dwelling of the dead, and with prayers and lamentation the mortal
remains of Tong's good father were borne to the tomb.

Then Tong entered as a slave into the service of his purchaser, who
allotted him a little hut to dwell in; and thither Tong carried with him
those wooden tablets, bearing the ancestral names, before which filial
piety must daily burn the incense of prayer, and perform the tender
duties of family worship.

* * * * *

Thrice had spring perfumed the breast of the land with flowers, and
thrice had been celebrated that festival of the dead which is called
_Siu-fan-ti_, and thrice had Tong swept and garnished his father's tomb
and presented his fivefold offering of fruits and meats. The period of
mourning had passed, yet he had not ceased to mourn for his parent. The
years revolved with their moons, bringing him no hour of joy, no day of
happy rest; yet he never lamented his servitude, or failed to perform
the rites of ancestral worship,--until at last the fever of the
rice-fields laid strong hold upon him, and he could not arise from his
couch; and his fellow-laborers thought him destined to die. There was no
one to wait upon him, no one to care for his needs, inasmuch as slaves
and servants were wholly busied with the duties of the household or the
labor of the fields,--all departing to toil at sunrise and returning
weary only after the sundown.

Now, while the sick youth slumbered the fitful slumber of exhaustion one
sultry noon, he dreamed that a strange and beautiful woman stood by him,
and bent above him and touched his forehead with the long, fine fingers
of her shapely hand. And at her cool touch a weird sweet shock passed