法苑珠林 32.53

32.53

秦時南方有落民。其頭能飛。其種人部有祭祀。號曰蟲落。故因取名焉。吳時將軍朱桓得一婢。每夜臥後頭輒飛去。或從狗竇。或從天窓中出入。以耳為翼。將曉復還。數數如此。傍人怪之。夜中照視唯有身無頭。其體微冷氣息裁屬。乃蒙之以被。至曉頭還礙被不得安。兩三墮地。噫吒甚愁。而其體氣急狀若將死。乃去被頭復起傅頸。有頃平和。桓以為巨怪。畏不敢畜。乃放遣之。既而詳之乃知天怪也。時南征大將亦往往得之。又嘗有覆以銅盤者。頭不得進遂死。

In Qin times, in the south there were the Luomin people whose heads could fly. Their tribe had a sacrificial rite called the "Worm-Drop" (Chongluo); hence they took their name from it. In the Wu period, General Zhu Huan obtained a maidservant whose head would fly away every night after she fell asleep. It would exit and enter either through a dog-hole or through a skylight, using her ears as wings, and return just before dawn. This happened repeatedly. Those around her thought it strange. In the middle of the night, they shone a light to look, and there was only a body without a head; her torso was slightly cold, and her breathing barely connected. Thereupon, they covered it with a blanket. At dawn, when the head returned, it was obstructed by the blanket and could not settle; it fell to the ground two or three times, sighing and crying out in great distress, while her body's breathing became hurried, appearing as if about to die. They then removed the blanket; the head rose again and reattached to the neck, and after a short while she was calm and sound. Huan considered it an enormous monstrosity, and fearing it, dared not keep her, so he dismissed and sent her away. Later, upon investigating it carefully, he learned that it was a natural wonder. At that time, commanding generals on southern expeditions also frequently encountered them. There was also a case where someone covered [the body] with a bronze basin, and the head could not enter, so she died.