wife who longs for thee.

5
My Dear One,
We have a daughter-in-law. Not only have we a daughter-in-law, but
we have servants and household furnishings and clothing-- and
clothing-- and clothing. I am sure that if her gowns could be laid side
by side, they would reach around the world. She is as fair as the
spring blossoms, and of as little use. An army encamped upon us
could not have so upset our household as the advent of this one
maiden. She brought with her rugs to cover the floors, embroideries
and hangings for the walls, scrolls and saying of Confucius and
Mencius to hang over the seats of honour-- to show us that she is an
admirer of the classics-- screens for the doorways, even a huge bed
all carved and gilded and with hangings and tassels of gay silk.

Thine Honourable Mother, after viewing the goods piled in the
courtyards, called her bearers and told us she was taking tea with a
friend in the village of Sung-dong. I think she chose this friend
because she lives the farthest from our compound walls. I alone was
left to direct the placing of this furniture. Li-ti was like a butterfly,
flitting hither and thither, doing nothing, talking much. The bed must
be so placed that the Spirits of Evil passing over it in the night-time
could not take the souls of sleepers away with them. The screens
must stand at the proper angle guarding the doorways from the spirits
who, in their straight, swift flight through the air, fall against these
screens instead of entering the house. She gravely explained to me
that the souls who dwell in darkness like to take up their abode in
newly organised households, and many precautions must be made
against them. She even seriously considered the roof, to see if all the
points curved upward, so that the spirits lighting upon them be carried
high above the open courtyards. I do not know what would have
happened to thine ancestral rooftree if it had not met with her
approval. I was many heartfuls glad that thine August Mother was
taking tea in a far-off village, as Li-ti even wanted to install a new God
in the kitchen. This I would not permit. Canst thou imagine thy
Mother's face if a God from a stranger family was in the niche above
the stove? Happily all was over when thine Honourable Mother
returned. She is not pleased with this, her newest, daughter-in-law,
and she talks-- and talks-- and talks. She says the days will pass
most slowly until she sees the father of Li-ti. She yearns