vigilance against evil was excessive and the punishments he administered were far too severe for the crimes committed. However, the court has taken into account that Zhou was acting unselfishly and was prompted by pleas for help from villagers who were suffering from the fox fairy's mischievousness. His punishment will be the loss of a year's salary and transfer to Haizhou District."
The relieved villagers shouted with joy and then bowed their heads with prayers of thanks to the wisdom of heaven before heading back to their homes.
Swindled by the Earth God's Wife
At the Huju Gate area there is a famous doctor by the name of Tu Qieru who happens to be a very good friend of mine. His daughter-in-law, Madam Wu, is the younger sister of a famous personage renowned for his filial piety and honor.
In 1776 Madam Wu dreamed she met up with a Mr. Li, a local conscript who was begging for alms. Mr. Li was carrying on his person a set of Buddhist scriptures that predicted the future, and one of the events it foretold was that the Huju Gate area would soon suffer a calamitous fire.
Mr. Li claimed to be collecting alms to finance an opera in honor of the gods in the hope of preventing this fire, but Madam Wu remained only half convinced by his story. It was true that the scriptures included detailed notes on names and places, but it still seemed rather an unlikely event.
While she was hesitating, an old woman in a yellow blouse and a crimson skirt appeared and said to her: "On the third of September a blaze will occur and your family will be the first affected. My numerical calculations suggest that you will not escape.
"What you need to do to prevent this calamity is to bum spirit money and make a few animal sacrifices. That should appease the gods and with luck will ensure no one is killed in the fire."
When Madam Wu woke from her dream she inquired about Conscript Li and discovered he had died many years before. She then asked if anyone knew of the woman with the yellow blouse, but to no avail.
She grew increasingly suspicious about the information given her in the dream, so she went to the local earth god's temple. She was both astonished and fearful to find that the idol representing the earth god's wife was identical to the woman in her dream.
When she consulted her neighbors about the coincidence, they were equally fearful and hurried off to organize an extraordinary show of devotion and respect to the temple. They put on dramatic performances, made special offerings, and raised several hundred taels of gold with which they bought supplies to continue the ritual.
When September drew near, the Tu family moved all their smaller household items to a relative's house. From the first of September they stopped cooking in the house and when the day of the third arrived there was quiet all around the neighborhood.
The day passed without a fire and in fact my good friend Mr. Tu is still quite safe today.
The Good Little Ghost
In Jinling there was a young fellow by the name of Ge who loved drinking and acting tough. He was forever harassing and bullying other people.
Early one morning he and a group of friends went to Yuhuatai Park, where they chanced upon a partly rotted coffin. A piece of a red skirt was hanging through the rotted boards.
Ge's companions baited him, saying: "You're pretty good at heckling people, but would you dare bother that thing in the coffin?"
Ge laughed. "Why not?" He strode to the coffin and beckoned to it several times, saying, "That's a good little girl, come out and have some wine with me!"
Ge's friends were most impressed with his bravado and roared with laughter before going their separate ways.
As he made his way home that evening Ge was tailed by a black shadow that chittered eerily, "Your good little girl has come for some wine."
Ge knew that this must be the ghost from the rotted coffin and decided to keep the upper hand. He boldly greeted the shadow, saying, "Come along with me, my good
The relieved villagers shouted with joy and then bowed their heads with prayers of thanks to the wisdom of heaven before heading back to their homes.
Swindled by the Earth God's Wife
At the Huju Gate area there is a famous doctor by the name of Tu Qieru who happens to be a very good friend of mine. His daughter-in-law, Madam Wu, is the younger sister of a famous personage renowned for his filial piety and honor.
In 1776 Madam Wu dreamed she met up with a Mr. Li, a local conscript who was begging for alms. Mr. Li was carrying on his person a set of Buddhist scriptures that predicted the future, and one of the events it foretold was that the Huju Gate area would soon suffer a calamitous fire.
Mr. Li claimed to be collecting alms to finance an opera in honor of the gods in the hope of preventing this fire, but Madam Wu remained only half convinced by his story. It was true that the scriptures included detailed notes on names and places, but it still seemed rather an unlikely event.
While she was hesitating, an old woman in a yellow blouse and a crimson skirt appeared and said to her: "On the third of September a blaze will occur and your family will be the first affected. My numerical calculations suggest that you will not escape.
"What you need to do to prevent this calamity is to bum spirit money and make a few animal sacrifices. That should appease the gods and with luck will ensure no one is killed in the fire."
When Madam Wu woke from her dream she inquired about Conscript Li and discovered he had died many years before. She then asked if anyone knew of the woman with the yellow blouse, but to no avail.
She grew increasingly suspicious about the information given her in the dream, so she went to the local earth god's temple. She was both astonished and fearful to find that the idol representing the earth god's wife was identical to the woman in her dream.
When she consulted her neighbors about the coincidence, they were equally fearful and hurried off to organize an extraordinary show of devotion and respect to the temple. They put on dramatic performances, made special offerings, and raised several hundred taels of gold with which they bought supplies to continue the ritual.
When September drew near, the Tu family moved all their smaller household items to a relative's house. From the first of September they stopped cooking in the house and when the day of the third arrived there was quiet all around the neighborhood.
The day passed without a fire and in fact my good friend Mr. Tu is still quite safe today.
The Good Little Ghost
In Jinling there was a young fellow by the name of Ge who loved drinking and acting tough. He was forever harassing and bullying other people.
Early one morning he and a group of friends went to Yuhuatai Park, where they chanced upon a partly rotted coffin. A piece of a red skirt was hanging through the rotted boards.
Ge's companions baited him, saying: "You're pretty good at heckling people, but would you dare bother that thing in the coffin?"
Ge laughed. "Why not?" He strode to the coffin and beckoned to it several times, saying, "That's a good little girl, come out and have some wine with me!"
Ge's friends were most impressed with his bravado and roared with laughter before going their separate ways.
As he made his way home that evening Ge was tailed by a black shadow that chittered eerily, "Your good little girl has come for some wine."
Ge knew that this must be the ghost from the rotted coffin and decided to keep the upper hand. He boldly greeted the shadow, saying, "Come along with me, my good
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