Page:Songs from the Southern Seas and Other Poems (1873).djvu/147

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143

CHUNDER ALI'S WIFE.


FROM THE HINDOSTANEE.


"I AM poor," said Chunder Ali, while the Mandarin above him
Frowned in supercilious anger at the dog who dared to speak;
"I am friendless and a Hindoo: such a one meets few to love him
Here in China, where the Hindoo finds the truth alone is weak.
I have naught to buy your justice; were I wise, I had not striven.
Speak your judgment;" and he crossed his arms and bent his quivering face.