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The Spirit Of The Hills

A MAN named Li, of I-tu, was once crossing the hills when he came upon a number of persons sitting on the ground engaged in drinking. As soon as they saw Li they begged him to join them, and vied with each other in filling his cup. Meanwhile, he looked about him and noticed that the various trays and dishes contained all kinds of costly food; the wine only seemed to him a little rough on the palate. In the middle of their fun up came a stranger with a face about three feet long and a very tall hat; whereupon the others were very much alarmed, and cried out, “The hill spirit! the hill spirit!” running away in all directions as fast as they could go. Li hid himself in a hole in the ground; and when by-and-by he peeped out to see what had happened, the wine and food had disappeared, and there was nothing there but a few dirty potsherds and some pieces of broken tiles with efts and lizards crawling over them.
山神
  益都李會斗,偶山行,值數人籍地飲。見李至,讙然並起,曳入座,競觴之。視其柈饌,雜陳珍錯。移時,飲甚懽;但酒味薄濇。忽遙有一人來,面狹長,可二三尺許;冠之高細稱是。眾驚曰:「山神至矣!」即都紛紛四去。李亦伏匿坎窞中。既而起視,則肴酒一無所有,惟有破陶器貯溲浡,瓦片上盛晰蜴數枚而已。

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