Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/299

 k'ung, to scramble on board ; and then, as the ferryman shoved off, lo ! they beheld a dead body floating away down the stream. Hsiian Tsang was greatly alarmed at this ; but Wu-k'ung laughed and said, ' Fear not, Master ; that dead body is your old self ! ' And all the others joined in the chorus of ' It is you, sir, it is you ; ' and even the ferryman said, ' Yes, it is you ; accept my best congratulations.'

" A few moments more and the stream was crossed, when they all jumped on shore ; but before they could look round the boat and ferryman had disappeared."

The story ends with a list of the Buddhist sfitras and liturgies which the travellers were allowed to carry back with them to their own country.

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