Chinese Literature

the Prince of Hsienan had a fiery temper and that people who offended him did not escape lightly. Since he did not serve the prince, it was none of his business. Besides, Tsui had treated him well on the way, buying him wine and food. So he held his tongue.

Tsui and his wife settled down in Chienkang. And since he had already been sentenced, he was no longer afraid to meet people, but went on plying his trade as a jade worker. “We are doing well here,’ said Hsiu-hsiu one day, “but my two old parents must have had a hard time of it since I ran away with you to Tanchow. And when we were arrested, they tried to commit suicide. Let us send someone to the capital to fetch them here to live with us.”

“Very well,” said Tsui. He told a man where his wife’s parents lived, and sent him to the capital to fetch them.

When the man reached the capital, he found the quarter where Hsiuhsiu’s parents lived and asked the people there to direct him to their house.

“There it is.’ Someone pointed it out to him.

He went to the gate but found it closed, locked and bolted with a bamboo bar. ‘Where have the old couple gone?” he asked a neighbour.

The neighbour said: “It’s a sad story. They had a daughter as pretty as a flower, whom they presented to a noble family. But the girl was not content with her good fortune, end ran away with a jade worker. Some time ago, she and her lover were caught and sent back from Tanchow for trial here. The girl was taken to the prince’s back garden for punishment, and when that happened the old couple tried to take their own lives. They have since disappeared. That is why their house is locked up.” This being so, the messenger went back to Chienkang.

One day, before his messenger had come back, Tsui heard someone outside his shop saying, “You want Tsui’s shop? Here it is.” When he called to Hsiu-hsiu to see who it was, she found it was no other than her parents. They greeted each other, and settled down to live happily together. The next day, the messenger returned and reported how he had failed to find them, and journeyed in vain; but the two old folk had already come of their own accord.

“Thank you for going to so much trouble,” said Hsiu-hsiu’s parents. ‘We didn’t know where you were, and we had to search far and wide

before we could find you.” So they all lived together.

Now one day the emperor went to his treasury to look at his treasures, and when he picked up the jade kuanyin Tsui had made, one of the jade bells on the figure fell off.

“How can this be repaired?” he asked an officer in attendance.

The officer examined the carving and remarked: “What a fine figurine! It is a pity the bell is gone.” When he looked at the base, he found the inscription: Made by Tsui Ning. “It is quite simple a he cried. “Since we know who carved this, all we have to do is call