[Illustration: He found Himself tied by the Neck, Wings and Feet.]
LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS LTD NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. INC.
_All rights reserved Made in Great Britain at The Temple Press Letchworth for J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd Aldine House Bedford St London First Published in this Edition 1913 Reissued at a cheaper price 1936 Reprinted 1940_
Khing-Chu-Fu The City of Fortune The Garden of Health Carabi! Carabo! The Author of the Wall The Devil's Tournament The Treasure of the Dragon The Man with the Two Faces The Treachery of Micifuf Trompetilla and Trompetin The Quack Doctor The Drawing School The Man with the Nose The Island of Brilliants The Judgment of the Flowers The Three Questions The Captain's Exploit The Topsy-Turvy World Don Suero the Proud
He Found Himself tied by the Neck, Wings, and Feet . . . _Frontispiece_
"Rise, Wise Man," said the Empress sweetly
The Vulture carried Him to the other side of the abyss
She transformed Herself into a Lovely Girl
He met Two Dwarfs who were playing Marbles
Pero Gil at one Bound Approached the Statue
[Illustration: headpiece to Khing-Chu-Fu]
Khing-Chu-Fu, Empress of China, was doing her hair when her maids who, on their knees witnessed the delicate operation of artistically arranging the imperial hair of her majesty, burst into cries of admiration scarcely repressed by the etiquette of the palace.
"What is the matter?" Khing-Chu-Fu deigned to ask, turning her head.
"Ah, lady!" exclaimed the maids in a chorus. "Brahma has deigned to favour you with a sign of his protection."
"And what is that?" inquired the empress.
"A silver thread which appears amidst your beautiful hair."
"So it is called amongst simple mortals, but in the Daughter of the Sun they are threads of silver, to which poets spontaneously sing verses under the penalty of being quartered like dogs."
"Let the seers and astrologers come at this very moment. I must know what this foretells."
Five minutes afterwards the royal boudoir was full of moustached men with eye-protectors, who, kneeling, waited to be consulted.
"To-day a white hair has appeared in my head!" exclaimed the empress.
The seers tugged at their moustaches in desperation, leaving the floor covered with hairs.
"Hail!" said the eldest, "Daughter of the Sun, who hast all the brilliance of the diamond, the beauty of the iris, the wisdom of Confucius, and the sweetness of the honey! This silver thread foretells a terrible calamity in the empire. Know that Brahma has decreed--it horrifies me to say so!--that one of your imperial teeth will commence to ache."