Love's-slave
Scary Books: Strange Stories From The Lodge Of LeisuresIn the City-between-the-rivers lived a young student named Lan. He had
just passed successfully his second literary examination, and, walking
in the Street-of-the-precious-stones, asked himself what he would now do
in life.
While he was going, looking vacantly at the passers-by, he saw an old
friend of his father, and hastened to join his closed fists and to
salute him very low, as politeness orders.
"My best congratulations!" answered the old man. "What are you doing in
this busy street?"
"Nothing at all; I was asking myself what profession I am now to
pursue."
"What profession? Which one would be more honourable than that of
teacher? It is the only one an 'elevated man' Kiu-jen of the second
degree, can pursue. By the by, would you honour my house with your
presence? My son is nearly eighteen. He is not half as learned as he
should be, and, besides, he has a very bad temper. I feel very old; if I
knew you would consent to give him the right direction and be a second
father to him, I would not dread so much to die and leave him alone."
Lan bowed and said:
"I am much honoured by your proposition, and I accept it readily. I will
go to-morrow to your palace."
Two hours after, a messenger brought to the young man a packet
containing one hundred ounces of silver, with a note stating that this
comparatively great sum represented his first year's salary.
In the evening he knocked at his pupil's door and was ushered into the
sitting-room. The old man introduced him to the whole family: first his
son, a lad with a decided look boding no good; then a young and
beautiful girl of seventeen, his daughter, called Love's-slave. Lan was
struck by the sweet and refined appearance of his pupil's sister.
"The sight of her will greatly help me to stay here," thought he.
The next morning, when his first lesson was ended, he strolled out into
the garden, admiring here a flower and there an artificial little
waterfall among diminutive mountain-rocks. Behind a bamboo-bush he
suddenly saw Love's-slave and was discreetly turning back, when she
stopped him by a few words of greeting.
Every day they thus met in the solitude of the flowers and trees and
grew to love each other. Lan's task with his pupil was greater and
harder than he had supposed; but for Love's-slave's sake, he would never
have remained in the house.
After three months the old man fell ill; the doctors were unable to cure
him; he died, and was buried in the family ground, behind the house.
When Lan, after the funeral, told his pupil to resume his lessons, he
met with such a reception that he went immediately to his room and
packed his belongings. Love's-slave, hearing from a servant what had
happened, went straight to her lover's room and tried to induce him to
stay.
"How can you ask that from me?" said he. "After such an insult, I would
consider myself as the basest of men if I stayed. I have 'lost face'; I
must go."
The girl, seeing that nothing could prevail upon his resolution, went
out of the room, but silently closed and locked the outer gate.
Lan left on a table what remained of the silver given him by the old
man, and wrote a note to inform his pupil of his departure.
When he tried the gate and found it locked, he did not know at first
what to do. Then he remembered a place where he could easily climb over
the enclosure, went there, threw his luggage over the wall, and let
himself out in this somewhat undignified way.
Before going back to his house, he went round to the tomb of the old man
and burnt some sticks of perfume. Kneeling down, he explained
respectfully to the dead what had happened and excused himself for
having left unfinished the task he had undertaken. Rising at last, he
went away.
The next morning Love's-slave, pleased with her little trick, came to
the student's room and looked for him; he was nowhere to be found. She
saw the silver on the table, and, reading the note he had left, she
understood that he would never come back.
Her grief stifled her; heavy tears at last began running down her rosy
cheeks. She took the silver, went straight to her father's tomb,
fastened the heavy metal to her feet, and unrolled a sash from her
waist. Then, making a knot with the sash round her neck, she climbed up
the lower branches of a big fir-tree, fastened the other end of the
coloured silk as high as she could and threw herself down. A few minutes
afterwards she was dead. She was discovered by a member of the family,
and quietly buried in the same enclosure.
Lan, who did not know anything, came back two or three days after to see
her. The servants told him the truth. Silently and sullenly, he went to
the tomb, and long remained absorbed in his thoughts; dusk was
gathering; the first star shone in the sky. All of a sudden, hearing a
sound as of somebody laughing, he turned round. Love's-slave was before
his eyes.
"I was waiting for you, my love," she said in a strange and muffled
voice. "Why are you coming so late?"
As he wanted to kiss her, she stopped him:
"Oh dear! I am dead. But it is decreed that I will come again to life if
a magician performs the ceremony prescribed in the
Book-of-Transmutations."
Immaterial like an evening fog, she disappeared in the growing darkness.
Lan returned immediately to the town, and, entering the first Taoist
temple he saw, he explained to the priest what he wanted.
"If she has said it is decreed she should come back to life, we have
only to go and open her tomb, while here my disciples will sing the
proper chapters of the Book. Let us go now."
Giving some directions to his companions, he took a spade and started
with Lan. The moon was shining, so that without any lantern they were
able to perform their gloomy task.
Once the heavy lid of the coffin was unscrewed and taken off, the body
of the young girl appeared as fresh as if she had been sleeping.
When the cold night-air bathed her face, she raised her head, sneezed,
and sat up; looking at Lan, she said in a low voice:
"At last, you have come! I am recalled to life by your love. But now I
am feeble; don't speak harshly to me; I could not bear it."
Lan, kissing her lovingly, took her in his arms and brought her to his
house. After some days she was able to walk and live like ordinary
people do.
They married and lived happily together for a year. Then, one day, Lan,
having come back half-drunk from a friend's house, was rebuked by her,
and, incensed, pushed her back. She did not say a word but, fainting,
she fell down. Blood ran from her nostrils and mouth; nothing could
recall her departing spirit.
More
-
Farm House 7 How To Lay Out A Kitchen Garden
The kitchen garden yields more necessaries and comforts to the family, than any other piece of ground on the premises. It is, of consequence, necessary that it be so located and planned as to be ready of access, and yield the greatest possible quantity... Farm House 7 Lawns Grounds Parks And Woods
Having essayed to instruct our agricultural friends in the proper modes of erecting their houses, and providing for their convenient accommodation within them, a few remarks may be pardoned touching such collateral subjects of embellishment as may be c... Farm House 7 Miscellaneous
We have given less veranda to this house than to the last, because its style does not require it, and it is a cheaper and less pains-taking establishment throughout, although, perhaps, quite as convenient in its arrangement as the other. The veranda ma... Farm House Design Ii
This is the plan of a house and out-buildings based chiefly on one which we built of wood some years since on a farm of our own, and which, in its occupation, has proved to be one of exceeding convenience to the purposes intended. As a farm business ho... Farm House Design Iii
We here present the reader with a substantial, plain, yet highly-respectable stone or brick farm house, of the second class, suitable for an estate of three, to five hundred acres, and accommodation for a family of a dozen or more persons. The style is... Farm House Design Iv
This is perhaps a more ambitious house than either of the preceding, although it may be adapted to a domain of the same extent and value. It is plain and unpretending in appearance; yet, in its ample finish, and deeply drawn, sheltering eaves, broad ve... Farm House Design V
We here present a dwelling of a more ambitious and pretending character than any one which we have, as yet, described, and calculated for a large and wealthy farmer, who indulges in the elegances of country life, dispenses a liberal hospitality, and is... Farm House Design Vi
A Southern or Plantation House.—The proprietor of a plantation in the South, or South-west, requires altogether a different kind of residence from the farmer of the Northern, or Middle States. He resides in the midst of his own principality, surround... Farm House Design Vii
A Plantation House.—Another southern house is here presented, quite different in architectural design from the last, plain, unpretending, less ornate in its finish, as well as less expensive in construction. It may occupy a different site, in a hilly... General Suggestions
In ascertaining what is desirable to the conveniences, or the necessities in our household arrangement, it may be not unprofitable to look about us, and consider somewhat, the existing condition of the structures too many of us now inhabit, and which, ... General Suggestions
In ascertaining what is desirable to the conveniences, or the necessities in our household arrangement, it may be not unprofitable to look about us, and consider somewhat, the existing condition of the structures too many of us now inhabit, and which, ... Ghost Hunters Of Yesterday And To-day
Psychical research, of which so much mention has been made in the preceding pages, may be roughly yet sufficiently described as an effort to determine by strictly scientific methods the nature and significance of apparitions, hauntings, spiritisti... Giles The Shepherd And Spectre
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Giles, ere he sleeps, his little flock must tell. From the fire-side with many a shrug he hies, Glad if the full-orb'd moon salute his eyes. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *... Glamis Castle
Of all the hauntings in Scotland, none has gained such widespread notoriety as the hauntings of Glamis Castle, the seat of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in Forfarshire. Part of the castle--that part which is the more frequently haunted--i... Glamr
The following story is found in the Gretla, an Icelandic Saga, composed in the thirteenth century, or that comes to us in the form then given to it; but it is a redaction of a Saga of much earlier date. Most of it is thoroughly h... Granary
The illustration above needs but little description. The posts should be stone, if procurable, one foot square, and four feet long, set one-third in the ground, and capped with smooth flat stones, four to six inches 344 thick, and two feet, at least, a... Green Branches
FIONA MACLEOD In the year that followed the death of Manus MacCodrum, James Achanna saw nothing of his brother Gloom. He might have thought himself alone in the world, of all his people, but for a letter that came to him out of the west. True, ... H P Scary
The river Vezere leaps to life among the granite of the Limousin, forms a fine cascade, the Saut de la Virolle, then after a rapid descent over mica-schist, it passes into the region of red sandstone at Brive, and swelled with affluents it suddenl... Home Embellishments
A discussion of the objects by way of embellishment, which may be required to give character and effect to a country residence, would embrace a range too wide, in all its parts, for a simply practical treatise like this; and general hints on the subjec... Hong The Currier
"In the time when the Justice of Heaven was actively employed with the affairs of the earth, one of my ancestors had an adventure to which we owe our present fortune, and of which few men of to-day have seen the equal." Thus began my friend Hon... House Near Blythswood Square Glasgow The Haunted Bath
When Captain W. de S. Smythe went to look over ---- House, in the neighbourhood of Blythswood Square, Glasgow, the only thing about the house he did not like was the bathroom--it struck him as excessively grim. The secret of the grimness did not l... How Siva Spoke
During the summer of the past year a medical friend of mine sent me an invitation to dine with him and two of his fellow-craftsmen at the Welcome Club at the Earl's Court Exhibition. One of our party was a certain Dr. Laurier, a young man of considerab... Ice-house
Among the useful and convenient appendages to the farm and country family establishment, is the ice-house. Different from the general opinion which prevailed in our country before ice became so important an article of commerce, and of home consumpt... Improved Domestic Animals
Having completed the series of subjects which we had designed for this work, we are hardly content to send it out to the public, without inviting the attention of our farmers, and others who dwell in the country and occupy land, to the importance of su... In Kropfsberg Keep
To the traveller from Innsbrueck to Munich, up the lovely valley of the silver Inn, many castles appear, one after another, each on its beetling cliff or gentle hill,--appear and disappear, melting into the dark fir trees that grow so thickly on e... In My Lady's Bedchamber
'Well,' said Harry laughingly, as he showed me the family portraits, and more especially the ladies, on the wall of the panelled dining-room, 'which of them would you choose if you were, like Henry VIII., on the look-out for a fresh wife?' 'Thi... In The Barn
BY BURGES JOHNSON The moment we had entered the barn, I regretted the rash good nature which prompted me to consent to the plans of those vivacious young students. Miss Anstell and Miss Royce and one or two others, often leaders in student misc... In The Blackfriars Wynd
''Twill be a black day for auld Scotland when she ceases to believe in the muckle Deil,' commented 'the Meenister' of the Tron Kirk, when I had explained to him my troubles and sought his 'ghostly counsel and advice,' as the English service has it... In The Cliff Land Of The Dane
A LETTER TO THE REVEREND LAURENCE STERNE AT COXWOLD FROM JOHN HALL STEVENSON AT SKELTON CASTLE, AS SET DOWN BY HIS NEPHEW FREDDY HALL. The truth is, reverend sir, that being eventually designed for the Bar, I had taken up this quest with an addi... Interior Accommodation Of Houses
Ground, in the country, being the cheapest item which the farmer can devote to building purposes, his object should be to spread over, rather than to go deeply into it, or climb high in the air above it. We repudiate cellar kitchens, or under-ground ro... Jane Of George Street Edinburgh
The news that, for several years at any rate, George Street, Edinburgh, was haunted, wrote a correspondent of mine some short time ago, might cause no little surprise to many of its inhabitants. And my friend proceeded to relate his experience of ... Jean Bouchon
I was in Orleans a good many years ago. At the time it was my purpose to write a life of Joan of Arc, and I considered it advisable to visit the scenes of her exploits, so as to be able to give to my narrative some local colour. But I did not f... Kitty's Bower
When Eric Chesters of Chesters Castle married Miss Brocklebridge--the bold and handsome heiress of Sir William, ironmaster, baronet, and expectant baron, all the world and his wife clapped hands and cried 'an ideal arrangement,' and foretold long ... Little Joe Gander
"There's no good in him," said his stepmother, "not a mossul!" With these words she thrust little Joe forward by applying her knee to the small of his back, and thereby jerking him into the middle of the school before the master. "There's no makin... Long-wooled Ewe
The Cotswold, New Oxford, and Leicester sheep, of the long-wooled variety, are also highly esteemed, in the same capacity as the Southdowns. They are large; not so compactly built as the Southdowns; producing a heavy fleece of long wool, mostly used... Love Rewarded
Lost in the heart of Peking, in one of the most peaceful neighbourhoods of the Yellow City, the street of Glowing-happiness was sleeping in the silence and in the light. On the right and left of the dusty road was some waste ground, where sever... Love's-slave
In the City-between-the-rivers lived a young student named Lan. He had just passed successfully his second literary examination, and, walking in the Street-of-the-precious-stones, asked himself what he would now do in life. While he was going, ... Mareschal Saxe And The Haunted Castle
The following very remarkable adventure, which befel the Mareschal de Saxe, whilst returning to his country-seat, near Dresden, in Saxony, has often been related by him to his friends and acquaintance; and, as the Mareschal was not less famed for ... Material For Farm Buildings
In a country like ours, containing within its soils and upon its surface such an abundance and variety of building material, the composition of our farm erections must depend in most cases upon the ability or the choice of the builder himself. Stone... Mcalister
The city of Bayonne, lying on the left bank of the Adour, and serving as its port, is one that ought to present much interest to the British tourist, on account of its associations. For three hundred years, along with Bordeaux, it belonged to the ... Mustapha
I Among the many hangers-on at the Hotel de l'Europe at Luxor--donkey-boys, porters, guides, antiquity dealers--was one, a young man named Mustapha, who proved a general favourite. I spent three winters at Luxor, partly for my health, partly ... No 252 Rue M Le Prince
When in May, 1886, I found myself at last in Paris, I naturally determined to throw myself on the charity of an old chum of mine, Eugene Marie d'Ardeche, who had forsaken Boston a year or more ago on receiving word of the death of an aunt who had ... Notre Dame Des Eaux
West of St. Pol de Leon, on the sea-cliffs of Finisterre, stands the ancient church of Notre Dame des Eaux. Five centuries of beating winds and sweeping rains have moulded its angles, and worn its carvings and sculpture down to the very semblance ... On The Leads
Having realised a competence in Australia, and having a hankering after country life for the remainder of my days in the old home, on my return to England I went to an agent with the object of renting a house with shooting attached, over at least ... Outside Color
We are not among those who cast off, and on a sudden condemn, as out of all good taste, the time-honored white house with its green blinds, often so tastefully gleaming out from beneath the shade of summer trees; nor do we doggedly adhere to it, except... Part Second
Now the merry bugle-horn Through the forest sounded far; When on the lofty tow'r, forlorn, The lady watch'd the evening star; The evening star that seemed to be Rising from the dark'ned sea. The summe... Peaceful-light
In the time when the Shining Dynasty had just conquered the throne, the eastern coasts of the Empire were ravaged by the rapid junks commanded by the cruel inhabitants of the Japanese islands, the irresistible Wo tsz. Now, it happened that the ... Pearlin' Jean Of Allanbank
Few ghosts have obtained more notoriety than Pearlin' Jean, the phantasm which for many years haunted Allanbank, a seat of the Stuarts. The popular theory as to the identity of the apparition is as follows:-- Mr. Stuart, afterwards created f... Piggery
The hog is an animal for which we have no especial liking, be he either a tender suckling, nosing and tugging at the well-filled udder of his dam, or a well-proportioned porker, basking in all the plenitude of swinish luxury; albeit, in the use of his ... Pomps And Vanities
Colonel Mountjoy had an appointment in India that kept him there permanently. Consequently he was constrained to send his two daughters to England when they were quite children. His wife had died of cholera at Madras. The girls were Letice and Bet... Poor Mary The Maid Of The Inn
Who is she, the poor maniac, whose wildly fix'd eyes Seem a heart overcharg'd to express? She weeps not, yet often and deeply she sighs; She never complains, but her silence implies The composure of settled distress. ... Position
The site of a dwelling should be an important study with every country builder; for on this depends much of its utility, and in addition to that, a large share of the enjoyment which its occupation will afford. Custom, in many parts of the United State... Poultry Lawn
As poultry is an indispensable appendage to the farm, in all cases, the poultry-house is equally indispensable, for their accommodation, and for the most profitable management of the fowls themselves, and most convenient for the production of their e... Prefatory
This work owes its appearance to the absence of any cheap and popular book on the subject of Rural Architecture, exclusively intended for the farming or agricultural interest of the United States. Why it is, that nothing of the kind has been heretofore... Prefatory
This work owes its appearance to the absence of any cheap and popular book on the subject of Rural Architecture, exclusively intended for the farming or agricultural interest of the United States. Why it is, that nothing of the kind has been heretofore... Preliminary To Our Designs
We have discussed with tolerable fullness, the chief subjects connected with farm buildings—sufficiently so, we trust, to make ourselves understood as desiring to combine utility with commendable ornament in all that pertains to them. The object has ... Rabbitry
A, the doe's hutches, with nest boxes attached. B, hutches three feet long, with movable partitions for the young rabbits; the two lower hutches are used for the stock bucks. C, a tier of grain boxes on the floor for feeding the rabbits—the covers ... Rabbitry Loft
A, place for storing hay. B, stairs leading from below. C, room for young rabbits. D, trapdoor into trunk leading to manure cellar. E, partition four feet high. This allows of ventilation between the two windows, in summer, which would be cut off, we... Remarkable Instance Of The Power Of Imagination
It has been remarked, that when the royal vault is opened for the interment of any of the royal family, Westminster Abbey is a place of great resort: some flock thither out of curiosity, others to indulge their solemn meditations. By the former... Remarkable Instances Of The Power Of Vision
A shepherd upon one of the mountains in Cumberland, was suddenly enveloped with a thick fog or mist, through which every object appeared so greatly increased in magnitude, that he no longer knew where he was. In this state of confusion he wandered... Remarkable Resuscitation
In the first volume of the Causes Celebres, a popular French work, is the following extraordinary story, which occasioned a serious law-suit. Two men in trade, who lived in the street St. Honore in Paris, nearly equal in circumstances, both foll... Repentance Tower
SCENE I. TEMPTATION Late one spring evening not long after the disaster of Solway Moss, Sir Robert Maxwell was walking to and fro within the Tower of Lochmaben--a heavy frown upon his brow--cogitating his reply to a letter from my Lord Arran--n... Shorthorn Bull
In cattle, if your grounds be rich, and your grass abundant, the short-horns are the stock for them. They are the head and front, in appearance, size, and combination of good qualities—the very aristocracy 353 of all neat cattle. A well-bred, and wel... Sir Hugh Ackland
The following remarkable fact shews the necessity of minutely examining people after death, prior to interment, and of not giving way to ridiculous fears about supernatural appearances. The late Sir Hugh Ackland, of Devonshire, apparently died o... Sister Maddelena
Across the valley of the Oreto from Monreale, on the slopes of the mountains just above the little village of Parco, lies the old convent of Sta. Catarina. From the cloister terrace at Monreale you can see its pale walls and the slim campanile of ... Southdown Ewe
The Southdown, a cut of which we present, is a fine, compact, and solid sheep, with dark face and legs; quiet in its habits, mild in disposition, of a medium quality, and medium weight of fleece; and yielding a kind of mutton unsurpassed in flavor and ... Style Of Building—miscellaneous
Diversified as are the features of our country in climate, soil, surface, and position, no one style of rural architecture is properly adapted to the whole; and it is a gratifying incident to the indulgence in a variety of taste, that we possess the o... Supposed Supernatural Appearance
Some few years since, before ghosts and spectres were commonly introduced among us by means of the pantomimes and novels of the day, a gentleman of a philosophical turn of mind, who was hardy enough to deny the existence of any thing supernatural,... The 930 Up-train
In a well-authenticated ghost story, names and dates should be distinctly specified. In the following story I am unfortunately able to give only the year and the month, for I have forgotten the date of the day, and I do not keep a diary. With rega... The Apparition Investigated
In a village in one of the midland counties of Scotland, lived a widow, distinguished among her neighbours for decency of manners, integrity, and respect for religion. She affirmed that, for several nights together, she had heard a supernatural vo... The Benighted Traveller And Haunted Room
A gentleman was benighted, while travelling alone, in a remote part of the highlands of Scotland, and was compelled to ask shelter for the evening at a small lonely hut. When he was conducted to his bed-room, the landlady observed, with mysterious... The Bold Venture
The little fisher-town of Portstephen comprised two strings of houses facing each other at the bottom of a narrow valley, down which the merest trickle of a stream decanted into the harbour. The street was so narrow that it was at intervals alone ...