“Alas!” said he. “There is for me no living road, I will end it here. I have failed in my promise to my mother.”
Taking his girdle, he was fastening it about a beam in the temple when an old priest came in and said, “Son, what would you do? I may be able to help you.”
The poor lad poured out his sad story, and at its close the priest said:
“Son, listen to me; I will help you find your father again, and a plan by which he must own you. You dry your tears and stay here with me a few days, and I promise you, you will yet be a happy boy.” Then he thought a while and at last disclosed his plan in part to the lad.
He taught the boy some songs and helped him put his own life-story into rhyme, and one day [[146]]said, “I want you to sing for the ‘foundation beaters,’ who are preparing the ground for a beautiful pavilion in a flower garden belonging to a rich man. They are in need of a leading voice such as you have, and you can sing for them; you may also sing your own song at that place.”
Ting Lang went with him, and his beautiful voice and handsome face won the hearts of all the workmen, and they joined in the choruses with a will, throwing all their strength into the work.
For a day or two he caught no glimpse of the family, and his heart was sad and heavy; so also was the heart of the father, had he but known it. The sight of the boy had brought back the memory of his early life and the parting with the boy’s mother. The boy was in the city; people would know all and talk and it would come to his father-in-law’s ears, yet he could not bring himself to tell him first.
The third day Ting Lang was singing he caught sight of a lady sitting by the window listening. She was greatly interested in this child-singer as she had heard him leading the workmen, and what was her horror when she saw one of her servants go up and strike the child a sharp blow, knocking him from the bench on which he was standing. Seeing [[147]]the child did not get up, she called to the servant and berated him soundly for his brutality.
“Why did you strike him?”
To which the servant answered, “He used the name of my master.”