Moss Roberts

unique and special: I just had to come in here and pen this to counterbalance the so-and-so who assigned this opus but a single star. The stories are often short, but that should not detract from them, nor should the simplicity of some. They are, after all, CHINESE. The culture is different; the values are different; the symbology is different. I found the collection delightfully refreshing, and I particularly found some of the pieces extremely funny. This book is a definite keeper that the show more reader will remember for some time--both for its difference from the common European traditions and for its similarities thereto. show less

Quite a treasury. I liked the numerous short fables even better than the stories. And the introduction, that gives just a bit of historical context, esp. re the rivalry between the Confucians and the Taoists, is helpful.

My favorite is one of the very shortest:

"The Missing Axe

"A man whose axe was missing suspected his neighbor's son. The boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like a thief. But the man found his axe while he was digging in the valley, and the next time he saw show more his neighbor's son, the boy walked, looked, and spoke like any other child."

I also particularly liked "The Fish Rejoice" in which two amateur philosophers debate how effectively anyone can truly empathize with another. I don't know whether I agree with the conclusion that we can indeed feel another's joy, or pain, without experiencing what they're feeling. But that does seem to be the conclusion. Maybe it's a Chinese thing.

Speaking of Chinese things, I think maybe there should have been a map and timeline for better context... I mean, it's a big country that has a long history; did all its people really draw on the same cultural traditions?

Also, I want to find out more by, and about, this philosopher Yen Tzu. He seems awfully sharp, able to cut straight into the center of a knotty problem, for example. show less

Enjoyable collection of short tales from a variety of sources. Wide range of tones too, from fun to sad. While this is a collection of "fairy tales," I wouldn't read most of these to modern Western children

Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies
Moss Roberts
September 15, 2016
A lovely Folio book, consisting of usually brief stories, sometimes a paragraph or epigram, concerning ghosts, justice served, ironic outcomes, and imaginings of the natural world. Many are moral tales, proverbs and sayings of the philosophers. The introduction is by a Chinese novelist who recalls her grandfather, even in the years of the Cultural Revolution, reading and enjoying tales from Pu Songling, the Record of Things show more Strange from a Makeshift Studio.

Wagging My Tail in the Mud
The hermit poet Chuang Tzu was angling in the River Pu. The king of Ch'u sent two noblemen to invite Chuang to come before him. 'We were hoping you would take on certain affairs of state' they said. Holding his pole steady and without looking at them, Chuang Tzu said, 'I hear that Ch'u has a sacred tortoise that has been dead three thousand years, and the king has it enshrined in a cushioned box in the ancestral hall. Do you think the tortoise would be happier wagging his tail in the mud than having his shell honored?' 'Of course' replied the two nobleman. 'Then begone,' said Chuang Tzu. 'I mean to keep wagging my tail in the mud.' show less