Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 5 1887.djvu/135

Rh sharply to give in to his whims and fancies, good naturedly gave up his own beans and took his brother's instead.

Arrived at the field they planted the famous beans according to the instructions they had received from their mother, and waited patiently till the green leaves should be seen above ground. After a few days A Poon one morning woke up and found his own patch of ground dotted all over with green, while Ah Tee's was as bare as it was on the day when they planted their seeds, and though the good-natured little fellow was very loath to leave his brother, he dared not disobey the orders he had received. Consequently he started for home with a very heavy heart.

When Ah Leen saw him returning alone she guessed at once what had taken place, and refusing to receive her step-son she sent him back to fetch his brother. The poor boy silently retraced his steps and returned to the field where, look where he would, no trace of Ah Tee was to be found. So not daring to reappear before his mother without her beloved son he wandered about, calling "Ah Tee, tai tai? Ah Tee, tai tai?" (Little brother, where are you?), until at last he died of exhaustion, and was changed into a bird which now in its singing imitates the plaintive wail.

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HE old amahs who take care of our children share the Chinese belief in the inferiority of women, and they will not believe you if, upon the arrival of an infant, you welcome your baby-girl with as much joy as you would a boy. They are further persuaded that during the first days of its life the infant knows to what sex it belongs.

At one time I was staying at Foochow with a friend of mine, who had just had a baby-girl, and I had my amah with me. One evening,