Another June.

I have been so happy, and life has been so satisfactory that I have not written in my diary for many months. I believe it is only when one's heart is so sorrowful and distracted that it must overflow¹ somewhere, that one pours it into a diary. I have so much to say now that I scarcely know where to begin.

Well, to begin at the beginning, one night Uncle Theodore asked Doctor Graham to dinner, along with Professor Ballington, and another gentleman. After that Doctor Graham began to call quite frequently evenings—he seemed to enjoy grandmother's company so much, and I am sure she enjoyed his.

Well—Oh, I never can tell how it  all came about, but I have promised to go to China with Dr. Graham, to help him learn the Chinese language. It is an awful language for a foreigner to learn, and I just could not bear the thought of the poor fellow having to wrestle² with it alone.

It was one evening we were alone in the drawing-room, grandmother having been unable to appear owing to a headache, that we came to the final arrangement.

But suddenly I thought of something that was going to upset it all, I believed,—he didn't know who I was!

"Oh!" I cried, "I cannot go with you—you will not want me—you do not know—that—I—am the Yellow Peril³!"

He smiled down at me, and raised my chin in the palm of his left hand—for he had not let me go from his right,[Pg 206] although I had tried to get away—and said, "I expect to be very proud of my Yellow Pearl."

Now I am receiving congratulations which are making me feel very happy and proud, with the exception of Professor Ballington's. I cannot help feeling sorry for that poor old bachelor. He came up to me and said:

"My dear Miss Pearl, I had been vain enough to hope once that I might sometime call this pearl mine, but if I cannot do so, I do not know of any one that I would sooner see claim it than Doctor Graham. And so I say, God bless you! God bless you! You shall always have the love of an old bachelor. And in this world, obsessed⁴ with fever and noise, with the sham⁵ and superficial, may you always remain the genuine pearl you are."
 
There were tears in his voice. Why must every rose have a thorn?

We are going to China, Doctor Graham and I, my native land; the land of flashing poppy-blossoms, red azaleas, purple wistarias, blue larkspur, yellow jasmine, oleanders, begonias, and flowering bamboos—the Flowery Kingdom. Dr. Graham is going to establish a hospital, to set broken legs and bind⁶ up broken heads; and I am going to try and prevent any more of those little Chinese babies from being thrown out on the hillsides to die.

Grandmother says if we go to China it ought to be to tell the Confucionists and Buddhists⁷ about the great Christ. But I believe if He went there Himself He would be mending broken legs, binding⁸ up broken heads and hearts, and saving the little babies from being thrown out on the hillsides to die. Dear grandmother is a standing⁹ proof to me that the Christ means much more to the world than China's Confucius or Buddha¹⁰. One day when she was seated in her rocking-chair I threw my arm around her and told her so. The dear old lady never seemed to accept my words as a personal compliment at all, but began, as once before, to sing in a low, quavering voice:
"Let every kindred every tribe
On this terrestrial ball,
To Him all majesty¹¹ ascribe,
And crown Him Lord of all."

The End

1 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。

2 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。

3 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

4 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

5 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

6 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

7 Buddhists   

n.佛教徒( Buddhist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Jesuits in a phase of ascendancy, persecuted and insulted the Buddhists with great acrimony. 处于地位上升阶段的耶稣会修士迫害佛教徒，用尖刻的语言辱骂他们。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The return of Saivite rule to central Java had brought no antagonism between Buddhists and Hindus. 湿婆教在中爪哇恢复统治后，并没有导致佛教徒与印度教徒之间的对立。 来自辞典例句

8 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 Buddha   

n.佛；佛像；佛陀

参考例句：

• Several women knelt down before the statue of Buddha and prayed.几个妇女跪在佛像前祈祷。
• He has kept the figure of Buddha for luck.为了图吉利他一直保存着这尊佛像。

11 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！