United States or Marshall Islands ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Tu Shih-niang nu ch'en pai pao hsiang. In the reign of the emperor Shen Tsung there lived an official named Wu, who was at that time, Governor of Ch'ang-sha. His wife, Lin, had given him a son named Ya-nei, or "In-the-Palace," who had that year reached the age of sixteen.
The people, grinding their teeth, would have beaten Li and Sun; but these, in terror and dismay, made haste to push their boats out from the bank, and then went each his own way. Li Chia, seeing the thousand ounces of silver in his cabin, unceasingly wept for the death of Shih-niang. His remorse gave birth to a kind of madness in him, of which he could never be healed.
For a little, Shih-niang refused. Then she looked at the moon, and a song escaped her. It was an affecting melody, taken from one of the pieces of the Yuan dynasty, called "The Light Rose of the Peaches." In truth: Her voice took flight to the Milky Way, And the clouds stopped to listen. Its echo fell into the deep water and the fishes hastened. Shih-niang sang.
In the theatres, they had composed an epigram about her: When Tu Shih-niang comes to a banquet The guests drink a thousand great cups Instead of a single small one. When Tu Mei appears upon the stage The actresses look like devils.
The other at once ordered the little chest to be brought back and placed on the bridge. Shih-niang opened it Inside there were several compartments, and she asked Li Chia to help her lift out each in turn. In the first there were jewels in the shape of king-fisher feathers, jasper pins, and precious earrings, to the value of many hundred ounces.
Then in the middle of the night she asked: "If you cannot find three hundred ounces to free me, what are we to do?" He wept without answering. Shih-niang waited until the fifth watch; then she drew from under her mattress a bag containing a hundred and fifty ounces in small silver, and said: "This is my secret reserve. Since you cannot find the whole sum, I will give you half of it.
And, taking up the bag, he poured the three hundred ounces on to the table. The old woman had not supposed he could succeed. She changed color, and seemed on the point of gainsaying her word. So Shih-niang said; "I have stayed in your house for a long time, and have brought in several thousands of ounces. To-day I am marrying.
Ashamed of his failure after a full three days of endeavor, he did not dare to return to Shih-niang; yet, since he used to spend every night with his mistress, he had no other lodging. After the first evening, therefore, he went and asked shelter from his fellow-countryman, the very learned Liu Yu-ch'un.
But none the less he continued his vain search for three further days. Shih-niang was most anxious when she did not see her lover come back to her. She sent a little servant to look for him, and the child met Li by chance, and said: "Lord, our Elder-Sister awaits you at the house." In his shame, Li answered: "I have no time to-day. To-morrow I will come to see her."
The old woman has conceived this method of sending you away, and Shih-niang, knowing that your hands are empty, asks you for this sum because she does not dare to tell you to leave her. If you offered the silver, she would laugh at you. It is a common trick. Do not trouble yourself further, but resign yourself to the breaking off of your relations with the girl."
Word Of The Day