名符其行
There were thirty-five scholars in the school at Qui-Chu, and three
were girls. The boys played by themselves and the three girls played
together.
One day the teacher said to his mother, “I think I shall have the girls
dress in boys’ clothes next year, if they come to school.”
“Why will you do this?” asked his mother.
“Because the boys do not like girls in the school. They will not play,
read, or write with them. They tease them and laugh at them. I fear the
girls must leave the school next year, and they are only nine years
old. But we shall see.” [33]
When the next year came, the mother was willing to do as her son said.
She took some cloth and made boys’ clothes for the three girls, which
she put on them to see how they would look dressed as boys.
When the girls were dressed, they looked at each other and laughed.
“What will you do with the ear-holes, grandmother?” they asked. “Surely
the boys will know we are girls.”
The mother called her son and asked him, “What shall we do with the
ear-holes? They look like boys now, save for that one thing. I fear the
girls can not go to school.”
“I will see,” replied her son. He thought much for two days. Then he
went to find an old doctor in the next village, far enough away so that
no one would know. He asked the doctor, “Can you close the ear-holes so
that girls’ ears will be as boys’?”
“Oh, yes,” answered the doctor, “I can if you will pay me.” Then the
doctor came and put something in the ear-holes and colored it so that
it looked like skin, and the grandmother was satisfied to send the
girls to school.
But the teacher forgot and called them girls’ names. The others laughed
at the three boys with funny names, but they did not seem to remember
them.
Five or six months went by, and the boys had not yet learned that the
three scholars with the pretty names were the girls of last year. Then
one boy came to the teacher and asked, “Why do those boys have girls’
names? I wish to know.”
The teacher thought a moment and said, “Lily—Beauty—Moon. That boy was
called Lily, I think, because he was so red [34] when he was a little
baby. The mother thought he ought to be called ‘Red,’ but that is not a
pretty name for a baby, and so they called him Lily.
“And do you not think that Beauty’s name suits him? He is the
handsomest boy in the school. I think his mother called him Beauty
because he was such a pretty baby. He is as pretty as a girl. I think
it is right that he should be called Beauty. Moon’s name is suitable
for him, too. You know he is gentle and fair. Did you ever see a more
gentle boy in school? I think he was always very gentle and fair, and
so his mother gave him that name. All his friends like him as they do
the moon.”
The boy ran away and told the other pupils what his teacher had said
about the three boys with the pretty names.
New Year came, and each boy had to write his name on a piece of paper
and hand it to the teacher, so that he could give them their school
names. [35] Eight gave their names as Beauty, and seventeen as Moon,
while all the others wanted to be called Lily. They expected the
teacher would allow them to have those as their school names.
In the summer time the scholars had a vacation and the teacher went
away for a time.
One day they were all on the playground playing “Theater.” They took
nine of the prettiest boys and put red and white on their faces and
dressed them like ladies and bound their feet to make them small. Six
boys put on false beards. Then they piled up chairs and tables high to
make a mountain, and the boys with bound feet were to cross over to the
other side. The boys who had to climb over the mountain from the
opposite side were careless, and when all met at the top, they tumbled
and fell down in a heap. One boy broke his arm, one broke his finger,
and one hurt his eye. The other boys did not stay to help or see what
they could do for those who were hurt. All but the three girls, who
were dressed like boys, ran away in fear, and left the wounded children
lying on the ground.
One girl ran for the doctor. The other two stayed and gave the hurt
ones water to drink, fanned their faces, kept the flies away, and cared
for them like little mothers.
In a few minutes the doctor came. He asked, “What were you doing,
boys?” The boys were so hurt and scared that they could not talk, but
the girls told how it had all happened.
The doctor bound up the broken arm and finger, and dressed the bruised
eye. He was a good doctor and said, “These boys must lie still several
days. They can not get up without my orders; now who is willing to take
care of them?”
“We will help,” said the three girls.
The teacher came back and school began again. When he called for the
names of the pupils, they gave those which they liked best—Lily,
Beauty, and Moon—as before, but the teacher said, “No, these names are
all wrong.
“There is only one Lily, one Beauty, and one Moon in this school now.
You boys can not use the names I gave you. You had beautiful names, but
your acts were not beautiful.
“You ran away when your schoolmates were hurt. You had no pity for
them. Had it not been for Lily, Beauty, and Moon, they would have died.
These names mean something. Beauty makes the world a pleasant place for
us to live in. The Moon shines and gives us soft light. The Lily gives
us beauty and sweet-smelling odors.
“Your acts were not like the names. After this, when boys want such
names they must do something to be worthy of them.”