“My beloved lord!” said Mian sadly, on a morning after many days had
passed since the return of Ling, “have you not every possession for
which the heart of a wise person searches? Yet the dark mark is scarcely
ever absent from your symmetrical brow. If she who stands before you,
and is henceforth an integral part of your organization, has failed you
in any particular, no matter how unimportant, explain the matter to her,
and the amendment will be a speedy and a joyful task.”
It was indeed true that Ling’s mind was troubled, but the fault did not
lie with Mian, as the person in question was fully aware, for before
her eyes as before those of Ling the unevadable compact which had been
entered into with Chang-ch’un was ever present, insidiously planting
bitterness within even the most select and accomplished delights. Nor
with increasing time did the obstinate and intrusive person Wang become
more dignified in his behaviour; on the contrary, he freely made use of
his position to indulge in every variety of abandonment, and almost each
day he prevented, by reason of his knowledge of the things to be done
and not to be done, some refined and permissible entertainment
upon which Ling and Mian had determined. Ling had despatched many
communications upon this subject to Chang-ch’un, praying also that
some expert way out of the annoyance of the lesser and more unimportant
things not to be done should be arrived at, but the time when he might
reasonably expect an answer to these written papers had not yet arrived.
It was about this period that intelligence was brought to Ling from the
villages on the road to Peking, how Li Keen, having secretly ascertained
that his Yamen was standing and his goods uninjured, had determined
to return, and was indeed at that hour within a hundred li of Si-chow.
Furthermore, he had repeatedly been understood to pronounce clearly
that he considered Ling to be the head and beginning of all his
inconveniences, and to declare that the first act of justice which
he should accomplish on his return would be to submit the person in
question to the most unbearable tortures, and then cause him to lose his
head publicly as an outrager of the settled state of things and an
enemy of those who loved tranquillity. Not doubting that Li Keen would
endeavour to gain an advantage by treachery if the chance presented
itself, Ling determined to go forth to meet him, and without delay
settle the entire disturbance in one well-chosen and fatally-destructive
encounter. To this end, rather than disturb the placid mind of Mian,
to whom the thought of the engagement would be weighted with many
disquieting fears, he gave out that he was going upon an expedition
to surprise and capture certain fish of a very delicate flavour, and
attended by only two persons, he set forth in the early part of the day.
Some hours later, owing to an ill-considered remark on the part of the
deaf attendant, to whom the matter had been explained in an imperfect
light, Mian became possessed of the true facts of the case, and
immediately all the pleasure of existence went from her. She despaired
of ever again beholding Ling in an ordinary state, and mournfully
reproached herself for the bitter words which had risen to her lips when
the circumstance of his condition and the arrangement with Chang-ch’un
first became known to her. After spending an interval in a polished
lament at the manner in which things were inevitably tending, the
thought occurred to Mian whether by any means in her power she could
influence the course and settled method of affairs. In this situation
the memory of the person Wang, and the fact that on several occasions he
had made himself objectionable when Ling had proposed to place himself
in such a position that he incurred some very remote chance of death
by drowning or by fire, recurred to her. Subduing the natural and
pure-minded repulsion which she invariably experienced at the mere
thought of so debased an individual, she sought for him, and discovering
him in the act of constructing cardboard figures of men and animals,
which it was his custom to dispose skilfully in little-frequented paths
for the purpose of enjoying the sudden terror of those who passed by,
she quickly put the matter before him, urging him, by some means, to
prevent the encounter, which must assuredly cost the life of the one
whom he had so often previously obstructed from incurring the slightest
risk.
“By no means,” exclaimed Wang, when he at length understood the full
meaning of the project; “it would be a most unpresentable action for
this commonplace person to interfere in so honourable an undertaking.
Had the priceless body of the intrepid Ling been in any danger of
disappearing, as, for example, by drowning or being consumed in fire,
the nature of the circumstance would have been different. As the
matter exists, however, there is every appearance that the far-seeing
Chang-ch’un will soon reap the deserved reward of his somewhat
speculative enterprise, and to that end this person will immediately
procure a wooden barrier and the services of four robust carriers, and
proceed to the scene of the conflict.”
Deprived of even this hope of preventing the encounter, Mian betook
herself in extreme dejection to the secret room of the magician, which
had been unopened since the day when the two attendants had searched for
substances to apply to their master, and there she diligently examined
every object in the remote chance of discovering something which might
prove of value in averting the matter in question.
Not anticipating that the true reason of his journey would become known
to Mian, Ling continued on his way without haste, and passing through
Si-chow before the sun had risen, entered upon the great road to Peking.
At a convenient distance from the town he came to a favourable piece of
ground where he decided to await the arrival of Li Keen, spending the
time profitably in polishing his already brilliant sword, and making
observations upon the nature of the spot and the condition of the
surrounding omens, on which the success of his expedition would largely
depend.
As the sun reached the highest point in the open sky the sound of an
approaching company could be plainly heard; but at the moment when the
chair of the Mandarin appeared within the sight of those who waited, the
great luminary, upon which all portents depend directly or indirectly,
changed to the colour of new-drawn blood and began to sink towards
the earth. Without any misgivings, therefore, Ling disposed his two
attendants in the wood, with instructions to step forth and aid him if
he should be attacked by overwhelming numbers, while he himself remained
in the way. As the chair approached, the Mandarin observed a person
standing alone, and thinking that it was one who, hearing of his return,
had come out of the town to honour him, he commanded the bearers to
pause. Thereupon, stepping up to the opening, Ling struck the deceptive
and incapable Li Keen on the cheek, at the same time crying in a full
voice, “Come forth, O traitorous and two-stomached Mandarin! for this
person is very desirous of assisting you in the fulfilment of your
boastful words. Here is a most irreproachable sword which will serve
excellently to cut off this person’s undignified head; here is a
waistcord which can be tightened around his breast, thereby producing
excruciating pains over the entire body.”
At the knowledge of who the one before him was, and when he heard the
words which unhesitatingly announced Ling’s fixed purpose, Li Keen first
urged the carriers to fall upon Ling and slay him, and then, perceiving
that such a course was exceedingly distasteful to their natural
tendencies, to take up the chair and save him by flight. But Ling in
the meantime engaged their attention, and fully explained to them the
treacherous and unworthy conduct of Li Keen, showing them how his death
would be a just retribution for his ill-spent life, and promising them
each a considerable reward in addition to their arranged payment when
the matter in question had been accomplished. Becoming convinced of the
justice of Ling’s cause, they turned upon Li Keen, insisting that he
should at once attempt to carry out the ill-judged threats against Ling,
of which they were consistent witnesses, and announcing that, if he
failed to do so, they would certainly bear him themselves to a not far
distant well of stagnant water, and there gain the approbation of the
good spirits by freeing the land of so unnatural a monster.
Seeing only a dishonourable death on either side, Li Keen drew his
sword, and made use of every artifice of which he had knowledge in
order to disarm Ling or to take him at a disadvantage. In this he was
unsuccessful, for Ling, who was by nature a very expert sword-user,
struck him repeatedly, until he at length fell in an expiring condition,
remarking with his last words that he had indeed been a narrow-minded
and extortionate person during his life, and that his death was an
enlightened act of celestial accuracy.
Directing Wang and his four hired persons, who had in the meantime
arrived, to give the body of the Mandarin an honourable burial in the
deep of the wood, Ling rewarded and dismissed the chairbearers, and
without delay proceeded to Si-chow, where he charitably distributed the
goods and possessions of Li Keen among the poor of the town. Having
in this able and conscientious manner completely proved the misleading
nature of the disgraceful statements which the Mandarin had spread
abroad concerning him, Ling turned his footsteps towards Mian, whose
entrancing joy at his safe return was judged by both persons to be a
sufficient reward for the mental distress with which their separation
had been accompanied.