by Pu Songling
“I’m not,” replied Mi.
“Since he has no permanent home,” the person explained, “and he’s living abroad here for now, he doesn’t know all the local officials, even the most prominent and lofty ones. So since you’re not a relative, can you please forgive us for not recognizing you?” When Mi heard this, he felt rather abashed, but he’d already expressed his interest in joining the festivities.
Before long, two young men come out to see him, wearing magnificent clothing that dazzled the eye, their elegant bearing the epitome of refinement, and bowing politely with hands clasped, they invited Mi to enter.
Inside, he observed an old man seated with banquet tables lined up on either side of him, joined by seven or eight guests, all of whom appeared to be of aristocratic descent; when they saw the scholar enter, they all rose up in courteous acknowledgment, and with the aid of a cane, the old man also got to his feet. Mi stood there for some time while they exchanged greetings, but the old man in particular wouldn’t let him leave the celebration.
The two young men informed Mi, “Our father has grown frail, making it quite difficult for him to stand and express his respect, so we brothers wish to offer our thanks on his behalf to our worthy guest, who honors us with his presence.” Mi humbly and modestly thanked them for welcoming him.
Then they had another place added at the head of the table, so Mi could sit next to the old man. Before long, a female musician performed for them. Behind their seating area, colorfully-glazed screens had been set up, bearing a silk banner with birthday congratulations from the old man’s wife and children. The beating of the drums made it impossible for the seated guests to carry on a conversation.
Waiting until the music was finished, the two young men then got up, each grasping an enormous wine jar large enough to hold three dou, and encouraged their guests to drink up; Mi looked reluctant, but when he saw the other guests accepting wine from the jars, he joined in. Moments later, he looked around to see that the host and guests had already drained their own cups, so Mi had no alternative but to drink up and drain his, too.
The young men proceeded to refill the cups; Mi felt utterly exhausted, so he stood up and told them that he needed to go. The young men firmly grabbed his gown and held him back. Mi was so drunk that he fell to the ground, but then he felt something like cold water splash his face and suddenly he was conscious again.
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Three dou: These are hefty jars indeed—since one dou is equal to ten liters.
He stood up and looked around, discovering that the other guests had all dispersed, while one of the young men took him by the arm and accompanied him outside, where Mi took his leave and returned home. Afterwards, by the next time he passed the gates, the occupants had already moved away.
As he was returning to his own prefecture, he happened to pass through a marketplace where a man stepped out from his shop and called for Mi to come have a drink with him. When Mi looked at him, he didn’t recognize the man; but he followed him inside, where a fellow villager named Baozhuang was seated. Mi asked Baozhuang who the man was, learning that his name was Zhu, and that he made and sold mirrors in the marketplace.
“Have we met somewhere before?” he asked.
“Yesterday,” Zhu explained, “at the gentleman’s birthday party—do you know him?”
“No, I don’t,” Mi replied.
“I’ve been through his gate any number of times,” said Zhu. “The old gentleman’s name is Fu, though I don’t know his home province or what kind of official he was. But since it was his birthday, I came down the steps to greet you in his stead, which is why I recognize you now.” At nightfall, the drinkers went their separate ways.
It happened that Baozhuang was found dead that night by the roadside. His father didn’t know about anyone else who’d been with his son, so he held Mi responsible and filed a suit against him. When they checked Baozhuang’s body, they found a fatal wound, so Mi, accused of the murder, was shackled and taken into custody; Zhu was not arrested, so even though there was no evidence of Mi’s guilt in the crime, he was jailed. A year passed, during which time a circuit judge found Mi to be so upright and learned that the judge believed he had been unjustly accused and hence he was finally released.
He learned that his household and belongings had all been taken elsewhere, and he’d been stripped of his scholarly title; so hoping that he’d be able to resume his old life again, he took his bags and continued onward to his home prefecture. By sundown, he was so worn out from walking that he simply collapsed by the roadside.
In the distance, he saw a carriage appear, with two female servants following on either side of it, and as they drew closer to where they would pass by him, the carriage’s occupant suddenly ordered it to stop. It wasn’t clear what the person inside was saying, but after a bit, one of the servants approached to ask the scholar, “Isn’t your name Mi?” Startled, the scholar stood up and assured her it was. “Then how have you been reduced to these circumstances?” she wondered.
Mi told her about what had happened. “Are you alright now?” asked the servant. Mi replied that he was. The servant then walked away from him, turned to the carriage and said something to the person inside; then she immediately returned to Mi, inviting him to come nearer.
A pair of soft, feminine hands pulled up a curtain inside the carriage, and when Mi quickly glanced at the occupant, he discovered her to be a peerlessly beautiful woman. She told Mi, “It was unfortunate that you were involved in a crime despite being innocent, and I sighed when I heard about it. Today’s scholarly academy doesn’t admit those poor individuals who have nothing, but perhaps I have something to offer….”
Then from her coiled hair she pulled out a pearl hair clip, offering it to Mi, saying, “You can sell this thing for a hundred taels, so please take care of it until you can do so.” Mi bowed to her and wanted to ask if she belonged to some official’s family, but the carriage began moving again very quickly and they were already quite a distance away before Mi could ask her who she was. He took the hair clip and inspected it closely, finding it to be mounted with high-quality pearls and quite uncommon. He hid the treasure away carefully, then went on his way.
When he came to his home prefecture, he filed a formal complaint regarding everything he’d suffered; Mi took out the pearl hair clip and looked it over carefully, realizing that he couldn’t bear to sell it, so he put it away and continued homeward. When he arrived and no longer had a place to go home to, he had to rely upon his elder brother and his sister-in-law for help. Fortunately, his brother was a virtuous man and took care of Mi, so despite the scholar’s poverty, he didn’t have to give up his studies.
A year passed and while traveling to the prefectural headquarters to take the entry level imperial civil service examination, he got lost and found himself deep in the mountains. Because it was the occasion of the Qingming festival, there were many sightseers wandering around. Several girls arrived after having ridden there, including the young lady in the carriage.
When she saw Mi, she had her servant stop their horse and asked Mi where he was going. The scholar then explained the purpose of his journey. The young lady asked in surprise, “Why haven’t you resumed your scholarly title?”
Mi, embarrassed by his plain clothing, took out the pearled hair clip, and replied, “I couldn’t bear to part with this, which is why I’m still just a candidate for the lowest level of the civil service examination.” The young lady’s cheeks blushed and she advised Mi to sit down and rest beside the road for a while. The horse then proceeded on its way and they departed.
After a long time, a maidservant rode up on horseback, took out something that was wrapped up and gave it to Mi, informing him, “My lady says that today you’ll become a successful scholar as long as you enter the county school; she’s offering these two hundred taels to you, so keep going and make good use of this money.”
Mi said farewell to her, remarking, “Your la
dy has been kind to me many times! But I don’t think it’ll be hard for me to pass the entrance examination, so I don’t dare use this huge sum of money that she’s offered me. Yet if you could tell me her name, and give me a small picture of her so I could burn incense in obeisance to her each day, that would be plenty for me.” The maid, however, didn’t listen to him and simply left after dropping the money beside him. From then on, Mi no longer had to worry about expenses, though he never spent any of the money on bribes to guarantee himself a better outcome.
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Qingming festival: Also known as “Tomb-Sweeping Day,” the festival is a time “when families go out, sometimes for three consecutive days,” to honor their dead by “clearing weeds from the graves, cleaning up the tombs themselves, and making offerings” (Palmer 197).
After this, he earned his way to the top spot at the county school. He took the money and gave it to his elder brother; he was happy to receive it, but in three years, the family’s fortune was exhausted again.
It happened that the provincial governor in Fujian had been a student of Mi’s grandfather and very generously offered his support, so the brothers had the chance to make their family quite well-known. However, Mi was in the habit of being bluntly honest, and even though the great official’s family was close to his own, he felt unable to bring himself to speak with the governor and ask for any special favors.
One day, a wealthy visitor arrived at his gate, explaining that he didn’t know where he was. Mi came out to see him, learning that he was the son of old man Fu. Mi bowed respectfully to him and invited him to come inside, with each of them describing what had happened since the birthday celebration.
Mi ordered some food and wine prepared to share with Fu, and the visitor seemed progressively to have less and less to say, but didn’t seem anxious to leave, either. Later, when Mi was ready for them to enjoy the food and wine, the gentleman got up and asked if he might speak with him alone; no sooner had they retired to a private room, than the gentleman prostrated himself on the ground.
Startled, Mi asked him why he was doing this. With a sorrowful tone, the man replied, “My father happens to have suffered a great misfortune, so I wished to ask you to request a favor from the provincial governor, which only you could handle.”
Mi declined, saying, “Even though our families have had a friendship spanning generations, I don’t ask for personal favors, and it’s something I haven’t done for my entire life.” The gentleman remained on the ground, weeping sorrowfully. With stern countenance, Mi told him, “We’ve become friends over drinks, but how is that an excuse for you to lose control and try to force someone to do something like this!” The gentleman felt quite ashamed, so he got up from the ground and left.
The following day, while Mi was sitting by himself, the same maidservant who’d offered him all the money when he was lost in the mountains, entered and stared at him. Mi, surprised, stood up as she asked, “Did you forget about the pearl hair clasp?”
“Oh no, not at all,” replied the scholar, “I couldn’t possibly forget about it.”
“The gentleman you met yesterday is my lady’s elder brother,” she explained.
When Mi heard this, he was secretly pleased, but he pretended to feel otherwise: “I find this difficult to believe. If your lady had seen me in person to tell me this, I would’ve regarded it as a life and death matter; otherwise, I can’t really take you seriously.” The maidservant went back outside and rode away on her horse.
Midway through the third watch, she returned again, held the door open as she entered and announced, “My lady is coming.” Accordingly, before long, the distressed-looking young lady entered, turned to face the wall and began weeping without saying a word. Mi courteously greeted her, saying, “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have become the person I am today. If you have something to ask of me, I won’t refuse for any reason!”
“The person from whom others ask a favor is always confident,” she answered him, “while the one who asks the favor is always timid. I’ve rushed here at midnight—and how could you understand how bitter that is to me—so I’m the timid one and you don’t have to say anything!”
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Third watch: Approximately 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., the third of the five two-hour divisions of the night; so the servant is returning at about midnight.
Mi tried to calm her, then explained, “The only reason I can’t consent immediately is that I’m afraid that in doing so, I might miss the opportunity to see you again. I know that making you hurry out at midnight is a crime on my part!” Then he began pulling at her sleeves, trying to appear nonchalant while secretly trying to touch her arms.
The young lady was furious as she cried, “You’re an evil man! You don’t consider the favor that you owed me and now you want to take advantage of someone else’s misfortune. You’re wrong! You’re so wrong!”
She stormed out angrily, intending to climb into her carriage and leave. Mi chased out after her to apologize for his misconduct and knelt submissively to stop her from leaving. The maidservant also tried to intercede on Mi’s behalf.
The lady relaxed her attitude towards him a bit and as she approached the carriage, she told the scholar, “Here’s the truth of the matter: I’m not a human being, but the daughter of a god. My father is the Hengshan god honored at Nanyue, but he happened to commit a certain breach of etiquette towards Diguan, and word of it reached the hearing of the heavenly emperor; if the provincial governor doesn’t agree to provide his official seal on the paperwork, my father’s issue won’t be resolved. If you haven’t forgotten my former benevolence towards you, please ask for this letter to be officially sealed for me.” As she finished speaking, she stepped into her carriage and then was gone.
Mi returned home, but couldn’t stop feeling worried. Thus he immediately drove to the governor’s residence to speak with him. The governor said that the dispute apparently involved the casting of spells, so he couldn’t agree to allow the seal’s use. Yet once Mi offered one of the governor’s underlings a significant bribe, he agreed to cooperate, but wouldn’t do anything right then.
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Hengshan god honored at Nanyue: Hengshan, located in central Hunan province, is one of China’s Five Sacred Mountains. Nanyue Temple is the largest of the many temples on the mountain, with its local deity, the Nanyue God Emperor.
Diguan: One of the Three Officials in Daoist belief, Diguan’s charge is to deal with matters in the earthly realm involving both mortals and non-mortal creatures.
After Mi returned home, the maidservant was waiting at his gate and once he’d told her everything that had happened, she remained silent and left, acting like she resented his disloyalty. Mi ran to catch up with her and said, “When you return home, tell your lady that if things don’t turn out as we agreed, she can take me and order my death!”
Later on, tossing and turning all night, he realized he had no idea how things were going to turn out.
It happened that one of the emperor’s favorite concubines, who’d come to purchase some pearls, was in the provincial governor’s office, so Mi offered her the pearl hair clasp as a present. The beauty was so greatly pleased that she secretly stole the seal for the paperwork to be marked.
Just as Mi was arriving back home, the maidservant happened to appear. With a laugh, he said to her, “It’s sheer luck that I haven’t failed to accomplish your mission. While enduring several years of being poor and humble, begging for food, I never gave up that clasp till now, when I sacrificed it for its owner!”
Then he began to explain what had transpired, continuing, “I refuse to be pitied for tossing away my wealth. But please inform your lady that I wish her to compensate me for that pearl hair clasp.”
Several days passed, then Fu’s son appeared in Mi’s hall to express his gratitude, offering Mi a hundred gold taels. Mi blushed in shame and exclaimed, “I did what
I did because of your younger sister’s unselfish favor to me; otherwise, what amount of money and property could be sufficient for me to compromise my moral integrity!” While speaking, his voice and facial expression became increasingly severe.
Fu’s son, mortified, took his leave, exclaiming, “This business isn’t over!”
The next day, the maidservant carried out the orders of her lady, bringing with her a hundred exquisite pearls, and asking, “Are these enough to compensate you for the pearl hair clasp?”
“What I value is what’s behind the pearls,” Mi replied, “not the pearls themselves. I can imagine being offered some vast treasure that I could sell off the same day to make myself a wealthy man; yet I’d rather just wrap it up, remaining poor and humble—and why? Your lady is a goddess, so how dare I hope for anything from her, but if by chance I’ve been fortunate enough to repay her great kindness, then I can die without any regrets!” The maidservant set the pearls on a table, while Mi paid his respects to her, but rejected them.
When several days had passed, Fu’s son came to see him. Mi gave instructions for food and wine to be set out. Fu sent his servants into Mi’s kitchen, where they cooked the dishes, while the two men sat together and drank uninhibitedly, as merrily as if they were kinsmen.
One of Mi’s guests had recently presented him a gift of kunuo, which Fu tasted and found so exquisite that he drained a hundred small winecups of it, his cheeks turning rosy red, and then he told the scholar, “You’re a faithful, honest scholar, and it’s stupid that I didn’t recognize this about you sooner, what my sister had already understood. In my family, you’re esteemed as someone of great virtue, so if you won’t accept reward from us, we’d like you to take my sister in marriage, but we’re afraid you might view this with suspicion, too.” Mi felt both extremely happy and extremely nervous, uncertain about what the best course of action would be.
The gentleman took his leave and headed outside, saying, “Tomorrow night is the ninth day of the seventh lunar month, there’ll be a new moon, and Gouchen’s star will be visible, while the Weaving Girl’s star will also appear, marking an auspicious time, so we can begin decorating for the event.”