- A scholar lived in a Buddhist temple where little knights invaded and hunted, but one day they left a small dog that the scholar kept and loved as his own
- One morning, he woke up to the dog being pressed flat as paper and dead
- A farmer-boy stumbled upon a fox breathing fire to the moon in preparing the elixir of life so the farmer snatched it and swallowed it himself
- He was able to see ghosts and demons, perform many miracles, and use his talents with the spirit-world until the fox stole it back from him one day
- Could expand on the details of one of the specific miracles performed or make him also a fox
- The talking foxes sat on the side of a mountain and tease passersby until one day, the Farmer Wang, was surprised by a fox and cracked it with his ox-whip
- A girl in the village became possessed and the foxes said they would not pray to the god of war or any other god because they only feared Wang, who afterwards sent the spirit fleeing
- An archer also came across a fox and shot it with his bow, skinned it, and sold it
- One day old Wang accidentally pushed a water-carrier down a terrace, where he died, and left the corpse there for the town to discover
- Many days later, the water-carrier returned as the neighbor's baby and grew up, accidentally throwing a stone at some pigeons but hitting Wang, so the scene repeated itself
- Could rewrite the story so that the water-carrier returning was indeed for retribution and the character of Ma was the only one who could see him, finding himself crazy
- A merchant stumbled upon an inn during a storm where he found a room and watched a procession and hearty dinner of many soldiers and a general
- When the general retired to his room, his aid helped him take his head, arms, legs, and torso apart so that he could rest
- The merchant was horrified and left the inn for another, finding out that the inn which he had first stayed was on an old battlefield and strange things happened in the night
- Could write a scary story and make other creepy things happen to the merchant during his stay
The Maiden Who Was Stolen Away
- A storm stole a young maiden away from her home and to an incredibly tall pagoda, where she was doted on hand and foot by a young man asking her to marry him
- She denied every day and then he left, but one day he left the door open and she saw that he was a hideous ogre when he flew down to earth and she was terrified
- Her brother heard of her up there, hid in wait for the "young man", and threw an axe into his arm to scare him off and save his sister
- Could incorporate some of Rapunzel's tale, with her being kept away
- A monk saw a woman running quickly toward him, asking him to hide her until he saw a man riding an armored horse who explained she was a terrible flying ogre and he needed to kill her
- A sorcerer made his pupils watch a small ship and candle while he was away and they failed, so his ship capsized and he had to walk in the dark
- He turned one pupil into a pig so a thousand soldiers arrested him and his family and as they travelled to the castle, they encountered a giant who ate the sorcerer and his wife and son
- Could expand on the tasks that the sorcerer made his pupils do while he was away
- A mandarin moved to a village and was told there were three evils- a terrible dragon, a tiger lurking in the hills, and Dschou Tschu who was wild, devilish, and always starting brawls
- Dschou Tschu was enlisted to take care of all three evils so he killed both the dragon and tiger and then exiled himself (before killing himself) to rid the village of all three
- Could rewrite the story from Dschou Tschu's point of view with how hurt his feelings are that the village thinks so lowly of him
- Si-Men came to govern the Yellow River people where there was a custom of offering a river-bride, chosen by who's family could not pay, to the river-god every year
- Si-Men carefully sent several witches to beckon the god at the next wedding and none came back, so all fearfully vowed to put an end to the tradition
- Could add to the story that Si-Men actually posed as the bride to put an end to the river-god, who unknowingly still married Si-Men
- Yang Gui Fe was the emperor's favorite wife, but she and her cousin took advantage and eventually caused the emperor to be driven from the country
- His soldiers mutinied and killed both Yang Gui Fe and her cousin and she departed to a fairy land as a blessed spirit, which she was before meeting the emperor
- A magician searched for her and found her so she gave him her ring to give to the emperor and told him she would return in 12 years time and not to weep too greatly
The Chinese Fairy Tales are a selection of stories from Wilhem's Chinese Fairy Book.
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