by Shi Nai-An
"I am an innocent man -- so how could I defile this body bequeathed to me by my parents? You need not persuade me to become a bandit."
After a few days Shih Chin still wanted to go but the bandit chiefs were equally determined to keep him. Nothing could stop Shih Chin, and he prepared to depart. He put on a Fanyang cap with a big red tassel, under it a black cloth with the comers hanging down -- and a bright yellow ribbon outside: he also wore a military overcoat arranged on two sides: around his waist was a girdle of plaited bands of red plum color: black and white puttees wound tightly round his legs; his shoes were made of hemp specially suitable for hilly roads. He carried a "swan feather" sword with round copper knob
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on the haft, and a bundle on his back. He took leave of the three bandit chiefs, and descended the mountain accompanied by a large number of the bandits. The bandit chiefs shed tears when he left them. Shih Chin took the direct road to Yen An Fu; he took his meals when convenient and traveled during the day and slept at night. Traveling alone, he reached Wei Chou in a little over a fortnight. He thought that as this place was a military station he would inquire about his teacher, Drill Inspector Wang Chin. Upon entering the town, he saw there were many roads and much business. He found a tea shop on the roadside where he stopped and ordered tea. He asked the waiter where the military yamen was. While they were talking, a big man came in with big strides. This man wore military dress; on his head was a piece of silk with a character Wan (swastika), and attached at the back were two golden rings inscribed, "Tai Yuan Fu." He wore a large military coat of parrot green color with a military belt in black. His boots were made of yellow leather with four seams. He had a round face, big ears, a prominent nose, a big mouth and a bushy beard. He was quite eight feet high and a girth of fifty inches. As he sat down, the waiter said that Shih Chin might ask this officer about the drill inspector. Shih Chin stood up and said, "Will you please drink tea with me?" The man also saluted; and when they both sat down Shih Chin asked for his name.
"I am Major Lu Ta. May I ask your name?" "I am from Hwa Yin Hsien, and my name is Shih Chin. I wish to ask whether you know a drill inspector called Wang Chin." Lu Ta said, "Brother, are you not the tattooed dragons Shih Chin of the Shih village?" Shih Chin admitted this, and the officer again saluted and said he had heard of him, but to meet him was much better than hearing. He then said that Drill Inspector Wang Chin held office under old Chung, the frontier generalissimo at Yen An Fu. As he was the Shih Chin of whom he had heard so much he invited him to have a drink with him. The two men left the tea house hand in hand, and after turning several corners they went into a well-known wine shop of the Pan family. Finding a cozy room upstairs they sat down; Major Lu Ta ordered four pots of wine with dishes of eatables and fruit; and they chatted about the various forms of using the lance.
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While they were talking, they heard someone sobbing and crying in an adjoining room. This disturbed Major Lu Ta, who took a cup and saucer and threw them on the floor. The waiter heard the noise and saw that the major was angry. The major inquired who it was that was crying and disturbing them. The waiter said, "There is a singsong girl with her father, and they are crying because there is no guest to engage them, and they do not know you are here." "But why they make this noise?" said the major, "Tell them to come here." The waiter left, and in a short time a woman entered, of about nineteen years of age, and behind her there was an old man of sixty years with castanets in his hand. The woman was not beautiful yet there was something attractive about her. Wiping away her tears she came forward, and gave a woman's salutation (one hand placed on top of the other). The major asked why they cried, and she replied, "I am from Kaifeng, and I came to this place with my parents to find some relatives; but upon arrival we found they had removed to Nanking. My mother was taken ill in an inn and died. My father and myself stayed here in distress. There is a wealthy man here nicknamed "The Bully of the Western Pass." When he saw me he sent a go-between to demand me to be his concubine. A bond was drawn up that he would give me three thousand strings of cash for my body, which I accepted as I thought he would keep his word. In less than three months his legal wife treated me very badly and turned me out of doors. Besides, they demanded me to return the three thousand strings of cash which I had never received but which they said I had received when I pawned my body. My father was timid and dared not dispute with the Bully, who was so influential. But as he has not paid me a single cash how can we return him the money? Now as when I was a small girl my father taught me to use the castanets, so we came to this wine shop to entertain the customers. Every day the money we got was paid more than half to the Bully and we had only a little for ourselves. For the last two days there were very few guests and we have passed the time limit he allowed us. When we thought of our trouble, we were distressed. We had no thought of intruding upon your attention and hope you will overlook our offense."
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Major Lu Ta asked for their names and where this Bully lived. The old man replied, "My name is Chin, and the baby name of my daughter is 'Green Lotus.' The Bully keeps a butcher's shop near the Chuang Yuan Bridge. We two live at the Lu Family Inn near the East Gate."
Upon hearing this Major Lu Ta expressed his disgust, " Bahl I know that fellow, he was previously a butcher and is a filthy rascal. Sometime ago he asked my help in getting the vice governor here to permit him to open his shop and this is how he cheats people -- I will go and kill him." Shih Chin exhorted him repeatedly to wait till the morrow. But there was no alteration.
Major Lu Ta said, "Old man come here! If we give you your traveling expenses, will you return to Kaifeng to-morrow!"
The father and daughter replied, "If we could return to our native village, we should look upon you as our parent for this new life. But will the proprietor of our inn let us go? If we go, the Bully will certainly demand the money from the inn proprietor." Major Lu Ta said that was not important as he had a plan. He took five ounces of silver from his pocket and put them on the table and then asked Shih Chin if he could lend him some money till the following day. Shih Chin did not want repayment and placed an ingot of ten ounces of silver on the table. Major Lu Ta gave this money to the old man Chin and told him to make his arrangements at the inn, and he would come early the following morning to send them off. They gave their thanks and departed. The Old Chin went outside the town and hired a cart for the following day; they paid the inn for the lodging; they packed their baggage, and waited for daybreak. About four o'clock he lit a fire and cooked some food for breakfast. Shortly after daybreak Major Lu Ta arrived and told them to go quickly. As they moved toward the door the waiter, stopped them and explained to the major that the money for the pawning of the body was still unpaid, and the Bully had ordered him to watch them. Major Lu Ta said that he himself would pay that to the butcher: but as the waiter was unwilling to let them go, the major slapped his face that blood flowed from his mouth: he knocked his two teeth out with his fist. The waiter rushed out of the inn, and the old man Chin with his daughter quickly left. Major Lu Ta thought the waiter
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might intercept them, so he sat down on a stool and waited there for two hours. When he thought Chin had gone some distance he got up and walked to the Chuang Yuan Bridge.
The butcher had a double frontage shop, two butchers' blocks, and about five sides of pork hanging. The butcher was behind the counter watching his ten assistants selling the meat. When Major Lu Ta arrived, he stood outside the door, and called to the butcher, who came and saluted with folded hands. He said, "Excuse me" and then told an assistant to bring a stool for the major, who sat down; saying, "I have an order from the vice governor for thirteen pounds of lean minced pork; he does not want the least fat in it." The butcher told his assistants to get it ready but the major objected. "Do not let those dirty men handle the meat. You cut it yourself." "Very well," said the butcher, "I will cut it myself." He then got to the block, selected ten ch
in of lean pork, and cut it into small pieces. The waiter of the inn just then arrived with a towel wrapped round his head; when he saw Major Lu Ta, he dare not come nearer, so he stood under the eaves of a house some distance away. It took the butcher quite half an hour to cut the meat, he then wrapped it in lotus leaves, and asked if he should send it.
"Send what?" asked Major Lu Ta. "Wait! I want another thirteen pounds and it must all be fat. 'There must not be any lean flesh with it. It must also be minced."
"But it is now all lean pork," said the butcher; "I am afraid that the governor wants to make pork pies. What use is there for minced fat?" Major Lu Ta stared at the butcher, and said, "The governor gave me the order, so who dare ask questions?"
"No matter what purpose it is intended for, I will cut it up." He then selected ten catty of the finest fat pork, minced it, and placed it in a lotus leaf. He bad been cutting the pork almost all the morning and it was now near the dinner hour. The butcher said, "Shall I tell someone to go with you to carry this to the vice governor?"
Major Lu Ta replied, "I also want ten catty of gristle to be chopped fine, there must be no flesh attached to it."
The butcher laughed and said, "It appears as though you had specially come to waste my time."
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Major Lu Ta upon hearing this, got up and staring at thebutcher said, "I certainly came to waste your time." Hethen picked up the two parcels of pork and threw them intothe butcher's face -- the minced pork falling like a shower of rain! The butcher was very angry and his passion pervaded his body from his feet to the crown of his head. His heart became a burning mass of passions which could not be extinguished. He seized a sharp pointed knife and jumped out of the shop. Major Lu Ta had got into the street before him. There was a crowd of neighbors but nobody dared intervene. The passers-by and the waiter from the inn were frightened out of their wits. The butcher had the knife in his right hand, and with his left he tried to seize Lu Ta: but the major caught his left arm and kicked him in the belly; so that he fell in the street. The major took a step forward, and placed his foot on the butcher's breast: he raised his fist (which was as large as a priest's alms bowl) and said, "Now you are a butcher, and are like a dog. Why did you swindle the girl Chin, Green Lotus?" He struck a blow on the butcher's nose which was broken and twisted to one side, the blood was gushing forth like the breaking of a sauce bottle. The butcher could not rise and throwing aside his knife said, "Enough."
Major Lu Ta abused him, saying, "You woman stealer! How dare you reply!" Then lifting his fist he struck the butcher in the corner of his eye such a blow that the eyeball fell out with a display of red, black, and purple colors on his cheeks. The butcher asked to be pardoned but Major Lu Ta shouted, "You are a bad lot. If you were sincere I would forgive you; but I cannot do so." He thereupon hit him on the temple and it seemed to the butcher as though a whole temple of priests were chanting their prayers, ringing bells, and clapping cymbals. The major saw that the butcher was exhaling without any intake, so he falsely spoke to him, "You are pretending to die." But he saw that his skin was gradually becoming pale. And he could hardly believe that three blows of his fist could have killed the man. He knew that he would be prosecuted, so he decided to go away. As he left, he saw the butcher was dead. As he went along, he turned round and abused the butcher: but the onlookers dared not interfere. Returning to his lodging the major packed a few things and
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silver and taking a cudgel he quickly left the town by the South Gate.
The people tried to revive the body for half a day without success -- for alas, he was quite dead. The members of the family went to the yamen and, when the vice governor came, made their accusation. The vice governor thought that as Major Lu Ta was a military officer he had better report to the generalissimo; so at once he got in a sedan chair and went to the generalissimo's headquarters. When they met, the vice governor saluted, then he stated that Major Lu Ta had killed a man but he dared not arrest him without the general's consent. The generalissimo was startled at the news, and after some thought he asked the vice governor to arrest and try him according to the law. As Major Lu Ta was still on the staff of the generalissimo of the frontier the sentence should be submitted to the latter for confirmation. The vice governor agreed to do this, and upon returning to his yamen he took his seat on the bench, and issued a warrant for the arrest of Major Lu Ta. The inspector who received the warrant proceeded to the lodgings of the major, but he found no clue there. Moreover as he did not know where he had gone he arrested the landlord and two of the neighbors. The vice governor sent these men temporarily to the detention house, and ordered the coroner to make a careful postmortem examination of the corpse, then have the body placed in a coffin, and deposited it in the courtyard of a temple awaiting further developments. He then issued a proclamation giving details of the murder, a full description of the major, with a reward of a thousand strings of cash for his arrest. This was printed and posted in public places in every district.
Lu Ta traveled hastily without any definite object in view. When hungry, he took any food that was ready; when cold, any clothing available; hurrying, he did not choose road; and being poor he would have taken any woman as his wife. In just more than a fortnight he reached Yen Men Hsien in the Tai Chou Division, and entering the town on a market day he found that the streets were crowded and noisy. Horses and carts were passing along side by side. There were all kinds of traders selling and buying goods from all parts. Although it was only a hsien yet it was
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better than many a fu or chou for business. Arriving at the crossroads he saw a crowd looking at a proclamation. He forced his way through the crowd, and as he could not read he listened to one man who was reading it aloud. It was the proclamation about himself, warning the people not to harbor him, and offering a reward for his arrest. When he had listened to this he heard a voice behind him say, "Elder brother Chang, what are you doing here?" He was then pulled away from the crossroads.
We will now relate how Lu Ta had his head shaved, and his beard cut off, changed his name, and destroyed a Buddhist disciple.
His staff cleared the roads from danger.
His sword killed the vicious people.
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CHAPTER 3
SQUIRE CHAO REBUILDS WEN CHU TEMPLE;
LU TA MAKES A ROW AT WU TAI SHAN
WHEN Lu Ta turned round he saw that it was Old Chin of the wine shop at Wei Chou who was pulling him. They went to a quiet spot where the old man said, "Benefactor! You are too brave! That proclamation orders your arrest, and yet you go to look at it. If I had not seen you, you might have been recognized by a minor official."
"I will tell you the truth," said Lu Ta, "because of your affair I killed the Bully, and I have been wandering about for fifty days, and did not plan to come here. Why did you not return to Kaifeng as it was arranged?"
"My superior benefactor!" said Old Chin. "On the day you saved me I hired a cart, and left with the intention of returning to Kaifeng, but on the way I met an old neighbor of ours who was coming here to do business as a merchant, and he brought us here. Fortunately, he arranged a marriage for my daughter with a wealthy man, Squire Chao, who kept her as a concubine. My daughter is always telling him of your benevolence, and he says that he would like to meet you. Let us go and see them now."
They went about half a li to the house of Chao where Old Chin lifted the curtain in front of the door, and called out, "Daughter, our benefactor has arrived."
She came outside and invited Lu Ta to enter and sit down. She then gave him six salutations, and asked them to go upstairs. He wished to leave, but Old Chin took his staff and bundle, and said to his daughter, "Please take our benefactor upstairs, and I will go to arrange the food." He then went with a servant, and bought some fresh fish, a tender chicken, a goose cured in wine and some pickled fish. Upon returning he had these cooked and taken
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upstairs. T
he girl servant brought the hot wine in a silver pot and father and daughter took it in turn to fill up Lu Ta's cup. Old Chin knelt and made his obeisance. "Why do you pay me such respect?" exclaimed Major Lu Ta, "you lessen my prospects in life." "Benefactor, please listen, I have been here a short time but I wrote your name on a piece of red paper, and every morning I burn a stick of incense and made obeisance to it. Now that you are here in person why should I not do the same to you?"
In the evening they heard a noise below. Major Lu then opened the window, and looked down; he saw about thirty men armed with wooden sticks and cudgels, who were calling out, "Bring down the man from upstairs." Among them was an official on horseback who was shouting, "I do not want this thief to escape." Upon hearing this Lu Ta took a stool and was going to dash down to fight. Old Chin called, "You need not fight about this." He then descended and went to the official, and spoke to him a few words. The official laughed and dismissed the men. He dismounted and went indoors. Old Chin requested Major Lu Ta to come down. The official was Squire Chao who knelt, kotowed, saying, "To learn of your name is not so good as to see your face; to see your face is better than knowing your name. Famous major, please receive my obeisances."
Lu Ta asked Old Chin, "Who is this person? We are not acquainted, why does he make obeisance?" "This is my daughter's husband," replied Old Chin. "He suspected that I had brought an outsider here to drink wine, therefore he brought his servants to beat him. When I told him the truth he sent his men away."