Original Text
In Yidu, there lived two brothers of the Zheng family, both scholarly men skilled in writing essays. The elder brother gained fame early on, and his parents doted on him, treating his wife with exceptional kindness as a result. The younger brother, however, remained unknown, and his parents showed him little favor, even looking down upon his wife with great disdain. The two sisters-in-law, treated so differently, grew resentful toward each other. The younger brother's wife often said to her husband, "Are you not both men? Why can you not win honor for your wife?" In anger, she refused to share his bed. Stung by this, the younger brother applied himself with renewed vigor, studied diligently, and eventually gained renown. His parents gradually came to favor him, though still not as much as his elder brother. Driven by an urgent desire for her husband's success, as the year of the imperial examinations approached, she secretly went out on New Year's Eve, holding a mirror to listen to the random words of passersby for divination. Just then, two men who had risen early were playfully pushing each other, saying, "You, too, go cool yourself off!" The younger wife returned home, puzzled whether this omen was auspicious or not, and soon put it out of her mind. After the examinations, both brothers returned. The weather was scorching hot, and the two wives were toiling in the kitchen, preparing food for the field workers, nearly fainting from the heat. Suddenly, a horseman arrived at the gate with news that the elder brother had passed. The mother came to the kitchen and called out to the elder wife, "The elder has passed! You may go cool yourself off!" The younger wife, both angry and grieved, wept as she continued cooking. Soon, another messenger arrived, announcing that the younger brother had also passed. The younger wife flung down her rolling pin, straightened up, and walked away, exclaiming, "I, too, shall go cool myself off!" In the heat of the moment, she spoke these words unconsciously, but later, reflecting on them, she realized that the divination with the mirror had come true.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: When a man is poor, even his parents do not regard him as a son—there is reason for this indeed! Within the family, it is certainly not a place for venting one's grievances. Yet the wife of Zheng the Second, in spurring her husband on, was vastly different from those who rail against heaven and make unreasonable scenes. The sight of her casting aside her staff and rising up was truly a moment of exhilarating satisfaction that has echoed through the ages!
Commentary
"The Mirror Divination" is widely recognized as a masterpiece of ancient Chinese short-short stories. A short-short story not only requires brevity in word count and simplicity in plot, but especially needs a finishing touch that brings the narrative to life, with foreshadowing in the beginning, details in the middle, and a punchline at the end. Its detailed punchline must be vivid and dramatic. In this regard, "The Mirror Divination" provides a paradigm. The line, "The younger wife fiercely threw down her rolling pin and cried, 'I too shall go and cool myself!'" is particularly powerful, releasing the pent-up resentment that had long festered in the younger wife's heart.
"Mirror Listening," though a short tale, manages to see the great within the small, depicting the worldly affairs and human sentiments of the imperial examination era with the utmost vividness and thoroughness.