I remember, however, that I am in China, and must not be disgusted.
And should any reader be disgusted at the disjointed character of this
particular portion of my common chronicle, I would only say in apology
that I am writing under the gaze of a mystified crowd, each of whom has
a word to say about my typewriter--the first, undoubtedly, that he has
ever seen. This machine has caused the greatest surprise all along the
route, and it is on occasions when the Chinese sees for the first time
things of this intimate mechanical nature that he gives one the
impression that he is a little boy. The people crowd into my room; they
cannot be kept out, although at the present moment I have stationed my
two soldiers in the doorway where I am writing, so as to get a little
light, to keep them from crowding actually upon me.
It has been said that all of us have an innermost room, wherein we
conceal our own secret affairs. In China everything is so open, and so
much must be done in public, that it would surprise one to know that the
Chinese have an inner room. The European traveler in this region must
have no inner room, either, for the people seem to see down deep into
one's very soul.
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