44
114
SUNG HOK-P'ANG
The
ordinary vegetables such as Bhuddist priests eat, but they smelt very fragrant, and tasted delicious, and the travellers had never tasted anything as good before. When the meal was over, they asked the priest how to get to the capital city, who answered "From here to the capital is more than 200,000 miles, but do not worry, make up your mind to go and you will reach there quickly." Then he asked Chue "Do you know Pooi To?" minister answered "Yes, I know him well." Then the priest pointed to the north wall and shewed him a cloth sack, a tall Abbots staff, and a priests alms bowl hanging there. He said "Those are Pooi To's things. I beg you to give him back this alms bowl when you see him, and this letter that I will give you. And here is a green bamboo stick, which when you get back to your boat, throw into the water in front of the boat and shut the windows of the boat and sit quietly. You need not trouble to row or sail, for you will arrive at the capital very speedily."
1
They all said goodbye and a young priest took them to the monastery door and shewed them a path to follow which would bring them back to their vessel quickly. Once more on board they did what they had been. told, and soon found to their amazement that the boat had left the water and was sailing over the tops of the trees. After three days of this novel means of travel, they reached the Waai river () and arrived at a place named 'Chue Tseuk (*) not far from the capital. Here they espied Pooi To riding along on a big horse, urging it along with a whip. Chue and his companions threw themselves down and began to worship Pooi To, who entered their boat, and they gave him the alms bowl and the letter. Now there were many people about, and when some of them saw the letter, they recognized it as that which Pooi To had written in Chan's house, for it was on two bits of yellow paper and only consisted of a few characters which were ugly and no-one could understand them. Pooi To held the alms bowl in his hand, and laughed. He said “Oh, they want me to go home and throw this bowl into the sky and catch it again. But I haven't seen the bowl for four thousand years!"
Another version of this story recounts that when Chue reached the island he met a priest carrying the alms bowl who said "I was a pupil of Pooi To. Formerly I held this bowl, but I died in 2Ye Shing Monastery (冶城寺) Now I ask you to return this bowl to Pooi To for me. When you get to your boat, hold it in front of the boat and let one man hold the tiller, and you will reach the capital safely." And the minister did what he had been told, and reached Pooi To, as described before.
Pooi To must have returned to Chan's family by then because the story tells that on that day he had left Chan's house early and did not return till dark. The following morning Chan rose up early, and found that Pooi To had disappeared, but on his door, written in childish and uneducated characters, were, the words "Happiness family. The holy man will come and live there." After that Pooi To never returned to Chan's family again, but he made several mysterious appearances and disappearances in the city, working miracles and curing sick people.
The Hong Kong Naturalist.