🧚 Opening, part 25 · page 2

“Oh!” cried Pei-Hang, “I thought that I might never see you again, and I have found you already.”61

“And who am I?” asked the girl, smiling.62

“Yun-Ying,” replied Pei-Hang; and the name seemed so musical to him that he said it over and over again.63

Yun-Ying was dressed in white underneath, but her overdress was bright blue, embroidered with beautiful flowers which she had worked herself; and she stood in the door of the hut, with a peach tree in full bloom over her head, making such a picture of youth and loveliness that Pei-Hang’s heart seemed to jump into his throat, and beat there fast enough to choke him.64

“Who are you?65 And how do you come to know Yun-Ying?” asked the old woman, peering and blinking at him, with her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun.66

Then Pei-Hang told her about the dream, and the red cord, and when he said that he wanted to marry her daughter, the old woman did not look at all pleased.67 “If I had two daughters, you would be welcome to one of them,” she said.68

Pei-Hang was not a bad match, for his parents were well-off, and he was their only child; but Yun-Ying was a very pretty girl and a mandarin of Chang-ngan was anxious to marry her.69

“He is four times her age, it is true,” said her mother, explaining this to Pei-Hang, “but he is very rich.”70

“He is old and wrinkled, like a little brown monkey,” said Yun-Ying, “and I don’t want to marry him.71 Besides, the Moon Fairy didn’t tie my foot to his.”72

“No, that’s true,” sighed her mother.73

She would have liked to send Pei-Hang away, but she knew it would not be safe to do that if the red cord had really been tied to his foot and Yun-Ying’s, so she asked him to come inside, and they would talk it over.74

“Now,” said she, “on this stool I pound magic drugs given to me by the Genii, but my pestle and mortar is broken, and I want a new one.”75

“That I can easily buy in Chang-ngan,” replied Pei-Hang.76

“No, you cannot,” said the old woman, “because it is a pestle and mortar of jade, and you can only get another one from the home of the Genii, which is on a mountain above the Lake of Gems.77 If you will do that, and bring it back to me, you shall marry Yun-Ying.”78

“I will do that, but I must see my parents first,” said Pei-Yang.79

He had no idea where the home of the Genii was, but Yun-Ying took him out into the garden, and showed him, in the far distance, a range of snow-capped mountains, with one peak towering above all the others.80

“That is Mount Sumi,” she said, “and it is there the Genii live, sitting on the snow-peaks, and looking down at the Lake of Gems.”81

“In order to reach it you must cross the Blue River, the White River, the Red River, and the Black River, all of which are full of monstrous fishes.82 That is why my mother is sending you,” sighed Yun-Ying.83 “She thinks you will not return alive.”84

“I am a good swimmer, and not afraid of fish,” said Pei-Hang.85

“But you must not try to swim,” said Yun-Ying earnestly, “for you would be instantly devoured.86 Take this box with you.87 In it you will find six red seeds, one of which you must throw into each river as you come to it.88 The river will then shrink to the size of a small brook, over which you can jump.”89

Pei-Hang opened the box, and saw inside six round, red seeds, each of them the size of a pea, and these he promised to use as she had directed.90 Then he kissed her, and set out on his journey.91

On his way to Mount Sumi he passed through the town in which his parents lived, and when he saw them, he told them everything that had happened to him since he left Chang-ngan.92

His mother, who was a very wise woman, as most mothers are, told him the Genii would be angry if he turned their great rivers into brooks, and would probably refuse to give him the pestle and mortar made of jade.93 But she gave him a box containing six white seeds, one of which he was to cast into each brook as he passed it on his return journey, and it would then expand into a river again.94

The next morning Pei-Hang kissed his parents, and continued on his way to Mount Sumi.95 On the seventh day he came to the Blue River, which was a quarter of a mile wide, and as blue as the sky of summer, and fishes were popping their heads out of the water in every direction.96 The head of every fish was twice as large as a football, and had two rows of teeth.97 But he threw a red seed into the river, and in a moment it had become a little brook, across which he could hop on one foot, and the huge fishes were changed into tadpoles.98

Very soon he reached the White River, which was half a mile wide, and so rapid that it was covered with foam, and full of immense sea-serpents.99

This river was so wide that Pei-Hang was really surprised when, on throwing another of the red seeds into it, there lay before him a tiny brook, in the bottom of which some eels were wriggling.100

Stepping across this, Pei-Hang walked on for some time until he came in sight of the Red River, which was three-quarters of a mile wide, and bright scarlet.101 Stretched right across it, like a bridge, was a row of huge alligators, each of which had its mouth wide open.102

Into the river Pei-Hang threw one of the little red seeds, and one of the nearest alligators made a snap at it, but missed it.103 The seed sank into the water, and there before him was a small stream less than two feet across, and at the bottom of it a row of tiny lizards.104

Pei-Hang crossed the stream, and was met by one of the Genii, who had come down from the snow-peak to see who had been playing tricks with the three mighty rivers.105

Then Pei-Hang showed him the white seeds in the other box, and said: “With these I can make them as large as they were before, on my way back, so it is all right.106 But first I must find the home of the Genii, and get a pestle and mortar of jade for my future mother-in-law to pound magic drugs in.”107

“First you must cross the Black River,” replied the Geni, with a rather scornful laugh.108 “It is a mile wide, and the fish in it are six yards long, and covered with spikes like porcupines.”109

“How did you get across?” inquired Pei-Hang.110

“I?111 O, I can fly,” said the Geni.112

“And I can jump,” retorted Pei-Hang, sturdily.113

The Geni walked with him as far as the Black River, and when our hero saw the great waste of water as black as ink, stretching away in front of him, it must be confessed his heart sank a little.114

But he took out his fourth seed, and watched it disappear beneath a coal-black wave.115