Strange Stories From A Chinese Studio

Mister Hsü was a magistrate at Shantung. A certain upper chamber of his house was used as a store-room; but some creature managed so frequently to get in, and make havoc among the stores, for which the servants were always being scolded, that at length some of the latter determined to keep watch.

By-and-by they saw a huge spider as big as a peck measure, and hurried off to tell their master, who thought it so strange, that he gave orders to the servants, to feed the insect with cakes. It thus became very tame, and would always come forth when hungry, returning as soon as it had taken enough to eat. [Read more…]

 —A certain village butcher, who had bought some meat at market and was returning home in the evening, suddenly came across a wolf, which followed him closely, its mouth watering at the sight of what he was carrying.

The butcher drew his knife and drove the animal off; and then reflecting that his meat was the attraction, he determined to hang it up in a tree and fetch it the next morning. [Read more…]

A woodsman who had been to market was returning home with his pole across his shoulder, when suddenly he felt it become very heavy at the end behind him, and looking round he saw attached to it the headless trunk of a man.

In great alarm, he got his pole quit of the burden and struck about him right and left, whereupon the body disappeared. He then hurried on to the next village, and when he arrived there in the dusk of the evening, he found several men holding lights to the ground as if looking for something. [Read more…]

At Pao-ting Fu there lived a young man, who having purchased the lowest degree was about to proceed to Peking, in the hope of obtaining, by the aid of a little bribery, an appointment as District Magistrate. His boxes were all ready packed, when he was taken suddenly ill and was confined to his bed for more than a month.

One day the servant entered and announced a visitor; whereupon our sick man jumped up and ran to the door as if there was nothing the matter with him. The visitor was elegantly dressed like a man of some position in society; and, after bowing thrice, he walked into the house, explaining that he was Kung-sun Hsia, tutor to the Eleventh Prince, and that he had heard our Mr. So-and-so wished to arrange for the purchase of a magistracy. [Read more…]