His Father's Ghost by Pu Songling
Liang-ssŭ, whose father drowned while he was an infant, joins three strangers drinking and exchanging verses in a riverside cottage. After one tells him where his father is buried, he finds the cottage gone and the grave exactly as described, recognizes the stranger as his father's ghost, and carries the remains home.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Ghost Story, Short Story · 2,313 words
First lines
A man named T‘ien Tzŭ-ch‘êng, of Chiang-ning, was crossing the Tung-t‘ing lake, when the boat was capsized, and he was drowned. His son, Liang-ssŭ, who, towards the close of the Ming dynasty, took the highest degree, was then a baby in arms; and his wife, hearing the bad news, swallowed poison forthwith,[1] and left the child to the care of his grandmother. When Liang-ssŭ grew up, he was appointed magistrate in Hu-pei, where he remained about a year. He was then transferred to Hu-nan, on military service; but, on reaching the Tung-t‘ing lake, his feelings overpowered him, and he returned to plead inability as an excuse for not taking up his post. Accordingly, he was degraded to the rank of Assistant-Magistrate, which he at first declined, but was finally compelled to accept; and thenceforward gave himself up to roaming about on the lakes and streams of the surrounding country, without paying much attention to his official duties.
Genres
- Ghost Story — A stranger at a nighttime gathering proves to be Liang-ssŭ's drowned father, and the cottage disappears before his return.
- Short Story — A brief prose narrative connects Liang-ssŭ's family loss, a riverside encounter, and the recovery of his father's remains.
Tags
ghosts · drowning · filial piety · burial · dice games
What this Textopian page supports
His Father's Ghost 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: Ghost Story, Short Story
- Length: 2,313 words
- Structure: 1 section, 24 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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