o Cheng
from her own roseate lips, and remembering the unexampled temptation
she had resisted (for well she knew that had she touched the Emperor
the Philosopher had vanished) I despatched an august rescript to this
favored Lady, conferring on her the degree of Incomparable Beauty of the
First Rank. On condition of secrecy."

The Pearl Empress, still in deepest bewilderment, besought his majesty
to proceed. He did so, with his usual dignity.

"Though my mind could not wholly restrain its admiration, yet secrecy
was necessary, for had the facts been known, every lady, from the
Princess of Feminine Propriety to the Junior Beauty of the Bed Chamber
would henceforward have observed only silence and a frigid decorum in
the Dragon Bed Chamber. And though the Emperor be a philosopher, yet a
philosopher is still a man, and there are moments when decorum--"

The Emperor paused discreetly; then resumed.

"The world should not be composed entirely of A-Kueis, yet in my mind I
behold the Incomparable Lady fair beyond expression. Like the moon she
sails glorious in the heavens to be adored only in vision as the one
woman who could respect the absorption of the Emperor, and of whose
beauty as she lay beside him the philosopher could remain unconscious
and therefore untroubled in body. To see her, to find her earthly,
would be an experience for which the Emperor might have courage, but the
philosopher never. And attached to all this is a moral:"

The Pearl Empress urgently inquired its nature.

"Let the wisdom of my august parent discern it," said the Emperor
sententiously.

"And the future?" she inquired.

"The--let us call it parable--" said the Emperor politely--"with which
your Majesty was good enough to entertain me, has suggested a precaution
to my mind. I see now a lovely form moving among the flowers. It is
possible that it may be the Incomparable Lady, or that at any moment I
may come upon her and my ideal be shattered. This must be safeguarded.
I might command her retirement to her native province, but who shall
insure me against the weakness of my own heart demanding her return?
No. Let Your Majesty's words spoken--well--in parable, be fulfilled in
truth. I shall give orders to the Chief Eunuch that the Incomparable
Lady tonight shall drink the Draught of Crushed Pearls, and be thus
restored to the sphere that alone is worthy of her. Thus are all
anxieties soothed, and the honours offered to her virtuous spirit sha