Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/304

 292 CHINESE LITERATURE

only the Empress's entreaties saved the old man's life. His sentence was commuted to banishment, and he died on the journey. Apart from the history above men- tioned, and a pronouncing dictionary on which he was employed, his literary remains fill only three volumes. The following piece is a satire on the neglect of men of ability, which, according to him, was a marked feature of the administration of the Mongols :

" Tng Pi, whose cognomen was Po-i, was a man of Ch'in. He was seven feet high. Both his eyes had crimson corners, and they blinked like lightning flashes. In feats of strength he was cock of the walk ; and once when his neighbour's bulls were locked in fight, with a blow of his fist he broke the back of one of them and sent it rolling on the ground. The stone drums of the town, which ten men could not lift, he could carry about in his two hands. He was, however, very fond of liquor, and given to quarrelling in his cups ; so that when people saw him in this mood, they would keep out of his way, saying that it was safer to be at a distance from such a wild fellow.

" One day he was drinking by himself in a tea-house when two literati happened to pass by. Teng Pi tried to make them join him ; but they, having rather a low opinion of the giant, would not accept his invitation. ' Gentlemen,' cried he in a rage, ' if you do not see fit to do as I ask, I will make an end of the pair of you, and then seek safety in flight. I could not brook this treat- ment at your hands.'

" So the two had no alternative but to walk in. Teng Pi took the place of honour himself, and put his guests on each side of him. He called for more liquor, and began to sing and make a noise. And at last, when he was well

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