"Look at it yourself," says Ninin showing me the paper where the news was printed.
"Well," I answered, "I am glad, because of what use ... Would you like me to tell you a story?"
"Is it about the Chinese wall?"
"You will see. Once there was a king in the country called Tsi-Ching-Hoang-Ti (what a name!) with a very long pigtail. The Chinese are recognised by their pigtails, while, in Spain, we only know toreadors for the same reason.
"Well, the king in my story had few teeth, but a very long pigtail, and had a stomach which could have held half his kingdom. What a wolfish appetite! Every five minutes he yawned, and in every room of the palace there were attendants whose only mission was to place a boiled egg in the monarch's mouth as soon as he commenced to open it. And what a mouth! Once some one absent-mindedly placed his memorial in it thinking he was putting it in the letter box. One night, while he was sleeping, Tsi-Ching-Hoang-Ti (Dear me! what work to call a person thus!) gave a tremendous kick and, sitting up in bed, shouted:
"'I have an idea!'
"The guards, electrified, shouted:
"'The emperor has an idea!'
"And all the functionaries of the palace and the imperial family came to the regal room to congratulate their emperor.
"'What a happy day!' they exclaimed. 'It is the first time that such a thing has happened in China. To have an idea.'