邑劉姓，虎而冠者也。後去淄居沂，習氣不除，鄉人咸畏惡之。有田數畝，與苗某連壠。苗勤，田畔多種桃。桃初實，子往攀摘；劉怒驅之，指為己有。子啼而告諸父。父方駭怪，劉已詬罵在門，且言將訟。苗笑慰之。怒不解，忿而去。時有同邑李翠石作典商於沂，劉持狀入城，適與之遇。以同鄉故相熟，問：「作何幹？」劉以告。李笑曰：「子聲望眾所共知；我素識苗，甚平善，何敢占騙。將毋反言之也！」乃碎其詞紙，曳入肆，將與調停。劉恨恨不已，竊肆中筆，復造狀，藏懷中，期以必告。未幾，苗至，細陳所以，因哀李為之解免。言：「我農人，半世不見官長。但得罷訟，數株桃，何敢執為己有。」李呼劉出，告以退讓之意。劉又指天畫地，叱罵不休；苗惟和色卑詞，無敢少辯。既罷，逾四五日，見其村中人，傳劉已死，李為驚嘆。異日他適，見杖而來者，儼然劉也。比至，殷殷問訊，且請顧臨。李逡巡問曰：「日前忽聞凶訃，一何妄也？」劉不答，但挽入村，至其家，羅漿酒焉。乃言：「前日之傳非妄也。曩出門，見二人來，捉見官府。問何事，但言不知。自思出入衙門數十年，非怯見官長者，亦不為怖。從去，至公廨，見南面者有怒容，曰：『汝即某耶？罪惡貫盈，不自悛悔；又以他人之物，占為己有。此等橫暴，合置鐺鼎！』一人稽簿曰：『此人有一善，合不死。』南面者閱簿，其色稍霽。便云：『暫送他去。』數十人齊聲呵逐。余曰：『因何事勾我來？又因何事遣我去？還祈明示。』吏持簿下，指一條示之。上記：崇禎十三年，用錢三百，救一人夫婦完聚。吏曰：『非此，則今日命當絕，宜墮畜生道。』駭極，乃從二人出。二人索賄。怒告曰：『不知劉某出入公門二十年，耑勒人財者，何得向老虎討肉喫耶！』二人乃不復言。送至村，拱手曰：『此役不曾噉得一掬水。』二人既去，入門遂甦，時氣絕已隔日矣。」李聞而異之，因詰其善行顛末。初，崇禎十三年，歲大凶，人相食。劉時在淄，為主捕隸。適見男女哭甚哀，問之，答云：「夫婦聚裁年餘，今歲荒，不能兩全，故悲耳。」少時，油肆前復見之，似有所爭。近詰之。肆主馬姓者便云：「伊夫婦餓將死，日向我討麻醬以為活。今又欲賣婦於我。我家中已買十餘口矣。此何要緊？賤則售之，否則已耳。如此可笑，生來纏人！」男子因言：「今粟貴如珠，自度非得三百數，不足供逃亡之費。本欲兩生，若賣妻而不免於死，何敢焉？非敢言直，但求作陰騭行之耳。」劉憐之，便問馬出幾何。馬言：「今日婦口，止直百許耳。」劉請勿短其數，且願助以半價之資。馬執不可。劉少負氣，便謂男子：「彼鄙瑣不足道，我請如數相贈。若能逃荒，又全夫婦，不更佳耶？」遂發囊與之。夫妻泣拜而去。劉述此事，李大加獎嘆。劉自此前行頓改，今七旬猶健。去年，李詣周村，遇劉與人爭，眾圍勸不能解。李笑呼曰：「汝又欲訟桃樹耶？」劉芒然改容，吶吶斂手而退。
邑刘姓，虎而冠者也。后去淄居沂，习气不除，乡人咸畏恶之。有田数亩，与苗某连垅。苗勤，田畔多种桃。桃初实，子往攀摘；刘怒驱之，指为己有。子啼而告诸父。父方骇怪，刘已诟骂在门，且言将讼。苗笑慰之。怒不解，忿而去。时有同邑李翠石作典商于沂，刘持状入城，适与之遇。以同乡故相熟，问：「作何干？」刘以告。李笑曰：「子声望众所共知；我素识苗，甚平善，何敢占骗。将毋反言之也！」乃碎其词纸，曳入肆，将与调停。刘恨恨不已，窃肆中笔，复造状，藏怀中，期以必告。未几，苗至，细陈所以，因哀李为之解免。言：「我农人，半世不见官长。但得罢讼，数株桃，何敢执为己有。」李呼刘出，告以退让之意。刘又指天画地，叱骂不休；苗惟和色卑词，无敢少辩。既罢，逾四五日，见其村中人，传刘已死，李为惊叹。异日他适，见杖而来者，俨然刘也。比至，殷殷问讯，且请顾临。李逡巡问曰：「日前忽闻凶讣，一何妄也？」刘不答，但挽入村，至其家，罗浆酒焉。乃言：「前日之传非妄也。曩出门，见二人来，捉见官府。问何事，但言不知。自思出入衙门数十年，非怯见官长者，亦不为怖。从去，至公廨，见南面者有怒容，曰：『汝即某耶？罪恶贯盈，不自悛悔；又以他人之物，占为己有。此等横暴，合置铛鼎！』一人稽簿曰：『此人有一善，合不死。』南面者阅簿，其色稍霁。便云：『暂送他去。』数十人齐声呵逐。余曰：『因何事勾我来？又因何事遣我去？还祈明示。』吏持簿下，指一条示之。上记：崇祯十三年，用钱三百，救一人夫妇完聚。吏曰：『非此，则今日命当绝，宜堕畜生道。』骇极，乃从二人出。二人索贿。怒告曰：『不知刘某出入公门二十年，耑勒人财者，何得向老虎讨肉吃耶！』二人乃不复言。送至村，拱手曰：『此役不曾噉得一掬水。』二人既去，入门遂甦，时气绝已隔日矣。」李闻而异之，因诘其善行颠末。初，崇祯十三年，岁大凶，人相食。刘时在淄，为主捕隶。适见男女哭甚哀，问之，答云：「夫妇聚裁年余，今岁荒，不能两全，故悲耳。」少时，油肆前复见之，似有所争。近诘之。肆主马姓者便云：「伊夫妇饿将死，日向我讨麻酱以为活。今又欲卖妇于我。我家中已买十余口矣。此何要紧？贱则售之，否则已耳。如此可笑，生来缠人！」男子因言：「今粟贵如珠，自度非得三百数，不足供逃亡之费。本欲两生，若卖妻而不免于死，何敢焉？非敢言直，但求作阴骘行之耳。」刘怜之，便问马出几何。马言：「今日妇口，止直百许耳。」刘请勿短其数，且愿助以半价之资。马执不可。刘少负气，便谓男子：「彼鄙琐不足道，我请如数相赠。若能逃荒，又全夫妇，不更佳耶？」遂发囊与之。夫妻泣拜而去。刘述此事，李大加奖叹。刘自此前行顿改，今七旬犹健。去年，李诣周村，遇刘与人争，众围劝不能解。李笑呼曰：「汝又欲讼桃树耶？」刘芒然改容，呐呐敛手而退。
In my county there was a man surnamed Liu, a tiger in a man’s cap. Later he left Zichuan and settled in Yizhou, but his old ways stayed with him, and the country people all feared and hated him. He had a few mu of land whose ridges ran alongside the field of a man named Miao. Miao was hardworking and had planted many peach trees along the edge of his field. When the trees first bore fruit, Miao’s son climbed up to pick some; Liu drove him off in a rage, declaring the trees his. The boy ran crying to tell his father. The father was still wondering at it in alarm when Liu was already at his gate, cursing, and saying he would go to law. Miao laughed and tried to calm him. Liu’s anger did not cool, and he went off fuming. At that time Li Cuishi, also of my county, was in business as a pawnbroker in Yizhou. Liu was taking his complaint into the city when he happened to meet him. Being from the same county, the two knew each other well. “What are you up to?” Li asked. Liu told him. Li laughed. “Everyone knows your reputation. And I have long known Miao: a very mild, decent man. How would he dare cheat you out of anything? Haven’t you got it the wrong way round?” He tore up the complaint and pulled Liu into his shop, meaning to make peace between them. Liu seethed. He stole a brush in the shop, wrote the complaint out again and hid it in his robe, set on bringing the suit no matter what. Before long Miao arrived, laid out the whole matter, and begged Li to get him out of it. “I am a farmer,” he said. “In half a lifetime I have never set eyes on an official. If only the suit is dropped — a few peach trees, how would I dare insist they’re mine?” Li called Liu out and told him Miao was ready to give way. Again Liu pointed at the sky and stabbed at the ground, cursing on and on; Miao only kept a mild face and humble words, and did not dare argue in the least. That was the end of it. Four or five days later Li met someone from their village, who told him Liu was dead. Li was astonished and sighed over it. Another day, going elsewhere, he saw a man coming toward him with a stick: Liu, to the life. When he came up, he asked warmly after Li and invited him to visit. Li hung back. “A few days ago I suddenly heard that you had died,” he said. “How could the news be so false?” Liu did not answer, but took him by the arm into the village, to his house, and set out drink and wine. Then he said: “What you heard the other day was not false. That day I went out of my gate and saw two men coming. They seized me to bring me before the authorities. When I asked what for, they only said they didn’t know. I told myself I had been in and out of government offices for decades and was not one to be afraid of officials, so I wasn’t frightened. I went with them to a hall of office and saw the gentleman sitting up there facing south, looking angry. ‘So you are Liu?’ he said. ‘Your crimes are full to the brim, and you never repent. And now you take another man’s property for your own. Brutality like this belongs in the cauldron!’ One of them checked a register and said, ‘This man has one good deed. He should not die.’ The one facing south read the register, and his face cleared a little. ‘Send him back for now,’ he said. Dozens of voices shouted together to drive me out. I said, ‘What did you fetch me here for? And what are you sending me away for? I beg you to make it plain.’ A clerk came down holding the register and pointed out an entry. It said: Thirteenth year of Chongzhen: spent three hundred in cash to save a man and keep husband and wife together. ‘If not for this,’ said the clerk, ‘your life would have ended today, and you would have fallen to rebirth as a beast.’ I was terrified, and followed the two men out. The two asked me for a bribe. I told them angrily, ‘Don’t you know that I, Liu, have worked in government offices for twenty years, and squeezing money out of people is my trade? What are you doing asking a tiger for meat?’ At that they said no more. They saw me to the village, joined their hands in salute, and said, ‘Not so much as a handful of water out of this job.’ When they had gone, I came in through my gate and revived. By then I had stopped breathing for a whole day.” Li marvelled at this, and asked for the whole story of the good deed. Back in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen there had been a great famine, and people were eating one another. Liu was then in Zichuan, serving as head of the constables. One day he came upon a man and a woman weeping bitterly. When he asked them why, they answered, “We have been married only a year and a little more. This year there is famine and we cannot both survive, and so we grieve.” A little later he saw them again in front of an oil shop, seemingly in some dispute. He went closer and asked. The owner of the shop, a man named Ma, said: “These two are starving to death. Every day they come begging sesame paste off me to keep alive. Now he wants to sell me his wife. I’ve already bought more than ten people for my household. What do I need her for? If she’s cheap I’ll take her; if not, that’s that. It’s ridiculous, coming here pestering me!” The man said, “Grain is as dear as pearls now. I reckon unless I get three hundred, it won’t cover the cost of fleeing the famine. The whole point is for both of us to live; if I sold my wife and still couldn’t escape death, how could I bring myself to do it? I don’t dare talk of a fair price. I only beg you to do it as an act of hidden merit.” Liu pitied him, and asked how much Ma would give. Ma said, “A woman these days fetches only a hundred or so.” Liu asked him not to cut the price, and offered to put up half the money himself. Ma flatly refused. Liu’s pride was stung, and he said to the man, “He’s a petty miser, not worth talking to. Let me give you the full amount. If you can escape the famine and keep husband and wife together, won’t that be better still?” He opened his purse and gave it to them. Husband and wife bowed to him in tears and went away. When Liu had told this story, Li praised him warmly. From then on Liu mended his old ways at once. He is past seventy now and still hale. Last year Li went to Zhoucun and came upon Liu quarrelling with someone; a crowd had gathered round trying to talk them out of it, and could not. Li called out, laughing, “Going to sue over a peach tree again?” Liu looked lost, and his face changed. Mumbling, he let his hands fall and backed away.