Whose Strange Stories? P'u Sung-ling (1640 - East Asian History

22
A clever. roundabout way of preparing for the
next scene. (Tan)
Six months (ater,
Lien-hsiana
knocks on Sang's
door, introducma
herself as a sinfJ ;
sonB8irC 'He
thinRs it is his
neiah60ur uy to his
tricks aaain and
fets her in. She
s(eps wi , th him,
ana contmues to
visit him every
few days.
Game 2: Enter the fox (as a consequence of Game
1). (Tan)
2 literally. " a young lady whose beauty would
overthrow a kingdom," in allusion to an old story
which it is not necessary to reproduce here. (Giles)
Typical Giles, to drag Homer into his Chinese
Studio! (TM)
The "real" sing-song girl has prepared us fo r
lien-hsiang. What subtle. tight writing! And
li's appearance is linked with lien-hsiang's.
This is the technique known as linkage. The
whole story repeatedly links ghost and fox.
(Tan)
And a cup of tea no doubt ... (TM)
JOHN MINFORD AND TONG MAN
told him what had happened, and said he meant
to go back to his native place. The neighbour
then clapped his hands, and said to Sang, "Why
didn't you ask her in?" Whereu pon Sang perceived
that he had been tricked, and went on quietly
again as before.
Some six months afterwards, a young lady
[came during the night and 1 knocked at his door;
and Sang, thinking his friends were at their old
tricks, opened it at once, and asked her to walk
in. She did so; and he beheld to his astonishment
a perfect Helen for beauty.2 Asking her whence
she came, she replied that her name was Lien­
hSiang, and that she lived not very far off. adding
that she had long been anxious to make his
acquaintance [she was a sing-song girl from the
western part of town. There were many sing-song
houses in the town, so he believed her. They put
out the lamp and went to bed, spending a joyful
night together 1. After that she used to drop in
every now and again for a chat.
Buying Wine, Listening to
Fishermen 's Songs
$i@w.:-sealcarved
by Ho Chen fPJ.
(fl. 1626)
Charm suspended fa cing
the North (Don!)