, women, and children, and carrying off
everything they possessed.

The local _t'u-ti_ at once made a report to Yue Huang.

"This Shih family," replied the god, "for three generations has
given itself up to good works, and certainly the brigands were not
deserving of any pity. However, it is impossible to deny that the
three brothers Shih, in refusing them food, morally compelled them to
loot the Tai family's house, putting all to the sword or flames. Is
not this the same as if they had committed the crime themselves? Let
them be arrested and put in chains in the celestial prison, and let
them never see the light of the sun again."

"Since," said the messenger to the God of Hua Shan, "your gratitude
toward Miao Chuang compels you to grant him an heir, why not ask Yue
Huang to pardon their crime and reincarnate them in the womb of the
Queen Po Ya, so that they may begin a new terrestrial existence and
give themselves up to good works?" As a result, the God of Hua Shan
called the Spirit of the Wind and gave him a message for Yue Huang.

A Message for Yue Huang

The message was as follows: "King Miao Chuang has offered sacrifice
to me and begged me to grant him an heir. But since by his wars he
has caused the deaths of a large number of human beings, he does not
deserve to have his request granted. Now these three brothers Shih
have offended your Majesty by constraining the brigand Wang Che to be
guilty of murder and robbery. I pray you to take into account their
past good works and pardon their crime, giving them an opportunity
of expiating it by causing them all three to be reborn, but of the
female sex, in the womb of Po Ya the Queen. [30] In this way they
will be able to atone for their crime and save many souls." Yue Huang
was pleased to comply, and he ordered the Spirit of the North Pole
to release the three captives and take their souls to the palace of
King Miao Chuang, where in three years' time they would be changed
into females in the womb of Queen Po Ya.

Birth of the Three Daughters

The King, who was anxiously expecting day by day the birth of an heir,
was informed one morning that a daughter had been born to him. She was
named Miao Ch'ing. A year went by, and another daughter was born. This
one was named Miao Yin. When, at the end of the third year, another
daughter was born, the King, beside himself with rage, called his
Grand Minister Chao Chen and, all disconsolate, said to him, "I am
past fi