Smoked fish.
Shrimps and crabs, fried together.
Shark fins.
Boiled birds’ nests.
Porridge of tiny yellow seeds like bird seed.
Cakes in the shapes of seashells, fish, dragons, butterflies, and flowers.
Chrysanthemum soup, steaming in a yellow bowl with a green dragon twisting around it.
Not one other thing did that poor Little Emperor have for his supper!
When he was so full that he couldn’t hold anything more, not even one sugared watermelon seed, they took off his silk napkin embroidered with little brown monkeys eating pink and orange persimmons. He was so sleepy that he did not even stamp his feet when they washed his face and hands. Then they took off his red silk gown embroidered with gold dragons and blue clouds and lined with soft gray fur, his yellow silk shirt and his red satin shoes with their thick white soles. But he went to bed in his pale yellow pantaloons, tied around the ankles with rose-colored ribbons.
I must tell you about his bed. It was made of brick, and inside of it a small fire was built to keep the Little Emperor warm. On top of this three yellow silk mattresses were placed, then silk sheets, red, yellow, green, blue, and violet, then a coverlet of yellow satin embroidered with stars. Under his head were pillows stuffed with tea leaves; and above him was a canopy of yellow silk, embroidered with a great round moon whose golden rays streamed down the yellow silk curtains drawn around him.