
+father in return for your incomparable hand, a share of the profits,
+and the dismissal of the uninventive and morally threadbare Li Ting.'
+
+"'When the earth-worm boasts of his elegant wings, the eagle can
+afford to be silent,' said a harsh voice behind them; and turning
+hastily they beheld Li Ting, who had come upon them unawares. 'Oh,
+most insignificant of table-spoilers,' he continued, 'it is very
+evident that much over-study has softened your usually well-educated
+brains. Were it not that you are obviously mentally afflicted, I
+should unhesitatingly persuade my beautiful and refined sword to
+introduce you to the spirits of your ignoble ancestors. As it is, I
+will merely cut off your nose and your left ear, so that people may
+not say that the Dragon of the Earth sleeps and wickedness goes
+unpunished.'
+
+"Both had already drawn their swords, and very soon the blows were so
+hard and swift that, in the dusk of the evening, it seemed as though
+the air were filled with innumerable and many-coloured fireworks. Each
+was a practised swordsman, and there was no advantage gained on either
+side, when Ning, who had fled on the appearance of Li Ting,
+reappeared, urging on her father, whose usually leisurely footsteps
+were quickened by the dread that the duel must surely result in
+certain loss to himself, either of a valuable servant, or of the
+discovery which Ning had briefly explained to him, and of which he at
+once saw the value.
+
+"'Oh, most distinguished and expert persons,' he exclaimed
+breathlessly, as soon as he was within hearing distance, 'do not
+trouble to give so marvellous an exhibition for the benefit of this
+unworthy individual, who is the only observer of your illustrious
+dexterity! Indeed, your honourable condescension so fills this
+illiterate person with shame that his hearing is thereby
+preternaturally sharpened, and he can plainly distinguish many voices
+from beyond the Hoang Ho, crying for the Heaven-sent representative of
+the degraded Ti Hung to bring them more idols. Bend, therefore, your
+refined footsteps in the direction of Poo Chow, O Li Ting, and leave
+me to make myself objectionable to this exceptional young man with my
+intolerable commonplaces.'
+
+"'The shadow falls in such a direction as the sun wills,' said Li
+Ting, as he replaced his sword and departed.
+
+"'Yung Chang,' said the merchant, 'I am informed that you have made a
+discovery that would be of great value to me, as it undoubtedly would
+if it is all that you say. Let us discuss the matter without ceremony.
+Can you prove to me that your system possesses the merit you claim for
+it? If so, then the matter of arrangement will be easy.'
+
+"'I am convinced of the absolute certainty and accuracy of the
+discovery,' replied Yung Chang. 'It is not as though it were an
+ordinary matter of human intelligence, for this was discovered to me
+as I was worshipping at the tomb of my ancestors. The method is
+regulated by a system of squares, triangles, and cubes. But as the
+practical proof might be long, and as I hesitate to keep your adorable
+daughter out in the damp night air, may I not call at your inimitable
+dwelling in the morning, when we can go into the matter thoroughly?'
+
+"I will not weary this intelligent gathering, each member of which
+doubtless knows all the books on mathematics off by heart, with a
+recital of the means by which Yung Chang proved to Ti Hung the
+accuracy of his tables and the value of his discovery of the
+multiplication table, which till then had been undreamt of," continued
+the story-teller. "It is sufficient to know that he did so, and that
+Ti Hung agreed to his terms, only stipulating that Li Ting should not
+be made aware of his dismissal until he had returned and given in his
+accounts. The share of the profits that Yung was to receive was cut
+down very low by Ti Hung, but the young man did not mind that, as he
+would live with his father-in-law for the future.
+
+"With the introduction of this new system, the business increased like
+a river at flood-time. All rivals were left far behind, and Ti Hung
+put out this sign:
+
+                          "NO WAITING HERE!
+
+  "Good-morning! Have you worshipped one of Ti Hung's refined
+  ninety-nine cash idols?
+
+  "Let the purchasers of ill-constructed idols at other
+  establishments, where they have grown old and venerable while
+  waiting for the all-thumb proprietors to count up to ten, come to
+  the shop of Ti Hung and regain their lost youth. Our ninety-nine
+  cash idols are worth a tael a set. We do not, however, claim that
+  they will do everything. The ninety-nine cash idols of Ti Hung
+  will not, for example, purify linen, but even the most contented
+  and frozen-brained person cannot be happy until he possesses one.
+  What is happiness? The exceedingly well-educated Philosopher
+  defines it as the accomplishment of all our desires. Everyone
+  desires one of the Ti Hung's ninety-nine cash idols, therefore get
+  one; but be sure that it is Ti Hung's.
+
+  "Have you a bad idol? If so, dismiss it, and get one of Ti Hung's
+  ninety-nine cash specimens.
+
+  "Why does your idol look old sooner than your neighbours? Because
+  yours is not one of Ti Hung's ninety-nine cash marvels.
+
+    "They bring all delights to the old and the young,
+    The elegant idols supplied by Ti Hung.
+
+  "N.B.--The 'Great Sacrifice' idol, forty-five cash; delivered,
+  carriage free, in quantities of not less than twelve, at any
+  temple, on the evening before the sacrifice.
+
+"It was about this time that Li Ting returned. His journey had been
+more than usually successful, and he was well satisfied in
+consequence. It was not until he had made out his accounts and handed
+in his money that Ti Hung informed him of his agreement with Yung
+Chang.
+
+"'Oh, most treacherous and excessively unpopular Ti Hung,' exclaimed
+Li Ting, in a terrible voice, 'this is the return you make for all my
+entrancing efforts in your services, then? It is in this way that you
+reward my exceedingly unconscientious recommendations of your very
+inferior and unendurable clay idols, with their goggle eyes and
+concave stomachs! Before I go, however, I request to be inspired to
+make the following remark--that I confidently predict your ruin. And
+now this low and undignified person will finally shake the elegant
+dust of your distinguished house from his thoroughly inadequate feet,
+and proceed to offer his incapable services to the rival establishment
+over the way.'
+
+"'The machinations of such an evilly-disposed person as Li Ting will
+certainly be exceedingly subtle,' said Ti Hung to his son-in-law when
+the traveller had departed. 'I must counteract his omens. Herewith I
+wish to prophecy that henceforth I shall enjoy an unbroken run of good
+fortune. I have spoken, and assuredly I shall not eat my words.'
+
+"As the time went on, it seemed as though Ti Hung had indeed spoken
+truly. The ease and celerity with which he transacted his business
+brought him customers and dealers from more remote regions than ever,
+for they could spend days on the journey and still save time. The army
+of clay-gatherers and modellers grew larger and larger, and the work-
+sheds stretched almost down to the river's edge. Only one thing
+troubled Ti Hung, and that was the uncongenial disposition of his son-
+in-law, for Yung took no further interest in the industry to which his
+discovery had given so great an impetus, but resolutely set to work
+again to pass his examination for the second degree.
+
+"'It is an exceedingly distinguished and honourable thing to have
+failed thirty-five times, and still to be undiscouraged,' admitted Ti
+Hung; 'but I cannot cleanse my throat from bitterness when I consider
+that my noble and lucrative business must pass into the hands of
+strangers, perhaps even into the possession of the unendurable Li
+Ting.'
+
+"But it had been appointed that this degrading thing should not
+happen, however, and it was indeed fortunate that Yung did not abandon
+his literary pursuits; for after some time it became very apparent to
+Ti Hung that there was something radically wrong with his business. It
+was not that his custom was falling off in any way; indeed, it had
+lately increased in a manner that was phenomenal, and when the
+merchant came to look into the matter, he found to his astonishment
+that the least order he had received in the past week had been for a
+hundred idols. All the sales had been large, and yet Ti Hung found
+himself most unaccountably deficient in taels. He was puzzled and
+alarmed, and for the next few days he looked into the business
+closely. Then it was that the reason was revealed, both for the
+falling off in the receipts and for the increase in the orders. The
+calculations of the unfortunate Yung Chang were correct up to a
+hundred, but at that number he had made a gigantic error--which,
+however, he was never able to detect and rectify--with the result that
+all transactions above that point worked out at a considerable loss to
+the seller. It was in vain that the panic-stricken Ti Hung goaded his
+miserable son-in-law to correct the mistake; it was equally in vain
+that he tried to stem the current of his enormous commercial
+popularity. He had competed for public favour, and he had won it, and
+every day his business increased till ruin grasped him by the pigtail.
+Then came an order from one firm at Peking for five millions of the
+ninety-nine cash idols, and at that Ti Hung put up his shutters, and
+sat down in the dust.
+
+"'Behold!' he exclaimed, 'in the course of a lifetime there are many
+very disagreeable evils that may overtake a person. He may offend the
+Sacred Dragon, and be in consequence reduced to a fine dry powder; or
+he may incur the displeasure of the benevolent and pure-minded
+Emperor, and be condemned to death by roasting; he may also be
+troubled by demons or by the disturbed spirits of his ancestors, or be
+struck by thunderbolts. Indeed, there are numerous annoyances, but
+they become as Heaven-sent blessings in comparison to a self-
+opinionated and more than ordinarily weak-minded son-in-law. Of what
+avail is it that I have habitually sold one idol for the value of a
+hundred? The very objectionable man in possession sits in my
+delectable summer-house, and the unavoidable legal documents settle
+around me like a flock of pigeons. It is indeed necessary that I
+should declare myself to be in voluntary liquidation, and make an
+assignment of my book debts for the benefit of my creditors. Having
+accomplished this, I will proceed to the well-constructed tomb of my
+illustrious ancestors, and having kow-towed at their incomparable
+shrines, I will put an end to my distinguished troubles with this
+exceedingly well-polished sword.'
+
+"'The wise man can adapt himself to circumstances as water takes the
+shape of the vase that contains it,' said the well-known voice of Li
+Ting. 'Let not the lion and the tiger fight at the bidding of the
+jackal. By combining our forces all may be well with you yet. Assist
+me to dispose of the entirely superfluous Yung Chang and to marry the
+elegant and symmetrical Ning, and in return I will allot to you a
+portion of my not inconsiderable income.'
+
+"'However high the tree, the leaves fall to the ground, and your hour
+has come at last, O detestable Li Ting!' said Yung, who had heard the
+speakers and crept upon them unperceived. 'As for my distinguished and
+immaculate father-in-law, doubtless the heat has affected his
+indefatigable brains, or he would not have listened to your
+contemptible suggestion. For yourself, draw!'
+
+"Both swords flashed, but before a blow could be struck the spirits of
+his ancestors hurled Li Ting lifeless to the ground, to avenge the
+memories that their unworthy descendant had so often reviled.
+
+"'So perish all the enemies of Yung Chang,' said the victor. 'And now,
+my venerated but exceedingly short-sighted father-in-law, learn how
+narrowly you have escaped making yourself exceedingly objectionable to
+yourself. I have just received intelligence from Peking that I have
+passed the second degree, and have in consequence been appointed to a
+remunerative position under the Government. This will enable us to
+live in comfort, if not in affluence, and the rest of your engaging
+days can be peacefully spent in flying kites.'"
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III
+
+                      THE PROBATION OF SEN HENG
+
+  Related by Kai Lung, at Wu-whei, as a rebuke to Wang Yu and
+  certain others who had questioned the practical value of his
+  stories.
+
+"It is an undoubted fact that this person has not realized the direct
+remunerative advantage which he confidently anticipated," remarked the
+idle and discontented pipe-maker Wang Yu, as, with a few other persons
+of similar inclination, he sat in the shade of the great mulberry tree
+at Wu-whei, waiting for the evil influence of certain very mysterious
+sounds, which had lately been heard, to pass away before he resumed
+his occupation. "When the seemingly proficient and trustworthy Kai
+Lung first made it his practice to journey to Wu-whei, and narrate to
+us the doings of persons of all classes of life," he continued, "it
+seemed to this one that by closely following the recital of how
+Mandarins obtained their high position, and exceptionally rich persons
+their wealth, he must, in the end, inevitably be rendered competent to
+follow in their illustrious footsteps. Yet in how entirely contrary a
+direction has the whole course of events tended! In spite of the
+honourable intention which involved a frequent absence from his place
+of commerce, those who journeyed thither with the set purpose of
+possessing one of his justly-famed opium pipes so perversely regarded
+the matter that, after two or three fruitless visits, they
+deliberately turned their footsteps towards the workshop of the
+inelegant Ming-yo, whose pipes are confessedly greatly inferior to
+those produced by the person who is now speaking. Nevertheless, the
+rapacious Kai Lung, to whose influence the falling off in custom was
+thus directly attributable, persistently declined to bear any share
+whatever in the loss which his profession caused, and, indeed,
+regarded the circumstance from so grasping and narrow-minded a point
+of observation that he would not even go to the length of suffering
+this much-persecuted one to join the circle of his hearers without on
+every occasion making the customary offering. In this manner a well-
+intentioned pursuit of riches has insidiously led this person within
+measurable distance of the bolted dungeon for those who do not meet
+their just debts, while the only distinction likely to result from his
+assiduous study of the customs and methods of those high in power is
+that of being publicly bowstrung as a warning to others. Manifestedly
+the pointed finger of the unreliable Kai Lung is a very treacherous
+guide."
+
+"It is related," said a dispassionate voice behind them, "that a
+person of limited intelligence, on being assured that he would
+certainly one day enjoy an adequate competence if he closely followed
+the industrious habits of the thrifty bee, spent the greater part of
+his life in anointing his thighs with the yellow powder which he
+laboriously collected from the flowers of the field. It is not so
+recorded; but doubtless the nameless one in question was by profession
+a maker of opium pipes, for this person has observed from time to time
+how that occupation, above all others, tends to degrade the mental
+faculties, and to debase its followers to a lower position than that
+of the beasts of labour. Learn therefrom, O superficial Wang Yu, that
+wisdom lies in an intelligent perception of great principles, and not
+in a slavish imitation of details which are, for the most part, beyond
+your simple and insufficient understanding."
+
+"Such may, indeed, be the case, Kai Lung," replied Wang Yu sullenly--
+for it was the story-teller in question who had approached
+unperceived, and who now stood before them--"but it is none the less a
+fact that, on the last occasion when this misguided person joined the
+attending circle at your uplifted voice, a Mandarin of the third
+degree chanced to pass through Wu-whei, and halted at the door-step of
+'The Fountain of Beauty,' fully intending to entrust this one with the
+designing and fashioning of a pipe of exceptional elaborateness. This
+matter, by his absence, has now passed from him, and to-day, through
+listening to the narrative of how the accomplished Yuin-Pel doubled
+his fortune, he is the poorer by many taels."
+
+"Yet to-morrow, when the name of the Mandarin of the third degree
+appears in the list of persons who have transferred their entire
+property to those who are nearly related to them in order to avoid it
+being seized to satisfy the just claims made against them," replied
+Kai Lung, "you will be able to regard yourself the richer by so many
+taels."
+
+At these words, which recalled to the minds of all who were present
+the not uncommon manner of behaving observed by those of exalted rank,
+who freely engaged persons to supply them with costly articles without
+in any way regarding the price to be paid, Wang Yu was silent.
+
+"Nevertheless," exclaimed a thin voice from the edge of the group
+which surrounded Kai Lung, "it in nowise follows that the stories are
+in themselves excellent, or of such a nature that the hearing of their
+recital will profit a person. Wang Yu may be satisfied with empty
+words, but there are others present who were studying deep matters
+when Wang Yu was learning the art of walking. If Kai Lung's stories
+are of such remunerative benefit as the person in question claims, how
+does it chance that Kai Lung himself who is assuredly the best
+acquainted with them, stands before us in mean apparel, and on all
+occasions confessing an unassuming poverty?"
+
+"It is Yan-hi Pung," went from mouth to mouth among the bystanders--
+"Yan-hi Pung, who traces on paper the words of chants and historical
+tales, and sells them to such as can afford to buy. And although his
+motive in exposing the emptiness of Kai Lung's stories may not be
+Heaven-sent--inasmuch as Kai Lung provides us with such matter as he
+himself purveys, only at a much more moderate price--yet his words are
+well considered, and must therefore be regarded."
+
+"O Yan-hi Pung," replied Kai Lung, hearing the name from those who
+stood about him, and moving towards the aged person, who stood
+meanwhile leaning upon his staff, and looking from side to side with
+quickly moving eyelids in a manner very offensive towards the story-
+teller, "your just remark shows you to be a person of exceptional
+wisdom, even as your well-bowed legs prove you to be one of great
+bodily strength; for justice is ever obvious and wisdom hidden, and
+they who build structures for endurance discard the straight and
+upright and insist upon such an arch as you so symmetrically
+exemplify."
+
+Speaking in this conciliatory manner, Kai Lung came up to Yan-hi Pung,
+and taking between his fingers a disc of thick polished crystal, which
+the aged and short-sighted chant-writer used for the purpose of
+magnifying and bringing nearer the letters upon which he was engaged,
+and which hung around his neck by an embroidered cord, the story-
+teller held it aloft, crying aloud:
+
+"Observe closely, and presently it will be revealed and made clear how
+the apparently very conflicting words of the wise Yan-hi Pung, and
+those of this unassuming but nevertheless conscientious person who is
+now addressing you, are, in reality, as one great truth."
+
+With this assurance Kai Lung moved the crystal somewhat, so that it
+engaged the sun's rays, and concentrated them upon the uncovered crown
+of the unsuspecting and still objectionably-engaged person before him.
+Without a moment's pause, Yan-hi Pung leapt high into the air,
+repeatedly pressing his hand to the spot thus selected and crying
+aloud:
+
+"Evil dragons and thunderbolts! but the touch was as hot as a scar
+left by the uncut nail of the sublime Buddha!"
+
+"Yet the crystal--" remarked Kai Lung composedly, passing it into the
+hands of those who stood near.
+
+"Is as cool as the innermost leaves of the riverside sycamore," they
+declared.
+
+Kai Lung said nothing further, but raised both his hands above his
+head, as if demanding their judgment. Thereupon a loud shout went up
+on his behalf, for the greater part of them loved to see the manner in
+which he brushed aside those who would oppose him; and the sight of
+the aged person Yan-hi Pung leaping far into the air had caused them
+to become exceptionally amused, and, in consequence, very amiably
+disposed towards the one who had afforded them the entertainment.
+
+"The story of Sen Heng," began Kai Lung, when the discussion had
+terminated in the manner already recorded, "concerns itself with one
+who possessed an unsuspecting and ingenious nature, which ill-fitted
+him to take an ordinary part in the everyday affairs of life, no
+matter how engaging such a character rendered him among his friends
+and relations. Having at an early age been entrusted with a burden of
+rice and other produce from his father's fields to dispose of in the
+best possible manner at a neighbouring mart, and having completed the
+transaction in a manner extremely advantageous to those with whom he
+trafficked but very intolerable to the one who had sent him, it at
+once became apparent that some other means of gaining a livelihood
+must be discovered for him.
+
+"'Beyond all doubt,' said his father, after considering the matter for
+a period, 'it is a case in which one should be governed by the wise
+advice and example of the Mandarin Poo-chow.'
+
+"'Illustrious sire,' exclaimed Sen Heng, who chanced to be present,
+'the illiterate person who stands before you is entirely unacquainted
+with the one to whom you have referred; nevertheless, he will, as you
+suggest, at once set forth, and journeying with all speed to the abode
+of the estimable Poo-chow, solicit his experience and advice.'
+
+"'Unless a more serious loss should be occasioned,' replied the father
+coldly, 'there is no necessity to adopt so extreme a course. The
+benevolent Mandarin in question existed at a remote period of the
+Thang dynasty, and the incident to which an allusion has been made
+arose in the following way: To the public court of the enlightened
+Poo-chow there came one day a youth of very inferior appearance and
+hesitating manner, who besought his explicit advice, saying: "The
+degraded and unprepossessing being before you, O select and venerable
+Mandarin, is by nature and attainments a person of the utmost timidity
+and fearfulness. From this cause life itself has become a detestable
+observance in his eyes, for those who should be his companions of both
+sexes hold him in undisguised contempt, making various unendurable
+allusions to the colour and nature of his internal organs whenever he
+would endeavour to join them. Instruct him, therefore, the manner in
+which this cowardice may be removed, and no service in return will be
+esteemed too great." "There is a remedy," replied the benevolent
+Mandarin, without any hesitation whatever, "which if properly carried
+out is efficacious beyond the possibility of failure. Certain
+component parts of your body are lacking, and before the desired
+result can be obtained these must be supplied from without. Of all
+courageous things the tiger is the most fearless, and in consequence
+it combines all those ingredients which you require; furthermore, as
+the teeth of the tiger are the instruments with which it accomplishes
+its vengeful purpose, there reside the essential principles of its
+inimitable courage. Let the person who seeks instruction in the
+matter, therefore, do as follows: taking the teeth of a full-grown
+tiger as soon as it is slain, and before the essences have time to
+return into the body, he shall grind them to a powder, and mixing the
+powder with a portion of rice, consume it. After seven days he must
+repeat the observance, and yet again a third time, after another
+similar lapse. Let him, then, return for further guidance; for the
+present the matter interests this person no further." At these words
+the youth departed, filled with a new and inspired hope; for the
+wisdom of the sagacious Poo-chow was a matter which did not admit of
+any doubt whatever, and he had spoken with well-defined certainty of
+the success of the experiment. Nevertheless, after several days
+industriously spent in endeavouring to obtain by purchase the teeth of
+a newly-slain tiger, the details of the undertaking began to assume a
+new and entirely unforeseen aspect; for those whom he approached as
+being the most likely to possess what he required either became very
+immoderately and disagreeably amused at the nature of the request, or
+regarded it as a new and ill-judged form of ridicule, which they
+prepared to avenge by blows and by base remarks of the most personal
+variety. At length it became unavoidably obvious to the youth that if
+he was to obtain the articles in question it would first be necessary
+that he should become adept in the art of slaying tigers, for in no
+other way were the required conditions likely to be present. Although
+the prospect was one which did not greatly tend to allure him, yet he
+did not regard it with the utterly incapable emotions which would have
+been present on an earlier occasion; for the habit of continually
+guarding himself from the onslaughts of those who received his inquiry
+in an attitude of narrow-minded distrust had inspired him with a new-
+found valour, while his amiable and unrestrained manner of life
+increased his bodily vigour in every degree. First perfecting himself
+in the use of the bow and arrow, therefore, he betook himself to a
+wild and very extensive forest, and there concealed himself among the
+upper foliage of a tall tree standing by the side of a pool of water.
+On the second night of his watch, the youth perceived a large but
+somewhat ill-conditioned tiger approaching the pool for the purpose of
+quenching its thirst, whereupon he tremblingly fitted an arrow to his
+bowstring, and profiting by the instruction he had received, succeeded
+in piercing the creature to the heart. After fulfilling the observance
+laid upon him by the discriminating Poo-chow, the youth determined to
+remain in the forest, and sustain himself upon such food as fell to
+his weapons, until the time arrived when he should carry out the rite
+for the last time. At the end of seven days, so subtle had he become
+in all kinds of hunting, and so strengthened by the meat and herbs
+upon which he existed, that he disdained to avail himself of the
+shelter of a tree, but standing openly by the side of the water, he
+engaged the attention of the first tiger which came to drink, and
+discharged arrow after arrow into its body with unfailing power and
+precision. So entrancing, indeed, had the pursuit become that the next
+seven days lengthened out into the apparent period of as many moons,
+in such a leisurely manner did they rise and fall. On the appointed
+day, without waiting for the evening to arrive, the youth set out with
+the first appearance of light, and penetrated into the most
+inaccessible jungles, crying aloud words of taunt-laden challenge to
+all the beasts therein, and accusing the ancestors of their race of
+every imaginable variety of evil behaviour. Yet so great had become
+the renown of the one who stood forth, and so widely had the warning
+voice been passed from tree to tree, preparing all who dwelt in the
+forest against his anger, that not even the fiercest replied openly,
+though low growls and mutterings proceeded from every cave within a
+bow-shot's distance around. Wearying quickly of such feeble and
+timorous demonstrations, the youth rushed into the cave from which the
+loudest murmurs proceeded, and there discovered a tiger of unnatural
+size, surrounded by the bones of innumerable ones whom it had
+devoured; for from time to time its ravages became so great and
+unbearable, that armies were raised in the neighbouring villages and
+sent to destroy it, but more than a few stragglers never returned.
+Plainly recognizing that a just and inevitable vengeance had overtaken
+it, the tiger made only a very inferior exhibition of resistance, and
+the youth, having first stunned it with a blow of his closed hand,
+seized it by the middle, and repeatedly dashed its head against the
+rocky sides of its retreat. He then performed for the third time the
+ceremony enjoined by the Mandarin, and having cast upon the cringing
+and despicable forms concealed in the surrounding woods and caves a
+look of dignified and ineffable contempt, set out upon his homeward
+journey, and in the space of three days' time reached the town of the
+versatile Poo-chow. "Behold," exclaimed that person, when, lifting up
+his eyes, he saw the youth approaching laden with the skins of the
+tigers and other spoils, "now at least the youths and maidens of your
+native village will no longer withdraw themselves from the company of
+so undoubtedly heroic a person." "Illustrious Mandarin," replied the
+other, casting both his weapons and his trophies before his inspired
+adviser's feet, "what has this person to do with the little ones of
+either sex? Give him rather the foremost place in your ever-victorious
+company of bowmen, so that he may repay in part the undoubted debt
+under which he henceforth exists." This proposal found favour with the
+pure-minded Poo-chow, so that in course of time the unassuming youth
+who had come supplicating his advice became the valiant commander of
+his army, and the one eventually chosen to present plighting gifts to
+his only daughter.'
+
+"When the father had completed the narrative of how the faint-hearted
+youth became in the end a courageous and resourceful leader of bowmen,
+Sen looked up, and not in any degree understanding the purpose of the
+story, or why it had been set forth before him, exclaimed:
+
+"'Undoubtedly the counsel of the graceful and intelligent Mandarin
+Poo-chow was of inestimable service in the case recorded, and this
+person would gladly adopt it as his guide for the future, on the
+chance of it leading to a similar honourable career; but alas! there
+are no tigers to be found throughout this Province.'
+
+"'It is a loss which those who are engaged in commerce in the city of
+Hankow strive to supply adequately,' replied his father, who had an
+assured feeling that it would be of no avail to endeavour to show Sen
+that the story which he had just related was one setting forth a
+definite precept rather than fixing an exact manner of behaviour. 'For
+that reason,' he continued, 'this person has concluded an arrangement
+by which you will journey to that place, and there enter into the
+house of commerce of an expert and conscientious vendor of moving
+contrivances. Among so rapacious and keen-witted a class of persons as
+they of Hankow, it is exceedingly unlikely that your amiable
+disposition will involve any individual one in an unavoidably serious
+loss, and even should such an unforeseen event come to pass, there
+will, at least, be the undeniable satisfaction of the thought that the
+unfortunate occurrence will in no way affect the prosperity of those
+to whom you are bound by the natural ties of affection.'
+
+"'Benevolent and virtuous-minded father,' replied Sen gently, but
+speaking with an inspired conviction; 'from his earliest infancy this
+unassuming one has been instructed in an inviolable regard for the
+Five General Principles of Fidelity to the Emperor, Respect for
+Parents, Harmony between Husband and Wife, Agreement among Brothers,
+and Constancy in Friendship. It will be entirely unnecessary to inform
+so pious-minded a person as the one now being addressed that no evil
+can attend the footsteps of an individual who courteously observes
+these enactments.'
+
+"'Without doubt it is so arranged by the protecting Deities,' replied
+the father; 'yet it is an exceedingly desirable thing for those who
+are responsible in the matter that the footsteps to which reference
+has been made should not linger in the neighbourhood of the village,
+but should, with all possible speed, turn in the direction of Hankow.'
+
+"In this manner it came to pass that Sen Heng set forth on the
+following day, and coming without delay to the great and powerful city
+of Hankow, sought out the house of commerce known as 'The Pure Gilt
+Dragon of Exceptional Symmetry,' where the versatile King-y-Yang
+engaged in the entrancing occupation of contriving moving figures, and
+other devices of an ingenious and mirth-provoking character, which he
+entrusted into the hands of numerous persons to sell throughout the
+Province. From this cause, although enjoying a very agreeable
+recompense from the sale of the objects, the greatly perturbed King-y-
+Yang suffered continual internal misgivings; for the habit of behaving
+of those whom he appointed to go forth in the manner described was
+such that he could not entirely dismiss from his mind an assured
+conviction that the details were not invariably as they were
+represented to be. Frequently would one return in a very deficient and
+unpresentable condition of garment, asserting that on his return,
+while passing through a lonely and unprotected district, he had been
+assailed by an armed band of robbers, and despoiled of all he
+possessed. Another would claim to have been made the sport of evil
+spirits, who led him astray by means of false signs in the forest, and
+finally destroyed his entire burden of commodities, accompanying the
+unworthy act by loud cries of triumph and remarks of an insulting
+nature concerning King-y-Yang; for the honourable character and
+charitable actions of the person in question had made him very
+objectionable to that class of beings. Others continually accounted
+for the absence of the required number of taels by declaring that at a
+certain point of their journey they were made the object of marks of
+amiable condescension on the part of a high and dignified public
+official, who, on learning in whose service they were, immediately
+professed an intimate personal friendship with the estimable King-y-
+Yang, and, out of a feeling of gratified respect for him, took away
+all such contrivances as remained undisposed of, promising to arrange
+the payment with the refined King-y-Yang himself when they should next
+meet. For these reasons King-y-Yang was especially desirous of
+obtaining one whose spoken word could be received, upon all points, as
+an assured fact, and it was, therefore, with an emotion of internal
+lightness that he confidently heard from those who were acquainted
+with the person that Sen Heng was, by nature and endowments, utterly
+incapable of representing matters of even the most insignificant
+degree to be otherwise than what they really were.
+
+Filled with an acute anxiety to discover what amount of success would
+be accorded to his latest contrivance, King-y-Yang led Sen Heng to a
+secluded chamber, and there instructed him in the method of selling
+certain apparently very ingeniously constructed ducks, which would
+have the appearance of swimming about on the surface of an open vessel
+of water, at the same time uttering loud and ever-increasing cries,
+after the manner of their kind. With ill-restrained admiration at the
+skilful nature of the deception, King-y-Yang pointed out that the
+ducks which were to be disposed of, and upon which a seemingly very
+low price was fixed, did not, in reality, possess any of these
+accomplishments, but would, on the contrary, if placed in water, at
+once sink to the bottom in a most incapable manner; it being part of
+Sen's duty to exhibit only a specially prepared creature which was
+restrained upon the surface by means of hidden cords, and, while
+bending over it, to simulate the cries as agreed upon. After
+satisfying himself that Sen could perform these movements competently,
+King-y-Yang sent him forth, particularly charging him that he should
+not return without a sum of money which fully represented the entire
+number of ducks entrusted to him, or an adequate number of unsold
+ducks to compensate for the deficiency.
+
+"At the end of seven days Sen returned to King-y-Yang, and although
+entirely without money, even to the extent of being unable to provide
+himself with the merest necessities of a frugal existence, he
+honourably returned the full number of ducks with which he had set
+out. It then became evident that although Sen had diligently perfected
+himself in the sounds and movements which King-y-Yang had contrived,
+he had not fully understood that they were to be executed stealthily,
+but had, in consequence, manifested the accomplishment openly, not
+unreasonably supposing that such an exhibition would be an additional
+inducement to those who appeared to be well-disposed towards the
+purchase. From this cause it came about that although large crowds
+were attracted by Sen's manner of conducting the enterprise, none
+actually engaged to purchase even the least expensively-valued of the
+ducks, although several publicly complimented Sen on his exceptional
+proficiency, and repeatedly urged him to louder and more frequent
+cries, suggesting that by such means possible buyers might be
+attracted to the spot from remote and inaccessible villages in the
+neighbourhood.
+
+"When King-y-Yang learned how the venture had been carried out, he
+became most intolerably self-opinionated in his expressions towards
+Sen's mental attainments and the manner of his bringing up. It was
+entirely in vain that the one referred to pointed out in a tone of
+persuasive and courteous restraint that he had not, down to the most
+minute particulars, transgressed either the general or the specific
+obligations of the Five General Principles, and that, therefore, he
+was blameless, and even worthy of commendation for the manner in which
+he had acted. With an inelegant absence of all refined feeling,
+King-y-Yang most incapably declined to discuss the various aspects of
+the controversy in an amiable manner, asserting, indeed, that for the
+consideration of as many brass cash as Sen had mentioned principles he
+would cause him to be thrown into prison as a person of unnatural
+ineptitude. Then, without rewarding Sen for the time spent in his
+service, or even inviting him to partake of food and wine, the
+insufferable deviser of very indifferent animated contrivances again
+sent him out, this time into the streets of Hankow with a number of
+delicately inlaid boxes, remarking in a tone of voice which plainly
+indicated an exactly contrary desire that he would be filled with an
+overwhelming satisfaction if Sen could discover any excuse for
+returning a second time without disposing of anything. This remark
+Sen's ingenuous nature led him to regard as a definite fact, so that
+when a passer-by, who tarried to examine the boxes chanced to remark
+that the colours might have been arranged to greater advantage, in
+which case he would certainly have purchased at least one of the
+articles, Sen hastened back, although in a distant part of the city,
+to inform King-y-Yang of the suggestion, adding that he himself had
+been favourably impressed with the improvement which could be effected
+by such an alteration.
+
+"The nature of King-y-Yang's emotion when Sen again presented himself
+before him--and when by repeatedly applied tests on various parts of
+his body he understood that he was neither the victim of malicious
+demons, nor wandering in an insensible condition in the Middle Air,
+but that the cause of the return was such as had been plainly stated--
+was of so mixed and benumbing a variety, that for a considerable space
+of time he was quite unable to express himself in any way, either by
+words or by signs. By the time these attributes returned there had
+formed itself within King-y-Yang's mind a design of most contemptible
+malignity, which seemed to present to his enfeebled intellect a scheme
+by which Sen would be adequately punished, and finally disposed of,
+without causing him any further trouble in the matter. For this
+purpose he concealed the real condition of his sentiments towards Sen,
+and warmly expressed himself in terms of delicate flattery regarding
+that one's sumptuous and unfailing taste in the matter of the blending
+of the colours. Without doubt, he continued, such an alteration as the
+one proposed would greatly increase the attractiveness of the inlaid
+boxes, and the matter should be engaged upon without delay. In the
+meantime, however, not to waste the immediate services of so
+discriminating and persevering a servant, he would entrust Sen with a
+mission of exceptional importance, which would certainly tend greatly
+to his remunerative benefit. In the district of Yun, in the north-
+western part of the Province, said the crafty and treacherous King-y-
+Yang, a particular kind of insect was greatly esteemed on account of
+the beneficent influence which it exercised over the rice plants,
+causing them to mature earlier, and to attain a greater size than ever
+happened in its absence. In recent years this creature had rarely been
+seen in the neighbourhood of Yun, and, in consequence, the earth-
+tillers throughout that country had been brought into a most
+disconcerting state of poverty, and would, inevitably, be prepared to
+exchange whatever they still possessed for even a few of the insects,
+in order that they might liberate them to increase, and so entirely
+reverse the objectionable state of things. Speaking in this manner,
+King-y-Yang entrusted to Sen a carefully prepared box containing a
+score of the insects, obtained at a great cost from a country beyond
+the Bitter Water, and after giving him further directions concerning
+the journey, and enjoining the utmost secrecy about the valuable
+contents of the box, he sent him forth.
+
+"The discreet and sagacious will already have understood the nature of
+King-y-Yang's intolerable artifice; but, for the benefit of the
+amiable and unsuspecting, it is necessary to make it clear that the
+words which he had spoken bore no sort of resemblance to affairs as
+they really existed. The district around Yun was indeed involved in a
+most unprepossessing destitution, but this had been caused, not by the
+absence of any rare and auspicious insect, but by the presence of vast
+hordes of locusts, which had overwhelmed and devoured the entire face
+the country. It so chanced that among the recently constructed devices
+at 'The Pure Gilt Dragon of Exceptional Symmetry' were a number of
+elegant representations of rice fields and fruit gardens so skilfully
+fashioned that they deceived even the creatures, and attracted, among
+other living things, all the locusts in Hankow into that place of
+commerce. It was a number of these insects that King-y-Yang
+vindictively placed in the box which he instructed Sen to carry to
+Yun, well knowing that the reception which would be accorded to anyone
+who appeared there on such a mission would be of so fatally
+destructive a kind that the consideration of his return need not
+engage a single conjecture.
+
+"Entirely tranquil in intellect--for the possibility of King-y-Yang's
+intention being in any way other than what he had represented it to be
+did not arise within Sen's ingenuous mind--the person in question
+cheerfully set forth on his long but unavoidable march towards the
+region of Yun. As he journeyed along the way, the nature of his
+meditation brought up before him the events which had taken place
+since his arrival at Hankow; and, for the first time, it was brought
+within his understanding that the story of the youth and the three
+tigers, which his father had related to him, was in the likeness of a
+proverb, by which counsel and warning is conveyed in a graceful and
+inoffensive manner. Readily applying the fable to his own condition,
+he could not doubt but that the first two animals to be overthrown
+were represented by the two undertakings which he had already
+conscientiously performed in the matter of the mechanical ducks and
+the inlaid boxes, and the conviction that he was even then engaged on
+the third and last trial filled him with an intelligent gladness so
+unobtrusive and refined that he could express his entrancing emotions
+in no other way that by lifting up his voice and uttering the far-
+reaching cries which he had used on the first of the occasions just
+referred to.
+
+"In this manner the first part of the journey passed away with
+engaging celerity. Anxious as Sen undoubtedly was to complete the
+third task, and approach the details which, in his own case, would
+correspond with the command of the bowmen and the marriage with the
+Mandarin's daughter of the person in the story, the noontide heat
+compelled him to rest in the shade by the wayside for a lengthy period
+each day.  During one of these pauses it occurred to his versatile
+mind that the time which was otherwise uselessly expended might be
+well disposed of in endeavouring to increase the value and condition
+of the creatures under his care by instructing them in the performance
+of some simple accomplishments, such as might not be too laborious for
+their feeble and immature understanding. In this he was more
+successful than he had imagined could possibly be the case, for the
+discriminating insects, from the first, had every appearance of
+recognizing that Sen was inspired by a sincere regard for their
+ultimate benefit, and was not merely using them for his own
+advancement. So assiduously did they devote themselves to their
+allotted tasks, that in a very short space of time there was no detail
+in connexion with their own simple domestic arrangements that was not
+understood and daily carried out by an appointed band. Entranced at
+this intelligent manner of conducting themselves, Sen industriously
+applied his time to the more congenial task of instructing them in the
+refined arts, and presently he had the enchanting satisfaction of
+witnessing a number of the most cultivated faultlessly and
+unhesitatingly perform a portion of the well-known gravity-removing
+play entitled "The Benevolent Omen of White Dragon Tea Garden; or,
+Three Times a Mandarin." Not even content with this elevating display,
+Sen ingeniously contrived, from various objects which he discovered at
+different points by the wayside, an effective and life-like
+representation of a war-junk, for which he trained a crew, who, at an
+agreed signal, would take up their appointed places and go through the
+required movements, both of sailing, and of discharging the guns, in a
+reliable and efficient manner.
+
+"As Sen was one day educating the least competent of the insects in
+the simpler parts of banner-carriers, gong-beaters, and the like, to
+their more graceful and versatile companions, he lifted up his eyes
+and beheld, standing by his side, a person of very elaborately
+embroidered apparel and commanding personality, who had all the
+appearance of one who had been observing his movements for some space
+of time. Calling up within his remembrance the warning which he had
+received from King-y-Yang, Sen was preparing to restore the creatures
+to their closed box, when the stranger, in a loud and dignified voice,
+commanded him to refrain, adding:
+
+"'There is, resting at a spot within the immediate neighbourhood, a
+person of illustrious name and ancestry, who would doubtless be
+gratified to witness the diverting actions of which this one has
+recently been a spectator. As the reward of a tael cannot be unwelcome
+to a person of your inferior appearance and unpresentable garments,
+take up your box without delay, and follow the one who is now before
+you.'
+
+"With these words the richly-clad stranger led the way through a
+narrow woodland path, closely followed by Sen, to whom the attraction
+of the promised reward--a larger sum, indeed, than he had ever
+possessed--was sufficiently alluring to make him determined that the
+other should not, for the briefest possible moment, pass beyond his
+sight.
+
+"Not to withhold that which Sen was entirely ignorant of until a later
+period, it is now revealed that the person in question was the
+official Provider of Diversions and Pleasurable Occupations to the
+sacred and illimitable Emperor, who was then engaged in making an
+unusually extensive march through the eight Provinces surrounding his
+Capital--for the acute and well-educated will not need to be reminded
+that Nanking occupied that position at the time now engaged with.
+Until his providential discovery of Sen, the distinguished Provider
+had been immersed in a most unenviable condition of despair, for his
+enlightened but exceedingly perverse-minded master had, of late,
+declined to be in any way amused, or even interested, by the simple
+and unpretentious entertainment which could be obtained in so
+inaccessible a region. The well-intentioned efforts of the followers
+of the Court, who engagingly endeavoured to divert the Imperial mind
+by performing certain feats which they remembered to have witnessed on
+previous occasions, but which, until the necessity arose, they had
+never essayed, were entirely without result of a beneficial order.
+Even the accomplished Provider's one attainment--that of striking
+together both the hands and the feet thrice simultaneously, while
+leaping into the air, and at the same time producing a sound not
+unlike that emitted by a large and vigorous bee when held captive in
+the fold of a robe, an action which never failed to throw the
+illustrious Emperor into a most uncontrollable state of amusement when
+performed within the Imperial Palace--now only drew from him the
+unsympathetic, if not actually offensive, remark that the attitude and
+the noise bore a marked resemblance to those produced by a person when
+being bowstrung, adding, with unprepossessing significance, that of
+the two entertainments he had an unevadable conviction that the
+bowstringing would be the more acceptable and gravity-removing.
+
+"When Sen beheld the size and the silk-hung magnificence of the camp
+into which his guide led him, he was filled with astonishment, and at
+the same time recognized that he had acted in an injudicious and hasty
+manner by so readily accepting the offer of a tael; whereas, if he had
+been in possession of the true facts of the case, as they now
+appeared, he would certainly have endeavoured to obtain double that
+amount before consenting. As he was hesitating within himself whether
+the matter might not even yet be arranged in a more advantageous
+manner, he was suddenly led forward into the most striking and
+ornamental of the tents, and commanded to engage the attention of the
+one in whose presence he found himself, without delay.
+
+"From the first moment when the inimitable creatures began, at Sen's
+spoken word, to go through the ordinary details of their domestic
+affairs, there was no sort of doubt as to the nature of the success
+with which their well-trained exertions would be received. The dark
+shadows instantly forsook the enraptured Emperor's select brow, and
+from time to time he expressed himself in words of most unrestrained
+and intimate encouragement. So exuberant became the overjoyed
+Provider's emotion at having at length succeeded in obtaining the
+services of one who was able to recall his Imperial master's unclouded
+countenance, that he came forward in a most unpresentable state of
+haste, and rose into the air uncommanded, for the display of his
+usually not unwelcome acquirement. This he would doubtless have
+executed competently had not Sen, who stood immediately behind him,
+suddenly and unexpectedly raised his voice in a very vigorous and
+proficient duck cry, thereby causing the one before him to endeavour
+to turn around in alarm, while yet in the air--an intermingled state
+of movements of both the body and the mind that caused him to abandon
+his original intention in a manner which removed the gravity of the
+Emperor to an even more pronounced degree than had been effected by
+the diverting attitudes of the insects.
+
+"When the gratified Emperor had beheld every portion of the tasks
+which Sen had instilled into the minds of the insects, down even to
+the minutest detail, he called the well-satisfied Provider before him,
+and addressing him in a voice which might be designed to betray either
+sternness or an amiable indulgence, said:
+
+"'You, O Shan-se, are reported to be a person of no particular
+intellect or discernment, and, for this reason, these ones who are
+speaking have a desire to know how the matter will present itself in
+your eyes. Which is it the more commendable and honourable for a
+person to train to a condition of unfailing excellence, human beings
+of confessed intelligence or insects of a low and degraded standard?'
+
+"To this remark the discriminating Shan-se made no reply, being,
+indeed, undecided in his mind whether such a course was expected of
+him. On several previous occasions the somewhat introspective Emperor
+had addressed himself to persons in what they judged to be the form of
+a question, as one might say, 'How blue is the unapproachable air
+canopy, and how delicately imagined the colour of the clouds!' yet
+when they had expressed their deliberate opinion on the subjects
+referred to, stating the exact degree of blueness, and the like, the
+nature of their reception ever afterwards was such that, for the
+future, persons endeavoured to determine exactly the intention of the
+Emperor's mind before declaring themselves in words. Being exceedingly
+doubtful on this occasion, therefore, the very cautious Shan-se
+adopted the more prudent and uncompromising attitude, and smiling
+acquiescently, he raised both his hands with a self-deprecatory
+movement.
+
+"'Alas!' exclaimed the Emperor, in a tone which plainly indicated that
+the evasive Shan-se had adopted a course which did not commend itself,
+'how unendurable a condition of affairs is it for a person of acute
+mental perception to be annoyed by the inopportune behaviour of one
+who is only fit to mix on terms of equality with beggars, and low-
+caste street cleaners--'
+
+"'Such a condition of affairs is indeed most offensively unbearable,
+illustrious Being,' remarked Shan-se, who clearly perceived that his
+former silence had not been productive of a delicate state of feeling
+towards himself.
+
+"'It has frequently been said,' continued the courteous and pure-
+minded Emperor, only signifying his refined displeasure at Shan-se's
+really ill-considered observation by so arranging his position that
+the person in question on longer enjoyed the sublime distinction of
+gazing upon his benevolent face, 'that titles and offices have been
+accorded, from time to time, without any regard for the fitting
+qualifications of those to whom they were presented. The truth that
+such a state of things does occasionally exist has been brought before
+our eyes during the past few days by the abandoned and inefficient
+behaviour of one who will henceforth be a marked official; yet it has
+always been our endeavour to reward expert and unassuming merit,
+whenever it is discovered. As we were setting forth, when we were
+interrupted in a most obstinate and superfluous manner, the one who
+can guide and cultivate the minds of unthinking, and not infrequently
+obstinate and rapacious, insects would certainly enjoy an even greater
+measure of success if entrusted with the discriminating intellects of
+human beings. For this reason it appears that no more fitting person
+could be found to occupy the important and well-rewarded position of
+Chief Arranger of the Competitive Examinations than the one before us
+--provided his opinions and manner of expressing himself are such as
+commend themselves to us. To satisfy us on this point let Sen Heng now
+stand forth and declare his beliefs.'
+
+"On this invitation Sen advanced the requisite number of paces, and
+not in any degree understanding what was required of him, determined
+that the occasion was one when he might fittingly declare the Five
+General Principles which were ever present in his mind. 'Unquestioning
+Fidelity to the Sacred Emperor--' he began, when the person in
+question signified that the trial was over.
+
+"'After so competent and inspired an expression as that which has just
+been uttered, which, if rightly considered, includes all lesser
+things, it is unnecessary to say more,' he declared affably. 'The
+appointment which has already been specified is now declared to be
+legally conferred. The evening will be devoted to a repetition of the
+entrancing manoeuvres performed by the insects, to be followed by a
+feast and music in honour of the recognized worth and position of the
+accomplished Sen Heng. There is really no necessity for the apparently
+over-fatigued Shan-se to attend the festival.'
+
+"In such a manner was the foundation of Sen's ultimate prosperity
+established, by which he came in the process of time to occupy a very
+high place in public esteem. Yet, being a person of honourably-minded
+conscientiousness, he did not hesitate, when questioned by those who
+made pilgrimages to him for the purpose of learning by what means he
+had risen to so remunerative a position, to ascribe his success, not
+entirely to his own intelligent perception of persons and events, but,
+in part, also to a never-failing regard for the dictates of the Five
+General Principles, and a discriminating subservience to the inspired
+wisdom of the venerable Poo-chow, as conveyed to him in the story of
+the faint-hearted youth and the three tigers. This story Sen
+furthermore caused to be inscribed in letters of gold, and displayed
+in a prominent position in his native village, where it has since
+doubtless been the means of instructing and advancing countless
+observant ones who have not been too insufferable to be guided by the
+experience of those who have gone before."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV
+
+               THE EXPERIMENT OF THE MANDARIN CHAN HUNG
+
+  Related by Kai Lung at Shan Tzu, on the occasion of his receiving
+  a very unexpected reward.
+
+"There are certainly many occasions when the principles of the
+Mandarin Chan Hung appear to find practical favour in the eyes of
+those who form this usually uncomplaining person's audiences at Shan
+Tzu," remarked Kai Lung, with patient resignation, as he took up his
+collecting-bowl and transferred the few brass coins which it held to a
+concealed place among his garments. "Has the village lately suffered
+from a visit of one of those persons who come armed with authority to
+remove by force or stratagem such goods as bear names other than those
+possessed by their holders? or is it, indeed--as they of Wu-whei
+confidently assert--that when the Day of Vows arrives the people of
+Shan Tzu, with one accord, undertake to deny themselves in the matter
+of gifts and free offerings, in spite of every conflicting impulse?"
+
+"They of Wu-whei!" exclaimed a self-opinionated bystander, who had by
+some means obtained an inferior public office, and who was, in
+consequence, enabled to be present on all occasions without
+contributing any offering. "Well is that village named 'The Refuge of
+Unworthiness,' for its dwellers do little but rob and illtreat
+strangers, and spread evil and lying reports concerning better endowed
+ones than themselves."
+
+"Such a condition of affairs may exist," replied Kai Lung, without any
+indication of concern either one way or the other; "yet it is an
+undeniable fact that they reward this commonplace story-teller's too
+often underestimated efforts in a manner which betrays them either to
+be of noble birth, or very desirous of putting to shame their less
+prosperous neighbouring places."
+
+"Such exhibitions of uncalled-for lavishness are merely the signs of
+an ill-regulated and inordinate vanity," remarked a Mandarin of the
+eighth grade, who chanced to be passing, and who stopped to listen to
+Kai Lung's words. "Nevertheless, it is not fitting that a collection
+of decaying hovels, which Wu-whei assuredly is, should, in however
+small a detail, appear to rise above Shan Tzu, so that if the
+versatile and unassuming Kai Lung will again honour this assembly by
+allowing his well-constructed bowl to pass freely to and fro, this
+obscure and otherwise entirely superfluous individual will make it his
+especial care that the brass of Wu-whei shall be answered with solid
+copper, and its debased pewter with doubly refined silver."
+
+With these encouraging words the very opportune Mandarin of the eighth
+grade himself followed the story-teller's collecting-bowl, observing
+closely what each person contributed, so that, although he gave
+nothing from his own store, Kai Lung had never before received so
+honourable an amount.
+
+"O illustrious Kai Lung," exclaimed a very industrious and ill-clad
+herb-gatherer, who, in spite of his poverty, could not refrain from
+mingling with listeners whenever the story-teller appeared in Shan
+Tzu, "a single piece of brass money is to this person more than a
+block of solid gold to many of Wu-whei; yet he has twice made the
+customary offering, once freely, once because a courteous and pure-
+minded individual who possesses certain written papers of his
+connected with the repayment of some few taels walked behind the bowl
+and engaged his eyes with an unmistakable and very significant glance.
+This fact emboldens him to make the following petition: that in place
+of the not altogether unknown story of Yung Chang which had been
+announced the proficient and nimble-minded Kai Lung will entice our
+attention with the history of the Mandarin Chan Hung, to which
+reference has already been made."
+
+"The occasion is undoubtedly one which calls for recognition to an
+unusual degree," replied Kai Lung with extreme affability. "To that
+end this person will accordingly narrate the story which has been
+suggested, notwithstanding the fact that it has been specially
+prepared for the ears of the sublime Emperor, who is at this moment
+awaiting this unseemly one's arrival in Peking with every mark of ill-
+restrained impatience, tempered only by his expectation of being the
+first to hear the story of the well-meaning but somewhat premature
+Chan Hung.
+
+"The Mandarin in question lived during the reign of the accomplished
+Emperor Tsint-Sin, his Yamen being at Fow Hou, in the Province of
+Shan-Tung, of which place he was consequently the chief official. In
+his conscientious desire to administer a pure and beneficent rule, he
+not infrequently made himself a very prominent object for public
+disregard, especially by his attempts to introduce untried things,
+when from time to time such matters arose within his mind and seemed
+to promise agreeable and remunerative results. In this manner it came
+about that the streets of Fow Hou were covered with large flat stones,
+to the great inconvenience of those persons who had, from a very
+remote period, been in the habit of passing the night on the soft clay
+which at all seasons of the year afforded a pleasant and efficient
+resting-place. Nevertheless, in certain matters his engaging efforts
+were attended by an obvious success. Having noticed that misfortunes
+and losses are much less keenly felt when they immediately follow in
+the steps of an earlier evil, the benevolent and humane-minded Chan
+Hung devised an ingenious method of lightening the burden of a
+necessary taxation by arranging that those persons who were the most
+heavily involved should be made the victims of an attack and robbery
+on the night before the matter became due. By this thoughtful
+expedient the unpleasant duty of parting from so many taels was almost
+imperceptibly led up to, and when, after the lapse of some slight
+period, the first sums of money were secretly returned, with a written
+proverb appropriate to the occasion, the public rejoicing of those
+who, had the matter been left to its natural course, would still have
+been filling the air with bitter and unendurable lamentations, plainly
+testified to the inspired wisdom of the enlightened Mandarin.
+
+"The well-merited success of this amiable expedient caused the
+Mandarin Chan Hung every variety of intelligent emotion, and no day
+passed without him devoting a portion of his time to the labour of
+discovering other advantages of a similar nature. Engrossed in deep
+and very sublime thought of this order, he chanced upon a certain day
+to be journeying through Fow Hou, when he met a person of irregular
+intellect, who made an uncertain livelihood by following the
+unassuming and charitably-disposed from place to place, chanting in a
+loud voice set verses recording their virtues, which he composed in
+their honour. On account of his undoubted infirmities this person was
+permitted a greater freedom of speech with those above him than would
+have been the case had his condition been merely ordinary; so that
+when Chan Hung observed him becoming very grossly amused on his
+approach, to such an extent indeed, that he neglected to perform any
+of the fitting acts of obeisance, the wise and noble-minded Mandarin
+did not in any degree suffer his complacency to be affected, but,
+drawing near, addressed him in a calm and dignified manner.
+
+"'Why, O Ming-hi,' he said, 'do you permit your gravity to be removed
+to such an exaggerated degree at the sight of this in no way striking
+or exceptional person? and why, indeed, do you stand in so unbecoming
+an attitude in the presence of one who, in spite of his depraved
+inferiority, is unquestionably your official superior, and could,
+without any hesitation, condemn you to the tortures or even to
+bowstringing on the spot?'
+
+"'Mandarin,' exclaimed Ming-hi, stepping up to Chan Hung, and, without
+any hesitation, pressing the gilt button which adorned the official's
+body garment, accompanying the action by a continuous muffled noise
+which suggested the repeated striking of a hidden bell, 'you wonder
+that this person stands erect on your approach, neither rolling his
+lowered head repeatedly from side to side, nor tracing circles in the
+dust of Fow Hou with his submissive stomach? Know then, the meaning of
+the proverb, "Distrust an inordinate appearance of servility. The
+estimable person who retires from your presence walking backwards may
+adopt that deferential manner in order to keep concealed the long
+double-edged knife with which he had hoped to slay you." The excessive
+amusement that seized this offensive person when he beheld your well-
+defined figure in the distance arose from his perception of your
+internal satisfaction, which is, indeed, unmistakably reflected in
+your symmetrical countenance. For, O Mandarin, in spite of your
+honourable endeavours to turn things which are devious into a straight
+line, the matters upon which you engage your versatile intellect--
+little as you suspect the fact--are as grains of the finest Foo-chow
+sand in comparison with that which escapes your attention.'
+
+"'Strange are your words, O Ming-hi, and dark to this person your
+meaning,' replied Chan Hung, whose feelings were evenly balanced
+between a desire to know what thing he had neglected and a fear that
+his dignity might suffer if he were observed to remain long conversing
+with a person of Ming-hi's low mental attainments. 'Without delay, and
+with an entire absence of lengthy and ornamental forms of speech,
+express the omission to which you have made reference; for this person
+has an uneasy inside emotion that you are merely endeavouring to
+engage his attention to the end that you may make an unseemly and
+irrelevant reply, and thereby involve him in an undeserved ridicule.'
+
+"'Such a device would be the pastime of one of immature years, and
+could have no place in this person's habit of conduct,' replied
+Ming-hi, with every appearance of a fixed sincerity. 'Moreover, the
+matter is one which touches his own welfare closely, and, expressed in
+the fashion which the proficient Mandarin has commanded, may be set
+forth as follows: By a wise and all-knowing divine system, it is
+arranged that certain honourable occupations, which by their nature
+cannot become remunerative to any marked degree, shall be singled out
+for special marks of reverence, so that those who engage therein may
+be compensated in dignity for what they must inevitably lack in taels.
+By this refined dispensation the literary occupations, which are in
+general the highroads to the Establishment of Public Support and
+Uniform Apparel, are held in the highest veneration. Agriculture, from
+which it is possible to wrest a competency, follows in esteem; while
+the various branches of commerce, leading as they do to vast
+possessions and the attendant luxury, are very justly deprived of all
+the attributes of dignity and respect. Yet observe, O justice-loving
+Mandarin, how unbecomingly this ingenious system of universal
+compensation has been debased at the instance of grasping and
+avaricious ones. Dignity, riches and ease now go hand in hand, and the
+highest rewarded in all matters are also the most esteemed, whereas,
+if the discriminating provision of those who have gone before and so
+arranged it was observed, the direct contrary would be the case.'
+
+"'It is a state of things which is somewhat difficult to imagine in
+general matters of life, in spite of the fair-seemingness of your
+words,' said the Mandarin thoughtfully; 'nor can this rather obtuse
+and slow-witted person fully grasp the practical application of the
+system on the edge of the moment. In what manner would it operate in
+the case of ordinary persons, for example?'
+
+"'There should be a fixed and settled arrangement that the low-minded
+and degrading occupations--such as that of following charitable
+persons from place to place, chanting verses composed in their honour,
+that of misleading travellers who inquire the way, so that they fall
+into the hands of robbers, and the like callings--should be the most
+highly rewarded to the end that those who are engaged therein may
+obtain some solace for the loss of dignity they experience, and the
+mean intellectual position which they are compelled to maintain. By
+this device they would be enabled to possess certain advantages and
+degrees of comfort which at present are utterly beyond their grasp, so
+that in the end they would escape being entirely debased. To turn to
+the other foot, those who are now high in position, and engaged in
+professions which enjoy the confidence of all persons, have that which
+in itself is sufficient to insure contentment. Furthermore, the most
+proficient and engaging in every department, mean or high-minded, have
+certain attributes of respect among those beneath them, so that they
+might justly be content with the lowest reward in whatever calling
+they professed, the least skilful and most left-handed being
+compensated for the mental anguish which they must undoubtedly suffer
+by receiving the greatest number of taels.'
+
+"'Such a scheme would, as far as the matter has been expressed, appear
+to possess all the claims of respect, and to be, indeed, what was
+originally intended by those who framed the essentials of existence,'
+said Chan Hung, when he had for some space of time considered the
+details. 'In one point, however, this person fails to perceive how the
+arrangement could be amiably conducted in Fow Hou. The one who is
+addressing you maintains, as a matter of right, a position of
+exceptional respect, nor, if he must express himself upon such a
+detail, are his excessively fatiguing duties entirely
+unremunerative . . .'
+
+"'In the case of the distinguished and unalterable Mandarin,'
+exclaimed Ming-hi, with no appearance of hesitation, 'the matter would
+of necessity be arranged otherwise. Being from that time, as it were,
+the controller of the destinies and remunerations of all those in Fow
+Hou, he would, manifestly, be outside the working of the scheme;
+standing apart and regulating, like the person who turns the handle of
+the corn-mill, but does not suffer himself to be drawn between the
+stones, he could still maintain both his respect and his remuneration
+unaltered.'
+
+"'If the detail could honourably be regarded in such a light,' said
+Chan Hung, 'this person would, without delay, so rearrange matters in
+Fow Hou, and thereby create universal justice and an unceasing
+contentment within the minds of all.'
+
+"'Undoubtedly such a course could be justly followed,' assented
+Ming-hi, 'for in precisely that manner of working was the complete
+scheme revealed to this highly-favoured person.'
+
+"Entirely wrapped up in thoughts concerning the inception and manner
+of operation of this project Chan Hung began to retrace his steps
+towards the Yamen, failing to observe in his benevolent abstraction of
+mind, that the unaffectedly depraved person Ming-hi was stretching out
+his feet towards him and indulging in every other form of low-minded
+and undignified contempt.
+
+"Before he reached the door of his residence the Mandarin overtook one
+who occupied a high position of confidence and remuneration in the
+Department of Public Fireworks and Coloured Lights. Fully assured of
+this versatile person's enthusiasm on behalf of so humane and
+charitable a device, Chan Hung explained the entire matter to him
+without delay, and expressly desired that if there were any details
+which appeared capable of improvement, he would declare himself
+clearly regarding them.
+
+"'Alas!' exclaimed the person with whom the Mandarin was conversing,
+speaking in so unfeignedly disturbed and terrified a voice that
+several who were passing by stopped in order to learn the full
+circumstance, 'have this person's ears been made the object of some
+unnaturally light-minded demon's ill-disposed pastime, or does the
+usually well-balanced Chan Hung in reality contemplate so violent and
+un-Chinese an action? What but evil could arise from a single word of
+the change which he proposes to the extent of a full written book? The
+entire fixed nature of events would become reversed; persons would no
+longer be fully accountable to one another; and Fow Hou being thus
+thrown into a most unendurable state of confusion, the protecting
+Deities would doubtless withdraw their influence, and the entire
+region would soon be given over to the malicious guardianship of
+rapacious and evilly-disposed spirits. Let this person entreat the
+almost invariably clear-sighted Chan Hung to return at once to his
+adequately equipped and sumptuous Yamen, and barring well the door of
+his inner chamber, so that it can only be opened from the outside,
+partake of several sleeping essences of unusual strength, after which
+he will awake in an undoubtedly refreshed state of mind, and in a
+condition to observe matters with his accustomed diamond-like
+penetration.'
+
+"'By no means!' cried one of those who had stopped to learn the
+occasion of the incident--a very inferior maker of unserviceable
+imitation pigtails--'the devout and conscientious-minded Mandarin Chan
+Hung speaks as the inspired mouth-piece of the omnipotent Buddha, and
+must, for that reason, be obeyed in every detail. This person would
+unhesitatingly counsel the now invaluable Mandarin to proceed to his
+well-constructed residence without delay, and there calling together
+his entire staff of those who set down his spoken words, put the
+complete Heaven-sent plan into operation, and beyond recall, before he
+retires to his inner chamber.'
+
+"Upon this there arose a most inelegant display of undignified
+emotions on the part of the assembly which had by this time gathered
+together. While those who occupied honourable and remunerative
+positions very earnestly entreated the Mandarin to act in the manner
+which had been suggested by the first speaker, others--who had, in the
+meantime, made use of imagined figures, and thereby discovered that
+the proposed change would be greatly to their advantage--raised shouts
+of encouragement towards the proposal of the pigtail-maker, urging the
+noble Mandarin not to become small in the face towards the
+insignificant few who were ever opposed to enlightened reform, but to
+maintain an unflaccid upper lip, and carry the entire matter through
+to its destined end. In the course of this very unseemly tumult, which
+soon involved all persons present in hostile demonstrations towards
+each other, both the Mandarin and the official from the Fireworks and
+Coloured Lights Department found an opportunity to pass away secretly,
+the former to consider well the various sides of the matter, towards
+which he became better disposed with every thought, the latter to find
+a purchaser of his appointment and leave Fow Hou before the likelihood
+of Chan Hung's scheme became generally known.
+
+"At this point an earlier circumstance, which affected the future
+unrolling of events to no insignificant degree, must be made known,
+concerning as it does Lila, the fair and very accomplished daughter of
+Chan Hung. Possessing no son or heir to succeed him, the Mandarin
+exhibited towards Lila a very unusual depth of affection, so marked,
+indeed, that when certain evil-minded ones endeavoured to encompass
+his degradation, on the plea of eccentricity of character, the written
+papers which they dispatched to the high ones at Peking contained no
+other accusation in support of the contention than that the individual
+in question regarded his daughter with an obvious pride and pleasure
+which no person of well-balanced intellect lavished on any but a son.
+
+"It was his really conscientious desire to establish Lila's welfare
+above all things that had caused Chan Hung to become in some degree
+undecided when conversing with Ming-hi on the detail of the scheme;
+for, unaffected as the Mandarin himself would have been at the
+prospect of an honourable poverty, it was no part of his intention
+that the adorable and exceptionally-refined Lila should be drawn into
+such an existence. That, indeed, had been the essential of his reply
+on a certain and not far removed occasion, when two persons of widely
+differing positions had each made a formal request that he might be
+allowed to present marriage-pledging gifts to the very desirable Lila.
+Maintaining an enlightened openness of mind upon the subject, the
+Mandarin had replied that nothing but the merit of undoubted
+suitableness of a person would affect him in such a decision. As it
+was ordained by the wise and unchanging Deities that merit should
+always be fittingly rewarded, he went on to express himself, and as
+the most suitable person was obviously the one who could the most
+agreeably provide for her, the two circumstances inevitably tended to
+the decision that the one chosen should be the person who could amass
+the greatest number of taels. To this end he instructed them both to
+present themselves at the end of a year, bringing with them the entire
+profits of their undertakings between the two periods.
+
+"This deliberate pronouncement affected the two persons in question in
+an entirely opposite manner, for one of them was little removed from a
+condition of incessant and most uninviting poverty, while the other
+was the very highly-rewarded picture-maker Pe-tsing. Both to this
+latter person, and to the other one, Lee Sing, the ultimate conclusion
+of the matter did not seem to be a question of any conjecture
+therefore, and, in consequence, the one became most offensively self-
+confident, and the other leaden-minded to an equal degree, neither
+remembering the unswerving wisdom of the proverb, 'Wait! all men are
+but as the black, horn-cased beetles which overrun the inferior
+cooking-rooms of the city, and even at this moment the heavily-shod
+and unerring foot of Buddha may be lifted.'
+
+"Lee Sing was, by profession, one of those who hunt and ensnare the
+brilliantly-coloured winged insects which are to be found in various
+parts of the Empire in great variety and abundance, it being his duty
+to send a certain number every year to Peking to contribute to the
+amusement of the dignified Emperor. In spite of the not too
+intelligent nature of the occupation, Lee Sing took an honourable
+pride in all matters connected with it. He disdained, with well-
+expressed contempt, to avail himself of the stealthy and somewhat
+deceptive methods employed by others engaged in a similar manner of
+life. In this way he had, from necessity, acquired agility to an
+exceptional degree, so that he could leap far into the air, and while
+in that position select from a passing band of insects any which he
+might desire. This useful accomplishment was, in a measure, the direct
+means of bringing together the person in question and the engaging
+Lila; for, on a certain occasion, when Lee Sing was passing through
+the streets of Fow Hou, he heard a great outcry, and beheld persons of
+all ranks running towards him, pointing at the same time in an upward
+direction. Turning his gaze in the manner indicated, Lee beheld, with
+every variety of astonishment, a powerful and unnaturally large bird
+of prey, carrying in its talons the lovely and now insensible Lila, to
+whom it had been attracted by the magnificence of her raiment. The
+rapacious and evilly-inspired creature was already above the highest
+dwelling-houses when Lee first beheld it, and was plainly directing
+its course towards the inaccessible mountain crags beyond the city
+walls. Nevertheless, Lee resolved upon an inspired effort, and without
+any hesitation bounded towards it with such well-directed proficiency,
+that if he had not stretched forth his hand on passing he would
+inevitably have been carried far above the desired object. In this
+manner he succeeded in dragging the repulsive and completely
+disconcerted monster to the ground, where its graceful and unassuming
+prisoner was released, and the presumptuous bird itself torn to pieces
+amid continuous shouts of a most respectful and engaging description
+in honour of Lee and of his versatile attainment.
+
+"In consequence of this incident the grateful Lila would often
+deliberately leave the society of the rich and well-endowed in order
+to accompany Lee on his journeys in pursuit of exceptionally-precious
+winged insects. Regarding his unusual ability as the undoubted cause
+of her existence at that moment, she took an all-absorbing pride in
+such displays, and would utter loud and frequent exclamations of
+triumph when Lee leaped out from behind some rock, where he had lain
+concealed, and with unfailing regularity secured the object of his
+adroit movement. In this manner a state of feeling which was by no
+means favourable to the aspiring picture-maker Pe-tsing had long
+existed between the two persons; but when Lee Sing put the matter in
+the form of an explicit petition before Chan Hung (to which adequate
+reference has already been made), the nature of the decision then
+arrived at seemed to clothe the realization of their virtuous and
+estimable desires with an air of extreme improbability.
+
+"'Oh, Lee,' exclaimed the greatly-disappointed maiden when her lover
+had explained to her the nature of the arrangement--for in her
+unassuming admiration of the noble qualities of Lee she had
+anticipated that Chan Hung would at once have received him with
+ceremonious embraces and assurances of his permanent affection--'how
+unendurable a state of things is this in which we have become
+involved! Far removed from this one's anticipations was the thought of
+becoming inalienably associated with that outrageous person Pe-tsing,
+or of entering upon an existence which will necessitate a feigned
+admiration of his really unpresentable efforts. Yet in such a manner
+must the entire circumstance complete its course unless some ingenious
+method of evading it can be discovered in the meantime. Alas, my
+beloved one! the occupation of ensnaring winged insects is indeed an
+alluring one, but as far as this person has observed, it is also
+exceedingly unproductive of taels. Could not some more expeditious
+means of enriching yourself be discovered? Frequently has the
+unnoticed but nevertheless very attentive Lila heard her father and
+the round-bodied ones who visit him speak of exploits which seem to
+consist of assuming the shapes of certain wild animals, and in that
+guise appearing from time to time at the place of exchange within the
+city walls. As this form of entertainment is undoubtedly very
+remunerative in its results, could not the versatile and ready-witted
+Lee conceal himself within the skin of a bear, or some other untamed
+beast, and in this garb, joining them unperceived, play an appointed
+part and receive a just share of the reward?'
+
+"'The result of such an enterprise might, if the matter chanced to
+take an unforeseen development, prove of a very doubtful nature,'
+replied Lee Sing, to whom, indeed, the proposed venture appeared in a
+somewhat undignified light, although, with refined consideration, he
+withheld such a thought from Lila, who had proposed it for him, and
+also confessed that her usually immaculate father had taken part in
+such an exhibition. 'Nevertheless, do not permit the dark shadow of an
+inward cloud to reflect itself upon your almost invariably amiable
+countenance, for this person has become possessed of a valuable
+internal suggestion which, although he has hitherto neglected, being
+content with a small but assured competency, would doubtless bring
+together a serviceable number of taels if rightly utilized.'
+
+"'Greatly does this person fear that the valuable internal suggestion
+of Lee Sing will weigh but lightly in the commercial balance against
+the very rapidly executed pictures of Pe-tsing,' said Lila, who had
+not fully recalled from her mind a disturbing emotion that Lee would
+have been well advised to have availed himself of her ingenious and
+well-thought-out suggestion. 'But of what does the matter consist?'
+
+"'It is the best explained by a recital of the circumstances leading
+up to it,' said Lee. 'Upon an occasion when this person was passing
+through the streets of Fow Hou, there gathered around him a company of
+those who had, on previous occasions, beheld his exceptional powers of
+hurtling himself through the air in an upward direction, praying that
+he would again delight their senses by a similar spectacle. Not being
+unwilling to afford those estimable persons of the amusement they
+desired, this one, without any elaborate show of affected hesitancy,
+put himself into the necessary position, and would without doubt have
+risen uninterruptedly almost into the Middle Air, had he not, in
+making the preparatory movements, placed his left foot upon an over-
+ripe wampee which lay unperceived on the ground. In consequence of
+this really blameworthy want of caution the entire manner and
+direction of this short-sighted individual's movements underwent a
+sudden and complete change, so that to those who stood around it
+appeared as though he were making a well-directed endeavour to
+penetrate through the upper surface of the earth. This unexpected
+display had the effect of removing the gravity of even the most aged
+and severe-minded persons present, and for the space of some moments
+the behaviour and positions of those who stood around were such that
+they were quite unable to render any assistance, greatly as they
+doubtless wished to do so. Being in this manner allowed a period for
+inward reflexion of a very concentrated order, it arose within this
+one's mind that at every similar occurrence which he had witnessed,
+those who observed the event had been seized in a like fashion, being
+very excessively amused. The fact was made even more undoubted by the
+manner of behaving of an exceedingly stout and round-faced person, who
+had not been present from the beginning, but who was affected to a
+most incredible extent when the details, as they had occurred, were
+made plain to him, he declaring, with many references to the Sacred
+Dragon and the Seven Walled Temple at Peking, that he would willingly
+have contributed a specified number of taels rather than have missed
+the diversion. When at length this person reached his own chamber, he
+diligently applied himself to the task of carrying into practical
+effect the suggestion which had arisen in his mind. By an arrangement
+of transparent glasses and reflecting surfaces--which, were it not for
+a well-defined natural modesty, he would certainly be tempted to
+describe as highly ingenious--he ultimately succeeded in bringing
+about the effect he desired.'
+
+"With these words Lee put into Lila's hands an object which closely
+resembled the contrivances by which those who are not sufficiently
+powerful to obtain positions near the raised platform, in the Halls of
+Celestial Harmony, are nevertheless enabled to observe the complexions
+and attire of all around them. Regulating it by means of a hidden
+spring, he requested her to follow closely the actions of a heavily-
+burdened passerby who was at that moment some little distance beyond
+them. Scarcely had Lila raised the glass to her eyes than she became
+irresistibly amused to a most infectious degree, greatly to the
+satisfaction of Lee, who therein beheld the realization of his hopes.
+Not for the briefest space of time would she permit the object to pass
+from her, but directed it at every person who came within her sight,
+with frequent and unfeigned exclamations of wonder and delight.
+
+"'How pleasant and fascinating a device is this!' exclaimed Lila at
+length. 'By what means is so diverting and gravity-removing a result
+obtained?'
+
+"'Further than that it is the concentration of much labour of
+continually trying with glasses and reflecting surfaces, this person
+is totally unable to explain it,' replied Lee. 'The chief thing,
+however, is that at whatever moving object it is directed--no matter
+whether a person so observed is being carried in a chair, riding upon
+an animal, or merely walking--at a certain point he has every
+appearance of being unexpectedly hurled to the ground in a most
+violent and mirth-provoking manner. Would not the stout and round-
+faced one, who would cheerfully have contributed a certain number of
+taels to see this person manifest a similar exhibition, unhesitatingly
+lay out that sum to secure the means of so gratifying his emotions
+whenever he felt the desire, even with the revered persons of the most
+dignified ones in the Empire? Is there, indeed, a single person
+between the Wall and the Bitter Waters on the South who is so devoid
+of ambition that he would miss the opportunity of subjecting, as it
+were, perhaps even the sacred Emperor himself to the exceptional
+feat?'
+
+"'The temptation to possess one would inevitably prove overwhelming to
+any person of ordinary intelligence,' admitted Lila. 'Yet, in spite of
+this one's unassumed admiration for the contrivance, internal doubts
+regarding the ultimate happiness of the two persons who are now
+discussing the matter again attack her. She recollects, somewhat
+dimly, an almost forgotten, but nevertheless, very unassailable
+proverb, which declares that more contentment of mind can assuredly be
+obtained from the unexpected discovery of a tael among the folds of a
+discarded garment than could, in the most favourable circumstances,
+ensue from the well-thought-out construction of a new and hitherto
+unknown device. Furthermore, although the span of a year may seem
+unaccountably protracted when persons who reciprocate engaging
+sentiments are parted, yet when the acceptance or refusal of
+Pe-tsing's undesirable pledging-gifts hangs upon the accomplishment of
+a remote and not very probable object within that period, it becomes
+as a breath of wind passing through an autumn forest.'
+
+"Since the day when Lila and Lee had sat together side by side, and
+conversed in this unrestrained and irreproachable manner, the great
+sky-lantern had many times been obscured for a period. Only an
+insignificant portion of the year remained, yet the affairs of Lee
+Sing were in no more prosperous a condition than before, nor had he
+found an opportunity to set aside any store of taels. Each day the
+unsupportable Pe-tsing became more and more obtrusive and self-
+conceited, even to the extent of throwing far into the air coins of
+insignificant value whenever he chanced to pass Lee in the street, at
+the same time urging him to leap after them and thereby secure at
+least one or two pieces of money against the day of calculating. In a
+similar but entirely opposite fashion, Lila and Lee experienced the
+acutest pangs of an ever-growing despair, until their only form of
+greeting consisted in gazing into each other's eyes with a soul-
+benumbing expression of self-reproach.
+
+"Yet at this very time, when even the natural and unalterable powers
+seemed to be conspiring against the success of Lee's modest and
+inoffensive hopes, an event was taking place which was shortly to
+reverse the entire settled arrangement of persons and affairs, and
+involved Fow Hou in a very inextricable state of uncertainty. For, not
+to make a pretence of concealing a matter which has been already in
+part revealed, the Mandarin Chan Hung had by this time determined to
+act in the manner which Ming-hi had suggested; so that on a certain
+morning Lee Sing was visited by two persons, bearing between them a
+very weighty sack of taels, who also conveyed to him the fact that a
+like amount would be deposited within his door at the end of each
+succeeding seven days. Although Lee's occupation had in the past been
+very meagrely rewarded, either by taels or by honour, the circumstance
+which resulted in his now receiving so excessively large a sum is not
+made clear until the detail of Ming-hi's scheme is closely examined.
+The matter then becomes plain, for it had been suggested by that
+person that the most proficient in any occupation should be rewarded
+to a certain extent, and the least proficient to another stated
+extent, the original amounts being reversed. When those engaged by
+Chang Hung to draw up the various rates came to the profession of
+ensnaring winged insects, however, they discovered that Lee Sing was
+the only one of that description in Fow Hou, so that it became
+necessary in consequence to allot him a double portion, one amount as
+the most proficient, and a much larger amount as the least proficient.
+
+"It is unnecessary now to follow the not altogether satisfactory
+condition of affairs which began to exist in Fow Hou as soon as the
+scheme was put into operation. The full written papers dealing with
+the matter are in the Hall of Public Reference at Peking, and can be
+seen by any person on the payment of a few taels to everyone connected
+with the establishment. Those who found their possessions reduced
+thereby completely overlooked the obvious justice of the arrangement,
+and immediately began to take most severe measures to have the order
+put aside; while those who suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves
+raised to positions of affluence tended to the same end by conducting
+themselves in a most incapable and undiscriminating manner. And during
+the entire period that this state of things existed in Fow Hou the
+really contemptible Ming-hi continually followed Chan Hung about from
+place to place, spreading out his feet towards him, and allowing
+himself to become openly amused to a most unseemly extent.
+
+"Chief among those who sought to have the original manner of rewarding
+persons again established was the picture-maker, Pe-tsing, who now
+found himself in a condition of most abject poverty, so unbearable,
+indeed, that he frequently went by night, carrying a lantern, in the
+hope that he might discover some of the small pieces of money which he
+had been accustomed to throw into the air on meeting Lee Sing. To his
+pangs of hunger was added the fear that he would certainly lose Lila,
+so that from day to day he redoubled his efforts, and in the end, by
+using false statements and other artifices of a questionable nature,
+the party which he led was successful in obtaining the degradation of
+Chan Hung and his dismissal from office, together with an entire
+reversal of all his plans and enactments.
+
+"On the last day of the year which Chan Hung had appointed as the
+period of test for his daughter's suitors, the person in question was
+seated in a chamber of his new abode--a residence of unassuming
+appearance but undoubted comfort--surrounded by Lila and Lee, when the
+hanging curtains were suddenly flung aside, and Pe-tsing, followed by
+two persons of low rank bearing sacks of money, appeared among them.
+
+"'Chan Hung,' he said at length, 'in the past events arose which
+compelled this person to place himself against you in your official
+position. Nevertheless, he has always maintained towards you
+personally an unchanging affection, and understanding full well that
+you are one of those who maintain their spoken word in spite of all
+happenings, he has now come to exhibit the taels which he has
+collected together, and to claim the fulfilment of your deliberate
+promise.'
+
+"With these words the commonplace picture-maker poured forth the
+contents of the sacks, and stood looking at Lila in a most confident
+and unprepossessing manner.
+
+"'Pe-tsing,' replied Chan Hung, rising from his couch and speaking in
+so severe and impressive a voice that the two servants of Pe-tsing at
+once fled in great apprehension, 'this person has also found it
+necessary, in his official position, to oppose you; but here the
+similarity ends, for, on his part, he has never felt towards you the
+remotest degree of affection. Nevertheless, he is always desirous, as
+you say, that persons should regard their spoken word, and as you seem
+to hold a promise from the Chief Mandarin of Fow Hou regarding
+marriage-gifts towards his daughter, he would advise you to go at once
+to that person. A misunderstanding has evidently arisen, for the one
+whom you are addressing is merely Chan Hung, and the words spoken by
+the Mandarin have no sort of interest for him--indeed, he understands
+that all that person's acts have been reversed, so that he fails to
+see how anyone at all can regard you and your claim in other than a
+gravity-removing light. Furthermore, the maiden in question is now
+definitely and irretrievably pledged to this faithful and successful
+one by my side, who, as you will doubtless be gracefully overjoyed to
+learn, has recently disposed of a most ingenious and diverting
+contrivance for an enormous number of taels, so many, indeed, that
+both the immediate and the far-distant future of all the persons who
+are here before you are now in no sort of doubt whatever.'
+
+"At these words the three persons whom he had interrupted again turned
+their attention to the matter before them; but as Pe-tsing walked
+away, he observed, though he failed to understand the meaning, that
+they all raised certain objects to their eyes, and at once became
+amused to a most striking and uncontrollable degree."
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V
+
+                      THE CONFESSION OF KAI LUNG
+
+     Related by himself at Wu-whei when other matter failed him.
+
+As Kai Lung, the story-teller, unrolled his mat and selected, with
+grave deliberation, the spot under the mulberry-tree which would the
+longest remain sheltered from the sun's rays, his impassive eye
+wandered round the thin circle of listeners who had been drawn
+together by his uplifted voice, with a glance which, had it expressed
+his actual thoughts, would have betrayed a keen desire that the
+assembly should be composed of strangers rather than of his most
+consistent patrons, to whom his stock of tales was indeed becoming
+embarrassingly familiar. Nevertheless, when he began there was nothing
+in his voice but a trace of insufficiently restrained triumph, such as
+might be fitly assumed by one who has discovered and makes known for
+the first time a story by the renowned historian Lo Cha.
+
+"The adventures of the enlightened and nobly-born Yuin-Pel--"
+
+"Have already thrice been narrated within Wu-whei by the versatile but
+exceedingly uninventive Kai Lung," remarked Wang Yu placidly. "Indeed,
+has there not come to be a saying by which an exceptionally frugal
+host's rice, having undoubtedly seen the inside of the pot many times,
+is now known in this town as Kai-Pel?"
+
+"Alas!" exclaimed Kai Lung, "well was this person warned of Wu-whei in
+the previous village, as a place of desolation and excessively bad
+taste, whose inhabitants, led by an evil-minded maker of very
+commonplace pipes, named Wang Yu, are unable to discriminate in all
+matters not connected with the cooking of food and the evasion of just
+debts. They at Shan Tzu hung on to my cloak as I strove to leave them,
+praying that I would again entrance their ears with what they termed
+the melodious word-music of this person's inimitable version of the
+inspired story of Yuin-Pel."
+
+"Truly the story of Yuin-Pel is in itself excellent," interposed the
+conciliatory Hi Seng; "and Kai Lung's accomplishment of having three
+times repeated it here without deviating in the particular of a single
+word from the first recital stamps him as a story-teller of no
+ordinary degree. Yet the saying 'Although it is desirable to lose
+persistently when playing at squares and circles with the broad-minded
+and sagacious Emperor, it is none the less a fact that the observance
+of this etiquette deprives the intellectual diversion of much of its
+interest for both players,' is no less true today than when the all
+knowing H'sou uttered it."
+
+"They well said--they of Shan Tzu--that the people of Wu-whei were
+intolerably ignorant and of low descent," continued Kai Lung, without
+heeding the interruption; "that although invariably of a timorous
+nature, even to the extent of retiring to the woods on the approach of
+those who select bowmen for the Imperial army, all they require in a
+story is that it shall be garnished with deeds of bloodshed and
+violence to the exclusion of the higher qualities of well-imagined
+metaphors and literary style which alone constitute true excellence."
+
+"Yet it has been said," suggested Hi Seng, "that the inimitable Kai
+Lung can so mould a narrative in the telling that all the emotions are
+conveyed therein without unduly disturbing the intellects of the
+hearers."
+
+"O amiable Hi Seng," replied Kai Lung with extreme affability,
+"doubtless you are the most expert of water-carriers, and on a hot and
+dusty day, when the insatiable desire of all persons is towards a
+draught of unusual length without much regard to its composition, the
+sight of your goat-skins is indeed a welcome omen; yet when in the
+season of Cold White Rains you chance to meet the belated
+chair-carrier who has been reluctantly persuaded into conveying
+persons beyond the limit of the city, the solitary official watchman
+who knows that his chief is not at hand, or a returning band of those
+who make a practise of remaining in the long narrow rooms until they
+are driven forth at a certain gong-stroke, can you supply them with
+the smallest portion of that invigorating rice spirit for which alone
+they crave? From this simple and homely illustration, specially
+conceived to meet the requirements of your stunted and meagre
+understanding, learn not to expect both grace and thorns from the
+willow-tree. Nevertheless, your very immature remarks on the art of
+story-telling are in no degree more foolish than those frequently
+uttered by persons who make a living by such a practice; in proof of
+which this person will relate to the select and discriminating company
+now assembled an entirely new and unrecorded story--that, indeed, of
+the unworthy, but frequently highly-rewarded Kai Lung himself."
+
+"The story of Kai Lung!" exclaimed Wang Yu. "Why not the story of
+Ting, the sightless beggar, who has sat all his life outside the
+Temple of Miraculous Cures? Who is Kai Lung, that he should have a
+story? Is he not known to us all here? Is not his speech that of this
+Province, his food mean, his arms and legs unshaven? Does he carry a
+sword or wear silk raiment? Frequently have we seen him fatigued with
+journeying; many times has he arrived destitute of money; nor, on
+those occasions when a newly-appointed and unnecessarily officious
+Mandarin has commanded him to betake himself elsewhere and struck him
+with a rod has Kai Lung caused the stick to turn into a deadly serpent
+and destroy its master, as did the just and dignified Lu Fei. How,
+then, can Kai Lung have a story that is not also the story of Wang Yu
+and Hi Seng, and all others here?"
+
+"Indeed, if the refined and enlightened Wang Yu so decides, it must
+assuredly be true," said Kai Lung patiently; "yet (since even trifles
+serve to dispel the darker thoughts of existence) would not the
+history of so small a matter as an opium pipe chain his intelligent
+consideration? such a pipe, for example, as this person beheld only
+today exposed for sale, the bowl composed of the finest red clay,
+delicately baked and fashioned, the long bamboo stem smoother than the
+sacred tooth of the divine Buddha, the spreading support patiently and
+cunningly carved with scenes representing the Seven Joys, and the
+Tenth Hell of unbelievers."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Wang Yu eagerly, "it is indeed as you say, a Mandarin
+among masterpieces. That pipe, O most unobserving Kai Lung, is the
+work of this retiring and superficial person who is now addressing
+you, and, though the fact evidently escaped your all-seeing glance,
+the place where it is exposed is none other than his shop of 'The
+Fountain of Beauty,' which you have on many occasions endowed with
+your honourable presence."
+
+"Doubtless the carving is the work of the accomplished Wang Yu, and
+the fitting together," replied Kai Lung; "but the materials for so
+refined and ornamental a production must of necessity have been
+brought many thousand li; the clay perhaps from the renowned beds of
+Honan, the wood from Peking, and the bamboo from one of the great
+forests of the North."
+
+"For what reason?" said Wang Yu proudly. "At this person's very door
+is a pit of red clay, purer and infinitely more regular than any to be
+found at Honan; the hard wood of Wu-whei is extolled among carvers
+throughout the Empire, while no bamboo is straighter or more smooth
+than that which grows in the neighbouring woods."
+
+"O most inconsistent Wang Yu!" cried the story-teller, "assuredly a
+very commendable local pride has dimmed your usually penetrating
+eyesight. Is not the clay pit of which you speak that in which you
+fashioned exceedingly unsymmetrical imitations of rat-pies in your
+childhood? How, then, can it be equal to those of Honan, which you
+have never seen? In the dark glades of these woods have you not chased
+the gorgeous butterfly, and, in later years, the no less gaily attired
+maidens of Wu-whei in the entrancing game of Kiss in the Circle? Have
+not the bamboo-trees to which you have referred provided you with the
+ideal material wherewith to roof over those cunningly-constructed pits
+into which it has ever been the chief delight of the young and
+audacious to lure dignified and unnaturally stout Mandarins? All these
+things you have seen and used ever since your mother made a successful
+offering to the Goddess Kum-Fa. How, then, can they be even equal to
+the products of remote Honan and fabulous Peking? Assuredly the
+generally veracious Wang Yu speaks this time with closed eyes and
+will, upon mature reflexion, eat his words."
+
+The silence was broken by a very aged man who arose from among the
+bystanders.
+
+"Behold the length of this person's pigtail," he exclaimed, "the
+whiteness of his moustaches and the venerable appearance of his beard!
+There is no more aged person present--if, indeed, there be such a one
+in all the Province. It accordingly devolves upon him to speak in this
+matter, which shall be as follows: The noble-minded and proficient Kai
+Lung shall relate the story as he has proposed, and the garrulous Wang
+Yu shall twice contribute to Kai Lung's bowl when it is passed round,
+once for himself and once for this person, in order that he may learn
+either to be more discreet or more proficient in the art of aptly
+replying."
+
+"The events which it is this person's presumptuous intention to
+describe to this large-hearted and providentially indulgent
+gathering," began Kai Lung, when his audience had become settled, and
+the wooden bowl had passed to and fro among them, "did not occupy many
+years, although they were of a nature which made them of far more
+importance than all the remainder of his existence, thereby supporting
+the sage discernment of the philosopher Wen-weng, who first made the
+observation that man is greatly inferior to the meanest fly, inasmuch
+as that creature, although granted only a day's span of life,
+contrives during that period to fulfil all the allotted functions of
+existence.
+
+"Unutterably to the astonishment and dismay of this person and all
+those connected with him (for several of the most expensive readers of
+the future to be found in the Empire had declared that his life would
+be marked by great events, his career a source of continual wonder,
+and his death a misfortune to those who had dealings with him) his
+efforts to take a degree at the public literary competitions were not
+attended with any adequate success. In view of the plainly expressed
+advice of his father it therefore became desirable that this person
+should turn his attention to some other method of regaining the esteem
+of those upon whom he was dependent for all the necessaries of
+existence. Not having the means wherewith to engage in any form of
+commerce, and being entirely ignorant of all matters save the now
+useless details of attempting to pass public examinations, he
+reluctantly decided that he was destined to become one of those who
+imagine and write out stories and similar devices for printed leaves
+and books.
+
+"This determination was favourably received, and upon learning it,
+this person's dignified father took him aside, and with many
+assurances of regard presented to him a written sentence, which, he
+said, would be of incomparable value to one engaged in a literary
+career, and should in fact, without any particular qualifications,
+insure an honourable competency. He himself, he added, with what at
+the time appeared to this one as an unnecessary regard for detail,
+having taken a very high degree, and being in consequence appointed to
+a distinguished and remunerative position under the Board of Fines and
+Tortures, had never made any use of it.
+
+"The written sentence, indeed, was all that it had been pronounced. It
+had been composed by a remote ancestor, who had spent his entire life
+in crystallizing all his knowledge and experience into a few written
+lines, which as a result became correspondingly precious. It defined
+in a very original and profound manner several undisputable
+principles, and was so engagingly subtle in its manner of expression
+that the most superficial person was irresistibly thrown into a deep
+inward contemplation upon reading it. When it was complete, the person
+who had contrived this ingenious masterpiece, discovering by means of
+omens that he still had ten years to live, devoted each remaining year
+to the task of reducing the sentence by one word without in any way
+altering its meaning. This unapproachable example of conciseness found
+such favour in the eyes of those who issue printed leaves that as fast
+as this person could inscribe stories containing it they were eagerly
+purchased; and had it not been for a very incapable want of foresight
+on this narrow-minded individual's part, doubtless it would still be
+affording him an agreeable and permanent means of living.
+
+"Unquestionably the enlightened Wen-weng was well acquainted with the
+subject when he exclaimed, 'Better a frugal dish of olives flavoured
+with honey than the most sumptuously devised puppy-pie of which the
+greater portion is sent forth in silver-lined boxes and partaken of by
+others.' At that time, however, this versatile saying--which so
+gracefully conveys the truth of the undeniable fact that what a person
+possesses is sufficient if he restrain his mind from desiring aught
+else--would have been lightly treated by this self-conceited
+story-teller even if his immature faculties had enabled him fully to
+understand the import of so profound and well-digested a remark.
+
+"At that time Tiao Ts'un was undoubtedly the most beautiful maiden in
+all Peking. So frequently were the verses describing her habits and
+appearances affixed in the most prominent places of the city, that
+many persons obtained an honourable livelihood by frequenting those
+spots and disposing of the sacks of written papers which they
+collected to merchants who engaged in that commerce. Owing to the fame
+attained by his written sentence, this really very much inferior being
+had many opportunities of meeting the incomparable maiden Tiao at
+flower-feasts, melon-seed assemblies, and those gatherings where
+persons of both sexes exhibit themselves in revolving attitudes, and
+are permitted to embrace openly without reproach; whereupon he became
+so subservient to her charms and virtues that he lost no opportunity
+of making himself utterly unendurable to any who might chance to speak
+to, or even gaze upon, this Heaven-sent creature.
+
+"So successful was this person in his endeavour to meet the sublime
+Tiao and to gain her conscientious esteem that all emotions of
+prudence forsook him, or it would soon have become apparent even to
+his enfeebled understanding that such consistent good fortune could
+only be the work of unforgiving and malignant spirits whose ill-will
+he had in some way earned, and who were luring him on in order that
+they might accomplish his destruction. That object was achieved on a
+certain evening when this person stood alone with Tiao upon an
+eminence overlooking the city and watched the great sky-lantern rise
+from behind the hills. Under these delicate and ennobling influences
+he gave speech to many very ornamental and refined thoughts which
+arose within his mind concerning the graceful brilliance of the light
+which was cast all around, yet notwithstanding which a still more
+exceptional and brilliant light was shining in his own internal organs
+by reason of the nearness of an even purer and more engaging orb.
+There was no need, this person felt, to hide even his most inside
+thoughts from the dignified and sympathetic being at his side, so
+without hesitation he spoke--in what he believes even now must have
+been a very decorative manner--of the many thousand persons who were
+then wrapped in sleep, of the constantly changing lights which
+appeared in the city beneath, and of the vastness which everywhere lay
+around.
+
+"'O Kai Lung,' exclaimed the lovely Tiao, when this person had made an
+end of speaking, 'how expertly and in what a proficient manner do you
+express yourself, uttering even the sentiments which this person has
+felt inwardly, but for which she has no words. Why, indeed, do you not
+inscribe them in a book?'
+
+"Under her elevating influence it had already occurred to this
+illiterate individual that it would be a more dignified and, perhaps,
+even a more profitable course for him to write out and dispose of, to
+those who print such matters, the versatile and high-minded
+expressions which now continually formed his thoughts, rather than be
+dependent upon the concise sentence for which, indeed, he was indebted
+to the wisdom of a remote ancestor. Tiao's spoken word fully settled
+his determination, so that without delay he set himself to the task of
+composing a story which should omit the usual sentence, but should
+contain instead a large number of his most graceful and diamond-like
+thoughts. So engrossed did this near-sighted and superficial person
+become in the task (which daily seemed to increase rather than lessen
+as new and still more sublime images arose within his mind) that many
+months passed before the matter was complete. In the end, instead of a
+story, it had assumed the proportions of an important and many-volumed
+book; while Tiao had in the meantime accepted the wedding gifts of an
+objectionable and excessively round-bodied individual, who had amassed
+an inconceivable number of taels by inducing persons to take part in
+what at first sight appeared to be an ingenious but very easy
+competition connected with the order in which certain horses should
+arrive at a given and clearly defined spot. By that time, however,
+this unduly sanguine story-teller had become completely entranced in
+his work, and merely regarded Tiao-Ts'un as a Heaven-sent but no
+longer necessary incentive to his success. With every hope, therefore,
+he went forth to dispose of his written leaves, confident of finding
+some very wealthy person who would be in a condition to pay him the
+correct value of the work.
+
+"At the end of two years this somewhat disillusionized but still
+undaunted person chanced to hear of a benevolent and unassuming body
+of men who made a habit of issuing works in which they discerned
+merit, but which, nevertheless, others were unanimous in describing as
+'of no good.' Here this person was received with gracious effusion,
+and being in a position to impress those with whom he was dealing with
+his undoubted knowledge of the subject, he finally succeeded in making
+a very advantageous arrangement by which he was to pay one-half of the
+number of taels expended in producing the work, and to receive in
+return all the profits which should result from the undertaking. Those
+who were concerned in the matter were so engagingly impressed with the
+incomparable literary merit displayed in the production that they
+counselled a great number of copies being made ready in order, as they
+said, that this person should not lose by there being any delay when
+once the accomplishment became the one topic of conversation in
+tea-houses and yamens. From this cause it came about that the matter
+of taels to be expended was much greater than had been anticipated at
+the beginning, so that when the day arrived on which the volumes were
+to be sent forth this person found that almost his last piece of money
+had disappeared.
+
+"Alas! how small a share has a person in the work of controlling his
+own destiny. Had only the necessarily penurious and now almost
+degraded Kai Lung been born a brief span before the great writer Lo
+Kuan Chang, his name would have been received with every mark of
+esteem from one end of the Empire to the other, while taels and
+honourable decorations would have been showered upon him. For the
+truth, which could no longer be concealed, revealed the fact that this
+inopportune individual possessed a mind framed in such a manner that
+his thoughts had already been the thoughts of the inspired Lo Kuan,
+who, as this person would not be so presumptuous as to inform this
+ornamental and well-informed gathering, was the most ingenious and
+versatile-minded composer of written words that this Empire--and
+therefore the entire world--has seen, as, indeed, his honourable title
+of 'The Many-hued Mandarin Duck of the Yang-tse' plainly indicates.
+
+"Although this self-opinionated person had frequently been greatly
+surprised himself during the writing of his long work by the
+brilliance and manysidedness of the thoughts and metaphors which arose
+in his mind without conscious effort, it was not until the appearance
+of the printed leaves which make a custom of warning persons against
+being persuaded into buying certain books that he definitely
+understood how all these things had been fully expressed many
+dynasties ago by the all-knowing Lo Kuan Chang, and formed, indeed,
+the great national standard of unapproachable excellence.
+Unfortunately, this person had been so deeply engrossed all his life
+in literary pursuits that he had never found an opportunity to glance
+at the works in question, or he would have escaped the embarrassing
+position in which he now found himself.
+
+"It was with a hopeless sense of illness of ease that this unhappy one
+reached the day on which the printed leaves already alluded to would
+make known their deliberate opinion of his writing, the extremity of
+his hope being that some would at least credit him with honourable
+motives, and perhaps a knowledge that if the inspired Lo Kuan Chan had
+never been born the entire matter might have been brought to a very
+different conclusion. Alas! only one among the many printed leaves
+which made reference to the venture contained any words of friendship
+or encouragement. This benevolent exception was sent forth from a city
+in the extreme Northern Province of the Empire, and contained many
+inspiring though delicately guarded messages of hope for the one to
+whom they gracefully alluded as 'this undoubtedly youthful, but
+nevertheless, distinctly promising writer of books.' While admitting
+that altogether they found the production undeniably tedious, they
+claimed to have discovered indications of an obvious talent, and
+therefore they unhesitatingly counselled the person in question to
+take courage at the prospect of a moderate competency which was
+certainly within his grasp if he restrained his somewhat
+over-ambitious impulses and closely observed the simple subjects and
+manner of expression of their own Chang Chow, whose 'Lines to a
+Wayside Chrysanthemum,' 'Mongolians who Have,' and several other
+composed pieces, they then set forth. Although it became plain that
+the writer of this amiably devised notice was, like this incapable
+person, entirely unacquainted with the masterpieces of Lo Kuan Chang,
+yet the indisputable fact remained that, entirely on its merit, the
+work had been greeted with undoubted enthusiasm, so that after
+purchasing many examples of the refined printed leaf containing it,
+this person sat far into the night continually reading over the one
+unprejudiced and discriminating expression.
+
+"All the other printed leaves displayed a complete absence of good
+taste in dealing with the matter. One boldly asserted that the entire
+circumstance was the outcome of a foolish jest or wager on the part of
+a person who possessed a million taels; another predicted that it was
+a cunning and elaborately thought-out method of obtaining the
+attention of the people on the part of certain persons who claimed to
+vend a reliable and fragrantly-scented cleansing substance. The
+/Valley of Hoang Rose Leaves and Sweetness/ hoped, in a spirit of no
+sincerity, that the ingenious Kai Lung would not rest on his
+tea-leaves, but would soon send forth an equally entertaining amended
+example of the /Sayings of Confucious/ and other sacred works, while
+the /Pure Essence of the Seven Days' Happenings/ merely printed side
+by side portions from the two books under the large inscription,
+'IS THERE REALLY ANY NEED FOR US TO EXPRESS OURSELVES MORE CLEARLY?'
+
+"The disappointment both as regards public esteem and taels--for,
+after the manner in which the work had been received by those who
+advise on such productions, not a single example was purchased--threw
+this ill-destined individual into a condition of most unendurable
+depression, from which he was only aroused by a remarkable example of
+the unfailing wisdom of the proverb which says 'Before hastening to
+secure a possible reward of five taels by dragging an unobservant
+person away from a falling building, examine well his features lest
+you find, when too late, that it is one to whom you are indebted for
+double that amount.' Disappointed in the hope of securing large gains
+from the sale of his great work, this person now turned his attention
+again to his former means of living, only to find, however, that the
+discredit in which he had become involved even attached itself to his
+concise sentence; for in place of the remunerative and honourable
+manner in which it was formerly received, it was now regarded on all
+hands with open suspicion. Instead of meekly kow-towing to an
+evidently pre-arranged doom, the last misfortune aroused this usually
+resigned story-teller to an ungovernable frenzy. Regarding the
+accomplished but at the same time exceedingly over-productive Lo Kuan
+Chang as the beginning of all his evils, he took a solemn oath as a
+mark of disapproval that he had not been content to inscribe on paper
+only half of his brilliant thoughts, leaving the other half for the
+benefit of this hard-striving and equally well-endowed individual, in
+which case there would have been a sufficiency of taels and of fame
+for both.
+
+"For a very considerable space of time this person could conceive no
+method by which he might attain his object. At length, however, as a
+result of very keen and subtle intellectual searching, and many
+well-selected sacrifices, it was conveyed by means of a dream that one
+very ingenious yet simple way was possible. The renowned and
+universally-admired writings of the distinguished Lo Kuan for the most
+part take their action within a few dynasties of their creator's own
+time: all that remained for this inventive person to accomplish,
+therefore, was to trace out the entire matter, making the words and
+speeches to proceed from the mouths of those who existed in still
+earlier periods. By this crafty method it would at once appear as
+though the not-too-original Lo Kuan had been indebted to one who came
+before him for all his most subtle thoughts, and, in consequence, his
+tomb would become dishonoured and his memory execrated. Without any
+delay this person cheerfully set himself to the somewhat laborious
+task before him. Lo Kuan's well-known exclamation of the Emperor Tsing
+on the battlefield of Shih-ho, 'A sedan-chair! a sedan-chair! This
+person will unhesitatingly exchange his entire and well-regulated
+Empire for such an article,' was attributed to an Emperor who lived
+several thousand years before the treacherous and unpopular Tsing. The
+new matter of a no less frequently quoted portion ran: 'O nobly
+intentioned but nevertheless exceedingly morose Tung-shin, the object
+before you is your distinguished and evilly-disposed-of father's
+honourably-inspired demon,' the change of a name effecting whatever
+alteration was necessary; while the delicately-imagined speech
+beginning 'The person who becomes amused at matters resulting from
+double-edged knives has assuredly never felt the effect of a
+well-directed blow himself' was taken from the mouth of one person and
+placed in that of one of his remote ancestors. In such a manner,
+without in any great degree altering the matter of Lo Kuan's works,
+all the scenes and persons introduced were transferred to much earlier
+dynasties than those affected by the incomparable writer himself, the
+final effect being to give an air of extreme unoriginality to his
+really undoubtedly genuine conceptions.
+
+"Satisfied with his accomplishment, and followed by a hired person of
+low class bearing the writings, which, by nature of the research
+necessary in fixing the various dates and places so that even the wary
+should be deceived, had occupied the greater part of a year, this now
+fully confident story-teller--unmindful of the well-tried excellence
+of the inspired saying, 'Money is hundred-footed; upon perceiving a
+tael lying apparently unobserved upon the floor, do not lose the time
+necessary in stooping, but quickly place your foot upon it, for one
+fails nothing in dignity thereby; but should it be a gold piece,
+distrust all things, and valuing dignity but as an empty name, cast
+your entire body upon it'--went forth to complete his great task of
+finally erasing from the mind and records of the Empire the hitherto
+venerated name of Lo Kuan Chang. Entering the place of commerce of the
+one who seemed the most favourable for the purpose, he placed the
+facts as they would in future be represented before him, explained the
+undoubtedly remunerative fame that would ensue to all concerned in the
+enterprise of sending forth the printed books in their new form, and,
+opening at a venture the written leaves which he had brought with him,
+read out the following words as an indication of the similarity of the
+entire work:
+
+  "'/Whai-Keng/. Friends, Chinamen, labourers who are engaged in
+  agricultural pursuits, entrust to this person your acute and
+  well-educated ears;
+
+  "'He has merely come to assist in depositing the body of Ko'ung in
+  the Family Temple, not for the purpose of making remarks about him
+  of a graceful and highly complimentary nature;
+
+  "'The unremunerative actions of which persons may have been guilty
+  possess an exceedingly undesirable amount of endurance;
+
+  "'The successful and well-considered almost invariably are
+  involved in a directly contrary course;
+
+  "'This person desires nothing more than a like fate to await
+  Ko'ung.'
+
+"When this one had read so far, he paused in order to give the other
+an opportunity of breaking in and offering half his possessions to be
+allowed to share in the undertaking. As he remained unaccountably
+silent, however, an inelegant pause occurred which this person at
+length broke by desiring an expressed opinion on the matter.
+
+"'O exceedingly painstaking, but nevertheless highly inopportune Kai
+Lung,' he replied at length, while in his countenance this person read
+an expression of no-encouragement towards his venture, 'all your
+entrancing efforts do undoubtedly appear to attract the undesirable
+attention of some spiteful and tyrannical demon. This closely-written
+and elaborately devised work is in reality not worth the labour of a
+single stroke, nor is there in all Peking a sender forth of printed
+leaves who would encourage any project connected with its issue.'
+
+"'But the importance of such a fact as that which would clearly show
+the hitherto venerated Lo Kuan Chang to be a person who passed off as
+his own the work of an earlier one!' cried this person in despair,
+well knowing that the deliberately expressed opinion of the one before
+him was a matter that would rule all others. 'Consider the interest of
+the discovery.'
+
+"'The interest would not demand more than a few lines in the ordinary
+printed leaves,' replied the other calmly. 'Indeed, in a manner of
+speaking, it is entirely a detail of no consequence whether or not the
+sublime Lo Kuan ever existed. In reality his very commonplace name may
+have been simply Lung; his inspired work may have been written a score
+of dynasties before him by some other person, or they may have been
+composed by the enlightened Emperor of the period, who desired to
+conceal the fact, yet these matters would not for a moment engage the
+interest of any ordinary passer-by. Lo Kuan Chang is not a person in
+the ordinary expression; he is an embodiment of a distinguished and
+utterly unassailable national institution. The Heaven-sent works with
+which he is, by general consent, connected form the necessary
+unchangeable standard of literary excellence, and remain for ever
+above rivalry and above mistrust. For this reason the matter is
+plainly one which does not interest this person.'
+
+"In the course of a not uneventful existence this self-deprecatory
+person has suffered many reverses and disappointments. During his
+youth the high-minded Empress on one occasion stopped and openly
+complimented him on the dignified outline presented by his body in
+profile, and when he was relying upon this incident to secure him a
+very remunerative public office, a jealous and powerful Mandarin
+substituted a somewhat similar, though really very much inferior,
+person for him at the interview which the Empress had commanded.
+Frequently in matters of commerce which have appeared to promise very
+satisfactorily at the beginning this person has been induced to
+entrust sums of money to others, when he had hoped from the
+indications and the manner of speaking that the exact contrary would
+be the case; and in one instance he was released at a vast price from
+the torture dungeon in Canton--where he had been thrown by the subtle
+and unconscientious plots of one who could not relate stories in so
+accurate and unvarying a manner as himself--on the day before that on
+which all persons were freely set at liberty on account of exceptional
+public rejoicing. Yet in spite of these and many other very
+unendurable incidents, this impetuous and ill-starred being never felt
+so great a desire to retire to a solitary place and there disfigure
+himself permanently as a mark of his unfeigned internal displeasure,
+as on the occasion when he endured extreme poverty and great personal
+inconvenience for an entire year in order that he might take away face
+from the memory of a person who was so placed that no one expressed
+any interest in the matter.
+
+"Since then this very ill-clad and really necessitous person has
+devoted himself to the honourable but exceedingly arduous and in
+general unremunerative occupation of story-telling. To this he would
+add nothing save that not infrequently a nobly-born and
+highly-cultured audience is so entranced with his commonplace efforts
+to hold the attention, especially when a story not hitherto known has
+been related, that in order to afford it an opportunity of expressing
+its gratification, he has been requested to allow another offering to
+be made by all persons present at the conclusion of the
+entertainment."
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI
+
+                      THE VENGEANCE OF TUNG FEL
+
+For a period not to be measured by days or weeks the air of Ching-fow
+had been as unrestful as that of the locust plains beyond the Great
+Wall, for every speech which passed bore two faces, one fair to hear,
+as a greeting, but the other insidiously speaking behind a screen, of
+rebellion, violence, and the hope of overturning the fixed order of
+events. With those whom they did not mistrust of treachery persons
+spoke in low voices of definite plans, while at all times there might
+appear in prominent places of the city skilfully composed notices
+setting forth great wrongs and injustices towards which resignation
+and a lowly bearing were outwardly counselled, yet with the same words
+cunningly inflaming the minds, even of the patient, as no pouring out
+of passionate thoughts and undignified threatenings could have done.
+Among the people, unknown, unseen, and unsuspected, except to the
+proved ones to whom they desired to reveal themselves, moved the
+agents of the Three Societies. While to the many of Ching-fow nothing
+was desired or even thought of behind the downfall of their own
+officials, and, chief of all, the execution of the evil-minded and
+depraved Mandarin Ping Siang, whose cruelties and extortions had made
+his name an object of wide and deserved loathing, the agents only
+regarded the city as a bright spot in the line of blood and fire which
+they were fanning into life from Peking to Canton, and which would
+presumably burst forth and involve the entire Empire.
+
+Although it had of late become a plain fact, by reason of the manner
+of behaving of the people, that events of a sudden and turbulent
+nature could not long be restrained, yet outwardly there was no
+exhibition of violence, not even to the length of resisting those whom
+Ping Siang sent to enforce his unjust demands, chiefly because a
+well-founded whisper had been sent round that nothing was to be done
+until Tung Fel should arrive, which would not be until the seventh day
+in the month of Winged Dragons. To this all persons agreed, for the
+more aged among them, who, by virtue of their years, were also the
+formers of opinion in all matters, called up within their memories
+certain events connected with the two persons in question which
+appeared to give to Tung Fel the privilege of expressing himself
+clearly when the matter of finally dealing with the malicious and
+self-willed Mandarin should be engaged upon.
+
+Among the mountains which enclose Ching-fow on the southern side dwelt
+a jade-seeker, who also kept goats. Although a young man and entirely
+without relations, he had, by patient industry, contrived to collect
+together a large flock of the best-formed and most prolific goats to
+be found in the neighbourhood, all the money which he received in
+exchange for jade being quickly bartered again for the finest animals
+which he could obtain. He was dauntless in penetrating to the most
+inaccessible parts of the mountains in search of the stone, unfailing
+in his skilful care of the flock, in which he took much honourable
+pride, and on all occasions discreet and unassumingly restrained in
+his discourse and manner of life. Knowing this to be his invariable
+practice, it was with emotions of an agreeable curiosity that on the
+seventh day of the month of Winged Dragons those persons who were
+passing from place to place in the city beheld this young man, Yang
+Hu, descending the mountain path with unmistakable signs of profound
+agitation, and an entire absence of prudent care. Following him
+closely to the inner square of the city, on the continually expressed
+plea that they themselves had business in that quarter, these persons
+observed Yang Hu take up a position of unendurable dejection as he
+gazed reproachfully at the figure of the all-knowing Buddha which
+surmounted the Temple where it was his custom to sacrifice.
+
+"Alas!" he exclaimed, lifting up his voice, when it became plain that
+a large number of people was assembled awaiting his words, "to what
+end does a person strive in this excessively evilly-regulated
+district? Or is it that this obscure and ill-destined one alone is
+marked out as with a deep white cross for humiliation and ruin?
+Father, and Sacred Temple of Ancestral Virtues, wherein the meanest
+can repose their trust, he has none; while now, being more destitute
+than the beggar at the gate, the hope of honourable marriage and a
+robust family of sons is more remote than the chance of finding the
+miracle-working Crystal Image which marks the last footstep of the
+Pure One. Yesterday this person possessed no secret store of silver or
+gold, nor had he knowledge of any special amount of jade hidden among
+the mountains, but to his call there responded four score goats, the
+most select and majestic to be found in all the Province, of which,
+nevertheless, it was his yearly custom to sacrifice one, as those here
+can testify, and to offer another as a duty to the Yamen of Ping
+Siang, in neither case opening his eyes widely when the hour for
+selecting arrived. Yet in what an unseemly manner is his respectful
+piety and courteous loyalty rewarded! To-day, before this person went
+forth on his usual quest, there came those bearing written papers by
+which they claimed, on the authority of Ping Siang, the whole of this
+person's flock, as a punishment and fine for his not contributing
+without warning to the Celebration of Kissing the Emperor's Face--the
+very obligation of such a matter being entirely unknown to him.
+Nevertheless, those who came drove off this person's entire wealth,
+the desperately won increase of a life full of great toil and
+uncomplainingly endured hardship, leaving him only his cave in the
+rocks, which even the most grasping of many-handed Mandarins cannot
+remove, his cloak of skins, which no beggar would gratefully receive,
+and a bright and increasing light of deep hate scorching within his
+mind which nothing but the blood of the obdurate extortioner can
+efficiently quench. No protection of charms or heavily-mailed bowmen
+shall avail him, for in his craving for just revenge this person will
+meet witchcraft with a Heaven-sent cause and oppose an unsleeping
+subtlety against strength. Therefore let not the innocent suffer
+through an insufficient understanding, O Divine One, but direct the
+hand of your faithful worshipper towards the heart that is proud in
+tyranny, and holds as empty words the clearly defined promise of an
+all-seeing justice."
+
+Scarcely had Yang Hu made an end of speaking before there happened an
+event which could be regarded in no other light than as a direct
+answer to his plainly expressed request for a definite sign. Upon the
+clear air, which had become unnaturally still at Yang Hu's words, as
+though to remove any chance of doubt that this indeed was the
+requested answer, came the loud beating of many very powerful brass
+gongs, indicating the approach of some person of undoubted importance.
+In a very brief period the procession reached the square, the
+gong-beaters being followed by persons carrying banners, bowmen in
+armour, others bearing various weapons and instruments of torture,
+slaves displaying innumerable changes of raiment to prove the rank and
+consequence of their master, umbrella carriers and fan wavers, and
+finally, preceded by incense burners and surrounded by servants who
+cleared away all obstructions by means of their formidable and heavily
+knotted lashes, the unworthy and deceitful Mandarin Ping Siang, who
+sat in a silk-hung and elaborately wrought chair, looking from side to
+side with gestures and expressions of contempt and ill-restrained
+cupidity.
+
+At the sign of this powerful but unscrupulous person all those who
+were present fell upon their faces, leaving a broad space in their
+midst, except Yang Hu, who stepped back into the shadow of a doorway,
+being resolved that he would not prostrate himself before one whom
+Heaven had pointed out as the proper object of his just vengeance.
+
+When the chair of Ping Siang could no longer be observed in the
+distance, and the sound of his many gongs had died away, all the
+persons who had knelt at his approach rose to their feet, meeting each
+other's eyes with glances of assured and profound significance. At
+length there stepped forth an exceedingly aged man, who was generally
+believed to have the power of reading omens and forecasting futures,
+so that at his upraised hand all persons became silent.
+
+"Behold!" he exclaimed, "none can turn aside in doubt from the
+deliberately pointed finger of Buddha. Henceforth, in spite of the
+well-intentioned suggestions of those who would shield him under the
+plea of exacting orders from high ones at Peking or extortions
+practised by slaves under him of which he is ignorant, there can no
+longer be any two voices concerning the guilty one. Yet what does the
+knowledge of the cormorant's cry avail the golden carp in the shallow
+waters of the Yuen-Kiang? A prickly mormosa is an adequate protection
+against a naked man armed only with a just cause, and a company of
+bowmen has been known to quench an entire city's Heaven-felt desire
+for retribution. This person, and doubtless others also, would have
+experienced a more heartfelt enthusiasm in the matter if the sublime
+and omnipotent Buddha had gone a step further, and pointed out not
+only the one to be punished, but also the instrument by which the
+destiny could be prudently and effectively accomplished."
+
+From the mountain path which led to Yang Hu's cave came a voice, like
+an expressly devised reply to this speech. It was that of some person
+uttering the "Chant of Rewards and Penalties":
+
+  "How strong is the mountain sycamore!
+  "Its branches reach the Middle Air, and the eye of none can pierce
+      its foliage;
+  "It draws power and nourishment from all around, so that weeds
+      alone may flourish under its shadow.
+  "Robbers find safety within the hollow of its trunk; its branches
+      hide vampires and all manner of evil things which prey upon
+      the innocent;
+  "The wild boar of the forest sharpen their tusks against the bark,
+      for it is harder than flint, and the axe of the woodsman turns
+      back upon the striker.
+  "Then cries the sycamore, 'Hail and rain have no power against me,
+      nor can the fiercest sun penetrate beyond my outside fringe;
+  "'The man who impiously raises his hand against me falls by his
+      own stroke and weapon.
+  "'Can there be a greater or a more powerful than this one?
+      Assuredly, I am Buddha; let all things obey me.'
+  "Whereupon the weeds bow their heads, whispering among themselves,
+      'The voice of the Tall One we hear, but not that of Buddha.
+      Indeed, it is doubtless as he says.'
+  "In his musk-scented Heaven Buddha laughs, and not deigning to
+      raise his head from the lap of the Phoenix Goddess, he thrusts
+      forth a stone which lies by his foot.
+  "Saying, 'A god's present for a god. Take it carefully, O
+      presumptuous Little One, for it is hot to the touch.'
+  "The thunderbolt falls and the mighty tree is rent in twain. 'They
+      asked for my messenger,' said the Pure One, turning again to
+      repose.
+  "Lo, /he comes/!"
+
+With the last spoken word there came into the sight of those who were
+collected together a person of stern yet engaging appearance. His
+hands and face were the colour of mulberry stain by long exposure to
+the sun, while his eyes looked forth like two watch-fires outside a
+wolf-haunted camp. His long pigtail was tangled with the binding
+tendrils of the forest, and damp with the dew of an open couch. His
+apparel was in no way striking or brilliant, yet he strode with the
+dignity and air of a high official, pushing before him a covered box
+upon wheels.
+
+"It is Tung Fel!" cried many who stood there watching his approach, in
+tones which showed those who spoke to be inspired by a variety of
+impressive emotions. "Undoubtedly this is the seventh day of the month
+of Winged Dragons, and, as he specifically stated would be the case,
+lo! he has come."
+
+Few were the words of greeting which Tung Fel accorded even to the
+most venerable of those who awaited him.
+
+"This person has slept, partaken of fruit and herbs, and devoted an
+allotted time to inward contemplation," he said briefly. "Other and
+more weighty matters than the exchange of dignified compliments and
+the admiration of each other's profiles remain to be accomplished.
+What, for example, is the significance of the written parchment which
+is displayed in so obtrusive a manner before our eyes? Bring it to
+this person without delay."
+
+At these words all those present followed Tung Fel's gaze with
+astonishment, for conspicuously displayed upon the wall of the Temple
+was a written notice which all joined in asserting had not been there
+the moment before, though no man had approached the spot. Nevertheless
+it was quickly brought to Tung Fel, who took it without any fear or
+hesitation and read aloud the words which it contained.
+
+           "TO THE CUSTOM-RESPECTING PERSONS OF CHING-FOW.
+
+  "Truly the span of existence of any upon this earth is brief and
+  not to be considered; therefore, O unfortunate dwellers of
+  Ching-fow, let it not affect your digestion that your bodies are
+  in peril of sudden and most excruciating tortures and your Family
+  Temples in danger of humiliating disregard.
+
+  "Why do your thoughts follow the actions of the noble Mandarin
+  Ping Siang so insidiously, and why after each unjust exaction do
+  your eyes look redly towards the Yamen?
+
+  "Is he not the little finger of those at Peking, obeying their
+  commands and only carrying out the taxation which others have
+  devised? Indeed, he himself has stated such to be the fact. If,
+  therefore, a terrible and unforeseen fate overtook the usually
+  cautious and well-armed Ping Siang, doubtless--perhaps after the
+  lapse of some considerable time--another would be sent from Peking
+  for a like purpose, and in this way, after a too-brief period of
+  heaven-sent rest and prosperity, affairs would regulate themselves
+  into almost as unendurable a condition as before.
+
+  "Therefore ponder these things well, O passer-by. Yesterday the
+  only man-child of Huang the wood-carver was taken away to be sold
+  into slavery by the emissaries of the most just Ping Siang (who
+  would not have acted thus, we are assured, were it not for the
+  insatiable ones at Peking), as it had become plain that the very
+  necessitous Huang had no other possession to contribute to the
+  amount to be expended in coloured lights as a mark of public
+  rejoicing on the occasion of the moonday of the sublime Emperor.
+  The illiterate and prosaic-minded Huang, having in a most unseemly
+  manner reviled and even assailed those who acted in the matter,
+  has been effectively disposed of, and his wife now alternately
+  laughs and shrieks in the Establishment of Irregular Intellects.
+
+  "For this reason, gazer, and because the matter touches you more
+  closely than, in your self-imagined security, you are prone to
+  think, deal expediently with the time at your disposal. Look twice
+  and lingeringly to-night upon the face of your first-born, and
+  clasp the form of your favourite one in a closer embrace, for he
+  by whose hand the blow is directed may already have cast devouring
+  eyes upon their fairness, and to-morrow he may say to his armed
+  men: 'The time is come; bring her to me.'"
+
+"From the last sentence of the well-intentioned and undoubtedly
+moderately-framed notice this person will take two phrases," remarked
+Tung Fel, folding the written paper and placing it among his garments,
+"which shall serve him as the title of the lifelike and
+accurately-represented play which it is his self-conceited intention
+now to disclose to this select and unprejudiced gathering. The scene
+represents an enlightened and well-merited justice overtaking an
+arrogant and intolerable being who--need this person add?--existed
+many dynasties ago, and the title is:
+
+                         "THE TIME IS COME!
+                           BY WHOSE HAND?"
+
+Delivering himself in this manner, Tung Fel drew back the hanging
+drapery which concealed the front of his large box, and disclosed to
+those who were gathered round, not, as they had expected, a passage
+from the Record of the Three Kingdoms, or some other dramatic work of
+undoubted merit, but an ingeniously constructed representation of a
+scene outside the walls of their own Ching-fow. On one side was a
+small but minutely accurate copy of a wood-burner's hut, which was
+known to all present, while behind stood out the distant but
+nevertheless unmistakable walls of the city. But it was nearest part
+of the spectacle that first held the attention of the entranced
+beholders, for there disported themselves, in every variety of
+guileless and attractive attitude, a number of young and entirely
+unconcerned doves. Scarcely had the delighted onlookers fully observed
+the pleasing and effective scene, or uttered their expressions of
+polished satisfaction at the graceful and unassuming behaviour of the
+pretty creatures before them, than the view entirely changed, and, as
+if by magic, the massive and inelegant building of Ping Siang's Yamen
+was presented before them. As all gazed, astonished, the great door of
+the Yamen opened stealthily, and without a moment's pause a lean and
+ill-conditioned rat, of unnatural size and rapacity, dashed out and
+seized the most select and engaging of the unsuspecting prey in its
+hungry jaws. With the expiring cry of the innocent victim the entire
+box was immediately, and in the most unexpected manner, involved in a
+profound darkness, which cleared away as suddenly and revealed the
+forms of the despoiler and the victim lying dead by each other's side.
+
+Tung Fel came forward to receive the well-selected compliments of all
+who had witnessed the entertainment.
+
+"It may be objected," he remarked, "that the play is, in a manner of
+expressing one's self, incomplete; for it is unrevealed by whose hand
+the act of justice was accomplished. Yet in this detail is the
+accuracy of the representation justified, for though the time has
+come, the hand by which retribution is accorded shall never be
+observed."
+
+In such a manner did Tung Fel come to Ching-fow on the seventh day of
+the month of Winged Dragons, throwing aside all restraint, and no
+longer urging prudence or delay. Of all the throng which stood before
+him scarcely one was without a deep offence against Ping Siang, while
+those who had not as yet suffered feared what the morrow might
+display.
+
+A wandering monk from the Island of Irredeemable Plagues was the first
+to step forth in response to Tung Fel's plainly understood suggestion.
+
+"There is no necessity for this person to undertake further acts of
+benevolence," he remarked, dropping the cloak from his shoulder and
+displaying the hundred and eight scars of extreme virtue; "nor," he
+continued, holding up his left hand, from which three fingers were
+burnt away, "have greater endurances been neglected. Yet the matter
+before this distinguished gathering is one which merits the favourable
+consideration of all persons, and this one will in no manner turn
+away, recounting former actions, while he allows others to press
+forward towards the accomplishment of the just and divinely-inspired
+act."
+
+With these words the devout and unassuming person in question
+inscribed his name upon a square piece of rice-paper, attesting his
+sincerity to the fixed purpose for which it was designed by dipping
+his thumb into the mixed blood of the slain animals and impressing
+this unalterable seal upon the paper also. He was followed by a seller
+of drugs and subtle medicines, whose entire stock had been seized and
+destroyed by order of Ping Siang, so that no one in Ching-fow might
+obtain poison for his destruction. Then came an overwhelming stream of
+persons, all of whom had received some severe and well-remembered
+injury at the hands of the malicious and vindictive Mandarin. All
+these followed a similar observance, inscribing their names and
+binding themselves by the Blood Oath. Last of all Yang Hu stepped up,
+partly from a natural modesty which restrained him from offering
+himself when so many more versatile persons of proved excellence were
+willing to engage in the matter, and partly because an ill-advised
+conflict was taking place within his mind as to whether the extreme
+course which was contemplated was the most expedient to pursue. At
+last, however, he plainly perceived that he could not honourably
+withhold himself from an affair that was in a measure the direct
+outcome of his own unendurable loss, so that without further
+hesitation he added his obscure name to the many illustrious ones
+already in Tung Fel's keeping.
+
+When at length dark fell upon the city and the cries of the watchmen,
+warning all prudent ones to bar well their doors against robbers, as
+they themselves were withdrawing until the morrow, no longer rang
+through the narrow ways of Ching-fow, all those persons who had
+pledged themselves by name and seal went forth silently, and came
+together at the place whereof Tung Fel had secretly conveyed them
+knowledge. There Tung Fel, standing somewhat apart, placed all the
+folded papers in the form of a circle, and having performed over them
+certain observances designed to insure a just decision and to keep
+away evil influences, submitted the selection to the discriminating
+choice of the Sacred Flat and Round Sticks. Having in this manner
+secured the name of the appointed person who should carry out the act
+of justice and retribution, Tung Fel unfolded the paper, inscribed
+certain words upon it, and replaced it among the others.
+
+"The moment before great deeds," began Tung Fel, stepping forward and
+addressing himself to the expectant ones who were gathered round, "is
+not the time for light speech, nor, indeed, for sentences of dignified
+length, no matter how pleasantly turned to the ear they may be. Before
+this person stand many who are undoubtedly illustrious in various arts
+and virtues, yet one among them is pre-eminently marked out for
+distinction in that his name shall be handed down in imperishable
+history as that of a patriot of a pure-minded and uncompromising
+degree. With him there is no need of further speech, and to this end I
+have inscribed certain words upon his namepaper. To everyone this
+person will now return the paper which has been entrusted to him,
+folded so that the nature of its contents shall be an unwritten leaf
+to all others. Nor shall the papers be unfolded by any until he is
+within his own chamber, with barred doors, where all, save the one who
+shall find the message, shall remain, not venturing forth until
+daybreak. I, Tung Fel, have spoken, and assuredly I shall not eat my
+word, which is that a certain and most degrading death awaits any who
+transgress these commands."
+
+It was with the short and sudden breath of the cowering antelope when
+the stealthy tread of the pitiless tiger approaches its lair, that
+Yang Hu opened his paper in the seclusion of his own cave; for his
+mind was darkened with an inspired inside emotion that he, the one
+doubting among the eagerly proffering and destructively inclined
+multitude, would be chosen to accomplish the high aim for which,
+indeed, he felt exceptionally unworthy. The written sentence which he
+perceived immediately upon unfolding the paper, instructing him to
+appear again before Tung Fel at the hour of midnight, was, therefore,
+nothing but the echo and fulfilment of his own thoughts, and served in
+reality to impress his mind with calmer feelings of dignified
+unconcern than would have been the case had he not been chosen. Having
+neither possessions nor relations, the occupation of disposing of his
+goods and making ceremonious and affectionate leavetakings of his
+family, against the occurrence of any unforeseen disaster, engrossed
+no portion of Yang Hu's time. Yet there was one matter to which no
+reference has yet been made, but which now forces itself obtrusively
+upon the attention, which was in a large measure responsible for many
+of the most prominent actions of Yang Hu's life, and, indeed, in no
+small degree influenced his hesitation in offering himself before Tung
+Fel.
+
+Not a bowshot distance from the place where the mountain path entered
+the outskirts of the city lived Hiya-ai-Shao with her parents, who
+were persons of assured position, though of no particular wealth. For
+a period not confined to a single year it had been the custom of Yang
+Hu to offer to this elegant and refined maiden all the rarest pieces
+of jade which he could discover, while the most symmetrical and
+remunerative she-goat in his flock enjoyed the honourable distinction
+of bearing her incomparable name. Towards the almond garden of Hiya's
+abode Yang Hu turned his footsteps upon leaving his cave, and standing
+there, concealed from all sides by the white and abundant flower-laden
+foliage, he uttered a sound which had long been an agreed signal
+between them. Presently a faint perfume of choo-lan spoke of her near
+approach, and without delay Hiya herself stood by his side.
+
+"Well-endowed one," said Yang Hu, when at length they had gazed upon
+each other's features and made renewals of their protestations of
+mutual regard, "the fixed intentions of a person have often been fitly
+likened to the seed of the tree-peony, so ineffectual are their
+efforts among the winds of constantly changing circumstance. The
+definite hope of this person had long pointed towards a small but
+adequate habitation, surrounded by sweet-smelling olive-trees and not
+far distant from the jade cliffs and pastures which would afford a
+sufficient remuneration and a means of living. This entrancing picture
+has been blotted out for the time, and in its place this person finds
+himself face to face with an arduous and dangerous undertaking,
+followed, perhaps, by hasty and immediate flight. Yet if the adorable
+Hiya will prove the unchanging depths of her constantly expressed
+intention by accompanying him as far as the village of Hing where
+suitable marriage ceremonies can be observed without delay, the exile
+will in reality be in the nature of a triumphal procession, and the
+emotions with which this person has hitherto regarded the entire
+circumstance will undergo a complete and highly accomplished change."
+
+"Oh, Yang!" exclaimed the maiden, whose feelings at hearing these
+words were in no way different from those of her lover when he was on
+the point of opening the folded paper upon which Tung Fel had written;
+"what is the nature of the mission upon which you are so impetuously
+resolved? and why will it be followed by flight?"
+
+"The nature of the undertaking cannot be revealed by reason of a
+deliberately taken oath," replied Yang Hu; "and the reason of its
+possible consequence is a less important question to the two persons
+who are here conversing together than of whether the amiable and
+graceful Hiya is willing to carry out her often-expressed desire for
+an opportunity of displaying the true depths of her emotions towards
+this one."
+
+"Alas!" said Hiya, "the sentiments which this person expressed with
+irreproachable honourableness when the sun was high in the heavens and
+the probability of secretly leaving an undoubtedly well-appointed home
+was engagingly remote, seem to have an entirely different significance
+when recalled by night in a damp orchard, and on the eve of their
+fulfilment. To deceive one's parents is an ignoble prospect;
+furthermore, it is often an exceedingly difficult undertaking. Let the
+matter be arranged in this way: that Yang leaves the ultimate details
+of the scheme to Hiya's expedient care, he proceeding without delay to
+Hing, or, even more desirable, to the further town of Liyunnan, and
+there awaiting her coming. By such means the risk of discovery and
+pursuit will be lessened, Yang will be able to set forth on his
+journey with greater speed, and this one will have an opportunity of
+getting together certain articles without which, indeed, she would be
+very inadequately equipped."
+
+In spite of his conscientious desire that Hiya should be by his side
+on the journey, together with an unendurable certainty that evil would
+arise from the course she proposed, Yang was compelled by an innate
+feeling of respect to agree to her wishes, and in this manner the
+arrangement was definitely concluded. Thereupon Hiya, without delay,
+returned to the dwelling, remarking that otherwise her absence might
+be detected and the entire circumstance thereby discovered, leaving
+Yang Hu to continue his journey and again present himself before Tung
+Fel, as he had been instructed.
+
+Tung Fel was engaged with brush and ink when Yang Hu entered. Round
+him were many written parchments, some venerable with age, and a
+variety of other matters, among which might be clearly perceived
+weapons, and devices for reading the future. He greeted Yang with many
+tokens of dignified respect, and with an evidently restrained emotion
+led him towards the light of a hanging lantern, where he gazed into
+his face for a considerable period with every indication of
+exceptional concern.
+
+"Yang Hu," he said at length, "at such a moment many dark and
+searching thoughts may naturally arise in the mind concerning objects
+and reasons, omens, and the moving cycle of events. Yet in all these,
+out of a wisdom gained by deep endurance and a hardly-won experience
+beyond the common lot, this person would say, Be content. The hand of
+destiny, though it may at times appear to move in a devious manner, is
+ever approaching its appointed aim. To this end were you chosen."
+
+"The choice was openly made by wise and proficient omens," replied
+Yang Hu, without any display of uncertainty of purpose, "and this
+person is content."
+
+Tung Fel then administered to Yang the Oath of Buddha's Face and the
+One called the Unutterable (which may not be further described in
+written words) thereby binding his body and soul, and the souls and
+repose of all who had gone before him in direct line and all who
+should in a like manner follow after, to the accomplishment of the
+design. All spoken matter being thus complete between them, he gave
+him a mask with which he should pass unknown through the streets and
+into the presence of Ping Siang, a variety of weapons to use as the
+occasion arose, and a sign by which the attendants at the Yamen would
+admit him without further questioning.
+
+As Yang Hu passed through the streets of Ching-fow, which were in a
+great measure deserted owing to the command of Tung Fel, he was aware
+of many mournful and foreboding sounds which accompanied him on all
+sides, while shadowy faces, bearing signs of intolerable anguish and
+despair, continually formed themselves out of the wind. By the time he
+reached the Yamen a tempest of exceptional violence was in progress,
+nor were other omens absent which tended to indicate that matters of a
+very unpropitious nature were about to take place.
+
+At each successive door of the Yamen the attendant stepped back and
+covered his face, so that he should by no chance perceive who had come
+upon so destructive a mission, the instant Yang Hu uttered the sign
+with which Tung Fel had provided him. In this manner Yang quickly
+reached the door of the inner chamber upon which was inscribed: "Let
+the person who comes with a doubtful countenance, unbidden, or
+meditating treachery, remember the curse and manner of death which
+attended Lai Kuen, who slew the one over him; so shall he turn and go
+forth in safety." This unworthy safeguard at the hands of a person who
+passed his entire life in altering the fixed nature of justice, and
+who never went beyond his outer gate without an armed company of
+bowmen, inspired Yang Hu with so incautious a contempt, that without
+any hesitation he drew forth his brush and ink, and in a spirit of
+bitter signification added the words, "'Come, let us eat together,'
+said the wolf to the she-goat."
+
+Being now within a step of Ping Siang and the completion of his
+undertaking, Yang Hu drew tighter the cords of his mask, tested and
+proved his weapons, and then, without further delay, threw open the
+door before him and stepped into the chamber, barring the door quickly
+so that no person might leave or enter without his consent.
+
+At this interruption and manner of behaving, which clearly indicated
+the nature of the errand upon which the person before him had come,
+Ping Siang rose from his couch and stretched out his hand towards a
+gong which lay beside him.
+
+"All summonses for aid are now unavailing, Ping Siang," exclaimed
+Yang, without in any measure using delicate or set phrases of speech;
+"for, as you have doubtless informed yourself, the slaves of tyrants
+are the first to welcome the downfall of their lord."
+
+"The matter of your speech is as emptiness to this person," replied
+the Mandarin, affecting with extreme difficulty an appearance of
+no-concern. "In what manner has he fallen? And how will the depraved
+and self-willed person before him avoid the well-deserved tortures
+which certainly await him in the public square on the morrow, as the
+reward of his intolerable presumptions?"
+
+"O Mandarin," cried Yang Hu, "the fitness and occasion for such
+speeches as the one to which you have just given utterance lie as far
+behind you as the smoke of yesterday's sacrifice. With what manner of
+eyes have you frequently journeyed through Ching-fow of late, if the
+signs and omens there have not already warned you to prepare a coffin
+adequately designed to receive your well-proportioned body? Has not
+the pungent vapour of burning houses assailed your senses at every
+turn, or the salt tears from the eyes of forlorn ones dashed your
+peach-tea and spiced foods with bitterness?"
+
+"Alas!" exclaimed Ping Siang, "this person now certainly begins to
+perceive that many things which he has unthinkingly allowed would
+present a very unendurable face to others."
+
+"In such a manner has it appeared to all Ching-fow," said Yang Hu;
+"and the justice of your death has been universally admitted. Even
+should this one fail there would be an innumerable company eager to
+take his place. Therefore, O Ping Siang, as the only favour which it
+is within this person's power to accord, select that which in your
+opinion is the most agreeable manner and weapon for your end."
+
+"It is truly said that at the Final Gate of the Two Ways the necessity
+for elegant and well-chosen sentences ends," remarked Ping Siang with
+a sigh, "otherwise the manner of your address would be open to
+reproach. By your side this person perceives a long and apparently
+highly-tempered sword, which, in his opinion, will serve the purpose
+efficiently. Having no remarks of an improving but nevertheless
+exceedingly tedious nature with which to imprint the occasion for the
+benefit of those who come after, his only request is that the blow
+shall be an unhesitating and sufficiently well-directed one."
+
+At these words Yang Hu threw back his cloak to grasp the sword-handle,
+when the Mandarin, with his eyes fixed on the naked arm, and evidently
+inspired by every manner of conflicting emotions, uttered a cry of
+unspeakable wonder and incomparable surprise.
+
+"The Serpent!" he cried, in a voice from which all evenness and
+control were absent. "The Sacred Serpent of our Race! O mysterious
+one, who and whence are you?"
+
+Engulfed in an all-absorbing doubt at the nature of events, Yang could
+only gaze at the form of the serpent which had been clearly impressed
+upon his arm from the earliest time of his remembrance, while Ping
+Siang, tearing the silk garment from his own arm and displaying
+thereon a similar form, continued:
+
+"Behold the inevitable and unvarying birthmark of our race! So it was
+with this person's father and the ones before him; so it was with his
+treacherously-stolen son; so it will be to the end of all time."
+
+Trembling beyond all power of restraint, Yang removed the mask which
+had hitherto concealed his face.
+
+"Father or race has this person none," he said, looking into Ping
+Siang's features with an all-engaging hope, tempered in a measure by a
+soul-benumbing dread; "nor memory or tradition of an earlier state
+than when he herded goats and sought for jade in the southern
+mountains."
+
+"Nevertheless," exclaimed the Mandarin, whose countenance was
+lightened with an interest and a benevolent emotion which had never
+been seen there before, "beyond all possibility of doubting, you are
+this person's lost and greatly-desired son, stolen away many years ago
+by the treacherous conduct of an unworthy woman, yet now happily and
+miraculously restored to cherish his declining years and perpetuate an
+honourable name and race."
+
+"Happily!" exclaimed Yang, with fervent indications of uncontrollable
+bitterness. "Oh, my illustrious sire, at whose venerated feet this
+unworthy person now prostrates himself with well-merited marks of
+reverence and self-abasement, has the errand upon which an ignoble son
+entered--the every memory of which now causes him the acutest agony of
+the lost, but which nevertheless he is pledged to Tung Fel by the
+Unutterable Oath to perform--has this unnatural and eternally cursed
+thing escaped your versatile mind?"
+
+"Tung Fel!" cried Ping Siang. "Is, then, this blow also by the hand of
+that malicious and vindictive person? Oh, what a cycle of events and
+interchanging lines of destiny do your words disclose!"
+
+"Who, then, is Tung Fel, my revered Father?" demanded Yang.
+
+"It is a matter which must be made clear from the beginning," replied
+Ping Siang. "At one time this person and Tung Fel were, by nature and
+endowments, united in the most amiable bonds of an inseparable
+friendship. Presently Tung Fel signed the preliminary contract of a
+marriage with one who seemed to be endowed with every variety of
+enchanting and virtuous grace, but who was, nevertheless, as the
+unrolling of future events irresistibly discovered, a person of
+irregular character and undignified habits. On the eve of the marriage
+ceremony this person was made known to her by the undoubtedly
+enraptured Tung Fel, whereupon he too fell into the snare of her
+engaging personality, and putting aside all thoughts of prudent
+restraint, made her more remunerative offers of marriage than Tung Fel
+could by any possible chance overbid. In such a manner--for after the
+nature of her kind riches were exceptionally attractive to her
+degraded imagination--she became this person's wife, and the mother of
+his only son. In spite of these great honours, however, the undoubted
+perversity of her nature made her an easy accomplice to the duplicity
+of Tung Fel, who, by means of various disguises, found frequent
+opportunity of uttering in her presence numerous well-thought-out
+suggestions specially designed to lead her imagination towards an
+existence in which this person had no adequate representation.
+Becoming at length terrified at the possibility of these unworthy
+emotions, obtruding themselves upon this person's notice, the two in
+question fled together, taking with them the one who without any doubt
+is now before me. Despite the most assiduous search and very tempting
+and profitable offers of reward, no information of a reliable nature
+could be obtained, and at length this dispirited and completely
+changed person gave up the pursuit as unavailing. With his son and
+heir, upon whose future he had greatly hoped, all emotions of a
+generous and high-minded nature left him, and in a very short space of
+time he became the avaricious and deservedly unpopular individual
+against whose extortions the amiable and long-suffering ones of
+Ching-fow have for so many years protested mildly. The sudden and not
+altogether unexpected fate which is now on the point of reaching him
+is altogether too lenient to be entirely adequate."
+
+"Oh, my distinguished and really immaculate sire!" cried Yang Hu, in a
+voice which expressed the deepest feelings of contrition. "No oaths or
+vows, however sacred, can induce this person to stretch forth his hand
+against the one who stands before him."
+
+"Nevertheless," replied Ping Siang, speaking of the matter as though
+it were one which did not closely concern his own existence, "to
+neglect the Unutterable Oath would inevitably involve not only the two
+persons who are now conversing together, but also those before and
+those who are to come after in direct line, in a much worse condition
+of affairs. That is a fate which this person would by no means permit
+to exist, for one of his chief desires has ever been to establish a
+strong and vigorous line, to which end, indeed, he was even now
+concluding a marriage arrangement with the beautiful and refined
+Hiya-ai-Shao, whom he had at length persuaded into accepting his
+betrothal tokens without reluctance."
+
+"Hiya-ai-Shao!" exclaimed Yang; "she has accepted your silk-bound
+gifts?"
+
+"The matter need not concern us now," replied the Mandarin, not
+observing in his complicated emotions the manner in which the name of
+Hiya had affected Yang, revealing as it undoubtedly did the treachery
+of his beloved one. "There only appears to be one honourable way in
+which the full circumstances can be arranged, and this person will in
+no measure endeavour to avoid it."
+
+"Such an end is neither ignoble nor painful," he said, in an
+unchanging voice; "nor will this one in any way shrink from so easy
+and honourable a solution."
+
+"The affairs of the future do not exhibit themselves in delicately
+coloured hues to this person," said Yang Hu; "and he would, if the
+thing could be so arranged, cheerfully submit to a similar fate in
+order that a longer period of existence should be assured to one who
+has every variety of claim upon his affection."
+
+"The proposal is a graceful and conscientious one," said Ping Siang,
+"and is, moreover, a gratifying omen of the future of our race, which
+must of necessity be left in your hands. But, for that reason itself,
+such a course cannot be pursued. Nevertheless, the events of the past
+few hours have been of so exceedingly prosperous and agreeable a
+nature that this short-sighted and frequently desponding person can
+now pass beyond with a tranquil countenance and every assurance of
+divine favour."
+
+With these words Ping Siang indicated that he was desirous of setting
+forth the Final Expression, and arranging the necessary matters upon
+the table beside him, he stretched forth his hands over Yang Hu, who
+placed himself in a suitable attitude of reverence and abasement.
+
+"Yang Hu," began the Mandarin, "undoubted son, and, after the
+accomplishment of the intention which it is our fixed purpose to carry
+out, fitting representative of the person who is here before you,
+engrave well within your mind the various details upon which he now
+gives utterance. Regard the virtues; endeavour to pass an amiable and
+at the same time not unremunerative existence; and on all occasions
+sacrifice freely, to the end that the torments of those who have gone
+before may be made lighter, and that others may be induced in turn to
+perform a like benevolent charity for yourself. Having expressed
+himself upon these general subjects, this person now makes a last and
+respectfully-considered desire, which it is his deliberate wish should
+be carried to the proper deities as his final expression of opinion:
+That Yang Hu may grow as supple as the dried juice of the
+bending-palm, and as straight as the most vigorous bamboo from the
+forests of the North. That he may increase beyond the prolificness of
+the white-necked crow and cover the ground after the fashion of the
+binding grass. That in battle his sword may be as a vividly-coloured
+and many-forked lightning flash, accompanied by thunderbolts as
+irresistible as Buddha's divine wrath; in peace his voice as
+resounding as the rolling of many powerful drums among the Khingan
+Mountains. That when the kindled fire of his existence returns to the
+great Mountain of Pure Flame the earth shall accept again its
+component parts, and in no way restrain the divine essence from
+journeying to its destined happiness. These words are Ping Siang's
+last expression of opinion before he passes beyond, given in the
+unvarying assurance that so sacred and important a petition will in no
+way be neglected."
+
+Having in this manner completed all the affairs which seemed to be of
+a necessary and urgent nature, and fixing his last glance upon Yang Hu
+with every variety of affectionate and estimable emotion, the Mandarin
+drank a sufficient quantity of the liquid, and placing himself upon a
+couch in an attitude of repose, passed in this dignified and
+unassuming manner into the Upper Air.
+
+After the space of a few moments spent in arranging certain objects
+and in inward contemplation, Yang Hu crossed the chamber, still
+holding the half-filled vessel of gold-leaf in his hand, and drawing
+back the hanging silk, gazed over the silent streets of Ching-fow and
+towards the great sky-lantern above.
+
+"Hiya is faithless," he said at length in an unspeaking voice; "this
+person's mother a bitter-tasting memory, his father a swiftly passing
+shadow that is now for ever lost." His eyes rested upon the closed
+vessel in his hand. "Gladly would--" his thoughts began, but with this
+unworthy image a new impression formed itself within his mind. "A
+clearly-expressed wish was uttered," he concluded, "and Tung Fel still
+remains." With this resolution he stepped back into the chamber and
+struck the gong loudly.
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII
+
+              THE CAREER OF THE CHARITABLE QUEN-KI-TONG
+
+
+                  FIRST PERIOD: THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL
+
+"The motives which inspired the actions of the devout Quen-Ki-Tong
+have long been ill-reported," said Kai Lung the story-teller, upon a
+certain occasion at Wu-whei, "and, as a consequence, his illustrious
+memory has suffered somewhat. Even as the insignificant earth-worm may
+bring the precious and many coloured jewel to the surface, so has it
+been permitted to this obscure and superficially educated one to
+discover the truth of the entire matter among the badly-arranged and
+frequently really illegible documents preserved at the Hall of Public
+Reference at Peking. Without fear of contradiction, therefore, he now
+sets forth the credible version.
+
+"Quen-Ki-Tong was one who throughout his life had been compelled by
+the opposing force of circumstances to be content with what was
+offered rather than attain to that which he desired. Having been
+allowed to wander over the edge of an exceedingly steep crag, while
+still a child, by the aged and untrustworthy person who had the care
+of him, and yet suffering little hurt, he was carried back to the city
+in triumph, by the one in question, who, to cover her neglect,
+declared amid many chants of exultation that as he slept a majestic
+winged form had snatched him from her arms and traced magical figures
+with his body on the ground in token of the distinguished sacred
+existence for which he was undoubtedly set apart. In such a manner he
+became famed at a very early age for an unassuming mildness of
+character and an almost inspired piety of life, so that on every side
+frequent opportunity was given him for the display of these amiable
+qualities. Should it chance that an insufficient quantity of puppy-pie
+had been prepared for the family repast, the undesirable but necessary
+portion of cold dried rat would inevitably be allotted to the
+uncomplaining Quen, doubtless accompanied by the engaging but
+unnecessary remark that he alone had a Heaven-sent intellect which was
+fixed upon more sublime images than even the best constructed
+puppy-pie. Should the number of sedan-chairs not be sufficient to bear
+to the Exhibition of Kites all who were desirous of becoming
+entertained in such a fashion, inevitably would Quen be the one left
+behind, in order that he might have adequate leisure for dignified and
+pure-minded internal reflexion.
+
+"In this manner it came about that when a very wealthy but unnaturally
+avaricious and evil-tempered person who was connected with Quen's
+father in matters of commerce expressed his fixed determination that
+the most deserving and enlightened of his friend's sons should enter
+into a marriage agreement with his daughter, there was no manner of
+hesitation among those concerned, who admitted without any questioning
+between themselves that Quen was undeniably the one referred to.
+
+"Though naturally not possessing an insignificant intellect, a
+continuous habit, together with a most irreproachable sense of filial
+duty, subdued within Quen's internal organs whatever reluctance he
+might have otherwise displayed in the matter, so that as courteously
+as was necessary he presented to the undoubtedly very ordinary and
+slow-witted maiden in question the gifts of irretrievable intention,
+and honourably carried out his spoken and written words towards her.
+
+"For a period of years the circumstances of the various persons did
+not in any degree change, Quen in the meantime becoming more
+pure-souled and inward-seeing with each moon-change, after the manner
+of the sublime Lien-ti, who studied to maintain an unmoved endurance
+in all varieties of events by placing his body to a greater extent
+each day in a vessel of boiling liquid. Nevertheless, the good and
+charitable deities to whom Quen unceasingly sacrificed were not
+altogether unmindful of his virtues; for a son was born, and an evil
+disease which arose from a most undignified display of uncontrollable
+emotion on her part ended in his wife being deposited with becoming
+ceremony in the Family Temple.
+
+"Upon a certain evening, when Quen sat in his inner chamber
+deliberating upon the really beneficent yet somewhat inexplicable
+arrangement of the all-seeing ones to whom he was very amiably
+disposed in consequence of the unwonted tranquillity which he now
+enjoyed, yet who, it appeared to him, could have set out the entire
+matter in a much more satisfactory way from the beginning, he was made
+aware by the unexpected beating of many gongs, and by other signs of
+refined and deferential welcome, that a person of exalted rank was
+approaching his residence. While he was still hesitating in his
+uncertainty regarding the most courteous and delicate form of
+self-abasement with which to honour so important a visitor--whether to
+rush forth and allow the chair-carriers to pass over his prostrate
+form, to make a pretence of being a low-caste slave, and in that guise
+doing menial service, or to conceal himself beneath a massive and
+overhanging table until his guest should have availed himself of the
+opportunity to examine at his leisure whatever the room contained--the
+person in question stood before him. In every detail of dress and
+appointment he had the undoubted appearance of being one to whom no
+door might be safely closed.
+
+"'Alas!' exclaimed Quen, 'how inferior and ill-contrived is the mind
+of a person of my feeble intellectual attainments. Even at this
+moment, when the near approach of one who obviously commands every
+engaging accomplishment might reasonably be expected to call up within
+it an adequate amount of commonplace resource, its ill-destined
+possessor finds himself entirely incapable of conducting himself with
+the fitting outward marks of his great internal respect. This
+residence is certainly unprepossessing in the extreme, yet it contains
+many objects of some value and of great rarity; illiterate as this
+person is, he would not be so presumptuous as to offer any for your
+acceptance, but if you will confer upon him the favour of selecting
+that which appears to be the most priceless and unreplaceable, he will
+immediately, and with every manifestation of extreme delight, break it
+irredeemably in your honour, to prove the unaffected depth of his
+gratified emotions.'
+
+"'Quen-Ki-Tong,' replied the person before him, speaking with an
+evident sincerity of purpose, 'pleasant to this one's ears are your
+words, breathing as they do an obvious hospitality and a due regard
+for the forms of etiquette. But if, indeed, you are desirous of
+gaining this person's explicit regard, break no articles of fine
+porcelain or rare inlaid wood in proof of it, but immediately dismiss
+to a very distant spot the three-score gong-beaters who have enclosed
+him within two solid rings, and who are now carrying out their duties
+in so diligent a manner that he greatly doubts if the unimpaired
+faculties of hearing will ever be fully restored. Furthermore, if your
+exceedingly amiable intentions desire fuller expression, cause an
+unstinted number of vessels of some uninflammable liquid to be
+conveyed into your chrysanthemum garden and there poured over the
+numerous fireworks and coloured lights which still appear to be in
+progress. Doubtless they are well-intentioned marks of respect, but
+they caused this person considerable apprehension as he passed among
+them, and, indeed, give to this unusually pleasant and unassuming spot
+the by no means inviting atmosphere of a low-class tea-house garden
+during the festivities attending the birthday of the sacred Emperor.'
+
+"'This person is overwhelmed with a most unendurable confusion that
+the matters referred to should have been regarded in such a light,'
+replied Quen humbly. 'Although he himself had no knowledge of them
+until this moment, he is confident that they in no wise differ from
+the usual honourable manifestations with which it is customary in this
+Province to welcome strangers of exceptional rank and titles.'
+
+"'The welcome was of a most dignified and impressive nature,' replied
+the stranger, with every appearance of not desiring to cause Quen any
+uneasy internal doubts; 'yet the fact is none the less true that at
+the moment this person's head seems to contain an exceedingly powerful
+and well-equipped band; and also, that as he passed through the
+courtyard an ingeniously constructed but somewhat unmanageable figure
+of gigantic size, composed entirely of jets of many-coloured flame,
+leaped out suddenly from behind a dark wall and made an almost
+successful attempt to embrace him in its ever-revolving arms. Lo Yuen
+greatly fears that the time when he would have rejoiced in the
+necessary display of agility to which the incident gave rise has for
+ever passed away.'
+
+"'Lo Yuen!' exclaimed Quen, with an unaffected mingling of the
+emotions of reverential awe and pleasureable anticipation. 'Can it
+indeed be an uncontroversial fact that so learned and ornamental a
+person as the renowned Controller of Unsolicited Degrees stands
+beneath this inelegant person's utterly unpresentable roof! Now,
+indeed, he plainly understands why this ill-conditioned chamber has
+the appearance of being filled with a Heaven-sent brilliance, and why
+at the first spoken words of the one before him a melodious sound,
+like the rushing waters of the sacred Tien-Kiang, seemed to fill his
+ears.'
+
+"'Undoubtedly the chamber is pervaded by a very exceptional
+splendour,' replied Lo Yuen, who, in spite of his high position,
+regarded graceful talk and well-imagined compliments in a spirit of
+no-satisfaction; 'yet this commonplace-minded one has a fixed
+conviction that it is caused by the crimson-eyed and
+pink-fire-breathing dragon which, despite your slave's most assiduous
+efforts, is now endeavouring to climb through the aperture behind you.
+The noise which still fills his ears, also, resembles rather the
+despairing cries of the Ten Thousand Lost Ones at the first sight of
+the Pit of Liquid and Red-hot Malachite, yet without question both
+proceed from the same cause. Laying aside further ceremony, therefore,
+permit this greatly over-estimated person to disclose the object of
+his inopportune visit. Long have your amiable virtues been observed
+and appreciated by the high ones at Peking, O Quen-Ki-Tong. Too long
+have they been unrewarded and passed over in silence. Nevertheless,
+the moment of acknowledgement and advancement has at length arrived;
+for, as the Book of Verses clearly says, "Even the three-legged mule
+may contrive to reach the agreed spot in advance of the others,
+provided a circular running space has been selected and the number of
+rounds be sufficiently ample." It is this otherwise uninteresting and
+obtrusive person's graceful duty to convey to you the agreeable
+intelligence that the honourable and not ill-rewarded office of
+Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms has been conferred upon you, and to
+require you to proceed without delay to Peking, so that fitting
+ceremonies of admittance may be performed before the fifteenth day of
+the month of Feathered Insects.'
+
+"Alas! how frequently does the purchaser of seemingly vigorous and
+exceptionally low-priced flower-seeds discover, when too late, that
+they are, in reality, fashioned from the root of the prolific and
+valueless tzu-ka, skilfully covered with a disguising varnish! Instead
+of presenting himself at the place of commerce frequented by those who
+entrust money to others on the promise of an increased repayment when
+certain very probable events have come to pass (so that if all else
+failed he would still possess a serviceable number of taels),
+Quen-Ki-Tong entirely neglected the demands of a most ordinary
+prudence, nor could he be induced to set out on his journey until he
+had passed seven days in public feasting to mark his good fortune, and
+then devoted fourteen more days to fasting and various acts of
+penance, in order to make known the regret with which he acknowledged
+his entire unworthiness for the honour before him. Owing to this very
+conscientious, but nevertheless somewhat short-sighted manner of
+behaving, Quen found himself unable to reach Peking before the day
+preceding that to which Lo Yuen had made special reference. From this
+cause it came about that only sufficient time remained to perform the
+various ceremonies of admission, without in any degree counselling
+Quen as to his duties and procedure in the fulfilment of his really
+important office.
+
+"Among the many necessary and venerable ceremonies observed during the
+changing periods of the year, none occupy a more important place than
+those for which the fifteenth day of the month of Feathered Insects is
+reserved, conveying as they do a respectful and delicately-fashioned
+petition that the various affairs upon which persons in every
+condition of life are engaged may arrive at a pleasant and
+remunerative conclusion. At the earliest stroke of the gong the
+versatile Emperor, accompanied by many persons of irreproachable
+ancestry and certain others, very elaborately attired, proceeds to an
+open space set apart for the occasion. With unassuming dexterity the
+benevolent Emperor for a brief span of time engages in the menial
+occupation of a person of low class, and with his own hands ploughs an
+assigned portion of land in order that the enlightened spirits under
+whose direct guardianship the earth is placed may not become lax in
+their disinterested efforts to promote its fruitfulness. In this
+charitable exertion he is followed by various other persons of
+recognized position, the first being, by custom, the Guarder of the
+Imperial Silkworms, while at the same time the amiably-disposed
+Empress plants an allotted number of mulberry trees, and deposits upon
+their leaves the carefully reared insects which she receives from the
+hands of their Guarder. In the case of the accomplished Emperor an
+ingenious contrivance is resorted to by which the soil is drawn aside
+by means of hidden strings as the plough passes by, the implement in
+question being itself constructed from paper of the highest quality,
+while the oxen which draw it are, in reality, ordinary persons
+cunningly concealed within masks of cardboard. In this thoughtful
+manner the actual labours of the sublime Emperor are greatly lessened,
+while no chance is afforded for an inauspicious omen to be created by
+the rebellious behaviour of a maliciously-inclined ox, or by any other
+event of an unforeseen nature. All the other persons, however, are
+required to make themselves proficient in the art of ploughing, before
+the ceremony, so that the chances of the attendant spirits discovering
+the deception which has been practised upon them in the case of the
+Emperor may not be increased by its needless repetition. It was
+chiefly for this reason that Lo Yuen had urged Quen to journey to
+Peking as speedily as possible, but owing to the very short time which
+remained between his arrival and the ceremony of ploughing, not only
+had the person in question neglected to profit by instruction, but he
+was not even aware of the obligation which awaited him. When,
+therefore, in spite of every respectful protest on his part, he was
+led up to a massively-constructed implement drawn by two powerful and
+undeniably evilly-intentioned-looking animals, it was with every sign
+of great internal misgivings, and an entire absence of enthusiasm in
+the entertainment, that he commenced his not too well understood task.
+In this matter he was by no means mistaken, for it soon became plain
+to all observers--of whom an immense concourse was assembled--that the
+usually self-possessed Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms was
+conducting himself in a most undignified manner; for though he still
+clung to the plough-handles with an inspired tenacity, his body
+assumed every variety of base and uninviting attitude. Encouraged by
+this inelegant state of affairs, the evil spirits which are ever on
+the watch to turn into derision the charitable intentions of the
+pure-minded entered into the bodies of the oxen and provoked within
+their minds a sudden and malignant confidence that the time had
+arrived when they might with safety break into revolt and throw off
+the outward signs of their dependent condition. From these various
+causes it came about that Quen was, without warning, borne with
+irresistible certainty against the majestic person of the sacred
+Emperor, the inlaid box of Imperial silkworms, which up to that time
+had remained safely among the folds of his silk garment, alone serving
+to avert an even more violent and ill-destined blow.
+
+"Well said the wise and deep-thinking Ye-te, in his book entitled
+/Proverbs of Everyday Happenings/, 'Should a person on returning from
+the city discover his house to be in flames, let him examine well the
+change which he has received from the chair-carrier before it is too
+late; for evil never travels alone.' Scarcely had the unfortunate Quen
+recovered his natural attributes from the effect of the disgraceful
+occurrence which has been recorded (which, indeed, furnished the
+matter of a song and many unpresentable jests among the low-class
+persons of the city), than the magnanimous Empress reached that detail
+of the tree-planting ceremony when it was requisite that she should
+deposit the living emblems of the desired increase and prosperity upon
+the leaves. Stretching forth her delicately-proportioned hand to Quen
+for this purpose, she received from the still greatly confused person
+in question the Imperial silkworms in so unseemly a condition that her
+eyes had scarcely rested upon them before she was seized with the
+rigid sickness, and in that state fell to the ground. At this new and
+entirely unforeseen calamity a very disagreeable certainty of
+approaching evil began to take possession of all those who stood
+around, many crying aloud that every omen of good was wanting, and
+declaring that unless something of a markedly propitiatory nature was
+quickly accomplished, the agriculture of the entire Empire would cease
+to flourish, and the various departments of the commerce in silk would
+undoubtedly be thrown into a state of most inextricable confusion.
+Indeed, in spite of all things designed to have a contrary effect, the
+matter came about in the way predicted, for the Hoang-Ho seven times
+overcame its restraining barriers, and poured its waters over the
+surrounding country, thereby gaining for the first time its
+well-deserved title of 'The Sorrow of China,' by which dishonourable
+but exceedingly appropriate designation it is known to this day.
+
+"The manner of greeting which would have been accorded to Quen had he
+returned to the official quarter of the city, or the nature of his
+treatment by the baser class of the ordinary people if they succeeded
+in enticing him to come among them, formed a topic of such uninviting
+conjecture that the humane-minded Lo Yuen, who had observed the entire
+course of events from an elevated spot, determined to make a
+well-directed effort towards his safety. To this end he quickly
+purchased the esteem of several of those who make a profession of
+their strength, holding out the hope of still further reward if they
+conducted the venture to a successful termination. Uttering loud cries
+of an impending vengeance, as Lo Yuen had instructed them in the
+matter, and displaying their exceptional proportions to the
+astonishment and misgivings of all beholders, these persons tore open
+the opium-tent in which Quen had concealed himself, and, thrusting
+aside all opposition, quickly dragged him forth. Holding him high upon
+their shoulders, in spite of his frequent and ill-advised endeavours
+to cast himself to the ground, some surrounded those who bore
+him--after the manner of disposing his troops affected by a skilful
+leader when the enemy begin to waver--and crying aloud that it was
+their unchanging purpose to submit him to the test of burning
+splinters and afterwards to torture him, they succeeded by this
+stratagem in bringing him through the crowd; and hurling back or
+outstripping those who endeavoured to follow, conveyed him secretly
+and unperceived to a deserted and appointed spot. Here Quen was
+obliged to remain until other events caused the recollection of the
+many to become clouded and unconcerned towards him, suffering frequent
+inconveniences in spite of the powerful protection of Lo Yuen, and not
+at all times being able to regard the most necessary repast as an
+appointment of undoubted certainty. At length, in the guise of a
+wandering conjurer who was unable to display his accomplishments owing
+to an entire loss of the power of movement in his arms, Quen passed
+undetected from the city, and safely reaching the distant and
+unimportant town of Lu-Kwo, gave himself up to a protracted period of
+lamentation and self-reproach at the unprepossessing manner in which
+he had conducted his otherwise very inviting affairs.
+
+
+                  SECOND PERIOD: THE TEMPLE BUILDER
+
+Two hand-counts of years passed away and Quen still remained at
+Lu-kwo, all desire of returning either to Peking or to the place of
+his birth having by this time faded into nothingness. Accepting the
+inevitable fact that he was not destined ever to become a person with
+whom taels were plentiful, and yet being unwilling to forego the
+charitable manner of life which he had always been accustomed to
+observe, it came about that he spent the greater part of his time in
+collecting together such sums of money as he could procure from the
+amiable and well-disposed, and with them building temples and engaging
+in other benevolent works. From this cause it arose the Quen obtained
+around Lu-kwo a reputation for high-minded piety, in no degree less
+than that which had been conferred upon him in earlier times, so that
+pilgrims from far distant places would purposely contrive their
+journey so as to pass through the town containing so unassuming and
+virtuous a person.
+
+"During this entire period Quen had been accompanied by his only son,
+a youth of respectful personality, in whose entertaining society he
+took an intelligent interest. Even when deeply engaged in what he
+justly regarded as the crowning work of his existence--the planning
+and erecting of an exceptionally well-endowed marble temple, which was
+to be entirely covered on the outside with silver paper, and on the
+inside with gold-leaf--he did not fail to observe the various
+conditions of Liao's existence, and the changing emotions which from
+time to time possessed him. Therefore, when the person in question,
+without displaying any signs of internal sickness, and likewise
+persistently denying that he had lost any considerable sum of money,
+disclosed a continuous habit of turning aside with an unaffected
+expression of distaste from all manner of food, and passed the entire
+night in observing the course of the great sky-lantern rather than in
+sleep, the sage and discriminating Quen took him one day aside, and
+asked him, as one who might aid him in the matter, who the maiden was,
+and what class and position her father occupied.
+
+"'Alas!' exclaimed Liao, with many unfeigned manifestations of an
+unbearable fate, 'to what degree do the class and position of her
+entirely unnecessary parents affect the question? or how little hope
+can this sacrilegious one reasonably have of ever progressing as far
+as earthly details of a pecuniary character in the case of so adorable
+and far-removed a Being? The uttermost extent of this wildly-hoping
+person's ambition is that when the incomparably symmetrical Ts'ain
+learns of the steadfast light of his devotion, she may be inspired to
+deposit an emblematic chrysanthemum upon his tomb in the Family
+Temple. For such a reward he will cheerfully devote the unswerving
+fidelity of a lifetime to her service, not distressing her gentle and
+retiring nature by the expression of what must inevitably be a
+hopeless passion, but patiently and uncomplainingly guarding her
+footsteps as from a distance.'
+
+"Being in this manner made aware of the reason of Liao's frequent and
+unrestrained exclamations of intolerable despair, and of his fixed
+determination with regard to the maiden Ts'ain (which seemed, above
+all else, to indicate a resolution to shun her presence) Quen could
+not regard the immediately-following actions of his son with anything
+but an emotion of confusion. For when his eyes next rested upon the
+exceedingly contradictory Liao, he was seated in the open space before
+the house in which Ts'ain dwelt, playing upon an instrument of
+stringed woods, and chanting verses into which the names of the two
+persons in question had been skilfully introduced without restraint,
+his whole manner of behaving being with the evident purpose of
+attracting the maiden's favourable attention. After an absence of many
+days, spent in this graceful and complimentary manner, Liao returned
+suddenly to the house of his father, and, prostrating his body before
+him, made a specific request for his assistance.
+
+"'As regards Ts'ain and myself,' he continued, 'all things are
+arranged, and but for the unfortunate coincidence of this person's
+poverty and of her father's cupidity, the details of the wedding
+ceremony would undoubtedly now be in a very advanced condition. Upon
+these entrancing and well-discussed plans, however, the shadow of the
+grasping and commonplace Ah-Ping has fallen like the inopportune
+opium-pipe from the mouth of a person examining substances of an
+explosive nature; for the one referred to demands a large and utterly
+unobtainable amount of taels before he will suffer his
+greatly-sought-after daughter to accept the gifts of irretrievable
+intention.'
+
+"'Grievous indeed is your plight,' replied Quen, when he thus
+understood the manner of obstacle which impeded his son's hopes; 'for
+in the nature of taels the most diverse men are to be measured through
+the same mesh. As the proverb says, "'All money is evil,' exclaimed
+the philosopher with extreme weariness, as he gathered up the gold
+pieces in exchange, but presently discovering that one among them was
+such indeed has he had described, he rushed forth without tarrying to
+take up a street garment; and with an entire absence of dignity
+traversed all the ways of the city in the hope of finding the one who
+had defrauded him." Well does this person know the mercenary Ah-Ping,
+and the unyielding nature of his closed hand; for often, but always
+fruitlessly, he has entered his presence on affairs connected with the
+erecting of certain temples. Nevertheless, the matter is one which
+does not admit of any incapable faltering, to which end this one will
+seek out the obdurate Ah-Ping without delay, and endeavour to entrap
+him by some means in the course of argument.'
+
+"From the time of his earliest youth Ah-Ping had unceasingly devoted
+himself to the object of getting together an overwhelming number of
+taels, using for this purpose various means which, without being
+really degrading or contrary to the written law, were not such as
+might have been cheerfully engaged in by a person of high-minded
+honourableness. In consequence of this, as he grew more feeble in
+body, and more venerable in appearance, he began to express frequent
+and bitter doubts as to whether his manner of life had been really
+well arranged; for, in spite of his great wealth, he had grown to
+adopt a most inexpensive habit on all occasions, having no desire to
+spend; and an ever-increasing apprehension began to possess him that
+after he had passed beyond, his sons would be very disinclined to
+sacrifice and burn money sufficient to keep him in an affluent
+condition in the Upper Air. In such a state of mind was Ah-Ping when
+Quen-Ki-Tong appeared before him, for it had just been revealed to him
+that his eldest and favourite son had, by flattery and by openly
+praising the dexterity with which he used his brush and ink, entrapped
+him into inscribing his entire name upon certain unwritten sheets of
+parchment, which the one in question immediately sold to such as were
+heavily indebted to Ah-Ping.
+
+"'If a person can be guilty of this really unfilial behaviour during
+the lifetime of his father,' exclaimed Ah-Ping, in a tone of
+unrestrained vexation, 'can it be prudently relied upon that he will
+carry out his wishes after death, when they involve the remitting to
+him of several thousand taels each year? O estimable Quen-Ki-Tong, how
+immeasurably superior is the celestial outlook upon which you may
+safely rely as your portion! When you are enjoying every variety of
+sumptuous profusion, as the reward of your untiring charitable
+exertions here on earth, the spirit of this short-sighted person will
+be engaged in doing menial servitude for the inferior deities, and
+perhaps scarcely able, even by those means, to clothe himself
+according to the changing nature of the seasons.'
+
+"'Yet,' replied Quen, 'the necessity for so laborious and
+unremunerative an existence may even now be averted by taking
+efficient precautions before you pass to the Upper Air.'
+
+"'In what way?' demanded Ah-Ping, with an awakening hope that the
+matter might not be entirely destitute of cheerfulness, yet at the
+same time preparing to examine with even unbecoming intrusiveness any
+expedient which Quen might lay before him. 'Is it not explicitly
+stated that sacrifices and acts of a like nature, when performed at
+the end of one's existence by a person who to that time has professed
+no sort of interest in such matters, shall in no degree be entered as
+to his good, but rather regarded as examples of deliberate
+presumptuousness, and made the excuse for subjecting him to more
+severe tortures and acts of penance than would be his portion if he
+neglected the custom altogether?'
+
+"'Undoubtedly such is the case,' replied Quen; 'and on that account it
+would indicate a most regrettable want of foresight for you to conduct
+your affairs in the manner indicated. The only undeniably safe course
+is for you to entrust the amount you will require to a person of
+exceptional piety, receiving in return his written word to repay the
+full sum whenever you shall claim it from him in the Upper Air. By
+this crafty method the amount will be placed at the disposal of the
+person in question as soon as he has passed beyond, and he will be
+held by his written word to return it to you whenever you shall demand
+it.'
+
+"So amiably impressed with this ingenious scheme was Ah-Ping that he
+would at once have entered more fully into the detail had the thought
+not arisen in his mind that the person before him was the father of
+Liao, who urgently required a certain large sum, and that for this
+reason he might with prudence inquire more fully into the matter
+elsewhere, in case Quen himself should have been imperceptibly led
+aside, even though he possessed intentions of a most unswerving
+honourableness. To this end, therefore, he desired to converse again
+with Quen on the matter, pleading that at that moment a gathering of
+those who direct enterprises of a commercial nature required his
+presence. Nevertheless, he would not permit the person referred to
+depart until he had complimented him, in both general and specific
+terms, on the high character of his life and actions, and the
+intelligent nature of his understanding, which had enabled him with so
+little mental exertion to discover an efficient plan.
+
+"Without delay Ah-Ping sought out those most skilled in all varieties
+of law-forms, in extorting money by devices capable of very different
+meanings, and in expedients for evading just debts; but all agreed
+that such an arrangement as the one he put before them would be
+unavoidably binding, provided the person who received the money
+alluded to spent it in the exercise of his charitable desires, and
+provided also that the written agreement bore the duty seal of the
+high ones at Peking, and was deposited in the coffin of the lender.
+Fully satisfied, and rejoicing greatly that he could in this way
+adequately provide for his future and entrap the avaricious ones of
+his house, Ah-Ping collected together the greater part of his
+possessions, and converting it into pieces of gold, entrusted them to
+Quen on the exact understanding that has already been described, he
+receiving in turn Quen's written and thumb-signed paper of repayment,
+and his assurance that the whole amount should be expended upon the
+silver-paper and gold-leaf Temple with which he was still engaged.
+
+"It is owing to this circumstance that Quen-Ki-Tong's irreproachable
+name has come to be lightly regarded by many who may be fitly likened
+to the latter person in the subtle and experienced proverb, 'The wise
+man's eyes fell before the gaze of the fool, fearing that if he looked
+he must cry aloud, "Thou hopeless one!" "There," said the fool to
+himself, "behold this person's power!"' These badly educated and
+undiscriminating persons, being entirely unable to explain the ensuing
+train of events, unhesitatingly declare that Quen-Ki-Tong applied a
+portion of the money which he had received from Ah-Ping in the manner
+described to the object of acquiring Ts'ain for his son Liao. In this
+feeble and incapable fashion they endeavour to stigmatize the
+pure-minded Quen as one who acted directly contrary to his
+deliberately spoken word, whereas the desired result was brought about
+in a much more artful manner; they describe the commercially
+successful Ah-Ping as a person of very inferior prudence, and one
+easily imposed upon; while they entirely pass over, as a detail
+outside the true facts, the written paper preserved among the sacred
+relics in the Temple, which announces, among other gifts of a small
+and uninviting character, 'Thirty thousand taels from an elderly
+ginseng merchant of Lu-kwo, who desires to remain nameless, through
+the hand of Quen-Ki-Tong.' The full happening in its real and harmless
+face is now set forth for the first time.
+
+"Some weeks after the recorded arrangement had been arrived at by
+Ah-Ping and Quen, when the taels in question had been expended upon
+the Temple and were, therefore, infallibly beyond recall, the former
+person chanced to be passing through the public garden in Lu-kwo when
+he heard a voice lifted up in the expression of every unendurable
+feeling of dejection to which one can give utterance. Stepping aside
+to learn the cause of so unprepossessing a display of unrestrained
+agitation, and in the hope that perhaps he might be able to use the
+incident in a remunerative manner, Ah-Ping quickly discovered the
+unhappy being who, entirely regardless of the embroidered silk robe
+which he wore, reclined upon a raised bank of uninviting earth, and
+waved his hands from side to side as his internal emotions urged him.
+
+"'Quen-Ki-Tong!' exclaimed Ah-Ping, not fully convinced that the fact
+was as he stated it in spite of the image clearly impressed upon his
+imagination; 'to what unpropitious occurrence is so unlooked-for an
+exhibition due? Are those who traffic in gold-leaf demanding a high
+and prohibitive price for that commodity, or has some evil and
+vindicative spirit taken up its abode within the completed portion of
+the Temple, and by its offensive but nevertheless diverting remarks
+and actions removed all semblance of gravity from the countenances of
+those who daily come to admire the construction?'
+
+"'O thrice unfortunate Ah-Ping,' replied Quen when he observed the
+distinguishing marks of the person before him, 'scarcely can this
+greatly overwhelmed one raise his eyes to your open and intelligent
+countenance; for through him you are on the point of experiencing a
+very severe financial blow, and it is, indeed, on your account more
+than on his own that he is now indulging in these outward signs of a
+grief too far down to be expressed in spoken words.' And at the memory
+of his former occupation, Quen again waved his arms from side to side
+with untiring assiduousness.
+
+"'Strange indeed to this person's ears are your words,' said Ah-Ping,
+outwardly unmoved, but with an apprehensive internal pain that he
+would have regarded Quen's display of emotion with an easier stomach
+if his own taels were safely concealed under the floor of his inner
+chamber. 'The sum which this one entrusted to you has, without any
+pretence been expended upon the Temple, while the written paper
+concerning the repayment bears the duty seal of the high ones at
+Peking. How, then, can Ah-Ping suffer a loss at the hands of
+Quen-Ki-Tong?'
+
+"'Ah-Ping,' said Quen, with every appearance of desiring that both
+persons should regard the matter in a conciliatory spirit, 'do not
+permit the awaiting demons, which are ever on the alert to enter into
+a person's mind when he becomes distressed out of the common order of
+events, to take possession of your usually discriminating faculties
+until you have fully understood how this affair has come about. It is
+no unknown thing for a person of even exceptional intelligence to
+reverse his entire manner of living towards the end of a long and
+consistent existence; the far-seeing and not lightly-moved Ah-Ping
+himself has already done so. In a similar, but entirely contrary
+manner, the person who is now before you finds himself impelled
+towards that which will certainly bear a very unpresentable face when
+the circumstances become known; yet by no other means is he capable of
+attaining his greatly-desired object.'
+
+"'And to what end does that trend?' demanded Ah-Ping, in no degree
+understanding how the matter affected him.
+
+"'While occupied with enterprises which those of an engaging and
+complimentary nature are accustomed to refer to as charitable, this
+person has almost entirely neglected a duty of scarcely less
+importance--that of establishing an unending line, through which his
+name and actions shall be kept alive to all time,' replied Quen.
+'Having now inquired into the matter, he finds that his only son,
+through whom alone the desired result can be obtained, has become
+unbearably attached to a maiden for whom a very large sum is demanded
+in exchange. The thought of obtaining no advantage from an entire life
+of self-denial is certainly unprepossessing in the extreme, but so,
+even to a more advanced degree, is the certainty that otherwise the
+family monuments will be untended, and the temple of domestic virtues
+become an early ruin. This person has submitted the dilemma to the
+test of omens, and after considering well the reply, he has decided to
+obtain the price of the maiden in a not very honourable manner, which
+now presents itself, so that Liao may send out his silk-bound gifts
+without delay.'
+
+"'It is an unalluring alternative,' said Ah-Ping, whose only inside
+thought was one of gratification that the exchange money for Ts'ain
+would so soon be in his possession, 'yet this person fails to perceive
+how you could act otherwise after the decision of the omens. He now
+understands, moreover, that the loss you referred to on his part was
+in the nature of a figure of speech, as one makes use of thunderbolts
+and delicately-scented flowers to convey ideas of harsh and amiable
+passions, and alluded in reality to the forthcoming departure of his
+daughter, who is, as you so versatilely suggested, the comfort and
+riches of his old age.'
+
+"'O venerable, but at this moment somewhat obtuse, Ah-Ping,' cried
+Quen, with a recurrence to his former method of expressing his
+unfeigned agitation, 'is your evenly-balanced mind unable to grasp the
+essential fact of how this person's contemplated action will affect
+your own celestial condition? It is a distressing but entirely
+unavoidable fact, that if this person acts in the manner which he has
+determined upon, he will be condemned to the lowest place of torment
+reserved for those who fail at the end of an otherwise pure existence,
+and in this he will never have an opportunity of meeting the very much
+higher placed Ah-Ping, and of restoring to him the thirty-thousand
+taels as agreed upon.'
+
+"At these ill-destined words, all power of rigidness departed from
+Ah-Ping's limbs, and he sank down upon the forbidding earth by Quen's
+side.
+
+"'O most unfortunate one who is now speaking,' he exclaimed, when at
+length his guarding spirit deemed it prudent to restore his power of
+expressing himself in words, 'happy indeed would have been your lot
+had you been content to traffic in ginseng and other commodities of
+which you have actual knowledge. O amiable Quen, this matter must be
+in some way arranged without causing you to deviate from the
+entrancing paths of your habitual virtue. Could not the very
+reasonable Liao be induced to look favourably upon the attractions of
+some low-priced maiden, in which case this not really hard-stomached
+person would be willing to advance the necessary amount, until such
+time as it could be restored, at a very low and unremunerative rate of
+interest?'
+
+"'This person has observed every variety of practical humility in the
+course of his life,' replied Quen with commendable dignity, 'yet he
+now finds himself totally unable to overcome an inward repugnance to
+the thought of perpetuating his honoured name and race through the
+medium of any low-priced maiden. To this end has he decided.'
+
+"Those who were well acquainted with Ah-Ping in matters of commerce
+did not hesitate to declare that his great wealth had been acquired by
+his consistent habit of forming an opinion quickly while others
+hesitated. On the occasion in question he only engaged his mind with
+the opposing circumstances for a few moments before he definitely
+fixed upon the course which he should pursue.
+
+"'Quen-Ki-Tong,' he said, with an evident intermingling of many very
+conflicting emotions, 'retain to the end this well-merited reputation
+for unaffected honourableness which you have so fittingly earned. Few
+in the entire Empire, with powers so versatilely pointing to an
+eminent position in any chosen direction, would have been content to
+pass their lives in an unremunerative existence devoted to actions of
+charity. Had you selected an entirely different manner of living, this
+person has every confidence that he, and many others in Lu-kwo, would
+by this time be experiencing a very ignoble poverty. For this reason
+he will make it his most prominent ambition to hasten the realization
+of the amiable hopes expressed both by Liao and by Ts'ain, concerning
+their future relationship. In this, indeed, he himself will be more
+than exceptionally fortunate should the former one prove to possess
+even a portion of the clear-sighted sagaciousness exhibited by his
+engaging father.'
+
+           "VERSES COMPOSED BY A MUSICIAN OF LU-KWO, ON THE
+                 OCCASION OF THE WEDDING CEREMONY OF
+                           LIAO AND TS'AIN
+
+  "Bright hued is the morning, the dark clouds have fallen;
+  At the mere waving of Quen's virtuous hands they melted away.
+  Happy is Liao in the possession of so accomplished a parent,
+  Happy also is Quen to have so discriminating a son.
+
+  "The two persons in question sit, side by side, upon an
+      embroidered couch,
+  Listening to the well-expressed compliments of those who pass to
+      and fro.
+  From time to time their eyes meet, and glances of a very
+      significant amusement pass between them;
+  Can it be that on so ceremonious an occasion they are recalling
+      events of a gravity-removing nature?
+
+  "The gentle and rainbow-like Ts'ain has already arrived,
+  With the graceful motion of a silver carp gliding through a screen
+      of rushes, she moves among those who are assembled.
+  On the brow of her somewhat contentious father there rests the
+      shadow of an ill-repressed sorrow;
+  Doubtless the frequently-misjudged Ah-Ping is thinking of his
+      lonely hearth, now that he is for ever parted from that which
+      he holds most precious.
+
+  "In the most commodious chamber of the house the elegant
+      wedding-gifts are conspicuously displayed; let us stand beside
+      the one which we have contributed, and point out its
+      excellence to those who pass by.
+  Surely the time cannot be far distant when the sound of many gongs
+      will announce that the very desirable repast is at length to
+      be partaken of."
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII
+
+               THE VISION OF YIN, THE SON OF YAT HUANG
+
+When Yin, the son of Yat Huang, had passed beyond the years assigned
+to the pursuit of boyhood, he was placed in the care of the hunchback
+Quang, so that he might be fully instructed in the management of the
+various weapons used in warfare, and also in the art of stratagem, by
+which a skilful leader is often enabled to conquer when opposed to an
+otherwise overwhelming multitude. In all these accomplishments Quang
+excelled to an exceptional degree; for although unprepossessing in
+appearance he united matchless strength to an untiring subtlety. No
+other person in the entire Province of Kiang-si could hurl a javelin
+so unerringly while uttering sounds of terrifying menace, or could
+cause his sword to revolve around him so rapidly, while his face
+looked out from the glittering circles with an expression of
+ill-intentioned malignity that never failed to inspire his adversary
+with irrepressible emotions of alarm. No other person could so
+successfully feign to be devoid of life for almost any length of time,
+or by his manner of behaving create the fixed impression that he was
+one of insufficient understanding, and therefore harmless. It was for
+these reasons that Quang was chosen as the instructor of Yin by Yat
+Huang, who, without possessing any official degree, was a person to
+whom marks of obeisance were paid not only within his own town, but
+for a distance of many li around it.
+
+At length the time arrived when Yin would in the ordinary course of
+events pass from the instructorship of Quang in order to devote
+himself to the commerce in which his father was engaged, and from time
+to time the unavoidable thought arose persistently within his mind
+that although Yat Huang doubtless knew better than he did what the
+circumstances of the future required, yet his manner of life for the
+past years was not such that he could contemplate engaging in the
+occupation of buying and selling porcelain clay with feelings of an
+overwhelming interest. Quang, however, maintained with every
+manifestation of inspired assurance that Yat Huang was to be commended
+down to the smallest detail, inasmuch as proficiency in the use of
+both blunt and sharp-edged weapons, and a faculty for passing
+undetected through the midst of an encamped body of foemen, fitted a
+person for the every-day affairs of life above all other
+accomplishments.
+
+"Without doubt the very accomplished Yat Huan is well advised on this
+point," continued Quang, "for even this mentally short-sighted person
+can call up within his understanding numerous specific incidents in
+the ordinary career of one engaged in the commerce of porcelain clay
+when such attainments would be of great remunerative benefit. Does the
+well-endowed Yin think, for example, that even the most depraved
+person would endeavour to gain an advantage over him in the matter of
+buying or selling porcelain clay if he fully understood the fact that
+the one with whom he was trafficking could unhesitatingly transfix
+four persons with one arrow at the distance of a hundred paces? Or to
+what advantage would it be that a body of unscrupulous outcasts who
+owned a field of inferior clay should surround it with drawn swords by
+day and night, endeavouring meanwhile to dispose of it as material of
+the finest quality, if the one whom they endeavoured to ensnare in
+this manner possessed the power of being able to pass through their
+ranks unseen and examine the clay at his leisure?"
+
+"In the cases to which reference has been made, the possession of
+those qualities would undoubtedly be of considerable use," admitted
+Yin; yet, in spite of his entire ignorance of commercial matters, this
+one has a confident feeling that it would be more profitable to avoid
+such very doubtful forms of barter altogether rather than spend eight
+years in acquiring the arts by which to defeat them. "That, however,
+is a question which concerns this person's virtuous and engaging
+father more than his unworthy self, and his only regret is that no
+opportunity has offered by which he might prove that he has applied
+himself diligently to your instruction and example, O amiable Quang."
+
+It had long been a regret to Quang also that no incident of a
+disturbing nature had arisen whereby Yin could have shown himself
+proficient in the methods of defence and attack which he had taught
+him. This deficiency he had endeavoured to overcome, as far as
+possible, by constructing life-like models of all the most powerful
+and ferocious types of warriors and the fiercest and most relentless
+animals of the forest, so that Yin might become familiar with their
+appearance and discover in what manner each could be the most
+expeditiously engaged.
+
+"Nevertheless," remarked Quang, on an occasion when Yin appeared to be
+covered with honourable pride at having approached an unusually large
+and repulsive-looking tiger so stealthily that had the animal been
+really alive it would certainly have failed to perceive him, "such
+accomplishments are by no means to be regarded as conclusive in
+themselves. To steal insidiously upon a destructively-included wild
+beast and transfix it with one well-directed blow of a spear is
+attended by difficulties and emotions which are entirely absent in the
+case of a wickerwork animal covered with canvas-cloth, no matter how
+deceptive in appearance the latter may be."
+
+To afford Yin a more trustworthy example of how he should engage with
+an adversary of formidable proportions, Quang resolved upon an
+ingenious plan. Procuring the skin of a grey wolf, he concealed
+himself within it, and in the early morning, while the mist-damp was
+still upon the ground, he set forth to meet Yin, who had on a previous
+occasion spoken to him of his intention to be at a certain spot at
+such an hour. In this conscientious enterprise, the painstaking Quang
+would doubtless have been successful, and Yin gained an assured
+proficiency and experience, had it not chanced that on the journey
+Quang encountered a labourer of low caste who was crossing the
+enclosed ground on his way to the rice field in which he worked. This
+contemptible and inopportune person, not having at any period of his
+existence perfected himself in the recognized and elegant methods of
+attack and defence, did not act in the manner which would assuredly
+have been adopted by Yin in similar circumstances, and for which Quang
+would have been fully prepared. On the contrary, without the least
+indication of what his intention was, he suddenly struck Quang, who
+was hesitating for a moment what action to take, a most intolerable
+blow with a formidable staff which he carried. The stroke in question
+inflicted itself upon Quang upon that part of the body where the head
+becomes connected with the neck, and would certainly have been
+followed by others of equal force and precision had not Quang in the
+meantime decided that the most dignified course for him to adopt would
+be to disclose his name and titles without delay. Upon learning these
+facts, the one who stood before him became very grossly and
+offensively amused, and having taken from Quang everything of value
+which he carried among his garments, went on his way, leaving Yin's
+instructor to retrace his steps in unendurable dejection, as he then
+found that he possessed no further interest whatever in the
+undertaking.
+
+When Yat Huang was satisfied that his son was sufficiently skilled in
+the various arts of warfare, he called him to his inner chamber, and
+having barred the door securely, he placed Yin under a very binding
+oath not to reveal, until an appointed period, the matter which he was
+going to put before him.
+
+"From father to son, in unbroken line for ten generations, has such a
+custom been observed," he said, "for the course of events is not to be
+lightly entered upon. At the commencement of that cycle, which period
+is now fully fifteen score years ago, a very wise person chanced to
+incur the displeasure of the Emperor of that time, and being in
+consequence driven out of the capital, he fled to the mountains. There
+his subtle discernment and the pure and solitary existence which he
+led resulted in his becoming endowed with faculties beyond those
+possessed by ordinary beings. When he felt the end of his earthly
+career to be at hand he descended into the plain, where, in a state of
+great destitution and bodily anguish, he was discovered by the one
+whom this person has referred to as the first of the line of
+ancestors. In return for the care and hospitality with which he was
+unhesitatingly received, the admittedly inspired hermit spent the
+remainder of his days in determining the destinies of his rescuer's
+family and posterity. It is an undoubted fact that he predicted how
+one would, by well-directed enterprise and adventure, rise to a
+position of such eminence in the land that he counselled the details
+to be kept secret, lest the envy and hostility of the ambitious and
+unworthy should be raised. From this cause it has been customary to
+reveal the matter fully from father to son, at stated periods, and the
+setting out of the particulars in written words has been severely
+discouraged. Wise as this precaution certainly was, it has resulted in
+a very inconvenient state of things; for a remote ancestor--the fifth
+in line from the beginning--experienced such vicissitudes that he
+returned from his travels in a state of most abandoned idiocy, and
+when the time arrived that he should, in turn, communicate to his son,
+he was only able to repeat over and over again the name of the pious
+hermit to whom the family was so greatly indebted, coupling it each
+time with a new and markedly offensive epithet. The essential details
+of the undertaking having in this manner passed beyond recall,
+succeeding generations, which were merely acquainted with the fact
+that a very prosperous future awaited the one who fulfilled the
+conditions, have in vain attempted to conform to them. It is not an
+alluring undertaking, inasmuch as nothing of the method to be pursued
+can be learned, except that it was the custom of the early ones, who
+held the full knowledge, to set out from home and return after a
+period of years. Yet so clearly expressed was the prophecy, and so
+great the reward of the successful, that all have eagerly journeyed
+forth when the time came, knowing nothing beyond that which this
+person has now unfolded to you."
+
+When Yat Huang reached the end of the matter which it was his duty to
+disclose, Yin for some time pondered the circumstances before
+replying. In spite of a most engaging reverence for everything of a
+sacred nature, he could not consider the inspired remark of the
+well-intentioned hermit without feelings of a most persistent doubt,
+for it occurred to him that if the person in question had really been
+as wise as he was represented to be, he might reasonably have been
+expected to avoid the unaccountable error of offending the enlightened
+and powerful Emperor under whom he lived. Nevertheless, the prospect
+of engaging in the trade of porcelain clay was less attractive in his
+eyes than that of setting forth upon a journey of adventure, so that
+at length he expressed his willingness to act after the manner of
+those who had gone before him.
+
+This decision was received by Yat Huang with an equal intermingling of
+the feelings of delight and concern, for although he would have by no
+means pleasurably contemplated Yin breaking through a venerable and
+esteemed custom, he was unable to put entirely from him the thought of
+the degrading fate which had overtaken the fifth in line who made the
+venture. It was, indeed, to guard Yin as much as possible against the
+dangers to which he would become exposed, if he determined on the
+expedition, that the entire course of his training had been selected.
+In order that no precaution of a propitious nature should be
+neglected, Yat Huang at once despatched written words of welcome to
+all with whom he was acquainted, bidding them partake of a great
+banquet which he was preparing to mark the occasion of his son's
+leave-taking. Every variety of sacrifice was offered up to the
+controlling deities, both good and bad; the ten ancestors were
+continuously exhorted to take Yin under their special protection, and
+sets of verses recording his virtues and ambitions were freely
+distributed among the necessitous and low-caste who could not be
+received at the feast.
+
+The dinner itself exceeded in magnificence any similar event that had
+ever taken place in Ching-toi. So great was the polished ceremony
+observed on the occasion, that each guest had half a score of cups of
+the finest apricot-tea successively placed before him and taken away
+untasted, while Yat Huang went to each in turn protesting vehemently
+that the honour of covering such pure-minded and distinguished persons
+was more than his badly designed roof could reasonably bear, and
+wittingly giving an entrancing air of reality to the spoken compliment
+by begging them to move somewhat to one side so that they might escape
+the heavy central beam if the event which he alluded to chanced to
+take place. After several hours had been spent in this congenial
+occupation, Yat Huang proceeded to read aloud several of the sixteen
+discourses on education which, taken together, form the discriminating
+and infallible example of conduct known as the Holy Edict. As each
+detail was dwelt upon Yin arose from his couch and gave his deliberate
+testimony that all the required tests and rites had been observed in
+his own case. The first part of the repast was then partaken of, the
+nature of the ingredients and the manner of preparing them being fully
+explained, and in a like manner through each succeeding one of the
+four-and-forty courses. At the conclusion Yin again arose, being
+encouraged by the repeated uttering of his name by those present, and
+with extreme modesty and brilliance set forth his manner of thinking
+concerning all subjects with which he was acquainted.
+
+Early on the morning of the following day Yin set out on his travels,
+entirely unaccompanied, and carrying with him nothing beyond a sum of
+money, a silk robe, and a well-tried and reliable spear. For many days
+he journeyed in a northerly direction, without encountering anything
+sufficiently unusual to engage his attention. This, however, was
+doubtless part of a pre-arranged scheme so that he should not be drawn
+from a destined path, for at a small village lying on the southern
+shore of a large lake, called by those around Silent Water, he heard
+of the existence of a certain sacred island, distant a full day's
+sailing, which was barren of all forms of living things, and contained
+only a single gigantic rock of divine origin and majestic appearance.
+Many persons, the villagers asserted, had sailed to the island in the
+hope of learning the portent of the rock, but none ever returned, and
+they themselves avoided coming even within sight of it; for the sacred
+stone, they declared, exercised an evil influence over their ships,
+and would, if permitted, draw them out of their course and towards
+itself. For this reason Yin could find no guide, whatever reward he
+offered, who would accompany him; but having with difficulty succeeded
+in hiring a small boat of inconsiderable value, he embarked with food,
+incense, and materials for building fires, and after rowing
+consistently for nearly the whole of the day, came within sight of the
+island at evening. Thereafter the necessity of further exertion
+ceased, for, as they of the village had declared would be the case,
+the vessel moved gently forward, in an unswerving line, without being
+in any way propelled, and reaching its destination in a marvellously
+short space of time, passed behind a protecting spur of land and came
+to rest. It then being night, Yin did no more than carry his stores to
+a place of safety, and after lighting a sacrificial fire and
+prostrating himself before the rock, passed into the Middle Air.
+
+In the morning Yin's spirit came back to the earth amid the sound of
+music of a celestial origin, which ceased immediately he recovered
+full consciousness. Accepting this manifestation as an omen of Divine
+favour, Yin journeyed towards the centre of the island where the rock
+stood, at every step passing the bones of innumerable ones who had
+come on a similar quest to his, and perished. Many of these had left
+behind them inscriptions on wood or bone testifying their deliberate
+opinion of the sacred rock, the island, their protecting deities, and
+the entire train of circumstances, which had resulted in their being
+in such a condition. These were for the most part of a maledictory and
+unencouraging nature, so that after reading a few, Yin endeavoured to
+pass without being in any degree influenced by such ill-judged
+outbursts.
+
+"Accursed be the ancestors of this tormented one to four generations
+back!" was prominently traced upon an unusually large shoulder-blade.
+"May they at this moment be simmering in a vat of unrefined dragon's
+blood, as a reward for having so undiscriminatingly reared the person
+who inscribes these words only to attain this end!" "Be warned, O
+later one, by the signs around!" Another and more practical-minded
+person had written: "Retreat with all haste to your vessel, and escape
+while there is yet time. Should you, by chance, again reach land
+through this warning, do not neglect, out of an emotion of gratitude,
+to burn an appropriate amount of sacrifice paper for the lessening of
+the torments of the spirit of Li-Kao," to which an unscrupulous one,
+who was plainly desirous of sharing in the benefit of the requested
+sacrifice, without suffering the exertion of inscribing a warning
+after the amiable manner of Li-Kao, had added the words, "and that of
+Huan Sin."
+
+Halting at a convenient distance from one side of the rock which,
+without being carved by any person's hand, naturally resembled the
+symmetrical countenance of a recumbent dragon (which he therefore
+conjectured to be the chief point of the entire mass), Yin built his
+fire and began an unremitting course of sacrifice and respectful
+ceremony. This manner of conduct he observed conscientiously for the
+space of seven days. Towards the end of that period a feeling of
+unendurable dejection began to possess him, for his stores of all
+kinds were beginning to fail, and he could not entirely put behind him
+the memory of the various well-intentioned warnings which he had
+received, or the sight of the fleshless ones who had lined his path.
+On the eighth day, being weak with hunger and, by reason of an
+intolerable thirst, unable to restrain his body any longer in the spot
+where he had hitherto continuously prostrated himself nine-and-ninety
+times each hour without ceasing, he rose to his feet and retraced his
+steps to the boat in order that he might fill his water-skins and
+procure a further supply of food.
+
+With a complicated emotion, in which was present every abandoned and
+disagreeable thought to which a person becomes a prey in moments of
+exceptional mental and bodily anguish, he perceived as soon as he
+reached the edge of the water that the boat, upon which he was
+confidently relying to carry him back when all else failed, had
+disappeared as entirely as the smoke from an extinguished opium pipe.
+At this sight Yin clearly understood the meaning of Li-Kao's
+unregarded warning, and recognized that nothing could now save him
+from adding his incorruptible parts to those of the unfortunate ones
+whose unhappy fate had, seven days ago, engaged his refined pity.
+Unaccountably strengthened in body by the indignation which possessed
+him, and inspired with a virtuous repulsion at the treacherous manner
+of behaving on the part of those who guided his destinies, he hastened
+back to his place of obeisance, and perceiving that the habitually
+placid and introspective expression on the dragon face had
+imperceptibly changed into one of offensive cunning and unconcealed
+contempt, he snatched up his spear and, without the consideration of a
+moment, hurled it at a score of paces distance full into the sacred
+but nevertheless very unprepossessing face before him.
+
+At the instant when the presumptuous weapon touched the holy stone the
+entire intervening space between the earth and the sky was filled with
+innumerable flashes of forked and many-tongued lightning, so that the
+island had the appearance of being the scene of a very extensive but
+somewhat badly-arranged display of costly fireworks. At the same time
+the thunder rolled among the clouds and beneath the sea in an
+exceedingly disconcerting manner. At the first indication of these
+celestial movements a sudden blindness came upon Yin, and all power of
+thought or movement forsook him; nevertheless, he experienced an
+emotion of flight through the air, as though borne upwards upon the
+back of a winged creature. When this emotion ceased, the blindness
+went from him as suddenly and entirely as if a cloth had been pulled
+away from his eyes, and he perceived that he was held in the midst of
+a boundless space, with no other object in view than the sacred rock,
+which had opened, as it were, revealing a mighty throng within, at the
+sight of whom Yin's internal organs trembled as they would never have
+moved at ordinary danger, for it was put into his spirit that these in
+whose presence he stood were the sacred Emperors of his country from
+the earliest time until the usurpation of the Chinese throne by the
+devouring Tartar hordes from the North.
+
+As Yin gazed in fear-stricken amazement, a knowledge of the various
+Pure Ones who composed the assembly came upon him. He understood that
+the three unclad and commanding figures which stood together were the
+Emperors of the Heaven, Earth, and Man, whose reigns covered a space
+of more than eighty thousand years, commencing from the time when the
+world began its span of existence. Next to them stood one wearing a
+robe of leopard-skin, his hand resting upon a staff of a massive club,
+while on his face the expression of tranquillity which marked his
+predecessors had changed into one of alert wakefulness; it was the
+Emperor of Houses, whose reign marked the opening of the never-ending
+strife between man and all other creatures. By his side stood his
+successor, the Emperor of Fire, holding in his right hand the emblem
+of the knotted cord, by which he taught man to cultivate his mental
+faculties, while from his mouth issued smoke and flame, signifying
+that by the introduction of fire he had raised his subjects to a state
+of civilized life.
+
+On the other side of the boundless chamber which seemed to be
+contained within the rocks were Fou-Hy, Tchang-Ki, Tcheng-Nung, and
+Huang, standing or reclining together. The first of these framed the
+calendar, organized property, thought out the eight Essential
+Diagrams, encouraged the various branches of hunting, and the rearing
+of domestic animals, and instituted marriage. From his couch floated
+melodious sounds in remembrance of his discovery of the property of
+stringed woods. Tchang-Ki, who manifested the property of herbs and
+growing plants, wore a robe signifying his attainments by means of
+embroidered symbols. His hand rested on the head of the dragon, while
+at his feet flowed a bottomless canal of the purest water. The
+discovery of written letters by Tcheng-Nung, and his ingenious plan of
+grouping them after the manner of the constellations of stars, was
+emblemized in a similar manner, while Huang, or the Yellow Emperor,
+was surrounded by ores of the useful and precious metals, weapons of
+warfare, written books, silks and articles of attire, coined money,
+and a variety of objects, all testifying to his ingenuity and inspired
+energy.
+
+These illustrious ones, being the greatest, were the first to take
+Yin's attention, but beyond them he beheld an innumerable concourse of
+Emperors who not infrequently outshone their majestic predecessors in
+the richness of their apparel and the magnificence of the jewels which
+they wore. There Yin perceived Hung-Hoang, who first caused the chants
+to be collected, and other rulers of the Tcheon dynasty; Yong-Tching,
+who compiled the Holy Edict; Thang rulers whose line is rightly called
+"the golden," from the unsurpassed excellence of the composed verses
+which it produced; renowned Emperors of the versatile Han dynasty;
+and, standing apart, and shunned by all, the malignant and
+narrow-minded Tsing-Su-Hoang, who caused the Sacred Books to be
+burned.
+
+Even while Yin looked and wondered, in great fear, a rolling voice,
+coming from one who sat in the midst of all, holding in his right hand
+the sun, and in his left the moon, sounded forth, like the music of
+many brass instruments playing in unison. It was the First Man who
+spoke.
+
+"Yin, son of Yat Huang, and creature of the Lower Part," he said,
+"listen well to the words I speak, for brief is the span of your
+tarrying in the Upper Air, nor will the utterance I now give forth
+ever come unto your ears again, either on the earth, or when, blindly
+groping in the Middle Distance, your spirit takes its nightly flight.
+They who are gathered around, and whose voices I speak, bid me say
+this: Although immeasurably above you in all matters, both of
+knowledge and of power, yet we greet you as one who is
+well-intentioned, and inspired with honourable ambition. Had you been
+content to entreat and despair, as did all the feeble and incapable
+ones whose white bones formed your pathway, your ultimate fate would
+have in no wise differed from theirs. But inasmuch as you held
+yourself valiantly, and, being taken, raised an instinctive hand in
+return, you have been chosen; for the day to mute submission has, for
+the time or for ever, passed away, and the hour is when China shall be
+saved, not by supplication, but by the spear."
+
+"A state of things which would have been highly unnecessary if I had
+been permitted to carry out my intention fully, and restore man to his
+prehistoric simplicity," interrupted Tsin-Su-Hoang. "For that reason,
+when the voice of the assemblage expresses itself, it must be
+understood that it represents in no measure the views of
+Tsin-Su-Hoang."
+
+"In the matter of what has gone before, and that which will follow
+hereafter," continued the Voice dispassionately, "Yin, the son of
+Yat-Huang, must concede that it is in no part the utterance of
+Tsin-Su-Hoang--Tsin-Su-Hoang who burned the Sacred Books."
+
+At the mention of the name and offence of this degraded being a great
+sound went up from the entire multitude--a universal cry of
+execration, not greatly dissimilar from that which may be frequently
+heard in the crowded Temple of Impartiality when the one whose duty it
+is to take up, at a venture, the folded papers, announces that the
+sublime Emperor, or some mandarin of exalted rank, has been so
+fortunate as to hold the winning number in the Annual State Lottery.
+So vengeance-laden and mournful was the combined and evidently
+preconcerted wail, that Yin was compelled to shield his ears against
+it; yet the inconsiderable Tsin-Su-Hoang, on whose account it was
+raised, seemed in no degree to be affected by it, he, doubtless,
+having become hardened by hearing a similar outburst, at fixed hours,
+throughout interminable cycles of time.
+
+When the last echo of the cry had passed away the Voice continued to
+speak.
+
+"Soon the earth will again receive you, Yin," it said, "for it is not
+respectful that a lower one should be long permitted to gaze upon our
+exalted faces. Yet when you go forth and stand once more among men
+this is laid on you: that henceforth you are as a being devoted to a
+fixed and unchanging end, and whatever moves towards the restoring of
+the throne of the Central Empire the outcast but unalterably sacred
+line of its true sovereigns shall have your arm and mind. By what
+combination of force and stratagem this can be accomplished may not be
+honourably revealed by us, the all-knowing. Nevertheless, omens and
+guidance shall not be lacking from time to time, and from the
+beginning the weapon by which you have attained to this distinction
+shall be as a sign of our favour and protection over you."
+
+When the Voice made an end of speaking the sudden blindness came upon
+Yin, as it had done before, and from the sense of motion which he
+experienced, he conjectured that he was being conveyed back to the
+island. Undoubtedly this was the case, for presently there came upon
+him the feeling that he was awakening from a deep and refreshing
+sleep, and opening his eyes, which he now found himself able to do
+without any difficulty, he immediately discovered that he was
+reclining at full length on the ground, and at a distance of about a
+score of paces from the dragon head. His first thought was to engage
+in a lengthy course of self-abasement before it, but remembering the
+words which had been spoken to him while in the Upper Air, he
+refrained, and even ventured to go forward with a confident but
+somewhat self-deprecatory air, to regain the spear, which he perceived
+lying at the foot of the rock. With feelings of a reassuring nature he
+then saw that the very undesirable expression which he had last beheld
+upon the dragon face had melted into one of encouraging urbanity and
+benignant esteem.
+
+Close by the place where he had landed he discovered his boat, newly
+furnished with wine and food of a much more attractive profusion than
+that which he had purchased in the village. Embarking in it, he made
+as though he would have returned to the south, but the spear which he
+held turned within his grasp, and pointed in an exactly opposite
+direction. Regarding this fact as an express command on the part of
+the Deities, Yin turned his boat to the north, and in the space of two
+days' time--being continually guided by the fixed indication of the
+spear--he reached the shore and prepared to continue his travels in
+the same direction, upheld and inspired by the knowledge that
+henceforth he moved under the direct influence of very powerful
+spirits.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX
+
+       THE ILL-REGULATED DESTINY OF KIN YEN, THE PICTURE-MAKER
+
+  As recorded by himself before his sudden departure from Peking,
+  owing to circumstances which are made plain in the following
+  narrative.
+
+There are moments in the life of a person when the saying of the wise
+Ni-Hyu that "Misfortune comes to all men and to most women" is endowed
+with double force. At such times the faithful child of the Sun is a
+prey to the whitest and most funereal thoughts, and even the inspired
+wisdom of his illustrious ancestors seems more than doubtful, while
+the continued inactivity of the Sacred Dragon appears for the time to
+give colour to the scoffs of the Western barbarian. A little while ago
+these misgivings would have found no resting-place in the bosom of the
+writer. Now, however--but the matter must be made clear from the
+beginning.
+
+The name of the despicable person who here sets forth his immature
+story is Kin Yen, and he is a native of Kia-Lu in the Province of
+Che-Kiang. Having purchased from a very aged man the position of
+Hereditary Instructor in the Art of Drawing Birds and Flowers, he gave
+lessons in these accomplishments until he had saved sufficient money
+to journey to Peking. Here it was his presumptuous intention to learn
+the art of drawing figures in order that he might illustrate printed
+leaves of a more distinguished class than those which would accept
+what true politeness compels him to call his exceedingly unsymmetrical
+pictures of birds and flowers. Accordingly, when the time arrived, he
+disposed of his Hereditary Instructorship, having first ascertained in
+the interests of his pupils that his successor was a person of refined
+morals and great filial piety.
+
+Alas! it is well written, "The road to eminence lies through the cheap
+and exceedingly uninviting eating-houses." In spite of this person's
+great economy, and of his having begged his way from Kia-Lu to Peking
+in the guise of a pilgrim, journeying to burn incense in the sacred
+Temple of Truth near that city, when once within the latter place his
+taels melted away like the smile of a person of low class when he
+discovers that the mandarin's stern words were not intended as a jest.
+Moreover, he found that the story-makers of Peking, receiving higher
+rewards than those at Kia-Lu, considered themselves bound to introduce
+living characters into all their tales, and in consequence the very
+ornamental drawings of birds and flowers which he had entwined into a
+legend entitled "The Last Fight of the Heaven-sent Tcheng"--a story
+which had been entrusted to him for illustration as a test of his
+skill--was returned to him with a communication in which the writer
+revealed his real meaning by stating contrary facts. It therefore
+became necessary that he should become competent in the art of drawing
+figures without delay, and with this object he called at the
+picture-room of Tieng Lin, a person whose experience was so great that
+he could, without discomfort to himself, draw men and women of all
+classes, both good and bad. When the person who is setting forth this
+narrative revealed to Tieng Lin the utmost amount of money he could
+afford to give for instruction in the art of drawing living figures,
+Tieng Lin's face became as overcast as the sky immediately before the
+Great Rains, for in his ignorance of this incapable person's poverty
+he had treated him with equality and courtesy, nor had he kept him
+waiting in the mean room on the plea that he was at that moment
+closeted with the Sacred Emperor. However, upon receiving an assurance
+that a rumour would be spread in which the number of taels should be
+multiplied by ten, and that the sum itself should be brought in
+advance, Tieng Lin promised to instruct this person in the art of
+drawing five characters, which, he said, would be sufficient to
+illustrate all stories except those by the most expensive and
+highly-rewarded story-tellers--men who have become so proficient that
+they not infrequently introduce a score or more of living persons into
+their tales without confusion.
+
+After considerable deliberation, this unassuming person selected the
+following characters, judging them to be the most useful, and the most
+readily applicable to all phases and situations of life:
+
+1. A bad person, wearing a long dark pigtail and smoking an opium
+pipe. His arms to be folded, and his clothes new and very expensive.
+
+2. A woman of low class. One who removes dust and useless things from
+the rooms of the over-fastidious and of those who have long nails; she
+to be carrying her trade-signs.
+
+3. A person from Pe-ling, endowed with qualities which cause the
+beholder to be amused. This character to be especially designed to go
+with the short sayings which remove gravity.
+
+4. One who, having incurred the displeasure of the sublime Emperor,
+has been decapitated in consequence.
+
+5. An ordinary person of no striking or distinguished appearance. One
+who can be safely introduced in all places and circumstances without
+great fear of detection.
+
+After many months spent in constant practice and in taking
+measurements, this unenviable person attained a very high degree of
+proficiency, and could draw any of the five characters without
+hesitation. With renewed hope, therefore, he again approached those
+who sit in easy-chairs, and concealing his identity (for they are
+stiff at bending, and when once a picture-maker is classed as "of no
+good" he remains so to the end, in spite of change), he succeeded in
+getting entrusted with a story by the elegant and refined Kyen Tal.
+This writer, as he remembered with distrust, confines his
+distinguished efforts entirely to the doings of sailors and of those
+connected with the sea, and this tale, indeed, he found upon reading
+to be the narrative of how a Hang-Chow junk and its crew, consisting
+mostly of aged persons, were beguiled out of their course by an
+exceedingly ill-disposed dragon, and wrecked upon an island of naked
+barbarians. It was, therefore, with a somewhat heavy stomach that this
+person set himself the task of arranging his five characters as so to
+illustrate the words of the story.
+
+The sayings of the ancient philosopher Tai Loo are indeed very subtle,
+and the truth of his remark, "After being disturbed in one's dignity
+by a mandarin's foot it is no unusual occurrence to fall flat on the
+face in crossing a muddy street," was now apparent. Great as was the
+disadvantage owing to the nature of the five characters, this became
+as nothing when it presently appeared that the avaricious and
+clay-souled Tieng Lin, taking advantage of the blindness of this
+person's enthusiasm, had taught him the figures so that they all gazed
+in the same direction. In consequence of this it would have been
+impossible that two should be placed as in the act of conversing
+together had not the noble Kyen Tal been inspired to write that "his
+companions turned from him in horror." This incident the ingenious
+person who is recording these facts made the subject of three separate
+drawings, and having in one or two other places effected skilful
+changes in the writing, so similar in style to the strokes of the
+illustrious Kyen Tal as to be undetectable, he found little difficulty
+in making use of all his characters. The risks of the future, however,
+were too great to be run with impunity; therefore it was arranged, by
+means of money--for this person was fast becoming acquainted with the
+ways of Peking--that an emissary from one who sat in an easy-chair
+should call upon him for a conference, the narrative of which appeared
+in this form in the Peking Printed Leaves of Thrice-distilled Truth:
+
+  The brilliant and amiable young picture-maker Kin Yen, in spite of
+  the immediate and universal success of his accomplished efforts, 
+  is still quite rotund in intellect, nor is he, if we may use a
+  form of speaking affected by our friends across the Hoang Hai,
+  "suffering from swollen feet." A person with no recognized
+  position, but one who occasionally does inferior work of this
+  nature for us, recently surprised Kin Yen without warning, and
+  found him in his sumptuously appointed picture-room, busy with
+  compasses and tracing-paper. About the place were scattered in
+  elegant confusion several of his recent masterpieces. From the
+  subsequent conversation we are in a position to make it known that
+  in future this refined and versatile person will confine himself
+  entirely to illustrations of processions, funerals, armies on the
+  march, persons pursued by others, and kindred subjects which
+  appeal strongly to his imagination. Kin Yen has severe emotions on
+  the subject of individuality in art, and does not hesitate to
+  express himself forcibly with reference to those who are content
+  to degrade the names of their ancestors by turning out what he
+  wittily describes as "so much of varied mediocrity."
+
+The prominence obtained by this pleasantly-composed notice--for it was
+copied by others who were unaware of the circumstance of its
+origin--had the desired effect. In future, when one of those who sit
+in easy-chairs wished for a picture after the kind mentioned, he would
+say to his lesser one: "Oh, send to the graceful and versatile Kin
+Yen; he becomes inspired on the subject of funerals," or persons
+escaping from prison, or families walking to the temple, or whatever
+it might be. In that way this narrow-minded and illiterate person was
+soon both looked at and rich, so that it was his daily practice to be
+carried, in silk garments, past the houses of those who had known him
+in poverty, and on these occasions he would puff out his cheeks and
+pull his moustaches, looking fiercely from side to side.
+
+True are the words written in the elegant and distinguished Book of
+Verses: "Beware lest when being kissed by the all-seeing Emperor, you
+step upon the elusive banana-peel." It was at the height of eminence
+in this altogether degraded person's career that he encountered the
+being who led him on to his present altogether too lamentable
+condition.
+
+Tien Nung is the earthly name by which is known she who combines all
+the most illustrious attributes which have been possessed of women
+since the days of the divine Fou-Hy. Her father is a person of very
+gross habits, and lives by selling inferior merchandise covered with
+some of good quality. Upon past occasions, when under the direct
+influence of Tien, and in the hope of gaining some money benefit, this
+person may have spoken of him in terms of praise, and may even have
+recommended friends to entrust articles of value to him, or to procure
+goods on his advice. Now, however, he records it as his unalterable
+decision that the father of Tien Nung is by profession a person who
+obtains goods by stratagem, and that, moreover, it is impossible to
+gain an advantage over him on matters of exchange.
+
+The events that have happened prove the deep wisdom of Li Pen when he
+exclaimed "The whitest of pigeons, no matter how excellent in the
+silk-hung chamber, is not to be followed on the field of battle." Tien
+herself was all that the most exacting of persons could demand, but
+her opinions on the subject of picture-making were not formed by heavy
+thought, and it would have been well if this had been borne in mind by
+this person. One morning he chanced to meet her while carrying open in
+his hands four sets of printed leaves containing his pictures.
+
+"I have observed," said Tien, after the usual personal inquiries had
+been exchanged, "that the renowned Kin Yen, who is the object of the
+keenest envy among his brother picture-makers, so little regards the
+sacredness of his accomplished art that never by any chance does he
+depict persons of the very highest excellence. Let not the words of an
+impetuous maiden disarrange his digestive organs if they should seem
+too bold to the high-souled Kin Yen, but this matter has, since she
+has known him, troubled the eyelids of Tien. Here," she continued,
+taking from this person's hand one of the printed leaves which he was
+carrying, "in this illustration of persons returning from
+extinguishing a fire, is there one who appears to possess those
+qualities which appeal to all that is intellectual and competitive
+within one? Can it be that the immaculate Kin Yen is unacquainted with
+the subtle distinction between the really select and the vastly
+ordinary? Ah, undiscriminating Kin Yen! are not the eyelashes of the
+person who is addressing you as threads of fine gold to junk's cables
+when compared with those of the extremely commonplace female who is
+here pictured in the art of carrying a bucket? Can the most refined
+lack of vanity hide from you the fact that your own person is
+infinitely rounder than this of the evilly-intentioned-looking
+individual with the opium pipe? O blind Kin Yen!"
+
+Here she fled in honourable confusion, leaving this person standing in
+the street, astounded, and a prey to the most distinguished emotions
+of a complicated nature.
+
+"Oh, Tien," he cried at length, "inspired by those bright eyes,
+narrower than the most select of the three thousand and one possessed
+by the sublime Buddha, the almost fallen Kin Yen will yet prove
+himself worthy of your esteemed consideration. He will, without delay,
+learn to draw two new living persons, and will incorporate in them the
+likenesses which you have suggested."
+
+Returning swiftly to his abode, he therefore inscribed and despatched
+this letter, in proof of his resolve:
+
+"To the Heaven-sent human chrysanthemum, in whose body reside the
+Celestial Principles and the imprisoned colours of the rainbow.
+
+"From the very offensive and self-opinionated picture-maker.
+
+"Henceforth this person will take no rest, nor eat any but the
+commonest food, until he shall have carried out the wishes of his one
+Jade Star, she whose teeth he is not worthy to blacken.
+
+"When Kin Yen has been entrusted with a story which contains a being
+in some degree reflecting the character of Tien, he will embellish it
+with her irreproachable profile and come to hear her words. Till then
+he bids her farewell."
+
+From that moment most of this person's time was necessarily spent in
+learning to draw the two new characters, and in consequence of this he
+lost much work, and, indeed, the greater part of the connexion which
+he had been at such pains to form gradually slipped away from him.
+Many months passed before he was competent to reproduce persons
+resembling Tien and himself, for in this he was unassisted by Tieng
+Lin, and his progress was slow.
+
+At length, being satisfied, he called upon the least fierce of those
+who sit in easy-chairs, and requested that he might be entrusted with
+a story for picture-making.
+
+"We should have been covered with honourable joy to set in operation
+the brush of the inspired Kin Yen," replied the other with agreeable
+condescension; "only at the moment, it does not chance that we have
+before us any stories in which funerals, or beggars being driven from
+the city, form the chief incidents. Perhaps if the polished Kin Yen
+should happen to be passing this ill-constructed office in about six
+months' time--"
+
+"The brush of Kin Yen will never again depict funerals, or labourers
+arranging themselves to receive pay or similar subjects," exclaimed
+this person impetuously, "for, as it is well said, 'The lightning
+discovers objects which the paper-lantern fails to reveal.' In future
+none but tales dealing with the most distinguished persons shall have
+his attention."
+
+"If this be the true word of the dignified Kin Yen, it is possible
+that we may be able to animate his inspired faculties," was the
+response. "But in that case, as a new style must be in the nature of
+an experiment, and as our public has come to regard Kin Yen as the
+great exponent of Art Facing in One Direction, we cannot continue the
+exceedingly liberal payment with which we have been accustomed to
+reward his elegant exertions."
+
+"Provided the story be suitable, that is a matter of less importance,"
+replied this person.
+
+"The story," said the one in the easy-chair, "is by the refined
+Tong-king, and it treats of the high-minded and conscientious doubts
+of one who would become a priest of Fo. When preparing for this
+distinguished office he discovers within himself leanings towards the
+religion of Lao-Tse. His illustrious scruples are enhanced by his
+affection for Wu Ping, who now appears in the story."
+
+"And the ending?" inquired this person, for it was desirable that the
+two should marry happily.
+
+"The inimitable stories of Tong-king never have any real ending, and
+this one, being in his most elevated style, has even less end than
+most of them. But the whole narrative is permeated with the odour of
+joss-sticks and honourable high-mindedness, and the two characters are
+both of noble birth."
+
+As it might be some time before another story so suitable should be
+offered, or one which would afford so good an opportunity of wafting
+incense to Tien, and of displaying her incomparable outline in
+dignified and magnanimous attitudes, this was eagerly accepted, and
+for the next week this obscure person spent all his days and nights in
+picturing the lovely Tien and his debased self in the characters of
+the nobly-born young priest of Fo and Wu Ping. The pictures finished,
+he caused them to be carefully conveyed to the office, and then,
+sitting down, spent many hours in composing the following letter, to
+be sent to Tien, accompanying a copy of the printed leaves wherein the
+story and his drawing should appear:
+
+"When the light has for a period been hidden from a person, it is no
+uncommon thing for him to be struck blind on gazing at the sun;
+therefore, if the sublime Tien values the eyes of Kin Yen, let her
+hide herself behind a gauze screen on his approach.
+
+"The trembling words of Tien have sunk deep into the inside of Kin Yen
+and become part of his being. Never again can he depict persons of the
+quality and in the position he was wont to do.
+
+"With this he sends his latest efforts. In each case he conceives his
+drawings to be the pictures of the written words; in the noble Tien's
+case it is undoubtedly so, in his own he aspires to it. Doubtless the
+unobtrusive Tien would make no claim to the character and manner of
+behaving of the one in the story, yet Kin Yen confidently asserts that
+she is to the other as the glove is to the hand, and he is filled with
+the most intelligent delight at being able to exhibit her in her true
+robes, by which she will be known to all who see her, in spite of her
+dignified protests. Kin Yen hopes; he will come this evening after
+sunset."
+
+The week which passed between the finishing of the pictures and the
+appearance of the eminent printed leaves containing them was the
+longest in this near-sighted person's ill-spent life. But at length
+the day arrived, and going with exceedingly mean haste to the place of
+sale, he purchased a copy and sent it, together with the letter of his
+honourable intention, on which he had bestowed so much care, to Tien.
+
+Not till then did it occur to this inconsiderable one that the
+impetuousness of his action was ill-judged; for might it not be that
+the pictures were evilly-printed, or that the delicate and fragrant
+words painting the character of the one who now bore the features of
+Tien had undergone some change?
+
+To satisfy himself, scarce as taels had become with him, he purchased
+another copy.
+
+There are many exalted sayings of the wise and venerable Confucious
+constructed so as to be of service and consolation in moments of
+strong mental distress. These for the greater part recommend
+tranquillity of mind, a complete abnegation of the human passions and
+the like behaviour. The person who is here endeavouring to bring this
+badly-constructed account of his dishonourable career to a close
+pondered these for some moments after twice glancing through the
+matter in the printed leaves, and then, finding the faculties of
+speech and movement restored to him, procured a two-edged knife of
+distinguished brilliance and went forth to call upon the one who sits
+in an easy-chair.
+
+"Behold," said the lesser one, insidiously stepping in between this
+person an the inner door, "my intellectual and all-knowing chief is
+not here to-day. May his entirely insufficient substitute offer words
+of congratulation to the inspired Kin Yen on his effective and
+striking pictures in this week's issue?"
+
+"His altogether insufficient substitute," answered this person, with
+difficulty mastering his great rage, "may and shall offer words of
+explanation to the inspired Kin Yen, setting forth the reason of his
+pictures being used, not with the high-minded story of the elegant
+Tong-king for which they were executed, but accompanying exceedingly
+base, foolish, and ungrammatical words written by Klan-hi, the Peking
+remover of gravity--words which will evermore brand the dew-like Tien
+as a person of light speech and no refinement"; and in his agony this
+person struck the lacquered table several times with his elegant
+knife.
+
+"O Kin Yen," exclaimed the lesser one, "this matter rests not here. It
+is a thing beyond the sphere of the individual who is addressing you.
+All he can tell is that the graceful Tong-king withdrew his
+exceedingly tedious story for some reason at the final moment, and as
+your eminent drawings had been paid for, my chief of the inner office
+decided to use them with this story of Klan-hi. But surely it cannot
+be that there is aught in the story to displease your illustrious
+personality?"
+
+"Judge for yourself," this person said, "first understanding that the
+two immaculate characters figuring as the personages of the narrative
+are exact copies of this dishonoured person himself and of the willowy
+Tien, daughter of the vastly rich Pe-li-Chen, whom he was hopeful of
+marrying."
+
+Selecting one of the least offensive of the passages in the work, this
+unhappy person read the following immature and inelegant words:
+
+"This well-satisfied writer of printed leaves had a
+highly-distinguished time last night. After Chow had departed to see
+about food, and the junk had been fastened up at the lock of Kilung,
+on the Yang-tse-Kiang, he and the round-bodied Shang were journeying
+along the narrow path by the river-side when the right leg of the
+graceful and popular person who is narrating these events disappeared
+into the river. Suffering no apprehension in the dark, but that the
+vanishing limb was the left leg of Shang, this intelligent writer
+allowed his impassiveness to melt away to an exaggerated degree; but
+at that moment the circumstance became plain to the round-bodied
+Shang, who was in consequence very grossly amused at the mishap and
+misapprehension of your good lord, the writer, at the same time
+pointing out the matter as it really was. Then it chanced that there
+came by one of the maidens who carry tea and jest for small sums of
+money to the sitters at the little tables with round white tops, at
+which this remarkable person, the confidant of many mandarins, ever
+desirous of displaying his priceless power of removing gravity, said
+to her:
+
+"'How much of gladness, Ning-Ning? By the Sacred Serpent this is
+plainly your night out.'
+
+"Perceiving the true facts of the predicament of this commendable
+writer, she replied:
+
+"'Suffer not your illustrious pigtail to be removed, venerable Wang;
+for in this maiden's estimation it is indeed your night in.'
+
+"There are times when this valued person wonders whether his method of
+removing gravity be in reality very antique or quite new. On such
+occasions the world, with all its schools, and those who interfere in
+the concerns of others, continues to revolve around him. The wondrous
+sky-lanterns come out silently two by two like to the crystallized
+music of stringed woods. Then, in the mystery of no-noise, his head
+becomes greatly enlarged with celestial and highly-profound thoughts;
+his groping hand seems to touch matter which may be written out in his
+impressive style and sold to those who print leaves, and he goes home
+to write out such."
+
+When this person looked up after reading, with tears of shame in his
+eyes, he perceived that the lesser one had cautiously disappeared.
+Therefore, being unable to gain admittance to the inner office, he
+returned to his home.
+
+Here the remark of the omniscient Tai Loo again fixes itself upon the
+attention. No sooner had this incapable person reached his house than
+he became aware that a parcel had arrived for him from the still
+adorable Tien. Retiring to a distance from it, he opened the
+accompanying letter and read:
+
+"When a virtuous maiden has been made the victim of a heartless jest
+or a piece of coarse stupidity at a person's hands, it is no uncommon
+thing for him to be struck blind on meeting her father. Therefore, if
+the degraded and evil-minded Kin Yen values his eyes, ears, nose,
+pigtail, even his dishonourable breath, let him hide himself behind a
+fortified wall at Pe-li-Chen's approach.
+
+"With this Tien returns everything she has ever accepted from Kin Yen.
+She even includes the brace of puppies which she received anonymously
+about a month ago, and which she did not eat, but kept for reasons of
+her own--reasons entirely unconnected with the vapid and exceedingly
+conceited Kin Yen."
+
+As though this letter, and the puppies of which this person now heard
+for the first time, making him aware of the existence of a rival
+lover, were not enough, there almost immediately arrived a letter from
+Tien's father:
+
+"This person has taken the advice of those skilled in extorting money
+by means of law forms, and he finds that Kin Yen has been guilty of a
+grave and highly expensive act. This is increased by the fact that
+Tien had conveyed his seemingly distinguished intentions to all her
+friends, before whom she now stands in an exceedingly ungraceful
+attitude. The machinery for depriving Kin Yen of all the necessaries
+of existence shall be put into operation at once."
+
+At this point, the person who is now concluding his obscure and
+commonplace history, having spent his last piece of money on
+joss-sticks and incense-paper, and being convinced of the presence of
+the spirits of his ancestors, is inspired to make the following
+prophecies: That Tieng Lin, who imposed upon him in the matter of
+picture-making, shall come to a sudden end, accompanied by great
+internal pains, after suffering extreme poverty; that the one who sits
+in an easy-chair, together with his lesser one and all who make
+stories for them, shall, while sailing to a rice feast during the
+Festival of Flowers, be precipitated into the water and slowly
+devoured by sea monsters, Klan-hi in particular being tortured in the
+process; that Pel-li-Chen, the father of Tien, shall be seized with
+the dancing sickness when in the presence of the august Emperor, and
+being in consequence suspected of treachery, shall, to prove the truth
+of his denials, be submitted to the tests of boiling tar, red-hot
+swords, and of being dropped from a great height on to the Sacred
+Stone of Goodness and Badness, in each of which he shall fail to
+convince his judges or to establish his innocence, to the amusement of
+all beholders.
+
+These are the true words of Kin Yen, the picture-maker, who, having
+unweighed his mind and exposed the avaricious villainy of certain
+persons, is now retiring by night to a very select and hidden spot in
+the Khingan Mountains.
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Wallet of Kai Lung, by Bramah
+
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