1 The Cage

1. The pronoun ‘I’ is rarely used by the Chinese, as to do so is considered outrageously immodest. It is also customary for them to belittle self in almost every sentence, and to use most involved methods of expressing their meaning. Even ‘pidgin’ is far from easy to understand by those unaccustomed to it. Any attempt to give a literal rendering of the dialogue spoken by the Chinese characters in this story would therefore, be most tiresome for the reader. In consequence it has seemed preferable to give only, where possible, a Chinese flavour to their speech, while interpreting their expressions into the vernacular.