English Original
Song Dingbo of Nanyang encountered a ghost while walking at night. He asked who it was.
"I am a ghost," replied the ghost. "And who are you?"
"I am a ghost too," Dingbo lied.
"Where are you going?" the ghost asked.
"To the City of Wan," Dingbo replied.
"I am going there too," said the ghost. "We are going the same way."
They walked together. After a few li, the ghost suggested, "Walking is tiring. Let's take turns carrying each other on our backs."
"Excellent," Dingbo agreed.
The ghost carried Dingbo first. After a few li, it found him heavy and grew suspicious. "You are too heavy. Are you really a ghost?"
"I died recently, so I am heavy," Dingbo cleverly replied.
When it was Dingbo's turn to carry the ghost, it had almost no weight.
As they continued their journey, Dingbo asked, "I am a new ghost. What are ghosts most afraid of?"
The ghost whispered, "Human saliva."
Later, they came to a small creek. Dingbo let the ghost cross first. It crossed without a sound, as if walking on land. But when Dingbo crossed, he splashed water noisily.
The ghost grew suspicious again. "Why was there so much noise when you crossed?"
"I am new and not used to crossing water yet," Dingbo explained. The ghost was convinced.
As they neared the City of Wan, Dingbo hoisted the ghost onto his shoulder, held it tightly, and began to run swiftly. The ghost shouted to be put down, but Dingbo ignored it. He ran straight into the city, threw the ghost to the ground, where it turned into a sheep. Dingbo sold it, spat on it several times to prevent it from changing back, received 1,500 coins, and left happily.
中文翻译
南阳人宋定伯夜行时遇见了一个鬼。他问对方是谁。
“我是鬼，”鬼回答道。“你是谁？”
“我也是鬼，”定伯撒谎说。
“你要去哪里？”鬼问。
“去宛市，”定伯回答。
“我也要去那里，”鬼说。“我们同路。”
于是他们结伴而行。走了几里路后，鬼提议道：“走路太累了。我们轮流背着对方走吧。”
“太好了，”定伯同意。
鬼先背定伯。走了几里后，鬼觉得他很重，起了疑心。“你太重了。你真的是鬼吗？”
“我刚死不久，所以重，”定伯机灵地答道。
轮到定伯背鬼时，鬼几乎没有重量。
继续赶路时，定伯问道：“我是新鬼。鬼最怕什么？”
鬼低声说：“人的唾沫。”
后来，他们遇到一条小河。定伯让鬼先过。鬼过河时悄无声息，如履平地。但定伯过河时，却水花四溅，响声很大。
鬼又起了疑心。“你过河时为什么那么响？”
“我是新鬼，还不习惯过水，”定伯解释道。鬼信以为真。
快到宛市时，定伯把鬼扛到肩上，紧紧抓住，开始飞奔。鬼大叫着要下来，但定伯不予理会。他径直跑进城里，把鬼摔在地上，鬼变成了一只羊。定伯把它卖掉，怕它变回原形，朝它吐了几口唾沫，得到一千五百钱，高兴地离开了。