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The young lady and of the Tung-Ting
lake (2)
Subsequently having occasion to visit the city of Wu-chang,
he heard of an old woman who wished to sell her daughter,
but was unwilling to accept money, giving out that anyone
who had the fellow of a certain crystal square in her
possession should be at liberty to take the girl. Lin
thought this very strange; and taking his square with him,
sought out the old woman, who was delighted to see him, and
told her daughter to come in.
The young lady was about fifteen years of age, and
possessed of surpassing beauty; and after saying a few words
of greeting, she turned round and went within again. Lin's
reason had almost fled at the sight of this peerless girl,
and he straightway informed the old woman that he had such
an article as she required, but could not say whether it
would match hers or not. So they compared their squares
together, and there was not a fraction of difference between
them, either in length or breadth. The old woman was
overjoyed, and inquiring where Lin lived, bade him go home
and get a bridal chair, leaving his square behind him as a
pledge of his good faith. This he refused to do; but the old
woman laughed, and said, "You are too cautious, Sir; do you
think I should run away for a square ?" Lin was thus
constrained to leave it behind him, and hurrying away for a
chair made the best of his way back.
However, when he returned the old woman was gone. In
great alarm he inquired of the people who lived near as to
her whereabouts. No one knew; and it being already late, he returned disconsolately to his boat.
On the way, he met a chair coming towards him, and immediately
the screen was drawn aside, and a voice cried out, "Mr. Lin
! Why so late ?" Looking closely, he saw that it was the old
woman, who, after asking him if he hadn't suspected her of
playing him false, told him that just after he left she had had the offer
of a chair; and knowing that he, being only a stranger in the place,
would have some trouble in obtaining one, she had sent her
daughter on to his boat.
Lin then begged she would return with him, to which she
would not consent; and accordingly, not fully trusting what she
said, he hurried on himself as fast as he could, and, jumping into
the boat, found the young lady already there. She rose to meet
him with a smile, and then he was astonished to see that her
stockings were the color of a kingfisher's wing, her shoes
purple, and her appearance generally like that of the girl he had
met on the Tung-ting lake. While he was still confused, the young
lady remarked, "You stare, Sir, as if you had never seen me
before!" but just then Lin noticed the tear in her stocking made
by his own teeth, and cried out in amazement, "What! are you
Chih-cheng ?" The young lady laughed at this; whereupon Lin
rose, and, making her a profound bow, said, "If you are that
divine creature, I pray you tell me at once, and set my anxiety at
rest."
"Sir," replied she, "I will tell you all. That personage you met
on the boat was actually the king of the Tung-ting lake. He was
so pleased with your talent that he wished to bestow me upon
you; but, because I was a great favorite with her Majesty the
Queen, he went back to consult with her. I have now come at the
Queen's own command." Lin was highly pleased; and washing his hands, burnt incense, with his face towards the lake, as if it
were the Imperial Court, and then they went home together.
Subsequently, when Lin had occasion to go to Wu-chang, his
wife asked to be allowed to avail herself of the opportunity to
visit her parents; and when they reached the lake, she drew a hairpin from her hair, and threw it into the water. Immediately a boat
rose from the lake, and Lin's wife, stepping into it, vanished
from sight like a bird on the wing. Lin remained waiting for her
on the prow of his vessel, at the spot where she had disappeared;
and by-and-by, he beheld a houseboat approach, from the
window of which there flew a beautiful bird, which was no other
than Chih-cheng. Then some one handed out from the same
window gold and silk, and precious things in great abundance, all
presents to them from the Queen. After this, Chih-cheng went
home regularly twice every year, and Lin soon became a very rich
man, the things he had being such as no one had ever before seen
or heard of.
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