Scholar Jiang(蔣生) traveled to Henan(河南) and passed through Gong County(鞏縣), intending to stay overnight. The guest room in the western building of the inn where he planned to lodge was impeccably clean, which Jiang liked, so he decided to move his luggage there. The innkeeper chuckled and said, ‘Sir, are you brave? This western building is not safe.’ Jiang replied, ‘As the wise Yang Jiaoshan(楊椒山) said, every person has their courage. What is there to fear!’
Jiang lit a candle in the guest room and sat alone. Deep into the night, he heard sounds beneath the tea table, resembling the splashing of water in a bamboo bucket. Suddenly, a figure emerged – dressed in blue with a black hat, barely three inches tall, resembling a commoner in the mortal realm. The figure stared at Jiang for a long time, muttering to himself before departing.
Shortly after, several small figures carried an official figure, along with flags and carriages, each about the size of a bean. The official, wearing a black gauze hat, sat upright and pointed at Jiang, cursing loudly in a voice as soft as a bee’s buzz. Jiang remained unafraid. The official became increasingly furious, tapped the floor with a small hand, and ordered the small figures to arrest Jiang. Despite pulling at Jiang’s shoes and tugging his socks, the small figures couldn’t budge him. The official, displeased with their efforts, stood up to confront Jiang himself. Using three fingers, Jiang lifted the official onto the tea table. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a toy that never falls over, a stiff mud figure.
The sedan bearer and attendants surrounded Jiang, bowing and pleading to release their master. Jiang jokingly said, ‘You must offer something as redemption.’ The small figures replied, ‘Yes.’ Suddenly, from deep within the wall crevice, a buzzing sound emerged. Four individuals carried a hairpin, or two carried a hairpin stand. In no time, the floor was filled with gold, silver, jewelry, and fabrics. Jiang returned the toy to them, and it started moving again, but the small figures’ formation broke, and they scattered in panic.
As dawn approached, the innkeeper shouted, ‘There’s a thief!’ Upon investigation, the items the small figures brought as redemption from the western building were stolen goods belonging to the innkeeper.
Original text in 《不倒翁》from 《子不語》:
蔣生某往河南，過鞏縣，宿焉。店家有西樓，灑掃極淨，蔣愛之，以行李往。店主笑曰：「公膽大否？此樓不甚安。」蔣曰：「椒山自有膽。」秉燭坐至夜深，聞几下如竹桶泛水聲，有躍出者：青衣皂冠，長三寸許，類世間差役狀。睨蔣許久，叱叱而退。
少頃，數短人舁一官至，旗幟馬車之類，歷歷如豆。官烏紗冠危坐，指蔣大詈，聲細如蜂蠆。蔣無怖色。官愈怒，小手拍地，麾眾短人拘蔣。眾短人牽鞋扯襪，竟不能動。官嫌其無勇，攘臂自起。蔣以手撮之，置于几上，細視之，世所賣不倒翁也。塊然僵仆，一土偶耳。其輿從俯伏羅拜，乞還其主。蔣戲曰：「爾須以物贖。」應聲曰：「諾。」墻穴中嗡嗡有聲，或四人輦一釵，或二人扛一簪。頃刻，首飾金帛之屬布散於地。蔣取不倒翁擲與之，復能舉動如初。然隊伍不復整矣，奔竄而散。
天漸明，店主大呼：「失賊！」問之，則樓上贖官之物，皆三寸短人所偷店主物也。
🎨 《春宴圖》局部 佚名, in the Southern Song Dynasty