Lesson:

1. Two young, near-sighted fellows, Zhang and Ying,


Over their chopsticks idly chattering,


Fell to disputing which could see the best;


At last, they agreed to put it to the test.


Said Zhang, 'A marble tablet, so I hear,


Is placed upon the Bo-hee temple near,


With an inscription on it. Let us go


And read it (since you boast your optics so),


Standing together at a certain place


In front, where we the letters just may trace;


Then he who quickest reads the inscription there,


The palm for keenest eyes henceforth shall bear.'


'Agreed,' said Ying, 'but let us try it soon:


Suppose we say tomorrow afternoon.'





2. 'Nay, not so soon,' said Zhang; 'I'm bound to go


tomorrow a day's ride from Hoang-Ho,


And shan't be ready till the following day:


At ten A. M., on Thursday, let us say.'





3. So 'twas arranged; but Ying was wide-awake:


Time by the forelock he resolved to take;


And to the temple went at once, and read,


Upon the tablet, 'To the illustrious dead,


The chief of mandarins, the great Goh-Bang.'


Scarce had he gone when stealthily came Zhang,


Who read the same; but peering closer, he


Spied in a corner what Ying failed to see—


The words, 'This tablet is erected here


By those to whom the great Goh-Bang was dear.'





4. So on the appointed day—both innocent


As babes, of course—these honest fellows went,


And took their distant station; and Ying said,


'I can read plainly, 'To the illustrious dead,


The chief of mandarins, the great Goh-Bang.'


'And is that all that you can spell?' said Zhang;


'I see what you have read, but furthermore,


In smaller letters, toward the temple door,


Quite plain, 'This tablet is erected here


By those to whom the great Goh-Bang was dear'





5. 'My sharp-eyed friend, there are no such words!' said Ying.


'They're there,' said Zhang, 'if I see anything,


As clear as daylight.' 'Patent eyes, indeed,


You have!' cried Ying; 'do you think I can not read?'


'Not at this distance as I can,' Zhang said,


'If what you say you saw is all you read.'





6. In fine, they quarreled, and their wrath increased,


Till Zhang said, 'Let us leave it to the priest;


Lo! here he comes to meet us.' 'It is well,'


Said honest Ying; 'no falsehood he will tell.'





7. The good man heard their artless story through,


And said, 'I think, dear sirs, there must be few


Blest with such wondrous eyes as those you wear:


There's no such tablet or inscription there!


There was one, it is true; 'twas moved away


And placed within the temple yesterday.'





ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Christopher Pearse Cranch was born at Alexandria, Va. (then D. C), in 1813.


He has written some well-known children's stories, besides numerous poems; but his greatest literary work is 'The AEneid of Vergil, translated into English blank verse.'


He died in Cambridge, Mass., 1892.





DEFINITIONS


1. Nearsighted: Seeing at a short distance only.


1. Chopsticks: Small sticks of wood, ivory, etc., used in pairs by Chinese to carry food to the mouth.


1. Tablet: A small, flat piece of anything on which to write or engrave.


1. Inscription: Something written or engraged on a solid substance.


1. Optics: Eyes.


1. Palm: The reward of victory, prize.


2. A.M.: An abbreviation for the Latin ante meridian, meaning before noon.


3. Mandarin: A Chinese public officer.


5. Patent: Secured from general use, peculiar to one person.