Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1885-11-06

And before be had yet spoken to her they
came before the ancestral tablets and there
she knelt with him and prayed, and pledged
him in a cup OF wine-brought be knew not
from whence-and together they worshipped
Heaven and Earth. Thus she became his
wife.
A strange marriage, IL seemed for nietber
on that day nor at any future time could
Tong venture 10 ask bis wife the name Of her
family, or of the place whence she came,
and he could not answer any Of the curious
questions which his fellow -laborers put to
him concerning her and she, moreover,
never uttered a word about herself, except to
say that her name was Tohi. But although
Tong had such awe Of her that while her
eyes we're upon him he was as one having no
will OF his own, he loved her unspeakably
and the thought of his serfdom ceased to
weigh upon him from the hour of his mar
riage. As through magic the little dwelling
had become transformed; its misery was
masked with charming paper devices, with
dainty decorations created out Of nothing by
that pretty jugglery Of which woman only
knows the secret
Each morning at dawn the young husband
found well-prepared and ample repsst await
ing him, and each evening also upon his re-
turn but the wife all day sat at her loom,
weaving silk unlike anything which had ever
been seen before in that province. For as
she wove, the silk flowed from her loom like
q slow current of glossy gold, bearing upon
its undulations strange forms Of violet and
crimson and jewel green, shapes of ghostly
horsemen riding upon horses, and of phan-
tom ohariots dragon-drAwn and of standards
of trailing cloud. In every dragon beard
glimmered the mystic pearl; In every riders
helmet sparkled the gem of rank. And each
day Tchi would weave great piece of such
figured silk, and the fame Of her weaving
| spread abroad. From far and from near
people thronged to see the marvellous work,
| and the silk merchants of great cities heard
| Of II, and they sent messengers 10 Tchi, ask
ing her that she should weave for them and
teach them her secret. Then she wove for
them, as they desired, in return for the silver
| cubes which they brought her but when
they prayed her 10 teach them, she laughed
and said, "Assuredly could never teach you,
for nc. one among you has fingers like mine"
And indeed no man could discern her fingers
when she wove, any more than he might be-
hold the wings of o bee vibrating in swift
fight
The seasons passed. and Tchi never knew
want, so well did his beautiful wife fulfil her
promise, 'I SoiH pr00ide." and the cubes of
bright silver brought by the silk merchants
we're piled up higher and higher in the great
cArven chest which Tchi had bought for the
storage OF the nOusenOld goods.
One morning, at last, when Tong having
finished his repast was about to depart TO
the fields, Tchi Unexpectedly bade him re-
main, and opening the great chest, she took
out Of II and gave him document written in
the official character called h-chu. And Tong
looking at it, cried out and leaped in his joy,
for il was the certificate of his manumission.
Tchi had secretly purchased her husbands
freedom with the price of her wondrous
silks.
Thou shalt labor no more for any mas
ter, she said, "but for thy own sake only.
Aud 1 have also bought this dwelling, with
all which is therein, and the tea fields to the
south, and the mulberry groves hard by, all
Of which are thine"
Then Tong, beside himself for grateful
ness, would have prostrated himself in wor-
ship before her, but that she would not suf-
fer 1t.
Thus he was made free, and prosperity
came TO him with his freedom, and whatso-
ever he gave to the sacred earth was returned
to him centupled, and his servants loved him
and blessed the beautiful Tchi, so silent and
yet 30 kindly TO all about her. But the silk
loom soon remained untouched, for Tohi gave
birth to a son-a boy so beautiful that Tong
wept with delight when he looked upon him.
And therefore the wife devoted herself Who'll
ly to the care of her child.
Now 1t soon became manifest that the boy
was not less wonderful than his wonderful
mother. In the third month of his age he
could speak in the seventh month he could
repeat by heart the proverbs of the sages and
recite the holy prayers before the eleventh
month he could use the writing brush with
skill, and copy in shapely characters the pre-
cepts of LAo-tseu. And the priests of the
temples came to behold him and to converse
with him, and they marvelled at the charm
Of the child and the wisdom of what he said,
and they blessed Tong, saying: ''Surely this
son of thine is a gift from the Master of
Heaven, sign that the immortals love thee
May thine eyes behold q hundred happy sum-
mers,"
1t was in the Period of the Eleventh Moon;
the flowers had passed away, the perfume Of
the summer had flown, the winds were grow
ing chill, and in Tong's home the evening
fires were lighted. Long the husband and
the wife sat in the mellow glow, he speaking
much Of his hopes and joys, and of his son
that was to be so grand q man, and of many
paternAl projects, while she, speaking little,
listened to his words, and often turned her
wonderful eyes upon him with an answering
smile. Never had she seemed so beautiful
before and Tong, watching her face, mark
ed not how the night waned, nor how the
fire sank low, nor how the wind sang in the
leafless trees without.
All suddenly Tohi arose without speaking,
and took his hand in hers and led him-gent-
ly as on that strange wedding morning-to
the cradle where their boy slumbered, family
smiling In his dreams. And in that moment
there came upon Tong the same strange fear
that he knew whom Tchi's eyes had first met
his own-the vague fear that love and trust
had calmed, but never wholly cast out, like
unto the fear of the gods And all unknow-
ingly, like one yielding to the pressure of
mighty invisible hands, he bowed himself
low before her, kneeling as to divinity. Now
when he lifted his eyes again to her face, he
closed them forthwith in awe, for she lowered
before him taller than any mortal woman,
and there was a glow about her as Of sun
beams, and the light of her limbs shone
through her garments. But her sweet voice
came to him with all the tenderness of other
hours, saying, "Lo my beloved, the hour
has come in which must leave thee for
was never Of mortal born, and the Invisible
may incarnate themselves for the time only.
Yet leave with thee the pledge of our love
the fair son who shall ever be TO thee as
faithful and as fond as thou thyself hast been.
Know, my beloved, that was sent to thee |
even by the Master in Heaven, In reward of |
thy filial piety, and that must now return to |
the glory of His house-I am the goddess
Tchi-N -Niu."
Even as she ceased TO speak the great glow |
faded out and Tong, re-opening his eyes,
knewthat she had passed away forever-mys- |
teriously as pass the winds Of heaven ire. |
vocably as the light of flame blown out. |
Yet all the doors were barred, all the win |
dows unopened. Still the child slept, smil- |
ing strangely in his sleep. Outside, the |
darkness was breaking; the sky was bright |
ening swiftly the night was past. With |
splendid majesty the east threw open high |
gates of gold for the coming of the sun and |
Illuminated by the glory Of his coming, the |
vapoTs of the morning wrought themselves |
into marvellous shapes of shining color-into |
forms wferdly beautiful as the silken dreams |
woven in the loom of Tchi-Niu.-HaTpers |
Bazdr.
Hope, Faith and Charity.