姚安，臨洮人，美丰標。同里宮姓，有女子字綠娥，豔而知書，擇偶不嫁。母語人曰：「門族風采，必如姚某始字之。」姚聞，紿妻窺井，擠墮之，遂娶綠娥。雅甚親愛。然以其美也，故疑之：閉戶相守，步輒綴焉；女欲歸寧，則以兩肘支袍，覆翼以出，入輿封誌，而後馳隨其後，越宿，促與俱歸。女心不能善，忿曰：「若有桑中約，豈瑣瑣所能止耶！」姚以故他往，則扃女室中，女益厭之；俟其去，故以他鑰置門外以疑之。姚見大怒，問所自來。女憤言：「不知！」姚愈疑，伺察彌嚴。一日，自外至，潛聽久之，乃開鎖啟扉，惟恐其響，悄然掩入。見一男子貂冠臥床上。忿怒，取刀奔入，力斬之。近視，則女晝眠畏寒，以貂覆面上。大駭，頓足自悔。宮翁忿質官。官收姚，褫衿苦械。姚破產，以巨金賂上下，得不死。由此精神迷惘，若有所失。適獨坐，見女與髯丈夫，狎褻榻上，惡之，操刃而往，則沒矣；反坐，又見之。怒甚，以刀擊榻，席褥斷裂。憤然執刃，近榻以伺之，見女立面前，視之而笑。遽砍之，立斷其首；既坐，女不移處，而笑如故。夜間滅燭，則聞淫溺之聲，褻不可言。日日如是，不復可忍，於是鬻其田宅，將卜居他所。至夜，偷兒穴壁入，劫金而去。自此貧無立錐，忿恚而死。里人藁葬之。
姚安，临洮人，美丰标。同里宫姓，有女子字绿娥，艳而知书，择偶不嫁。母语人曰：「门族风采，必如姚某始字之。」姚闻，绐妻窥井，挤堕之，遂娶绿娥。雅甚亲爱。然以其美也，故疑之：闭户相守，步辄缀焉；女欲归宁，则以两肘支袍，覆翼以出，入舆封志，而后驰随其后，越宿，促与俱归。女心不能善，忿曰：「若有桑中约，岂琐琐所能止耶！」姚以故他往，则扃女室中，女益厌之；俟其去，故以他钥置门外以疑之。姚见大怒，问所自来。女愤言：「不知！」姚愈疑，伺察弥严。一日，自外至，潜听久之，乃开锁启扉，惟恐其响，悄然掩入。见一男子貂冠卧床上。忿怒，取刀奔入，力斩之。近视，则女昼眠畏寒，以貂覆面上。大骇，顿足自悔。宫翁忿质官。官收姚，褫衿苦械。姚破产，以巨金赂上下，得不死。由此精神迷惘，若有所失。适独坐，见女与髯丈夫，狎亵榻上，恶之，操刃而往，则没矣；反坐，又见之。怒甚，以刀击榻，席褥断裂。愤然执刃，近榻以伺之，见女立面前，视之而笑。遽砍之，立断其首；既坐，女不移处，而笑如故。夜间灭烛，则闻淫溺之声，亵不可言。日日如是，不复可忍，于是鬻其田宅，将卜居他所。至夜，偷儿穴壁入，劫金而去。自此贫无立锥，忿恚而死。里人藁葬之。
Yao An, a man of Lintao, was handsome and dashing. In the same village lived a family named Gong with a daughter called Lü’e, beautiful and well read, who was so particular about a match that she stayed unmarried. Her mother told people, “Family and looks — he must be like that Yao before I promise her to anyone.” Yao heard of it. He tricked his wife into looking down a well, pushed her in, and so married Lü’e. He loved her dearly. But because she was beautiful, he suspected her. He kept the doors shut and watched over her, and wherever she stepped he was at her heels. When she wanted to visit her parents, he would spread out his robe with both elbows and take her out under it like a bird sheltering under its wing. Once she was in the sedan chair he sealed it and marked the seal, then rode hard behind it. After a single night he would hurry her home with him. She could not take it kindly. “If I had a tryst among the mulberries,” she said angrily, “do you think these petty tricks would stop me?” When Yao had to go off on some business, he locked her in her room, and she loathed it all the more. Once he was gone, she deliberately left a different key outside the door to make him suspicious. Yao saw it and flew into a rage, demanding where it came from. “I don’t know!” she said furiously. Yao’s suspicion grew, and he watched her more closely than ever. One day he came home and listened in secret for a long time. Then he unlocked the door and eased it open, afraid it would creak, and slipped in without a sound. He saw a man in a sable cap lying on the bed. In a fury he seized a knife, rushed in, and hacked at him with all his strength. When he looked closer, it was his wife: she had been napping in the daytime and, feeling the cold, had laid a sable over her face. Horrified, he stamped his feet in remorse. Old Gong, in a rage, took him before the magistrate. The magistrate had Yao arrested, stripped him of his scholar’s gown, and put him to the torture. Yao ruined himself, bribing high and low with great sums, and escaped death. From then on his mind was clouded, as if he had lost something. Once, sitting alone, he saw his wife with a bearded man, fondling each other lewdly on the couch. Sickened, he took up a blade and went at them, but they vanished. When he sat back down, he saw them again. In a great rage he struck the couch with the knife, slashing through the mat and the bedding. Furious, he stood by the couch, knife in hand, waiting for them. Then he saw his wife standing in front of him, looking at him and laughing. He struck at once and cut off her head; but when he sat down, she had not moved from the spot, and was laughing as before. At night, when he put out the candle, he heard sounds of lust and abandon, too obscene to describe. It went on day after day until he could bear it no longer. So he sold his land and house, meaning to settle somewhere else. That night a thief dug through the wall and made off with the money. After that he had not enough ground left to stand an awl on, and he died of rage and bitterness. The villagers buried him wrapped in straw.