Original Text
In the great mountains of Sishui County, Shandong, there once stood a temple, surrounded by no villages, rarely visited by men, where a monk resided. Some said the temple was infested with many large serpents, so travelers kept even farther away. A young man entered the mountains to hunt hawks, and venturing deep into the wilds, found no place to lodge. Spying the temple from afar, he hastened toward it to seek shelter. The monk exclaimed in surprise, "Good sir, from whence have you come? How fortunate that the children have not seen you!" He bade the youth sit and offered him some gruel. Before he had finished eating, a giant serpent entered, as thick as ten spans, raising its head to face the guest, its angry eyes flashing like lightning. The youth was terrified. The monk struck the serpent's forehead with his palm and scolded, "Begone!" The serpent lowered its head and slithered into the eastern chamber. It wound its way for a good while before its body vanished from sight, coiling within the room, filling it entirely. The youth, seized with dread, trembled uncontrollably. The monk said, "This is a creature I have raised. With me here, there is no harm; my only fear is if you were to encounter it alone." The youth had barely sat down when another serpent crawled in, slightly smaller than the first, about five or six spans thick. Seeing the guest, it halted at once, its eyes glittering, its tongue flickering, just like the first serpent. The monk again shouted at it, and it too entered the chamber. There was no space left for it to coil on the floor, so it wound half its body around a roof beam, shaking down dust and plaster from the walls, which fell with a sound. The youth grew even more frightened and could not sleep the whole night. At dawn, he wished to return home, and the monk saw him off. As they stepped out the door, they saw on the walls and beneath the steps serpents as thick as bowls or cups, some crawling, some coiled, each in a different posture. At the sight of a stranger, they all opened their mouths as if to swallow him. The youth, in terror, clung to the monk's elbow and made his way out, begging the monk to escort him all the way to the mouth of the valley before he dared to return home alone.
In my hometown, there was a man who traveled to Henan and lodged at the Snake-Buddha Temple. The monks prepared an evening meal, and the meat broth was exceptionally delicious, with the meat cut into round segments resembling chicken necks. Finding this strange, he asked the monks, "How many chickens were killed to yield so many chicken necks?" The monk replied, "These are segments of snake." The guest was greatly startled, rushed outside, and vomited. That night, as he lay down to sleep, he felt something crawling on his chest; reaching out, he touched a snake, and instantly leaped up with a loud cry of alarm. The monk arose and said, "This is a common occurrence; why make such a fuss?" Then he lit a torch to illuminate the walls, revealing walls covered with snakes of all sizes, and the bed and couch were also swarming with them. The next day, the monk led the guest to the Buddha hall. Beneath the Buddha's seat was a large well, in which dwelt a snake as thick as a great jar; it stretched its head to the edge of the well but did not emerge. When they lit a torch and peered into the well, they saw millions of snake offspring, all living together in the well as a clan. The monk explained that previously the snakes had come out to cause harm, but the Buddha sat above to suppress them, and thus the calamity was quelled.
Commentary
This piece merely provides a depiction of the serpent at the Sishui Chan Temple. If it were introduced in a straightforward manner, it would certainly be difficult to make it vivid and lifelike, so the author sets up a young man visiting at night. Because it is dangerous for the young man to go alone, a Taoist priest is added to protect him. The young man's role is akin to a modern camera, dynamically reflecting the serpent's living conditions through personal experience and firsthand observation.
This short piece is concise yet vividly dynamic. It first sets the stage with the mention that "some said there were many large snakes inside," then proceeds to describe what a young man witnessed during an evening visit. The main body focuses on two snakes with close-up and mid-range perspectives. The frontal close-up highlights the large snake's glaring eyes, swiftness, ferocity, and terror; the side mid-range emphasizes the snake's immense size, length, and weight. Each of the two large snakes has its own distinct characteristics, never repeating the other. At dawn, when the young man departs, the tale concludes with a summary, describing the temple grounds as covered with snakes, and the young man "walking close by the Taoist's side," thus confirming the earlier rumor that "there were many large snakes inside."