June 7th, 1——

Almost as soon as Mrs. Yet was pronounced well, and was allowed to go among people again and before Mr. Yet had left the hospital, Baby Yet fell seriously ill—his teeth.

He grew worse, and worse. Yick told me about it one day in a few concise² Chinese words, which he snatched³ an opportunity to drop to me in passing through the dining room. The wily Celestial⁴ seems to understand, without being told, that no one is to know that he and I can exchange thoughts in our native tongue.

That afternoon I stole out again, and went down to the little Yet home. It was just as Yick had said, the baby was very ill.

He lay on his little pallet, white and still, almost unconscious, and his mother stood over him wringing⁵ her hands, and shedding bitter tears.

"Oh, my baby! My baby! He die and leave me! My heart break!" she cried in Chinese when she saw me. "Precious treasure! Precious treasure!" she continued, bending toward the almost inanimate form on the pallet.
 
The latter is the almost universal term of endearment⁶ in China, and no American mother ever agonised more bitterly than did that Chinese mother over that atom of herself lying before her.

I had to do something to comfort her, so I began to tell her about heaven. I, who was not sure that I could get to that blessed place myself (stealing out on the sly¹ in a grandmother's clothes is not a very heavenly trick), said that whoever missed it, babies would be there.

"Will Chinese babies be there? They do not want them in America," she asked rapidly and tremblingly in Chinese.

"Certainly," I replied; and at that moment I seemed to have a vision of all the babies of this wide world that had died—black babies, brown babies, yellow babies, red babies (probably the[Pg 125] colour of their skin was only the earth garb); I saw the whole throng⁷, for grandmother had read to me from the Bible that of such was the kingdom of heaven.

"His tooth not bother him there?" she added.

"No," I returned, "there shall be no more pain there."

"He like it," she continued, almost smiling through her tears.

Then she grew very, very still, and a glow stole over her yellow face which made it beautiful.

I stepped nearer, put my arm around her, and kissed her on the cheek.

She looked at me in a startled⁸ way, then drawing a tiny handkerchief from her bosom⁹, she carefully wiped the spot on her cheek where my lips had touched. The practice of kissing is unknown in China.
 
On the way home, when but a few yards from the house of Mrs. Yet, I met Professor Ballington again, and told him the story about the sick baby.

He asked me to go back with him, and take him in to see it, which I did. He looked scrutinisingly at the little hard pallet on which the baby lay; and what did that dear man do but go out to one of the great stores not far away, and buy the prettiest little cot, and the softest and best mattress¹⁰ that could be found in the market, and order them sent home without delay to that little yellow baby.

Was it the soft mattress that did it? I do not know; but almost immediately the baby seemed to rest easier, and by degrees came back to life and strength.

Oh, this would be a glorious country to live in!—if the people were all like Professor Ballington.

1 sly   

adj.狡猾的，偷偷摸摸的

参考例句：

• You can't trust him,he's a sly old fox.你不能相信他，他是一只狡猾的老狐狸。
• I was ready to sly out the alley door.我准备从那边小门溜出去。

2 concise   

adj.简洁的，简明的

参考例句：

• The explanation in this dictionary is concise and to the point.这部词典里的释义简明扼要。
• I gave a concise answer about this.我对于此事给了一个简要的答复。

3 snatched   

突然伸手拿取，攫取，抓住( snatch的过去式和过去分词 )； 抓紧时间做； 乘机获得； 夺去

参考例句：

• The boy snatched a piece of cake and ate it hungrily. 男孩抢过一块饼便贪婪地吃起来。
• The thief snatched her handbag and ran. 盗贼抢了她的手提包就跑。

4 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

5 wringing   

淋湿的，湿透的

参考例句：

• He was wringing wet after working in the field in the hot sun. 烈日下在田里干活使他汗流满面。
• He is wringing out the water from his swimming trunks. 他正在把游泳裤中的水绞出来。

6 endearment   

n.表示亲爱的行为

参考例句：

• This endearment indicated the highest degree of delight in the old cooper.这个称呼是老箍桶匠快乐到了极点的表示。
• To every endearment and attention he continued listless.对于每一种亲爱的表示和每一种的照顾，他一直漫不在意。

7 throng   

n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集

参考例句：

• A patient throng was waiting in silence.一大群耐心的人在静静地等着。
• The crowds thronged into the mall.人群涌进大厅。

8 startled   

adj.受惊吓的v.使惊跳，使大吃一惊( startle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of 2000 was startled near the end of the concert. 2000名观众在音乐会将近结束时大吃一惊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Startled by the sudden whistle of the train, the horse broke away. 火车突然鸣笛，那匹马受惊脱逃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

10 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。