The Song Book of Quong Lee
by
Thomas Burke
Buying and Selling
The Power of Music
The Lamplighter
In Reply to an Invitation
A Night-Piece
A Smile Given In Passing
Of a National Cash Register
Under a Shining Window
Exchange of Compliments
A Song of Little Girls
Of Shop Windows
At the Feast of Lanterns
One Service Breeds Another
An Offer of a Lodging
Of Two Dwellings
Concerning English Gambling
Of Politicians
Of the Great White War
At the Time of Clear Weather
Parent and Child
Of Worship and Conduct
Going to Market
A Portrait
On a Saying of Mencius
Dockside Noises
Reproof and Approbation
The Feast of Go Nien
Directions for Making Tea
Of Inaccessible Beauty
Night and Day
Of a Night in War-Time
A Love Lesson
A Rebuke
Upstairs
Footsteps
Making a Feast
The Case of Ho Ling
An Upright Man
Breaking-Point
An English Gentleman
Buying and Selling
Throughout the day I sit behind the counter of my shop
And the odours of my country are all about me—
Areca nut, and betel leaf, and manioc,
Lychee and suey sen,
Li-un and dried seaweed,
Tchah and sam-shu;
And these carry my mind to half-forgotten days
When tales were plentiful and care was hard to hold.
All day I sell for trifling sums the wares of my own land,
And buy for many cash such things as people wish to sell,
That I may sell them again to others,
With some profit to myself.
One night a white-skinned damsel came to me
And offered, with fair words, something she wished to sell.
Now if I desire a jacket I can buy it with coin,
Or barter for it something of my stock.
If I desire rice-spirit, that, too, I can buy;
And elegant entertainments and delights are all to be had for cash.
But there is one good thing above all precious,
That no man may buy.
And though I buy readily most things that I desire,
This thing that the white maid offered at my own price
I would not buy.
The Power of Music
In the little room behind my shop
I refresh myself of an evening with my machine-that-sings.
Two songs has my machine-that-sings:
And these are 'Hitchy Koo' and 'We don't want to lose you.'
When, in the evening, a friend honours me with a visit,
I engage his ears with the air of 'Hitchy Koo';
But when I am afflicted with a visit
From those who fill me with a spirit of no-satisfaction,
I command my machine-that-sings
To render the music of 'We don't want to lose you.'
The noise that at this moment greets the ear
Of the elegant visitor to this despicable hovel
Is the incomparable music of 'Hitchy Koo';
And the price of this person's tea, mister,
Is but a paltry six shillings the pound.
The Lamplighter
The dark days now begin, when in afternoon
The Great Night Lantern makes a razor-edge
Of black and white in the streets.
And one comes, called the Lamplighter,
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