CONTENTS

Introduction

Tale l

Mr Fortune Comes Across Red Fruit from Dongting;

A Persian Merchant Discems the Shell ofa Drum Dragon

Tale 2

Escaping Disgrace Yao Dizhu Encounters Disgrace;

Making an Error Zheng Yue'e Utilizes the Error

Tale 3

Liu Dongshan Brags of His Prowess at a City Gate;

Eighteenth Brother Shows offMarvels in a Village Tavem

Tale 4

Nun Zhao Ensnares a Beauty with Narcotic Wine;

Scholar Jia Take His Revenge with an Ingenious Plot

Tale 5

General Woolly Pays the Debt ofa Dinner;

Chen Dalang Reunites with His Lost Kinfolk

Tale 6

Scholar Han Acquires a Pretty Wife Amidst the Chaos;

Prefect Wu Confirms a Marriage Contract in Favor ofTalent

Tale 7

An Evil Boat Owner Takes Money for an Unidentified Corpse;

A Base Servant Files an Accusation about an Alleged Murder

Tale 8

Zhao the Sixth Dies at the Hand ofHis Pampered Son;

Magistrate Zhang Punishes the Evil with an Irrevocable Death

Verdict

Tale 9

To Steal Money, Yu Dajiao Murders a Drunk Man;

To Confront his Enemy, Yang Hua Haunts a Living Lady

Tale 10

Zhang the Lucky Makes Easy Money by Setting Beauty Traps;

Lu Huiniang Seeks Happiness by Dissolving a Loveless Bond

Tale 11

A Soul is Redeemed in West Mountain Monastery;

A Breathing Body is Encoffined in Kaifeng Prefecture Court

Tale 12

The Soul ofElder Sister Keeps Her Love Company;

Younger Sister, Recovered from Illness, Fulfills the Union

Tale 13

Fighting for Affection a Village Woman Gives Her Life;

Conversing with Heaven an Assistant Govemor Settles a Case

Tale 14

Faithfiil Lamplight Conducts to a Boudoir;

Glad Tidings Break into a Cell

Tale 15

By Exchanging Wives, Mr Hu Indulges in Debauchery;

To Expound Retribution a Prelate Sinks into Meditation

Tale 16

Charitable Squire Zhang Fosters an Orphan;

Witty Prefect Bao Extracts a Contract

Tale 17

In Laxity the Monk ofthe East Veranda Encounters a Monster;

During an Elopement a Knave in Black Commits a Murder

Tale 18

To Seize Possessions a Vicious Son-in-law Plots Against His

Nephew;

To Continue the Lineage a Filial Daughter Hides Her Brother

Wen Ruoxu and his companions left the boat, and went to shops to

barter. This went on for about half a month, during which time Wen

Ruoxu saw many interesting things. He was contented with what he

had eamed and showed no interest in their wares.

As they finished their business, they got on board the ship, offered

sacrifices to the gods for blessing, held a feast and set off. After a few

days on the sea, the weather changed all ofa sudden. They saw

Dark clonds veiled the sun,

Black waves mounted to the sky;

Dancing dragons andserpents soaredhigh,

Frightenedfish and turtles hiddeep.

Seeing the hurricane coming, the people on the ship hoisted the

half-mast sail. The ship, now at the mercy of the wind, drifted along.

An island came faintly in sight, so they lowered the sail and oared the

ship toward the island. As they reached it, they found it to be a desert

island, where

Towering trees scraped the sky,

Grass covered the ground;

On this desolate place werefound

Only footprints ofhares andfoxes.

In the barren earth

Neither dragons nor tigers could have nests;

No one knows to which domain it belonged,

Or ifanybody had ever sel hisfoot on it.

Thereupon they lowered the anchor over the stem, fixed a post on the

bank and tied the ship to it. The seamen told their passengers in the

cabin, "Sit inside at ease and wait until the wind falls."

With his sum of money, Wen Ruoxu wished he could fly home, but

he had to wait until the wind died down. He was irritable. "I'll climb

onto the island and have a look at it," he said. "Is there anything worth

seeing on such a desert island?" his companions asked. "1 have

nothing to do anyway," Wen Ruoxu replied. "There's no harm in

looking at it."