法苑珠林 74.33

74.33

唐貞觀中。魏王府長史京兆人韋慶植。有女先亡。韋夫婦痛惜之。後二年慶植。將聚親賓客備食。家人買得羊未殺。夜慶植妻夢。其亡女著青裙白衫。頭髮上有一雙玉釵。是平生所服者。來見母洟泣言。昔甞用物不語父母。坐此業報。今受羊身。來償父母。命明旦當見殺。青羊白頭者是。特願慈恩垂乞性命。母驚寤旦而自往觀羊。果有青羊。項膊皆白。頭上有兩點白相。當如玉釵形。母對之悲泣。止家人勿殺。待慶植至放送之。俄而植至催食。厨人白言。夫人不許殺青羊。植怒即命殺之。宰夫懸羊欲殺。賓客數人已至。乃見懸一女子容貌端正。訴客曰。是韋長史女。乞救命。客等驚愕止宰夫。宰夫懼植怒。又但見羊鳴。遂即殺之。既而客坐不食。植怪問之。客具以言。慶植悲痛。發病遂不起。京下土人多知此事。崔尚書敦禮具為臨說。

During the Zhenguan era of the Tang, Wei Qingzhi of Jingzhao, the Chief Administrator of the Prince of Wei’s Princely Establishment, had a daughter who died young, deeply grieved and mourned by Wei and his wife. Two years later, Qingzhi was about to gather relatives and guests and prepare a banquet. The household bought a sheep that had not yet been slaughtered. That night, Qingzhi’s wife dreamed that her deceased daughter, dressed in a blue-green skirt and a white blouse, with a pair of jade hairpins in her hair—the very garments she had worn during her life—came to see her mother, weeping and saying: ‘In the past, I once used goods without telling Father and Mother. Because of this karmic retribution, I have now received the body of a sheep to come and repay Father and Mother with my life. Tomorrow morning I am to be slaughtered; the blue-green sheep with the white head is I. I earnestly beg your compassionate grace to spare my life.’ The mother woke with a start, and in the morning went in person to look at the sheep. Sure enough, there was a blue-green sheep whose neck and shoulders were completely white, with two white marks on its head that matched the shape of the jade hairpins. Facing it, the mother wept with sorrow and stopped the servants from slaughtering it, waiting for Qingzhi to arrive so they could release it. Shortly afterward, Qingzhi arrived and pressed for the meal. The cook reported: ‘The lady does not permit the slaughter of the blue-green sheep.’ Qingzhi was enraged and immediately ordered it slaughtered. The butcher hung the sheep up and was about to slaughter it, just as several guests arrived. They saw a woman hanging there, of dignified and upright appearance, who appealed to the guests, saying: ‘I am the daughter of Chief Administrator Wei; I beg you to save my life.’ The guests, shocked and astonished, stopped the butcher. The butcher, fearing Qingzhi’s rage and seeing only a sheep bleating, immediately slaughtered it. Afterward, when the guests sat down, they did not eat. Qingzhi thought it strange and questioned them, and the guests told him the full story. Qingzhi was struck with grief and sorrow; he fell ill and never recovered. Many local gentlemen of the capital know of this matter. Minister Cui Dunli recounted it in full to me in person.