6

ETERNA CHANGES HER APPEARANCE IN THE INN;

CARTER BU PURSUES HER, AND SHE FALLS DOWN A WELL.

POEM:

How laughable, this frivolous young rake

Who met a young girl and claimed they were wed!

But beauty and wealth, wine in great mansions—

Which of us would not by these be misled?

Surely he must have heard the old saw, “Never love another man’s wife or ride another man’s horse.” How could this young fellow harbor lascivious intentions toward an attractive woman whom he had just happened to meet on the road?

“Bring me some hot water to wash my feet,” he said to the assistant.

“Coming!” said the assistant. To the shoemaker he said, “This man and his wife are here from the Eastern Capital. All the other rooms are full except this one, which has a spare bed. We’ll have to let them spend the night in here.”

“I’m using just the one bed,” said the shoemaker. “If people want to sleep in the other bed, by all means let them.” Eterna came in and curtsied to the shoemaker, who bowed in return.

“We’re causing you a lot of trouble,” said the young man to the shoemaker.

“Please suit yourselves,” he replied. They don’t sound as if they come from the Eastern Capital, he thought, and from the way they traveled up here on their own it would seem that they aren’t married, either. Nor do they agree on everything—they have their differences. Still, it’s none of my business. Let them do whatever they want to do. “Please suit yourselves,” he repeated.

Eterna and the young man sat on the other bed. The assistant brought in the water, and the young man washed his feet, then asked for a jar of oil for the lamp. The bearded shoemaker, who was not working that night, said good night, turned over to face the wall, and fell asleep.

“My dear, we were in such a rush that we neglected to have any supper,” the young man said to Eterna. “I’ll go out and get us something to eat and drink.” He turned and left the room.

What a loathsome creature, thought Eterna. And I don’t even know him, either. All the way here he tried to scare me with his stories. He forced me to act as his wife so as to get a room, and now he’s gone off to buy us some wine. Well, he doesn’t know me, and I’m going to play a trick on him. First she recited something or other, then blew in the direction of the bearded man’s bed and touched her own face. At once she turned into a bearded man with a florid complexion, the image of the shoemaker, while he turned into the image of her. Then the make-believe shoemaker lay down and pretended to be asleep.

The young man paid for some wine and steamed cakes and brought them back to the inn, thinking to himself, this is my lucky day, meeting up with such a pretty woman. Everybody in the inn believes I’m her husband, and I’m going to enjoy myself sleeping with her all night. He pushed open the door of the room, put the wine and cakes on the table, and trimmed the lamp, but when he looked at the bed, it was the shoemaker that he saw there, not the girl. Why did that fellow change beds, he wondered. Then he looked at the other bed—it had a woman in it. She must have been worn out from all the walking we did today and gone off to sleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, he thought. “My dear,” he called out, shaking her with both hands, “I’ve bought the wine. Do sit up. Do sit up.” But instead it was the shoemaker who leaped to his feet, seized hold of him, and began pounding him with both fists.

“What do you think you’re doing, hitting your husband?” yelled the young man.

“I’m not your wife!” roared the shoemaker.

The young man took a closer look—it was the shoemaker who was hitting him! He hastily apologized: “My mistake! Please forgive me! Please forgive me!”

Having heard the commotion, the assistant came in. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“This swine came right up to my bed and shook me and called me his ‘dear.’ ”

“You’re not blind,” said the assistant to the young man, “and your eyes aren’t inflamed, either. That’s your bed over there.” Now that the assistant had restored peace, the shoemaker went back to his bed and lay down again.

The young man had received several blows. Just my luck, he thought. He looked exactly like a woman, but he proved to be the shoemaker. Then he looked at the woman sleeping in the other bed and called out, “Miss! Get up and have some wine.” But when he looked more closely at her, he saw that she had bright red hair, green eyes, and a blue face with long fangs. “A ghost!” he cried, slumping to the floor.

The assistant was in the front of the inn having his supper when he heard the cry of “Ghost!” He rushed into the room to find the young man flat on the floor and helped him to his feet. The shoemaker had received such a scare that he got up, too. All the people staying in the inn came to the aid of the young man. Some of them spat mouthfuls of water at him; others bit his middle finger. After the ill-treatment he had been subjected to all night, he finally came to his senses, awoke, and said, “How horrible! A ghost! A ghost!” The assistant seized hold of him and spat twice in his face: “This is a clean house—we don’t have any ghosts here. Who told you to come and ruin our business?” He brought the lamp over and demanded, “Now, where’s that ghost of yours?”

“That woman in the bed there is a ghost!”

“He’s playing games with us,” said the assistant. He turned to the young man. “That’s your wife, man! How can you say she’s a ghost?”

“She’s not my wife. I met her on the road, and we came here as husband and wife in order to get a room. I’d just been out to buy some wine, and when I came back, I saw that it was the bearded man in the bed, not the girl, so I called out to the shoemaker by mistake and got beaten up. Then when I looked at her again, she had bright red hair, green eyes, and a blue face with long fangs—she’s a ghost, I tell you!”

They were all astounded, but when they looked at her by the light of the lamp, what they saw was a beautiful young woman, as pretty as a flower. “Your eyes must have deceived you,” they said to the young man. “How can you call a pretty woman like that a ghost?”

“Gentlemen,” said Eterna, “this loathsome creature has no morals whatsoever. I wanted to go to Zhengzhou to seek refuge with my parents, but this man met me on the road and walked along with me. All the way he kept telling me scary things in order to frighten me. He also told me that two spies had been caught and that the inns weren’t allowed to take in anyone traveling alone, and so he forced me to pretend to be his wife in order to get a room for the night. This whole evening he’s been talking nothing but nonsense—I don’t know what he has in mind.”

The others rounded on the young man. “What a swine!” said the assistant. “Disgraceful! Get him out of our inn! If he won’t go, let’s get together and beat him to a pulp!” They drove him out of the inn and locked the gate behind him.

It was pitch-dark outside, and the young man did not dare go any further. He was also afraid of being arrested by the night patrol, so he had to spend the night in an isolated spot in front of a nearby doorway. At dawn he thought he had better set out. Leaving the inn behind, he had gone a couple of miles and was about to make his way through a wood when Eterna Hu came walking out. “Brother,” she said, “I’m ever so grateful to you for taking me to that inn last night, but why did you say I was a ghost?”

Gazing now at her flowerlike beauty, he was in two minds. Perhaps my eyes really did deceive me yesterday, he thought. “My dear, I would like to travel with you, but twice last night you gave me a terrible scare,” he said. “I just don’t believe you’re a good woman. Get away from me!”

“Last night you wanted us to pretend to be a married couple, but now you’re afraid of me. Well, let me introduce you to a friend of mine.” She pointed and cried out, “Come!” A slant-eyed, white-browed tiger came bounding out of the wood and leaped at the young man, who gave a scream and collapsed on the ground. Eyes shut tight, he thought to himself, this time I’m a dead man! For a long time nothing happened, and when he cautiously opened his eyes again and looked about him, both the tiger and the girl had vanished. I always liked to play around, he thought, but I should never have tried to seduce that woman yesterday. I got a beating from the bearded man and a scare from her—in fact, she frightened me half out of my mind. Today she also called that tiger out of the wood, and I thought it was all over for me. The truth is, she positively enjoys scaring me. If I met her on the road ahead, how terrible it would be! I’d better return to the Eastern Capital. He went back.

Eterna, who had conjured up a tiger to appear and scare him, said to herself, he won’t dare come this way again. I’ll go on to Zhengzhou by myself, walking nice and slowly. But then her feet began to ache, and she had to rest beneath a tree. While sitting there, she heard the rumble of a cart, and saw a carter with a Fanyang felt hat on his head and wearing a cloth traveling gown tied with a towel around the waist, trousers fastened with leg bindings, and eight-grommet hemp shoes. He was pushing a cart toward the tree, intending to take a rest there. Eterna got to her feet and said, “Greetings!” He bowed in return.

“Where are you heading, miss?” he asked her.

“I want to go to Zhengzhou to seek refuge with my parents, but I have sore feet and can’t walk, so I’m taking a rest here. But what valuable goods are you carrying and where are you taking them?”

“I’m from Zhengzhou, and I’m on my way back there after delivering a load of honey locust pods to the Eastern Capital.”

“If you’re going through the city of Zhengzhou and can take me in your cart, I’ll give you three taels to spend on wine.”

The carter considered the offer: I’ve sold all my goods, Zhengzhou is on my way, and I stand to make three taels. “All right,” he said. He told Eterna to climb up and sit in the cart. He then applied all his energy to pushing it and neither spoke to her nor looked at her. This carter is a truly honest man, thought Eterna. How rarely one comes across such people! She recalled how the young man she had met tried to seduce her, and how she had used a little magic on him. Although she hadn’t taken his life, she had certainly put a good scare into him. This carter, on the other hand, would be the right sort of person to convert, she thought. One day they would have a use for him.

The carter pushed his cart as far as the East Gate of Zhengzhou. “Where do your parents live?” he asked Eterna.

“I don’t know what the place is called, but I’ll know it when I see it.”

The carter pushed the cart through the East Gate and as far as the crossroads, when Eterna called out, “Here we are!”

Setting down the cart, he looked up and saw an empty house, all locked up. “But miss, this is an empty house that’s locked up. How can it be your home?”

Leaping down from the cart, she shouted, “Presto!” and the lock came off. She pushed the gate open and went inside.

The carter waited there for a good four hours, but no one came out. It was getting toward evening, and still he kept looking inside. Then someone shouted at him, “You there! Carter! You’ve been standing around for a long time. Why do you keep looking in here?”

The carter saw that it was an old man who had asked the question, and he hastily bowed and said, “Sir, let me explain. Not long ago I met a young woman about twenty miles outside of town. She said she had sore feet and couldn’t walk anymore and would pay me three taels if I brought her here. Then she went inside and didn’t came out again. She’s kept me waiting half the day.”

“This is the official residence of Deputy Prefect Diao, and I’m the caretaker.”

“In that case, would you please go inside and tell them what I’ve told you and get them to give me the money.”

“This is an empty house, all locked up, where nobody lives—you must be out of your mind! The authorities have lately put up notices ordering the arrest of Eterna Hu. Anyone who knows anything about her and doesn’t inform them will be found as guilty as she is. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll go.”

“But that doesn’t make sense! I brought your young lady to her house, and she promised me three taels but never handed them over—and all you do is give me this claptrap! Let me just go in and have a look around. I’m prepared to face a lawsuit, if necessary.”

“Well, you said it yourself! If you can’t find her, don’t try to run away.” He opened the gate and let the carter in.

The carter went first to the front hall, then along a portico leading to the back hall, at the end of which he found Eterna, sitting down. “Miss, why didn’t you come out and give me my money?” he called out. “That was most unreasonable!”

Seeing him come in, Eterna got up and went further back. The carter strode after her, and she saw him close behind her. At the back of the hall there was an eight-sided well, and she walked up to it and jumped in.

“Oh, no! How terrible!” shouted the carter, aghast. He was about to leave the scene when the old caretaker seized him and said, “In a secure, peaceful time like the present it’s unforgivable to do what you did just now—force someone down a well!” He dragged the carter to the front of the residence and called to the neighbors to come and tie him up and deliver him to the Zhengzhou yamen.

The prefect happened to be in the courtroom hearing criminal cases when the local headman and others brought the carter in and made him kneel down. They testified that he had been in front of Deputy Prefect Diao’s residence and had chased an unidentified female down the well. Under the prefect’s interrogation, the carter testified as follows: “I am a native of this city, Bu Ji by name. I was returning from delivering a load of honey locust pods to the Eastern Capital when under a big tree twenty miles outside Eight Corners Village of Plank Bridge I met a woman whose name I don’t know. She said her feet were sore and that she couldn’t walk any further. She wanted to pay for a ride in my cart as far as her parents’ home at the crossroads and was prepared to give me three taels. I took her to the house, and she opened the gate and went in but never came back again. After I had waited there a long time, an old caretaker came out. He said the house was the residence of Deputy Prefect Diao and that no one lived there, and he refused to give me my money. Shortly afterward, I went in with the caretaker to look for her. She did appear, but then she jumped down the well. I never forced her to do it.”

The prefect had Bu Ji held in jail. The following day he was to be taken under guard to the Diao residence for the recovery of the body. The prefect appointed a deputy to go to the prison and fetch Bu Ji, then take him together with the neighbors to the Diao residence. People lined the street to watch, saying, “We often hear spirits singing and ghosts wailing from that place. None of us would ever dare stay there.” Some of them said, “I wonder how they’re going to recover the body.”

The deputy took a seat in an armchair and had Bu Ji kneel before him, then asked the old caretaker and the neighbors how Bu Ji had driven the girl down the well. “She jumped in,” declared Bu Ji, “I did not drive her down that well.”

He called forward the divers engaged in the recovery. They bowed before him, then put on their water jackets.

The deputy said, “On the authority of the prefect of Zhengzhou, I order you to go down the well. You are to take great care with the recovery.”

“Sir,” said one of the divers, “I inspected the well just now. It’s several hundred feet deep, and it would be pointless to go down as we are now. We need a windlass, as well as some means of calling for help in an emergency.”

“Tell me what you need, and we’ll get it for you as quickly as possible.”

“We need a windlass with a three-hundred-foot rope, a large bamboo basket, a large brass bell, and twenty men. If there’s an emergency, the diver will ring the bell and the men on top will haul him up.”

Before long all the equipment was in place. The men wound the rope onto the windlass and prepared the bell and the basket.

“Sir, you may now order a man down to start the recovery.”

“Divers, choose a first-class swimmer to go down.”

Four or five men held the windlass while one man sat in the bamboo basket. Two or three others lowered him down the well, while four or five more let out the windlass. After more than two hundred feet of rope had been paid out, they heard an urgent ringing of the bell. The deputy told the spectators to stand back and had the basket hastily raised. But when the spectators saw it, they let out a great cry.

Looking in the basket, they saw a sight never seen before. Never in their lives had they laid eyes on anything so strange.

If the facts were told, Mount Hua would split asunder

And the Yellow River flow backward to its source.

What did they see? Turn to the next chapter to find out.