the battlefield of Mount Jiuli,
A herdboy got a sword and spear
From the days of long ago;
A fair wind ruffles the waters near
Where the River Wu sings the heroes’ song
Of Xiang Yu’s wife and her farewell woe.
Upon reaching the arbor the man put down his load, and Lu Da asked what the buckets held and he was told it was wine. “What is the price for one bucket?” asked Lu Da. “Reverend, are you joking?” asked the man. “Why should I joke with you?” said Lu Da. The man answered, “I am taking this wine up the mountain to sell it to the cooks, messengers, sedan-chair carriers, and other servants at the monastery. The Abbot has given an order that if we sell any wine to a monk he will punish us, take our money, and expel us from the monastery. The Abbot gave me the capital to buy the wine and I live in the monastery, so how dare I sell wine to you?”
“But why cannot you sell?” asked Lu Da.
“Kill me and still I will not sell,” replied the man.
“I won’t kill you,” said Lu Da. “I am only asking you to sell the wine.”
The man saw that trouble was brewing so he picked up his load and walked away. Lu Da quickly left the arbor, took hold of the carrying pole, and kicked the man in the groin. The fellow clasped his hand over the injured part, crouched upon the ground, and did not rise for a long time. Lu Da seized the two buckets of wine and took them into the arbor. He opened the buckets and ladling out the cold wine, drank it. In a little time he had drunk a bucketful of wine. Lu Da spoke, “You come to the monastery tomorrow and demand the money.”
The man was now free from pain, but was afraid that the Abbot would hear of the matter and punish him. He was angry but he suppressed his passion. He dared not ask for the money. He divided the remaining wine in the two buckets, shouldered his load, and flew down the mountain.
Lu Da sat in the arbor for half the day, and the wine mounted to his head. He took off his gown, and tied it round his waist by the sleeves, exposing his tattooed back. In this manner he went back up the hill, swinging his arms. As he neared the monastery, the gatekeepers saw him, and placed two bamboo boards across the entrance, and called out to him, “You are a disciple of Buddha, and yet you come here drunk. You are not blind; you have seen the order posted at the Treasury that monks are forbidden to drink wine, and if they disobey this they will receive forty blows with the bamboo, and be expelled from the monastery. If we allow you to enter in this state, we shall be punished with ten blows. Go away at once, and we will not say anything.”
Although Lu Da was now a monk, yet he had not changed his temper. He stared at them and cursed, “You thieving bastards! If you hit me, I will fight you.”
Seeing the danger of trouble, one of the gatekeepers ran to report the matter to the superintendent. Lu Da knocked the bamboo boards to one side, slapped the gatekeeper’s face, and stumbled forward. The gatekeeper attempted to stop him, but Lu Da knocked him down. This was certainly disgraceful, but he stumbled forward into the courtyard. The superintendent had collected together about thirty servants, and armed them with white sticks. Upon meeting them, Lu Da roared like a clash of thunder, and advanced with big strides. The servants seeing his fierce appearance hurriedly retreated to the storeroom and closed the two folding doors. Lu Da struck the doors, and kicked until he forced the doors open. The men were cornered, and Lu Da seizing a stick drove them out. The superintendent had reported the trouble to the Abbot who taking his five attendants arrived on the scene and called out, “Lu Da, you are making a mistake!”
Although Lu Da was drunk, yet he recognized the Abbot. He threw away the stick, and saluted. “I have had only two cups of wine. These men came and hit me.”
“Pay attention!” replied the Abbot. “Go and sleep at once, and tell me about it tomorrow.”
“I would kill you bald-headed donkeys but for the Abbot,” said Lu Da.
The Abbot ordered his attendants to assist Lu Da to a bed in the dormitory, and upon reaching it he fell down, and was soon fast asleep and snoring. A crowd of monks now surrounded the Abbot, saying, “We remonstrated with you before, and now this has happened. We object to this wild cat remaining here, as he will only upset our pure ways of life.”
The Abbot replied, “Though there is trouble now, there will be a different state of affairs afterwards. I have no alternative, but you will forgive him when you appreciate the influence of his donor. Tomorrow I will tell him that I cannot tolerate such bad conduct, and that will end the matter.”
“What an injudicious Abbot!” jeered the monks. They all separated to their rest.
The next day after breakfast, the Abbot sent his attendants to summon Lu Da. He was not awake. They waited until he arose, and put on his long gown. Suddenly he dashed out to the surprise of the attendants. Following, they found Lu Da pissing behind the temple. When he had finished he went with them to the Abbot. “Lu Da,” said the Abbot, “you were previously a military man and were introduced here by Zhao Yuanwai, I have given you some instructions. You must not take life, nor steal, nor fornicate, nor drink wine, nor lie. These are the usual five prohibitions for monks: but the most important is that you should not drink wine. Why did you return drunk last night; strike the gatekeepers, break open the doors of the storeroom, drive out the servants, and generally misbehave yourself? Why did you do this?”
Lu Da knelt, and replied, “I dare not do it again.”
The Abbot asked, “Why did you break our rule about drinking wine, and so broke our laws of purity. I should have expelled you from the monastery if it had not been for the good character of your benefactor Zhao Yuanwai. Hereafter you must not break our rules.” Lu Da arose, and clasping his hands said, “I certainly will not dare do that.”
The Abbot then took him inside and ordered breakfast for them both. During the meal he gave him good advice, a monk’s robe of fine cloth, and a pair of shoes, before dismissing him. “When there is wine drinking, one must not go to excess. There is a common saying, ‘Matters can be settled or ruined by wine.’ Cowards drink wine; they can have false courage, and muddle their affairs. But what does it do to the bold and impetuous?” After the drunken brawl Lu Da dared not venture out of the monastery for three months. One day in the second lunar month, the weather was very hot, and he strolled out of the monks’ quarters standing outside the monastery gate, gazing and appreciating the beautiful view. Suddenly he heard the sound of knocks down the mountain carried upwards by the wind. He returned for some silver which he hid in his breast, and then slowly walked down the hill. At the bottom he saw a crowd of people attending a fair. There were butchers, greengrocers, wine and bread shops. He thought if he had known of this place earlier he would not have drunk the wine of the bucket, but have gone there for it. These few days he had felt depressed, so he decided to ascertain what eatables were procurable. He heard again the sound of knocking and he knew that it was iron being worked. He saw on the wall between two shops the characters for “The Father and Son Inn.” One of the two was a blacksmith’s shop in which three men were working, and Lu Da asked them if they had good steel. The blacksmiths saw that Lu Da had a short growth of beard which gave him a disagreeable appearance, and made them half afraid of him at first sight. They ceased work and said, “Reverend, please be seated. What kind of work have you for us?”
“I want you to make an iron staff and a broad sword,” said Lu Da. “I did not know you have such good steel here.”
A blacksmith answered, “We have good steel here; you had better give us the order,
