[Illustration: (Front cover image)]

[Illustration: "SNAKE'S BLOOD MIXED WITH POWDERED DEER-HORN. "]

 A CHINESE WONDER BOOK

 BY

 NORMAN HINSDALE PITMAN

 ILLUSTRATED BY LI CHU-T'ANG

 [Illustration: Colophon]

 NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & CO. 681 FIFTH AVENUE

 COPYRIGHT, 1919 By E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY

 _All rights reserved_

 * * * * *

 Printed in the United States of America

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 PAGE

 The Golden Beetle or Why the Dog Hates the Cat 1

 The Great Bell 21

 The Strange Tale of Doctor Dog 39

 How Footbinding Started 52

 The Talking Fish 68

 Bamboo and the Turtle 88

 The Mad Goose and the Tiger Forest 104

 The Nodding Tiger 120

 The Princess Kwan-Yin 134

 The Two Jugglers 147

 The Phantom Vessel 160

 The Wooden Tablet 172

 The Golden Nugget 187

 The Man Who Would Not Scold 193

 Lu-San, Daughter of Heaven 206

ILLUSTRATIONS

 Facing Page

 "Snake's blood mixed with powdered deer-horn" _Frontispiece_

 "Here son!" she cried, "look at my treasure!" 8

 Clinging to the animal's shaggy hair was Honeysuckle 50

 Throwing herself at his feet she thanked him for his mercy 56

 "Ah, " sighed the turtle, "if only the good god, P'anku, were here" 102

 Putting his bill close to her ear, he told Hu-Lin of his recent discovery 108

 The tiger gravely nodded his head 130

 All day she was busy carrying water 138

 Higher and higher he climbed 154

 They saw shining in the pathway directly in front of them a lump of gold 188

 As she dressed herself she saw with surprise that her fingers were shapely 214

THE GOLDEN BEETLE OR WHY THE DOG HATES THE CAT

[Illustration]

"What we shall eat to-morrow, I haven't the slightest idea!" said WidowWang to her eldest son, as he started out one morning in search of work. 

"Oh, the gods will provide. I'll find a few coppers somewhere, " repliedthe boy, trying to speak cheerfully, although in his heart he also hadnot the slightest idea in which direction to turn. 

The winter had been a hard one: extreme cold, deep snow, and violentwinds. The Wang house had suffered greatly. The roof had fallen in, weighed down by heavy snow. Then a hurricane had blown a wall over, andMing-li, the son, up all night and exposed to a bitter cold wind, hadcaught pneumonia. Long days of illness followed, with the spending ofextra money for medicine. All their scant savings had soon melted away, and at the shop where Ming-li had been employed his place was filled byanother. When at last he arose from his sick-bed he was too weak forhard labour and there seemed to be no work in the neighbouring villagesfor him to do. Night after night he came home, trying not to bediscouraged, but in his heart feeling the deep pangs of sorrow that cometo the good son who sees his mother suffering for want of food andclothing. 

"Bless his good heart!" said the poor widow after he had gone. "Nomother ever had a better boy. I hope he is right in saying the gods willprovide. It has been getting so much worse these past few weeks that itseems now as if my stomach were as empty as a rich man's brain. Why, even the rats have deserted our cottage, and there's nothing left forpoor Tabby, while old Blackfoot is nearly dead from starvation. "

When the old woman referred to the sorrows of her pets, herremarks were answered by a pitiful mewing and woebegone barkingfrom the corner where the two unfed creatures were curled up togethertrying to keep warm. 

Just then there was a loud knocking at the gate. When the widow Wangcalled out, "Come in!" she was surprised to see an old bald-headedpriest standing in the doorway. "Sorry, but we have nothing, " she wenton, feeling sure the visitor had come in search of food. "We have fed onscraps these two weeks--on scraps and scrapings--and now we are livingon the memories of what we used to have when my son's father was living. Our cat was so fat she couldn't climb to the roof. Now look at her. Youcan hardly see her, she's so thin. No, I'm sorry we can't help you, friend priest, but you see how it is. "

"I didn't come for alms, " cried the clean-shaven one, looking at herkindly, "but only to see what I could do to help you. The gods havelistened long to the prayers of your devoted son. They honour himbecause he has not waited till you die to do sacrifice for you. Theyhave seen how faithfully he has served you ever since his illness, andnow, when he is worn out and unable to work, they are resolved to rewardhim for his virtue. You likewise have been a good mother and shallreceive the gift I am now bringing. "

"What do you mean?" faltered Mrs. Wang, hardly believing her ears athearing a priest speak of bestowing mercies. "Have you come here tolaugh at our misfortunes?"

"By no means. Here in my hand I hold a tiny golden beetle which you willfind has a magic power greater than any you ever dreamed of. I willleave this precious thing with you, a present from the god of filialconduct. "

"Yes, it will sell for a good sum, " murmured the other, looking closelyat the trinket, "and will give us millet for several days. Thanks, goodpriest, for your kindness. "

"But you must by no means sell this golden beetle, for it has the powerto fill your stomachs as long as you live. "

The widow stared in open-mouthed wonder at the priest's surprisingwords. 

"Yes, you must not doubt me, but listen carefully to what I tell you. Whenever you wish food, you have only to place this ornament in a kettleof boiling water, saying over and over again the names of what you wantto eat. In three minutes take off the lid, and there will be yourdinner, smoking hot, and cooked more perfectly than any food you haveever eaten. "

"May I try it now?" she asked eagerly. 

"As soon as I am gone. "

When the door was shut, the old woman hurriedly kindled a fire, boiledsome water, and then dropped in the golden beetle, repeating these wordsagain and again:

 "Dumplings, dumplings, come to me, I am thin as thin can be. Dumplings, dumplings, smoking hot, Dumplings, dumplings, fill the pot. "

Would those three minutes never pass? Could the priest have told thetruth? Her old head was nearly wild with excitement as clouds of steamrose from the kettle. Off came the lid! She could wait no longer. Wonderof wonders! There before her unbelieving eyes was a pot, full to thebrim of pork dumplings, dancing up and down in the bubbling water, thebest, the most delicious dumplings she had ever tasted. She ate and atetill there was no room left in her greedy stomach, and then she feastedthe cat and the dog until they were ready to burst. 

"Good fortune has come at last, " whispered Blackfoot, the dog, toWhitehead, the cat, as they lay down to sun themselves outside. "I fearI couldn't have held out another week without running away to look forfood. I don't know just what's happened, but there's no use questioningthe gods. "

Mrs. Wang fairly danced for joy at the thought of her son's return andof how she would feast him. 

"Poor boy, how surprised he will be at our fortune--and it's all onaccount of his goodness to his old mother. "

When Ming-li came, with a dark cloud overhanging his brow, the widow sawplainly that disappointment was written there. 

"Come, come, lad!" she cried cheerily, "clear up your face and smile, for the gods have been good to us and I shall soon show you how richlyyour devotion has been rewarded. " So saying, she dropped the goldenbeetle into the boiling water and stirred up the fire. 

Thinking his mother had gone stark mad for want of food, Ming-li staredsolemnly at her. Anything was preferable to this misery. Should he sellhis last outer garment for a few pennies and buy millet for her?Blackfoot licked his hand comfortingly, as if to say, "Cheer up, master, fortune has turned in our favour. " Whitehead leaped upon a bench, purring like a sawmill. 

Ming-li did not have long to wait. Almost in the twinkling of an eye heheard his mother crying out, "Sit down at the table, son, and eat these dumplings while they aresmoking hot. "

Could he have heard correctly? Did his ears deceive him? No, there onthe table was a huge platter full of the delicious pork dumplings heliked better than anything else in all the world, except, of course, hismother. 

"Eat and ask no questions, " counselled the Widow Wang. "When you aresatisfied I will tell you everything. "

Wise advice! Very soon the young man's chopsticks were twinkling likea little star in the verses. He ate long and happily, while his goodmother watched him, her heart overflowing with joy at seeing him at lastable to satisfy his hunger. But still the old woman could hardly waitfor him to finish, she was so anxious to tell him her wonderful secret. 

"Here, son!" she cried at last, as he began to pause between mouthfuls, "look at my treasure!" And she held out to him the golden beetle. 

"First tell me what good fairy of a rich man has been filling our handswith silver?"

"That's just what I am trying to tell you, " she laughed, "for there wasa fairy here this afternoon sure enough, only he was dressed like a baldpriest. That golden beetle is all he gave me, but with it comes a secretworth thousands of cash to us. "

The youth fingered the trinket idly, still doubting his senses, andwaiting impatiently for the secret of his delicious dinner. "But, mother, what has this brass bauble to do with the dumplings, thesewonderful pork dumplings, the finest I ever ate?"

"Baubles indeed! Brass! Fie, fie, my boy! You little know what you aresaying. Only listen and you shall hear a tale that will open your eyes. "

She then told him what had happened, and ended by setting all of theleft-over dumplings upon the floor for Blackfoot and Whitehead, a thingher son had never seen her do before, for they had been miserably poorand had had to save every scrap for the next meal. 

Now began a long period of perfect happiness. Mother, son, dog andcat--all enjoyed themselves to their hearts' content. All manner of newfoods such as they had never tasted were called forth from the pot bythe wonderful little beetle. Bird-nest soup, shark's fins, and a hundredother delicacies were theirs for the asking, and soon Ming-li regainedall his strength, but, I fear, at the same time grew somewhat lazy, forit was no longer necessary for him to work. As for the two animals, theybecame fat and sleek and their hair grew long and glossy. 

[Illustration: "HERE SON!" SHE CRIED, "HAVE A LOOK AT MY TREASURE!"]

But alas! according to a Chinese proverb, pride invites sorrow. Thelittle family became so proud of their good fortune that they began toask friends and relatives to dinner that they might show off their goodmeals. One day a Mr. And Mrs. Chu came from a distant village. They weremuch astonished at seeing the high style in which the Wangs lived. Theyhad expected a beggar's meal, but went away with full stomachs. 

"It's the best stuff I ever ate, " said Mr. Chu, as they entered theirown tumble-down house. 

"Yes, and I know where it came from, " exclaimed his wife. "I saw WidowWang take a little gold ornament out of the pot and hide it in acupboard. It must be some sort of charm, for I heard her mumbling toherself about pork and dumplings just as she was stirring up the fire. "

"A charm, eh? Why is it that other people have all the luck? It looks asif we were doomed forever to be poor. "

"Why not borrow Mrs. Wang's charm for a few days until we can pick up alittle flesh to keep our bones from clattering? Turn about's fair play. Of course, we'll return it sooner or later. "

"Doubtless they keep very close watch over it. When would you find themaway from home, now that they don't have to work any more? As theirhouse only contains one room, and that no bigger than ours, it would bedifficult to borrow this golden trinket. It is harder, for more reasonsthan one, to steal from a beggar than from a king. "

"Luck is surely with us, " cried Mrs. Chu, clapping her hands. "They aregoing this very day to the Temple fair. I overheard Mrs. Wang tell herson that he must not forget he was to take her about the middle of theafternoon. I will slip back then and borrow the little charm from thebox in which she hid it. "

"Aren't you afraid of Blackfoot?"

"Pooh! he's so fat he can do nothing but roll. If the widow comes backsuddenly, I'll tell her I came to look for my big hair-pin, that I lostit while I was at dinner. "

"All right, go ahead, only of course we must remember we're borrowingthe thing, not stealing it, for the Wangs have always been good friendsto us, and then, too, we have just dined with them. "

So skilfully did this crafty woman carry out her plans that within anhour she was back in her own house, gleefully showing the priest's charmto her husband. Not a soul had seen her enter the Wang house. The doghad made no noise, and the cat had only blinked her surprise at seeing astranger and had gone to sleep again on the floor. 

Great was the clamour and weeping when, on returning from the fair inexpectation of a hot supper, the widow found her treasure missing. Itwas long before she could grasp the truth. She went back to the littlebox in the cupboard ten times before she could believe it was empty, andthe room looked as if a cyclone had struck it, so long and carefully didthe two unfortunates hunt for the lost beetle. 

Then came days of hunger which were all the harder to bear since therecent period of good food and plenty. Oh, if they had only not got usedto such dainties! How hard it was to go back to scraps and scrapings!

But if the widow and her son were sad over the loss of the good meals, the two pets were even more so. They were reduced to beggary and had togo forth daily upon the streets in search of stray bones and refuse thatdecent dogs and cats turned up their noses at. 

One day, after this period of starvation had been going on for sometime, Whitehead began suddenly to frisk about in great excitement. 

"Whatever is the matter with you?" growled Blackfoot. "Are you mad fromhunger, or have you caught another flea?"

"I was just thinking over our affairs, and now I know the cause of allour trouble. "

"Do you indeed?" sneered Blackfoot. 

"Yes, I do indeed, and you'd better think twice before you mock me, forI hold your future in my paw, as you will very soon see. "

"Well, you needn't get angry about nothing. What wonderful discoveryhave you made--that every rat has one tail?"

"First of all, are you willing to help me bring good fortune back to ourfamily?"

"Of course I am. Don't be silly, " barked the dog, wagging his tailjoyfully at the thought of another good dinner. "Surely! surely! I willdo anything you like if it will bring Dame Fortune back again. "

"All right. Here is the plan. There has been a thief in the house whohas stolen our mistress's golden beetle. You remember all our bigdinners that came from the pot? Well, every day I saw our mistress takea little golden beetle out of the black box and put it into the pot. Oneday she held it up before me, saying, 'Look, puss, there is the cause ofall our happiness. Don't you wish it was yours?' Then she laughed andput it back into the box that stays in the cupboard. "

"Is that true?" questioned Blackfoot. "Why didn't you say somethingabout it before?"

"You remember the day Mr. And Mrs. Chu were here, and how Mrs. Chureturned in the afternoon after master and mistress had gone to thefair? I saw her, out of the tail of my eye, go to that very black boxand take out the golden beetle. I thought it curious, but never dreamedshe was a thief. Alas! I was wrong! She took the beetle, and if I am notmistaken, she and her husband are now enjoying the feasts that belongto us. "

"Let's claw them, " growled Blackfoot, gnashing his teeth. 

"That would do no good, " counselled the other, "for they would be sureto come out best in the end. We want the beetle back--that's the mainthing. We'll leave revenge to human beings; it is none of our business. "

"What do you suggest?" said Blackfoot. "I am with you through thick andthin. "

"Let's go to the Chu house and make off with the beetle. "

"Alas, that I am not a cat!" moaned Blackfoot. "If we go there Icouldn't get inside, for robbers always keep their gates well locked. IfI were like you I could scale the wall. It is the first time in all mylife I ever envied a cat. "

"We will go together, " continued Whitehead. "I will ride on your backwhen we are fording the river, and you can protect me from strangeanimals. When we get to the Chu house, I will climb over the wall andmanage the rest of the business myself. Only you must wait outside tohelp me to get home with the prize. "

No sooner arranged than done. The companions set out that very night ontheir adventure. They crossed the river as the cat had suggested, andBlackfoot really enjoyed the swim, for, as he said, it took him back tohis puppyhood, while the cat did not get a single drop of water on herface. It was midnight when they reached the Chu house. 

"Just wait till I return, " purred Whitehead in Blackfoot's ear. 

With a mighty spring she reached the top of the mud wall, and thenjumped down to the inside court. While she was resting in the shadow, trying to decide just how to go about her work, a slight rustlingattracted her attention, and pop! one giant spring, one stretch-out ofthe claws, and she had caught a rat that had just come out of his holefor a drink and a midnight walk. 

Now, Whitehead was so hungry that she would have made short work of thistempting prey if the rat had not opened its mouth and, to her amazement, begun to talk in good cat dialect. 

"Pray, good puss, not so fast with your sharp teeth! Kindly be carefulwith your claws! Don't you know it is the custom now to put prisoners ontheir honour? I will promise not to run away. "

"Pooh! what honour has a rat?"

"Most of us haven't much, I grant you, but my family was brought upunder the roof of Confucius, and there we picked up so many crumbs ofwisdom that we are exceptions to the rule. If you will spare me, I willobey you for life, in fact, will be your humble slave. " Then, with aquick jerk, freeing itself, "See, I am loose now, but honour holds me asif I were tied, and so I make no further attempt to get away. "

"Much good it would do you, " purred Whitehead, her fur cracklingnoisily, and her mouth watering for a taste of rat steak. "However, I am quite willing to put you to the test. First, answer a few politequestions and I will see if you're a truthful fellow. What kind of foodis your master eating now, that you should be so round and plump whenI am thin and scrawny?"

"Oh, we have been in luck lately, I can tell you. Master and mistressfeed on the fat of the land, and of course we hangers-on get thecrumbs. "

"But this is a poor tumble-down house. How can they afford such eating?"

"That is a great secret, but as I am in honour bound to tell you, heregoes. My mistress has just obtained in some manner or other, a fairy'scharm----"

"She stole it from our place, " hissed the cat, "I will claw her eyes outif I get the chance. Why, we've been fairly starving for want of thatbeetle. She stole it from us just after she had been an invited guest!What do you think of that for honour, Sir Rat? Were your mistress'sancestors followers of the sage?"

"Oh, oh, oh! Why, that explains everything!" wailed the rat. "I haveoften wondered how they got the golden beetle, and yet of course I darednot ask any questions. "

"No, certainly not! But hark you, friend rat--you get that goldentrinket back for me, and I will set you free at once of all obligations. Do you know where she hides it?"

"Yes, in a crevice where the wall is broken. I will bring it to you ina jiffy, but how shall we exist when our charm is gone? There will bea season of scanty food, I fear; beggars' fare for all of us. "

"Live on the memory of your good deed, " purred the cat. "It is splendid, you know, to be an honest beggar. Now scoot! I trust you completely, since your people lived in the home of Confucius. I will wait here foryour return. Ah!" laughed Whitehead to herself, "luck seems to be comingour way again!"

Five minutes later the rat appeared, bearing the trinket in its mouth. It passed the beetle over to the cat, and then with a whisk was off forever. Its honour was safe, but it was afraid of Whitehead. It had seenthe gleam of desire in her green eyes, and the cat might have broken herword if she had not been so anxious to get back home where her mistresscould command the wonderful kettle once more to bring forth food. 

The two adventurers reached the river just as the sun was rising abovethe eastern hills. 

"Be careful, " cautioned Blackfoot, as the cat leaped upon his back forher ride across the stream, "be careful not to forget the treasure. Inshort, remember that even though you are a female, it is necessary tokeep your mouth closed till we reach the other side. "

"Thanks, but I don't think I need your advice, " replied Whitehead, picking up the beetle and leaping on to the dog's back. 

But alas! just as they were nearing the farther shore, the excited catforgot her wisdom for a moment. A fish suddenly leaped out of the waterdirectly under her nose. It was too great a temptation. Snap! went herjaws in a vain effort to land the scaly treasure, and the golden beetlesank to the bottom of the river. 

"There!" said the dog angrily, "what did I tell you? Now all our troublehas been in vain--all on account of your stupidity. "

For a time there was a bitter dispute, and the companions called eachother some very bad names--such as turtle and rabbit. Just as they werestarting away from the river, disappointed and discouraged, a friendlyfrog who had by chance heard their conversation offered to fetch thetreasure from the bottom of the stream. No sooner said than done, andafter thanking this accommodating animal profusely, they turned homewardonce more. 

When they reached the cottage the door was shut, and, bark as he would, Blackfoot could not persuade his master to open it. There was the soundof loud wailing inside. 

"Mistress is broken-hearted, " whispered the cat, "I will go to her andmake her happy. "

So saying, she sprang lightly through a hole in the paper window, which, alas! was too small and too far from the ground for the faithful dog toenter. 

A sad sight greeted the gaze of Whitehead. The son was lying on the bedunconscious, almost dead for want of food, while his mother, in despair, was rocking backwards and forwards wringing her wrinkled hands andcrying at the top of her voice for some one to come and save them. 

"Here I am, mistress, " cried Whitehead, "and here is the treasure youare weeping for. I have rescued it and brought it back to you. "

The widow, wild with joy at sight of the beetle, seized the cat in herscrawny arms and hugged the pet tightly to her bosom. 

"Breakfast, son, breakfast! Wake up from your swoon! Fortune has comeagain. We are saved from starvation!"

Soon a steaming hot meal was ready, and you may well imagine how the oldwoman and her son, heaping praises upon Whitehead, filled the beast'splatter with good things, but never a word did they say of the faithfuldog, who remained outside sniffing the fragrant odours and waiting insad wonder, for all this time the artful cat had said nothing ofBlackfoot's part in the rescue of the golden beetle. 

At last, when breakfast was over, slipping away from the others, Whitehead jumped out through the hole in the window. 

"Oh, my dear Blackfoot, " she began laughingly, "you should have beeninside to see what a feast they gave me! Mistress was so delighted atmy bringing back her treasure that she could not give me enough to eat, nor say enough kind things about me. Too bad, old fellow, that you arehungry. You'd better run out into the street and hunt up a bone. "

Maddened by the shameful treachery of his companion, the enraged dogsprang upon the cat and in a few seconds had shaken her to death. 

"So dies the one who forgets a friend and who loses honour, " he criedsadly, as he stood over the body of his companion. 

Rushing out into the street, he proclaimed the treachery of Whiteheadto the members of his tribe, at the same time advising that allself-respecting dogs should from that time onwards make war upon thefeline race. 

And that is why the descendants of old Blackfoot, whether in China orin the great countries of the West, have waged continual war upon thechildren and grandchildren of Whitehead, for a thousand generations ofdogs have fought them and hated them with a great and lasting hatred. 

THE GREAT BELL

[Illustration]

The mighty Yung-lo sat on the great throne surrounded by a hundredattendants. He was sad, for he could think of no wonderful thing to dofor his country. He flirted his silken fan nervously and snapped hislong finger-nails in the impatience of despair. 

"Woe is me!" he cried at last, his sorrow getting the better of hisusual calmness. "I have picked up the great capital and moved it fromthe South to Peking and have built here a mighty city. I have surroundedmy city with a wall, even thicker and greater than the famous wall ofChina. I have constructed in this city scores of temples and palaces. I have had the wise men and scholars compile a great book of wisdom, made up of 23, 000 volumes, the largest and most wonderful collectionof learning ever gathered together by the hands of men. I have builtwatch-towers, bridges, and giant monuments, and now, alas! as I approachthe end of my days as ruler of the Middle Kingdom there is nothing moreto be done for my people. Better far that I should even now close mytired eyes for ever and mount up on high to be the guest of the dragon, than live on in idleness, giving to my children an example ofuselessness and sloth. "

"But, your Majesty, " began one of Yung-lo's most faithful courtiers, named Ming-lin, falling upon his knees and knocking his head three timeson the ground, "if you would only deign to listen to your humble slave, I would dare to suggest a great gift for which the many people ofPeking, your children, would rise up and bless you both now and infuture generations. "

"Only tell me of such a gift and I will not only grant it to theimperial city, but as a sign of thanksgiving to you for your sagecounsel I will bestow upon you the royal peacock feather. "

"It is not for one of my small virtues, " replied the delighted official, "to wear the feather when others so much wiser are denied it, but if itplease your Majesty, remember that in the northern district of the citythere has been erected a bell-tower which as yet remains empty. Thepeople of the city need a giant bell to sound out the fleeting hours ofthe day, that they may be urged on to perform their labours and not beidle. The water-clock already marks the hours, but there is no bell toproclaim them to the populace. "

"A good suggestion in sooth, " answered the Emperor, smiling, "and yetwho is there among us that has skill enough in bell-craft to do the taskyou propose? I am told that to cast a bell worthy of our imperial cityrequires the genius of a poet and the skill of an astronomer. "

"True, most mighty one, and yet permit me to say that Kwan-yu, who soskilfully moulded the imperial cannon, can also cast a giant bell. Healone of all your subjects is worthy of the task, for he alone can doit justice. "

Now, the official who proposed the name of Kwan-yu to the Emperor hadtwo objects in so doing. He wished to quiet the grief of Yung-lo, whowas mourning because he had nothing left to do for his people, and, at the same time, to raise Kwan-yu to high rank, for Kwan-yu's onlydaughter had for several years been betrothed to Ming-lin's onlyson, and it would be a great stroke of luck for Ming-lin if hisdaughter-in-law's father should come under direct favour of the Emperor. 

"Depend upon it, Kwan-yu can do the work better than any other manwithin the length and breadth of your empire, " continued Ming-lin, againbowing low three times. 

"Then summon Kwan-yu at once to my presence, that I may confer with himabout this important business. "

In great glee Ming-lin arose and backed himself away from the goldenthrone, for it would have been very improper for him to turn hiscoat-tails on the Son of Heaven. 

But it was with no little fear that Kwan-yu undertook the casting of thegreat bell. 

"Can a carpenter make shoes?" he had protested, when Ming-lin had brokenthe Emperor's message to him. 

"Yes, " replied the other quickly, "if they be like those worn by thelittle island dwarfs, and, therefore, made of wood. Bells and cannon arecast from similar material. You ought easily to adapt yourself to thisnew work. "

Now when Kwan-yu's daughter found out what he was about to undertake, she was filled with a great fear. 

"Oh, honoured father, " she cried, "think well before you give thispromise. As a cannon-maker you are successful, but who can say about theother task? And if you fail, the Great One's wrath will fall heavilyupon you. "

"Just hear the girl, " interrupted the ambitious mother. "What do youknow about success and failure? You'd better stick to the subject ofcooking and baby-clothes, for you will soon be married. As for yourfather, pray let him attend to his own business. It is unseemly fora girl to meddle in her father's affairs. "

And so poor Ko-ai--for that was the maiden's name--was silenced, andwent back to her fancy-work with a big tear stealing down her faircheek, for she loved her father dearly and there had come into her hearta strange terror at thought of his possible danger. 

Meanwhile, Kwan-yu was summoned to the Forbidden City, which is in thecentre of Peking, and in which stands the Imperial palace. There hereceived his instructions from the Son of Heaven. 

"And remember, " said Yung-lo in conclusion, "this bell must be so greatthat the sound of it will ring out to a distance of thirty-three mileson every hand. To this end, you should add in proper proportions goldand brass, for they give depth and strength to everything with whichthey mingle. Furthermore, in order that this giant may not be lacking inthe quality of sweetness, you must add silver in due proportion, whilethe sayings of the sages must be graven on its sides. "

Now when Kwan-yu had really received his commission from theEmperor he searched the bookstalls of the city to find if possiblesome ancient descriptions of the best methods used in bell-casting. Alsohe offered generous wages to all who had ever had experience in thegreat work for which he was preparing. Soon his great foundry was alivewith labourers; huge fires were burning; great piles of gold, silver andother metals were lying here and there, ready to be weighed. 

Whenever Kwan-yu went out to a public tea-house all of his friends pliedhim with questions about the great bell. 

"Will it be the largest in the world?"

"Oh, no, " he would reply, "that is not necessary, but it must be thesweetest-toned, for we Chinese strive not for size, but for purity; notfor greatness, but for virtue. "

"When will it be finished?"

"Only the gods can tell, for I have had little experience, and perhaps Ishall fail to mix the metals properly. "

Every few days the Son of Heaven himself would send an imperialmessenger to ask similar questions, for a king is likely to be just ascurious as his subjects, but Kwan-yu would always modestly reply that hecould not be certain; it was very doubtful when the bell would be ready. 

At last, however, after consulting an astrologer, Kwan-yu appointeda day for the casting, and then there came another courtier robed insplendid garments, saying that at the proper hour the Great One himselfwould for the first time cross Kwan-yu's threshold--would come to seethe casting of the bell he had ordered for his people. On hearing this, Kwan-yu was sore afraid, for he felt that somehow, in spite of all hisreading, in spite of all the advice he had received from well-wishers, there was something lacking in the mixture of the boiling metals thatwould soon be poured into the giant mould. In short, Kwan-yu was aboutto discover an important truth that this great world has been thousandsof years in learning--namely, that mere reading and advice cannotproduce skill, that true skill can come only from years of experienceand practice. On the brink of despair, he sent a servant with money tothe temple, to pray to the gods for success in his venture. Truly, despair and prayer rhyme in every language. 

Ko-ai, his daughter, was also afraid when she saw the cloud on herfather's brow, for she it was, you remember, who had tried to preventhim from undertaking the Emperor's commission. She also went to thetemple, in company with a faithful old servant, and prayed to heaven. 

The great day dawned. The Emperor and his courtiers were assembled, theformer sitting on a platform built for the occasion. Three attendantswaved beautiful hand-painted fans about his imperial brow, for the roomwas very warm, and a huge block of ice lay melting in a bowl of carvedbrass, cooling the hot air before it should blow upon the head of theSon of Heaven. 

Kwan-yu's wife and daughter stood in a corner at the back of the room, peering anxiously towards the cauldron of molten liquid, for well theyknew that Kwan-yu's future rank and power depended on the success ofthis enterprise. Around the walls stood Kwan-yu's friends, and at thewindows groups of excited servants strained their necks, trying to catcha glimpse of royalty, and for once afraid to chatter. Kwan-yu himselfwas hurrying hither and thither, now giving a final order, now gazinganxiously at the empty mould, and again glancing towards the throne tosee if his imperial master was showing signs of impatience. 

At last all was ready; everyone was waiting breathlessly for the signfrom Yung-lo which should start the flowing of the metal. A slight bowof the head, a lifting of the finger! The glowing liquid, hissing withdelight at being freed even for a moment from its prison, ran forwardfaster and faster along the channel that led into the great earthen bed. 

The bell-maker covered his eyes with his fan, afraid to look at theswiftly-flowing stream. Were all his hopes to be suddenly dashed by thefailure of the metals to mix and harden properly? A heavy sigh escapedhim as at last he looked up at the thing he had created. Something hadindeed gone wrong; he knew in the flash of an eye that misfortune hadovertaken him. 

Yes! sure enough, when at last the earthen casting had been broken, eventhe smallest child could see that the giant bell, instead of being athing of beauty was a sorry mass of metals that would not blend. 

"Alas!" said Yung-lo, "here is indeed a mighty failure, but even in thisdisappointment I see an object lesson well worthy of consideration, forbehold! in yonder elements are all the materials of which this countryis made up. There are gold and silver and the baser metals. United inthe proper manner they would make a bell so wonderfully beautiful and sopure of tone that the very spirits of the Western heavens would pause tolook and listen. But divided they form a thing that is hideous to eyeand ear. Oh, my China! how many wars are there from time to time amongthe different sections, weakening the country and making it poor! Ifonly all these peoples, great and small, the gold and silver and thebaser elements, would unite, then would this land be really worthy ofthe name of the Middle Kingdom!"

The courtiers all applauded this speech of the great Yung-lo, butKwan-yu remained on the ground where he had thrown himself at the feetof his sovereign. Still bowing his head and moaning, he cried out:

"Ah! your Majesty! I urged you not to appoint me, and now indeed you seemy unfitness. Take my life, I beg you, as a punishment for my failure. "

"Rise, Kwan-yu, " said the great Prince. "I would be a mean master indeedif I did not grant you another trial. Rise up and see that your nextcasting profits by the lesson of this failure. "

So Kwan-yu arose, for when the King speaks, all men must listen. Thenext day he began his task once more, but still his heart was heavy, for he knew not the reason of his failure and was therefore unable tocorrect his error. For many months he laboured night and day. Hardly aword would he speak to his wife, and when his daughter tried to tempthim with a dish of sunflower seed that she had parched herself, he wouldreward her with a sad smile, but would by no means laugh with her andjoke as had formerly been his custom. On the first and fifteenth day ofevery moon he went himself to the temple and implored the gods to granthim their friendly assistance, while Ko-ai added her prayers to his, burning incense and weeping before the grinning idols. 

Again the great Yung-lo was seated on the platform in Kwan-yu's foundry, and again his courtiers hovered round him, but this time, as it waswinter, they did not flirt the silken fans. The Great One was certainthat this casting would be successful. He had been lenient with Kwan-yuon the first occasion, and now at last he and the great city were toprofit by that mercy. 

Again he gave the signal; once more every neck was craned to see theflowing of the metal. But, alas! when the casing was removed it was seenthat the new bell was no better than the first. It was, in fact, adreadful failure, cracked and ugly, for the gold and silver and thebaser elements had again refused to blend into a united whole. 

With a bitter cry which touched the hearts of all those present, theunhappy Kwan-yu fell upon the floor. This time he did not bow before hismaster, for at the sight of the miserable conglomeration of uselessmetals his courage failed him, and he fainted. When at last he came to, the first sight that met his eyes was the scowling face of Yung-lo. Thenhe heard, as in a dream, the stern voice of the Son of Heaven:

"Unhappy Kwan-yu, can it be that you, upon whom I have ever heaped myfavours, have twice betrayed the trust? The first time, I was sorryfor you and willing to forget, but now that sorrow has turned intoanger--yea, the anger of heaven itself is upon you. Now, I bid you markwell my words. A third chance you shall have to cast the bell, but if onthat third attempt you fail--then by order of the Vermilion Pencil bothyou and Ming-lin, who recommended you, shall pay the penalty. "

For a long time after the Emperor had departed, Kwan-yu lay on the floorsurrounded by his attendants, but chief of all those who tried torestore him was his faithful daughter. For a whole week he waveredbetween life and death, and then at last there came a turn in hisfavour. Once more he regained his health, once more he began hispreparations. 

Yet all the time he was about his work his heart was heavy, for he feltthat he would soon journey into the dark forest, the region of the greatyellow spring, the place from which no pilgrim ever returns. Ko-ai, too, felt more than ever that her father was in the presence of a greatdanger. 

"Surely, " she said one day to her mother, "a raven must have flown overhis head. He is like the proverb of the blind man on the blind horsecoming at midnight to a deep ditch. Oh, how can he cross over?"

Willingly would this dutiful daughter have done anything to save herloved one. Night and day she racked her brains for some plan, but all tono avail. 

On the day before the third casting, as Ko-ai was sitting in front ofher brass mirror braiding her long black hair, suddenly a little birdflew in at the window and perched upon her head. Immediately thestartled maiden seemed to hear a voice as if some good fairy werewhispering in her ear:

"Do not hesitate. You must go and consult the famous juggler who evennow is visiting the city. Sell your jade-stones and other jewels, forthis man of wisdom will not listen unless his attention is attractedby huge sums of money. "

The feathered messenger flew out of her room, but Ko-ai had heard enoughto make her happy. She despatched a trusted servant to sell her jade andher jewels, charging him on no account to tell her mother. Then, with agreat sum of money in her possession she sought out the magician who wassaid to be wiser than the sages in knowledge of life and death. 

"Tell me, " she implored, as the greybeard summoned her to his presence, "tell me how I can save my father, for the Emperor has ordered his deathif he fails a third time in the casting of the bell. "

The astrologer, after plying her with questions, put on histortoise-shell glasses and searched long in his book of knowledge. Healso examined closely the signs of the heavens, consulting the mystictables over and over again. Finally, he turned toward Ko-ai, who all thetime had been awaiting his answer with impatience. 

"Nothing could be plainer than the reason of your father's failure, forwhen a man seeks to do the impossible, he can expect Fate to give him noother answer. Gold cannot unite with silver, nor brass with iron, unlessthe blood of a maiden is mingled with the molten metals, but the girlwho gives up her life to bring about the fusion must be pure and good. "

With a sigh of despair Ko-ai heard the astrologer's answer. She lovedthe world and all its beauties; she loved her birds, her companions, herfather; she had expected to marry soon, and then there would have beenchildren to love and cherish. But now all these dreams of happiness mustbe forgotten. There was no other maiden to give up her life for Kwan-yu. She, Ko-ai, loved her father and must make the sacrifice for his sake. 

And so the day arrived for the third trial, and a third time Yung-lotook his place in Kwan-yu's factory, surrounded by his courtiers. Therewas a look of stern expectancy on his face. Twice he had excused hisunderling for failure. Now there could be no thought of mercy. If thebell did not come from its cast perfect in tone and fair to look upon, Kwan-yu must be punished with the severest punishment that could bemeted out to man--even death itself. That was why there was a look ofstern expectancy on Yung-lo's face, for he really loved Kwan-yu and didnot wish to send him to his death. 

As for Kwan-yu himself, he had long ago given up all thought of success, for nothing had happened since his second failure to make him any surerthis time of success. He had settled up his business affairs, arrangingfor a goodly sum to go to his beloved daughter; he had bought the coffinin which his own body would be laid away and had stored it in one of theprincipal rooms of his dwelling; he had even engaged the priests andmusicians who should chant his funeral dirge, and, last but not least, he had arranged with the man who would have charge of chopping off hishead, that one fold of skin should be left uncut, as this would bringhim better luck on his entry into the spiritual world than if the headwere severed entirely from the body. 

And so we may say that Kwan-yu was prepared to die. In fact, on thenight before the final casting he had a dream in which he saw himselfkneeling before the headsman and cautioning him not to forget thebinding agreement the latter had entered into. 

Of all those present in the great foundry, perhaps the devoted Ko-ai wasthe least excited. Unnoticed, she had slipped along the wall from thespot where she had been standing with her mother and had planted herselfdirectly opposite the huge tank in which the molten, seething liquidbubbled, awaiting the signal when it should be set free. Ko-ai gazed atthe Emperor, watching intently for the well-known signal. When at lastshe saw his head move forward she sprang with a wild leap into theboiling liquid, at the same time crying in her clear, sweet voice:

"For thee, dear father! It is the only way!"

The molten white metal received the lovely girl into its ardent embrace, received her, and swallowed her up completely, as in a tomb of liquidfire. 

And Kwan-yu--what of Kwan-yu, the frantic father? Mad with grief at thesight of his loved one giving up her life, a sacrifice to save him, hehad sprung forward to hold her back from her terrible death, but hadsucceeded only in catching one of her tiny jewelled slippers as she sankout of sight for ever--a dainty, silken slipper, to remind him always ofher wonderful sacrifice. In his wild grief as he clasped this pitifullittle memento to his heart he would himself have leaped in and followedher to her death, if his servants had not restrained him until theEmperor had repeated his signal and the liquid had been poured into thecast. As the sad eyes of all those present peered into the molten riverof metals rushing to its earthen bed, they saw not a single signremaining of the departed Ko-ai. 

This, then, my children, is the time-worn legend of the great bellof Peking, a tale that has been repeated a million times by poets, story-tellers and devoted mothers, for you must know that on this thirdcasting, when the earthen mould was removed, there stood revealed themost beautiful bell that eye had ever looked upon, and when it was swungup into the bell-tower there was immense rejoicing among the people. Thesilver and the gold and the iron and the brass, held together by theblood of the virgin, had blended perfectly, and the clear voice of themonster bell rang out over the great city, sounding a deeper, richermelody than that of any other bell within the limits of the MiddleKingdom, or, for that matter, of all the world. And, strange to say, even yet the deep-voiced colossus seems to cry out the name of themaiden who gave herself a living sacrifice, "Ko-ai! Ko-ai! Ko-ai!" sothat all the people may remember her deed of virtue ten thousand yearsago. And between the mellow peals of music there often seems to come aplaintive whisper that may be heard only by those standing near, "Hsieh!hsieh"--the Chinese word for slipper. "Alas!" say all who hear it, "Ko-ai is crying for her slipper. Poor little Ko-ai!"

And now, my dear children, this tale is almost finished, but there isstill one thing you must by no means fail to remember. By order of theEmperor, the face of the great bell was graven with precious sayingsfrom the classics, that even in its moments of silence the bell mightteach lessons of virtue to the people. 

"Behold, " said Yung-lo, as he stood beside the grief-stricken father, "amongst all yonder texts of wisdom, the priceless sayings of ourhonoured sages, there is none that can teach to my children so sweet alesson of filial love and devotion as that one last act of your devoteddaughter. For though she died to save you, her deed will still be sungand extolled by my people when you are passed away, yea, even when thebell itself has crumbled into ruins. "

THE STRANGE TALE OF DOCTOR DOG

[Illustration]

Far up in the mountains of the Province of Hunan in the central part ofChina, there once lived in a small village a rich gentleman who had onlyone child. This girl, like the daughter of Kwan-yu in the story of theGreat Bell, was the very joy of her father's life. 

Now Mr. Min, for that was this gentleman's name, was famous throughoutthe whole district for his learning, and, as he was also the owner ofmuch property, he spared no effort to teach Honeysuckle the wisdom ofthe sages, and to give her everything she craved. Of course this wasenough to spoil most children, but Honeysuckle was not at all like otherchildren. As sweet as the flower from which she took her name, shelistened to her father's slightest command, and obeyed without everwaiting to be told a second time. 

Her father often bought kites for her, of every kind and shape. Therewere fish, birds, butterflies, lizards and huge dragons, one of whichhad a tail more than thirty feet long. Mr. Min was very skilful inflying these kites for little Honeysuckle, and so naturally did hisbirds and butterflies circle round and hover about in the air thatalmost any little western boy would have been deceived and said, "Why, there is a real bird, and not a kite at all!" Then again, he wouldfasten a queer little instrument to the string, which made a kind ofhumming noise, as he waved his hand from side to side. "It is the windsinging, Daddy, " cried Honeysuckle, clapping her hands with joy;"singing a kite-song to both of us. " Sometimes, to teach his littledarling a lesson if she had been the least naughty, Mr. Min would fastenqueerly twisted scraps of paper, on which were written many Chinesewords, to the string of her favourite kite. 

"What are you doing, Daddy?" Honeysuckle would ask. "What can thosequeer-looking papers be?"

"On every piece is written a sin that we have done. "

"What is a sin, Daddy?"

"Oh, when Honeysuckle has been naughty; that is a sin!" he answeredgently. "Your old nurse is afraid to scold you, and if you are to growup to be a good woman, Daddy must teach you what is right. "

Then Mr. Min would send the kite up high--high over the house-tops, even higher than the tall Pagoda on the hillside. When all his cordwas let out, he would pick up two sharp stones, and, handing them toHoneysuckle, would say, "Now, daughter, cut the string, and the windwill carry away the sins that are written down on the scraps of paper. "

"But, Daddy, the kite is so pretty. Mayn't we keep our sins a littlelonger?" she would innocently ask. 

"No, child; it is dangerous to hold on to one's sins. Virtue is thefoundation of happiness, " he would reply sternly, choking back hislaughter at her question. "Make haste and cut the cord. "

So Honeysuckle, always obedient--at least with her father--would sawthe string in two between the sharp stones, and with a childish cry ofdespair would watch her favourite kite, blown by the wind, sail fartherand farther away, until at last, straining her eyes, she could see itsink slowly to the earth in some far-distant meadow. 

"Now laugh and be happy, " Mr. Min would say, "for your sins are allgone. See that you don't get a new supply of them. "

Honeysuckle was also fond of seeing the Punch and Judy show, for, you must know, this old-fashioned amusement for children was enjoyedby little folks in China, perhaps three thousand years before yourgreat-grandfather was born. It is even said that the great Emperor, Mu, when he saw these little dancing images for the first time, was greatlyenraged at seeing one of them making eyes at his favourite wife. Heordered the showman to be put to death, and it was with difficulty thepoor fellow persuaded his Majesty that the dancing puppets were notreally alive at all, but only images of cloth and clay. 

No wonder then Honeysuckle liked to see Punch and Judy if the Son ofHeaven himself had been deceived by their queer antics into thinkingthem real people of flesh and blood. 

But we must hurry on with our story, or some of our readers will beasking, "But where is Dr. Dog? Are you never coming to the hero of thistale?" One day when Honeysuckle was sitting inside a shady pavilion thatoverlooked a tiny fish-pond, she was suddenly seized with a violentattack of colic. Frantic with pain, she told a servant to summon herfather, and then without further ado, she fell over in a faint upon theground. 

When Mr. Min reached his daughter's side, she was still unconscious. After sending for the family physician to come post haste, he got hisdaughter to bed, but although she recovered from her fainting fit, theextreme pain continued until the poor girl was almost dead fromexhaustion. 

Now, when the learned doctor arrived and peered at her from under hisgigantic spectacles, he could not discover the cause of her trouble. However, like some of our western medical men, he did not confess hisignorance, but proceeded to prescribe a huge dose of boiling water, tobe followed a little later by a compound of pulverized deer's horn anddried toadskin. 

Poor Honeysuckle lay in agony for three days, all the time growingweaker and weaker from loss of sleep. Every great doctor in the districthad been summoned for consultation; two had come from Changsha, thechief city of the province, but all to no avail. It was one of thosecases that seem to be beyond the power of even the most learnedphysicians. In the hope of receiving the great reward offered by thedesperate father, these wise men searched from cover to cover in thegreat Chinese Cyclopedia of Medicine, trying in vain to find a method oftreating the unhappy maiden. There was even thought of calling in acertain foreign physician from England, who was in a distant city, andwas supposed, on account of some marvellous cures he had brought topass, to be in direct league with the devil. However, the citymagistrate would not allow Mr. Min to call in this outsider, for feartrouble might be stirred up among the people. 

Mr. Min sent out a proclamation in every direction, describing hisdaughter's illness, and offering to bestow on her a handsome dowry andgive her in marriage to whoever should be the means of bringing her backto health and happiness. He then sat at her bedside and waited, feelingthat he had done all that was in his power. There were many answers tohis invitation. Physicians, old and young, came from every part of theEmpire to try their skill, and when they had seen poor Honeysuckle andalso the huge pile of silver shoes her father offered as a wedding gift, they all fought with might and main for her life; some having beenattracted by her great beauty and excellent reputation, others by thetremendous reward. 

But, alas for poor Honeysuckle! Not one of all those wise men could cureher! One day, when she was feeling a slight change for the better, shecalled her father, and, clasping his hand with her tiny one said, "Wereit not for your love I would give up this hard fight and pass over intothe dark wood; or, as my old grandmother says, fly up into the WesternHeavens. For your sake, because I am your only child, and especiallybecause you have no son, I have struggled hard to live, but now I feelthat the next attack of that dreadful pain will carry me away. And oh, I do not want to die!"

Here Honeysuckle wept as if her heart would break, and her old fatherwept too, for the more she suffered the more he loved her. 

Just then her face began to turn pale. "It is coming! The pain iscoming, father! Very soon I shall be no more. Good-bye, father!Good-bye; good----. " Here her voice broke and a great sob almost brokeher father's heart. He turned away from her bedside; he could not bearto see her suffer. He walked outside and sat down on a rustic bench; hishead fell upon his bosom, and the great salt tears trickled down hislong grey beard. 

As Mr. Min sat thus overcome with grief, he was startled at hearing alow whine. Looking up he saw, to his astonishment, a shaggy mountain dogabout the size of a Newfoundland. The huge beast looked into the oldman's eyes with so intelligent and human an expression, with such a sadand wistful gaze, that the greybeard addressed him, saying, "Why haveyou come? To cure my daughter?"

The dog replied with three short barks, wagging his tail vigorously andturning toward the half-opened door that led into the room where thegirl lay. 

By this time, willing to try any chance whatever of reviving hisdaughter, Mr. Min bade the animal follow him into Honeysuckle'sapartment. Placing his forepaws upon the side of her bed, the dog lookedlong and steadily at the wasted form before him and held his earintently for a moment over the maiden's heart. Then, with a slight coughhe deposited from his mouth into her outstretched hand, a tiny stone. Touching her wrist with his right paw, he motioned to her to swallow thestone. 

"Yes, my dear, obey him, " counselled her father, as she turned to himinquiringly, "for good Dr. Dog has been sent to your bedside by themountain fairies, who have heard of your illness and who wish to inviteyou back to life again. "

Without further delay the sick girl, who was by this time almost burnedaway by the fever, raised her hand to her lips and swallowed the tinycharm. Wonder of wonders! No sooner had it passed her lips than amiracle occurred. The red flush passed away from her face, the pulseresumed its normal beat, the pains departed from her body, and she arosefrom the bed well and smiling. 

Flinging her arms about her father's neck, she cried out in joy, "Oh, I am well again; well and happy; thanks to the medicine of the goodphysician. "

The noble dog barked three times, wild with delight at hearing thesetearful words of gratitude, bowed low, and put his nose in Honeysuckle'soutstretched hand. 

Mr. Min, greatly moved by his daughter's magical recovery, turned to thestrange physician, saying, "Noble Sir, were it not for the form you havetaken, for some unknown reason, I would willingly give four times thesum in silver that I promised for the cure of the girl, into yourpossession. As it is, I suppose you have no use for silver, but rememberthat so long as we live, whatever we have is yours for the asking, andI beg of you to prolong your visit, to make this the home of your oldage--in short, remain here for ever as my guest--nay, as a member ofmy family. "

The dog barked thrice, as if in assent. From that day he was treated asan equal by father and daughter. The many servants were commanded toobey his slightest whim, to serve him with the most expensive food onthe market, to spare no expense in making him the happiest and best-feddog in all the world. Day after day he ran at Honeysuckle's side as shegathered flowers in her garden, lay down before her door when she wasresting, guarded her Sedan chair when she was carried by servants intothe city. In short, they were constant companions; a stranger would havethought they had been friends from childhood. 

One day, however, just as they were returning from a journey outside herfather's compound, at the very instant when Honeysuckle was alightingfrom her chair, without a moment's warning, the huge animal dashed pastthe attendants, seized his beautiful mistress in his mouth, and beforeanyone could stop him, bore her off to the mountains. By the time thealarm was sounded, darkness had fallen over the valley and as the nightwas cloudy no trace could be found of the dog and his fair burden. 

Once more the frantic father left no stone unturned to save hisdaughter. Huge rewards were offered, bands of woodmen scoured themountains high and low, but, alas, no sign of the girl could be found!The unfortunate father gave up the search and began to prepare himselffor the grave. There was nothing now left in life that he caredfor--nothing but thoughts of his departed daughter. Honeysuckle was gonefor ever. 

"Alas!" said he, quoting the lines of a famous poet who had fallen intodespair:

 "My whiting hair would make an endless rope, Yet would not measure all my depth of woe. "

Several long years passed by; years of sorrow for the ageing man, piningfor his departed daughter. One beautiful October day he was sitting inthe very same pavilion where he had so often sat with his darling. Hishead was bowed forward on his breast, his forehead was lined with grief. A rustling of leaves attracted his attention. He looked up. Standingdirectly in front of him was Dr. Dog, and lo, riding on his back, clinging to the animal's shaggy hair, was Honeysuckle, his long-lostdaughter; while standing near by were three of the handsomest boys hehad ever set eyes upon!

"Ah, my daughter! My darling daughter, where have you been all theseyears?" cried the delighted father, pressing the girl to his achingbreast. "Have you suffered many a cruel pain since you were snatchedaway so suddenly? Has your life been filled with sorrow?"

"Only at the thought of your grief, " she replied, tenderly, strokinghis forehead with her slender fingers; "only at the thought of yoursuffering; only at the thought of how I should like to see you every dayand tell you that my husband was kind and good to me. For you must know, dear father, this is no mere animal that stands beside you. This Dr. Dog, who cured me and claimed me as his bride because of your promise, is a great magician. He can change himself at will into a thousandshapes. He chooses to come here in the form of a mountain beast so thatno one may penetrate the secret of his distant palace. "

"Then he is your husband?" faltered the old man, gazing at the animalwith a new expression on his wrinkled face. 

"Yes; my kind and noble husband, the father of my three sons, yourgrandchildren, whom we have brought to pay you a visit. "

"And where do you live?"

"In a wonderful cave in the heart of the great mountains; a beautifulcave whose walls and floors are covered with crystals, and encrustedwith sparkling gems. The chairs and tables are set with jewels; therooms are lighted by a thousand glittering diamonds. Oh, it is lovelierthan the palace of the Son of Heaven himself! We feed of the flesh ofwild deer and mountain goats, and fish from the clearest mountainstream. We drink cold water out of golden goblets, without first boilingit, for it is purity itself. We breathe fragrant air that blows throughforests of pine and hemlock. We live only to love each other and ourchildren, and oh, we are so happy! And you, father, you must come backwith us to the great mountains and live there with us the rest of yourdays, which, the gods grant, may be very many. "

[Illustration: "CLINGING TO THE ANIMAL'S SHAGGY HAIR WAS HONEYSUCKLE"]

The old man pressed his daughter once more to his breast and fondled thechildren, who clambered over him rejoicing at the discovery of agrandfather they had never seen before. 

From Dr. Dog and his fair Honeysuckle are sprung, it is said, thewell-known race of people called the Yus, who even now inhabit themountainous regions of the Canton and Hunan provinces. It is not forthis reason, however, that we have told the story here, but because wefelt sure every reader would like to learn the secret of the dog thatcured a sick girl and won her for his bride. 

HOW FOOTBINDING STARTED

[Illustration]

In the very beginning of all things, when the gods were creating theworld, at last the time came to separate the earth from the heavens. This was hard work, and if it had not been for the coolness and skill ofa young goddess all would have failed. This goddess was named Lu-o. Shehad been idly watching the growth of the planet, when, to her horror, she saw the newly made ball slipping slowly from its place. In anothersecond it would have shot down into the bottomless pit. Quick as a flashLu-o stopped it with her magic wand and held it firmly until the chiefgod came dashing up to the rescue. 

But this was not all. When men and women were put on the earth Lu-ohelped them greatly by setting an example of purity and kindness. Everyone loved her and pointed her out as the one who was always willing todo a good deed. After she had left the world and gone into the land ofthe gods, beautiful statues of her were set up in many temples to keepher image always before the eyes of sinful people. The greatest of thesewas in the capital city. Thus, when sorrowful women wished to offer uptheir prayers to some virtuous goddess they would go to a temple of Lu-oand pour out their hearts before her shrine. 

At one time the wicked Chow-sin, last ruler of the Yins, went to pray inthe city Temple. There his royal eyes were captivated by the sight of awonderful face, the beauty of which was so great that he fell in lovewith it at once, telling his ministers that he wished he might take thisgoddess, who was no other than Lu-o, for one of his wives. 

Now Lu-o was terribly angry that an earthly prince should dare to makesuch a remark about her. Then and there she determined to punish theEmperor. Calling her assistant spirits, she told them of Chow-sin'sinsult. Of all her servants the most cunning was one whom we shall callFox Sprite, because he really belonged to the fox family. Lu-o orderedFox Sprite to spare himself no trouble in making the wicked ruler sufferfor his impudence. 

For many days, try as he would, Chow-sin, the great Son of Heaven, couldnot forget the face he had seen in the temple. 

"He is stark mad, " laughed his courtiers behind his back, "to fall inlove with a statue. "

"I must find a woman just like her, " said the Emperor, "and take her towife. "

"Why not, most Mighty One, " suggested a favourite adviser, "send forth acommand throughout the length and breadth of your Empire, that no maidenshall be taken in marriage until you have chosen yourself a wife whosebeauty shall equal that of Lu-o?"

Chow-sin was pleased with this suggestion and doubtless would havefollowed it had not his Prime Minister begged him to postpone issuingthe order. "Your Imperial Highness, " began the official, "since you havebeen pleased once or twice to follow my counsel, I beg of you to giveear now to what I say. "

"Speak, and your words shall have my best attention, " replied Chow-sin, with a gracious wave of the hand. 

"Know then, Great One, that in the southern part of your realm theredwells a viceroy whose bravery has made him famous in battle. "

"Are you speaking of Su-nan?" questioned Chow-sin, frowning, for thisSu-nan had once been a rebel. 

"None other, mighty Son of Heaven. Famous is he as a soldier, but hisname is now even greater in that he is the father of the most beautifulgirl in all China. This lovely flower that has bloomed of late withinhis household is still unmarried. Why not order her father to bring herto the palace that you may wed her and place her in your royaldwelling?"

"And are you sure of this wondrous beauty you describe so prettily?"asked the ruler, a smile of pleasure lighting up his face. 

"So sure that I will stake my head on your being satisfied. "

"Enough! I command you at once to summon the viceroy and his daughter. Add the imperial seal to the message. "

The Prime Minister smilingly departed to give the order. In his heart hewas more than delighted that the Emperor had accepted his suggestion, for Su-nan, the viceroy, had long been his chief enemy, and he plannedin this way to overthrow him. The viceroy, as he knew, was a man ofiron. He would certainly not feel honoured at the thought of having hisdaughter enter the Imperial Palace as a secondary wife. Doubtless hewould refuse to obey the order and would thus bring about his ownimmediate downfall. 

Nor was the Prime Minister mistaken. When Su-nan received the imperialmessage his heart was hot with anger against his sovereign. To be robbedof his lovely Ta-ki, even by the throne, was, in his eyes, a terribledisgrace. Could he have been sure that she would be made Empress itmight have been different, but with so many others sharing Chow-sin'sfavour, her promotion to first place in the Great One's household was byno means certain. Besides, she was Su-nan's favourite child, and the oldman could not bear the thought of separation from her. Rather would hegive up his life than let her go to this cruel ruler. 

"No, you shall not do it, " said he to Ta-ki, "not though I must die tosave you. "

The beautiful girl listened to her father's words, in tears. Throwingherself at his feet she thanked him for his mercy and promised to lovehim more fondly than ever. She told him that her vanity had not beenflattered by what most girls might have thought an honour, that shewould rather have the love of one good man like her father, than sharewith others the affections of a king. 

After listening to his daughter, the viceroy sent a respectful answer tothe palace, thanking the Emperor for his favour, but saying he could notgive up Ta-ki. "She is unworthy of the honour you purpose doing her, " hesaid, in conclusion, "for, having been the apple of her father's eye, she would not be happy to share even your most august favour with themany others you have chosen. "

[Illustration: "THROWING HERSELF AT HIS FEET SHE THANKED HIM FOR HISMERCY. "]

When the Emperor learned of Su-nan's reply he could hardly believe hisears. To have his command thus disobeyed was an unheard-of crime. Neverbefore had a subject of the Middle Kingdom offered such an insult to aruler. Boiling with rage, he ordered his prime minister to send forthan army that would bring the viceroy to his senses. "Tell him if hedisobeys that he and his family, together with all they possess, shallbe destroyed. "

Delighted at the success of his plot against Su-nan, the Prime Ministersent a regiment of soldiers to bring the rebel to terms. In the meantimethe friends of the daring viceroy had not been idle. Hearing of thedanger threatening their ruler, who had become a general favourite, hundreds of men offered him their aid against the army of Chow-sin. Thuswhen the Emperor's banners were seen approaching and the war drums wereheard rolling in the distance, the rebels, with a great shout, dashedforth to do battle for their leader. In the fight that took place theImperial soldiers were forced to run. 

When the Emperor heard of this defeat he was hot with anger. He calledtogether his advisers and commanded that an army, double the size of thefirst one, should be sent to Su-nan's country to destroy the fields andvillages of the people who had risen up against him. "Spare not one ofthem, " he shouted, "for they are traitors to the Dragon Throne. "

Once more the viceroy's friends resolved to support him, even to thedeath. Ta-ki, his daughter, went apart from the other members of thefamily, weeping most bitterly that she had brought such sorrow uponthem. "Rather would I go into the palace and be the lowest amongChow-sin's women than to be the cause of all this grief, " she cried, in desperation. 

But her father soothed her, saying, "Be of good cheer, Ta-ki. TheEmperor's army, though it be twice as large as mine, shall not overcomeus. Right is on our side. The gods of battle will help those who fightfor justice. "

One week later a second battle was fought, and the struggle was so closethat none could foresee the result. The Imperial army was commanded bythe oldest nobles in the kingdom, those most skilled in warfare, whilethe viceroy's men were young and poorly drilled. Moreover, the membersof the Dragon Army had been promised double pay if they shouldaccomplish the wishes of their sovereign, while Su-nan's soldiers knewonly too well that they would be put to the sword if they should bedefeated. 

Just as the clash of arms was at its highest, the sound of gongs washeard upon a distant hill. The government troops were amazed at seeingfresh companies marching to the rescue of their foe. With a wild cry ofdisappointment they turned and fled from the field. These unexpectedreinforcements turned out to be women whom Ta-ki had persuaded to dressup as soldiers and go with her for the purpose of frightening the enemy. Thus for a second time was Su-nan victorious. 

During the following year several battles occurred that counted forlittle, except that in each of them many of Su-nan's followers werekilled. At last one of the viceroy's best friends came to him, saying, "Noble lord, it is useless to continue the struggle. I fear you mustgive up the fight. You have lost more than half your supporters; theremaining bowmen are either sick or wounded and can be of little use. The Emperor, moreover, is even now raising a new army from the distantprovinces, and will soon send against us a force ten times as great asany we have yet seen. There being no hope of victory, further fightingwould be folly. Lead, therefore, your daughter to the palace. Throwyourself upon the mercy of the throne. You must accept cheerfully thefate the gods have suffered you to bear. "

Ta-ki, chancing to overhear this conversation, rushed in and begged herfather to hold out no longer, but to deliver her up to the greed of thewicked Chow-sin. 

With a sigh, the viceroy yielded to their wishes. The next day hedespatched a messenger to the Emperor, promising to bring Ta-ki at onceto the capital. 

Now we must not forget Fox Sprite, the demon, who had been commanded bythe good goddess Lu-o to bring a dreadful punishment upon the Emperor. Through all the years of strife between Chow-sin and the rebels, FoxSprite had been waiting patiently for his chance. He knew well that someday, sooner or later, there would come an hour when Chow-sin would be athis mercy. When the time came, therefore, for Ta-ki to go to the palace, Fox Sprite felt that at last his chance had come. The beautiful maidenfor whom Chow-sin had given up so many hundreds of his soldiers, wouldclearly have great power over the Emperor. She must be made to helpin the punishment of her wicked husband. So Fox Sprite made himselfinvisible and travelled with the viceroy's party as it went from centralChina to the capital. 

On the last night of their journey Su-nan and his daughter stopped forrest and food at a large inn. No sooner had the girl gone to her roomfor the night than Fox Sprite followed her. Then he made himselfvisible. At first she was frightened to see so strange a being in herroom, but when Fox Sprite told her he was a servant of the greatgoddess, Lu-o, she was comforted, for she knew that Lu-o was the friendof women and children. 

"But how can _I_ help to punish the Emperor?" she faltered, when thesprite told her he wanted her assistance. "I am but a helpless girl, "and here she began to cry. 

"Dry your tears, " he said soothingly. "It will be very easy. Only let metake your form for a little. When I am the Emperor's wife, " laughing, "Ishall find a way to punish him, for no one can give a man more pain thathis wife can, if she desires to do so. You know, I am a servant of Lu-oand can do anything I wish. "

"But the Emperor won't have a fox for a wife, " she sobbed. 

"Though I am still a fox I shall look like the beautiful Ta-ki. Makeyour heart easy. He will never know. "

"Oh, I see, " she smiled, "you will put your spirit into my body and youwill look just like me, though you really won't be me. But what willbecome of the real me? Shall I have to be a fox and look like you?"

"No, not unless you want to. I will make you invisible, and you can beready to go back into your own body when I have got rid of the Emperor. "

"Very well, " replied the girl, somewhat relieved by his explanation, "but try not to be too long about it, because I don't like the idea ofsomebody else walking about in my body. "

So Fox Sprite caused his own spirit to enter the girl's body, and noone could have told by her outward appearance that any change had takenplace. The beautiful girl was now in reality the sly Fox Sprite, but inone way only did she look like a fox. When the fox-spirit entered herbody, her feet suddenly shrivelled up and became very similar in shapeand size to the feet of the animal who had her in his power. When thefox noticed this, at first he was somewhat annoyed, but, feeling that noone else would know, he did not take the trouble to change the fox feetback to human form. 

On the following morning, when the viceroy called his daughter for thelast stage of their journey, he greeted Fox Sprite without suspectingthat anything unusual had happened since he had last seen Ta-ki. So welldid this crafty spirit perform his part that the father was completelydeceived, by look, by voice, and by gesture. 

The next day the travellers arrived at the capital and Su-nan presentedhimself before Chow-sin, the Emperor, leading Fox Sprite with him. Ofcourse the crafty fox with all his magic powers was soon able to gainthe mastery over the wicked ruler. The Great One pardoned Su-nan, although he had fully intended to put him to death as a rebel. 

Now the chance for which Fox Sprite had been waiting had come. He beganat once, causing the Emperor to do many deeds of violence. The peoplehad already begun to dislike Chow-sin, and soon he became hateful intheir sight. Many of the leading members of the court were put to deathunjustly. Horrible tortures were devised for punishing those who did notfind favour with the crown. At last there was open talk of a rebellion. Of course, all these things delighted the wily fox, for he saw that, sooner or later, the Son of Heaven would be turned out of the palace, and he knew that then his work for the goddess Lu-o would be finished. 

Besides worming his way into the heart of the Emperor, the fox becamea general favourite with the ladies of the palace. These women saw inChow-sin's latest wife the most beautiful woman who had ever lived inthe royal harem. One would think that this beauty might have causedthem to hate Fox Sprite, but such was not the case. They admired theplumpness of Fox Sprite's body, the fairness of Fox Sprite's complexion, the fire in Fox Sprite's eyes, but most of all they wondered at thesmallness of Fox Sprite's feet, for, you remember, the supposed Ta-kinow had fox's feet instead of those of human shape. 

Thus small feet became the fashion among women. All the court ladies, old and young, beautiful and ugly, began thinking of plans for makingtheir own feet as tiny as those of Fox Sprite. In this way they thoughtto increase their chances of finding favour with the Emperor. 

Gradually people outside the palace began to hear of this absurdfashion. Mothers bound the feet of their little girls, in such a manneras to stop their growth. The bones of the toes were bent backwards andbroken, so eager were the elders to have their daughters grow up intotiny-footed maidens. Thus, for several years of their girlhood thelittle ones were compelled to endure the most severe tortures. It wasnot long before the new fashion took firm root in China. It becamealmost impossible for parents to get husbands for their daughters unlessthe girls had suffered the severe pains of foot-binding. And even tothis day we find that many of the people are still under the influenceof Fox Sprite's magic, and believe that a tiny, misshapen foot is morebeautiful than a natural one. 

But let us return to the story of Fox Sprite and the wicked Emperor. Fora number of years matters grew continually worse in the country. At lastthe people rose in a body against the ruler. A great battle was fought. The wicked Chow-sin was overthrown and put to death by means of thosevery instruments of torture he had used so often against his subjects. By this time it had become known to all the lords and noblemen that theEmperor's favourite had been the main cause of their ruler's wickedness;hence they demanded the death of Fox Sprite. But no one wished to killso lovely a creature. Every one appointed refused to do the deed. 

Finally, a grey-headed member of the court allowed himself to beblindfolded. With a sharp sword he pierced the body of Fox Sprite to theheart. Those standing near covered their eyes with their hands, for theycould not bear to see so wonderful a woman die. Suddenly, as they lookedup, they saw a sight so strange that all were filled with amazement. Instead of falling to the ground, the graceful form swayed backward andforward for a moment, when all at once there seemed to spring from herside a huge mountain fox. The animal glanced around him, then, with acry of fear, dashing past officials, courtiers and soldiers, he rushedthrough the gate of the enclosure. 

"A fox!" cried the people, full of wonder. 

At that moment Ta-ki fell in a swoon upon the floor. When they pickedher up, thinking, of course, that she had died from the sword thrust, they could find no blood on her body, and, on looking more closely, theysaw that there was not even the slightest wound. 

"Marvel of marvels!" they all shouted. "The gods have shielded her!"

Just then Ta-ki opened her eyes and looked about her. "Where am I?" sheasked, in faint voice. "Pray tell me what has happened. "

Then they told her what they had seen, and at last it was plain to thebeautiful woman that, after all these years, Fox Sprite had left herbody. She was herself once more. For a long time she could not make thepeople believe her story; they all said that she must have lost hermind; that the gods had saved her life, but had punished her for herwickedness by taking away her reason. 

But that night, when her maids were undressing her in the palace, theysaw her feet, which had once more become their natural size, and thenthey knew she had been telling the truth. 

How Ta-ki became the wife of a good nobleman who had long admired hergreat beauty is much too long a story to be told here. Of one thing, however, we are certain, that she lived long and was happy everafterwards. 

THE TALKING FISH

[Illustration]

Long, long before your great-grandfather was born there lived in thevillage of Everlasting Happiness two men called Li and Sing. Now, thesetwo men were close friends, living together in the same house. Beforesettling down in the village of Everlasting Happiness they had ruled ashigh officials for more than twenty years. They had often treated thepeople very harshly, so that everybody, old and young, disliked andhated them. And yet, by robbing the wealthy merchants and by cheatingthe poor, these two evil companions had become rich, and it was in orderto spend their ill-gotten gains in idle amusements that they sought outthe village of Everlasting Happiness. "For here, " said they, "we cansurely find that joy which has been denied us in every other place. Herewe shall no longer be scorned by men and reviled by women. "

Consequently these two men bought for themselves the finest house inthe village, furnished it in the most elegant manner, and decoratedthe walls with scrolls filled with wise sayings and pictures by famousartists. Outside there were lovely gardens filled with flowers andbirds, and oh, ever so many trees with queer twisted branches growingin the shape of tigers and other wild animals. 

Whenever they felt lonely Li and Sing invited rich people of theneighbourhood to come and dine with them, and after they had eaten, sometimes they would go out upon the little lake in the centre of theirestate, rowing in an awkward flat-bottomed boat that had been built bythe village carpenter. 

One day, on such an occasion, when the sun had been beating downfiercely upon the clean-shaven heads of all those on the little barge, for you must know this was long before the day when hats were worn--atleast, in the village of Everlasting Happiness--Mr. Li was suddenlyseized with a giddy feeling, which rapidly grew worse and worse untilhe was in a burning fever. 

"Snake's blood mixed with powdered deer-horn is the thing for him, "said the wise-looking doctor who was called in, peering at Li carefullythrough his huge glasses, "Be sure, " he continued, addressing Li'spersonal attendant, and, at the same time, snapping his longfinger-nails nervously, "be sure, above all, not to leave him alone, forhe is in danger of going raving mad at any moment, and I cannot say whathe may do if he is not looked after carefully. A man in his conditionhas no more sense than a baby. "

Now, although these words of the doctor's really made Mr. Li angry, hewas too ill to reply, for all this time his head had been growing hotterand hotter, until at last a feverish sleep overtook him. No sooner hadhe closed his eyes than his faithful servant, half-famished, rushed outof the room to join his fellows at their mid-day meal. 

Li awoke with a start. He had slept only ten minutes. "Water, water, "he moaned, "bathe my head with cold water. I am half dead with pain!"But there was no reply, for the attendant was dining happily with hisfellows. 

"Air, air, " groaned Mr. Li, tugging at the collar of his silk shirt. "I'm dying for water. I'm starving for air. This blazing heat will killme. It is hotter than the Fire god himself ever dreamed of making it. Wang, Wang!" clapping his hands feebly and calling to his servant, "air and water, air and water!"

But still no Wang. 

At last, with the strength that is said to come from despair, Mr. Liarose from his couch and staggered toward the doorway. Out he went intothe paved courtyard, and then, after only a moment's hesitation, madehis way across it into a narrow passage that led into the lake garden. 

"What do they care for a man when he is sick?" he muttered. "My goodfriend Sing is doubtless even now enjoying his afternoon nap, with aservant standing by to fan him, and a block of ice near his head to coolthe air. What does he care if I die of a raging fever? Doubtless heexpects to inherit all my money. And my servants! That rascal Wang hasbeen with me these ten years, living on me and growing lazier everyseason! What does he care if I pass away? Doubtless he is certain thatSing's servants will think of something for him to do, and he will haveeven less work than he has now. Water, water! I shall die if I don'tsoon find a place to soak myself!"

So saying, he arrived at the bank of a little brook that flowed inthrough a water gate at one side of the garden and emptied itself intothe big fish-pond. Flinging himself down by a little stream Li bathedhis hands and wrists in the cool water. How delightful! If only it weredeep enough to cover his whole body, how gladly would he cast himself inand enjoy the bliss of its refreshing embrace!

For a long time he lay on the ground, rejoicing at his escape from thedoctor's clutches. Then, as the fever began to rise again, he sprang upwith a determined cry, "What am I waiting for? I will do it. There's noone to prevent me, and it will do me a world of good. I will cast myselfhead first into the fish-pond. It is not deep enough near the shore todrown me if I should be too weak to swim, and I am sure it will restoreme to strength and health. "

He hastened along the little stream, almost running in his eagerness toreach the deeper water of the pond. He was like some small Tom Brown whohad escaped from the watchful eye of the master and run out to play in aforbidden spot. 

Hark! Was that a servant calling? Had Wang discovered the absence of hisemployer? Would he sound the alarm, and would the whole place soon bealive with men searching for the fever-stricken patient?

With one last sigh of satisfaction Li flung himself, clothes and all, into the quiet waters of the fish-pond. Now Li had been brought up inFukien province on the seashore, and was a skilful swimmer. He dived andsplashed to his heart's content, then floated on the surface. "It takesme back to my boyhood, " he cried, "why, oh why, is it not the fashionto swim? I'd love to live in the water all the time and yet some of mycountrymen are even more afraid than a cat of getting their feet wet. As for me, I'd give anything to stay here for ever. "

"You would, eh?" chuckled a hoarse voice just under him, and then therewas a sort of wheezing sound, followed by a loud burst of laughter. Mr. Li jumped as if an arrow had struck him, but when he noticed the fat, ugly monster below, his fear turned into anger. "Look here, what do youmean by giving a fellow such a start! Don't you know what the Classicssay about such rudeness?"

The giant fish laughed all the louder. "What time do you suppose I havefor Classics? You make me laugh till I cry!"

"But you must answer my question, " cried Mr. Li, more and morepersistently, forgetting for the moment that he was not trying some poorculprit for a petty crime. "Why did you laugh? Speak out at once, fellow!"

"Well, since you are such a saucy piece, " roared the other, "I will tellyou. It was because you awkward creatures, who call yourselves men, themost highly civilized beings in the world, always think you understand athing fully when you have only just found out how to do it. "

"You are talking about the island dwarfs, the Japanese, " interrupted Mr. Li, "We Chinese seldom undertake to do anything new. "

"Just hear the man!" chuckled the fish. "Now, fancy your wishing to stayin the water for ever! What do you know about water? Why you're not evenprovided with the proper equipment for swimming. What would you do ifyou really lived here always?"

"What am I doing now?" spluttered Mr. Li, so angry that he sucked in amouthful of water before he knew it. 

"Floundering, " retorted the other. 

"Don't you see me swimming? Are those big eyes of yours made of glass?"

"Yes, I see you all right, " guffawed the fish, "that's just it! I seeyou too well. Why you tumble about as awkwardly as a water buffalowallowing in a mud puddle!"

Now, as Mr. Li had always considered himself an expert in water sports, he was, by this time, speechless with rage, and all he could do was topaddle feebly round and round with strokes just strong enough to keephimself from sinking. 

"Then, too, " continued the fish, more and more calm as the other losthis temper, "you have a very poor arrangement for breathing. If I am notmistaken, at the bottom of this pond you would find yourself worse offthan I should be at the top of a palm tree. What would you do to keepyourself from starving? Do you think it would be convenient if you hadto flop yourself out on to the land every time you wanted a bite to eat?And yet, being a man, I doubt seriously if you would be content to takethe proper food for fishes. You have hardly a single feature that wouldmake you contented if you were to join an under-water school. Look atyour clothes, too, water-soaked and heavy. Do you think them suitableto protect you from cold and sickness? Nature forgot to give you anyscales. Now I'm going to tell you a joke, so you must be sure to laugh. Fishes are like grocery shops--always judged by their scales. As youhaven't a sign of a scale, how will people judge you? See the point, eh?Nature gave you a skin, but forgot the outer covering, except, perhapsat the ends of your fingers and your toes You surely see by this timewhy I consider your idea ridiculous?"

Sure enough, in spite of his recent severe attack of fever, Mr. Li hadreally cooled completely off. He had never understood before what greatdisadvantages there were connected with being a man. Why not make use ofthis chance acquaintance, find out from him how to get rid of thatmiserable possession he had called his manhood, and gain the delightsthat only a fish can have? "Then, are you indeed contented with yourlot?" he asked finally. "Are there not moments when you would prefer tobe a man?"

"I, a man!" thundered the other, lashing the water with his tail. "Howdare you suggest such a disgraceful change! Can it be that you do notknow my rank? Why, my fellow, you behold in me a favourite nephew ofthe king!"

"Then, may it please your lordship, " said Mr. Li, softly, "I shouldbe exceedingly grateful if you would speak a kind word for me to yourmaster. Do you think it possible that he could change me in some mannerinto a fish and accept me as a subject?"

"Of course!" replied the other, "all things are possible to the king. Know you not that my sovereign is a loyal descendant of the great waterdragon, and, as such, can never die, but lives on and on and on, forever and ever and ever, like the ruling house of Japan?"

"Oh, oh!" gasped Mr. Li, "even the Son of Heaven, our most worshipfulemperor, cannot boast of such long years. Yes, I would give my fortuneto be a follower of your imperial master. "

"Then follow me, " laughed the other, starting off at a rate that madethe water hiss and boil for ten feet around him. 

Mr. Li struggled vainly to keep up. If he had thought himself a goodswimmer, he now saw his mistake and every bit of remaining pride wastorn to tatters. "Please wait a moment, " he cried out politely, "I begof you to remember that I am only a man!"

"Pardon me, " replied the other, "it was stupid of me to forget, especially as I had just been talking about it. "

Soon they reached a sheltered inlet at the farther side of the pond. There Mr. Li saw a gigantic carp idly floating about in a shallow pool, and then lazily flirting his huge tail or fluttering his fins proudlyfrom side to side. Attendant courtiers darted hither and thither, readyto do the master's slightest bidding. One of them, splendidly attired inroyal scarlet, announced, with a downward flip of the head, the approachof the King's nephew who was leading Mr. Li to an audience with hisMajesty. 

"Whom have you here, my lad?" began the ruler, as his nephew, hesitatingfor words to explain his strange request, moved his fins nervouslybackwards and forwards. "Strange company, it seems to me, you arekeeping these days. "

"Only a poor man, most royal sir, " replied the other, "who beseechesyour Highness to grant him your gracious favour. "

 "When man asks favour of a fish, 'Tis hard to penetrate his wish-- He often seeks a lordly dish To serve upon his table, "

repeated the king, smiling. "And yet, nephew, you think this fellow isreally peaceably inclined and is not coming among us as a spy?"

Before his friend could answer, Mr. Li had cast himself upon his kneesin the shallow water, before the noble carp, and bowed thrice, until hisface was daubed with mud from the bottom of the pool. "Indeed, yourMajesty, I am only a poor mortal who seeks your kindly grace. If youwould but consent to receive me into your school of fishes. I would forever be your ardent admirer and your lowly slave. "

"In sooth, the fellow talks as if in earnest, " remarked the king, aftera moment's reflection, "and though the request is, perhaps, thestrangest to which I have ever listened, I really see no reason why Ishould not turn a fishly ear. But, have the goodness first to cease yourbowing. You are stirring up enough mud to plaster the royal palace of ashark. "

Poor Li, blushing at the monarch's reproof, waited patiently for theanswer to his request. 

"Very well, so be it, " cried the king impulsively, "your wish isgranted. Sir Trout, " turning to one of his courtiers, "bring hither afish-skin of proper size for this ambitious fellow. "

No sooner said than done. The fish-skin was slipped over Mr. Li's head, and his whole body was soon tucked snugly away in the scaly coat. Onlyhis arms remained uncovered. In the twinkling of an eye Li felt sharppains shoot through every part of his body. His arms began to shrivel upand his hands changed little by little until they made an excellent pairof fins, just as good as those of the king himself. As for his legs andfeet, they suddenly began to stick together until, wriggle as he would, Li could not separate them. "Ah, ha!" thought he, "my kicking days areover, for my toes are now turned into a first-class tail. "

"Not so fast, " laughed the king, as Li, after thanking the royalpersonage profusely, started out to try his new fins; "not so fast, myfriend. Before you depart, perhaps I'd better give you a little friendlyadvice, else your new powers are likely to land you on the hook of somelucky fisherman, and you will find yourself served up as a prize of thepond. "

"I will gladly listen to your lordly counsel, for the words of the MostHigh to his lowly slave are like pearls before sea slugs. However, as Iwas once a man myself I think I understand the simple tricks they use tocatch us fish, and I am therefore in position to avoid trouble. "

"Don't be so sure about it. 'A hungry carp often falls into danger, 'as one of our sages so wisely remarked. There are two cautions I wouldimpress upon you. One is, never, never, eat a dangling worm; no matterhow tempting it looks there are sure to be horrible hooks inside. Secondly, always swim like lightning if you see a net, but in theopposite direction. Now, I will have you served your first meal out ofthe royal pantry, but after that, you must hunt for yourself, like everyother self-respecting citizen of the watery world. "

After Li had been fed with several slugs, followed by a juicy worm fordessert, and after again thanking the king and the king's nephew fortheir kindness, he started forth to test his tail and fins. It was noeasy matter, at first, to move them properly. A single flirt of thetail, no more vigorous than those he had been used to giving with hislegs, would send him whirling round and round in the water, for allthe world like a living top; and when he wriggled his fins, ever soslightly, as he thought, he found himself sprawling on his back in amost ridiculous fashion for a dignified member of fishkind. It tookseveral hours of constant practice to get the proper stroke, and then hefound he could move about without being conscious of any effort. It wasthe easiest thing he had ever done in his life; and oh! the water was socool and delightful! "Would that I might enjoy that endless life thepoets write of!" he murmured blissfully. 

Many hours passed by until at last Li was compelled to admit that, although he was not tired, he was certainly hungry. How to get somethingto eat? Oh! why had he not asked the friendly nephew a few simplequestions? How easily his lordship might have told him the way to geta good breakfast! But alas! without such advice, it would be a whale'stask to accomplish it. Hither and thither he swam, into the deepstill water, and along the muddy shore; down, down to the pebblybottom--always looking, looking for a tempting worm. He dived into theweeds and rushes, poked his nose among the lily pads. All for nothing!No fly or worm of any kind to gladden his eager eyes! Another hourpassed slowly away, and all the time his hunger was growing greater andgreater. Would the fish god, the mighty dragon, not grant him even onelittle morsel to satisfy his aching stomach, especially since, now thathe was a fish, he had no way of tightening up his belt, as hungrysoldiers do when they are on a forced march?

Just as Li was beginning to think he could not wriggle his tailan instant longer, and that soon, very soon, he would feel himselfslipping, slipping, slipping down to the bottom of the pond to die--atthat very moment, chancing to look up, he saw, oh joy! a delicious redworm dangling a few inches above his nose. The sight gave new strengthto his weary fins and tail. Another minute, and he would have had thedelicate morsel in his mouth, when alas! he chanced to recall the advicegiven him the day before by great King Carp. "No matter how tempting itlooks, there are sure to be horrible hooks inside. " For an instant Lihesitated. The worm floated a trifle nearer to his half-open mouth. Howtempting! After all, what was a hook to a fish when he was dying? Why bea coward? Perhaps this worm was an exception to the rule, or perhaps, perhaps any thing--really a fish in such a plight as Mr. Li could not beexpected to follow advice--even the advice of a real KING. 

Pop! He had it in his mouth. Oh, soft morsel, worthy of a king's desire!Now he could laugh at words of wisdom, and eat whatever came before hiseye. But ugh! What was that strange feeling that--Ouch! it was the fatalhook!

With one frantic jerk, and a hundred twists and turns, poor Li soughtto pull away from the cruel barb that stuck so fast in the roof of hismouth. It was now too late to wish he had kept away from temptation. Better far to have starved at the bottom of the cool pond than to bejerked out by some miserable fisherman to the light and sunshine of thebusy world. Nearer and nearer he approached the surface. The more hestruggled the sharper grew the cruel barb. Then, with one final splash, he found himself dangling in mid-air, swinging helplessly at the end ofa long line. With a chunk he fell into a flat-bottomed boat, directlyon top of several smaller fish. 

"Ah, a carp!" shouted a well-known voice gleefully; "the biggest fishI've caught these three moons. What good luck!"

It was the voice of old Chang, the fisherman, who had been supplyingMr. Li's table ever since that official's arrival in the village ofEverlasting Happiness. Only a word of explanation, and he, Li, would befree once more to swim about where he willed. And then there should beno more barbs for him. An escaped fish fears the hook. 

"I say, Chang, " he began, gasping for breath, "really now, you mustchuck me overboard at once, for, don't you see, I am Mr. Li, your oldmaster. Come, hurry up about it. I'll excuse you this time for yourmistake, for, of course, you had no way of knowing. Quick!"

But Chang, with a savage jerk, pulled the hook from Li's mouth, andlooked idly towards the pile of glistening fish, gloating over hiscatch, and wondering how much money he could demand for it. He had heardnothing of Mr. Li's remarks, for Chang had been deaf since childhood. 

"Quick, quick, I am dying for air, " moaned poor Li, and then, with agroan, he remembered the fisherman's affliction. 

By this time they had arrived at the shore, and Li, in company with hisfellow victims, found himself suddenly thrown into a wicker basket. Oh, the horrors of that journey on land! Only a tiny bit of water remainedin the closely-woven thing. It was all he could do to breathe. 

Joy of joys! At the door of his own house he saw his good friend Singjust coming out. "Hey, Sing, " he shouted, at the top of his voice, "help, help! This son of a turtle wants to murder me. He has me in herewith these fish, and doesn't seem to know that I am Li, his master. Kindly order him to take me to the lake and throw me in, for it's coolthere and I like the water life much better than that on land. "

Li paused to hear Sing's reply, but there came not a single word. 

"I beg your honour to have a look at my catch, " said old Chang to Sing. "Here is the finest fish of the season. I have brought him here so thatyou and my honoured master, Mr. Li, may have a treat. Carp is hisfavourite delicacy. "

"Very kind of you, my good Chang, I'm sure, but I fear poor Mr. Li willnot eat fish for some time. He has a bad attack of fever. "

"There's where you're wrong, " shouted Li, from his basket, floppingabout with all his might, to attract attention, "I'm going to die of achill. Can't you recognise your old friend? Help me out of this troubleand you may have all my money for your pains. "

"Hey, what's that!" questioned Sing, attracted, as usual, by the wordmoney. "Shades of Confucius! It sounds as if the carp were talking. "

"What, a talking fish, " laughed Chang. "Why, master, I've lived nigh onto sixty year, and such a fish has never come under my sight. There aretalking birds and talking beasts for that matter; but talking fish, whoever heard of such a wonder? No, I think your ears must have deceivedyou, but this carp will surely cause talk when I get him into thekitchen. I'm sure the cook has never seen his like. Oh, master! I hopeyou will be hungry when you sit down to this fish. What a pity Mr. Licouldn't help you to devour it!"

"Help to devour myself, eh?" grumbled poor Li, now almost dead for lackof water. "You must take me for a cannibal, or some other sort ofsavage. "

Old Chang had now gone round the house to the servants' quarters, and, after calling out the cook, held up poor Li by the tail for the chef toinspect. 

With a mighty jerk Li tore himself away and fell at the feet of hisfaithful cook. "Save me, save me!" he cried out in despair; "thismiserable Chang is deaf and doesn't know that I am Mr. Li, his master. My fish voice is not strong enough for his hearing. Only take me back tothe pond and set me free. You shall have a pension for life, wear goodclothes and eat good food, all the rest of your days. Only hear me andobey! Listen, my dear cook, listen!"

"The thing seems to be talking, " muttered the cook, "but such wonderscannot be. Only ignorant old women or foreigners would believe that afish could talk. " And seizing his former master by the tail, he swunghim on to a table, picked up a knife, and began to whet it on a stone. 

"Oh, oh!" screamed Li, "you will stick a knife into me! You will scrapeoff my beautiful shiny scales! You will whack off my lovely new fins!You will murder your old master!"

"Well, you won't talk much longer, " growled the cook, "I'll show you atrick or two with the blade. "

So saying, with a gigantic thrust, he plunged the knife deep into thebody of the trembling victim. 

With a shrill cry of horror and despair, Mr. Li awoke from the deepsleep into which he had fallen. His fever was gone, but he found himselftrembling with fear at thought of the terrible death that had come tohim in dreamland. 

"Thanks be to Buddha, I am not a fish!" he cried out joyfully; "and nowI shall be well enough to enjoy the feast to which Mr. Sing has biddenguests for to-morrow. But alas, now that I can eat the old fisherman'sprize carp, it has changed back into myself. 

 "If only the good of our dreams came true, I shouldn't mind dreaming the whole day through. "

BAMBOO AND THE TURTLE

[Illustration]

A party of visitors had been seeing the sights at Hsi Ling. They hadjust passed down the Holy Way between the huge stone animals whenBamboo, a little boy of twelve, son of a keeper, rushed out from hisfather's house to see the mandarins go by. Such a parade of great menhe had never seen before, even on the feast days. There were ten sedanchairs, with bearers dressed in flaming colours, ten long-handled, redumbrellas, each carried far in front of its proud owner, and a long lineof horsemen. 

When this gay procession had filed past, Bamboo was almost ready to crybecause he could not run after the sightseers as they went from templeto temple and from tomb to tomb. But, alas! his father had ordered himnever to follow tourists. "If you do, they will take you for a beggar, Bamboo, " he had said shrewdly, "and if you're a beggar, then yourdaddy's one too. Now they don't want any beggars around the royaltombs. " So Bamboo had never known the pleasure of pursuing the rich. Many times he had turned back to the little mud house, almostbroken-hearted at seeing his playmates running, full of glee, after thegreat men's chairs. 

On the day when this story opens, just as the last horseman had passedout of sight among the cedars, Bamboo chanced to look up toward one ofthe smaller temple buildings of which his father was the keeper. It wasthe house through which the visitors had just been shown. Could his eyesbe deceiving him? No, the great iron doors had been forgotten in thehurry of the moment, and there they stood wide open, as if inviting himto enter. 

In great excitement he scurried toward the temple. How often he hadpressed his head against the bars and looked into the dark room, wishingand hoping that some day he might go in. And yet, not once had he beengranted this favour. Almost every day since babyhood he had gazed at thehigh stone shaft, or tablet, covered with Chinese writing, that stoodin the centre of the lofty room, reaching almost to the roof. Butwith still greater surprise his eyes had feasted on the giant turtleunderneath, on whose back the column rested. There are many such tabletsto be seen in China, many such turtles patiently bearing their loads ofstone, but this was the only sight of the kind that Bamboo had seen. Hehad never been outside the Hsi Ling forest, and, of course, knew verylittle of the great world beyond. 

It is no wonder then that the turtle and the tablet had alwaysastonished him. He had asked his father to explain the mystery. "Whydo they have a turtle? Why not a lion or an elephant?" For he had seenstone figures of these animals in the park and had thought them muchbetter able than his friend, the turtle, to carry loads on their backs. "Why it's just the custom, " his father had replied--the answer alwaysgiven when Bamboo asked a question, "just the custom. " The boy had triedto imagine it all for himself, but had never been quite sure that hewas right, and now, joy of all joys, he was about to enter the veryturtle-room itself. Surely, once inside, he could find some answerto this puzzle of his childhood. 

Breathless, he dashed through the doorway, fearing every minute thatsome one would notice the open gates and close them before he couldenter. Just in front of the giant turtle he fell in a little heap on thefloor, which was covered inch-deep with dust. His face was streaked, hisclothes were a sight to behold; but Bamboo cared nothing for suchtrifles. He lay there for a few moments, not daring to move. Then, hearing a noise outside, he crawled under the ugly stone beast andcrouched in his narrow hiding-place, as still as a mouse. 

"There, there!" said a deep voice. "See what you are doing, stirring upsuch a dust! Why, you will strangle me if you are not careful. "

It was the turtle speaking, and yet Bamboo's father had often told himthat it was not alive. The boy lay trembling for a minute, too muchfrightened to get up and run. 

"No use in shaking so, my lad, " the voice continued, a little morekindly. "I suppose all boys are alike--good for nothing but kicking upa dust. " He finished this sentence with a hoarse chuckle, and the boy, seeing that he was laughing, looked up with wonder at the strangecreature. 

"I meant no harm in coming, " said the child finally. "I only wanted tolook at you more closely. "

"Oh, that was it, hey? Well, that is strange. All the others come andstare at the tablet on my back. Sometimes they read aloud the nonsensewritten there about dead emperors and their titles, but they never somuch as look at me, at _me_ whose father was one of the great four whomade the world. "

Bamboo's eyes shone with wonder. "What! _your_ father helped make theworld?" he gasped. 

"Well, not my father exactly, but one of my grandfathers, and it amountsto the same thing, doesn't it. But, hark! I hear a voice. The keeper iscoming back. Run up and close those doors, so he won't notice that theyhave not been locked. Then you may hide in the corner there until he haspassed. I have something more to tell you. "

Bamboo did as he was told. It took all his strength to swing the heavydoors into place. He felt very important to think that he was doingsomething for the grandson of a maker of the world, and it would havebroken his heart if this visit had been ended just as it was beginning. 

Sure enough, his father and the other keepers passed on, never dreamingthat the heavy locks were not fastened as usual. They were talking aboutthe great men who had just gone. They seemed very happy and werejingling some coins in their hands. 

"Now, my boy, " said the stone turtle when the sound of voices had diedaway and Bamboo had come out from his corner, "maybe you think I'm proudof my job. Here I've been holding up this chunk for a hundred years, Iwho am fond of travel. During all this time night and day, I have beentrying to think of some way to give up my position. Perhaps it'shonourable, but, you may well imagine, it's not very pleasant. "

"I should think you would have the backache, " ventured Bamboo timidly. 

"Backache! well, I think so; back, neck, legs, eyes, everything I haveis aching, aching for freedom. But, you see, even if I had kicked upmy heels and overthrown this monument, I had no way of getting throughthose iron bars, " and he nodded toward the gate. 

"Yes, I understand, " agreed Bamboo, beginning to feel sorry for his oldfriend. 

"But, now that you are here, I have a plan, and a good one it is, too, Ithink. The watchmen have forgotten to lock the gate. What is to preventmy getting my freedom this very night? You open the gate, I walk out, and no one the wiser. "

"But my father will lose his head if they find that he has failed to dohis duty and you have escaped. "

"Oh, no; not at all. You can slip his keys to-night, lock the gatesafter I am gone, and no one will know just what has happened. Why itwill make this building famous. It won't hurt your father, but will dohim good. So many travellers will be anxious to see the spot from whichI vanished. I am too heavy for a thief to carry off, and they will besure that it is another miracle of the gods. Oh, I shall have a goodtime out in the big world. "

Just here Bamboo began to cry. 

"Now what is the silly boy blubbering about?" sneered the turtle. "Is henothing but a cry-baby?"

"No, but I don't want you to go. "

"Don't want me to go, eh? Just like all the others. You're a finefellow! What reason have you for wanting to see me weighed down here allthe rest of my life with a mountain on my back? Why, I thought you weresorry for me, and it turns out that you are as mean as anybody else. "

"It is so lonely here, and I have no playmates. You are the only friendI have. "

The tortoise laughed loudly. "Ho, ho! so it's because I make you agood playmate, eh? Now, if that's your reason, that's another storyaltogether. What do you say to going with me then? I, too, need afriend, and if you help me to escape, why, you are the very friendfor me. "

"But how shall you get the tablet off your back?" questioned Bamboodoubtfully. "It's very heavy. "

"That's easy, just walk out of the door. The tablet is too tall to gothrough. It will slide off and sit on the floor instead of on my shell. "

Bamboo, wild with delight at the thought of going on a journey with theturtle, promised to obey the other's commands. After supper, when allwere asleep in the little house of the keeper, he slipped from his bed, took down the heavy key from its peg, and ran pell-mell to the temple. 

"Well, you didn't forget me, did you?" asked the turtle when Bambooswung the iron gates open. 

"Oh, no, I would not break a promise. Are you ready?"

"Yes, quite ready. " So saying, the turtle took a step. The tablet swayedbackward and forward, but did not fall. On walked the turtle untilfinally he stuck his ugly head through the doorway. "Oh, how good itlooks outside, " he said. "How pleasant the fresh air feels! Is that themoon rising over yonder? It's the first time I've seen it for an age. My word! just look at the trees! How they have grown since they set thattombstone on my back! There's a regular forest outside now. "

Bamboo was delighted when he saw the turtle's glee at escaping. "Becareful, " he cried, "not to let the tablet fall hard enough to breakit. "

Even as he spoke, the awkward beast waddled through the door. The upperend of the monument struck against the wall, toppled off, and fell witha great crash to the floor. Bamboo shivered with fear. Would his fathercome and find out what had happened?

"Don't be afraid, my boy. No one will come at this hour of the night tospy on us. "

Bamboo quickly locked the gates, ran back to the house, and hung thekey on its peg. He took a long look at his sleeping parents, and thenreturned to his friend. After all, he would not be gone long and hisfather would surely forgive him. 

Soon the comrades were walking down the broad road, very slowly, for thetortoise is not swift of foot and Bamboo's legs were none too long. 

"Where are you going?" said the boy at last, after he had begun to feelmore at home with the turtle. 

"Going? Where should you think I would want to go after my century inprison? Why, back to the first home of my father, back to the very spotwhere the great god, P'anku, and his three helpers hewed out the world. "

"And is it far?" faltered the boy, beginning to feel just the least bittired. 

"At this rate, yes, but, bless my life, you didn't think we could travelall the way at this snail's pace, I hope. Jump on my back, and I'll showyou how to go. Before morning we shall be at the end of the world, orrather, the beginning. "

"Where is the beginning of the world?" asked Bamboo. "I have neverstudied geography. "

"We must cross China, then Thibet, and at last in the mountains justbeyond we shall reach the spot which P'anku made the centre of hislabour. "

At that moment Bamboo felt himself being lifted from the ground. Atfirst he thought he would slip off the turtle's rounded shell, and hecried out in fright. 

"Never fear, " said his friend. "Only sit quietly, and there will be nodanger. "

They had now risen far into the air, and Bamboo could look down over thegreat forest of Hsi Ling all bathed in moonlight. There were the broadwhite roads leading up to the royal tombs, the beautiful temples, thebuildings where oxen and sheep were prepared for sacrifice, the loftytowers, and the high tree-covered hills under which the emperors wereburied. Until that night Bamboo had not known the size of this royalgraveyard. Could it be that the turtle would carry him beyond theforest? Even as he asked himself this question he saw that they hadreached a mountain, and the turtle was ascending higher, still higher, to cross the mighty wall of stone. 

Bamboo grew dizzy as the turtle rose farther into the sky. He felt as hesometimes did when he played whirling games with his little friends, andgot so dizzy that he tumbled over upon the ground. However, this timehe knew that he must keep his head and not fall, for it must have beenalmost a mile to the ground below him. At last they had passed over themountain and were flying above a great plain. Far below Bamboo could seesleeping villages and little streams of water that looked like silverin the moonlight. Now, directly beneath them was a city. A few feeblelights could be seen in the dark narrow streets, and Bamboo thought hecould hear the faint cries of peddlers crying their midnight wares. 

"That's the capital of Shan-shi just below us, " said the turtle, breaking his long silence. "It is almost two hundred miles from here toyour father's house, and we have taken less than half an hour. Beyondthat is the Province of the Western Valleys. In one hour we shall beabove Thibet. "

On they whizzed at lightning speed. If it had not been hot summer timeBamboo would have been almost frozen. As it was, his hands and feet werecold and stiff. The turtle, as if knowing how chilly he was, flew nearerto the ground where it was warmer. How pleasant for Bamboo! He was sotired that he could keep his eyes open no longer and he was soon soaringin the land of dreams. 

When he waked up it was morning. He was lying on the ground in a wild, rocky region. Not far away burned a great wood fire, and the turtle waswatching some food that was cooking in a pot. 

"Ho, ho, my lad! so you have at last waked up after your long ride. Yousee we are a little early. No matter if the dragon does think he can flyfaster, I beat him, didn't I? Why, even the phoenix laughs at me andsays I am slow, but the phoenix has not come yet either. Yes, I haveclearly broken the record for speed, and I had a load to carry too, which neither of the others had, I am sure. "

"Where are we?" questioned Bamboo. 

"In the land of the beginning, " said the other wisely. "We flew overThibet, and then went northwest for two hours. If you haven't studiedgeography you won't know the name of the country. But, here we are, andthat is enough, isn't it, enough for any one? And to-day is the yearlyfeast-day in honour of the making of the world. It was very fortunatefor me that the gates were left open yesterday. I am afraid my oldfriends, the dragon and the phoenix, have almost forgotten what I looklike. It is so long since they saw me. Lucky beasts they are, not to beloaded down under an emperor's tablet. Hello! I hear the dragon comingnow, if I am not mistaken. Yes, here he is. How glad I am to see him!"

Bamboo heard a great noise like the whirr of enormous wings, and then, looking up, saw a huge dragon just in front of him. He knew it was adragon from the pictures he had seen and the carvings in the temples. 

The dragon and the turtle had no sooner greeted each other, both veryhappy at the meeting, than they were joined by a queer-looking bird, unlike any that Bamboo had ever seen, but which he knew was thephoenix. This phoenix looked somewhat like a wild swan, but it hadthe bill of a cock, the neck of a snake, the tail of a fish and thestripes of a dragon. Its feathers were of five colours. 

When the three friends had chatted merrily for a few minutes, the turtletold them how Bamboo had helped him to escape from the temple. 

"A clever boy, " said the dragon, patting Bamboo gently on the back. 

"Yes, yes, a clever boy indeed, " echoed the phoenix. 

"Ah, " sighed the turtle, "if only the good god, P'anku, were here, shouldn't we be happy! But, I fear he will never come to thismeeting-place. No doubt he is off in some distant spot, cutting outanother world. If I could only see him once more, I feel that I shoulddie in peace. "

"Just listen!" laughed the dragon. "As if one of us could die! Why, youtalk like a mere mortal. "

All day long the three friends chatted, feasted, and had a good timelooking round at the places where they had lived so happily when P'ankuhad been cutting out the world. They were good to Bamboo also and showedhim many wonderful things of which he had never dreamed. 

"You are not half so mean-looking and so fierce as they paint you on theflags, " said Bamboo in a friendly voice to the dragon just as they wereabout to separate. 

The three friends laughed heartily. 

"Oh, no, he's a very decent sort of fellow, even if he is covered withfish-scales, " joked the phoenix. 

Just before they bade each other good-bye, the phoenix gave Bamboo along scarlet tail-feather for a keepsake, and the dragon gave him alarge scale which turned to gold as soon as the boy took it into hishand. 

"Come, come, we must hurry, " said the turtle. "I am afraid your fatherwill think you are lost. " So Bamboo, after having spent the happiest dayof his life, mounted the turtle's back, and they rose once more abovethe clouds. Back they flew even faster than they had come. Bamboo had somany things to talk about that he did not once think of going to sleep, for he had really seen the dragon and the phoenix, and if he neverwere to see anything else in his life, he would always be happy. 

Suddenly the turtle stopped short in his swift flight, and Bamboo felthimself slipping. Too late he screamed for help, too late he tried tosave himself. Down, down from that dizzy height he tumbled, turning, twisting, thinking of the awful death that was surely coming. Swish!he shot through the tree tops trying vainly to clutch the friendlybranches. Then with a loud scream he struck the ground, and his longjourney was ended. 

[Illustration: "AH, " SIGHED THE TURTLE, "IF ONLY THE GOOD GOD, P'ANKU, WERE HERE. "]

"Come out from under that turtle, boy! What are you doing inside thetemple in the dirt? Don't you know this is not the proper place foryou?"

Bamboo rubbed his eyes. Though only half awake, he knew it was hisfather's voice. 

"But didn't it kill me?" he said as his father pulled him out by theheel from under the great stone turtle. 

"What killed you, foolish boy? What can you be talking about? But I'llhalf-kill you if you don't hurry out of this and come to your supper. Really I believe you are getting too lazy to eat. The idea of sleepingthe whole afternoon under that turtle's belly!"

Bamboo, not yet fully awake, stumbled out of the tablet room, and hisfather locked the iron doors. 

THE MAD GOOSE AND THE TIGER FOREST

[Illustration]

Hu-lin was a little slave girl. She had been sold by her father whenshe was scarcely more than a baby, and had lived for five years witha number of other children in a wretched houseboat. Her cruel mastertreated her very badly. He made her go out upon the street, with theother girls he had bought, to beg for a living. This kind of life wasespecially hard for Hu-lin. She longed to play in the fields, abovewhich the huge kites were sailing in the air like giant birds. She likedto see the crows and magpies flying hither and thither. It was great funto watch them build their stick nests in the tall poplars. But if hermaster ever caught her idling her time away in this manner he beat hermost cruelly and gave her nothing to eat for a whole day. In fact he wasso wicked and cruel that all the children called him Black Heart. 

Early one morning when Hu-lin was feeling very sad about the way she wastreated, she resolved to run away, but, alas! she had not gone more thana hundred yards from the houseboat when she saw Black Heart followingher. He caught her, scolded her most dreadfully, and gave her such abeating that she felt too faint to stir. 

For several hours she lay on the ground without moving a muscle, moaningas if her heart would break. "Ah! if only someone would save me!" shethought, "how good I would be all the rest of my days!"

Now, not far from the river there lived an old man in a tumble-downshanty. The only companion he had was a goose that watched the gate forhim at night and screamed out loudly if any stranger dared to prowlabout the place. Hu-lin and this goose were close friends, and the slavegirl often stopped to chat with the wise fowl as she was passing the oldman's cottage. In this way she had learned that the bird's owner was amiser who kept a great deal of money hidden in his yard. Ch'ang, thegoose, had an unusually long neck, and was thus able to pry into most ofhis master's affairs. As the fowl had no member of his own family totalk with, he told all he knew to Hu-lin. 

On the very morning when Black Heart gave Hu-lin a beating for tryingto run away, Ch'ang made a startling discovery. His lord and master wasnot really an old miser, but a young man in disguise. Ch'ang, feelinghungry, had slipped into the house at daybreak to see if any scraps hadbeen left from the last evening's meal. The bedroom door had blown openin the night, and there lay a young man sound asleep, instead of thegreybeard whom the gander called his master. Then, before his very eyes, the youth changed suddenly into his former shape and was an old managain. 

In his excitement, forgetting all about his empty stomach, theterror-stricken goose rushed out into the yard to think over themystery, but the longer he puzzled, the more strange it all seemed. Thenhe thought of Hu-lin, and wished that she would come by, that he mightask her opinion. He had a high regard for the slave girl's knowledge andbelieved that she would understand fully what had taken place. 

Ch'ang went to the gate. As usual, it was locked, and there was nothingfor him to do but wait for his master to rise. Two hours later the miserwalked out into the yard. He seemed in good spirits, and he gave Ch'angmore to eat than usual. After taking his morning smoke on the street infront of the house, he strolled around it leaving the front gate ajar. 

This was precisely what the gander had been expecting. Slipping quietlyinto the road, he turned towards the river where he could see thehouseboats lined up at the wharf. On the sand near by lay a well-knownform. 

"Hu-lin, " he called as he drew near, "wake up, for I have something totell you. "

"I am not asleep, " she answered, turning her tear-stained face towardsher friend. 

"Why, what's the matter? You've been crying again. Has old Black Heartbeen beating you?"

"Hush! he's taking a nap in the boat. Don't let him hear you. "

"It's not likely he would understand goose-talk if he did, " repliedCh'ang, smiling. "However, I suppose it's always best to be on the safeside, so I'll whisper what I have to say. "

Putting his bill close to her ear, he told Hu-lin of his recentdiscovery, and ended by asking her to tell him what it all meant. 

The child forgot her own misery at hearing his wonderful story. "Are youquite sure there was not some friend of the miser's spending the nightwith him?" she asked gravely. 

"Yes, yes, perfectly sure, for he has no friends, " replied the gander. "Besides, I was in the house just before he locked up for the night, andI saw neither hair nor hide of any other person. "

"Then he must be a fairy in disguise!" announced Hu-lin wisely. 

"A fairy! what's that?" questioned Ch'ang, more and more excited. 

"Why, you old goose, don't you know what a fairy is?" And Hu-lin laughedoutright. By this time she had forgotten her own troubles and wasbecoming more and more amused at what she had heard. "Hark!" she said ina low tone, and speaking very slowly, "a fairy is----" Here she loweredher voice to a whisper. 

The gander nodded violently as she went on with her explanation, andwhen she had finished, was speechless with amazement, for a few moments. "Well, " he said finally, "if my master is that kind of man, suppose youslip away quietly and come with me, for, if a fairy is what you say heis, he can save you from all your troubles and make me happy for therest of my days. "

[Illustration: "PUTTING HIS BILL TO HER EAR, HE TOLD HU-LIN OF HISRECENT DISCOVERY. "]

"I wonder if I dare?" she answered, looking round fearfully towards thehouseboat, from the open scuttle of which came the sound of deepsnoring. 

"Yes, yes, of course!" coaxed Ch'ang. "He gave you such a beating thathe won't be afraid of your taking to your heels again very soon. "

Hurriedly they went to the miser's compound. Hu-lin's heart was beatingfast as she tried to decide what to say when she should actually standbefore the fairy. The gate was still partly open and the two friendsentered boldly. 

"Come this way, " said Ch'ang. "He must be in the back-yard digging inhis garden. "

But when they reached the vegetable patch there was no one to be seen. 

"This is very strange, " whispered the gander. "I don't understand it, for I have never known him to grow tired of work so early. Surely hecannot have gone in to rest. "

Led by her friend, Hu-lin entered the house on tiptoe. The door of themiser's bedroom stood wide open, and they saw that there was no oneeither in that room or any other room of the miserable cottage. 

"Come! let's see what kind of bed he sleeps on, " said Hu-lin, filledwith curiosity. "I have never been in a fairy's room. It must bedifferent from other people's rooms. "

"No, no! just a plain brick bed, like all the rest, " answered Ch'ang, asthey crossed the threshold. 

"Does he have a fire in cold weather?" asked Hu-lin, stooping to examinethe small fire hole in the bricks. 

"Oh, yes, a hot fire every night, and even in spring when other peoplehave stopped having fires, the brick bed is hot every night. "

"Well, that's rather strange for a miser, don't you think?" said thegirl. "It costs more to keep a fire going than it does to feed a man. "

"Yes, that's true, " agreed Ch'ang, pruning his feathers. "I hadn'tthought of that. It is strange, very. Hu-lin, you're a wise child. Wheredid you learn so much?"

At that moment the gander turned pale at hearing the gate slam loudlyand the bar thrown into place. 

"Good gracious! what ever shall we do?" asked Hu-lin. "What will he sayif he finds us here?"

"No telling, " said the other, trembling, "but, my dear little friend, weare certainly caught, for we can't get away without his seeing us. "

"Yes, and I've already had one beating to-day! And such a hard one thatI don't believe I could live through another, " sighed the child, as thetears began to flow. 

"There, there, little girl, don't worry! Let's hide in this dark cornerbehind the baskets, " suggested the gander, just as the master's step washeard at the front door. 

Soon the frightened companions were crouching on the ground, tryingto hide. Much to their relief, however, the miser did not go into hisbedroom, and they soon heard him hard at work in the garden. All thatday the two remained in their hiding place, afraid to show themselvesoutside the door. 

"I can't imagine what he would say if he found out that his watch-goosehad brought a stranger into the house, " said Ch'ang. 

"Perhaps he would think we were trying to steal some of the money hehas hidden away, " she answered, laughing, for as Hu-lin became usedto her cramped quarters she grew less frightened. At any rate shewas not nearly so much afraid of the miser as she had thought she was. "Besides, " she reflected, "he can't be so bad as old Black Heart. "

Thus the day wore on and darkness fell over the land. By this time girland goose were fast asleep in one corner of the miser's room and knewnothing more of what was happening. 

When the first light of a new day filtered through the paper-coveredwindow above the miser's bed, Hu-lin awoke with a start, and at firstshe could not think where she was. Ch'ang was staring at her withwide-open frightened eyes that seemed to be asking, "What can it allmean? It is more than my goose brain can think out. "

For on the bed, instead of the miser, there lay a young man whose hairwas a black as a raven's wing. A faint smile lightened up his handsomeface, as if he was enjoying some delightful dream. A cry of wonderescaped Hu-lin's lips before she could hold it back. The sleeper's eyesopened instantly and were fixed upon her. The girl was so frightenedthat she could not move, and the gander trembled violently as he saw thechange that had come over his master. 

The young man was even more surprised than his guests, and for twominutes he was speechless. "What does this mean?" he asked, finally, looking at Ch'ang. "What are you doing in my bedroom and who is thischild who seems so frightened?"

"Forgive me, kind sir, but what have you done to my master?" asked thegander, giving question for question. 

"Am I not your master, you mad creature?" said the man, laughing. "Youare more stupid than ever this morning. "

"My master was old and ugly, but you are still young and handsome, "replied Ch'ang in a tone of flattery. 

"What, " shouted the other, "you say I am still young?"

"Why, yes. Ask Hu-lin, if you don't believe me. "

The man turned towards the little girl. 

"Yes, indeed you are, sir, " she replied in answer to his look. "Neverhave I seen a man so beautiful. "

"At last! at last!" he cried, laughing joyfully, "I am free, free, freefrom all my troubles, but how it has come about is more than I can say!"

For a few minutes he stood in a deep study, snapping his long fingersas if trying to solve some hard problem. At last a smile lighted up hisface. "Ch'ang, " he asked, "what was it you called your guest when youspoke of her a minute ago?"

"I am Hu-lin, " said the child simply, "Hu-lin, the slave girl. "

He clapped his hands. "That's right! That's right!" he cried. "I see itall now; it is as plain as day. " Then, noticing the look of wonder onher face, "It is to you that I owe my freedom from a wicked fairy, andif you like, I'll tell you the story of my misfortune. "

"Pray do, kind sir, " she replied eagerly. "I told Ch'ang that you werea fairy, and I should like to know if I was right. "

"Well, you see, " he began, "my father is a rich man who lives in adistant county. When I was a boy he gave me everything I wished. I wasso humoured and petted from earliest childhood that at last I began tothink there was nothing at all in the world I could not have for theasking, and nothing that I must not do if I wished to. 

"My teacher often scolded me for having such notions. He told me therewas a proverb: 'Men die for gain, birds perish to get food. ' He thoughtsuch men were very foolish. He told me that money would go a long waytowards making a man happy, but he always ended by saying that the godswere more powerful than men. He said I must always be careful not tomake the evil spirits angry. Sometimes I laughed in his face, tellinghim that I was rich and could buy the favour of gods and fairies. Thegood man would shake his head, saying, 'Take care, my boy, or you willbe sorry for these rash speeches. '"

"One day, after he had been giving me a long lecture of this sort, wewere walking in the garden of my father's compound. I was even moredaring than usual and told him that I cared nothing for the rules otherpeople followed. 'You say, ' said I, 'that this well here in my father'syard is ruled by a spirit, and that if I were to anger him by jumpingover it, he would be vexed and give me trouble. ' 'Yes, ' said he, 'thatis exactly what I said, and I repeat it. Beware, young man, beware ofidle boasting and of breaking the law. ' 'What do I care for a spiritthat lives on my father's land?' I answered with a sneer. 'I don'tbelieve there is a spirit in this well. If there is, it is only anotherof my father's slaves. '

"So saying, and before my tutor could stop me, I leaped across the mouthof the well. No sooner had I touched the ground than I felt a strangeshrinking of my body. My strength left me in the twinkling of an eye, my bones shortened, my skin grew yellow and wrinkled. I looked at mypigtail and found that the hair had suddenly grown thin and white. Inevery way I had been changed completely into an old man. 

"My teacher stared at me in amazement, and when I asked him what it allmeant my voice was as shrill as that of early childhood. 'Alas! my dearpupil, ' he replied, 'now you will believe what I told you. The spirit ofthe well is angry at your wicked conduct and has punished you. You havebeen told a hundred times that it is wrong to leap over a well; yet youdid this very thing, ' 'But is there nothing that can be done, ' I cried;'is there no way of restoring my lost youth?' He looked at me sadly andshook his head. 

"When my father learned of my sad condition he was terribly upset. Hedid everything that could be done to find some way for me to regain myyouth. He had incense burned at a dozen temples and he himself offeredup prayers to various gods. I was his only son, and he could not behappy without me. At last, when everything else had been done, my worthyteacher thought of asking a fortune-teller who had become famous in thecity. After inquiring about everything that had led up to my sad plight, the wise man said that the spirit of the well, as a punishment, hadchanged me into a miser. He said that only when I was sleeping wouldI be in my natural state, and even then if any one chanced to enter myroom or catch a glimpse of my face, I would be at once changed back intoa greybeard. "

"I saw you yesterday morning, " shouted the gander. "You were young andhandsome, and then before my very eyes you were changed back into an oldman!"

"To continue my story, " said the young man, "the fortune-teller at lastannounced that there was only one chance for my recovery and that a verysmall one. If at any time, while I was in my rightful shape, that is, asyou see me now, a mad goose should come in, leading a tiger-forest outof slavery, the charm would be broken, and the evil spirit would nolonger have control over me. When the fortune-teller's answer wasbrought to my father, he gave up hope, and so did I, for no oneunderstood the meaning of such a senseless riddle. 

"That night I left my native city, resolved not to disgrace my peopleany longer by living with them. I came to this place, bought this housewith some money my father had given me, and at once began living thelife of a miser. Nothing satisfied my greed for money. Everything mustbe turned into cash. For five years I have been storing away money, and, at the same time, starving myself, body and soul. 

"Soon after my arrival here, remembering the fortune-teller's riddle, I decided that I would keep a goose to serve as night watch-man insteadof a dog. In this way I made a start at working out the riddle. "

"But I am not a mad goose, " hissed the gander angrily. "If it had notbeen for me you would still be a wrinkled miser. "

"Quite right, dear Ch'ang, quite right, " said the young man soothingly;"you were not mad; so I gave you the name _Ch'ang_, which means mad, andthus made a mad goose of you. "

"Oh, I see, " said Hu-lin and Ch'ang together. "How clever!"

"So, you see, I had part of my cure here in my back-yard all the time;but though I thought as hard as I could, I could think of no way ofsecuring that Ch'ang should lead a tiger-forest into my room while I wassleeping. The thing seemed absurd, and I soon gave up trying to study itout. To-day by accident it has really come to pass. "

"So I am the tiger-forest, am I?" laughed Hu-lin. 

"Yes, indeed, you are, my dear child, a pretty little tiger-forest, for_Hu_ means _tiger_, and _lin_ is surely good Chinese for a _grove oftrees_. Then, too, you told me you were a slave girl. Hence, Ch'ang ledyou out of slavery. "

"Oh, I am so glad!" said Hu-lin, forgetting her own poverty, "so gladthat you don't have to be a horrible old miser any longer. "

Just at that moment there was a loud banging on the front gate. 

"Who can be knocking in that fashion?" asked the young man inastonishment. 

"Alas! it must be Black Heart, my master, " said Hu-lin, beginning tocry. 

"Don't be frightened, " said the youth, soothingly stroking the child'shead. "You have saved me, and I shall certainly do as much for you. Ifthis Mr. Black Heart doesn't agree to a fair proposal he shall have ablack eye to remember his visit by. "

It did not take long for the grateful young man to buy Hu-lin's liberty, especially as he offered as much for her freedom as her master hadexpected to get when she was fourteen or fifteen years of age. 

When Hu-lin was told of the bargain she was wild with delight. She bowedlow before her new master and then, kneeling, touched her head ninetimes on the floor. Rising, she cried out, "Oh, how happy I am, for nowI shall be yours for ever and ever and ever, and good old Ch'ang shallbe my playmate. "

"Yes, indeed, " he assured her, "and when you are a little older I shallmake you my wife. At present you will go with me to my father's houseand become my little betrothed. "

"And I shall never again have to beg for crusts on the street?" sheasked him, her eyes full of wonder. 

"No! never!" he answered, laughing, "and you need never fear anotherbeating. "

THE NODDING TIGER

[Illustration]

Just outside the walls of a Chinese city there lived a young woodcutternamed T'ang and his old mother, a woman of seventy. They were very poorand had a tiny one-room shanty, built of mud and grass, which theyrented from a neighbour. Every day young T'ang rose bright and early andwent up on the mountain near their house. There he spent the day cuttingfirewood to sell in the city near by. In the evening he would returnhome, take the wood to market, sell it, and bring back food for hismother and himself. Now, though these two people were poor, they werevery happy, for the young man loved his mother dearly, and the old womanthought there was no one like her son in all the world. Their friends, however, felt sorry for them and said, "What a pity we have nograsshoppers here, so that the T'angs could have some food from heaven!"

One day young T'ang got up before daylight and started for the hills, carrying his axe on his shoulder. He bade his mother good-bye, tellingher that he would be back early with a heavier load of wood than usual, for the morrow would be a holiday and they must eat good food. All daylong Widow T'ang waited patiently, saying to herself over and over asshe went about her simple work, "The good boy, the good boy, how heloves his old mother!"

In the afternoon she began watching for his return--but in vain. The sun was sinking lower and lower in the west, but still he did notcome. At last the old woman was frightened. "My poor son!" she muttered. "Something has happened to him. " Straining her feeble eyes, she lookedalong the mountain path. Nothing was to be seen there but a flock ofsheep following the shepherd. "Woe is me!" moaned the woman. "My boy!my boy!" She took her crutch from its corner and limped off to aneighbour's house to tell him of her trouble and beg him to go and lookfor the missing boy. 

Now this neighbour was kind-hearted, and willing to help old MotherT'ang, for he felt very sorry for her. "There are many wild beasts inthe mountains, " he said, shaking his head as he walked away with her, thinking to prepare the frightened woman for the worst, "and I fear thatyour son has been carried off by one of them. " Widow T'ang gave a screamof horror and sank upon the ground. Her friend walked slowly up themountain path, looking carefully for signs of a struggle. At last whenhe had gone half way up the slope he came to a little pile of tornclothing spattered with blood. The woodman's axe was lying by the sideof the path, also his carrying pole and some rope. There could be nomistake: after making a brave fight, the poor youth had been carried offby a tiger. 

Gathering up the torn garments, the man went sadly down the hill. Hedreaded seeing the poor mother and telling her that her only boy wasindeed gone for ever. At the foot of the mountain he found her stilllying on the ground. When she looked up and saw what he was carrying, with a cry of despair she fainted away. She did not need to be told whathad happened. 

Friends bore her into the little house and gave her food, but they couldnot comfort her. "Alas!" she cried, "of what use is it to live? He wasmy only boy. Who will take care of me in my old age? Why have the godstreated me in this cruel way?"

She wept, tore her hair, and beat her chest, until people said she hadgone mad. The longer she mourned, the more violent she became. 

The next day, however, much to the surprise of her neighbours, she setout for the city, making her way along slowly by means of her crutch. Itwas a pitiful sight to see her, so old, so feeble, and so lonely. Everyone was sorry for her and pointed her out, saying, "See! the poor oldsoul has no one to help her!"

In the city she asked her way to the public hall. When she found theplace she knelt at the front gate, calling out loudly and telling of herill-fortune. Just at this moment the mandarin, or city judge, walkedinto the court room to try any cases which might be brought before him. He heard the old woman weeping and wailing outside, and bade one of theservants let her enter and tell him of her wrongs. 

Now this was just what the Widow T'ang had come for. Calming herself, she hobbled into the great hall of trial. 

"What is the matter, old woman? Why do you raise such an uproar in frontof my yamen? Speak up quickly and tell me of your trouble. "

"I am old and feeble, " she began; "lame and almost blind. I have nomoney and no way of earning money. I have not one relative now in allthe empire. I depended on my only son for a living. Every day he climbedthe mountain, for he was a woodcutter, and every evening he came backhome, bringing enough money for our food. But yesterday he went and didnot return. A mountain tiger carried him off and ate him, and now, alas!there seems to be no help for it--I must die of hunger. My bleedingheart cries out for justice. I have come into this hall to-day, to begyour worship to see that the slayer of my son is punished. Surely thelaw says that none may shed blood without giving his own blood inpayment. "

"But, woman, are you mad?" cried the mandarin, laughing loudly. "Did younot say it was a tiger that killed your son? How can a tiger be broughtto justice? Of a truth, you must have lost your senses. "

The judge's questions were of no avail. The Widow T'ang kept up herclamour. She would not be turned away until she had gained her purpose. The hall echoed with the noise of her howling. The mandarin could standit no longer. "Hold! woman, " he cried, "stop your shrieking. I will dowhat you ask. Only go home and wait until I summon you to court. Theslayer of your son shall be caught and punished. "

The judge was, of course, only trying to get rid of the demented mother, thinking that if she were only once out of his sight, he could giveorders not to let her into the hall again. The old woman, however, wastoo sharp for him. She saw through his plan and became more stubbornthan ever. 

"No, I cannot go, " she answered, "until I have seen you sign the orderfor that tiger to be caught and brought into this judgment hall. "

Now, as the judge was not really a bad man, he decided to humour the oldwoman in her strange plea. Turning to the assistants in the court roomhe asked which of them would be willing to go in search of the tiger. One of these men, named Li-neng, had been leaning against the wall, halfasleep. He had been drinking heavily and so had not heard what had beengoing on in the room. One of his friends gave him a poke in the ribsjust as the judge asked for volunteers. 

Thinking the judge had called him by name, he stepped forward, knelt onthe floor, saying, "I, Li-neng, can go and do the will of your worship. "

"Very well, you will do, " answered the judge. "Here is your order. Goforth and do your duty. " So saying, he handed the warrant to Li-neng. "Now, old woman, are you satisfied?" he continued. 

"Quite satisfied, your worship, " she replied. 

"Then go home and wait there until I send for you. "

Mumbling a few words of thanks, the unhappy mother left the building. 

When Li-neng went outside the court room, his friends crowded round him. "Drunken sot!" they laughed; "do you know what you have done?"

Li-neng shook his head. "Just a little business for the mandarin, isn'tit? Quite easy. "

"Call it easy, if you like. What! man, arrest a tiger, a man-eatingtiger and bring him to the city! Better go and say good-bye to yourfather and mother. They will never see you again. "

Li-neng slept off his drunkenness, and then saw that his friends wereright. He had been very foolish. But surely the judge had meant thewhole thing only as a joke! No such order had ever been written before!It was plain that the judge had hit on this plan simply to get rid ofthe wailing old woman. Li-neng took the warrant back to the judgmenthall and told the mandarin that the tiger could not be found. 

But the judge was in no mood for joking. "Can't be found? And why not?You agreed to arrest this tiger. Why is it that to-day you try to getout of your promise? I can by no means permit this, for I have given myword to satisfy the old woman in her cry for justice. "

Li-neng knelt and knocked his head on the floor. "I was drunk, " hecried, "when I gave my promise. I knew not what you were asking. I cancatch a man, but not a tiger. I know nothing of such matters. Still, ifyou wish it, I can go into the hills and hire hunters to help me. "

"Very well, it makes no difference how you catch him, as long as youbring him into court. If you fail in your duty, there is nothing leftbut to beat you until you succeed. I give you five days. "

During the next few days Li-neng left no stone unturned in trying tofind the guilty tiger. The best hunters in the country were employed. Night and day they searched the hills, hiding in mountain caves, watching and waiting, but finding nothing. It was all very trying forLi-neng, since he now feared the heavy hands of the judge more than theclaws of the tiger. On the fifth day he had to report his failure. Hereceived a thorough beating, fifty blows on the back. But that was notthe worst of it. During the next six weeks, try as he would, he couldfind no traces of the missing animal. At the end of each five days, hegot another beating for his pains. The poor fellow was in despair. Another month of such treatment would lay him on his deathbed. This heknew very well, and yet he had little hope. His friends shook theirheads when they saw him. "He is drawing near the wood, " they said toeach other, meaning that he would soon be in his coffin. "Why don't youflee the country?" they asked him. "Follow the tiger's example. You seehe has escaped completely. The judge would make no effort to catch youif you should go across the border into the next province. "

Li-neng shook his head on hearing this advice. He had no desire to leavehis family for ever, and he felt sure of being caught and put to deathif he should try to run away. 

One day after all the hunters had given up the search in disgust andgone back to their homes in the valley, Li-neng entered a mountaintemple to pray. The tears rained down his cheeks as he knelt before thegreat fierce-looking idol. "Alas! I am a dead man!" he moaned betweenhis prayers; "a dead man, for now there is no hope. Would that I hadnever touched a drop of wine!"

Just then he heard a slight rustling near by. Looking up, he saw a hugetiger standing at the temple gate. But Li-neng was no longer afraid oftigers. He knew there was only one way to save himself. "Ah, " he said, looking the great cat straight in the eye, "you have come to eat me, have you? Well, I fear you would find my flesh a trifle tough, since Ihave been beaten with four hundred blows during these six weeks. You arethe same fellow that carried off the woodman last month, aren't you?This woodman was an only son, the sole support of an old mother. Nowthis poor woman has reported you to the mandarin, who, in turn, has hada warrant drawn up for your arrest. I have been sent out to find you andlead you to trial. For some reason or other you have acted the coward, and remained in hiding. This has been the cause of my beating. Now Idon't want to suffer any longer as a result of your murder. You mustcome with me to the city and answer the charge of killing the woodman. "

All the time Li-neng was speaking, the tiger listened closely. Whenthe man was silent, the animal made no effort to escape, but, on thecontrary, seemed willing and ready to be captured. He bent his headforward and let Li-neng slip a strong chain over it. Then he followedthe man quietly down the mountain, through the crowded streets of thecity, into the court room. All along the way there was great excitement. "The man-slaying tiger has been caught, " shouted the people. "He isbeing led to trial. "

The crowd followed Li-neng into the hall of justice. When the judgewalked in, every one became as quiet as the grave. All were filled withwonder at the strange sight of a tiger being called before a judge. 

The great animal did not seem to be afraid of those who were watching socuriously. He sat down in front of the mandarin, for all the world likea huge cat. The judge rapped on the table as a signal that all was readyfor the trial. 

"Tiger, " said he, turning toward the prisoner, "did you eat the woodmanwhom you are charged with killing?"

The tiger gravely nodded his head. 

"Yes, he killed my boy!" screamed the aged mother. "Kill him! Give himthe death that he deserves!"

"A life for a life is the law of the land, " continued the judge, payingno attention to the forlorn mother, but looking the accused directlyin the eye. "Did you not know it? You have robbed a helpless old womanof her only son. There are no relatives to support her. She is cryingfor vengeance. You must be punished for your crime. The law must beenforced. However, I am not a cruel judge. If you can promise to takethe place of this widow's son and support the woman in her old age, I amquite willing to spare you from a disgraceful death. What say you, willyou accept my offer?"

[Illustration: "THE TIGER GRAVELY NODDED HIS HEAD. "]

The gaping people craned their necks to see what would happen, and oncemore they were surprised to see the savage beast nod his head in silentagreement. 

"Very well, then, you are free to return to your mountain home; only, ofcourse, you must remember your promise. "

The chains were taken from the tiger's neck, and the great animal walkedsilently out of the yamen, down the street, and through the gate openingtowards his beloved mountain cave. 

Once more the old woman was very angry. As she hobbled from the room, she cast sour glances at the judge, muttering over and over again, "Whoever heard of a tiger taking the place of a son? A pretty game this is, to catch the brute, and then to set him free. " There was nothing for herto do, however, but to return home, for the judge had given strictorders that on no account was she to appear before him again. 

Almost broken-hearted she entered her desolate hovel at the foot of themountain. Her neighbours shook their heads as they saw her. "She cannotlive long, " they said. "She has the look of death on her wrinkled face. Poor soul! she has nothing to live for, nothing to keep her fromstarving. "

But they were mistaken. Next morning when the old woman went outside toget a breath of fresh air she found a newly killed deer in front of herdoor. Her tiger-son had begun to keep his promise, for she could see themarks of his claws on the dead animal's body. She took the carcass intothe house and dressed it for the market. On the city streets next dayshe had no trouble in selling the flesh and skin for a handsome sum ofmoney. All had heard of the tiger's first gift, and no one was anxiousto drive a close bargain. 

Laden with food, the happy woman went home rejoicing, with money enoughto keep her for many a day. A week later the tiger came to her doorwith a roll of cloth and some money in his mouth. He dropped these newgifts at her feet and ran away without even waiting for her thank-you. The Widow T'ang now saw that the judge had acted wisely. She stoppedgrieving for her dead son and began to love in his stead the handsomeanimal that had come to take his place so willingly. 

The tiger grew much attached to his foster-mother and often purredcontentedly outside her door, waiting for her to come and stroke hissoft fur. He no longer had the old desire to kill. The sight of bloodwas not nearly so tempting as it had been in his younger days. Yearafter year he brought the weekly offerings to his mistress until she wasas well provided for as any other widow in the country. 

At last in the course of nature the good old soul died. Kind friendslaid her away in her last resting place at the foot of the greatmountain. There was money enough left out of what she had saved to putup a handsome tombstone, on which this story was written just as youhave read it here. The faithful tiger mourned long for his dearmistress. He lay on her grave, wailing like a child that had lost itsmother. Long he listened for the voice he had loved so well, long hesearched the mountain-slopes, returning each night to the empty cottage, but all in vain. She whom he loved was gone for ever. 

One night he vanished from the mountain, and from that day to this noone in that province has ever seen him. Some who know this story saythat he died of grief in a secret cave which he had long used as ahiding-place. Others add, with a wise shrug of the shoulders, that, likeShanwang, he was taken to the Western Heaven, there to be rewarded forhis deeds of virtue and to live as a fairy for ever afterwards. 

THE PRINCESS KWAN-YIN

[Illustration]

Once upon a time in China there lived a certain king who had threedaughters. The fairest and best of these was Kwan-yin, the youngest. The old king was justly proud of this daughter, for of all the women whohad ever lived in the palace she was by far the most attractive. It didnot take him long, therefore, to decide that she should be the heir tohis throne, and her husband ruler of his kingdom. But, strange to say, Kwan-yin was not pleased at this good fortune. She cared little for thepomp and splendour of court life. She foresaw no pleasure for herself inruling as a queen, but even feared that in so high a station she mightfeel out of place and unhappy. 

Every day she went to her room to read and study. As a result of thisdaily labour she soon went far beyond her sisters along the paths ofknowledge, and her name was known in the farthest corner of the kingdomas "Kwan-yin, the wise princess. " Besides being very fond of books, Kwan-yin was thoughtful of her friends. She was careful about herbehaviour both in public and in private. Her warm heart was open at alltimes to the cries of those in trouble. She was kind to the poor andsuffering. She won the love of the lower classes, and was to them a sortof goddess to whom they could appeal whenever they were hungry and inneed. Some people even believed that she was a fairy who had come toearth from her home within the Western Heaven, while others said thatonce, long years before, she had lived in the world as a prince insteadof a princess. However this may be, one thing is certain--Kwan-yin waspure and good, and well deserved the praises that were showered uponher. 

One day the king called this favourite daughter to the royal bedside, for he felt that the hour of death was drawing near. Kwan-yin kowtowedbefore her royal father, kneeling and touching her forehead on the floorin sign of deepest reverence. The old man bade her rise and come closer. Taking her hand tenderly in his own, he said, "Daughter, you know wellhow I love you. Your modesty and virtue, your talent and your love ofknowledge, have made you first in my heart. As you know already, I choseyou as heir to my kingdom long ago. I promised that your husband shouldbe made ruler in my stead. The time is almost ripe for me to ascend uponthe dragon and become a guest on high. It is necessary that you be givenat once in marriage. "

"But, most exalted father, " faltered the princess, "I am not ready to bemarried. "

"Not ready, child! Why, are you not eighteen? Are not the daughters ofour nation often wedded long before they reach that age? Because of yourdesire for learning I have spared you thus far from any thought of ahusband, but now we can wait no longer. "

"Royal father, hear your child, and do not compel her to give up herdearest pleasures. Let her go into a quiet convent where she may leada life of study!"

The king sighed deeply at hearing these words. He loved his daughter anddid not wish to wound her. "Kwan-yin, " he continued, "do you wish topass by the green spring of youth, to give up this mighty kingdom? Doyou wish to enter the doors of a convent where women say farewell tolife and all its pleasures? No! your father will not permit this. Itgrieves me sorely to disappoint you, but one month from this very dayyou shall be married. I have chosen for your royal partner a man of manynoble parts. You know him by name already, although you have not seenhim. Remember that, of the hundred virtues filial conduct is the chief, and that you owe more to me than to all else on earth. "

Kwan-yin turned pale. Trembling, she would have sunk to the floor, buther mother and sisters supported her, and by their tender care broughther back to consciousness. 

Every day of the month that followed, Kwan-yin's relatives begged her togive up what they called her foolish notion. Her sisters had long sincegiven up hope of becoming queen. They were amazed at her stupidity. Thevery thought of any one's choosing a convent instead of a throne was tothem a sure sign of madness. Over and over again they asked her reasonfor making so strange a choice. To every question, she shook her head, replying, "A voice from the heavens speaks to me, and I must obey it. "

On the eve of the wedding day Kwan-yin slipped out of the palace, and, after a weary journey, arrived at a convent called, "The Cloister of theWhite Sparrow. " She was dressed as a poor maiden. She said she wished tobecome a nun. The abbess, not knowing who she was, did not receive herkindly. Indeed, she told Kwan-yin that they could not receive her intothe sisterhood, that the building was full. Finally, after Kwan-yin hadshed many tears, the abbess let her enter, but only as a sort ofservant, who might be cast out for the slightest fault. 

Now that Kwan-yin found herself in the life which she had long dreamtof leading, she tried to be satisfied. But the nuns seemed to wish tomake her stay among them most miserable. They gave her the hardest tasksto do, and it was seldom that she had a minute to rest. All day longshe was busy, carrying water from a well at the foot of the convent hillor gathering wood from a neighbouring forest. At night when her backwas almost breaking, she was given many extra tasks, enough to havecrushed the spirit of any other woman than this brave daughter ofa king. Forgetting her grief, and trying to hide the lines of painthat sometimes wrinkled her fair forehead, she tried to make thesehard-hearted women love her. In return for their rough words, shespoke to them kindly, and never did she give way to anger. 

One day while poor Kwan-yin was picking up brushwood in the forest sheheard a tiger making his way through the bushes. Having no means ofdefending herself, she breathed a silent prayer to the gods for help, and calmly awaited the coming of the great beast. To her surprise, whenthe bloodthirsty animal appeared, instead of bounding up to tear her inpieces, he began to make a soft purring noise. He did not try to hurtKwan-yin, but rubbed against her in a friendly manner, and let her pathim on the head. 

[Illustration: "ALL DAY SHE WAS BUSY CARRYING WATER. "]

The next day the princess went back to the same spot. There she foundno fewer than a dozen savage beasts working under the command of thefriendly tiger, gathering wood for her. In a short time enough brush andfirewood had been piled up to last the convent for six months. Thus, even the wild animals of the forest were better able to judge of hergoodness than the women of the sisterhood. 

At another time when Kwan-yin was toiling up the hill for the twentiethtime, carrying two great pails of water on a pole, an enormous dragonfaced her in the road. Now, in China, the dragon is sacred, and Kwan-yinwas not at all frightened, for she knew that she had done no wrong. 

The animal looked at her for a moment, switched its horrid tail, andshot out fire from its nostrils. Then, dashing the burden from thestartled maiden's shoulder, it vanished. Full of fear, Kwan-yin hurriedup the hill to the nunnery. As she drew near the inner court, she wasamazed to see in the centre of the open space a new building of solidstone. It had sprung up by magic since her last journey down the hill. On going forward, she saw that there were four arched doorways to thefairy house. Above the door facing west was a tablet with these wordswritten on it: "In honour of Kwan-yin, the faithful princess. " Insidewas a well of the purest water, while, for drawing this water, there astrange machine, the like of which neither Kwan-yin nor the nuns hadever seen. 

The sisters knew that this magic well was a monument to Kwan-yin'sgoodness. For a few days they treated her much better. "Since the godshave dug a well at our very gate, " they said, "this girl will no longerneed to bear water from the foot of the hill. For what strange reason, however, did the gods write this beggar's name on the stone?"

Kwan-yin heard their unkind remarks in silence. She could have explainedthe meaning of the dragon's gift, but she chose to let her companionsremain in ignorance. At last the selfish nuns began to grow carelessagain, and treated her even worse than before. They could not bear tosee the poor girl enjoy a moment's idleness. 

"This is a place for work, " they told her. "All of us have laboured hardto win our present station. You must do likewise. " So they robbed her ofevery chance for study and prayer, and gave her no credit for the magicwell. 

One night the sisters were awakened from their sleep by strange noises, and soon they heard outside the walls of the compound the blare of atrumpet. A great army had been sent by Kwan-yin's father to attack theconvent, for his spies had at last been able to trace the runawayprincess to this holy retreat. 

"Oh, who has brought this woe upon us?" exclaimed all the women, lookingat each other in great fear. "Who has done this great evil? There is oneamong us who has sinned most terribly, and now the gods are about todestroy us. " They gazed at one another, but no one thought of Kwan-yin, for they did not believe her of enough importance to attract the angerof heaven, even though she might have done the most shocking of deeds. Then, too, she had been so meek and lowly while in their holy order thatthey did not once dream of charging her with any crime. 

The threatening sounds outside grew louder and louder. All at once afearful cry arose among the women: "They are about to burn our sacreddwelling. " Smoke was rising just beyond the enclosure where the soldierswere kindling a great fire, the heat of which would soon be great enoughto make the convent walls crumble into dust. 

Suddenly a voice was heard above the tumult of the weeping sisters:"Alas! I am the cause of all this trouble. "

The nuns, turning in amazement, saw that it was Kwan-yin who wasspeaking. "You?" they exclaimed, astounded. 

"Yes, I, for I am indeed the daughter of a king. My father did not wishme to take the vows of this holy order. I fled from the palace. He hassent his army here to burn these buildings and to drag me back aprisoner. "

"Then, see what you have brought upon us, miserable girl!" exclaimed theabbess. "See how you have repaid our kindness! Our buildings will beburned above our heads! How wretched you have made us! May heaven'scurses rest upon you!"

"No, no!" exclaimed Kwan-yin, springing up, and trying to keep theabbess from speaking these frightful words. "You have no right to saythat, for I am innocent of evil. But, wait! You shall soon see whoseprayers the gods will answer, yours or mine!" So saying, she pressed herforehead to the floor, praying the almighty powers to save the conventand the sisters. 

Outside the crackling of the greedy flames could already be heard. Thefire king would soon destroy every building on that hill-top. Mad withterror, the sisters prepared to leave the compound and give up all theirbelongings to the cruel flames and still more cruel soldiers. Kwan-yinalone remained in the room, praying earnestly for help. 

Suddenly a soft breeze sprang up from the neighbouring forest, darkclouds gathered overhead, and, although it was the dry season adrenching shower descended on the flames. Within five minutes the firewas put out and the convent was saved. Just as the shivering nuns werethanking Kwan-yin for the divine help she had brought them, two soldierswho had scaled the outer wall of the compound came in and roughly askedfor the princess. 

The trembling girl, knowing that these men were obeying her father'sorders, poured out a prayer to the gods, and straightway made herselfknown. They dragged her from the presence of the nuns who had just begunto love her. Thus disgraced before her father's army, she was taken tothe capital. 

On the morrow, she was led before the old king. The father gazed sadlyat his daughter, and then the stern look of a judge hardened his face ashe beckoned the guards to bring her forward. 

From a neighbouring room came the sounds of sweet music. A feast wasbeing served there amid great splendour. The loud laughter of the guestsreached the ears of the young girl as she bowed in disgrace before herfather's throne. She knew that this feast had been prepared for her, andthat her father was willing to give her one more chance. 

"Girl, " said the king, at last regaining his voice, "in leaving theroyal palace on the eve of your wedding day, not only did you insultyour father, but your king. For this act you deserve to die. However, because of the excellent record you had made for yourself before you ranaway, I have decided to give you one more chance to redeem yourself. Refuse me, and the penalty is death: obey me, and all may yet bewell--the kingdom that you spurned is still yours for the asking. Allthat I require is your marriage to the man whom I have chosen. "

"And when, most august King, would you have me decide?" asked Kwan-yinearnestly. 

"This very day, this very hour, this very moment, " he answered sternly. "What! would you hesitate between love upon a throne and death? Speak, my daughter, tell me that you love me and will do my bidding!"

It was now all that Kwan-yin could do to keep from throwing herself ather father's feet and yielding to his wishes, not because he offered hera kingdom, but because she loved him and would gladly have made himhappy. But her strong will kept her from relenting. No power on earthcould have stayed her from doing what she thought her duty. 

"Beloved father, " she answered sadly, and her voice was full oftenderness, "it is not a question of my love for you--of that there isno question, for all my life I have shown it in every action. Believeme, if I were free to do your bidding, gladly would I make you happy, but a voice from the gods has spoken, has commanded that I remain avirgin, that I devote my life to deeds of mercy. When heaven itself hascommanded, what can even a princess do but listen to that power whichrules the earth?"

The old king was far from satisfied with Kwan-yin's answer. He grewfurious, his thin wrinkled skin turned purple as the hot blood rose tohis head. "Then you refuse to do my bidding! Take her, men! Give to herthe death that is due to a traitor to the king!" As they bore Kwan-yinaway from his presence the white-haired monarch fell, swooning, from hischair. 

That night, when Kwan-yin was put to death, she descended into the lowerworld of torture. No sooner had she set foot in that dark country of thedead than the vast region of endless punishment suddenly blossomed forthand became like the gardens of Paradise. Pure white lilies sprang up onevery side, and the odour of a million flowers filled all the rooms andcorridors. King Yama, ruler of the dominion, rushed forth to learn thecause of this wonderful change. No sooner did his eyes rest upon thefair young face of Kwan-yin than he saw in her the emblem of a puritywhich deserved no home but heaven. 

"Beautiful virgin, doer of many mercies, " he began, after addressingher by her title, "I beg you in the name of justice to depart from thisbloody kingdom. It is not right that the fairest flower of heaven shouldenter and shed her fragrance in these halls. Guilt must suffer here, andsin find no reward. Depart thou, then, from my dominion. The peach ofimmortal life shall be bestowed upon you, and heaven alone shall be yourdwelling place. "

Thus Kwan-yin became the Goddess of Mercy; thus she entered into thatglad abode, surpassing all earthly kings and queens. And ever since thattime, on account of her exceeding goodness, thousands of poor peoplebreathe out to her each year their prayers for mercy. There is no fearin their gaze as they look at her beautiful image, for their eyes arefilled with tears of love. 

THE TWO JUGGLERS

[Illustration]

One beautiful spring day two men strolled into the public square ofa well-known Chinese city. They were plainly dressed and looked likeordinary countrymen who had come in to see the sights. Judging by theirfaces, they were father and son. The elder, a wrinkled man of perhapsfifty, wore a scant grey beard. The younger had a small box on hisshoulder. 

At the hour when these strangers entered the public square, a largecrowd had gathered, for it was a feast day, and every one was bent onhaving a good time. All the people seemed very happy. Some, seated inlittle open-air booths, were eating, drinking, and smoking. Others werebuying odds and ends from the street-vendors, tossing coins, and playingvarious games of chance. 

The two men walked about aimlessly. They seemed to have no friends amongthe pleasure-seekers. At last, however, as they stood reading a publicnotice posted at the entrance of the town-hall or yamen, a bystanderasked them who they were. 

"Oh, we are jugglers from a distant province, " said the elder, smilingand pointing towards the box. "We can do many tricks for the amusementof the people. "

Soon it was spread about among the crowd that two famous jugglers hadjust arrived from the capital, and that they were able to perform manywonderful deeds. Now it happened that the mandarin or mayor of the city, at that very moment was entertaining a number of guests in the yamen. They had just finished eating, and the host was wondering what he shoulddo to amuse his friends, when a servant told him of the jugglers. 

"Ask them what they can do, " said the mandarin eagerly. "I will pay themwell if they can really amuse us, but I want something more than the oldtricks of knife-throwing and balancing. They must show us somethingnew. "

The servant went outside and spoke to the jugglers: "The great man bidsyou tell him what you can do. If you can amuse his visitors he willbring them out to the private grand stand, and let you perform beforethem and the people who are gathered together. "

"Tell your honourable master, " said the elder, whom we shall call Chang, "that, try us as he will, he will not be disappointed. Tell him that wecome from the unknown land of dreams and visions, that we can turn rocksinto mountains, rivers into oceans, mice into elephants, in short, thatthere is nothing in magic too difficult for us to do. "

The official was delighted when he heard the report of his servant. "Now we may have a little fun, " he said to his guests, "for there arejugglers outside who will perform their wonderful tricks before us. "

The guests filed out on to the grand stand at one side of the publicsquare. The mandarin commanded that a rope should be stretched acrossso as to leave an open space in full view of the crowd, where the twoChangs might give their exhibition. 

For a time the two strangers entertained the people with some of thesimpler tricks, such as spinning plates in the air, tossing bowls up andcatching them on chopsticks, making flowers grow from empty pots, andtransforming one object into another. At last, however, the mandarincried out: "These tricks are very good of their kind, but how aboutthose idle boasts of changing rivers into oceans and mice intoelephants? Did you not say that you came from the land of dreams? Thesetricks you have done are stale and shopworn. Have you nothing new withwhich to regale my guests on this holiday?"

"Most certainly, your excellency. But surely you would not have alabourer do more than his employer requires? Would that not be quitecontrary to the teachings of our fathers? Be assured, sir, anything thatyou demand I can do for you. Only say the word. "

The mandarin laughed outright at this boasting language. "Take care, myman! Do not go too far with your promises. There are too many impostorsaround for me to believe every stranger. Hark you! no lying, for if youlie in the presence of my guests, I shall take great pleasure in havingyou beaten. "

"My words are quite true, your excellency, " repeated Chang earnestly. "What have we to gain by deceit, we who have performed our miraclesbefore the countless hosts of yonder Western Heaven?"

"Ha, ha! hear the braggarts!" shouted the guests. "What shall we commandthem to do?"

For a moment they consulted together, whispering and laughing. 

"I have it, " cried the host finally. "Our feast was short of fruit, since this is the off season. Suppose we let this fellow supply us. Here, fellow, produce us a peach, and be quick about it. We have no timefor fooling. "

"What, masters, a peach?" exclaimed the elder Chang in mock dismay. "Surely at this season you do not expect a peach. "

"Caught at his own game, " laughed the guests, and the people began tohoot derisively. 

"But, father, you promised to do anything he required, " urged the son. "If he asks even a peach, how can you refuse and at the same time saveyour face?"

"Hear the boy talk, " mumbled the father, "and yet, perhaps he's right. Very well, masters, " turning to the crowd, "if it's a peach you want, why, a peach you shall have, even though I must send into the garden ofthe Western Heaven for the fruit. "

The people became silent and the mandarin's guests forgot to laugh. Theold man, still muttering, opened the box from which he had been takingthe magic bowls, plates, and other articles. "To think of people wantingpeaches at this season! What is the world coming to?"

After fumbling in the box for some moments he drew out a skein of goldenthread, fine spun and as light as gossamer. No sooner had he unwound aportion of this thread than a sudden gust of wind carried it up into theair above the heads of the onlookers. Faster and faster the old manpaid out the magic coil, higher and higher the free end rose into theheavens, until, strain his eyes as he would, no one present could seeinto what far-region it had vanished. 

"Wonderful, wonderful!" shouted the people with one voice, "the old manis a fairy. "

For a moment they forgot all about the mandarin, the jugglers, and thepeach, so amazed were they at beholding the flight of the magic thread. 

At last the old man seemed satisfied with the distance to which his cordhad sailed, and, with a bow to the spectators, he tied the end to alarge wooden pillar which helped to support the roof of the grand stand. For a moment the structure trembled and swayed as if it too would becarried off into the blue ether, the guests turned pale and clutchedtheir chairs for support, but not even the mandarin dared to speak, sosure were they now that they were in the presence of fairies. 

"Everything is ready for the journey, " said old Chang calmly. 

"What! shall you leave us?" asked the mayor, finding his voice again. 

"I? Oh, no, my old bones are not spry enough for quick climbing. My sonhere will bring us the magic peach. He is handsome and active enough toenter that heavenly garden. Graceful, oh graceful is that peach tree--ofcourse, you remember the line from the poem--and a graceful man mustpluck the fruit. "

The mandarin was still more surprised at the juggler's knowledge of afamous poem from the classics. It made him and his friends all the morecertain that the newcomers were indeed fairies. 

The young man at a sign from his father tightened his belt and the bandsabout his ankles, and then, with a graceful gesture to the astonishedpeople, sprang upon the magic string, balanced himself for a moment onthe steep incline, and then ran as nimbly up as a sailor would havemounted a rope ladder. Higher and higher he climbed till he seemed nobigger than a lark ascending into the blue sky, and then, like some tinyspeck, far, far away, on the western horizon. 

The people gazed in open-mouthed wonder. They were struck dumb andfilled with some nameless fear; they hardly dared to look at theenchanter who stood calmly in their midst, smoking his long-stemmedpipe. 

The mandarin, ashamed of having laughed at and threatened this manwho was clearly a fairy, did not know what to say. He snapped his longfinger nails and looked at his guests in mute astonishment. The visitorssilently drank their tea, and the crowd of sightseers craned their necksin a vain effort to catch sight of the vanished fairy. Only one in allthat assembly, a bright-eyed little boy of eight, dared to break thesilence, and he caused a hearty burst of merriment by crying out, "Oh, daddy, will the bad young man fly off into the sky and leave his poorfather all alone?"

The greybeard laughed loudly with the others, and tossed the lad acopper. "Ah, the good boy, " he said smiling, "he has been well trainedto love his father; no fear of foreign ways spoiling his filial piety. "

After a few moments of waiting, old Chang laid aside his pipe and fixedhis eyes once more on the western sky. "It is coming, " he said quietly. "The peach will soon be here. "

[Illustration: "HIGHER AND HIGHER HE CLIMBED. "]

Suddenly he held out his hand as if to catch some falling object, but, look as they would, the people could see nothing. Swish! thud! it camelike a streak of light, and, lo, there in the magician's fingers was apeach, the most beautiful specimen the people had ever seen, large androsy. "Straight from the garden of the gods, " said Chang, handing thefruit to the mandarin, "a peach in the Second Moon, and the snow hardlyoff the ground. "

Trembling with excitement, the official took the peach and cut it open. It was large enough for all his guests to have a taste, and such a tasteit was! They smacked their lips and wished for more, secretly thinkingthat never again would ordinary fruit be worth the eating. 

But all this time the old juggler, magician, fairy or whatever youchoose to call him, was looking anxiously into the sky. The result ofthis trick was more than he had bargained for. True, he had been able toproduce the magic peach which the mandarin had called for, but his son, where was his son? He shaded his eyes and looked far up into the blueheavens, and so did the people, but no one could catch a glimpse of thedeparted youth. 

"Oh, my son, my son, " cried the old man in despair, "how cruel is thefate that has robbed me of you, the only prop of my declining years! Oh, my boy, my boy, would that I had not sent you on so perilous a journey!Who now will look after my grave when I am gone?"

Suddenly the silken cord on which the young man had sped so daringlyinto the sky, gave a quick jerk which almost toppled over the post towhich it was tied, and there, before the very eyes of the people, itfell from the lofty height, a silken pile on the ground in front ofthem. 

The greybeard uttered a loud cry and covered his face with his hands. "Alas! the whole story is plain enough, " he sobbed. "My boy was caughtin the act of plucking the magic peach from the garden of the gods, andthey have thrown him into prison. Woe is me! Ah! woe is me!"

The mandarin and his friends were deeply touched by the old man's grief, and tried in vain to comfort him. "Perhaps he will return, " they said. "Have courage!"

"Yes, but in what a shape?" replied the magician. "See! even now theyare restoring him to his father. "

The people looked, and they saw twirling and twisting through the airthe young man's arm. It fell upon the ground in front of them at thefairy's feet. Next came the head, a leg, the body. One by one before thegasping, shuddering people, the parts of the unfortunate young man wererestored to his father. 

After the first outburst of wild, frantic grief the old man by a greateffort gained control of his feelings, and began to gather up theseparts, putting them tenderly into the wooden box. 

By this time many of the spectators were weeping at the sight of thefather's affliction. "Come, " said the mandarin at last, deeply moved, "let us present the old man with sufficient money to give his boy adecent burial. "

All present agreed willingly, for there is no sight in China that causesgreater pity than that of an aged parent robbed by death of an only son. The copper cash fell in a shower at the juggler's feet, and soon tearsof gratitude were mingled with those of sorrow. He gathered up the moneyand tied it in a large black cloth. Then a wonderful change came overhis face. He seemed all of a sudden to forget his grief. Turning to thebox, he raised the lid. The people heard him say: "Come, my son; thecrowd is waiting for you to thank them. Hurry up! They have been verykind to us. "

In an instant the box was thrown open with a bang, and before themandarin and his friends, before the eyes of all the sightseers theyoung man, strong and whole once more, stepped forth and bowed, claspinghis hands and giving the national salute. 

For a moment all were silent. Then, as the wonder of the whole thingdawned upon them, the people broke forth into a tumult of shouts, laughter, and compliments. "The fairies have surely come to visit us!"they shouted. "The city will be blessed with good fortune! Perhaps it isFairy Old Boy himself who is among us!"

The mandarin rose and addressed the jugglers, thanking them in the nameof the city for their visit and for the taste they had given to him andhis guests of the peach from the heavenly orchard. 

Even as he spoke, the magic box opened again; the two fairiesdisappeared inside, the lid closed, and the chest rose from the groundabove the heads of the people. For a moment it floated round in a circlelike some homing pigeon trying to find its bearings before starting ona return journey. Then, with a sudden burst of speed, it shot off intothe heavens and vanished from the sight of those below, and not a thingremained as proof of the strange visitors except the magic peach seedthat lay beside the teacups on the mandarin's table. 

According to the most ancient writings there is now nothing left to tellof this story. It has been declared, however, by later scholars that theofficial and his friends who had eaten the magic peach, at once began tofeel a change in their lives. While, before the coming of the fairies, they had lived unfairly, accepting bribes and taking part in manyshameful practices, now, after tasting of the heavenly fruit, they beganto grow better. The people soon began to honour and love them, saying, "Surely these great men are not like others of their kind, for these menare just and honest in their dealings with us. They seem not to beruling for their own reward!"

However this may be, we do know that before many years their city becamethe centre of the greatest peach-growing section of China, and evenyet when strangers walk in the orchards and look up admiringly at thebeautiful sweet-smelling fruit, the natives sometimes ask proudly, "Andhave you never heard about the wonderful peach which was the beginningof all our orchards, the magic peach the fairies brought us from theWestern Heaven?"

THE PHANTOM VESSEL

[Illustration]

Once a ship loaded with pleasure-seekers was sailing from North Chinato Shanghai. High winds and stormy weather had delayed her, and she wasstill one week from port when a great plague broke out on board. Thisplague was of the worst kind. It attacked passengers and sailors alikeuntil there were so few left to sail the vessel that it seemed as if shewould soon be left to the mercy of winds and waves. 

On all sides lay the dead, and the groans of the dying were mostterrible to hear. Of that great company of travellers only one, alittle boy named Ying-lo, had escaped. At last the few sailors, whohad been trying hard to save their ship, were obliged to lie down uponthe deck, a prey to the dreadful sickness, and soon they too weredead. 

Ying-lo now found himself alone on the sea. For some reason--he did notknow why--the gods or the sea fairies had spared him, but as he lookedabout in terror at the friends and loved ones who had died, he almostwished that he might join them. 

The sails flapped about like great broken wings, while the giant wavesdashed higher above the deck, washing many of the bodies overboard andwetting the little boy to the skin. Shivering with cold, he gave himselfup for lost and prayed to the gods, whom his mother had often told himabout, to take him from this dreadful ship and let him escape the fatalillness. 

As he lay there praying he heard a slight noise in the rigging justabove his head. Looking up, he saw a ball of fire running along ayardarm near the top of the mast. The sight was so strange that heforgot his prayer and stared with open-mouthed wonder. To hisastonishment, the ball grew brighter and brighter, and then suddenlybegan slipping down the mast, all the time increasing in size. The poorboy did not know what to do or to think. Were the gods, in answer to hisprayer, sending fire to burn the vessel? If so, he would soon escape. Anything would be better than to be alone upon the sea. 

Nearer and nearer came the fireball. At last, when it reached the deck, to Ying-lo's surprise, something very, very strange happened. Before hehad time to feel alarmed, the light vanished, and a funny little manstood in front of him peering anxiously into the child's frightenedface. 

"Yes, you are the lad I'm looking for, " he said at last, speaking in apiping voice that almost made Ying-lo smile. "You are Ying-lo, and youare the only one left of this wretched company. " This he said, pointingtowards the bodies lying here and there about the deck. 

Although he saw that the old man meant him no harm, the child could saynothing, but waited in silence, wondering what would happen next. 

By this time the vessel was tossing and pitching so violently that itseemed every minute as if it would upset and go down beneath the foamingwaves, never to rise again. Not many miles distant on the right, somejagged rocks stuck out of the water, lifting their cruel heads as ifwaiting for the helpless ship. 

The newcomer walked slowly towards the mast and tapped on it three timeswith an iron staff he had been using as a cane. Immediately the sailsspread, the vessel righted itself and began to glide over the sea sofast that the gulls were soon left far behind, while the threateningrocks upon which the ship had been so nearly dashed seemed like specksin the distance. 

"Do you remember me?" said the stranger, suddenly turning and coming upto Ying-lo, but his voice was lost in the whistling of the wind, and theboy knew only by the moving of his lips that the old man was talking. The greybeard bent over until his mouth was at Ying-lo's ear: "Did youever see me before?"

With a puzzled look, at first the child shook his head. Then as he gazedmore closely there seemed to be something that he recognized about thewrinkled face. "Yes, I think so, but I don't know when. "

With a tap of his staff the fairy stopped the blowing of the wind, andthen spoke once more to his small companion: "One year ago I passedthrough your village. I was dressed in rags, and was begging my wayalong the street, trying to find some one who would feel sorry for me. Alas! no one answered my cry for mercy. Not a crust was thrown into mybowl. All the people were deaf, and fierce dogs drove me from door todoor. Finally when I was almost dying of hunger, I began to feel thathere was a village without one good person in it. Just then you saw mysuffering, ran into the house, and brought me out food. Your heartlessmother saw you doing this and beat you cruelly. Do you remember now, mychild?"

"Yes, I remember, " he answered sadly, "and that mother is now lyingdead. Alas! all, all are dead, my father and my brothers also. Not oneis left of my family. "

"Little did you know, my boy, to whom you were giving food that day. You took me for a lowly beggar, but, behold, it was not a poor man thatyou fed, for I am Iron Staff. You must have heard of me when they weretelling of the fairies in the Western Heaven, and of their adventureshere on earth. "

"Yes, yes, " answered Ying-lo, trembling half with fear and half withjoy, "indeed I have heard of you many, many times, and all the peoplelove you for your kind deeds of mercy. "

"Alas! they did not show their love, my little one. Surely you know thatif any one wishes to reward the fairies for their mercies, he must beginto do deeds of the same kind himself. No one but you in all your villagehad pity on me in my rags. If they had known that I was Iron Staff, everything would have been different; they would have given me a feastand begged for my protection. 

 "The only love that loves aright Is that which loves in every plight. The beggar in his sad array Is moulded of the selfsame clay. 

 "Who knows a man by what he wears, By what he says or by his prayers? Hidden beneath that wrinkled skin A fairy may reside within. 

 "Then treat with kindness and with love The lowly man, the god above; A friendly nod, a welcome smile-- For love is ever worth the while. "

Ying-lo listened in wonder to Iron Staff's little poem, and when he hadfinished, the boy's face was glowing with the love of which the fairyhad spoken. "My poor, poor father and mother!" he cried; "they knewnothing of these beautiful things you are telling me. They were broughtup in poverty. As they were knocked about in childhood by those aroundthem, so they learned to beat others who begged them for help. Is itstrange that they did not have hearts full of pity for you when youlooked like a beggar?"

"But what about you, my boy? You were not deaf when I asked you. Haveyou not been whipped and punished all your life? How then did you learnto look with love at those in tears?"

The child could not answer these questions, but only looked sorrowfullyat Iron Staff. "Oh, can you not, good fairy, will you not restore myparents and brothers, and give them another chance to be good and usefulpeople?"

"Listen, Ying-lo; it is impossible--unless you do two things first, " heanswered, stroking his beard gravely and leaning heavily upon his staff. 

"What are they? What must I do to save my family? Anything you ask of mewill not be too much to pay for your kindness. "

"First you must tell me of some good deed done by these people for whoselives you are asking. Name only one, for that will be enough; but it isagainst our rules to help those who have done nothing. "

Ying-lo was silent, and for a moment his face was clouded. "Yes, Iknow, " he said finally, brightening. "They burned incense once at thetemple. That was certainly a deed of virtue. "

"But when was it, little one, that they did this?"

"When my big brother was sick, and they were praying for him to getwell. The doctors could not save him with boiled turnip juice or withany other of the medicines they used, so my parents begged the gods. "

"Selfish, selfish!" muttered Iron Staff. "If their eldest son had notbeen dying they would have spent no money at the temple. They tried inthis way to buy back his health, for they were expecting him to supportthem in their old age. "

Ying-lo's face fell. "You are right, " he answered. 

"Can you think of nothing else?"

"Yes, oh, yes, last year when the foreigner rode through our village andfell sick in front of our house, they took him in and cared for him. "

"How long?" asked the other sharply. 

"Until he died the next week. "

"And what did they do with the mule he was riding, his bed, and themoney in his bag? Did they try to restore them to his people?"

"No, they said they'd keep them to pay for the trouble. " Ying-lo's faceturned scarlet. 

"But try again, dear boy! Is there not one little deed of goodness thatwas not selfish? Think once more. "

For a long time Ying-lo did not reply. At length he spoke in a lowvoice; "I think of one, but I fear it amounts to nothing. "

"No good, my child, is too small to be counted when the gods areweighing a man's heart. "

"Last spring the birds were eating in my father's garden. My motherwanted to buy poison from the shop to destroy them, but my father saidno, that the little things must live, and he for one was not in favourof killing them. "

"At last, Ying-lo, you have named a real deed of mercy, and as he sparedthe tiny birds from poison, so shall his life and the lives of yourmother and brothers be restored from the deadly plague. 

"But remember there is one other thing that depends on you. "

Ying-lo's eyes glistened gratefully. "Then if it rests with me, and Ican do it, you have my promise. No sacrifice should be too great for ason to make for his loved ones even though his life itself is asked inpayment. "

"Very well, Ying-lo. What I require is that you carry out to the lettermy instructions. Now it is time for me to keep my promise to you. "

So saying, Iron Staff called on Ying-lo to point out the members of hisfamily, and, approaching them one by one, with the end of his iron stickhe touched their foreheads. In an instant each, without a word, arose. Looking round and recognising Ying-lo, they stood back, frightened atseeing him with the fairy. When the last had risen to his feet, IronStaff beckoned all of them to listen. This they did willingly, too muchterrified to speak, for they saw on all sides signs of the plague thathad swept over the vessel, and they remembered the frightful agony theyhad suffered in dying. Each knew that he had been lifted by some magicpower from darkness into light. 

"My friends, " began the fairy, "little did you think when less than ayear ago you drove me from your door that soon you yourselves would bein need of mercy. To-day you have had a peep into the awful land ofYama. You have seen the horror of his tortures, have heard the screamsof his slaves, and by another night you would have been carried beforehim to be judged. What power is it that has saved you from his clutches?As you look back through your wicked lives can you think of any reasonwhy you deserved this rescue? No, there is no memory of goodness inyour black hearts. Well, I shall tell you: it is this little boy, thisYing-lo, who many times has felt the weight of your wicked hands andhas hidden in terror at your coming. To him alone you owe my help. "

Father, mother, and brothers all gazed in turn, first at the fairy andthen at the timid child whose eyes fell before their looks of gratitude. 

"By reason of his goodness this child whom you have scorned is worthy ofa place within the Western Heaven. In truth, I came this very day tolead him to that fairyland. For you, however, he wishes to make asacrifice. With sorrow I am yielding to his wishes. His sacrifice willbe that of giving up a place among the fairies and of continuing to livehere on this earth with you. He will try to make a change within yourhousehold. If at any time you treat him badly and do not heed hiswishes--mark you well my words--by the power of this magic staff which Ishall place in his hands, he may enter at once into the land of thefairies, leaving you to die in your wickedness. This I command him todo, and he has promised to obey my slightest wish. 

"This plague took you off suddenly and ended your wicked lives. Ying-lohas raised you from its grasp and his power can lift you from the bed ofsin. No other hand than his can bear the rod which I am leaving. If oneof you but touch it, instantly he will fall dead upon the ground. 

"And now, my child, the time has come for me to leave you. First, however, I must show you what you are now able to do. Around you lie thecorpses of sailors and passengers. Tap three times upon the mast andwish that they shall come to life, " So saying he handed Ying-lo the ironstaff. 

Although the magic rod was heavy, the child lifted it as if it were afairy's wand. Then, stepping forward to the mast, he rapped three timesas he had been commanded. Immediately on all sides arose the bodies, once more full of life and strength. 

"Now command the ship to take you back to your home port, for suchsinful creatures as these are in no way fit to make a journey amongstrangers. They must first return and free their homes of sin. "

Again rapping on the mast, the child willed the great vessel to takeits homeward course. No sooner had he moved the staff than, like a birdwheeling in the heavens, the bark swung round and started on the returnjourney. Swifter than a flash of lightning flew the boat, for it wasnow become a fairy vessel. Before the sailors and the travellers couldrecover from their surprise, land was sighted and they saw that theywere indeed entering the harbour. 

Just as the ship was darting toward the shore the fairy suddenly, witha parting word to Ying-lo, changed into a flaming ball of fire whichrolled along the deck and ascended the spars. Then, as it reached thetop of the rigging, it floated off into the blue sky, and all on board, speechless with surprise, watched it until it vanished. 

With a cry of thanksgiving, Ying-lo flung his arms about his parents anddescended with them to the shore. 

THE WOODEN TABLET

[Illustration]

"Yes, my boy, whatever happens, be sure to save that tablet. It is theonly thing we have left worth keeping. "

K'ang-p'u's father was just setting out for the city, to be gone allday. He had been telling K'ang-p'u about some work in the little garden, for the boy was a strong and willing helper. 

"All right, father, I'll do what you tell me; but suppose the foreignsoldiers should come while you are gone? I heard that they were over atT'ang Shu yesterday and burned the village. If they should come here, what must I do?"

Mr. Lin laughed heartily. "Why, there's nothing here for them to burn, if it comes to that!--a mud house, a grass roof, and a pile of raggedbedding. Surely they won't bother my little hut. It's loot they'reafter--money--or something they can sell. "

"But, father, " persisted the boy, "haven't you forgotten? Surely youwouldn't wish them to burn your father's tablet?"

"Quite right; for the moment I did forget. Yes, yes, my boy, whateverhappens be sure to save the tablet. It is the only thing we have worthkeeping. "

With that, Mr. Lin went out at the gate, leaving K'ang-p'u standing allalone. The little fellow was scarcely twelve years old. He had a bright, sunny face and a happy heart. Being left by himself did not mean tearsand idleness for him. 

He went into the poor little house and stood for a moment lookingearnestly at the wooden tablet. It was on a shelf in the one-roomedshanty, an oblong piece of wood about twelve inches high, enclosed ina wooden case. Through the carved screen work in the front, K'ang-p'ucould see his grandfather's name written in Chinese characters on thetablet. Ever since babyhood K'ang-p'u had been taught to look at thispiece of wood with a feeling of reverence. 

"Your grandfather's spirit is inside, " his father had said one day. "Youmust worship his spirit, for he was a good man, far better than yourdad. If I had obeyed him in all things, I, his only son, should not nowbe living in this miserable hut. "

"But didn't he live here, too?" asked K'ang-p'u in surprise. 

"Oh, no, we lived in a big house over yonder in another village; in abig house with a high stone wall. "

The little fellow had gasped with surprise at hearing this, for therewas not such a thing as a stone wall in his village, and he felt thathis grandfather must have been a rich man. He had not asked any morequestions, but from that day on he had been rather afraid of the carvedwooden box in which his grandfather's spirit was supposed to live. 

So, on this day when his father left him alone, the boy stood looking atthe tablet, wondering how a big man's spirit could squeeze into such asmall space. He put out his finger cautiously and touched the bottom ofthe box, then drew back, half-frightened at his own daring. No badresults followed. It seemed just like any other piece of wood. Somewhatpuzzled, he walked out of the house into the little garden. His fatherhad told him to re-set some young cabbages. This was work whichK'ang-p'u had done many times before. First, he gathered a basket ofchicken feathers, for his father had told him that a few feathers placedat the roots of the young plant would do more to make it strong andhealthy than anything else that could be used. 

All day K'ang-p'u worked steadily in the garden. He was just beginningto feel tired, when he heard a woman screaming in the distance. Hedropped his basket and rushed to the gate. Down the road at the farside of the village he saw a crowd of women and children running hitherand thither, and--yes! there were the soldiers--the dreaded foreignsoldiers! They were burning the houses; they were stealing whatever theycould find. 

Now, most boys would have been frightened--would have taken to theirheels without thought of consequences. K'ang-p'u, however, thoughlike other lads afraid of soldiers, was too brave to run without firstdoing his duty. He decided to stand his ground until he was sure theforeigners were coming his way. Perhaps they would grow tired of theircruel sport and leave the little house unharmed. He watched withwide-open eyes the work of pillage. Alas! these men did not seem totire of their amusement. One after another the houses were entered androbbed. Women were screaming and children crying. Nearly all the villagemen were away in a distant market town, for none of them had expectedan attack. 

Nearer and nearer came the robbers. At last they were next door toK'ang-p'u's hut, and he knew the time had come for him to do his duty. Seizing the basket of chicken feathers, he rushed into the house, snatched the precious tablet from the shelf, and hid it in the bottom ofthe basket. Then, without stopping to say good-bye to the spot which hehad known all his life, he rushed out of the gate and down the narrowstreet. 

"Kill the kid!" shouted a soldier, whom K'ang-p'u nearly ran against inhis hurry. "Put down the basket, boy! No stealing here. "

"Yes, kill him!" shouted another with a loud laugh; "he'd make a goodbit of bacon. "

But no one touched him, and K'ang-p'u, still holding tightly to hisburden, was soon far out on the winding road among the cornfields. Ifthey should follow, he thought of hiding among the giant cornstalks. Hislegs were tired now, and he sat down under a stone memorial arch nearsome crossroads to rest. 

Where was he going, and what should he do? These were the questions thatfilled the boy's whirling little brain. First, he must find out if thesoldiers were really destroying all the houses in his village. Perhapssome of them would not be burned and he could return at night to joinhis father. 

After several failures he managed to climb one of the stone pillars andfrom the arch above he could get a good view of the surrounding country. Over to the west was his village. His heart beat fast when he saw thata great cloud of smoke was rising from the houses. Clearly, the thieveswere making quick work of the place, and soon there would be nothingleft but piles of mud, brick, ashes and other rubbish. 

Night came on. K'ang-p'u clambered down from his stone perch. He wasbeginning to feel hungry, and yet he dared not turn back towards home. And besides, would not all the other villagers be hungry, too? He laydown at the foot of the stone monument, placing the basket within reachat one side. Soon he fell fast asleep. 

How long he had been sleeping he never knew; but it was not yet day whenhe awoke with a start and looked round him in the moonlight. Some onehad called him distinctly by name. At first, he thought it must havebeen his father's voice; and then as he grew wider and wider awake heknew this could not be, for the voice sounded like that of an old man. K'ang-p'u looked round in amazement, first at the stone columns, thenat the arch above. No one was to be seen. Had he been dreaming?

Just as he lay back to sleep once more, the voice sounded again veryfaintly, "K'ang-p'u! K'ang-p'u! why don't you let me out? I can'tbreathe under all these feathers. "

Quick as a flash he knew what was the matter. Burying his hand in thebasket, he seized the wooden tablet, drew it from its hiding-place, andstood it up on the stone base. Wonder of wonders! There before his veryeyes he saw a tiny fellow, not six inches high, sitting on top of thewooden upright and dangling his legs over the front of the tablet. Thedwarf had a long grey beard, and K'ang-p'u, without looking twice, knewthat this was the spirit of his dead grandfather come to life andclothed with flesh and blood. 

"Ho, ho!" said the small man, laughing, "so you thought you'd bury yourold grandfather in feathers, did you? A soft enough grave, but rathersmelly. "

"But, sir, " cried K'ang-p'u, "I had to do it, to save you from thesoldiers! They were just about to burn our house and you in it. "

"There, there, my boy! don't be uneasy. I am not scolding you. You didthe best you could for your old gran'ther. If you had been like mostlads, you would have taken to your heels and left me to those sea-devilswho were sacking the village. There is no doubt about it: you saved mefrom a second death much more terrible than the first one. "

K'ang-p'u shuddered, for he knew that his grandfather had been killed inbattle. He had heard his father tell the story many times. 

"Now, what do you propose doing about it?" asked the old man finally, looking straight into the boy's face. 

"Doing about it, sir? Why, really, I don't know. I thought that perhapsin the morning the soldiers would be gone and I could carry you back. Surely my father will be looking for me. "

"What! looking for you in the ashes? And what could he do if he did findyou? Your house is burned, your chickens carried away and your cabbagestrampled underfoot. A sorry home he will return to. You would be justone more mouth to feed. No! that plan will never do. If your fatherthinks you are dead, he will go off to another province to get work. That would save him from starvation. "

"But what am I to do?" wailed poor K'ang-p'u. "I don't want him to leaveme all alone!"

"All alone! What! don't you count your old grand-daddy? Surely you arenot a very polite youngster, even if you did save me from burning todeath. "

"Count you?" repeated the boy, surprised. "Why, surely you can't help meto earn a living?"

"Why not, boy? Is this an age when old men are good for nothing?"

"But, sir, you are only the _spirit_ of my grandfather, and spiritscannot work!"

"Ha, ha! just hear the child. Why, look you, I will show you whatspirits can do, provided you will do exactly what I tell you. "

Of course, K'ang-p'u promised, for he was always obedient; and was notthis little man who spoke so strangely, the spirit of his grandfather?And is not every lad in China taught to honour his ancestors?

"Now, listen, my boy. First, let me say that if you had not been kind, brave and filial, I should not take the trouble to help you out of yourmisfortune. As it is, there is nothing else for me to do. I cast yourfather off because he was disobedient. He has lived in a dirty hovelever since. Doubtless, he has been sorry for his misdeeds, for I seethat although he was disgraced by being sent away from the family home, he has taught you to honour and love me. Most boys would have snatchedup a blanket or a piece of bread before running from the enemy, but youthought only of my tablet. You saved me and went to bed hungry. For thisbravery, I shall give back to you the home of your ancestors. "

"But I can't live in it, " said K'ang-p'u, full of wonder, "if you willnot let my father come back to it. If he goes away he will have a veryhard time: he will be lonely without me, and may die; and then I wouldnot be able to take care of his grave, or to burn incense there at theproper season!"

"Quite right, K'ang-p'u. I see you love your father as well as yourgrandfather's tablet. Very well; you shall have your way. I daresay yourfather is sorry by this time that he treated me so badly. "

"Indeed, he must be, " said the boy earnestly, "for I have seen him kneelbefore your tablet many times and burn incense there on the proper days. I know he is very sorry. "

"Very well; go to sleep again. Let us wait until morning and then Ishall see what I can do for you. This moonlight is not bright enough formy old eyes. I shall have to wait for morning. "

As he spoke these last words, the little man began to grow smaller andsmaller before the eyes of his grandson, until at last he had altogetherdisappeared. 

At first, K'ang-p'u was too much excited to close his eyes. He remainedfor a time looking up into the starry sky and wondering if what he hadheard would really come true, or whether he could have dreamt the wholestory of his grandfather's coming to life again. Could it really be thatthe old family property would be given back to his father? He rememberednow that he had once heard his father speak of having lived in a largehouse on a beautiful compound. It was just before K'ang-p'u's mother hadbeen carried away by the fever. As she had lain tossing upon the rudestone bed, with none of those comforts which are so necessary for thesick, K'ang-p'u remembered that his father had said to her: "What ashame that we are not living in my father's house! There you might havehad every luxury. It is all my fault; I disobeyed my father. "

Soon after that his mother had died, but K'ang-p'u had remembered thosewords ever since, and had often wished that he could hear more aboutthis house where his father had spent his boyhood. Could it be possiblethat they would soon be living in it? No, surely there must be somemistake: the night fairies of his dreams had been deceiving him. Witha sigh he closed his eyes and once more fell asleep. 

 * * * * *

When K'ang-p'u next awoke, the sun was shining full in his face. Helooked around him, sleepily rubbing his eyes and trying to rememberall that had happened. Suddenly he thought of the tablet and of hisgrandfather's appearance at midnight. But, strange to say, the baskethad disappeared with all its contents. The tablet was nowhere to beseen, and even the stone arch under which he had gone to sleep hadcompletely vanished. Alas! his grandfather's tablet--how poorly he hadguarded it! What terrible thing would happen now that it was gone!

K'ang-p'u stood up and looked round him in trembling surprise. Whatcould have taken place while he was sleeping? At first, he did not knowwhat to do. Fortunately, the path through the corn was still there, andhe decided to return to the village and see if he could find any traceof his father. His talk with the old man must have been only an idledream, and some thief must have carried off the basket. If only thestone arch had not vanished K'ang-p'u would not have been so perplexed. 

He hurried along the narrow road, trying to forget the empty stomachwhich was beginning to cry for food. If the soldiers were still in thevillage, surely they would not hurt an empty-handed little boy. Morethan likely they had gone the day before. If he could only find hisfather! Now he crossed the little brook where the women came to rubtheir clothes upon the rocks. There was the big mulberry tree where theboys used to gather leaves for their silkworms. Another turn of the roadand he would see the village. 

When K'ang-p'u passed round the corner and looked for the ruins of thevillage hovels, an amazing sight met his gaze. There, rising directlybefore him, was a great stone wall, like those he had seen round therich people's houses when his father had taken him to the city. Thegreat gate stood wide open, and the keeper, rushing out, exclaimed:

"Ah! the little master has come!"

Completely bewildered, the boy followed the servant through the gateway, passed through several wide courts, and then into a garden where flowersand strangely-twisted trees were growing. 

This, then, was the house which his grandfather had promised him--thehome of his ancestors. Ah! how beautiful! how beautiful! Many men andwomen servants bowed low as he passed, saluting with great respect andcrying out:

"Yes, it is really the little master! He has come back to his own!"

K'ang-p'u, seeing how well dressed the servants were, felt much ashamedof his own ragged garments, and put up his hands to hide a torn place. What was his amazement to find that he was no longer clad in soiled, ragged clothes, that he was dressed in the handsomest embroidered silk. From head to foot he was fitted out like the young Prince his father hadpointed out to him one day in the city. 

Then they entered a magnificent reception-hall on the other side of thegarden. K'ang-p'u could not keep back his tears, for there stood hisfather waiting to meet him. 

"My boy! my boy!" cried the father, "you have come back to me. I fearedyou had been stolen away for ever. "

"Oh, no!" said K'ang-p'u, "you have not lost me, but I have lost thetablet. A thief came and took it last night while I was sleeping. "

"Lost the tablet! A thief! Why, no, my son, you are mistaken! There itis, just before you. "

K'ang-p'u looked, and saw standing on a handsome carved table thevery thing he had mourned as lost. As he stared in surprise he almostexpected to see the tiny figure swinging its legs over the top, and tohear the high-pitched voice of his grandfather. 

"Yes, it is really the lost tablet!" he cried joyfully. "How glad I amit is back in its rightful place once more. "

Then father and son fell upon their knees before the wooden emblem, andbowed reverently nine times to the floor, thanking the spirit for all ithad done for them. When they arose their hearts were full of a newhappiness. 

THE GOLDEN NUGGET

[Illustration]

Once upon a time many, many years ago, there lived in China two friendsnamed Ki-wu and Pao-shu. These two young men, like Damon and Pythias, loved each other and were always together. No cross words passed betweenthem; no unkind thoughts marred their friendship. Many an interestingtale might be told of their unselfishness, and of how the good fairiesgave them the true reward of virtue. One story alone, however, will beenough to show how strong was their affection and their goodness. 

It was a bright beautiful day in early spring when Ki-wu and Pao-shu setout for a stroll together, for they were tired of the city and itsnoises. 

"Let us go into the heart of the pine forest, " said Ki-wu lightly. "There we can forget the cares that worry us; there we can breathe thesweetness of the flowers and lie on the moss-covered ground. "

"Good!" said Pao-shu, "I, too, am tired. The forest is the place forrest. "

Happy as two lovers on a holiday, they passed along the winding road, their eyes turned in longing toward the distant tree-tops. Their heartsbeat fast in youthful pleasure as they drew nearer and nearer to thewoods. 

"For thirty days I have worked over my books, " sighed Ki-wu. "For thirtydays I have not had a rest. My head is stuffed so full of wisdom, that Iam afraid it will burst. Oh, for a breath of the pure air blowingthrough the greenwood. "

"And I, " added Pao-shu sadly, "have worked like a slave at my counterand found it just as dull as you have found your books. My master treatsme badly. It seems good, indeed, to get beyond his reach. "

Now they came to the border of the grove, crossed a little stream, and plunged headlong among the trees and shrubs. For many an hour theyrambled on, talking and laughing merrily; when suddenly on passing rounda clump of flower-covered bushes, they saw shining in the pathwaydirectly in front of them a lump of gold. 

"See!" said both, speaking at the same time, and pointing toward thetreasure. 

[Illustration: "THEY SAW SHINING IN THE PATHWAY, DIRECTLY IN FRONT OFTHEM, A LUMP OF GOLD. "]

Ki-wu, stooping, picked up the nugget. It was nearly as large as alemon, and was very pretty. "It is yours, my dear friend, " said he, atthe same time handing it to Pao-shu; "yours because you saw it first. "

"No, no, " answered Pao-shu, "you are wrong, my brother, for you werefirst to speak. Now, you can never say hereafter that the good fairieshave not rewarded you for all your faithful hours of study. "

"Repaid me for my study! Why, that is impossible. Are not the wise menalways saying that study brings its own reward? No, the gold is yours:I insist upon it. Think of your weeks of hard labour--of the masters thathave ground you to the bone! Here is something far better. Take it, "laughing. "May it be the nest egg by means of which you may hatch out agreat fortune. "

Thus they joked for some minutes, each refusing to take the treasurefor himself; each insisting that it belonged to the other. At last, thechunk of gold was dropped in the very spot where they had first spiedit, and the two comrades went away, each happy because he loved hisfriend better than anything else in the world. Thus they turned theirbacks on any chance of quarrelling. 

"It was not for gold that we left the city, " exclaimed Ki-wu warmly. 

"No, " replied his friend, "One day in this forest is worth a thousandnuggets. "

"Let us go to the spring and sit down on the rocks, " suggested Ki-wu. "It is the coolest spot in the whole grove. "

When they reached the spring they were sorry to find the place alreadyoccupied. A countryman was stretched at full length on the ground. 

"Wake up, fellow!" cried Pao-shu, "there is money for you near by. Upyonder path a golden apple is waiting for some man to go and pick itup. "

Then they described to the unwelcome stranger the exact spot where thetreasure was, and were delighted to see him set out in eager search. 

For an hour they enjoyed each other's company, talking of all the hopesand ambitions of their future, and listening to the music of the birdsthat hopped about on the branches overhead. 

At last they were startled by the angry voice of the man who had goneafter the nugget. "What trick is this you have played on me, masters?Why do you make a poor man like me run his legs off for nothing on ahot day?"

"What do you mean, fellow?" asked Ki-wu, astonished. "Did you not findthe fruit we told you about?"

"No, " he answered, in a tone of half-hidden rage, "but in its place amonster snake, which I cut in two with my blade. Now, the gods willbring me bad luck for killing something in the woods. If you thought youcould drive me from this place by such a trick, you'll soon find youwere mistaken, for I was first upon this spot and you have no right togive me orders. "

"Stop your chatter, bumpkin, and take this copper for your trouble. Wethought we were doing you a favour. If you are blind, there's no one butyourself to blame. Come, Pao-shu, let us go back and have a look at thiswonderful snake that has been hiding in a chunk of gold. "

Laughing merrily, the two companions left the countryman and turned backin search of the nugget. 

"If I am not mistaken, " said the student, "the gold lies beyond thatfallen tree. "

"Quite true; we shall soon see the dead snake. "

Quickly they crossed the remaining stretch of pathway, with their eyesfixed intently on the ground. Arriving at the spot where they had leftthe shining treasure, what was their surprise to see, not the lump ofgold, not the dead snake described by the idler, but, instead, twobeautiful golden nuggets, each larger than the one they had seen atfirst. 

Each friend picked up one of these treasures and handed it joyfully tohis companion. 

"At last the fairies have rewarded you for your unselfishness!" saidKi-wu. 

"Yes, " answered Pao-shu, "by granting me a chance to give you yourdeserts. "

THE MAN WHO WOULD NOT SCOLD

[Illustration]

Old Wang lived in a village near Nanking. He cared for nothing in theworld but to eat good food and plenty of it. Now, though this Wang wasby no means a poor man, it made him very sad to spend money, and sopeople called him in sport, the Miser King, for Wang is the Chinese wordfor king. His greatest pleasure was to eat at some one else's table whenhe knew that the food would cost him nothing, and you may be sure thatat such times he always licked his chopsticks clean. But when he wasspending his own money, he tightened his belt and drank a great dealof water, eating very little but scraps such as his friends would havethrown to the dogs. Thus people laughed at him and said:

 "When Wang an invitation gets, He chews and chews until he sweats, But, when his own food he must eat. The tears flow down and wet his feet. "

One day while Wang was lying half asleep on the bank of a stream thatflowed near his house he began to feel hungry. He had been in thatspot all day without tasting anything. At last he saw a flock of ducksswimming in the river. He knew that they belonged to a rich man namedLin who lived in the village. They were fat ducks, so plump and temptingthat it made him hungry to look at them. "Oh, for a boiled duck!" hesaid to himself with a sigh. "Why is it that the gods have not given mea taste of duck during the past year? What have I done to be thusdenied?"

Then the thought flashed into his mind: "Here am I asking why the godshave not given me ducks to eat. Who knows but that they have sent thisflock thinking I would have sense enough to grab one? Friend Lin, manythanks for your kindness. I think I shall accept your offer and take oneof these fowls for my dinner. " Of course Mr. Lin was nowhere near tohear old Wang thanking him. 

By this time the flock had come to shore. The miser picked himself uplazily from the ground, and, after tiring himself out, he at lastmanaged to pick one of the ducks up, too. He took it home joyfully, hiding it under his ragged garment. Once in his own yard, he lost notime in killing and preparing it for dinner. He ate it, laughing tohimself all the time at his own slyness, and wondering what his friendLin would think if he chanced to count his ducks that night. "No doubthe will believe it was a giant hawk that carried off that bird, " hesaid, chuckling. "My word! but didn't I do a great trick? I think I willrepeat the dose to-morrow. The first duck is well lodged in my stomach, and I am ready to take an oath that all the others will find a bed inthe same boarding-house before many weeks are past. It would be a pityto leave the first one to pine away in lonely grief. I could never be socruel. "

So old Wang went to bed happy. For several hours he snored away noisily, dreaming that a certain rich man had promised him good food all the restof his life, and that he would never be forced to do another stroke ofwork. At midnight, however, he was wakened from his sleep by anunpleasant itching. His whole body seemed to be on fire, and the painwas more than he could bear. He got up and paced the floor. There was nooil in the house for his lamp, and he had to wait until morning to seewhat was the matter. At early dawn he stepped outside his shanty. Lo, and behold! he found little red spots all over his body. Before his veryeyes he saw tiny duck feathers sprouting from these spots. As themorning went by, the feathers grew larger and larger, until his wholebody was covered with them from head to foot. Only his face and handswere free of the strange growth. 

With a cry of horror, Wang began to pull the feathers out by handfuls, flinging them in the dirt and stamping on them. "The gods have fooledme!" he yelled. "They made me take the duck and eat it, and now they arepunishing me for stealing. " But the faster he jerked the feathers out, the faster they grew in again, longer and more glossy than before. Then, too, the pain was so great that he could scarcely keep from rolling onthe ground. At last completely worn out by his useless labour, andmoaning with despair, he took to his bed. "Am I to be changed into abird?" he groaned. "May the gods have mercy on me!"

He tossed about on his bed: he could not sleep; his heart was sick withfear. Finally he fell into a troubled sleep, and, sleeping, had a dream. A fairy came to his bedside; it was Fairy Old Boy, the friend of thepeople. "Ah, my poor Wang, " said the fairy, "all this trouble you havebrought upon yourself by your shiftless, lazy habits. When others work, why do you lie down and sleep your time away? Why don't you get up andshake your lazy legs? There is no place in the world for such a man asyou except the pig-sty. "

"I know you are telling the truth, " wailed Wang, "but how, oh, how can Iever work with all these feathers sticking out of me? They will kill me!They will kill me!"

"Hear the man!" laughed Old Boy. "Now, if you were a hopeful, happyfellow, you would say, 'What a stroke of luck! No need to buy garments. The gods have given me a suit of clothes that will never wear out. ' Youare a pretty fellow to be complaining, aren't you?"

After joking in this way for a little while, the good fairy changed histone of voice and said, "Now, Wang, are you really sorry for the wayyou have lived, sorry for your years of idleness, sorry because youdisgraced your old Father and Mother? I hear your parents died of hungerbecause you would not help them. "

Wang, seeing that Old Boy knew all about his past life, and, feeling hispain growing worse and worse every minute, cried out at last: "Yes! Yes!I will do anything you say. Only, I pray you, free me of thesefeathers!"

"I wouldn't have your feathers, " said Old Boy, "and I cannot free you ofthem. You will have to do the whole thing yourself. What you need is tohear a good scolding. Go and get Mr. Lin, the owner of the stolen duck, to scold freely. The harder he scolds, the sooner will your feathersdrop out. "

Now, of course, some readers will laugh and say, "But this was onlya silly dream, and meant nothing. " Mr. Wang, however, did not thinkin this way. He woke up very happy. He would go to Mr. Lin, confesseverything and take the scolding. Then he would be free of his feathersand would go to work. Truly he had led a lazy life. What the good FairyOld Boy had said about his father and mother had hurt him very badly, for he knew that every word was true. From this day on, he would not belazy; he would take a wife and become the father of a family. 

Miser Wang meant all right when he started out from his shanty. From hislittle hoard of money he took enough cash to pay Mr. Lin for the stolenduck. He would do everything the fairy had told him and even more. Butthis doing more was just where he got into trouble. As he walked alongthe road jingling the string of cash, and thinking that he must soongive it up to his neighbour, he grew very sad. He loved every copper ofhis money and he disliked to part with it. After all, Old Boy had nottold him he must confess to the owner of the duck; he had said he mustgo to Lin and get Lin to give a good scolding. "Old Boy did not say thatLin must scold _me_, " thought the miser. "All that I need do is to gethim to _scold_, and then my feathers will drop off and I shall be happy. Why not tell him that old Sen stole his duck, and get him to give Sen ascolding? That will surely do just as well, and I shall save my money aswell as my face. Besides, if I tell Lin that I am a thief, perhaps hewill send for a policeman and they will haul me off to prison. Surelygoing to jail would be as bad as wearing feathers. Ha, ha! This will bea good joke on Sen, Lin, and the whole lot of them. I shall fool FairyOld Boy too. Really he had no right to speak of my father and mother inthe way he did. After all, they died of fever, and I was no doctor tocure them. How could he say it was my fault?"

The longer Wang talked to himself, the surer he became that it wasuseless to tell Lin that he had stolen the duck. By the time he hadreached the duck man's house he had fully made up his mind to deceivehim. Mr. Lin invited him to come in and sit down. He was a plain-spoken, honest kind of man, this Lin. Everybody liked him, for he never spokeill of any man and he always had something good to say of hisneighbours. 

"Well, what's your business, friend Wang? You have come out bright andearly, and it's a long walk from your place to mine. "

"Oh, I had something important I wanted to talk to you about, " beganWang slyly. "That's a fine flock of ducks you have over in the meadow. "

"Yes, " said Mr. Lin smiling, "a fine flock indeed. " But he said nothingof the stolen fowl. 

"How many have you?" questioned Wang more boldly. 

"I counted them yesterday morning and there were fifteen. "

"But did you count them again last night?"

"Yes, I did, " answered Lin slowly. 

"And there were only fourteen then?"

"Quite right, friend Wang, one of them was missing; but one duck is oflittle importance. Why do you speak of it?"

"What, no importance! losing a duck? How can you say so? A duck's aduck, isn't it, and surely you would like to know how you lost it?"

"A hawk most likely. "

"No, it wasn't a hawk, but if you would go and look in old Sen's duckyard, you would likely find feathers. "

"Nothing more natural, I am sure, in a duck yard. "

"Yes, but your duck's feathers, " persisted Wang. 

"What! you think old Sen is a thief, do you, and that he has beenstealing from me?"

"Exactly! you have it now. "

"Well, well, that is too bad! I am sorry the old fellow is having sucha hard time. He is a good worker and deserves better luck. I shouldwillingly have given him the duck if he had only asked for it. Too badthat he had to steal it. "

Wang waited to see how Mr. Lin planned to punish the thief, feeling surethat the least he could do, would be to go and give him a good scolding. 

But nothing of the kind happened. Instead of growing angry, Mr. Linseemed to be sorry for Sen, sorry that he was poor, sorry that he waswilling to steal. 

"Aren't you even going to give him a scolding?" asked Wang in disgust. "Better go to his house with me and give him a good raking over thecoals. "

"What use, what use? Hurt a neighbour's feelings just for a duck? Thatwould be foolish indeed. "

By this time the Miser King had begun to feel an itching all over hisbody. The feathers had begun hurting again, and he was frightened oncemore. He became excited and threw himself on the floor in front of Mr. Lin. 

"Hey! what's the matter, man?" cried Lin, thinking Wang was in a fit. "What's the matter? Are you ill?"

"Yes, very ill, " wailed Wang. "Mr. Lin, I'm a bad man, and I may as wellown it at once and be done with it. There is no use trying to dodge thetruth or hide a fault. I stole your duck last night, and to-day I camesneaking over here and tried to put the thing off on old Sen. "

"Yes, I knew it, " answered Lin. "I saw you carrying the duck off underyour garment. Why did you come to see me at all if you thought I did notknow you were guilty?"

"Only wait, and I'll tell you everything, " said Wang, bowing stilllower. "After I had boiled your duck and eaten it, I went to bed. Prettysoon I felt an itching all over my body. I could not sleep and in themorning I found that I had a thick growth of duck's feathers from headto foot. The more I pulled them out, the thicker they grew in. I couldhardly keep from screaming. I took to my bed, and after I had tossedabout for hours a fairy came and told me that I could never get rid ofmy trouble unless I got you to give me a thorough scolding. Here is themoney for your duck. Now for the love of mercy, scold, and do itquickly, for I can't stand the pain much longer. "

Wang was grovelling in the dirt at Lin's feet, but Lin answered him onlywith a loud laugh which finally burst into a roar. "Duck feathers! ha!ha! ha! and all over your body? Why, that's too good a story to believe!You'll be wanting to live in the water next. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"Scold me! scold me!" begged Wang, "for the love of the gods scold me!"

But Lin only laughed the louder. "Pray let me see this wonderful growthof feathers first, and then we'll talk about the scolding. "

Wang willingly opened his garment and showed the doubting Lin that hehad been really speaking the truth. 

"They must be warm, " said Lin, laughing. "Winter is soon coming and youare not over fond of work. Won't they save you the trouble of wearingclothing?"

"But they make me itch so I can scarcely stand it! I feel like screamingout, the pain is so great, " and again Wang got down and began to kowtowto the other; that is, he knelt and bumped his forehead against theground. 

"Be calm, my friend, and give me time to think of some goodscold-words, " said Lin at last. "I am not in the habit of using stronglanguage, and very seldom lose my temper. Really you must give me timeto think of what to say. "

By this time Wang was in such pain that he lost all power over himself. He seized Mr. Lin by the legs crying out, "Scold me! scold me!"

Mr. Lin was now out of patience with his visitor. Besides Wang washolding him so tightly that it really felt as if Lin were being pinchedby some gigantic crawfish. Suddenly Lin could hold his tongue no longer:"You lazy hound! you whelp! you turtle! you lazy, good-for-nothingcreature! I wish you would hurry up and roll out of this!"

Now, in China, this is very strong language, and, with a cry of joy, Wang leaped from the ground, for he knew that Lin had scolded him. Nosooner had the first hasty words been spoken than the feathers beganfalling from the lazy man's body, and, at last, the dreadful itchinghad entirely stopped. On the floor in front of Lin lay a great pile offeathers, and Wang freed from his trouble, pointed to them and said, "Thank you kindly, my dear friend, for the pretty names you have calledme. You have saved my life, and, although I have paid for the duck, Iwish to add to the bargain by making you a present of these handsomefeathers. They will, in a measure, repay you for your splendid set ofscold-words. I have learned my lesson well, I hope, and I shall go outfrom here a better man. Fairy Old Boy told me that I was lazy. You agreewith the fairy. From this day, however, you shall see that I can bend myback like a good fellow. Good-bye, and, many thanks for your kindness. "

So saying, with many low bows and polite words, Wang left the duckowner's house, a happier and a wiser man. 

LU-SAN, DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN

[Illustration]

Lu-san went to bed without any supper, but her little heart was hungryfor something more than food. She nestled up close beside her sleepingbrothers, but even in their slumber they seemed to deny her that lovewhich she craved. The gentle lapping of the water against the sides ofthe houseboat, music which had so often lulled her into dreamland, couldnot quiet her now. Scorned and treated badly by the entire family, hershort life had been full of grief and shame. 

Lu-san's father was a fisherman. His life had been one long fightagainst poverty. He was ignorant and wicked. He had no more feeling oflove for his wife and five children than for the street dogs of hisnative city. Over and over he had threatened to drown them one and all, and had been prevented from doing so only by fear of the new mandarin. His wife did not try to stop her husband when he sometimes beat thechildren until they fell half dead upon the deck. In fact, she herselfwas cruel to them, and often gave the last blow to Lu-san, her onlydaughter. Not on one day in the little girl's memory had she escapedthis daily whipping, not once had her parents pitied her. 

On the night with which this story opens, not knowing thatLu-san was listening, her father and mother were planning how toget rid of her. 

"The mandarin cares only about boys, " said he roughly. "A man might killa dozen girls and he wouldn't say a word. "

"Lu-san's no good anyway, " added the mother. "Our boat is small, andshe's always in the wrong place. "

"Yes, and it takes as much to feed her as if she were a boy. If you sayso, I'll do it this very night. "

"All right, " she answered, "but you'd better wait till the moon hasset. "

"Very well, wife, we'll let the moon go down first, and then the girl. "

No wonder Lu-san's little heart beat fast with terror, for there couldbe no doubt as to the meaning of her parents' words. 

At last when she heard them snoring and knew they were both soundasleep, she got up silently, dressed herself, and climbed the ladderleading to the deck. Only one thought was in her heart, to save herselfby instant flight. There were no extra clothes, not a bite of food totake with her. Besides the rags on her back there was only one thingshe could call her own, a tiny soapstone image of the goddess Kwan-yin, which she had found one day while walking in the sand. This was the onlytreasure and plaything of her childhood, and if she had not watchedcarefully, her mother would have taken even this away from her. Oh, how she had nursed this idol, and how closely she had listened to thestories an old priest had told about Kwan-yin the Goddess of Mercy, thebest friend of women and children, to whom they might always pray intime of trouble. 

It was very dark when Lu-san raised the trapdoor leading to the outerair, and looked out into the night. The moon had just gone down, andfrogs were croaking along the shore. Slowly and carefully she pushedagainst the door, for she was afraid that the wind coming in suddenlymight awaken the sleepers or, worse still, cause her to let the trapfall with a bang. At last, however, she stood on the deck, alone andready to go out into the big world. As she stepped to the side of theboat the black water did not make her feel afraid, and she went ashorewithout the slightest tremble. 

Now she ran quickly along the bank, shrinking back into the shadowswhenever she heard the noise of footsteps, and thus hiding from thepassers-by. Only once did her heart quake, full of fear. A huge boat dogran out at her barking furiously. The snarling beast, however, was notdangerous, and when he saw this trembling little girl of ten he sniffedin disgust at having noticed any one so small, and returned to watch hisgate. 

Lu-san had made no plans. She thought that if she could escape thedeath her parents had talked about, they would be delighted at herleaving them and would not look for her. It was not, then, her ownpeople that she feared as she passed the rows of dark houses lining theshore. She had often heard her father tell of the dreadful deeds donein many of these houseboats. The darkest memory of her childhood was ofthe night when he had almost decided to sell her as a slave to the ownerof a boat like these she was now passing. Her mother had suggested thatthey should wait until Lu-san was a little older, for she would then beworth more money. So her father had not sold her. Lately, perhaps, hehad tried and failed. 

That was why she hated the river dwellers and was eager to get pasttheir houses. On and on she sped as fast as her little legs could carryher. She would flee far away from the dark water, for she loved thebright sunshine and the land. 

As Lu-san ran past the last houseboat she breathed a sigh of relief anda minute later fell in a little heap upon the sand. Not until now hadshe noticed how lonely it was. Over there was the great city with itsthousands of sleepers. Not one of them was her friend. She knew nothingof friendship, for she had had no playmates. Beyond lay the open fields, the sleeping villages, the unknown world. Ah, how tired she was! How farshe had run! Soon, holding the precious image tightly in her little handand whispering a childish prayer to Kwan-yin, she fell asleep. 

When Lu-san awoke, a cold chill ran through her body, for bending overher stood a strange person. Soon she saw to her wonder that it was awoman dressed in beautiful clothes like those worn by a princess. Thechild had never seen such perfect features or so fair a face. At first, conscious of her own filthy rags, she shrank back fearfully, wonderingwhat would happen if this beautiful being should chance to touch her andthus soil those slender white fingers. As the child lay there tremblingon the ground, she felt as if she would like to spring into the fairycreature's arms and beg for mercy. Only the fear that the lovely onewould vanish kept her from so doing. Finally, unable to hold back anylonger, the little girl, bending forward, stretched out her hand to thewoman, saying, "Oh, you are so beautiful! Take this, for it must be youwho lost it in the sand. "

The princess took the soapstone figure, eyed it curiously, and then witha start of surprise said, "And do you know, my little creature, to whomyou are thus giving your treasure?"

"No, " answered the child simply, "but it is the only thing I have in allthe world, and you are so lovely that I know it belongs to you. I foundit on the river bank. "

Then a strange thing happened. The graceful, queenly woman bent over, and held out her arms to the ragged, dirty child. With a cry of joy thelittle one sprang forward; she had found the love for which she had beenlooking so long. 

"My precious child, this little stone which you have kept so lovingly, and which without a thought of self you have given to me--do you know ofwhom it is the image?"

"Yes, " answered Lu-san, the colour coming to her cheeks again as shesnuggled up contentedly in her new friend's warm embrace, "it is thedear goddess Kwan-yin, she who makes the children happy. "

"And has this gracious goddess brought sunshine into your life, mypretty one?" said the other, a slight flush covering her fair cheeks atthe poor child's innocent words. 

"Oh, yes indeed; if it had not been for her I should not have escapedto-night. My father would have killed me, but the good lady of heavenlistened to my prayer and bade me stay awake. She told me to wait untilhe was sleeping, then to arise and leave the houseboat. "

"And where are you going, Lu-san, now that you have left your father?Are you not afraid to be alone here at night on the bank of this greatriver?"

"No, oh no! for the blessed mother will shield me. She has heard myprayers, and I know she will show me where to go. "

The lady clasped Lu-san still more tightly, and something glistened inher radiant eye. A tear-drop rolled down her cheek and fell upon thechild's head, but Lu-san did not see it, for she had fallen fast asleepin her protector's arms. 

When Lu-san awoke, she was lying all alone on her bed in the houseboat, but, strange to say, she was not frightened at finding herself once morenear her parents. A ray of sunlight came in, lighting up the child'sface and telling her that a new day had dawned. At last she heard thesound of low voices, but she did not know who were the speakers. Thenas the tones grew louder she knew that her parents were talking. Theirspeech, however, seemed to be less harsh than usual, as if they werenear the bed of some sleeper whom they did not wish to wake. 

"Why, " said her father, "when I bent over to lift her from the bed, there was a strange light about her face. I touched her on the arm, andat once my hand hung limp as if it had been shot. Then I heard a voicewhispering in my ears, 'What! would you lay your wicked hands on one whomade the tears of Kwan-yin flow? Do you not know that when she cries thegods themselves are weeping?'"

"I too heard that voice, " said the mother, her voice trembling; "I heardit, and it seemed as if a hundred wicked imps pricked me with spears, atevery prick repeating these terrible words, 'And would you kill adaughter of the gods?'"

"It is strange, " he added, "to think how we had begun to hate thischild, when all the time she belonged to another world than ours. Howwicked we must be since we could not see her goodness. "

"Yes, and no doubt for every time we have struck her, a thousand blowswill be given us by Yama, for our insults to the gods. "

Lu-san waited no longer, but rose to dress herself. Her heart wasburning with love for everything around her. She would tell her parentsthat she forgave them, tell them how she loved them still in spite ofall their wickedness. To her surprise the ragged clothes were nowhereto be seen. In place of them she found on one side of the bed the mostbeautiful garments. The softest of silks, bright with flowers--so lovelythat she fancied they must have been taken from the garden of thegods--were ready to slip on her little body. As she dressed herself shesaw with surprise that her fingers were shapely, that her skin was softand smooth. Only the day before, her hands had been rough and cracked byhard work and the cold of winter. More and more amazed, she stooped toput on her shoes. Instead of the worn-out soiled shoes of yesterday, theprettiest little satin slippers were there all ready for her tiny feet. 

[Illustration: AS SHE DRESSED HERSELF SHE SAW WITH SURPRISE THAT HERFINGERS WERE SHAPELY. ]

Finally she climbed the rude ladder, and lo, everything she touchedseemed to be changed as if by magic, like her gown. The narrow rounds ofthe ladder had become broad steps of polished wood, and it seemed as ifshe was mounting the polished stairway of some fairy-built pagoda. Whenshe reached the deck everything was changed. The ragged patchwork whichhad served so long as a sail had become a beautiful sheet of canvas thatrolled and floated proudly in the river breeze. Below were the dirtyfishing smacks which Lu-san was used to, but here was a stately ship, larger and fairer than any she had ever dreamed of, a ship which hadsprung into being as if at the touch of her feet. 

After searching several minutes for her parents she found them tremblingin a corner, with a look of great fear on their faces. They were cladin rags, as usual, and in no way changed except that their savage facesseemed to have become a trifle softened. Lu-san drew near the wretchedgroup and bowed low before them. 

Her mother tried to speak; her lips moved, but made no sound: she hadbeen struck dumb with fear. 

"A goddess, a goddess!" murmured the father, bending forward three timesand knocking his head on the deck. As for the brothers, they hid theirfaces in their hands as if dazzled by a sudden burst of sunlight. 

For a moment Lu-san paused. Then, stretching out her hand, she touchedher father on the shoulder. "Do you not know me, father? It is Lu-san, your little daughter. "

The man looked at her in wonder. His whole body shook, his lipstrembled, his hard brutish face had on it a strange light. Suddenly hebent far over and touched his forehead to her feet. Mother and sonsfollowed his example. Then all gazed at her as if waiting for hercommand. 

"Speak, father, " said Lu-san. "Tell me that you love me, say that youwill not kill your child. "

"Daughter of the gods, and not of mine, " he mumbled, and then paused asif afraid to continue. 

"What is it, father? Have no fear. "

"First, tell me that you forgive me. "

The child put her left hand upon her father's forehead and held theright above the heads of the others, "As the Goddess of Mercy has givenme her favour, so I in her name bestow on you the love of heaven. Livein peace, my parents. Brothers, speak no angry words. Oh, my dear ones, let joy be yours for ever. When only love shall rule your lives, thisship is yours and all that is in it. "

Thus did Lu-san change her loved ones. The miserable family which hadlived in poverty now found itself enjoying peace and happiness. At firstthey did not know how to live as Lu-san had directed. The fathersometimes lost his temper and the mother spoke spiteful words; but asthey grew in wisdom and courage they soon began to see that only lovemust rule. 

All this time the great boat was moving up and down the river. Itscompany of sailors obeyed Lu-san's slightest wish. When their nets werecast overboard they were always drawn back full of the largest, choicestfish. These fish were sold at the city markets, and soon people began tosay that Lu-san was the richest person in the whole country. 

One beautiful day during the Second Moon, the family had just returnedfrom the temple. It was Kwan-yin's birthday, and, led by Lu-san, theyhad gone gladly to do the goddess honour. They had just mounted to thevessel's deck when Lu-san's father, who had been looking off towards thewest, suddenly called the family to his side. "See!" he exclaimed. "Whatkind of bird is that yonder in the sky?"

As they looked, they saw that the strange object was coming nearer andnearer, and directly towards the ship. Every one was excited exceptLu-san. She was calm, as if waiting for something she had long expected. 

"It is a flight of doves, " cried the father in astonishment, "and theyseem to be drawing something through the air. "

At last, as the birds flew right over the vessel, the surprisedonlookers saw that floating beneath their wings was a wonderful chair, all white and gold, more dazzling even than the one they had dreamed theEmperor himself sat in on the Dragon Throne. Around each snow-white neckwas fastened a long streamer of pure gold, and these silken ribbons weretied to the chair in such a manner as to hold it floating wherever itslight-winged coursers chose to fly. 

Down, down, over the magic vessel came the empty chair, and as itdescended, a shower of pure white lilies fell about the feet of Lu-san, until she, the queen of all the flowers, was almost buried. The doveshovered above her head for an instant, and then gently lowered theirburden until it was just in front of her. 

With a farewell wave to her father and mother, Lu-san stepped into thefairy car. As the birds began to rise, a voice from the clouds spoke intones of softest music: "Thus Kwan-yin, Mother of Mercies, rewardsLu-san, daughter of the earth. Out of the dust spring the flowers; outof the soil comes goodness. Lu-san! that tear which you drew fromKwan-yin's eye fell upon the dry ground and softened it; it touched thehearts of those who loved you not. Daughter of earth no longer, riseinto the Western Heaven, there to take your place among the fairies, there to be a star within the azure realms above. "

As Lu-san's doves disappeared in the distant skies, a rosy lightsurrounded her flying car. It seemed to those who gazed in wonder thatheaven's gates were opening to receive her. At last when she was gonebeyond their sight, suddenly it grew dark upon the earth, and the eyesof all that looked were wet with tears. 

 * * * * *

[Transcriber's Notes: In the list of illustrations, the following typoswere corrected: climed for climbed, lamp for lump. Note also that a fewof the captions do not match the text on the images, this idiosyncracyis in the original and has not been corrected. On page 6 the missingword 'the' was added: "for joy at thought" became "for joy at thethought". The Front Matter in the original is unnumbered, and has beenassigned i-vi for disambiguation in the HTML. ]