The Sea-Serpent by Pu Songling
During a voyage on the south seas, Chia and his boatmen see a huge creature with half its body above the water and eyes that light the night; it gradually disappears beneath the water. At port, they hear reports of a great light seen at the same time. A footnote suggests a meteoric explanation.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Short Story, Weird Fiction · 181 words
First lines
A trader named Chia was voyaging on the south seas, when one night it suddenly became as light as day on board his ship. Jumping up to see what was the matter, he beheld a huge creature with its body half out of the water, towering up like a hill. Its eyes resembled two suns, and threw a light far and wide; and when the trader asked the boatmen what it was, there was not one who could say. They all crouched down and watched it; and by-and-by the monster gradually disappeared in the water again, leaving everything in darkness as before. And when they reached port, they found all the people talking about a strange phenomenon of a great light that had appeared in the night, the time of which coincided exactly with the strange scene they themselves had witnessed.[1]
Genres
- Short Story — A brief narrative follows Chia's unexplained encounter at sea and the matching reports he hears at port.
- Weird Fiction — An enormous creature illuminates the night with its eyes, while a footnote offers a possible meteoric explanation.
Tags
sea voyages · sea monsters · mysterious lights · meteoric phenomena
What this Textopian page supports
The Sea-Serpent 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: Short Story, Weird Fiction
- Length: 181 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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