Starry River of the Sky

After hopping from the well, the toad starts toward the Stone Pancake, but Rendi stops it, telling the toad, “You’ll just get lost and cooked” (58). After a moment of consideration, the toad hops to the inn instead, and Rendi follows it inside to the family’s shrine room. Once there, he realizes that Peiyi’s mother is dead. Next, the toad leads Rendi to the dining room, where it hops into the lap of Mr. Shan.

Although he’s only a chore boy, Rendi joins the innkeeper, Peiyi, and the patrons for lunch. Madam Chang has noticed that Rendi never smiles, so she offers a deal. If her next story makes Rendi laugh, he must tell a story to match each of hers from that point forward. Peiyi says it doesn’t matter if Rendi accepts because he is “not going to laugh anyway” (64), so Rendi agrees.

Madam Chang tells the story of an old sage who lived atop a mountain and shooed away all those who tried to become his students, except for one. By day, the sage teaches the student, but by night, the sage reads from a book that he never shares.