There was a man surnamed Xu who lived in the north city of Zichuan and got his living by fishing. Every night he would carry wine down to the river, drinking while he fished; and each time, before he drank, he would first pour some of the wine out upon the ground and pray: “Drowned souls in the river, come and drink!” — until it became his custom. Other men fishing in that place caught next to nothing, but his creel and basket were always full.

One night, as Master Xu sat pouring himself cup after cup, a young man appeared and lingered beside him, making no move to go. Master Xu invited him to drink together; the youth did not refuse, but fell to with a right good will. Yet in the end they did not catch a single fish all night, and Master Xu was disappointed at heart. The youth rose and said: “Let me go downstream and drive the fish in for you!” With that he drifted away. Before long he was back again: “The fish are coming in shoals!” And sure enough, from the river came the nibbling and sucking sounds of a great school of fish. Master Xu cast his net and took several, every one of them over a foot long. Overjoyed, he hastened to thank the youth. On the way home he would have given him the fish, but the youth refused: “I have drunk your good wine so many times — this is no repayment at all. If you do not scorn me, I hope we may often be together like this.” Master Xu said: “We have drunk together only this one night — how can you speak of many times? If you will keep coming to see me, that is all I could wish; I am only ashamed that I have no way to repay your kindness in driving the fish for me.” He asked the youth his name and courtesy title, and the youth answered: “My surname is Wang; I have no courtesy title. When we meet, you may call me Wang Liulang.” So the two parted. The next day Master Xu sold his fish, and with the money bought more wine. When he came to the river that evening, the youth was already there, and the two fell to drinking in high good humor. After a few cups, the youth rose and went again to drive the fish in for Master Xu.

So it went on for half a year. One day the youth suddenly said to Master Xu: “Since I knew you, our affection has passed that of own brothers. But the day of our parting is near.” His words were full of sorrow. Master Xu, startled, asked what he meant. Several times the youth began to speak and checked himself; at last he said: “Friends as close as we two — perhaps you will not be shocked when I tell you. You and I are soon to part, so I may as well tell you the truth: I am in fact a ghost. When alive I loved wine above all things; one day I drank myself dead drunk and was drowned here, and that was several years ago. The reason your catch always far exceeded other men’s was that I secretly drove the fish in for you, to repay the kindness of the wine you poured out for me. Tomorrow the term of my punishment is fulfilled; someone will come to take my place, and I shall go back to the world of the living to be born again. We have only this one night together, so I cannot help but grieve.” When Master Xu first heard that Wang Liulang was a ghost he was greatly afraid; but after all they had been intimate so long, and soon he was afraid no longer — only sad and sighing at the thought of parting. He filled a cup and said to Wang Liulang: “Liulang, drink this cup and grieve no more. To part almost as soon as we met is sad indeed — but your term of punishment is ended and you are escaping from the sea of bitterness; this is a thing for congratulations, and more grief would be out of reason.” So the two raised their cups again and drank deep. Master Xu asked: “Who is it that will take your place?” Wang Liulang answered: “Brother, watch by the river. Tomorrow at noon a young married woman will come to cross the river and be drowned — she is the one.” By then the village cocks had already crowed, and Wang Liulang and Master Xu parted in tears.

The next day Master Xu waited attentively by the river, ready to see this strange thing. At noon, sure enough, a young woman came carrying a baby in her arms, and when she reached the river’s edge she fell in. The baby was thrown up onto the bank, waving its arms and kicking its legs, wailing. The woman sank and rose again and again in the river, and then suddenly, drenched from head to foot, she clung to the bank and climbed out. She lay on the ground resting a while, then took up her child and went straight away. When the woman first fell into the water, Master Xu’s heart could not bear it and he wanted to run and save her; but then he thought: she is the one who is to take Wang Liulang’s place — and he stopped and did not go. When he saw her climb out of the river, he began to doubt whether Wang Liulang’s words had failed. Toward evening, Master Xu was fishing again in the old place. Wang Liulang came again and said: “Now we meet again — let us say no more of parting for the time being.” Master Xu asked the reason, and Wang Liulang said: “That woman had already come to take my place, but I pitied the baby in her arms. I could not bear that one life of mine should cost two lives, so I let her go. When someone will come to take my place next, I do not know. Perhaps the bond between us two is not yet spent!” Master Xu sighed: “Such a humane heart — Heaven itself must surely know it.” From then on the two met and drank together as before.

A few days later, Wang Liulang came again to take his leave. Master Xu suspected that someone had come to take his place. Wang Liulang said: “This time it is not that. My act of compassion the other day has indeed been known to Heaven, and now I am appointed Earth God (tudi) of Wu Town in Zhaoyuan County; in a few days I go to take up the post. If you have not forgotten our old friendship, come and see me — do not let the distance frighten you.” Master Xu congratulated him: “For your uprightness you have become a god — it makes me truly glad. But men and gods live in different worlds; even if I am not afraid of the distance, how shall I be able to see you?” Wang Liulang said: “Only go, and do not worry.” After repeated injunctions, he departed.

When Master Xu got home, he began to pack his things to go east and visit Wang Liulang. His wife laughed: “Wu Town in Zhaoyuan County is several hundred li from here. Even if there is such a place, when you get there you will only be talking to a clay image!” But Master Xu would not be dissuaded, and in the end he went to Zhaoyuan County. He asked the local people, and sure enough there was a Wu Town. He found the place, lodged at an inn, and asked the innkeeper where the Earth God’s temple was. The innkeeper, startled, asked in return: “Sir, is your surname Xu?” “It is,” said Master Xu, “but how do you know?” “And is your home in Zichuan County?” “It is — but how do you know?” The innkeeper did not answer, but hurried out. Before long the men came holding their children, and the wives and daughters crowded to the doorway to peep; the townspeople came flocking, and the crowd closed about Master Xu like a wall. Still more astonished, he was told: “A few nights ago we dreamed that the Earth God said: ’A friend of mine surnamed Xu from Zichuan County is coming soon; please give him some traveling money.’ So we have been waiting for you a long time.” Master Xu was amazed. He went to the Earth God’s temple and offered prayer: “Since we parted I have thought of you day and night, and now I have come from afar to keep our promise. And you further instructed the people in a dream to help me — my heart is full of gratitude. I am ashamed to have no rich gift — only a thin cup of wine. If you do not scorn it, drink with me as you did by the river.” When he had finished his prayer, he burned paper money. After a while a wind rose from behind the god’s seat, whirled round and round for a long time, and then dispersed. That night Master Xu dreamed that Wang Liulang came to meet him, dressed in formal cap and gown, utterly different from before. Wang Liulang thanked him: “You have wearied yourself to come so far to see me, and my tears of joy flow. But now that I hold this little office, it is not fitting that I should meet you face to face; though we stand but inches apart, it is as if a thousand mountains and ten thousand waters lay between us, and my heart is very sore. The people here will send you some small gifts — take them as a token of my heart toward an old friend. When you have fixed the day of your return, I will come to see you off.” After staying several days, Master Xu prepared to go home. The local people earnestly pressed him to stay: breakfast at one house, supper and wine at another, several households taking turns each day. At last Master Xu insisted on leaving. Then every one of them, gift-list in hand and bundle in arm, came pressing forward to see him off and present their gifts; before the morning was out, the presents had filled a whole sack. When he set out, the old and the young of the whole town came to speed him. He had scarcely left the village when suddenly a whirlwind rose from the level ground and kept him company for more than ten li. Again and again Master Xu bowed and thanked: “Liulang, take care of yourself, and do not weary yourself to escort me so far. Your heart is merciful — you will surely be a blessing to this people, and your old friend need say no more.” The wind hovered on the ground a long while before it gradually departed, and the villagers who had come to see Master Xu off also returned to the village, marveling.

When Master Xu got home he grew gradually well-to-do and gave up fishing. Later, when he met people from Zhaoyuan and asked about the Earth God, they all said the god was most efficacious, granting whatever was asked. There are also those who say that Wang Liulang’s post was at Shikeng Village in Zhangqiu County. Which is right, no one knows.

The Historian of the Strange says: To rise to high rank and still not forget the friends of one’s poor and humble days — this is why Wang Liulang became a god. Look at those great lords and high dignitaries riding in their carriages today — would they still acknowledge an old friend in a straw hat? In my own district there was a gentleman whose family was very poor. A friend of his since boyhood had obtained a rich and lucrative post, and the gentleman thought of going to rely on him, sure that he would be taken care of. So he spent all his money on outfitting himself for the journey, traveled a thousand li, and arrived — only to be bitterly disappointed. In the end he had to spend his last coin and sell his horse as well, just to get home again. A younger kinsman of his, a humorous fellow, composed a parody “Monthly Ordinance” to mock him: “In this month the elder brother arrived; the sable cap was doffed, the umbrella-canopy was not spread, the horse turned into a donkey, and the boots at last fell silent.” Read this and laugh.

(The End)