| Qin: Impatiens A hot air balloon, on whose side was the colorful logo of a muti-national specializing in magnetic, optical and other kinds of information storage media, appeared over the valley. Weeding his spring carrots, Lao-Tze pretended not to notice as the bulbous, ungainly thing made its way toward the mountain. At length it struck ground halfway down and two people jumped out to anchor guywires while another stayed aboard till the balloon was secured. A half hour later, the three, a man and two women, huffed into Lao-Tze’s garden. They stopped at the edge, as if unsure where to step. The old man continued with his weeding. The man cleared his throat. One of the women whispered something to the other. Lao-Tze continued his work. The three conferred among themselves, then sat on the ground under the peach tree. "We want..." One of the women started to speak, then stopped. The men giggled. They whispered among themselves. Lao-Tze finished, stood, and went into his hut. Toward evening he looked out the door and noticed the people and the balloon were gone. "Nobody waits anymore," he muttered to himself, wondering what he was going to do with the six-course meal he had prepared and laid out for four people. Back to Qin
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