细侯

蒲松龄:《聊斋志异》

昌化满生，设帐余杭，偶步廛市，经临街阁下，忽有荔枝坠肩头，仰视一刍姬凭阁上，夭姿要妙，不觉注目发狂。姬俯哂而入。询之，知为娼楼贾氏女细侯也。其声价颇高.自顾不能适愿。归斋冥想，终宵不枕。明日，往投以刺，相见，言笑甚欢，心志益迷。托故假贷同人，敛金如干，携以赴女，款洽臻至，即枕上口占一绝赠之云：膏腻铜盘夜未央，床头小语麝兰香；新鬟明日重妆凤，无复行云梦楚王。

细侯蹙然曰：“妾虽污贱，每愿得同心而事之，君既无妇，视妾可当家否？”生大悦，即叮咛，坚相约。细侯亦喜曰：“吟咏之事，妾自谓无难。每于无人处，欲效作一首，恐未能便佳，为观听所讥，倘得相从，幸以教妾”。因问生家田产几何。答曰：“薄田半顷，茅屋数椽而已”。细侯曰：“妾归君后，当常相守，无复设帐也。四十亩聊足自给，十亩可以种黍，织五匹绢，纳太平之税有余矣。闭户相对，君读妾织，暇时则诗酒可遣，千户侯何足贵？”生曰：“卿身价约可几多？”曰：“依媪贪志，何能盈也？多不过二百金足矣。可恨妾齿稚，不知重资财，所得辄归母，所私者区区无多，君能办百金，过此即非所虑。”生曰：“小生之落寞，卿所知也，百金何能自致？有同盟友令于湖南，屡相见招，仆因道远，故惮于行，今为卿故，当往谋之，计三、四月，可以复归，幸耐相候。”细侯曰：“诺。”生即弃馆南游，至则令已免官，以挂误居民舍，宦囊空虚，不能为礼。生落魄难返，就邑中授徒焉。三年，莫能归。偶笞弟子，弟子自溺死。东翁痛子而讼师，因被逮囹圄。幸有他门人，怜师无过，时致馈遗，得以无苦。

细侯自别生，杜门不交一客。母诘知故，而志不可夺，亦姑听之。有富贾慕细侯名，托媒于媪，务在必得，不靳直。细侯不可。贾以负贩诣湖南，敬侦生耗。时狱已将解，贾以金赂当事吏，使久锢之，归告媪云：“生已瘐死”。细侯不信。媪曰：“无论满生已死，纵或不死，与其从穷措大以椎布终也，何如衣锦而厌梁肉乎？”细侯曰：“满生虽贫，其骨清也，守龌龊商，诚非所愿。且道路之言，何足凭信？”贾又转嘱他商，假作满生绝命寄细侯，以绝其望。细侯得，朝夕哀哭。媪曰：“我自幼于汝，抚育良勤，汝成人二、三年，所得报日亦无多，既不愿隶籍,又不肯嫁，何以能生活？”细侯不得已，遂嫁贾。贾衣服簪环，供给丰侈。年馀，生一子。

无何，生得门人力，昭雪出狱，始知贾之锢己也；然念素无嫌隙，反复不得其由。门人义助资斧得归，既闻细侯已嫁，心甚激楚，因以所苦，托市媪卖浆者达细侯。细侯大悲，方悟前此多端，悉贾之伪谋；乘贾他出，杀抱中儿，携所有以归满，凡贾家服饰，一无所取。贾归，怒讼于官。官原其情，竟置不问。

嘻！破镜重圆，盟心不改，义实可嘉；然必杀子而行，未免太忍矣。

The Story of Xihou

陈水明（1962届） 译

Mr. Man of Changhua County acted as a private teacher in Yuhang city. One day, occasionally he walked along the street under a chamber, suddenly a piece of leechee shell dropped from the chamber to his shoulder. Raising head, he saw a beautiful young girl looking at him from the chamber window。He was unconsciously charmed with and gazed at her. She soon disappeared with smiling face. When he asked some people about who the girl was, he got to know she was called Xihou, the daughter of a prostitute family; both her fame and body price were quite high, thus he didn’t think to be able to visit her. But he was much eager to meet her and unable to get asleep all night long at his bedroom. Next day, he visited her with his name card, they met and talked very glad, which made him fascinated head over heels even in the dream. Then he borrowed enough money by excuse from some friends and brought with it again visited her. They talked very merrily and in the bed he orally composed a poem to present her, saying:
The candle tears drop on the light plate, The night isn’t late.
Shall we whisper in the sweet orchid air?
Wish you not again live a prostitute life,
But redress yourself with new forms of hair.

The girl mournfully said: “Though I am degrading, I always want to marry and wait upon a man of my same mind. Now, you are a single man, do you think I may be your wife?” Man was very glad and promised again and again to adhere to the engagement. Xihou also gladly said: “With regard to the matter of writing poetry, I don’t think it difficulty, I often do it alone, here I should like to compose one in imitation of yours. I don’t think it good, so invite laughing at. Hope you teach if I could be your wife.” Then she asked Man how much family property he had. “Only about three hectares of farmland and several cottages” he answered. “After I marry you, let’s live always live together.  Please don’t be a private teacher again, three hectares of farmland is enough to support ourselves. Take one of them to grow rice, and I weave several meters of clothes. Such gains are enough to deliver the state tax. At our own house, living .together, you study and I spin and weave. In the spare time, we drink, enjoy literature and compose poems. The happiness we enjoy will be even more than that a high ranking marquis does.”“Then, how much your body price is?” Man asked. “According to my mother’s greedy, the more, the better.. I think, about two hundred pieces of silver will be enough. Regretfully, I am too young to know to pay any attention to money. What I have earned is all given to my mother. So what I have privately accumulated is not much. If you can take out one hundred pieces of silver, the rest you may not worry about.” Man answered: “My evil condition you know. It isn’t so easy to give so much. But I have a swear friend. He acts as an official in Hunan province and often invites me there, but I don’t visit him for fearing the long distance. Now, for your sake, I am determined to visit him to ask help. It may take me two or three months, please wait for me.” “Well, surely I wait for you.” So, Man stopped teaching there and went to visit his friend. But, what a pity, when he arrived there his friend had been dismissed from office and couldn’t help him. Then Man fell on evil days and was unable to return. So, he had again to act as a tutor of a home school. Thus he had done for three years. During this period, a pupil of his committed suicide owing to that he occasionally had blamed him for not hard learning. The pupil’s parents angrily sued him to the government, thus he was put in jail. . Fortunately, other pupils took pity on him for as a teacher, he had no fault, and often presented him with food and daily necessities thus he had not suffered much there.

After departed with Nan, Xihou refused to meet any whoring guest. Her mother asked her why and got to know her determination unable to be forced, thus she left it as it was. Then a rich merchant heard about she was talent and beautiful, asked a woman go-between to introduce her to him, intended surely to get her into his hand at any cost. Xihou refused. The merchant pretended that he was going to Hunan on business , there he must do his best to get Man’s information for her; but he bribed the authorities to ask them to prolong Man’s jail period, though the period is being ended. After returned, he told Xihou’s mother that Man had died in jail.” Then her mother told to her; “Whether Man has died or not, isn’t better to marry a rich man and enjoy fine food and clothes than marry a poor fellow and suffer difficult days?”.  Xihou answered: “Though Mr. Nan is poor, he is upright flesh and bone. It is really not my will to marry a dirty merchant! Besides, it is only a rumor, how can I believe it? ”

Knowing about this, the merchant asked another merchant to present Xihou a posthumous paper from Nan’s, so as to stop her hope. Seeing this, Xihou bitterly wept all day long. Her mother said: “I have bitterly fostered you from childhood, but you have repaid me less after you have got into adult. Now that you neither want to belong to the prostitute record, nor want to marry out, what can we live on from this day on?” Having no other way out, Xihou had to marry the merchant. He treated her very well by giving her plenty of fine clothes and food. After one year, she gave birth to a male baby.
Soon after this, Man’s grievance was righted and released from jail by the aid of his pupils. Then he got to know what he had suffered was caused by the merchant’s plot. But he didn’t understand why, because he had no hatred with the merchant.

Hurriedly returning home by the help of his pupils with travelling expense; hopelessly, when getting home he got to know that Xihou had married. Then he was much grieved; so, asked an old woman to tell Xihou what he had encountered and his sadness. Getting this information, Xihou bitterly grieved and became aware all the past was caused by the plot of the merchant. Then taking the chance while the merchant wasn’t at home, she killed the baby, brought all she privately had without taking anything of the merchant’s and ran to Man’s. The merchant was angry and sued her to the government. The officials dismissed his lawsuit when they got to know the fact.
The reviewer says: “Oh! It is well worth praising that Xihou adheres to her oath and gets the result of ‘a broken mirror re-joined to-gather’; but it is also a little too cruel to kill the baby!