Di Xun, a junior general of the Right Army of the Palace Guard, on the sixth day of the second month of the third year of Shaoxi, was leading the garrison troops to receive their pay before the fifth watch, and sat outside the Qianhu gate on a camp stool waiting for it to open. He felt something hard touch his foot; he took a candle and looked — it was a giant crab, three feet long, of strange and ugly shape.
He ordered a follower to tie it up and take it home, then sat down again to doze. In his dream a man with a long beard, of ancient and fearsome aspect, in a pale-green robe, a soft cap, black boots and a black rhinoceros-leather belt, holding a tablet, bowed and said:
“I am the Judge of the West Lake. I came out sporting in the open country, and your men seized me roughly; I feared I was surely destined for the cauldron. I beg you to send a messenger at once to tell them to spare my remaining life, and I shall contrive a rich reward. If it cannot be helped, my small life is not worth pity — but I fear the calamity it brings upon your household will be no small matter.”
Di woke; the gate was already open and the men were filing into the city; he had no time to ask. When his business was done he galloped home — and his sons had already boiled the crab and were dividing it, marvelling at its sweetness. Only his wife had not yet taken a bite.
Di told them his dream and forbade them to eat. Before long, his five sons died one after another; only Di and his wife survived.
