The Girl in the Mirror

I was staying in the village

That was known as Banzhushan,

In the mountains, in the Province

That the Chinese call Hunan,

It was perched atop the mountain

You could reach, and touch the sky,

But there were no single women,

And the men up there were shy.

 

They were poor, could offer nothing

To entice a willing bride,

They earned little from their labours,

And their houses, poor inside,

So the girls would leave to travel

Down the mountain to the plain,

Where they’d find a richer husband

Than the farmer, sowing grain.

 

So the men would send out raiders

To the outskirts of the towns,

And they’d kidnap straying peasants,

All the women that they found,

And they’d target younger widows

Who would not put up a fight,

Then would carry them to Banzhushan

Protected by the night.

 

I had met a village elder

By the name of Zhang Fan Cheng,

He was ancient, a magician,

One the Chinese call yāorén,

He invited me to dinner,

It was simple, shoots and rice,

He was dignified and courteous,

But caught me by surprise.

 

In the further room, a mirror

Stood at length, both straight and tall,

The frame was wrought in silver

And it leant against the wall,

He showed it to me proudly

Then asked how much would I pay?

For just 5,000 R.M.B.

He’d sell it me, today!

 

I reached out to feel the silver,

Was it fake or was it real?

He sensed my hesitation

Then he motioned, ‘You be still!’

And plunged his hand into the glass

The mirror let him in,

His arm up to the elbow

Against science, against sin!

 

He reached his arm behind and pulled,

A girl came into sight,

She was standing in the mirror,

He was holding her so tight,

And she stared, while looking at me

And she said: ‘Qing bang bang wo!’

I could read it on her lips, and then

The wizard let her go.

 

She had said: ‘Would you please help me!’

But I’d stepped back in the room,

She was nowhere near behind me

Just reflected, in the gloom,

And I saw a tear forming at

The corner of her eye,

The wizard pulled his arm out, and

She waved to me, ‘Goodbye!’

 

I paid the man his money, and

I took the mirror down

On a wooden cart he lent me,

And I took it through Hunan,

Then I packed it on a train and went

Off speeding to Nanjing,

Where I kept a small apartment,

And I turned, and locked us in.

 

I stood the mirror over by

A meagre wooden shelf,

Then I stood quite still before it

Hoping she would show herself,

And I tried to put my arm inside

Like he had done before,

But the mirror was unyielding,

So I stood there, and I swore!

 

That night the girl appeared,

Standing right behind the glass,

And she pummelled on the surface

As if she’d be free at last,

But the mirror was ungiving,

And I couldn’t hear her voice,

So I took a ball pein hammer -

It had given me no choice!

 

She could see me through the mirror,

In alarm, she mouthed ‘Meiyou!’

But her beauty had beguiled me

Though I knew she’d shouted ‘No!’

I was fevered and impatient now

To set this beauty free,

So I swung the ball pein hammer

And it shattered, over me!

 

She fell out through the broken glass,

Lay trembling in my room,

Bleeding, sobbing in the silence,

Like the silence of the tomb,

And she said she’d been imprisoned

Since the days of Qin Shi Huang,

Then she writhed upon the carpet

As her flesh turned into sand.

 

I had wanted to release her

To relieve those tender tears,

But her body, once released took on

The last two thousand years;

She took one last, despairing look

Then withered up to die,

And for years I’ve sought the answer

To the only question - ‘Why?’

 

David Lewis Paget

 

(Glossary -

R.M.B. - Ren-Min-bi - or yuan

Chinese currency.

Yāorén -  magician

Qing bang bang wo - (Ching bang bang wor)

Please help me!

Meiyou - (May yo) - No

Qin shi Huang - (Chin Sher Hwang)

1^st Emperor of China - 246-210 BC)

Reviews

[Tate Morgan]

Now that's a wild ride I cant imagine but that it came from your days in the east.I suppose many of their superstitions are much different from ours .I always like to see them portrayed.Always a pleasure to read your inventions .It is really enjoyable to see that you have such a childish nature in a grown man
your friend Tate

[David Scott]

I have been absent you writings a few weeks now. My loss. This was a thrilling read David. You katch the readers attention from the start and never let it go for even one stanza. I usually would never think to give you advice on word choice, but two words jumped out at me in this poem.
The first one is in the last line of stanza five. The line, "He'd sell it me, today!" To my my mind it would read better, "He'd sell to me today!" Just my preference... I'm sure you have a good reason for the words you chose here.
Also, the next stanza's last line. The use of the phrase, "against sin" does not translate well to me. Maybe "tempting sin"? or "witchcraft sin"? I am not sure this is helpful at all, but this is what jumped out as I read it.
Loved the poem David. A real treat to read.

[TL Boehm]

Again a unique story with a sad twist at the end. to be imprisoned only to die once set free. A biting irony.

[Valentine]

Simply aamazing write..I know you once lived in China and to still remember the language is terrific..Loved this one as I do al of your writing..love to you and Lyn..Kathie

[Lena M. P.]

She could stay imprisoned and exist or be released to die. What a dilemma. I think I would rather be trapped and watch the world go by but then again it would be living in purgatory not being able to escape. Nicely penned David.

[w]

Wonderful narrative. Only one minor issue: "He’d sell it me, today!" If it is supposed to be written like that I would recommend putting the "sell it me" in quotes or throw a "to" in there to make it a flowing sentence.

I have a question. Why do you capitalize every line? May people do this and it annoys me for some reason. I thought I would ask someone who seems to have a level head on their shoulders and would not be offended (hopefully).

Overall this is a wonderful piece that I would earmark if it was in a collection of mine.

[Barbara Walker]

Wonderful write! Great story! You are very talented!

[Penlady]

It is quite fascinating how you have borrowed from your own passion to create such a portrait of what ifs? Your writing provides a visual that rolls out scene by scene from the first to the last until the senses are all satisfied, no matter what the outcome of the story.
This work provides a history as well as how need works in man.

[Stabitha]

Entertaining and thought-provoking, serious message in the narrative.

By the way, did you get seven years' bad luck?

[cynthiabuhainbaello]

What a tragic, heart-rending story of "imprisoned love" well written and narrated in flowing words. The story held me from the first line to the last and the vivid images and emotions conveyed made me participant to the quest, the conflict, and the tragic loss. The title invites intrigue but the reading takes me to inside the story, while the closing lines captivated my emotions to feel the deep sadness for love lost.