atever is beautiful casts its spell upon me; so that I cannot
be devoid of feeling." His questioners only laughed.

[1] A.D. 785-805.

[2] I.e., Yuuan Chen1 himself.

[3] Type of the indiscriminate lover, fourth century B.C.

About this time Chang went to Puchow. Some two miles east of the town
there is a temple called the P`-u-chiu-ssu, and here he took up his
lodging. Now it happened that at this time the widow of a certain Ts`ui
was returning to Ch`ang-an.[4] She passed through Puchow on her way and
stayed at the same temple.

[4] The capital of China at that time; now called Hsi-an-fu.

This lady was born of the Cheng1 family and Chang's mother was also a
Cheng1. He unravelled their relationship and found that they were
second-cousins.

This year General Hun-Chan[5] died at Puchow. There was a certain
Colonel Ting Wen1-ya who ill-treated his troops. The soldiers
accordingly made Hun Chan's funeral the occasion of a mutiny, and began
to plunder the town. The Ts`ui family had brought with them much
valuable property and many slaves. Subjected to this sudden danger when
far from home, they had no one from whom they could seek protection.

[5] B. A.D. 735; d. 799. Famous for his campaigns against the Tibetans
and Uighurs.

Now it happened that Chang had been friendly with the political party to
which the commander at Puchow belonged. At his request a guard was sent
to the temple and no disorder took place there. A few days afterwards
the Civil Commissioner Tu Chio was ordered by the Emperor to take over
the command of the troops. The mutineers then laid down their arms.

The widow Cheng1 was very sensible of the service which Chang had
rendered. She therefore provided dainties and invited him to a banquet
in the middle hall. At table she turned to him and said, "I, your
cousin, a lonely and widowed relict, had young ones in my care. If we
had fallen into the hands of the soldiery, I could not have helped them.
Therefore the lives of my little boy and young daughter were saved by
your protection, and they owe you eternal gratitude. I will now cause
them to kneel before you, their merciful cousin, that they may thank you
for your favours." First she sent for her son, Huan-lang, who was about
ten years old, a handsome and gentle child. Then she called to her
daughter, Ying-ying: "Come and bow to your cousin. Your cousin saved
your life." For a long while she would not come, saying that she was
not well. The wid