Strange Tales from Liaozhai--Volume 5

by Pu Songling

  Lady Liu had two grandsons, the older grandson being Liu Jingqing; the younger grandson was Liu Yuqing, and both men were drunkards, scoundrels, and indigent as well. When the brothers paid Lian a visit to express their gratitude for the memorial, he generously gave them both some money. Thereafter, they kept up constant contact with him, skillfully insinuating themselves into his life.

  When Lian described the reason why he’d experienced such success in conducting business, Yuqing secretly thought that there might be a lot of money in lady Liu’s grave—thus one night when he had a number of lackeys dig up the grave to search it, they tore open her coffin, exposing a rotted corpse and nothing at all to scavenge inside, so the hirelings lost their nerve and ran away. When Lian learned that the grave had been disturbed, he sent word to Jingqing.

  _______________________________

  A hundred mu: Since one mu equals 1/6 acre, Lian purchased about 16.66 acres of land.

  Jingqing came to see Lian so they could examine it together, and when they stepped into the open grave, they saw stacks and stacks of taels piled up there on the coffin lid. Jingqing wanted to split it up between them. Lian, however, told him, “Lady Liu saved this, and kept it for you.” Jingqing then collected the money into bags and carried it home before reporting the grave desecration to the county magistrate, who assured him that he would investigate the incident very seriously.

  After that, a man was caught trying to sell a hairpin he’d taken from lady Liu’s gravesite, and when he was interrogated about whom he was working for, it came out that Yuqing was the instigator. The magistrate was on the verge of having Yuqing put to death; Jingqing made such a sorrowful plea on his behalf, however, that the magistrate allowed him to buy his brother’s release.

  The two Liu brothers worked alongside Lian to see that the damage to the gravesite was all repaired, until it was even more solid and beautiful than before. From that time forward, Lian and Liu Jingqing were both wealthy men, and only Yuqing remained as poor as he’d always been. Lian and Jingqing often tried to help him out, but finally they couldn’t continue supplying him funds for his gambling habit.

  One night, robbers entered Lian’s home, captured the scholar and demanded that he give them his money. When Lian took it out of concealment to show them, there was fifteen hundred taels in each parcel he brought out. The robbers grabbed two of the parcels, then in the stable they found the horse that lady Liu had given Lian, so they used it to carry what they’d stolen. They proceeded to kidnap Lian and headed out of town with him.

  A crowd of villagers saw the robbers’ torches from a distance and loudly chased after them; the frightened thieves fled. When the group came to the place where they’d seen the robbers, they found the taels abandoned by the roadside, and the horse had already returned to dust. Thus Lian realized that the horse, like lady Liu herself, was also a ghost.

  It turned out that the only thing lost that night had been a gold bracelet. Earlier that night, the robbers had seized Lian’s wife, attracted by her beauty, and were just about to rape her when one of the robbers with a scarf wrapped around his face forcefully shouted for them to stop—and his voice sounded like Yuqing’s. The thieves then let the wife go, but one of them stripped the bracelet from her wrist and left. Lian suspected that Yuqing was behind the robbery, but in his heart he also appreciated that the Liu brother had spoken up to save his wife.

  After the robber took the bracelet and pawned it for gambling money, he was caught and arrested, then under interrogation revealed Yuqing’s responsibility. The magistrate was furious so he had Yuqing heavily shackled, beaten, and subjected to a finger press. Liu Jingqing and Lian strategized together, intending to offer a heavy bribe to save Yuqing, but they were too late, for the torture had already killed him.

  Still, from time to time, Lian compassionately offered assistance to Yuqing’s wife and child. Lian afterwards succeeded in passing the imperial civil service examination at the provincial level, and for several generations his family remained wealthy.

  Alas! The character for “greediness” is quite strikingly similar in appearance to the one for “poverty.” Hopefully this story will serve as a mirror for anyone who’s like Yuqing!

  _______________________________

  Finger press: The zanzhi (拶指; literally, “crush fingers”), a Chinese variant on the thumbscrew, employed the placement of a set of sticks, connected by string, between the fingers of a prisoner’s hand; the string could be pulled progressively tighter, eventually crushing the fingers.

  “Greediness” . . . “poverty”: Both characters employ the cowrie shell radical (the cowrie was an ancient Chinese currency): 贪 (tan, covetous, greedy) and 贫 (pin, poor, impoverished).

  386. The Lingxian Fox

  Court Historian Li, of Lingxian, noticed that the ancient vases, pots, and other antiques in his home were continually being lined up along the edges of his tables, so they were constantly in danger of toppling over. He suspected it was his servants’ doing, so he kept denouncing them angrily.

  The servants responded that he was treating them unfairly, that they didn’t know anything about it, and hence he started firmly shutting and locking the door to his studio at night, but by the next day it would start up again. The servants found this rather strange, so they secretly kept watch on the room.

  One night, a bright light came shining out of the room and they wondered whether thieves had broken into the studio. When two of the servants went to sneak a peek, they spotted a fox lying on a case, and they saw that the light was emanating from the eyes of the creature, brilliantly, in all four directions.

  They were afraid the fox might try to get away, so they rushed in and captured it. The fox bit the flesh of their wrists like it wanted to rip it off, so the servants held onto it even more tightly, then worked jointly to tie it up. When they picked it up to examine it, they discovered that there were apparently no bones in its feet, for they shook them floppily with their hands, as if the feet were just sashes hanging there.

  _______________________________

  Court Historian Li, of Lingxian: Zhu notes that there are no details available about either Li or Lingxian (3:1293n1).

  Since Li realized that the fox possessed supernatural powers, he couldn’t bring himself to have it killed; when he had it covered with a cage made of willow, it couldn’t get out, but it could still move around inside the cage. This incarceration gave them proof that the fox had indeed been guilty, and once they released it, the strange occurrences ceased altogether.

  387. Peddler Wang

  There was a certain old man from Jinan who ran a wine shop and would send his second son out to collect from customers who hadn’t paid off their drinking debts. As the son was heading out the city’s west gates one day, he spotted his elder brother, A-Da—who by then had been dead for quite a long time.

  “Big brother, how have you come to be here?” he cried in shock.

  A-Da replied, “There’s an unsettled case in the underworld, and they’re waiting for you to offer testimony.” The younger brother blushed as he balked and rejected the notion that he had anything worth saying. A-Da pointed to a man who looked like a yamen runner, and explained, “The official’s servant is right there, so what choice do you think we have!”

  Waving at him urgently, A-Da summoned his younger brother, so the latter followed and after running around madly all night long, they arrived at the base of Mt. Tai. Suddenly the younger brother saw the office of a government agency and just as they were about to enter it, he noticed a crowd of people busily exiting the building. The official’s servant greeted these people courteously with folded hands and asked, “How’d the matter turn out?”

  _______________________________

  Jinan: Capital of Shandong province.

  Yamen runner: A servant (in capacities as varied as messenger, bodyguard, door-keeper, etc.) of a government office (yamen 衙门).

  Mt. Tai: One of the Five Great Moutains (五岳
), located north of the city of Tai’an, in Shandong province.

  One man answered, “There’s no need for him to go in, it’s all been settled.” The servant then explained to the younger brother that he was free to return home. A-Da, however, was worried that his brother wouldn’t receive any compensation to cover his travel expenses.

  After the servant thought about this for a good long while, he led the younger brother away, walking twenty or thirty li until they entered a village, and as they passed underneath the eaves of a particular house, the servant advised him, “If someone comes out, you have to ask him to send you back; but if he’s not willing to help out, just mention Peddler Wang and that’ll settle the matter.” Then he left.

  The younger brother then lost consciousness and fell down, stiff as a corpse. Just after daybreak, the owner of the house came out, saw the apparently dead man just outside his door and was terribly startled. As he watched, the younger brother started moving, reviving a little; once the homeowner had helped him inside and given him some tidbits to eat, the younger brother began to describe where he lived, begging the man for help so he could get home.

  The homeowner said that he didn’t think he’d be able to do anything for him. A-Da’s brother then related what the underworld official’s servant had told him, mentioning Peddler Wang. The homeowner seemed frightened to death by this, quickly arranged to hire a horse for him, and then accompanied him home.

  When the younger brother attempted to repay him for doing this, the man refused to accept anything; A-Da’s brother asked him why, but the man wouldn’t say, instead simply waving farewell and departing.

  _______________________________

  Li: A distance equal to 1/3 mile.

  388. The Exhausted Dragons

  Wang Shiyu, from Jiaozhou, was traveling on a diplomatic mission to Liuqiu. As his boat was making progress, suddenly an enormous dragon emerged from a cloud bank and dove into the sea, stirring the water into waves several zhang in height. While half of the dragon surfaced on the water, and half remained submerged, it raised its head and rested its chin on the boat; its eyes were half shut, like it was tired and didn’t know what to do about something.

  Everyone in the boat was terribly frightened, so they stopped rowing and didn’t dare make the slightest movement. The boat’s captain declared, “This dragon’s exhausted from making the sky rain.” Wang, bearing his imperial edict as authority, burnt some incense and invoked blessings on the dragon. In moments, the dragon slipped away peacefully.

  As the boat began proceeding onward, another dragon fell from the sky, about the size of the first one. This happened three or four times that day. The next day, the boatmen were instructed to prepare a lot of rice, with the warning, “We’re not far away from where the water runs clear and deep. If it happens that you see something there, just scatter rice over the water, and it’ll stay still, without being stirred up.”

  _______________________________

  Jiaozhou: In modern Shandong province’s Jiao county.

  Liuqiu: The modern Ryukyu Archipelago in Japan.

  Zhang: A measure equal to 3.33 meters.

  Presently they arrived at the place where the water was so crystal clear that they could see all the way to the bottom. There was a swarm of dragons below, multicolored like glazed pots or jars, with stunning stripes. As they gently undulated, the observers could clearly distinguish their scales, manes, talons, and teeth. The entire group felt quite frightened—barely breathing, their eyes shut, not only as if there was something they didn’t dare look at, but also like they just couldn’t even move.

  Thus the boatmen took up the rice and began scattering it into the water. A long time passed, then they saw the waves turn dark black and began to hear a sound like someone groaning. Subsequently, when Wang asked the reason for throwing the rice into the water, the captain replied, “Dragons are deathly afraid of maggots, fearing that they’ll get underneath their scales. The rice looks like maggots, so when the dragons see it, they always avoid it, and hence the boat can continue on its way, without any further danger.”

  389. Scholar Zhen

  Scholar Jia Zilong, from Chang’an, happened to be passing through a nearby lane when he met a fellow of flawless appearance. Upon inquiring, he learned that the man was scholar Zhen, who made his home in Xianyang. Jia felt immediate admiration for him. The next day, he went to pay him a visit, but found that he’d just left; he tried three more times to see him, without success.

  Then he privately sent a man to keep an eye on the place where Zhen was living, so he could subsequently inform Jia that Zhen had just walked in and hence wouldn’t be going right back out; but by the time Jia would arrive, Zhen would’ve already slipped out again. When, eventually, Jia finally managed to catch up with Zhen, and they had a good heart-to-heart talk, the scholars discovered that they’d really enjoyed their conversation.

  Jia consequently visited Zhen at the inn where he was staying and sent a boy servant out to buy some wine for them. Zhen could drink a lot and proved to be quite adept at telling jokes, so Jia liked him very much. Just as the wine was about to run out, Zhen hunted around in a trunk and brought out a bottomless jade wine goblet, then as soon as he poured any wine into it, it was suddenly almost full; subsequently, when he ladled wine from it into smaller wine cups, the goblet remained as full as ever.

  _______________________________

  Chang’an: Capital of China from the Han (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) through the Tang (618-907) dynasties.

  Xianyang: Former capital of Shaanxi province.

  Jia found this extraordinary and implored Zhen to teach him the magic that made it possible. “The reason I’ve been reluctant to establish contact with you,” replied Zhen, “is simply that greediness is a bit of a weak point for you, and unfortunately it can’t be resolved. Since this is a magic that must remain hidden to all but the celestials, I couldn’t possibly teach it to you.”

  “That’s not fair!” cried Jia. “There’s no way I’m greedy. If there are times when I express some wild wishes, it’s merely because I’m so poor.” They had a laugh about it and let the matter drop.

  From this point forward, they were continuously visiting each other, like best friends. Whenever it happened that Jia was embarrassed to find himself short of money, Zhen would take out a chunk of black stone, speak an incantation over it, then rub it on some worthless debris that at once would turn to silver which he’d subsequently present to Jia; but there was only ever just enough for him to use, never any extra. Jia always begged him for more, to which Zhen would reply, “Oh yes, I said you were greedy, uh-huh!”

  Jia realized that he certainly wasn’t going to get what he was after this way, so he figured he’d take advantage—the next time Zhen got drunk and fell asleep—to steal the stone and coerce Zhen into explaining how to use it. One day, when they were lying down after drinking, Jia stealthily got up and began searching Zhen’s clothing for the stone.

  Zhen sensed him doing this and exclaimed, “You really have lost your mind—I can’t stay here any longer!” Then he said goodbye, moved out of his lodgings and left for good.

  After a year went by, Jia happened to be wandering along the Yellow River when he noticed an unblemished stone that was just like the one Zhen owned. He picked it up, hiding it away like it was a treasured jewel. Several days later, Zhen suddenly appeared, looking frantic, as if he’d lost something. Jia tried to comfort him, and asked what was wrong. “What you saw before was a stone from the celestials for transmuting elements into precious metal,” he answered. “Some time ago, I was a follower of Bao Zhenzi in his travels and because he felt sympathy for me, he bequeathed the stone to me. I lost it after I’d been drinking, so I drew on my powers of divination to determine that it’s in your possession. If you’ll kindly return it to me, I guarantee I won’t forget to repay you.”

  _______________________________

  Yellow River: China’s second-longest river, flowing eastwa
rd from Qinghai province to the Bohai Sea.

  Jia smiled as he told him, “I’ve never cheated a friend in my entire life, and your divination was correct. Yet I know that Guan Zhong would’ve remained poor if not for his friend, Bao Shuya, so what are you going to do for me?” Zhen offered to give him a hundred taels. “One hundred taels is no small amount,” replied Jia, “but if instead you tell me the incantation you used, then I can test it for myself and I’d have no regrets ever again.”

  Zhen feared that Jia was untrustworthy. “You’re an immortal,” Jia declared, “so how can you not know that I always come through for my friends!” Zhen then related the incantation to him in anticipation of leaving. Jia turned to an enormous stone lying on the ground and was just about to test the incantation, when Zhen grabbed him by the elbow to restrain him from choosing the enormous stone.

  Then Jia bent down and picked up a broken brick, set it on a large stone, and said, “So, this isn’t too large, is it?” Zhen accordingly allowed him to proceed. Jia, however, didn’t rub the stone against the brick, but against the large stone; Zhen’s face reddened with anger and he wanted to take the magical stone from Jia, but it was too late, for the large stone had already been transformed entirely to silver. Then Jia handed the magical stone back to Zhen.

  _______________________________

  Bao Zhenzi: A Qing-era author of dialogues on neidan (内丹), Daoist alchemy.

  Guan Zhong . . . Bao Shuya: Guan Yiwu (c. 720-645 B.C.E.), whose courtesy named was Zhong, was appointed Prime Minister by Duke Huan of the state of Qi—at the urging of Guan’s dear friend, Bao Shuya (b. 644 B.C.E.)—and eventually was responsible for a wide range of economic policies (including developing monopolies on key trade supplies).

  With a sigh, Zhen told him, “There’s nothing to be said in this matter now. But whenever a person rashly takes such a blessing and uses it just to increase personal wealth, he inevitably incurs the wrath of heaven. For you to help me to alleviate my own guilt in this, I need you to donate a hundred coffins and a hundred cotton jackets for the poor—will you do that?”