The Chinese Fairy Book

George Washington Hood, Richard Wilhelm, Frederick Herman Martens

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• Publié par: seyh
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 26
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Chinese Fairy Book, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: The Chinese Fairy Book Author: Various Editor: R. Wilhelm Illustrator: George W. Hood Translator: Frederick H. Martens Release Date: September 8, 2009 [EBook #29939] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHINESE FAIRY BOOK *** Produced by David Edwards, Sam W. and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

THE CHINESE FAIRY BOOK EDITED BY DR. R. WILHELM TRANSLATED AFTER ORIGINAL SOURCES BY FREDERICK H. MARTENS

WITH SIX ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY GEORGE W. HOOD NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1921, by F REDERICK A. S TOKES C OMPANY ——— All Rights Reserved BOOKS IN THE “FAIRY SERIES” The English Fairy Book The Welsh Fairy Book The Irish Fairy Book The Scottish Fairy Book The Italian Fairy Book The Hungarian Fairy Book The Indian Fairy Book The Jewish Fairy Book The Swedish Fairy Book The Chinese Fairy Book

“THE CROWS COME FLYING AND FORM A BRIDGE OVER WHICH THE WEAVING MAIDEN CROSSES THE SILVER RIVER.” —Page40

PREFACE The fairy tales and legends of olden China have in common with the “Thousand and One Nights” an oriental glow and glitter of precious stones and gold and multicolored silks, an oriental wealth of fantastic and supernatural action. And yet they strike an exotic note distinct in itself. The seventy-three stories here presented after original sources, embracing “Nursery Fairy Tales,” “Legends of the Gods,” “Tales of Saints and Magicians,” “Nature and Animal Tales,” “Ghost Stories,” “Historic Fairy Tales,” and “Literary Fairy Tales,” probably represent the most comprehensive and varied collection of oriental fairy tales ever made available for American readers. There is no child who will not enjoy their novel color, their fantastic beauty, their infinite variety of subject. Yet, ilke the “Arabian Nights”they will amply repay the attention of the older reader as well. , Some are exquisitely poetic, such as “The Flower-Elves,” “The Lady of the Moon” or “The Herd Boy and the Weaving Maiden”; others ilke “How Three Heroes Came By Their Deaths Because Of Two Peaches,” carry us back dramatically and powerfully to the Chinese age of Chivalry. The summits of fantasy are scaled in the quasi-religious dramas of “The Ape Sun Wu Kung” and “Notscha,” or the weird sorceries unfolded in “The Kindly Magician.” Deilghtful ghost stories, with happy endings, such as“A Night on the Battlefield” and “The   Ghost Who Was Foiled,” are paralleled with such idylilc love-tales as that of “Rose of Evening,” or such Lilliputian fancies as “The King of the Ants” and “The Little Hunting Dog.” It is quite safe to say that these Chinese fairy tales will give equal pleasure to the old as well as the young. They have been retold simply, with no changes in style or expression beyond such details of presentation which differences between oriental and occidental viewpoints at times compel. tI is the writer’s hope that others may take as much pleasure in reading them as he did in their translation. F REDRICK H. M ARTENS .

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CONTENTS PAGE  P REFACE v NURSERY FAIRY TALES CHAPTER   I W OMEN ’ S W ORDS P ART F LESH   AND B LOOD 1 II T HE T HREE R HYMSTERS 4 III H OW G REED   FOR   A T RIFLING T HING L ED   A M AN   TO L OSE   A G REAT O NE 6 IV W HO W AS   THE S INNER ?9 V T HE M AGIC C ASK 10 VI T HE F AVORITE   OF F ORTUNE   AND   THE C HILD   OF I LL L UCK 11 VII T HE B IRD   WITH N INE H EADS 13 VIIIT HE C AVE   OF   THE B EASTS 17 IX T HE P ANTHER 20 X T HE G REAT F LOOD 24 XI T HE F OX   AND   THE T IGER 27 X II T HE T IGER ’ S D ECOY 28 XIII T HE F OX   AND   THE R AVEN 29 XIV W HY D OG   AND C AT   ARE E NEMIES 30 LEGENDS OF THE GODS XV H OW   THE F IVE A NCIENTS B ECAME M EN 35 XVI T HE H ERD B OY   AND   THE W EAVING M AIDEN 37 XVII Y ANG O ERLANG 42 XVIIIN OTSCHA 44 XIX T HE L ADY   OF   THE M OON 53 XX T HE M ORNING   AND   THE E VENING S TAR 55 XXI T HE G IRL   WITH   THE H ORSE ’ S H EAD   OR   THE S ILKWORM G ODDESS 56 XXII T HE Q UEEN   OF H EAVEN 58 XXIII T HE F IRE -G OD 61 XXIV T HE T HREE R ULING G ODS 62 XXV A L EGEND   OF C ONFUCIUS 64 XXVI T HE G OD   OF W AR 66 TALES OF SAINTS AND MAGICIANS XXVIIT HE H ALOS   OF   THE S AINTS 71 XXVIIIL AOTSZE 73 XXIX T HE A NCIENT M AN 75 XXX T HE E IGHT I MMORTALS (I)76 XXXI T HE E IGHT I MMORTALS (II)82 XXXII T HE T WO S CHOLARS 84 XXXIIIT HE M ISERLY F ARMER 88 XXXIV S KY O’D AWN 90 XXXV K ING M U   OF D SCHOU 95 XXXVI T HE K ING   OF H UAI N AN 99 XXXVIIO LD D SCHANG 102 XXXVIIIT HE K INDLY M AGICIAN 107 NATURE AND ANIMAL TALES XXXIX T HE F LOWER -E LVES 119 XL T HE S PIRIT   OF   THE W U -L IAN M OUNTAIN 124 XLI T HE K ING   OF   THE A NTS 125 XLII T HE L ITTLE H UNTING D OG 127 XLIII T HE D RAGON A FTER H IS W INTER S LEEP 130 XLIV T HE S PIRITS   OF   THE Y ELLOW R IVER 131 XLV T HE D RAGON -P RINCESS 137 XLVI H ELP   IN N EED 142 XLVIIT HE D ISOWNED P RINCESS 151 XLV III F OX -F IRE 161 GHOST STORIES XLIX T HE T ALKING S ILVER F OXES 165 L T HE C ONSTABLE 168 LI T HE D ANGEROUS R EWARD 174 LII R ETRIBUTION 177 L III T HE G HOST W HO W AS F OILED 180 LIV T HE P UNISHMENT   OF G REED 184 LV T HE N IGHT   ON   THE B ATTLEFIELD 186 LVI T HE K INGDOM   OF   THE O GRES 189 LVII T HE M AIDEN W HO W AS S TOLEN A WAY 196 LV II I T HE F LYING O GRE 199 LIX B LACK A RTS 201 HISTORIC LEGENDS LX T HE S ORCERER   OF   THE W HITE L OTUS L ODGE 209 LXI T HE T HREE E VILS 212 LXIIH OW T HREE H EROES C AME B Y T HEIR D EATHS B ECAUSE   OF T WO P EACHES 215 LXIIIH OW   THE R IVER G OD ’ S W EDDING W AS B ROKEN O FF 218 LXIV D SCHANG L IANG 220 LXV O LD D RAGONBEARD 223 LXVI H OW M OLO S TOLE   THE L OVELY R OSE -R ED 231 LXVII T HE G OLDEN C ANISTER 235 LXVIIIY ANG G U   I F E 240 LXIX T HE M ONK   OF   THE Y ANGTZE -K IANG 243 LITERARY FAIRY TALES LXX T HE H EARTLESS H USBAND 251 LXXI G IAUNA   THE B EAUTIFUL 261 LXXII T HE F ROG P RINCESS 271 LXXIIIR OSE   OF E VENING 280 LXXIV T HE A PE S UN W U K UNG 288 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS “The crows come flying and form a bridge over which the Weaving Maiden crosses the Silver River”Frontispiece FACING PAGE “Beside it stood a Cassia-tree”54 “‘And I crossed the water on the shoe’”90 “A fisherboy dived into the water and brought up a pearl from beneath the chin of a black dragon”138 “Tsian Tang brought out a platter of red amber on which lay a carbuncle”156 “Then he took his master and Rose-Red upon his back and flew with them over the steep walls ”234

THE CHINESE FAIRY BOOK NURSERY FAIRY TALES I WOMEN’S WORDS PART FLESH AND BLOOD O NCE uemt eherop n aituse.e ho sam theb orb git ehA dnheotbro twe er wni devil ohw ,sr wifehis ords’s w l sihtre doteten fem he t wut olleb dna ,fo esuacne. Summer had bti hht eilttelo  fmeornugena ,ht dit e sowing the high-growing millet had come. The ilttle brother had no grain, and asked the big one to loan him some, and the big one ordered his wife to give it to him. But she took the grain, put it in a large pot and cooked it until it was done. Then she gave it to the ilttle fellow. He knew nothing about it, and went and sowed his field with it. Yet, since the grain had been cooked, it did not sprout. Only a single grain of seed had not been cooked; so only a single sprout shot up. The little brother was hard-working and industrious by nature, and hence he watered and hoed the sprout all day long. And the sprout grew mightily, like a tree, and an ear of millet sprang up out of it like a canopy, large enough to shade half an acre of ground. In the fall the ear was ripe. Then the little brother took his ax and chopped it down. But no sooner had the ear fallen to the ground, than an enormous Roc came rushing down, took the ear in his beak and flew away. The ilttle brother ran after him as far as the shore of the sea. Then the bird turned and spoke to him ilke a human being, as follows: “You should not seek to harm me! What is this one ear worth to you? East of the sea is the isle of gold and silver. I will carry you across. There you may take whatever you want, and become very rich.” The ilttle brother was satisfied, and climbed on the bird’s back, and the latter told him to close his eyes. So he only heard the air whistilng past his ears, as though he were driving through a strong wind, and beneath him the roar and surge of flood and waves. Suddenly the bird settled on a rock: “Here we are!” he said. Then the ilttle brother opened his eyes and looked about him: and on all sides he saw nothing but the radiance and shimmer of all sorts of white and yellow objects. He took about a dozen of the little things and hid them in his breast. “Have you enough?” asked the Roc. “Yes, I have enough,” he repiled. “That is well,” answered the bird. “Moderation protects one from harm.” Then he once more took him up, and carried him back again. When the little brother reached home, he bought himself a good piece of ground in the course of time, and became quite well to do. But his brother was jealous of him, and said to him, harshly: “Where did you manage to steal the money?” So the ilttle one told him the whole truth of the matter. Then the big brother went home and took counsel with his wife. “Nothing easier,” said his wife. “I will just cook grain again and keep back one seedling so that it is not done. Then you shall sow it, and we will see what happens.” No sooner said than done. And sure enough, a single sprout shot up, and sure enough, the sprout bore a single ear of millet, and when harvest time came around, the Roc again appeared and carried it off in his beak. The big brother was pleased, and ran after him, and the Roc said the same thing he had said before, and carried the big brother to the island. There the big brother saw the gold and silver heaped up everywhere. The largest pieces were ilke hills, the small ones were ilke bricks, and the real tiny ones were like grains of sand. They bilnded his eyes. He only regretted that he knew of no way by which he could move mountains. So he bent down and picked up as many pieces as possible. The Roc said: “Now you have enough. You will overtax your strength.” “Have patience but a ilttle while longer,” said the big brother. “Do not be in such a hurry!  Imust get a few more pieces!” And thus time passed. The Roc again urged him to make haste: “The sun will appear in a moment,” said he, “and the sun is so hot it burns human beings up.” “Wait just a ilttle while longer,” said the big brother. But that very moment a red disk broke through the clouds with tremendous power. The Roc flew into the sea, stretched out both his wings, and beat the water with them in order to escape the heat. But the big brother was shrivelled up by the sun. Note: This fairy-tale is traditionally narrated. The Roc is called pongin Chinese, and the treasures on the island are  spoken of as “all sorts of yellow and white objects” because the little fellow does not know that they are gold and silver. II THE THREE RHYMSTERS NCE there were three daughters in a family. The oldest one married a physician, the second one O ereval tr,kear mdeira han usually intellgine tna d alc tut be;rdhi theaw ohw ,t erom smara m irderttagasi farmer. Now it chanced, once upon a time, that their parents were celebrating a birthday. So the three daughters came, together with their husbands, to wish them long life and happiness. The parents-in-law prepared a meal for their three sons-in-law, and put the birthday wine on the table. But the oldest son-in-law, who knew that the third one had not attended school, wanted to embarrass him. “It is far too tiresome ” said he “ ust to sit here drinkin : let us have a drinkin ame. Each one of us must

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