A butcher, returning home late as darkness fell, was suddenly confronted by a wild wolf. Its eyes were fixed solely on the pork he carried, and its mouth dripped with undisguised lust. Wherever the butcher walked, the wolf paced alongside him; when the butcher paused, the wolf stopped dead still. This continued for several li. Fear gripping his heart, the butcher drew his cleaver and brandished it menacingly, causing the wolf to retreat slightly. But as soon as the butcher stepped forward to continue his journey, the wolf immediately resumed its relentless following.

Having exhausted his options, the butcher mused, "Perhaps I should hang this pork high up in the branches and retrieve it tomorrow morning." He hooked the meat onto a branch with his iron hook, then clapped his hands together, showing his empty palms to the beast. Only then did the wolf halt its pursuit.

The butcher escaped home. At dawn the next day, he returned to claim his meat. From a distance, he spied a massive, rigid object hanging from the tree, stiff as a hanged corpse. A chill of dread shot through him. He cautiously approached the base of the tree and then broke into a silent, incredulous laugh—the monstrous object was, in fact, the wolf. Looking up, he saw the pork held fast in the creature's jaws, the iron hook having pierced clean through its upper palate. The death pose was chillingly similar to that of a fish caught on a hook.

At that time, wolf pelts commanded a high price; a complete, undamaged skin could fetch ten taels of silver. Thus, the butcher had stumbled into a substantial windfall. …………… …………… …………… A certain butcher was making his way home one evening after selling off all his pork, leaving him only two bones. On the road, he encountered two wolves that dogged his steps. Utterly terrified, the butcher threw out one bone, and one wolf immediately stopped to secure its prize. The second wolf, however, continued to shadow him. The butcher tossed out the second bone, causing the trailing wolf to pause, but the first wolf immediately returned to join its companion. With all bones gone, the two wolves followed side-by-side, utterly unwilling to depart.

The butcher found himself in an impossible predicament, dreading an attack from both front and back. Looking around wildly, he spotted a threshing floor in the open country, where numerous haystacks stood piled high like small hills. The butcher hurried toward the stacks, his cleaver gripped tightly, ready to make his stand. The two wolves dared not attack rashly, instead circling him with fixed, angry gazes.

After a short while, one wolf turned and slipped away. The other crouched down before a haystack, seemingly closing its eyes in rest, its posture relaxed. Seizing the moment, the butcher sprang forward, hacking down with his cleaver in several swift strikes, killing the wolf. Just as he turned to head home, he glanced back and saw the second wolf emerging from a burrow dug behind the stack, evidently planning a surprise attack from behind.

With half its body still inside the hole, only its hindquarters and tail exposed, the butcher quietly moved alongside it, severing a hind leg with one clean stroke before dispatching the creature entirely. Only then did he realize the grim truth: the wolf he had killed earlier had only been feigning sleep as a deliberate ruse to lure him into a trap. …………… …………… …………… A butcher was hurrying home under the cloak of night, relentlessly pursued by a wolf. Spotting a small straw hut by the roadside, he bolted inside and threw himself prone on the dirt floor. The wolf shoved its front paws through the opening. The butcher immediately seized a paw, holding it fast, unable to let go. For a desperate moment, he was paralyzed, unsure how to dispatch his captive. All he had was a small knife, scarcely a few inches long. After a brief consideration, the butcher used the tiny blade to slice a small slit into the wolf’s captive paw. He then brought his mouth to the opening and began to blow air into the wound without stopping.

After a long while, the wolf let out mournful, hoarse howls that gradually faded until all sound ceased and the animal lay still. The butcher quickly untied his sash, cinched the wound tightly, and cautiously opened the door. Outside, the wolf was monstrously bloated, swelling to the size of a small calf. Its four legs were rigidly extended, impossible to bend, and its jaw remained wide open, unable to close.

The butcher was overjoyed. He hoisted the enormous carcass onto his shoulders and carried it home.