HARPER & BROTHERS,
Franklin Square, N. Y.
[POPULAR TALES.]
FROM A CHINESE STORY-BOOK.
About thirteen hundred years ago, an officer was unjustly accused of treason by a brother officer, and was condemned to death. His son, who was only fifteen years of age, went to the Emperor, praying to be allowed to die for his father.
The Emperor thereupon set the man free; and then expressed his intention of giving the boy the title "Perfectly Dutiful."
The boy exclaimed: "It is right and just for a son to die when his father is disgraced; but what disgrace can be compared with the idea of gaining honor at a father's expense? I respectfully decline your Majesty's proposed distinction."
A certain man had a mother who lost her sight, and he spent all his money on doctors, but in vain. For thirty long years he cared for her, and would scarcely take off his clothes; and in the pleasant spring weather he would lead his mother into the garden, and laugh and sing, so that she forgot her sadness.