Original Text
Li Jilin served as acting magistrate of Yuanjiang County. Upon taking office, he was astonished to see the yamen courtyard crowded with cats and dogs. His subordinate officials explained, "These are the local people, come to behold your esteemed countenance." Before long, half the courtyard was filled with people and half with cats and dogs; after another moment, they all transformed back into human form and dispersed in all directions. One day, Li Jilin went out to visit a guest, riding in a sedan chair along the road. Suddenly, one of the sedan bearers cried out urgently, "I am injured!" He immediately asked another to take his place, knelt on the ground, and begged for leave. Li Jilin angrily scolded him, but the bearer paid no heed and hurriedly ran off. Li Jilin sent someone to follow him. The bearer was seen rushing into the marketplace, where he found an old man and begged him for an examination. The old man looked at him and said, "You have indeed been injured." He then pressed his hand against the bearer's flesh, pushing downward with force from top to bottom. When he reached the calf, a small lump bulged out from beneath the skin. With a sharp knife, he cut it open and extracted a stone, saying, "You are cured." Only then did the bearer run back. Later, it was also heard that in Yuanjiang's customs, there were those who lay at home while their hands could fly out, entering others' houses to steal their valuables. If the owner discovered this and seized the hand, preventing its return, then that person's arm would become useless forever.
Commentary
"Customs of Yuan" and "Customs of Cheng" in the same volume both record the folk customs of ethnic minority regions. Due to the underdeveloped information at the time, it was inevitable that hearsay became distorted and sensational, but with Pu Songling's romantic temperament and curious spirit, for tales where "people are not beyond civilization, yet events may be stranger than in lands of shorn hair; things before one's eyes may be more bizarre than in kingdoms of flying heads," he recorded whatever he heard and committed it to writing, often blurring the distinction between fictional material and formal folk custom collection.