Luo Zifu was from Fenzhou in Shaanxi Province. His parents died early and he had to go to live with his uncle Luo Daye when he was only eight years old. The uncle was an official and was rich, but had no son. So he loved Zifu very much like a natural son.
When Luo Zifu was fourteen years old, he was temped by bad guys and became a frequenter of brothels. At the time, a prostitute from Nanjing was living in Fenzhou and Luo Zifu was obsessed with her. When the girl went back to Nanjing, Luo quietly followed her there. He lived in her house for half a year and all his money was spent. He was thus often snubbed by the other whores. Still the relationship with the girl was not quite broken off. Later, his venereal disease began to show symptoms, with the puss from the festering sores stinking and contaminating the mattress. He was driven out of the brothel and reduced to begging. But people shied away from him when they saw his wretched situation. Luo was afraid that he might die in this strange place and began begging his way westward towards his hometown. He covered 30 or 40 i each day and was gradually drawing near to Fenzhou. He thought that he had no courage to go home now that he was in tatters, dirty and smelly. So, he wandered in a neighboring village.
When darkness fell, he headed towards a temple on a hill for the night. On his way, he saw a beautiful woman. She came up and asked:”Where are you going?” He told her that he wanted to spend the night in the temple. The woman said: “I’m a nun and live in a cave. You can stay there and won’t have to be afraid of wild animals.” Luo was overjoyed and followed her to the cave.
When they got deep into the mountains, he saw the cave. Inside, there was a stream and a bridge thrown across the stream. A few steps further on, there were two stone rooms, which were brightly lit. There was no need for candles. The woman bade Luo to take off his dirty clothes and have a bath in the stream. She said:”Washing will cure your festering sores.” After his bath, the woman lifted the bed curtain and spread the quilts, saying: “You’d better lie down early. I’ll make new clothes for you.” She took up a huge leaf, which looked like a banana leaf, and started cutting and sewing. Luo, lying on the bed, watched all this. Moments later, she placed the new clothes on the bed and said:”You can put them on tomorrow.” Then she went to the bed across from Luo’s.
After taking the bath, Luo felt that the pain of the sores was gone. When he woke up next morning, he felt his sores with his hand and found that a crust was forming. He got up and thought to himself:”How can one put on a banana leaf for clothes?” But when he drew it nearer and looked at it, he was surprised that it was green silk, smooth and soft. Then the woman went to prepare breakfast. She took out a few tree leaves and gave them to Luo, saying that they were cakes. Luo tasted one. True, it really was a cake. Then the woman cut the leaves into chicken and fish with scissors and cooked them in the pot. When she dished out the meal, there was real chicken and fish. A pottery jar containing wine was placed in the corner of the room. They drank from it. When the wine level lowered, they poured stream water into the jar. A few days later, his scabs were gone. Luo therefore asked the woman to sleep with him. The woman said:”You frivolous creature. How can you have day dreams like this when your disease is scarcely cured!”Luo said:”I just want to repay your kindness.” So they went to bed together. They loved each other very much.
One day, a young woman came in, saying smilingly:”Pian Pian, you naughty girl, why are you so happy and gay! When did you get married?” Hearing the voice, Pian Pian went up to her and said:”Sister Huacheng, it’s been a long time since your last visit. The southwest wind is blowing strongly today. Did it bring you here? Have you given birth to a fat baby again?” Huacheng answered: “A fat baby girl.” Pian Pian went on poking fun at her:”Look, you’ve become a daughter-producing factory. Why didn’t you bring her here?” Huacheng said:”I just fed her moments ago. She is now asleep.”
The three sat down and drank wine. Looking at Luo, Huacheng said: “You are so lucky. You must have burnt good luck incense in your last life!” Luo looked at her. She was about 23 or 24 years old and was pretty and attractive. He admired her very much. Taking the opportunity of bending to pick up a piece of fallen fruit, Luo caressed Huacheng’s foot. Huacheng smiled, looking elsewhere as if she hadn’t noticed Luo’s action. While Luo sat half in a trance, he suddenly felt that his back was cool. He turned around to see that his clothes had turned into a withered leaf. He was almost scared to death and immediately sat upright. Moments later, the leaf turned into clothes. He congratulated himself for having not been caught in an embarrassing situation. Then, Luo, again taking advantage of passing the wine to Huacheng, gently touched her palm. Huacheng just went on laughing and joking as if nothing had happened. Luo got very excited; his heart was pounding fiercely. Again, his clothes had turned to leaves and he did not recover them as clothing for quite some time. After this, Luo tried hard to control himself and dared not take liberties with Huacheng any more. Huacheng said, smiling:”Your husband is a philandering fellow He might have gotten out of control but for your jealousy.” Pian Pian said sarcastically: “Such a frivolous guy deserves only to be frozen to death.The two women broke into laughter, clapping their hands. Huacheng stood up and said:”My baby has awakened. I fear she may cry.” Pian Pian got to her feet, too, and said:”You were so given to seducing another’s husband. You must have forgotten that the little girl might wake and cry.”
After Huacheng was gone, Luo was afraid that Pian Pian would scold him. But Pian Pian treated him just as usual.
Not long after, autumn arrived. The chilly wind brought down the tree leaves and frost covered on the land. Pian Pian collected fallen leaves, preparing food for the winter. Seeing that Luo was shivering with cold, she collected the white cloud at the entrance of the cave as cotton wool for Luo’s padded coat. Putting it on, Luo felt that it was as warm as a coat padded with real cotton wool. More over, it was soft and always new.
A year later, Pian Pian gave birth to a baby boy, who was very handsome and clever. The couple played with their son day and night in the cave. But Luo was always feeling homesick. He asked Pian Pian to go with him. Pian Pian said: “I can’t go with you. Or, you go alone.” Luo had to stay. They lived as usual for another two or three years. The son was growing up. The couple had him engaged to the daughter of Huacheng.
Luo always had his old uncle on his mind. Pian Pian therefore told him: “Although your uncle is old now he is healthy and strong. So you don’t have to worry about him. You can make a decision whether to go or stay after our son is married.”
Pian Pian taught her son reading and writing with a book made from leaves. Bao’er, their son, was a quick learner. Pian Pian said to herself: “This boy has the look of great fortune. If he goes to the world of mortals, who is sure he won’t be a high official some day?”
A few more years had passed and Bao’er was now fourteen years old. Huacheng brought her daughter to Bao’er’s home for the wedding ceremony. Huacheng was in beautiful dress and her face was beaming with happiness. Luo Zifu and his wife Pian Pian were also happy. They sat down to a family feast. Half-way through the dinner, Pian Pian took a hair pin from her hair and tapped the table with it, singing:”I have a good son and I don’t envy the high officials; I have a good daughter-in-law and I don’t envy those in silk. The whole family is happy now that we are sitting at the feast table. Please drink more wine and have more food.” The feast went on for a while and Huacheng said good-bye and went home. The wedding chamber was just across from the bedroom of Luo Zifu and Pian Pian. The bride was filially dutiful. She often behaved with her parents-in-law as if she were their own daughter.
Now, Luo found himself missing his uncle again. Pian Pian said to him:”You are a mortal being and can never become a deity. Bao’er is also a man destined for officialdom and wealth. He should go with you. I don’t want to stand in his way.” The bride wanted to bid farewell to her mother, so Huacheng came. Everyone was now in tears; the children could not tear themselves away from their mothers and vice versa. Pian Pian and Huacheng tried to comfort the newlyweds:”You’re just going away for the time being. You can come back later.” Pian Pian cut banana leaves into three donkeys and asked them to ride on the donkeys.
By this time, Luo Daye, Luo Zifu’s uncle, had retired. He was overjoyed to see his nephew return home with the handsome grand nephew and the beautiful grand niece-in-law, because he had thought the nephew long dead. When the three got into the house, they found that their clothes were nothing but banana leaves. They cut the clothes open and the cotton wool turned into white clouds, which slowly floated up into the sky. So they changed into other clothes. Later, Luo Zifu began to miss Pian Pian. He, together with his son and daughter-in-law, returned to the mountain to see her. There was no cave in which they had once lived. What they saw were just yellow leaves that littered the ground and an all-permeating white mist. They had to go back, in tears.
This writer says: Pian Pian and Huacheng might have been fairy ladies. They ate leaves and wore clouds. How wonderful that was! But she joked with Luo behind the bed curtain, slept with him and gave birth to a baby. What’s the difference between them and mortal beings? Luo Zifu lived in the mountain for fifteen years. He returned home as a mortal being and still recognized his home village and uncle. But when he got back to the mountain again, there was no longer any sign of the cave, and all he could see was clouds all around. This is indeed reminiscent of the tales of Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao of the Han Dynasty meeting fairy ladies.
Leave a Reply