all this be endured!

MINISTER. Consider, sir, that even the thriving husbandman
may desire to change his partner; then why not your Majesty, whose
title is the Law of Heaven, whose possessions are the whole world!
May I advise that commissioners be despatched to search throughout
the empire for all of whatever rank that is most beautiful between
the ages of fifteen and twenty, for the peopling of the inner
palace.

EMPEROR. You say well. We appoint you at once our minister of
selection, and will invest you with a written authority. Search
diligently through our realms; and when you have selected the most
worthy, let us be provided with portraits of each, as a means of
fixing our choice. By the merits of your services, you may supply us
with an occasion of rewarding you on your return. [_Exeunt_.

[Footnote 1: Han Koong Tsew, literally "Autumn in the Palace of Han";
but in Chinese, Autumn is emblematic of Sorrow, as Spring is of Joy, and
may therefore be rendered by what it represents.]

[Footnote 2: In Chinese, Ko-ban.]

[Footnote 3: The mother of Hoeyte, a bold and able woman, who ruled for
her son, the second emperor of Han.]

~ACT FIRST~

MINISTER [_repeats verses_]. The huge ingots of yellow gold I
appropriate to myself.
I heed not the seas of blood which flow by perverting the
laws.

During life I am determined to have abundance of riches; what care I
for the curses of mankind after my death? Having received the
Emperor's commission to search far and wide for the most beautiful
damsels, I have fixed upon ninety and nine. Their families were glad
to invite my selection by rich gifts, and the treasure that I have
amassed is not small. On arriving yesterday at a district pertaining
to Chingtoo city, I met with a maiden, daughter of one Wongchang.
The brightness of her charms was piercing as an arrow. She was
perfectly beautiful--and doubtless unparalleled in the whole empire.
But, unfortunately, her father is a cultivator of the land, not
possessed of much wealth. When I insisted on a hundred ounces of
gold to secure her being the chief object of the imperial choice,
they first pleaded their poverty--and then, relying on her
extraordinary beauty, rejected my offers altogether. I therefore
left them. [_Considers awhile_.] But no!----I have a better plan.
[_He kni