Chinese Fairy Tales
THE HALOS OF THE SAINTS
THE true gods all have halos around
their heads. When the lesser gods and demons see these halos, they hide
and dare not move. The Master of the Heavens on the Dragon-Tiger
Mountain meets the gods at all times. One day the God of War came down
to the mountain while the mandarin of the neighboring district was
visiting the Master of the Heavens. The latter advised the mandarin to
withdraw and hide himself in an inner chamber. Then he went out to
receive the God of War. But the mandarin peeped through a slit in the
door, and he saw the red face and green garment of the God of War as he
stood there, terrible and awe-inspiring. Suddenly a red halo flashed up
above his head, whose beams penetrated into the inner chamber so that
the mandarin grew blind in one eye. After a time the God of War went
away again, and the Master of the Heavens accompanied him. Suddenly
Guan Di said, with alarm: “Confucius is coming! The halo he wears
illumines the whole world. I cannot endure its radiance even a thousand
miles away, so I must hurry and get out of the way!” And with that he
stepped into a cloud and disappeared. The Master of the Heavens then
told the mandarin what had happened, and added: “Fortunately you did
not see the God of War face to face! Whoever does not possess the
greatest virtue and the greatest wisdom, would be melted by the red
[72] glow of his halo.” So saying he gave him a pill of the elixir of
life to eat, and his blind eye gradually regained its sight.
It is also said that scholars wear a red halo around their heads which devils, foxes and ghosts fear when they see it.
There
was once a scholar who had a fox for a friend. The fox came to see him
at night, and went walking with him in the villages. They could enter
the houses, and see all that was going on, without people being any the
wiser. But when at a distance the fox saw a red halo hanging above a
house he would not enter it. The scholar asked him why not.
“Those
are all celebrated scholars,” answered the fox. “The greater the halo,
the more extensive is their knowledge. I dread them and do not dare
enter their houses.”
Then the man said: “But I am a scholar, too! Have I no halo which makes you fear me, instead of going walking with me?”
“There is only a black mist about your head,” answered the fox. “I have never yet seen it surrounded by a halo.”
The scholar was mortified and began to scold him; but the fox disappeared with a horse-laugh.
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