金生色，晉寧人也。娶同村木姓女。生一子，方周歲。金忽病，自分必死。謂妻曰：「我死，子必嫁，勿守也！」妻聞之，甘詞厚誓，期以必死。金搖手呼母曰：「我死，勞看阿保，勿令守也。」母哭應之。既而金果死。木媼來弔，哭已，謂金母曰：「天降凶憂，婿遽遭命。女太幼弱，將何為計？」母悲悼中，聞媼言，不勝憤激。盛氣對曰：「必以守！」媼慚而罷。夜伴女寢，私謂曰：「人盡夫也。以兒好手足，何患無良匹？小兒女不早作人家，眈眈守此襁褓物，寧非癡子？倘必令守，不宜以面目好相向。」金母過，頗聞餘語，益恚。明日，謂媼曰：「亡人有遺囑，本不教婦守也。今既急不能待，乃必以守！」媼怒而去。母夜夢子來，涕泣相勸，心異之。使人言於木，約殯後聽婦所適。而詢諸術家，本年墓向不利。婦思自衒以售，縗絰之中，不忘塗澤。居家猶素妝；一歸寧，則嶄然新豔。母知之，心弗善也；以其將為他人婦，亦隱忍之。於是婦益肆。村中有無賴子董貴者，見而好之，以金啗金鄰嫗，求通殷勤於婦。夜分，由嫗家踰垣以達婦所，因與會合。往來積有旬日，醜聲四塞，所不知者惟母耳。婦室夜惟一小婢，婦腹心也。一夕，兩情方洽，聞棺木震響，聲如爆竹。婢在外榻，見亡者自幛後出，帶劍入寢室去。俄聞二人駭詫聲。少頃，董裸奔出。無何，金捽婦髮亦出。婦大嗥。母驚起，見婦赤體走去，方將啟關。問之不答。出門追視，寂不聞聲，竟迷所往。入婦室，燈火猶亮。見男子履，呼婢；婢始戰惕而出，具言其異，相與駭怪而已。董竄過鄰家，團伏牆隅。移時，聞人聲漸息，始起。身無寸縷，苦寒甚戰，將假衣於嫗。視院中一室，雙扉虛掩，因而暫入。暗摸榻上，觸女子足，知為鄰子婦。頓生淫心，乘其寢，潛就私之。婦醒，問：「汝來乎？」應曰：「諾。」婦竟不疑，狎褻備至。先是，鄰子以故赴北村，囑妻掩戶以待其歸。既返，聞室內有聲，疑而審聽，音態絕穢。大怒，操戈入室。董懼，竄於床下。子就戮之。又欲殺妻。妻泣而告以誤，乃釋之。但不解床下何人。呼母起，共火之，僅能辨認。視之，奄有氣息；詰其所來，猶自供吐。而刃傷數處，血溢不止，少頃已絕。嫗倉皇失措，謂子曰：「捉奸而單戮之，子且奈何？」子不得已，遂又殺妻。是夜，木翁方寢，聞戶外拉雜之聲；出窺，則火熾於簷，而縱火人猶彷徨未去。翁大呼，家人畢集。幸火初燃，尚易撲滅。命人操弓弩，逐搜縱火者。見一人趫捷如猿，竟越垣去。垣外乃翁家桃園，園中四繚周墉皆峻固。數人梯登以望，蹤蹟殊杳；惟牆下塊然微動。問之不應，射之而耎。啟扉往驗，則女子白身臥，矢貫胸腦。細燭之，則翁女而金婦也。駭告主人。翁媼驚怛欲絕，不解其故。女合眸，面色灰敗，口氣細於屬絲。使人拔腦矢，不可出；足踏頂項而後出之。女嚶然一呻，血暴注，氣亦遂絕。翁大懼，計無所出。既曙，以實情白金母，長跽哀乞。而金母殊不怨怒，但告以故，令自營葬。金有叔兄生光，怒登翁門，詬數前非。翁慚沮，賂令罷歸。而終不知婦所私者何名。俄鄰子以執奸自首，既薄責逐釋訖；而婦兄馬彪素健訟，具詞控妹冤。官拘嫗；嫗懼，悉供顛末。又喚金母；母託疾，遣生光代質，具陳底裏。於是前狀並發，牽木翁夫婦盡出，一切廉得其情。木以誨女嫁，坐縱婬，笞；使自贖，家產蕩焉。鄰嫗導淫，杖之斃。案乃結。
金生色，晋宁人也。娶同村木姓女。生一子，方周岁。金忽病，自分必死。谓妻曰：「我死，子必嫁，勿守也！」妻闻之，甘词厚誓，期以必死。金摇手呼母曰：「我死，劳看阿保，勿令守也。」母哭应之。既而金果死。木媪来吊，哭已，谓金母曰：「天降凶忧，婿遽遭命。女太幼弱，将何为计？」母悲悼中，闻媪言，不胜愤激。盛气对曰：「必以守！」媪惭而罢。夜伴女寝，私谓曰：「人尽夫也。以儿好手足，何患无良匹？小儿女不早作人家，眈眈守此襁褓物，宁非痴子？倘必令守，不宜以面目好相向。」金母过，颇闻余语，益恚。明日，谓媪曰：「亡人有遗嘱，本不教妇守也。今既急不能待，乃必以守！」媪怒而去。母夜梦子来，涕泣相劝，心异之。使人言于木，约殡后听妇所适。而询诸术家，本年墓向不利。妇思自衒以售，缞绖之中，不忘涂泽。居家犹素妆；一归宁，则崭然新艳。母知之，心弗善也；以其将为他人妇，亦隐忍之。于是妇益肆。村中有无赖子董贵者，见而好之，以金啗金邻妪，求通殷勤于妇。夜分，由妪家逾垣以达妇所，因与会合。往来积有旬日，丑声四塞，所不知者惟母耳。妇室夜惟一小婢，妇腹心也。一夕，两情方洽，闻棺木震响，声如爆竹。婢在外榻，见亡者自幛后出，带剑入寝室去。俄闻二人骇诧声。少顷，董裸奔出。无何，金捽妇发亦出。妇大嗥。母惊起，见妇赤体走去，方将启关。问之不答。出门追视，寂不闻声，竟迷所往。入妇室，灯火犹亮。见男子履，呼婢；婢始战惕而出，具言其异，相与骇怪而已。董窜过邻家，团伏墙隅。移时，闻人声渐息，始起。身无寸缕，苦寒甚战，将假衣于妪。视院中一室，双扉虚掩，因而暂入。暗摸榻上，触女子足，知为邻子妇。顿生淫心，乘其寝，潜就私之。妇醒，问：「汝来乎？」应曰：「诺。」妇竟不疑，狎亵备至。先是，邻子以故赴北村，嘱妻掩户以待其归。既返，闻室内有声，疑而审听，音态绝秽。大怒，操戈入室。董惧，窜于床下。子就戮之。又欲杀妻。妻泣而告以误，乃释之。但不解床下何人。呼母起，共火之，仅能辨认。视之，奄有气息；诘其所来，犹自供吐。而刃伤数处，血溢不止，少顷已绝。妪仓皇失措，谓子曰：「捉奸而单戮之，子且奈何？」子不得已，遂又杀妻。是夜，木翁方寝，闻户外拉杂之声；出窥，则火炽于檐，而纵火人犹彷徨未去。翁大呼，家人毕集。幸火初燃，尚易扑灭。命人操弓弩，逐搜纵火者。见一人趫捷如猿，竟越垣去。垣外乃翁家桃园，园中四缭周墉皆峻固。数人梯登以望，踪迹殊杳；惟墙下块然微动。问之不应，射之而耎。启扉往验，则女子白身卧，矢贯胸脑。细烛之，则翁女而金妇也。骇告主人。翁媪惊怛欲绝，不解其故。女合眸，面色灰败，口气细于属丝。使人拔脑矢，不可出；足踏顶项而后出之。女嘤然一呻，血暴注，气亦遂绝。翁大惧，计无所出。既曙，以实情白金母，长跽哀乞。而金母殊不怨怒，但告以故，令自营葬。金有叔兄生光，怒登翁门，诟数前非。翁惭沮，赂令罢归。而终不知妇所私者何名。俄邻子以执奸自首，既薄责逐释讫；而妇兄马彪素健讼，具词控妹冤。官拘妪；妪惧，悉供颠末。又唤金母；母托疾，遣生光代质，具陈底里。于是前状并发，牵木翁夫妇尽出，一切廉得其情。木以诲女嫁，坐纵婬，笞；使自赎，家产荡焉。邻妪导淫，杖之毙。案乃结。
Jin Shengse was a man of Jinning. He married a girl of the Mu family from his own village, and they had a son, just a year old, when Jin suddenly fell ill. He was sure he was going to die. “When I die,” he told his wife, “you must marry again. Do not stay a widow for me.” His wife answered with sweet words and solemn vows: she would keep faith with him until she died. Jin waved his hand and called his mother. “When I die, please look after Abao,” he said, “and do not make her stay a widow.” His mother wept and promised. Before long Jin did die. Old Mrs. Mu came to mourn him. When she had finished weeping, she said to Jin’s mother, “Heaven has sent this calamity, and my son-in-law is suddenly gone. My daughter is so young and frail. What is she to do?” Jin’s mother, in the midst of her grief, was outraged to hear this. “She will stay a widow!” she answered hotly. Old Mrs. Mu was put to shame and said no more. That night she slept beside her daughter and said to her privately, “Any man can be a husband. Pretty as you are, why worry about finding a good match? A young thing who doesn’t make a new home early, but sits staring over this bundle in swaddling clothes — what is she but a fool? If they insist you stay a widow, don’t show them a pleasant face.” Jin’s mother was passing, overheard the last of this, and was angrier still. The next day she said to Mrs. Mu, “The dead man left word that his wife was not to be kept a widow. But since you are in such a hurry you can’t wait, she will stay a widow!” Old Mrs. Mu went off in a rage. That night Jin’s mother dreamed her son came to her in tears and pleaded with her. She thought it strange, and sent word to the Mus that after the burial the wife could marry whomever she liked. But the diviners she consulted said the grave’s direction was unlucky that year. The wife meant to show herself off to a buyer: even in her mourning hemp she did not forget her powder and paint. At home she still dressed plainly, but whenever she went back to visit her parents she was dazzling in new finery. Jin’s mother knew it and did not like it, but since the girl would soon be another man’s wife, she bore it in silence. And so the wife grew bolder. A village good-for-nothing named Dong Gui saw her and wanted her. He bribed the Jins’ neighbour, an old woman, to carry his attentions to the wife. At midnight he climbed over the wall from the old woman’s house to where the wife lay, and there they came together. This went on for ten days or so. The scandal was everywhere; the only one who did not know was Jin’s mother. At night the wife had only a little maid in her room, who was in her confidence. One evening, just as the two were taking their pleasure, there came a crash from the coffin like a firecracker. The maid, on a couch in the outer room, saw the dead man come out from behind the curtain with a sword at his side and go into the bedroom. A moment later she heard the two of them cry out in terror. Soon Dong ran out naked. Before long Jin came out too, dragging the wife by the hair. The wife howled. Jin’s mother woke in alarm and saw her daughter-in-law walking off naked, about to open the gate. She called to her; there was no answer. She went out after her, but all was silent, and she could not tell where the girl had gone. In the wife’s room the lamp was still burning. She saw a man’s shoes and called the maid. Only then did the maid come out, trembling, and tell her all the strange things she had seen. The two of them could only stare at each other in fright. Dong had fled over into the neighbour’s yard and crouched, curled up, in a corner of the wall. After a while, when the voices had died away, he got up. He hadn’t a stitch on and was shaking with cold, and he meant to borrow some clothes from the old woman. Seeing a room in the courtyard with its double doors pulled to but not barred, he slipped inside. Groping in the dark on the bed, he touched a woman’s foot, and knew it was the wife of the old woman’s son. Lust seized him at once. She was asleep, and he quietly took her. The wife woke. “Is that you back?” she asked. “Yes,” he said. She never suspected him, and they took every liberty with each other. Now the son had gone to the north village on some business, telling his wife to leave the door unbarred until he got home. When he came back he heard noises in the room. Suspicious, he listened closely: the sounds were utterly obscene. In a fury he seized a spear and burst in. Dong, terrified, scrambled under the bed. The son stabbed him there. Then he meant to kill his wife too, but she wept and told him it had been a mistake, and he spared her. Still he had no idea who was under the bed. He called his mother up, and together they brought a light; they could barely make the man out. He was still breathing, just. When they asked how he came to be there, he even confessed it himself. But he had stab wounds in several places, and the blood would not stop, and soon he was dead. The old woman was beside herself. “You caught them in the act and killed only one,” she said to her son. “What will become of you now?” The son had no choice, and killed his wife too. That same night old Mr. Mu was just going to bed when he heard a crackling outside the door. He went out to look: fire was blazing at the eaves, and the one who had set it was still lingering there. Mu shouted, and the whole household came running. Luckily the fire had only just caught and was easily put out. He set men with bows and crossbows to hunt for the fire-raiser. They saw someone, nimble as an ape, go clean over the wall. Beyond the wall was Mu’s peach orchard, closed in on all four sides by high, solid walls. Several men climbed ladders to look, but there was no trace of anyone; only at the foot of the wall a dark lump stirred faintly. They called to it; it did not answer. They shot at it, and it went limp. They opened the gate and went to look: a woman lay there naked, with arrows through her chest and her head. They brought a candle close: it was Mu’s daughter, Jin’s wife. Aghast, they ran to tell their master. Mu and his wife nearly died of the shock, and could make nothing of it. The daughter’s eyes were closed, her face ashen, her breath finer than a silk thread. They tried to pull the arrow from her head, but it would not come; only by setting a foot on her head and neck could they get it out. She gave one faint moan, the blood gushed out, and her breath stopped. Mu was terrified and at his wits’ end. At daybreak he told Jin’s mother the whole truth, and knelt a long time begging her pardon. But Jin’s mother was not angry at all. She only told him how it had come about, and left him to bury the girl himself. Jin had an elder cousin, Shengguang, who came storming to Mu’s door and cursed him, listing all his past wrongs. Mu, ashamed and cowed, paid him to drop the matter and go home. But still no one knew the name of the man the wife had been with. Before long the neighbour’s son gave himself up for killing the adulterers he had caught, and after a light beating he was sent off free. But his wife’s brother, Ma Biao, who was never shy of a lawsuit, filed a complaint that his sister had been wrongly killed. The magistrate had the old woman arrested; frightened, she confessed the whole story from beginning to end. Jin’s mother was summoned too. She pleaded illness and sent Shengguang to testify in her place, and he laid out everything. So the earlier affair came out as well, old Mr. and Mrs. Mu were both dragged in, and every detail was got to the bottom of. For urging their daughter to remarry, the Mus were convicted of abetting lewdness and sentenced to a flogging; they were allowed to buy it off, and it cost them everything they owned. The old neighbour woman, for leading a wife into lewdness, was beaten to death with the heavy rod. And with that the case was closed.