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007 - The Rain Kings Daughter · Shen of the Sea- A Book for Children

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  Speaker 1: Section seven of Shen of the Sea, a Book for Children.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information nor to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Shen of the Sea, a Book
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  Speaker 1: for Children by Arthur Bowie Chrisman, the rain King's daughter.
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  Speaker 1: The people of shen Sioux were starving. A famine blighted
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  Speaker 1: all the land. Rice swamps yielded only empty husks. The
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  Speaker 1: millet fields were barren. The teton patches, for all their blossoms,
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  Speaker 1: produced no earthagches, no potatoes. The tchew groves gave no
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  Speaker 1: tender stalks, and the people starved. Every astrologer and wise
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  Speaker 1: men in the kingdom was summoned to King ta Lang's palace.
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  Speaker 1: Tell us, wise men, why we starve? Why is food
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  Speaker 1: denied us? Thus the king questioned the gray beards, and they,
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  Speaker 1: the learned, consulted their charts and sand trays and crystal globes.
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  Speaker 1: One said the Shen of falling Water you, she is angry.
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  Speaker 1: We have burned no incense to him within a year.
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  Speaker 2: It is a rat.
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  Speaker 1: A rat is eating our food, said another. The others,
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  Speaker 1: for the most part echoed approval. Yes, they said, it
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  Speaker 1: is a rat, a rat. Where is the rat? There
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  Speaker 1: the mountain, the mountain we have called Chee Chow. King
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  Speaker 1: Talang gazed in a line with their pointed fingers. At
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  Speaker 1: first he saw merely a mountain. A longer look disclosed
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  Speaker 1: that the mountain was shaped like a crouching rat trap.
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  Speaker 1: The rat and shen sou will once more abound with food,
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  Speaker 1: declared the wise men. Yes, we must kill the rat,
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  Speaker 1: said King Talang. Ho, you carpenters, construct a giant moo
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  Speaker 1: mau wooden cat in the path of this terrible rat.
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  Speaker 1: A huge wooden rat trap was built at the end
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  Speaker 1: of the mountain. Yet the famine continued. Food became more
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  Speaker 1: and more scarce. The wise men announced that the trap
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  Speaker 1: was not properly built. The rat would not enter. They
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  Speaker 1: advised that a spear must be thrust through his heart. Forthwith,
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  Speaker 1: King tau Lang ordered that a great spear be driven
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  Speaker 1: through the heart of the mountain. A spear could surely
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  Speaker 1: kill the rat, but not so Beneath The earth of
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  Speaker 1: the mountain side was flint, iron hard flint. A thousand
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  Speaker 1: soldiers thrusting could not drive the spear deeper than its point.
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  Speaker 1: While the soldiers struggled vainly to pierce the flinty core,
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  Speaker 1: a little blaze leaped from dry pine needles. Their iron
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  Speaker 1: had brought sparks from the stone. The little blaze leaped
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  Speaker 1: from the needles to a bush, and from the bush
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  Speaker 1: to a tree. Then it was a large blaze. Soon
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  Speaker 1: a whole acre of the mountain blazed fiercely. The soldiers
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  Speaker 1: ran away. At first they were badly frightened, thinking the
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  Speaker 1: king would be angry. But the king said, that is splendid.
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  Speaker 1: Why didn't my wise men think of it. The rat
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  Speaker 1: will be grandly singed, He will be burned to his death.
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  Speaker 1: There was good reason for thinking, as King Ta Lang thought.
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  Speaker 1: The fire spread up and down to the whole mountain blazed.
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  Speaker 1: The mountain was a solid wall of flame, and above
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  Speaker 1: it spread a vast sea of smoke. Only an extremely
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  Speaker 1: hardy rat could live through such intense heat and suffocating fumes.
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  Speaker 1: Now there is no telling why the heavens opened. Perhaps
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  Speaker 1: the heat of blazing Mount che Chao burned a hole
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  Speaker 1: in the sky. Perhaps the rain shen Yu. She imagined
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  Speaker 1: the people had burned incense to his honor. However, that
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  Speaker 1: may be. It is certain that the heavens did open.
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  Speaker 1: Upon earning Mount che Chaw, the rain leaped down in cataracts,
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  Speaker 1: and the lightning played continuously over the plains of Shensu.
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  Speaker 1: Also the waters fell, but there the rain was gentle,
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  Speaker 1: though persistent. For seven days, the skies dripped. Then the
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  Speaker 1: grass was green as jade. The cattle filled their so
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  Speaker 1: loose coats. Quick growing vegetables sprang up in every garden.
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  Speaker 1: There was life. All the people of Shensu said, the
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  Speaker 1: rat has been singed by the fire. The rat has
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  Speaker 1: been drowned by the waters. His head has been cleft
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  Speaker 1: by the lightnings. Now he is dead and cannot steal
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  Speaker 1: our food. And that was their belief. The rat is
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  Speaker 1: no more. Therefore we have food and life. While the
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  Speaker 1: rain still splashed on the roof tiles, new life came
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  Speaker 1: to the palace. A sun was born to King ta Lang.
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  Speaker 1: At that same hour, basket was found in the garden.
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  Speaker 1: In the basket was a tiny girl. No one had
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  Speaker 1: been seen to place the basket. Here was mystery.
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  Speaker 2: Again.
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  Speaker 1: Ta Lang summoned his soothsayers. He wished to learn what
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  Speaker 1: the coming years held in store for his son. Further,
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  Speaker 1: he wished to learn the past as well as the
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  Speaker 1: future of that chubby little girl so mysteriously cradled in
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  Speaker 1: his garden. The wise men consulted book and glass and table,
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  Speaker 1: all in good time. Talang learned that his son must
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  Speaker 1: be named Tu Meng, give thanks, and that he would
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  Speaker 1: remain great so long as he remained thankful. The girl
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  Speaker 1: must be named Chaim, enable us to live. Chaim was
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  Speaker 1: a daughter of the Rain King Yushi, who had given
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  Speaker 1: her to become the wife of Tu Meng. King Talang
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  Speaker 1: was well pleased. Evidently the Rain monarch meant to be friendly.
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  Speaker 1: Prince Du Meng and the wee Princess Chu were betrothed
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  Speaker 1: by royal decree. They played with the same golden calabash.
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  Speaker 1: They drank from the same porcelain bowl. Each cried because
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  Speaker 1: of the other's terrible misfortunes. Toes will get bumped, and
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  Speaker 1: favorite toys will go astray, even in the royal nursery.
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  Speaker 1: Each laughed when the other was gay. In short, they
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  Speaker 1: played and laughed and bickered and made up much like
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  Speaker 1: brothers and sisters. The wide world over quickly sped the years.
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  Speaker 1: The prince added inch after inch to his stature, the
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  Speaker 1: height of the princess increased in proportion. If she was
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  Speaker 1: not so tall, she seemed equally strong and daring. She
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  Speaker 1: played ball with the prince, She climbed trees and rowed donkeys.
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  Speaker 1: She could place her arrow in the target's eye, and
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  Speaker 1: she could swim where few would venture more. The princess
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  Speaker 1: could broider and sew and dance most gracefully, not in
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  Speaker 1: the depraved and shameless manner of today. She danced the
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  Speaker 1: olden dances, and Chaimesee was a discreet maiden. She took
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  Speaker 1: good care not to excel Prince Tu Meng. If the
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  Speaker 1: Prince's arrow struck the second ring, then her arrow came
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  Speaker 1: no inch closer to the mark. When swimming, the Prince
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  Speaker 1: always won his races by the slightest margin. They were
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  Speaker 1: often in the water those two. The river land cut
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  Speaker 1: its swift way through the palace grounds. Each summer day,
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  Speaker 1: it felt the strokes of Chaimi and Tu Meng. In
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  Speaker 1: the river, Princess Chaimi found a roll of parchment written
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  Speaker 1: upon with characters she did not know. She took it
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  Speaker 1: to the King. Then there was excitement intense, with soldiers
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  Speaker 1: gathering from all directions for the letter that the river
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  Speaker 1: had given to Chaim was a secret letter written by
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  Speaker 1: the enemy. It disclosed that the enemy was marching on Shensu. Here,
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  Speaker 1: said the wise men, is fresh proof that the King
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  Speaker 1: of Rains is our friend. He has disclosed our terrible
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  Speaker 1: enemy's perfidy. The drums sounded a continuous call as King
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  Speaker 1: ta Lang mustered his army. Prince Meng buckled on a
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  Speaker 1: sword that dragged the earth. But Chaim sewed, You cannot go.
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  Speaker 1: Thousand pieces of gold, they told her, you have done
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  Speaker 1: more than well in discovering the danger, but you cannot fight.
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  Speaker 1: So Chaim sat beside the river and sewed and wept,
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  Speaker 1: while the sound of drums grew fainter and fainter. Then
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  Speaker 1: there was silence. Shensu city was peopled only by women.
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  Speaker 1: Not only the women wept, but the skies. For three
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  Speaker 1: days it rained without ceasing, and the river land became
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  Speaker 1: fat with much water, too large for its bed. It
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  Speaker 1: rose above its banks, and there was no crossing. Its
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  Speaker 1: voice was loud, threatening, the voice of Yushi, master of waters, shouting,
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  Speaker 1: defieds down to the river by cover of night, hurried
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  Speaker 1: a silent army at the water's edge. It halted. No
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  Speaker 1: mortal man could dare that snarling current and live. No
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  Speaker 1: soldier with spear and shield could hope to swim such
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  Speaker 1: a maddened torrent, And boats there were none. Yushi had
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  Speaker 1: torn them from their ropes and carried them down to
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  Speaker 1: the sea. The army must wait, let it rest in
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  Speaker 1: the mud, and await Yushi's permission to cross. When day came,
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  Speaker 1: the women of Shensu city beheld an immense army on
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  Speaker 1: the river's far side. It was the hostile army that
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  Speaker 1: King Talang had marched to intercept. Beyond a doubt, the
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  Speaker 1: king had taken a wrong road. The enemy had eluded him,
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  Speaker 1: slipped past him unseen. Only land river in flood prevented
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  Speaker 1: the hostiles from entering Shensu, and the river could sink
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  Speaker 1: as suddenly as it rose.
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  Speaker 2: Now.
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  Speaker 1: When King ta Lang marched away, he went in haste
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  Speaker 1: and lightly burdened. All heavy armor was left behind, all
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  Speaker 1: heavy spears and shields. This was known to the Princess Chaim.
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  Speaker 1: She thought of the empty armor, thought of the long
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  Speaker 1: shafted spears with men to hold them. Those spears could
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  Speaker 1: save the city. But there were no men, only a
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  Speaker 1: few who were unable to march. However, there were women,
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  Speaker 1: many of them badly frightened, some who were calm and unafraid.
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  Speaker 1: Chaimie quickly made known her plan. The Shensu city awoke
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  Speaker 1: from his silence. Hammers clashed on armor, making the rivets secure.
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  Speaker 1: In the enemy camp appeared a man who knew no
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  Speaker 1: fear of the river. He swam the raging hoe land
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  Speaker 1: and drew himself up on the other side. Girdling his
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  Speaker 1: waist was a rope. The rope was soon tied to
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  Speaker 1: a willow stump. After that the passage was much easier.
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  Speaker 1: One at a time, bearing only their bows. The enemy
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  Speaker 1: crossed their chieftain to set an example, was among the first. Thus,
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  Speaker 1: by aid of the rope, a number of the enemy
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  Speaker 1: swarmed over. They felt perfectly safe from attack. Their information
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  Speaker 1: was that Talang had taken all his soldiers with him,
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  Speaker 1: shen Su would be an easy prey. Five hundred men
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  Speaker 1: should be sufficient, and that many had crossed the river.
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  Speaker 1: From Shensu City marched a thousand braves clad in glistening armor,
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  Speaker 1: bearing those tremendously long spears called chang chiang. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: they wore hideous false faces, and that was the custom
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  Speaker 1: of all Eastern soldiers. Behind the spear bears marched a
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  Speaker 1: thousand archers. The wall of Shensu suddenly bristled with spears
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  Speaker 1: a thousand more. The enemy could not retreat. There was
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  Speaker 1: the river to hinder. To advance seemed to utter folly.
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  Speaker 1: What effect could little arrows have on weighty armor? And
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  Speaker 1: how could five hundred prevail against six times and more
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  Speaker 1: their number? To surrender seemed the only course, and that
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  Speaker 1: is what they did. But it was grievous, hard. Their
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  Speaker 1: leader was of royal blood. No worse disgrace could have
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  Speaker 1: been his lot. Those on the shore beyond were made
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  Speaker 1: to cast their weapons in the river. With their royal
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  Speaker 1: leader a prisoner, they dared not disobey, for fear he
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  Speaker 1: would be slain. Their captors looked quite capable of such action.
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  Speaker 1: The crestfallen enemy had no faintest dream that those captors
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  Speaker 1: were girls led by Chai me. How could they know
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  Speaker 1: their deceit was well concealed. An ancient little tailor did
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  Speaker 1: the talking, and he, proud of his chance to swagger,
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  Speaker 1: talked with a terrible voice, violently threatening. Butchimi resplendent in
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  Speaker 1: the king's golden armor told him what to say, and
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  Speaker 1: the other maids clashed their spears on the river stones,
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  Speaker 1: as if angry at being deprived of living targets. King
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  Speaker 1: Ta Lang, in his swan shaped swampan, was crossing Lan
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  Speaker 1: River when he heard of Chaimeese stirring deed. He could
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  Speaker 1: scarce believe his years. The couriers vowed that they spoke
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  Speaker 1: no exaggeration. Convinced at last, the king said, then chaime
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  Speaker 1: has done us a great service. She shall receive honors
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  Speaker 1: without stint. But the king's chief general was more than jealous,
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  Speaker 1: because chaime had succeeded where he had failed. This general said, has.
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  Speaker 2: Your majesty forgotten the law?
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  Speaker 1: What law? Asked King ta Lang?
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  Speaker 2: The law made by your illustrious ancestor Liu Ti. The
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  Speaker 2: law of Liu Ti says that no woman may put
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  Speaker 2: on the habiliments of a king. Death is the.
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  Speaker 1: Penalty for so doing. The maiden put on your Majesty's armah.
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  Speaker 1: The king heard with grief. He said, that is the truth.
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  Speaker 1: There is such a law, and laws good or bad,
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  Speaker 1: must be enforced by the law of my noble ancestor.
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  Speaker 1: The maiden Chaimee must lose her head by the sword,
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  Speaker 1: and the jealous general said.
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  Speaker 2: Here is a death warrant for your signature.
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  Speaker 1: Now, whether the king would really have beheaded chaime, no
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  Speaker 1: man can say. His boat suddenly disappeared beneath the waters
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  Speaker 1: and was seen no more. The wise man said that
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  Speaker 1: he had excited the wrath of y she, master of
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  Speaker 1: waters and father of the maiden. That mayor may not
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  Speaker 1: be true. Again, no man can say, But this can
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  Speaker 1: be said without fear of dispute. King Meng and his
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  Speaker 1: queen ruled over Shensu for many a year, and there
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  Speaker 1: was neither flood nor famine, only a great tranquility. End
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  Speaker 1: of Section seven