A Strange Companion by Pu Songling
Han Kung-fu tells the narrator how his travelling companion, P‘êng, vanished from his mule’s saddle and was found curled inside a pannier. When its mouth closed tightly, Han cut it open and freed him; P‘êng could not explain what had happened, and his family was reportedly under fox influence.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Supernatural Fiction, Short Story · 198 words
First lines
Han Kung-fu, of Yü-ch‘êng, told me that he was one day travelling along a road with a man of his village, named P‘êng, when all of a sudden the latter disappeared, leaving his mule to jog along with an empty saddle. At the same moment, Mr. Han heard his voice calling for assistance, and apparently proceeding from inside one of the panniers strapped across the mule's back; and on looking closely, there indeed he was in one of the panniers, which, however, did not seem to be at all displaced by his weight. On trying to get him out the mouth of the pannier closed itself tightly; and it was only when he cut it open with a knife that he saw P‘êng curled up in it like a dog. He then helped him out, and asked him how he managed to get in; but this he was unable to say. It further appeared that his family was under fox influence, many strange things of this kind having happened before.
Genres
- Supernatural Fiction — P‘êng inexplicably appears inside a pannier whose mouth closes against rescue, and his family’s strange experiences are attributed to fox influence.
- Short Story — A single brief account follows P‘êng’s disappearance, discovery and rescue, then closes with his family’s fox influence and previous strange incidents.
Tags
supernatural · fox influence · disappearance · rescue · road travel
What this Textopian page supports
A Strange Companion is listed on Textopian as a short story by Pu Songling, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Short story
- Author: Pu Songling
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Supernatural Fiction, Short Story
- Length: 198 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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