Section of Unsigned Letter
Dublin Core
Title
Section of Unsigned Letter
Subject
Mules; Hunger; Food; Millets; Wheat--Threshing; Travel; Hotels
Description
In this letter, the author (likely Henry V. Noyes) describes riding a hundred miles on a mule, stopping at an inn with unappetizing food and questionable lodgings. The author shares philosophical thoughts about food, hunger, and the production/consumption of grain in China. The author returns to "Chefoo" after going 40 miles and 22 days (15 spent on the mules back).
Creator
Noyes, Henry Varnum
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Miscellaneous & Other Works
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
Unknown
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_562
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
3
it might not help him along and
enable me at night to put down
in my journal "[u] sailed [/u] [u] my [/u] [u] mule [/u]
[u] a [/u] [u] hundred [/u] [u] miles [/u] [u] to-day [/u]." But I
am forgetting that I had left the
poor beast just over the hills back
of Chefoo. We travelled moderately
on together, he and I all that first
forenoon and about 1-o-clock
stopped at a mud inn for dinner.
They took the mule in first through
a large door into an open court
and then put me into a small
room or stable on one side of the
court, at [--one--] the end of which was
the invariable "Kong" with a
dirty piece of matting on it. This
piece of matting I wisely deter-
mined not to examine too care-
fully but threw my sack down
upon it and then [--assumed--] stretched
myself horizontally to wait for [u] [?tiffen?] [/u]
It came before long in three parts
1st Fried beef seasoned with cinders
(they have grass & millet stocks to cook with)
2d Scrambled eggs seasoned in the
same way
3d A [u] cold [/u] piece of [u] steamed [/u] [u] dough [/u].
I sat still and serenly con-
templated these three articles of diet.
I then decided that I was not
very hungry. I soon became philo-
sophical. I said to myself "if you
conscientiously force this food down
under the impression that it is
necessary for the support of your
animal frame you will be sure
to be disgusted with it and to-morrow
will not be able to eat at all. Have
you never heard that '[u] Hunger [/u] [u] is [/u] [u] the [/u]
[u] best [/u] [u] sauce [/u].' Wait until you get
some of this delicious sauce & then
this cold steamed dough will seem
a delicate luxury
So I sat there, on this old
Kong, unable to converse with anybody
except by expressive looks and gestures,
and contemplated this food. How
unlike that [u] Pic Nic [/u] with its precious
memories of geese and chickens and
hams and doves. And that hot
coffee too! Ah this was [u] different [/u], [u] very [/u] [u] different [/u]
[--I ate st--] [u] very [/u] [u] different [/u] [u] indeed [/u].
I ate sparingly of the meat and
eggs; and there in the presence of
my Chinaman I made circles with
my hands in the shape of a big
cake. He caught the idea and went
and mixed together some flour and
water and baked it on a griddle and
4
brought it to me hot and I got out
my [--the--] box of butter and greased the
cake and swallowed it and then
mounting my "flaming charger"
pursued my journey. Far into the
still hours of the night we [--rode--]
rode by the sweet silver light of
the moon before we halted for food
and sleep. I found my appetite im-
proving and could have slept any-
where. The next morning my
appetite was excellent and con-
tinued so thereafter.
The daily journeys were
much the same passing through
a succession of fields and
villages. In the villages near the
sea the houses are substantially
built of stone but farther back in
the country they are of mud thatched
with the stocks or straw of the millet.
The[--y--] villages are all surrounded by mud
walls. These have all been put up
[--since--] within ten years since the
rebels committed their depredations in
this part of the land. Most of the
threshing floors are included within
these walls or are close on the
outside. The threshing is either done
by flails or a small stone roller
drawn about the flour by a donkey or
mule. After threshing the grain is thrown up
with a shovel and the chaff driven
off by the wind. The food of the people
is largely millet and wheat and beans
little rice is used and very few of
the people can afford to use tea.
They use warm water a good deal
and make two or three different kinds
of wine. Many of them in the winter
keep warm by [--digging--] living in
holes or caves dug in the hills.
At the end of 6 days I found Messes
Corbett and Mateer and spent the
remainder of the time with them.
I crossed the whole breadth of the
promontory to the sea on the
other side and then returned by
a different route going in all
some 40 miles, enjoying the whole
trip immensely being [--in all--] away from
Chefoo 22 days " 15 of which were mainly
spent on the mules back. It is a sin-
gle act of justice to this poor animal to
say that he never projected his foot at
me after the first day. My explanation
is that he liked me better when he got
acquainted. At any rate, so far as I
know, we parted good friends, and
my hope for him is that the next man
that rides him may be a lighter man
than I am and also have a lighter pack
traveller
3
这可能对他没有帮助
让我在晚上放下
在我的日记中“驾驭我的骡子
今天一百英里。”但我
我忘记了我已经离开了
可怜的野兽就在后面的山上
芝富。我们适度地旅行
在一起，他和我都是第一
下午 1 点左右
在一家泥旅馆停下来吃晚饭。
他们先把骡子带进来
一扇通往露天法庭的大门
然后把我放进一个小
房间或马厩的一侧
法庭，最后是
不变的“Kong”
脏一块垫子就可以了。这个
一块垫子我明智地决定不要太仔细地检查——
完全但把我的麻袋放下
在它上面然后伸展
我自己横着等待tiffen
很快就分了三部分
第一次用煤渣调味的炒牛肉
（他们有草和小米的股票可以用来做饭）
2 炒鸡蛋调味
同样的方法
3、一块冷蒸面团。
我静静地坐着
考虑了这三种饮食。
然后我决定我不是
饿极了。我很快就变得哲学了。我对自己说“如果你
认真地把这食物压下去
给人的印象是
为您的支持所必需
你会确定的动物框架
厌恶它和明天
将无法进食。有
你从未听说过“饥饿是
最好的酱汁。等到你得到
一些这种美味的酱汁然后
这个冷蒸面团看起来
精致的奢侈品
所以我坐在那里，在这个古老的
Kong，无法与任何人交谈
除了富有表现力的表情和手势，
并考虑了这种食物。如何
不像那次野餐，它的珍贵
鹅和鸡的记忆和
火腿和鸽子。还有那个热
咖啡也！啊，这不一样，非常不一样
确实非常不同。
我很少吃肉和
蛋;并且在场的情况下
我的中国人
我的手是一个大的
蛋糕。他抓住了这个念头，走了
将一些面粉和
水，然后在烤盘上烤，然后
4
把它热给我然后我出去了
我的一盒黄油和油脂
蛋糕 吞下 然后
安装我的“燃烧充电器”
继续我的旅程。远入
我们仍然在夜晚的几个小时
骑着甜美的银光
我们停下来吃饭之前的月亮
和睡觉。
我发现我的胃口有所改善，可以在任何地方睡觉。
第二天早上我的
胃口很好，此后一直如此。
每天的行程是
差不多一样的经过
一系列领域和
村庄。在附近的村庄
海的房子基本上
用石头建造，但在更远的地方
他们是泥草屋的国家
用小米的股票或稻草。
村庄都被泥土包围
墙壁。这些都已经放出来了
十年内
叛乱分子在
这部分土地。大部分的
打谷场包括在
这些墙壁或靠近
外部。脱粒完成
用连枷或小石辊
用驴子在面粉上拉动或
骡子。脱粒后的谷粒被抛起来
用铲子和谷壳驱动
随风而去。人民的食物
主要是小米和小麦和豆类
用的米饭很少，而且很少
老百姓用得起茶。
他们经常使用温水
并制作两种或三种不同的
酒。他们中的许多人在冬天
住在里面保暖
在山上挖的洞或洞穴。
在 6 天结束时，我找到了
Corbett 和 Mateer先生 花了
剩下的时间和他们在一起。
我跨越了整个
海角上的大海
另一边，然后由
一条不同的路线
大约40英里，享受整个
旅行非常远离
Chefoo 22天“其中15天主要是
花在骡背上。对这只可怜的动物来说，这是一种正义的行为
说他从来没有把脚伸到
第一天之后的我。我的解释
是他得到的时候更喜欢我吗
熟悉。无论如何，就我而言
知道，我们分手了好朋友，并且
我对他的希望是下一个男人
骑着他的人可能是一个更轻的人
比我还轻，包也更轻
游客
it might not help him along and
enable me at night to put down
in my journal "[u] sailed [/u] [u] my [/u] [u] mule [/u]
[u] a [/u] [u] hundred [/u] [u] miles [/u] [u] to-day [/u]." But I
am forgetting that I had left the
poor beast just over the hills back
of Chefoo. We travelled moderately
on together, he and I all that first
forenoon and about 1-o-clock
stopped at a mud inn for dinner.
They took the mule in first through
a large door into an open court
and then put me into a small
room or stable on one side of the
court, at [--one--] the end of which was
the invariable "Kong" with a
dirty piece of matting on it. This
piece of matting I wisely deter-
mined not to examine too care-
fully but threw my sack down
upon it and then [--assumed--] stretched
myself horizontally to wait for [u] [?tiffen?] [/u]
It came before long in three parts
1st Fried beef seasoned with cinders
(they have grass & millet stocks to cook with)
2d Scrambled eggs seasoned in the
same way
3d A [u] cold [/u] piece of [u] steamed [/u] [u] dough [/u].
I sat still and serenly con-
templated these three articles of diet.
I then decided that I was not
very hungry. I soon became philo-
sophical. I said to myself "if you
conscientiously force this food down
under the impression that it is
necessary for the support of your
animal frame you will be sure
to be disgusted with it and to-morrow
will not be able to eat at all. Have
you never heard that '[u] Hunger [/u] [u] is [/u] [u] the [/u]
[u] best [/u] [u] sauce [/u].' Wait until you get
some of this delicious sauce & then
this cold steamed dough will seem
a delicate luxury
So I sat there, on this old
Kong, unable to converse with anybody
except by expressive looks and gestures,
and contemplated this food. How
unlike that [u] Pic Nic [/u] with its precious
memories of geese and chickens and
hams and doves. And that hot
coffee too! Ah this was [u] different [/u], [u] very [/u] [u] different [/u]
[--I ate st--] [u] very [/u] [u] different [/u] [u] indeed [/u].
I ate sparingly of the meat and
eggs; and there in the presence of
my Chinaman I made circles with
my hands in the shape of a big
cake. He caught the idea and went
and mixed together some flour and
water and baked it on a griddle and
4
brought it to me hot and I got out
my [--the--] box of butter and greased the
cake and swallowed it and then
mounting my "flaming charger"
pursued my journey. Far into the
still hours of the night we [--rode--]
rode by the sweet silver light of
the moon before we halted for food
and sleep. I found my appetite im-
proving and could have slept any-
where. The next morning my
appetite was excellent and con-
tinued so thereafter.
The daily journeys were
much the same passing through
a succession of fields and
villages. In the villages near the
sea the houses are substantially
built of stone but farther back in
the country they are of mud thatched
with the stocks or straw of the millet.
The[--y--] villages are all surrounded by mud
walls. These have all been put up
[--since--] within ten years since the
rebels committed their depredations in
this part of the land. Most of the
threshing floors are included within
these walls or are close on the
outside. The threshing is either done
by flails or a small stone roller
drawn about the flour by a donkey or
mule. After threshing the grain is thrown up
with a shovel and the chaff driven
off by the wind. The food of the people
is largely millet and wheat and beans
little rice is used and very few of
the people can afford to use tea.
They use warm water a good deal
and make two or three different kinds
of wine. Many of them in the winter
keep warm by [--digging--] living in
holes or caves dug in the hills.
At the end of 6 days I found Messes
Corbett and Mateer and spent the
remainder of the time with them.
I crossed the whole breadth of the
promontory to the sea on the
other side and then returned by
a different route going in all
some 40 miles, enjoying the whole
trip immensely being [--in all--] away from
Chefoo 22 days " 15 of which were mainly
spent on the mules back. It is a sin-
gle act of justice to this poor animal to
say that he never projected his foot at
me after the first day. My explanation
is that he liked me better when he got
acquainted. At any rate, so far as I
know, we parted good friends, and
my hope for him is that the next man
that rides him may be a lighter man
than I am and also have a lighter pack
traveller
3
这可能对他没有帮助
让我在晚上放下
在我的日记中“驾驭我的骡子
今天一百英里。”但我
我忘记了我已经离开了
可怜的野兽就在后面的山上
芝富。我们适度地旅行
在一起，他和我都是第一
下午 1 点左右
在一家泥旅馆停下来吃晚饭。
他们先把骡子带进来
一扇通往露天法庭的大门
然后把我放进一个小
房间或马厩的一侧
法庭，最后是
不变的“Kong”
脏一块垫子就可以了。这个
一块垫子我明智地决定不要太仔细地检查——
完全但把我的麻袋放下
在它上面然后伸展
我自己横着等待tiffen
很快就分了三部分
第一次用煤渣调味的炒牛肉
（他们有草和小米的股票可以用来做饭）
2 炒鸡蛋调味
同样的方法
3、一块冷蒸面团。
我静静地坐着
考虑了这三种饮食。
然后我决定我不是
饿极了。我很快就变得哲学了。我对自己说“如果你
认真地把这食物压下去
给人的印象是
为您的支持所必需
你会确定的动物框架
厌恶它和明天
将无法进食。有
你从未听说过“饥饿是
最好的酱汁。等到你得到
一些这种美味的酱汁然后
这个冷蒸面团看起来
精致的奢侈品
所以我坐在那里，在这个古老的
Kong，无法与任何人交谈
除了富有表现力的表情和手势，
并考虑了这种食物。如何
不像那次野餐，它的珍贵
鹅和鸡的记忆和
火腿和鸽子。还有那个热
咖啡也！啊，这不一样，非常不一样
确实非常不同。
我很少吃肉和
蛋;并且在场的情况下
我的中国人
我的手是一个大的
蛋糕。他抓住了这个念头，走了
将一些面粉和
水，然后在烤盘上烤，然后
4
把它热给我然后我出去了
我的一盒黄油和油脂
蛋糕 吞下 然后
安装我的“燃烧充电器”
继续我的旅程。远入
我们仍然在夜晚的几个小时
骑着甜美的银光
我们停下来吃饭之前的月亮
和睡觉。
我发现我的胃口有所改善，可以在任何地方睡觉。
第二天早上我的
胃口很好，此后一直如此。
每天的行程是
差不多一样的经过
一系列领域和
村庄。在附近的村庄
海的房子基本上
用石头建造，但在更远的地方
他们是泥草屋的国家
用小米的股票或稻草。
村庄都被泥土包围
墙壁。这些都已经放出来了
十年内
叛乱分子在
这部分土地。大部分的
打谷场包括在
这些墙壁或靠近
外部。脱粒完成
用连枷或小石辊
用驴子在面粉上拉动或
骡子。脱粒后的谷粒被抛起来
用铲子和谷壳驱动
随风而去。人民的食物
主要是小米和小麦和豆类
用的米饭很少，而且很少
老百姓用得起茶。
他们经常使用温水
并制作两种或三种不同的
酒。他们中的许多人在冬天
住在里面保暖
在山上挖的洞或洞穴。
在 6 天结束时，我找到了
Corbett 和 Mateer先生 花了
剩下的时间和他们在一起。
我跨越了整个
海角上的大海
另一边，然后由
一条不同的路线
大约40英里，享受整个
旅行非常远离
Chefoo 22天“其中15天主要是
花在骡背上。对这只可怜的动物来说，这是一种正义的行为
说他从来没有把脚伸到
第一天之后的我。我的解释
是他得到的时候更喜欢我吗
熟悉。无论如何，就我而言
知道，我们分手了好朋友，并且
我对他的希望是下一个男人
骑着他的人可能是一个更轻的人
比我还轻，包也更轻
游客
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Henry Varnum, “Section of Unsigned Letter,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed November 24, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/619.