Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-08-06

lo4 Te3uSs y'a vi WORTH Tor the
metals bad reoei'ed one against the other
The gold bad seorned alliance with the
brsss; the siISer would not mlngle With
The molten iron. Therefore the meulds
had 10 he once moro Prepared. and tue firez
rrkirdIed. and the meta! remelted- and All
the work tediously and toilsomel, ren .sted
The Son Of Heaven heard and wa, angry:
but spake nothing.
A second time the bell was cast; and the
result was even worse. still the metals OBJ.
stir tely refused to blend one with the
other; and tnere was no uniformity In the
bell, and the sides Of Il were cracked and
fissurcd, and the lips OF IL were sIagged and
SPLIT asuncer. 30 that all the labor had 10
be repeated even third time, 10 the great
djsmsy OF houan- u. Aud when the Son
Of Heaven heard these things, he was
,nxricr than before; and sent his mes
scnger TO Kouan-Yu with a letter written
uron lemon-eolored silk, and sealed with
the seal Of The Dragon, containing these
words:
"Frcm the Mighty Iong.Lo. the Sub
lime Taif-sung tbe celestial aud August
whose reign Is called 'Mlne,'-to Kouan-
Yu tie Fubyin Twice thou hast betrayed
the trust we have deigned yiaciousIy to
race IN thee ;--if thou fail third time IN
fulfilling our command. thy head shall be
severed from thy neck. -. Tremble, and
obey!"
Now Kouan-Yu had daughter OF dag.
cling loneliness whose name, Ko-Ngai, was
ever In the mouths OF poets, and whose
heart was even more beautiful than her
iace. Ko-Ngai loved her father with such
love that she had refused hundred wor-
thy suiiors rather than make his home deso-
late by her absence; and when she had
seen the awful yellow missive, sealed with
The Dragon-Seal. she tainted away with
fear for her fathers sake. And when her
senses and her strength returned to her
she could not rest or sleep for thinking OF
her parents danger, until she had secretly
sold some Of her jewels, and with the
money so obtained had fastened TO an
sstrologer and paid him n great price to
sdy.se her by what means her father might
be saved from the peril impending over
him. So the astrologcr made observations
CT the heavens. aud marked the aspect
Of The Silver Stream (which we call The
Nilky-Way)-snd examined the signs Of
the Zodiso--tbe Weong-tao or Yellow
Re, 4-and consulted the table Of the Five
HIN, or principles Of the Universe, and the
mystical books Of the alchemists. And
after 8 long silence he made answer to her.
saying: "Gold and brass will never NEE.
In wcdlock; silver and iron never will EN-.
brace, until the flesh OF maiden be melted
in the crucible. until the blood Of virgin
be mixed with the metals in their fli-
sion.". b.. so Ks-Nsai returned home sor-
rswiul at hcsIt; but she kept secret all that
she had heard, and told no one what she
had done.
At last came the awful day when the
third and last effort TO cast the great bell
was TO be made; and Ko-Ngai. together
With her waiting-womsn, accompanied her
isiher 10 the foundry. and they took their
places upon the platform overlooking the
iUiling Of the moulders and the lava OF
liquoftG metal. All the workmen WI ought
their task In silence; there was no sound
heard but the muttering OF the fires. And
she muttering deepened into . roar, like
the roar OF typhooDs approaching and
the blood-red lake OF metal slowly bright
cued like tho vermilion Of sunrise-,nd
the yermilion was transmitted into a "a
disnt glow OF gold-and the gold whlsened
blindingly like the silver face OF full
moon go. Then the workers cesssd TO
feed The raving flame, and all fixed their
eyes upon the eyes OF KousnYu; and
Kouan-Yu prepared 10 give the signal 10
east.
But ere he lifted his finger q sharp cry
ssuxed him 10 turn his head, and oil heard
the voice OF Ko-Ngai sounding sharply
sweet ~ q birds song above she great
thunder OF the fires &" Tor Nv Sate, 0 my
Jdtter!" And even a. she cried, she
lesped into the white food OF metal,
and the lava OF the furnace roared to 70
ceivs her, and spattered monstrous flakes
CT fame TO the Roof, and burst over the
verge Of tho earthsn crater. aud cast up 9
whirling fountain Of many colored 6res.
and subsidized quskingly with lighsnings
and with tbunders and with mutterings.
Then the father OF Ko-Ngai, mad with
his grief, would have leaped Ia after her,
but that strong men held him back and
kept firm grasp upon him until he bad
tainted away. and they could bear him like
one dead TO bis home. And the serving.
woman Of Ko.Ngsi, dizzy and speechlsw
for pain, stood before the furnaess, still
holding In her bands . shoe. tiny, dainty
shoe, with embroidery Of pearls and now
ers, The shoe Of her beautiful mistress that
,,as sSor she bad sought to grasp Ko-Ngd
by the foot as she leaped, but had only been
able TO clutch the shoe, and the pretty shoe
came off in her hand; aud she
continued TO stare at it like one gone mad
But in spite Of all thcse things the CON-
mand OF the Celestial and August had to
be obeyed. and the work OF The moulders
to be tnished-hopeless as the result might
be. Yet the glow Of the metal sosmed
purer and whittier than before; and there
was no sign Of tho beautiful body that had
been entombed therein. So the ponderous
casting was made; and, 10! when the
metal bad become cool. IL was found that
the bell was beautiful to look upon,
and Perfect In form, and wonderful In
color above all other bells. Nor was
Ko-Ngsi; for It had been to6Ay absorbed |
by the precious alloy, and blended with
the vell.blended brass and gold-with the |
Of the silver and the iron.
And when they sounded the bell Its tones |
we're found to be deeper and melloUer and |
mighiier than the tones OF any other bell |
reaching even beyond the distance OF lve
hundred Il, like the pealing Of summer
ihunder-2nd yet also like some vast voice
u,teriDg q name, a woman's name, the |
nsniS OF Ko-Ngai!
And still, between esch mighty strske,
here Is long, low moaning heard; and
,yer the moaning ends with sound OF sob
,ing and Of complaining, a. though a weep
ng woman should murmur HAL" And
I'LL, when the people hear that great golden
moan, they keep silence; but when the
harp, sweet. shuddering comes in the air,
md the sobbng Of "hidi i"-then indeed
10 ell the Chinese mothers in all the many
oored ways Of Peking whisper to their
title ones Listen!- hat is 10 Ngoi cry
r9 for her shoe !-ihd! Is 10 hgai calling
m her ekns -