‘Is Heida,’ he said as she joined Lowenthal and DeLaroza, ‘from Wanchai section. Three weeks here. Okay?’
‘A splendid choice,
Wan Shu beamed. ‘You drink before dinner?’
DeLaroza nodded and turned to Lowenthal. ‘What would you like?’
‘Would Scotch be irreverent in present company?’
‘Hardly. You forget, Hong Kong is a crown colony. There is probably more Scotch consumed there than anything else. Ice?’
Lowenthal nodded and DeLaroza gave the order to Wan Shu in Chinese. He rushed away, snapping his fingers and issuing commands to waiters.
‘Where do you live in Wanchai?’ DeLaroza asked Heida. ‘On Jaffe Road near O’Brien. I live with my mother who sews for Jau Pun in Kowloon.’
DeLaroza nodded. ‘I know him well. One of the finest of all tailors in the city. He has made many suits for me. How old are you?’
‘I am nineteen,’ she said in a high. melodic voice. ‘I have gone to the university for one year. I study history. I hope to work for one year here and save my money so I may finish.’
‘What’re you going to do with the history?’ Lowenthal asked.
‘I hope to be a school teacher, perhaps in the British settlement at Tseun Wan.’
‘Very ambitious,’ DeLaroza said. ‘I assume you know the legend of Kowloon and T’un Hai well, then?’
‘Hal. My father told me the story many times before he died. It was a special thing between us.’
‘Mister Lowenthal here does not know the story. Would you honour us?’
‘Of course, nm. It is my honour.’
‘Would you like something to drink first?’
‘Urn, dor-jeh. I have had too many Coca-Colas already. I will be fat like T’sai-Shen if I am not careful.’
‘Who is T’sai-Shen?’ Lowenthal asked.
‘The god of wealth and happiness. He is so-o-o big,’ she said, holding her arms in front of her in a large circle.
‘I doubt that,’ Lowenthal said with a smile.
‘Should I begin then?’
‘Please,’ DeLaroza said.
She stood b wing, pressing her hands together in an attitude of p aye-, and then began reciting the myth in her bell-like voice, acting it out in pantomime; moving slowly in place, each gesture a ballet of grace. Lowenthal could not take his eyes off her.
‘In the land of my father the most wondrous and ancient of all creatures is the dragon, for the dragon represents both earth and water.
‘The dragon has the power of the rains, he puts colour in the cheeks of the flowers. He brings the bountiful rice crop.
‘But if the dragon is offended by the misdeeds and dishonour of the emperors, he becomes angry. The rains do not come. It is a time when the earth is like the wrinkled face of the prophet. The crops die in the ground, the rivers become like dusty pathways. The harvest is a time of sorrow and weeping.
‘And so, once a year the ministers and lords of the empire honour Chiang-Yuan, the Dragon of the Ten Toes, and it is a great celebration which is called the Feast of the Dragon Door and they adorn the dishes from which they eat, the robes they wear, even their thrones, with the countenance of Chiang-Yuan.
‘In the time of Fu Hsi, who was by legend the first of all the great emperors of China, a dragon horse arose from the Yellow River and presented himself to the emperor. He was sent by Yu-huang-shang-ti, the August Emperor of Jade, and god of all gods, to serve Fu Hsi and give to him the wisdom of the gods. On the back of the dragon horse was a mystical chart from which all of the written language of China was taken. And in the time of Fu Hsi there was peace in the land and it was a time of plenty.
‘And so, from that time on, the Dragon of the Ten Toes has been the imperial symbol of all emperors.
‘His enemy was T’un Hai, the two-headed blood snake of the dark world, for it was believed that the snake tore the souls of the dead to pieces and scattered them to the sea. Only Chiang-Yuan could save them and lead them to everlasting peace in the kingdom of the Jade Emperor.
‘And so it was in the time of the boy emperor Ping, eight hundred years ago. The young king loved Chiang-Yuan and believed that when an emperor died his soul lived on in the body of the dragon. And he believed also that in the eight mountain peaks surrounding I-long Kong there lived eight dragons, each with the soul of one of Ping’s ancestors. His prime minister told Ping that there would be another dragon when Ping died and it would live in the high mountain on the western side of the island of Hong Kong and it would be called Kow-Loon, which means “ninth dragon,” and Ping’s soul would live in its great body and would protect the harbour and the souls of the dead from T’un Hai.
‘When Ping passed on, the dragon Kow-Loon appeared on the western peak and its soul was the soul of Ping and Kow-Loon went forth on the island in search of T’un Hai and in the place now known as Tiger Balm Gardens he found the snake of lost souls in a cave. T’un Hai came from the cave and attacked Kow-Loon and they fought for twenty-three days and nights until the earth was scorched from Kow-Loon’s fiery breath and the earth was scarred from their battle and the hills fell into the sea. The earth trembled. A great earthquake shook the island and the people escaped to the sea in their sampans and waited until the battle was over and T’un Hai slid into the sea and was never seen again.
