“Ah," said T‘ang, when he had witnessed the finale of this little drama, “truly this is the behaviour of gentlemen!”
THE COUNTRY OF GREAT MEN.
A voyage of a few days brought them to the Country of Great Men, where they would hardly have landed but for T‘ang's curiosity to see a people who he had heard used clouds as a means of locomotion. The omniscient To explained that the city lay at some distance from the shore behind a range of hills, and that it would be absolutely necessary to get as far as that if they wanted to see anything of the manners and customs of the people. So they set off to walk, meeting on the way a few people moving about on clouds of different colours about half a foot from the ground, but they soon lost themselves in a perfect labyrinth of paths and did not know which way to turn. Luckily, they spied out a small temple hidden in a grove of waving bamboos, and were on the point of knocking for admittance, when out came an old man of ordinary appearance, riding on a cloud, with a stoup of wine in one hand and a lump of pork in the other.[1] On seeing the strangers he turned back and put down the pork and wine, returning at once with a smile on his face to welcome them to his “rush hut.” T‘ang made him a low bow and enquired what might be the name of the temple. He replied that it was sacred to the goddess of mercy and that he was the officiating priest. The trader Lin opened his eyes at this and said, “But, my venerable Sir, how comes it then that you do not shave your head? And may we presume that there is a lady inside for whom you were about to prepare the pork and wine we saw just now?”
“There is, indeed, a lady within,” replied the priest, “but she is merely the insignificant wife of your humble slave. She
- ↑ Evidencing a gross breach of the rule pasted at the door of every Buddhist temple―
No wine or meat shall enter here!
