Original Text
A man of Laizhou named Qin Sheng, while brewing medicinal wine, mistakenly added a poisonous ingredient. Reluctant to discard it, he sealed it and stored it away. Over a year later, one night Qin Sheng craved wine but could find none anywhere. Suddenly he recalled the poisoned wine he had stored. Upon unsealing it, a rich aroma burst forth, stirring such an intense craving that his stomach itched and his mouth watered uncontrollably. Taking a cup, he prepared to drink, but his wife earnestly tried to dissuade him. Qin Sheng laughed and said, "Better to die drunk than to die of thirst and craving for wine." After finishing one cup, he reached for the bottle to pour more, but his wife knocked it over, spilling wine all over the floor. Qin Sheng then lay down and drank like a cow, lapping up the wine. Soon, his stomach ached, and he could not speak; by midnight, he was dead. His wife wept and wailed, prepared a coffin, and made ready for burial. The next night, a beautiful woman less than three feet tall suddenly entered, walked straight to the hall where the body lay, and poured water from a bowl into Qin Sheng's mouth, reviving him instantly. The husband and wife kowtowed in gratitude and asked who she was. The woman said, "I am a fox spirit. Just now, my husband went to the Chen family to steal wine, got drunk, and died there. I went to rescue him. Passing by your house, he took pity on you for sharing the same fate, so I used the leftover medicine to revive you." With that, she vanished.
My friend, the Gongsheng Qiu Xingsu, was extremely fond of drinking wine. One night, he craved wine but had nowhere to buy it, tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep, and utterly unable to suppress his desire, so he thought to substitute vinegar for wine. He discussed this with his wife, who laughed at him. He repeatedly pressed her to bring the vinegar, and she had no choice but to warm it and serve it to him. After finishing a whole pot of vinegar, he finally took off his clothes and slept peacefully. The next day, his wife gave a servant money to buy wine, but on the way, the servant met Qiu Xingsu's younger cousin, Qiu Xiangchen, who, upon learning the reason, suspected that the sister-in-law was unwilling to buy wine for her husband. The servant said, "The lady said, 'The vinegar stored at home was not much to begin with; last night half of it was already drunk. If another pot is consumed, I fear the vinegar root will be cut off.'" All who heard this found it amusing. Yet little do they know that when the craving for drink is at its peak, even poison is relished as sweet, let alone vinegar? This incident, too, can be passed down for a time.
Commentary
What is an addiction? An addiction is an excessive and uncontrollable craving.
This piece recounts two tales of scholars addicted to drink who suffered greatly from the lack of wine. In the first, Qin Sheng, "longing for a drink one night but finding no wine to be had," actually "drank poison to quench his thirst." In the second, Qiu Xingsu, "yearning for wine at night with no way to purchase it, tossed and turned unable to endure further," thus "substituted vinegar instead." At dawn, his wife sent a servant to buy wine, not so that Qiu Xingsu could drink again, but to prevent him from substituting vinegar for wine once more and draining all the vinegar used for cooking—her reasoning was utterly laughable.
The former is largely a fabricated tale by Pu Songling, somewhat exaggerated, with the appearance of the fox spirit carrying a flavor of "when the story falls short, a fox is brought in to fill the gap." The latter, however, is a true account from one of Pu Songling's friends, an amusing anecdote from real life.
In comparison, real-life examples far surpass fabricated tales in the charm of everyday existence, and the appended notes are far superior to the main text.