University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

Page 92 text:

THE LINGUIST Of course we used phonetics In writing our Chinese. A composition we had to write, One hundred words, if you please The second day we had exams. Two things we had to dog To make a speech in Chinese, And to read some Chinese too. And then exams were over, Such happy folks were we. For all things now were ready For our annual Christmas Tree' At two o'eloeli our guests arrived. It was a pretty' sight, To see the teachers with their wives, And the kids in colors bright. The first thing on our program Was a little Christmas play, Given by the first year students, Of the very first Christmas Day, When the Wise men and the Shepherds To an humble stable came. To see the Baby Jesus, And to praise His holy Name. Then the teachers took the platform And invited us to see, The eleverest of littlc plays- You should have seen Mr. L00 Then the beggar and the amuh Were very, very fine-A Indeed, all the characters VVere splendid in their liIl0- And when the play was over. We had o11r Christmas TF00- Then all the little children Were as happy as could be.

Page 91 text:

88 THE YEAR Doctor Price was er preaehin' from er pulpit high, Exhortin' us sinners up to de skyg Ebery time he'd hit us again, Doctor Hutcheson yelled Amen ! The spirit of the negro was shown through plantation melodies and negro spirituelles, closing with the haunting phrase, Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart. The result of the evenings hilarity was not only four hundred hearts made lighter by laughter, but more than five hundred dollars added to the budget of the Foreign Hospital. December eighteenth. Dress rehearsal of the Christmas play! Certainly the shepherds were gorgeous! The first shepherd wore Bobby's Roman scarf for a head dressg Dr. Earl's bathrobe made a lovely wise man's gown, solnebody's Master's hood put the final touch to Mr. Bear's costume as Rabbi. The ensemble was excellent, even though one Bethlehem woman carried a waste basket on l1er shoulder in lieu of a water jar. And the Chinese they spoke was remarkable. We hoped the teachers would understand it, even if we didn't. December nineteenth to twenty-first. There are several days at Language School, We're likely to remember. I'll tell you now of two of them ' Which happened in December, The first I'd like to tell you of Was Examination .Day- Not a pleasant memory, I think li hear you say. But it really wasn't quite as bad As we had thot 'twould be. Tho if we hadn't studied. V We would have been up a tree! V We had to write a story, As read by Mr. Wong. It only had one hundred words S0 it wasn't Very l0Ilg.

Page 93 text:

90 THE YEA R For they eneh one got an stocking, Full of things for them to eat. And they clapped their hands and tluinked us For such a Christnms treat. A Some of our l'hrishnus Guests January second. Vacations are grand institutions. hnt it is rather alnrniing hon' mueh Chinese one can forget in ten days. Today the second term began, and we, the October Class, proudly spoke of ourselves as old students for the Junimry class of newcomers introduced themselves. We could tell them feeliugly, All the beginnings are hard, but there is nothing under heaven an earnest man need fear. January fifth. Szrturclay Prayer serviee ilmugurated for our teachers, over half of whom ure not Christians. January eighth. One wandering into school a hit earlier thnn usnnl on the bright morning of January eighth. might have been surprised to see some evidently serious-minded people engaged in decorating two chairs with red