the false tresses in her hair (itself generally luxurious
and ampl e) to see her enamel her face with ingenuous
thanaka, to follow her frequent contented glances at
her mirror. And later in life she is capable, when
circumstances are in her favour, of great dignity, and
exquisite manners. She dresses, when not reduced
to the poverty which economists
seem to desire
for her, in a very charming
way ; in a d e lic a te ly
coloured silken skirt, a
white muslin jacket, with
a silk scarf thrown over
her shoulders, and flowers
in her hair. And while
she dresses well, she is free
of the tyranny of fashion,
the unending longing after
something that is new.
She has failings ; who has
n o t |4 Her practice of
chewing betel is inelegant
a B u r m e s e m a i d e n and destructive to her
teeth ; her voice' is apt under the pressure of adversity
to be shrill; Her keen business faculties detract a trifle
from the romance in which, as in a halo, all-women
are enveloped ; in old age she ts very u g ly ; and even
in youth her nose is stumpy, her lips a little thick, her
cheek-bones high and heavy— but these are Caucasian
objections ! In the eyes of the young men of the land,
48
THE YELLOW PARASOL.
P. Iff