Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies Part 11

w.a.n.g Mien had not in fact gone far at all, and soon he came strolling home. Thoroughly annoyed, Old Ch'in came up to him and said, "You were altogether too willful just now. He is the head of the whole county. How could you be so insolent?"

"Good sir," said w.a.n.g Mien, "please sit down. I have something to tell you. The magistrate, backed by Wei Su's power, has been maltreating our peasants every way he can. Why should I have anything to do with such a person? The thing is that when he goes back he's sure to say something to Wei Su. If Wei Su takes offense at the insult, he'll be looking to settle scores with me, I'm afraid. So for now I'll bid you goodbye, get my things together, and go away to keep out of trouble, though leaving my mother alone at home makes me uneasy."

"Son," said w.a.n.g Mien's mother, "you have been selling your art work for years. Out of that I've saved forty or fifty taels of silver. So I won't be wanting for the basics. And though I'm old, my health is good. I can't see any reason why you shouldn't get out of the way for a while. Besides, you haven't committed any crime. The officers aren't going to come and take me away!"

"She has a point," said Old Ch'in. "Moreover, your talents will go unrecognized buried in this village town. Take yourself off to some important place where you may meet your fortune. As for your most honorable mother-I'll be responsible for everything at home while you're gone." w.a.n.g Mien thanked Old Ch'in with clasped hands upraised. The farmer went back to his house to fetch some wine and delicacies, and with these he bid a fitting farewell to w.a.n.g Mien. They spent half the night celebrating before Old Ch'in went home.

The next day before dawn, w.a.n.g Mien got up and collected his things. Old Ch'in arrived as he was finis.h.i.+ng breakfast. w.a.n.g Mien bid his mother a respectful goodbye, and mother and son, shedding tears, parted hands. w.a.n.g Mien slipped on his hemp shoes, set his pack on his back, and went to the village entrance. Carrying a small white lantern, Old Ch'in accompanied him. The two men wept. Old Ch'in, lantern in hand, stood watching w.a.n.g Mien until he was out of sight.

Exposed to the elements, stopping every twenty or thirty miles at hostels, w.a.n.g Mien traveled straight to the city of Tsinan, capital of Shantung. Though Shantung is a northern, hence a poorer, province, Tsinan is populous and prosperous. When w.a.n.g Mien arrived his money had all been spent, so he had to rent a small dwelling attached to the front of a convent. There he read the stars and told people's fortunes. He also painted a few soft-shape lotus blossoms, which he put up for sale to pa.s.sersby. His work was so popular that he could not keep the crowds away.

Snap your fingers; half a year pa.s.sed. There were some vulgar plutocrats in the city who prized w.a.n.g Mien's pictures and were always eager to buy them. Of course these wealthy men did not come personally; they sent their lackeys, who shouted and called out orders and made such a commotion that w.a.n.g Mien had no peace. When he could bear it no longer, he painted a huge ox and pasted it up together with some barbed verses. He knew this would lead to trouble and began thinking about moving on.

One day in the clear early dawn he was sitting in his room when he was amazed to see a great crowd of men and women shrieking and wailing as they moved down the street. In the baskets that hung from their shoulder poles, some had pots and household things and some had children. All were gaunt and ragged. They streamed past, rank after rank, filling up the street. Some sat on the ground and begged. Asked why they were here, they said they had come from the s.h.i.+res and counties along the Yellow River. Their fields and homes had been swept away, they said, when the river broke through the dikes and flooded the countryside. They were ordinary folk fleeing a disaster for which the government had no concern. So they could only take to the road to survive.

w.a.n.g Mien could not stand to watch them. "The river is overflowing north," he said with a sigh, "and the world enters a period of great disorder. What's the point in remaining here?" He gathered up what money he had, tied his things together in a bundle, and went back home. It was only when he reached the border of his home province that he learned Wei Su was back in the capital and the magistrate had been promoted. So it was safe to return home and pay respects to his mother.

He was glad to find her hale as ever. She told him of the many kindnesses Old Ch'in had shown her. Quickly unpacking, w.a.n.g Mien took a bolt of silk and some dried persimmon to Old Ch'in to show his grat.i.tude. The farmer prepared a homecoming celebration, and afterwards w.a.n.g Mien chanted poems, made pictures, and took care of his mother as he had done before.

Six years went by. w.a.n.g Mien's mother, now old and unwell, kept to her bed. w.a.n.g Mien tried every kind of cure and doctor-to no avail. One day his mother gave him the following advice: "I can see that I am past saving. Now, these few years people have been bending my ears saying that since you are so learned I should encourage you to go and become an official. No doubt that would reflect well on your ancestors. And yet these officials never seem to come to a good end. With your proud spirit, the outcome would be dreadful if you got yourself in trouble. So my son, heed these last words-take a wife and raise a family; care for my grave-and don't become an official. That way I can die in peace, eyes and mouth closed."

w.a.n.g Mien tearfully a.s.sented. His mother drew her last few soft breaths and went home to the heavens. The grieving son pounded his bosom and stamped his feet and gave voice to his sorrow, and his cries moved the neighbors to tears. He asked Old Ch'in to help prepare the burial clothes and the coffin. w.a.n.g Mien himself carried the earth to make the grave mound, and for the required twenty-five months he "slept on earth and hemp" in mourning.

Hardly a year after the ceremonial mourning ended, a great revolution broke out. The anti-Mongol leader Fang Kuo-chen seized Chekiang province, Chang s.h.i.+h-ch'eng seized Suchou, and Ch'en Yu-liang seized the Hupei-Hunan region. But these three were only bandit-heroes. The founder of the Ming Dynasty was to be Chu Yuan-chang,* the Great Imperial Ancestor, who raised an army at Chuyang, captured Nanking, and established himself as the king of Wu. His righteous legions smashed the bandit-hero Fang Kuo-chen and gave him command of all Chekiang, and the villages and towns knew peace.

One day at noon as w.a.n.g Mien was returning home after the ceremonial sweeping of his mother's grave, he was surprised to see a dozen hors.e.m.e.n heading into his village. The man in the lead wore an army cap on his head and a military tunic. With his light, clear face and three-strand whiskers, he had the marks of a true Chinese sovereign. The man dismounted at w.a.n.g Mien's gate, greeted him courteously, and said, "May I trouble you with a question? Where is the home of Master w.a.n.g Mien?"

"Your humble servant," replied w.a.n.g Mien. "This poor home is mine."

"Marvelous," said the man, "for it is you I come to greet." He ordered his men to dismount, picket their horses by the lakeside willows, and take up posts outside the cottage. The leader alone took w.a.n.g Mien by the hands and went with him indoors, where they seated themselves as host and guest and exchanged further amenities.

w.a.n.g Mien said, "I dare not inquire your most respected name and t.i.tle and why you have favored this remote village with a visit."

"I am named Chu," replied the man. "I have raised armies throughout southeast China and previously held the t.i.tle king of Chuyang. Now that I have taken Nanking, I am known as the king of Wu.* I have come to conquer the forces of the bandit-hero Fang Kuo-chen, and wish in particular to pay my respects to you."

"Oh! Simple villager that I am, to lack the eyes to see! So it's really Your Highness! How dare a foolish peasant take Your Grace out of his way?"

"This poor orphan,"a said the king of Wu, "is a crude, rough fellow. But now that I see your air of learning, my thoughts of worldly fame and merit seem to vanish. All during my campaigns I have held your name in esteem. Today I come to pay respectful call in hopes of receiving your instruction, Master. Since the people of Chekiang have long been in rebellion, what can be done to win their hearts and minds?"

"Needless for a peasant to tell it to a man of enlightenment and foresight like Your Majesty," replied w.a.n.g Mien. "If the basic principles of humanity and rect.i.tude be used to win the people's loyalty, who in the whole world could hold out against you? If you conquer our weak people by force, their sense of rect.i.tude will keep them from the disgrace of submission. Look what happened to Fang Kuo-chen!"

The king of Wu sighed deeply and nodded in approval, and the two spoke together until the sun went down. The king's followers had brought dry rations of cooked grain with them, and w.a.n.g Mien went himself to the kitchen to bake a good helping of cakes and fry up a plate of leeks. He served the king and then joined him for the supper, after which the king thanked w.a.n.g Mien for his wise advice and left on horseback.

The same day Old Ch'in returned from town and asked about the visitor. But w.a.n.g Mien never said exactly who had come, only that it was an army officer with whom he had made friends when he was in Shantung.

A few years later the king of Wu calmed the catastrophic turmoil in the world and reestablished the sacred cauldron in Nanking-symbol of the continuity of the most ancient dynastic heritage. The realm was united. The new dynasty was called Great Ming, and the emperor's reign t.i.tle was "Overwhelming Might." All over the land the peasantry worked in peace and contentment.

In the fourth year of Overwhelming Might, Old Ch'in went into the city and returned to tell w.a.n.g Mien, "His Honor Wei Su has answered for his crimes and has been sent into exile. I brought a copy of the whole notice to show you." Thus w.a.n.g Mien learned that after surrendering to the Ming forces, Wei Su had claimed that he had been the new emperor's loyal va.s.sal all along. The emperor was so furious that he exiled Wei Su to Ho-chou, where he was a.s.signed to tend the tomb of a famous general of the Mongol reign.

Another doc.u.ment that Old Ch'in brought back was the regulations of the Board of Rites governing the selection of officials. As before, there would be an examination requiring formal essays on the Confucian cla.s.sics every third year. "Actually," said w.a.n.g Mien, "these rules are awful. Whenever scholars have this route to fame and glory, they do not take a serious approach to the correct principles for composition, conduct, official service, and seclusion."

As they spoke evening came on. It was early summer, and the weather was unexpectedly warm. Old Ch'in set out a table in a clearing for thres.h.i.+ng wheat, and the two men enjoyed a supper with a little wine. Then the moon stole up from the east, making everything glisten like an endless expanse of gla.s.s. Not a sound came from the sleeping seagulls and resting cormorants. w.a.n.g Mien held his cup in his left hand and pointed to the stars with his right. "Look," he said, "the constellation Shackles will cross Literary Splendor. Things will not go smoothly for this generation of scholars."

As w.a.n.g Mien was speaking, a sudden wind sprang up and knifed through the trees with an ominous hiss, scaring the water-fowl into croaking flight. Old Ch'in and w.a.n.g Mien covered their faces in fear. But soon the wind died down, and when they opened their eyes they saw something amazing: hundreds of little stars were streaming from every direction down toward the southeast corner of the sky. "Heaven may have pity on us yet," said w.a.n.g Mien, "sending down this troop of star-princes to maintain the fortunes of the scholars-but not in our lifetimes." They cleared the table and went separately home.

From then on, talk was heard that the Ming government had sent orders to the Chekiang governor to draft w.a.n.g Mien into the ranks of officials. At first w.a.n.g Mien did not take the rumors seriously, but the talk only increased. And so, without telling Old Ch'in, w.a.n.g Mien quietly gathered his belongings and slipped away by night to the K'uaichi Mountains.

Half a year later the Ming court actually sent an official with an imperial summons. He was attended by many men and brought splendid gifts. He arrived at Old Ch'in's gate and found a man now past eighty years of age, his beard and sideburns silvery white, hands gripping a staff. The imperial messenger extended his courtesies and Old Ch'in ushered him into the cottage. "Is Master w.a.n.g Mien in this hamlet?" the messenger asked. "The Imperial Grace grants him the office of Consulting Military Adviser. I have come expressly to present the imperial written command."

"He's from our village," replied Old Ch'in, "but it's been a long time since I knew his whereabouts." Old Ch'in offered some tea and then led the official to w.a.n.g Mien's home. He pushed open the gate. Spiders and webs filled the rooms; brambles and weeds covered the paths. The official could see for himself that w.a.n.g Mien had been gone a long time. With a sad sigh, the messenger took his doc.u.ment back to the capital to report on his mission.

w.a.n.g Mien lived in obscurity in the K'uaichi Mountains, taking care never to reveal his ident.i.ty. Some time later, he took sick and pa.s.sed on. His neighbors collected a little money and buried him at the foot of the mountains. That same year Old Ch'in also reached his mortal term. It's strange, but these days writers and scholars speak of w.a.n.g Mien as Consulting Military Adviser, though in all honesty, when did he serve in office even for a single day? That's why I have tried to set the record straight.

-Wu Ching-tzu.

*The Mongols, who ruled China for three generations, were overthrown in 1368, when the Ming Dynasty was established and China once again came fully under Chinese rule. This book opens with the period just before the Mongol defeat, and the Chinese officials it portrays were later denounced as collaborators.

* One of China's most famous statesman-poets, he lived in the late fourth to early third centuries, B.C. When his king did not accept his principled advice, he drowned himself in the Milo River in Hunan.

*See "The Tiger Behind the Fox," this page.

*When the Ming Dynasty was established in 1368, it ended over two and a half centuries of political dominance by non-Chinese. In 1644 the non-Chinese Manchu dynasty, the Ch'ing, was established. It fell in the Republican Revolution of 1911. This novel was written toward the middle of the eighteenth century, that is, at the height of Manchu rule, when Ming loyalism was regarded as sedition.

*Wu was an ancient name for southeast China.

aThis was the conventional way for a Chinese king to refer to himself.

Nature.

The ground is held in place by the major mountains. It has the rocks for bones, the rivers for veins, and the vegetation for its coat. Its flesh is the earth-the top two and a half feet of soil that things grow in. Beneath lies the ground itself.

-Chang Hua.

Civilization.

In the southern corner of the extreme west is the great primitive gra.s.sland surrounded by lands unknown. There the vital forces of the universe, the yin and the yang, do not interchange, so there is no contrast of heat and cold. No light of sun or moon s.h.i.+nes on it, so there is neither day nor night. The people do not eat or wear clothes but sleep most of the time, waking only once every fifty days. They believe that what they do in their dreams is real and what they do when awake is unreal.

The focal point within the four seas is our middle kingdom of China. Straddling the Yellow River north and south and extending over the Tai Mountains east and west, it contains many thousands of square miles. Its measure of yin and yang has been carefully determined, so it has equal seasons of cold and heat. The division of light and dark has been made with discernment, so there is equal day and night. Its people vary in intelligence. All things grow and multiply. All manner of talents and skills are found there. A king and his officers preside over them. Tradition and law sustain them. Their world is full of any number of things! They sleep and wake in regular order. They regard what they do when awake as real and what they see in dreams as unreal.

In the northern corner of the extreme east there is a land called the hill settlements, where the climate is habitually punis.h.i.+ng. The sun and moon stay close to the horizon, and their light is weak. Most crops do not grow in the soil. The people live on roots and legumes and are ignorant of cooking. They are hard and ruthless by nature, and the stronger exploit the weaker. They honor superior force, not social ethics. Most of the time they are on the move and rarely rest. And they are always awake; they do not sleep at all.

-Lieh Tzu.

A Note on the Translation and Transcription of Chinese.

The selection and arrangement of the tales drawn from the following sources was done by the editor. All the translations were made by the editor with the a.s.sistance of C. N. Tay. A number of these tales have never before been translated into English, and most of the others are scattered in books now out of print or difficult to obtain.

The translating was done in two stages. First, an extremely literal version was made in an attempt to reproduce as faithfully as possible not only semantic nuances but also syntactical and rhythmic patterns. The second stage involved making, as sparingly as possible, adjustments of diction and style in an effort to achieve maximum readability. In addition, brief explanatory phrases have occasionally been brought into the text, factual information (dates, names, places) at the beginning of some tales has been simplified, and in a few cases a redundantly didactic ending has been abbreviated or omitted.

Because the material is cla.s.sical, not modern, the Wade-Giles system of transcription has been used. Place names, which usually have two syllables, are spelled as one word: Chinling, Tungan. A state name usually has one syllable: Ch'i, Sung. Dynasties always have one: T'ang, Ming. Names of people are written with the last name first, and the first name hyphenated, if in two syllables: Tu Tzu-ch'un, Hsi Fang-p'ing. If the first name has one syllable: Liang Hsu, Hsueh Wei. Only rarely does the last name have two syllables: Ssu-ma Ch'ien.

Vowels and diphthongs in Chinese are constant and easy to learn: a as in far; ai as in Thai; ao as in Mao; e as in her; ei as in weigh; i as in marine (i is sometimes written yi to avoid confusion with the English first-person p.r.o.noun I); ih like the irr in whirr; o as in door; ou as in owe; u as in flute; u is an i p.r.o.nounced with rounded lips.

Initial consonants may require a little explanation. p', t', k', ch', and ts' come before vowels with a strong puff of breath: p' as in pooh; t' as in tattle; k' as in khaki; ch' as in chalk; ts' as in lots of. When p.r.o.nounced without the strong puff or breath, these sounds are written without the ': p as in spot; t as in stall; k as in sky; ch like the g in gem; ts is like the ds in words; j at the beginning of a word resembles the final ih mentioned above. (Again the rr of whirr is a close approximation, but the lips are not rounded as they always are to p.r.o.nounce the English r.) hs is the same as sh, coming only before i and u. Thus, hsi sounds like she with the lips retracted.

Other initial consonants and the final consonants are p.r.o.nounced as in English.

List of Sources.

The following list gives (1) the English t.i.tle in this edition; (2) in parentheses, the Chinese t.i.tle or t.i.tles in transcription, if the original has any; (3) the source or sources; and (4) the dynasty and in most cases the approximate date for the work.

The Cricket (Ts'u Chih), Liao Chai Chih I (hereafter LCCI), early Ch'ing, late 17th century A.D.

The Waiting Maid's Parrot (Ch'in Chi Liao), Ying Ch'uan I Ts'ao, Ch'ing, late 18th century A.D.

Sea Prince (Hai Kung Tzu), LCCI A Girl in Green (Lu I Nu), LCCI b.u.t.terfly Dreams, Chuang Tzu, Chan Kuo period, 4th century B.C.

Suited to Be a Fish (Hsueh Wei/Yu Fu Chi), Hsu Hsuan Kuai Lu (hereafter HHKL), late T'ang, early 9th century A.D.

Li Ching and the Rain G.o.d (Li Wei Kung Ching), HHKL Jade Leaves, Lieh Tzu, Chin, late 3rd-early 4th centuries A.D.

The Wizard's Lesson (Tu Tzu-ch'un), HHKL The Priest of Hardwork Mountains (Lao Shan Tao s.h.i.+h), LCCI White Lotus Magic (Pai Lien Chiao), LCCI The Peach Thief (T'ou T'ao), LCCI The Magic Pear Tree (Chung Li), LCCI The Wine Well (Hsin Kao), Hsueh T'ao Hsiao Shuo from Chiu Hsiao Shuo, Ming Gold, Gold, Lieh Tzu Stump Watching, Han Fei Tzu, Chan Kuo period, 3rd century B.C.

Buying Shoes, Han Fei Tzu The Missing Axe, Lieh Tzu Overdoing It, Chan Kuo Ts'e, Chan Kuo period, 5th to 3rd centuries B.C.

The Horsetrader, Chan Kuo Ts'e The Silver Swindle (Ch'i P'ien), Hsin Ch'i Hsieh from Li Tai Hsiao Shuo Pi Chi Hsuan, Ch'ing, late 18th century A.D.

The Family's Fortune (w.a.n.g Hsin), Hsueh T'ao Hsiao Shuo The Leaf, Hsiao Lin, San Kuo, Wei, 220-265 A.D.

The Tiger Behind the Fox, Chan Kuo Ts'e Rich Man of Sung, Han Fei Tzu The Flying Bull (Niu Fei), LCCI Social Connections (Lien Kuei Ku Huo), Shan Chai K'o T'an, Ch'ing A Small Favor (Ting Ch'ien-hsi), LCCI Pitted Loquats (Wu He P'i Pa), Ch'iu Teng Ts'ung Hua, Ch'ing Memory Trouble (Ping w.a.n.g), Ai Tzu Hou Yu from Chiu Hsiao Shuo, Ming Medical Techniques (I Shu), LCCI The Lost Horse, Huai Han, Tzu, early Han 2nd century B.C.

The Deer in the Dream, Lieh Tzu Loss of Memory, Lieh Tzu The Sun, Lieh Tzu A Faithful Mouse (I Shu), LCCI The Loyal Dog (I Ch'uan), LCCI Black and White, Lieh Tzu The Dog Goes to Court (I Ch'uan Chi), Yu Ch'u Hsin Chih, Ch'ing The Tale of the Trusty Tiger (I Hu Chi), Chiu Hsiao Shuo, Ch'ing The Repentant Tiger of Chaoch'eng (Chao Ch'eng Hu), LCCI Tiger Boys (Hua Hu Chi), Yu Ch'u Hsin Chih Human Bait (I Jen Wei Ni), Hsin Ch'i Hsieh Educated Frogs and Martial Ants (Ha Ma Chiao Shu I P'ai Chen), Hsin Ch'i Hsieh The Snakeman (She Jen), LCCI The North Country Wolf (Chung Shan Lang), Tung T'ien Man Kao, Ming Counselor to the Wolves (Lang Chun s.h.i.+h), Hsin Ch'i Hsieh Monkey Keeper, Lieh Tzu Man and Beast, Lieh Tzu Man or Beast, Lieh Tzu The Fish Rejoice, Chuang Tzu Wagging My Tail in the Mud, Chuang Tzu Li Chi Slays the Serpent, Sou Shen Chi, Chin The Black General (Kuo Yuan-chen/Wu Chiang Chun), Hsuan Kuai Lu, late T'ang The Master and the Serving Maid (Liu Ch'ing), Luan Yang Hsu Lu from Chiu Hsiao Shuo, Ch'ing A Cure for Jealousy (I Chi), Hsin Ch'i Hsieh The Fortune Teller (Suan Ming Te Tzu), Cho Keng Lu from Li Tai Hsiao Shuo Pi Chi Hsuan, Yuan A Dead Son, Lieh Tzu The Golden Toothpick (Chin Pi Tz'u Jou), Cho Keng Lu The King's Favorite, Han Fei Tzu The Divided Daughter (Li Hun Chi), T'ang Jen Hsiao Shuo, late T'ang The Scholar's Concubine (Kung-sun Hsia), LCCI Three Former Lives (San Sheng), LCCI The Monk from Everclear (Ch'ang Ch'ing Seng), LCCI The Monk's Sins (Seng Nieh), LCCI The Truth About Ghosts (Ch'en Tsai-heng), Chin Hu Ch'i Mo, Ch'ing Sung Ting-po Catches a Ghost (Sung Ting-po Cho Kuei), Sou Shen Chi, Chin The Man Who Couldn't Catch a Ghost (Kuei Pi Chiang San-mang), Yueh Wei Ts'ao T'ang, Ch'ing Ai Tzu and the Temple Ghost, Ai Tzu Tsa Shuo, Sung Escaping Ghosts (Yu Ssu Pi Kuei), Ch'i Hsiu Lei Kao, Ming Test of Conviction, Sou Shen Chi Drinking Companions (w.a.n.g Liu-lang), LCCI The Censor and the Tiger (Li Cheng), Hsuan s.h.i.+h Chih, late T'ang Underworld Justice (Hsi Fang-p'ing), LCCI Sharp Sword (K'uai Tao), LCCI The Skull, Chuang Tzu The Sheep Butcher and His King, Chuang Tzu The Prime Minister's Coachman, s.h.i.+h Chi, early Han The Royal Jewel, s.h.i.+h Chi Country of Thieves, s.h.i.+h Chi Strategy, Tso Chuan, Spring and Autumn period, fifth century B.C.

Buying Loyalty, Chan Kuo Ts'e The Groom's Crimes, Yen Tzu Ch'un Ch'iu, Spring and Autumn period The Chain, Shuo Yuan, early Han Hearsay, Lieh Tzu Dreams, Lieh Tzu The Mortal Lord, Lieh Tzu One Word Solves a Mystery (P'ien Yen Che Yu), Chih Shan Ch'ien Wen from Chiu Hsiao Shuo, Ming A Wise Judge (Nieh Yi-tao), Shan Chu Hsin Hua from Chiu Hsiao Shuo, Yuan A Clever Judge (Ch'en Shu-ku), Meng Chi Pi T'an, Sung A Fine Phoenix, Hsiao Lin, San Kuo, Wei Sun Tribute, Lieh Tzu An Unofficial History of the Confucian Academy, chapter 1 of the Ju Lin Wai s.h.i.+h, Ch'ing Nature, Po Wu Chih, Chin.

Civilization, Lieh Tzu.

About the Translator.

Moss Roberts is a.s.sociate Professor of Chinese and Director of East Asian Studies at New York University. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and also did advanced work in the Oriental Languages Department at Berkeley. He is the author of several articles on Chinese philosophy and philology, and has translated Mao Zedong's Critique of Soviet Economics and the epic drama Three Kingdoms.

end.

TALES OF ENCHANTMENT AND MAGIC.

The Cricket The Waiting Maid's Parrot Sea Prince.

A Girl in Green b.u.t.terfly Dreams Suited to Be a Fish.

Li Ching and the Rain G.o.d Jade Leaves The Wizard's Lesson.

The Priest of Hardwork Mountains White Lotus Magic The Peach Thief TALES OF FOLLY AND GREED.

The Magic Pear Tree The Wine Well Gold, Gold.

Stump Watching Buying Shoes The Missing Axe.

Overdoing It The Horsetrader The Silver Swindle The Family's Fortune The Leaf The Tiger Behind the Fox Rich Man of Sung The Flying Bull Social Connections A Small Favor Pitted Loquats Memory Trouble.

Medical Techniques The Lost Horse The Deer in the Dream.

Loss of Memory The Sun THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

A Faithful Mouse The Loyal Dog Black and White.

The Dog Goes to Court The Tale of the Trusty Tiger The Repentant Tiger of Chaoch'eng Tiger Boys Human Bait.

Educated Frogs and Martial Ants The Snakeman The North Country Wolf Counselor to the Wolves Monkey Keeper Man and Beast Man or Beast.

The Fish Rejoice Wagging My Tail in the Mud WOMEN AND WIVES.

Li Chi Slays the Serpent The Black General.

The Master and the Serving Maid A Cure for Jealousy The Fortune Teller A Dead Son The Golden Toothpick.

The King's Favorite The Divided Daughter GHOSTS AND SOULS.

The Scholar's Concubine.

Three Former Lives The Monk from Everclear The Monk's Sins The Truth About Ghosts.

Sung Ting-po Catches a Ghost The Man Who Couldn't Catch a Ghost Ai Tzu and the Temple Ghost Escaping Ghosts Test of Conviction.

Drinking Companions The Censor and the Tiger Underworld Justice Sharp Sword The Skull JUDGES AND DIPLOMATS.

The Sheep Butcher and His King The Prime Minister's Coachman The Royal Jewel Country of Thieves Strategy Buying Loyalty The Groom's Crimes The Chain Hearsay Dreams The Mortal Lord One Word Solves a Mystery A Wise Judge A Clever Judge A Fine Phoenix Sun Tribute AN UNOFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE CONFUCIAN ACADEMY.