Strange Tales from Liaozhai - Vol. 5The weird and whimsical short stories in Strange Tales from Liaozhai show their author, Pu Songling (1640-1715), to be both an explorer of the macabre, like Edgar Allan Poe, and a moralist, like Aesop. In this first complete translation of the collection's 494 stories into English, readers will encounter supernatural creatures, natural disasters, magical aspects of Buddhist and Daoist spirituality, and a wide range of Chinese folklore. Annotations are provided to clarify unfamiliar references or cultural allusions, and introductory essays have been included to explain facets of Pu Songling's work and to provide context for some of the unique qualities of his uncanny tales. This is the fifth of 6 volumes. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 43
... maidservant, the title character of “Ainu,” who is also a ghost. His concern for her leads him to reunite her spirit with her corpse, and she returns to life—until, while intoxicated, Xu forces Ainu to drink a bit of wine, and his ...
... . Xiaolian: An unofficial reference to successful candidates at the prefectural or provincial level of the civil service examination recruitment process (Hucker 237). One day, Zhou sent an old maidservant to take food 1634.
... maidservant didn't stop there, but continued intruding with her vicious slander. The chaos continued awhile until Xijiu came inside and asked what was going on, then, exploding in anger when he learned what the maidservant had been ...
... maidservant with tousled hair opened his door a crack and then entered, confronting Liu and demanding the pantaloons from him. With a laugh, Liu said he'd need something in exchange for it. The maidservant inquired whether he'd accept ...
... maidservant brought out some kind of fruit on a golden platter, but no one knew what the fruit was called. The old man said, “This was brought from Cambodia, where they call it jackfruit.” Then he picked up a number of them with both ...