The yellow tea leaf circling as it falls; The futile wheeling of the storm-tossed swan; The note of the marble lute at evening by the pool; The immobile cypress seen against the sun.The unnecessarily difficultexamination paper.All these things are suggestive of the Autumn.
The growing attraction of a well-lined couch.The obsequious demeanour of message-bearers, charioteers, and the club-armed keepers of peace.The explosion of innumerable fire-crackers round the convivial shines, The gathering together of relations who at all other times shun each other markedly.The obtrusive recollection of a great many things contrary to a spoken vow, and the inflexible purpose to be more resolute in future.These in turn invariably attend each Winter.
It certainly had not presented itself to me before that the words "invariably attend" are ill-chosen, but as I would have uttered them their inelegance became plain, and this person made eight conscientious attempts to soften down their harsh modulation by various interchanges.He was still persevering hopefully when he of chief authority approached and requested that the one who was thus employed and that same other would leave the hall tranquilly, as the all-water entertainment was at an end, and an attending slave was in readiness to extinguish the lanterns.
"Yet," I protested unassumingly, "that which has so far been expressed is only in the semblance of an introductory ode.There follow--""You must not argue with the Chair," exclaimed another interposing his voice."Whatever the Chair rules must be accepted.""The innuendo is flat-witted," I replied with imperturbable dignity, but still retaining my hold upon the rail."When this person so far loses his sense of proportion as to contend with an irrational object, devoid of faculties, let the barb be cast.After that introduction dealing with the four seasons, the twelve gong-strokes of the day are reviewed in a like fashion.These in turn give place to the days of the month, then the moons of the year, and finally the years of the cycle.""That's fair," exclaimed the perverse though well-meaning youth, whom I was beginning to recognise as the cause of some misunderstanding among us."If you don't want any more of his poem-- and I don't blame you--my pal Ho, who is one of the popular Flip-Flap Troupe, offers to do some trick cycle-riding on his ears.What more can you expect?""We expect a policeman very soon," replied another severely."He hasalready been sent for."
"In that case," said the one who had so persistently claimed me as an ally, "perhaps I can do you a service by directing him here"; and leaving this person to extricate himself by means of a reassuring silence and some of the larger silver pieces of the Island, he vanished hastily.
With some doubt whether or not this deviation into the society of the professedly virtuous, ending as it admittedly does in an involvement, may not be deemed ill-starred; yet hopeful.KONG HO.
THE THREE GIFTS
Related by Kong Ho on the occasion of the all-water disportment, under the circumstances previously set forth.
BEYOND the limits of the township of Yang-chow there dwelt a rich astrologer named Wei.Reading by his skilful interpretation of the planets that he would shortly Pass Above, he called his sons Chu, Shan, and Hing to his side and distributed his wealth impartially among them.To Chu he gave his house containing a gold couch; to Shan a river with a boat; to Hing a field in which grew a prolific orange-tree."Thus provided for," he continued, "you will be able to live together in comfort, the resources of each supplying the wants of the others in addition to his own requirements.Therefore when I have departed let it be your first care to sacrifice everything else I leave, so that I also, in the Upper Air, may not be left destitute."Now in addition to these three sons Wei also had another, the youngest, but one of so docile, respectful, and self-effacing a disposition that he was frequently overlooked to the advantage of his subtle, ambitious, and ingratiating brothers.This youth, Kao, thinking that the occasion certainly called for a momentary relaxation of his usual diffidence, now approached his father modestly, and begged that he also might be included to some trivial degree in his bounty.
This reasonable petition involved Wei in an embarrassing perplexity.Although he had forgotten Kao completely in the division, he had nowdefinitely concluded the arrangement; nor, to his failing powers, did it appear possible to make a just allotment on any other lines."How can a person profitably cut up an orange-tree, a boat, an inlaid couch, or a house?" he demanded."Who can divide a flowing river, or what but unending strife can arise from regarding an open field in anything but its entirety? Assuredly six cohesive objects cannot be apportioned between four persons." Yet he could not evade the justice of Kao's implied rebuke, so drawing to his side a jade cabinet he opened it, and from among the contents he selected an ebony staff, a paper umbrella, and a fan inscribed with a mystical sentence.These three objects he placed in Kao's hands, and with his last breath signified that he should use them discreetly as the necessity arose.
