Forty Thousand Cash

　　Grand Marshal Wang of Xincheng had a chief accounting servant in his household, and the family was well-off though without official rank. Suddenly he dreamed of a man rushing in, who said, "You owe me forty thousand cash. Now is the time to repay." When he asked who he was, the man did not answer but went straight into the inner chambers. When the Grand Marshal awoke, his wife had given birth to a son. He knew this was a karmic debt from a past life. So he bundled forty thousand cash together in a room, and everything for the child—clothes, food, medicine—was all taken from that store.

　　After three or four years passed, he checked the money in the room. Only seven hundred cash remained. Just then the wet nurse brought the child over and was playing with him nearby. The Grand Marshal called out to the child, "The forty thousand cash are almost gone. You should be on your way." No sooner had he spoken than the child's expression suddenly twisted, his neck slumped, and his eyes stared wide. When he touched the child again, the breath had already ceased. He then used the remaining money to buy burial goods and interred him. This can serve as a warning to those who owe debts.

　　In former times there was an old man who had no son. He asked a senior monk about it. The monk said, "You owe nothing to others, and others owe nothing to you. How could you have a son?" For when a fine son is born, it is to repay a bond of kindness to me; when a wayward son is born, it is to collect a debt from me. Let those who have sons not be too joyful, and those who lose sons not be too sorrowful.



原文如下：

【原文】

新城王大司马，有主计仆，家称素封。忽梦一人奔入，曰：“汝欠四十千，今宜还矣。”问之，不答，径入内去。既醒，妻产男。知为夙孽，遂以四十千捆置一室，凡儿衣食病药，皆取给焉。过三四岁，视室中钱，仅存七百。适乳姥抱儿至，调笑于侧。因呼之曰：“四十千将尽，汝宜行矣。”言已，儿忽颜色蹙变，项折目张。再抚之，气已绝矣。乃以馀赀治葬具而瘗之。此可为负欠者戒也。

昔有老而无子者，问诸高僧。僧曰：“汝不欠人者，人又不欠汝者，乌得子？”盖生佳儿，所以报我之缘；生顽儿，所以取我之债。生者勿喜，死者勿悲也。

【翻译】

新城的王大司马家中，有一个主管账目的仆人，虽然没有官爵，但是家里富有资财。一天，他忽然梦见一个人急匆匆地跑进来，说：“你欠我的四十贯钱，如今应该还清了。”问这个人，这个人也不回答，径直走向内室去了。他睡醒以后，妻子生下了一个男孩。他心中明白这是他前世恶业的果报，就把四十贯钱捆放在一间屋子里，凡是这孩子穿衣吃饭看病买药的钱都从这里支取。过了三四年，他察看了一下屋子里的钱，只剩下了七百文。正好这时乳母抱着孩子来了，在他身旁逗弄小孩玩乐。他于是对孩子呼喊说：“四十贯钱快花光了，你也应该走了。”他话音刚落，孩子突然间眉头紧锁，脸色大变，脖子耷拉下来，眼睛直直地瞪着。再去摸摸孩子，已经断了气。于是，他取出剩下的钱买了埋葬用具把孩子埋葬了。这件事可以当成是对欠债者的告诫。

从前有个老而无子的人，去问高僧这其中的缘故。高僧说：“你不欠别人的，别人又不欠你的，怎么能有儿子呢？”大概生了好儿子，是别人要报答我的善缘；生了顽劣之子，那是别人以此来向我讨还欠债。所以，生了儿子的不必高兴，死了儿子的也不必伤悲。

【点评】

中国是一个非常重视子嗣的国度，所谓“不孝有三，无后为大”。但为什么会“无后”？由于科学不发达，往往还不能够从生理和病理上寻找原因，而是从因果报应的立场上寻找原因。有了儿子之后，再进一步探讨为什么会有好儿子坏儿子的区别，同样由于缺乏科学的认识，依然是从因果报应的立场上探寻结论。本篇小说就是借叙述故事对此问题进行的阐释。“生佳儿，所以报我之缘；生顽儿，所以取我之债。生者勿喜，死者勿悲也。”这是蒲松龄对于这些问题的看法，也在一定程度上反映了中国民间的共识。