Original Text
Wang Zixun also said: There was a man who performed a mouse show on the streets of Chang'an to earn money. He carried a sack on his back, in which he kept more than a dozen small mice. Often, in crowded places, he would take out a small wooden frame and place it on his shoulder, which looked exactly like a theatrical stage. Then he would beat his drum and clapper, singing ancient operatic tunes. As soon as the song began, a small mouse would emerge from the sack, wearing a mask and a tiny costume, climb up from the back onto the stage, and stand upright like a human, dancing. The joys and sorrows of male and female roles perfectly matched the plot of the opera.
Commentary
Both this tale and the preceding one, "The Frog's Song," were related by Wang Zixun, hence it is said "he further spoke." In the manuscript of "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," these two pieces are connected consecutively.
If the previous chapter depicted sounds difficult to describe, then this chapter portrays scenes difficult to capture. The tale writes of a performer interacting with a small mouse in singing ancient variety plays, detailing the man's equipment, the mouse's position, the man's performance, the mouse's performance, and their interaction, all carved with precision and painted as vividly as a picture, allowing readers centuries later to also revel in their act.
The Frog Song and the Rat Play likely belonged to the category of ancient Chinese folk storytelling and performance arts, which have since been lost and are no longer transmitted. The chapters "The Frog Song" and "The Rat Play" provide us with traces of their historical existence.