The Wallet of Kai Lung Read online

  VII

  Between Si-chow and the village of Ki, in a house completely hidden fromtravellers by the tall and black trees which surrounded it, lived anaged and very wise person whose ways and manner of living had become sodistasteful to his neighbours that they at length agreed to regard himas a powerful and ill-disposed magician. In this way it became a customthat all very unseemly deeds committed by those who, in the ordinarycourse, would not be guilty of such behaviour, should be attributedto his influence, so that justice might be effected without persons ofassured respectability being put to any inconvenience. Apart from thefeeling which resulted from this just decision, the uncongenial personin question had become exceedingly unpopular on account of certaindefinite actions of his own, as that of causing the greater part ofSi-chow to be burned down by secretly breathing upon the seven sacredwater-jugs to which the town owed its prosperity and freedom from fire.Furthermore, although possessed of many taels, and able to afford suchfood as is to be found upon the tables of Mandarins, he selected fromchoice dishes of an objectionable nature; he had been observed to eateggs of unbecoming freshness, and the Si-chow Official Printed Leaf madeit public that he had, on an excessively hot occasion, openly partakenof cow's milk. It is not a matter for wonder, therefore, that whenunnaturally loud thunder was heard in the neighbourhood of Si-chowthe more ignorant and credulous persons refused to continue in anydescription of work until certain ceremonies connected with rice spirit,and the adherence to a reclining position for some hours, had beenconscientiously observed as a protection against evil.

  Not even the most venerable person in Si-chow could remember the timewhen the magician had not lived there, and as there existed no writtenrecord narrating the incident, it was with well-founded probabilitythat he was said to be incapable of death. Contrary to the most generalpractice, although quite unmarried, he had adopted no son to found aline which would worship his memory in future years, but had insteadbrought up and caused to be educated in the most difficult varietiesof embroidery a young girl, to whom he referred, for want of a moresuitable description, as the daughter of his sister, although he wouldadmit without hesitation, when closely questioned, that he had neverpossessed a sister, at the same time, however, alluding with somepride to many illustrious brothers, who had all obtained distinction invarious employments.

  Few persons of any high position penetrated into the house of themagician, and most of these retired with inelegant haste on perceivingthat no domestic altar embellished the great hall. Indeed, not to makeconcealment of the fact, the magician was a person who had entirelyneglected the higher virtues in an avaricious pursuit of wealth. In thatway all his time and a very large number of taels had been expended,testing results by means of the four elements, and putting togetherthings which had been inadequately arrived at by others. It wasconfidently asserted in Si-chow that he possessed every manner ofprinted leaf which had been composed in whatsoever language, and all themost precious charms, including many snake-skins of more than ordinaryrarity, and the fang of a black wolf which had been stung by sevenscorpions.

  On the death of his father the magician had become possessed of greatwealth, yet he contributed little to the funeral obsequies nor did anysuggestion of a durable and expensive nature conveying his enlightenedname and virtues down to future times cause his face to becomegladdened. In order to preserve greater secrecy about the enchantmentswhich he certainly performed, he employed only two persons within thehouse, one of whom was blind and the other deaf. In this ingeniousmanner he hoped to receive attention and yet be unobserved, theblind one being unable to see the nature of the incantations which heundertook, and the deaf one being unable to hear the words. In this,however, he was unsuccessful, as the two persons always contrived tobe present together, and to explain to one another the nature of thevarious matters afterwards; but as they were of somewhat deficientunderstanding, the circumstance was unimportant.

  It was with more uneasiness that the magician perceived one day that themaiden whom he had adopted was no longer a child. As he desired secrecyabove all things until he should have completed the one importantmatter for which he had laboured all his life, he decided with extremeunwillingness to put into operation a powerful charm towards her, whichwould have the effect of diminishing all her attributes until such timeas he might release her again. Owing to his reluctance in the matter,however, the magic did not act fully, but only in such a way that herfeet became naturally and without binding the most perfect and beautifulin the entire province of Hu Nan, so that ever afterwards she was calledPan Fei Mian, in delicate reference to that Empress whose feet were sosymmetrical that a golden lily sprang up wherever she trod. Afterwardsthe magician made no further essay in the matter, chiefly because hewas ever convinced that the accomplishment of his desire was within hisgrasp.

  The rumours of armed men in the neighbourhood of Si-chow threw themagician into an unendurable condition of despair. To lose all, as wouldmost assuredly happen if he had to leave his arranged rooms and secretpreparations and take to flight, was the more bitter because he feltsurer than ever that success was even standing by his side. The verysubtle liquid, which would mix itself into the component parts of theliving creature which drank it, and by an insidious and harmless processso work that, when the spirit departed, the flesh would become resolvedinto a figure of pure and solid gold of the finest quality, had engagedthe refined minds of many of the most expert individuals of remoteages. With most of these inspired persons, however, the search hadbeen undertaken in pure-minded benevolence, their chief aim being anhonourable desire to discover a method by which one's ancestors mightbe permanently and effectively preserved in a fit and becoming manner toreceive the worship and veneration of posterity. Yet, in spite of theseamiable motives, and of the fact that the magician merely desired thepossession of the secret to enable him to become excessively wealthy,the affair had been so arranged that it should come into his possession.

  The matter which concerned Mian in the dark wood, when she was onlysaved by the appearance of the person who is already known as Ling,entirely removed all pleasurable emotions from the magician's mind, andon many occasions he stated in a definite and systematic manner that hewould shortly end an ignoble career which seemed to be destined onlyto gloom and disappointment. In this way an important misunderstandingarose, for when, two days later, during the sound of matchlockfiring, the magician suddenly approached the presence of Mian with anuncontrollable haste and an entire absence of dignified demeanour,and fell dead at her feet without expressing himself on any subjectwhatever, she deliberately judged that in this manner he had carried hisremark into effect, nor did the closed vessel of yellow liquid which heheld in his hand seem to lead away from this decision. In reality, themagician had fallen owing to the heavy and conflicting emotions whichsuccess had engendered in an intellect already greatly weakened byhis continual disregard of the higher virtues; for the bottle, indeed,contained the perfection of his entire life's study, the very expensiveand three-times purified gold liquid.

  On perceiving the magician's condition, Mian at once called for the twoattendants, and directed them to bring from an inner chamber all themost effective curing substances, whether in the form of powder orliquid. When these proved useless, no matter in what way they wereapplied, it became evident that there could be very little hope ofrestoring the magician, yet so courageous and grateful for the benefitswhich she had received from the person in question was Mian, that, inspite of the uninviting dangers of the enterprise, she determined tojourney to Ki to invoke the assistance of a certain person who was knownto be very successful in casting out malicious demons from the bodiesof animals, and from casks and barrels, in which they frequently tookrefuge, to the great detriment of the quality of the liquid placedtherein.

  Not without many hidden fears, Mian set out on her journey, greatlydesiring not to be subjected to an encounter of a nature similar to theone already recorded; for in such a case she could hardly again hope forthe inspired arr
ival of the one whom she now often thought of in secretas the well-formed and symmetrical young sword-user. Nevertheless, anevent of equal significance was destined to prove the wisdom ofthe well-known remark concerning thoughts which are occupying one'sintellect and the unexpected appearance of a very formidable evilspirit; for as she passed along, quickly yet with so dignified a motionthat the moss received no impression beneath her footsteps, she becameaware of a circumstance which caused her to stop by imparting to hermind two definite and greatly dissimilar emotions.

  In a grassy and open space, on the verge of which she stood, laythe dead bodies of seventeen rebels, all disposed in very degradedattitudes, which contrasted strongly with the easy and becoming positionadopted by the eighteenth--one who bore the unmistakable emblems of theImperial army. In this brave and noble-looking personage Mian at oncesaw her preserver, and not doubting that an inopportune and treacherousdeath had overtaken him, she ran forward and raised him in her arms,being well assured that however indiscreet such an action might appearin the case of an ordinary person, the most select maiden need nothesitate to perform so honourable a service in regard to one whosevirtues had by that time undoubtedly placed him among the Three ThousandPure Ones. Being disturbed in this providential manner, Ling opened hiseyes, and faintly murmuring, "Oh, sainted and adorable Koon Yam, Goddessof Charity, intercede for me with Buddha!" he again lost possession ofhimself in the Middle Air. At this remark, which plainly proved Ling tobe still alive, in spite of the fact that both the maiden and the personhimself had thoughts to the contrary, Mian found herself surrounded bya variety of embarrassing circumstances, among which occurred aremembrance of the dead magician and the wise person at Ki whom she hadset out to summon; but on considering the various natural and sublimelaws which bore directly on the alternative before her, she discoveredthat her plain destiny was to endeavour to restore the breath in theperson who was still alive rather than engage on the very unsatisfactorychance of attempting to call it back to the body from which it had solong been absent.

  Having been inspired to this conclusion--which, when she later examinedher mind, she found not to be repulsive to her own inner feelings--Mianreturned to the house with dexterous speed, and calling together the twoattendants, she endeavoured by means of signs and drawings to explain tothem what she desired to accomplish. Succeeding in this after some delay(for the persons in question, being very illiterate and narrow-minded,were unable at first to understand the existence of any recumbent maleperson other than the dead magician, whom they thereupon commenced tobury in the garden with expressions of great satisfaction at theirown intelligence in comprehending Mian's meaning so readily) they alljourneyed to the wood, and bearing Ling between them, they carried himto the house without further adventure.