A. MYTHICAL CHINESE MONSTER.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 60, 11 March 1879, Page 4

A. MYTHICAL CHINESE MONSTER.

Except tbat, like Persia it is Asiatic there is no reason *by t should «o to ChioU and apeak of the late typhoon, whose fearful ravages have driven the heathen contingent here (o the verge of despair. Is it that they lament fhe leas of their shops ? Ia it that ; they dread io learn of (he destruction of their families? I have not heen ahle to discover 5 bnt they chatter together wiih unusual animation, and my friend Chin Han Luo?) the eminent teadialer—he who was fhe successful defendant in fl© bigathy suit brought by a deserted latin Ires* bf Canton, who had negletyed some formality, as Adelina Patti eaya she did, at her wedding—my friend Chin Han L'uog Btya it waa all tbe fault of the dragon, named KwaMni-Lung, who, being croea has vented his ill-humour upon the celestials. Now, the story of thia , monster is eorious, and, though Ohio assures me (privately) that he" outs no faith in him whatever, the natives were convinced of his power and malignity. It seems that 1000 years ■go a little Chinese boy, who was playing truant from school in the wooded hills ne»r the towo of Saug Ui, found an egg, which he took home with bim, fancying that it belonged to ri serpent. Io the course of a few days — 12, I believe, to be precise — a reptile was hatched, and, as tbe child waa fohd of animals, waa placed in a drawer, where it waa carefully fed snd .kept nice aod warm. Sooo, from the drawer, this animal waa taken to .tbe garden, Where it grew op and grew old in great and friendly intimacy with tbe Chinaman, who, at hia deub, bequeathed it to a friend with the injunction to chow it every attention. But tbe friend .was unfaithful to his trust, and, growing tired of tbe serpent, summoned his neighbours to help him to kill it. Bat tbey utterly failed in doiog more tban chop off the end of bis taii, whence the name Kwat- mi-Lung, in.iEnglisb, the '? tailless dragon." My friend Chin explained to me that all serpents became dragons in Cbina when -hey grew old. After this outrage Kwat-mi*Luog, naturally mncJi irritated, by the loss of bia appendage, unaccustomed as be was to suoh treatment entirely < foreswore human society and withdrew to a cavern in the Kwai Fung Shon Mountains, where he now resides 1 in strict retirement. No one ever meets him in their excursions, but tbe terror which bis presence inepires is so intense that uot a dwelling nor even a bit of cultiv-ted ground is to be found within two leagues of bis den, whose approaches lie through impenetrable jungles, haunted ooly by beasts of prey. Generally be is pretty quiet, manifesting his dislike for maokiud by proud contempt, but occasionally bis !'?■•'?-• tacoma too many for him, and then he breaks out in the form of a typhoonror waterspout, or some fearful epidemic, and can only bs appeased by the total abstinence of the entire population from auimal food for at least a fortnight. Such is - the true cause of tbis recent scourge, and if Movants has listened to Chin Han Lung's explanation given in that choice dialect known as "pigeon" English varied with French phrases in the same style—Chin assures me that he speaks 1 both languages with: great fluency aad purity— tbey would * not cudgel their braina in seeking any" seientifio explanation of the phenomenon. 1