"Dr Han?" "Dr Keith would like you to come to the emergency ward as soon as you can." " Whas the trouble, John?" " This child was hit by a car and is in shock." " Who is she?" " A refugee from China." "One of the 3,000 new ones." "They pour in every day." " Has she a family?" " I don't know." " She was alone at the time of the accident." " Will you take over?" "I've given her pantopon." "She may be injured internally." "Boy, move her to x-ray immediately." "You had better come along with me, Officer, for the report." "Dr Han?" "I am Mei Loo." "You remember?" "Oh, Mei Loo, I hardly knew you." "Is this the little boy who was so ill?" "But now it is my husband." "Make him well, Dr Han." "We have no money, but... we will sell the boy." "Our little one is intelligent and well-made." "We come from a good family." "We will do what we can, Mei Loo." "But don't you ever try to sell your little boy." " You couldn't anyhow." " I'll take care of him." "Anyway, Dr Sen's on his way down." " I wish I were ten people." " You need diversion." "I'm going to a cocktail party this afternoon." "Why don't you come with me?" "Dr Sen will take over here." "Why don't I?" "A sense of balance might restore my sense of humour." "Why anyone would want to live anywhere but Hong Kong I can't understand." "Where else could you get ten servants for the price of one?" "By next month, the ratio will be 12:1." "Shanghai's fallen, you know." " The Reds will have all of China soon." " We must all keep our heads here." "I hope you'll write something dreadful for your paper about those ungrateful Chi..." "Oh!" "John Keith." "Now my party is a success." "Adeline, this is Han Suyin, my friend and colleague." "Han Suyin, I feel I've known you a long, long time." " You're a great artist, I understand." " I'm a doctor." "Oh, well, doctors are artists in their way." "I knew I'd heard something wonderful about you." "John, you know everybody, don't you?" " Suyin, I hardly expected to find you here." " Doctor's orders." "Adeline's husband is a hospital director." "You must let me speak to him, Dr Han." "There might be a place for you on the staff." " Thank you, but I am already on the staff." " Oh, how nice." "Well, then, we won't have to tell him, will we?" "I want you to meet Father Lowe." "He just escaped from China, too." "But I haven'tjust escaped from China." "I've been studying medicine in England." "I haven't been back to China for ten years." " But you are Chinese." " Eurasian." "My father was Chinese." "My mother was English." "I think of myself as Chinese, however." "I know exactly how you feel." "The minute I put on a Chinese frock, I feel Chinese." "If you have capital invested, you can double your money in Hong Kong in three months..." "Money, money, money." "Is so sordid, dear." "I want you to meet Dr Han." "This mercenary man is my husband." " Delighted, Doctor." " And this is Father Lowe." " And Mr Beager, Mr Wong and Mr..." " Bohannen, dear." "Oh, yes." "And Mrs Wong, Madame Monet, Mr Daney and Fiona Manton." "Father Lowe is fresh out of North China." "All the really nice people are getting out." " I was thrown out." " Rice converts, thas what they were." " Rice converts." " I loved them." "I knew them as I knew the back of my hand." "But they turned me out." "I'm sure I'll find China much changed when I return." " You're going back, Doctor?" " Don't tell us you're a Communist!" "No, but I became a doctor to help my people." "Like all Chinese, I'm spellbound by my own country." " You'll be shot." " I hope not!" " I'm not a politician or a missionary." " Really, I must say..." "You must say something to your other guests." " We know." "I'll pilot Suyin around." " Oh, thank you, John, thank you." " Oh, dear, I'm saying all the wrong things." " Not at all." " Getting your sense of balance back?" " Yeah." "And my sense of humour." "I'd heard that these parties were..." " Oh." "I left my fan." " Where?" "Well..." "I think I put it down when I was handed a cocktail." "I'll get it for you." "Wait here." " Dr Han?" "Is this yours?" " Thank you." " And these." " Thank you." "I'm Mark Elliott." " Kind of a dull party, isn't it?" " No, thank you." " Well, I'm a guest, Mr Elliott." " I'm a guest, too." "That gives me the right to call it dull." "I was supposed to meet you two weeks ago." " Were you?" " Mm-hm." "Fred Dixon wrote me, asked me to look you up." "I didn't as I thought you'd be an intellectual, with glasses." "Oh." "And where is Mr Dixon now?" "Oh, he's still in Malaya." "Would you have dinner with me tonight?" "I'm a very pleasant man." "Oh, I'm sure of that, but..." "I'm on duty." "When are you not on duty?" "If we were in Chungking, Mr Elliott," "Third Uncle would consider it unpardonable to accept." "No Chinese girl would dare dine alone with an American she had just met." " But we're not in Chungking." " I am still Chinese." "And half European." "I just heard you say so." "Now, will your European side reconsider?" " Why don't you call me at the hospital?" " I'll do that." " Oh, I see you found it." " Oh, this is Mr Elliott." "Dr John Keith." " We've met before." "Nice to see you again." " Yes." "Nice to see you." "I really can't believe that you're a doctor, Doctor." "What a shame we haven't a scalpel with us." "I could make a slight incision to convince you." "Tell me about Mark Elliott." "Don't know much." "He's a newspaperman." "Been around a couple of months." "A reporter." "Why?" "He's invited me to dinner." " Accepting?" " I haven't decided." " He's married, Suyin." " So are you, John, and I go out with you." "I happen to be in love with my wife." "He isn't." "And how do you know so much?" "Hong Kong is a small place." "Well, I dislike being a small person." "I'm not remotely interested in Mr Elliott." "I doubt if he'll call anyhow." " Dr Han here." " Are you on duty Wednesday?" "I have Wednesday afternoons off." "Good." "Is the night of the Moon Festival." "Will you have dinner with me?" " Where can I pick you up?" " Well..." "I'll meet you at the staff entrance of the hospital at six." " You're wearing European clothes." " My European side is going out with you." " I don't suppose you'd change?" " I certainly would not." " I love the dress you had on the other day." " I'll make you a present of it." " So you're a reporter?" " Please, a correspondent." " Whas the difference?" " About a hundred dollars a week." "The ssk is clear." "It is a good omen for the Moon Festival." "I arranged a full moon for you." " Have you ever been in Peking?" " Many times." "Do you know that in Peking, the moon is larger than anyplace else in the world?" "Now, thas very unscientific." "Is the same size everywhere." "Oh, no." "The moon is larger in Peking." "Much larger than in Hong Kong and London." "All right, if you insist." "When were you in Peking last?" "I was studying at the University of Peking in 1939." "I'd left by then." "I was in England in 1939." "Where were you in 1940?" " Italy." " I was in Malaya." "It seems that destiny never put us anywhere together at the same time." "Perhaps destiny intends something for us at last." "Oh, I don't think so." "I don't think destiny intends anything for us." "Of that I'm quite sure." " Whas all the noise about?" " A cloud has threatened the moon." "We must make a great noise to frighten it away, or the year will be unfavourable." " You don't really believe that, do you?" " Of course." "If we didn't believe the unbelievable, what would happen to faith?" "You see, the cloud was frightened away." "It is a good omen." "I wonder if there are men on the moon who celebrate an Earth Festival and shout to keep the clouds away from us." "I should like to think so." "Thas Maxwell Luderman over there, the industrialist." "He's just back from Beiping." "I've been trying to get to him for a statement." "Is he really the third-richest man in the world?" "First." "If you want an interview, why not ask him now?" "Oh, I don't think he likes correspondents." "And anyway, I'd like to finish up our own little interview." "Am I being interviewed?" "I want to know why you're so sure that destiny has nothing in store for us." "Well, I'm interested only in one thing:" "Medicine... and because I know myself." "You sound secure." "I doubt whether anyone is that secure." "I have known but one man in my life." "My husband." "He was a nationalist general." "Captured and shot by the Communists." "I believe in the human heart now only as a doctor." "I bet you're a good doctor." "But I still think that destiny might have something in store for us after all." " Why?" " Because you've retreated to a tower, and the only trouble with an ivory tower is is a temptation to lightning." "Lightning will not strike me, Mr Elliott." "Your honourable fish, sir." "Thank you for the moon and the honourable fish and the lovely evening." "You're entirely welcome." "I don't know when I've enjoyed an evening as much." " Good night." " I want to tell you something." "I'm married." " I knew you were married." " And you still went out with me?" "If you were happily married there could be no danger, and if you weren't, it could make no difference." "Will I see you again?" "Uh..." "I think not." "I think so." "I'll call you about next Wednesday." " Good night, Suyin." " Good night." " Good morning, Dr Sen." " Good morning, Dr Han." "You combine artistry with medicine, Dr Han." "Oh, no." "Just with love and sympathy." "Is a great privilege to watch you." "Ten days ago we didn't think she would live." "Look at her now." "She will be walking soon." "Have her parents or family been located?" "No, but the police are still searching." "However, with a million refugees from China in Hong Kong now, and more arriving each day, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack." "And more arriving each day, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack." "Why do they leave China?" "What can they expect to find here?" " A home." " Their home is China." "We'll mend her bones, make her well enough to send back into the streets to starve." "Oh, no." "Not Oh-No." "Someone will give her a home." "Dr Han, Mr Palmer-Jones would like to speak with you." "Thank you." "Who will in Hong Kong give her a home?" " Or any of the others like her?" " Oh, you can't tell." "I might adopt her myself." " Good morning, Mr Palmer-Jones." " Dr Han." "My wife says that nobody has been near her this morning." "I'm sorry." "I suppose we are late." "The wards are so crowded, we haven't caught up yet." " Do you visit the wards first?" " As a rule." "I see." "Well, would you, as a rule, be so kind as to look in on my wife first?" "Patience is not one of her virtues." " I'll go in and see her now." " Thank you." "Good morning, Mrs Palmer-Jones." "Oh!" "Oh, I certainly am glad to see you, Dr Han." "The person who brought my breakfast didn't speak one word of English." "Was it a nice breakfast?" "The only thing that was hot was the orange juice." "I'll have your tray removed." " Ah, the arm looks better." " Doesn't feel better." "There's hardly any swelling left." "Imagine being bitten by a centipede in this day and age." " Is so undignified." " And painful." "I can give you one cheerful bit of news." " Oh?" " You may go home tomorrow." "Oh, no, no, I can't." "I can't possibly." "My living room is being painted and it won't be dry for a week." " We'll make arrangements." " Thank you." "You're a dear." "I must do something for you." "What would you like?" " A bigger hospital." " Huh?" "You mustn't bite people, Rosie Wu." "I had to give the man an injection." "It was quite painful." "Come on." "Suyin, are you going to town this afternoon?" "No, is my Wednesday off." "I think I'm going to dinner." "Why?" "I was going to ask you to buy me some snails for my new goldfish." "Dr Han, telephone." " Won't the pet shop send them?" " It hardly seems worth it for two snails." " Dr Han here." " Suyin, Mark." "I said I'd call about Wednesday." "I hoped we could dine together tonight, but I have to fly to Singapore on an assignment." "I'd postpone it, but the airline schedule doesn't work out." "Oh, yes, I understand." " If I'm back next week, can we dine then?" " Well, we'll see." "When I called you earlier, they said you were doing a hysterectomy." " Whas a hysterectomy?" " Nothing that would interest you." " You don't mind my calling when I'm back?" " No." "No, I don't mind at all." "Do call when you get back." "Will two snails be enough, John?" "Hmm?" "Oh, yes, yes, ample." "Suyin." "Suyin!" "Are you not Suyin?" "Oh, I know you." "You're Suzanne." "We went to convent together." " Yes." " How nice!" "I was sure it was you." "Come sit with me." "Another cup, please." "You recognise me after all this time?" "Well, you've dyed your hair, but I know you." "That proves you remember me." "Now tell me about yourself." "Is been so long, yet it all comes swiftly back." "I remember the morning you kicked the mother superior in the shins." "I did not kick Mother Superior." "It was Sister Angela." "And she limped into chapel to pray for your soul." "And I'm afraid she did not pray hard enough." "What has happened to you since convent days?" "I went to a Chinese university for a while." "I toured Europe." "I married." "My husband was killed." "I finished medicine in England." "I'm now a resident doctor here at the Victoria Hospital." "You never married again?" "No, as a Chinese widow, I have become completely unfeeling." "I'm afraid my heart is safely dead." "Well, I have to be in love to go on living." "Now is an important Englishman." "I pass for English now." "I hope you won't give me away." "Oh, Suzanne, you should be proud to be Eurasian." "And proud of your Chinese heritage." "Nonsense." "You can't be two things at once." "And I advise you, pass for English if you decide to go away." "Well, I'm considering going back to China." "It would be rather foolish to pass for English, don't you think?" "Well..." " Oh, I must fly away home." " Oh, must you?" "Yes." "My new love wants me to be in my flat when he drops by for tea." "We only have half an hour together before he has to have tea with his wife." "Is ruining his digestion." "We must see each other soon." " Call me at the hospital." " I shall." "Give the waiter please the change." "I always see people as fish." "Separated from the rest of the world, they become unfit to dwell together." "These, the fighting fish." "These, the peaceful." "These have sought safety in darkness." "They've lost their vision and the light terrifies them." "What species am I, John?" "You're the peaceful." "I shouldn't like to see you become like these, swimming into deep water, losing your vision." "Now, what do you mean by that?" "I hear Mark Ellios gone to Singapore." "Yes, his paper sent him on an assignment." "Very convenient for him." "Did you know that his wife lives in Singapore?" "There seems to be a conspiracy to arouse my interest in Mark Elliott." "Be careful, lest you succeed." "They told me if I'd wait here that you'd be out sooner or later." " When did you get back?" " This morning." "Would you like to go swimming this afternoon?" "Is your afternoon off, so work is no excuse." "I'd sort of made plans to visit friends of mine across the bay." "Well, is a lovely day." "Couldn't you do both?" "Mark Elliott!" "What in the world are you doing here?" "Oh, I show up in strange places." "You promised to keep me another week, Dr Han." " I kept you as long as I could." " I forgive you." "I hear you were in Singapore." "Your wife musve been delighted to see you." "Why don't you come up for tea this afternoon?" "Did you know that I was bitten by a centipede?" "Yes to the first question, no to the second, can't to the third and no to the last." "Well, I was." "If a handsome man like you bit me, I wouldn't have minded a bit, but a centipede..." " Do I expect you?" " Sorry, I'm working this afternoon." "Oh." "Well, you'll hear from me." "Goodbye, Dr Han." "Are we going swimming?" "Mark, going out with you once was harmless enough." "I don't want my seeing you to be awkward." "Hong Kong has a peculiar code, and malice is a pleasant pastime for women with nothing to do." "Oh." "Would it make any difference if I told you that I didn't see my wife when I was in Singapore?" "Six years ago, she said she never wanted to see me again." "She hasn't changed her mind, and neither have I." "Now, will you go swimming with me?" " Well, I..." "I don't know." " Take your time." "You're obviously a woman who's extremely careful about making up her mind." " How's this?" " Oh, beautiful." " How's this?" " Oh, beautiful." "I'll change." "I, um..." "I'd like to explain about my wife." " You did." " No." "I want you to know that I tried to make a go of it." "I'd like you to believe that." "A great many mistakes are made in the name of loneliness." "There's no need to discuss it, Mark." "All right, I won't bring it up again." "You're brown." "You've been in the sun." "Yes, I've been playing a lot of tennis." "What am I going to do if you go back to China?" "Play more tennis." "You're not really going back to Chungking, are you?" "It wouldn't be good for you to see too much of me anyhow." "Might even be harmful." " Oh?" "Why?" " I'm Eurasian." "The word itself seems to suggest a certain moral laxity in the minds of some people." "People never think of what words mean." "They feel them." " You're talking about stupid people." " Make no mistake, I'm proud to be Eurasian." "I like to think we combine the best qualities of both races, that we are the answer to race snobbery." "Well, you're certainly the answer to a lot of things for me." "Mark, like everyone else in Hong Kong, you're at loose ends." "I think you probably need a love affair, but I'm not the answer." "I will make no mistakes in the name of loneliness." "I have my work and an uncomplicated life." "I don't want to feel anything again, ever." "A moment ago you said that words had no meanings." "That people have to feel." "Les not tax the day with self-analysis." "The friends I was going to see have a house across the bay." " Shall we swim over and drop in on them?" " Why not?" " You tired?" " No." "I just want to drift and feel the sun on my face." "You know, the last few weeks I've come alive." "I like it." "You've been good for me, Mark." "I don't feel that the whole world is sick any longer." "I'm glad." "Well, look!" "Oh!" "Why do you look so surprised?" "You expected me, didn't you?" "Yes, but I didn't expect you to come out of the ocean." " Nora, this is Mark Elliott." " How do you do?" " Robert and Ann." " We've met before." "I'll get some towels." " Hi, Ann." " Hi, Mark." "Suyin, I never thought of you as Venus rising from the sea." "Suyin didn't have anything to wear so I suggested we swim over." " I'll get you some dry things." " And something wet in a glass for you." " Run along." "Use my room." " Thanks." "Well, you're a sly one." "When did Mark Elliott discover medicine?" " I don't know what you mean." " "I don't know what you mean." Oh, really?" "Can't two intelligent people enjoy each other's company and let it rest there?" "Not if you're Mark Elliott and Han Suyin." "Do you like him?" "I didn't swim across the bay to escape him." "I knew it." "If ever I saw anyone looking moonstruck in the sunshine, is you." "Oh, nonsense." "Truth is, I have no intention of falling in love." "Listen to her." "He is a nice human being." "We are friends." "I'm going to keep it that way." "With everything thas going on, you think Hong Kong's safe?" " Well, is anyplace safe?" " Have you men been talking about us?" " No, China." " Oh." "Les forget China." "Have some music." "You see, you can't escape." "We forget that China lies just across the hill." "I think that the relationship between the East and the West should be closer." "Don't you, Doctor?" "You taste of salt." "Mark..." "There is an old Chinese proverb:" ""Do not wake a sleeping tiger."" "Certainly not in a small boat." " I'm not being facetious." " Nor am I." "I think I'm in love with you." "Mark, you don't know about me." "You kiss a girl and it doesn't mean anything to you." "Just a kiss." "But it isn't so with me." "I..." "I feel..." " Not that I don't like you, for I do." " I wouldn't do anything to upset you." "I have never known any man but my husband." "I feel on the brink of something." "I don't want to feel this way." "It frightens me." "You don't want to catch cold." "Suyin?" "Suyin?" "Sorry." "I was in the midst of an argument." "An argument?" "My Chinese side was debating with my European side." "What about?" "Sleeping tigers." "Mark..." "Could I have a cigarette?" "I've never seen you smoke." "I rarely do." "You still think we have no destiny together?" "I have decided one thing:" "That you must decide, for you are stronger than I am." "No, I think you're the strong one." "Then you are wrong." "For you are gentle, and there is nothing stronger in the world than gentleness." "You know what is going to happen if we go on seeing each other." "I know we're going to go on seeing each other." "You'd better not take me on, you know." "You'd better get away from me while you can." "There's still time." "One starts these things pretending it doesn't matter." "Stop worrying, darling." "Where can we meet tomorrow?" "There's a tree at the top of the hill behind the hospital and a path leading up from the road." " I will meet you there at five." " I'll be waiting." "Dr Han here." "Good night." "Good night." "I'm late." "When I didn't see you, I was afraid you had gone." "You're early." "We're both early." "Give me your hand." "Time passes so quickly." "I didn't want to be late." "I wasn't thinking about time." "How good it is to know a man who doesn't live his life measuring time in bits and pieces." "I like it so much." "Hong Kong." "The hoard of ajewel thief." "What incredible hands you have." "They curve like a Balinese dancer's." "I have always been afraid of hands." "Men's hands." "I am not afraid of yours." " Please do not move." "Stay very still." " Why?" "A butterfly has perched on your shoulder." "Is a sign of good luck." "Oh, you shouldn't have turned!" "It was a good omen." "Why, you're superstitious." "And you a doctor!" "But I was born to superstition." "In China, when a peasant has a son, he dresses him in girl's clothes and gives him a girl's name because he's afraid that the jealous gods may take him away." "Or if the crop in the field is bountiful, he stands in the ditch and shakes his head and cries aloud" ""Bad rice, bad rice!"" "He does this to propitiate the gods, to deceive them." "And so it is with me." "I should like to deceive the gods." "For if they notice me, they may be jealous." "We mustn't let the angry gods notice us." " Bad rice, bad rice!" " Be quiet!" "I am very serious." "So am I." "Dr Sen, this gentleman is looking for Dr Han." " Dr Han is on duty." " Yes, I know, but she left urgent word at the office for me to call her." " Urgent?" " Yes, so I came over." "I'm Mark Elliott." " I'm Dr Sen. Will you come with me?" " Thank you." " Dr Han, Mr Elliott to see you." " Thank you, Doctor." " What are you doing here?" " I got your message at the office." "I called." "They said you were in surgery, so rather than wait, I came on over." "I didn't mean that urgent." "Is all right." "Thank you." " Whas happened?" " We can't talk here." "I'm just going off duty." " Would you like to see how I live?" " Sure." "Magnificent, isn't it?" "The warm-water pipes run under my floor." "The cockroaches grow enormous and fight great duels." "They thrive on DDT, so I leave them alone." "Now I can visualise your surroundings when I'm not with you." "You look sleepy." "You've got marks of weariness under your eyes." "I do a lot of writing at night so I can spend... more time with you." "Shall I make you some coffee?" "Now, what upsets you?" "Why did you call me?" " I'm going to Chungking in the morning." " Why?" "I received an urgent cable from my uncle." "He is the head of my family since my mother and father died." "Something has happened at home." "Something about Suchen." " Who is Suchen?" " A younger sister." "I haven't seen her since... for several years." "Can't you handle this without going to Chungking?" "Mark, it isn't only Suchen." "I want to see China again." "To see if it is what I really want to go back to." "And also I..." "I think I must get away from you for a while." "Get away from me?" "Now, why?" "To adjust to certain truths and not let them bother me." "Thas foolish nonsense." "Unless you've changed your mind about me." "No." "But I can't help asking myself what I will get out of this except to become a cheap Hong Kong Eurasian." "That can never be true and I don't want you to say it." "Well, I will say it." "Then I've been wrong about you." "I don't understand your thinking." "How could you?" "You're not Eurasian." "Your pride and sense of dignity are not involved." "Of course they are!" "You're not something I picked up off the street." " You're oversensitive about being Eurasian." " I am trying to be sensible." "You are an American." "In my heart I am Chinese." "You are married." "I am a widow." "You are ajournalist, a front-row spectator not directly involved." "I am a doctor deeply involved, with a duty toward my people." " I don't want anything sordid to..." " Sordid?" "!" "I'm in love with you." "Don't you understand, Suyin?" "I love you." "Oh, Mark." "We both know that even the fat, ugly people of this world believe that being in love makes them beautiful and justifies everything." "I want something better than that for us." "While I stand around biting my fingers until you decide I'm worth the risk." "Oh, Mark." "Don't let your male vanity enter this." "You don't have to go to Chungking to rid your conscience of me." " I'll get out now." " Don't threaten me, Mark." "Thas not a threat." " Is this seat occupied?" " Suyin, sit down." "Suzanne, are you going to Chungking?" " No, we're going to Kwajalein." " We?" "I'm not alone." "We thought it would be better if we sat separately." "He's one of the directors of the hospital." "I'll get your salary raised." "Should we seem so friendly?" " He might suspect you're not English." " Oh, he found out." "Thought I was doing it for his sake, so he bought me this." " Isn't that lovely?" " Is beautiful." "These are real diamonds." "La-loo." " Third Uncle." " Suyin." "Third Aunt." " Cousin Lee Foo." " May Yin, Cousin Suyin." " Cousin Lee Chung." " Shaw Fong, Cousin Suyin." "Cousin Lee Wong?" "Yen Feng, Cousin Suyin." "We have waited for this moment." "We hope that you have not changed within you." "I am the same, and you are as I remembered you." " Your face is fuller." " It was not yesterday." "Some of the family thought that you would be foreign to us." "You do not seem strange." "I feel like the locust that has suddenly cast its shell." "You are at home." "We shall now have tea and speak of absurdities." "May we now speak of Suchen, Third Uncle?" "Suchen has brought disgrace on us." "She has gone to live in the house of a foreigner." "Not 50 yards from our home, she is living under the protection of this alien." "Why?" "She fears that when the Communists take over Chungking that she will be shot." "She thinks they won't harm her in the house of a foreigner." "Our clan has never begged of foreigners." "May I see her, Third Uncle?" "It has grown dark." "I will send a boy to light the way for you." "It is I" " Suyin, elder sister." "I didn't think you'd come." "Of course I'd come." "Now tell me..." "What is this disgrace you've brought on our family?" "You accuse me?" "You have become a foreigner yourself." "You are free." "You can return to Hong Kong." "Third Uncle will not secure a passport for me, so I must stay and be shot when the Communists come." "And would you stand under the protection of the foreigner and watch if your family was shot?" "They could flee." "But they will not." "I am sick of Chungking." "I want to be as free as you to live my life... and forget China." "If I get you a passport, will you return to the family and wipe out this obligation to the foreigner?" "I want only to get away." "You will have your passport." "Yes?" "I couldn't risk letting you get away from me, so I came after you." "Is there someplace where we can go and talk for a moment?" "Third Uncle, we would like to go into the courtyard and talk privately." "Will you graciously grant permission?" "The night is cool." "I shall have tea waiting to warm you." "Suyin, will you marry me?" "But you are not free..." "I'll get my freedom as soon as we return." "I don't want to make you do anything that will hurt others." "You won't like that." "And you won't like me." "I want to know if you'll marry me." "I will always do what you want me to do." "Then is settled." "It is settled." "Yet I should like permission of my uncle." "It would hurt him not to make this gesture." "Sit here, Suyin." "There, Mr Elliott." "Third Uncle..." "I respectfully ask your permission to become the wife of Mark Elliott." " Where would you live?" " In Hong Kong, with Mark." "And will you now give up your vow to medicine for devotion to Mr Elliott?" "I won't ask Suyin to give up being a doctor to be my wife, sir." "Suyin... you are a Chinese citizen." "When your passport expires, you may not be granted the right to practise in Hong Kong." "Where would you go?" "If Suyin wanted to practise medicine in China, I would live here." "The new tapestry will be tightly woven, Mr Elliott." "You would not fit into its hard pattern." "We can always go to America." "Ah, yes." "It can begin in flight, pull up roots, and wither and die." "Third Aunt, do you believe that this is wrong?" "You have asked, and I must answer." "He is a foreigner." "Well, that I can't change." "We are not strange to this problem, Mr Elliott." "Suyin's father left the land of his ancestors for a European." "He left part of his heart." "I would rather face the future without hope than the present without Mark." "Then you must do what you have to do." "We cannot stem the tide of change." "Leave nothing behind with us, Suyin." "Enter this marriage wholeheartedly." "We believe thatjade, if worn long enough, becomes the person who wears it." "They have given me something of themselves to take away." "Back to earth again." "The sun is out." "It is a good omen." "We don't have to worry about omens." "Fate isn'tjealous of us." "At the airport, I'll make arrangements to fly on to Singapore." "At once?" "This is something I can't handle in a letter." "I have to see her." "Of course." "I will test myself at missing you." "You bite your nails." "Yes, I know." "If you stop, it will be because you are completely peaceful and completely mine." "Will passengers make sure to take possessions as they leave the plane?" "That means you." "You've changed since I last saw you." "You're radiant." "Beautiful." "Is Mark." "And you used to be so shy and inhibited." "Is Mark." "Don't keep saying "Is Mark, is Mark"," " as if is never happened to anyone before." " Not to me." " When does Mark get back?" " As soon as he's settled about his divorce." "Fat chance he has of getting it." " Why do you say that?" " I'm a realist." "I've met his wife." "She doesn't want him, but will hold onto him until she finds someone she wants." "Well, I think Mark will come back free to marry Suyin." "Ann, being Mark, would you give up so much to marry me?" "No, I wouldn't." "I consider it quite idiotic of him." "And idiotic of you, too." "After all, you're quite happy as you are." "Oh, well, why spoil everything anyhow?" "All the fun goes out when you get serious." "You must admit is difficult for Mark." "And your being Chinese doesn't make it any easier for him." " You talk too much." " You all talk too much." "Suyin, is the hospital." "There's a cablegram for you." "Dr Han here." "Read the cablegram to me, please." "Thank you." "Well, what is it, darling?" " It was Mark." " What did he say?" "He said "I have stopped biting my fingernails."" " Mark..." " She won't release me." "I guessed as much when I saw your face." "What are we going to do, Suyin?" "I had prepared myself for the possibility of failure." "Nothing is different." "I am as much to you as the pleasure I bring you." "When I sent you the cable, she had agreed to the divorce." "Then later she changed her mind." "You're quite right." "Nothing is different." "We can still hope that she will change her mind again." "Mark, go home and rest." "I will see you tomorrow." "You didn't get enough sleep, did you?" "How can you tell?" "I can tell whether you've had enough sleep or worked too hard or had enough to eat." "I found a cable waiting." "I have to go to Macao on a story." "Oh, of course." "Then you must go." "But I don't want to be away from you for a week." "You won't be far." "But a whole week, Suyin." "Do you think you could join me in a few days?" "Yes." "I'll arrange it." "Now, darling, if you think is unwise, I'll understand." "To go on living, one must be occasionally unwise." " Why are you smiling?" " Oh, I don't know." "The way you walk, the way you talk." "Everything about you." "I love you, Suyin." " Dr Han here." " Oh, Dr Han?" "This is Adeline Palmer-Jones here." "Could you come over this morning?" "Oh..." "Would you mind if Dr Sen came instead?" "I'm going on holiday." "I was just leaving." "Well, it is important." "I sprained my ankle." "Very well." "I'll stop by on my way to the boat." "Oh..." "It was nice of you to come, Dr Han." " I don't understand." "I thought..." " I didn't sprain my ankle." "I wanted to talk to you." "Won't you sit down?" "I have a taxi waiting, Mrs Palmer-Jones." "I'm catching the boat for Macao." "Thas what I want to talk to you about." "Sit down." "Now, no one hates gossip more than I do, and nobody is more tolerant than I am." "But there are certain conventions that must be observed, especially with this..." "ticklish situation in China." "And there's been some ugly talk about you and Mr Elliott." "May I ask what sort of talk?" "Oh, the usual kind." "Mr Elliott is married, you know." "I've known that from the beginning." "Oh." "Well, Mr Palmer-Jones feels that the personnel at the hospital should not be indiscreet." " I thought I should warn you, my dear." " Thank you." "Please feel free to call me if you do sprain your ankle." " I'm Dr Han." " Yes, Dr Han." "Mr Elliott telephoned." "He will be delayed." "I hope you will be comfortable." "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." "It isn't often that I do." "You locked yourself in." "Why?" "I locked the world out." "Oh, Mark, I..." "I don't know what has happened to me." "I'm like a seed, sprouting up, clutching at life." "I can hear and... and smell the sun." "I am conscious of surfaces and their textures." "I have such an awareness." "Such an awareness." "Oh, pity the poor people with their sad faces, who have missed what we have." "You know, I was thinking last night of that line in Thompson's poem:" ""'Tis ye, 'tis your estranged faces" "That miss the many-splendored thing."" "I'm so happy, it frightens me." "I have a feeling that heaven is unfair and is preparing for you and for me a great sadness because we have been given so much." "Darling, whatever happens, always remember:" "Nothing is fair nor unfair under heaven." "Is a funeral procession." "They make it seem so festive." "He was a good man... who had a good life." "Are you making that up?" "No." "The sign they carry says so." "I've always wondered why the relatives walk in the enclosure." "They hide their grief." "Oh, how good it is to be alive." "Two men in the lift are former generals, old friends of my family." " They didn't speak to you." " They realised I was here to see you." "It would have been not polite to speak." " Good evening, señor." " Table for two, please." "Did you book a reservation?" "No." "This way, please." "Mr Elliott." "You do not want this table." "I can get you a nicer one." "No, is all right, Mr Vicente." "This is Dr Han." "Mr Vicente is the proprietor." "A doctor?" "Business good?" "I'm not in private practice." "Too bad." "Ought to make money now." "Woman doctor - make your fortune in no time." "Men do not like their wives to be seen by men doctors." " You stay in Macao." " I'll consider it." "Thank you." "How long will we be in Macao?" "Can you stay a week?" "I can't... but I will." "Do you think we should be seen together?" "I want all of my friends to say" ""Who is that beautiful Chinese girl Mark Ellios out with?"" "Eurasian." "The gentleman would like champagne?" "No." "Two very dry martinis." "Very dry." "Trust me." "The driest." " Do you know what I'd like to do after?" " What?" "I should like to go to a Chinese fortune-teller and listen to his gorgeous lies." "The lady would like her fortune told." "Fortune written in sand." "I would like a lovely fortune, please." "Oh..." "Oh, you very lucsk." "Going to own big house." "Well, not too big." "A-ha, many children." "How many?" "Oh, ten children." "Maybe 15." "How many?" "Oh, too many." "Look again." "Four children." "Will we have a long and lovely life together?" "Oh... years very hard to tell." "Cost more." "I have a feeling he's the one thas gonna wind up with the big house." "Inside box, blue beetle and white beetle." "White beetle, woman; blue beetle, man." "If both beetles go to far box, mean long life together." "You watch." "You have long life together. 87 year." "Thank you." "Thank you for a happy future." "And thank your blessed beetles, too." "There is a cable for you." " Thank you." " You're welcome." "Wait for me here, would you?" " What time is the next boat to Hong Kong?" " In about one hour and 50 minutes." " Make reservations for me, please." " Yes, sir." "But why Korea?" "North Korea invaded the South, crossing the 38th Parallel last night." "There isn't much time." "We'll have to pack." "Is only a little war, isn't it?" "Is hard to tell." "Will it last long?" "Oh, I don't think very long." "Couple of weeks." "Maybe three." "Could you possibly not go?" "No, I could not possibly not go." "I thought not." "Our gorgeous lie did not even last the night." "I'm going to the news office." "I'll call you the moment I get any information." "Oh..." "Well, good morning, Dr Han." "Good morning, Mrs Palmer-Jones." "Did you enjoy your trip to Macao?" "Yes, thank you." "We had an explosion in the harbour while you were away." "You were badly needed here." "My husband was most disturbed at your absence." "Well... is nice that you're back." " Good morning, Dr Han." " Good morning, Dr Sen." "Did she tell you?" "Yes." "I'm sorry I wasn't here in the emergency." "Did she tell you that your residency here is not being renewed?" "No." "Well, that isn't too important." "But I should have been here." "Do you think that is the real reason you're being dismissed?" "No." "It is because you are Eurasian." "Oh, no, I doubt that, Sen." "Anyway, this isn't the only hospital in Hong Kong." "You will not be offered another residency." "Then I'll go into private practice." "Do you think the English will seek you out?" "They turn to their own kind." "That should not be your concern, Sen." "Go back to China, Suyin." "There you will be given a hospital of your own." "Go back to China." "I think she's put on a bit of weight." "Soap and affection make a world of difference." "She's being discharged in my care." "Haven't you enough problems already?" "This is Dr Han." "I'm expecting a call." "When it comes, will you ring me here, please?" "Thank you." "Extension 3-1." "How do you say "Take a deep breath"?" "Wouldn't it be better if she sang for you?" "Yes, it would." "Dr Han here." "Suyin, I've just been notified about transportation." "Can you meet me in a half an hour?" "Yes." "I'll meet you at the airport." "No, I don't want to say goodbye at the airport." "On the hill, in half an hour, darling." "Mm-hm." "How do you turn her off?" "Give me your hand." "Every woman in love should have a secret garden." "And every man in love should have a mountain." "Mark... do you remember the man you wanted to interview?" "The one you said was the first richest person in the world." " Well, he isn't." " You are." " How did you know?" " I've learned to read your mind, too." "In the next life, let us be birds." "According to the laws of reincarnation, in the next life I will be a woman and you will be a man." "Oh, no." "I refuse to be a man." "You have reconciled me to being a woman." "All right, I'll take you as you are." "I'm sure I should go as limp at the sight of you in the next life as I do in this one." "What sort of things will you write about in Korea?" "Oh, the same sort of things I wrote about in Africa, Indonesia." "The cold facts of war." "The other things that tell of men afraid, men suffering, people caught up in events they can't understand." "Mark, do correspondents ever get killed?" "Mm-hm." "Friend of mine got killed by a bus in Tosko." "If anything happens to you," "I shall give up medicine." "I would hate my fellow man too much for having hurt you." "Then I would be the worst thing that happened to you." "And I would know it." " What time should you leave?" " Ten minutes ago." "War has strapped you to a watch." "Unfortunately, my plane leaves on schedule." "I wanted to bring you a present, but there wasn't time." "You know I've never given you anything?" "Oh, Mark, what a wrong and dreadful thing to say." "What a nice thing to reply." "I have to go now, and I don't want you to be sad." "I won't be sad." "Sadness is so ungrateful." "And I don't want you to come down the path with me." "I want to look back and see you here." "I will be here when you come back to me, I promise." "Remember the blue beetle?" "It promised us a long and happy life." "Nora, this is Suyin." "Mark is gone, and I've lost my position here at the hospital." "Could I stay with you for a while?" "Oh, for goodness sake, Suyin." "Come and stay as long as you like." "And could I bring my little Oh-No with me?" "We both have a need for friends at the moment." "You bring Oh-No, Third Uncle, Nine Aunt, anyone you want." "Thank you, Nora." "It won't be for long." "Come in." "Yes?" "Thank you, dear." "Goodbye." " Can I talk to you for a moment?" " Of course, Dr Sen." " When do you leave the hospital, Suyin?" " Tomorrow." "In a week I'm returning to China." "Have you thought about going back?" " I must stay in Hong Kong." " Because of Mr Elliott?" "Yes, as a matter of fact." "So you're willing to sacrifice your country for a romantic attachment to one man?" " Sen..." " A man who won't even marry you." "Where's your pride, Suyin?" "I will not allow you to make me feel small, selfish or ashamed." "Forget this man, Suyin." "It is a weakness unworthy of you." "There's no longer any place in the world for weakness." "Then there is no place for doctors, since our approach to weakness is sympathetic." "But you feel as we do." "I have watched you." "You hate the poverty and the pain you see here." "I hate it everywhere." "But that doesn't make me a Communist like you, Sen." "Itjust makes me try to be a better doctor." "China has been reborn, Suyin." "Our people are free at last." "Sen, refugees pour into Hong Kong at the rate of 3,000 a day." "As a man who believes in this new order, doesn't it disturb you that so many flee from freedom?" "You're no longer Chinese." "You're not facing the truth." "Look into the mirror and see yourself." "Maybe that is the difference in our viewpoints, Sen." "You look into the mirror and see truth reflected." "But I think it is an illusion." "For in the mirror, what is right is left, and what is left is right." "Ahh..." "Ooh." "We drove out to see you and you weren't home." "Where have you been?" " Job-hunting." " Any luck?" "Yes, I was offered ajob typing medical reports." "Suyin, would you go and see Mr Palmer-Jones if I arrange it?" "I wouldn't have a month ago." " But time has nibbled at my pride." " I'll call him tomorrow." "Oh-No." "Oh-No!" "You read your letter, and we'll go in and fix tea." "Is she taking care of herself?" "She looks worried and tired." "I think she looks wonderful for someone with half a heart." "I have received your letters, number eight and 11, but nine and ten are missing." "Wonderful moon at night, each night a little bigger, rising a little farther to the left, taking a little longer to reach the trees on the right." "Twice, like a ritual, I read your letter by its light." "Last night, wonder of wonders," "I not only had a clean camp bed, but I was able to place it so it faced the open window and our friend, the moon." "I'm picking up Robert." "Would you like to come?" "No, I'll stay." " We'll stop at a cake shop for tea first." " Stop worrying about me." "It is difficult enough when I think of your kindness to me." "I'm not kind." "I'm just practical." "With a household full of children, I just wanted a doctor in the house." "What on earth are you doing?" "I'm making a good-luck prayer for Mark." " Oh, Suyin." " I know it is foolish." "But I must feel I'm doing something to protect him." "Glory be!" "Numbers nine and ten finally arrived, old and worn, but mighty welcome." "Expect to be in Seoul tomorrow." "My bottom is worn to the bone with bouncing about in jeeps on bumpy roads." "I used to think I'd run out of things to write you." "More fool I..." "Oh-No..." "It is no one's fault." "These things happen." "UN troops have withdrawn to positions at Pusan." " North Korea is expected to launch..." " Stop listening to that." " A letter from Mark." " Thank you." "You must have enough letters from him now to start a bonfire." "I wouldn't burn them, but they would make a lovely glow." "Nora... you know, it often seems that" "Mark is with me more while he is away than when he is here." " Do you think thas strange?" " Well, no, I don't." " Nora." " Oh, here's Ann." "Nora, come here a minute." " What is it, Ann?" " Hello, Ann." "What in the world is the matter?" "There's something in the paper." " What?" " Suyin, is about Mark." " What about Mark?" " No, don't." "Don't, Suyin." "Dead... or a prisoner?" " He's dead." " Oh, sweetheart." "Is not true." "Is not true." "Nora... is a lie." "I won't believe it!" "I do not know what is to happen, darling." "But this I do know:" "Life's greatest tragedy is not to be loved." "God has been good to us, Suyin." "He is dead." "But his letters will come... one by one." "They will continue to come one by one." "Suyin... there is nothing fair nor unfair under heaven." "God has been good to us, Suyin." "It makes me very proud of you to know that any unhappiness of your own could never blind you to the pain of others." "Give me your hand." "I often think that healing is man's salvation, and I envy your ability to help." "You deal with suffering, but you can do something about it." "I can only stand and watch." "We have not missed, you and I." "We have not missed that many-splendored thing." "Love is a many-splendored thing" "Is the April rose that only grows in the early spring" "Love is nature's way of giving" "A reason to be living" "The golden crown that makes a man a king" "Once on a high and windy hill" "In the morning mist, two lovers kissed" "And the world stood still" "Then your fingers touched my silent heart" "And taught it how to sing" "Yes, true love's a many-splendored thing"