Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1897-01-02
A CHINESE ROMANCE.

table and racked his brain in greaa
agony of spirit. The dies ir@ had comt
Ibis day Of reckoning. 1t was the day
before the Chinese New Year 's-Feb. 3,
according TO your oalendar-when every
good Chinaman must settle up or go uP
the spout and confess himself dishonor-
ed. he owed only little matter of 100
taels-not pigtails nor cowtails, you
understand, but silver taels-equivalent
to $1.80 in American money. If he had
that many taels, he would gladly have
paid mp, for there was nothing small |
about Ding; but he didn't, and thereby
hangs a tale.
If Ding had only possessed the glorious |
birthright of an American, instead o. |
worrying over such trifling matter he /
would have let his creditor do so. get |
an extension of time, and then settle up
at 20 cents ON the dollar.
AS it was, poor Ding only saw ruina
tion before him and dilapidation of his
air castles. Grim despair, like an i'm
mense bat, spread her sable wings and
overcast his sensitive soul with shadows
+, and dark forebodings.
Ding Dong was poor and an orphan
not quite as poor es a church mouse,
perhaps, for he still had something bet
ter TO eat than hymn books and velvet
cushions, but still so poor that the
patches on his gown made it look like
crazy quilt, while its back had received
such a deposit OF oil from his braided
hair as would gladden. the heart OF q
Pennsylvania capitalist TO strike
His father was the famous Ding
Dung. who had been a mandarin in the
service of the emperor. Dung was true
father 10 the people over whom he was
sent to rule, and, knowing that too
much money would not be good for
them, "sQueezed'' them on all occasions,
thereby growing enormously rich. But,
rs be was not prudent enough to share
bis i'll gotten gains with his superiors.
hs was denounced by the censors for
malfeasance in Office and had his head
taken of and his property confscated.
His mother having died during his
fathers financial crisis. the younger
Ding found himself at the age of is a
lone orphan and penniless. Now that he
had to shift for himself, our hero opened
q school and was so far successful that
ne had plenty TO eat and good clothes on
his back until ambition and laudable
desire TO better his condition prompted
him go borrow money TO defray the ex-
pense of a Journey to Canton, where he
proposed to test his luck and skill in the
public examination. From this literary
contest he came out with flying colors.
&c was no SLOUGH as u scholar, though
he might be wanting when weighed In
the scales of Mammon- In scholastic at
tainments he had few equals and hardly
any superiors. He had yanquisbed many
antagonists in the examination halls OF
his native town, where he proved again
and again that he could quote ConfuciuS
and other sages at longer stretch than
any one, compose poems with greater
elegance and ease and write Chinese
hieroglyphics with finer touch and FIN
Ssh. he led his class in the examination
at Canton. thereby climbing the fire.
rung ON the ladder of fame and win
ming the seu-tsai's brass button. There
remained only two more trials, which
successfully passed through, would
land him at the top of the heap, from
which ne could fatten at the public Grill
at his leisure.
But his triumph was shortened anC
his dreams of future greatness were dis
turbed by thoughts of the debt he still
owed, whose interest he had been abb,
to pay by dint of economy, but who's
principal he saw no chance of settling
before the new year rolled in.
His creditor was no other than hi
future father-in-law, to whose daughte
ne had been engaged while the eide
Ding was making money hand oyer fist
and the Ding family seemed TO be IL
the food tide of worldly prosperity. Blu
when the family was reduced in mum
beers as well as in means by order of hi
sacred majesty, the son of heaven, til
father of the girl said to his wife, a.
told you so, and regretted his haste i
making the match. The old gentleman
who went by the name of in Dun. wa
rich and more worldly minded tina
common. He, TOO, grew wealthy b
squeezing" the people-not, however
as their father. like Ding Dung. but a
their uncle, whose golden rule was
do others or they Will do you" II
was IN the habit of loaning little sun
90 people in straitened circumstances {
10 per cent per month interest, and b
adding this to the principal in case {
its nonpaymert at the end of the month
By this method of compromising inte
est he got many persons to give q
houses and lands, and even daughter
TO him in payment of debts Those WI
ccnld not settle up thus had to sett
down in the debtors prison, where the
languished in chains and misery unit
death came to their relief
in Dun was withal miser an
boarded the money he did not lei
as if he were to excel Methusaleh
longevity. His clothes were worn
long as they could stand mending. T
grudged his wife and only child Il
very necessaries of life In order to sa'
the expense Of luxurious table and
the same time preserve the appearance
ne and his family were in the habit
eating the coarsest and cheapest ri
and dining on what seemed to be a lar
fish, but WHICH was made of wood 81
nished with strips Of salt pork and sc
soned with sauce. ginger and oni
shoots. Instead of meat he had a lot
pebbles fried in the most approved sty
of the culinary art, which in the mou
and could be fried over and over aga
with hardly any appreciable loss of 81
stance.
Being such a grasping usurer a
close listed skinfiint. OF rather 81
pebble, one would not naturally exp
in Dan to view his prospective SON.
law with favor, but there was the mi
riage contract, which he himself b
drawn up with the elder Ding. How v
he going to get around it without Di
Dong's consent? He saw no way Of /
ing back on his bond at that time
forcing Ding Dong to withdraw fr'
the alliance; but, like the willy ras'
that be was, he determined to bide
time and watched for an opportunity
gracefully give Dong the go by.