Thy grandson—the beloved of my heart, is lost, is lost! Go forth, old
man, and find him.”
Liu Jusong, who had just returned from the Hall, where from morn till
eve he adjusted the scales of justice, stared speechlessly at the old
lady who had thus accosted him. The loss of his grandson he scarcely
realized; but that his humble spouse had suddenly become his superior
officer, surprised him out of his dignity.
“What meaneth thy manner?” he bewilderedly inquired.
“It meaneth,” returned the old lady, “that I have borne all I can bear.
Thy grandson is lost through thy fault. Go, find him!”
“How my fault? Surely, thou art demented!”
“Hadst thou not hated Li Wang, Little Waking Eyes and Little Sleeping
Eyes could have played together in our own grounds or within the
compound of Li Wang. But this is no time to discourse on spilt plums.
Go, follow Li Wang in the search for thy grandsons. I hear that he has
already left for the place where the stupid thorns who had them in
charge, declare they disappeared.”
The old lady broke down.
“Oh, my little Bright Eyes! Where art thou wandering?” she wailed.
Liu Jusong regarded her sternly. “If my enemy,” said he, “searcheth for
my grandsons, then will not I.”
With dignified step he passed out of the room. But in the hall was a
child’s plaything. His glance fell upon it and his expression softened.
Following the servants despatched by his wife, the old mandarin joined
in the search for Little Waking Eyes and Little Sleeping Eyes.
* * * * *
Under the quiet stars they met—the two old men who had quarrelled in
student days and who ever since had cultivated hate for each other. The
cause of their quarrel had long been forgotten; but in the fertile soil
of minds irrigated with the belief that the superior man hates well and
long, the seed of hate had germinated and flourished. Was it not because
of that hate that their children were exiles from the homes of their
fathers—those children who had met in a foreign land, and in spite of
their fathers’ hatred, had linked themselves in love.
They spread their fans before their faces, each pretending not to see
the other, while their servants inquired: “What news of the honorable
little ones?”
“No news,” came the answer from each side.
The old men pondered sternly. Finally Liu Jusong said to his servants:
“I will search in the forest.”
“So also will I,” announced Li Wang.
Liu Jusong lowered his fan. For the first time in many years he allowed
his eyes to rest on the countenance of his quondam friend, and that
quondam friend returned his glance. But the servant men shuddered.
“It is the haunted forest,” they cried. “Oh, honorable masters, venture
not amongst evil spirits!”
But Li Wang laughed them to scorn, as also did Liu Jusong.
“Give me a lantern,” bade Li Wang. “I will search alone since you are
afraid.”
He spake to his servants; but it was not his servants who answered:
“Nay, not alone. Thy grandson is my grandson and mine is thine!”
* * * * *
“Oh, grandfather,” cried Little Waking Eyes, clasping his arms around
Liu Jusong’s neck, “where are father and mother?”
And Little Sleeping Eyes murmured in Li Wang’s ear, “I want my father
and mother!”
Liu Jusong and Li Wang looked at each other. “Let us send for our
children,” said they.
V
“How many moons, Liu Venti, since our little ones went from us?” asked
Pau Tsu.
She was very pale, and there was a yearning expression in her eyes.
“Nearly five,” returned Liu Venti, himself stifling a sigh.
“Sometimes,” said Pau Tsu, “I feel I cannot any longer bear their
absence.”
She drew from her bosom two little shoes, one red, one blue.
“Their first,” said she. “Oh, my sons, my little sons!”
A messenger boy approached, handed Liu Venti a message, and slipped
away.
Liu Venti read:
May the bamboo ever wave. Son and daughter,
return to your parents and your children.