being struck with the vast number of them, "Alas!" exclaimed he, "here then all are equal; here there is neither rank nor distinction, but the most ignorant and stupid of men is confounded with the sage himself. The sepulchre is at last the eternal abode of all, and, when we have once taken up our place in the habitations of the dead, there is no possibility of return." After spending some time in these gloomy reflections, he proceeded along the tombs, and soon found himself near a newly-constructed sepulchre. The hillock of tempered earth was not yet entirely dry. On one side of the tomb sat a young woman in deep mourning, holding in her hand a large white fan, with which she constantly fanned the surface of the ground. Surprised at this sight, he ven

tured to ask whose tomb this might be, and why the lady took such pains in fanning it? She, however, without rising, continued to wave her fan as before, but muttered some words in a low tone, and at the same time let fall

a few tears—a proof (thought the sage to himself) that shame rather than timidity prevented her from speaking out. When he had pressed her a little farther to explain herself, she made him this reply:-" You see a widow at the tomb of her husband, from whom death has unhappily severed her. He whose bones rest in this sepulchre was very dear to me when alive, and loved me in return with an equal tenderness. Even in dying he could scarcely bear to part with me, and his last words were these: 'My dear spouse, if you should hereafter think of marrying again,* I conjure you to wait at least until the earth of my grave is entirely dry; after which you have my sanction to espouse whom you please.' Now, as it occurred to me that the surface of this ground, which has been newly tempered, would not very soon dry, I thought I would just fan it a little to assist in carrying off the moisture."

The philosopher had much ado to avoid laughing outright at this plain avowal. "The woman," thought he to himself, "is in a monstrous hurry! How could she have the face to boast of the mutual affection between herself and husband? If this be love, I wonder what would have happened if they had hated each other!" Then turning to her he said, "You wish that the surface of this tomb should dry with all speed; but, delicate as you are, this exercise will soon tire you; let me, therefore, give you some assistance." The young woman immediately rose, and, making him a profound reverence, accepted his offer by presenting him with another fan exactly like her own. The philosopher, who had the power of invoking spirits, now called them to his aid. He struck the tomb several times with the fan, and all

*Second marriages (as before stated) are rare on the part of women, and reflect some discredit on the widows.

The lady

appearance of moisture presently vanished. upon this gaily thanked her benefactor, and, taking a silver bodkin from her hair, presented it to him with her fan, begging he would accept the same as a small mark of her gratitude. Chuâng-tsze declined the bodkin, but kept the fan, and the lady retired much satisfied with her adventure.

As for the philosopher, he remained altogether in astonishment; then abandoning himself to the reflections that naturally arose out of such an incident, he returned towards his home. Once seated in his chamber, he regarded the fan for some moments in silence, and presently broke out with such sentences as the following: "Would not one suppose, from this, that when two persons marry, it is only from some hate conceived in a former state of existence; and that they seek each other in wedlock solely for purposes of mutual torment ?”— His wife had crept behind him without being perceived, but on hearing his words she came forward. "Might one know," she asked, "the cause of your sighing, and where it was you obtained that fan which you hold in your hand?"-Chuâng-tsze immediately related to his spouse the history of the young widow, as well as all that had passed at the tomb where he fell in with her.

Hardly had he finished his recital, when this lady, with a face that beamed with wrath and indignation, loaded the young widow with a thousand maledictions, calling her the opprobrium of the human race, and the shame of her own sex! Then, looking at her husband, "I "I say it again," exclaimed she, "this woman must be a monster of insensibility." The philosopher, however, went on with the following reflections:-"While her husband is alive, where is the wife that does not flatter and praise him? Is he dead? see her ready to

take her fan and dry up his tomb with all haste. So in a picture you see an animal's exterior, but not the inner parts; you see the face, but not the heart." This put his wife into a great passion. "How can you talk to me in that style?" cried she, "thus to condemn the whole sex in a heap; thus unjustly to confound the virtuous with wretches who are unfit to live! Are you not ashamed to pass such an unjust sentence; and have you no fear of being punished for it hereafter?”

"To what purpose are all these ejaculations?" said the philosopher calmly; "but confess the truth ;-were I to die to-day, surviving me as you would in the flower of your age, with so much beauty and such attractions, do you pretend that you would allow three years to slip by without accepting another husband?"*" Is it not the maxim,” rejoined the lady, "that a faithful minister never serves another prince; † that a virtuous widow never thinks of a second husband? Did one ever see a woman of my condition, who, after being once married, transferred herself to another family, and deserted her nuptial bed on her husband's first decease! If, for my misfortune, you were to reduce me to the widowed state, know that I should be incapable of such an act, which would be the disgrace of our whole sex; nay, I should not even dream of marriage for the rest of my life."

"Such promises," observed he, "are easily made, but not often kept!" an observation which turned the ill-humour of his wife upon himself." Know," cried she, "that women have often minds more noble and more constant than men of your stamp. What a perfect model

*The longest period of mourning.

† Certain it is that in practice a new diates his father's favourite ministers. by the present sovereign,

Emperor of China often repu-
Thus Keying was disgraced

of fidelity have you been! Your first wife dead, you took a second; her you repudiate, and marry myself, who am your third. You judge of others by yourself. As for us women who marry philosophers, we are much less at liberty than any others to form a second marriage. But you are quite well in health; why then torment me with such remarks?" So saying, she snatched the fan out of her husband's hand, and tore it into twenty pieces. "Be quiet," said the philosopher; "your resentment gives me pleasure, and I am delighted to see you take fire upon such a subject." The lady became calm, and they talked of other matters.

In a few days more Chuâng-tsze became dangerously ill, and, to all appearances, at the very last extremity. His wife never quitted the bedside, where she sat bathed in tears, and continually sobbing. "From what I can see," said the philosopher, "I shall hardly recover from this attack. To-night or to-morrow morning we must part for ever. Alas, that you should have torn up the fan I brought you; it would have served so well to dry up the earth at my tomb!"-"Ah," exclaimed his wife,

do not, in your present state, let such distressing suspicions enter your mind; suspicions, too, so injurious to myself! I have studied our books, and I know what our rites demand. My faith having been once sworn to yourself, it shall never be transferred to another; and if you doubt my sincerity, I consent, nay, I demand, to die before you, in order that you may be persuaded of my truth."-"That is enough," replied he; "I feel assured of your constancy: but, alas! I find myself dying, and my eyes are closing for ever upon you." So saying, he became breathless, and lay without a symptom of life.

The despairing widow, with loud cries of distress, now