The Art of Tetman Callis

“Those who fall ill on the 25th day of the 8th moon have come across, in a due westerly quarter, of some flower spirit; they feel heavy, with no inclination for drink or food. Take seven sheets of white paper money, and, advancing forty steps due west, burn them and exorcise the spirit; recovery will follow at once!” – Cao Xueqin, The Dream of the Red Chamber (trans. H. Bencraft Joly