法苑珠林 75.44

75.44

In the Han, there was a man named Tan Sheng. At forty he had no wife. He was always moved with zeal as he chanted the scriptures, not sleeping throughout the night. At midnight, a lovely maiden of fifteen or sixteen, whose beauty, countenance, and attire were peerless in the realm, came to join Tan Sheng, and they became husband and wife. She said to him: 'I do not pass the night in the manner of ordinary mortals. Be careful never to illuminate me with fire. Only after three years have passed may you shine light on me.' Tan Sheng lived with her as husband and wife, and she bore a son who was already two years old. Unable to restrain himself, one night while she was asleep, he secretly lit a light to inspect her. Below her waist she was flesh like an ordinary person, but above her waist she was only dry bone. The wife awoke and thereupon departed, saying: 'You have betrayed me. My body was just about to complete its transformation. Why could you not endure for one more year, but insisted on shining a light on me?' Tan Sheng apologized, weeping incessantly. She said: 'Though you and I have great obligations to each other, we must part now. Yet thinking of my child, I fear you are poor and unable to sustain yourself; follow me for a while, and I will bequeath you some goods.' Tan Sheng followed her into a splendid hall and an orchid-scented chamber, filled with extraordinary vessels and furnishings. She gave him a pearl-adorned coverlet and said: 'This will suffice for your sustenance.' She tore off the hem of Tan Sheng's robe, kept it, bid him farewell, and departed. Later, Tan Sheng took the coverlet to the marketplace. The King of Suiyang purchased it for ten million cash. The King recognized it and said: 'This is my daughter's coverlet! How could it be in the market? This man must have ransacked my daughter's tomb!' He then arrested and interrogated Tan Sheng. Tan Sheng answered fully with the truth. The King still did not believe him, so he went to inspect his daughter's tomb. The tomb was completely undisturbed, as before. Opening it to look, under the coffin lid they indeed found the hem of the robe. He summoned the boy to look at him, and his features resembled the King's daughter. The King thereupon believed him, immediately released Tan Sheng, reinstated his status, and accepted him as his son-in-law, memorializing the throne to make his son a Gentleman-of-the-Palace. (The single verification above is from the *Soushen ji*.)