In Chinese

 

I've sold the rights to Little, Big  in mainland China.  (Actually my agent sold them; that "I" is a metonymy).  This is obviously the step to great fortune (as a fortune cookie indeed did once promise me).  Do you know how many people there are in China?   1.3 billion, give or take, mostly give.  By the time the book is published it will be more!  If even .1% of those people buy my book, I will be rich!  A royalty to me of just one dollar a book, whittled down by agents' takings to 50 cents, would be... well what would it be?   .01% would provide for my old age.  I think.  Actually I have no idea how much books cost in China, or how much that translates to in $US.  I get 7% of royalties up to some thousands of copies (my contract's not to hand), and then 8% on copies over that (I think 8000).   Samuel Johnson, helping Mrs. Thrale to sell the brewery owned by her suddenly deceased husband, told potential buyers they were offered not mere buildings and hardware but "the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice."   So does China.