s made into a plum blossom string
by winding a circle of five pearls around a larger one, then one single
pearl, then another circle of five pearls around a large one, and so on,
making quite a long chain, which she suspended from one of the buttons
of her gown.

At this juncture one of the Court ladies came in carrying several gowns
for Her Majesty to select from. She looked at them and said that none of
them suited her, to take them back and bring more. I had a look at
them and thought they were perfectly lovely, such pretty colors and so
beautifully embroidered. In a short while the same Court lady came
back carrying more, and from these Her Majesty selected a sea-green one
embroidered all over with white storks. She put this gown on and looked
at herself in the mirror for a while, then took off her jade butterfly.
She said: "You see I am very particular about little details. The jade
butterfly is too green and it kills my gown. Put it back in the box and
bring me a pearl stork in No. 35 box." I went back to the jewel room and
fortunately found No. 35 box and brought it to her. She opened the box
and took from it a stork made entirely of pearls set in silver, the
bird's bill being made of coral. The pearls making the body of the bird
were so cleverly set that the silver could not be seen at all unless
one looked at it very closely. It was a most magnificent piece of
workmanship and the pearls were of perfect color and shape. Her Majesty
took it and placed it in her hair and did look very graceful and pretty.
Then she picked out a mauve-colored short jacket, also embroidered with
storks, which she put on over her gown. Her handkerchief and shoes
were also embroidered with storks and when she was entirely dressed she
looked like the stork lady.

Just as she had finished dressing, the Emperor Kwang Hsu came into the
bedroom dressed in his official clothes. These clothes were exactly like
other official clothes, except that he had no button on his hat and did
not wear the peacock feather. He knelt down before Her Majesty and said:
"Chin Baba, Chi Hsiang" (dear father, all joy be with you). It may seem
curious that the Emperor and all of us should call Her Majesty father,
and the reason why this was done was because Her Majesty always wanted
to be a man and compelled everyone to address her as if she were
actually one. This was only one of her many peculiarities.

I did not know whether to courtesy to the Emperor or not