| In which an introductory...: |
Pointing this out to Old Qin, Wang Mian said, 「These rules are not good. Future candidates, knowing that there is an easy way to high position, will look down on real scholarship and correct behaviour.」 By now dusk had fallen. It was early summer and the weather was turning warm. Old Qin set a table on the threshing floor, and they drank wine. Soon the moon came up from the east, and shone so brightly that everything seemed made of glass. The water-birds had gone to their nests, and all was quiet. Holding his cup in his left hand, Wang Mian pointed to the stars with his right, and said, 「Look! The Zhains have invaded the Scholars. That shows that scholars of this generation have hard times ahead.」
As he spoke, a strange wind sprang up. It soughed through the trees, and made the waterfowl take wing, crying in alarm, while Wang Mian and Old Qin hid their faces in their sleeves for fear. Soon the wind dropped, and when they looked again they saw about a hundred small stars in the sky, all falling towards the south-east horizon.
「Heaven has taken pity on the scholars,」 said Wang Mian. 「These stars have been sent down to maintain the literary tradition. But we shan't live to see it.」 Then they cleared away the things and went to bed. |
