Page:Ningpo to Shanghai.djvu/70

56 sounds uttered even the most learned in the land are ignorant&mdash;Lo-way-la&mdash;Lo-way-la on one note or varied half a note each way, is music pleasing enough to those fond of monotony,&mdash;changing after a quarter of an hour's repetition, perhaps, to Too-way-woie&mdash;T o-way-woie&mdash;or a more lively symphony of Fau-sing-ko Ching-ko-way&mdash;Fau-sing-ko Ching-ko-waye or some such words.

The Temple of the three goddesses at the Choey-yen-size, and the services performed in it, will be found highly pleasing to the quiet observer,&mdash;especially should the hour of service be near sunset, or before the break of day, when the subdued light from a couple of dozen of candles, all at an equal altitude about eight feet from the ground, and ranged in lines around the smokened hall, or at the altar piece, gives a peculiar mellow expression to the countenances of the performers, with their bald pates, and yellow or more modest coloured vestments. Many of these priests are exceedingly sensible men, and on being asked why they pay adoration to images of wood and stone will reply that the spirit they address is one and the same with the Being worshipped by men of western lands;&mdash;but that western men, having more power of mind, are better able to realize the divinity than themselves and others of their country men, who require a visible representation of their god, else it is not in their power to confine their thoughts, and express their devotion with proper effect. As before stated, these priests, for the most part, are unlettered men, and, in nine cases out of ten, will inform the enquirer that their reason for becoming priests was a want of the means of existence. Occasionally, however, a child is born under the star of a particular spirit and, the parents 