Chinese Fables

Title

en_US Chinese Fables

Description

en_US Original language: eng

en_US First edition

en_US Compiled by Ma Da

Creator

en_US Ma, Ta

Date

2016-01-25T19:03:18Z

en_US 2001-06

en_US 1991

Date Available

2016-01-25T19:03:18Z

Date Issued

en_US 1991

Abstract

en_US Here are 118 fables, both enjoyable and--as I have come to know it so far--representative of the Chinese tradition in fables. The illustrations are simple. Perhaps the best of them occurs on the very last page (96) as a young man who hates flies is about to murder his father because there is a fly settling on his father's head. Here are some of the fables that I found most engaging as I made my way through this paperback's collection. Tiger Versus Tiger (3) presents two tigers fighting. The fable's wisdom is to let them fight; the weaker will be killed and the stronger injured. Then all one has to do is to overcome the injured tiger. The Bears in Yangdu Mountains (14) has a strange image. These bears detest blood. If pricked, they scratch the wound to stop the bleeding. They end up making a hole in their skin and then cutting off that part of the skin. Finally they cut out their kidney and guts and die! There is something here akin to the beast who destroys his own tongue licking the file. The Musk Deer Casts Away Its Musk in an Emergency (26) is exactly like the Aesopic nature-lore on beavers. The Vegetarian Cat (40) probably says it all in its title. Do not trust this cat! Lion Cat and Huge Rat (40) is a story of great strategy. The large cat dodges and runs from the large rat until the rat is tired out. Then in one move, the cat grapples with the rat and eventually wins. In One Can Gnaw and the Other Can Sting (45), a human being witnesses a ceremony involving a rat and wasp and gives them the places of honor. Why? The title gives the answer. The Vulture Feeds Its Young (52) has the stupid vulture bring a live cat to feed to her nestlings. The feeding goes on in the other direction! Falcon (53) is another story of the strategy of the great. This falcon does nothing while other falcons chase all sorts of prey. Then something white flashes in the sky, and the falcon soars up to overcome a roc fledgling. The Marquis of Lu Greets a Sea Bird (58) has the marquis feting the bird in human fashion; the bird dies. A Bird Startled by the Mere Twang of a Bowstring (60) presents a Sherlock-like detective's deduction. The Myna Imitates Human Speech (67) is a good education/formation story. The cicada answers the imitative myna saying You can speak like a human being but what you say is not what you want to say. I can express what I feel. Lord Ye's Love for Dragons (74) shows that Ye loved dragon images, not dragons.

Identifier

en_US 7119010409

en_US 4263 (Access ID)

uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/79539

Language

en_US chi

Publisher

en_US Foreign Language Press

en_US Beijing

Subject

en_US PN989.C5 C61513 1991

en_US Chinese

en_US Title Page Scanned

Type

en_US Book, Whole