Page:Mrs. Spring Fragrance - Far - 1912.djvu/311

 "For what reason, honorable sir?" asked Tsin Yen, much surprised.

"Did not you consent to my spreading my mat, most ingenuous son of an illustrious father?" returned the man. He pointed to his mat. Of cobweb texture and cobweb color, it already covered almost the whole green lawn, and there was a portion yet unrolled.

"How could I know that so small a bundle would make so large a mat?" exclaimed Tsin Yen protestingly.

"But you should have thought, my son," said the father of Tsin Yen, who now appeared upon the scene. "If you had thought before consenting to the spreading of the mat, you would not, this fine afternoon, be obliged to yield your playground to a stranger. However, the word of a Tsin must be made good. Stand aside, my sons."

So Tsin Yen and Tsin Yo stood aside and watched with indignant eyes the deceptive mat unrolled over the whole space where they were wont to play. When it was spread to its full capacity, the man seated himself in the middle, and remained thereon until the setting of the sun.

And that is the reason why Tsin Yen, when he became a man, always thought for three minutes before allowing any word to escape his lips.