Part 4 (2/2)
The unfortunate father gave up the search and began to prepare himself for the grave. There was nothing now left in life that he cared for--nothing but thoughts of his departed daughter. Honeysuckle was gone for ever.
”Alas!” said he, quoting the lines of a famous poet who had fallen into despair:
”My whiting hair would make an endless rope, Yet would not measure all my depth of woe.”
Several long years pa.s.sed by; years of sorrow for the ageing man, pining for his departed daughter. One beautiful October day he was sitting in the very same pavilion where he had so often sat with his darling. His head was bowed forward on his breast, his forehead was lined with grief.
A rustling of leaves attracted his attention. He looked up. Standing directly in front of him was Dr. Dog, and lo, riding on his back, clinging to the animal's s.h.a.ggy hair, was Honeysuckle, his long-lost daughter; while standing near by were three of the handsomest boys he had ever set eyes upon!
”Ah, my daughter! My darling daughter, where have you been all these years?” cried the delighted father, pressing the girl to his aching breast. ”Have you suffered many a cruel pain since you were s.n.a.t.c.hed away so suddenly? Has your life been filled with sorrow?”
”Only at the thought of your grief,” she replied, tenderly, stroking his forehead with her slender fingers; ”only at the thought of your suffering; only at the thought of how I should like to see you every day and tell you that my husband was kind and good to me. For you must know, dear father, this is no mere animal that stands beside you. This Dr.
Dog, who cured me and claimed me as his bride because of your promise, is a great magician. He can change himself at will into a thousand shapes. He chooses to come here in the form of a mountain beast so that no one may penetrate the secret of his distant palace.”
”Then he is your husband?” faltered the old man, gazing at the animal with a new expression on his wrinkled face.
”Yes; my kind and n.o.ble husband, the father of my three sons, your grandchildren, whom we have brought to pay you a visit.”
”And where do you live?”
”In a wonderful cave in the heart of the great mountains; a beautiful cave whose walls and floors are covered with crystals, and encrusted with sparkling gems. The chairs and tables are set with jewels; the rooms are lighted by a thousand glittering diamonds. Oh, it is lovelier than the palace of the Son of Heaven himself! We feed of the flesh of wild deer and mountain goats, and fish from the clearest mountain stream. We drink cold water out of golden goblets, without first boiling it, for it is purity itself. We breathe fragrant air that blows through forests of pine and hemlock. We live only to love each other and our children, and oh, we are so happy! And you, father, you must come back with us to the great mountains and live there with us the rest of your days, which, the G.o.ds grant, may be very many.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: ”CLINGING TO THE ANIMAL'S s.h.a.gGY HAIR WAS HONEYSUCKLE”]
The old man pressed his daughter once more to his breast and fondled the children, who clambered over him rejoicing at the discovery of a grandfather they had never seen before.
From Dr. Dog and his fair Honeysuckle are sprung, it is said, the well-known race of people called the Yus, who even now inhabit the mountainous regions of the Canton and Hunan provinces. It is not for this reason, however, that we have told the story here, but because we felt sure every reader would like to learn the secret of the dog that cured a sick girl and won her for his bride.
HOW FOOTBINDING STARTED
[Ill.u.s.tration]
In the very beginning of all things, when the G.o.ds were creating the world, at last the time came to separate the earth from the heavens.
This was hard work, and if it had not been for the coolness and skill of a young G.o.ddess all would have failed. This G.o.ddess was named Lu-o. She had been idly watching the growth of the planet, when, to her horror, she saw the newly made ball slipping slowly from its place. In another second it would have shot down into the bottomless pit. Quick as a flash Lu-o stopped it with her magic wand and held it firmly until the chief G.o.d came das.h.i.+ng up to the rescue.
But this was not all. When men and women were put on the earth Lu-o helped them greatly by setting an example of purity and kindness. Every one loved her and pointed her out as the one who was always willing to do a good deed. After she had left the world and gone into the land of the G.o.ds, beautiful statues of her were set up in many temples to keep her image always before the eyes of sinful people. The greatest of these was in the capital city. Thus, when sorrowful women wished to offer up their prayers to some virtuous G.o.ddess they would go to a temple of Lu-o and pour out their hearts before her shrine.
At one time the wicked Chow-sin, last ruler of the Yins, went to pray in the city Temple. There his royal eyes were captivated by the sight of a wonderful face, the beauty of which was so great that he fell in love with it at once, telling his ministers that he wished he might take this G.o.ddess, who was no other than Lu-o, for one of his wives.
Now Lu-o was terribly angry that an earthly prince should dare to make such a remark about her. Then and there she determined to punish the Emperor. Calling her a.s.sistant spirits, she told them of Chow-sin's insult. Of all her servants the most cunning was one whom we shall call Fox Sprite, because he really belonged to the fox family. Lu-o ordered Fox Sprite to spare himself no trouble in making the wicked ruler suffer for his impudence.
For many days, try as he would, Chow-sin, the great Son of Heaven, could not forget the face he had seen in the temple.
”He is stark mad,” laughed his courtiers behind his back, ”to fall in love with a statue.”
”I must find a woman just like her,” said the Emperor, ”and take her to wife.”
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