{"product_id":"2940013746008","title":"Hanging Waters","description":"\"It is a pity,\" said Ming So, squatting on his heels on the raised\u003cbr\u003eembankment, \"that the sides of this paddy-field are not in line with the\u003cbr\u003epoints of the compass, for if they were we might expect a better yield\u003cbr\u003eof rice.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis mother halted the water-buffalo and gave a further roll up to each\u003cbr\u003eof her trouser-legs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What man told you that?\" she demanded. Then, without waiting for an\u003cbr\u003eanswer, she raised one foot and splashed the water-buffalo. The signal\u003cbr\u003emoved the animal, the animal moved the wooden plough, and Ming Nai waded\u003cbr\u003eon across the paddy-field, the handles of the plough in her unswerving\u003cbr\u003egrip. Her son saw her turn at the far end. As she passed him again, she\u003cbr\u003eadded, \"Because he is no wiser than you are, my son.\" This time she did\u003cbr\u003enot even stop the plough as she passed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMing So remained squatting on the raised embankment which held the\u003cbr\u003eprecious water in the paddy-field. By and by, to-morrow if not to-day,\u003cbr\u003ehe would have to bucket water into that paddy-field--a work of\u003cbr\u003econsiderable monotony, whose results were not immediately obvious.\u003cbr\u003eTherefore an unsatisfying piece of work. To-day, or to-morrow, or the\u003cbr\u003eweek after--it did not matter much. His mother finished the few\u003cbr\u003eremaining mud-furrows, tethered the animal to a stake on the flat,\u003cbr\u003eraised bank, dragged the primitive plough to dry land, and came towards\u003cbr\u003ehim.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What man told you of the points of the compass?\" she demanded.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It was Pai Kwat, the schoolmaster,\" Ming So told her as he rose to his\u003cbr\u003efeet and trotted along beside her, homewards. \"He is a very great man,\u003cbr\u003eis Pai Kwat. He knows all that there is to learn of Feng Sui--the\u003cbr\u003eScience of Favourable Aspects--besides a great deal of other learning\u003cbr\u003eof which I have not plucked a single blade. He is a great man, is Pai\u003cbr\u003eKwat. His voice tells his greatness to those who have the intelligence\u003cbr\u003eto observe. You have heard the booming note with which he instructs the\u003cbr\u003echildren in the village school?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Drums also boom, and drums are empty,\" said his mother succinctly. \"No,\u003cbr\u003emy son, you are too ready to listen with attention to loud noises\u003cbr\u003ewithout duly considering their meaning. Of course, your dead father had\u003cbr\u003ethe same fault, so that you probably inherit it from him. If your father\u003cbr\u003ehad thought less of Feng Sui, in the matter of selecting his grave,\u003cbr\u003ethere would be less need, now, for me to guide that foolish beast along\u003cbr\u003euncounted furrows in our paddy-field. To buy land for his grave at the\u003cbr\u003eridiculous rate which he paid for it, just because the land was supposed\u003cbr\u003eto be lucky! Why, when men are dead, they all look the same.\" She\u003cbr\u003elaughed quietly to herself. \"And smell the same, wherever their grave\u003cbr\u003emay chance to be,\" she added.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"But when people die,\" persisted the boy, \"is it not of the highest\u003cbr\u003eimportance where their graves may be? Does not the eternal comfort of\u003cbr\u003ethe dead man's soul depend on the forethought which he or his family\u003cbr\u003eexpend on the choice of a suitable burial place? The honourable teacher,\u003cbr\u003ePai Kwat, tells many tales of evil which has befallen a family because\u003cbr\u003ethey did not pay due attention to Feng Sui.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMing Nai snorted impatiently.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Pai Kwat! Pai Kwat! Who is this Pai Kwat that his tales should deplete\u003cbr\u003ea widow's money-box? What does he know of anything except the\u003cbr\u003eover-praised wisdom of the ancients and the contents of his musty books?\u003cbr\u003eNow, if you ask me for the name of a wise man, I would mention your\u003cbr\u003euncle, the honourable Tung Lai Luk, who is favouring our unworthy\u003cbr\u003ehousehold with his presence to-day. There is a man for you, if you like!\u003cbr\u003eNo nonsense about the tales of the ancients. Still, you have seen only\u003cbr\u003ethirteen winters, so that we must not yet expect from you the ripe\u003cbr\u003ejudgment of your elders.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe boy skipped delightedly.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070246469872,"sku":"2940013746008","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013746008_p0.jpg?v=1763589694","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013746008","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}