The Cordova daily times., 1922-12-26
HARD JOB BEING MOTHER -M-LAW
 OF EMPEROR


 to be. So thinks "Er Gurga," mother of the Boy Emperor's" bride. The wedding was ended early this month and now the family may take much needed rest. Anyway it comes but once in lifetime" remarked the old lady, as she surveyed the remains of the glorious celebration"
 In the first place, one is apt to be fond of ones most beautiful daughter and when she Is selected~to to ascend the heavenly throne, wonderful though it may be, the number of times she again counted her family may be counted on the fingers of one hand.
 In the second place, the daughter must be incarcerated from the mo- ment the bethrothal is announced, which was nearly year ago. To do this properly means the building Of specially secluded quarters, the; em- ploying of heavy guards, the utiliza- tion of a strong force of eunuchs and, in general, ceaseless vigilance, so that no mortal pollution may reach the future daughter of the gods.
 And lastly, one has to care for all of the elaborate presents the young Emperor continues to send his fi- ancee. It would not be so bad if
  these were limited to jewels and gowns of gold and silver and marvel ous brocades, but they vary. A month before the marriage he sent whole flock of sacred sheep, and in the whole residence, roomy though it was, there was no place to keep them. Mother Puzzled
 At first Er Gurga, the mother, was in tears. Where could she put up all these animals, which would run about, making much dirt and noise and tearing up even the beautiful gar dens, carefully tended for many years. Yet one cannot kill sacred sheep and
 
 invoking celestial wrath.
 A friend of the family, whom she had known as girl and who was now an old Buddhist monk, solved the prob lem. He would take them all to the temple, he said, and there would be a place worthy of even the most holy of sheep. Accordingly they were all sent away under solemn escort, with the exception of two little ones. These the baby brother of the little Empress begged hard to keep as playmates. At first this was thought to be a vii olation of the august purposes of the Emperor, but brother cried so hard that when the little Empress also pleaded he got his way. He has added them now to his collection Of pets, of which he has a great number. Meanwhile the Emperor, also pre- pairing for the great wedding in his own palace. made 1t point to send a collection of presetns to his fiancee every other Tuesday. Therefore the last Tuesday before the wedding was anxiously awaited. Er Gurga was afraid there might be some camels; little brother was hoping for some turtles, while the little Empress thought it would be nice if he sent her another necklace. But when the bril- liantly clothed standard bearers ar rived from the Forbidden City, To and behold, out of the equipage stepped ten little slave girls!
 They varied in age from six to ten, and they were mighty fearful and frightened to have been thus abruptly taken from their homes. And Er Gurga was still more put out. New quarters had to be prepared and fresh servants detailed to look after them. Each one of them was given a thor ough bath and completely reclothed. Then they were paraded to the room of the little Empress, who greeted them most graciously, where they re mained, most solemn and dignified group of attendants, their hair close ly combed and oiled, so that one could see one's reflection therein. One Graves Peanuts
 They seemed to accept their fate calmly, except one, who wept bitter ly She did not miss her mother so much as she did her older brother, who had been always so kind to her. He was seller of roasted peanuts.
 "And did your brother ever give you any of his peanuts?" asked the little Empress one day.
 "Oh yes!" she answered with en- thusiasm; The gave me one-half cents worth every evening""