Chinese Literature

Shani live were three plots of untilled land, three unoccupied rooms, three

pools of clear water no man had tasted, and three thickets no man had |

walked through. This beautiful, quiet place was destined for true lovers: Klujnay and his wife were the happy couple who settled here; and here they had a son whom they named Ahay and a daughter whom they named Ashma. Ahay was industrious, brave, intelligent and gay, besides being a first-rate singer and hunter. Because he refused to give way to any difficulties, he was the hero of the other young men.

Ashma was even more of a favourite of fortune: from her very birth she gave the Shani people great joy. At five months she could crawl like a harrow on the ground; at seven months she could run as beautifully as a rolling ball of yarn. When she was six or seven, she started to help her mother by gathering wild herbs on the hillside, later learning to mow hay, tend sheep, sow seeds, spin and sew; and in everything she set her hand to she excelled.

Ashma grew to be so beautiful that her friends said:

Among ten thousand lovely flowers Ashma is the best.

When she was seventeen, she took her mosheen to the young folks’ camp where she began to learn the meaning of love; and there her clear singing drew all the young men round her. Ashma’s parents were willing to let her choose her own sweetheart, and would not have interfered with her choice: but of all the young men who longed for her, which would she choose? “A working man for me!’ said Ashma, and stipulated that her lover must be straight as the straightest tree, must dance more lightly than cotton floss, and must play the flute so well that birds would flock to hear him. -

At the other end of Ajdee lived Rabubalore, whose family was so wicked that even ants dared not enter his gate. He was rich and powerful; but no matter how many flowers bloomed in his courtyard, no bees would go there. Rabubalore’s son Adgy was as small and ugly as a monkey ; but, like the toad which wanted to eat a swan, Rabubalore determined to win Ashma ag his daughter-in-law; and with rich gifts and feasts he prevailed on a bad local official, Hajow, to go to Ashma’s home to arrange the match. Hajow was as cunning as a weasel and as poisonous aS a wasp. With a serpent’s tongue and the glibness of a parrot, he dilated on Rabubalore’s wealth to impress Klujnay and his wife; but Ashma’s parents were unwilling to part with her. As for Ashma, she did not hesitate to refuse this shameless offer, declaring:

Though we are poor, no rich man’s wife Will I consent to be!

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