Ghost Story of Liaozhai

When Pu Songling was young, he once went to Jinan Prefecture to take an exam.time value c".

There were a lot of people that day, and Pu Songling went to watch the excitement with his friends. There were walls of people on all sides, noisy and noisy, the voices were boiling, and the ears were buzzing.

Taking a closer look, I saw four officials sitting in the lobby, all dressed in red. Pu Songling was young at that time, and he couldn't tell the size of the official position for a while.

Suddenly an old man appeared, holding a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child in his hand, carrying a pair of bamboo baskets, walked to the lobby and stopped, saluted the four officials respectfully, and then moved his lips , seemed to be talking, but there were tens of thousands of people gathered in the hall, whispering and arguing, and couldn't hear what the old man said, only faintly heard the four officials laughing and laughing. Cheerful.

After a while, a man in Tsing Yi came out from the lobby and said loudly to the old man, "The master has ordered you to perform tricks."

Old Han Nuo Nuo agreed, and asked, "What kind of tricks are you performing?"

The man in Tsing Yi said proudly: "What do you know? Pick the best ones and let's listen."

The old man said: "The villain is good at turning creatures upside down."

The man in Tsing Yi asked, "What is an upside-down creature?"

The old man said: "It snows in June, and peach blossoms bloom in midwinter. This is an upside-down creature."

The man in Tsing Yi didn't believe it, and said with a smile: "Okay, since you have thaumaturgy, then make a peach out for the officials."

The old man agreed without hesitation, took off his clothes and covered the bamboo basket, looked at the spectators in the audience, put on a look of embarrassment on his face, and said to himself: "The officers are really good at making things difficult. Counting nine cold winters, the ice is still there, call me Where do you go to pick the peaches? If you don't pick them up, you might be punished by the officials, what can you do?"

The child said: "Father has promised others, how can he go back on it?"Only above nine days, in the peach garden of the Queen Mother, the four seasons are warm, and there may be peaches.For the current plan, the only way is to steal peaches from heaven. "

The child said: "Father really knows how to mess around. Ha, nine days are high above, is there a road to pass?"

The old man said: "Don't worry, I have my own way." After speaking, he leaned over to open the bamboo basket, took out a rope from it, about tens of feet long, held the end of the rope in his hand, and threw it into the air. Longer, longer and taller, gradually sinking into the clouds, standing in the air, a few feet away from the ground, without falling.

The old man told the child, "My son, come quickly! Because my father is old and weak, he can't climb the rope, and I have to leave the task of stealing peaches to you." Pointing to the long rope, he said, "Follow this rope all the way up, and you will be able to climb the rope." It can go directly to the flat peach garden."

The child showed embarrassment: "Father is so confused, this rope is only as thick as chopsticks, how can you use it to climb to the sky? If the rope breaks halfway through the climb, wouldn't the child be smashed to pieces?"

The old man said sternly: "The old man keeps his promise. Since he has promised to fetch peaches for his father, how can he not keep his word? Good boy, don't be afraid, as the so-called wealth and wealth are in danger, if you succeed in stealing the peaches, the official You will definitely be rewarded a lot, not to mention a hundred taels of gold. When you have gold and silver treasures, how about marrying a beautiful daughter-in-law for your father?"

The child said: "You must keep your word, don't lie!" Grasping the rope while speaking, he circled up, moved his hands and feet like a spider's silk, and disappeared into the sky in a blink of an eye.

After a while, a fairy peach as big as a rice bowl fell from the sky.The old man was overjoyed, holding the fairy peach in his hand, and dedicated it to the four officials.

All the officials were amazed, passed the peach back and forth, and played with it for a long time, you looked at it, I touched it, but the naked eye could not tell whether the peach was real or not.

Suddenly there was a bang, and the rope fell to the ground. The old man's expression changed drastically, and he shouted: "No, my son has been found out as a thief stealing peaches, and his life is in jeopardy." A head, staring up close, with handsome features, who else is not that child?

Before the strange thing was finished, another left leg fell from the sky, and then the right leg, with both hands and stumps, fell down one after another.

Weeping sadly, the old man picked up his son's corpse piece by piece, put them in a bamboo basket and covered them with clothes, then knelt down in front of the four officials and lords, and said, "My son was sent to death for stealing peaches by mistake. Sirs please The poor old man is lonely and helpless, and he rewards some broken silver to take care of the funeral for the dog. The old man is grateful, and will tie a straw ring to repay his kindness."

The four officials and lords were astonished and appalled, and nodded one after another, "it should be." They each stretched their hands into their bosoms, and took out a lot of silver taels to give to the old man.

The old man put the money into his pocket, clapped the bamboo basket, and called a person by his nickname, "Babaer, if you don't come out to thank me, when will you wait?" As soon as he finished speaking, the bamboo basket was opened, and a child walked out of it, kneeling saluted and kowtowed towards the lobby.

The child with picturesque features was none other than the old man's own son.