While exploring an old building in Chengdu, I spotted a stained and tattered book stuffed in a niche behind a statue. Curious, I reached in and found what appeared to be a travel journal. I sat down on a bench and began to read.


27 April, 2005
I have been discovered by a Japanese lady who was visiting Egypt, much to the relief of Ramesses II Ptolemy, in whose menagerie I have been confined. Fortunately I have been able to escape both from it and from her, though I neglected to pack a lunch.

18 September, 2005
I feel as if I have been walking for my entire life. That, and starving for my entire life. Why is it that these people do not have any bamboo? Last night I felt myself most fortunate to discover a warm rug which must have fallen off some trader's cart. This morning however, I find myself in a strange land, and not only do I not know how I came to be here, I cannot understand the garbled speech of the inhabitants to discover where I am. There is no bamboo here, nor much of anything else green. I have nibbled on some dried grass, without any satisfaction.

21 October, 2005
I have found nothing decent to eat in this horrible place. Weak with hunger, I stumbled into some sort of bar this evening, hoping for a handout. I got one alright, some drink called kash, which on my empty stomach made me feel quite dizzy. The people there laughed at me and got to talking about cheese, all the while pointing at me. I have escaped them, but not before I swiped some sort of grain dish called tabouleh from a table on my way out. Not quite what I had in mind, but it's somewhat better than the dry grass. Fortunately, my rug was right where I left it. I am so tired.

14 January, 2006
I'm beginning to wonder about this rug. Every time I go to sleep in it, I wake up someplace else strange.

15 March, 2006
Today this rug has brought me to an incredibly huge and dirty city, teeming with people, though I must admire the grand stone buildings with huge their ornate edifaces and graceful columns. But now there is a great tumult in the streets. It seems that some person called Julius has been assasinated. Being a foreigner, I know I must keep myself hidden. I would not want to be falsely accused. I have managed to steal some things called olives, but I don't much like them.

1 May, 2006
This morning I woke up in my rug and found myself in a large field. Tonight, there are huge bonfires burning around which there is much singing and dancing. The dancers keep drifting off into the shadows though, two by two. This seems to be a most wild land and I must not let the inhabitants see me. I can smell meat roasting, and I would not want to be added to the menu. I have found a plant with purple flowers that is not totally inedible, something I have heard called a thistle.

1 September, 2006
I have awakened this morning in another arid land. Is my home the only place where bamboo grows? At this point, I'd settle for most any green plant. But I now I see a procession of finely dressed ladies, all chanting and carrying pigs toward a grand temple in the distance. Surely I cannot be mistaken for a pig, despite my emaciated state?

31 October, 2006
I have come to the top of a rocky mountain and as I hear footsteps, I shrink back behind a rock, clutching my rug. If this thing is truly magical, I hope it will fly me quickly away from this procession of walking bones. I fear the spirits these relics contain and chant an old mantra I learned at my mother's knee for protection. Besides, it appears that absolutely nothing grows here, nor do these ghouls carry food for me to steal.

25 December, 2006
My rug has brought me to a most frigid land, with some sort of cold white stuff falling from the sky which sticks to the ground. I cannot see any green plants at all, even if there would have been anything I would want to eat. I fear my weight has dropped so much that should I ever find my way home again, no one will recognize me. Still the inhabitants of this frozen land seem cheerful enough. They're all going about with parcels, giving them to one another.

18 February, 2007
Finally! This rug has transported me someplace normal. There is real bamboo here! Could it be that I've come home at last? I'm never going to sleep in that rug again!


I have no way to authenticate this small volume, I but I suspect I have discovered the answer to the mystery of Bao Bai's long absence.