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fair son, who shall ever be to thee as faithful and as fond as thou thyself hast been. Know, my beloved, that I was sent to thee even by the Master of Heaven, in reward of thy filial piety, and that I must now return to the glory of His house: I am the Goddess Zhi Nü. ”
    Even as she ceased to speak, the great glow faded; and Dong, re-opening his eyes, knew that she had passed away forever—mysteriously as pass the winds of heaven, irrevocably as the light of a flame blown out. Yet all the doors were barred, all the windows unopened. Still the child slept, smiling in his sleep. Outside, the darkness was breaking; the sky was brightening swiftly; the night was past. With splendid majesty the East threw open high gates of gold for the coming of the sun; and, illuminated by the glory of his coming, the vapors of morning wrought themselves into marvelous shapes of shifting color—into forms weirdly beautiful as the silken dreams woven in the loom of Zhi Nü.
     
     
     

 
     
     
     The Return of Yan Zhenjing
     
     
    Before me ran, as a herald runneth, the Leader of the Moon;
    And the Spirit of the Wind followed after me—quickening his flight.
    LI SAO
     
    I N the thirty-eighth chapter of the holy book, Ganyingpian, wherein the Recompense of Immortality is considered, may be found the legend of Yan Zhenjing. A thousand years have passed since the passing of the good Zhenjing; for it was in the period of the greatness of Tang that he lived and died.
    Now, in those days when Yan Zhenjing was Supreme Judge of one of the Six August Tribunals, one Li Xilie, a soldier mighty for evil, lifted the black banner of revolt, and drew after him, as a tide of destruction, the millions of the northern provinces.
    And learning of these things, and knowing also that Xilie was the most ferocious of men, who respected nothing on earth save fearlessness, the Son of Heaven commanded Zhenjing that he should visit Xilie and strive to recall the rebel to duty, and read unto the people who followed after him in revolt the Emperor’s letter of reproof and warning. For Zhenjing was famed throughout the provinces for his wisdom, his rectitude, and his fearlessness; and the Son of Heaven believed that if Xilie would listen to the words of any living man steadfast in loyalty and virtue, he would listen to the words of Zhenjing. So Zhenjing arrayed himself in his robes of office, and set his house in order; and, having embraced his wife and his children, mounted his horse and rode away alone to the roaring camp of the rebels, bearing the Emperor’s letter in his bosom. “I shall return; fear not!” were his last words to the gray servant who watched him from the terrace as he rode.
    And Zhenjing at last descended from his horse, and entered into the rebel camp, and, passing through that huge gathering of war, stood in the presence of Xilie. High sat the rebel among his chiefs, encircled by the wave-lightning of swords and the thunders of ten thousand gongs: above him undulated the silken folds of the Black Dragon, while a vast fire rose bickering before him. Also Zhenjing saw that the tongues of that fire were licking human bones, and that skulls of men lay blackening among the ashes. Yet he was not afraid to look upon the fire, nor into the eyes of Xilie; but drawing from his bosom the roll of perfumed yellow silk upon which the words of the Emperor were written, and kissing it, he made ready to read, while the multitude became silent. Then, in a strong, clear voice he began:
          The words of the Celestial and August, the Son of Heaven, the Divine Gezu Qin Yaodi, unto the rebel Li Xilie and those that follow him.
    And a roar went up like the roar of the sea—a roar of rage, and the hideous battle-moan, like the moan of a forest in storm—“ Hoo! hoo-oo-oo-oo! ”—and the sword-lightnings brake loose, and the thunder of the gongs moved the ground beneath the messenger’s feet. But Xilie waved his gilded wand, and again there was