THE RAT AND THE CAT IN HADES.

Thrice the drum beats, and thrice the golden bell,
Through "Spirit Land," booms forth its awful knell;
Thrice cracks the whip,*-its sharp resounding thong
Strikes terror in the breasts of that vast throng.
Hushed is the court, no sound the stillness breaks;
Each "spirit judge " his seat in silence takes ;

* When the Emperor goes to sacrifice, an official, carrying a whip, stands on each side of the palace gate. It is the duty of these officials to "crack" their whips. This description of whip is called Pi-mang, (leather snake). Its handle is about eighteen inches, and the lash upwards of six feet in length. When the whip is "cracked" it sounds like the report of a pistol, and can only be used for the noise it makes, adding the Chinese

A constant stream of spirits come and go,
Some looking joyous, some o'erwhelmed with woe.
On a high throne, where every eye can see,
The King of Hades* sits in majesty ;
Around him throng his ministers of state;
Kneeling, before him, trembling spirits wait
To hear the words which tell them of their fate.

Then spoke Yen Wang :-" Since the Almighty Power
Struck heaven and earth from Chaos, till this hour,
He destined Me His behests to fulfil;-

My acts are but the workings of His Will.
Having His power to help, His skill to guide,
All earthly crimes I equably decide.

No mortal man can e'er 'Dark Heaven' deceive,
His
puny skill the subtlest arts may weave.
Poor human skill or wisdom, what are they?
Man's darkest plots to Him are bright as day.
To serve Him He conferred that power on me,
And I also man's inmost heart can see;

say-to the impressiveness or majesty of the occasion. When Manchu Bannermen commit themselves, they are flogged on the buttocks or legs with whips; twenty-seven lashes only can be given at one sentence, though another twenty-seven can be administered immediately after, or, indeed, any amount of twenty-sevens, each twenty-seven being separately ordered.

* Yen Wang.

Ere yet a crime is thought, that thought I read,
And know the consequences of the deed.
The wish that must precede the fatal blow,

I, ere 'tis expressed in thought, already know.
Sooner or later all on earth must be

Brought hither to receive their doom from me;
Both good and bad before me must be tried-
According to their merits I'll decide."

While Yen Wang was speaking

A scratching and squeaking

Was heard at the door; and he cried, "Who is that?" A voice sharp and clear,

Piercing every ear,

Shrilly squeaked, "Let me in, I'm the ghost of a rat! Grant me admission;

I bring a petition;

I've suffered injustice, and hither have come.

Let me in, I implore,

Or I'll scratch down the door,

And nibble a hole through the head of the drum!"

"Admit the rat," exclaimed the King; "the meanest thing that crawls

Shall have its share of justice meted out within these halls."

The Rat now entered shyly and advanced towards Yen

Wang,

Throwing suspicious glances right and left upon the

throng.

Then kneeling at his feet, it squeaked, "Your gracious

Majesty,

Deign but to read this paper, and you will plainly see That I've been foully

quickly said;

Yes, I know," the monarch

Then opening the paper, its contents he loudly read.

He's the ghost of what once was a peaceable rat:
He further declareth,

And solemnly sweareth,

That his body was slain by a murderous cat."

"He is seven years of age, and during that time,
He avers he has never committed a crime;
But has lived in his hole at the foot of a wall,
Never poking his nose out till after night fall,
Then only to nibble a few grains of rice,
Pick a bone, or anything else he saw nice;

(As for stealing, en passant, he'd scorn such a vice).
He admits that he pilfered, but never once stole,—
This fact may be proved by inspecting his hole.

"What complainant has suffered exceedeth belief,
Through wrongfully being put down as a thief;
When he's been chased as one, to his hole he has fled,
And many a time has gone hungry to bed.

He has often, e'en though he felt hunger's keen pangs,

Stopped at home, for fear of the cat's keener fangs.

When he did quit his hole, it was always at night, And by stealth-even then too, he trembled with fright.

"Near to complainant's hole there lived a cat,
Of savage mien; well-clothed, well-fed, and fat;
When pleased, she'd purr and curl her long moustache,
When in a rage, her tail she'd fiercely lash.

"Her eyes were like two bells-like knives her claws;
Long sharp white teeth protruded from her jaws;
She frightened him, for when she mewed or swore,
To him it sounded like the tiger's roar.

"One night complainant went out for a stroll,
But scarcely had he left his peaceful hole,
When suddenly the cat with furious bound,
Sprang on, and hurled complainant to the ground.

"He vainly strove, at length he grew so weak,
He could do nothing else but faintly squeak;
While she, the cat, each moment fiercer grew,
And bit complainant's back-bone through and through.

"Then dashed him up and down in savage play,
And clawed and mouthed him, till at last he lay
A lifeless heap, bleeding at every pore;
Exhausted nature could endure no more.