The Sisters by Pu Songling
After Mao's father drowns in an emptied grave, its owner educates Mao and arranges his marriage; the younger daughter replaces her unwilling elder sister. Mao plans to replace his wife and fails an examination; an innkeeper later reports a dream attributing his failure to that intention, and Mao subsequently takes first place. The elder sister becomes a destitute widow and a nun, unknowingly returns money hidden in her sister's gifts, and regrets her choice of husband.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Short Story, Supernatural Fiction, Moral Tale · 2,066 words
First lines
His Excellency the Grand Secretary Mao came from an obscure family in the district of Yeh, his father being only a poor cow-herd. At the same place there resided a wealthy gentleman, named Chang, who owned a burial-ground in the neighbourhood; and some one informed him that while passing by he had heard sounds of wrangling from within the grave, and voices saying, "Make haste and go away; do not disturb His Excellency's home. " Chang did not much believe this; but subsequently he had several dreams in which he was told that the burial-ground in question really belonged to the Mao family, and that he had no right whatever to it. From this moment the affairs of his house began to go wrong; [1] and at length he listened to the remonstrances of friends and removed his dead elsewhere.
Genres
- Short Story — A compact prose narrative follows the substitution of one sister for another at Mao's wedding and the subsequent fortunes of their households.
- Supernatural Fiction — Voices from a grave and prophetic dreams anticipate Mao's fortunes, while a reported intervention by the ruler below explains his examination failure.
- Moral Tale — Mao's intention to discard his wife is linked to lost examination success, and the elder sister explicitly regrets rejecting him for a husband who squandered his wealth.
Tags
sisters · marriage · prophetic dreams · civil service examinations · marital loyalty · reversals of fortune
What this Textopian page supports
The Sisters 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: Short Story, Supernatural Fiction, Moral Tale
- Length: 2,066 words
- Structure: 1 section, 7 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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