33
Old Man Zhang Grows Melons and Marries Wennü
Dark clouds gather in the vast sky;
Houses are suffused with auspicious light.
Before willow catkins dance in the air,
Plum blossoms bloom hither and yon.
With a rustle, the flakes land on curtains;
Noiseless, they fall into water.
Overnight they gather on ancient pines,
Unperturbed by the north wind of the dawn.
The above eight lines describe falling snow, which resembles three things: salt, willow catkins, and pear blossoms. Why do I say snow is like salt? Xie Lingyun1 had a line about snow that says, “Could it be salt sprinkling down from the sky?” There is a lyric poem by Su Dongpo2 to the tune of “River God”:
At dusk it was still a steady drizzle.
At dawn when the curtain is raised,
The eaves are seen to be laden with jade.
The sky hanging low over the vast river,
Blue wineshop flags are nowhere to be seen.
I chant poems, sitting idly alone.
I breathe on my frozen hands
And stroke my thinning beard.
Let us get drunk, host and guest!
This crystal salt, for whom is it sweet?
Plum twigs in hand, I look east and think of Tao Qian.3
Snowfalls, though lovable, like the ancients,
Are detested by some.
Why do I say the snow resembles willow catkins? Xie Daoyun4 had a line about snow that says, “Like willow catkins blown about by wind.” Huang Luzhi5 had a lyric poem to the tune of “Treading on Grass”:
Jade flowers pile up, willow catkins float around.
By dawn all paths are lost to sight.
In the vast sky, dark clouds linger,
Dancing with every return of the wind.
I drink to the scene and try to write a line.
Turning back, I laugh at my lack of words.
A whole day has gone by, but why does no poem come?
On yonder hills, a patch of green remains.
Why do I say snow is like pear blossoms? Li Qingzhao6 said, “Pear blossoms fall o travelers’ dancing sleeves.” There is also a lyric poem by Zhao Shuyong7 to the tune of “Immortal by the River”:
Masses of dark clouds for ten thousand li,
The color of jade suffusing the sky.
Flying like catkins, the flakes land on mud.
Along the road to the village ahead,
Pear blossoms fall off the dancing sleeves.
What scene best to capture at this moment?
Rivers, lakes, boats, and fishermen’s houses.
The splendor of the season calls for wine.
A cape on my back, a hat on my head,
I set cheerfully out across the streams.
Just as snow resembles three things, it is also administered by three gods. Which three? They are Sage Guye and the fairy maidens Zhou Qiongji and Dong Shuangcheng. Zhou Qiongji’s responsibility is Hibiscus Town.8 Dong Shuangcheng is in charge of the glazed vase that contains flakes of snow. Every time dark clouds gather, Sage Guye taps at the vase with gold chopsticks until one flake comes out, causing a timely one-foot fall of snow. (Similar to the way Li Jing 9 makes rain on behalf of the Dragon King.) One day, the Sage of the Purple Palace invited Sage Guye and Dong Shuangcheng to a banquet, at which they got drunk and tapped at the vase with their gold chopsticks to beat time for a song. Unfortunately, the vase broke. As the snowflakes fell out, an unusually heavy snowfall followed. (How absurd! Traditional stories tend to o er such absurdities as their best features.) There is a lyric poem to the tune of “Remembering the Fairy Maiden”:
When Sage Guye gave a feast in the Purple Palace,
Shuangcheng broke the snow vase.
The flower fairy tossed in the air
The white pearls and jade morsels.
The sky glows with their brilliance,
Adding to the moon’s luster on the sea.
By dawn, bamboos are coated with snow;
Branches droop with glistening whips of jade.
Along the bends of the mountains,
Over the curves of the green waters,
Birds fly home in the evening chill,
Only to find that their nests are gone.
For love of the icicles on the eaves,
Don’t let the children knock at them with sticks.
Imitate Yuan An10 and Xie Daoyun of old,
And write inspired lines in praise of the snow.
Just as Sage Guye was the snow god, there was also a snow spirit in the shape of a white mule. Each hair shaken from its body would bring ten feet of snow. The mule was kept in a gourd watched over by a fairy called Hong Ya. After a banquet hosted by the Sage of the Purple Palace, Hong Ya, in an inebriated state, failed to put the stopper in tightly enough. The white mule escaped and wandered into the alien lands, where it shed many hairs, bringing on another snowstorm.
Now I shall tell of a man who, because he lost a white horse in the snow, mysteriously achieved immortality and rose to heaven with his entire family in broad daylight. The site of his ascension remains to this day.
In the wintry twelfth month of the sixth year of the Putong reign period [525] under Xiao Yan, Emperor Wudi of the Liang, an imperial counselor named Wei Shu was demoted to the position of director of the imperial horse stable for having remonstrated against Emperor Wudi’s enthusiasm for Buddhism. This official was
Loyal and upright,
Honest and unyielding.
He gave advice to set the world to rights
And rid the court of the evil and vile.
This Mr. Wei was now put in charge of the royal stable located in Luhe County of Zhenzhou Prefecture. Emperor Wudi had a white horse named the Jade Lion, Star of the Palace.
Its hooves as if carved of jade,
Its body as if covered with jasper.
Its chest white as face powder,
Its tail ten thousand silver threads.
Able to gallop, able to carry,
It covered a thousand li at a stretch.
Never gasping, never neighing,
It could leap over any broad ravine.
A heavenly lion incarnated on earth,
A Whitemarsh11 descended from heaven.
For its errors at Changlu when carrying Emperor Wudi of Liang in his pursuit of Bodhidharma,12 the white horse was sent to the royal stable as punishment. After a heavy snowfall, the stable-boy came to report to Counselor Wei the following morning, “I bring you bad news. Last night, the Jade Lion left its stall.”
A panic-stricken Counselor Wei immediately summoned his men for a consultation about a solution. A stable-boy stepped forth and said, “It should be easy to find this horse, because its hoofprints in the snow will lead us to wherever it is.”
“Right you are,” said Wei. Without a moment’s delay, the stable-boy was sent o with a few followers to look for the horse’s hoofprints. They wended their way across the fields for several li and came upon a snow-covered garden. Behold:
The house was coated with white powder;
The pavilion was covered with jade.
The jasper railings sagged under the snow,
Flanking a silver ribbon of a path.
The Taihu rocks the shapes of salt tigers;
The tall pine trees like winding jade dragons.
The withered grass gained new color;
The plum blossoms sent forth their aroma.
It was a fenced farm house. Turning to his followers, the stable-boy said, “The horse is here.” At their knocks on the gate, an old man came out. The stable-boy saluted him and said, “Please allow me to ask you something. Last night in the snow, we lost a white horse from the royal stable. It is called the Jade Lion, Star of the Palace, and serves the Liang emperor himself. Judging from its hoofprints, we believe that it has jumped over the fence into your garden. If it’s still here, we will tell the counselor, and he will reward you with wine and money.”
“Yes,” said the old man, “the horse is indeed here. Please sit down. I’ll get you something to eat.”
The visitors sat down and watched the old man go to the back of the garden, where, with his fingers, he dug out a sweet melon from under the snow. It was indeed a melon
With green leaves, a tender stalk,
And yellow flowers blooming at the top.
From its pungent source rose its fragrance;
From bitterness came its sweet taste.
At the sight of the vine and leaves that were still attached to this freshlooking melon, the visitors thought to themselves, “The old man can’t have just picked it o the vine.” The old man took a knife and peeled the melon and cut o the top, letting out an extraordinary fragrance. After o ering it to the visitors, he went back into the snow and brought back three more melons. “Please give Counselor Wei these melons with the compliments of Mr. Zhang.” (The man’s surname is not revealed until now.)
The men accepted the melons. From somewhere at the back of the garden, the old man led out the white horse and returned it to the stable-boy, who took the bridle and thanked the old man. They then returned to the stable and reported to Counselor Wei. “How very strange!” they exclaimed. “How could he have grown such sweet melons in such heavy snow?” Without delay, Wei Shu called forth his wife and his eighteen-year-old daughter, and the melons were shared among the family.
His wife said, “We are much obliged to that old man. How shall we thank him for having kept the horse and sent us these melons?”
Two months went by with the snap of a finger. On a clear day in midspring of the following year, Lady Wei said, “This is perfect weather for us to go and thank Mr. Zhang for his melons as well as for the horse.”
Counselor Wei asked for a jar of wine, some boxes of food, a pot for warming wine, and some delicacies. He called forth his eighteen-year-old daughter and said to her, “I am going today to see Mr. Zhang to o er him thanks. I’m taking you and your mother along so you can have some fun.”
With the counselor on horseback and his wife and daughter following behind in two sedan-chairs, they arrived at Mr. Zhang’s gate and asked for Mr. Zhang. Promptly, the old man came out and greeted them. Lady Wei said, “You looked after our horse some time ago. My husband has brought some wine to thank you for your kindness.”
In the hall, wine vessels, bowls, and plates were set out, and Mr. Zhang was invited to sit with the Wei family, an o er that he repeatedly declined. (Failure to marry o a daughter now already eighteen years old—this is mistake number one. Taking her along on an excursion—mistake number two. Letting her sit with Mr. Zhang—mistake number three.) Instead, he took a bench and sat down on one side. After three rounds of wine, Lady Wei asked Mr. Zhang, “May I ask your age, sir?”
“I am eighty years old,” he replied.
“How large is your family?” asked the lady again.
“I live all by myself.”
“Don’t you need a wife to keep you company?” said the lady.
“A good match is not that easy to come by,” was the reply.
“How about a wife of about seventy years old?”
The old man said, “Too old! Don’t people say that
‘A hundred years go by in a finger snap;
All too few live to be past seventy’?”
“In that case, what about sixty or so,” said the lady. “Too old!” He continued,
“Once past the fifteenth day of the month,
The moon loses its luster.
On reaching middle age,
Life loses all its glow.”
Lady Wei insisted, “What about fifty or so?”
“Too old!
“No glory at thirty, no money at forty,
You’d be better off dead at fifty.”
Lady Wei’s patience was wearing thin. She thought to herself, “Let me tease him a bit.” “In that case,” she said, “get yourself a thirty-year-old.”
“Too old.”
“Now what age do you have in mind?”
Rising from his seat, he said, pointing at the eighteen-year-old girl, “I will be content if I can have her for wife.” (The audacity!)
At these words, Counselor Wei flared up with rage. Instead of listening to anything more, he ordered his men to come forward and beat the old man. But his wife protested, “This can’t be done. We are here to thank him. How can we end up beating him? It’s his old age that makes him say such preposterous things. Just ignore him.” They put together their wine utensils and left.
The story continues. For three days thereafter, Zhang stayed within closed doors. Two flower sellers from Luhe County called Wang San and Zhao Si came with large baskets to his house to ask for flowers. Finding the door closed, they knocked and called out his name. The old man came out coughing as he talked and panting for breath like someone su ering from either tuberculosis or lovesickness. (How extraordinary for an eighty-year-old to be lovesick!) How do I know this? There is a lyric poem to the tune of “A Night Stroll in the Palace”:
Of all illnesses one may ever have,
Lovesickness torments the most.
The heart might have neither aches nor pains.
But while unnoticed, the body wastes away.
Flowers and moonlight evoke misery.
Dusk is the most feared moment of the day.
An itchy feeling in the chest
Brings on one cough after another.
(Vivid description.)
So the old man came out and said to them in a hoarse voice (Comic touch), “I am much obliged to you for coming, but I am not feeling well these last couple of days. You can take some flowers for free, but I do have a favor to ask of you. Find me two matchmakers. If you do, I will give you two hundred cash, not a penny less, for you to buy some wine with.”
The two men picked some flowers and left. Shortly afterward, they brought back two matchmakers. Now those matchmakers—
Their eloquence makes marriages happen;
Their words ensure conjugal harmony.
They tend to solitary phoenixes;
They take care of all who sleep alone.
They recoil at no triple gates,
Nor do twelve-story towers stop their advance.
In men, even Liuxia would be stirred with desire;
In women, even Magu would be spurred to passion.
The Jade Maiden would seduce with her charms;
The Golden Boy would flirt midst tender words.
They lead the Wushan Goddess on to bewitch men,
And make the Weaving Maiden sick with longing.13
The two matchmakers were brought in to greet the old man. “I have a job for you,” he said. “I’ve seen the one I have in mind, but it’ll be hard to talk her into marrying me. Here are three taels of silver for each of you. If you manage to bring back a reply, I’ll add another five taels each. If the reply is favorable, I’ll help you make a small fortune for yourselves.”
“Which family’s girl do you have in mind?”
“It’s the eighteen-year-old daughter of Counselor Wei of the imperial horse stable. Please go there on my behalf.”
The two women smiled discreetly and left with their three taels of silver each. When they reached an earth mound half a li away, Madam Zhang looked at Madam Li and said, “How are we going to put this to Counselor Wei?”
“Easy,” said Madam Li. “We’ll first buy ourselves some wine and drink it up so as to make our faces flushed. Then we’ll walk as far as Counselor Wei’s gate before we go back to Mr. Zhang and say that we gave them the message, but there’s no reply yet.”
Before the words were quite out of her mouth, they heard a cry: “Don’t go yet!” Turning around, they saw that it was Zhang hurrying up to them. “I guessed that the two of you were going to buy yourselves some wine and drink it to make your faces flushed, walk by Counselor Wei’s gate, and then come back to tell me that there’s no reply yet. Did I guess right? If you want your reward, go quickly now and be sure to get a reply.”
After this speech by Old Zhang, the two matchmakers were obliged to go and do as he wished.
Arriving at the imperial stable, the two women asked to have their visit announced to Counselor Wei. “Have them come in,” said Wei. After the greetings, he asked them, “You are here to make a match, I presume?”
The two matchmakers smiled without venturing a reply.
Counselor Wei said, “I have a twenty-two year old son who is away on an expedition with Wang Sengbian.14 I also have an eighteen-year-old daughter, whom I, being an incorrupt official, am too poor to marry o .”
The two matchmakers made bow after bow at the foot of the steps without daring to utter a word.
“You don’t have to bow so hard,” said Mr. Wei. “Just say what you came here to say.”
Matchmaker Zhang said, “We do indeed have something in mind. We don’t want to say it but we are obligated to do so for the sake of the six taels of silver, and yet, if we say it, we are afraid it would be so ridiculous as to o end you.”
Mr. Wei asked what it was. Matchmaker Zhang continued, “Oddly enough, Old Man Zhang the melon-grower sent for us today, telling us to make a match between him and your daughter. I’ll show you the six taels of silver that he gave us.” She took out the silver from her bosom, showed it to Mr. Wei, and went on, “With your help, we’ll be able to keep the silver. Otherwise, we’ll have to give it back to him.”
“Is the old man in his right mind?” said Mr. Wei. “My daughter is only eighteen years old, and I have as yet no intention of marrying her o . Now what can I do to help you keep the six taels of silver?” (Strange.)
“He said,” replied Matchmaker Zhang, “that as long as we get a reply from you, we’ll be able to keep the six taels of silver.”
Pointing a finger at the matchmakers, Mr. Wei said, “Tell that old idiot from me that for the marriage to take place, he needs to o er, no later than tomorrow, a betrothal gift of a hundred thousand strings of cash all in copper coins with no gold coins thrown in.” He then treated the matchmakers to some wine before letting them go.
The two bowed their thanks and went back to Mr. Zhang’s house, where he had been waiting for them in eager expectation, like a goose with a craned neck. (Comic touch.) Upon the return of the two women, he said, “Please sit down! It was a tough job for you!” He took out ten taels of silver, laid the silver on the table, and said, “Thank you for having brought o the match for me.”
“How did we do that?” asked Matchmaker Zhang.
“My father-in-law wants me to o er a betrothal gift of a hundred thousand strings of cash all in copper coins before the marriage is to take place.”
“Right you are,” exclaimed the matchmakers. “The counselor did indeed say that, just as you guessed. But what are you going to do?”
The old man took out a jar of wine, opened it, put it on the table, and o ered the matchmakers four cups each. He then took them around to look under the eaves at the side of the house and said, “Look!” Following his pointing finger, they saw with the left and right pupils of their matchmakers’ allseeing eyes a pile of copper coins in the amount of a hundred thousand strings.
“You see,” he said, “I’ve got everything ready.” The two matchmakers were instructed to return that very day to report the matter to the counselor before the money was to be sent over. The matchmakers went o .
In the meantime, Zhang made arrangements for transportation. He called forth from the house several men wearing gold flowers in their hats and purple robes adorned with red silk and silver ornaments. As they pushed along the carts, it was like
Thunder rumbling down the open road,
A tidal wave sweeping through the wilderness.
Could the earth be shaking and the sky trembling?
Could the stars be spinning and the sun turning?
At first glance,
It was like the Qin emperor driving stones into the sea.
On first sight,
It was like Xia’ao moving ships across dry land.15
All along the river were heard
The cries of wild geese and golden pheasants.
With streamers that bore the inscription “Mr. Zhang’s betrothal gifts for Counselor Wei’s family,” the carts were pushed all the way to the gate of the Wei residence. The men shouted three times in salutation, and, after the carts were arranged in two rows, they sent someone in to announce their arrival. When Mr. Wei came out and saw the carts, he stood agape with astonishment. He sent for his wife and asked her what was to be done.
“You should not have asked him for a hundred thousand strings of cash,” said his wife. “I wonder where the old man got all this money? If we reject him, we’ll be going back on our word, but if we accept the marriage, how can a girl from a decent family marry an old gardener?”
As the husband and wife pondered over this dilemma, unable to come to a decision, Lady Wei said, “Let’s call out our daughter and hear what she has to say about the matter.” (Good decision.) The girl took out a brocade purse from her bosom. As a matter of fact, this girl had been a mute until one day, when she was seven years old, she suddenly uttered a quatrain:
Heaven’s will can hardly be known to men.
My fate is tied to the Yangzhou area.
Cold embers will again turn hot as fire;
Withered willows will put forth leaves anew.
From that moment on, she was able to write, and her name was changed to Wennü [Maiden of Letters]. The poem was put in a brocade purse and kept there for twelve years. Now she showed the poem to her father and said, “Mr. Zhang may be old, but I’m afraid this might be the will of heaven.”
Seeing that her daughter was willing, and wondering if the old man, with his gift of one hundred thousand strings of cash, might not be a supernatural being, Lady Wei relented and gave her consent to the marriage. An auspicious day was chosen for the wedding, to the delight of Mr. Zhang. Truly,
The dried-up lotus grows fresh roots after the rain;
The withered tree gains new life with the coming of spring.
After the wedding, Zhang took his bride, along with her personal belongings, to his home. Counselor Wei forbade all other members of the household to visit Zhang’s house.
In the sixth month of the seventh year of the Putong reign period [526], the counselor’s son Wei Yifang, who was as accomplished in letters as he was in the military arts, returned home to Luhe County from the northern expedition with Wang Sengbian. It was a hot day. How do we know this?
The six dragons had no clouds to ride;
Over the trees no birds flew.
The ground burned, stones cracked, rivers and lakes boiled,
But still no breath of wind came to the south.
As he drew near home, he caught sight of a woman with disheveled hair in front of a farmhouse by the road. Wearing a simple blue skirt and straw sandals on her feet, she was selling melons at her door. Indeed,
Picked from the west garden, fragrant and dewy,
The melon cools down the south-facing room.
You may wonder why no flies fly around;
The icy jade ball is too cold to get near.
With green melon in a gold basin filled with well water,
One wakes up from a midday dream.
The venerable poet will not return;
Where else but by Blue Gate 16 could they be grown?
Thirsty after much walking, Wei Yifang went up to buy a melon. As he looked up, a cry escaped his lips: “Wennü, what are you doing here?”
“My brother,” exclaimed the girl, “Father married me o here.”
“I heard on my way here that Father married you o to Zhang the melonpeddler for a hundred thousand strings of cash. How did that happen?”
After Wennü told him the whole story, he asked, “May I see him?”
“If you wish to see him,” said Wennü, “wait a moment. Let me tell him first.” She promptly went into the house and told Mr. Zhang about the visit. She then reemerged to say, “Mr. Zhang says he does not wish to see you because you have a temperament as hot as fire and a will as changeable as the wind. But, my brother, it will be all right if you go to see him with no ill will.” With these words, she took him into the house.
When the old man stepped out of his room, his back bent down, Wei Yifang exclaimed, “Good grief! How could such a man have a hundred thousand strings of cash with which to get my sister for a wife! He must be a sorcerer.” In a trice, he drew out his precious Tai’e17 sword and struck right at Zhang’s head. Lo and behold! The hilt remained in his grip but the blade broke into fragments.
“What a shame!” said Zhang. “We’ve lost another immortal!”
Wennü pushed her brother out and scolded him: “I told you not to bear him any ill will. Why did you have to try to cut him down!”
Wei Yifang returned home and, after greeting his parents, demanded that they explain how they could have married o Wennü to Old Man Zhang.
Counselor Wei said, “The old man is a sorcerer.”
Wei Yifang agreed, “That’s what I believe, too. I drew my sword against him, but instead of hurting him, I got my sword ruined.”
The following morning, Wei Yifang rose, and, after washing himself, rinsing his mouth, and preparing for a journey, he announced to his parents, “I am determined to bring my sister back today. Should I fail to do so, I will never return to see you again.” He bade farewell and brought two followers to Zhang’s house. But all that stretched before their eyes was an empty expanse of land with no signs of human habitation. A local resident to whom he directed inquiries said, “Yes, there was a melon-grower named Zhang who had lived here for about twenty years, but last night there came a severe windstorm, and since then he has not been seen.”
In astonishment, Wei Yifang raised his head, only to see a quatrain carved on a tree trunk, saying,
Two baskets of a kind unseen on earth:
The garden in one, the house in the other.
As for where I now make my abode,
It’s Peach Blossom Manor in heaven.
Having read these lines, Wei Yifang told his men to search for Zhang in all directions. When they came back, they reported, “Mr. Zhang and his wife are on their way to Zhenzhou, each riding a donkey carrying two baskets.”
Wei Yifang and the two other men gave chase. They heard people on the road say, “We saw an old man and a young girl each riding a donkey. The girl didn’t want to go and pleaded tearfully with the old man for permission to let her go home to bid farewell to her parents, but the old man beat her with a stick all along the way. It was a pitiful sight, heartrending to see.”
At these words, a wave of indignation swept over Wei Yifang from head to toe, while flames of indescribable anger rose in his heart thirty thousand feet high. Unable to contain himself, he took his men and pressed ahead. However, several tens of li later, they were still far behind. By the time they came to the ferry at Guazhou [Melon Port], they were told that the couple had just crossed the river.
Wei Yifang got himself a boat, crossed the river, and, when he came to the foot of Mount Mao,18 he was told upon inquiry that the couple had already gone up the mountain. Wei Yifang gave some words of instruction to his men, deposited their luggage in an inn, and hurried up the mountain all by himself.
Half a day went by, but Peach Blossom Manor was still nowhere in sight. His steps took him to a wide stream that blocked his way. Behold:
The babbling water was cool and clear,
Its icy surface smooth as a mirror,
Its faraway waves capped as if with snow.
Willow branches shade the riverbank
Where mortals find themselves denied access.
Wei Yifang stood by the stream thinking, “I have been in pursuit for so long without being able to get hold of my sister and bring her back. How am I to face my parents? I might as well jump into the water and die.” While hesitating, he noticed a waterfall flowing from the top of the rock cli by the water’s edge, bringing down some peach petals. Wei Yifang wondered to himself, “It is now the sixth month. How can there be peach blossoms at this time of the year? Might Peach Blossom Manor, where my brother-in-law Mr. Chang has taken up residence, be up there?” At the sound of a flute, Yifang saw a herdboy on the back of a donkey playing a flute on the other side of the stream. Behold:
Shielded by deep green at the ancient ferry,
A herdboy riding backwards playing a flute.
The tune “Ode to Peace” that came from the flute
Evoked much anguish in the traveler’s heart.
The herdboy drew nearer to the water’s edge and shouted, “Might you be Wei Yifang?”
“Yes, I am.”
“By Sage Zhang’s orders, I am here to invite you over.” The herdboy drove the donkey across the stream and carried Wei back across it. With the herdboy leading the way, they came to a farmhouse. What was it like? There is a lyric poem to the tune of “Immortal by the River” that bears witness:
A farmer’s life is the happiest of all,
With his bamboo fence and quiet farmhouse.
He plows in spring, sows in summer, reaps in fall;
In winter, he watches the welcome snow
And lies abed in wine-induced slumber.
Elms and willows abound outside his door;
Flying catkins land all over the creek.
Free from all boredom and sorrows,
He laughs at those obsessed with fame and gain,
Bogged down in affairs of the mundane world.
Upon arrival, the herdboy entered the house, and two attendants in red robes emerged from the garden to greet Wei Yifang, saying, “Sage Zhang is attending to some official business and is unable to see you, but he told us to entertain you.” So saying, they led him to a large pavilion with a panoramic view. A tablet bore the inscription “Green Bamboo Pavilion.” Behold:
The dense foliage of trees and bamboos
Embowers the hills and the windows.
Fog locks in the pavilion but not the red-crowned cranes’ cries;
Clouds obscure the deep valleys but not the wild monkeys’ calls.
With a display of wine vessels inside, the pavilion was surrounded on all sides by beautiful peaches, apricots, and exotic flowers and plants. The redrobed attendants sat down with Yifang at the richly spread table. Before Yifang could ask what kind of man Zhang was, the attendants forced cup after cup of wine upon him so that he did not have a chance to ask the question. When the meal was over, the attendants took leave of him and told him to wait a little while by himself in the pavilion.
After waiting for a considerable time without further news, Wei Yifang stepped down out of the pavilion. As he was walking along, he caught sight of a magnificent palace through the trees and flowers. Hearing voices within, he used his tongue to moisten and then poke a hole in the paper pane of the red latticework window, and this was what he saw:
Red railings, jade steps;
Tall eaves, carved walls.
Mica screens and pearl curtains side by side,
Magnificent halls face to face.
By magic mushrooms, green and red phoenixes flew about.
In jade trees’ shadows, white deer and black apes stood.
Jade Maiden and Golden Boy on the right and left,
Amid the auspicious mist and vapor.
There, on the dais, sat Mr. Zhang in full royal attire complete with headdress, boots, sword, and scepter. At the foot of the steps stood two rows of attendants in red robes, some of them deities, some demons. Tw o iron cangues were in view. The one nearer Zhang held a man in a purple robe and golden waistband who claimed to be the city god of a certain prefecture and was there on trial for his failure to take measures against the ravages brought about by tigers and wolves in his region. The other cangue held a man in helmet and armor. He was the mountain god of a certain county in a certain prefecture, on trial for his subordinates’ failure to act against tigers and wolves that were preying upon the local residents.
As Mr. Zhang passed verdicts on the two men on the basis of their o enses, a cry escaped the lips of Wei Yifang as he watched through the window: “How very strange! How very strange!”
Hearing this exclamation, the lictors in the hall dispatched two strong men in yellow turbans to bring Wei Yifang to the foot of the steps. At their accusation that he had committed a crime by partaking of divine secrets, Wei Yifang frantically kowtowed in apology.
Before the sage could say anything, there emerged from behind a screen a woman wearing a phoenix circlet and a rosy cape over her long skirt and pearl shoes. She was none other than Wennü, Yifang’s younger sister.
Dropping to her knees, she pleaded to Zhang, “Please forgive him, Sage, for he is my own elder brother.”
Zhang said, “Wei Yifang was destined to be an immortal. He should not have tried to cut me down with a sword, but I forgave him because he is my brother-in-law. Now here he is again, stealing looks at my palace and planning to divulge divine secrets. For his sister’s sake, I will spare his life. I will give him a token with which to claim a hundred thousand in cash.”
Zhang turned around and went to the interior of the palace. In a short while, he reemerged with an old rattan hat, which he handed to Wei Yifang, and told him to look for Mr. Shen, owner of an herb store by Kaiming Bridge in Yangzhou, to claim a hundred thousand in cash, using the hat to prove his identity. “Immortals and mortals move in di erent worlds,” said Zhang. “This place is not for you to stay for long.” At his order, the boy with the flute took Wei out of Peach Blossom Manor on the back of a donkey. Upon reaching the creek, the boy pushed Wei Yifang down from the back of the donkey and he fell, head first.
Upon waking up from a sleep that was as deep as if induced by wine, Yifang found himself sitting on the ground by the stream. He looked down and found a hat on his chest. Unsure whether it had been a dream or not, he brought along the rattan hat and made his way down the hill.
By the time he returned to the inn where he had deposited his luggage the day before, his two followers were nowhere to be seen. The innkeeper came out with this explanation: “Twenty years ago, there was a Mr. Wei who left his luggage here and went up Mount Mao and got detained there. The two officers did not wish to wait any longer and went back to where they came from. It was exactly twenty years ago. It’s now the second year of the reign period Daye [606] of Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty.” (Like the story about the rotten axe-handle.19 Twenty years in this world is only one day for a celestial being. That’s one of the wonders about celestial beings.)
“It’s been but one day,” said Wei. “How did a day become twenty years! Let me go back to the imperial stable at Luhe County to look for my parents.” He bade farewell to the innkeeper and went back to Luhe County. Upon inquiry, he was told that twenty years before, a Counselor Wei of the imperial stable had ascended to heaven with twelve other members of his family in broad daylight and that the Ascending to Heaven Platform where this had happened was still there to be seen. They also said the counselor had a son who went away and never came back. At these words, Wei Yifang threw back his head and wept bitterly, for, during the twenty years that had passed by as one day for him, his parents had gone, and now he himself had nowhere to go to. At the end of his wits, he set o to find Mr. Shen to claim the one hundred thousand strings of cash.
From Luhe County he wound his way to Yangzhou and, upon inquiry, was directed to Kaiming Bridge, where there was indeed a Mr. Shen running an herb shop. Upon entering the shop, Wei Yifang saw an old man:
With the oddest looks and attire,
A gray beard and snowy white hair,
Hawk shoulders, and a turtle back,
He looked like a star descended from heaven.
With crane bones and a pine-tree frame,
He resembled Lao Zi, who changed into Buddha.20
Could he be a Qin hermit on Shang Hill?
Or Lü Shang the angler at Pan Creek?
To this old man seated in the shop, Wei Yifang said, “Greetings to you, sir! Might this be Mr. Shen’s herb shop?”
The old man said, “Yes.”
Running his eyes over the stock in the shop, Wei Yifang found
Of four baskets, three were empty,
And the fourth was filled with the northwest wind.
Wei Yifang thought to himself, “But how can he a ord to have one hundred thousand strings of cash for me?” He said to the old man that he wanted to buy three coppers’ worth of mint.
“Good choice!” exclaimed the old man. “The Materia Medica21 says it cools the head and clears vision. How much do you want?”
“Three coppers’ worth,” was the answer.
“Too bad. I’m out of it,” said the old man.
“How about some hundred-herb mixture?”
“Hundred-herb mixture helps the wine-induced flush in the face subside and lubricates the throat. How much do you want?”
“Three coppers’ worth.”
“Too bad. Sold out.”
“Give me some licorice root, then,” said Wei Yifang.
“Good choice! Licorice root is mild and nonpoisonous. It goes well with other herbs in cleansing the body of poison from metal, stone, herbs, and wood. It’s also known in the trade as the ‘king of herbs.’ How much do you want?”
“Five coppers’ worth.”
“I beg to inform you, too bad. I’m out of it also.”
Wei Yifang then said to the old man, “I am here not to buy herbs but to convey a message from Zhang the melon-grower.”
“What message can he have for me?”
“He told me to come here and claim a hundred thousand strings of cash.”
“I do have the money,” said Mr. Shen, “but what proof do you have?”
Wei Yifang fumbled in his robe and produced the rattan hat. Mr. Shen turned to the blue cloth portiere and called for his wife to come out and take a look. As the portiere was raised, a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl emerged, saying, “What is it, husband?”
Wei Yifang thought to himself, “So he shares Mr. Zhang’s preference for young wives.”
Mr. Shen asked his wife to check if the hat was the right one. The girl said, “The other day, Mr. Zhang passed by our door on his donkey and asked me to sew up his torn hat. As I was out of black thread at the time, I used red thread instead on the inner side of the crown.” When the hat was turned inside out, there, for all to see, were indeed stitches in the crown made with red thread. Then and there, Mr. Shen took Wei Yifang inside the house and gave him the one hundred thousand strings of cash. Wei Yifang used the money to build bridges and roads and for distribution among the poor. (Doing justice to Mr. Zhang’s rattan hat.)
One day, when passing by a wineshop, Wei Yifang saw a boy riding a donkey. Recognizing the boy to be the one who had taken him across the stream, he asked, “Where is Mr. Zhang?”
“He is now upstairs in the wineshop having a cup of wine with Mr. Shen.”
Wei Yifang mounted the stairs and, finding Mr. Shen and Mr. Zhang seated facing each other, he bowed in greeting.
Mr. Zhang said, “I am, in fact, Zhang Gulao [Ancient Zhang ], elder immortal of the Eternal Happiness Palace. Wennü is the Jade Maiden from Upper Heaven, who chose to live in the mortal world. Afraid that she would be sullied by mortal men, the Lord on High sent me in this shape to bring her back to heaven. You, Wei Y ifang, were destined to be an immortal, but, with such a propensity to kill, you shall be no more than a local deity for the city of Yangzhou.” Having said this, he waved his hand and there appeared two red-crowned cranes. Mr. Shen and Zhang Gulao each got on the back of one and rose in air. From the sky fluttered down a scroll of paper which, when spread out, revealed these lines:
Twenty years away from eternal joy,
I grew melons and lived hidden on earth.
Alas! Who among mortal beings
Could recognize an immortal in their midst?
Yifang will be made a local god,
Wennü returned to heaven on a phoenix.
Henceforth the Crane-Riding Tower
Will be an impressive sight in Yangzhou.