Liaozhai: Fox and Ghost Loves · chapter 18 of 25
The Moonlit Garden
月下的花园
Yuanfeng talks to a portrait of Xiaocui every day for nearly two years. Then one moonlit night, he rides past his family's garden.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 小翠走了。元丰请人画了一张她的画，天天对着画说话。
Xiǎocuì zǒu le. Yuánfēng qǐng rén huà le yì zhāng tā de huà, tiāntiān duìzhe huà shuōhuà.
Xiaocui was gone. Yuanfeng had a portrait of her painted, and talked to it every day.
- Yuanfeng 小翠，我一天比一天瘦了……你回来吧。
Xiǎocuì, wǒ yì tiān bǐ yì tiān shòu le… nǐ huílai ba.
Xiaocui, I'm getting thinner every day... please come back.
- Narrator 快两年过去了。一天晚上，月亮很亮，元丰骑马走过王家的花园。
Kuài liǎng nián guòqu le. Yì tiān wǎnshang, yuèliang hěn liàng, Yuánfēng qí mǎ zǒu guò Wáng jiā de huāyuán.
Nearly two years went by. One night, under a bright moon, Yuanfeng rode past his family's garden.
Chapter 18 is part of SayMei Stories Unlimited ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Part 1 of Liaozhai: Fox and Ghost Loves (chapters 1–5) is free, and The Second Cup of Tea, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, The Kitchen God, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Chang'e and the Moon, Alice in Wonderland and Judge Dee's Cases are free from start to finish.
- Yuanfeng 花园里的一棵树下，有人在笑……是谁？
Huāyuán li de yì kē shù xià, yǒu rén zài xiào… shì shéi?
Under a tree in the garden, someone is laughing... who is it?
- The Girl in Green 妹妹，你出去！这儿不是你的家！
Mèimei, nǐ chūqu! Zhèr bú shì nǐ de jiā!
Little sister, get out! This isn't your home!
- Xiaocui 姐姐，这是我家的花园！要走，也是你走！
Jiějie, zhè shì wǒ jiā de huāyuán! Yào zǒu, yě shì nǐ zǒu!
Sister, this is my family's garden! If anyone leaves, it's you!
- The Girl in Green 你家？你做不好妻子，他们都不要你了！
Nǐ jiā? Nǐ zuò bu hǎo qīzi, tāmen dōu bú yào nǐ le!
Your family? You couldn't be a good wife, and they didn't want you anymore!
- Xiaocui 那也比你好！你这么大了，还没有人要你呢！
Nà yě bǐ nǐ hǎo! Nǐ zhème dà le, hái méiyǒu rén yào nǐ ne!
Even so, I'm better off than you! You're this old, and still nobody wants you!
- Yuanfeng 这个声音……是小翠！小翠，是你吗？
Zhège shēngyīn… shì Xiǎocuì! Xiǎocuì, shì nǐ ma?
That voice... it's Xiaocui! Xiaocui, is that you?
- The Girl in Green 好了，妹妹，不说了。你的男人来了！
Hǎo le, mèimei, bù shuō le. Nǐ de nánrén lái le!
All right, little sister, I'll stop. Your man is here!
- Xiaocui 两年没见，你怎么瘦了这么多？
Liǎng nián méi jiàn, nǐ zěnme shòu le zhème duō?
Two years apart, and how did you get so thin?
- Yuanfeng 我天天都在想你。跟我回家吧！
Wǒ tiāntiān dōu zài xiǎng nǐ. Gēn wǒ huí jiā ba!
I've missed you every single day. Come home with me!
- Xiaocui 我没脸再见爹和娘了，就住在这个花园里吧。
Wǒ méi liǎn zài jiàn diē hé niáng le, jiù zhù zài zhège huāyuán li ba.
I can't face Father and Mother again. I'll just live here in this garden.
- Lady Wang 小翠，你来报答我们，我们还骂你……都是娘不好！
Xiǎocuì, nǐ lái bàodá wǒmen, wǒmen hái mà nǐ… dōu shì niáng bù hǎo!
Xiaocui, you came to repay us, and still we scolded you... it was all my fault!
- Xiaocui 娘，别哭。我不回家了，元丰就跟我住在这儿吧。
Niáng, bié kū. Wǒ bù huí jiā le, Yuánfēng jiù gēn wǒ zhù zài zhèr ba.
Mother, don't cry. I won't come home. Let Yuanfeng live here with me.
- Narrator 一年多过去了。小翠的脸，慢慢地变了。
Yì nián duō guòqu le. Xiǎocuì de liǎn, mànmàn de biàn le.
More than a year went by. Slowly, Xiaocui's face began to change.
- Yuanfeng 小翠，你跟画上的人，越来越不一样了。
Xiǎocuì, nǐ gēn huà shang de rén, yuè lái yuè bù yíyàng le.
Xiaocui, you look less and less like the girl in the portrait.
- Xiaocui 是吗？是我没有以前好看了吧？
Shì ma? Shì wǒ méiyǒu yǐqián hǎokàn le ba?
Is that so? I suppose I'm not as pretty as I used to be?
- Yuanfeng 还是好看……可是，好像没有以前那么好看了。
Háishi hǎokàn… kěshì, hǎoxiàng méiyǒu yǐqián nàme hǎokàn le.
You're still pretty... but maybe not quite as pretty as before.
- Xiaocui 那就是我老了！
Nà jiù shì wǒ lǎo le!
Then I must be getting old!
- Yuanfeng 你才二十多岁，怎么会老？
Nǐ cái èrshí duō suì, zěnme huì lǎo?
You're only in your twenties. How could you be old?
- Yuanfeng 小翠，别！那是你的画啊！
Xiǎocuì, bié! Nà shì nǐ de huà a!
Xiaocui! Don't! That's your portrait!
- Xiaocui 画没有了，你就不能说我老了！
Huà méiyǒu le, nǐ jiù bù néng shuō wǒ lǎo le!
With the portrait gone, you can't say I've gotten old!
- Xiaocui 元丰，我不能给你生孩子。爹和娘想要孙子，你再结婚吧。
Yuánfēng, wǒ bù néng gěi nǐ shēng háizi. Diē hé niáng xiǎng yào sūnzi, nǐ zài jiéhūn ba.
Yuanfeng, I can't give you a child. Father and Mother want a grandson. You should marry again.
- Narrator 元丰跟钟家的女儿结婚了。她的脸，跟小翠现在的脸一样。
Yuánfēng gēn Zhōng jiā de nǚ'ér jiéhūn le. Tā de liǎn, gēn Xiǎocuì xiànzài de liǎn yíyàng.
Yuanfeng married the daughter of the Zhongs. Her face was the same as Xiaocui's face now.
- Yuanfeng 小翠，小翠，你在哪儿？
Xiǎocuì, Xiǎocuì, nǐ zài nǎr?
Xiaocui? Xiaocui, where are you?
- The Maid 公子，她回自己家了。她让我把这个给您。
Gōngzǐ, tā huí zìjǐ jiā le. Tā ràng wǒ bǎ zhège gěi nín.
Young master, she's gone back to her own home. She asked me to give you this.
- Yuanfeng 一块红色的布……布里有一块玉，像一个小小的月亮。
Yí kuài hóngsè de bù… bù li yǒu yí kuài yù, xiàng yí gè xiǎoxiǎo de yuèliang.
A piece of red cloth... and in it, a piece of jade like a tiny moon.
- Yuanfeng 原来，她早就知道了……她不会回来了。
Yuánlái, tā zǎo jiù zhīdào le… tā bú huì huílai le.
So she knew all along... She isn't coming back.
- Pu Songling 一只狐狸，记着王家的一点点好，就来报答。
Yì zhī húli, jìzhe Wáng jiā de yìdiǎndiǎn hǎo, jiù lái bàodá.
A fox remembered one small kindness from the Wangs, and came to repay it.
- Pu Songling 王家呢？因为一个碎了的玉瓶，就大骂她。狐狸的心，比人还好啊。
Wáng jiā ne? Yīnwèi yí gè suì le de yùpíng, jiù dà mà tā. Húli de xīn, bǐ rén hái hǎo a.
And the Wangs? Over one broken jade vase, they scolded her bitterly. That fox had a kinder heart than people do.
- Pu Songling 最后一个故事，讲的是一个说自己不怕鬼的书生。
Zuìhòu yí gè gùshi, jiǎng de shì yí gè shuō zìjǐ bú pà guǐ de shūshēng.
The last story is about a scholar who said he wasn't afraid of ghosts.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Who is Xiaocui quarreling with in the garden?
“妹妹，你出去！……姐姐，这是我家的花园！”
- What does Xiaocui notice about Yuanfeng after two years apart?
“你怎么瘦了这么多”
- Where does Xiaocui choose to live after she meets Yuanfeng again?
“就住在这个花园里吧”
- Why does Xiaocui say she burned her portrait?
“画没有了，你就不能说我老了”
- Why does Xiaocui want Yuanfeng to marry again?
“我不能给你生孩子”