Magda Palmer: Short Story

The Golden Carp

The Golden Carp by Magda Palmer Cordingley

During the T’ang Dynasty, by the side of the Lo River, a girl dressed in a rough shirt and homespun trousers sat staring at the water as it drifted towards the sea, when against the flowing tide swam a carp. As Sung-Li idly watched the fish she noticed its pale body change to vivid gold. Was it being painted by the setting sun?

The fish was almost beside her so Sung-Li offered him her chain of water lilies. The carp sprung high from the water and accepted by pushing his golden head through the lei, at the same time fixing her with his eye. Sung-Li saw in its depths a girl of her own age dressed in a long silk gown with a wide sash around her waist. The girl reached out, took Sung-Li’s broad, work-worn hand in her own soft one and pulled her through the carp’s eye.

The interior of the golden carp was not as Sung-Li would have expected, but the Summer Palace of the Great Woman Emperor Wu Chao. The inner gardens were bordered with lacy red, rust, pink and yellow foliage. Miniature maples bent low to kiss great, lustrous, multi-coloured pearls which lined paths and ponds. Stone dragons with jewels tucked under their chins nestled in crevices. She saw Mandarins in orange jackets with coral buttons denoting their office near a pergola. One of the Mandarins beckoned Sung-Li and her twin self to approach and sit on jade chairs supported by ornately carved legs. Tiny, fluffy dogs frolicked close, which caused Sung-Li to look down. Surprised, she saw only one pair of clad feet and they were hers! Her straw sandals were no more and she wore fine, cloth slippers. She whispered “Golden carp, why do you give such privileges which are not mine”?

The dogs stilled as they sensed the presence of the Empress who looked remarkably like Sung-Li’s mother. She explained that Sung-Li was experiencing part of her Soul Journey. “Honourable child, you have stepped from one life into another as you have done many times before. We are all blessed with memories and glimpses of our future to make hard roads easier to travel. The Buddha himself walked on Earth as a rat, a hare, an elephant and a golden stag before entering the body of Prince Siddhartha Gautama to whom the gods presented an old man, a sick man, a dead man and a monk, detached and peaceful. The Prince learned that renunciation was the path to salvation, that attachment to life and desire are the causes of sorrow. Through this the Buddha gained spiritual awareness, so he founded the philosophy and way of life named after him.

But now Sung-Li, like the Buddha, you must shed your glory and return in your rough garments to learn the lessons of your present life. You are loved. Go with the blessings of The Golden Carp.