Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/313

RV 308 (VICTORY) opens onto a sun-splashed garden. Between tea and the sun there is a kinship.

Yang Kuei-fei chanted an appropriate verse:

She lifted her cup and breathed deeply of the subtle aroma.

"Tea is the liquor that makes all men brothers; by it the world will be purged of sin. Men who drink tea have little need for war."

"I would be a traitor to my calling," mused An Lu-shan, "if I agreed with you in that. A general needs victorious wars in order to build up his reputation. Perhaps too much tea is an antidote and a commander might do well to see that his men partake of it sparingly."

"Drugged wine," she said with a hint of sarcasm, "blots out men's better judgment. That should be the drink of mighty warriors."

"Though your wisdom is mingled with malice, I do not dispute it. Men who stop to think, seldom fight You have given me an idea, and I am grateful. But when RV 308 (308)