The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-03-16
LUNG Brs STRANGE STORY.
From the washington Post.

LUNG BIS SIkANGE SIOh1.
From the Washington Post.
This is the story told DR.. Edward
Bedloe, consul to Annoy, by his sam
panman Though it was told the doc
tor in pigeon English, its rendition
into purer tone and classic phrase has
taken from it naught of truth nor
added aught of falsenood. By the souls
of the ancestors of Lung Hi, the sam
panman, it is a true tale, and let no
man deny it lest his tongue ret cut
and his entrails groan with pain. The
sampanman told it as he sat on the
veranda near the doctors feet one day
after tifiin. He smoke a bit of the doc
tors good Virginia bright tobacco In
pipe with a bowl no bigger than pea
The doctor had thrown stone at .
passing dog which had threatened to
intrude on the porch and repelled him
with harsh epithets: Lung Hi had
rowed the doctor a good ten miles IN
the official sampan that day and was
philosophical.
'One cannot be too careful what one
does or says to an animal" observed
Lung Hi. ''It possesses the intelii-
gence of the soul it contains and may
be the soul of ones grandfather OF
some other near relative who should
be treated with respect
Lung Hi drew full breath of smoke
and craftily waited. The doctor dropped
his tobacco pouch near the sampan.
man: a teaspoonful spilled upon the
spotlessly clean floor OF the verania-
Lung Hi handed back the pouch and
swept the spilled portion skillfully
into his pipe, relit il, and continued:
Il speak thus to the illustrious chin
chin doctor because of wonderful
thing which happened in my own fam.
lily and which l shall never forget. Ny
grandfather was a poor coolie who
worked for day wage. But he was am
bilious and anxious to rise above his
caste. He earned eight cents day,
two cents he spent for living and the
other six he saved until at the end of a
year he had saved $40. With that he
bought sampan and joined the guild
Of sampanmen. At this trade he pros.
pered, and in time bought other sam
pans and hired men to row them. Sc
in time my grandfather became very
rich man, and when he died was the
very richest man in my native village
richer than any other two men in the
place. His body was crema ted and hi,
ashes placed in an urn and put on
shelf in my fathers house. where they
remained many years, until after wa:
born.
Il remember the urn well. One day
a careless servant in cleaning the room
knocked the urn to the floor and il
broke, scattering my grandfather.
ashes all over the room. As they were
being swept up, tiny baby serpent
wriggled out from among them, and
we knew at once that it held my
grandfather's soul. So we put it in a
box, and fed it daily on new milk, and
as it grew larger on mice and small
birds, until in about year my grand.
father had become a fine large snake
six feet long and three inches thick.
About that time my mother gave
birth TO a fine man child. 1t was a
splendid oaby, and the whole village
sung its praises My little brother
grew fat and handsome. but in a few
months it sickened, became pale and
thin, and we could not see what was
the matter with it. Finally my father
went to a clairvoyant, who consulted
the stars and the rocks. and said that
vampire came at night and was suck
ing my little brothers life away and
that he must sit up and beat him off.
$50 that night my father sat in my
mothers room all night long, but
nothing came; nor was there anything
the next night, but the night follow
ing, as my father sat on the floor half
awake and half asleep, he heard
sound which filed him with terror,
but he remained very quiet and opened
one eye slowly. To his horror he saw
my grandfather wriggle stealthily
across the floor, crawl into my mothers
bed, and fasten his mouth upon her
breast. She slept soundly while the
snake drew her milk. In a few min
utes my little brother began to whine
and rolled toward my mother. My
grandfather coiled his body around nay
brother, and put the tip of his tail in
my little brothers mouth TO suck
while he drew the sustenance which
belonged to the child. After ne had
allied his stomach he glided away.
my father had sat perfectly silent.
but in the morning family council of
war was held, and my grandfather was
condemned to death. He was executed
with an AK. his body was thrown to
the pig, and his head was nailed to the
outer wall of the village temple, where
It still is
This was the true tale of Lung Hi,
the sampanman- told 10 De. Ee6loe.
consul TO AmovI