of living to which he would be justified in introducing Mian, after
adequate marriage ceremonies had been observed between them. In this
endeavour he was less successful than he had imagined would be the
case, for when he had first fully understood that his body was of such
a substance that nothing was wanting to transmute it into fine gold
but the absence of the living spirit, he had naturally, and without
deeply examining the detail, assumed that so much gold might be
considered to be in his possession. Now, however, a very definite
thought arose within him that his own wishes and interests would have
been better secured had the benevolent spirits who undertook the
matter placed the secret within his knowledge in such a way as to
enable him to administer the fluid to some very heavy and inexpensive
animal, so that the issue which seemed inevitable before the enjoyment
of the riches could be entered upon should not have touched his own
comfort so closely. To a person of Ling's refined imagination it could
not fail to be a subject of internal reproach that while he would
become the most precious dead body in the world, his value in life
might not be very honourably placed even by the most complimentary one
who should require his services. Then came the thought, which, however
degraded, he found himself unable to put quite beyond him, that if in
the meantime he were able to gain a sufficiency for Mian and himself,
even her pure and delicate love might not be able to bear so offensive
a test as that of seeing him grow old and remain intolerably healthy--
perhaps with advancing years actually becoming lighter day by day, and
thereby lessening in value before her eyes--when the natural
infirmities of age and the presence of an ever-increasing posterity
would make even a moderate amount of taels of inestimable value.

No doubt remained in Ling's mind that the process of frequently making
smooth his surfaces would yield an amount of gold enough to suffice