A dissatisfactory yearend

At first, Zha Daren was not very mindful of the fewer, cheaper and less substantial gifts and presents. Then, however, he thought they might reflect the fact that people in his police precinct were not afraid of him or did not respect him. If that was true, he thought, it was really a very serious matter. True it is, he is convinced, that an officer's being not feared by his people is already bad enough. But his being not respected is simply beyond the limit of toleration! If that is the case, he can no longer serve as a police officer! Well, Zha Daren had more than enough reason to burn with indignation. What's the so-called “democracy?” What's popularization? They are nothing but lip service. In fact, they simply do not exist. What an officer has to do as an officer is to maintain his dignity and authority.

In addition to being embittered by indignation, Zha Daren seems to feel it absolutely necessary to restore his hurt dignity and authority. That has explained why he was extremely rigorous and harsh while disciplining peddlers and venders over the past couple of days. Working on his beat, he overturned stall after small stall in the market he visited or issued tickets to fine people who did not sweep the fronts of their houses early enough in the morning.*** He also broke lever scales in two at a number of small shops to enforce the law to the letter in line with the weights and measures decree. All these facts can be inferred to an attempt to restore his dignity and authority.

While striving to restore his dignity and authority, Zha Daren never ceased to try to find out the reason why the people of his precinct were undergoing a psychological change. They used to be meek like sheep. (They probably did not respect him anymore.) After giving the question some thought, a very wise Zha Daren had a full understanding of what was going on. Ah, yes, this change has resulted from the agitation of the so-called social movement activists or - oh, no, it must be - the depraved, indeed!

*Zha Daren (查大人) is used throughout this short story as the name of a police officer who had a dissatisfactory yearend. Zha is the last character of junsa (巡查) in Japanese, which means a police patrolman. Daren is a title of respect to seniors, its equivalent in colonial India being Sahib.

**The Japanese forced the ethnic Chinese in colonial Taiwan to celebrate New Year's Day on the Gregorian calendar. Lai He used the Japanese word seibo (歲暮) or year's twilight for “yearend.” Another Japanese word, oseibo (御歲暮), is used for yearend gifts and presents, “o” at the beginning of the word being a prefix for indicating politeness.

***It was the duty of a police officer in colonial Taiwan to see to it that all house fronts on his beat had to be swept clean in the morning. He would have to make sure that the national flag of Japan flew at every household on festive occasions. Offenders were fined.

The Lai He Fiction serialization, sponsored by the Council for Hakka Affairs, is provided by the Central News Agency.

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