🧚 Opening, part 25

Though he could not hope to win in a fight against such great numbers, he called his head men together, and said:1

“My Brothers, the Spanish dogs have come to destroy the land.2 We cannot successfully oppose them, but in the defense of the fatherland we can die.”3

So the great warship was again prepared, and all the soldiers of Islam embarked, and then with Bantugan standing at the bow they sailed forth to meet their fate.4

The fighting was fast and furious, but soon the great warship of Bantugan filled with water until at last it sank, drawing with it hundreds of the Spanish ships.5 And then a strange thing happened.6 At the very spot where Bantugan’s warship sank, there arose from the sea a great island which you can see to-day not far from the mouth of the Rio Grande.7 It is covered with bongo-palms, and deep within its mountains live Bantugan and his warriors.8 A Moro sailboat passing this island is always scanned by Bantugan’s watchers, and if it contains women such as he admires, they are snatched from their seats and carried deep into the heart of the mountain.9 For this reason Moro women fear even to sail near the island of Bongos.10

When the wife of Bantugan saw that her husband was no more and that his warship had been destroyed, she gathered together the remaining warriors and set forth herself to avenge him.11 In a few hours her ship also was sunk, and in the place where it sank there arose the mountain of Timaco.12

On this thickly wooded island are found white monkeys, the servants of the Princess, who still lives in the center of the mountain.13 On a quiet day high up on the mountain side one can hear the chanting and singing of the waiting-girls of the wife of Bantugan.14

THE PESTLE AND MORTAR OF JADE15

Once upon a time, so very long ago that even the great-grandfathers of our great-grandmothers had not been born, there lived in the city of Kwen-lu a little Chinese boy named Pei-Hang.16

His father and mother loved him dearly, and did all they could to shield him from the power of the evil Genii, or spirits, of whom there were a great many in China.17 Of course, there were some good Genii too, but most of them were very much the opposite, and Pei-Hang’s mother took every precaution against them.18

It is well-known that a wicked Genii will not come near a Chinese boy if he has some red silk braided in with his pigtail, or if he wears a silver chain around his neck, and all of them dread an old fishing-net.19 So Pei-Hang’s mother made him a little shirt out of an old fishing-net, and she took care that his pigtail should be plaited with the brightest of red silk.20

Also she was particular in having his head shaved in just the right way, with a tuft sticking straight up in the luckiest place.21

And so Pei-Hang got safely over the troubles of his babyhood, and grew from a baby into a big boy, and then to a tall, handsome youth.22 Then he left off wearing his fish-net shirt, but still wore the silver chain round his neck and had red silk in his pigtail.23

“It is time that Pei-Hang saw a little more of the world,” said his father.24 “He must go to Chang-ngan and study under the wise men there.”25

Chang-ngan was the ancient capital of China, a very large city indeed, and Pin-Too, the teacher to whom Pei-Hang was sent, was the wisest man there.26

Pei-Hang soon learned what the world was thinking about, and many other things also.27 As soon as he was eighteen he took the red silk out of his pigtail and the silver chain from his neck, because grown-up people were supposed to be able to protect themselves against the Genii without the aid of charms.28

When he was twenty, Pin-Too said he could not teach him any more, and told him to go back to his parents, and comfort them in their old age.29

Pei-Hang was his favorite pupil, and Pin-Too looked very sorry when he said this.30

“I will start to-morrow, Master, and will leave the city by the Golden Bridge,” replied Pei-Hang obediently.31

“No, you must go by the Indigo Bridge,” said Pin-Too, “for there you will meet your future wife.”32

“I was not thinking of a wife,” observed Pei-Hang, with some dismay.33

Pin-Too just wrinkled up his eyes and laughed.34

“So much the better!” said he.35 “When you have once seen her, you will be able to think of nothing else.”36

It was very hot, and Pei-Hang intended to start in the cool of the early morning, but he sat so long over his books the night before his journey that he wakened late, and when he opened his eyes the sun was blazing down upon the streets, making the town like a furnace.37

However, he had promised to start that day, so he took up his stick and set off.38

“I will rest at the Indigo Bridge,” said he to himself, “and walk on again in the cool of the evening.”39

But he had spent many sleepless nights in study, and when he reached the bridge he was so tired that he sat down and fell asleep.40

Then, in a dream which came to him, he saw a tall and beautiful maiden, who showed him her right foot, around which was bound a red cord.41

“What does this mean?” asked Pei-Hang, who could hardly take his eyes away from her face to look at her foot.42

“What does the red cord around your own foot mean?” replied the girl.43

Then Pei-Hang looked at his right foot, and saw that it was tied to the girl’s by the same thin red cord.44 So he knew that he had met his future wife.45

“My mother used to say that when a boy is born, the Moon Fairy ties an invisible red cord around his right foot, and the other end of the cord encircles the foot of the girl-baby whom he is to marry,” said he.46

“Quite true,” said the maiden, “and to people who are awake this cord is invisible.47 Now I will tell you my name, that you may remember it.48 It is Yun-Ying.”49

“And I will tell you mine,” began Pei-Hang, but Yun-Ying stopped him, smiling.50

“Ah, I know yours, and all about you,” she said.51

Pei-Hang was greatly surprised, but he need not have been, for everyone in Chang-ngan knew that he was Pin-Too’s wisest, handsomest, and best-loved pupil.52 And Yun-Ying lived close to the city, and had often seen him walking through the streets carrying his books.53

When Pei-Hang awoke, he looked for the red cord around his foot, but he saw neither this nor the fair maiden.54

“I wonder if she is real, or only a dream-maiden, after all,” he said to himself.55

But Yun-Ying was quite real; only her mother, who knew something of magic, had given her the power of stepping in and out of people’s dreams.56

Pei-Hang got up and went on his way, thinking of Yun-Ying all the time.57

It was still very hot, and he grew so thirsty that he went to a little hut by the roadside, and asked an old woman who was sitting in the doorway to give him a drink.58

She called to her daughter to fill their best goblet with fresh spring water, and bring it out to the stranger.59 Then appeared none other than Yun-Ying herself.60