弘贊法華傳 10.18

10.18

洛州洛陽人。何玄玲。龍朔二年。終於京師。冥司遣為主簿。麟德年。玲鄉人。死至冥道。與玲相見。玲問鄉人。君何至此。答曰。被追至此。玲云。我見案主逗留君。枉來也。放君還去。鄉人別玲將出。乃見同村嫗。謂鄉人曰。君至此。豈不觀我受罪處耶。便見鑊陽湧沸。烹煮罪人。嫗曰。君可語我夫。為我造法花經一部。脫蒙見許。却後十日。君可報我。於村南水頭。鄉人既穌。乃即喚其夫。令為寫經。其夫。急與買紙付令寫。鄉人。至前期日。往到水濱。乃別見他嫗。謂鄉人曰。君是前所囑寫經者乎。鄉人曰。是也。嫗曰。前者婦人。夫為買紙之日。已往生天。所以不獲赴期。與君今日相見。故留言囑。令我報君。言畢。遂不獲見也。

He Xuanling, a native of Luoyang in Luozhou, died in the capital in the second year of Longshuo (662 CE). The underworld tribunal appointed him as a recorder. During the Linde era (664–665 CE), a villager from Xuanling's home village died and reached the underworld paths, where he met Xuanling. Xuanling asked the villager, "Why have you come here?" He answered, "I was summoned here." Xuanling said, "I see that the officer in charge of the case is delaying you; you have come in vain. I will let you return." As the villager parted from Xuanling and was about to leave, he saw an old woman from his village, who said to him, "Since you have come here, will you not take a look at the place where I suffer punishment?" Thereupon he saw a cauldron boiling vigorously, cooking and boiling sinners. The old woman said, "You may tell my husband to produce a copy of the Lotus Sūtra for me. If he grants this, ten days from now you may report back to me at the head of the water south of the village." When the villager revived, he immediately called her husband and told him to copy the sūtra. The husband urgently bought paper for him and commissioned the copying. When the previously appointed day arrived, the villager went to the waterside, but instead saw another old woman, who said to him, "Are you the one previously asked to commission the copying of the sūtra?" The villager said, "I am." The old woman said, "On the day the previous woman's husband bought the paper for her, she was already reborn in heaven. That is why she could not come to meet you today at the appointed time. She left a message bidding me to report this to you." When she finished speaking, she was no longer to be seen.