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| Translator's Note | |
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| Important Dates in the Historical Background | |
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| Glossary of People and Places | |
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| General Glossary of Terms | |
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| Note on Pronunciation | |
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| In which Princess Ning castrates her Groom and 'commits Suicide', and Viscount Trinket rescues the Wrong Girl; he meets the Peerless Consort and hears her sing; a Confrontation takes place between General Bash-em, the Satrap, the White Nun, and the Peerless Consort; and Trinket secures Safe Passage back to Peking for himself and his Entourage | |
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| Fire Alarm in the Gardens of the Princess | |
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| A Strange Mutilation, and an Attempted Suicide | |
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| An Attempt on the Satrap's Life | |
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| At the Satrap's Palace | |
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| The Assassin? | |
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| Story behind a Story | |
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| At His Wits' End | |
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| The Peerless | |
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| The Ballad of the Peerless Consort | |
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| Revelations | |
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| An Extraordinary Gathering | |
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| Memories | |
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| Doing a Deal | |
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| Departure from Kunming | |
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| In which Trinket and Party make their way to the Province of Guizhou, and thence to Peking; there is Singing on the River, and Tales are told of Taiwan; Two Elderly Jesuit Fathers prove their Skill at the Art of making Cannon; Devoted Doublet pieces together the Map; and Trinket is put in command of a Naval Expedition | |
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| In the Mountains | |
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| A Number of Familiar Faces | |
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| In the Gambling Den | |
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| A Surprising Intervention | |
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| Beggar, Meatball, and other Combatants | |
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| Triad Talk | |
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| The Log Rafts | |
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| Exit Sir Zheng | |
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| The Storm on the River | |
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| The Helmsman presents an Old Hero | |
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| The Helmsman Informed | |
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| The Art of Escape | |
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| In the Capital Once More | |
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| Of Jesuits and Cannon | |
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| Piecing together the Scraps | |
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| Gobbledegook | |
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| The Deer and the Cauldron | |
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| Cannon of Divine Might | |
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| Mission Impossible | |
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| The Three Treasures of Manchuria | |
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| Pacifying the Ocean | |
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| Strategy, and a Golden Bowl | |
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| Trinket at Sea | |
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| Meatball, and other Floating Objects | |
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| Smoke Signals and Big Guns | |
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| In which Trinket falls once more into Mystic Dragon Hands; travels North with Doublet, and crosses the Ice to Albazin; meets a Beautiful Princess and travels to Moscow; and finally Returns | |
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| Unfamiliar Valiants | |
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| An Artful Customer | |
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| Through Ice and Snow | |
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| Deer | |
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| Mountains and Rivers | |
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| Cossacks, and the Fort | |
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| The Secret Passage | |
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| Princess Sophia | |
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| High Diplomacy, High Stakes | |
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| To Moscow | |
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| Russian Affairs of State | |
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| Trinket gives Counsel | |
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| Mutiny | |
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| Trinket has another Cunning Plan | |
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| Trinket Returns | |
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| In which Trinket advises the Emperor on Affairs of State; and is sent on an Important Mission to Yangzhou | |
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| Trinket in Peking | |
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| A Command Performance | |
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| Council of State | |
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| An Unusual Friendship | |
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| A Small Favour | |
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| You Little Monster! | |
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| For Old Time's Sake | |
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| The Hunting of the Little Traitor | |
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| En route for Yangzhou: the Wang Wu Clan | |
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| Obsequies on the Mountain | |
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| In which Trinket returns in Triumph to the City of his Youth, and ends up in a very Large Bed with several Delectable Ladies all at the same time; the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories finally breaks out; and Trinket is summoned back to Court | |
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| The Fair City of Yangzhou: of Peonies and other Flowers | |
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| Trinket back in the Alley | |
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| Mother and Son Reunited | |
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| A Strange Brotherhood | |
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| Even Stranger Womenfolk | |
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| Roll-Call | |
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| One Touch Here, One Touch There | |
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| Bedstead on the March | |
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| Bedstead Pandemonium | |
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| Charges of Treason | |
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| Doublet seeks Revenge | |
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| Writing a Letter | |
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| Trinket works Fast | |
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| Spring Fragrance the Sceptic | |
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| In which the Strange Gui Trio, and Iron Hand the Lady Warrior, are introduced; and an Assassination Attempt has Unpredicted Results | |
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| News of the War | |
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| Strange Companions | |
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| Spinning Tops and Playing Tag | |
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| Kungfu Pedigrees | |
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| Evil is its own Reward | |
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| Living Legends | |
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| Dead Man's Head | |
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| Of Murder and Assassination | |
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| Capital Deliberations | |
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| Trinket the Calligrapher | |
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| Serious Consequences of a Light Poke | |
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| Kang Xi confronts the Old Whore | |
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| What Fun! | |
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| The Truth will Out | |
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| 'I don't know where to go!' | |
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| Escape Plans A, B, & C | |
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| Plan C in Action | |
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| In which Trinket escapes from Peking, and visits Snake Island for the last time; the Leader makes a Last Stand; a Great Hero dies; and Life on Potluck Island is Described | |
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| Out of the Wok, and into the Fire | |
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| Mystic Dragon Dissension | |
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| To the Death! | |
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| Return to Potluck Island | |
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| New Arrivals on the Shore | |
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| Death of a Hero | |
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| Negotiations for Sir Zheng's Release | |
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| The Informer Revealed | |
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| An Unusual IOU | |
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| Potluck Island Idyll | |
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| Rules for Trinket's Harem | |
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| Modus Vivendi | |
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| The Seasons of Potluck Island | |
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| Two Tamardy Edicts | |
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| Domestic Details | |
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| Earl of Potluck Island | |
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| In which Trinket travels to Taiwan; and is sent as Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Russians, with Instructions to capture Fort Albazin and negotiate the Treaty of Nerchinsk | |
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| The Fall of Taiwan | |
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| Trinket in Taiwan | |
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| Boots Aloft | |
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| Trinket in Favour Again | |
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| Arrangements for Revenge | |
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| The Supreme Commander | |
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| Heads You Lose! | |
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| Human Shashlik | |
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| Winter sets In | |
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| Piss Attack | |
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| Wobbleski and Chillingoff | |
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| A Loyal Servant | |
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| More Russian Blarney | |
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| Nerchinsk | |
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| Conspiracy in the Tent | |
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| Not by Halves | |
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| An Object for a Cult | |
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| In which Trinket returns yet again to Peking, and is obliged to supervise the Execution of his Old Friend Whiskers Mao; he meets Four Gentlemen of the Resistance; and finally decides to call it a Day and retire from Public Life Altogether | |
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| An Old, Bewhiskered Friend | |
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| Making Choices | |
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| Trinket the Debt-Collector | |
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| A Small Favour | |
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| Necessity, the Mother of Trinketian Invention | |
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| Aftermath of an Execution | |
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| Safe House | |
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| Who'd ever choose to be Emperor? | |
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| The Urchin Academician | |
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| A Puddle tells All | |
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| The Way of the Prince | |
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| Not Today, not Tomorrow, not Ever! | |
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| A Man can only be Who He Is | |
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| The Murdering of Trinket | |
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| Just like Yours! | |
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| Epilogue--The Never-Ending Quest | |