There was a fringe of trees along an open field. They were not very tall
trees, neither were they trees that flowered or fruited; but to the eyes
of Ah Leen they were very beautiful. Their slender branches were covered
with leaves of a light green showing a silvery under surface, and when
the wind moved or tossed them, silver gleams flashed through the green
in a most enchanting way.
Ah Leen stood on the other side of the road admiring the trees with the
silver leaves.
A little old woman carrying a basket full of ducks’ eggs came happily
hobbling along. She paused by the side of Ah Leen.
“Happy love!” said she. “Your eyes are as bright as jade jewels!”
Ah Leen drew a long breath. “See!” said she, “the dancing leaves.”
The little old woman adjusted her blue goggles and looked up at the
trees. “If only,” said she, “some of that silver was up my sleeve, I
would buy you a pink parasol and a folding fan.”
“And if some of it were mine,” answered Ah Leen, “I would give it to my
baby brother.” And she went on to tell the little old woman that that
eve there was to be a joyful time at her father’s house, for her baby
brother was to have his head shaved for the first time, and everybody
was coming to see it done and would give her baby brother gifts of gold
and silver. Her father and her mother, also, and her big brother and her
big sister, all had gifts to give. She loved well her baby brother. He
was so very small and so very lively, and his fingers and toes were so
pink. And to think that he had lived a whole moon, and she had no
offering to prove the big feeling that swelled and throbbed in her
little heart for him.
Ah Leen sighed very wistfully.
Just then a brisk breeze blew over the trees, and as it passed by, six
of the silver leaves floated to the ground.
“Oh! Oh!” cried little Ah Leen. She pattered over to where they had
fallen and picked them up.
Returning to the old woman, she displayed her treasures.
“Three for you and three for me!” she cried.
The old woman accepted the offering smilingly, and happily hobbled away.
In every house she entered, she showed her silver leaves, and told how
she had obtained them, and every housewife that saw and heard her,
bought her eggs at a double price.
At sundown, the guests with their presents began streaming into the
house of Man You. Amongst them was a little old woman. She was not as
well off as the other guests, but because she was the oldest of all the
company, she was given the seat of honor. Ah Leen, the youngest daughter
of the house, sat on a footstool at her feet. Ah Leen’s eyes were very
bright and her cheeks glowed. She was wearing a pair of slippers with
butterfly toes, and up her little red sleeve, carefully folded in a
large leaf, were three small silver leaves.
Once when the mother of Ah Leen brought a cup of tea to the little old
woman, the little old woman whispered in her ear, and the mother of Ah
Leen patted the head of her little daughter and smiled kindly down upon
her.
Then the baby’s father shaved the head of the baby, the Little Bright
One. He did this very carefully, leaving a small patch of hair, the
shape of a peach, in the centre of the small head. That peach-shaped
patch would some day grow into a queue. Ah Leen touched it lovingly with
her little finger after the ceremony was over. Never had the Little
Bright One seemed so dear.
The gifts were distributed after all the lanterns were lit. It was a
pretty sight. The mother of the Little Bright One held him on her lap,
whilst each guest, relative, or friend, in turn, laid on a table by her
side his gift of silver and gold, enclosed in a bright red envelope.
The elder sister had just passed Ah Leen with her gift, when Ah Leen
arose, and following after her sister to the gift-laden table, proudly
deposited thereon three leaves.
“They are silver—silver,” cried Ah Leen.
Nearly everybody smiled aloud; but Ah Leen’s mother gently lifted the
leaves and murmured in Ah Leen’s ear, “They are the sweetest gift of
all.”
How happy felt Ah Leen! As to the old woman who sold ducks’ eggs, she
beamed all over her little round face, and when she went away, she left
behind her a pink parasol and a folding fan.