Content created: 2020-01-24
File last modified:
2022-06-19
Procursus
Probably very few storytelling motifs are more delicious than people stumbling over their own foolishness. Although the protagonist is a sage magistrate, the following tiny story is really about his ability to trick an unscrupulous fool into exposing his own venality.
Source information is at the bottom of the page.
—DKJ| 1 | When Lǐ Ruògǔ 李若谷 was the magistrate in Bìngzhōu 幷州 (= Tàiyuán 太原) a man brought a case asserting that his uncle did not recognize him as a nephew because the older man wanted to take the plaintiff’s share of the family estate. | 李若谷守幷州。民有讼叔不认其为侄者， 欲擅其财， 累鞠不实。” Lǐ Ruògǔ shǒu Bìngzhōu, mín yǒu sòng shū bù rèn qí wéi zhí zhě, yù shàn qí cái.” 李若谷守幷州。 民有訟叔不認其為侄者， 欲擅其財。” |
| 2 | Exhaustive interrogation did not reveal the truth, so Magistrate Lǐ ordered the plaintiff to return home and beat his uncle up [which he did].” | 李令民还家殴其叔， ” Lèi jū bù shí. Lǐ lìngmín hái jiā ōu qí shū.” 累鞠不實。 李令民還家毆其叔。” |
| 3 | [When he recovered,] the uncle brought a complaint against the nephew for the traitorous crime of beating an uncle, but thereby revealed his own crime and had to divide the inheritance.” | 叔果讼侄殴逆， 因而正其罪， 分其财。 ” Shū guǒ sòng zhí ōu nì, yīn'ér zhèng qí zuì, fēn qí cái.” 叔果訟侄毆逆， 因而正其罪， 分其財。 ” |
| 4 | —FÉNG Mènglóng: “Voices of Experience, Supplementary Volume” | 冯梦龙: 《增补智囊补》” FÉNG Mènglóng: “Zēngbǔ Zhìnáng Bǔ” 馮夢龍: 《增補智囊補》” |
Source:The original source of this story was a Míng 明 dynasty (period 20) collection called Zēngbǔ Zhì Nāng Bǔ 增补智囊补 by FÉNG Mènglóng 冯梦龙. The Chinese text has been scanned from KIU, K. L. (Qiáo Chējié 喬車潔) 1991 100 Judicial cases from ancient China. (Zhōngguó gǔdài ànliè yībǎi zé 中國古代案列一百則). Hong Kong: Commercial Press. Chapter 74, pp. 190. Kiu provides the source of this Chinese text as “〈增補智囊補〉， 〔明〕馮夢龍撰， 《筆記小說大觀二十一編》， 台北新興1977年.” Since Kiu’s excellent English translations are copyrighted, I have re-translated the Chinese for free public use.