A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

A scholar living in a Buddhist temple at Shansi watches a miniature hunting company enter his room. Its knights are about two inches high, with grasshopper-sized horses, fly-sized falcons and ant-sized dogs. Hundreds of hunters pursue the gnats and fleas that have prevented him from sleeping. Their yellow-clad king receives the catch, and the company speaks a language the scholar cannot understand before departing in a cloud of dust.

One dog has been left on a brick beside the wall. The scholar catches it, finds it tame and examines its smooth, fine coat and little collar. It refuses bread crumbs but feeds on the vermin in his bedding. He keeps it in his paint-box, and it accompanies him to bed, killing the insects that approach. His affection for the tiny animal grows as it continues to protect him.

The ending makes its small size a vulnerability. During a daytime nap the dog lies beside him; when he wakes and turns onto his side, he accidentally crushes it flat. It is dead when he rises to look, and no revival follows. The room’s vermin have nevertheless been eliminated. The attached note attributes the account to the Liau Dschai of P’u Sung Lang, in the edition’s spellings, and compares it with the preceding ant-king tale. This story does not reveal its hunters to be ants or establish that their king is the preceding tale’s ruler.

Ant-sized body with a fine coat and collarHunts gnats, fleas and other bedding verminAccidentally crushed by its human keeper
01

Origins & earliest records

Chinese tales mediated by Richard Wilhelm and Frederick H. Martens

02

Records & interpretation

Complete tale and its attached source note read in the retained1921-edition transcription.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    The Chinese Fairy Book

    Richard Wilhelm, editor; Frederick H. Martens, translator · 1921

    XLII, The Little Hunting Dog, pp.127–129; New York, Frederick A. Stokes Company

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Complete historical translated tale

Richard Wilhelm/Frederick H. Martens, The Chinese Fairy Book (Stokes1921)

Nature and Animal Tales. XLII, The Little Hunting Dog, pp.127–129

Complete chapter and attached source note read in wilhelm-XLII.txt and29939.html. Miniature hunters not identified as ants; fatal accidental crushing retained.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical translated taleWilhelm/Martens, The Chinese Fairy Book, XLII, The Little Hunting Dog, pp.127–129Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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