CHAPTER VI.
THRASHING THE GODS.--THE BOYS TAKEN PRISONERS.
Anxious to deliver his father's letter to the Christian priest, yetfearful of making inquiries where he was to be found, now he had heardof the governor's enmity to Christianity, Nicholas determined to makethe effort alone, and having thanked the bonze for his hospitality andpresented him with half an ounce of silver, he was about proceeding inhis search, when the latter solicited him to join in the morning prayersof the monastery; a solicitation he was too prudent to refuse, for fearof awakening the suspicions of the bonzes, whom he knew to be the mainpersecutors of his religion.
As for Chow, like the majority of his countrymen he was of no religionin particular, but a little of each of the sects into which the Chineseare divided; Confucian, Buddhist, and Taouist; he, therefore, willinglyfollowed Nicholas, who, with something like a feeling of disgust,entered a spacious hall, the ceiling of which shone with gold and japan.In the centre were placed three colossal representative gods of thepast, present, and future--the Buddha who is, and the Buddha who willbe--with a vase of incense and a lamp of burning tea oil before each. Atthe sound of a small bell, a number of yellow-robed priests, with headsshaven, clean and oily as bladders of lard, made their appearance andcommenced the ceremony; one rang a bell violently, while anotherclattered like a watchman upon a hollow bamboo cane. This clamor was forthe purpose of arousing the attention of the gods, which, after a fewminutes, being supposed to be accomplished, the whole society of priestsknocked their heads upon the ground repeatedly; and when tired, theybegan to chant hymns and create a fearful din by playing rough musicupon much rougher instruments; after which they marched out of the hallregularly and in double file. Not a little pleased at the conclusion ofthe ceremony, Nicholas followed, taking care, however, on leaving thebuilding, to choose an opposite direction to the bonzes.
The boys had not walked more than a hundred yards, when they came to thefoot of a small hillock, which served as a base or pedestal for ashrine, in which, upon a raised platform, like a small boy upon a tallstool, sat an ugly little god with a dragon's head, so glittering,however, with gold and gaudy colors, that they knew it to be a privateidol that some foolish devotee had decorated at his own cost, with aview to obtain some especial service from heaven. When within earshot ofthis deity, they observed two bonzes come from behind the shrine,attended by a servant, who, having prepared the incense table commencedto bow their heads to the ground and mutter their prayers.
Not wishing either to join in, or interrupt the priests' devotions, theboys took up their position behind the trunk of a large tree, where theywitnessed the following scene:--
Scarcely had the bonzes commenced their head knockings when a mob of thelower class of people, with sticks and hammers in their hands, cameclamoring toward the shrine. They were led by a man, who had no soonerreached the astute and kneeling priests, than with one kick he sent themrolling over each other, saying at the same time, "Get thee hence, thourogues of bonzes, and let us deal with this villainous god." The bonzes,seeing so many persons, arose and scampered off to their monastery forhelp, when the _leader_, whom Nicholas now recognized as his friend, theinnkeeper, approached the idol, saying, "How now, thou dog of a spirit!Have I not fed thee, lodged thee handsomely, and offered incense eachday at the cost of half my hard earnings, that thou shouldst save thelife of my daughter, who, notwithstanding, has been carried to theyellow stream? Let us punish him, my friends, that he may deceive noother father." As he uttered the last words, he struck off the arm ofthe god with such force that it struck a bonze, who was at that momentcoming toward the idol in advance of some twenty of his brethren; atwhich the people cried, "This is indeed a just retribution upon the vilebonze."
"Do not the people fear the vengeance of the gods, that they behavethus?" said the stricken priest, calmly, and dissembling his rage.
"Truly the gods may render us unfortunate," said one cowardly fellow,and the superstitious crowd hesitated. Perceiving his advantage, thebonze followed it up. "Surely," said he, "the people are notunreasonable, like this man, who is ungrateful to the gods for takinghis daughter, as if, forsooth, his child were better than the childrenof his neighbors."
"This is true. Why should one complain that he is not more fortunatethan the rest?" said the cowardly voice.
"As for the worthy Sing, the gods may pardon him, in consideration ofhis great grief; but then he must desist from this profanity," said thebonze.
"The bonze is generous, and his words are reasonable," said another.
"Are my friends unjust that they will not listen to an injured man,whose injuries may be their own to-morrow?" said the innkeeper.
"This is reasonable also; let us hear Sing," cried several voices.
At that moment, Nicholas, who feared lest the artful bonzes should getthe better of the dispute, came forward, and said, "Why should theworthy Sing waste words? surely he has been sufficiently injured; themeasure of his grief is full, for he will leave no descendant to fulfilthe necessary offices at his tomb."
"The words of the honorable youth are wise," said the fickle crowd; andNicholas continued, "That there has been robbery, there can be nodoubt, my friends; for, notwithstanding the god promised to cure thedaughter of this worthy man, she has passed to the yellow stream, and,therefore, he is unworthy of his quality of godship, and should bepunished; therefore, in justice to the worthy Sing, let this temple bepulled down, and the stupid idol pay the penalty in his own person."
To which the priest endeavored to reply, but the people would not listento him, and acting upon the suggestion of Nicholas, threw a cord roundthe god's neck, pulled him to the ground, and belabored him with sticksand hammers.
During the proceeding the priests, who were too wise to lose theirtempers, addressed a knot of lookers-on, vehemently threatening themwith terrible misfortunes, but at the same time declaring, that if Singwould come to some agreement, the god, who was of a short temper, woulddo what was reasonable on his part and prevent future evils. This hadthe desired effect upon all but Sing and some of his friends, whocontinued to belabor the idol till the converts to the bonze's opiniondrove them away, when, becoming broken into antagonistic parties, theythrew aside their weapons and fought each other with their fists, till abody of yah-yu, or city police, entered upon the ground, and seizingSing, the principal bonze, and the two boys, as the chief rioters,hurried them off to the police tribunal.
As for the mob, no sooner had the prisoners been removed, than mortifiedat the profanity into which they had been hurried, they gatheredtogether the fragments of the deity, stuck them together as well aspossible, washed him, and fell at his feet, exclaiming, "In truth wehave been a little too hasty, but then your godship has been a littletoo slow in performing your promises, and thus brought the beating uponyourself. But still it is a good saying, that 'what has been done can'tbe undone.' Let us, therefore, think no more of this matter, and if youwill forget what has passed we will repair thy temple and gild you overagain."
For fear that my reader may think this episode exaggerated, I mustassure him that similar scenes are even now of frequent occurrence--andwhy not? For although idolaters, the Chinese are neither enthusiasts norfanatics. With the greater part, the worship of idols is an inheritancewhich it would be impossible to reject;--it is custom they worship.Moreover, like ourselves, they are a business-like people, and will havemoney's worth for money; therefore, if they pay an idol for a certainquantity of work, and he does not complete his contract, they give him asound thrashing--and the principle is not a bad one after all.