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Page 79
"During this entire period Quen had been accompanied by his only son,
a youth of respectful personality, in whose entertaining society he
took an intelligent interest. Even when deeply engaged in what he
justly regarded as the crowning work of his existence--the planning
and erecting of an exceptionally well-endowed marble temple, which was
to be entirely covered on the outside with silver paper, and on the
inside with gold-leaf--he did not fail to observe the various
conditions of Liao's existence, and the changing emotions which from
time to time possessed him. Therefore, when the person in question,
without displaying any signs of internal sickness, and likewise
persistently denying that he had lost any considerable sum of money,
disclosed a continuous habit of turning aside with an unaffected
expression of distaste from all manner of food, and passed the entire
night in observing the course of the great sky-lantern rather than in
sleep, the sage and discriminating Quen took him one day aside, and
asked him, as one who might aid him in the matter, who the maiden was,
and what class and position her father occupied.
"'Alas!' exclaimed Liao, with many unfeigned manifestations of an
unbearable fate, 'to what degree do the class and position of her
entirely unnecessary parents affect the question? or how little hope
can this sacrilegious one reasonably have of ever progressing as far
as earthly details of a pecuniary character in the case of so adorable
and far-removed a Being? The uttermost extent of this wildly-hoping
person's ambition is that when the incomparably symmetrical Ts'ain
learns of the steadfast light of his devotion, she may be inspired to
deposit an emblematic chrysanthemum upon his tomb in the Family
Temple. For such a reward he will cheerfully devote the unswerving
fidelity of a lifetime to her service, not distressing her gentle and
retiring nature by the expression of what must inevitably be a
hopeless passion, but patiently and uncomplainingly guarding her
footsteps as from a distance.'
"Being in this manner made aware of the reason of Liao's frequent and
unrestrained exclamations of intolerable despair, and of his fixed
determination with regard to the maiden Ts'ain (which seemed, above
all else, to indicate a resolution to shun her presence) Quen could
not regard the immediately-following actions of his son with anything
but an emotion of confusion. For when his eyes next rested upon the
exceedingly contradictory Liao, he was seated in the open space before
the house in which Ts'ain dwelt, playing upon an instrument of
stringed woods, and chanting verses into which the names of the two
persons in question had been skilfully introduced without restraint,
his whole manner of behaving being with the evident purpose of
attracting the maiden's favourable attention. After an absence of many
days, spent in this graceful and complimentary manner, Liao returned
suddenly to the house of his father, and, prostrating his body before
him, made a specific request for his assistance.
"'As regards Ts'ain and myself,' he continued, 'all things are
arranged, and but for the unfortunate coincidence of this person's
poverty and of her father's cupidity, the details of the wedding
ceremony would undoubtedly now be in a very advanced condition. Upon
these entrancing and well-discussed plans, however, the shadow of the
grasping and commonplace Ah-Ping has fallen like the inopportune
opium-pipe from the mouth of a person examining substances of an
explosive nature; for the one referred to demands a large and utterly
unobtainable amount of taels before he will suffer his
greatly-sought-after daughter to accept the gifts of irretrievable
intention.'
"'Grievous indeed is your plight,' replied Quen, when he thus
understood the manner of obstacle which impeded his son's hopes; 'for
in the nature of taels the most diverse men are to be measured through
the same mesh. As the proverb says, "'All money is evil,' exclaimed
the philosopher with extreme weariness, as he gathered up the gold
pieces in exchange, but presently discovering that one among them was
such indeed has he had described, he rushed forth without tarrying to
take up a street garment; and with an entire absence of dignity
traversed all the ways of the city in the hope of finding the one who
had defrauded him." Well does this person know the mercenary Ah-Ping,
and the unyielding nature of his closed hand; for often, but always
fruitlessly, he has entered his presence on affairs connected with the
erecting of certain temples. Nevertheless, the matter is one which
does not admit of any incapable faltering, to which end this one will
seek out the obdurate Ah-Ping without delay, and endeavour to entrap
him by some means in the course of argument.'
"From the time of his earliest youth Ah-Ping had unceasingly devoted
himself to the object of getting together an overwhelming number of
taels, using for this purpose various means which, without being
really degrading or contrary to the written law, were not such as
might have been cheerfully engaged in by a person of high-minded
honourableness. In consequence of this, as he grew more feeble in
body, and more venerable in appearance, he began to express frequent
and bitter doubts as to whether his manner of life had been really
well arranged; for, in spite of his great wealth, he had grown to
adopt a most inexpensive habit on all occasions, having no desire to
spend; and an ever-increasing apprehension began to possess him that
after he had passed beyond, his sons would be very disinclined to
sacrifice and burn money sufficient to keep him in an affluent
condition in the Upper Air. In such a state of mind was Ah-Ping when
Quen-Ki-Tong appeared before him, for it had just been revealed to him
that his eldest and favourite son had, by flattery and by openly
praising the dexterity with which he used his brush and ink, entrapped
him into inscribing his entire name upon certain unwritten sheets of
parchment, which the one in question immediately sold to such as were
heavily indebted to Ah-Ping.
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