wood dust and splinters left. With my heart beating violently, I carefully removed the heap of wood so as to get a look at my little brother. But there was nothing—bedding, clothes, bones—nothing! I thought that if these things had all disintegrated, there might at least be some hair left, since I had been told that hair is the most imperishable thing of the human body. I leaned over and searched carefully where his head should have been. There was nothing, not a single hair!"
I suddenly noticed that his eyes had become red but I knew that it was due to the wine rather than to his emotion. He would not eat much, but drank cup after cup, and soon consumed more than a potful. He grew more spirited and his gestures more animated; he was more like the old Lu Wei-fu now. I told the waiter to bring two more pots of wine, and, with cup in hand, turned back to listen silently to his story.
"Really there was no need of reinterment. One could have flattened the ground, sold the coffin, and considered the matter ended. It might seem queer for me to be selling a coffin, but if the price was reasonable enough the shop might have taken it back and I would at least have had some money to buy wine. But that was not what I did. Instead, I collected some earth, wrapped it in the bedding, put the bundle in the coffin, and had it carried to my father's tomb and buried by its side. Because of the brick structure over it, I was busy most of yesterday supervising the workmen. Well, I have at least done what had to be done and I can lie to my mother in order to set her mind at peace. Ah, are you looking at me like that because you are surprised that I am so different from what I used to be? Yes, I also remember the time when we went to the Temple of the City God and pulled off the idol's whiskers; when we used to get so excited over discussions on how to
