"Yang Hu," began the Mandarin, "undoubted son, and, after the
accomplishment of the intention which it is our fixed purpose to carry
out, fitting representative of the person who is here before you,
engrave well within your mind the various details upon which he now
gives utterance. Regard the virtues; endeavour to pass an amiable and
at the same time not unremunerative existence; and on all occasions
sacrifice freely, to the end that the torments of those who have gone
before may be made lighter, and that others may be induced in turn to
perform a like benevolent charity for yourself. Having expressed
himself upon these general subjects, this person now makes a last and
respectfully-considered desire, which it is his deliberate wish should
be carried to the proper deities as his final expression of opinion:
That Yang Hu may grow as supple as the dried juice of the
bending-palm, and as straight as the most vigorous bamboo from the
forests of the North. That he may increase beyond the prolificness of
the white-necked crow and cover the ground after the fashion of the
binding grass. That in battle his sword may be as a vividly-coloured
and many-forked lightning flash, accompanied by thunderbolts as
irresistible as Buddha's divine wrath; in peace his voice as
resounding as the rolling of many powerful drums among the Khingan
Mountains.
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