Jules Verne

Tribulations of a Chinaman in China Jules Verne

"It must be admitted that life has some good in it," said one of the guests, leaning his elbow on the arm of his marble-backed chair, while he sat biting the root of a sugar water-lily."And some bad also," answered another, between fits of coughing, occasioned by having swallowed the prickly part of the delicate fin of a shark which had nearly choked him."Be philosophical," said an older man, who wore on his nose an enormous pair of wooden spectacles with large glasses. "To-day, one runs the risk of strangling, and tomorrow everything flows as smoothly as the sweet draughts of this nectar- such is life."After saying these words, this easy-going epicure swallowed a glass of warm wine, the steam of which slowly escaped from a metal teapot."For my part," said a fourth guest, "life appears to be very acceptable when one does nothing, and has the means to afford to do nothing.""That is a mistake," answered the fifth. "Happiness is to be found in study and work. To acquire the greatest amount of knowledge is the way to be happy."