Original Text
In the district of Zhending, there was an orphan girl, just six or seven years old, who was taken into her husband's household. After living together for a year or two, the husband seduced her and had relations with her, and thus the orphan girl became pregnant. Her belly swelled up, and thinking she was ill, she told her mother-in-law about it. The mother-in-law asked her, "Does your belly move?" The orphan girl replied, "It moves." The mother-in-law grew even more puzzled. Yet, because the girl was so young, she dared not jump to a conclusion. Not long after, the orphan girl gave birth to a baby boy. The mother-in-law sighed and said, "Who would have thought that a mother no bigger than a fist could give birth to a son as tiny as an awl's point!"
Commentary
According to common physiological knowledge, a woman's first menstruation typically occurs between the ages of ten and sixteen. If the woman from Zhending entered her husband's household at the upper age limit of around seven, and then resided there for two years, she would be nearly ten years old—indeed, still very young, yet pregnancy would not be entirely impossible.
This passage records an anecdote; though less than a hundred characters, it is concise and vivid: the dialogue between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law occurs twice. The first time consists of only three words, the fewest possible. The mother-in-law, experienced, cuts straight to the point with two words: "Does it move?" The dazed and timid daughter-in-law replies even more simply with one word: "It moves." The second time, eight words form the mother-in-law's exclamation upon seeing the truth: "I never expected a fist-like mother to bear a needle-like son!" The language is condensed and refined, with balanced antithesis, quite in the style of "A New Account of Tales of the World."