泗水山中，舊有禪院，四無村落，人蹟罕及，有道士棲止其中。或言內多大蛇，故游人益遠之。一少年入山羅鷹。入既深，無所歸宿；遙見蘭若，趨投之。道士驚曰：「居士何來？幸不為兒輩所見！」即命坐，具饘粥。食未已，一巨蛇入，粗十餘圍，昂首向客，怒目電瞛。客大懼。道士以掌擊其額，呵曰：去！」蛇乃俯首入東室。蜿蜒移時，其軀始盡，盤伏其中，一室盡滿。客大懼，搖戰。道士曰：「此平時所豢養。有我在，不妨；所患者，客自遇之耳。」客甫坐，又一蛇入，較前略小，約可五六圍。見客遽止，睒閃吐舌如前狀。道士又叱之，亦入室去。室無臥處，半遶梁間，壁上土搖落有聲。客益懼，終夜不寢。早起欲歸，道士送之。出屋門，見牆上階下，大如盎琖者，行臥不一。見生人，皆有吞噬狀。客懼，依道士肘腋而行，使送出谷口，乃歸。
泗水山中，旧有禅院，四无村落，人迹罕及，有道士栖止其中。或言内多大蛇，故游人益远之。一少年入山罗鹰。入既深，无所归宿；遥见兰若，趋投之。道士惊曰：「居士何来？幸不为儿辈所见！」即命坐，具𫗴粥。食未已，一巨蛇入，粗十余围，昂首向客，怒目电瞛。客大惧。道士以掌击其额，呵曰：去！」蛇乃俯首入东室。蜿蜒移时，其躯始尽，盘伏其中，一室尽满。客大惧，摇战。道士曰：「此平时所豢养。有我在，不妨；所患者，客自遇之耳。」客甫坐，又一蛇入，较前略小，约可五六围。见客遽止，睒闪吐舌如前状。道士又叱之，亦入室去。室无卧处，半绕梁间，壁上土摇落有声。客益惧，终夜不寝。早起欲归，道士送之。出屋门，见墙上阶下，大如盎琖者，行卧不一。见生人，皆有吞噬状。客惧，依道士肘腋而行，使送出谷口，乃归。
In the hills of Sishui there was an old Chan monastery. There were no villages anywhere around it, and few people ever came that way. A Daoist lived in it. Some said there were many big snakes inside, so travellers kept all the further away. A young man went into the hills to net hawks. He went in so deep that he had nowhere to spend the night. Seeing a temple far off, he hurried to it for shelter. The Daoist was startled. “Where have you come from, good layman?” he said. “Lucky my children didn’t see you!” He had him sit down at once and set out a bowl of gruel. Before the young man had finished eating, a huge snake came in, more than ten spans around. It reared its head at the guest, its angry eyes flashing like lightning. The guest was terrified. The Daoist slapped it on the forehead with his palm and shouted, “Go!” The snake lowered its head and went into the east room. It wound on in for a long while before the last of its body was through, and then it lay coiled there, filling the whole room. The guest was terrified and shook all over. “This is one I keep,” said the Daoist. “While I am here it does no harm. The danger would be if you met it on your own.” The guest had hardly sat down when another snake came in, a little smaller than the first, perhaps five or six spans around. Seeing the guest, it stopped short, eyes flashing and tongue flicking, just like the first. The Daoist shouted at it too, and it also went into the room. There was no space left in there to lie, so it wound half its length around the beams, and the mud plaster shook loose from the walls and fell pattering down. The guest was more frightened than ever and did not sleep all night. He rose early to go home, and the Daoist saw him off. Outside the door, on the walls and below the steps, he saw snakes as thick as basins and as thick as cups, some moving, some lying still. At the sight of a stranger they all looked ready to swallow him. Afraid, the guest walked pressed close at the Daoist’s elbow and had him see him all the way out to the mouth of the valley before he went home.