法苑珠林 32.29

32.29

Zuo Ci, whose courtesy name was Yuanfang, was a native of Lujiang. He possessed divine arts. He was once seated with Lord Cao [Cao Cao]. The Lord said, 'At today's grand gathering, I regret only that we do not have sea bass from the Wusong River to make sashimi.' Yuanfang said, 'It can be obtained.' He asked for a bronze basin filled with water. Yuanfang baited a hook on a bamboo pole and fished in the basin. In a moment, he pulled out a sea bass. The Lord clapped his hands heartily, and all present were astonished. The Lord said, 'One fish is not enough for the whole gathering; it would be better to have two.' Yuanfang then baited the hook and fished again. In a moment he pulled it out. Both were over three feet long, fresh and lovely. The Lord had them sliced into sashimi right before their eyes and bestowed them all around the banquet. The Lord said, 'Now that we have the bass, I regret only that we do not have fresh ginger from Shu.' Yuanfang said, 'It can be obtained.' The Lord feared he would simply buy it nearby, so he said, 'I previously sent a man to Shu to buy brocade. You may order someone to tell my envoy to buy an additional two bolts.' The person departed and returned in a moment, obtaining the fresh ginger. He also said, 'I saw your envoy at the brocade shop and have already instructed him to buy two more bolts.' More than a year later, the Lord's envoy returned, and indeed he had bought two additional bolts of brocade. When asked about it, he said, 'On such a month and such a day in the past, I saw a man at the shop who instructed me with your command to buy two additional bolts of brocade.' Later, when the Lord went to the near suburbs, about a hundred scholar-officials accompanied him. Yuanfang then brought a single jar of wine and a piece of dried meat. With his own hands he tilted the jar and served wine to all the officials, and every official was drunk and sated. When the Lord returned and checked with the wine-merchants, all of their wine and dried meat had disappeared the previous day. The Lord detested him and secretly wished to kill Yuanfang. When Yuanfang was seated in the Lord's presence, as they were about to arrest him, Yuanfang stepped backward into the wall and suddenly vanished. The Lord then offered a reward for his capture. Someone saw him in the marketplace and tried to arrest him, but everyone in the market had the same appearance as Yuanfang. Later, someone saw Yuanfang at the top of Mount Yangcheng. A traveler pursued him, and Yuanfang walked into a flock of sheep. The traveler knew that Yuanfang was among the sheep and said to him, 'Lord Cao will no longer kill you. He only wished to test your arts. Now that they are verified, he merely wishes to meet with you.' Suddenly, an old ram among the sheep bent its two front knees, stood upright like a man, and said, 'Why such haste?' The man immediately said, 'This sheep is him!' They vied to go and seize it, but all the several hundred sheep turned into rams, all bent their front knees, stood upright like men, and said, 'Why such haste?' Thereupon no one knew which one to seize. Laozi said, 'The reason I have great misfortune is because I have a body. When I have no body, what misfortune could I have?' Those of Laozi's kind can truly be called able to have no body. Is this not profound?