In lugubrious tones;

Cherry, Apple and Pear

Commingle their groans;

Shy Peach blushes up to the eyes.

Plum and Apricot's tears would melt their own stones.

Each tree of the forest, fruit, flower-great or small, Is convinced that none other than he

Should be King of the Trees:

Let them think what they please,

But it has no effect upon me;

I pursue my own way,

Let whatever befall;

I'm contented and gay,

So I laugh and grow tall,

For of envy I'm perfectly free;

Thus I'm really the king, and can laugh at them all.

Ha ha! how I laugh as I gaze down below,
And watch the strange freaks of the sun
Gilt-edging the shade

My green leaves have made,
As hither and thither they run.

Just a cursory glance,

They are clapping together in fun

At the fanciful sun-bordered shadows they throw.

I laugh at the clouds, at the blue summer sky
I laugh at the birds in their flight;
At the sun overhead,

Whose bright beams are shed
On my head from morning till night.
I laugh at those trees

Which howl, whine and cry,

For spring's gentlest breeze,

Which makes them all sigh

Makes my leaves vibrate with delight

That's my laughter! What tree then so joyous as I?*

*The Aspen is supposed by the Chinese to laugh heartily (AA) at the conceit of the elm, the anger of the mulberry, and the lamentations of the other trees, at the idea of the elm being considered their king. At the same time he evidently thinks himself infinitely superior, by his size and height, to the whole of them, and can afford to laugh at them all. In this song, the Chinese poet shows the aspen in a different light from what foreigners generally view it. One of our poets (Gay) in speaking of it says::

"Nor aspen leaves confess the gentlest breeze."

A favourite English ballad is named after its first line, which runs thus:

“Come where the aspens quiver."

We have also the common expressions, " trembled like an aspen," ""shook like an aspen leaf," etc.

THE EMPEROR'S TREE.*

Not far from Peking is an old White-nut Tree ;-
Surrounded by firs-that one tree stands alone;
'Tis exactly the age of the Ch'ing dynasty,

For 'twas planted when Shun-chih ascended the throne.

Though hoary with years, its green-foliaged head
It sturdily thrusts up far into the sky,

As if in defiance of age,-for, 'tis said,

While the dynasty lives the old tree cannot die.

* 帝皇樹 This tree is in the courtyard of a temple named Tan chê ssu situated in the Western Hills about a hundred li from Peking. The above legend is firmly believed by all northeners; many Chinese making pilgrimages to, or visiting the temple, going through the kou-tou in front of it, in recognition of the awful power it is supposed to possess. The tree is about six feet in diameter; at the root of it are several shoots (the song

Old age, storms, and time have attacked it in vain,
Yet year after year it bears foliage and fruit.
The death of a king, or a new monarch's reign,
Is foretold by a sapling that springs from its root.

Should that sapling droop, 'tis a monarch's death-knell ;-
It it die, 'tis a sure sign the Emperor's dead ;-
When a new monarch rules, on the spot where it fell,
Another green sapling springs up in its stead.

Each Emperor carefully watches the growth
Of the sapling which represents him, for he knows
That what affects one must be felt by them both;
That he cannot die while the sapling still grows.

The old tree is known as "The Emperor's Tree,"
And the sapling which now stout and thriving appears
At its foot, is Tung-chih.* Heaven grant we may see
The tree and its shoot flourish myriads of years!

gives but one), each of which represents one of the monarchs of the Ch'ing dynasty, commencing with Shunchih, the first. Hsien-fêng's sapling was always a weakly one, which was one more proof of the tree's power, as that monarch was not celebrated either for mental or physical strength. The present emperor's sapling looks thriving, as the song says: how it may progress remains to be seen. At the end of the Chinese version of this legend, affirmatory of its truth, are the characters 7.

* Dead, since the above verses were written.

YU-CHI'S DEATH.*

"It cannot be; say that you spoke in jest.
Desert me-thus? Why turn your eyes away ?
Oh! rather plunge your sword into my breast
Than leave me here, to 'Han's fierce troops a prey!

"Have I not shared your dangers hitherto ?
In darkest hour did I e'er quit your side?
Death in a hundred forms I've dared for you!—
Ere I heard this, oh! would that I had died!

* Yü-chi (E) was Pa-wang's (E) favourite concubine, and had followed his fortunes faithfully for years. Pa-wang, on the desertion of his troops, told her he should be compelled to leave her, as it would be impossible for her to accompany him in cutting his way through the troops that surrounded him. That she need be under no apprehension, as her life would, no doubt, be spared when they saw how beautiful she was. She, however, preferred death by her own hand, in the presence of the man she loved, to his desertion, and the certainty of falling into the hands of his enemies.