安幼輿，陝之拔貢生。為人揮霍好義，喜放生。見獵者獲禽，輒不惜重直，買釋之。會舅家喪葬，往助執紼。暮歸，路經華嶽，迷竄山谷中。心大恐。一矢之外，忽見燈火，趨投之。數武中，歘見一叟，傴僂曳杖，斜徑疾行。安停足，方欲致問。叟先詰誰何。安以迷途告；且言燈火處必是山村，將以投止。叟曰：「此非安樂鄉。幸老夫來，可從去，茅廬可以下榻。」安大悅，從行里許，睹小村。叟扣荊扉，一嫗出，啟關曰：「郎子來耶？」叟曰：「諾。」既入，則舍宇湫隘。叟挑燈促坐，便命隨事具食。又謂嫗曰：「此非他，是吾恩主。婆子不能行步，可喚花姑子來釃酒。」俄女郎以饌具入，立叟側，秋波斜盼。安視之，芳容韶齒，殆類天仙。叟顧令煨酒。房西隅有煤爐，女即入房撥火。安問：「此公何人？」答云：「老夫章姓。七十年止有此女。田家少婢僕，以君非他人，遂敢出妻見子，幸勿哂也。」安問：「婿家何里？」答言：「尚未。」安贊其惠麗，稱不容口。叟方謙挹，忽聞女郎驚號。叟奔入，則酒沸火騰。叟乃救止，訶曰：「老大婢，濡猛不知耶！」回首，見爐傍有薥心插紫姑未竟，又訶曰：「髮蓬蓬許，裁如嬰兒！」持向安曰：「貪此生涯，致酒騰沸。蒙君子獎譽，豈不羞死！」安審諦之，眉目袍服，製甚精工。贊曰：
「雖近兒戲，亦見慧心。」斟酌移時，女頻來行酒，嫣然含笑，殊不羞濇。安注目情動。忽聞嫗呼，叟便去。安覷無人，謂女曰：「睹仙容，使我魂失。欲通媒妁，恐其不遂，如何？」女抱壺向火，默若不聞；屢問不對。生漸入室。女起，厲色曰：「狂郎入闥將何為！」生長跽哀之。女奪門欲去。安暴起要遮，狎接臄。女顫聲疾呼，叟匆遽入問。安釋手而出，殊切愧懼。女從容向父曰：「酒復湧沸，非郎君來，壺子融化矣。」安聞女言，心始安妥，益德之。魂魄顛倒，喪所懷來。
於是偽醉離席，女亦遂去。叟設裀褥，闔扉乃出。安不寐；未曙，呼別。至家，即浼交好者造廬求聘，終日而返，竟莫得其居里。安遂命僕馬，尋途自往。至則絕壁巉巖，竟無村落；訪諸近里，則此姓絕少。失望而歸，並忘食寢。由此得昏瞀之疾：強啖湯粥，則唾欲吐；潰亂中，輒呼花姑子。家人不解，但終夜環伺之，氣勢阽危。
安幼舆，陕之拔贡生。为人挥霍好义，喜放生。见猎者获禽，辄不惜重直，买释之。会舅家丧葬，往助执绋。暮归，路经华岳，迷窜山谷中。心大恐。一矢之外，忽见灯火，趋投之。数武中，歘见一叟，伛偻曳杖，斜径疾行。安停足，方欲致问。叟先诘谁何。安以迷途告；且言灯火处必是山村，将以投止。叟曰：「此非安乐乡。幸老夫来，可从去，茅庐可以下榻。」安大悦，从行里许，睹小村。叟扣荆扉，一妪出，启关曰：「郎子来耶？」叟曰：「诺。」既入，则舍宇湫隘。叟挑灯促坐，便命随事具食。又谓妪曰：「此非他，是吾恩主。婆子不能行步，可唤花姑子来酾酒。」俄女郎以馔具入，立叟侧，秋波斜盼。安视之，芳容韶齿，殆类天仙。叟顾令煨酒。房西隅有煤炉，女即入房拨火。安问：「此公何人？」答云：「老夫章姓。七十年止有此女。田家少婢仆，以君非他人，遂敢出妻见子，幸勿哂也。」安问：「婿家何里？」答言：「尚未。」安赞其惠丽，称不容口。叟方谦挹，忽闻女郎惊号。叟奔入，则酒沸火腾。叟乃救止，诃曰：「老大婢，濡猛不知耶！」回首，见炉傍有薥心插紫姑未竟，又诃曰：「发蓬蓬许，裁如婴儿！」持向安曰：「贪此生涯，致酒腾沸。蒙君子奖誉，岂不羞死！」安审谛之，眉目袍服，制甚精工。赞曰：
「虽近儿戏，亦见慧心。」斟酌移时，女频来行酒，嫣然含笑，殊不羞濇。安注目情动。忽闻妪呼，叟便去。安觑无人，谓女曰：「睹仙容，使我魂失。欲通媒妁，恐其不遂，如何？」女抱壶向火，默若不闻；屡问不对。生渐入室。女起，厉色曰：「狂郎入闼将何为！」生长跽哀之。女夺门欲去。安暴起要遮，狎接臄。女颤声疾呼，叟匆遽入问。安释手而出，殊切愧惧。女从容向父曰：「酒复涌沸，非郎君来，壶子融化矣。」安闻女言，心始安妥，益德之。魂魄颠倒，丧所怀来。
于是伪醉离席，女亦遂去。叟设裀褥，阖扉乃出。安不寐；未曙，呼别。至家，即浼交好者造庐求聘，终日而返，竟莫得其居里。安遂命仆马，寻途自往。至则绝壁巉岩，竟无村落；访诸近里，则此姓绝少。失望而归，并忘食寝。由此得昏瞀之疾：强啖汤粥，则唾欲吐；溃乱中，辄呼花姑子。家人不解，但终夜环伺之，气势阽危。
An Youyu was a senior tribute student of Shaanxi. He was free with his money, loved a righteous cause, and liked to set living creatures free: whenever he saw a hunter with a catch, he would pay any price to buy it and let it go. Once, when there was a funeral in his mother’s family, he went to help pull the ropes of the hearse. Coming home at dusk past Mount Hua, he lost his way and wandered among the valleys, badly frightened. Then, a bowshot off, he saw a light and hurried toward it. He had gone only a few steps when an old man appeared out of nowhere, bent over a stick, going fast along a side path. An stopped and was about to ask the way, but the old man spoke first and demanded who he was. An told him he was lost, and said the light must be a mountain village where he could stay the night. “This is no safe place,” said the old man. “Luckily I came along. Follow me; my thatched hut has a bed for you.” An was delighted. After following him a li or so, he saw a small village. The old man knocked at a wicker gate. An old woman came out and opened it. “Has the young gentleman come?” she asked. “Yes,” said the old man. Inside, the rooms were low and cramped. The old man trimmed the lamp and urged An to sit, and told them to bring whatever food there was. To the old woman he said, “This is no stranger. He is my benefactor. You can’t get about on your feet, old woman; call Hua Guzi to pour the wine.” Soon a girl came in with the dishes and stood by the old man, stealing sidelong glances. An looked at her: young and lovely, like a goddess come down from heaven. The old man turned and told her to warm the wine. There was a coal stove in the west corner of the inner room, and the girl went in to stir the fire. “And who may you be, sir?” An asked. “My surname is Zhang,” the old man answered. “In seventy years I have had only this one daughter. Farm folk have few servants, and since you are no stranger I have made bold to bring out my wife and child. I hope you won’t laugh.” “Where does her husband’s family live?” An asked. “She isn’t promised yet.” An praised her cleverness and beauty without end. The old man was modestly turning the praise aside when they heard the girl cry out in alarm. He ran in: the wine was boiling over and the flames leaping up. He put it out and scolded her: “A great big girl like you, and you can’t tell a slow fire from a fierce one!” Turning, he saw beside the stove a half-finished Zigu doll she had been making out of sorghum pith, and scolded her again: “Hair as thick as that, and still a baby!” He held it out to An. “She was so taken up with this game that she let the wine boil over. And after you praised her so, sir! She should die of shame!” An looked it over closely. The eyebrows, the eyes, the robe were all very finely made. He praised it:
“It is close to child’s play,but it shows a clever mind.”They sat drinking for a while. The girl kept coming in to pour the wine, smiling sweetly, not shy in the least.An gazed at her, and his heart was stirred.Then the old woman called,and the old man went out.Seeing that no one was about,An said to the girl:“The sight of your heavenly facehas robbed me of my soul.I want to send a matchmaker, but I fear it may come to nothing. What do you say?”The girl held the pot to the fireand was silent, as if she had not heard.He asked again and again, but she did not answer.Little by little he came into the inner room.The girl stood upand said sternly:“You madman, coming into my room — what do you mean by it?”An knelt upright and pleaded with her.She made for the door to get away.An leapt up and blocked her way,and forced a kiss on her.The girl cried out in a trembling voice,and the old man hurried in to ask what was wrong.An let go and went out,deeply ashamed and afraid.Calmly the girl said to her father:“The wine boiled over again. If the gentleman hadn’t come, the pot would have melted.”When An heard this his heart was at ease, and he was all the more grateful to her.His soul was turned upside down;he no longer knew what he was about.
So he pretended to be drunk and left the table, and the girl went away too. The old man laid out bedding for him, shut the door and went out. An did not sleep; before dawn he called out his goodbyes and left. As soon as he got home he asked a close friend to go to their house and propose marriage. The friend came back at the end of the day: he had not been able to find the place at all. So An had his servants saddle the horses and went looking himself. When he got there, there were only sheer cliffs and jagged rocks, and no village at all. He asked in the villages nearby; hardly anyone there had that surname. He came home in despair and forgot to eat or sleep. From this he fell into a stupor. When they forced broth or gruel into him, he spat it out and retched. In his delirium he kept calling for Hua Guzi. His family did not understand, but sat around him all night long. His life hung by a thread.
一夜，守者困怠並寐，生矇瞳中，覺有人揣而抁之。略開眸，則花姑子立床下，不覺神氣清醒。熟視女郎，潸潸涕墮。女傾頭笑曰：「癡兒何至此耶？」乃登榻，坐安股上，以兩手為按太陽穴。安覺腦麝奇香，穿鼻沁骨。按數刻，忽覺汗滿天庭，漸達肢體。小語曰：「室中多人，我不便住。三日當復相望。」又於繡祛中出數蒸餅置床頭，悄然遂去。安至中夜，汗已思食，捫餅啗之。不知所苞何料，甘美非常，遂盡三枚。又以衣覆餘餅，懵㥭酣睡，辰分始醒，如釋重負。
一夜，守者困怠并寐，生蒙瞳中，觉有人揣而抁之。略开眸，则花姑子立床下，不觉神气清醒。熟视女郎，潸潸涕堕。女倾头笑曰：「痴儿何至此耶？」乃登榻，坐安股上，以两手为按太阳穴。安觉脑麝奇香，穿鼻沁骨。按数刻，忽觉汗满天庭，渐达肢体。小语曰：「室中多人，我不便住。三日当复相望。」又于绣祛中出数蒸饼置床头，悄然遂去。安至中夜，汗已思食，扪饼啗之。不知所苞何料，甘美非常，遂尽三枚。又以衣覆余饼，懵㥭酣睡，辰分始醒，如释重负。
One night the watchers, worn out, all fell asleep. In his daze An felt someone feeling him and shaking him. He opened his eyes a little: Hua Guzi was standing by the bed. All at once his mind cleared. He gazed at her, and tears streamed down his face. She tilted her head and laughed. “Silly boy, how did you come to this?” She got up on the bed, sat on his thighs, and pressed his temples with both hands. An smelled a rare fragrance like camphor and musk; it went up his nose and into his bones. After she had pressed for some time, he felt sweat break out all over his forehead and spread slowly down his limbs. “There are too many people in the house,” she whispered. “I can’t stay. In three days I’ll come to see you again.” From her embroidered sleeve she took out a few steamed buns and put them by the bed, then quietly went away. By midnight An had sweated it out and wanted food. He felt for the buns and ate. He could not tell what they were filled with, but they were wonderfully sweet, and he ate three. He covered the rest with his clothes and fell into a deep, drowsy sleep. He did not wake till well into the morning, and he felt as if a heavy load had been lifted from him.