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32. Different Ways of Achieving the Same End
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
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32 Different Way s of Achieving the Same End Though Commande r Yan g had deal t wit h Office r Long , h e wa s stil l deepl y troubled for fear that the foreign instructo r might come and pick a quarrel. Another two days passed. The foreign instructor had not sought to speak with him, s o a load was lifted fro m hi s heart. Officer Long' s immediate superio r the n came and spoke on his behalf, begging that he be allowed to keep his appointment for the time being. The Commande r relente d and confined himsel f to awardin g the offending office r thre e major demerits as a warning to others. When Office r Lon g personally cam e to give thanks t o the Commander , h e was given the following lecture : 'Nowadays ther e ar e Englis h school s i n al l th e streets . Since yo u hav e th e ambition to learn a foreign language, why not go to a teacher and spend two years learning it properly? All that you need to pay as tuition fees is one or two dollars. When you have learned the foreign language well, you may go and be an interpreter. Or, you may work for a foreign company and be a compradore in Shanghai, earning a few thousand taels of silver a year. Certainly, it will be far better than serving as a patrolman a t my place. At th e present moment, you've only learned a word or two, which is neither here nor there. It will only attract criticisms. Is it all worth your while?' In reply, Officer Lon g explained, ' I had spent thre e months learnin g from a foreign book. In the whole school, I stood out as the most talented. Of the primer, there is only a small part I had not read. When I was engaged in business, I ceased taking lessons . After tw o years, all I can remembe r i s "yessu, yessu". I had full y 296 Officialdom Unmasked intended to ingratiate myself with that foreigner on the basis of my foreign language, but unexpectedly I received a sound beating instead. This time I've really suffere d much from the beating. Even now the wounds on my head have not healed. So I shall not dar e to speak any foreign languag e from no w on. I f I learn a few mor e sentences, won't I be assaulted even more severely with horsewhips, fists and kicks?' 'It is all right not to learn,' advised the Commander. 'Just be a pure Chinese. It is far better than being a traitor to your own nation.' Officer Lon g then withdrew . Commander Yang had intended to give a banquet for some time. Now he was free to do so. The venue was still in Fishing Lane. The guests included his regular cronies plus two others. One was Zhao, a most influential member on the GovernorGeneral 's staff . H e wa s a nativ e o f Guangx i Province . I t wa s sai d tha t i f th e Governor-General wanted to memorialize the Emperor, he always consulted Zhao, who invariably did the drafting for him. In the whole province, every person, from the Lieutenant-Governor on the civil side to the Brigadier General on the military side, hoped to cultivate his friendship. However, he gave the appearance of being extremely reluctan t t o communicate wit h others . Sitting there , he neve r spok e with anyone. It was not known if he put on airs to show how great and importan t he was, or because he was exercising extreme care in not leaking state secrets. But just by looking at him, he seemed always to be in a bad temper. Though his rank was but that of a Prefect, he would only occasionally accept an invitation to dinner given b y a n officia l abov e th e ran k o f a n Intendant . Eve n i f th e hos t wa s a n Intendant, he must be one i n the Governor-General's favour. Those not held i n the Governor-General's favour, or occupied a similar rank to his, were steadfastl y ignored by him. When others spoke with him, he just raised his head and looke d elsewhere. For...