Chow

“ Chow.—Another breed which is not without its supporters, many of whom are amongst the ranks of the aristocracy, is the Chow, which, as the name implies, is a native of China, and much resembles a large, coarse Pomeranian, with a short thick head and rather blunt prick ears, the colours are almost invariably shades of red, black, or slate blue, though I have seen some variations on these. Chows often are as large as small collies, and possess very warm dense coats, somewhat in the Esquimaux style, and carry their tails much the same way, and are remarkable for having nearly inky black tongues. ”

“ His first care was to furnish Chow with a becoming robe of stout silk, a cap, trousers, and thick-soled leather boots. As soon as the boy had put them on he began to caper about, crying, "My master is generous, and the gods will reward him for making a poor boy decent enough to pay due reverence to the tombs of his ancestors, for truly he could not worthily sweep the dust from their resting-place in such unbecoming tatters; for although Chow is poor, he is of worthy descent and honorable relations." ”

“ When the boatman, who, although slow, were sure, brought them beneath the huge rocks which form the sea-walls of Leao-tong, Chow looked up with amazement. "Surely," said he, "Yen-Vang must have built these great rocks to prevent the province from falling upon the heads of the people in his watery dominions;" adding, as he saw some little birds, like swallows, flying about the rocks, "Truly, if my eyeballs are straight, those little creatures promise us some of the soup of life." ”

“ Could he but send a message to the merchant Yang,—alas! that was impossible. Should he give it to Chow? No; for he knew not what punishment awaited the boy for assaulting so great an officer. He was indeed at his wit's end, and he prayed to the Almighty for aid.
"Let not the noble Nicholas be so sad, for truly the gods can never desert the innocent and unfortunate," said Chow, while tears of affection wetted his cheeks; adding, "I will pray of them to take my worthless life in exchange for thy liberty." ”

“ Slowly the finger healed, and to every one's surprise was not much disfigured, which Cupid insisted was entirely owing to Chow-chow's superior skill in spreading salve and picking lint. Before this time, however, Chow-chow, touched by his brave patience, his generous refusal to blame her for the mishap, and his faithful affection, had in a tender moment confessed to her little lover that she did "like him a great deal," and consented to go and live in the old swan-house on the island in the pond as soon as he was well enough. ”

“ Like most Chinese, Chow believed, or at least followed, the mongrel creed of the country, and he proposed to himself to seek the aid of the gods; although even his faith in their powers had become weakened by the exhibition of the morning; at length, however, it occurred to him to seek the innkeeper, who being well to do, and an old inhabitant of Hang-tcheou, could if willing, give material assistance; if not willing, thought Chow, he must be the most ungrateful of human beings. ”

“ Having finished cogitating, Chow commenced a lively conversation with Nicholas about any thing and every thing but what was most on his mind; then he endeavored to chat with the surly gaolers; the attempt, however, proved a failure, till he brought forth a porcelain bottle filled with rice spirit. When the men grew better tempered, Chow said, "Is there any law that will prevent the honorable guard from bestowing upon his servants some hot tea, for surely it will refresh them?" ”

“ Angered by such a caprice, her father urged her to be guided by his judgment. Unable to restrain her, and, hoping to turn her desire elsewhere, the chow made an elaborate feast and bade all the people of the province to it. But, among all was not the one who had thrown the fig into the stream.
“Is there not yet a man who has not come to the feast?” asked the chow.
“None save the lazy beggar who lies at the fig-tree,” they said.
“Bring him hither,” commanded the chow, determined to have his daughter see what manner of man she was selecting as her husband. ”

“ Ah Fu apparently had set the lantern upon a table, and into the radius of its light there presently moved a stooping figure. Durham recognized Huang Chow, and felt his heartbeats increasing in rapidity.
Clutching the framework of the trap with his hands, he moved his head cautiously, so that presently he was enabled to see the two Chinamen. They were standing beside the lacquered coffin upon its dragon-legged pedestal. Durham stifled an exclamation. ”

“ They waited for some time, till becoming impatient, Chow kicked the gate, when there arose such a queer hissing noise, that the boy fell upon his face, exclaiming, "My master, my master the demons of Yen-Vang have swallowed the watchman, and are guarding the gate in his stead."
"Thou art a foolish coward," said Nicholas, who clambered up the gate, and after looking through the wicket for a minute let go his hold and laughed immoderately. "O Chow, Chow, thou idiot! not to know a demon from one of thine own kind; surely these demons are nothing but geese;" ”

“ Chow is thought to be the name of a certain scholar who died in 1105 B. C., but it may have been simply the name of the dynasty. This scholar is sometimes spoken of as Chow Kung, [15] and is said to have had a discussion with a nobleman named Kaou, or Shang Kao, [16] which is set forth in this book in the form of a dialogue. ”

“ Is it possible that they could have held the territory occupied by the States of Chow for a thousand years before the rise of king Woo, and that we should find it, five and six centuries after his time, in the condition which is revealed to us by the sage and his commentator? I do not think so. We have seen that the China of Chow was a small affair; that of Shang and Hëa must have been much smaller;—extending not so far towards the sea on the east, and to a smaller distance north and south of the Yellow river. ”

“ The above review of the closing centuries of the dynasty of Chow, and of its overthrow by the king of Ts‘in, seems to prove, brief as it has been, that, given a number of warring States or nations, victory will in the long run declare itself in favour of that one which has the most extensive territory and the largest population. Ts‘in and Ts‘oo, when they first came into contact with the States of Chow proper, were, no doubt, inferior to them in the arts of civilization generally, and among these of the art of war ”

“ The Chows had been reigning nearly nine hundred years; but their system had been in the main the same as that of the Shangs and Hias, and of Yao, Shun, and Ta Yu: it was two millenniums, a century, and a decade old. A Chinaman, in Chau Tsiang's place, would merely have reshaped the old order and set up a new feudal-pontifical house instead of Chow; which could not have lasted, because old age had worn the old system out. But these barbarians came in with new ideas. A new empire, a new race, a new nation was to be born. ”

“ Whereupon, they gave poor Chow over to these rascal bonzes, who intended to torture him with a dagger in that tub, till agony caused him to leap into the canal."
"Sad must have been thy sufferings, my poor Chow," said the prince; who then ordered his attendants to convey the boy to the palace, in order that the imperial doctors might attend him. Then sending for a body of yah-yu, he ordered them to take the bonze and his assistants to the great prison, to await a trial; after which they returned to the palace. ”

“ Chow found no difficulty in passing the first two gates, but the third was under the charge of the chief gaoler, who not only made him show the mandarin's order, but ordered two soldiers to accompany the boy to his master's cell, which was situated at the top of one of the four corners or towers, and overlooking the canal.
The armed men he met at every turn, and the dismal-looking strength of the halls, courts, doors, and staircases through which he passed, made Chow feel very wretched, for not an atom of a chance could he see for a prisoner to escape. ”

“ The Gold Commissioner's wife beamed upon him, and glancing for permission to Frona, he went on.
"The coast people were Esquimo stock, merry-natured and happy, and inoffensive. They called themselves the Oukilion, or the Sea Men. I bought dogs and food from them, and they treated me splendidly. But they were subject to the Chow Chuen, or interior people, who were known as the Deer Men. The Chow Chuen were a savage, indomitable breed, with all the fierceness of the untamed Mongol, plus double his viciousness. ”

“ Chow had custody of the guide, whom he held by the rope, and pressed forward or jerked backward, as his sense of indignation at the loss of his mother arose or subsided. At times he would so slacken the rope that the man could scarcely feel his thraldom; then again, when he thought of the hopelessness of again recovering his mother, he would clench his teeth and pull it so violently, that the miserable guide would fall backward; whereupon Chow would say, "Get thee upon thy bamboo legs, thou rogue, or I will drag thee like a bale of demon's goods, as thou art;" ”

“ The Chow came in state, accompanied by fifteen attendants bearing his gold betel-boxes, water-goblets, and other paraphernalia of rank. On his ascending the stairs, I rose to meet him and exchange the usual greetings—“Chow, sabira?” (“Prince, are you well?”) “Sabi, sabi!” (“Well, well!”) . Having no interpreters—Mr and Mrs Webster being out, and my Shans in attendance upon Dr Cushing—the remainder of our conversation was chiefly in dumb show, owing to my knowing only a few sentences of Shan, and my visitor being acquainted with neither Burmese nor English. ”

“ But who can teach a chow what he doesn’t want to learn? A cleverer person than I.
How well I remember Chang’s first appearance on the scene--a Sunday afternoon in Tokio. Enter Yami, very hot and agitated, holding a struggling yellow ball in his arms. Here was the much-longed-for chow puppy, sent me by a friend 127from Hong Kong. What a queer little chap he was, with his bright brown eyes and black tongue. Exceedingly dirty, too, I am sorry to have to confess, in spite of several baths on his arrival at Yokohama, to which I was told he much objected. ”

“ We left Chow severely alone, and some of the crowd, Joe and Tommy especially, constituted themselves his volunteer assistants, and almost every first dog watch, one of them would be around the galley helping out. Chow rewarded them by allowing the use of the oven to make [39] "dandy funk," a mess of broken hard tack and molasses, baked to a crisp. ”

“ The seeds of this contrivance were sown, perhaps, at the very commencement of the dynasty, when the dukes of Chow and Shaou were appointed viceroys over the eastern and western portions of the kingdom respectively, and other princes were made, on their first investiture, 'chiefs of regions', [4] embracing their own States and others adjacent to them. These arrangements were disused as the kings of Chow felt secure in their supremacy over all the States, and the nominees in the first instance had been sincerely loyal and devoted to the establishment of the dynasty ”

“ The chief of Chow, who received and entertained Captain Clapperton, had been dead some time, and was succeeded by a humble, good natured, and active individual, who treated the white men more like demi-gods than human beings. At the time of their arrival, he was engaged in superintending the slaves at his corn and yam plantations, but he hastened to them the moment he was informed of the circumstance. He possessed a number of horses, one of which was the smallest and most beautiful animal they ever beheld. ”

“ And fearlessly did he go to the chow’s, and, when midnight was come and the chow descended secretly to see if the watchman slept, lo, the young man prayed aloud for the god of wisdom to come teach him what to do. The chow, hearing the sound of voices, listened, and heard one voice say, “The brave and the strong govern themselves, then have they the power to 122 govern others. The wise make themselves loved because they are good and true, and are served by others through love and not through fear,” and another voice steadily repeated the words. Three times during the night came the chow. ”

“ I always wondered what the boys in the Army was talking about when they said they eat chow."
"They probably meant chowchow," says the Mrs. "They wouldn't of had these kind of chows, because in the first place, who would eat a dog, and besides these kind costs too much." ”

“ Moreover, it is said that this bird-nest soup is strengthening to the weak. The princess is weak, O my master, and Chow would obtain some of those nests."
Then, as they were near a jutting point of the rock of no very difficult ascent, Nicholas ordered the barge to stop, while Chow ascended and procured some half-dozen of the nests, from which to the present day, one of the most popular dishes of China is made.
As Nicholas had said, these birds' nests are seldom found except on the coasts of Java, Cochin-China, and Tonquin. The birds are not unlike swallows, as to their feathers ”

“ They took their departure from Bidjie while the morning was yet cool and pleasant, and arrived at Chow before eleven o'clock in the forenoon. The natives have an unaccountable fancy that white men are fond of poultry to an excess, insomuch that whenever they entered a town or village, all the fowls were immediately seized and confined in a place of security until their departure. ”