MRS. TIEN—I can’t help it. I did it merely for the sake of our daughter.
MR. TIEN—Pooh, pooh! Go on.
MRS. TIEN—I went there and asked for a Divine Stick. It says that this match is undesirable. Let me show you the poem on the Stick. (Going to the desk)
MR. TIEN—Pooh, pooh! I don’t want to see it. I’ll have nothing of this stuff! If you don’t trust yourself, how can you trust such an important matter to wooden images and clay idols?
MISS TIEN—(Cheering up) I know father doesn’t believe in all this. (Going to him) Thank you, father. We should trust our own judgment, should we not?
MRS. TIEN—But it isn’t the Goddess alone that says no.
MR. TIEN—Who else then?
MRS. TIEN—I still had my doubts, so I sent for the best fortune-teller in this city.
MR. TIEN—Ahem! You have broken another promise to me.