The Gambler's Talisman by Pu Songling
Han, a Taoist priest, lends the narrator's gambling relative money and a talisman to recover his lost property, provided he abandon gambling and win back only his losses. The relative recovers everything but keeps playing and loses some winnings when the talisman disappears. He returns to Han, who explains that he withdrew it because the gambler ignored his warning against greed.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Supernatural Fiction, Cautionary Tale, Short Story · 788 words
First lines
A Taoist priest, called Han, lived at the T‘ien-ch‘i temple, in our district city. His knowledge of the black art was very extensive, and the neighbours all regarded him as an Immortal.[1] My late father was on intimate terms with him, and whenever he went into the city invariably paid him a visit. One day, on such an occasion, he was proceeding thither in company with my late uncle, when suddenly they met Han on the road. Handing them the key of the door, he begged them to go on and wait awhile for him, promising to be there shortly himself. Following out these instructions they repaired to the temple, but on unlocking the door there was Han sitting inside -- a feat which he subsequently performed several times.
Genres
- Supernatural Fiction — Han mysteriously appears inside the temple ahead of his visitors and gives a gambler a talisman that secures winnings until Han withdraws it.
- Cautionary Tale — The gambler ignores Han's instruction to stop after recovering his losses, prompting Han to withdraw the talisman and leaving him to lose some winnings.
- Short Story — A brief account of Han's powers introduces a concentrated narrative about one relative's gambling losses, recovery, and disobedience.
Tags
gambling · talismans · Taoist priests · greed · supernatural intervention
What this Textopian page supports
The Gambler's Talisman is listed on Textopian as a short story by Pu Songling, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Pu Songling
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Supernatural Fiction, Cautionary Tale, Short Story
- Length: 788 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Gambler's Talisman by Pu Songling
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph