Mouse vs Cat in Chinese Literature Read online

  Lady He replied: “My true husband has a black mole on his right shoulder.”

  Minister Wang first called the fake one to approach the bench and ordered

  him to take off his upper garments, to discover that he had no black mole

  on his right shoulder. When the minister had seen this, he concluded, “This must be the demonic monster!” Then he called the true one and checked,

  and he had indeed a black mole on his shoulder. The minister thereupon

  ordered the true Shi Jun to kneel on the left side and the false Shi Jun to kneel on the right side, and then told the runners to bring out the long

  cangue and instructed them, “Check who of these two has a black mole

  on his right shoulder—that is the true Shi Jun. The one without the mole is the demonic monster and has to be locked in the long cangue right away.”41

  When runners came forward to check, both of them had a mole on their

  right shoulder, so they could not distinguish true from false. Minister Wang was surprised and said, “That’s truly amazing! A moment ago there was only

  one who had a mole, and as soon as they are questioned they both have one!”

  He ordered all of them locked up in jail to continue the investigation the

  next day.

  In his frustration the demonic monster in prison breathed on his disaster

  incense [which he carried with him to signal distress to his brothers].42 Only when the four rat demons below the Rock That Overlooks the Seas came out

  and smelled the disaster incense, did they know that the fifth rat was incarcerated. The fourth rat deliberated how he might rescue him and turned

  himself into the shape of Minister Wang. The next day at the break of dawn

  he sat down in the hall and had Shi Jun and the others brought before him

  for interrogation. He had a heavy beating administered to the true one. Shi Jun suffered a grievous wrong and cried out to heaven. When that very

  moment the true Minister Wang entered the hall and saw that another Min-

  ister Wang was already seated behind the bench, he was greatly alarmed and

  immediately ordered the runners to arrest that false one. But the runners

  could not distinguish between true and false, so how did they dare take

  action? Subsequently these two Ministers Wang cursed each other out there

  in the hall, and all who witnessed this were dumbfounded. Among them

  there was an old clerk with a clear understanding. He stepped forward and

  said, “We cannot tell who is the true Minister Wang, so it would be useless for you to continue this debate all day. The only solution is to appeal to His Majesty the Humane Ancestor, so his Sagely Edict may determine who is

  the true one.” Minister Wang agreed to this proposal, and with the demonic

  monster he went to see the Humane Ancestor. When these two were received

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  in audience, the demonic monster manifested his supernatural abilities: when he puffed out one mouthful of breath, the Humane Ancestor’s eyes became

  blurred so he could not see clearly anymore. He issued an edict ordering

  both of them locked up in the Heaven-Communicating Jail, waiting for the

  rise of the Northern Dipper that night to determine who was the false one.

  The Humane Ancestor actually was a reincarnation of the Barefooted Great

  Immortal, and each night at midnight he could visit the Northern Dipper in

  the celestial palace, so that is why he said so.

  When the true and the false ministers were locked up in jail, that demonic

  monster feared that he would be found out, so he immediately breathed on

  his disaster incense. When the three rat demons at Overlooking the Seas

  smelled it, they decided that the third one had to rescue him. That Rat

  Three also manifested his divine abilities and took on the appearance of the Humane Ancestor, and even before the beginning of the fifth watch he had

  seated himself on the throne of the Chaoyuan Palace, where he met with the

  hundred officials to investigate this case. When the true Humane Ancestor

  at break of day appeared in the palace hall, the civil officials and military officers saw that there were two emperors. Each of them lost all color and

  said with a heavy sigh, “Who has ever seen such a strange event at court?”

  Thereupon the assembled officials entered the inner palace to see the

  empress dowager and reported this case. The empress dowager was greatly

  alarmed, and taking her jade seal along, she followed the officials to the palace hall to determine the truth, but the two Humane Ancestors were exactly

  alike. But the empress dowager said to the officials, “Don’t panic! The true emperor has in the palm of his left hand the characters for ‘mountains and

  rivers’ and in the palm of his right hand the characters for ‘temple and

  millet.’43 Just look which one of the two doesn’t have these characters, and that one is the false one!” When the ministers checked to find out, only the true Humane Ancestor had indeed these characters in his hand palms, and

  the other did not have them. The empress dowager issued an edict to have

  the false one locked up in the Heaven-Communicating Jail for further judi-

  cial investigation.

  That false one was in a panic and started to breathe on his disaster

  incense. When Rat One and Rat Two knew about his troubles, they dis-

  cussed the situation: “In his stupidity Rat Three has caused this major law case that even involves the court! How can he escape?” Rat Two said, “The

  only solution is that I will go there to help him out of this mess.” Rat Two thereupon used his supernatural powers and turned himself into a false

  empress dowager. Ascending the palace hall, she wanted the whole group

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  brought in to set them free. But that same moment, the empress dowager in

  her palace issued an edict ordering the jail wardens not to let the demonic monsters escape. When the civil officials and military officers knew that

  there were two orders from empress dowagers, one of whom wanted to set

  the prisoners free and one of whom wanted them incarcerated, they truly

  had no clue who of these two was the true empress dowager. The Humane

  Ancestor could not reach a decision because of this, and wracked by doubt

  for days on end he abandoned both food and sleep. His ministers proposed

  to him: “Your Majesty should dispatch an emissary to the border regions

  and summon Bao Zheng. Only he will be able to see clearly, because all oth-

  ers are at a loss what to do.” The emperor agreed to the proposal and wrote the summons out in his own hand. He dispatched an emissary to the border

  regions. Once the edict had been read out, Judge Bao knew his orders and

  immediately accompanied the imperial emissary back to the capital. After

  he had made his bows, the Humane Ancestor retreated to a side hall, where

  he told him the whole story of the miracles of the demonic monsters. Zheng

  thereupon said, “Your Majesty, don’t be worried. As long as the present

  Sagely Son of Heaven rules, these demonic creatures will in my opinionr />
  soon be exterminated. Please allow me a few days, because I have to investigate this clearly, and then I will report to Your Majesty.” The emperor was greatly pleased and gifted him with imperial wine and golden flowers. After he had expressed his gratitude, Judge Bao left the court and entered the

  offices of Kaifeng Prefecture. He called in twenty-four merciless executioners and had them take out the thirty-six instruments of torture, which were neatly arranged below the hall, and then he had the whole group of criminals brought in for interrogation. There were indeed two Ministers Wang

  and two students Shi, with one empress dowager and one Humane Ances-

  tor. Judge Bao said with a smile, “I cannot yet determine which minister and which Shi Jun is true and which one is false, but this empress dowager and

  this emperor definitely are false.” He ordered them locked up: “Tomorrow

  I will notify the City God and then I will give my verdict.”

  The four rat demons were locked up in one jail, and as they were looking

  at each other, they glumly thought: “Judge Bao said that he would notify

  the City God, so he is bound to discover our original shape. Even though

  he cannot make us anything, we have alas aroused the ire of Heaven, so how

  can we hide our identity for much longer? We have to invite the first rat for consultation.” The demons then started to breath on their disaster incense.

  The first rat then came to Kaifeng Prefecture to find out what was going on.

  When he heard that Judge Bao was conducting the investigation, he said

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  with a smile, “Let me become a Judge Bao and see how he will judge the

  case.” Immediately he manifested his supernatural abilities and transformed himself into a false Judge Bao, who was seated in the prefectural hall, judging cases. That very moment Judge Bao, who had gone out to notify the City

  God, returned. Out of the blue it was reported to him that another Judge

  Bao was seated in the hall. Judge Bao said with a smile, “So this demonic

  creature has to audacity to act in such an outrageous manner!” He straight-

  away entered the hall and ordered his runners to arrest the impostor. That

  demonic monster rushed down the hall, seeking a confrontation. The run-

  ners had no clue who of the two was the true one, so how would they dare

  take action? Below the hall, Bao Zheng—rage rising from his heart, hatred

  springing from his gall—pulled himself away and told the runners, “Closely

  guard the gate and let no word of this leak out! Let me leave the hall so he can ascend the hall and hear cases.” The runners shouted “Yes, sir!” and Bao Zheng left for his private rooms. That false one remained in the hall judging cases, but the runners were puzzled and confused and did not obey his

  instructions.

  Bao Zheng went inside and told his wife, Lady Li, “These strange mon-

  sters are hard to fathom. I will have to lodge a complaint with the Supreme Thearch in order to remove these evil creatures. Cover my corpse tightly

  with a blanket on our couch and don’t disturb it in any way. I will return in two days and nights at the most.” Lady Li was filled with doubt and was not persuaded by his arguments, but Zheng said, “My number of years here on

  earth is not yet finished, and throughout my lifetime I have never engaged in slander and backbiting, so how should I not wake up again? Just set your

  worries aside and don’t be afraid.” Lady Li promised to follow his instruc-

  tions. Zheng carefully chewed on several mouthfuls of the peacock blood

  that was smeared on the collar of his gown, and so he died.44

  His soul arrived straight at the gate of heaven. A celestial emissary took

  him to see the Jade Emperor, to whom he reported the case. When the Jade

  Emperor had heard his report, he ordered the investigative officials to establish which creatures were causing mischief. These officials reported, “These are the divine five rat demons from the Thunderclap Monastery in the Western Heaven that have run off to the middle realm to create havoc.” When the Jade Emperor heard this account, he wanted to mobilize celestial troops to

  subdue them, but these officials reported this time: “Celestial troops will be unable to subdue them. If they pursue them too closely, these creatures are bound to flee into the ocean, and then the harm will even be greater. Only

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  Buddha hall of Thunderclap Monastery will be able to tame them. If you can

  successfully ask for that cat, you can annihilate these monsters. It surpasses a hundred thousand celestial troops.” The Jade Emperor immediately dispatched a celestial emissary to Thunderclap Monastery to ask for the jade-

  faced cat. Carrying a jade notification, the celestial emissary arrived at

  Thunderclap Monastery. After he had devoutly greeted the Buddha, he pre-

  sented the jade notification. When the Buddha had opened and read it, he

  understood the intent of his arrival and discussed this request with his

  adepts. The Great Teacher Wide Square stepped forward and said, “We can-

  not do without this cat in the Buddha hall. We have here these numberless

  sutras and it protects them against mice and rats. If you allow him to borrow this cat, it may well lead to problems.” When the Buddha replied, “But how

  can we disobey an instruction from the Jade Emperor?” the Great Teacher

  replied, “We can let them borrow the golden-eyed lion.45 If the Jade Emperor finds out, you can say that you wanted to keep the cat to guard the sutras, and the Jade Emperor will not blame you for that.” The Buddha followed his

  advice and handed the golden-eyed lion to the celestial emissary. The Jade

  Emperor summoned Zheng, but when he wanted to give him this animal to

  take with him, the officials saw it and reported, “The Star of Literature was willing to sacrifice his one life to come here because of the great disaster in the Eastern Capital. This animal is not the jade-faced cat, so all his effort would be wasted. We implore Your Majesty to take pity on him and get the

  true cat for him to take with him.” The Jade Emperor agreed to their pro-

  posal and once again sent the celestial emissary, this time with Zheng, to the Thunderclap Monastery and ordered him to beg the Buddha for the right

  cat. When Zheng and the celestial emissary arrived in the Western Heaven,

  greeted the Buddha, and devoutly asked him for his help, the Buddha at first refused their request. But the Great Vehicle Arhat stepped forward and said,

  “The Star of Literature has come here for the sake of the people despite thousands and myriads of sufferings, so how can you, Buddha, not take this into consideration, as your desire, too, is to save mankind? You should allow him to borrow the cat.” The Buddha followed his advice and ordered a boy to

  fetch the cage with its precious cover. When Zheng saw the animal in this

  cage it was indeed an extraordinary treasure:

  Its eyes spit out flames with a glare of gold;

  It legs stretch out the strongest nails of steel.

  Its body is fully covered in flowery brocade;

  One roar is enough to shake hills and rivers.

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  The Buddha took out the cat and recited a gatha, whereupon that cat crouched down and shrank in size.46 He then handed it to Judge Bao, who

  hid it in his sleeve. The Buddha also taught him how to catch the rats. After Zheng had respectfully taken his leave from the Buddha, he returned with

  the celestial emissary to the Jade Emperor, to whom he reported that they

  had succeeded in borrowing the cat. The Jade Emperor was greatly pleased

  and ordered the Realized Venerable of Great Unity to give Zheng some wil-

  low-wand water to drink, and this counteracted the poison [of the peacock

  blood].

  When the celestial emissary sent him off through the gate of heaven,

  Zheng woke up on his couch: he had been dead for five days! Lady Li was

  overjoyed and immediately gave him some tea to drink. Zheng informed

  his wife that he had been able to borrow from the Buddha at the Western

  Heaven the beast that would annihilate the monsters and that she should

  not divulge this secret. “What to do next?” asked his wife. Zheng told her in secret, “Tomorrow you will go to the palace and visit the empress dowager.

  Tell her that she has to select such and such a day and erect a high platform in the southern suburbs. Only then this case can be decided.” His wife followed his orders and the next day rode her sedan chair to the palace, where she saw the empress dowager. When she had reported to her, the empress

  dowager accepted her proposal. She immediately summoned Minister of

  War Di and ordered him to build a platform in the southern suburbs, with-

  out any mistake!47 When Di Qing had received this command, he imme-

  diately led his troops to the southern suburbs and built a high platform

  according to the plans. When it was completed, Zheng selected twenty-four

  heroic stalwarts from his prefectural staff and on the selected day proceeded to the platform to conduct the investigation. This created quite a commo-tion in the Eastern Capital among the civilians and soldiers: who didn’t

  want to see how Lord Bao would decide in this weird case? On that day the