Original Text
Liang Yan, a man from Xuzhou, suffered from a runny nose and sneezing fits that lingered for a long time without healing. One day, while Liang Yan was sleeping, he felt an intense itch in his nose and suddenly sneezed violently. Something shot out from his nostril and fell to the ground, resembling a roof-tile dog ornament, about the size of a fingernail. He sneezed again, and another fell. After four sneezes, four objects had fallen. These things slowly wriggled, gathered together, and sniffed at each other. After a while, the stronger ones began to devour the weaker; each time one was eaten, the eater immediately grew larger. In an instant, the strong had consumed all the weak, leaving only one, which was now larger than a shrew. It stretched out its tongue, licked all around, and cleaned its own lips. Liang Yan was extremely startled and tried to stamp it to death, but it crawled up along his sock, gradually reaching his thigh. He pulled up his clothes and shook them vigorously, but the thing clung tightly to the fabric and would not fall off. In a flash, it burrowed into his lapel and began scratching at his waist and ribs. Liang Yan was terrified, hastily removed his clothes, and threw them to the ground. When he touched the spot with his hand, the thing had already attached itself to his waist. Pushing it did not move, pinching it caused pain, and it had become a fleshy growth, with its mouth and eyes already closed, resembling a mouse crouching there.
Commentary
The two ailments that Liang Yan of Xuzhou suffered from, ranging from sneezing fits to warts, were both difficult and unusual surgical conditions. Pu Songling dynamically describes the process of this disease's transfer, with his rich imagination and vivid depiction bearing a strong resemblance to "The Pupils' Discourse" in the first volume. However, in "The Pupils' Discourse," the two small pupils in the eyes cooperate and interact, later merging into one place, transforming the patient's affliction from cataracts to double pupils. In "Liang Yan," the small objects, "resembling roof-dog tiles in shape," fall from the patient's nose, and after a struggle, four of them merge into one, crawling up to the waist to become a wart.
The transformation of illness phenomena into vivid narratives is a frequent occurrence in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, forming a significant characteristic of its thematic material.