Asia Folklore The Legend Of Benevolent Thief

One Day In The Early Dawn, ADistinguished Mandarin Was Leaving The Temple Of The City GodIt Was His Duty To Visit This Temple On The First And Fifteenth Of The Moon, Whilst The City Was Still Asleep, To Offer Incense And Adoration To The Sternlooking Figure Enshrined WithinThis Mandarin Was Shihkung, And AJuster Or More Upright Official Did Not Exist In All The Fair Provinces Of The EmpireWherever His Name Was Mentioned It Was Received With The Profoundest Reverence And Respect, For The Chinese People Have Never Lost Their Ideal Of Tienli, Or Divine RighteousnessThis Ideal Is Still Deeply Embedded In The Hearts Of High And Low, Rich And Poor, And The Homage Of All Classes, Even Of The Most Depraved Is Gladly Offered To Any Man Who Conspicuously Displays This Heavenly VirtueAs Shihkung Was Being Carried Along In His Sedan Chair, With His Numerous Retinue Following Closely Behind Him, He Happened To Notice AYoung Woman Walking In The Road In Front Of Him, And Began To Wonder What It Was That Had Brought Her Out At Such An Unusually Early HourShe Was Dressed In The Very Deepest Mourning, And So After ALittle More Thought He Concluded That She Was AWidow Who Was On Her Way To The Grave Of Her Late Husband To Make The Usual Offerings To His SpiritAll At Once ASudden, Furious Whirlwind Screamed About The Woman And Seemed Determined To Spend Its Force Upon Her, But Beyond Her Nothing Was Touched By ItNot ALeaf On The Trees Near By Was Moved, And Not AParticle Of Dust On The Road, Except Just Where She Stood, Was In The Least Agitated By The Fierce Tempest That For The Moment Raged Around Her.
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