Читать книгу Adventures of the Mad Monk Ji Gong - Guo Xiaoting - Страница 12

CHAPTER 4

Liu Taizhen is deluded by the arts of Chan; Li Guoyuan goes to breakfast and loses a prince’s tally

Thoughts of her he loves

As moonlight strikes the wall,

How gentle were her ways,

How beautifully she read.

Her angry passion now,

Her strange and swift assaults,

She does not hear his voice

Nor recognize his face.

He does not know the cause.

Betrayed by one she loved.

The doctors come and go;

They cannot find the cure.

AFTER the monk had left the wine shop and was walking along on his way, it occurred to him to visit the Shrine of the Three Virtues and see Liu Taizhen, the Daoist. At the same time he was conscious of the effects of wrongdoing upon someone elsewhere in the vi cinity. He directed his spiritual light toward it, clapped his hands, and nodded his head saying, “How can I ignore it? May I be like the Master of Power, Wen Shu Bodhisattva!”

Muttering the words, “Dao, Dao,” he went on to the Shrine of the Three Virtues outside the Qingbo gate. There he noticed that the wooden tablet advertising exorcisms had been taken down and that the place looked rather forlorn and quiet. The monk knocked twice.

As for the Daoist, after returning to his shrine from the Zhou family house, he used some of the silver that he had been given as the result of Ji Gong’s kindness to redeem the various articles he had pawned. He told an apprentice Daoist boy to take down the sign announcing the availability of exorcisms. He also told him: “If anyone comes again to invite me to chase out a ghost, you are to say that I have gone into the hills to search for medicinal herbs.”

The little attendant nodded his head and agreed. Then the old Daoist went into his room at the back of the shrine and began reading his books to relieve his boredom. The boy was playing in the courtyard when he heard someone knocking at the gate and went to open it. Looking out, he saw a poor, ragged monk standing there. The Daoist boy asked, “Who is wanted?”

Ji Gong said, “I am looking for the venerable Daoist Liu of your household, to go to our place to chase ghosts. I am inviting him to exorcise and to cure sickness.”

The Daoist boy said, “He can’t. Our teacher has gone into the hills to gather herbs. It is not certain how many days it will be before he comes back.”

Ji Gong said, “You go in there to that old Daoist looking at his book and mention that the old man is here, and then he will see me.”

When the little attendant heard this, he was speechless for a moment and thought to himself, “Huh! How did he know my teacher was at home reading?” Then he said quickly, “Just wait here, monk.”

Then he hurried back to tell the old Daoist. “Teacher, there is a poor monk outside who said he was inviting you to chase a ghost and purify a house. I told him you had gone to pick herbs, and he said, ‘Go in to the old Daoist looking at a book and mention that I have come,’ and that you would see him.”

The old Daoist was quite surprised and remarked, “Probably it’s the old man.”

The boy said, “That’s right. The monk said to tell you that the old man had come.”

The Daoist immediately went to look outside. Naturally it was Ji Gong. The Daoist quickly spoke. “Where did you come from, venerable sir? Your student kowtows to you.”

“Good,” said Ji Gong. “You have led me hither. I came to your shrine to sit for a while and ask you about a certain matter. Since you are no longer exorcising evil spirits and purifying homes, I wondered what the teacher and his several followers were doing to feed themselves.”

The old Daoist said, “Teacher, ordinarily I simply try to cure illness or do anything to get a bowl of rice to eat. Since coming back from the home of the Zhou family, I have been so frightened. How would I dare to perform exorcisms? My shrine really does not have any income. Perhaps, venerable sir, you may have some suggestion. While we are talking, please come in and sit down.”

The monk said, “I could teach you some formulas for obtaining wealth, if you could learn. Then if you wanted gold or silver, you could simply recite them. If you wanted good clothing or good food, it would come as soon as you started to recite.”

The old Daoist said, “If I could only study this, it would be excellent. I would not study anything else. Teacher, venerable sir, please help me to perform such alchemies.”

The monk said, “You could not perform them now. To be able to perform such things, first you must bump your head against the ground in a kowtow one thousand times a day for forty-nine days. You must recognize me as your teacher. You must kneel on the ground and recite the Sutra of the Eternal in Time. Then kowtow and stand and repeat ‘O Mi To Fu.’ That is counted as one time.”

The Daoist said, “I will do it. I will kowtow one thousand times a day, if only at the end of the forty-nine days I will be able to have whatever I ask for. Then I want to do it.”

The monk said, “That is still not enough. When I want to drink wine, who will go for it?”

The old Daoist replied, “I will have one of the boys get it for you.”

The monk said, “I like to eat meat at each meal. Who will go and buy it for me?”

The Daoist said, “I will go and buy it. Morning and evening pastries, three meals a day, I will take care of it all.”

The monk said, “Then we will start early tomorrow morning. But first send out one of your boys to buy some crude spirits and several dishes of food. I will drink first.”

The old Daoist quickly called an apprentice to go and buy wine and some prepared dishes.

The next morning the monk proposed an idea. They would use two old flat-bottomed baskets and buy one thousand yellow beans. The monk would sit on a rush mat. The Daoist would recite the Sutra of the Eternal in Time, knock his head against the ground once, then recite “O Mi To Fu.” Then he would take one yellow bean out of the yellow basket and put it into the red basket. In this way he would remember.

After the old Daoist had knocked his head against the ground several tens of times, his back ached and his legs were very painful. When he had knocked two hundred, he noticed that the monk had shut his eyes and seemed to be taking a nap. The old Daoist thought, “I’ll take a double handful and knock a few times less.” When he saw that the monk really seemed to be sleeping soundly, he quickly took a double handful and put it into the red basket.

The monk opened his eyes and said, “You are an odd one! Trying to practice the spiritual arts by stealing on the sly! Knock harder!” With that he snatched the beans out of the red basket, taking out more than three hundred.

After the old Daoist had kowtowed for five or six days, the silver that he had saved up was all spent. The monk kept calling for someone to go and buy wine and prepared dishes. The Daoist told the apprentice, “Do not take my Daoist robe yet; pawn the gold hairpin. After I have mastered the formulas, I will get it back.” The boy pawned it, and they ate for another five or six days, and again there was no money.

The old Daoist called the manager of the pawn shop and asked him to take the tables, chairs, and stools from the great hall of the shrine. After that there are really no words to describe what went on for what amounted to one month and six days. The last thing that the Daoist had managed to save was his one pair of pants. The apprentices also had lost most of their clothing. Finally the Daoist said to the monk, “Teacher, I really have no money. Teach me the magic formulas now so that I can get something for us to eat.”

The monk said, “If I had been able to work that kind of magic, why do you think I would have had you bringing me wine?”

“Ah, that is true,” said the Daoist when he heard this. “Teacher has hoodwinked me. What is to be done?”

The monk said, “If you have no money, I will be gone.”

The Daoist said, “After the saintly monk is gone, I and my apprentices will starve to death.”

“I will teach you some hocus-pocus that you can master,” said the monk.

“What hocus-pocus?” asked the Daoist.

The monk replied, “Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum.”

The Daoist did not understand what he had heard and said, “Oh, that is gibberish. You are just making noises.”

“That’s right,” said the monk. He repeated it three more times until the Daoist was able to say it. The monk then told him to kneel in the courtyard and repeat it. Just as the Daoist was saying, “Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum,” Ji Gong, who was standing behind him, pointed at the ground with his finger, and a little piece of the brick paving flew up and hit the Daoist on the head, causing a small red lump to appear.

“What happened?” The Daoist asked.

Ji Gong answered, “As soon as you started reciting hocus-pocus, the brick looked at you and then hit you. That is because of your power in reciting.”

“I am not going on,” The Daoist protested.

“Do not worry,” said Ji Gong, “I will teach you a few safe phrases. When you see any bricks, just say, ‘Bricks, you are above me and I will respect you. I will not recite hocus-pocus, and you will not get up and hit me.’”

“Teacher, what shall I do?” the Daoist asked.

Ji Gong told him, “I will give you my monk’s robe to put on and the hat to wear and teach you several phrases. Go to the Su Embankment at the West Lake near the Qiantang gate. There you will find a place called the Cold Spring Pavilion. Go up there and stand, saying loudly three times, ‘Li Guoyuan, Li Guoyuan need not go to the Monastery of the Soul’s Retreat at the West Lake to find Ji Gong. Give me your ten ounces of pure silver, and you will still have three hundred and sixty cash left.’”

The old Daoist did not want to go, but there was not a cash at the shrine, so he went. Every time he had gone out before, his clothing had been very handsome and correct. Today the old Daoist had no choice. He put on the monk’s old, ragged robe and asked, “Teacher, if I do go there and say these words three times, will the silver just fall?”

The monk replied, “Just keep your mind on getting there and calling out the words loudly three times. Then there will be someone who will question you. We monks have an expression, ‘Take a small donation.’ It will be enough to take care of you for your lifetime.”

The Daoist had no choice but to go. He left the Shrine of the Three Virtues with his head bowed, fearing to meet someone he knew.

Along the street there were many neighbors who knew the Daoist. Some of them seeing him commented: “Isn’t that the venerable Daoist Liu from the Shrine of the Three Virtues? How could he have come to this condition? The tables seem to have turned. It could not have been anything else—he must love gambling.”

The old Daoist heard them but could not very well answer. He walked on until he came to the Su embankment at the West Lake and the Cold Spring Pavilion. There was a major highway at that place and a great many people passing to and fro. The old Daoist stood at the pavilion and called out, “Li Guoyuan need not go to the Monastery of the Soul’s Retreat to look for Ji Gong. Give me the ten ounces of pure silver you have, and you will still have three hundred and sixty cash left.”

The Daoist called this out three times and attracted the attention of a great many people. All of them started talking. Some said that the old Daoist had gone mad. Others said that he was looking for Li Guoyuan.

Just as this discussion was taking place, two men walked up through the crowd. One of them was saying to the other, “Dear brother, is that Ji Gong, or someone that looks like him?”

The two moved closer. The one in front seemed from his clothing to be a wealthy man. The other, a younger man, appeared cultured and elegant. As the two looked at the old Daoist, the first said, “You! Old Daoist, have you harmed or killed Ji Gong and taken from him those clothes that you are wearing?”

“I certainly have not harmed or killed Ji Gong. He has harmed me! He has eaten me down to my last pair of pants!” the old Daoist protested. “What are the names of you two honorable gentlemen?”

The cultured and elegant younger man was Li Guoyuan. His home was in the fourth hutung, a narrow alley, of the Green Bamboo Forest that was in the southern part of Linan. The family was at one time wealthy, and he himself was a literary graduate. He had taken a wife from the Lin family, a virtuous young woman, very dear to him. For no apparent reason she was stricken with a mental illness. A great many gentlemen had been invited to examine her, but with no helpful results. Li Guoyuan was very depressed by this.

He had a friend named Li Chunshan who acted as a private tutor in the home of a high official named Du. One day early in the morning Li Guoyuan went to see Chunshan. While the two were discussing their personal affairs, Li Guoyuan mentioned that his wife had become mentally ill and that, although they had invited several doctors to examine her, she was no better.

Li Chunshan said, “In the household shrine of High Official Du, there is a prince’s tally. It is a scroll that was once sent by an emperor to one of his sons as a symbol that his father had chosen him to be the next emperor. This tally has been a treasured possession of the Du family for several generations. On this tally are the eight trigrams, symbols used to repel evil, and the characters ‘five thunders’ are shown. Perhaps it is an invocation to the Thunder God, a protector of mankind against the demons that cause illness. I will ask if I can lend it to you. If he won’t lend it, I will simply take it and give it to you to use. If you hang it in your home for two hours, it will drive out all evil spirits.”

Li Guoyuan said, “Just as soon as this tally cures my wife’s illness, I will return it.”

Li Chunshan went to the Du family shrine, and, opening a chest, secretly removed the prince’s tally and brought it outside. It was in a small case of precious cedar.

Li Chunshan said, “This is a treasured heirloom of the Du family. I secretly borrowed it to let you take it, but a thousand times ten thousand be careful! Hang it for two mornings and it will drive out the evil spirit. Then get it back to me.”

Li Guoyuan said, “I will bring it back tomorrow.” Taking the tally, he said goodbye.

But as he walked away by himself, he thought, “Oh! We didn’t have breakfast!” Originally they had intended to eat together, but as soon as they started talking about the scroll, they forgot all about it. “It’s not convenient for me to go home and eat now. Just ahead there is a restaurant on the north side of the road. I will go in and look.”

Inside the place was full of wealthy friends of his. Everyone stood up and called, “Graduate Li, come and drink with us.”

Li Guoyuan said, “Do not shout, gentlemen. I have to talk to someone.” He went to the back room and found a table. After he had called for wine and drunk two cups, he thought to himself, “Everyone called to me in greeting, and I didn’t greet anyone. That was wrong of me.” He quickly got up and went to say a word to his friends.

When he had finished speaking to them, he turned and went back to his table. Suddenly his eyes widened in fright, and his mouth dropped open in an idiotic expression. The demon-chasing, five-thunders, eight-trigram prince’s tally was gone!