by Pu Songling
The collector of these strange tales remarks, “Ma’s business was as humble as his first name, Hun, so why did the immortal, Huifang, get involved with him? Here you see a fairy esteem an individual who isn’t considered very articulate, but who’s sincere nevertheless. It’s like I told a friend: if it was someone like you and me, the ghosts and foxes wouldn’t bother with us; we’re too imperfect to be worthy of the immortal—we just need to be “simple” enough.
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Hun: The second half of Ma’s first name, Erhun, in this context means “to muddle, or to drift along,” or “to get along with someone”; that is, to be “simple” and unassuming, rather than ambitious.
234. The Mountain God
Li Huidou, from Yidu, happened to be walking in the mountains, when he ran into several people who were all sitting around drinking. When they saw Li approaching, they all happily got up and pulled him over to sit down, competing with each other in toasting him. He saw that they’d laid out a range of plates, displaying various sorts of delicacies.
It wasn’t long before the drinking made him feel very jolly; yet the wine tasted weak and astringent. Suddenly, a man with a long and narrow face about two or three chi long appeared in the distance, coming towards them; his cap, nevertheless, seemed to fit his facial proportions perfectly.
The people in the group all cried, “It’s the mountain god!” Everyone rushed off confusedly in all directions. Li also hid himself in a deep hole in the ground.
After awhile, he came back up to look around, noticing that the food and wine weren’t there any longer, and in their place there was only broken wine jars soaked in urine, with several large lizards sitting on shards of crockery—and that’s all.
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Yidu: A county in Shandong province.
Chi: A measure equal to 1/3 meter.
235. Seventh Sister Xiao
Xu Jichang, from Linzi, was living east of the city, in a village named Mofang. He couldn’t make a go of being a Confucian scholar, so he quit and became a minor public servant. He happened to be passing the home of a relative on his wife’s side, where its path connected to the tombs in a burial area. It was dusk and Xu was drunkenly returning home when he passed this place, where he spotted a splendid tower, with an old man sitting in its doorway.
Xu was thirsty from all the liquor he’d been drinking, so he respectfully bowed to the old gentleman and asked if he might have some water. The old man got up and invited Xu as his guest into the hall, where he provided him with something to drink.
When Xu had finished, the old man said, “It’s after sundown and it would be difficult for you to travel in the dark, so how about if you stay here tonight, and then in the morning we can send you on your way?” Since Xu was also feeling tired by then, he happily accepted the old man’s invitation.
The old man ordered his household to prepare for him to drink with his guest, and then told Xu, “I just want to say something else, and I hope you don’t mind me being blunt; you’re a gentleman from a family that is lowly but virtuous, respectable despite being disadvantaged, and someone could feel confident about a marriage arranged with you. I have a young woman in my household who’s not yet betrothed, and if you’d like her to serve you as your concubine, it would be my good fortune to arrange it for you.” Xu felt both flattered and nervous, and didn’t know how he should reply.
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Linzi: A county located in Shandong province.
Sending someone to deliver word to his relatives, the old man then conveyed his instructions to the young woman that she should dress herself appropriately. In moments, four or five individuals who appeared to be Confucian scholars converged there, one after another. A dazzlingly attired young lady also came out, looking like someone who was above the concerns of the mortal world. Thereupon they all sat down together for a banquet.
Xu felt baffled and disoriented, and simply wanted to go to bed quickly. After several additional rounds of wine, he insisted that he couldn’t handle any more of it. Then girl servants were sent to conduct the husband and wife to their bedroom accommodations, where they would spend the night.
Xu asked the young woman what her family name was, and she replied, “My surname is Xiao, and I’m the seventh child in my family.” Xu continued to ask about her family and clan. “Even though my status is low and humble,” Xiao insisted, “I can become a public servant’s wife without bringing disgrace on him, so why keep up the endless inquiry?” Since Xu desired her so much, and everything was all arranged for their intimate union, he didn’t bring up any further questions.
Seventh sister Xiao then told him, “You can’t make your home here. I know that your wife is ordinarily quite kind, and perhaps she wouldn’t object to or obstruct our relationship, but when you get home, you could just clean out another part of the house, to prepare for my arrival.” Xu agreed to do so. Afterwards, when he laid his arm upon her body, he was instantly overcome by sleep.
When he woke up, there was no one in his arms. The sun was already up by that time, the dawn shining through the pine trees’ foliage, and under his body, there was a mattress pad of grain stalks that was about a chi thick. Astonished, he sighed and went home, where he told his wife what had happened.
His wife playfully went along with the idea of setting up a special room for the young lady, putting a bed in the separate room, then shutting the door to it with the comment, “Now your new wife can show up tonight.” Then they laughed together about it.
As the day turned to dusk, Xu’s wife teased him into pulling open the door and asking, “Is my bride already in her room?” When they entered, they discovered a beauty in colorful apparel seated on the bed. Upon seeing the two of them enter the room, the young woman quickly jumped up to welcome them. Xu and his wife were so startled that the girl had to cover her mouth to stifle her giggling, before respectfully greeting them with reverential solemnity. Xu’s wife then prepared a meal and arranged for them to sleep together afterwards.
The young woman got up early each morning to take care of household chores, without waiting for anyone to prompt her. One day she told Xu, “All of my elder sisters and aunts want to come from far away to visit my new family.” In thinking it over quickly, Xu was afraid that they wouldn’t be able to handle so many guests.
“They all know that our family isn’t rich,” seventh sister Xiao replied, “so they’re sending vessels of food ahead of their arrival, hoping they can trouble your wife to cook it for them, that’s all.” Xu informed his wife, and she agreed to do so.
In the morning, after breakfast, people arrived bearing wine and meat, set down all the provisions they were carrying, and then left. Xu’s wife served as cook and prepared everything. By late afternoon, six or seven women had arrived, the oldest of whom didn’t appear to be more than forty, so they sat around drinking together, their noise and laughter filling the room.
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Chi: A distance equal to 1/3 meter.
Xu’s wife hid and spied on them through a window, noticing nothing but seventh sister Xiao and Xu sitting face to face, unable to see all of the guests. By the time the Big Dipper was suspended over that corner of the room, the ladies were happily beginning to leave. Seventh sister Xiao accompanied her guests and didn’t immediately return.
Xu’s wife went into the room, examined the table, and discovered that the cups and plates were completely empty. She laughed and remarked, “These sisters must’ve been really hungry, eating up everything like a dog licking the cutting board.” A little later, seventh sister returned, eagerly working to clean things up, picking up the dishes and utensils and washing them herself, urging Xu’s wife to go on to bed and have a restful sleep.
Xu’s wife told him, “Her relatives visited our home, yet we made them bring along their own drinks and food, which could set up our family to be ridiculed. We should send them an inv
itation to come again in the near future.”
Several days later, Xu did as his wife suggested, and sent seventh sister Xiao to invite her relatives again. When the guests arrived, they began eating and drinking unrestrainedly; four dishes were set aside, and no one touched them with spoons or chopsticks. The group laughed and cried, “Xu’s wife assumed before that we’re really low-life types, so we’re leaving these dishes for our ‘cook.’”
Seated among them was one young woman, about eighteen or nineteen, wearing plain shoes and a thin white silk skirt, who said that she’d only recently been widowed, and referred to herself as sixth sister; she adopted a seductive demeanor, friendly and smiling, so she could gain access to Xu. She took Xu aside and gradually ingratiated herself, joking with him so they could laugh together. While they played drinking games, Xu kept track of numbers and served as the judge.
Sixth sister kept making mistakes, and thus she’d had more than ten cups of wine, so she became drunk, flushed with liquor. Her fragrant body became tender and lazy, too weak to support herself. Before long, she slipped away.
With a candle, Xu searched for her, and found her sleeping it off in a dark, curtained area. He drew close enough to touch her lips, but she didn’t seem to feel anything. Then he took his hand and felt inside her trousers, where the flesh of her private parts looked thick and comfortable. Just as he was abandoning himself to attempt to make love to her, from the room where the banquet has taken place there came an urgent call for Master Xu; he quickly rearranged her clothing, stealthily stole sixth sister’s silk scarf from her sleeve, and left.
The other sisters waited till the middle of the night, but then the crowd of them decided to leave the banquet, though sixth sister was still unconscious. Seventh sister Xiao entered where sixth sister was sleeping, and shook her till she yawned and stood up, fastening her skirt and fixing her hair before leaving to follow the others.
Xu was so enraptured by his memory of sixth sister that he couldn’t get her out of his mind, and once he was alone, he wanted to take out the stolen scarf to amuse himself, but then he discovered it was missing. Figuring that he might have lost it somewhere while he was sending his guests away, he held his lantern to illuminate the steps in the courtyard, but found nothing, and was at such a loss about what to do that he couldn’t relax.
When seventh sister asked him what was wrong, Xu responded casually. She laughed and said, “Don’t lie—the person you took the scarf from is already gone, and it’s pointless to dwell on her memory.”
Xu was frightened, so he told her the truth, every word indicating the fixation of his thoughts on her. Seventh sister told him, “You two weren’t fated to be together, so you should stop thinking about her.” Xu continued to ask about her. “In a previous incarnation,” seventh sister explained, “she was wronged; you were a scholar who saw her and fell in love, but your parents were opposed to her, so you’re remembering that you weren’t allowed to obtain your desire, which led to your feeling critically ill. You sent someone to tell her for you, ‘I’m already very ill. However, if you come to me, so I can lay my hands on your skin and flesh even once, I’ll die without regret!’ You figured she would be moved by these sentiments, and surely agree to your request. Unfortunately, she was delayed by some matters of business and couldn’t come to you right away. The night she finally came, you had already died. Between you two, there’s an opposition of destiny, so you shouldn’t expect anything further.”
Afterwards he set up a banquet, again inviting all of the women, and only sixth sister failed to arrive. Xu began to suspect that seventh sister Xiao was jealous and actually resented sixth sister.
Seventh sister told Xu one day, “You’ve mistakenly taken offense at me because of sixth sister. But if it’s she who’s unwilling to come back, will you hold that against me? Now after loving you for eight years, I’m on the verge of leaving, so I plan to help you arrange a match, which will dispel the feelings you’ve been having about me. She may not have come here, but no one is forbidding us to go to her. We can go visit my parents, and maybe human efforts can change the dictates of heaven—I don’t know.” This made Xu happy, and he agreed to her suggestion.
Seventh sister took him by the hand and they fluttered like they were walking on air, instantly arriving at her parents’ home. A large hall there was covered in yellow tiles, fronted by a winding doorway, and despite seeing it for the first time, Xu thought it not the least bit strange.
Seventh sister Xiao’s parents appeared together, and said, “Our backwards daughter has long enjoyed your care. Now that we’re in our declining years, we sometimes forget about educating her and encouraging her self-reflection, so if she makes any mistakes, can you please forgive her?” They had a banquet set out, to gather everyone together. Seventh sister then asked about all of her sisters.
Her mother replied, “Each of them has returned to her own home, so only sixth sister is still here.” She sent for a maidservant to go invite sixth sister to join them, but after a long time, she still hadn’t appeared. Seventh sister Xiao then went in and dragged her out.
Sixth sister bowed her head and remained silent, so it seemed as though she hadn’t gotten over what had happened before. After a little while, their mother and father took their leave and retired for the night. Seventh sister then said, “Elder sister, your high-mindedness has led to me being resented!”
“He’s such a rash gentleman,” sixth sister replied, “how could I possibly become close to him!”
Seventh sister Xiao then grabbed the others’ wine goblets and forced them to trade, declaring, “What’s the point of acting pretentiously, now that your lips have touched the same cups?” Moments later, seventh sister left the two of them alone together in the room. Xu hastily jumped up to force himself on sixth sister, but she turned away to resist him. On his hands and knees, Xu tugged at her garments for a long time, pleading with her, till gradually she gave in to his sexual advances, and they went together into one of the inner rooms.
Just as they were beginning to undo their clothing, they suddenly heard a shouting and whistling resonating through the ground, till a flame shot out of the door to their room. Sixth sister was terrified, and pushed Xu to get up, saying, “You’ve brought disaster down on us, so figure out what we can do!” Xu thought quickly but didn’t know what course to take—meanwhile, sixth sister Xiao had already fled, without even leaving any footprints behind.
As Xu sat down in disappointment for a moment, the house completely disappeared. Ten or so hunters arrived, carrying falcons and brandishing blades, and in surprise demanded of him, “Who are you to be hiding here in the dark?” Xu used the excuse that he’d lost his way, then he told them his name.
One of the hunters said, “We were chasing a fox— did you see it?”
“No, I’m afraid I didn’t,” Xu replied. He admitted that he’d been drunk, and examined where he was, discovering himself to be near the area of the tombs. Dispirited, Xu then went home.
Particularly hoping that seventh sister Xiao could return, he checked for auspicious omens: the singing of birds in the morning, and the snuff of a candlewick in the evening, but in the end he received no information concerning her. Dong Yufa told me all about this.
236. Two Separations by War
Schoolmaster Liu Fanghui lived in the capital. His younger sister had been engaged to a scholar from the Dai family, and the day for the marriage approached. Then when soldiers from the north entered the country, Liu’s father and elder brothers feared that she was so slim and delicate that she’d be taken by them, so they had the daughter put on her make-up in anticipation of them accompanying her to her husband’s home.
But before she was finished with her preparations, the undisciplined troops began chaotically pouring into the capital, so the elder Liu and his sons fled in all directions. The daughter was captured by the Manchus and taken away. Curiously, after several days, she hadn’t had her honor violated in the least.
> Each night, she was sent to another place to sleep, where she was provided with food and drink in great abundance. Then a young man was kidnapped who was more or less the same age as the daughter, his bearing elegant and refined. A Manchu there told him, “I don’t have a son, so will you agree to it if I offer to make you my inheritor?” The young man timidly responded in the affirmative.
Then the Manchu pointed to Liu’s daughter and said, “If you’d like, you can take this one as your wife.” This pleased the young man, who was willing to do precisely that. The Manchu then had him share the girl’s bed, which made both of them very happy. Afterwards, they asked each other their surnames, and the young man identified himself—as Scholar Dai.
In Shaanxi there was a certain official who’d been appointed to the Salt Monopoly Office, but his family’s obligations prevented them from joining him. It happened that thanks to Jiang Xiang’s activities, his village fell into rebel hands and was completely cut off from contact with the outside world.
Once the chaos settled down, the official sent a man to make inquiries about his family members, and though the man saw smoke rising from the village a hundred li away, he couldn’t get news about the village from anywhere.
Some time later, when the official reported to the capital on his work, he came across an older fellow who’d once been his servant. This servant had lost his spouse, but was too poor to remarry, so the official gave him several taels and sent him off to buy a wife.
By that time, the imperial troops had returned triumphant, having captured a large number of women, so they put them on display in the marketplace like they were selling beasts of burden. Thus the widowed servant took the money that the official had given him and went to select a wife. He figured that since he was a bit short on money, he didn’t dare ask for one of the younger beauties. In the midst of them there was an older woman who looked very clean and trim, so he paid to redeem her and took her home.