Painted lady Painted lady The Cynthia group of colourful butterflies, commonly called painted ladies, comprises a subgenus of the genus "Vanessa" in the family Nymphalidae. They are well known throughout most of the world. The group includes: The painted lady ("V. cardui") is a large butterfly (wing span ) identified by the black and white corners of its mainly deep orange, black-spotted wings. It has five white spots in the black forewing tips and while the orange areas may be pale here and there, there are no clean white dots in them. The hindwings carry four small submarginal eyespots on the dorsal
The Painted Skin into English as "The Painted Skin" by the British sinologist Herbert A. Giles and was included in his 1880 translation of "Strange Tales". It reappeared with modifications in a subsequent edition, published in 1908. Since then, many other translators, including John Minford (2006), have published their translations of "The Painted Skin". On the surface, "The Painted Skin" is a story of a lustful scholar's encounter with a demon who disguises itself as a lady. Pu Songling intended for the story to be viewed as a parable of human desire and its negative consequences, and emphasised this with his appended comment,