"Who?" Ah Q was more surprised than ever.
"The licentiate and the foreigner."
Ah Q was paralyzed by the unexpectedness of this answer. Emboldened by his irresolution, the old nun shut the door in his face. It was bolted when Ah Q pushed against it, and when he knocked again there came no reply.
The robbing of the convent had occurred in the morning. The licentiate Chao was better informed than most people in the village, and as soon as he learned that the revolutionaries had actually entered the city during the night, he wound up his queue under his cap and went to call upon the fake foreigner, whom he had up to that time avoided. But a new epoch had just dawned and the two men found themselves completely in accord and became fast comrades in a common cause. For a while they did not know what their immediate mission should be. Finally, after a long conference and much exchange of views, they recalled the votive tablet in the convent bearing the legend, "Long live the Emperor, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!" This, they decided, must be revolutionized without any delay. Being true revolutionaries, they had set out immediately for their objective. Because the nun had dared to hinder the course of the revolution, they immediately declared her the personification of the Manchu Government itself and had fearlessly given her several whacks on her smooth-shaven head. After the departure of the revolutionary heroes, the nun carefully examined the place and found that besides the broken votive tablet, an incense burner, dating from the reign of one of the early Ming emperors, had disappeared from the altar before Kuanyin.
Ah Q regretted oversleeping that morning and felt offended that he had not been called upon to join the expedi-
