离魂记

陈玄祐

【原文】

天授三年1，清河张镒，因官家于衡州。性简静，寡知友。无子，有女二人。其长早亡;幼女倩娘，端妍绝伦2。镒外甥太原王宙，幼聪悟，美容范。镒常器重，每曰：“他时当以倩娘妻之。”3

后各长成。宙与倩娘常私感想于寤寐4，家人莫知其状。后有宾寮之选者5求之，镒许焉。女闻而郁抑;宙亦深恚恨。托以当调，请赴京，止之不可，遂厚遣之。宙阴恨悲恸，决别上船。

日暮，至山郭数里。夜方半，宙不寐，忽闻岸上有一人，行声甚速，须臾至船。问之，乃倩娘徒行跣足而至。宙惊喜发狂，执手问其从来。泣曰：“君厚意如此，寝梦相感。今将夺我此志，又知君深情不易，思将杀身奉报，是以亡命来奔。”宙非意所望，欣跃特甚。遂匿倩娘于船，连夜遁去。

倍道兼行6，数月至蜀。凡五年，生两子，与镒绝信。其妻常思父母，涕泣言曰：“吾曩日不能相负，弃大义而来奔君。向今五年，恩慈间阻。覆载之下，胡颜独存也？”宙哀之，曰：“将归，无苦。”遂俱归衡州。

既至，宙独身先镒家，首谢其事。镒曰7：“倩娘病在闺中数年，何其诡说也！”宙曰：“见在舟中！”8镒大惊，促使人验之。果见倩娘在船中，颜色怡畅，讯使者曰：“大人安否？”家人异之，疾走报镒。室中女闻，喜而起，饰妆更衣，笑而不语，出与相迎，翕然而合为一体，其衣裳皆重9。

其家以事不正，秘之。惟亲戚间有潜知之者。后四十年间，夫妻皆丧。二男并孝廉擢第，至丞、尉。

玄祐少常闻此说，而多异同，或谓其虚。大历末，遇莱芜县令张仲规，因备述其本末。镒则仲规堂叔祖，而说极备悉，故记之。

【今译】

天授三年，清河郡有个叫张镒的，因为到衡州做官，就在那里安了家。张镒性情简约沉静，少有知音朋友。膝下无子，只有两个女儿。长女早年夭折，幼女名唤倩娘，端庄美丽，无人能及。张镒的外甥王宙是太原人氏，从小就聪明过人，极具悟性，生得英俊，又有风度。张镒非常器重这个外甥，每每对他说：“将来你长大了，我就把倩娘嫁给你。”

后来，倩娘和王宙都长大了，私下里常常是日思夜想，暗恋对方，对此家人却并无察觉。再后来，张镒的幕僚中有一个要去吏部选官的人向张家求亲，张镒就同意了。倩娘听说此事，郁郁寡欢;王宙知道后也深为怨恨，随即托词说要调任赴京。张家劝止不住，于是赠以厚礼，王宙暗自伤心，告别舅舅登船而去。

傍晚时分，船行至一座山镇外数里的地方。夜半，王宙正辗转难眠，忽听岸上脚步声紧，片刻之间就到了船边。一问才知是倩娘，她赤着脚徒步追来。王宙欣喜若狂，抓住倩娘的手问她因何而来。倩娘泣声回答道：“你的情义如此厚重，我梦中都在思念。如今有人要强行改变我的意愿，我又知道你对我一往情深，我决意以身相许，这才舍弃了家人来私自投奔。”王宙听罢喜出望外，欢欣不已。于是就将倩娘隐匿在船中，连夜遁去。

两人加速赶路，几个月后来到四川。又过了五年，他们已经有了两个儿子，但和张镒仍是音信断绝。倩娘思念父母，常常对王宙哭泣说：“我当年不肯辜负你的情义，背弃了礼仪伦常和你私奔。到如今和双亲隔绝分离，已经足足五年了。可叹我活在天地间却不能对父母尽孝，还有什么脸面呢？”王宙听了，也为妻子的话伤心，说：“我们这就回去，再也不必为远离双亲而痛苦。”于是携妻带子一起回到了衡州。

等到了衡州，王宙独身一个人先到了舅舅张镒家中，为自己带走倩娘的事叩头谢罪。张镒说：“我女儿倩娘明明卧病家中已经好几年了，你怎么这样胡说呢！”王宙说：“您可以到船上与倩娘相见！”张镒大惊，忙差家人去看，果然看到倩娘坐在船中，神情怡然欢畅，见到家人，还询问说：“我父母可否安泰？”家人惊为异事，急忙跑回来告知张镒。此时内室中卧病多年的女儿听闻后欢喜地起身，梳妆更衣，笑逐颜开却并不说话。这倩娘走出房外与从外归家的倩娘相遇，两个身体融为一体，就连衣裙也合二为一。

张家觉得这件事终究算是离奇不正，于是隐瞒不说。只有亲戚间私下有所传闻。随后的四十年间，王宙夫妇都过世了。他们的两个儿子考取了孝廉，当了县丞县尉。

我年少的时候常常听说这个故事，情节多有异同，也有人说是假的。唐代宗大歷年末，我遇见了莱芜县令张仲规，他向我详细讲述了这个故事的本末。因为张镒是他的堂叔祖，而他的讲说也十分细致完备，我因此把它记录下来。       □

【英译】

In the Tang dynasty， there lived in Qinghe a man named Zhang Yi. In the third year of Empress Wu Zetians rule， he moved his family to Hengzhou， where he had been appointed as an official. Being simple and taciturn by nature， Zhang had few friends. Although he was sonless， he had two daughters， the elder of whom died young， while the younger， whose name was Qianniang， had matchless beauty and charm. His nephew Wang Zhou， a native of Taiyuan， had all the makings of an intelligent and handsome scholar. Zhang Yi thus took a great liking to this young boy， and promised him time and again that he would let him marry his daughter when they grew up.

The years ran on and the two children were now young adults. Love budded between them， and they pined for each other day and night. However， no one took any notice of this， so when one of Zhangs aides proposed to his daughter， he gave his ready consent， since the young man was going to the Ministry of Personnel to pick an official post. Upon hearing of this， Qianniang fell into a depression and Wang Zhou was full of grievance. On the pretext of seeking office， Wang asked for Zhangs permission to leave for the capital. Zhang Yi at first tried to stop him， but seeing he was determined to go， could eventually only lavish on him some precious parting gifts. Wang bade farewell to his uncle and boarded a boat in sadness.

By the evening， the boat was several miles outside a mountain town. At midnight， as Wang tossed and turned in bed， he heard footsteps approaching along the bank. The sound moved quickly and in the wink of an eye reached the side of the boat. Upon inquiry， he learned it was none other than Qianniang， who had trudged bare-footed all the way to catch up with him. Overjoyed， he took her hands and asked why she had come. The girl replied， sobbing， “Your love impressed me so deeply that I thought of you even in my dreams. Now someone is going to separate us， but I know you love me as ever before. Thus I decided to flee my home and reunite with you.” Wang Zhous joy knew no bounds. He bade the girl hide in the cabin and sailed off right away.

Traveling at double the pace， they arrived in Sichuan several months later. Five years passed and they greeted the birth of two sons， yet they were completely cut off from home， and their sense of nostalgia grew ever stronger. Qianniang missed her parents， saying： “My faith in love brought me to you at the cost of breaching all the moral codes for a young girl. Now five years have passed， but separated from my parents， how can I fulfill my filial duties to them？ As their daughter I feel ashamed to live on in this world！” Her words struck a sympathetic chord in Wang Zhous heart， and he responded immediately， “Then we shall go back， and relieve you from the pain of being unfilial.” True to his words， he brought his wife and two children back to Hengzhou.

Upon their arrival， Wang Zhou went alone to see his uncle to apologize for having taken Qianniang away. His uncle， however， only said in surprise： “What are you talking about？ Qianniang has been ill in bed all these years.” “If you dont believe me， you can go to our boat and see for yourself，” Wang assured him. Astonished， his uncle sent a servant to check. Sure enough， the servant saw Qianniang sitting in the cabin， her face radiant with health and happiness. “How are my parents？” she asked. Regarding this as a sheer miracle， the servant hastened back to report to his master. Meanwhile， hearing the good news， the Qianniang lying in bed in the inner chamber left her bed， did her makeup， and put on fine clothes. Although she was now all smiles， she said not a single word， but simply walked out of her room to greet the other Qianniang， who by now was just entering the yard. When the two met one another， they instantly merged into one， with their dresses doubled.

The Zhangs regarded this event as eerie and bizarre， so they kept it among themselves， only letting a few near relatives know something of the story. In the next forty years， Wang Zhou and Qianniang died， while their sons both passed the civil examination and obtained official posts in the county.

When I was young I often heard this story in its various versions， and some dismissed it as a fabrication. But later， in the year of 779 of the Tang dynasty， I happened to meet Zhang Zhonggui， Zhang Yis grandnephew. His account was so detailed and vivid， whereupon I decided to take it seriously and put it down in words.