The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-08-17

Once upon a time. in a little Chinese
city. there lived mandarin who had
a little daughter. As perhaps you
know, girl babies are not much
thought of in China as a rule, but this
girl baby was so milky fair OF skin
and so Jet sparkling of eyes, and so
dainty of little hand and foot. that the
mandarin, her father, could not help
being very fond of her, especially as
her pretty mother was dead and no
one else in all the world was as fond
of him as little Peach Blossom. That
was his name for her, because the
first time she was carried into the
garden she laughed with delight at
the peach tree in blossom which bent
over the well near the summer house.
The mandarin's house and his office
and the buildings for his servants, and
his stables. were all close together,
with a garden behind. and he was in
his Office. giving judgments and at
tending to all sorts OF matters from
early morning often until late at
night so that little Peach Blossom
spent most of every day alone or with
her old nurse. and most OF every pleas
ant day she was in the garden. She
had no dolls and few toys, but some
times the sweetmeat man would come
around with KUN ying-ka sweet,
like little brown marbles. And she
had her ball. which she could toss
into the air. whirl around and catch
as II came down; or she could make
ii bound off the floor and send ID back
with her forehead or hand. But after
all. her best playmate was the little
bubbling well under the peach tree,
where leaf boats sailed, and bright
winged birds. came to battle. and a
gray mouse lived in hole near the
wall. Chinese children all believe in
the feng shut or guardian spirits OF
mountains and rivers, which live un-
derground and are very angry when
they are disturbed. and little Peach
Blossom used to think that the gray
mouse was the spirit OF the well, and
that he liked her to come and play
there. Perhaps he did.
Just outside the mandarin's garden
was the tiny cottage of a poor farmer,
whose farm was at some distance
from his house, and he had enc son,
Kwoh fan, who was about fourteen
years old when little Peaeh4 Blossom
was six. The boy had been crippled
by fall when he was a baby. and
could not work in the rice fields, so
he sat at home all day making paste
images OF warriors, laborers, and ami
get the wood, carving and inlaying
some little trifle for sale in the shops.
lie often heard the babbling laughter
Of the mandarin's little daughter as
she played in the garden, and some
times be caught a glimpse OF the man
DARN himself in his rich robes of silk,
and corded cap with it's button and
peacock FEATHER.
But one day there came rain. and
no one entered the garden until the
sun had made everything warm and
dry. The hole which the gray mouse
had dug in the wall had grown larger
when the stream OF water ran through
il, and when the mandarin's little
daughter began to play at ball. her
ball vanished and she could not see
where 1t had gone. Then her father
came out. and she forgot the ball for
a few minutes, for he picked her up
and 1recited the pld rhyme;
I'VE keep dog to watch the house.
We keep a cat to catch a mouse,
But what can we do
With a girl like your"
Peach Blossom gigGled, because she
knew her father would not sell her Tor
many cats and dcgA but th4p ~ Grew