神僧傳 7.6

7.6

Śramaṇa Hui'an: it is not known where he was from. His words often hit the mark, and he was fond of performing apotropaic arts. At that time, Tang Xiujing had already achieved frontier military exploits, and his nobility and prominence were matchless. One day, a monk came and said to Xiujing, 'The Prime Minister will soon face a great disaster, within no more than several months; nevertheless, it can be averted.' Xiujing was terrified and immediately bowed to him. The monk said, 'I have no other art, but merely offer one plan; I hope you will heed it.' Xiujing said, 'I am fortunate to receive my master's instruction.' The monk said, 'Now, are not the regional governors under Heaven appointed by the Prime Minister?' He replied, 'Indeed.' The monk said, 'The Prime Minister should search among the low-ranking and superfluous officials for a solitary, humble, and poor person of talent and competence, and promote him to be the Regional Inspector of Cao Prefecture. He will deeply appreciate the Prime Minister's kindness and can be dispatched on a trail. Once you find him, I hope you will inform me.' Xiujing was both delighted and grateful, and thereupon made inquiries among his relatives and friends, finding a certain Lord Zhang, whose family was extremely poor and who held a lowly post in the capital. On that very day, he was appointed Grand Master of Upright Goodness, and within ten days he was appointed Regional Inspector of Cao Prefecture. Afterwards, Xiujing summoned the monk and told him, 'Following your plan, I have obtained Zhang. How then may he be instructed?' The monk said, 'When Lord Zhang proceeds to his commandery, you should have him seek out two dogs several feet tall and of divine excellence.' Xiujing assented. Shortly thereafter, Lord Zhang was grateful for Lord Tang's exceptional kindness, though he did not comprehend its purpose. When he was about to set out for his commandery, he took leave of Xiujing, who said, 'I hear your noble commandery has many fine dogs; I wish to obtain two of extraordinary divine excellence.' Lord Zhang said, 'I respectfully heed your instruction.' After arriving at the commandery for several days, he summoned all the commandery clerks and told them, 'I have received profound kindness from Prime Minister Tang, being promoted out of turn to govern a great commandery. Now Lord Tang seeks two fine dogs; can they be procured?' A clerk stepped forward and said, 'My family alone has raised a dog of extraordinary physique and appearance; I wish to present it.' Lord Zhang was overjoyed and immediately took it. When it arrived, the dog was several feet tall and fat, its chest more than a foot wide, extraordinarily divine and excellent, and moreover docile and gentle. Lord Zhang said, 'What the Prime Minister seeks is two; how can this be?' The clerk reported, 'Of all those within the commandery, there is only this one; the others are all ordinary. However, ten li south of the commandery, in a certain village, a certain commoner household has one; the commoner cherishes it exceedingly. Unless you, Lord Governor, go in person, it cannot be obtained.' Lord Zhang immediately ordered his carriage, took a generous price, and paid a visit; he indeed obtained it. Its appearance did not differ from the one presented by the clerk, but its divine spirit surpassed it. Lord Zhang was delighted, and immediately summoned a close clerk to present the two dogs. Xiujing was exceedingly pleased and marveled at their appearance, considering them to be what he had never seen before; he then summoned the monk to view them. The monk said, 'Raise them well. What will deliver the Prime Minister from disaster are these two dogs alone.' Ten days later, the monk arrived again and said to Xiujing, 'The matter will occur tonight; I hope the Prime Minister will be strictly prepared for it.' Xiujing then kept the monk overnight in his mansion. That night, Xiujing sat in the front veranda of the hall, ordering more than ten attendants to hold bows and arrows and stand at the corners of the couch. The monk shared a single couch with Xiujing. In the middle of the night, the monk smiled and said, 'The Prime Minister's disaster has been averted; you may go to sleep.' Xiujing was overjoyed and thanked him, dismissed his attendants, and slept with the monk. At dawn, the monk called to Xiujing, saying, 'You may rise.' Xiujing immediately arose and said to the monk, 'The disaster is truly averted, but what were the two dogs used for?' The monk said, 'Let us go and see together.' Thereupon he and Xiujing together traced their tracks to the rear garden, where they saw a man fallen on the ground and dead. Looking at his neck, there was blood, for he had been bitten by an animal. They also saw the two dogs beneath a large tree; looking up, they saw a man with his upper body bared hiding atop it. Xiujing was astonished and interrogated him, saying, 'Who are you?' The man wept and pointed to the dead one, saying, 'I and that man were both brigands. Last night we came together, intending to inflict harm upon the Prime Minister. But we encountered these two dogs encircling and barking at us; he was thereupon bitten by them and died. Terrified, I concealed myself here. When the two dogs saw me, they crouched beneath the tree; I waited for them to leave so I could flee, but until dawn they never departed. Now I willingly accept death here.' Xiujing immediately summoned his attendants and ordered him to be bound, but the man said, 'For this crime I certainly deserve to die, but it was not my intention; I was constrained by others. I beg you to release me.' Xiujing ordered his bonds to be loosed; the brigand bowed, wept, and departed. Xiujing thanked the monk, saying, 'I relied on my master; otherwise, I would have died at the hands of those two men.' The monk said, 'This was entirely the Prime Minister's own blessing; how could I have achieved it?' Xiujing had a maternal cousin, Lu Zhen, in Jingmen. A diviner told him, 'You will face disaster and misfortune; you should seek a skilled expiator, and then you may perhaps be spared.' Zhen had long known of the monk, so he sent a letter to Xiujing requesting him. The monk immediately handed a letter to Xiujing, saying, 'The matter lies within it.' When the letter arrived in Jingzhou, Zhen had already died. His family opened and looked at the letter; it was merely a single sheet of paper without any writing. Xiujing marveled at him all the more. Several years later, he slipped away, and no one knew where he went.