of
unapproachable excellence. Unfortunately, this person had been so deeply
engrossed all his life in literary pursuits that he had never found an
opportunity to glance at the works in question, or he would have escaped
the embarrassing position in which he now found himself.

"It was with a hopeless sense of illness of ease that this unhappy one
reached the day on which the printed leaves already alluded to would
make known their deliberate opinion of his writing, the extremity of his
hope being that some would at least credit him with honourable motives,
and perhaps a knowledge that if the inspired Lo Kuan Chan had never
been born the entire matter might have been brought to a very different
conclusion. Alas! only one among the many printed leaves which
made reference to the venture contained any words of friendship or
encouragement. This benevolent exception was sent forth from a city
in the extreme Northern Province of the Empire, and contained many
inspiring though delicately guarded messages of hope for the one to whom
they gracefully alluded as 'this undoubtedly youthful, but nevertheless,
distinctly promising writer of books.' While admitting that altogether
they found the production undeniably tedious, they claimed to have
discovered indications of an obvious talent, and therefore they
unhesitatingly counselled the person in question to take courage at the
prospect of a moderate competency which was certainly within his grasp
if he restrained his somewhat over-ambitious impulses and closely
observed the simple subjects and manner of expression of their own Chang
Chow, whose 'Lines to a Wayside Chrysanthemum,' 'Mongolians who Have,'
and several other composed pieces, they then set forth. Although it
became plain that the writer of this amiably devised notice was, like
this incapable person, entirely unacquainted with the masterpieces of
Lo Kuan Chang, yet the indisputable fact remained that, entirely on
its merit, the work had been greeted with undoubted enthusiasm, so that
after purchasing many examples of the refined printed leaf containing
it, this person sat far into the night continually reading over the one
unprejudiced and discriminating expression.

"All the other printed leaves displayed a complete absence of good
taste in dealing with the matter. One boldly asserted that the entire
circumstance was the outcome of a foolish jest or wager on the part of
a person who possessed a million taels; another pr