The charm of the Middle kingdom . ulddo. The husband and father was wringing hishands in despondency. It was not so muchsorrow as the spirit of hopelessness thatdominated his soul. A boy of twelve stoodstaring wide-eyed beside the bier. Two littlegirls prattled noisily on the floor. Threenative priests occupied the center of the beat a drum with monotonous burnt pieces of paper with words ofintercession written on them. He lighted thesecond from the first, and so on. The thirdtwirled a Tibetan prayer wheel and accom-panied the whine of the inter-revolving discswith a
The charm of the Middle kingdom . ulddo. The husband and father was wringing hishands in despondency. It was not so muchsorrow as the spirit of hopelessness thatdominated his soul. A boy of twelve stoodstaring wide-eyed beside the bier. Two littlegirls prattled noisily on the floor. Threenative priests occupied the center of the beat a drum with monotonous burnt pieces of paper with words ofintercession written on them. He lighted thesecond from the first, and so on. The thirdtwirled a Tibetan prayer wheel and accom-panied the whine of the inter-revolving discswith a pagan chant. But the oppression ofsorrow did not pass from that house. I could only place my hand on my writersarm and murmur, Xo lien, ko lien—whata pity. Then I turned incompetently away. I dont know who was at fault, Pak-koi orI. Perhaps I should have sought her out in 204 i <niiiu&.. 3as:^5^-j^^^_J|r^ wMv \ I i^^W ?f^^ ?^11 - l-TI &^^*i« --S&- ^flff H ? k ? mm » ^B^g^^^^^^^^^K. ^ilj. ??KBBBi# P. \ THE CHARM OF THE MIDDLE KINGDOM her home near the httle south gate. I mustconfess to having walked often in the quietstreet and to having Hngered an absurdly longwhile by the big bronze bell. I even went sofar as to tempt a couple of boys aside with ahandful of coppers, but Pak-koi signifiednothing to them. I had been so charmed byher that evening in the gardens that I foolishlyomitted to be pertinent. I had done the samething before in a different way. Often, whilehunting in the jungle, I happened on flowersof extravagant beauty, thinking to claim themon my way out. But invariably they evaded asecond glance. The same is true of flit away seldom to return. When theydo, it is owing to the kindliness of the the gods were kind to me. It was the week before Christmas that myChinese clerk announced a man with a personalmessage. The man, a decrepit old fellow ofexquisite manners, whose faltering limbs gavethe appearance of obsequiousness, carried themessag
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidcharmofmiddl, bookyear1922
