Page:The jade story book; stories from the Orient (IA jadestorybooksto00cous).pdf/222



years ago there lived in a small town in the province of "The Four Streams" two retired magistrates. Mr. Le, the elder of the two, had been asked to leave the last position he held because it was his custom to levy blackmail whenever he could do so, and he was also charged, let us hope unjustly, with having inflicted torture upon those unfortunate ones who could not, or would not, meet his demands. In fact, he had become so greedy that the people were in a state of rebellion. He was at length made to retire, but not until he had become quite rich.

The other ex-official, Mr. Sin, was quite impulsive. He had been in the habit of worrying the people of his district, and whenever he began to worry anyone, that person had to pay in order to live peacefully. The Chinese are slow to change, but even they will turn in time on a constant worrier.