Strange Tales from Liaozhai--Volume 6

by Pu Songling

  With this in mind, the two women stood up and picked out stones to throw at the man. The daughter-in-law had been harboring hatred towards the man for a long time, so she picked up a large stone with both hands since she wanted him dead; but the mother-in-law just used small stones and only hit the man in the butt and legs.

  Magistrate Sun then ordered them to use the knives. The daughter-in-law took a knife in hand and slashed the man’s chest, while the mother-in-law hung back and didn’t strike him. The magistrate stopped them and said, “I know which of you is the lewd woman.” He had the older woman restrained and placed in wooden shackles until she confessed to the affair. The adulterous man was given thirty beatings, resolving the case.

  Here’s a supplement to the tale: Magistrate Sun sent a servant one day to press a tenant for some rent that was due, and though the male tenant was out, his wife was at home. When she didn’t offer the servant a bribe, he arrested her and brought her back to the magistrate. “Since the man wasn’t even at home,” Sun angrily exclaimed, “how dare you make trouble for his wife!” Then he beat the servant and sent the tenant’s wife home.

  He commissioned a number of craftsmen to make manacles and cudgels in anticipation of brutalizing tenants into paying their rent. The next day, the city was shut down in order for people to be able to express their praise and gratitude for the magistrate’s benevolence. When those who owed rent heard about what had happened with the other tenant, they all sent their wives to Sun—who had the women arrested and soundly thrashed.

  I’ve often said that Magistrate Sun was quite talented, but his way of carrying out his office was to make light of people’s trouble, without feeling compassion for the innocent.

  486. The Xinzheng Dispute

  Jinshi Shi Zongyu, who was originally from Changshan, was a county magistrate in Xinzheng. It happened that a certain traveler from far away named Zhang, who’d come to engage in some business, fell ill and decided to return home, but he couldn’t ride a horse, so he hired a rice cart to carry him and his 5,000 taels of trade funds, along with two men to pull the cart for him. When they reached Xinzheng, the two men went to the marketplace to get something to eat and drink while Zhang remained lying down in the cart to watch over the money.

  A fellow named Jia was passing by and glanced at Zhang, noticing that no one else was with him, so he stole the money and ran off. Zhang had been unable to fend him off, but used what little strength his illness had left him to get up and follow the man from a distance until he finally stopped to enter a village; Zhang followed him as Jia entered a particular gate.

  Zhang didn’t dare enter there, but hid himself behind a short wall, where he could spy on the thief. Jia set down

  the money he’d been carrying, and when he turned his head, he spotted Zhang spying on him, so he angrily grabbed him as a thief, tied him up and took him to see magistrate Shi, where Jia gave him the circumstances of the incident. When the magistrate asked Zhang about what had happened, he gave a complete description of how he’d been wronged.

  _________

  Jinshi: A successful candidate in the highest level of the imperial civil service examination.

  Shi Zongyu: Courtesy name of Shi Ricong, who during the reign of Qing emperor Kangxi (1662-1723) became a jinshi (Zhu 3:1649n1).

  Changshan: Modern Zouping county, in Shandong province. Xinzheng: A county in modern Henan province.

  Shi couldn’t prove the truth of the matter clearly, so he sent them both away with a warning. When the two of them left, they complained that the official had been unable to settle their case. Once they were gone, however, Shi simply ignored their comments. He recollected, however, that Jia for quite some time had been neglecting to pay back debts, so he sent some underlings to pursue him.

  A day passed, then Jia just showed up with two or three silver taels to see him. Magistrate Shi asked Jia how he’d come to possess the silver. “I just pawned some clothing and other things for the money,” he replied. He then identified the name of the person to whom he’d pawned the items, to prove that he was telling the truth.

  The magistrate went with his servants to look for people who had known Jia for some time. Jia’s neighbor happened to be at home, so Shi called to him, “Since you and Jia are neighbors, you must know where he gets his money.”

  “I don’t know a thing about it,” the neighbor told him.

  Magistrate Shi commented to Jia, “Your neighbor’s family doesn’t know anything about how you got the money, so you must have acquired it illegally.”

  Jia got scared, turned to his neighbor and declared, “I pawned some stuff, sold some things off cheap, so how could you possibly know about that?”

  “Okay, I guess that makes sense,” the neighbor quickly replied.

  The magistrate angrily exclaimed, “You must have been in on the theft with Jia, so we’ll see if you still can’t help us after we try a bit of torture with our inquiries!” He ordered his servants to put shackles on the man.

  The neighbor grew frightened and said, “I took my neighbor’s side because I didn’t dare provoke his hatred; now that you’re about to torture me, there’s nothing to lose. In truth, he took Zhang’s money from the marketplace.” Then the magistrate had him released.

  Meanwhile, Zhang was delayed from returning home since he had no money, so Magistrate Shi ordered Jia to compensate him. In doing so, Shi was observed to be forthright in handling the cases of the magistrate’s office.

  The collector of these strange tales remarks, “Back when magistrate Shi was just a zhusheng, he was already known for his gentle manner, and I figured that although he would become an official due to his writing talent, he might be lacking the skills necessary for an official. Then when he became an official the first time, he was loudly praised for his virtue throughout the region north of the Yellow River. Who says that someone who writes well can’t also possess the ability to serve the public! That’s why I’ve recorded this—to give a warning to those who hold official positions.”

  _________

  Zhusheng: A successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial civil service examination.

  487. Li Xiangxian

  Li Xiangxian was a well-known figure from Shouguang. In a previous life, he’d been a monk at a certain temple who was tending to a fire when he suddenly dropped dead. His spirit left his body and perched above a memorial archway, where he looked down on the pedestrians in the marketplace, all of whom had fire blazing out of the tops of their heads, due to the yang energy in their bodies.

  That night, after dusk, he began to realize from his perch that he couldn’t really stay there for very long, but almost all of the nearby houses were completely dark, so he didn’t know where to go. Only one house still had a light shining inside it, so he floated down from his perch and headed for it.

  When he reached its gate, his body turned into a baby’s. He was suckling his mother’s breasts. The sight of the breasts shocked and frightened him; his stomach felt so hungry, however, that he shut his eyes and began sucking harder.

  After three months went by, he stopped suckling at the breasts, and if he was forced to do so again, he’d start crying. His mother took some rice congee with some jujube mashed in to feed him, and after a long while, he accepted it. This child was young Li Xiangxian.

  _________

  Shouguang: A county in Shandong province.

  Yang energy: The male elemental force; the opposite of yin energy.

  While he was a boy, he passed the temple where he’d lived in his previous life, and when he saw the monks there, he was able to call all of them by name. Even as an old man, he retained his fear of breasts.

  The collector of these strange tales remarks, “Li Xiangxian was profoundly learned and hence he became a prominent literary figure known throughout the region from Mt. Tai to the East China Sea. Esteemed as a talented person even when he was quite young, his entire career proceeded no further than xiucai, so wouldn’t a Buddhist have
said that he must not have behaved well in a previous life?

  “His younger brother was also a literary celebrity, but he contracted some kind of debilitating disease while he was a student and then after a few months he began to experience lustful impulses; these impulses would force him to get up quickly, ignoring his guests, and stand around like someone not from the household, before yelling and then rushing inside looking for sex, hence the maidservants all took to avoiding him; then when he’d return to the door, he’d become so debilitated again that he could neither enter the room nor leave it. The brothers were both strange men.”

  _________

  Xiucai: A successful candidate at the county level of the imperial civil service examination.

  488. Fang Wenshu

  Deng Chengde, from Kaifeng, traveled to study at Yanzhou, where he took up residence in a ruined temple after receiving a commission to copy out some books on household management. At the end of the year, the officials and their servants who’d also been working there all returned to their homes, leaving Deng alone in the temple. At dawn, a stunningly beautiful young woman knocked at the gate and entered, burnt incense and bowed in devotion to the Buddha, then left.

  The next day, she returned to make the same observances again. Later that night, just as Deng had lit a lantern and was stirring, the young woman arrived again, well before daylight. “Why have you come so early?” asked Deng.

  “There are always people here during the day,” explained the young lady, “which is why it’s better to come at night. But if I came too early, I was afraid I’d bother you while you were sleeping. I happened to see your lantern light in the distance, so I knew that you were up and that’s why I came.”

  Deng teased her, “There’s nobody here in the temple, so you could stay here without having to rush back and forth.”

  _________

  Kaifeng: A prefecture in Pu Songling’s time, now a city in Henan province.

  Yanzhou: A prefecture in Shandong province.

  The young lady smiled and remarked, “If there’s nobody in the temple, are you a ghost?” Deng saw that she was open to his advances, so he waited until she’d finished her devotions and then pulled her to sit down next to him, asking her to make love with him. “How can you say that in front of the Buddha,” she exclaimed. “You don’t even own a place to live, yet you have these absurd desires!” Deng relentlessly pleaded with her even more ardently.

  “There’s a village thirty li from here,” she told him, “where there are six or seven boys who’ve been unable to engage a teacher. If you go inquire for Li Qianchuan, you’ll be able to obtain the position from him. This’ll be our long-range plan: if you make the excuse that you’ve brought your family along with you, he can arrange for some housing for you, and I’ll take care of your cooking.”

  Deng thought the matter over, concerned that he might be punished for misrepresenting himself. “There’s no harm in it,” she replied. “My name’s Fang Wenshu and I have no relatives, and I usually spend the year living away from home in my uncle’s house, so no one will know.” Deng was overjoyed.

  After Fang left, Deng went to the village she mentioned to see Li Qianchuan, and everything went according to plan. They made arrangements for him to move his family there just before the New Year. Then Deng went back and told Fang what they’d agreed upon. Fang arranged to wait for Deng to pick her up beside the road. Deng told some of his colleagues about his intentions, then borrowed a horse and left.

  With Fang waiting for him at the midpoint along the road, he climbed down from the horse and handed the reins to her so she could ride it the rest of the way. When they reached the study where they would be living, they both felt very happy. Six or seven years went by with them living harmoniously as husband and wife, without Fang being pursued by anyone.

  _________

  Li: A distance equal to 1/3 mile.

  All of a sudden, Fang Wenshu gave birth to a son. Deng’s wife had never been able to give birth, so he was ecstatically happy and named the boy Yansheng. “After such a long time, our pretend marriage has been validated,” said Fang. “I was just about to say goodbye to you and take my leave, but the birth of this demanding little fellow means I can’t very well do that!”

  “We’re fortunate to have some extra money,” said Deng, “and I intended to take you to my hometown, so why are you saying you were going to leave?”

  “Oh thank you, thank you!” cried Fang. “But I can’t just shrug my shoulders and smile ingratiatingly as your wife glares at me, or work as someone’s servant while taking care of this tiresome baby!” Deng insisted that his wife wouldn’t be jealous, but Fang didn’t respond to his assurance.

  A month passed, then Deng resigned from his teaching position, planning to go into business with Li Qianchuan’s son. He told Fang, “I’ve been thinking about setting up this business proposition, since I certainly won’t get rich by teaching. Now that I’m training to be a traveling merchant, someday we’ll have the opportunity to return home.” Again, Fang made no reply.

  That night, Fang suddenly wrapped her arms around their son like she was planning to go somewhere. “What are you doing?” asked Deng.

  Fang told him, “I want to leave.” Deng quickly got up, chasing after her to ask why, and even though the door wasn’t open, she’d already vanished. In the shock of the moment, he realized that she wasn’t human.

  Since her disappearance was so mysterious, Deng didn’t dare mention it to anyone, explaining instead that she’d gone home to visit her parents.

  Originally, when Deng left home, he arranged with his wife, Lou, that he’d be sure to return by the end of the year; afterwards, when several years had elapsed without any word from him, rumors spread that he had died. Lou’s older brother knew she had no children, so he wanted Lou to remarry. Lou felt that she should maintain a three-year period of mourning from the time she accepted his death, so in the interim she devoted herself to nothing but weaving to support herself.

  One day after sunset, she was going to shut the door to the courtyard, when a woman holding a baby boy rushed in and told her, “I’m returning home to see my mother, and it’s late. I understand that you’re alone here, which is why I’ve come to ask if I might stay here for the night.” Lou invited her in.

  As she came into the room, Lou got a better look at her, noting that she was in her twenties and a real beauty. They happily shared the same bed, playing with the baby, who was as round as a gourd. With a sigh, Lou exclaimed, “Since I’m a widow, I don’t have anyone like this little character!”

  “I’m so exhausted from taking care of him, how would it be if I left him for you to adopt?” asked her visitor.

  “Surely you can’t be talking about parting with one you love so dearly,” responded Lou; “but even if you could bear to do so, I have no milk in my breasts for him.”

  “That’s no problem,” the young lady told her. “When he was born, I was worried because I had no milk for him, but I took half a dose of some medicine and then was able to nurse him. I still have some extra medicine left over that I’d gratefully give you.”

  Then she took out a wrapped bundle and set it on the windowsill. Lou didn’t really take any of this seriously, so she didn’t think it odd behavior.

  After they’d gone to sleep, she awakened later with a sudden start and discovered the baby there, but the mother already gone and the door wide open. Lou was quite shocked.

  In the morning, the baby started crying because it was hungry. Lou had no choice but to take the medicine, and in moments milk began to flow, enabling her to feed the baby.

  As a year passed, with the little boy growing ever fuller and rounder and beginning to try to speak, Lou grew to love him as though he was her own son. Hence after pondering the subject of whether to remarry or not, she made the decision that she wouldn’t. However, when she rose up early and took the child into her arms, she also realized that she wouldn’t be able do manual work and care fo
r him at the same time, which led her to become increasingly poor.

  One day, the young lady suddenly reappeared. Lou was afraid that she’d come to take the child away with her, so she first asked her if she realized how wrong it had been for her to abandon her baby, then described to her just how hard it had been for her to care for the child by herself. “By telling me about all the difficulties you faced,” smiled the young woman, “do you think I’m not going to take the baby back?” Then she grabbed away the little boy.

  The child, however, wailed pitifully until he was back in Lou’s arms. “The little thing doesn’t even recognize his own mother!” exclaimed the young lady. “But a hundred taels isn’t going to buy him away from me, I can guarantee you, even if you had that much to offer for him.”

  Lou’s face turned red as she realized this was true, but then the young woman laughed and added, “You shouldn’t worry, I’ve come for the sake of the child. After I left before, I thought over the fact that you didn’t have the money that you’d need in order to care for the baby, thus I’ve brought you ten taels or so to help.” Then she took out the money to give to Lou.

  Afraid that if she accepted the taels, the lady would demand the child in exchange, Lou refused them. The young woman instead placed them on Lou’s bed, then went out the door and followed the path that led away.

  Lou picked up the child and chased after her, but she was already receding into the far distance, and though Lou shouted to her, she didn’t turn around. Lou worried that she might have had some kind of evil intention towards the baby. Yet the taels might be loaned out to earn interest for them, which would provide them enough to live on.

  After three years, Deng, who’d made a good profit as a traveling merchant, gathered up all of his possessions and returned home. The couple took great mutual comfort in being reunited, but when Deng saw the little boy, he asked whose son he was. Lou told him how he’d come to be hers. “What’s his name?” asked Deng.