Once, so long ago that no one is sure of Dates anymore,— tho' some say it was during the reign of one of the Hia Emperors,— upon the first day of Autumn in the Hsiu or Moon-station of Fang, an eclipse of the Sun occurr'd, which the Court Astronomers, Hsi and Ho, fail'd to predict,— not just predict accurately, but predict at all. Instead of diligently observing the Heavens, and doing the calculations, they had been spending most of their time roistering into town at late hours, abusing wine, drunkenly pursuing notorious Courtesans, not all of whom were Women, falling into public Latrines, and losing great portions of their Royal Stipends to all sorts of thieves, from Adventuresses to Gaming?table Bullies,— until, one strangely-lit Noontide, clogg'd and neural-gick, weaving their way back to their quarters in the Palace, they notice something about the shadows of the trees.—  The sunlight that is able to pass clear of the leaves and strike the Road-way, instead of the usual more or less round Dots amid a general shade, presents instead, a mind?lessly repeated Spill of identical Crescents, each growing imperceptibly narrower and sharper, as the stupefied Philosophers watch,— slowly realizing that they are seeing the Moon, moving onto the Disk of the Sun, carpeting the Ground by the bleary shimmering tens of thousands, as far in ev'ry direction as they can see.
"We may be in trouble," says Ho.
"Thanks for doing the brain-work on that." They hurry on in the livid, decadent Noon, stepping among the slow-stirring bright lacework, their faces averted from the Event above. Dogs howl all over the City. Chick?ens stop what they are doing and fall asleep. Babies cry, Pigs briefly acquire the power of speech, saying, "Hush, hush." The Light continues to seep away, until all individual Shadows are dissolv'd in a general Gloom, tense and baleful.
Inside the Observatory, a great Tower of imported Rajputana Marble, a winding stairway leads upward to the Observing Platforms. Hsi and Ho ascend, bickering. "We did the Reductions correctly, didn't we? You look'd it over, right?"
"Well I didn't check ev'ry Digit, I assum'd that if you were doing your job, I wouldn't have to."
At the highest platform, they stand, two miniature rob'd wastrels, try?ing not to look into the black rays of Totality, whilst, far below, with an eruption of Cymbals and Fifes, a great Voice declares Hsi and Ho, henceforward unto Eternity, enemies of the Emperor,— and condemns them to death.
"For what?" Ho, terrified, squeals at his Partner. "What'd we do?"
"We made the Emperor look bad. As a Child of Heaven, he's suppos'd to know all about these Wonders in advance."
' 'Tis only an Eclipse,— only Shadows,— what harm to the Kingdom could result?"
Hsi cackles. "As above, so below. Eclipses indicate for all to see that something is wrong in the very Heart of the State,...tho' with this Emperor, if anything goes amiss, his shoes failing to fit, his Luncheon disagreeing with him, whatever it is, he'll blame it 'pon the Eclipse,— that is, upon us."
Ho groans. "Our heads, for a little indigestion?"
"Why they call them 'Heads of State,' I suppose—"
"Hsi! we are in Danger! What do we do?"
"Escape," reckons Hsi. Looking Earthward, they now see below them a body of men in dark, gleaming Armor, gathering into columns in the damag'd light.
"How," inquires Ho, his voice higher than usual, "— fly?"
"An excellent idea," Hsi now producing a gigantick sky-blue Kite, of some strong yet light silk Stuff, strengthen'd with curious Bamboo Rib-
 work, furnish'd with apparatus for steering. "Quickly!" They can hear the clamor of Soldiers' feet, echoing in the Stair-well.
"But will it hold our combin'd weights?" cries Ho, as his colleague, having attach'd these Wings, now roughly embraces him.
"Depends what you ate for Breakfast,"— as together they step from the ?rial platform into pure Altitude.—
"Well, I had the rest of the Duck, about six Dumplings with Pork Sauce, then— Aaaagh!" as they go plummeting toward the Terrain below, clutching each other in terror as, above them now, upon the Plat?form they lately occupied, appear the first of their Pursuers, gazing after them in that afflicted light, with faces too small to read any more. They wait for Arrows. Above stares the black Disk of the Sun....
In the reduced Visibility, the Astronomers have lost all sense of how fast they're falling,— indeed have no idea of how far they have already travel'd from the Palace and their Pursuers. It is really only after con?siderable time has pass'd, without having smash'd into the ground at high speed, that Hsi, the quicker of the pair, grasps that they have been gliding after all. By then the Lunar Visitor has begun to pass from the Sun's Face, and the landscape to grow increasingly readable again.
"Look!" Hsi pointing behind Ho, "some Army, and on the move! Look at that Plume of Dust!"
"Where?" Ho turns to look. "And,— coming our way, too! what do you suppose it is?"
"Wait," it occurs to Hsi. "Ho, 'tis us. Elementary Opticks! If we can see them..."
"Yes, yes?" Ho waits. Hsi waits for Ho. At length, "Oh of course, you mean,— then they can see us, too?"
"For this, I am risking my life? Why don't I just drop you off here? It would also make my escape that much easier."
"Suit yourself of course."
"And my arms are getting tir'd."
"Well, so are mine. Some embrace!"
"All right then, off you go," Hsi opening his arms abruptly. Ho clutches wildly back at Hsi but is already in midair, with nothing more to expect in the way of embraces, but the Wind of his Descent.
So intently have the Astronomers been bickering, however, that Ho has fail'd to notice how closely by now their Craft has laps'd to Earth. In fact, he falls no more than ten feet, and that into a small, willow-fring'd Lake belonging to the lands of Lord Huang, a very rich trader with seven eligible daughters. As Ho flounders about in the Lake, his partner lands on top of him, and then the pair of Wings upon them both....
They haul themselves to shore and stagger about, soaking wet, beginning, as their relief at being alive fades, to argue again. "You just let me drop?" Ho rec............