9 h 20 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the only thing between you and danger is the next story you tell?
Kai Lung earns his bread with words. A poor wandering storyteller, he faces danger and bargains for safety by telling tales. In Ernest Bramah's Kai Lung's Golden Hours, each story sits inside a larger story, where wit becomes more than a pleasure: it is a means of survival.
The setting is an invented China, not a portrait of a real place. Mandarins, village headmen, scholars, bandits and spirits share a world of elaborate courtesy. Beneath those polite words lies a sharp sense of the absurd, as humble people and wanderers face officials, rich men, rivals and magical powers.
What you’ll discover
- Stories within a story Follow Kai Lung's precarious life as his tales become a way to bargain for safety.
- Courtesy with a sting Enjoy grave, flowery exchanges where enormous politeness carries a quiet edge of irony.
- Wit against power Meet humble figures whose cleverness challenges the advantages of rank and force.
- An invented world Wander among scholars, bandits and spirits in a setting shaped for tales rather than realism.
- Pride under scrutiny Find gentle but pointed humor in stories that expose the absurdities of power and pride.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy stories inside stories, dry humour, sly proverbs and a clever hero who relies on wit and loyal help. A good fit if you like fables and courtly comedy.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A sleeper in a wood meets danger
- A tale about a plate saves his neck
- Hwa-mei plans from the far side of the wall
- Every danger calls for a fitting story
- Weng Cho's story tests family against loyalty
- Cheng Lin outwits a greedy merchant
- A test of wit among the women
- Yuen Yan and the barber's scheme
- How the book is told and what it says
Who’s who
- Kai LungA wandering teller of tales who relies on stories, courtesy and a ready proverb to stay alive in the town of Yu-ping.
- Hwa-meiCalled the Golden Mouse, she serves Mandarin Shan Tien and secretly helps Kai Lung by gathering news and arranging each day's defence.
- Mandarin Shan TienThe ruler of Yu-ping, who loves a good story and gambles on omens, yet insists that justice must take its course.
- Ming-shuShan Tien's secretary, who writes down his words and keeps inventing new charges to see Kai Lung condemned.
- Li-loeThe keeper of the prison doors, a greedy and talkative fellow who hunts for a cask of wine he is sure Kai Lung has hidden.
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Kai Lung's Golden Hours
by Ernest Bramah · 1922
A wandering storyteller facing a mandarin's gallows must find the right tale for each day, or lose his head.
Challenging5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What does a poor storyteller do when a mandarin wants him strangled? He tells a story, and then another.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A sleeper in a wood meets danger
Kai Lung, a travelling teller of imagined tales, falls asleep in a wood on the road from Loo-chow to Yu-ping.
Then the road fills with warnings. A sandal maker named Jung flees with his wheelbarrow because Mandarin Shan Tien is coming to Yu-ping to crush every sign of rebellion. Next comes Ming-shu, the secretary who writes down the Mandarin's words. He questions Kai Lung and decides that every honest answer makes him look guiltier.
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What is Kai Lung's Golden Hours about?
It follows the wandering storyteller Kai Lung, who is arrested in Yu-ping and must tell a fitting tale at each of his trials to survive. Hwa-mei, a woman of the Mandarin's household, helps him in secret.
Who is Ming-shu and why does he hate Kai Lung?
Ming-shu is the secretary who writes down Mandarin Shan Tien's words. He decides from the first meeting that Kai Lung is a rebel and keeps inventing new ways to have him condemned.
Is Kai Lung's Golden Hours a true story?
No. It is a comic invention by Ernest Bramah, who died in 1942.
The author
Ernest Bramah
1868–1942 · English novelist
Ernest Bramah was an English author born in Manchester in 1868. He later lived in London and died in 1942. He wrote fiction featuring Kai Lung and the blind detective Max Carrados. His books include The Wallet of Kai Lung (1900), Max Carrados (1914), and Kai Lung’s Golden Hours (1922).
More by Ernest Bramah
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