Page:Chinese Merry Tales (1909).djvu/54

Chinese Merry Tales HERE was a countryman who came to the capital. One day a friend invited him to dinner. One of the dishes was salt duck's eggs. When he was eating this he said : " It is curious how these eggs became salt." His friend then told him : " Do you not know that we in Peking have a special kind of salt ducks ? hence they lay eggs that are already salt."

HERE was an old man who was given to benevolence and charity. One day it was snowing heavily, and he saw a poor man standing under the eaves of his front door, sheltering himself from snow. The old man seeing that he was suffering from cold, had pity on him. He called him into the house. He gave him warm wine to produce sweat and made him stay over night. On the second day it was still snowing. He again kept him in the house. For three consecutive days he kept him. On the fourth day it was fine day, the man on his departure said to the old man : " Let me have the use of your knife for a little while." The old man handed the knife to him. He took the knife in his hand and said : " We two have never met each other, and to receive such kind- ness from you, I can only repay your kindness by killing myself" When the old man heard this he was much fright- ened. He hastily answered : "If it is like that, you are not repaying my kindness; instead you are ruining me." The man said : " Why is that ruining you ? " The old man replied : " If a man dies this way in my house, even if there was no further trouble, at least what I have to spend in burial and burning paper money, will cost me 12 Taels. Besides there are other expenses." The other said: "Accepting your