Chinese Ghost Fables 1

by Ji, Yun

  20 A JUDGE FRIEND

  A judge was taking an after-lunch nap. In his dream, he observed and recognized one of his colleagues, whom had been charged with serious offenses, sentenced by this judge to death, and was executed.

  "Why are you coming back to me," The judge asked with surprise, "Have you been falsely accused?"

  "No, as a judge myself, having embezzlement and racketeer, I should die without any mercy, according to the law."

  "Then, why do you call on me?" The judge curiously inquired.

  "I have something needed to straight out with you." The ghost calmly answered. "Why me?" the judge fearlessly defended, "There were seven or eight judges cooperatively examining your case. Most of them are your intimate friends. There are at least two colleagues, whom you should look for. Why do you pick on me alone?"

  "Don't be cheeky. You know perfectly well what I am coming for. As judges, our cordial relationship was merely for appearance reason. It is bogus. Privately, we resented each other," The ghost explained peacefully, "However, that is due to our ambitions to advance ourselves in the narrow and competitive social ladder. When I was in the court, you deliberately ignored me. That I could understand. However, your face was full of withheld delight. After I was sentenced, you came to visit me out of false kindness. You pretended to console me but your undertone of sarcasm deeply humiliated me. You are both cruel and narrow-minded. Under that difficult circumstance, that was the worst thing you could do to a human being. How can I ever forget and forgive you?"

  "Then," Frightened, the judge stammered, "What do you want to do with me? Please, don't hurt me."

  "How can I avenge you?" The ghost beamed a bitter sneer and replied, with dejection, "By my own misbehavior, I was died under the law, not by you. However, your ill-attitude and cruel heart will eventually cost you dearly. The Almighty will penalize you for that." He was suddenly awakened. The tea on his bedside table was still warm.

  "Alas!" The judge sighed and murmured, "I didn't frame him; Otherwise, I will be damned for sure." Intention has the paramount importance in judging one's deeds. One can cheat a person but can't trick the Almighty. The crook will be judged for his accumulated misconducts and treated accordingly in the eternal underworld.

  21 SERVANT WAI

  My servant Wai used to have many bad habits. In his youth, outside of his village, he noticed an attractive young lady whom he seemingly recognized but couldn't recall her name. Without hesitation, he boldly approached and made a casual conversation with her. Using lewd words and obscene gestures, he intended to allure the female to sleep with him. Without showing any resistance, the young lady slightly lowered her head, was silent, winked at him, and departed. In disbelief of his good luck and with fascination, he glanced at her well-shaped back. Walking away slowly, she suddenly turned around and smiled at him.

  With excitement and exhilaration, he approached and politely asked her the meanings of her alluring response, "Please, don't be naive. We are in public place. Watch out of your behavior."

  Slightly shaking head, the lady blushed and timidly demurred, in a mellow tone, "There are prying bystanders. Binding by the conservative social norms, they will look down on us if we do something improper. Can you follow me to my house?" Promptly consented, he faithfully went after her.

  The sky gradually transferred itself into gray and eventually into dark. Due to the morning rain, the roads were damp and soggy. My servant unconsciously traveled over ten miles. His shoes were covered with mud and his toes were sore. At dusk, he vaguely observed this mysterious female entering a house. Excited to the brink of deliriousness, he dashed into that residence with alacrity. Under the reflection of the murky moonlight projecting over the paper window panels, he could barely distinguish her back. She gradually turned herself around. Holy smokes! What an unpleasant surprise! She had become a ferocious ghost; the arrangement of her teeth was similar to a chain saw, razor-sharp, disorganized and pointed. Her fingernails were like fish hooks, and her face was navy-blue with two huge lantern-like bulky eyes. My servant was frightened and ran for his life. Wailing and moaning, the horrible ghost floated after him for five miles. Observing his father-in-law's house from afar, he jogged toward, pounded at the doors, and he nervously shouted for help. Someone unbolted the doors and allowed him in.

  Bumping into his sister-in-law, they tumbled and fell to the ground flatly. This commotion alerted and awakened everybody. Under the near total darkness, they couldn't make out the visitor. Treating him as a burglar, they fetched rods and canes, dashed out to the front yard and violently cudgeled him. Physically exhausted, he could neither identify nor defend himself. After a solid beating, a servant cautiously appeared him with a lamp. My servant's identity was established due to their great embarrassment and uneasiness. Next day, they hired an oxcart to carry him home. With chagrin and annoyance, he had been confined in bed for over two months. After that humiliating incident, he started to contemplate then eschewed all of his bad habits, becoming an upright person. 22 A GENUINE MONK

  In a temple, the study room was haunted by fox spirits. They had lived on its attic for years. In summer, it was a busy season for people to worship the Buddha. The temple was always crowded. Due to high temperature, most of the monks slept in that study room's floor. They were not disturbed by those otherworldly creatures, at all. One day, a wandering monk visited and stayed in this temple for a few days. That was the most popular season of the year. Every inch of the temple was occupied. He couldn't even locate a spot, climbed up and rested himself on the haunted attic.

  At night, the monks clearly heard a fox spirit shouted, in a tone of emergency mixed with pleading, "Please, gentlemen resting on the ground floor evacuate yourselves at once. My family and I will relocate ourselves to the floor."

  "Why now?" With annoyance and great perplexity, one of the monks protested, "You have always resided in the attic. Why suddenly evict us?" "We don't want to stay side-by-side with the wandering monk," With chagrin and reluctance, the fox spirit quietly divulged, "He is very sacred. A well-polished monk is like the son of Buddha. Who do we dare not to make our way for him?"

  "How about us?" With indignation and a touch of ignorance, the monk naively rebuked, "We are monks, too. And we also have studied the sacred volumes all of our lives." The fox spirit busted into roars of laughter and gave no comment.

  23 IN THE WEST MOUNTAIN

  Mr. Nay visited and paid respect to his ancestor graves located in the West Mountain, which is a well-known place on the northwest corner of Peking. At late afternoon, he traveled back to the capital city. When the sun started merging down to the horizon, he, still in the mountain, was annoyed and alarmed by the thought that a ferocious tiger might jump out of the woods and assault him. The sky was gradually covered with black clouds. It became darker and darker. The moon was slowly blocked. From distance, he vaguely observed an ill-maintained or even, a deserted temple. For his own safety, he ran and sought shelter there. Within a brief of time, the night was in pitch-dark.

  He quietly sat down on a corner and suddenly, he heard a voice proclaiming, "Sir, this is not a human's territory. You are trespassing." Considering the sound was from a solitary monk, who didn't want to be disturbed by 'ordinary people,' he curiously probed, without reservation, "Dear monk, may I ask the reason why you are living in such wrecked location?"

  "Well, let's not beat around the bush. Tell you the truth. I am not a monk, at all. Actually, I am a hanged ghost waiting for a substitution." Mr. Nay was frightened. In dismay and with uneasiness, he reckoned the possibility of suffering either one of those two calamities; escaping out of here at once, he might be ambushed and devoured by a rapacious tiger. On the other hand, if he stayed in this evil place, his soul would be snatched by the dark creature.

  With much hesitation and great reluctance, he chose the latter, "Dear holy spirit, I think I better stay here for the night," He sincerely pleaded. "Be my guest," The ghost calmly consented and continued. "Please, kee
p away from me. You are a human being and I am an otherworldly creature. Staying too close will disturb and interfere with each other's energy."

  Out of curiosity, with amazement, he started to make a casual conversation about the subject of substitution, "Life is precious and priceless. The Almighty prefers people to live. Those who die for their country or with honorable causes will be picked out and ushered to heaven without any delay. Whoever performed a small kind deed; the Almighty will notice, consider and weigh it favorably. On the other hand, if a person dies in an accident or commits suicide, his untimely fatality would vastly irritate the Almighty because he violated the nature's principle of pro-life. For example, if a person hangs himself, he would neither be admitted to heaven nor hell. As a punishment of his grossly contempt of his own valuable existence, he is destined to stroll on the earth as a wandering ghost until he finds a substitution. It permanently stigmatizes and antagonizes us. Because we, the hanged ghosts, knew how excruciatingly painful it is to die on a noose. One has to be hanged over ten minutes, sometimes even more, before one stops breathing. Making a foolish choice and suffering its consequences, I can't tolerate another human being suffering the same fatality right in front of my own eyes."

  "My dearest friend, your kind-heartedness and thoughtfulness will earn your liberation. You should be chaperoned to paradise...."

  Soothing this dejected otherworldly creature, Mr. Nay sincerely encouraged. "Please, hold your tongue. You are flattering me." The ghost responded with nervous humility, "I have never dreamed about it. Nevertheless, I have faith in the Buddhism and hope my sincerity will alleviate my sin." Swapping stories and exchanging opinions, like two educated friends, they enjoyed a cordial conversation for hours.

  At the crack of the daybreak, their talk suddenly terminated. Mr. Nay continuously appealed and received no response. Looking around this deserted temple, he couldn't find that otherworldly creature. Then, Mr. Nay comprehended that the hanged ghost was gone. He resumed his journey.

  From that day on, Mr. Nay, periodically visiting the West Mountain, and he always stopped by the temple and brought some food and fruit for this otherworldly friend. Strangely enough, each time, when he was leaving, there was a mysteriously light wind whirling around, several yards in front of him. He believed that wind was the hanged ghost, escorting him out of the temple. Four years later, the wind appeared no more. Mr. Nay assumed that the ghost was released from his misery.

  Life is too precious to be wasted. If a human being intentionally terminates himself, the Almighty will punish him severely.

  24 A MALICIOUS INTRIGUE My grandfather-in-law lived on the east side of the Wai River. His chateau faced the river. Several years ago, a servant's wife committed suicide and hanged herself on a pagoda tree. That kind of behavior would have a long-lasting negative impact toward that location. People considered it "contaminated" by evil spirit, lingering there and prying for a replacement. From then on, the garden was padlocked and deserted. Not knowing that tragedy, two new servants sneaked into that tainted place for a secret rendezvous at midnight. They carefully unlocked the garden doors, walked in and had a date there. During late at late night, they suddenly heard a noise from outside of the garden.

  The two servants promptly hid themselves behind the doors. Peeping through the hiatus between the doors, the male servant surprisingly perceived the back of a hanged ghost, standing on the doorstep, staring at the moon and sighing profoundly. With caution and alacrity, he moved aside and gestured the young maid to take a look. Without any preparation, she looked into, observed that otherworldly creature and was flabbergasted. They were in an embarrassing and even fatal impasse. They dared not to leave the "contaminated" garden. Making any slight noise could attract and allure that dark creature for their demise. They knew that they were in grave trouble. As matter of fact, frightened and speechless, they breathed prudently in order to escape that ghost's detection.

  For some unexplainable reasons, the hanged ghost never turned around and was uninterested in snatching a fresh soul. Staying in their gestures motionlessly for a while, both parties were only divided by the garden doors. A dog barked at the otherworldly creature and many dogs followed suit. Hearing this commotion, servants were awakened and alerted. They thought that the chateau was intruded and burglarized. Lighting torches and fetching rods, they eagerly searched the whole ground. Without hesitation, the hanged ghost quietly merged and vanished into darkness. They eventually spotted two young servants who were shuddering and trembling. Those two cross-starred lovers tightly held each other's arms in mortification and humiliation. Their easy virtue was looked down and they severely jeered, and reprimanded by their seniors.

  The misbehavior was reported to the master. They became a laughingstock of the big family. Without reservation, some servants mocked them directly. Others met them with a long side-glance of contempt and derision. And some greeted them with muffled giggles. The young maid couldn't tolerate those constant and blatant mockeries, was profoundly ashamed on the verge of a mental breakdown. A few days later, she stole into the garden and attempted to commit suicide on that pagoda tree. Fortunately, a servant observed and rescued her. After one week, she secretly attempted to hang herself in the same way at the same spot again. By some unknown reason, she was saved. She was discharged and returned to her parents.

  Her uncanny behavior was gossiped about and talked about by others. With zeal and curiosity, some experienced servants discussed this issue in their leisure time. After a lengthy exchange of opinions, they eventually comprehended, concurred and reached a conclusion: It's the evil's trick, which is too wicked to vex even the Almighty. The cunning hanged ghost deliberately appeared to allure other servants' attention for the exposure of the young couple's wrongdoing. Furthermore, the dark creature calculated and correctly projected our reactions. With a few of his clever nudges, we will inadvertently do the dirty job for him. We continuously mistreated and abused them. As a result of our thoughtless misconduct, the thin-faced and nerve-wracking maid would be forced to commit suicide which was the crafty ghost's ultimate purpose. The new soul would replace the hanged ghost, who would be re-born again. In disagreement, some servants vigorously argued that the two young servants should not meet with each other in the first place. Their moral indiscretion is the root of all troubles. No matter how different their perspectives were, they all agreed that the otherworldly creature was too evil-minded and calculating to snatch a substitution. The Almighty wouldn't allow such level of deep-covered and malicious intrigue existed without interference.

  25 STRUCK BY A THUNDERBOLT

  On the west side of City Xien, a farmer was struck and instantly killed by a thunderbolt. The city judge dispatched a forensic expert to conduct the autopsy. Scrutinizing the scorched body, he certified that the death was caused by a natural disaster and allowed the victim's relatives to reclaim and bury the body properly.

  After about half of a month of this tragedy, in the city court, the judge questioned a suspect. "Why did you purchase gunpowder?"

  "It's for bird-hunting," The person timidly responded. "It only needs a few ounces for a week's consumption. Why did you obtain over forty pounds?"

  "It's for my future use." "Now, be reasonable and rational. After a month of the acquisition, you might consume, in the most, no more than two pounds. Where is the rest?" Astonished and tongue-tied by the judge's common sense and calculation, this suspect was nervous and, with much hesitation, confessed. Cooperation with the victim's wife, they committed the crime. He and his lover were soon captured, after a trial, executed.

  "How did you perceive his intrigue and resolve this hideous case?" Some friends asked him. "It's simple," The judge explained. "I clandestinely sent several plainclothes to local markets to explore. They were instructed to write down any persons whom acquired unusually large quantity of gunpowder and sulfur in the last few months. In summer, there is no festival and no firecrackers were needed. Nobody should acquire those materials to
make firecrackers at all. The only usage is to make a bomb which is illegal and will be punished by death."

  "How could you notice the victim was not killed by a thunderbolt since you were not even in there?"

  "Coming from the sky, it will slaughter a person and certainly, the cause some had collateral damages on its surroundings. Besides slaughtering a person, it should also scorch trees and impair barn or farmhouse.

  In this case, the victim, spread-eagled near his barn, was blazed into charcoal from his lower torso up. Although the ground where he stood on became concave, the barn merely missed a couple shingles. All of those pieces of circumstantial evidence pointed out that it is an explosion from the soil. On the day of the calamity, the farmer's wife visited and stayed in her mother's home. How convenient it could be? It was a perfect alibi! That's the main reason why I didn't reveal the inconsistencies to her. That fatal tragedy was premeditated. It was classified and investigated as a murder case. Strongly believing that she must know and was even involved in this crime, I had to be patient and wait until capturing the prime suspect and acquired his written confession. Then, she, as an accomplice, couldn't deny it."

  26 A CALLOUS WEALTHY MERCHANT

  A wealthy merchant went to Peking in order to make a big political contribution in exchange for a government post. One day, a poor old man called on him. At first, the merchant's servants refused to admit him. He patiently stood outside of the hotel. After hours of waiting, he noticed, eagerly waived his arms at and was received by the merchant. They knew each other for many years. The prosperous host reluctantly gestured his servant to bring up a cup of water and treated this unkempt friend coldly. In a brief conversation, the shabby-dressed visitor indicated that he would like to borrow some money.

  The merchant, whose face was suddenly turned crimson, with annoyance and disdain, jumped up from the chair and screamed, "Damn it! My money is not sufficient to acquire a decent title. How can I spare you even a penny?" This commotion attracted other residents of the hotel. The aged guest was indignant. He bitterly told the people gathering around him about this heartbroken story.