Chinese Ghost Fables 1 (6 page)

"My dearest friend, your kind-heartedness and thoughtfulness will earn your liberation. You
should be chaperoned to paradise...."

 

Soothing this dejected otherworldly creature, Mr. Nay sincerely encouraged. "Please, hold
your tongue. You are flattering me."

The ghost responded with nervous humility, "I have never dreamed about it. Nevertheless, I
have faith in the Buddhism and hope my sincerity will alleviate my sin." Swapping stories
and exchanging opinions, like two educated friends, they enjoyed a cordial conversation for
hours.

At the crack of the daybreak, their talk suddenly terminated. Mr. Nay continuously
appealed and received no response. Looking around this deserted temple, he couldn't find
that otherworldly creature. Then, Mr. Nay comprehended that the hanged ghost was gone.
He resumed his journey.

From that day on, Mr. Nay, periodically visiting the West Mountain, and he always
stopped by the temple and brought some food and fruit for this otherworldly friend.
Strangely enough, each time, when he was leaving, there was a mysteriously light wind
whirling around, several yards in front of him. He believed that wind was the hanged ghost,
escorting him out of the temple. Four years later, the wind appeared no more. Mr. Nay
assumed that the ghost was released from his misery.

Life is too precious to be wasted. If a human being intentionally terminates himself, the
Almighty will punish him severely.

 

24
A MALICIOUS INTRIGUE

My grandfather-in-law lived on the east side of the Wai River. His chateau faced the
river. Several years ago, a servant's wife committed suicide and hanged herself on a
pagoda tree. That kind of behavior would have a long-lasting negative impact toward that
location. People considered it "contaminated" by evil spirit, lingering there and prying for a
replacement. From then on, the garden was padlocked and deserted. Not knowing that
tragedy, two new servants sneaked into that tainted place for a secret rendezvous at
midnight. They carefully unlocked the garden doors, walked in and had a date there.
During late at late night, they suddenly heard a noise from outside of the garden.

The two servants promptly hid themselves behind the doors. Peeping through the
hiatus between the doors, the male servant surprisingly perceived the back of a hanged
ghost, standing on the doorstep, staring at the moon and sighing profoundly. With caution
and alacrity, he moved aside and gestured the young maid to take a look. Without any
preparation, she looked into, observed that otherworldly creature and was flabbergasted.
They were in an embarrassing and even fatal impasse. They dared not to leave the
"contaminated" garden. Making any slight noise could attract and allure that dark creature
for their demise. They knew that they were in grave trouble. As matter of fact, frightened
and speechless, they breathed prudently in order to escape that ghost's detection.

For some unexplainable reasons, the hanged ghost never turned around and was
uninterested in snatching a fresh soul. Staying in their gestures motionlessly for a while,
both parties were only divided by the garden doors. A dog barked at the otherworldly
creature and many dogs followed suit. Hearing this commotion, servants were awakened
and alerted. They thought that the chateau was intruded and burglarized. Lighting torches
and fetching rods, they eagerly searched the whole ground. Without hesitation, the hanged
ghost quietly merged and vanished into darkness. They eventually spotted two young
servants who were shuddering and trembling. Those two cross-starred lovers tightly held
each other's arms in mortification and humiliation. Their easy virtue was looked down and
they severely jeered, and reprimanded by their seniors.

The misbehavior was reported to the master. They became a laughingstock of the big
family. Without reservation, some servants mocked them directly. Others met them with a
long side-glance of contempt and derision. And some greeted them with muffled giggles.
The young maid couldn't tolerate those constant and blatant mockeries, was profoundly
ashamed on the verge of a mental breakdown. A few days later, she stole into the garden
and attempted to commit suicide on that pagoda tree. Fortunately, a servant observed and
rescued her. After one week, she secretly attempted to hang herself in the same way at the
same spot again. By some unknown reason, she was saved. She was discharged and
returned to her parents.

Her uncanny behavior was gossiped about and talked about by others. With zeal and
curiosity, some experienced servants discussed this issue in their leisure time. After a
lengthy exchange of opinions, they eventually comprehended, concurred and reached a
conclusion: It's the evil's trick, which is too wicked to vex even the Almighty. The cunning
hanged ghost deliberately appeared to allure other servants' attention for the exposure of
the young couple's wrongdoing. Furthermore, the dark creature calculated and correctly
projected our reactions. With a few of his clever nudges, we will inadvertently do the dirty
job for him. We continuously mistreated and abused them. As a result of our thoughtless
misconduct, the thin-faced and nerve-wracking maid would be forced to commit suicide
which was the crafty ghost's ultimate purpose. The new soul would replace the hanged
ghost, who would be re-born again. In disagreement, some servants vigorously argued that
the two young servants should not meet with each other in the first place. Their moral
indiscretion is the root of all troubles. No matter how different their perspectives were, they
all agreed that the otherworldly creature was too evil-minded and calculating to snatch a
substitution. The Almighty wouldn't allow such level of deep-covered and malicious intrigue
existed without interference.
25
STRUCK BY A THUNDERBOLT

On the west side of City Xien, a farmer was struck and instantly killed by a thunderbolt.
The city judge dispatched a forensic expert to conduct the autopsy. Scrutinizing the
scorched body, he certified that the death was caused by a natural disaster and allowed the
victim's relatives to reclaim and bury the body properly.

After about half of a month of this tragedy, in the city court, the judge questioned a suspect.
"Why did you purchase gunpowder?"

 

"It's for bird-hunting," The person timidly responded. "It only needs a few ounces for a
week's consumption. Why did you obtain over forty pounds?"

 

"It's for my future use."

"Now, be reasonable and rational. After a month of the acquisition, you might consume, in
the most, no more than two pounds. Where is the rest?" Astonished and tongue-tied by the
judge's common sense and calculation, this suspect was nervous and,
with much
hesitation, confessed. Cooperation with the victim's wife, they committed the crime. He and
his lover were soon captured, after a trial, executed.

"How did you perceive his intrigue and resolve this hideous case?" Some friends asked
him.

"It's simple," The judge explained. "I clandestinely sent several plainclothes to local
markets to explore. They were instructed to write down any persons whom acquired
unusually large quantity of gunpowder and sulfur in the last few months. In summer, there
is no festival and no firecrackers were needed. Nobody should acquire those materials to
make firecrackers at all. The only usage is to make a bomb which is illegal and will be
punished by death."

"How could you notice the victim was not killed by a thunderbolt since you were not even in
there?"
"Coming from the sky, it will slaughter a person and certainly, the cause some had
collateral damages on its surroundings. Besides slaughtering a person, it should also
scorch trees and impair barn or farmhouse.

In this case, the victim, spread-eagled near his barn, was blazed into charcoal from his
lower torso up. Although the ground where he stood on became concave, the barn merely
missed a couple shingles. All of those pieces of circumstantial evidence pointed out that it
is an explosion from the soil. On the day of the calamity, the farmer's wife visited and
stayed in her mother's home. How convenient it could be? It was a perfect alibi! That's the
main reason why I didn't reveal the inconsistencies to her. That fatal tragedy was
premeditated. It was classified and investigated as a murder case. Strongly believing that
she must know and was even involved in this crime, I had to be patient and wait until
capturing the prime suspect and acquired his written confession. Then, she, as an
accomplice, couldn't deny it."
26
A CALLOUS WEALTHY MERCHANT

A wealthy merchant went to Peking in order to make a big political contribution in
exchange for a government post. One day, a poor old man called on him. At first, the
merchant's servants refused to admit him. He patiently stood outside of the hotel. After
hours of waiting, he noticed, eagerly waived his arms at and was received by the merchant.
They knew each other for many years. The prosperous host reluctantly gestured his
servant to bring up a cup of water and treated this unkempt friend coldly. In a brief
conversation, the shabby-dressed visitor indicated that he would like to borrow some
money.

The merchant, whose face was suddenly turned crimson, with annoyance and disdain,
jumped up from the chair and screamed, "Damn it! My money is not sufficient to acquire a
decent title. How can I spare you even a penny?" This commotion attracted other residents
of the hotel. The aged guest was indignant. He bitterly told the people gathering around
him about this heartbroken story.

They were intimate friends before. In their youth, he was rich, generous, and had
supported this merchant financially for over ten years. Furthermore, he provided one
hundred ounces of gold to his friend to start a business, which was very successful and
eventually accumulated lots of wealth. With some unwise investments, the visitor became
penniless, hoping his rich friend could recall their friendship and his generosity. He needed
a small loan to pay off debt and provide travel expenses for returning home. Realizing the
host's heartlessness, he wailed in despair. Looking sideways, with great impatience and
indifference, the callous merchant pretended not knowing this old friend at all. Most of the
bystanders were in amazement. They didn't even know whom should they trust.

A man called himself Mr. Young came forward. He politely bowed at and courteously
requested the merchant, "If I may ask, did the old man tell the truth?"

Surprised by such blunt inquiry from a total stranger, the merchant blushed a little and
murmured, with uneasiness, "Yes, there is a shred of accuracy. I am in a tight spot, too.
Having a serious problem on securing a more profitable government position, I have
overstretched myself financially and couldn't loan him any money at this moment."

"Of course, I understand your dilemma," Mr. Young confidently responded, "After you
obtain that position, you could easily amass plenty of money. That is much more than what
you have invested now. Am I correct? Let's say. If someone is willingly to lend you one
hundred ounces of gold with zero interest for a year, will you accept this offer and lend the
gold to this needy man?"

"Well," the merchant, who doesn't believe such a miracle could even occur, promptly and
arrogantly answered, without hesitation. "I certainly will."

"Please, draw two contracts for me. One is between you and me and the other, between
you and your friend," Mr. Young respectfully suggested and continued, "By chance, I do
have one hundred ounces of gold."

Due to his own hasty promise, the rich merchant reluctantly wrote two IOU notes, and
handed one over to Mr. Young, who delivered the gold. With great reluctance tinged with
embarrassment, the merchant asked that poor old man to sign the other note and turned
the gold over to him. Mr. Young beamed a smile and treated them to dinner. The old man
was content with the arrangement but the merchant felt into deep melancholy. After the
meal, the old man left and Mr. Young went back to his room. A few days later, he checked
out of the hotel. Another month passed. One day, the merchant unlocked his safe and, with
great amazement, discovered that he lost one hundred ounces of gold. However, there was
his IOU and a note explaining the whole event. Learning this episode, other residents were
both
amused
and
delightful
about
the
outcome.
They
despised
the
ruthless
and
callous-hearted merchant. Ashamed and aggravated, he clandestinely relocated himself
elsewhere at night.
27
MEET WITH YOUR OWN MATCH

A
man,
who
was
nicknamed
"boldie,"
was
very
muscular
and
hot-tempered.
Abandoned by his parents in his childhood, he was illiterate and didn't know his last name.
Since a certain Wong's family adopted him, for the convenience of readers, we called him
Mr. Wong. Not a hero at all, he was a notorious bully in his village. One night, returning
home, he and his sidekicks were all deeply intoxicated. By mistake, they went strayed and
inadvertently trespassed into a deserted graveyard. They confronted with a group of ghosts.
Observing those otherworldly creatures, his friends were frightened and flabbergasted.
Shivering and trembling, they timidly kneed and lowered their heads in mortification. They
dared not to raise their heads and vigorously prayed for their lives.

As their leader, Mr. Wong, robust and foolhardy, fearless attempted to assault one of the
dark creatures with his fists, but missed him by inches.

"Are you out of your mind? How rude are you!" The ghost sternly retorted, with obvious
disdain appeared on the end of his curved lips, "Can you not even recognize your own
father?" Being an orphan, he never met him before and was profoundly perplexed.

"I am your father, too," Another ghost shouted, with a tone of mockery, "Come on! Stand on
your knees and pay some respect to us?" With jeer, another ghost divulged. "Since you
had never honored and burned underworld paper money for your mother, she was in vast
poverty and became a wandering ghost. We married her. As a result of that arrangement,
we all became your fathers."