041贾儿
A businessman’s son

某商家之子，因其母被狐狸缠身，神志失常，便决心除掉狐魅，于是佯装游戏，实则精心准备。经过曲折惊险的斗智斗勇，最终成功铲除祸害。

There was a son of a merchant. His mother was haunted by a fox and got insane. Due to this, he determined to get rid of the fox, so he pretended to play games, but in fact he was making a careful preparation. After twists and turns and thrilling battle of wits and courage, he successfully eradicated the scourge at the end.

决意除祸害，
壮志凌云冲天外，
原是小儿仔。

He was resolved to put evil to an end.
His ambition was as high as the sky.
But this hero was only a child.

 

042蛇癖
Snake hobby

某人嗜好吃蛇，神乎其神，隔着围墙也能闻着蛇的气息。故事篇幅短小，寓意深刻，主人公残忍乖戾之状，作者厌恶之情溢于言表。

A man was so fond of snakes that he could smell them through the walls. The story is short but profound, and the author expressed his disgust at the cruel and surly character.

吃蛇成嗜好，
乖戾残忍义气豪，
蒲公难称道。

Eating snakes became a hobby.
He was brave but cruel.
Mr. Pu was reluctant to praise.

 

第二卷
Book 2

043金世成
Jin Shicheng

文中叙述了一个名叫金世成的人，行为平时不检点，却在当了和尚之后，聚众千万，盖宫殿，起庙宇，有明显的反叛迹象。县令怒斥他妖异惑众，捉拿他后并责令修圣庙，竟然短时间内就被他的信徒修葺完成。

The article describes a man named Jin Shicheng, who was usually unruly, but after becoming a monk, he gathered thousands of people to build palaces and temples, with obvious signs of rebellion. The county magistrate angrily accused him of cheating people, arrested him and ordered him to build a holy temple. Unexpectedly in a short period of time, the temple was completed by his believers.

 

行为不检点，
出家居然图谋反，
何方鬼神仙？

Jin Shichyeng misbehaved.
He plotted a rebel after becoming a monk.
What kind of evil immortal is he?

 

044董生
Mr. Dong

董生和王生遇见同一个狐妖，但两人却有着一死一伤的不同结局。他们在酒席上已经受到医生警告，但是董生面对狐妖的谎言，并没有警醒，最终丧命了。王生则幸运一点，他梦中受到了董生的提醒及责怪，最终摆脱了狐妖。而狐妖在审判后，也因为多伤人命，被追去金丹，但是王生已经将它皮革剥掉，它不能生还，只能做鬼了。

Dong and Wang met the same fox demon, but they had different endings of death and injury. They had been warned by the doctor at the banquet, but Dong did not wake up in the face of the lie of the fox demon, and finally died. Wang was a little lucky. He was reminded and scolded by Dong in his dream, and finally got rid of the fox demon. After the trial, the fox demon was forced to retuan the golden pill because it hurt people's lives. But Wang had peeled off its hide so it could not survive and could only become a ghost.

谎言即是祸，
信与不信两处说，
生死见结果。

A lie is a curse.
Believe it or not,
Life or death is the just result.

 

045龁石
Eat stones

故事讲述了一个能吃石头的异人，暗暗表现了作者对于老百姓生活艰苦的同情。此外，文章短小，生动自然，蕴含着浓厚的道家思想。

The story tells of a strange man who can eat stones, which secretly shows the author's sympathy for the hard life of ordinary people. In addition, the article is short, vivid and natural, and contains strong Taoist thoughts.

学道食白石，
为母还乡食饭食，
母丧复食石。

Eat white stone when learning Taoism.
Eat food for mother’s sake when returning home.
Eat stone again after mother’s death.

 

046庙鬼
Temple ghost

城隍庙的庙鬼不为人造福，却去祸害正直的人。这一丑恶事实揭示了当年社会巫蛊势力的猖獗。只有借之于神人之手他们才能被消除。

Chenghuang Temple ghost does not benefit people, but harm the honest people. This ugly fact reveals the rampant power of witchcraft in the then society. Only by the hands of the gods can they be eliminated.

坐卧鬼即来，
幻觉幻听惹伤害，
神清祸不再。

Ghost will come when you sit or lie.
Hallucination and phonism cause harm.
Disaster vanishes when you are awake.

047陆判
Judge Mr. Lu

描写了主人公朱尔旦奇遇陆判官的幻异故事，其中陆判官为朱尔旦换心和为朱妻换头的情节奇特诡谲，扣人心弦。朱尔旦死后来到家里生活的场面及路上教诲儿子赠送佩刀的情景，也寄托了作者对人间美好的希望之情。

It describes the story of the hero Zhu Erdan's adventure with Judge Lu, in which Judge Lu changed Zhu Erdan's heart and Zhu's wife's head, and the plot is strange, unchangeable and gripping. The scene of Zhu Erdan's life at home after his death and the scene of instructing his son to give a sword on the way also express the author's hope for the good of the world.

无惧解千愁，
夫换心来妻换头，
绝佳美容术。

Without fear you can solve a thousand worries.
The husband’s heart and the wife’s head were changed.
This is really an excellent beauty treatment.

 

048婴宁
Ying Ning

该篇写了书生王子服郊游遇到狐女婴宁，一见倾心、相思成疾，最终得谐鱼水的故事。作品借助婴宁这一天真烂漫、以笑著称的少女形象的刻画，表达了对封建礼教窒息女子天性的愤懑。

This article writes that when having an outing, Wang Zifu met a fox girl Ying Ning. He fell in love with her at first sight and then suffered from a disease. Finally they got a happy life anyway. With the help of the depiction of Ying Ning, an innocent girl who is famous for her laughter, the work expresses the indignation against the suffocation of women's nature by feudal ethics.

嘻嘻复嘻嘻，
樱桃小口有玄机，
谁人能破译？

Hee hee hee and hee hee hee,
There is a mystery in the cherry-like small mouth.
Who can decipher it?

 

049聂小倩
Nie Xiaoqian

孤弱女鬼聂小倩，在真、善、美与假、恶、丑的尖锐复杂的斗争中，挣脱了恶势力的控制，跳出了专以害人为生的深渊，走向了知恩向善、悔过自新的人间正道。

In the sharp and complex struggle between truth, goodness, beauty and falseness, evil and ugliness, the lonely and weak female ghost Nie Xiaoqian broke away from the control of the evil forces and finally jumped out of the abyss in which she specialized in hurting people for a living. At the end, she got on the right way of the world, namely, got to know about grace and doing good, as well as repenting and making a fresh start.

鬼中亦有霸，
难灭人鬼情无价，
风流传佳话。

There are also bullies among ghosts.
Love is priceless and cannot be wiped out.
The beautiful story passes on for ever.

 

050义鼠
A just rat

老鼠之间以死相助。读后会令人感叹唏嘘：鼠尚有义，人何以堪？

Rats can help each other with death. After reading this story, the readers will sigh with emotion: even rats are righteous, what should humans do?

拼命死相援，
鼠尚有义侠肝胆，
人类何以堪？

Help each other instead of death.
Rats have the courage to be righteous.
What should we humans do?