Would you let a beautiful stranger move into your home after meeting them once on a dark night? Yeah, probably not the best idea.
从前，有一个年轻的书生，名叫王生。他住在一个小城里，每天读书写字，生活很安静。
有一天晚上，他在路上遇到一个漂亮的女子。女子说自己没有家，也没有亲人，希望能住在王生家里。王生心软，就让她住下了。
几天以后，王生的身体越来越差，总觉得很累。他的妻子觉得事情不对，就去找一位老道士帮忙。
老道士来到王生家，偷偷观察那个女子。晚上，他看到女子把自己的“脸”拿下来，原来那只是一张画出来的皮！皮下面是一个可怕的鬼。
道士告诉王生：“她不是人，是鬼。你必须马上离开她。”王生很害怕，请道士救自己。
道士给了王生一张符，让他贴在门上。那天夜里，鬼想再进屋，却被符挡住了，最后痛苦地逃走了。
从那以后，王生才明白：外表美丽的东西，不一定是真的。人要小心，不要只看表面。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 书生 | shūshēng | scholar |
| 心软 | xīnruǎn | soft-hearted |
| 道士 | dàoshì | Taoist priest |
| 偷偷 | tōutōu | secretly, stealthily |
| 可怕 | kěpà | terrifying, scary |
| 鬼 | guǐ | ghost |
| 符 | fú | talisman, charm |
| 挡住 | dǎngzhù | to block, to stop |
| 外表 | wàibiǎo | outward appearance |
| 表面 | biǎomiàn | surface |
| 从前 | cóng qián | previously; formerly; once upon a time |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 年轻 | nián qīng | young |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 名叫 | míng jiào | called; named |
| 王 | Wáng | surname Wang |
| 生 | shēng | to grow; to give birth; to produce; to be born; to arise; to occur; to light (a fire); to live; to be alive; life; raw; uncooked; unprocessed; unfamiliar; strange; (bound form) stu… |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease; (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state) |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 小城 | xiǎo chéng | small town |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 每天 | měi tiān | every day |
| 读书 | dú shū | to read a book; to study; to attend school |
| 写字 | xiě zì | to write (by hand); to practice calligraphy |
| 活 | huó | to live; alive; living; work; workmanship |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 安静 | ān jìng | quiet; peaceful; calm |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening |
| 路上 | lù shang | on the road; on the way; en route |
| 遇 | Yù | surname Yu |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 漂 | piāo | to float; to drift |
| 亮 | liàng | bright; light; to shine; to flash; loud and clear; to show (one's passport etc); to make public (one's views etc) |
| 女子 | nu:3 zǐ | woman; female |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 家 | jiā | used in 傢伙|家伙[jia1 huo5] and 傢俱|家俱[jia1 ju4]; home; family; (polite) my (sister, uncle etc); classifier for families or businesses; refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China; noun suffix for a specialist in some act… |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 亲人 | qīn rén | one's close relatives |
| 希 | xī | to hope; to admire; variant of 稀[xi1] |
| 望 | wàng | full moon; to hope; to expect; to visit; to gaze (into the distance); to look towards; towards; 15th day of month (lunar calendar); old variant of 望[wang4] |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 家里 | jiā lǐ | home |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 让 | ràng | to yield; to permit; to let sb do sth; to have sb do sth; to make sb (feel sad etc); by (indicates the agent in a passive clause, like 被[bei4]) |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 下 | xià | down; downwards; below; lower; later; next (week etc); second (of two parts); to decline; to go down; to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc); measure word to show the frequency … |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 几天 | jǐ tiān | several days |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 身体 | shēn tǐ | the body; one's health |
| 越 | Yuè | generic word for peoples or states of south China or south Asia at different historical periods; abbr. for Vietnam 越南 |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 差 | chā | difference; discrepancy; (math.) difference (amount remaining after a subtraction); (literary) a little; somewhat; slightly |
| 总 | zǒng | (bound form) general; overall; to sum up; in every case; always; invariably; anyway; after all; eventually; sooner or later; surely; (after a person's name) abbr. for 總經理|总经理[zong3… |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 累 | lěi | to accumulate; to involve or implicate (Taiwan pr. [lei4]); continuous; repeated; rope; to bind together; to twist around |
| 妻子 | qī zǐ | wife and children |
| 事情 | shì qing | affair; matter; thing; business; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1] |
| 不对 | bù duì | incorrect; wrong; amiss; abnormal; queer |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 找 | zhǎo | to try to find; to look for; to call on sb; to find; to seek; to return; to give change |
| 位 | wèi | position; location; place; seat; classifier for people (honorific); classifier for binary bits (e.g. 十六位 16-bit or 2 bytes); (physics) potential |
| 老 | lǎo | prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity; old (of people); venerabl… |
| 帮忙 | bāng máng | to help; to lend a hand; to do a favor; to do a good turn |
| 观 | Guàn | surname Guan |
| 察 | Chá | short name for Chahar Province 察哈爾|察哈尔[Cha2 ha1 er3]; variant of 察[cha2] |
| 那个 | nà ge | that one; that thing; that (as opposed to this); (used before a verb or adjective for emphasis); (used to humorously or indirectly refer to sth embarrassing, funny etc, or when one… |
| 看到 | kàn dào | to see |
| 把 | bǎ | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the ob… |
| 脸 | liǎn | face; CL:張|张[zhang1],個|个[ge4] |
| 拿下 | ná xià | to arrest; to capture; to seize; to win (a set, a game etc) |
| 原 | Yuán | surname Yuan; (Japanese surname) Hara |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 只是 | zhǐ shì | merely; only; just; nothing but; simply; but; however |
| 张 | Zhāng | surname Zhang |
| 画 | huà | to draw; to paint; picture; painting (CL:幅[fu2],張|张[zhang1]); to draw (a line) (variant of 劃|划[hua4]); stroke of a Chinese character (variant of 劃|划[hua4]); (calligraphy) horizonta… |
| 出 | chū | to go out; to come out; to arise; to occur; to produce; to yield; to go beyond; to exceed; (used after a verb to indicate an outward direction or a positive result); classifier for…; variant of 出[chu1] (classifier for plays or chapters of classical novels) |
| 皮 | Pí | surname Pi |
| 皮下 | pí xià | under the skin; subcutaneous (injection) |
| 面 | miàn | face; side; surface; aspect; top; classifier for objects with flat surfaces such as drums, mirrors, flags etc; variant of 麵|面[mian4]; flour; noodles; (of food) soft (not crunchy); (slang) (of a person) ineffectual; spineless |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 告 | gào | (bound form) to say; to tell; to announce; to report; to denounce; to file a lawsuit; to sue |
| 诉 | sù | variant of 訴|诉[su4]; to complain; to sue; to tell |
| 不是 | bù shì | no; is not; not |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 必须 | bì xū | to have to; must; compulsory; necessarily |
| 马上 | mǎ shàng | at once; right away; immediately; on horseback (i.e. by military force) |
| 离开 | lí kāi | to depart; to leave |
| 害怕 | hài pà | to be afraid; to be scared |
| 请 | qǐng | to ask; to invite; please (do sth); to treat (to a meal etc); to request |
| 救 | jìu | variant of 救[jiu4]; to save; to assist; to rescue |
| 给 | gěi | to; for; for the benefit of; to give; to allow; to do sth (for sb); (grammatical equivalent of 被); (grammatical equivalent of 把); (sentence intensifier) |
| 贴 | tie | to stick; to post (e.g. on a blog); to fit snugly; allowance (e.g. money for food or housing); classifier for sticking plaster: strip |
| 门 | Mén | surname Men |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 那天 | nà tiān | that day; the other day |
| 夜里 | yè li | during the night; at night; nighttime |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 再 | zài | again; once more; re-; further; beyond this point of time; (before an adjective) more; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, an… |
| 进 | jìn | to go forward; to advance; to go in; to enter; to put in; to submit; to take in; to admit; (math.) base of a number system; classifier for sections in a building or residential com… |
| 屋 | wū | (bound form) house; (bound form) room |
| 却 | què | old variant of 卻|却[que4]; but; yet; however; while; to go back; to decline; to retreat; nevertheless; even though |
| 被 | bèi | quilt; to cover (with); (literary) to suffer (a misfortune); used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, … |
| 最 | zuì | variant of 最[zui4]; old variant of 最[zui4]; (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est; (after 之[zhi1]) best or most extreme example (e.g. 世界之最[shi4 jie4 zhi1 zui4] "the greatest in the world") |
| 痛 | tòng | ache; pain; sorrow; deeply; thoroughly |
| 苦 | kǔ | bitter; hardship; pain; to suffer; to bring suffering to; painstakingly |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 逃 | tāo | to escape; to flee |
| 走 | zǒu | to walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit; to leave; to go away; to die (euph.); from; through; away (in compound verbs, such as 撤走[che4 zou3]); to change (shape, form… |
| 从 | cóng | variant of 從|从[cong2]; surname Cong |
| 才 | cái | ability; talent; sb of a certain type; a capable individual; then and only then; just now; (before an expression of quantity) only; (emphatic, esp. in contrast or correction) reall…; (variant of 才[cai2]) just now; (variant of 才[cai2]) (before an expression of quantity) only |
| 明白 | míng bai | clear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible; reasonable; to understand; to realize |
| 美 | Měi | (bound form) the Americas (abbr. for 美洲[Mei3 zhou1]); (bound form) USA (abbr. for 美國|美国[Mei3 guo2]) |
| 丽 | lǐ | used in place names, notably 高麗|高丽[Gao1 li2] and 麗水|丽水[Li2 shui3] |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 西 | Xī | the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]; Spanish |
| 不一定 | bù yī dìng | not necessarily; maybe |
| 真的 | zhēn de | really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine; (math.) proper |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 小心 | xiǎo xīn | to be careful; to take care |
| 不要 | bù yào | don't!; must not |
| 只 | zhī | variant of 隻|只[zhi1]; variant of 只[zhi3]; grain that has begun to ripen; classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
Long ago, there was a young scholar named Wang Sheng. He lived in a small town, reading and writing every day, living a very quiet life.
One night, he met a beautiful woman on the road. The woman said she had no home and no family, and hoped she could stay at Wang Sheng’s house. Wang Sheng was soft-hearted, so he let her stay.
A few days later, Wang Sheng’s health began to get worse and worse, and he always felt very tired. His wife felt something was wrong, so she went to find an old Taoist priest for help.
The old Taoist priest came to Wang Sheng’s house and secretly observed the woman. At night, he saw the woman take off her ‘face’ – it turned out to be just a painted skin! Beneath the skin was a terrifying ghost.
The priest told Wang Sheng: ‘She is not human, she is a ghost. You must get away from her immediately.’ Wang Sheng was very frightened and begged the priest to save him.
The priest gave Wang Sheng a talisman and told him to stick it on the door. That night, when the ghost tried to enter the room again, she was blocked by the talisman, and fled in agony.
From then on, Wang Sheng finally understood: things that appear beautiful on the outside are not necessarily real. People must be careful and not just look at the surface.