卷一·咬鬼 Volume One: Biting a Ghost
沈麟生云：其友某翁者，夏月昼寝，朦胧间见一女子搴帘入，Shen Linsheng said: There was an old man, a friend of his. One summer day, he was taking a nap during the day. In a daze, he saw a woman lift the curtain and enter.
以白布裹首，缞服麻裙，向内室去，疑邻妇访内人者。She had her head wrapped in a white cloth, was dressed in mourning clothes with a hemp skirt, and went towards the inner room. He suspected that she was a neighbor woman coming to visit his wife.
又转念，何遽以凶服入人家？正自皇惑，女子已出。Then he thought again, why would she enter someone else's house wearing mourning clothes so suddenly? Just as he was feeling bewildered, the woman had already come out.
细审之，年可三十余，颜色黄肿，眉目蹙蹙然，神情可畏。Looking at her carefully, she seemed to be in her thirties, with a sallow and swollen complexion, her eyebrows knitted tightly together, and her expression was terrifying.
又逡巡不去，渐逼近榻。遂伪睡以观其变。She also lingered without leaving and gradually approached the bed. So he pretended to be asleep to see what would happen.
无何，女子摄衣登床压腹上，觉如百钧重。Soon after, the woman lifted her clothes and climbed onto the bed, pressing on his abdomen. It felt as if she weighed several hundred catties.
心虽了了，而举其手，手如缚；举其足，足如痿也。急欲号救，而苦不能声。Although his mind was clear, when he tried to lift his hand, it was as if it were bound; when he tried to move his foot, it was as if it were paralyzed. He was eager to call for help, but unfortunately, he couldn't make a sound.
女子以喙嗅翁面，颧鼻眉额殆遍。觉喙冷如冰，气寒透骨。The woman sniffed the old man's face with her beak, almost covering his cheekbones, nose, eyebrows, and forehead. He felt that her beak was as cold as ice, and her breath was bone-chillingly cold.
翁窘急中思得计：待嗅至颐颊，当即因而啮之。In his distress, the old man came up with a plan: when she sniffed to his jaw and cheek, he would immediately bite her.
未几果及颐。翁乘势力龁其颧，齿没于肉。Before long, she indeed reached his jaw. The old man took the opportunity to bite her cheekbone with force, sinking his teeth into the flesh.
女负痛身离，且挣且啼。翁龁益力。但觉血液交颐，湿流枕畔。The woman, in pain, pulled her body away, struggling and crying. The old man bit even harder. He only felt that blood was flowing down his cheeks and wetting the pillow beside him.
相持正苦，庭外忽闻夫人声，急呼有鬼，一缓颊而女子已飘忽遁去。Just as they were locked in this struggle, suddenly he heard his wife's voice outside the courtyard. He quickly shouted that there was a ghost. But in the blink of an eye, before he could turn his head, the woman had already disappeared in a flash.
夫人奔入，无所见，笑其魇梦之诬。翁述其异，且言有血证焉。His wife rushed in but saw nothing. She laughed at him for making up such a nightmare story. The old man told her about the strange incident and said that there was evidence of blood.
相与检视，如屋漏之水流浃枕席。伏而嗅之，腥臭异常。翁乃大吐。过数日，口中尚有余臭云。They examined it together and found that it was like water leaking from the roof, soaking the pillow and mat. He bent down to sniff it and it smelled extremely foul. The old man then vomited heavily. Even several days later, there was still a lingering stench in his mouth.
