Speaker 1: The wonderful stone from the Chinese in the prefecture of
shun Tiin there lived a man named Sing Yun Fei,
who was an amateur meteorologist and would pay any price
for a good specimen. One day, as he was fishing
in the river, something caught his net, and diving down,
he brought up a stone about a foot in diameter,
beautifully carved on all sides to resemble clustering hills and peaks.
He was quite as pleased with this as if he
had found some precious stone, and having had an elegant
sandalwood stand made for it, he set his prize upon
the table. Whenever it was about to rain, clouds which
from a distance looked like new cotton wool, would come
forth from each of the holes or grottoes on the
stone and appear to close them up. By and by,
an influential personage called at the house and begged to
see the stone, immediately seizing it and handing it over
to a lusty servant at the same time whipping his
horse and riding away. Hassing was in despair, but all
he could do was to mourn the loss of his
stone and indulge his anger against the thief. Meanwhile, the
servant who had carried off the stone on his back,
stopped to rest at a bridge, when all of a
sudden his hands slipped and the stone fell into the water.
His master was extremely put out at this and gave
him a sound beating, subsequently hiring several divers, who tried
every means in their power to recover the stone, but
were quite unable to find it. He then went away,
having first published a notice of reward, and by these
means many were tempted to seek for the stone. Soon after,
Saying himself came to the spot, and as he mournfully
approached the bank lo the water became clear and he
could see the stone lying at the bottom. Taking off
his clothes, he quickly jumped in and brought it out,
together with the sandal wood stand which was still with it.
He carried it off to his home, but, being no
longer desirous of showing it to people, he had an
inner room cleaned and put it in there. Some time afterwards,
an old man knocked at the door and asked to
be allowed to see the stone, whereupon Saying replied that
he had lost it a long time ago. Isn't that
it in the inner room, said the old man, smiling. Oh,
walk in and see for yourself if you don't believe me,
answered Singh. And the old man did walk in, and
there was a stone on the table. This took sing
very much back, and the old man then laid his
hand upon the stone and said, this is an old
family relic of mine. I lost it many months since
how does it come to be here? I pray you
now restore it to me. Hassein didn't know what to say,
but declared he was the owner of the stone, upon
which the old man remarked, if it is really yours,
what evidence can you bring to prove it? Hasseing made
no reply, and the old man continued to show you
that I know this stone. I may mention that it
has altogether ninety two grottos, and that in the largest
of these are five words a stone from heaven above.
Hasing looked and found that there were actually some small characters,
no larger than grains of rice, which, by straining his
eyes a little, he managed to read. Also that the
number of grottos was as the old man had said. However,
he would not give him the stone, and the old
man laughed and asked, pray, what right have you to
keep other people's things? He then bowed and went away,
his saying, escorting him as far as the door. But
when he returned to the room, the stone had disappeared.
In a great fight, he ran after the man, who
had walked slowly and was not far off, and, seizing
his sleeve, entreated him to give back the stone. Do
you think, said the latter, that I could conceal a
stone a foot in diameter in my sleeve? But Haseai
knew that he must be superhuman and let him back
to the house, where he threw himself on his knees
and begged that he might have the stone. Is it
yours or mine? Asked the old man. Of course it
is yours, replied saying, though I hope you will consent
to deny yourself the pleasure of keeping it. In that case,
said the old man, it is back again, And going
into the inner room, they found the stone in its
old place. The jewels of this world, observed the Saint's
visitor should be given to those who know how to
take care of them. This stone can choose its own master,
and I am very pleased that it should remain with you.
At the same time, I must inform you that it
was in too great a hurry to come into the
world of mortals, and has not yet been freed from
all contingent calamities. I had better take it away with
me in three years. Hence you shall have it again. If, however,
you insist on keeping it, then your span of life
will be shortened by three years, that your terms of
existence may harmonize together. Are you willing a sing? Said
he was. Whereupon the old man, with his fingers, closed
up three of the stone's grottoes, which yielded to his
touch like mud. When this was done, he turned to
Sing and told him that the grottos on that stone
represented the years of his life. And then he took
his leave, firmly, refusing to remain any longer, and not
disclosing his name. More than a year after this, Hussaying
had occasion to go away on business, and in the
night a thief broke in and carried off the stone,
taking nothing else at all. When the scene came home,
he was dreadfully grieved, as if his whole object in
life was gone, and made all possible inquiries and efforts
to get it back. But without the slightest result. Some
time passed, when, one day, going into a temple, the
saying noticed a man selling stones, and among the rest
he saw his old friend. Of course, he immediately wanted
to regain possession of it, but as the stone seller
would not consent, he shouldered the stone and went off
to the nearest Mandarin. The stone seller was then asked
what proof he could give that the stone was his,
and he replied that the number of grottos was eighty nine.
Hassaing inquired if that was all he had to say,
and when the other acknowledged that it was, he himself
told the magistrate what were the characters inscribed within, also
calling attention to the finger marks at the closed up grottos.
He therefore gained his case, and the Mandarin would have
bambooed the stone seller had he not declared that he
bought it in the market for twenty ounces of silver,
whereupon he was dismissed. A high official next offered Hassing
one hundred ounces of silver for it, but he refused
to sell it even for ten thousand, which so enraged
the would be purchaser that he worked up a case
against his singh and got him put in prison. Hassingh
was thereby compelled to pawn a great deal of his property,
and then the official sent someone to try if the
affair could not be managed through his son, to which hasain.
On hearing of the attempt, steadily refused to consent, saying
that he and the stone could not be parted even
in death. His wife, however, and his son laid their
heads together and sent the stone to the high official,
and the Saying only heard of it when he arrived
home from the prison. He cursed his wife and beat
his son, and frequently tried to make away with himself,
though luckily his servants always managed to prevent him from succeeding.
At night, he dreamed that a noble looking personage appeared
to him and said, my name is shing Chhang has
sea stone from heaven. Do not grieve. I purposely quitted
you for a year and more. But next year, on
the twentieth of the eighth moon, at dawn, come to
the high tie gate and buy me back for two
strings of cash. The Saying was overjoyed this stream and
carefully took down the day mentioned. Meanwhile, the stone was
at the official's private house, but as the cloud manifestations seized,
the stone was less and less prized, and the following year,
when the official was disgraced for maladministration and subsequently died,
Hassaying met some of his servants at the high tide gate,
going off to sell the stone, and purchased it back
from them for two strings of cash. Hassaan lived till
he was eighty nine, and then, having prepared the necessities
for his interment, bade his son bury the stone with him,
which was accordingly done. Six months later, the robbers broke
into the vault and made off with the stone, and
his son tried in vain to secure their capture. However,
a few days afterwards, he was traveling with the servants
when suddenly two men rushed forth, dripping with prospiration, and
looking up into the air, acknowledged their crime, saying, mister Singh,
please don't terment us. Thus we took the stone and
sold it for only four ounces of silver. Hasaning son
and his servants then seized these men and took them
before the magistrate, where they at once acknowledged their guilt.
Asking what had become of the stone, they said they
had sold it to a member of the magistrate's family,
and when it was produced, that official took such a
fancy to it that he gave it to one of
his servants and bade him place it in the treasury. Thereupon,
the stone slipped out of the servant's hand and broke
into a hundred pieces, to the great astonishment of all present.
The magistrate now had the thieves bambooed and sent them away,
But has saying son picked up the broken pieces of
the stone and buried them in his father's grave.