Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/132

 120 CHINESE LITERATURE

I see other dear ones to their homes return^ And for his coming shall not I too yearn ? Since my lord left ah me, unhappy day ! My mirrors dust has not been brushed away; My heart, like running -water, knows no peace. But bleeds and bleeds forever without cease*

There was K'UNG JUNG, a descendant of Confucius In the twentieth degree, and a most precocious child. At ten years of age he went with his father to Lo-yang, where Li Ying, the Dragon statesman, was at the height of his political reputation. Unable from the press of visitors to gain admission, he told the doorkeeper to inform Li Ying that he was a connection, and thus succeeded in getting in. When Li Ying asked him what the connection was, he replied, " My ancestor Con- fucius and your ancestor Lao Tzu were friends en- gaged in the quest for truth, so that you and I may be said to be of the same family." Li Ying was astonished, but Ch'en Wei said, "Cleverness in youth does not mean brilliancy in later life," upon which K'ung Jung remarked, "You, sir, must evidently have been very clever as a boy." Entering official life, he rose to be Governor of Po-hai in Shantung ; but he incurred the displeasure of the great Ts'ao Ts'ao, and was put to death with all his family. He was an open-hearted man, and fond of good company. " If my halls are full of guests," he would say, " and my bottles full of wine, I am happy."

The following is a specimen of his poetry :

" The wanderer reaches home with joy From absence of a year and more : His eye seeks a beloved boy

His wife lies weeping on the floor.

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