FOUR CAUTIONARY TALES

Four stories from 17th century China, available hitherto only in a limited edition, long out of print. There's a certain piquant morality in stories where the pleasures of lust seem to be the central theme. There's uninhibited acceptance of free discussion of the act of sex, but devoid of the tongue in cheek lewdness of The Decameron with which they have been compared. There's an odd sort of charm, and yet one wonders how the legitimate market can be tapped. Love in a Junk is the story of two young people destined for each other, whose impatience cost their lives; Brother or Bride teaches the rewards of purity and restraint, in a tale of a girl masquerading as a youth; The Everlasting Couple is staunchly rooted in Chinese morality and the attitude toward the binding of child marriage: The Mandarin Duck Girdle is a bawdy bit of adventure, as a rake finds a nunnery so exhausting that he dies of excesses... A book that may find a specialty market; a tour de force.