Being questioned so suddenly, Tu Tzuchun could not but give an honest answer, and he at once hung his head.
“I understand. I am very sorry for you,” replied the old man, and for a while he seemed deep in thought. After a few moments he raised his finger and pointed to where the sun’s rays were slanting.
“I will tell you what. When you are standing here in the sunshine, mark carefully where your head casts its shadow. Come to that place at midnight, dig, and you will find a cartload of gold.”
“Is what you tell me true?” the young man answered in astonishment, but when he looked, to his great surprise, the old man had disappeared, nor could he find a trace of him anywhere. He only saw the moon shining whiter and more silvery than before, and, as the crowd surged past him, several restless bats flapped their grey wings across his vision.
Part II
In one day Tu Tzuchun became the richest man in the capital. He had done what the old man had told him, and had dug in the place where the sun had cast the shadow of his head the evening before. There he had found such a quantity of gold that no wagon could be found large enough to carry it.
Tu Tzuchun, now a rich man, at once bought a magnificent mansion, and began to lead an even more luxurious life than the fabled king Genso. He drank the rich wine of Lanling, ate the longan of Kueichou, decorated his rooms with the peony that changes its colour four times a day, and rode in a carriage made from incense-wood, upon a seat of the purest ivory, and … if we were to describe his luxuries one by one, our story would never come to an end.
Hearing all this, his friends, who had never even nodded their heads when they had met him in the street, began to frequent his house day and night, and the number of his acquaintances increased day by day. At the end of six months there was no beautiful woman or accomplished gentleman in all the capital who did not visit him frequently as his guest. Tu Tzuchun gave great banquets every day, and how indescribably gay these banquets were! I will describe to you what happened at such feasts. Tu Tzuchun would drink from a golden goblet filled with costly European wine, while he watched the clever tricks of some Hindu juggler who swallowed a naked sword while around him sat twenty beautiful maidens, ten of them wearing in their hair exquisite lotus flowers made from jade, a precious stone found in China, while the other ten wore peony flowers made from pure agate. These beautiful young women made harmonious music on flutes and harps, charming his senses as he watched the juggler.
But, rich as he was, his money could not last forever, and so in the course of two years he again became a poor man. All his friends, whom he had entertained so lavishly while he was wealthy, gradually ceased to call, and at last not one of them troubled to inquire after him as they passed his door.
At last, when the third spring had passed, he was without a home, and, though he still had many acquaintances in the great city of Loyang, not one of these would offer him a bed to sleep on or a morsel to eat. Not only shelter for the night was refused him, but he was even refused a cup of pure water to quench his thirst.
One evening, being at his wit’s end, he happened to be standing again at the western gate, gazing into the sky watching the setting sun, when suddenly there appeared again before him the same old man with the squint eye, and looking into his face he asked, as before:
“What are you thinking about?”
When Tu Tzuchun saw who it was, he hung his head with shame, and for a while was not able to make any answer. But again the old man repeated his question more kindly, so Tu Tzuchun answered timidly:
“I am thinking of what I shall do, for I cannot find a place to lay my head or pass the night.”
The old man said to him:
“I understand. I am very sorry for you; but, I will tell you what to do. As you stand here in the setting sun, and when your shadow is cast upon the ground, mark that part of it which corresponds to your breast. Come to that place at midnight, dig deep, and you will find a cartload of gold.”
On saying these words the old man again disappeared suddenly among the crowds of passersby.
Again Tu Tzuchun became the richest man in the world, and he at once plunged into the same luxurious manner of living as before. The same peony flowers that change their colour four times a day grew in his garden, and graceful white peacocks dreamed among the flowers, and the Hindu juggler was engaged to entertain his guests … all was as before. And the immense heap of gold, that overflowed the cart which he took to gather it up, was all gone in less than three years.
Part III
“What are you thinking about?”
The old man with the squint eye stood before him again, asking the same question for the third time; and as before Tu Tzuchun stood gazing absentmindedly at the new moon glimmering faintly through the haze.
“I am thinking what I shall do, for I have no place to lay my head or pass the night.”
“I understand. I am very sorry for you, but … I will tell you what to do. Stand here in the rays of the setting sun, and when your shadow is cast upon the ground, carefully mark the spot of the shadow which corresponds to your abdomen. Come here at midnight, and dig in that place, and I am sure you will find a cartload of …”
But
