"That man kidnaped me! Please take me away from him!"
"We'll do better than that!" Ma Joong said. "We'll take you to His Excellency the Magistrate!"
"No!" the youngster shouted. "Let me go!"
He made an attempt to rise.
"Well, well!" Ma Joong said slowly. "So that's how the land lies! You come along to the tribunal, my young friend!" He barked at the monk: "Hey there! Since you don't even belong to a kidnaping gang I don't care who sees us! You won't be cuddled and carried this time!"
He lifted the weakly protesting youngster from the bed and placed him with legs astride on the monk's neck. He threw an old blanket over the young man's shoulders. Then he took a bloodstained willow branch from the corner and hit the monk's calves. "Get a move on, dog's-head!" he snapped.
Fourteenth Chapter
Late in the morning, shortly before the noon meal, Judge Dee opened a session of the tribunal. The court hall was crowded; the citizens of Han-yuan thought that a session held at such an unusual hour could only mean that important new facts had come to light regarding the two sensational cases that had occurred in their midst.
To their disappointment, however, the judge began at once with one of the matters he had been studying with Sergeant Hoong and Chiao Tai that morning, namely a quarrel between the fishermen and the management of the fish market regarding the methods of fixing prices. Judge Dee had representatives of both parties explain again their standpoint, then proposed a compromise that, after some discussion, was accepted.
He was just going to broach a taxation problem when loud shouts were heard outside. Ma Joong and Tao Gan entered, each dragging along a prisoner. They were followed by a dense crowd that had joined them on the way. The spectators stormed them with excited questions; the court hall was in confusion.
Judge Dee rapped his gavel three times.
"Silence and order!" he shouted in a thunderous voice. "If I hear one more word I'll have the hall cleared!"
All fell silent. No one wanted to miss the questioning of the incongruous pair that was now kneeling in front of the dais.
The judge looked at the prisoners with an impassive face. But inwardly he was far from calm, for he had immediately recognized the young man.
Ma Joong reported how he and Tao Gan had arrested the two men. Judge Dee listened, slowly stroking his beard. Then he addressed the youngster:
"State your name and profession!"
"This insignificant person," he replied in a low voice, "respectfully reports that his name is Djang Hoo-piao, a Candidate of Literature."
A murmur of astonishment rose from the hall. The judge angrily looked up and rapped his gavel. "This is my last warning!" he shouted. To the youngster he continued: "It was reported to this tribunal that Candidate Djang drowned himself in the lake four days ago!"
"Your Honor," the young man said in a faltering voice, "it distresses me beyond words that I, in my foolishness, created that wrong impression. I fully realize that I have acted with extreme rashness and showed a most reprehensible lack of decision. I can only hope that Your Honor, having taken cognizance of the special circumstances, will kindly view my case leniently."
Here he paused. Deep silence reigned in the court hall. Then he went on:
"Be it never given another man to undergo such a shattering transition from supreme bliss to deepest despair as I went through on my wedding night! United for one brief moment with my beloved, I found that my very love had killed her."
He swallowed with difficulty, then went on:
"Distracted with grief and horror, I stared at her still body. Then panic seized me. How was I to face my father, who had always tended me, his only son, with the greatest love and care-I, who had deprived him of the hope of seeing his family continued? The only thing I could do was to end my wretched life.
"I hastily put on a light robe and made for the door. But then I reflected that- the feast was still going on, and that the house was full of people. I would never be able to leave unnoticed. Suddenly I remembered that the old carpenter who had come the other day to mend the leaking roof of my room had left two boards of the ceiling loose. 'That'd be a useful place for storing valuables!' he had remarked to me. I stood on a tabouret, pulled myself up on a beam, and crept up in the loft. I replaced the boards and climbed out on the roof. Then I let myself down into the street.
"Since it was deep in the night there was no one about; I reached the bank of the lake unnoticed. I stood on a large boulder over the water and took off my silk girdle. I was going to strip, for I feared that my robe would keep me afloat and thus prolong my death struggle. Then, looking down in the black water I, miserable coward, became afraid. I remembered the macabre stories told about the foul creatures roaming in the water. I thought I could discern indistinct shapes moving about and malicious eyes staring up at me. Although it was very hot I stood there shivering; my teeth clattered in my mouth. I knew that I couldn't execute my plan.
"My girdle had dropped into the water, so I drew my robe close and ran away from the lake. I don't know where my feet took me. I came to myself only when I saw the gate of the Buddhist Temple looming ahead. Then that man there suddenly stepped out from the shadow and grabbed me by the shoulder. I thought he was a robber and tried to shake myself loose, but he hit me on the head and I lost consciousness. When I came to, I was lying in that horrible cave. The next morning that man immediately asked me my name, where I lived and what crime I had committed. I realized that he intended to blackmail me or my poor father, and refused. He just grinned and said that it was my good fortune that he had brought me to the cave, for the constables would never discover me there. He shaved my head despite my protests, saying that thus I would pass for his acolyte and that I wouldn't be recognized. He ordered me to gather firewood and cook rice gruel, then went away.
"I passed that entire day debating with myself what to do. Now I would decide to flee to some faraway place, then again I thought it would be better to go back home and face my father's wrath. At night the man came back drunk. Again he started questioning me. When I refused to give any information he bound me with rope and beat me mercilessly with a willow wand. Then he let me lie there on the floor, more dead than alive. I passed a terrible night. The next morning the monk took off the ropes, gave me a drink of water, and when I had somewhat recovered ordered me to gather firewood. I decided to flee from that cruel man. As soon as I had collected two bundles, I hurried away to the city. With my shaven head and tattered robe nobody recognized me on the road. I was well-nigh exhausted; my feet and back were sore. But the thought of seeing my father again gave me force, and I reached our street."
Candidate Djang paused to wipe the perspiration from his face. On a sign of the judge the headman gave him a cup of bitter tea. After he had drunk that he resumed:
"Who shall describe my horror when I saw constables of the tribunal in front of our door! That could mean only that I came too late; my father, unable to bear the shame I had brought over his house, had himself put an end to his life. I had to make certain, and slipped inside through the garden door, leaving my bundles of firewood in the street outside. I looked through the window of my bedroom. Then I saw a fearful apparition! The King of the Nether World was staring at me with burning eyes! The ghosts of Hell were persecuting me, the patricide! I lost my head completely. I ran out again into the deserted street and fled to the forest. By dint of much searching through the woods I at last found the cave.