An unusual day

鄱陽龔紀與族人同應進士舉。唱名日，其家眾妖競作，牝雞或晨鳴，犬或巾幘而行，鼠或白晝群出。至於器皿服用之物，悉自變常。家人驚懼，召巫治之。時尚寒，巫向爐坐，有一貓臥其側。家人謂巫曰：“吾家百物皆為異。不為異者，獨此貓耳。”於是貓立拱手言曰：“不敢。”巫大駭而出。後數日，捷音至，二子皆高第。

Gong Ji from Poyang took the imperial examination with his clansman. On the day when successful candidates were announced, all kinds of weird things happened in the Gong family. There were hens crowing in the morning, dogs walking about with headwraps, and groups of mice running about in broad daylight. Household utensils and clothes all became weird. The family was scared and summoned a shaman to exorcise the house.

It was still cold at that time, and the shaman sat by the stove, where a cat lay next to him. The family told the shaman, “Numerous things in our house are abnormal now; this cat is the only one that acts normally.”

Hearing this, the cat stood up and said with its hands folded, “You flatter me.” The shaman fled in utter astonishment.

A few days later, good news came that the two candidates [of the clan] both ranked high in the examination.

* From Feng Menglong 馮夢龍 (1574-1646) ed., Gujin tangai 古今譚概 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2007), 545.