The Mirror and the Monk 鏡中人

I read an entry in The Chronicle of the Masters in the Sacred Hermit Monastery (《南嶼靈隱寺大僧紀事匯編》) dated 26 May 1959 (pp. 258-271).

The story reads as follows:

In the early 50s, there was a young man named Ah Hing.

He had a very intimate girlfriend. They had been dating each other for 10 years. His neighbors always said, "Oh dear. Oh dear. Ah Yan and Ah Hing are really well matched!"

Ah Hing felt emotionally excited when he heard that. And he secretly made a promise to himself: "I must make Ah Yan happy in the rest of her life." That promise was locked inside the annual rings of a lime tree（菩提樹）.

Ah Yan also thought that Ah Hing was the one she could count on.

One day, Ah Yan disappeared.

Trying to know the whereabouts of Ah Yan, Ah Hing was nearly mad. By chance , he came across a workmate of Ah Yan but learnt that she had already married another man.

Saddened by his memories, Ah Hing led a dog's life. He had tried every possible means to crack the hidden codes of Ah Yan's elopement but to no avail.

At last, he came to our monastery.

When Master Lou received him, Ah Hing burst into tears. To calm him down, Master Lou took out a mirror and gave it to Ah Hing.

Looking in the mirror, Ah Hing saw a female corpse lying in a battlefield. Then

a man passed the battlefield and saw the situation. Feeling sad about the scene, he covered the body with a piece of cotton cloth.

Later, another man also passed but he buried the dead body with his bare hands, praying: "Soil to soil, and dust to dust". Then he disappeared at dusk.

"I don't understand, Master!" cried Ah Hing.

"What you have just seen," said Master Lou, "was a mystery you may not understand. You have to view the scene with your heart. Don't panic. The female corpse was Ah Yan. The first man who came to cover her body with a piece of cotton cloth was you. And the last man who buried her was her now husband. You had truly given your heart to Ah Yan, but it's not deep enough to make her stay beside you. Her now husband did not try to take away Ah Yan on purpose. His ending is unavoidable."
 

After I read The Chronicle, I found a dried leaf from a lime tree, with marks showing the annual rings of the lime tree. I also found the compiler of The Chronicle was called Master Hin.

by Thomas Shum