Strange Tales from Liaozhai--Volume 6

by Pu Songling

  In Wumen, the boats are similar except for the fact that beautiful women are also transported in them.

  There was a boy named Jiang A-Duan in Wumen’s Zhenjiang district, who at the age of seven, nimble and clever, was without peer for his athletic agility, and whose reputation just kept spreading, so he was still performing by the time he turned sixteen.

  _________

  Wu and Yue: This region would include portions of modern Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

  Zhang: A length equal to 3.33 meters.

  Wumen: The modern city of Suzhou, in Jiangsu province.

  One day when he was passing beneath Jinshan, he fell into the water and drowned. Since his mother had only this one son, she wept inconsolably.

  A-Duan was unaware that he had died, but there were two men who led him away till they came to a whole new world there underwater; as he turned to look around him, he observed torrents of water rushing down on all sides, as though from towering mountain peaks. Presently they entered a palace, and A-Duan spotted a helmeted man sitting there. The two men told him, “This is the Sovereign of the Dragon Lair.” That being the case, he prostrated himself before the man.

  The sovereign quickly had his visitor stand up, declaring, “A-Duan’s acrobatic skills have qualified him for the Willow Branch Ensemble.” Then the men led him to a vast hall that was enclosed on all sides. As they quickly proceeded to its eastern corridor, a group of young men, thirteen or fourteen years old, came out to greet him courteously.

  An old woman arrived then, and the group of young men all called her Granny Xie. She took a seat and directed A-Duan to give a demonstration of his skills. When he was finished, she taught him a dance called “Thunder over Qiantang,” and another to a piece of music called “The Soft Breezes of Dongting.” But the music of drums and zheng was so clamorous that their sounds were the only things that could be heard from the surrounding courtyard; afterwards, all of the courtyards grew still once again.

  _________

  Jinshan: Literally “Gold Mountain,” located at the modern city of Zhenjiang, in Jiangsu province, northwest of the Yangzi River.

  Zheng: An elongated, bell-like instrument often employed to encourage marching soldiers.

  Qiantang: A river that originates along the borders of Anhui and Jiangxi provinces, and which empties into the East China Sea. Dongting: A large lake located in northeast Hunan province. It is particularly relevant here as the original site of dragon boat racing.

  Granny Xie was afraid that A-Duan might not have been able to pick up all the dance steps that were involved, so she started carefully going over the moves for each note; but A-Duan had already learned everything with just a single time through the dances. “With this boy we’ll be the equals of Wanxia!” Granny Xie exclaimed gleefully.

  The following day, the Sovereign of the Dragon Lair came to inspect each of the performance ensembles, so they all assembled accordingly. The sovereign first inspected the Yaksha Ensemble: they were dressed in demonic masks and fish costumes; they were accompanied by an enormous zheng that must have been about four chi in circumference; it would’ve taken four men to reach around their drum, which made sounds like giant thunderclaps, and they began shouting noisily along with it, the combined sound drowning out everything else. They got up and started dancing, stirring up massive, tempestuous waves that surged up into the sky, causing bits of burning stars to fall to earth which went out once they hit the ground.

  The Dragon Lair Sovereign had them stop all of a sudden, then ordered the Oriole Hatchlings Ensemble to approach: all of their members were sixteen and quite pretty, and soon after they began playing delicate notes on the sheng, a cool breeze began blowing gently and hushed the roar of the waves, the waters gradually calming till it was like the entire world was a brightly shining field of crystal. When the ensemble had finished playing, all of its members withdrew and stood beneath the palace stairs on the west side.

  The Swallow Ensemble performed next: it was composed of girls who were still children, though a young woman, about fourteen or fifteen years old, came forward, swirling her sleeves while gesturing with her head, performing a dance that represented the strewing of flowers; as her sleeves fluttered about her and soared over her head, multi-colored flowers emerged from every portion of her clothing and floated on the breeze as they drifted gently to the ground, filling the courtyard. Once the dance was concluded, she followed her ensemble to the west side of the palace stairs.

  _________

  Yaksha: Nature spirits or demons, the yakshas in Buddhism are large-bellied dwarves, “guardians of treasures and secrets” (Bonnefoy 124), largely benevolent, though inclined to mischief.

  Chi: A measure equal to 1/3 meter.

  Sheng: A reed pipe-style wind instrument.

  A-Duan watched her from the corner of his eye, already keenly in love with her. When he asked one of the ensemble girls about her, he learned that her name was Wanxia.

  Before long, the Willow Branch Ensemble was summoned again. The Dragon Lair Sovereign wished to hold a special audition for A-Duan. The young man performed the dances he’d just learned, portraying every emotional accent in them, his fluid motions perfectly synchronized with the music.

  The Dragon Lair Sovereign praised A-Duan for his intellect in memorizing the dance moves, then rewarded him with a multicolored uniform and a golden comb—made from fish whiskers and inlaid with pearls that were luminous even in the dark. After accepting the gifts with humble thanks, A-Duan hurried over to the west side of the palace stairs, where each of the ensembles had assembled their squads.

  From a distance, he stared at Wanxia through the crowd, while she in turn stared back at him. Moments later, he backed away from the ensembles and moved to the north side of the stairs, while Wanxia gradually stepped away from the ensembles toward the south side; they were only a few steps apart from each other, but they didn’t dare disobey the strict rules of the ensembles, so they had to settle for letting their souls converse through their eyes.

  After this, the Vanessa Butterly Ensemble was called to perform: young boys and girls of the same height and age danced in pairs, dressed in gold and silver, so they all looked alike.

  Once all of the ensembles had been inspected, they filed out, one after the other. The Willow Branch Ensemble was following the Swallow Ensemble, so ADuan hurried to the front of his group while Wanxia deliberately slowed her pace till she was at the rear of her group. When she turned her head around to look at A-Duan and her coral hairpin fell out, he quickly snatched it up and stuck it inside his sleeve.

  Upon his return, A-Duan’s thoughts were so fixated on Wanxia that he made himself sick, unable to sleep or eat. Granny Xie kept bringing him delicacies three or four times a day, eagerly trying to comfort him, but he didn’t get any better at all. She grew worried since she didn’t have an answer to the problem, fretting, “The King of the Wu River’s birthday is coming up soon, so what are we going to do!”

  At dusk, a boy arrived and sat down on A-Duan’s bed to talk to him, explaining that he served in the Vanessa Butterfly Ensemble. He quite leisurely inquired, “Does your illness have anything to do with Wanxia?”

  “How did you know?” asked the startled A-Duan.

  The boy smiled and replied, “Wanxia’s condition is just like yours.” A-Duan sat up quickly, saddened to hear this, begging to know what he could do. “Can you walk?” asked the boy.

  “If I force myself,” A-Duan told him, “I can do it.”

  The boy helped him out, opening a door on the south side; they turned west, then went through a pair of doors. Through them, they observed several dozen mu of lotus flowers, but they were growing on dry land; their leaves were as large as table mats, while their flowers were the size of parasols, and the ground around their stems was covered with fallen petals a chi deep.

  The boy led A-Duan into the flowers and told him, “You should have a seat.” Then he left. In a little while, a beautiful young woman came
through there, pushing aside the flowers—and it turned out to be Wanxia. The two of them were so surprised and pleased to see each other that they quickly confessed their mutual love before exchanging descriptions of their backgrounds.

  _________

  Wu River: This southern tributary of the Yangzi River flows throughout Guizhou province.

  Mu: A measure equal to 1/6 acre.

  Afterwards they used stones to weigh down the edges of the lotus leaves, so they could bend them up to create a sheltered spot there; next they spread lotus petals over the area for comfort, and joyously proceeded to make love. Afterwards, they arranged to meet each day at sunset, then went their separate ways.

  By the time A-Duan returned to the Willow Branch Ensemble, he was completely recovered from his illness. Henceforth, the two met each day for their assignation in the lotus fields.

  Several days passed, then the performing ensembles accompanied the Dragon Lair Sovereign to the birthday celebration for the King of the Wu River. Once the birthday celebration was concluded, all of the performers returned home—with the exception of Wanxia, who was detained along with a member of the Oriole Hatchlings Ensemble, to serve as dance instructors in the palace.

  A few months went by without any news from Wanxia, and A-Duan was tormented by desire for her. His only relief came from Granny Xie’s daily traveling back and forth to the Wu River palace; A-Duan claimed that Wanxia was a step-sister with whom he shared the same mother, so he begged to join her, hoping that he might see Wanxia.

  He waited near the palace gates for several days, but due to the palace’s strict prohibitions regarding behavior, Wanxia was never allowed to go outside, so he finally had to go back, terribly disappointed. Months elapsed, and he began to feel so miserable that he just wanted to end it all.

  One day, a distressed Granny Xie suddenly came in, mournfully informing him, “Oh my dear! Wanxia has thrown herself into the river!” Horrified, A-Duan couldn’t stop his tears from falling. He tore up his hat and ripped his clothing apart, stashed the gold and pearl comb in his sleeve, then left, intending to join his beloved in death.

  However, he discovered the river’s waters forming a kind of wall against him, and though he bashed mightily at it with his head, he couldn’t get through to enter the river. He mulled over the possibility of going back, but was afraid that he’d be asked about the damage to his hat and clothing and would face some heavy punishment. He found himself in such dire straits that worried sweat soaked him down to his very heels.

  Suddenly as he was looking at the wall of water, he noticed a large tree standing near it, so he clambered up it like a monkey until he reached its very top; with a vigorous effort he leapt over the watery wall, and as luck would have it, he didn’t get wet at all, but found himself floating above the river. Unexpectedly, he found himself gazing all of a sudden at the mortal world, so he buoyantly swam towards it.

  In moments, he arrived at the shore, and as he sat there briefly on the bank of the river, his thoughts turned to his aging mother, so he proceeded to make contact with a boat and left for home. When he arrived at his village and looked around at all the houses there, it seemed to him as though they were from another world.

  Upon reaching his own home, he suddenly heard a woman say through the window, “Your son has come.” The voice speaking these words sounded very much like Wanxia’s.

  Presently, when his mother came out to see him, she was joined indeed by Wanxia. The joy felt by A-Duan and Wanxia at their reunion far exceeded their sorrow over having been separated; but A-Duan’s mother felt extremes of sorrow, disbelief, astonishment, and joy all at once.

  Back when Wanxia had been at the Wu River, she began to feel a stirring in her stomach, and because the rules of behavior at the Dragon Lair Sovereign’s palace were so strict, she was constantly afraid that if she gave birth to a baby sometime later, she would be whipped as punishment; then, since she was also unable to see A-Duan, she decided it would be best just to die, so she flung herself into the river.

  Her body, however, rose up and began floating, bobbing along in the waves, until a passing boat rescued her, and its passengers asked her where she lived. Before finding herself a part of the Dragon Lair Sovereign’s court, Wanxia had formerly been a prostitute who had drowned and whose corpse had never been found. She thought to herself that she couldn’t possibly go back to her former life, so she replied, “In Zhenjiang, with my husband Jiang’s family.” The people onboard jointly hired her a small boat, and then accompanied her home.

  A-Duan’s mother at first thought that the girl must be thinking of some other family, but Wanxia assured her that there was no mistake, subsequently relating everything that had happened to A-Duan. His mother pondered the girl’s bearing and mellifluous voice, and found herself already quite fond of her; but then she considered her youth, and feared that she couldn’t possibly last long as a widow.

  But Wanxia was so devoted in her filial care of her mother-in-law that when she saw the impoverished condition of the Jiang home, she took off some of her jewelry and sold it for nearly a hundred strings of cash. Upon scrutinizing her motive for doing so, A-Duan’s mother concluded that she was acting entirely out of good will. Yet she no longer had a son, and she feared that very soon Wanxia’s pregnancy would begin to show, causing relatives and fellow villagers to think that the girl had been unfaithful to A-Duan, and conclude that she was someone else’s woman.

  Wanxia declared, “As long as you know that he’s truly your grandson, mother, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.” The old woman found this reassuring.

  Thus when A-Duan appeared, Wanxia was so overjoyed that she couldn’t contain herself. His mother began to doubt that he had ever really died; she secretly opened his grave, but found a skeleton there, perfectly preserved. Accordingly, she asked him about it. This prompted an epiphany in A-Duan, as he realized what it meant; but he was afraid that Wanxia would reject him because he was no longer human, so he urged his mother not to say anything to her about it.

  She agreed to do as he requested. Thus she told her neighbors that the body recovered from the water hadn’t really been her son’s, though she still worried privately that her son might not be able to produce a human child. Before long, however, Wanxia gave birth to a son, and to the touch he actually felt just the same as every other boy, so A-Duan’s mother began to relax.

  As time passed, Wanxia gradually began to sense that A-Duan was no longer mortal, and finally exclaimed, “Why didn’t you say something earlier! It’s common, upon becoming a ghost or upon entering the Dragon Lair Sovereign’s palace, for one’s spirit to remain strong and complete for forty-nine days, just like the spirit of a living person. If we’d been able to obtain some dragon horn glue in the palace, we could’ve applied it to your bones and joints, so your skin and muscles would’ve grown back—what a pity that we didn’t buy some earlier.”

  A-Duan decided to sell his pearl-inlaid comb, and there was a merchant who offered him a million for it, so the Jiang family henceforth was extremely wealthy. On the occasion of his mother’s birthday, A-Duan and Wanxia sang and danced, then toasted her with wine, and rumors of the couple’s talents found their way to the prince’s residence.

  The prince wanted to seize Wanxia for himself. ADuan was frightened, so he went to see the prince and personally informed him, “My wife and I are both ghosts.” When the prince had him examined and it was discovered that his body cast no shadow, they believed him and no action was taken to seize Wanxia.

  However, the prince assigned some of his palace maids to learn the arts practiced by Wanxia in one of his palace’s side courtyards. Wanxia would only agree to see him if she had first fouled her face with turtle urine.

  _________

  A million: Presumably, a thousand strings of cash, each consisting of a thousand copper coins. She taught there for three months, and since none of her students had been able to approach her level of skill by the end of that period, she s
imply left.

  421. Bai Qiulian

  In Hubei, there was a scholar named Mu Changong, the son of merchant Mu Xiaohuan. Changong was very intelligent and loved to read. When he turned sixteen, his father felt that having his son engage in literary studies to prepare for the civil service examinations was impractical, so he had Changong travel with him to the south, to learn to become a merchant and follow in his father’s footsteps. Whenever the young man found himself traveling by boat with nothing to do, he would entertain himself by reciting poetry.

  Once they arrived at Wuchang, his father arranged for them to lodge at an inn where they could safeguard the profits they’d earned. Changong took advantages of the times when his father went out to grab his books and began reciting poetry, his voice ringing the syllables crisply. Whenever he looked out the window, he always saw the flicker of a shadow, like there was someone eavesdropping on him, but he also didn’t think this anything strange.

  One night, his father went out to have a few drinks, but after quite some time still hadn’t returned, so Changong began reciting with even greater diligence. There was someone pacing back and forth outside his window, as the brightly shining moon revealed quite clearly. This did seem odd, so he quickly ran out to see who was spying on him and discovered a pretty young woman, about fifteen or sixteen, leaning against the wall. When she saw Changong coming, she hurriedly ran off.

  _________

  Wuchang: Located in Hubei province.

  Then, two or three days later, when he and his father had returned from having conveyed some cargo to the north, they moored their boat at dusk by the lakeside. After his father happened to go out, an old woman boarded their boat and exclaimed to Changong, “You’ve murdered my daughter!” Startled, Mu Changong asked her what she was talking about, and she replied, “My surname is Bai. My daughter, Qiulian, is quite skilled at writing. She heard the words you recited at Wuchang clearly, so now she can’t stop thinking about you and she refuses to sleep or eat. She wants to marry you, and you mustn’t refuse her.”