Six Records of a Floating Life (Chapter three: Ups and downs 05)

    There was a European who had rented a house on the left of my art shop, and used to lend money at high interest for his living. He often asked me to do some painting for him, and in this way came to know me.

    There was a friend of mine who wanted to borrow fifty dollars from him and asked me to guarantee the loan. I could not refuse him and consented, but my friend eventually ran away with the money.

    The European, of course, came to me as the guarantor for the money, and made a lot of fuss about it. At first, I tried to pay back a part of the loan with my painting, but finally I just had nothing left to offer him in place of cash.

    At the end of the year, my father came home, and one day the foreigner was creating a lot of noise in the house, demanding repayment of the loan. He called me to him and scolded me, saying, "We belong to a scholars' family; how could we fail to repay a loan from such common people?"

    While I was trying to explain the matter, there appeared a messenger from Mrs. Hua, a childhood friend of Yun's, who had heard about her illness and had sent him to inquire after her health. My father thought that this messenger was from the sing-song girl Han, and became still more infuriated.

    "Your wife does not cultivate the feminine virtues, but has become sworn sister to a sing-song girl. You yourself do not associate with good friends, but go about with low-down people. I cannot bear to put you to death, but will allow you three days. Make up your own mind what you are going to do in the meantime, or else I will prosecute you at court for filial impiety!°