Translated from the Chinese.
By L. C. Arlington.
The other day, having a few hours to spare,
I went for a stroll, just to breathe the fresh air;
But I hadn't walked far when I perceived
An old man approaching who seemed deeply grieved.
He was wringing his hands, and as nearer he drew,
I saw he was crying, and bitterly too.
An old man shedding tears is a sad sight to see
At least, it always appears so to me.
I said to him, "Please tell me the cause of your grief,
The mere telling often produces relief.
Are you poor l If you be, that I'll soon rectify;
Are you ill I-pray tell me the reason you cry."
The old man no sooner had heard what I said,
When he gave up crying, and, shaking his head,
Exclaimed, "If you'll deign, sir, to listen a space,
I'll relate in a few words my pitiful case".
"A short time ago,
You should know,
I had houses, and money and land,
Wife, daughter and son;
Alas! Now I've none!
I'm filled with despair,
For of all I'm stripped bare
As bare as the palm of your hand".
"I had every wish in life;
A cozy home, a boy and girl,
And a kind and loving wife;
Gardens, fields, and orchards
- Where grew the peach and date;
In short, sir, I may safely say,
I'd a very fine estate".
"I'd a mule, likewise a donkey-for two carts I kept;
The mule was stou-as for the ass, why a finer never stept.
My yard was amply stocked with pigs, and ducks and fowls and geese
The gobblers, they would always fetch at least five tiac a piece.
Ah! I was happy then, but -here the old man cried,
"In the midst of all my happiness,
Alas! my poor wife died".
"How miserable I felt on receiving this cruel blow,
I'll leave to you to conceive
I neglected everything and gave way to all my woe,
And did nothing else but grieve".
"When my sorrow began to abate,
A go-between came with the news.
Of a widow who'd make a good mate,
Just the one she was sure I would choose".
"She was young and pretty as well,
And she was rich too, the go-between said,
And willing-but why on this painful theme dwell?
A few days after that the both of us were wed".
"As she entered, she looked like an angel from heaven,
- So young too, the go-between said she was just twenty-seven,-
But she was mistaken, for I'd have sworn then,
That out of pure spite, the old lady had added on more than ten".
"Such cherry lips! Such pearly teeth!
Such rosy cheeks! Such hair! Such eyes!
And, I, myself, was to be the owner of so beauiful a prize!
She had a good fat dowry too, so every body thought,
- Here is a list of all the things my beautiful wife brought".
"A watch-dog to bark,
And prowl round in the dark,
To keep the thieves away;
A donkey to bray -
With elongated jaw
To e-e-e-e-haw!"
"Ten fat flat-billed ducks,
The gutters and drains to cleanse;
Ten hens-all were 'clucks'
- That is, laying hens".
"Twenty pounds of thread, ten ditto of yarn,
To sew up a rent, or a hole neatly darn.
A washerman's stone, of the purest white jade;
A couple of beaters, of date tree wood made.
She also brought with her ten shoes of sycee,
And ten strings of cash, of the reign of K'anghsi".
"In two large bundles her clothing was placed;
With two silken sashes to tie round her waist.
Two long robes-these would fetch a good price;
Three large iron panseach would cook six men's rice.
A scrubbing brush, stiffer and better than cloth;
A cullender, also, to strain off the broth".
"Two tables, four stools, four chairs and a chest;
Four pieces of cloth-these were undressed;
A click-clacking loom, 'broidered screen for the door,
And of shot-satin coverlets nearly a score".
"A fine troupe of actors-in fact the elite
Of the stage-with all their wardrobe complete.
'Twas my special duty to look after these,
While 8he stayed at home just as grand as you please;
I took care of the cash this troupe earned at fairs,
While she did nothing but give herself airs".
"My first wife, on her death-bed, put in charge of my care
A boy and a girl-our children-and also made me swear
That I would guard them from all harm; I took a solemn oath.
To do so, but my second wife, alas ! detested both.
"Returning home one day I found the children had been beat,
She was raving like a fiend, they cowering at her feet;
I remonstrated with her-the children ran and hid.
She screamed, 'I'll see who's mistress here,'
And what d'ye think she did I".
"With a club she took the poor watch-dog's life,
The donkey she stabbed with a kitchen knife;
She dashed out the brains of the fiat-billed ducks,
And wrung the necks of the ten poor clucks".
"She burnt the ten catties of cotton yarn,
And the thread she had brought to sew and darn;
The washerman's stone of pure white jade,
She smashed, and a number of smaller ones made".
"By means of a chopper with skill applied,
The beaters were split up and multiplied;
And as for the ten lumps of white sycee,
And the strings of cash of the reign of K'anghei,
She flung them, one after another, at me!"
'The bundles in which all of her clothing was placed,
She burnt, with the sashes to tie round the waist.
Her two fur robes she tore up in a trice,
And smashed the three pans that each would cook six men's rice".
"The brush and the cullender next she seized
And burnt, still her anger was far from appeased.
She split up the tables, the stools and the chairs,
And the chest, too, was laid up for repairs".
"She tore into shreds the undressed calico,
And smashed the click-clacking loom with one blow;
The coverlets she burnt in a heap on the floor,
And tore into tatters the screen for the door;
Neck and crop out of doors the actors she turned,
And the whole of their wardrobe, she burned".
"Having vented her rage in this horrible style,
She gazed on her work with a demoniacal smile;
And while I stood there contemplating the wreck,
She ran off and hung herself up by the neck".
"I wrote to her friends of her silly demise,
They came, and, of course , laid the blame upon me;
They rushed off at once to the magistrate's court,
And made of the case a most terrible report.
"I bribed right and left-the magistrate first;
He was bad, I admit, but he wasn't the worst,
His lictors and runners, and writers- what not-
Soon managed to fleece me of all that I'd got".
Fields, gardens, and orchards-in short, my estate-
All went-my two carriages shared the same fate;
My mules and my donkeys, pigs, fowls, ducks and geese
I sold, in the hope that their proceeds would purchase my peace".
'Twas settled at last, but I found to my cost,
Though gaining the case, I'd my property lost;
Worse still, my poor children, both sickened and died-
I think, sir, you'll admit that I've been sorely tried".
"The cause of my grief and distress you know now,
Sir, have I not reason to give way to woe?
I told him he had-what else could I say?
So I gave him a dollar and went on my way".
MORAL.
Aword of advice-it's short, but it's true-
I hope no one will ever forget it
"Don't marry a widow ; for as sure as you do,
Take my word for it you'll always regret it."
unless otherwise indicated