seas as a merchant. Once his ship was suddenly driven on a distant
shore by a great storm. It was a land of hills broken by ravines and
green with luxuriant foliage, yet he could see something along the
hills which looked like human dwellings. So he took some food with him
and went ashore. No sooner had he entered the hills than he could see
at either hand the entrances to caves, one close beside the other,
like a row of beehives. So he stopped and looked into one of the
openings. And in it sat two ogres, with teeth like spears and eyes
like fiery lamps. They were just devouring a deer. The merchant was
terrified by this sight and turned to flee; but the ogres had already
noticed him and they caught him and dragged him into their cave. Then
they talked to each other with animal sounds, and were about to tear
his clothes from his body and devour him. But the merchant hurriedly
took a bag of bread and dried meat out and offered it to them. They
divided it, ate it up and it seemed to taste good to them. Then they
once more went through the bag; but he gestured with his hand to show
them that he had no more.
Then he said: "Let me go! Aboard my ship I have frying-pans and
cooking-pots, vinegar and spices. With these I could prepare your
food."
The ogres did not understand what he was saying, however, and were
still ferocious. So he tried to make them understand in dumb show, and
finally they seemed to get an idea of his meaning. So they went to the
ship with him, and he brought his cooking gear to the cave, collected
brush-wood, made a fire and cooked the remains of the deer. When it
was done to a turn he gave them some of it to eat, and the two
creatures devoured it with the greatest satisfaction. Then they left
the cave and closed the opening with a great rock. In a short space of
time they returned with another deer they had caught. The merchant
skinned it, fetched fresh water, washed the meat and cooked several
kettles full of it. Suddenly in came a whole herd of ogres, who
devoured all he had cooked, and became quite animated over their
eating. They all kept pointing to the kettle which seemed too small to
them. When three or four days had passed, one of the ogres dragged in
an enormous cooking-pot on his back, which was thenceforth used
exclusively.
Now the ogres crowded about the merchant, bringing him wolves and deer
and antelopes, which he had to cook for them, and when the meat was
done they would call him to eat it with them.
Thus a few weeks passed and they gradually came to have such
confidence in him that they let him run about freely. And the merchant
listened to the sounds which they uttered, and learned to understand
them. In fact, before very long he was able to speak the language of
the ogres himself. This pleased the latter greatly, and they brought
him a young ogre girl and made her his wife. She gave him valuables
and fruit to win his confidence, and in course of time they grew much
attached to each other.
One day the ogres all rose very early, and each one of them hung a
string of radiant pearls about his neck. They ordered the merchant to
be sure and cook a great quantity of meat. The merchant asked his wife
what it all meant.
"This will be a day of high festival," answered she, "we have invited
the great king to a banquet."
But to the other ogres she said: "The merchant has no string of
pearls!"
Then each of the ogres gave him five pearls and his wife added ten, so
that he had fifty pearls in all. These his wife threaded and hung the
pearl necklace about his neck, and there was not one of the pearls
which was not worth at least several hundred ounces of silver.
Then the merchant cooked the meat, and having done so left the cave
with the whole herd in order to receive the great king. They came to a
broad cave, in the middle of which stood a huge block of stone, as
smooth and even as a table. Round it were stone seats. The place of
honor was covered with a leopard-skin, and the rest of the seats with
deerskins. Several dozen ogres were sitting around the cave in rank
and file.
Suddenly a tremendous storm blew up, whirling around the dust in
columns, and a monster appeared who had the figure of an ogre. The
ogres all crowded out of the cave in a high state of excitement to
receive him. The great king ran into the cave, sat down with his legs
outstretched, and glanced about him with eyes as round as an eagle's.
The whole herd followed him into the cave, and stood at either hand of
him, looking up to him and folding their arms across their breasts in
the form of a cross in order to do him honor.
The great king nodded, looked around and asked: "Are all the folk of
the Wo-Me hills present?"
The entire herd declared that they were.
Then he saw the merchant and asked: "From whence does he hail?"
His wife answered for him, and all spoke with praise of his art as a
cook. A couple of ogres brought in the cooked meat and spread it out
on the table. Then the great king ate of it till he could eat no more,
praised it with his mouth full, and said that in the future they were
always to furnish him with food of this kind.
Then he looked at the merchant and asked: "Why is your necklace so
short?"
With these words he took ten pearls from his own necklace, pearls as
large and round as bullets of a blunderbuss. The merchant's wife
quickly took them on his behalf and hung them around his neck; and the
merchant crossed his arms like the ogres and spoke his thanks. Then
the great king went off again, flying away like lightning on the
storm.
In the course of time heaven sent the merchant children, two boys and
a girl. They all had a human form and did not resemble their mother.
Gradually the children learned to speak and their father taught them
the language of men. They grew up, and were soon so strong that they
could run across the hills as though on level ground.
One day the merchant's wife had gone out with one of the boys and the
girl and had been absent for half-a-day. The north wind was blowing
briskly, and in the merchant's heart there awoke a longing for his old
home. He took his son by the hand and went down to the sea-shore.
There his old ship was still lying, so he climbed into it with his
boy, and in a day and a night was back in Annam again.
When he reached home he loosened two of his pearls from his chain,
and sold them for a great quantity of gold, so that he could keep
house in handsome style. He gave his son the name of Panther, and when
the boy was fourteen years of age he could lift thirty hundred weight
with ease. Yet he was rough by nature and fond of fighting. The
general of Annam, astonished at his bravery, appointed him a colonel,
and in putting down a revolt his services were so meritorious that he
was already a general of the second rank when but eighteen.
At about this time another merchant was also driven ashore by a storm
on the island of Wo-Me. When he reached land he saw a youth who asked
him with astonishment: "Are you not from the Middle Kingdom?"
The merchant told him how he had come to be driven ashore on the
island, and the youth led him to a little cave in a secret valley.
Then he brought deer-flesh for him to eat, and talked with him. He
told him that his father had also come from Annam, and it turned out
that his father was an old acquaintance of the man to whom he was
talking.
"We will have to wait until the wind blows from the North," said the
youth, "then I will come and escort you. And I will give you a message
of greeting to take to my father and brother."
"Why do you not go along yourself and hunt up your father?" asked the
merchant.
"My mother does not come from the Middle Kingdom," replied the youth.
"She is different in speech and appearance, so it cannot well be."
One day the wind blew strongly from the North, and the youth came and
escorted the merchant to his ship, and ordered him, at parting, not to
forget a single one of his words.
When the merchant returned to Annam, he went to the palace of
Panther, the general, and told him all that had happened. When Panther
listened to him telling about his brother, he sobbed with bitter
grief. Then he secured leave of absence and sailed out to sea with two
soldiers. Suddenly a typhoon arose, which lashed the waves until they
spurted sky-high. The ship turned turtle, and Panther fell into the
sea. He was seized by a creature and flung up on a strand where there
seemed to be dwellings. The creature who had seized him looked like an
ogre, so Panther addressed him in the ogre tongue. The ogre,
surprised, asked him who he was, and Panther told him his whole story.
The ogre was pleased and said: "Wo-Me is my old home, but it lies
about eight thousand miles away from here. This is the kingdom of the
poison dragons."
Then the ogre fetched a ship and had Panther seat himself in it, while
he himself pushed the ship before him through the water so that it
clove the waves like an arrow. It took a whole night, but in the
morning a shoreline appeared to the North, and there on the strand
stood a youth on look-out. Panther recognized his brother. He stepped
ashore and they clasped hands and wept. Then Panther turned around to
thank the ogre, but the latter had already disappeared.
Panther now asked after his mother and sister and was told that both
were well and happy, so he wanted to go to them with his brother. But
the latter told him to wait, and went off alone. Not long after he
came back with their mother and sister. And when they saw Panther,
both wept with emotion. Panther now begged them to return with him to
Annam.
But his mother replied: "I fear that if I went, people would mock me
because of my figure."
"I am a high officer," replied Panther, "and people would not dare to
insult you."
So they all went down to the ship together with him. A favorable wind
filled their sails and they sped home swiftly as an arrow flies. On
the third day they reached land. But the people whom they encountered
were all seized with terror and ran away. Then Panther took off his
mantle and divided it among the three so that they could dress
themselves.
When they reached home and the mother saw her husband again, she at
once began to scold him violently because he had said not a word to
her when he went away. The members of his family, who all came to
greet the wife of the master of the house, did so with fear and
trembling. But Panther advised his mother to learn the language of the
Middle Kingdom, dress in silks, and accustom herself to human food.
This she agreed to do; yet she and her daughter had men's clothing
made for them. The brother and sister gradually grew more fair of
complexion, and looked like the people of the Middle Kingdom.
Panther's brother was named Leopard, and his sister Ogrechild. Both
possessed great bodily strength.
But Panther was not pleased to think that his brother was so
uneducated, so he had him study. Leopard was highly gifted; he
understood a book at first reading; yet he felt no inclination to
become a man of learning. To shoot and to ride was what he best loved
to do. So he rose to high rank as a professional soldier, and finally
married the daughter of a distinguished official.
It was long before Ogrechild found a husband, because all suitors were
afraid of their mother-in-law to be. But Ogrechild finally married one
of her brother's subordinates. She could draw the strongest bow, and
strike the tiniest bird at a distance of a hundred paces. Her arrow
never fell to earth without having scored a hit. When her husband went
out to battle she always accompanied him, and that he finally became a
general was largely due to her. Leopard was already a field marshal at
the age of thirty, and his mother accompanied him on his campaigns.
When a dangerous enemy drew near, she buckled on armor, and took a
knife in her hand to meet him in place of her son. And among the
enemies who encountered her there was not a single one who did not
flee from her in terror. Because of her courage the emperor bestowed
upon her the title of "The Superwoman."
Note: The ogres here mentioned are the primitive
inhabitants of the Island of Ceylon, also called
Rakshas, who appear in legend as man-devouring monsters.
LVII
THE MAIDEN WHO WAS STOLEN AWAY
In the western portion of the old capital city of Lo Yang there was a
ruined cloister, in which stood an enormous pagoda, several hundred
stories high. Three or four people could still find room to stand on
its very top.
Not far from it there lived a beautiful maiden, and one very hot
summer's day she was sitting in the courtyard of her home, trying to
keep cool. And as she sat there a sudden cyclone came up and carried
her off. When she opened her eyes, there she was on top of the pagoda,
and beside her stood a young man in the dress of a student.
He was very polite and affable, and said to her: "It seems as though
heaven had meant to bring us together, and if you promise to marry me,
we will be very happy." But to this the maiden would not agree. So the
student said that until she changed her mind she would have to remain
on the pagoda-top. Then he produced bread and wine for her to satisfy
her hunger and thirst, and disappeared.
Thereafter he appeared each day and asked her whether she had changed
her mind, and each day she told him she had not. When he went away he
always carefully closed the openings in the pagoda-top with stones,
and he had also removed some of the steps of the stairs, so that she
could not climb down. And when he came to the pagoda-top he always
brought her food and drink, and he also presented her with rouge and
powder, dresses and mandarin-coats and all sorts of jewelry. He told
her he had bought them in the market place. And he also hung up a
great carbuncle-stone so that the pagoda-top was bright by night as
well as by day. The maiden had all that heart could wish, and yet she
was not happy.
But one day when he went away he forgot to lock the window. The maiden
spied on him without his knowing it, and saw that from a youth he
turned himself into an ogre, with hair as red as madder and a face as
black as coal. His eyeballs bulged out of their sockets, and his mouth
looked like a dish full of blood. Crooked white fangs thrust
themselves from his lips, and two wings grew from his shoulders.
Spreading them, he flew down to earth and at once turned into a man
again.
The maiden was seized with terror and burst into tears. Looking down
from her pagoda she saw a wanderer passing below. She called out, but
the pagoda was so high that her voice did not carry down to him. She
beckoned with her hand, but the wanderer did not look up. Then she
could think of nothing else to do but to throw down the old clothes
she had formerly worn. They fluttered through the air to the ground.
The wanderer picked up the clothes. Then he looked up at the pagoda,
and quite up at the very top he saw a tiny figure which looked like
that of a girl; yet he could not make out her features. For a long
time he wondered who it might be, but in vain. Then he saw a light.
"My neighbor's daughter," said he to himself, "was carried away by a
magic storm. Is it possible that she may be up there?"
So he took the clothes with him and showed them to the maiden's
parents, and when they saw them they burst into tears.
But the maiden had a brother, who was stronger and braver than any one
for miles around. When the tale had been told him he took a heavy ax
and went to the pagoda. There he hid himself in the tall grass and
waited for what would happen. When the sun was just going down, along
came a youth, tramping the hill. Suddenly he turned into an ogre,
spread his wings and was about to fly. But the brother flung his ax at
him and struck him on the arm. He began to roar loudly, and then fled
to the western hills. But when the brother saw that it was impossible
to climb the pagoda, he went back and enlisted the aid of several
neighbors. With them he returned the following morning and they
climbed up into the pagoda. Most of the steps of the stairway were in
good condition for the ogre had only destroyed those at the top. But
they were able to get up with a ladder, and then the brother fetched
down his sister and brought her safely home again.
And that was the end of the enchantment.
Note: In this tale the ogre is a Yakscha or a Fe Tian Ya
Tscha.
LVIII
THE FLYING OGRE
There once lived in Sianfu an old Buddhist monk, who loved to wander
in lonely places. In the course of his wanderings he once came to the
Kuku-Nor, and there he saw a tree which was a thousand feet high and
many cords in breadth. It was hollow inside and one could see the sky
shining down into it from above.
When he had gone on a few miles, he saw in the distance a girl in a
red coat, barefoot, and with unbound hair, who was running as fast as
the wind. In a moment she stood before him.
"Take pity on me and save my life!" said she to him.
When the monk asked her what was the trouble, she replied: "A man is
pursuing me. If you will tell him you have not seen me, I will be
grateful to you all my life long!"
With that she ran up to the hollow tree and crawled into it.
When the monk had gone a little further, he met one who rode an
armored steed. He wore a garment of gold, a bow was slung across his
shoulders, and a sword hung at his side. His horse ran with the speed
of lightning, and covered a couple of miles with every step. Whether
it ran in the air or on the ground, its speed was the same.
"Have you seen the girl in the red coat?" asked the stranger. And when
the monk replied that he had seen nothing, the other continued:
"Bonze, you should not lie! This girl is not a human being, but a
flying ogre. Of flying ogres there are thousands of varieties, who
bring ruin to people everywhere. I have already slain a countless
number of them, and have pretty well done away with them. But this one
is the worst of all. Last night the Lord of the Heavens gave me a
triple command, and that is the reason I have hurried down from the
skies. There are eight thousand of us under way in all directions to
catch this monster. If you do not tell the truth, monk, then you are
sinning against heaven itself!"
Upon that the monk did not dare deceive him, but pointed to the hollow
tree. The messenger of the skies dismounted, stepped into the tree and
looked about him. Then he once more mounted his horse, which carried
him up the hollow trunk and out at the end of the tree. The monk
looked up and could see a small, red flame come out of the tree-top.
It was followed by the messenger of the skies. Both rose up to the
clouds and disappeared. After a time there fell a rain of blood. The
ogre had probably been hit by an arrow or captured.
Afterward the monk told the tale to the scholar who wrote it down.
Note: This flying ogre is also of the Yakscha tribe.
LIX
BLACK ARTS
The wild people who dwell in the South-West are masters of many black
arts. They often lure men of the Middle Kingdom to their country by
promising them their daughters in marriage, but their promises are not
to be trusted. Once there was the son of a poor family, who agreed to
labor for three years for one of the wild men in order to become his
son-in-law. At the end of that time the wedding was celebrated, and
the couple were given a little house for a home. But no sooner had
they entered it than the wife warned her husband to be on his guard,
since her parents did not like him, and would seek to do him harm. In
accordance with the custom she entered the house first with a lighted
lantern, but when the bridegroom followed her she had disappeared. And
thus it went, day by day. During the daytime she was there, but when
evening came she disappeared.
And one day, not long after they had been married, his wife said to
him: "To-morrow morning my mother celebrates her birthday, and you
must go to congratulate her. They will offer you tea and food. The tea
you may drink, but be sure not to touch any of the food. Keep this in
mind!"
So the following day the wife and husband went to her mother's home
and offered their congratulations. Her parents seemed highly pleased,
and served them with tea and sweets. The son-in-law drank, but ate
nothing, though his wife's parents, with kind words and friendly
gestures, kept urging him to help himself. At last the son-in-law did
not know what to do, and thought that surely they could mean him no
ill. And seeing the fresh caught eels and crabs on the plate before
him, he ate a little of them. His wife gave him a reproachful glance,
and he offered some excuse for taking his leave.
But his mother-in-law said: "This is my birthday. You simply must
taste my birthday noodles!"
With that she placed a great dish before him, filled with noodles that
looked like threads of silver, mingled with fat meat, and spiced with
fragrant mushrooms. During all the time he had been living in the
country the son-in-law had never yet seen such an appetizing dish. Its
pleasant odor rose temptingly to his nostrils, and he could not resist
raising his chop-sticks. His wife glanced over at him, but he
pretended that he did not see her.
She coughed significantly, but he acted as though he did not hear.
Finally she trod on his foot under the table; and then he regained
control of himself.
He had not as yet eaten half of the food and said: "My hunger is
satisfied."
Then he took leave, and went off with his wife.
"This is a serious matter," said the latter. "You would not listen to
my words, and now you will surely have to die!"
But still he did not believe her, until he suddenly felt terrible
pains, which soon grew unbearable, so that he fell to the ground
unconscious. His wife at once hung him up by the feet from the beam of
the roof, and put a panful of glowing charcoal under his body, and a
great jar of water, into which she had poured sesame oil, in front of
the fire, directly below his mouth. And when the fire had heated him
thoroughly, he suddenly opened his mouth--and can you imagine what
came out of it? A squirming, crawling mass of poisonous worms,
centipedes, toads and tadpoles, who all fell into the jar of water.
Then his wife untied him, carried him to bed, and gave him wine
mingled with realgar to drink. Then he recovered.
"What you ate in the belief that they were eels and crabs," said his
wife, "were nothing but toads and tadpoles, and the birthday noodles
were poisonous worms and centipedes. But you must continue to be
careful. My parents know that you have not died, and they will think
up other evil plans."
A few days later his father-in-law said to him: "There is a large tree
growing on the precipice which juts over the cave. In it is the nest
of the phenix. You are still young and able to climb, so go there
quickly and fetch me the eggs!"
His son-in-law went home and told his wife.
"Take long bamboo poles," said she, "and tie them together, and fasten
a curved sword at the top. And take these nine loaves of bread and
these hens' eggs, there are seven times seven of them. Carry them
along with you in a basket. When you come to the spot you will see a
large nest up in the branches. Do not climb the tree, but chop it down
with the curved sword. Then throw away your poles, and run for dear
life. Should a monster appear and follow you, throw him the loaves of
bread, three loaves at a time, and finally throw down the eggs on the
ground and make for home as quickly as you can. In this way you may
escape the danger which threatens you."
The man noted all she said exactly and went. And sure enough he saw
the bird's nest--it was as large as a round pavilion. Then he tied his
curved sword to the poles, chopped at the tree with all his strength,
laid down his poles on the ground and never looked around but ran for
dear life. Suddenly he heard the roaring of a thunder-storm rising
above him. When he looked up he saw a great dragon, many fathoms long
and some ten feet across. His eyes gleamed like two lamps and he was
spitting fire and flame from his maw. He had stretched out two feelers
and was feeling along the ground. Then the man swiftly flung the
loaves into the air. The dragon caught them, and it took a little time
before he had devoured them. But no sooner had the man gained a few
steps than the dragon once more came flying after him. Then he flung
him more loaves and when the loaves came to an end, he turned over his
basket so that the eggs rolled over the ground. The dragon had not yet
satisfied his hunger and opened his greedy jaws wide. When he suddenly
caught sight of the eggs, he descended from the air, and since the
eggs were scattered round about, it took some time before he had
sucked them all. In the meantime the man succeeded in escaping to his
home.
When he entered the door and saw his wife, he said to her, amid sobs:
"It was all I could do to escape, and I am lucky not to be in the
dragon's stomach! If this sort of thing keeps up much longer I am
bound to die!"
With these words he kneeled and begged his wife pitifully to save his
life.
"Where is your home?" asked his wife.
"My home is about a hundred miles away from here, in the Middle
Kingdom, and my old mother is still living. The only thing that
worries me is that we are so poor."
His wife said: "I will flee with you, and we will find your mother.
And waste no regrets on your poverty."
With that she gathered up all the house held in the way of pearls and
precious stones, put them in a bag and had her husband tie it around
his waist. Then she also gave him an umbrella, and in the middle of
the night they climbed the wall with the aid of a ladder, and stole
away.