Strange Tales from Liaozhai - Vol. 3The 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 third of 6 volumes. |
From inside the book
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... ... 998 210. Dragon Meat ............................................... 1000 211. The Lucheng Magistrate .............................. 1001 212. MaJiefu ...................................................... 1003 213. Kuixing .......
... Magistrate” (lu ling), described by Pu as “heartlessly greedy and cruel,” notorious for the fatally harsh punishments he metes out, is himself eventually condemned by an invisible representative from the underworld judiciary. Yet the ...
... magistrate, Song Guoying (“The Lucheng Magistrate” [lu ling]), so viciously and dispassionately orders the flogging deaths of people unable to pay their taxes that his actions provoke the direct intervention from “an agent of the ...
... magistrate. The magistrate just laughed and said, “What can an official and the legal system do about a tiger?” The old woman began to cry ever more loudly, but no one could stop her. Though the magistrate shouted at her to stop, she ...
... magistrate had simply been pretending in his office in order to placate the old lady who was causing trouble, and hence he didn't have to treat it seriously. He took the document and handed it back to the magistrate, who angrily ...