TALE.
Translated from the Chinese by M. Henri Mouhot.
CHINESE TALES.
In a Chinese village lived two cousins, both orphans: the eldest, who was called Moû, was cunning and egotistical; the other, on the contrary, was goodness and simplicity itself; he was called A-lo-Sine. The time for ploughing the fields arrived: A-lo-Sine possessed a buffalo, while Moû had only a dog. An idea struck him, and he went to his cousin and said, “I bring you my dog; give me your buffalo: my dog will plough your field, which is not very large, and you will see that you will have very fine rice.”
A-lo-Sine consented, and worked so well with the dog that his rice was first-rate, while the field ploughed by the buffalo produced hardly anything.
Moû, then, full of spite, went by night into his cousin’s field, and set fire to it: A-lo-Sine saw the flames, and, unable to repress his despair, uttered piercing cries, and rolled in the field.
Some apes, who were marauding in a neighbouring field, witnessed this spectacle, and said to each other, “That must be a god, since the fire does not hurt him.” They accordingly drew near him, took him by the feet and arms, and carried him to the top of a mountain, where they laid him down, plunged in a deep sleep. The monkeys then piled up rice and delicious fruits, and bowls of gold and silver of extraordinary beauty and value, and then left him to return to the fields.
At last he awoke, and thought no more of his misfortune, seeing around him so many treasures: he gathered them all up, and returned to his hut, full of joy.
Moû, seeing him so happy, followed him, and, at the sight of the gold, “Heavens!” cried he; “my cousin as rich as a prince: give me something.”