thed? Has any lady
ventured to step outside such a limit? If so, let her declare herself!"

All shook their heads, and the August Aunt proceeded: "Let the writer
record this as the opinion of every lady of the Imperial Household, and
let each name be separately appended."

Had any desired to object, none dared to confront the August Aunt;
but apparently no beauty so desired, for after three nights' sleepless
meditation, no other thought than this had occurred to any.

Accordingly, the writer moved from lady to lady and, under the
supervision of the August Aunt, transcribed the following: "The Ideal
Man is the earthly likeness of the Divine Emperor. How should it be
otherwise?" And under this sentence wrote the name of each lovely one
in succession. The papers were then placed in the hanging sleeves of the
August Aunt for safety.

By the decree of Fate, the father of the Round-Faced Beauty had, before
he became an ancestral spirit, been a scholar of distinction, having
graduated at the age of seventy-two with a composition commended by the
Grand Examiner. Having no gold and silver to give his daughter, he
had formed her mind, and had presented her with the sole jewel of his
family-a pearl as large as a bean. Such was her sole dower, but the
accomplished Aunt may excel the indolent Prince.

Yet, before the thought in her mind, she hesitated and trembled,
recalling the lesson of the gold-fish; and it was with anxiety that
paled her roseate lips that, on a certain day, she had sought the Willow
Bridge Pavilion. There had awaited her a palace attendant skilled with
the brush, and there in secrecy and dire affright, hearing the footsteps
of the August Aunt in every rustle of leafage, and her voice in the
call of every crow, did the Round-Faced Beauty dictate the following
composition:--

"Though the sky rain pearls, it cannot equal the beneficence of the Son
of Heaven. Though the sky rain jade it cannot equal his magnificence. He
has commanded his slave to describe the qualities of the Ideal Man.
How should I, a mere woman, do this? I, who have not seen the Divine
Emperor, how should I know what is virtue? I, who have not seen the
glory of his countenance, how should I know what is beauty? Report
speaks of his excellencies, but I who live in the dark know not. But to
the Ideal Woman, the very vices of her husband are virtues. Should he
exalt another, this is a mark of his superior taste. Should he dismiss
his slave, th