Chinese Fairy Tales
THE EIGHT IMMORTALS (II)
ONCE upon a time there was a poor man,
who at last had no roof to shelter him and not a bite to eat. So, weary
and worn, he lay down beside a little temple of the field-god that
stood by the roadside and fell asleep. And he dreamed that the old,
white-bearded field-god came out of his little shrine and said to him:
“I know of a means to help you! To-morrow the Eight Immortals will pass
along this road. Cast yourself down before them and plead to them!”
When
the man awoke he seated himself beneath the great tree beside the
field-god’s little temple, and waited all day long for his dream to
come true. At last, when the sun had nearly sunk, eight figures came
down the road, which the beggar clearly recognized as those of the
Eight Immortals. Seven of them were hurrying as fast as they could, but
one among them, who had a lame leg, limped along after the rest. Before
him—it was Li Tia Guai—the man cast himself to earth. But the lame
Immortal did not want to bother with him, and told him to go away. Yet
the poor man would not give over pleading with him, begging that he
might go with them and be one of the Immortals, too. That would be [83]
impossible, said the cripple. Yet, as the poor man did not cease his
prayers and would not leave him, he at last said: “Very well, then,
take hold of my coat!” This the man did and off they went in flying
haste over paths and fields, on and on, and even further on. Suddenly
they stood together high up on the tower of Pong-lai-schan, the ghost
mountain by the Eastern Sea. And, lo, there stood the rest of the
Immortals as well! But they were very discontented with the companion
whom Li Tia Guai had brought along. Yet since the poor man pleaded so
earnestly, they too allowed themselves to be moved, and said to him:
“Very well! We will now leap down into the sea. If you follow us you
may also become an Immortal!” And one after another the seven leaped
down into the sea. But when it came to the man’s turn he was
frightened, and would not dare the leap. Then the cripple said to him:
“If you are afraid, then you cannot become an Immortal!”
“But
what shall I do now?” wailed the man, “I am far from my home and have
no money!” The cripple broke off a fragment of the battlement of the
tower, and thrust it into the man’s hand; then he also leaped from the
tower and disappeared into the sea like his seven companions.
When
the man examined the stone in his hand more closely, he saw that it was
the purest silver. It provided him with traveling money during the many
weeks it took him to reach his home. But by that time the silver was
completely used up, and he found himself just as poor as he had been
before.
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