Mr. Yu and the Fortune Teller

　　Mr. Yu was chivalrous and bold in his youth. He loved boxing and martial arts, and was strong enough to lift a heavy kettle and whirl it like the wind. During the Chongzhen era, he went to the capital for the palace examination. His servant fell ill and lay bedridden, which worried him greatly. It happened that there was a skilled fortune teller in the market who could determine a person's life and death. Yu decided to go and ask about his servant.

　　When he arrived, before he could speak, the fortune teller said, "You wish to ask about your servant's illness, don't you?" Startled, Yu said yes. The fortune teller continued, "The sick man is not in danger. But you, sir, are at risk." Yu then asked him to divine his own fate. The fortune teller cast the hexagram and, looking shocked, said, "You will die within three days!"

　　Yu stood there stunned for a long time. Then the fortune teller said calmly, "I have a small skill. Pay me ten taels of silver, and I will perform a rite to avert it." Yu thought to himself, Life and death are fixed. How can sorcery change them? Without answering, he rose to leave. The fortune teller said, "If you grudge such a small sum, do not regret it! Do not regret it!" Yu's friends, who cared for him, were all afraid for him and urged him to empty his purse to beg for mercy. Yu would not listen.

　　The third day came quickly. Yu sat upright in his lodgings, quietly waiting to see what would happen. The whole day passed without incident. At night, he closed the door, lit the lamp, and sat with his sword across his knees. The first watch was nearly over, and still no sign of death. He was about to lie down when he heard a rustling sound from the window crack. He jumped up to look. A tiny man carrying a halberd came in through the crack. When it touched the floor, it grew to the height of a man.

　　Yu grabbed his sword and leaped up, striking at it. But the creature was elusive, and he missed. It immediately shrank back and headed for the window crack, trying to escape. Yu slashed at it again. The creature fell with a single blow. He lit it with his lamp and saw it was a paper figure, already cut in half at the waist. Yu dared not sleep. He sat waiting again.

　　After a while, another creature came through the window. It was hideous, like a demon. As soon as it landed, Yu struck it and cut it in two. Both halves squirmed on the ground. Fearing it might revive, he struck again and again. Every blow hit, and the sound was not soft. He examined it: it was a clay idol, now broken into pieces. Yu then moved his seat under the window and fixed his eyes on the crack.

　　After a long time, he heard a panting like an ox outside. Something pushed against the window frame, making the walls shake and the room tremble as if it might collapse. Fearing that the room would fall on him, Yu decided it was better to go out and fight. He flung the door bolt open and rushed outside.

　　There stood a huge demon, as tall as the eaves. In the dim moonlight, its face was black as coal, its eyes glittering yellow. It wore nothing on its upper body and no shoes on its feet. It held a bow in its hand and had arrows at its waist. Yu was horrified. The demon bent its bow and shot. Yu deflected the arrow with his sword, and it fell to the ground. He was about to strike when the demon shot again. Yu leaped aside just in time—the arrow pierced the wall and quivered there.

　　Enraged, the demon drew a saber and whirled it like the wind, chopping down at Yu. Yu dodged like a monkey, and the blade struck a stone in the courtyard, splitting it in two. Yu then darted between the demon's legs and slashed at its ankle. There was a loud clang. The demon roared like thunder, turned, and chopped again. Yu ducked under its body again. The saber cut the hem of his robe. Now Yu was right under its ribs. He struck fiercely, and again there was a clang. The demon fell and lay still. Yu struck it repeatedly; the sound was hard, like beating a wooden clapper. He lit it with his lamp and saw a wooden puppet, as tall as a man, with a bow and arrows still tied at its waist. Its face was carved into a hideous grimace, and blood was oozing from where his sword had struck.

　　Yu kept a candle burning and waited until dawn. Only then did he realize that all these demons had been sent by the fortune teller to kill him, so that he could claim his divinations came true.

　　The next day, Yu told all his friends and acquaintances. Together they went to the fortune teller's shop. The fortune teller saw Yu from a distance and vanished in an instant. Someone said, "That is a body‑hiding spell. Dog's blood can break it." Yu prepared dog's blood as instructed and went again. The fortune teller hid as before. Yu quickly poured the dog's blood on the spot where he had been standing. Suddenly the fortune teller appeared, his face and head smeared with dog's blood, his eyes glaring like a ghost's. Yu seized him and handed him over to the authorities, who executed him.

　　The Historian of the Strange comments:

　　I have often said that paying a fortune teller is a foolish thing. How many in this world who practice this art can predict life and death without error? If the divination is wrong, it is the same as not having divined at all. And even if it clearly tells me that my death is at hand, what can I do about it? What is more, there are those who will take a human life just to make their own arts seem miraculous—is that not even more terrifying?

　　Commentary (modern analysis)

　　Why did the fortune teller send demons to kill Mr. Yu? Because he wanted to use Yu's death to prove that his own divinations were accurate. And why did he want to prove his accuracy? So that more people would trust him, come to him for divination, and thus he could cheat them out of more money. Driven by profit, a man can commit all sorts of unimaginable evils.

　　The fortune teller sent three attacks against Yu: first a paper figure, then a clay idol, then a wooden puppet. Each successive demon was more powerful than the last, and Yu's encounters grew increasingly perilous—very similar to the process in the Tang dynasty tale Nie Yinniang, where the warlord of Wei sends assassins to kill Liu Changyi.

　　As for the description of the large wooden demon, similar creatures appeared earlier in The Mountain Demon and The Monster in the Buckwheat Field. But the writing here shows even more variation and development, revealing Pu Songling's astonishing literary power.

　　Pu Songling believed in karmic retribution and in the mandate of Heaven, but he did not believe in fortune telling, holding that "paying a fortune teller is a foolish thing." This is an interesting and somewhat contradictory paradox.




中文如下:

妖术

　　原文

　　于公者，少任侠，喜拳勇，力能持高壶，作旋风舞。崇祯间，殿试在都，仆疫不起，患之。会市上有善卜者，能决人生死，将代问之。既至，未言，卜者曰：“君莫欲问仆病乎？”公骇应之。曰：“病者无害，君可危。”公乃自卜。卜者起卦，愕然曰：“君三日当死！”公惊诧良久。卜者从容曰：“鄙人有小术，报我十金，当代禳之。”公自念，生死已定，术岂能解？不应而起，欲出。卜者曰：“惜此小费，勿悔勿悔！”爱公者皆为公惧，劝罄橐以哀之。公不听。

　　倏忽至三日，公端坐旅舍，静以觇之，终日无恙。至夜，阖户挑灯，倚剑危坐。一漏向尽，更无死法。意欲就枕，忽闻窗隙窣窣有声。急视之，一小人荷戈入，及地，则高如人。公捉剑起，急击之，飘忽未中。遂遽小，复寻窗隙，意欲遁去。公疾斫之，应手而倒。烛之，则纸人，已腰断矣。公不敢卧，又坐待之。逾时，一物穿窗入，怪狞如鬼。才及地，急击之，断而为两，皆蠕动。恐其复起，又连击之，剑剑皆中，其声不耎。审视，则土偶，片片已碎。于是移坐窗下，目注隙中。久之，闻窗外如牛喘，有物推窗棂，房壁震摇，其势欲倾。公惧覆压，计不如出而斗之，遂剨然脱扃，奔而出。见一巨鬼，高与檐齐，昏月中，见其面黑如煤，眼闪烁有黄光，上无衣，下无履，手弓而腰矢。公方骇，鬼则弯矣，公以剑拨矢，矢堕；欲击之，则又弯矣。公急跃避，矢贯于壁，战战有声。鬼怒甚，拔佩刀，挥如风，望公力劈。公猱进，刀中庭石，石立断。公出其股间，削鬼中踝，铿然有声。鬼益怒，吼如雷，转身复剁。公又伏身入，刀落，断公裙。公已及胁下，猛斫之，亦铿然有声，鬼仆而僵。公乱击之，声硬如柝。烛之，则一木偶，高大如人，弓矢尚缠腰际，刻画狰狞，剑击处，皆有血出。公因秉烛待旦。方悟鬼物皆卜人遣之，欲致人于死，以神其术也。

　　次日，遍告交知，与共诣卜所。卜人遥见公，瞥不可见。或曰：“此翳形术也，犬血可破。”公如言戒备而往。卜人又匿如前。急以犬血沃立处，但见卜人头面皆为犬血模糊，目灼灼如鬼立。乃执付有司而杀之。

　　异史氏曰：尝谓买卜为一痴。世之讲此道而不爽于生死者几人？卜之而爽，犹不卜也。且即明明告我以死期之至，将复如何？况有借人命以神其术者，其可畏不尤甚耶！

　　【翻译】

　　有一位于公，年轻时豪侠仗义，喜欢练拳脚，力气大得能用手抓起高壶像旋风般地旋转。明朝崇祯年间，他在京城参加殿试，仆人染上了流行病，卧床不起，他十分忧虑。恰好街市上有一个精于卜卦的算命人，能够算出人的生死，于公打算替仆人去算算卦，问问病情。到了算命人那里，他还没有开口，算命人就说：“你大概是想来问问仆人的病吧？”于公吃惊地点头称是。算命人又说：“病人倒没什么危险，你可是危险啦！”于公就请他给自己算命。算命人起了卦以后，惊愕地说：“你在三天之内必定会死去。”于公惊诧了半天。算命人从容地说：“鄙人有个小法术，酬劳我十两银子，就可以替你去邪消灾。”于公暗自思量，人的生死都是命中注定的，法术怎么能够解除？于是，他没有搭理算命人，站起身要离去。算命人说道：“吝惜这几个小钱，不要后悔！不要后悔！”于公的好朋友都为他担心，劝他拿出自己所有的钱，去哀求算命人给他解脱灾难。于公没听从大家的劝告。

　　转眼到了第三天，于公在旅馆里危然正坐，静静地观察情况，但一整天都没有生什么病。到了夜晚，于公关上门窗，点亮油灯，扶着剑在屋子里端坐。直到一更天快过去了，也不见一点点死的征兆。他正要上床睡觉，忽然听到窗户缝里有“窸窸窣窣”的声音。急忙过去一看，见一个小人扛着戈钻了进来，一落地就变得和成人一样高。于公立刻拔出剑来一跃而起，猛地一刺，但那人飘飘忽忽的，没有击中。那人突地又变小了，去找窗户缝，想要逃出去。于公再次赶上前去用力一砍，那小人应手而倒。于公用灯一照，原来是个纸人，已经被拦腰砍断了。于公不敢躺下睡觉，又坐着等待。过了一会儿，一个怪物穿过窗户闯了进来，面目狰狞，和鬼一样。那怪东西刚一落地，于公就急忙向前一击，把它砍成两截，都在地上蠕动着。于公怕它再起来，又连连猛砍，剑剑击中，发出了脆亮的声音。仔细一看，是一个土偶人，已经被击成一块块碎片。于是，于公移坐到窗下，注视着窗缝中。过了很久，听见窗外有牛一般的喘息声，有个怪物在用力推动窗框，房屋墙壁都给震得不住摇晃，好像要被推倒了。于公怕被压在房下，心里盘算不如冲出去和它斗，就猛地打开门闩，奔了出去。只见一个大鬼，身材和房檐一样高，在昏暗的月光下，只见它的面孔黑得像煤块，眼睛里闪烁着黄光，上身赤裸着，两脚也没穿鞋，手里拿着弓，腰间插着箭。于公正在惊骇之间，那鬼已经拉弓放箭射了过来，于公用剑拨打飞箭，箭落在了地上；他刚想出击，大鬼又拉弓射出了箭。于公急忙跳开躲避，箭穿透了墙壁，抖动着发出声响。鬼极其恼怒，又拔出佩刀，挥舞得如同一阵风似的，向于公用力劈来。于公像猿猴一样灵活敏捷地迎击，大鬼一刀砍在院中的石头上，石头立刻断成两段。这时，于公从大鬼的双腿之间钻了出来，用刀削中了大鬼的脚脖子，发出铿然的金属声。那鬼更加发怒，像雷鸣一般大吼，转身举刀又剁了下去。于公又伏倒身子钻入了大鬼的胯下，大鬼的刀落下砍断了他的裙袍。这时，于公已经钻到了大鬼的肋下，他挥剑猛砍，也发出一阵铜铁般的铿锵声，大鬼被刺中，仆倒僵卧在地上。于公又上前一阵乱砍，发出的声音像木梆敲击声一样。用灯一照，原来是个木偶，大小和人一样，弓箭还系在腰间，脸上刻画得狰狞可怖，被剑击中的地方，都有血流淌出来。于公于是点着蜡烛，坐着等到天明。他这才明白鬼物都是算命人派来的，想以此致人于死地，用以说明他卜算的灵验。

　　第二天，于公向知道此事的所有朋友诉说了这件事的经过，大家一起到了算命人的住所。算命人远远地望见于公，转眼间就消失不见了。有人说：“这是隐身术，用狗血可以破除。”于公按所说的准备好了再次去找算命人。算命人又像上次那样隐身不见了。于公急忙把狗血浇洒在算命人站着的地方，只见算命人现出了原形，头上脸上一片狗血模糊，目光一闪一闪，像个鬼似地立在那里。于公于是把他押送到有关衙门处了死刑。

　　异史氏说：我曾经说过花钱算命是一种傻事。世上讲究此道，又能准确无误地算出人的生死之期的，能有几个人？算卦不灵验，同没算卦一个样。而且，即使明明白白地告诉我死期要到了，又能有什么办法呢？更何况还有那些通过谋害人命来显示自己断事如神的家伙，这不是更令人害怕吗！

　　【点评】

　　占卜的人为什么要派鬼怪去杀死于公？因为要借于公的死来证明自己占卜的灵验。为什么要证明自己占卜的灵验？是为了让更多的人相信占卜灵验，从而找自己占卜，以便骗更多的钱。所以，利益的驱动，可以干出许多令人匪夷所思的罪恶勾当。

　　占卜的人共三次派鬼怪袭击于公。一次是纸人，一次是土偶，一次是木偶。鬼怪一次比一次本领大，于公的遭遇也一次比一次惊险，颇类似于唐传奇《聂隐娘》中魏帅派刺客暗杀刘昌裔的过程。

　　就后面木偶大鬼的描写而言，在此之前的《山魈》、《荍中怪》中也都出现过，而本篇在描写上又有更多变化发展，显出蒲松龄惊人的笔力。

　　蒲松龄相信因果报应，相信天命，但不相信占卜，认为“买卜为一痴”。这是一个很有趣味而矛盾的悖论。