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Chang's transformation (2)
Sorrowfully Chang wended his way home, and there wrote
upon the wall the date mentioned by Miss Tseng; after which,
be- thinking himself of the efficacy of prayer, he took to
reciting sutras more energetically than ever. By-and-by he
dreamed that an angel appeared to him, and said, "The bent
of your mind is excellent indeed, but you must visit the
Southern Sea. Asking how far off the Southern Sea was, the
angel informed him it was close by; and then waking up, and
understanding what was required of him, he fixed his sole thoughts on Buddha, and lived a
purer life than before. In three years' time his two sons, Ming and
Cheng, came out very high on the list at the examination for the
second degree, in spite of which worldly successes Chang continued to lead his usual holy life.
Then one night he dreamed that another angel led him among
beautiful halls and palaces, where he saw a personage sitting
down who resembled Buddha himself. This personage said to
him, "My son, your virtue is a matter of great joy; unhappily
your term of life is short, and I have, therefore, made an appeal
to God' on your behalf." Chang prostrated himself, and knocked
his head upon the ground; upon which he was commanded to rise,
and was served with tea, fragrant as the epidendrum. A boy was
next instructed to take him to bathe in a pool, the water of which
was so exquisitely clear that he could count the fishes swimming
about therein. He found it warm as he walked in, and scented like
the leaves of the lotus-flower; and gradually the water got deeper
and deeper, until he went down altogether and passed through
with his head under water.
He then waked up in a fright; but from this moment he became
more robust and his sight improved. As he stroked his beard the
white hairs all came out, and by-and-by the black ones too; the
wrinkles on his face were smoothed away, and in a few months he
had the beardless face of a boy of fifteen or sixteen. He also grew
very fond of playing about like other boys, and would sometimes
tumble head over heels, and be picked up by his sons. Soon after-
wards his wife died of old age, and his sons begged him to marry
again into some good family; but he said he should be obliged to
go to Ho-pei first; and then, calculating his dates, found that the appointed
time had arrived. So he ordered his horses and servants, and set off for Ho-pei, where he discovered that there
actually was a high official named Lu.
Now Mr. Lu had a daughter, who when born was able to talk,,
and became very clever and beautiful as she grew up. She was the
idol of her parents, and had been asked in marriage by many
suitors, but would not accept any of them; and when her father
and mother inquired her motives for refusal, she told them the
story of her engagement in her former life. "Silly child," said
they, reckoning up the time, and laughing at her; "that Mr.
Chang would now be about fifty years of age, a changed and
feeble old man. Even if he is still alive, his hair will be white and
his teeth gone." But their daughter would not listen to them;
and, finding her so obstinate in her determination, they instructed
the doorkeeper to admit no strangers until the appointed time
should have passed, that thus her expectations might be brought
to naught.
Before long, Chang arrived, but the doorkeeper would not
let him in, and he went back to his inn in great distress,
not knowing what to do. He then took to walking about the
fields, and secretly making inquiries concerning the family.
Meanwhile Miss Tseng thought that he had broken his engagement, and refused all food, giving herself up to tears alone. Her
mother argued that he was probably dead, or in any case that the
breach of engagement was no fault of her daughter's; to none of
which, however, would Miss Tseng listen, lying where she was the
livelong day.
Mr. Lu now became anxious about her, and determined to
see what manner of man this Chang might be; so, on the plea
of taking a walk, he went out to meet him in the fields, and
to his astonishment found quite a young man. They sat down
together on some leaves, and after chatting awhile Mr. Lu
was so charmed with this young friend's bearing that he
invited him to his house. No sooner had they arrived, than
Mr. Lu begged Chang to excuse him a moment, and ran in first
to tell his daughter, who exerted herself to get up and take
a peep at the stranger. Finding, however, that he was not the Chang she had formerly known, she
burst into tears and crept back to bed, upbraiding her parents for
trying to deceive her thus. Her father declared he was no other
than Chang, but his daughter replied only with tears; and then he
went back very much upset to his guest, whom he treated with
great want of courtesy. Chang asked him if he was not the Mr.
Lu, of such and such a position, to which he replied in a vacant
kind of way that he was, looking the other way all the time and
paying no attention to Chang. The latter did not approve of this
behavior, and accordingly took his leave; and in a few days Miss
Tseng had cried herself to death.
Chang then dreamed that she appeared to him, and said,
"Was it you after all that I saw ? You were so changed in
age and appearance that when I looked upon your face I did
not know you. I have already died from grief; but if you
make haste to the little street shrine and summon my spirit
back, I may still recover. Be not late!" Chang then waked,
and immediately made inquiries at Mr. Lu's house, when he
found that the young lady had been dead two days. Telling
her father his dream, they went forth to summon the spirit
back; and on opening the shroud, and throwing themselves with lamentations over the corpse, a noise was
heard in the young lady's throat, and her cherry lips parted. They
moved her on to a bed, and soon she began to moan, to the great
joy of Mr. Lu, who took Chang out of the room and, over a
bumper of wine, asked some questions about his family. He was
glad to find that Chang was a suitable match for his daughter, and
an auspicious day was fixed for the wedding.
In a fortnight the event came off, the bride being escorted to
Chang's house by her father, who remained with them six months
before going home again. They were a youthful pair, and people
who didn't know the story mistook Chang's son and daughter-in-
law for his father and mother. A year later Mr. Lu died; and his
son, a mere child, having been badly wounded by some scoundrels, and the family property being almost gone, Chang made
him come and live with them, and be one of their own family.
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