Two Precious Scroll Narratives of Guanyin and Her ... - Khamkoo

132 ThePreciousScrollofIncenseMountain,Part2
When the Marvelous Splendor emperor first became ill, his body
suffered from cold shivering and hot fever, and his head and eyes
felt drowsy and heavy, while all his bones were racked by pain.
Later his skin began to burn and itch, and then it cracked and broke
open all over his body. Pus and blood oozed out, and the stench
penetrated far and wide, filling the whole palace with fear and causing
everyone to puke and vomit. The imperial concubines and
pretty maids all excused themselves and refused to wait on [the
emperor], and the princesses and the princes consort covered their
nose and kept their distance, afraid to either look at him or
approach him. Truly, you consult the oracles and pray to the gods,
but the gods don’t respond; you offer sacrifice and take medicine,
but the medicine doesn’t work. The empress was the only one who
did not budge from his bedside, but all her efforts were useless.
Despite his illness the emperor each day ascended the throne
hall. Soon his whole body was rotten through and through. Within
one month his hands were balled up in fists, his feet were curled
back, and his entire head was covered with sores. The hair on his
brows and at his temples had all fallen out, while maggots crawled
in his skin and flesh. Cramps and pains racked his body. His ears
were blocked, his nose had collapsed, his eyes bulged out, and his
teeth had rotted away. His gums were exposed and his tongue was
swollen, and his fingers had dropped off at the joints. His Great
Peace crown was covered with green flies, and his dragon robe was
streaked with gore. His precious tablet and jade belt were dyed with
pus, and his cloud-topped boots were smeared with blood. The imperial
body was visibly wasting away, and his disease was becoming
ever more serious. When he itched, he itched to the marrow of his
bones, and when he felt pain, the pain wrenched his liver and gut.
From this moment on he did not take pleasure in anything. His
gold and silver and precious stones were now as disgusting to him
as [the walls of a] a prison, and tender lamb and fine wine were
now as disgusting to him as mud and shit. The dragon robes of embroidered
brocade were now as disgusting to him as fetters and
chains, and all the various sorts of instrumental music were as disgusting
to him as crying and weeping. His ivory-inlaid dragon
couch was as disgusting to him as knives and swords, and the concubines
and pretty maids were as disgusting to him as vipers and
tigers. Each day and each night lasted longer than a thousand years.
Frantic and frenzied, he wept and wailed, disturbing heaven and