Every one near

Shuddered with awe,
And paled with fear

At the sight they saw;
The white ghastly face
Of the last of his race
Seemed to look down,

From the old tree's bough,

On the group with a frown
And a lowering brow.

Lower it gently-the corse that swings

On the Wry-necked Tree is the last of the Mings.

Who knows what was said

At the last parting scene

Of Ch'ung-chen and his queen,*

Ere barefoot he fled

In the dead of the night,

Nor stayed in his flight

Till he reached the old tree

On which he now swings?

Fulfilling his destiny;

Last of the Mings.

Untold in History 's
His parting with her;

Shrouded in mystery 's

His death on the fir.

* Tradition says that the Empress committed suicide, and the princess, her daughter, was slain by the Emperor to prevent her falling into the hands of the rebels.

The last hours of Ch'ung-chên
Are known only to One.

When lowered to the ground,
In his breast

A paper was found,

Thus addressed :

« To Li-tau-chiêng,

When I am found dead,

On the fir tree hung,

Let this paper be read.

These our last wishes are written by Us."
The paper was opened; the writing ran thus:

"Imperial brother, Li-tzu-ch'êng, I most devoutly

pray

That if there must be slaughter, you'll all my courtiers slay;

But, oh! my loyal subjects, my black-haired people spare,

On no account slay them—grant this my earnest prayer."*

* The actual words of the paper as given in the song

What shall be done

With the tree

Which hung Ch'ung-chen?

Which dared

Bear such imperial fruit?
Shall it be spared,

Or grubbed up by the root,
And die with the dynasty ?

The tree that has gained
Such unholy renown

Shall not be cut down;

Let the culprit be chained.*

It thus shall remain

Till the end of time,

Bound with a chain

For its awful crime.

The rebel Li-tzu-ch'êng lived in the palace eighteen days. He had sufficient respect for the deceased Emperor to place him in his coffin and sacrifice to him.

*Shun-chih, the first Emperor of the Ching dynasty, ordered the tree to be chained. He also granted permission to inter the body of the Emperor in the family tomb.

When the old fir tree

Shall be freed from its thrall,

The Ch'ing dynasty

Will totter and fall.*

May such a catastrophe never occur

As removing the chain from the Wry-necked Fir.

* It is believed that should the tree be ever unchained, great calamity would befal the reigning dynasty. To this day the tree remains chained, but it has almost fallen to the ground.

DAME KUO'S VISIT TO HSI-TING FAIR.

Dame Kuo was a matron, close verging on fifty,
Reputed to be, too, remarkably thrifty;

She had money galore, but knew how to enjoy it-
Her thriftiness being how best to employ it

So as to get all the good she could out of it-
And she fully succeeded—there can't be a doubt of it.

The buxom Dame Kuo

Made her mind up to go

To the fair which is held once a year at Hsi-ting ;

A place of resort

For religion or sport

A temple, in fact, fifteen li from Peking.

* 西頂 This is a temple, in which a fair is held every year from the 1st to the 15th of the fourth moon.