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JULY 6th, 1893. After all I went off to the jjf Farm by myself, starting at ten, and only getting there after twelve, though the crossing of the River was rather exciting than slov/, there being no freshet on; only all the dreadful rocks, that went to form the remarkable little harbour of the Dragon's gate, were now quite covered with water, so that our boat went careering over them. Yet afterwards it was so hot, that the coolies spent a long time eating and resting before they got me up the 1000 ft. from the River to the T'u Shan Temple, on the top of the first range of hills. I was annoyed to find the furniture in our Farn:i not cleaned, and a good deal of smell of dirt in spite of the many men, who had been out cleaning it for several days. The Shrine at one end of the room, that I had told the people they might take away, v/as still there. When I remarked on this, the Cook exclaimed it could not be moved. "Well then it must be cleaned," I said, attacking it with a feather brush, and immediately producing a shower of dust. The Coolies all screamed. "You must not touch it! We cannot touch it!" they cried. "Call the woman of the house," I said. But she again waved deprecatory hands, and cried "I cannot touch it," to which the Coolies all replied in Chorus: "She cannot touch it I A H'oman!"1893年7月6日。最後我還是自己去了農場，大約在十點出發，直到十二點才到，雖然過河的過程更讓人興奮，而非緩慢，因為河上沒有洪水泛濫；只是那些可怕的岩石，形成了龍門那裡著名的小港口，現在完全被水覆蓋了，我們的船就這樣在上面飛馳。然而之後天氣變得如此炎熱，苦力們花了很長時間吃飯和休息，才把我從河邊爬上1000英尺到第一座山脈頂端的土山廟（T'u Shan Temple）。令我惱火的是，我發現我們農場的家具沒有被清理，儘管已經有很多人在外面清理了好幾天，房間裡仍然有股難聞的污穢氣味。房間一端供奉的神龕，我曾告訴村民們他們可以移走，但仍然還在那裡。當我提到這件事時，廚師驚呼說那東西不能移動。「那麼就必須清理乾淨，」我說，拿起雞毛撢子開始清理，馬上就有一陣塵土飛揚。苦力們都尖叫起來：「你不能碰它！我們不能碰它！」他們叫道。「叫這戶人家的女人來，」我說。但她又揮舞著雙手，說「我不能碰它」，苦力們齊聲附和：「她不能碰它！女人不能碰！」

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Presently the Farmer appeared, very obliging but very grave. It seemed that only he could clean it. But he proceeded to do so with so much reverence, it was evident the accumulations of dust would never get removed. So I rubbed, and brushed, and generally knocked things about for other people to put together, until gradually the whole structure somewhat came apart amidst showers of dirt. "The Pusa (Image) cannot like dirt," I continued to repeat. But at last, they managed to convey to me that it was not a Shrine with a Pusa, but the Holy Place where the Ancestral Tablets were kept. "Oh, the Ancestors!" I then said. "Well, they do not like dirt. They like to be clean," at which both the Farmer and his wife seemed greatly amused, especially the latter, who quite agreed but would not touch anything. "We put fresh flowers before the pictures of our Ancestors," I said. On which the children brandished crackers in my face to show what a much better way they had of honoring their dead. Meanwhile, the Farmer and the eldest son cleaned the Tablet, the vase containing Incense Sticks, etc., and I was delighted to find one Coolie could now really clean the outside of the Shrine and all the particularly dirty boards on top. Meanwhile, no one objected to my taking all the musty books out of the Cupboard underneath, drying them in the sun, dusting them, and then putting them away tidily in the end. The eldest son then tore off the old red paper strips and proceeded to write on new red papers "As still with us, though above," which was stuck up above the Ancestral tablet, with a little looking glass very carefully hung in the middle. I pleaded to have it washed first. After all this great display of reverence, what was my surprise to find that we were now quite at liberty to place our stores in the cupboard underneath! And our Boy, with perfect calm, stood two commanding-looking bottles on top right in front of the ancestral tablet. Nor did anyone seem to see anything amiss in the arrangement.

過了一會兒，農夫出現了，他非常殷勤但也非常嚴肅。似乎只有他能清理那個地方。但他清理時極為恭敬，顯然積累的灰塵永遠不會真正被清除。所以我擦拭、刷洗，並把東西弄得亂七八糟，然後讓其他人整理，直到整個結構在一片塵土飛揚中逐漸散開。我不斷重複說：「菩薩（Pusa）不喜歡骯髒。」最後，他們總算告訴我，這不是供奉菩薩的神龕，而是供奉祖先牌位的聖地。「哦，原來是祖先！」我說。「那他們肯定也不喜歡骯髒，他們喜歡乾淨。」這句話讓農夫和他的妻子都感到十分有趣，尤其是他的妻子，她完全同意，但仍然不願意碰任何東西。「我們會在祖先的照片前擺放新鮮的花朵。」我說。這時，孩子們揮舞著鞭炮，向我展示他們敬奉祖先的更好方式。與此同時，農夫和他的大兒子清理了牌位、裝著香棒的花瓶等等。我非常高興地發現，其中一位苦力現在真的可以清理神龕的外部，還有上面那些特別髒的木板。而且沒有人反對我把下方櫃子裡所有發霉的書籍拿出來，在陽光下曬乾，除塵，然後整齊地重新放回去。大兒子撕下了舊的紅紙條，並在新的紅紙上寫下「雖然在上，仍與我們同在」，然後把它貼在祖先牌位的上方，中間還非常小心地掛上了一面小鏡子。我請求先把它洗乾淨。在這一大堆恭敬的展示之後，讓我驚訝的是，我們現在可以隨意將我們的物品放進下方的櫃子裡了！我們的男僕十分冷靜地將兩個氣派的瓶子放在祖先牌位正前方的頂端。而且似乎沒有人覺得這種擺設有什麼不妥。

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They are busy v/eaving their Cotton, and we fell asleep to the sound of the Loom in the next room, and heard it already going on again, v/hen we av/oke next morning.

July 7th. Wore my Chinese clothes for the first time, found them delightfully cool, and decided I v/ould wear nothing else till the hot weather was over. A very trying day ! Thunderstorms, and not a breath of air even on the top of our hill in the second and higher Range, ISOO ft. above the River, 2000 ft. above the sea.

July 8th. They were busy spinning Yarn at the Farm to-day, and all the concrete, Threshing floor outside our windov/s, that makes such a good place to sit out on in the moonlight, v/as taken up with their Yarn stretched on long frames. Found the cotton bandages, I wore last year with straw sandals, were not comfortable, so the Farmer's wife offered to bind my feet for me. She did so just like her own poor little stunted things, only using broader bandages, about 21 yards long, as my 2 feet v/ere so much bigger, and to iny surprise her v/ay of binding the feet was not only tidy but most comfortable, supporting the foot, just v/here it needs support.

他們忙著織棉花，我們在隔壁房間織布機的聲音中入睡，第二天早上醒來時，又聽到了織布的聲音。

7月7日。第一次穿上了我的中國服裝，發現它們非常涼爽，決定直到炎熱的天氣結束之前，我不會穿其他衣物。這一天非常難熬！雷陣雨加上連一絲風都沒有，即便在我們位於第二層更高的山脈頂上，離河1,800英尺，離海平面2,000英尺的地方，依然悶熱不堪。

7月8日。今天農場忙著紡紗，所有我們窗外的混凝土打穀場——那是個在月光下乘涼的好地方——都被他們用來伸展紗線，拉在長架子上。我發現去年穿著草鞋時使用的棉布綁帶不太舒適，於是農夫的妻子提議幫我纏腳。她纏得就像她自己那雙可憐的小腳一樣，只是用了更寬的布帶，大約21碼長，因為我的兩隻腳大得多。讓我驚訝的是，她纏腳的方式不僅整潔，還非常舒適，剛好支撐住腳最需要支撐的地方。

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Went up the hill, then seeing a great thunderstorm coming on across the hundred miles or so of country we see from there in all directions, I hurried down and sat outside without changing, watching the rain advance. Alas ! I had on my cool Chinese clothes offering no protection against the change in the w^eather, so caught a severe chill round my v/aist, and felt no energy to go with the Farmer's wife, who ^A^as most eager and excited about it, to see what had happened, v/hen there was a sharp clap like the sudden report of a gun — ^just over our heads, "svithout any following roll, and something fell in a Paddy field below. A crowd of people collected, and we heard afterwards, there v/as a strong smell of sulphur and saw the stone corner of a wayside Shrine which was knocked off, but whatever fell got lost in the soft Paddy field.

July 9th. High fever all night, and aches in all my bones ! was carried back to town in the evening through the rain, A. sturdily marching along in Pyjamas, raised very high, though not quite as high as the Coolies, who displayed their very well shaped legs pretty well in their entirety. I was carefully dressed en Europeenne once more. It is certainly much more convenient, as well as far more becoming.

July 18th. Started before 6 A. M. for the Farm, taut took so long crossing the river, did not get there till after 12, and I felt the sun very much. Air there fresh and fragrant, reminding one of hay-making days.

我上了山，看到一場大雷暴正橫跨我們從那裡能看到的數百英里土地逼近，便急忙下山，沒有換衣服，坐在外面觀察著雨勢。不幸的是，我穿著涼爽的中國服裝，完全無法抵禦這樣的天氣變化，所以腰部受了嚴重的風寒，感到渾身乏力。當時農夫的妻子非常興奮，急切地想要去看看發生了什麼事，但我沒有力氣陪她去。就在我們頭頂上突然發出一聲像槍聲般的巨響，沒有後續的隆隆聲，然後有東西掉進了下方的稻田。一群人聚集起來，我們後來聽說有強烈的硫磺味，還看到了路邊神龕的一個石角被打掉了，但掉下來的東西最終消失在柔軟的稻田中。

7月9日。整夜高燒，渾身骨頭疼痛！晚上我在雨中被抬回城裡，A. 穿著高高撩起的睡衣堅定地一路跟隨，儘管沒有苦力們那樣撩得高，但也足夠露出了他們形狀優美的雙腿。我則又小心地穿上了歐洲式服裝。這確實要方便得多，而且更為得體。

7月18日。清晨六點之前出發去農場，但過河花了太多時間，直到中午十二點多才到，那時我已經感覺到陽光非常刺眼。那裡的空氣清新芬芳，讓人想起了收割乾草的日子。