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By Root 5628 0

decided that they would have to be discreetly helped in the right direction, though this tended to undermine the impression of surprised innocence she had been hoping to convey. Even this did not really improve matters, however, because Matthew’s fingers were made clumsy by theoretical instructions which began belatedly to arrive from his brain. Finally, Vera had to become thoroughly practical and take off all her clothes herself: they did not amount to much, anyway, and if crumpled up would easily have fitted into one of Matthew’s pockets. Matthew also took the opportunity to remove his own clothes and, as he did so, a dense cloud of white dust rose from his loins and hung glimmering in the lamplight. Vera looked surprised at so much dust, wondering whether his private parts might not be covered in cobwebs too. But Matthew hurriedly explained that it was just talcum from his evening bath. Once this had been settled the twin rivers of yin and yang which, though flowing in the same direction, one in shadow, the other in sunlight, had been separated by a range of mountains, now begun to turn gently towards each other as the mountains became hills and the hills sloped down to the wide valley.

And yet before the rivers joined, one river flowing into the other, the other flowing into the one, there was still some way to go. Vera, who had carefully educated herself in the arts of love, did not believe that this sacred art, whose purpose was to unite her not only with her lover but with the earth and the firmament, too, should take place in the Western manner which to her resembled nothing so much as a pair of drunken rickshaw coolies colliding briefly at some foggy cross-roads at the dead of night. But in order to do things properly it was clear that she would have to give Matthew a hasty but basic education in what was expected of him. For one thing, a common terminology had to be established; Matthew’s grasp of such matters had proved even more elementary than she had feared. Indeed, he seemed thoroughly bewildered as he stood there naked and blinking, for he had taken off his spectacles and put them down on the pile of books by the bed. So Vera set to work giving names to various parts, first pointing them out where applicable on Matthew, then on her own pretty person.

‘This is called “kuei-tou” or “yü-ching” or, how d’you say, hmm, “jade flower-stem” … or sometimes “nan-ching” or even “yang-feng”, OK?’ But Matthew could only gaze at her in astonishment and she had to repeat what she had said.

‘Now d’you think you’ve got it?’ she enquired, and could not help adopting the rather condescending tone which had once been adopted by the missionary who had taught her English years ago.

‘You mean, all those words mean that?’ asked Matthew, indicating the part in question.

‘Well, not literally, of course. One, you see, means “head of turtle”, another “jade stalk” and so on … but they all add up to that, d’you see now?’ Vera was becoming a little impatient.

‘I’m not sure …’

‘Look, I just tell you names for things, OK? We talk about it later.’

Matthew agreed, still looking baffled.

‘Here is called “yin-nang” or “secret pouch” and here on me is called …’ but Matthew had not been properly paying attention and all this had to be repeated, too. He was shown the ‘yü-men’ or the ‘ch’iung-men as it was sometimes known and that naturally led them on to the ‘yü-tai’ and, from the particular to the general, to ‘fang-shih’ or ‘ou-yu’. Vera held forth on all this with rapidity, certainly, but not without touching on the Five Natural Moods or Qualities which he might expect to find in himself, nor the Five Revealing Signs which should be manifested by his partner: the flushing pink of throat and cheeks, perspiration on nose like dew on grass in the morning, depth and rapidity of breathing, increase of slipperiness and so forth. And Matthew found himself obliged also to acquire a working knowledge of the Hundred Anxious Feelings (though there was no time to go through them one by one), the Five Male Overstrainings, and the medicinal liquor