Free Bridge Of Birds by Barry Hughart

contrast between them was fascinating.
    Li Kao would toss an idea into the air and watch it sparkle, and then he would toss a
     second one, and then he would send handfuls of associated ideas spinning into space, and
     when they returned to earth they would be neatly linked into a necklace that fit perfectly
     around the throat of the subject. Ho Wen, on the other hand, was a plodding
     one-step-at-a-time scholar who never made a mistake, and whose memory was so prodigious
     that not even Li Kao could match it. I once asked him the name of a distant mountain, and
     this is the answer that I received.
    “The sacred mountains are five in number: Hengshan, Changshan, Huashan, Taishan, and
     Sungshan, with Taishan leading in rank and Sungshan in the center. Mountains not sacred
     but very distinguished include Wuyi, Wutang, Tienmu, Tienchu, Tienmuh, Niushi, Omei,
     Shiunherh, Chichu, Chihua, Kungtung, Chunyu, Yentang, Tientai, Lungmen, Kueiku, Chiuyi,
     Shiherh, Pakung, Huchiu, Wolung, Niuchu, Paotu, Peiyo, Huangshan, Pichi, Chinshu, Liangfu,
     Shuanglang, Maku, Tulu, Peiku, Chinshan, Chiaoshan, and Chungnan. Since the mountain to
     which you refer is none of these -”
    “Ho,” I moaned.
    “- it might not be too rash to conclude that it is Kuangfu, although I would not like to
     be quoted in the presence of the Ancestress because the slightest mistake can mean instant
     decapitation.”
    Li Kao immediately grasped the potential of Ho's memory. He told him to drop our titles
     when we were alone and address us as Li Kao and Number Ten Ox, and at the first
     opportunity he turned the subject to ginseng. Ho's eyes lit up, but before he could begin
     a discourse that might last several weeks Li Kao asked him if he had ever heard of a Great
     Root of Power. Even Ho Wen had to stop and think about that, and then he said, slowly and
     hesitantly,
    “I was four years old, visiting a cousin at the Blessings of Heaven Library in Loyang.” He
     paused for more thought. “Third basement, fifth row on the left, second rack from the top.
     Behind
    
    
     Chou-pi Mathematics
    
    
     I found Chang Chi's
    
    
     Typhoid Fever and Other Diseases
    
    
     , behind which I found the sixteen volumes in fifty-two rolls of Li Shih-chen's
    
    
     Outline of Herb Medicine
    
    
     , behind which I found a mouse's nest. I was chasing the mouse at the time. In the nest
     was a scrap of parchment with a pretty picture that was labeled 'Great Root of Power,' but
     the parchment had been so badly chewed that I could not make out what species the root
     belonged to.”
    He squinted and pursed his lips as he tried to visualize the picture.
    “It was a very strange root,” he said. “There were two tiny tendrils that were the Legs of
     Power, two more that were the Arms of Power, and a fifth tendril that was the Head of
     Power. The central mass of the root was the Heart of Power, which was labeled 'The
     Ultimate.' Unfortunately the mice had devoured everything else, so I do not know what the
     word 'ultimate' referred to. I very much doubt that the root was ginseng, because I have
     never heard of ginseng that resembled it.”
    His interest in ginseng had a specific origin. One day a grave was being dug in the family
     cemetery and a shovel had pitched out some fragments of clay tablets. Ho Wen had instantly
     recognized ideographs of immense antiquity. He had persuaded the workmen to gather every
     fragment that there was, and then he had settled down to an impossible task. The fragments
     were almost illegible, but he was determined to decipher the text or die in the attempt.
     His face was flushed with pride when he took us to his workshop and showed us the tiny
     clay fragments, and the theories of mathematical probability that he had devised to
     suggest the sequence of characters in the ancient script. He had been working on it for
     sixteen years, and already he had deciphered ten whole sentences, and if