Hell a Paradise

P’an Kuan, the keeper of the Register of the Living and the Dead, presented a memorial to Yen Wang stating that since Miao Shan’s arrival there was no more pain in Hell; and all the condemned were beside themselves with happiness.  “Since it has always been decreed,” he added, “that, in justice, there must be both a Heaven and a Hell, if you do not send this saint back to earth, there will no longer be any Hell, but only a Heaven.”

“Since that is so,” said Yen Wang, “let forty-eight flag-bearers escort her across the Styx Bridge [Nai-ho Ch’iao], that she may be taken to the pine-forest to reenter her body, and resume her life in the upper world.”

The King of the Hells having paid his respects to her, the youth in blue conducted her soul back to her body, which she found lying under a pine-tree.  Having reentered it, Miao Shan found herself alive again.  A bitter sigh escaped from her lips.  “I remember,” she said, “all that I saw and heard in Hell.  I sigh for the moment which will find me free of all impediments, and yet my soul has re-entered my body.  Here, without any lonely mountain on which to give myself up to the pursuit of perfection, what will become of me?” Great tears welled from her eyes.

A Test of Virtue

Just then Ju Lai Buddha appeared.  “Why have you come to this place?” he asked.  Miao Shan explained why the King had put her to death, and how after her descent into Hell her soul had re-entered her body.  “I greatly pity your misfortune,” Ju Lai said, “but there is no one to help you.  I also am alone.  Why should we not marry?  We could build ourselves a hut, and pass our days in peace.  What say you?” “Sir,” she replied, “you must not make impossible suggestions.  I died and came to life again.  How can you speak so lightly?  Do me the pleasure of withdrawing from my presence.”

“Well,” said the visitor, “he to whom you are speaking is no other than the Buddha of the West.  I came to test your virtue.  This place is not suitable for your devotional exercises; I invite you to come to Hsiang Shan.”

Miao Shan threw herself on her knees and said:  “My bodily eyes deceived me.  I never thought that your Majesty would come to a place like this.  Pardon my seeming want of respect.  Where is this Hsiang Shan?”

“Hsiang Shan is a very old monastery,” Ju Lai replied, “built in the earliest historical times.  It is inhabited by Immortals.  It is situated in the sea, on P’u T’o Island, a dependency of the kingdom of Annam.  There you will be able to reach the highest perfection.”

“How far off is this island?” Miao Shan asked.  “More than three thousand li,” Ju Lai replied.  “I fear,” she said, “I could not bear the fatigue of so long a journey.”  “Calm yourself,” he rejoined.  “I have brought with me a magic peach, of a kind not to be found in any earthly orchard.  Once you have eaten it, you will experience neither hunger nor thirst; old age and death will have no power over you:  you will live for ever.”