The Emperor thought fit to have immense masses of rock thrown into it, to make it useless.
Seeing this, Kouang, his first Mandarin, said to him: "Son of Heaven, you make a mistake." To which the Emperor replied: "Kouang, you are foolish." You understand, of course, that I give but the substance of the dialogue.
At the end of three moons the Celestial Emperor had the Mandarin brought, and said to him: "Kouang, look." And Kouang, opening his eyes, looked.
He saw at a certain distance from the canal a multitude of men _laboring_.

Some excavated, some filled up, some leveled, and some laid pavement, and the Mandarin, who was very learned, thought to himself: They are making a road.
At the end of three more moons, the Emperor, having called Kouang, said to him: "Look." And Kouang looked.
And he saw that the road was made; and he noticed that at various points, inns were building.

A medley of foot passengers, carriages and palanquins went and came, and innumerable Chinese, oppressed by fatigue, carried back and forth heavy burdens from Tchin to Tchan, and from Tchan to Tchin, and Kouang said: It is the destruction of the canal which has given labor to these poor people.

But it did not occur to him that this labor was _diverted_ from other employments.
Then more moons passed, and the Emperor said to Kouang: "Look." And Kouang looked.
He saw that the inns were always full of travelers, and that they being hungry, there had sprung up, near by, the shops of butchers, bakers, charcoal dealers, and bird's nest sellers.

Since these worthy men could not go naked, tailors, shoemakers and umbrella and fan dealers had settled there, and as they do not sleep in the open air, even in the Celestial Empire, carpenters, masons and thatchers congregated there.
Then came police officers, judges and fakirs; in a word, around each stopping place there grew up a city with its suburbs.
Said the Emperor to Kouang: "What do you think of this ?" And Kouang replied: "I could never have believed that the destruction of a canal could create so much labor for the people." For he did not think that it was not labor created, but _diverted_; that travelers ate when they went by the canal just as much as they did when they were forced to go by the road.
However, to the great astonishment of the Chinese, the Emperor died, and this Son of Heaven was committed to earth.
His successor sent for Kouang, and said to him: "Clean out the canal." And Kouang said to the new Emperor: "Son of Heaven, you are doing wrong." And the Emperor replied: "Kouang, you are foolish." But Kouang persisted and said: "My Lord, what is your object ?" "My object," said the Emperor, "is to facilitate the movement of men and things between Tchin and Tchan; to make transportation less expensive, so that the people may have tea and clothes more cheaply." But Kouang was in readiness.