Page:Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook - Balfour, 1887.djvu/127



burst out in an excess of brilliancy and heat and the fast-bound ice thawed rapidly. Finally he played a grand chord, the dominant of which was the first note of the scale, and immediately a delicious breeze sprang up, auspicious clouds floated across the sky, a sweet dew fell, and a fountain of pure water bubbled up from the ground.

The teacher, Shih Hsiang, stroked his breast and fairly danced with delight. "Wonderful, wonderful," he cried, "is your playing! You surpass the most gifted of the ancients."

Singing and Weeping.

Once upon a time a certain man named Han Ngo, while on a journey, found that he had taken an insufficient quantity of provisions with him, so on arriving at the next town he had to sing for his food. When he left, the sound of his voice still hovered among the rafters of the room he had occupied, and continued to be heard for three days without interruption, so that the neighbours on either side imagined he was still there. When he came to another place, called Ni Lü, the populace insulted him, whereupon he burst out weeping in stentorian tones. All the children and old folks in the district caught the infection, and they all roared and wept in concert, sitting opposite to each other for three days and eating nothing. When Han Ngo went away they hastened after him, whereupon he returned, and sang them a very long ballad in a very loud voice. Then the children and old people danced with joy and capered delightedly about, quite unable to restrain their feelings and forgetful of their former grief. At last they loaded him with gifts and sped him on his way; and thus the people of that place have been great adepts at singing and weeping ever since, imitating to the present day the sounds bequeathed to them by Han Ngo.

The King and the Marionette.

As King Mu was on his way back from a journey he passed by a place where a very accomplished conjuror, named Yen Shih, was presented before him with a view to His Majesty's