Project Gutenberg's Song Book of Quong Lee of Limehouse, by Thomas Burke

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Title: Song Book of Quong Lee of Limehouse

Author: Thomas Burke

Posting Date: October 25, 2008 [EBook #2161]
Release Date: April, 2000

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SONG BOOK OF QUONG LEE ***

The Song Book of Quong Lee

by

Thomas Burke

CONTENTS

Buying and Selling
The Power of Music
The Lamplighter
In Reply to an Invitation
A Night-Piece
A Smile Given In Passing
Of a National Cash Register
Under a Shining Window
Exchange of Compliments
A Song of Little Girls
Of Shop Windows
At the Feast of Lanterns
One Service Breeds Another
An Offer of a Lodging
Of Two Dwellings
Concerning English Gambling
Of Politicians
Of the Great White War
At the Time of Clear Weather
Parent and Child
Of Worship and Conduct
Going to Market
A Portrait
On a Saying of Mencius
Dockside Noises
Reproof and Approbation
The Feast of Go Nien
Directions for Making Tea
Of Inaccessible Beauty
Night and Day
Of a Night in War-Time
A Love Lesson
A Rebuke
Upstairs
Footsteps
Making a Feast
The Case of Ho Ling
An Upright Man
Breaking-Point
An English Gentleman

Buying and Selling

Throughout the day I sit behind the counter of my shop
And the odours of my country are all about me--
Areca nut, and betel leaf, and manioc,
Lychee and suey sen,
Li-un and dried seaweed,
Tchah and sam-shu;
And these carry my mind to half-forgotten days
When tales were plentiful and care was hard to hold.

All day I sell for trifling sums the wares of my own land,
And buy for many cash such things as people wish to sell,
That I may sell them again to others,
With some profit to myself.

One night a white-skinned damsel came to me
And offered, with fair words, something she wished to sell.

Now if I desire a jacket I can buy it with coin,
Or barter for it something of my stock.
If I desire rice-spirit, that, too, I can buy;
And elegant entertainments and delights are all to be had for cash.

Bu