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Chang's transformation
Chang Yu-tan, of Chao-yuan, was a wild fellow, who pursued
his studies at the Hsiao temple. Now it chanced that the magistrate of the district, Mr. Tseng of San-han, had a daughter who
was very fond of hunting, and that one day young Chang met her
in the fields, and was much struck with her great beauty. She was
dressed in an embroidered sable jacket, and rode about on a
small palfrey, for all the world like a girl in a picture. Chang went
home with the young lady still in his thoughts, his heart being
deeply touched; but he soon after heard, to his infinite sorrow
and dismay, that Miss Tseng had died suddenly.
Their own home being at a distance, her father deposited the
coffin in a temple; the very temple, in fact, where her lover was
residing. Accordingly Chang paid to her remains the same respect
he would have offered to a god; he burnt incense every morning,
and poured out libations at every meal, always accompanied by
the following invocation: - "I had hardly seen you when your
spirit became ever present to me in my dreams. But you passed
suddenly away; and now, near as we are together, we are as far
apart as if separated by hills and rivers. Alas! alas! In life you
were under the control of your parents; now, however, there is
nothing to restrain you, and with your supernatural power, I should be hearing
the rustle of your robe as you approach to ease the sorrow
of my heart."
Day and night he prayed thus, and when some six months
had passed away, and he was one night trimming his lamp to
read, he raised his head and saw a young lady standing, all
smiles, before him. Rising up, he inquired who she was; to
which his visitor replied, "Grateful to you for your love of
me, I was unable to resist the temptation of coming to thank
you myself." Chang then offered her a seat, and they sat
together chatting for some time.
From this date the young lady used to come in every
evening, and on one occasion said to Chang, "I was formerly
very fond of riding and archery, shooting the musk and
slaying the deer; my crime is so great that I can find no
repose in death. If you have any friendly feelings towards
me, I pray you recite for me the Diamond sutra' five
thousand and forty-eight times, and I will never forget your
kindness." Chang did as he was asked, getting up every night
and telling his beads before the coffin, until the occasion
of a certain festival, when he wished to go home to his
parents, and take the young lady with him. Miss Tseng said
she was afraid her feet were too tender to walk far; but
Chang offered to carry her, to which she laughingly
assented. It was just like carrying a child, she was so
light; and by degrees Chang got so accustomed to taking her
about with him, that when he went up for his examination she
went in too.' The only thing was she could not travel except
at night. Later on, Chang would have gone up for his
master's degree, but the young lady told him it was of no
use to try, for it was not destined that he should pass; and
accordingly he desisted from his intention.
Four or five years afterwards, Miss Tseng's father
resigned his appointment, and so poor was he that he could
not afford to pay for the removal of his daughter's coffin,
but wanted to bury it economically where it was.
Unfortunately, he had no ground of his own, and then Chang
came forward and said that a friend of his had a piece of
waste land near the temple, and that he might bury it there.
Mr. Tseng was very glad to accept, and Chang kindly assisted
him with the funeral - for what reason the former was quite
unable to guess.
One night after this, as Miss Tseng was sitting by
Chang's side, her father having already returned home, she
burst into a flood of tears, and said, "For five years we
have been good friends; we must now part. I can never repay
your goodness to me." Chang was alarmed, and asked her what
she meant; to which she replied, "Your sympathy has told for
me in the realms below. The sum of my sutras is complete,
and to-day I am to be born again in the family of a high
official, Mr. Lu, of Ho-pei. If you do not forget the
present time, meet me there in fifteen years from now, on
the 16th of the 8th moon."
"Alas!" cried Chang, "I am already over thirty, and in
fifteen years more I shall be drawing near the wood.' What
good will our meeting do ?"
"I can be your servant," replied Miss Tseng, "and so make
some return to you. But come, escort me a few miles on my
way; the road is beset with brambles, and I shall have some
trouble with my dress."
So Chang carried her as before, until they reached a high
road, where they found a number of carriages and horses, the
latter with one or two riders on the backs of each, and
three or four, or even more persons, in every carriage. But
there was one richly- decorated carriage, with embroidered
curtains and red awnings, in which sat only one old woman,
who, when she saw Miss Tseng, called out, "Ah, there you
are."
"Here I am," replied Miss Tseng; and then she turned to
Chang and said, "We must part here; do not forget what I
told you." Chang promised he would remember; and then the
old wo- man helped her up into the carriage, round went the
wheels, off went the attendants, and they were gone.
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