The feeble door, alas, cannot stay

The efforts of those for blood athirst;

'Neath continued blows it at length gives way,
Everyone striving to enter first.

Search was made for him here and there,
Search was made for him high and low—
Kitchen and closet everywhere
Wherever a human form could go.

In every room of the house they sought;
At length in the store-room he was found;
Into the hall the youth was brought,
His legs and arms being tightly bound.

Into his shoulder a spike was thrust,*
Causing the lad to writhe with pain;
Like a joint of meat the poor lad was trussed ;†
His neck was bound with a heavy chain.

In this pitiful plight he stood in the hall;
The old man cried, while the rest looked on,
"What shall I do when you go to the Wall?
Who will console me when you are gone?"

*A piece of iron or chain is thrust into the flesh, passing under the collar-bone, and coming out on the other side, where it is secured together. Prisoners are often secured in that manner now.

+ Lit. "like a sausage.”

Cried the youth, "When I to the Wall am borne,
I shall die, and my bride will again be free;
She is young-let her not for my sad fate mourn,
She must strive to forget such a wretch as me.

"I carry misfortune wherever I go;
Better by far that I should die ;

On some other lover her hand bestow,
And may he be happier far than I."

"Listen to me," was the girl's reply,
"You are my husband, I am your wife;
Death cannot sever that sacred tie,—
A true woman weds but once in her life.

"The good horse is chary of turning his head To graze off the ground he has just passed o'er; A faithful wife when her lord is dead,

Is true to him still; she weds no more."

At length the time came to separate,

The bride from her husband's side was torn ;
He, to be dragged to a wretched fate,
She, his absence or death to mourn.

Even the bystanders felt for the pair,
And openly murmured their sympathy

For the new married couple so young and fair
Thus torn asunder through tyranny.

The road to the Wall was long and drear,
Day by day the lad weaker grew;

The end of his journey and life drew near,

When at length the Great Wall appeared in view.

Three days after the youth arrived,

He died, and the Great Wall became his tomb: Flung in by those who yet survived,

Daily expecting a similar doom.

Months passed, the maiden daily grew more pale,
Her parents did the best they could to cheer her;
Their well-meant kindness was of no avail,
Dear were they to her, yet her lord was dearer.

She must go to him- -was she not his bride?
And was it not her duty to be near him?
In life or death her place was by his side:
If sick or dying, who but she could cheer him ?

Her parents tried this strong desire to check;
Alternately they threatened and persuaded;
How could she travel that long dreary track?
What could she do, a girl, alone, unaided?

Firmly resolved on going to the Wall,
She left her parents almost broken-hearted;
She was his wife-to find him she'd brave all:
So on her long, long journey she departed.

Her dress was plain-no ornaments she wore, Save a gold ring to show that she was married; She'd have to beg her way from door to doorFor not a single cash the young girl carried.

On through alley and lane and street,
She tottered along on her tiny feet;
Meeting many a well-known face
As she was leaving her native place :
Hearing many a kind regret

That she was going, from those she met;
Hastily through Soochow she proceeded,
Turning neither to left nor right,

Noise and bustle the girl ne'er heeded,
Till the gate of the city appeared in sight
Many a wondering look was cast

On the lonely girl as she hurried past,

Till she cleared the streets of the city at last.

Through the gate of the city she pressed,

Pausing neither for food nor rest;

Over the dreary road she sped,

Heedless of what the wayfarer said,

Village and town the girl passed through, Till at dusk she reached the pass of Hsü-shu.

Seeing the girl the guards demanded,

66

Why are you out so late, my lass?

You can't have travelled here empty-handed,

So you'll treat us and then we'll let you pass.

You'd no business out on the road so late;
If you have no money you'll have to wait,
For we cannot allow you to pass the gate."

She turned to the guards with a bitter smile
"I have travelled to-day," said she, "many a mile;
Alas! had I money, I'd cheerfully give-"
Here, seeing no other alternative-

She tore off her skirt, which she gave to the man,
"Take it, and pawn it for drink, if you can."
The person in charge of the barrier hearing
Some voices apparently wrangling, came out,
To allay all the hubbub;-on his appearing,
He demanded to know what the noise was about.
Bidding the maiden at once relate

Why she was out on the road so late,

And her motive for wanting to pass the gate.

The trembling girl told the officer all,

How Wan-hsi-liang had been dragged to the Wall— That she'd scarcely a moment become a bride,

When her husband was ruthlessly torn from her

side;

Home, parents, and friends, she had given up all

To follow her husband alone to the Wall

The officer said, when the tale was related,
The truth of your story time only will show;
He then bade the girl, who impatiently waited,