One day when the sun was hot and she was tired, Tuen said to Szu
impatiently:
"Don't you know anything except about the old kings and their wars?"
Now Szu, although he was old and blind and feeble, was well endowed with
tact and quickness, and after revolving the question in his mind, he
answered graciously:
"There are two stories that I have not yet told you, and they might be
of interest to you, since they are of women, and of women, too, who
dwelt within the Forbidden City."
"Let me hear them," Tuen said listlessly. "I did not know there were
any stories about women. I thought they were all about men."
"There have been females--though their number is few--whose names the
bards have perpetuated," the old man replied.
"You may commence," Tuen interrupted, her curiosity aroused.
Seating himself on the deck of the boat, and folding his hands, his head
thrown back and his sightless eyes seeming to gaze before him, Szu began
in a monotonous, sing-song voice, that yet was clear and soft:
"It happened many years, aye, many centuries, ago--this strange event
that I tell to you now as but a passing tale. And yet the fame of this
woman will endure forever, though all things else belonging to that
far-away time have perished. At this remote period of which I speak
Kaou-tsung, the second Emperor of the Tang dynasty, was seated upon the
throne. Great was the prosperity of the Empire, and rumors of its
glories and of its wonders spread to the outer regions, and ambassadors
came from Nepaul, Persia, and even from a far-away dominion called Rome,
to pay tribute to the Son of Heaven. He had magnificent palaces and
stately temples, and he numbered his warriors by thousands. Then, as it
has ever been, for we are the one nation favored by the gods, we were
civilized and wise, and all other people came to learn of us, even as it
is to this very day. Kaou-tsung built canals and cities, following the
example of his illustrious father, and bestowed peace and plenty on all
his subjects, but still he was not content. He had women from the
various provinces to while away his tedious hours, but they were all
alike stupid and silly, and he found no pleasure with them.
"'Surely in my kingdom there lives one female who combines both wisdom
and beauty,' he exclaimed one day, and after due deliberation he sent
forth his minister to seek for a woman who was both wise and pretty.
When he heard of the mission entrusted to him the minister sighed and
shook his head.
"'Your quest is vain,' he told his sovereign. 'There lives not such a
being. All women are but foolish creatures, and those endowed with
beauty are the most foolish of all. They wear their gifts upon the
outside, and within them there is naught.'
"'Presume not to argue with me,' Kaou-tsung cried angrily, 'but go and
do as I have commanded.'
"Now, this minister was most skilful with the pencil, and the Emperor
instructed him to traverse the length and breadth of his vast
possessions, letting it be known everywhere that he sought the fairest
and the wisest in the land to be the bride of the king, and whenever he
found one who appeared to possess these necessary qualifications, he was
to make a picture of her. When his quest was ended, he was to return to
the court, bringing with him these likenesses of the fair maidens of the
land, and the Emperor would select the one that pleased him best. But
when the minister was gone he saw in this a chance to enrich himself,
and as all women were desirous of being the chosen one he drew not any
who did not give him costly offerings. The Emperor, waiting in his
palace, knew not of this, and was most impatient for his return. In the
meantime, some one brought news to the court of the surpassing
loveliness of a girl named Woo How, who was a daughter of a cultivator
of the soil. When he heard the reports of the wonderful beauty of this
maiden the Emperor sent a courier in great haste after his minister,
bearing the message:
"'Return not without the likeness of Woo How.'
"The minister forthwith went in search of this beauteous one, and when
he found her she was fairer than any woman he had ever seen, and
conducted herself in a modest way, yielding ready answers to all his
questions. But alas, the father was very poor, and could not pay the
price demanded by the mercenary minister, therefore this unworthy
servant of a generous king drew a picture of exceeding ugliness, and
under it he wrote the name of Woo How, for he was determined that no one
should be Empress who did not first buy his favor. At last this scheming
official--Maou-yen-show by name--came back to court, bringing with him a
collection of pictures of the so-called beauties of the land, who had
paid him well to be their ambassador. The Emperor examined them
critically.
"'This one pleases me not. Her nose is too long,' he said, casting
aside the first one.
"'And this one is ugly enough to scare the dragon away,' he exclaimed
when he saw the second.
"'This one's mouth is all askew,' was his comment on the third, and so
he ran through the whole list, finding none that pleased him.
"'I might as well send a blind man to pick out a beautiful female as
this stolid Maou-yen-show,' he cried angrily, when he had finished.
'Truly he knows not the difference between a woman and a demon.'
"But the minister bowing obsequiously insisted that these were indeed
the most beautiful in the land.
"'Then I want none of them,' his sovereign replied, 'for an uglier lot I
never beheld.'
"After this Kaou-tsung made no further attempt to find himself a fitting
bride, but was immersed in the affairs of state. One day, however, as
he rode forth, surrounded by his troops, to take his annual hunt, he saw
beside the road a young girl of such wondrous loveliness that he could
not take his eyes from her face.
"'Bring her to me,' he ordered his attendants, as she, not knowing that
it was the Emperor and his suite, but thinking that it was only some
great mandarin, would have passed on.
"When the soldiers approached her, saying at the same time, 'The Emperor
who waits yonder has sent for you,' she was greatly terrified. Her face
turned very white, and her knees trembled so that she could hardly
stand, for she knew not what was about to befall her.
"When she had prostrated herself before Kaou-tsung he ordered all his
attendants to withdraw to a little distance and there remain until he
summoned them, for he wished to speak, unheard by others, to this fair
maiden. When they were alone he said kindly:
"'Rise, most beautiful one, for I desire to look at you.'
"Blushing at his words, she raised her face but remained upon her knees.
"'Verily the sun seemed hid when I saw not your eyes,' Kaou-tsung
continued, for he was much impressed with her beauty.
"Seeing that she did not speak, but only blushed the more, he asked:
"'What is your name?'
"'Woo How,' she murmured, all abashed.
"'What!' cried the astonished Emperor; 'not Woo How, the daughter of one
Tai-ting?'
"'The very same,' she answered, not knowing why he was amazed.
"'But the picture Maou-yen-show brought to me?' he questioned, in great
perplexity.
"'Ah, I had not the treasures to give him and he would not make it,'
she answered sadly.
"At this a light suddenly broke upon Kaou-tsung, and he saw the perfidy
of the minister he had trusted.
"'Rise, most beautiful one in all the land,' he cried to her, 'for you
shall be the bride of the Emperor. At last have I found the creature I
sought.' Thus in spite of treachery did the gods bring it to pass that
Woo How became the Empress, for what Tên Wang decrees must be, no matter
how we strive against it."
"That was indeed a charming story," Tuen cried enthusiastically, as the
old man paused. "It is the nicest one I ever heard."
"It is not yet finished," Szu said quickly. "It were but a broken thread
if I left it there."
"Oh, tell it all to me," she cried eagerly. "I would never tire of
listening about her."
Szu nodded his head complacently and cleared his throat. Then he went
on:
"The happy Kaou-tsung forgot about the hunt, and returned at once to his
imperial palace, carrying Woo How with him. It was so ordained that
Maou-yen-show was not of the party that attended the Emperor that day,
and knew nothing of his meeting with Woo How. Immediately upon his
arrival at court Kaou-tsung gave the following order:
"'Keeper of the Yellow Gate, bring us that picture that we may view it.'
"Looking from it to the charming original before him he exclaimed
feelingly:
"'Ah, how he has dimmed the purity of the gem, bright as the waves in
autumn!'
"Then turning to the attendant he said:
"'Transmit our pleasure to the officer of the guard to behead
Maou-yen-show and report to us his execution.'"