summarize this text: I worked on my father’s farm till I was about sixteen years of age, when a man of our [clan] came back from America and took ground as large as four city blocks and made a paradise of it...The man had gone away from our village a poor boy. Now he returned with unlimited wealth, which he had obtained in the country of the American wizards….The wealth of this man filled my mind with the idea that I, too, would like to go to the country of the wizards and gain some of their wealth...

Question

summarize this text: I worked on my father’s farm till I was about sixteen years of age, when a man of our [clan] came back from America and took ground as large as four city blocks and made a paradise of it...The man had gone away from our village a poor boy. Now he returned with unlimited wealth, which he had obtained in the country of the American wizards….The wealth of this man filled my mind with the idea that I, too, would like to go to the country of the wizards and gain some of their wealth...

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It was twenty years ago when I came to this country, and I worked for two years as a servant, getting at the last $35 a month. I sent money home to comfort my parents, but though I dressed well and lived well and had pleasure, going quite often to the Chinese theater and to dinner parties in Chinatown, I saved $50 in the first six months, $90 in the second, $120 in the third and $150 in the fourth So I had $410 at the end of two years, and I was now ready to start in business.

When I first opened a laundry it was in company with a partner, who had been in the business for some years. ...Work in a laundry begins early on Monday morning — about seven o’clock. There are generally two men one of whom washes while the other does the ironing. The man who irons does not start in till Tuesday, as the clothes are not ready for him to begin till that time. So he has Sundays and Mondays as holidays. The man who does the washing finishes up on Friday night, and so he has Saturday and Sunday. Each works only five days a week, but those are long days—from seven o’clock in the morning till midnight.

There is no reason for the prejudice against the Chinese. The cheap labor cry was always a falsehood. Their labor was never cheap, and is not cheap now. It has always commanded the highest market price. But the trouble is that the Chinese are such excellent and faithful workers that bosses will have no others when they can get them. If you look at men working on the street you will find an overseer for every four or five of them. That watching is not necessary for Chinese. They work as well when left to themselves as they do when some one is looking at them.
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All Congressmen acknowledge the injustice of the treatment of my people, yet they continue it. They have no backbone. Under the circumstances, how can I call this my home, and how can any one blame me if I take my money and go back to my village in China?

Answer 1

The narrator describes how they were inspired to come to America by the success of a man from their village who gained wealth in the country. They worked as a servant, saved money, and eventually started a laundry business with a partner. The narrator defends the work ethic and loyalty of the Chinese labor force, refuting the idea that they are cheap labor. The narrator questions the treatment of Chinese immigrants in America, expressing frustration with Congress for acknowledging injustices but not taking action to address them. They consider returning to their village in China with their money.