248 UXORIOUS PRODIGALITY. ' [1697. 



Pearls, know that thy Abundance does not belong to thee 

 alone, and that the rich Man, he, I mean, that is lawfully 

 so, becomes a Thief when he suffers the poor Man to want. 

 ... Oh, how great is my Concern, when I contemplate that 

 lofty and rich Mountain of Keuangsi, w^hich fronts the Cell 

 whither I am retir'd ! That excellent part of the Terrestrial 

 Globe is all cover'd with fine Pastures, Golden Wheat-Ears, 

 Flax, Ginger, Cedars, and Aromatick Plants, in the middle 

 of which the finest and best tasted Birds make their Nests. 

 The perfum'd Civet-Cats run about in great numbers, to- 

 gether with the swift wild Goats, and the bounding Eoe- 

 Bucks : Nay, the Entrails of this wonderful Mountain en- 

 rich the West with Eubys^ Amethysts, and Saphires. But 

 who is it that is in possession of this fine little World ? 

 Alass ! Three hundred Families that were formerly dis- 

 pers'd throughout it, divided it between them, till the Noble 

 High-way-man, Xao-ti-cao, under pretexts that easily cor- 

 responded with his Kapaciousness, found means, to his 

 Glory be it spoken, to reunite to his ancient Demesns, 

 eighteen or twenty of these poor Inheritances. Yc-vam, 

 his Son, seiz'd upon thirty more, and, in the space of sixty 

 years, the sad Eemains of these three hundred ruin'd, outed, 

 vagabond, and unfortunate Families, saw this Mountain 

 entirely in the possession of Ti-Hohai, who, for reasons of 

 State and Avarice, has swallow'd up all.^ 



" What use does the Illustrious Ti-Hohai make of all 

 these Riches ? He entertains Magnificently his Dogs, his 

 Concubines, and his Friends. He lavishes exceedingly, he 

 is prodigal without Consideration, towards certain Pascals 

 that are continually about him, and all this without hearken- 

 ing to either the cries of the Poor, the just demands of his 

 Creditors, or the wants of good Men. Ti-Hohai has a great 

 Soul ; he hates all sorts of Baseness, and pillages only like a 

 great Lord. . . . 



1 " A petty thief is clapped in jail ; a big robber becomes a feudal 

 prince.'' (The Nan Hua, np. rU.) 



