Page:Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook - Balfour, 1887.djvu/134



hereditary nobles of the state. Pao Shu contented himself with a subordinate position, and the entire administration of affairs was vested in Kuan Chung, who was soon called Father Chung. When, subsequently, the Duke aimed at the Chiefdom of the Feudatories, Kuan Chung heaved a sigh, and thus soliloquised:—

"When I was young and poor I often traded with Pao Shu. On the profits being divided, I always took the larger share; yet Pao Shu never reproached me with covetousness, for he knew that I was poor. I often advised him about his affairs; yet when he came to grief through following my counsel he never reproached me with stupidity, knowing that times were sometimes favourable and sometimes the reverse. I held office thrice, and thrice was dismissed by my sovereign; yet Pao Shu never reproached me with degeneracy, knowing that I was simply unfortunate. Thrice did I wage war, and thrice was I defeated; yet Pao Shu never reproached me with cowardice, knowing that I had an aged mother. And then, when my royal master was defeated and my colleague killed himself, while I escaped with mere imprisonment, Pao Shu never reproached me with shamelessness; for he knew I felt no shame at trifles, but was only ashamed at my reputation not being coextensive with the world. It was my parents who gave me birth, but it is only Pao Shu who knows me."

Thus it is that Kuan Chung and Pao Shu have become a synonym for faithful friendship.

A Cynical Courtier.

Once upon a time Duke Ching went on a journey to the Ox Mountain. As he approached the capital of his state, on his return from the north, he burst into a flood of tears, and exclaimed, "How beautiful is my kingdom, embedded in all the exuberant luxuriance of foliage! Why, then, should I weep? Because I must die, and leave it. Supposing that death had never entered the world in the olden times, and we were all immortal, whither should I bend my steps if once I left this spot?" Then two of his courtiers lifted up their