Strange Tales from Liaozhai - Vol. 2The 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 second of 6 volumes. |
From inside the book
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... there's no fire to burn the living world's government offices, where people are unfairly treated!” What mayinitially appear to be arbitrary lapses in the underworld justice system, either through carelessness or malfeasance, or to be a ...
... there's no need for a dead spirit to be cautious—so if, in the underworld, you understand my feelings for you ... there was the girl wearing a smile, standing in the lantern's light. Startled, Zhang jumped up and asked what had happened ...
... there. The pavilion was at a town in the mountains to the south, three li away from the potter's place of business. The potter hired some workers to move them back from there, and it took them three days to transport everything. Kuixing ...
... there for a long time, then gradually rose higher and higher until she could no longer be seen. The neighbors were all amazed at this. They went to Su's house to look for themselves and found her gorgeously dressed, just sitting there ...
... there was a man who had reportedly raped eighty-two women of respectable families. Further investigation verified the allegations to be true. According to the laws of the underworld, the man was to be tortured by a burning bronze pillar ...