watched the two women a long time but I did not see anyone give any money. Does that not show that people have no heart any more?"
"But Brother Ssu," Wei-yuan again objected, "you are now 'cursing a bald head in front a monk.' I was one of those who did not give anything. It happened that I did not have any money with me."
"Don't be so sensitive, Brother Wei. Of course it is another question with you. Let me finish: a big crowd gathered before them, but no one showed any respect. Instead they made fun of them. There were two ruffians who behaved especially badly. One of them said, 'Ah-fa, go and buy two cakes of soap and k-chee, k-chee, give her a good scrubbing. She'll be very good then.' Just imagine . . . "
"Ha, ha, ha! Two cakes of soap!" Tao-tung suddenly burst out in his loud guffaw, which vibrated in every one's ear. "You buy—ha, ha, ha-a . . . "
"Brother Tao, Brother Tao, please do not shout like that," Ssu-ming was frightened and spoke hastily.
"K-chee, k-chee, ha, ha, ha-a . . . "
"Brother Tao," Ssu-ming said seriously, "why do you insist on joking when we have business to discuss? Listen, we'll use these two themes and send them to the paper right away and make sure that they get in tomorrow's edition. I'll have to impose this errand on you two gentlemen."
"We'll be glad to do it, of course," Wei-yuan said eagerly.
"Ah, ah, a good scrubbing, k-chee . . . he, he . . . "
"Brother Tao!" Ssu-ming said with annoyance.
This quieted Tao-tung at last. Then they drafted the conditions of the contest. After Wei-yuan had copied everything out on letter paper, he went off to the newspaper office with Tao-tung. Ssu-ming escorted them to the gate with the
