Page:The jade story book; stories from the Orient (IA jadestorybooksto00cous).pdf/360

344 's heart seemed to jump into his throat, and beat there fast enough to choke him.

"Who are you? And how do you come to know Yun-Ying?" asked the old woman, peering and blinking at him, with her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun.

Then Pei-Hang told her about the dream, and the red cord, and when he said that he wanted to marry her daughter, the old woman did not look at all pleased. "If I had two daughters, you would be welcome to one of them," she said.

Pei-Hang was not a bad match, for his parents were well-off, and he was their only child; but Yun-Ying was a very pretty girl and a mandarin of Chang-ngan was anxious to marry her.

"He is four times her age, it is true," said her mother, explaining this to Pei-Hang, "but he is very rich."

"He is old and wrinkled, like a little brown monkey," said Yun-Ying, "and I don't want to marry him. Besides, the Moon Fairy didn't tie my foot to his."

"No, that's true," sighed her mother.

She would have liked to send Pei-Hang