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The Green Snake
A shepherd boy spares a green snake from the woodcutter's axe. Years later, when mountain floods sweep him and his mother into the water, the grown snake coils around them and bears them to a tree.
The Tame Cat
A childless old widow keeps a yellow-and-black cat. When she falls ill, the cat brings healing herbs; when she dies, it guards her body and bites a thief. The villagers, moved, bury them both.
The Spider on the Beam
A lonely old woman in a riverside Jiangnan house shares her beam with a spider that spins not for flies but for thieves. One autumn night it binds a limping burglar by the cuff and hangs him till dawn; the granny, instead of crying out, feeds him and sends him home with medicine money. A strange, tender tale of an unlikely watchman.
The Bamboo Spirit
A poor scholar lodges in a ruined garden where an ancient bamboo turns each night into a green-robed woman who dusts his desk and finishes his copying. On the eve of his exams she gives him a bamboo flute; ever after, the wind through the garden breathes her clear, lingering notes.
The Lantern Maid
A lantern-maker's paper lamps, when lit at night, throw on the wall the shape of her dead husband; neighbors fear it, but an old servant knows the truth.
The Inkstone Master
A poor scholar finds an old inkstone that writes its own lines as the ink dries; an old man within teaches him to prize ink, and proves to be its maker from a former age.
The Faithful Dog
A blind beggar keeps a yellow dog, and the two depend on each other in their begging. When the beggar dies by the road, the dog guards the body, carries coins to buy food and lays it before him, and howls day and night. When the villagers bury the beggar, the dog lies on the grave, refuses food, and dies on the seventh day; moved, the people bury it beside him.
The Ancient Locust Tree
An ancient locust tree has stood at the village mouth for centuries; the villagers pray for rain and blessing beneath it. A rich man means to fell it for timber; when the axe strikes, blood-like sap bursts out and he falls gravely ill. The villagers tend its roots; the withered tree blooms anew, and when plague comes, that village alone is spared.