法苑珠林 67.53

67.53

In the second year of the Yongchu reign of the Jin, a ghost suddenly appeared in the household of Zhang Feng of Wu Commandery and said, 'If you share your food with me, I will assist and protect you.' [Zhang] then gave food to the ghost: he spread a mat on the ground, laid out cooked rice upon the mat, and placed meat, wine, and the five delicacies upon it. In this way, having obtained [the food], the ghost no longer violently troubled people. Later, when food was made for it, [Zhang] struck the place where it ate with a knife. He then heard several tens of people weeping, and their weeping was exceedingly mournful, saying, 'Now that we are dead, from where can we obtain a coffin?' He also heard [them say], 'The master's household has a catalpa boat that the slave treasures dearly; we should take it to serve as a coffin.' They saw the boat being carried in, and there was the sound of axes and saws. After the work on the boat was finished, they heard shouting to lift the corpse and place it into the boat. Feng's eyes could see nothing; he only heard the instructions being given, but did not hear the sound of driving nails. Then they saw the boat gradually ascend into the sky, entering into the clouds. After a long while, it vanished, and then fell from the sky; the boat was smashed into a hundred pieces. Then they heard what sounded like several hundred people laughing loudly, saying, 'How could you kill me? Am I one to be trapped by you? You only know malice; I detest your look, so I pushed the boat and smashed it!' (The two evidential accounts above are from the Youming lu.)