CHAPTER VII.
TREACHERY OF THE BONZES.--NICHOLAS SENT TO PRISON AS A TRAITOR.
With the proverbial rudeness of most small officials, the yah-yu threwcords around the arms of the prisoners and dragged them along thestreets, amid the jeers and laughter of the populace, who, enjoyed theprospect of the probable punishment of so serious an offence as rioting,namely, being led about the streets with the cangue, a wooden collar aslarge as a small table, around their necks; but in this the Chinesecrowd was not worse than others in Europe, for, with shame be it said, atendency to indulge in the minor miseries of their fellows is the cruelpropensity of most masses.
When they came to the tribunal they found it crowded with people, whowere standing upon either side of the hall, so as to form a lane bywhich to approach the mandarin, who was sitting at a table, upon whichstood a box of bamboo reeds, tipped with yellow; upon his left side satthe secretary, and upon his right stood three men with ominous-lookingbamboo canes in their hands. The first case heard was that of a youthwhose propensity for gaming had led him to squander a large sum ofmoney lent to him by his father for the purpose of commencing business.I must tell you however, that before bringing the boy before a tribunal,the father had fruitlessly tried every method of kindness. Havinglistened patiently, the mandarin severly reprimanded the youth, thentaking fifty of the yellow-tipped reeds threw them on the ground as asignal for the men with canes to give him fifty blows. Before, however,they could obey, his mother, with tears in her eyes, threw herself atthe mandarin's feet, begging of him to pardon her son. Being akind-hearted man the magistrate complied, but ordering to be brought tohim a volume written by one of the emperors for the instruction of hissubjects, and opening it at a particular part, said, "Promise O youth,to renounce gambling and to listen to your father's directions, and Iwill pardon you this time; but that you may not forget, go and kneel inthe gallery of the hall of audience and learn by heart this chapter onfilial obedience, which till you repeat and solemnly promise to observeobedience, you shall not depart from this tribunal."
The youth being delighted at this lenient sentence bowed his forehead tothe earth, and, moreover, I must tell you, kept his promise, although hewas three days learning the task. Such being the spirit of the laws, andthe paternal mildness with which they are for the most part carried out,excepting only in cases of high treason, we need not wonder that thisgreat population has submitted to their rule for four thousand years.
When this case was over the chief of the yah-yu bowed to the ground andcharged his prisoners generally with rioting to the disturbance of thepublic peace.
"What has the priest of Fo to say to this disgraceful charge? let himopen his lips," said the mandarin. Whereupon the bonze fell upon hisknees and accused the innkeeper of attacking the idol and leading a mobto destroy the monastery.
"What sayest the innkeeper? for surely the offence is serious," said themandarin.
Then, bowing to the ground, the innkeeper related the morning'sadventure, stating that but for the assistance of Nicholas and Chow, thebonze would have killed him, adding, "Truly, O jewel of justice, thymean servant demands the punishment of this rascal bonze and histrumpery god, who, notwithstanding the sums paid to them, have permittedhis only child to be carried from this life."
Having listened patiently to both sides, the mandarin said, "It is truethat two offences have been committed, the one against the public peace,and the other against a private person. The former, being the mostheinous, must be first dealt with; and, as without the bonze and theinnkeeper, there could have been no such disturbance, let both becorrected with twenty blows. As for the two youths, who were drawn intothis disturbance, let them pay half a tael each to some poor person toreceive ten blows for them."
The sentence having gone forth, the men with the bamboos caught hold ofthe culprits, threw them upon the floor, and they received a similarpunishment to that dealt out by a schoolmaster upon a refractory pupil;after which, the delinquents, smarting with pain, humbly returned thanksfor this benevolent and fatherly correction.
"As for the second offence," said the mandarin, "it is clear that thebonze is either a rogue or no good judge of the powers of the differentgods, and knew not to which to apply for this particular favor, anignorance that has caused the innkeeper to lose his goods; and, ineither case, is unfit for his office; therefore, if he is found withinthe city walls after this night, he shall be placed in the cangue forthree moons. As for the god himself, who is the principal partyconcerned, let him be plucked down from his seat as a useless andmalicious deity."
Thus compelled, by custom, to recognize the foolish superstition of Fo,although he no more believed in it than you do, the mandarin humorouslypunished the bonze.
The wily priest, however, had not quite played out his game, so,dissembling his rage at the result of the trial, he fell upon his knees,saying, "Pardon, O ever-flowing stream of justice, but the meanest andmost insignificant servant of Fo, dares claim a reward for a great act."
"What words are these, thou dog of a bonze?' said the angry official.
"If the eyeballs of thy contemptible servant are straight in theirsockets, he has seen placards bearing the character of the illustrioustsong-tou (viceroy) of the province promising twenty taels for anyfollower of the Christian priests, whose houses of prayer have been sowisely destroyed.
"What useless words are these, for where in this city is such a dog tobe found, since they were hunted down by the illustrious governor? mayhe live a thousand years," replied the mandarin.
"This was a terrible surprise to Nicholas, for not only did it convincehim that the persecution of the Christians had commenced, but that hisown mission had somehow been discovered by the priest; nor was hedisappointed, when the latter said, 'Truly, O grand canal of justice,that turbulent youth is even now on a treasonable errand to theChristian priest, Adam, who has so traitorously fled the city.'"
"These are dog's words, thou rogue of a bonze," said the boy.
Not regarding the interruption, the priest added, as he placed a paperin the hand of the mandarin, "The dragon vision of the lord of justicewill discover to him that his servant's words are pearls of truth."
Having glanced at the paper, the mandarin said sternly to Nicholas,"Thou art young to be concerned in treason, and yet these characterswarn the priest, Adam, against the great Ching-Ti, whom the anonymouswriter tells him is about to arrive at Hang-tcheou, specially charged bythe Son of Heaven to root out the Christian priests."
"As this is the first time, O mandarin, that thy servant's ears drinkin this intelligence he must have been innocent of the contents of thatpacket," replied Nicholas.
"The youth is young; but, like the body of a snake, his words aretwirling and slippery. It is true, those characters may not have reachedhis eyes, but it is equally true that he was the bearer, for the coveris even now in his girdle," said the priest.
"Thy servant, O mandarin, cannot deny that he bore the letter, but itwas in ignorance that it was a crime," said Nicholas, taking theenvelope from his vest, now fully convinced that the bonze had pickedhis girdle.
"Although it is certain that the writer is a traitor, it is not equallyso that this youth is an accomplice," said the mandarin, after examiningthe envelope.
"The dog is a Christian, O lord of justice; and in the name of the Sonof Heaven, I claim the twenty taels," said the bonze, forgetting thesubmission due to a magistrate, in his rage and fear that Nicholas mightescape.
"Thy words are dirt, thou turbulent rogue, for it is not clear that theyouth is a Christian," said the angry mandarin, adding kindly toNicholas, "Let the youth deny this charge and he shall be believed, forhis words are straight as the flying arrow."
Here was a chance, for it was evident the mandarin was his friend.Still, notwithstanding that imprisonment for life, if not speedy death,stared him in the face, Nicholas was too brave to forswear his Saviour,and he replied, "If to be a Christian, O mandarin, is to merit death,then am I ready to die.
"
Then the good-natured, but disappointed magistrate said sorrowfully,"The youth is as brave as he is honest, and deserves a better fate; yetmust the commands of the great tsong-tou be observed, therefore let theyouth be conveyed to the great prison to await his sentence." Without aword or the movement of a muscle, the boy permitted the attendants tobind his arms.
This was too much for Chow, who, with a leap like that of a woundedhare, cried, "The priest, O great lord, is a midnight thief." But such ademonstration being against the rules of decency, the officers seizedand silenced the boy by clapping a gag in his mouth. Then the mandarinordered twenty taels to be given to the bonze, and the latter havingmade the customary bow was about to depart, when the magistrate said,"Now priest, relate by what means that letter came into thy possession,for it is a maxim that justice should be equally balanced."
Then the bonze related how he met the boys, and took them to themonastery, adding that as they were passing through a passage the letterhaving fallen from the youth's girdle, he picked it up, and diviningthat its contents were treasonous, retained the document forexamination.
"These are dog's words," exclaimed Chow, from whose mouth the gag hadbeen taken by the mandarin's order; "the priest is a rogue and a rat,for he stole the paper at night while my noble master slept, andalthough for hours thy servant believed it was a dream, and mistook thebonze for an enemy, he now remembers that after filching the letter fromthe girdle, the rogue opened the envelope, stole the contents, and thenby some mysterious means of his own closed it again."
The bonze being about to reply, the mandarin interrupted him, saying,"Truly has it been said that although eggs are close things, the chickswill out, for the rogue forgot to explain how the letter could leave thepocket of its owner without the envelope. The theft is clear, and it isbut justice to the state that the thief should receive fifty blows, andpay twenty taels of silver." This sentence was speedily executed uponthe roaring coward, whose back was still sore with the first beating,and so he left the tribunal considerably worse off than he had comebefore it.