高僧傳 10.16

10.16

後有一道人，不知姓名，常齎一杖一箱自隨。嘗逼暮來詣海鹽令，云：「欲數日行，暫倩一人，可見給不？」令曰：「隨意取之。」乃選取守鵝鴨小兒形服最醜者將去。倏忽之間，至一山上，山上有屋，屋中有三道人，相見欣然共語，小兒不解。至中困，道人為小兒就主人索食，得一小塸食，狀如熟艾，食之飢止。向冥，道人辭欲還去。聞屋中人問云：「君知史宗所在不？其讁何當竟？」道人云：「在徐州江北廣陵白土埭上，計其讁亦竟也。」屋中人便作書曰：「因君與之。」道人以書付小兒。比曉，便至縣，與令相見云：「欲少日停此。」令曰：「大善。」問箱中有何等，答云：「書疏耳。」

Later, there was a man of the Way whose name was unknown; he always carried a staff and a box with him. Once, as dusk fell, he went to visit the magistrate of Haiyan and said, "I wish to make a journey of several days, and would like to borrow someone for a short while; could you spare one?" The magistrate said, "Take whomever you please." He then chose the boy who tended geese and ducks, whose appearance and clothes were the ugliest, and took him along. In an instant, they arrived atop a mountain. On the mountain stood a house, and inside were three men of the Way, who happily conversed upon meeting; the boy could not understand their speech. At midday, when the boy grew exhausted, the man of the Way asked the host for food for him, obtaining a small bowl of food shaped like cooked mugwort; eating it, the boy's hunger ceased. Toward nightfall, the man of the Way took his leave to return. From inside the house, someone was heard asking, "Do you know where Shi Zong is? When will his banishment come to an end?" The man of the Way said, "He is on the Baitu Dike in Guangling, north of the river in Xuzhou. By my reckoning, his banishment should also be coming to an end." The person in the house then wrote a letter, saying, "Give this to him on my behalf." The man of the Way handed the letter to the boy. By dawn, they reached the county seat, and he met the magistrate, saying, "I wish to stay here for a few days." The magistrate said, "Very well." When asked what was in his box, he answered, "Only letters and documents."