Stories from the Orient

An untitled collection of Oriental stories was sent to Temeraire, courtesy of Sir Edward Howe, who had just himself translated and published the stories.

The stories include: The front of the book also had an engraving of the Yellow Emperor.
 * The Yellow Emperor of China, the first Celestial Dragon, on whose advice the Han dynasty was founded.
 * The Japanese dragon Raiden, who drove the the armada of Kublai Khan away from his nation.
 * The story of Xiao Sheng, the emperor's mistress, who swallowed a pearl from a dragon's treasury and became a dragon herself.

The copy sent to Temeraire was full of annotations made by Sir Howe, which Captain William Laurence thought to be exaggerated slightly. This particular copy was read by Laurence and Temeraire shortly before the Battle of Dover.