On entering the barred door for the third time, he did not feel especially troubled; he believed that people, born between heaven and earth, suffered, as their allotted destiny, occasional arrests when they were taken in and out of prisons and were obliged at times to draw circles on a piece of paper; but if the circle were not drawn round, it would be counted as a defect in his character. However, it was not long before he felt relieved, thinking to himself, "My sons and grandsons will be able to draw round circles."
So he fell asleep.
On the other hand, Chü-jen Lao-yeh could not sleep that night. He had had an argument with the captain. Chü-jen Lao-yeh maintained, as his cardinal point, the recovery of booty of the Chao household, while the captain's cardinal point was the punishment of Ah Q to warn the multitudes against looting. The captain had had, of late, a decidedly low opinion of Chü-jen Lao-yeh, and kept pounding the table and chair as he shouted: "Punish one to subjugate a hundred. Look you, I haven't been a Revolutionist for more than twenty days and there have been more than ten cases of robbery, and none of these cases has been brought to a satisfactory solution. And where will my self-respect go? When this case has
