“Perfectly!” grinned the Jackal, as he dexterously shut the door, “and if you will permit me to say so, I think matters will remain as they were!”
[N] From “Indian Fairy Tales,” edited by Joseph Jacobs; used by permission of the publishers, G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
THE STORY OF THE WILLOW PATTERN PLATE
RETOLD BY M. ALSTON BUCKLEY
Once upon a time there lived in China a rich and haughty mandarin, who had great riches in lands, and horses, and priceless jewels. This great man had one lovely daughter with soft black eyes, and raven hair that scarcely could be told in texture from the silken robes she wore. The mandarin loved his daughter and showered dazzling jewels on her, and bought rich robes, heavy with choicest needlework, that she might wear them.
Now the mandarin had a faithful secretary, a young man named Chang, whose every thought was given to the business of the man he served. But as he went about the house with downcast eyes, Chang saw the daughter of the mandarin trip lightly to her father’s side to whisper in the ear of her indulgent parent, or flash across the hall, or through the garden where she fed her goldfish in the lake, and when her mother called her name, Kong Lee, it seemed to him like sounds of liquid music. The mandarin talked always of his secretary, and said that he was honest and true and good, and told the truth and did his work as well as ever any man could do it.
Kong Lee learned to think of him and love him.
But the mandarin had a friend, a rich old man, who wished to marry Kong Lee, and take her far away to be the mistress of his castle. Kong Lee refused to marry this old man, and to punish her, her father shut her up in the top room of a lonely house that stood on the lake shore. From her windows she could see the lake, and she could see the willow tree that dipped its drooping branches in the smooth, still water and seemed to hang its head and weep for her. And when the Spring came on and she could hear the singing of the birds, she wished that she could go and walk about the garden where she could see the sweet blossoms that hung like a veil of pink over the peach trees. In her loneliness she wept, and wrote sad poetry, which she threw into the water.
All this time Chang grieved for her, and sent her gifts to comfort her, and when his work was done, he walked along the shore and thought of her. But one day Kong Lee caught sight of him standing on the shore, and she thought, “Chang will help me.” So she took a cocoanut, and cut the shell in two and made a little boat of half of it. Then she made a little sail of fine, carved ivory, on the sail she wrote a message asking Chang to help her and threw the boat out of the window. The little skiff sailed out over the lake, then fell and splashed into the water, the wind caught the sail and the small craft sailed bravely on. Chang saw it, waded out, and caught it, read the message, and went to find Kong Lee.