Page:Chinese Fables and Folk Stories.djvu/61

Rh 'Yes, Yes,' when I asked if you wanted a bath. Now, I will bathe you as Mü-Tsing bathes me."

He then put the bird in the hot water, but it chirped loudly and tried to get away. "Do not cry and be a bad bird," said Si-Ma-Quong. "I cry sometimes, too, when Mü-Tsing bathes me," but in two or three minutes, the bird lay still and he put it on the table to dry.

When his mother came, he said, "Mü-Tsing, my bird is cold. He is on the table. I think he wants some clothes. Give him my fur jacket and make him warm, so he will stand up and sing."

His mother did not know about the bath, so she said, "Oh no, the bird needs no jacket. He wears a feather jacket."

She then went into the room and saw the bird lying on the table, and she said, "He is dead. Who did this, Si-Ma-Quong? He is wet. Did he go to the pond? I think you killed him. If you did, your father will surely beat you, and he will never bring you another bird."

And Si-Ma-Quong cried and said, "Yes, I did it. I put him in hot water. I bathed him just as you bathe me. At first he would not go in, but I made him." Then he cried, 'Chi-Chi-Chee.' Will you tell my father? I think he will forgive me, if I tell him the truth. He did the last time I did wrong."