第23章 A CHINESE GIRL GRADUATE BY R.K.DOUGLAS(6)

"My young lady," said the woman, "is the daughter of Mr.King, who was a vice-president of a lower court.Her father and mother having both visited the 'Yellow Springs' [Hades], she is now living with an aunt, who has been blessed by the God of Wealth, and whose main object in life is to find a husband whom her niece may be willing to marry.The young gentleman, my young lady's cousin, is one of the richest men in Ch'engtu.All the larger inns belong to him, and his profits are as boundless as the four seas.He is as anxious as his mother to find a suitable match for theyoung lady, and has promised that so soon as she can make a choice he will arrange the wedding.""I should have thought," said Jasmine, "that, being the owner of so much wealth and beauty, the young lady would have been besieged by suitors from all parts of the empire.""So she is," said the woman, "and from her window yonder she espies them, for they all put up at this inn.Hitherto she has made fun of them all, and describes their appearance and habits in the most amusing way.'See this one,' says she, 'with his bachelor cap on and his new official clothes and awkward gait, looking for all the world like a barn-door fowl dressed up as a stork; or that one, with his round shoulders, monkey-face, and crooked legs;' and so she tells them off.""What does she say of me, I wonder?" said Jasmine, amused.

"Of your Excellency she says that her comparisons fail her, and that she can only hope that the Fates who guided your jewelled chariot hitherward will not tantalise her by an empty vision, but will bind your ankles to hers with the red matrimonial cords.""How can I hope for such happiness?" said Jasmine, smiling."But please to tell your young lady that, being only a guest at this inn, I have nothing worthy of her acceptance to offer in return for her bounteous gifts, and that I can only assure her of my boundless gratitude."With many bows, and with reiterated wishes for Jasmine's happiness and endless longevity, the woman took her leave.

"Truly this young lady has formed a most perverted attachment," said Jasmine to herself."She reminds me of the man in the fairy tale who fell in love with a shadow, and, so far as I can see, she is not likely to get any more satisfaction out of it than he did." So saying, she took up a pencil and scribbled the following lines on a scrap of paper:

"Withthoughtsasardentasa quenchless thirst, She sends me fragrant and most luscious fruit; Without a blush she seeks a phenix guest [a bachelor] Who dwells alone like case-enveloped lute."After this mental effort Jasmine went to bed.Nor had her interview with the waiting-woman made a sufficient impression on her mind tointerfere in any way with her sleep.She was surprised, however, on coming into her sitting-room in the morning, to meet the same messenger, who, laden with a dish of hot eggs and a brew of tea, begged Jasmine to "deign to look down upon her offerings.""Many thanks," said Jasmine, "for your kind attention.""You are putting the saddle on the wrong horse," replied the woman."In bringing you these I am but obeying the orders of Miss King, who herself made the tea of leaves from Pu-erh in Yunnan, and who with her own fair hands shelled the eggs." "Your young lady," answered Jasmine, "is as bountiful as she is kind.What return can I make her for her kindness to a stranger? Stay," she said, as the thought crossed her mind that the verses she had written the night before might prove a wholesome tonic for this effusive young lady, "I have a few verses which I will venture to ask her to accept." So saying, she took a piece of peach-blossom paper, on which she carefully copied the quatrain and handed it to the woman."May I trouble you," said she, "to take this to your mistress?""If," said Jasmine to herself as the woman took her departure, "Miss King is able to penetrate the meaning of my verses, she won't like them.Without saying so in so many words, I have told her with sufficient plainness that I will have nothing to say to her.But stupidity is a shield sent by Providence to protect the greater part of mankind from many evils; so perhaps she will escape."It certainly in this case served to shield Miss King from Jasmine's shafts.She was delighted at receiving the verses, and at once sat down to compose a quatrain to match Jasmine's in reply.With infinite labour she elaborated the following:

"Sung Yuh on th' eastern wall sat deep in thought, And longed with P'e to pluck the fragrant fruit.If all the well- known tunes be newly set, What use to take again the half- burnt lute?"Having copied these on a piece of silk-woven paper, she sent them to Jasmine by her faithful attendant.On looking over the paper, Jasmine said, smiling, "What a clever young lady your mistress must be! These lines, though somewhat inconsequential, are incomparable."But, though Jasmine was partly inclined to treat the matter as a joke, she saw that there was a serious side to the affair, more especially as the colours under which she was sailing were so undeniably false.She knew well that for Sung Yuh should be read Miss King, and for P'e her own name; and she determined, therefore, to put an end to the philandering of Miss King, which, in her present state of mind, was doubly annoying to her.