Middletown transcript., 1874-03-14

ID ana OUT among Lno, crown vuey -upuu, I,
sths three cha,iag. i Tepsds ssissd hold Of
the chaplst that crowned her; il broke.
and o. she whirled along, spray Of rose
buds was scattered from ker. bro = in every
direction. Anything mors grassful never
was seefi. Aud NOW I greater wonder.
eAt',hs extremity ofthe ban the thrss sur
rounded apd would have seized her. when. !.
still revolving. As rose sIowly into the
sir and doased gently over opr heads TO-
wards the stage. scattsfing roses % she
went. Al the briGk X tbs stage she
psussd 10 nid-air !, shep. with !, slight
wing.liks motion Of der sr.ns, mounted
up, up up tSwards The loftisst arch Of the
vault loverhsad. Suddenly old Norodom
seized i bow and arrow aud shst towards
her. There Was ! villa shrek. atashisg
sound. and tho dancer foll with crash to
the flags Of the floor, and laid there M ap-
parently bloody mass. The music burst
forth Into wild vail. and TIE chorus Of
old hags came tumSltuously forth and bore
her, of 10 their arms. n NsL
. Nov, from behind the red curtain came
dozen strong men. bsarisg on their shout
ders great lcsdsn bog. which they laid
upon the front part Of the stage Az they
retired the old women came sut. Bringing
low couch. decorated with flowers and
gDld. embroidered sapery. upon which lay
Lusn- Prsbana, dscked forth in bridal gar.
msnts, aud sweetly sleeping The couch
with its sleeper was pat quickly down upon
the front Of the stage and left there. while
Norodom and Tepada went 70 the leadcn
box, and with hot Trims attempted to un-
seal it THAT is Stung- Tieng's coffin" !"
Whispered Woun to me; ''the old saint
has been dead more than, half . milleu-
ium." ~
Quickly, eagerly it seemed to me, the
tw,, men broke open the fast-nings Of the
coffin, until the side next the audience fall
ing out at last. a teak. box was discovered
This was priced open with small crow bar,
aud what seemed great bundle Of nan
keen taken out, Tapada and Norodan,
commenced to unwind this wrapping,
which was very tight. Yard after yard
was unwouhd and folded away BY MIMI
man, and ut last. after at lenss ono hun
ired yards Of wrapping had been taken
"f. the dry, shriysled mummy Of q small.
old man vas visible-eyes closed. flesh
Try and hard-desf and dry as smoked
herring. Norodom tapped the corpse with
the erowhar. and it gave a dull. wooden
sound. Tepada tossed il up and caughr
tit was stiff as a log. Then he placed
'hs mummy upon Nsrodom's knees, and
fetched flask of oil. flask Of wine, and
II censer burning with some pungrat in
ccnse. Norodom took fre,n his hair lit
tie box of unguent, and prying open the
mouth Of the mummy with cold chisel.
-hswed that the dry tongue could rattle
like chip, sgsinst the dry fauces. He
tiled the mouth with unguont and closed
it. and annnintea the syslida. rostr,ls. and
ears. Then he and Tepada mixed the
wine and oil, and carefully rubbed every
part Of the body With it. Then. laying il
down in reclining position. they put the
burning censer upon the chest and with
drew pace, while the drums aud gongs
and cymbals crashed and clat,ea. and the
shrill. cackling treble Of the chorus Of old
women rose hideously. ssss. siss.
A breathless pause ensued-one, two.
three minutes-and the mummy snsssed
snsezed thrice, SO violently as to extin-
guish the fame Of the censsr. A moment
later the thing sat up, aud stared blinking
aud vacant out around the vault-an old.
old. wrinkled nan. with mumbling chops,
shrivslsd breast and belly, aud little
tufts Of white hair upon his chin and fore
head. Tepada approached him reverently
upsn his knees, bringing salvar. with
wine anda wafer.cake. The old man did
not notice him. but ate. drank, thea tot
tered 10 his feet, the fssblest, desrepit old
dotard that ever walked. In anothsr mo-
! ment he saw the nsuteh girl slum beriug
up~n her couch; be scu6lsd fsebly to h.r.
aud, mumbling. stopped as il to help his
dim eyes to see her better. With y glad
cry the maiden walked. claspod him in .het
arms aud to her breast. and kissed him
lnsomprehensiblc magic! He was nu
longer nouagsnarinn dntard. but full
veined. 6ery youth. who gave her kiss far
kiss. How tho transformation was wrought
| have no idea. but there il was before OUT
very eyes The music grew soft and paa-
sionate. the chorus of the old women came
out. aud with strange Phallic songs and
dances bsre tho two away-a bridal pair.
/ never expect again to behold q
sight 50 wonderful as that whole transfor.
n'uiion. which, msy men.inn, my learned
JESUIT friend. to whom I described it. rc-
CARDS ~ piece Of purs symb"lism. Hi
4 explanation is too long and too learned II
quote. but he connects this ceremony with
the world-old myth Of Venus and Adonis
and claims that it is all form Of Sun.
Worship.
i The chow vent on for some time longer
with many curious fcats. At the end ei
an honr the Phallic procession returned
but shls time the l3aynderc led II. 1 strung.
triumph In her eyes. whiIc the; youth lay
npo'r tho copch sleeping. The Phsllit
choras sank into . dirge. the youth fsdtt
visibly be was again the shriscled doisrh
he sighed. thea breathed NO more. Lusn
! Prabana rstired'sorrowfully; Norodom ant
N, TepudA wrapped the cOrrse a rain IN n,