Original Text
People of Chengjiang often have the ability to transform into other animals to forage for food. A traveler lodging at an inn once saw a group of rats burrowing into a rice jar; when he shooed them away, they all fled. Waiting for the rats to re-enter the jar, he suddenly covered it and poured water into it with a ladle. Before long, all the rats were dead. At the same time, the innkeeper's entire family died suddenly, leaving only one son alive. The matter was reported to the authorities, and the magistrate, upon inquiry, determined that the traveler, unaware of local customs, had committed the error and pardoned him.
Commentary
Murder demands a life for a life, but if what is killed is not human, naturally there is no need to bear legal responsibility. When a Cheng person transforms into a creature, that creature cannot enjoy the protection of human law; this is the fundamental reason why the slain Cheng person could not obtain justice, and why the guest who killed the Cheng person was "pardoned and absolved by the officials."
"Though people are not beyond civilization, events may be stranger than in lands where hair is shorn; though lashes are before the eyes, wonders may surpass those in the realm of flying heads." Some works in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio can be regarded as records of folkloric material, but because they are transcriptions of hearsay, even though they are called "folk customs," they do not necessarily reflect actual customs.