LITANY OF ODD NUMBERS

Evening Star, Issue 18919, 18 April 1925, Page 15

LITANY OF ODD NUMBERS

CHINESE TABLOID OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY Mr Hilaire Belloc contributes to a recent number of the ‘ New Statesman ’ a curious and very interesting tabloid of Chinese moral philosophy. Some of . it may strike the European reader as a trifle ‘cynical, but, then, so much depends upon the point of view. THE NINE NINES. OR NOVENAS. The Nine Deplorable Social Habits.— Drunkenness. Dirt. Shuffling. The Loud Voice. Scratching. Unpunctuality. Peevishness. Spitting. Repeated Jests. —The Nine Admirable Social Habits.— Believing of tension. Courteous attention. Discreet mention. Tenacious rel ent inn. Assiduous recension. Wise abstention. Calculated prevention. Tactful intervention. A sense of dimension. —The, Nino Follies. — To think oneself immortal. To think investments secure. To take conventinh for friendship. To expect a reward for right doing. To imagine that the rich regard you as an equal. To continue to drink , after yon have begun saying to yourself that you arc fitill sober. To write verse. To lend (or, worse, to give) money. To travel with much luggage. —The Nine Rules for Dealing With the

Poor.--To be cmirteous. To be distant. To oppress. To exploit. To pay little. To pay exactly. To pity vaguely. To interfere. To denounce to the authorities. —The Nine Rules for Dealing With the Rich,.— To fatter. To attend. To remember many faces. To love none. To hate very few. To attack only the defeated. To enrich others by counsel. To enrich oneself by all mean* whatsoever. To lie. —The Nine Negative Rules for Walking in the Country.— Not to fear beasts. Not to walk without an object. Not to become self-conscious when another approaches. Not to hasten or linger, hut to adopt a dull stride. Not to avoid trespass, Not In avoid mud. Not in avoid lulls. Not to brood on trouble. Not to walk when you ran vide, drive, or be carried. --The Nine Negative Rules for Walking in Town. — Not to talk to oneself. Not to barge into others. Not to swing the cane. Not to cross'" the street in a reverie. Not to neglect a salute. Not to contest authority. Not to purchase unnecessary wares. Not to despise the evil eye of -beggars. Not to leave a fallen coin lying. —The Nine Jollities. — To laugh. To fight. To fulfil the body. To forget. To singTo take vengeance. To discuss. To boast. To repose. —The Nino Final Things.— Disappointed expectation. Irretrievable loss. Inevitable fatigue. Unanswerable prayer. Unrequited service. Ineradicable doubt. Perpetual derelict ion. Death. .1 udgment. [Here end the Nines,] THE SEVEN SEVENS, OR. SEPTETS. —The Seven Hateful Things,— Scorn from a. woman loved. Acute pain of the body. The memory of shame, insult accepted from the rich. Detent of one’s country. Seasickness. Despair. —The Seven Rare Things.— Vision. Recovery of things past. Good cooking. Being loved. .Sat icfai-lion. Remarkable wine. Just ice. The Seven Common Tilings.— The mother’s love. Embarrassment, Quarrel. Ambition. Disappointment. M isnudcrstandnij. Appetite, ---The Seven Delightful Things.— Deep deep, Conscious vigor. Reunion. The landfall. T'm-xpccled praise from a loved woman. Resurrection. I Final beatitude, j -The Seven Medi-'inee r, f the Soul.—• ! Remorse, i Repentance. j Submission to the Divine V. ill. j A wide landscape. ! A sublime air of music. | A firm determination to combat evil j within. Relieving by an act of the will. —The Seven Medicines oi the Rody.- — Work. Bed. Combat. Riding. Bread. Wine. Sleep. —The Seven SI cliche.'.—• The Traitor. The Pervert. The Cruel .Man. The Sly Man. The False Teacher. The Deserter. The Politician, [Mere end the Sevens.] THE THREE THREES, OR TRIADS. —The Three Oddities. — The Dwarf, ’the Dtanl. The Foreigner. —The Three Standbys.— A Loyal Friend. A Good Wife. A Stiff Boat. -• The Three Perils.— The World. The Flesh. The Devil. ! [Here end Him Threes.] THE TWO TWOS, OR- FAIRS. - The Two Things Worth Having.— Virtue, Mutual affection. - The Two Things to he Rejected.— Pride. Sloth. [Here end the Twos.] —The One Thing of Roth Good and Evil Effect,— Honor preserved. i.lleio ends the One.]