Original Text
On the sixth day of the seventh month in the year Dinghai, a great snowfall fell upon Suzhou. The common people were greatly alarmed and went together to the Temple of the Great King to pray. Suddenly, the Great King possessed a man and spoke, saying: "Nowadays, those who are called 'Lord' have all added the character 'Great' to their titles. Do you think that I, being a minor deity, am unworthy of the character 'Great'?" The crowd, filled with fear, cried out in unison, "Great Lord," and the snow immediately ceased. From this, it can be seen that even the gods delight in flattery, and it is no wonder that the more sycophantic a person is, the greater the benefits they obtain.
The Historian of the Strange remarks: In the shifting customs of the world, those in lower positions grow ever more fawning, while those in higher positions grow ever more arrogant. During the forty-odd years of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, forms of address deviated from ancient norms, becoming quite laughable. The term 'Ye' for a provincial graduate began in the twentieth year of Kangxi; 'Lao Ye' for a metropolitan graduate began in the thirtieth year; 'Da Lao Ye' for officials of the provincial and court tribunals began in the twenty-fifth year. In former times, when a district magistrate visited a governor, he would address him merely as 'Lao Da Ren,' but now that title has long fallen into disuse. Even gentlemen, accustomed to flattery, themselves begin to flatter, daring not to differ. As for the wives of officials and gentry being called 'Tai Tai,' that is a practice of only a few years past. In earlier days, only the mothers of such men bore this title; wives called 'Tai Tai' appeared only in The Golden Lotus, where the wives of Lin and Qiao were so addressed, and nowhere else. In the Tang dynasty, when the emperor wished to appoint Zhang Yue as Grand Academician, Zhang declined, saying, 'Academicians have never borne the character "Grand"; I dare not accept this title.' Now, who has added this 'Grand'? It began with the flattery of petty men, which pleased high officials, who then assumed the title without shame, and thus 'Grand' was appended everywhere, spreading across the realm. I privately suspect that within a few years, those called 'Ye' will inevitably add 'Lao,' and those called 'Lao' will inevitably add 'Da,' but I know not what honorific might come after 'Da'—truly, it is beyond ordinary imagination!
On the third day of the sixth month in the year of Dinghai, a heavy snowfall over a foot deep fell upon Guide Prefecture in Henan, killing all the crops; it was a pity that the local people did not know the way to flatter the great king, and thus suffered this calamity. Truly sorrowful it is!
Commentary
Snowfall in summer is a novelty, yet the cessation of snow upon the people's collective cry of "Great Lord" is a tale. Specifically, it is Pu Songling's jest to satirize the sycophantic customs of the world. Though but a jest, it may also be regarded as a historical record of worldly folkways.
The year Dinghai corresponds to the forty-sixth year of the Kangxi reign, which is 1707, when Pu Songling was sixty-eight years old. This is the latest known creation year among the works of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, marking twenty-eight years since the year Jiwei when Pu Songling wrote his own preface to the collection.