“The young crocodiles thereupon scooped a large hole in the sand and lay down therein. For half a moon they lived there, without food or drink, and when their parents cried to them to come out and sport as before in the Rippling River, they paid no attention whatever, so sadly sulky their mood.

“One day there came along a number of powerful beings, who, when they saw the golden sands of the Rippling River, exclaimed: ‘How gloriously illuminating is this beach! Let us build a pagoda thereon.’ They saw the hole which the young crocodiles had made, but they could not see the hole-makers at the bottom thereof. So they set to work and filled the hole, and on top thereof they built a great pagoda. That is the pagoda of the picture on the vase.”

“And did the children crocodiles never get out?” asked Chung in a sad little voice.

“No, daughter,” replied the mother. “After the pagoda was on top of them they began to feel very hungry and frightened. It was so dark. They cried to their father and mother to bring them food and find them a way to the light; but the parent crocodiles, upon seeing the pagoda arise, swam far away. They knew that they never more should see their children. And from that day till now, the young crocodiles have remained in darkness under the pagoda, shut off forever from the light of the sun and the Rippling River.”

“Please, honorable mother,” spake a weak little voice, “may I have some tea in my pretty, pink porcelain cup?”

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sui Sin Far (1865–1914) was a Chinese English writer known for writing stories on the experience of Chinese people in North America. Born in England to an English father and Chinese mother, she was raised as Edith Maude Eaton. The second of fourteen children, Far moved with her family to New York before returning to England in 1868. In 1872, they emigrated to Montreal, where the family struggled and Far was required to work to support her parents and siblings. At the age of 18, while working as a typesetter for the Montreal Star, Far began writing stories, articles, and poetry for local magazines. In 1896, she went to Jamaica, where she worked as a journalist before moving to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Employed as a legal secretary, she began writing articles exploring her Chinese heritage and stories illuminating the experience of Chinese Americans suffering under the Chinese Exclusion Act. In 1912, she published Mrs. Spring Fragrance, a popular collection of short stories tracing the lives of Chinese families living on the American west coast.

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

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