Strange Tales from Liaozhai--Volume 4

by Pu Songling

  Is called “a Buddhist monk”: Pu reveals the spiritual lesson at the heart of his story, since Jin might have picked up a nickname like “the monk” simply because his father sold him to the monastery on Five Lotus Mountain. Pu’s point is that a Buddhist monk isn’t simply someone who learns Buddhist dogma or who practices Buddhist ritual, but someone whose life and deeds, unlike the self-serving Jin’s, are consistent with the example of the Buddha.

  “Was Jin, then, really a ‘monk’? An ‘example’? A ‘performance’? An ‘encounter’? Was his tomb ‘self-indulgent’ ?”

  290. The Dragons Trick the Spider

  Master Xu was a district magistrate in Qidong. There was a building on the grounds of his office that was used for storing fine foods and pastries, which were often devoured by some creature. His servants were repeatedly subjected to his reproaches and criticisms, so they finally hid there to lie in wait for the culprit.

  One of them happened to spot a spider the size of a ladle in the storage building. Startled, he ran to tell Xu. Master Xu thought this rather rare, so each day he sent some of the maids to toss it some cake. The spider became quite tame, hence when it was hungry it always came out for the people who fed it, and when it had eaten enough, it would leave.

  After a year had passed, Master Xu happened to be at his desk, reading a document, when the spider suddenly emerged from its hiding place and sat on a nearby table. Suspecting that it might be hungry, he called for a servant to set out some cake; when he turned back, he saw two snakes surrounding the spider, like a pair of slender, delicate chopsticks, while the spider’s clawed legs curled up over its stomach, as if it was paralyzed with fright.

  In a flash, the snakes began to grow with a sudden violence until they were as thick around as eggs. Terrified, Xu wanted to run away. Then a massive thunderbolt exploded, and the whole house shook like it was being destroyed. Moments later, Xu regained consciousness; seven people, including his wife and some servants, had been struck and killed. Master Xu was ill for more than a month, and then he died.

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  Qidong: A county, part of modern Shandong province.

  The magistrate’s apparently honest and upright conduct made him beloved by the people, and on the day of his burial, there were individuals who had set aside some money so they could accompany his body, and the sound of their weeping filled the countryside.

  The collector of these strange tales remarks, “The dragons tricked the spider, and rather than a rumor spreading through the lanes and alleys, isn’t this likely a true story? When the people heard the strike of the thunderbolt, which was certainly aimed at wicked persons, how could they think that Xu had discharged his duties meritoriously and still suffer such a vicious end? The ruler of heaven couldn’t possibly be so muddleheaded!”

  291. The Businessman’s Wife

  In Tianjin, there was a certain businessman who was preparing for a long-distance commercial trip, so he went to visit a rich man who lent him a few hundred taels for his expenses. There was a thief who spied this, and as night was approaching, he hurried on ahead to the businessman’s home, where he hid inside, waiting for the man to return. But when the businessman realized what an auspicious day it had been for him, he took up the money and embarked on his trip.

  The thief had been hiding for a long time when he heard the businessman’s wife tossing and turning in her bed, as though she couldn’t get to sleep. Before long, a small door opened up in the wall, flooding the room with bright light.

  Stepping out from the door was a woman who appeared to be rather young, dragging a long cloth belt from her hand, and approached the bed to give it to the wife, who tried to push it away with her hands. The young woman tenaciously thrust it at her; the businessman’s wife then accepted the belt, stood up to toss it over one of the room’s beams, wrapped it around her neck, and hanged herself.

  The young woman subsequently departed, and where there had been a door, the wall once again became whole. The terrified thief withdrew from his hiding place and ran away.

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  Tianjin: A prefecture in Pu’s time, now a city in modern Hebei province.

  The next morning, when the family members found the wife dead, they asked local officials to look into the matter. The officials ordered the arrest of the businessman’s neighbor and had a confession beaten out of him, so he pled guilty despite his innocence and was imprisoned, with his execution scheduled to take place within a few days.

  The thief was outraged at this injustice, so he surrendered himself at the magistrate’s court and described just what he’d seen that night. The investigating officials felt that he was telling the truth, so the businessman’s neighbor was released. They made inquiries of other villagers, who said that before the businessman took up residence in his home, a young woman had died there who matched the thief’s description, and tallied with everything he’d said, so they realized that he’d seen her ghost.

  According to common custom, the victim of a suicide is certain to look for a substitute victim, so isn’t this what the ghost was doing?

  292. The Hell King’s Banquet

  Scholar Shao, from Jinghai, came from a poor family. It happened that on the occasion of his mother’s birthday, he was preparing to make offerings in the courtyard to propitiate the gods; he kneeled to perform obeisance, and then shortly afterwards when he stood up, the plates of sumptuous food offerings that he’d left on a table were completely empty. Utterly amazed, he went and told his mother about it.

  She expressed her suspicion that Shao was simply too impoverished to be able to afford the birthday offerings, so he’d made it all up. Shao was speechless, since he could offer no proof to the contrary.

  Shortly afterwards, as the time of the civil service examination was approaching, he was troubled that he wouldn’t be able to afford to go take the examination, so he borrowed a little money and ventured out. While he was on the road, he met a man who invited Shao to join him, since the man was quite hospitable.

  Shao accompanied the fellow till they came to a complex of halls, pavilions and towers, extending the full length of the entire road. Once they were inside, Shao noticed a king sitting at the head of a hall, so he prostrated himself reverentially.

  This satisfied the king, who directed him to sit down, while a table with drinks was brought over for him, and then the man declared to Shao, “When I first passed your magnificent mansion, I had some menial servants who were hungry and thirsty, so they presumably enjoyed the sumptuous dinner you’d set out.” Shao, stunned, replied that he didn’t understand what he meant.

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  Jinghai: A county in Pu’s time, now known as Tianjin, a port near Beijing.

  “I’m the Hell King,” the monarch exclaimed. “Don’t you remember when you set up that banquet in your courtyard for me?”

  Once they’d finished their feast, the king took out some silver that was all wrapped up, remarking, “Since we imposed on your hospitality, here’s a slight recompense to assist you.” Shao accepted the silver and departed, and once he was outside the palace and away from its personages, he was uncertain how much time had passed; he just knew that there’d been a large tree with quite a number of branches standing, that now was lying desolately by the side of the road.

  When he examined the king’s gift, he discovered it was truly silver, and must have been worth about five taels. This furnished him sufficiently to go take the examination, which only used up half the amount, so then he returned home, able to afford new offerings to honor his mother.

  293. Treating the Ghosts

  Doctor Yang, from Shanxi, was adept in the arts of acupuncture and moxibustion; he was also able to treat ghosts. When he went out, the ghosts would even take hold of his donkey and his whip to serve him.

  One night he happened to be returning home, traveling with a friend. Along the way, they saw two men approaching who were extreme
ly strange-looking. His friend seemed quite startled by them.

  Yang accordingly inquired of them, “Who are you fellows?”

  “We’re Long Foot Wang and Big Head Li,” they replied, “offering our respectful greetings to the master.”

  “Well, you can lead the way for us,” replied Yang.

  The two men turned on their heels and went on ahead, walking very slowly, then waited for Yang and his friend to catch up, just like the two were Yang’s servants.

  294. Slender Willow

  There was a young woman known as Slender Willow, the daughter of a scholar, who lived in Zhongdu. Due to her adorably slim waist, she was playfully called “Slender Willow.” Since she was quite bright when she was young, she quickly learned to write, and enjoyed reading books on the practice of physiognomy. Her whole life, she was a taciturn person of few words, so she never gossiped about people; however, if any man inquired about her, towards proposing marriage, she was sure to try and sneak a peek at him. A great many men came to make inquiries about her, but none of them met her approval, and hence she was already nineteen and still unmarried.

  Her parents grew angry with her and declared, “No one so far has been good enough to match you, so are you just going to become an old maid?”

  “What I truly want,” Slender Willow replied, “is to take control of my own destiny; for a long time now, I haven’t seen anyone acceptable, so it seemed like I was fated to remain single. But from this point forward, please let me know what you want me to do, and I’ll listen.”

  At that time, there was a scholar named Gao, from a well-respected family known for its literary talents, who came to make marriage inquiries about Slender Willow, and the arrangements went forward. After they’d celebrated their wedding, the couple lived together very harmoniously. From his late wife, Gao had a son, named Changfu, who was five years old, and Slender Willow raised him with thoughtful care. Whenever she prepared to return home to visit her parents, Changfu would always cry to go along with her, and wouldn’t stop till she agreed.

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  Zhongdu: An ancient city, the site of which is located in modern Henan province’s Qinyang county.

  Physiognomy: Reading an individual’s features to predict the person’s nature and/or future.

  A year went by, and Slender Willow gave birth to a son, whom she named Changhu. Gao asked her the significance of the name, and she explained, “None, really, except that I can always count on still having Changhu here.”

  Slender Willow seemed inadvertently neglectful about domestic chores, as she often simply didn’t pay much attention to them; but where their farmland to the southeast was concerned, she kept track of the amount of taxes they owed, making notes in account books and reviewing them, worried only that they weren’t sufficiently detailed. After a long time, she asked Gao, “Will you kindly not worry about the family’s business concerns, but let me attend to them, to see if I can handle the household affairs?” Gao went along with her request, and in half a year none of the family’s financial concerns were neglected, so he esteemed her for her business expertise.

  One day, while Gao was gone to a neighboring village to have some wine, a man who had come to collect an outstanding tax payment pounded at their gate, cursing; Slender Willow sent a servant to mollify him, but he wouldn’t leave. Then she dispatched a boy servant who brought Gao home.

  After the tax collector had gone, Gao smiled at his wife and declared, “Slender Willow, have you now begun to realize that a smart woman isn’t as valuable as a foolish man?” When she heard these words, his wife bowed her head and wept. Gao, surprised, drew her to him and tried to comfort her, but Slender Willow remained unhappy.

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  Changfu . . . Changhu: The sons’ names, respectively, mean “long-lasting good fortune” and “long-lasting dependability.”

  Gao couldn’t bear to see the administration of the family business affairs weigh so heavily on her, and he also wanted to take care of matters himself, but she was unwilling to turn things over to him. From the time she got up in the morning till the time she went to sleep, she managed their financial records, filling them in diligently. Before the beginning of each year, she would already have set aside the taxes they owed for the year, so when the end of the year arrived, they never had to witness a collector coming to their gate to press them for money they owed; then she’d calculate the costs of clothing and food for the household, solving all potential financial worries.

  As a result, Gao was very happy, so he playfully remarked, “How delicate Slender Willow is: slender eyebrows, slender waist, her graceful footsteps slender, and I’m happy her every thought is even more slender.”

  “Master Gao,” she accordingly replied, “is sincerely far above the average: his property is above average, his ambitions are above average, his writing talent is above average, and I hope his longevity is particularly above average.”

  In their village, there happened to be some well-made coffins for sale, and Slender Willow spared no efforts in her quest to obtain one; she couldn’t afford the price, so pursuing every means she had, she begged for loans in villages wherever they had relatives. Gao figured there was no hurry in obtaining such a thing, so he tried to get her to forget about making the purchase, but she wouldn’t listen.

  They’d been storing the coffin for over a year, when a wealthy household that was in mourning offered to buy it for double what Slender Willow had paid. Gao thought about the profit and talked it over with Slender Willow, but she wouldn’t accept the offer. Gao asked her why. She wouldn’t say; then when he asked her again, her eyes started shimmering, like she was on the verge of crying. He thought this strange, but he couldn’t bear to cause such discomfort, so he dropped the matter.

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  Gao . . . above the average: Gao’s surname means “high,” “tall,” or “above average.”

  Another year passed, and when Gao turned twenty-five, Slender Willow forbade him from traveling very far; if he was a little late returning home, she sent servants out to encourage him to come back, and to accompany him on the way. Hence his cronies all made fun of him.

  One day, Gao was drinking with his friends when he began to feel unwell and headed home, but when he was halfway there, he fell off his horse and died. It happened to be sweltering hot at the time, but fortunately his burial clothes had been prepared for a long time. In their village, everyone admired Slender Willow for her foresight.

  When Changfu was ten years old, he began formal literary study. After his father died, he became lazy and unwilling to study, and always ran off to hang around with the cattle herders. Even when he was scolded for this he didn’t change his behavior, and he continued even when he was spanked for it, stubbornly disobeying just like before.

  His mother felt helpless, hence she told him, “Since you don’t want to study, what can I do to force you to do it? But we’re a poor family, and we can’t afford to have anyone failing to contribute, so I’ll replace your clothing and send you out to do manual labor with the other servants. Otherwise, don’t complain if I have you whipped!”

  Thereupon he was given cheap cotton clothing, and sent out to tend the pigs; and when he’d return, he had to pick up a clay bowl and eat congee from it with all the other servants. After a few days of suffering this way, Changfu in tears knelt to Slender Willow in the courtyard, expressing his desire to continue studying as before. She turned away from him with difficulty, acting as though she hadn’t heard him. Unable to dissuade her, forced to remain a servant, he continued sobbing and left.

  The waning autumn days were drawing to an end, and Changfu lacked adequate clothing or shoes for his feet, so as the cold rains soaked him, be began to feel as disheartened as a beggar. His fellow villagers saw him like this and took pity on him, and when they considered how his stepmother was treating him, they all felt that she should be admonished about it, which gave rise
to all kinds of complaints about her. Slender Willow also heard a bit of this talk, but was indifferent to it, and didn’t change her position.

  Changfu couldn’t stand his suffering any longer, so he abandoned the pigs and ran away; Slender Willow allowed him to do so without pursuing the matter at all. Months went by, and Changfu could find no more places to beg food, so, wretched and thin, he returned home; he didn’t dare just rush inside, so he sadly begged an elderly neighbor woman to inform his mother of his presence.

  “If he’s willing to accept a hundred blows from a stick,” Slender Willow replied, “he can come see me; otherwise, he should leave again as early as possible.” When Changfu heard this, he hurried in to her, weeping bitterly, and declared that he wanted to accept the beatings. “Now do you regret your decision?” she asked him.

  “I do,” he said.

  “Since you’ve realized your mistake,” she replied, “it’s no longer necessary for you to suffer the beatings—you can go on tending the pigs, but if you disappoint me again, I won’t forgive you!”

  Changfu loudly sobbed, “I want to receive the hundred blows, then please let me become a student again.” Slender Willow wouldn’t listen to him. The old neighbor woman interceded on Changfu’s behalf, till finally his stepmother gave in. She had him bathe and gave him some fresh clothing, then sent him to study with the same teacher as his younger brother, Changhu.

  Dedicated to a radical rethinking of his former attitude, in three years Changfu became certified as a xiucai. Provincial Governor Yang was shown some of his literary essays and regarded them highly, so he bestowed a government grant on him, to help him get established.

  Changhu was exceedingly dumb, and after years of study he couldn’t even remember how to write his own name. Slender Willow instructed him to abandon his books and instead become a farmer. Yet Changhu was idle and dreaded hard work. His mother angrily chided him, “Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—everyone has some kind of profession, so if you can’t study, and you can’t plow, would you rather end up in a ditch, starving to death?” Then she gave him a good thrashing.