"poor scholars who live in small crowded houses should rearrange their rooms in imitation of the sterns of the taiping boats of my home country, the steps of which can be made into three beds by extending them at front and back. each bed is then separated from its neighbor by a board covered with paper. looking at them when they are laid out is like walking a long road—you do not have a confined feeling at all. when yuh and i were living in yangchou we arranged our house in this fashion. though the house had only two spans, we devided it into two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room, and still had plenty of space left over. yun had laughed about our handiwork, saying, 'the layout is fine, but it still does not quite have the feel of a rich home.' i had had to admit she was right!"
shen fu, six records of a floating life. made into english by leonard pratt and chiang su-hui
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