tracted from him a partly used four-ounce candle and a candlestick. He lit the candle and the unaccustomed luxury gave him an indescribable feeling of well being. The candle flame danced with a festive air and his thoughts danced with it.
Revolution was a great thing, he decided. He saw the revolutionaries pass by the temple in white helmets and white armor, holding broadswords, steel whips, bombs, cannons, spears, and halberts, and he heard them call to him, "Come with us, Ah Q!" In his imagination he went with them.
What a pitiable lot were these cursed villagers! They all knelt before him, whimpering, "Ah Q, spare us!" He would not relent. First little Don and His Honor Chao must go, and the licentiate and the fake foreigner . . . Should he spare any? Wang the Beard might have been spared, but not now after his impudent behavior.
And the things he would help himself to! He would go straight in and open up the chests—silver ingots, dollar pieces, a muslin gown . . . He would first bring to the temple the Nanking bed that formed part of the dowry of the licentiate's wife, and then provide himself with tables and chairs from the Chiens—maybe he would take the Chaos' while he was at it. He would not bestir himself about these things. Little Don would be told to do it and he had better be quick about it if he did not want to get slapped . . .
The sister of Chao the white-eyed was too ugly. Sister Tsou's daughter? She was a mere child as yet. The fake foreigner's wife? Bah! She was no good since she had slept with a man without a queue. The licentiate's wife had a scar on her eyelid . . . Where had Wu-ma been keeping herself?—her feet were a bit too large anyway.
