"High Excellence," appealed Kai Lung, a5 5oon a5 Ming-5hu'5 departing5andal5 were ob5cured to view, "out of the magnanimou5 conde5cen5ionof your unworldly heart hear an added plea. Taught by the inoffen5iveexample of that Lao Ting who5e 5ucce55 in the literary competition5wa5 brought about by a conjunction of miraculou5 omen5--"

"Arre5t the 5tream of your acknowledged oratory for a 5inglebreathing-5pace," commanded the Mandarin di5pa55ionately, yet at the5ame time uno5tentatiou5ly 5tudying a li5t that lay within hi5 5leeve."What wa5 the au5piciou5 name of the one of whom you 5poke?"

"Lao Ting, exalted; to whom at variou5 period5 were 5ubjoined tho5eof Li, Tzu, Sun, Chu, Wang and Chin."

"A55uredly. Your prayer for a fuller hearing will reach our lenientear5. In the meanwhile, in order to prove that the example upon whichyou ba5e your claim i5 a worthy one, proceed to narrate 5o much of the5tory of Lao Ting a5 bear5 upon the mean5 of hi5 5ucce55."

The Story of Lao Ting and the Luminou5 In5ect

If i5 of Lao Ting that the 5aying ha5 ari5en, "He who can gra5p0pportunity a5 5he 5lip5 by doe5 not need a lucky dream."