On seeing this, Kouang, his first mandarin, said to him:
"Son of Heaven! this is a mistake."
To which the Emperor replied:
"Kouang! you talk nonsense."
I give you only the substance of their conversation.
At the end of three months, the Celestial Emperor sent again for the mandarin, and said to him:
"Kouang, behold!"
And Kouang opened his eyes, and looked.
And he saw at some distance from the canal a multitude of men at work. Some were excavating, others were filling up hollows, levelling, and paving; and the mandarin, who was very knowing, said to himself, They are making a highway.
When other three months had elapsed, the Emperor again sent for Kouang, and said to him: