Chinese Æsop:

Duke Xian of Jin married a daughter of the House of Jia, who had no child. Afterwards he committed incest with his father's concubine Qi Jiang, by whom he had a daughter who became wife of duke Mu of Qin, and a son Shensheng, whom he, after his father's death, acknowledged as his heir. Subsequently he married two ladies from among the Rong, the one of whom, called Hu Ji of the great Rong, bore Chong'er, and the other, who was of the small Rong, bore Yiwu. When Jin invaded the Li Rong, their chief, a baron, gave duke Xian to wife his daughter. Duke Xian had wished to make Li Ji his wife, and consulted the divination. The tortoise-shell indicated that the thing would be unlucky, but the milfoil pronounced it lucky. The duke said, "I will follow the milfoil." The diviner by the tortoise-shell said, "The milfoil is reckoned inferior in its indications to the tortoise-shell. You had better follow the latter. And moreover, the oracle was:— 'The change made ...

At an early time, duke Zhuang of Lu built a tower near the residence of the Zhang family, from which he got a sight of Meng Ren, and followed her; but she shut the door against him. He then said he would make her his wife, when she consented to his desires, cutting at the same time her arm, and with the blood making a covenant with him. She afterwards bore a son to the duke, who was called Ban. In thirty-second year of his reign, when the duke Zhuang of Lu was ill, he consulted his half-brother Shuya about who should be his successor, and Shuya said, 'Qingfu has ability." Qinfu was Ya's own full brother, he wanted to raise Qingfu to the lordship. The duke also asked his full brother Jiyou, who replied that he would support Ban to the death. "A little ago," said the duke, "Ya mentioned the ability of Qingfu." On this Jiyou sent a messenger with the duke's order to command Shuya to wait in the family of the officer Qianwu, where he made Qianwu's...

Zhai Zhong monopolized the government of Zheng, to the great trouble of the earl, who employed Zhong's son-in-law, Yong Jiu [this Yong Jiu had come to Zheng with Tu from Song, and married a daughter of Zhai Zhong] to kill him. Jiu proposed doing so at a feast which he was to give Zhong in the suburbs, but Yong Ji [Jiu's wife, and Zhong's daughter] became aware of the design, and said to her mother, " Whether is a father or a husband the nearer and dearer? " The mother said, " Any man may be husband to a woman, but she can have but one father. How can there be any comparison between them? " She then told Zhai Zhong, saying, "Yong is leaving his house, and intends to feast you in the suburbs and there kill you; I got him to tell me by guile." On this Zhai Zhong killed Yong Jiu, and threw away his body by the pool of the Zhou family. The earl took it with him in his carriage, and left the State, saying, " It was right he should die, who commu...

A TAOIST PRIEST, called Han, lived at the T'ien-ch'i temple, in our district city. His knowledge of the black art was very extensive, and the neighbours all regarded him as an Immortal. 1 My late father was on intimate terms with him, and whenever he went into the city invariably paid him a visit. One day, on such an occasion, he was proceeding thither in company with my late uncle, when suddenly they met Han on the road. Handing them the key of the door, he begged them to go on and wait awhile for him, promising to be there shortly himself. Following out these instructions they repaired to the temple, but on unlocking the door there was Han sitting inside a feat which he subsequently performed several times. Now a relative of mine, who was terribly given to gambling, also knew this priest, having been introduced to him by my father. And once this relative, meeting with a Buddhist priest from the T'ien-fo temple, addicted like himself to the vice of gambling, played with ...

AT Chiao-chou there lived a man named Hsu, who gained his living by trading across the sea. On one occasion he was carried far out of his course by a violent tempest, and reached a country of high hills and dense jungle, where, after making fast his boat and taking provisions with him, he landed, hoping to meet with some of the inhabitants. He then saw that the rocks were covered with large holes, like the cells of bees; and, hearing the sound of voices from within, he stopped in front of one of them and peeped in. To his infinite horror he beheld two hideous beings, with thick rows of horrid fangs, and eyes that glared like lamps, engaged in tearing to pieces and devouring some raw deer's flesh; and, turning round, he would have fled instantly from the spot, had not the cave-men already espied him; and, leaving their food, they seized him and dragged him in. Thereupon ensued a chattering between them, resembling the noise of birds or beasts, and they proceeded to pull off Hsu'...

THERE was a Fohkien gentleman named Tseng, who had just taken his doctor's degree. One day he was out walking with several other recently-elected doctors, when they heard that at a temple hard by there lived an astrologer, and accordingly the party proceeded thither to get their fortunes told. They went in and sat down, and the astrologer made some very complimentary remarks to Tseng, at which he fanned himself and smiled, saying, "Have I any chance of ever wearing the dragon robes and the jade girdle?" The astrologer immediately put on a serious face, and replied that he would be a Secretary of State during twenty years of national tranquillity. Thereupon Tseng was much pleased, and began to give himself greater airs than ever. A slight rain coming on, they sought shelter in the priest's quarters, where they found an old bonze, with sunken eyes and a big nose, sitting upon a mat. He took no notice of the strangers, who, after having bowed to him, stretched themselves...

AN TA-CH'ENG was a Chung-ch'ing man. His father, who had gained the master's degree, died early; and his brother Erh-ch'eng was a mere boy. He himself had married a wife from the Ch'en family, whose name was Shan-hu; and this young lady had much to put up with from the violent and malicious disposition of her husband's mother. However, she never complained; and every morning dressed herself up smart, and went in to pay her respects to the old lady. Once when Ta-ch'eng was ill, his mother abused Shan-hu for dressing so nicely; whereupon Shan-hu went back and changed her clothes; but even then Mrs. An was not satisfied, and began to tear her own hair with rage. Ta-ch'eng, who was a very filial son, at once gave his wife a beating, and this put an end to the scene. From that moment his mother hated her more than ever, and although she was everything that a daughter-in-law could be, would never exchange a word with her. Ta-ch'eng then treated her in much...