Original Text
In Shanghe there was a scholar named Li, who was deeply devoted to Buddhism and Taoism. About a li beyond the village stood a temple, where Li built three refined chambers for meditation and cultivation. Wandering monks and Taoists often lodged there, and Li would converse with them, providing meals without ever growing weary. One day, heavy snow fell and the weather turned bitterly cold; an old monk arrived carrying his luggage, seeking shelter, and his speech was profound and mysterious. After two nights, he prepared to leave, but Li repeatedly urged him to stay, so the monk lingered for several more days. When Li had to return home on business, the monk instructed him to come back early, intending to bid farewell. At cockcrow, Li returned to the temple and knocked at the door, but no one answered. He climbed over the wall and saw a faint lamplight inside; suspecting the old monk was performing some ritual, he peered in secretly. The monk was hastily packing his belongings, tying a thin donkey to the lampstand. Looking closely, it seemed not a real donkey but rather a funerary object, yet its ears and tail occasionally twitched, and it breathed heavily. Soon, the monk finished packing, opened the door, and led the donkey out. Li stealthily followed. Outside the gate was a large pond; the monk tied the donkey to a tree by the water, stripped off his clothes, jumped into the pond, and washed his entire body. After dressing, he led the donkey into the pond and washed it as well. Then he loaded the luggage onto the donkey, mounted it, and galloped away. Only then did Li call out to him. The monk merely raised his hands in salute from afar, his words indistinct, and soon vanished into the distance.
Wang Meiwu once said that Scholar Li was his friend. He had visited Li's home and saw a plaque hanging in the hall inscribed with the words "Hall of Awaiting Death," which suggested that Li was indeed a man of great detachment and equanimity.
Commentary
This tale is quite innovative in its narrative approach: it begins with Li Sheng speaking of an old monk, and then Wang Meiwu relates what Li Sheng told him, primarily recounting the strange movements of the old monk observed by Li Sheng on a winter day.
When the old monk arrived, he carried his bundle on foot, but when he departed, he rode a donkey. If it had been a real donkey, it would not have been worth noting, yet the donkey the old monk rode did not resemble a real one, "much like a funerary object, though its ears and tail occasionally moved, and it breathed with a panting sound," thus acquiring news value and a quality of strangeness, leaving a deep impression.