《锁麟囊》
故事来源:民间传说
时间:古代
地点:中国的山东省
主要人物:薛湘灵(富家小姐) 赵女(穷困人家之女)
登州城里,住着一位富家小姐薛湘灵。她聪明美丽,是家中的独女,从小倍受母亲宠爱,养成了娇纵任性的脾气。按照民间的习俗,农历六月十八日是个吉利的日子。在父母和媒人的安排下,薛湘灵就在这一天出嫁。上轿前,母亲递给她一只绣有麒麟的锦袋,里面装满了珠宝首饰,希望女儿婚后早得贵子。这只锦袋也因此叫做“锁麟囊”。薛湘灵拜别母亲,乘坐着富丽堂皇的花轿,在众人的簇拥下去往婆家。不巧途中下起雨来,送亲的人们只好把花轿停在路边的春秋亭内避雨。
没过多久,又有一乘送亲的花轿来到春秋亭避雨。花轿的破旧、送亲者的衣着寒伧,显得格外刺眼。轿中坐着登州城一位姓赵的姑娘,她家境贫寒,没有任何陪嫁,担心到了婆家遭人耻笑。偏偏遇雨,和富家小姐相形见绌,不由一阵阵心酸,抽抽噎噎哭泣起来。哭声引得薛湘灵掀起轿帘,左看右看,心中十分同情。她拿出锁麟囊叫仆人薛良送给赵女,并且嘱咐不要留下姓名。眼见雨过天晴,薛湘灵一行人继续上路。赵女手捧锁麟囊感动不已,心想世间竟有如此富有而又好心的人,连个姓名都不肯留下,将来如何报答呢……
六年的时光匆匆过去,一场洪水将薛湘灵婆家的财产化为乌有。逃难中她来到莱州大户卢家当了女仆,无意中发现了当年的锁麟囊被卢夫人供奉在密室中。经过交谈,薛湘灵得知卢夫人就是昔日的赵女,卢夫人也认出了恩人。两个女人面对命运的如此起伏,感慨万端。卢夫人为报答薛湘灵,将薛家三十余口接到家中供养。
The Brocade Pouch
Origin:
Folk story
Time:
Ancient time
Place:
Shandong Province
Main characters:
Xue Xiangling (daughter of a wealthy family)
Zhao (daughter of a poor family)
Xue Xiangling lives with her wealthy family in the city of Dengzhou, in today's Shandong Province. Intelligent and beautiful, she is her parents' only daughter. She's been spoiled since the day she was born, and has grown up willful and self-indulgent. It is the eighteenth day of the sixth lunar month, a day traditionally considered to be auspicious, and the day chosen by Xue Xiangling's parents and the matchmaker for her wedding. As Xue Xiangling prepares to leave for her new married life, her mother gives her a brocade pouch full of jewels and ornaments. The pouch is embroidered with a mythical creature thought to protect children and childbirth, and Xue Xiangling's mother tells her that she hopes she will soon have a child. Xue Xiangling bids her mother farewell and seats herself in the magnificent flower-bedecked bridal sedan chair, and surrounded by family and retainers, sets off for her new home.
Along the way, Xue Xiangling's party is overtaken by a sudden downpour, and takes shelter from the rain in the Spring and Autumn Pavilion by the side of the road. Before long, they are joined in the pavilion by another bridal party, also caught out in the rain. This bridal sedan is old and dilapidated, and the clothes of the attendants are little more than rags. The bride, surnamed Zhao, is also from Dengzhou. Her family is so poor that she has no servant to accompany her to her new home, and she fears that she will be mocked and abused by her new husband's family. When Zhao sees Xue Xiangling, with all her wealth and privilege, the comparison is too much for her to bear, and she bursts into bitter tears. Xue Xiangling hears the sobbing and peeks out through the curtains of her sedan chair. Seeing the scene before her, she is overcome with sympathy. She takes the brocade pouch and instructs her servant to give it to Zhao, but not to reveal her name.
Shortly the rain passes, and Xue Xiangling and her party continue along their way. Zhao watches them go, the jewel-filled pouch in her hands, filled with gratitude and wonder at the existence of someone of such wealth and generosity of spirit. How will she ever be able to repay this person, when she would not even leave her name?
Six years rush by, and a terrible flood destroys Xue Xiangling's husband's property. Destitute, Xue Xiangling makes her way to the city of Laizhou, where she finds work as a servant with a prosperous family named Lu. One day, she happens to see her old brocade pouch, enshrined in a secret room by Madame Lu! Through their subsequent conversation, Xue Xiangling learns that Madame Lu is none other than Zhao, the impoverished bride of so long ago, and Madame Lu recognizes her benefactor from the Spring and Autumn Pavilion. Faced with such vagaries of fate, the two young women are filled with deep emotion. Madame Lu repays her debt by bringing Xue Xiangling's entire household of more than twenty people to live in her home under her protection.