BAF 64 - Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat, page 11
part #64 of Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series
“One moves among us,” exclaimed the readiest of the band. “Let each man touch his brother’s hand, so that nothing may escape between us, and thus go forward.”
Tong So pressed back into the wall, compelling his body to merge itself into the interstices of the sculptured surface. He closed his eyes, ceased to breathe, and composed his mind into an alert tranquillity. A hand swept across his face as the line moved past, but the rigorous confinement of the cave had frozen his outer surface so that its touch in no way differed from that of the marble images on either side. The searchers passed on, and presently they stood before the farther wall.
“Nothing can have escaped our discovering hands,” declared the leader. “He who was here has certainly crept out. Disperse yourselves about the inner courts, if haply we may yet take him.”
When they were gone, Tong So came forth from his place of refuge and quickly forced the Green Eye from its setting. The jewel secured, he took his stand behind the open door and in a simulated voice raised a disturbing cry.
“Ho, keepers of the Sacred Nong, to your stations all! That which we guard is assailed by treachery!”
Like a wave of the flood-driven Whang Ho, back swept the band into the darkness of the sanctuary. When all had passed inside and were surging about the statue of the despoiled god, Tong So slipped out, drew close the door, and made fast the bolt. From that point the way of his escape was easy.
Memorable in the annals of the heroic brotherhood of thieves within I-kang was the night when Tong So returned among them and displayed the great green jewel called the Sacred Eye of Nong. A feast was called for the next day, all cheerfully contributing from their store, and when they were assembled, Tong So was installed upon a dais with flattering acclamation. Pe-hung alone maintained a secluded air, although his gluttonous instincts impelled him to push forward at the feast, to which, however, he had contributed less than a righteous share. “The larger the shadow grows, the nearer is the sun to setting,” was his invariable reply to those who taunted him with Tong So’s success, moreover adding, “And the lizard that essayed to become a crocodile burst at the moment of attainment,” until presently they ceased to molest him.
When the repast was over, the most elderly person among those present rose to express himself, at the same time pointing out the patriarchal length of his venerable pigtail in furtherance of his claim to lead their voices. As his remarks were chiefly concerned with the inscrutability of the gods, the uncertainty of the price and quality of rice-spirit, the insatiable depravity of the official watchers of the streets, and the unapproachable perfection of his own immediate ancestors, he was thrust somewhat impatiently aside and room made for another.
“The time approaches when the more industrious and less garrulous members of our praiseworthy craft would seek the Ways,” he reasonably declared, “nor is it necessary to procure a sack wherein to bear away a single coin. A searching test has been made, and Tong So has conformed to its requirements. Is it agreed that he should be our leader?”
“Haply,” interposed the foremost among those who had hitherto opposed Tong So’s cause, “yet Pe-hung still remains.”
“Inevitably—so long as any food likewise remains,” capably replied the other. “Does Pe-hung then raise a claim?”
“The inference is inexact,” retorted Pe-hung assertively, “nor is it necessary for this person to crave that which devolves by right. Out of a courteous regard for his youth and inexperience, Tong So was given the first essay, and by chance the jewel fell into his large open hand. Manifestly, it is contrary to our just rule that this person should now be set aside because through his benevolence the accomplishment of the test is no longer within man’s power.”
“It is but seemly,” declared Tong So, checking with a persuasive glance those who would have answered Pe-hung’s craft with ridicule. “Yet were the possibility still present would you now maintain your former boast that you likewise could bear off the jewel?”
“Assuredly,” replied Pe-hung, his confidence enlarged by the impossibility of submitting him to the test, “and that by so daring and ingenious a scheme that the lustre of the deed would have brought undying honour to our fraternity within I-kang.”
“Then let your unassuming heart rejoice at the prospect of our well-sustained felicity!” exclaimed Tong So. “Learn now, O fortunate Pe-hung, that the Green Eye of Nong again adorns his sacred face and awaits thy supple thumb!”
“It has been recovered?” cried those around. “You have suffered this ineptitude?”
“By no means,” replied Tong So, “but, foreseeing this entanglement, I caused it to be restored to its socket after displaying it to you, so that no ground for dissension should exist among our harmonious band.”
For a measurable space of time, all power of speech was denied even to the most fluent tongue. Then those who had favoured Pe-hung burst forth:
“But the loss to each one of us which this expedient entails—therein you have done evilly, Tong So. The value was that of a camel-load of jade.”
“Loss!” exclaimed Tong So reprovingly. “Who speaks of loss while Pe-hung still remains? Not only will he duly fulfill his spoken word, but with the jewel he will bring back the lusty matter for an offensive song, which Chi-ching shall set to music for our winter fires.”
“A full-throated verse shall therein be retained for your pestilential virtues, O ill-disposed Tong So!” replied Pe-hung with heavy-laden breath, as he made ready to depart. “Lo, I go to efface the memory of your puny efforts.”
When he had gone and there remained only Tong So and those who were wholly favourable to his cause, that broadminded person further disclosed the reason of his course.
“It is one thing to cast a noose about a tiger’s neck,” he remarked, “but it involves another attitude to conduct it to an awaiting cage. Had we retained the sacred relic, the undying enmity of the priests of Nong would have sought us out. That, perchance, we might have evaded had it not been that those who traffic in such stones one and all refused to face the risk of its disposal. Another outlet could doubtless have been found were it not that our spoil consisted of a worthless counterfeit, the real gem having been abstracted by an earlier one in the distant past. Thus the path of Pe-hung’s success is fringed by many doubts and harassments, against which it would have been well to warn him had he been a person of sympathetic outlook.”
In such a manner Tong So became the chosen leader of the company of thieves about I-kang. In this he had their unanimous voice, for Pe-hung was never seen again among their haunts. The better-disposed toward him contended that he had fallen beneath the vengeance of the priests of Nong during a valiant attempt to repossess the jewel. Others, however, claimed that in a distant city there was one resembling him in the grossness of his outline who endeavoured to extort a meagre livelihood from the large-hearted by publicly beating his head and body with a brick. But this does not concern Tong So.
II
Showing How Slight a Matter Went Hand in Hand with Tong So’s Destiny
At a convenient spot outside I-kang, where it was well protected from the attacks of passing demons by an intersecting gorge, stood the ornamental residence of Fan Chin, a retired ginseng merchant.
In spite of this, Fan Chin did not enjoy an immunity from every kind of evil, for, as the proverb says, “however deep you dig a well, it affords no refuge in the time of flood,” and the distant and solitary position of’ the house encouraged those who were desirous of sharing in Fan Chin’s prosperity. No matter the fierceness of the hounds he procured or the vigilance of the watchers he employed, few moons ever passed without some industrious person penetrating beyond his outer walls. Indeed, the hounds frequently attached themselves to those who thus intruded, for the training of all creatures of this kind lay in the hands of Tong So’s associates, while the hired watchers were generally those of his company who had for the time found it desirable to seek a less violent manner of living owing to some injury received in the course of their ordinary occupation.
So convenient was it to despoil Fan Chin’s possessions that Tong So himself charitably refrained, in order to encourage deserving but inexperienced members of his band or to leave a facile certainty for the aged and infirm. It was by such considerate acts that the affection of his followers was nourished, so that in time Tong came to be regarded as the Father and the Elder Brother of all good thieves.
One night, toward the middle part of the darkness, Tong So was walking with the hunchback Chu when by chance they found themselves outside the walls of Fan Chin’s garden.
Up to that point, their discourse had been of a philosophical nature, concerned with the Essentials, the Ultimate Destinies, and the like, but discovering an iron implement within his sleeve Chu thereupon displayed it and began to speak to a more definite end.
“Ill fortune has of late attended all my efforts, while a misbegotten blow from a wooden staff, carried by an officious watcher of the street, has corroded my left thumb with acrimony. You also, Tong So, are but sparsely clad. Let us therefore accompany one another into the secluded part of this well-stocked mansion and there replenish our necessities.”
“The project is a worthy one, and this person would gladly enter into it and perform an allotted part, were it not that for a specific reason he has hitherto refrained,” replied Tong So candidly. “Nevertheless, without requiring any share of the expected profit, he will cheerfully remain here in an alert attitude and will at once fell to the ground any who should attempt to impede your intrepid progress.”
Upon this understanding, Chu went forward and quickly forced his way into the remoter portions of the house. The watchers whom he encountered greeted him familiarly and courteously indicated in which direction the path of safety lay. Thus guided, Chu had no difficulty in filling his sack with suitable merchandise, and was on the point of withdrawing when the avaricious Fan Chin, whom an unworthy suspicion had kept awake, suddenly appeared at an angle of the wall. He was heavily armed at every point of his attitude, while the hunchback’s movements were involved with the burden under which he staggered. In this extremity, it would have gone doubtfully with Chu had he not already resourcefully filled his mouth from a flask of Fan Chin’s raisin wine against such an emergency. The stream of this he now vigorously propelled into the other person’s menace-laden face, compelling him to drop the weapons in order to clear his eyes of liquid bitterness.
As Tong So and Chu again turned their steps toward I-kang, they resumed their former discourse, nor did either refer to the details of the undertaking until they reached the parting of their ways. There the latter person raised a detaining gesture.
“Although you have not actually shared in the full flavour of the adventure, yet by remaining aggressively outside and by sustaining me with your virtuous encouragement, you have undoubtedly played an effective part. Accompany me, therefore, to my criminally acquired hovel and there select from this much distended sack whatever is deemed worthy of your tolerant acceptance.”
“The suggestion is a gracious one,” replied Tong So, “and fittingly illustrates the high standard of benevolence which marks those of our band. Observe how the sordid-stomached Fan had been in possession of these goods for a score of years or more, but never during that period had he once invited this necessitous person to share the most attenuated fraction of his store; yet no sooner do they pass into your hands than you freely bestow on me the fullness of my choice.”
“Your indulgent words cover me with honourable confusion,” stammered the gratified Chu. “How should I divide an egg with you, who are my father and my elder brother too?”
Conversing in this mutually helpful manner, they reached the hunchback’s home. Here they quickly made themselves secure and then proceeded to display the rewards of their industry. These included wares and utensils of many kinds, silks and fabrics from the walls and seats, suitable apparel as well as coverings for the head, the ears and feet, food of the richer sorts, and here and there a silver-mounted carving.
“Beneath my decayed but hospitable roof all things are yours,” declared Chu, indicating by a gesture that he pushed the entire contents of the sack away from him.
“That which grows on the tree of enterprise should be eaten off the bough,” replied Tong So no less generously, and he was indicating by means of a like gesture that he renounced all claim to any part thereof when the vigour of his action laid bare an object which an inadvertent movement on Chu’s part had hitherto successfully concealed beneath the sack.
“-Nevertheless,” continued Tong So as he took it up and regarded it with deepening interest, “a solitary fruit may sometimes legitimately fall into the basket of another. Whence blows this fragrant peach?” and he held out the depicted image of a maiden of surpassing charm, traced with inspired skill upon a plate of ivory set in a golden frame.
“Doubtless it was hidden away among the folds of a piece of silk and thus escaped our scrutiny,” replied Chu freely. “Humiliating as the admission is, this person will not deny that he had until now no inkling of this distinguished prize.”
’There will then be no sense of loss in its withdrawal,” observed Tong pleasantly. “Out of the bountiful flood of your opulent profusion, O worthy Chu, this one object alone will I accept. From this resolve do not attempt to move me.” For an appreciable moment it seemed doubtful whether the hunchback would tamely submit to this decision, so deep and wide was the stream of his devotion, but at the sight of Tong So’s impassive face he bent an acquiescent neck.
“Truly is it written, ‘It is better to keep silence than yield wisdom,’” was his discreet reply. “I bow, chieftain.”
III
His Meeting with Fan Chin and the Manner of His Many-Sided Qualities
On the following day, Tong So again turned his footsteps in the direction of Fan Chin’s mansion, but this time he went alone. At the outer gate he spoke little, but that to a pointed edge, and the one who held the bolt admitted him, so that very soon he stood face to face with Fan Chin himself.
“Greeting,” remarked Tong So affably. “Have you eaten your meritorious rice?”
“So much of it as an ill-nurtured outcast has generously left behind him,” replied Fan Chin, indicating the despoiled confusion of the room. “Nevertheless, you are cheerfully welcome if you have anything to reveal.” He was a man of middle height, dispassionate in manner and evenly balanced in his speech. From time to time he caressed an eye with a cloth of some soft fabric.
“Your moments are as pearls, while my worthless hours are only comparable with lumps of earth; therefore I will trim short my all-too-wordy tongue,” was the reply. “In the deeper solitude of the night, this person chanced upon two who strove over the division of their spoil. By a subtlety he possessed himself of that which they most esteemed. This he would now justly return to the one who can prove his undisputed right.”
“What you say is very surprising, especially as you yourself have all the outward attributes of a hired assassin,” replied Fan Chin, after a moment’s thought. “Can reliance be placed upon your mere assertion?”
“There are four witnesses here to all that I declare; how then can anything but the truth be spoken?”
“Four witnesses?” repeated Fan Chin, to whom this form of testimony was evidently unknown. “Disclose yourself.”
“The heavens above, the earth beneath, and the two who here converse together,” explained Tong So.
“That is undeniable,” admitted Fan. “On the whole I am inclined to credit what you say.”
“Furthermore,” continued Tong, “here is the painted plate of ivory held in a band of gold,” and he displayed the painting that had been the mainspring of his actions. “Is not this a valued part of your possessions?”
“There can no longer be any reasonable scruple as to your integrity,” exclaimed Fan Chin. “You have restored that which alone occasioned an emotion of regret.”
“Doubtless,” assented Tong So; “yet there is an up and a down to every hill, and having convinced you of my virtuous sincerity it now devolves on you to satisfy me of yours.”
“The angle of your misgiving remains somewhat obtuse to my deficient mind,” admitted Fan Chin. “Fill in the outline of your distrust.”
“On the back of the plate of ivory there are traced these words in characters of gold, ’Tsing Yung, of the righteous House of Fan.’ Produce, therefore, the one thus described, so that the similitude may stand revealed, and the essence of your claim is undisputable.”
At this bold challenge, the nature of Fan Chin’s breathing changed and he walked round the room several times before he could frame his lips to a sufficiently discreet reply.
“The requirement is unusual,” he replied at length, “though the circumstances are admittedly out of the common. But, in any case, that which you ask is unattainable. The one depicted is the least of those of my inner chamber, and to add to the burden of this person’s harassment she now lies suspended in the vapours of a malign distemper.”
“Then it is not unlikely that my intervention has been brought about by the protecting powers, desirous of our mutual happiness,” declared Tong So with confidence. “In the past I rendered a certain service to a learned anchorite who in return disclosed to me many healing virtues of the hidden kind. What is the nature of the stricken one’s malady?”
“It takes the form of a dark stupor, whereby the natural forces of the mind and body are repressed. To counteract this, an expert healer from the Capital counselled a decoction prepared from tigers’ bones.”
“The remedy is well enough, but there are subtler and more potent drugs than tigers’ bones,” said Tong with some impatience. “Moreover, you who have been a ginseng merchant doubtless know that every bin has two compartments. Were the bones submitted to a searching test?”
