神僧傳 8.26

8.26

Shi Yishi was of unknown origin. In appearance he seemed crazed, and his speech was confused and disorderly. At the beginning of Zhenyuan, he begged for alms around the Wu Park. He foresaw many events, for which people regarded him with wonder. In the marketplace, there were several bays of houses belonging to commoners; Yishi took an axe and chopped off their eaves, and could not be stopped. The owner, often aware of his divine marvels, bowed and said to him: "This disciple relies on these for livelihood; do not destroy my houses." Looking back, he said: "Do you begrudge them?" He threw down the axe and left. That night, a fire spread through the marketplace and consumed it, leaving only those several bays of houses whose eaves had been cut intact. He liked to stay in abandoned monasteries. Winter or summer, he constantly gathered broken banners, canopies, and wooden Buddha statues to use in place of firewood and charcoal. Moreover, he roasted carp over the charcoal embers, which jumped about vigorously as ashes billowed all around; he would clap his hands and laugh heartily, eating them without using spoons or chopsticks. His face was covered in grime and he never washed it; whenever he did wash it, overcast rain would ensue, which the people of Wu took as an omen for weather forecasting. When he was about to die, he drank dozens of decalitres of ash water, chanted the Buddha's name, and sat down. Scholars and commoners watched him, and after seven full days he passed away. In the peak of summer, his complexion did not change and his limbs did not stiffen. The commoners carried him out to the suburbs and cremated him.