going on now for all of three years, always fighting, making up, nothing ever settled . . . "
"Is it going to be at His Honor Wei's house again?"
"Yes, still at his house. He has acted as peacemaker several times for them, but I never agreed to the terms. But that does not matter much. This time they are entertaining relatives at the New Year, even His Honor Seven from the city is going to be there."
"His Honor Seven?" Pa-san's eyes popped wide open. "Is he taking a hand in the matter too? That is . . . But last year we really gave them a good example of what we are capable of, when we topped it all by tearing up their stove. That made us about even. Moreover, Ai-ku will hardly find it comfortable there after all that has happened." After saying this, he looked down at the bottom of the boat.
"It is not that I am anxious to go back to them, Pa-san-ko!" Ai-ku said, raising her head angrily. "I am doing this to spite them. The little beast cannot throw me aside for that little widow. I'll show them that he cannot get away with it so easily. The old beast always sides with his son and he wants to get rid of me, too. It won't be easy, I tell you. What if His Honor Seven is taking a hand? Do you mean to say that he would not talk human speech, simply because he has become a sworn brother of the magistrate? He'll know better than merely to say that it is better to break up. I should like to tell him what I've suffered in the last few years and see what he has to say." Pa-san was silenced by this outburst of eloquence. The boat was quiet except for the splashing of water against the bow. Chuang Mu-san took his pipe and filled it. A fat man seated next to Pa-san and diagonally across from Mu-san
