Original Text
In the twenty-first year of the Kangxi reign, the wife of a man from Xing Village in this county lost her husband and carried his posthumous child. Her belly would sometimes swell as large as a jar, then shrink to the size of a fist. When labor began, she struggled for a full day and night without delivering. Those attending saw a dragon's head emerge briefly before retreating. The family was terrified and dared not approach. An old woman named Wang lit incense, performed the ritual Yu steps, and while pressing the woman's belly, chanted incantations. Before long, the afterbirth came down, but no dragon was seen—only a few scales, each as large as a cup's mouth. Then a girl was born, her skin as clear and translucent as crystal, so that even her internal organs were plainly visible.
Commentary
Although the account records specific times, places, and persons, from the perspective of modern medical knowledge, it may merely be a case of difficult childbirth or perhaps related to a tumor; the notion of "giving birth to a dragon" seems to be a rather dubious rumor. Nevertheless, Pu Songling's prose is written with a wandering, elusive quality, shrouded in mystery, hovering between existence and non-existence.