The Red Cloud chief., 1880-04-29

orcist Tia priest comes n with tiG
gong, robes, and inter. ETC., bat Tie
ghost catches hold q the gong, and
beats the devils tattoo on IL clsps the
inter on his own head, strips the
priest Of his robes, and vows hen cx.
orCise his reverence. ''Oh, your ~.
cellency," whimpers the priest. falling
on his knesA had I known yuu'd
really boon In the house. I'd neser have
come near the place. fonly came 70
try toearn a few cash" The ghost.
however. exercises him without mercy.
and he has TO decamp minus his par.
aphemalia-
Ghosts Of gods are lot uncommon.
and are often highly serviceabls. A
few years agothe following was grayely
related in the Pekin Gazefk. when
The Mohammedans were bcsie9ing
Channwei, they suddenly halted and
run away. The fact was, they had APP
preached the temple Of Ts-pipeh (god
of the planet Venus), and there they
saw an awful vision: - in golden
mail, numerous as forest trees, and
armed with sword and shield. were
drawn up in battle array along the city
wall, and red lamps innumerable lighted
them up. The enemies hearts failed
them, and a sudden discharge OF can
non put them TO fight"
Here is another class OF superstition,
which reminds US ofysome weird Ger
man and Sclay legends about building
a living man ~ woman into q bridge
or tswer. which could::on no other condi.
tions be completed. "When the bell.
tower Of Pekin was built" says Mr.
Stent, In a paper on Chinese legends.
1.-THE Emperor Yunglo. Of the Ming
dynasty, ordered q great Mandarin.
named kuan-yu, TO cast q bell big
enough for such a noble building.
Time after time Kuan-yu and the clev-
crest workmen in the country tried TO
cast a bell, and failed; the casting was
| always honey-combed. and the Empe-
ror said that il there wa more fail
ure, kuan-yu's head should pay the
forfeit. Now, Kuan-yu had q daughter,
q lovely girl Of sixteen, named ko-ai;
and when she learned what was to be
done, she went to a celebrated astrolo-
| ger and asked the cause Of her fathers
failure! Some demon, she was told, re-
quired O maiden's blood to be mixed
with the metal, and unless this was
done, the next casting would be a fail
ure like the others. Ko-ai at once took
her resolution. She got leave from her
father TO be present at the casting; and
| amid the dead silence which prevailed
when the taps were drawn and the
molten stream poured down into the
mold, a shrek was heard, and crying
out, For my father ko-ai threw her
self headlong into the seething metal.
One Of the workmen tried to seize her,
but only succeeded in getting hold of q
shoe, which came off in his hand. The
father had TO be held back by force
from following Ko-ai's example. He
was taken home a raving mailman; but
the bell was perfect in make and tone,
and when struck. its boom is
to this day followed by a low, wailing
sound like the wall Of a woman in ag-
ony, and when people hear it they
say, There's poor Ko-ai calling for her
Shoe"
Where did those tales come from
which we call the Arabian Nights3
Some of them, we know, tell us about
Chinese Emperors and Princesses--
BadroulboudOur, to wit. OF others,
Chinese legends give us other forms.
Thus "Open Sesame" finds its parallel
in the story Of a ave neal which lived q
poor young herdsman, who bore the
not unusual name Of Chang. One LAY,
as he wa passing, he heard a voice say,
Stone door, open; Mr.. Kwei-ku is
coming" The cave opened, and the
invisible speaker entered; and by-and-by
the same voice said, "Stone door,
shut; Mr.. Kwei-ku is going" Where
upon the cave closed SO that no n
could see where the entrance had been.
Chang at once determined to see what
was inside; so, one day, taking care
hat Mr.. Kwei-ku was gone out, he used
the formula. and at once gained an en-
trance. Chinese legends are often UNI
practical, so we need not wonder that
there is no hint of any treasure inside.
1t was simply a vast romantic cavern
He came out, shut the door by using the
proper form of words. and then told his
only living relative, his grandmother.
She must needs see it too; but, wander
ing inside, they got separated, and
Chang. fancying she had left first, came
out and closed the caves mouth. Not
finding her at home, he rushed back,
horror-stricken, to seek her; but now
all his efforts to obtain an entrance
failed. The magic words had lost their
power; and he felt that his grandmother
must be either starved to death or de.
voured by Mr.. Kwei-ku. Just then this
dreaded parsonage appeared to him,
and told him that the fates had taken
his grandmother; the ave demanded Q
victim. Let him marry and take COM
fort in the thought that his children
would have power over demons. And
so it was; Changes son became the mas
ter of heaven" the first holder "a. d.
25 Is about the date assigned to the
story of an Office which has lasted on
to the present day.
Stories of magic tombs are found
among most peoples, nor are they want
ing in China. Kungming was a sort OF
Chinese Michael Scott; and m day the
Emperor Hung-wu and his chief coun.
cillor, passing near his tomb, were
seized with a wish to visit it. The En-.
peror and his courtier wore suits of iron
mail, after the fashion of those days;
so, breaking through into the ante.
chamber, they read an inscription that
whoever visited the tomb should have
his hands tied-a prophecy fulfilled by
their hands getting for some time fast
wedged into the passage through which
they squeezed themselves. Breaking
through the second door. they found
several figures, toward which they be.
nou to ha atiractad hv ON irroS;sfihIn