a drinking-bout, he tried
to extract it from his clothes. However, Chen detected him at once,
and declared that they could be friends no more, and next day he
left the place altogether. About a year afterward Chia was one day
wandering by the river-bank, when he saw a handsome-looking stone,
marvellously like that in the possession of Mr Chen; and he picked
it up at once and carried it home with him. A few days passed away,
and suddenly Mr Chen presented himself at Chia's house, and explained
that the stone in question possessed the property of changing anything
into gold, and had been bestowed upon him long before by a certain
Taoist priest whom he had followed as a disciple. "Alas!" added he,
"I got tipsy and lost it; but divination told me where it was,
and if you will now restore it to me I will take care to repay your
kindness." "You have divined rightly," replied Chia; "the stone is
with me; but recollect, if you please, that the indigent Kuan Chung
[45] shared the wealth of his friend Pao Shu." At this hint Mr Chen
said he would give Chia one hundred ounces of silver; to which the
latter replied that one hundred ounces was a fair offer, but that he
would far sooner have Mr Chen teach him the formula to utter when
rubbing the stone on anything, so that he might try the thing once
himself. Mr Chen was afraid to do this; whereupon Chia cried out,
"You are an Immortal yourself; you must know well enough that I
would never deceive a friend." So Mr Chen was prevailed upon to
teach him the formula, and then Chia would have tried the art upon
the immense stone washing-block [46] which was lying near at hand
had not Mr Chen seized his arm and begged him not to do anything
so outrageous. Chia then picked up half a brick and laid it on the
washing-block, saying to Mr Chen, "This little piece is not too much,
surely?" Accordingly Mr Chen relaxed his hold and let Chia proceed;
which he did by promptly ignoring the half-brick and quickly rubbing
the stone on the washing-block. Mr Chen turned pale when he saw him
do this, and made a dash forward to get hold of the stone, but it was
too late; the washing-block was already a solid mass of silver, and
Chia quietly handed him back the stone. "Alas! alas!" cried Mr Chen
in despair, "what is to be done now? For, having thus irregularly
conferred wealth upon a mortal, Heaven will surely punish me. Oh,
if you would save me, give away one hundred coffins [47] and one
hundred suits of w