versity in the Middle Kingdom will present me with a vase encrusted with pearls."
"And I shall be so vahant and trustworthy that the Pearly Emperor will appoint me commander-in-chief of his army, and his enemies will tremble at the sound of my name."
"I shall wear a yellow jacket with the names of three ancestors inscribed thereon in seven colors."
"And I shall wear silk robes spun by princesses, and a cloak of throat skins of sables."
"And I shall live in a mansion of marble and gold."
"And I in halls of jadestone."
"And I will own silk and tea plantations and tens of thousands of rice farms."
"All the bamboo country shall be mine, and the rivers and sea shall be full of my fishing boats, junks, and craft of all kinds."
"People will bow down before me and cry: 'Oh, most excellent, most gracious, most beautiful!'"
"None will dare offend so mighty a man as I shall be!"
"O ho! You good-for-nothing rascals!" cried the father of Ping Sik. "What are you doing loafing under a tree when you should be speeding to market?"
