“Father, I obey!” murmured the youth submissively.
“Are the laws mild in their operation?” inquired Zabra.
“Remarkably so,” replied Long Chi the elder. “When punishment is inflicted, it is done on the most humane principles: you may get bastinadoed till you faint with pain; and then you will get bastinadoed till you recover.”
“How very paternal!” exclaimed the young Long Chi emphatically.
“Silence, Long Chi!” shouted the old man.
“Father, I obey!” said his obedient son.
Both Zabra and his patron seemed much amused by this description of the mildness of the Chinese laws; but, fearing, if he pressed the subject much farther, the bamboo might come into operation in the domestic sovereignty with a similar character, Oriel Porphyry said,—
“I was much surprised with the great variety of dishes that appeared at dinner.”
“Our preparations for the table are endless,” responded his host. “In our cookery books we have fifty different ways of dressing dogs’ ears.”