MY father's four months' leave having expired, he was received in
audience by their Majesties on the first day of the sixth moon. He was
much improved in health, but his rheumatism was still very troublesome.
This was particularly noticeable when climbing the steps to the Audience
Hall, and Her Majesty ordered two of the eunuchs to assist him.
First he thanked Her Majesty for her kindness towards my sister and
myself, and, as was the custom, took off his hat and knelt down, bowing
his head until it struck the ground. This ceremony was always gone
through by any official who had received special favors from Their
Majesties.
He then replaced his hat on his head and remained kneeling before the
throne. Her Majesty then questioned him about his life in Paris, from
time to time complimenting him on his work. Seeing that remaining in
this kneeling position appeared to be making him tired, Her Majesty
ordered one of the eunuchs to bring a cushion for him to use, which was
another great honor, as this cushion was only used by the President of
the Grand Council.
Her Majesty told him that as he was now getting to be a very old man,
she did not intend sending him away from China again, as she wanted to
keep my sister and myself at the Court, which she could not do if she
sent him to some foreign country, as he would want to take his daughters
with him. She said she was pleased, that although we had been away from
China for such a long time, we were well acquainted with the Manchu
customs. My father replied that it had been his care that we should be
brought up according to the customs of our own country.
Her Majesty when asked the Emperor if he had anything to say, and he
replied by asking my father if he spoke French, and thought it very
strange on learning that he did not. My father explained that he had
never had the time to study it, besides which he considered himself too
old to learn a foreign language.
The Emperor next asked what was the feeling in France towards China.
My father replied that they were very friendly at that time, but that
immediately after the Boxer trouble the post of Minister had been a
very embarrassing one. Her Majesty said that it had been an unfortunate
affair, but she was glad that everything was now settled satisfactorily.
She told my father that he was to get well again as quickly as possible,
and the audience came to an end.
Afterwards Her Majesty said that my father was looking very old since
his return from France and that he would have to be careful and take
things easy until he got stronger again. She was pleased that he had
shown appreciation of her interest in my sister and myself.
Preparations were now commenced for celebrating the birthday of His
Majesty, the Emperor Kwang Hsu, which was to take place on the 28th of
that month. The actual date of the Emperor's birthday was the 26th of
the sixth moon, but this day, being the anniversary of the death of a
previous Emperor of China, we were unable to hold any festivities,
and so it was always celebrated on the 28th day instead. The official
celebration lasted for seven days, three days before and four days after
the actual date. During that time the whole of the Court dressed in
official robes, and no business of any kind whatever was attended to.
This being the Emperor's 32nd birthday, and as the full celebrations
only took place every tenth year, i. e. On his 20th birthday, his 30th
birthday, and so on, the festivities were not carried out on a very
grand scale. However, it was quite sufficient to interfere with all
business, and the usual morning audiences did not take place during
these seven days. The Empress Dowager herself was the only person who
did not dress especially during these celebrations, and who did not take
any active part in the festivities. Another reason why the celebrations
were not carried out on a very large scale was the fact that the Empress
Dowager, being alive, she took precedence, according to the Manchu
custom, over the Emperor himself, in fact she was the actual ruler of
the country, the Emperor being second. The Emperor was quite aware of
this fact, and when the Empress commanded that preparations be commenced
for the celebrations, the Emperor would always suggest that it was not
at all necessary to celebrate the occasion unless it happened to be a
tenth year, and would very reluctantly agree to the festivities taking
place. Of course this was more out of politeness on the part of the
Emperor and to conform to the recognized etiquette, but the nation
recognized this birthday and naturally celebrated according to the usual
custom. During this period, therefore, the painting of the portrait was
postponed.
When the morning of the 25th arrived, the Emperor dressed himself in his
official robe-yellow gown, embroidered with gold dragons and coat of a
reddish black color. Of course, being the Emperor, in place of the
usual button on the hat he wore a large pearl. I might mention that
the Emperor was the only person who could wear this particular pearl in
place of a button. He came as usual to wish Her Majesty Chi Hsiang and
then proceeded to the temple to worship before the ancestral tablets.
After this ceremony was over he returned to the Empress Dowager and
kowtowed to her. All the Chinese adopt this rule of kowtowing to their
parents on their own birthdays, as a sign of reverence and respect. The
Emperor next proceeded to the Audience Hall, where all the Ministers
were assembled, and received their salutations and congratulations. This
ceremony very often caused amusement, for to see several hundred people
all bobbing their heads up and down, especially when they did not all
manage to do it together, was a very funny sight. Even the Emperor
himself had to laugh, it was such an extraordinary spectacle.
The musical instruments which were used during the ceremony deserve a
little description. The principal instrument is made of hard wood, and
has a flat bottom about three feet in diameter, with a dome-shaped top
raised about three feet from the ground. The inside is quite hollow.
A long pole made of the same material is used as a drumstick, and an
official, specially appointed, beats with all his might on the drum. The
noise can be better imagined than described. This is used as a signal to
announce when the Emperor takes his seat upon the throne. In addition
to the above, a full sized model of a tiger, also made of similar hard
wood, and having twenty-four scales on its back, is brought into the
courtyard. In this case they did not beat the instrument, but scraped
along its back over the scales, which emitted a noise similar to the
letting off simultaneously of innumerable crackers. This noise was kept
up during the whole of the ceremony, and what with the drum and this
tiger instrument it was sufficient to deafen one. During the ceremony,
an official crier used to call out the different orders, such as when
to kneel, bow, stand up, kowtow, etc., etc., but with the noise it
was quite impossible to hear a single word of what he uttered. Another
instrument was composed of a frame made of wood, about eight feet high
by three feet broad. Across this frame were three wooden bars, from
which was suspended twelve bells, made out of pure gold. When these were
struck with a wooden stick the sound was not at all unlike the dulcimer,
only, of course, very much louder. This was placed on the right side
of the Audience Hall. On the left side a similar instrument was placed,
with the exception that the bells were carved out of white jade. The
music which could be brought out of the instrument was very sweet.
When this ceremony of receiving the Ministers was concluded, the Emperor
proceeded to his private Palace, where the Young Empress (his wife),
the Secondary wife and all the Court ladies were gathered, and, after
kowtowing, all of the Court ladies present, led by the Young Empress,
knelt before him and presented him with a Ru Yee. This is a kind of
sceptre. Some are made out of pure jade, while others are made out of
wood inlaid with jade. This Ru Yee is a symbol of good luck and was
supposed to bring happiness and prosperity to the person to whom it was
presented. The ceremony was gone through to the accompaniment of music
played on string instruments, which was very sweet.
Next the eunuchs were received by the Emperor, and they similarly
congratulated him, but without the accompaniment of music. After the
eunuchs came the servant girls, and the whole of the ceremony was over.
The Emperor next proceeded to Her Majesty's Palace, where he knelt
before Her Majesty and thanked her for the celebration which had been
given in his honor, after which Her Majesty, accompanied by the whole
Court, went to the theatre to see the play. On arrival at the theatre we
were all presented by Her Majesty with sweetmeats, this being the custom
on these occasions, and after a little while Her Majesty retired for her
afternoon rest. Thus the celebration ended.
Two days after the celebration the seventh moon commenced. The
seventh day of the seventh moon was the occasion of another important
anniversary.
The two stars, Niu Lang (Capricorn) and Chih Nu (Lyra) are supposed to
be the patrons of agriculture and weaving and, according to tradition,
were at one time man and wife. As the result of a quarrel, however, they
were doomed to live apart, being separated from each other by the "Milky
Way." But on the seventh day of the seventh moon of each year they are
allowed to see each other and the magpies are supposed to build a bridge
to enable them to meet.
The ceremony is rather peculiar. Several basins full of water were
placed so that the sun's rays would fall upon them. Her Majesty then
took several tiny needles and dropped one into each basin. These floated
on the water, casting a shadow across the bottom of the basins. These
shadows took different forms, according to the position of the needle,
and if the shadow took certain prescribed forms, the person throwing
in the needle was supposed to be very lucky and clever, while if they
represented certain other forms, they were despised by the gods as being
ignorant. In addition, Her Majesty burned incense and offered up prayers
to the two gods referred to.
This was always a sad moon for Her Majesty, it being the anniversary of
the death of her husband, the Emperor Hsien Feng, who died on the 17th
of that month. The fifteenth of the seventh moon each year is the day of
the festival for the dead, and early in the morning the Court moved
to the Sea Palace in order to sacrifice. The Chinese hold that when
a person dies, his soul still remains on the earth, and on these
anniversaries they burn imitation money, the belief being that the soul
of the departed one will benefit to the extent of the amount of money so
represented. On the anniversary above referred to Her Majesty sent for
hundreds of Buddhist priests to pray for those unfortunate people who
had died without leaving anyone who could sacrifice for them. On the
evening of this day, Her Majesty and all her Court ladies set out in
open boats on the lake, where imitation lotus flowers were arranged as
lanterns, with a candle placed in the centre, which formed a sort of
floating light, the idea being to give light to the spirits of those who
had departed during the year, so as to enable them to come and receive
the blessings which had been prepared for them. Her Majesty ordered us
to light the candles and place the flowers on the water ourselves, as
she said it would be appreciated by the spirits of the dead. Some of the
eunuchs had told Her Majesty that they had actually seen some of these
spirits, which assertion was thoroughly believed. Although she had never
seen them herself, she accounted for this by the fact that she was of
too high a rank and the spirits were afraid of her, but she ordered all
the rest of us to keep a sharp lookout and tell her if we saw anything.
Of course we didn't see anything, but many of the Court ladies were so
frightened that they closed their eyes for fear they might see something
supernatural.
Her Majesty was devoted to the late Emperor Hsien Feng, and she was very
sad and morose during this period. We all had to be very careful indeed
not to upset her in any way, as she would find fault on the slightest
provocation. She hardly had a word to say to any of us, and cried almost
incessantly. I could hardly understand the reason for such grief, seeing
that the Emperor had died so many years previously. None of the Court
ladies were allowed to dress in light-coloured gowns during the whole of
the seventh moon. We all dressed either in dark blue or pale blue, while
Her Majesty herself dressed in black every day without exception. Even
her handkerchiefs were black. The theatres which were usually opened on
the first and fifteenth of each month, were closed during the seventh
moon. There was no music, and everything was conducted in the most
solemn manner; in fact, the whole Court was in deep mourning.
On the morning of the seventeenth day of the seventh moon, Her Majesty
visited the late Emperor's tablet, and knelt there crying for quite a
while. In order to show respect for the late Emperor, none of us were
allowed to eat meat for three days. This being my first year at the
Palace, it appeared to me very strange, after the customary gaiety and
noise. Of course I felt very sorry for Her Majesty, as I could see that
it was a genuine display of grief and was not in any way put on. As I
was her favorite at that time, she kept me close to her side during this
sad period. The Young Empress said to me one day: "Her Majesty is very
much attached to you, and I think you had better stay with her for the
time being." This I did, and I was so miserable myself that when Her
Majesty commenced crying I would cry also. When she saw that I was
crying, Her Majesty would immediately stop and ask me not to cry. She
would tell me that I was too young to cry, and that in any case I did
not know what real sorrow was as yet. During the conversations we had at
that time she would tell me quite a lot about herself. On one occasion
she said: "You know I have had a very hard life ever since I was a
young girl. I was not a bit happy when with my parents, as I was not the
favorite. My sisters had everything they wanted, while I was, to a great
extent, ignored altogether. When I first came to the Court, a lot of
the people were jealous of me because I was considered to be a beautiful
woman at that time. I must say myself that I was a clever one, for I
fought my own battles, and won them, too. When I arrived at Court the
late Emperor became very much attached to me and would hardly glance at
any of the other ladies. Fortunately, I was lucky in giving birth to a
son, as it made me the Emperor's undisputed favorite; but after that
I had very bad luck. During the last year of his reign the Emperor was
seized with a sudden illness. In addition to this the foreign soldiers
burnt down the Palace at Yuen Ming Yuen, so we fled to Jehol. Of course
everybody knows what took place at that time. I was still a young woman,
with a dying husband and a young son. The East Empress Dowager's nephew
was a bad man, who coveted the throne, which he had no right to in
any event, as he was not of royal blood. I would not wish anyone to
experience what I myself passed through at that time. When the Emperor
was in a dying condition, being practically unconscious of what was
taking place around him, I took my son to his bedside and asked him what
was going to be done about his successor to the throne. He made no reply
to this, but, as has always been the case in emergencies, I was equal to
the occasion, and I said to him: 'Here is your son,' on hearing which he
immediately opened his eyes and said: 'Of course he will succeed to the
throne.' I naturally felt relieved when this was settled once and
for all. These words were practically the last he spoke, for he died
immediately afterwards. Although it is now so many years ago, I can see
him now in that dying condition, just as though it all happened only
yesterday.
"I thought that I could be happy with my son as the Emperor Tung Chi,
but unfortunately he died before he was twenty years of age. Since that
time I have been a changed woman, as all happiness was over as far as I
was concerned when he died. I had also quite a lot of trouble with the
East Empress Dowager and found it very difficult to keep on good terms
with her. However, she died five years after the death of my son. In
addition to all this, when the Emperor Kwang Hsu was brought to me as a
baby three years old, he was a very sickly child, and could hardly walk,
he was so thin and weak. His parents seemed to be afraid of giving him
anything to eat. You know his father was Prince Chung, and his mother
was my sister, so of course he was almost the same as my own son,
in fact I adopted him as such. Even now, after all my trouble on his
account, he is not in perfect health. As you know, I have had plenty of
other troubles beside these, but it is useless to mention them now. I
am disappointed with everything, as nothing has turned out as I had
expected." With this remark Her Majesty commenced crying afresh.
Continuing, she said: "People seem to think that just because I am the
Empress Dowager that I am bound to be happy, but what I have just
told you is not all. I have gone through much more than that. If ever
anything went wrong, I was always the one who was blamed. The censors
even dare to impeach me once in a while. However, I am philosopher
enough to take things for what they are worth, otherwise I would have
been in my own grave long, long ago. Just imagine how small minded these
people are. Amongst other things they objected to my transferring my
Court to the Summer Palace during the hot weather, although I could do
no harm by being there. Even in the short time you have spent at Court,
you can see that I am unable to decide anything alone, while whenever
they want anything they consult with each other and then present their
petition to me, which, unless it is something of a very serious nature,
I never think of refusing."
After the time set apart for mourning had expired, we all went back
to the Summer Palace, where Miss Carl re-commenced her work on Her
Majesty's portrait. Her Majesty apparently soon got tired of this
portrait painting, for one day she asked me when I thought it would be
finished. She was afraid that it would not be finished by the time the
cold weather came on, when we always removed the Court to the Forbidden
City, and she said it would be a lot of trouble and inconvenience to
have to continue the portrait there. I told Her Majesty that it could
easily be arranged and that she need not worry herself.
After I had been posing in Her Majesty's place for several days Her
Majesty asked me whether Miss Carl had said anything about it, and if
she did, I was to inform her that it was a command from Her Majesty, and
that I dare not make any further suggestions in that respect. So we had
no further trouble with Miss Carl after that. I had, however, quite
a lot of trouble with the eunuchs, who, in spite of Her Majesty's
instructions, were anything but polite to Miss Carl. Of course Miss
Carl herself did not know this. I tried to make them behave better by
threatening to tell Her Majesty about them, which had a good effect for
a while, but they were soon as bad as ever.
At the commencement of the eighth moon, Her Majesty always attended to
the transplanting of her chrysanthemums, which was one of her favorite
flowers, so each day she would take us with her to the west side of the
lake and, assisted by us, would cut the tops of the young plants and set
them in flower pots. I was very much surprised at this, as there were
no roots, only the stems of the flowers, but Her Majesty assured me that
they would soon grow into very pretty plants. Every day we went over to
water these flowers until they began to bud. In case it rained heavily,
Her Majesty would order some of the eunuchs to go over and cover up
these chrysanthemum plants with mats, so that they would not be broken.
It was characteristic of Her Majesty that, no matter what other business
she had to attend to, her flowers had her first consideration and
she would, if necessary, even go without her usual rest in order to
superintend them personally. She also spent quite a time in looking
after her orchard, where she had planted apple trees, pear trees, etc.
Another thing which I began to notice was that when the spring and
summer days had passed, she got quite irritable and sad, while in the
winter she was simply unbearable. She loathed cold weather.
One day, during the eighth moon, Her Majesty was taken slightly ill, and
complained of suffering from severe headaches. This was the only time I
ever saw Her Majesty actually sick. She, however, got up as usual in
the morning, and held audience, but was unable to take her luncheon, and
very soon had to retire to her bed. Several doctors were summoned, each
of whom took her pulse. This was quite a ceremony in itself. The doctors
knelt at the bedside, and Her Majesty stretched forth her arm, resting
her hand upon a small pillow which was provided for that purpose. After
this each doctor wrote out his prescription, all of which were different
from each other. We handed them to Her Majesty, who chose the one which
she thought was the nicest to take, and two attendants and the doctor
himself had to take a dose in her presence before she would touch it.
Then she would take it all right.
During this time it rained a great deal and was very hot. The climate at
this time of the year is very damp, which causes the flies to make their
appearance in millions. If there was one thing more than another that
Her Majesty detested it was these flies. During the actual summer they
were not so troublesome as at this particular time. Of course every
precaution was taken to keep them away, a eunuch being posted at each
door, provided with sort of a switch made of horse hair fastened at the
end of a bamboo pole. We were never troubled by mosquitoes, however; in
fact I never saw a mosquito curtain in the Palace during the whole of
my stay there. These flies were an abomination, and in spite of all that
could be done a few would find their way into the rooms. Whenever they
alighted on Her Majesty she would scream, while if by any chance one
were to alight on her food she would order the whole lot to be thrown
away. This would spoil her appetite for the whole day and put her into
a terrible temper as well. Whenever she saw one anywhere near her, she
would order whoever happened to be present to go and catch it. I myself
often received this order, but I detested them almost as much as Her
Majesty did, they were so dirty, and stuck to one's hands whenever they
touched them.
After her illness Her Majesty was indisposed more or less for quite a
long time, and doctors were constantly in attendance. She took so many
different kinds of medicine that instead of getting better she got worse
and eventually contracted a fever. Her Majesty was very much afraid of
fevers of any kind and we had to stay with her all night and all day and
had to take our meals whenever we could get away from her bedside for a
few minutes. Another peculiarity was Her Majesty's aversion for any kind
of perfume near her when she was sick, while when she was feeling well
she was simply smothered in it. The same applied to fresh flowers; in
spite of her love for them under ordinary conditions, when she was sick
she could not bear them anywhere near. Her nerves became absolutely
unstrung, as she was unable to sleep during the day, and consequently
the time passed very slowly to her. In order to make the time pass
a little less tediously, she gave instructions for one of the better
educated eunuchs to read to her during the daytime. This reading
generally consisted of ancient Chinese history, poetry and all kinds of
Chinese lore, and while the eunuch was reading to her we had to stand by
her bedside, one of us being told off to massage her legs, which seemed
to soothe her somewhat. This same program was gone through every day
until she was completely herself again--some ten days later.
One day Her Majesty asked me: "What kind of medicine does a foreign
doctor usually give in case of a fever? I have heard that they make you
take all kinds of pills. This must be very dangerous, as you never know
what they are made of. Here in China all medicines are made from roots,
and I can always find out whether I am receiving the right medicine,
as I have a book which explains what each different medicine is for.
Another thing I have heard is that foreign doctors generally operate
on you with a knife, while we cure the same sickness by means of our
medicine. Li Lien Ying told me that one of our little eunuchs had a boil
on his wrist and someone advised him to go to the hospital. Of course
they didn't know what they would do, and the foreign doctor there opened
the boil with a knife, which frightened the child very much. I was very
much surprised when I heard he was all right again in a couple of days."
Continuing, Her Majesty said: "A year ago one of the foreign ladies came
to the Palace, and hearing me cough a lot, gave me some black pills and
told me to swallow them. I did not like to offend her, so I took the
pills and told her I would take them by and bye. However, I was afraid
to take them and threw them away." Of course I answered that I didn't
know much about medicines, to which she replied that she had seen me
take foreign medicines whenever I was not feeling well. She then said:
"Of course I know there are people in Peking who do take the medicines
given them by foreign doctors and even some of my own relatives
patronize these foreigners also. They try not to let me know, but I do
know for all that. In any case, if they choose to kill themselves by
taking these things, it is none of my business; that is the reason why,
when they are sick, I never send my own doctors to attend them."
When Her Majesty had completely recovered from her illness she used to
go out on the lake a great deal, sometimes in an open boat and at other
times in a steam launch. She always appeared to enjoy this kind of
thing. For some reason or other she always insisted on taking the west
side of the lake, which was very shallow, and invariably the launch
would get stuck fast in the mud, which seemed to afford Her Majesty
great enjoyment; she simply loved to feel the launch strike the bottom.
The open boats would then come alongside and we would have to get out
of the launch and enter the boats and proceed to the top of the nearest
hill to watch the efforts of the eunuchs trying to refloat the launch.
It was a characteristic of Her Majesty to experience a keen sense of
enjoyment at the troubles of other people. The eunuchs knew this quite
well, and whenever opportunity offered, they would do something which
they thought would amuse Her Majesty. So long as it was nothing of a
serious nature Her Majesty would always overlook it, but in case it
proved serious or was carelessness, she would always order them to be
severely punished. Thus it was very hard to tell just what to do in
order to please her.
Another of Her Majesty's peculiarities was inquisitiveness. For example:
As I have stated before, it was the custom for Her Majesty to have
sweetmeats brought to her before every meal, and after she had finished
with them, the remainder were distributed among the Court ladies.
Whenever it happened that we were very busy, we did not bother with the
sweetmeats at all, which Her Majesty very soon found out. One day, after
she had finished dining, she came and looked through the window to see
what we were doing, and saw some of the eunuchs eating the sweetmeats
which she had given to us. She did not say anything, but simply ordered
that the sweetmeats should be brought back again, making us believe that
she wanted some more herself. I knew that there was something wrong, as
she never ordered them back before. When she saw what was left of them,
she asked who had been eating so many, as they were nearly all finished,
but she got no reply--we were all too scared. However, after thinking
it over, I came to the conclusion that it would be best to tell her the
truth, for I was quite certain that she knew anyhow. So I told her that
we had all been very busy and had forgotten all about the sweetmeats,
and that the eunuchs had come and taken them themselves, and I added
that this was not the first time they had done so. I was rather glad
that she had given me this opportunity to report the eunuchs, for Her
Majesty replied that if she intended the eunuchs to have sweetmeats, she
herself could give them some, but thought it a lack of appreciation
on our part not eating them ourselves after she had been so kind as to
provide them for us. She turned to me, and said: "I am glad that you
have told the truth, as I saw myself what was happening." She gave
orders that the offending eunuchs should each have three months' wages
deducted as a punishment, but of course I knew very well they didn't
mind that, as they were making many times the amount of their salary in
other ways. On my return to the sitting room, one of the Court ladies
said: "You should not have told Her Majesty about the eunuchs, they are
sure to revenge themselves in some way." I asked how they could possibly
injure me in any way, as they were only servants, but she told me that
they would find some underhand way in which to get even with me, this
being their general custom. Of course I knew the eunuchs were a bad lot,
but could not see what cause they had to be against me in any way. I
knew they dare not say anything against me to Her Majesty, so I forgot
all about the matter. I found out afterwards that one of the tricks they
used to play on any of the Court ladies who offended them was to try and
prejudice Her Majesty against us. For instance, if Her Majesty told one
of the eunuchs that a certain thing should be done, instead of telling
me what Her Majesty wanted, the eunuch would go off to one of the other
ladies and tell her. In this way Her Majesty would get the impression
that I was too lazy to wait upon her myself, and of course the other
lady would get all the credit. Although Her Majesty was very kind to me,
also the Young Empress, it was very hard to get along with eunuchs,
and it was not good policy to offend them in any way. They regarded
themselves as being exclusively the servants of Her Majesty, the
Empress Dowager, and refused to take instructions from anybody else,
consequently they were often very rude to the other ladies of the Court,
not even excepting the Young Empress.
Everything proceeded as usual until the eighth moon, when the Emperor
was to sacrifice at the "Temple of the Sun." On this occasion the
Emperor wore a red robe.
About this time Mrs. Conger asked for a private audience, as she
wanted to see Her Majesty and at the same time see how the portrait was
progressing. Her Majesty replied that she would receive her and gave
orders accordingly. At this private audience Mrs. Conger brought into
the Court two of her relatives to be presented to Her Majesty, besides
Miss Campbell and a missionary lady. As it was a private audience,
the guests were conducted to Her Majesty's private Palace. They were
received in the hall which was being used as studio for this lady
artist, although Her Majesty was out of patience with the portrait
painting, and talked to us a great deal about it, yet when she saw Mrs.
Conger and the others she was extremely polite and told them that the
portrait was going to be a masterpiece. She was in an unusually good
humor that day and told me to give orders to the eunuchs to open all the
buildings and show them to her guests. Her Majesty led the way from one
room to another and showed them her curios in the different rooms, until
she came to rest in one of the bedrooms, when she ordered chairs to be
brought in for the guests. There were many chairs in this room, but they
were really small thrones of Her Majesty's, although they looked like
any ordinary chairs. The custom is that no matter what kind of a chair
it may be, as soon as she uses it, it is at once called her throne and
no one is allowed to sit on it thereafter unless the order is given by
her.
During the time the eunuchs were bringing in the chairs kept purposely
for foreigners to use, one of the ladies of the party made a mistake and
sat upon one of Her Majesty's thrones. I noticed her at once, and before
I had a chance to warn her, Her Majesty made a sign of annoyance to me.
I went to this lady at once and told her I wanted to show her something
and naturally she was obliged to get up. The trouble was this, although
Her Majesty felt that no one had the right to sit upon her throne, she
expected me to get this lady off the chair and at the same time not to
tell her the reason why. While I was busy interpreting for her, she said
in an undertone: "There she is again, sitting on my bed. We had
better leave this room." After this the ladies were conducted to the
refreshment room, and when they had partaken of lunch, bade Her Majesty
good-bye, leaving Miss Carl with us. As usual we reported to her that we
had seen the guests safely off. She said to me: "That was a funny lady:
first she sat upon my throne, and then upon my bed. Perhaps she does not
know what a throne is when she sees one, and yet foreigners laugh at
us. I am sure that our manners are far superior to theirs. Another
thing--did you notice that Mrs. Conger handed a parcel to Miss Carl out
in the courtyard when she came in?" I replied that I had noticed her
passing something like a parcel, but could not tell what the parcel
contained. She thereupon told me to go and ask Miss Carl what it was. At
that time I had received so many peculiar orders from Her Majesty that
I was beginning to get accustomed to them and used my own discretion in
carrying out her instructions. Therefore I did not ask Miss Carl, but
set about finding out for myself. However, when I began to look around
for the parcel, it had mysteriously disappeared and I could not find
the thing anywhere. This naturally worried me, knowing as I did that
Her Majesty liked her instructions carried out quickly. While I was
searching, one of the eunuchs came in and told me that Her Majesty
wanted to see me, and of course I had to go to her. Before she could say
anything to me, I informed Her Majesty that I had not been able to
ask Miss Carl about the parcel as she was asleep, but would do so
immediately she got up. Her Majesty said: "I don't want Miss Carl to
think I have told you to ask what the parcel contains, otherwise she
might think I am suspicious of what is going on, so you must manage
to get the information somehow without mentioning the matter; you are
clever enough to do that much." Shortly afterwards, while I was walking
along with Miss Carl to Her Majesty's Palace, to proceed with the
portrait, I noticed that she was carrying the parcel in question, which
was a great relief to me, I can assure you. On arrival at the Palace,
Miss Carl said to me: "You need not trouble to pose at present, as it is
rather dark, and I can be painting the throne; you can look through
this magazine, if you like, to pass the time away." So I opened up the
parcel, which proved to contain nothing more than an ordinary American
monthly magazine. After glancing through the book, I made an excuse to
hurry away and inform Her Majesty. However, she had already gone out
for her usual trip on the lake, so I took my chair and followed. When I
reached the lake, Her Majesty, who had seen me, sent a small boat and I
was rowed out to the launch. Before I could get a chance to speak, Her
Majesty said with a smile: "I know all about it, it was a book and Miss
Carl handed it to you to read." I was very much disappointed that I had
had my journey for nothing. I knew that the eunuchs would report it to
Her Majesty at the first opportunity, but I hardly expected they would
have done so already. Her Majesty was now quite satisfied, and simply
asked whether Miss Carl suspected that she had enquired about the
matter.
As I was about to return to Miss Carl, Her Majesty called me and said:
"There is one thing I want to tell you and that is whenever any foreign
ladies are visiting the Palace, always keep close to the Emperor so that
in the event of their speaking to him you can interpret." I answered
that so far whenever any foreigners were present I was present also and
did not think that anybody had held any conversation with the Emperor
whatsoever. She explained that her reason for mentioning this was
that she wanted me to be just as courteous to the Emperor as I was to
herself, and I was to place myself entirely at his disposal whenever
visitors were present. Of course I knew very well that this was not
the true reason at all but that she wanted to take every precaution
to preclude the possibility of foreigners influencing the Emperor in
matters of reform, etc.