李信，博徒也。晝臥，忽見昔年博友王大、馮九來，邀與敖戲，李亦忘其為鬼，欣然從之。既出，王大往邀村中周子明，馮乃導李先行，入村東廟中。少頃，周果同王至。馮出葉子，約與撩零。李曰：「倉卒無博貲，辜負盛邀，奈何？」周亦云然。王云：「燕子谷黃八官人放利債，同往貸之，宜必諾允。」於是四人並去。飄忽間，至一大村。村中甲第連垣，王指一門，曰：「此黃公子家。」內一老僕出，王告以意。僕即入白。旋出，奉公子命，請王、李相會。入見公子，年十八九，笑語藹然。便以大錢一提付李，曰：「知君愨直，無妨假貸。周子明我不能信之也。」王委曲代為請。公子要李署保，李不肯。王從旁慫恿之，李乃諾。亦授一千而出。便以付周，且述公子之意，以激其必償。出谷，見一婦人來，則村中趙氏妻，素喜爭善罵。馮曰：「此處無人，悍婦宜小祟之。」遂與王捉返入谷。婦大號。馮掬土塞其口。周贊曰：「此等婦，只宜椓杙陰中！」馮乃捋襟，以長石強納之，婦若死。眾乃散去，復入廟，相與博賭。自午至夜分，李大勝，馮、周貲皆空。李因以厚貲增息悉付王，使代償黃公子；王又分給周、馮，局復合。居無何，聞人聲紛拏，一人奔入，曰：「城隍老爺親捉博者，今至矣！」眾失色。李捨錢踰垣而逃。眾顧貲，皆被縛。既出，果見一神人坐馬上，馬後縶博徒二十餘人。天未明，已至邑城，門啟而入。至衙署，城隍南面坐，喚人犯上，執籍呼名。呼已，並令以利斧斫去將指，乃以墨朱各塗兩目，遊市三周訖。押者索賄而後去其墨朱，眾皆賂之。獨周不肯，辭以囊空；押者約送至家而後酬之，亦不許。押者指之曰：「汝真鐵豆，炒之不能爆也！」遂拱手去。周出城，以唾濕袖，且行且拭。及河自照，墨朱未去，掬水盥之，堅不可下，悔恨而歸。先是，趙氏婦以故至母家，日暮不歸。夫往迎之。至谷口，見婦臥道周。睹狀，知其遇鬼，去其泥塞，負之而歸。漸醒能言，始知陰中有物，宛轉抽拔而出。乃述其遭。趙怒，遽赴邑宰，訟李及周。牒下，李初醒；周尚沉睡，狀類死。宰以其誣控，笞趙械婦，夫妻皆無理以自申。越日，周醒，目眶忽變一赤一黑，大呼指痛。視之，筋骨已斷，惟皮連之，數日尋墮。目上墨朱，深入肌理。見者無不掩笑。一日，見王大來索負。周厲聲但言無錢，王忿而去。家人問之，始知其故。共以神鬼無情，勸償之。周齦齦不可，且曰：「今日官宰皆左袒賴債者，陰陽應無二理，況賭債耶！」次日，有二鬼來，謂黃公子具呈在邑，拘赴質審；李信亦見隸來，取作間證：二人一時並死。至村外相見，王、馮俱在。李謂周曰：「君尚帶赤墨眼，敢見官耶？」周仍以前言告。李知其吝，乃曰：「汝既昧心，我請見黃八官人，為汝還之。」遂共詣公子所。李入而告以故，公子不可，曰：「負欠者誰，而取償於子？」出以告周，因謀出貲，假周進之。周益忿，語侵公子。鬼乃拘與俱行。無何，至邑，入見城隍。城隍呵曰：「無賴賊！塗眼猶在，又賴債耶！」周曰：「黃公子出利債，誘某博賭，遂被懲創。」城隍喚黃家僕上，怒曰：「汝主人開場誘賭，尚討債耶？」僕曰：「取貲時，公子不知其賭。公子家燕子谷，捉獲博徒在觀音廟，相去十餘里。公子從無設局場之事。」城隍顧周曰：「取貲悍不還，反被捏造！人之無良，至汝而極！」欲笞之。周又訴其息重。城隍曰：「償幾分矣？」答云：「實尚未有所償。」城隍怒曰：「本貲尚欠，而論息耶？」笞三十，立押償主。二鬼押至家，索賄，不令即活，縛諸廁內，令示夢家人。家人焚楮錠二十提，火既滅，化為金二兩、錢二千。周乃以金酬債，以錢賂押者，遂釋令歸。既蘇，臀創墳起，膿血崩潰，數月始痊。後趙氏婦不敢復罵；而周以四指帶赤墨眼，賭如故。此以知博徒之非人矣！
李信，博徒也。昼卧，忽见昔年博友王大、冯九来，邀与敖戏，李亦忘其为鬼，欣然从之。既出，王大往邀村中周子明，冯乃导李先行，入村东庙中。少顷，周果同王至。冯出叶子，约与撩零。李曰：「仓卒无博赀，辜负盛邀，奈何？」周亦云然。王云：「燕子谷黄八官人放利债，同往贷之，宜必诺允。」于是四人并去。飘忽间，至一大村。村中甲第连垣，王指一门，曰：「此黄公子家。」内一老仆出，王告以意。仆即入白。旋出，奉公子命，请王、李相会。入见公子，年十八九，笑语蔼然。便以大钱一提付李，曰：「知君悫直，无妨假贷。周子明我不能信之也。」王委曲代为请。公子要李署保，李不肯。王从旁怂恿之，李乃诺。亦授一千而出。便以付周，且述公子之意，以激其必偿。出谷，见一妇人来，则村中赵氏妻，素喜争善骂。冯曰：「此处无人，悍妇宜小祟之。」遂与王捉返入谷。妇大号。冯掬土塞其口。周赞曰：「此等妇，只宜椓杙阴中！」冯乃捋襟，以长石强纳之，妇若死。众乃散去，复入庙，相与博赌。自午至夜分，李大胜，冯、周赀皆空。李因以厚赀增息悉付王，使代偿黄公子；王又分给周、冯，局复合。居无何，闻人声纷拏，一人奔入，曰：「城隍老爷亲捉博者，今至矣！」众失色。李舍钱逾垣而逃。众顾赀，皆被缚。既出，果见一神人坐马上，马后絷博徒二十余人。天未明，已至邑城，门启而入。至衙署，城隍南面坐，唤人犯上，执籍呼名。呼已，并令以利斧斫去将指，乃以墨朱各涂两目，游市三周讫。押者索贿而后去其墨朱，众皆赂之。独周不肯，辞以囊空；押者约送至家而后酬之，亦不许。押者指之曰：「汝真铁豆，炒之不能爆也！」遂拱手去。周出城，以唾湿袖，且行且拭。及河自照，墨朱未去，掬水盥之，坚不可下，悔恨而归。先是，赵氏妇以故至母家，日暮不归。夫往迎之。至谷口，见妇卧道周。睹状，知其遇鬼，去其泥塞，负之而归。渐醒能言，始知阴中有物，宛转抽拔而出。乃述其遭。赵怒，遽赴邑宰，讼李及周。牒下，李初醒；周尚沉睡，状类死。宰以其诬控，笞赵械妇，夫妻皆无理以自申。越日，周醒，目眶忽变一赤一黑，大呼指痛。视之，筋骨已断，惟皮连之，数日寻堕。目上墨朱，深入肌理。见者无不掩笑。一日，见王大来索负。周厉声但言无钱，王忿而去。家人问之，始知其故。共以神鬼无情，劝偿之。周龈龈不可，且曰：「今日官宰皆左袒赖债者，阴阳应无二理，况赌债耶！」次日，有二鬼来，谓黄公子具呈在邑，拘赴质审；李信亦见隶来，取作间证：二人一时并死。至村外相见，王、冯俱在。李谓周曰：「君尚带赤墨眼，敢见官耶？」周仍以前言告。李知其吝，乃曰：「汝既昧心，我请见黄八官人，为汝还之。」遂共诣公子所。李入而告以故，公子不可，曰：「负欠者谁，而取偿于子？」出以告周，因谋出赀，假周进之。周益忿，语侵公子。鬼乃拘与俱行。无何，至邑，入见城隍。城隍呵曰：「无赖贼！涂眼犹在，又赖债耶！」周曰：「黄公子出利债，诱某博赌，遂被惩创。」城隍唤黄家仆上，怒曰：「汝主人开场诱赌，尚讨债耶？」仆曰：「取赀时，公子不知其赌。公子家燕子谷，捉获博徒在观音庙，相去十余里。公子从无设局场之事。」城隍顾周曰：「取赀悍不还，反被捏造！人之无良，至汝而极！」欲笞之。周又诉其息重。城隍曰：「偿几分矣？」答云：「实尚未有所偿。」城隍怒曰：「本赀尚欠，而论息耶？」笞三十，立押偿主。二鬼押至家，索贿，不令即活，缚诸厕内，令示梦家人。家人焚楮锭二十提，火既灭，化为金二两、钱二千。周乃以金酬债，以钱赂押者，遂释令归。既苏，臀创坟起，脓血崩溃，数月始痊。后赵氏妇不敢复骂；而周以四指带赤墨眼，赌如故。此以知博徒之非人矣！
Li Xin was a gambler. He was lying down one afternoon when he suddenly saw Wang Da and Feng Jiu, gambling friends from years gone by, come to ask him out for some fun. Li, too, forgot that they were ghosts, and gladly went along. Once they were outside, Wang went to fetch Zhou Ziming of the village, while Feng led Li on ahead into the temple east of the village. Before long Zhou did come with Wang. Feng brought out his leaf cards and proposed a game. “I came out in such a hurry I have nothing to stake,” said Li. “It’s a shame to waste your kind invitation. What can I do?” Zhou said the same. “Eighth Master Huang of Yanzi Valley lends money at interest,” said Wang. “Let’s all go and borrow from him. He’s sure to agree.” So the four of them set off. In a drifting moment they came to a large village, full of great mansions, wall against wall. Wang pointed to a gate. “This is young Master Huang’s house.” An old servant came out, and Wang told him their business. The servant went in to report and soon came out again: by the young master’s orders, he asked Wang and Li to come in. They went in to see the young master. He was eighteen or nineteen, smiling and easy in his talk. He handed Li a string of cash and said, “I know you are an honest, straightforward man. I don’t mind lending to you. Zhou Ziming I cannot trust.” Wang pleaded for Zhou at length. The young master wanted Li to sign as guarantor. Li would not, but Wang urged him on from the side, and Li agreed. The young master gave them another thousand cash as well, and they came out. Li handed it to Zhou and told him what the young master had said, to press on him that he must pay it back. As they came out of the valley they saw a woman coming toward them. It was the wife of a man named Zhao from their village, who loved a quarrel and was always cursing. “There’s nobody about,” said Feng. “That shrew ought to be haunted a little.” He and Wang caught her and dragged her back into the valley. The woman screamed. Feng scooped up a handful of earth and stuffed it in her mouth. “A woman like that,” said Zhou approvingly, “ought to have a stake hammered up her privates!” So Feng pulled up her clothes and forced a long stone into her. The woman lay as if dead. They all went off, back into the temple, and set to gambling. From noon until midnight Li won heavily, and Feng and Zhou lost everything they had. So Li took a large sum, added the interest, and gave it all to Wang to repay young Master Huang for him. Wang in turn handed money out to Zhou and Feng, and the game started up again. Before long there was a great commotion of voices, and a man ran in. “His Honour the City God is coming to catch the gamblers himself! He’s here!” They all turned pale. Li left his money and fled over the wall. The others stopped to gather up their money, and were all tied up. When they came out, there was indeed a god sitting on a horse, with more than twenty gamblers roped behind it. Before dawn they had reached the county town; the gate opened and they went in. At the yamen the City God sat facing south and had the offenders brought up. He held the register and called their names. When he had done, he had each one’s middle finger cut off with a sharp axe, had their two eyes daubed, one with ink and one with vermilion, and had them paraded three times round the market. The escorts asked for bribes before they would take off the ink and vermilion, and everyone paid. Only Zhou refused, pleading an empty purse. The escort offered to see him home and be paid there; he would not agree to that either. The escort pointed at him. “You’re a real iron bean! Roast you all you like, you’ll never pop!” And he cupped his hands and left. Zhou went out of the town, wetting his sleeve with spit and rubbing as he walked. When he came to the river and looked at himself, the ink and vermilion had not come off. He scooped up water and washed, but it would not budge. He went home full of regret. Earlier, Zhao’s wife had gone to her mother’s house on some errand and had not come back by dusk. Her husband went to meet her. At the mouth of the valley he found her lying by the road. Seeing the state she was in, he knew she had met with ghosts. He took out the mud that stopped her mouth and carried her home on his back. Little by little she came to and could speak. Only then did they find there was something inside her, and they worked it this way and that until they pulled it out. She told what had happened to her. Zhao, in a rage, went straight to the county magistrate and brought a suit against Li and Zhou. When the summons came down, Li had only just woken; Zhou was still deep asleep, like a dead man. The magistrate judged it a false accusation. He had Zhao flogged and his wife put in irons, and neither husband nor wife had any way to make their case. The next day Zhou woke. The rims of his eyes had suddenly turned, one red and one black, and he cried out that his finger hurt. They looked: sinew and bone were cut through, and it hung only by the skin. In a few days it dropped off. The ink and vermilion round his eyes had sunk deep into the flesh. Everyone who saw him covered his mouth and laughed. One day he saw Wang Da come to collect the debt. Zhou only said loudly that he had no money, and Wang went away angry. When his family asked, they learned the story at last. They all said that gods and ghosts have no mercy, and urged him to pay. Zhou stubbornly refused. “These days,” he said, “the officials all take the side of men who won’t pay their debts. It must be the same among the dead as among the living — and a gambling debt at that!” The next day two ghosts came and said that young Master Huang had lodged a complaint at the county, and they were to take Zhou to answer it. Li Xin likewise saw constables come for him, to take him as a witness. The two men died at the same moment. Outside the village they met; Wang and Feng were both there. “You still have your red and black eyes,” Li said to Zhou. “Do you dare face the court?” Zhou told him the same as before. Li knew how mean he was. “Since you will go against your conscience,” he said, “let me go and see Eighth Master Huang and pay it back for you.” So they all went together to the young master’s. Li went in and explained. The young master would not have it. “Who is it that owes me? And I should take payment from you?” Li came out and told Zhou, and proposed to put up the money himself and let Zhou hand it over. Zhou grew angrier still and spoke insultingly of the young master. So the ghosts took them away together. Before long they reached the county town and went in before the City God. “You scoundrel!” the City God shouted. “Your eyes are still painted, and you’re dodging a debt again?” “Young Master Huang lends money at interest,” said Zhou. “He lured me into gambling, and so I was punished.” The City God called up Huang’s servant. “Your master runs a gambling den to lure people in,” he said angrily, “and still he wants his debts paid?” “When the money was borrowed,” said the servant, “my young master did not know it was for gambling. He lives in Yanzi Valley; the gamblers were caught at the Guanyin Temple, more than ten li away. My young master has never set up a gambling table in his life.” The City God turned to Zhou. “You took the money and flatly refuse to pay, and on top of that you make up lies! Of all men without conscience, you are the worst!” He was about to have him flogged. Zhou then complained that the interest was heavy. “How much have you paid back?” asked the City God. “In truth, nothing yet.” “You still owe the principal,” the City God said angrily, “and you talk about interest?” Thirty strokes, and Zhou was to be taken at once to pay his creditor. The two ghosts took him home and asked for a bribe. They would not let him come back to life, but tied him up in the privy and made him appear to his family in a dream. The family burned twenty strings of paper ingots. When the fire went out, these had turned into two taels of gold and two thousand cash. Zhou paid the debt with the gold and bribed the escorts with the cash, and they let him go home. When he came to, his buttocks were swollen up in mounds and bursting with pus and blood, and it was months before they healed. After that, Zhao’s wife never dared curse again; and Zhou, with his four fingers and his red and black eyes, gambled as before. From this you may know that gamblers are not human!