On a Chinese Screen - Classic Reprint Author:W. Somerset Maugham YOU come to the row of hovels that leads to the gate of the city. They are built of dried mud and so dilapidated that you feel a breath of wind will lay them flat upon the dusty earth from which they have been made. A string of camels, heavily laden, steps warily past you. They wear the disdainful air of profiteers forced to traverse a world in ... more »which many people are not so rich as they. A little crowd, tattered in their blue clothes, is gathered about the gate and it scatters as a youth in a pointed cap gallops up on a Mongolian ponj A band of children are chasing a lame dog and they throw clods of mud at it. Two stout gentlemen in long black gowns of figured silk and silk jackets stand talking to one another. Each holds a little stick, perched on which, with a string attached to its leg, is a little bird. They have brought out their pets for an airing and in friendly fashion compare their merits. Now and then the birds give a flutter into the air, the
Table of Contents
I The Rising of the Curtain 11; II My Lady's Parlour 14; III The Mongol Chief 17; IV The Rolling Stone 1» V The Cabinet Minister 23; VI Dinner Parties 27; VII The Altar of Heaven 33; VIII The Servants of God 35; IX The Inn 40; X The Glory Hole 44; XI Fear 47; XII The Picture 55; XIII IIek Britannic Majesty's Representative 57; XIV The Opium Den 60 XV The Last Chance 62; XVI The Nun 64; XVII Henderson 66; XVIII Dawn 70; XIX The Point of Honour 73; XX The Beast of Burden 77; XXI Dr Macalister 80; XXII The Road 85; XXIII God's Truth 90; XXIV Romance 94 XXV The Grand Style 99; XXVI Rain 103; XXVII Sullivan 107; XXVIII The Dining-Room 109; XXIX Arabesque 113; XXX The Consul 114; XXXI The Stbipling 122; XXXII The Fannings 124; XXXIII The Song of the Riveb 129; XXXIV Mirage 131 XXXV The Stranger 134; XXXVI Democracy 140; XXXVII The Seventh Day Adventist 144; XXXVIII The Philosopher 147; XXXIX The Missionary Lady 159; XL A Game of Billiabes 162; XLI T« less