sister devolved upon her, and she had to attend to the wants of her father besides. As she was thrifty and managed everything well, the family became more and more substantial. All the neighbors praised her; even Chang-fu often expressed gratification. When I set out for this journey, my mother suddenly remembered her—the memory of old people is really remarkable. She said that Ah Shun had once wanted a red artificial flower made of soft down that she saw someone wear, and had cried all night because she did not get one and was beaten by her father for it. Her eyes were swollen for several days afterward. This particular kind of artificial flower was made in another province, and was not procurable even in the city of S. How could they get one for her in the country? So my mother asked me to buy a few flowers on my way south and give them to her.
"I did not consider this errand irksome, but was glad of it, for I had a sincere wish to do something for Ah Shun. Year before last when I came back to fetch my mother, Chang-fu happened to be home one day and somehow I found myself engaged in an idle conversation with him. He invited me to have some sweetmeat with him, a kind of buckwheat jelly which he told me was prepared with sugar. You can see that he was not a poor boatman since he could afford to keep sugar in the house, and that he ate well. I could not refuse because of his persistence, so I accepted the invitation but begged him to give me only a small bowl. He said to Ah Shun with a knowing air, 'These scholars cannot eat much, so use a small bowl but put plenty of sugar in it!' When the delicacy was prepared and brought in, the size of the bowl frightened me, though compared with that of Chang-fu mine was indeed a small one. I had never eaten buckwheat jelly before. When I tasted it I did not find it palatable, though it was quite
