Whenever he was being beaten, and could no more endure the pain, he was
wont to promptly break forth in promiscuous loud shouts, 'Girls! girls!'
The young ladies, who heard him from the inner chambers, subsequently
made fun of him. 'Why,' they said, 'when you are being thrashed, and you
are in pain, your only thought is to bawl out girls! Is it perchance
that you expect us young ladies to go and intercede for you? How is that
you have no sense of shame?' To their taunts he gave a most plausible
explanation. 'Once,' he replied, 'when in the agony of pain, I gave vent
to shouting girls, in the hope, perchance, I did not then know, of its
being able to alleviate the soreness. After I had, with this purpose,
given one cry, I really felt the pain considerably better; and now that
I have obtained this secret spell, I have recourse, at once, when I am
in the height of anguish, to shouts of girls, one shout after another.
Now what do you say to this? Isn't this absurd, eh?"

"The grandmother is so infatuated by her extreme tenderness for this
youth, that, time after time, she has, on her grandson's account, found
fault with the tutor, and called her son to task, with the result that I
resigned my post and took my leave. A youth, with a disposition such as
his, cannot assuredly either perpetuate intact the estate of his father
and grandfather, or follow the injunctions of teacher or advice of
friends. The pity is, however, that there are, in that family, several
excellent female cousins, the like of all of whom it would be difficult
to discover."

"Quite so!" remarked Tzu-hsing; "there are now three young ladies in the
Chia family who are simply perfection itself. The eldest is a daughter
of Mr. Cheng, Yuan Ch'un by name, who, on account of her excellence,
filial piety, talents, and virtue, has been selected as a governess in
the palace. The second is the daughter of Mr. She's handmaid, and is