Читать книгу Children of China онлайн

10 страница из 24

Boys and girls do not care to go inside, unless their mothers bring them to bow before the idols. Some of the images have ugly faces, blue, black and fiery red, which children can scarcely look at without being afraid. Some are gilt and have a strange smile upon their lips. Here is description of an idol in its temple:

“I dreamed I was an idol, and I sat

Still as a crystal, smiling as a cat,

Where silent priests through immemorial hours

Wove for my head mysterious scarlet flowers.

“There as I waited, day by changeless day,

My people brought their gifts and knelt to pray,

And I ...

... in unavailing pity sat

Still as a crystal, smiling as a cat.”

Let us turn down this narrow lane. Now we have left the shops and the busy street. Look at the rows of smallish houses, each with a bit of plain wall and a bamboo screen hanging in front of the door. You hear the sound of children’s voices within as you pass. How happy that little boy is, running along in bright red trousers, flying his kite. His home is near by; when he is older he will go to school, or learn a trade in one of the shops not far away.