Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/370

 358 CHINESE LITERATURE

one that deals with the deeds of heroes among men. It does not stir us with stories either of virtuous states- men or of deathless patriots. It seems to be but a simple tale of the loves of maidens and youths, hardly important enough to attract the attention of the great busy world."

" Sir Priest," replied the stone, " what you say is in- deed true ; and what is more, my poor story is adorned by no rhetorical flourish nor literary art. Still, the world of mortals being what it is, and its complexion so far determined by the play of human passion, I cannot but think that the tale here inscribed may be of some use, if only to throw a further charm around the banquet hour, or to aid in dispelling those morning clouds which gather over last night's excess."

Thereupon the priest looked once more at the stone, and saw that it bore a plain unvarnished tale of

" Beauty and anguish walking hand in hand The downward slope to death"

telling how a woman's artless love had developed into deep, destroying passion ; and how from the thraM of a lost love one soul had been raised to a sublimer, if not a purer conception of man's mission upon earth. He therefore copied it out from beginning to end. Here- it is :

Under a dynasty which the author leaves unnamed, two brothers had greatly distinguished themselves by efficient service to the State. In return, they had been loaded with marks of Imperial favour. They had been created nobles of the highest rank. They had amassed wealth. The palaces assigned to them were near to- gether in Peking, and there their immediate descendants

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