VIII
It was in the month of Hot Dragon Breaths, many weeks after the fight inthe woods of Ki, that Ling again opened his eyes to find himself in anunknown chamber, and to recognize in the one who visited him from timeto time the incomparable maiden whose life he had saved in the cypressglade. Not a day had passed in the meanwhile on which Mian had neglectedto offer sacrifices to Chang-Chung, the deity interested in drugs andhealing substances, nor had she wavered in her firm resolve to bringLing back to an ordinary existence even when the attendants hadprotested that the person in question might without impropriety be sentto the Restoring Establishment of the Last Chance, so little did hishope of recovering rest upon the efforts of living beings.
After he had beheld Mian's face and understood the circumstances of hisescape and recovery, Ling quickly shook off the evil vapours which hadheld him down so long, and presently he was able to walk slowly in thecourtyard and in the shady paths of the wood beyond, leaning upon Mianfor the support he still required.
"Oh, graceful one," he said on such an occasion, when little stoodbetween him and the full powers which he had known before the battle,"there is a matter which has been pressing upon this person's mind forsome time past. It is as dark after light to let the thoughts dwellaround it, yet the thing itself must inevitably soon be regarded, for inthis life one's actions are for ever regulated by conditions which areneither of one's own seeking nor within one's power of controlling."
At these words all brightness left Mian's manner, for she at onceunderstood that Ling referred to his departure, of which she herself hadlately come to think with unrestrained agitation.
"Oh, Ling," she exclaimed at length, "most expert of sword-users andmost noble of men, surely never was a maiden more inelegantly placedthan the one who is now by your side. To you she owes her life, yet itis unseemly for her even to speak of the incident; to you she mustlook for protection, yet she cannot ask you to stay by her side. She isindeed alone. The magician is dead, Ki has fallen, Ling is going, andMian is undoubtedly the most unhappy and solitary person between theWall and the Nan Hai."
"Beloved Mian," exclaimed Ling, with inspiring vehemence, "and is notthe utterly unworthy person before you indebted to you in a doublemeasure that life is still within him? Is not the strength which nowpromotes him to such exceptional audacity as to aspire to yourlovely hand, of your own creating? Only encourage Ling to entertain awell-founded hope that on his return he shall not find you partakingof the wedding feast of some wealthy and exceptionally round-bodiedMandarin, and this person will accomplish the journey to Canton and backas it were in four strides."
"Oh, Ling, reflexion of my ideal, holder of my soul, it would indeedbe very disagreeable to my own feelings to make any reply save one,"replied Mian, scarcely above a breath-voice. "Gratitude alone woulddirect me, were it not that the great love which fills me leaves noresting-place for any other emotion than itself. Go if you must,but return quickly, for your absence will weigh upon Mian like adragon-dream."
"Violet light of my eyes," exclaimed Ling, "even in surroundings whichwith the exception of the matter before us are uninspiring in theextreme, your virtuous and retiring encouragement yet raises me to sucha commanding eminence of demonstrative happiness that I fear Ishall become intolerably self-opinionated towards my fellow-men inconsequence."
"Such a thing is impossible with my Ling," said Mian, with conviction."But must you indeed journey to Canton?"
"Alas!" replied Ling, "gladly would this person decide against sucha course did the matter rest with him, for as the Verses say, 'Itis needless to apply the ram's head to the unlocked door.' But Ki isdemolished, the unassuming Mandarin Li Keen has retired to Peking, andof the fortunes of his bowmen this person is entirely ignorant."
"Such as survived returned to their homes," replied Mian, "and Si-chowis safe, for the scattered and broken rebels fled to the mountainsagain; so much this person has learned."
"In that case Si-chow is undoubtedly safe for the time, and can be leftwith prudence," said Ling. "It is an unfortunate circumstance that thereis no Mandarin of authority between here and Canton who can receive fromthis person a statement of past facts and give him instructions for thefuture."
"And what will be the nature of such instructions as will be given atCanton?" demanded Mian.
"By chance they may take the form of raising another company of bowmen,"said Ling, with a sigh, "but, indeed, if this person can obtain anyweight by means of his past service, they will tend towards a pleasantand unambitious civil appointment."
"Oh, my artless and noble-minded lover!" exclaimed Mian, "assuredly aveil has been before your eyes during your residence in Canton, and yournaturally benevolent mind has turned all things into good, or you wouldnot thus hopefully refer to your brilliant exploits in the past. Of whatcommercial benefit have they been to the sordid and miserly personsin authority, or in what way have they diverted a stream of taels intotheir insatiable pockets? Far greater is the chance that had Si-chowfallen many of its household goods would have found their way into theYamens of Canton. Assuredly in Li Keen you will have a friend who willmake many delicate allusions to your ancestors when you meet, and yetone who will float many barbed whispers to follow you when you havepassed; for you have planted shame before him in the eyes of those whowould otherwise neither have eyes to see nor tongues to discuss thematter. It is for such a reason that this person distrusts all thingsconnected with the journey, except your constancy, oh, my true andstrong one."
"Such faithfulness would alone be sufficient to assure my safe return ifthe matter were properly represented to the supreme Deities," said Ling."Let not the thin curtain of bitter water stand before your lustrouseyes any longer, then, the events which have followed one another in thepast few days in a fashion that can only be likened to thunder followinglightning are indeed sufficient to distress one with so refined andswan-like an organization, but they are now assuredly at an end."
"It is a hope of daily recurrence to this person," replied Mian,honourably endeavouring to restrain the emotion which openly exhibiteditself in her eyes; "for what maiden would not rather make successfulofferings to the Great Mother Kum-Fa than have the most imposing andverbose Triumphal Arch erected to commemorate an empty and unsatisfyingconstancy?"
In this amiable manner the matter was arranged between Ling and Mian, asthey sat together in the magician's garden drinking peach-tea, which thetwo attendants--not without discriminating and significant expressionsbetween themselves--brought to them from time to time. Here Ling madeclear the whole manner of his life from his earliest memory to thetime when he fell in dignified combat, nor did Mian withhold anything,explaining in particular such charms and spells of the magician as shehad knowledge of, and in this graceful manner materially assisting herlover in the many disagreeable encounters and conflicts which he wasshortly to experience.
It was with even more objectionable feelings than before that Ling nowcontemplated his journey to Canton, involving as it did the separationfrom one who had become as the shadow of his existence, and by whoseside he had an undoubted claim to stand. Yet the necessity of theundertaking was no less than before, and the full possession of all hisnatural powers took away his only excuse for delaying in the matter.Without any pleasurable anticipations, therefore, he consulted theSacred Flat and Round Sticks, and learning that the following day wouldbe propitious for the journey, he arranged to set out in accordance withthe omen.
When the final moment arrived at which the invisible threads ofconstantly passing emotions from one to the other must be broken, andwhen Mian perceived that her lover's horse was restrained at the door bythe two attendants, who with unsuspected delicacy of feeling had takenthis opportunity of withdrawing, the noble endurance which had hithertoupheld her melted away, and she became involved in very melancholyand obscure meditations until she observed that Ling also was quicklybecoming affected by a similar gloom.
"Alas!" she exclaimed, "how unworthy a person I am thus
to impose uponmy lord a greater burden than that which already weighs him down! Ratherought this one to dwell upon the happiness of that day, when, aftersuccessfully evading or overthrowing the numerous bands of assassinswhich infest the road from here to Canton, and after escaping orrecovering from the many deadly pestilences which invariably reduce thatcity at this season of the year, he shall triumphantly return. Assuredlythere is a highly-polished surface united to every action in life,no matter how funereal it may at first appear. Indeed, there are manyincidents compared with which death itself is welcome, and to this endMian has reserved a farewell gift."
Speaking in this manner the devoted and magnanimous maiden placed inLing's hands the transparent vessel of liquid which the magician hadgrasped when he fell. "This person," she continued, speaking withdifficulty, "places her lover's welfare incomparably before her ownhappiness, and should he ever find himself in a situation which isunendurably oppressive, and from which death is the only escape--suchas inevitable tortures, the infliction of violent madness, or thesubjection by magic to the will of some designing woman--she begs himto accept this means of freeing himself without regarding her anguishbeyond expressing a clearly defined last wish that the two persons inquestion may be in the end happily reunited in another existence."
Assured by this last evidence of affection, Ling felt that he had nolonger any reason for internal heaviness; his spirits were immeasurablyraised by the fragrant incense of Mian's great devotion, and under itsinfluence he was even able to breathe towards her a few words of similarcomfort as he left the spot and began his journey.