A rich man in Nánjīng married his son to an extremely enchanting
woman (yāoráo wànfēn 妖娆万分), but not long afterward the son became
very ill. Although they went to the best doctors, they were told
that the case was hopeless, and the lad would never again look upon
his beautiful wife.
“Whatever shall we do?” wailed the sick man’s mother.
“Heaven help us!” cried his wife.
But then the sick man’s younger spoke up: “Is Older Brother
going to get better?” he asked.
“Oh Second Son, your Older Brother’s illness is incurable,” said
his mother. And his Older Sister-in-law began to sob.
“Don’t cry, Older Sister-in-Law,” said Second Brother. And he
thought to himself how sad it would be for her to become a widow at
such a young age. And she was beautiful too. Older Brother was
really unfortunate to be leaving such a fine wife.
Meanwhile the wife of the sick man was thinking to herself,
“Women need men like Second Brother. It is a really a misfortune
that I have to be married to the older, sick brother instead of the
fine younger one.”
As the days passed, Second Brother and Older Sister-in-Law
became fonder and fonder of each other.
At length, Older Brother died, and the family went into
mourning. Second Brother and Older Sister-in-Law fell more and more
deeply in love. But they knew they could not marry even after the
end of mourning because of their kinship. So they carried on only
in secret and only after dark.
One day Second Brother’s mother heard a voice coming from her
daughter-in-law’s room and immediately realized what was going on.
“Good Heavens!” she exclaimed, and rushed to tell with her
husband.
“Old Man,” she said, “how are you going to deal with this
affair?”
“We certainly cannot let others hear of such shameful behavior,”
he replied. “The only thing we can do is to find a wife for Second
Son so that he has to break off the relationship with Older
Daughter-in-Law.
A few days later Second Brother found Older Sister-in-Law in
tears. “I just heard that Mother has found a match for you,” she
told him.
“But I don’t want to get married,” he exclaimed. “I want to be
with you forever.”
But he knew there would be no way to dissuade his parents. They
called him in.
“Second Son,” said his mother. “I hope you will consider
carefully what I are about to say so that you do not ruin the
family’s reputation. I have already decided that next month you
will marry the daughter of the Wáng 王 family.”
“I don’t want to. I absolutely do not want to.”
“You unfilial son! (nìzǐ 逆子)! How dare you corrupt the moral
order of family relations!” shouted his mother. “I will die of
anger!” And saying that, she collapsed and died.
“No, Mother! No!” cried Second Son.
“Poor old thing,” sobbed Father.
But the affair between Second Brother and Older Sister-in-Law
continued for three years. Nobody knew about it, and the two of
them continued much as before.
One day, Older Sister-in-Law’s eyes became swollen, and she
could not see. But the doctors couldn’t help her.
“I have no way of curing this,” said one.
“I can’t tell what the illness is,” said another.
The condition continued for over two months, and there was no
improvement at all. Older Sister-in-Law cried and cried. Finally
one of the family servants had an idea.
“Young Mistress, don’t cry. I have heard that the Living Buddha
of Golden Mountain can cure strange illnesses. Perhaps it wouldn’t
hurt to give him a try.
“But where do we find this ‘Living Buddha of Golden Mountain’?”
she asked.
“I heard he was living in the house of our next door neighbor,
Mr. Hú. You could go early tomorrow.”
And indeed, there was a distant sound of chanting on the evening
air.
The next morning his own violent sneeze jarred Miàoshàn from his
meditation and he became aware that something was happening in the
house.
“Disciple Hú,” he asked, “do I have any visitors today?”
“I am here to report that the young mistress who lives next door
asks to see the Living Buddha.”
“Show her in.”
When Older Sister-in-Law came into the room, the Living Buddha
was chanting.
“Living Buddha?” she ventured timidly.
He scowled and continued to chant.
“Living Buddha, please help me.”
More chanting.
“Please, Living Buddha.”
The chanting stopped.
“This kind of woman should suffer more so she can learn to
behave properly,” he said. “You have asked for this suffering. Do
you know you have done something wrong?”
“No,” she said. It seemed like all she could say.
Miàoshàn turned to face her. “You are still trying to argue. You
have ruined people’s lives, obstructed someone on his way to
establishing a family and taken an innocent life. This is your
immediate retribution!”
“All right. I admit my faults. Please help me.”
“It’s lucky for you that you met me. But you must obey my
instructions for me to cure you.”
“First, beginning today you must repent and break off your
affair with your husband’s younger brother. Second, you must abide
by the Three Treasures [sānbǎo 三宝, the Buddha, the Scriptures, and
the Clergy]. Third, you must follow a vegetarian diet, study
scriptures, and worship buddhas.”
“I will do all this, if only you will cure my disease,” said
Older Sister-in-Law.
“Very well,” said Miàoshàn. “Sit down and don’t move.”
Suddenly he lurched forward upon her and began sucking at her
eyes.
“Ouch!” she shouted. “Ouch! Ouch!”
Mr. Hú and the servant from Older Sister-in-Law’s house looked
at each other.
“The ways the Living Buddha cures diseases are full of
surprises,” said Mr. Hú.
“He is even sucking out pus with his mouth,” said the
servant.
Miàoshàn took a glass and spat a stream of liquid into it.
“Look at this,” he said.
“It looks like black water. It isn’t either pus or blood.” said
Mr. Hú.
Miàoshàn turned to Older Sister-in-Law. “This is your
wrong-doing,” he said. “Drink half of it. In compassion for you,
I’ll help you drink the other half.”
Then he spat in his hand and blew nasal mucus in as well, and
said, “Come over here now.”
Older Sister-in-Law walked toward the sound of his voice.
Suddenly he smeared here eyes with the mixture in his hands.
“Does it still hurt?” he asked.
“No, not any more,” she said.
“Then open your eyes and look around.”
“Oh! I can see the light! Living Buddha, I am ready to abide by
the Three Treasures.”
“He is magnificent!” muttered Mr. Hú.
“Truly he is an incarnation of the Buddha (Rúlái 如来),” said the
servant.
