Chapter I · The Ten Kings Hall第一章 · 十王殿赌约
In Lingyang there lived a scholar named Zhu Erdan, styled Xiaoming. He was bold and openhearted but rather slow-witted; though diligent in study, he had not yet made a name. One day at a literary gathering, his friends teased him: “If you dare to go to the Ten Kings Hall at midnight and carry back the judge from the left corridor, we will all pool money to feast you.”
In that hall the gods and demons were carved of wood, lifelike in their paint. On the eastern side stood a judge with a green face and red beard, fierce and menacing. It was said that at night one could hear the corridors filled with interrogation; visitors trembled at the very thought. Zhu Erdan laughed, rose, and went at once. Before long he returned, the judge on his back, and set him on the table. He poured three cups of wine in libation. The others quaked and begged him to take the statue back. Zhu poured wine on the ground and vowed, “This disciple was reckless and rude; may the grand master not be offended. My humble home is near - if it pleases you, come share a drink and do not mind the boundary between human and ghost.” With that he carried the judge away.
陵阳有个书生名叫朱尔旦，字小明。他性格豪爽旷达，不过有些愚笨，学习虽然很努力，但是还没有什么声名。一天，文社的朋友们聚会喝酒，有个人对朱尔旦开玩笑说：“你不是有豪爽的名声吗，如果敢在深夜里去十王殿，把左廊下的那个判官背来，大家就凑钱宴请你。”原来，陵阳有个冥府十王殿，那里供着的神鬼都是用木头雕刻成的，装饰得栩栩如生。在东边的廊下摆着一个站立状的判官，他那绿色的脸膛，赤红色的胡须，显得面貌格外狰狞凶恶。传说夜里常听到两廊下发出拷打审讯的声音，进这里参观的人，往往都觉得毛骨悚然。所以大伙借此来难为朱尔旦。朱尔旦听了，笑着起身，径直往十王殿去了。没坐一会儿，就听到门外大叫道：“我请大胡子尊师到了！”众人都忙站起来。顷刻间，朱尔旦背着判官进了屋，把判官放在几案上，举起酒杯，一连向判官敬了三杯。大家看看判官的样子，吓得哆哆嗦嗦，连坐都坐不稳了，于是急忙请朱尔旦再把判官背回去。朱尔旦又把酒洒在地上，恭敬地向神灵祷告：“弟子刚才轻率无礼，大宗师想必不会见怪吧。我的家离此不远，理应趁着兴致到我家来喝酒，但愿你不要为人鬼异域所限。”说罢，就背起判官走了。
Chapter II · The Judge Visits第二章 · 夜半相会
The next day his friends indeed hosted a feast. At dusk Zhu Erdan returned half drunk and, still unsatisfied, lit a lamp and drank alone. Suddenly someone lifted the curtain and entered - it was the judge. Zhu sprang up: “Am I about to die? I offended you last night - have you come with the axe?” The judge smiled beneath his thick beard: “No. You invited me with noble courtesy; tonight I have leisure and have come to keep the appointment.”
Zhu rejoiced, pulled him to sit, and hurried to wash the cups and light the stove. “The weather is warm; we can drink cold,” the judge said. Zhu obeyed, set the bottle on the table, and told his family to prepare food. His wife was terrified and begged him not to go out, but he would not listen. They exchanged cups and drank. Zhu asked his name; the judge answered, “My surname is Lu, but I have no given name.” They discussed classical books, and his answers rang like bells. Zhu asked, “Do you know the exam essays?” Lu replied, “I can distinguish beauty from ugliness. In the underworld we read and write much as in the human world.” He drank ten cups in a row. Zhu, already drunk from a whole day, slumped over and slept. When he woke, the candle was dim and the ghost guest was gone.
第二天，大家果然请朱尔旦宴饮一番。傍晚，朱尔旦喝得半醉回来，酒瘾未能尽兴，便又点亮灯，自斟自饮。忽然有人掀起帘子走了进来，一看，原来是判官。朱尔旦忙起身说：“想来我真是要死到临头了！昨天晚上多有冒犯，今天是来砍头的吧？”判官张开长满浓须的大嘴，微笑着说：“不是的。昨天承蒙盛情相邀，今夜偶然得闲，我是恭敬地来赴你这个达人之约的。”朱尔旦听了非常高兴，拉着判官的衣袖，连忙请判官入座，然后亲自刷洗杯盘，点上烫酒的火。判官说；“天气暖和，可以冷饮。”于是朱尔旦遵命不再烫酒，把酒瓶子放在桌子上，然后急忙去告诉家人准备菜肴果品。妻子听后，非常恐惧，嘱咐丈夫不要出去了。朱尔旦不听，立等妻子准备妥当后，便端着出来了。他们你一杯我一盏地喝起来后，朱尔旦这才问起判官的姓名，判官说：“我姓陆，没有名字。”他们又谈起古代的典籍，判官应答如流。朱尔旦又问：“你懂不懂八股文之道？”判官说：“美丑好坏都能分辨。阴间读书作文与阳间大略相同。”陆判官的酒量很大，一口气就喝下十大杯。朱尔旦喝了一天的酒，这时醉得身子都挺不住了，趴在桌子上酣睡起来。等朱尔旦醒过来，只见残灯昏黄，鬼客已经离去。
Chapter III · The Gift of a Heart第三章 · 换心
From then on Lu visited every two or three days. Their friendship deepened; sometimes they slept foot to foot. Zhu showed him his drafts, and Lu red-penned them all as poor. One night Zhu, drunk, fell asleep first while Lu still drank. In his drunken dream Zhu felt a faint pain in his organs. He awoke to see Lu sitting upright by the bed, his belly opened, his intestines laid out in order. Zhu gasped, “We have no feud - why kill me?” Lu laughed: “Do not fear. I am exchanging your heart for a wiser one.”
Lu calmly returned the organs, stitched him up, and bound his waist with a foot-binding cloth. When the work was done there was no blood on the bed; Zhu only felt a numbness in his belly. He saw a lump of flesh on the table and asked what it was. “Your heart,” Lu said. “Your essays are slow because your heart's pores are blocked. I selected a keen heart from the underworld and gave it to you; this one I will return to fill the vacancy.” Lu rose, shut the door, and left. By morning the seam had closed, leaving a thin red line.
From then on Zhu's writing advanced greatly; he remembered everything at a glance. When he showed new essays, Lu said, “They are good now. But your fortune is thin; you will not rise to great rank - only the provincial exams.” “When will I pass?” Zhu asked. “This year you will take first,” Lu replied. He soon took first in the examinations, and in the autumn contest he placed among the top. His classmates, once mocking, were stunned by his papers. They begged Zhu to introduce them, hoping to befriend Lu. Lu agreed, but when he arrived with his red beard and lightning-bright eyes, they turned pale and slipped away. Zhu then asked another favor: “If hearts can be exchanged, can faces be changed? My wife is my first partner; her figure is fair but her face is not. Would you use your blade again?” Lu smiled. “Very well. I will find a chance.”
从此以后，陆判官每隔两三天就来一次，交情更加融洽，有时脚对脚同床而眠。朱尔旦把文稿拿出给陆判官看，陆判官就操起朱笔批改，说写得都不好。一天夜晚，朱尔旦喝醉了，先睡去，陆判官仍然自斟自饮。朱尔旦在醉梦中，忽然感觉到脏腑内微微疼痛，醒来睁眼一看，只见陆判官端坐在床前，正给他开膛破肚，一条条整理肠胃呢。朱尔旦一下惊呆了，问道：“你我远日无仇，近日无怨，为何把我杀了？”陆判官笑着说：“莫怕，我是为你换个聪慧之心。”说着从容不迫地把肠子放到腹腔里，然后再把腹部缝合上，最后用裹脚布缠在朱尔旦的腰上。手术完毕，看看床上一点儿血迹也没有，只觉得肚子上有些发麻。朱尔旦看见陆判官把一块肉放在案桌上，便问那是什么。陆判官说：“这东西就是你的心。看你作文不敏捷，知道你的心窍堵塞不通。刚才我在阴间，在成千上万的人心中，挑出一个聪慧心给你换上了，留下这个拿回去补那个空缺。”说完，陆判官站起身，掩上屋门就走了。天亮以后，朱尔旦解开裹脚布，看看伤口缝合处已经愈合了，只有一条红线痕迹留在那里。从此以后，朱尔旦文思大进，凡阅读过的典籍，过眼不忘。过了几天，朱尔旦又把自己写的文章给陆判官看。陆判官说：“写得可以了。不过你的福气薄，不能大富大贵，也就是中个秀才、举人吧。”朱尔旦问：“何时中举？”陆判官说：“今年必定考个头名。”不久，朱尔旦科考获得第一，乡试果然中了经魁。朱尔旦的同窗学友平时总爱嘲笑他，等到见到朱尔旦的试卷后，个个目瞪口呆，无不惊异，他们细细打听后，这才了解这桩异事。于是，大家一致请求朱尔旦向陆判官先为介绍，愿意跟陆判官交个朋友。陆判官答应了这件事。大家大摆酒席，等待陆判官到来。一更初，陆判官来到，只见他红色胡须飘动，两目炯炯发光犹如电闪。众人见状，茫茫然失魂落魄，吓得脸无人色，身子发抖，牙齿打颤。时间不长，一个个都退避而去。朱乃携陆归饮。既醺，朱尔旦说：“洗肠剖胃的事，已经蒙受了很大的恩惠。不过还有一件事也想请你帮忙，不知行不行？”陆判官便请朱尔旦尽管说出。朱尔旦说道：“心肠可以更换，想必面孔也可以更换吧。我的老婆，她是我的元配妻子，身子长得还不错，就是头面不怎么好看。我打算麻烦您再施展一下刀斧，可以吗？”陆判官笑着说：“好吧，等我慢慢找机会吧。”
Chapter IV · The Borrowed Head第四章 · 易首
A few days later, Lu knocked at midnight. Zhu hurried to greet him and saw a bundle in his robe. “I searched long for what you requested,” Lu said. “Only now have I found the head of a beautiful woman.” Zhu peered in; the neck was still wet with blood. Lu urged him to move quickly and not rouse the dogs. The inner door was bolted, but Lu pushed once and it opened. They entered the bedroom where Zhu's wife slept on her side. Lu handed the head to Zhu to hold, drew a white blade from his boot, pressed it to her neck, and with a force like cutting soft tofu, severed her head. It fell by the pillow. He immediately set the new head on her neck, aligned it, and pressed it into place. He tucked the pillow at her shoulder and told Zhu to bury the old head in a quiet spot, then left.
Zhu's wife woke to a faint numbness at her neck and a roughness on her cheeks. She rubbed them and found flakes of blood, and in terror called for water. The maid saw her face smeared in blood and nearly fainted. She washed, and the basin turned red. When she lifted her head, her face was entirely different; she seized the mirror and stared, bewildered. Zhu entered and explained. When she looked closely, her brows now swept into her temples and dimples appeared at her cheeks - she looked like a woman painted in a scroll. She opened her collar and saw a red seam circling her neck, the flesh above and below clearly distinct.
过了几天，陆判官半夜里来敲门。朱尔旦急忙起身招呼他进来，拿烛光照去，看见陆判官衣襟中包着一件东西。问是什么，陆判官回答说：“您从前嘱托我办的事，一直很难物色到合适的。刚才正好得到一个美女的头，恭敬地来交差来了。”朱尔旦拨开一看，脖颈上的血还湿乎乎的呢。陆判官催促快进入内室，不要惊动了鸡犬。朱尔旦正担心内室的门已经上了闩，陆判官走到，用手一推，门就打开了。他们到了卧室，见夫人正侧着身子睡觉呢。陆判官把美女头交给朱尔旦抱着，自己从皮靴中抽出一把锋利的匕首，然后按着夫人的脖子，像切豆腐一样，一用力脑袋就滚落在枕头旁边，那真是手起刀落，迎刃而解。陆判官急忙从朱尔旦怀中取过美女的头，合在夫人的脖子上，仔细校正了部位，然后一一按捺合拢。完成之后，判官把枕头塞在夫人肩侧，叫朱尔旦把夫人原来的头埋在一个僻静的地方，然后就走了。朱尔旦的妻子一觉醒来，觉得脖子微微发麻，脸也干涩不平，用手一搓，掉下一些血片，非常害怕，忙叫丫环打洗脸水。丫环进来，一见夫人脸上血迹斑斑，差点儿吓昏过去。夫人用手洗脸，满盆水变成了红色。当她抬起头来，已然面目全非，丫环一看，又是一阵惊怕。夫人拿过镜子自己来照，惊愕万分，不知出了什么变故。这时，朱尔旦进了屋，把事情经过告诉了夫人。他细细端详着夫人，只见长眉延伸到鬓发，面颊上显出一对酒窝，简直像个画里的美人。解开她的衣领验视，果然颈端有一圈红线痕，线痕上下肉色截然不同。
Chapter V · The Wronged Daughter第五章 · 误告与昭雪
Earlier, the imperial censor Wu had a daughter of great beauty. She was betrothed twice, but both fiancés died before marriage, so at nineteen she remained unwed. On Lantern Festival she visited the Ten Kings Hall. Among the crowds a scoundrel noticed her beauty, traced her home, climbed over the wall at night, and broke into her bedroom. He killed a maid, tried to force himself on her, and in rage killed her as well. The household found the bodies and placed her head beside her body, weeping through the night. By morning the head was gone. The family beat the servants, believing dogs had dragged it away. Wu reported the crime and the prefect ordered the killer captured, but three months passed without result.
Rumors of Zhu's wife's new head reached Wu. Suspicious, he sent an old nurse to investigate. She saw Zhu's wife and fled in terror, reporting back. Wu, unable to resolve his doubts, accused Zhu of sorcery and went to question him. Zhu said, “My wife dreamed her head was changed; I do not understand how. To say I killed your daughter is unjust.” Wu did not believe him and sued. The officials interrogated Zhu's household; all the testimony matched his. The prefect could not decide and released him. Zhu sought Lu's help. “This is not hard,” Lu said. “I will have the girl speak herself.”
That night Wu dreamed his daughter saying, “I was killed by Yang Danian of Suxi, not by Scholar Zhu. Because he found his wife insufficiently beautiful, Judge Lu took my head and gave it to her. My body died but my head lived; do not feud with the Zhu family.” Wu told his wife and found she had the same dream. He reported it to the authorities. They found Yang Danian, seized him, and he confessed. Wu visited Zhu and asked to see the wife; they became in-laws. Zhu's wife's original head was joined to Wu's daughter's body and buried.
早先，吴侍御有个女儿，长得十分美丽，先后定了两家婚事，都是没能过门，丈夫就死了，所以十九岁了还没有嫁出去。正月十五元宵节那天，她去逛十王殿。当时游人杂乱，其中有个无赖看中了她的美色，便暗中探明了她的居处，趁夜黑人稀，爬梯子跳进她家的院墙。他在小姐寝室门口挖洞钻进去，先在小姐床边杀死一个小丫环，接着逼迫小姐想要强奸。小姐拼命抗拒，大声呼喊，无赖急眼了，把小姐也杀了。吴夫人隐约听到喧闹声，叫丫环前往察看，丫环看见尸首后，惊恐万分。这时全家上下都惊动起来，大家把小姐的尸体停放在厅堂上，把头安在脖颈旁，一门老少哭哭啼啼，闹腾了一夜。等到清晨，揭开覆盖小姐尸首的被单，发现身子还在，而脑袋却没有了。主人把所有的侍女鞭打了一顿，认为她们守候不严，致使小姐的头颅成了野狗的腹中之物。吴侍御把凶事报告了郡守。郡守严命衙役限期捕贼破案，三个月过去了，凶手仍是没有抓到。
朱家妻子换头的事渐渐传到了吴侍御耳边。吴侍御对此事颇有疑心，便派了一个老妈子去朱家打听。老妈子见了朱夫人，吓得扭头就跑，回到府里报告了吴侍御。吴侍御见女儿的尸体仍然在，又惊又疑，无法自己弄明白，便猜想是朱尔旦会妖术把他的女儿害了，于是到朱家盘问此事。朱尔旦对吴侍御说：“我的妻子在梦中被换了头，实在不知道是怎么回事。说是我杀了小姐，真是冤枉。”吴侍御不信，告到了官府。官府把朱家的所有人口都收审了一遍，口供都和朱尔旦说的一样，郡守断不了这个案子，只好把朱尔旦放了。朱尔旦回来，找到陆判官，请求他出主意。陆判官说：“这事不难，我让吴家的女儿自己去说。”
当日夜里，吴侍御梦见女儿说：“孩儿是被苏溪的杨大年害死的，与朱孝廉没有关系。他曾经嫌妻子不够漂亮，陆判官便拿孩儿的头给他妻子换上了，这是孩儿身子虽死而脑袋还活着的好事。希望不要与朱家结仇。”醒来，吴侍御把梦中事告诉夫人，夫人也做了一个相同的梦。于是，吴侍御把梦中之事告诉了官府。官府查问，果然有杨大年这人，于是捉拿归案，终于使凶手认罪伏法。吴侍御就去拜访朱尔旦，请求与夫人相见，这样一来，两人就结成了翁婿。于是把朱尔旦妻子的头和吴侍御女儿的尸身合在一起埋葬。
Chapter VI · The Ghost's Return第六章 · 鬼归与评语
Zhu Erdan entered the metropolitan examinations three times and was dismissed each time for violating exam rules. He grew disheartened. Thirty years passed. One night Lu told him, “Your life will soon end.” “Can you save me?” Zhu asked. “Life and death are fixed by heaven,” Lu replied. “To the enlightened, they are one.” Zhu accepted this. He prepared his shroud and coffin, dressed in full robes, and died. The next day, as his wife mourned, Zhu drifted in from outside. She feared him, but he said, “I am a ghost, yet no different from when alive. I worry for you and our child.” He comforted her, saying he now served in the underworld under Lu's patronage. At night Lu joined him; their voices sounded like the living. After midnight they vanished. Thereafter Zhu returned every few days, sometimes spending the night, managing household affairs, and teaching his son by lamplight. As the boy grew, Zhu came less often, eventually only once a month.
One night he came again and said, “Tonight is our final farewell.” He had been appointed Lord of Taihua and must leave for a distant post. He told his son, “Be a good man and do not disgrace my household. In ten years we will meet.” He left and never returned. Later the son, Zhu Wei, passed the civil service exam and was appointed a royal envoy. On his way to sacrifice at Mount Hua, he met a procession with feathered banners; in the carriage sat his father. Zhu Wei knelt and wept. His father said, “Your official reputation is good; I can rest now,” and sent him a sword with the inscription: “Let courage be great, the heart small; let wisdom be round, conduct square.” The procession vanished like wind. Zhu Wei later rose to high office and passed the sword to his fourth son, who became chief censor.
The chronicler says: to cut the legs of a crane or lengthen those of a duck to force equality is delusion; to graft flowers onto another tree is clever. Yet how much more astonishing is it to cut open hearts and alter heads. Judge Lu, with an ugly exterior, hid a beautiful moral bone. From the late Ming to now it has not been long - does the Judge of Lingyang still live? If he still has power, I would gladly drive his carriage.
朱尔旦曾经三次进京参加礼部会试，都因为违反了考场规定而落榜，于是对考试做官的路子就灰心了。这样过了三十年，有一天晚上，陆判官告诉朱尔旦说：“你的寿命不长了。”朱尔旦问期限，陆判官说有五天。朱尔旦问：“你能救我吗？”陆判官说：“一切都是上天所定，人们怎能凭私愿行事？况且在通达的人看来，生死本是一回事，何必以生为快乐，以死为悲哀呢？”朱尔旦听了，觉得很有道理。于是他去置办临终用的衣服被褥和棺材，当准备就绪后，他就穿着盛服死去了。第二天，夫人正扶着灵柩哭呢，朱尔旦忽然飘飘忽忽地从外面来了。夫人非常害怕，朱尔旦说：“我虽然已经是鬼，但与生时没有什么两样。我担心你们孤儿寡母的，真是恋恋不舍啊！”夫人听了非常悲痛，不禁痛哭流涕，泪水沾湿了衣襟，朱尔旦温和地安慰劝解着妻子。夫人说：“古时候有人死还魂的说法，你既然能够显灵，何不再生？”朱尔旦说：“天数不能违背。”夫人又问：“你在阴间做什么事呢？”朱尔旦回答说：“陆判官推荐我办理文案事务，有官爵，也不受什么苦。”夫人还想再说些什么，朱尔旦说道：“陆公跟我一块来的，可以准备些酒菜食物。”说完就快步走出屋去了。夫人依照嘱咐，准备了酒食，只听到屋里欢笑饮酒，声高气壮，宛如生前。到半夜再窥视，屋里空荡荡的，不见二人的踪影了。从此以后，朱尔旦每过三五天就回家一趟，有时还留宿亲昵一番，顺便把家里的事情料理一下。朱尔旦的儿子名玮，刚五岁，他每次来都要抱一抱，等儿子长到七八岁时，就在灯下教他读书。他的儿子也挺聪明，九岁时就能写文章，十五岁时成为秀才，竟然不知道自己是个失去父亲的孩子。以后，朱尔旦渐渐地回家次数越来越少了，只不过个把月来一次而已。
有一天晚上朱尔旦又来了，他对夫人说：“今晚要跟你永别了。”夫人问：“去哪里？”他说：“接受天帝的任命担任太华卿，即将到远地上任，那里事情繁多而路途遥远，所以不能回来。”母子俩抱着朱尔旦痛哭。朱尔旦安慰夫人说：“不要这样！儿子已经长大成人，家里的生计还可以生活下去，哪里有百年不离散的夫妻呢！”又注视着儿子说：“好好做人，不要毁了我留下的家业。十年后我们再见一面。”说完，径直走出家门，从此再也没有了踪迹。后来，朱玮二十五岁那年中了进士，官授行人之职。他奉皇上之命去祭祀西岳华山，途经华阴县的时候，忽然间有一队用雉羽装饰车盖的车马，不避出行的仪仗，急速驰来。朱玮很是惊讶，仔细审视车中坐着的人，原来正是他的父亲。他跳下马来，哭着跪伏在道路旁边。朱尔旦停住车子，说道：“你的官声很好，我可以瞑目九泉了。”朱玮依然跪伏不起。朱尔旦说完，催促车马起行，不顾地飞驰而去。车马跑出一段路，朱尔旦回头望了望，解下身上的佩刀，派随从送给儿子，还远远地对朱玮喊道：“带上它，保你富贵。”朱玮想追随父亲，只见车马随从飘忽若风，眨眼之间早已不见了。朱玮痛苦的心情久久不能平复。他抽出佩刀注视，只见佩刀制造非常精致，上面镌刻着一行字：“胆欲大而心欲小，智欲圆而行欲方。”朱玮后来升官当了司马，共生了五个孩子，名字分别叫朱沉、朱潜、朱沕、朱浑、朱深。一天晚上，梦中听到父亲说：“佩刀应该送给浑儿。”于是他就把佩刀传给了四儿子朱浑。朱浑后来官至总宪，官声很好。异史氏说：把仙鹤的腿锯下来接在鸭子的腿上，想达到以长补短的效果，这种人可谓荒唐妄想；把鲜花剪下来移到另一树上进行嫁接，可谓异想天开而富于创造性。何况用斧凿置换人的肝肠，用刀锥改变人的头颈呢！陆判官这个人，真可以说是丑陋的外表包藏着美好的风骨了。明末到现在，年代不太久远，陵阳的陆判官还在世间吗？还有灵验吗？如果能为他执鞭效力，这是我所高兴而仰慕的。