One day when the sun was hot and she was tired, Tuen said to Szu impatiently:

"Don\'t you know anything except about the old kings and their wars?"

Now Szu, although he was old and blind and feeble, was well endowed with tact and quickness, and after revolving the question in his mind, he answered graciously:

"There are two stories that I have not yet told you, and they might be of interest to you, since they are of women, and of women, too, who dwelt within the Forbidden City."

"Let me hear them," Tuen said [Pg 139]listlessly. "I did not know there were any stories about women. I thought they were all about men."

"There have been females—though their number is few—whose names the bards have perpetuated," the old man replied.

"You may commence," Tuen interrupted, her curiosity aroused.

Seating himself on the deck of the boat, and folding his hands, his head thrown back and his sightless eyes seeming to gaze before him, Szu began in a monotonous, sing-song voice, that yet was clear and soft:

"It happened many years, aye, many centuries, ago—this strange event that I tell to you now as but a passing tale. And yet the fame of this woman will endure forever, though all things else belonging to that far-away time have perished. At this remote period of which I speak Kaou-tsung, the second Emperor of the[Pg 140] Tang dynasty, was seated upon the throne. Great was the prosperity of the Empire, and rumors of its glories and of its wonders spread to the outer regions, and ambassadors came from Nepaul, Persia, and even from a far-away dominion called Rome, to pay tribute to the Son of Heaven. He had magnificent palaces and stately temples, and he numbered his warriors by thousands. Then, as it has ever been, for we are the one nation favored by the gods, we were civilized and wise, and all other people came to learn of us, even as it is to this very day. Kaou-tsung built canals and cities, following the example of his illustrious father, and bestowed peace and plenty on all his subjects, but still he was not content. He had women from the various provinces to while away his tedious hours, but they were all alike stupid and silly, and he found no pleasure with them.

"\'Surely in my kingdom there lives one[Pg 141] female who combines both wisdom and beauty,\' he exclaimed one day, and after due deliberation he sent forth his minister to seek for a woman who was both wise and pretty. When he heard of the mission entrusted to him the minister sighed and shook his head.

"\'Your quest is vain,\' he told his sovereign. \'There lives not such a being. All women are but foolish creatures, and those endowed with beauty are the most foolish of all. They wear their gifts upon the outside, and within them there is naught.\'

"\'Presume not to argue with me,\' Kaou-tsung cried angrily, \'but go and do as I have commanded.\'

"Now, this minister was most skilful with the pencil, and the Emperor instructed him to traverse the length and breadth of his vast possessions, letting it be known everywhere that he sought the fairest and the wisest in the land to be the[Pg 142] bride of the king, and whenever he found one who appeared to possess these necessary qualifications, he was to make a picture of her. When his quest was ended, he was to return to the court, bringing with him these likenesses of the fair maidens of the land, and the Emperor would select the one that pleased him best. But when the minister was gone he saw in this a chance to enrich himself, and as all women were desirous of being the chosen one he drew not any who did not give him costly offerings. The Emperor, waiting in his palace, knew not of this, and was most impatient for his return. In the meantime, some one brought news to the court of the surpassing loveliness of a girl named Woo How, who was a daughter of a cultivator of the soil. When he heard the reports of the wonderful beauty of this maiden the Emperor sent a courier in great haste after his minister, bearing the message:

[Pg 143]

"\'Return not without the likeness of Woo How.\'

"The minister forthwith went in search of this beauteous one, and when he found her she was fairer than any woman he had ever seen, and conducted herself in a modest way, yielding ready answers to all his questions. But alas, the father was very poor, and could not pay the price demanded by the mercenary minister, therefore this unworthy servant of a generous king drew a picture of exceeding ugliness, and under it he wrote the name of Woo How, for he was determined that no one should be Empress who did not first buy his favor. At last this scheming official—Ma............