It says loudly, "I am rich; it
costs many thousands of taels to make my ugliness." For me, it is
indeed a "foreign" house. Yet I will have justice within my heart and
tell thee that there is much that we might copy with advantage. In
place of floors of wide plain boards, and walls of wood with great wide
cracks covered with embroideries and rugs, as in the Chinese homes,
the floors are made of tiny boards polished until they glisten like unto
the sides of the boats of the tea-house girls, and the walls are of
plaster covered, as in our rooms of reception, with silk and satin, and
the chairs and couches have silken tapestry to match their colour.
This furniture, strange to me, is a great care, as I do not understand
its usages, and it seems most stiff and formal. I hope some day to
know a foreign woman on terms of friendship, and I will ask her to
touch the room with her hands of knowledge, and bring each piece
into more friendly companionship with its neighbour. Now chairs look
coldly at tables, as if to say, "You are an intruder!" And it chills me.
This house is much more simple than our homes, because of the
many modern instruments that make the work less heavy and allow it
to be done by few instead of many, as is our way.
Pages:
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92