Old Du Tells Folk Tales

My name is Lao Du. I'm a storyteller, and I've spent most of my life wandering the countryside. Wherever I go, I sit beneath the big locust tree at the village entrance after dark, set down my tea mug, and people gather around.

Let me warn you: most of these stories take place at night. By the water on the fifteenth night of the seventh month, at a ferry crossing with no moon, in a night of torrential rain, or on the kind of night when you're walking alone and hear footsteps behind you, only to turn around and find nothing. If you're easily scared, read these in daylight.

There are no great heroes in these stories. Most are farmers, fishermen, tofu sellers, traveling peddlers, or wandering doctors who treat the sick at the village entrance. They live ordinary lives just like you and me, until one day, something happens that defies explanation.