When struck by a thunderbolt it is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise meaning of the omen. - Ernest Bramah

Ernest Bramah's China, then, is the fantastic bogus China of convention, not the real historical thing at all. He wrote of it in a prose so perfectly conceived that it becomes a miracle of style. As Hilaire Belloc once observed, the sly humor and philosophy of Bramah's stories is a trick he achieves by pretending to adapt the flavor of Chinese literary conventions into the English. But the thing I love most about the tales is their irony and the brilliance of their wit.

In his countenance this person read an expression of no-encouragement towards his venture.

Although there exist many thousand subjects for elegant conversation, there are persons who cannot meet a cripple without talking about feet.