Strange Stories from the Lodge of Leisures
Strange Stories from the Lodge of Leisures-2
When the first stars began to shine in
the darkening sky, he entered one of the
houses. A wick in a saucer, soaking in
oil, burning and smoking, vaguely lighted
an open book on the table: one could
only guess, in the shadow, the form of a
chair, a bed in a corner, and a few
inscriptions hanging on the whitewashed
walls.
The scholar seated himself before his
table and resumed, as he did every evening,
his reading of the Classics, of which
he sought to penetrate the entire meaning.
Late passers-by in this lonely thoroughfare
still saw his lamp shining across the trellises
of the windows far into the night.
Golden-dragon lived alone. Now, on that
evening an inexplicable languor made him
dreamy; his eyes followed in vain the text;
his rebellious thoughts were scattered.
Impatiently at last he was just going[34]
to put out his lamp and go to bed, when he
heard some one knocking at the door.
"Come in!" he cried.
The door grinding on its hinges, a young
woman appeared clothed in a long gown
of bright green silk, gracefully lifting her
foot to cross the threshold, and bowing with
her two hands united. Golden-dragon, hurriedly
rising to reply, waved in his turn his
fists joined together at the same height
as his visage and said, according to the
ritual: "Be kind enough to be seated!
What is your noble name?" The visitor
did not pronounce a word; her large black
eyes, shadowed by long eyelashes, were
fixed on the face of her host, while she
tried to regain her panting breath.
As she advanced, Golden-dragon felt a
strange feeling of admiration and love.
He did not think such a perfect beauty
could exist. As he remained speechless,
she smiled, and her smile had on him the
effect of a strong drink on a hungry man;[35]
troubled and dazed, he lost the conscience
of his personality and his acts.
The next morning the sun was shining
when he awoke, asking himself if he had
not been dreaming. He thought all day
long of his strange visitor, making thousands
of suppositions.
Evening coming on, she suddenly entered,
and it was as it had been the night before.
Two months passed; then the young
girl's visits abruptly ceased. The night
covered everything with its black veil, but
nobody appeared at the door. Golden-dragon
the first night, waited for her till
the hour of the Rat; at last he went to his
couch and fell asleep. Almost immediately
he saw her carried away by two horny yecha;
she was calling him:
"My beloved, I am drawn away towards
the inferior regions. I shall never be able
to get away if prayers are not said for
me. My body lies in the next house."
He started out of sleep in the efforts he[36]
made to fly to her, and could not rest
again in his impatience to assert what she
had said.
As soon as the sun was up, he ran towards
the only house that was next to his. He
knocked; no one replied. Pushing the
door, he entered. The house seemed to be
recently abandoned, the rooms were empty,
but in a side hall a black lacquered coffin
rested on trestles; on a table the "Book
of Liberation" was open at the chapter
of "The great recall."
Golden-dragon doubted no longer; he
sang in a high voice the entire chapter, shut
the book, and returned home full of a strange
peacefulness.
Every evening from that time, at the
hour when she had appeared to him, he
lit a lantern, went to the house next door
and read a chapter of the holy text.
Years passed by; he got beyond his
fiftieth year, grew bent, and walked with
difficulty, but he never missed performing[37]
the duty he had imposed on himself for
his unknown friend.
The house where the coffin was placed
had successively been let to several families;
but he had arranged that the funereal room
should never be touched. The lodgers
bowed to the scholar when he came, and
talked to him; the whole town was entertained
with this touching example of such
everlasting love.
"So much constancy and such fidelity
cannot remain without reward," they
said.
But time slipped by and nothing came
to change the regular life of the old man.
On his seventieth birthday, as he went
to his neighbours, he remarked a violent
excitement.
"My wife has just had a child," said the
chief of the family, going to meet him.
"Come and wish her happiness; she does
not cease to ask for you."
"Is it a boy?"
[38]
"No, unhappily, a girl, but such a pretty
little thing."
Followed by the happy father, the scholar
with white hair penetrated into the room;
the mother smiled, holding out the baby
to him. Golden-dragon suddenly started;
the child held out her arms to him and on
her little lips, hardly formed, hovered the
shadow of a disappeared smile, the smile
of the unknown woman.
And as he looked an extraordinary
sensation troubled him; he felt he was
growing younger, more vigorous. Soon,
in the midst of the cries of admiration of
the whole family, the bent old man grew
straight again; his grey hair turned
black, and the change continued; he became
a young man, a boy, and soon a child.
When the Bell of the great Tower struck
the hour of the Rat, he was a fat pink baby
playing and laughing with the little girl.
The governor of the town, being informed,
personally directed an inquiry. It was[39]
discovered that the coffin had disappeared
at the same hour when the transformation
had happened.
The Emperor, on the report of the governor,
ordered the two children to receive
a handsome dowry.
As to them, they grew up, loved each
other, and lived happy and well as far as
the limits of human longevity.
[40]
THE WOMAN IN GREEN
At this time, in the Pavilion-of-the-guests,
in the Monastery-of-the-healing-springs,
the most celebrated of the
Fo-kien province, lived a young scholar
whose name was Little-cypress.
As soon as the sun rose he was at his
work, seated near the trellised window.
When night fell, his lamp still lit the outline
of the wooden trellis.
One morning a shadow darkened his
book; he raised his eyes: a young woman
with a long green skirt, her face of matchless
beauty, was standing outside the window
and was looking at him.
"You are then always working, Lord
Little-cypress?" she said.
She was so bewitching that he knew her[41]
immediately for a goddess; but all the
same he asked her where she lived and
what was her name.
"Your lordship has looked on his humble
wife; he has known her as a goddess.
What is the use of so many questions?"
Little-cypress, satisfied with this reply,
invited her to enter the house. She came
in; her waist was so small, one would almost
have thought that her body was divided
in two.
He invited her to sit down; they talked
and laughed together a long time.
He asked her to sing, and, with a low
voice, which filled her friend with rapture,
she sang:
"On the trees the bird pursues his companion;
Oppressed slaves free themselves with love.
How has my Lord lived alone,
Without enjoying all the pleasures of married life?"
The sound vibrated like a thread of silk;
it penetrated the ear and troubled the
heart. As she finished, she suddenly arose.
[42]
"A man is standing near the window,
he is listening to us ... he is going round
... he is trying to see."
"Since when does a goddess fear a
man?" replied Little-cypress, laughing.
"I am troubled without knowing why;
my heart beats. I wish to go."
She went to open the door, but abruptly
shut it.
"I do not know why I am thus upset.
Will you accompany me as far as the
entrance gate?"
Little-cypress held her up till they got
to the gate; he had just left her and
turned his head, when he heard her call
for help in a voice full of anguish. He
hurriedly turned round; no one was to
be seen.
As he was looking for her with stupefaction
his eyes fell on a big cobweb,
stretched in the corner of the wall. The
ugly and gigantic insect held in its claws a
dragon-fly who was struggling and dolefully[43]
crying. Affected by this sight, he
hastened to deliver it.
The pretty insect immediately flew in
the direction of the Pavilion-of-the-guests.
Little-cypress saw it go in at the window
and alight on the stone for grinding the ink.
Then it arose again and alighted on the
paper which was placed on the table;
there it oddly crawled, retracing its steps,
returning, advancing, and stopping. After
a moment it took its flight and disappeared
in the sky.
Little-cypress, much puzzled, approached
and looked; on the paper was written in
big strokes the word "Thanks."
[44]
THE FAULT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
When Dawning-colour was on the
point of dying, he called his mother
to him.
"Mother," he said, "I am going to die.
I do not wish White-orchid, my young
wife, to feel herself bound to keep the
widowhood. When her mourning will be
finished, she will marry again: our son is
only three years old; you will keep him
with you."
Now, the mourning was not yet finished
and the coffin was still in the house waiting
for a favourable day, when the young widow
began to find the solitude weigh upon her.
A rich sluggard of the village, named
Adolescent, had several times sent proposals[45]
to her through a neighbour; she at last
was unwise enough to agree to an interview
with him. When evening came,
Adolescent jumped over the neighbour's
wall and went to her room.
He had not been there half an hour
when there arose a great noise in the hall
where the coffin was; it seemed as if the
cover was violently thrown to the ground.
A little slave who was called afterwards as
a witness told how she ran into the yard
and saw her master's corpse brandishing
a sword and jumping towards the room
where the lovers were to be found.
A few instants after, she saw the young
widow come out screaming and run to the
garden. Adolescent followed her, covered
with blood; he crossed the threshold and
disappeared in the night.
Now, Adolescent, flying from danger,
pushed the first door that he came across
in the street; it was that of a young couple;
the husband, named Wang, was absent[46]
and only expected to return the next day.
The young wife, hearing a noise, thought
it was her husband returning.
"Is that you?" she asked, without
quite waking up.
Adolescent, who knew Madame Wang
was pretty, answered "Yes" in a low
voice, taking advantage of her error.
A short time after, at Wang's turn to
enter, he struck a light, saw a man in
his room, and, furious, seized a pike.
Adolescent tried to hide himself under the
bed, but the husband transpierced him
several times. He wished to kill his wife,
but she so much begged him not to that he
spared her.
The cries and supplications which came
from the room had, however, awoke the
neighbours, who came in; they pulled
Adolescent's body from under the bed; he
died almost directly.
There was a silence; the affair was
serious. Then one of the assistants said:
[47]
"The judges won't believe that you
were in your right of outraged husband;
you ought to have killed your wife also.
As it is, you will be condemned."
Thereupon, Wang killed the unhappy
woman.
During this time Dawning-colour's
mother, having heard the screams of her
daughter-in-law, thought there was a burglar
in the house; she cried for help and
tried to light a lamp, but she was trembling,
and her curtains caught fire.
Some neighbours arrived in haste; while
a few of them extinguished the fire, the
others, armed with crossbows, ran through
the house and garden in search of the
thief.
At the bottom of the orchard they saw
a white mass moving at the foot of the
wall. Without waiting to ascertain what
it was, they shot several arrows; everything
was still. The archers approached
and lit a torch; they saw the body of[48]
White-orchid transpierced in the head
and chest.
Horrified by what they had done, they
informed the old woman, who said nothing.
But this was not all. The elder brother
of White-orchid, furious at the tragic
death of his sister, had a lawsuit with the
archers and the old woman.
As usual, the judges ruined both parties;
they condemned Dawning-colour's mother
and the archers to receive five hundred
bamboo strokes. The latter were not strong
enough to bear this punishment, and died
under the stick. And thus the affair
ended.
[49]
DECEIVING SHADOWS
Night was falling when the horseshoes
of the mules of my caravan
resounded on the slippery flagstones of the
village.
Tired by a long day of walking, I directed
my steps towards the large hall of the
inn, with the intention of resting a moment
while my repast was being prepared.
In the darkened room the glimmer of a
small opium-lamp lit up the pale and
hollow face of an old man, occupied in
holding over the flame a small ball of the
black drug, which would soon be transformed
into smoke, source of forgetfulness and
dreams.
The old man returned my greeting, and
invited me to lie down on the couch opposite[50]
to him. He handed me a pipe already
prepared and we began talking together.
As ordered by the laws of politeness, I
remarked to my neighbour that he seemed
robust for his age.
"My age? Do you, then, think I am so
old?"
"But, as you are so wise, you must have
seen sixty harvests?"
"Sixty! I am not yet thirty years
old! But you must have come from a
long way off, not to know who I am."
And while rolling the balls with dexterity
in the palm of his hand, and making them
puff out to the heat of the lamp, he told
me his story.
His name was Liu Favour-of-heaven.
Born and brought up in the capital, he had
been promoted six years before to the
post of sub-prefect in the town on which
our refuge was dependent.
When coming to take his post, he stopped
at the inn, the same one where we were.[51]
The house was full; but he had remarked,
on entering, a long pavilion which seemed
uninhabited. The landlord, being asked,
looked perplexed; he ended by saying
that the pavilion had been shut for the last
two years; all the travellers had complained
of noises and strange visions;
probably mischievous spirits lived there.
Favour-of-heaven, having lived in the
capital, but little believed in phantoms.
He found the occasion excellent to establish
his reputation in braving imaginary
dangers.
His wife and his children implored him
in vain; he persisted in his intention of
remaining the night alone in the haunted
house.
He had lights brought; installed himself
in a big armchair, and placed across his
knees a long and heavy sword.
Hours passed by; the sonorous noise
of the gong struck by the watchman announced
successively the hours, first of the[52]
Pig, then of the Rat. He grew drowsy.
Suddenly, he was awakened by the gnashing
of teeth. All the lights were out; the
darkness, however, was not deep enough
to prevent his being able to distinguish
everything confusedly. Anguish seized him;
his heart beat with violence; his staring
eyes were fixed on the door.
By the half-opened door he perceived
a round white mass, the deformed head of
a monster, who, appearing little by little,
stretched long hands with twisted fingers
and claws.
Favour-of-heaven mechanically raised his
weapon; his blood frozen in his veins, he
tried to strike the head, whose indistinct
features were certainly dreadful. Without
doubt the blow had struck, for a frightful cry
was heard; all the demons of the inferior
regions seemed let loose with this yell; calls
were heard from all sides. The trellised
frames of the windows were shaken with
violence. The monster gained the door.[53]
Favour-of-heaven pursued him and threw
him down.
His terror was such that he felt he must
strike and kill. Hardly had he finished
than there entered, rolling from side to
side, a little being, quite round, brandishing
unknown weapons at the end of innumerable
small hands. The prefect, with
one blow, cut him in two like a watermelon.
However, the windows were shaken with
growing rage; unknown beings entered
by the door without interruption; the
prefect threw them down one after another:
a black shadow first, then a head balancing
itself at the end of a huge neck, then the
jaw of a crocodile, then a big bird with
the chest and feet of a donkey.
Trembling all over, the man struck right
and left, exhausted and panting; a cold
perspiration overwhelmed him; he felt his
strength gradually giving way, when the
cock crowed at last the coming of the day.
[54]
Little by little, grey dawn designed the
trellis of the windows, then the sun suddenly
appeared above the horizon and
darted its rays across the rents in the
paper.
Favour-of-heaven felt his heart stand
still; on the floor inundated with blood,
the bodies lying there had human forms,
forms that he knew: this one looked like
his second wife, and this one, this little
head that had rolled against the foot of
the table, he would have sworn that it was
his last son.
With a mad cry he threw away his
weapon and ran to open the door, through
which the sun poured in.
An armed crowd was moving in the yard.
"My family! my family! where is my
family?"
"They are all with you in the pavilion!"
But as they were speaking they saw
with stupor the hair of the young man
becoming white, and the wrinkles of age[55]
cover his face, while he remained motionless
as well as insensible.
They drew near; he rolled fainting on
the ground. "And thus," ended the sub-prefect
in the silence of the dark hall,
where only the little light of the opium-lamp
was shining, "I remained several days
without knowledge of anything. When I
came to myself, I had to bear the sorrow
of having killed my whole family in these
atrocious circumstances. I resigned my
post: I had magnificent tombs built for
all those who were killed this fatal night,
and, since then, I smoke without ceasing the
agreeable drug, in order to fly away from
the remembrance, which will haunt me until
my last day."
[56]
PEACEFUL-LIGHT
In the time when the Shining Dynasty
had just conquered the throne, the
eastern coasts of the Empire were ravaged
by the rapid junks commanded by the
cruel inhabitants of the Japanese islands,
the irresistible Wo tsz.
Now, it happened that the Wo tsz Emperor
lost his first wife; knowing the beauty of
Chinese women, he charged one of his
officers to bring back some of them.
The officer, at the head of a numerous
troop, landed not far from the town of
The-Smoky-wall. No resistance was possible;
the population was given the example
of flight by the functionaries, at least it
was thus said in the Annals of the prefecture.
The country being far from the big centres,[57]
the women were not great coquettes; only
one, named Peaceful-light, had always
been careful, since childhood, not to allow
her feet to become naturally large; they
were constantly bound up, so much so that
she could hardly walk.
Her large soft eyes were shaded with
heavy eyelashes; one of the literati of
the place took delight in quoting the poets
of antiquity on them:
Under the willow of her eyelashes
The tranquil river of her eyes shines forth.
I bend and see my image reflected in them.
Could she be deceitful like the deep water?
When the pirates were coming, she
begged her family to leave her, and to fly
without the risk of being delayed by
her.
"It is the just punishment for my coquetry,"
she told them. "Fear nothing for
me, however. I am going to take a strong
dose of the paste extracted from the flowers
of Nao-yang which makes one sleep. The[58]
pirates will think I am dead, and will leave
me."
The family allowed themselves to be
persuaded, and departed. As to Peaceful-light,
she was asleep almost directly after
taking the drug, and she remained motionless
on her bed.
The pirates, entering everywhere, at
last arrived in the house and remained
struck with admiration by her beauty. The
officer who was called, at first thought
her dead and was much grieved, but,
touching her hand and finding it warm
and limp, he resolved to carry her away.
When the ravishers were re-embarked,
the strong sea-air and the motion of the
boat revived the young girl; she awoke, and
was horrified to find herself surrounded
by strangers. The one who seemed the
chief spoke to her in Chinese language
in order to reassure her:
"Fear nothing. No harm will come to
you. On the contrary, the highest destiny[59]
awaits you; my Lord The Emperor designs
you to the honour of his couch."
Seeing that no one troubled her, Peaceful-light
was reassured; she resolved to wait,
confident in her destiny, and knowing that
she had still, ready in her sleeve, in case
of necessity, a narcotic dose strong enough
to kill her.
As soon as she landed, she was taken in
great haste to the Palace. The Emperor,
greatly satisfied with her beauty, conferred
on her at once the rank of first favourite.
But all the luxury and love which surrounded
her could not make her forget
her family and her country; she resolved
to run away.
In order to manage it, she complained
to her master how sad it was for her never
to be able to speak her own language with
companions from her country. The Emperor,
happy to be able to please her, gave
orders to fit out a sea-junk, in order to go
to the Chinese coast.
[60]
The day when all was ready the young
girl found means of pouring into her master's
drink a dose of her narcotic. Then, when
he was asleep, she took his private seal and,
going out of the room, she called the intendant
of the Palace and said to him:
"The Emperor has ordered me to go to
China to fetch a magician, a member of
my family, who has great power on water
and wind. Here is the seal, proof of my
mission. The ship must be almost ready."
The intendant knew that a junk had
been specially prepared to go to China; he
saw the seal; what suspicion could he
have? He had a palanquin brought as
quickly as possible; two hours after, the
wood of the junk groaned under the blows
of the unfurling waves.
Arriving in sight of the coast, on the
pretext of not frightening the population,
the young girl begged the officer who accompanied
her to send a messenger to the
prefect of the town, bearing a letter that[61]
she had prepared. The officer, without
distrust, sent one of his men.
The letter of Peaceful-light showed a
whole scheme to which the prefect could
but give his consent. The messenger returned,
bringing to the officer and to the
men an invitation to take part in the
feast that was being prepared for them,
their intentions not being bad.
Peaceful-light retired into her family,
who welcomed her with a thousand demonstrations
of joy.
In the wine that was freely poured out
for the strangers they had dissolved the
flowers of Nao-yang. The effects were not
long in being felt; a torpor that they
attributed to the table excesses seized
them one after another. They were soon
all sleeping deeply. Men arrived with
swords, glided near them, and, a signal
being given, cut off their heads.
While these events were passing in China,
others still more serious were happening[62]
in Japan. Soon after the departure of
Peaceful-light, the Emperor's brother penetrated
into the room where the sovereign
was left sleeping. This brother was ambitious;
he profited by the occasion,
killed the unhappy Mikado, took possession
of the seals of the State, and, calling
his partisans in haste, proclaimed himself
Chief of the State. Only a part of the
princes followed him; the others, filled with
indignation by the crime that had been
accomplished, united their troops to crush
the usurper; civil war tore the whole of
Japan to pieces.
As to Peaceful-light, by order of the
authorities she received public congratulations
and gifts of land which allowed her
to marry and be happy, as she merited.
[63]
HONG THE CURRIER
"In the time when the Justice of
Heaven was actively employed with
the affairs of the earth, one of my ancestors
had an adventure to which we owe our
present fortune, and of which few men of
to-day have seen the equal."
Thus began my friend Hong; reclining
on the red cushions of the big couch, he
fanned himself gracefully with an ivory
fan painted all over.
"Our family, as you know, originally
came from the town of The-Black-chain in
the province of The-Foaming-rivers. Our
ancestor Hong The-just was a currier by
trade; he cut and scraped the skins that
were entrusted to him. His family was
composed only of his wife, who helped him
as well as she could.
[64]
"Notwithstanding this persistent labour,
they were very poor; no furniture ornamented
the three rooms in the small
house that they hired in the Street-of-the-golden-flowers.
"When the last days of the twelfth moon
in that year arrived, they found they were
owing six strings of copper cash to ten
different creditors. With all they possessed,
there only remained 400 cash. What were
they to do? They reflected for a long
time. Hong The-just at last said to his
wife:
"'Take these 400 cash; you will be able
to buy rice to live on. As to me, as I
cannot pay my debts before the first day of
the first moon, I am going to leave the
town and hide myself in the mountain.
My creditors, not seeing me, will believe
you when you tell them that I have been
to find money in the neighbouring town.
Once the first day of the first moon passed,
as law ordains to wait till the following term,[65]
I shall then come back, and we shall continue
to live as well as we can.'
"It was indeed the wisest thing to do. His
wife made him a parcel of a blanket and a
few dry biscuits. She wept at seeing him
go away quite bent, walking with difficulty
on the slippery flagstones of the street.
"The snow was falling in thick flakes and
already covered the grey tiled roofs, when
Hong The-just left the city gate and directed
his steps to a cave that he knew of in a lonely
valley.
"He arrived at last, and, throwing his
heavy load on the ground, he glanced around
him in order to choose the place where he
would sleep.
"An exclamation of stupor escaped from
him when he saw, seated motionless on a
stone, a man clothed in a long sable cloak,
with a cap of the same fur, looking at him
in a mournful, indifferent way.
"'How strange!' at last said Hong,
laughing. 'Dare I ask your noble name[66]
and the reason that brings you to this
remote refuge? How is it that you are
not with your friends, drinking hot wine
and rejoicing in the midst of the luxuriance
of the tables covered with various eatables
and brilliant lights?'
"'My name is Yang Glow-of-dawn. And
you, what is your precious name?' replied
mechanically the first occupant.
"'I am called Hong The-just, and I am
here to escape from my creditors.'
"'You, also?' sneered Glow-of-dawn.
'The strokes of Fate do not vary much.
As for me, I deal in European goods; my
correspondents have not settled my accounts
and I am in want of nearly a hundred
thousand ounces of silver to close the year.
None of my friends could advance me the
sum, and here I am, obliged to fly away from
my creditors.'
"'A hundred thousand ounces!' cried
The-just. 'With a sum like that I should
pass the rest of my days in plenty. Anyhow,[67]
struck by the same misfortune, we
are thus united; let us try to pass cheerfully
the last day of the year, and attempt
to imagine that these humble cakes are
refined food.'
"When they were eating their pastry
and drinking water from the near torrent,
Glow-of-dawn suddenly said:
"'But you, how much do you owe? I
have here a few ounces of silver; maybe you
could balance your accounts with them.'
"'My debts do not exceed six strings of
copper cash. But how could I dare accept
your offer?'
"'Not at all! take these ten ounces;
you will pay your debts and bring me here
food and wine; that will help me to wait
till the end of the festivals.'
"The-just, reiterating his thanks, took the
ingots that were offered him and went
down as quickly as possible towards the
town.
"His wife, on seeing him and hearing[68]
his story, could not restrain her joy. She
hurried to go and buy provisions of all
kinds. Her husband tried to light the
stove, but they had not lit a fire for a
long time; he found the chimney filled with
soot and dust.
"Hong tried to sweep it with a big broom,
but the masonry gave way, filling the room
with the bricks and rubbish.
"'How very annoying!' grumbled the
currier. 'Now the stove is destroyed let us
take away what remains, and we will make
the fire beneath the opening in the roof!'
"When his wife returned, he was still
working. She put down her basket and
helped to raise a huge stone that formed
the bottom of the hearth. What was their
astonishment in seeing a chest, half-broken,
from which big ingots of gold were falling!
"'What are we to do with this?' said
his wife. 'If we sell this gold, everybody
will think that we have stolen it, and we
shall be put in prison.'
[69]
"'We have only one thing to do,' replied
Hong. 'Let us entrust our fortune to my
companion in the cave; he is a good man.
We shall save him, and he will make our
money prosper; I will hurry and tell him.'
"When Hong arrived, it was nearly nightfall;
Yang was standing under flakes of
snow at the entrance of the grotto; he
received him with reproaches:
"'You have come so late that my eyes
are sore in looking out for you in vain!'
"'Do not abuse me, Old Uncle; drink
this wine and eat these cakes that are still
warm, and I will tell you what delayed me.'
"And while Glow-of-dawn ate and drank,
the other told him of his adventure and of
his intentions about the treasure.
"Surprised and touched, the merchant did
not know how to express his wonder and
gratitude. They talked over the best way
of proceeding to bring the gold and settle
the business.
"Then, by the glimmer of a bad lantern,[70]
they returned to the town and entered the
merchant's house. There the currier washed
himself, did his hair, and clothed himself
in rich garments. A sedan-chair was
waiting for him, followed by sturdy servants;
he went away....
"The next day Glow-of-dawn's creditors
presented themselves at the house of their
debtor. He was standing at the entrance,
and bowed in wishing them a thousand
times happiness. They entered; tea was
brought in by busy servants. They at last
discussed the settlement of their yearly
accounts. The master of the house found
out that he owed 180,000 ounces of silver.
"'We have been informed that larger
sums of silver are due to you, but you know
the custom; you must settle everything
to-day. In order to save you, we are
content to make an estimate of your wealth,
your goods and lands.'
"'Do not give yourselves such a trouble,'
replied the merchant, laughing and waving[71]
his hand. 'I thought you would be relentless,
so I have been to speak to my elder
brother, who has an immense fortune; he
has put at my disposal several hundred
thousand ounces. But here! I hear the
cry of the bearers; it must be him with
the chests of white metal.'
"The major domo came hurrying in, carrying
high in the air the huge red card with
the names and surnames written in black.
"'The venerable Old Great Uncle The-just
has arrived!'
"'Allow me?' said Yang, getting up,
and going towards the door, of which both
sides were open. Hong entered. They
made each other a thousand affectionate
greetings, as all brothers do who are animated
with right feelings.
