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"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.

"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.

"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?" So I gave him a trifle and went on my way."

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

(Ch'ing 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.

Now they whirl round the side,
Now they separate wide,

Now both of them into the centre are drawn ;
Now they meet face to face

And seem to embrace;

A moment's pause, and again they whirl on.
On they go in their horrible whirl-

The head of the youth and the head of the girl!

How came that pair

Of ghastly heads there?

What was the reason their blood had been shed? A wronged husband's knife

Had taken the life

Of an unfaithful wife,

Her paramour too, and had cut off each head.
On they go in their horrible whirl-

The head of the youth and the head of the girl!

How the water hisses and seethes,

Tinged as it is with the purple gore

Of the faithless wife and her paramour,
As round the sides of the kang it wreathes;
Forming a whirlpool round which spin
The ghastly heads till they're both sucked in.

In their eyes what an awful glare,

As their faces meet in that mimic abyss,
And seem to unite in a horrible kiss-

How at each other they scowl and stare!

What a mingled look of hate and woe,

Of fright and guilt, those glazed eyes show!

Now they madly whirl round the side;
On they speed in their fantastic race,
Sometimes showing an upturned face
Livid and bruised and scarified!

What an awful expression the features wore
Of the faithless wife and her paramour!

The girl is fair,

With long black hair,

And scarcely out of her teens appears;

The lad one can see

Is not older than she,

He cannot have numbered yet twenty years.
Round the sides of the kang they whirl-
The head of the lad and the head of the girl!

The test soon will show

If they're guilty or no—

And the fact of their guilt is discovered in this :They turn face to face

And prove their disgrace,

If the lips of the two heads unite in a kiss.
Round the sides of the kang they whirl-
The head of the lad and the head of the girl!

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