Then Tong, beside himself for gratefulness, would have prostrated
himself in worship before her, but that she would not suffer it.

* * * * *

Thus he was made free; and prosperity came to him with his freedom; and
whatsoever he gave to the sacred earth was returned to him centupled;
and his servants loved him and blessed the beautiful Tchi, so silent and
yet so kindly to all about her. But the silk-loom soon remained
untouched, for Tchi gave birth to a son,--a boy so beautiful that Tong
wept with delight when he looked upon him. And thereafter the wife
devoted herself wholly to the care of the child.

Now it soon became manifest that the boy was not less wonderful than his
wonderful mother. In the third month of his age he could speak; in the
seventh month he could repeat by heart the proverbs of the sages, and
recite the holy prayers; before the eleventh month he could use the
writing-brush with skill, and copy in shapely characters the precepts of
Lao-tseu. And the priests of the temples came to behold him and to
converse with him, and they marvelled at the charm of the child and the
wisdom of what he said; and they blessed Tong, saying: "Surely this son
of thine is a gift from the Master of Heaven, a sign that the immortals
love thee. May thine eyes behold a hundred happy summers!"

* * * * *

It was in the Period of the Eleventh Moon: the flowers had passed away,
the perfume of the summer had flown, the winds were growing chill, and
in Tong's home the evening fires were lighted. Long the husband and wife
sat in the mellow glow,--he speaking much of his hopes and joys, and of