Allow me to sell you this pound of tea,' he added, showing me a paper parcel.'On the envelope there is a printed account of the Chinese system of writing, extracted from authors of the most established reputation.These things I print, principally with the hope of, in some degree, removing the worse than Gothic ignorance prevalent amongst natives of these parts.I am from London myself.With respect to all that relates to the Chinese real imperial tea, I assure you sir, that - ' Well, to make short of what you doubtless consider a very tiresome story, I purchased the tea and carried it home.The tea proved imperially bad, but the paper envelope really contained some information on the Chinese language and writing, amounting to about as much as you gained from me the other day.On learning that the marks on the teapot expressed words, I felt my interest with respect to them considerably increased, and returned to the task of inspecting them with greater zeal than before, hoping, by continually looking at them, to be able eventually to understand their meaning, in which hope you may easily believe I was disappointed, though my desire to understand what they represented continued on the increase.In this dilemma I determined to apply again to the shopkeeper from whom I bought the tea.I found him in rather low spirits, his shirt-sleeves were soiled, and his hair was out of curl.
On my inquiring how he got on, he informed me that he intended speedily to leave, having received little or no encouragement, the people, in their Gothic ignorance, preferring to deal with an old-fashioned shopkeeper over the way, who, so far from possessing any acquaintance with the polity and institutions of the Chinese, did not, he believed, know that tea came from China.'You are come for some more, I suppose?' said he.On receiving an answer in the negative he looked somewhat blank, but when I added that I came to consult with him as to the means which I must take in order to acquire the Chinese language he brightened up.'You must get a grammar,' said he, rubbing his hands.'Have you not one?' said I.'No,' he replied, 'but any bookseller can procure you one.' As I was taking my departure, he told me that as he was about to leave the neighbourhood, the bowl at the window, which bore the inscription, besides some other pieces of porcelain of a similar description, were at my service, provided I chose to purchase them.I consented, and two or three days afterwards took from off his hands all the china in his possession which bore the inscriptions, paying what he demanded.Had I waited till the sale of his effects, which occurred within a few weeks, I could probably have procured it for a fifth part of the sum which I paid, the other pieces realizing very little.I did not, however, grudge the poor fellow what he got from me, as I considered myself to be somewhat in his debt for the information he had afforded me.
"As for the rest of my story, it may be briefly told.Ifollowed the advice of the shopkeeper, and applied to a bookseller who wrote to his correspondent in London.After a long interval, I was informed that if I wished to learn Chinese, I must do so through the medium of French, there being neither Chinese grammar nor dictionary in our language.
I was at first very much disheartened.I determined, however, at last to gratify my desire of learning Chinese, even at the expense of learning French.I procured the books, and in order to qualify myself to turn them to account, took lessons in French from a little Swiss, the usher of a neighbouring boarding-school.I was very stupid in acquiring French; perseverance, however, enabled me to acquire a knowledge sufficient for the object I had in view.
