St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-05-04

| cn0W woke up the goSSlpS went around
| telling of wonderful woman who had
come so suddenly into house so near
the big temple that the sun could only
shine onsthree sides Of it. A strange
woman was this, not like any of the
Han-chow women. Her eyes were big
and blue like the summer sky, and
round like lichee nut. Her hair was
yellow, just like the gold on the shrine
| in the temple. and instead of growing
! out straight grew in curlS and rings.
| Her teeth were white and she walked
on the street as bold as a man, as if she
| had nothing to fear.
| This talk Spread, and when it came to
| the ears of the to-sZe who guarded
the temple and translated the pray
! er sticks for the faithful ones lie went
out to see for himself. He sent ser
want to announce his coming. and when
he went to the little house with the sun
shining only on three sides he Knocked
and bowed three times, for he felt he
was in the presence of a strange god or
| that he was confronted by vision.
| The woman showed hel teeth and
laughed, the servant stared and the
to-SZe went in.
He walked in boldly. but he kept
looking cnriouSly out of the corners of
| his eyes at the yellow hair.
where did you come from?" he
| asked.
From long distance?" she answer
| ed, and then laughed again. He asked
| her more questlons-a great many more
but she answered him like one who
was we'll versed III the literature of the
kingdom, and he felt himself defeated
| but strangely fascinated. He walked
| out and started toward the temple and
| there came ringing after him that
strange laugh, which sounded like
| spring water running down its path ON
the mountain side.
He went into the temple like one who
is in haste. He lighted the sheung-tai
sticks of incense and he burned the
t'aan-heung in the bronze braZiers. He
kneeled on the mat before TseZ Mi, the
god and ruler of the evil spirits, and
poured wine on the floor and looked
for an omen, 1t came only III the soft
laugh which found its way through the
temple walls from the little house. He
lighted the candles before all of the
gods until the big room was lighter
than day and all the shadows had fed,
even his own, for the lights were all
around him, and then placing feasts be-
fore all the silent, frowning figures, he
went TO bed and dreamed, In his
dreams he heard the laugh. He dream
came out on them. He dreamed the
grass heard it and grew finer and
greener while he looked. He dreamed
too, that it made the black clouds in the
sky run behind the big mountains so
that only blue, like her eyes, was seen.
And in his dreams he saw form come
out of the sky and toward her from be-
hind. 1t pushed her toward him. He
tried to 20 back, but his feet refused to
move, and in his effort ne staggered like
a man who had first smoked opium and
then drank water. She came nearer and
the figure behind her said:
so, tO-SZe, you cannot lily from what
the gods have ordered. This is your
wife"
But am to-sze," he faltered, land
the gods will be angry from neglect"
But he dreamed the woman was push
ed nearer to him and that figure, saying:
1.-The gods have ordered,' fell apart
like smoke.
The people talked. They whispered
among themselves, for the to-SZe had
taken the strange woman for his wife.
There had been no betrothal, no feast
and no ceremony. lie neglected the
gods, and she laughed at the Han-chOw
men that ran past the house as though it
were full of evil spirits. The more cur
ious ones stood off at distance and
looked to see her come out; aud when
she saw them looking she always walk
ed out that they might see her, and
seeing her they would run away.
Jen Quong, the one who had been
to-sZe and who was her husband, cast
out the gods he had taken with him. and
the people said he was worShiping her
as new god, They said many other
curious things, too, and man who car
- 4 nd nt frIlIf Q IN
sell told in the market place how he, hap
pening to look into the window, had
seen the two with their lips pressed to-
gether. He had wondered what that
meant, for he had never seen nor heard
of anything like it before, but an old
man, who was In the listening, gaping
crowd said it was a form OF woman wOr-
ship in heather countries where Tao
was not known and the good and learn
ed Confucius had never been heard of.
The news spread so that men came
from other towns to see this wonderful
woman, who with her little white
hands and the light of her round blue
ewes had torn to-sZe from the temple.
they saw and wondered and went back
and prayed for their own souls and
safety.
But trouble came; not trouble for the
stranger, for she only laughed and
cared not what they said. One of the
Han-chow men said she had brought a
curse to them, for one of the gods had
tumbled over OH his face one night
without any good reason, And after
that the stOrekeeperS refused to send
any more provisions to the little house
in the shadow of the temple.
But at this she only laughed the hard
er, and her cheeks were fatter than
ever.
"How is thls?" they asked among
themselves: 'she does not eat, yet she
lives. And the to-sZe lives, too, and they
have no meat nor vegetables"
One night the men gathered together.
They congregated in the darkness and
crept toward the little hodse. On three
sides of it they stood, They lighted
bundles of paper and with wild cries
threw them on the bamboo roof and at
the doorpoSts and in through the open
windows. The flames leaped up high
and hummed at first merry song,
while the men outside waited with their
knives and swords for the strange
woman and the to-sZe.
The flames roared like storm among
the trees and there was no other sound.
The only things that came out from
between the doorpostS were flames.
But it is said that those who were there
saw two big pillars of light smoke go up
through the place where the roof had
been and they heard a laugh which
sounded as though it had come from a
long distance. A voice said: II will
come back" and the two columns of
smoke were to anrrapt by the night
wind. They scattered prayer paper
over the ruins and departed.
The next day, when the sun shone,
two clouds formed in the sky. Around
the edge of one cloud were curls like
the hair of the strange woman, but the
lines of the other cloud were straight.
Other clouds came together until the
blue sky could hot be seen.
Its "a sign," said the new to-sze.
"The strange woman is gathering her
friends together and some day she'll
come back to finish her work. Some
day she'll come back"