The Spirits of the Po-Yang Lake by Pu Songling
Crossing Po-yang lake on his way to an official post, Chai visits a shrine and moves the image of a spirit who shares his name to a more honourable place. When a squall damages his boat, a boatman resembling that image rescues everyone aboard; the boatman and his skiff vanish once the danger has passed.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Supernatural Fiction, Short Story · 271 words
First lines
An official, named Chai, was appointed to a post at Jao-chou, and on his way thither crossed the Po-yang lake. Happening to visit the shrine of the local spirits, he noticed a carved image of the patriotic Ting P‘u-lang,[1] and another of a namesake of his own, the latter occupying a very inferior position. "Come! come! " said Chai, "my patron saint shan't be put in the background like that; " so he moved the image into a more honourable place, and then went back on board his boat again. Soon after, a great wind struck the vessel, and carried away the mast and sails; at which the sailors, in great alarm, set to work to howl and cry. However, in a few moments they saw a small skiff come cutting through the waves, and before long they were all safely on board. The man who rowed it was strangely like the image in the shrine, the position of which Chai had changed; but they were hardly out of danger when the squall had passed over, and skiff and man had both vanished.
Genres
- Supernatural Fiction — A rescuing boatman resembles the shrine image Chai has moved, and both boatman and skiff mysteriously vanish.
- Short Story — A brief prose narrative connects Chai's rearrangement of a shrine image with a storm and an unexplained rescue.
Tags
local spirits · shrines · lake crossing · storms · supernatural rescue
What this Textopian page supports
The Spirits of the Po-Yang Lake 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: 271 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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