Strange Tales from Liaozhai--Volume 5

by Pu Songling

  Before long, a man with an imposing physique arrived and dumped in some grain. Shen was so scared that he didn’t dare even flinch. Fortunately, the man was couldn’t see him and left afterwards.

  Peeking out moments later, Shen saw him climb over the wall into the village. He remembered that there was a wealthy member of the Kang family living just on the other side of the wall and figured this man must be some kind of burglar, so Shen waited for him to collect his take and come back out, counting on catching up with the man in hopes of getting a share of it.

  Then he thought to himself: this man looks like a powerful fellow, so if he doesn’t agree to give me anything, I’ll definitely have to use force to take it.

  Since he didn’t believe he had the strength to do this, he reckoned on taking advantage of the fact that the man wasn’t prepared for him. Once he’d settled upon this plan, he hid in wait for a favorable opportunity.

  Just before the cock’s crow, the man started climbing back over the wall. Shen sprang up before the man’s feet had even touched the ground, and wielding the rice pounder, he smashed him in the spine so the man fell down—no longer human, but now an enormous turtle, with its mouth gaping open like a pot. Horrified by this development, Shen began repeatedly striking the thing, finally succeeding in killing it.

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  Li: A distance equal to 1/3 mile.

  It happened that old master Kang had a daughter who was incomparably kind and beautiful, and whom her parents both loved very dearly. One night, a bold man entered their home and forced her to make love with him. She wanted to scream, but he put his tongue into her mouth and soon she passed out, allowing him to finish having his way with her and leave.

  Afraid of the humiliation if word of the matter got out, the daughter gathered their family’s many maidservants together in one room and bolted shut the door. After she’d gone to bed, she was surprised to see the door open; once the man entered the room, all of the maidservants passed out and were raped by him.

  As a result, she told each of them how appalling she found such behavior, then she informed her father about what had happened; Kang warned everyone in the household that he was going to have soldiers surround the maids’ quarters, then he stationed other servants with candles to sit and keep watch in those quarters.

  When it drew close to midnight and everyone inside and outside started to fall asleep, suddenly they awoke as from a dream and Kang saw his daughter lying naked in bed, acting as though she’d gone insane—but only after she’d fallen back asleep for quite a while did she actually wake up. Kang felt an intense hatred of the man responsible for his daughter’s suffering, but didn’t know what he could do about it.

  After a few months, his daughter became dangerously thin. Kang told everyone he met, “To anyone who kills the man responsible for this crime, I’ll offer three hundred taels in gratitude.”

  Shen also happened to hear about the incident. That very night, when he killed the turtle demon, he realized that the thing must’ve also posed as the man who dishonored Kang’s daughter. Thus he knocked at Kang’s door and offered to give the old man the proof of his deed.

  The overjoyed Kang insisted that Shen come in and have a seat while he sent servants out to carry the turtle into the courtyard, where he had its meat cut up into small slices. The old man persuaded Shen to stay the night, then the next day shared the turtle meat with him and paid in full what he’d promised. Shen consequently hoisted the taels over his shoulder and returned home.

  When Shen didn’t return home the entire night, his wife became worried about him; thus when she saw him come in, she quickly asked him what had happened. Shen didn’t answer, but simply took out the taels and laid them on their bed. Counting them all, his wife could hardly believe it, exclaiming in astonishment, “You really did rob someone!”

  “You forced me into this,” Shen answered, “so why make it sound like such a surprise?”

  In tears, his wife answered him, “What I said before was just to tease you. Now you’ve surely committed some kind of fatal crime, and I can’t let you involve me in a life of thievery. I’d rather die first!” Then she rushed out.

  Shen quickly chased after her, laughing as he pulled her back inside and told her the truth about what’d happened, which made his wife much happier. Henceforward, Shen lived as a wealthy man.

  The collector of these strange tales remarks, “People shouldn’t worry about being poor, but rather about having no moral scruples. A man with moral scruples won’t die, even if he’s starving; even if other people won’t take pity on him, ghosts will protect him. There are poor in our world and if they forget human obligations when there are benefits they can receive, or forget humiliation just in order to obtain some food, other people will never dare trust them—so how could the spirits forgive them!”

  Among some poor people in my town, there was a certain man named Yi, and as it neared the end of the year, he found himself without even a complete set of clothes to wear. He thought to himself: how am I ever going to make it past the end of the year? He didn’t dare talk to his wife about it, so he decided to arm himself with a club, then went out and hid himself near a tomb, hoping that some lone traveler would happen by so he could rob him of all his possessions.

  Yi eagerly watched for a target to pass by, but there were no signs of anyone in the vicinity; after awhile, the cold wind blowing through the trees began to pierce him to the bones, to the point that he just couldn’t stand it any longer. Just as he was about to give up, suddenly he saw a hunchbacked man appear. He felt exultant, grabbed his club, and hastily emerged from his hiding place.

  With a bag over his back as he walked down the left side of the path, the old man dolefully pleaded, “I don’t have anything of value to give you. My family has had so little to eat, I had to go to my son-in-law’s home and beg for him to give me five sheng of rice.” Yi tore the bag of rice away from him, but also wanted to take the old man’s cotton jacket. Yet he left it alone since the man was old, let him go, then hefted the bag over his shoulder and returned home.

  When his wife asked him how he’d come by the rice, he lied that a “gambling debt” had been paid. Yi privately thought his plan had worked out perfectly. The next night, he went out again.

  He hadn’t been at his spot for very long when he saw a man who was carrying a club over his shoulder arrive, toss the club down next to one of the tombs there, then squat down and scan the whole area as if he was there for the same reason as Yi. Yi proceeded to hang back, hiding behind the tombs, rather than coming out. The other man then seemed startled and cried out, “Who’s there?”

  “A fellow professional,” Yi answered.

  “So why haven’t you started to work?” the man asked.

  Yi replied, “I’ve been waiting for you.” The other man couldn’t keep himself from laughing at this. Each of them explained his circumstances to the other, revealing that they’d taken this course of action to avoid suffering from hunger and cold.

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  Sheng: This can variously signify volumes equal to a liter (wet) or to a pint (dry).

  The night had already grown dark, so it was unlikely that anyone would be coming by for them to rob. When Yi expressed his desire to go home, the other man replied, “Even though you claim to have chosen this way of life, you’re acting like someone with no experience at all. In front of the nearby village, there’s a family preparing to celebrate their daughter’s marriage and if we manage to slip in there at midnight, we’ll have the whole family at our mercy. Follow me, and we’ll each get a fair share.” This plan delighted Yi, so he went along with it.

  They came to a gate where they heard the sounds of people inside making steamed cakes, indicating that they weren’t yet asleep, so they hid and waited. Not much later, when a man opened and shut the door, then came out carrying a large staff over his shoulder like he intended to draw water from the well, Yi and the other m
an took advantage of the opportunity to slip inside.

  They saw lights shining from a room on the north side while all the other rooms were pitch black. Then they heard an old woman say, “Young mistress, I was able to arrange things in the east room so you can find them, with everything from your trousseau placed in a trunk there, but I forgot and left it unlocked.” They heard the young woman make a casual, dismissive sound.

  The two intruders were privately exultant and stealthily hurried to the east room, where in the dark they fumbled around until they found a trunk lying on the floor; they opened its cover and began sifting through its contents, though in the shadows they couldn’t see the bottom of it. “Dig in!” the other man told Yi. Consequently, Yi reached in, found something that was wrapped up, took it, passed it to the other man and started to leave. “Is that all you’re taking?” demanded his partner.

  “That’s it,” said Yi.

  The other man sneered with mocking derision, “You’d better take another look.” When Yi did so, the man pushed him in, shut the case, locked it and hurried away.

  Yi meanwhile, trapped inside, became nervously overwrought, unable to think of any way to get out. Almost immediately, bright lights appeared in the room, shining first upon the case. Yi heard the old woman say, “Someone’s already locked it up.” Thereupon, the young woman’s mother joined her in sitting on a bed as they blew out their candles. Frantic, Yi began making a sound like a rat grawing on something.

  “There’s a rat in the trunk!” cried the young woman.

  The old woman replied, “It won’t ruin anything but some of your wardrobe. I’m too tired to deal with it now, but you can take a look for yourself.” The young woman shook out her clothing then proceeded to open up the trunk.

  Yi immediately jumped out, while the startled young woman fainted. He pulled the door shut as he ran out and even though he was leaving empty-handed, Yi considered himself lucky to have avoided being caught.

  Realizing that they had been burglarized, the bride-to-be’s family spread the news in all directions. Someone suggested that Yi was responsible. Scared of being caught, Yi fled a hundred li to the east, where an innkeeper hired him to work as a servant.

  A year passed and rumors about the incident eased up, so Yi was finally able to pick up his wife and bring her to live with him, without engaging in robbery. This is how he told the story to me, and since it was similar to the story of the Shen family, I decided to put the two of them together.

  411. Hengniang

  Hong Daye lived in the national capital with a wife named Zhu, who was extremely attractive, and the two were quite in love with each other. As time passed, Hong made a maidservant named Baodai his concubine, and though she was not as lovely as Zhu, he cherished her nevertheless. Zhu grew indignant over this and hence the couple began to quarrel. Though Hong didn’t dare openly spend the night in his concubine’s room, he began nevertheless to consider Baodai even more dear to him, neglecting Zhu.

  Eventually, Hong moved into a new residence, becoming neighbors with a silk merchant named Di. After some time had passed, Di’s wife, Hengniang, made a point of coming over to visit Zhu. Hengniang was about thirty, possessed rather average looks, but was a lively conversationalist. Zhu found her company very pleasant.

  The following day, when Zhu came to pay her respects to Hengniang, she noticed that there was also a concubine in the Di household who was about twenty and quite lovely. They’d been neighbors for almost six months, yet Zhu had never heard even the slightest rumor of any discord next door; for Di loved no one but Hengniang and the concubine had little actual position in their home.

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  Zhu . . . Baodai: Both “valuable” women, as Zhu means “pearl” and Baodai means “jeweled belt.”

  When Zhu saw Hengniang one day, she asked her, “I’ve felt in the past that my husband loved his concubine simply because of what she was and that he really wanted her for his wife, so he was calling her his ‘concubine’ in name only. Now I realize that maybe that wasn’t the case at all. What’s your approach for dealing with your husband? If you’ll teach me, I’ll be forever beholden to you.”

  “My, my!” exclaimed Hengniang. “You’ve driven him away from you, and yet you think it’s his doing? From morning till night, he hears your tiresome complaints pushing him away, increasing his desire to leave! The next time he comes to sleep with you, enthusiastic about making love, don’t let him in. After a month goes by, we’ll confer again, and I’ll give you the next part of the plan.”

  Zhu did as she advised, heaping adornments on Baodai and then sending her to sleep with Hong. Whenever she ate and drank together with Hong, she invited Baodai to join them. But any time that Hong wished to be intimate with Zhu, she resisted him, driving him even more strongly into Baodai’s arms, until hence others began to comment on Zhu’s remarkably magnanimous nature.

  A month went by this way, then Zhu went to see Hengniang. Pleased, Hengniang declared, “Enough of that tactic! Return home and completely change your appearance—don’t wear nice clothing, don’t put on any make-up or wash your face, and wear worn-out shoes, as though you’re just one of the servants doing manual labor. In another month, you can come back for more advice.”

  Zhu did as she suggested: she dressed in patched clothing, didn’t clean herself up, and engaged in spinning and weaving without the least complaint or questioning. Hong took pity on her and sent Baodai to take over part of the work she was doing; Zhu, however, wouldn’t accept the help and kept complaining about her until Baodai left.

  Things went this way for another month and then Zhu went back to see Hengniang. “You’ve done exactly as I suggested!” she said. “The day after tomorrow is the Shangsi Festival, so I’d like to invite you to come along with me to walk through some springtime gardens. You should replace your worn-out clothing with a fine robe, stockings and shoes, all completely new, and come to see me early in the morning.”

  “I’ll be there,” Zhu replied.

  When the day of the festival arrived, Zhu looked in the mirror and carefully applied her make-up, doing just as she’d been instructed. Once she was finished, she went to see Hengniang. Overjoyed, Hengniang exclaimed, “That’s it!” Then she coiled up Zhu’s hair and pinned it in a bun so it caught the light brilliantly. She ripped out the hem of Zhu’s robe and resewed it to make it more form-fitting; Hengniang also told her that her shoes were ungainly-looking so she reached into a bamboo trunk and took out a new pair that hadn’t been finished, which the two worked on together till they were done, and then Hengniang had Zhu put them on.

  Later that day, before she returned home, Hengniang served Zhu some wine and urged her, “After you get home, let your husband see you, but quickly shut your door and go to bed—then when he comes and knocks for you to open your door, act like you didn’t hear him. After he finally begs three times for you to let him in, then you can open the door. But don’t say anything and keep your hands and feet together, refusing him access. In another two weeks, come here again.”

  Zhu went home, making sure that Hong noticed her dazzling appearance. He looked her over closely, seeming happier than he’d ever been before. Zhu spoke a little bit about the outing she’d had with Hengniang, then rested her chin in her hand, like she was feeling drowsy; though it was still before sunset, she stood up and went to her room, where she shut the door so she could go to sleep.

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  Shangsi Festival: Traditionally held on the third day of the third lunar month, as family groups go on outings, pick flowers (like orchids), and engage in ritual cleansings, while praying for blessings and for protection from misfortunes and evil spirits.

  In a little while, when Hong consequently showed up and pleaded with her to open her door, Zhu lay still and didn’t get up till he finally decided to leave. The next night, the same thing happened. When he appeared for a third time the next morning, he asked her why she wouldn’t
let him in. “I’ve gotten used to sleeping alone,” she responded, “and I couldn’t stand having my rest disturbed.”

  After sunset, Hong entered her bedroom and refused to budge. When he snuffed out the candle and climbed into bed with her, it was like they were newlyweds, enjoying each other with rapturous joy. Yet when Hong tried to make plans to sleep with her again the next night, she refused; instead, she told him he would have to wait for three days.

  A couple weeks passed, and Zhu returned once again to visit Hengniang. “After this, you’ll be able to have your husband all to yourself,” she told Zhu, as she shut her gate. “Though you’re beautiful, you don’t really intrigue him. With your looks, if you can just fascinate him a bit, he’ll dote on you like another Xi Shi!”

  Accordingly, she tested Zhu’s ability to make coy glances and cried, “Not like that! They’ve got to come from the corner of your eye.” Then she tested Zhu’s demure smile and exclaimed, “That’s not it! Your left cheek doesn’t look right.” She proceeded to coach Zhu to make her glances more shyly lovely and to make her smile sweet and charming, then had her practice diligently. After dozens and dozens of tries, Zhu finally got the hang of it.

  Hengniang told her, “When you go home now, if you take your mirror and keep practicing this, no one will be able to equal your skills. As for what happens in bed, just go with your opportunities, do what pleases him and be lively, but I can’t explain more than that.”

  Zhu went home and followed Hengniang’s instructions precisely. This made Hong buoyantly happy, for he was utterly enraptured with her and his only fear was that she might turn him away. By sunset, he was already flirting and teasing with her in her bedroom, not daring now to take a single step outside the room where he’d been visiting her throughout the day, for she could no longer keep him out.

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  Xi Shi: One of the four archetypal beauties of ancient China, Xi lived during the 5th century B.C.E.