Chinese literature, while she had a good knowledge of it herself. I
noticed that it pleased her a great deal if anyone could not answer a
question, or knew less than she did. She took delight in laughing at
them. Her Majesty was also very fond of teasing. She knew that the Court
ladies did not know very much about literature, so she used to try it on
us. We had to say something whether it was appropriate to her questions
or not, and that would make her laugh. I was told that Her Majesty did
not like anyone to be too clever, and yet she could not bear stupid
people, so I was rather nervous, and did not know how to act for the
first three weeks I was there, but it did not take me very long to study
her. She certainly admired clever girls, but she did not like those who
would show their cleverness too much. How I won her heart was this way.
Whenever I was with her I used to fix my whole attention on her and
watched her very closely (not staring, for she hated that) and always
carried out her orders properly. I noticed another thing, and that
was that whenever she wanted anything to be brought to her, such as
cigarettes, handkerchief, etc., she would only look at the article and
then look at anyone who happened to be there at the time. (There was
always a table in the room, on which everything she needed for the day
was placed.) I got so used to her habits that after a short time I
knew just what she wanted by looking at her eyes, and I was very seldom
mistaken. This pleased her a great deal. She was strong-minded,
and would always act the way she thought was right, and had perfect
confidence in herself. At times I have seen her looking very sad.
She had strong emotions, but her will was stronger. She could control
herself beautifully, and yet she liked people to sympathize with
her--only by actions, not by words, for she did not like anyone to know
her thoughts. I am sure my readers will think how hard it was to be
the Court lady of Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager of China, but on the
contrary I enjoyed myself very much, as she was so interesting, and I
found that she was not at all difficult to please.

The first day of the fourth moon Her Majesty was worried over the lack
of rain. She prayed every day after the audience for ten days, without
any result. Every one of us kept very quiet. Her Majesty did not even
give any orders that day, and spoke to no one. I noticed that the
eunuchs were scared, so we went without our l