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.
年輕有才華的草藥醫生 許仙遇到了麻煩。 這本來應該是值得慶祝的一刻—— 他自己的藥舖剛開張。 但他向他的前任僱主購買貨品, 而這位憤恨不滿的前僱主 把腐壞的藥草賣給他。 當許仙正在傷腦筋要如何 處理這些無用的庫存時,
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.
病人湧入了他的店。 瘟疫在該城市爆發, 他卻沒有東西可以治療他們。 他正要開始慌張時, 他的妻子,白素貞, 開出了一張把腐壞藥草 當藥物使用的處方。 她的藥物立即治好了 所有被瘟疫所苦的市民。 許仙的前任僱主甚至得要 買回一些腐壞的藥草 來治療他自己的家人。
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.
沒多久,有一位叫做 法海的和尚去找許仙, 警告許仙,說他的家裡有惡魔。 他說,這惡魔就是白素貞。 許仙笑了。 他那心地善良又機智的 妻子不可能是惡魔。
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.
法海很堅持。 他叫許仙在端午節那天 給他的妻子喝雄黃酒, 那是惡魔的力量最弱的時刻。 他解釋說,如果她 不是惡魔就不會受傷害。
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.
許仙禮貌地請和尚離開, 沒打算要讓白素貞喝雄黃酒。 但,當那一天到來時, 他決定一試。
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.
雄黃酒才一接觸到白素貞的嘴脣, 她就奔向臥房,聲稱她不舒服。 許仙準備了一些藥, 去看她的狀況。 但,他看到在床上的不是他的妻子, 而是隻巨大的白蛇, 伸出分叉的血紅色舌頭。 這驚嚇讓他崩潰而死。
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.
當白素貞睜開雙眼, 她立刻猜到發生了什麼事。 真相是,白素貞是長生不老的蛇, 有著可怕的法力。 她用法力將自己變成人形, 改善她和丈夫的財務。
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.
她的魔法無法讓許仙復生, 但她還有一個點子可以救他: 有一種藥草可以讓人長壽, 甚至能讓死者復生, 這種藥草被保存在 崑崙山高峰上的禁地, 由南極仙翁看守。 她乘雲前往崑崙山, 接著步行走過通道和拱門, 抵達了一座銀色橋樑, 上面標註著「隔凡橋」。 在另一端,仙翁的 兩位弟子在看守藥草。
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.
白素貞喬裝成和尚, 告訴他們說她是來 邀請仙翁參加神的聚會。 他們去傳達口信時, 她摘取了一些藥草葉便轉身逃跑。 這些僕人發現自己 被騙了,馬上去追她。
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?
白素貞咳出了一顆魔法球, 扔向其中一人。 當另一人接近她時, 她為了保護藥草, 把它放到了自己的舌頭下, 但它的魔力迫使他們 都現出了原形。 當鶴的長喙鉗住她時, 仙翁出現了。 他問她,為什麼要 冒著生命危險來偷藥草? 她不是已經長生不老了嗎? 白素貞解釋了她對許仙的愛。
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.
即使現在許仙知道了她是惡魔, 不可能想和她在一起, 她仍然下定決心要讓他起死回生。 他們兩人的業緣, 可追溯至超過一千年前。 當時白素貞是隻小蛇, 一名乞丐正要殺害她, 但一名好心的路人救了她。 這名救星就是前世的許仙。 她願意為他冒生命危險, 讓老翁很感動, 因此允許她帶著長生不老的 藥草離開崑崙山。 白素貞返家後讓許仙復活。
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.
他睜開雙眼時, 臉上僵住的驚恐神情 轉變成了一個微笑。 不論他的妻子是不是惡魔, 他都很高興見到她。