ho holds them
delivered to an ignominious doom. That which was called for does not
therefore exist, but the story of Hien may be taken as indicating the
actual course of events should the case arise in an ordinary state of
life."

This reply was not deemed inept by most of those who heard, and they
even pressed upon the one who spoke slight gifts of snuff and wine.
The Mandarin Shan Tien, however, held himself apart.

"It is doubtful if your lips will be able thus to frame so confident a
boast when to-morrow fades," was his dark forecast.

"Doubtless their tenor will be changed, revered, in accordance with
your far-seeing word," replied Kai Lung submissively as he was led
away.

CHAPTER XI

Of Which it is Written: "In Shallow Water Dragons
become the Laughing-stock of Shrimps"

At an early gong-stroke of the following day Kai Lung was finally
brought up for judgment in accordance with the venomous scheme of the
reptilian Ming-shu. In order to obscure their guilty plans all
justice-loving persons were excluded from the court, so that when the
story-teller was led in by a single guard he saw before him only the
two whose enmity he faced, and one who stood at a distance prepared to
serve their purpose.

"Committer of every infamy and inceptor of nameless crimes," began
Ming-shu, moistening his brush, "in the past, by the variety of
discreditable subterfuges, you have parried the stroke of a just
retribution. On this occasion, however, your admitted powers of
evasion will avail you nothing. By a special form of administration,
designed to meet such cases, your guilt will be taken as proved. The
technicalities of passing sentence and seeing it carried out will
follow automatically."

"In spite of the urgency of the case," remarked the Mandarin, with an
assumption of the evenly-balanced expression that at one time
threatened to obtain for him the title of "The Just", "there is one
detail which must not be ignored--especially as our ruling will
doubtless become a lantern to the feet of later ones. You appear,
malefactor, to have committed crimes--and of all these you have been
proved guilty by the ingenious arrangement invoked by the learned
recorder of my spoken word--which render you liable to hanging,
slicing, pressing, boiling, roasting, grilling, freezing, vatting,
racking, twisting, drawing, compressing, inflating, rending, spiking,
gouging, limb-tyi