The Money Demon: An Autobiographical Romance

Part 2

It was toward evening when we joined the Canal at Guashan ,1 which not long before had been opened up to foreign trade. There was music and singing along both banks, and a forest of lanterns cast their light on the dark waters, which seemed alive with thousands of writhing golden serpents. Many young men and women from the city had hired boats to come out and enjoy the revelry. There were rows upon rows of their boats, wedged tightly along both banks, and the gentle breath of conversation mingled with the scent of flowers to drift up and form a light haze overhead, dulling the brilliance of the moon. Toad took one glance and was enthralled. “Why not step ashore, sir, and have a look around?” he urged. Having no feeling one way or the other, I went with him. As we passed the gates of the silk factory, we heard the roar of the looms and I thought of all the girls inside who faced such hardship and wondered how depressed they must be. The roar was like a rumble of thunder out of a lowering sky. In those days the First Spring Restaurant, serving Western food, was still situated on the west bank, and it was there that Toad took me. It was packed with gaily dressed and elaborately coiffed women, and scarcely a seat was to be had, but it turned out that one of the waiters had been a servant of ours, Part 2 107 and he spotted me and went out of his way to help, leading me to a private dining room with a table big enough to seat a dozen people. Two guests, neither of whom I knew, occupied one corner of it. I had always disliked sharing a table with strangers, but at this point I had no choice, so I took the corner farthest away from them and ordered for myself, sending Toad off to drink in the anteroom. I hadn’t intended to drink alone, but again I had no choice. I ordered a couple of dishes and a glass of brandy. To put myself in the mood for drinking , I strained to catch the singing from the next room. However , the other two guests had their heads together and were staring at me in such a ridiculous fashion that I was quite put off. I was about to push my glass away, when I heard a burst of shouting and laughter from behind me, and the two men began a prolonged clapping to welcome some new arrivals. A bevy of maids appeared escorting three or four beauties. From a distance they looked like goddesses, but when they passed directly in front of me, my eyes functioned like an exorcist’s mirror, for the women’s ugliness could no longer be concealed . In fact the makeup they wore served only to accentuate it. The two guests, however, were in raptures. Every time they cracked a joke with the women, they glanced triumphantly at me, prompting me to give a disdainful sneer in return. By this time I had lost any interest in food and drink, and I called Toad in to clear away the dishes. He was aghast. “Such a glorious spread, and you haven’t even touched it!” he exclaimed. “I’ll only throw up if I try to eat it,” I said with a laugh. “If you want to take my place and finish it up at your leisure, you’re welcome. I’ll wait for you back at the boat.” Toad took in the scene with ravenous eyes, first the food and drink and then the women. “This must be what they mean by a feast fit for the gods!” he said with a sly smile. I 108 The Money Demon chuckled, but the other guests and their women roared with laughter, at which point I swept out of the room. On my way back to the boat, I tried to imagine Toad’s situation and couldn’t help laughing to myself. He was just like a clown in a play, reveling in his newfound glory, toasting everyone in sight, and revealing a whole array of comical pretensions . When I returned, I found the boat covered in moonlight as white as snow. It was a quiet, lonely scene. The boatman brought me in some tea, and as I leaned out of the cabin window...