Liaozhai: Fox and Ghost Loves · chapter 4 of 25
Under the White Poplar
白杨树下
Xiaoqian tells Ning Caichen where he can be safe, how the men in the east rooms died, and the one thing she begs him to do for her.
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- Narrator 还是那天半夜。房间里，只有宁采臣和小倩。
Háishi nà tiān bànyè. Fángjiān li, zhǐyǒu Níng Cǎichén hé Xiǎoqiàn.
It was still that same midnight. In the room were only Ning Caichen and Xiaoqian.
- Nie Xiaoqian 公子，别害怕。你去南边，跟那个人住一个房间，就没事了。
Gōngzǐ, bié hàipà. Nǐ qù nánbian, gēn nàge rén zhù yí gè fángjiān, jiù méi shì le.
Don't be afraid, sir. Go to the south side and share a room with the man there, and you'll be all right.
- Ning Caichen 南边那个人？那你为什么不去找他？
Nánbian nàge rén? Nà nǐ wèishénme bú qù zhǎo tā?
The man on the south side? Then why don't you go after him?
- Nie Xiaoqian 他不是一般的人，我不敢走近他。
Tā bú shì yìbān de rén, wǒ bù gǎn zǒujìn tā.
He's no ordinary man. I don't dare go near him.
- Ning Caichen 他就是一个说话很直的陕西人啊。
Tā jiù shì yí gè shuōhuà hěn zhí de Shǎnxī rén a.
He's just a plain-talking man from Shaanxi.
- Nie Xiaoqian 你不知道。去吧，在他那儿，你就安全了。
Nǐ bù zhīdào. Qù ba, zài tā nàr, nǐ jiù ānquán le.
You don't know. Go. With him, you'll be safe.
- Ning Caichen 可是我跟他不熟。我去他的房间睡，他会觉得我很奇怪。
Kěshì wǒ gēn tā bù shú. Wǒ qù tā de fángjiān shuì, tā huì juéde wǒ hěn qíguài.
But I hardly know him. If I go sleep in his room, he'll think I'm strange.
- Nie Xiaoqian 奇怪，也比死了好。
Qíguài, yě bǐ sǐ le hǎo.
Strange is still better than dead.
- Ning Caichen 好吧，我去。那东边房间的书生和仆人，是怎么死的？
Hǎo ba, wǒ qù. Nà dōngbian fángjiān de shūshēng hé púrén, shì zěnme sǐ de?
All right, I'll go. Then how did the scholar and the servant in the east rooms die?
- Nie Xiaoqian 他们跟我好，我就用针扎他们的脚心。
Tāmen gēn wǒ hǎo, wǒ jiù yòng zhēn zhā tāmen de jiǎoxīn.
When they got close to me, I pricked the soles of their feet with a needle.
- Ning Caichen 脚心上的小红点，原来是你用针扎的！
Jiǎoxīn shang de xiǎo hóng diǎn, yuánlái shì nǐ yòng zhēn zhā de!
The little red marks on their soles, so you made them with a needle!
- Nie Xiaoqian 然后，他们就什么都不知道了。我拿他们的血，给妖怪喝。
Ránhòu, tāmen jiù shénme dōu bù zhīdào le. Wǒ ná tāmen de xiě, gěi yāoguài hē.
Then they knew nothing at all. I took their blood for the demon to drink.
- Ning Caichen 给妖怪喝血？那块金子又是什么？
Gěi yāoguài hē xiě? Nà kuài jīnzi yòu shì shénme?
Blood for the demon to drink? And what was that piece of gold?
- Nie Xiaoqian 那不是金子，是一个坏鬼的骨头。谁拿了它，谁就会死。
Nà bú shì jīnzi, shì yí gè huài guǐ de gǔtou. Shéi ná le tā, shéi jiù huì sǐ.
That wasn't gold. It was the bone of a wicked ghost. Whoever takes it will die.
- Ning Caichen 鬼的骨头？我还用手拿过它，还好我扔了！
Guǐ de gǔtou? Wǒ hái yòng shǒu náguo tā, háihǎo wǒ rēng le!
A ghost's bone? I held it in my own hand. Good thing I threw it away!
- Nie Xiaoqian 所以我知道，你的心跟别人不一样。
Suǒyǐ wǒ zhīdào, nǐ de xīn gēn biérén bù yíyàng.
That's how I knew your heart was not like other men's.
- Ning Caichen 那个夜叉什么时候会来？
Nàge yèchā shénme shíhou huì lái?
When will that yaksha come?
- Nie Xiaoqian 明天晚上。你不去南边，它就会杀了你。
Míngtiān wǎnshang. Nǐ bú qù nánbian, tā jiù huì shā le nǐ.
Tomorrow night. If you don't go to the south side, it will kill you.
- Ning Caichen 小倩，你怎么哭了？
Xiǎoqiàn, nǐ zěnme kū le?
Xiaoqian, why are you crying?
- Nie Xiaoqian 公子，我想走，可是走不了。只有你能救我。
Gōngzǐ, wǒ xiǎng zǒu, kěshì zǒu bu liǎo. Zhǐyǒu nǐ néng jiù wǒ.
Sir, I want to leave, but I can't. Only you can save me.
- Ning Caichen 我能怎么救你？
Wǒ néng zěnme jiù nǐ?
How can I save you?
- Nie Xiaoqian 请你把我的骨头带回家，埋在一个安静的地方。
Qǐng nǐ bǎ wǒ de gǔtou dài huí jiā, mái zài yí gè ānjìng de dìfang.
Please carry my bones home and bury them somewhere quiet.
- Nie Xiaoqian 这样，我就不用再做坏事了。
Zhèyàng, wǒ jiù bú yòng zài zuò huàishì le.
Then I'll never have to do evil again.
- Ning Caichen 好，我答应你，带你回家，埋在安静的地方。你的坟在哪儿？
Hǎo, wǒ dāying nǐ, dài nǐ huí jiā, mái zài ānjìng de dìfang. Nǐ de fén zài nǎr?
All right. I promise to take you home and bury you somewhere quiet. Where is your grave?
- Nie Xiaoqian 你记住：白杨树上有一个乌鸦窝。我的坟，就在树下边。
Nǐ jìzhù: báiyángshù shang yǒu yí gè wūyā wō. Wǒ de fén, jiù zài shù xiàbian.
Remember this: there's a crow's nest in a white poplar. My grave is right under that tree.
- Ning Caichen 白杨树，乌鸦窝，你的坟，我都记住了。
Báiyángshù, wūyā wō, nǐ de fén, wǒ dōu jìzhù le.
White poplar, crow's nest, your grave. I'll remember it all.
- Narrator 小倩走出门，就看不见了。
Xiǎoqiàn zǒu chū mén, jiù kàn bu jiàn le.
Xiaoqian went out the door, and was nowhere to be seen.
- Ning Caichen 她走了。明天晚上，夜叉就要来了……
Tā zǒu le. Míngtiān wǎnshang, yèchā jiù yào lái le…
She's gone. Tomorrow night, the yaksha will come...
- Ning Caichen 我得去燕大哥那儿。可是，他会让我进去吗？
Wǒ děi qù Yàn dàgē nàr. Kěshì, tā huì ràng wǒ jìnqu ma?
I have to go to Brother Yan's. But will he even let me in?
What changed in the story?
- Why does Xiaoqian say she won't go near Yan Chixia?
“他不是一般的人，我不敢走近他”
- How did Xiaoqian hurt the men who got close to her?
“我就用针扎他们的脚心”
- What was the gold that Xiaoqian gave Ning Caichen?
“那不是金子，是一个坏鬼的骨头”
- When will the yaksha come, according to Xiaoqian?
“明天晚上”
- What does Xiaoqian beg Ning Caichen to do?
“请你把我的骨头带回家，埋在一个安静的地方”