Page:Mrs. Spring Fragrance - Far - 1912.djvu/306

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294
TALES OF CHINESE CHILDREN

"And the fairies' garments! Where can we find them?" asked Fei with the starry eyes.

"In the gardens, in the forests, and by the streams," answered the mother. "The flowers, dear children, are the bright-hued garments which the fairies left behind them when they flew from earth, never to return again, save invisible."

THE DREAMS THAT FAILED

ING SIK and Soon Yen sat by the roadside under a spreading olive tree. They were on their way to market to sell two little pigs. With the money to be obtained from the sale of the little pigs, they were to buy caps and shoes with which to attend school.

"When I get to be a man," said Ping Sik, "I will be so great and so glorious that the Emperor will allow me to wear a three-eyed peacock feather, and whenever I walk abroad, all who meet me will bow to the ground."

"And I," said Soon Yen, "will be a great general. The reins of my steeds will be purple and scarlet, and in my cap will wave a bright blue plume."

"I shall be such a great poet and scholar," continued Ping Sik, "that the greatest uni-