“What is that?” I asked.
“Simply that foreigners are not allowed to take out of the country anything they have not been permitted to bring in, except with the consent of the Chief Inspector of Foreign Observers.”
“And you think they will object?”
“I have not the slightest doubt.”
“But it is written partly in Chinese; they would have to translate it.”
“All the more reason for detaining it. If you ever get it again, it will be in a few years, after it has been translated for the benefit of the Sociological Section of the Ministry of Culture.”
“What do you advise me to do, then?” I asked.
“Have you any friends at the Chinese Embassy?” he asked.
“I have no personal friends. At least I have not troubled to inquire. I have had no business at the Embassy; there seemed no reason why I should trouble them.”
“There is a fellow-countryman of yours here in Mecco who is persona grata with the Authorities,” said Villele, “but he is rather a dark horse.”