edicted that it was a
cunning and elaborately thought-out method of obtaining the attention of
the people on the part of certain persons who claimed to vend a reliable
and fragrantly-scented cleansing substance. The _Valley of Hoang Rose
Leaves and Sweetness_ hoped, in a spirit of no sincerity, that the
ingenious Kai Lung would not rest on his tea-leaves, but would soon
send forth an equally entertaining amended example of the _Sayings of
Confucious_ and other sacred works, while the _Pure Essence of the Seven
Days' Happenings_ merely printed side by side portions from the two
books under the large inscription, 'IS THERE REALLY ANY NEED FOR US TO
EXPRESS OURSELVES MORE CLEARLY?'

"The disappointment both as regards public esteem and taels--for, after
the manner in which the work had been received by those who advise
on such productions, not a single example was purchased--threw this
ill-destined individual into a condition of most unendurable depression,
from which he was only aroused by a remarkable example of the unfailing
wisdom of the proverb which says 'Before hastening to secure a possible
reward of five taels by dragging an unobservant person away from a
falling building, examine well his features lest you find, when too
late, that it is one to whom you are indebted for double that amount.'
Disappointed in the hope of securing large gains from the sale of his
great work, this person now turned his attention again to his former
means of living, only to find, however, that the discredit in which he
had become involved even attached itself to his concise sentence; for in
place of the remunerative and honourable manner in which it was formerly
received, it was now regarded on all hands with open suspicion. Instead
of meekly kow-towing to an evidently pre-arranged doom, the last
misfortune aroused this usually resigned story-teller to an ungovernable
frenzy. Regarding the accomplished but at the same time exceedingly
over-productive Lo Kuan Chang as the beginning of all his evils, he took
a solemn oath as a mark of disapproval that he had not been content to
inscribe on paper only half of his brilliant thoughts, leaving the other
half for the benefit of this hard-striving and equally well-endowed
individual, in which case there would have been a sufficiency of taels
and of fame for both.

"For a very considerable space of time this person could conceive no
method by which he might attain his object. At length, howeve