There was a scholar who lived alone in a temple filled with
fleas and gnats. These fleas and gnats bothered the scholar day and night. One
day, an army of tiny soldiers with falcons and hunting dogs appeared. This army
began to kill all of the fleas and gnats. The army then left; however, they
forgot a dog. This dog became a friend to the scholar and each night the dog
killed more gnats and fleas. One day, the scholar fell asleep and accidentally
rolled over on the tiny dog.
A poor farmer sees a fox blowing a ball of fire up and down
before he realizes it is the elixir of life. The farmer sneaks up and steals
the elixir from the fox. The fox was angry but could not do anything. The man
used his many powers to gain wealth over the next 30 years. Finally he decides
to retire and takes a nap one day. The fox then sneaks up on the sleeping man
and steals the elixir back.
Nine-tailed fox tattoo
by: Kirs-Chan found on Deviant Art
There was a boy named Ma whose room looked out into another
man’s terrace. One day, a man with pails of water came to help the old man
water his flowers, but the old man did not want his help. Ma was watching their
encounter when they started shoving each other. The man with the pails lost his
balance and was crushed by his pails dead. The old man dragged the body to the
river and then went back to bed. The body was found; however, the investigators
could not see how the man died so they concluded he slipped and fell. Ma said
nothing of the death to anyone. He grew up to be a teacher. One day, nine years
later, Ma saw the dead man walking alive. He followed the man to a wealthy
neighbor’s house. It was determined that the dead man was going to be reborn
into the wealthy family. The new boy grew up and one day was throwing stones at
birds when one stone struck the old man and killed him in the same way that he
had been killed in his previous life.
Bibliography:
The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921). Link
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