Page:Chinese Merry Tales (1909).djvu/70

Chinese Merry Tales Chaptkr XCVIII.— The Great Wash Tub. {^ f^ g.) C^^WO strangers happened to meet each other. Each spoke of the curiosities of his own place. One of them said : "There is a wash tub in our place that can take in over 1,000 people to bathe in it." The other stranger replied: "That tub is not considered curious ; there is a bamboo in our place; it is so long that it reaches the heavens. Even the heaven is not high enough for it, so it is bent back toward the earth; that is what you can consider curious." The first man then inquired: "Where is there such a long bamboo?" The other replied: "If there was not such a bamboo as mine, what is there to hoop your great wash tub with?"

Chapter XCIX.— The Arrow Wound. {% ^ ;j;|.) C7THERE was a soldier who had received an arrow wound. The pain was most excruciating. He called a celebrated surgeon to attend to him. When the doctor saw him, he said: "It is not a difficult operation; it is very easy to cure." He then took a large pair of scissors and cut away square the arrow handle that was protruding from the flesh. He at once demanded his fees and wanted to leave. The soldier said: "The arrow handle has been cut, but the arrow head is still in the flesh; why do you not pull it out before you go?" The surgeon shook his head and said: "It is not my business; my surgeon's work is finished. As to the arrow head in the flesh, it is the physician's work; why do you ask a surgeon to do it?"

Chapter C— Unlucky Sayings. (Tf, fj ^.) CjiI here was a man who had the habit of saying unlucky things. It was known to all. A child was born to a man of fifty. On the third morning friends went to congratulate him.