Classic · Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio · Pu Songling (original) · VoiceSmiths adaptation · 1766 · 5:25

Nie Xiaoqian: The Ghost in the Temple

In a ruined temple, a ghost girl fails to tempt an upright scholar, then begs him to carry her bones home. Same cast as the Chinese episode.

StorytellerNing Caichen, the scholarNie Xiaoqian, the ghostYan Chixia, the swordsmanGranny, the old croneThe woman in the courtyardNing’s mother

StorytellerNing Caichen was a scholar from Zhejiang, an upright man who liked to say:Ning Caichen, the scholarIn all my life, I have loved only one woman.StorytellerOn a journey to Jinhua he lodged in an old temple where the weeds grew taller than a man. At dusk another lodger came home to the south room and bowed to him.Yan Chixia, the swordsmanThere is no master here. If you can bear the loneliness, stay. My name is Yan Chixia.StorytellerThat night Ning could not sleep. Beyond the north wall, in the moonlight, a woman of forty and a bent old crone were whispering.The woman in the courtyardWhy is Xiaoqian so late? Has she been complaining to you, Granny?Granny, the old croneNot that I heard. But she has a sulky look.The woman in the courtyardThat girl is treated far too kindly.StorytellerA girl of seventeen or eighteen appeared, lovely beyond words. The old woman laughed.Granny, the old croneOh, what a pretty thing! If this old woman were a man, you would steal my soul too.Nie Xiaoqian, the ghostIf you don't praise me, Granny, who will?StorytellerNing went back to bed. Soon someone was standing in his room. It was the girl.Nie Xiaoqian, the ghostwhispersThe moon is bright, and I cannot sleep. Stay with me tonight.Ning Caichen, the scholarYou should fear gossip, and so do I. One false step, and all honor is lost.Nie Xiaoqian, the ghostIt is night. No one will know.Ning Caichen, the scholarangryGo now! Or I will call the man in the south room!StorytellerShe went. But she came back and laid a bar of gold on his quilt. Ning threw it out into the yard.Ning Caichen, the scholarDishonest gold will not dirty my purse!StorytellerAshamed, she murmured:Nie Xiaoqian, the ghostThis man is made of iron and stone.StorytellerThe next night a student lodging in the east wing died, with a tiny hole in the sole of his foot, as if pierced by an awl. The night after, his servant died the same way. At midnight the girl came again.Nie Xiaoqian, the ghostI have known many men, but none as hard as you. I will not lie to you. I am Nie Xiaoqian. I died at eighteen, and a demon forces me to do its filthy work. When a man lies with me, I prick his foot and draw his blood for the demon to drink. Or I give him gold, which is really a demon's bone that tears out his heart. Now there is no one left here to kill, and it will send the Yaksha for you.Ning Caichen, the scholarWhat can I do?Nie Xiaoqian, the ghostSleep in Yan's room. He is a strange man. I dare not go near him.StorytellerAs she left, she began to weep.Nie Xiaoqian, the ghostcryingI am lost in a dark sea and cannot find the shore. If you will carry my bones home and bury them in peace, you will give me a second life. Look for the white poplar with a crow's nest on top.StorytellerThen she was gone. The next day Ning moved his bed into Yan's room.Yan Chixia, the swordsmanOnly one thing. Never open my box.StorytellerYan set the box on the windowsill and was soon snoring like thunder. Near midnight a shadow came to the window, its eyes flashing. Then something burst from the box like a bolt of white silk, snapped the stone bar of the window, and shot back in, like lightning gone out. Yan sat up, took out something white and shining, two inches long, and sniffed it.Yan Chixia, the swordsmanWhat old devil dares to break my box?Ning Caichen, the scholarBrother Yan, what is in there?Yan Chixia, the swordsmanA sword. I am a swordsman. If not for that stone bar, the demon would be dead. Still, it is wounded.StorytellerIn the morning there was blood under the window, and behind the temple Ning found the white poplar with the crow's nest. When he left, Yan gave him an old leather bag.Yan Chixia, the swordsmanThis is my sword bag. Keep it, and no demon will come near you.StorytellerNing dug up the girl's bones, took them home by boat, and buried them outside his study.Ning Caichen, the scholarPoor lonely soul, you lie near my window now, and no fierce ghost will bully you. Here is a bowl of water. Do not refuse it.StorytellerAs he walked back, someone called behind him.Nie Xiaoqian, the ghostWait for me! Ten deaths could not repay you. Let me come home with you and serve your mother.StorytellerShe bowed to the ground, and Ning's mother stared in fright.Ning’s motherYou are kind to my son. But he is my only son, and he must have heirs. I dare not let him marry a ghost.Nie Xiaoqian, the ghostThen let me be his sister, and serve you morning and night.StorytellerShe cooked and cleaned as if she had always lived there, and little by little his mother came to love her like a daughter, and forgot she was a ghost. When Ning's sick wife died, Xiaoqian became his bride. The guests did not take her for a ghost. They took her for an immortal.StorytellerOne day she sat by the window, pale.Nie Xiaoqian, the ghostnervousBring back the leather bag and hang it by the bed. The demon of Jinhua hates me for escaping. It is coming.StorytellerThat night something dropped like a falling bird. It was the Yaksha, with lightning eyes and a bloody tongue. It clawed at the bag. With a crack the bag swelled huge, a ghostly figure leaned half out of it, and dragged the Yaksha inside. Then all was still.Nie Xiaoqian, the ghostWe are safe!StorytellerInside the bag there was nothing but a few pints of clear water. Years later Ning passed the highest exams, and Xiaoqian bore him a son who rose to honor.

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