婴宁

Wang Zifu, a man of Ju County, went out on the Lantern Festival. He saw a young lady, attended by a maid, holding a sprig of plum blossom梅花 méi huāThe plum blossom, symbol of purity and resilience, recurs throughout the story as an emblem of Ying Ning's innocence., her beauty unmatched in any age容华绝代 róng huá jué dàiBeauty that surpasses all generations. "绝代" means without equal in the present era., her face brimming with laughter. The young man stared, unable to look away. The girl turned to her maid and said: "This fellow's eyes blaze like a thief's!" She dropped the flower on the ground and walked away laughing.

Wang picked up the flower, heartsick, his very soul departed. He returned home and fell ill病 bìngLovesickness rendered as physical illness. In Chinese tradition, excessive longing was believed to drain one's vital energy., refusing both food and drink. His mother, worried, tried every remedy. Wang would not speak of what ailed him, but lay in a stupor all day, as if drunk.

A man surnamed Wu, Wang's cousin中表 zhōng biǎoA maternal cousin — the child of one's aunt, uncle, or mother's sister. An important kinship bond in traditional China., happened to visit and asked what was wrong. Wang told him everything. Wu laughed: "That's easy. Find where she lives and I'll arrange it for you."

Hearing this, Wang began to recover. Wu indeed found the girl's home and reported: "There is a girl on the south mountain who matches your description. But her home is desolate and remote荒僻 huāng pìWild and isolated. This foreshadows the revelation of her fox-spirit nature. — I fear she may not be what she seems." Wang paid no heed and insisted they go together.

They set out together. Several miles into the mountains, they found peaks folding upon one another, the air cool and green. In a mountain hollow lay a tiny village of some dozens of houses. Entering, they came to a gate hung with willow threads丝柳 sī liǔSlender willow branches, fine as silk threads — a symbol of spring, here creating an otherworldly, idyllic atmosphere., beyond the wall peach and apricot trees blossomed extravagantly, interspersed with tall bamboo, wild birds chattering among them.

Wu knocked at the gate; an old woman came out. Questioned, she proved to be the girl's aunt. Wu explained everything. The old woman was pleased: "My niece has not yet been betrothed." She invited them inside and called for Ying Ning. After a moment, they heard laughter faintly outside the gate. The old woman called again — the girl came in laughing, still covering her mouth, unable to restrain her mirth.

The old woman said: "This is Ying Ning." Wang gazed at her目之 mù zhīTo fix one's eyes upon her. "目" functions as a verb meaning "to look at" — an archaic usage.; she was still laughing. The old woman said: "This young gentleman has wished to see you for a long time." The girl laughed as she walked. The old woman said: "He is your cousin — one family. What need for modesty?"

Wang asked: "How old is the young lady?" The old woman did not hear clearly. Wang repeated his question. The girl laughed again, unable to look up. The old woman said to Wang: "I told you she has had little instruction — now you see it plainly. She is sixteen, yet as simple裁 cáiA variant of "才" (only, merely). The aunt says Ying Ning is sixteen yet still as innocent as a baby. as a babe." Wang said: "I am one year older." The old woman said: "Then you are seventeen — born in the year of the horse, Geng Wu?" Wang confirmed.

The old woman turned to the girl: "Your cousin wishes to be your husband夫妇 fū fùHusband and wife. The aunt proposes marriage directly; Ying Ning merely laughs, embodying perfect innocence.. Why not become sisters-in-law妯娌 zhóu lǐThe wives of brothers call each other "妯娌." The aunt uses this to hint at marriage more delicately.?" The girl laughed again and turned to her maid: "I don't know this person." Wang said: "Don't you recognize me?" She replied: "How could I not recognize you? I simply don't recognize my cousin!" And she laughed until she could not look up.

Wang took Ying Ning home. Upon entering, everyone who saw her suspected she was an immortal. But the girl loved to laugh — she laughed without cease. Neighbor women and young wives competed to attend her. When the mother-in-law chose a day for the wedding ceremony卺 jǐnThe gourd-cup ritual of ancient weddings, where bride and groom each drank from a halved gourd — the origin of the modern "cross-cup wine.", Ying Ning was laughing so hard she could not bow. Her mother-in-law said: "If you are this wild and silly, how can you be a wife?" Ying Ning restrained her laughter and stood still.

Yet she loved to play. She planted植 zhíTo plant. Ying Ning fills the courtyard with flowers and climbs among them daily. the courtyard with flowers and climbed among them each day, picking blossoms to pin in her hair. One day, a neighbor's son saw her and lost his wits. Ying Ning did not notice. The young man climbed the wall逾墙 yú qiángTo scale a wall. The neighbor's voyeuristic spying implies dishonorable intentions. to spy on her. She pointed at the foot of the wall and laughed. The young man, taking this for an invitation, leapt down — and fell to his death, his skull split open.

The neighbor's family took the matter to the magistrate. The official investigated and declared: "This girl is a demon." But ultimately he released her for her lack of intent无心 wú xīnWithout malice or premeditation. Ying Ning's actions are entirely innocent.. From that day, she never laughed again. Her mother-in-law asked: "Before you laughed; now you do not. Why?" She replied: "That day I met someone. I asked his name; he laughed and would not answer. When I think of it now, I am filled with shame."

Yet she never laughed again, no matter how they tried to tease her. Everyone thought it strange. One day, she suddenly wept before her mother-in-law and confessed she was born of a fox狐生 hú shēngBorn of a fox spirit. Ying Ning finally reveals her true nature to her mother-in-law.. The old woman wept too. From then on, Ying Ning never laughed again for the rest of her life.

Laughter as Freedom

"Ying Ning" is Pu Songling's most tender hymn to innocence. Among all the heroines of Strange Tales, Ying Ning is unique: unlike Nie Xiaoqian, she bears no grievance; unlike Green Phoenix, she knows nothing of the world. She has one quality — laughter. Constant, causeless laughter that bewilders everyone around her.

But Pu's pen turns sharply at the end: when Ying Ning enters human society, her laughter transforms from "innocence" to "crime." A neighbor's son dies while spying on her; the magistrate declares her a "demon." Society's logic is: your happiness harmed another, therefore you must stop being happy. And so Ying Ning "never laughed again for the rest of her life" — not from sorrow, but from social conditioning. The plucked flower is her dead innocence.

Comparative Study

Ying Ning's laughter recalls Zhuangzi's "True Men" — those who "do not rejoice in life, nor resent death." Her laughter is not social but existential — an authentic state uncontaminated by civilization. Pu implies that true freedom lies not in the court or the examination hall, but in a fox girl's causeless laughter. When the laughter dies, freedom dies with it.