Necklace And Calabash
Page 15
Judge Dee came to his feet, lifting the yellow roll in both hands. The colonel remained on his knees.
‘Your humble servant has the honour to return to Your Highness the August Words.’
The Princess gestured with her fan. The elderly lady came forward. When she took the yellow roll over from the judge, he noticed the white jade bracelet on her wrist, carved into the shape of a curving dragon.
‘Your humble servant has also the honour to return to Your Highness the pearl necklace. The thief proved to be a person from outside the palace, exactly as Your Highness deigned to intimate when your servant was granted his first audience.’
The Princess held out her hand, and the judge gave her the necklace with a low bow. Letting it glide through her fingers, she told him, her eyes on Colonel Kang:
‘You shall repeat, Dee, the last words I said to you.’
‘Your Highness deigned to say that in charging me to recover the necklace, she placed her happiness into my hands.’ Judge Dee spoke automatically, for now that he was seeing her face clearly in broad daylight, something had struck him in the line of her cheekbones and the shape of the determined chin.
‘Now you know, Colonel. Soon we shall meet again, the red candles burning high.’
Colonel Kang rose and stepped up to her, his shining eyes locked with hers. The elderly lady looked at the tall, handsome pair, a soft smile on her pale, tired face. Judge Dee quickly went to the door.
The two court ladies conducted him back to the Golden Bridge. The obese eunuch stood waiting at the other side. When he had respectfully led Judge Dee to the entrance, the judge told him:
‘Go and see your master. I fear he is ill.’ Then he got into the brocade palankeen and told the honour guard to take him to the Superintendent’s office.
The corridor was crowded with guardsmen and sturdy fellows both in black and grey livery, but all wearing red armlets with the word ‘special’ written on them, and all armed to the teeth. They bowed low when they saw the judge. He found the Superintendent standing bent over his desk, which was strewn with thin slips of paper. The Superintendent looked up.
‘The main scoundrels have been arrested already, Excellency! I regret to report that the rot had spread even among my own men. What must we do about the Chief Eunuch, Excellency? He can’t be arrested without …’
“The Chief Eunuch died from a heart-attack,’ the judge interrupted. ‘While conducting your investigation you shall pay particular attention to a person who calls himself Mr Hao, and to close associates of his who last night murdered Mr Lang Liu, in the Kingfisher inn. You shall see to it that they are punished with the utmost severity.’
The Superintendent made a bow. Pointing at his own chair, he said, ‘Your Excellency please be seated, so that I can explain how …’
Judge Dee shook his head. He took off the winged cap, placed it carefully on the desk, and put his small skull-cap on his head. Then he divested himself of the yellow stole, and placed it beside the cap.
‘I have returned the August Words to Her Highness. From now on I am just the magistrate of Poo-yang. I leave everything in your capable hands, sir.’
The Superintendent fixed the judge with his piercing eyes.
‘Do you mean to say that you won’t avail yourself of this opportunity to… . Don’t you realize that you have a high position in the capital for the asking? I shall be glad to propose that you …’
‘I am eager to return to my post, sir.’
The other gave him a long look. Then, shaking his head, he went to the side-table. He took the sword lying there and handed it to Judge Dee. It was his cherished Rain Dragon. As the judge hung it on his back, the Superintendent said gravely:
‘Your drastic action in Poo-yang against the monks of the Temple of Boundless Mercy made the Buddhist clique at court your enemy. And now you have seriously antagonized the powerful party of the eunuchs. I want you to realize, Dee, that you have embittered enemies at the Imperial Court. But also staunch friends. Including me.’
His thin lips curved. It was the first time Judge Dee had seen the Superintendent smile. He bowed and went out. The lieutenant at the gate asked him whether he wanted a palankeen, but the judge said he preferred a horse. The gates were thrown open and he rode across the marble bridge.
Chapter 22
Entering the pine forest, Judge Dee felt the warm rays of the sun on his back. He realized it was getting on for noon. Deeply inhaling the bracing air, he reflected that this was a nice change after the hectic, hothouse atmosphere of the Water Palace. Squaring his shoulders, he thought proudly of the Dragon Throne, unsullied by infamous insinuations. There would always be all kinds of intrigues in the palace-it was an unavoidably weak point in the administration of this great country. But as long as the top remained sound, all was well under Heaven. He rode along, the hoofs of his horse treading noiselessly on the thick layer of pine-needles covering the road.
Suddenly he reined in his horse. Master Gourd came riding round the bend, hunched up on his donkey, his crutches across its rump. The calabash was hanging from his belt by a red-tasselled cord. Halting his mount, the old man surveyed the judge from under his tufted eyebrows.
‘Glad to see you wearing that skull-cap, magistrate. I knew that a scrap of yellow paper with a blob of red ink on it couldn’t change your nature. Where’s your calabash? ‘
‘I left it at the Kingfisher. I am very glad to meet you once more before leaving Rivertown, Master Gourd.’
‘This is the third time and the last, magistrate. Just like nature, man’s life revolves in cycles. For one brief moment yours and mine touched. What’s the news from the palace?’
‘I returned your daughter’s necklace. I expect her betrothal to Colonel Kang will be announced in the near future. Who are you, Master Gourd?’
‘Were, rather,’ the old man said gruffly. ‘Since you know so much, you may as well know this too. Many years ago I was a general. When I went north for the Tartar war, I left my secret sweetheart behind, carrying my child under her heart. I was
THE LAST MEETING WITH MASTER GOURD
severely wounded in our last battle: my horse was killed under me, crushing my legs. I became a prisoner of the Tartar barbarians; for fifteen long years I was their meanest slave. That made me realize the emptiness of worldly power. I would have killed myself, but thinking of her made me cling to life, miserable as it was. When I succeeded in escaping and returned to China, my sweetheart was dead. She had been elected Imperial Consort just after I had left, and in due time had borne a daughter. My daughter, as you correctly surmised. She was recorded as the Emperor’s own child, because the eunuchs feared to be punished for not having ascertained she was a virgin upon entering the harem. That, magistrate, showed me the emptiness of worldly love. Thus I became a vagrant monk, with only one link left with this world, namely my concern for my daughter’s happiness.’ He paused, then added, reluctantly, ‘My name was Ou-yang Pei-han.’
Judge Dee nodded slowly. He had heard of the famous, dashing general. His death in battle had been mourned by the entire nation. Twenty-five years ago.
The old man resumed:
‘A gourd becomes useful only after it has been emptied. For then its dry rind may serve as a container. The same goes for us, magistrate. It’s only after we have been emptied of all our vain hopes, all our petty desires and cherished illusions, that we can be useful to others. Perhaps you’ll realize this later, magistrate, when you are older. Well, when I met you in the forest, I recognized you, for I had heard it said that we resemble each other, and I sensed the force of your personality. It so happened that the gourds we were carrying formed the first link between us, establishing our relationship of travelling-doctor and vagrant monk in a spontaneous, quite natural manner. And so, although I firmly believe in non-action, I thought that in this case I might as well forge the second link of a chain of cause and effect, and I advised my daughter to summon you. Then I just let events take their course. And
now you had better forget me, magistrate. Until you remember me, sometime. For although to the unknowing I am but a bronze mirror against which they dash their heads, to the wise I am a door through which they may pass in or out.’ He clicked his tongue, and the donkey ambled on.
The judge looked after the departing figure till it had disappeared among the trees. Then he rode back to Rivertown.
He found the hall of the Kingfisher deserted. Hearing voices from behind the lattice screen, he walked round it and saw Captain Siew sitting at the innkeeper’s desk, writing busily and at the same time talking to Fern who stood by his chair. Siew quickly came to his feet.
‘Helping Miss Fern a bit with all the paper-work, sir,’ he said, a little self-consciously. ‘Lots of forms to be filled out, you know, and I thought …’
‘Excellent idea. I want to thank you for your trust, and your loyal help, Siew. Sorry I didn’t get round to drafting for you a control-system for unwanted visitors.’
The captain looked embarrassed.
‘Of course, sir. I mean, I shouldn’t have …’ He floundered, then went on quickly, ‘Your two lieutenants have arrived, sir! When they came to register, I told them to go to the Nine Clouds. I’ll just make sure!’ He rushed to the hall.
Fern gave the judge a cold look.
‘You and your three wives! For heaven’s sake! As an Imperial envoy, you must have a whole harem, chock-full of women!’
‘I am not an envoy but a simple district magistrate, and I have indeed three wives,’ the judge said quietly. ‘Sorry that I couldn’t reveal to you earlier that I was obliged to act a doctor’s part.’
She was smiling again.
‘We had two nice trips on the river, anyway!’ she said.
Captain Siew came back.
‘Saw them standing in the hall of the Nine Clouds, sir!’
‘Good. I’ll take my noon rice there with them, then travel on. I wish you much happiness. Both of you.’
He quickly went out into the street again.
In the front hall of the Nine Clouds, the portly host was leaning against the counter, his face green, his pudgy hands clutching his paunch. He gave the judge a reproachful look. Judge Dee took a brush from the holder on the counter, and jotted down a recipe. Pushing it over to the fat man, he said:
‘This is gratis. Take this medicine after each meal, eat often but only a little at a time. Avoid wine, and fat and peppery dishes. And abstain from sweets!’
He found Ma Joong and Chiao Tai in the restaurant. They had sat down at a window-table and were cracking melon seeds. The two tall men jumped up, broad grins on their sun-tanned faces.
‘We had two hectic days, sir! Slept in the woods!’ Ma Joong shouted. ‘Killed two boars, huge fellows. Hope you had a good rest, sir! How did your fishing go? ‘
‘Not too bad. I caught a fine river perch.’
Chiao Tai surveyed Judge Dee’s haggard face with a worried look. He thought his master needed a drink. Knowing Judge Dee’s abstemious habits, however, he said after some hesitation:
‘What about joining us in a small cup or two, sir? ‘ As the judge nodded, Chiao Tai shouted at the waiter: ‘Two large jars of the best!’
The judge sat down. Over his shoulder he told the waiter:
‘Make it three.’
Postscript
JUDGE dee was a historical person; he lived from A.D. 630 to 700, during the Tang Dynasty. Besides earning fame as a great detective, he was also a brilliant statesman who, in the second half of his career, played an important role in the internal and foreign policies of the Tang Empire. The adventures related here, however, are entirely fictitious.
Master Gourd is the type of high-minded Taoist recluse that figures often in ancient Chinese literature. Taoism and Confucianism are the two basic ways of thought that have dominated Chinese religion and philosophy; Buddhism was introduced later, around the beginning of our era. Confucianism is realistic and very much of this world, Taoism mystic and wholly unworldly. Judge Dee was a Confucianist as most Chinese scholar-officials, with a sympathetic interest in Taoism, but anti-Buddhist. The pronouncement of Master Gourd on p. 3 is a direct quotation from the famous Taoist text Tao-te-ching (cf. J. J. L. Duyvendak, Tao Te Ching, The Wisdom of the East Series, London 1954, p. 40). Judge Dee’s remark on Confucius fishing with a rod instead of with a net (p. 61) is quoted from the Confucianist Classic Lun-yü (cf. Arthur Waley, The Analects of Confucius, London 1949, p. 128).
The calabash or bottle-gourd has, since ancient times, played an important role in Chinese philosophy and art. Being very durable in its dried state, it is used as a receptacle for medicine, and hence it is the traditional shop-sign of drug-dealers. Taoist sages are said to have carried the elixir of longevity in a calabash, hence it has become the traditional symbol for immortality. It also symbolizes the relativity of all things, as expressed in the ancient saying: ‘The entire universe may be found within the compass of a calabash.’ Even today one will often see old Chinese or Japanese gentlemen leisurely polishing a calabash with the palms of their hands, this being considered conducive to quiet meditation.
The abacus, in Chinese called suan-p’an, ‘calculating tray’, is a very effective ‘ready reckoner’, today still widely used in both China and Japan. Based on the decimal system, it consists of an oblong rectangular wooden frame, crossed by ten or more parallel wire-rods (see the first plate of the present novel; Tai Min’s abacus had twelve rods). On every rod are threaded seven wooden beads, divided into groups of five and two by a cross-bar bisecting the frame lengthwise. Each of the five beads on the first rod counts 1, each of the two counts 5; pushed to the cross-bar they count 10. The beads on the next rod count as tens, those on the third rod as hundreds, and so on. The abacus is used for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Literary evidence proves that it was widely used in China in the fifteenth century, but it is doubtful whether it existed in this form in Judge Dee’s time. A detailed description will be found in Joseph Needham’s monumental work Science and Civilization in China, vol. III (Cambridge, 1959), p. 74.
As regards the medicine Judge Dee prescribes on p. 36 of the present novel, it should be noted that the medicinal properties of the plant Ephedra vulgaris, Chinese ma-huang, were known in China long before they were recognized in the West.
The plates I drew in the style of sixteenth-century illustrated blockprints, and they represent, therefore, costumes and customs of the Ming period rather than those of the Tang dynasty. Note that in Judge Dee’s time the Chinese did not wear pigtails; that custom was imposed on them after A.D. 1644, when the Manchus had conquered China. The men did their hair up in a top-knot as shown on the plate on p. 111 of the present novel, and they wore caps both inside and outside the house. They did not smoke, for tobacco and opium were introduced into China only a few centuries ago.
—Robert Van Gulik
THE NECKLACE
THE CALABASH
About The Author
Robert van Gulik, a world-renowned orientalist, made a hobby of writing Chinese detective stories set in the time of the Tang Dynasty. He entered The Netherlands Foreign Service in m 1935, serving in various posts in China, Japan, East Africa, Egypt, India, Lebanon, and the U.S. From 1965 until his death in 1967 he was The Netherlands ambassador to Japan.
Robert Van Gulik
The Judge Dee Mysteries
The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
The Chinese Maze Murders
The Chinese Bell Murders
The Chinese Lake Murders
The Chinese Gold Murders
The Chinese Nail Murders
The Haunted Monastery
The Red Pavilion
The Lacquer Screen
The Emperor’s Pearl
The Monkey and the Tiger
The Willow Pattern
Murder in Canton
The Phantom of the Temple
Judge Dee at Work
Necklace and Calabash
Poets
and Murder
A Chronology of the Judge Dee Books
Judge Dee at Work contains a "Judge Dee Chronology" telling of Dee's various posts, in which Van Gulik places the mysteries—both books and short stories—in the context of Dee's career and provides other information about the stories. On the basis of this chronology, the works can be arranged in the following order:
663 A.D. – Judge Dee is the magistrate of Peng-lai, a district in the Shantung province on the northeast coast of China.
The Chinese Gold Murders
"Five Auspicious Clouds", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
"The Red Tape Murders", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
"He Came with the Rain", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
The Lacquer Screen
666 A.D. – Judge Dee is the magistrate of Han-yuan, a fictional district on a lakeshore near the capital of Chang-An.
The Chinese Lake Murders
"The Morning of the Monkey", a short novel in The Monkey and the Tiger
The Haunted Monastery (Judge Dee, while traveling, is forced to take shelter in a monastery.)
"The Murder on the Lotus Pond", a short story in Judge Dee at Work (667 A.D.)
668 A.D. – Judge Dee is the magistrate of Poo-yang, a fictional wealthy district through which the Grand Canal of China runs (part of modern-day Jiangsu province).
The Chinese Bell Murders
"The Two Beggars", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
"The Wrong Sword", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
The Red Pavilion, visiting Paradise Island in the neighboring Chin-hwa district
The Emperor's Pearl
Poets and Murder, visiting neighboring Chin-hwa
Necklace and Calabash, visiting Rivertown and the Water Palace