Fairy Fox Repaid Previous Debts 狐女还债

The following story is from ‘Gossips from the Micro-reading Hall’.

Mr Chu had a young maid servant; she was rough and robust. But as she grew up she became a very pretty and charming lady. So Chu married made her his concubine. She was also bright and managed the household matters well. None of the servants would dream of cheating her on household or financial matters, as surely they would be caught. She was also quite adroit in business dealings and financial investment. Soon she acquired a considered fortune for Chu who loved and treasured her even more as years went by.

Then one day, she asked Chu, ‘Do you really know who I am?’ Chu laughed and said, ‘Are you kidding?’ He said out her pet name and asked her, 'aren’t you the former young maid?’

She said, ‘No, that young maid had already absconded from your house many years back. She is now married in the next village and had a seven year old son. I am actually a fairy fox. Nine generations ago you were a very rich merchant, I was your trusted accountant and you had treated me very well. Yet I misappropriated three thousand taels of gold from you. I was punished and was later born as a fox while you continued to be born as human beings. I have since been practicing the art of ascetics for hundreds of years and have completed the training. I was able to ascend to the next world but for the debt I still owe you. So when the ugly maid ran away I replaced her and later became your concubine. In the past years I have worked very hard and had earned enough money for you to repay the debts. SO I am now leaving you. And when I leave I will leave behind my fox carcass, and you ask your servant to bury me, he will certainly remove the skin of the fox to sell elsewhere. Do let him do it without stopping him, for in my previous existence as a fox I had consumed the corpse of his previous life four generations ago when I was hungry. I have to let him mutilate my body, as I have to repay that debt too.’

She then dropped on to the floor. The fairy fox left the dead body and ascended slowly out of the house. She looked completely different from the concubine. Chu didn’t want the dead body to be mutilated, he buried it secretly. But the servant knew about it and dug it out, skinned the carcass and sold the fur. When Chu heard about it he could only sigh.

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以下故事来自《阅微草堂笔记》：

朱某一婢，粗材也，稍长，渐慧黠，眉目亦渐秀媚，因纳为妾，颇有心计，摒挡井井，米盐琐屑，家人纤毫不敢欺，欺则必败。又善居积，凡所贩鬻，来岁价必贵，朱以渐裕，宠之专房。

一日忽谓朱曰：君知我为谁，朱笑曰：尔颠耶？因戏举其小名曰，尔非某耶？

曰：非也，某逃去久矣，今为某地某人妇，生子已七八岁。我本狐女，君九世前为巨商，我为司会计，君遇我厚，而我乾没君三千余金，冥谪堕狐身，炼形数百年，幸得成道，然坐此负累，终不得升仙，故因此婢之逃，幻其貌以事君。计十余年来，所入足以敌所逋，今尸解去矣。我去之后，必现狐形，君可付某仆埋之。彼必裂尸而取革，君勿罪彼。彼四世前为饿殍时，我未成道，曾啖其尸，听彼碎磔我，庶冤可散也。

俄化狐仆地，有好女长数寸，出顶上，冉冉去，其貌则别一人矣。朱不忍而自埋之，卒为此仆窃发，剥卖其皮，朱知为夙业，浩叹而已。

The Lady of Yanzhou 延州妇人

The Taiping Anthologies is a collection of about 7000 stories compiled under the editorship of Li Fang of Song Dynasty, first published in 978. The stories were selected from over three hundred books and novels from the Han Dynasty to the early Song Dynasty, many of which have long been lost. Some stories are historical or naturalistic anecdotes, each is replete with historical elements, and qualifies as fiction, but the topics are mostly supernatural, about Buddhist and Daoist priests, immortals, ghosts, and various deities.

One of the most unexpected stories is about a lady of Yanzhou who is willing to have sex with any man she came across. She turned out to be an incarnation of Bodhisattva.

Once there was a lady in Yanzhou in eastern Shaanxi who was of fair complexion and quite beautiful, about 24 or 25 years of age. She wandered through the city alone, and the young lads would follow her around. She had sexual relations with them all, rejecting none of them.

Several years later she died, and the people of Yanzhou were all grieved at this and felt sorry for her. They collected a sum of money and paid her funeral expenses. Because she had no home, they buried her beside a road.

In the middle of the reign of Tang Daicong Dali (766-779 AD), a Central Asian monk came from the northwest. He saw the lady's grave, and immediately set up a prayer mat there, prostrating himself and burning incense while praising the virtue of the deceased for several days.

People saw this and said to him, "This was an immoral woman who treated every man like her husband, and we buried her here because she had no family. Why do you as a monk show such respect to her?"

The monk replied, "My benefactors, there is something you do not know. This lady was a holy being indeed, compassionate and generous in submitting to the desires of all worldly men. She is the Chained-bone Bodhisattva, and she has fulfilled her destiny and achieved enlightenment. If you do not believe me, you can open up the grave and see."

The people exhumed the grave, and sure enough all the bones were linked as in a chain. They were astonished and held a Buddhist feast for her, and also built a pagoda to honour her.

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宋代李昉编的《太平广记》大约收集了7000个故事，第一次出版于978年。故事选自汉朝至宋初超过300本书与小说，其中有不少已经失传了。这些故事有历史或自然奇闻逸话，充满了历史元素，创造素质，内容则都是一些有关超自然、佛教、道士、长生不老、鬼怪及各种神仙的事物。

其中一个令人意想不到的故事是有关一个延州妇女对所有男人来者不拒，而她原来是菩萨的化身。

昔，延州有妇人，白皙，颇有姿貌，年可二十四五，孤行城市，年少之子，悉与之游，押呢荐 枕，一无所却。

数年而殁，州人莫不悲惜，共醵丧具，为之葬焉。以其无家，瘗于道左。

（唐代宗）大历中（776－779），忽有胡僧自西域来，见墓，遂趺坐，具礼焚香，围绕赞叹数日。

人见，谓之日：此一淫纵女子，人尽夫也。以其无属，故瘗于此，和尚何敬耶？

僧曰：非檀越所知，斯乃大圣，慈悲喜舍，世所之 欲，无不徇焉。此即销骨菩萨，顺缘已尽。圣者云耳不信，即启以验之。

众人即开墓，视遍身之骨，钩结皆如锁状。果如僧言。州人异之，为设大斋起塔焉。

The Textile Merchant 布贩

The following story is from ‘Gossips from the Micro-reading Hall’.

Textile merchant Jiang always walked around with his big floral colour dog. On one such walk, he met an old man who stopped him. Jiang asked for the reason as he had never met this person before. The old man suddenly kow-towed and said, ‘I am actually a fox and had wrongly killed you in our previous existence. Three days later you will get you dog to sever my throat (as revenge). All these are predestined and I dare not try to escape the punishment. However, I have thought it over that my wrong had happened more than a hundred years ago, and since then, you have been reborn to become a human being and I have been downgraded as a fox. What satisfaction you will get in seeing me being killed by the dog? Moreover, you could not even recall about the incident now. I am willing to offer my daughter to you as penance for my sins.’

Jiang said, ‘I would not want to have anything to do with a fox, nor I want to take advantage of this situation to have your daughter. I can forgive you but what must I do to ensure that my dog would not mow you down when the time comes?’

The old man said that Jiang would give him a signed statement of release to say that he is willing to forgive him voluntarily. He would then pass the statement to the supreme deity. With this, the dog would not kill him. It was the rule that the victim would decide whether he would pardon the offender, and the supreme deity would not interfere. Jiang wrote out the release in a note and the old man left happily with it.

Some years later, Jiang was on his way to the North and was crossing the great river when a sudden storm threatened to capsize the boat. The sail could not be lowered to alleviate the force of the wind and storm. Suddenly a person jumped on to the mast and cut the rope that fastened the sail to the ship. The sail flew into the river and the ship managed to regain its stability. All on board were saved. The old man who severed the rope looked like the fox. He disappeared suddenly.

People commented that this old fox had a sense of gratitude. But I think, this fox could not even save himself, how could he save his former benefactor? May be it was because the supreme deity wanted to reward Jiang by extending his life, so he sent the old fox to perform the task.

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以下故事来自《阅微草堂笔记》：

有姜挺者以贩布为业，恒携一花犬自随，一日独行，途遇一叟呼之住，问不相识，何见招？叟遽叩首有声，曰：我狐也，夙生负君命，三日后君当嗾花犬断我喉，冥数已定，不敢逃死，然窃念事隔百余年，君转生人道，我堕为狐，必追杀一狐，与君何益，且君已不记被杀事，偶杀一狐亦无所快于心，愿纳女自赎可乎？

姜曰：我不敢引狐入室，亦不欲乘危劫人女，贳则贳汝，然何以防犬终不噬也？

曰：君但手批一帖，曰某人夙负，自原销除，我持以告神，则犬自不噬。冤家债主，解释须在本人，神不违也。适携记簿纸笔，即批帖予之。叟喜跃去。

后七八载，姜贩布渡大江，突遇暴风，帆不能落，舟将覆，见一人直上樯竿杪，掣断其索，骑帆俱落，望之似是此叟，转瞬已失所在矣。

皆曰：此狐能报恩。余曰：此狐无术自救，能数千里外救人乎？此神以好生延其寿，遣此狐耳。

The Earth Spirit and Officer Cui 地仙与崔生

Officer Cui committed a mistake and was banished to Guang Dong province. Dong did not bring his wife and concubine along as he thought it would not be safe for them to travel the long journey. Whilst there he was homesick and often felt very lonely. Whenever he thought of his family, he felt sad. Then he came to befriend an old man called Dong. They soon became quite close to each other. One day, they had dinner together. Although it was a beautiful full moon nigh. Cui was not in the mood to drink with his friend. Dong smiled and said, ‘Are you thinking of your wife and concubine? Please trust me, I, your good friend, am making arrangement for your family to join you. I have not told you about it as I am not sure whether it can be done. Perhaps we will know in a month’s time.’

Another half year went by and one day Dong suddenly ordered the servants to cleanup new rooms urgently. Shortly after that, three sedan chairs arrived and out came Cui’s wife, his concubine and a young maid. Cui was overjoyed and asked what had happened. His wife told him that they received a letter from him asking them to follow an official’s family to travel here. She had therefore to hurriedly hand over the family’s houses and farm to Chu’s brother. Cui’s brother would collect the rents on his behalf and send here yearly. He then asked where the maid came from. It was replied that during the journey here, they saw that she was put up for sale as she could not get along with her mistress. His wife bought her over at low cost. Cui was overjoyed with tears and thanked Dong for making his dream came true.

A few months later, Dong said to Cui, ‘The young maid joined us on your wife’s journey here, and she is going through this hardship with us, you may say this is fated. May be you should make her your concubine, so that she will not feel lonely without a family.’

A few years went by. Cui’s pardon was finally announced and he could now return home. Cui was so happy that he could not sleep at night. However, the three ladies appeared to be sad as though they are going to be separated from Cui. Cui consoled them, ‘Are you thinking of how to repay Dong for what he has done to help us? As long as we are alive, we will repay him one day.’ They did not reply, merely packed Cui’s belongings quietly in preparation for his return journey.

On the day of departure, Dong hosted a feast for Cui. He called out the three ladies and said, ‘I think the time has come for me to tell you the whole truth.’ He then bowed to Cui and continued, ‘I am actually an Earth Spirit. We were colleagues during our previous lives. We were both posted out and I died in office away from home. You have gone to great lengths to arrange and escorted my body back home and handed over to my wife. I was immensely grateful to you. I wanted to repay my debt to you but was unable to bring your family here due to the long distance. So I enlisted the help of three fairies in order to cheer you up. I first sent them to your own home to observe and imitate the mannerism of your wife and your concubine and also to learn all the family details so that when they come to impersonate your close companions your suspicion wouldn’t be aroused. As they are three sisters and that is why one of them serves as your maid. All these are actually illusions. Please do not think further, just return home and reunion with your wife and concubine. At home, things will return to normal as though you are living here.’ Cui requested that the three ladies went home with him. Dong told him that that could not be done as the three ladies did not belong to the earthly world. As the three ladies shaked hands to say goodbye with Cui, their tears flowed out freely. Cui then boarded the boat and by the time he turned his head around, all four of them had already disappeared.

At home, his wife told him that since he left, the family had no means to maintain a living and had to depend on the yearly remittances sent by him to pay for household expenses. That is how they survived till now. It was clear that Dong was the one who sent the money.

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以下故事来自《阅微草堂笔记》：

有崔生者，以罪戍广东，恐携孥有意外，乃留其妻妾只身行。到戍后，穷愁抑郁，殊不自聊，且回思少妇登楼，弥增忉怛。偶遇一叟，自云姓董，字无念，言颇契，愍其流落，延为子师，亦甚相得。一夕宾主夜酌，楼高月满，忽动离怀，把酒倚栏，都忘酬酢。叟笑曰：君其有云鬟玉臂之感乎？托在契末，已早为经纪，但至否未可知，故先不奉告，旬月后当有耗耳。

又半载，叟忽戒僮婢扫治别室，意甚匆遽，顷之，则三小肩舆至，妻妾及一婢揭帘出矣。惊喜怪问，皆曰：得君信相迓，嘱随某官眷属至，急不能久待，故草草来，家事托几房几兄代治，约岁得租米，岁岁鬻金寄至矣。问婢何来，曰：即某官之媵，嫡不能容，以贱价就舟中鬻得也。生感激拜叟，至于涕零，从此完聚成家，无复故园之梦。

越数月，叟谓生曰：此婢中途邂逅，患难相从，当亦是有缘，似当共侍巾栉，无独使向隅也。又数载遇赦得归，生喜跃不能寝，而妻妾及婢俱惨惨有离别之色。生慰之曰：尔辈念主人恩耶？倘不死，会有日相报耳。皆不答，惟趣为生治装。

濒行，翁治酒作饯，并呼三女出曰：今日事须明言矣。因拱手对生曰：老夫地仙也，过去生中，与君为同官，殁后君百计营求，归吾妻子，恒耿耿不忘，今君别鹤离鸾，自合为君料理，但山川绵邈，二孱弱女子，何以能来，因摄招花妖先至君家中半年，窥尊室容貌语言，摹拟具似，并刺知家中旧事，便君有证不疑，渠本三姊妹，故多增一婢耳，渠皆幻相，君勿复思，到家相对旧人，仍与此间无异矣。生请与三女俱归，叟曰：鬼神各有地界，可暂出不可久越也。三女握手作别，洒泪沾衣。俯仰间已俱不见，登舟时遥见立岸上，招之不至。

归后，妻子具言家日落，赖君岁岁寄金来，得活至今，盖亦此叟所为也。

The Lovelorn Spirit 巨鹿石氏女

The following story is from the book Random Notes on the Living and Nether Worlds by Liu Yiqing (403-444). Liu was famous for his another book entitled ‘A New Account of Tales of the World’ (Shi Shuo Xin Yu).

Pang Ah of Julu was a very handsome man. A daughter of the Shi family in that district saw Pang in her family hall and fell in love with him at the first sight. When later she was seen calling on Pang, his wife became extremely jealous. One day, hearing the girl coming, Pang’s wife instructed the maids tie her up and take her home; but on the way the young lady vanished like smoke. The maids reported this to the girl’s family.

The girl’s father was astounded. ‘My daughter has not left the house,’ he said. ‘How dare you slander us like this?’

But Pang’s father watched his son carefully, and discovered the girl in his study one night. He seized her himself and went to the Shi family.

When the girl’s father saw her, he was surprised. ‘I have just come from a inner room,’ he said. ‘I saw my daughter there working with her mother. How can she be here?’

Ho told his servant to call his daughter out, and the moment the girl appeared the other vanished. The puzzled father told his wife to investigate, and the girl explained, ‘Last year when Pang came to visit at our family hall, I had a chance to peep at him. I have dreamed ever since of going to his home, and had been caught by his wife when I went in.’

‘Well, I have never seen such strange happenings!’ exclaimed her father. When a spirit is deeply involved, it can assume any form it chooses. So what vanished was her spirit after all.

Since then the girl resolved not to marry anyone else. A year later, however, Pang’s wife contracted a strange disease which proved incurable. Then Pang sent gifts to the Shi family and married their daughter.

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一下故事来自刘义庆（403-444）的《幽明录•巨鹿石氏女》。刘义庆以写《世说新语》而出名。

“巨鹿有庞阿者，美容仪。同郡石氏有女，曾内睹阿，心悦之。未几，阿见此女来诣阿，阿妻极妒，闻之，使婢缚之，送还石家，中路遂化为烟气而灭。婢乃直诣石家，说此事。

石氏之父大惊，曰：‘我女都不出门，岂可毁谤如此？’

阿父自是常加意伺察之。居一夜，方值女在斋中，乃自拘执以诣石氏。

石氏父见之，愕眙曰：‘我适从内来，见女与母共作，何得在此？’

即令婢仆于内唤女出，向所缚者，奄然灭焉。父疑有异，故遣其母诘之。女曰：‘昔年庞阿来厅中，曾窃视之。自尔彷佛即梦诣阿，及入户，即为妻所缚。’

石曰：‘天下遂有如此奇事！’夫精神所感，灵神为之冥著。灭者，盖其魂神也。

既而女誓心不嫁。经年，阿妻忽得邪病，医药无征，阿乃授币石氏女为妻。”

Drawing Animals Without Eyes 画动物不画眼

The story of painting animals without eyes was first told in the book Taiping Guangji (Tai Ping Anthologies).

‘During the first year of the Qin dynasty, a man named Yi, who was good in carving and painting, was presented to the First Emperor.

By spurting out vermilion and green stone from his mouth onto the ground, he can transform them immediately into many funny faces and various things. When he carved stone into various types of animals, the animals were extremely lifelike that even their hairs appeared to be real thing.

He also marked the carving time on the chest of the animals.

By laying a cloth on the ground, he could paint rivers, maintains and maps of all states within the small piece of cloth.

The dragon and phoenix drawn by him were so lifelike that it appeared that they were ever ready to fly away into the sky. But no eyes would be drawn. If the eyes were drawn, the animals would really fly away. The First Emperor sighed and said, ‘These are not real things, how can they fly away?’ He allowed the painters to draw an eye on each of two jade tigers on a painting. In ten days, both jade tigers disappeared and nobody knew where to look for them.

Residents lived near mountains and rivers reported that they saw two tigers, each had only one eye. They always moved together and were inseparable as body and shadow. They looked the same, even the hair and colour looked exactly the same. They also looked different from the normal tigers.

In the following year, the Western people presented two tigers to the First Emperor, each had only one eye. The First Emperor inspected them and suspected they were from the painting. The tigers were killed and the marks on their chests shown that they were indeed painted in the first year of his reign.’

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有关画动物不画眼睛的故事最先记载于《太平广记》。

秦始皇元年，骞霄国献刻玉善画工名裔。

使含丹青以漱地，即成魑魅及鬼怪群物之象；刻石为百兽之形，毛发宛若真矣。

皆铭其臆前，记以年月。

工人以绢画地。方寸之内，写四渎五岳列国之图。

又为龙凤，骞翥若飞。皆不得作目，作必飞走也。始皇嗟曰：“刻画之形，何能飞走。”使以淳漆各点两玉虎一眼睛，旬日则失之，不知何所在。

山泽人云：“见二白虎，各无一眼，相随而行，毛色形相，异于常见者。”

至明年，西方献两白虎，皆无一眼。始皇发槛视之，疑是先所失者，乃刺杀之，检其臆前，果是元年所刻玉虎也。

The Exemplary Act of Shi 史某善事

The following story is from ‘Gossips from the Micro-reading Hall’.

There was a Mr Shi living in the village of Xian, can’t remember his name now. This gentleman was broadminded and righteous on major principles. He seldom bothered himself with minor financial matters.

One day he made a small killing at the casino and was on his way home. He saw a villager, his wife and a new born baby hugging and crying in deep sorrow. Mr Shi made inquiry and was told that this family had owed thirty taels of gold to the loan shark, was unable to repay and had to sell the wife to settle the debt. And as the baby was still being fed on his mother’s breast milk, the separation was all the more painful.

Mr Shi asked about the agreed sale price of the wife and was told that it was fifty taels of gold. He also asked whether that was redeemable with cash and was told that it was still possible. On hearing that, he took out his winnings of seventy taels of gold and gave them to the villager telling him to repay the loan, redeem his wife and start a business with the reminder.

The villager was so beholden to Shi that they invited him to their house for dinner and drink. After the meal, the village carried the baby out and gestured his wife to entertain Shi for the night. Shi when learned of this proposal from the lady was furious. He said that he had been morally unblemished throughout his life and would never dream of taking advantage of someone else’s wife while that person was in distress; such conduct was not only immoral but also debased. He left in anger without saying further.

Half month later, a fire broke out around Shi’s house. It was the dry season after harvest time and all the households stacked the harvested dried hay on their roofs. The fire therefore spread rapidly to engulf the whole area. Shi was caught in the house with his wife and son. Fire was raging around them on all sides and escape seemed impossible. Then someone shouted on the roof top, ‘There is an urgent order from the god of the eastern mountain. Spare the members of the Shi family.’ Soon after this a wall on the eastern side of Shi’s house collapsed and Shi ran out with his wife and son to safety.

The whole village was razed to the ground. His neighbours remarked after the fire, ‘We were all laughing at his stupidity when he donated the entire winnings on a family in distress. Now it would appear that the donated charity had saved him three lives instead.’

In my humble opinion, the god of the eastern mountain rewarded him partly for his monetary assistance to the family in distress, may be up to the extent of only forty per cent. The remaining sixty per cent was to reward him for his exemplary conduct in rejecting the sexual offer made by the grateful family.

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献县史某，佚其名。为人不拘小节，而落落有直气，视龌龊者蔑如也。

偶从博场归，见村民夫妇子母相抱泣。其邻人曰：为欠豪家债，鬻妇以偿，夫妇故相得，子又未离乳，当弃之去，故悲耳。史问所欠几何，曰：三十金；所鬻几何，曰：五十金与人为妾；问可赎乎？曰：券甫成金尚未付，何不可赎。即出博场所得七十金授之，曰：三十金偿债，四十金持以谋生，勿再鬻也。

夫妇德史甚，烹鸡留饮，酒酣，夫抱儿出，以目示妇，意令荐枕以报。妇颔之。语稍狎，史正色曰：史某半世为盗，半世为捕役，杀人曾不眨眼。若危急中污人妇女，则实不能为。饮啖讫，掉臂径去，不更一言。

半月后所居村夜火，时秋获方毕，家家屋上屋下柴草皆满，茅檐秫篱，斯须四面皆烈焰，度不能出，与妻子瞑坐待死。恍惚闻屋上遥呼曰：东岳有急牒，史某一家并除名。攖然有声，后壁半圯。乃左挈妻右抱子，一跃而出，若有翼之者。

火熄后计一村之中，癵死者九。邻里皆合掌曰：昨尚窃笑汝痴，不意七十金乃赎三命。

余谓此事佑于司命，捐金之功十之四，拒色之功十之六。

Scholarly Ghosts 阅微草堂笔记：書生鬼

The following story is from ‘Gossips from the Micro-reading Hall’.
There was an old village tutor held his classes at a deserted temple during the day. The temple was located near a graveyard. At night, it was normal to see wild ghosts moving around or hear them talking. The old tutor was quite brave and not afraid. His young servant was also quite used to it and not afraid of the ghosts.
One night there was a voice outside the wall saying, ‘we have been neighbours for a long time, and I know that you are not afraid of us. I have also heard you reciting poems, so you must have the collections of poetry of Wen Tingjun on your table. Can you do me a favour by copying his poem the Damo tune and burn it for me?’
Then he lowered his voice and continued, ‘But please can you change the word “connect” into “stick” in the last verse of his poem for me? We are having drinks and I have a bet with my friends over this particular word.’
The old tutor happened to have Wen’s collection and therefore copied the poem unaltered and burned it outside the wall accordingly. A short while later, the wind outside the window was howling wildly and the branches of the tress rattled violently. Sand and dust also rained on the window.
The old tutor laughed and shouted, ‘Don’t be rude, I am old enough. I know when two parties bet, one is bound to lose and the loser is bound to make noise, which is normal. If I were to alter the word, when the loser blames me, I would be in the wrong. If I copied it correctly, the loser would have no basis to complain. In this case, you are just being cunning. I do not feel guilty at all.’
All was quiet after that.
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有老儒授徒野寺，寺外多荒塚，暮夜或見鬼形，或聞鬼語。老儒有膽殊不怖，其僮僕習慣，亦不怖也。
一夕，隔牆語曰：「鄰君已久，知先生不訝。嘗聞吟詠，案上當有溫庭筠詩，乞錄其《達摩支曲》一首焚之。」
又小語曰：「末句『鄴城風雨連天草』，祈寫連為黏，則感極矣。頃爭此一字，與人賭小酒食也。」
老儒適有溫集，遂舉投牆外。約一食頃，忽木葉亂飛，旋飈怒卷，泥沙灑窗戶如急雨。
老儒笑且叱曰：「爾輩勿劣相，我籌之已熟。兩相角賭，必有一負﹔負者必怨，事理之常。然因改字以招怨，則吾詞曲﹔因其本書以招怨，則吾詞直。聽爾輩狡獪，吾不愧也。」

語訖而風止。

Song Dingbo and Ghost 宋定伯与鬼

It is said that the following ghost story was told by Cao Pi (187 - 226), the Emperor Wen of Wei.
Song Dingbo, a young man in Nanyang, met a ghost one night while walking along the road. ‘Who is it?’ he asked.
‘I am a ghost.’ The ghost answered, ‘who are you?’
‘I am a ghost too.’ Song lied.
‘Where are you going?’ The ghost asked.
‘I am going to Wan city.’ Song answered.
‘I am going there too.’ The ghost said. So they went a few miles together.
‘It is very tiring to walk like this. Why don’t we take turns to carry each other on our backs?’ The ghost said.
‘It is a great idea.’ Song agreed. First the ghost carried Song for a few miles.
‘You are very heavy. Are you really a ghost?’
‘I am heavy because I died quite recently.’ Song said. Then it was his turn to carry the ghost, which was almost weightless. They went on like this, each carry the other several times.
‘Since I have just died, I do not know what a ghost fears.’ Song said.
‘A ghost fears nothing but to be spat at.’ The ghost told him.
They came to the river. Song asked the ghost to cross it first. He listened and found that the ghost made no noise at all. When he crossed the river, he made a lot of noise.
‘Why did you make so much noise?’ The ghost asked.
‘I beg your pardon. I am a new ghost and I have not learned how to cross a river quietly.’ Song answered.
They were approaching Wan city when Song put the ghost on his shoulder and held it tight with his hands. The ghost demanded in loud voice to be let off, but Song turned a deaf ear to it. He walked straight to the centre of the town. When he put the ghost on the ground, it turned itself into a goat. He sold it and spat at it again for feat that it might change again. After getting fifteen hundred coins, he went away.
So people said at the time, ‘Song Dingbo earned fifteen hundred coins by selling a ghost.’
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以下据说是魏文帝曹丕(187 - 226)讲的鬼故事。
南阳宋定伯，年少时，夜行逢鬼。问曰：‘谁？’鬼曰：‘鬼也。’鬼曰：‘卿复谁？’
定伯欺之，言：‘我亦鬼也。’鬼问：‘欲至何所？’答曰：‘欲至宛市。’鬼言：‘我亦欲至宛市。’共行数里。鬼言：‘步行大亟；可共迭相担也。’
定伯曰：‘大善。’鬼便先担定伯数里。鬼言：‘卿大重！将非鬼也？’定伯言：‘我新死，故重耳。’定伯因复担鬼，鬼略无重。如其再三。
定伯复言：‘我新死，不知鬼悉何所畏忌？’鬼曰：‘唯不喜人唾。’
于是共道遇水，定伯因命鬼先渡；听之了无声。定伯自渡，漕漼作声。鬼复言：‘何以作声？’定伯曰：‘新死不习渡水耳。勿怪！’行欲至宛市，定伯便担鬼至头上，急持之，鬼大呼，声咋咋，索下不复听之。径至宛市中，着地化为一羊。便卖之，恐其便化，乃唾之，得钱千五百，乃去。于时言：‘定伯卖鬼，得钱千五百。’