Talk does not cook rice

Robert Wyndham (author)
Jay Yang (illustrations)
Tales the People Tell in China
Julian Messner, 1971

Robert Wyndham anthologizes twelve Chinese stories and throws three anecdotes and a dozen or so aphorisms into a lively mix. Many stories read like fables, with a useful lesson or two for living well. In "The Young Head of the Cheng Family" (translated from 巧媳婦, meaning clever wife), Precious Jade instructs her future sisters-in-law on the means of wrapping fire and catching wind in paper. She uses her cleverness to help her family prosper, even boldly outsmarting a local magistrate. For male ingenuity, Wyndham includes the famous Three Kingdoms' story of Kongming "borrowing" ten thousand arrows by tricking his enemy Cao Cao to shoot at ships loaded with hay bales. Jay Yang's charming, black-and-white illustrations draw from traditional Chinese prints as well as compositions of masterpieces (e.g., Spring Festival on the River) and styles of famous painters (e.g., Chen Hongshou). The modest-sized book is a jewel, with a fine selection of tales, rendered in easy, fluid prose, peppered with good humor. Here, are a few of the aphorisms to whet your appetite:
  A teacher can open the door, but the pupil must go through by himself.
  The wise man listens to his own mind, the foolish man heeds the mob.
  Water and words are easy to pour, but impossible to recover.
  Patience and the mulberry leaf become a silk gown.
  Talk does not cook rice.