Kai Lung’s Golden Hours
Ernest Bramah’s mock-Chinese fantasy returns to Kai Lung, the wandering storyteller whose only weapon is his tongue. Arrested on trumped-up charges of treason and hauled before the corrupt Mandarin Shan Tien, Kai Lung stalls his sentence the one way he knows how, by spinning tale after tale, each one postponing judgment while he plays for time, freedom, and the affections of a watching maiden. The stories nest inside one another like carved boxes, told in an ornate, ceremoniously polite English full of proverbs and sly understatement that admirers have quoted for a century. This is fantasy less about magic than about wit, patience, and the survival value of a good story. Long regarded as the finest of the Kai Lung books, it is free to read as a PDF and EPUB.
About the Author
Ernest Bramah (1868-1942) was an English author who created two enduring characters: the blind detective Max Carrados and the storyteller Kai Lung. His ornate, ironic Kai Lung books drew admirers as varied as Hilaire Belloc and Dorothy L. Sayers, and remain cult favorites among lovers…
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Listen to Kai Lung’s Golden Hours Audiobook Free
Listen to Kai Lung’s Golden Hours by Ernest Bramah free online. The full audiobook (9 hr 36 min, 22 chapters, read by David Wales) streams free on this page.
Kai Lung’s Golden Hours (1922) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preface by Hilaire Belloc | 9:41 | |
| 2 | Chapter 1 The Encountering Of Six Within A Wood | 18:00 | |
| 3 | Chap 2 The Inexorable Justice Of The Mandarin Shan Tien Part 1 | 27:49 | |
| 4 | Chap 2 The Inexorable Justice Of The Mandarin Shan Tien Part 2 | 26:35 | |
| 5 | Chap 3 The Degraded Persistence Of The Effete Ming-shu Part 1 | 33:18 | |
| 6 | Chap 3 The Degraded Persistence Of The Effete Ming-shu Part 2 | 32:01 | |
| 7 | Chap 4 The Inopportune Behaviour Of The Covetous Li-loe | 19:27 | |
| 8 | Chap 5 The Timely Intervention Of The Mandarin Shan Tien's Lucky Day Part 1 | 19:21 | |
| 9 | Chap 5 The Timely Intervention Of The Mandarin Shan Tien's Lucky Day Part 2 | 23:57 | |
| 10 | Chap 6 The Highminded Strategy Of The Amiable Hwa-mei Part 1 | 18:56 | |
| 11 | Chap 6 The Highminded Strategy Of The Amiable Hwa-mei Part 2 | 21:43 | |
| 12 | Chap 7 Not Concerned With Any Particular Attribute Of Those Who Are Involved Part 1 | 23:13 | |
| 13 | Chap 7 Not Concerned With Any Particular Attribute Of Those Who Are Involved Part 2 | 22:37 | |
| 14 | Chap 8 The Timely Disputation Among Those Of An Inner Chamber Of Yu-ping Part 1 | 30:36 | |
| 15 | Chap 8 The Timely Disputation Among Those Of An Inner Chamber Of Yu-ping Part 2 | 33:42 | |
| 16 | Chap 9 The Propitious Dissension Between Two Who General Attributes Have Already Been Sufficiently Described Part 1 | 28:32 | |
| 17 | Chap 9 The Propitious Dissension Between Two Who General Attributes Have Already Been Sufficiently Described Part 2 | 33:56 | |
| 18 | Chap 10 The Incredible Obtuseness Of Those Who Had Opposed The Virtuous Kai Lung Part 1 | 34:28 | |
| 19 | Chap 10 The Incredible Obtuseness Of Those Who Had Opposed The Virtuous Kai Lung Part 2 | 34:34 | |
| 20 | Chap 11 Of Which It Is Written 'In Shallow Water Dragons Become The Laughing-stock Of Shrimp' | 12:34 | |
| 21 | Chap 12 The Out-passing Into A State Of Assured Felicity Of The Much-Enduring Two With Whom These Printed Leaves Have Chiefly Been Concerned Part 1 | 37:50 | |
| 22 | Chap 12 The Out-passing Into A State Of Assured Felicity Of The Much-Enduring Two With Whom These Printed Leaves Have Chiefly Been Concerned Part 2 | 32:56 |
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