his
earliest youth he cultivated the arts of the deathless gods, left his
home and became a Taoist. Grandfather Lu awakened him and raised him
to the heavenly world. Once he saved his uncle's life. The latter had
been driven from court, because he had objected when the emperor sent
for a bone of Buddha with great pomp. When he reached the Blue Pass in
his flight, a deep snowfall had made the road impassable. His horse
had floundered in a snow-drift, and he himself was well-nigh frozen.
Then Hang Siang Dsi suddenly appeared, helped him and his horse out of
the drift, and brought them safely to the nearest inn along the Blue
Pass. Han Yu sang a verse, in which the lines occurred:

Tsin Ling Hill 'mid clouds doth lie,
And home is far, beyond my sight!
Round the Blue Pass snow towers high,
And who will lead the horse aright?

Suddenly it occurred to him that several years before, Hang Siang Dsi
had come to his house to congratulate him on his birthday. Before he
had left, he had written these words on a slip of paper, and his uncle
had read them, without grasping their meaning. And now he was
unconsciously singing the very lines of that song that his nephew had
written. So he said to Hang Siang Dsi, with a sigh: "You must be one
of the Immortals, since you were able thus to foretell the future!"

And thrice Hang Siang Dsi sought to deliver his wife from the bonds of
earth. For when he left his home to seek the hidden wisdom, she sat
all day long yearning for his presence. Hang Siang Dsi wished to
release her into immortality, but he feared she was not capable of
translation. So he appeared to her in various forms, in order to try
her, once as a beggar, another time as a wandering monk. But his wife
did not grasp her opportunities. At last he took the shape of a lame
Taoist, who sat on a mat, beat a block of wood and read sutras before
the house.

His wife said: "My husband is not at home. I can give you nothing."

The Taoist answered: "I do not want your gold and silver, I want you.
Sit down beside me on the mat, and we will fly up into the air and you
shall find your husband again!"

Hereupon the woman grew angry and struck at him with a cudgel.

Then Hang Siang Dsi changed himself into his true form, stepped on a
shining cloud and was carried aloft. His wife looked after him and
wept loudly; but he had disappeared and was not seen again.

The eighth Immortal is a girl and was called Ho Sian G