Original Text
In Pingyuan County, there was a scholar named Qiao who had a daughter who was both dark-skinned and ugly, with a cleft nose and a lame leg; by the time she was twenty-five or twenty-six, no one had come to seek her hand in marriage. In the same town lived a scholar named Mu, over forty years old, whose wife had died; being too poor to remarry, he took Qiao's daughter as his wife. After three years of marriage, Qiao gave birth to a son. Soon after, Mu passed away, leaving the family even poorer and struggling to survive. Qiao turned to her own mother for help, but her mother grew impatient, and Qiao, angered, refused to return to her natal home, instead sustaining herself by spinning and weaving. There was also a scholar named Meng, who had lost his wife and was left with a son called Wutou, barely a year old; desperate for a wet nurse, he was eager to remarry, but none of the matches proposed by matchmakers pleased him. Suddenly, he saw Qiao and was greatly delighted, secretly sending someone to hint at his intentions. Qiao refused, saying, "I am now in such dire straits that marrying you would bring me warmth and food—how could I be unwilling? Yet I am both deformed and ugly, inferior to others; the only thing I can trust in is my virtue. But if I were to marry a second husband, even that virtue would be compromised. So, sir, what is it you see in me?" Meng respected her all the more, and his longing deepened; he sent a matchmaker with gifts and money to persuade Qiao's mother. Her mother was overjoyed and personally went to her daughter's home, insisting that she agree, but Qiao steadfastly refused. Ashamed, her mother offered to marry her younger daughter to Meng instead. The Meng family was delighted, but Meng himself would not consent. Not long after, Meng suddenly died of a sudden illness, and Qiao went to his home to mourn, expressing her grief to the fullest.
Meng Sheng originally had no relatives or clansmen. After his death, the village ruffians took advantage of the situation to bully his household, plundering all the furniture and discussing how to divide his fields among themselves. The household servants also took the opportunity to steal items and flee, leaving only an old maidservant holding the infant Wutou and weeping within the bed curtains. Qiao Nu, upon learning the full story, was deeply indignant. Hearing that Lin Sheng had been a close friend of Meng Sheng during his lifetime, she went to his door and said: "The bonds between husband and wife and between friends are the great pillars of human relations. Because I am exceedingly ugly, I have been scorned by the world; only Meng Sheng valued me. Though I once firmly rejected him, my heart was already pledged to him. Now that Meng Sheng is dead and his child is young, I feel I must do something to repay his understanding of me. Yet raising an orphan is easy, but preventing outsiders from bullying him is difficult. If, lacking brothers or parents, one stands by and watches the child perish and the family fall without lifting a hand to save them, then among the five cardinal relationships, the bond of friendship might as well be discarded. I have no further trouble to ask of you—only that you write a petition to the county magistrate. The task of raising the orphan I dare not shirk." Lin Sheng replied, "Very well!" Qiao Nu bid him farewell and returned home. Lin Sheng prepared to act as Qiao Nu had instructed, but the village ruffians grew furious and threatened him with white blades entering and red blades emerging. Lin Sheng, terrified, shut his door and dared not venture out again. After waiting several days without any news, Qiao Nu made inquiries and learned that Meng Sheng's fields had already been divided up. Filled with rage, she stepped forward and went to the yamen to file a complaint. The magistrate asked Qiao Nu what relation she was to Meng Sheng. Qiao Nu replied, "You govern an entire county, relying solely on justice. If my words are false, even a close relative cannot escape punishment; if they are true, even the words of a stranger deserve a hearing." The magistrate, displeased by her bluntness, drove her out. Qiao Nu, with no outlet for her fury, went to the homes of the local gentry to weep and plead her case. One gentleman, upon hearing her story, was moved by her righteousness and spoke on her behalf to the magistrate, explaining the full circumstances. The magistrate investigated and found that Qiao Nu's words were indeed true, so he prosecuted the ruffians for their crimes and recovered all the property they had seized.
Someone proposed that Qiao Nu should stay at the Meng household to raise the orphan, but Qiao Nu refused. She locked the Meng family's door, had the old maid carry Wutou and return home with her, and found another house to arrange their lodging. Whenever Wutou needed daily necessities, she would open the door with the maid, take grain to exchange for money, and procure them for him. She herself took not a single coin, living in poverty with her own child, just as before. After several years, as Wutou gradually grew up, she hired a teacher to instruct him in learning, while her own son she set to work in the fields. The old maid advised her to let both boys study together, but Qiao Nu said, "Wutou's expenses are his own; if I use another's wealth to educate my own son, how could my intentions be made clear?" After a few more years, Qiao Nu accumulated several hundred bushels of grain for Wutou, arranged his marriage to a daughter of a distinguished family, repaired the homestead, and handed over the property to him, telling him to return and live on his own. Wutou wept and begged to live with Qiao Nu, and she finally agreed, but she still spun thread and wove cloth as before. When Wutou and his wife took away her tools, Qiao Nu said, "How can my son and I sit idle and eat for free without feeling uneasy?" So she spent her days managing Wutou's estate, sending her son to oversee the laborers in the fields, as if he were a hired hand. Whenever Wutou and his wife committed minor faults, she would scold them and would not be lenient; if they showed no sign of repentance, Qiao Nu would angrily threaten to leave. Only when the couple knelt and apologized did she relent. Soon after, Wutou passed the imperial examinations and became a scholar, and Qiao Nu again wished to leave and return home. Wutou would not allow it, and he provided money to arrange a marriage for Mu Sheng's son. Qiao Nu then had her son return home to live. Unable to keep him, Wutou secretly had someone purchase a hundred acres of land for Mu's son in a nearby village, and only then let him go.
Later, Qiao Nu fell ill and wished to return home, but Wutou would not allow it. As her illness worsened, she instructed him, saying, "You must bury me in the Mu family grave!" Wutou agreed. After Qiao Nu died, Wutou secretly gave some money to Mu's son, intending to have Qiao Nu buried together with Meng Sheng. On the day of the funeral, the coffin became so heavy that even thirty men could not lift it. Mu's son suddenly collapsed to the ground, blood streaming from his seven orifices, and he cried out, "Unfilial son, how dare you sell your mother!" Wutou, terrified, hastily bowed and prayed, and only then did Mu's son recover. Thus, the coffin was kept for several more days until Mu Sheng's grave was properly repaired, and only then were they buried together.
The Chronicler of Strange Tales remarks: To willingly sacrifice oneself for one who truly appreciates and understands one's worth is the act of a steadfast man. What wisdom did this woman possess, yet she achieved such greatness? If one were to encounter a discerning judge like Jiufang Gao, who could recognize a fine steed, she would be regarded as a man.
Commentary
This is a story extolling an ugly woman. Although Qiao Nu was exceedingly hideous, with "a sunken nose and a lame foot," she possessed nearly all the virtues imposed on women by feudal society: "Not serving two husbands, that is chastity; repaying a benefactor's kindness, that is righteousness; boldly appearing before officials, that is courage; weeping and pleading with the gentry, that is wisdom; living in poverty without corruption, that is integrity; raising the young and educating them as they grow, that is benevolence and propriety. Even after her death, she could still halt her own coffin and rebuke her son, ultimately fulfilling her wish to be buried properly, becoming a perfect person in the underworld." (Dan Minglun) Apart from feudal chastity, everything she did for the Meng family commands deep respect, and even in today's society, she would be considered a paragon of virtue.
In the realm of ancient Chinese fiction, there were indeed works depicting ugly women who possessed talent, virtue, and achieved great deeds; the uniqueness of this tale lies in the profound sense of mutual understanding it bestows upon Meng Sheng and Qiao Nu. And the notion of 'pledging one's life to a kindred spirit' is precisely the kind of emotion Pu Songling yearned for amid his long and arduous struggles in the imperial examinations.