442
PARTISAN REVIEW
His voice was very thin; it sounded so incongruous with his
im–
posing size and his large head that I felt as if I were hearing the
mouse's squeak when I saw the lion open his mouth. But it was
gratifying to hear Chinese being spoken so well by a foreigner, with
so little studied grace and not a touch of the linguist's affectation.
He spoke the Northern dialect, probably the dialect of
S----
County
in H-- Province where he had spent the best part of
his
life and
where, as the newspapers said, his name as a missionary, educator,
medical doctor, philanthropist, and archeologist would "stand for–
ever
in
the people's memory in spite of the Communists' efforts to
obliterate or besmear it." But
if
I could still catch a trace of foreign
accent in it, it was perhaps because of mYj prejudices: I simply could
not bring myself to believe that a man with such strongly Western
looks-with his high thin nose .and horse-like nostrils, sunken eyes,
ashen skin, and powerful cheek-bones--could speak perfect Chinese.
The only thing Chinese about him, except for his language and the
name he was known by in the Chinese press, seemed to be his blue
silk slippers which were gleaming with the white peonies embroidered
on them; but their prettiness, daintiness, and casualness again struck
me as in discord with the long black cassock covering his whole big
frame. More slippers, fine straw ones, were laid
in
pairs near
his
feet.
I thought it would be better to follow his example than to obey his
instructions. Moreover, there was the bench, as in some J apanese–
style houses, for me to sit down and take off my shoes before I
should get to the main floor.
"Why must you all keep the Japanese custom when the Japanese
are no more the rulers of the island?"
"But the house, I believe, was built by the Japanese. Its matted
floor was not meant to be soiled by the dust of the street."
"You are right. It is perhaps a good exercise too to bend one's
body so many times a day in lacing and unlacing the shoes. But it
is a punishment to an old man."
I could imagine the kind of punishment he meant, seeing with
what rusty clumsiness he moved .as he shuffled and showed me the
way in.
"Take that seat, please." He pointed to the chair farther from
the door--customarily, in China, the seat for the guest-while he
himself sat down, with a thud, on the one next to mine. We were
separated by a little rattan table.
