The people of the land gathered group-wise about us and watched our interchanging of caresses in deepest silence, agitating their thumbs and twitching the corners of their mouths.
“What land is this? Where are we, good people?” I inquired, after this first outpouring of love and gratitude had spent its fervor.
“Bold barbarians!” replied one of the nearest group, whose richer dress bespoke the man of rank and authority, “thou standest on the shores of the mighty dominion of Kublai, Child of the Sun, Lord of the Imperial Yellow Garb, Knight of all the Buttons, Man of the Sacred Countenance, Successor to all the Glories of his Ancestors now Guests of Heaven, Source of all Law and Equity, and Chevalier of all the Orders, and we are his wretched, miserable, unworthy, good-for-nothing slaves!”
Whereupon the entire multitude performed the kowtow.
“So then! I cried, most puissant, noble, and altogether delightful, Sir,”—at the same time performing the kowtow with that grace which only the genuine citizen of the world can command—“I stand upon the sacred soil of the mighty Chinese Empire.”
“Aye, bold barbarian,” answered the speaker, “in the province of Kwang Tung, in the district of Yang-chiang, of which I, So Too, Mandarin of the White Glass Button, am Imperial superintendent.” Hearing this, I begged So Too to give me leave to speak, which granted, in a brief but eloquent speech, well larded with all those savory epithets so sweet to the ears of an official in that land, I told him of my illustrious family, my strange desire to scour the remotest seas and least-visited lands for marvellous things; how I had sailed in search of Neptune’s Caldron, of the strange things seen there, of my setting out on my voyage homeward, my encounter with the storm-fiend, and last of all, my shipwreck on the shores of the boundless dominions of the Child of the Sun.
And now, all that I craved from the servants of the Man of the Sacred Countenance was such aid and assistance as would enable me and my men to reach the nearest seaport where foreign ships cast anchor, so that we might go down to the sea once more and reach our loved ones. To all this So Too gave response with a most gracious smile, and then invited me to pass beneath his roof, lay off my wet clothes, drink some warm tea, and have his rubbers smooth the wrinkles out of my tired flesh.
My seamen were not forgotten. His retainers were ordered to look well after their wants.
Just as we were about to set out for So Too’s residence, several of his body guards struck their gongs a furious blow.
The din was ear-splitting.