Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/298

 286 CHINESE LITERATURE

I have done with it : I shall never get across that bridge.'

" While these two were in the middle of their dispute, lo and behold a boat appeared in sight, with a man punting it along, and calling out, ' The ferry ! the ferry ! ' At this Hsiian Tsang was overjoyed, and shouted to his disciples that they would now be able to get across. By his fiery pupil and golden iris, Wu-k'ung knew that the ferryman was no other than Namo Pao-chang- kuang-wang Buddha ; but he kept his knowledge to himself, and hailed the boat to take them on board. In a moment it was alongside the bank, when, to his un- utterable horror, Hsuan Tsang discovered that the boat had no bottom, and at once asked the ferryman how he proposed to take them across. ' My boat,' replied the ferryman, ' has been famed since the resolution of chaos into order, and under my charge has known no change. Steady though storms may rage and seas may roll, there is no fear so long as the passenger is light. Free from the dust of mortality, the passage is easy enough. Ten thousand kalpas of human beings pass over in peace. A bottomless ship can hardly cross the great ocean ; yet for ages past I have ferried over countless hosts of passengers.'

" When he heard these words Wu-k'ung cried out, ' Master, make haste on board. This boat, although bottomless, is safe enough, and no wind or sea could overset it.' And while Hsiian Tsang was still hesitating, Wu-k'ung pushed him forwards on to the bridge ; but the former could not keep his feet, and fell head over heels into the water, from which he was immediately rescued by the ferryman, who dragged him on board the boat. The rest also managed, with the aid of Wu-

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