历史故事：The Disappearing Sorcery

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The Disappearing Sorcery 隐身术

In the time of the Three Kingdoms, there lived a sorcerer whose name was Zo Zu. He learnt how to perform three kinds of sorcery after many years hard study. One was called the Sorcery of Far Away; another was called the Sorcery of Hidden Things; and the third one was called the Disappearing Sorcery.


The Sorcery of Far Away was like this: he had only to mumble an incantation and draw a cabbalistic sign, and he could immediately get anything he wanted from thousands of miles away, or if the thing was still farther away, he went for it and returned in a few minutes. The Sorcery of Hidden Things was like this: if you had anything in a secret place without telling him where it was, he could get it at once. The Disappearing Sorcery was very strange, for he could suddenly disappear under the eyes of many people around him, simply by walking into a wall.


In this way, Zo Zu won great popularity. When Tsao Tsao, the Prime Minister, heard of this, he honored Zo Zu by inviting him to join in the banquet and wanted him to practise his magic. He asked Zo Zu to fetch a perch from SunKiang in Kiangsu for them. \"But it must be the real SunKiang perch and it should be a living one.\"


All the other guests worried about him, because they knew the Prime Minister was putting him into a very difficult position on purpose. But Zo Zu was not worried at all. He asked for a cistern with fresh water in it, and a fishing rod with hook and bait. In less than a minute he raised the rod with a lively perch hanging on the hook.


Then the Minister asked him to bring more to them. Zo Zu did this, but the Prime Minister, wishing to catch him tripping, said to him, \"I wonder if you could get some ginger from Szechuan as well to make the perch taste best?\"


\"That's not difficult. But I shall have to go myself, because it is so far away.\" The magician replied.


\"By the way, please deliver a message for me. I have asked an official to buy me ten pieces of satin. And now I want two more pieces. You must bring me his autographed answer.\"


\"I will.\" He then made a jump and disappeared in the air.


A few minutes later Zo Zu came back with a bunch of ginger and an autographed letter from the official. The Prime Minister was so amused that he held Zo Zu in respect from that time.


One day, the Prime Minister happened to meet Zo Zu when he was training five hundred soldiers. \"I'm lucky to meet you, and I should like to ask you another favour,\" said he, \"because we left so suddenly that we forgot to bring our food. We shall be much obliged if you could get us a good meal with a pound of beef, three bowls of rice, and a pot of wine for each soldier here.\"


As a matter of fact, they had the food. But the Minister thought that if Zo Zu could bring them another meal they could keep their food for their supper.


Zo Zu prepared all this as ordered in a moment. But when the even0ing drew near, the Minister found out that what the soldiers had eaten was their supper. Zo Zu fed them without spending any of his money.


A few months later, the Prime Minister met Zo Zu again. He wanted him to show more magics. So Zu Zu showed him the Disappearing Sorcery. The minister was astonished at it and then said to Zo Zu, \"I promise you that I will do nothing evil if you teach me the sorcery. I want the power only for one emergency.\"


Zo Zu said, \"Well, I will teach you this. But you must promise not to use it wrongly.\"


\"I promise,\" said the Minister.


Zo Zu taught him the wonderful sorcery. He wouldn't practise it before anyone except his private attendants. But they could always find him by the corner of his hat or part of his shoes. At last he realised that Zo Zu had purposely taught him only part of the sorcery, so he gave orders to his men to arrest Zo Zu. He told them to kill him at an open place without a wall near by.


One day they found him walking in a busy street. When they ran to him, every person in the street turned into the same shape as Zo Zu. When the Minister heard of this, he gave orders to arrest the magician at a place with neither a wall nor a person about him.


One day the Prime Minister was in the country where there was a flock of sheep. Suddenly he saw Zo Zu, so he drew his sword and chased him. But the magician ran into the flock of sheep and disappeared.


\"Mr. Zo Zu, I won't kill you. What I did just now was only in fun. I want to talk with you.\" The Minister shouted.


Then one of the sheep stood up on its hind feet and said, \"I am Zo Zu, Yours Excellency.\"


The Prime Minister rushed to the flock to catch him, but all the sheep stood up on their hind feet and said in one breath: \"I am Zo Zu.\" So the Minister couldn't find which was the real Zo Zu.


Thus Zo Zu escaped death once more. After that, he no longer put any trust in the Minister. He never went to see him. Only the people in Szechuan, who were friendly to him, often saw him riding on a deer and travelling about in the wilderness to his heart's content.