"A banquet cannot make one blind to all justice. If a banquet can do that, then what about a banquet in foreign style?[1] These scholars are understanding men and they make it a point to help those who have justice on their side. For instance, if a crowd of men should pick on one man, the scholars would come out and stand up for him. They wouldn't care whether they got any wine to drink or not. Last year-end His Honor Jung came back from Peking. He has seen the world; he is different from us country people. And he said that the best of the lot in that house is Kuang tai-tai, she is so independent."
"Passengers for Wang's Cove ashore!" shouted the boatman, as the boat slowed down.
"I'm getting off!" The fat man quickly grabbed his pipe and jumped ashore. "Excuse me, excuse me," he said to the people in the boat.
The boat resumed its forward movement in the new silence and the splashing of water became quite audible again. Pa-san began to doze and his mouth dropped open in the direction of the sicklelike feet. Two old women in the front part of the cabin started to murmur the names of the Buddhas, counting them off on their prayer beads. They glanced at Ai-ku, and then looked, nodded and tilted their mouths at each other.
Ai-ku's eyes were fixed on the ceiling of mat which covered the boat, probably rehearsing how she was going to plague her in-laws until "their home was destroyed and their people dead," until both the "old beast" and the "little beast" did not know what to do or where to turn. She did not think much of His Honor Wei—she had seen him twice
- ↑ A dinner in European style is known as ta-ts'an or "great feast" and is considered the last word in luxury and fashion.
