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The wonderful stone from the Chinese.
In the prefecture of Huntin there lived a

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man named Singh Yun Fei, who
was an amateur meteorologist and would pay any

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price for a good specimen. One
day, as he was fishing in the

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river, something caught his net,
and diving down, he brought up a

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stone about a foot in diameter,
beautifully carved on all sides to resemble clustering

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hills and peaks. He was quite
as pleased with this as if he had

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found some precious stone, and having
had an elegant sandalwood stand made for it,

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he set his prize upon the table. Whenever it was about to rain,

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clouds which from a distance looked like
new cottonwool, would come forth from

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each of the holes or grottoes on
the stone and appear to close them up.

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By and by, an influential personage
called at the house and begged to

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see the stone, immediately seizing it
and handing it over to a lusty servant

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at the same time whipping his horse
and riding away. Hassan was in despair,

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but all he could do was to
mourn the loss of his stone and

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indulge his anger against the thief.
Meanwhile, the servant who had carried off

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the stone on his back, stopped
to rest at a bridge, when all

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of a sudden his hands slipped and
the stone fell into the water. His

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master was extremely put out at this
and gave him a sound beating, subsequently

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hiring several divers, who tried every
means in their power to recover the stone,

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but were quite unable to find it. He then went away, having

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first published a notice of reward,
and by these means many were tempted to

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seek for the stone. Soon after, Saying himself came to the spot,

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and as he mournfully approached the bank
lo the water became clear and he could

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see the stone lying at the bottom. Taking off his clothes, he quickly

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jumped in and brought it out,
together with the sandal wood stand which was

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still with it. He carried it
off to his home, but, being

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no longer desirous of showing it to
people, he had an inner room cleaned

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and put it in there. Some
time afterwards, an old man knocked at

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the door and asked to be allowed
to see the stone, whereupon Saying replied

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that he had lost it a long
time ago. Isn't that it in the

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inner room, said the old man, smiling. Oh, walk in and

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see for yourself if you don't believe
me, answered to Sing, And the

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old man did walk in, and
there was a stone on the table.

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This took Sing very much back,
and the old man then laid his hand

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upon the stone and said, this
is an old family relic of mine.

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I lost it many months since how
does it come to be here? I

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pray you now restore it to me. Hassang didn't know what to say,

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but declared he was the owner of
the stone, upon which the old man

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remarked, if it is really yours, what evidence can you bring to prove

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it. Hassang made no reply,
and the old man continued to show you

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that I know this stone. I
may mention that it has altogether ninety two

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grottos, and that in the largest
of these are five words a stone from

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heaven above. Hassan looked and found
that there were actually some small characters,

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no larger than grains of rice,
which, by straining his eyes a little,

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he managed to read. Also that
the number of grottoes was as the

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old man had said. However,
he would not give him the stone,

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and the old man laughed and asked, pray, what right have you to

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keep other people's things? He then
bowed and went away, Hassaying escorting him

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as far as the door. But
when he returned to the room, the

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stone had disappeared. In a great
fright, he ran after the man,

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who had walked slowly and was not
far off, and, seizing his sleeve,

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entreated him to give back the stone. Do you think, said the

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latter, that I could conceal the
stone a foot in diameter in my sleeve.

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But Hassan knew that he must be
superhuman and led him back to the

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house, where he threw himself on
his knees and begged that he might have

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the stone. Is it yours or
mine, asked the old man. Of

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course it is yours, replied Singh, though I hope you will consent to

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deny yourself the pleasure of keeping it. In that case, said the old

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man, it is back again,
And going into the inner room, they

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found the stone in its old place. The jewels of this world, observed

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the saying's visitor, should be given
to those who know how to take care

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of them. This stone can choose
its own master, and I am very

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pleased that it should remain with you. At the same time, I must

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inform you that it was in too
great a hurry to come into the world

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of mortals, and has not yet
been freed from all contingent calamities. I

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had better take it away with me
in three years. Hence you shall have

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it again. If, however,
you insist on keeping it, then your

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span of life will be shortened by
three years, that your terms of existence

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may harmonize together. Are you willing? A saying said he was. Whereupon

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the old man, with his fingers, closed up three of the stone's grottoes,

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which yielded to his touch like mud. When this was done, he

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turned to Saying and told him that
the grottoes on that stone represented the years

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of his life. And then he
took his leave, firmly, refusing to

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remain any longer, and not disclosing
his name. More than a year after

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this, Hussaying had occasion to go
away on business, and in the night

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a thief broke in and carried off
the stone, taking nothing else at all.

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When the scene came home, he
was dreadfully grieved, as if his

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whole object in life was gone,
and made all possible inquiries and efforts to

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get it back, but without the
slightest result. Some time passed when,

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one day, going into a temple, the saying noticed a man selling stones,

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and among the rest he saw his
old friend. Of course, he

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immediately wanted to regain possession of it, but as the stone seller would not

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consent, he shouldered the stone and
went off to the nearest mandarin. The

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stone cellar was then asked what proof
he could give that the stone was his,

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and he replied that the number of
grottos was eighty nine. Hassan inquired

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if that was all he had to
say, and when the other acknowledged that

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it was, he himself told the
magistrate what were the characters inscribed within,

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also calling attention to the finger marks
at the closed upper grottos. He therefore

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gained his case, and the Mandarin
would have bambooed the stone seller had he

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not declared that he bought it in
the market for twenty ounces of silver,

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whereupon he was dismissed. A high
official next offered Hassan one hundred ounces of

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silver for it, but he refused
to sell it even for ten thousand,

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which so enraged the would be purchaser
that he worked up a case against Hassingh

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and got him put in prison.
Hassan was thereby compelled to pawn a great

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deal of his property, and then
the official sent some one to try if

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the affair could not be managed through
his son, to which Hassan, on

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hearing of the attempt, steadily refused
to consent, saying that he and the

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stone could not be parted even in
death. His wife, however, and

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his son laid their heads together and
sent the stone to the high official,

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and the Saying only heard of it
when he arrived home from the prison.

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He cursed his wife and beat his
son, and frequently tried to make away

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with himself, though luckily his servants
always managed to prevent him from succeeding.

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At night, he dreamed that a
noble looking personage appeared to him and said,

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my name is Shing Chiang has se
stone from heaven. Do not grieve.

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I purposely quitted you for a year
and more. But next year,

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on the twentieth of the eighth moon, at dawn, come to the high

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tide gate and buy me back for
two strings of cash. The Saying was

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overjoyed at the stream and carefully took
down The day mentioned Meanwhile, the stone

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was at the official's private house,
but as the cloud manifestations ceased, the

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stone was less and less prized,
and the following year, when the official

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was disgraced for maladministration and subsequently died, Hussayang met some of his servants at

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the high tide gate, going off
to sell the stone, and purchased it

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back from them for two strings of
cash. Hussayang lived till he was eighty

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nine, and then, having prepared
the necessities for his interment, bade his

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son buried the stone with him,
which was accordingly done. Six months later,

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robbers broke into the vault and made
off with the stone, and his

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son tried in vain to secure their
capture. However, a few days afterwards,

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he was traveling with his servants when
suddenly two men rushed forth, dripping

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with perspiration, and looking up into
the air, acknowledged their crime, saying,

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mister Singh, please don't term it
us. Thus we took the stone

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and sold it for only four ounces
of silver, assaying. Son and his

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servants then seized these men and took
them before the magistrate, where they at

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once acknowledged their guilt, asking what
had become of the stone. They said

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they had sold it to a member
of the magistrate's family, and when it

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was produced, that official took such
a fancy to it that he gave it

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to one of his servants and bade
him place it in the treasury. Thereupon,

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the stone slipped out of the servant's
hand and broke into a hundred pieces,

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to the great astonishment of all present. The magistrate now had the thieves

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bambooed and sent them away, But
Hassaying son picked up the broken pieces of

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the stone and buried them in his
father's grave.