The avaricious, gold-seeking, Suchong Pollyhong Ka-te-tow had performed
his task; wealth poured into his coffers from the ambitious parents, who
longed to boast of an alliance with the brother of the sun and moon, and
many were the ill-favoured whose portraits were dismissed by the
committee of taste, with surprise at the minister's ideas of beauty.
Now there was a certain mandarin, whose daughter had long been extolled
through the province of Kartou, as a miracle of beauty, and her father,
Whanghang, brought her in a litter to the minister Suchong Pollyhong
Ka-te-tow. He felt that her charms were piercing as an arrow, and that
he had found a fit mate for the brother of the sun and moon; but his
avarice demanded a sum which the father would not pay. Refuse to send
her portrait he dare not; it was therefore ordered to be taken, as well
as the others, and Whanghang considered himself as the father-in-law of
the celestial Youantee. The young painter who was employed finished his
task, then laid down his pencil, and died with grief and love of such
perfection, which he never could hope to obtain. The picture was sent to
the vile minister, who reserved it for himself, and wrote the name of
this pearl beyond price, under that of another, unworthy to unloose her
zone as her handmaiden. The committee of taste did, however, select that
picture among the hundred to be placed in the Hall of Delight, not
because the picture was beautiful, but because the fame of her beauty
had reached the court, and they thought it right that the emperor should
see the picture.
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