Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-01-18
! Chinese Widow

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Tchouang Tsen of the country of
soung was a learned man who carried
his wisdom so far as to detach himself
from all pcrishable things. He had
avoided the error so common to mankind
of struggling to acquire useless riches
and vainglol les or honors.
He must have been profoundly salts
fed with his career, for after his death
he was proclaimed as happy and worthy
CT envy.
Now, in the days the gods accorded
him to pass under green skies amid flow-
cry bushes, willows and bamboos,
Tchouang Isen was accustomed to walk
dreamily through the country.
One day. when wandering along the
f1owery slopes Of the mountain Of Nam
Hoa, he found himself unexpectedly in
the middle Of cemetery, where the
dead, according to the custom of the
country, repose under hillocks of beaten
| earth. At the sight of these innumera.
BILE tombs, which spread above the hori-
zOn, the learned man meditated on the
destiny Of man. "Alas!'' thought he
Behold the highway where all the roads
| of life end. When once one has taken a
place in this resting place Of the dead,
one never sees the light of day again."
AS he was moralizing thus he sudden
! ~ perceived young woman in mourn
| ing sarb-that is to say, in a long, white,
seamless robe of coarse material-seated
beside tomb, flaming with a white fan
the earth of a freshly covered funeral
| mound.
Curious to learn the meaning of so
strange an action, Tchouang Tsen salut
I'd the young lady with great politeness
and said:
Madame, dare I ask you without Of
tense what person is sleeping beneath
this tomb and why you give yourself
! much trouble to fan the earth that coy
| ers it?
81 am philosopher and like to know
the causes of things, and here is one that
escapes me, that cannot even guess at"
The young woman continued to move
her fan back and forth. She blushed,
lowered her head and mnrmMred a few
words that the good man could not hear.
! He renewed his question several times,
but in vain. The young woman took no
further notice of him, and it seemed as
though her very soul had passed into the
hand that was 50 busily moving the fan.
! Tchouang Tsen went his way regretful
". Although he well knew that all is
vanity, he was naturally inclined to seek
| the motive of human actions and partic-
ularly those of women.
This little creatures odd occupation
aroused within him malevolent but live
~ curiosity. Hc continued his walk slow
~ onward, but turned his head occasion
ally to watch the fan, which still beat
the air like the wing Of a huge butterfly,
when all Of sudden an old woman
whom he had not seen at first, approach
! ed him and made sign to follow her.
She drew him into the shadow of a
mound little higher than the rest and
said to him:
| Il heard you ask my mistress q ques-
ton to which she made no reply. will
satisfy your curiosity, from a natural
wish to oblige and in the hope that you
III return will give me the wherewith to
buy from the priests magic paper which
possesses the power Of prolonging my
life.''
Tchonang Tsen drew out his purse and
placed piece of money in her hand, and
the old woman spoke as follows:
1.-The lady that you saw seated beside a
tomb is Nine. Lu, the widow of a learned
man named Tao, who died Is days ago
after a long illness, and the tomb is her
husbands. They loved each other most
tenderly, and even when dying Nj. Tao
could not reconcile himself to their sepa-
ration, and the idea Of leaving her behind
in the world in the flower Of her age and
OF her beauty was altogether insupporta.
bic to him. However. toward the end he
became resigned, for he was of gentle ma.
ture, and has soul submitted to the inevi
table.
weeping at the head OF NJ. Taos bed,
that she had never left during his entire
ILLNESS, Nine I4u called upon the gods to
bear witness that she would never sur.
vive him, but would share his grave even
as she had shared his couch.
"But n. Tao said to her, Madame dc
not swear such thing as that Al
least continued she, III. mast, survive
you, if l am condemned by the genii tc
still behold the light of day when You can
no longer see it, know that l will never
consent to become the wife OF another
and that will never have but one nus.
band, the same as have but one soua.'
But M. Tao said to her, Madame, do
not swear that oh, NJ. Tao, NJ. Tao!
Let me swear then that for ut least Eve
years win not think Of marrying again.
But M. Tao said to her: Madame, do not
swear that. Swear only that you will
keep my memory faithful in your heart
until the earth shall have dried over my
Eave.'
mime. La took the oath and the good
N. Tao closed his eJes never to open
them again.
1.-The despair Of Mime. Lu surpassed all
beaands. Her eyes were swollen with
weeping and her pretty. soft cheeks were
scratched to pieces by her sharp little fin.
ger nails but everything passes away,
and the torrent Of her grief Ss,on spent
it's force.
Three days after the death OF NJ. Tao
Nine. LUIS sadness had become human.
She was told that young man, a follow
er Of n. Taos, desired an interview to
express the grief and sympathy he felt on
this sad occasion. She thought it would
not be right to refuse him this privilege,
and she was correct. She received him
with signs.
'"The young man was of distinguished
bearing and handsome face. He spoke to
her little about M. Tao and much about
herself. He told her she was charming
and that he felt he loved her. She allow
| 81 him n fo1k IT. <o uoA,,.,.