Chingtian county of Chuzhou once had a flood in which every house was drowned. A rich family of the place had several boats stored on the river bank, and the whole household got aboard and took refuge on high ground, and were saved.
But not a hair of their living goods was with them, and they were about to turn the boats back to load up, when they saw the water rising higher. The whole town was riding on the roofs, screaming and weeping, and the noise shook the fields.
The rich man said: “If my family’s goods are lost, they can be had again. How can I sit and watch people go into the bellies of fish and not ask?”
He at once ordered his sons and brothers each to take a boat, going from low to high in order, rescuing and loading, and let the people bring their own bags and cases with them. When they arrived they went back again, and they went to and fro more than ten times, and nearly a thousand people all escaped the danger of drowning.
The next day the water went down. Not one house remained in the town, only a vast sand flat.
The rich man’s house stood on a sand mound like a heap, and he sent servants to carry away the sand — and the whole house stood intact, with the utensils and boxes all in place as before, and only the books, clothes and quilts slightly damp.
