Attheendofone’sthirdpipethedragonsusedtomoveaboutandfightI’vewatched’em，manyandmanyanightthroughIusedtoregulatemySmokethatway，andnowittakesadozenpipestomake’emstirBesides，theyarealltornanddirty，likethemats，andoldFung-TchingisdeadHediedacoupleofyearsago，andgavemethepipeIalwaysusenow——asilverone，withqueerbeastscrawlingupanddownthereceiver-bottlebelowthecupBeforethat，I
think，Iusedabigbamboostemwithacoppercup，averysmallone，andagreenjademouthpieceItwasalittlethickerthanawalking-stickstem，andsmokedsweet，verysweetThebambooseemedtosuckupthesmokeSilverdoesn’t，andI’vegottocleanitoutnowandthen，that’sagreatdealoftrouble，butIsmokeitfortheoldman’ssakeHemusthavemadeagoodthingoutofme，buthealwaysgavemecleanmatsandpillows，andthebeststuffyoucouldgetanywhere。
Whenhedied，hisnephewTsin-lingtookuptheGate，andhecalleditthe“TempleoftheThreePossessions；“butweoldonesspeakofitasthe“HundredSorrows。”allthesameThenephewdoesthingsveryshabbily，andIthinktheMemsahibmusthelphimSheliveswithhim；sameassheusedtodowiththeoldmanThetwoletinallsortsoflowpeople，niggersandall，andtheBlackSmokeisn’tasgoodasitusedtobeI’vefoundburntbraninmypipeoverandoveragainTheoldmanwouldhavediedifthathadhappenedinhistimeBesides，theroomisnevercleaned，andallthematsaretornandcutattheedgesThecoffinhasgone——gonetoChinaagain——
withtheoldmanandtwoouncesofsmokeinsideit，incaseheshouldwant’emontheway。
TheJossdoesn’tgetsomanysticksburntunderhisnoseasheusedto；that’sasignofill-luck，assureasDeathHe’sallbrown，too，andnooneeverattendstohimThat’stheMemsahib’swork，I
know；because，whenTsin-lingtriedtoburngiltpaperbeforehim，shesaiditwasawasteofmoney，and，ifhekeptastickburningveryslowly，theJosswouldn’tknowthedifferenceSonowwe’vegotthesticksmixedwithalotofglue，andtheytakehalf-an-hourlongertoburn，andsmellstinkyLetalonethesmelloftheroombyitselfNobusinesscangetoniftheytrythatsortofthing。
TheJossdoesn’tlikeitIcanseethatLateatnight，sometimes，heturnsallsortsofqueercolors——blueandgreenandred——justasheusedtodowhenoldFung-Tchingwasalive；andherollshiseyesandstampshisfeetlikeadevil。
Idon’tknowwhyIdon’tleavetheplaceandsmokequietlyinalittleroomofmyowninthebazarMostlike，Tsin-lingwouldkillmeifIwentaway——hedrawsmysixtyrupeesnow——andbesides，it’ssomuchtrouble，andI’vegrowntobeveryfondoftheGateIt’snotmuchtolookatNotwhatitwasintheoldman’stime，butI
couldn’tleaveitI’veseensomanycomeinandoutAndI’veseensomanydiehereonthematsthatIshouldbeafraidofdyingintheopennowI’veseensomethingsthatpeoplewouldcallstrangeenough；butnothingisstrangewhenyou’reontheBlackSmoke，excepttheBlackSmokeAndifitwas，itwouldn’tmatter。
Fung-Tchingusedtobeveryparticularabouthispeople，andnevergotinanyonewho’dgivetroublebydyingmessyandsuchButthenephewisn’thalfsocarefulHetellseverywherethathekeepsa“first-chop“houseNevertriestogetmeninquietly，andmakethemcomfortablelikeFung-TchingdidThat’swhytheGateisgettingalittlebitmoreknownthanitusedtobeAmongtheniggersofcourseThenephewdaren’tgetawhite，or，formatterofthat，amixedskinintotheplaceHehastokeepusthreeofcourse——meandtheMemsahibandtheotherEurasianWe’refixtures。
Buthewouldn’tgiveuscreditforapipeful——notforanything。
Oneofthesedays，Ihope，IshalldieintheGateThePersianandtheMadrasmanareterribleshakynowThey’vegotaboytolighttheirpipesforthemIalwaysdothatmyselfMostlike，IshallseethemcarriedoutbeforemeIdon’tthinkIshalleveroutlivetheMemsahiborTsin-lingWomenlastlongerthanmenattheBlack-
Smoke，andTsin-linghasadealoftheoldman’sbloodinhim，thoughheDOESsmokecheapstuffThebazar-womanknewwhenshe...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：