THE MOBILISED MANDARIN
Reading edition
Or, the March of Civilisation.
About the merry Mandarin His fatal gift for humour, I find it passing hard to pin My faith to every rumour. This war, for instance. Fancy shuts Both eyes and vainly labours To grasp the news that he is nuts On blowing up his neighbours. If so, he threatens to deface, Beyond all recognition, His right of kinship with a race Whose excellent tradition, Oldest of old traditions, has Time out of mind begun by This rule:—Do not to others as You'd rather not be done by. Ignoring now the ancient bards, He must have emulated The doctrine which Ah Sin at cards So darkly demonstrated, When, flush of duplicate supplies, Well up his sleeves he slid 'em— Do those whom you will otherwise Be done by:—and he did 'em. Observe this sad example of Imported Western culture! Symbol of peace, the sucking-dove Knocks under to the vulture; And prophets of a prior age Might fairly be astounded To find the system of the sage Confucius worse confounded!