Kai Lung's Golden Hours

by Ernest Bramah

  CHAPTER VII

  Not Concerned with any Particular Attribute of Those who are Involved

  Unendurable was the intermingling of hopes and fears with which KaiLung sought the shutter on the next occasion after the avowal ofHwa-mei's devoted strategy. While repeatedly assuring himself that itwould have been better to submit to piecemeal slicing without aprotesting word rather than that she should incur so formidable arisk, he was compelled as often to admit that when once her mind hadformed its image no effort on his part would have held her back.Doubtless Hwa-mei readily grasped the emotion that would possess theone whose welfare was now her chief concern, for without waiting togum her hair or to gild her lips she hastened to the spot beneath thewall at the earliest moment that Kai Lung could be there.

  "Seven marble tombstones are lifted from off my chest!" exclaimed thestory-teller when he could greet her. "How did your subterfugeproceed, and with what satisfaction was the history of Weng Choreceived?"

  "That," replied Hwa-mei modestly, "will provide the matter for anautumn tale, when seated around a pine-cone fire. In the meanwhilethis protracted ordeal takes an ambiguous bend."

  "To what further end does the malignity of the ill-made Ming-shu nowshape itself? Should it entail a second peril to your head--"

  "The one whom you so justly name fades for a moment out of ourconcern. Burdened with a secret mission he journeys to Hing-poo, nordoes the Mandarin Shan Tien hold another court until the day of hisreturn."

  "That gives a breathing space of time to our ambitions?"

  "So much is assured. Yet even in that a subtle danger lurks. Certaincontingencies have become involved in the recital of your admittedlyingenious stories which the future unfolding of events may not alwaysjustify. For instance, the very speculative Shan Tien, casting hisusual moderate limit to the skies, has accepted the Luminous Insect asa beckoning omen, and immersed himself deeply in the chances of everycandidate bearing the name of Lao, Ting, Li, Tzu, Sung, Chu, Wang orChin. Should all these fail incapably at the trials a very undignifiedperiod in the Mandarin's general manner of expressing himself mayintervene."

  "Had the time at the disposal of this person been sufficientlyenlarged he would not have omitted the various maxims arising from thetale," admitted Kai Lung, with a shadow of remorse. "That suited tothe need of a credulous and ill-balanced mind would doubtless be theproverb: '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--"

  "In the meantime," continued the maiden, indicating by a glance thatwhat she had to relate was more essential to the requirements of themoment than anything he was saying: "Shan Tien is by no meansindisposed towards your cause. Your unassuming attitude and deepresearch have enlarged your wisdom in his eyes. To-morrow he will sendfor you to lean upon your well-stored mind."

  "Is the emergency one for which any special preparation is required?"questioned Kai Lung.

  "That is the message of my warning. Of late a company of gratefulfriends has given the Mandarin an inlaid coffin to mark the sense oftheir indebtedness, the critical nature of the times rendering thegift peculiarly appropriate. Thus provided, Shan Tien has cast hiseyes around to secure a burial robe worthy of the casket. Themerchants proffer many, each endowed with all the qualities, butmeanwhile doubts arise, and now Shan Tien would turn to you to learnwhat is the true and ancient essential of the garment, and wherein itsvirtue should reside."

  "The call will not find me inept," replied Kai Lung. "The story ofWang Ho--"

  "It is enough," exclaimed the maiden warningly. "The time forwandering together in the garden of the imagination has not yetarrived. Ming-shu's feet are on a journey, it is true, but his eyesare doubtless left behind. Until a like hour to-morrow gladdens ourexpectant gaze, farewell!"

  On the following day, at about the stroke of the usual court, Li-loeapproached Kai Lung with a grievous look.

  "Alas, manlet," he exclaimed, "here is one direct from the presence ofour high commander, requiring you against his thumb-signed bond. Goyou must, and that alone, whether it be for elevation on a tree or ona 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 holdyour cup if you are to feast. Yet touching that same cask of hiddenwine there is still time--"

  "Cease, mooncalf," replied Kai Lung reprovingly. "This is but an eddyon the surface of a moving stream. It comes, it goes; and the waterspress on as before."

  Then Kai Lung, neither bound nor wearing the wooden block, was ledinto the presence of Shan Tien, and allowed to seat himself upon thefloor as though he plied his daily trade.

  "Sooner or later it will certainly devolve upon this person to condemnyou to a violent end," remarked the far-seeing Mandarin reassuringly."In the ensuing interval, however, there is no need for either of usto dwell upon what must be regarded as an unpleasant necessity."

  "Yet no crime has been committed, beneficence," Kai Lung ventured toprotest; "nor in his attitude before your virtuous self has this onebeen guilty of any act of disrespect."

  "You have shown your mind to be both wide and deep, and suitablylined," declared Shan Tien, dexterously avoiding the weightier part ofthe story-teller's plea. "A question now arises as to the efficacy ofembroidered coffin cloths, and wherein their potent merit lies. Out ofyour well-stored memory declare your knowledge of this sort, conveyingthe solid information in your usual palatable way."

  "I bow, High Excellence," replied Kai Lung. "This concerns the storyof Wang Ho."

  The Story of Wang Ho and the Burial Robe

  There was a time when it did not occur to anyone in this pure andenlightened Empire to question the settled and existing order ofaffairs. It would have been well for the merchant Wang Ho had he livedin that happy era. But, indeed, it is now no unheard-of thing for anordinary person to suggest that customs which have been establishedfor centuries might with advantage be changed--a form of impiety whichis in no degree removed from declaring oneself to be wiser or moreprofound than one's ancestors! Scarcely more seemly is this thanirregularity in maintaining the Tablets or observing the Rites; andhow narrow is the space dividing these delinquencies from the actualcrimes of overturning images, counselling rebellion, joining ininsurrection and resorting to indiscriminate piracy and bloodshed.

  Certainly the merchant Wang Ho would be a thousand taels wealthierto-day if he had fully considered this in advance. Nor would ChengLin--but who attempts to eat an orange without first disposing of thepeel, or what manner of a dwelling could be erected unless an adequatefoundation be first provided?

  Wang Ho, then, let it be stated, was one who had early in life amasseda considerable fortune by advising those whose intention it was tohazard their earnings in the State Lotteries as to the numbers thatmight be relied upon to be successful, or, if not actually successful,those at least that were not already predestined by malign influencesto be absolutely incapable of success. These chances Wang Ho at firstforecast by means of dreams, portents and other manifestations of anadmittedly supernatural tendency, but as his name grew large and thenumber of his clients increased vastly, while his capacity fordreaming remained the same, he found it no less effective to close hiseyes and to become inspired rapidly of numbers as they were thusrevealed to him.

  Occasionally Wang Ho was the recipient of an appropriate bag of moneyfrom one who had profited by his advice, but it was not his custom torely upon this contingency as a source of income, nor did he in anyeventuality return the amount which had been agreed upon (andinvariably deposited with him in advance) as the reward of hisinspired efforts. To those who sought him in a contentious spirit,inquiring why he did not find it more profitable to secure the prizesfor himself, Wang Ho replied that his enterprise consisted inforecasting the winning numbers for State Lotteries and not in solvingenigmas, writing deprecatory
odes, composing epitaphs or conductingany of the other numerous occupations that could be mentioned. As thisplausible evasion was accompanied by the courteous display of the manyweapons which he always wore at different convenient points of hisattire, the incident invariably ended in a manner satisfactory to WangHo.

  Thus positioned Wang Ho prospered, and had in the course of yearsacquired a waist of honourable proportions, when the unrolling courseof events influenced him to abandon his lucrative enterprise. It wasnot that he failed in any way to become as inspired as before; indeed,with increasing practice he attained a fluency that enabled him tooutdistance every rival, so that on the occasion of one lottery heafterwards privately discovered that he had predicted the success ofevery possible combination of numbers, thus enabling those who followedhis advice (as he did not fail to announce in inscriptions ofvermilion assurance) to secure--among them--every variety of prizeoffered.

  But, about this time, the chief wife of Wang Ho having been greetedwith amiable condescension by the chief wife of a high official of theProvince, and therefrom in an almost equal manner by the wives of evenhigher officials, the one in question began to abandon herself to amore rapidly outlined manner of existence than formerly, and toinvolve Wang Ho in a like attitude, so that presently thisill-considering merchant, who but a short time before would haveunhesitatingly cast himself bodily to earth on the approach of a citymagistrate, now acquired the habit of alluding to mandarins in casualconversation by names of affectionate abbreviation. Also, beingadvised of the expediency by a voice speaking in an undertone, hesought still further to extend beyond himself by suffering his nailsto grow long and obliterating his name from the public announcementsupon the city walls.

  In spite of this ambitious sacrifice Wang Ho could not entirely shedfrom his habit a propensity to associate with those requiring adviceon matters involving financial transactions. He could no longerconduct enterprises which entailed many clients and the lavish displayof his name, but in the society of necessitous persons who wererelated to others of distinction he allowed it to be inferred that hewas benevolently disposed and had a greater sufficiency of taels thanhe could otherwise make use of. He also involved himself, for thebenefit of those whom he esteemed, in transactions connected withpieces of priceless jade, jars of wine of an especially fragrantcharacter, and pictures of reputable antiquity. In the written mannerof these transactions (for it is useless to conceal the fact that WangHo was incapable of tracing the characters of his own name) heemployed a youth whom he never suffered to appear from beyond thebackground. Cheng Lin is thus brought naturally and unobtrusively intothe narrative.

  Had Cheng Lin come into the world when a favourably disposed band ofdemons was in the ascendant he would certainly have merited an earlierand more embellished appearance in this written chronicle. So far,however, nothing but omens of an ill-destined obscurity had beset hiscareer. For many years two ambitions alone had contained his mind,both inextricably merged into one current and neither with anyappearance of ever flowing into its desired end. The first was to passthe examination of the fourth degree of proficiency in the greatliterary competitions, and thereby qualify for a small official postwhere, in the course of a few years, he might reasonably hope to beforgotten in all beyond the detail of being allotted every third moonan unostentatious adequacy of taels. This distinction Cheng Lin feltto be well within his power of attainment could he but set aside threeuninterrupted years for study, but to do this would necessitate thepossession of something like a thousand taels of silver, and Lin mightas well fix his eyes upon the great sky-lantern itself.

  Dependent on this, but in no great degree removed from it, was thehope of being able to entwine into that future the actuality of HsiMean, a very desirable maiden whom it was Cheng Lin's practice to meetby chance on the river bank when his heavily-weighted duties for theday were over.

  To those who will naturally ask why Cheng Lin, if really sincere inhis determination, could not imperceptibly acquire even so large a sumas 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 ofhigh mandarins and further embarrassed by a profuse illiteracy, itshould be sufficient to apply the warning: "Beware of helping yourselfto corn from the manger of the blind mule."

  In spite of his preoccupation Wang Ho never suffered his mind towander when sums of money were concerned, and his inability to expresshimself by written signs only engendered in his alert brain anever-present decision not to be entrapped by their use. Frequently,Cheng Lin found small sums of money lying in such a position as toinduce the belief that they had been forgotten, but upon examiningthem closely he invariably found upon them marks by which they couldbe recognized if the necessity arose; he therefore had no hesitationin returning them to Wang Ho with a seemly reference to the extremeimprobability of the merchant actually leaving money thus unguarded,and to the lack of respect which it showed to Cheng Lin himself toexpect that a person of his integrity should be tempted by soinsignificant an amount. Wang Ho always admitted the justice of thereproach, but he did not on any future occasion materially increasethe sum in question, so that it is to be doubted if his heart wassincere.

  It was on the evening of such an incident that Lin walked with Mean bythe side of the lotus-burdened Hoang-keng expressing himself to theeffect that instead of lilies her hair was worthy to be bound up withpearls of a like size, and that beneath her feet there should bespread a carpet not of verdure, but of the finest Chang-hi silk,embroidered with five-clawed dragons and other emblems of royalauthority, nor was Mean in any way displeased by this indication ofextravagant taste on her lover's part, though she replied:

  "The only jewels that this person desires are the enduring glances ofpure affection with which you, O my phoenix one, entwined the liliesabout her hair, and the only carpet that she would crave would be theembroidered design created by the four feet of the two persons who arenow conversing together for ever henceforth walking in uninterruptedharmony."

  "Yet, alas!" exclaimed Lin, "that enchanting possibility seems to bemore 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 herewards this person's conscientious services."

  "Undoubtedly that opaque-eyed merchant will shortly meet a revengefulfire-breathing vampire when walking alone on the edge of a narrowprecipice," exclaimed Mean sympathetically. "Yet have you pressinglylaid the facts before the spirits of your distinguished ancestors witha request for their direct intervention?"

  "The expedient has not been neglected," replied Lin, "and appropriatesacrifices have accompanied the request. But even while in the form ofan ordinary existence the venerable ones in question were becomingdistant in their powers of hearing, and doubtless with increasingyears the ineptitude has grown. It would almost seem that in the caseof a person so obtuse as Wang Ho is, more direct means would have tobe employed."

  "It is well said," assented Mean, "that those who are unmoved by thethread of a vat of flaming sulphur in the Beyond, rend the air if theychance to step on a burning cinder here on earth."

  "The suggestion is a timely one," replied Lin. "Wang Ho's weak spotlies between his hat and his sandals. Only of late, feeling thenatural infirmities of time pressing about him, he has expended athousand taels in the purchase of an elaborate burial robe, which hewears on every fit occasion, so that the necessity for its ultimateuse may continue to be remote."

  "A thousand taels!" repeated Mean. "With that sum you could--"

  "Assuredly. The coincidence may embody something in the nature of anomen favourable to ourselves. At the moment, however, this person hasnot any clear-cut perception of how the benefit may be attained."

  "The amount referred to has already passed into the hands of themerchant in burial robes?"

  "Irrevocably. In the detail of the transference of actual sums ofmoney Wang Ho walks hand in hand with himself from door t
o door. Thepieces of silver are by this time beneath the floor of Shen Heng'sinner chamber."

  "Shen Heng?"

  "The merchant in silk and costly fabrics, who lives beneath the signof the Golden Abacus. It was from him--"

  "Truly. It is for him that this person's sister Min works the finestembroideries. Doubtless this very robe--"

  "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 ofall times serve to remind the controlling deities to what length humanendurance can proceed if suitably encouraged. These are designed inletters of threaded gold. Inferior spirits are equally invoked incharacters of silver."

  "The description is sharp-pointed. It is upon this robe that the onereferred to has been ceaselessly engaged for several moons. On accountof her narrow span of years, no less than her nimble-jointeddexterity, she is justly esteemed among those whose wares areguaranteed to be permeated with the spirit of rejuvenation."

  "Thereby enabling the enterprising Shen Heng to impose a specialdetail into his account: 'For employing the services of one who willembroider into the fabric of the robe the vital principles of youthand long-life-to-come--an added fifty taels.' Did she of your housebenefit to a proportionate extent?"

  Mean indicated a contrary state of things by a graceful movement ofher well-arranged eyebrows.

  "Not only that," she added, "but the sordid-minded Shen Heng, on avariety of pretexts, has diminished the sum Min was to receive at thecompletion of the work, until that which should have required a fullhand 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 hisworkshop, she has, between one melancholy and another, involvedherself in a dark distemper."

  As Mean unfolded the position lying between her sister Min and themerchant Shen Heng, Lin grew thoughtful, and, although it was not hisnature to express the changing degrees of emotion by varying theappearance of his face, he did not conceal from Mean that her wordshad fastened themselves upon his imagination.

  "Let us rest here a while," he suggested presently. "That which yousay, added to what I already know, may, under the guidance of asincere mind, put a much more rainbow-like outlook on our combinedfuture than hitherto appeared probable."

  So they composed themselves about the bank of the river, while Linquestioned her more closely as to those things of which she hadspoken. Finally, he laid certain injunctions upon her for herimmediate guidance. Then, it being now the hour of middle light, theyreturned, Mean accompanying her voice to the melody of stringed wood,as she related songs of those who have passed through great endurancesto a state of assured contentment. To Lin it seemed as though the cityleapt forward to meet them, so narrow was the space of time involvedin reaching it.

  A few days later Wang Ho was engaged in the congenial occupation ofmarking a few pieces of brass cash before secreting them where ChengLin must inevitably displace them, when the person in question quietlystood before him. Thereupon Wang Ho returned the money to his innersleeve, ineptly remarking that when the sun rose it was futile toraise a lantern to the sky to guide the stars.

  "Rather is it said, 'From three things cross the road to avoid: afalling tree, your chief and second wives whispering in agreement, anda goat wearing a leopard's tail,'" replied Lin, thus rebuking Wang Ho,not only for his crafty intention, but also as to the obtuseness ofthe proverb he had quoted. "Nevertheless, O Wang Ho, I approach you ona matter of weighty consequence."

  "To-morrow approaches," replied the merchant evasively. "If itconcerns the detail of the reduction of your monthly adequacy, my wordhas become unbending iron."

  "It is written: 'Cho Sing collected feathers to make a garment for hiscanary when it began to moult,'" replied Lin acquiescently. "The careof so insignificant a person as myself may safely be left to theProtecting Forces, esteemed. This matter touches your own condition."

  "In that case you cannot be too specific." Wang Ho lowered himselfinto a reclining couch, thereby indicating that the subject was notone for hasty dismissal, at the same time motioning to Lin that heshould sit upon the floor. "Doubtless you have some remunerative formof enterprise to suggest to me?"

  "Can a palsied finger grasp a proffered coin? The matter strikes moredeeply at your very existence, honoured chief."

  "Alas!" exclaimed Wang Ho, unable to retain the usual colour of hisappearance, "the attention of a devoted servant is somewhat likeTohen-hi Yang's spiked throne--it torments those whom it supports.However, the word has been spoken--let the sentence be filled in."

  "The full roundness of your illustrious outline is as a display ofcoloured lights to gladden my commonplace vision," replied Linsubmissively. "Admittedly of late, however, an element of dampness hasinterfered with the brilliance of the display."

  "Speak clearly and regardless of polite evasion," commanded Wang Ho."My internal organs have for some time suspected that hostileinfluences were at work. For how long have you noticed this, as it maybe expressed, falling off?"

  "My mind is as refined crystal before your compelling glance,"admitted Lin. "Ever since it has been your custom to wear the funeralrobe fashioned by Shen Heng has your noble shadow suffered erosion."

  This answer, converging as it did upon the doubts that had alreadyassailed the merchant's satisfaction, convinced him of Cheng Lin'sdiscrimination, while it increased his own suspicion. He had for somelittle time found that after wearing the robe he invariably sufferedpangs that could only be attributed to the influence of malign andobscure Beings. It is true that the occasions of his wearing the robewere elaborate and many-coursed feasts, when he and his guests hadpartaken lavishly of birds' nests, sharks' fins, sea snails and otherviands of a rich and glutinous nature. But if he could not both wearthe funeral robe and partake unstintingly of well-spiced food, theharmonious relation of things was imperilled; and, as it was since theintroduction of the funeral robe into his habit that matters hadassumed a more poignant phase, it was clear that the influence of thefuneral robe was at the root of the trouble.

  "Yet," protested Wang Ho, "the Mandarin Ling-ni boasts that he hasalready lengthened the span of his natural life several years by suchan expedient, and my friend the high official T'cheng asserts that,while wearing a much less expensive robe than mine, he feels theessence of an increased vitality passing continuously into his being.Why, then, am I marked out for this infliction, Cheng Lin?"

  "Revered," replied Lin, with engaging candour, "the inconveniences ofliving in a country so densely populated with demons, vampires,spirits, ghouls, dragons, omens, forces and influences, both good andbad, as our own unapproachably favoured Empire is, cannot be evadedfrom one end of life to the other. How much greater is the difficultywhen the prescribed forms for baffling the ill-disposed among theunseen appear to have been wrongly angled by those framing the Rites!"

  Wang Ho made a gesture of despair. It conveyed to Lin's mind the wisereminder of N'sy-hing: "When one is inquiring for a way to escape froman advancing tiger, flowers of speech assume the form of noisomebird-weed." He therefore continued:

  "Hitherto it has been assumed that for a funeral robe to exercise itsmost beneficial force it should be the work of a maiden of immatureyears, the assumption being that, having a prolonged period ofexistence before her, the influence of longevity would pass throughher fingers into the garment and in turn fortify the wearer."

  "Assuredly," agreed Wang Ho anxiously. "Thus was the analogy outlinedto me by one skilled in the devices, and the logic of it seemsunassailable."

  "Yet," objected Lin, with sympathetic concern in his voice, "howunfortunate must be the position of a person involved in a robe thathas been embroidered by one who, instead of a long life, has beenmarked out by the Destinies for premature decay and an untimely death!For in that case the influence--"

  "Such instances," interrupted Wang Ho, helping himself profusely torice-spirit from a jar near at hand, "
must providentially be of rareoccurrence?"

  "Esteemed head," replied Lin, helping Wang Ho to yet anothersuperfluity of rice-spirit, "there are moments when it behoves each ofus to maintain an unflaccid outline. Suspecting the true cause of yourdeclining radiance, I have, at an involved expenditure of seven taelsand three hand counts of brash cash, pursued this matter to itsultimate source. The robe in question owes its attainment to one Min,of the obscure house of Hsi, who recently ceased to have an existencewhile her years yet numbered short of a score. Not only was it the lastwork upon which she was engaged, but so closely were the twoidentified that her abrupt Passing Beyond must certainly exercise acorresponding effect upon any subsequent wearer."

  "Alas!" exclaimed Wang Ho, feeling many of the symptoms of contagionalready manifesting themselves about his body. "Was the infliction ofa painless nature?"

  "As to whether it was leprosy, the spotted plague, or acute demoniacalpossession, the degraded Shen Heng maintains an unworthy silence.Indeed, at the mention of Hsi Min's name he wraps his garment abouthis head and rolls upon the floor--from which the worst may beinferred. They of Min's house, however, are less capable of guile, andfor an adequate consideration, while not denying that Shen Heng haspaid them to maintain a stealthy silence, they freely admit that thefacts are as they have been stated."

  "In that case, Shen Heng shall certainly return the thousand taels inexchange for this discreditable burial robe," exclaimed Wang Hovindictively.

  "Venerated personality," said Lin, with unabated loyalty, "theessential part of the development is to safeguard your ownincomparable being against every danger. Shen Heng may be safely leftto the avenging demons that are ever lying in wait for thecontemptible."

  "The first part of your remark is inspired," agreed Wang Ho, hisincapable mind already beginning to assume a less funereal forecast."Proceed, regardless of all obstacles."

  "Consider the outcome of publicly compelling Shen Heng to undo thetransaction, even if it could be legally achieved! Word of thecalamity would pass on heated breath, each succeeding one becomingmore heavily embroidered than the robe itself. The yamens and palacesof your distinguished friends would echo with the once honoured nameof Wang Ho, now associated with every form of malignant distemper andimpending fate. All would hasten to withdraw themselves from thecontagion of your overhanging end."

  "Am I, then," demanded Wang Ho, "to suffer the loss of a thousandtaels and retain an inadequate and detestable burial robe that willcontinue to exercise its malign influence over my being?"

  "By no means," replied Lin confidently. "But be warned by the precept:'Do not burn down your house in order to inconvenience even your chiefwife's mother.' Sooner or later a relation of Shen Heng's will turnhis steps towards your inner office. You can then, without undueeffort, impose on him the thousand taels that you have suffered lossfrom those of his house. In the meantime a device must be sought forexchanging your dangerous but imposing-looking robe for one of provedefficiency."

  "It begins to assume a definite problem in this person's mind as towhether such a burial robe exists," declared Wang Ho stubbornly.

  "Yet it cannot be denied, when a reliable system is adopted in thefabrication," protested Lin. "For a score and five years the one towhom this person owes his being has worn such a robe."

  "To what age did your venerated father attain?" inquired the merchant,with courteous interest.

  "Fourscore years and three parts of yet another score."

  "And the robe in question eventually accompanied him when he PassedBeyond?"

  "Doubtless it will. He is still wearing it," replied Lin, as one whospeaks of casual occurrences.

  "Is he, then, at so advanced an age, in the state of an ordinaryexistence?"

  "Assuredly. Fortified by the virtue emanating from the garmentreferred to, it is his deliberate intention to continue here for yetanother score of years at least."

  "But if such robes are of so dubious a nature how can reliance beplaced on any one?"

  "Esteemed," replied Lin, "it is a matter that has long been suspectedamong the observant. Unfortunately, the Ruby Buttons of the pastmistakenly formulated that the essence of continuous existence wasimparted to a burial robe through the hands of a young maiden--henceso many deplorable experiences. The proper person to be so employed isundoubtedly one of ripe attainment, for only thereby can the claim topossess the vital principle be assured."

  "Was the robe which has so effectively sustained your meritoriousfather thus constructed?" inquired Wang Ho, inviting Lin to reclinehimself upon a couch by a gesture as of one who discovers for thefirst time that an honoured guest has been overlooked.

  "It is of ancient make, and thereby in the undiscriminating eyeperhaps somewhat threadbare; but to the desert-traveller all wells aresparkling," replied Lin. "A venerable woman, inspired of certain magicwisdom, which she wove into the texture, to the exclusion of theshowier qualities, designed it at the age of threescore years andthree short of another score. She was engaged upon its fabrication yetanother seven, and finally Passed Upwards at an attainment of threehundred and thirty-three years, three moons, and three days, thusconforming to all the principles of allowed witchcraft."

  "Cheng Lin," said Wang Ho amiably, pouring out for the one whom headdressed a full measure of rice-spirit, "the duty that an obedientson owes even to a grasping and self-indulgent father has in the pastbeen pressed to a too-conspicuous front, at the expense of theharmonious relation that should exist between a comfortably-positionedservant and a generous and broad-minded master. Now in the matter ofthese two coffin cloths--"

  "My ears are widely opened towards your auspicious words,benevolence," replied Lin.

  "You, Cheng Lin, are still too young to be concerned with the questionof Passing Beyond; your imperishable father is, one is compelled tosay, already old enough to go. As regards both persons, therefore, theassumed virtue of one burial robe above another should be merely amatter of speculative interest. Now if some arrangement should besuggested, not unprofitable to yourself, by which one robe might beimperceptibly substituted for another--and, after all, one burial robeis very like another--"

  "The prospect of deceiving a trustful and venerated sire is so ignoblethat scarcely any material gain would be a fitting compensation--wereit not for the fact that an impending loss of vision renders thedeception somewhat easy to accomplish. Proceed, therefore,munificence, towards a precise statement of your open-handedprodigality." *

  Indescribable was the bitterness of Shen Heng's throat when Cheng Linunfolded his burden and revealed the Wang Ho thousand-tael burialrobe, with an unassuming request for the return of the purchase money,either in gold or honourable paper, as the article was foundunsuitable. Shen Heng shook the rafters of the Golden Abacus withindignation, and called upon his domestic demons, the spirits ofeleven generations of embroidering ancestors, and the illuminatedtablets containing the High Code and Authority of the DistinguishedBrotherhood of Coffin Cloth and Burial Robe Makers in protest againstso barbarous an innovation.

  Bowing repeatedly and modestly expressing himself to the effect thatit was incredible that he was not justly struck dead before thesublime spectacle of Shen Heng's virtuous indignation, Cheng Lincarefully produced the written lines of the agreement, gentlydirecting the Distinguished Brother's fire-kindling eyes to anindicated detail. It was a provision that the robe should be returnedand the purchase money restored if the garment was not all that wastherein stipulated: with his invariable painstaking loyalty Lin hadinsisted upon this safeguard when he drew up the form, although,probably from a disinclination to extol his own services, he hadomitted mentioning the fact to Wang Ho in their recent conversation.

  With deprecating firmness Lin directed Shen Heng's reluctant eyes toanother line--the unfortunate exaction of fifty taels in return forthe guarantee that the robe should be permeated with the spirit ofrejuvenation. As the undoubted embroiderer of the robe--one Min of thefamily of Hsi--had admittedly Pa
ssed Beyond almost with the laststitch, it was evident that she could only have conveyed by her touchan entirely contrary emanation. If, as Shen Heng never ceased todeclare, Min was still somewhere alive, let her be produced and afitting token of reconciliation would be forthcoming; otherwise,although with the acutest reluctance, it would be necessary to carrythe claim to the court of the chief District Mandarin, and (Cheng Lintrembled at the sacrilegious thought) it would be impossible toconceal the fact that Shen Heng employed persons of inauspicious omen,and the high repute of coffin cloths from the Golden Abacus would belost. The hint arrested Shen Heng's fingers in the act of tearing outa handful of his beautiful pigtail. For the first time he noticed,with intense self-reproach, that Lin was not reclining on a couch.

  The amiable discussion that followed, conducted with discriminatingdignity by Shen Heng and conscientious humility on the part of ChengLin, extended from one gong-stroke before noon until close upon thetime for the evening rice. The details arrived at were that Shen Hengshould deliver to Lin eight-hundred and seventy-five taels against thereturn of the robe. He would also press upon that person a silk pursewith an onyx clasp, containing twenty-five taels, as a deliberate markof his individual appreciation and quite apart from anything to dowith the transaction on hand. All suggestions of anything other thanthe strictest high-mindedness were withdrawn from both sides. In orderthat the day should not be wholly destitute of sunshine at the GoldenAbacus, Lin declared his intention of purchasing, at a price notexceeding three taels and a half, the oldest and most unattractiveburial robe that the stock contained. So moved was Shen Heng by thisdelicate consideration that he refused to accept more than two taelsand three-quarters. Moreover, he added for Lin's acceptance a smalljar of crystallized limpets.

  To those short-sighted ones who profess to discover in the conduct ofCheng Lin (now an official of the seventeenth grade and drawing hisquarterly sufficiency of taels in a distant province) something notabsolutely honourably arranged, it is only necessary to display theultimate end as it affected those persons in any way connected.

  Wang Ho thus obtained a burial robe in which he was able to reposeabsolute confidence. Doubtless it would have sustained him to anadvanced age had he not committed self-ending, in the ordinary way ofbusiness, a few years later.

  Shen Heng soon disposed of the returned garment for two thousand taelsto a person who had become prematurely wealthy owing to the distressedstate 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.

  Min, made welcome at the house of Mean and Lin, removed with them tothat distant province. There she found that the remuneration forburial robe embroidery was greater than she had ever obtained before.With the money thus amassed she was able to marry an official of noblerank.

  The father of Cheng Lin had passed into the Upper Air many yearsbefore the incidents with which this related narrative concernsitself. He is thus in no way affected. But Lin did not neglect, in thetime of his prosperity, to transmit to him frequent sacrifices ofseasonable delicacies suited to his condition.