法苑珠林 97.51

97.51

漢陳留考城史姁字威明。年少時當得病。臨死謂其母曰。我死當復生。埋我以竹杖柱我瘞上。若杖拔掘出我。及死埋之柱如其言。七日往視之。杖果拔出。即掘屍出活。走至井上浴已。平復如故。復與隣人乘船至下邳。賣鋤不售。思欲歸。謂人曰。我方暫歸。人不信之。何有千里暫得歸耶。答曰。一宿便還。即不相信。作書得報。以為驗實。其一宿便還。果得報書。具知消息。考城令江夏𨝸賈和聞之。姊病在鄉里。欲急知消息。請往省之。路遙三千。再宿報書。具知委曲。

In the Han dynasty, Shi Xu, styled Weiming, of Kaocheng in Chenliu, fell ill when he was young. As he lay dying, he said to his mother: 'When I die, I shall revive. When you bury me, set a bamboo staff upright atop my grave. If the staff is pulled out, dig me up.' When he died, she buried him and set up the staff according to his words. On the seventh day, she went to look, and the staff had indeed been pulled out. She immediately dug out his body, and he revived. He ran to the well, and after bathing, he was fully restored as before. Later, he took a boat with a neighbor to Xiapi to sell hoes, but found no buyers. Wanting to return home, he said to the man: 'I shall make a brief trip home.' The man did not believe him, saying: 'How could you make a brief trip over a thousand li?' He answered: 'I shall return after a single night. If you do not believe me, write a letter, and I will bring back a reply as proof.' He returned after just one night, and indeed brought back a reply letter, fully knowing the news. When Jia He, the magistrate of Kaocheng and native of Jiangxia […] heard of this, his elder sister was ill in their hometown; wanting urgent news, he asked [Shi Xu] to go and inquire after her. The road was three thousand li away, yet after two nights he returned with a reply letter, knowing every detail.