Strange Tales from Liaozhai - Vol. 6The 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 sixth of 6 volumes. |
From inside the book
... marriage to be considered legitimate and decorous: a go-between or matchmaker draws up a contract between two families; gifts are presented to the family of the bride; the birth dates and names of the two proposed partners are subjected ...
... marriage to be consummated (Bates177). As domestic manager and labor supervisor, the wife carried the burden of monitoring and facilitating household operations while also performing a significant portion of manual labor.1 Pu's tales ...
... marriage and to act as our home manager until I can follow you to our home.” Announcing himself the happiest man in the world, Wang declares, “Some homes have shrewish women and still others are narrow and small; since I'm so fortunate ...
... marry his sister. When he looked closely at the date of the letter, it proved to be the very day that Ma's wife had died ... married Ma, she had a doorway placed in the wall around Ma's property, so she could walk through it each day to ...
... married. I've been accumulating a bit of money that I hope I can trouble you to take to my sister. At the end of the year, I'll make a short visit.” Ma refused to listen, begging him even more insistently to return with him. “Your ...