Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-02-14
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: A Chinese Widow !
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from all perishable things. lie had
avoided the error SO common to mankind
of struggling to acquire useless riches
and vainglories or honors.
lie must have been profoundly salts
fed with his career, for after his death
he was proclaimed as happy and worthy
of envy.
Now, in the days the gods accorded
him to pass under green skies amid flow
cry bushes, willows and hamhooS.
Tchouang Tsen was accustomed to wa.E
dreamily through the country.
One day, when wandering along the
fowery slopes of the mountain of Nan
Hoa he found himself unexpectedly j.
the middle of a cemetery, where o.
dead, according to the custom of e."
country, repose under hillocks Of bcat'
earth At the sight of these innum2.i
Bile tombs, which spread above the ho.
Zon. the learned man meditatcd on a.
destiny of man. Alas thought h
Behold the highway where all the ROAD
of life end. When once one has taken
place in this resting place of the deaa
one never sees the light of day again
As he was moraliZing thus he suddo
ly perceived a young woman in moo
ing garb-that is to say, in n long, Wht,
seamless GObp Oh COdlSG hldlCllbl H''.'
beside a tomb, tanning with a white f.
the earth of a freshly covered funcT~
mound.
Curious to learn the meaning Of 50
strange an action, Tchouang Tsen salut
ed the young lady with great politenCss
and said:
Madame, dare I ask you without Of.
fense what person is sleeping beneath
,,-h,- ,riy
much trouble to fan the earth that GOV
ers it?
Il am a 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 blushyd,
lowered her head and murmured a few
words that the good man could not hear.
He renewed his question several times,
but in vain. The young woman took Eo
further notice of him, and it seemed a
though her very soul had passed into the
hand that was 80 busly moving the fan.
Tchouang Tsen went his way regretful-
ly. 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 a malevolent but live
ly curiosity. He continued his walk slow
ly onward. but turned his head occasion
ally to watch the fan, which still beat
the air like the wing of huge butterfly.
when all of a sudden an old woman
whom he had not seen at first, appToa
ed him and made n sign to follow her.
She drew him into the shadow of
mound a little higher than the rest and
said TO him:
Il heard you ask my mistress a ques-
ton to which she made no reply. | viii
satisfy your curiosity, from a natura!
wish to oblige and in the hope that yol
in return will give me the whCrewith t
buy from the priests a magic paper viii
possesses the power of prolonging my
life"
Tchouang Tsen drew out his purse ard
placed a piece Of money in her hand, and
the old woman spoke as follows:
"The lady that you saw seated beside
tomb il Nine. Lu, the widow of a learned
man named Tao, who died 10 days ~
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 sep0
ration, and the idea Of leaving her behind
in the world in the flower OF her age aud
Of her beauty was altogether insupp1rta-
bic to him. However, toward the end lie
became resigned. for he was Of gentle ma
ture, and his soul submitted to the ineyi
table
Weeping at the head OF NJ. Taos he'd.
that she had never LETT during his entire
illness. Nine Lu called upon the gods TO
bear witness that She would never sur.