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"Last night I looked down upon a town in China，" said the Moon．"My beams irradiated the naked walls that form the streets there．Now and then，certainly，a door is seen，but it is locked，for what does the China- man care about the outer world？Close wooden shutters covered the windows behind the walls of the houses；but through the windows of the temple a faint light glim- mered．I looked in，and saw the quaint decorations within．From the floor to the ceiling pictures are painted in the most glaring clours and richly gilt—pictures rep－ resenting the deeds of the gods here on earth．In each niche statues are placed，but they are almost entirely hidden by the coloured drapery and the banners that hang down．Before each idol（and they are all made of tin）stood a little altar with holy water，with flowers and burning wax lights on it．Above all the rest stood Fu， the chief deity，clad in a garment of yellow silk，for yellow is here the sacred colour．At the foot of the altar sat a living being，a young priest．He appeared to be praying，but in the midst of his prayer he seemed to fall into deep thought，and this must have been wrong， for his cheeks glowed and he held down his head．Poor Soui-hong！Was he，perhaps，dreaming of working in the little flower－garden behind the high street wall？And did that occupation seem more agreeable to him than watching the wax lights in the temple？Or did he wish to sit at the rich feast，wiping his mouth with silver paper between each course？Or was his sin so great that，if he dared ut－ ter it，the Celestial Empire would punish it with death？ Had his thoughts ventured to fly with the ships of the bar－ barians，to their homes in far distant England？No，his thoughts did not fly so far，and yet they were sinful，sin－ ful as thoughts born of young hearts，sinful here in the temple，in the presence of Fu and other holy gods． "I know whither his thoughts had strayed．At the farther end of the city，on the flat roof paved with porce－ lain，on which stood the handsome vases covered with painted flowers，sat the beauteous Pe，of the little rogu－ ish eyes，of the full lips，and of the tiny feet．The tight shoe pained her，but her heart pained her still more．She lifted her graceful round arm，and her satin dress rustled， Before her stood a glass bowl containing four gold－fish． She stirred the bowl carefully with a slender lacquered stick，very slowly，for she，too，was lost in thought． Was she thinking，perchance，how the fishes were richly clothed in gold，how tney lived calmly and peacefully in their crystal world，how they were regularly fed，and yet how much happier they might be if they were free？Yes， that she could well understand，the beautiful Pe．Her thoughts wandered away from her home，wandered to the temple，but not for the sake holy things．Poor Pe！ Poor Soui－hong！ "Their earthly thoughts met，but my cold beam lay between the two，like the sword of the cherub．" |
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来自： DonaldKing2589 > 《英语经典》
