The morning times., 1896-12-13
The
Happy
Land.
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Wangtsiii, the wood cutter, set out a
day break, his broad-bIaded ak ON his
shoulder. IL was spring, and the trees
were clad in oIiSnt green foliage: TIN. wild
flowers were bathed in dew the mountain
streams ran full and clear Like a good
man, as he was, Wang-tsih enjoyed the
beauties OF nature He wondered on and
on, not minGing where ne was going. and
came at length to d small river, bortiered
ON both banks with peach trees in fun
blown. which bent down and were reflected
in the water ike sunset clouds Filled
with delight. the wood cutter followed I'D
the stream to- where it issued from the
broad mouth OF q cavern. under a great
rock He entered, and before ne had
proceeded far the cave opened again upon
the pleasaItcSt country that eve has seen.
varied with wooden hills, green fields and
smiling gardens Before him were two
old Inen. who he knew were sages by the
length uf their eyebrows They were
playing a game Of checkers, with black
stones and white for counters. Our wood
cutter leaned on his ak, watchingthe game,
for what seemed 70 him a few minutes
only. But when it was finished and one
of the wise men looked up and said, My
brother, do not lean on that old ak handle
WJng-tSih fOCnd that his broad, sharp AK
had wasted nearly all away, and that
its strong handle was decayed ana ready
TO crurnbIe into dust.
The first to dwell in the mysterious land,
Of which Waug-tsih had caught a glimpse,
was Sze-Tang who was page 10 King Peek
Of China. A I the age OF ten, SZe-Tang
was ~ beautiful that he wa> famous
throughout all China Poets compared
his complexion to the wild cherry blossom
opening in the soft air OF spring. And,
unlike most boys, he was so good even 70
the lower animals that ne was called the
IuerClfui. \ : consequence, ne was loved
by the king and By everybody who knew
him except some enVIOuS people about The
palace.
one night Sze-Tang Inadvertently took
the kIng'S pillow 10 sleep on, and was
frightened more than little when ne
discovered his mistake, for there was no
greater crime against palace etiquette.
."T~ini said mis- ma jesIy, YOU did not
mean it. and no one knows OF the uufortu-
nate circumstances save you and J. We
have bat TO keep our counsel and ali viii
be We'll" But ne was mistaken Some
how the ws Of Sze-Tdng's Uransgression
SOt about, the enviOu> COaTtieTS talked Of
nothing else The great Officials took
the matter up. 1t Will lead TO a re-
belIiOn." said they; "Sze-Tang must be
beneadeJ" The king pleaded nard for
MS TuvOTite: he urged the culprIt'S youth,
his uniform good conduct, and the GER
iainty that he had intended no harm; but
the laws We're above the king. and the most
that ne could obtain was to have the
criminal DdnIShed instead OF being put 70
death.
1t was his majesty's right TO choose the
place OF exile. and. a. IL happened that
was no barren privilege; for no man knew
more than King Peek about the Wild
countries beyond the borders of the eiv1-
liZed states. 10 which criminals were usu-
ally banished-
My dear Sze-Tang" said he, ''since
must send you away from me. it shall
be TO the land OF Lichen. In my younger
days, as you may know, ! was very fond
of travel, and ] mag say, without boast
ing that, with my famous team OF eight
dragon horses, there W ere few OF the bar
baria states, or even OF the demon regions
OF the south and west that Oid net visit
From the land TO which you are to 20 you
can never return; but If you VIII follow
my instructions, you shall never grow old
there, but shall always retain your beauty
and the bloom of youth. This you ShallOwe
Buddha. Repeat these verses after me
Wolves andtigersi in Li-chen
Mortal are. bat Not 30 men.
sze-Tang. CRYING his eyes out-for hs
loved the king. nearly as much as the king
loved him-was carried off To exile; and
the officers, when they left MIN alone,
a prey To ravenOus beasts in an unln-
habited region to which the only entrance
was by a gloomy and tOrrUOuS cave,
felt certain that 1t was al over with him.
But he kept repeating The charm over to
to himself, and, year after year neither
illness nor accident befelI him. With
much repetition, however, he feared he
mi ght lose the sense OF the words, and
then tine words themselves, ST., as the
verses were short, he wrote them on the
leaves OF the wild ChrySantfemuulS that
grew on the margin OF d LITTLE stream
that meandeTed through the valley. The
result was that the flowers constantly re-
minded him of his lesson. And not only
that, bat the water which sometimes
washed over them, ran on its course muir
muring the magic COuplct.
Years and centuries passed away, and
Sze- Tang. still a boy of ten, was the only
inhabiJant OF the happy land. But a5
length the dynasty Of Chan passed away.
The wicked king OF Chin came to be en-
perOr. IL was he who built the great wall
because he was afraid to fight the tar
tarS and who burnt the books Of the for
mer emperOrS and drove away the learned
men. or put them TO death Some OF the
unfOrtu nate scholars, flyi NJ from the
tyrant, found their way into the deSolate
country near Li-Chen- There they were
greeted by the singing stream, and, fol-
insvtns itS course ft 1u@h tnp dirk cavern
they came out into a country where
the wild Chrysanthemum leaves all bore
the same legend One of their number
encountered a handsome boy who ex-
planned the matter TO him; and there the
sages still remain, presided over by the
God of Longevity, rejoicing in the eternal
beauty of SZe-TJng. forever engaged, as
the wood cutter found them, in pleasant
games and paStimeS.