There are many exalted sayings of the wise and venerable Confucious
constructed so as to be of service and consolation in moments of
strong mental distress. These for the greater part recommend
tranquillity of mind, a complete abnegation of the human passions and
the like behaviour. The person who is here endeavouring to bring this
badly-constructed account of his dishonourable career to a close
pondered these for some moments after twice glancing through the
matter in the printed leaves, and then, finding the faculties of
speech and movement restored to him, procured a two-edged knife of
distinguished brilliance and went forth to call upon the one who sits
in an easy-chair.
"Behold," said the lesser one, insidiously stepping in between this
person an the inner door, "my intellectual and all-knowing chief is
not here to-day. May his entirely insufficient substitute offer words
of congratulation to the inspired Kin Yen on his effective and
striking pictures in this week's issue?"
"His altogether insufficient substitute," answered this person, with
difficulty mastering his great rage, "may and shall offer words of
explanation to the inspired Kin Yen, setting forth the reason of his
pictures being used, not with the high-minded story of the elegant
Tong-king for which they were executed, but accompanying exceedingly
base, foolish, and ungrammatical words written by Klan-hi, the Peking
remover of gravity--words which will evermore brand the dew-like Tien
as a person of light speech and no refinement"; and in his agony this
person struck the lacquered table several times with his elegant
knife.
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