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Page 40
"Now may you grow thin and shrivel up like a fallen lemon; but it is
false!" cried Wang Yu, starting up suddenly and unexpectedly. "At Chee
Chou, at the shop of 'The Heaven-sent Sugar-cane,' there lives a
beautiful and virtuous girl who is more than all that. Her eyes are
like the inside circles on the peacock's feathers; her teeth are finer
than the scales on the Sacred Dragon; her--"
"If it is the wish of this illustriously-endowed gathering that this
exceedingly illiterate paper tiger should occupy their august moments
with a description of the deformities of the very ordinary young
person at Chee Chou," said Kai Lung imperturbably, "then the remainder
of the history of the noble-minded Yung Chang can remain until an evil
fate has overtaken Wang Yu, as it assuredly will shortly."
"A fair wind raises no storm," said Wang Yu sulkily; and Kai Lung
continued:
"Such loveliness could not escape the evil eye of Li Ting, and
accordingly, as he grew in favour with Ti Hung, he obtained his
consent to the drawing up of the marriage contracts. More than this,
he had already sent to Ning two bracelets of the finest gold, tied
together with a scarlet thread, as a betrothal present. But, as the
proverb says, 'The good bee will not touch the faded flower,' and
Ning, although compelled by the second of the Five Great Principles to
respect her father, was unable to regard the marriage with anything
but abhorrence. Perhaps this was not altogether the fault of Li Ting,
for on the evening of the day on which she had received his present,
she walked in the rice fields, and sitting down at the foot of a
funereal cypress, whose highest branches pierced the Middle Air, she
cried aloud:
"'I cannot control my bitterness. Of what use is it that I should be
called the "White Pigeon among Golden Lilies," if my beauty is but for
the hog-like eyes of the exceedingly objectionable Li Ting? Ah, Yung
Chang, my unfortunate lover! what evil spirit pursues you that you
cannot pass your examination for the second degree? My noble-minded
but ambitious boy, why were you not content with an agricultural or
even a manufacturing career and happiness? By aspiring to a literary
degree, you have placed a barrier wider than the Whang Hai between
us.'
"'As the earth seems small to the soaring swallow, so shall
insuperable obstacles be overcome by the heart worn smooth with a
fixed purpose,' said a voice beside her, and Yung Chang stepped from
behind the cypress tree, where he had been waiting for Ning. 'O one
more symmetrical than the chrysanthemum,' he continued, 'I shall yet,
with the aid of my ancestors, pass the second degree, and even obtain
a position of high trust in the public office at Peking.'
"'And in the meantime,' pouted Ning, 'I shall have partaken of the
wedding-cake of the utterly unpresentable Li Ting.' And she exhibited
the bracelets which she had that day received.
"'Alas!' said Yung Chang, 'there are times when one is tempted to
doubt even the most efficacious and violent means. I had hoped that by
this time Li Ting would have come to a sudden and most unseemly end;
for I have drawn up and affixed in the most conspicuous places
notifications of his character, similar to the one here.'
"Ning turned, and beheld fastened to the trunk of the cypress an
exceedingly elegantly written and composed notice, which Yung read to
her as follows:
"'BEWARE OF INCURRING DEATH FROM STARVATION
"'Let the distinguished inhabitants of this district observe the
exceedingly ungraceful walk and bearing of the low person who
calls himself Li Ting. Truthfully, it is that of a dog in the act
of being dragged to the river because his sores and diseases
render him objectionable in the house of his master. So will this
hunchbacked person be dragged to the place of execution, and be
bowstrung, to the great relief of all who respect the five senses;
A Respectful Physiognomy, Passionless Reflexion, Soft Speech,
Acute Hearing, Piercing Sight.
"'He hopes to attain to the Red Button and the Peacock's Feather;
but the right hand of the Deity itches, and Li Ting will assuredly
be removed suddenly.'
"'Li Ting must certainly be in league with the evil forces if he can
withstand so powerful a weapon,' said Ning admiringly, when her lover
had finished reading. 'Even now he is starting on a journey, nor will
he return till the first day of the month when the sparrows go to the
sea and are changed into oysters. Perhaps the fate will overtake him
while he is away. If not--'
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