On the morning of the fourth day, Tang Tai Zong and his officials came to the gate. On seeing the images, they expressed their amazement at the likeness to the two men. It was as if the two warriors stood there in the flesh.
On the image of Qin Shu Bao was placed armour with the appearance of a tiger. In its two hands, it grasped a long key, and across its midsection it wore a bow and arrows.
The figure of Yu Chi Gong wore lion-like armour, and in its hands it did not carry a spear or iron weapon. His face was not like Qin Shu Bao’s, fair and of a delicate sort of beauty. Instead, his face was red and black, with eyes glaring wide as copper coins. The fierceness of these godlike images caused real fear in the spirit of the headless River God. He did not dare return to disturb Tang Tai Zong’s sleep again.
Tang Tai Zong finally came up with a plan. “Go throughout the country and find the best artist,” he decreed. “Bring him to me. He can craft images of thse two warriors on my city gate, depicting them with most warlike expressions on their faces. That should be enough to frighten the demon away.”
The master artist came and carefully observed Qin Shu Bao and Yu Chi Gong’s appearance. He began to work on a draft of the images, their bearing, colors and hue, that would appear at the gate. He worked nonstop, and after 3 days and 3 nights, he finished the job.
This is a continuation of the translation of the Chinese fairy tale “The God of the Gate”
Hearing this tale, Tang Tai Zong’s face drained of color. He was filled with fear. He had never imagined that the God of the Jing River would have so much difficulty escaping his destiny.
He felt sorry for the River God.
It’s been a while since I last posted a part of this translation (I couldn’t get my hands on my copy of the book while my house was under major renovations for the past month). It will be more regular until it is finished, and then I will post a full version and index to the earlier posts.
Wei Zheng answered, “I had a dream. I dreamt that the Emperor of Heaven sent people to look for me and bring me to the Heavenly Court. They gave me a double-edged sword, and instructed me to carry out the Emperor’s orders to kill a dragon. I then saw before me a dragon covered in golden scales, tightly bound atop a thick bronze pillar. I obeyed the Emperor’s command, raised the sword high and cut off the dragon’s head. The beast’s head was larger than a bull’s head, and it was a frightening sight.”
The fortune teller stroked his beard, closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and said, “Tomorrow afternoon, it will definitely rain in Chang’an. Moreover, it will rain twice, and the water’s depth will reach 300ml.”
When the River God heard this, he could not contain his laughter, thinking to himself, “I am the River God who controls the rainfall, but I myself don’t know whether it will rain tomorrow! How would this guy know? Good! Tomorrow, I will definitely destroy his fortune telling stall!”
