Most Chinamen make friends with
children; this one hated them and tried to drive them away. But as
soon as he returned to his work they were back at the window again,
mischievously smiling down upon him.
The naughty mandarin uttered horrid words in the Manchu language and
made fierce gestures; but this did no good at all. The children
stayed as long as they pleased, and they came again the very next
day as soon as school was over, and likewise the next day, and the
next. For they saw their presence at the window bothered the
Chinaman and were delighted accordingly.
The following day being Sunday the children did not appear, but as
the mandarin, being a heathen, worked in his little shop a big
butterfly flew in at the open door and fluttered about the room.
The mandarin closed the door and chased the butterfly until he
caught it, when he pinned it against the wall by sticking two pins
through its beautiful wings. This did not hurt the butterfly, there
being no feeling in its wings; but it made him a safe prisoner.
This butterfly was of large size and its wings were exquisitely
marked by gorgeous colors laid out in regular designs like the
stained glass windows of a cathedral.
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