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Page 23
The feeble and commonplace person named Ling who commands the
bowmen had but recently been elevated to that distinguished
position from a menial and degraded occupation (for which, indeed,
his stunted intellect more aptly fitted him); and being in
consequence very greatly puffed out in self-gratification, he
became an easy prey to the cunning of the rebels, and allowed
himself to be beguiled into a trap, paying for this contemptible
stupidity with his life. The town of Si-chow was then attacked,
and being in this manner left defenceless through the weakness--or
treachery--of the person Ling, who had contrived to encompass the
entire destruction of his unyielding company, it fell after a
determined and irreproachable resistance; the Mandarin Li Keen
being told, as, covered with the blood of the foemen, he was
dragged away from the thickest part of the unequal conflict by his
followers, that he was the last person to leave the town. On his
way to Peking with news of this valiant defence, the Mandarin was
joined by the Chief of Bowmen, who had understood and avoided the
very obvious snare into which the stagnant-minded Commander had
led his followers, in spite of disinterested advice to the
contrary. For this intelligent perception, and for general
nobility of conduct when in battle, the versatile Chief of Bowmen
is by this written paper strongly recommended to the dignity of
receiving the small metal Embellishment of Valour.
It has been suggested to the Mandarin Li Keen that the bestowal of
the Crystal Button would only be a fit and graceful reward for his
indefatigable efforts to uphold the dignity of the sublime
Emperor; but to all such persons the Mandarin has sternly replied
that such a proposal would more fitly originate from the renowned
and valuable Office of Warlike Deeds and Arrangements, he well
knowing that the wise and engaging persons who conduct that
indispensable and well-regulated department are gracefully
voracious in their efforts to reward merit, even when it is
displayed, as in the case in question, by one who from his
position will inevitably soon be urgently petitioning in a like
manner on their behalf.
When Ling had finished reading this elegantly arranged but exceedingly
misleading parchment, he looked up with eyes from which he vainly
endeavoured to restrain the signs of undignified emotion, and said to
the upper one:
"It is difficult employment for a person to refrain from unendurable
thoughts when his unassuming and really conscientious efforts are
represented in a spirit of no satisfaction, yet in this matter the
very expert Li Keen appears to have gone beyond himself; the Commander
Ling, who is herein represented as being slain by the enemy, is,
indeed, the person who is standing before you, and all the other
statements are in a like exactness."
"The short-sighted individual who for some hidden desire of his own is
endeavouring to present himself as the corrupt and degraded creature
Ling, has overlooked one important circumstance," said the upper one,
smiling in a very intolerable manner, at the same time causing his
head to move slightly from side to side in the fashion of one who
rebukes with assumed geniality; and, turning over the written paper,
he displayed upon the under side the Imperial vermilion Sign.
"Perhaps," he continued, "the omniscient person will still continue in
his remarks, even with the evidence of the Emperor's unerring pencil
to refute him."
At these words and the undoubted testimony of the red mark, which
plainly declared the whole of the written matter to be composed of
truth, no matter what might afterwards transpire, Ling understood that
very little prosperity remained with him.
"But the town of Si-chow," he suggested, after examining his mind; "if
any person in authority visited the place, he would inevitably find it
standing and its inhabitants in agreeable health."
"The persistent person who is so assiduously occupying my intellectual
moments with empty words seems to be unaccountably deficient in his
knowledge of the customs of refined society and of the meaning of the
Imperial Signet," said the other, with an entire absence of benevolent
consideration. "That Si-chow has fallen and that Ling is dead are two
utterly uncontroversial matters truthfully recorded. If a person
visited Si-chow, he might find it rebuilt or even inhabited by those
from the neighbouring villages or by evil spirits taking the forms of
the ones who formerly lived there; as in a like manner, Ling might be
restored to existence by magic, or his body might be found and
possessed by an outcast demon who desired to revisit the earth for a
period. Such circumstances do not in any way disturb the announcement
that Si-chow has without question fallen, and that Ling has officially
ceased to live, of which events notifications have been sent to all
who are concerned in the matters."
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