This is a classic Chinese fairy tale. It was said that there is a kind of poisonous grass that causes people to die after eating it. People said that people who died of eating this grass would become ghosts. They could reincarnate¹ only by finding a person who had also died by eating the poisonous grass. A young masn， named Zhu Sheng， went to visit his friend. It was the middle of summer and he was very thirsty. He still had half of his journey ahead of him.Then he spotted² a tea house along the road and stopped in for a cup of tea. He eagerly drank the tea that the teahouse owner Ms. Kou brought for him. As soon as he got home he felt a pain in his stomach. He realized that Ms. Kou had given him a cup of tea made with the poisonous grass to benefit her reincarnation. The young man hated her and vowed³ to get revenge. After his death， he took Ms. Kou back to the nether⁴ world. There the two of them got married in the nether world. The young man's mother cried all day long because she missed her son very much. One day，the young man heard the crying of his mother and persuaded his wife to go back to the human world to take care of his mother.The couple worked hard and was comforted and helped the old woman. Though their life was getting better and better， the old woman still did not feel at ease because she knew that her son and daughter-in-law were ghosts. So she pleaded with them to find their replacements⁵. But the young man said："I won't do things lffensive to God and reason.My only hope is to take good care of you and let you live a happy life."S o the couple did their best for the old woman until she died.God was moved by the couple's deeds and then God sent a fairy cart to bring them to heaven. They finally became immortals⁶.

　　《聊斋志异》中的故事。水莽草是一种毒草，人误食会死。有人说吃水莽草死的人会变成水莽鬼，只有找到同样死的人才可以脱生。少年祝生，到朋友家作客。时至仲夏，走在半路上口干舌燥，见一茶棚，饮了寇三娘端来的水莽草茶。走到家中顿感腹中痛疼难忍，深恨寇三娘为脱生而害自己，并发誓说：“我死后也不让她脱生。”祝生死后，把已去投胎的寇三娘揪了回来，二人结为阴间夫妻。祝母因思念儿子，日夜哭泣。一天，祝生听到母亲的噪声，说服寇三娘一同回人间服侍*。夫妻二人勤劳孝顺，家里日子一天比一天好。祝母知道儿子、儿媳是鬼，心里总不踏实，劝他俩再找替身。祝生说：“我不愿作那伤天害理的事，唯一希望就是把你服侍好，让你过上好日子。”就这样，祝生夫妻对母亲尽忠尽孝，直到母亲寿终归西。祝生夫妇的品格感动了天帝，天帝派一辆神车，把他夫妻二人接到天人，做了神仙。

上一篇：聊斋志异故事:珊瑚孝婆 下一篇：聊斋志异故事:细柳教子