ago," replied
the old nurse.

"Now tell me about the man who went to the fire star."

The old woman hesitated a moment as though she was trying to recall
something and then told him the story of

MARS, THE GOD OF WAR.

"Once upon a time there was a great rebel whose name was Ch'ih Yu. He
was the first great rebel that ever lived in China. He did not want to
obey the chief ruler, and invented for himself warlike weapons,
thinking that in this way he might overthrow the government and place
himself upon the throne.

"He had eighty-one brothers, of whom he was the leader. They had human
speech, but bodies of beasts, foreheads of iron, and fed upon the dust
of the earth.

"When the time for the battle came, he called upon the Chief of the
Wind and the Master of the Rain to assist him, and there arose a great
tempest. But the Chief sent the Daughter of Heaven to quell the storm,
and then seized and slew the rebel. His spirit ascended to the
Fire-Star (Mars)--the embodiment of which he was while upon
earth,--where it resides and influences the conduct of warfare even to
the present time."

"Tell me the story of the man who went to the mountain to gather
fire-wood and did not come home for such a long time."

The old nurse began a story which as it progressed reminded me of

RIP VAN WINKLE.

"A long time ago there lived a man named Wang Chih, which in our
language means 'the stuff of which kings are made.' In spite of his
name, however, he was only a common husbandman, spending his summers in
plowing, planting and harvesting, and his winters in gathering
fertilizers upon the highways, and fire-wood in the mountains.

"On one occasion he wandered into the mountains of Ch'u Chou, his axe
upon his shoulder, hoping to find more and better fire-wood than could
be found upon his own scanty acres, or the adjoining plain. While in
the mountains he came upon a number of aged men, in a beautiful
mountain grotto, intently engaged in a game of chess. Wang was a good
chess-player himself, and for the time forgot his errand. He laid down
his axe, stood silently watching them, and in a very few moments was
deeply interested in the game.

"It was while he was thus watching them that one of the old men,
without looking up from the game, gave him what seemed to be a date
seed, telling him at the same time to put it in his mouth. He did so,
but no sooner had he tasted it, than he lost all consciousness of
hu