Year: 1872

|
| ~


Here is a little story that came to m,
fireside one night after ] had been read
ing an essay by Charles Lamb, an,
wouldn't 90 away until had promise'
TO tell every word of il" to the children


Ages and ages ago, nobody know
just how long it was, there was mar
who kept swine somewhere in China
His name was Ho-ti, and he had a great
overgrown and very stupid boy Of hi
own, named iBo-bo.


Ho-ti went one day into the woods tt
get food (acorns or nuts or something
whatever happened to grow in the
woods of China so long ago) for the pigs


Bo-bo was left alone in the cottage
His father had not been gone long, in
fact he had scarcely got out of sight, be.
fore the naughty boy began to play with
the fire.


A spark fell into bundle of straw,
and all in minute the cottage of the
poor swineherd was in blaze Close
beside it, in pen, were nine fine young
Chinese. .plggies.


Bo-bo did not care so very much about
the cottage, but the pigs and their mother
were precious, and he could not save
one of them.


No one came near, and in short time
the house and the pen and the pigs were
one black and smoking mass.


Bo-bo was so frightened that he wanted
to run away, but he was afraid that he
could never get over the big wall that
shut China in, and he was scared al
what might be on the other side oft, even
if he could get over; so he staid by
the burned place. crying and wringine
his poor Chinese hands and wondering
what his father would do to him when
he got home.


"What do l smell2" said he; what
is it2 what is it?" and he began to
look round. You must know that this
unlucky boy Bo-bo had burned up his
fathers cottage twice already, but he
had never scented such an odor before


He looked and looked, and at last
found little dark mass. He stopped
down and touched it with his fingers to
find out if it was quite dead, for he
knew it was one of the small pigs.


Be-bo burned his fingers, for the pig
was yet roasting, and some of the
scorched creature came away on them.


To stop the burning he thrust his FIN
gers into his mouth, and that was the
first time, says the old Chinese manu-
script, where the story is told, :" in the
worlds life, that any man ever tasted
cracking"


Bo-bo kept burning his fingers and
cooling them again in the same fashion
until his father got home.


As soon as the poor man discovered
the smoking ruins he made haste to look
for Bo.bo, who naughty boy was always
plunging his father into trouble. He
found him still enjoying his fingers.


90 you bad Bo-bo You've been
playing with fire againl / know you
Now, you'll get clubbing thatll teach
you to let it alone in time to come p
cried the father, and he fell to beating
the young giant.


To his astonishment, Bo-bo did not
seem to mind the blows in the least You
see that was because the roasted pork
was so nice.


When Ho-ti had ended his whipping,
Bo-bo caught up the half of little pig,
and, thrusting it into his fathers hands,
cried out Eat eat the burnt pig,
fatherl just taste it'll"


The father tasted, and the story says
that Ho-ti and Bo-bo never got through
tasting until the ninth pig was gone.


From that time the cottage of Ho-ti
kept burning down. Every little while
it would be found that only a heap of
ruins remained in its place.


At length special policeman was de-
tailed to keep watch over Ho-ti and Bo-
bo. The awful secret was discovered.
Whenever roast pig was wanted the fire
was built and the house burned Such
an awful crime could not be allowed to
go on in China.


Pekin, since become great city, was
only small place then, bat the swine
herd and his son were arrested and
taken there to be tried. Some of the
roast pig went upwith them to the court.
Poor Ho-ti was just about TO be SEN
fenced to death when the foreman of
the jury (you know England claims
" trial by jury" but China was used to
juries before England was Thought of
begged that the roasted pig might be
passed up into the box. So up it went,
and every man handled it. As they had
no napkins, each man wiped his greasy
fingers on his lips as he passed it over
to his neighbors. Then, against all evi-
ience, the judge of the celestial court,
and everybody, the jury brought in
verdict of not guilty"


The judge slipped around into the
iury-box and put his hand on the roast
pig. just as soon as he had dried his
fingers on his lips he went off and bought
up all the pigs that he could find, and a
few days after that time his fine town
house burned up. 1t was full of pigs
hat came out burned to q crisp.


From that time fires could be seen in
every direction on all the hills. Every
Insurance Office had to close up its affairs
n a few months, and firewood and pigs |
became so scarce that only the Emperor
,ould afford to buy roast pigs.


Finally, some very wise body discov- |
,red that pig could be roasted without |
,urning up a house at the same time;
int it took the Chinese so long to get |
,ver the habit Of initiating everything
'xactly, that when they did get over it |
here wasn't pig nor bit of frewood |
eft in the empire.


L