Mr Li and Raindrop water the Bansai Tree;

Nippon was a second generation immigrant. His father had trusted him with the business soon after his 32nd birthday. Raindrop's family had been very happy to accept a small dowry for her. In the old country a small dowry was an embarrassment; any dowry at all was an embarrassment in Texas.

"What shall we tell our friends about the Yin and the Yang?" he asked himself in her presence.

Her eyes searched the room for answers, and when she met his gaze she ventured, "The Yin is dark and cold, and the Yang is warm and light?"

Mr Li contemplated this. "Or should we say, 'The wisdom of the Yin is to torture, the wisdom of the Yang is to prosper?'" he asked in return.

"We haven't told the little one that!" she responded.

"We haven't told the little one that there is a Yin and a Yang yet," he replied with Chinese directness. "How will they understand the Moon is a Yin and the Earth is a Yang? Or how will I ever explain that during the Ming dynasty the Emperor was a Yang and his daughter was a Yin, while the ruling class in its entirety was a Yin, but the people were the Yang? They will ask me, 'What is Texas, a Yin or a Yang?' If I say it is a Yin, it is too light and hot! If I say it is a Yang, the heat has the wisdom to torture."

Raindrop solved this problem with surprising clarity. "Tell them that the Mountains are the Yang and that _water_ is the Yin!"

"Will they understand?" asked Nippon, perplexedly.

"I hope not," replied Raindrop. The mystique of Yin and Yang was like the feminine mystique of all China.

Li Nippon pondered all this and more as he carefully watered his Bonsai Orange tree.