In this
charitable exertion he is followed by various other persons of
recognized position, the first being, by custom, the Guarder of the
Imperial Silkworms, while at the same time the amiably-disposed
Empress plants an allotted number of mulberry trees, and deposits upon
their leaves the carefully reared insects which she receives from the
hands of their Guarder. In the case of the accomplished Emperor an
ingenious contrivance is resorted to by which the soil is drawn aside
by means of hidden strings as the plough passes by, the implement in
question being itself constructed from paper of the highest quality,
while the oxen which draw it are, in reality, ordinary persons
cunningly concealed within masks of cardboard. In this thoughtful
manner the actual labours of the sublime Emperor are greatly lessened,
while no chance is afforded for an inauspicious omen to be created by
the rebellious behaviour of a maliciously-inclined ox, or by any other
event of an unforeseen nature. All the other persons, however, are
required to make themselves proficient in the art of ploughing, before
the ceremony, so that the chances of the attendant spirits discovering
the deception which has been practised upon them in the case of the
Emperor may not be increased by its needless repetition.
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