attention of the people on the part of certain persons who claimed to
vend a reliable and fragrantly-scented cleansing substance. The
/Valley of Hoang Rose Leaves and Sweetness/ hoped, in a spirit of no
sincerity, that the ingenious Kai Lung would not rest on his
tea-leaves, but would soon send forth an equally entertaining amended
example of the /Sayings of Confucious/ and other sacred works, while
the /Pure Essence of the Seven Days' Happenings/ merely printed side
by side portions from the two books under the large inscription,
'IS THERE REALLY ANY NEED FOR US TO EXPRESS OURSELVES MORE CLEARLY?'

"The disappointment both as regards public esteem and taels--for,
after the manner in which the work had been received by those who
advise on such productions, not a single example was purchased--threw
this ill-destined individual into a condition of most unendurable
depression, from which he was only aroused by a remarkable example of
the unfailing wisdom of the proverb which says 'Before hastening to
secure a possible reward of five taels by dragging an unobservant
person away from a falling building, examine well his features lest
you find, when too late, that it is one to whom you are indebted for
double that amount.' Disappointed in the hope of securing large gains
from the sale of his great work, this person now turned his attention
again to his former means of living, only to find, however, that the
discredit in which he had become involved even attached itself to his
concise sentence; for in place of the remunerative and honourable
manner in which it was formerly received, it was now regarded on all
hands with open suspicion. Instead of meekly kow-towing to an
evidently pre-arranged doom, the last misfortune aroused this usually
resigned story-teller to an ungovernable frenzy. Regarding the
accomplished but at the same time exceedingly over-productive Lo Kuan
Chang as the beginning of all his evils, he took a solemn oath as a