Ancient Chinese fable stories

Author: Jilin Literature and History Publishing House
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: Throwing an Infant into the River
There was a man about to cross the river when he saw someone holding an infant ready to throw it into the river. The infant was crying fearfully. The man crossing the river asked, "What are you doing?" The other replied, "This child's father is a good swimmer, so this child must be a good swimmer too."
[Explanation] As the saying goes, "Like father, like son." The man who threw the infant into the river clearly misapplied this phrase.
Greedy and Blind
A person from Qi was obsessed with getting gold. One morning, he dressed neatly and walked straight to the gold dealer, reaching out to take some gold. The local officials noticed and immediately arrested him, interrogating him, "Why did you steal someone's gold in broad daylight?" The Qi man replied, "I didn't see anyone—I only saw the gold."
[Explanation] If corrupt officials could think calmly from multiple perspectives, they wouldn't make such mistakes. At that moment, they must have only seen the bribe.
Taking Someone Else's Clothes
In the past, there was a man named Chengzi in the State of Song who lost a black padded jacket. He hurried to the road to look for it. While searching, he suddenly saw a woman wearing a black single jacket and rushed forward, forcing her to take it off and return it, saying, "I just lost a black jacket." The woman said, "This black jacket is something I made myself." Chengzi replied, "You still need to take it off. The jacket I lost is padded, but the one you're wearing is a single jacket. Replacing the padded jacket with a single one—you're getting the better end of the deal, aren't you?"
[Explanation] The woman didn't steal your padded jacket; she gave you her single one. How can that be considered taking advantage? This is truly twisting words and is nothing but bandit logic.
Sifei Slaying the Serpent
There was a man named Sifei in the State of Chu who found a precious sword in Gansui. He cherished it like a treasure. After strapping it to his waist, he happily boarded a boat to return home. Unbeknownst to him, when the boat reached the middle of the river, two serpents grabbed it. Sifei asked the boatman, "The serpents have grabbed our boat—do we still have a chance to survive?" The boatman replied, "No." Sifei threw off his outer robe, drew his sword, and said, "These serpents are nothing but rotting flesh and bones in the river. To save myself, I have nothing to lose by discarding my precious sword." With that, he jumped into the water, threw the sword, and killed the serpents, then climbed back onto the boat. The people on the boat were thus saved.
[Explanation] By discarding his beloved sword, Sifei saved an entire boat of people—a stark contrast to the person in the next story who buried his bones to hide his pearls.
Liaoqiu Elder
In the northern part of the State of Liang, there was a village called Liaoqiu where a ghost often disguised itself as the villagers' sons and nephews. One day, an old man from the village got drunk at the market. The ghost disguised itself as his son and came to support him, teasing him all the way home. When the old man returned home, the next day, sobered up, he scolded his son, "Why did you tease me and give me a hard time on the road?" His son bowed his head and cried, "How could I have done that? Yesterday I went to the eastern village to collect a debt and just returned now." Hearing this, the old man nodded and said, "I see. It must have been the ghost playing tricks on me—I've heard stories like this before." So, the old man went back to the market, got drunk again, and...