en with his
foreign education; he is still an Oriental and he comes back to an
Oriental land, a land tied down by tradition and custom, and he can
not adapt himself. He tries instead, to adapt China to his
half-Europeanised way of thought, and he has failed. He has become
what my husband calls an agitator, a tea-house orator, and he sees
nothing but wrong in his people. There is no place in life for him, and
he sits at night in public places, stirring foolish boys to deeds of
treason and violence. Another thing, he has learned to drink the
foreign wines, and the mixture is not good. They will not blend with
Chinese wine, any more than the two civilisations will come together
as one.

Why did the Gods make the first draught of wine to curse the race of
men, to make blind the reason, to make angels into devils and to
leave a lasting curse on all who touch it? "It is a cataract that carries
havoc with it in a road of mire where he who falls may never rise
again." It seems to me that he who drinks the wine of both lands
allows it to become a ring that leads him to the Land of Nothing, and
ends as did my friend's son, with the small round ball of sleep that
grows within the poppy. One morning's light, when he looked long into
his own face and saw the marks that life was leaving, he saw no way
except the Bridge of Death; but he was not successful.

His mother brought him to me, as he has always liked me, and is a
friend (for which I sorrow) of my son. I talked to him alone within an
inner chamber, and tried to show to him the error of his way. I quoted
to him the words spoken to another foolish youth who tried to force
the gates of Heaven: "My son, thou art enmeshed within these world's
ways, and have not cared to wonder where the stream would carry
thee in coming days. If thou mere human duties scorn, as a worn
sandal cast aside, thou art no man but stock-stone born, lost in a
selfish senseless pride. If thou couldst mount to Heaven's high plain,
then thine own will might be thy guide, but here on earth thou needs
must dwell. Thou canst well see that thou art not wanted in the Halls
of Heaven; so turn to things yet near; turn to thy earthly home and try
to do thy duty here. Thou must control thyself, there is no escape
through the Eastern Gateway for the necessity of self-conquest."

He wept and gave me many promises; and I showed him that I
believed in him, and saw his worth. But-- we think it wiser to send him
far away