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. It was
chiefly for this reason that Lo Yuen had urged Quen to journey to
Peking as speedily as possible, but owing to the very short time which
remained between his arrival and the ceremony of ploughing, not only
had the person in question neglected to profit by instruction, but he
was not even aware of the obligation which awaited him. When,
therefore, in spite of every respectful protest on his part, he was
led up to a massively-constructed implement drawn by two powerful and
undeniably evilly-intentioned-looking animals, it was with every sign
of great internal misgivings, and an entire absence of enthusiasm in
the entertainment, that he commenced his not too well understood task.
In this matter he was by no means mistaken, for it soon became plain
to all observers--of whom an immense concourse was assembled--that the
usually self-possessed Guarder of the Imperial Silkworms was
conducting himself in a most undignified manner; for though he still