My handy dandy book on monsters. |
A scholarly work published in China in 1885 describes the Hsing-Hsing as a small creature with a human face and a pig's body. It is able to speak.
All Hsing-Hsing enjoy getting drunk and running around with shoes on their hooves. People attract these monsters by placing jugs of wine and straw sandals outside their homes. When the pig-monsters get tipsy and start putting on the sandals, people sneak up, capture them, and put them in cages. They make amusing, unusual pets, because you can talk to them, and they're not pig-headed.
Hui
Huis are dogs with human heads. They live in the mountains of China and laugh whenever they see a person. Perhaps two-legged tail-less animals like us are funny to watch. Huis are described in the same tenth-century manuscript that described the Hsing-Hsing.
Manticore
This is a lion the color of blood, with a human face and a triple row of sharp teeth. The manticore's toothy grin reaches from ear to ear. It often sports a dapper moustache. Its voice is musical, with flutelike noises that attract humans.
People are the monster's favorite food. The manticore has a poisonous tail with deadly quills that can shoot great distances with remarkable accuracy. The monster first appeared in natural-history books during the seventeenth century.
I love the looseness and devil may care coloring of these drawings.
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