蔓莖與梅樹
In the San-Wui district, in the garden of a rich merchant, lived the
Lon-da-Tang [36] (rattan vine) and the Mui-Kwi (rose tree).
One day the rose tree said to the rattan vine, “Lon-da-Tang, please
tell me how you grow so fast. What do you eat that you are able to go
any where you wish? Nothing seems to hurt you. Nothing seems to stop
you, not even the stone fences or the clay roofs. You have no fear, and
there seems to be no danger for you. You care not for the heat of the
sun when he is close in the summer time. The rain comes down with a
rushing noise from dark places in the heavens, and you are not afraid.
The wind blows hard and bends our heads to the earth, but you seem not
even to heed it.”
Then the Lon-da-Tang with a proud and happy summer face answered the
rose tree, “Mui-Kwi-Si [37] (Mrs. Rose Tree), you should be made to
leave this garden. I would not allow you to grow here if I were master.
“I have known you five or six years. The master put you in the earth
and gave you much dirt to feed upon. He gives you water every morning.
In the winter time he gives you a cover and a bed of straw. He trims
your branches and serves you in many ways. And yet you do not grow.
“You are nine years old now, and only five or six feet tall, while I am
only four years old and my branches measure many thousands of feet. You
bear a few flowers in the summer, and that is all you can do. You have
no fruit and not many leaves. You stand still in the garden and do
nothing useful. You ought to be ashamed. Do you see my branches?
Although I have been here but four years, I now reach over this house
and am climbing the fence on the other side. Next year, I shall go and
cover up another house.
“The master likes me in summer, because I keep the hot sun from the
roof and make his house cool. The children like me, too. Sometimes they
climb in my arms and swing. And the fence likes me, because I cover it
so thickly that I protect it from the children and the pigs. The birds
build their nests high in my arms and they like me also. The bugs like
me, because I give them a home and they feed upon my leaves. So the
master knows that I am good for many things.
“The birds would not go to you, because you are so small; they can not
build a nest upon you. The master’s wife does not care much for you,
because you have so many thorns that she finds it hard to gather your
flowers. You are pretty, but who cares about that? The fence is high
and no one sees you. And so you stand there and do nothing.”
Then the rose tree replied, “Lon-da-Tang, with all your boasting, you
can not even stand alone. I can at least do that. I know I am not
large, and the birds do not build their nests with me. I can not grow
so fast as you, but my children are known to the whole great world of
mankind, and are called the sweetest of all flowers.
“And besides, I am independent. I do not lean upon other things. If
your house or your fence falls down, where then will be your vain
boastful head?
“I care not what you say of me, whether you think a rose is good or
bad, strong or weak. I do not wish to lean on the fence or roof as you
do. Some day, when the house and fence grow old, they will fall down,
and what will you do then?”
Soon after this, there came a great storm. In San-Wiu many houses were
partly destroyed and the fences fell to the ground. The roof of the
merchant’s house was blown off. The proud rattan vine, Lon-da-Tang, was
broken in many places, and his head lay low on the earth.
But the rose tree stood firm. And she laughed and said to the rattan,
“I told you that it was dangerous to lean upon other things and never
to learn to stand by yourself. I would not trust any house or fence to
do my standing for me. I would rather be independent. I grow all the
leaves, stems, and flowers I want, and so I stand here forever. The
north wind comes and I bow my head to the south. Then the south wind
comes and opens my beautiful flowers. I am the rose tree, and in my own
strength I stand.”
The following new Ee-Sze has been added to this old story:
Ee-Sze (Meaning): China and her people should be as the rose tree. We
must rely upon ourselves. We are better students than warriors; once,
when we found ourselves in trouble, we leaned on Japan. Then, when we
had trouble with her, Russia told us she would help. But she was much
worse and wished to take our land and to make us a people without a
country.