冥報記 3.5

3.5

周武帝。好食雞卵。一食數枚。有監膳儀同名拔彪。常進御食有竉。隋文帝即位。猶監膳進食。開皇中。暴死。而心尚暖。家人不忍殯之。三日乃蘇。能語。先云。舉我見王。為周武帝傳語。既而請見。文帝引問。言曰。始忽見人喚。隨至一處。有大地穴。所行之道。徑入穴中。纔到穴口。遙見西方有百餘騎來。儀衛如王者。俄至穴口。乃周武帝也。儀同拜。帝曰。王喚汝。證我事了。汝身無所罪。言訖即入穴中。使者亦引儀同入。使宮門。引入庭。見武帝共一人同坐。而有加敬之客。使者令儀同拜王。王問。汝為帝作食。前後進白團幾枚。儀同不識白團。顧左右。左右教曰。名雞卵為白團也。儀同即答。帝常食白團。實不說數。王謂帝曰。此人不記。當須出之。帝慘然不悅而起。急見庭前。有一鐵床。并獄卒數十人。皆牛頭人身。帝已臥床上。獄卒用鐵梁押之。帝脅割裂。裂處。雞子全出。俄與床齊。可十餘斛。乃命數之訖。床及獄急皆不見。帝又已在王坐。王謂儀同還去。有人引出至穴口中。又見武帝出來。語儀同云。為聞大隋天子。昔曾與我共事。倉庫玉帛。亦我儲之。我今身為自帝為滅佛法。極受大苦。可為吾作功德也。於是。文帝勅天下人。出一錢。為追福焉（臨外祖齊公親見時歸家。具說云爾）。

Emperor Wu of the Zhou was fond of eating chicken eggs, consuming several at each meal. There was a Director of the Imperial Banquets with the rank of Yitong named Ba Biao, who constantly presented the imperial meals and enjoyed imperial favor. When Emperor Wen of the Sui ascended the throne, he still directed the banquets and presented meals. During the Kaihuang era, he died suddenly, but his heart remained warm; his family could not bear to encoffin him. After three days he revived and was able to speak, saying first, 'Carry me to see the Emperor, to deliver a message on behalf of Emperor Wu of the Zhou!' Thereupon he requested an audience. Emperor Wen summoned him and questioned him, and he said, 'At first, I suddenly saw a person calling me, and I followed him to a place where there was a great cavern. The path we took led directly into the cavern. Just as we reached the mouth of the cavern, I saw from afar over a hundred cavalry approaching from the west, their guard of honor like that of a king. Presently, arriving at the mouth of the cavern, it turned out to be Emperor Wu of the Zhou. I bowed. The Emperor said, "The King has summoned you to bear witness to my affair. You yourself are not guilty of any fault." Having said this, he entered the cavern. The messenger also led me inside to a palace gate and ushered me into the courtyard. I saw Emperor Wu seated together with another person, who was treated as an honored guest with extraordinary respect. The messenger ordered me to pay homage to the King. The King asked, "When you prepared food for the Emperor, how many white dumplings did you present in all?" I did not recognize [the term] "white dumplings." I looked to the attendants, and the attendants instructed me, saying, "Chicken eggs are called white dumplings." I then replied, "The Emperor constantly ate white dumplings; in truth, their number cannot be recounted." The King said to the Emperor, "This person does not remember; it must be extracted from you." The Emperor looked grim and displeased, and stood up. Suddenly, in front of the courtyard, there appeared an iron bed and several tens of hell wardens, all with ox heads and human bodies. The Emperor was already lying on the bed. The hell wardens pressed him down with an iron beam, and the Emperor's flanks cracked open. From the splits, whole eggs poured out, soon reaching the level of the bed, perhaps more than ten hu. The King then ordered them counted. When this was finished, the bed and the hell wardens all vanished, and the Emperor was once more back in his seat beside the King. The King told me to go back. Someone led me out to the mouth of the cavern, where I saw Emperor Wu emerge again. He said to me, "Please tell the Son of Heaven of the Great Sui: In the past you once served together with me, and the storehouses of jade and silk were also accumulated by me. Now, because I destroyed the Buddha-Dharma while emperor, I am enduring extreme, great suffering. May you perform meritorious deeds on my behalf!"' Thereupon Emperor Wen ordered all the people under heaven to contribute one coin to cultivate posthumous merit for him (my maternal grandfather, Duke of Qi, witnessed this in person, returned home, and recounted it in full).