wife,
Little Golden Daughter, was standing before him.

He started with fright and cried: "A ghost, a ghost!" But all the
servants broke out into loud laughter.

At last Sir Hu and his wife came in, and the former said: "My dear
son-in-law, you may rest assured that my adopted daughter, who came to
me while I was on my way to this place, is no ghost."

Then Mosu hastily fell on his knees and answered: "I have sinned and
beg for mercy!" And he kowtowed without end.

"With that I have nothing to do," remarked Sir Hu, "if our little
daughter only gets along well with you, then all will be in order."

But Little Golden Daughter said: "You heartless scoundrel! In the
beginning you were poor and needy. We took you into our family, and
let you study so that you might become somebody, and make a name for
yourself. But no sooner had you become a mandarin and a man of
standing, than your love turned into enmity, and you forgot your duty
as a husband and pushed me into the river. Fortunately, I found my
dear adopted parents thereby. They fished me out, and made me their
own child, otherwise I would have found a grave in the bellies of the
fishes. How can I honorably live again with such a man as you?"

With these words she began to lament loudly, and she called him one
hard-hearted scoundrel after another.

Mosu lay before her, speechless with shame, and begged her to forgive
him.

Now when Sir Hu noticed that Little Golden Daughter had sufficiently
relieved herself by her scolding, he helped Mosu up and said to him:
"My dear son-in-law, if you repent of your misdeed, Little Golden
Daughter will gradually cease to be angry. Of course you are an old
married couple; yet as you have renewed your vows this evening in my
house, kindly do me a favor and listen to what I have to say: You,
Mosu, are weighed with a heavy burden of guilt, and for that reason
you must not resent your wife's being somewhat indignant, but must
have patience with her. I will call in my wife to make peace between
you."

With these words Sir Hu went out and sent in his wife who finally,
after a great deal of difficulty, succeeded in reconciling the two, so
that they agreed once more to take up life as husband and wife.

And they esteemed and loved each other twice as much as they had
before. Their life was all happiness and joy. And later, when Sir Hu
and his wife died, they mourned for them as if in truth they had been
their own parents.

Not