tion. Then he comforted himself with the thought that they were perhaps not yet aware that he had entered the service of the revolution.
Little by little normal conditions returned to Wei. It was learned that although the revolutionaries had occupied the city, there had been no untoward changes. The magistrate from the old regime kept his post under a new name; the graduate also became some sort of official, the correct name of which the villagers could not comprehend. The local garrison remained under the command of the same captain. The only outrages were perpetrated by the bad element among the revolutionaries, who started to forcibly cut off queues. It was reliably reported that the boatman Seven Pounds from a neighboring village fell victim to this outrage and was now without the mark that distinguished man from beast. This did not terrify the villagers, however; since they seldom went into the city, they were not exposed to the danger. Those who had intended to go changed their minds. Among them was Ah Q, who gave up the idea of visiting an old friend in the city.
It could not be said exactly that there was no change in Wei, for the number of those who knotted up their queues increased day by day. The first was, as we have already observed, the licentiate, followed by Chao the watchman and Chao the white-eyed, and finally Ah Q. If this had happened during the summer it would not have been conspicuous, but since it was late autumn, the queue-knotters could not be said to lack courage, nor could it be said that the village of Wei was insensitive to the spirit of change that characterized the times.
