When I was a boy in China

by Yan Phou Lee

To give an idea of the stories which are most eagerly listened to, let me tell you one myself which may be taken as a fair sample of the shorter ones. It has the advantage of being true and every whit reliable. For want of a more appropriate title I will call it:

SOLD.

My fellow-townsman Chang was a scholar, who, having obtained his M. A. degree, took up the profession of law, for his success in which he was disliked by his neighbors in Fragrant Hills. The time came when it behooved him to go to Pekin for the purpose of passing examination for the doctor’s degree. Accordingly, with three hundred dollars in his three trunks, many books and “skinning papers,” he went to Canton to obtain documents of identification. Pending the issue of these, he stopped at an inn, resolved to set out to Pekin by steamer as soon as possible. In the next room, separated from his simply by a wooden partition, lodged two gentlemen, who, by their Northern dialect, declared themselves strangers, and who appeared to be on the same errand as himself. He overheard them more than once quarrelling about a rich widow who had ended the prescribed twenty-seven months of mourning and was taking active measures to change her lonely condition. Filled with curiosity, Mr. Chang panted to know more; so dropping into their room one day, after duly introducing himself, he said, “For days I have heard you disputing over a marriage affair. Pray, will you enlighten my understanding by telling me the interesting facts in the case?”

“With pleasure, sir,” answered the elder of the two; “you see there lives near here a pretty widow whose husband, a trader from Kiang-si, had the bad taste to leave her an immense fortune at his death. Now, as she has no children, she is anxious to marry again. But she will marry none except a scholar of distinguished merit, a man of fine character and suitable age, money being evidently no object to her. When we learned that, we both wanted to offer ourselves and that explains why we have disturbed your serenity in such an unseemly manner. But yesterday we heard from a go-between that she had set her heart on marrying a native of this province. So we are out of the race.”

“Such a man,” said Chang, “is not hard to find. I know one now, not a li from here, who can fulfil these conditions. Do you think there is any chance for a worthless person like me?”

“You do yourself injustice,” said the younger man. “I am sure she ought to feel honored by an alliance with a scholar of your blooming talent. If you wish to try your luck, I can tell you where the go-between lives. Will you have the goodness to precede us?”

Arrived at the entrance of a cottage, the two took their leave. Mr. Chang knocked at the door. It was opened by the matchmaker herself. She was a woman of the poorer class, dressed in home-spun linen, having feet that had evidently borne the tortures of binding in vain, for they were still as large as Nature could have made them.

Mr. Chang stated the purpose of his visit; upon which the woman confirmed what he had heard, moreover, adding that the lady was fastidious and would want to see him before consenting to marry him. Chang said he was glad of an interview. He agreed to reward the matchmaker richly in case of success. After appointing the next morning for the ordeal, he wended his way back to the inn, feeling decidedly elated with his diplomacy.

The next morning saw him dressed in his best silk gown and adorned with a beard trimmed for the occasion. The wily matchmaker was waiting for him, and soon started with him on their errand. A little after, they paused at the door of an elegant mansion, which by its size and decorations, gave evidence of the wealth and rank of its occupants.

A servant ushered them into the reception-room and went in to announce their arrival. While waiting, Chang feasted his legal eyes on beautiful pictures, mahogany furniture and costly curios, while his ears were charmed with the musical “clink, clink, clink,” of the silver dollars which were being weighed in the next room. Servants flitted to and fro, carrying receipts or bags of money. Our lawyer’s heart ordinarily would have softened at the sight of money, but on this occasion it fairly melted. His love for the pretty widow increased in warmth with every bag of money added to the pile.