_red_ and _white matters_ are marriages and deaths, so called from the
colour of the clothes worn on these important occasions. A blushing
person _fires up_, or literally, _ups fire_, according to the Chinese
idiom. To be fond of _blowing_ resembles our modern term _gassing_. A
_lose-money-goods_ is a daughter as compared with a son who can go out
in the world and earn money, whereas a daughter must be provided with
a dowry before any one will marry her. A more genuine metaphor is a
_thousand ounces of silver_; it expresses the real affection Chinese
parents have for their daughters as well as their sons. To _let the
dog out_ is the same as our letting the cat out; to _run against a
nail_ is allied to kicking against the pricks. A man of superficial
knowledge is called _half a bottle of vinegar_, though why vinegar, in
preference to anything else, we have not been able to discover. He has
always _got his gun in his hand_ is a reproach launched at the head of
some confirmed opium debauchee, one of those few reckless smokers to
whom opium is indeed a curse. They have _burnt paper together_, makes
it clear to a Chinese mind that the persons spoken of have gone
through the marriage service, part of which ceremony consists in
burning silver paper, made up to resemble lumps of the pure metal. _We
have split_ is one of those happy idioms which lose nothing in
translation, being word for word the same in both languages, and with
exactly the same meaning. _A crooked stick_ is a man whose
eccentricities keep people from associating freely with him; he won't
lie conveniently in a bundle with the other sticks.

We will bring this short sketch to a close with one more example,
valuable because it is old, because the date at which it came into
existence can be fixed with unerring certainty, and because it is
commonly used in all parts of China, though hardly one educated man in
ten would be able to tell the reason why. A jealous woman is said _to