Page:Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook - Balfour, 1887.djvu/112



"I have no doctrine," replied Shang. "I am perfectly unconscious of possessing any special power. Nevertheless, there is one point which bears upon the matter, and I will try and explain it to you. Lately, two of your number passed a night in my cottage, and I overheard them expatiate upon the great fame and influence of Mr. Fan; saying how he held men's lives in his hand, and how he could enrich the poor and impoverish the rich. All this I believed implicitly; so, regardless of the distance, I came hither; and, having come, I supposed that every word you all uttered was absolutely true. I was only afraid that my own sincerity might fall short of perfection, and that my performance might consequently fall short too; so I ignored all my personal surroundings, and thought nothing of incurring benefits or injuries. My mind was just fixed on one thing, and one thing only; no external object stood in my way. That is my only secret. To-day I am made aware for the first time how I have been abused by your gang. Formerly I kept my amazement and my doubts to myself, and paid close attention to all I heard and saw; now, when I recall my good luck in escaping from death by fire and by water, I tremble at the very recollection and feel hot inside; I quake from head to foot with imaginary terror. Could I dare, think you, to brave such horrors over again?"

From that time forward, whenever the protégés of Fan Tzŭ-hua happened to meet even a starving man or a horse-doctor upon the road, they did not venture to treat him rudely; on the contrary, they made a point of descending from their chariots and bowing to him.

The above occurrence came to the ears of Tsai Wo, who went and told Confucius. " Don't you know," said the Sage, in reply, "that the man of perfect faith can influence even external objects—can move heaven and earth, as well as all ghosts and spirits—and can pass freely throughout space without encountering any obstruction? Is it, then, such a great thing that he should be able to brave dangers, even so far as to enter fire and water? If, when the trustfulness of Shang Ch'iu-k'ai was exercised on hypocrites, he even then found no difficulties in his path, how much more when both