provincialism

  • A white-headed pig

    Once in Liaodong, a swineherd’s sow farrowed a piglet with a white head, and thinking it a prodigy he decided to present it to the court.

  • The frog in the crumbling well

    A frog inhabiting a crumbling well boasted to an ocean turtle: “Behold my paradise! I leap upon mossy ledges, bathe in sun-warmed waters, rest in crevices — no creature rivals my joy! Would you not enter my domain?”