The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-12-31
Is the Fung-iiwang Due?

| The room was dark, and / was about
| 10 retreat when l heard the rabbits voice;
Walk softly, my son. The little one
has fallen asleep over his toys. and
am keeping vigil in the darkness
We lit pipes and looked out upon the
shining stars. and the rabbi thrummed
softly upon the window-paae-an indica-
| ton that he was in a pleasant frame OF
mind.
Have you grown wiser since 1 saw you
| last?" he asked. and although l could not
see his face, l felt that he was smiling.
Yes 1 replied. 81 have found that q
man whom had held TO be honest was
dishonest"
Now 1 saw him smile.
Had you found a man whom you held
as dishonest 10 be honest" ne replied,
your knowledge would have been more
startling. As il is, l am afraid. old man
as am. that it is commonplace"
! Then merely kept my eyes on the stars
and held my peace, and presently the
| rabbi spoke, in a low voice, and could
! hear the breathing of the child.
/ Il am not as fortunate as yeu 1 was
/ pondering ever the matter as late as yes
! terday, and I was forced 10 the unwilling
! conclusion that the world and all the
( things in it had been progressing in the
4 -
I had gathered but little wisdom from its
/ doings. I have fallen into the habit OF
reading the Jewish Workingman every
| day-truly an excellent journal as news
| journals go-keeping pace with remark
able activity with the events of the day.
I Yet the doings of this day are so much
! like the doing os that day, and this ca
! lamity is so much like that calamity, and
| this agitation is so much like that agita-
ton, and everything seems to happen ana
rehappen so much by weary. dreary rOte
that it is all very monotonous.
Underlying it all, / have no doubt, is
| the tide of steady progress and develop
ment which runs through all the ages. As
you grow older you will feel more and
more strongly, that you are living in his
tory, and are making history, and are
playing your humble role in history.
But even in the certainty Of This feel
ing there will at times come a longing
to know what is happening and 10 see
exactly what it is that your world and
your day are doing. And that feeling has
come over me. and with it the unreason-
able idea that the world is standing still
and is surely becoming stagnant."
a car came jingling down East Broad
way and we both watched it until it had
passed the window. There was faint
sound that was closely akin to a sup
pressed chucklc
''In little while" said the rabbi, you
will see another car just like this rattle
by The bells will sound differently, but
the car will be pretty much the same"
Then the rabbi pulled comfortably and
contentedly at his pipe.
81 have read in the Jewish WOrkingman
that England has made an alliance with
Germany. France, it is said, has made
an alliance with Russia. Tomorrow, per-
hsps, there viii be a triple alliance or a
quadruple alliance, and the next day It
may be that New York will join hands
for veal or woe with Amsterdam. And
France is troubled with its perplexing
Dreyfus affair, which assumes one as
pect one day and another twenty-fOur
hours later. And this country is unde-
cided whether ii shall extend its dominion
or shall release its possessions; whether
it shall make silver its monetary stand
ard or gold whether It shall have a great
army or q small one. And the Jewish
Workingman tells me that it looks favor
able for one today and favorable for the
other tomorrow.
"And the little one sleeps undisturbed
in tn ecorner yonder. and the rich go on
with their pleasures and the poor with
their woes just as If the world had reach
ed the last stage of its development, and
things were to be forever as they are now.
Thre is neither promise nor omen of bet
ter or worse"
The rabbi paused long enough to watch
another street car go by, jerking his
thumb toward it in disgust
Have you ever heard Of the Flung
hwang? 1t is. perhaps. better known in
- ~. =
tings, although it has its equivalent. 20
a certain extent, in the Egyptian phoenix.
The Fung-hwang is a mythical bird
which, according to the Chinese legend
makes its appearance on earth when a
great leader of men is about to appear
or a great righteous principle is about to
triubph The Chinese have tremendous
respect for this bord, and they say that
the last time Il made It's appearance was
shortly before the birth of Confucius
Confucius, 1t is true, does not speak Of
him. but that has been attributed to his
modesty.
1T is a pretty legend, is II not? I was
sitting at this window yesterday. look
ing up into the sky, wondering If my life
would be spared long enough TO see the
Fung-hwang light upon the earth. God
knows the earth needs it,
The stars Shone IN the SKY ana seemed
To twinkle merrily upon the upturned
countenance OF the rabbi He sighed and
spoke softly:
when you live TO be as old as I you
Will hail the triumph of a righteous pr.n-
ciple with heartfelt JOY, for by that time
the old order OF things VIII be'very, very
old to you. and you will have come 10
believe all goodness and nobleness only
transitorv and nothing permanently tri-
umphant save wickedness and cruelty and
suffering. Then you. too, will long for
the advent Of a Fung-hwang"'-New York