“Ha-ha-ha, we were visiting Aunt Li's house, it has been a long time since we went there.” “Hmm, are there any new flowers?” Shi Men asked, smiling.
“Just the usual, but we found an extraordinary flower there, a flower that has just begun to bloom. And do you know who the maiden is, Shi-Kongcu? She is the niece of your second wife! Wow, I haven't seen her for a while, and suddenly she has become a blooming flower. Her mother urged us to find a young and handsome husband for her. She said that she's afraid that her daughter will become your potential victim, ha-ha!” Shi Men laughed broadly. For him, the last sentence was a compliment.
“Aha, is that so? Hmm, I guess I should go and see her myself!”
“By the way, where will the party be held? Here or in the Temple?” Ying Po Kui asked, glancing at the young maid who came out to serve wine. The maid simply bowed, then left after placing the cups and wine jugs on the table in front of the guests.
“We have chosen two Temples to propose, you only need to choose one, Kongcu. The Yung Hok Si Buddha Temple or the Tao Temple called Giok Ong Bio. Both are quite good and can be used,” said Cia Si Ta.
“We better use the Giok Ong Bio Temple, because I know the Bu-Tosu priest very well. It's also spacious and free.” They were chatting and planning their party, eventually, they left Shi Men's mansion laughing happily because their bellies had been filled with several cups of wine. The day before the party began, Shi Men sent a servant to shop. A pig, a castrated goat, several chickens and ducks, as well as six jugs of good wine, and all the herbs and party necessities. All of them, including the worshiping tools, were carried by three servants to the Giok Ong Bio Temple (Gem King Temple) led by Bu-Tosu.
“Tomorrow morning, our Kongcu will come to visit and perform the brotherhood ceremony,” they said to Bu-Tosu.
“Please prepare everything for the party and the worship ceremony, which will be celebrated all day in this Temple.” Bu-Tosu happily accepted because it meant that a sum of money would be entering the Temple's treasury! He also expressed his willingness and made preparations with the Tosu who were his aides. It is undeniable that in any condition or position, as long as humans are still slaves to their own desires for pleasure, then everything will be distorted by humans. The desire for pleasure infiltrates up to the Temples, the high official chairs, so that in places where good and wise deeds should flow out,
Conversely, the opposite emerges, only driven by the desire for pleasure. The pursuit of pleasure usually justifies all means. Bu-Tosu is no stranger to Shi Men and is not unaware of what kind of person this tycoon and his friends are. He also knows that his Temple will be used for a debauchery that exceeds the limits of decency. The people will get drunk, joke and flirt with the singer girls who usually also double as prostitutes. He knows that the party will defile the sanctity of the Temple, but the shadow of the flowing money makes him deliberately close his inner eyes to all of this. And usually, we are very good at finding reasons to erase or at least reduce the level of violations or mistakes we make.
The same goes for Bu-Tosu. He could have argued that he had done good by helping well-intentioned people, that is, swearing to take siblings! He could also argue, that he allowed the party because he needed to get money for the cost of repairing the Temple and so on, which means "for the good" as well. The next day, early in the morning, nine of his friends had arrived at the Shi Men mansion and met him. They greeted each other, chatted for a while while having breakfast, then they left for the Gem King Temple. The Tosu welcomed them and invited them in to meet Bu-Tosu who lived inside the Temple.
The ten of them entered the Temple, enjoying the beauty of the ancient Temple which has a wide room, high ceiling, thick and smooth stone walls. Beautiful letters in the form of paired poems adorn the walls and flank the entrance doors. On the inside, the walls and floor are made of marble, beautifully clean and shimmering, but because the place is somewhat dim, it brings coolness and silence. In the inner room, there is a beautiful statue of Lao Tze, the prophet of the Tao Religion, a simple old man riding a black buffalo. They passed a door and entered the area inhabited by Bu-Tosu, the head of the Temple. They passed an open hallway, and on the right and left of the hallway were planted beautiful flowers, small pines and bamboo trees. And in front of the entrance, Shi Men read a beautiful poem.
“In these caves dwell our spirits” “Time and space are completely forgotten"
“In our miraculous islands joy and sorrow are no more.” Bu-Tosu's residence consists of three front rooms, where he performs his religious duties.
At that time, all these places were cleaned to a shine to welcome the guests. In the middle room hangs a picture of the Gem King from the Golden Heaven Palace, while in the rooms next to it, there is a statue of the Purple Palace God and four Heaven Commanders, namely Ma, Cac, Wen, and Huang. In front of the worship table, Bu-Tosu welcomed his guests with respect, inviting them to sit and drink tea. After drinking tea, the Tosu escorted his guests around to see. Every time they saw a statue and idol of the gods, the usually unruly people could not help but make sarcastic comments. When they saw a picture of a tiger and Heaven Commanders Cao, one of them joked,
“Friends, look at the tiger next to old Cao! That tiger must be a vegetarian, otherwise, old Cao would have been attacked.” Bu-Tosu was silent hearing this joke, but then he remembered something.
“Ah, speaking of tigers, Pinto (I) remembered news that outside the city there is also a disturbance of a ferocious tiger. It has attacked many people, even killed ten hunters who tried to kill the tiger.
“Ahhh...” Shi Men exclaimed in surprise.
“Has cu-wi (you all) not heard this news? Merchants and travelers no longer dare to pass King-Yan-San Mountain alone, but must go in groups. Our District Head recently promised a reward of fifty tall silver to anyone who can kill the animal. As for the unfortunate hunters, who failed to catch the animal, they have to suffer the punishment of flogging.” “Aha, this reminds me of a joke,” Ying Po Kui, the tall and skinny, was heard laughing, “A stingy man was writhing in the grip of a tiger. His son came with a Knife in his hand to save his father and was ready to stab the tiger's belly. Don't, the father shouted, are you so stupid to want to damage the tiger's skin that is so valuable?” The people who heard this story laughed. Then Bu-Tosu suggested that the brotherhood ceremony begin. He took out a written document.
“Pinto has made his oath, and how is the arrangement of cu-wi's names?” “Shi Men's name should be first, of course,” they said.
“Looking at his age, Ying should be first.” Shi Men objected.
“Ah, nowadays it is determined by your money, not your age!” Ying also objected.
“Besides, who among us is more respected and looked upon than you. The first place, should be for your name.” Because he was pressured and persuaded by his friends, in the end, Shi Men became the first person or what they called “Toako” (eldest brother). The second place was occupied by Ying Po Kui. The third was Cia Si Ta and the fourth place was given to Hua Ce Shu considering his wealth. Thus, the worship ceremony and brotherhood induction were carried out and arranged by Bu-Tosu.
Then they all had a wild party there. Bu-Tosu was relieved that they did not force to call the singer girls when he expressed his objection. However, in the midst of their party, a servant sent by Goat Toanio came to invite Shi Men home on the grounds that his third wife had fainted. Of course, this was only used as an excuse so that Shi Men would go home quickly because after all, Goat Toanio was reluctant for her husband to have close relations with people whom she knew were a group of useless people. But it also doesn't mean that the lie is an excuse because indeed Shi Men's third wife is sick and weak. Shi Men went home accompanied by Hua Ce Shu who was his neighbor. A few days later Ying Po Kui came to visit Shi Men.
“How is Sam-So (third sister-in-law)?” Ying asked, proud that now after taking siblings, he had the right to call Shi Men's wives with the term Soso (sister-in-law).
“Ah, still not recovered. I just sent for the doctor, but, what is the purpose of your visit?”
“Wow, there's a great story, Toako!” “Tell me!”
“Just imagine, the ferocious tiger we heard from Bu-Tosu the other day, reportedly was killed yesterday by a person using bare hands!”
Glossary
- Shi-Kongcu: An honorific term referring to a wealthy man or a man of high status. Kongcu is a respectful term for ‘master’ or ‘lord’.
- Bu-Tosu: A title for a priest in a Taoist temple.
- Yung Hok Si: The name of a Buddha Temple.
- Giok Ong Bio: The name of a Taoist Temple, also referred to as the Gem King Temple.
- Kongcu: A respectful term for ‘master’ or ‘lord’.
- Pinto: A term used by a speaker to refer to themselves in a humble way, equivalent to 'I' or 'me' in English.
- Tall: A measure of currency.
- Toako: A term used to refer to the eldest brother, implying respect and seniority.
- Sam-So: Refers to the third wife or third sister-in-law.