182 



A JOVIAL PAETY. 



Chap. IX. 



was — as much as any of us. He ate with knife 

 and fork, tossed off his glass of beer, and took 

 wine with us all round, in the most approved 

 manner. When dinner was over he asked for a 

 cigar and a glass of brandy and water, and evi- 

 dently intended to enjoy himself for this evening 

 at least. In order to amuse and humour him we 

 proposed his health with " three times three," 

 and made the old temple ring again as we 

 gave him a specimen of our national airs, ^ Rule 

 Britannia ' and ' Grod save the Queen.' But the 

 old man was not to be outdone : he returned 

 thanks to us for drinking his health : he recited 

 poetry of his own ; sang Chinese songs ; and every 

 now and then burst out into a hearty laugh, 

 which we could not help joining in without know- 

 ing very well why we did so. The court outside 

 was full of Chinamen, who were evidently enjoy- 

 ing with great zest Mr. A-chang's songs and 

 recitations. Inside, perched upon a chair, sat a 

 young priest, with his eyes fixed upon the bottles 

 on the table. An empty beer-bottle had been 

 given to him at the commencement of dinner, 

 and his whole soul seemed to be bent on getting 

 another. He neither moved, smiled, nor spoke, 

 but looked on in a dreamy manner, and never 

 took his eyes off the bottles. Our attention was 

 drawn to the boy by this singular proceeding, 

 and we desired one of the servants to find another 

 bottle and give it to him, which having been 

 done, the little fellow disappeared for the night. 



