amount; so he gave the go-between a present for her
trouble, which just finished up the three ounces his fox-friend had
provided. An auspicious day was chosen, and the young lady came over
to his house; when lo! she was humpbacked and pigeon-breasted, with
a short neck like a tortoise, and feet which were fully ten inches
long. The meaning of his fox-friend's remarks then flashed upon him.

The Magnanimous Girl

At Chin-ling there lived a young man named Ku, who had considerable
ability, but was very poor; and having an old mother, he was very
loth to leave home. So he employed himself in writing or painting
[42] for people, and gave his mother the proceeds, going on thus
till he was twenty-five years of age without taking a wife. Opposite
to their house was another building, which had long been untenanted;
and one day an old woman and a young girl came to occupy it, but there
being no gentleman with them young Ku did not make any inquiries as
to who they were or whence they hailed. Shortly afterward it chanced
that just as Ku was entering the house he observed a young lady
come out of his mother's door. She was about eighteen or nineteen,
very clever and refined-looking, and altogether such a girl as one
rarely sets eyes on; and when she noticed Mr Ku she did not run away,
but seemed quite self-possessed. "It was the young lady over the way;
she came to borrow my scissors and measure," said his mother, "and
she told me that there is only her mother and herself. They don't
seem to belong to the lower classes. I asked her why she didn't get
married, to which she replied that her mother was old. I must go and
call on her to-morrow, and find out how the land lies. If she doesn't
expect too much, you could take care of her mother for her." So next
day Ku's mother went, and found that the girl's mother was deaf, and
that they were evidently poor, apparently not having a day's food in
the house. Ku's mother asked what their employment was, and the old
lady said they trusted for food to her daughter's ten fingers. She
then threw out some hints about uniting the two families, to which
the old lady seemed to agree; but, on consultation with her daughter,
the latter would not consent. Mrs Ku returned home and told her son,
saying, "Perhaps she thinks we are too poor. She doesn't speak or
laugh, is very nice-looking, and as pure as snow; truly no ordinary
girl." There ended that; until one day, as Ku was sitting in his
study,