She seated herself on her throne, ready to pose for the picture. She just sat down in an ordinary easy position, placing one hand on a cushion. Miss Carl explained: "That is an excellent position, as it is so natural. Please do not move." I told Her Majesty what Miss Carl said, and she asked me whether she looked all right, or not. If not, she would change her position. I a.s.sured her that she looked very grand in that position. However, she asked the opinion of the Young Empress and some of the Court ladies, who all agreed that she could not look better. I could see that they never looked at Her Majesty at all, they were too much interested in what Miss Carl was doing.
When Miss Carl commenced to make the rough sketch of Her Majesty everyone watched with open mouth, as they had never seen anything done so easily and so naturally. The Young Empress whispered to me: "Although I don"t know anything about portrait painting, still I can see that she is a good artist. She has never seen any of our clothes and headdresses, and she has copied them exactly. Just imagine one of our Chinese artists trying to paint a foreign lady, what a mess he would make of it."
After the sketch was finished Her Majesty was delighted and thought it was wonderful for Miss Carl to have made it so quickly and so accurately. I explained that this was a rough sketch and that when Miss Carl commenced painting, she would soon see the difference. Her Majesty told me to ask Miss Carl whether she was tired and would like to rest; also to tell her that she was very busy all the day, and would only be able to give her a few minutes" sitting each day. We then took Miss Carl to luncheon, together with Mrs. Conger, and after luncheon we accompanied Her Majesty to the theatre.
After Mrs. Conger had departed I took Miss Carl to my room to rest. As soon as we arrived there, Her Majesty sent a eunuch to call me to her bedroom. Her Majesty said: "I don"t want this lady to paint during my afternoon rest. She can rest at the same time. As soon as I am up you can bring her here to paint. I am glad that it looks like turning out better than I had antic.i.p.ated." I therefore told Miss Carl Her Majesty"s wishes in this respect and that she could paint for a little while, if she chose to, after Her Majesty had had her rest. Miss Carl was so interested in Her Majesty, she told me she didn"t want to rest at all, but that she would like to go on with the painting right away. Of course, I did not like to tell her anything the first day, as it might upset her, and did not say that this was a command from Her Majesty.
After a lot of maneuvering I got her to give up the idea of continuing straight off, without offending her. I took her out on the veranda as the eunuch was preparing the table for Her Majesty"s dinner in the room we were then occupying. The Young Empress kept Miss Carl busy talking, I acting as interpreter. Soon one of the eunuchs came and informed us that Her Majesty had finished dinner, and would we please come and take ours.
On entering the room I was very much surprised to see that chairs had been placed there, as this had never been done previously, everybody, with the exception of Her Majesty, taking their meals standing. The Young Empress was also very much surprised and asked me whether I knew anything about it. I said that perhaps it was on account of Miss Carl being there. The Young Empress told me to go over and ask Her Majesty, as she was afraid to sit down without receiving orders to do so.
Her Majesty whispered to me: "I don"t want Miss Carl to think we are barbarians, and treat the Young Empress and the Court ladies in that manner. Of course, she does not understand our Court etiquette and might form a wrong impression, so you can all sit down without coming over to thank me, but be natural, as though you were accustomed to sitting down to dinner every day."
After Her Majesty had washed her hands she came over to our table. Of course we all stood up. Her Majesty told me to ask Miss Carl whether she liked the food, and was pleased when Miss Carl answered that she liked the food better than her own kind. That relieved Her Majesty.
After dinner was over I told Miss Carl to say good-bye to Her Majesty.
We courtesied to her, also to the Young Empress, and said good night to the Court ladies. We then took Miss Carl to the Palace of Prince Chung.
It took us about ten minutes" ride in the carts. We showed Miss Carl her bedroom, and were pleased to leave her and get to our own rooms, for a good night"s rest.
The next morning we took Miss Carl to the Palace, and arrived there during the morning audience. Of course Miss Carl, being a foreigner, could not enter the Throne Room, so we sat down on the back veranda of the Audience Hall and waited until it was over. This, of course, prevented my being in attendance each morning, as usual, and was a great disappointment to me, as I was unable to keep in touch with what was taking place. Moreover, during the time I had been at Court, my one object had been to endeavor to interest Her Majesty in Western customs and civilization. I believed that to a great extent Her Majesty was becoming interested in these things, and would refer the subjects of our conversations to her Ministers, for their opinions. For instance, I had shown her photographs taken of a Naval Review at which I was present in France. Her Majesty seemed to be impressed, and said that she would certainly like to be able to make a similar display in China. This matter she consulted with her Ministers, but they gave the usual evasive answer, viz.: "There is plenty of time for that." From this you will see that Her Majesty was not able to introduce reforms entirely alone, even though she might desire to do so, but had to consult the Ministers, who would always agree with Her Majesty, but would suggest that the matter be put off for a time.
My experience while at the Palace was that everybody seemed to be afraid to suggest anything new for fear they might get themselves into trouble.
When Her Majesty came out from the Audience Hall, Miss Carl went up to her and kissed Her Majesty"s hand, which caused her great surprise, although she did not show it at the time. Afterwards, however, when we were alone, she asked me why Miss Carl had done this, as it was not a Chinese custom. She naturally thought that it must be a foreign custom, and therefore said nothing about it.
Her Majesty then proceeded on foot to her own Palace, to change her dress for the portrait. It was a beautiful morning, and when she had posed for about ten minutes, she told me that she felt too tired to proceed, and asked if it would be all right to ask Miss Carl to postpone it. I explained that as Miss Carl was going to be at the Palace for some time, the postponement of one day"s sitting would not make much difference at that time, although I knew that Miss Carl would naturally be disappointed. Still, I had to humor Her Majesty as much as possible, otherwise she might have thrown up the whole thing. Miss Carl said that if Her Majesty wished to go to rest, she could be working painting the screen and the throne, and Her Majesty could pose again later on if she felt like it. This pleased Her Majesty, and she said that she would try to sit again after taking her afternoon"s rest. Her Majesty ordered me to give Miss Carl her lunch in my own room at twelve o"clock each day, my mother, my sister and myself keeping her company. Dinner at the Palace was usually taken about six o"clock, and it was arranged that Miss Carl should take dinner with the Young Empress and the Court ladies at that hour, after Her Majesty had finished dining. Her Majesty also ordered that champagne or any other wine which Miss Carl preferred, should be served, as she said she knew it was the custom for all foreign ladies to take wine with their meals. Where she got hold of this idea, n.o.body knew. I was sure that Her Majesty had been misinformed by somebody, but it would have been bad policy to have tried to tell her different at the moment. She disliked very much to be told that she was wrong in any of these things, and it could only be done by waiting and casually introducing the subject at some other time.
After Miss Carl had gone to rest during the afternoon, Her Majesty sent for me and asked the usual question, viz.: What had Miss Carl been saying? etc., etc. She seemed particularly anxious to know what Miss Carl thought of her, and when I told her that Miss Carl had said that she was very beautiful and quite young looking, she said: "Oh! well, of course Miss Carl would say that to you." However, on my a.s.suring her that Miss Carl had given this opinion without being asked for it, she showed very plainly that she was not at all displeased with the compliment.
Suddenly Her Majesty said: "I have been thinking that if Miss Carl can paint the screen and the throne, surely she ought to be able to paint my clothes and jewels, without it being necessary for me to pose all the time." I told her that would be quite impossible, as n.o.body could hold the things for Miss Carl to get the proper effect. To my surprise she answered: "Well, that is easily gotten over. You wear them in my place."
I hardly knew what to say, but thought I would get out of the difficulty by telling her that perhaps Miss Carl would not like such an arrangement. Her Majesty, however, could see no possible objection on Miss Carl"s part, as she herself could pose when the time came for painting her face. So I put the matter as nicely as possible to Miss Carl, and it was finally arranged that I should dress in Her Majesty"s robes and jewels whenever Her Majesty felt too tired to do the posing herself. In this manner the portrait of the Empress Dowager was painted, and with the exception of just a few hours to enable Miss Carl to get Her Majesty"s facial expression, I had to sit for two hours each morning, and for another two hours each afternoon until the portrait was finished.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN--THE EMPEROR"S BIRTHDAY
MY father"s four months" leave having expired, he was received in audience by their Majesties on the first day of the sixth moon. He was much improved in health, but his rheumatism was still very troublesome.
This was particularly noticeable when climbing the steps to the Audience Hall, and Her Majesty ordered two of the eunuchs to a.s.sist him.
First he thanked Her Majesty for her kindness towards my sister and myself, and, as was the custom, took off his hat and knelt down, bowing his head until it struck the ground. This ceremony was always gone through by any official who had received special favors from Their Majesties.
He then replaced his hat on his head and remained kneeling before the throne. Her Majesty then questioned him about his life in Paris, from time to time complimenting him on his work. Seeing that remaining in this kneeling position appeared to be making him tired, Her Majesty ordered one of the eunuchs to bring a cushion for him to use, which was another great honor, as this cushion was only used by the President of the Grand Council.
Her Majesty told him that as he was now getting to be a very old man, she did not intend sending him away from China again, as she wanted to keep my sister and myself at the Court, which she could not do if she sent him to some foreign country, as he would want to take his daughters with him. She said she was pleased, that although we had been away from China for such a long time, we were well acquainted with the Manchu customs. My father replied that it had been his care that we should be brought up according to the customs of our own country.
Her Majesty when asked the Emperor if he had anything to say, and he replied by asking my father if he spoke French, and thought it very strange on learning that he did not. My father explained that he had never had the time to study it, besides which he considered himself too old to learn a foreign language.
The Emperor next asked what was the feeling in France towards China.
My father replied that they were very friendly at that time, but that immediately after the Boxer trouble the post of Minister had been a very embarra.s.sing one. Her Majesty said that it had been an unfortunate affair, but she was glad that everything was now settled satisfactorily.
She told my father that he was to get well again as quickly as possible, and the audience came to an end.
Afterwards Her Majesty said that my father was looking very old since his return from France and that he would have to be careful and take things easy until he got stronger again. She was pleased that he had shown appreciation of her interest in my sister and myself.
Preparations were now commenced for celebrating the birthday of His Majesty, the Emperor Kw.a.n.g Hsu, which was to take place on the 28th of that month. The actual date of the Emperor"s birthday was the 26th of the sixth moon, but this day, being the anniversary of the death of a previous Emperor of China, we were unable to hold any festivities, and so it was always celebrated on the 28th day instead. The official celebration lasted for seven days, three days before and four days after the actual date. During that time the whole of the Court dressed in official robes, and no business of any kind whatever was attended to.
This being the Emperor"s 32nd birthday, and as the full celebrations only took place every tenth year, i. e. On his 20th birthday, his 30th birthday, and so on, the festivities were not carried out on a very grand scale. However, it was quite sufficient to interfere with all business, and the usual morning audiences did not take place during these seven days. The Empress Dowager herself was the only person who did not dress especially during these celebrations, and who did not take any active part in the festivities. Another reason why the celebrations were not carried out on a very large scale was the fact that the Empress Dowager, being alive, she took precedence, according to the Manchu custom, over the Emperor himself, in fact she was the actual ruler of the country, the Emperor being second. The Emperor was quite aware of this fact, and when the Empress commanded that preparations be commenced for the celebrations, the Emperor would always suggest that it was not at all necessary to celebrate the occasion unless it happened to be a tenth year, and would very reluctantly agree to the festivities taking place. Of course this was more out of politeness on the part of the Emperor and to conform to the recognized etiquette, but the nation recognized this birthday and naturally celebrated according to the usual custom. During this period, therefore, the painting of the portrait was postponed.
When the morning of the 25th arrived, the Emperor dressed himself in his official robe-yellow gown, embroidered with gold dragons and coat of a reddish black color. Of course, being the Emperor, in place of the usual b.u.t.ton on the hat he wore a large pearl. I might mention that the Emperor was the only person who could wear this particular pearl in place of a b.u.t.ton. He came as usual to wish Her Majesty Chi Hsiang and then proceeded to the temple to worship before the ancestral tablets.
After this ceremony was over he returned to the Empress Dowager and kowtowed to her. All the Chinese adopt this rule of kowtowing to their parents on their own birthdays, as a sign of reverence and respect. The Emperor next proceeded to the Audience Hall, where all the Ministers were a.s.sembled, and received their salutations and congratulations. This ceremony very often caused amus.e.m.e.nt, for to see several hundred people all bobbing their heads up and down, especially when they did not all manage to do it together, was a very funny sight. Even the Emperor himself had to laugh, it was such an extraordinary spectacle.
The musical instruments which were used during the ceremony deserve a little description. The princ.i.p.al instrument is made of hard wood, and has a flat bottom about three feet in diameter, with a dome-shaped top raised about three feet from the ground. The inside is quite hollow.
A long pole made of the same material is used as a drumstick, and an official, specially appointed, beats with all his might on the drum. The noise can be better imagined than described. This is used as a signal to announce when the Emperor takes his seat upon the throne. In addition to the above, a full sized model of a tiger, also made of similar hard wood, and having twenty-four scales on its back, is brought into the courtyard. In this case they did not beat the instrument, but sc.r.a.ped along its back over the scales, which emitted a noise similar to the letting off simultaneously of innumerable crackers. This noise was kept up during the whole of the ceremony, and what with the drum and this tiger instrument it was sufficient to deafen one. During the ceremony, an official crier used to call out the different orders, such as when to kneel, bow, stand up, kowtow, etc., etc., but with the noise it was quite impossible to hear a single word of what he uttered. Another instrument was composed of a frame made of wood, about eight feet high by three feet broad. Across this frame were three wooden bars, from which was suspended twelve bells, made out of pure gold. When these were struck with a wooden stick the sound was not at all unlike the dulcimer, only, of course, very much louder. This was placed on the right side of the Audience Hall. On the left side a similar instrument was placed, with the exception that the bells were carved out of white jade. The music which could be brought out of the instrument was very sweet.
When this ceremony of receiving the Ministers was concluded, the Emperor proceeded to his private Palace, where the Young Empress (his wife), the Secondary wife and all the Court ladies were gathered, and, after kowtowing, all of the Court ladies present, led by the Young Empress, knelt before him and presented him with a Ru Yee. This is a kind of sceptre. Some are made out of pure jade, while others are made out of wood inlaid with jade. This Ru Yee is a symbol of good luck and was supposed to bring happiness and prosperity to the person to whom it was presented. The ceremony was gone through to the accompaniment of music played on string instruments, which was very sweet.
Next the eunuchs were received by the Emperor, and they similarly congratulated him, but without the accompaniment of music. After the eunuchs came the servant girls, and the whole of the ceremony was over.
The Emperor next proceeded to Her Majesty"s Palace, where he knelt before Her Majesty and thanked her for the celebration which had been given in his honor, after which Her Majesty, accompanied by the whole Court, went to the theatre to see the play. On arrival at the theatre we were all presented by Her Majesty with sweetmeats, this being the custom on these occasions, and after a little while Her Majesty retired for her afternoon rest. Thus the celebration ended.
Two days after the celebration the seventh moon commenced. The seventh day of the seventh moon was the occasion of another important anniversary.
The two stars, Niu Lang (Capricorn) and Chih Nu (Lyra) are supposed to be the patrons of agriculture and weaving and, according to tradition, were at one time man and wife. As the result of a quarrel, however, they were doomed to live apart, being separated from each other by the "Milky Way." But on the seventh day of the seventh moon of each year they are allowed to see each other and the magpies are supposed to build a bridge to enable them to meet.
The ceremony is rather peculiar. Several basins full of water were placed so that the sun"s rays would fall upon them. Her Majesty then took several tiny needles and dropped one into each basin. These floated on the water, casting a shadow across the bottom of the basins. These shadows took different forms, according to the position of the needle, and if the shadow took certain prescribed forms, the person throwing in the needle was supposed to be very lucky and clever, while if they represented certain other forms, they were despised by the G.o.ds as being ignorant. In addition, Her Majesty burned incense and offered up prayers to the two G.o.ds referred to.
This was always a sad moon for Her Majesty, it being the anniversary of the death of her husband, the Emperor Hsien Feng, who died on the 17th of that month. The fifteenth of the seventh moon each year is the day of the festival for the dead, and early in the morning the Court moved to the Sea Palace in order to sacrifice. The Chinese hold that when a person dies, his soul still remains on the earth, and on these anniversaries they burn imitation money, the belief being that the soul of the departed one will benefit to the extent of the amount of money so represented. On the anniversary above referred to Her Majesty sent for hundreds of Buddhist priests to pray for those unfortunate people who had died without leaving anyone who could sacrifice for them. On the evening of this day, Her Majesty and all her Court ladies set out in open boats on the lake, where imitation lotus flowers were arranged as lanterns, with a candle placed in the centre, which formed a sort of floating light, the idea being to give light to the spirits of those who had departed during the year, so as to enable them to come and receive the blessings which had been prepared for them. Her Majesty ordered us to light the candles and place the flowers on the water ourselves, as she said it would be appreciated by the spirits of the dead. Some of the eunuchs had told Her Majesty that they had actually seen some of these spirits, which a.s.sertion was thoroughly believed. Although she had never seen them herself, she accounted for this by the fact that she was of too high a rank and the spirits were afraid of her, but she ordered all the rest of us to keep a sharp lookout and tell her if we saw anything.
Of course we didn"t see anything, but many of the Court ladies were so frightened that they closed their eyes for fear they might see something supernatural.
Her Majesty was devoted to the late Emperor Hsien Feng, and she was very sad and morose during this period. We all had to be very careful indeed not to upset her in any way, as she would find fault on the slightest provocation. She hardly had a word to say to any of us, and cried almost incessantly. I could hardly understand the reason for such grief, seeing that the Emperor had died so many years previously. None of the Court ladies were allowed to dress in light-coloured gowns during the whole of the seventh moon. We all dressed either in dark blue or pale blue, while Her Majesty herself dressed in black every day without exception. Even her handkerchiefs were black. The theatres which were usually opened on the first and fifteenth of each month, were closed during the seventh moon. There was no music, and everything was conducted in the most solemn manner; in fact, the whole Court was in deep mourning.
On the morning of the seventeenth day of the seventh moon, Her Majesty visited the late Emperor"s tablet, and knelt there crying for quite a while. In order to show respect for the late Emperor, none of us were allowed to eat meat for three days. This being my first year at the Palace, it appeared to me very strange, after the customary gaiety and noise. Of course I felt very sorry for Her Majesty, as I could see that it was a genuine display of grief and was not in any way put on. As I was her favorite at that time, she kept me close to her side during this sad period. The Young Empress said to me one day: "Her Majesty is very much attached to you, and I think you had better stay with her for the time being." This I did, and I was so miserable myself that when Her Majesty commenced crying I would cry also. When she saw that I was crying, Her Majesty would immediately stop and ask me not to cry. She would tell me that I was too young to cry, and that in any case I did not know what real sorrow was as yet. During the conversations we had at that time she would tell me quite a lot about herself. On one occasion she said: "You know I have had a very hard life ever since I was a young girl. I was not a bit happy when with my parents, as I was not the favorite. My sisters had everything they wanted, while I was, to a great extent, ignored altogether. When I first came to the Court, a lot of the people were jealous of me because I was considered to be a beautiful woman at that time. I must say myself that I was a clever one, for I fought my own battles, and won them, too. When I arrived at Court the late Emperor became very much attached to me and would hardly glance at any of the other ladies. Fortunately, I was lucky in giving birth to a son, as it made me the Emperor"s undisputed favorite; but after that I had very bad luck. During the last year of his reign the Emperor was seized with a sudden illness. In addition to this the foreign soldiers burnt down the Palace at Yuen Ming Yuen, so we fled to Jehol. Of course everybody knows what took place at that time. I was still a young woman, with a dying husband and a young son. The East Empress Dowager"s nephew was a bad man, who coveted the throne, which he had no right to in any event, as he was not of royal blood. I would not wish anyone to experience what I myself pa.s.sed through at that time. When the Emperor was in a dying condition, being practically unconscious of what was taking place around him, I took my son to his bedside and asked him what was going to be done about his successor to the throne. He made no reply to this, but, as has always been the case in emergencies, I was equal to the occasion, and I said to him: "Here is your son," on hearing which he immediately opened his eyes and said: "Of course he will succeed to the throne." I naturally felt relieved when this was settled once and for all. These words were practically the last he spoke, for he died immediately afterwards. Although it is now so many years ago, I can see him now in that dying condition, just as though it all happened only yesterday.
"I thought that I could be happy with my son as the Emperor Tung Chi, but unfortunately he died before he was twenty years of age. Since that time I have been a changed woman, as all happiness was over as far as I was concerned when he died. I had also quite a lot of trouble with the East Empress Dowager and found it very difficult to keep on good terms with her. However, she died five years after the death of my son. In addition to all this, when the Emperor Kw.a.n.g Hsu was brought to me as a baby three years old, he was a very sickly child, and could hardly walk, he was so thin and weak. His parents seemed to be afraid of giving him anything to eat. You know his father was Prince Chung, and his mother was my sister, so of course he was almost the same as my own son, in fact I adopted him as such. Even now, after all my trouble on his account, he is not in perfect health. As you know, I have had plenty of other troubles beside these, but it is useless to mention them now. I am disappointed with everything, as nothing has turned out as I had expected." With this remark Her Majesty commenced crying afresh.
Continuing, she said: "People seem to think that just because I am the Empress Dowager that I am bound to be happy, but what I have just told you is not all. I have gone through much more than that. If ever anything went wrong, I was always the one who was blamed. The censors even dare to impeach me once in a while. However, I am philosopher enough to take things for what they are worth, otherwise I would have been in my own grave long, long ago. Just imagine how small minded these people are. Amongst other things they objected to my transferring my Court to the Summer Palace during the hot weather, although I could do no harm by being there. Even in the short time you have spent at Court, you can see that I am unable to decide anything alone, while whenever they want anything they consult with each other and then present their pet.i.tion to me, which, unless it is something of a very serious nature, I never think of refusing."
After the time set apart for mourning had expired, we all went back to the Summer Palace, where Miss Carl re-commenced her work on Her Majesty"s portrait. Her Majesty apparently soon got tired of this portrait painting, for one day she asked me when I thought it would be finished. She was afraid that it would not be finished by the time the cold weather came on, when we always removed the Court to the Forbidden City, and she said it would be a lot of trouble and inconvenience to have to continue the portrait there. I told Her Majesty that it could easily be arranged and that she need not worry herself.
After I had been posing in Her Majesty"s place for several days Her Majesty asked me whether Miss Carl had said anything about it, and if she did, I was to inform her that it was a command from Her Majesty, and that I dare not make any further suggestions in that respect. So we had no further trouble with Miss Carl after that. I had, however, quite a lot of trouble with the eunuchs, who, in spite of Her Majesty"s instructions, were anything but polite to Miss Carl. Of course Miss Carl herself did not know this. I tried to make them behave better by threatening to tell Her Majesty about them, which had a good effect for a while, but they were soon as bad as ever.
At the commencement of the eighth moon, Her Majesty always attended to the transplanting of her chrysanthemums, which was one of her favorite flowers, so each day she would take us with her to the west side of the lake and, a.s.sisted by us, would cut the tops of the young plants and set them in flower pots. I was very much surprised at this, as there were no roots, only the stems of the flowers, but Her Majesty a.s.sured me that they would soon grow into very pretty plants. Every day we went over to water these flowers until they began to bud. In case it rained heavily, Her Majesty would order some of the eunuchs to go over and cover up these chrysanthemum plants with mats, so that they would not be broken.
It was characteristic of Her Majesty that, no matter what other business she had to attend to, her flowers had her first consideration and she would, if necessary, even go without her usual rest in order to superintend them personally. She also spent quite a time in looking after her orchard, where she had planted apple trees, pear trees, etc.
Another thing which I began to notice was that when the spring and summer days had pa.s.sed, she got quite irritable and sad, while in the winter she was simply unbearable. She loathed cold weather.
One day, during the eighth moon, Her Majesty was taken slightly ill, and complained of suffering from severe headaches. This was the only time I ever saw Her Majesty actually sick. She, however, got up as usual in the morning, and held audience, but was unable to take her luncheon, and very soon had to retire to her bed. Several doctors were summoned, each of whom took her pulse. This was quite a ceremony in itself. The doctors knelt at the bedside, and Her Majesty stretched forth her arm, resting her hand upon a small pillow which was provided for that purpose. After this each doctor wrote out his prescription, all of which were different from each other. We handed them to Her Majesty, who chose the one which she thought was the nicest to take, and two attendants and the doctor himself had to take a dose in her presence before she would touch it.
Then she would take it all right.
During this time it rained a great deal and was very hot. The climate at this time of the year is very damp, which causes the flies to make their appearance in millions. If there was one thing more than another that Her Majesty detested it was these flies. During the actual summer they were not so troublesome as at this particular time. Of course every precaution was taken to keep them away, a eunuch being posted at each door, provided with sort of a switch made of horse hair fastened at the end of a bamboo pole. We were never troubled by mosquitoes, however; in fact I never saw a mosquito curtain in the Palace during the whole of my stay there. These flies were an abomination, and in spite of all that could be done a few would find their way into the rooms. Whenever they alighted on Her Majesty she would scream, while if by any chance one were to alight on her food she would order the whole lot to be thrown away. This would spoil her appet.i.te for the whole day and put her into a terrible temper as well. Whenever she saw one anywhere near her, she would order whoever happened to be present to go and catch it. I myself often received this order, but I detested them almost as much as Her Majesty did, they were so dirty, and stuck to one"s hands whenever they touched them.
After her illness Her Majesty was indisposed more or less for quite a long time, and doctors were constantly in attendance. She took so many different kinds of medicine that instead of getting better she got worse and eventually contracted a fever. Her Majesty was very much afraid of fevers of any kind and we had to stay with her all night and all day and had to take our meals whenever we could get away from her bedside for a few minutes. Another peculiarity was Her Majesty"s aversion for any kind of perfume near her when she was sick, while when she was feeling well she was simply smothered in it. The same applied to fresh flowers; in spite of her love for them under ordinary conditions, when she was sick she could not bear them anywhere near. Her nerves became absolutely unstrung, as she was unable to sleep during the day, and consequently the time pa.s.sed very slowly to her. In order to make the time pa.s.s a little less tediously, she gave instructions for one of the better educated eunuchs to read to her during the daytime. This reading generally consisted of ancient Chinese history, poetry and all kinds of Chinese lore, and while the eunuch was reading to her we had to stand by her bedside, one of us being told off to ma.s.sage her legs, which seemed to soothe her somewhat. This same program was gone through every day until she was completely herself again--some ten days later.
One day Her Majesty asked me: "What kind of medicine does a foreign doctor usually give in case of a fever? I have heard that they make you take all kinds of pills. This must be very dangerous, as you never know what they are made of. Here in China all medicines are made from roots, and I can always find out whether I am receiving the right medicine, as I have a book which explains what each different medicine is for.
Another thing I have heard is that foreign doctors generally operate on you with a knife, while we cure the same sickness by means of our medicine. Li Lien Ying told me that one of our little eunuchs had a boil on his wrist and someone advised him to go to the hospital. Of course they didn"t know what they would do, and the foreign doctor there opened the boil with a knife, which frightened the child very much. I was very much surprised when I heard he was all right again in a couple of days."
Continuing, Her Majesty said: "A year ago one of the foreign ladies came to the Palace, and hearing me cough a lot, gave me some black pills and told me to swallow them. I did not like to offend her, so I took the pills and told her I would take them by and bye. However, I was afraid to take them and threw them away." Of course I answered that I didn"t know much about medicines, to which she replied that she had seen me take foreign medicines whenever I was not feeling well. She then said: "Of course I know there are people in Peking who do take the medicines given them by foreign doctors and even some of my own relatives patronize these foreigners also. They try not to let me know, but I do know for all that. In any case, if they choose to kill themselves by taking these things, it is none of my business; that is the reason why, when they are sick, I never send my own doctors to attend them."