The Loyal Mouse is a brief yet meaningful story from Strange Tales from Liaozhai, written by Pu Songling of the Qing Dynasty. This tale tells of the deep bond between two mice and the extraordinary courage and wisdom displayed by one mouse in attempting to save its companion.
Two brothers surnamed Hu from Hutian Village walked into a deep mountain ravine. There they came upon a huge boa. As the elder brother was walking in front, the boa caught him first. At first, the frightened younger brother was going to run away, but when he saw that the boa had swallowed part…
Strange Tales from Liaozhai Studio: The Snake Charmer (The Snakeman) recounts the story of a snake tamer from East Prefecture and his bond with two green snakes — Big Green (Elder Green) and Second Green.
A man living in East Prefecture was a snake-tamer by profession. At one point, he reared two green snakes, the bigger one he called Big Green, and ‘the smaller one, Second Green. The latter had several red spots on its forehead and was particularly clever. It weaved about and danced just the way the…