萊蕪秀才李中之，性直諒不阿，每數日，輒死去，僵然如尸，三四日始醒。或問所見，則隱秘不泄。時邑有張生者，亦數日一死。語人曰：「李中之，閻羅也。余至陰司，亦其屬曹。」其門殿對聯，俱能述之。或問：「李昨赴陰司何事？」張曰：「不能具述。惟提勘曹操，笞二十。」
莱芜秀才李中之，性直谅不阿，每数日，辄死去，僵然如尸，三四日始醒。或问所见，则隐秘不泄。时邑有张生者，亦数日一死。语人曰：「李中之，阎罗也。余至阴司，亦其属曹。」其门殿对联，俱能述之。或问：「李昨赴阴司何事？」张曰：「不能具述。惟提勘曹操，笞二十。」
Li Zhongzhi, a licentiate of Laiwu, was upright and sincere by nature and bowed to no one. Every few days he would die: he lay stiff as a corpse, and only after three or four days did he come to. When people asked what he had seen, he kept it secret and would tell nothing. At that time there was a scholar in the same county named Zhang, who also died every few days. He told people, “Li Zhongzhi is Yama. I go down to the underworld too — I am one of his clerks.” He could recite every couplet on the gates and halls of Li’s court. Someone asked, “What business took Li to the underworld yesterday?” “I cannot tell it all,” said Zhang. “Only that he had Cao Cao brought up for trial and gave him twenty strokes.”
異史氏曰：「阿瞞一案，想更數十閻羅矣。畜道﹑劍山，種種具在，宜得何罪，不勞挹取；乃數千年不決，何也？豈以臨刑之囚，快于速割，故使之求死不得也？異已！」
异史氏曰：「阿瞒一案，想更数十阎罗矣。畜道﹑剑山，种种具在，宜得何罪，不劳挹取；乃数千年不决，何也？岂以临刑之囚，快于速割，故使之求死不得也？异已！」
The Historian of the Strange says: The case of A Man must, I imagine, have passed through the hands of dozens of Yamas by now. The Path of Beasts, the Mountain of Swords — every kind of punishment is there, and whatever he deserves could be had for the taking. Yet in thousands of years the case has not been settled. Why? Could it be that a prisoner facing execution would welcome a quick cut, and so they make him seek death and never find it? Strange indeed!