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Page 83
"In the most commodious chamber of the house the elegant
wedding-gifts are conspicuously displayed; let us stand beside
the one which we have contributed, and point out its
excellence to those who pass by.
Surely the time cannot be far distant when the sound of many gongs
will announce that the very desirable repast is at length to
be partaken of."
CHAPTER VIII
THE VISION OF YIN, THE SON OF YAT HUANG
When Yin, the son of Yat Huang, had passed beyond the years assigned
to the pursuit of boyhood, he was placed in the care of the hunchback
Quang, so that he might be fully instructed in the management of the
various weapons used in warfare, and also in the art of stratagem, by
which a skilful leader is often enabled to conquer when opposed to an
otherwise overwhelming multitude. In all these accomplishments Quang
excelled to an exceptional degree; for although unprepossessing in
appearance he united matchless strength to an untiring subtlety. No
other person in the entire Province of Kiang-si could hurl a javelin
so unerringly while uttering sounds of terrifying menace, or could
cause his sword to revolve around him so rapidly, while his face
looked out from the glittering circles with an expression of
ill-intentioned malignity that never failed to inspire his adversary
with irrepressible emotions of alarm. No other person could so
successfully feign to be devoid of life for almost any length of time,
or by his manner of behaving create the fixed impression that he was
one of insufficient understanding, and therefore harmless. It was for
these reasons that Quang was chosen as the instructor of Yin by Yat
Huang, who, without possessing any official degree, was a person to
whom marks of obeisance were paid not only within his own town, but
for a distance of many li around it.
At length the time arrived when Yin would in the ordinary course of
events pass from the instructorship of Quang in order to devote
himself to the commerce in which his father was engaged, and from time
to time the unavoidable thought arose persistently within his mind
that although Yat Huang doubtless knew better than he did what the
circumstances of the future required, yet his manner of life for the
past years was not such that he could contemplate engaging in the
occupation of buying and selling porcelain clay with feelings of an
overwhelming interest. Quang, however, maintained with every
manifestation of inspired assurance that Yat Huang was to be commended
down to the smallest detail, inasmuch as proficiency in the use of
both blunt and sharp-edged weapons, and a faculty for passing
undetected through the midst of an encamped body of foemen, fitted a
person for the every-day affairs of life above all other
accomplishments.
"Without doubt the very accomplished Yat Huan is well advised on this
point," continued Quang, "for even this mentally short-sighted person
can call up within his understanding numerous specific incidents in
the ordinary career of one engaged in the commerce of porcelain clay
when such attainments would be of great remunerative benefit. Does the
well-endowed Yin think, for example, that even the most depraved
person would endeavour to gain an advantage over him in the matter of
buying or selling porcelain clay if he fully understood the fact that
the one with whom he was trafficking could unhesitatingly transfix
four persons with one arrow at the distance of a hundred paces? Or to
what advantage would it be that a body of unscrupulous outcasts who
owned a field of inferior clay should surround it with drawn swords by
day and night, endeavouring meanwhile to dispose of it as material of
the finest quality, if the one whom they endeavoured to ensnare in
this manner possessed the power of being able to pass through their
ranks unseen and examine the clay at his leisure?"
"In the cases to which reference has been made, the possession of
those qualities would undoubtedly be of considerable use," admitted
Yin; yet, in spite of his entire ignorance of commercial matters, this
one has a confident feeling that it would be more profitable to avoid
such very doubtful forms of barter altogether rather than spend eight
years in acquiring the arts by which to defeat them. "That, however,
is a question which concerns this person's virtuous and engaging
father more than his unworthy self, and his only regret is that no
opportunity has offered by which he might prove that he has applied
himself diligently to your instruction and example, O amiable Quang."
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