Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) (21 page)

Kuo tied his horse outside the west corridor and climbed the steps. In the hall he hesitated, not knowing where he was. Presently from the east chamber he heard the sound of a girl sobbing uncontrollably. “Is it human or ghost who cries in this house?” Kuo called. “And why is the hall so splendidly arrayed, with no one here but you alone in tears?”

“There is a temple in my village,” she replied, “for the Black General, who can bring men good fortune or ill. Each year he demands a mate from the villagers, and from the local virgins they select a beauty to be his bride. Though I am ugly, my father stood to gain five hundred strings of cash from the villagers by secretly agreeing to my selection. This evening the young girls of the village, my friends and companions, made me drunk in this room, then locked me in and left, leaving me to wed the demon. My father and mother have abandoned me. Nothing remains for
me but death. I am beside myself with grief and terror. Sir, are you a real man? Can you rescue me? For the rest of my life I would be your obedient servant.”

“When do you expect this ‘General’?” asked Kuo, indignant.

“At the second watch.”

“I am a man—if I may say so—and will do all I can to save you. If I fail, I shall sacrifice my life instead. For I would never allow you to suffer death at the hands of this lewd demon!”

The girl’s sobs subsided. Kuo seated himself in the west hallway and moved his horse to the north of the building. He also assigned a servant to stand in front of him and wait like a master of ceremonies receiving guests.

Soon there was a blaze of torches and hubbub of horses and carriage. Two purple-robed servants entered the building and walked out again, saying, “The prime minister is in there!” Then two yellow-robed servants entered timidly and again went out, saying, “The prime minister is in there!” Kuo was inwardly gratified and thought to himself, “If I am destined to become prime minister, I know I will overcome this demon!”

Then the “General” himself slowly descended from his carriage, and the heralds again reported to him. “Enter!” said the General. With that he strode in, surrounded by armed attendants, and went to the foot of the steps leading to the east chamber. Kuo ordered his servant to step forward and announce, “Master Kuo presents himself.” Then Kuo himself made a formal salutation.

“How does Master Kuo come to be here?” asked the General.

“I had heard of the General’s wedding this evening and was hoping to be of assistance in the ceremony,” answered Kuo.

Pleased, the one known as General invited Kuo to take a place at the table. They sat opposite one another, their speech and laughter cordial. Kuo had a sharp knife in his bag which he thought he would use to kill the Black General, so he asked, “Have you ever tasted preserved venison?”

“It would be hard to find in a place like this,” said the General.

“I have a small supply of choice quality,” said Kuo. “It comes from the imperial kitchen. May I slice some for you?”

The General was delighted. Kuo got up, took the venison and his small knife, and began slicing it. He set a plate before the General and asked him to help himself. Unsuspicious, the General
reached for the meat. Quickly Kuo threw down the venison, seized the General’s wrist, and cut off his hand.

With a shriek the Black General fled. His followers scattered in terror. Kuo took the severed hand and wrapped it in a piece of his own clothing. Then he sent the servant outside to reconnoiter; the grounds were deserted. He opened the door of the east chamber and said to the tearful young girl, “I have here the hand of the Black General. We will follow the trail of blood, and soon he will be done for. Now that you are safe, come out and help yourself to some food.”

The tearful lass came out. She was only seventeen or eighteen, and most attractive. Bowing to Kuo, she said, “I swore to become your servant.” Kuo consoled and comforted her. As day was about to dawn, he unwrapped the hand and saw that it was a black pig’s foot. Presently they heard sounds of cries and sobs gradually approaching. It was the girl’s kinfolk and the village elders, bearing a coffin to take the girl’s body for burial.

When they saw Kuo with the young maid still alive, they were amazed and questioned him. Then the elders grew angry because he had injured their local divinity. “The Black General is a god that guards this village,” they said, “and we have served him for a long time. Each year we offer him one of our young maids as a mate, and we keep safe and sound by doing so. If the ritual should be delayed, we will suffer storm and hail. By what right does a stranger who has lost his way come to harm our illustrious god and bring down on us his divine violence? What has our village ever done to you to deserve this? You ought to be killed and offered to the Black General, or bound and delivered to our magistrate!”

They were about to order their young men to seize Kuo when he began to admonish them. “You people are old in years but not in experience. I am one who is acquainted with the ways of the world. Listen to what I have to say. When a god receives the mandate of heaven to protect an area, is it not the same as a territorial lord receiving the mandate of the emperor to govern his domain?”

“Yes, it is,” they agreed.

“Now then, suppose the territorial lord were angling for illicit pleasures in his realm; would not the emperor be angry? And if
that lord were cruel to the people, would not the emperor punish him?

“Is he whom you call General a real divinity? Surely no divinity has a pig’s foot! Has heaven ever given its mandate to a lustful demonic beast? Indeed, is not such a beast a criminal in heaven as well as on earth?

“I had the right when I punished the fiend. How could this be wrong? There is no righteous man among you, if you could send your tender girls to a violent death at the hands of a demon year after year! Can you be sure heaven has not sent me to redress these crimes?

“Accept what I say, and I will rid you of the demon so that you will never again have to deliver a bride to it. What do you say?”

The villagers realized that this was the truth and were only too happy to accept Kuo’s leadership. Kuo ordered several hundred men to take bows and arrows, swords and spears, spades and hoes, and to follow him in a group. They pursued the trail of blood left by the Black General, and after about seven miles it led to the burial chamber of a large tomb. They formed a circle and hacked at it. The opening began to widen. When it was as wide as the mouth of a large jar, Kuo ordered bundles of firewood to be kindled and thrown inside so they could see. The interior was like a large chamber. They saw a giant swine missing its left forefoot lying in a pool of blood. Dashing out of the smoke, it was killed by the encircling men.

The villagers rejoiced with one another. They collected a farewell gift to thank Kuo, but he refused it, saying, “In fighting evil for the people, I seek no gain.” The maiden who had been rescued bid goodbye to her parents and kinsmen, saying, “I was fortunate to be born a human being and your own flesh and blood. I had never even been out of my chambers and surely committed no offense deserving death. Yet for the gain of five hundred strings of copper, I was to be married off to a demon. You were hard-hearted enough to lock me up and leave me behind. Is that what human beings ought to do? If it were not for Master Kuo’s courage and humanity, I wouldn’t be here today. He gave me life; my parents gave me death. It is my wish to go with Master Kuo and never give another thought to my old home.” Tearfully bowing, she followed Kuo and would not be
dissuaded, so he took her as his concubine and she bore him several sons.

Kuo’s official career was one of uninterrupted high position, as the Black General’s demon-servants had foreseen. Though he was born in a remote part of the country and failed in the official examinations, the spirits could not harm a wise and righteous man.

—
Niu Seng-ju

To decide right and wrong, we have only tradition and law to go by. And yet there are cases where people single-mindedly follow their convictions without the approval of tradition or sanction of law.

In my own clan there was a serving maid named Liu Ch’ing. When she was seven her master ordered that she be given in marriage to a young servant named Yi Shou. When she was sixteen a day was set for the wedding. But suddenly Yi Shou ran away because of some gambling debts, and for a long time there was no news of him. The master was ready to match Liu Ch’ing with another servant, but she swore to die before she would agree.

Liu Ch’ing was rather appealing, and the master himself tried to interest her in becoming his concubine. Again she swore to die before she would agree. The master sent an older woman to talk her into it. The woman told her, “Even if you’re not going to give up on Yi Shou, you might as well accept the master for now. Meanwhile we’ll do all we can to find Yi Shou and marry you to him. If you refuse, you’ll be sold away to some remote area and lose all chance of seeing Yi Shou again.”

For a few days Liu Ch’ing cried silently. Then with head bowed low, she offered her pillow to the master. But she kept insisting that the search for Yi Shou go on. Three or four years later, Yi Shou returned to accept his fate and settle his debts. True to his word, the master ordered the nuptials.

After the wedding the serving maid resumed her duties, but she never exchanged another word with the master. She promptly avoided his slightest approach. He had her whipped and gave Yi Shou money to coerce her, but she firmly refused any relations with the master. In the end the master had no choice but to send them away with his blessing.

As Liu Ch’ing was getting ready to leave, she placed a small box before the master’s mother. Then she departed, touching her head to the floor in respectful submission. When the box was opened, they found all the personal gifts the master had made her over the years. Not a thing was missing.

Later Yi Shou became a peddler, while Liu Ch’ing took in sewing to survive. But she had no regrets to her dying day.

When I was living at home, Yi Shou was still trading in brass and ceramic utensils. His hair had gone white. I asked him about his wife. “Dead,” he replied.

Strange! this serving maid neither chaste nor unchaste, both chaste and unchaste! I see no way to unriddle it, so I made this record for more learned gentlemen to judge.

—
Chi Yün