anquet was held. Tsian Tang, who was not
quite himself, sat carelessly on his seat and said: "The Princess of
the Dungting Sea is handsome and delicately fashioned. She has had
the misfortune to be disowned by her husband, and to-day her marriage
is annulled. I should like to find another husband for her. If you
were agreeable it would be to your advantage. But if you were not
willing to marry her, you may go your way, and should we ever meet
again we will not know each other."

Liu I was angered by the careless way in which Tsian Tang spoke to
him. The blood rose to his head and he replied: "I served as a
messenger, because I felt sorry for the princess, but not in order to
gain an advantage for myself. To kill a husband and carry off a wife
is something an honest man does not do. And since I am only an
ordinary man, I prefer to die rather than do as you say."

Tsian Tang rose, apologized and said: "My words were over-hasty. I
hope you will not take them ill!" And the King of the Dungting Sea
also spoke kindly to him, and censured Tsian Tang because of his rude
speech. So there was no more said about marriage.

On the following day Liu I took his leave, and the Queen of the
Dungting Sea gave a farewell banquet in his honor.

With tears the queen said to Liu I: "My daughter owes you a great debt
of gratitude, and we have not had an opportunity to make it up to you.
Now you are going away and we see you go with heavy hearts!"

Then she ordered the princess to thank Liu I.

The princess stood there, blushing, bowed to him and said: "We will
probably never see each other again!" Then tears choked her voice.

It is true that Liu I had resisted the stormy urging of her uncle, but
when he saw the princess standing before him in all the charm of her
loveliness, he felt sad at heart; yet he controlled himself and went
his way. The treasures which he took with him were incalculable. The
king and his brother themselves escorted him as far as the river.

When, on his return home, he sold no more than a hundredth part of
what he had received, his fortune already ran into the millions, and
he was wealthier than all his neighbors. He decided to take a wife,
and heard of a widow who lived in the North with her daughter. Her
father had become a Taoist in his later years and had vanished in the
clouds without ever returning. The mother lived in poverty with the
daughter; yet since the girl was beautiful beyond measure she was
s