Once upon a time in a certain place there lived three men who
all had the same name -- Genjia. One was the tribal chief, the
second a carpenter, and the third the chief's steward.
Genjia the carpenter was married to an exceptionally beautiful
woman. Genjia the steward fancied her and dreamt day and night
of having her for himself. But she was a very upright woman and
would not let him get anywhere near her. Finally, he was driven
to find some way of killing the carpenter in order to attain his
end.
After a while, the father of Genjia the chief died. The steward
saw in this a golden opportunity for eliminating the carpenter.
Every day he secretly studied the calligraphy of the Buddhist
scriptures and succeeded in reproducing the old-fashioned and
esoteric style in which they were written. He then wrote a document
in this style and handed it to the chief, saying, "Master,
here is a document I came across the other day. I cannot understand
a word of it and have brought it here specially for you to decipher."
Genjia the chief was baffled by the writing and passed it on to
his secretary in charge of documents. After reading it, the secretary
said, "This document claims to be from the old chief. In
it he says that he has ascended to heaven and is now serving as
an official there, but he doesn't have an official mansion. He
asks you, Master, to send him a carpenter -- the most skilled
you have -- to direct the construction of such a mansion."
Genjia the chief thought constantly of his father and was most
concerned to hear that he had nowhere to lay his head in heaven.
He sent for Genjia the carpenter, showed him the document and
ordered him to go to heaven at once.
Genjia the carpenter was greatly startled. He dared not refuse,
however, and could only plead for time, "How could I disobey
your order, Master! But I need some time to prepare. Please allow
me seven days. After that time, please hold a Twig Burning Ceremony
in the hemp field behind my house to send me off. Then I'll be
able to ascend to heaven to build the mansion for the old chief."
Genjia the chief considered this request reasonable and willingly
agreed.
When Genjia the carpenter left, he went round making a few
investigations. He wanted to find out where the chief had got
this idea. He eventually discovered that it had originated in
a classical document found by Genjia the steward. He put two and
two together and concluded that it must be a sinister plot against
him hatched by the steward.
He went home and consulted with his wife. "The most absurd
thing has happened. The chief wants me to go and build a mansion
in heaven. He must have been tricked into it by Genjia the steward.
I did not dare refuse, but asked him to hold a Twig Burning Ceremony
behind our house before I go. It would be no use trying to disobey
him now. There is only one way for me to get out of this alive.
The two of us must dig a tunnel under cover of night leading from
the field to our bedroom, and then you can hide me there later.
In a year's time I will find some way to get even."
The wife was shocked by this tale. Hatred for the steward filled
the very marrow of her bones. She was willing to do anything to
save her husband. So every day when night fell, the two of them
dug the tunnel in secret. On the seventh day it was completed.
They sealed the entrance with a slab of stone and scattered soil
on it, so that people wouldn't notice it.
The eighth day came, the day for the carpenter to ascend to
heaven. At the head of a retinue of elders and stewards and with
a great din of bugles and drums, the chief came to send him off.
They made a pile of faggots in the hemp field and asked Genjia
the carpenter to sling his tool-kit over his shoulder and carry
his bag in one hand. They made him stand in the middle, lit the
faggots and watched the smoke rise, "carrying him up to heaven".
Genjia the steward was afraid that as soon as the faggots were
lit, the carpenter would spoil everything by crying out in terror.
"Come on !" he shouted to the crowd. "Blow your
bugles and beat your drums! Laugh and cheer! Genjia the carpenter
is on his way to heaven to build a mansion for our old chief.
Isn't that a wonderful thing!"
The chief came over to have a look. Genjia the steward pointed
gleefully to the rising smoke and said, "Master, you see,
there goes his horse. Genjia the carpenter is on his way to heaven."
The chief was delighted.
The moment the faggots were lit and the smoke began rising
into the sky, Genjia the carpenter raised the slab and escaped
through the tunnel back to his own bedroom.
He confined himself to his house for a whole year. His wife went
to great lengths to find milk, butter and other nutritious food
for him; and as he did no work, by the end of that year he was
plumper and fairer-skinned than ever.
Meanwhile, Genjia the steward tried a thousand and one ways of
seducing the carpenter's wife, and she tried a thousand and one
ways of avoiding him. He failed completely to attain his goal.
While Genjia the carpenter was hiding at home, he diligently practiced
the calligraphy of the Buddhist scriptures. He prepared a document
written in the authentic style and kept it on his person.
On the first anniversary of his "ascent to heaven"
he went and stood on the very spot where he was supposed to have
been burned, the same tool-kit on his shoulder and the same bag
in his hand. He called out, "How is everybody? I've just
got back from heaven."
His wife was the first to come out. She pretended to be extremely
surprised and hurried over to report the news to the chief.
The chief was very happy when he heard that Genjia the carpenter
was back. He gave him a hero's welcome with bugles and drums,
and invited him to stay in his mansion. He wanted to find out
how his father was faring in heaven.
On meeting the chief, Genjia the carpenter said in a very serious
tone of voice, "When I was constructing the official mansion
in heaven, the old chief treated me with exceptional kindness,
just as you always do, Master. That's why I'm in such good shape!
The mansion is finished, and what a magnificent building it is
-- ten times the size of an earthly manssion! Only one thing is
lacking: a steward. The old chief misses his old steward dearly.
He very much wants the steward to go up to heaven and manage things
for him. After a period of time he can come back." This said,
he promptly produced the document and showed it to the chief,
adding that it was the old chief who had asked him to bring it
down.
Genjia the chief read the document and was totally convinced by
the whole story. Presently he sent for Genjia the steward and
asked him to go and work for the old chief in his newly-built
mansion in heaven.
When Genjia the steward saw Genjia the carpenter standing there
and looking so well after his "ascent to heaven," and
when he heard the vivid description of heaven given by the carpenter,
he just didn't know what to think. "Perhaps I really possess
some sort of magic power", he thought to himself. "It
was my idea for him to go to heaven, and he actually seems to
have done so! Perhaps it really is possible to fly to heaven,
and the old chief really does have a new mansion there!"
He followed the carpenter's example and asked for seven days to
get ready, and a Twig Burning Ceremony to be held in the hemp
field behind his house to send him off to heaven. He thought that
since Genjia the carpenter could come back, he could too. On the
eighth day, as on the previous occasion, Genjia the steward stood
in the middle of the faggots with a box on his shoulder and a
bag in his hand. As on the previous occasion, there was a great
din of bugles and drums, and the chief gave the order to light
the faggots and send him off to heaven.
But the outcome this time was somewhat different. One difference was that after everything was over, a pile of charred bones was found among the ashes. Another difference was that the steward never came back. He stayed on in heaven forever to help the old chief run his mansion.
Source: Favourite Folktales of China, translated by John Minford (Beijing: New World Press, 1983), pp. 87-94. No copyright notice.
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