Journal of American Folk-Lore/Volume 12/Issue 44/Folk-Lore Scrap-Book

FOLK-LORE SCRAP-BOOK.

Ghosts as Guardians of Hidden Treasure.—From the "Southern Workman and Hampton School Record," for March, 1898, we copy two negro ghost stories. The editor remarks that "the ghost in negro folk-lore is a being often misunderstood. If met with courage, he rewards those who speak to him, as he is in many cases the guardian of concealed treasure. The two stories here given, one from the western part of Virginia and one from southern Alabama, are alike in showing this characteristic:"—

The Rich Ghost.—Once upon a time, in a lonely little house upon a hill, there lived a man and his wife. The husband worked down in the town all day, and the wife worked at home alone. Every day, at noon, when the clock was striking twelve, she was startled by the pale, ghost-like figure of a man that stood in the doorway and watched her. She was very much frightened, and told her husband that she could not stay in that house any longer. But they were very poor, and the rent was cheaper than they could find elsewhere. While the husband was looking for another house, the preacher came to see the wife. She told him about the pale-faced ghost that continually watched her. The preacher told her to sit down before her looking-glass with her back to the door and read a certain passage from the Bible backward. Then she must turn her chair around, look the ghost in the face and ask him, "What do you want here?" The very next day she did as she was told. At first her voice trembled and she did not think that she could finish, but strength came to her and she read it. Then she turned upon the ghost and asked him the question. His face was frightful to look upon, but he told her to take her hoe and follow him. He led her to a lonely spot and rolled away a large stone and commanded her to dig. She dug until she was exhausted and the hoe fell from her hand. He jerked it up and dug until she had regained her strength. Then she commenced to dig again and at last struck something hard. He commanded her to stop, then stooped down and with wonderful strength drew up a large earthen pot. Upon taking off the cover, she saw, by the dim light of the setting sun, gold and silver coins in great abundance. The ghost told her to go home and tear the plastering from off the western corner of her little one-room house, and she would find a package of letters. From these she must get his brother's address and send him half of the hidden treasure. The other half was for herself. She did as she was told. The pale-faced ghost was never seen again, and she was made a rich woman and they lived happily ever afterward.

Rosa Hunter.

The Boy and the Ghost.—Once there was a very rich family of people and they all died. Everybody was afraid to go there. Finally some one set up a sign-board which said, "Any one who will go to this house and stay over can have the house and all that is in it."

A poor boy came along and read it. "I will go," said he, and he went at sunset. He found all he wanted and went to work to cook his supper. Just as he was ready to eat it he heard a voice from the top of the chimney. He looked up and saw a leg. The leg said, "I am going to drop." "I don't keer," said the boy, "jes' so 's you don' drap in my soup."

The leg jumped down on a chair, and another leg came and said, "I am going to drop." "I don't keer," said the boy, "so you don' drap in my soup." One after another, all the members of a man came down in this way.

The little boy said, Will you have some supper? Will you have some supper?" They gave him no answer. "Oh," said the little boy, "I save my supper and manners, too." He ate his supper and made up his bed. "Will you have some bedroom? Will you have some bedroom?" said the little boy. No answer. " Oh," said the little boy, "I save my bedroom and my manners, too," and he went to bed.

Soon after he went to bed the legs pulled him under the house and showed him a chest of money. The little boy grew rich and married.

Penalties for injuring Chinese Scriptures, and Rewards for their Distribution.—In the Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xxviii., 1898, Rev. G. W. Clarke gives an account of the Yü-li, or Precious Records, from which an extract has already been given. Below are cited examples of rewards and punishments for the reverent or irreverent treatment of these works (pp. 256, 257). "Mr. P‘au, M. A., of Kwie-Tong hsien, in a. d. 1750, disfigured the Yü-li by crossing out the sentences he disliked and by introducing his strictures on the pages. One evening the Goddess of Mercy visited his neighborhood. At night-time P‘au opened the front door to go out into the street, but he fell, and could not raise himself. He ordered his son to bring out the Yü-li and give it to a neighbor to take to the Tong Yu Miao. His son entered the room and found it to be filled with fire, and perished in the room. Mrs. P‘au fled in her night-dress to save her life, and in her flight stumbled over her husband. P‘au confessed to his neighbors how he had disfigured the Yü-li, and soon afterwards he died from his burns, and dogs came and ate his flesh. Mrs. P‘au was ashamed to return to her neighbors in her night attire. She met a beggar and married him; what became of her after- wards is not known."

On this Mr. Clarke remarks: "Every city has its Tong Yu Miao, or Ch‘en Hwang Miao. The God of Hades, who governs a corresponding district in the spirit world, is supposed to reside in the temple. These temples are often used as the court of appeal by mandarins, literati, and people. For instance, when a man is to be executed, he has his name and his crime written upon a small flag. As soon as decapitation has taken place, a gun is fired to notify the governor, and a yamen employee hastens to the Ch‘en Hwang temple to inform the idol that So-and-so has been beheaded, and bid him take care of the spirit. If a robbery or murder takes place, the mandarin or an employee will go with an offering to the idol and state the case, and beseech his help to capture the offender. When he is caught, theatricals are given in his honor, or a large tablet presented to the temple."

"Mr. Hwang, of Ta-Shin hsien, was an overseer of the scholars of a certain district. He and his wife were very virtuous and delighted in doing good works. During his term of office he had cut several sets of blocks of good books, and printed several thousand copies and distributed them gratuitously. Mrs. Hwang had the blocks of the Yü-li cut; she had a large Dumber printed and gave them away. She also bought and set at liberty several thousands of birds and fishes. They had five sons, and all of them, during the reign of the Emperor K'ang Shi (A.D. 1662–1723), attained high honors as civil and military mandarins."

In regard to this latter extract Mr. Clarke observes that the scholars of every city are under the charge of an overseer, by which means concentrated opposition can be brought against Christian missionary effort. "In many parts of China the virtuous people have what is called a Fang Sen Hwie, i. e. a 'Society for Liberating Life.' It is believed that animals, birds, fishes, and insects are possessed by some one's spirit ; if their death is prevented, the spirit obtains some mitigation of the pains of hell; therefore much merit is obtained by setting at liberty living creatures. A meeting of the members is convened every year. If near the water, as at Ta-li fu, they have a picnic on the water, and fishermen do a good trade by selling live fish cheaply, and their purchasers throw them into the lake. Sometimes sparrows are bought, but I have never heard of an ox or horse being bought for this purpose. First, it would be too dear, and, secondly, it would soon be recaptured. It can be seen that the Chinese believe that distribution of relief during a time of famine is reckoned a meritorious act."

 

Extracts from the Yü-li or Precious Records (continued from No. xliii.):—

Reward for Preventing Suicide. (No. 6.)—"Mr. Tai Shung, M. A., of Fuh Liang, lived in a room near a stream. One night he heard a spirit say near his window, 'To-morrow a woman is coming to drown herself, and I shall thereby secure a substitute.' Tai kept watch, and saw a woman come to the stream. She was weeping bitterly, and her hair was hanging about her shoulders. He asked her: 'What is the cause of your sorrow?' She replied: 'I am in great trouble. My husband is a notable gambler and a drunkard, our house is bare, and he proposes to sell me to a life of shame. I am well connected, and rather than disgrace my family I will drown myself.' He dissuaded her from her purpose and invited her into his house. Within a short time her husband arrived, and upon seeing her used very abusive language. Tai reasoned with him, and said: "If you are really so very poor, do not sell your wife, I will lend you some money.' husband and wife burst into tears, accepted the offer, and returned to their home. The same night Mr. Tai heard some strange sounds. A voice said: 'Curses be upon you for spoiling my chance;' whilst another said: 'Why do you desire his injury? Shang Ti has decreed that he shall be a Grand Secretary, and you cannot injure him.'"

Edict of the President of the Sixth Hall of Judgment in Hades (p. 345).—"Those who grumble at heaven and earth, wind, thunder, cold, heat, rain, or clear heavens, who cry or commit nuisance toward the north; persons who destroy idols and steal their souls and intestines or scrape the gold leaf off the idols, or who use the names of the gods frivolously; whosoever destroys characters or books, who shoots rubbish near a temple, or worships an idol in a dirty kitchen; persons who treasure up obscene books, but gladly destroy good books and tracts; those who engrave or paint on any kind of crockery or furniture the sign of the dual principles of nature, or the Pa-kwa, the eight signs, or sun, moon, stars, gods, the eight genii, or the constellation of mother Wang, or embroider the sacred sign of Buddha upon clothes; persons who write the name of the owner of furniture upon the seats of chairs or the tops of stools, thus defiling the character by sitting upon it (it is proper to write or paste the owner's name underneath); people who wear clothes with a dragon upon them; who trample upon grain and spoil it, or hoard up grain until high prices may be had,—whoever is guilty of the above crimes shall pass a preliminary examination at this hall, and then be passed to their proper hell for punishment; when their time is expired, to be sent to the seventh hall.

"Persons guilty of the above crimes, if they will abstain from animal food on the third day of the eighth moon, and will on the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth of the fifth moon, the third of the eighth moon, and the tenth of the tenth moon, not quarrel with any person, shall escape all the torments of hell."

This proclamation is supplemented as follows: "A new decree. The unrepentant of the above crimes shall first suffer for five years in the great hell, and then three years in the hell for flaying. At the expiration of this period they are to be passed to the seventh hall. The souls of those who live in lonely places and rob and murder travellers, of innkeepers who put poison in food to injure their guests, of banditti, and those who assault women—when they arrive in this hall shall be cut in halves and afterwards be sent to the great hell and suffer for sixteen years, and then five years in each of the sixteen hells; at the expiration of this period they shall go the boundless hell and pass through fifteen hundred various calamities, and after this be born as animals."

The translator remarks: "When an idol of any value is finished, there is the ceremony of giving it a soul in order to make it have life, i. e. power to be efficacious; the soul is placed in a small box or hole between the shoulders. I once extracted a soul; there were several bits of metal to represent the heart, liver, and lungs, the bones of a sparrow and mouse, a bag of cereals, some silk threads, and a paper giving an account of the putting in of the soul. In valuable idols gold and silver are put in, and then the idols are well guarded."