THE SECRET OF REVILINGS.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10999, 24 June 1901, Page 4

THE SECRET OF REVILINGS.

A crimson sun sank in a yellow sea, and the green. blp<*k ? w, -' glided in and out between the sunbeams. Huddlesctn wi uu ..... .. .ii. which was thirty feet high, and whose breadth equalled the length of a man from linger tips to toes. Hudtlleson was a merchant, and sold sugar and things to the native*, who bought smilingly, but desired to knife him, for Hudwas wealthy, and, moreover, had been seen coming by night from the yanien of Shan Tung. Shan Tung was Hanlin, which means that lie knew eighty* thoussuid of the two hundred thousand signs in the Chinese language, and was eligible to office if he had the gold to buy it. li the natives hated Huddleson, it was also true that the Europeans mostly dintrusted him; for in a foolish moment he had declared that the Mongolian was not tlive.n altogether to evil, but had some good In him. So these traders, consuls, and othw officials looked-askant wh«i any one praised Huddleson, the merchant who glorified the Chinese. The man on the wall had lived fifteen years in the East, the hurt, ten in Peking; and now for five seasons he had deserted the European quarter, and dwelt on the opposite aide of the Tartar City. Hie house was two stories high, and the back abutted against the wall where he was seated.

Inside the wall lay the various green spots which make up that mysterious ground, "the purple forbidden city." Huddleson had tampered with forbidden things, and poison was mingled with his blood. In the first, place, he had committed an indiscretion. He had learned the native tongue in place of making bargains in tlie mongrel speech, which sensible merchant* employed. Hβ did more. He read the book* of ToLao. the mad poet, who had loved a dragon maiden, and lived in a hill. Now, these things are fatal, like much opium, for foreigners, who are not inoculated by heredity against the subtle words of the. dragon maiden that bore the blue- wrpent with the triple crown and rules the souls of the chosen. Huddleson was rich, and good to look at, bring big in the. bones and holding hiinueif like a brave man. Because of his ill-advised learning, Huddleson did what no Caucasian has any right to do—he dreamed. Not the usual yjsion from a rarebit, but real dreams, such as To-Lao dreamed before lie m«t the dragon maiden and loved her. To theso who understand these things, it is evident that Huddleson was lost. The stranger who dreams the dream of T-o-Lao is doomed; and .hip name will surely be blotted out from among his people. But the man bad ceased to dream because, the vision had come to life. The dream of To-Lao always begins to live after the seventh dreaming, and yesterday For Tien Sing was thirteen, and so a Huddleson had passed the seven marks, and to-day he- had seen the woman, woman, with a- woman's mind and burning palms like heated gold leaves. • Tien Sing had never loved a man ; for she knew only Shan Tung, her husband, who had bought her for his son. But the boy of twelve died of the iish fever, just as the bnde'« ■relatives-reached. Shan Tung's,house, ami before the girl had been taketi from the gaudy wedding chair, in which she had been'hermetically sealed to prevent any of the bridegroom's' relatives from seeing her. This kali would, have been » disgraceful misfortune, and even if the" woman suffocated before arriving, it did not matter. They married Tien Sing to the corpse, and she was held a thing accursed; wherefore the older and worse favoured women beat her. Tien Sing lay on, her straw bed near the roof and. wept'; and she stretched out hey arms nightly and prayed for a man to love her, and to raise up sons to honour her when she should come to die. Tien Sing knew that the women beat her because she was beautiful as the full moon ia beautiful and the star of Ashti. It was of Tien Sing that Huddleson dreamed in the dream of To-Lao; and as he passed through the Street of Revil ings on his way to the office of the Grand Secretary, the girl looked over thereof of Shan Tung's house.

Huddleston was dressed as a chin-shib, or a second-ela&s literatus, and his linen outer coat was unhooked so as to show the violet silk lining. Tien Sing wore only one garment, the long"white robe of the maiden, and her hair was afloat about her shoulders. Huddleson looked at the girl and stood still. Then they looked into each others eves and loved, just 'as To-Lao loved his dragon maiden. The roof was so low that he could almost have clasped the hand which was under the linen and holding her breast.

Now. Huddleson knew too much, for he knew the words of the poet, which no foreigner hud ever learned. He pressed both hands- over his eyes as if bewildered, and said: . "Behold r a star has 'fallen from, the blue highway of the Sun, and its rays are wonderful."

Then Tien Sing held her flesh tightly, so that it hurt her, and her lips parted to finish the words of To-Lao:

"And the fire of the star has entered mc, and my heart is eaten up." Huddlcton looked down at the earth between his feet. "To-night, oh, heart of the jessamine,' he said.

"Whither?" murmured Tien Sing. "On thy roof, against the wall of the 'purple forbidden,'" replied Huddleson, and went on to the great man's house. As lie Tetorned oiit of the sacred city, he passed through the guarded gate with the little temples on either side. It wanted an hour to sunset when he reached his house; and he went upon the roof, taking a long and strong Ladder, which he placea against the wall of the "purple forbidden." It is death by torture to be found thereon, and for that reason' none ever dares to be found; and in consequence the patrol paid little attention to guarding the walltop. The agonies and cries of the earlier offenders were guard enough for the wall, and only one tainted by tbe dream of ToLao would have ventured it.

Huddleson was uncertain of the exact house-top from which Tien Sing had answered him with the dragon's «ong. . There were three about two hundred -feet away from him, where the wall was hollowed out to make a guard-house. Qne of these it was, and. murmuring the xoft but invincible charm of the blue snake, he watched the roofs.

Aβ tic xun h«wed into the water, a woman raised herself on the roof nearest the watcher on the -wall, and, taking her black hair in her hands, she made with its darkness the sign of the snake. 'Ken fting would have died if Shan Tung had been be-, hind her then: and Huddleson could- hurt) gone mad on the wall. The woman at once lay down again on the honse-top, and the swift-rushing eastern night shut out ad tbingxi The man on the wall crept around it* curve until he came to the roof where the woman crouch-

cd. He had pushed his ladder aJierfW; lum, itiut !«y (_•{» tjs'e toy <\wiau»tea.- XyS-X In « lew minutes he hunt* over the to listen, and the sound of breathing reached him. , 'At&i "It is thou, pearl of:my life?" Ihe pered. A moment's silence succeeded t, sigh of relief, and then the warm-taitoat*!-voiee of Tien Sing replied: ■ ,'-*., ..% "It is thy most contemptible slave *Ai prince of the stare!" '.■*>« Huddlescn lowered the ladder, whicit ska' caught, and fixed firmly in the earth thrown . on the roof. He had to search fo* wS after he came down; since, with pwmer modesty. Tien Sing had seated betadf away from the ladder. Having found her' he raised <her and held the girl closely,'' and then, afraid lest hi? Wesbwh ISoM betray him into none awkwardness,- heHre» leased her, and they crouched side by aid* ' against the wall. " *?* Now, when a woman risks her Ufa fat me*t a man, she docs not trifle wHfc hbn*t and Tien Sing was already god*.' who were also her ancestor? -' _l. sending her the man she had begjred £* them. As for Ruddleson, he " in the snake's blue coils, from wWc©*man escapes; and the dream claimed its own. X ■ 5.'

At midnight Tien Sing crept* tloxjss fen her straw pallet, and Huddleson tefcnni*! to his own house: but the. ladder lay mrti of sight in the. middle of the wrJL Each evening these two met on fcj» toa of Shan Tung's yaaien. During &» JwJ? Huddloston dressed as a British merchant and stopped for luncheon or tea at the hoQM of some fellow Caucasian, who regarded *5 Chinese as yellow dogs; only with: % trifl* of precious metal for which* the European could find no use. *^

These people knew nothing of tWuntao. ism of the Orient, and they had never tmsA of the dream of To-Lao.

Naturally, Huddleson might have pur. chased Tien Sing with three hundred stringa of cash ; because Shun Tung dared not okufr the girl, lest he die as his only son &,$ periahed. ; This is the curse of those crowned wftJj tlia triple crown of the blue serpent: The man may not. buy his love as every maa should, according to the ancient and.prqpett manner of maukiud. He must steal her anj upon the night when the star of Ashti ctrta the polished edge of the moon. Thjs hap, pens four times a year, and one of them wei due two weeks after the first meeting between Huddle.snn and Tien Sing. '

It happened that the first wife of Sbatt Tung was three years older than Hβ, &nd|. her wrinkled skin and bald head were tU. insignia of authority in Shan Tung's yaarea. She had been purchased, for five taels bj;.isetf' father-in-law, and she hated Tiejl.Kngj.; for which there wore many causes, battM*.

girl's face was reason enough.* Tlie old woman missed the girl upon tjev*'. I ral occasions when she de*ired to be&t hefy '. ' and she was grieved by this. Sbe hunted fojr Tien Sing, and not finding her in the w*» ~ < men's quarters, crept up to the roof. Th* '','■ sky was thickly covered «nd the m-SMiV"' , light silvered (he clouds and was drunk Mf ,- in the mists. S ■ . - < The woman heard wliispering near thi*-" • wall and distinguished a male voice; bnH'r 'A' withdrew quietly, being afi-aid lest ths in*. •-';-" trader follow and kill her. ■ ''"■• The next, morning Nai-nai told her tea* :A'[ band .but they said nothing to Tien • V - for they more than half believed the persna "AA: on .tlie' roof to be some devil or other, y'y with whose love affairs it were unwise ta,';-' meddle. Nai-nai, however, was determined', that the love scenes on the ropf shoiiifl'.; ' cease, so she urged Shan Tung to tiy. hi ■ < exorcise the devil who was ill-using m ' house. A Ttwiist priest, was found who, fo» ten thousand cash, gave Shan Tung a slip , of red pa par, covered with wonderful ohaiv • acters. According to the priest, no demon . could withstand the potency of this Scarlett 'J. spell, but must immediately fly away, utter*, >" ing cries of distress. '< A Nai-nai affixed this securely to Tien, Sing'« .: garment, hut it proved of no avail;' so Shaw-'. '. Tung went to the Taoist temple and reviled H , the guardian thereof, intimating that tlie god was something more than a fraud ,afld! _' • that the priest himself yeas ■ a thief. The . . holy man returned in kind and nulled Shnn . Tung'« queue, whereupon several peace-talk"! -.. era interfered and after two days of con.-- 4. suiting, a settlement was reached wherebj*. - - the priest gave a feast to all concerned, st,-\ which Shan Tung recalled his reviling, and'ffe everything was well. ;,£ But the devil continued to deKecrafce Shan.'hg; Tung's yamen and to make love on his ro«i, -*i In despair, he went to the Buddhist priast 'XL and received a charm, whicli failed aa terlv 11s that, of the rival Taoisb divine. Iv Th*n Shan Tung was maddened and longed_:.-'?' to kill Tien Sing; but he was more afraid--T;-than before to harm the girl; since it had; ' \ been proved that her lover was a very power*", fill devil indeed, and one who feared nd; ■■ priwis or spell. . A: Nbw, Nai-nai could not-resist a desire to ."£; behold the demon, and upon the first eleaif. ~ ,; night when tho moon wa-s nearly full, she, A ventured to look over the edge of the open-' O;. ing in the roof. She recognised in thin :-£ demon a scholar of the second degree, surprised her, for she thought he would at least a graduate since he w*a iflMf ■?.;'■ than the priest's spells. Huddleson turned his face toward tbe woi' •- man, and she made sure that tine intruding! "~ lover was a man: so she descended and »••:•, turned with Shun Tung, who recognised/--. Huddleson, but was afraid to resent Ha, - presence. He had seen Huddleson at tue . * yamen of the Grand Secretary, and feawd. . to offend so powerful an official. ' , ~7 Slum Tung knew that the To-Lao would'::;., surely extend his "face" to his friend, ana - » a man could b* badly injured by the enmity';-/-; of an imperial household officer. . tivea were informed of the evil occnnwwv. ', and this was the reason many of Hu«Ml«* , ■ son's smiling customers desired to thrtrt* knife into his abdomen. < A A great division of labour results in"** 1 countries where a living is difficult to S*k ; and many curious professions arise." Tm normal Chinese dislikes trouble, Coua* quently, one who is willing to t &'A'P et * sonal encounter, possesses a means of lmngv His sign is a studied disorder in dress and a cap worn much awry. To several sucb persons did Shan Tung make application am - the offer of numerous strings of cadi. Tnet buying of valour is regarded as a most «*™J* ble act: and Shan Tung exacted tribute ftwrt " his twenty grandfathers, his two J^ l ? l ?'* - ; uncles, and other oonnectioos, . * obtain the money to pay these profession

bullies. ' - . * j Their plan was that the hired fighters a&i Uck Shan Tung's yamen, after- calling Ujl , the imperial soldiers, using the pretext;*•»% . (he man on the roof had desecrated t«»>.:sacred wall. t .■"=.■ The two lovers were wrapped m thes;;-; madnera and feared nothing, because wt&i-. . had ceased to think. They ws* wholly oo* , ; cupied in living—an absorbing pastime, \m>-' ■ one in which few can venture to tooulge.l Everything was prepared for their sethn&tout, and Huddleson had invested in a Vor+ pig-tail wig, although the one he wot* ***f>; good; but then he travelled to a place wbffl*. wig-makers are unknown, ~,; ■• The star of Ashti is of the first n»S»*-,' O \ tudu, and in its elliptical course, long and narrow, it touches the moans ag»* • during each of the four seasons. . '~~\ i ~ It wa« from this pale point, really » «& of enormous size, that the dragon maid Wg,: , to the earth, when Tier fair-haired '~ ls ™Ff?~ J twin had conquered in their battle fee *•£*;;„ snake-crown. Though thus roughly ** T from her celestial home, the love of Te "V~fe£\ clung to her own regal diadero donng &&£ _ frightful descent through space. ' t-.y showed mc something -which needed *&?*£& ou&e. It was a woman, lying otttetietw*^/., on her couch and she had' Bat I V&*%'~. tell you. You couldn't believe me,;j«§' who 'have aieyer seen what a • woman can look like. i*^£ r ~ I bowed to bevt but she continued looicaw ■ into the room behind mc, so I departed *»% , a sigh. When I left, I thanked Huddlesrt«%- ", and congratulated him; but lam very arg«l .; mentative, so I said: \<*\ "Still, it se«»8 to mc, it -would iava better if you, who had so much, had Shan Tung the three hundred cash »«£.*_ - gone away decently. What had To-J*o the , other lot to do with it?" ..:^fJfuddlesou looked at mc in the hearted but weary manner with which people regard mc at some time or otheT 4 -|^| and said: -jt*--^ "You don't understand," and he was ng» „;' —I don't. .$# ;£m