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The fighting quails (2)
Wang promised all obedience, and packed up his goods and
went off.
On the road he was overtaken by a rain-storm which soaked
him through to the skin; and as he was not accustomed to be
out in bad weather, it was altogether too much for him. He
accordingly sought shelter in an inn, but the rain went on
steadily till night, running over the eaves of the house
like so many ropes. Next morning the roads were in a
horrible state; and Wang, watching the passers-by slipping
about in the slush, unable to see any path, dared not face
it all, and remained until noon, when it began to dry up a
little. Just then, however, the clouds closed over again,
and down came the rain in torrents, causing him to stay
another night before he could go on.
When he was nearing the capital, he heard to his great
joy that summer cloth was at a premium; and on arrival
proceeded at once to take up his quarters at an inn. There
the landlord said it was a pity he had come so late, as
communications with the south having been only recently
opened, the supply of summer cloth had been small; and there
being a great demand for it among the wealthy families of
the metropolis, its price had gone up to three times the
usual figure. "But," he added, "two days ago several large
consignments arrived, and the price went down again, so that
the late comers have lost their market." Poor Wang was thus
left in the lurch, and as every day more summer cloth came
in, the value of it fell in a corresponding ratio. Wang
would not part with his at a loss, and held on for some ten
days, when his expenses for board and lodging were added
to his present distress. The landlord urged him to sell even
at a loss, and turn his attention to something else, which
he ultimately did, losing over ten ounces of silver on his
venture.
Next day he rose in the morning to depart, but on looking
in his purse found all his money gone. He rushed away to
tell the landlord, who, however, could do nothing for him.
Someone then advised him to take out a summons and make the
landlord reimburse him; but he only sighed, and said, "It is
my destiny, and no fault of the landlord's." Thereupon the
landlord. was very grateful to him, and gave him five
ounces of silver to enable him to go home. He did not care,
however, to face his grandmother empty- handed, and remained
in a very undecided state, until suddenly he saw a
quail-catcher winning heaps of money by fighting his birds,
and selling them at over 100 cash a-piece. He then deter-
mined to lay out his five ounces of silver in quails, and
pay back the landlord out of the profits. The latter
approved very highly of this plan, and not only agreed to
lend him a room, but also to charge him little or nothing
for his board. So Wang went off rejoicing, and bought two
large baskets of quails, with which he returned to the city,
to the great satisfaction of the landlord, who advised him
to lose no time in disposing of them.
All that night it poured in torrents, and the next
morning the streets were like rivers, the rain still
continuing to fall. Wang waited for it to clear up, but
several days passed and still there were no signs of fine
weather. He then went to look at his quails, some of which
he found dead and others dying. He was much alarmed at this, but was quite at a loss what to do; and by the
next day a lot more had died, so that only a few were left, which
he fed all together in one basket. The day after this he went again
to look at them, and lo! there remained but a single quail.
With tears in his eyes he told the landlord what had happened,
and he, too, was much affected. Wang then reflected that he had
no money left to carry him home, and that he could not do better
than cease to live. But the landlord spoke to him and soothed
him, and they went together to look at the quail. "This is a fine
bird," said the landlord, "and it strikes me that it has simply
killed the others. Now, as you have got nothing to do, just set to
work and train it; and if it is good for anything, why, you'll be
able to make a living out of it." Wang did as he was told; and
when the bird was trained, the landlord bade him take it into the
street and gamble for something to eat. This, too, he did, and his
quail won every main; whereupon the landlord gave him some
money to bet with the young fellows of the neighborhood.
Everything turned out favorably, and by the end of six months
he had saved twenty ounces of silver, so that he became quite
easy in his mind and looked upon the quail as a dispensation of
his destiny.
Now one of the princes was passionately fond of quail-
fighting, and always at the Feast of Lanterns anybody who
owned quails might go and fight them in the palace against
the Prince's birds. The landlord therefore said to Wang,
"Here is a chance of enriching yourself by a single stroke;
only I can't say what your luck will do for you." He then
explained to him what it was, and away they went together,
the landlord saying, "If you lose, burst out into
lamentations; but if you are lucky enough to win, and the
Prince wishes, as he will, to buy your bird, don't consent.
If he presses you very much, watch for a nod from me before
you agree." This settled, they proceeded to the palace,
where they found crowds of quail-fighters already on the
ground; and then the Prince came forth, heralds proclaiming
to the multitude that any who wished to fight their birds might come up.
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