Prevod

Pang Qi of Taiyuan, governor of Luling, whose courtesy name was Ziji, told this story of a distant ancestor, though he did not know how many generations back he had lived. The man had been imprisoned for an offense he had not committed. Unable to endure the torture, he falsely confessed. Just as his case was about to be submitted to the higher authorities, a mole cricket crawled about beside him. He said to it, “If you possess some divine power and can save me from death, would that not be a good deed?” He tossed it some rice. The mole cricket ate all the rice and went away. Before long it returned, somewhat larger than before. Finding this increasingly strange, he fed it again. It came and went in this way for several dozen days, until it was as large as a piglet. When the final ruling arrived, he was condemned to execution. That night the mole cricket dug a great hole at the foot of the prison wall, then broke his fetters, and he followed it out. A long time after his escape, an amnesty was proclaimed, and his life was spared. Thereafter, generation after generation, the Pang family made offerings to the mole cricket at a crossroads during the four seasonal festivals. In later generations they gradually grew less diligent and no longer prepared food especially for it, but instead offered what remained from their other sacrifices. This custom continues to this day.