In the meantime the banished family, heart-sick and travel-worn,
had settled temporarily in a distant hamlet, where the worn and
discouraged parents were taken sick. Uhn Hah did all she could for
them, but in spite of care and attention, in spite of prayers and
tears, they passed on to join their ancestors. The poor girl beat her
breast and tore her hair in an agony of despair. Alone in a strange
country, with no money and no one to shield and support her, it seemed
that she too must, perforce, give up. But her old nurse urged her to
cheer up, and suggested their donning male attire, in which disguise
they could safely journey to another place unmolested.
The idea seemed a good one, and it was adopted. They allowed their
hair to fall down the back in a long braid, after the fashion of the
unmarried men, and, putting on men's clothes, they had no trouble
in passing unnoticed along the roads. After having gone but a short
distance they found themselves near the capital of the province--the
home of the Governor. While sitting under some trees by the roadside
the Governor's procession passed by. The couple arose respectfully,
but the Governor (it was Pang Noo's father), espying the peculiar
feather fan, ordered one of the runners to seize the women and bring
them along. It was done; and when they were arrived at the official
yamen, he questioned the supposed man as to where he had secured
that peculiar fan. "It is a family relic," replied Uhn Hah, to the
intense amazement of the Governor, who pronounced the statement false,
as the fan was a peculiar feature in his own family, and must be one
that had descended from his own ancestors and been found or stolen
by the present possessor.
However, the Governor offered to pay a good round sum for the fan. But
Uhn Hah declared she would die rather than part with it, and the two
women in disguise were locked up in prison. A man of clever speech
was sent to interview them, and he offered them a considerable sum
for the fan, which the servant urged Uhn Hah to take, as they were
sadly in want. After the man had departed in disgust, however, the
girl upbraided her old nurse roundly for forsaking her in her time
of trial. "My parents are dead," she said. "All I have to represent
my husband is this fan that I carry in my bosom. Would you rob me
of this? Never speak so again if you wish to retain my love"; and,
weeping, she fell into the servant's arms, where, exhausted and
overwrought nature asserting itself, sleep closed her eyes.
While sleeping she dreamed of a wonderful palace on high, where she
saw a company of women, who pointed her to the blood-red reeds that
lined the river bank below, explaining that their tears had turned
to blood during their long search for their lovers, and dropping on
the reeds they were dyed blood-red. One of them prophesied, however,
that Uhn Hah was to be given superhuman strength and powers, and
that she would soon succeed in finding her lover, who was now a high
official, and so true to her that he was sick because he could not
find her. She awakened far more refreshed by the dream than by the
nap, and was soon delighted by being dismissed. The Governor's steward
took pity on the handsome "boy," and gave him a parting gift of wine
and food to carry with them, as well as some cash to help them on,
and, bidding him good-by, the women announced their intention of
travelling to a distant province.