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28 STRANGE STORIES FROM

quite out of breath. They asked what was the matter, and the servant replied that the Wu family had been visited by a calamity on the very same day, and had every one perished. Chiao-no cried very bitterly, at this, and could not be comforted; but now there was nothing to prevent them from all returning together. Mr. K'ung went into the city for a few days on business, and then they set to work packing-up night and day. On arriving at their destination, separate apartments were allotted to young Mr. Huang-fu, and these he kept carefully shut up, only opening the door to Mr. K'ung and his wife.

Mr. K'ung amused himself with the young man and his sister Chiao-no, filling up the time with chess,' wine, con- versation, and good cheer, as if they had been one family. His little boy, Huan, grew up to be a handsome young man, but with a touch of the fox in his composition ; so that when he showed himself abroad, he was immediately recognised as the son of a fox.

IX. MAGICAL ARTS

A CERTAIN Mr. Yii was a spirited young fellow, fond of boxing and trials of strength. He was able to take two kettles and swing them round about with the speed of the wind. Now, during the reign of Ch'ung Cheng,^ when up for the final examination at the capital, his servant became seriously ill. - Much troubled at this, he applied to a necro- mancer in the market-place ^ who was skilful at determining

' Chinese " chess " is similar to, but not identical with, our game. The board is divided by a river, and the king is confined to a small square of moves on his own territory. The game par excellence in China is wei-ch'i, an accoimt of which I contributed to the Temple Bar magazine for January 1877.

The last emperor of the Ming dynasty. Began to reign a.d. 1628.

The trade of fortune-teller is one of the most flourishing in

China. A large majority of the candidates who are unsuccessful at the public examinations devote their energies in this direction ; and in every Chinese city there are regular establishments whither the superstitious people repair to consult the oracle on every imagin- able subject ; — ^not to mention hosts of itinerant soothsayers, both in town and country, whose stock-in-trade consists'of a trestle-table, pen, ink, and paper, and a few other mysterious implements of their art. The nature of the response, favourable or otherwise, is determined by an inspection of the year, i^month, day, and hour at which the applicant was bom, taken in combination with other particulars referring to the question at issue.