Original Text
In Yishui, a heavy rain fell, and suddenly a dragon dropped from the sky, lacking both eyes and lying at the point of death. The county magistrate ordered it to be covered with eighty mats, yet they still could not conceal its entire body. The magistrate then conducted a sacrifice to it in the wilds, and at that time the dragon was still repeatedly striking the ground with its tail, producing a thumping sound.
Commentary
The strange tales recorded in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio are often half true and half false, both real and illusory. As for the false, 'eighty mats spread over it could not cover its entire body'—in any age or land, objects brought by a tornado could never be so vast. As for the true, 'both eyes were gone, with only a faint breath remaining,' and especially 'it repeatedly struck the ground with its tail, making a sound like a clap.' Because the description is so vivid, readers often forget its falsehood.