第十九篇第十九篇Story Nineteen

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犬奸

犬奸

Story Nineteen · Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio

Adultery with a Dog

A line drawing in the manner of a late-Qing lithographed edition: in the main hall of a county court by day, a bearded magistrate in a winged black cap sits behind a draped bench before a screen of waves and clouds, while a kneeling woman in plain clothes glances anxiously aside at a white dog held on a rope by a runner at the right, and a second runner with a staff stands at the left.

青州賈某,客于外,恆經歲不歸。家畜一白犬,妻引與交,犬習為常。一日,夫至,與妻共臥。犬突入,登榻,嚙賈人竟死。後里舍稍聞之,共為不平,鳴于官。官械婦,婦不肯伏,收之。命縛犬來,始取婦出。犬忽見婦,直前碎衣作交狀。婦始無詞。使兩役解部院,一解人而一解犬。有欲觀其合者,共斂錢賂役,役乃牽聚令交。所止處,觀者常數百人,役以此網利焉。後人犬俱寸磔以死。嗚呼!天地之大,真無所不有矣。然人面而獸交者,獨一婦也乎哉?

青州贾某,客于外,恒经岁不归。家畜一白犬,妻引与交,犬习为常。一日,夫至,与妻共卧。犬突入,登榻,啮贾人竟死。后里舍稍闻之,共为不平,鸣于官。官械妇,妇不肯伏,收之。命缚犬来,始取妇出。犬忽见妇,直前碎衣作交状。妇始无词。使两役解部院,一解人而一解犬。有欲观其合者,共敛钱赂役,役乃牵聚令交。所止处,观者常数百人,役以此网利焉。后人犬俱寸磔以死。呜呼!天地之大,真无所不有矣。然人面而兽交者,独一妇也乎哉?

A merchant of Qingzhou was often away from home trading, sometimes for a whole year without coming back. The household kept a white dog. His wife led it to couple with her, and the dog grew used to it. One day the husband came home and went to bed with his wife. The dog burst in, sprang onto the bed and bit the merchant to death. Later the neighbours came to hear something of it. Indignant, they went together and reported it to the authorities. The official had the woman put in irons, but she would not confess, so he had her locked up. Then he ordered the dog bound and brought in, and only after that had the woman fetched out. The moment the dog saw her it went straight at her, tore her clothes and made to couple with her. Only then had she nothing to say. The official sent two runners to take them under escort to the governor’s court, one escorting the woman and the other the dog. There were people who wanted to watch the two couple, and they pooled their money to bribe the runners; the runners would then bring the pair together and make them do it. Wherever they stopped there were often several hundred onlookers, and the runners netted a profit from it. In the end woman and dog were both put to death by slicing. Alas! Heaven and earth are vast, and truly there is nothing they do not hold. Yet those with human faces who couple like beasts — is this woman the only one?

異史氏為之判曰:「會于濮上,古所交譏;約于桑中,人且不齒。乃某者,不堪雌守之苦,浪思苟合之歡。夜叉伏床,竟是家中牝獸;捷卿入竇,遂為被底情郎。雲雨臺前,亂搖續貂之尾;溫柔鄉里,頻款曳象之腰。銳錐處於皮囊,一縱股而脫穎;留情結于鏃項,甫飲羽而生根。忽思異類之交,真屬匪夷之想。厖吠奸而為奸,妒殘凶殺,律難治以蕭曹;人非獸而實獸,奸穢淫腥,肉不食于豺虎。嗚呼!人奸殺,則擬女以剮;至於狗奸殺,陽世遂無其刑。人不良,則罰人作犬;至於犬不良,陰曹應窮于法。宜支解以追魂魄,請押赴以問閻羅。」

异史氏为之判曰:「会于濮上,古所交讥;约于桑中,人且不齿。乃某者,不堪雌守之苦,浪思苟合之欢。夜叉伏床,竟是家中牝兽;捷卿入窦,遂为被底情郎。云雨台前,乱摇续貂之尾;温柔乡里,频款曳象之腰。锐锥处于皮囊,一纵股而脱颖;留情结于镞项,甫饮羽而生根。忽思异类之交,真属匪夷之想。厖吠奸而为奸,妒残凶杀,律难治以萧曹;人非兽而实兽,奸秽淫腥,肉不食于豺虎。呜呼!人奸杀,则拟女以剐;至于狗奸杀,阳世遂无其刑。人不良,则罚人作犬;至于犬不良,阴曹应穷于法。宜支解以追魂魄,请押赴以问阎罗。」

The Historian of the Strange wrote this judgment on the case: Trysts on the banks of the Pu were condemned on all sides in ancient times; assignations among the mulberries people still scorn to speak of. Yet this woman, unable to bear the hardship of keeping a lonely watch as a wife, let her thoughts stray wildly after the pleasures of a furtive union. The yaksha crouching on the bed turned out to be the she-beast of the house; Sir Nimble slipped in through the hole and became the sweetheart beneath the quilt. Before the Terrace of Clouds and Rain he wagged wildly the tail that eked out the sable; in the Land of Tenderness he kept plying a waist strong enough to haul an elephant. The sharp awl lay in the leather bag: at one thrust of the haunches its point broke through. Love tied its knot at the neck of the arrowhead: no sooner had it sunk to the feathers than it took root. To dream suddenly of union with another kind — that was truly a thought beyond all thinking. The shaggy dog kept to bark at intruders turned adulterer himself — jealous, savage, murderous — and even the laws of Xiao and Cao could hardly try him. The woman was no beast and yet in truth a beast, so foul in her lust, so rank, that her flesh jackals and tigers would not eat. Alas! When a human lover kills, the law sentences the woman to be sliced; but when the lover is a dog and kills, the world of the living has no punishment for it. When a man does wrong, he is punished by being made a dog; but when a dog does wrong, the underworld must be at a loss for a law. Let them be torn limb from limb, so that their souls may be hunted down, and I ask that they be sent under guard for Yama to examine.

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