like fires.
And the men who see them shake,
Cringe and quake to his face,
But they would like to take his place.
Though the mind may range free
Over land, over sea,
It is hard to read men’s hearts.
Though the kingfisher’s feathers
Often decorate a hat,
Does the bird think of that?
Does the pig ever think
What a feast men will make
Of its fat?
He has risen like a bird
In the sky,
But his home is on the ground.
And of those who rise so high,
Very few look around.
Very few look back.
Very few look down.
While the monk was singing his country mountain song, the prime minister was unconsciously nodding his head in time with the tune. When the song was finished, he said to himself, “The monk knows; he knows.” The prime minister realized that somehow, the ragged monk understood his problems. Together they came to Qin Da’s library in the west flower garden and heard Qin Da there coughing ceaselessly.
When the monk came into the room he said, “Oh, what a big head indeed! This is terrible!”
As Li Huaiqun heard the monk’s words, the doctor had a shock and said to himself, “After taking all this trouble to invite the monk here, if he cannot cure the prime minister’s son, I am done for.”
The prime minister was also shocked, and at once asked, “Can you cure him or not?”
The monk replied, “There is nothing to worry about. I can cure even the biggest heads. This illness has a special name—it is called the big jar head. The head, you see, looks like a big jar.” After saying this, the monk felt about inside his pockets and then said, “Oh, but this is terrible! I have lost the medicine!”
“What medicine?” Prime Minister Qin asked.
The monk replied, “The medicine that cures the big jar head!”
When the prime minister heard this, he was quite taken aback and asked, “Is it possible that you knew, when you came to my estate, that my son would be stricken with the big jar head disease?”
The monk replied, “No, it is not, but there is a certain Wang Yuanwai whose son has this same illness. Anyone who gets this disease is not a virtuous person. He is one who goes outside of the home and does bad things, seizing young girls and women by force and so on. Then this illness appears. Wang Yuanwai’s son had offended heaven and earth and came down with this big jar head sickness. I was invited to cure him. I was carrying the medicine with me and was just about to go when I was seized by the prime minister’s men and put in chains. At the time when I was brought into the prime minister’s mansion, I felt in my pocket and it was there. Will the prime minister direct some of his people to search and find it?”
Everyone called, “Monk, your medicine, was it a pill or a powder? Tell us and we will go and look for it.”
“It is a pill in the shape of a bead as big as a grain of rice. It is the color of a banana peel, and it is not wrapped in paper,” Ji Gong replied.
Each one said, “I will go!”
“Great One,” said the monk, “this illness of your son could take a turn for the worse. This is only the lesser third stage. If it becomes a really big jar head, there may be no way to treat it.”
“Then what must we do?” the prime minister asked.
The monk answered, “I must eat and satisfy my appetite. If I try to cure him without satisfying my appetite, the more I try to cure him, the worse he may become.”
As soon as the prime minister heard this, fearing that his son would go into the worst stage of big jar head, he directed his people to set up three tables of wine and food in the large reception room. He then asked the monk to come into the hall to eat and drink and, afterward, as soon as he had finished, to cure the sickness. Li Huaiqun came up the steps into the room with the monk. The monk, seeing the three tables, did not stand on ceremony, but immediately sat down at the head in the place of honor.
The prime minister was a little unhappy at seeing this, and thought to himself, “There is something unusual about this monk. He sat down at the place of honor as if there were no such rank as prime minister.” But there was nothing the prime minister could do. He sat down on one side of the seat of honor and invited Li Huaiqun to sit on the east side.
After the third round of drinks, the monk said, “Great One, this is melancholy stuff, like solitary drinking. There is no point in it!”
Prime Minister Qin asked, “What would you like to do to avoid this spiritless drinking? I rely upon you.”
The monk replied, “Riddles, forfeits, matching words, and defining words are all ways to relieve melancholy and tedium.”
The prime minister asked, “Are you able to recognize written characters, monk?”
Ji Gong replied, “Oh, though I would not dare to say that I recognize written characters, I do know one or two.”
“If we were to do forfeits,” said Prime Minister Qin, “would you like to forfeit by drinking or would you rather risk something else?”
The monk answered, “I do not want to wager drinks. If the Great One will give a sentence to be matched and I then match it, I will win ten thousand ounces of silver from the great man. If I cannot match it, I will lose ten thousand ounces of silver. The Great One is wondering how I, a poor monk, could afford to lose ten thousand ounces of silver. Does not the Great One wish to tear down the Great Memorial Pagoda of mine? If I lose, I will give the memorial pagoda to the Great One.”
When the prime minister heard this, he was delighted and said, “I will first try out your literary style. If you truly are a man of learning, then I will make wagers with you. I will first give you two words to match.”
The monk said, “Speak, Great One.”
“‘Secluded study,’” said Prime Minister Qin.
The monk said, “I will match it with the words ‘thatched cottage.’”
The prime minister nodded and said, “‘Open window.’”
The monk said, “‘Closed door.’”
Prime Minister Qin said, “‘Read books.’”
The monk said, “‘Write words.’”
The prime minister said, “You
