Mien-yaun seized the offender by the tail, whirled him violently to the ground, and strode haughtily back to his home, whence he could not be persuaded to stir, until after the occurrence of a very remarkable event.

IX.

When Mien-yaun had pined nearly half away, and was considering within himself whether it was expedient to commence upon the other half, word was brought to him, one day, that his father, whom he had not seen for some weeks, had met with an accident.  Further inquiry revealed the fact, that the worthy ex-censor of the highest board had so far forgotten himself as to sneeze in the presence of the Emperor; and as nothing in the elementary principles could be found to justify so gross a breach of etiquette, the ex-censor’s head had been struck off by the public executioner, and his property, which was immense, had been confiscated to the state.  Some of Mien-yaun’s friends, who had sedulously shunned him for six months, lost no time in hastening to him with the agreeable intelligence that he was an orphan and a pauper.  After kicking them out of doors, he sat down and pondered upon the matter.

On the whole, he saw no great cause for grief.  The Chinese law, which is strict in the enforcement of all duties of a son to a living parent, does not compel excessive lamentation for the dead.  Mien-yaun could not but perceive that the only obstacle to his union with Ching-ki-pin was now removed.  The sudden flood of joy which this thought gave rise to came very near upsetting him again, and he had to resort to an opium-pipe to quiet his nerves.  He attended personally to the ceremonies of interring the decollated deceased, and then shut himself up for a week, to settle his mind.

At the expiration of this time, he started out, one early morning, alone and in humble garb, to seek his lost love.  He threaded the familiar streets, and, with heart beating high in delightful expectation, he stood before the door of Tching-whang’s mansion.  He entered, and found the Antique alone.

Then followed a woful scene.  The Antique began by informing him that Mien-yaun rich and famous, and Mien-yaun poor and in disgrace, were two very different persons.  She went on to show that things were not now as they used to be,—­that, though her daughter-in-law had permitted his addresses when he was in prosperity, she could not think of listening to them under the present circumstances. Pei was one thing, and pin was another.  She concluded by recommending him, as he seemed in distress, to take a dose of gin-seng and go to bed.  After which she opened the door, and gently eliminated him.

X.