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.
The name of the despicable person who here sets forth his immature
story is Kin Yen, and he is a native of Kia-Lu in the Province of
Che-Kiang. Having purchased from a very aged man the position of
Hereditary Instructor in the Art of Drawing Birds and Flowers, he gave
lessons in these accomplishments until he had saved sufficient money
to journey to Peking.
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