740 MEALS MEDICINAL. 
High above these an Orange-tree outreaches 
Its golden-fruited boughs, a background fair ; 
And on each side of the Pavilion, peaches, 
With tender green, and crimson deck the air. 
In front a spacious Park the Palace faces, 
Fenced at its foremost lines with palings strong ; 
Whilst, on the right, approach from other places 
Is hindered by an Ocean, broad, and long ; 
A bridge runs over to the gardener’s dwelling 
Built on an island lying near the shore ; 
Its one small tree of poor resources telling, 
Plain as the Cottage with a single floor. 
Deep-rooted near the bridge, with boughs depending, 
A gnarled old Willow weeps, and sheds its leaves, 
In token that the summer-time is ending, 
And mindful of the tale our drama weaves. 
Far off across the sea, where Stage direction 
Says a ‘right upper entrance’ must be made, 
Another Island needs remote attention, 
On which much cultivation has been paid. 
Thus is the picture of our Stage completed, 
With middle scene, and side-wings duly set ; 
Now, while you still are comfortably seated, 
The curtain rises, and the play you get. 
—In Act the First, two children we discover, 
Left by their parents to a Guardian’s care, 
Sweet little Tsing, and Lin, her promised lover, 
He a brave boy, she five years old, and fair. 
Lin, when he comes to manhood, will inherit 
The Park, Pagoda, and the buildings grand ; 
Likewise, if faithful still, he then will merit 
Fulfilled possession of Tsing’s heart, and hand. 
But Fang, a Mandarin of dastard cunning, 
Into whose care these orphan children come, 
Determines while their youthful years are running,’ 
To seize by fraud their heritage, and home ; 
He takes the lad to sea, for pleasure sailing, 
Then turns him at the dead of night adrift ; 
Deplores his loss with much pretence of wailing, 
And shirks suspicion by the crafty shift. 
Sweet little Tsing he holds in close seclusion 
Year after year, within the Palace bounds, 
Locked on all sides, as shown, in stern allusion, 
By the key-border which our Plate surrounds. 
She, mindful always of the love departed, # 
Maintains her courage, and on hope depends, 
Plies patient threads, and bides her time true-hearted, 
_ Trusting to Lin. And so the First Act ends. 
