“Of a variety of quite commonplace efforts.  It is entitled ’Half-a-gong-stroke among the No-realities; or Gravity-removing devoid of Inelegance.’  Thus, borrowing the neck-scarf of the most dignified-looking among the lesser ones assembled I will at once discover among its folds the unsuspected presence of a family of tortoises; from all parts of the person of the roundest-bodied mandarin available I will control the appearance of an inexhaustible stream of copper cash, and beneath the scrutinizing eyes of all a bunch of paper chrysanthemums will change into the similitude of a crystal bowl in whose clear depth a company of gold and silver carp glide from side to side.”

“These things are well enough for the immature, and the sight of an unnaturally stout official having an interminable succession of white rabbits produced from the various recesses of his waistcloth admittedly melts the austerity of the superficial of both sexes.  But can you, beneath the undeceptive light of day, turn a sere and unattractive hag into the substantial image of a young and beguiling maiden, and by a further complexity into a fruitful fig-tree; or induce a serpent so far to forsake its natural instincts as to poise on the extremity of its tail and hold a charm within its mouth?”

“None of these things lies within my admitted powers,” confessed the stranger.  “To what end does your gracious inquiry tend?”

“It is in the nature of a warning, for within the shadow of the house you seek manifestations such as I describe pass almost without remark.  Indeed it is not unlikely that while in the act of displaying your engaging but simple skill you may find yourself transformed into a chameleon or saddled with the necessity of finishing your gravity-removing entertainment under the outward form of a Manchurian ape.”

“Alas!” exclaimed the other.  “The eleventh of the moon was ever this person’s unlucky day, and he would have done well to be warned by a dream in which he saw an unsuspecting kid walk into the mouth of a voracious tiger.”

“Undoubtedly the tiger was an allusion to the dangers awaiting you, but it is not yet too late for you to prove that you are no kid,” counselled Chang Tao.  “Take this piece of silver so that the enterprise of the day may not have been unfruitful and depart with all speed on a homeward path.  He who speaks is going westward, and at the lattice of Shen Yi he will not fail to leave a sufficient excuse for your no-appearance.”

“Your voice has the compelling ring of authority, beneficence,” replied the stranger gratefully.  “The obscure name of the one who prostrates himself is Wo, that of his degraded father being Weh.  For this service he binds his ghost to attend your ghost through three cycles of time in the After.”

“It is remitted,” said Chang Tao generously, as he resumed his way.  “May the path be flattened before your weary feet.”