Srečanje s pokojno ženo

Besedilo

Srečanje s pokojno ženo

During the Han dynasty, there was a Daoist in Yingling, in Beihai Commandery, who could enable the living to meet the dead. A man from the same commandery, whose wife had been dead for several years, heard of him and went to see him. “If only I could see my departed wife once more,” he said, “I could die without regret.” The Daoist replied, “You may go and see her. But when you hear a drum, leave at once. Do not linger.” He then told the man how to bring about the meeting. Before long, the man found himself in his wife’s presence. They spoke together, their sorrow and joy, their tenderness and love, just as they had been when she was alive. After a long while, he heard the drum. Bitterly regretting that he could not stay, he made his way out. As he passed through the doorway, the hem of his robe was suddenly caught in the door. He tugged until it tore free, then left. A little over a year later, the man died. When his family opened the tomb to bury him, they found the torn hem beneath the lid of his wife’s coffin.