Mr. Chang, of that ilk (Chang Chang Tien-ts), was a man of fifty-seven, and a graduate in letters. The ladies of his family havingaccommodated a demon with a shrine in his house, Mr. Chang said he"would have none of that nonsense". The spirit then entered into Mrs.Chang, and the usual fire-raising began all over the place. Thefurniture and crockery danced in the familiar way, and objects took todisappearing mysteriously, even when secured under lock and key. Mr.Chang was as unlucky as Mr. Chin. At _his_ house "doors would open oftheir own accord, footfalls were heard, as of persons walking in thehouse, although no one could be seen. Plates, bowls and the teapotwould suddenly rise from the table into the air." {233a}Mrs. Chang now tried the off chance of there being something inChristianity, stayed with a native Christian (the narrator), and feltmuch better. She could enjoy her meals, and was quite a new woman.As her friend could not go home with her, Mrs. Fung, a nativeChristian, resided for a while at Mr. Chang's; "comparative quiet wasrestored," and Mrs. Fung retired to her family.The symptoms returned; the native Christian was sent for, and foundMr. Chang's establishment full of buckets of water for extinguishingthe sudden fires. Mrs. Chang's daughter-in-law was now possessed, and"drank wine in large quantities, though ordinarily she would not touchit". She was staring and tossing her arms wildly; a service was held,and she soon became her usual self.In the afternoon, when the devils went out of the ladies, the fowlsflew into a state of wild excitement, while the swine rushed furiouslyabout and tried to climb a wall.The family have become Christians, the fires have ceased; Mr. Chang isan earnest inquirer, but opposed, for obvious reasons, to any publicprofession of our religion. {233b}In Mr. Niu's case "strange noises and rappings were frequently heardabout the house. The buildings were also set on fire in differentplaces in some mysterious way." The Christians tried to convert Mr.Niu, but as the devil now possessed his female slave, whose success infortune-telling was extremely lucrative, Mr. Niu said that hepreferred to leave well alone, and remained wedded to his idols. {234}We next offer a recent colonial case, in which the symptoms, as Mr.Pecksniff said, were "chronic".
