{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_37766/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_37766","id":"gutenberg_37766","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37766","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Chinese fiction -- Translations into English","Ghost stories, Chinese"],"text":"STRANGE STORIES\n    FROM THE\n    LODGE OF LEISURES\n\n    TRANSLATED FROM THE CHINESE BY\n    GEORGE SOULI\u00c9\n    OF THE FRENCH CONSULAR SERVICE IN CHINA\n\n\n    BOSTON AND NEW YORK\n    HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY\n    1913\n\n    PRINTED BY\n    HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,\n    LONDON AND AYLESBURY,\n    ENGLAND.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThe first European students who undertook to give the Western world an\nidea of Chinese literature were misled by the outward and profound\nrespect affected by the Chinese towards their ancient classics. They\nhave worked from generation to generation in order to translate more and\nmore accurately the thirteen classics, Confucius, Mengtsz, and the\nothers. They did not notice that, once out of school, the Chinese did\nnot pay more attention to their classics than we do to ours: if you see\na book in their hands, it will never be the \"Great Study\" or the\n\"Analects,\" but much more likely a novel like the \"History of the Three\nKingdoms,\" or a selection of ghost-stories. These works that everybody,\nyoung or old, reads and reads again, have on the Chinese mind an\ninfluence much greater than the whole bulk of the classics.\nNotwithstanding their great importance for those who study Chinese\nthought, they have been completely left aside. In fact, the whole of\nreal Chinese literature is still unknown to the Westerners.\n\nIt is a pity that it should be so. The novels and stories throw an\nextraordinary light on Chinese everyday life that foreigners have been\nvery seldom, and now will never be, able to witness, and they illustrate\nin a striking way the idea the Chinese have formed of the other world.\nOne is able at last to understand what is the meaning of the _huen_ or\nsuperior soul, which leaves the body after death or during sleep, but\nkeeps its outward appearance and ordinary clothes; the _p'a\u00ef_ or\ninferior soul which remains in the decaying body, and sometimes is\nstrong enough to prevent it from decaying, and to give it all the\nappearances of life. The magicians of the Tao religion, or Taoist\npriests, play a great part in these stories, and the Buddhist ideas of\nmetempsychosis give the opportunity of more complicated situations than\nwe dream of.\n\nAmong the most celebrated works, I have chosen the \"Strange Stories from\nthe Lodge of Leisures,\" _Leao chai Chi yi_. It was written in the second\nhalf of the eighteenth century by P'ou Song-lin (P'ou Lieou-hsien), of\nTsy-cheou, in the Chantong province.\n\nThe whole work is composed of more than three hundred stories. I have\nselected twenty-five among the most characteristic.\n\nThis being a literary work, and having nothing scientific to boast of, I\nhave tried to give my English readers the same literary impression that\nthe Chinese has. _Tradutore traditore_, say the Italians; I hope I have\nnot been too much of a traitor.\n\nA translation is always a most difficult work; if it is materially\nexact, word for word and sentence by sentence, the so-called scientific\nmen are satisfied, but all the charm, beauty, and interest of the\noriginal are lost. Very often, too, such translation is obscure and\nunintelligible. Each nation has an heirloom of traditions, customs, or\nreligion to which its literature constantly refers. If the reader is not\nacquainted with that literature, these references will convey no meaning\nto his mind, or they may even convey a false one. In Chinese, this\ndifficulty is greater than in any other language; the Far Eastern\ncivilisation has had a development of its own, and its legends and\nsuperstitions have nothing in common with the Western folklore. The\nChinese mind is radically different from ours, and has grown, in every\ngeneration, more different by reason of a different training and a\ndifferent ideal in life. The Chinese writing, moreover, has strengthened\nthose differences; it represents the ideas themselves, instead of\nrepresenting the words; each Chinese sign may be rightly translated by\neither of the three or more words by which our language analytically\ndescribes every aspect of one same idea. The sign which is read _Tao_,\nfor instance, must be, according to the sentence, translated by any of\nthe words: direction, rule, doctrine, religion, way, road, word, verb;\nall of them being the different forms of the same idea of direction,\nmoral or physical.\n\nSome French sinologists, aware of this difficulty, now translate the\ntexts literally, and try to explain the meaning by a number of notes,\nwhich sometimes leave only one or two lines of text in a page. This\nmethod seems at first more scientific; it explains everything in the\nmost careful way, and is very useful for the translation of inscriptions\nor of certain obscure passages in historical books. But for real\nliterature, it is the greatest possible error, leaving out, as it does,\nall the impression and illusion the author intended to convey. Besides,\nthe necessity of going, at every word, down the page in order to find\nthe meaning in a note, tires the reader and takes away all the pleasure\nhe should derive from the book.\n\nOne may even say that a materially exact translation is, in reality, a\nfalse one; the words we use in writing and speaking being mere technical\nsigns by which we represent our ideas. For instance, the word\n\"cathedral\" will certainly not convey the same idea to two men, one of\nwhom has only seen St. Paul's, and the other only Notre-Dame de Paris;\nfor the first, cathedral means a dome; for the other it means two towers\nand a long ogival nave. Below the outward appearance of the words there\nlie so many different images that it is absolutely necessary to know the\nmentality of a nation in order to master its language. In fact, a true\ntranslation will be the one that, though sometimes materially inexact,\nwill give the reader the same impression he would have if he were\nreading the original text.\n\nSince I first went to China, in 1901, I have had many opportunities of\nacquainting myself with all the superstitions of the lower classes, with\nall the splendid mental and intellectual training of the learned. My\nexperience has helped me to perceive what was hidden beneath the words;\nand in my translation I have sometimes supplied what the author only\nthought necessary to imply. In many places the translation is literal;\nin other places it is literary, it being impossible for a Western writer\nto retain all the long and useless talking, all the repetitions that\nChinese writing and Chinese taste are equally fond of.\n\n                                                      GEORGE SOULI\u00c9.\n\n\n\n\n    CONTENTS\n\n\n    THE GHOST IN LOVE\n    THE FRESCO\n    THE DWARF HUNTERS\n    THE CORPSE THE BLOOD DRINKER\n    LOVE REWARDED\n    THE WOMAN IN GREEN\n    THE FAULT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES\n    DECEIVING SHADOWS\n    PEACEFUL-LIGHT\n    HONG THE CURRIER\n    AUTUMN-MOON\n    THE PRINCESS NELUMBO\n    THE TWO BROTHERS\n    THE MARBLE ARCH\n    THE DUTIFUL SON\n    THROUGH MANY LIVES\n    THE RIVER OF SORROWS\n    THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND\n    THE SPIRIT OF THE RIVER\n    THE-DEVILS-OF-THE-OCEAN\n    UNKNOWN DEVILS\n    CHILDLESS\n    THE PATCH OF LAMB'S SKIN\n    LOVE'S-SLAVE\n    THE LAUGHING GHOST\n\n\n\n\n_Strange Stories from the Lodge of Leisures_\n\n\n\n\n_THE GHOST IN LOVE_\n\n\nOn the 15th day of the First Moon, in the second year of the period of\n\"Renewed Principles,\" the streets of the town of the Eastern Lake were\nthronged with people who were strolling about.\n\nAt the setting of the sun every shop was brightly lit up; processions of\npeople moved hither and thither; strings of boys were carrying lanterns\nof every form and colour; whole families passed, every member of whom,\nyoung or old, small or big, was holding at the end of a thin bamboo the\nlighted image of a bird, an animal, or a flower.\n\nRicher ones, several together, were carrying enormous dragons whose\nluminous wings waved at every motion and whose glaring eyes rolled from\nright to left. It was the F\u00eate of the Lanterns.\n\nA young man, clothed in a long pale green dress, allowed himself to be\npushed about by the crowd; the passers-by bowed to him:\n\n\"How is my Lord Li The-peaceful?\"\n\n\"The humble student thanks you; and you, how are you?\"\n\n\"Very well, thanks to your happy influence.\"\n\n\"Does the precious student soon pass his second literary examination?\"\n\n\"In two months; ignorant that I am. I am idling instead of working.\"\n\nThe f\u00eate was drawing to a close when The-peaceful quitted the main\nstreet, and went towards the East Gate, where the house was to be found\nin which he lived alone.\n\nHe went farther and farther: the moving lights were rarer; ere long he\nonly saw before him the fire of a white lantern decorated with two red\npeonies. The paper globe was swinging to the steps of a tiny girl\nclothed in the blue linen that only slaves wore. The light, behind,\nshowed the elegant silhouette of another woman, this one covered with a\nlong jacket made in a rich pink silk edged with purple.\n\nAs the student drew nearer, the belated walker turned round, showing an\noval face and big long eyes, wherein shone a bright speck, cruel and\nmysterious.\n\nLi The-peaceful slackened his pace, following the two strangers, whose\nsmall feet glided silently on the shining flagstones of the street.\n\nHe was asking himself how he could begin a conversation, when the\nmistress turned round again, softly smiled, and in a low, rich voice,\nsaid to him:\n\n\"Is it not strange that in the advancing night we are following the same\nroad?\"\n\n\"I owe it to the favour of Heaven,\" he at once replied; \"for I am\nreturning to the East Gate; otherwise I should never have dared to\nfollow you.\"\n\nThe conversation, once begun, continued as they walked side by side. The\nstudent learned that the pretty walker was called \"Double-peony,\" that\nshe was the daughter of Judge Siu, that she lived out of the city in a\ngarden planted with big trees, on the road to the lake.\n\nOn arriving at his house The-peaceful insisted that his new friend\nshould enter and take a cup of tea. She hesitated; then the two young\npeople pushed the door, crossed the small yard bordered right and left\nwith walls covered with tiles, and disappeared in the house....\n\nThe servant remained under the portal.\n\nDaylight was breaking when the young girl came out again, calling the\nservant, who was asleep. The next evening she came again, always\naccompanied by the slave bearing the white lantern with two red\npeonies. It was the same each day following.\n\nA neighbour who had watched these nocturnal visits was inquisitive\nenough to climb the wall which separated his yard from that of the\nlovers, and to wait, hidden in the shade of the house.\n\nAt the accustomed hour the street-door, left ajar, opened to let in the\nvisitors.\n\nOnce in the courtyard, they were suddenly transformed, their eyes became\nflaming and red; their faces grew pale; their teeth seemed to lengthen;\nan icy mist escaped from their lips.\n\nThe neighbour did not see any more: terrified, he let himself slide to\nthe ground and ran to his inner room.\n\nThe next morning he went to the student and told him what he had seen.\nThe lover was paralysed with fear: in order to reassure himself he\nresolved to find out everything he could about his mistress.\n\nHe at once went outside the ramparts, on the road to the lake, hoping\nto find the house of Judge Siu. But at the place he had been told of\nthere was no habitation; on the left, a fallow plain, sown with tombs,\nwent up to the hills; on the right, cultivated fields extended as far as\nthe lake.\n\nHowever, a small temple was hidden there under big trees. The student\nhad given up all hope; he entered, notwithstanding, into the sacred\nenclosure, knowing that travellers stayed there sometimes for several\nweeks.\n\nIn the first yard a bonze was passing in his red dress and shaven head;\nhe stopped him.\n\n\"Do you know Judge Siu? He has a daughter----\"\n\n\"Judge Siu's daughter?\" asked the priest, astonished. \"Well--yes--but\nwait, I will show her to you.\"\n\nThe-peaceful felt his heart overflowing with joy; his beloved one was\nliving; he was going to see her by the light of day. He quickly\nfollowed his companion.\n\nPassing the first court, they crossed a threshold and found themselves\nin a yard planted with high pine-trees and bordered by a low pavilion.\nThe bonze, passing in first, pushed a door, and, turning round, said:\n\n\"Here is Judge Siu's daughter!\"\n\nThe other stopped, terrified; on a trestle a heavy black lacquered\ncoffin bore this inscription in golden letters: \"Coffin of Double-peony,\nJudge Siu's daughter.\"\n\nOn the wall was an unfolded painting representing the little maid; a\nwhite lantern decorated with two red peonies was hung over it.\n\n\"Yes, she has been there for the last two years; her parents, according\nto the rite, are waiting for a favourable day to bury her.\"\n\nThe student silently turned on his heel and went back, not deigning to\nreply to the mocking bow of the priest.\n\nEvening arrived; he locked himself in, and, covering his head with his\nblankets, he waited; sleep came to him only at daybreak.\n\nBut he could not cease to think of her whom he no longer saw; his heart\nbeat as if to burst, when in the street he perceived the silhouette of a\nwoman which reminded him of his friend.\n\nAt last he was incapable of containing himself any longer; one evening\nhe stationed himself behind the door. After a few minutes there was a\nknock; he opened the door; it was only the little maid:\n\n\"My mistress is in tears; why do you never open the door? I come every\nevening. If you will follow me, perhaps she will forgive you.\"\n\nThe-peaceful, blinded by love, started at once, walking by the light of\nthe white lantern.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe next day the neighbours, seeing that the student's door was open,\nand that his house was empty, made a declaration to the governor of the\ntown.\n\nThe police made an inquest; they collected the evidence of several\npeople who had been watching the nightly visitors the student had\nreceived. The bonze of the temple outside the city walls came to say\nwhat he knew. The chief of the police went to the road leading to the\nlake; he crossed the threshold of the little edifice, passed the first\nyard and at last opened the door of the pavilion.\n\nEverything was in order, but under the lid of the heavy coffin one could\nsee the corner of the long green dress of the student.\n\nIn order to do away with evil influences there was a solemn funeral.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nEver since this time, on light clear nights, the passers-by often meet\nthe two lovers entwined together, slowly walking on the road which leads\nto the lake.\n\n\n\n\n_THE FRESCO_\n\n\nIn the Great Highway of Eternal Fixity, Mong Flowing-spring and his\nfriend Choo Little-lotus were slowly walking, clothed in the long light\ngreen dress of the students.\n\nThey had both just passed with success their third literary examination,\nand were enjoying the pleasures of the capital before returning to their\ndistant province.\n\nAs they were both of small means, they were looking now (and at the same\ntime filling their eyes with the movement of the street) for a lodging\nless expensive than the inn where they had put up on arriving at Pekin.\n\nLeaving the Great Highway, they strolled far into a labyrinth of lanes\nmore and more silent. They soon lost themselves. Undecided, they had\nstopped, when they spied out the red lacquered portal of a temple of the\nMysterious-way.\n\nPushing the heavy sides of the door, they entered; an old man with his\nhair tightly drawn together in a black cap, majestic in his grey dress,\nstood behind the door and appeared to be waiting for them.\n\n\"Your coming lightens my humble dwelling,\" he said in bowing. \"I beg you\nwill enter.\"\n\n\"I do not dare! I do not dare!\" murmured the two students, bowing in\ntheir turn.\n\nThey nevertheless entered, crossing the yard on which the portal opened,\nwhich was closed, at the end, by the little temple in open woodwork\nclose under the mass of roofs of green tiles.\n\nThey went up three steps, then, pushing a narrow and straight door, they\nentered. In the half-shadow they distinguished on the white altar a\nstatue of Tche Kong The-Supreme-Lord, with a golden face and griffins'\nfeet like the claws of an eagle.\n\nThe walls on each side of the altar were painted in frescoes; on the\nwall on the right you saw goddesses in the midst of flowers. One of\nthese young girls, with a low chignon, was gathering a peony and was\nslightly smiling. Her mouth, like a cherry, seemed as if it were really\nopening; one would have sworn that her eyelids fluttered.\n\nMong Flowing-spring, his eyes fixed on the painting, remained a long\ntime without moving, absorbed in his admiration of the work of art, and\ndisturbed beyond expression by the beauty of the goddess with the low\nchignon.\n\n\"Why is she not living?\" said he. \"I would willingly give my life for a\nmoment of her love!\"\n\nSuddenly he started; the young goddess raised herself upright, bursting\nwith laughter, and got down from the wall. She crossed the door, went\ndown the staircase, stepped over the yard and left the place.\n\nFlowing-spring followed her without reflecting. He saw her going away\nwith a light step, and turn down the first lane; the young student ran\nbehind her.\n\nAs he turned the corner, he saw her stop at the entrance of a small\nhouse. She was gracefully waving her hand, and, with sly glances, made\nhim signs to come.\n\nHe hastened forward and entered in his turn. In the silent house there\nwas nobody, no one but the goddess standing in her long mauve dress and\nnibbling the flower that she had picked and that she still held in her\nhand.\n\n\"I bow down,\" said the student, who knelt to salute her.\n\n\"Rise! you exceed the rites prescribed,\" she replied.\n\n\"I bend my head, not being able to bear the splendour of your beauty.\"\n\nAs she did not seem to be discontented he continued telling her his\nadmiration and his desire. He approached, touched her hand; she started,\nbut did not draw back. He then took her in his arms; she did not make\nmuch resistance.\n\nThe moments passed rapidly. They spoke to each other in a low voice,\nwhen, suddenly in the street, a noise of heavy boots resounded; steps\nstopped before the door; the lock was shaken; oaths were heard.\n\nThe young girl grew pale; she told Flowing-spring to hide himself under\nthe bed. The student felt his heart become quite small; he crouched down\nin the shadow, not even being able to breathe. From the depth of his\nhiding-place, he saw an officer enter, his face in black lacquer,\ncovered with a golden cuirass and surrounded by a troop of young girls\nin long dresses of bright colours.\n\n\"I smell an odour of human flesh!\" grumbled the officer, walking heavily\nand going round the room.\n\n\"Hide yourself well!\" the goddess murmured to her lover, raising herself\nfrom the bed and white with terror. \"If you can escape from him, wait\ntill we have left, and open the little door at the end of the garden;\nthen run away quickly!\"\n\n\"There is a man here! I smell him! He must be delivered to me! If not,\nI shall punish the person who has hidden him.\"\n\n\"We know nothing!\" all the young women said together.\n\n\"Very well! Let us go out.\"\n\nThen, following the gracious troop which the goddess had joined, he\ncrossed the threshold.\n\nFlowing-spring, hidden under the bed, waited till the noise of the boots\nhad gone away. Then he glided with caution from his refuge.\n\nHalf bent, listening with anxiety in fear of being surprised, he flew\nfrom the room and crossed the garden.\n\nDuring this time Choo Little-lotus, having remained in the temple, had\nnot remarked the departure of his friend. But, turning round and not any\nlonger seeing him, he questioned the old magician.\n\n\"Your friend is not far off,\" he replied.\n\nThen, showing him the wall, he said:\n\n\"Look! here he is!\"\n\nAnd, indeed, in the centre of the fresco, the image of Flowing-spring\nwas painted; he was crouched in among the flowers, straining his ear.\nThe image moved, and, suddenly, the student separated himself from the\nwall and advanced, looking sad and anxious.\n\nChoo Little-lotus, terrified, was looking at him. The other told him his\nadventure. As he spoke a terrible clap of thunder was heard. The two\nfriends instinctively shut their eyes; when they opened them, their\nglance fell on the fresco: the goddesses had taken their places there\nagain, in the midst of the flowers; but the young girl with the low\nchignon was no longer there.\n\nThe magician smiled at Flowing-spring:\n\n\"Love has touched her. She has become a woman and is waiting for you in\nyour village.\"\n\n\n\n\n_THE DWARF HUNTERS_\n\n\nThe heavy summer in the South is particularly hard to bear for those who\nare ill. The damp heat keeps them awake, and thousands of insects\ntrouble their rest.\n\nWang Little-third-one, stretched on his bed made of bamboo laths, where\na low fever kept him, complained of it to all those who came to see him,\nespecially to his friend the magician officiating priest of the little\ntemple situated in the neighbouring crossway.\n\nThe magician knew something of medicine; he prescribed a calming potion\nand retired.\n\nWhen Little-third-one had drunk the potion, his fever fell and he was\nable to enjoy a little sleep. He was awakened by a slight noise; night\nhad come on; the room was lighted by the full moon, which threw a bright\ngleam by the open door.\n\nAll the insects were moving and flying hither and thither; white ants\nwho gnaw wood, bad-smelling bugs, enormous cockroaches, mosquitoes,\ninnumerable and various flies.\n\nAs Little-third-one was looking, his attention was drawn by a movement\non the threshold: a small man, not bigger than a thumb, advanced with\nprecautious steps; in his hand he held a bow; a sword was hanging at his\nside.\n\nLittle-third-one, on looking closer, saw two dogs as big as\nshirt-buttons running before the man with the bow; they suddenly\nstopped: the archer approached, held out his weapon, and discharged the\narrow. A cockroach who was crawling before the dogs made a bound, fell\non its back, moved again, then remained motionless; the arrow had run\nthrough it.\n\nBehind the first huntsman others had come; some were on horseback, armed\nwith swords; some on foot.\n\nFrom that time it was a pursuit without intermission; hundreds of\ninsects were shot. At first the mosquitoes escaped; but as they cannot\nfly for long, every time that one remained still it was transpierced by\nthe huntsmen.\n\nSoon nothing was left of all the insects who broke the silence with\ntheir buzzing, their gnashing of teeth, or their falling.\n\nA horseman then was seen galloping over the room, looking from right to\nleft. He then gave the signal; all the huntsmen called their dogs, went\ntowards the door, and disappeared.\n\nLittle-third-one had not moved, in order not to disturb the hunt. At\nlast he peacefully went to sleep, henceforth sure of not being awakened\nby a sting or a bite. He awoke late the next day almost cured.\n\nWhen his friend the magician came to see him, he told him his\nexperience: the other smiled. Wang understood that the mysterious\nhunters came from the little temple.\n\n\n\n\n_THE CORPSE THE BLOOD-DRINKER_\n\n\nNight was slowly falling in the narrow valley. On the winding path cut\nin the side of the hill about twenty mules were following each other,\nbending under their heavy load; the muleteers, being tired, did not\ncease to hurry forward their animals, abusing them with coarse voices.\n\nComfortably seated on mules with large pack-saddles, three men were\ngoing along at the same pace as the caravan of which they were the\nmasters. Their thick dresses, their fur boots, and their red woollen\nhoods protected them from the cold wind of the mountain.\n\nIn the darkness, rendered thicker by a slight fog, the lights of a\nvillage were shining, and soon the mules, hurrying all together,\njostling their loads, crowded before the only inn of the place.\n\nThe three travellers, happy to be able to rest, got down from their\nsaddles when the innkeeper came out on the step of his door and excused\nhimself, saying all his rooms were taken.\n\n\"I have still, it is true, a large hall the other side of the street,\nbut it is only a barn, badly shut. I will show it to you.\"\n\nThe merchants, disappointed, consulted each other with a look; but it\nwas too late to continue their way; they followed their landlord.\n\nThe hall that was shown to them was big enough and closed at the end by\na curtain. Their luggage was brought; the bed-clothes rolled on the\npack-saddles were spread out, as usual, on planks and trestles.\n\nThe meal was served in the general sitting-room, in the midst of noise,\nlaughing, and movement--smoking rice, vegetables preserved in vinegar,\nand lukewarm wine served in small cups. Then every one went to bed; the\nlights were put out and profound silence prevailed in the sleeping\nvillage.\n\nHowever, towards the hour of the Rat, a sensation of cold and\nuneasiness awoke one of the three travellers named Wang Fou,\nHappiness-of-the-kings. He turned in his bed, but the snoring of his two\ncompanions annoyed him; he could not get to sleep. Again, seeing that\nhis rest was finished, he got up, relit the lamp which was out, took a\nbook from his baggage, and stretched himself out again. But if he could\nnot sleep, it was just as impossible to read. In spite of himself, his\neyes quitted the columns of letters laid out in lines and searched into\nthe darkness that the feeble light did not contrive to break through.\n\nA growing terror froze him. He would have liked to awaken his\ncompanions, but the fear of being made fun of prevented him.\n\nBy dint of looking, he at last saw a slight movement shake the big\ncurtain which closed the room. There came from behind a crackling of\nwood being broken. Then a long, painful threatening silence began again.\n\nThe merchant felt his flesh thrill; he was filled with horror, in spite\nof his efforts to be reasonable.\n\nHe had put aside his book, and, the coverlet drawn up to his nose, he\nfixed his enlarged eyes on the shadowy corners at the end of the room.\n\nThe side of the curtain was lifted; a pale hand held the folds. The\nstuff, thus raised, permitted a being to pass, whose form, hardly\ndistinct, seemed penetrated by the shadow.\n\nHappiness-of-kings would have liked to scream; his contracted throat\nallowed no sound to escape. Motionless and speechless, he followed with\nhis horrified look the slow movement of the apparition which\napproached.\n\nHe, little by little, recognised the silhouette of a female, seen by her\nshort quilted dress and her long narrow jacket. Behind the body he\nperceived the curtain again moving.\n\nThe spectre, in the meantime bending over the bed of one of the sleeping\ntravellers, appeared to give him a long kiss.\n\nThen it went towards the couch of the second merchant.\nHappiness-of-kings distinctly saw the pale figure, the eyes, from which\na red flame was shining, and sharp teeth, half-exposed in a ferocious\nsmile, which opened and shut by turns on the throat of the sleeper.\n\nA start disturbed the body under the cover, then all stopped: the\nspectre was drinking in long draughts.\n\nHappiness-of-kings, seeing that his turn was coming, had just strength\nenough to pull the coverlet over his head. He heard grumblings; a\nfreezing breath penetrated through the wadded material.\n\nThe paroxysm of terror gave the merchant full possession of his\nstrength; with a convulsive movement he threw his coverlet on the\napparition, jumped out of his bed, and, yelling like a wild beast, he\nran as far as the door and flew away in the night.\n\nStill running, he felt the freezing breath in his back, he heard the\nfurious growlings of the spectre.\n\nThe prolonged howling of the unhappy man filled the narrow street and\nawoke all the sleepers in their beds, but none of them moved; they hid\nthemselves farther and farther under their coverlets. These inhuman\ncries meant nothing good for those who should have been bold enough to\ngo outside.\n\nThe bewildered fugitive crossed the village, going faster and faster.\nArriving at the last houses, he was only a few feet in advance and felt\nhimself fainting.\n\nThe road at the extremity of the village was bordered with narrow fields\nshaded with big trees. The instinct of a hunted animal drove on the\ndistracted merchant; he made a brisk turn to the right, then to the\nleft, and threw himself behind the knotted trunk of a huge\nchestnut-tree. The freezing hand already touched his shoulder; he fell\nsenseless.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the morning, in broad daylight, two men who came to plough in this\nsame field were surprised to perceive against the tree a white form,\nand, on the ground, a man stretched out. This fact coming after the\nhowling in the night appeared strange to them; they turned back and went\nto find the Chief of the Elders. When they returned, the greater part of\nthe inhabitants of the village followed them.\n\nThey approached and found that the form against the tree was the corpse\nof a young woman, her nails buried in the bark; from her mouth a stream\nof blood had flowed and stained her white silk jacket. A shudder of\nhorror shook the lookers-on: the Chief of the Elders recognised his\ndaughter dead for the last six months whose coffin was placed in a barn,\nwaiting for the burial, a favourable day to be fixed by the astrologers.\n\nThe innkeeper recognised one of his guests in the man stretched on the\nground, whom no care could revive.\n\nThey returned in haste to find out in what condition the coffin was: the\ndoor of the barn was still open. They went in; a coverlet was thrown on\nthe ground near the entrance; on two beds the great sun lit up the\nhollow and greenish aspect of the corpses whose blood had been emptied.\n\nBehind the drawn curtain the coffin was found open. The corpse of the\nyoung woman evidently had not lost its inferior soul, the vital breath.\nLike all beings deprived of conscience and reason, her ferocity was\neager for blood.\n\n\n\n\n_LOVE REWARDED_\n\n\nLost in the heart of Peking, in one of the most peaceful neighbourhoods\nof the Yellow City, the street of Glowing-happiness was sleeping in the\nsilence and in the light.\n\nOn the right and left of the dusty road was some waste ground, where\nseveral red mangy, and surly dogs were sleeping. Five or six low houses,\ntheir white walls forming a line not well defined, whose low roofs were\ncovered with grey tiles, bordered the road.\n\nIn the first year of the Glorious-Strength, four hundred years ago, a\nyoung man with long hair tied together under the black gauze cap of the\nscholars, clothed in a pink dress with purple flowers, was walking in\nthe setting sun, stepping cautiously in order not to cover with dust\nhis shoes with thick felt soles.\n\nWhen the first stars began to shine in the darkening sky, he entered one\nof the houses. A wick in a saucer, soaking in oil, burning and smoking,\nvaguely lighted an open book on the table: one could only guess, in the\nshadow, the form of a chair, a bed in a corner, and a few inscriptions\nhanging on the whitewashed walls.\n\nThe scholar seated himself before his table and resumed, as he did every\nevening, his reading of the Classics, of which he sought to penetrate\nthe entire meaning. Late passers-by in this lonely thoroughfare still\nsaw his lamp shining across the trellises of the windows far into the\nnight.\n\nGolden-dragon lived alone. Now, on that evening an inexplicable languor\nmade him dreamy; his eyes followed in vain the text; his rebellious\nthoughts were scattered.\n\nImpatiently at last he was just going to put out his lamp and go to\nbed, when he heard some one knocking at the door.\n\n\"Come in!\" he cried.\n\nThe door grinding on its hinges, a young woman appeared clothed in a\nlong gown of bright green silk, gracefully lifting her foot to cross the\nthreshold, and bowing with her two hands united. Golden-dragon,\nhurriedly rising to reply, waved in his turn his fists joined together\nat the same height as his visage and said, according to the ritual: \"Be\nkind enough to be seated! What is your noble name?\" The visitor did not\npronounce a word; her large black eyes, shadowed by long eyelashes, were\nfixed on the face of her host, while she tried to regain her panting\nbreath.\n\nAs she advanced, Golden-dragon felt a strange feeling of admiration and\nlove.\n\nHe did not think such a perfect beauty could exist. As he remained\nspeechless, she smiled, and her smile had on him the effect of a strong\ndrink on a hungry man; troubled and dazed, he lost the conscience of\nhis personality and his acts.\n\nThe next morning the sun was shining when he awoke, asking himself if he\nhad not been dreaming. He thought all day long of his strange visitor,\nmaking thousands of suppositions.\n\nEvening coming on, she suddenly entered, and it was as it had been the\nnight before.\n\nTwo months passed; then the young girl's visits abruptly ceased. The\nnight covered everything with its black veil, but nobody appeared at the\ndoor. Golden-dragon the first night, waited for her till the hour of the\nRat; at last he went to his couch and fell asleep. Almost immediately he\nsaw her carried away by two horny _yecha_; she was calling him:\n\n\"My beloved, I am drawn away towards the inferior regions. I shall never\nbe able to get away if prayers are not said for me. My body lies in the\nnext house.\"\n\nHe started out of sleep in the efforts he made to fly to her, and could\nnot rest again in his impatience to assert what she had said.\n\nAs soon as the sun was up, he ran towards the only house that was next\nto his. He knocked; no one replied. Pushing the door, he entered. The\nhouse seemed to be recently abandoned, the rooms were empty, but in a\nside hall a black lacquered coffin rested on trestles; on a table the\n\"Book of Liberation\" was open at the chapter of \"The great recall.\"\n\nGolden-dragon doubted no longer; he sang in a high voice the entire\nchapter, shut the book, and returned home full of a strange\npeacefulness.\n\nEvery evening from that time, at the hour when she had appeared to him,\nhe lit a lantern, went to the house next door and read a chapter of the\nholy text.\n\nYears passed by; he got beyond his fiftieth year, grew bent, and walked\nwith difficulty, but he never missed performing the duty he had imposed\non himself for his unknown friend.\n\nThe house where the coffin was placed had successively been let to\nseveral families; but he had arranged that the funereal room should\nnever be touched. The lodgers bowed to the scholar when he came, and\ntalked to him; the whole town was entertained with this touching example\nof such everlasting love.\n\n\"So much constancy and such fidelity cannot remain without reward,\" they\nsaid.\n\nBut time slipped by and nothing came to change the regular life of the\nold man.\n\nOn his seventieth birthday, as he went to his neighbours, he remarked a\nviolent excitement.\n\n\"My wife has just had a child,\" said the chief of the family, going to\nmeet him. \"Come and wish her happiness; she does not cease to ask for\nyou.\"\n\n\"Is it a boy?\"\n\n\"No, unhappily, a girl, but such a pretty little thing.\"\n\nFollowed by the happy father, the scholar with white hair penetrated\ninto the room; the mother smiled, holding out the baby to him.\nGolden-dragon suddenly started; the child held out her arms to him and\non her little lips, hardly formed, hovered the shadow of a disappeared\nsmile, the smile of the unknown woman.\n\nAnd as he looked an extraordinary sensation troubled him; he felt he was\ngrowing younger, more vigorous. Soon, in the midst of the cries of\nadmiration of the whole family, the bent old man grew straight again;\nhis grey hair turned black, and the change continued; he became a young\nman, a boy, and soon a child.\n\nWhen the Bell of the great Tower struck the hour of the Rat, he was a\nfat pink baby playing and laughing with the little girl.\n\nThe governor of the town, being informed, personally directed an\ninquiry. It was discovered that the coffin had disappeared at the same\nhour when the transformation had happened.\n\nThe Emperor, on the report of the governor, ordered the two children to\nreceive a handsome dowry.\n\nAs to them, they grew up, loved each other, and lived happy and well as\nfar as the limits of human longevity.\n\n\n\n\n_THE WOMAN IN GREEN_\n\n\nAt this time, in the Pavilion-of-the-guests, in the\nMonastery-of-the-healing-springs, the most celebrated of the Fo-kien\nprovince, lived a young scholar whose name was Little-cypress.\n\nAs soon as the sun rose he was at his work, seated near the trellised\nwindow. When night fell, his lamp still lit the outline of the wooden\ntrellis.\n\nOne morning a shadow darkened his book; he raised his eyes: a young\nwoman with a long green skirt, her face of matchless beauty, was\nstanding outside the window and was looking at him.\n\n\"You are then always working, Lord Little-cypress?\" she said.\n\nShe was so bewitching that he knew her immediately for a goddess; but\nall the same he asked her where she lived and what was her name.\n\n\"Your lordship has looked on his humble wife; he has known her as a\ngoddess. What is the use of so many questions?\"\n\nLittle-cypress, satisfied with this reply, invited her to enter the\nhouse. She came in; her waist was so small, one would almost have\nthought that her body was divided in two.\n\nHe invited her to sit down; they talked and laughed together a long\ntime.\n\nHe asked her to sing, and, with a low voice, which filled her friend\nwith rapture, she sang:\n\n    \"On the trees the bird pursues his companion;\n    Oppressed slaves free themselves with love.\n    How has my Lord lived alone,\n    Without enjoying all the pleasures of married life?\"\n\nThe sound vibrated like a thread of silk; it penetrated the ear and\ntroubled the heart. As she finished, she suddenly arose.\n\n\"A man is standing near the window, he is listening to us ... he is\ngoing round ... he is trying to see.\"\n\n\"Since when does a goddess fear a man?\" replied Little-cypress,\nlaughing.\n\n\"I am troubled without knowing why; my heart beats. I wish to go.\"\n\nShe went to open the door, but abruptly shut it.\n\n\"I do not know why I am thus upset. Will you accompany me as far as the\nentrance gate?\"\n\nLittle-cypress held her up till they got to the gate; he had just left\nher and turned his head, when he heard her call for help in a voice full\nof anguish. He hurriedly turned round; no one was to be seen.\n\nAs he was looking for her with stupefaction his eyes fell on a big\ncobweb, stretched in the corner of the wall. The ugly and gigantic\ninsect held in its claws a dragon-fly who was struggling and dolefully\ncrying. Affected by this sight, he hastened to deliver it.\n\nThe pretty insect immediately flew in the direction of the\nPavilion-of-the-guests. Little-cypress saw it go in at the window and\nalight on the stone for grinding the ink.\n\nThen it arose again and alighted on the paper which was placed on the\ntable; there it oddly crawled, retracing its steps, returning,\nadvancing, and stopping. After a moment it took its flight and\ndisappeared in the sky.\n\nLittle-cypress, much puzzled, approached and looked; on the paper was\nwritten in big strokes the word \"Thanks.\"\n\n\n\n\n_THE FAULT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES_\n\n\nWhen Dawning-colour was on the point of dying, he called his mother to\nhim.\n\n\"Mother,\" he said, \"I am going to die. I do not wish White-orchid, my\nyoung wife, to feel herself bound to keep the widowhood. When her\nmourning will be finished, she will marry again: our son is only three\nyears old; you will keep him with you.\"\n\nNow, the mourning was not yet finished and the coffin was still in the\nhouse waiting for a favourable day, when the young widow began to find\nthe solitude weigh upon her.\n\nA rich sluggard of the village, named Adolescent, had several times sent\nproposals to her through a neighbour; she at last was unwise enough to\nagree to an interview with him. When evening came, Adolescent jumped\nover the neighbour's wall and went to her room.\n\nHe had not been there half an hour when there arose a great noise in the\nhall where the coffin was; it seemed as if the cover was violently\nthrown to the ground. A little slave who was called afterwards as a\nwitness told how she ran into the yard and saw her master's corpse\nbrandishing a sword and jumping towards the room where the lovers were\nto be found.\n\nA few instants after, she saw the young widow come out screaming and run\nto the garden. Adolescent followed her, covered with blood; he crossed\nthe threshold and disappeared in the night.\n\nNow, Adolescent, flying from danger, pushed the first door that he came\nacross in the street; it was that of a young couple; the husband, named\nWang, was absent and only expected to return the next day. The young\nwife, hearing a noise, thought it was her husband returning.\n\n\"Is that you?\" she asked, without quite waking up.\n\nAdolescent, who knew Madame Wang was pretty, answered \"Yes\" in a low\nvoice, taking advantage of her error.\n\nA short time after, at Wang's turn to enter, he struck a light, saw a\nman in his room, and, furious, seized a pike. Adolescent tried to hide\nhimself under the bed, but the husband transpierced him several times.\nHe wished to kill his wife, but she so much begged him not to that he\nspared her.\n\nThe cries and supplications which came from the room had, however, awoke\nthe neighbours, who came in; they pulled Adolescent's body from under\nthe bed; he died almost directly.\n\nThere was a silence; the affair was serious. Then one of the assistants\nsaid:\n\n\"The judges won't believe that you were in your right of outraged\nhusband; you ought to have killed your wife also. As it is, you will be\ncondemned.\"\n\nThereupon, Wang killed the unhappy woman.\n\nDuring this time Dawning-colour's mother, having heard the screams of\nher daughter-in-law, thought there was a burglar in the house; she cried\nfor help and tried to light a lamp, but she was trembling, and her\ncurtains caught fire.\n\nSome neighbours arrived in haste; while a few of them extinguished the\nfire, the others, armed with crossbows, ran through the house and garden\nin search of the thief.\n\nAt the bottom of the orchard they saw a white mass moving at the foot of\nthe wall. Without waiting to ascertain what it was, they shot several\narrows; everything was still. The archers approached and lit a torch;\nthey saw the body of White-orchid transpierced in the head and chest.\n\nHorrified by what they had done, they informed the old woman, who said\nnothing.\n\nBut this was not all. The elder brother of White-orchid, furious at the\ntragic death of his sister, had a lawsuit with the archers and the old\nwoman.\n\nAs usual, the judges ruined both parties; they condemned\nDawning-colour's mother and the archers to receive five hundred bamboo\nstrokes. The latter were not strong enough to bear this punishment, and\ndied under the stick. And thus the affair ended.\n\n\n\n\n_DECEIVING SHADOWS_\n\n\nNight was falling when the horseshoes of the mules of my caravan\nresounded on the slippery flagstones of the village.\n\nTired by a long day of walking, I directed my steps towards the large\nhall of the inn, with the intention of resting a moment while my repast\nwas being prepared.\n\nIn the darkened room the glimmer of a small opium-lamp lit up the pale\nand hollow face of an old man, occupied in holding over the flame a\nsmall ball of the black drug, which would soon be transformed into\nsmoke, source of forgetfulness and dreams.\n\nThe old man returned my greeting, and invited me to lie down on the\ncouch opposite to him. He handed me a pipe already prepared and we\nbegan talking together. As ordered by the laws of politeness, I remarked\nto my neighbour that he seemed robust for his age.\n\n\"My age? Do you, then, think I am so old?\"\n\n\"But, as you are so wise, you must have seen sixty harvests?\"\n\n\"Sixty! I am not yet thirty years old! But you must have come from a\nlong way off, not to know who I am.\"\n\nAnd while rolling the balls with dexterity in the palm of his hand, and\nmaking them puff out to the heat of the lamp, he told me his story.\n\nHis name was Liu Favour-of-heaven. Born and brought up in the capital,\nhe had been promoted six years before to the post of sub-prefect in the\ntown on which our refuge was dependent.\n\nWhen coming to take his post, he stopped at the inn, the same one where\nwe were. The house was full; but he had remarked, on entering, a long\npavilion which seemed uninhabited. The landlord, being asked, looked\nperplexed; he ended by saying that the pavilion had been shut for the\nlast two years; all the travellers had complained of noises and strange\nvisions; probably mischievous spirits lived there.\n\nFavour-of-heaven, having lived in the capital, but little believed in\nphantoms. He found the occasion excellent to establish his reputation in\nbraving imaginary dangers.\n\nHis wife and his children implored him in vain; he persisted in his\nintention of remaining the night alone in the haunted house.\n\nHe had lights brought; installed himself in a big armchair, and placed\nacross his knees a long and heavy sword.\n\nHours passed by; the sonorous noise of the gong struck by the watchman\nannounced successively the hours, first of the Pig, then of the Rat. He\ngrew drowsy. Suddenly, he was awakened by the gnashing of teeth. All the\nlights were out; the darkness, however, was not deep enough to prevent\nhis being able to distinguish everything confusedly. Anguish seized him;\nhis heart beat with violence; his staring eyes were fixed on the door.\n\nBy the half-opened door he perceived a round white mass, the deformed\nhead of a monster, who, appearing little by little, stretched long hands\nwith twisted fingers and claws.\n\nFavour-of-heaven mechanically raised his weapon; his blood frozen in his\nveins, he tried to strike the head, whose indistinct features were\ncertainly dreadful. Without doubt the blow had struck, for a frightful\ncry was heard; all the demons of the inferior regions seemed let loose\nwith this yell; calls were heard from all sides. The trellised frames of\nthe windows were shaken with violence. The monster gained the door.\nFavour-of-heaven pursued him and threw him down.\n\nHis terror was such that he felt he must strike and kill. Hardly had he\nfinished than there entered, rolling from side to side, a little being,\nquite round, brandishing unknown weapons at the end of innumerable small\nhands. The prefect, with one blow, cut him in two like a watermelon.\n\nHowever, the windows were shaken with growing rage; unknown beings\nentered by the door without interruption; the prefect threw them down\none after another: a black shadow first, then a head balancing itself at\nthe end of a huge neck, then the jaw of a crocodile, then a big bird\nwith the chest and feet of a donkey.\n\nTrembling all over, the man struck right and left, exhausted and\npanting; a cold perspiration overwhelmed him; he felt his strength\ngradually giving way, when the cock crowed at last the coming of the\nday.\n\nLittle by little, grey dawn designed the trellis of the windows, then\nthe sun suddenly appeared above the horizon and darted its rays across\nthe rents in the paper.\n\nFavour-of-heaven felt his heart stand still; on the floor inundated with\nblood, the bodies lying there had human forms, forms that he knew: this\none looked like his second wife, and this one, this little head that had\nrolled against the foot of the table, he would have sworn that it was\nhis last son.\n\nWith a mad cry he threw away his weapon and ran to open the door,\nthrough which the sun poured in.\n\nAn armed crowd was moving in the yard.\n\n\"My family! my family! where is my family?\"\n\n\"They are all with you in the pavilion!\"\n\nBut as they were speaking they saw with stupor the hair of the young man\nbecoming white, and the wrinkles of age cover his face, while he\nremained motionless as well as insensible.\n\nThey drew near; he rolled fainting on the ground. \"And thus,\" ended the\nsub-prefect in the silence of the dark hall, where only the little light\nof the opium-lamp was shining, \"I remained several days without\nknowledge of anything. When I came to myself, I had to bear the sorrow\nof having killed my whole family in these atrocious circumstances. I\nresigned my post: I had magnificent tombs built for all those who were\nkilled this fatal night, and, since then, I smoke without ceasing the\nagreeable drug, in order to fly away from the remembrance, which will\nhaunt me until my last day.\"\n\n\n\n\n_PEACEFUL-LIGHT_\n\n\nIn the time when the Shining Dynasty had just conquered the throne, the\neastern coasts of the Empire were ravaged by the rapid junks commanded\nby the cruel inhabitants of the Japanese islands, the irresistible _Wo\ntsz_.\n\nNow, it happened that the _Wo tsz_ Emperor lost his first wife; knowing\nthe beauty of Chinese women, he charged one of his officers to bring\nback some of them.\n\nThe officer, at the head of a numerous troop, landed not far from the\ntown of The-Smoky-wall. No resistance was possible; the population was\ngiven the example of flight by the functionaries, at least it was thus\nsaid in the Annals of the prefecture.\n\nThe country being far from the big centres, the women were not great\ncoquettes; only one, named Peaceful-light, had always been careful,\nsince childhood, not to allow her feet to become naturally large; they\nwere constantly bound up, so much so that she could hardly walk.\n\nHer large soft eyes were shaded with heavy eyelashes; one of the\nliterati of the place took delight in quoting the poets of antiquity on\nthem:\n\n    Under the willow of her eyelashes\n    The tranquil river of her eyes shines forth.\n    I bend and see my image reflected in them.\n    Could she be deceitful like the deep water?\n\nWhen the pirates were coming, she begged her family to leave her, and to\nfly without the risk of being delayed by her.\n\n\"It is the just punishment for my coquetry,\" she told them. \"Fear\nnothing for me, however. I am going to take a strong dose of the paste\nextracted from the flowers of Nao-yang which makes one sleep. The\npirates will think I am dead, and will leave me.\"\n\nThe family allowed themselves to be persuaded, and departed. As to\nPeaceful-light, she was asleep almost directly after taking the drug,\nand she remained motionless on her bed.\n\nThe pirates, entering everywhere, at last arrived in the house and\nremained struck with admiration by her beauty. The officer who was\ncalled, at first thought her dead and was much grieved, but, touching\nher hand and finding it warm and limp, he resolved to carry her away.\n\nWhen the ravishers were re-embarked, the strong sea-air and the motion\nof the boat revived the young girl; she awoke, and was horrified to find\nherself surrounded by strangers. The one who seemed the chief spoke to\nher in Chinese language in order to reassure her:\n\n\"Fear nothing. No harm will come to you. On the contrary, the highest\ndestiny awaits you; my Lord The Emperor designs you to the honour of\nhis couch.\"\n\nSeeing that no one troubled her, Peaceful-light was reassured; she\nresolved to wait, confident in her destiny, and knowing that she had\nstill, ready in her sleeve, in case of necessity, a narcotic dose strong\nenough to kill her.\n\nAs soon as she landed, she was taken in great haste to the Palace. The\nEmperor, greatly satisfied with her beauty, conferred on her at once the\nrank of first favourite.\n\nBut all the luxury and love which surrounded her could not make her\nforget her family and her country; she resolved to run away.\n\nIn order to manage it, she complained to her master how sad it was for\nher never to be able to speak her own language with companions from her\ncountry. The Emperor, happy to be able to please her, gave orders to fit\nout a sea-junk, in order to go to the Chinese coast.\n\nThe day when all was ready the young girl found means of pouring into\nher master's drink a dose of her narcotic. Then, when he was asleep, she\ntook his private seal and, going out of the room, she called the\nintendant of the Palace and said to him:\n\n\"The Emperor has ordered me to go to China to fetch a magician, a member\nof my family, who has great power on water and wind. Here is the seal,\nproof of my mission. The ship must be almost ready.\"\n\nThe intendant knew that a junk had been specially prepared to go to\nChina; he saw the seal; what suspicion could he have? He had a palanquin\nbrought as quickly as possible; two hours after, the wood of the junk\ngroaned under the blows of the unfurling waves.\n\nArriving in sight of the coast, on the pretext of not frightening the\npopulation, the young girl begged the officer who accompanied her to\nsend a messenger to the prefect of the town, bearing a letter that she\nhad prepared. The officer, without distrust, sent one of his men.\n\nThe letter of Peaceful-light showed a whole scheme to which the prefect\ncould but give his consent. The messenger returned, bringing to the\nofficer and to the men an invitation to take part in the feast that was\nbeing prepared for them, their intentions not being bad.\n\nPeaceful-light retired into her family, who welcomed her with a thousand\ndemonstrations of joy.\n\nIn the wine that was freely poured out for the strangers they had\ndissolved the flowers of Nao-yang. The effects were not long in being\nfelt; a torpor that they attributed to the table excesses seized them\none after another. They were soon all sleeping deeply. Men arrived with\nswords, glided near them, and, a signal being given, cut off their\nheads.\n\nWhile these events were passing in China, others still more serious were\nhappening in Japan. Soon after the departure of Peaceful-light, the\nEmperor's brother penetrated into the room where the sovereign was left\nsleeping. This brother was ambitious; he profited by the occasion,\nkilled the unhappy Mikado, took possession of the seals of the State,\nand, calling his partisans in haste, proclaimed himself Chief of the\nState. Only a part of the princes followed him; the others, filled with\nindignation by the crime that had been accomplished, united their troops\nto crush the usurper; civil war tore the whole of Japan to pieces.\n\nAs to Peaceful-light, by order of the authorities she received public\ncongratulations and gifts of land which allowed her to marry and be\nhappy, as she merited.\n\n\n\n\n_HONG THE CURRIER_\n\n\n\"In the time when the Justice of Heaven was actively employed with the\naffairs of the earth, one of my ancestors had an adventure to which we\nowe our present fortune, and of which few men of to-day have seen the\nequal.\"\n\nThus began my friend Hong; reclining on the red cushions of the big\ncouch, he fanned himself gracefully with an ivory fan painted all over.\n\n\"Our family, as you know, originally came from the town of\nThe-Black-chain in the province of The-Foaming-rivers. Our ancestor Hong\nThe-just was a currier by trade; he cut and scraped the skins that were\nentrusted to him. His family was composed only of his wife, who helped\nhim as well as she could.\n\n\"Notwithstanding this persistent labour, they were very poor; no\nfurniture ornamented the three rooms in the small house that they hired\nin the Street-of-the-golden-flowers.\n\n\"When the last days of the twelfth moon in that year arrived, they found\nthey were owing six strings of copper cash to ten different creditors.\nWith all they possessed, there only remained 400 cash. What were they to\ndo? They reflected for a long time. Hong The-just at last said to his\nwife:\n\n\"'Take these 400 cash; you will be able to buy rice to live on. As to\nme, as I cannot pay my debts before the first day of the first moon, I\nam going to leave the town and hide myself in the mountain. My\ncreditors, not seeing me, will believe you when you tell them that I\nhave been to find money in the neighbouring town. Once the first day of\nthe first moon passed, as law ordains to wait till the following term,\nI shall then come back, and we shall continue to live as well as we\ncan.'\n\n\"It was indeed the wisest thing to do. His wife made him a parcel of a\nblanket and a few dry biscuits. She wept at seeing him go away quite\nbent, walking with difficulty on the slippery flagstones of the street.\n\n\"The snow was falling in thick flakes and already covered the grey tiled\nroofs, when Hong The-just left the city gate and directed his steps to a\ncave that he knew of in a lonely valley.\n\n\"He arrived at last, and, throwing his heavy load on the ground, he\nglanced around him in order to choose the place where he would sleep.\n\n\"An exclamation of stupor escaped from him when he saw, seated\nmotionless on a stone, a man clothed in a long sable cloak, with a cap\nof the same fur, looking at him in a mournful, indifferent way.\n\n\"'How strange!' at last said Hong, laughing. 'Dare I ask your noble\nname and the reason that brings you to this remote refuge? How is it\nthat you are not with your friends, drinking hot wine and rejoicing in\nthe midst of the luxuriance of the tables covered with various eatables\nand brilliant lights?'\n\n\"'My name is Yang Glow-of-dawn. And you, what is your precious name?'\nreplied mechanically the first occupant.\n\n\"'I am called Hong The-just, and I am here to escape from my creditors.'\n\n\"'You, also?' sneered Glow-of-dawn. 'The strokes of Fate do not vary\nmuch. As for me, I deal in European goods; my correspondents have not\nsettled my accounts and I am in want of nearly a hundred thousand ounces\nof silver to close the year. None of my friends could advance me the\nsum, and here I am, obliged to fly away from my creditors.'\n\n\"'A hundred thousand ounces!' cried The-just. 'With a sum like that I\nshould pass the rest of my days in plenty. Anyhow, struck by the same\nmisfortune, we are thus united; let us try to pass cheerfully the last\nday of the year, and attempt to imagine that these humble cakes are\nrefined food.'\n\n\"When they were eating their pastry and drinking water from the near\ntorrent, Glow-of-dawn suddenly said:\n\n\"'But you, how much do you owe? I have here a few ounces of silver;\nmaybe you could balance your accounts with them.'\n\n\"'My debts do not exceed six strings of copper cash. But how could I\ndare accept your offer?'\n\n\"'Not at all! take these ten ounces; you will pay your debts and bring\nme here food and wine; that will help me to wait till the end of the\nfestivals.'\n\n\"The-just, reiterating his thanks, took the ingots that were offered him\nand went down as quickly as possible towards the town.\n\n\"His wife, on seeing him and hearing his story, could not restrain her\njoy. She hurried to go and buy provisions of all kinds. Her husband\ntried to light the stove, but they had not lit a fire for a long time;\nhe found the chimney filled with soot and dust.\n\n\"Hong tried to sweep it with a big broom, but the masonry gave way,\nfilling the room with the bricks and rubbish.\n\n\"'How very annoying!' grumbled the currier. 'Now the stove is destroyed\nlet us take away what remains, and we will make the fire beneath the\nopening in the roof!'\n\n\"When his wife returned, he was still working. She put down her basket\nand helped to raise a huge stone that formed the bottom of the hearth.\nWhat was their astonishment in seeing a chest, half-broken, from which\nbig ingots of gold were falling!\n\n\"'What are we to do with this?' said his wife. 'If we sell this gold,\neverybody will think that we have stolen it, and we shall be put in\nprison.'\n\n\"'We have only one thing to do,' replied Hong. 'Let us entrust our\nfortune to my companion in the cave; he is a good man. We shall save\nhim, and he will make our money prosper; I will hurry and tell him.'\n\n\"When Hong arrived, it was nearly nightfall; Yang was standing under\nflakes of snow at the entrance of the grotto; he received him with\nreproaches:\n\n\"'You have come so late that my eyes are sore in looking out for you in\nvain!'\n\n\"'Do not abuse me, Old Uncle; drink this wine and eat these cakes that\nare still warm, and I will tell you what delayed me.'\n\n\"And while Glow-of-dawn ate and drank, the other told him of his\nadventure and of his intentions about the treasure.\n\n\"Surprised and touched, the merchant did not know how to express his\nwonder and gratitude. They talked over the best way of proceeding to\nbring the gold and settle the business.\n\n\"Then, by the glimmer of a bad lantern, they returned to the town and\nentered the merchant's house. There the currier washed himself, did his\nhair, and clothed himself in rich garments. A sedan-chair was waiting\nfor him, followed by sturdy servants; he went away....\n\n\"The next day Glow-of-dawn's creditors presented themselves at the house\nof their debtor. He was standing at the entrance, and bowed in wishing\nthem a thousand times happiness. They entered; tea was brought in by\nbusy servants. They at last discussed the settlement of their yearly\naccounts. The master of the house found out that he owed 180,000 ounces\nof silver.\n\n\"'We have been informed that larger sums of silver are due to you, but\nyou know the custom; you must settle everything to-day. In order to save\nyou, we are content to make an estimate of your wealth, your goods and\nlands.'\n\n\"'Do not give yourselves such a trouble,' replied the merchant, laughing\nand waving his hand. 'I thought you would be relentless, so I have been\nto speak to my elder brother, who has an immense fortune; he has put at\nmy disposal several hundred thousand ounces. But here! I hear the cry of\nthe bearers; it must be him with the chests of white metal.'\n\n\"The major domo came hurrying in, carrying high in the air the huge red\ncard with the names and surnames written in black.\n\n\"'The venerable Old Great Uncle The-just has arrived!'\n\n\"'Allow me?' said Yang, getting up, and going towards the door, of which\nboth sides were open. Hong entered. They made each other a thousand\naffectionate greetings, as all brothers do who are animated with right\nfeelings.\n\n\"'Dear elder brother! here are the gentlemen who have come for the\nsettlement of my accounts about which I spoke to you.'\n\n\"'Gentlemen!' and the currier bowed, not without a certain grace that\nhis new fortune had already given him. 'Well! how much is the total\namount? I have brought you ten thousand ounces of gold, which is nearly\n350,000 ounces of silver. Will you have enough?'\n\n\"While he was speaking, bearers were trooping in, and laid down on the\nground heavy chests, the lids of which being raised, one could see the\nbars of precious metal.\n\n\"The merchants, thunderstruck by all these riches and generosity,\nremained silent for a moment; then they bowed low and bade the currier\nsit in the place of honour.\n\n\"Many delicate and exquisite dishes were brought in of which The-just\ndid not even know the names; sweet wines were handed round in small\ntransparent china cups.\n\n\"At last the secretaries counted the ingots, and they all returned home\npaid. When every one had retired, Glow-of-dawn knelt before the currier\nand, striking the earth with his forehead, he said:\n\n\"'Now you are my elder brother. You have rescued me, and I henceforth\nwish you to live here. My house, my properties, everything I possess\nbelongs to you. Your wife is my sister-in-law.'\n\n\"The currier hurried to raise him up and, much moved, said:\n\n\"'I do not forget that it is you who saved me when you were still in\nmisfortune. Your good genius has rewarded you. I am only the instrument\nof Fate.'\"\n\n\n\n\n_AUTUMN-MOON_\n\n\nIn the town of Sou-tcheou a young man lived called\nLake-of-the-Immortals; he was wise and generous. His business consisted\nin going to fetch goods from neighbouring towns, which he afterwards\nbrought back to his native city. He was thus obliged to be absent for\nlengthy periods, during which he left his house to the care of an elder\nbrother, a celebrated scholar, who was married, and whom he tenderly\nloved.\n\nOnce he had been by the Grand Canal as far as Chen-kiang; the goods he\nwas going to take not being ready, he waited, and to while away the time\nhe visited the Golden Island, whose temples with yellow-tiled roofs show\nin the verdure above the yellow water of the river, nearly opposite to\nthe town; he passed the night there, as visitors did usually.\n\nWhen he had just fallen asleep, he saw in a dream a young girl, fourteen\nor fifteen years old, her visage regular and pure.\n\nOn the second night he had the same dream. Surprised, he awoke; it was\nno dream; the young girl was there, near to him. At a glance he saw she\nwas no human being; he hastened to get up and, saluting, to ask her the\nordinary questions.\n\n\"My name is Autumn-moon,\" she replied. \"My father was a celebrated\nmagician. When I died, he worked out my future destiny and wrote it down\nwith powerful incantations; this charm has been put into my coffin, so\nthat the inferior authorities should not make any mistake. It was\nwritten that, thirty years after my death, I should be called again to\nlife and marry Lake-of-the-Immortals. There you are, and I have come to\nknow my husband.\"\n\nAs she said the last words she slowly vanished in the night. The next\nday, as the young man, disturbed and preoccupied by this strange\nadventure, was sitting in his room, thinking of her, she appeared\nsuddenly before his eyes and said:\n\n\"Come quickly! something important for you is going to happen at the\nprefect's palace. We have not a minute to lose.\"\n\nLake-of-the-Immortals questioned her, but she would not answer. Then\nthey both crossed the river and walked as fast as they could up to the\nyamen.\n\nAs they arrived at the gate, four soldiers, dragging a prisoner, were on\nthe point of entering. Lake-of-the-Immortals recognised his elder\nbrother in the person of the prisoner; he drew near, threw himself on\nhis neck, and pressed him to his heart.\n\n\"How is it that you are here? why this arrest? And you, soldiers, where\ndo you take him?\"\n\n\"We have orders: what means this interference?\" And they pushed the\nyoung man aside. Lake-of-the-Immortals was of a violent temper and had a\nstrong affection for his brother; he could not let him go, and answered\nto the brutality of the soldiers by such a tempest of thumping and\nkicking that these honest but prudent soldiers asked no more and fled.\n\n\"What have you done?\" said Autumn-moon. \"Hitting soldiers is serious; we\nmust fly.\"\n\nAnd all three, running, arrived at the beach, jumped into a small boat,\nand rowed with all their strength.\n\nWhen day appeared, they were safely lodged in a small inn, several lis\nfrom Chen-kiang. Lake-of-the-Immortals, exhausted, went to sleep\nimmediately. When he awoke, his two companions had disappeared. He asked\nthe innkeeper; nobody had seen them go out.\n\nDistressed and sad, the young man did not dare to show himself outside.\nHe remained solitary in his room. When twilight came, his door opened\nand a woman entered:\n\n\"I bring you a message from Autumn-moon; she has been arrested. If you\nwish to see her, you must follow me; I will show you the way.\"\n\n\"And my brother? do you know anything?\"\n\n\"Your brother is safe in Sou-tcheou now. But come and follow me.\"\n\nThey started and soon arrived before a wall, which they got over by\nhelping one another. Through a window giving on the yard they fell in,\nthe lover perceived Autumn-moon on a bed. Two soldiers were trying to\ntease her, saying:\n\n\"What is the use of resisting us, as you will be executed to-morrow\nmorning?\"\n\nLake-of-the-Immortals did not hear any more; he rushed into the room,\nthrew himself on the soldiers, tore a sword from them, and laid them on\nthe ground. Before the wretched men had time to make a gesture of\ndefence, he carried away the girl and flew.\n\nAt this moment he started violently, and found himself in his same room\nin the Golden Island. A servant entered, bringing the breakfast he had\nordered when arriving for the first time, the night before, on the\nisland.\n\nAs he was asking himself the meaning of such a vivid dream, he heard a\nnoise in the courtyard. Going out, he saw several men surrounding the\nbody of a girl stretched before his door.\n\n\"Where does she come from?\" asked some one.\n\n\"We have never seen her!\" said another.\n\nLake-of-the-Immortals came nearer; it was the body, seemingly senseless,\nof Autumn-moon. He had her brought immediately into his room. A doctor\nwho had been called declared she was still alive, but needed very\ncareful nursing.\n\nWhen she awoke at last she smiled feebly to the young man.\n\n\"No, it is no dream,\" she replied to his questions. \"Your brother was\ncalled before the King of Hells; you saved him. You have saved me also\nfrom eternal disappearance, and I am called again to life; the\nprediction of my father was true.\"\n\nA fortnight later she was able to get up; they started together and\narrived safely at Sou-tcheou. When they got to his brother's house, his\nsister-in-law told them there had been illness in the house; her husband\nhad been in grave danger of death; he was quite well now.\n\nWhen they were all together, Lake-of-the-Immortals told what he had seen\nand done. They all listened to him in silence. The family henceforth\nlived united and happy.\n\n\n\n\n_THE PRINCESS NELUMBO_\n\n\nGleam-of-day was sleeping; his round face and high forehead denoted the\nscholar's right intelligence.\n\nAll of a sudden he saw a man standing before his bed who appeared to be\nwaiting.\n\n\"What is it?\" inquired the sleeper, getting up.\n\n\"The prince is asking for you.\"\n\n\"Which prince?\"\n\n\"The prince of the neighbouring territory.\"\n\nGleam-of-day, grumbling, got up, put on his court dress and followed his\nguide. Palanquins were waiting; they started rapidly, and their retinue\nwas soon passing in the midst of innumerable pavilions and towers with\npointed roofs.\n\nThey at last stopped in the courtyard of the palace; young girls with\nbright clothing were seen, and looked inquiringly at the new-comer, who\nwas announced with great pomp.\n\nAt last Gleam-of-day reached the audience hall. The prince was seated on\nthe throne; he descended the steps and welcomed his guest according to\nthe rites.\n\n\"You perfume this neighbourhood,\" he said. \"Your reputation has come to\nme, and I wished to know you.\"\n\nThe servants brought wine; they began to converse nobly and brilliantly.\nAt last the prince asked:\n\n\"Among the flowers, tell me which one you prefer.\"\n\n\"The nelumbo,\" he replied, without hesitating.\n\n\"The nelumbo? it is precisely my daughter's surname. What a curious\ncoincidence! The princess must absolutely know you.\"\n\nAnd he made a sign to one of the attendants, who at once went out. A few\nminutes after, the princess appeared. She was between sixteen and\nseventeen years old. Nothing could equal her admirable beauty.\n\nHer father ordered her to bow to the scholar and said:\n\n\"Here is my daughter Nelumbo.\"\n\nGleam-of-day, looking at her, felt troubled to the depth of his soul.\nThe prince spoke to him; he hardly heard, and replied awkwardly. When\nthe princess had retired, the conversation languished; the prince at\nlast rose and put an end to the interview.\n\nDuring all the way back the young man was ashamed at the same time with\nhis emotion before the girl, as well as his rudeness towards the prince.\nHe was so much troubled that he ordered his retinue to go back to the\npalace.\n\nWhen he entered the audience hall, he threw himself to the ground before\nthe prince and begged to be excused for his rudeness.\n\n\"You need not excuse yourself; the sentiment that I read in your eyes is\npowerful and the thought of it is not unpleasant to me.\"\n\nWhile Gleam-of-day, happy with this encouragement, was still excusing\nhimself, twenty young girls came running:\n\n\"A monster has entered the palace; it is a python ten thousand feet\nlong. It has already devoured thirteen hundred persons; its head is like\na mountain peak.\"\n\nEvery one got up; the frightened guard and the courtiers ran hither and\nthither, looking where they could hide themselves. The princess and her\nmaids-in-waiting were crying for help.\n\nGleam-of-day at last said to the prince:\n\n\"I have only three miserable rooms in a cottage, but you will be safe in\nthem. Will you fly there with your daughter?\"\n\n\"Let us go as quickly as possible,\" replied the prince, seizing the\nprincess by the wrist.\n\nThey all three ran across the deserted streets. When they arrived,\nNelumbo threw herself on the bed, without being able to stop weeping.\n\nGleam-of-day was so moved that he suddenly awoke: everything was a\ndream.\n\nJust then he heard a scream in the next room, where his father slept;\nthere was a struggle, blows, and at last a sigh of satisfaction.\n\nThe door opened, and the old man was seen pushing an enormous serpent at\nthe end of a stick. When Gleam-of-day turned back to his bed, he found\nit covered with bees; on the pillow the queen had alighted.\n\n\n\n\n_THE TWO BROTHERS_\n\n\nIn the town of Sou-tcheou there lived two brothers. The elder, surnamed\nMerchant, was very rich; the younger, named Deceived-hope, very poor.\nThey lived side by side, and their houses, the paternal inheritance,\nwere only separated by a low wall. They were both married.\n\nThis year, the harvest having been bad, Deceived-hope could not afford\nthe necessary rice for his family to live upon. His wife said to him:\n\n\"Let us send our son to your brother: he will be touched and will give\nus something, without any doubt.\"\n\nDeceived-hope hesitated, but at last decided to take this step which\nhurt his pride. When the child returned from his uncle's, his hands\nwere empty. They questioned him:\n\n\"I told my uncle that you were without rice; he hesitated and looked at\nmy aunt. She then said to me: 'The two brothers live separately; their\nfood also is separate.'\"\n\nDeceived-hope and his wife did not say a word; they fetched the bale of\nrice that was still in their corn-loft and lived thus.\n\nNow, in the town, two or three vagabonds who knew the riches of Merchant\nbroke open his door one night, and tied him up as well as his wife. As\nhe would not show his treasure, they began burning his hands and feet.\nMerchant and his wife screamed for help. Deceived-hope heard them and\ngot up in order to run to their house, but his wife held him back, and,\napproaching the wall which separated them, cried:\n\n\"The two brothers live separately; their food also is separate.\"\n\nHowever, as their cries increased, Deceived-hope could not contain\nhimself, and, seizing a weapon, leapt over the wall, fell on the\nthieves, and dispersed them. Then, when his brother and his\nsister-in-law were delivered and quieted, he returned home, saying to\nhis wife:\n\n\"They are certain to give us a present.\"\n\nBut, the next day and the days following, they waited in vain!\nDeceived-hope could not resist the temptation to relate everything to\nhis friends. The same thieves heard of it and, thinking that he would\nnot interfere any more, broke open the door of Merchant the same evening\nand began again to torture him as well as his wife.\n\nDeceived-hope, indeed, did not wish to interfere. However, his heart and\nhis liver were upset by the painful cries of his brother. He could not\nforbear running to his help.\n\nThe brigands, disconcerted, flew again, but this time Merchant and his\nwife were severely burnt; they lost the use of their hands and feet.\n\nThe next day Merchant said to his wife:\n\n\"My brother has saved our lives; without him we should be ruined; I am\ngoing to give him a part of what we have.\"\n\n\"Do nothing of the kind,\" replied his wife; \"if he had come sooner, he\nwould have saved our hands and feet; now, thanks to him, we are infirm.\"\n\nAnd they did nothing. Deceived-hope, however, wanting money, made an act\nof sale of his house and sent it to his brother, hoping that he would be\ntouched by his misery and would send back the deed with a present.\n\nIn fact Merchant was going to send him some silver ingots, but his wife\nstopped him:\n\n\"Let us take his house; we shall be able to make ours bigger, and it\nwill be much more convenient.\"\n\nMerchant hesitated a little, but he ended by accepting the act, and sent\nthe price agreed on. Deceived-hope went and settled in another part of\nthe town; with his small capital, he opened a vegetable-shop, which soon\nprospered.\n\nThe brigands, having heard that Merchant was now living alone, broke\nopen his door very quietly, tortured him, and then killed him, taking\naway all he had. In leaving the place, they cried all over the town:\n\n\"Merchant's corn-loft is open! Let all the poor go and take the rice!\"\n\nThey thus went, one by one, silently, all the poor of the neighbourhood,\ntaking away as much of the heaped-up rice as they could. Soon there was\nnothing left.\n\nDeceived-hope being informed, wished to revenge his brother; he pursued\nthe brigands and killed two of them.\n\nFrom this time it was he who every day attended to the needs of his\nsister-in-law, now in misery. Some months afterwards, exhausted, she\ndied.\n\nDeceived-hope came back and was soon settled in the patrimony that he\nhad recovered. One night he was soundly sleeping, when he saw his\nbrother.\n\n\"You have saved us twice, and we have been ungrateful. I should not be\ndead if I had not acted badly with you. I wish to make amends. Under the\nstone of the hearth you will find five hundred ounces of gold that I had\nhidden, and of the existence of which my wife was ignorant.\"\n\nDeceived-hope started from his sleep; he told his dream to his wife. She\nat once got up, drew out the stone of the hearth, and found the mass of\ngold. Henceforth, happy and rich, they lived long and were charitable\nand friendly with every one.\n\n\n\n\n_THE MARBLE ARCH_\n\n\nWhen the troubles began to break out in Hankow, many families were\nalarmed. Those who were not ignorant of the powerful organisation of the\nrevolutionists left the town as soon as possible, anticipating that it\nwould soon be plundered and burnt.\n\nThe retired prefect, Kiun, was amongst the first to embark in order to\ngo down the river. His house was situated at several lis from the river,\non the confines of the suburbs, outside the fortified enclosure. He had\nonly been married a short time, and was living with his father and\nmother.\n\nWhen the baggage at last was ready, the bearers fixed it in the middle\nof their long bamboos and set off two by two, grumbling under the heavy\nload. The two old people followed; Kiun and his young wife, the charming\nSeaweed, helped them as well as they could.\n\nIn order to avoid crossing the centre of the town, they followed the\ncrenellated wall by an almost deserted road. A young man and woman alone\nwere sauntering in the same direction, carrying parcels on their\nshoulders.\n\n\"Where are you going to?\" they asked, as it is the custom to do between\ntravellers.\n\n\"As far as the river,\" replied Kiun. \"And you?\"\n\n\"We also,\" said the young man. \"What is your precious name?\"\n\n\"My contemptible name is Kiun. But you, deign to inform me about your\nfamily?\"\n\n\"My name is Wang The-king. We are flying from the insurrection.\"\n\nThey thus talked while walking in company.\n\nSeaweed took the advantage of a moment when the new-comers were a little\nin front to bend towards her husband.\n\n\"Do not let us get in the same junk with these strangers. The man has\nlooked at me several times in a rude way; his eyes are unsteady and\nfickle; I am afraid of him.\"\n\nKiun made a sign of assent. But when they had arrived on the quay, Wang\nThe-king gave himself so much trouble to find a junk and help to embark\nthe luggage that the prefect, bound by the rites, could not avoid asking\nhim to get on board the boat with him.\n\nThey unmoored; Wang The-king established himself on the prow with his\nwife, near the mariners; he spoke a long time with them while they were\npassing the last houses of the large city.\n\nWhen night fell, they were in a part of the river where it got broader\nto such an extent that you could no longer distinguish the banks. The\nwind was blowing rather violently and the unfurling waves projected\nheavy showers on the mats which covered the quarter-deck.\n\nKiun, uneasy, went to the prow of the boat in order to question the\nmaster. The bright moon was rising, lighting the dark line of the bank.\nThey approached in order to throw the anchor.\n\nWang The-king was on the narrow bridge; when Kiun came to his side, he\ncoolly pushed the poor prefect overboard. Kiun's father was two paces\nbehind; Wang ran to him and threw him also into the tumultuous waters of\nthe rapid current. Kiun's mother, hearing a cry and a struggle, went to\nsee what was happening, and she also was precipitated into the foaming\nriver.\n\nSeaweed, from the cabin, had seen all; but she took good care not to go\noutside; she moaned:\n\n\"Alas! my father-in-law and my mother-in-law are dead! My husband has\nbeen killed! I am going to die, too!\"\n\nWhile she was crying, Wang The-king entered the cabin.\n\n\"Fear nothing,\" said he; \"forget those people who are no more and won't\ncome back. I am going to take you home to the city of The-Golden-tombs.\nThere I have fields and houses belonging to me; I will give them to\nyou.\"\n\nThe young woman kept back her sobs and said nothing; she thought it wise\nnot to provoke the murderer.\n\nWang The-king, very satisfied with his prospects, went back to the\nmariners, gave them the greater part of what his victims had brought in\nsilver and luggage; then he quietly took his dinner and retired to his\ncabin with his wife. The woman had a strange look, but she did not say\nanything, and they went to sleep.\n\nTowards the hour of the Rat, the woman began to groan; then she started\nout of her sleep and cried to her husband:\n\n\"Kill me, repudiate me! I can no longer stay with you! Thunder and\nlightning will strike you! I have dreamt it; I will no longer be the\nwife of a murderer and a thief!\"\n\nWang, furious, struck her. But as she continued, he took her in his arms\nand threw her into the river.\n\nOn the second day the boat arrived at The-Golden-tombs. Wang took\nSeaweed to his family. When his old mother asked what he had done with\nhis first wife, he replied:\n\n\"She fell in the river, and I will marry this one.\"\n\nThey were soon settled in the house. Wang wished to take liberties with\nSeaweed, who gently drove him back.\n\n\"We must not neglect the rites. Do not let us forget to empty first the\nmarriage cup.\"\n\nWang joyously accepted; and soon, seated opposite each other, they began\nexchanging cups of wine in the ritual way.\n\nSeaweed, however, pretended to drink, and tried to make her lover tipsy;\nshe contrived this little by little.\n\nWang, rendered sleepy by the wine, undressed himself, got on the bed,\nand ordered the young woman to put out the lamps and come to him.\n\nShe carefully blew the lamps and said:\n\n\"I will come in a minute!\"\n\nThen she quickly went to her luggage, took out a sword she had hidden\nthere, and came back. Feeling with her hands in the darkness, she found\nthe throat of the man and struck him as hard as she could: the man\nscreamed and tried to get up; she struck again and again: there was a\nmoaning, a gurgle, and then silence.\n\nHowever, Wang's mother, having heard some noise, came with a lantern.\nSeaweed killed her before the old woman could even say a word.\n\nThen the young woman, having avenged her family, tried to cut her own\nthroat, in order to join her husband. The sword was blunt and she was\nonly able to scratch herself. She then remembered that, outside the\nhouse, there was a fairly big pond; she ran out and threw herself into\nthe water.\n\nSome neighbours saw her and ran to her help; other people came; lanterns\nwere brought forth; the poor girl at last was taken out of the pond, and\nbrought back to her house. But, when the new-comers entered the room,\nthey saw the bodies and the blood.\n\n\"Murder! Murder!\" cried they.\n\nAnd they immediately sent a boy to call the police. The constables came\nand looked all over the room; they soon found in Seaweed's luggage a\nnote prepared by the unfortunate woman and stating the truth about her\nfamily's death. The assistants were loud in their praise of her act:\n\n\"She avenged her husband; she has been witty enough to beguile the\nmurderer; and now she has killed herself! Such an act of courage and\nvirtue has not been heard of for centuries. We must ask the authorities\nto build her a marble arch to commemorate her history, and be an example\nto future generations.\"\n\nWhile all this was going on, they tried to revive the woman; everything\nwas done, but in vain. A coffin was then brought in, and the girl\ntransferred to it, covered with her best garments and jewels. The lid\nwas screwed on, and everybody left the house.\n\nWe must now come back to the evening when Wang pushed into the water\nSeaweed's husband. Kiun was a strong man and a very good swimmer;\nsurprised by this sudden attack, all he could do at first was to keep\nhis head out of the tumultuous water. He then thought to go back to the\nboat, but, on the foaming expanse nothing was to be seen; the rapid\ncurrent had driven him too far. At last the water brought him to a\ncurving beach, where he was able to land.\n\nWalking disconsolately on the sand, he saw a human body rolled by the\nsurge; he approached, and recognised his father; farther on he saw his\nmother; both he dragged out of the water. Most uneasy about his wife, he\nwalked on the river's edge, straining his eyes; the moon was shining; he\nsaw at last a human being holding a big piece of wood. He swam to her,\npushed her to the beach, and took her he thought was his wife to the dry\nsand. He undid the upper garment in order to rub her members; when he\nsaw she was not so cold, he wiped her hair out of her face. His stupor\nwas immense in recognising Wang's wife.\n\nThe sun rose at last and warmed them. The young woman sighed, opened\nher eyes, and, completely herself again, told Kiun what she had seen:\n\n\"My husband is a murderer. In a dream I saw the King-of-Shadows himself\nsitting behind his tribunal and writing his name on the death-list.\nBesides, he is in love with your wife. If you wish it, we will go\ntogether straight to The Golden-tombs and do what we can to avenge\nourselves.\"\n\nKiun, seeing a man coming to work in a field not far from there, went to\nhim and told him in a few words what had happened; the man led them to\nhis landlord, a rich man, who gave them food and warm dresses, sent men\nto bring the drowned bodies to a side house and have them properly\nburied. Then he advanced a certain sum of money to Kiun, who agreed to\nsend it back when he should get to a place where he could find a\ncorrespondent of his bankers.\n\nThen Kiun and his companion engaged a small boat and went down the\nriver. When they got to The Golden-tombs, they questioned the people in\nthe street about Wang. A month had elapsed since the events we have told\nof; the first man they questioned looked at them in wonder:\n\n\"How is it you don't know what happened? Wang is dead; he has been\nkilled by a virtuous woman whose family he had murdered and who killed\nherself afterwards. You have only to go on; in the first street to your\nright you will see a new marble arch which has just been erected to\ncommemorate virtuous Seaweed's courageous death.\"\n\nKiun thought his heart would burst; he dragged his companion to the\nmarble arch and read the inscription. Then he bought a bundle of those\nimitations of gold and silver ingots made with paper which people burn\non the tombs in order to send some money to the dead; he went to the\ntomb in the place indicated by the inscription.\n\nThere he reverently knelt, and, after having knocked the ground with his\nforehead, he burnt the paper-ingots, rose, and went away with Wang's\nwife.\n\nWhen they were back in their boat, they discussed their plans and\nresolved to go down the river to Shanghai.\n\nThey were leaving the harbour, when a small boat crossed their way; two\nwomen sat on the bench. One of them reminded Kiun strangely of his late\nwife. The woman had looked up at him and seemed surprised. The retired\nprefect, moved by a mysterious strength, pronounced aloud a sentence\nwhich used to make his wife laugh when they were together happy in\nHankow:\n\n\"I see wild geese flying high in the sky.\"\n\nSeaweed, when she was alive, used to answer by a phrase which had\nnothing to do with the first sentence, and had made them laugh very\noften by its stupidity. The woman in the boat said it too:\n\n\"The dog wants the cat's biscuit; you quickly shut it in the house.\"\n\nKiun, wondering whether it was Seaweed's ghost, asked the mariners to go\nalongside the other boat; he jumped in it; the woman threw her arms\nround his neck, and they wept together.\n\n\"Are you alive? or is it only your ghost I hold in my arms?\" asked he.\n\n\"I am alive!\"\n\nThen she told him her adventures; when she was put into the coffin, she\nhad some jewels on. One of the assistants resolved to steal them; he\nwaited till everybody was gone and the house empty; then he deliberately\nunscrewed the coffin's lid and rifled what he could. He was trying to\ntake a ring off her hand, when the supposed corpse rose and screamed.\n\nThe poor man thought his last hour had come and did not move. Seaweed,\nseeing her jewels in his hands, and seeing the coffin she was in,\ngrasped the situation at a glance.\n\n\"You want my jewels! Have them if you like; you saved my life, and\nwithout you I would have been stifled in this gruesome box.\"\n\nThe man at first dared not accept; then he said:\n\n\"In exchange for your kindness, I will tell you something. In the third\nhouse in the first street lives a rich widow; she is alone and would\nlike to adopt a girl; go to her and tell her everything. She will be\nhappy to give you a home.\"\n\nThen he helped her to get out of the coffin, screwed the lid again, and\ndisappeared. Seaweed went straight to the house. The widow received her\nwith the greatest kindness, and asked of her to let everybody believe\nshe was dead; if not, there would have been a lawsuit.\n\nBoth women, now united by the closest affection, had been out on the\nriver for pleasure's sake when they saw Kiun's bark. The widow, when the\nexplanations were finished, opened her arms to Kiun; she called him her\nson-in-law. Seaweed asked Wang's wife to be the second wife of her\nhusband. And they all lived long and happy.\n\n\n\n\n_THE DUTIFUL SON_\n\n\nAt the foot of the Oriental-Perfume-Mountain, in one of the most\nbeautiful places of this celebrated district, the passers-by could see a\nsmall lodge. Chou The-favourable lived there with his mother. He was\nstill young, being only thirty years old, and earned his living in the\nway so highly praised by the ancient Classics; he cultivated a small\nfield by his house, and every week went to the next market to exchange\nwhat he had for what he wanted.\n\nBoth were very happy, when a calamity befell them; the old mother one\nmorning felt a pain in her right leg. Two or three days afterwards she\nhad there an ulcer that no remedies could cure; everything was tried and\neverything failed. Day and night she was moaning, turning over in her\nhard wooden bed.\n\nThe-favourable forgot to drink and eat, in his anxiety to give his\nmother the medicines the doctor advised.\n\nSeveral months wore on; the ulcer did not heal. The despair of the son\nwas greater every day; at last, overcome by his fatigue, he fell asleep\nand dreamt that he saw his father. The old man told him:\n\n\"You have been a dutiful son. But I must tell you that your mother will\nnot recover if you can't apply to her ulcer a piece of man's fat.\"\n\nThen everything was dissolved like a smoke in the wind.\n\nThe-favourable awoke and, thinking over his dream, he found it very\nstrange.\n\n\"What can I do?\" thought he. \"Man's fat is not easily found in the\nmarket. My father would not have appeared to me if this extraordinary\nmedicine was not really the only thing that will cure my mother. Well,\nI will take a piece of fat of my own body; I have nothing else to do.\"\n\nThen, rising from his bed, he took a sharp knife, and, pulling the skin\nof his side, he cut a large piece off. His pain was not so great as he\nhad expected it to be, and, what seemed more extraordinary to him, no\nblood flowed from the wound.\n\nHe could not see that, from the heaven above, a messenger had come on a\ncloud, was recording this noble feat on his life's register, and helped\nhim by averting all ordinary sufferance.\n\nThe-favourable hastened to put the piece of flesh on his mother's ulcer;\nthe pain disappeared immediately, and a few days after the old woman\ncould walk as she used to do; on her leg there remained only a red scar.\n\nWhen she asked what medicine had been employed, The-favourable eluded\nthe answer. But somehow the truth was known in the neighbourhood; the\nprefect sent a report to the Throne and came himself with a decree of\nthe Emperor, giving a title and an allowance to the dutiful son.\n\n\n\n\n_THROUGH MANY LIVES_\n\n\nSome people remember every incident of their former existences; it is a\nfact which many examples can prove. Other people do not forget what they\nlearned before they died and were born again, but remember only\nconfusedly what they were in a precedent life.\n\nWang The-acceptable, of the Yellow-peach-blossom city, when people\ndiscussed such questions before him, used to narrate the experience he\nhad had with his first son.\n\nThe boy, at the time he spoke of, was three or four years old. He did\nnot say many words, and some people thought he was dumb. One day,\nThe-acceptable was writing a letter, when he was disturbed by a friend.\nHe put his writing-brush down on the table and left the room. When he\ncame back, his letter was finished, and written much more correctly than\nhe would have believed himself able to do. Besides, he did not remember\nhaving finished it. The puzzle did not trouble him very much.\n\nAnother day the same thing occurred; he left the room, leaving a letter\nunfinished on the table; when he came back, the letter was nearly ended.\nNobody but the boy had been in the room. Troubled and suspicious, he\nrose and feigned to go away; but he came back immediately and\nnoiselessly. From the door, he saw his boy kneeling on the stool and\nwriting the letter.\n\nThe little man suddenly saw his father and asked to be forgiven. The\nfather of course laughed:\n\n\"We all thought you were dumb; if you are such a learned man, the family\nhappiness will be great! How could we punish you?\"\n\nFrom that date he had good lessons given to the boy, who very early\npassed successfully his third degree examination and became one of the\nmost celebrated \"Entered among the learned\" of his time.\n\nWhen his father asked him whether he remembered what he had been before\nbeing what he now was, the boy said that the first life he could\nremember was that of a young student; he lived in a monastery to save as\nmuch as he could of his income. When he died, the King-of-the-Darkness\npunished him for his stinginess and condemned him to become a donkey in\nthe same monastery he had lived in.\n\nHe wanted to die, but did not know what to do; the priests loved him and\nwere very careful. One day he was on a mountain road and was tempted to\nthrow himself downhill; but he had a man on his back and was afraid of\nthe punishment the King-of-the-Darkness would inflict upon him if he\nkilled that man. So he went on. Many years passed; he died at last, and\nwas born again as a peasant. But, as he had forgotten nothing of his\nformer lives, he was able to speak a few days after his birth. His\nfather and mother judged the thing highly suspicious and killed him.\n\nAfter that, he was born in the family of Wang The-acceptable.\nAppreciating the surroundings, and bearing in mind that he had last been\nkilled because he spoke too early, he was very careful this time not to\nutter a single word. But when he saw the paper and ink he could not\nresist his love of literature and finished the letter.\n\n\n\n\n_THE RIVER OF SORROWS_\n\n\nAlong the path leading to the city of All-virtues, in the obscure night,\na poor coolie, grumbling under a heavy load of salt, was trudging on as\nfast as he could.\n\n\"I shall never get there before the hour of the Rat, and my wife will\nsay again; 'Wang The-tenth has drunk too many cups of wine.' She does\nnot know the weight of that stuff!\"\n\nAs he was thus thinking, two men suddenly jumped from either side of the\nroad and held him by the arms.\n\n\"What do you want?\" cried the poor man. \"I am only an unhappy carrier,\nand my load is only salt, very common salt.\"\n\n\"We don't want your salt, and you had better throw it down. We are sent\nfrom the Regions below and we want you to come down with us.\"\n\n\"Am I dead already?\" asked The-tenth. \"I did not know. I must tell my\nwife. Can't you come again to-morrow night?\"\n\n\"Impossible to wait. You must come immediately. But I don't think you\nare dead. It is only to work for a few days down below.\"\n\n\"This is rather strange,\" replied The-tenth. \"With all the people who\nhave died since the world has been the world you still want living men?\nWe don't go and ask you to do our work, do we?\"\n\nWhile thus arguing, he felt himself suffocated by a heavy smell and lost\nconsciousness.\n\nWhen he awoke, he was on the bank of a fairly large river. Hundreds of\nmen were standing in the water; some of them carried baskets; others,\nwith spades and different utensils, were dragging out what they could\nfrom the bottom. Soldiers with heavy sticks struck those who stopped\neven for a second.\n\nOn the bank several men were standing, and a number of others came from\ntime to time. A magistrate was sitting behind a big red table, turning\nover the pages of a book. At last, he called \"Wang The-tenth.\"\n\n\"Wang The-tenth!\" repeated the soldiers. And they threw the poor man\ndown in a kneeling position in front of the magistrate, who looked on\nthe book and said:\n\n\"You have been an undutiful son; do you remember the day when you told\nyour father he was a fool?\"\n\nThen speaking to the soldiers, he said:\n\n\"To the river!\"\n\nThe guards pushed the man, gave him a basket, and ordered him to help in\nthe cleaning of the river.\n\nThe water was red and thick; its stench was abominable; the bodies of\nthe workmen were all red, and The-tenth discovered it was blood. He\nlooked at the first basket he took to the bank; it was only putrid flesh\nand broken bones.\n\nThus he worked day by day without stopping. When he was not going fast\nenough, the guards struck him with their sticks, and their sticks were\nbones. In the deep places he had to put his head into the water and felt\nthe filthy stuff fill his nostrils and mouth.\n\nAmong the workers he recognised many people he used to know. A great\nnumber died and were carried away by the stream.\n\nAt last two guards called his name, helped him to the bank, and suddenly\nhe found himself again on the path leading to the city of All-virtues.\n\nNow, on the night when The-tenth was taken away, his wife waited for\nhim. Troubled not to see him, she started as soon as the sun beamed, and\nlooked for him on the road. She soon found his body lying unconscious.\nTrying in vain to revive him, she thought him dead, and wept bitterly.\n\nNot being strong enough to bring home his body, she came back to town in\norder to ask the help of her family. In the afternoon, clad in the white\ndress of mourning, and accompanied by her four brothers, she started\nagain.\n\nWhat was her astonishment and fear when, approaching the place where she\nhad found the body, she saw her husband walking towards her. He was all\ncovered with blood, and the stench was so strong that everybody pinched\nhis nose.\n\nWhen he had explained what had happened, they all returned to the\nvillage. The-tenth knelt reverently before his ancestors' tablet,\noffered butter and rice, and burnt incense.\n\nThis very day he asked a Taoist priest what was the river he had worked\nin. The priest explained to him it was called the River-of-sorrows. It\ntook its source in the outer world in every tear that was shed. The\npeople that killed themselves out of despair were floated down its\nstream to the kingdom of shadows.\n\nSometimes the sorrows on earth were so great that people killed\nthemselves by thousands and did not shed any tears; the blood then was\ntoo thick to wash away the decayed remains, and the river-bed had to be\ncleaned lest it should overflow and drown the whole world. Living men\nalone were employed in this work, for only living men can cure living\nmen's sorrows.\n\n\n\n\n_THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND_\n\n\nIn the beautiful Chu-san archipelago there is a small island where the\nflowers never cease blooming, and where the trees grow thick and high.\nFrom the most remote antiquity nobody has been known to live in the\nshade of this virgin forest; the ferns, the creepers, are so entangled\nthat it is impossible for a man to cross this wilderness without\nclearing his way with a hatchet.\n\nA young student named Chang, who lived in the City-over-the-sea, used to\nrest himself from his daily labour by going out to sea in a small junk\nhe managed himself.\n\nHaving heard of the mysterious island, he resolved to explore it,\nprepared wine and food, and sailed out on a beautiful summer's morning.\n\nTowards midday he neared the place where the island was supposed to be.\nSoon a delicious perfume of flowers was brought to him by the hot\nbreeze. He saw the dark green of the trees over the light green of the\nsea, and, when still nearer, the yellow sand of the beach, where he\nresolved to disembark.\n\nThe junk touched the shore; he tied it to a large fallen tree whose end\ndipped into the gentle waves, and proceeded at once to a hearty meal.\n\nWhile he was storing again in the boat what remained of his provisions,\nhe was suddenly startled by a subdued laugh. Turning his head, he saw\namong the wild roses of the shore, a young girl covered with a long blue\ndress, who looked at him with dark eyes full of flame.\n\n\"Your servant is most happy to see you here. I did not suppose I should\never have the pleasure of meeting you.\"\n\n\"Who are you?\" asked Chang, forgetting, in his astonishment, the proper\nforms of inquiry.\n\n\"I am only a poor singer who has been brought here by\nThe-Duke-of-the-sea.\"\n\nChang, hearing these words, was afraid in his heart; The-Duke-of-the-sea\nwas a renowned pirate who used to plunder every village of the coast,\nand was reputed to be cruel and vindictive. But the girl was so\nattractive that he soon forgot everything in the pleasure of her\nchatter.\n\nSeated at the foot of a big tree, they were laughing, when a noise came\nfrom the forest.\n\n\"It is The-Duke-of-the-sea! It is The-Duke-of-the-sea!\" murmured the\ngirl. \"I must be off at once.\"\n\nAnd she disappeared behind the foliage.\n\nWhile Chang was asking himself what he should do, he suddenly saw a huge\nsnake coming straight to him. Its body was as thick as a cask, and so\nlong that the end was still hidden in the forest, while the head was\nbalancing over the frightened student.\n\nChang could not say a word and dared not move: the snake entwined\nhimself round a tree and round the man, holding fast its prisoner's\narms. Then, lowering its head, it threw out its tongue, and, pricking\nthe student's nose, began to suck the blood which came out and fell on\nthe ground.\n\nChang saw that, if he did not immediately free himself, he would\ncertainly die. Feeling cautiously with his hand round his waist, he took\nfrom his purse a certain poisoned pill that he kept there and intended\nto try on wolves and foxes. With two fingers he took the pill and threw\nit into the red pool at his feet.\n\nThe snake, of course, sucked it with the blood; it immediately stopped\ndrinking, straightened its body, and rocked its head to and fro,\nknocking the tree-trunks and hissing desperately.\n\nChang, feeble and hardly able to stand, dragged himself as fast as he\ncould out of reach on to the beach and quickly untied his boat.\nNevertheless, before going out to sea, he fetched a sword and went\ncautiously into the wood again. The snake did not move. Chang flourished\nhis sword, and with a mighty stroke cut the head off and ran to his\nboat.\n\nHe returned to the City-over-the-sea, went to bed and was ill for a\nmonth. When he spoke of his experience, he always said that, to his\nmind, it was the beautiful girl he had seen at first who had come again\nin the form of a snake.\n\n\n\n\n_THE SPIRIT OF THE RIVER_\n\n\nIn a small village along the river Tsz lived a fisherman named Siu. He\nstarted every night with his nets, and took very great care not to\nforget to bring with him a small jar of spirits. Before throwing his\ncast-net, he drank a small cup of the fragrant liquor and poured some\ndrops into the slow current, praying aloud:\n\n\"O Spirit-of-the-river, please accept these offerings and favour your\nhumble servant. I am poor and I must take some of the fishes that live\nin your cold kingdom. Don't be angry against me and don't prevent the\neels and trouts coming to me!\"\n\nWhen every fisherman on the river brought back only one basket of\nfishes, he always proudly bore home a heavy charge of two or three\nbaskets full to the brim.\n\nOnce, on a rosy dawn of early spring, when the sun, still below the\nhorizon, began to eat with its golden teeth the vanishing darkness, he\nsaid aloud:\n\n\"O Spirit-of-the-river! For many years, every night I have drunk with\nyou a good number of wine-cups; but I never saw your face; won't you\nfavour me with your presence? We could sit together, and the pleasure of\ndrinking would be much greater.\"\n\nHardly had he finished these words when, from the middle of the stream,\nemerged a beautiful young man clothed in pink, who slowly walked on the\nsmooth surface of the limpid water, and sat on the boat's end, saying:\n\n\"Here I am.\"\n\nThe fisherman, being half-drunk, was not troubled in any way; he bowed\nto the young man, offered him, with his two hands, a cup of the strong\nwine, and said:\n\n\"Well! I long wished to receive your instructions, and I am very glad to\nsee you. You must be mighty tired of living in that water; the few drops\nof wine I pour every night are quite lost in such a quantity of\ntasteless liquid. You had better come up every night; we will drink\ntogether and enjoy each other's company.\"\n\nFrom this day, when darkness closed in, the Spirit waited for the\nfisherman and partook of his provisions. As soon as the sun rose above\nthe horizon he suddenly disappeared. The fisherman did not find that\nvery convenient; he asked his companion if he could not arrange to stay\nwith him sometimes in the daytime.\n\n\"Impossible; we can't do such a thing, we spirits and ghosts. We belong\nto the kingdom of shadows. When the shadows, fighting the daylight,\nbring with them the Night, we are free to go and wander about. But as\nsoon as the herald of the morn, the cock, has proclaimed the daily\nvictory of the sun, we are powerless and must disappear.\"\n\nOn the same day the fisherman was sitting on the bank, smoking a pipe\nbefore going home with his baskets, when he saw a woman holding a child\nin her arms and hastening along the river towards a ford some hundred\nyards up stream. She was already in the water, when she missed her\nfooting, fell into the river, and was rolled away by the stream. The\nchild, by some happy chance, had fallen on the bank and lay there,\ncrying.\n\nThe fisherman could easily have gone in his boat and saved the woman,\nwho was still struggling to regain the bank, but he was a prudent man:\n\n\"This woman, whom I don't know, seems to be beautiful,\" thought he.\n\"Maybe it is my friend The-Spirit-of-the-river who has arranged all\nthis, and chosen the girl to be his wife. If I prevent her going down\nto his cold lodgings, he will be angry and ruin my fishing. All I could\ndo is to adopt this boy until somebody comes and asks for him.\"\n\nAnd he did not move, until the poor woman had disappeared in the yellow\nstream; then he took the child. Once back in the village, he inquired\nabout the mother; nobody could tell who she was. The days passed and\nnobody asked for the boy. This was strange enough, but, stranger still,\nfrom this day the fisherman never saw The-Spirit-of-the-river again. He\noffered him many cups of wine, and his fishing was as good as ever, but\nthough he prayed heartily, his companion of so many nights did not\nappear any more.\n\nWhen the boy was three years old he insisted on accompanying his adopted\nfather in his night fishing. Summer had come; the cold was no more to be\nfeared. The man consented to take his adopted son with him; they\nstarted together in the twilight.\n\nAs soon as the darkness closed, the boy's voice changed; his appearance\nwas different.\n\n\"What a silly man you are!\" said he. \"Don't you know me now? For more\nthan two years I waited for an opportunity to tell you who I was. But\nyou always went out at night and you never came back before the sun was\nhigh in the sky. You had never failed to present your offerings; so I\ncould not resist your prayer when you asked me to stay with you in the\ndaytime. Now, here I am, till your death; when the sun is up I shall\nonly be your son, but when the night closes I shall be your companion,\nand we will enjoy together what longevity the Fate allows you.\"\n\n\n\n\n_THE-DEVILS-OF-THE-OCEAN_\n\n\nIn the twenty-second year of the period Eternal-happiness, the\npopulation of Chao-cheou's harbour, awaking on a bright summer's\nmorning, were extremely surprised and frightened to see, swaying on the\nblue water of the bay, a strange and abnormally huge ship. The three\nhigh masts were heavily loaded with transversal pieces of wood, from\nsome of which sails were still hanging; another mast projected\nhorizontally from the prow, and three sails were tightened from this to\nthe foremast.\n\nA small boat was lowered from the ship's side and rowed to the quay.\nSeveral hundreds of people were watching the proceedings, asking one\nanother if it was a human invention or a ship coming from the depths of\nhell.\n\nThe small boat stopped at a short distance from the bank; one could see\nthat, beside the rowers, there were three men seated in the stern; their\nheads were covered with extraordinarily long and fluffy grey hair; they\nwore big hats with feathers of many colours. A Chinaman was in the boat\nand hailed the people:\n\n\"Ha! Please tell the local authorities that high mandarins from the\nocean want to speak to them. We are peaceful. But if you do any harm to\nour men or ships, our wrath will be such that we will destroy in one day\nthe whole town and kill everybody within ten miles' distance.\"\n\nThree or four men belonging to the Yamen had heard these words; they ran\nto the prefect's palace and came back with an answer they delivered to\nthe new-comers:\n\n\"His Excellency the prefect consents to receive your visit. If you are\npeaceful, no harm will be done to you. But if you steal anything, or\nwound or kill anybody, the laws of our country will be enforced upon you\nwithout mercy.\"\n\nThen the boat slowly accosted the quay; two of the men with feathered\nhats disembarked with the Chinaman, while six of the rowers, leaving\ntheir oars in the boat, shouldered heavy muskets, and cleared the way,\nthree walking in front of the feathered hats and three behind. The\nrowers wore small caps and had long blue trousers and very short blue\ncoats.\n\nThe prefect, in his embroidered dress, awaited them on the threshold of\nhis reception-room. He bade the new-comers be seated and asked their\nnames and their business; the Chinaman translated the questions and the\nanswers.\n\n\"We come from the other side of the earth.\"\n\n\"Well,\" thought the prefect. \"I was sure of it, the earth being square\nand flat, the other side of it is certainly hell. What am I to do?\"\n\n\"We only want to trade with your countrymen. We will sell you what goods\nwe have brought; we will buy your country's productions, and if no harm\nis done we will sail away in a few days.\"\n\n\"Our humble country is very poor,\" answered the prefect. \"The people are\nnot rich enough to buy any of the splendid goods you may have brought.\nBesides, this country's products are not worth your giving any money for\nthem. If I can give you good advice, you had better sail away to-day and\nget to the first harbour of the northern province; there they are very\nrich.\"\n\n\"We have just come from it; they told us the very reverse. Here,\naccording to them, we should be able to find everything we want.\nBesides, our mind is settled; we will remain here long enough to buy\nwhat we want and to sell what we can. We are very peaceful people as\nlong as one deals justly with us. But if you try to beguile us, we will\nemploy all our strength in the defence of our rights. All we want is a\nplace on shore where we can store and show our goods.\"\n\n\"Well, well; I never intended to do anything of the sort,\" said the\nprefect. \"But the Emperor is the only possessor of the soil. How could I\ngive you a place even on the shore?\"\n\n\"We don't want very much, and the Emperor won't know anything. Give us\nonly the surface of ground covered by a carpet, and we will be\nsatisfied.\"\n\nChinese carpets are not more than two or three feet broad and five or\nsix feet wide. The prefect thought he could not be blamed to authorise\nthe foreigners to settle on such a small piece of ground; on the other\nhand, if he refused, there would ensue trouble and he would certainly be\ncashiered.\n\n\"It is only as a special arrangement and by greatly compromising with\nthe law that I can give you this authorisation.\"\n\nAnd the prefect wrote a few words on one of his big red visiting-cards.\nThe interpreter carefully perused the document. Then the foreigners went\nback to their ship. The same day a proclamation was issued and pasted on\nthe walls of the public edifices, explaining to the people that\nThe-Devils-of-the-ocean had been authorised to settle on a piece of\nground not bigger than a carpet and that no harm should be done to them.\n\nIn compliance with these orders, nobody dared oppose the foreigners when\nthey began unrolling on the shore a carpet ten yards broad and thirty\nyards long. When the carpet was unrolled, The-Devils-of-the-ocean put\nthemselves in ranks with muskets and swords on the carpet; nearly five\nhundred men stood there close to one another.\n\nThe prefect, who had personally watched the proceeding, was so angry\nagainst the foreigners for their cunningness that he immediately ordered\ntroops to drive them out into the water. But the foreigners had a\ndevilish energy nobody could resist; they killed a great many of our\npeople, burned the greater part of the city, and occupied for several\nyears all the northern part of the bay, where they erected a sort of\nbazaar and a fortress, which still exist to this day.\n\n\n\n\n_UNKNOWN DEVILS_\n\n\nSuen Pure-whiteness was privileged with the possibility of seeing\ndistinctly all the creatures of the other world, who, for the greater\npart of humanity, remain always mysterious and invisible.\n\nOne night he slept in a mountain monastery; he had closed and barred the\ndoor; the full moon illuminated the window; everything was quiet. He had\nslept an hour, when he was awakened by the hissing of the wind; the gate\nof the monastery seemed to be thrown open; after a while the door of his\nroom was shaken, the bar dropped down, and the heavy wood turned on its\nhinges.\n\nPure-whiteness thought at first that it would be better to close his\neyes and to wait; but his curiosity was aroused, he looked intently;\nafter a few seconds he could see a big devil, so big that he was obliged\nto stoop in order not to break his head against the ceiling, and who was\ncoming slowly towards the bed. His face had the colour and general\nappearance of an old melon. His eyes were full of lightning and his\nmouth was bigger than a tub. His teeth were at least three inches long\nand his tongue kept moving incessantly, while he uttered a sound like\n\"Ha-la.\"\n\nPure-whiteness was much afraid; but, seeing he had no way of escape, he\ntook a short sword from under his pillow and, with all his might, thrust\nit into the devil's breast; it sounded as if he had struck a stone.\n\nThe devil hissed in a fearful way; he extended his claws to catch the\nman. Pure-whiteness jumped on the right side; the devil could only catch\nhis dress and started; the man hastened to unfasten his dress; he\ndropped and remained there on all fours, motionless and mute. When the\ndevil's steps ceased to be heard he screamed for help; the priests came\nwith lamps; everything was in order, but in the bed Pure-witeness was\nyelling as in a nightmare.\n\nOn another day Pure-whiteness was in the country enjoying the pleasures\nof harvest. The golden rice was piled high and everybody was busy. Some\narmed men had been posted here and there, according to the custom;\neverybody knows that when the rice is ripened in a place, people of the\nneighbouring villages are always looking for an opportunity to make the\nharvest themselves or to take away what has been cut by the owners.\n\nPure-whiteness, tired by the heat, laid down behind a rice-stack; after\na while he heard stealthy steps; raising his head, he saw a big devil\nmore than ten feet high, with hair and beard of a fierce reddish colour,\nwho was approaching. Pure-whiteness yelled for help: men with spears\ncame to the rescue. The devil bellowed like the thunder and flew away.\nPure-whiteness told them what he had seen; nobody would believe him, but\nthey nevertheless started in pursuit; people working in the fields all\nround had not seen anything, so everybody came back.\n\nThe second day Pure-whiteness was among four or five men, when he saw\nthe same devil.\n\n\"He has come back!\" cried he, flying away.\n\nThe other people ran away too. When they came back, everything was\nquiet. But they always kept by their side some spears, bows and arrows,\nand swords.\n\nFor two or three days, they had no trouble; the rice was being stored in\nthe granaries, when Pure-whiteness, looking up, screamed:\n\n\"The devil has come back!\"\n\nEverybody ran to his arms. Pure-whiteness fell down; the devil picked\nhim up, bit his head, threw him down, and went away.\n\nWhen the man came back, Pure-whiteness bore the marks of teeth on his\nhead; he did not know anybody. Taken home and nursed, he remained\nunconscious for a few days and died.\n\n\n\n\n_CHILDLESS_\n\n\nIn the city of The-Great-name lived a rich idler named Tuan\nCorrect-happiness. He had then attained the age of forty and still he\nhad no son. His wife, Peaceful-union, was extremely jealous, so that he\ndared not openly buy a concubine, as law authorised him, to continue his\nlineage.\n\nWhen he saw that, at forty, he had no son, he secretly bought a young\ngirl, whom he carefully left outside his own house.\n\nA woman is not easily deceived--a jealous woman especially;\nPeaceful-union soon discovered the whole truth. She had the girl brought\nbefore her and took advantage of an impertinent answer to have her\nbeaten a hundred blows; after that, she turned on her husband and drove\nhim nearly mad with reproaches. What could the poor man do? He sold his\nconcubine to a neighbouring family named Liu, and peace was restored in\nthe house.\n\nThe days and years passed on without any change in the situation; the\nnephews of Correct-happiness, seeing that he was old already and had no\nson, began to fawn upon him, each of them trying to be the one that\nwould be elected as an adopted son to continue the family cult, as is\nthe custom.\n\nPeaceful-union at last began to see her error and regretted bitterly\nwhat she had done.\n\n\"You are only sixty years old,\" said she to her husband. \"Is it too\nlate? Let us buy two chosen girls who will be your second wives; maybe\none of them will give you a son.\"\n\nThe old man smiled sadly; he did not entertain any great hope;\nnevertheless, the concubines were bought. After a year, to the great\nsurprise and joy of everybody, both gave birth--one to a girl, the other\nto a boy. But both children died a few months after.\n\nCorrect-happiness, when winter set in, caught a cold and was soon in a\ndesperate state of health. His nephews were always beside him; but,\nseeing he would adopt neither of them, they began looting the house;\nthey found at last the treasure and took it away openly.\n\nThe moribund was too ill even to know what they did. Peaceful-union\ntried in vain to stop them.\n\n\"Will you leave me to die of hunger? I am the wife of your uncle. I am\nentitled to a part of his riches.\"\n\nBut they would not hear her.\n\n\"If you had borne a son to our uncle, or if he had adopted one of us, we\nwould not have touched a single copper cash of his treasure; but,\nthrough your own fault, he has nobody to maintain his rights; we take\nwhat is our own.\"\n\nWhen the day ended, the widow found herself alone in the deserted and\nemptied house, crying over the body of her dead husband.\n\nSuddenly she heard steps outside the door; a young man appeared on the\nthreshold, his eyes full of tears, covered with the white dress of\nmourning. He entered, kneeled beside the corpse, and, knocking the\nground with his forehead, he began the ritual lamentations.\n\nPeaceful-union stopped crying and looked at him with astonishment; she\ndid not know him.\n\n\"May I ask your noble name? Who are you to cry over my husband's death?\"\n\n\"I am the deceased's only son.\"\n\nThe widow started with surprise and a pang of her old jealousy; would\nher husband have had a son without her knowing it? But the next words\nof the young man explained everything.\n\nTwenty years ago, when she had beaten and sold away the first concubine\nof her husband, she did not know the girl bore already the fruit of this\nshort union. Six months later she had a son, to whom she gave the name\nof Correct-sadness; but, bearing in mind the bad treatment she had\nreceived, she asked the Liu family to keep the child as one of their\nown. They consented and sent the boy to school with their children.\n\nWhen Correct-sadness was eighteen, the chief of the Liu family died; the\nfamily dispersed, and only a small legacy was left to the young man.\nBelieving he was a member of the family, he could not understand what\nhappened, and asked his mother; she told him the truth. Resenting the\nhard treatment inflicted on his mother, he awaited the death of his\nfather to make his own identity known.\n\nPeaceful-union was very happy to hear this story.\n\n\"I am no more without a son,\" said she. \"All that my nephews have taken\naway, treasure and furniture, they must bring back again. If not, the\nmagistrate will send them to die in jail.\"\n\nIn fact, the nephews refused to give back anything. The widow began a\nlawsuit; everything at last was restored to the legal heir.\n\nPeaceful-union hastened to choose him a wife, and as soon as the\nmatrimonial festivities were ended she told her daughter-in-law:\n\n\"My dear child, if I were you, I would ask Correct-sadness to buy\nimmediately one or two good concubines; if you have a son and they have\nalso, so much the better, but you can't realise how difficult to bear it\nis to be childless.\"\n\n\n\n\n_THE PATCH OF LAMB'S SKIN_\n\n\nIn the twenty-fourth year K'ang-hsi lived in a remote district of the\nwestern provinces, a man who could remember his former lives. He was now\na \"tsin-shi,\" \"entered-among-the-learned,\" renowned, and much considered\nby his friends.\n\nWhen speaking of the existences he had gone through, he used to say:\n\n\"As far as I remember, I was first a soldier--it was in the last days of\nthe Ming dynasty; my regiment was encamped at The-Divided-roads on the\nTen-thousand-miles-great-wall. My remembrances are not very clear as to\nwhom we fought with, but I remember the joy of striking the enemy, the\nhissing of the arrows, the yelling of the charging troops.\n\n\"I was still young when I was killed. After death, of course I was\ncalled before the tribunal of The-King-of-shadows. Closing my eyes, I\ncan still see the big caldrons full of boiling oil for the trying of\ncriminals; the Judge in embroidered dress seated behind a red table; the\nsatellites everywhere, ready to act on the first word,--in fact,\neverything exactly the same as in the worldly tribunals, excepting that,\nin the eastern part of the hall, there were huge wooden stands from\nwhich hung skins of every description--horse-skins, lambs' skins, dogs'\nskins, and human skins of every age and condition; skins of old men, of\nfat and important people, of lean and shrivelled men, of boys and girls.\n\n\"The trial began; the souls, according to their deeds, were condemned to\nput on one of the skins and to come up again to the Lighted World in\nthis new shape.\n\n\"When my turn came I was sentenced to put a dog's skin on; and in this\nlow shape I was thrown again in the stream of life. But as I had not\nforgotten my former condition, I was so ashamed, that the first day I\ncame on earth I threw myself under the wheels of a heavy carriage and\ndied.\n\n\"The-King-of-shadows was extremely surprised to see me again so soon;\nthe dogs, as a rule, having no conscience, he could not suppose I had\nkilled myself, and did not hold me responsible for it.\n\n\"This time, I was born again as a pig. Pigs are valuable, and there are\nalways people to look after them; so I could not kill myself. I tried to\nstarve myself to death, but hunger was the strongest, and I had to\nendure such a life. Happily, the butcher soon put a speedy end to it.\n\n\"When my name was called to the tribunal of Darkness, the\nKing-of-shadows looked over the pages of the Book and said:\n\n\"'He must be a lamb now.'\n\n\"The runners took a white lamb's skin, brought it, and began putting it\nover my body. While this was going on, the secretary, who was writing\nthe sentence in the Book, started and said to the Judge:\n\n\"'Your Honour, there is a mistake. Please Your Honour read over again;\nthis soul has to be a man now.'\n\n\"You know that, on the Big Book of Shadows, all our past deeds are\nrecorded as well as our future destiny.\n\n\"The Judge looked at it over again and said:\n\n\"'True! Happily, you saw the mistake.'\n\n\"Then, turning to the runners, he ordered them to take off the skin,\nwhich already covered more than half my body. They had to exert all\ntheir strength, and even so, they tore it off into pieces. It hurt me so\nmuch that I thought I could not stand it and I should die; but I was\ndead, and I could not die more than that.\n\n\"At last they left me bleeding and panting, and I was born again in my\npresent condition. But they had forgotten a piece of lamb's skin on my\nright shoulder, and I still have it now.\"\n\nAnd he uncovered his arm and shoulder to show a piece of white woollen\nhair on his right shoulder.\n\n\n\n\n_LOVE'S-SLAVE_\n\n\nIn the City-between-the-rivers lived a young student named Lan. He had\njust passed successfully his second literary examination, and, walking\nin the Street-of-the-precious-stones, asked himself what he would now do\nin life.\n\nWhile he was going, looking vacantly at the passers-by, he saw an old\nfriend of his father, and hastened to join his closed fists and to\nsalute him very low, as politeness orders.\n\n\"My best congratulations!\" answered the old man. \"What are you doing in\nthis busy street?\"\n\n\"Nothing at all; I was asking myself what profession I am now to\npursue.\"\n\n\"What profession? Which one would be more honourable than that of\nteacher? It is the only one an 'elevated man' _Kiu-jen_ of the second\ndegree, can pursue. By the by, would you honour my house with your\npresence? My son is nearly eighteen. He is not half as learned as he\nshould be, and, besides, he has a very bad temper. I feel very old; if I\nknew you would consent to give him the right direction and be a second\nfather to him, I would not dread so much to die and leave him alone.\"\n\nLan bowed and said:\n\n\"I am much honoured by your proposition, and I accept it readily. I will\ngo to-morrow to your palace.\"\n\nTwo hours after, a messenger brought to the young man a packet\ncontaining one hundred ounces of silver, with a note stating that this\ncomparatively great sum represented his first year's salary.\n\nIn the evening he knocked at his pupil's door and was ushered into the\nsitting-room. The old man introduced him to the whole family: first his\nson, a lad with a decided look boding no good; then a young and\nbeautiful girl of seventeen, his daughter, called Love's-slave. Lan was\nstruck by the sweet and refined appearance of his pupil's sister.\n\n\"The sight of her will greatly help me to stay here,\" thought he.\n\nThe next morning, when his first lesson was ended, he strolled out into\nthe garden, admiring here a flower and there an artificial little\nwaterfall among diminutive mountain-rocks. Behind a bamboo-bush he\nsuddenly saw Love's-slave and was discreetly turning back, when she\nstopped him by a few words of greeting.\n\nEvery day they thus met in the solitude of the flowers and trees and\ngrew to love each other. Lan's task with his pupil was greater and\nharder than he had supposed; but for Love's-slave's sake, he would never\nhave remained in the house.\n\nAfter three months the old man fell ill; the doctors were unable to cure\nhim; he died, and was buried in the family ground, behind the house.\n\nWhen Lan, after the funeral, told his pupil to resume his lessons, he\nmet with such a reception that he went immediately to his room and\npacked his belongings. Love's-slave, hearing from a servant what had\nhappened, went straight to her lover's room and tried to induce him to\nstay.\n\n\"How can you ask that from me?\" said he. \"After such an insult, I would\nconsider myself as the basest of men if I stayed. I have 'lost face'; I\nmust go.\"\n\nThe girl, seeing that nothing could prevail upon his resolution, went\nout of the room, but silently closed and locked the outer gate.\n\nLan left on a table what remained of the silver given him by the old\nman, and wrote a note to inform his pupil of his departure.\n\nWhen he tried the gate and found it locked, he did not know at first\nwhat to do. Then he remembered a place where he could easily climb over\nthe enclosure, went there, threw his luggage over the wall, and let\nhimself out in this somewhat undignified way.\n\nBefore going back to his house, he went round to the tomb of the old man\nand burnt some sticks of perfume. Kneeling down, he explained\nrespectfully to the dead what had happened and excused himself for\nhaving left unfinished the task he had undertaken. Rising at last, he\nwent away.\n\nThe next morning Love's-slave, pleased with her little trick, came to\nthe student's room and looked for him; he was nowhere to be found. She\nsaw the silver on the table, and, reading the note he had left, she\nunderstood that he would never come back.\n\nHer grief stifled her; heavy tears at last began running down her rosy\ncheeks. She took the silver, went straight to her father's tomb,\nfastened the heavy metal to her feet, and unrolled a sash from her\nwaist. Then, making a knot with the sash round her neck, she climbed up\nthe lower branches of a big fir-tree, fastened the other end of the\ncoloured silk as high as she could and threw herself down. A few minutes\nafterwards she was dead. She was discovered by a member of the family,\nand quietly buried in the same enclosure.\n\nLan, who did not know anything, came back two or three days after to see\nher. The servants told him the truth. Silently and sullenly, he went to\nthe tomb, and long remained absorbed in his thoughts; dusk was\ngathering; the first star shone in the sky. All of a sudden, hearing a\nsound as of somebody laughing, he turned round. Love's-slave was before\nhis eyes.\n\n\"I was waiting for you, my love,\" she said in a strange and muffled\nvoice. \"Why are you coming so late?\"\n\nAs he wanted to kiss her, she stopped him:\n\n\"Oh dear! I am dead. But it is decreed that I will come again to life if\na magician performs the ceremony prescribed in the\nBook-of-Transmutations.\"\n\nImmaterial like an evening fog, she disappeared in the growing darkness.\n\nLan returned immediately to the town, and, entering the first Taoist\ntemple he saw, he explained to the priest what he wanted.\n\n\"If she has said it is decreed she should come back to life, we have\nonly to go and open her tomb, while here my disciples will sing the\nproper chapters of the Book. Let us go now.\"\n\nGiving some directions to his companions, he took a spade and started\nwith Lan. The moon was shining, so that without any lantern they were\nable to perform their gloomy task.\n\nOnce the heavy lid of the coffin was unscrewed and taken off, the body\nof the young girl appeared as fresh as if she had been sleeping.\n\nWhen the cold night-air bathed her face, she raised her head, sneezed,\nand sat up; looking at Lan, she said in a low voice:\n\n\"At last, you have come! I am recalled to life by your love. But now I\nam feeble; don't speak harshly to me; I could not bear it.\"\n\nLan, kissing her lovingly, took her in his arms and brought her to his\nhouse. After some days she was able to walk and live like ordinary\npeople do.\n\nThey married and lived happily together for a year. Then, one day, Lan,\nhaving come back half-drunk from a friend's house, was rebuked by her,\nand, incensed, pushed her back. She did not say a word but, fainting,\nshe fell down. Blood ran from her nostrils and mouth; nothing could\nrecall her departing spirit.\n\n\n\n\n_THE LAUGHING GHOST_\n\n\nSiu Long-mountain was one of the most celebrated students of the\ndistrict of Perfect-flowers. Having mastered the mysterious theories of\nthe ancient Classics, he took a fancy in the researches of the Taoist\nmagicians, whose temples may be found in the smallest villages of the\nEmpire. He soon discovered that, for the greater number, they were\nimpostors; and, being proud of his newly acquired science, he concluded\nthat none of them possessed any occult power.\n\nWhen he came to this somewhat hasty conclusion, he was seated alone in\nhis library; the night was already advancing; a small oil lamp hardly\nilluminated his books on the table he was sitting at.\n\n\"Yes, there is no doubt; nothing exists outside the material\nappearances. There is nothing occult in the world, and nothing can come\nout of nothingness.\"\n\nAs he was saying these words half aloud, he was startled by an unearthly\nlaugh which seemed to come from behind his back. He turned quickly\nround; but nothing was to be seen.\n\nHis heart beating, he was listening intently; the laugh came from\nanother part of the room.\n\nLong-mountain was brave, but as people are brave who have only met the\nordinary dangers of civilised life, such as barking dogs, insulting\ncoolies, or angry dealers presenting a long-deferred bill. He tried in\nvain to believe it was only a joke imposed on him by some friend;\nnothing could prevail upon his growing terror.\n\nStraining his eyes, he looked at the part of the room the laugh seemed\nto come from. At first he could not see anything, but by degrees he\nperceived a black shadow moving in a corner, then a strange form with a\nhorse's head and a man's body, all covered with long black hair; the\nteeth were big and sharp as so many mountain-peaks. The eyes of this\ndreadful creature began shining so much that the whole room was\nilluminated. Then it began moving towards the man.\n\nThis was too much; the student screamed like a dying donkey, and,\nbursting the door open, he ran out into the courtyard.\n\nFrom an open door in the western pavilion a ray of light crossed the\ndarkness; four or five men were playing cards, drinking, and swearing.\nLong-mountain ran into their room, and, panting, explained his vision.\n\nThe men, being drunk, wanted to see the Thing; holding lanterns and\nlamps, they accompanied their visitor back to his studio. When they\npassed the doorway, Long-mountain screamed again; the Thing was still\nthere. He would have run away had not the men, laughing and jesting,\nshown him what the Ghost in reality was--a long dress hung in a corner\nto a big hook, on which sat a black cat mewing desperately.\n\nWhen the men closed the door and left him alone, the student was deeply\nashamed of his terror; shaken by his emotion, he went to bed and tried\nto sleep. Sleep would not come; his nervousness seemed to increase.\nStarting at the smallest noise, he remained a long time wide awake; then\nhe lost consciousness.\n\nIn the silence one only heard the cries of the night-birds and the\nbuzzing of the autumn's insects; the lamp was out, but a brilliant moon\nbegan to pour its silver light through the window.\n\nThe door suddenly creaked; Long-mountain awoke and sat up on his bed;\nthe door slowly opened, and the same Thing he had seen and heard entered\nthe room and advanced towards the bed, while the same unearthly laugh\ncame from the long and unshapely head; the flaming eyes were fixed on\nthe student.\n\nWhen the Thing was near the bed, Long-mountain fell heavily and did not\nmove any more.\n\nThe Ghost stopped, put his hand on the breast of the man, remained in\nthat position a moment, then went quickly and silently out of the room.\n\nA man was standing outside.\n\n\"What did he say?\" asked he.\n\n\"Be quiet!\" said the Ghost, taking off his horse's head and discovering\na man's very serious face. \"The joke was good. But we have done it too\nwell. I think he is dead of terror; we had better be as silent as a tomb\nabout all this. The magistrate would never believe in a joke; we would\nbe held responsible for this death and pay a heavy penalty.\"\n\n                                 THE END\n\n\n_Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury,\nEngland._","title":"Strange Stories from the Lodge of Leisures","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":24392}