Evening star., 1919-09-28
@&8 9nysterious QDaYs Of f9Danq Zoo 2AGE$;;zs A;E;;s:

you stepped over the crossbar instead
Of over the shafts. They have a little
idea-perhaps you would call 1t a
superstition-that II the passenger
does that they will have bad luck for
the rest Of the day: that is all"
"Is that really SO? Well. please ex-
plain to him for me that didn't know
anything about 1t and that I wouldn't
have hurt his feelings for the world.
Shall I give him some extra money"
mo. please don't do that: you are
largely overpaying him as 1t Is, and
any extra gift simply makes 1t all the
harder for he next Eur opean passenger
that rides after you," and, turning to
the mumbling coolie. he ratified off few
yards of his native tongue, which had
the perfectly magic effect of turning mis-
wrath into smiles and making him bow
almost into the dust at the feet Of his
Venerable Father
you must excuse my not removing
my native hat. Miss Atnerton." he con-
cluded. "but you know you are in China
now. and here the laws of courtesy are
exactly reversed and true polite ness re
CURES that gentlemen remain covered
VI ei'c piVSCIISC VI dIu--lHelT
ether s,lperiors." he added with a smile
"Oh, yes, indeed, that is one of the
little 'tcpsy- -turvy' things 1 have already
noted in my diary" she replied.
t'And now what is it that can have
the pleasure OF doing for your
'Why, jnst this" drawing from her
little handbag folded piece Of native
yellow paper; I'VE have been visiting
the Temple of the Golden Lotus on the
other side of the island and have had
most interesting day of it, The old
priest in charge of the shrine showed
us everything and when we came away
he insisted on writing this Chinese
charm for me and told me it would
bring me good luck as long as l lived.
I have been waiting until 1 could find
some one who could give me a perfect
translation of it, for know it must be
something full of oriental mystery
'Have you not shown it to any one
else YETI" inquired Wang Foo, as he
took the paper from her hand and care
fully unrolled It,
"Well, only to- the hotel roomboy,
who Is acting as our guide, and Of
course all could get out Of him was a
lot Of that miserable pidgin- English
.argon about "Missee. him talkee
t'longee velly good Joss. All samee
lotus flower climbee, down-side go top
side. Him glow mud. by me by all
samee water. den must come outside
look see. Missee all sanaee so fashion"
The Man Of Mystery broke into q
gentle laugh at the roomboy's attempts
to interpret the Celestial poetry YES"
he said. ut certainly is a most cumber-
some and unsatisfactory medium Of
translation and expression, but he did
the best he could with the means at his
command. THIS is a poetical u,r'tation
In which the lotus Is taken ns the
emblem Of human progress. I will rcaI
1t to you Just as 1t stands:
"'Yiu hulk too.
Ching sui rao
Tung choy chui.
Ching lion jak.'
you see. It 10 very brief and con-
densed, consisting of only twelve words
in all. written In four lines OF three
characters each. OF course. I could not
stteppt to give you a satisfactory ver-
sion right offhand hero on the road,
but possibly can improve n little on
tho roomboy's efforts. Le me try:
"'From the dark earth.
Through the clearer water
To the air and light.
The Golden Lotus ever
Pushes IL upward way"
There. That isn't very much, but it
10 the best can do on the spur of
the moment" A he spoke these
words . strange look OF mysterious
inauiry-amounting almost to suspi-
cion-came over his face. which for
tunately escaped the lady's notice. 1T
really requires to be considerably ex-
panded to give Il . satisfactory Eng
lish rendering. SO. II you will kindly
allow me. I should Just like to take
this paper home with mo and I will
return 1t to you at the hotel tomor-
row. with something a little better
than q mere roadside version"
"Oh. thank you 90 much. nothing
would please me more. am sure. 1t
10 most kind Of you to take all this
trouble. 1t 10 perfect little gem Of
poetry. I know: one could see that
even from the room boys pidgin.'
He assisted her into her jinrlkishA