. In the beginning of the sixth
moon, after the early crops of rice had been cut, they ate their new
rice on the day appointed by the Mandarin. Before touching any of the
food they took it to the temple near by, and earnestly invoked the
blessing of the gods on the new grain, after which they sat down to
partake of it without any fear of sickness or trouble coming to them
that year.

But alas! Only a few days later the husband was taken ill, and day by
day became worse. The wife was naturally anxious, and when his illness
deprived him of his reason, her cup of sorrow seemed full. For three
years he was raving mad, and often, when in one of his fits of rage, he
would ill-treat his wife. These fits might come on without any
warning, day or night, so that she was kept in constant fear.

These were dark days indeed for the young wife. Not only had she to
nurse her husband, but she was obliged to do a great deal of his work
in the fields, although it required a man's strength. Bravely she
plodded on, but often lost heart and gave herself up to her sorrow. If
only her parents or her father-in-law had been alive, they would have
comforted her. If only she were not so alone in the world. If only
she had had a child of her own to love and to work for, she could have
borne it better. Many a time she would repeat the sad cry of the
childless wife:

No son, no daughter to call my own,
Thus daily my pitiful lot I bemoan!

How hard it was to be all alone, without a refuge to turn to, without
some one to share her sorrow. How her heart longed for comfort, but
there was none to give it. How she needed a friend to stand by her,
but none was found. Alas! no one had told her of "the Friend that
sticketh closer than a brother." She was so weary and burdened, but no
one had ever whispered in her ear the sweet and tender invitation of
the great Rest-Giver: "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest." No one around her knew of that
blessed invitation, for the messengers to whom it had been entrusted
had been sleeping and taking their rest, neglecting their Lord's
command, and forgetting that "the King's business requireth haste."

CHAPTER VIII

MISERABLE COMFORTERS

The case of Everlasting Pearl's husband was a hopeless one, and despair
took possession of both mother and wife as time went on. They
exhausted all the means in their power, but very soon realized that
vain