There used to live in the county a scholar named Wang who was the seventh child in an official’s family. Ever since he was a boy, he’d had great admiration for the miracles Taoist priests perform. When he heard there were many immortals up on Laoshan Mountain, he shouldered his book bag and off he went to learn from them.
He climbed up to a mountain peak and there found a Taoist temple in very quiet surroundings. A priest sat on the dais, his white hair reaching down to his shoulders, and he looked hearty and good-spirited.
Wang, the Seventh, went up and bowed and started a conversation with him. What the priest said sounded quite abstruse, so he begged to be his student. The priest said, “I’m afraid you’re spoiled and lazy. You can’t stand hardship.” To which Wang replied, “Oh, but I can!” The priest had many disciples. When they all assembled at dusk, Wang bowed respectfully to each and every one of them and so they let him stay.
Next morning, at the break of dawn, he was summoned by the priest, who gave him a hatchet and told him to follow the others into the mountains to cut firewood. Wang obediently did as he was told. But after a month or so, his hands and feet were thickly calloused. The life was too hard for him to bear and a longing to go home began to sprout in him.
Coming back one evening from gathering firewood, he saw the Master and two guests drinking wine together. It was already dark, but the candle had not been lit. The priest cut out a round piece of paper that looked like a mirror and pasted it on the wall. Right away, it turned into a bright moon that lit up the room; the light so bright one could discern a hair or an awl. The disciples were standing around, waiting on the guests. One guest said, ”It’s such a lovely night. You fellow believers must join us in the merriment.” So saying, he picked up the wine jug from the table and poured wine for the disciples, urging them to drink till they were drunk. Wang figured that since there were seven or eight of them, that jug of wine couldn’t possibly be enough to go around. Everybody was looking for a cup or bowl and having it filled quickly, lest there be nothing left. They kept refilling their cups and bowls and yet there was still plenty of wine. Wang thought it was very strange.
After a while, the other guest addressed the priest, “Thanks to you, the moon is so bright, but isn’t it kind of lonesome and dull to drink like this? Why not ask Chang’e (the Chinese Moon Goddess) to join us?” The Daoist priest threw a chopstick at the moon. Immediately, a lovely maiden came forth in the moonlight, at first less than a foot tall, growing to a normal height as soon as she landed on the ground. With a beautiful neck and slender waist and limbs, she began to perform the “Rainbow Skirt Dance.” Then she sang, “Oh, Immortal, turn and look at me. You left me at the Moon Palace, how lonely I am.” Her voice was clear and bright, and sounded as melodious as the xiao flute. At the end of the song, she twirled and leapt onto the table. Amazed, Wang followed her with his eyes but the maiden changed back into a chopstick at which the Priest and the two guests burst out laughing. Then one of the guests said, “This has been a wonderful evening. But I can’t drink any more. Won’t you see me off to the Moon Palace?” And then and there, the three, still in their seats, glided right into the moon. They could be seen drinking merrily in the moon, their eyebrows and beards as clear as ever, just as though reflected in a mirror.
A little later, the moon dimmed. A disciple came in with a lit candle to find the priest sitting at the table all by himself, both guests having disappeared. The leftovers from the snacks were still on the table. As for the moon on the wall, there was nothing but a piece of white paper cut in the shape of a round mirror. The priest asked his disciples, “Have you had your fill of the wine?” They all answered, “Oh, yes.” “Well, if that’s the case, you had better go and rest. Don’t be late for the firewood cutting tomorrow.” The men said “yes” and retreated. Wang felt so elated and envious that he forgot all about going home.
Another month went by. The hard life had become just too much for him. Besides, the priest wasn’t teaching him any Taoist arts. He felt he couldn’t wait any longer, so he went to say goodbye to the priest, “I traveled several hundred Ii to learn Taoism from you. Even if you didn’t teach me the way to immortality, I would be satisfied to learn a few magic tricks. I’ve been here for two, three months, now, and all I’ve been doing every day is cutting firewood from morning till night. At home, I never had to do such hard chores.” The priest smiled and said, “I said at the beginning that you wouldn’t be able to stand the hardship. Now you’ve proven me right. Tomorrow, you can go.” But Wang said, “I’ve worked for so long. I beg you, Master, to teach me some little trick so that my stay here won’t all have been for nothing.” ”Well, what do you want to learn?” the priest asked. Wang said, “I’ve often seen you walk right through the wall. If I could do that, I’d be more than satisfied.” The priest, smiling, consented. He taught Wang the rhyme and told him to keep repeating it. Then the priest shouted, “Go!” Wang, looked at the wall but dared not. “Go on, try!” the priest shouted again. Wang took hold of himself and slowly walked toward the wall, but he bumped into it and stopped. Then the priest said, “Lower your head, charge into it, don’t hesitate!” Wang took a few steps backward and then ran at the wall. When he got there, it was like running into empty space; there seemed to be nothing in his way. When he looked back, he found himself outside the wall. Elated, Wang returned and thanked the Master. The priest said to him, “After you get back home, you must be prudent and avoid evil. Otherwise, the magic won’t work.” He then gave Wang some money and sent him off.
Arriving back home, Wang boasted that he had met an immortal, and now, not even the thickest wall could prevent him from passing through. His wife wouldn’t believe him. So Wang, as he had before, stepped back a few steps, then charged towards the wall. He bumped his head and fell to the ground. When his wife helped him up, she saw a bump as big as an egg on his forehead. He became a laughing stock.
Ashamed and annoyed, Wang blamed the priest for tricking him.
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