Some Chinese Ghosts by Lafcadio Hearn
page 66 of 81 (81%)
page 66 of 81 (81%)
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muscle undulating beneath the integument. For the hues of life were upon
it and infiltrated throughout its innermost substance, imitating the carnation of blood-bright tissue, and the reticulated purple of the veins; and over all was laid the envelope of sun-colored _Pe-kia-ho_, the lucid and glossy enamel, half diaphanous, even like the substance that it counterfeited,--the polished skin of a woman. Never since the making of the world had any work comparable to this been wrought by the skill of man. Then Pu bade those who aided him that they should feed the furnace well with wood of _tcha_; but he told his resolve unto none. Yet after the oven began to glow, and he saw the work of his hands blossoming and blushing in the heat, he bowed himself before the Spirit of Flame, and murmured: "O thou Spirit and Master of Fire, I know the truth of thy words! I know that a Soul may never be divided! Therefore my life for the life of my work!--my soul for the soul of my Vase!" And for nine days and for eight nights the furnaces were fed unceasingly with wood of _tcha_; for nine days and for eight nights men watched the wondrous vase crystallizing into being, rose-lighted by the breath of the flame. Now upon the coming of the ninth night, Pu bade all his weary comrades retire to, rest, for that the work was well-nigh done, and the success assured. "If you find me not here at sunrise," he said, "fear not to take forth the vase; for I know that the task will have been accomplished according to the command of the August." So they departed. But in that same ninth night Pu entered the flame, and yielded up his ghost in the embrace of the Spirit of the Furnace, giving his life for the life of his work,--his soul for the soul of his Vase. |
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