第二百零六篇第二百零六篇Story Two Hundred and Six

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堪輿

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Story Two Hundred and Six · Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio

Geomancy

A line drawing in the manner of a late-Qing lithographed edition: on a country road fork in the afternoon, two brothers in white mourning dress stand on either side of a pall-covered coffin set down on its carrying frame, each angrily pointing up a different road, while two exhausted bearers sit slumped on the ground, one with his head on the pole and one wiping his brow, with trees, fields, low hills and brocade canopies with banners far up both roads.

沂州宋侍郎君楚家,素尚堪輿;即閨閣中亦能讀其書,解其理。宋公卒,兩公子各立門戶,為父卜兆。聞有善青烏之術者,不憚千里,爭羅致之。於是兩門術士,召致盈百;日日連騎遍郊野,東西分道出入,如兩旅。經月餘,各得牛眠地,此言封侯,彼云拜相。兄弟兩不相下,因負氣不為謀,並營壽域,錦棚綵幢,兩處俱備。靈輿至歧路,兄弟各率其屬以爭,自晨至於日昃,不能決。賓客盡引去。舁夫凡十易肩,困憊不舉,相與委柩路側。因止不葬,鳩工構廬,以蔽風雨。兄建舍於傍,留役居守,弟亦建舍如兄,兄再建之,弟又建之:三年而成村焉。

沂州宋侍郎君楚家,素尚堪舆;即闺阁中亦能读其书,解其理。宋公卒,两公子各立门户,为父卜兆。闻有善青乌之术者,不惮千里,争罗致之。于是两门术士,召致盈百;日日连骑遍郊野,东西分道出入,如两旅。经月余,各得牛眠地,此言封侯,彼云拜相。兄弟两不相下,因负气不为谋,并营寿域,锦棚彩幢,两处俱备。灵舆至歧路,兄弟各率其属以争,自晨至于日昃,不能决。宾客尽引去。舁夫凡十易肩,困惫不举,相与委柩路侧。因止不葬,鸠工构庐,以蔽风雨。兄建舍于傍,留役居守,弟亦建舍如兄,兄再建之,弟又建之:三年而成村焉。

The family of Vice Minister Song Junchu of Yizhou had always set great store by geomancy; even the women of the inner chambers could read its books and understand its principles. When Lord Song died, his two sons, who kept separate households, each set about divining a grave site for their father. Whenever they heard of someone skilled in the Blue Raven art, they thought nothing of a thousand miles and vied with each other to bring him in. So between the two houses more than a hundred diviners were gathered. Day after day they rode out in long files all over the countryside, going and coming by separate roads, one east, one west, like two armies on the march. After a month and more, each side had found a sleeping-ox site: one said it would make a marquis, the other that it would make a chief minister. Neither brother would give way, and in their pique they would not consult each other. Each prepared a tomb, and both sites were fitted out with brocade awnings and coloured banners. When the hearse reached the fork in the road, each brother led his people in the struggle for it. They fought from morning until the sun was sinking, and nothing was settled. The guests all took their leave. The bearers had changed shoulders ten times; worn out, they could lift it no longer, and together they set the coffin down by the roadside. So the burial was halted, and workmen were gathered to put up a hut over it against the wind and rain. The elder brother built a house beside it and left servants there to keep watch; the younger built a house just like his brother’s. The elder built again, and the younger built again: in three years it had become a village.

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