the foe
of admiration? How is it possible that I should see the Princess of
Feminine Propriety, for instance, by night and day without becoming
aware of her imperfections as well as her graces? How awake in the night
without hearing the snoring of the White Jade Concubine and considering
the mouth from which it issues as the less lovely. How partake of the
society of any woman without finding her chattering as the crane, avid
of admiration, jealous, destructive of philosophy, fatal to composure,
fevered with curiosity; a creature, in short, a little above the gibbon,
but infinitely below the notice of the sage, save as a temporary measure
of amusement in itself unworthy the philosopher. The faces of all my
ladies are known to me. All are fair and all alike. But one night, as I
lay in the Dragon Couch, lost in speculation, absorbed in contemplation
of the Yin and the Yang, the night passed for the solitary dreamer as a
dream. In the darkness of the dawn I rose still dreaming, and departed
to the Pearl Pavilion in the garden, and there remained an hour viewing
the sunrise and experiencing ineffable opinions on the destiny of man.
Returning then to a couch which I believed to have been that of the
solitary philosopher I observed a depression where another form had
lain, and in it a jade hairpin such as is worn by my junior beauties.
Petrified with amazement at the display of such reserve, such
continence, such august self-restraint, I perceived that, lost in
my thoughts, I had had an unimagined companion and that this gentle
reminder was from her gentle hand. But whom? I knew not. I then observed
Lo Cheng the Court Artist in attendance and immediately despatched him
to make secret enquiry and ascertain the name and circumstances of that
beauty who, unknown, had shared my vigil. I learnt on his return that
it was the Lady A-Kuei. I had entered the Dragon Chamber in a low
moonlight, and guessed not her presence. She spoke no word. Finding her
Imperial Master thus absorbed, she invited no attention, nor in any way
obtruded her beauties upon my notice. Scarcely did she draw breath. Yet
reflect upon what she might have done! The night passed and I remained
entirely unconscious of her presence, and out of respect she would not
sleep but remained reverently and modestly awake, assisting, if it may
so be expressed, at a humble distance, in the speculations which held me
prisoner. What a pearl was here! On learning these details by L