Page 27 - incense-bearers of han

regret his refusal to send a reply to the short letter of a few months back. Since then

Chu had maintained an unbroken silence.

The New Year drew on with its round of festivities, gambling, drinking,
“worshipping the year.” It was a time when convention demanded that the Elder

should receive and entertain with cakes and candy the endless stream of village
swains in all stages of inebriation who would come in to pay their respects to him and
bow before his ancestral tablets. He was bored to extinction at the very prospect of it
and felt an urge to smash every precedent by going away and leaving it all.

The idea flowered on “the first day of the big year” when he ordered his household
servant to summon his wheel-barrow-man, since he planned to take a trip. His
amazement at such a suggested profanation of the great day caused the domestic to

partially forget the augustness of The Presence. “On the first day of the big year?” he
stammered incredulously.

Summon the wheel-barrow-man!” roared the great one, whereupon the servant beat

a hasty retreat to carry out the mandate. Presently the wheel-barrow-man stood before
the master resplendent in holiday attire, a blue percale external toga shiny with
newness covering the old wadded garments beneath, (the veterans of marry winters)
and a new satin hat, surmounted by a bright red button set squarely on his head.

He bowed sedately, placing the ends of his sleeves together as he muttered the New
Year salutation.

“Lao Hsien Sen, Kong she, fah ts‟ai, ru ee!” ”May the venerable gentleman be
felicitated with happiness, wealth and health.” With a nod and a grunt, none too
graciously, Mr. Hu proceeded with the business in hand:

“Prepare the wheel-barrow. I am going to Yee-Hsu.”
Astounding as was such an order on such a day, he bowed and retired.

The wheel-barrow was gotten out of a locked room and trundled into the court,

upholstered with a cotton comforter rope securely on one side of the high wheel in the
center. The barrow-man unbuttoned his New Year garment and the wadded garments
underneath, slipped his arms out of the four layers at one time, and folded the whole
carefully and placed it in the burlap catch-all suspended beneath the wheel-barrow,

and informed the master that all was ready for the departure. The old gentleman

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