阅微草堂笔记-十三、十四 Yue Wei Cao Tang Bi Ji --王茜翻译

XIII

In the city Ningbo there was a guy whose surname was Wu. He enjoyed visiting whorehouses. Later he met a fox spirit and often dated her. But at the same time he still patronized the whorehouses. One day, the fox spirit told him: “I can transform my appearance. Whoever you are drawn to, I can transform myself into her appearance after I see her for even once. Therefore, if you think of any girl, I can transform myself into her appearance immediately. Isn’t it better than dissipating your money on prostitutes?” They took a crack, and she really transformed herself into another girl immediately and precisely. Therefore, Wu stopped patronizing the whorehouses.

Once he told the fox spirit: "It is so delectable to sleep with different girls. However, it is always a pity that the girls are no more than illusions." The fox spirit answered: "It is not the case. Lustful and sultry amusements are as transient as lightning and stone fires. Not only the girl I transformed is an illusion, but the girl herself is also an illusion. Not only that girl is an illusion, but I myself am also an illusion. The well-known beauties in the history of thousands of years were also illusions. The white poplars, the green grasses, the yellow soils and the dark green mountains, weren’t they once also glitzy places of amusement? One makes love with beauties, buries them with earth, and parts with them...all these happen in just a fraction of a second. The passion between two people may be counted in minutes, in days, in months or in years, but the moment of departure will arrive sooner or later. At the moment of departure, whether they have been sticking together for dozens of years, or they have just met each other, they will have to let go, and everything between them will be over. Aren't the days spent with sensuous girls as fugitive as spring dreams? Even though the affection between the two has always been profound and they cling to each other throughout their lives, time will rob the woman of her pleasing appearance and cover her with white hairs, making her no longer look like before. Therefore, the dark eyebrows and the rosy cheeks of the old days are still illusions. So, now why on earth do you only accuse the girl I transformed as illusory?" Wu was enlightened. A few years later, the fox spirit left him, and he never went to whorehouses any more.

XIV

Ji Ru’ai from Jiaohe and Zhang Wenfu from County Qing were two old scholars who were both teaching in Xian. One night they took a walk under the moon between the south village and the north village, and found themselves in a place that was a bit far from their boarding house. The place was deserted, hushed and shadowy with exuberant vegetation. Zhang was scared and wanted to go back. He said: “There are often ghosts in a graveyard, and we’d better leave here as soon as possible.” Presently an old man appeared before them, a stick in his hand. He bowed with collapsed hands to invite the two to sit down, and said: “How can there be any ghosts in the world? Haven’t you ever heard of the theory of Ruan Zhan? You two are both learned scholars, and how come you accept the nonsense of Buddhism about ghosts?” Then he expounded the theory of Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi about the ebbing and flowing of the two energies. He was erudite and eloquent. The two nodded and exclaimed over the penetrating views of the scholars in the Song Dynasty. They chatted with the old man and actually forgot to ask his name.

Presently several wagons loomed up in the distance, the bells on the necks of the oxen clanking resonantly. Wiping his clothes hastily and rising to his feet, the old man said: "As a deceased man under the grave, I had been suffering from loneliness for too long. If I hadn’t made use of the theory that ghosts do not exist in this world, I could not have detained you two for such an enjoyable and long talk. Now that we are bidding farewell, I tell you the truth. Please don’t accuse me of making fun of you." In a moment he disappeared.

There were rarely any men of letters in the place, and only the tomb of Mr. Dong Kongru is nearby. Maybe it was his ghost?