women. Though relying on my
promise to abstain from giving any information as to the world I had
left, and still more on the promise of those to whom had been put the
same request, not to question me, which Zee had exacted from Taee, yet
he did not feel sure that, if I were allowed to mix with the strangers
whose curiosity the sight of me had aroused, I could sufficiently guard
myself against their inquiries. When I went out, therefore, it was never
alone; I was always accompanied either by one of my host's family, or
my child-friend Taee. Bra, Aph-Lin's wife, seldom stirred beyond the
gardens which surrounded the house, and was fond of reading the ancient
literature, which contained something of romance and adventure not to be
found in the writings of recent ages, and presented pictures of a
life unfamiliar to her experience and interesting to her imagination;
pictures, indeed, of a life more resembling that which we lead every day
above ground, coloured by our sorrows, sins, passions, and much to her
what the tales of the Genii or the Arabian Nights are to us. But her
love of reading did not prevent Bra from the discharge of her duties as
mistress of the largest household in the city. She went daily the
round of the chambers, and saw that the automata and other mechanical
contrivances were in order, that the numerous children employed by
Aph-Lin, whether in his private or public capacity, were carefully
tended. Bra also inspected the accounts of the whole estate, and it was
her great delight to assist her husband in the business connected with
his office as chief administrator of the Lighting Department, so that
her avocations necessarily kept her much within doors. The two sons were
both completing their education at the College of Sages; and the
elder, who had a strong passion for mechanics, and especially for works
connected with the machinery of timepieces and automata, had decided on
devoting himself to these pursuits, and was now occupied in constructing
a shop or warehouse, at which his inventions could be exhibited and
sold. The younger son preferred farming and rural occupations; and when
not attending the College, at which he chiefly studied the theories
of agriculture, was much absorbed by his practical application of that
science to his father's lands. It will be seen by this how completely
equality of ranks is established among this people--a shopkeeper being
of exactly the same grade in estimation as the l