The full text of Painted Skin translated into vernacular

The translation of "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio·Painted Skin" is as follows:

There was a scholar named Wang in Taiyuan Prefecture. He went out early in the morning and met a woman on the road. She was alone with a baggage in her arms. Running and walking is very difficult. Wang Sheng quickened his pace to catch up with her. He saw that she looked about fifteen or sixteen years old and was very beautiful, so he fell in love with her. He asked the woman: "Why are you walking alone so early in the morning?"

The woman said: "If you are on the road, you can't have company to relieve your sorrow, so why bother asking more questions?" Wang Sheng said: "What are you sad about? Just tell me, maybe I can help you and won't refuse." The woman said with a gloomy look: "My parents were greedy for money and sold me to a rich family. My eldest wife was very jealous of me and scolded or beat me all day long. I really can't bear the humiliation, so I plan to go far away." Wang Sheng asked again, "Where are you going?"

The woman said, "You have nowhere to go." The student said, "My home is not far from here. If you want, you can stay here temporarily." The woman happily agreed. Wang Sheng helped her carry the baggage and led her home together. Seeing that there was no one else in the room, the woman asked, "Why don't you have any family?" Wang Sheng replied, "This is my study."

The woman said, "This is a good place. If You sympathize with me and let me live, but I must keep it a secret and don't tell anyone else." Wang Sheng agreed and lived with her. Wang Sheng asked her to hide in a secret room, and no one knew about it for many days. Later, Wang Sheng quietly told his wife Chen about this matter. His wife suspected that the woman was a concubine of a wealthy family and persuaded her husband to send her away, but Wang Sheng did not listen at all.

By chance, Wang Sheng met a Taoist priest in the market. When the Taoist priest saw him, he looked shocked. Ask him: "What have you encountered?" Wang Sheng said: "Nothing has happened to you." The Taoist priest said: "You are surrounded by evil spirits, how can you say you have not encountered anything?" Wang Sheng tried his best to defend himself.

The Taoist priest had no choice but to leave. Before leaving, he said regretfully: "You are so confused! There are people in the world who are about to die and have not yet awakened!" Because there was something in his words, Wang Sheng had to doubt the woman. Then I thought about it, she is obviously a beautiful girl, how could she be a monster? I guess it is a Taoist priest who earns a few meals by suppressing monsters and killing monsters? After a while, he returned to the study. When he opened the door, he found that it was stuck inside and he couldn't get in.

So I became suspicious, so I climbed over the wall and went in, but the door was closed tightly. He tiptoed to the window and peeked inside, only to see an evil ghost with a green face and jagged teeth like saw teeth. The ghost spread a piece of human skin on the bed, and was drawing on it with a colored pen. He quickly finished the drawing, threw the pen aside, then lifted the human skin up and put it on his body with both hands, and instantly transformed into A girl.

Seeing this scene, Wang Sheng was frightened. Not daring to say a word, he crouched down like a dog and crawled out, chasing the Taoist priest in a panic. However, the Taoist priest had already disappeared. He searched everywhere and finally met him in the wild. Wang Sheng plopped down on his knees and begged the Taoist priest for help.

The Taoist priest said: "Let me drive it away for you. In fact, this ghost is very pitiful. It took a lot of effort to find a substitute, and I can't bear to hurt its life." So he handed over the fly whisk. Give it to Wang Sheng and ask him to take it back and hang it on the bedroom door. When we parted, he agreed to Wang Sheng to go to Qingdi Temple to find him if he had something to do.

Wang Sheng returned home and did not dare to go to the study. He slept in the inner room at night and hung the fly brush given to him by the Taoist priest on the door. Around one watch, he heard the sound of clanging outside the door. Wang Sheng did not dare to look, but asked his wife to take a peek. He saw the woman coming and did not dare to enter the house because of the fly whisk on the door.

The woman gritted her teeth outside the door and stood for a long time before leaving. After a while, he came again, and cursed, "The Taoist priest is scaring me, I can't spit out the food I took in my mouth!" So he took off the fly whisk and crushed it, broke in through the door, and walked straight in. He went to Wang Sheng's bed, cut open Wang Sheng's intestines, grabbed Wang Sheng's heart with both hands, and left.

Wang Sheng’s wife shouted in fright. The maid came in with a candle and took a look. She saw that Wang Sheng was dead and there were blurry blood stains all over his chest. Mrs. Chen was so frightened that she didn't even dare to cry.

The next day, Erlang, Wang Sheng’s younger brother, rushed to tell the Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest got angry and said, "I was pitying it, but it dared to do this!" He immediately followed Erlang. But the woman has disappeared. The Taoist priest raised his head and looked around and said, "Fortunately, I didn't go far." He then asked, "Whose family lives in the south courtyard?" Erlang said, "I live there." The Taoist priest said, "It's It's at your home now." Erlang was surprised when he heard it and thought it wasn't. The Taoist priest asked again: "Has a stranger been here before?" Erlang replied: "I went to Qingdi Temple early in the morning to invite you. I really don't know. I can go back and ask."

Erlang went away for a while and then came back and said, "Sure enough, someone has been here. An old woman came in the morning and wanted to be a servant in my house. My wife left her behind and is still at home." The Taoist said, "That's right. This ghost." He went with Erlang immediately. The Taoist priest, holding a wooden sword in his hand, stood in the middle of the courtyard and shouted: "You brave evil spirit, return my fly whisk quickly!"

The old woman was frightened in the room and was about to When she went out to escape, the Taoist priest chased after her and knocked her to the ground with a sword. The human skin fell off with a splash, and she immediately transformed into an evil ghost, lying on the ground and howling like a pig. The Taoist priest slashed its head with a wooden sword, and the ghost instantly turned into thick smoke and circled into a ball on the ground.

The Taoist priest took out a gourd, pulled out the stopper, placed the gourd in the smoke, and in the blink of an eye all the smoke was sucked into the gourd. The Taoist priest plugged the mouth of the gourd, put the gourd into a bag. When everyone looks at the human skin, the facial features, eyes, hands and feet are all complete. The Taoist priest rolled up the human skin like a scroll and put it away. Just as he was about to say goodbye and leave, Mr. Chen knelt at the door and cried out to the Taoist priest to let him save her husband. The Taoist priest refused and was helpless. Mrs. Chen cried even more sadly, lying on the ground unable to get up.

The Taoist priest pondered for a while and said: "My magic is too weak to bring the dead back to life. I will point you to a person who may be able to save your husband. If you ask him, you will definitely get results." Mrs. Chen Asked: "Who is it?" The Taoist priest said: "There is a madman on the street who often sleeps in the dirt. Go and try to pray to him. If he goes crazy and insults you, you must not be angry." Erlang also knew that there was someone. Such a person. So he said goodbye to the Taoist priest and went to the streets with his sister-in-law to look for him.

They saw a beggar singing on the road. His nose was three feet long, and he was covered in filth and could not be approached. Mrs. Chen knelt forward and the beggar asked with a smile: "Do you love me, beauty?" Ms. Chen explained to him the reason. The beggar laughed again and said, "Everyone can be a husband, so what's the use of rescuing him?" Mrs. Chen persisted in begging hard.

The beggar said: "It's really strange! People are begging me to save their lives after they die. Am I the King of Hell?" After saying this, he angrily hit Mrs. Chen with a cane. Chen endured the pain and insult with tears in her eyes. People watching the excitement on the street gradually gathered and formed a human wall around them. The beggar coughed up phlegm and saliva all over his hands, raised it to Mrs. Chen's mouth and said, "Eat it!"

Ms. Chen blushed, but she remembered the Taoist priest's instructions and forced herself to swallow it. Go down. She only felt that the thing had entered her throat and was like a lump of cotton wool, rattling down, and then becoming stagnant in her chest and becoming motionless. The beggar laughed and said, "The beauty has fallen in love with me!" After saying that, he got up and left without even looking back. They followed him into the temple and wanted to ask him again, but they didn't know where he was. They searched all over the temple, but there was no trace of him.

Ms. Chen returned home in great shame. She missed her husband's tragic death and recalled swallowing the beggar's spit and spit in front of everyone on the street. She felt so shameful and humiliated that she fell down and cried bitterly. I wish I could die immediately. She was about to wipe off the blood and put the body into the coffin. Her family members stood aside and watched, but no one dared to come forward. Mrs. Chen hugged the body and retracted its intestines, crying bitterly while cleaning it up.

When I was crying until my voice was hoarse, I suddenly wanted to vomit. I felt that the lump in my chest was rushing upwards, and I spit it out. Before I had time to look at it, the thing had already fallen into my husband. in the chest. She was surprised to see that it turned out to be a human heart, which had jumped "dong dong" in her husband's chest, and the steam was steaming like smoke. Mrs. Chen was very surprised, so she quickly closed her husband's chest with both hands and squeezed together.

As soon as she let go, heat came out of the cracks. So she tore off the silk cloth and used it as a belt to tie her husband's chest tightly.

She touched the body with her hands again and felt that it was gradually getting warmer. Then she covered her with a quilt again. At midnight, she lifted the quilt and saw that she was breathing. At dawn the next day, the husband finally came to life. As soon as he woke up, he said: "I was in a trance, just like in a dream. I only felt a dull pain in my stomach." They looked at the torn place on the belly and saw that a scab as big as a copper coin had formed, and soon it was completely healed.

Yishi Shi said: "The world is so stupid! It is obviously a monster, but it is regarded as a beauty. Fools, it is confused! It is obviously a word of advice, but it is regarded as lies. However, coveting the beauty of others If he wants to possess her, his wife will be willing to swallow other people's spit. God is good at retribution, but those who are stupid and confused just don't realize it. How sad!"

"Liao Zhai! The original text of "Strange Stories·Painted Skin" is as follows:

Selected from "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" written by Pu Songling in the Qing Dynasty.

Wang Sheng from Taiyuan was traveling early in the morning when he met a girl. She was running alone with a baggage in her arms, and it was very difficult to walk. If you hurry up and take advantage of it, you will find Erba Shubei. They loved each other and asked: "Why are you walking alone at night?" The girl said sadly: "My parents are greedy and have concubines in the rich family. I am so jealous that I go to my concubine and then Chu humiliates her in the evening. It is unworthy. I will be far away from my ears." Sheng said: "The open house is not far away, so it's useless to worry about it." The girl was happy and returned from birth. If you hide it in a secret room, no one will know about it after a few days. The student complained to his wife. His wife, Mrs. Chen, suspected that she was a concubine and persuaded her to be sent away. Students don’t listen.

When I happened to be in the market, I met a Taoist priest and was astonished. Asked: "Where did you encounter it?" The answer was: "Nothing." The Taoist priest said: "The evil spirit is lingering around your body, how can you say it is nothing?" The Taoist priest left when he was born and his strength was weak. Born because of his different words, he is quite suspicious of women. When I think about it, how can a beautiful person be a monster? I think Taoist priests use the nightmare to hunt for prey.

No matter what, when you get to the Zhaimen, there are barriers inside the door, so you are not allowed to enter. After crossing the wall, I peeped out of the window and saw a ferocious ghost with a green face and teeth like saws. He spread human skin on the couch and painted it with a colored pen. He threw the pen, lifted the skin, and draped it over his body like shaking clothes, then he transformed into a woman. Seeing this, he was greatly frightened and the beast crouched out. He was chasing the Taoist priest in a hurry, and when he met him in the wild, he knelt down and begged for help. He uses flies to give birth to babies and hangs them on the sleeping door.

After returning from birth, he did not dare to enter the fasting room, so he slept in the inner room with a whisk hanging over his head. At about 1 o'clock in the morning, I heard the sound of soldiers being hurled outside the door. I didn't dare to peep at it, so I asked my wife to peep at it. But when he saw a woman coming, he looked at the whisk and dared not come in. He stood up and gnashed his teeth for a long time, then left. He came back after a while and scolded me: "The Taoist scared me. I would rather spit it out in my mouth!" He took it and broke it with a whisk, broke the door of his bed and entered. He climbed onto the birth bed, split his belly, and took away his heart. Wife number. When the maid enters the candle, life is already dead.

Tomorrow, I will send my younger brother Erlang to tell the Taoist priest. Taoist priests come from having younger brothers. The woman has disappeared. Then he raised his head and looked around and said, "Fortunately, we are not far away!" He asked, "Whose home is in the south courtyard?" Erlang said, "This is where Xiaosheng left."

The Taoist said, "This is where you are now. Erlang was stunned, and after a while he came back and said, "It's true. In the morning, a woman came and wanted to help the servants, but the people in the house stopped her. "The Taoist priests attacked her. The servant's human skin was scratched and peeled off, turning into a fierce ghost, lying down and howling like a pig. The Taoist priest used his wooden sword to strike at his head; his body turned into thick smoke and piled up on the ground. The Taoist priest took out a gourd, pulled out the stopper, and placed it in the smoke. It was as loud as breathing in, and the smoke was gone in an instant. The Taoist stuffed his mouth into his bag and didn't want to leave.

Ms. Chen bowed to the door and cried for a way to return to life. The Taoist priest cannot thank you. Chen Yi was so sad that he fell to the ground and couldn't get up. The Taoist priest pondered and said, "I am not very skilled in martial arts and I honestly cannot raise the dead. If there is a crazy person in the market, try to kowtow and mourn for him. If you insult your wife wildly, please don't get angry." Erlang also learned this and was a Taoist priest who went with his sister-in-law. .

I saw a beggar singing on the road, his nose was three feet high, and he was so dirty that he couldn't get close to him. Chen Gu mourned. Angry, he struck Chen with his stick. Chen endured the pain. The beggar coughed up a handful of phlegm. He raised it to Chen and kissed him, saying, "Eat it!" Chen's face was red and his face was red. After thinking about the Taoist priest's advice, he forced himself to eat it. I feel it in my throat, as hard as a ball of cotton wool, rattling down and stopping in my chest. The beggar then got up and ignored him. I chased after it, but I didn't know where it was. I returned home feeling ashamed and resentful.

Not only mourning the tragic death of her husband, but also regretting the shame of eating and spitting, she looked down and mourned, wishing that she would die soon. Chen held the corpse to collect his intestines, and then he cried. She was crying so hard that she felt like vomiting. I felt something knotting in my head, and it rushed out suddenly. Before I could look back, I was already trapped in my chest. It is the human heart to look at this in shock. It bursts into the cavity like a leap, and the steam is steaming like smoke. When there is a big difference, use both hands to squeeze together and squeeze it tightly, and then the air will come out from the seam, and then the silk will be torn and bound. Caressing the corpse with your hands gradually warms it up. At dawn, he is alive.

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The creative background of "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio·Painted Skin":

In the early Qing Dynasty, novels based on the themes of talented people, beauties and ordinary family life were unprecedentedly popular, and the aesthetic taste of novelists changed from Historical stories and the world of gods and demons have turned more to the real society.

Pu Songling was born in the troubled times of the Ming and Qing dynasties. From his youth, he was keen on recording anecdotes such as gods, ghosts and ghosts. He combined the dark social reality and the "lonely anger", The "crazy" attitude towards life was integrated into the work. He collected folk legends, used anecdotes of unofficial history as a basis for creation, and incorporated his own personal creative processing. In the 18th year of Kangxi (1679), the existing chapters were collected into "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio". 》. "Painted Skin" is an article in the first volume of "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio".