"Gladly would I listen."
"It is you who will live forever in people's memories. Only an Imperial personage is a fit subject for the genius of Tu Fu. The old Alchemist and I would be satisfied to live our few remaining years with a bit of jade, a little gold and a pearl or two."
"Your wish is granted, but it amazes me you have no wish for immortality."
Some time later, as Ch'i-ch'i bade the old Alchemist good-bye, in a place near the red gates of the Palace where they were unobserved, the old Alchemist said, "I shall return to my drug-shop. Before sleeping this night, I'll make a few more of those black pills. Since they purge the body of destructive obstacles to digestion, why should they not purge away the snows of years?"
The old Alchemist was a clever doctor. He understood the frailties of mankind, and the potency of the
spirit that dwells within good wine.
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