Legend of the White Serpent - part II

As Xǔ Xiān（許仙） asks for permission to be wed and getting ready for the wedding, he runs into a Doashi（道士）. "Mr. Xǔ you should be careful, you are sharing a lot of time with some sort of evil." says the Doashi. Xǔ Xiān doesn't pay much attention to his words. Xǔ Xiān carries on with the wedding.

Xǔ Xiān and Bái Sù Zhēn（白素貞） lived a period of happiness. They opened up a new herbal medicine shop. The business was great. There have been years since the wedding. With the fast approaching of the Dragon Boat Festival, all the others were preparing for the festivities. People adorn their door with Asian mugwort (艾草 ài cǎo) and wearing sachet (香包 xiāng bāo) to wear off evil spirits.

Two days before May 5th, a monk who is also a Doashi passes by the front door. The monk named Fǎ Hǎi（法海） pulls Xǔ Xiān aside and tells him that he has been married to a serpent in human form. Xǔ Xiān argues with him. Fǎ Hǎi says that he has ways of proving it. Fǎ Hǎi gives him a talisman and instructs him to share a drink of the realgar wine (雄黃酒 Xiong Huang wine) with his wife on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival. Bái Sù Zhēn saw all that.


[Note] Nowadays, we do not recommend drinking Xiong Huang wine. It is now external use only; it's not safe to drink it as a normal wine.
(to be continued...)

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