“Never more than one every full moon,” says the monk to Hsi-men as he gives him the 110 pills. But who could resist the all-consuming fire they spread? One might as well entrust a gluttonous child with a bag of candy. Here is one of the most sulphurous spisodes of Jin Ping Mei, the Chinese erotic classic, as told majestically by the great Magnus.

Magnus, pseudonym of Roberto Raviola, was an Italian comic book artist. He is regarded as one of the foremost cartoonists of his country.