The talented young herbalist named Xu Xian was in trouble. It should have been a victorious moment– he had just opened his very own medicine shop. But he bought his supplies from his former employer, and the resentful man sold him rotten herbs.
Talentovanog mladog travara po imenu Sju Sjen je zadesila nedaća. To je trebalo biti pobedonosni momenat - upravo je otvorio svoju apoteku, ali je kupio robu od svog bivšeg poslodavca, a uvređen čovek mu je prodao trule biljke.
As Xu Xian wondered what to do with this useless inventory, patients flooded into his shop. A plague had stricken the city, and he had nothing to treat them. Just as he was starting to panic, his wife, Bai Su Zhen, produced a recipe to use the rotten herbs as medicine. Her remedy cured all the plague-afflicted citizens immediately. Xu Xian’s former boss even had to buy back some of the rotten herbs to treat his own family.
Dok se Sju Sjen pitao šta da radi sa svojim beskorisnim inventarom, pacijenti su nagrnuli u njegovu apoteku. Kuga je pogodila grad, a on nije imao ništa čime bi ih lečio. Kada ga je uhvatila panika, njegova žena, Baj Su Džen, napravila je recept za lek od trulih biljaka. Njen lek je momentalno izlečio sve kugom zaražene građane. Sju Sjenov bivši gazda je čak morao da otkupi neke od trulih biljaka kako bi izlečio svoju porodicu.
Shortly after, a monk named Fa Hai approached Xu Xian, warning him that there was a demon in his house. The demon, he said, was Bai Su Zhen. Xu Xian laughed. His kindhearted, resourceful wife was not a demon.
Nedugo potom, monah po imenu Fa Haj prišao je Sju Sjenu i upozorio ga da se demon nalazi u njegovoj kući. Taj demon je, po njegovim rečima, bila Baj Su Džen. Sju Sjen se na to nasmejao. Njegova dobrodušna i snalažljiva žena nije bila nikakav demon.
Fa Hai insisted. He told Xu Xian to serve his wife realgar wine on the 5th day of the 5th month, when demons’ powers are weakest. If she wasn’t a demon, he explained, it wouldn’t hurt her.
Fa Haj je bio uporan. Rekao je Sju Sjenu da posluži svojoj ženi aromatično vino petog dana u petom mesecu, kada je snaga demona najmanja. Ako nije demon, objasnio je, ne bi trebalo da joj naškodi.
Xu Xian dismissed the monk politely, with no intention of serving Bai Su Zhen the wine. But as the day approached, he decided to try it.
Sju Sjen je ljubazno odbio monaha, bez ikakve namere da posluži to vino Baj Su Džen. Ali kako se taj dan približavao, ipak je odlučio da proba.
As soon as the wine touched Bai Su Zhen’s lips, she ran to the bedroom, claiming she wasn’t feeling well. Xu Xian prepared some medicine and went to check on her. But instead of his wife, he found a giant white serpent with a bloody forked tongue in the bed. He collapsed, killed by the shock.
Čim je vino dotaklo usne Baj Su Džen, ona je otrčala u spavaću sobu, tvrdeći da se ne oseća dobro. Sju Sjen je spremio neki lek i otišao da proveri kako je. Ali umesto svoje žene, pronašao je ogromnu belu zmiju koja je palacala jezikom u krevetu. Srušio se i umro od šoka.
When Bai Su Zhen opened her eyes, she realized immediately what must have happened. The truth was that Bai Su Zhen was an immortal snake with formidable magical powers. She had used her powers to take a human form and improve her and her husband’s fortunes.
Kada je Baj Su Džen otvorila oči, odmah je shvatila šta se verovatno desilo. Istina je da je Baj Su Džen bila besmrtna zmija sa ogromnim magičnim moćima. Ona je iskoristila svoje moći da preuzme ljudski oblik i poveća svoje i muževljevo bogatstvo.
Her magic couldn’t revive Xu Xian, but she had one more idea to save him: an herb that could grant longevity and even bring the dead back to life, guarded by the Old Man of the South Pole in the forbidden peaks of the Kun Lun Mountains. She rode to the mountains on a cloud, then continued on foot passed gateways and arches until she reached one marked “beyond mortals” hanging over a silver bridge.
Njena magija nije mogla da oživi Sju Sjena, ali je imala još jednu ideju kako da ga spasi - da nađe biljku koja je davala dugovečnost i mogla čak mrtve da vrati u život, čuvanu od strane Starca sa Južnog pola, na zabranjenim vrhovima planine Kuenluen. Otplovila je do planine na oblaku, zatim nastavila pešice, prošavši prolaze i lukove, dok nije stigla do natpisa „nedostupno smrtnicima” koji je visio iznad srebrnog mosta.
On the other side, two of the Old Man’s disciples guarded the herb. Bai Su Zhen disguised herself as a monk and told them she’d come to invite the Old Man to a gathering of the gods. While they relayed her message, she plucked some leaves from the herb and ran.
Na drugoj strani, dva sledbenika Starca su čuvali biljku. Baj Su Džen se prerušila u monaha i rekla im da je došla da pozove Starca na okupljanje bogova. Dok su prenosili njenu poruku, ubrala je nekoliko listova sa biljke i pobegla.
The servants realized they had been tricked and chased her. Bai Su Zhen coughed up a magic ball and threw it at one. As the other closed in on her, she put the herb under her tongue for safekeeping, but its magic forced both of them into their true forms. As the crane’s long beak clamped around her, the Old Man appeared. Why, he asked, would she risk her life to steal his herb when she was already immortal?
Sluge su shvatile da su bile prevarene i pojurile za njom. Baj Su Džen je iskašljala magičnu loptu i bacila je na jednog. Dok joj se drugi približavao, stavila je biljku pod jezik kako bi je sakrila, ali je magija biljke oboje vratila u njihov pravi oblik. Dok se ždralov dugački kljun obavijao oko nje, pojavio se Starac. Pitao je zašto bi ona rizikovala svoj život da ukrade biljku kada je već besmrtna?
Bai Su Zhen explained her love for Xu Xian. Even if he didn’t want to be with her now that he knew she was a demon, she was determined to bring him back to life. The two had a karmic connection dating back more than a thousand years. When Bai Su Zhen was a small snake, a beggar was about to kill her, but a kind passerby rescued her. Her rescuer was Xu Xian in a past life. Touched by her willingness to risk her life for him, the Old Man permitted her to leave the mountain with the immortal herb.
Baj Su Džen je ispričala priču o svojoj ljubavi prema Sju Sjenu. Čak i ako on ne bi želeo više da bude sa njom, znajući da je demon, bila je odlučna da ga povrati u život. Njih dvoje su bili karmički povezani već više od hiljadu godina. Kada je Baj Su Džen bila mala zmija, prosjak je želeo da je ubije, ali ju je spasio slučajni prolaznik. Njen spasilac je bio Sju Sjen iz prošlog života. Dirnut njenom odlučnošću da rizikuje svoj život zbog njega, Starac joj je dozvolio da ode sa planine sa besmrtnom biljkom.
Bai Su Zhen returned home to revive Xu Xian. When he opened his eyes, the terrified look frozen on his face became a smile. Demon or not, he was still happy to see his wife.
Baj Su Džen se vratila kući da oživi Sju Sjena. Kada je otvorio oči, njegov užasnuti smrznuti pogled je prerastao u osmeh. Bila ona demon ili ne, bio je srećan što vidi svoju ženu.