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call me a tea-house maiden
Oct. 5th, 2003 02:31 amSpent much of the day preparing for America in various ways; American money, travelling toiletries, presents, articles of clothing . . . Also did my ironing (and where did all those damn tops come from?) unusually early; my parents are off to Crete on Tuesday, my mother is bound to want to do her own ironing before then, and I thought it might be wise to leave the way to the ironing board clear and unobstructed for the next few days.
("If you all have Psyenergy, why do you need more of the power?" asks a character in the current gameboy game I'm toying with. I restrain the urge to cackle manically and talk about conquering the world. Instead, the Wise Sage (tm) in the party waffles vaguely. Pity.)
---
"There are other things I would learn of your craft. What kind of story is the most favourably received, and the one whereby your collecting bowl is the least ignored?"
"That depends on the nature and condition of those who stand around, and therein lies much that is essential to the art," replied Kai Lung, not without an element of pride. "Should the company be chiefly formed of the illiterate and the immature of both sexes, stories depicting the embarrassment of unnaturally round-bodied mandarins, the unpremeditated flight of eccentrically-garbed passers-by into vats of powdered rice, the despair of guardians of the street when assailed by showers of eggs and overripe loquats, or any other variety of humiliating pain inflicted upon the innocent and unwary, never fail to win aproval. The prosperous and substantial find contentment in hearing of the unassuming virtues and frugal lives of the poor and unsuccessful. Those of humble origin, especially tea-house maidens and the like, are only really at home among stories of the exalted and quick-moving, the profusion of their robes, the magnificence of their palaces, and the general high-minded depravity of their lives. Ordinary persons require stories dealing lavishly with all the emotions, so that they may thereby have a feeling of sufficiency when contributing to the collecting bowl."
-- Kai Lung's Golden Hours, Ernest Bramah
("If you all have Psyenergy, why do you need more of the power?" asks a character in the current gameboy game I'm toying with. I restrain the urge to cackle manically and talk about conquering the world. Instead, the Wise Sage (tm) in the party waffles vaguely. Pity.)
---
"There are other things I would learn of your craft. What kind of story is the most favourably received, and the one whereby your collecting bowl is the least ignored?"
"That depends on the nature and condition of those who stand around, and therein lies much that is essential to the art," replied Kai Lung, not without an element of pride. "Should the company be chiefly formed of the illiterate and the immature of both sexes, stories depicting the embarrassment of unnaturally round-bodied mandarins, the unpremeditated flight of eccentrically-garbed passers-by into vats of powdered rice, the despair of guardians of the street when assailed by showers of eggs and overripe loquats, or any other variety of humiliating pain inflicted upon the innocent and unwary, never fail to win aproval. The prosperous and substantial find contentment in hearing of the unassuming virtues and frugal lives of the poor and unsuccessful. Those of humble origin, especially tea-house maidens and the like, are only really at home among stories of the exalted and quick-moving, the profusion of their robes, the magnificence of their palaces, and the general high-minded depravity of their lives. Ordinary persons require stories dealing lavishly with all the emotions, so that they may thereby have a feeling of sufficiency when contributing to the collecting bowl."
-- Kai Lung's Golden Hours, Ernest Bramah
