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Page 88
At the mention of the name and offence of this degraded being a great
sound went up from the entire multitude--a universal cry of
execration, not greatly dissimilar from that which may be frequently
heard in the crowded Temple of Impartiality when the one whose duty it
is to take up, at a venture, the folded papers, announces that the
sublime Emperor, or some mandarin of exalted rank, has been so
fortunate as to hold the winning number in the Annual State Lottery.
So vengeance-laden and mournful was the combined and evidently
preconcerted wail, that Yin was compelled to shield his ears against
it; yet the inconsiderable Tsin-Su-Hoang, on whose account it was
raised, seemed in no degree to be affected by it, he, doubtless,
having become hardened by hearing a similar outburst, at fixed hours,
throughout interminable cycles of time.
When the last echo of the cry had passed away the Voice continued to
speak.
"Soon the earth will again receive you, Yin," it said, "for it is not
respectful that a lower one should be long permitted to gaze upon our
exalted faces. Yet when you go forth and stand once more among men
this is laid on you: that henceforth you are as a being devoted to a
fixed and unchanging end, and whatever moves towards the restoring of
the throne of the Central Empire the outcast but unalterably sacred
line of its true sovereigns shall have your arm and mind. By what
combination of force and stratagem this can be accomplished may not be
honourably revealed by us, the all-knowing. Nevertheless, omens and
guidance shall not be lacking from time to time, and from the
beginning the weapon by which you have attained to this distinction
shall be as a sign of our favour and protection over you."
When the Voice made an end of speaking the sudden blindness came upon
Yin, as it had done before, and from the sense of motion which he
experienced, he conjectured that he was being conveyed back to the
island. Undoubtedly this was the case, for presently there came upon
him the feeling that he was awakening from a deep and refreshing
sleep, and opening his eyes, which he now found himself able to do
without any difficulty, he immediately discovered that he was
reclining at full length on the ground, and at a distance of about a
score of paces from the dragon head. His first thought was to engage
in a lengthy course of self-abasement before it, but remembering the
words which had been spoken to him while in the Upper Air, he
refrained, and even ventured to go forward with a confident but
somewhat self-deprecatory air, to regain the spear, which he perceived
lying at the foot of the rock. With feelings of a reassuring nature he
then saw that the very undesirable expression which he had last beheld
upon the dragon face had melted into one of encouraging urbanity and
benignant esteem.
Close by the place where he had landed he discovered his boat, newly
furnished with wine and food of a much more attractive profusion than
that which he had purchased in the village. Embarking in it, he made
as though he would have returned to the south, but the spear which he
held turned within his grasp, and pointed in an exactly opposite
direction. Regarding this fact as an express command on the part of
the Deities, Yin turned his boat to the north, and in the space of two
days' time--being continually guided by the fixed indication of the
spear--he reached the shore and prepared to continue his travels in
the same direction, upheld and inspired by the knowledge that
henceforth he moved under the direct influence of very powerful
spirits.
CHAPTER IX
THE ILL-REGULATED DESTINY OF KIN YEN, THE PICTURE-MAKER
As recorded by himself before his sudden departure from Peking,
owing to circumstances which are made plain in the following
narrative.
There are moments in the life of a person when the saying of the wise
Ni-Hyu that "Misfortune comes to all men and to most women" is endowed
with double force. At such times the faithful child of the Sun is a
prey to the whitest and most funereal thoughts, and even the inspired
wisdom of his illustrious ancestors seems more than doubtful, while
the continued inactivity of the Sacred Dragon appears for the time to
give colour to the scoffs of the Western barbarian. A little while ago
these misgivings would have found no resting-place in the bosom of the
writer. Now, however--but the matter must be made clear from the
beginning.
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