the Milky Way you spy,
Diagonal across the sky,
The egg-plant you may safely eat,
And all your friends to melons treat.

But when divided towards the west,
You'll need your trousers and your vest
When like a horn you see it float;
You'll need your trousers and your coat.

It is unnecessary to state that I did not go to sleep while the old
nurse was telling the story of the Heavenly River. The child sat on his
little stool, his elbows on his knees and his chin resting in his
hands, listening with open lips and eyes sparkling with interest. To
the old nurse it was real. The spinning girl and the cow-herd were
living persons. The flowers bloomed,--we could almost smell their
odor,--and the gentle breezes seemed to fan our cheeks. She had told
the story so often that she believed it, and she imparted to us her own
interest.

"Nurse," said the child, "tell me about

"'THE MAN IN THE MOON.'"

"The man in the moon," said the old nurse, "is called Wu Kang. He was
skilled in all the arts of the genii, and was accustomed to play before
them whenever opportunity offered or occasion required.

"Once it turned out that his performances were displeasing to the
spirits, and for this offense he was banished to the moon, and
condemned to perpetual toil in hewing down the cinnamon trees which
grow there in great abundance. At every blow of the axe he made an
incision, but only to see it close up when the axe was withdrawn.

"He had another duty, however, a duty which was at times irksome, but
one which on the whole was more pleasant than any that falls to men or
spirits,--the duty indicated by the proverb that 'matches are made in
the moon.'

"It was his lot to bind together the feet of all those on earth who are
destined to a betrothal, and in the performance of this duty, he was
often compelled to return to earth. When doing so he came as an old man
with long white hair and beard, with a book in his hand in which he had
written the matrimonial alliances of all mankind. He also carried a
wallet which contains a ball of invisible cord with which he ties
together the feet of all those who are destined to be man and wife, and
the destinies which he announces it is impossible to avoid.

"On one occasion he came to the town of Sung, and while sitting in the
moonlight, turning over the leaves of his book of destinies, he was
asked by Wei Ku, who happened to be passing, who was destine