Tur PEOPLE'S JOIJIt.\AL.
VOLUXE VII.
THE PEOPLE'S JOURNAL.
PUBLISHED EVERY YRIDAY BIORNING
BY EMMA & AVERY.
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jpaccal.w.whoo.ccuscnevnza-io=r-,,......-m.rxecrx-tes
yhom riTTNAM . I M IO‘ZINE.
THE z.tV-Ni•+ car YAN-Dilt.
tRANSLATY:: 111.: CHINP:sI: 0T TAY-K:::
(C‘lnc luxiun )
Whfing continu d :
" hi detertninod lhlt he wouNI
take subtle revenge upon Kluunki. He
teazloned thus :
".Kluniski has put a mortal slight
upon me, by bumph...* m•f in the soli-mtt
service of Hele an-to ; apologising with
an insult; and then refusing to abide by
the duello. I may have been !tasty, bir.
he has been impertinent b .coed account.
If I sufl••r this-offense to pass unheeded,
all Yan-Ky will doubt me honor, arid
every tool will 1.-el at i vto criticisi.
my nose. I must assert my hono;.. flow
shall it be done ?"
" Here he paused. Here it was, clear
that but one way remained. Zly-ni
must undertake to obtain, by personal
chastisement, the reparation to his nose
which Kluinski declined to give with
the . instruments of the ducho. Now,
like other Souls of Honor, although the
nose of Zty•ni had a self asserting and
audacious air, a kind of just-come and
pull•me-if-you•dare look, derived un
doubtedly from the please-tread-on-my -
coat-tail trait of their common emerald
ancestor, yet he was not a brave man,
but was extremely accomplished in the
use of the instruments of the duellu.
He liked an encounter in which he
enjoyed all the advantage. Then:lore,
as the project of personally attacking
Kluinsiti was not promising for his own
ease and security, he resolved, upon a
mare exquisite revenge.
Ziy-ni was iich. He had no pro
fession. and nothing to do but devote life
to cherishing his nose.
lilumski lau;zhs at the duello,' said
Zty-ni, with a sneering smile. • Now,
no man can live in Yan-Ky without the
good opinion of the Yan Kysr. I will
ther.lore farce him to propose the dual()
to me, himse/f.'
In the gay circles .of Yan-lii•. the
elegant Zay-ni was more polished than
ever. The beautiful bells of Yan-Ky
agreed, that of all loves of men hithert
enconntered, he was the most lovely.
''So handsome !' they said,—be
cause his - cheeks were red, and his hair
wis b'ack.
"So well dressed !' they said. because
his cloth'•s fitted him liko a glove, and
he seemed to have been dropped into
'heel like time French Count d'Artois
into his trousers.
" •So gentlemanly r they said, 6er-on-e
he slid nothing in a low tone. wit •out
laugliine-, and 'with a setni-;;lance of
wets bred contempt at nil men who had
emotions.
•Such a small foot !' they said, be
cause a small loot is more readily com
prehended than n large head.
...Such eyes r' they said, because the
eyes had said to each one of those
belks, I love you he- .
...S6 fascinating !' they all, be
cau•e h.• treated each as if she were the
ajl.• charmer.
.6•And such a sacred respect fot his
nose!' choned in the tenor chorus of the
beaux of Zro Kv, whose :lusts %were
Generally sal:lU
„ Anton” 1110 , 0 k.lles FT_lumski had a
sister, young and 1,-tiller as the summer
dawn x\ h•i, tt tind,s- over the moutimins
of Bit Tek, which guard the I r an Ky.
All the poets - her pr.tises. It was
said, 0 Tay-Ein, that the sound of those
praises had been heard in the streets of
Pekin, and that aged mandarins had
sighed as they listened, remembering
the days when they were poets. and
sang of her beauty. She had the au.
) burn hair which the sun smiles upon,
and Makes golden. She had th , . eves,
Soft, humid, lustrous, which the Hindu
peels call lotus eyes. The tint of her
eh eks was the soft creamy . hue of sea
shells. Like a sapling upon the moun
tain, her figure was lithe, and round. and
alluring. It was a flowery face, a flow
ery form, a flowery grace, and there was
no one. who did not - love her and agree
that Fior was the flower of Yan-Ky."
Whang's voice sank into silence, and
we both sat for some .time,
,silently
smoking,.
Confucius says," he resumed at
length, that the Eternal Order of
Things sutlers strange events to occur.
But he adds, thnt the Order of Things
will certainty justify itself; if not here,
then elsewhere. Yet what an Order of
Things does not that seem to be, which
planned the pure Fior among the people
who hold the nose in a morbid sanctity
Which of our poets is it, 0 Tay-Kin,
DEVOTED. TO THE PRINCIPLES OF bEMOCRACY, AND THE ntsSEAItNATION. OF 'AIORAI.ITy LITERATURE, AND NEWS
who says. that the Genius of Evil is surest
to di:cover and harm whatever falls into
his pad' out of the Kingdom of Light.
Others pnss by without knowing it, but
the instinct'.of repulsion reveals it to
him."
Whang smoked placidly. and 1 aban
doned myself to the consideration of the
strange chances of travel.. How little
had I dreamed. 0 male readers with
long cues! and 0 female readers with
small fret ! that my utmost wanderings
would ever have brought me into a
country of habits so inexplicable as these.
To cjotb to the top of the Gr e at W a ll,
is a stretch of travel forbidden to all but
the happy few. The philosopher and
• r
madarin Toat-mo, sits there at ent.e, and
surveys the world, seeing thingi clearly
ir. the rare air" of that bight. But to
descend to the outer side, and wander
beyond its shadow, that is a temerity .,
hardly to be justified by sane men. ex
cept, like my unworthy self, Tay Kin.
they are mere philosophers. bent upon
doing good. and travel to accumulate
warnings, and relate wonders. It is no
story of gnomes that I am telling, but of
lands, whose people complacently sup
pose themselves to be the head of civ
ilization, because they eat meat for
dinner every day ! Rend and reflect !
and thank the Eternal Order of Things
that you are behind the Great Wall of
China, whose name be praised, and
whose top be covered with broken bOt.
ties forever, to keep out the Yan-Kyse.
Ilifiang continued :
"Zay-ni soon resolved what his re
venge would be'. He was young. hand
some, graceful. Was he not the Soul of
Honor? Therefore, upon all occasions,
whether in public or in private, be
sought to win the favor of Fior. He
smiled upon Klumski; as upon a man
whom he had forgiven. But Klumski
never asked him to return with hint lo
his mutton ; nur, in the affectionate tu
toying phrase of Yan-Ky, to take pot
luck with him. Klumski treated Zay-ni
as men treat small dogs.
One day Fior was zurpri*s, - d ,
visit from the aunt of the Soul of Honor.
A man, says Confucius, is not responsi
ble for his aunts.. They are pre-existent
facts, quite beyond his discretion. But
if he be ingenious, he can make them
serviceable to his purposes. Under the
shadow of an aunt's propriety, says the
:tune authority, how are not the sweet
impiopneties of affection indulged, even
as in my youth I kissed the daughter of
the mandarin Dul-Dul, in the shade of
the great temple of Pekin. The aunt
came to bid Hur to tea. A few friends,
after the manner of Yan-Ky, were to
come the next evenina to drink her tea,
instead of staying at home and drinking
their own :—tea,. and a few gentlemen
in the evening.
"From extreme youth, Fior had been
discrplined to these social sacrifices,
Aunts, like Zay-ni's, are distributed in
this world to make a few gentlemen in
the evening,. recognize,. by contrast, the
loveliness of youth and the eternal
youth of amiability. When Fior ar
d, the aunt commenced by , staubing
all 11,..r friends with sharp little inuen••
does. Facts, of which no one should
have betrayed the .knowledge, she de
tailed with care. 'l'r,e small gossip of
malicious observation and 'criticism.—
the' ineanness of aspersion.—the wily
whisper,—the loud abuse,—they were
all employed by the aunt. It was to
the grinle Fior as if she were steeped
ip the fumes of a hot kitchen. The
• was gross with gossip. The aunt
t e itcd m, n and women as if they had
been bats and lizards ; and her feline
eves glittered close to the delicate Ftor,
a ho shrank and shuddered."
Are there such lands—such peo
ple ?" I a,r,ed cf Whang, with a sad
s .i,dcio ET of the heart.
} ' 4ltl are in and nmonir them," he
rep!.ed sementiou:ly, whiffing volumes
of smdce„
-May the Eternal Order of Things
get me safely back again over the Great
Chinese Wall." I mentally ejaculated,
while W hang-resumed :
Zav ni knew his aunt, and he knew
Fior. 'Therefore, when he entered the
bower, he saw in a moment the state of
things. He knew that Fior was shocked
and sad. Iler•mind was full of hateful
imaees, and unwelcome fancies, con
jured by his aunt. She was like a
flower choked in fetid air, and longing
for the stpliOt. He was young, and
handsome, and graceful. Was lie not
the Soul of Hon or? , So he sat by her
side, and he - looked so gallant, and,
fresh, and fair, that his mere aspect was
ra consola , ion to the gentle girl. When
he began to speak, his voice was so low
and sweet, that the sharp tones of the
shrill aunt were lost like noise in music.
What could such a voice whisper that
would not seem noble to a mind so pre
pared ?
.And when a shrewd sense,
called in Yan-Ky, knowledge of men
and women, directed the whisperings of
that voice, could not the blindest.hawker
of rat's tails and bird's nests, perceive
that half the fight was won The
aunt had poisoned every character of
which she spoke ; brit Zay•ui . praised
COUDERSPORT, POTTER COUNTY, PA., MAY 26, 1854.
so cunningly, that he seemed not only
the handsomest, most musical-voiced,
-.and most winning, but . the most gen
erous of men; He spoke so tenderly of
Klornski, himself,—nnt too broadly fiat- •
tering, for Zay-ni. understood that Fior
might have noticed that her brother was
not lavish of commendation nor of atten
tion•to the . Soul of Honor. Zay ui was
a wise man. even as snakes are wise.
The hogs and girlsjemi of the serpent
charming the bird, and look under the
hushes and upon the boughs of trees to
find them, But the Serpents and birds
are not out of doors: . Confucius says,
that in their youth'they sit in parlors,
and talk sentiment.
' They. sat together, talking, all the
•pleasant evening. Zay•nt spoke gently
of gond things, and warmly of righteous
ones, and professed principles of which
the Eternal Order of Things might have
been proud. Fior listened,- and won
dered she had never so much liked the
•fascinoting Soul of- Honor. Nobler
thOughts, more generous judgments, she
had not heard from Klumski, himself.
What a pity that he was so prejudiced
against this eallant youth ! At intervals,
Zay : ni beckoned to his aunt to come
over and help him. She came and her
Voice pierced Floes ear. and her venom
stung Fior's heart ;. and when-she went
away again. the musicof the other voice
was sweeter for the contrast, like the
bells of the tower of Pekin in the pauses
of the roaring Monsoon.
"Ah! l'ay-Kin,.my illustrious phi.
losopher and master, even in Yan-Ky,
women are women,—and. sadder truth,
men are men ! , The heart of Fier clung
to the Soul of Honor. In vain the
thoughtful Klumski I grew grave and
sorrowful, and warned his g entle sister.
She wept at his words, and threw her
arms around his neck, but only to whis
per in his ear
. that she loved Zay-ni.
Then there was a look sadder than
sorrow in his eyes, and he told her how
ninth more she was to be - pitied than
blamed ; and described to her, in terrible
the character and life of the Soul
of Honor. She Lsteneu *Mix
incredulity of love. Her passion was
like the south wind, melting every
thing upon which it blew. Ah ! Tay.
Kin, my master, in Yan-Ky, as in Chi
na, love is the eternal tyrant, who knows
no reason and.no law. .
..Zay-ni pursued, the preparation of
.his sweet revenge•. The snake had
charmed the dove, which fluttered—and
fluttered—and sell!
~ T he Soul of Honor was perfect,in
the duello. He could use the pistol or
the sword* with equal ease and certain
ty. \Vo to him upon whom tell the
wrath of Zny ni! His nose reigned
unquestioned and serene in admiring
Yan•Ky.
But the dove fluttered—and fluttered
—and fell!
"That fall broke the heart of Klum
ski. A sternness, such as had never
been seen in his . eyes, now took the
place of the sadness which had recently
filled them. All Yan Ky foresaw. that
tome terrible event' was near. It was
so cruel an outrage! they said: and
since the laws of Yan Ky cannot touch
the case—"
" Flow ?" cried I. "Am I in a land
where the law does not touch a case so
fearful? Will the law protect a man's
purse, and not his honor? Oh, that 1
might once more behold the Great Wall
of China !•'
%Vhang little heeded tny interruption.
flow can law protect honor ?" said
he as contemptuously as comported
with pr,priety. Honor is the nose.
It is the private privilege of el•ery man
to keep it unpulled. The law cannot
touch ii. How can the law tell whether
the bird fell willingly. or was nefariously
entrapped? But all Van-Icy felt that a
tragedy impended. Kluinski did not
weep over his sister's fall ? But Zay-m_
smiled to think that,. by dealing the
deadliest blow, he had forced his foe to
propose the duello. • The law gives
him no said hei and if he does
nothing, he will be accounted a cow
ard.' " •
• But, Whang," I asked, "what says
Confucius about doing good to tliose'who
despitefully.use you, and about forgiving
your enemies P 1
• " 0 Tar Kin !" cried Whang, with
undisguised want of respect; have you
yet to learn, that the doctrines of Confu
cius are for the priests to expound upon
the holy days, in• the holy places, and
are nut to be mingled with life, except
so far as they are pleasant? They be
long to the abstract : the concrete is
quite another thing. When Confucius
says, Let the servant obey the brother
of tht; sun and muon, who is set over
him, all Yan by cries decorously. Amen,
and- quotes Confucius against the disor
ganizers. : But when he says,•liappy is
he who tells the. truth in business, and
.he who believes that honesty is better
than policy. all Yan-Ky smiles,-and
disbelieves ; and declares that Confucius
was a wag, and an unpractical and'im
practicable person. Yan-Ky. sayt.that
men must be taken as they are. But if
•Names of the .weapims of the duello
you ask, Did not the Eternal Order of
Things take men as they are,. when it
sent Confucius to preach to thent ? Yan
ki, if it is in the temple, says, `.A h. yes !
certainly,' and chastises its children for
telling hes. But if you ask the question
of Ynn-Ky in the malt, it smiles patron
izingly. winking its left eye,. and sac's,
Good sir, you must take facts. 'You
d.cin't Oily understand the world. There
is a public opinion, which: a man cannot
withstand. On, the whole, do' you not
see our whole life, proclaiming this doe.
trine, against that of the
who
Order
of Things happy is he who s with
out
exposure. for lw shall accumulate
stock, and live in fine houses, 'and have
hbe.froot s, at in the temple of Confucius, 1
and be esteemed of the less successful, I
and elected director in the society for
sending missionaries to disseminate the I
opposit;on doctrine of the .Order of
Things. in swamps beyond geography.'
Every day and every hour, all Van-Ky
repents . and practices this gospel.
" Klumski's friends came to him, and
asked him what he intended to .do.
" 'What do you advise ?" asked he.
".There is but one course, said they
" 'lndeed' said he.
•• •Yes,' said . they. • We , are very
sorry, aad *are very much opposed to
the practice ; but rea. ly in this case,
you cannot avoid the ditello.' And
Yan-Ky loo!;ed heroic and wise. and
jingled its keys in its breeches ,- pocket.
•L'ut observe.a monient.' said
ski ; • Zay-ni has mortally injured me.
Now, according to Confucius, rought to
forgive him., - Just in the degree of the
greatness of the offence, is the. virtue of
forgiveness, says Confucius.' . •
••Yan-Ky, took snuff, shrugged its
shoulders, and spoke of white feathers,
contemptously d .
" • Confucius is right.'. resumed Klum
ski;' •but nevertheless I do not forgive
Zay•ni, sad I shall not play that I do.
lie has mortally injured me, and 1 must
have satisfaction.'
" All Yan•Ky patted its nose with
pride and pleasure.
rrintirtlicvl
is no question of honor here. The fact
cries aloud, that Zay-ni !s innocent of
the lowest idea of honor. He is meaner
than a theif,—worse than a murderer.
If Grabski, the house breaker, had bro
ken into your house, and stolen yoUr
watch, would - you have felt obliged'to
resort to the duello
cried Yanay, 'because the
law protects us.'
"'When, then, Zap-ni does worse
than a buro.lar, and the law does' not
protect me, shall I allow him the oppor
tunity •of adding to his crime, and
crowning the ruin of my sister with the
broken heart of my wife, and the desti
tution of my children ? If the burglar
ought to be destroyed, without the
chance •of choking the man who exe
cutes the will of Van-Ky, ought nut a
grater thanthe burglar share the same
ignominious *fate ?' •
Perhaps. But that would be mut
der,' pleaded Yan-Ky. _
• .1t would be no more murder when
it proceeded from the h-ind of one inan,
whom he hid morally injured, than
when it comes from the hand of a mor
tally. injured society. Besides, if you
permit this, do you not see that the '
abandoned Zay-nis, surnamed the, Souls
Of Honor, will perfect themselves in the
use of the duello-weapons, and . so enjoy
an immunity of social crime—crime be
yond the law ? It is not the want of
reli ,, kv, nor of decency, in your rule,
that I complain of; it is its want of com
mon sense. It is the frightful abuse of
this thing that you calf honor in Van-
Ky, which appals me. Yan Ky says,.
that n man will Think twice briere he
insults his fellow, if he kno ‘s that he is
to ansWer for it at the mouth of the
pistol. Exactly ; but the
: bully kuow3
the in fl uence of that fear quite well
as anybody, and therefore makes sure
of his skillful use of the weapons, before.
he does the deed, and then laughs at
your outraged nose, -as his well-prac
tiCed pistol sends death into your bosem.
Yan.Ky has a bully's and a coward's
_theory of this matter !' cried Klutnski
with energy
• But what are we to do -When our
wives and 'daughters are insulted de
manded Yon-Ky, in a panic,
am going to show you what to do,'
- responded Klumski, so gravely. that
Tau-Ky shuddered. •A man who does
what Zay-ni has done, is n wild beast in
society. 'Do you cold his nose sacred ?
Do you call him in the old vernacular,
a gewlcman? He has proved that he
is a villain, and by the instinctive mor
al law he is a criminal'. For" such
offenders you provide no punishment.
Therefore I have provided it: Don't
talk to me of honor, he continued-furi
ously. .Whoever will suffer such an
offender to have the chance of killing
him, has not the faintest conception of
the dear and sacred word.'
"All Yan-Ky listened in amazement.
"• For what is the significance of.the
duellol It is the leaving the decision
of the right to chance. It never was
"Tho , nether iuteern.tmts of Yan-Ky
_ _
anything more. It originated with our
rernMest. ancestors, in what they called
the ,Tournament: it i 4 the ancient doc
trine of might making right.'
'Excus - e us,' 'said Yan•Ky ; is
the giving an equal chance to both. It
equalizes for the weuk man
stands fairly With the strong.'
•••But, in th.• name of Confucius, why
should. both hare ariequal chance rcried
Klumski. •To .give bosh nn equal
chance, is to imply that there is an
equality of guilt or.responsibility. Is
that so in this case ? But if it be the
decision of chance, then the verdict of
chance must be considered final. linnv
one,'of you declare that I am not a Yan-
Klan, but a liar. and' I call . him to the
duello, what do l mean to do? 1 rn•'an
td sutumon the duello to decide whether
lam a liar. But if my pistol chances
only to flash, and you hit me, it follows
inevitably th4t-1. am a liar.'
";.Not ai all.' said Yan•Yy ; the fact
of Your doing out to stand before a pis
tol, that you have the heroism
which makes it impossible that yob
shoUld - be a liar, and that fact is demon•
strated, whether you are hit or not.'
6.,61N0t at all,' returned Klumski ; 6ii
metely proves that I have the hardihood
to Stand before the pistol ; and history
shoWs that a coward will do that as well
as a hero.; Besides, if a Yan-Kian gives
me ithe lie; and I go out to fi L lht, what is
thellogic of the thing ?' It is this : I go
to defend:, my. honor, assaulted' by his
rental*, and he goes to defend his ho r nor
involved in the same retnark. I expose
Ve to show that lum not .a ;he
exposes his to show that he means what
he :says. ',There can be no result. For,
wh4tever ;the* issue, each has equally
shoWn, by! the same display of courage,
that he is right.'
66 But let us understand you,' said the
people of Yan : Ky solemnly. Do you
mean that; if your nose were pulled (a
thrill of horror shuddertid along the
veins of the valiant people of Yan Ky)
yoU would not resort to the duello ?'
"!Ye men of Yan-Ky,' thundered
Klamski.! listpn to my worts I n man
insults my sacred-member by pulling* it
hemeans - 'to express that I am a con
temptible man *d a coward. What is
the; honorable, manly, and instinctive
wdy ! It is to take him then and there,
while the hot blood is roused; and when
speaking after the manner of men, and
not of Confucius, that hot blood justifies
the act ; and by severe personal chas
tisement,'disproving his words and ex
posing him before the world as one in
whom there is no truth.'
f"'Yes,; but if he be stronger, and
chastise you r
•Well, thin,clearly.' replied Kloms
kij 'if I am a weaker man, and valiantly
un l ock him, the whole world will hold
me justtfied. For you, will remember
that even your Code of Honor does not
require that the offended- person shall
alWays be successful: If I fall dead be
fore the fire of
. my adversary who has
inulted me; I am yet held to be a man
of honor;. and equally so, if I am over
thrown by the man whtim T. personally
attack. .
:".My dear :Klumski.' now said the
Most respectabli. of the Yan Kians, you
wander from: the point. This matter of
honor is not to' be reduced to strict verbal
dircussion.. it is an affair of instinct
and feeling. We do not say that it is
essentially right, nor just, and certainly
we .allow that it is against the law of
Confucius, but the whole thing is here :
Society requires that no man shall sub
mit to an imputation uium his veracity,
andhas 'decretd by immemorial custom,
that he Sh.til wipe off the aspersion by
the dm 110. . If he fails to do so, the man
enjoys no social consideration afterwards:
We all regret it, we are all very much
opposed to shedding Wood, and .we take
care in our laws todenounce and punish
the custom which we all cherish with
tht: utmost force of our private opinion
and conduct. I repeat that it is not a
Matter to be deliberately reasoned about.
It must be felt, and, Klumski, you must
obey or suffer. It is, perhaps. a cruel
necessity, but it is no harder upon you
than upon the rest of us.'
Klumskidaughed gently and said:
•liut how is it more anarchinl for you
and me to shoot each other in hot blood
than in cold blood ?' demanded Klumski.
',lt is much more natural and reasonable.
ana.of this you may be well assured. if
a man `knew that another would call him
to necaunt at the moment of the insult,
he would be much more wary of his
words than when he knew that there
was infinite chance of arrangement and
neailiation, and, at worst, the chance of
the duello against,4iis.adversary.'
...Every man,' said Yan•liy impa
tiently,' must have an equal chance.
:Fools!' cried Klumski, .why should
there be an equal chance ? Why, be
cause a . man insults me, should he there
fore have the chance of killing - me?
Besides, if you say that the man of
may be weaker than •the offender,
and therefore not have a fair chance in:
a personal fight, so I say that unless you
can prove that both men are of- equal
nerve, and equal skill, aria equal prac
tice in the use of the duello instruments,
and are sure of an equally favorable
position,. the chances are just as unfair.
Co draw up two Inert in battle array is
no more to give them an eqital chance
than to let them settle it, naturally, with
•Itrthe vernacular ran-Ky, tweaking. I " Strict Yan-Ky idiom.
'You allow that the custom ' is un
reasonable,' beyond logic or argument,
and against the law of Confucius, the
law of nature, and the well being of
F ociely. You grant that its whole force
lies in the consent of society, and yet it
is you, respectable Yun•Kians, whose
sympathy imparts that force to it, and if
you simply said, it shall not be so any
longer, it would immediately cease to be.
.You, and you alone, are• responsible for
till the woe it occasions ; for it is your
opinion which makes the opinion of that
society of which you so vaguely speak.
'rhe custom' does not exist by the sup.'
port of blacklegs and bullies, but - by your
sympathy. You assume a state of
things. and by that assumption creating
it, proceed to argue from it.'
"'Stop !' said the most respectable of
the Yan•Kyse. 'Ten years ago the
chief of the city of Yan-Ky. sent Bullski
to the great: Pow-wow of the land. He
NIIIAIIER 2.
was a man of assured character, of the
clearest integrity, worthy, generous,
good ; the whole city knew Bullskt and
honored him. Now to the same Pow.
wow came Bearski from the other great
city of 'Van Ke g ' a man equally loved
arid honored fay' , the Bearskians, his
friends. The old grudge between the
cities was never more venomously as
serted than at that timo. 7 There were
high debates, hot words, choking rage
and wrath,nll hatched by the Bullskians
at home with eager interest. •Those
Bearskians are always pulling our noses,'
said the Bullskians,s and we are always
tamely submitting and embialdening
them. "Phose 13'11131:tans are 'dough',
said the Bearslcintis contemptuously.
Suddenly Bearski insulted Bullski—in
open Pow-wow insulted him.saying that
Bullski was not a veracious person. It
was a,premeditated insult.•, But Bullski,
who knew that ,Bearski Awould easily
destroy, him in the duello, and who, be
cause he was a man of long-lolled in
tegrity; detested the duello, returned to
his native city without fighting.'
r said Klumski.
. "Well,' said the most respectable
Yan-K.'an., he.was instantly dropped,
lost all influence '
all social respect, and
was never heard of more." •
"'Then the wrathful word of art
enemy questioning his veracity availed
more with the friends of Bullski than
the long-proved character of rears. It
is a pleasant premium you, place upon
tbitt character to which ' . ,•ou exhort all
your young men to attitin, when a single
word, uttered angrily, or Maliciouey, is
sufficient to destroy it,' replied Klumski
contemptuously. •
"I don't know about that, returned ,
the spokesman of Yan-Ky, but such is
the fact, and no man can resist this do:.
En and.'
" .As for that,' returned Klumski, I
am astonished that Bullski's instinctive
rage did not drive him upon Bearskitto
punish his insult personally and directly,
For myself, whatever I. had done, if I
found that my character availed nothing
with my friends, and Was not powerful
enough to crush such an imptitation
utterly, I certainly should not 'have
valued their opinion enough to purchase
it by a craven compliance with a foolish
custom. For clearly, the good opinion
of that* who not esteem a man of
long-tried probity if he refuses to expose•
himself to be shot by any man who
questions it, when they confeis that their
requirement is senseless and not founded
in religion, decency, or law—such,
good opinion is no: so valuable as the
approval of Confucius and a man's es
teem for himself.'
•• l'an•liv
''Your ,words are brave,' said the
respectable Yan•Kyse, but yOu would -
find it unpleasant to be shunned and
dropped from intercourse.
.Undoubtedly it would be far from
pleasant,' returned Klumski, yet I
know that the noble and thoughtful
every - where would be on . my side. •
Those whose opinion.is truly commend
ation would not desert me. Of course
I should value yours .less, because I
should know all the time that it was
in' re obedience to a dull superstition of
which you were afraid, and which you
dfi; not dare to investigate. But yon
linow, just as well as I. that the - deep
sense of right would be with me.'
•IV6at !' cried Yan•Ky, •if you
took no notice of an insult r
•••'That is a very different thing; said
Klumslii. •[ Rave already said th it the
hot blood of an insulted man may dr Ye
him to personal chastisement *of the
offender.'
...Yes,' said Yan-Ky, -, but that leads'
to broils. and street-shootings, and all
kinds of inconveniences. If a man
Icn ,, tv That when he gave the lie he was
liable to per: , ona! assault, he would carry
wt•apons to defend himself, rind suciety
would fall back into anarchy.'
I