Chinese Literature

I know your sort. I don’t mind risking my old life to have it out with you.” The old fellow charged at him, head down; but the bandit dodged and the old man fell flat on the ground.

In a rage, the bandit swore: ‘Surly old bull!” He ran the old man through and through with his sword, until all Old Wang’s blood was spilt on the ground and it was clear that he was dead.

When Mrs. Liu saw how fierce this man was, she feared that all was up with her; however, hitting on a desperate plan to save herself she clapped her hands and cried: “Bravo!”

Glaring at her, the bandit stayed his hand to shout: “Who was he to you?”

‘Unhappy that I am,” she lied, “when my husband died I was tricked by the match-makers into marrying this old man who was good for nothing but eating. Now you have killed him for me and rid me of a plague.”

When the bandit saw that she was submissive and not bad-looking, he asked: ‘Will you stay and be my wife?”

Knowing that she had no choice, she answered: “T would like to serve Your Highness.”

Smiling now, the bandit sheathed his sword; and when he had thrown the servant’s corpse into a gully, he led Mrs. Liu towards a mean-looking cottage. He picked up a clod of earth and threw it at the roof, whereupon a man came out to open the gate and they went into the hall. The bandit had a sheep killed and wine heated, then married Mrs. Liu; and, indeed, they got on quite well together, for—

Although they were not meant for man and wife, Necessity inured them to the life.

Curiously enough, in less than half a year after gaining Mrs. Liu, the bandit made several big hauls and became quite rich. Mrs. Liu, who was very intelligent, kept giving him good advice and told him: “The proverb says: An earthen pitcher will sooner or later be broken over the well, and a general is likely to die in battle. We have enough now to keep us in comfort for the rest of our life; but if you go on flouting the will of Heaven, you are bound to come to a bad end. Though an outlaw’s life is good, it is not like having a home. Why don’t you turn over a new leaf and start a small business to make an honest living?”

She pleaded with the bandit day and night, until she prevailed on him to abandon his wicked ways and rent a house in the city where he opened a grocery shop. During his leisure hours he would often go to monasteries to worship Buddha and observe fasts.

One day when he was resting at home, he told his wife: “Though I started life as a bandit, 1 knew that a man has to pay for his crimes, so it was just to make a living that I frightened people into handing over

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