Strange Tales from Liaozhai--Volume 3

by Pu Songling

  They sat down together and engaged in cheerful conversation, oblivious to the sun setting. Wanshi called again and again for food to be brought out, but nothing ever appeared. The brothers took turns going in and out, till finally an emaciated servant came out with a jug of wine. It was finished off in almost no time.

  They sat there waiting for quite a long while, with Wanshi repeatedly getting up to call insistently for the food, as sweat began to drip from his forehead and cheeks. Finally, the gaunt servant brought out what had been prepared—unhusked rice and other things carelessly thrown together, that the brothers had no choice but to accept.

  _______________________________

  Swore an oath to become brothers: Modeled on the peach garden oath depicted in the classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when the characters Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei swear to live and struggle together as brothers, and to die upon the same day.

  Informally dressed: Zhu notes that this reflects the brothers’ refusal to stand on ceremony (2:720n7), rather than some kind of pique or disrespect directed at Ma.

  When they’d finished eating, Wanshi hastily excused himself and left. Wanzhong put together some bedding that he could share with his guest when they went to sleep. In a tone of critical reproach, Ma declared, “Previously, I thought you brothers were righteous men, and hence we swore an oath together. But now your elderly father is neither warmly dressed nor well fed, so you should be ashamed of violating your principles!”

  Wanzhong tearfully replied, “We hide our emotions inside, which is hard to explain. Our unfortunate family has been afflicted by a vicious sister-in-law, who bullies her betters and those who are weaker, directly and maliciously. If we weren’t sworn brothers, I couldn’t bring myself to tell you about this shame.”

  Amazed, Ma sighed, and after a few moments of silence, said, “Originally, I was intending to leave in the morning, but now that I’ve heard this strange news, I have to observe it for myself. If you’ll please provide me a vacant room, I’ll fix my own food.” Wanzhong did as he asked, clearing out a room, then making sure that Ma was comfortably settled there.

  Later that night, he brought Ma some vegetables and rice, frightened of the thought that Yin might find out. Ma could tell what was on his mind, so he firmly declined his offer. In addition, he invited the elder Yang to eat and sleep with him there. Ma subsequently went to a store in town that sold textiles, purchasing a robe and trousers for the old man. The father and brothers were moved to tears by his generosity.

  Wanzhong had a son named Xi’er, who was seven at the time, and who slept with his grandfather at night. “This boy will experience better fortune and a longer life than his father,” Ma said, rubbing the boy’s head, “but at a young age, he’ll suffer the sadness of becoming an orphan.”

  When Yin heard that the old man was comfortable and well-fed, she exploded in angry cursing, accusing Ma of intruding into someone else’s family matters. She made sure her abusive language reached the brothers’ rooms, and as she began to approach Ma’s room, she raised her voice so he would hear what she was saying. The Yang brothers were sweating it out, pacing nervously, unable to make her stop; but Ma acted as if he hadn’t heard anything.

  Wang, Yang Wanshi’s concubine, was five months pregnant, and when Yin learned of her condition, she stripped off Wang’s clothing and beat her severely. When she finished, she called for Wanshi, made him kneel while she put a woman’s headdress on him, and then drove him off by lashing him. Since Ma happened to be just outside at the time, Wanshi felt thoroughly ashamed to go out.

  When his wife then forced him out of the house, he had no choice but to go. Yin was also following him, waving her hands and stamping her feet, while people watched Wanshi run out into the street. Then Ma pointed at Yin, and in a scolding tone cried, “Go on, go back home!” Yin instantly turned around and ran away, like a ghost was chasing her. Her trousers and shoes came off, and even the cloth that wrapped her feet was left behind on the street; she made it home barefooted, her face as pale as death.

  It wasn’t long before a maidservant brought her the stockings and shoes. Once she’d finished putting them back on, she began wailing, crying loudly. Her family didn’t dare ask her about the matter.

  Ma pulled at the woman’s headdress Wanshi was wearing. Wanshi meanwhile was jumpy and breathless, like he was afraid of the consequences if the headdress had come off; but Ma forcefully yanked it off. Wanshi was agitated and restless, worrying that Yin would make trouble for him for taking it off himself.

  Not until he heard that she’d stopped crying did he dare look in on her, pacing up and down nervously, out of fear. Yin didn’t reveal anything in response to his inquiries, instead hurriedly getting up, moving off into another portion of the house to sleep by herself. Wanshi began to relax, and privately confided the whole strange business to his brother.

  The maidservants in the household found her behavior pretty odd, and gathered together to exchange whispers of gossip. When Yin eavesdropped on a bit of it, she became even more embarrassed and angry, and beat every last one of them. She called for concubine Wang, but the injuries she’d received from her previous beating were so severe that she couldn’t get up. Yin decided she was just faking, so she went to Wang’s bed, where she beat Wang till she was bloody, and brought on a miscarriage.

  Wanshi had no one there he could turn to, so he wept out his sorrows to Ma. Ma then did his best to comfort Wanshi. He called for servants to lay out a full banquet for Yang Wanshi, and though it was already the second watch, he wouldn’t let Wanshi go back to his room.

  Waiting in the bedroom, Yin began fuming when her husband didn’t return, and finally became absolutely enraged at him; she heard someone trying to open the door, and by the time she anxiously called for a maidservant to go check on it, the door was already open. At that point, a giant came through it; his shadow spread over the entire room, and he looked as ferocious as a demon. Immediately, several other people entered the room, each of them grasping a sharpened blade. Yin was so terribly frightened that she wanted to scream for help.

  But the giant put the point of his dagger to her throat, and exclaimed, “Scream and I’ll kill you for sure!” Yin frantically offered him gold as ransom to save her life. “I’m the Hell King’s messenger,” he replied, “and I don’t want money—I’ve come to collect the heart of a vicious woman!” Even more terrified, Yin flung herself down to kowtow, knocking her forehead against the ground.

  The giant then took his sharpened blade and notched a line over her chest where her heart was located, repeatedly demanding, “Shouldn’t you be killed for the things you’ve done?” Then he cut another slit. He made a fresh incision each time he recounted one of her cruel acts, repeatedly insisting that she should be wiped out, and didn’t stop slicing into her flesh until there were over a dozen wounds.

  _______________________________

  Second watch: The second of the five two-hour divisions of the night, approximately 9:00-11:00 p.m.

  When he’d finished he said, “Concubine Wang would have given birth to a son, who was also a part of your family, so how could you bear to beat her till she miscarried? This deed certainly cannot be forgiven!” Then he ordered the other men to bind her hands, so he could cut her open and examine the vicious woman’s heart. Yin continued her abject kowtowing, pleading for her life, and assuring him that she now understood the error of her ways.

  At that moment, they heard the door open and close, and the giant announced, “Yang Wanshi has come. Since you have repented, I will spare your life.” In a flurry, he and the others disappeared.

  Before long, Wanshi entered, and saw his wife, naked and bound, with so many knife wounds over the region of her heart that he couldn’t count them all. When he untied her and asked her what had happened, she described it all; and in his amazement, he suspected that it was Ma’s doing. The next day, he told Ma about the incident, but Ma also seemed quite surprised.

  From this
point forward, Yin’s bullying nature became more restrained, and several months passed while she didn’t dare utter a single harsh word. Ma was very pleased by this, and told Wanshi, “To tell you the truth, though I hope you won’t spread it around: what happened before was just a bit of my magic, to frighten her. Now that you two can live in perfect harmony, I must take my leave of you for awhile.” Then he departed.

  Each day at sunset, Yin urged Wanshi to make love to her, smiling warmly, completely receptive to him. All his life, Wanshi had never been so happy, and suddenly experiencing all of this left him worried that something might go wrong.

  One night, Yin happened to recall the giant’s menacing presence, and cowered in fright, shaking like she was under attack. Wanshi thought he could endear himself to his wife by letting her in on a bit of what he knew about the incident. Yin hastily got up, imploring him to resolve her questions about it. Wanshi felt that even though he’d promised not to say anything, he’d said too much to keep it secret any longer, so he told her the truth.

  Yin became agitated, exploding with a torrent of abuse. Terrified, Wanshi went down on his knees beside the bed for a long time. Yin ignored him, though he dolefully apologized to her till after 3:00 a.m. “If you want me to pardon you,” she told him, “I’ll have to take a knife, and make a bunch of cuts over your heart—then my anger might start to fade.” So saying, she got up and grabbed a knife from the kitchen.

  Genuinely scared, Wanshi ran off, with Yin in pursuit. Creating an uproar like barking dogs and crowing roosters, the couple woke up everyone else in the household. Yang Wanzhong didn’t know what the trouble was about, but he tried to help his elder brother by putting his own body between Yin and Wanshi.

  Yin launched into reviling him with abusive language, till all of a sudden she saw the elderly Yang appear, wearing new clothing, and her fury became all the greater; she approached the old man and cut up his robe, slapped him in the face, and even yanked on his beard. Seeing Yin afflicting his father with her anger, Wanzhong took a rock and hit her over head, causing her to fall to the ground, unconscious. Then he exclaimed, “I have no regrets, for my death will allow my father and brother to live!” Then he flung himself into the family well, and by the time they could pull him out, he had already drowned. Yin regained consciousness shortly afterward, and when she heard that Wanzhong was dead, her anger dissipated.

  Once Wanzhong was buried, his wife, out of love for their son, Xi’er, vowed that she wouldn’t remarry. Yin cursed and spat at her, refusing to give her anything to eat, so she’d be forced to remarry and move away.

  When this finally happened, Wanzhong’s wife had to leave Xi’er behind, so Yin afflicted him from morning to night with whippings. He was also forced to wait until the rest of the family had finished its meals, and only then was he allowed eat the cold leftover bits. In six months’ time, Xi’er had become terribly thin and weak, living virtually on air alone.

  One day, Ma suddenly arrived. Wanshi advised his other family members not to report this to Yin. Ma was quite startled when he saw that Wanshi’s father was once again wearing rags for clothing; then when he heard that Wanzhong had killed himself in remorse for having hit his sister-in-law, Ma stamped his foot in sorrow.

  When Xi’er heard that Ma had come, he rushed to see him and wouldn’t leave, calling him “uncle” as he had before. But Ma didn’t even recognize him at first, and only as he began to scrutinize him did he realize that it was Xi’er, prompting him to cry in shock, “How could the boy have been reduced to this haggard state!” Old Yang then falteringly gave a detailed narration of what had happened.

  Indignant, Ma told Wanshi, “In the past, it was clear that you weren’t taking a man’s responsibility, and hence you couldn’t even be called one. You two brothers are depending upon this boy to carry on your family name, but if he’s killed, what will you do then?” Speechless, Wanshi merely bowed his head submissively, and wept.

  By the time they’d been seated and talking for a couple hours, Yin had already learned of Ma’s presence, but didn’t dare go out to chase him away herself, so she called for Wanshi, slapped him in the face, and then sent him back out to sever his ties with Ma. Trying to control his tears, he returned, the mark of the slap appearing distinctly on his face. “If you can’t use force to restrain her,” Ma said angrily, “why can’t you just ‘break off’ your marriage, and send her away? She’s beaten your father and killed your brother, yet you just take it calmly—how can you consider yourself a man!”

  Wanshi rose slightly from his seat, as though provoked by Ma’s words. Then Ma sharply declared, “If she won’t leave, you’ll have to use force to deal with her; but even if you happen to kill her while driving her away, don’t worry about it. I have two or three close friends who hold important positions in the capital, and they can certainly ensure that if you do whatever it takes to solve your problem, you’ll lose nothing by it.” Wanshi agreed to take action, acting upon the indignation that was stirring in him, and quickly rushed off inside.

  There, he ran into Yin, who scornfully demanded, “What have you been up to?”

  Intimidated by her tone, Wanshi turned pale and lowered himself on his hands, groveling, as he replied, “Scholar Ma told me to drive you away.” Yin was so infuriated that she turned to look for a knife or stick to use against him, so the terrified Wanshi turned and ran.

  Ma just spit at the ground and said, “You’re a lost cause for sure!” He opened a small chest, and took out some medicine, which he had Wanshi mix with some water to drink. Then he explained, “This powder gives a husband a new lease on life. However, I don’t use it lightly, since taking it can cause a man to become ill. But now that there’s no alternative, you’ll have to try it out.”

  Wanshi drank it down, and soon he felt his chest fill with fury, like raging flames burning inside him, till he couldn’t stand it any longer. He stormed into Yin’s bedroom, shouting thunderously. Yin didn’t even have a chance to ask him what was going on, as Wanshi took his foot to her with powerful kicks, that made Yin’s body fly several chi away.

  Then taking a stone in hand, and also using his fists, he pounded and struck her countless times. Though he left almost none of Yin’s body unscathed, she continued yelling and cursing at him. Wanshi proceeded to draw out the sword he was wearing at his waist.

  “Go on and pull out your sword,” snarled Yin, “but do you really have the nerve to kill me?” Without saying a word, Wanshi cut a piece of flesh from her thigh, larger than the palm of one’s hand, and flung it to the ground; then as he prepared to cut some more, Yin wailed at him, begging for forgiveness. Refusing to listen to her, Wanshi cut off another piece of flesh.

  _______________________________

  Several chi: One chi is equal to 1/3 meter.

  When the servants witnessed Wanshi’s ruthless ferocity, they gathered together and mustered all their strength to pull him away from her. Ma intercepted them, took Wanshi aside by the arm, and congratulated him for his efforts. Since Wanshi’s fury hadn’t diminished, he was anxious to hurry back and continue Yin’s punishment, but Ma stopped him.

  A little while later, the medicine’s power began to wear off, and Wanshi felt as downcast as someone in mourning. Ma encouraged him, “Don’t feel disheartened. Though your authority as her husband had been damaged, now you can reestablish it. Your wife may be frightened at the moment, but her behavior won’t change overnight—that has to come about gradually, over time. It’s like yesterday you were dead, but now you’re alive, so henceforth you have to act on this fresh start; but if you give up again, there’ll be no hope for you.” Then he sent Wanshi back inside, to check on his wife.

  Yin was trembling with fear, and as Wanshi was about to help her up, she started instead to crawl over to him on her knees. He stopped her, indicating that she’d already endured enough. When he went back outside and told Ma what had happened, his father and Xi’er joined in congratulating him.

  Ma wanted to
leave, but the elder Yang and Xi’er together tried to detain him. “It just happened that I was originally traveling to the East China Sea,” he explained to them, “and hence was able to stop over here; but I have to return now, and then I can come back later to see you.”

  For more than a month, Yin treated Wanshi with great respect. But after a while, she began to realize that he could no longer muster the fury he’d displayed before, and she gradually became impertinent with him, then sarcastic, then abusively foul-mouthed; before long, she’d completely resumed her old behavior.

  The elder Yang couldn’t take it, so he fled one night to Henan, where he became a Daoist priest. Wanshi was afraid even to go and look for him.

  After almost a year, Ma returned again, and knowing what had happened, he burst into a fierce rage. Calling for Xi’er to come with him, he put the boy on the back of a donkey, and they left together. Subsequently, Wanshi was belittled by all his fellow villagers. When the provincial education commissioner arrived to review Wanshi’s record, he revoked his scholarly status for his bad conduct.

  After another four years or so, a fire struck his home that reduced everything he owned to ashes; the fire also spread to his neighbor’s home. The neighbor brought a suit against Yang Wanshi at the prefectural headquarters, and Wanshi was fined with vindictive severity. As a result, he eventually forfeited what remained of his family’s property, leaving him homeless. Nearby villages joined in warning each other not to take Wanshi into their homes. Yin’s brothers were equally angry about Yin’s behavior, so they, too, turned the couple away.

  Wanshi’s means were so meager that he was forced to sell his concubine, Wang, to a rich family, so he could head south with Yin, to cross the Yellow River. By the time they reached the border of Henan, traveling expenses had already used up the money they’d received. Yin refused to go any further with Wanshi, loudly telling him she’d just marry someone else. Indeed, a butcher, who was also a widower, subsequently purchased her from Wanshi for three hundred strings of cash.