Chapter I · The Oath in the Sickroom第一章 · 临终誓言
Xi Fangping was a native of Dong'an. His father, Xi Lian, was blunt and sincere. He had a feud with a wealthy neighbor surnamed Yang. Yang died first. Years later, when Xi Lian fell gravely ill, he told his family, “That Yang has bribed the underworld runners to flog me.” Soon his whole body swelled red, he screamed in agony, and he died. Xi Fangping was so grief-stricken he could not eat. He said, “My father was an honest man, slow of speech, and now he is bullied by a violent ghost. I will go down to the underworld to plead his case.” From then on he spoke no more, now sitting, now standing like a simpleton; in truth his soul had already left his body.
席方平是东安人。他的父亲名叫席廉，生性迂直诚实。因与街坊上姓羊的富户人家有仇冤，姓羊的先死了，过了几年，席廉病重，临终前对家人说：“羊某现在买通了阴间差役鞭打我呢。”过了不久，就浑身红肿，大声惨叫着死去了。席方平悲痛得吃不下饭，他说：“我父亲是个老实人，不善言词，如今被强横的鬼欺凌。我要到阴曹地府，代我父亲去伸冤气。”从此以后，他不再说话，时而坐着，时而站着，样子像是痴呆了，原来他的灵魂已经出窍了。
Chapter II · The City God’s Courts第二章 · 城隍衙门
Xi Fangping did not know where to find his father, so he asked every passerby for the county seat. Before long he entered the city. His father had already been imprisoned. At the prison gate he saw him lying under the eaves, utterly spent. Xi Lian raised his eyes, tears streaming, and said, “The jailers have all been bought; they beat me day and night, and my legs are already ruined.” Xi Fangping flew into a rage and cursed the jailers: “If my father is guilty, the law will decide it. How can you dead wretches control it as you please!” He left the prison, took up his brush, and wrote a petition. Just then the county City God was holding morning court, and Xi Fangping shouted his grievance and threw in the petition. Yang grew afraid, bribed inside and out, and only then came out to confront him. The City God declared the accusation baseless and judged against Xi. His fury still unspent, he traveled over a hundred li through the night to the prefectural city, accusing the county City God’s bailiffs before the prefectural City God. The case was delayed for half a month before it was heard. The prefectural City God beat him and sent the case back to the county City God for retrial. Xi Fangping was dragged to the county yamen, shackled and tortured, his bitter injustice still without relief. Fearing another appeal, the county City God sent runners to escort him home.
席方平觉得自己刚出家门，不知道上哪儿能找到他父亲，只要在路上看见行人，就询问县城在什么地方。没多久，他进了城。他的父亲已经被关在狱中。他来到牢门口，远远看见父亲躺在屋檐下，看上去疲惫不堪。席廉抬眼看见儿子，一下子流出眼泪，就对他说：“狱吏都被买通了，没日没夜地拷打我，两腿已经被摧残得很厉害了！”席方平听完大怒，大骂那些狱吏：“父亲如果有罪，自然有王法，哪里能容你们这些死鬼任意操纵！”然后他出了监狱，抽出笔来写了份状子。写完后，正碰上县城隍早上升堂，席方平便口喊冤枉，将状子投进去。那姓羊的得知后心里害怕，又里里外外贿赂打点以后，才出来和他对质。县城隍认为席方平控告没有证据，说他没道理。他一腔怨气无处发泄，连夜走了一百多里黑路，到了郡城，将县城隍差役的种种劣迹，向府城隍告了一状。拖了半个月，状子才得到审理。府城隍将他打了一顿板子，仍旧将案子交回县城隍复审。席方平被押到县衙，受尽了各种刑具，悲惨的冤情得不到申诉。县城隍唯恐他再上诉，就派差役将他押送回家。
Chapter III · Torments of the Underworld第三章 · 冥司酷刑
The runners escorted him to his door and left. Xi Fangping refused to go in and instead slipped to Yama’s court to accuse the county and prefectural City Gods of cruelty and greed. Yama immediately summoned them for confrontation. The two local deities secretly sent their confidants to plead with Xi Fangping and offered him a thousand taels of gold, but he refused. A few days later the innkeeper warned him, “You are too headstrong. The officials sought compromise but you would not accept it. I hear they have sent chests of gifts to Yama. I fear this will go badly.” Xi took it as rumor and did not believe it. Soon a black-clad runner called him into court. He had barely ascended when he saw Yama’s angry face; Yama would not allow a word and ordered twenty lashes. Xi Fangping cried, “What crime have I committed?” Yama remained expressionless, as if he had not heard. Xi endured the blows and shouted, “The beating is deserved - who told me to have no money?” Yama grew still angrier and ordered the fire bed. Two little demons dragged Xi down; a red-hot iron bed sat on the eastern steps with flames roaring beneath. They stripped him, threw him on it, and pressed and kneaded him repeatedly. The pain seared to bone and flesh, blackening them; he only wished to die at once. After about an hour the demons said, “Enough,” lifted him up, and urged him to dress. He could still limp. Back in court, Yama asked, “Do you dare sue again?” Xi answered, “So great a wrong is not yet cleared; my heart will not die. If I say I will not sue, I would be deceiving you. I must sue!” Yama asked, “What will you sue for?” Xi replied, “Everything I have suffered, I must speak.” Yama ordered him sawed in two. The demons led him out to a tall wooden post with two boards stained in blood. Just as they were about to bind him, someone in court called his name and they hauled him back. Yama asked again, “Do you dare sue?” He answered, “I must!” Yama ordered the sawing at once. The demons clamped him between two boards and tied him to the post. The saw came down; he felt his skull split open, the pain beyond endurance, yet he forced himself not to cry out. A demon exclaimed, “What a man!” The saw roared down to his chest. Another demon said, “This man is filial and innocent; saw a little to one side so his heart is not harmed.” The blade veered, and the pain became even worse. Before long he was split in two. The ropes were loosened; the two halves fell to the ground. The demons reported to the hall. The order came down to recombine him and bring him in. They pushed the two halves together and dragged him forward. Xi felt the saw-scar from head to toe, as if it would tear open again; he collapsed after half a step. A demon drew a silk sash from his waist and handed it to him: “A reward for your filial piety.” He tied it on, and his whole body instantly felt whole, without pain. He ascended the hall and prostrated himself. Yama asked the same question; fearing more torment, Xi answered, “I will not sue.” Yama immediately ordered him sent back to the living world.
差役送到门口，就离去了。席方平不甘心就这样回家，又偷偷地跑到阎王府去，控诉郡县城隍的残酷贪婪。阎王马上将郡、县城隍拘来对质。这两个地隍秘密派遣心腹，来和席方平说情，许愿给他一千两金子，席方平不予理会。过了几天，旅店的主人对他说：“您赌气得太过分了，连官府来跟您讲和都坚决不答应。我听说他们在阎王面前都送了成箱的礼物，恐怕您这事不太妙了。”席方平只把他的话当作风言风语，并不是很相信。不多会儿，有个穿着黑衣的差役来传他过堂。他一上堂，只见阎王脸露怒色，不容他争辩，就命令打他二十大板。席方平大声问道：“小人有什么罪。”阎王面无表情，好像没有听见。席方平挨着板子，喊道：“这板子应该打，谁叫我没有钱啊！”阎王更加恼怒，命人摆上火床。两个小鬼将席方平揪下堂，只见东边台阶上放了一张铁床，下面烈火熊熊，床面上被烧得通红。小鬼脱掉席方平的衣服，将他扔到床上，反复地揉捺他。他痛彻心肺，骨头皮肉都给烤得焦黑了，只恨不能一下子死掉。约摸过了一个时辰，小鬼说：“可以了。”就把他扶起来，催他下床穿上衣服，幸好还能一跛一跛地走路。他又被带到堂上，阎王问道：“你还敢再告状吗？”他说：“这么大的冤枉还没有伸雪，我的心就不会死，如果我说不告了，就是欺骗您。我一定要告！”阎王又问：“你要告什么？”席方平说：“我亲身经历的事情，都要说出来。”阎王又发怒，命令用锯子锯他的身体。两个小鬼把他拉出去，只见竖着一根八九尺高的木柱，上面有两块木板仰面放着，上下都是血迹模糊。刚要将他捆起来，忽然堂上高喊“席方平”，两个小鬼把他重新押了回去。阎王又问他：“你还敢告状吗？”他回答说：“我一定要告！”阎王命令将他捉下去马上锯开。等下了殿堂，小鬼就用两块木板将席方平夹住，将他捆在木柱上。锯子才拉下来，他就觉得脑壳渐渐锯开了，痛得实在忍不住，但是他也硬忍住不喊出声来。只听小鬼说：“这个汉子真棒啊！”锯子“呼隆呼隆”地，一会儿就锯到了胸口。又听一个小鬼说：“这个人很孝顺，又没有罪，锯得稍微偏一点，不要弄坏了他的心。”他就觉得锯锋歪斜着往下走，更感到痛苦不堪。过了一会儿，人就被锯成了两半。绳子一解开，两半身子都跌倒在地上。小鬼上堂去大声报告。堂上传下话来，叫将席方平的身子合起来拉上堂去。两个小鬼就把他的身子推起来合上，拖着他往上走。席方平觉得从上到下一条锯缝，疼得像要重新裂开，刚走了半步就摔倒了。一个小鬼从腰间抽出一条丝带递给他说：“送给你这条丝带，来表彰你的孝心。”他接过带子往腰上一系，全身顿时觉得很舒服，一点儿也不痛苦了。他走上堂去，趴倒在地。阎王还用刚才的话问他，他深怕再遭毒手，便答道：“不告了。”阎王马上下令将他送回阳界。
Chapter IV · Reprieve and Rebirth第四章 · 假释与转生
The runners led Xi out the north gate and pointed out the way home, then turned back. Xi Fangping thought the underworld even darker than the human courts, yet he had no way to reach the Jade Emperor. It was said that the Second Lord of Guankou was kin to the Emperor and a just, clear-minded god. If he could appeal there, it should work. Glad the two runners had left, he turned south. As he hurried on, the two runners caught up and said, “The king suspected you would not return, and indeed he was right.” They seized him and brought him back. Xi Fangping expected the wrath to be worse, yet Yama showed no anger and said, “You are truly filial. But your father’s grievance has already been cleared. He has been reborn into a wealthy family - why keep crying out? I will send you home and grant you a thousand in gold and a hundred years of life. Is that enough?” He wrote it into the registry, stamped it with a great seal, and let Xi read it. Xi thanked him and withdrew. The little demons escorted him out, then drove him along the road, cursing, “You cunning thief! You stir up trouble again and again, making us run ourselves to death. If you do this again, we’ll grind you in the great mill!” Xi glared and shouted, “What are you little ghosts doing? I delight in knives and saws and cannot bear the cane. Let us return to Yama; if he orders me home, why trouble yourselves to escort me?” He ran back. The demons were frightened and coaxed him in gentle words. Xi pretended his legs were weak, walking slowly and resting every few steps. The demons burned with anger but dared not speak.
After about half a day they reached a village. A door stood half open. The demons led him to sit with them, and he sat on the threshold. When he was off guard, they shoved him inside. Once his shock passed, he saw that he had been reborn as an infant. Furious, he wailed and would not nurse; after three days he died. His spirit drifted, still determined to reach Guankou. He ran for dozens of li and suddenly saw a procession adorned with feathered canopies, banners, and halberds filling the road. He tried to avoid it but still offended the retinue, and the vanguard seized him and brought him before the carriage. In the carriage sat a young man with imposing bearing. “Who are you?” he asked. Xi Fangping’s grief and rage had no outlet, and he guessed this must be a great official who could decide life and fortune, so he poured out his sufferings in detail. The young man ordered him unbound and told him to follow the carriage. Before long they arrived at a place where more than a dozen officials greeted the road. The young man exchanged greetings, then pointed to one official and said, “This is a man from below who seeks redress; you should decide for him at once.” Asking the attendants, Xi learned that the man in the carriage was the Ninth Prince of the Jade Emperor, and the official was Erlang. Xi looked at Erlang - tall, bearded, unlike the tales told in the world.
差役们带着席方平出了北门，指点给他回去的路，然后转身离去了。席方平想，阴曹地府比阳间官府还要黑暗，无奈没有办法让玉皇大帝知道这些。世人传说灌口的二郎神是玉皇大帝的亲戚，为神聪明正直，上他那儿去告状，应该会有特别的效果。他暗自高兴那两个差役已经离去了，便转身向南走。正匆匆地赶路，两个差役追了上来，说：“大王原就怀疑你不会回去，如今果然不错。”便将他又抓回去见阎王。席方平暗暗想，这次阎王会更加发怒，受到的祸害会更惨。不料，阎王一点儿怒容也没有，对他说：“你确实很孝顺。但是你父亲的冤屈，我已经替他昭雪了。如今已经到富贵人家投胎了，哪里还要你到处鸣冤呢？现在送你回家，赐你千金的家产、百岁的寿命，能满足你的愿望吗？”说完，便写在生死簿上，盖上了大印，让他亲自过目。席方平道谢以后，下了堂。小鬼跟他一起出门，一到路上，便赶他往前走，骂道：“你这个奸猾的贼！频频地生出事端，害得我们跟着奔波，累得要死！如果再犯，我们就把你捉进大磨子里，细细地磨你！”席方平圆瞪双眼，呵斥道：“你们这些小鬼想干什么！我天生就喜刀砍锯扯，不耐烦打板子。咱们一块回去见阎王，他如果让我自己回家，又何必烦劳你们送我。”说完，就往回跑。那两个小鬼很害怕，就好言好语劝他回去。席方平故意装作脚不便，走得很慢，走几步，就停在路边休息。小鬼心中发火，但也不敢再说什么了。
大概走了半天，到了一个村庄，有一家门半开着，小鬼拉他一块坐下，他就坐在门槛上。小鬼乘他不防备，把他推到门里去了。他惊魂刚定，一看，自己已经变成了一个婴儿。他生气地放声啼哭，不吃奶，才三天就死掉了。他的灵魂飘飘摇摇，念念不忘要去灌口，约摸跑了有几十里地，忽然看到一队以鸟羽为饰的仪仗过来，旗子和长戟遮满了道路。他穿过道路想避开车队，不料还是冲犯了仪仗队，被前导的马队抓住，捆起来后送到那车子前面。席方平抬头一看，只见车子里坐了一个青年人，仪表堂堂，很是魁伟。那人问席方平：“你是什么人？”席方平满腔冤屈愤怒正无处发泄，而且猜测他一定是个能够行使权力，予人祸福的大官，于是详细地控诉了自己所遭受的苦难。车里的青年人命令给他松绑，让他跟在车后面走。不一会儿，来到一个地方，路边上有十几个官员前来迎接，那青年跟他们一一打招呼。然后，他指着席方平对一个官员说：“这个是下方的人，正要到你那儿去告状，应该马上替他明断是非。”席方平向侍从一问，才知道车子里面坐的是玉皇大帝的皇子九王爷，他嘱咐的官员就是二郎神。席方平看那二郎神，身躯修长，长着络腮胡子，并不像世间传说的那样。
Chapter V · Erlang’s Judgment第五章 · 二郎判词
After the Ninth Prince departed, Xi followed Erlang to a government hall, where his father, the Yang family, and the underworld bailiffs were all present. Before long more prisoners emerged in their carts - Yama himself, the prefectural City God, and the county City God. In open court Xi’s testimony proved true. The three officials trembled like rats crouched on the floor. Erlang took up his brush and issued judgment. Shortly thereafter, the ruling was read aloud for all involved to see, as follows:
“After investigation, as for the King of Hell: you hold the kingly rank of the underworld and enjoy the Jade Emperor’s favor. You ought to be incorruptible and serve as a model to your officials, not take bribes and pervert the law to invite censure. Yet you flaunt your power, emptyly boasting of your high station; you are vicious and greedy, staining the integrity of a minister. You chop and strip like an axe, squeezing and plundering until the skin and bones of the weak are drained; you devour like a whale, fish eating shrimp, bullying the small so that human lives are as pitiful as ants. Let water be drawn from the Western River to cleanse your bowels; let the iron bed against the eastern wall be heated red so that you may taste the fate you devised for others.”
“For the city gods and the prefectural governor: you are the people’s parent officials, appointed by the Emperor to shepherd the multitude. Though your rank is low, those who are devoted do not shrink from bending to duty; even when pressed by higher powers, a man of resolve should not yield. Yet you collude up and down like savage raptors, heedless of the people’s poverty; you swagger and scheme like crafty monkeys, not sparing even starving ghosts. You take bribes and twist the law - human faces with the hearts of beasts. You should have your marrow scraped and your hair shorn, be put to death in the underworld for a time, then be flayed and reborn in the bodies of beasts.”
“As for the runners: once you serve in the ghost courts you are no longer human. You should only do good within the yamen, and perhaps be reborn among men; how can you stir up waves in the sea of suffering and heap up crimes that fill the sky? You bully with force, your faces as cold as frost; you crash and howl, blocking the roads like tigers. In the underworld you flaunt tyrannical power so that all know the jailers rule; you abet cruel officials so that all fear them like executioners. You should have your limbs chopped on the execution ground; you should be thrown into the boiling cauldron and fished out by your sinews and bones.”
“As for Yang: rich without benevolence, sly and deceitful. The glitter of money shrouded the underworld so that the halls of Yama were full of gloom; the stench of copper choked the City of Wronged Dead until no sun or moon could shine. Even the leftover stink of coin can drive demons, and great wealth can all but reach the gods. Let Yang’s household be confiscated to reward Xi Fangping’s filiality. All these criminals are to be escorted at once to the Eastern Peak for punishment.”
九王爷离开后，席方平跟着二郎神来到一处衙门，只见他父亲和那姓羊的，以及那些阴曹地府的差役都在。过了一会儿，从囚车里又走出来几个人，却是阎王以及郡城隍和县城隍。经过当堂的对质，席方平所说的都不假。那三个官员吓得战战兢兢，像是趴在地上的老鼠。二郎神提起笔，马上作了判决，没多久，堂上传下判词，命令涉及此案的人一同来看，判决如下：
查得阎王：担任地府的王爵，身受玉皇大帝的恩赐。本来应该廉洁奉公，作为官僚们的表率，不应当贪赃枉法，招来非议。却耀武扬威，徒然夸耀自己官爵的尊贵；狠毒贪妄，竟然玷辱人臣的操守。斧砍刀削，剥削敲诈，弱小的百姓的皮骨都被榨尽了；像鲸吞鱼，鱼吃虾一样，恃强凌弱，百姓的生命像蝼蚁一样可怜。只当引来西江的水，为你洗肠子；就应烧红东墙的铁床，请你尝尝作法自毙的滋味。
城隍、郡司：身为百姓的父母官，奉上帝的命令来管理民众。虽然官职低微，但是鞠躬尽瘁的人不避折腰；即使有时被上司的势力逼迫，但有志气的人不应该屈服。但你们上下勾结，像凶恶的鹰鸷，不顾念百姓的贫困；又飞扬跋扈，像狡猾的猴子，连瘦弱的饿鬼也不放过。只会贪赃枉法，真是人面兽心！就应该将你们剔骨髓，刮毛发，暂且处以阴间死刑；应该剥去人皮，换上兽皮，转世投胎成畜牲。
差役：既然在阴曹地府当差，就不是人类。只应该在衙门里做善事，或许还能再生为人；怎么可以在苦海中兴风作浪，更加犯下弥天大罪？恃强横暴，脸上像蒙上了霜一样冷酷无情；横冲直撞，疯狂号叫，像猛虎一样堵住了大道。在阴间大发淫威，使人们都知道狱吏的尊贵；助长昏官的残酷暴虐，使大家都像怕屠伯一样害怕昏官。应当在法场上，剁掉你们的四肢；更扔到大锅里熬煮，捞出你们的筋骨。
羊某：为富不仁，狡猾多诈。用金钱的闪光笼罩整个地府，使阎罗殿上，尽是阴暗的风沙；铜臭熏天，使枉死城中，全无日月的光华。残馀的铜臭还能够驱使小鬼，力大简直可以通神。应该查抄没收羊氏的家产，来奖赏孝顺的席方平。以上罪犯马上押赴东岳大帝那里施行刑罚。
Chapter VI · Return and Chronicle第六章 · 归阳与评语
Erlang then said to Xi Lian, “Considering your son’s filial devotion and integrity, and your own gentle and timid nature, I grant you thirty-six more years of life in the human world.” He then dispatched two men to send them home.
Xi Fangping copied the judgment. On the way home father and son read it together. Upon arrival Xi awoke first and ordered the family to open his father’s coffin. The corpse was still icy; after a full day it gradually warmed and returned to life. When they looked for the copied judgment, it had vanished. From then on the Xi household grew wealthier by the day; within three years rich fields stretched everywhere. The Yang descendants declined; their mansions and farmland all passed to the Xi family. Some villagers tried to buy those fields and dreamt at night of a spirit rebuking them: “These are the Xi family’s lands - how can you possess them!” At first they did not believe it, but after planting they harvested nothing for the whole year and had to sell them back to the Xi household. Xi’s father lived past ninety before he died.
The chronicler says: everyone speaks of the Pure Land, yet few understand that life and death are separate worlds; our consciousness is muddled, we do not know where we came from, nor where we go. How much more so for those who die again and are born again? But once the resolve of loyalty and filial devotion is set, it remains clear and unshaken through endless calamities. How extraordinary Xi Fangping is - how great.
二郎神又对席廉说：“考虑到你儿子孝顺，有义气，你生性善良而懦弱，再赐给你阳间寿命三十六年。”然后，就派两个人送他们回家。
席方平便抄下判决书，一路上父子俩共同诵读。到了家，席方平先苏醒过来，让家人打开父亲的棺材来看，僵冷的尸体还像冰一样，等了整整一天，身体渐渐温暖，复活过来了。等再找那份判决书，却已经没有了。从此以后，席家日益富裕起来，三年的工夫，良田遍地都是。而羊家的子孙后代却衰败了，楼房田产都被席家拥有。乡里的人有的想买他家的田产，夜里梦见神人喝斥道：“这是席家的东西，你怎么能够拥有！”开始，并不很相信，等到耕种以后，一年下来却颗粒无收，只好又卖给席方平家。席方平的父亲活到九十多岁才去世。
异史氏说：人人都说有西方极乐世界，却不知道生和死是两个世界，意识知觉都模糊了，而且不知道从什么地方来，又怎么知道到什么地方去？何况还死而又死，生而又生呢？但忠诚孝顺的志向一旦确定了，却永远清醒不会改变，奇特啊，席方平，是多么的伟大！