''Kai Lung's Golden Hours'' is a
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
novel by English writer
Ernest Bramah
Ernest Bramah (20 March 186827 June 1942), the pseudonym of Ernest Brammah Smith, who was an English author. He published 21 books and numerous short stories and features. His humorous works were often ranked with Jerome K. Jerome and W. W. Jac ...
. It was first published in hardcover in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
by
Grant Richards Ltd. in October, 1922, and there have been numerous editions since. The first edition included a preface by
Hilaire Belloc
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...
, which has also been a feature of every edition since. It was reissued by
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...
as the forty-fifth volume of the
Ballantine Adult Fantasy series
The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien's works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which ...
in April, 1972. The Ballantine edition includes an introduction by
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...
.
Plot introduction
As with other Kai Lung novels, the main plot serves primarily as a vehicle for the presentation of the gem-like, aphorism-laden stories told by the protagonist Kai Lung, an itinerant story-teller of ancient China. In ''Kai Lung's Golden Hours'' he is brought before the court of the Mandarin Shan Tien on charges of treason by the Mandarin's confidential agent Ming-shu. In a unique defense, Kai Lung recites his beguiling tales to the Mandarin, successfully postponing his conviction time after time until he is finally set free. In the process he attains the love and hand of the maiden Hwa-Mei.
Contents
* "Preface" (
Hilaire Belloc
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...
)
# "The Encountering of Six within a Wood"
# "The Inexorable Justice of the Mandarin Shan Tien"
"The Story of Wong T'sin and the Willow Plate Embellishment"
# "The Degraded Persistence of the Effete Ming-shu"
"The Story of Ning, the Captive God, and the Dreams that mark his Race"
# "The Inopportune Behaviour of the Covetous Li-loe"
"The Story of Wong Pao and the Minstrel"
# "The Timely Intervention of the Mandarin Shan Tien's Lucky Day"
"The Story of Lao Ting and the Luminous Insect"
# "The High-minded Strategy of the Amiable Hwa-mei"
"The Story of Weng Cho; or, the One Devoid of Name"
# "Not Concerned with any Particular Attribute of Those who are Involved"
"The Story of Wang Ho and the Burial Robe"
# "The Timely Disputation among Those of an Inner Chamber of Yu-Ping"
"The Story of Chang Tao, Melodious Vision and the Dragon"
# "The Propitious Dissension between Two whose General Attributes have already been sufficiently Described"
"The Story of Yuen Yan, of the Barber Chou-hu, and His Wife, Tsae-che"
# "The Incredible Obtuseness of Those who had Opposed the Virtuous Kai Lung"
"The Story of Hien and the Chief Examiner"
# "Of Which it is Written: 'In Shallow Water Dragons become the Laughing-stock of Shrimps'"
# "The Out-passing into a State of Assured Felicity of the Much-Enduring Two With Whom These Printed Leaves Have Chiefly Been Concerned"
"The Story of the Loyalty of Ten-teh, the Fisherman"
References
*
Copyright
The
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
for this story has expired in the United States, and thus now resides in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
. The text is available via
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
.
External links
*
*
* {{librivox book , title=Kai Lung's Golden Hours , author=Ernest BRAMAH
1922 British novels
British fantasy novels
Kai Lung
Novels set in China
Novels by Ernest Bramah