Tsze Pun Yu!
Thisis the title of a Chinese collection of tales, romances, fables, &c., a kind of publication in which Chinese literature abounds. In the work mentioned above, there are no less than seven hundred tales, the titles of some of them being, “Ghost of a Fortune Teller,” “A Stolen Thunderbolt,” “The Literary Fox advising Men to become Fairies,” “Elves begging Fish,” “The Man with three Heads,” “The Devil turned Matchmaker,” “A Pig acting the Priest of Taou,” “The Enchanted Tower,” “The Ass of a Mohamedan Lady,” “A Demon bearing Children,” “Vulcan’s Toys,” &c.
The following are translations from this work, made by a youth at Canton, who was studying the Chinese language: they will afford a specimen of a Chinese book of “Small Talk.”
The Sagacious Pig.—In the district of Suhchow, in Keanguan, a man was murdered, and his body thrown into a well. One of the officers, having long sought in vain for the murderer, was riding by the well one day, when the pig came before his horse, and set up a most bitter cry.
His attendants not being able to drive the pig away, the officer said to them, What does the pig want? Whereupon the pig kneeled before him, and made thekow-tow. The officer then bid his attendants to follow the pig, which immediately rose up, and led them to a house, and entering the door, crawled under a bed and began rooting up the ground, and continued doing so until he had uncovered a bloody knife. The attendants immediately seized the master of the house, who, on examination, proved to be the murderer.
The villagers, having deliberated on the case, took the pig and supported him in one of the temples of Budha; visitors came frequently to see him, and gave money for his support, saying, “Such a sagacious pig deserves to be rewarded.” After more than ten years, he died, and the priests of the temple, having procured for him a coffin, buried him with due formality.
The Enchanted Box.—On the banks of the lake Kanning, in the province of Yunnan, some husbandmen, while digging up the ground, discovered a small iron box, on which characters were written in the ancient form (used in the time of the Han dynasty.) The husbandmen did not understand this writing, but the characters by the side of it were intelligible, and were as follows: “Given by a fairy, in the first year of Cheching.”
The husbandmen, not knowing what the box was, broke it open, when they found a smallworm, about an inch in length, apparently dead. The boys, collecting, threw water on it. The worm then began to stretch itself, until it became quite long, and then it darted into the air. A hurricane soon came on; the rain fell in torrents; the heavens and earth seemed enveloped in black clouds; in the midst of which appeared a horned monster, fighting with two yellow dragons. Hail mingled with dew descended; and the houses and all property of the husbandmen were destroyed!
The Black Pillar.—Once, in the district Shaouhing, there lived a man whose name was Yen, who was married into the family of Wang, and was taken home by his father-in-law, who had no son of his own. After the ceremony, Yen returned to visit his family. His wife having been suddenly taken ill, after his departure, a messenger was sent by his father-in-law to inform him of it. Yen immediately left his father’s house, although it was in the middle of the night.
By the light of a candle, he was proceeding along the road, when a black cloud, resembling the pillar of a temple, descended between him and a candle.If he moved a candle to the east, the pillar also moved to the east; if he moved the candle westward, the pillar moved with it, as if trying to obstruct the way, and not to permit him to proceed.
Yen, being very much frightened, entered the house of a friend, and having procured a servant and another candle, proceeded, and the black pillar gradually disappeared, while he hastened to his wife’s house. On entering, his father-in-law met him, and said, “You arrived a long time ago,—where have you come from now?”
Yen replied, “Most certainly I have not been in before!” Yen and the whole family fled in astonishment to his wife’s room, where they found a man seated on her bed, holding her hand. As he proceeded to his wife’s side, the stranger disappeared, and his lady soon expired.
Fidelity of Cats.—In Heängning, there lived a lad, whose surname was Wang. His father had an old servant, upwards of seventy years old, who, being extremely fond of cats, kept thirteen in her house, and loved and cherished them like children. Each one had a nickname, and came immediately at her call. In the reign of Keënlung, this old woman died. The poor cats gathered round her coffin, crying bitterly, and refused fish, rice, and every kind of food; and after three days, they all died!
So much for Chinese Romance.
Language of Animals.—The acuteness of the sheep’s ear surpasses all things in nature that I know of. An ewe will distinguish her own lamb’s bleat among a thousand all bleating at the same time, and making a noise a thousand times louder than the singing of psalms at a Cameronian sacrament in the fields, where thousands are congregated—and that is no joke either. Besides, the distinguishment of voice is perfectly reciprocal between the ewe and lamb, who amid the deafening sound run to meet one another. There are few things have ever amused me more than a sheep-shearing, and then the sport continues the whole day. We put the flock into the fold, send out all the lambs to the hill, and then send the ewes to them as they are shorn. The moment that a lamb hears its dam’s voice, it rushes from the crowd to meet her; but instead of finding the rough, well-clad, comfortable mamma, which it left an hour or a few hours ago, it meets a poor, naked, shivering—a most deplorable-looking creature. It wheels about, and uttering a loud, tremulous bleat of despair, flies from the frightful vision. The mother’s voice arrests its flight—it returns—flies, and returns again, generally for ten or a dozen times, before the reconciliation is fairly made up.—James Hogg.
Fighting Crickets.—In China the people take as much pleasure in cricket fights as the Spaniards do in bull fights. Two crickets are pitted against each other, and crowds of people gather round to witness the combat. The insects rush at each other with great fury, and the spectators, high and low, rich and poor, seem to experience the most lively sensations of delight.
Lying.—This is more common than some people suppose. A man who contracts a debt without a good prospect of paying it when due, is a liar. A man who gives his vote to serve a party, or to serve another person in disregard of public good, is a liar. A mercenary suitor for a lady’s hand, is a liar. An editor, who seeks in any way to make a false impression, is a liar of a thousand tongues.