Chinese Literature

stone inseriptions and, using its ideographs as models, practised his calligraphy every day.

Mr. Chang was an old man with a ruddy complexion, slightly lame and hunchbacked. To Mr. Li, this teacher of Chinese did not appear so repulsive as Old Pan had described him to be. He and Mr. Li even had some interests in common. Mr. Chang also liked to buy stone-rubbings and collect seals. When they discovered by chance that they both were enthusiastic about the rubbings made on paper from the stone engravings of the Buddhist Diamond Sutra on sacred Mt. Taishan in Shantung Province, they became quite drawn to each other.

“Td collected rubbings of one thousand and five ideographs of this sutra. Even museum director Yi Pei-chi had fewer than mine in his collection. But now... .” Mr. hi sighed deeply. “Now my collection may have been burnt or stolen by the Japanese.”

“That’s why,” old Mr. Chang responded quickly, narrowing his eyes in disgust, “I am discouraged. I haven’t been looking for such things recently. What can one do about it in such chaotic times? This is really a predestined calamity! Some people simply can’t stand peace in the world, so they must stir up war. Ai!”

Mr. Li, smiling politely, ventured to refute him:

“But when others invade our country, if we don’t offer any resistance. ...”

“Tim, resistance!’ The corners of old Mr. Chang’s mouth were drooping. “Can we resist and win? Or are we just inviting troubles and sufferings?”

“Then we should just let them come and occupy China?”

“This is not a question of our Jetting’ them or not... - In a word _.. ina word... well, if you can’t win by fighting, why fight and get into trouble? You’re bound to suffer more when you fight... .”

“No wonder Old Pan says he thinks like a traitor!” thought Mr. Li.

Foam appeared at one corner of the old man’s mouth. He wiped it off with the scholar’s long nail on his little finger and went on indignantly :

“Por instance, when the Japanese first came to a place, they didn’t really harm the inhabitants. But later guerillas and anti-Japanese elements showed up, so the Japanese of course had to make searches and arrests, sorme people even got killed and so the inhabitants could no longer go about their business in peace.... What’s the use of guerillas? They can’t possibly defeat the Japanese, but they just rush around and make attacks, now here, now there. When the Japanese come in bigger numbers, they always run away. It’s only innocent people who get sacrificed when the Japanese search for guerillas. . . 3”

“But there’s news from many sources that the people do welcome the guerillas,” said Mr. Li, still smiling. He thought this argument very ludicrous and a waste of words, so far as he was concerned. Still he could not help saying something. “In many places, the guerillas really

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