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diff --git a/1267-h/1267-h.htm b/1267-h/1267-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e46ef2b --- /dev/null +++ b/1267-h/1267-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11509 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kai Lung’s Golden Hours, by Ernest Bramah</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1267 ***</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<h1>KAI LUNG’S GOLDEN HOURS</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">By Ernest Bramah</h2> + +<h3>With a Preface by<br /> +Hilaire Belloc<br /><br /></h3> + +<h4><small>LONDON</small><br /> +GRANT RICHARDS LTD.<br /> +<small>ST MARTIN’S STREET<br /> +MDCCCCXXII</small></h4> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref01">PREFACE</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. </a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a> +PREFACE</h2> + +<p> +<i>Homo faber</i>. Man is born to make. His business is to construct: to plan: +to carry out the plan: to fit together, and to produce a finished thing. +</p> + +<p> +That human art in which it is most difficult to achieve this end (and in which +it is far easier to neglect it than in any other) is the art of writing. Yet +this much is certain, that unconstructed writing is at once worthless and +ephemeral: and nearly the whole of our modern English writing is unconstructed. +</p> + +<p> +The matter of survival is perhaps not the most important, though it is a test +of a kind, and it is a test which every serious writer feels most intimately. +The essential is the matter of excellence: that a piece of work should achieve +its end. But in either character, the character of survival or the character of +intrinsic excellence, construction deliberate and successful is the fundamental +condition. +</p> + +<p> +It may be objected that the mass of writing must in any age neglect +construction. We write to establish a record for a few days: or to send a +thousand unimportant messages: or to express for others or for ourselves +something very vague and perhaps very weak in the way of emotion, which does +not demand construction and at any rate cannot command it. No writer can be +judged by the entirety of his writings, for these would include every note he +ever sent round the corner; every memorandum he ever made upon his shirt cuff. +But when a man sets out to write as a serious business, proclaiming that by the +nature of his publication and presentment that he is doing something he thinks +worthy of the time and place in which he lives and of the people to whom he +belongs, then if he does not construct he is negligible. +</p> + +<p> +Yet, I say, the great mass of men to-day do not attempt it in the English +tongue, and the proof is that you can discover in their slipshod pages nothing +of a seal or stamp. You do not, opening a book at random, say at once: +“This is the voice of such and such a one.” It is no one’s +manner or voice. It is part of a common babel. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore in such a time as that of our decline, to come across work which is +planned, executed and achieved has something of the effect produced by the +finding of a wrought human thing in the wild. It is like finding, as I once +found, deep hidden in the tangled rank grass of autumn in Burgundy, on the edge +of a wood not far from Dijon, a neglected statue of the eighteenth century. It +is like coming round the corner of some wholly desolate upper valley in the +mountains and seeing before one a well-cultivated close and a strong house in +the midst. +</p> + +<p> +It is now many years—I forget how many; it may be twenty or more, or it +may be a little less—since <i>The Wallet of Kai Lung</i> was sent me by a +friend. The effect produced upon my mind at the first opening of its pages was +in the same category as the effect produced by the discovery of that hidden +statue in Burgundy, or the coming upon an unexpected house in the turn of a +high Pyrenean gorge. Here was something worth doing and done. It was not a plan +attempted and only part achieved (though even that would be rare enough to-day, +and a memorable exception); it was a thing intended, wrought out, completed and +established. Therefore it was destined to endure and, what is more important, +it was a success. +</p> + +<p> +The time in which we live affords very few of such moments of relief: here and +there a good piece of verse, in <i>The New Age</i> or in the now defunct +<i>Westminster</i>: here and there a lapidary phrase such as a score or more of +Blatchford’s which remain fixed in my memory. Here and there a letter +written to the newspapers in a moment of indignation when the writer, not +trained to the craft, strikes out the metal justly at white heat. But, I say, +the thing is extremely rare, and in the shape of a complete book rarest of all. +</p> + +<p> +<i>The Wallet of Kai Lung</i> was a thing made deliberately, in hard material +and completely successful. It was meant to produce a particular effect of +humour by the use of a foreign convention, the Chinese convention, in the +English tongue. It was meant to produce a certain effect of philosophy and at +the same time it was meant to produce a certain completed interest of fiction, +of relation, of a short epic. It did all these things. +</p> + +<p> +It is one of the tests of excellent work that such work is economic, that is, +that there is nothing redundant in order or in vocabulary, and at the same time +nothing elliptic—in the full sense of that word: that is, no sentence in +which so much is omitted that the reader is left puzzled. That is the quality +you get in really good statuary—in Houdon, for instance, or in that +triumph the archaic <i>Archer</i> in the Louvre. <i>The Wallet of Kai Lung</i> +satisfied all these conditions. +</p> + +<p> +I do not know how often I have read it since I first possessed it. I know how +many copies there are in my house—just over a dozen. I know with what +care I have bound it constantly for presentation to friends. I have been asked +for an introduction to this its successor, <i>Kai Lung’s Golden +Hours</i>. It is worthy of its forerunner. There is the same plan, exactitude, +working-out and achievement; and therefore the same complete satisfaction in +the reading, or to be more accurate, in the incorporation of the work with +oneself. +</p> + +<p> +All this is not extravagant praise, nor even praise at all in the conventional +sense of that term. It is merely a judgment: a putting into as carefully exact +words as I can find the appreciation I make of this style and its triumph. +</p> + +<p> +The reviewer in his art must quote passages. It is hardly the part of a Preface +writer to do that. But to show what I mean I can at least quote the following: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“Your insight is clear and unbiased,” said the gracious Sovereign. +“But however entrancing it is to wander unchecked through a garden of +bright images, are we not enticing your mind from another subject of almost +equal importance?” +</p> + +<p> +Or again: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“It has been said,” he began at length, withdrawing his eyes +reluctantly from an unusually large insect upon the ceiling and addressing +himself to the maiden, “that there are few situations in life that cannot +be honourably settled, and without any loss of time, either by suicide, a bag +of gold, or by thrusting a despised antagonist over the edge of a precipice on +a dark night.” +</p> + +<p> +Or again: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“After secretly observing the unstudied grace of her movements, the most +celebrated picture-maker of the province burned the implements of his craft, +and began life anew as a trainer of performing elephants.” +</p> + +<p> +You cannot read these sentences, I think, without agreeing with what has been +said above. If you doubt it, take the old test and try to write that kind of +thing yourself. +</p> + +<p> +In connection with such achievements it is customary to-day to deplore the lack +of public appreciation. Either to blame the hurried millions of chance readers +because they have only bought a few thousands of a masterpiece; or, what is +worse still, to pretend that good work is for the few and that the mass will +never appreciate it—in reply to which it is sufficient to say that the +critic himself is one of the mass and could not be distinguished from others of +the mass by his very own self were he a looker-on. +</p> + +<p> +In the best of times (the most stable, the least hurried) the date at which +general appreciation comes is a matter of chance, and to-day the presentation +of any achieved work is like the reading of Keats to a football crowd. It is of +no significance whatsoever to English Letters whether one of its glories be +appreciated at the moment it issues from the press or ten years later, or +twenty, or fifty. Further, after a very small margin is passed, a margin of a +few hundreds at the most, it matters little whether strong permanent work finds +a thousand or fifty thousand or a million of readers. Rock stands and mud +washes away. +</p> + +<p> +What is indeed to be deplored is the lack of communication between those who +desire to find good stuff and those who can produce it: it is in the attempt to +build a bridge between the one and the other that men who have the privilege of +hearing a good thing betimes write such words as I am writing here. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +HILAIRE BELLOC +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>KAI LUNG’S GOLDEN HOURS</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a> CHAPTER I<br /> +The Encountering of Six within a Wood</h2> + +<p> +Only at one point along the straight earth-road leading from Loo-chow to +Yu-ping was there any shade, a wood of stunted growth, and here Kai Lung cast +himself down in refuge from the noontide sun and slept. +</p> + +<p> +When he woke it was with the sound of discreet laughter trickling through his +dreams. He sat up and looked around. Across the glade two maidens stood in +poised expectancy within the shadow of a wild fig-tree, both their gaze and +their manner denoting a fixed intention to be prepared for any emergency. Not +being desirous that this should tend towards their abrupt departure, Kai Lung +rose guardedly to his feet, with many gestures of polite reassurance, and +having bowed several times to indicate his pacific nature, he stood in an +attitude of deferential admiration. At this display the elder and less +attractive of the maidens fled, uttering loud and continuous cries of +apprehension in order to conceal the direction of her flight. The other +remained, however, and even moved a few steps nearer to Kai Lung, as though +encouraged by his appearance, so that he was able to regard her varying details +more appreciably. As she advanced she plucked a red blossom from a thorny bush, +and from time to time she shortened the broken stalk between her jade teeth. +</p> + +<p> +“Courteous loiterer,” she said, in a very pearl-like voice, when +they had thus regarded one another for a few beats of time, “what is your +honourable name, and who are you who tarry here, journeying neither to the east +nor to the west?” +</p> + +<p> +“The answer is necessarily commonplace and unworthy of your polite +interest,” was the diffident reply. “My unbecoming name is Kai, to +which has been added that of Lung. By profession I am an incapable relater of +imagined tales, and to this end I spread my mat wherever my uplifted voice can +entice together a company to listen. Should my feeble efforts be deemed worthy +of reward, those who stand around may perchance contribute to my scanty store, +but sometimes this is judged superfluous. For this cause I now turn my +expectant feet from Loo-chow towards the untried city of Yu-ping, but the +undiminished li stretching relentlessly before me, I sought beneath these trees +a refuge from the noontide sun.” +</p> + +<p> +“The occupation is a dignified one, being to no great degree removed from +that of the Sages who compiled The Books,” remarked the maiden, with an +encouraging smile. “Are there many stories known to your retentive +mind?” +</p> + +<p> +“In one form or another, all that exist are within my mental +grasp,” admitted Kai Lung modestly. “Thus equipped, there is no +arising emergency for which I am unprepared.” +</p> + +<p> +“There are other things that I would learn of your craft. What kind of +story is the most favourably received, and the one whereby your collecting bowl +is the least ignored?” +</p> + +<p> +“That depends on the nature and condition of those who stand around, and +therein lies much that is essential to the art,” replied Kai Lung, not +without an element of pride. “Should the company be chiefly formed of the +illiterate and the immature of both sexes, stories depicting the embarrassment +of unnaturally round-bodied mandarins, the unpremeditated flight of +eccentrically-garbed passers-by into vats of powdered rice, the despair of +guardians of the street when assailed by showers of eggs and overripe lo-quats, +or any other variety of humiliating pain inflicted upon the innocent and +unwary, never fail to win approval. The prosperous and substantial find +contentment in hearing of the unassuming virtues and frugal lives of the poor +and unsuccessful. Those of humble origin, especially tea-house maidens and the +like, are only really at home among stories of the exalted and quick-moving, +the profusion of their robes, the magnificence of their palaces, and the +general high-minded depravity of their lives. Ordinary persons require stories +dealing lavishly with all the emotions, so that they may thereby have a feeling +of sufficiency when contributing to the collecting bowl.” +</p> + +<p> +“These things being so,” remarked the maiden, “what story +would you consider most appropriate to a company composed of such as she who is +now conversing with you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Such a company could never be obtained,” replied Kai Lung, with +conviction in his tone. “It is not credible that throughout the Empire +could be found even another possessing all the engaging attributes of the one +before me. But should it be my miraculous fortune to be given the opportunity, +my presumptuous choice for her discriminating ears alone would be the story of +the peerless Princess Taik and of the noble minstrel Ch’eng, who to +regain her presence chained his wrist to a passing star and was carried into +the assembly of the gods.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it,” inquired the maiden, with an agreeable glance towards the +opportune recumbence of a fallen tree, “is it a narration that would lie +within the passage of the sun from one branch of this willow to another?” +</p> + +<p> +“Adequately set forth, the history of the Princess Taik and of the +virtuous youth occupies all the energies of an agile story-teller for seven +weeks,” replied Kai Lung, not entirely gladdened that she should deem him +capable of offering so meagre an entertainment as that she indicated. +“There is a much-flattened version which may be compressed within the +narrow limits of a single day and night, but even that requires for certain of +the more moving passages the accompaniment of a powerful drum or a hollow +wooden fish.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” exclaimed the maiden, “though the time should pass +like a flash of lightning beneath the allurement of your art, it is +questionable if those who await this one’s returning footsteps would +experience a like illusion. Even now—” With a magnanimous wave of +her well-formed hand she indicated the other maiden, who, finding that the +danger of pursuit was not sustained, had returned to claim her part. +</p> + +<p> +“One advances along the westward road,” reported the second maiden. +“Let us fly elsewhere, O allurer of mankind! It may be—” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless in Yu-ping the sound of your uplifted voice—” But +at this point a noise upon the earth-road, near at hand, impelled them both to +sudden flight into the deeper recesses of the wood. +</p> + +<p> +Thus deprived, Kai Lung moved from the shadow of the trees and sought the +track, to see if by chance he from whom they fled might turn to his advantage. +On the road he found one who staggered behind a laborious wheel-barrow in the +direction of Loo-chow. At that moment he had stopped to take down the sail, as +the breeze was bereft of power among the obstruction of the trees, and also +because he was weary. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting,” called down Kai Lung, saluting him. “There is +here protection from the fierceness of the sun and a stream wherein to wash +your feet.” +</p> + +<p> +“Haply,” replied the other; “and a greatly over-burdened one +would gladly leave this ill-nurtured earth-road even for the fields of hell, +were it not that all his goods are here contained upon an utterly intractable +wheel-barrow.” +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless he drew himself up from the road to the level of the wood and +there reclined, yet not permitting the wheel-barrow to pass beyond his sight, +though he must thereby lie half in the shade and half in the heat beyond. +“Greeting, wayfarer.” +</p> + +<p> +“Although you are evidently a man of some wealth, we are for the time +brought to a common level by the forces that control us,” remarked Kai +Lung. “I have here two onions, a gourd and a sufficiency of millet paste. +Partake equally with me, therefore, before you resume your way. In the +meanwhile I will procure water from the stream near by, and to this end my +collecting bowl will serve.” +</p> + +<p> +When Kai Lung returned he found that the other had added to their store a +double handful of dates, some snuff and a little jar of oil. As they ate +together the stranger thus disclosed his mind: +</p> + +<p> +“The times are doubtful and it behoves each to guard himself. In the +north the banners of the ‘Spreading Lotus’ and the ‘Avenging +Knife’ are already raised and pressing nearer every day, while the signs +and passwords are so widely flung that every man speaks slowly and with a +double tongue. Lately there have been slicings and other forms of vigorous +justice no farther distant than Loo-chow, and now the Mandarin Shan Tien comes +to Yu-ping to flatten any signs of discontent. The occupation of this person is +that of a maker of sandals and coverings for the head, but very soon there will +be more wooden feet required than leather sandals in Yu-ping, and artificial +ears will be greater in demand than hats. For this reason he has got together +all his goods, sold the more burdensome, and now ventures on an untried +way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Prosperity attend your goings. Yet, as one who has set his face towards +Yu-ping, is it not possible for an ordinary person of simple life and +unassuming aims to escape persecution under this same Shan Tien?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of the Mandarin himself those who know speak with vague lips. What is +done is done by the pressing hand of one Ming-shu, who takes down his spoken +word; of whom it is truly said that he has little resemblance to a man and +still less to an angel.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” protested the story-teller hopefully, “it is wisely +written: ‘He who never opens his mouth in strife can always close his +eyes in peace.’” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” assented the other. “He can close his eyes +assuredly. Whether he will ever again open them is another matter.” +</p> + +<p> +With this timely warning the sandal-maker rose and prepared to resume his +journey. Nor did he again take up the burden of his task until he had satisfied +himself that the westward road was destitute of traffic. +</p> + +<p> +“A tranquil life and a painless death,” was his farewell parting. +“Jung, of the line of Hai, wishes you well.” Then, with many +imprecations on the relentless sun above, the inexorable road beneath, and on +every detail of the evilly-balanced load before him, he passed out on his way. +</p> + +<p> +It would have been well for Kai Lung had he also forced his reluctant feet to +raise the dust, but his body clung to the moist umbrage of his couch, and his +mind made reassurance that perchance the maiden would return. Thus it fell that +when two others, who looked from side to side as they hastened on the road, +turned as at a venture to the wood they found him still there. +</p> + +<p> +“Restrain your greetings,” said the leader of the two harshly, in +the midst of Kai Lung’s courteous obeisance; “and do not presume to +disparage yourself as if in equality with the one who stands before you. Have +two of the inner chamber, attired thus and thus, passed this way? Speak, and +that to a narrow edge.” +</p> + +<p> +“The road lies beyond the perception of my incapable vision, +chiefest,” replied Kai lung submissively. “Furthermore, I have +slept.” +</p> + +<p> +“Unless you would sleep more deeply, shape your stubborn tongue to a +specific point,” commanded the other, touching a meaning sword. +“Who are you who loiter here, and for what purpose do you lurk? Speak +fully, and be assured that your word will be put to a corroding test.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus encouraged, Kai Lung freely disclosed his name and ancestry, the means +whereby he earned a frugal sustenance and the nature of his journey. In +addition, he professed a willingness to relate his most recently-acquired +story, that entitled “Wu-yong: or The Politely Inquiring Stranger”, +but the offer was thrust ungracefully aside. +</p> + +<p> +“Everything you say deepens the suspicion which your criminal-looking +face naturally provokes,” said the questioner, putting away his tablets +on which he had recorded the replies. “At Yu-ping the matter will be +probed with a very definite result. You, Li-loe, remain about this spot in case +she whom we seek should pass. I return to speak of our unceasing effort.” +</p> + +<p> +“I obey,” replied the dog-like Li-loe. “What men can do we +have done. We are no demons to see through solid matter.” +</p> + +<p> +When they were alone, Li-loe drew nearer to Kai Lung and, allowing his face to +assume a more pacific bend, he cast himself down by the story-teller’s +side. +</p> + +<p> +“The account which you gave of yourself was ill contrived,” he +said. “Being put to the test, its falsity cannot fail to be +discovered.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” protested Kai Lung earnestly, “in no single detail did +it deviate from the iron line of truth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then your case is even more desperate than before,” exclaimed +Li-loe. “Know now that the repulsive-featured despot who has just left us +is Ming-shu, he who takes down the Mandarin Shan Tien’s spoken word. By +admitting that you are from Loo-chow, where disaffection reigns, you have +noosed a rope about your neck, and by proclaiming yourself as one whose habit +it is to call together a company to listen to your word, you have drawn it +tight.” +</p> + +<p> +“Every rope has two ends,” remarked Kai Lung philosophically, +“and to-morrow is yet to come. Tell me rather, since that is our present +errand, who is she whom you pursue and to what intent?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is not so simple as to be contained within the hollow of an acorn +sheath. Let it suffice that she has the left ear of Shan Tien, even as Ming-shu +has the right, but on which side his hearing is better it might be hazardous to +guess.” +</p> + +<p> +“And her meritorious name?” +</p> + +<p> +“She is of the house of K’ang, her name being Hwa-mei, though from +the nature of her charm she is ofttime called the Golden Mouse. But touching +this affair of your own immediate danger: we being both but common men of the +idler sort, it is only fitting that when high ones threaten I should stand by +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak definitely,” assented Kai Lung, “yet with the +understanding that the full extent of my store does not exceed four or five +strings of cash.” +</p> + +<p> +“The soil is somewhat shallow for the growth of deep friendship, but what +we have we will share equally between us.” With these auspicious words +Li-loe possessed himself of three of the strings of cash and displayed an empty +sleeve. “I, alas, have nothing. The benefits I have in mind are of a +subtler and more priceless kind. At Yu-ping my office will be that of the +keeper of the doors of the yamen, including that of the prison-house. Thus I +shall doubtless be able to render you frequent service of an inconspicuous +kind. Do not forget the name of Li-loe.” +</p> + +<p> +By this time the approaching sound of heavy traffic, heralded by the beating of +drums, the blowing of horns and the discharge of an occasional firework, +indicated the passage of some dignified official. This, declared Li-loe, could +be none other than the Mandarin Shan Tien, resuming his march towards Yu-ping, +and the doorkeeper prepared to join the procession at his appointed place. Kai +Lung, however, remained unseen among the trees, not being desirous of obtruding +himself upon Ming-shu unnecessarily. When the noise had almost died away in the +distance he came forth, believing that all would by this time have passed, and +approached the road. As he reached it a single chair was hurried by, its +carriers striving by increased exertion to regain their fellows. It was too +late for Kai Lung to retreat, whoever might be within. As it passed a curtain +moved somewhat, a symmetrical hand came discreetly forth, and that which it +held fell at his feet. Without varying his attitude he watched the chair until +it was out of sight, then stooped and picked something up—a red blossom +on a thorny stalk, the flower already parched but the stem moist and softened +to his touch. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a> CHAPTER II<br /> +The Inexorable Justice of the Mandarin Shan Tien</h2> + +<p> +“By having access to this enclosure you will be able to walk where +otherwise you must stand. That in itself is cheap at the price of three reputed +strings of inferior cash. Furthermore, it is possible to breathe.” +</p> + +<p> +“The outlook, in one direction, is an extensive one,” admitted Kai +Lung, gazing towards the sky. “Here, moreover, is a shutter through which +the vista doubtless lengthens.” +</p> + +<p> +“So long as there is no chance of you exploring it any farther than your +neck, it does not matter,” said Li-loe. “Outside lies a barren +region of the yamen garden where no one ever comes. I will now leave you, +having to meet one with whom I would traffic for a goat. When I return be +prepared to retrace your steps to the prison cell.” +</p> + +<p> +“The shadow moves as the sun directs,” replied Kai Lung, and with +courteous afterthought he added the wonted parting: “Slowly, slowly; walk +slowly.” +</p> + +<p> +In such a manner the story-teller found himself in a highly-walled enclosure, +lying between the prison-house and the yamen garden, a few days after his +arrival in Yu-ping. Ming-shu had not eaten his word. +</p> + +<p> +The yard itself possessed no attraction for Kai Lung. Almost before Li-loe had +disappeared he was at the shutter in the wall, had forced it open and was +looking out. Thus long he waited, motionless, but observing every leaf that +stirred among the trees and shrubs and neglected growth beyond. At last a +figure passed across a distant glade and at the sight Kai Lung lifted up a +restrained voice in song: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +“At the foot of a bleak and inhospitable mountain<br /> +An insignificant stream winds its uncared way;<br /> +Although inferior to the Yangtze-kiang in every detail<br /> +Yet fish glide to and fro among its crannies<br /> +Nor would they change their home for the depths of the widest river.<br /> +<br /> +The palace of the sublime Emperor is made rich with hanging curtains.<br /> +While here rough stone walls forbid repose.<br /> +Yet there is one who unhesitatingly prefers the latter;<br /> +For from an open shutter here he can look forth,<br /> +And perchance catch a glimpse of one who may pass by.<br /> +<br /> +The occupation of the Imperial viceroy is both lucrative and noble;<br /> +While that of a relater of imagined tales is by no means esteemed.<br /> +But he who thus expressed himself would not exchange with the other;<br /> +For around the identity of each heroine he can entwine the personality of one +whom he has encountered.<br /> +And thus she is ever by his side.”<br /> +</p> + +<p> +“Your uplifted voice comes from an unexpected quarter, minstrel,” +said a melodious voice, and the maiden whom he had encountered in the wood +stood before him. “What crime have you now committed?” +</p> + +<p> +“An ancient one. I presumed to raise my unworthy eyes—” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, story-teller,” interposed the maiden hastily, “it +would seem that the star to which you chained <i>your</i> wrist has not carried +you into the assembly of the gods.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet already it has borne me half-way—into a company of +malefactors. Doubtless on the morrow the obliging Mandarin Shan Tien will +arrange for the journey to be complete.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet have you then no further wish to continue in an ordinary +existence?” asked the maiden. +</p> + +<p> +“To this person,” replied Kai Lung, with a deep-seated look, +“existence can never again be ordinary. Admittedly it may be +short.” +</p> + +<p> +As they conversed together in this inoffensive manner she whom Li-loe had +called the Golden Mouse held in her delicately-formed hands a priceless bowl +filled with ripe fruit of the rarer kinds which she had gathered. These from +time to time she threw up to the opening, rightly deciding that one in Kai +Lung’s position would stand in need of sustenance, and he no less +dexterously held and retained them. When the bowl was empty she continued for a +space to regard it silently, as though exploring the many-sided recesses of her +mind. +</p> + +<p> +“You have claimed to be a story-teller and have indeed made a boast that +there is no arising emergency for which you are unprepared,” she said at +length. “It now befalls that you may be put to a speedy test. Is the +nature of this imagined scene”—thus she indicated the embellishment +of the bowl—“familiar to your eyes?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is that known as ‘The Willow,’” replied Kai Lung. +“There is a story—” +</p> + +<p> +“There is a story!” exclaimed the maiden, loosening from her brow +the overhanging look of care. “Thus and thus. Frequently have I +importuned him before whom you will appear to explain to me the meaning of the +scene. When you are called upon to plead your cause, see to it well that your +knowledge of such a tale is clearly shown. He before whom you kneel, craftily +plied meanwhile by my unceasing petulance, will then desire to hear it from +your lips... At the striking of the fourth gong the day is done. What lies +between rests with your discriminating wit.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are deep in the subtler kinds of wisdom, such as the weak +possess,” confessed Kai Lung. “Yet how will this avail to any +length?” +</p> + +<p> +“That which is put off from to-day is put off from to-morrow,” was +the confident reply. “For the rest—at a corresponding gong-stroke +of each day it is this person’s custom to gather fruit. Farewell, +minstrel.” +</p> + +<p> +When Li-loe returned a little later Kai Lung threw his two remaining strings of +cash about that rapacious person’s neck and embraced him as he exclaimed: +</p> + +<p> +“Chieftain among doorkeepers, when I go to the Capital to receive the +all-coveted title ‘Leaf-crowned’ and to chant ceremonial odes +before the Court, thou shalt accompany me as forerunner, and an agile tribe of +selected goats shall sport about thy path.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, manlet,” replied the other, weeping readily, “greatly +do I fear that the next journey thou wilt take will be in an upward or a +downward rather than a sideway direction. This much have I learned, and to this +end, at some cost admittedly, I enticed into loquacity one who knows another +whose brother holds the key of Ming-shu’s confidence: that to-morrow the +Mandarin will begin to distribute justice here, and out of the depths of +Ming-shu’s malignity the name of Kai Lung is the first set down.” +</p> + +<p> +“With the title,” continued Kai Lung cheerfully, “there goes +a sufficiency of taels; also a vat of a potent wine of a certain kind.” +</p> + +<p> +“If,” suggested Li-loe, looking anxiously around, “you have +really discovered hidden about this place a secret store of wine, consider well +whether it would not be prudent to entrust it to a faithful friend before it is +too late.” +</p> + +<p> +It was indeed as Li-loe had foretold. On the following day, at the second +gong-stroke after noon, the order came and, closely guarded, Kai Lung was led +forth. The middle court had been duly arranged, with a formidable display of +chains, weights, presses, saws, branding irons and other implements for +securing justice. At the head of a table draped with red sat the Mandarin Shan +Tien, on his right the secretary of his hand, the contemptible Ming-shu. Round +about were positioned others who in one necessity or another might be relied +upon to play an ordered part. After a lavish explosion of fire-crackers had +been discharged, sonorous bells rung and gongs beaten, a venerable geomancer +disclosed by means of certain tests that all doubtful influences had been +driven off and that truth and impartiality alone remained. +</p> + +<p> +“Except on the part of the prisoners, doubtless,” remarked the +Mandarin, thereby imperilling the gravity of all who stood around. +</p> + +<p> +“The first of those to prostrate themselves before your enlightened +clemency, Excellence, is a notorious assassin who, under another name, has +committed many crimes,” began the execrable Ming-shu. “He confesses +that, now calling himself Kai Lung, he has recently journeyed from Loo-chow, +where treason ever wears a smiling face.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance he is saddened by our city’s loyalty,” interposed +the benign Shan Tien, “for if he is smiling now it is on the side of his +face removed from this one’s gaze.” +</p> + +<p> +“The other side of his face is assuredly where he will be made to smile +ere long,” acquiesced Ming-shu, not altogether to his chief’s +approval, as the analogy was already his. “Furthermore, he has been +detected lurking in secret meeting-places by the wayside, and on reaching +Yu-ping he raised his rebellious voice inviting all to gather round and join +his unlawful band. The usual remedy in such cases during periods of stress, +Excellence, is strangulation.” +</p> + +<p> +“The times are indeed pressing,” remarked the agile-minded +Mandarin, “and the penalty would appear to be adequate.” As no one +suffered inconvenience at his attitude, however, Shan Tien’s expression +assumed a more unbending cast. +</p> + +<p> +“Let the witnesses appear,” he commanded sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“In so clear a case it has not been thought necessary to incur the +expense of hiring the usual witnesses,” urged Ming-shu; “but they +are doubtless clustered about the opium floor and will, if necessary, testify +to whatever is required.” +</p> + +<p> +“The argument is a timely one,” admitted the Mandarin. “As +the result cannot fail to be the same in either case, perhaps the accommodating +prisoner will assist the ends of justice by making a full confession of his +crimes?” +</p> + +<p> +“High Excellence,” replied the story-teller, speaking for the first +time, “it is truly said that that which would appear as a mountain in the +evening may stand revealed as a mud-hut by the light of day. Hear my unpainted +word. I am of the abject House of Kai and my inoffensive rice is earned as a +narrator of imagined tales. Unrolling my threadbare mat at the middle hour of +yesterday, I had raised my distressing voice and announced an intention to +relate the Story of Wong Ts’in, that which is known as ‘The Legend +of the Willow Plate Embellishment,’ when a company of armed warriors, +converging upon me—” +</p> + +<p> +“Restrain the melodious flow of your admitted eloquence,” +interrupted the Mandarin, veiling his arising interest. “Is the story, to +which you have made reference, that of the scene widely depicted on plates and +earthenware?” +</p> + +<p> +“Undoubtedly. It is the true and authentic legend as related by the +eminent Tso-yi.” +</p> + +<p> +“In that case,” declared Shan Tien dispassionately, “it will +be necessary for you to relate it now, in order to uphold your claim. +Proceed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, Excellence,” protested Ming-shu from a bitter throat, +“this matter will attenuate down to the stroke of evening rice. Kowtowing +beneath your authoritative hand, that which the prisoner only had the intention +to relate does not come within the confines of his evidence.” +</p> + +<p> +“The objection is superficial and cannot be sustained,” replied +Shan Tien. “If an evilly-disposed one raised a sword to strike this +person, but was withheld before the blow could fall, none but a leper would +contend that because he did not progress beyond the intention thereby he should +go free. Justice must be impartially upheld and greatly do I fear that we must +all submit.” +</p> + +<p> +With these opportune words the discriminating personage signified to Kai Lung +that he should begin. +</p> + +<h3>The Story of Wong Ts’in and the Willow Plate Embellishment</h3> + +<p> +Wong Ts’in, the rich porcelain maker, was ill at ease within himself. He +had partaken of his customary midday meal, flavoured the repast by unsealing a +jar of matured wine, consumed a little fruit, a few sweetmeats and half a dozen +cups of unapproachable tea, and then retired to an inner chamber to contemplate +philosophically from the reposeful attitude of a reclining couch. +</p> + +<p> +But upon this occasion the merchant did not contemplate restfully. He paced the +floor in deep dejection and when he did use the couch at all it was to roll +upon it in a sudden access of internal pain. The cause of his distress was well +known to the unhappy person thus concerned, nor did it lessen the pangs of his +emotion that it arose entirely from his own ill-considered action. +</p> + +<p> +When Wong Ts’in had discovered, by the side of a remote and obscure +river, the inexhaustible bed of porcelain clay that ensured his prosperity, his +first care was to erect adequate sheds and labouring-places; his next to build +a house sufficient for himself and those in attendance round about him. +</p> + +<p> +So far prudence had ruled his actions, for there is a keen edge to the saying: +“He who sleeps over his workshop brings four eyes into the +business,” but in one detail Wong Ts’in’s head and feet went +on different journeys, for with incredible oversight he omitted to secure the +experience of competent astrologers and omen-casters in fixing the exact site +of his mansion. +</p> + +<p> +The result was what might have been expected. In excavating for the +foundations, Wong Ts’in’s slaves disturbed the repose of a small +but rapacious earth-demon that had already been sleeping there for nine hundred +and ninety-nine years. With the insatiable cunning of its kind, this vindictive +creature waited until the house was completed and then proceeded to transfer +its unseen but formidable presence to the quarters that were designed for Wong +Ts’in himself. Thenceforth, from time to time, it continued to revenge +itself for the trouble to which it had been put by an insidious persecution. +This frequently took the form of fastening its claws upon the merchant’s +digestive organs, especially after he had partaken of an unusually rich repast +(for in some way the display of certain viands excited its unreasoning +animosity), pressing heavily upon his chest, invading his repose with +dragon-dreams while he slept, and the like. Only by the exercise of an +ingenuity greater than its own could Wong Ts’in succeed in baffling its +ill-conditioned spite. +</p> + +<p> +On this occasion, recognizing from the nature of his pangs what was taking +place, Wong Ts’in resorted to a stratagem that rarely failed him. +Announcing in a loud voice that it was his intention to refresh the surface of +his body by the purifying action of heated vapour, and then to proceed to his +mixing-floor, the merchant withdrew. The demon, being an earth-dweller with the +ineradicable objection of this class of creatures towards all the elements of +moisture, at once relinquished its hold, and going direct to the part of the +works indicated, it there awaited its victim with the design of resuming its +discreditable persecution. +</p> + +<p> +Wong Ts’in had spoken with a double tongue. On leaving the inner chamber +he quickly traversed certain obscure passages of his house until he reached an +inferior portal. Even if the demon had suspected his purpose it would not have +occurred to a creature of its narrow outlook that anyone of Wong +Ts’in’s importance would make use of so menial an outway. The +merchant therefore reached his garden unperceived and thenceforward maintained +an undeviating face in the direction of the Outer Expanses. Before he had +covered many li he was assured that he had indeed succeeded for the time in +shaking off his unscrupulous tormentor. His internal organs again resumed their +habitual calm and his mind was lightened as from an overhanging cloud. +</p> + +<p> +There was another reason why Wong Ts’in sought the solitude of the +thinly-peopled outer places, away from the influence and distraction of his own +estate. For some time past a problem that had once been remote was assuming +dimensions of increasing urgency. This detail concerns Fa Fai, who had already +been referred to by a person of literary distinction, in a poetical analogy +occupying three written volumes, as a pearl-tinted peach-blossom shielded and +restrained by the silken net-work of wise parental affection (and recognizing +the justice of the comparison, Wong Ts’in had been induced to purchase +the work in question). Now that Fa Fai had attained an age when she could +fittingly be sought in marriage the contingency might occur at any time, and +the problem confronting her father’s decision was this: owing to her +incomparable perfection Fa Fai must be accounted one of Wong +Ts’in’s chief possessions, the other undoubtedly being his secret +process of simulating the lustrous effect of pure gold embellishment on china +by the application of a much less expensive substitute. Would it be more +prudent to concentrate the power of both influences and let it become known +that with Fa Fai would go the essential part of his very remunerative clay +enterprise, or would it be more prudent to divide these attractions and secure +two distinct influences, both concerned about his welfare? In the first case +there need be no reasonable limit to the extending vista of his ambition, and +he might even aspire to greet as a son the highest functionary of the +province—an official of such heavily-sustained importance that when he +went about it required six chosen slaves to carry him, and of late it had been +considered more prudent to employ eight. +</p> + +<p> +If, on the other hand, Fa Fai went without any added inducement, a mandarin of +moderate rank would probably be as high as Wong Ts’in could look, but he +would certainly be able to adopt another of at least equal position, at the +price of making over to him the ultimate benefit of his discovery. He could +thus acquire either two sons of reasonable influence, or one who exercised +almost unlimited authority. In view of his own childlessness, and of his final +dependence on the services of others, which arrangement promised the most +regular and liberal transmission of supplies to his expectant spirit when he +had passed into the Upper Air, and would his connection with one very important +official or with two subordinate ones secure him the greater amount of honour +and serviceable recognition among the more useful deities? +</p> + +<p> +To Wong Ts’in’s logical mind it seemed as though there must be a +definite answer to this problem. If one manner of behaving was right the other +must prove wrong, for as the wise philosopher Ning-hy was wont to say: +“Where the road divides, there stand two Ning-hys.” The decision on +a matter so essential to his future comfort ought not to be left to chance. +Thus it had become a habit of Wong Ts’in’s to penetrate the Outer +Spaces in the hope of there encountering a specific omen. +</p> + +<p> +Alas, it has been well written: “He who thinks that he is raising a mound +may only in reality be digging a pit.” In his continual search for a +celestial portent among the solitudes Wong Ts’in had of late necessarily +somewhat neglected his earthly (as it may thus be expressed) interests. In +these emergencies certain of the more turbulent among his workers had banded +themselves together into a confederacy under the leadership of a craftsman +named Fang. It was the custom of these men, who wore a badge and recognized a +mutual oath and imprecation, to present themselves suddenly before Wong +Ts’in and demand a greater reward for their exertions than they had +previously agreed to, threatening that unless this was accorded they would cast +down the implements of their labour in unison and involve in idleness those who +otherwise would have continued at their task. This menace Wong Ts’in +bought off from time to time by agreeing to their exactions, but it began +presently to appear that this way of appeasing them resembled Chou Hong’s +method of extinguishing a fire by directing jets of wind against it. On the day +with which this related story has so far concerned itself, a band of the most +highly remunerated and privileged of the craftsmen had appeared before Wong +Ts’in with the intolerable Fang at their head. These men were they whose +skill enabled them laboriously to copy upon the surfaces of porcelain a given +scene without appreciable deviation from one to the other, for in those remote +cycles of history no other method was yet known or even dreamed of. +</p> + +<p> +“Suitable greetings, employer of our worthless services,” remarked +their leader, seating himself upon the floor unbidden. “These who speak +through the mouth of the cringing mendicant before you are the Bound-together +Brotherhood of Colour-mixers and Putters-on of Thought-out Designs, bent upon a +just cause.” +</p> + +<p> +“May their Ancestral Tablets never fall into disrepair,” replied +Wong Ts’in courteously. “For the rest—let the mouth referred +to shape itself into the likeness of a narrow funnel, for the lengthening +gong-strokes press round about my unfinished labours.” +</p> + +<p> +“That which in justice requires the amplitude of a full-sized cask shall +be pressed down into the confines of an inadequate vessel,” assented +Fang. “Know then, O battener upon our ill-requited skill, how it has come +to our knowledge that one who is not of our Brotherhood moves among us and +performs an equal task for a less reward. This is our spoken word in +consequence: in place of one tael every man among us shall now take two, and he +who before has laboured eight gongs to receive it shall henceforth labour four. +Furthermore, he who is speaking shall, as their recognized head and authority, +always be addressed by the honourable title of ‘Polished,’ and the +dog who is not one of us shall be cast forth.” +</p> + +<p> +“My hand itches to reward you in accordance with the inner prompting of a +full heart,” replied the merchant, after a well-sustained pause. +“But in this matter my very deficient ears must be leading my threadbare +mind astray. The moon has not been eaten up since the day when you stood before +me in a like attitude and bargained that every man should henceforth receive a +full tael where hitherto a half had been his portion, and that in place of the +toil of sixteen gong-strokes eight should suffice. Upon this being granted all +bound themselves by spoken word that the matter should stand thus and thus +between us until the gathering-in of the next rice harvest.” +</p> + +<p> +“That may have been so at the time,” admitted Fang, with dog-like +obstinacy, “but it was not then known that you had pledged yourself to +Hien Nan for tenscore embellished plates of porcelain within a stated time, and +that our services would therefore be essential to your reputation. There has +thus arisen what may be regarded as a new vista of eventualities, and this +frees us from the bondage of our spoken word. Having thus moderately stated our +unbending demand, we will depart until the like gong-stroke of to-morrow, when, +if our claim be not agreed to, all will cast down their implements of labour +with the swiftness of a lightning-flash and thereby involve the whole of your +too-profitable undertaking in well-merited stagnation. We go, venerable head; +auspicious omens attend your movements!” +</p> + +<p> +“May the All-Seeing guide your footsteps,” responded Wong +Ts’in, and with courteous forbearance he waited until they were out of +hearing before he added—“into a vat of boiling sulphur!” +</p> + +<p> +Thus may the position be outlined when Wei Chang, the unassuming youth whom the +black-hearted Fang had branded with so degrading a comparison, sat at his +appointed place rather than join in the discreditable conspiracy, and strove by +his unaided dexterity to enable Wong Ts’in to complete the tenscore +embellished plates by the appointed time. Yet already he knew that in this +commendable ambition his head grew larger than his hands, for he was the +slowest-working among all Wong Ts’in’s craftsmen, and even then his +copy could frequently be detected from the original. Not to overwhelm his +memory with unmerited contempt it is fitting now to reveal somewhat more of the +unfolding curtain of events. +</p> + +<p> +Wei Chang was not in reality a worker in the art of applying coloured designs +to porcelain at all. He was a student of the literary excellences and had +decided to devote his entire life to the engaging task of reducing the most +perfectly matched analogy to the least possible number of words when the +unexpected appearance of Fa Fai unsettled his ambitions. She was restraining +the impatience of a powerful horse and controlling its movements by means of a +leather thong, while at the same time she surveyed the landscape with a +disinterested glance in which Wei Chang found himself becoming involved. +Without stopping even to consult the spirits of his revered ancestors on so +important a decision, he at once burned the greater part of his collection of +classical analogies and engaged himself, as one who is willing to become more +proficient, about Wong Ts’in’s earth-yards. Here, without any +reasonable intention of ever becoming in any way personally congenial to her, +he was in a position occasionally to see the distant outline of Fa Fai’s +movements, and when a day passed and even this was withheld he was content that +the shadow of the many-towered building that contained her should obscure the +sunlight from the window before which he worked. +</p> + +<p> +While Wei Chang was thus engaged the door of the enclosure in which he laboured +was thrust cautiously inwards, and presently he became aware that the being +whose individuality was never completely absent from his thoughts was standing +in an expectant attitude at no great distance from him. As no other person was +present, the craftsmen having departed in order to consult an oracle that dwelt +beneath an appropriate sign, and Wong Ts’in being by this time among the +Outer Ways seeking an omen as to Fa Fai’s disposal, Wei Chang did not +think it respectful to become aware of the maiden’s presence until a +persistent distress of her throat compelled him to recognize the incident. +</p> + +<p> +“Unapproachable perfection,” he said, with becoming deference, +“is it permissible that in the absence of your enlightened sire you +should descend from your golden eminence and stand, entirely unattended, at no +great distance from so ordinary a person as myself?” +</p> + +<p> +“Whether it be strictly permissible or not, it is only on like occasions +that she ever has the opportunity of descending from the solitary pinnacle +referred to,” replied Fa Fai, not only with no outward appearance of +alarm at being directly addressed by one of a different sex, but even moving +nearer to Wei Chang as she spoke. “A more essential detail in the +circumstances concerns the length of time that he may be prudently relied upon +to be away?” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless several gong-strokes will intervene before his returning +footsteps gladden our expectant vision,” replied Wei Chang. “He is +spoken of as having set his face towards the Outer Ways, there perchance to +come within the influence of a portent.” +</p> + +<p> +“Its probable object is not altogether unknown to the one who stands +before you,” admitted Fa Fai, “and as a dutiful and affectionate +daughter it has become a consideration with her whether she ought not to press +forward, as it were, to a solution on her own account.... If the one whom I am +addressing could divert his attention from the embellishment of the very +inadequate claw of a wholly superfluous winged dragon, possibly he might add +his sage counsel on that point.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is said that a bull-frog once rent his throat in a well-meant +endeavour to advise an eagle in the art of flying,” replied Wei Chang, +concealing the bitterness of his heart beneath an easy tongue. “For this +reason it is inexpedient for earthlings to fix their eyes on those who dwell in +very high places.” +</p> + +<p> +“To the intrepid, very high places exist solely to be scaled; with +others, however, the only scaling they attempt is lavished on the armour of +preposterous flying monsters, O youth of the House of Wei!” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it possible,” exclaimed Wei Chang, moving forward with so +sudden an ardour that the maiden hastily withdrew herself several paces from +beyond his enthusiasm, “is it possible that this person’s hitherto +obscure and execrated name is indeed known to your incomparable lips?” +</p> + +<p> +“As the one who periodically casts up the computations of the sums of +money due to those who labour about the earth-yards, it would be strange if the +name had so far escaped my notice,” replied Fa Fai, with a distance in +her voice that the few paces between them very inadequately represented. +“Certain details engrave themselves upon the tablets of recollection by +their persistence. For instance, the name of Fang is generally at the head of +each list; that of Wei Chang is invariably at the foot.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is undeniable,” admitted Wei Chang, in a tone of well-merited +humiliation; “and the attainment of never having yet applied a design in +such a manner that the copy might be mistaken for the original has entirely +flattened-out this person’s self-esteem.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” suggested Fa Fai, with delicate encouragement, +“there are other pursuits in which you would disclose a more highly +developed proficiency—as that of watching the gyrations of untamed +horses, for example. Our more immediate need, however, is to discover a means +of defeating the malignity of the detestable Fang. With this object I have for +some time past secretly applied myself to the task of contriving a design +which, by blending simplicity with picturesque effect, will enable one person +in a given length of time to achieve the amount of work hitherto done by +two.” +</p> + +<p> +With these auspicious words the accomplished maiden disclosed a plate of +translucent porcelain, embellished in the manner which she had described. At +the sight of the ingenious way in which trees and persons, stream and +buildings, and objects of a widely differing nature had been so arranged as to +give the impression that they all existed at the same time, and were equally +visible without undue exertion on the part of the spectator who regarded them, +Wei Chang could not restrain an exclamation of delight. +</p> + +<p> +“How cunningly imagined is the device by which objects so varied in size +as an orange and an island can be depicted within the narrow compass of a +porcelain plate without the larger one completely obliterating the smaller or +the smaller becoming actually invisible by comparison with the other! Hitherto +this unimaginative person had not considered the possibility of showing other +than dragons, demons, spirits, and the forces which from their celestial nature +may be regarded as possessing no real thickness of substance and therefore +being particularly suitable for treatment on a flat surface. But this engaging +display might indeed be a scene having an actual existence at no great space +away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Such is assuredly the case,” admitted Fa Fai. “Within +certain limitations, imposed by this new art of depicting realities as they +are, we may be regarded as standing before an open window. The +important-looking building on the right is that erected by this person’s +venerated father. Its prosperity is indicated by the luxurious profusion of the +fruit-tree overhanging it. Pressed somewhat to the back, but of dignified +proportion, are the outer buildings of those who labour among the clay.” +</p> + +<p> +“In a state of actuality, they are of measurably less dignified +dimensions,” suggested Wei Chang. +</p> + +<p> +“The objection is inept,” replied Fa Fai. “The buildings in +question undoubtedly exist at the indicated position. If, therefore, the +actuality is to be maintained, it is necessary either to raise their stature or +to cut down the trees obscuring them. To this gentle-minded person the former +alternative seemed the less drastic. As, however, it is regarded in a spirit of +no-satisfaction—” +</p> + +<p> +“Proceed, incomparable one, proceed,” implored Wei Chang. “It +was but a breath of thought, arising from a recollection of the many times that +this incapable person has struck his unworthy head against the roof-beams of +those nobly-proportioned buildings.” +</p> + +<p> +“The three stunted individuals crossing the bridge in undignified +attitudes are the debased Fang and two of his mercenary accomplices. They are, +as usual, bending their footsteps in the direction of the hospitality of a +house that announces its purpose beneath the sign of a spreading bush. They are +positioned as crossing the river to a set purpose, and the bridge is devoid of +a rail in the hope that on their return they may all fall into the torrent in a +helpless condition and be drowned, to the satisfaction of the beholders.” +</p> + +<p> +“It would be a fitting conclusion to their ill-spent lives,” agreed +Wei Chang. “Would it not add to their indignity to depict them as +struggling beneath the waves?” +</p> + +<p> +“It might do so,” admitted Fa Fai graciously, “but in order +to express the arisement adequately it would be necessary to display them +twice—first on the bridge with their faces turned towards the west, and +then in the flood with their faces towards the east; and the superficial might +hastily assume that the three on the bridge would rescue the three in the +river.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are all-wise,” said Wei Chang, with well-marked admiration in +his voice. “This person’s suggestion was opaque.” +</p> + +<p> +“In any case,” continued Fa Fai, with a reassuring glance, +“it is a detail that is not essential to the frustration of Fang’s +malignant scheme, for already well on its way towards Hien Nan may be seen a +trustworthy junk, laden with two formidable crates, each one containing +fivescore plates of the justly esteemed Wong Ts’in porcelain.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nevertheless,” maintained Wei Chang mildly, “the out-passing +of Fang would have been a satisfactory detail of the occurrence.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not despair,” replied Fa Fai. “Not idly is it written: +‘Destiny has four feet, eight hands and sixteen eyes: how then shall the +ill-doer with only two of each hope to escape?’ An even more ignominious +end may await Fang, should he escape drowning, for, conveniently placed by the +side of the stream, this person has introduced a spreading willow-tree. Any of +its lower branches is capable of sustaining Fang’s weight, should a +reliable rope connect the two.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is something about that which this person now learns is a willow +that distinguishes it above all the other trees of the design,” remarked +Wei Chang admiringly. “It has a wild and yet a romantic aspect.” +</p> + +<p> +“This person had not yet chanced upon a suitable title for the +device,” said Fa Fai, “and a distinguishing name is necessary, for +possibly scores of copies may be made before its utility is exhausted. Your +discriminating praise shall be accepted as a fortunate omen, and henceforth +this shall be known as the Willow Pattern Embellishment.” +</p> + +<p> +“The honour of suggesting the title is more than this commonplace person +can reasonably carry,” protested Wei Chang, feeling that very little +worth considering existed outside the earth-shed. “Not only scores, but +even hundreds of copies may be required in the process of time, for a crust of +rice-bread and handful of dried figs eaten from such a plate would be more +satisfying than a repast of many-coursed richness elsewhere.” +</p> + +<p> +In this well-sustained and painless manner Fa Fai and Wei Chang continued to +express themselves agreeably to each other, until the lengthening gong-strokes +warned the former person that her absence might inconvenience Wong +Ts’in’s sense of tranquillity on his return, nor did Wei Chang +contest the desirability of a great space intervening between them should the +merchant chance to pass that way. In the meanwhile Chang had explained many of +the inner details of his craft so that Fa Fai should the better understand the +requirements of her new art. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet where is the Willow plate itself?” said the maiden, as she +began to arrange her mind towards departure. “As the colours were still +in a receptive state this person placed it safely aside for the time. It was +somewhat near the spot where you—” +</p> + +<p> +During the amiable exchange of shafts of polished conversation Wei Chang had +followed Fa Fai’s indication and had seated himself upon a low bench +without any very definite perception of his movements. He now arose with the +unstudied haste of one who has inconvenienced a scorpion. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” he exclaimed, in a tone of the acutest mental distress; +“can it be possible that this utterly profane outcast has so +desecrated—” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly comment of an admittedly crushing nature has been imposed on +this one’s well-meant handiwork,” said Fa Fai. With these +lightly-barbed words, which were plainly devised to restore the other +person’s face towards himself, the magnanimous maiden examined the plate +which Wei Chang’s uprising had revealed. +</p> + +<p> +“Not only has the embellishment suffered no real detriment,” she +continued, after an adequate glance, “but there has been imparted to the +higher lights—doubtless owing to the nature of the fabric in which your +lower half is encased—a certain nebulous quality that adds greatly to the +successful effect of the various tones.” +</p> + +<p> +At the first perception of the indignity to which he had subjected the +entrancing Fa Fai’s work, and the swift feeling that much more than the +coloured adornment of a plate would thereby be destroyed, all power of +retention had forsaken Wei Chang’s incapable knees and he sank down +heavily upon another bench. From this dejection the maiden’s well-chosen +encouragement recalled him to a position of ordinary uprightness. +</p> + +<p> +“A tombstone is lifted from this person’s mind by your +gracefully-placed words,” he declared, and he was continuing to indicate +the nature of his self-reproach by means of a suitable analogy when the +expression of Fa Fai’s eyes turned him to a point behind himself. There, +lying on the spot from which he had just risen, was a second Willow plate, +differing in no detail of resemblance from the first. +</p> + +<p> +“Shadow of the Great Image!” exclaimed Chang, in an awe-filled +voice. “It is no marvel that miracles should attend your footsteps, +celestial one, but it is incredible that this clay-souled person should be +involved in the display.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” declared Fa Fai, not hesitating to allude to things as they +existed, in the highly-raised stress of the discovery, “it would appear +that the miracle is not specifically connected with this person’s feet. +Would you not, in furtherance of this line of suggestion, place yourself in a +similar attitude on yet another plate, Wei Chang?” +</p> + +<p> +Not without many protests that it was scarcely becoming thus to sit repeatedly +in her presence, Chang complied with the request, and upon Fa Fai’s +further insistence he continued to impress himself, as it were, upon a +succession of porcelain plates, with a like result. Not until the eleventh +process was reached did the Willow design begin to lose its potency. +</p> + +<p> +“Ten perfect copies produced within as many moments, and not one +distinguishable from the first!” exclaimed Wei Chang, regarding the array +of plates with pleasurable emotion. “Here is a means of baffling +Fang’s crafty confederacy that will fill Wong Ts’in’s ears +with waves of gladness on his return.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” agreed Fa Fai, with a dark intent. She was standing by +the door of the enclosure in the process of making her departure, and she +regarded Wei Chang with a set deliberation. “Yet,” she continued +definitely, “if this person possessed that which was essential to Wong +Ts’in’s prosperity, and Wong Ts’in held that which was +necessary for this one’s tranquillity, a locked bolt would be upon the +one until the other was pledged in return.” +</p> + +<p> +With these opportune words the maiden vanished, leaving Wei Chang prostrating +himself in spirit before the many-sidedness of her wisdom. +</p> + +<p> +Wong Ts’in was not altogether benevolently inclined towards the universe +on his return a little later. The persistent image of Fang’s +overthreatening act still corroded the merchant’s throat with bitterness, +for on his right he saw the extinction of his business as unremunerative if he +agreed, and on his left he saw the extinction of his business as undependable +if he refused to agree. +</p> + +<p> +Furthermore, the omens were ill-arranged. +</p> + +<p> +On his way outwards he had encountered an aged man who possessed two +fruit-trees, on which he relied for sustenance. As Wong Ts’in drew near, +this venerable person carried from his dwelling two beaten cakes of dog-dung +and began to bury them about the root of the larger tree. This action, on the +part of one who might easily be a disguised wizard, aroused Wong +Ts’in’s interest. +</p> + +<p> +“Why,” he demanded, “having two cakes of dung and two +fruit-trees, do you not allot one to each tree, so that both may benefit and +return to you their produce in the time of your necessity?” +</p> + +<p> +“The season promises to be one of rigour and great need,” replied +the other. “A single cake of dung might not provide sufficient +nourishment for either tree, so that both should wither away. By reducing life +to a bare necessity I could pass from one harvest to another on the fruit of +this tree alone, but if both should fail I am undone. To this end I safeguard +my existence by ensuring that at least the better of the two shall +thrive.” +</p> + +<p> +“Peace attend your efforts!” said Wong Ts’in, and he began to +retrace his footsteps, well content. +</p> + +<p> +Yet he had not covered half the distance back when his progress was impeded by +an elderly hag who fed two goats, whose milk alone preserved her from +starvation. One small measure of dry grass was all that she was able to provide +them with, but she divided it equally between them, to the discontent of both. +</p> + +<p> +“The season promises to be one of rigour and great need,” remarked +Wong Ts’in affably, for the being before him might well be a creature of +another part who had assumed that form for his guidance. “Why do you not +therefore ensure sustenance to the better of the two goats by devoting to it +the whole of the measure of dry grass? In this way you would receive at least +some nourishment in return and thereby safeguard your own existence until the +rice is grown again.” +</p> + +<p> +“In the matter of the two goats,” replied the aged hag, +“there is no better, both being equally stubborn and perverse, though one +may be finer-looking and more vainglorious than the other. Yet should I foster +this one to the detriment of her fellow, what would be this person’s +plight if haply the weaker died and the stronger broke away and fled! By +treating both alike I retain a double thread on life, even if neither is +capable of much.” +</p> + +<p> +“May the Unseen weigh your labours!” exclaimed Wong Ts’in in +a two-edged voice, and he departed. +</p> + +<p> +When he reached his own house he would have closed himself in his own chamber +with himself had not Wei Chang persisted that he sought his master’s +inner ear with a heavy project. This interruption did not please Wong +Ts’in, for he had begun to recognize the day as being unlucky, yet Chang +succeeded by a device in reaching his side, bearing in his hands a guarded +burden. +</p> + +<p> +Though no written record of this memorable interview exists, it is now +generally admitted that Wei Chang either involved himself in an unbearably +attenuated caution before he would reveal his errand, or else that he made a +definite allusion to Fa Fai with a too sudden conciseness, for the slaves who +stood without heard Wong Ts’in clear his voice of all restraint and +express himself freely on a variety of subjects. But this gave place to a +subdued murmur, ending with the ceremonial breaking of a plate, and later Wong +Ts’in beat on a silver bell and called for wine and fruit. +</p> + +<p> +The next day Fang presented himself a few gong-strokes later than the appointed +time, and being met by an unbending word he withdrew the labour of those whom +he controlled. Thenceforth these men, providing themselves with knives and +axes, surrounded the gate of the earth-yards and by the pacific argument of +their attitudes succeeded in persuading others who would willingly have +continued at their task that the air of Wong Ts’in’s sheds was not +congenial to their health. Towards Wei Chang, whose efforts they despised, they +raised a cloud of derision, and presently noticing that henceforth he +invariably clad himself in lower garments of a dark blue material (to a set +purpose that will be as crystal to the sagacious), they greeted his appearance +with cries of: “Behold the sombre one! Thou dark leg!” so that this +reproach continues to be hurled even to this day at those in a like case, +though few could answer why. +</p> + +<p> +Long before the stipulated time the tenscore plates were delivered to Hien Nan. +So greatly were they esteemed, both on account of their accuracy of unvarying +detail and the ingenuity of their novel embellishment, that orders for scores, +hundreds and even thousands began to arrive from all quarters of the Empire. +The clay enterprise of Wong Ts’in took upon itself an added lustre, and +in order to deal adequately with so vast an undertaking the grateful merchant +adopted Wei Chang and placed him upon an equal footing with himself. On the +same day Wong Ts’in honourably fulfilled his spoken word and the marriage +of Wei Chang and Fa Fai took place, accompanied by the most lavish display of +fireworks and coloured lights that the province had ever seen. The controlling +deities approved, and they had seven sons, one of whom had seven fingers upon +each hand. All these sons became expert in Wei Chang’s process of +transferring porcelain embellishment, for some centuries elapsed before it was +discovered that it was not absolutely necessary to sit upon each plate to +produce the desired effect. +</p> + +<p> +This chronicle of an event that is now regarded as almost classical would not +be complete without an added reference to the ultimate end of the sordid Fang. +</p> + +<p> +Fallen into disrepute among his fellows owing to the evil plight towards which +he had enticed them, it became his increasing purpose to frequent the house +beyond the river. On his return at nightfall he invariably drew aside on +reaching the bridge, well knowing that he could not prudently rely upon his +feet among so insecure a crossing, and composed himself to sleep amid the +rushes. While in this position one night he was discovered and pushed into the +river by a devout ox (an instrument of high destinies), where he perished +incapably. +</p> + +<p> +Those who found his body, not being able to withdraw so formidable a weight +direct, cast a rope across the lower branch of a convenient willow-tree and +thus raised it to the shore. In this striking manner Fa Fai’s definite +opinion achieved a destined end. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a> CHAPTER III<br /> +The Degraded Persistence of the Effete Ming-shu</h2> + +<p> +At about the same gong-stroke as before, Kai Lung again stood at the open +shutter, and to him presently came the maiden Hwa-mei, bearing in her hands a +gift of fruit. +</p> + +<p> +“The story of the much-harassed merchant Wong Ts’in and of the +assiduous youth Wei Chang has reached this person’s ears by a devious +road, and though it doubtless lost some of the subtler qualities in the +telling, the ultimate tragedy had a convincing tone,” she remarked +pleasantly. +</p> + +<p> +“It is scarcely to be expected that one who has spent his life beneath an +official umbrella should have at his command the finer analogies of light and +shade,” tolerantly replied Kai Lung. “Though by no means comparable +with the unapproachable history of the Princess Taik and the minstrel +Ch’eng as a means for conveying the unexpressed aspirations of the one +who relates towards the one who is receptive, there are many passages even in +the behaviour of Wei Chang into which this person could infuse an unmistakable +stress of significance were he but given the opportunity.” +</p> + +<p> +“The day of that opportunity has not yet dawned,” replied the +Golden Mouse; “nor has the night preceding it yet run its gloomy course. +Foiled in his first attempt, the vindictive Ming-shu now creeps towards his end +by a more tortuous path. Whether or not dimly suspecting something of the +strategy by which your imperishable life was preserved to-day, it is no part of +his depraved scheme that you should be given a like opportunity again. +To-morrow another will be led to judgment, one Cho-kow, a tribesman of the +barbarian land of Khim.” +</p> + +<p> +“With him I have already conversed and shared rice,” interposed Kai +Lung. “Proceed, elegance.” +</p> + +<p> +“Accused of plundering mountain tombs and of other crimes now held in +disrepute, he will be offered a comparatively painless death if he will +implicate his fellows, of whom you will be held to be the chief. By this +ignoble artifice you will be condemned on his testimony in your absence, nor +will you have any warning of your fate until you are led forth to +suffer.” +</p> + +<p> +Then replied Kai Lung, after a space of thought: “Not ineptly is it +written: ‘When the leading carriage is upset the next one is more +careful,’ and Ming-shu has taken the proverb to his heart. To counteract +his detestable plot will not be easy, but it should not be beyond our united +power, backed by a reasonable activity on the part of our protecting +ancestors.” +</p> + +<p> +“The devotional side of the emergency has had this one’s early +care,” remarked Hwa-mei. “From daybreak to-morrow six zealous and +deep-throated monks will curse Ming-shu and all his ways unceasingly, while a +like number will invoke blessings and success upon your enlightened head. In +the matter of noise and illumination everything that can contribute has been +suitably prepared.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is difficult to conjecture what more could be done in that +direction,” confessed Kai Lung gratefully. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet as regards a more material effort—?” suggested the +maiden, amid a cloud of involving doubt. +</p> + +<p> +“If there is a subject in which the imagination of the Mandarin Shan Tien +can be again enmeshed it might be yet accomplished,” replied Kai Lung. +“Have you a knowledge of any such deep concern?” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly there is a matter that disturbs his peace of late. He has dreamed +a dream three times, and its meaning is beyond the skill of any man to solve. +Yet how shall this avail you who are no geomancer?” +</p> + +<p> +“What is the nature of the dream?” inquired Kai Lung. “For +remember, ‘Though Shen-fi has but one gate, many roads lead to +it.’” +</p> + +<p> +“The substance of the dream is this: that herein he who sleeps walks +freely in the ways of men wearing no robe or covering of any kind, yet +suffering no concern or indignity therefrom; that the secret and hidden things +of the earth are revealed to his seeing eyes; and that he can float in space +and project himself upon the air at will. These three things are alien to his +nature, and being three times repeated, the uncertainty assails his +ease.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let it, under your persistent care, assail him more and that +unceasingly,” exclaimed Kai Lung, with renewed lightness in his voice. +“Breathe on the surface of his self-repose as a summer breeze moves the +smooth water of a mountain lake—not deeply, but never quite at rest. Be +assured: it is no longer possible to doubt that powerful Beings are interested +in our cause.” +</p> + +<p> +“I go, oppressed one,” replied Hwa-mei. “May this period of +your ignoble trial be brought to a distinguished close.” +</p> + +<p> +On the following day at the appointed hour Cho-kow was led before the Mandarin +Shan Tien, and the nature of his crimes having been explained to him by the +contemptible Ming-shu, he was bidden to implicate Kai Lung and thus come to an +earlier and less painful end. +</p> + +<p> +“All-powerful,” he replied, addressing himself to the Mandarin, +“the words that have been spoken are bent to a deceptive end. They of our +community are a simple race and doubtless in the past their ways were thus and +thus. But, as it is truly said, ‘Tian went bare, his eyes could pierce +the earth and his body float in space, but they of his seed do but dream the +dream.’ We, being but the puny descendants—” +</p> + +<p> +“You have spoken of one Tian whose attributes were such, and of those who +dream thereof,” interrupted the Mandarin, as one who performs a reluctant +duty. “That which you adduce to uphold your cause must bear the full +light of day.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, omnipotence,” replied Cho-kow, “this concerns the +doing of the gods and those who share their line. Now I am but an +ill-conditioned outcast from the obscure land of Khim, and possess no lore +beyond what happens there. Haply the gods that rule in Khim have a different +manner of behaving from those in the Upper Air above Yu-ping, and this +person’s narration would avoid the semblance of the things that are and +he himself would thereby be brought to disrepute.” +</p> + +<p> +“Suffer not that apprehension to retard your impending eloquence,” +replied Shan Tien affably. “Be assured that the gods have exactly the +same manner of behaving in every land.” +</p> + +<p> +“Furthermore,” continued Cho-kow, with patient craft, “I am a +man of barbarian tongue, the full half of my speech being foreign to your ear. +The history of the much-accomplished Tian and the meaning of the dreams that +mark those of his race require for a full understanding the subtle analogies of +an acquired style. Now that same Kai Lung whom you have implicated to my +band—” +</p> + +<p> +“Excellence!” protested Ming-shu, with a sudden apprehension in his +throat, “yesterday our labours dissolved in air through the very doubtful +precedent of allowing one to testify what he had had the intention to relate. +Now we are asked to allow a tomb-haunter to call a parricide to disclose that +which he himself is ignorant of. Press down your autocratic thumb—” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, instructor,” interposed Shan Tien compassionately, +“the sympathetic concern of my mind overflows upon the spectacle of your +ill-used forbearance, yet you having banded together the two in a common +infamy, it is the ancient privilege of this one to call the other to his cause. +We are but the feeble mouthpieces of a benevolent scheme of all-embracing +justice and greatly do I fear that we must again submit.” +</p> + +<p> +With these well-timed words the broad-minded personage settled himself more +reposefully among his cushions and signified that Kai Lung should be led +forward and begin. +</p> + +<h3>The Story of Ning, the Captive God, and the Dreams that mark his Race</h3> + +<h4>i. THE MALICE OF THE DEMON, LEOU</h4> + +<p> +When Sun Wei definitely understood that the deities were against him (for on +every occasion his enemies prospered and the voice of his own authority grew +less), he looked this way and that with a well-considering mind. +</p> + +<p> +He did nothing hastily, but when once a decision was reached it was as +unbending as iron and as smoothly finished as polished jade. At about the +evening hour when others were preparing to offer sacrifice he took the images +and the altars of his Rites down from their honourable positions and cast them +into a heap on a waste expanse beyond his courtyard. Then with an axe he +unceremoniously detached their incomparable limbs from their sublime bodies and +flung the parts into a fire that he had prepared. +</p> + +<p> +“It is better,” declared Sun Wei, standing beside the pile, his +hands buried within his sleeves—“it is better to be struck down at +once, rather than to wither away slowly like a half-uprooted +cassia-tree.” +</p> + +<p> +When this act of defiance was reported in the Upper World the air grew thick +with the cries of indignation of the lesser deities, and the sound of their +passage as they projected themselves across vast regions of space and into the +presence of the supreme N’guk was like the continuous rending of +innumerable pieces of the finest silk. +</p> + +<p> +In his musk-scented heaven, however, N’guk slept, as his habit was at the +close of each celestial day. It was with some difficulty that he could be +aroused and made to understand the nature of Sun Wei’s profanity, for his +mind was dull with the smoke of never-ending incense. +</p> + +<p> +“To-morrow,” he promised, with a benignant gesture, turning over +again on his crystal throne, “some time to-morrow impartial justice shall +be done. In the meanwhile—courteous dismissal attend your opportune +footsteps.” +</p> + +<p> +“He is becoming old and obese,” murmured the less respectful of the +demons. “He is not the god he was, even ten thousand cycles ago. It were +well—” +</p> + +<p> +“But, omnipotence,” protested certain conciliatory spirits, +pressing to the front, “consider, if but for a short breath of time. A +day here is as threescore of their years as these mortals live. By to-morrow +night not only Sun Wei, but most of those now dwelling down below, will have +Passed Beyond. But the story of his unpunished infamy will live. We shall +become discredited and our altar fires extinct. Sacrifice of either food or +raiment will cease to reach us. The Season of White Rain is approaching and +will find us ill provided. We who speak are but Beings of small +part—” +</p> + +<p> +“Peace!” commanded N’guk, now thoroughly disturbed, for the +voices of the few had grown into a tumult; “how is it possible to +consider with a torrent like the Hoang-Ho in flood pouring through my very +ordinary ears? Your omniscient but quite inadequate Chief would think.” +</p> + +<p> +At this rebuke the uproar ceased. So deep became the nature of +N’guk’s profound thoughts that they could be heard rolling like +thunder among the caverns of his gigantic brain. To aid the process, female +slaves on either side fanned his fiery head with celestial lotus leaves. On the +earth, far beneath, cyclones, sand-storms and sweeping water-spouts were forced +into being. +</p> + +<p> +“Hear the contemptible wisdom of my ill-formed mouth,” said +N’guk at length. “If we at once put forth our strength, the +degraded Wun Sei is ground—” +</p> + +<p> +“Sun Wei, All-knowing One,” murmured an attending spirit beneath +his breath. +</p> + +<p> +“—the unmentionable outcast whom we are discussing is immediately +ground into powder,” continued the Highest, looking fixedly at a distant +spot situated directly beyond his painstaking attendant. “But what +follows? Henceforth no man can be allowed to whisper ill of us but we must at +once seek him out and destroy him, or the obtuse and superficial will exclaim: +‘It was not so in the days of—of So-and-So. +Behold’”—here the Great One bent a look of sudden resentment +on the band of those who would have reproached him—“‘behold +the gods become old and obese. They are not the Powers they were. It would be +better to address ourselves to other altars.’” +</p> + +<p> +At this prospect many of the more venerable spirits began to lose their +enthusiasm. If every mortal who spoke ill of them was to be pursued what +leisure for dignified seclusion would remain? +</p> + +<p> +“If, however,” continued the dispassionate Being, “the +profaner is left to himself he will, sooner or later, in the ordinary course of +human intelligence, become involved in some disaster of his own contriving. +Then they who dwell around will say: ‘He destroyed the altars! Truly the +hands of the Unseen are slow to close, but their arms are very long. Lo, we +have this day ourselves beheld it. Come, let us burn incense lest some +forgotten misdeed from the past lurk in our path.’” +</p> + +<p> +When he had finished speaking all the more reputable of those present extolled +his judgment. Some still whispered together, however, whereupon the sagacious +N’guk opened his mouth more fully and shot forth tongues of consuming +fire among the murmurers so that they fled howling from his presence. +</p> + +<p> +Now among the spirits who had stood before the Pearly Ruler without taking any +share in the decision were two who at this point are drawn into the narration, +Leou and Ning. Leou was a revengeful demon, ever at enmity with one or another +of the gods and striving how he might enmesh his feet in destruction. Ning was +a better-class deity, voluptuous but well-meaning, and little able to cope with +Leou’s subtlety. Thus it came about that the latter one, seeing in the +outcome a chance to achieve his end, at once dropped headlong down to earth and +sought out Sun Wei. +</p> + +<p> +Sun Wei was reclining at his evening rice when Leou found him. Becoming +invisible, the demon entered a date that Sun Wei held in his hand and took the +form of a stone. Sun Wei recognized the doubtful nature of the stone as it +passed between his teeth, and he would have spat it forth again, but Leou had +the questionable agility of the serpent and slipped down the other’s +throat. He was thus able to converse familiarly with Sun Wei without fear of +interruption. +</p> + +<p> +“Sun Wei,” said the voice of Leou inwardly, “the position you +have chosen is a desperate one, and we of the Upper Air who are well disposed +towards you find the path of assistance fringed with two-edged swords.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well said: ‘He who lacks a single tael sees many +bargains,’” replied Sun Wei, a refined bitterness weighing the +import of his words. “Truly this person’s friends in the Upper Air +are a never-failing lantern behind his back.” +</p> + +<p> +At this justly-barbed reproach Leou began to shake with disturbed gravity until +he remembered that the motion might not be pleasing to Sun Wei’s inner +feelings. +</p> + +<p> +“It is not that the well-disposed are slow to urge your claims, but that +your enemies number some of the most influential demons in all the Nine +Spaces,” he declared, speaking with a false smoothness that marked all +his detestable plans. “Assuredly in the past you must have led a very +abandoned life, Sun Wei, to come within the circle of their malignity.” +</p> + +<p> +“By no means,” replied Sun Wei. “Until driven to despair this +person not only duly observed the Rites and Ceremonies, but he even avoided the +Six Offences. He remained by the side of his parents while they lived, provided +an adequate posterity, forbore to tread on any of the benevolent insects, +safeguarded all printed paper, did not consume the meat of the industrious ox, +and was charitable towards the needs of hungry and homeless ghosts.” +</p> + +<p> +“These observances are well enough,” admitted Leou, restraining his +narrow-minded impatience; “and with an ordinary number of written charms +worn about the head and body they would doubtless carry you through the lesser +contingencies of existence. But by, as it were, extending contempt, you have +invited the retaliatory propulsion of the sandal of authority.” +</p> + +<p> +“To one who has been pushed over the edge of a precipice, a rut across +the path is devoid of menace; nor do the destitute tremble at the departing +watchman’s cry: ‘Sleep warily; robbers are about.’” +</p> + +<p> +“As regards bodily suffering and material extortion, it is possible to +attain such a limit as no longer to excite the cupidity of even the most +rapacious deity,” admitted Leou. “Other forms of flattening-out a +transgressor’s self-content remain however. For instance, it has come +within the knowledge of the controlling Powers that seven generations of your +distinguished ancestors occupy positions of dignified seclusion in the Upper +Air.” +</p> + +<p> +For the first time Sun Wei’s attitude was not entirely devoid of an +emotion of concern. +</p> + +<p> +“They would not—?” +</p> + +<p> +“To mark their sense of your really unsupportable behaviour it has been +decided that all seven shall return to the humiliating scenes of their former +existences in admittedly objectionable forms,” replied the outrageous +Leou. “Sun Chen, your venerated sire, will become an agile grasshopper; +your incomparable grandfather, Yuen, will have the similitude of a yellow goat; +as a tortoise your leisurely-minded ancestor Huang, the high public +official—” +</p> + +<p> +“Forbear!” exclaimed the conscience-stricken Sun Wei; “rather +would this person suffer every imaginable form of torture than that the spirit +of one of his revered ancestors should be submitted to so intolerable a +bondage. Is there no amiable form of compromise whereby the ancestors of some +less devoted and liberally-inspired son might be imperceptibly, as it were, +substituted?” +</p> + +<p> +“In ordinary cases some such arrangement is generally possible,” +conceded Leou; “but not idly is it written: ‘There is a time to +silence an adversary with the honey of logical persuasion, and there is a time +to silence him with the argument of a heavily-directed club.’ In your +extremity a hostage is the only efficient safeguard. Seize the person of one of +the gods themselves and raise a strong wall around your destiny by holding him +to ransom.” +</p> + +<p> +“‘Ho Tai, requiring a light for his pipe, stretched out his hand +towards the great sky-lantern,’” quoted Sun Wei. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Do not despise Ching To because his armour is +invisible,’” retorted Leou, with equal point. “Your friends +in the Above are neither feeble nor inept. Do as I shall instruct you and no +less a Being than Ning will be delivered into your hand.” +</p> + +<p> +Then replied Sun Wei dubiously: “A spreading mango-tree affords a +pleasant shade within one’s courtyard, and a captive god might for a +season undoubtedly confer an enviable distinction. But presently the +tree’s encroaching roots may disturb the foundation of the house so that +the walls fall and crush those who are within, and the head of a restrained god +would in the end certainly displace my very inadequate roof-tree.” +</p> + +<p> +“A too-prolific root can be pruned back,” replied Leou, “and +the activities of a bondaged god may be efficiently curtailed. How this shall +be accomplished will be revealed to you in a dream: take heed that you do not +fail by the deviation of a single hair.” +</p> + +<p> +Having thus prepared his discreditable plot, Leou twice struck the walls +enclosing him, so that Sun Wei coughed violently. The demon was thereby enabled +to escape, and he never actually appeared in a tangible form again, although he +frequently communicated, by means of signs and omens, with those whom he wished +to involve in his sinister designs. +</p> + +<h4>ii. THE PART PLAYED BY THE SLAVE-GIRL, HIA</h4> + +<p> +Among the remaining possessions that the hostility of the deities still left to +Sun Wei at the time of these happenings was a young slave of many-sided +attraction. The name of Hia had been given to her, but she was generally known +as Tsing-ai on account of the extremely affectionate gladness of her nature. +</p> + +<p> +On the day following that in which Sun Wei and the demon Leou had conversed +together, Hia was disporting herself in the dark shades of a secluded pool, as +her custom was after the heat of her labours, when a phoenix, flying across the +glade, dropped a pearl of unusual size and lustre into the stream. Possessing +herself of the jewel and placing it in her mouth, so that it should not impede +the action of her hands, Hia sought the bank and would have drawn herself up +when she became aware of the presence of one having the guise of a noble +commander. He was regarding her with a look in which well-expressed admiration +was blended with a delicate intimation that owing to the unparalleled +brilliance of her eyes he was unable to perceive any other detail of her +appearance, and was, indeed, under the impression that she was devoid of +ordinary outline. At the same time, without permitting her glance to be in any +but an entirely opposite direction, Hia was able to satisfy herself that the +stranger was a person on whom she might prudently lavish the full depths of her +regard if the necessity arose. His apparel was rich, voluminous and of colours +then unknown within the Empire; his hair long and abundant; his face placid but +sincere. He carried no weapons, but wherever he trod there came a yellow flame +from below his right foot and a white vapour from beneath his left. His +insignia were those of a royal prince, and when he spoke his voice resembled +the noise of arrows passing through the upper branches of a prickly forest. His +long and pointed nails indicated the high and dignified nature of all his +occupations; each nail was protected by a solid sheath, there being amethyst, +ruby, topaz, ivory, emerald, white jade, iron, chalcedony, gold and malachite. +</p> + +<p> +When the distinguished-looking personage had thus regarded Hia for some moments +he drew an instrument of hollow tubes from a fold of his garment and began to +sing of two who, as the outcome of a romantic encounter similar to that then +existing, had professed an agreeable attachment for one another and had, +without unnecessary delay, entered upon a period of incomparable felicity. +Doubtless Hia would have uttered words of high-minded rebuke at some of the +more detailed analogies of the recital had not the pearl deprived her of the +power of expressing herself clearly on any subject whatever, nor did it seem +practicable to her to remove it without withdrawing her hands from the modest +attitudes into which she had at once distributed them. Thus positioned, she was +compelled to listen to the stranger’s well-considered flattery, and this +(together with the increasing coldness of the stream as the evening deepened) +convincingly explains her ultimate acquiescence to his questionable offers. +</p> + +<p> +Yet it cannot be denied that Ning (as he may now fittingly be revealed) +conducted the enterprise with a seemly liberality; for upon receiving from Hia +a glance not expressive of discouragement he at once caused the appearance of a +suitably-furnished tent, a train of Nubian slaves offering rich viands, rare +wine and costly perfumes, companies of expert dancers and musicians, a retinue +of discreet elderly women to robe her and to attend her movements, a carpet of +golden silk stretching from the water’s edge to the tent, and all the +accessories of a high-class profligacy. +</p> + +<p> +When the night was advanced and Hia and Ning, after partaking of a many-coursed +feast, were reclining on an ebony couch, the Being freely expressed the delight +that he discovered in her amiable society, incautiously adding: “Demand +any recompense that is within the power of this one to grant, O most delectable +of water-nymphs, and its accomplishment will be written by a flash of +lightning.” In this, however, he merely spoke as the treacherous Leou +(who had enticed him into the adventure) had assured him was usual in similar +circumstances, he himself being privately of the opinion that the expenditure +already incurred was more than adequate to the occasion. +</p> + +<p> +Then replied Hia, as she had been fully instructed against the emergency: +“The word has been spoken. But what is precious metal after listening to +the pure gold of thy lips, or who shall again esteem gems while gazing upon the +full round radiance of thy moon-like face? One thing only remains: remove the +various sheaths from off thy hands, for they not only conceal the undoubted +perfection of the nails within, but their massive angularity renders the +affectionate ardour of your embrace almost intolerable.” +</p> + +<p> +At this very ordinary request a sudden flatness overspread Ning’s manner +and he began to describe the many much more profitable rewards that Hia might +fittingly demand. As none of these appeared to entice her imagination, he went +on to rebuke her want of foresight, and, still later, having unsuccessfully +pointed out to her the inevitable penury and degradation in which her +thriftless perversity would involve her later years, to kick the less +substantial appointments across the tent. +</p> + +<p> +“The night thickens, with every indication of a storm,” remarked +Hia pleasantly. “Yet that same impending flash of promised lightning +tarries somewhat.” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly is it written: ‘A gracious woman will cause more strife than +twelve armed men can quell,’” retorted Ning bitterly. +</p> + +<p> +“Not, perchance, if one of them bares his nails?” Thus she lightly +mocked him, but always with a set intent, as a poised dragon-fly sips water yet +does not wet his wings. Whereupon, finally, Ning tore the sheaths from off his +fingers and cast them passionately about her feet, immediately afterwards +sinking into a profound sleep, for both the measure and the potency of the wine +he had consumed exceeded his usual custom. Otherwise he would scarcely have +acted in this incapable manner, for each sheath was inscribed with one symbol +of a magic charm and in the possession of the complete sentence resided the +whole of the Being’s authority and power. +</p> + +<p> +Then Hia, seeing that he could no longer control her movements, and that the +end to which she had been bending was attained, gathered together the fruits of +her conscientious strategy and fled. +</p> + +<p> +When Ning returned to the condition of ordinary perceptions he was lying alone +in the field by the river-side. The great sky-fire made no pretence of averting +its rays from his uncovered head, and the lesser creatures of the ground did +not hesitate to walk over his once sacred form. The tent and all the other +circumstances of the quest of Hia had passed into a state of no-existence, for +with a somewhat narrow-minded economy the deity had called them into being with +the express provision that they need only be of such a quality as would last +for a single night. +</p> + +<p> +With this recollection, other details began to assail his mind. His +irreplaceable nail-sheaths—there was no trace of one of them. He looked +again. Alas! his incomparable nails were also gone, shorn off to the level of +his finger-ends. For all their evidence he might be one who had passed his days +in discreditable industry. Each moment a fresh point of degradation met his +benumbed vision. His profuse and ornamental locks were reduced to a single +roughly-plaited coil; his sandals were inelegant and harsh; in place of his +many-coloured flowing robes a scanty blue gown clothed his form. He who had +been a god was undistinguishable from the labourers of the fields. Only in one +thing did the resemblance fail: about his neck he found a weighty block of wood +controlled by an iron ring: while they at least were free he was a captive +slave. +</p> + +<p> +A shadow on the grass caused him to turn. Sun Wei approached, a knotted thong +in one hand, in the other a hoe. He pointed to an unweeded rice-field and with +many ceremonious bows pressed the hoe upon Ning as one who confers high +honours. As Ning hesitated, Sun Wei pressed the knotted thong upon him until it +would have been obtuse to disregard his meaning. Then Ning definitely +understood that he had become involved in the workings of very powerful forces, +hostile to himself, and picking up the hoe he bent his submissive footsteps in +the direction of the laborious rice-field. +</p> + +<h4>iii. THE IN-COMING OF THE YOUTH, TIAN</h4> + +<p> +It was dawn in the High Heaven and the illimitable N’guk, waking to his +labours for the day, looked graciously around on the assembled myriads who were +there to carry his word through boundless space. Not wanting are they who speak +two-sided words of the Venerable One from behind fan-like hands, but when his +voice takes upon it the authority of a brazen drum knees become flaccid. +</p> + +<p> +“There is a void in the unanimity of our council,” remarked the +Supreme, his eye resting like a flash of lightning on a vacant place. +“Wherefore tarries Ning, the son of Shin, the Seed-sower?” +</p> + +<p> +For a moment there was an edging of N’guk’s inquiring glance from +each Being to his neighbour. Then Leou stood audaciously forth. +</p> + +<p> +“He is reported to be engaged on a private family matter,” he +replied gravely. “Haply his feet have become entangled in a mesh of +hair.” +</p> + +<p> +N’guk turned his benevolent gaze upon another—one higher in +authority. +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance,” admitted the superior Being tolerantly. “Such +things are. How comes it else that among the earth-creatures we find the faces +of the deities—both the good and the bad?” +</p> + +<p> +“How long has he been absent from our paths?” +</p> + +<p> +They pressed another forward—keeper of the Outer Path of the West +Expanses, he. +</p> + +<p> +“He went, High Excellence, in the fifteenth of the earth-ruler Chun, whom +your enlightened tolerance has allowed to occupy the lower dragon throne for +twoscore years, as these earthlings count. Thus and thus—” +</p> + +<p> +“Enough!” exclaimed the Supreme. “Hear my iron word. When the +buffoon-witted Ning rises from his congenial slough this shall be his lot: for +sixty thousand ages he shall fail to find the path of his return, but shall, +instead, thread an aimless flight among the frozen ambits of the outer stars, +carrying a tormenting rain of fire at his tail. And Leou, the Whisperer,” +added the Divining One, with the inscrutable wisdom that marked even his most +opaque moments, “Leou shall meanwhile perform Ning’s neglected +task.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +For five and twenty years Ning had laboured in the fields of Sun Wei with a +wooden collar girt about his neck, and Sun Wei had prospered. Yet it is to be +doubted whether this last detail deliberately hinged on the policy of Leou or +whether Sun Wei had not rather been drawn into some wider sphere of destiny and +among converging lines of purpose. The ways of the gods are deep and sombre, +and water once poured out will flow as freely to the north as to the south. The +wise kowtows acquiescently whatever happens and thus his face is to the ground. +“Respect the deities,” says the imperishable Sage, “but do +not become familiar with them.” Sun Wei was clearly wrong. +</p> + +<p> +To Ning, however, standing on a grassy space on the edge of a flowing river, +such thoughts do not extend. He is now a little hairy man of gnarled +appearance, and his skin of a colour and texture like a ripe lo-quat. As he +stands there, something in the outline of the vista stirs the retentive tablets +of his mind: it was on this spot that he first encountered Hia, and from that +involvement began the cycle of his unending ill. +</p> + +<p> +As he stood thus, implicated with his own inner emotions, a figure emerged from +the river at its nearest point and, crossing the intervening sward, approached. +He had the aspect of being a young man of high and dignified manner, and walked +with the air of one accustomed to a silk umbrella, but when Ning looked more +closely, to see by his insignia what amount of reverence he should pay, he +discovered that the youth was destitute of the meagrest garment. +</p> + +<p> +“Rise, venerable,” said the stranger affably, for Ning had +prostrated himself as being more prudent in the circumstances. “The one +before you is only Tian, of obscure birth, and himself of no particular merit +or attainment. You, doubtless, are of considerably more honourable +lineage?” +</p> + +<p> +“Far from that being the case,” replied Ning, “the one who +speaks bears now the commonplace name of Lieu, and is branded with the brand of +Sun Wei. Formerly, indeed, he was a god, moving in the Upper Space and known to +the devout as Ning, but now deposed by treachery.” +</p> + +<p> +“Unless the subject is one that has painful associations,” remarked +Tian considerately, “it is one on which this person would willingly learn +somewhat deeper. What, in short, are the various differences existing between +gods and men?” +</p> + +<p> +“The gods are gods; men are men,” replied Ning. “There is no +other difference.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet why do not the gods now exert their strength and raise from your +present admittedly inferior position one who is of their band?” +</p> + +<p> +“Behind their barrier the gods laugh at all men. How much more, then, is +their gravity removed at the sight of one of themselves who has fallen lower +than mankind?” +</p> + +<p> +“Your plight would certainly seem to be an ill-destined one,” +admitted Tian, “for, as the Verses say: ‘Gold sinks deeper than +dross.’ Is there anything that an ordinary person can do to alleviate +your subjection?” +</p> + +<p> +“The offer is a gracious one,” replied Ning, “and such an +occasion undoubtedly exists. Some time ago a pearl of unusual size and lustre +slipped from its setting about this spot. I have looked for it in vain, but +your acuter eyes, perchance—” +</p> + +<p> +Thus urged, the youth Tian searched the ground, but to no avail. Then chancing +to look upwards, he exclaimed: +</p> + +<p> +“Among the higher branches of the tallest bamboo there is an ancient +phoenix nest, and concealed within its wall is a pearl such as you +describe.” +</p> + +<p> +“That manifestly is what I seek,” said Ning. “But it might as +well be at the bottom of its native sea, for no ladder could reach to such a +height nor would the slender branch support a living form.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet the emergency is one easily disposed of.” With these opportune +words the amiable person rose from the ground without any appearance of effort +or conscious movement, and floating upward through the air he procured the +jewel and restored it to Ning. +</p> + +<p> +When Ning had thus learned that Tian possessed these three attainments which +are united in the gods alone—that he could stand naked before others +without consciousness of shame, that his eyes were able to penetrate matter +impervious to those of ordinary persons, and that he controlled the power of +rising through the air unaided—he understood that the one before him was +a deity of some degree. He therefore questioned him closely about his history, +the various omens connected with his life and the position of the planets at +his birth. Finding that these presented no element of conflict, and that, +furthermore, the youth’s mother was a slave, formerly known as Hia, Ning +declared himself more fully and greeted Tian as his undoubted son. +</p> + +<p> +“The absence of such a relation is the one thing that has pressed heavily +against this person’s satisfaction in the past, and the deficiency is now +happily removed,” exclaimed Tian. “The distinction of having a +deity for a father outweighs even the present admittedly distressing condition +in which he reveals himself. His word shall henceforth be my law.” +</p> + +<p> +“The sentiment is a dutiful one,” admitted Ning, “and it is +possible that you are now thus discovered in pursuance of some scheme among my +more influential accomplices in the Upper Air for restoring to me my former +eminence.” +</p> + +<p> +“In so meritorious a cause this person is prepared to immerse himself to +any depth,” declared Tian readily. “Nothing but the absence of +precise details restrains his hurrying feet.” +</p> + +<p> +“Those will doubtless be communicated to us by means of omens and +portents as the requirement becomes more definite. In the meanwhile the first +necessity is to enable this person’s nails to grow again; for to present +himself thus in the Upper Air would be to cover him with ridicule. When the +Emperor Chow-sin endeavoured to pass himself off as a menial by throwing aside +his jewelled crown, the rebels who had taken him replied: ‘Omnipotence, +you cannot throw away your knees.’ To claim kinship with those Above and +at the same time to extend towards them a hand obviously inured to probing +among the stony earth would be to invite the averted face of +recognition.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let recognition be extended in other directions and the task of +returning to a forfeited inheritance will be lightened materially,” +remarked a significant voice. +</p> + +<p> +“Estimable mother,” exclaimed Tian, “this opportune stranger +is my venerated father, whose continuous absence has been an overhanging cloud +above my gladness, but now happily revealed and restored to our domestic +altar.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” interposed Ning, “the opening of this enterprise +forecasts a questionable omen. Before this person stands the one who enticed +him into the beginning of all his evil; how then—” +</p> + +<p> +“Let the word remain unspoken,” interrupted Hia. “Women do +not entice men—though they admittedly accompany them, with an extreme +absence of reluctance, in any direction. In her youth this person’s feet +undoubtedly bore her occasionally along a light and fantastic path, for in the +nature of spring a leaf is green and pliable, and in the nature of autumn it is +brown and austere, and through changeless ages thus and thus. But, as it is +truly said: ‘Milk by repeated agitation turns to butter,’ and for +many years it has been this one’s ceaseless study of the Arts whereby she +might avert that which she helped to bring about in her unstable youth.” +</p> + +<p> +“The intention is a commendable one, though expressed with unnecessary +verbiage,” replied Ning. “To what solution did your incantations +trend?” +</p> + +<p> +“Concealed somewhere within the walled city of Ti-foo are the sacred +nail-sheaths on which your power so essentially depends, sent thither by Sun +Wei at the crafty instance of the demon Leou, who hopes at a convenient time to +secure them for himself. To discover these and bear them forth will be the part +allotted to Tian, and to this end has the training of his youth been bent. By +what means he shall strive to the accomplishment of the project the unrolling +curtain of the future shall disclose.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is as the destinies shall decide and as the omens may direct,” +said Tian. “In the meanwhile this person’s face is inexorably fixed +in the direction of Ti-foo.” +</p> + +<p> +“Proceed with all possible discretion,” advised Ning. “In so +critical an undertaking you cannot be too cautious, but at the same time do not +suffer the rice to grow around your advancing feet.” +</p> + +<p> +“A moment,” counselled Hia. “Tarry yet a moment. Here is one +whose rapidly-moving attitude may convey a message.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is Lin Fa!” exclaimed Ning, as the one alluded to drew +near—“Lin Fa who guards the coffers of Sun Wei. Some calamity +pursues him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hence!” cried Lin Fa, as he caught sight of them, yet scarcely +pausing in his flight: “flee to the woods and caves until the time of +this catastrophe be past. Has not the tiding reached you?” +</p> + +<p> +“We be but dwellers on the farther bounds and no word has reached our +ear, O great Lin Fa. Fill in, we pray you, the warning that has been so +suddenly outlined.” +</p> + +<p> +“The usurper Ah-tang has lit the torch of swift rebellion and is +flattening-down the land that bars his way. Already the villages of Yeng, Leu, +Liang-li and the Dwellings by the Three Pure Wells are as dust beneath his +trampling feet, and they who stayed there have passed up in smoke. Sun Wei +swings from the roof-tree of his own ruined yamen. Ah-tang now lays siege to +walled Ti-foo so that he may possess the Northern Way. Guard this bag of silver +meanwhile, for what I have is more than I can reasonably bear, and when the +land is once again at peace, assemble to meet me by the Five-Horned Pagoda, +ready with a strict account.” +</p> + +<p> +“All this is plainly part of an orderly scheme for my advancement, +brought about by my friends in the Upper World,” remarked Ning, with some +complacency. “Lin Fa has been influenced to the extent of providing us +with the means for our immediate need; Sun Wei has been opportunely removed to +the end that this person may now retire to a hidden spot and there suffer his +dishonoured nails to grow again: Ah-tang has been impelled to raise the banner +of insurrection outside Ti-foo so that Tian may make use of the necessities of +either side in pursuit of his design. Assuredly the long line of our +misfortunes is now practically at an end.” +</p> + +<h4>iv. EVENTS ROUND WALLED TI-FOO</h4> + +<p> +Nevertheless, the alternative forced on Tian was not an alluring one. If he +joined the band of Ah-tang and the usurper failed, Tian himself might never get +inside Ti-foo; if, however, he allied himself with the defenders of Ti-foo and +Ah-tang did not fail, he might never get out of Ti-foo. Doubtless he would have +reverently submitted his cause to the inspired decision of the Sticks, or some +other reliable augur, had he not, while immersed in the consideration, walked +into the camp of Ah-tang. The omen of this occurrence was of too specific a +nature not to be regarded as conclusive. +</p> + +<p> +Ah-tang was one who had neglected the Classics from his youth upwards. For this +reason his detestable name is never mentioned in the Histories, and the various +catastrophes he wrought are charitably ascribed to the action of earthquakes, +thunderbolts and other admitted forces. He himself, with his lamentable absence +of literary style, was wont to declare that while confessedly weak in analogies +he was strong in holocausts. In the end he drove the sublime emperor from his +capital and into the Outer Lands; with true refinement the annalists of the +period explain that the condescending monarch made a journey of inspection +among the barbarian tribes on the confines of his Empire. +</p> + +<p> +When Tian, charged with being a hostile spy, was led into the presence of +Ah-tang, it was the youth’s intention to relate somewhat of his history, +but the usurper, excusing himself on the ground of literary deficiency, merely +commanded five of his immediate guard to bear the prisoner away and to return +with his head after a fitting interval. Misunderstanding the exact requirement, +Tian returned at the appointed time with the heads of the five who had charge +of him and the excuse that in those times of scarcity it was easier to keep one +head than five. This aptitude so pleased Ah-tang (who had expected at the most +a farewell apophthegm) that he at once made Tian captain of a chosen band. +</p> + +<p> +Thus was Tian positioned outside the city of Ti-foo, materially contributing to +its ultimate surrender by the resourceful courage of his arms. For the first +time in the history of opposing forces he tamed the strength and swiftness of +wild horses to the use of man, and placing copper loops upon their feet and +iron bars between their teeth, he and his band encircled Ti-foo with an +ever-moving shield through which no outside word could reach the town. Cut off +in this manner from all hope of succour, the stomachs of those within the walls +grew very small, and their eyes became weary of watching for that which never +came. On the third day of the third moon of their encirclement they sent a +submissive banner, and one bearing a written message, into the camp of Ah-tang. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“We are convinced” (it ran) “of the justice of your cause. +Let six of your lordly nobles appear unarmed before our ill-kept Lantern Gate +at the middle gong-stroke of to-morrow and they will be freely admitted within +our midst. Upon receiving a bound assurance safeguarding the limits of our +temples, the persons and possessions of our chiefs, and the undepreciated +condition of the first wives and virgin daughters of such as be of mandarin +rank or literary degree, the inadequate keys of our broken-down defences will +be laid at their sumptuous feet.<br /> +    “With a fervent hand-clasp as of one brother to another, and a +passionate assurance of mutual good-will, +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“K<small>O’EN</small> C<small>HENG</small>,<br /> +“<i>Important Official</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is received,” replied Ah-tang, when the message had been made +known to him. “Six captains will attend.” +</p> + +<p> +Alas! it is well written: “There is often a space between the fish and +the fish-plate.” Mentally inflated at the success of their efforts and +the impending surrender of Ti-foo, Tian’s band suffered their energies to +relax. In the dusk of that same evening one disguised in the skin of a goat +browsed from bush to bush until he reached the town. There, throwing off all +restraint, he declared his errand to Ko’en Cheng. +</p> + +<p> +“Behold!” he exclaimed, “the period of your illustrious +suffering is almost at an end. With an army capable in size and invincible in +determination, the ever-victorious Wu Sien is marching to your aid. Defy the +puny Ah-tang for yet three days more and great glory will be yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” replied Ko’en Cheng, with velvet bitterness: +“but the sun has long since set and the moon is not yet risen. The +appearance of a solitary star yesterday would have been more foot-guiding than +the forecast of a meteor next week. This person’s thumb-signed word is +passed and to-morrow Ah-tang will hold him to it.” +</p> + +<p> +Now there was present among the council one wrapped in a mantle made of +rustling leaves, who spoke in a smooth, low voice, very cunning and persuasive, +with a plan already shaped that seemed to offer well and to safeguard +Ko’en Cheng’s word. None remembered to have seen him there before, +and for this reason it is now held by some that this was Leou, the Whisperer, +perturbed lest the sacred nail-sheaths of Ning should pass beyond his grasp. As +to this, says not the Wise One: “When two men cannot agree over the price +of an onion who shall decide what happened in the time of Yu?” But the +voice of the unknown prevailed, all saying: “At the worst it is but as it +will be; perchance it may be better.” +</p> + +<p> +That night there was much gladness in the camp of Ah-tang, and men sang songs +of victory and cups of wine were freely passed, though in the outer walks a +strict watch was kept. When it was dark the word was passed that an engaging +company was approaching from the town, openly and with lights. These being +admitted revealed themselves as a band of maidens, bearing gifts of fruit and +wine and assurances of their agreeable behaviour. Distributing themselves +impartially about the tents of the chiefs and upper ones, they melted the hours +of the night in graceful accomplishments and by their seemly compliance +dispelled all thought of treachery. Having thus gained the esteem of their +companions, and by the lavish persuasion of bemusing wine dimmed their +alertness, all this band, while it was still dark, crept back to the town, each +secretly carrying with her the arms, robes and insignia of the one who had +possessed her. +</p> + +<p> +When the morning broke and the sound of trumpets called each man to an +appointed spot, direful was the outcry from the tents of all the chiefs, and +though many heads were out-thrust in rage of indignation, no single person +could be prevailed upon wholly to emerge. Only the lesser warriors, the slaves +and the bearers of the loads moved freely to and fro and from between closed +teeth and with fluttering eyelids tossed doubtful jests among themselves. +</p> + +<p> +It was close upon the middle gong-stroke of the day when Ah-tang, himself clad +in a shred torn from his tent (for in all the camp there did not remain a +single garment bearing a sign of noble rank), got together a council of his +chiefs. Some were clad in like attire, others carried a henchman’s +shield, a paper lantern or a branch of flowers; Tian alone displayed himself +without reserve. +</p> + +<p> +“There are moments,” said Ah-tang, “when this person’s +admitted accomplishment of transfixing three foemen with a single javelin at a +score of measured paces does not seem to provide a possible solution. +Undoubtedly we are face to face with a crafty plan, and Ko’en Cheng has +surely heard that Wu Sien is marching from the west. If we fail to knock upon +the outer gate of Ti-foo at noon to-day Ko’en Cheng will say: ‘My +word returns. It is as naught.’ If they who go are clad as underlings, +Ko’en Cheng will cry: ‘What slaves be these! Do men break plate +with dogs? Our message was for six of noble style. Ah-tang but +mocks.’” He sat down again moodily. “Let others speak.” +</p> + +<p> +“Chieftain”—Tian threw forth his voice—“your word +must be as iron—‘Six captains shall attend.’ There is yet +another way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak on,” Ah-tang commanded. +</p> + +<p> +“The quality of Ah-tang’s chiefs resides not in a cloak of silk nor +in a silver-hilted sword, but in the sinews of their arms and the lightning of +their eyes. If they but carry these they proclaim their rank for all to see. +Let six attend taking neither sword nor shield, neither hat nor sandal, nor yet +anything between. ‘There are six thousand more,’ shall be their +taunt, ‘but Ko’en Cheng’s hospitality drew rein at six. He +feared lest they might carry arms; behold they have come naked. Ti-foo need not +tremble.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well,” agreed Ah-tang. “At least, nothing better +offers. Let five accompany you.” +</p> + +<p> +Seated on a powerful horse Tian led the way. The others, not being of his +immediate band, had not acquired the necessary control, so that they walked in +a company. Coming to the Lantern Gate Tian turned his horse suddenly so that +its angry hoof struck the gate. Looking back he saw the others following, with +no great space between, and so passed in. +</p> + +<p> +When the five naked captains reached the open gate they paused. Within stood a +great concourse of the people, these being equally of both sexes, but they of +the inner chambers pressing resolutely to the front. Through the throng of +these their way must lead, and at the sight the hearts of all became as +stagnant water in the sun. +</p> + +<p> +“Tarry not for me, O brothers,” said the one who led. “A +thorn has pierced my foot. Take honourable precedence while I draw it +forth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Never,” declared the second of the band, “never shall it be +cast abroad that Kang of the House of Ka failed his brother in necessity. I +sustain thy shoulder, comrade.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” exclaimed the third. “This person broke his fast on +rhubarb stewed in fat. Inopportunely—” So he too turned aside. +</p> + +<p> +“Have we considered well,” said they who remained, “whether +this be not a subtle snare, and while the camp is denuded of its foremost +warriors a strong force—?” +</p> + +<p> +Unconscious of these details, Tian went on alone. In spite of the absence of +gravity on the part of the more explicit portion of the throng he suffered no +embarrassment, partly because of his position, but chiefly through his +inability to understand that his condition differed in any degree from theirs; +for, owing to the piercing nature of his vision, they were to him as he to +them. In this way he came to the open space known as the Space of the Eight +Directions, where Ko’en Cheng and his nobles were assembled. +</p> + +<p> +“One comes alone,” they cried. “This guise is as a +taunt.” “Naked to a naked town—the analogy is plain.” +“Shall the mocker be suffered to return?” +</p> + +<p> +Thus the murmur grew. Then one, more impetuous than the rest, swung clear his +sword and drew it. For the first time Tian understood that treachery was afoot. +He looked round for any of his band, but found that he was as a foam-tossed +cork upon a turbulent Whang Hai. Cries of anger and derision filled the air; +threatening arms waved encouragement to each other to begin. The one with drawn +sword raised it above his head and made a step. Then Tian, recognizing that he +was unarmed, and that a decisive moment had arrived, stooped low and tore a +copper hoop from off his horse’s foot. High he swung its polished +brightness in the engaging sun, resolutely brought it down, so that it pressed +over the sword-warrior’s shattered head and hung about his neck. Having +thus effected as much bloodshed as could reasonably be expected in the +circumstances, Tian curved his feet about his horse’s sides and imparting +to it the virtue of his own condition they rose into the air together. When +those who stood below were able to exert themselves a flight of arrows, spears +and every kind of weapon followed, but horse and rider were by that time beyond +their reach, and the only benevolent result attained was that many of their +band were themselves transfixed by the falling shafts. +</p> + +<p> +In such a manner Tian continued his progress from the town until he came above +the Temple of Fire and Water Forces, where on a high tower a strong box of many +woods was chained beneath a canopy, guarded by an incantation laid upon it by +Leou, that no one should lift it down. Recognizing the contents as the object +of his search, Tian brought his horse to rest upon the tower, and breaking the +chains he bore the magic sheaths away, the charm (owing to Leou’s +superficial habits) being powerless against one who instead of lifting the box +down carried it up. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of this distinguished achievement it was many moons before Tian was +able to lay the filial tribute of restored power at Ning’s feet, for with +shallow-witted obstinacy Ti-foo continued to hold out, and, scarcely less +inept, Ah-tang declined to release Tian even to carry on so charitable a +mission. Yet when the latter one ultimately returned and was, as the reward of +his intrepid services, looking forward to a period of domestic reunion under +the benevolent guidance of an affectionate father, it was but to point the +seasoned proverb: “The fuller the cup the sooner the spill,” for +scarcely had Ning drawn on the recovered sheaths and with incautious joy +repeated the magic sentence than he was instantly projected across vast space +and into the trackless confines of the Outer Upper Paths. If this were an +imagined tale, framed to entice the credulous, herein would its falseness cry +aloud, but even in this age Ning may still be seen from time to time with a +tail of fire in his wake, missing the path of his return as N’guk +ordained. +</p> + +<p> +Thus bereft, Tian was on the point of giving way to a seemly despair when a +message concerned with Mu, the only daughter of Ko’en Cheng, reached him. +It professed a high-minded regard for his welfare, and added that although the +one who was inspiring the communication had been careful to avoid seeing him on +the occasion of his entry into Ti-foo, it was impossible for her not to be +impressed by the dignity of his bearing. Ko’en Cheng having become vastly +wealthy as the result of entering into an arrangement with Ah-tang before +Ti-foo was sacked, it did not seem unreasonable to Tian that Ning was in some +way influencing his destiny from afar. On this understanding he ultimately +married Mu, and thereby founded a prolific posterity who inherited a great +degree of his powers. In the course of countless generations the attributes +have faded, but even to this day the true descendants of the line of Ning are +frequently vouchsafed dreams in which they stand naked and without shame, see +gems or metals hidden or buried in the earth and float at will through space. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a> CHAPTER IV<br /> +The Inopportune Behaviour of the Covetous Li-loe</h2> + +<p> +It was upon the occasion of his next visit to the shutter in the wall that Kai +Lung discovered the obtuse-witted Li-loe moving about the enclosure. Though +docile and well-meaning on the whole, the stunted intelligence of the latter +person made him a doubtful accomplice, and Kai Lung stood aside, hoping to be +soon alone. +</p> + +<p> +Li-loe held in his hand an iron prong, and with this he industriously searched +the earth between the rocks and herbage. Ever since their previous encounter +upon that same spot it had been impossible to erase from his deformed mind the +conviction that a store of rare and potent wine lay somewhere concealed within +the walls of the enclosure. Continuously he besought the story-teller to reveal +the secret of its hiding-place, saying: “What an added bitterness will +assail your noble throat if, when you are led forth to die, your eye closes +upon the one who has faithfully upheld your cause lying with a protruded tongue +panting in the noonday sun.” +</p> + +<p> +“Peace, witless,” Kai Lung usually replied; “there is no such +store.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nevertheless,” the doorkeeper would stubbornly insist, “the +cask cannot yet be empty. It is beyond your immature powers.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus it again befell, for despite Kai Lung’s desire to escape, Li-loe +chanced to look up suddenly and observed him. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, brother,” he remarked reproachfully, when they had thus +contended, “the vessel that returns whole the first time is chipped the +second and broken at the third essay, and it will yet be too late between us. +If it be as you claim, to what end did you boast of a cask of wine and of +running among a company of goats with leaves entwined in your hair?” +</p> + +<p> +“That,” replied Kai Lung, “was in the nature of a classical +allusion, too abstruse for your deficient wit. It concerned the story of Kiau +Sun, who first attained the honour.” +</p> + +<p> +“Be that as it may,” replied Li-loe, with mulish iteration, +“five deficient strings of home-made cash are a meagre return for a +friendship such as mine.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is a certain element of truth in what you claim,” confessed +Kai Lung, “but until my literary style is more freely recognized it will +be impossible to reward you adequately. In anything not of a pecuniary nature, +however, you may lean heavily upon my gratitude.” +</p> + +<p> +“In the meanwhile, then,” demanded Li-loe, “relate to me the +story to which reference has been made, thereby proving the truth of your +assertion, and at the same time affording an entertainment of a somewhat +exceptional kind.” +</p> + +<p> +“The shadows lengthen,” replied Kai Lung, “but as the +narrative in question is of an inconspicuous span I will raise no barrier +against your flattering request, especially as it indicates an awakening taste +hitherto unsuspected.” +</p> + +<p> +“Proceed, manlet, proceed,” said Li-loe, with a final probe among +the surrounding rocks before selecting one to lean against. “Yet if this +person could but lay his hand—” +</p> + +<h3>The Story of Wong Pao and the Minstrel</h3> + +<p> +To Wong Pao, the merchant, pleasurably immersed in the calculation of an +estimated profit on a junk-load of birds’ nests, sharks’ fins and +other seasonable delicacies, there came a distracting interruption occasioned +by a wandering poet who sat down within the shade provided by Wong Pao’s +ornamental gate in the street outside. As he reclined there he sang ballads of +ancient valour, from time to time beating a hollow wooden duck in unison with +his voice, so that the charitable should have no excuse for missing the +entertainment. +</p> + +<p> +Unable any longer to continue his occupation, Wong Pao struck an iron gong. +</p> + +<p> +“Bear courteous greetings to the accomplished musician outside our +gate,” he said to the slave who had appeared, “and convince +him—by means of a heavily-weighted club if necessary—that the +situation he has taken up is quite unworthy of his incomparable efforts.” +</p> + +<p> +When the slave returned it was with an entire absence of the enthusiasm of one +who has succeeded in an enterprise. +</p> + +<p> +“The distinguished mendicant outside disarmed the one who is relating the +incident by means of an unworthy stratagem, and then struck him repeatedly on +the head with the image of a sonorous wooden duck,” reported the slave +submissively. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the voice with its accompaniment continued to chant the deeds of +bygone heroes. +</p> + +<p> +“In that case,” said Wong Pao coldly, “entice him into this +inadequate chamber by words suggestive of liberal entertainment.” +</p> + +<p> +This device was successful, for very soon the slave returned with the stranger. +He was a youth of studious appearance and an engaging openness of manner. Hung +about his neck by means of a cord were a variety of poems suitable to most of +the contingencies of an ordinary person’s existence. The name he bore was +Sun and he was of the house of Kiau. +</p> + +<p> +“Honourable greeting, minstrel,” said Wong Pao, with dignified +condescension. “Why do you persist in exercising your illustrious talent +outside this person’s insignificant abode?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because,” replied Sun modestly, “the benevolent mandarin who +has just spoken had not then invited me inside. Now, however, he will be able +to hear to greater advantage the very doubtful qualities of my +entertainment.” +</p> + +<p> +With these words Kiau Sun struck the duck so proficiently that it emitted a +life-like call, and prepared to raise his voice in a chant. +</p> + +<p> +“Restrain your undoubted capacity,” exclaimed Wong Pao hastily. +“The inquiry presented itself to you at an inaccurate angle. Why, to +restate it, did you continue before this uninviting hovel when, under the +external forms of true politeness, my slave endeavoured to remove you +hence?” +</p> + +<p> +“In the circumstances this person may have overlooked the delicacy of the +message, for, as it is well written, ‘To the starving, a blow from a +skewer of meat is more acceptable than a caress from the hand of a +maiden,’” said Kiau Sun. “Whereunto remember, thou +two-stomached merchant, that although the house in question is yours, the +street is mine.” +</p> + +<p> +“By what title?” demanded Wong Pao contentiously. +</p> + +<p> +“By the same that confers this well-appointed palace upon you,” +replied Sun: “because it is my home.” +</p> + +<p> +“The point is one of some subtlety,” admitted Wong Pao, “and +might be pursued to an extreme delicacy of attenuation if it were argued by +those whose profession it is to give a variety of meanings to the same thing. +Yet even allowing the claim, it is none the less an unendurable affliction that +your voice should disturb my peacefully conducted enterprise.” +</p> + +<p> +“As yours would have done mine, O concave-witted Wong Pao!” +</p> + +<p> +“That,” retorted the merchant, “is a disadvantage that you +could easily have averted by removing yourself to a more distant spot.” +</p> + +<p> +“The solution is equally applicable to your own case, mandarin,” +replied Kiau Sun affably. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” exclaimed Wong Pao, with an obvious inside bitterness, +“it is a mistake to argue with persons of limited intelligence in terms +of courtesy. This, doubtless, was the meaning of the philosopher Nhy-hi when he +penned the observation, ‘Death, a woman and a dumb mute always have the +last word,’ Why did I have you conducted hither to convince you +dispassionately, rather than send an armed guard to force you away by +violence?” +</p> + +<p> +“Possibly,” suggested the minstrel, “because my profession is +a legally recognized one, and, moreover, under the direct protection of the +exalted Mandarin Shen-y-ling.” +</p> + +<p> +“Profession!” retorted Wong Pao, stung by the reference to +Shen-y-ling, for that powerful official’s attitude was indeed the inner +reason why he had not pushed violence to a keener edge against Kiau Sun, +“an abject mendicancy, yielding two hands’ grasp of copper cash a +day on a stock composed of half a dozen threadbare odes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Compose me half a dozen better and one hand-count of cash shall be +apportioned to you each evening,” suggested Sun. +</p> + +<p> +“A handful of cash for <i>my</i> labour!” exclaimed the indignant +Wong Pao. “Learn, puny wayfarer, that in a single day the profit of my +various enterprises exceeds a hundred taels of silver.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is less than the achievement of my occupation,” said Kiau +Sun. +</p> + +<p> +“Less!” repeated the merchant incredulously. “Can you, O +boaster, display a single tael?” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless I should be the possessor of thousands if I made use of the +attributes of a merchant—three hands and two faces. But that was not the +angle of my meaning: your labour only compels men to remember; mine enables +them to forget.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus they continued to strive, each one contending for the pre-eminence of his +own state, regardless of the sage warning: “In three moments a labourer +will remove an obstructing rock, but three moons will pass without two wise men +agreeing on the meaning of a vowel”; and assuredly they would have +persisted in their intellectual entertainment until the great sky-lantern rose +and the pangs of hunger compelled them to desist, were it not for the +manifestation of a very unusual occurrence. +</p> + +<p> +The Emperor, N’ang Wei, then reigning, is now generally regarded as being +in no way profound or inspired, but possessing the faculty of being able to +turn the dissensions among his subjects to a profitable account, and other +accomplishments useful in a ruler. As he passed along the streets of his +capital he heard the voices of two raised in altercation, and halting the +bearer of his umbrella, he commanded that the persons concerned should be +brought before him and state the nature of their dispute. +</p> + +<p> +“The rivalry is an ancient one,” remarked the Emperor when each had +made his claim. “Doubtless we ourselves could devise a judgment, but in +this cycle of progress it is more usual to leave decision to the pronouncement +of the populace—and much less exacting to our Imperial ingenuity. An +edict will therefore be published, stating that at a certain hour Kiau Sun will +stand upon the Western Hill of the city and recite one of his incomparable +epics, while at the same gong-stroke Wong Pao will take his station on the +Eastern Hill, let us say for the purpose of distributing pieces of silver among +any who are able to absent themselves from the competing attraction. It will +then be clearly seen which entertainment draws the greater number.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your mind, O all-wisest, is only comparable to the peacock’s tail +in its spreading brilliance!” exclaimed Wong Pao, well assured of an easy +triumph. +</p> + +<p> +Kiau Sun, however, remained silent, but he observed closely the benignly +impartial expression of the Emperor’s countenance. +</p> + +<p> +When the indicated time arrived, only two persons could have been observed +within the circumference of the Western Hill of the city—a blind +mendicant who had lost his way and an extremely round-bodied mandarin who had +been abandoned there by his carriers when they heard the terms of the edict. +But about the Eastern Hill the throng was so great that for some time after it +was unusual to meet a person whose outline had not been permanently altered by +the occasion. Even Kiau Sun was present. +</p> + +<p> +On a protected eminence stood N’ang Wei. Near him was Wong Pao, +confidently awaiting the moment when the Emperor should declare himself. When, +therefore, the all-wisest graciously made a gesture of command, Wong Pao +hastened to his side, an unbecoming elation gilding the fullness of his +countenance. +</p> + +<p> +“Wong Pao,” said the Illimitable, “the people are here in +gratifying profusion. The moment has thus arrived for you to consummate your +triumph over Kiau Sun.” +</p> + +<p> +“Omnipotence?” queried Wong Pao. +</p> + +<p> +“The silver that you were to distribute freely to all who came. Doubtless +you have a retinue of slaves in attendance with weighty sacks of money for the +purpose?” +</p> + +<p> +“But that was only in the nature of an imagined condition, Sublime Being, +designed to test the trend of their preference,” said Wong Pao, with an +incapable feeling of no-confidence in the innermost seat of his self-esteem. +“This abject person did not for a single breathing-space contemplate or +provide for so formidable an outlay.” +</p> + +<p> +A shadow of inquiry appeared above the eyebrows of the Sublimest, although his +refined imperturbability did not permit him to display any acute emotion. +</p> + +<p> +“It is not entirely a matter of what you contemplated, merchant, but what +this multitudinous and, as we now perceive, generally well-armed concourse +imagined. Greatly do we fear that when the position has been explained to them, +the breathing-space remaining, O Wong Pao, will not be in your body. +What,” continued the liberal-minded sovereign, turning to one of his +attending nobles, “what was it that happened to Ning-lo who failed to +satisfy the lottery ticket holders in somewhat similar circumstances?” +</p> + +<p> +“The scorpion vat, Serenest,” replied the vassal. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah,” commented the Enlightened One, “for the moment we +thought it was the burning sulphur plaster.” +</p> + +<p> +“That was Ching Yan, who lost approval in the inlaid coffin raffle, +Benign Head,” prompted the noble. +</p> + +<p> +“True—there is a certain oneness in these cases. Well, Wong Pao, we +are entirely surrounded by an expectant mob and their attitude, after much +patient waiting, is tending towards a clearly-defined tragedy. By what means is +it your intention to extricate us all from the position into which your +insatiable vanity has thrust us?” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, Imperishable Majesty, I only appear to have three pieces of silver +and a string of brass cash in my sleeve,” confessed Wong Pao tremblingly. +</p> + +<p> +“And that would not go very far—even if flung into the limits of +the press,” commented the Emperor. “We must look elsewhere for +deliverance, then. Kiau Sun, stand forth and try your means.” +</p> + +<p> +Upon this invitation Sun appeared from the tent in which he had awaited the +summons and advanced to the edge of the multitude. With no appearance of fear +or concern, he stood before them, and bending his energies to the great task +imposed upon him, he struck the hollow duck so melodiously that the note of +expectancy vibrated into the farthest confines of the crowd. Then modulating +his voice in unison Kiau Sun began to chant. +</p> + +<p> +At first the narration was of times legendary, when dragons and demons moved +about the earth in more palpable forms than they usually maintain to-day. A +great mist overspread the Empire and men’s minds were vaporous, nor was +their purpose keen. Later, deities and well-disposed Forces began to exercise +their powers. The mist was turned into a benevolent system of rivers and +canals, and iron, rice and the silk-worm then appeared. Next, heroes and +champions, whose names have been preserved, arose. They fought the giants and +an era of literature and peaceful tranquillity set in. After this there was the +Great Invasion from the north, but the people rallied and by means of a war +lasting five years, five moons and five days the land was freed again. This +prefaced the Golden Age when chess was invented, printed books first made and +the Examination System begun. +</p> + +<p> +So far Kiau Sun had only sung of things that men knew dimly through a web of +time, but the melody of his voice and the valours of the deeds he told had held +their minds. Now he began skilfully to intertwine among the narration scenes +and doings that were near to all—of the coming of Spring across the +mountains that surround the capital; sunrise on the great lagoon, with the +splash of oars and the cormorants in flight; the appearance of the blossom in +the peach orchards; the Festival of Boats and of Lanterns, their daily task, +and the reward each saw beyond. Finally he spoke quite definitely of the homes +awaiting their return, the mulberry-tree about the gate, the fire then burning +on the hearth, the pictures on the walls, the ancestral tablets, and the voices +calling each. And as he spoke and made an end of speaking the people began +silently to melt away, until none remained but Kiau, Wong Pao and the Emperor +and his band. +</p> + +<p> +“Kiau Sun,” said the discriminating N’ang Wei, “in +memory of this day the office of Chanter of Congratulatory Odes in the Palace +ceremonial is conferred on you, together with the title +‘Leaf-crowned’ and the yearly allowance of five hundred taels and a +jar of rice wine. And Wong Pao,” he added thoughtfully—“Wong +Pao shall be permitted to endow the post—also in memory of this +day.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a> CHAPTER V<br /> +The Timely Intervention of the Mandarin Shan Tien’s Lucky Day</h2> + +<p> +When Kai Lung at length reached the shutter, after the delay caused by +Li-loe’s inopportune presence, he found that Hwa-mei was already standing +there beneath the wall. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” he exclaimed, in an access of self-reproach, “is it +possible that I have failed to greet your arriving footsteps? Hear the +degrading cause of my—” +</p> + +<p> +“Forbear,” interrupted the maiden, with a magnanimous gesture of +the hand that was not engaged in bestowing a gift of fruit. “There is a +time to scatter flowers and a time to prepare the soil. To-morrow a further +trial awaits you, for which we must conspire.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am in your large and all-embracing grasp,” replied Kai Lung. +“Proceed to spread your golden counsel.” +</p> + +<p> +“The implacable Ming-shu has deliberated with himself, and deeming it +unlikely that you should a third time allure the imagination of the Mandarin +Shan Tien by your art, he has ordered that you are again to be the first led +out to judgment. On this occasion, however, he has prepared a cloud of +witnesses who will, once they are given a voice, quickly overwhelm you in a +flood of calumny.” +</p> + +<p> +“Even a silver trumpet may not prevail above a score of brazen +horns,” confessed the story-teller doubtfully. “Would it not be +well to engage an even larger company who will outlast the first?” +</p> + +<p> +“The effete Ming-shu has hired all there are,” replied Hwa-mei, +with a curbing glance. “Nevertheless, do not despair. At a convenient +hour a trusty hand will let fall a skin of wine at their assembling place. +Their testimony, should any arrive, will entail some conflict.” +</p> + +<p> +“I bow before the practical many-sidedness of your mind, enchanting +one,” murmured Kai Lung, in deep-felt admiration. +</p> + +<p> +“To-morrow, being the first of the Month of Gathering-in, will be one of +Shan Tien’s lucky days,” continued the maiden, her look +acknowledging the fitness of the compliment, but at the same time indicating +that the moment was not a suitable one to pursue the detail further. +“After holding court the Mandarin will accordingly proceed to hazard his +accustomed stake upon the chances of certain of the competitors in the +approaching examinations. His mind will thus be alertly watchful for a guiding +omen. The rest should lie within your persuasive tongue.” +</p> + +<p> +“The story of Lao Ting—” began Kai Lung. +</p> + +<p> +“Enough,” replied Hwa-mei, listening to a distant sound. +“Already has this one strayed beyond her appointed limit. May your +virtuous cause prevail!” +</p> + +<p> +With this auspicious message the maiden fled, leaving Kai Lung more than ever +resolved to conduct the enterprise in a manner worthy of her high regard. +</p> + +<p> +On the following day, at the appointed hour, Kai Lung was again led before the +Mandarin Shan Tien. To the alert yet downcast gaze of the former person it +seemed as if the usually inscrutable expression of that high official was not +wholly stern as it moved in his direction. Ming-shu, on the contrary, disclosed +all his voracious teeth without restraint. +</p> + +<p> +“Calling himself Kai Lung,” began the detestable accuser, in a +voice even more repulsive than its wont, “and claiming—” +</p> + +<p> +“The name has a somewhat familiar echo,” interrupted the Fountain +of Justice, with a genial interest in what was going on, rare in one of his +exalted rank. “Have we not seen the ill-conditioned thing before?” +</p> + +<p> +“He has tasted of your unutterable clemency in the past,” replied +Ming-shu, “this being by no means his first appearance thus. Claiming to +be a story-teller—” +</p> + +<p> +“What,” demanded the enlightened law-giver with leisurely +precision, “is a story-teller, and how is he defined?” +</p> + +<p> +“A story-teller, Excellence,” replied the inscriber of his spoken +word, with the concise manner of one who is not entirely grateful to another, +“is one who tells stories. Having on—” +</p> + +<p> +“The profession must be widely spread,” remarked the gracious +administrator thoughtfully. “All those who supplicate in this very +average court practise it to a more or less degree.” +</p> + +<p> +“The prisoner,” continued the insufferable Ming-shu, so lost to +true refinement that he did not even relax his dignity at a remark handed down +as gravity-removing from times immemorial, “has already been charged and +made his plea. It only remains, therefore, to call the witnesses and to condemn +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“The usual band appears to be more retiring than their custom is,” +observed Shan Tien, looking around. “Their lack of punctual respect does +not enlarge our sympathy towards their cause.” +</p> + +<p> +“They are all hard-striving persons of studious or commercial +habits,” replied Ming-shu, “and have doubtless become immersed in +their various traffics.” +</p> + +<p> +“Should the immersion referred to prove to be so deep—” +</p> + +<p> +“A speedy messenger has already gone, but his returning footsteps +tarry,” urged Ming-shu anxiously. “In this extremity, Excellence, I +will myself—” +</p> + +<p> +“High Excellence,” appealed Kai Lung, as soon as Ming-shu’s +departing sandals were obscured to view, “out of the magnanimous +condescension of your unworldly heart hear an added plea. Taught by the +inoffensive example of that Lao Ting whose success in the literary competitions +was brought about by a conjunction of miraculous omens—” +</p> + +<p> +“Arrest the stream of your acknowledged oratory for a single +breathing-space,” commanded the Mandarin dispassionately, yet at the same +time unostentatiously studying a list that lay within his sleeve. “What +was the auspicious name of the one of whom you spoke?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lao Ting, exalted; to whom at various periods were subjoined those of +Li, Tzu, Sun, Chu, Wang and Chin.” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly. Your prayer for a fuller hearing will reach our lenient ears. +In the meanwhile, in order to prove that the example upon which you base your +claim is a worthy one, proceed to narrate so much of the story of Lao Ting as +bears upon the means of his success.” +</p> + +<h3>The Story of Lao Ting and the Luminous Insect</h3> + +<p> +It is of Lao Ting that the saying has arisen, “He who can grasp +Opportunity as she slips by does not need a lucky dream.” +</p> + +<p> +So far, however, Lao Ting may be judged to have had neither opportunities nor +lucky dreams. He was one of studious nature and from an early age had devoted +himself to a veneration of the Classics. Yet with that absence of foresight on +the part of the providing deities (for this, of course, took place during an +earlier, and probably usurping, dynasty), which then frequently resulted in the +unworthy and illiterate prospering, his sleeve was so empty that at times it +seemed almost impossible for him to continue in his high ambition. +</p> + +<p> +As the date of the examinations drew near, Lao Ting’s efforts increased, +and he grudged every moment spent away from books. His few available cash +scarcely satisfied his ever-moving brush, and his sleeve grew so light that it +seemed as though it might become a balloon and carry him into the Upper Air; +for, as the Wisdom has it, “A well-filled purse is a trusty earth +anchor.” On food he spent even less, but the inability to procure light +after the sun had withdrawn his benevolence from the narrow street in which he +lived was an ever-present shadow across his hopes. On this extremity he +patiently and with noiseless skill bored a hole through the wall into the house +of a wealthy neighbour, and by this inoffensive stratagem he was able to +distinguish the imperishable writings of the Sages far into the night. Soon, +however, the gross hearted person in question discovered the device, owing to +the symmetrical breathing of Lao Ting, and applying himself to the opening +unperceived, he suddenly blew a jet of water through and afterwards nailed in a +wooden skewer. This he did because he himself was also entering for the +competitions, though he did not really fear Lao Ting. +</p> + +<p> +Thus denied, Lao Ting sought other means to continue his study, if for only a +few minutes longer daily, and it became his custom to leave his ill-equipped +room when it grew dusk and to walk into the outer ways, always with his face +towards the west, so that he might prolong the benefit of the great luminary to +the last possible moment. When the time of no-light definitely arrived he would +climb up into one of the high places to await the first beam of the great +sky-lantern, and also in the reasonable belief that the nearer he got to it the +more powerful would be its light. +</p> + +<p> +It was upon such an occasion that Lao Ting first became aware of the entrancing +presence of Chun Hoa-mi, and although he plainly recognized from the outset +that the graceful determination with which she led a water-buffalo across the +landscape by means of a slender cord attached to its nose was not conducive to +his taking a high place in the competitions, he soon found that he was unable +to withdraw himself from frequenting the spot at the same hour on each +succeeding day. Presently, however, he decided that his previous misgiving was +inaccurate, as her existence inspired him with an all-conquering determination +to outdistance every other candidate in so marked a manner that his name would +at once become famous throughout the province, to attain high office without +delay, to lead a victorious army against the encroaching barbarian foe and thus +to save the Empire in a moment of emergency, to acquire vast riches (in a not +clearly defined manner), to become the intimate counsellor of the grateful +Emperor, and finally to receive posthumous honours of unique distinction, the +harmonious personality of Hoa-Mi being inextricably entwined among these +achievements. +</p> + +<p> +At other times, however, he became subject to a funereal conviction that he +would fail discreditably in the examinations to an accompaniment of the +ridicule and contempt of all who knew him, that he would never succeed in +acquiring sufficient brass cash to ensure a meagre sustenance even for himself, +and that he would probably end his lower existence by ignominious decapitation, +so that his pale and hungry ghost would be unable to find its way from place to +place and be compelled to remain on the same spot through all eternity. Yet so +quickly did these two widely diverging vistas alternate in Lao Ting’s +mind that on many occasions he was under the influence of both presentiments at +the same time. +</p> + +<p> +It will thus be seen that Lao Ting was becoming involved in emotions of a +many-sided hue, by which his whole future would inevitably be affected, when an +event took place which greatly tended to restore his tranquillity of mind. He +was, at the usual hour, lurking unseen on the path of Hoa-mi’s approach +when the water-buffalo, with the perversity of its kind, suddenly withdrew +itself from the amiable control of its attendant’s restraining hand and +precipitated its resistless footsteps towards the long grass in which Lao Ting +lay concealed. Recognizing that a decisive moment in the maiden’s esteem +lay before him, the latter, in spite of an incapable doubt as to the habits and +manner of behaviour of creatures of this part, set out resolutely to subdue +it.... At a later period, by clinging tenaciously to its tail, he undoubtedly +impeded its progress, and thereby enabled Hoa-mi to greet him as one who had a +claim upon her gratitude. +</p> + +<p> +“The person who has performed this slight service is Ting, of the outcast +line of Lao,” said the student with an admiring bow in spite of a +benumbing pain that involved all his lower attributes. “Having as yet +achieved nothing, the world lies before him.” +</p> + +<p> +“She who speaks is Hoa-mi, her father’s house being Chun,” +replied the maiden agreeably. “In addition to the erratic but now +repentant animal that has thus, as it were, brought us within the same narrow +compass, he possesses a wooden plough, two wheel-barrows, a red bow with +threescore arrows, and a rice-field, and is therefore a person of some +consequence.” +</p> + +<p> +“True,” agreed Lao Ting, “though perhaps the dignity is less +imposing than might be imagined in the eye of one who, by means of successive +examinations, may ultimately become the Right hand of the Emperor.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is the contingency an impending one?” inquired Hoa-mi, with polite +interest. +</p> + +<p> +“So far,” admitted Lao Ting, “it is more in the nature of a +vision. There are, of necessity, many trials, and few can reach the ultimate +end. Yet even the Yangtze-kiang has a source.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of your unswerving tenacity this person has already been witness,” +said the maiden, with a glance of refined encouragement. +</p> + +<p> +“Your words are more inspiring than the example of the aged woman of +Shang-li to the student Tsung,” declared Lao Ting gratefully. +“Unless the Omens are asleep they should tend to the same auspicious +end.” +</p> + +<p> +“The exact instance of the moment escapes my recollection.” +Probably Hoa-mi was by no means willing that one of studious mind should +associate her exclusively with water-buffaloes. “Is it related in the +Classics?” +</p> + +<p> +“Possibly, though in which actual masterpiece just now evades my grasp. +The youth referred to was on the point of abandoning a literary career, +appalled at the magnitude of the task before him, when he encountered an aged +woman who was employed in laboriously rubbing away the surface of an iron +crowbar on a block of stone. To his inquiry she cheerfully replied: ‘The +one who is thus engaged required a needle to complete a task. Being unable to +procure one she was about to give way to an ignoble despair when chance put +into her hands this bar, which only requires bringing down to the necessary +size.’ Encouraged by this painstaking example Tsung returned to his books +and in due course became a high official.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless in the time of his prosperity he retraced his footsteps and +lavishly rewarded the one to whom he was thus indebted,” suggested Hoa-mi +gracefully. +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” admitted Lao Ting, “but the detail is not +pursued to so remote an extremity in the Classic. The delicate poise of the +analogy is what is chiefly dwelt upon, the sign for a needle harmonizing with +that for official, and there being a similar balance between crowbar and +books.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your words are like a page written in vermilion ink,” exclaimed +Hoa-mi, with a sideway-expressed admiration. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” he declared, with conscious humility, “my style is +meagre and almost wholly threadbare. To remedy this, each day I strive to +perfect myself in the correct formation of five new written signs. When +equipped with a knowledge of every one there is I shall be competent to write +so striking and original an essay on any subject that it will no longer be +possible to exclude my name from the list of official appointments.” +</p> + +<p> +“It will be a day of well-achieved triumph for the spirits of your +expectant ancestors,” said Hoa-mi sympathetically. +</p> + +<p> +“It will also have a beneficial effect on my own material +prospects,” replied Lao Ting, with a commendable desire to awaken images +of a more specific nature in the maiden’s imagination. “Where +hitherto it has been difficult to support one, there will then be a lavish +profusion for two. The moment the announcement is made, my impatient feet will +carry me to this spot. Can it be hoped—?” +</p> + +<p> +“It has long been this one’s favourite resort also,” +confessed Hoa-mi, with every appearance of having adequately grasped Lao +Ting’s desired inference, “Yet to what number do the written signs +in question stretch?” +</p> + +<p> +“So highly favoured is our unapproachable language that the number can +only be faintly conjectured. Some claim fivescore thousand different written +symbols; the least exacting agree to fourscore thousand.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are all-knowing,” responded the maiden absently. With her face +in an opposing direction her lips moved rapidly, as though she might be in the +act of addressing some petition to a Power. Yet it is to be doubted if this +accurately represents the nature of her inner thoughts, for when she again +turned towards Lao Ting the engaging frankness of her expression had +imperceptibly deviated, as she continued: +</p> + +<p> +“In about nine and forty years, then, O impetuous one, our converging +footsteps will doubtless again encounter upon this spot. In the meanwhile, +however, this person’s awaiting father is certainly preparing something +against her tardy return which the sign for a crowbar would fittingly +represent.” +</p> + +<p> +Then urging the water-buffalo to increased exertion she fled, leaving Lao Ting +a prey to emotions of a very distinguished intensity. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of the admittedly rough-edged nature of Hoa-mi’s leave-taking, +Lao Ting retraced his steps in an exalted frame of mind. He had spoken to the +maiden and heard her incomparable voice. He now knew her name and the path +leading to her father’s house. It only remained for him to win a position +worthy of her acceptance (if the Empire could offer such a thing), and their +future happiness might be regarded as assured. +</p> + +<p> +Thus engaged, Lao Ting walked on, seeing within his head the arrival of the +bridal chair, partaking of the well-spread wedding feast, hearing the +felicitations of the guests: “A hundred sons and a thousand +grandsons!” Something white fluttering by the wayside recalled him to the +realities of the day. He had reached the buildings of the outer city, and on a +wall before him a printed notice was displayed. +</p> + +<p> +It has already been set forth that the few solitary cash which from time to +time fell into the student’s sleeve were barely sufficient to feed his +thirsty brush with ink. For the material on which to write and to practise the +graceful curves essential to a style he was driven to various unworthy +expedients. It had thus become his habit to lurk in the footsteps of those who +affix public proclamations in the ways and spaces of the city, and when they +had passed on to remove, as unostentatiously as possible, the more suitable +pronouncements and to carry them to his own abode. For this reason he regarded +every notice from a varying angle, being concerned less with what appeared upon +it than with what did not appear. Accordingly he now crossed the way and +endeavoured to secure the sheet that had attracted his attention. In this he +was unsuccessful, however, for he could only detach a meagre fragment. +</p> + +<p> +When Lao Ting reached his uninviting room the last pretence of daylight had +faded. He recognized that he had lost many precious moments in Hoa-mi’s +engaging society, and although he would willingly have lost many more, there +was now a deeper pang in his regret that he could not continue his study +further into the night. As this was impossible, he drew his scanty night +coverings around him and composed his mind for sleep, conscious of an +increasing rigour in the air; for, as he found when the morning came, one who +wished him well, passing in his absence, had written a lucky saying on a stone +and cast it through the paper window. +</p> + +<p> +When Lao Ting awoke it was still night, but the room was no longer entirely +devoid of light. As his custom was, an open page lay on the floor beside him, +ready to be caught up eagerly with the first gleam of day; above this a faint +but sufficient radiance now hung, enabling him to read the written signs. At +first the student regarded the surroundings with some awe, not doubting that +this was in the nature of a visitation, but presently he discovered that the +light was provided by a living creature, winged but docile, which carried a +glowing lustre in its tail. When he had read to the end, Lao Ting endeavoured +to indicate by a sign that he wished to turn the page. To his delight he found +that the winged creature intelligently grasped the requirement and at once +transferred its presence to the required spot. All through the night the youth +eagerly read on, nor did this miraculously endowed visitor ever fail him. By +dawn he had more than made up the time in which the admiration of Hoa-mi had +involved him. If such a state of things could be assured for the future, the +vista would stretch like a sunlit glade before his feet. +</p> + +<p> +Early in the day he set out to visit an elderly monk, who lived in a cave on +the mountain above. Before he went, however, he did not fail to procure a +variety of leaves and herbs, and to display them about the room in order to +indicate to his unassuming companion that he had a continued interest in his +welfare. The venerable hermit received him hospitably, and after inviting him +to sit upon the floor and to partake of such food as he had brought with him, +listened attentively to his story. +</p> + +<p> +“Your fear that in this manifestation you may be the sport of a malicious +Force, conspiring to some secret ill, is merely superstition,” remarked +Tzu-lu when Lao Ting had reached an end. “Although creatures such as you +describe are unknown in this province, they undoubtedly exist in outer +barbarian lands, as do apes with the tails of peacocks, ducks with their bones +outside their skins, beings whose pale green eyes can discover the precious +hidden things of the earth, and men with a hole through their chests so that +they require no chair to carry them, but are transposed from spot to spot by +means of poles.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your mind is widely opened, esteemed,” replied Lao Ting +respectfully. “Yet the omen must surely tend towards a definite +course?” +</p> + +<p> +“Be guided by the mature philosophy of the resolute Heng-ki, who, after +an unfortunate augury, exclaimed to his desponding warriors: ‘Do your +best and let the Omens do their worst!’ What has happened is as clear as +the iridescence of a dragon’s eye. In the past you have lent a sum of +money to a friend who has thereupon passed into the Upper Air, leaving you +unrequited.” +</p> + +<p> +“A friend receiving a sum of money from this person would have every +excuse for passing away suddenly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Or,” continued the accommodating recluse, “you have in some +other way placed so formidable an obligation upon one now in the Beyond that +his disturbed spirit can no longer endure the burden. For this reason it has +taken the form of a luminous insect, and has thus returned to earth in order +that it may assist you and thereby discharge the debt.” +</p> + +<p> +“The explanation is a convincing one,” replied Lao Ting. +“Might it not have been more satisfactory in the end, however, if the +gracious person in question had clothed himself with the attributes of the +examining chancellor or some high mandarin, so that he could have upheld my +cause in any extremity?” +</p> + +<p> +Without actually smiling, a form of entertainment that was contrary to his +strict vow, the patriarchal anchorite moved his features somewhat at the +youth’s innocence. +</p> + +<p> +“Do not forget that it is written: ‘Though you set a monkey on +horseback yet will his hands and feet remain hairy,’” he remarked. +“The one whose conduct we are discussing may well be aware of his own +deficiencies, and know that if he adopted such a course a humiliating exposure +would await him. Do not have any fear for the future, however: thus protected, +this person is inspired to prophesy that you will certainly take a high place +in the examinations.... Indeed,” he added thoughtfully, “it might +be prudent to venture a string of cash upon your lucky number.” +</p> + +<p> +With this auspicious leave-taking Tzu-lu dismissed him, and Lao Ting returned +to the city greatly refreshed in spirit by the encounter. Instead of retiring +to his home he continued into the more reputable ways beyond, it then being +about the hour at which the affixers of official notices were wont to display +their energies. +</p> + +<p> +So it chanced indeed, but walking with his feet off the ground, owing to the +obliging solitary’s encouragement, Lao Ting forgot his usual caution, and +came suddenly into the midst of a band of these men at an angle of the paths. +</p> + +<p> +“Honourable greetings,” he exclaimed, feeling that if he passed +them by unregarded his purpose might be suspected. “Have you eaten your +rice?” +</p> + +<p> +“How is your warmth and cold?” they replied courteously. “Yet +why do you arrest your dignified footsteps to converse with outcasts so +illiterate as ourselves?” +</p> + +<p> +“The reason,” admitted Lao Ting frankly, “need not be buried +in a well. Had I avoided the encounter you might have said among yourselves: +‘Here is one who shuns our gaze. This, perchance, is he who of late has +lurked within the shadow of our backs to bear away our labour.’ Not to +create this unworthy suspicion I freely came among you, for, as the Ancient +Wisdom says: ‘Do not adjust your sandals while passing through a +melon-field, nor yet arrange your hat beneath an orange-tree.’” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” said the leader of the band, “we were waiting thus in +expectation of the one whom you describe. The incredible leper who rules our +goings has, even at this hour and notwithstanding that now is the appointed day +and time for the gathering together of the Harmonious Constellation of Paste +Appliers and Long Brush Wielders, thrust within our hands a double task.” +</p> + +<p> +“May bats defile his Ancestral Tablets and goats propagate within his +neglected tomb!” chanted the band in unison. “May the sinews of his +hams snap suddenly in moments of achievement! May the principles of his warmth +and cold never be properly adjusted but—” +</p> + +<p> +“Thus positioned,” continued the leader, indicating by a gesture +that while he agreed with these sentiments the moment was not opportune for +their full recital, “we await. If he who lurks in our past draws near he +will doubtless accept from our hands that which he will assuredly possess +behind our backs. Thus mutual help will lighten the toil of all.” +</p> + +<p> +“The one whom you require dwells beneath my scanty roof,” said the +youth. “He is now, however, absent on a secret mission. Entrust to me the +burden of your harassment and I will answer, by the sanctity of the Four-eyed +Image, that it shall reach his speedy hand.” +</p> + +<p> +When Lao Ting gained his own room, bowed down but rejoicing beneath the weight +of his unexpected fortune, his eyes were gladdened by the soft light that hung +about his books. Although it was not yet dark, the radiance of the glow seemed +greater than before. Going to the spot the delighted student saw that in place +of one there were now four, the grateful insect having meanwhile summoned +others to his cause. All these stood in an expectant attitude awaiting his +control, so that through the night he plied an untiring brush and leapt onward +in the garden of similitudes. +</p> + +<p> +From this time forward Lao Ting could not fail to be aware that the faces of +those whom he familiarly encountered were changed towards him. Men greeted him +as one worthy of their consideration, and he even heard his name spoken of +respectfully in the society of learned strangers. More than once he found +garlands of flowers hung upon his outer door, harmonious messages, +and—once—a gift of food. Incredible as it seemed to him it had come +to be freely admitted that the unknown scholar Lao Ting would take a very high +place in the forthcoming competition, and those who were alert and watchful did +not hesitate to place him first. To this general feeling a variety of portents +had contributed. Doubtless the beginning was the significant fact, known to the +few at first, that the miracle-working Tzu-lu had staked his inner garment on +Lao Ting’s success. Brilliant lights were seen throughout the night to be +moving in the meagre dwelling (for the four efficacious creatures had by this +time greatly added to their numbers), and the one within was credited with +being assisted by the Forces. It is well said that that which passes out of one +mouth passes into a hundred ears, and before dawn had become dusk all the early +and astute were following the inspired hermit’s example. They who +conducted the lotteries, becoming suddenly aware of the burden of the hazard +they incurred, thereat declared that upon the venture of Lao Ting’s +success there must be set two taels in return for one. Whereupon the desire of +those who had refrained waxed larger than before, and thus the omens grew. +</p> + +<p> +When the days that remained before the opening of the trial could be counted on +the fingers of one hand, there came, at a certain hour, a summons on the outer +door of Lao Ting’s house, and in response to his spoken invitation there +entered one, Sheng-yin, a competitor. +</p> + +<p> +“Lao Ting,” said this person, when they had exchanged formalities, +“in spite of the flattering attentions of the shallow”—he +here threw upon the floor a garland which he had conveyed from off Lao +Ting’s door—“it is exceedingly unlikely that at the first +attempt your name will be among those of the chosen, and the possibility of it +heading the list may be dismissed as vapid.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your experience is deep and wide,” replied Lao Ting, the +circumstance that Sheng-yin had already tried and failed three and thirty times +adding an edge to the words; “yet if it is written it is written.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” retorted Sheng-yin no less capably; “but it will +never be set to music. Now, until your inconsiderate activities prevailed, this +person was confidently greeted as the one who would be first.” +</p> + +<p> +“The names of Wang-san and Yin Ho were not unknown to the +expectant,” suggested Lao Ting mildly. +</p> + +<p> +“The mind of Wang-san is only comparable with a wastepaper basket,” +exclaimed the visitor harshly; “and Yin Ho is in reality as dull as split +ebony. But in your case, unfortunately, there is nothing to go on, and, +unlikely though it be, it is just possible that this person’s +well-arranged ambitions may thereby be brought to a barren end. For that reason +he is here to discuss this matter as between virtuous friends.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let your auspicious mouth be widely opened,” replied Lao Ting +guardedly. “My ears will not refrain.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is there not, perchance, some venerable relative in a distant part of +the province whose failing eyes crave, at this juncture, to rest upon your +wholesome features before he passes Upwards?” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly some such inopportune person might be forthcoming,” +admitted Lao Ting. “Yet the cost of so formidable a journey would be far +beyond this necessitous one’s means.” +</p> + +<p> +“In so charitable a cause affluent friends would not be lacking. Depart +on the third day and remain until the ninth and twenty taels of silver will +glide imperceptibly into your awaiting sleeve.” +</p> + +<p> +“The prospect of not taking the foremost place in the +competition—added to the pangs of those who have hazarded their store +upon the unworthy name of Lao—is an ignoble one,” replied the +student, after a moment’s thought. “The journey will be a costly +task at this season of the rains; it cannot possibly be accomplished for less +than fifty taels.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well said, ‘Do not look at robbers sharing out their spoil: +look at them being executed,’” urged Sheng-yin. “Should you +be so ill-destined as to compete, and, as would certainly be the case, be +awarded a position of contempt, how unendurable would be your anguish when, +amidst the execrations of the deluded mob, you remembered that thirty taels of +the purest had slipped from your effete grasp.” +</p> + +<p> +“Should the Bridge of the Camel Back be passable, five and forty might +suffice,” mused Lao Tung to himself. +</p> + +<p> +“Thirty-seven taels, five hundred cash, are the utmost that your obliging +friends would hazard in the quest,” announced Sheng-yin definitely. +“On the day following that of the final competition the sum will be +honourably—” +</p> + +<p> +“By no means,” interrupted the other, with unswerving firmness. +“How thus is the journey to be defrayed? In advance, assuredly.” +</p> + +<p> +“The requirement is unusual. Yet upon satisfactory oaths being +offered—” +</p> + +<p> +“This person will pledge the repose of the spirits of his venerated +ancestors practically back to prehistoric times,” agreed Lao Ting +readily. “From the third to the ninth day he will be absent from the city +and will take no part in anything therein. Should he eat his words, may his +body be suffocated beneath five cart-loads of books and his weary ghost chained +to that of a leprous mule. It is spoken.” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly. But it may as well be written also.” With this expression +of narrow-minded suspicion Sheng-yin would have taken up one from a +considerable mass of papers lying near at hand, had not Lao Ting suddenly +restrained him. +</p> + +<p> +“It shall be written with clarified ink on paper of a special +excellence,” declared the student. “Take the brush, Seng-yin, and +write. It almost repays this person for the loss of a degree to behold the +formation of signs so unapproachable as yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lao Ting,” replied the visitor, pausing in his task, “you +are occasionally inspired, but the weakness of your character results in a lack +of caution. In this matter, therefore, be warned: ‘The crocodile opens +his jaws; the rat-trap closes his; keep yours shut.’” +</p> + +<p> +When Lao Ting returned after a scrupulously observed six days of absence he +could not fail to become aware that the city was in an uproar, and the evidence +of this increased as he approached the cheap and lightly esteemed quarter in +which those of literary ambitions found it convenient to reside. Remembering +Sheng-yin’s parting, he forbore to draw attention to himself by +questioning any, but when he reached the door of his own dwelling he discovered +the one of whom he was thinking, standing, as it were, between the posts. +</p> + +<p> +“Lao Ting,” exclaimed Sheng-yin, without waiting to make any polite +reference to the former person’s food or condition, “in spite of +this calamity you are doubtless prepared to carry out the spirit of your +oath?” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” replied Lao Ting affably. “Yet what is the +nature of the calamity referred to, and how does it affect the burden of my +vow?” +</p> + +<p> +“Has not the tiding reached your ear? The examinations, alas! have been +withheld for seven full days. Your journey has been in vain!” +</p> + +<p> +“By no means!” declared the youth. “Debarred by your +enticement from a literary career this person turned his mind to other aims, +and has now gained a deep insight into the habits and behaviour of +water-buffaloes.” +</p> + +<p> +“They who control the competitions from the Capital,” continued +Sheng-yin, without even hearing the other’s words, “when all had +been arranged, learned from the Chief Astrologer (may subterranean fires singe +his venerable moustaches!) that a forgotten obscuration of the sun would take +place on the opening day of the test. In the face of so formidable a portent +they acted thus and thus.” +</p> + +<p> +“How then fares it that due warning of the change was not set +forth?” +</p> + +<p> +“The matter is as long as The Wall and as deep as seven wells,” +grumbled Sheng-yin, “and the Hoang Ho in flood is limpid by its side. +Proclamations were sent forth, yet none appeared, and they entrusted with their +wide disposal have a dragon-story of a shining lordly youth who ever followed +in their steps.... Thus in a manner of expressing it, the spirit—” +</p> + +<p> +“Sheng-yin,” said Lao Ting, with courteous firmness, yet so moving +the door so that while he passed in the former person remained outside, +“you have sought, at the expenditure of thirty-seven taels five hundred +cash, to deflect Destiny from her appointed line. The result has been +lamentable to all—or nearly all—concerned. The lawless effort must +not be repeated, for when heaven itself goes out of its way to set a correcting +omen in the sky, who dare disobey?” +</p> + +<p> +When the list and order of the competition was proclaimed, the name of Wang-san +stood at the very head and that of Yin Ho was next. Lao Ting was the very last +of those who were successful; Sheng-yin was the next, and was thus the first of +those who were unsuccessful. It was as much as the youth had secretly dared to +hope, and much better than he had generally feared. In Sheng-yin’s case, +however, it was infinitely worse than he had ever contemplated. Regarding Lao +Ting as the cause of his disgrace he planned a sordid revenge. Waiting until +night had fallen he sought the student’s door-step and there took a +potent drug, laying upon his ghost a strict injunction to devote itself to +haunting and thwarting the ambitions of the one who dwelt within. But even in +this he was inept, for the poison was less speedy than he thought, and Lao Ting +returned in time to convey him to another door. +</p> + +<p> +On the strength of his degree Lao Ting found no difficulty in earning a meagre +competence by instructing others who wished to follow in his footsteps. He was +also now free to compete for the next degree, where success would bring him +higher honour and a slightly less meagre competence. In the meanwhile he +married Hoa-mi, being able to display thirty-seven taels and nearly five +hundred cash towards that end. Ultimately he rose to a position of remunerative +ease, but it is understood that he attained this more by a habit of acting as +the necessities of the moment required than by his literary achievements. +</p> + +<p> +Over the door of his country residence in the days of his profusion he caused +the image of a luminous insect to be depicted, and he engraved its semblance on +his seal. He would also have added the presentment of a water-buffalo, but +Hoa-mi deemed this inexpedient. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a> CHAPTER VI<br /> +The High-minded Strategy of the Amiable Hwa-mei</h2> + +<p> +Warned by the mischance attending his previous meeting with Hwa-mei, Kai Lung +sought the walled enclosure at the earliest moment of his permitted freedom, +and secreting himself among the interlacing growth he anxiously awaited the +maiden’s coming. +</p> + +<p> +Presently a movement in the trees without betrayed a presence, and the +story-teller was on the point of disclosing himself at the shutter when the +approaching one displayed an unfamiliar outline. Instead of a maiden of +exceptional symmetry and peach-like charm an elderly and deformed hag drew +near. As she might be hostile to his cause, Kai Lung deemed it prudent to +remain concealed; but in case she should prove to be an emissary from Hwa-mei +seeking him, his purpose was to stand revealed. To combine these two attitudes +until she should declare herself was by no means an easy task, but she looked +neither near nor far in scrutiny until she stood, mumbling and infirm, beneath +the shutter. +</p> + +<p> +“It is well, minstrel,” she called aloud. “She whom you await +bid me greet you with a sign.” At Kai Lung’s feet there fell a +crimson flower, growing on a thorny stem. “What word shall I in turn bear +back? Speak freely, for her mind is as my open hand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me rather,” said Kai Lung, looking out, “how she fares +and what averts her footsteps?” +</p> + +<p> +“That will appear in due time,” replied the aged one. “In the +meanwhile I have her message to declare. Three times foiled in his malignant +scheme the now obscene Ming-shu sets all the Axioms at naught. Distrusting you +and those about your path, it is his sinister intention to call up for judgment +Kai-moo, who lies within the women’s cell beyond the Water Way.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is her crime and how will this avail him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Charged with the murder of her man by means of the supple splinter her +condemnation is assured. The penalty is piecemeal slicing, and in it are +involved those of her direct line, in the humane effort to eradicate so +treacherous a strain.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is but just,” agreed Kai Lung. +</p> + +<p> +“Truly. But on the slender ligament of a kindred name you will be joined +with her in that end. Ming-shu will see to it that records of your kinship are +not lacking. Being accused of no crime on your own behalf there will be nothing +for you to appear against.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is written: ‘Even leprosy may be cured, but the enmity of an +official underling can never be dispelled,’ and the malice of the +persistent Ming-shu certainly points to the wisdom of the verse. Is the person +of Kai-moo known to you, and where is the prison-house you speak of?” +</p> + +<p> +To this the venerable creature replied that the cell in question was in a +distant quarter of the city. Kai-moo, she continued, might be regarded as +fashioned like herself, being deformed in shape and repellent in appearance. +Furthermore, she was of deficient understanding, these things aiding +Ming-shu’s plan, as she would be difficult to reach and impossible to +instruct when reached. +</p> + +<p> +“The extremity is almost hopeless enough to be left to the +ever-protecting spirits of one’s all-powerful Ancestors,” declared +Kai Lung at length. “Did she from whom you come forecast any +confidence?” +</p> + +<p> +“She had some assurance in a certain plan, which it is my message to +declare to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Her wisdom is to be computed neither by a rule nor by a measure. Say +on.” +</p> + +<p> +“The keeper of the women’s prison-house lies within her hollowed +hand, nor will silver be wanting to still any arising doubt. Wrapped in prison +garb, and with her face disguised by art, she whose word I bear will come forth +at the appointed call and, taking her place before Shan Tien, will play a +fictitious part.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas! dotard,” interrupted Kai Lung impatiently, “it would +be well if I spent my few remaining hours in kowtowing to the Powers whom I +shall shortly meet. An aged and unsightly hag! Know you not, O venerable bat, +that the smooth perfection of the one you serve would shine dazzling through a +beaten mask of tempered steel? Her matchless hair, glossier than a +starling’s wing, floats like an autumn cloud. Her eyes strike fire from +damp clay, or make the touch of velvet harsh and stubborn, according to her +several moods. Peach-bloom held against her cheek withers incapably by +comparison. Her feet, if indeed she has such commonplace attributes at all, are +smaller—” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” interrupted the hag, in a changed and quite melodious voice, +“if it is possible to delude the imagination of one whose longing eyes +dwell so constantly on these threadbare charms, what then will be the position +of the obtuse Ming-shu and the superficial Mandarin Shan Tien, burdened as they +now are by outside cares?” +</p> + +<p> +“There are times when the classical perfection of our graceful tongue is +strangely inadequate to express emotion,” confessed Kai Lung, colouring +deeply, as Hwa-mei stood revealed before him. “It is truly said: +‘The ingenuity of a guileless woman will undermine nine mountains.’ +You have cut off all the words of my misgivings.” +</p> + +<p> +“To that end have I wrought, for in this I also need your skill. Listen +well and think deeply as I speak. Everywhere the outcome of the strife grows +more uncertain day by day and no man really knows which side to favour yet. In +this emergency each plays a double part. While visibly loyal to the Imperial +cause, the Mandarin Shan Tien fans the whisper that in secret he upholds the +rebellious banners. Ming-shu now openly avers that if this and that are thus +and thus the rising has justice in its ranks, while at the same time he has it +put abroad that this is but a cloak the better to serve the state. Thus every +man maintains a double face in the hope that if the one side fails the other +will preserve him, and as a band all pledge to save (or if need be to betray) +each other.” +</p> + +<p> +“This is the more readily understood as it is the common case on every +like occasion.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then doubtless there are instances waiting on your lips. Teach me such a +story whereby the hope of those who are thus swayed may be engaged and leave +the rest to my arranging hand.” +</p> + +<p> +On the following day at the appointed hour a bent and forbidding hag was +brought before Shan Tien, and the nature of her offence proclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +“It is possible to find an excuse for almost everything, regarding it +from one angle or another,” remarked the Mandarin impartially; “but +the crime of destroying a husband—and by a means so unpleasantly +insinuating—really seems to leave nothing to be said.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet, imperishable, even a bad coin must have two sides,” replied +the hag. “That I should be guilty and yet innocent would be no more +wonderful than the case of Weng Cho, who, when faced with the alternative of +either defying the Avenging Societies or of opposing fixed authority found a +way out of escaping both.” +</p> + +<p> +“That should be worth—that is to say, if you base your defence upon +an existing case—” +</p> + +<p> +“Providing the notorious thug Kai Lung is not thereby brought in,” +suggested the narrow-minded Ming-shu, who equally desired to learn the +stratagem involved. +</p> + +<p> +“Weng Cho was the only one concerned,” replied the ancient +obtusely—“he who escaped the consequences. Is it permitted to this +one to make clear her plea?” +</p> + +<p> +“If the fatigue is not more than your venerable personality can +reasonably bear,” replied Shan Tien courteously. +</p> + +<p> +“To bear is the lot of every woman, be she young or old,” replied +the one before them. “I comply, omnipotence.” +</p> + +<h3>The Story of Weng Cho; or, the One Devoid of Name</h3> + +<p> +There was peach-blossom in the orchards of Kien-fi, a blue sky above, and in +the air much gladness; but in Wu Chi’s yamen gloom hung like the herald +of a thunderstorm. At one end of a table in the ceremonial hall sat Wu Chi, +heaviness upon his brow, deceit in his eyes, and a sour enmity about the lines +of his mouth; at the other end stood his son Weng, and between them, as it +were, his whole life lay. +</p> + +<p> +Wu Chi was an official of some consequence and had two wives, as became him. +His union with the first had failed in its essential purpose; therefore he had +taken another to carry on the direct line which alone could bring him +contentment in this world and a reputable existence in the next. This degree of +happiness was supplied by Weng’s mother, yet she must ever remain but a +“secondary wife,” with no rights and a very insecure position. In +the heart of the chief wife smouldered a most bitter hatred, but the hour of +her ascendancy came, for after many years she also bore her lord a son. +Thenceforward she was strong in her authority; but Weng’s mother +remained, for she was very beautiful, and despite all the arts of the other +woman Wu Chi could not be prevailed upon to dismiss her. The easy solution of +this difficulty was that she soon died—the “white powder +death” was the shrewd comment of the inner chambers of Kien-fi. +</p> + +<p> +Wu Chi put on no mourning, custom did not require it; and now that the woman +had Passed Beyond he saw no necessity to honour her memory at the expense of +his own domestic peace. His wife donned her gayest robes and made a feast. Weng +alone stood apart, and in funereal sackcloth moved through the house like an +accusing ghost. Each day his father met him with a frown, the woman whom alone +he must regard as his mother with a mocking smile, but he passed them without +any word of dutiful and submissive greeting. The period of all seemly mourning +ended—it touched that allotted to a legal parent; still Weng cast himself +down and made no pretence to hide his grief. His father’s frown became a +scowl, his mother’s smile framed a biting word. A wise and venerable +friend who loved the youth took him aside one day and with many sympathetic +words counselled restraint. +</p> + +<p> +“For,” he said, “your conduct, though affectionate towards +the dead, may be urged by the ill-disposed as disrespectful towards the living. +If you have a deeper end in view, strive towards it by a less open path.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are subtle and esteemed in wisdom,” replied Weng, “but +neither of those virtues can restore a broken jar. The wayside fountain must +one day dry up at its source, but until then not even a mountain placed upon +its mouth can pen back its secret stores. So is it with unfeigned grief.” +</p> + +<p> +“The analogy may be exact,” replied the aged friend, shaking his +head, “but it is no less truly said: ‘The wise tortoise keeps his +pain inside.’ Rest assured, on the disinterested advice of one who has no +great experience of mountains and hidden springs, but a life-long knowledge of +Wu Chi and of his amiable wife, that if you mourn too much you will have reason +to mourn more.” +</p> + +<p> +His words were pointed to a sharp edge. At that moment Wu Chi was being +confronted by his wife, who stood before him in his inner chamber. “Who +am I?” she exclaimed vehemently, “that my authority should be +denied before my very eyes? Am I indeed Che of the house of Meng, whose +ancestors wore the Yellow Scabbard, or am I some nameless one? Or does my lord +sleep, or has he fallen blind upon the side by which Weng approaches?” +</p> + +<p> +“His heart is bad and his instincts perverted,” replied Wu Chi +dully. “He ignores the rites, custom, and the Emperor’s example, +and sets at defiance all the principles of domestic government. Do not fear +that I shall not shortly call him to account with a very heavy call.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do so, my lord,” said his wife darkly, “or many valiant +champions of the House of Meng may press forward to make a cast of that same +account. To those of our ancient line it would not seem a trivial thing that +their daughter should share her rights with a purchased slave.” +</p> + +<p> +“Peace, cockatrice! the woman was well enough,” exclaimed Wu Chi, +with slow resentment. “But the matter of this obstinacy touches the +dignity of my own authority, and before to-day has passed Weng shall bring up +his footsteps suddenly before a solid wall.” +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, when Weng returned at his usual hour he found his father awaiting +him with curbed impatience. That Wu Chi should summon him into his presence in +the great hall was of itself an omen that the matter was one of moment, but the +profusion of lights before the Ancestral Tablets and the various symbols +arranged upon the table showed that the occasion was to be regarded as one +involving irrevocable issues. +</p> + +<p> +“Weng Cho,” said his father dispassionately, from his seat at the +head of the table, “draw near, and first pledge the Ancient Ones whose +spirits hover above their Tablets in a vessel of wine.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am drinking affliction and move under the compact of a solemn +vow,” replied Weng fixedly, “therefore I cannot do this; nor, as +signs are given me to declare, will the forerunners of our line, who from their +high places look down deep into the mind and measure the heart with an +impartial rod, deem this an action of disrespect to their illustrious +shades.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well to be a sharer of their councils,” said Wu Chi, with +pointed insincerity. “But,” he continued, in the same tone, +“for whom can Weng Cho of the House of Wu mourn? His father is before him +in his wonted health; in the inner chamber his mother plies an unfaltering +needle; while from the Dragon Throne the supreme Emperor still rules the world. +Haply, however, a thorn has pierced his little finger, or does he perchance +bewail the loss of a favourite bird?” +</p> + +<p> +“That thorn has sunk deeply into his existence, and the memory of that +loss still dims his eyes with bitterness,” replied Weng. “Bid the +rain cease to fall when the clouds are heavy.” +</p> + +<p> +“The comparison is ill-chosen,” cried Whu Chi harshly. +“Rather should the allusion be to the evil tendency of a self-willed +branch which, in spite of the continual watering of precept and affection, +maintains its perverted course, and must henceforth either submit to be bound +down into an appointed line, or be utterly cut off so that the tree may not +suffer. Long and patiently have I marked your footsteps, Weng Cho, and they are +devious. This is not a single offence, but it is no light one. Appointed by the +Board of Ceremony, approved of by the Emperor, and observed in every loyal and +high-minded subject are the details of the rites and formalities which alone +serve to distinguish a people refined and humane from those who are rude and +barbarous. By setting these observances at defiance you insult their framers, +act traitorously towards your sovereign, and assail the foundations of your +House; for your attitude is a direct reflection upon others; and if you render +such a tribute to one who is incompetent to receive it, how will you maintain a +seemly balance when a greater occasion arises?” +</p> + +<p> +“When the earth that has nourished it grows cold the leaves of the branch +fall—doubtless the edicts of the Board referred to having failed to reach +their ears,” replied Weng bitterly. “Revered father, is it not +permitted that I should now depart? Behold I am stricken and out of +place.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are evil and your heart is fat with presumptuous pride!” +exclaimed Wu Chi, releasing the cords of his hatred and anger so that they +leapt out from his throat like the sudden spring of a tiger from a cave. +“Evil in birth, grown under an evil star and now come to a full maturity. +Go you shall, Weng Cho, and that on a straight journey forthwith or else bend +your knees with an acquiescent face.” With these words he beat furiously +on a gong, and summoning the entire household he commanded that before Weng +should be placed a jar of wine and two glass vessels, and on the other side a +staff and a pair of sandals. From an open shutter the face of the woman Che +looked down in mocking triumph. +</p> + +<p> +The alternatives thus presented were simple and irrevocable. On the one hand +Weng must put from him all further grief, ignore his vows, and join in mirth +and feast; on the other he must depart, never to return, and be deprived of +every tie of kinship, relinquishing ancestry, possessions and name. It was a +course severer than anything that Wu Chi had intended when he sent for his son, +but resentment had distorted his eyesight. It was a greater test than Weng had +anticipated, but his mind was clear, and his heart charged with fragrant +memories of his loss. Deliberately but with silent dignity he poured the +untasted wine upon the ground, drew his sword and touched the vessels lightly +so that they broke, took from off his thumb the jade ring inscribed with the +sign of the House of Wu, and putting on the sandals grasped the staff and +prepared to leave the hall. +</p> + +<p> +“Weng Cho, for the last time spoken of as of the House of Wu, now +alienated from that noble line, and henceforth and for ever an outcast, you +have made a choice and chosen as befits your rebellious life. Between us +stretches a barrier wider and deeper than the Yellow Sea, and throughout all +future time no sign shall pass from that distant shore to this. From every +record of our race your name shall be cut out; no mention of it shall profane +the Tablets, and both in this world and the next it shall be to us as though +you have never been. As I break this bowl so are all ties broken, as I quench +this candle so are all memories extinguished, and as, when you go, the space is +filled with empty air, so shall it be.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ho, nameless stranger,” laughed the woman from above, “here +is food and drink to bear you on your way”; and from the grille she threw +a withered fig and spat. +</p> + +<p> +“The fruit is the cankered effort of a barren tree,” cast back Weng +over his shoulder. “Look to your own offspring, basilisk. It is given me +to speak.” Even as he spoke there was a great cry from the upper part of +the house, the sound of many feet and much turmoil, but he went on his way +without another word. +</p> + +<p> +Thus it was that Weng Cho came to be cut off from the past. From his +father’s house he stepped out into the streets of Kien-fi a being without +a name, destitute, and suffering the pangs of many keen emotions. Friends whom +he encountered he saluted distantly, not desirous of sharing their affection +until they should have learned his state; but there was one who stood in his +mind as removed above the possibility of change, and to the summer-house of +Tiao’s home he therefore turned his steps. +</p> + +<p> +Tiao was the daughter of a minor official, an unsuccessful man of no particular +descent. He had many daughters, and had encouraged Weng’s affection, with +frequent professions that he regarded only the youth’s virtuous life and +discernment, and would otherwise have desired one not so highly placed. Tiao +also had spoken of rice and contentment in a ruined pagoda. Yet as she listened +to Weng’s relation a new expression gradually revealed itself about her +face, and when he had finished many paces lay between them. +</p> + +<p> +“A breaker of sacred customs, a disobeyer of parents and an outcast! How +do you disclose yourself!” she exclaimed wildly. “What vile thing +has possessed you?” +</p> + +<p> +“One hitherto which now rejects me,” replied Weng slowly. “I +had thought that here alone I might find a familiar greeting, but that also +fails.” +</p> + +<p> +“What other seemly course presents itself?” demanded the maiden +unsympathetically. “How degrading a position might easily become that of +the one who linked her lot with yours if all fit and proper sequences are to be +reversed! What menial one might supplant her not only in your affections but +also in your Rites! He had defied the Principles!” she exclaimed, as her +father entered from behind a screen. +</p> + +<p> +“He has lost his inheritance,” muttered the little old man, eyeing +him contemptuously. “Weng Cho,” he continued aloud, “you have +played a double part and crossed our step with only half your heart. Now the +past is past and the future an unwritten sheet.” +</p> + +<p> +“It shall be written in vermilion ink,” replied Weng, regaining an +impassive dignity; “and upon that darker half of my heart can now be +traced two added names.” +</p> + +<p> +He had no aim now, but instinct drove him towards the mountains, the retreat of +the lost and despairing. A three days’ journey lay between. He went +forward vacantly, without food and without rest. A falling leaf, as it is said, +would have turned the balance of his destiny, and at the wayside village of +Li-yong so it chanced. The noisome smell of burning thatch stung his face as he +approached, and presently the object came into view. It was the bare cabin of a +needy widow who had become involved in a lawsuit through the rapacity of a +tax-gatherer. As she had the means neither to satisfy the tax nor to discharge +the dues, the powerful Mandarin before whom she had been called ordered all her +possessions to be seized, and that she should then be burned within her hut as +a warning to others. This was the act of justice being carried out, and even as +Weng heard the tale the Mandarin in question drew near, carried in his state +chair to satisfy his eyes that his authority was scrupulously maintained. All +those villagers who had not drawn off unseen at once fell upon their faces, so +that Weng alone remained standing, doubtful what course to take. +</p> + +<p> +“Ill-nurtured dog!” exclaimed the Mandarin, stepping up to him, +“prostrate yourself! Do you not know that I am of the Sapphire Button, +and have fivescore bowmen at my yamen, ready to do my word?” And he +struck the youth across the face with a jewelled rod. +</p> + +<p> +“I have only one sword, but it is in my hand,” cried Weng, reckless +beneath the blow, and drawing it he at one stroke cut down the Mandarin before +any could raise a hand. Then breaking in the door of the hovel he would have +saved the woman, but it was too late, so he took the head and body and threw +them into the fire, saying: “There, Mandarin, follow to secure justice. +They shall not bear witness against you Up There in your absence.” +</p> + +<p> +The chair-carriers had fled in terror, but the villagers murmured against Weng +as he passed through them. “It was a small thing that one house and one +person should be burned; now, through this, the whole village will assuredly be +consumed. He was a high official and visited justice impartially on us all. It +was our affair, and you, who are a stranger, have done ill.” +</p> + +<p> +“I did you wrong, Mandarin,” said Weng, resuming his journey; +“you took me for one of them. I pass you the parting of the woman Che, +burrowers in the cow-heap called Li-yong.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oi-ye!” exclaimed a voice behind, “but yonder earth-beetles +haply have not been struck off the Tablets and found that a maiden with +well-matched eyes can watch two ways at once, all of a morning: and thereby +death through red spectacles is not that same death through blue spectacles. +Things in their appointed places, noble companion.” +</p> + +<p> +“Greetings, wayfarer,” said Weng, stopping. “The path narrows +somewhat inconveniently hereabout. Take honourable precedence.” +</p> + +<p> +“The narrower the better to defend then,” replied the stranger +good-humouredly. “Whereto, also, two swords cut a larger slice than one. +Without doubt fivescore valiant bowmen will soon be a-ranging when they hear +that the enemy goes upon two feet, and then ill befall who knows not the +passes.” As he spoke an arrow, shot from a distance, flew above their +heads. +</p> + +<p> +“Why should you bear a part with me, and who are you who know these +recent things?” demanded Weng doubtfully. +</p> + +<p> +“I am one of many, we being a branch of that great spreading lotus the +Triad, though called by the tillers here around the League of Tomb-Haunters, +because we must be sought in secret places. The things I have spoken I know +because we have many ears, and in our care a whisper passes from east to west +and from north to south without a word being spilled.” +</p> + +<p> +“And the price of your sword is that I should join the +confederacy?” asked Weng thoughtfully. +</p> + +<p> +“I had set out to greet you before the estimable Mandarin who is now +saluting his ancestors was so inopportune as to do so,” replied the +emissary. “Yet it is not to be denied that we offer an adequate +protection among each other, while at the same time punishing guilt and +administering a rigorous justice secretly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lead me to your meeting-place, then,” said Weng determinedly. +“I have done with the outer things.” +</p> + +<p> +The guide pointed to a rock, shaped like a locust’s head, which marked +the highest point of the steep mountain before them. Soon the fertile lowlands +ended and they passed beyond the limit of the inhabitable region. Still +ascending they reached the Tiger’s High Retreat, which defines the spot +where even the animal kind turn back and where watercourses cease to flow. +Beyond this the most meagre indication of vegetable sustenance came to an end, +and thenceforward their passage was rendered more slow and laborious by +frequent snow-storms, barriers of ice, and sudden tempests which strove to hurl +them to destruction. Nevertheless, by about the hour of midnight they reached +the rock shaped like a locust’s head, which stood in the wildest and most +inaccessible part of the mountain, and masked the entrance to a +strongly-guarded cave. Here Weng suffered himself to be blindfolded, and being +led forward he was taken into the innermost council. Closely questioned, he +professed a spontaneous desire to be admitted into their band, to join in their +dangers and share their honours; whereupon the oath was administered to him, +the passwords and secret signs revealed, and he was bound from that time forth, +under the bonds of a most painful death and torments in the afterworld, to +submerge all passions save those for the benefit of their community, and to +cherish no interests, wrongs or possessions that did not affect them all alike. +</p> + +<p> +For the space of seven years Weng remained about the shadow of the mountain, +carrying out, together with the other members of the band, the instructions +which from time to time they received from the higher circles of the Society, +as well as such acts of retributive justice as they themselves determined upon, +and in this quiet and unostentatious manner maintaining peace and greatly +purifying the entire province. In this passionless subservience to the +principles of the Order none exceeded him; yet at no time have men been +forbidden to burn joss-sticks to the spirit of the destinies, and who shall +say? +</p> + +<p> +At the end of seven years the first breath from out of the past reached Weng +(or Thang, as he had announced himself to be when cast out nameless). One day +he was summoned before the chief of their company and a mission laid upon him. +</p> + +<p> +“You have proved yourself to be capable and sincere in the past, and this +matter is one of delicacy,” said the leader. “Furthermore, it is +reported that you know something of the paths about Kien-fi?” +</p> + +<p> +“There is not a forgotten turn within those paths by which I might +stumble in the dark,” replied Weng, striving to subdue his mind. +</p> + +<p> +“See that out of so poignant a memory no more formidable barrier than a +forgotten path arises,” said the leader, observing him closely. +“Know you, then a house bearing as a sign the figure of a golden +ibis?” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly; I have noted it,” replied Weng, changing his position, so +that he now leaned against a rock. “There dwelt an old man of some lower +official rank, who had no son but many daughters.” +</p> + +<p> +“He has Passed, and one of those—Tiao by name,” said the +other, referring to a parchment—“has schemingly driven out the rest +and held the patrimony. Crafty and ambitious, she has of late married a high +official who has ever been hostile to ourselves. Out of a private enmity the +woman seeks the lives of two who are under our most solemn protection, and now +uses her husband’s wealth and influence to that end. It is on him that +the blow must fall, for men kill only men, and she, having no son, will then be +discredited and impotent.” +</p> + +<p> +“And concerning this official?” asked Weng. +</p> + +<p> +“It has not been thought prudent to speak of him by name,” replied +the chief. “Stricken with a painful but not dangerous malady he has +retired for a time to the healthier seclusion of his wife’s house, and +there he may be found. The woman you will know with certainty by a crescent +scar—above the right eye.” +</p> + +<p> +“Beneath the eye,” corrected Weng instantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly, beneath: I misread the sign,” said the head, appearing +to consult the scroll. “Yet, out of a keen regard for your virtues, +Thang, let me point a warning that it is antagonistic to our strict rule to +remember these ancient scars too well. Further, in accordance with that same +esteem, do not stoop too closely nor too long to identify the mark. By our pure +and exacting standard no high attainment in the past can justify defection. The +pains and penalties of failure you well know.” +</p> + +<p> +“I bow, chieftain,” replied Weng acquiescently. +</p> + +<p> +“It is well,” said the chief. “Your strategy will be easy. To +cure this lord’s disorder a celebrated physician is even now travelling +from the Capital towards Kien-fi. A day’s journey from that place he will +encounter obstacles and fall into the hands of those who will take away his +robes and papers. About the same place you will meet one with a bowl on the +roadside who will hail you, saying, ‘Charity, out of your superfluity, +noble mandarin coming from the north!’ To him you will reply, ‘Do +mandarins garb thus and thus and go afoot? It is I who need a change of raiment +and a chair; aye, by the token of the Locust’s Head!’ He will then +lead you to a place where you will find all ready and a suitable chair with +trusty bearers. The rest lies beneath your grinding heel. Prosperity!” +</p> + +<p> +Weng prostrated himself and withdrew. The meeting by the wayside befell as he +had received assurance—they who serve the Triad do not stumble—and +at the appointed time he stood before Tiao’s door and called for +admission. He looked to the right and the left as one who examines a new +prospect, and among the azalea flowers the burnished roof of the summer-house +glittered in the sun. +</p> + +<p> +“Lucky omens attend your coming, benevolence,” said the chief +attendant obsequiously; “for since he sent for you an unpropitious planet +has cast its influence upon our master, so that his power languishes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Its malignity must be controlled,” said Weng, in a feigned voice, +for he recognized the one before him. “Does any watch?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not now,” replied the attendant; “for he has slept since +these two hours. Would your graciousness have speech with the one of the inner +chamber?” +</p> + +<p> +“In season perchance. First lead me to your lord’s side and then +see that we are undisturbed until I reappear. It may be expedient to invoke a +powerful charm without delay.” +</p> + +<p> +In another minute Weng stood alone in the sick man’s room, between them +no more barrier than the silk-hung curtains of the couch. He slid down his +right hand and drew a keen-edged knife; about his left he looped the even more +fatal cord; then advancing with a noiseless step he pulled back the drapery and +looked down. It was the moment for swift and silent action; nothing but +hesitation and delay could imperil him, yet in that supreme moment he stepped +back, released the curtain from his faltering grasp and, suffering the weapons +to fall unheeded to the floor, covered his face with his hands, for lying +before him he had seen the outstretched form, the hard contemptuous features, +of his father. +</p> + +<p> +Yet most solemnly alienated from him in every degree. By Wu Chi’s own +acts every tie of kinship had been effaced between them: the bowl had been +broken, the taper blown out, empty air had filled his place. Wu Chi +acknowledged no memory of a son; he could claim no reverence as a father.... +Tiao’s husband.... Then he was doubly childless.... The woman and her +seed had withered, as he had prophesied. +</p> + +<p> +On the one hand stood the Society, powerful enough to protect him in every +extremity, yet holding failure as treason; most terrible and inexorable towards +set disobedience. His body might find a painless escape from their earthly +torments, but by his oaths his spirit lay in their keeping to be punished +through all eternity. +</p> + +<p> +That he was no longer Wu Chi’s son, that he had no father—this +conviction had been strong enough to rule him in every contingency of life save +this. By every law of men and deities the ties between them had been dissolved, +and they stood as a man and man; yet the salt can never be quite washed out of +sea-water. +</p> + +<p> +For a time which ceased to be hours or minutes, but seemed as a fragment broken +off eternity, he stood, motionless but most deeply racked. With an effort he +stooped to take the cord, and paused again; twice he would have seized the +dagger, but doubt again possessed him. From a distant point of the house came +the chant of a monk singing a prayer and beating upon a wooden drum. The rays +of the sun falling upon the gilded roof in the garden again caught his eyes; +nothing else stirred. +</p> + +<p> +“These in their turn have settled great issues lightly,” thought +Weng bitterly. “Must I wait upon an omen?” +</p> + +<p> +“... submitting oneself to purifying scars,” droned the voice far +off; “propitiating if need be by even greater self-inflictions...” +</p> + +<p> +“It suffices,” said Weng dispassionately, and picking up the knife +he turned to leave the room. +</p> + +<p> +At the door he paused again, but not in an arising doubt. “I will leave a +token for Tiao to wear as a jest,” was the image that had sprung from his +new abasement, and taking a sheet of parchment he quickly wrote thereon: +“A wave has beat from that distant shore to this, and now sinks in the +unknown depths.” +</p> + +<p> +Again he stepped noiselessly to the couch, drew the curtain and dropped the +paper lightly on the form. As he did so his breath stopped; his fingers +stiffened. Cautiously, on one knee, he listened intently, lightly touched the +face; then recklessly taking a hand he raised the arm and suffered it to fall +again. No power restrained it; no alertness of awakening life came into the +dull face. Wu Chi had already Passed Beyond. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a> CHAPTER VII<br /> +Not Concerned with any Particular Attribute of Those who are Involved</h2> + +<p> +Unendurable was the intermingling of hopes and fears with which Kai Lung sought +the shutter on the next occasion after the avowal of Hwa-mei’s devoted +strategy. While repeatedly assuring himself that it would have been better to +submit to piecemeal slicing without a protesting word rather than that she +should incur so formidable a risk, he was compelled as often to admit that when +once her mind had formed its image no effort on his part would have held her +back. Doubtless Hwa-mei readily grasped the emotion that would possess the one +whose welfare was now her chief concern, for without waiting to gum her hair or +to gild her lips she hastened to the spot beneath the wall at the earliest +moment that Kai Lung could be there. +</p> + +<p> +“Seven marble tombstones are lifted from off my chest!” exclaimed +the story-teller when he could greet her. “How did your subterfuge +proceed, and with what satisfaction was the history of Weng Cho +received?” +</p> + +<p> +“That,” replied Hwa-mei modestly, “will provide the matter +for an autumn tale, when seated around a pine-cone fire. In the meanwhile this +protracted ordeal takes an ambiguous bend.” +</p> + +<p> +“To what further end does the malignity of the ill-made Ming-shu now +shape itself? Should it entail a second peril to your head—” +</p> + +<p> +“The one whom you so justly name fades for a moment out of our concern. +Burdened with a secret mission he journeys to Hing-poo, nor does the Mandarin +Shan Tien hold another court until the day of his return.” +</p> + +<p> +“That gives a breathing space of time to our ambitions?” +</p> + +<p> +“So much is assured. Yet even in that a subtle danger lurks. Certain +contingencies have become involved in the recital of your admittedly ingenious +stories which the future unfolding of events may not always justify. For +instance, the very speculative Shan Tien, casting his usual moderate limit to +the skies, has accepted the Luminous Insect as a beckoning omen, and immersed +himself deeply in the chances of every candidate bearing the name of Lao, Ting, +Li, Tzu, Sung, Chu, Wang or Chin. Should all these fail incapably at the trials +a very undignified period in the Mandarin’s general manner of expressing +himself may intervene.” +</p> + +<p> +“Had the time at the disposal of this person been sufficiently enlarged +he would not have omitted the various maxims arising from the tale,” +admitted Kai Lung, with a shadow of remorse. “That suited to the need of +a credulous and ill-balanced mind would doubtless be the proverb: ‘He who +believes in gambling will live to sell his sandals.’ It is regrettable if +the well-intending Mandarin took the wrong one. Fortunately another moon will +fade before the results are known—” +</p> + +<p> +“In the meantime,” continued the maiden, indicating by a glance +that what she had to relate was more essential to the requirements of the +moment than anything he was saying: “Shan Tien is by no means indisposed +towards your cause. Your unassuming attitude and deep research have enlarged +your wisdom in his eyes. To-morrow he will send for you to lean upon your +well-stored mind.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is the emergency one for which any special preparation is +required?” questioned Kai Lung. +</p> + +<p> +“That is the message of my warning. Of late a company of grateful friends +has given the Mandarin an inlaid coffin to mark the sense of their +indebtedness, the critical nature of the times rendering the gift peculiarly +appropriate. Thus provided, Shan Tien has cast his eyes around to secure a +burial robe worthy of the casket. The merchants proffer many, each endowed with +all the qualities, but meanwhile doubts arise, and now Shan Tien would turn to +you to learn what is the true and ancient essential of the garment, and wherein +its virtue should reside.” +</p> + +<p> +“The call will not find me inept,” replied Kai Lung. “The +story of Wang Ho—” +</p> + +<p> +“It is enough,” exclaimed the maiden warningly. “The time for +wandering together in the garden of the imagination has not yet arrived. +Ming-shu’s feet are on a journey, it is true, but his eyes are doubtless +left behind. Until a like hour to-morrow gladdens our expectant gaze, +farewell!” +</p> + +<p> +On the following day, at about the stroke of the usual court, Li-loe approached +Kai Lung with a grievous look. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, manlet,” he exclaimed, “here is one direct from the +presence of our high commander, requiring you against his thumb-signed bond. Go +you must, and that alone, whether it be for elevation on a tree or on a couch. +Out of an insatiable friendship this one would accompany you, were it possible, +equally to hold your hand if you are to die or hold your cup if you are to +feast. Yet touching that same cask of hidden wine there is still +time—” +</p> + +<p> +“Cease, mooncalf,” replied Kai Lung reprovingly. “This is but +an eddy on the surface of a moving stream. It comes, it goes; and the waters +press on as before.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Kai Lung, neither bound nor wearing the wooden block, was led into the +presence of Shan Tien, and allowed to seat himself upon the floor as though he +plied his daily trade. +</p> + +<p> +“Sooner or later it will certainly devolve upon this person to condemn +you to a violent end,” remarked the far-seeing Mandarin reassuringly. +“In the ensuing interval, however, there is no need for either of us to +dwell upon what must be regarded as an unpleasant necessity.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet no crime has been committed, beneficence,” Kai Lung ventured +to protest; “nor in his attitude before your virtuous self has this one +been guilty of any act of disrespect.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have shown your mind to be both wide and deep, and suitably +lined,” declared Shan Tien, dexterously avoiding the weightier part of +the story-teller’s plea. “A question now arises as to the efficacy +of embroidered coffin cloths, and wherein their potent merit lies. Out of your +well-stored memory declare your knowledge of this sort, conveying the solid +information in your usual palatable way.” +</p> + +<p> +“I bow, High Excellence,” replied Kai Lung. “This concerns +the story of Wang Ho.” +</p> + +<h3>The Story of Wang Ho and the Burial Robe</h3> + +<p> +There was a time when it did not occur to anyone in this pure and enlightened +Empire to question the settled and existing order of affairs. It would have +been well for the merchant Wang Ho had he lived in that happy era. But, indeed, +it is now no unheard-of thing for an ordinary person to suggest that customs +which have been established for centuries might with advantage be +changed—a form of impiety which is in no degree removed from declaring +oneself to be wiser or more profound than one’s ancestors! Scarcely more +seemly is this than irregularity in maintaining the Tablets or observing the +Rites; and how narrow is the space dividing these delinquencies from the actual +crimes of overturning images, counselling rebellion, joining in insurrection +and resorting to indiscriminate piracy and bloodshed. +</p> + +<p> +Certainly the merchant Wang Ho would be a thousand taels wealthier to-day if he +had fully considered this in advance. Nor would Cheng Lin—but who +attempts to eat an orange without first disposing of the peel, or what manner +of a dwelling could be erected unless an adequate foundation be first provided? +</p> + +<p> +Wang Ho, then, let it be stated, was one who had early in life amassed a +considerable fortune by advising those whose intention it was to hazard their +earnings in the State Lotteries as to the numbers that might be relied upon to +be successful, or, if not actually successful, those at least that were not +already predestined by malign influences to be absolutely incapable of success. +These chances Wang Ho at first forecast by means of dreams, portents and other +manifestations of an admittedly supernatural tendency, but as his name grew +large and the number of his clients increased vastly, while his capacity for +dreaming remained the same, he found it no less effective to close his eyes and +to become inspired rapidly of numbers as they were thus revealed to him. +</p> + +<p> +Occasionally Wang Ho was the recipient of an appropriate bag of money from one +who had profited by his advice, but it was not his custom to rely upon this +contingency as a source of income, nor did he in any eventuality return the +amount which had been agreed upon (and invariably deposited with him in +advance) as the reward of his inspired efforts. To those who sought him in a +contentious spirit, inquiring why he did not find it more profitable to secure +the prizes for himself, Wang Ho replied that his enterprise consisted in +forecasting the winning numbers for State Lotteries and not in solving enigmas, +writing deprecatory odes, composing epitaphs or conducting any of the other +numerous occupations that could be mentioned. As this plausible evasion was +accompanied by the courteous display of the many weapons which he always wore +at different convenient points of his attire, the incident invariably ended in +a manner satisfactory to Wang Ho. +</p> + +<p> +Thus positioned Wang Ho prospered, and had in the course of years acquired a +waist of honourable proportions, when the unrolling course of events influenced +him to abandon his lucrative enterprise. It was not that he failed in any way +to become as inspired as before; indeed, with increasing practice he attained a +fluency that enabled him to outdistance every rival, so that on the occasion of +one lottery he afterwards privately discovered that he had predicted the +success of every possible combination of numbers, thus enabling those who +followed his advice (as he did not fail to announce in inscriptions of +vermilion assurance) to secure—among them—every variety of prize +offered. +</p> + +<p> +But, about this time, the chief wife of Wang Ho having been greeted with +amiable condescension by the chief wife of a high official of the Province, and +therefrom in an almost equal manner by the wives of even higher officials, the +one in question began to abandon herself to a more rapidly outlined manner of +existence than formerly, and to involve Wang Ho in a like attitude, so that +presently this ill-considering merchant, who but a short time before would have +unhesitatingly cast himself bodily to earth on the approach of a city +magistrate, now acquired the habit of alluding to mandarins in casual +conversation by names of affectionate abbreviation. Also, being advised of the +expediency by a voice speaking in an undertone, he sought still further to +extend beyond himself by suffering his nails to grow long and obliterating his +name from the public announcements upon the city walls. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of this ambitious sacrifice Wang Ho could not entirely shed from his +habit a propensity to associate with those requiring advice on matters +involving financial transactions. He could no longer conduct enterprises which +entailed many clients and the lavish display of his name, but in the society of +necessitous persons who were related to others of distinction he allowed it to +be inferred that he was benevolently disposed and had a greater sufficiency of +taels than he could otherwise make use of. He also involved himself, for the +benefit of those whom he esteemed, in transactions connected with pieces of +priceless jade, jars of wine of an especially fragrant character, and pictures +of reputable antiquity. In the written manner of these transactions (for it is +useless to conceal the fact that Wang Ho was incapable of tracing the +characters of his own name) he employed a youth whom he never suffered to +appear from beyond the background. Cheng Lin is thus brought naturally and +unobtrusively into the narrative. +</p> + +<p> +Had Cheng Lin come into the world when a favourably disposed band of demons was +in the ascendant he would certainly have merited an earlier and more +embellished appearance in this written chronicle. So far, however, nothing but +omens of an ill-destined obscurity had beset his career. For many years two +ambitions alone had contained his mind, both inextricably merged into one +current and neither with any appearance of ever flowing into its desired end. +The first was to pass the examination of the fourth degree of proficiency in +the great literary competitions, and thereby qualify for a small official post +where, in the course of a few years, he might reasonably hope to be forgotten +in all beyond the detail of being allotted every third moon an unostentatious +adequacy of taels. This distinction Cheng Lin felt to be well within his power +of attainment could he but set aside three uninterrupted years for study, but +to do this would necessitate the possession of something like a thousand taels +of silver, and Lin might as well fix his eyes upon the great sky-lantern +itself. +</p> + +<p> +Dependent on this, but in no great degree removed from it, was the hope of +being able to entwine into that future the actuality of Hsi Mean, a very +desirable maiden whom it was Cheng Lin’s practice to meet by chance on +the river bank when his heavily-weighted duties for the day were over. +</p> + +<p> +To those who will naturally ask why Cheng Lin, if really sincere in his +determination, could not imperceptibly acquire even so large a sum as a +thousand taels while in the house of the wealthy Wang Ho, immersed as the +latter person was with the pursuit of the full face of high mandarins and +further embarrassed by a profuse illiteracy, it should be sufficient to apply +the warning: “Beware of helping yourself to corn from the manger of the +blind mule.” +</p> + +<p> +In spite of his preoccupation Wang Ho never suffered his mind to wander when +sums of money were concerned, and his inability to express himself by written +signs only engendered in his alert brain an ever-present decision not to be +entrapped by their use. Frequently, Cheng Lin found small sums of money lying +in such a position as to induce the belief that they had been forgotten, but +upon examining them closely he invariably found upon them marks by which they +could be recognized if the necessity arose; he therefore had no hesitation in +returning them to Wang Ho with a seemly reference to the extreme improbability +of the merchant actually leaving money thus unguarded, and to the lack of +respect which it showed to Cheng Lin himself to expect that a person of his +integrity should be tempted by so insignificant an amount. Wang Ho always +admitted the justice of the reproach, but he did not on any future occasion +materially increase the sum in question, so that it is to be doubted if his +heart was sincere. +</p> + +<p> +It was on the evening of such an incident that Lin walked with Mean by the side +of the lotus-burdened Hoang-keng expressing himself to the effect that instead +of lilies her hair was worthy to be bound up with pearls of a like size, and +that beneath her feet there should be spread a carpet not of verdure, but of +the finest Chang-hi silk, embroidered with five-clawed dragons and other +emblems of royal authority, nor was Mean in any way displeased by this +indication of extravagant taste on her lover’s part, though she replied: +</p> + +<p> +“The only jewels that this person desires are the enduring glances of +pure affection with which you, O my phoenix one, entwined the lilies about her +hair, and the only carpet that she would crave would be the embroidered design +created by the four feet of the two persons who are now conversing together for +ever henceforth walking in uninterrupted harmony.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet, alas!” exclaimed Lin, “that enchanting possibility +seems to be more remotely positioned than ever. Again has the clay-souled Wang +Ho, on the pretext that he can no longer make his in and out taels meet, sought +to diminish the monthly inadequacy of cash with which he rewards this +person’s conscientious services.” +</p> + +<p> +“Undoubtedly that opaque-eyed merchant will shortly meet a revengeful +fire-breathing vampire when walking alone on the edge of a narrow +precipice,” exclaimed Mean sympathetically. “Yet have you +pressingly laid the facts before the spirits of your distinguished ancestors +with a request for their direct intervention?” +</p> + +<p> +“The expedient has not been neglected,” replied Lin, “and +appropriate sacrifices have accompanied the request. But even while in the form +of an ordinary existence the venerable ones in question were becoming distant +in their powers of hearing, and doubtless with increasing years the ineptitude +has grown. It would almost seem that in the case of a person so obtuse as Wang +Ho is, more direct means would have to be employed.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well said,” assented Mean, “that those who are unmoved +by the threat of a vat of flaming sulphur in the Beyond, rend the air if they +chance to step on a burning cinder here on earth.” +</p> + +<p> +“The suggestion is a timely one,” replied Lin. “Wang +Ho’s weak spot lies between his hat and his sandals. Only of late, +feeling the natural infirmities of time pressing about him, he has expended a +thousand taels in the purchase of an elaborate burial robe, which he wears on +every fit occasion, so that the necessity for its ultimate use may continue to +be remote.” +</p> + +<p> +“A thousand taels!” repeated Mean. “With that sum you +could—” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly. The coincidence may embody something in the nature of an omen +favourable to ourselves. At the moment, however, this person has not any +clear-cut perception of how the benefit may be attained.” +</p> + +<p> +“The amount referred to has already passed into the hands of the merchant +in burial robes?” +</p> + +<p> +“Irrevocably. In the detail of the transference of actual sums of money +Wang Ho walks hand in hand with himself from door to door. The pieces of silver +are by this time beneath the floor of Shen Heng’s inner chamber.” +</p> + +<p> +“Shen Heng?” +</p> + +<p> +“The merchant in silk and costly fabrics, who lives beneath the sign of +the Golden Abacus. It was from him—” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly. It is for him that this person’s sister Min works the +finest embroideries. Doubtless this very robe—” +</p> + +<p> +“It is of blue silk edged with sand pearls in a line of three depths. +Felicitations on long life and a list of the most venerable persons of all +times serve to remind the controlling deities to what length human endurance +can proceed if suitably encouraged. These are designed in letters of threaded +gold. Inferior spirits are equally invoked in characters of silver.” +</p> + +<p> +“The description is sharp-pointed. It is upon this robe that the one +referred to has been ceaselessly engaged for several moons. On account of her +narrow span of years, no less than her nimble-jointed dexterity, she is justly +esteemed among those whose wares are guaranteed to be permeated with the spirit +of rejuvenation.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thereby enabling the enterprising Shen Heng to impose a special detail +into his account: ‘For employing the services of one who will embroider +into the fabric of the robe the vital principles of youth and +long-life-to-come—an added fifty taels.’ Did she of your house +benefit to a proportionate extent?” +</p> + +<p> +Mean indicated a contrary state of things by a graceful movement of her +well-arranged eyebrows. +</p> + +<p> +“Not only that,” she added, “but the sordid-minded Shen Heng, +on a variety of pretexts, has diminished the sum Min was to receive at the +completion of the work, until that which should have required a full hand to +grasp could be efficiently covered by two attenuated fingers. From this cause +Min is vindictively inclined towards him and, steadfastly refusing to bend her +feet in the direction of his workshop, she has, between one melancholy and +another, involved herself in a dark distemper.” +</p> + +<p> +As Mean unfolded the position lying between her sister Min and the merchant +Shen Heng, Lin grew thoughtful, and, although it was not his nature to express +the changing degrees of emotion by varying the appearance of his face, he did +not conceal from Mean that her words had fastened themselves upon his +imagination. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us rest here a while,” he suggested presently. “That +which you say, added to what I already know, may, under the guidance of a +sincere mind, put a much more rainbow-like outlook on our combined future than +hitherto appeared probable.” +</p> + +<p> +So they composed themselves about the bank of the river, while Lin questioned +her more closely as to those things of which she had spoken. Finally, he laid +certain injunctions upon her for her immediate guidance. Then, it being now the +hour of middle light, they returned, Mean accompanying her voice to the melody +of stringed wood, as she related songs of those who have passed through great +endurances to a state of assured contentment. To Lin it seemed as though the +city leapt forward to meet them, so narrow was the space of time involved in +reaching it. +</p> + +<p> +A few days later Wang Ho was engaged in the congenial occupation of marking a +few pieces of brass cash before secreting them where Cheng Lin must inevitably +displace them, when the person in question quietly stood before him. Thereupon +Wang Ho returned the money to his inner sleeve, ineptly remarking that when the +sun rose it was futile to raise a lantern to the sky to guide the stars. +</p> + +<p> +“Rather is it said, ‘From three things cross the road to avoid: a +falling tree, your chief and second wives whispering in agreement, and a goat +wearing a leopard’s tail,’” replied Lin, thus rebuking Wang +Ho, not only for his crafty intention, but also as to the obtuseness of the +proverb he had quoted. “Nevertheless, O Wang Ho, I approach you on a +matter of weighty consequence.” +</p> + +<p> +“To-morrow approaches,” replied the merchant evasively. “If +it concerns the detail of the reduction of your monthly adequacy, my word has +become unbending iron.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is written: ‘Cho Sing collected feathers to make a garment for +his canary when it began to moult,’” replied Lin acquiescently. +“The care of so insignificant a person as myself may safely be left to +the Protecting Forces, esteemed. This matter touches your own condition.” +</p> + +<p> +“In that case you cannot be too specific.” Wang Ho lowered himself +into a reclining couch, thereby indicating that the subject was not one for +hasty dismissal, at the same time motioning to Lin that he should sit upon the +floor. “Doubtless you have some remunerative form of enterprise to +suggest to me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Can a palsied finger grasp a proffered coin? The matter strikes more +deeply at your very existence, honoured chief.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” exclaimed Wang Ho, unable to retain the usual colour of his +appearance, “the attention of a devoted servant is somewhat like Tohen-hi +Yang’s spiked throne—it torments those whom it supports. However, +the word has been spoken—let the sentence be filled in.” +</p> + +<p> +“The full roundness of your illustrious outline is as a display of +coloured lights to gladden my commonplace vision,” replied Lin +submissively. “Admittedly of late, however, an element of dampness has +interfered with the brilliance of the display.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak clearly and regardless of polite evasion,” commanded Wang +Ho. “My internal organs have for some time suspected that hostile +influences were at work. For how long have you noticed this, as it may be +expressed, falling off?” +</p> + +<p> +“My mind is as refined crystal before your compelling glance,” +admitted Lin. “Ever since it has been your custom to wear the funeral +robe fashioned by Shen Heng has your noble shadow suffered erosion.” +</p> + +<p> +This answer, converging as it did upon the doubts that had already assailed the +merchant’s satisfaction, convinced him of Cheng Lin’s +discrimination, while it increased his own suspicion. He had for some little +time found that after wearing the robe he invariably suffered pangs that could +only be attributed to the influence of malign and obscure Beings. It is true +that the occasions of his wearing the robe were elaborate and many-coursed +feasts, when he and his guests had partaken lavishly of birds’ nests, +sharks’ fins, sea snails and other viands of a rich and glutinous nature. +But if he could not both wear the funeral robe and partake unstintingly of +well-spiced food, the harmonious relation of things was imperilled; and, as it +was since the introduction of the funeral robe into his habit that matters had +assumed a more poignant phase, it was clear that the influence of the funeral +robe was at the root of the trouble. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” protested Wang Ho, “the Mandarin Ling-ni boasts that +he has already lengthened the span of his natural life several years by such an +expedient, and my friend the high official T’cheng asserts that, while +wearing a much less expensive robe than mine, he feels the essence of an +increased vitality passing continuously into his being. Why, then, am I marked +out for this infliction, Cheng Lin?” +</p> + +<p> +“Revered,” replied Lin, with engaging candour, “the +inconveniences of living in a country so densely populated with demons, +vampires, spirits, ghouls, dragons, omens, forces and influences, both good and +bad, as our own unapproachably favoured Empire is, cannot be evaded from one +end of life to the other. How much greater is the difficulty when the +prescribed forms for baffling the ill-disposed among the unseen appear to have +been wrongly angled by those framing the Rites!” +</p> + +<p> +Wang Ho made a gesture of despair. It conveyed to Lin’s mind the wise +reminder of N’sy-hing: “When one is inquiring for a way to escape +from an advancing tiger, flowers of speech assume the form of noisome +bird-weed.” He therefore continued: +</p> + +<p> +“Hitherto it has been assumed that for a funeral robe to exercise its +most beneficial force it should be the work of a maiden of immature years, the +assumption being that, having a prolonged period of existence before her, the +influence of longevity would pass through her fingers into the garment and in +turn fortify the wearer.” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly,” agreed Wang Ho anxiously. “Thus was the analogy +outlined to me by one skilled in the devices, and the logic of it seems +unassailable.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” objected Lin, with sympathetic concern in his voice, +“how unfortunate must be the position of a person involved in a robe that +has been embroidered by one who, instead of a long life, has been marked out by +the Destinies for premature decay and an untimely death! For in that case the +influence—” +</p> + +<p> +“Such instances,” interrupted Wang Ho, helping himself profusely to +rice-spirit from a jar near at hand, “must providentially be of rare +occurrence?” +</p> + +<p> +“Esteemed head,” replied Lin, helping Wang Ho to yet another +superfluity of rice-spirit, “there are moments when it behoves each of us +to maintain an unflaccid outline. Suspecting the true cause of your declining +radiance, I have, at an involved expenditure of seven taels and three hand +counts of brash cash, pursued this matter to its ultimate source. The robe in +question owes its attainment to one Min, of the obscure house of Hsi, who +recently ceased to have an existence while her years yet numbered short of a +score. Not only was it the last work upon which she was engaged, but so closely +were the two identified that her abrupt Passing Beyond must certainly exercise +a corresponding effect upon any subsequent wearer.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” exclaimed Wang Ho, feeling many of the symptoms of +contagion already manifesting themselves about his body. “Was the +infliction of a painless nature?” +</p> + +<p> +“As to whether it was leprosy, the spotted plague, or acute demoniacal +possession, the degraded Shen Heng maintains an unworthy silence. Indeed, at +the mention of Hsi Min’s name he wraps his garment about his head and +rolls upon the floor—from which the worst may be inferred. They of +Min’s house, however, are less capable of guile, and for an adequate +consideration, while not denying that Shen Heng has paid them to maintain a +stealthy silence, they freely admit that the facts are as they have been +stated.” +</p> + +<p> +“In that case, Shen Heng shall certainly return the thousand taels in +exchange for this discreditable burial robe,” exclaimed Wang Ho +vindictively. +</p> + +<p> +“Venerated personality,” said Lin, with unabated loyalty, +“the essential part of the development is to safeguard your own +incomparable being against every danger. Shen Heng may be safely left to the +avenging demons that are ever lying in wait for the contemptible.” +</p> + +<p> +“The first part of your remark is inspired,” agreed Wang Ho, his +incapable mind already beginning to assume a less funereal forecast. +“Proceed, regardless of all obstacles.” +</p> + +<p> +“Consider the outcome of publicly compelling Shen Heng to undo the +transaction, even if it could be legally achieved! Word of the calamity would +pass on heated breath, each succeeding one becoming more heavily embroidered +than the robe itself. The yamens and palaces of your distinguished friends +would echo with the once honoured name of Wang Ho, now associated with every +form of malignant distemper and impending fate. All would hasten to withdraw +themselves from the contagion of your overhanging end.” +</p> + +<p> +“Am I, then,” demanded Wang Ho, “to suffer the loss of a +thousand taels and retain an inadequate and detestable burial robe that will +continue to exercise its malign influence over my being?” +</p> + +<p> +“By no means,” replied Lin confidently. “But be warned by the +precept: ‘Do not burn down your house in order to inconvenience even your +chief wife’s mother.’ Sooner or later a relation of Shen +Heng’s will turn his steps towards your inner office. You can then, +without undue effort, impose on him the thousand taels that you have suffered +loss from those of his house. In the meantime a device must be sought for +exchanging your dangerous but imposing-looking robe for one of proved +efficiency.” +</p> + +<p> +“It begins to assume a definite problem in this person’s mind as to +whether such a burial robe exists,” declared Wang Ho stubbornly. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet it cannot be denied, when a reliable system is adopted in the +fabrication,” protested Lin. “For a score and five years the one to +whom this person owes his being has worn such a robe.” +</p> + +<p> +“To what age did your venerated father attain?” inquired the +merchant, with courteous interest. +</p> + +<p> +“Fourscore years and three parts of yet another score.” +</p> + +<p> +“And the robe in question eventually accompanied him when he Passed +Beyond?” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless it will. He is still wearing it,” replied Lin, as one +who speaks of casual occurrences. +</p> + +<p> +“Is he, then, at so advanced an age, in the state of an ordinary +existence?” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly. Fortified by the virtue emanating from the garment referred +to, it is his deliberate intention to continue here for yet another score of +years at least.” +</p> + +<p> +“But if such robes are of so dubious a nature how can reliance be placed +on any one?” +</p> + +<p> +“Esteemed,” replied Lin, “it is a matter that has long been +suspected among the observant. Unfortunately, the Ruby Buttons of the past +mistakenly formulated that the essence of continuous existence was imparted to +a burial robe through the hands of a young maiden—hence so many +deplorable experiences. The proper person to be so employed is undoubtedly one +of ripe attainment, for only thereby can the claim to possess the vital +principle be assured.” +</p> + +<p> +“Was the robe which has so effectively sustained your meritorious father +thus constructed?” inquired Wang Ho, inviting Lin to recline himself upon +a couch by a gesture as of one who discovers for the first time that an +honoured guest has been overlooked. +</p> + +<p> +“It is of ancient make, and thereby in the undiscriminating eye perhaps +somewhat threadbare; but to the desert-traveller all wells are +sparkling,” replied Lin. “A venerable woman, inspired of certain +magic wisdom, which she wove into the texture, to the exclusion of the showier +qualities, designed it at the age of threescore years and three short of +another score. She was engaged upon its fabrication yet another seven, and +finally Passed Upwards at an attainment of three hundred and thirty-three +years, three moons, and three days, thus conforming to all the principles of +allowed witchcraft.” +</p> + +<p> +“Cheng Lin,” said Wang Ho amiably, pouring out for the one whom he +addressed a full measure of rice-spirit, “the duty that an obedient son +owes even to a grasping and self-indulgent father has in the past been pressed +to a too-conspicuous front, at the expense of the harmonious relation that +should exist between a comfortably-positioned servant and a generous and +broad-minded master. Now in the matter of these two coffin cloths—” +</p> + +<p> +“My ears are widely opened towards your auspicious words, +benevolence,” replied Lin. +</p> + +<p> +“You, Cheng Lin, are still too young to be concerned with the question of +Passing Beyond; your imperishable father is, one is compelled to say, already +old enough to go. As regards both persons, therefore, the assumed virtue of one +burial robe above another should be merely a matter of speculative interest. +Now if some arrangement should be suggested, not unprofitable to yourself, by +which one robe might be imperceptibly substituted for another—and, after +all, one burial robe is very like another—” +</p> + +<p> +“The prospect of deceiving a trustful and venerated sire is so ignoble +that scarcely any material gain would be a fitting compensation—were it +not for the fact that an impending loss of vision renders the deception +somewhat easy to accomplish. Proceed, therefore, munificence, towards a precise +statement of your open-handed prodigality.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Indescribable was the bitterness of Shen Heng’s throat when Cheng Lin +unfolded his burden and revealed the Wang Ho thousand-tael burial robe, with an +unassuming request for the return of the purchase money, either in gold or +honourable paper, as the article was found unsuitable. Shen Heng shook the +rafters of the Golden Abacus with indignation, and called upon his domestic +demons, the spirits of eleven generations of embroidering ancestors, and the +illuminated tablets containing the High Code and Authority of the Distinguished +Brotherhood of Coffin Cloth and Burial Robe Makers in protest against so +barbarous an innovation. +</p> + +<p> +Bowing repeatedly and modestly expressing himself to the effect that it was +incredible that he was not justly struck dead before the sublime spectacle of +Shen Heng’s virtuous indignation, Cheng Lin carefully produced the +written lines of the agreement, gently directing the Distinguished +Brother’s fire-kindling eyes to an indicated detail. It was a provision +that the robe should be returned and the purchase money restored if the garment +was not all that was therein stipulated: with his invariable painstaking +loyalty Lin had insisted upon this safeguard when he drew up the form, +although, probably from a disinclination to extol his own services, he had +omitted mentioning the fact to Wang Ho in their recent conversation. +</p> + +<p> +With deprecating firmness Lin directed Shen Heng’s reluctant eyes to +another line—the unfortunate exaction of fifty taels in return for the +guarantee that the robe should be permeated with the spirit of rejuvenation. As +the undoubted embroiderer of the robe—one Min of the family of +Hsi—had admittedly Passed Beyond almost with the last stitch, it was +evident that she could only have conveyed by her touch an entirely contrary +emanation. If, as Shen Heng never ceased to declare, Min was still somewhere +alive, let her be produced and a fitting token of reconciliation would be +forthcoming; otherwise, although with the acutest reluctance, it would be +necessary to carry the claim to the court of the chief District Mandarin, and +(Cheng Lin trembled at the sacrilegious thought) it would be impossible to +conceal the fact that Shen Heng employed persons of inauspicious omen, and the +high repute of coffin cloths from the Golden Abacus would be lost. The hint +arrested Shen Heng’s fingers in the act of tearing out a handful of his +beautiful pigtail. For the first time he noticed, with intense self-reproach, +that Lin was not reclining on a couch. +</p> + +<p> +The amiable discussion that followed, conducted with discriminating dignity by +Shen Heng and conscientious humility on the part of Cheng Lin, extended from +one gong-stroke before noon until close upon the time for the evening rice. The +details arrived at were that Shen Heng should deliver to Lin eight-hundred and +seventy-five taels against the return of the robe. He would also press upon +that person a silk purse with an onyx clasp, containing twenty-five taels, as a +deliberate mark of his individual appreciation and quite apart from anything to +do with the transaction on hand. All suggestions of anything other than the +strictest high-mindedness were withdrawn from both sides. In order that the day +should not be wholly destitute of sunshine at the Golden Abacus, Lin declared +his intention of purchasing, at a price not exceeding three taels and a half, +the oldest and most unattractive burial robe that the stock contained. So moved +was Shen Heng by this delicate consideration that he refused to accept more +than two taels and three-quarters. Moreover, he added for Lin’s +acceptance a small jar of crystallized limpets. +</p> + +<p> +To those short-sighted ones who profess to discover in the conduct of Cheng Lin +(now an official of the seventeenth grade and drawing his quarterly sufficiency +of taels in a distant province) something not absolutely honourably arranged, +it is only necessary to display the ultimate end as it affected those persons +in any way connected. +</p> + +<p> +Wang Ho thus obtained a burial robe in which he was able to repose absolute +confidence. Doubtless it would have sustained him to an advanced age had he not +committed self-ending, in the ordinary way of business, a few years later. +</p> + +<p> +Shen Heng soon disposed of the returned garment for two thousand taels to a +person who had become prematurely wealthy owing to the distressed state of the +Empire. In addition he had sold, for more than two taels, a robe which he had +no real expectation of ever selling at all. +</p> + +<p> +Min, made welcome at the house of Mean and Lin, removed with them to that +distant province. There she found that the remuneration for burial robe +embroidery was greater than she had ever obtained before. With the money thus +amassed she was able to marry an official of noble rank. +</p> + +<p> +The father of Cheng Lin had passed into the Upper Air many years before the +incidents with which this related narrative concerns itself. He is thus in no +way affected. But Lin did not neglect, in the time of his prosperity, to +transmit to him frequent sacrifices of seasonable delicacies suited to his +condition. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a> CHAPTER VIII<br /> +The Timely Disputation among Those of an Inner Chamber of Yu-ping</h2> + +<p> +For the space of three days Ming-shu remained absent from Yu-ping, and the +affections of Kai Lung and Hwa-mei prospered. On the evening of the third day +the maiden stood beneath the shutter with a more definite look, and Kai Lung +understood that a further period of unworthy trial was now at hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Behold!” she explained, “at dawn the corrupt Ming-shu will +pass within our gates again, nor is it prudent to assume that his enmity has +lessened.” +</p> + +<p> +“On the contrary,” replied Kai Lung, “like that unnatural +reptile that lives on air, his malice will have grown upon the voidness of its +cause. As the wise Ling-kwang remarks: ‘He who plants a vineyard with one +hand—‘” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly, beloved,” interposed Hwa-mei dexterously. “But +our immediate need is less to describe Ming-shu’s hate in terms of +classical analogy than to find a potent means of baffling its venom.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are all-wise as usual,” confessed Kai Lung, with due humility. +“I will restrain my much too verbose tongue.” +</p> + +<p> +“The invading Banners from the north have for the moment failed and those +who drew swords in their cause are flying to the hills. In Yu-ping, therefore, +loyalty wears a fully round face and about the yamen of Shan Tien men speak +almost in set terms. While these conditions prevail, justice will continue to +be administered precisely as before. We have thus nothing to hope in that +direction.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet in the ideal state of purity aimed at by the illustrious founders of +our race—” began Kai Lung, and ceased abruptly, remembering. +</p> + +<p> +“As it is, we are in the state of Tsin in the fourteenth of the +heaven-sent Ching,” retorted Hwa-mei capably. “The insatiable +Ming-shu will continue to seek your life, calling to his aid every degraded +subterfuge. When the nature of these can be learned somewhat in advance, as the +means within my power have hitherto enabled us to do, a trusty shield is raised +in your defence.” +</p> + +<p> +Kai Lung would have spoken of the length and the breadth of his indebtedness, +but she who stood below did not encourage this. +</p> + +<p> +“Ming-shu’s absence makes this plan fruitless here to-day, and as a +consequence he may suddenly disclose a subtle snare to which your feet must +bend. In this emergency my strategy has been towards safeguarding your +irreplaceable life to-morrow at all hazard. Should this avail, Ming-shu’s +later schemes will present no baffling veil.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your virtuous little finger is as strong as Ming-shu’s offensive +thumb,” remarked Kai Lung. “This person has no fear.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” acquiesced Hwa-mei. “But she who has spun the +thread knows the weakness of the net. Heed well to the end that no ineptness +may arise. Shan Tien of late extols your art, claiming that in every +circumstance you have a story fitted to the need.” +</p> + +<p> +“He measures with a golden rule,” agreed Kai Lung. “Left to +himself, Shan Tien is a just, if superficial, judge.” +</p> + +<p> +The knowledge of this boast, Hwa-mei continued to relate, had spread to the +inner chambers of the yamen, where the lesser ones vied with each other in +proclaiming the merit of the captive minstrel. Amid this eulogy Hwa-mei moved +craftily and played an insidious part, until she who was their appointed head +was committed to the claim. Then the maiden raised a contentious voice. +</p> + +<p> +“Our lord’s trout were ever salmon,” she declared, “and +lo! here is another great and weighty fish! Assuredly no living man is thus and +thus; or are the T’ang epicists returned to earth? Truly our noble one is +easily pleased—in many ways!” With these well-fitted words she +fixed her eyes upon the countenance of Shan Tien’s chief wife and waited. +</p> + +<p> +“The sun shines through his words and the moon adorns his +utterances,” replied the chief wife, with unswerving loyalty, though she +added, no less suitably: “That one should please him easily and another +therein fail, despite her ceaseless efforts, is as the Destinies +provide.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are all-seeing,” admitted Hwa-mei generously; “nor is a +locked door any obstacle to your discovering eye. Let this arisement be +submitted to a facile test. Dependent from my ill-formed ears are rings of +priceless jade that have ever tinged your thoughts, while about your shapely +neck is a crystal charm, to which an unclouded background would doubtless give +some lustre. I will set aside the rings and thou shalt set aside the charm. +Then, at a chosen time, this vaunted one shall attend before us here, and I +having disclosed the substance of a theme, he shall make good the claim. If he +so does, capably and without delay, thou shalt possess the jewels. But if, in +the judgment of these around, he shall fail therein, then are both jewels mine. +Is it so agreed?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is agreed!” cried those who were the least concerned, seeing +some entertainment to themselves. “Shall the trial take place at +once?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so,” replied Hwa-mei. “A sufficient space must be +allowed for this one wherein to select the matter of the test. To-morrow let it +be, before the hour of evening rice. And thou?” +</p> + +<p> +“Inasmuch as it will enlarge the prescience of our lord in minds that are +light and vaporous, I also do consent,” replied the chief wife. +“Yet must he too be of our company, to be witness of the upholding of his +word and, if need be, to cast a decisive voice.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thus,” continued Hwa-mei, as she narrated these events, +“Shan Tien is committed to the trial and thereby he must preserve you +until that hour. Tell me now the answer to the test, that I may frame the +question to agree.” +</p> + +<p> +Kai Lung thought a while, then said: +</p> + +<p> +“There is the story of Chang Tao. It concerns one who, bidden to do an +impossible task, succeeded though he failed, and shows how two identically +similar beings may be essentially diverse. To this should be subjoined the +apophthegm that that which we are eager to obtain may be that which we have +striven to avoid.” +</p> + +<p> +“It suffices,” agreed Hwa-mei. “Bear well your part.” +</p> + +<p> +“Still,” suggested Kai Lung, hoping to detain her retiring +footsteps for yet another span, “were it not better that I should fall +short at the test, thus to enlarge your word before your fellows?” +</p> + +<p> +“And in so doing demean yourself, darken the face of Shan Tien’s +present regard, and alienate all those who stand around! O most obtuse Kai +Lung!” +</p> + +<p> +“I will then bare my throat,” confessed Kai Lung. “The barbed +thought had assailed my mind that perchance the rings of precious jade lay +coiled around your heart. Thus and thus I spoke.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thus also will I speak,” replied Hwa-mei, and her uplifted eyes +held Kai Lung by the inner fibre of his being. “Did I value them as I do, +and were they a single hair of my superfluous head, the whole head were freely +offered to a like result.” +</p> + +<p> +With these noticeable words, which plainly testified the strength of her +emotion, the maiden turned and hastened on her way, leaving Kai Lung gazing +from the shutter in a very complicated state of disquietude. +</p> + +<h3>The Story of Chang Tao, Melodious Vision and the Dragon</h3> + +<p> +After Chang Tao had reached the age of manhood his grandfather took him apart +one day and spoke of a certain matter, speaking as a philosopher whose mind has +at length overflowed. +</p> + +<p> +“Behold!” he said, when they were at a discreet distance aside, +“your years are now thus and thus, but there are still empty chairs where +there should be occupied cradles in your inner chamber, and the only upraised +voice heard in this spacious residence is that of your esteemed father +repeating the Analects. The prolific portion of the tree of our illustrious +House consists of its roots; its existence onwards narrows down to a single +branch which as yet has put forth no blossoms.” +</p> + +<p> +“The loftiest tower rises from the ground,” remarked Chang Tao +evasively, not wishing to implicate himself on either side as yet. +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless; and as an obedient son it is commendable that you should +close your ears, but as a discriminating father there is no reason why I should +not open my mouth,” continued the venerable Chang in a voice from which +every sympathetic modulation was withdrawn. “It is admittedly a +meritorious resolve to devote one’s existence to explaining the meaning +of a single obscure passage of one of the Odes, but if the detachment necessary +to the achievement results in a hitherto carefully-preserved line coming to an +incapable end, it would have been more satisfactory to the dependent shades of +our revered ancestors that the one in question should have collected street +garbage rather than literary instances, or turned somersaults in place of the +pages of the Classics, had he but given his first care to providing you with a +wife and thereby safeguarding our unbroken continuity.” +</p> + +<p> +“My father is all-wise,” ventured Chang Tao dutifully, but +observing the nature of the other’s expression he hastened to add +considerately, “but my father’s father is even wiser.” +</p> + +<p> +“Inevitably,” assented the one referred to; “not merely +because he is the more mature by a generation, but also in that he is thereby +nearer to the inspired ancients in whom the Cardinal Principles reside.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet, assuredly, there must be occasional exceptions to this rule of +progressive deterioration?” suggested Chang Tao, feeling that the process +was not without a definite application to himself. +</p> + +<p> +“Not in our pure and orthodox line,” replied the other person +firmly. “To suggest otherwise is to admit the possibility of a son being +the superior of his own father, and to what a discordant state of things would +that contention lead! However immaturely you may think at present, you will see +the position at its true angle when you have sons of your own.” +</p> + +<p> +“The contingency is not an overhanging one,” said Chang Tao. +“On the last occasion when I reminded my venerated father of my age and +unmarried state, he remarked that, whether he looked backwards or forwards, +extinction seemed to be the kindest destiny to which our House could be +subjected.” +</p> + +<p> +“Originality, carried to the length of eccentricity, is a censurable +accomplishment in one of official rank,” remarked the elder Chang coldly. +“Plainly it is time that I should lengthen the authority of my own arm +very perceptibly. If a father is so neglectful of his duty, it is fitting that +a grandfather should supply his place. This person will himself procure a bride +for you without delay.” +</p> + +<p> +“The function might perhaps seem an unusual one,” suggested Chang +Tao, who secretly feared the outcome of an enterprise conducted under these +auspices. +</p> + +<p> +“So, admittedly, are the circumstances. What suitable maiden suggests +herself to your doubtless better-informed mind? Is there one of the house of +Tung?” +</p> + +<p> +“There are eleven,” replied Chang Tao, with a gesture of despair, +“all reputed to be untiring with their needle, skilled in the frugal +manipulation of cold rice, devout, discreet in the lines of their attire, and +so sombre of feature as to be collectively known to the available manhood of +the city as the Terror that Lurks for the Unwary. Suffer not your +discriminating footsteps to pause before that house, O father of my father! Now +had you spoken of Golden Eyebrows, daughter of Kuo Wang—” +</p> + +<p> +“It would be as well to open a paper umbrella in a thunderstorm as to +seek profit from an alliance with Kuo Wang. Crafty and ambitious, he is already +deep in questionable ventures, and high as he carries his head at present, +there will assuredly come a day when Kuo Wang will appear in public with his +feet held even higher than his crown.” +</p> + +<p> +“The rod!” exclaimed Chang Tao in astonishment. “Can it +really be that one who is so invariably polite to me is not in every way +immaculate?” +</p> + +<p> +“Either bamboo will greet his feet or hemp adorn his neck,” +persisted the other, with a significant movement of his hands in the proximity +of his throat. “Walk backwards in the direction of that house, son of my +son. Is there not one Ning of the worthy line of Lo, dwelling beneath the +emblem of a Sprouting Aloe?” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly,” agreed the youth, “but at an early age she came +under the malign influence of a spectral vampire, and in order to deceive the +creature she was adopted to the navigable portion of the river here, and being +announced as having Passed Above was henceforth regarded as a red +mullet.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet in what detail does that deter you?” inquired Chang, for the +nature of his grandson’s expression betrayed an acute absence of +enthusiasm towards the maiden thus concerned. +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance the vampire was not deceived after all. In any case this +person dislikes red mullet,” replied the youth indifferently. +</p> + +<p> +The venerable shook his head reprovingly. +</p> + +<p> +“It is imprudent to be fanciful in matters of business,” he +remarked. “Lo Chiu, her father, is certainly the possessor of many bars +of silver, and, as it is truly written: ‘With wealth one may command +demons; without it one cannot summon even a slave.’” +</p> + +<p> +“It is also said: ‘When the tree is full the doubtful fruit remains +upon the branch,’” retorted Chang Tao. “Are not maidens in +this city as the sand upon a broad seashore? If one opens and closes +one’s hands suddenly out in the Ways on a dark night, the chances are +that three or four will be grasped. A stone cast at a venture—” +</p> + +<p> +“Peace!” interrupted the elder. “Witless spoke thus even in +the days of this person’s remote youth—only the virtuous did not +then open and close their hands suddenly in the Ways on dark nights. Is aught +reported of the inner affairs of Shen Yi, a rich philosopher who dwells +somewhat remotely on the Stone Path, out beyond the Seven Terraced +Bridge?” +</p> + +<p> +Chang Tao looked up with a sharply awakening interest. +</p> + +<p> +“It is well not to forget that one,” he replied. “He is +spoken of as courteous but reserved, in that he drinks tea with few though his +position is assured. Is not his house that which fronts on a summer-seat domed +with red copper?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is the same,” agreed the other. “Speak on.” +</p> + +<p> +“What I recall is meagre and destitute of point. Nevertheless, it so +chanced that some time ago this person was proceeding along the further Stone +Path when an aged female mendicant, seated by the wayside, besought his +charity. Struck by her destitute appearance he bestowed upon her a few +unserviceable broken cash, such as one retains for the indigent, together with +an appropriate blessing, when the hag changed abruptly into the appearance of a +young and alluring maiden, who smilingly extended to this one her staff, which +had meanwhile become a graceful branch of flowering lotus. The manifestation +was not sustained, however, for as he who is relating the incident would have +received the proffered flower he found that his hand was closing on the neck of +an expectant serpent, which held in its mouth an agate charm. The damsel had +likewise altered, imperceptibly merging into the form of an overhanging +fig-tree, among whose roots the serpent twined itself. When this person would +have eaten one of the ripe fruit of the tree he found that the skin was filled +with a bitter dust, whereupon he withdrew, convinced that no ultimate profit +was likely to result from the encounter. His departure was accompanied by the +sound of laughter, mocking yet more melodious than a carillon of silver gongs +hung in a porcelain tower, which seemed to proceed from the summer-seat domed +with red copper.” +</p> + +<p> +“Some omen doubtless lay within the meeting,” said the elder Chang. +“Had you but revealed the happening fully on your return, capable +geomancers might have been consulted. In this matter you have fallen +short.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is admittedly easier to rule a kingdom than to control one’s +thoughts,” confessed Chang Tao frankly. “A great storm of wind met +this person on his way back, and when he had passed through it, all +recollection of the incident had, for the time, been magically blown from his +mind.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is now too late to question the augurs. But in the face of so +involved a portent it would be well to avert all thought from Melodious Vision, +wealthy Shen Yi’s incredibly attractive daughter.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is unwise to be captious in affairs of negotiation,” remarked +the young man thoughtfully. “Is the smile of the one referred to such +that at the vision of it the internal organs of an ordinary person begin to +clash together, beyond the power of all control?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not in the case of the one who is speaking,” replied the +grandfather of Chang Tao, “but a very illustrious poet, whom Shen Yi +charitably employed about his pig-yard, certainly described it as a ripple on +the surface of a dark lake of wine, when the moon reveals the hidden pearls +beneath; and after secretly observing the unstudied grace of her movements, the +most celebrated picture-maker of the province burned the implements of his +craft, and began life anew as a trainer of performing elephants. But when +maidens are as numerous as the grains of sand—” +</p> + +<p> +“Esteemed,” interposed Chang Tao, with smooth determination, +“wisdom lurks in the saying: ‘He who considers everything decides +nothing.’ Already this person has spent an unprofitable score of years +through having no choice in the matter; at this rate he will spend yet another +score through having too much. Your timely word shall be his beacon. Neither +the disadvantage of Shen Yi’s oppressive wealth nor the inconvenience of +Melodious Vision’s excessive beauty shall deter him from striving to +fulfil your delicately expressed wish.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” objected the elder Chang, by no means gladdened at having +the decision thus abruptly lifted from his mouth, “so far, only a +partially formed project—” +</p> + +<p> +“To a thoroughly dutiful grandson half a word from your benevolent lips +carries further than a full-throated command does from a less revered +authority.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance. This person’s feet, however, are not liable to a +similar acceleration, and a period of adequate consideration must intervene +before they are definitely moving in the direction of Shen Yi’s mansion. +‘Where the road bends abruptly take short steps,’ Chang Tao.” +</p> + +<p> +“The necessity will be lifted from your venerable shoulders, +revered,” replied Chang Tao firmly. “Fortified by your approving +choice, this person will himself confront Shen Yi’s doubtful countenance, +and that same bend in the road will be taken at a very sharp angle and upon a +single foot.” +</p> + +<p> +“In person! It is opposed to the Usages!” exclaimed the venerable; +and at the contemplation of so undignified a course his voice prudently +withdrew itself, though his mouth continued to open and close for a further +period. +</p> + +<p> +“‘As the mountains rise, so the river winds,’” replied +Chang Tao, and with unquenchable deference he added respectfully as he took his +leave, “Fear not, eminence; you will yet remain to see five generations +of stalwart he-children, all pressing forward to worship your imperishable +memory.” +</p> + +<p> +In such a manner Chang Tao set forth to defy the Usages and—if perchance +it might be—to speak to Shen Yi face to face of Melodious Vision. Yet in +this it may be that the youth was not so much hopeful of success by his own +efforts as that he was certain of failure by the elder Chang’s. And in +the latter case the person in question might then irrevocably contract him to a +maiden of the house of Tung, or to another equally forbidding. Not inaptly is +it written: “To escape from fire men will plunge into boiling +water.” +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, along the Stone Path many doubts and disturbances arose within +Chang Tao’s mind. It was not in this manner that men of weight and +dignity sought wives. Even if Shen Yi graciously overlooked the absence of +polite formality, would not the romantic imagination of Melodious Vision be +distressed when she learned that she had been approached with so indelicate an +absence of ceremony? “Here, again,” said Chang Tao’s +self-reproach accusingly, “you have, as usual, gone on in advance of both +your feet and of your head. ‘It is one thing to ignore the Rites: it is +quite another to expect the gods to ignore the Penalties.’ Assuredly you +will suffer for it.” +</p> + +<p> +It was at this point that Chang Tao was approached by one who had noted his +coming from afar, and had awaited him, for passers-by were sparse and remote. +</p> + +<p> +“Prosperity attend your opportune footsteps,” said the stranger +respectfully. “A misbegotten goat-track enticed this person from his +appointed line by the elusive semblance of an avoided li. Is there, within your +enlightened knowledge, the house of one Shen Yi, who makes a feast to-day, +positioned about this inauspicious region? It is further described as fronting +on a summer-seat domed with red copper.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is such a house as you describe, at no great distance to the +west,” replied Chang Tao. “But that he marks the day with music had +not reached these superficial ears.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is but among those of his inner chamber, this being the name-day of +one whom he would honour in a refined and at the same time inexpensive manner. +To that end am I bidden.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of what does your incomparable exhibition consist?” inquired Chang +Tao. +</p> + +<p> +“Of a variety of quite commonplace efforts. It is entitled +‘Half-a-gong-stroke among the No-realities; or Gravity-removing devoid of +Inelegance.’ Thus, borrowing the neck-scarf of the most dignified-looking +among the lesser ones assembled I will at once discover among its folds the +unsuspected presence of a family of tortoises; from all parts of the person of +the roundest-bodied mandarin available I will control the appearance of an +inexhaustible stream of copper cash, and beneath the scrutinizing eyes of all a +bunch of paper chrysanthemums will change into the similitude of a crystal bowl +in whose clear depth a company of gold and silver carp glide from side to +side.” +</p> + +<p> +“These things are well enough for the immature, and the sight of an +unnaturally stout official having an interminable succession of white rabbits +produced from the various recesses of his waistcloth admittedly melts the +austerity of the superficial of both sexes. But can you, beneath the +undeceptive light of day, turn a sere and unattractive hag into the substantial +image of a young and beguiling maiden, and by a further complexity into a +fruitful fig-tree; or induce a serpent so far to forsake its natural instincts +as to poise on the extremity of its tail and hold a charm within its +mouth?” +</p> + +<p> +“None of these things lies within my admitted powers,” confessed +the stranger. “To what end does your gracious inquiry tend?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is in the nature of a warning, for within the shadow of the house you +seek manifestations such as I describe pass almost without remark. Indeed it is +not unlikely that while in the act of displaying your engaging but simple skill +you may find yourself transformed into a chameleon or saddled with the +necessity of finishing your gravity-removing entertainment under the outward +form of a Manchurian ape.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” exclaimed the other. “The eleventh of the moon was +ever this person’s unlucky day, and he would have done well to be warned +by a dream in which he saw an unsuspecting kid walk into the mouth of a +voracious tiger.” +</p> + +<p> +“Undoubtedly the tiger was an allusion to the dangers awaiting you, but +it is not yet too late for you to prove that you are no kid,” counselled +Chang Tao. “Take this piece of silver so that the enterprise of the day +may not have been unfruitful and depart with all speed on a homeward path. He +who speaks is going westward, and at the lattice of Shen Yi he will not fail to +leave a sufficient excuse for your no-appearance.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your voice has the compelling ring of authority, beneficence,” +replied the stranger gratefully. “The obscure name of the one who +prostrates himself is Wo, that of his degraded father being Weh. For this +service he binds his ghost to attend your ghost through three cycles of time in +the After.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is remitted,” said Chang Tao generously, as he resumed his way. +“May the path be flattened before your weary feet.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus, unsought as it were, there was placed within Chang Tao’s grasp a +staff that might haply bear his weight into the very presence of Melodious +Vision herself. The exact strategy of the undertaking did not clearly yet +reveal itself, but “When fully ripe the fruit falls of its own +accord,” and Chang Tao was content to leave such detail to the guiding +spirits of his destinies. As he approached the outer door he sang cheerful +ballads of heroic doings, partly because he was glad, but also to reassure +himself. +</p> + +<p> +“One whom he expects awaits,” he announced to the keeper of the +gate. “The name of Wo, the son of Weh, should suffice.” +</p> + +<p> +“It does not,” replied the keeper, swinging his roomy sleeve +specifically. “So far it has an empty, short-stopping sound. It lacks +sparkle; it has no metallic ring.... He sleeps.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless the sound of these may awaken him,” said Chang Tao, +shaking out a score of cash. +</p> + +<p> +“Pass in munificence. Already his expectant eyes rebuke the unopen +door.” +</p> + +<p> +Although he had been in a measure prepared by Wo, Chang Tao was surprised to +find that three persons alone occupied the chamber to which he was conducted. +Two of these were Shen Yi and a trusted slave; at the sight of the third Chang +Tao’s face grew very red and the deficiencies of his various attributes +began to fill his mind with dark forebodings, for this was Melodious Vision and +no man could look upon her without her splendour engulfing his imagination. No +record of her pearly beauty is preserved beyond a scattered phrase or two; for +the poets and minstrels of the age all burned what they had written, in despair +at the inadequacy of words. Yet it remains that whatever a man looked for, that +he found, and the measure of his requirement was not stinted. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting,” said Shen Yi, with easy-going courtesy. He was a more +meagre man than Chang Tao had expected, his face not subtle, and his manner +restrained rather than oppressive. “You have come on a long and winding +path; have you taken your rice?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing remains lacking,” replied Chang Tao, his eyes again +elsewhere. “Command your slave, Excellence.” +</p> + +<p> +“In what particular direction do your agreeable powers of +leisure-beguiling extend?” +</p> + +<p> +So far Chang Tao had left the full consideration of this inevitable detail to +the inspiration of the moment, but when the moment came the prompting spirits +did not disclose themselves. His hesitation became more elaborate under the +expression of gathering enlightenment that began to appear in Melodious +Vision’s eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“An indifferent store of badly sung ballads,” he was constrained to +reply at length, “and—perchance—a threadbare assortment of +involved questions and replies.” +</p> + +<p> +“Was it your harmonious voice that we were privileged to hear raised +beneath our ill-fitting window a brief space ago?” inquired Shen Yi. +</p> + +<p> +“Admittedly at the sight of this noble palace I was impelled to put my +presumptuous gladness into song.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then let it fain be the other thing,” interposed the maiden, with +decision. “Your gladness came to a sad end, minstrel.” +</p> + +<p> +“Involved questions are by no means void of divertisement,” +remarked Shen Yi, with conciliatory mildness in his voice. “There was +one, turning on the contradictory nature of a door which under favourable +conditions was indistinguishable from an earthenware vessel, that seldom failed +to baffle the unalert in the days before the binding of this person’s +hair.” +</p> + +<p> +“That was the one which it had been my feeble intention to +propound,” confessed Chang Tao. +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless there are many others equally enticing,” suggested Shen +Yi helpfully. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas,” admitted Chang Tao with conscious humiliation; “of +all those wherein I retain an adequate grasp of the solution, the complication +eludes me at the moment, and thus in a like but converse manner with the +others.” +</p> + +<p> +“Esteemed parent,” remarked Melodious Vision, without emotion, +“this is neither a minstrel nor one in any way entertaining. It is merely +Another.” +</p> + +<p> +“Another!” exclaimed Chang Tao in refined bitterness. “Is it +possible that after taking so extreme and unorthodox a course as to ignore the +Usages and advance myself in person I am to find that I have not even the +mediocre originality of being the first, as a recommendation?” +</p> + +<p> +“If the matter is thus and thus, so far from being the first, you are +only the last of a considerable line of worthy and enterprising youths who have +succeeded in gaining access to the inner part of this not really attractive +residence on one pretext or another,” replied the tolerant Shen Yi. +“In any case you are honourably welcome. From the position of your +various features I now judge you to be Tao, only son of the virtuous house of +Chang. May you prove more successful in your enterprise than those who have +preceded you.” +</p> + +<p> +“The adventure appears to be tending in unforeseen directions,” +said Chang Tao uneasily. “Your felicitation, benign, though doubtless +gold at heart, is set in a doubtful frame.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is for your stalwart endeavour to assure a happy picture,” +replied Shen Yi, with undisturbed cordiality. “You bear a sword.” +</p> + +<p> +“What added involvement is this?” demanded Chang Tao. “This +one’s thoughts and intention were not turned towards savagery and arms, +but in the direction of a pacific union of two distinguished lines.” +</p> + +<p> +“In such cases my attitude has invariably been one of sympathetic +unconcern,” declared Shen Yi. “The weight of either side produces +an atmosphere of absolute poise that cannot fail to give full play to the +decision of the destinies.” +</p> + +<p> +“But if this attitude is maintained on your part how can the proposal +progress to a definite issue?” inquired Chang Tao. +</p> + +<p> +“So far, it never has so progressed,” admitted Shen Yi. “None +of the worthy and hard-striving young men—any of whom I should have been +overjoyed to greet as a son-in-law had my inopportune sense of impartiality +permitted it—has yet returned from the trial to claim the reward.” +</p> + +<p> +“Even the Classics become obscure in the dark. Clear your throat of all +doubtfulness, O Shen Yi, and speak to a definite end.” +</p> + +<p> +“That duty devolves upon this person, O would-be propounder of involved +questions,” interposed Melodious Vision. Her voice was more musical than +a stand of hanging jewels touched by a rod of jade, and each word fell like a +separate pearl. “He who ignores the Usages must expect to find the Usages +ignored. Since the day when K’ung-tsz framed the Ceremonies much water +has passed beneath the Seven Terraced Bridge, and that which has overflowed can +never be picked up again. It is no longer enough that you should come and +thereby I must go; that you should speak and I be silent; that you should +beckon and I meekly obey. Inspired by the uprisen sisterhood of the outer +barbarian lands, we of the inner chambers of the Illimitable Kingdom demand the +right to express ourselves freely on every occasion and on every subject, +whether the matter involved is one that we understand or not.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your clear-cut words will carry far,” said Chang Tao +deferentially, and, indeed, Melodious Vision’s voice had imperceptibly +assumed a penetrating quality that justified the remark. “Yet is it +fitting that beings so superior in every way should be swayed by the example of +those who are necessarily uncivilized and rude?” +</p> + +<p> +“Even a mole may instruct a philosopher in the art of digging,” +replied the maiden, with graceful tolerance. “Thus among those uncouth +tribes it is the custom, when a valiant youth would enlarge his face in the +eyes of a maiden, that he should encounter forth and slay dragons, to the +imperishable glory of her name. By this beneficent habit not only are the +feeble and inept automatically disposed of, but the difficulty of choosing one +from among a company of suitors, all apparently possessing the same superficial +attributes, is materially lightened.” +</p> + +<p> +“The system may be advantageous in those dark regions,” admitted +Chang Tao reluctantly, “but it must prove unsatisfactory in our more +favoured land.” +</p> + +<p> +“In what detail?” demanded the maiden, pausing in her attitude of +assured superiority. +</p> + +<p> +“By the essential drawback that whereas in those neglected outer parts +there really are no dragons, here there really are. Thus—” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless there are barbarian maidens for those who prefer to encounter +barbarian dragons, then,” exclaimed Melodious Vision, with a very +elaborately sustained air of no-concern. +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” assented Chang Tao mildly. “Yet having set forth +in the direction of a specific Vision it is this person’s intention to +pursue it to an ultimate end.” +</p> + +<p> +“The quiet duck puts his foot on the unobservant worm,” murmured +Shen Yi, with delicate encouragement, adding “This one casts a more +definite shadow than those before.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” continued the maiden, “to all, my unbending word is +this: he who would return for approval must experience difficulties, overcome +dangers and conquer dragons. Those who do not adventure on the quest will pass +outward from this person’s mind.” +</p> + +<p> +“And those who do will certainly Pass Upward from their own +bodies,” ran the essence of the youth’s inner thoughts. Yet the +network of her unevadable power and presence was upon him; he acquiescently +replied: +</p> + +<p> +“It is accepted. On such an errand difficulties and dangers will not +require any especial search. Yet how many dragons slain will suffice to win +approval?” +</p> + +<p> +“Crocodile-eyed one!” exclaimed Melodious Vision, surprised into +wrathfulness. “How many—” Here she withdrew in abrupt +vehemence. +</p> + +<p> +“Your progress has been rapid and profound,” remarked Shen Yi, as, +with flattering attention, he accompanied Chang Tao some part of the way +towards the door. “Never before has that one been known to leave a remark +unsaid; I do not altogether despair of seeing her married yet. As regards the +encounter with the dragon—well, in the case of the one whispering in your +ear there was the revered mother of the one whom he sought. After all, a dragon +is soon done with—one way or the other.” +</p> + +<p> +In such a manner Chang Tao set forth to encounter dragons, assured that +difficulties and dangers would accompany him on either side. In this latter +detail he was inspired, but as the great light faded and the sky-lantern rose +in interminable succession, while the unconquerable li ever stretched before +his expectant feet, the essential part of the undertaking began to assume a +dubious facet. In the valleys and fertile places he learned that creatures of +this part now chiefly inhabited the higher fastnesses, such regions being more +congenial to their wild and intractable natures. When, however, after many +laborious marches he reached the upper peaks of pathless mountains the scanty +crag-dwellers did not vary in their assertion that the dragons had for some +time past forsaken those heights for the more settled profusion of the plains. +Formerly, in both places they had been plentiful, and all those whom Chang Tao +questioned spoke openly of many encounters between their immediate forefathers +and such Beings. +</p> + +<p> +It was in the downcast frame of mind to which the delays in accomplishing his +mission gave rise that Chang Tao found himself walking side by side with one +who bore the appearance of an affluent merchant. The northernward way was +remote and solitary, but seeing that the stranger carried no outward arms Chang +Tao greeted him suitably and presently spoke of the difficulty of meeting +dragons, or of discovering their retreats from dwellers in that region. +</p> + +<p> +“In such delicate matters those who know don’t talk, and those who +talk don’t know,” replied the other sympathetically. “Yet for +what purpose should one who would pass as a pacific student seek to encounter +dragons?” +</p> + +<p> +“For a sufficient private reason it is necessary that I should kill a +certain number,” replied Chang Tao freely. “Thus their absence +involves me in much ill-spared delay.” +</p> + +<p> +At this avowal the stranger’s looks became more sombre, and he breathed +inwards several times between his formidable teeth before he made reply. +</p> + +<p> +“This is doubtless your angle, but there is another; nor is it well to +ignore the saying, ‘Should you miss the tiger be assured that he will not +miss you,’” he remarked at length. “Have you sufficiently +considered the eventuality of a dragon killing you?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is no less aptly said: ‘To be born is in the course of nature, +but to die is according to the decree of destiny.’” +</p> + +<p> +“That is a two-edged weapon, and the dragon may be the first to apply +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“In that case this person will fall back upon the point of the adage: +‘It is better to die two years too soon than to live one year too +long,’” replied Chang Tao. “Should he fail in the adventure +and thus lose all hope of Melodious Vision, of the house of Shen, there will be +no further object in prolonging a wearisome career.” +</p> + +<p> +“You speak of Melodious Vision, she being of the house of Shen,” +said the stranger, regarding his companion with an added scrutiny. “Is +the unmentioned part of her father’s honourable name Yi, and is his +agreeable house so positioned that it fronts upon a summer-seat domed with red +copper?” +</p> + +<p> +“The description is exact,” admitted Chang Tao. “Have you, +then, in the course of your many-sided travels, passed that way?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not unknown to me,” replied the other briefly. “Learn +now how incautious had been your speech, and how narrowly you have avoided the +exact fate of which I warned you. The one speaking to you is in reality a +powerful dragon, his name being Pe-lung, from the circumstance that the +northern limits are within his sway. Had it not been for a chance reference you +would certainly have been struck dead at the parting of our ways.” +</p> + +<p> +“If this is so it admittedly puts a new face upon the matter,” +agreed Chang Tao. “Yet how can reliance be spontaneously placed upon so +incredible a claim? You are a man of moderate cast, neither diffident nor +austere, and with no unnatural attributes. All the dragons with which history +is concerned possess a long body and a scaly skin, and have, moreover, the +power of breathing fire at will.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is easily put to the test.” No sooner had Pe-lung uttered +these words than he faded, and in his place appeared a formidable monster +possessing all the terror-inspiring characteristics of his kind. Yet in spite +of his tree-like eyebrows, fiercely-moving whiskers and fire-breathing jaws, +his voice was mild and pacific as he continued: “What further proof can +be required? Assuredly, the self-opinionated spirit in which you conduct your +quest will bring you no nearer to a desired end.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet this will!” exclaimed Chang Tao, and suddenly drawing his +reliable sword he drove it through the middle part of the dragon’s body. +So expertly was the thrust weighted that the point of the weapon protruded on +the other side and scarred the earth. Instead of falling lifeless to the +ground, however, the Being continued to regard its assailant with benignant +composure, whereupon the youth withdrew the blade and drove it through again, +five or six times more. As this produced no effect beyond rendering the edge of +the weapon unfit for further use, and almost paralysing the sinews of his own +right arm, Chang Tao threw away the sword and sat down on the road in order to +recall his breath. When he raised his head again the dragon had disappeared and +Pe-lung stood there as before. +</p> + +<p> +“Fortunately it is possible to take a broad-minded view of your +uncourteous action, owing to your sense of the fitnesses being for the time in +abeyance through allegiance to so engaging a maiden as Melodious Vision,” +said Pe-lung in a voice not devoid of reproach. “Had you but confided in +me more fully I should certainly have cautioned you in time. As it is, you have +ended by notching your otherwise capable weapon beyond repair and seriously +damaging the scanty cloak I wear”—indicating the numerous rents +that marred his dress of costly fur. “No wonder dejection sits upon your +downcast brow.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your priceless robe is a matter of profuse regret and my self-esteem can +only be restored by your accepting in its place this threadbare one of mine. My +rust-eaten sword is unworthy of your second thought. But certainly neither of +these two details is the real reason of my dark despair.” +</p> + +<p> +“Disclose yourself more openly,” urged Pe-lung. +</p> + +<p> +“I now plainly recognize the futility of my well-intentioned quest. +Obviously it is impossible to kill a dragon, and I am thus the sport either of +Melodious Vision’s deliberate ridicule or of my own ill-arranged +presumption.” +</p> + +<p> +“Set your mind at rest upon that score: each blow was competently struck +and convincingly fatal. You may quite fittingly claim to have slain half a +dozen dragons at the least—none of the legendary champions of the past +has done more.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet how can so arrogant a claim be held, seeing that you stand before me +in the unimpaired state of an ordinary existence?” +</p> + +<p> +“The explanation is simple and assuring. It is, in reality, very easy to +kill a dragon, but it is impossible to keep him dead. The reason for this is +that the Five Essential Constituents of fire, water, earth, wood and metal are +blended in our bodies in the Sublime or Indivisible proportion. Thus although +it is not difficult by extreme violence to disturb the harmonious balance of +the Constituents, and so bring about the effect of no-existence, they at once +re-tranquillize again, and all effect of the ill usage is spontaneously +repaired.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is certainly a logical solution, but it stands in doubtful stead +when applied to the familiar requirements of life; nor is it probable that one +so acute-witted as Melodious Vision would greet the claim with an acquiescent +face,” replied Chang Tao. “Not unnaturally is it said: ‘He +who kills tigers does not wear rat-skin sleeves.’ It would be one thing +to make a boast of having slain six dragons; it would be quite another to be +bidden to bring in their tails.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is a difficulty which must be considered,” admitted Pe-lung, +“but a path round it will inevitably be found. In the meantime night is +beginning to encircle us, and many dark Powers will be freed and resort to +these inaccessible slopes. Accompany me, therefore, to my bankrupt hovel, where +you will be safe until you care to resume your journey.” +</p> + +<p> +To this agreeable proposal Chang Tao at once assented. The way was long and +laborious, “For,” remarked Pe-lung, “in an ordinary course I +should fly there in a single breath of time; but to seize an honoured guest by +the body-cloth and thus transfer him over the side of a mountain is toilsome to +the one and humiliating to the other.” +</p> + +<p> +To beguile the time he spoke freely of the hardships of his lot. +</p> + +<p> +“We dragons are frequently objects of envy at the hands of the +undiscriminating, but the few superficial privileges we enjoy are heavily +balanced by the exacting scope of our duties. Thus to-night it is my degraded +task to divert the course of the river flowing below us, so as to overwhelm the +misguided town of Yang, wherein swells a sordid outcast who has reviled the +Sacred Claw. In order to do this properly it will be my distressing part to lie +across the bed of the stream, my head resting upon one bank and my tail upon +the other, and so remain throughout the rigour of the night.” +</p> + +<p> +As they approached the cloudy pinnacle whereon was situated the dragon’s +cave, one came forth at a distance to meet them. As she drew near, alternating +emotions from time to time swayed Chang Tao’s mind. From beneath a +well-ruled eyebrow Pe-lung continued to observe him closely. +</p> + +<p> +“Fuh-sang, the unattractive daughter of my dwindling line,” +remarked the former person, with refined indifference. “I have rendered +you invisible, and she, as her custom is, would advance to greet me.” +</p> + +<p> +“But this enchanting apparition is Melodious Vision!” exclaimed +Chang Tao. “What new bewilderment is here?” +</p> + +<p> +“Since you have thus expressed yourself, I will now throw off the mask +and reveal fully why I have hitherto spared your life, and for what purpose I +have brought you to these barren heights,” replied Pe-lung. “In the +past Shen Yi provoked the Deities, and to mark their displeasure it was decided +to take away his she-child and to substitute for it one of demoniac birth. +Accordingly Fuh-sang, being of like age, was moulded to its counterpart, and an +attendant gnome was despatched with her secretly to make the change. Becoming +overwhelmed with the fumes of rice-spirit, until then unknown to his simple +taste, this clay-brained earth-pig left the two she-children alone for a space +while he slept. Discovering each other to be the creature of another part, they +battled together and tore from one another the signs of recognition. When the +untrustworthy gnome recovered from his stupor he saw what he had done, but +being terror-driven he took up one of the she-children at a venture and +returned with a pliant tale. It was not until a few moons ago that while in a +close extremity he confessed his crime. Meanwhile Shen Yi had made his peace +with those Above and the order being revoked the she-children had been +exchanged again. Thus the matter rests.” +</p> + +<p> +“Which, then, of the twain is she inherent of your house and which +Melodious Vision?” demanded Chang Tao in some concern. “The matter +can assuredly not rest thus.” +</p> + +<p> +“That,” replied Pe-lung affably, “it will be your engaging +task to unravel, and to this end will be your opportunity of closely watching +Fuh-sang’s unsuspecting movements in my absence through the night.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet how should I, to whom the way of either maiden is as yet no more +than the title-page of a many-volumed book, succeed where the father native to +one has failed?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because in your case the incentive will be deeper. Destined, as you +doubtless are, to espouse Melodious Vision, the Forces connected with marriage +and its Rites will certainly endeavour to inspire you. This person admittedly +has no desire to nurture one who should prove to be of merely human seed, but +your objection to propagating a race of dragonets turns on a keener edge. Added +to all, a not unnatural disinclination to be dropped from so great a height as +this into so deep and rocky a valley as that will conceivably lend wings to +your usually nimble-footed mind.” +</p> + +<p> +While speaking to Chang Tao in this encouraging strain, Pe-lung was also +conversing suitably with Fuh-sang, who had by this time joined them, warning +her of his absence until the dawn, and the like. When he had completed his +instruction he stroked her face affectionately, greeting Chang Tao with a short +but appropriate farewell, and changing his form projected himself downwards +into the darkness of the valley below. Recognizing that the situation into +which he had been drawn possessed no other outlet, Chang Tao followed Fuh-sang +on her backward path, and with her passed unsuspected into the dragon’s +cave. +</p> + +<p> +Early as was Pe-lung’s return on the ensuing morning, Chang Tao stood on +a rocky eminence to greet him, and the outline of his face, though not +altogether free of doubt, was by no means hopeless. Pe-lung still retained the +impressive form of a gigantic dragon as he cleft the Middle Air, shining and +iridescent, each beat of his majestic wings being as a roll of thunder and the +skittering of sand and water from his crepitant scales leaving blights and +rain-storms in his wake. When he saw Chang Tao he drove an earthward angle and +alighting near at hand considerately changed into the semblance of an affluent +merchant as he approached. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting,” he remarked cheerfully. “Did you find your early +rice?” +</p> + +<p> +“It has sufficed,” replied Chang Tao. “How is your own +incomparable stomach?” +</p> + +<p> +Pe-lung pointed to the empty bed of the deflected river and moved his head from +side to side as one who draws an analogy to his own condition. “But of +your more pressing enterprise,” he continued, with sympathetic concern: +“have you persevered to a fruitful end, or will it be +necessary—?” And with tactful feeling he indicated the gesture of +propelling an antagonist over the side of a precipice rather than allude to the +disagreeable contingency in spoken words. +</p> + +<p> +“When the oil is exhausted the lamp goes out,” admitted Chang Tao, +“but my time is not yet come. During the visionary watches of the night +my poising mind was sustained by Forces as you so presciently foretold, and my +groping hand was led to an inspired solution of the truth.” +</p> + +<p> +“This points to a specific end. Proceed,” urged Pe-lung, for Chang +Tao had hesitated among his words as though their import might not be soothing +to the other’s mind. +</p> + +<p> +“Thus it is given me to declare: she who is called Melodious Vision is +rightly of the house of Shen, and Fuh-sang is no less innate of your exalted +tribe. The erring gnome, in spite of his misdeed, was but a finger of the +larger hand of destiny, and as it is, it is.” +</p> + +<p> +“This assurance gladdens my face, no less for your sake than for my +own,” declared Pe-lung heartily. “For my part, I have found a way +to enlarge you in the eyes of those whom you solicit. It is a custom with me +that every thousand years I should discard my outer skin—not that it +requires it, but there are certain standards to which we better-class dragons +must conform. These sloughs are hidden beneath a secret stone, beyond the reach +of the merely vain or curious. When you have disclosed the signs by which I +shall have securance of Fuh-sang’s identity I will pronounce the word and +the stone being thus released you shall bear away six suits of scales in token +of your prowess.” +</p> + +<p> +Then replied Chang Tao: “The signs, assuredly. Yet, omnipotence, without +your express command the specific detail would be elusive to my respectful +tongue.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have the authority of my extended hand,” conceded Pe-lung +readily, raising it as he spoke. “Speak freely.” +</p> + +<p> +“I claim the protection of its benignant shadow,” said Chang Tao, +with content. “You, O Pe-lung, are one who has mingled freely with +creatures of every kind in all the Nine Spaces. Yet have you not, out of your +vast experience thus gained, perceived the essential wherein men and dragons +differ? Briefly and devoid of graceful metaphor, every dragon, esteemed, would +seem to possess a tail; beings of my part have none.” +</p> + +<p> +For a concise moment the nature of Pe-lung’s reflection was clouded in +ambiguity, though the fact that he became entirely enveloped in a dense purple +vapour indicated feelings of more than usual vigour. When this cleared away it +left his outer form unchanged indeed, but the affable condescension of his +manner was merged into one of dignified aloofness. +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly all members of our enlightened tribe have tails,” he +replied, with distant precision, “nor does this one see how any other +state is possible. Changing as we constantly do, both male and female, into +Beings, Influences, Shadows and unclothed creatures of the lower parts, it is +essential for our mutual self-esteem that in every manifestation we should be +thus equipped. At this moment, though in the guise of a substantial trader, I +possess a tail—small but adequate. Is it possible that you and those of +your insolvent race are destitute?” +</p> + +<p> +“In this particular, magnificence, I and those of my threadbare species +are most lamentably deficient. To the proving of this end shall I display +myself?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not necessary,” said Pe-lung coldly. “It is +inconceivable that, were it otherwise, you would admit the humiliating +fact.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet out of your millenaries of experience you must already—” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well said that after passing a commonplace object a hundred times +a day, at nightfall its size and colour are unknown to one,” replied +Pe-lung. “In this matter, from motives which cannot have been otherwise +than delicate, I took too much for granted it would seem.... Then +you—all—Shen Yi, Melodious Vision, the military governor of this +province, even the sublime Emperor—all—?” +</p> + +<p> +“All tailless,” admitted Chang Tao, with conscious humility. +“Nevertheless there is a tradition that in distant aeons—” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless on some issue you roused the High Ones past forgiveness and +were thus deprived as the most signal mark of their displeasure.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” assented Chang Tao, with unquenchable politeness. +</p> + +<p> +“Coming to the correct attitude that you have maintained throughout, it +would appear that during the silent gong-strokes of the night, by some obscure +and indirect guidance it was revealed to you that Fuh—that any Being of +my superior race was, on the contrary—” The menace of +Pe-lung’s challenging eye, though less direct and assured than formerly, +had the manner of being uncertainly restrained by a single much-frayed thread, +but Chang Tao continued to meet it with respectful self-possession. +</p> + +<p> +“The inference is unflinching,” he replied acquiescently. “I +prostrate myself expectantly.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have competently performed your part,” admitted Pe-lung, +although an occasional jet of purple vapour clouded his upper person and the +passage of his breath among his teeth would have been distasteful to one of +sensitive refinement. “Nothing remains but the fulfilling of my iron +word.” +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon he pronounced a mystic sign and revealing the opening to a cave he +presently brought forth six sets of armoured skin. Binding these upon Chang +Tao’s back, he dismissed him, yet the manner of his parting was as of one +who is doubtful even to the end. +</p> + +<p> +Thus equipped— +</p> + +<p> +But who having made a distant journey into Outer Land speaks lengthily of the +level path of his return, or of the evening glow upon the gilded roof of his +awaiting home? Thus, this limit being reached in the essential story of Chang +Tao, Melodious Vision and the Dragon, he who relates their commonplace +happenings bows submissively. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless it is true that once again in a later time Chang Tao encountered +in the throng one whom he recognized. Encouraged by the presence of so many of +his kind, he approached the other and saluted him. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting, O Pe-lung,” he said, with outward confidence. +“What bends your footsteps to this busy place of men?” +</p> + +<p> +“I come to buy an imitation pig-tail to pass for one,” replied +Pe-lung, with quiet composure. “Greeting, valorous champion! How fares +Melodious Vision?” +</p> + +<p> +“Agreeably so,” admitted Chang Tao, and then, fearing that so far +his reply had been inadequate, he added: “Yet, despite the facts, there +are moments when this person almost doubts if he did not make a wrong decision +in the matter after all.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is a very common complaint,” said Pe-lung, becoming most +offensively amused. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a> CHAPTER IX<br /> +The Propitious Dissension between Two whose General Attributes have already +been sufficiently Described</h2> + +<p> +When Kai Lung had related the story of Chang Tao and had made an end of +speaking, those who were seated there agreed with an undivided voice that he +had competently fulfilled his task. Nor did Shan Tien omit an approving word, +adding: +</p> + +<p> +“On one point the historical balance of a certain detail seemed open to +contention. Accompany me, therefore, to my own severe retreat, where this +necessarily flat and unentertaining topic can be looked at from all +round.” +</p> + +<p> +When they were alone together the Mandarin unsealed a jar of wine, apportioned +melon seeds, and indicated to Kai Lung that he should sit upon the floor at a +suitable distance from himself. +</p> + +<p> +“So long as we do not lose sight of the necessity whereby my official +position will presently involve me in condemning you to a painful death, and +your loyal subjection will necessitate your whole-hearted co-operation in the +act, there is no reason why the flower of literary excellence should wither for +lack of mutual husbandry,” remarked the broad-minded official tolerantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Your enlightened patronage is a continual nourishment to the soil of my +imagination,” replied the story teller. +</p> + +<p> +“As regards the doings of Chang Tao and of the various other personages +who unite with him to form the fabric of the narrative, would not a strict +adherence to the fable in its classical simplicity require the filling in of +certain details which under your elusive tongue seemed, as you proceeded, to +melt imperceptibly into a discreet background?” +</p> + +<p> +“Your voice is just,” confessed Kai Lung, “and your +harmonious ear corrects the deficiencies of my afflicted style. Admittedly in +the story of Chang Tao there are here and there analogies which may be +fittingly left to the imagination as the occasion should demand. Is it not +rightly said: ‘Discretion is the handmaiden of Truth’? and in that +spacious and well-appointed palace there is every kind of vessel, but the +meaner are not to be seen in the more ceremonial halls. Thus he who tells a +story prudently suits his furnishing to the condition of his hearers.” +</p> + +<p> +“Wisdom directs your course,” replied Shan Tien, “and +propriety sits beneath your supple tongue. As the necessity for this very +seemly expurgation is now over, I would myself listen to your recital of the +fullest and most detailed version—purely, let it be freely stated, in +order to judge whether its literary qualities transcend those of the +other.” +</p> + +<p> +“I comply, benevolence,” replied Kai Lung. “This rendering +shall be to the one that has gone before as a spreading banyan-tree +overshadowing an immature shrub.” +</p> + +<p> +“Forbear!” exclaimed a discordant voice, and the sour-eyed Ming-shu +revealed his inopportune presence from behind a hanging veil. “Is it +meet, O eminence, that in this person’s absence you should thus consort +on terms of fraternity with tomb-riflers and grain-thieves?” +</p> + +<p> +“The reproach is easily removed,” replied Shan Tien hospitably. +“Join the circle of our refined felicity and hear at full length by what +means the ingenious Chang Tao—” +</p> + +<p> +“There are moments when one despairs before the spectacle of authority +thus displayed,” murmured Ming-shu, his throat thickening with acrimony. +“Understand, pre-eminence,” he continued more aloud, “that +not this one’s absence but your own presence is the distressing feature, +as being an obstacle in the path of that undeviating justice in which our legal +system is embedded. From the first moment of our encountering it had been my +well-intentioned purpose that loyal confidence should be strengthened and +rebellion cowed by submitting this opportune but otherwise inoffensive stranger +to a sordid and degrading end. Yet how shall this beneficent example be +attained if on every occasion—” +</p> + +<p> +“Your design is a worthy and enlightened one,” interposed the +Mandarin, with dignity. “What you have somewhat incapably overlooked, +Ming-shu, is the fact that I never greet this intelligent and painstaking young +man without reminding him of the imminence of his fate and of his suitability +for it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Truth adorns your lips and accuracy anoints your palate,” +volunteered Kai Lung. +</p> + +<p> +“Be this as the destinies permit, there is much that is circuitous in the +bending of events,” contended Ming-shu stubbornly. “Is it by chance +or through some hidden tricklage that occasion always finds Kai Lung so +adequately prepared?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is, as the story of Chang Tao has this day justified, and as this +discriminating person has frequently maintained, that the one in question has a +story framed to meet the requirement of every circumstance,” declared +Shan Tien. +</p> + +<p> +“Or that each requirement is subtly shaped to meet his +preparation,” retorted Ming-shu darkly. “Be that as it shall +perchance ultimately appear, it is undeniable that your admitted +weaknesses—” +</p> + +<p> +“Weaknesses!” exclaimed the astonished Mandarin, looking around the +room as though to discover in what crevice the unheard-of attributes were +hidden. “This person’s weaknesses? Can the sounding properties of +this ill-constructed roof thus pervert one word into the semblance of another? +If not, the bounds set to the admissible from the taker-down of the spoken +word, Ming-shu, do not in their most elastic moods extend to calumny and +distortion.... The one before you has no weaknesses.... Doubtless before +another moon has changed you will impute to him actual faults!” +</p> + +<p> +“Humility directs my gaze,” replied Ming-shu, with downcast eyes, +and he plainly recognized that his presumption had been too maintained. +“Yet,” he added, with polished irony, “there is a well-timed +adage that rises to the lips: ‘Do not despair; even Yuen Yan once cast a +missile at the Tablets!’” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly,” agreed Shan Tien, with smooth concurrence, “the line +is not unknown to me. Who, however, was the one in question and under what +provocation did he so behave?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is beyond the province of the saying,” replied Ming-shu. +“Nor is it known to my remembrance.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then out of your own mouth a fitting test is set, which if Kai Lung can +agreeably perform will at once demonstrate a secret and a guilty confederacy +between you both. Proceed, O story-teller, to incriminate Ming-shu together +with yourself!” +</p> + +<p> +“I proceed, High Excellence, but chiefly to the glorification of your +all-discerning mind,” replied Kai Lung. +</p> + +<h3>The Story of Yuen Yan, of the Barber Chou-hu, and His Wife Tsae-che</h3> + +<p> +“Do not despair; even Yuen Yan once cast a missile at the Tablets,” +is a proverb of encouragement well worn throughout the Empire; but although it +is daily on the lips of some it is doubtful if a single person could give an +intelligent account of the Yuen Yan in question beyond repeating the outside +facts that he was of a humane and consistent disposition and during the greater +part of his life possessed every desirable attribute of wealth, family and +virtuous esteem. If more closely questioned with reference to the specific +incident alluded to, these persons would not hesitate to assert that the +proverb was not to be understood in so superficial a sense, protesting, with +much indignation, that Yuen Yan was of too courteous and lofty a nature to be +guilty of so unseemly an action, and contemptuously inquiring what possible +reason one who enjoyed every advantage in this world and every prospect of an +unruffled felicity in The Beyond could have for behaving in so outrageous a +manner. This explanation by no means satisfied the one who now narrates, and +after much research he has brought to light the forgotten story of Yuen +Yan’s early life, which may be thus related. +</p> + +<p> +At the period with which this part of the narrative is concerned, Yuen Yan +dwelt with his mother in one of the least attractive of the arches beneath the +city wall. As a youth it had been his intention to take an exceptionally high +place in the public examinations, and, rising at once to a position of +responsible authority, to mark himself out for continual promotion by the +exercise of unfailing discretion and indomitable zeal. Having saved his country +in a moment of acute national danger, he contemplated accepting a title of +unique distinction and retiring to his native province, where he would build an +adequate palace which he had already planned out down to the most trivial +detail. There he purposed spending the remainder of his life, receiving +frequent tokens of regard from the hand of the gratified Emperor, marrying an +accomplished and refined wife who would doubtless be one of the princesses of +the Imperial House, and conscientiously regarding The Virtues throughout. The +transition from this sumptuously contrived residence to a damp arch in the city +wall, and from the high destiny indicated to the occupation of leading from +place to place a company of sightless mendicants, had been neither +instantaneous nor painless, but Yuen Yan had never for a moment wavered from +the enlightened maxims which he had adopted as his guiding principles, nor did +he suffer unending trials to lessen his reverence for The Virtues. +“Having set out with the full intention of becoming a wealthy mandarin, +it would have been a small achievement to have reached that position with +unshattered ideals,” he frequently remarked; “but having thus set +out it is a matter for more than ordinary congratulation to have fallen to the +position of leading a string of blind beggars about the city and still to +retain unimpaired the ingenuous beliefs and aspirations of youth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” replied his aged mother, whenever she chanced to +overhear this honourable reflection, “doubtless the foolish calf who +innocently puts his foot into the jelly finds a like consolation. This person, +however, would gladly exchange the most illimitable moral satisfaction +engendered by acute poverty for a few of the material comforts of a sordid +competence, nor would she hesitate to throw into the balance all the +aspirations and improving sayings to be found within the Classics.” +</p> + +<p> +“Esteemed mother,” protested Yan, “more than three thousand +years ago the royal philosopher Nin-hyo made the observation: ‘Better an +earth-lined cave from which the stars are visible than a golden pagoda roofed +over with iniquity,’ and the saying has stood the test of time.” +</p> + +<p> +“The remark would have carried a weightier conviction if the broad-minded +sovereign had himself first stood the test of lying for a few years with +enlarged joints and afflicted bones in the abode he so prudently recommended +for others,” replied his mother, and without giving Yuen Yan any +opportunity of bringing forward further proof of their highly-favoured destiny +she betook herself to her own straw at the farthest end of the arch. +</p> + +<p> +Up to this period of his life Yuen Yan’s innate reverence and courtesy of +manner had enabled him to maintain an impassive outlook in the face of every +discouragement, but now he was exposed to a fresh series of trials in addition +to the unsympathetic attitude which his mother never failed to unroll before +him. It has already been expressed that Yuen Yan’s occupation and the +manner by which he gained his livelihood consisted in leading a number of blind +mendicants about the streets of the city and into the shops and dwelling-places +of those who might reasonably be willing to pay in order to be relieved of +their presence. In this profession Yan’s venerating and custom-regarding +nature compelled him to act as leaders of blind beggars had acted throughout +all historical times and far back into the dim recesses of legendary epochs and +this, in an era when the leisurely habits of the past were falling into disuse, +and when rivals and competitors were springing up on all sides, tended almost +daily to decrease the proceeds of his labour and to sow an insidious doubt even +in his unquestioning mind. +</p> + +<p> +In particular, among those whom Yan regarded most objectionably was one named +Ho. Although only recently arrived in the city from a country beyond the Bitter +Water, Ho was already known in every quarter both to the merchants and +stallkeepers, who trembled at his approaching shadow, and to the competing +mendicants who now counted their cash with two fingers where they had before +needed both hands. This distressingly active person made no secret of his +methods and intention; for, upon his arrival, he plainly announced that his +object was to make the foundations of benevolence vibrate like the strings of a +many-toned lute, and he compared his general progress through the haunts of the +charitably disposed to the passage of a highly-charged firework through an +assembly of meditative turtles. He was usually known, he added, as “the +rapidly-moving person,” or “the one devoid of outline,” and +it soon became apparent that he was also quite destitute of all dignified +restraint. Selecting the place of commerce of some wealthy merchant, Ho entered +without hesitation and thrusting aside the waiting customers he continued to +strike the boards impatiently until he gained the attention of the chief +merchant himself. “Honourable salutations,” he would say, +“but do not entreat this illiterate person to enter the inner room, for +he cannot tarry to discuss the movements of the planets or the sublime +Emperor’s health. Behold, for half-a-tael of silver you may purchase +immunity from his discreditable persistence for seven days; here is the +acknowledgement duly made out and attested. Let the payment be made in pieces +of metal and not in paper obligations.” Unless immediate compliance +followed Ho at once began noisily to cast down the articles of commerce, to +roll bodily upon the more fragile objects, to become demoniacally possessed on +the floor, and to resort to a variety of expedients until all the customers +were driven forth in panic. +</p> + +<p> +In the case of an excessively stubborn merchant he had not hesitated to draw a +formidable knife and to gash himself in a superficial but very imposing manner; +then he had rushed out uttering cries of terror, and sinking down by the door +had remained there for the greater part of the day, warning those who would +have entered to be upon their guard against being enticed in and murdered, at +the same time groaning aloud and displaying his own wounds. Even this seeming +disregard of time was well considered, for when the tidings spread about the +city other merchants did not wait for Ho to enter and greet them, but standing +at their doors money in hand they pressed it upon him the moment he appeared +and besought him to remove his distinguished presence from their +plague-infected street. To the ordinary mendicants of the city this stress of +competition was disastrous, but to Yuen Yan it was overwhelming. Thoroughly +imbued with the deferential systems of antiquity, he led his band from place to +place with a fitting regard for the requirements of ceremonial etiquette and a +due observance of leisurely unconcern. Those to whom he addressed himself he +approached with obsequious tact, and in the face of refusal to contribute to +his store his most violent expedient did not go beyond marshalling his company +of suppliants in an orderly group upon the shop floor, where they sang in +unison a composed chant extolling the fruits of munificence and setting forth +the evil plight which would certainly attend the flinty-stomached in the Upper +Air. In this way Yuen Yan had been content to devote several hours to a single +shop in the hope of receiving finally a few pieces of brass money; but now his +persecutions were so mild that the merchants and vendors rather welcomed him by +comparison with the intolerable Ho, and would on no account pay to be relieved +of the infliction of his presence. “Have we not disbursed in one day to +the piratical Ho thrice the sum which we had set by to serve its purpose for a +hand-count of moons; and do we possess the Great Secret?” they cried. +“Nevertheless, dispose your engaging band of mendicants about the place +freely until it suits your refined convenience to proceed elsewhere, O +meritorious Yuen Yan, for your unassuming qualities have won our consistent +regard; but an insatiable sponge has already been laid upon the well-spring of +our benevolence and the tenacity of our closed hand is inflexible.” +</p> + +<p> +Even the passive mendicants began to murmur against his leadership, urging him +that he should adopt some of the simpler methods of the gifted Ho and thereby +save them all from an otherwise inevitable starvation. The Emperor Kai-tsing, +said the one who led their voices (referring in his malignant bitterness to a +sovereign of the previous dynasty), was dead, although the fact had doubtless +escaped Yuen Yan’s deliberate perception. The methods of four thousand +years ago were becoming obsolete in the face of a strenuous competition, and +unless Yuen Yan was disposed to assume a more highly-coiled appearance they +must certainly address themselves to another leader. +</p> + +<p> +It was on this occasion that the incident took place which has passed down in +the form of an inspiriting proverb. Yuen Yan had conscientiously delivered at +the door of his abode the last of his company and was turning his footsteps +towards his own arch when he encountered the contumelious Ho, who was likewise +returning at the close of a day’s mendicancy—but with this +distinction: that, whereas Ho was followed by two stalwart attendants carrying +between them a sack full of money, Yan’s share of his band’s +enterprise consisted solely of one base coin of a kind which the charitable set +aside for bestowing upon the blind and quite useless for all ordinary purposes +of exchange. A few paces farther on Yan reached the Temple of the Unseen Forces +and paused for a moment, as his custom was, to cast his eyes up to the tablets +engraved with The Virtues, before which some devout person nightly hung a +lantern. Goaded by a sudden impulse, Yan looked each way about the deserted +street, and perceiving that he was alone he deliberately extended his +out-thrust tongue towards the inspired precepts. Then taking from an inner +sleeve the base coin he flung it at the inscribed characters and observed with +satisfaction that it struck the verse beginning, “The Rewards of a +Quiescent and Mentally-introspective Life are Unbounded—” +</p> + +<p> +When Yan entered his arch some hours later his mother could not fail to +perceive that a subtle change had come over his manner of behaving. Much of the +leisurely dignity had melted out of his footsteps, and he wore his hat and +outer garments at an angle which plainly testified that he was a person who +might be supposed to have a marked objection to returning home before the early +hours of the morning. Furthermore, as he entered he was chanting certain +melodious words by which he endeavoured to convey the misleading impression +that his chief amusement consisted in defying the official watchers of the +town, and he continually reiterated a claim to be regarded as “one of the +beardless goats.” Thus expressing himself, Yan sank down in his appointed +corner and would doubtlessly soon have been floating peacefully in the Middle +Distance had not the door been again thrown open and a stranger named Chou-hu +entered. +</p> + +<p> +“Prosperity!” said Chou-hu courteously, addressing himself to +Yan’s mother. “Have you eaten your rice? Behold, I come to lay +before you a very attractive proposal regarding your son.” +</p> + +<p> +“The flower attracts the bee, but when he departs it is to his lips that +the honey clings,” replied the woman cautiously; for after Yan’s +boastful words on entering she had a fear lest haply this person might be one +on behalf of some guardian of the night whom her son had flung across the +street (as he had specifically declared his habitual treatment of them to be) +come to take him by stratagem. +</p> + +<p> +“Does the pacific lamb become a wolf by night?” said Chou-hu, +displaying himself reassuringly. “Wrap your ears well round my words, for +they may prove very remunerative. It cannot be a matter outside your knowledge +that the profession of conducting an assembly of blind mendicants from place to +place no longer yields the wage of even a frugal existence in this city. In the +future, for all the sympathy that he will arouse, Yan might as well go begging +with a silver bowl. In consequence of his speechless condition he will be +unable to support either you or himself by any other form of labour, and your +line will thereupon become extinct and your standing in the Upper Air be +rendered intolerable.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is a remote contingency, but, as the proverb says, ‘The wise +hen is never too old to dread the Spring,’” replied Yan’s +mother, with commendable prudence. “By what means, then, may this +calamity be averted?” +</p> + +<p> +“The person before you,” continued Chou-hu, “is a barber and +embellisher of pig-tails from the street leading to the Three-tiered Pagoda of +Eggs. He has long observed the restraint and moderation of Yan’s +demeanour and now being in need of one to assist him his earliest thought turns +to him. The affliction which would be an insuperable barrier in all ordinary +cases may here be used to advantage, for being unable to converse with those +seated before him, or to hear their salutations, Yan will be absolved from the +necessity of engaging in diffuse and refined conversation, and in consequence +he will submit at least twice the number of persons to his dexterous energies. +In that way he will secure a higher reward than this person could otherwise +afford and many additional comforts will doubtless fall into the sleeve of his +engaging mother.” +</p> + +<p> +At this point the woman began to understand that the sense in which Chou-hu had +referred to Yan’s speechless condition was not that which she had at the +time deemed it to be. It may here be made clear that it was Yuen Yan’s +custom to wear suspended about his neck an inscribed board bearing the words, +“Speechless, and devoid of the faculty of hearing,” but this +originated out of his courteous and deferential nature (for to his +self-obliterative mind it did not seem respectful that he should appear to be +better endowed than those whom he led), nor could it be asserted that he +wilfully deceived even the passing stranger, for he would freely enter into +conversation with anyone whom he encountered. Nevertheless an impression had +thus been formed in Chou-hu’s mind and the woman forbore to correct it, +thinking that it would be scarcely polite to assert herself better informed on +any subject than he was, especially as he had spoken of Yan thereby receiving a +higher wage. Yan himself would certainly have revealed something had he not +been otherwise employed. Hearing the conversation turn towards his afflictions, +he at once began to search very industriously among the straw upon which he lay +for the inscribed board in question; for to his somewhat confused imagination +it seemed at the time that only by displaying it openly could he prove to +Chou-hu that he was in no way deficient. As the board was found on the +following morning nailed to the great outer door of the Hall of Public Justice +(where it remained for many days owing to the official impression that so bold +and undeniable a pronouncement must have received the direct authority of the +sublime Emperor), Yan was not unnaturally engaged for a considerable time, and +in the meanwhile his mother contrived to impress upon him by an unmistakable +sign that he should reveal nothing, but leave the matter in her hands. +</p> + +<p> +Then said Yan’s mother: “Truly the proposal is not altogether +wanting in alluring colours, but in what manner will Yan interpret the commands +of those who place themselves before him, when he has attained sufficient +proficiency to be entrusted with the knife and the shearing irons?” +</p> + +<p> +“The objection is a superficial one,” replied Chou-hu. “When +a person seats himself upon the operating stool he either throws back his head, +fixing his eyes upon the upper room with a set and resolute air, or inclines it +slightly forward as in a reverent tranquillity. In the former case he requires +his uneven surfaces to be made smooth; in the latter he is desirous that his +pig-tail should be drawn out and trimmed. Do not doubt Yan’s capability +to conduct himself in a discreet and becoming manner, but communicate to him, +by the usual means which you adopt, the offer thus laid out, and unless he +should be incredibly obtuse or unfilial to a criminal degree he will present +himself at the Sign of the Gilt Thunderbolt at an early hour to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +There is a prudent caution expressed in the proverb, “The hand that feeds +the ox grasps the knife when it is fattened: crawl backwards from the presence +of a munificent official.” Chou-hu, in spite of his plausible pretext, +would have experienced no difficulty in obtaining the services of one better +equipped to assist him than was Yuen Yan, so that in order to discover his real +object it becomes necessary to look underneath his words. He was indeed, as he +had stated, a barber and an embellisher of pig-tails, and for many years he had +grown rich and round-bodied on the reputation of being one of the most skilful +within his quarter of the city. In an evil moment, however, he had abandoned +the moderation of his past life and surrounded himself with an atmosphere of +opium smoke and existed continually in the mind-dimming effects of rice-spirit. +From this cause his custom began to languish; his hand no longer swept in the +graceful and unhesitating curves which had once been the admiration of all +beholders, but displayed on the contrary a very disconcerting irregularity of +movement, and on the day of his visit he had shorn away the venerable +moustaches of the baker Heng-cho under a mistaken impression as to the reality +of things and a wavering vision of their exact position. Now the baker had been +inordinately proud of his long white moustaches and valued them above all his +possessions, so that, invoking the spirits of his ancestors to behold his +degradation and to support him in his resolve, and calling in all the +passers-by to bear witness to his oath, he had solemnly bound himself either to +cut down Chou-hu fatally, or, should that prove too difficult an +accomplishment, to commit suicide within his shop. This twofold danger +thoroughly stupefied Chou-hu and made him incapable of taking any action beyond +consuming further and more unstinted portions of rice-spirit and rending +article after article of his apparel until his wife Tsae-che modestly dismissed +such persons as loitered, and barred the outer door. +</p> + +<p> +“Open your eyes upon the facts by which you are surrounded, O +contemptible Chou-hu,” she said, returning to his side and standing over +him. “Already your degraded instincts have brought us within measurable +distance of poverty, and if you neglect your business to avoid Heng-cho, actual +want will soon beset us. If you remain openly within his sight you will +certainly be removed forcibly to the Upper Air, leaving this inoffensive person +destitute and abandoned, and if by the exercise of unfailing vigilance you +escape both these dangers, you will be reserved to an even worse plight, for +Heng-cho in desperation will inevitably carry out the latter part of his +threat, dedicating his spirit to the duty of continually haunting you and +frustrating your ambitions here on earth and calling to his assistance myriads +of ancestors and relations to torment you in the Upper Air.” +</p> + +<p> +“How attractively and in what brilliantly-coloured outlines do you +present the various facts of existence!” exclaimed Chou-hu, with +inelegant resentment. “Do not neglect to add that, to-morrow being the +occasion of the Moon Festival, the inexorable person who owns this residence +will present himself to collect his dues, that, in consequence of the rebellion +in the south, the sagacious viceroy has doubled the price of opium, that some +irredeemable outcast has carried away this person’s blue silk umbrella, +and then doubtless the alluring picture of internal felicity around the +Ancestral Altar of the Gilt Thunderbolt will be complete.” +</p> + +<p> +“Light words are easily spoken behind barred doors,” said his wife +scornfully. “Let my lord, then, recline indolently upon the floor of his +inner chamber while this person sumptuously lulls him into oblivion with the +music of her voice, regardless of the morrow and of the fate in which his +apathy involves us both.” +</p> + +<p> +“By no means!” exclaimed Chou-hu, rising hastily and tearing away +much of his elaborately arranged pigtail in his uncontrollable rage; +“there is yet a more pleasurable alternative than that and one which will +ensure to this person a period of otherwise unattainable domestic calm and at +the same time involve a detestable enemy in confusion. Anticipating the +dull-witted Heng-cho <i>this</i> one will now proceed across the street and, +committing suicide within <i>his</i> door, will henceforth enjoy the honourable +satisfaction of haunting <i>his</i> footsteps and rending his bakehouses and +ovens untenable.” With this assurance Chou-hu seized one of his most +formidable business weapons and caused it to revolve around his head with great +rapidity, but at the same time with extreme carefulness. +</p> + +<p> +“There is a ready saying: ‘The new-born lamb does not fear a tiger, +but before he becomes a sheep he will flee from a wolf,’” said +Tsae-che without in any way deeming it necessary to arrest Chou-hu’s +hand. “Full confidently will you set out, O Chou-hu, but to reach the +shop of Heng-cho it is necessary to pass the stall of the dealer in abandoned +articles, and next to it are enticingly spread out the wares of Kong, the +merchant in distilled spirits. Put aside your reliable scraping iron while you +still have it, and this not ill-disposed person will lay before you a plan by +which you may even yet avoid all inconveniences and at the same time regain +your failing commerce.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is also said: ‘The advice of a wise woman will ruin a walled +city,’” replied Chou-hu, somewhat annoyed at his wife so +opportunely comparing him to a sheep, but still more concerned to hear by what +possible expedient she could successfully avert all the contending dangers of +his position. “Nevertheless, proceed.” +</p> + +<p> +“In one of the least reputable quarters of the city there dwells a person +called Yuen Yan,” said the woman. “He is the leader of a band of +sightless mendicants and in this position he has frequently passed your open +door, though—probably being warned by the benevolent—he has never +yet entered. Now this Yuen Yan, save for one or two unimportant details, is the +reflected personification of your own exalted image, nor would those most +intimate with your form and outline be able to pronounce definitely unless you +stood side by side before them. Furthermore, he is by nature unable to hear any +remark addressed to him, and is incapable of expressing himself in spoken +words. Doubtless by these indications my lord’s locust-like intelligence +will already have leapt to an inspired understanding of the full +project?” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly,” replied Chou-hu, caressing himself approvingly. +“The essential details of the scheme are built about the ease with which +this person could present himself at the abode of Yuen Yan in his absence and, +gathering together that one’s store of wealth unquestioned, retire with +it to a distant and unknown spot and thereby elude the implacable +Heng-cho’s vengeance.” +</p> + +<p> +“Leaving your menial one in the ‘walled city’ referred to, to +share its fate, and, in particular, to undertake the distressing obligation of +gathering up the atrocious Heng-cho after he has carried his final threat into +effect? Truly must the crystal stream of your usually undimmed intelligence +have become vaporized. Listen well. Disguising your external features slightly +so that the resemblance may pass without remark, present yourself openly at the +residence of the Yuen Yan in question—” +</p> + +<p> +“First learning where it is situated?” interposed Chou-hu, with a +desire to grasp the details competently. +</p> + +<p> +“Unless a person of your retrospective taste would prefer to leave so +trivial a point until afterwards,” replied his wife in a tone of +concentrated no-sincerity. “In either case, however, having arrived +there, bargain with the one who has authority over Yuen Yan’s movements, +praising his demeanour and offering to accept him into the honours and profits +of your craft. The words of acquiescence should spring to meet your own, for +the various branches of mendicancy are languishing, and Yuen Yan can have no +secret store of wealth. Do not hesitate to offer a higher wage than you would +as an affair of ordinary commerce, for your safety depends upon it. Having +secured Yan, teach him quickly the unpolished outlines of your business and +then clothing him in robes similar to your own let him take his stand within +the shop and withdraw yourself to the inner chamber. None will suspect the +artifice, and Yuen Yan is manifestly incapable of betraying it. Heng-cho, +seeing him display himself openly, will not deem it necessary to commit suicide +yet, and, should he cut down Yan fatally, the officials of the street will +seize him and your own safety will be assured. Finally, if nothing particular +happens, at least your prosperity will be increased, for Yuen Yan will prove +<i>industrious</i>, <i>frugal</i>, <i>not addicted to excesses</i> and in every +way <i>reliable</i>, and towards the shop of so exceptional a barber customers +will turn in an unending stream.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” exclaimed Chou-hu, “when you boasted of an inspired +scheme this person for a moment foolishly allowed his mind to contemplate the +possibility of your having accidentally stumbled upon such an expedient haply, +but your suggestion is only comparable with a company of ducks attempting to +cross an ice-bound stream—an excessive outlay of action but no beneficial +progress. Should Yuen Yan freely present himself here on the morrow, pleading +destitution and craving to be employed, this person will consider the petition +with an open head, but it is beneath his dignity to wait upon so low-class an +object.” Affecting to recollect an arranged meeting of some importance, +Chou-hu then clad himself in other robes, altered the appearance of his face, +and set out to act in the manner already described, confident that the exact +happening would never reach his lesser one’s ears. +</p> + +<p> +On the following day Yuen Yan presented himself at the door of the Gilt +Thunderbolt, and quickly perfecting himself in the simpler methods of smoothing +surfaces and adorning pig-tails he took his stand within the shop and operated +upon all who came to submit themselves to his embellishment. To those who +addressed him with salutations he replied by a gesture, tactfully bestowing an +agreeable welcome yet at the same time conveying the impression that he was +desirous of remaining undisturbed in the philosophical reflection upon which he +was engaged. In spite of this it was impossible to lead his mind astray from +any weighty detail, and those who, presuming upon his absorbed attitude, +endeavoured to evade a just payment on any pretext whatever invariably found +themselves firmly but courteously pressed to the wall by the neck, while a +highly polished smoothing blade was flashed to and fro before their eyes with +an action of unmistakable significance. The number of customers increased +almost daily, for Yan quickly proved himself to be expert above all comparison, +while others came from every quarter of the city to test with their own eyes +and ears the report that had reached them, to the effect that in the street +leading to the Three-tiered Pagoda of Eggs there dwelt a barber who made no +pretence of elegant and refined conversation and who did not even press upon +those lying helpless in his power miraculous ointments and infallible +charm-waters. Thus Chou-hu prospered greatly, but Yan still obeyed his +mother’s warning and raised a mask before his face so that Chou-hu and +his wife never doubted the reality of his infirmities. From this cause they did +not refrain from conversing together freely before him on subjects of the most +poignant detail, whereby Yan learned much of their past lives and conduct while +maintaining an attitude of impassive unconcern. +</p> + +<p> +Upon a certain evening in the month when the grass-blades are transformed into +silk-worms Yan was alone in the shop, improving the edge and reflecting +brilliance of some of his implements, when he heard the woman exclaim from the +inner room: “Truly the air from the desert is as hot and devoid of relief +as the breath of the Great Dragon. Let us repose for the time in the outer +chamber.” Whereupon they entered the shop and seating themselves upon a +couch resumed their occupations, the barber fanning himself while he smoked, +his wife gumming her hair and coiling it into the semblance of a bird with +outstretched wings. +</p> + +<p> +“The necessity for the elaborate caution of the past no longer +exists,” remarked Chou-hu presently. “The baker Heng-cho is +desirous of becoming one of those who select the paving-stones and regulate the +number of hanging lanterns for the district lying around the Three-tiered +Pagoda. In this ambition he is opposed by Kong, the distilled-spirit vendor, +who claims to be a more competent judge of paving-stones and hanging lanterns +and one who will exercise a lynx-eyed vigilance upon the public outlay and +especially devote himself to curbing the avarice of those bread-makers who +habitually mix powdered white earth with their flour. Heng-cho is therefore +very concerned that many should bear honourable testimony of his engaging +qualities when the day of trial arrives, and thus positioned he has inscribed +and sent to this person a written message offering a dignified reconciliation +and adding that he is convinced of the necessity of an enactment compelling all +persons to wear a smooth face and a neatly braided pig-tail.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is a creditable solution of the matter,” said Tsae-che, +speaking between the ivory pins which she held in her mouth. “Henceforth, +then, you will take up your accustomed stand as in the past?” +</p> + +<p> +“Undoubtedly,” replied Chou-hu. “Yuen Yan is painstaking, and +has perhaps done as well as could be expected of one of his shallow intellect, +but the absence of suave and high-minded conversation cannot fail to be +alienating the custom of the more polished. Plainly it is a short-sighted +policy for a person to try and evade his destiny. Yan seems to have been born +for the express purpose of leading blind beggars about the streets of the city +and to that profession he must return.” +</p> + +<p> +“O distressingly superficial Chou-hu!” exclaimed his wife, +“do men turn willingly from wine to partake of vinegar, or having been +clothed in silk do they accept sackcloth without a struggle? Indeed, your eyes, +which are large to regard your own deeds and comforts, grow small when they are +turned towards the attainments of another. In no case will Yan return to his +mendicants, for his band is by this time scattered and dispersed. His sleeve +being now well lined and his hand proficient in every detail of his craft, he +will erect a stall, perchance even directly opposite or next to ourselves, and +by subtlety, low charges and diligence he will draw away the greater part of +your custom.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” cried Chou-hu, turning an exceedingly inferior yellow, +“there is a deeper wisdom in the proverb, ‘Do not seek to escape +from a flood by clinging to a tiger’s tail,’ than appears at a +casual glance. Now that this person is contemplating gathering again into his +own hands the execution of his business, he cannot reasonably afford to employ +another, yet it is an intolerable thought that Yan should make use of his +experience to set up a sign opposed to the Gilt Thunderbolt. Obviously the only +really safe course out of an unpleasant dilemma will be to slay Yan with as +little delay as possible. After receiving continuous marks of our approval for +so long it is certainly very thoughtless of him to put us to so unpardonable an +inconvenience.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not an alluring alternative,” confessed Tsae-che, crossing +the room to where Yan was seated in order to survey her hair to greater +advantage in a hanging mirror of three sides composed of burnished copper; +“but there seems nothing else to be done in the difficult +circumstances.” +</p> + +<p> +“The street is opportunely empty and there is little likelihood of anyone +approaching at this hour,” suggested Chou-hu. “What better scheme +could be devised than that I should indicate to Yan by signs that I would +honour him, and at the same time instruct him further in the correct pose of +some of the recognized attitudes, by making smooth the surface of his face? +Then during the operation I might perchance slip upon an overripe whampee lying +unperceived upon the floor; my hand—” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah-<i>ah</i>!” cried Tsae-che aloud, pressing her symmetrical +fingers against her gracefully-proportioned ears; “do not, thou +dragon-headed one, lead the conversation to such an extremity of detail, still +less carry the resolution into effect before the very eyes of this +delicately-susceptible person. Now to-morrow, after the midday meal, she will +be journeying as far as the street of the venders of woven fabrics in order to +procure a piece of silk similar to the pearl-grey robe which she is wearing. +The opportunity will be a favourable one, for to-morrow is the weekly occasion +on which you raise the shutters and deny customers at an earlier hour; and it +is really more modest that one of my impressionable refinement should be away +from the house altogether and not merely in the inner chamber when that which +is now here passes out.” +</p> + +<p> +“The suggestion is well timed,” replied Chou-hu. “No +interruption will then be possible.” +</p> + +<p> +“Furthermore,” continued his wife, sprinkling upon her hair a +perfumed powder of gold which made it sparkle as it engaged the light at every +point with a most entrancing lustre, “would it not be desirable to use a +weapon less identified with your own hand? In the corner nearest to Yan there +stands a massive and heavily knotted club which could afterwards be burned. It +would be an easy matter to call the simple Yan’s attention to some object +upon the floor and then as he bent down suffer him to Pass Beyond.” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly,” agreed Chou-hu, at once perceiving the wisdom of the +change; “also, in that case, there would be less—” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Ah</i>!” again cried the woman, shaking her upraised finger +reprovingly at Chou-hu (for so daintily endowed was her mind that she shrank +from any of the grosser realities of the act unless they were clothed in the +very gilded flowers of speech). “Desist, O crimson-minded barbarian! Let +us now walk side by side along the river bank and drink in the soul-stirring +melody of the musicians who at this hour will be making the spot doubly +attractive with the concord of stringed woods and instruments of brass struck +with harmonious unison.” +</p> + +<p> +The scheme for freeing Chou-hu from the embarrassment of Yan’s position +was not really badly arranged, nor would it have failed in most cases, but the +barber was not sufficiently broad-witted to see that many of the inspired +sayings which he used as arguments could be taken in another light and conveyed +a decisive warning to himself. A pleasantly devised proverb has been aptly +compared to a precious jewel, and as the one has a hundred light-reflecting +surfaces, so has the other a diversity of applications, until it is not +infrequently beyond the comprehension of an ordinary person to know upon which +side wisdom and prudence lie. On the following afternoon Yan was seated in his +accustomed corner when Chou-hu entered the shop with uneven feet. The barriers +against the street had been raised and the outer door was barred so that none +might intrude, while Chou-hu had already carefully examined the walls to ensure +that no crevices remained unsealed. As he entered he was seeking, somewhat +incoherently, to justify himself by assuring the deities that he had almost +changed his mind until he remembered the many impious acts on Yan’s part +in the past, to avenge which he felt himself to be their duly appointed +instrument. Furthermore, to convince them of the excellence of his motive (and +also to protect himself against the influence of evil spirits) he advanced +repeating the words of an invocation which in his youth he had been accustomed +to say daily in the temple, and thereupon Yan knew that the moment was at hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Behold, master!” he exclaimed suddenly, in clearly expressed +words, “something lies at your feet.” +</p> + +<p> +Chou-hu looked down to the floor and lying before him was a piece of silver. To +his dull and confused faculties it sounded an inaccurate detail of his +pre-arranged plan that Yan should have addressed him, and the remark itself +seemed dimly to remind him of something that he had intended to say, but he was +too involved with himself to be able to attach any logical significance to the +facts and he at once stooped greedily to possess the coin. Then Yan, who had an +unfaltering grasp upon the necessities of each passing second, sprang agilely +forward, swung the staff, and brought it so proficiently down upon +Chou-hu’s lowered head that the barber dropped lifeless to the ground and +the weapon itself was shattered by the blow. Without a pause Yan clothed +himself with his master’s robes and ornaments, wrapped his own garment +about Chou-hu instead, and opening a stone door let into the ground rolled the +body through so that it dropped down into the cave beneath. He next altered the +binding of his hair a little, cut his lips deeply for a set purpose, and then +reposing upon the couch of the inner chamber he took up one of Chou-hu’s +pipes and awaited Tsae-che’s return. +</p> + +<p> +“It is unendurable that they of the silk market should be so +ill-equipped,” remarked Tsae-che discontentedly as she entered. +“This pitiable one has worn away the heels of her sandals in a vain +endeavour to procure a suitable embroidery, and has turned over the contents of +every stall to no material end. How have the events of the day progressed with +you, my lord?” +</p> + +<p> +“To the fulfilling of a written destiny. Yet in a measure darkly, for a +light has gone out,” replied Yuen Yan. +</p> + +<p> +“There was no unanticipated divergence?” inquired the woman with +interest and a marked approval of this delicate way of expressing the operation +of an unpleasant necessity. +</p> + +<p> +“From detail to detail it was as this person desired and +contrived,” said Yan. +</p> + +<p> +“And, of a surety, this one also?” claimed Tsae-che, with an +internal emotion that something was insidiously changed in which she had no +adequate part. +</p> + +<p> +“The language may be fully expressed in six styles of writing, but who +shall read the mind of a woman?” replied Yan evasively. +“Nevertheless, in explicit words, the overhanging shadow has departed and +the future is assured.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well,” said Tsae-che. “Yet how altered is your voice, +and for what reason do you hold a cloth before your mouth?” +</p> + +<p> +“The staff broke and a splinter flying upwards pierced my lips,” +said Yan, lowering the cloth. “You speak truly, for the pain attending +each word is by no means slight, and scarcely can this person recognize his own +voice.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, incomparable Chou-hu, how valiantly do you bear your +sufferings!” exclaimed Tsae-che remorsefully. “And while this +heedless one has been passing the time pleasantly in handling rich brocades you +have been lying here in anguish. Behold now, without delay she will prepare +food to divert your mind, and to mark the occasion she had already purchased a +little jar of gold-fish gills, two eggs branded with the assurance that they +have been earth-buried for eleven years, and a small serpent preserved in +oil.” +</p> + +<p> +When they had eaten for some time in silence Yuen Yan again spoke. +“Attend closely to my words,” he said, “and if you perceive +any disconcerting oversight in the scheme which I am about to lay before you do +not hesitate to declare it. The threat which Heng-cho the baker swore he swore +openly, and many reputable witnesses could be gathered together who would +confirm his words, while the written message of reconciliation which he sent +will be known to none. Let us therefore take that which lies in the cave +beneath and clothing it in my robes bear it unperceived as soon as the night +has descended and leave it in the courtyard of Heng-cho’s house. Now +Heng-cho has a fig plantation outside the city, so that when he rises early, as +his custom is, and finds the body, he will carry it away to bury it secretly +there, remembering his impetuous words and well knowing the net of entangling +circumstances which must otherwise close around him. At that moment you will +appear before him, searching for your husband, and suspecting his burden raise +an outcry that may draw the neighbours to your side if necessary. On this +point, however, be discreetly observant, for if the tumult calls down the +official watch it will go evilly with Heng-cho, but we shall profit little. The +greater likelihood is that as soon as you lift up your voice the baker will +implore you to accompany him back to his house so that he may make a full and +honourable compensation. This you will do, and hastening the negotiation as +much as is consistent with a seemly regard for your overwhelming grief, you +will accept not less than five hundred taels and an undertaking that a suitable +funeral will be provided.” +</p> + +<p> +“O thrice-versatile Chou-hu!” exclaimed Tsae-che, whose eyes had +reflected an ever-increasing sparkle of admiration as Yan unfolded the details +of his scheme, “how insignificant are the minds of others compared with +yours! Assuredly you have been drinking at some magic well in this one’s +absence, for never before was your intellect so keen and lustreful. Let us at +once carry your noble stratagem into effect, for this person’s toes +vibrate to bear her on a project of such remunerative ingenuity.” +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly they descended into the cave beneath and taking up Chou-hu they +again dressed him in his own robes. In his inner sleeve Yan placed some +parchments of slight importance; he returned the jade bracelet to his wrist and +by other signs he made his identity unmistakable; then lifting him between +them, when the night was well advanced, they carried him through unfrequented +ways and left him unperceived within Heng-cho’s gate. +</p> + +<p> +“There is yet another precaution which will ensure to you the sympathetic +voices of all if it should become necessary to appeal openly,” said Yuen +Yan when they had returned. “I will make out a deed of final intention +conferring all I possess upon Yuen Yan as a mark of esteem for his +conscientious services, and this you can produce if necessary in order to crush +the niggard baker in the wine-press of your necessitous destitution.” +Thereupon Yan drew up such a document as he had described, signing it with +Chou-hu’s name and sealing it with his ring, while Tsae-che also added +her sign and attestation. He then sent her to lurk upon the roof, strictly +commanding her to keep an undeviating watch upon Heng-cho’s movements. +</p> + +<p> +It was about the hour before dawn when Heng-cho appeared, bearing across his +back a well-filled sack and carrying in his right hand a spade. His steps were +turned towards the fig orchard of which Yan had spoken, so that he must pass +Chou-hu’s house, but before he reached it Tsae-che had glided out and +with loosened hair and trailing robes she sped along the street. Presently +there came to Yuen Yan’s waiting ear a long-drawn cry and the sounds of +many shutters being flung open and the tread of hurrying feet. The moments hung +about him like the wings of a dragon-dream, but a prudent restraint chained him +to the inner chamber. +</p> + +<p> +It was fully light when Tsae-che returned, accompanied by one whom she +dismissed before she entered. “Felicity,” she explained, placing +before Yan a heavy bag of silver. “Your word has been +accomplished.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is sufficient,” replied Yan in a tone from which every tender +modulation was absent, as he laid the silver by the side of the parchment which +he had drawn up. “For what reason is the outer door now barred and they +who drink tea with us prevented from entering to wish Yuen Yan +prosperity?” +</p> + +<p> +“Strange are my lord’s words, and the touch of his breath is cold +to his menial one,” said the woman in doubting reproach. +</p> + +<p> +“It will scarcely warm even the roots of Heng-cho’s +fig-trees,” replied Yuen Yan with unveiled contempt. “Stretch +across your hand.” +</p> + +<p> +In trembling wonder Tsae-che laid her hand upon the ebony table which stood +between them and slowly advanced it until Yan seized it and held it firmly in +his own. For a moment he held it, compelling the woman to gaze with a +soul-crushing dread into his face, then his features relaxed somewhat from the +effort by which he had controlled them, and at the sight Tsae-che tore away her +hand and with a scream which caused those outside to forget the memory of every +other cry they had ever heard, she cast herself from the house and was seen in +the city no more. +</p> + +<p> +These are the pages of the forgotten incident in the life of Yuen Yan which +this narrator has sought out and discovered. Elsewhere, in the lesser Classics, +it may be read that the person in question afterwards lived to a venerable age +and finally Passed Above surrounded by every luxury, after leading an existence +consistently benevolent and marked by an even exceptional adherence to the +principles and requirements of The Virtues. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a> CHAPTER X<br /> +The Incredible Obtuseness of Those who had Opposed the Virtuous Kai Lung</h2> + +<p> +It was later than the appointed hour that same day when Kai Lung and Hwa-mei +met about the shutter, for the Mandarin’s importunity had disturbed the +harmonious balance of their fixed arrangement. As the story-teller left the +inner chamber a message of understanding, veiled from those who stood around, +had passed between their eyes, and so complete was the sympathy that now +directed them that without a spoken word their plans were understood. +Li-loe’s acquiescence had been secured by the bestowal of a flask of wine +(provided already by Hwa-mei against such an emergency), and though the +door-keeper had indicated reproach by a variety of sounds, he forbore from +speaking openly of any vaster store. +</p> + +<p> +“Let the bitterness of this one’s message be that which is first +spoken, so that the later and more enduring words of our remembrance may be +devoid of sting. A star has shone across my mediocre path which now an envious +cloud has conspired to obscure. This meeting will doubtless be our last.” +</p> + +<p> +Then replied Kai Lung from the darkness of the space above, his voice unhurried +as its wont: +</p> + +<p> +“If this is indeed the end, then to the spirits of the destinies I +prostrate myself in thanks for those golden hours that have gone before, and +had there been no others to recall then would I equally account myself repaid +in life and death by this.” +</p> + +<p> +“My words ascend with yours in a pale spiral to the bosom of the +universal mother,” Hwa-mei made response. “I likewise am content, +having tasted this felicity.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is yet one other thing, esteemed, if such a presumption is to be +endured,” Kai Lung ventured to request. “Each day a stone has been +displaced from off the wall and these now lie about your gentle feet. If you +should inconvenience yourself to the extent of standing upon the mound thus +raised, and would stretch up your hand, I, leaning forth, could touch it with +my finger-tips.” +</p> + +<p> +“This also will I dare to do and feel it no reproach,” replied +Hwa-mei; thus for the first time their fingers met. +</p> + +<p> +“Let me now continue the ignoble message that my unworthy lips must +bear,” resumed the maiden, with a gesture of refined despair. +“Ming-shu and Shan Tien, recognizing a mutual need in each, have agreed +to forego their wordy strife and have entered upon a common cause. To mark this +reconciliation the Mandarin to-morrow night will make a feast of wine and song +in honour of Ming-shu and into this assembly you will be led, bound and wearing +the wooden cang, to contribute to their offensive mirth. To this end you will +not be arraigned to-morrow, but on the following morning at a special court +swift sentence will be passed and carried out, neither will Shan Tien suffer +any interruption nor raise an arresting hand.” +</p> + +<p> +The darkness by this time encompassed them so that neither could see the +other’s face, but across the scent-laden air Hwa-mei was conscious of a +subtle change, as of a poise or the tightening of a responsive cord. +</p> + +<p> +“This is the end?” she whispered up, unable to sustain. “Ah, +is it not the end?” +</p> + +<p> +“In the high wall of destiny that bounds our lives there is ever a hidden +gap to which the Pure Ones may guide our unconscious steps perchance, if they +see fit to intervene.... So that to-morrow, being the eleventh of the Moon of +Gathering-in, is to be celebrated by the noble Mandarin with song and wine? +Truly the nimble-witted Ming-shu must have slumbered by the way!” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly he has but now returned from a long journey.” +</p> + +<p> +“Haply he may start upon a longer. Have the musicians been commanded +yet?” +</p> + +<p> +“Even now one goes to inform the leader of their voices and to bid him +hold his band in readiness.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let it be your continual aim that nothing bars their progress. Where +does that just official dwell of whom you lately spoke?” +</p> + +<p> +“The Censor K’o-yih, he who rebuked Shan Tien’s ambitions and +made him mend his questionable life? His yamen is about the Three-eyed Gate of +Tai, a half-day’s journey to the south.” +</p> + +<p> +“The lines converge and the issues of Shan Tien, Ming-shu and we who +linger here will presently be brought to a very decisive point where each must +play a clear-cut part. To that end is your purpose firm?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lay your commands,” replied Hwa-mei steadfastly, “and +measure not the burden of their weight.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well,” agreed Kai Lung. “Let Shan Tien give the feast +and the time of acquiescence will have passed.... The foothold of to-morrow +looms insecure, yet a very pressing message must meanwhile reach your +hands.” +</p> + +<p> +“At the feast?” +</p> + +<p> +“Thus: about the door of the inner hall are two great jars of shining +brass, one on either side, and at their approach a step. Being led, at that +step I shall stumble.... the message you will thereafter find in the jar from +which I seek support.” +</p> + +<p> +“It shall be to me as your spoken word. Alas! the moment of recall is +already here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubt not; we stand on the edge of an era that is immeasurable. For that +emergency I now go to consult the spirits who have so far guided us.” +</p> + +<p> +On the following day at an evening hour Kai Lung received an imperious summons +to accompany one who led him to the inner courts. Yet neither the cords about +his arms nor the pillory around his neck could contain the gladness of his +heart. From within came the sounds of instruments of wood and string with the +measured beating of a drum; nothing had fallen short, for on that forbidden +day, incredibly blind to the depths of his impiety, the ill-starred Mandarin +Shan Tien was having music! +</p> + +<p> +“Gall of a misprocured she-mule!” exclaimed the unsympathetic voice +of the one who had charge of him, and the rope was jerked to quicken his +loitering feet. In an effort to comply Kai Lung missed the step that crossed +his path and stumbling blindly forward would have fallen had he not struck +heavily against a massive jar of lacquered brass, one of two that flanked the +door. +</p> + +<p> +“Thy province is to tell a tale rather than to dance a grotesque, as I +understand the matter,” said the attendant, mollified by the amusement. +“In any case, restrain thy admitted ardour for a while; the call is not +yet for us.” +</p> + +<p> +From a group that stood apart some distance from the door one moved forth and +leisurely crossed the hall. Kai Lung’s wounded head ceased to pain him. +</p> + +<p> +“What slave is this,” she demanded of the other in a slow and level +tone, “and wherefore do the two of you intrude on this occasion?” +</p> + +<p> +“The exalted lord commands that this one of the prisoners should attend +here thus, to divert them with his fancies, he having a certain wit of the more +foolish kind. Kai Lung, the dog’s name is.” +</p> + +<p> +“Approach yet nearer to the inner door,” enjoined the maiden, +indicating the direction; “so that when the message comes there shall be +no inept delay.” As they moved off to obey she stood in languid +unconcern, leaning across the opening of a tall brass vase, one hand swinging +idly in its depths, until they reached their station. Kai Lung did not need his +eyes to know. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the music ceased, and summoned to appear in turn, Kai Lung stood +forth among the guests. On the right hand of the Mandarin reclined the base +Ming-shu, his mind already vapoury with the fumes of wine, the secret malice of +his envious mind now boldly leaping from his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“The overrated person now about to try your refined patience to its limit +is one who calls himself Kai Lung,” declared Ming-shu offensively. +“From an early age he has combined minstrelsy with other and more +lucrative forms of crime. It is the boast of this contumacious mendicant that +he can recite a story to fit any set of circumstances, this, indeed, being the +only merit claimed for his feeble entertainment. The test selected for your +tolerant amusement on this very second-rate occasion is that he relates the +story of a presuming youth who fixes his covetous hopes upon one so far above +his degraded state that she and all who behold his uncouth efforts are consumed +by helpless laughter. Ultimately he is to be delivered to a severe but +well-earned death by a conscientious official whose leisurely purpose is to +possess the maiden for himself. Although occasionally bordering on the +funereal, the details of the narrative are to be of a light and +gravity-removing nature on the whole. Proceed.” +</p> + +<p> +The story-teller made obeisance towards the Mandarin, whose face meanwhile +revealed a complete absence of every variety of emotion. +</p> + +<p> +“Have I your genial permission to comply, nobility?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“The word is spoken,” replied Shan Tien unwillingly. “Let the +vaunt be justified.” +</p> + +<p> +“I obey, High Excellence. This involves the story of Hien and the Chief +Examiner.” +</p> + +<h3>The Story of Hien and the Chief Examiner</h3> + +<p> +In the reign of the Emperor K’ong there lived at Ho Chow an official +named Thang-li, whose degree was that of Chief Examiner of Literary +Competitions for the district. He had an only daughter, Fa Fei, whose mind was +so liberally stored with graceful accomplishments as to give rise to the saying +that to be in her presence was more refreshing than to sit in a garden of +perfumes listening to the wisdom of seven elderly philosophers, while her +glossy floating hair, skin of crystal lustre, crescent nails and feet smaller +and more symmetrical than an opening lotus made her the most beautiful creature +in all Ho Chow. Possessing no son, and maintaining an open contempt towards all +his nearer relations, it had become a habit for Thang-li to converse with his +daughter almost on terms of equality, so that she was not surprised on one +occasion, when, calling her into his presence, he graciously commanded her to +express herself freely on whatever subject seemed most important in her mind. +</p> + +<p> +“The Great Middle Kingdom in which we live is not only inhabited by the +most enlightened, humane and courteous-minded race, but is itself fittingly the +central and most desirable point of the Universe, surrounded by other less +favoured countries peopled by races of pig-tailless men and large-footed women, +all destitute of refined intelligence,” replied Fa Fei modestly. +“The sublime Emperor is of all persons the wisest, purest +and—” +</p> + +<p> +“Undoubtedly,” interrupted Thang-li. “These truths are of +gem-like brilliance, and the ears of a patriotic subject can never be closed to +the beauty and music of their ceaseless repetition. Yet between father and +daughter in the security of an inner chamber there not unnaturally arise topics +of more engrossing interest. For example, now that you are of a marriageable +age, have your eyes turned in the direction of any particular suitor?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, thrice-venerated sire!” exclaimed Fa Fei, looking vainly round +for some attainable object behind which to conceal her honourable confusion, +“should the thoughts of a maiden dwell definitely on a matter of such +delicate consequence?” +</p> + +<p> +“They should not,” replied her father; “but as they +invariably do, the speculation is one outside our immediate concern. Nor, as it +is your wonted custom to ascend upon the outside roof at a certain hour of the +morning, is it reasonable to assume that you are ignorant of the movements of +the two young men who daily contrive to linger before this in no way attractive +residence without any justifiable pretext.” +</p> + +<p> +“My father is all-seeing,” replied Fa Fei in a commendable spirit +of dutiful acquiescence, and also because it seemed useless to deny the +circumstance. +</p> + +<p> +“It is unnecessary,” said Thang-li. “Surrounded, as he is, by +a retinue of eleven female attendants, it is enough to be all-hearing. But +which of the two has impressed you in the more favourable light?” +</p> + +<p> +“How can the inclinations of an obedient daughter affect the +matter?” said Fa Fei evasively. “Unless, O most indulgent, it is +your amiable intention to permit me to follow the inspiration of my own +unfettered choice?” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly,” replied the benevolent Thang-li. “Provided, of +course, that the choice referred to should by no evil mischance run in a +contrary direction to my own maturer judgment.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet if such an eventuality did haply arise?” persisted Fa Fei. +</p> + +<p> +“None but the irredeemably foolish spend their time in discussing the +probable sensation of being struck by a thunderbolt,” said Thang-li more +coldly. “From this day forth, also, be doubly guarded in the undeviating +balance of your attitude. Restrain the swallow-like flights of your admittedly +brilliant eyes, and control the movements of your expressive fan within the +narrowest bounds of necessity. This person’s position between the two is +one of exceptional delicacy and he has by no means yet decided which to +favour.” +</p> + +<p> +“In such a case,” inquired Fa Fei, caressing his pig-tail +persuasively, “how does a wise man act, and by what manner of omens is he +influenced in his decision?” +</p> + +<p> +“In such a case,” replied Thang-li, “a very wise man does not +act; but maintaining an impassive countenance, he awaits the unrolling of +events until he sees what must inevitably take place. It is thus that his +reputation for wisdom is built up.” +</p> + +<p> +“Furthermore,” said Fa Fei hopefully, “the ultimate +pronouncement rests with the guarding deities?” +</p> + +<p> +“Unquestionably,” agreed Thang-li. “Yet, by a venerable +custom, the esteem of the maiden’s parents is the detail to which the +suitors usually apply themselves with the greatest diligence.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Of the two persons thus referred to by Thang-li, one, Tsin Lung, lived beneath +the sign of the Righteous Ink Brush. By hereditary right Tsin Lung followed the +profession of copying out the more difficult Classics in minute characters upon +parchments so small that an entire library could be concealed among the folds +of a garment, in this painstaking way enabling many persons who might otherwise +have failed at the public examination, and been driven to spend an idle and +perhaps even dissolute life, to pass with honourable distinction to themselves +and widespread credit to his resourceful system. One gratified candidate, +indeed, had compared his triumphal passage through the many grades of the +competition to the luxurious ease of being carried in a sedan-chair, and from +that time Tsin Lung was jestingly referred to as a “sedan-chair.” +</p> + +<p> +It might reasonably be thought that a person enjoying this enviable position +would maintain a loyal pride in the venerable traditions of his house and +suffer the requirements of his craft to become the four walls of his ambition. +Alas! Tsin Lung must certainly have been born under the influence of a very +evil planet, for the literary quality of his profession did not entice his +imagination at all, and his sole and frequently-expressed desire was to become +a pirate. Nothing but the necessity of obtaining a large sum of money with +which to purchase a formidable junk and to procure the services of a band of +capable and bloodthirsty outlaws bound him to Ho Chow, unless, perchance, it +might be the presence there of Fa Fei after he had once cast his piratical eye +upon her overwhelming beauty. +</p> + +<p> +The other of the two persons was Hien, a youth of studious desires and +unassuming manner. His father had been the chief tax-collector of the Chunling +mountains, beyond the town, and although the exact nature of the tax and the +reason for its extortion had become forgotten in the process of interminable +ages, he himself never admitted any doubt of his duty to collect it from all +who passed over the mountains, even though the disturbed state of the country +made it impossible for him to transmit the proceeds to the capital. To those +who uncharitably extended the envenomed tongue of suspicion towards the very +existence of any Imperial tax, the father of Hien replied with unshaken loyalty +that in such a case the sublime Emperor had been very treacherously served by +his advisers, as the difficulty of the paths and the intricate nature of the +passes rendered the spot peculiarly suitable for the purpose, and as he was +accompanied by a well-armed and somewhat impetuous band of followers, his +arguments were inevitably successful. When he Passed Beyond, Hien accepted the +leadership, but solely out of a conscientious respect for his father’s +memory, for his heart was never really in the occupation. His time was almost +wholly taken up in reading the higher Classics, and even before he had seen Fa +Fei his determination had been taken that when once he had succeeded in passing +the examination for the second degree and thereby become entitled to an +inferior mandarinship he would abandon his former life forever. From this +resolution the entreaties of his devoted followers could not shake him, and +presently they ceased to argue, being reassured by the fact that although Hien +presented himself unfailingly for every examination his name appeared at the +foot of each successive list with unvarying frequency. It was at this period +that he first came under the ennobling spell of Fa Fei’s influence and +from that time forth he redoubled his virtuous efforts. +</p> + +<p> +After conversing with her father, as already related, Fa Fei spent the day in +an unusually thoughtful spirit. As soon as it was dark she stepped out from the +house and veiling her purpose under the pretext of gathering some herbs to +complete a charm she presently entered a grove of overhanging cedars where Hien +had long been awaiting her footsteps. +</p> + +<p> +“Rainbow of my prosaic existence!” he exclaimed, shaking hands with +himself courteously, “have you yet carried out your bold +suggestion?” and so acute was his anxiety for her reply that he continued +to hold his hand unconsciously until Fa Fei turned away her face in very +becoming confusion. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, O my dragon-hearted one,” she replied at length, “I +have indeed dared to read the scroll, but how shall this person’s +inelegant lips utter so detestable a truth?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is already revealed,” said Hien, striving to conceal from her +his bitterness. “When the list of competitors at the late examination is +publicly proclaimed to-morrow at the four gates of the city, the last name to +be announced will again, and for the eleventh time, be that of the degraded +Hien.” +</p> + +<p> +“Beloved,” exclaimed Fa Fei, resolved that as she could not +honourably deny that her Hien’s name was again indeed the last one to +appear she would endeavour to lead his mind subtly away to the contemplation of +more pleasurable thoughts, “it is as you have said, but although your +name is the last, it is by far the most dignified and romantic-sounding of all, +nor is there another throughout the list which can be compared to it for the +ornamental grace of its flowing curves.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nevertheless,” replied Hien, in a violent access of self-contempt, +“it is a name of abandoned omen and is destined only to reach the ears of +posterity to embellish the proverb of scorn, ‘The lame duck should avoid +the ploughed field.’ Can there—can there by no chance have been +some hope-inspiring error?” +</p> + +<p> +“Thus were the names inscribed on the parchment which after the public +announcement will be affixed to the Hall of Ten Thousand Lustres,” +replied Fa Fei. “With her own unworthy eyes this incapable person beheld +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“The name ‘Hien’ is in no way striking or profound,” +continued the one in question, endeavouring to speak as though the subject +referred to some person standing at a considerable distance away. +“Furthermore, so commonplace and devoid of character are its written +outlines that it has very much the same appearance whichever way up it is +looked at.... The possibility that in your graceful confusion you held the list +in such a position that what appeared to be the end was in reality the +beginning is remote in the extreme, yet—” +</p> + +<p> +In spite of an absorbing affection Fa Fei could not disguise from herself that +her feelings would have been more pleasantly arranged if her lover had been +inspired to accept his position unquestioningly. “There is a detail, +hitherto unrevealed, which disposes of all such amiable suggestions,” she +replied. “After the name referred to, someone in authority had inscribed +the undeniable comment ‘As usual.’” +</p> + +<p> +“The omen is a most encouraging one,” exclaimed Hien, throwing +aside all his dejection. “Hitherto this person’s untiring efforts +had met with no official recognition whatever. It is now obvious that far from +being lost in the crowd he is becoming an object of honourable interest to the +examiners.” +</p> + +<p> +“One frequently hears it said, ‘After being struck on the head with +an axe it is a positive pleasure to be beaten about the body with a wooden +club,’” said Fa Fei, “and the meaning of the formerly elusive +proverb is now explained. Would it not be prudent to avail yourself at length +of the admittedly outrageous Tsin Lung’s services, so that this period of +unworthy trial may be brought to a distinguished close?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is said, ‘Do not eat the fruit of the stricken +branch,’” replied Hien, “and this person will never owe his +success to one who is so detestable in his life and morals that with every +facility for a scholarly and contemplative existence he freely announces his +barbarous intention of becoming a pirate. Truly the Dragon of Justice does but +sleep for a little time, and when he awakens all that will be left of the +mercenary Tsin Lung and those who associate with him will scarcely be enough to +fill an orange skin.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless it will be so,” agreed Fa Fei, regretting, however, that +Hien had not been content to prophesy a more limited act of vengeance, until, +at least, her father had come to a definite decision regarding her own future. +“Alas, though, the Book of Dynasties expressly says, ‘The +one-legged never stumble,’ and Tsin Lung is so morally ill-balanced that +the proverb may even apply to him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not fear,” said Hien. “It is elsewhere written, +‘Love and leprosy few escape,’ and the spirit of Tsin Lung’s +destiny is perhaps even at this moment lurking unsuspected behind some secret +place.” +</p> + +<p> +“If,” exclaimed a familiar voice, “the secret place alluded +to should chance to be a hollow cedar-tree of inadequate girth, the unfortunate +spirit in question will have my concentrated sympathy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Just and magnanimous father!” exclaimed Fa Fei, thinking it more +prudent not to recognize that he had learned of their meeting-place and +concealing himself there had awaited their coming, “when your absence was +discovered a heaven-sent inspiration led me to this spot. Have I indeed been +permitted here to find you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly you have,” replied Thang-li, who was equally desirous of +concealing the real circumstances, although the difficulty of the position into +which he had hastily and incautiously thrust his body on their approach +compelled him to reveal himself. “The same inspiration led me to lose +myself in this secluded spot, as being the one which you would inevitably +search.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet by what incredible perversity does it arise, venerable Thang-li, +that a leisurely and philosophical stroll should result in a person of your +dignified proportions occupying so unattractive a position?” said Hien, +who appeared to be too ingenuous to suspect Thang-li’s craft, in spite of +a warning glance from Fa Fei’s expressive eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“The remark is a natural one, O estimable youth,” replied Thang-li, +doubtless smiling benevolently, although nothing of his person could be +actually seen by Hien or Fa Fei, “but the recital is not devoid of +humiliation. While peacefully studying the position of the heavens this person +happened to glance into the upper branches of a tree and among them he beheld a +bird’s nest of unusual size and richness—one that would promise to +yield a dish of the rarest flavour. Lured on by the anticipation of so +sumptuous a course, he rashly trusted his body to an unworthy branch, and the +next moment, notwithstanding his unceasing protests to the protecting Powers, +he was impetuously deposited within this hollow trunk.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not unreasonably is it said, ‘A bird in the soup is better than an +eagle’s nest in the desert,’” exclaimed Hien. “The +pursuit of a fair and lofty object is set about with hidden pitfalls to others +beyond you, O noble Chief Examiner! By what nimble-witted act of adroitness is +it now your enlightened purpose to extricate yourself?” +</p> + +<p> +At this admittedly polite but in no way inspiring question a silence of a very +acute intensity seemed to fall on that part of the forest. The mild and +inscrutable expression of Hien’s face did not vary, but into Fa +Fei’s eyes there came an unexpected but not altogether disapproving +radiance, while, without actually altering, the appearance of the tree +encircling Thang-li’s form undoubtedly conveyed the impression that the +benevolent smile which might hitherto have been reasonably assumed to exist +within had been abruptly withdrawn. +</p> + +<p> +“Your meaning is perhaps well-intentioned, gracious Hien,” said +Thang-li at length, “but as an offer of disinterested assistance your +words lack the gong-like clash of spontaneous enthusiasm. Nevertheless, if you +will inconvenience yourself to the extent of climbing this not really difficult +tree for a short distance you will be able to grasp some outlying portion of +this one’s body without any excessive fatigue.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mandarin,” replied Hien, “to touch even the extremity of +your incomparable pig-tail would be an honour repaying all earthly +fatigue—” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not hesitate to seize it, then,” said Thang-li, as Hien paused. +“Yet, if this person may without ostentation continue the analogy, to +grasp him firmly by the shoulders must confer a higher distinction and would be +even more agreeable to his own feelings.” +</p> + +<p> +“The proposal is a flattering one,” continued Hien, “but my +hands are bound down by the decree of the High Powers, for among the most +inviolable of the edicts is it not written: ‘Do the lame offer to carry +the footsore; the blind to protect the one-eyed? Distrust the threadbare person +who from an upper back room invites you to join him in an infallible process of +enrichment; turn aside from the one devoid of pig-tail who says, “Behold, +a few drops daily at the hour of the morning sacrifice and your virtuous head +shall be again like a well-sown rice-field at the time of harvest”; and +towards the passing stranger who offers you that mark of confidence which your +friends withhold close and yet again open a different eye. So shall you grow +obese in wisdom’?” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” exclaimed Thang-li, “the inconveniences of living in +an Empire where a person has to regulate the affairs of his everyday life by +the sacred but antiquated proverbial wisdom of his remote ancestors are by no +means trivial. Cannot this possibly mythical obstacle be flattened-out by the +amiable acceptance of a jar of sea snails or some other seasonable delicacy, +honourable Hien?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing but a really well-grounded encouragement as regards Fa Fei can +persuade this person to regard himself as anything but a solitary +outcast,” replied Hien, “and one paralysed in every useful impulse. +Rather than abandon the opportunity of coming to such an arrangement he would +almost be prepared to give up all idea of ever passing the examination for the +second degree.” +</p> + +<p> +“By no means,” exclaimed Thang-li hastily. “The sacrifice +would be too excessive. Do not relinquish your sleuth-hound-like persistence, +and success will inevitably reward your ultimate end.” +</p> + +<p> +“Can it really be,” said Hien incredulously, “that my +contemptible efforts are a matter of sympathetic interest to one so high up in +every way as the renowned Chief Examiner?” +</p> + +<p> +“They are indeed,” replied Thang-li, with that ingratiating candour +that marked his whole existence. “Doubtless so prosaic a detail as the +system of remuneration has never occupied your refined thoughts, but when it is +understood that those in the position of this person are rewarded according to +the success of the candidates you will begin to grasp the attitude.” +</p> + +<p> +“In that case,” remarked Hien, with conscious humiliation, +“nothing but a really sublime tolerance can have restrained you from +upbraiding this obscure competitor as a thoroughly corrupt egg.” +</p> + +<p> +“On the contrary,” replied Thang-li reassuringly, “I have +long regarded you as the auriferous fowl itself. It is necessary to explain, +perhaps, that the payment by result alluded to is not based on the number of +successful candidates, but—much more reasonably as all those have to be +provided with lucrative appointments by the authorities—on the economy +effected to the State by those whom I can conscientiously reject. Owing to the +malignant Tsin Lung’s sinister dexterity these form an ever-decreasing +band, so that you may now be fittingly deemed the chief prop of a virtuous but +poverty-afflicted line. When you reflect that for the past eleven years you +have thus really had the honour of providing the engaging Fa Fei with all the +necessities of her very ornamental existence you will see that you already +possess practically all the advantages of matrimony. Nevertheless, if you will +now bring our agreeable conversation to an end by releasing this inauspicious +person he will consider the matter with the most indulgent sympathies.” +</p> + +<p> +“Withhold!” exclaimed a harsh voice before Hien could reply, and +from behind a tree where he had heard Thang-li’s impolite reference to +himself Tsin Lung stood forth. “How does it chance, O two-complexioned +Chief Examiner, that after weighing this one’s definite +proposals—even to the extent of demanding a certain proportion in +advance—you are now engaged in holding out the same alluring hope to +another? Assuredly, if your existence is so critically imperilled this person +and none other will release you and claim the reward.” +</p> + +<p> +“Turn your face backwards, imperious Tsin Lung,” cried Hien. +“These incapable hands alone shall have the overwhelming distinction of +drawing forth the illustrious Thang-li.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not get entangled among my advancing footsteps, immature one,” +contemptuously replied Tsin Lung, shaking the massive armour in which he was +encased from head to foot. “It is inept for pigmies to stand before one +who has every intention of becoming a rapacious pirate shortly.” +</p> + +<p> +“The sedan-chair is certainly in need of new shafts,” retorted +Hien, and drawing his sword with an expression of ferocity he caused it to +whistle around his head so loudly that a flock of migratory doves began to +arrive, under the impression that others of their tribe were calling them to +assemble. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” exclaimed Thang-li, in an accent of despair, +“doubtless the wise Nung-yu was surrounded by disciples all eager that no +other should succour him when he remarked: ‘A humble friend in the same +village is better than sixteen influential brothers in the Royal Palace.’ +In all this illimitable Empire is there not room for one whose aspirations are +bounded by the submerged walls of a predatory junk and another whose occupation +is limited to the upper passes of the Chunling mountains? Consider the poignant +nature of this person’s vain regrets if by a couple of evilly directed +blows you succeeded at this inopportune moment in exterminating one +another!” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not fear, exalted Thang-li,” cried Hien, who, being necessarily +somewhat occupied in preparing himself against Tsin Lung’s attack, failed +to interpret these words as anything but a direct encouragement to his own +cause. “Before the polluting hands of one who disdains the Classics shall +be laid upon your sacred extremities this tenacious person will fix upon his +antagonist with a serpent-like embrace and, if necessary, suffer the spirits of +both to Pass Upward in one breath.” And to impress Tsin Lung with his +resolution he threw away his scabbard and picked it up again several times. +</p> + +<p> +“Grow large in hope, worthy Chief Examiner,” cried Tsin Lung, who +from a like cause was involved in a similar misapprehension. “Rather +shall your imperishable bones adorn the interior of a hollow cedar-tree +throughout all futurity than you shall suffer the indignity of being extricated +by an earth-nurtured sleeve-snatcher.” And to intimidate Hien by the +display he continued to clash his open hand against his leg armour until the +pain became intolerable. +</p> + +<p> +“Honourable warriors!” implored Thang-li in so agonized a +voice—and also because they were weary of the exercise—that Hien +and Tsin Lung paused, “curb your bloodthirsty ambitions for a +breathing-space and listen to what will probably be a Last Expression. Believe +the passionate sincerity of this one’s throat when he proclaims that +there would be nothing repugnant to his very keenest susceptibilities if an +escaping parricide, who was also guilty of rebellion, temple-robbing, +book-burning, murder and indiscriminate violence, and the pollution of tombs, +took him familiarly by the hand at this moment. What, therefore, would be his +gratified feelings if two such nobly-born subjects joined forces and drew him +up dexterously by the body-cloth? Accept his definite assurance that without +delay a specific pronouncement would be made respecting the bestowal of the one +around whose jade-like personality this encounter has arisen.” +</p> + +<p> +“The proposal casts a reasonable shadow, gracious Hien,” remarked +Tsin Lung, turning towards the other with courteous deference. “Shall we +bring a scene of irrational carnage to an end and agree to regard the +incomparable Thang-li’s benevolent tongue as an outstretched olive +branch?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is admittedly said, ‘Every road leads in two directions,’ +and the alternative you suggest, O virtue-loving Tsin Lung, is both reputable +and just,” replied Hien pleasantly. In this amiable spirit they +extricated Thang-li and bore him to the ground. At an appointed hour he +received them with becoming ceremony and after a many-coursed repast rose to +fulfil the specific terms of his pledge. +</p> + +<p> +“The Line of Thang,” he remarked with inoffensive pride, “has +for seven generations been identified with a high standard of literary +achievement. Undeniably it is a very creditable thing to control the movements +of an ofttime erratic vessel and to emerge triumphantly from a combat with +every junk you encounter, and it is no less worthy of esteem to gather round +about one, on the sterile slopes of the Chunlings, a devoted band of followers. +Despite these virtues, however, neither occupation is marked by any appreciable +literary flavour, and my word is, therefore, that both persons shall present +themselves for the next examination, and when in due course the result is +declared the more successful shall be hailed as the chosen suitor. Lo, I have +spoken into a sealed bottle, and my voice cannot vary.” +</p> + +<p> +Then replied Tsin Lung: “Truly, it is as it is said, astute Thang-li, +though the encircling wall of a hollow cedar-tree, for example, might impart to +the voice in question a less uncompromising ring of finality than it possesses +when raised in a silk-lined chamber and surrounded by a band of armed +retainers. Nevertheless the pronouncement is one which appeals to this +person’s sense of justice, and the only improvement he can suggest is +that the superfluous Hien should hasten that ceremony at which he will be an +honoured guest by now signifying his intention of retiring from so certain a +defeat. For by what expedient,” he continued, with arrogant persistence, +“can you avert that end, O ill-destined Hien? Have you not burned +joss-sticks to the deities, both good and bad, for eleven years unceasingly? +Can you, as this person admittedly can, inscribe the Classics with such +inimitable delicacy that an entire volume of the Book of Decorum, copied in his +most painstaking style, may be safely carried about within a hollow tooth, a +lengthy ode, traced on a shred of silk, wrapped undetectably around a single +eyelash?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is true that the one before you cannot bend his brush to such +deceptive ends,” replied Hien modestly. +</p> + +<p> +“A detail, however, has escaped your reckoning. Hitherto Hien has been +opposed by a thousand, and against so many it is true that the spirits of his +ancestors have been able to afford him very little help. On this occasion he +need regard one adversary alone. Giving those Forces which he invokes clearly +to understand that they need not concern themselves with any other, he will +plainly intimate that after so many sacrifices on his part something of a +really tangible affliction is required to overwhelm Tsin Lung. Whether this +shall take the form of mental stagnation, bodily paralysis, demoniacal +possession, derangement of the internal faculties, or being changed into one of +the lower animals, it might be presumptuous on this person’s part to +stipulate, but by invoking every accessible power and confining himself to this +sole petition a very definite tragedy may be expected. Beware, O contumacious +Lung, ‘However high the tree the shortest axe can reach its +trunk.’” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +As the time for the examination drew near the streets of Ho Chow began to wear +a fuller and more animated appearance both by day and night. Tsin Lung’s +outer hall was never clear of anxious suppliants all entreating him to supply +them with minute and reliable copies of the passages which they found most +difficult in the selected works, but although his low and avaricious nature was +incapable of rejecting this means of gain he devoted his closest energies and +his most inspired moments to his own personal copies, a set of books so +ethereal that they floated in the air without support and so cunningly devised +in the blending of their colour as to be, in fact, quite invisible to any but +his microscopic eyes. Hien, on the other hand, devoted himself solely to +interesting the Powers against his rival’s success by every variety of +incentive, omen, sacrifice, imprecation, firework, inscribed curse, promise, +threat or combination of inducements. Through the crowded streets and by-ways +of Ho Chow moved the imperturbable Thang-li, smiling benevolently on those whom +he encountered and encouraging each competitor, and especially Hien and Tsin +Lung, with a cheerful proverb suited to the moment. +</p> + +<p> +An outside cause had further contributed to make this period one of the most +animated in the annals of Ho Chow, for not only was the city, together with the +rest of the imperishable Empire, celebrating a great and popular victory, but, +as a direct consequence of that event, the sublime Emperor himself was holding +his court at no great distance away. An armed and turbulent rabble of +illiterate barbarians had suddenly appeared in the north and, not giving a +really sufficient indication of their purpose, had traitorously assaulted the +capital. Had he followed the prompting of his own excessive magnanimity, the +charitable Monarch would have refused to take any notice whatever of so puny +and contemptible a foe, but so unmistakable became the wishes of the +Ever-victorious Army that, yielding to their importunity, he placed himself at +their head and resolutely led them backward. Had the opposing army been more +intelligent, this crafty move would certainly have enticed them on into the +plains, where they would have fallen an easy victim to the Imperial troops and +all perished miserably. Owing to their low standard of reasoning, however, the +mule-like invaders utterly failed to grasp the advantage which, as far as the +appearance tended, they might reasonably be supposed to reap by an immediate +pursuit. They remained incapably within the capital slavishly increasing its +defences, while the Ever-victorious lurked resourcefully in the neighbourhood +of Ho Chow, satisfied that with so dull-witted an adversary they could, if the +necessity arose, go still further. +</p> + +<p> +Upon a certain day of the period thus indicated there arrived at the gate of +the royal pavilion one having the appearance of an aged seer, who craved to be +led into the Imperial Presence. +</p> + +<p> +“Lo, Mightiest,” said a slave, bearing in this message, +“there stands at the outer gate one resembling an ancient philosopher, +desiring to gladden his failing eyesight before he Passes Up with a brief +vision of your illuminated countenance.” +</p> + +<p> +“The petition is natural but inopportune,” replied the agreeable +Monarch. “Let the worthy soothsayer be informed that after an +exceptionally fatiguing day we are now snatching a few short hours of necessary +repose, from which it would be unseemly to recall us.” +</p> + +<p> +“He received your gracious words with distended ears and then observed +that it was for your All-wisdom to decide whether an inspired message which he +had read among the stars was not of more consequence than even a refreshing +sleep,” reported the slave, returning. +</p> + +<p> +“In that case,” replied the Sublimest, “tell the persevering +wizard that we have changed our minds and are religiously engaged in +worshipping our ancestors, so that it would be really sacrilegious to interrupt +us.” +</p> + +<p> +“He kowtowed profoundly at the mere mention of your charitable occupation +and proceeded to depart, remarking that it would indeed be corrupt to disturb +so meritorious an exercise with a scheme simply for your earthly +enrichment,” again reported the message-bearer. +</p> + +<p> +“Restrain him!” hastily exclaimed the broadminded Sovereign. +“Give the venerable necromancer clearly to understand that we have +worshipped them enough for one day. Doubtless the accommodating soothsayer has +discovered some rare jewel which he is loyally bringing to embellish our +crown.” +</p> + +<p> +“There are rarer jewels than those which can be pasted in a crown, +Supreme Head,” said the stranger, entering unperceived behind the +attending slave. He bore the external signs of an infirm magician, while his +face was hidden in a cloth to mark the imposition of a solemn vow. “With +what apter simile,” he continued, “can this person describe an +imperishable set of verses which he heard this morning falling from the lips of +a wandering musician like a seven-roped cable of pearls pouring into a silver +bucket? The striking and original title was ‘Concerning Spring,’ +and although the snow lay deep at the time several bystanders agreed that an +azalea bush within hearing came into blossom at the eighty-seventh +verse.” +</p> + +<p> +“We have heard of the poem to which you refer with so just a sense of +balance,” said the impartial Monarch encouragingly. (Though not to create +a two-sided impression it may be freely stated that he himself was the author +of the inspired composition.) “Which part, in your mature judgment, +reflected the highest genius and maintained the most perfectly-matched +analogy?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is aptly said: ‘When it is dark the sun no longer shines, but +who shall forget the colours of the rainbow?’” replied the +astrologer evasively. “How is it possible to suspend topaz in one cup of +the balance and weigh it against amethyst in the other; or who in a single +language can compare the tranquillizing grace of a maiden with the invigorating +pleasure of witnessing a well-contested rat-fight?” +</p> + +<p> +“Your insight is clear and unbiased,” said the gracious Sovereign. +“But however entrancing it is to wander unchecked through a garden of +bright images, are we not enticing your mind from another subject of almost +equal importance?” +</p> + +<p> +“There is yet another detail, it is true,” admitted the sage, +“but regarding its comparative importance a thoroughly loyal subject may +be permitted to amend the remark of a certain wise Emperor of a former dynasty: +‘Any person in the City can discover a score of gold mines if necessary, +but One only could possibly have written “Concerning +Spring.”’” +</p> + +<p> +“The arts may indeed be regarded as lost,” acquiesced the +magnanimous Head, “with the exception of a solitary meteor here and +there. Yet in the trivial matter of mere earthly enrichment—” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly,” agreed the other. “There is, then, a whisper in the +province that the floor of the Imperial treasury is almost visible.” +</p> + +<p> +“The rumour, as usual, exaggerates the facts grossly,” replied the +Greatest. “The floor of the Imperial treasury is quite visible.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet on the first day of the next moon the not inconsiderable revenue +contributed by those who present themselves for the examination will flow +in.” +</p> + +<p> +“And by an effete and unworthy custom almost immediately flow out again +to reward the efforts of the successful,” replied the Wearer of the +Yellow in an accent of refined bitterness. “On other occasions it is +possible to assist the overworked treasurer with a large and glutinous hand, +but from time immemorial the claims of the competitors have been +inviolable.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet if by a heaven-sent chance none, or very few, reached the necessary +standard of excellence—?” +</p> + +<p> +“Such a chance, whether proceeding from the Upper Air or the Other Parts +would be equally welcome to a very hard-lined Ruler,” replied the one who +thus described himself. +</p> + +<p> +“Then listen, O K’ong-hi, of the imperishable dynasty of +Chung,” said the stranger. “Thus was it laid upon me in the form of +a spontaneous dream. For seven centuries the Book of the Observances has been +the unvarying Classic of the examinations because during that period it has +never been surpassed. Yet as the Empire has admittedly existed from all time, +and as it would be impious not to agree that the immortal System is equally +antique, it is reasonable to suppose that the Book of the Observances displaced +an earlier and inferior work, and is destined in the cycle of time to be itself +laid aside for a still greater.” +</p> + +<p> +“The inference is self-evident,” acknowledged the Emperor uneasily, +“but the logical development is one which this diffident Monarch +hesitates to commit to spoken words.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not a matter for words but for a stroke of the Vermilion +Pencil,” replied the other in a tone of inspired authority. “Across +the faint and puny effusions of the past this person sees written in very large +and obliterating strokes the words ‘Concerning Spring.’ Where else +can be found so novel a conception combined with so unique a way of carrying it +out? What other poem contains so many thoughts that one instinctively remembers +as having heard before, so many involved allusions that baffle the imagination +of the keenest, and so much sound in so many words? With the possible exception +of Meng-hu’s masterpiece, ‘The Empty Coffin,’ what other work +so skilfully conveys the impression of being taken down farther than one can +ever again come up and then suddenly upraised beyond the possible descent? +Where else can be found so complete a defiance of all that has hitherto been +deemed essential, and, to insert a final wedge, what other poem is half so +long?” +</p> + +<p> +“Your criticism is severe but just,” replied the Sovereign, +“except that part having reference to Meng-hu. Nevertheless, the +atmosphere of the proposal, though reasonable, looms a degree stormily into a +troubled future. Can it be permissible even for—” +</p> + +<p> +“Omnipotence!” exclaimed the seer. +</p> + +<p> +“The title is well recalled,” confessed the Emperor. “Yet +although unquestionably omnipotent there must surely be some limits to our +powers in dealing with so old established a system as that of the +examinations.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who can doubt a universal admission that the composer of +‘Concerning Spring’ is capable of doing anything?” was the +profound reply. “Let the mandate be sent out—but, to an obvious +end, let it be withheld until the eve of the competitions.” +</p> + +<p> +“The moment of hesitancy has faded; go forth in the certainty, +esteemed,” said the Emperor reassuringly. “You have carried your +message with a discreet hand. Yet before you go, if there is any particular +mark of Imperial favour that we can show—something of a special but +necessarily honorary nature—do not set an iron screen between your +ambition and the light of our favourable countenance.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is indeed such a signal reward,” assented the aged person, +with an air of prepossessing diffidence. “A priceless copy of the +immortal work—” +</p> + +<p> +“By all means,” exclaimed the liberal-minded Sovereign, with an +expression of great relief. “Take three or four in case any of your +fascinating relations have large literary appetites. Or, still more +conveniently arranged, here is an unopened package from the stall of those who +send forth the printed leaves—‘thirteen in the semblance of +twelve,’ as the quaint and harmonious phrase of their craft has it. Walk +slowly, revered, and a thousand rainbows guide your retiring footsteps.” +</p> + +<p> +Concerning the episode of this discreetly-veiled personage the historians who +have handed down the story of the imperishable affection of Hien and Fa Fei +have maintained an illogical silence. Yet it is related that about the same +time, as Hien was walking by the side of a bamboo forest of stunted growth, he +was astonished by the maiden suddenly appearing before him from the direction +of the royal camp. She was incomparably radiant and had the appearance of being +exceptionally well satisfied with herself. Commanding him that he should stand +motionless with closed eyes, in order to ascertain what the presiding deities +would allot him, she bound a somewhat weighty object to the end of his +pig-tail, at the same time asking him in how short a period he could commit +about nineteen thousand lines of atrociously ill-arranged verse to the tablets +of his mind. +</p> + +<p> +“Then do not suffer the rice to grow above your ankles,” she +continued, when Hien had modestly replied that six days with good omens should +be sufficient, “but retiring to your innermost chamber bar the door and +digest this scroll as though it contained the last expression of an eccentric +and vastly rich relation,” and with a laugh more musical than the +vibrating of a lute of the purest Yun-nan jade in the Grotto of Ten Thousand +Echoes she vanished. +</p> + +<p> +It has been sympathetically remarked that no matter how painstakingly a person +may strive to lead Destiny along a carefully-prepared path and towards a fit +and thoroughly virtuous end there is never lacking some inopportune creature to +thrust his superfluous influence into an opposing balance. This naturally +suggests the intolerable Tsin Lung, whose ghoulish tastes led him to seek the +depths of that same glade on the following day. Walking with downcast eyes, +after his degraded custom, he presently became aware of an object lying some +distance from his way. To those who have already fathomed the real character of +this repulsive person it will occasion no surprise to know that, urged on by +the insatiable curiosity that was deeply grafted on to his avaricious nature, +he turned aside to probe into a matter with which he had no possible concern, +and at length succeeded in drawing a package from the thick bush in which it +had been hastily concealed. Finding that it contained twelve lengthy poems +entitled “Concerning Spring”, he greedily thrust one in his sleeve, +and upon his return, with no other object than the prompting of an +ill-regulated mind, he spent all the time that remained before the contest in +learning it from end to end. +</p> + +<p> +There have been many remarkable scenes enacted in the great Examination Halls +and in the narrow cells around, but it can at once be definitely stated that +nothing either before or since has approached the unanimous burst of frenzy +that shook the dynasty of Chung when in the third year of his reign the +well-meaning but too-easily-led-aside Emperor K’ong inopportunely sought +to replace the sublime Classic then in use with a work that has since been +recognized to be not only shallow but inept. At Ho Chow nine hundred and +ninety-eight voices blended into one soul-benumbing cry of rage, having all the +force and precision of a carefully drilled chorus, when the papers were opened, +and had not the candidates been securely barred within their solitary pens a +popular rising must certainly have taken place. There they remained for three +days and nights, until the clamour had subsided into a low but continuous hum, +and they were too weak to carry out a combined effort. +</p> + +<p> +Throughout this turmoil Hien and Tsin Lung each plied an unfaltering brush. It +may here be advantageously stated that the former person was not really slow or +obtuse and his previous failures were occasioned solely by the inequality he +strove under in relying upon his memory alone when every other competitor +without exception had provided himself with a concealed scrip. Tsin Lung also +had a very retentive mind. The inevitable consequence was, therefore, that when +the papers were collected Hien and Tsin Lung had accomplished an identical +number of correct lines and no other person had made even an attempt. +</p> + +<p> +In explaining Thang-li’s subsequent behaviour it has been claimed by many +that the strain of being compelled, in the exercise of his duty, to remain for +three days and three nights in the middle of the Hall surrounded by that +ferocious horde, all clamouring to reach him, and the contemplation of the +immense sum which he would gain by so unparalleled a batch of rejections, +contorted his faculties of discrimination and sapped the resources of his +usually active mind. Whatever cause is accepted, it is agreed that as soon as +he returned to his house he summoned Hien and Tsin Lung together and leaving +them for a moment presently returned, leading Fa Fei by the hand. It is further +agreed by all that these three persons noticed upon his face a somewhat +preoccupied expression, and on the one side much has been made of the admitted +fact that as he spoke he wandered round the room catching flies, an occupation +eminently suited to his age and leisurely tastes but, it may be confessed, not +altogether well chosen at so ceremonious a moment. +</p> + +<p> +“It has been said,” he began at length, withdrawing his eyes +reluctantly from an unusually large insect upon the ceiling and addressing +himself to the maiden, “that there are few situations in life that cannot +be honourably settled, and without loss of time, either by suicide, a bag of +gold, or by thrusting a despised antagonist over the edge of a precipice upon a +dark night. This inoffensive person, however, has striven to arrive at the +conclusion of a slight domestic arrangement both by passively waiting for the +event to unroll itself and, at a later period, by the offer of a definite omen. +Both of the male persons concerned have applied themselves so tenaciously to +the ordeal that the result, to this simple one’s antique mind, savours +overmuch of the questionable arts. The genial and light-witted Emperor appears +to have put his foot into the embarrassment ineffectually; and Destiny herself +has every indication of being disinclined to settle so doubtful a point. As a +last resort it now remains for you yourself to decide which of these strenuous +and evenly-balanced suitors I may acclaim with ten thousand +felicitations.” +</p> + +<p> +“In that case, venerated and commanding sire,” replied Fa Fei +simply, yet concealing her real regard behind the retiring mask of a modest +indifference, “it shall be Hien, because his complexion goes the more +prettily with my favourite heliotrope silk.” +</p> + +<p> +When the results of the examination were announced it was at once assumed by +those with whom he had trafficked that Tsin Lung had been guilty of the most +degraded treachery. Understanding the dangers of his position, that person +decided upon an immediate flight. Disguised as a wild-beast tamer, and leading +several apparently ferocious creatures by a cord, he succeeded in making his +way undetected through the crowds of competitors watching his house, and +hastily collecting his wealth together he set out towards the coast. But the +evil spirits which had hitherto protected him now withdrew their aid. In the +wildest passes of the Chunlings Hien’s band was celebrating his +unexpected success by a costly display of fireworks, varied with music and +dancing.... So heavily did they tax him that when he reached his destination he +was only able to purchase a small and dilapidated junk and to enlist the +services of three thoroughly incompetent mercenaries. The vessels which he +endeavoured to pursue stealthily in the hope of restoring his fortunes +frequently sailed towards him under the impression that he was sinking and +trying to attract their benevolent assistance. When his real intention was at +length understood both he and his crew were invariably beaten about the head +with clubs, so that although he persevered until the three hired assassins +rebelled, he never succeeded in committing a single act of piracy. Afterwards +he gained a precarious livelihood by entering into conversation with strangers, +and still later he stood upon a board and dived for small coins which the +charitable threw into the water. In this pursuit he was one day overtaken by a +voracious sea-monster and perished miserably. +</p> + +<p> +The large-meaning but never fully-accomplishing Emperor K’ong reigned for +yet another year, when he was deposed by the powerful League of the Three +Brothers. To the end of his life he steadfastly persisted that the rebellion +was insidiously fanned, if not actually carried out, by a secret confederacy of +all the verse-makers of the Empire, who were distrustful of his superior +powers. He spent the years of his exile in composing a poetical epitaph to be +carved upon his tomb, but his successor, the practical-minded Liu-yen, declined +to sanction the expense of procuring so fabulous a supply of marble. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +When Kai Lung had repeated the story of the well-intentioned youth Hien and of +the Chief Examiner Thang-li and had ceased to speak, a pause of questionable +import filled the room, broken only by the undignified sleep-noises of the +gross Ming-shu. Glances of implied perplexity were freely passed among the +guests, but it remained for Shan Tien to voice their doubt. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet wherein is the essence of the test maintained,” he asked, +“seeing that the one whom you call Hien obtained all that which he +desired and he who chiefly opposed his aims was himself involved in ridicule +and delivered to a sudden end?” +</p> + +<p> +“Beneficence,” replied Kai Lung, with courteous ease, despite the +pinions that restrained him, “herein it is one thing to demand and +another to comply, for among the Platitudes is the admission made: ‘No +needle has two sharp points.’ The conditions which the subtlety of +Ming-shu imposed ceased to bind, for their corollary was inexact. In no romance +composed by poet or sage are the unassuming hopes of virtuous love brought to a +barren end or the one who holds them delivered to an ignominious doom. That +which was called for does not therefore exist, but the story of Hien may be +taken as indicating the actual course of events should the case arise in an +ordinary state of life.” +</p> + +<p> +This reply was not deemed inept by most of those who heard, and they even +pressed upon the one who spoke slight gifts of snuff and wine. The Mandarin +Shan Tien, however, held himself apart. +</p> + +<p> +“It is doubtful if your lips will be able thus to frame so confident a +boast when to-morrow fades,” was his dark forecast. +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless their tenor will be changed, revered, in accordance with your +far-seeing word,” replied Kai Lung submissively as he was led away. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a> CHAPTER XI<br /> +Of Which it is Written: “In Shallow Water Dragons become the +Laughing-stock of Shrimps”</h2> + +<p> +At an early gong-stroke of the following day Kai Lung was finally brought up +for judgment in accordance with the venomous scheme of the reptilian Ming-shu. +In order to obscure their guilty plans all justice-loving persons were excluded +from the court, so that when the story-teller was led in by a single guard he +saw before him only the two whose enmity he faced, and one who stood at a +distance prepared to serve their purpose. +</p> + +<p> +“Committer of every infamy and inceptor of nameless crimes,” began +Ming-shu, moistening his brush, “in the past, by the variety of +discreditable subterfuges, you have parried the stroke of a just retribution. +On this occasion, however, your admitted powers of evasion will avail you +nothing. By a special form of administration, designed to meet such cases, your +guilt will be taken as proved. The technicalities of passing sentence and +seeing it carried out will follow automatically.” +</p> + +<p> +“In spite of the urgency of the case,” remarked the Mandarin, with +an assumption of the evenly-balanced expression that at one time threatened to +obtain for him the title of “The Just”, “there is one detail +which must not be ignored—especially as our ruling will doubtless become +a lantern to the feet of later ones. You appear, malefactor, to have committed +crimes—and of all these you have been proved guilty by the ingenious +arrangement invoked by the learned recorder of my spoken word—which +render you liable to hanging, slicing, pressing, boiling, roasting, grilling, +freezing, vatting, racking, twisting, drawing, compressing, inflating, rending, +spiking, gouging, limb-tying, piecemeal-pruning and a variety of less tersely +describable discomforts with which the time of this court need not be taken up. +The important consideration is, in what order are we to proceed and when, if +ever, are we to stop?” +</p> + +<p> +“Under your benumbing eye, Excellence,” suggested Ming-shu +resourcefully, “the precedent of taking first that for which the written +sign is the longest might be established. Failing that, the names of all the +various punishments might be inscribed on separate shreds of parchment and +these deposited within your state umbrella. The first withdrawn by an +unbiased—” +</p> + +<p> +“High Excellence,” Kai Lung ventured to interrupt, “a further +plan suggests itself which—” +</p> + +<p> +“If,” exclaimed Ming-shu in irrational haste, “if the +criminal proposes to narrate a story of one who in like +circumstances—” +</p> + +<p> +“Peace!” interposed Shan Tien tactfully. “The felon will only +be allowed the usual ten short measures of time for his suggestion, nor must +he, under that guise, endeavour to insert an imagined tale.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your ruling shall keep straight my bending feet, munificence,” +replied Kai Lung. “Hear now my simplifying way. In place of cited +wrongs—which, after all, are comparatively trivial matters, as being +merely offences against another or in defiance of a local +usage—substitute one really overwhelming crime for which the penalty is +sharp and explicit.” +</p> + +<p> +“To that end you would suggest—?” Uncertainty sat upon the +brow of both Shan Tien and Ming-shu. +</p> + +<p> +“To straighten out the entangled thread this person would plead guilty to +the act—in a lesser capacity and against his untrammelled will—of +rejoicing musically on a day set apart for universal woe: a crime aimed +directly at the sacred person of the Sublime Head and all those of his +Line.” +</p> + +<p> +At this significant admission the Mandarin’s expression faded; he stroked +the lower part of his face several times and unostentatiously indicated to the +two attendants that they should retire to a more distant obscurity. Then he +spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“When did this—this alleged indiscretion occur, Kai Lung?” he +asked in a considerate voice. +</p> + +<p> +“It is useless to raise a cloud of evasion before the sun of your +penetrating intellect,” replied the story-teller. “The eleventh day +of the existing moon was its inauspicious date.” +</p> + +<p> +“That being yesterday? Ming-shu, you upon whom the duty of regulating my +admittedly vagarious mind devolves, what happened officially on the eleventh +day of the Month of Gathering-in?” demanded the Mandarin in an ominous +tone. +</p> + +<p> +“On such and such a day, benevolence, threescore and fifteen years ago, +the imperishable founder of the existing dynasty ascended on a fiery dragon to +be a guest on high,” confessed the conscience-stricken scribe, after +consulting his printed tablets. “Owing to the stress of a sudden journey +significance of the date had previously escaped my weed-grown memory, +tolerance.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” exclaimed Shan Tien bitterly, “among the innumerable +drawbacks of an exacting position the enforced reliance upon an unusually inept +and more than ordinarily self-opinionated inscriber of the spoken word is +perhaps the most illimitable. Owing to your profuse incompetence that which +began as an agreeable prelude to a busy day has turned into a really serious +matter.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet, lenience,” pleaded the hapless Ming-shu, lowering his voice +for the Mandarin’s private ear, “so far the danger resides in this +one throat alone. That disposed of—” +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance,” replied Shan Tien; then turning to Kai Lung: +“Doubtless, O story-teller, you were so overcome by the burden of your +guilt that until this moment you have hidden the knowledge of it deep within +your heart?” +</p> + +<p> +“Magnificence, the commanding quality of your enduring voice would draw +the inner matter from a marrow-bone,” frankly replied Kai Lung. +“Fearful lest this crime might go unconfessed and my weak and trembling +ghost therefrom be held to bear its weight unto the end of time, I set out the +full happening in a written scroll and sent it at daybreak by a sure and secret +hand to a scrupulous official to deal with as he sees fit.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your worthy confidant would assuredly be a person of incorruptible +integrity?” +</p> + +<p> +“The repute of the upright Censor K’o-yih had reached even these +stunted ears.” +</p> + +<p> +“Inevitably: the Censor K’o-yih!” Shan Tien’s hasty +glance took in the angle of the sun and for a moment rested on the door leading +to the part where his swiftest horses lay. “By this time the message will +have reached him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Omnipotence,” replied Kai Lung, spreading out his hands to +indicate the full extent of his submission, “not even a piece of the +finest Ping-hi silk could be inserted between the deepest secret of this +person’s heart and your all-extracting gaze. Should you, in your +meritorious sense of justice, impose upon me a punishment that would seem to be +adequate, it would be superfluous to trouble the obliging Censor in the matter. +To this end the one who bears the message lurks in a hidden corner of Tai until +a certain hour. If I am in a position to intercept him there he will return the +message to my hand; if not, he will straightway bear it to the integritous +K’o-yih.” +</p> + +<p> +“May the President of Hades reward you—I am no longer in a position +to do so!” murmured Shan Tien with concentrated feeling. “Draw +near, Kai Lung,” he continued sympathetically, “and +indicate—with as little delay as possible—what in your opinion +would constitute a sufficient punishment.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus invited and with his cords unbound, Kai Lung advanced and took his station +near the table, Ming-shu noticeably making room for him. +</p> + +<p> +“To be driven from your lofty presence and never again permitted to +listen to the wisdom of your inspired lips would undoubtedly be the first +essential of my penance, High Excellence.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is gran—inflicted,” agreed Shan Tien, with swift +decision. +</p> + +<p> +“The necessary edict may conveniently be drafted in the form of a +safe-conduct for this person and all others of his band to a point beyond the +confines of your jurisdiction—when the usually agile-witted Ming-shu can +sufficiently shake off the benumbing torpor now assailing him so as to use his +brush.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is already begun, O virtuous harbinger of joy,” protested the +dazed Ming-shu, overturning all the four precious implements in his passion to +comply. “A mere breath of time—” +</p> + +<p> +“Let it be signed, sealed and thumb-pressed at every available point of +ambiguity,” enjoined Shan Tien. +</p> + +<p> +“Having thus oppressed the vainglory of my self-willed mind, the +presumption of this unworthy body must be subdued likewise. The burden of five +hundred taels of silver should suffice. If not—” +</p> + +<p> +“In the form of paper obligations, estimable Kai Lung, the same amount +would go more conveniently within your scrip,” suggested the Mandarin +hopefully. +</p> + +<p> +“Not convenience, O Mandarin, but bodily exhaustion is the essence of my +task,” reproved the story-teller. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet consider the anguish of my internal pang, if thus encumbered, you +sank spent by the wayside, and being thereby unable to withhold the message, +you were called upon to endure a further ill.” +</p> + +<p> +“That, indeed, is worthy of our thought,” confessed Kai Lung. +“To this end I will further mortify myself by adventuring upon the +uncertain apex of a trustworthy steed (a mode of progress new to my experience) +until I enter Tai.” +</p> + +<p> +“The swiftest and most reputable awaits your guiding hand,” replied +Shan Tien. +</p> + +<p> +“Let it be enticed forth into a quiet and discreet spot. In the interval, +while the obliging Ming-shu plies an unfaltering brush, the task of weighing +out my humiliating burden shall be ours.” +</p> + +<p> +In an incredibly short space of time, being continually urged on by the +flattering anxiety of Shan Tien (whose precipitancy at one point became so +acute that he mistook fourscore taels for five), all things were prepared. With +the inscribed parchment well within his sleeve and the bags of silver ranged +about his body, Kai Lung approached the platform that had been raised to enable +him to subdue the expectant animal. +</p> + +<p> +“Once in the desired position, weighted down as you are, there is little +danger of your becoming displaced,” remarked the Mandarin auspiciously. +</p> + +<p> +“Your words are, as usual, many-sided in their wise application, +benignity,” replied Kai Lung. “One thing only yet remains. It is +apart from the expression of this one’s will, but as an act of justice to +yourself and in order to complete the analogy—” And he indicated +the direction of Ming-shu. +</p> + +<p> +“Nevertheless you are agreeably understood,” declared Shan Tien, +moving apart. “Farewell.” +</p> + +<p> +As those who controlled the front part of the horse at this moment relaxed +their tenacity, Kai Lung did not deem it prudent to reply, nor was he +specifically observant of the things about. But a little later, while in the +act of permitting the creature whose power he ruled to turn round for a last +look at its former home, he saw that the unworthy no longer flourished. +Ming-shu, with his own discarded cang around his vindictive neck, was being led +off in the direction of the prison-house. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a> CHAPTER XII<br /> +The Out-passing into a State of Assured Felicity of the Much-enduring Two With +Whom These Printed Leaves Have Chiefly Been Concerned</h2> + +<p> +Although it was towards sunset, the heat of the day still hung above the dusty +earth-road, and two who tarried within the shadow of an ancient arch were loath +to resume their way. They had walked far, for the uncertain steed, having +revealed a too contentious nature, had been disposed of in distant Tai to an +honest stranger who freely explained the imperfection of its ignoble outline. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us remain another space of time,” pleaded Hwa-mei reposefully, +“and as without your all-embracing art the course of events would +undoubtedly have terminated very differently from what it has, will you not, +out of an emotion of gratitude, relate a story for my ear alone, weaving into +it the substance of this ancient arch whose shade proves our rest?” +</p> + +<p> +“Your wish is the crown of my attainment, unearthly one,” replied +Kai Lung, preparing to obey. “This concerns the story of Ten-teh, whose +name adorns the keystone of the fabric.” +</p> + +<h3>The Story of the Loyalty of Ten-teh, the Fisherman</h3> + +<p class="center"> +“Devotion to the Emperor—” +</p> + +<p class="right"> +<i>The Five Great Principles</i> +</p> + +<p> +The reign of the enlightened Emperor Tung Kwei had closed amid scenes of +treachery and lust, and in his perfidiously-spilled blood was extinguished the +last pale hope of those faithful to his line. His only son was a nameless +fugitive—by ceaseless report already Passed Beyond—his party +scattered and crushed out like the sparks from his blackened Capital, while +nothing that men thought dare pass their lips. The usurper Fuh-chi sat upon the +dragon throne and spake with the voice of brass cymbals and echoing drums, his +right hand shedding blood and his left hand spreading fire. To raise an eye +before him was to ape with death, and a whisper in the outer ways foreran swift +torture. With harrows he uprooted the land until no household could gather +round its ancestral tablets, and with marble rollers he flattened it until none +dare lift his head. For the body of each one who had opposed his ambition there +was offered an equal weight of fine silver, and upon the head of the +child-prince was set the reward of ten times his weight in pure gold. Yet in +noisome swamps and forests, hidden in caves, lying on desolate islands, and +concealing themselves in every kind of solitary place were those who daily +prostrated themselves to the memory of Tung Kwei and by a sign acknowledged the +authority of his infant son Kwo Kam. In the Crystal City there was a great roar +of violence and drunken song, and men and women lapped from deep lakes filled +up with wine; but the ricesacks of the poor had long been turned out and shaken +for a little dust; their eyes were closing and in their hearts they were as +powder between the mill-stones. On the north and the west the barbarians had +begun to press forward in resistless waves, and from The Island to The Beak +pirates laid waste the coast. +</p> + +<h4>i. UNDER THE DRAGON’S WING</h4> + +<p> +Among the lagoons of the Upper Seng river a cormorant fisher, Ten-teh by name, +daily followed his occupation. In seasons of good harvest, when they of the +villages had grain in abundance and money with which to procure a more varied +diet, Ten-teh was able to regard the ever-changeful success of his venture +without anxiety, and even to add perchance somewhat to his store; but when +affliction lay upon the land the carefully gathered hoard melted away and he +did not cease to upbraid himself for adopting so uncertain a means of +livelihood. At these times the earth-tillers, having neither money to spend nor +crops to harvest, caught such fish as they could for themselves. Others in +their extremity did not scruple to drown themselves and their dependents in +Ten-teh’s waters, so that while none contributed to his prosperity the +latter ones even greatly added to the embarrassment of his craft. When, +therefore, his own harvest failed him in addition, or tempests drove him back +to a dwelling which was destitute of food either for himself, his household, or +his cormorants, his self-reproach did not appear to be ill-reasoned. Yet in +spite of all Ten-teh was of a genial disposition, benevolent, respectful and +incapable of guile. He sacrificed adequately at all festivals, and his only +regret was that he had no son of his own and very scanty chances of ever +becoming rich enough to procure one by adoption. +</p> + +<p> +The sun was setting one day when Ten-teh reluctantly took up his propelling +staff and began to urge his raft towards the shore. It was a season of parched +crops and destitution in the villages, when disease could fondle the bones of +even the most rotund and leprosy was the insidious condiment in every dish; yet +never had the Imperial dues been higher, and each succeeding official had +larger hands and a more inexorable face than the one before him. +Ten-teh’s hoarded resources had already followed the snows of the +previous winter, his shelf was like the heart of a despot to whom the oppressed +cry for pity, and the contents of the creel at his feet were too insignificant +to tempt the curiosity even of his hungry cormorants. But the mists of the +evening were by this time lapping the surface of the waters and he had no +alternative but to abandon his fishing for the day. +</p> + +<p> +“Truly they who go forth to fish, even in shallow waters, experience +strange things when none are by to credit them,” suddenly exclaimed his +assistant—a mentally deficient youth of the villages whom Ten-teh +charitably employed because all others rejected him. “Behold, master, a +spectre bird approaches.” +</p> + +<p> +“Peace, witless,” replied Ten-teh, not turning from his occupation, +for it was no uncommon incident for the deficient youth to mistake +widely-differing objects for one another or to claim a demoniacal insight into +the most trivial happenings. “Visions do not materialize for such as thou +and I.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nevertheless,” continued the weakling, “if you will but +slacken your agile proficiency with the pole, chieftain, our supper to-night +may yet consist of something more substantial than the fish which it is our +intention to catch to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +When the defective youth had continued for some time in this meaningless strain +Ten-teh turned to rebuke him, when to his astonishment he perceived that a +strange cormorant was endeavouring to reach them, its progress being impeded by +an object which it carried in its mouth. Satisfying himself that his own birds +were still on the raft, Ten-teh looked round in expectation for the boat of +another fisherman, although none but he had ever within his memory sought those +waters, but as far as he could see the wide-stretching lagoon was deserted by +all but themselves. He accordingly waited, drawing in his pole, and inciting +the bird on by cries of encouragement. +</p> + +<p> +“A nobly-born cormorant without doubt,” exclaimed the youth +approvingly. “He is lacking the throat-strap, yet he holds his prey +dexterously and makes no movement to consume it. But the fish itself is +outlined strangely.” +</p> + +<p> +As the bird drew near Ten-teh also saw that it was devoid of the usual strap +which in the exercise of his craft was necessary as a barrier against the +gluttonous instincts of the race. It was unnaturally large, and even at a +distance Ten-teh could see that its plumage was smoothed to a polished lustre, +its eye alert, and the movement of its flight untamed. But, as the youth had +said, the fish it carried loomed mysteriously. +</p> + +<p> +“The Wise One and the Crafty Image—behold they prostrate +themselves!” cried the youth in a tone of awe-inspired surprise, and +without a pause he stepped off the raft and submerged himself beneath the +waters. +</p> + +<p> +It was even as he asserted; Ten-teh turned his eyes and lo, his two cormorants, +instead of rising in anger, as their contentious nature prompted, had sunk to +the ground and were doing obeisance. Much perturbed as to his own most prudent +action, for the bird was nearing the craft, Ten-teh judged it safest to accept +this token and falling down he thrice knocked his forehead submissively. When +he looked up again the majestic bird had vanished as utterly as the flame that +is quenched, and lying at his feet was a naked man-child. +</p> + +<p> +“O master,” said the voice of the assistant, as he cautiously +protruded his head above the surface of the raft, “has the vision faded, +or do creatures of the air before whom even their own kind kowtow still haunt +the spot?” +</p> + +<p> +“The manifestation has withdrawn,” replied Ten-teh reassuringly, +“but like the touch of the omnipotent Buddha it has left behind it that +which proves its reality,” and he pointed to the man-child. +</p> + +<p> +“Beware, alas!” exclaimed the youth, preparing to immerse himself a +second time if the least cause arose; “and on no account permit yourself +to be drawn into the snare. Inevitably the affair tends to evil from the +beginning and presently that which now appears as a man-child will assume the +form of a devouring vampire and consume us all. Such occurrences are by no +means uncommon when the great sky-lantern is at its full distension.” +</p> + +<p> +“To maintain otherwise would be impious,” admitted his master, +“but at the same time there is nothing to indicate that the beneficial +deities are not the ones responsible for this apparition.” With these +humane words the kindly-disposed Ten-teh wrapped his outer robe about the +man-child and turned to lay him in the empty creel, when to his profound +astonishment he saw that it was now filled with fish of the rarest and most +unapproachable kinds. +</p> + +<p> +“Footsteps of the dragon!” exclaimed the youth, scrambling back on +to the raft hastily; “undoubtedly your acuter angle of looking at the +visitation was the inspired one. Let us abandon the man-child in an +unfrequented spot and then proceed to divide the result of the adventure +equally among us.” +</p> + +<p> +“An agreed portion shall be allotted,” replied Ten-teh, “but +to abandon so miraculously-endowed a being would cover even an outcast with +shame.” +</p> + +<p> +“‘Shame fades in the morning; debts remain from day to +day,’” replied the youth, the allusion of the proverb being to the +difficulty of sustaining life in times so exacting, when men pledged their +household goods, their wives, even their ancestral records for a little flour +or a jar of oil. “To the starving the taste of a grain of corn is more +satisfying than the thought of a roasted ox, but as many years must pass as +this creel now holds fish before the little one can disengage a catch or handle +the pole.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is as the Many-Eyed One sees,” replied Ten-teh, with unmoved +determination. “This person has long desired a son, and those who walk +into an earthquake while imploring heaven for a sign are unworthy of +consideration. Take this fish and depart until the morrow. Also, unless you +would have the villagers regard you as not only deficient but profane, reveal +nothing of this happening to those whom you encounter.” With these words +Ten-teh dismissed him, not greatly disturbed at the thought of whatever he +might do; for in no case would any believe a word he spoke, while the greater +likelihood tended towards his forgetting everything before he had reached his +home. +</p> + +<p> +As Ten-teh approached his own door his wife came forth to meet him. “Much +gladness!” she cried aloud before she saw his burden; “tempered +only by a regret that you did not abandon your chase at an earlier hour. Fear +not for the present that the wolf-tusk of famine shall gnaw our repose or that +the dreaded wings of the white and scaly one shall hover about our house-top. +Your wealthy cousin, journeying back to the Capital from the land of the spice +forests, has been here in your absence, leaving you gifts of fur, silk, carved +ivory, oil, wine, nuts and rice and rich foods of many kinds. He would have +stayed to embrace you were it not that his company of bearers awaited him at an +arranged spot and he had already been long delayed.” +</p> + +<p> +Then said Ten-teh, well knowing that he had no such desirable relative, but +drawn to secrecy by the unnatural course of events: “The years pass +unperceived and all changes but the heart of man; how appeared my cousin, and +has he greatly altered under the enervating sun of a barbarian land?” +</p> + +<p> +“He is now a little man, with a loose skin the colour of a +finely-lacquered apricot,” replied the woman. “His teeth are large +and jagged, his expression open and sincere, and the sound of his breathing is +like the continuous beating of waves upon a stony beach. Furthermore, he has +ten fingers upon his left hand and a girdle of rubies about his waist.” +</p> + +<p> +“The description is unmistakable,” said Ten-teh evasively. +“Did he chance to leave a parting message of any moment?” +</p> + +<p> +“He twice remarked: ‘When the sun sets the moon rises, but +to-morrow the drawn will break again,’” replied his wife. +“Also, upon leaving he asked for ink, brushes and a fan, and upon it he +inscribed certain words.” She thereupon handed the fan to Ten-teh, who +read, written in characters of surpassing beauty and exactness, the proverb: +“Well-guarded lips, patient alertness and a heart conscientiously +discharging its accepted duty: these three things have a sure reward.” +</p> + +<p> +At that moment Ten-teh’s wife saw that he carried something beyond his +creel and discovering the man-child she cried out with delight, pouring forth a +torrent of inquiries and striving to possess it. “A tale half told is the +father of many lies,” exclaimed Ten-teh at length, “and of the +greater part of what you ask this person knows neither the beginning nor the +end. Let what is written on the fan suffice.” With this he explained to +her the meaning of the characters and made their significance clear. Then +without another word he placed the man-child in her arms and led her back into +the house. +</p> + +<p> +From that time Hoang, as he was thenceforward called, was received into the +household of Ten-teh, and from that time Ten-teh prospered. Without ever +approaching a condition of affluence or dignified ease, he was never exposed to +the penury and vicissitudes which he had been wont to experience; so that none +had need to go hungry or ill-clad. If famine ravaged the villages +Ten-teh’s store of grain was miraculously maintained; his success on the +lagoons was unvaried, fish even leaping on to the structure of the raft. +Frequently in dark and undisturbed parts of the house he found sums of money +and other valuable articles of which he had no remembrance, while it was no +uncommon thing for passing merchants to leave bales of goods at his door in +mistake and to meet with some accident which prevented them from ever again +visiting that part of the country. In the meanwhile Hoang grew from infancy +into childhood, taking part with Ten-teh in all his pursuits, yet even in the +most menial occupation never wholly shaking off the air of command and nobility +of bearing which lay upon him. In strength and endurance he outpaced all the +youths around, while in the manipulation of the raft and the dexterous handling +of the cormorants he covered Ten-teh with gratified shame. So excessive was the +devotion which he aroused in those who knew him that the deficient youth wept +openly if Hoang chanced to cough or sneeze; and it is even asserted that on +more than one occasion high officials, struck by the authority of his presence, +though he might be in the act of carrying fish along the road, hastily +descended from their chairs and prostrated themselves before him. +</p> + +<p> +In the fourteenth year of the reign of the usurper Fuh-chi a little breeze +rising in the Province of Sz-chuen began to spread through all the land and +men’s minds were again agitated by the memory of a hope which had long +seemed dead. At that period the tyrannical Fuh-chi finally abandoned the last +remaining vestige of restraint and by his crimes and excesses alienated even +the protection of the evil spirits and the fidelity of his chosen guard; so +that he conspired with himself to bring about his own destruction. One +discriminating adviser alone had stood at the foot of the throne, and being no +less resolute than far-seeing, he did not hesitate to warn Fuh-chi and to hold +the prophetic threat of rebellion before his eyes. Such sincerity met with the +reward not difficult to conjecture. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are our enemies?” exclaimed Fuh-chi, turning to a notorious +flatterer at his side, “and where are they who are displeased with our +too lenient rule?” +</p> + +<p> +“Your enemies, O Brother of the Sun and Prototype of the Red-legged +Crane, are dead and unmourned. The living do naught but speak of your clemency +and bask in the radiance of your eye-light,” protested the flatterer. +</p> + +<p> +“It is well said,” replied Fuh-chi. “How is it, then, that +any can eat of our rice and receive our bounty and yet repay us with +ingratitude and taunts, holding their joints stiffly in our presence? Lo, even +lambs have the grace to suck kneeling.” +</p> + +<p> +“Omnipotence,” replied the just minister, “if this person is +deficient in the more supple graces of your illustrious Court it is because the +greater part of his life has been spent in waging your wars in uncivilized +regions. Nevertheless, the alarm can be as competently sounded upon a brass +drum as by a silver trumpet, and his words came forth from a sincere +throat.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then the opportunity is by no means to be lost,” exclaimed +Fuh-chi, who was by this time standing some distance from himself in the +effects of distilled pear juice; “for we have long desired to see the +difference which must undoubtedly exist between a sincere throat and one bent +to the continual use of evasive flattery.” +</p> + +<p> +Without further consideration he ordered that both persons should be beheaded +and that their bodies should be brought for his inspection. From that time +there was none to stay his hand or to guide his policy, so that he mixed blood +and wine in foolishness and lust until the land was sick and heaved. +</p> + +<p> +The whisper starting from Sz-chuen passed from house to house and from town to +town until it had cast a network over every province, yet no man could say +whence it came or by whom the word was passed. It might be in the manner of a +greeting or the pledging of a cup of tea, by the offer of a coin to a blind +beggar at the gate, in the fold of a carelessly-worn garment, or even by the +passing of a leper through a town. Oppression still lay heavily upon the +people; but it was without aim and carried no restraint; famine and pestilence +still went hand in hand, but the message rode on their backs and was hospitably +received. Soon, growing bolder, men stood face to face and spoke of settled +plans, gave signs, and openly declared themselves. On all sides proclamations +began to be affixed; next weapons were distributed, hands were made proficient +in their uses, until nothing remained but definite instruction and a swift +summons for the appointed day. At intervals omens had appeared in the sky and +prophecies had been put into the mouths of sooth-sayers, so that of the success +of the undertaking and of its justice none doubted. On the north and the west +entire districts had reverted to barbarism, and on the coasts the pirates +anchored by the water-gates of walled cities and tossed jests to the watchmen +on the towers. +</p> + +<p> +Throughout this period Ten-teh had surrounded Hoang with an added care, never +permitting him to wander beyond his sight, and distrusting all men in spite of +his confiding nature. One night, when a fierce storm beyond the memory of man +was raging, there came at the middle hour a knocking upon the outer wall, loud +and insistent; nevertheless Ten-teh did not at once throw open the door in +courteous invitation, but drawing aside a shutter he looked forth. Before the +house stood one of commanding stature, clad from head to foot in robes composed +of plaited grasses, dyed in many colours. Around him ran a stream of water, +while the lightning issuing in never-ceasing flashes from his eyes revealed +that his features were rugged and his ears pierced with many holes from which +the wind whistled until the sound resembled the shrieks of ten thousand +tortured ones under the branding-iron. From him the tempest proceeded in every +direction, but he stood unmoved among it, without so much as a petal of the +flowers he wore disarranged. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of these indications, and of the undoubted fact that the Being could +destroy the house with a single glance, Ten-teh still hesitated. +</p> + +<p> +“The night is dark and stormy, and robbers and evil spirits are certainly +about in large numbers, striving to enter unperceived by any open door,” +he protested, but with becoming deference. “With what does your welcome +and opportune visit concern itself, honourable stranger?” +</p> + +<p> +“The one before you is not accustomed to be questioned in his doings, or +even to be spoken to by ordinary persons,” replied the Being. +“Nevertheless, Ten-teh, there is that in your history for the past +fourteen years which saves you from the usual fatal consequences of so gross an +indiscretion. Let it suffice that it is concerned with the flight of the +cormorant.” +</p> + +<p> +Upon this assurance Ten-teh no longer sought evasion. He hastened to throw open +the outer door and the stranger entered, whereupon the tempest ceased, although +the thunder and lightning still lingered among the higher mountains. In passing +through the doorway the robe of plaited grasses caught for a moment on the +staple and pulling aside revealed that the Being wore upon his left foot a +golden sandal and upon his right foot one of iron, while embedded in his throat +was a great pearl. Convinced by this that he was indeed one of the Immortal +Eight, Ten-teh prostrated himself fittingly, and explained that the apparent +disrespect of his reception arose from a conscientious interest in the safety +of the one committed to his care. +</p> + +<p> +“It is well,” replied the Being affably; “and your unvarying +fidelity shall not go unrewarded when the proper time arrives. Now bring +forward the one whom hitherto you have wisely called Hoang.” +</p> + +<p> +In secret during the past years Ten-teh had prepared for such an emergency a +yellow silk robe bearing embroidered on it the Imperial Dragon with Five Claws. +He had also provided suitable ornaments, fur coverings for the hands and face, +and a sword and shield. Waking Hoang, he quickly dressed him, sprinkled a +costly perfume about his head and face, and taking him for the last time by the +hand he led him into the presence of the stranger. +</p> + +<p> +“Kwo Kam, chosen representative of the sacred line of Tang,” began +the Being, when he and Hoang had exchanged signs and greetings of equality in +an obscure tongue, “the grafted peach-tree on the Crystal Wall is +stricken and the fruit is ripe and rotten to the touch. The flies that have fed +upon its juice are drunk with it and lie helpless on the ground; the skin is +empty and blown out with air, the leaves withered, and about the root is coiled +a great worm which has secretly worked to this end. From the Five Points of the +kingdom and beyond the Outer Willow Circle the Sheaf-binders have made a full +report and it has been judged that the time is come for the tree to be roughly +shaken. To this destiny the Old Ones of your race now call you; but beware of +setting out unless your face should be unchangingly fixed and your heart pure +from all earthly desires and base considerations.” +</p> + +<p> +“The decision is too ever-present in my mind to need reflection,” +replied Hoang resolutely. “To grind to powder that presumptuous tyrant +utterly, to restore the integrity of the violated boundaries of the land, and +to set up again the venerable Tablets of the true Tang line—these desires +have long since worn away the softer portion of this person’s heart by +constant thought.” +</p> + +<p> +“The choice has been made and the words have been duly set down,” +said the Being. “If you maintain your high purpose to a prosperous end +nothing can exceed your honour in the Upper Air; if you fail culpably, or even +through incapacity, the lot of Fuh-chi himself will be enviable compared with +yours.” +</p> + +<p> +Understanding that the time had now come for his departure, Hoang approached +Ten-teh as though he would have embraced him, but the Being made a gesture of +restraint. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet, O instructor, for the space of fourteen years—” +protested Hoang. +</p> + +<p> +“It has been well and discreetly accomplished,” replied the Being +in a firm but not unsympathetic voice, “and Ten-teh’s reward, which +shall be neither slight nor grudging, is awaiting him in the Upper Air, where +already his immediate ancestors are very honourably regarded in consequence. +For many years, O Ten-teh, there has dwelt beneath your roof one who from this +moment must be regarded as having passed away without leaving even a breath of +memory behind. Before you stands your sovereign, to whom it is seemly that you +should prostrate yourself in unquestioning obeisance. Do not look for any +recompense or distinction here below in return for that which you have done +towards a nameless one; for in the State there are many things which for high +reasons cannot be openly proclaimed for the ill-disposed to use as feathers in +their darts. Yet take this ring; the ears of the Illimitable Emperor are never +closed to the supplicating petition of his children and should such a +contingency arise you may freely lay your cause before him with the full +assurance of an unswerving justice.” +</p> + +<p> +A moment later the storm broke out again with redoubled vigour, and raising his +face from the ground Ten-teh perceived that he was again alone. +</p> + +<h4>ii. THE MESSAGE FROM THE OUTER LAND</h4> + +<p> +After the departure of Hoang the affairs of Ten-teh ceased to prosper. The fish +which for so many years had leaped to meet his hand now maintained an +unparalleled dexterity in avoiding it; continual storms drove him day after day +back to the shore, and the fostering beneficence of the deities seemed to be +withdrawn, so that he no longer found forgotten stores of wealth nor did +merchants ever again mistake his door for that of another to whom they were +indebted. +</p> + +<p> +In the year that followed there passed from time to time through the secluded +villages lying in the Upper Seng valley persons who spoke of the tumultuous +events progressing everywhere. In such a manner those who had remained behind +learned that the great rising had been honourably received by the +justice-loving in every province, but that many of official rank, inspired by +no friendship towards Fuh-chi, but terror-stricken at the alternatives before +them, had closed certain strong cities against the Army of the Avenging Pure. +It was at this crisis, when the balance of the nation’s destiny hung +poised, that Kwo Kam, the only son of the Emperor Tung Kwei, and rightful heir +of the dynasty of the glorious Tang, miraculously appeared at the head of the +Avenging Pure and being acclaimed their leader with a unanimous shout led them +on through a series of overwhelming and irresistible victories. At a later +period it was told how Kwo Kam had been crowned and installed upon his +father’s throne, after receiving a mark of celestial approbation in the +Temple of Heaven, how Fuh-chi had escaped and fled and how his misleading +records had been publicly burned and his detestable name utterly blotted out. +</p> + +<p> +At this period an even greater misfortune than his consistent ill success met +Ten-teh. A neighbouring mandarin, on a false pretext, caused him to be brought +before him, and speaking very sternly of certain matters in the past, which, he +said, out of a well-intentioned regard for the memory of Ten-teh’s father +he would not cast abroad, he fined him a much larger sum than all he possessed, +and then at once caused the raft and the cormorants to be seized in +satisfaction of the claim. This he did because his heart was bad, and the sight +of Ten-teh bearing a cheerful countenance under continual privation had become +offensive to him. +</p> + +<p> +The story of this act of rapine Ten-teh at once carried to the appointed head +of the village communities, assuring him that he was ignorant of the cause, but +that no crime or wrong-doing had been committed to call for so overwhelming an +affliction in return, and entreating him to compel a just restitution and +liberty to pursue his inoffensive calling peaceably in the future. +</p> + +<p> +“Listen well, O unassuming Ten-teh, for you are a person of discernment +and one with a mature knowledge of the habits of all swimming creatures,” +said the headman after attending patiently to Ten-teh’s words. “If +two lean and insignificant carp encountered a voracious pike and one at length +fell into his jaws, by what means would the other compel the assailant to +release his prey?” +</p> + +<p> +“So courageous an emotion would serve no useful purpose,” replied +Ten-teh. “Being ill-equipped for such a conflict, it would inevitably +result in the second fish also falling a prey to the voracious pike, and +recognizing this, the more fortunate of the two would endeavour to escape by +lying unperceived among the reeds about.” +</p> + +<p> +“The answer is inspired and at the same time sufficiently concise to lie +within the hollow bowl of an opium pipe,” replied the headman, and +turning to his bench he continued in his occupation of beating flax with a +wooden mallet. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” protested Ten-teh, when at length the other paused, +“surely the matter could be placed before those in authority in so +convincing a light by one possessing your admitted eloquence that Justice would +stumble over herself in her haste to liberate the oppressed and to degrade the +guilty.” +</p> + +<p> +“The phenomenon has occasionally been witnessed, but latterly it would +appear that the conscientious deity in question must have lost all power of +movement, or perhaps even fatally injured herself, as the result of some such +act of rash impulsiveness in the past,” replied the headman +sympathetically. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas, then,” exclaimed Ten-teh, “is there, under the most +enlightened form of government in the world, no prescribed method of obtaining +redress?” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly,” replied the headman; “the prescribed method is +the part of the system that has received the most attention. As the one of whom +you complain is a mandarin of the fifth degree, you may fittingly address +yourself to his superiors of the fourth, third, second and first degrees. Then +there are the city governors, the district prefects, the provincial rulers, the +Imperial Assessors, the Board of Censors, the Guider of the Vermilion Pencil, +and, finally, the supreme Emperor himself. To each of these, if you are wealthy +enough to reach his actual presence, you may prostrate yourself in turn, and +each one, with many courteous expressions of intolerable regret that the matter +does not come within his office, will refer you to another. The more prudent +course, therefore, would seem to be that of beginning with the Emperor rather +than reaching him as the last resort, and as you are now without means of +livelihood if you remain here there is no reason why you should not journey to +the Capital and make the attempt.” +</p> + +<p> +“The Highest!” exclaimed Ten-teh, with a pang of unfathomable +emotion. “Is there, then, no middle way? Who is Ten-teh, the obscure and +illiterate fisherman, that he should thrust himself into the presence of the +Son of Heaven? If the mother of the dutiful Chou Yii could destroy herself and +her family at one blow to the end that her son might serve his sovereign with a +single heart, how degraded an outcast must he be who would obtrude his own +trivial misfortunes at so critical a time.” +</p> + +<p> +“‘A thorn in one’s own little finger is more difficult to +endure than a sword piercing the sublime Emperor’s arm,’” +replied the headman, resuming his occupation. “But if your angle of +regarding the various obligations is as you have stated it, then there is +obviously nothing more to be said. In any case it is more than doubtful whether +the Fountain of Justice would raise an eyelash if you, by every combination of +fortunate circumstance, succeeded in reaching his presence.” +</p> + +<p> +“The headman has spoken, and his word is ten times more weighty than that +of an ill-educated fisherman,” replied Ten-teh submissively, and he +departed. +</p> + +<p> +From that time Ten-teh sought to sustain life upon roots and wild herbs which +he collected laboriously and not always in sufficient quantities from the woods +and rank wastes around. Soon even this resource failed him in a great measure, +for a famine of unprecedented harshness swept over that part of the province. +All supplies of adequate food ceased, and those who survived were driven by the +pangs of hunger to consume weeds and the bark of trees, fallen leaves, insects +of the lowest orders and the bones of wild animals which had died in the +forest. To carry a little rice openly was a rash challenge to those who still +valued life, and a loaf of chaff and black mould was guarded as a precious +jewel. No wife or daughter could weigh in the balance against a measure of +corn, and men sold themselves into captivity to secure the coarse nourishment +which the rich allotted to their slaves. Those who remained in the villages +followed in Ten-teh’s footsteps, so that the meagre harvest that hitherto +had failed to supply one household now constituted the whole provision for +many. At length these persons, seeing a lingering but inevitable death before +them all, came together and spoke of how this might perchance be avoided. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us consider well,” said one of their number, “for it may +be that succour would not be withheld did we but know the precise manner in +which to invoke it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your words are light, O Tan-yung, and your eyes too bright in looking at +things which present no encouragement whatever,” replied another. +“We who remain are old, infirm, or in some way deficient, or we would ere +this have sold ourselves into slavery or left this accursed desert in search of +a more prolific land. Therefore our existence is of no value to the State, so +that they will not take any pains to preserve it. Furthermore, now being beyond +the grasp of the most covetous extortion, the district officials have no reason +for maintaining an interest in our lives. Assuredly there is no escape except +by the White Door of which each one himself holds the key.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” objected a third, “the aged Ning has often recounted +how in the latter years of the reign of the charitable Emperor Kwong, when a +similar infliction lay upon the land, a bullock-load of rice was sent daily +into the villages of the valley and freely distributed by the headman. Now that +same munificent Kwong was a direct ancestor to the third degree of our own Kwo +Kam.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” remarked a person who had lost many of his features during +a raid of brigands, “since the days of the commendable Kwong, while the +feet of our lesser ones have been growing smaller the hands of our greater ones +have been growing larger. Yet even nowadays, by the protection of the deities, +the bullock might reach us.” +</p> + +<p> +“The wheel-grease of the cart would alone make the day memorable,” +murmured another. +</p> + +<p> +“O brothers,” interposed one who had not yet spoken, “do not +cause our throats to twitch convulsively; nor is it in any way useful to leave +the date of solid reflection in pursuit of the stone of light and versatile +fancy. Is it thought to be expedient that we should send an emissary to those +in authority, pleading our straits?” +</p> + +<p> +“Have not two already journeyed to Kuing-yi in our cause, and to what +end?” replied the second one who had raised his voice. +</p> + +<p> +“They did but seek the city mandarin and failed to reach his ear, being +empty-handed,” urged Tan-yung. “The distance to the Capital is +admittedly great, yet it is no more than a persevering and resolute-minded man +could certainly achieve. There prostrating himself before the Sublime One and +invoking the memory of the imperishable Kwong he could so outline our necessity +and despair that the one wagon-load referred to would be increased by nine and +the unwieldy oxen give place to relays of swift horses.” +</p> + +<p> +“The Emperor!” exclaimed the one who had last spoken, in tones of +undisguised contempt towards Tan-yung. “Is the eye of the Unapproachable +Sovereign less than that of a city mandarin, that having failed to come near +the one we should now strive to reach the other; or are we, peradventure, to +fill the sleeves of our messenger with gold and his inner scrip with +sapphires!” Nevertheless the greater part of those who stood around +zealously supported Tan-yung, crying aloud: “The Emperor! The suggestion +is inspired! Undoubtedly the beneficent Kwo Kam will uphold our cause and our +troubles may now be considered as almost at an end.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” interposed a faltering voice, “who among us is to +go?” +</p> + +<p> +At the mention of this necessary detail of the plan the cries which were the +loudest raised in exultation suddenly leapt back upon themselves as each person +looked in turn at all the others and then at himself. The one who had urged the +opportune but disconcerting point was lacking in the power of movement in his +lower limbs and progressed at a pace little advanced to that of a shell-cow +upon two slabs of wood. Tan-yung was subject to a disorder which without any +warning cast him to the ground almost daily in a condition of writhing frenzy; +the one who had opposed him was paralysed in all but his head and feet, while +those who stood about were either blind, lame, camel-backed, leprous, armless, +misshapen, or in some way mentally or bodily deficient in an insuperable +degree. “Alas!” exclaimed one, as the true understanding of their +deformities possessed him, “not only would they of the Court receive it +as a most detestable insult if we sent such as ourselves, but the probability +of anyone so harassed overcoming the difficulties of river, desert and mountain +barrier is so remote that this person is more than willing to stake his entire +share of the anticipated bounty against a span-length of succulent lotus root +or an embossed coffin handle.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let unworthy despair fade!” suddenly exclaimed Tan-yung, who +nevertheless had been more downcast than any other a moment before; “for +among us has been retained one who has probably been especially destined for +this very service. There is yet Ten-teh. Let us seek him out.” +</p> + +<p> +With this design they sought for Ten-teh and finding him in his hut they +confidently invoked his assistance, pointing out how he would save all their +lives and receive great honour. To their dismay Ten-teh received them with +solemn curses and drove them from his door with blows, calling them traitors, +ungrateful ones, and rebellious subjects whose minds were so far removed from +submissive loyalty that rather than perish harmlessly they would inopportunely +thrust themselves in upon the attention of the divine Emperor when his mind was +full of great matters and his thoughts tenaciously fixed upon the scheme for +reclaiming the abandoned outer lands of his forefathers. “Behold,” +he cried, “when a hand is raised to sweep into oblivion a thousand +earthworms they lift no voice in protest, and in this matter ye are less than +earthworms. The dogs are content to starve dumbly while their masters feast, +and ye are less than dogs. The dutiful son cheerfully submits himself to +torture on the chance that his father’s sufferings may be lessened, and +the Emperor, as the supreme head, is more to be venerated than any father; but +your hearts are sheathed in avarice and greed.” Thus he drove them away, +and their last hope being gone they wandered back to the forest, wailing and +filling the air with their despairing moans; for the brief light that had +inspired them was extinguished and the thought that by a patient endurance they +might spare the Emperor an unnecessary pang was not a sufficient recompense in +their eyes. +</p> + +<p> +The time of warmth and green life passed. With winter came floods and +snow-storms, great tempests from the north and bitter winds that cut men down +as though they had been smitten by the sword. The rivers and lagoons were +frozen over; the meagre sustenance of the earth lay hidden beneath an +impenetrable crust of snow and ice, until those who had hitherto found it a +desperate chance to live from day to day now abandoned the unequal struggle for +the more attractive certainty of a swift and painless death. One by one the +fires went out in the houses of the dead; the ever-increasing snow broke down +the walls. Wild beasts from the mountains walked openly about the deserted +streets, thrust themselves through such doors as were closed against them and +lurked by night in the most sacred recesses of the ruined temples. The strong +and the wealthy had long since fled, and presently out of all the eleven +villages of the valley but one man remained alive and Ten-teh lay upon the +floor of his inner chamber, dying. +</p> + +<p> +“There was a sign—there was a sign in the past that more was yet to +be accomplished,” ran the one thought of his mind as he lay there +helpless, his last grain consumed and the ashes on his hearthstone black. +“Can it be that so solemn an omen has fallen unfulfilled to the ground; +or has this person long walked hand in hand with shadows in the Middle +Air?” +</p> + +<p> +“Dwellers of Yin; dwellers of Chung-yo; of Wei, Shan-ta, Feng, the Rock +of the Bleak Pagoda and all the eleven villages of the valley!” cried a +voice from without. “Ho, inhospitable sleeping ones, I have reached the +last dwelling of the plain and no one has as yet bidden me enter, no voice +invited me to unlace my sandals and partake of tea. Do they fear that this +person is a robber in disguise, or is this the courtesy of the Upper Seng +valley?” +</p> + +<p> +“They sleep more deeply,” said Ten-teh, speaking back to the full +extent of his failing power; “perchance your voice was not raised high +enough, O estimable wayfarer. Nevertheless, whether you come in peace or armed +with violence, enter here, for the one who lies within is past help and beyond +injury.” +</p> + +<p> +Upon this invitation the stranger entered and stood before Ten-teh. He was of a +fierce and martial aspect, carrying a sword at his belt and a bow and arrows +slung across his back, but privation had set a deep mark upon his features and +his body bore unmistakable traces of a long and arduous march. His garments +were ragged, his limbs torn by rocks and thorny undergrowth, while his ears had +fallen away before the rigour of the ice-laden blasts. In his right hand he +carried a staff upon which he leaned at every step, and glancing to the ground +Ten-teh perceived that the lower part of his sandals were worn away so that he +trod painfully upon his bruised and naked feet. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting,” said Ten-teh, when they had regarded each other for a +moment; “yet, alas, no more substantial than of the lips, for the +hospitality of the eleven villages is shrunk to what you see before you,” +and he waved his arm feebly towards the empty bowl and the blackened hearth. +“Whence come you?” +</p> + +<p> +“From the outer land of Im-kau,” replied the other. “Over the +Kang-ling mountains.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is a moon-to-moon journey,” said Ten-teh. “Few travellers +have ever reached the valley by that inaccessible track.” +</p> + +<p> +“More may come before the snow has melted,” replied the stranger, +with a stress of significance. “Less than seven days ago this person +stood upon the northern plains.” +</p> + +<p> +Ten-teh raised himself upon his arm. “There existed, many cycles ago, a +path—of a single foot’s width, it is said—along the edge of +the Pass called the Ram’s Horn, but it has been lost beyond the memory of +man.” +</p> + +<p> +“It has been found again,” said the stranger, “and Kha-hia +and his horde of Kins, joined by the vengeance-breathing Fuh-chi, lie encamped +less than a short march beyond the Pass.” +</p> + +<p> +“It can matter little,” said Ten-teh, trembling but speaking to +reassure himself. “The people are at peace among themselves, the Capital +adequately defended, and an army sufficiently large to meet any invasion can +march out and engage the enemy at a spot most convenient to ourselves.” +</p> + +<p> +“A few days hence, when all preparation is made,” continued the +stranger, “a cloud of armed men will suddenly appear openly, menacing the +western boundaries. The Capital and the fortified places will be denuded, and +all who are available will march out to meet them. They will be but as an empty +shell designed to serve a crafty purpose, for in the meanwhile Kha-hia will +creep unsuspected through the Kang-lings by the Ram’s Horn and before the +army can be recalled he will swiftly fall upon the defenceless Capital and +possess it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” exclaimed Ten-teh, “why has the end tarried thus long +if it be but for this person’s ears to carry to the grave so tormenting a +message! Yet how comes it, O stranger, that having been admitted to +Kha-hia’s innermost council you now betray his trust, or how can reliance +be placed upon the word of one so treacherous?” +</p> + +<p> +“Touching the reason,” replied the stranger, with no appearance of +resentment, “that is a matter which must one day lie between Kha-hia, +this person, and one long since Passed Beyond, and to this end have I +uncomplainingly striven for the greater part of a lifetime. For the rest, men +do not cross the King-langs in midwinter, wearing away their lives upon those +stormy heights, to make a jest of empty words. Already sinking into the Under +World, even as I am now powerless to raise myself above the ground, I, +Nau-Kaou, swear and attest what I have spoken.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet, alas!” exclaimed Ten-teh, striking his breast bitterly in his +dejection, “to what end is it that you have journeyed? Know that out of +all the eleven villages by famine and pestilence not another man remains. +Beyond the valley stretch the uninhabited sand plains, so that between here and +the Capital not a solitary dweller could be found to bear the message.” +</p> + +<p> +“The Silent One laughs!” replied Nau-Kaou dispassionately; and +drawing his cloak more closely about him he would have composed himself into a +reverent attitude to Pass Beyond. +</p> + +<p> +“Not so!” cried Ten-teh, rising in his inspired purpose and +standing upright despite the fever that possessed him; “the jewel is +precious beyond comparison and the casket mean and falling to pieces, but there +is none other. This person will bear the warning.” +</p> + +<p> +The stranger looked up from the ground in an increasing wonder. “You do +but dream, old man,” he said in a compassionate voice. “Before me +stands one of trembling limbs and infirm appearance. His face is the colour of +potter’s clay; his eyes sunken and yellow. His bones protrude everywhere +like the points of armour, while his garment is scarcely fitted to afford +protection against a summer breeze.” +</p> + +<p> +“Such dreams do not fade with the light,” replied Ten-teh +resolutely. “His feet are whole and untired; his mind clear. His heart is +as inflexibly fixed as the decrees of destiny, and, above all, his purpose is +one which may reasonably demand divine encouragement.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet there are the Han-sing mountains, flung as an insurmountable barrier +across the way,” said Nau-Kaou. +</p> + +<p> +“The wind passes over them,” replied Ten-teh, binding on his +sandals. +</p> + +<p> +“The Girdle,” continued the other, thereby indicating the +formidable obstacle presented by the tempestuous river, swollen by the mountain +snows. +</p> + +<p> +“The fish, moved by no great purpose, swim from bank to bank,” +again replied Ten-teh. “Tell me rather, for the time presses when such +issues hang on the lips of dying men, to what extent Kha-hia’s legions +stretch?” +</p> + +<p> +“In number,” replied Nau-Kaou, closing his eyes, “they are as +the stars on a very clear night, when the thousands in front do but serve to +conceal the innumerable throng behind. Yet even a small and resolute army +taking up its stand secretly in this valley and falling upon them unexpectedly +when half were crossed could throw them into disorder and rout, and utterly +destroy the power of Kha-hia for all time.” +</p> + +<p> +“So shall it be,” said Ten-Teh from the door. “Pass Upward +with a tranquil mind, O stranger from the outer land. The torch which you have +borne so far will not fail until his pyre is lit.” +</p> + +<p> +“Stay but a moment,” cried Nau-Kaou. “This person, full of +vigour and resource, needed the spur of a most poignant hate to urge his +trailing footsteps. Have you, O decrepit one, any such incentive to your +failing powers?” +</p> + +<p> +“A mightier one,” came back the voice of Ten-teh, across the snow +from afar. “Fear not.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well; they are the great twin brothers,” exclaimed Nau-Kaou. +“Kha-hia is doomed!” Then twice beating the ground with his open +hand he loosened his spirit and passed contentedly into the Upper Air. +</p> + +<h4>iii. THE LAST SERVICE</h4> + +<p> +The wise and accomplished Emperor Kwo Kam (to whom later historians have justly +given the title “Profound”) sat upon his agate throne in the Hall +of Audience. Around him were gathered the most illustrious from every province +of the Empire, while emissaries from the courts of other rulers throughout the +world passed in procession before him, prostrating themselves in token of the +dependence which their sovereigns confessed, and imploring his tolerant +acceptance of the priceless gifts they brought. Along the walls stood musicians +and singers who filled the air with melodious visions, while fan-bearing slaves +dexterously wafted perfumed breezes into every group. So unparalleled was the +splendour of the scene that rare embroidered silks were trodden under foot and +a great fountain was composed of diamonds dropping into a jade basin full of +pearls, but Kwo Kam outshone all else by the dignity of his air and the +magnificence of his apparel. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly, and without any of the heralding strains of drums and cymbals by +which persons of distinction had been announced, the arras before the chief +door was plucked aside and a figure, blinded by so much jewelled brilliance, +stumbled into the chamber, still holding thrust out before him the engraved +ring bearing the Imperial emblem which alone had enabled him to pass the +keepers of the outer gates alive. He had the appearance of being a very aged +man, for his hair was white and scanty, his face deep with shadows and lined +like a river bank when the waters have receded, and as he advanced, bent down +with infirmity, he mumbled certain words in ceaseless repetition. From his feet +and garment there fell a sprinkling of sand as he moved, and blood dropped to +the floor from many an unhealed wound, but his eyes were very bright, and +though sword-handles were grasped on all sides at the sight of so presumptuous +an intrusion, yet none opposed him. Rather, they fell back, leaving an open +passage to the foot of the throne; so that when the Emperor lifted his eyes he +saw the aged man moving slowly forward to do obeisance. +</p> + +<p> +“Ten-teh, revered father!” exclaimed Kwo Kam, and without pausing a +moment he leapt down from off his throne, thrust aside those who stood about +him and casting his own outer robe of state about Ten-teh’s shoulders +embraced him affectionately. +</p> + +<p> +“Supreme ruler,” murmured Ten-teh, speaking for the Emperor’s +ear alone, and in such a tone of voice as of one who has taught himself a +lesson which remains after all other consciousness has passed away, “an +army swiftly to the north! Let them dispose themselves about the eleven +villages and, overlooking the invaders as they assemble, strike when they are +sufficiently numerous for the victory to be lasting and decisive. The passage +of the Ram’s Horn has been found and the malignant Fuh-chi, banded in an +unnatural alliance with the barbarian Kins, lies with itching feet beyond the +Kang-lings. The invasion threatening on the west is but a snare; let a single +camp, feigning to be a multitudinous legion, be thrown against it. Suffer delay +from no cause. Weigh no alternative. He who speaks is Ten-teh, at whose +assuring word the youth Hoang was wont to cast himself into the deepest waters +fearlessly. His eyes are no less clear to-day, but his heart is made small with +overwhelming deference or in unshrinking loyalty he would cry: ‘Hear and +obey! All, all—Flags, Ironcaps, Tigers, Braves—all to the Seng +valley, leaving behind them the swallow in their march and moving with the +guile and secrecy of the ringed tree-snake.’” With these words +Ten-teh’s endurance passed its drawn-out limit and again repeating in a +clear and decisive voice, “All, all to the north!” he released his +joints and would have fallen to the ground had it not been for the +Emperor’s restraining arms. +</p> + +<p> +When Ten-teh again returned to a knowledge of the lower world he was seated +upon the throne to which the Emperor had borne him. His rest had been made easy +by the luxurious cloaks of the courtiers and emissaries which had been lavishly +heaped about him, while during his trance the truly high-minded Kwo Kam had not +disdained to wash his feet in a golden basin of perfumed water, to shave his +limbs, and to anoint his head. The greater part of the assembly had been +dismissed, but some of the most trusted among the ministers and officials still +waited in attendance about the door. +</p> + +<p> +“Great and enlightened one,” said Ten-teh, as soon as his stupor +was lifted, “has this person delivered his message competently, for his +mind was still a seared vision of snow and sand and perchance his tongue has +stumbled?” +</p> + +<p> +“Bend your ears to the wall, O my father,” replied the Emperor, +“and be assured.” +</p> + +<p> +A radiance of the fullest satisfaction lifted the settling shadows for a moment +from Ten-teh’s countenance as from the outer court came at intervals the +low and guarded words of command, the orderly clashing of weapons as they fell +into their appointed places, and the regular and unceasing tread of armed men +marching forth. “To the Seng valley—by no chance to the +west?” he demanded, trembling between anxiety and hope, and drinking in +the sound of the rhythmic tramp which to his ears possessed a more alluring +charm than if it were the melody of blind singing girls. +</p> + +<p> +“Even to the eleven villages,” replied the Emperor. “At your +unquestioned word, though my kingdom should hang upon the outcome.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is sufficient to have lived so long,” said Ten-teh. Then +perceiving that it was evening, for the jade and crystal lamps were lighted, he +cried out: “The time has leapt unnoted. How many are by this hour upon +the march?” +</p> + +<p> +“Sixscore companies of a hundred spearmen each,” said Kwo Kam. +“By dawn four times that number will be on their way. In less than three +days a like force will be disposed about the passes of the Han-sing mountains +and the river fords, while at the same time the guards from less important +towns will have been withdrawn to take their place upon the city walls.” +</p> + +<p> +“Such words are more melodious than the sound of many marble +lutes,” said Ten-teh, sinking back as though in repose. “Now is +mine that peace spoken of by the philosopher Chi-chey as the greatest: +‘The eye closing upon its accomplished work.’” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly do you stand in need of the healing sleep of nature,” +said the Emperor, not grasping the inner significance of the words. “Now +that you are somewhat rested, esteemed sire, suffer this one to show you the +various apartments of the palace so that you may select for your own such as +most pleasingly attract your notice.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet a little longer,” entreated Ten-teh. “A little longer by +your side and listening to your voice alone, if it may be permitted, O sublime +one.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is for my father to command,” replied Kwo Kam. “Perchance +they of the eleven villages sent some special message of gratifying loyalty +which you would relate without delay?” +</p> + +<p> +“They slept, omnipotence, or without doubt it would be so,” replied +Ten-teh. +</p> + +<p> +“Truly,” agreed the Emperor. “It was night when you set +forth, my father?” +</p> + +<p> +“The shadows had fallen deeply upon the Upper Seng Valley,” said +Ten-teh evasively. +</p> + +<p> +“The Keeper of the Imperial Stores has frequently conveyed to us their +expressions of unfeigned gratitude for the bounty by which we have sought to +keep alive the memory of their hospitality and our own indebtedness,” +said the Emperor. +</p> + +<p> +“The sympathetic person cannot have overstated their words,” +replied Ten-teh falteringly. “Never, as their own utterances bear +testimony, never was food more welcome, fuel more eagerly sought for, and +clothing more necessary than in the years of the most recent past.” +</p> + +<p> +“The assurance is as dew upon the drooping lotus,” said Kwo Kam, +with a lightening countenance. “To maintain the people in an unshaken +prosperity, to frown heavily upon extortion and to establish justice throughout +the land—these have been the achievements of the years of peace. Yet +often, O my father, this one’s mind has turned yearningly to the happier +absence of strife and the simple abundance which you and they of the valley +know.” +</p> + +<p> +“The deities ordain and the balance weighs; your reward will be the +greater,” replied Ten-teh. Already he spoke with difficulty, and his eyes +were fast closing, but he held himself rigidly, well knowing that his spirit +must still obey his will. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you not crave now to partake of food and wine?” inquired the +Emperor, with tender solicitude. “A feast has long been prepared of the +choicest dishes in your honour. Consider well the fatigue through which you +have passed.” +</p> + +<p> +“It has faded,” replied Ten-teh, in a voice scarcely above a +whisper, “the earthly body has ceased to sway the mind. A little longer, +restored one; a very brief span of time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your words are my breath, my father,” said the Emperor, +deferentially. “Yet there is one matter which we had reserved for +affectionate censure. It would have spared the feet of one who is foremost in +our concern if you had been content to send the warning by one of the slaves +whose acceptance we craved last year, while you followed more leisurely by the +chariot and the eight white horses which we deemed suited to your use.” +</p> + +<p> +Ten-teh was no longer able to express himself in words, but at this indication +of the Emperor’s unceasing thought a great happiness shone on his face. +“What remains?” must reasonably have been his reflection; “or +who shall leave the shade of the fruitful palm-tree to search for +raisins?” Therefore having reached so supreme an eminence that there was +nothing human above, he relaxed the effort by which he had so long sustained +himself, and suffering his spirit to pass unchecked, he at once fell back +lifeless among the cushions of the throne. +</p> + +<p> +That all who should come after might learn by his example, the history of +Ten-teh was inscribed upon eighteen tablets of jade, carved patiently and with +graceful skill by the most expert stone-cutters of the age. A triumphal arch of +seven heights was also erected outside the city and called by his name, but the +efforts of story-tellers and poets will keep alive the memory of Ten-teh even +when these imperishable monuments shall have long fallen from their destined +use. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +When Kai Lung had completed the story of the loyalty of Ten-teh and had pointed +out the forgotten splendour of the crumbling arch, the coolness of the evening +tempted them to resume their way. Moving without discomfort to themselves +before nightfall they reached a small but seemly cottage conveniently placed +upon the mountain-side. At the gate stood an aged person whose dignified +appearance was greatly added to by his long white moustaches. These possessions +he pointed out to Hwa-mei with inoffensive pride as he welcomed the two who +stood before him. +</p> + +<p> +“Venerated father,” explained Kai Lung dutifully, “this is +she who has been destined from the beginning of time to raise up a hundred sons +to keep your line extant.” +</p> + +<p> +“In that case,” remarked the patriarch, “your troubles are +only just beginning. As for me, since all that is now arranged, I can see about +my own departure—‘Whatever height the tree, its leaves return to +the earth at last.’” +</p> + +<p> +“It is thus at evening-time—to-morrow the light will again shine +forth,” whispered Kai Lung. “Alas, radiance, that you who have +dwelt about a palace should be brought to so mean a hut!” +</p> + +<p> +“If it is small, your presence will pervade it; in a palace there are +many empty rooms,” replied Hwa-mei, with a reassuring glance. “I +enter to prepare our evening rice.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1267 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/1267-h/images/cover.jpg b/1267-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4beca6f --- /dev/null +++ b/1267-h/images/cover.jpg |
