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"In two immense bundles her clothing was placed, With two foreign sashes to tie round the waist; Two long fur robes-these would fetch a good price; Three large iron pans-each would cook seven men's rice;

A scouring-brush, stiffer and better than cloth;

A cullender, also, to strain off the broth.

"Two tables, four stools, four chairs, and a chest ;
Four pieces of calico-these were undressed;
A click-clacking loom, broidered screens for the door,
And of shot-satin coverlets nearly a score ;

A fine troupe of players-in fact, the élite
Of the stage-with their wardrobe, &c. complete.

"'Twas my special duty to look after these,
While she stayed at home just as grand as you please;
I took care of the money this troupe earned at fairs,
My wife she did nothing but give herself airs.

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My first wife, on her death-bed, committed to my care A boy and girl-our children—and also made me swear That I would guard them from all harm; I took a solemn oath

To do so-but my second wife, alas! detested both.

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Returning home one day, I found the children had been beat,

She was raging like a fiend, they cowering at her feet;
I remonstrated with her—the children ran and hid;
She screamed, 'I'll see who's mistress here!' And what
d'ye think she did?

"With a bludgeon she took the watch-dog's life,
The donkey she stabbed with a kitchen-knife;
She dashed out the brains of the flat-billed ducks,
And
wrung the necks of the ten poor clucks.

"She burnt the ten catties of cotton yarn,

And the thread she had brought to sew and darn;
The washerman's stone of pure white jade
She smashed, and a number of small ones made.

"By means of a chopper with skill applied,
The beaters were split up and multiplied;

And as for the ten lumps of white sycee,
And the strings of cash of the reign of Kanghsi,
She flung 'em, one after another, at me!

"The bundles in which all her clothing was placed, She burnt, with the sashes to tie round the waist. Her two fur robes she tore up in a trice;

Smashed the three pans that each would cook seven men's rice.

"The brush and the cullender next my wife seized, And burnt. Still her anger was far from appeased,— She chopped up the tables, the stools, and the chairs,

And the chest, too, soon needed some trifling repairs.

"She tore into rags the undressed calico,

And shivered the click-clacking loom with one

blow;

The coverlets burnt in a heap on the floor,

And tore into tatters the screens for the door.

Neck and crop out of doors the players she turned, And the whole of their wardrobe, &c. burned.

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Having vented her rage in this horrible style, She smiled on her work a demoniac smile;

And while I stood there contemplating the wreck, She ran off, and hung herself up by the neck.

"I wrote to her friends of her felo-de-se.

They came, and of course, laid the blame upon me; Then rushed off at once to the magistrate's court, And made of the case a most awful report.

"I bribed right and left-the magistrate first; He was bad, I admit, but he wasn't the worst ; His lictors and runners, and writers—what not— Soon managed to fleece me of all that I'd got.

"Fields, gardens, and orchards-in short, my

estate

All went—my two carriages shared the same fate; My three mules, my donkey, pigs, fowls, ducks and

geese,

I sold, in the hope their proceeds would buy peace.

""Twas settled at last, but I found, to my cost, In gaining the case, I'd my property lost;

Worse still, my poor children both sickened and died.

I think, sir, you'll own that I've been sorely tried.

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The cause of my grief and distress you now know; Sir, have I not reason to give way to woe ?"

I told him he had-" what else could I say ?" gave him a trifle and went on my way.

So I

MORAL.

A word of advice—it's short, but it's true—
I hope no one here will forget it :--
"Don't marry a widow; as sure as you do,
Take my word, you will always regret it."

THE WATER TEST.*

Quicker-more quick,

Faster still twirls the stick

'Gainst the sides of the kang† with an ominous click. Don't pause, 'tis much best

Not to let the stick rest,

For the faster 'tis twirled the truer the test.
Round and round two strange objects whirl-
The head of a youth and the head of a girl!

*This circumstance occurred some few years ago at a

village named

(Ching lung chiao), distant from

Peking about twenty li in a westerly direction from the Hsi chih gate, . The husband is still living.

+ A large earthenware water vessel.

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