 Part 9 of A Selection from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org A Selection from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio by Pusong Ling Translated by Herbert Alan Giles Volume 1 Part 9 Magical Arts Read by David Barnes A certain Mr. Yu was a spirited young fellow, fond of boxing and trials of strength. He was able to take two kettles and swing them round about with the speed of the wind. Now, during the reign of Chong Zhang, when up for the final examination at the capital, his servant became seriously ill. Much troubled at this, he applied to a necromancer in the marketplace, who was skillful at determining the various leases of life allotted to men. Before he had uttered a word, the necromancer asked him saying, "'Is it not about your servant, sir, that you would consult me?' Mr. Yu was startled at this and replied that it was. "'The sick man,' continued the necromancer, "'will come to no harm. You, sir, are the one in danger.'" Mr. Yu then begged him to cast his nativity, which he proceeded to do, finally saying to Mr. Yu, "'You have but three days to live.'" Dreadfully frightened, he remained for some time in a state of stupifaction, when the necromancer quietly observed that he possessed the power of averting this calamity by magic and would exert it for the sum of ten ounces of silver. But Mr. Yu reflected that life and death are already fixed, and he didn't see how magic could save him. So he refused and was just going away, whereupon the necromancer said, "'You grudge this trifling outlay. I hope you're not repented.'" Mr. Yu's friends also urged him to pay the money, advising him rather to empty his purse than not secure the necromancer's compassion. Mr. Yu, however, would not hear of it, and the three days slipped quickly away. Then he sat down calmly in his inn to see what was going to happen. Nothing did happen all day, and at night he shot his door and trimmed the lamp. Then, with a sword at his side, he awaited the approach of death. By and by the klepsidra showed that two hours had already gone without bringing him any nearer to dissolution, and he was thinking about lying down when he heard a scratching at the window, and then saw a tiny little man creep through carrying a spear on his shoulder, who, on reaching the ground, shot up to the ordinary height. Mr. Yu seized his sword and at once struck at it, but only succeeded in cutting the air. His visitor instantly shrank down small again and made an attempt to escape through the crevice of the window, but Yu redoubled his blows and at last brought him to the ground. Lighting the lamp, he found only a paper man cut right through the middle. This made him afraid to sleep, and he sat up watching until, in a little time, he saw a horrid hobgoblin creep through the same place. No sooner did it touch the ground than he assailed it lustily with his sword at length, cutting it in half. Seeing, however, that both halves kept on wriggling about, and fearing that it might get up again, he went on hacking at it, every blow told, giving forth a hard sound. And when he came to examine his work, he found a clay image all knocked to pieces. Upon this he moved his seat near to the window and kept his eye fixed upon the crack. After some time he heard a noise like a bull bellowing outside the window, and something pushed against the window frame with such force to make the whole house tremble and seem about to fall. Mr. Yu, fearing he should be buried under the ruins, thought he could not do better than fight outside, so he accordingly burst open the door with a crash and rushed out. There he found a huge devil, as tall as the house, and he saw by the dim light of the moon that its face was as black as coal. Its eyes shot forth yellow fire. It had nothing either upon its shoulders or feet, but held a bow in its hand and had some arrows at its waist. Mr. Yu was terrified, and the devil discharged an arrow at him, which he struck to the ground with his sword. On Mr. Yu preparing to strike, the devil let off another arrow, which the former avoided by jumping aside, the arrow quivering in the wall beyond with a smart crack. The devil here got very angry, and drawing his sword flourished it like a whirlwind, aiming a tremendous blow at Mr. Yu. Mr. Yu ducked, and the whole force of the blow fell upon the stone wall of the house, cutting it right in two. Mr. Yu then ran out from between the devil's legs and began hacking at its back. Wack! Wack! The devil now became furious and roared like thunder, turning round to get another blow at his assailant. But Mr. Yu again ran between his legs, the devil's sword merely cutting off a piece of his coat. Once more he hacked away. Wack! Wack! And at length the devil came tumbling down flat. Mr. Yu cut at him right and left, each blow resounding like the watchman's wooden gong, and then, bringing a light, he found it was a wooden image about as tall as a man. The bow and arrows were still there, the latter attached to its waist. Its carved and painted features were most hideous to behold, and wherever Mr. Yu had struck it with his sword there was blood. Mr. Yu sat with the light in his hand till morning, when he awaked to the fact that all these devils had been sent by the necromancer in order to kill him, and so evidence his own magical power. The next day, after having told the story far and wide, he went with some others to the place where the necromancer had his stall, but the latter, seeing them coming, vanished in the twinkling of an eye. Someone observed that the blood of a dog would reveal a person who had made himself invisible, and Mr. Yu immediately procured some and went back with it. The necromancer disappeared as before, but on the spot where he had been standing they quickly threw down the dog's blood. Thereupon they saw his head and face all smeared over with blood, his eyes glaring like a devil's, and at once seizing him, they handed him over to the authorities by whom he was put to death. Footnotes 1. Chong Zhang The last emperor of the Ming dynasty, he began to reign in AD 1628. 2. A necromancer in the marketplace The trade of fortune teller is one of the most flourishing in China. A large majority of the candidates who were unsuccessful at the public examinations devote their energies in this direction. And in every Chinese city there are regular establishments with the superstitious people repair to consult the oracle on every imaginable subject, not to mention hosts of itinerant soothsayers both in town and country whose stock in trade consists of a trestle table, pen, ink and paper, and a few other mysterious implements of their art. The nature of the response, favourable or otherwise, is determined by an inspection of the year, month, day and hour at which the applicant was born, taken in combination with other particulars referring to the question at issue. 3. Life and death are already fixed A firm belief in predestination is an important characteristic of the Chinese mind. All is destiny is a phrase daily in the mouth of every man, woman and child in the empire. Confucius himself, we are told, objected to discourse to his disciples upon this topic, but it is evident from many passages in the Lunyu or Confucian Gospels Book 6, Chapter 8 Book 14, Chapter 38, etc. that he believed in a certain pre-arrangement of human affairs against which all efforts would be unavailing. 4. Klepsidra An appliance of very ancient date in China, now superseded by cheap clocks and watches. A large Klepsidra, consisting of four copper jars standing on steps, one above the other, is still, however, to be seen in the city of Canton and is in excellent working order. The night watch is being determined by reference to its indicator in the lower jar. By its aid, coils of jostics or pastel are regulated to burn so many hours and are sold to the poor, who use them both for the purpose of guiding their extremely vague notions of time and for lighting the oft-recurring tobacco-pipe. 5. A Paper Man Paper men are a source of great dread to the people at large. During the year 1876 whole provinces were convulsed by the belief that some such superstitious agency was at work to deprive innocent persons of their tales and the so-called Pope of the Taoist religion even went so far as to publish a charm against the machinations of the unseen. It ran as follows, ye who urge filthy devils to spy out the people the master's spirits are at hand and will soon discover you with this charm anyone may travel by sunlight, moonlight or starlight all over the earth. At one time popular excitement ran so high that serious consequences were anticipated and the mandarins in the affected districts found it quite as much as they could do to prevent lynch law being carried out on harmless strangers who were unlucky enough to give rise to the slightest suspicion. Taoist priests are generally credited with the power of cutting out human, animal or other figures of infusing vitality into them on the spot and of employing them for the purposes of good or evil. Six. The Watchman's Wooden Gong Watchmen in China, when on their nightly rounds keep up an incessant beating on what, for want of a better term, we have called a wooden gong. The object is to let these know they are awake and on the lookout. End of Magical Arts Part Ten of a selection from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org A selection from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio by Pusong Ling, translated by Herbert Alan Giles Volume 1, Part Ten Joining the Immortals Read by David Barnes A Mr. Zhou of Wan Deng had in his youth been fellow-student with a Mr. Chong and a firm friendship was the result. The latter was poor and depended very much upon Mr. Zhou, who was the elder of the two. He called Mr. Zhou's wife his sister and had the run of the house just as if he was one of the family. Now this wife happening to die in child-bed, Zhou married another named Wang, but as she was quite a young girl, Chong did not seek to be introduced. One day her younger brother came to visit her and was being entertained in the inner apartments when Chong chanced to call. The servant announced his arrival and Zhou bade him ask Mr. Chong in, but Chong would not enter and took his leave. Thereupon Zhou caused the entertainment to be moved into the public part of the house and, sending after Chong, succeeded in bringing him back. They had hardly sat down before someone came in to say that a former servant of the establishment had been severely beaten at the magistrate's yamen. The fact of the case being that a cowboy of the Huang family connected with the Board of Rights had driven his cattle across the Zhou family's land and that words had arisen between the two servants in consequence. Upon which the Huang family's servant had complained to his master, who had seized the other and had sent him into the magistrate's where he had been bamboo'd. When Mr. Zhou found out what the matter was, he was exceedingly angry and said, How dares this pig-boy fellow behave thus? Why, only a generation ago his master was my father's servant. He emerges a little from his obscurity and immediately thinks himself I don't know what. Swelling with rage, he rose to go in quest of Huang, but Chong held him back, saying, The age is corrupt, there is no distinction between right and wrong. Besides, the officials of the day are half of them thieves and you'll only get yourself in hot water. Zhou, however, would not listen to him and it was only when tears were added to remonstrances that he consented to let the matter drop, but his anger did not cease and he lay tossing and turning all night. In the morning he said to his family, I can stand the insults of Mr. Huang, but the magistrate is an officer of the government and not the servant of influential people. If there is a case of any kind he should hear both plaintiff and defendant and not act like a dog biting anybody he's set upon. I will bring an action against the cowboy and see what the magistrate will do to him. As his family rather egged him on he accordingly proceeded to the magistrates and entered a formal plaint but that functionary tore up his petition and would have nothing to do with it. This roused Zhou's anger and he told the magistrate plainly what he thought of him in return for which contempt of court he was at once seized and bound. During the forenoon Mr. Chong called at his house where he learnt that Zhou had gone into the city to prosecute the cowboy and immediately hurried after him with a view to stop proceedings but his friend was already in the jail and all he could do was to stamp his foot in anger. Now it happened that three pirates had just been caught and the magistrate and Huang, putting their heads together bribed these fellows to say that Zhou was one of their gang whereupon the higher authorities were petitioned to deprive him of his status as a graduate and the magistrate then had him most unmercifully bamboo'd. Mr. Chong gained admittance to the jail and after a painful interview proposed that a petition should be presented direct to the throne Alas! said Zhou, here am I, bound and guarded like a bird in a cage. I have indeed a young brother but it is as much as he can do to provide me with food. Then Chong stepped forward saying I will perform this service of what use our friends who will not assist in the hour of trouble. So away he went and Zhou's brother provided him with money to defray his expenses. After a long journey he arrived at the capital where he found himself quite at a loss as to how he should get the petition presented. However, hearing that the emperor was about to set out on a hunting tour he concealed himself in the marketplace and when his majesty passed by prostrated himself on the ground with loud cries and gesticulations. The emperor received his petition and sent it to the board of punishments desiring to be furnished with a report on the case. It was then more than ten months since the beginning of the affair and Zhou, who had been made to confess to this false charge was already under sentence of death so that the officers of the board were very much alarmed when they received the imperial instructions and set to work to rehear the case in person. Huang was also much alarmed and devised a plan for killing Mr. Zhou by bribing the jailers to stop his food and drink so that when his brother brought provisions he was rudely thrust back and prevented from taking them in. Mr. Chong complained of this to the viceroy of the province who investigated the matter himself and found that Zhou was in the last stage of starvation for which the jailers were bamboo'd to death. Terrified out of his wits, Huang, by dint of bribing heavily succeeded in absconding and escaping a just punishment for his crimes. The magistrate, however, was banished for perversion of the law and Zhou was permitted to return home and the prosecution for Chong being now very much increased. But ever after the prosecution and his friend's captivity Mr. Chong took a dismal view of human affairs and one day invited Zhou to retire with him from the world. The latter, who was deeply attached to his young wife threw cold water on the proposition and Mr. Chong pursued the subject no further though his own mind was fully made up. Not seeing him for some days afterwards Mr. Zhou sent to inquire after him at his house but there they all thought he was at Zhou's neither family in fact having seen anything of him. This looked suspicious and Zhou, aware of his peculiarity sent off people to look for him bidding them search all the temples and monasteries in the neighbourhood. He also from time to time supplied Chong's son with money and other necessaries. Eight or nine years had passed away when suddenly Chong reappeared clad in a yellow cap and stole and wearing the expression of a Taoist priest. Zhou was delighted and seized his arm saying where have you been letting me search for you all over the place? The solitary cloud and the wild crane replied Chong laughing have no fixed place of abode since we last met my equanimity has happily been restored. Zhou then ordered wine and they chatted together on what had taken place in the interval. He also tried to persuade Chong to detach himself from the Taoist persuasion but the latter only smiled and answered nothing. It is absurd argued Zhou why cast aside your wife and child as he would an old pair of shoes? Not so answered Chong if men wish to cast me aside who is there who can do so now? Zhou asked where he lived to which he replied in the great pure mansion on Mount Lao. They then retired to sleep on the same bed and by and by Zhou dreamt that Chong was lying on his chest so that he could not breathe. In a fright he asked him what he was doing but got no answer and then he waked up with a start. Calling to Chong and receiving no reply he sat up and stretched out his hand to touch him. The latter, however, had vanished. He knew not wither. When he got calm he found he was lying at Chong's end of the bed which rather alarmed him. It was not tipsy last night, reflected he, how could I have got over here? He next called his servants and when they came and struck a light lo, he was Chong. Now Zhou had had a beard so he put up his hand to feel for it but found only a few straggling hairs. He then seized a mirror to look at himself and cried out in alarm if this is Mr. Chong, where on earth am I? By this time he was wide awake and knew that Chong had employed magic to induce him to retire from the world. He was on the point of entering the ladies' apartments but his brother, not recognising who he was stopped him and would not let him go in and as he himself was unable to prove his own identity he ordered his horse that he might go in search of Chong. After some day's journey he arrived at Mount Lao and as his horse went along at a good rate the servant could not keep up with him. By and by he rested a while under a tree and saw a great number of Taoist priests going backwards and forwards and among them was one who stared fixedly at him. So he inquired of him where he should find Chong where at the priest laughed and said I know the name, he is probably in the great pure mansion. When he had given this answer he went on his way Joe following him with his eyes about a stone's throw until he saw him speak with someone else and after saying a few words proceed onwards as before. The person whom he had spoken with came on to where Joe was and turned out to be a fellow townsman of his. He was much surprised at meeting Joe and said I haven't seen you for some years they told me you'd gone to Mount Lao to be a Taoist priest. How is it you are still amusing yourself among mortals? Joe told him who he really was upon which the other replied Why, I thought the gentleman I just met was you. He has only just left me and can't have got very far. Is it possible, cried Joe, that I don't know my own face? Just then the servant came up and away they went full speed but could not discover the object of their search. All around them was a vast desert and they were at a loss whether to go on or to return. But Joe reflected that he had no longer any home to receive him and determined to carry out his design to the bitter end. But as the road was dangerous for riding he gave his horse to the servant and bade him to go back. On he went cautiously by himself until he spied a boy sitting by the wayside alone. He hurried up to him and asked the boy to direct him where he could find Mr. Chong. I am one of his disciples, replied the lad and shouldering Joe's bundle started off to show the way. They journeyed on together taking their food by the light of the stars and sleeping in the open air until, after many miles of road they arrived in three days at their destination. But this great pure locality was not like that generally spoken of in the world. Though as late as the middle of the tenth moon there was a great profusion of flowers along the road quite unlike the beginning of winter. The lad went in and announced the arrival of a stranger whereupon Mr. Chong came out and Joe recognised his own features. Chong grasped his hand and led him inside where he prepared wine and food and they began to converse together. Joe noticed many birds of strange plumage so tame that they were not afraid of him and these from time to time were delight on the table and sing with voices like pan-pipes. He was very much astonished at all this but a love of mundane pleasures had eaten at his soul and he had no intention of stopping. On the ground were two rush-mats upon which Chong invited his friend to sit down with him. Then about midnight a serene calm stole over him and while he was dozing off for a moment he seemed to change places with Chong. Suspecting what had happened he put his hand up to his chin and found it covered with a beard as before. At dawn he was anxious to return home but Chong pressed him to stay and when three days had gone by Chong said to him I pray you take a little rest now. Tomorrow I will set you on your way. Joe had barely closed his eyelids before he heard Chong calling out everything is ready for starting so he got up and followed him along a road other than that by which he had come and in a very short time he saw his home in the distance. In spite of Joe's entreaties Chong would not accompany him so far but made Joe go waiting himself by the roadside. So the latter went alone and when he reached his house knocked at the door. Receiving no answer he determined to go over the wall when he found that his body was as light as a leaf and with one spring he was over. In the same manner he passed several inner walls until he reached the ladies' apartments where he saw by the still burning lamp that the inmates had not yet retired for the night. Hearing people talking within he licked a hole in the paper window and peeped through and saw his wife sitting drinking with a most disreputable-looking fellow. Bursting with rage his first impulse was to surprise them in the act but seeing there were two against one he stole away and let himself out by the entrance gate hurrying off to Chong to whom he related what he had seen and finally begged his assistance. Chong willingly went along with him and when they reached the room Joel seized a big stone and hammered loudly at the door all was then confusion inside so Joel hammered again upon which the door was barricaded more strongly than before. Here Chong came forward with his sword and burst the door open with a crash Joel rushed in and the man inside rushed out but Chong was there and with his sword cut his arm right off. Joel rudely seized his wife and asked what it all meant to which she replied that the man was a friend who sometimes came to take a cup of wine with them. Thereupon Joel borrowed Chong's sword and cut off her head hanging up the trunk on a tree in the courtyard. He then went back to Chong. By and by he awaked and found himself on the bed at which he was somewhat disturbed and said I've had a strangely confused dream which has given me a fright. My brother replied Chong smilingly you look upon dreams as realities you mistake realities for dreams. Joel asked what he meant by these words and then Chong showed him his sword besmeared with blood. Joel was terrified and sought to destroy himself but all at once it occurred to him that Chong might be deceiving him again. Chong divined his suspicions and made haste at once to see him home. In a little while they arrived at the village gate and then Chong said was it not here that sword in hand I awaited you that night? I cannot look upon the unclean spot I pray you go on and let me stay here if you do not return by the afternoon I will depart alone. Joel then approached his house which he found all shut up as if no one was living there so he went into his brother's. The latter when he beheld Joel began to weep bitterly saying after your departure thieves broke into the house and killed my sister-in-law hanging her body upon a tree alas alas the murderers have not yet been caught Joel then told him the whole story of his dream and begged him to stop further proceedings at all of which his brother was perfectly lost in astonishment Joel then asked after his son and his brother told the nurse to bring him in whereupon the former said upon this infant are centered the hopes of our race tend him well for I am going to bid adieu to the world he then took his leave his brother following him all the time with tears in his eyes to induce him to remain but he heeded him not and when they reached the village gate his brother saw him go away with Chong from afar he looked back and said forbear and be happy his brother would have replied but here Chong whisked his sleeve and they disappeared the brother remained there for some time and then went back overwhelmed with grief he was an unpractical man and before many years were over all the property was gone and the family reduced to poverty Joel's son who was growing up was thus unable to secure the services of a tutor and had no one but his uncle to teach him one morning on going into the school room the uncle found a letter lying on the desk addressed to himself in his brother's handwriting there was however nothing in it but a fingernail about four inches in length surprised at this he laid the nail down in the inks lab while he went out to ask whence this letter had come this no one knew but when he went back he found that the inks stone had been changed into a piece of shining yellow gold more than ever astonished he tried the nail on copper and iron things all of which were likewise turned to gold he thus became very rich sharing his wealth with Chong's son and it was brooded about that the two families possessed the secret of transmutation footnotes Chong did not seek to be introduced this is a characteristic touch only the most intimate of friends ever see each other's wives two the inner apartments where the women of the family live and into which no stranger ever penetrates among other names by which a Chinese husband speaks of his wife a very common one is the inner woman three the higher authorities were petitioned to deprive him of his status as a graduate until which he would be safe by virtue of his degree from the degrading penalty of the bamboo four the magistrate then had him most unmercifully bamboo'd this is the instrument commonly used for flogging criminals in China and consists of a strip of sublit bamboo, planed down smooth strictly speaking there are two kinds the heavy and the light the former is now hardly ever used until the reign of Kangxi all strokes were given across the back but that humane emperor removed the locus operandi further down for fear of injuring the liver or the lungs five the board of punishments one of the six boards now seven at the capital equivalent to our own war-office board of works etc six made to confess to this false charge it is a principle of Chinese jurisprudence that no sentence can be passed until the prisoner has confessed his guilt a principle however frequently set aside in practice seven paper window wooden frames covered with a semi-transparent paper are used all over the northern provinces of China in the south oyster shells cut square and planed down thin are inserted tile fashion in the long narrow spaces of a wooden frame made to receive them and used for the same purpose but glass is gradually finding its way into the houses of the well-to-do large quantities being made at Canton and exported to various parts of the empire eight sword every Taoist priest has a magic sword corresponding to our magician's wand nine cut off her head in China a man has the right to slay his adulterous wife but he must slay her paramour also both or neither otherwise he lays himself open to a prosecution for murder the act completed he is further bound to proceed at once to the magistrate of the district and report what he has done ten upon this infant are centered the hopes of our race the importance of male offspring in Chinese social life is hardly to be expressed in words to the son is confided the task of worshipping at the ancestral tombs the care of the ancestral tablets and the due performance of all rites and ceremonies connected with the departed dead no Chinaman will die if he can help it without leaving a son behind him if his wife is childless he will buy a concubine and we are told on page 41 volume 8 of the Liao Jai that a good wife who at 30 years of age has not borne a child should forthwith porn her jewellery and purchase a concubine for her husband for to be without a son is hard indeed another and a common resource is to adopt a nephew and sometimes a boy is bought from starving parents or from a professional kidnapper should a little boy die no matter how young his parents do not permit even him to be without the good offices of a son they adopt some other child on his behalf and when the boy grows up it becomes his duty to perform the proper ceremonies at his baby father's tomb girls do not enjoy the luxury of this sham posterity they are quietly buried in a hole near the family vault and their disembodied spirits are left to wander about in the realms below uncared for and unappeased it must not be inferred however from this that the position of women in China is low as such is far from being the case the mother shares in the ancestral worship and her name is recorded on the tombstone side by side with that of her husband hence it is that Chinese tombstones are always to the memory either of a father or of a mother or of both with occasionally the addition of the grandfather and grandmother and sometimes even that of the generation preceding 11. The secret of transmutation the belief that a knowledge of alchemy is obtainable by leading the life of a pure and perfect Taoist is one of the numerous additions in later ages to this ancient form of religion End of Joining the Immortals Part 11 of a selection from strange stories from a Chinese studio, Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org A selection from strange stories from a Chinese studio by Pu Seng Ling translated by Herbert Alan Giles Volume 1, Part 11, The Fighting Quails Wang Cheng belonged to an old family in Ping Yuan but was such an idol fellow that his property gradually disappeared until at length all he had left was an old tumble-down house His wife and he slept under a coarse hempen coverlet and the former was far from spearing her reproaches At the time of which we are speaking the weather was unbearably hot and Wang went to pass the night with many other of his fellow villagers in a pavilion which stood among some dilapidated buildings belonging to a family named Chao With the first streaks of dawn his comrades departed Wang slept well on till about nine o'clock when he got up and proceeded leisurely home All at once he saw in the grass a gold hairpin and taking it up to look at it found engraved there on in small characters the property of the imperial family Now Wang's own grandfather had married into the imperial family and consequently he had formerly possessed many similar articles but while he was thinking it over he came an old woman in search of the hairpin which Wang, who though poor was honest had once produced and handed it to her The old woman was delighted and thanked Wang for his goodness observing that the pin was not worth much in itself but was a relic of her departed husband Wang asked her what her husband had been to which she replied his name was Wang Qianqi and he was connected by marriage with the imperial family My own grandfather cried Wang in great surprise How could you have known him? You then said the old woman are his grandson I am a fox and many years ago I was married to your grandfather but when he died I retired from the world passing by here I lost my hairpin which destiny conveyed into your hands Wang had heard of his grandfather's fox wife and believing therefore the old woman's story invited her to return with him which she did Wang called his wife out to receive her but when she came in rags and tatters with unkempt hair and dirty face the old woman sighed and said Alas! Alas! has Wang Qianqi's grandson come to this? Then looking at the broken smokeless stove she added How under these circumstances have you managed even to support life? Here Wang's wife told the tale of their poverty and much sobbing and tears whereupon the old woman gave her the hairpin bidding her go upon it and with the proceeds by some food saying that in three days she would visit them again Wang pressed her to stay but she said you can't even keep your wife alive what would it benefit you to have me also dependent on you So she went away and then Wang told his wife who she was at which his wife felt very much alarmed and her praises that finally his wife consented to treat her with all proper respect In three days she returned as agreed and producing some money sent out for a hundred weight of rice and a hundred weight of corn She passed the night with them sleeping with Mrs. Wang who was at first rather frightened but who soon laid aside her suspicions when she found that the old lady meant so well towards them Next day the latter addressed Wang saying my grandson you must not be so lazy you should try to make a little money in some way or another Wang replied that he had no capital upon which the old lady said when your grandfather was alive he allowed me to take what money I liked but not being a mortal I had no use for it and consequently did not draw largely upon him I have however saved from my pin money the sum of forty ounces of silver which has long been lying idle for want of an investment take it and buy summer cloth which you may carry to the capital and resell at a profit So Wang bought some fifty pieces of summer cloth and the old lady made him get ready calculating that in six or seven days he would reach the capital She also warned him saying be neither lazy nor slow for if a day too long you wait repentance comes a day too late Wang promised all obedience and packed up his goods and went off on the road he was overtaken by a rainstorm which soaked him through to the skin and as he was not accustomed to be out in bad weather it was altogether too much for him he accordingly sought shelter at an inn but the rain went on steadily till night running over the eaves of the house like so many ropes Next morning the roads were in a horrible state and Wang, watching the passers-by slipping about in the slush unable to see any path dared not face it all and remained until noon when it began to dry up a little Just then however the clouds closed over again and down came the rain and torrents housing him to stay another night before he could go on When he was nearing the capital he heard to his great joy that summer cloth was at a premium and on arrival proceeded at once to the borders at an inn There the landlord said it was a pity he had come so late as communications with the south having been only recently opened the supply of summer cloth had been small and there being a great demand for it among the wealthy families of the metropolis its price had gone up to three times the usual figure But he added two days ago several large consignments arrived and the price went down again so that the late comers have lost their market and was thus left in the lurch and as every day more summer cloth came in the value of it fell in a corresponding ratio Wang would not part with his at a loss and held on for some ten days when his expenses for board and lodging were added to his present distress The landlord urged him to sell even at a loss and turn his attention to something else which he ultimately did losing over ten ounces of silver on his venture The next day he rose in the morning to depart but on looking in his purse found all his money gone He rushed away to tell the landlord who, however, could do nothing for him Someone then advised him to take out a summons and make the landlord reimburse him but he only sighed and said it is my destiny and no fault of the landlords Thereupon the landlord was very grateful to him and gave him five ounces of silver to enable him to go home He did not care, however, to face his grandmother empty-handed and remained in a very undecided state until suddenly he saw a quail-catcher winning heaps of money by fighting his birds and selling them at over a hundred cash apiece He then determined to lay out his five ounces of silver in quails and pay back the landlord out of the profits The latter approved very highly of this plan and not only agreed to lend him a room but also to charge him little or nothing for his board So Wang went off rejoicing and bought two large baskets of quails with which he returned to the city to the great satisfaction of the landlord who advised him to lose no time in disposing of them All that night it poured in torrents and the next morning the streets were like rivers the rain still continuing to fall Wang waited for it to clear up but several days passed and still there were no signs of fine weather He then went to look at his quails some of which he found dead and others dying He was much alarmed at this but was quite at a loss what to do and by the next day a lot more had died so that only a few were left which he fed all together in one basket The day after this he went again to look at them and lo! there remained but a single quail With tears in his eyes he told the landlord what had happened and he too was much affected Wang then reflected that he had no money left to carry him home and that he could not do better than cease to live But the landlord spoke to him and soothed him and they went together to look at the quail This is a fine bird said the landlord and it strikes me that it has simply killed the others Now as you have got nothing to do just set to work and train it and if it is good for anything why you'll be able to make a living out of it Wang did as he was told and when the bird was trained the landlord bade him take it into the street and gamble for something to eat This too he did and as quail won every main where upon the landlord gave him some money to bet with the young fellows of the neighborhood Everything turned out favorably and by the end of six months he had saved twenty ounces of silver so that he became quite easy in his mind and looked upon the quail as a dispensation of his destiny Now one of the princes was passionately fond of quail fighting and always at the feast of lanterns anybody who owned quails might go and fight them in the palace against the princes birds The landlord therefore said to Wang here is a chance of enriching yourself by a single stroke only I can't say what your luck will do for you He then explained to him what it was and away they went together the landlord saying if you lose burst out into lamentations but if you are lucky enough to win and the prince wishes as he will to buy your bird don't consent if he presses you very much watch for a nod from me before you agree This settled they proceeded to the palace where they found crowds of quail fighters already on the ground and then the prince came forth Harold's proclaiming to the multitude that any who wished to fight their birds might come up Some man at once stepped forward and the prince gave orders for the quails to be released but at the first strike the stranger's quail was knocked out of time The prince smiled and by and by won several more mains until at last the landlord said now's our time and went up together with Wang The prince looked at their bird and said it has a fierce looking eye and strong feathers we must be careful what we are doing so he commanded his servants to bring out iron beak to oppose Wang's bird but after a couple of strikes the prince's quail was signally defeated he sent for a better bird but that shared the same fate and then he cried out bring the jade bird from the palace in a little time it arrived with pure white feathers like an egret and an unusually marshal appearance Wang was much alarmed and falling on his knees prayed to be excused this main saying Your Highness's bird is too good I fear lest mine should be wounded my livelihood be taken from me but the prince laughed and said go on, if your quail is killed I will make it up to you handsomely Wang then released his bird and the prince's quail rushed at it at once but when the jade bird was close by Wang's quail awaited its coming head down and full of rage the former made a violent peck at its adversary and then sprang up to swoop down on it Thus they went on up and down backwards and forwards until at length they got a hold of each other and the prince's bird was beginning to show signs of exhaustion this enraged it all the more and it fought more violently than ever but soon a perfect snowstorm of feathers began to fall and with drooping wings the jade bird made its escape the spectators were much moved by the result and the prince himself, taking up Wang's bird examined it closely from beak to claws finally asking if it was for sale my sole dependence, replied Wang, is upon this bird I would rather not part with it but said the prince, if I give you as much as the capital say, of an ordinary tradesman, will that not tempt you Wang thought some time and then answered I would rather not sell my bird but as your highness has taken a fancy to it I will only ask enough to find me in food and clothes How much do you want? inquired the prince to which Wang replied that he would take a thousand ounces of silver You fool! cried the prince Do you think your bird is such a jewel as all that? If your highness says Wang does not think the bird a jewel I value it more than that stone which was priced at fifteen cities How so? asked the prince Why? said Wang I take my bird every day into the marketplace it there wins for me several ounces of silver In exchange for rice, my family over ten in number has nothing to fear from either cold or hunger What jewel could do that? You shall not lose anything, replied the prince I will give you two hundred ounces but Wang would not consent and then the prince added another hundred whereupon Wang looked at the landlord who, however, made no sign Wang then offered to take nine hundred but the prince ridiculed the idea of paying such a price for a quail and Wang was preparing to take his leave with the bird when the prince called him back saying Here, here, I will give you six hundred take it or leave it as you please Wang here looked at the landlord and the landlord remained motionless as before However, Wang was satisfied himself with this offer and being afraid of missing his chance said to his friend If I get this price for it I shall be quite content if we go on haggling and finally come to no terms that will be a very poor end to it all So he took the prince's offer and the ladder overjoyed caused the money to be handed to him Wang then returned with his earnings but the landlord said to him What did I say to you? You were in too much of a hurry to sell another minute and you would have got eight hundred When Wang got back he threw the money on the table and told the landlord to take what he liked but the ladder would not and it was only after some pressing that he would accept payment for Wang's board Wang then packed up and went home where he told his story and produced his silver to the great delight of all of them The old lady counseled the purchase of a quantity of land the building of a house and the purchase of implements and in a very short time they became a wealthy family The old lady always got up early in the morning and made Wang attend to the farm, his wife to her spinning and rated them soundly at any signs of laziness The husband and wife henceforth lived in peace and no longer abused each other until at the expiration of three years the old lady declared her intention of bidding them a due They both tried to stop her and with the aid of tears succeeded in persuading her but the next day she had disappeared Footnotes 1. Wang's own grandfather had married into the imperial family The direct issue of the emperors of the present dynasty and their descendants in the male line forever are entitled to wear a yellow girdle in token of their relationship to the imperial family each generation becoming a degree lower in rank but always retaining this distinctive badge Members of the collateral branches wear a red girdle and are commonly known as jioros With the lapse of 250 years the wearers of these badges have become numerous and in many cases disreputable and they are now to be found even among the lowest dregs of Chinese social life 2. Quail fighting is not so common now in China as it appears to have been formerly Cricket fighting is, however, a very favorite form of gambling large quantities of these insects being caught every year for this purpose and considerable sums frequently staked on the result of a contest between two champions End of The Fighting Quails Part 12 A Selection from Strange Stories from Chinese Studio Volume 1 This is Livvavos Recording All Livvavos recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit Livvavos.org A Selection from Strange Stories from Chinese Studio by Pu Shenglin translated by Harvey Orangiles Part 12 The Pantic Skin Read by Vivian Shen March 2008 in Guangzhou, China A Taiyuan that little man who named Wan one morning he was out working when he make a young lady carrying a bundle and hurrying along by herself as she moved along with some difficulty Wan quated his pace and caught her up and found she was a very pretty girl about 16 Martin Smithon he inquired whether she was going so early and no one with her A gentleman like you replied the girl cannot alleviate my distress Why trouble yourself to ask What distress is it? Sad one I'm sure I will do anything I can for you My parents and some she loved money and they saw me as a concubine into a rich family where the wife was very jealous and beat and abused me morning night it was more than I could stand so I had to run away Wan asked where she was going to which she replied that a runaway My house Sad one is at no great distance What do you say come in there She joy-free accessed and Wan, taking up her bundle led the way to his house Fighting no one there she asked Wan where his family were to which he replied that that was only the library A very nice place too Sad shu You are kind enough to save my life You mustn't let anyone know that I'm here Wan promised he would not divulge her secret and so she remained there for some days without anyone knowing anything about it He then told his wife and she, fearing the girl might be wrong to sound inferential family advised him to send her away This, however, he would not consent to do When one day, going into the town he met a Taoist priest who looked taking in astonishment and asked him what he had met I had met nothing Reprised one Why? You are bewitched Sad the priest What do you mean by not having met anything But Wan insisted that it was so And the priest walked away saying Therefore, some people don't seem to know when death is ahead This startled Wan whom he first thought of the girl But then he reflected that a pretty young thing as she was would never be a witch and began to suspect that the priest merely wanted to make a stroke of business When he returned the library door was shut and he couldn't get in which made him suspect that something was wrong And so he climbed over the wall where he found the door of the inner room shut too Subtly creeping up he looked through the window and saw a hideous devil with a green face and a jagged tooth like a soul spreading a human skin upon the bed and painting it with a paintbrush A devil then threw aside the brush and giving the skin a shake out just like it would a coat threw it over its shoulders Well, no, it was the girl Terrified at this Wan hurried away with his hat down in search for the priest who had gone he knew not whether Sussequentially firing in the fields when he threw himself on his knees he begged the priest to save him as to driving her away said the priest The creature must be in great distress to be seeking a substitute for herself Besides, I could hardly endure to injure living things However, he gave Wan a fine brush and beg him to hang it at the door of the bedroom agreeing to meet again at the Qingti Temple Wan went home but did not die and entered the library So he hung up the brush at the bedroom door and before long heard a sound of footsteps outside Not daring to move, he made his wife keep out and she saw the girl standing looking at the brush afraid to pass it She then growled her teeth and went away Butting a little while came back and began cursing saying You praised, you don't frighten me Do you think I'm going to get up? Was already in my grasp? Then she tore the brush into pieces and bursting open the door walked straight up to the bed when she read open Wan and tore out his heart with which she went away Wan's wife screamed out and the serum came in with her light but Wan was already dead and present her most miserable spectacle His wife who was in agony of fright her sweet child cried for fear of making a noise and next day she sent Wan's brother to see the priest the leather got into a gray rage and cried out Was it for this that I have compassion on you? Devil that you are preceding it once with Wan's brother to the house from which the girl had been spared without anyone knowing whether she had gone But the priest raising his head looked around and said Luckily she's not far away He then asked who had lived in the apartment to the south side to which Wan's brother replied that he did were upon the priest declared that she would be found Wan's brother was horribly frightened and said he did not think so and then the priest asked him if any stranger had been to the house to this he answered that he had been out to the Qingti temple and could not possibly say but he went out to inquire and in a little while came back and reported that an old woman had sought service with Wan as a maid of her work and had been engaged by his wife The issue said the priest as Wan's brother added she was still there and they all set out to go to the house together Then the priest took his wooden sword and standing in the middle of the courtyard shouting out Baseball friend Give me back my fly brush Meanwhile the new maid of her work was in a great state of alone and tried to get away by the door but the priest struck her and doubt she fell flat The human skin dropped off and she became a hideous devil Then she lay grouting like a pig until the priest grabbed his wooden sword and struck off her head She then became a dense curl of smoke curing up from the ground When the priest took an uncorred guard and threw it right into the middle of the smoke a sucking noise was heard and the whole curtain was drawn into the ground out of which the priest cocked it up closely and put it in his pouch The skin too which was complete even to the eyebrows eyes, hands and feet He also rolled up as if it had been a skull and was on the point of living with it When one's wife stopped him and with tears entreated him to bring her husband to life The priest said he was unable to do that but one's wife flung herself at his feet and with a loud lamentations employed his assistance For some time he remained immersed in thought and then replied My power is not equal to what you asked I myself cannot raise the dead but I will direct you to someone who can and if you apply to him properly you will succeed Once wife asked the priest who it was to which he replied There is a maniac in the towel who passes his time grumbling in the dirt Go prostrate yourself before him and beg him to help you Show no side of anger Once brother knew the man to whom he eroded and accordingly beg the priest a deal and proceeded either with his sister-in-law They found the destitute creature raving away by the roadside so feisty that it was all they could do to go near him Once wife approached him on her knees which the maniac leered at her and cried out Do you love me, my beauty? Once wife told him what she had come for but he only laughed and said You can get prone to your other husbands Why raise the dead one to life? But once wife intrigued him to help her Whereupon he observed It is very strange for a priest to me to raise their dead as if I was kindled the infernal regions He then gave once wife a threshing with his staff which she bore without a murmur and before gradually increasing crowd spectators After this he produced a lothan peel which he told her she must swallow But here she blocked out and was quite unable to do so However, she did managing a glass and then the maniac crying out How you do love me? Got up and went away without taking any more notice of her They followed him into a temple with a lot of supplications but he had disappeared and heavy effect to find him was unsuccessful Overcome with rejection once wife went home when she mauled bitterly over her dead husband Grievously repenting the steps she had taken and when she only to die she then be thought herself of preparing the corpse near which none of the servants would venture and they were closing up the frightful wound which he died While thus employed, interacting from time to time by her sobs, she felt a raging lump in her throat which by and by came out with a pop and fell straight into the dead man's wound Looking closely at it she saw it was a human heart and then it began as it were to throb emitting a warm vapor like smoke Much excited she was at once close the flesh over it and hold the size of the wound together with all her might Very soon however, she got tired and fighting the vampires escaping from the quivers She tore our piece of silk and body ground at the same time bringing back circulation by rubbing the body and covering up with clothes In the night, she removed the coverings and felt that the breathing was coming from the nose and by next morning her husband was alive again though disturbed in mind as if awakened from a dream and feeling a pain in his heart Where he had been wounded there was a secreture about as big as a cache which soon after disappeared This nose Wang as she moved along with some difficulty impeded her cause by her bowed feet This lattice is said to have originated about AD 970 With Yong Nian, the concubine of the pretender Li Yu who wished to make her feet like the new moon The Manchu or Da Dang ladies never adopted this custom and therefore the emperors of the modern style have had feet of the natural size Neither is it enforced among the hard castes or among the few tribes or China or for most sums and others The practice was forbidden in 1664 by the Manchu emperor, Kang Xi But popular feeling was so strong on the subject that 4 years afterwards the profession was withdrawn A vigorous attempt is now being made to secure natural fee for Chinese girl with more chance of success 2. The creator must be in great distress to be seeking a substitute for herself The disembodied spirits of the Chinese inferno are permitted under certain conditions of time and good conducts to appropriate themselves to the vitality of some human beings The Manchu, as it were, is changed places with the so-called devil The devil does not, however, reappears as the moral whose life it has become possessed of but is merely born again into the world The idea, being that the amount of life on earth is a constant quantity and cannot be increased or diminished reminding one in a way of the great modern doctrine of the conservation of energy This curious belief has an important bearing that will be brought out in a subsequent story 3. I could hardly endure to enjoy living things Here, again, is a Taoist priest quoting the Buddhist commitment Though shat not take life a Buddhist lady in China who do not hesitate to take life for the purpose of food soft their conscience from time to time by buying verse, fishes, etc. and letting them go in the hope that such as will be set down on the credit side of their records of good and evil 4. A sucking nose was hurt and the whole colon was drawn into the ground after which the priest caught it accrossly and put it into his pouch This recalls the celebrated story of the fish man in the Arabian Nights and of the Pente skin 13. Of a selection from strange stories from a Chinese studio, Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording While LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org A selection from strange stories from a Chinese studio by Pusong Ling translated by Herbert Alan Giles Volume 1, Part 13 The Trader's Son Read by Scott Carpenter In the province of Hunan there dwelt a man who was engaged in trading abroad and his wife, who lived alone dreamt one night that someone was in her room When waking up she looked about and discovered a small creature which on examination she knew to be a fox but in a moment the thing had disappeared although the door had not been opened The next evening she asked the cook maid to come and keep her company as also her own son a boy of ten who was accustomed to sleep elsewhere Towards the middle of the night when the cook and the boy were fast asleep back came the fox and the cook was woken up by hearing her mistress muttering something as if she had nightmare The former then called out and the fox ran away but from that moment the trader's wife was not quite herself When night came she dared not blow out the candle and bade her son to be sure and not sleep too soundly Later on her son and the old woman having taken a nap as they lent against the wall suddenly woke up and found her gone They waited some time but she did not return and the cook was too frightened to go and look after her so her son took a light and at length found her fast asleep in another room She did not seem aware that anything particular had happened but she became queerer and queerer every day and would not have either her son or the cook to keep her company any more Her son however made a point of running at once into his mother's room if he heard any unusual sounds and though his mother always abused him for his pains he paid no attention to what she said Consequently everyone thought him very brave though at the same time he was always indulging in childish tricks One day he played it being a mason and piled up stones upon the window-cell in spite of all that was said to him and if anyone took away a stone he threw himself on the ground and cried like a child so that nobody dared go near him In a few days he had got both windows blocked up and the light excluded and then he set to filling up the chinks with mud He worked hard all day without minding the trouble and when it was finished he took and sharpened the kitchen chopper Everyone who saw him was disgusted with such antics and would take no notice of him At night he darkened his lamp and with a knife concealed on his person sat waiting for his mother to mutter As soon as she began he uncovered his light and blocking up the doorway shouted out at the top of his voice Nothing however happened and he moved from the door a little way when suddenly out rushed something like a fox which was disappearing through the door when he made a quick movement and cut off about two inches of its tail from which the warm blood was still dripping as he brought the light to bear upon it His mother hereupon cursed and reviled him but he pretended not to hear her regretting only as he went to bed that he hadn't hit the brute fare but he consoled himself by thinking that although he hadn't killed it outright he had done enough to prevent it coming again On the morrow he followed the tracks of blood over the wall and into the garden of a family named Ho and that night to his great joy the fox did not reappear His mother was meanwhile prostrate with hardly any life in her and in the midst of it all his father came home The boy told him what had happened at which he was much alarmed and sent for a doctor to attend his wife but she only threw the medicine away and cursed and swore horribly so they secretly mixed the medicine with her tea and soup and in a few days she began to get better to the inexpressible delight of both her husband and son One night however her husband woke up and found her gone and after searching for her with the aid of his son they discovered her sleeping in another room From that time she became more eccentric than ever and was always being found in strange places cursing those who tried to remove her Her husband was at his wit's end It was of no use keeping the door locked for it opened of itself at her approach and he had called in any number of magicians to exercise the fox but without obtaining the slightest result One evening her son concealed himself in the hoe family garden and laid down in the long grass with a view to detecting the fox's retreat As the moon rose he heard the sound of voices and pushing aside the grass saw two people drinking with a long bearded servant pouring out their wine dressed in an old dark brown coat They were whispering together and he could not make out what they said but by and by he heard one of them remark Get some white wine for tomorrow and then they went away leaving the long bearded servant alone The latter then threw off his coat and lay down to sleep on the stones whereupon the trader's son eyed him carefully and saw that he was like a man in every respect except that he had a tail The boy would then have gone but he was afraid the fox might hear him and accordingly remained where he was till near dawn when he saw the other two come back one at a time and then they all disappeared among the bushes On reaching home his father asked him where he had been and he replied that he had stopped the night with the hoe family He then accompanied his father to the town where he saw hanging up at a hat shop a fox's tail and finally after much coaxing succeeded in making his father buy it for him While the latter was engaged in a shop his son, who was playing about beside him availed himself of a moment when his father was not looking and stole some money from him and went off and bought a quantity of white wine which he left in charge of the wine merchant Now an uncle of his who was a sportsman by trade lived in the city and thither he next betook himself His uncle was out but his aunt was there and inquired after the health of his mother She has been better the last few days, replied he but she is now very much upset by a rat having not a dress of hers and has sent me to ask for some poison His aunt opened the cupboard and gave him about the tenth of an ounce in a piece of paper which he thought was very little so when his aunt had gone to get him something to eat he took the opportunity of being alone opened the packet and abstracted a large handful Hiding this in his coat he ran to tell his aunt that she needn't prepare anything for him as his father was waiting in the market and he couldn't stop to eat it He then went off and having quietly dropped the poison into the wine he had bought went sauntering about the town At nightfall he returned home and told his father that he had been at his uncles this he continued to do for some time until one day he saw among the crowd his long bearded friend marking him closely he followed him and at length entered into conversation asking him where he lived I live at Pai Tsun, he said Where do you live? I replied the trader's son falsely live in a hole on the hillside the long bearded man was considerably startled at his answer but much more so when he added We've lived there for generations, haven't you? The other man asked his name to which the boy replied My name is Hu I saw you with two gentlemen in the Ho family garden and I haven't forgotten you Questioning him more fully the long bearded man was still in a half-and-half state of belief and doubt when the trader's son opened his coat a little bit and showed him the end of the tale he had bought saying the like of us can mix with ordinary people but unfortunately we can never get rid of this the long bearded man then asked him what he was doing there to which he answered that his father had sent him to buy wine thereupon the former remarked that that was exactly what he had come for and the boy then inquired if he had bought it yet or not We are poor, replied this stranger and as a rule I prefer to steal it A difficult and dangerous job observed the boy I have my master's instructions to get some, said the other and what am I to do? The boy then asked him who his masters were to which he replied that they were the two brothers the boy had seen that night One of them has bewitched a lady named Wang and the other the wife of a trader who lives near the son of the last mentioned lady is a violent fellow and cut off my master's tale so that he was laid up for ten days but he is putting her under spells again now He was then going away saying he should never get his wine but the boy said to him it's much easier to buy than steal I have some at the wine shop there which I will give to you My purse isn't empty and I can buy some more The long bearded man hardly knew how to thank him but the boy said we're all one family don't mention such a trifle When I have time I'll come and take a drink with you so they went off together to the wine shop where the boy gave him the wine and they then separated That night his mother slept quietly and had no fits and the boy knew that something must have happened He then told his father and they went to see if there were any results when low they found both foxes stretched out dead in the arbor One of the foxes was lying on the grass and out of its mouth blood was still trickling The wine bottle was there and on shaking it they heard that some was left Then his father asked him why he had kept it all so secret to which the boy replied that foxes were very sagacious and would have been sure to send the plot Thereupon his father was mightily pleased and said he was a perfect Ulysses for cunning They then carried the foxes home and saw on the tail of one of them the scar of a knife wound From that time they were left in peace but the trader's wife became very thin and though her reason returned she shortly afterwards died of consumption The other lady, Mrs. Wang, began to get better as soon as the foxes had been killed and as to the boy he was taught riding a narchery by his proud parent and subsequently rose to high rank in the army Footnotes One My name is Hu Hu is the sound of the character for fox It is also the sound of quite a different character which is used as a surname Two Ulysses The name of the Chinese type was Chen Ping Three Archery Skill in archery was until quite lately day regare for all men shoes and for those who would rise in the Chinese army End of The Trader's Son Part 14 of a selection from strange stories from a Chinese studio Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org A selection from strange stories from a Chinese studio by Pusong Ling Translated by Herbert Allen Giles Volume 1 Part 14 Judge Lu Read by Scott Carpenter At Ling Yang there lived a man named Chu Ertang whose literary designation was Xiao Ming He was a fine manly fellow but an egregious stunts though he tried hard to learn One day he was taking wine with a number of fellow students when one of them said to him by way of a joke People credit you with plenty of pluck Now if you will go in the middle of the night to the chamber of horrors and bring back the infernal judge from the left hand porch we'll stand you a dinner For at Ling Yang there was a representation of the ten courts of purgatory with the gods and devils carved in wood and almost lifelike in appearance and in the eastern vestibule there was a full length image of the judge with a green face with a red beard and a hideous expression in his features Sometimes sounds of examination under the whip were heard to issue during the night from both porches and persons who went in found their hair standing on end from fear So the other young men thought it would be a capital test for Mr. Chu Thereupon Chu smiled and rising from his seat went straight off to the temple and before many minutes had elapsed they heard him shouting outside His Excellency has arrived At this they all got up and in came Chu with the image on his back which he proceeded to deposit on the table and then poured out a triple libation in its honor His comrades who were watching what he did felt ill at ease and did not like to resume their seats so they begged him to carry the judge back again but he first poured some wine upon the ground invoking the image as follows I am only a fool hearty, a literate fellow I pray your Excellency, excuse me My house is close by and whenever your Excellency feels so disposed I shall be glad to take a cup of wine with you in a friendly way He then carried the judge back and the next day his friends gave him the promised dinner from which he went home half tipsy in the evening But not feeling that he had had enough he picked up his lamp and helped himself to another cup of wine when suddenly the bamboo curtain was drawn aside and then walked the judge Mr. Chu got up and said oh dear, your Excellency has come to cut off my head for my rudeness the other night The judge parted his thick beard and smiling replied, nothing of the kind you kindly invited me last night to visit you and as I have leisure this evening I am Chu was delighted at this and made his guests sit down while he himself wiped the cups and lighted a fire it's warm weather said the judge let's drink the wine cold Chu obeyed and putting the bottle on the table went out to tell his servants to get some supper his wife was much alarmed when she heard who was there and begged him not to go back but he only waited until the things were ready and then returned with them they drank out of each other's cups and by and by Chu asked the name of his guest my name is Lu replied the judge I have no other names they then conversed on literary subjects one capping the other's quotation as Echo responds to sound the judge then asked Chu if he understood composition to which he answered that he could just tell good from bad whereupon the former repeated a little infernal poetry which was not very different from that of mortals he was a deep drinker and took off ten goblets at a draught but Chu who had been at it all day soon got dead drunk and fell fast asleep with his head on the table when he woke up the candle had burnt out and the day was beginning to break his guest having already departed and from this time the judge was in the habit of dropping in pretty often until a close friendship sprang up between them sometimes the latter would pass the night at the house and Chu would show him his essays all of which the judge scored and underlined as being good for nothing one night Chu got tipsy and went to bed first leaving the judge drinking by himself in his drunken sleep he seemed to feel a pain in his stomach and waking up he saw that the judge who was standing by the side of the bed had opened him and was carefully arranging his inside what harm have I done you cried Chu that you should thus seek to destroy me don't be afraid replied the judge laughing I am only providing you with a more intelligent heart he then quietly put back Chu's viscera and closed up the opening securing it with a bandage tied tightly around his waist there was no blood on the bed and all Chu felt was a slight numbness in his inside here he observed the judge place a piece of flesh upon the table and asked him what it was your heart said the latter which wasn't at all good at composition the proper orifice being stuffed up I have now provided you with a better one which I procured from Hades and I am keeping yours to put in its place he then opened the door and took his leave in the morning Chu undid the bandage and looked at his waist the wound on which had quite healed up leaving only a red seam from that moment he became an apt scholar and found his memory much improved so much so that a few days afterwards he showed an essay to the judge for which he was very much commended however said the latter your success will be limited to the master's degree you won't get beyond that when shall I take it asked Chu this year replied the judge and so it turned out Chu passed first on the list for the bachelor's degree and then among the first five for the master's degree his old comrades who had been accustomed to make a laughing stock of him were now astonished to find him a full blown MA and when they learned how it had come about they begged Chu to speak to the judge on their behalf the judge promised to assist them and they made all ready to receive him but when in the evening he did come they were so frightened at his red beard and flashing eyes that their teeth chattered in their heads and one by one they stole away Chu then took the judge home with him to have a cup together and when the wine had mounted well into his head he said I'm deeply grateful to your excellencies former kindness in arranging my inside but there is still another favor I venture to ask which possibly may be granted the judge asked him what it was and Chu replied if you can change a person's inside you surely could also change his face now my wife is not at all a bad figure but she is very ugly I pray your excellency try the knife upon her the judge laughed and said he would do so only it would be necessary to give him a little time some days subsequently the judge knocked at Chu's door toward the middle of the night where upon the ladder jumped up and invited him in lighting a candle it was evident that the judge had something under his coat and in answer to Chu's inquiries he said is what you ask me for I have had great trouble in procuring it he then produced the head of a nice looking young girl and presented it to Chu who found the blood on the neck was still warm we must make haste said the judge and take care not to wake the fowls or dogs Chu was afraid his wife's door might be bolted but the judge laid his hand on it and it opened at once Chu then led him to the bed where his wife was lying asleep on her side and the judge giving Chu the head to hold drew from his boot a steel blade shaped like the handle of a spoon he laid this across the lady's neck which he cut through as if it had been a melon and the head fell over the back of the pillow seizing the head he had brought with him he now fitted it on carefully and accurately and pressing it down to make it stick bolstered the lady up with pillows placed on either side when all was finished he made Chu put his wife's old head away and then took his leave soon after Mrs. Chu waked up and perceived a curious sensation about her neck and scaly feeling about the jaws putting her hand to her face she found flakes of dry blood and much frightened called a maid servant to bring water to wash it off the maid servant was also greatly alarmed at the appearance of her face and proceeded to wash off the blood which colored a whole basin of water but when she saw her mistress's new face she was almost frightened to death Mrs. Chu took a mirror to look at herself and was staring at herself in utter astonishment when her husband came in and explained what had taken place on examining her more closely Chu saw she had a well-featured pleasant face of a high order of beauty and when he came to look at her neck he found a red seam all round with the parts above and below of a different colored flesh now the daughter of a young official named Wu was a very nice looking girl who though 19 years of age had not yet been married two gentlemen who were engaged to her having died before the day at the feast of lanterns this young lady happened to visit the chamber of horrors when she was followed home by a burglar who that night broke into the house and killed her hearing a noise her mother told the servant to go and see what was the matter and the murder being thus discovered every member of the family got up they placed the body in the hall with the head alongside and gave themselves up to weeping and wailing to live long night next morning when they removed the coverings the corpse was there but the head had disappeared the waiting-maids were accordingly flogged for neglect of duty and consequent loss of the head and Mr. Wu brought the matter to the notice of the prefect this officer took very energetic measures but for three months no clue could be obtained and then the story of the changed head and the Chu family gradually reached Mr. Wu's ears suspecting something he sent an old woman to make inquiries and she had once recognized her late young mistress's features and went back and reported to her master there upon Mr. Wu unable to make out why the body should have been left imagine that Chu had slain his daughter by magical arts and it once proceeded to the house to find out the truth of the matter but Chu told him that his wife's head had been changed in her sleep and that he knew nothing about it adding that it was unjust to accuse him of the murder Mr. Wu refused to believe this and took proceedings against him but as all the servants told the same story the prefect was unable to convict him Chu returned home and took counsel with the judge who told him there would be no difficulty it being merely necessary to make the murdered girl herself speak that night Mr. Wu dreamt that his daughter came and said to him I was killed by Yang Tian'en of Su Qi Mr. Wu had nothing to do with it but desiring a better looking face for his wife Judge Lu gave him mine and thus my body is dead while my head still lives Bear Chu, no malice when he awaked he told his wife who had dreamt the same dream and there upon he communicated these facts to the officials subsequently a man of that name was captured who confessed under the bamboo that he had committed the crime so Mr. Wu went off to Chu's house and asked to be allowed to see his wife regarding Chu from that time as his son-in-law Mrs. Chu's old head was fitted onto the young lady's body and the two parts were buried together subsequent to these events Mr. Chu tried three times for his doctor's degree but each time without success and at last he gave up the idea of entering into official life then when thirty years had passed away Judge Lu appeared to him one night and said my friend you cannot live forever your hour will come in five days time Chu asked the judge if he could not save him to which he replied the decrees of heaven cannot be altered to suit the purposes of mortals besides to an intelligent man life and death are much the same why necessarily regard life as a boon and death as a misfortune Chu could make no reply to this and forthwith proceeded to order his coffin and shroud and then dressing himself in his grave-clothes yielded up the ghost next day as his wife was weeping over his beer in he walked at the front door to her very great alarm I am now a disembodied spirit said Chu to her though not different from what I was in life and I have been thinking much of the widow and orphan I left behind his wife hearing this wept till the tears ran down her face Chu all the time doing his best to comfort her I have heard tell said she of dead bodies returning to life and since your vital spark is not extinct why does it not resume the flesh the ordinances of heaven replied her husband may not be disobeyed his wife here asked him what he was doing in the infernal regions and he said that Judge Lou had got him an appointment as registrar with a certain rank attached and that he was not at all uncomfortable Mrs. Chu was proceeding to inquire further when he interrupted her saying the judge has come with me get some wine ready and something to eat he then hurried out and his wife did as he had told her hearing them laughing and drinking in the guest chamber just like old times come back again about midnight she peeped in and found that they had both disappeared but they came back once in every two or three days often spending the night and managing the family affairs as usual Chu's son was named Y and was about five years old and whenever his father came he would take the little boy upon his knee he was about eight years of age Chu began to teach him to read and the boy was so clever that by the time he was nine he could actually compose at fifteen he took his bachelor's degree without knowing all this time that he had no father from that date Chu's visits became less frequent occurring not more than once or so in a month until one night he told his wife that they were never to meet again in reply to her inquiry as to whether he was going he said he had been appointed to a far off post where press of business and distance would combine to prevent him from visiting them anymore the mother and son clung to him sobbing bitterly but he said do not act thus the boy is now a man and can look after your affairs the dearest friends must part some day then turning to his son he added be an honorable man and take care of the property ten years hence we shall meet again with this he bade them farewell and went away later on when Wai was twenty five years of age he took his doctor's degree and was appointed to conduct the sacrifices at the imperial tombs on his way thither he fell in with a retinue of an official proceeding along with all the proper insignia and looking carefully at the individual sitting in the carriage he was astonished to find that it was his own father alighting from his horse he prostrated himself with tears at the side of the road whereupon his father stopped and said you are well spoken of I now take leave of this world Wai remained on the ground not daring to rise and his father urging on his carriage hurried away without saying any more but when he had gone a short distance he looked back and unloosing a sword from his waist sent it as a present to his son shouting out to him wear this and you will succeed Wai tried to follow him but in an instant carriage, retinue and horses had vanished with the speed of wind for a long time his son gave himself up to grief and then seizing the sword began to examine it closely it was of exquisite workmanship and on the blade was engraved this legend be bold but cautious round in discipline square in action Wai subsequently rose to high honors and had five sons named Chen, Xian, Wu, Hun and Shen one night he dreamt that his father told him to give the sword to Hun which he accordingly did and Hun rose to be a viceroy of great administrative ability footnotes one literary designation every Chinese man and woman inherits a family name or surname a woman takes her husband's surname followed in official documents by her maiden name children usually have a pet name given to them soon after birth which is dropped after a few years then there is the Ming, our name which once given is unchangeable and by which the various members of a family are distinguished but only the emperor, a man's father and mother and certain other relatives are allowed to use this friends call each other by their literary designations or book names which are given generally by the teacher to whom the boy's education is first entrusted brothers and sisters and others have all kinds of nicknames as with us dogs and cats are called by such names as Blackie, Whitey, Yellowy, Jewel, Purly, etc. junks are christened large prophets abounding wealth, favorite of fortune etc. etc. places are often named after some striking geographical feature, e.g. Hancao mouth of the Han River i.e. its point of junction with the Yangtze or they have fancy names such as Fuqian, happily established Tianxin, Heaven's Ford or names implying a special distinction such as Nanjing, Southern capital Shantung, east of the mountains, etc. 2. Chamber of Horrors the name given by foreigners in China to the imitation of the ten torture chambers of purgatory as seen in every Chenghuang or municipal temple the various figures of the devil lictors and the tortured sinners are made either of clay or wood and painted in very bright colors and in each chamber is depicted some specimen of the horrible tortures that wicked people will undergo in the world to come I have given in the appendix a translation of the Yu Li Chao a celebrated Taoist work on the subject which should at any rate be glanced at by persons who would understand the drift of some of these stories 3. Lighted a fire to heat the wine which is almost invariably taken hot 4. They drank out of each others cups in token of their mutual good feeling 5. I am only providing you with a more intelligent heart the Chinese as a nation believe to this day that the heart is the seat of the intellect and emotions 6. The proper orifice being stuffed up the heart itself is supposed to be pierced by a number of eyes which pass right through and in physical and mental health these passages are believed to be clear 7. I have now provided you with a better one which I procured from Hades 8. The disembodied spirits of the Chinese inferno are permitted under certain conditions of time and good conduct to appropriate to themselves the vitality of some human being who as it were exchanges places with the so-called devil 8. Take care not to wake the fowls or dogs the Si Wan Lu a well-known work on Chinese medical jurisprudence and an officially authorized book while giving an absurd antidote against a poison that never existed gravely insist that it is to be prepared at certain dates only in some place quite far away from women, fowls, and dogs 9. Though 19 years of age had not yet been married two gentlemen who were engaged to her having died before the day it was almost a wonder that she got a second fiance few people caring to affiance their sons in a family where such a catastrophe has once occurred the death of an engaged girl is a matter of much less importance but is productive of a very curious ceremony her betrothed goes to the house where she is lying dead and steps over the coffin containing her body returning home with a pair of the girl's shoes he thus severs all connection with her and her spirit cannot haunt him as it otherwise most certainly would do 10. The Feast of Lanterns held annually on the 15th of the first Chinese month i.e. at the first full moon of the year when colored lanterns are hung at every door it was originally a ceremonial worship in the temple of the first cause and dates from about the time of the Han dynasty or nearly 2,000 years ago 11. Life and death are much the same it was John Stuart Mill who pointed out that the fear of death is due to the illusion of imagination which makes one conceive oneself as if one were alive and feeling oneself dead the utility of religion 12. Grave Clothes Boards of old age and clothes of old age sold here are common shop signs in every Chinese city death and burial being always if possible spoken of euphemistically in some such terms as these a dutiful son provides when he can afford it decent coffins for his father and mother they are generally stored in the house sometimes in a neighboring temple and the old people take pleasure in seeing that their funeral obsequies are properly provided for though the subject is never raised in conversation Chinese coffins are beautifully made and when the body has been in for a day or two a candle is closely applied to the seams all around to make sure it is airtight any crack however fine being easily detected by the flickering of the flame in the escaping gas thus bodies may be kept unburied for a long time until the Geomancer has selected an auspicious site for the grave 13. Proceeding Along with All the Proper Insignia gongs, red umbrellas, men carrying boards on which the officers titles are inscribed in large characters a huge wooden fan etc etc 14. Be Bold but Cautious, Round in Disposition, Square in Action be like a cache is a not uncommon saying among the Chinese the explanation of which rests upon the fact that a cache is round in shape and convenient for use which words are pronounced identically with a corresponding number of words meaning round in disposition, square in action it is in fact a play on words End of Judge Lu