mucus. At the same time her understanding returned to her and she asked, “How did I get here?”
As soon as she fell, one of the braver women ran forward and helped her up. The monk, meanwhile, took a piece of medicine, and after he had had someone bring some water, he dissolved the medicine and gave it to Li Guoyuan’s wife to drink.
Now, this illness of hers had originated with a confusion in the chambers of her heart. It was through the effect of certain affairs upon her that she had been brought to an extreme pitch of anxiety. She had a younger brother named Lin Tingyo. He had already squandered part of the property of his parents in the company of some bad characters with whom he had made friends.
One day he came to his older sister, asking that she lend him several hundred ounces of silver to go into business. Since he was her own flesh and blood, it was natural she would be sympathetic to him. She deceived her husband about her brother’s reliability and persuaded him to lend her brother the silver. In a short time he had wasted it all running with his friends who, in truth, were no better than a pack of foxes or dogs. Then he came back another day and asked her to lend him an ounce of silver for ready money, and she gave it to him. Some days after that, while Li Guoyuan’s wife was sitting in a flower garden at her home, her brother suddenly appeared dressed in clothing so shabby, it was not fit for him to wear. He seemed like a different person, unkempt and ragged. The sight was such a shock to her that she nearly choked to death. This was what had brought on her sickness. When the congestion in her throat was relieved, she immediately recovered.
Li Guoyuan was extremely grateful to the monk and invited him into the library, where wine had been prepared. Just as they were about to drink, one of the household people came in and said that Little Crab Apple was again at the gate demanding the prince’s tally scroll. Li Guoyuan went out with the rest and told him that it would be sent to him later.
Li Guoyuan then turned and said to Ji Gong, “Teacher, what are we going to do?”
The monk said, “I will hire the Wei Tuo from our temple to get the scroll back.”
Li Guoyuan said, “Teacher, the Wei Tuo from your temple is a clay image—how can it steal things?
Ji Gong replied, “It can. That Wei Tuo of ours is always taking on such trivial business for people, but you cannot ask him to go and do something for nothing. You two wait here and drink your wine. I will go now and have a drink when I get back.” The monk stood up, and left.
After the two men had seen him out and returned, Li Guoyuan said, “Brother Zhao, do you think what we heard the monk say is true or false?”
“I don’t know whether it is genuine or not. Previously, when we were at the home of ‘Half a City’ Zhou, Ji Gong was carrying the Wei Tuo at the time he chased the goblin away. Now we are at a second crisis. Perhaps the talk about the Wei Tuo is true.”
After the two men had had some wine, they waited for Ji Gong until past lamp-lighting time. Then they began to get anxious, fearing that the city gates would be closed, shutting him outside the city walls.
Just as they were speaking of this, they saw Ji Gong come in, and they said, “Our teacher has returned to us.”
Ji Gong said, “I’m so angry I could die!”
Zhao Wenhui asked, “With whom is our teacher angry?”
Ji Gong replied, “With the Wei Tuo of our temple. He is really hateful. Ordinarily when I go out, he says, ‘If you have any business, let me take care of it for you.’ Today when I came back, he just glanced at me and turned away. He turned his face completely away and would not speak to me. I just laughed and said, ‘I have some business for you, old Wei.’ He asked what the business was, and I mentioned that I wanted him to go to Prime Minister Chin’s estate and steal back the five thunders, eight trigram scroll from an upstairs room in the flower garden pavilion. I asked him how much he wanted to be paid to do it. Right away he put his price way up.”
Li Guoyuan and Zhao Wenhui both asked at once: “How much did he want?”
The monk replied, “He wanted five strings of cash. I offered him five hundred cash.”
Li Guoyuan said, “Five strings of cash is not so much.”
The monk said, “That was his first price. That did not mean anything. He actually wanted two strings of cash, and he would not go for anything less. I said, ‘Now you have come down a little. If you will take off a bit more, I will increase from the five hundred cash I offered. It is not very much cash either way, now.’ He still said he would not go for less.
“After that the bargaining broke up and we parted. I left that temple and went to the Big Buddha temple, and there I bumped into its Wei Tuo. He asked me where I was going. I said, ‘I have some business for you. Will you do it or not?’ He asked what it was. I replied that it was to go and do something. He asked, ‘Haven’t you talked to the Wei Tuo in your own temple about it?’ I explained that our Wei Tuo wanted too much money. The Big Buddha temple Wei Tuo wanted three strings of cash, and again I said I would give five hundred cash. Without blinking an eye he said, ‘I also will not come down on my price. If I do it for less, I will offend the other Wei Tuo.’ I said that if I spent more, it would be wrong, too. Because of this, we also parted.”
When Li Guoyuan heard that all of this had been fruitless, he asked what should be done.
The monk said, “Well, I kept on going until I came to the Purple Bamboo Forest. In the temple there, the Wei Tuo was so hungry that he was pounding on the entry screen in the gateway. He called to me as soon as he caught sight of me. As soon as I mentioned business, he said he wanted to do it. He said he would be here in just a little while, and he accepted my first offer as payment.”
Li Guoyuan asked, “When will he be here?”
The monk replied, “As soon as we have finished eating. Have the table set in the courtyard. As soon as I call, he will come.”
Li Guoyuan busily set about getting dinner out of the way, calling upon the household people to prepare whatever was needed and serve it in the courtyard.
The monk said, “There is no need to panic. In a twinkling of an eye, the stars will all be out, and at that time I will invite the Wei Tuo join us.”
At last the monk called out, “I am here, the monk Ji Dian from the West Lake Monastery of the Soul’s Retreat.”
The Wei Tuo had still not arrived, but after a little while they heard a shout that seemed to come from the air above.
“I am here—the spirit has come.”
CHAPTER 6
Zhao Bin attempts to visit the Great Pavilion; a fearless hero is sent upon a horrible errand
Not like a warrior in armor astride a valiant steed.
Not riding through the flames.
We contest for fame and wealth in the tiny space between the antennae of a snail
In the flash of a moment—less than a spark of light—we live this light
Whether rich or poor—let us just seek happiness
If you can’t laugh out loud, you’re an idiot.
WHEN
