Original Text
In Jining, there was a man who, by chance, encountered a wandering monk outside a wild temple, who was catching lice in the sun, with a gourd hanging from his staff, as if he were a seller of medicines. The man jestingly said, "Monk, do you also sell aphrodisiacs?" The monk replied, "I do. The weak can be made strong, the small can be made large, and the effect is immediate, without waiting even a single night." Delighted at this, the man immediately begged to buy the medicine. The monk, opening a corner of his robe, took out a pill as small as a millet grain and made the man swallow it. After about half a meal's time, the man's lower part suddenly grew large, and after a moment, he felt it himself and found it had increased by a third of its original size. Not yet satisfied, the man secretly watched the monk rise to relieve himself, then stealthily opened the monk's robe, grabbed two or three pills, and swallowed them all at once. Before long, he felt his skin as if it were about to split, his sinews as if they were being drawn out, his neck shrank, his back bent, and his member continued to grow without cease. Greatly frightened, he had no remedy. When the monk returned and saw his condition, he exclaimed in alarm, "You must have stolen my medicine!" He hastily gave him another pill, and only after swallowing it did the man feel his lower part stop growing. Upon undressing, he saw that his member nearly stood like a third leg alongside his own two. With a shriveled neck and a hobbling gait, he made his way home, where even his parents failed to recognize him. From that day on, he became a cripple, lying daily in the street, and many people saw him.
Commentary
When things reach their extreme, they must reverse. All things under heaven have a limit; once that limit is exceeded, they turn to their opposite. This is especially true in the dosage of medicines. A certain man of Jining originally intended to strengthen his member by taking medicine, but exceeding the proper dose caused it to become "nearly as large as his two thighs, forming a tripod of three. He returned home with a shrunken neck and a hobbling gait," and "from then on became a useless thing," which he had never anticipated.
In addition to this tale, "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" includes other works on sexual health products, such as "The Fox Punishes Lewdness" in Volume Six and "The Instructor" in Volume Eleven, reflecting the social mores of the late Ming dynasty, which were among the societal factors that gave rise to a multitude of adult novels during the Ming-Qing transition.