of food obtainable at the time.
Thus the anniversary of this day, even up to the present time, is always
celebrated by the Manchu people, who deny themselves all luxuries,
especially at the Court. We did not eat any meat on that day, but only
rice wrapped in lettuce leaves. Chopsticks were also discarded and the
food was conveyed to the mouth by the hands alone. Even the Empress
Dowager was no exception to this rule. This is done in order to remind
the present generation of the privation suffered by their ancestors who
established the Manchu Dynasty.

Towards the close of the eighth moon Her Majesty's gourd plants, which
had been planted early in the spring, were ripening, and each day she
would take us all to see what progress they were making. She would pick
out those which she considered to be the most perfect in form, i. e.,
those with the smallest waist and tie ribbons around them so as not to
lose sight of them. She pointed to one of these plants one day, and said
to me: "This reminds me of yourself when dressed in foreign clothes.
Surely you feel more comfortable in the clothes you are now wearing."
When these gourds were quite ripe they were cut down and Her Majesty
would scrape the outer skin with a bamboo knife, afterwards wiping the
fruit with a wet cloth. They were then allowed to dry and after a
few days they would assume a brownish color, when they were ready for
hanging as ornaments in the Summer Palace. In one room alone there were
over 10,000 of these gourds, of different shapes. It was the duty of the
Court ladies to periodically wipe these gourds with a cloth, in order to
give them a shiny appearance, and also to scrape any new ones which were
pulled and prepare them for the Palace. None of us cared very much
about this work excepting Her Majesty. One day whilst attending to these
gourds I happened to knock the top off one of the old ones which was Her
Majesty's particular favorite. I dared not go and tell Her Majesty what
had happened and one of the Court ladies suggested throwing the thing
away altogether and saying nothing about it as Her Majesty would not
be likely to find it out, having so many of them. However, I finally
decided to go and tell Her Majesty about it, and take punishment if
necessary. For a wonder Her Majesty did not make much bother about it.
She said: "Well it was quite an old one in any case and the top was
ready to drop off at any time; it so happens that you were the one to
w