“Continuation of New Stories from the Burning Lamp” by Li Zhen in brief summary
Notes on the screen with lotus flowers
A young official named Ying went by water to the place of service. The boatman coveted their goods, threw In into the river, interrupted the servants, and the widow, Mrs. Wang, planned to betray her son.
The young lady, lulled by the vigilance of the robber, in a short time fled and reached the convent, where she found shelter.
She was good-natured, and she also had a wonderful brush.
Somehow an occasional guest who got a night’s lodging in a monastery, in gratitude, donated to the abbess a picturesque scroll with a picture of lotus flowers, which she hung on an unpainted screen. Madame Wang immediately recognized her husband’s hand. She asked the abbess about the donor, she called a certain Gu Asya, a boatman.
The widow wrote a poem in memory of her husband on the scroll. Soon the casual connoisseur, admiring the scroll and the verse inscription, bought it together with the screen and then gave one
Then Yin caught sight of the scroll with lotuses and learned his thing and his wife’s hand. The dignitary promised to catch the robber, but while Ina settled in his house.
An investigation began, and soon the name of the man who gave the scroll to the monastery and the name of the nun who made the inscription was found out. The dignitary decided to invite the nun to himself – supposedly for reading the sutras. His wife asked the guest. She really was the wife of Ina. The boatman was observed, then grabbed, discovering with him all the goodness of Ina. The robber was executed, the stolen was returned to the victim. Ying was happy.
But it was time to return to the service.
All their lives they stayed together and always thanked destiny and people who joined them after separation.
Night tour of Chang’an
It happened in those years when peace and tranquility reigned in the Middle Kingdom. The heir’s entourage, among others, included two outstanding talent scientists – Prince Tang and Prince Wen. It was their custom to gather during leisure hours at the feast table, and even wander around the neighborhood, visiting abandoned temples and monasteries.
Once they decided to visit the grave hills – the tombs of the sovereigns of the former dynasties. They volunteered to accompany the official of the local government Uma Qi Ren. Halfway up the horse under Qi Ren limped, and Qi Ren had to be left behind. He lowered his reins and trusted the horse. Imperceptibly dark. The area around was deserted. The traveler began to fear. Suddenly, a light in the darkness flickered ahead. Chi Ren rose – a simple hut, the doors wide open, the lamp in the hut about to go out.
The servant called the hosts. There was a young man, and then his wife – an extraordinary beauty, for nothing that in a simple dress, without blush and whitened. We set the table. Utensil is not rich, but very elegant. Food and drink are excellent.
When they finished the wine, the hostess admitted to the guest that she and her husband are people of the Tang dynasty and live here for about seven hundred years. Rarely does anyone wander into their house, and so they would like to tell something to the guest.
It turned out that in ancient times they lived in the capital city of Chang’an. They kept the pancake, although both came from the same estate. Just in a troubled time decided to hide in obscurity. In trouble, a powerful nobleman who lived next door fell in love with a beautiful pancake-maker and took her to his homestead with force. However, she vowed to remain faithful to her husband, did not utter a word in princely chambers, did not yield to promises, remaining firm. This lasted a month. The prince did not know what to do, and the woman only begged to let her go home.
The rumor of the incident penetrated the city. Scoffers claimed that the pancake volunteer gave his wife to the prince. Came to officials who were in charge of weather records of the capital’s events. Those who did not check everything, and recorded something and added something from themselves, And the various scribes tried: they made all sorts of slanderous. In fact, only the persistent requests of her husband forced the prince to let the woman go home.
The story was struck by Qi Ren. He was surprised that such an example of high fidelity passed by the attention of poets and writers. He was struck by the way in which the unfortunate insults inflicted on them are still alive. Meanwhile, the insulted husband began to remember those who erected a slander on him: all these were small people, trampled on duty and ritual. And the prince himself did not even know about virtue. The wine was doped, the lamp burned out. The hosts presented their guest with their compositions, laid him on a bench in the eastern office. Soon the dawn dawned, in the distant temple a bell struck. Qi Ren opened his eyes. Looked around. Around empty, no buildings. His dress is covered with thick grass and is soaked. The horse chews the grass unhurriedly.
Returned home, showed the compositions to friends. Those admired – the authentic style of the Tang era! They were told to print, so that they could survive for centuries.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)