二刻拍案惊奇
2005-1
Foreign Language Press
Ling Mengchu
429
马文谦
本书是《中国古典小说名著普及版书系》之一，是明朝末年凌濛初编著的拟话本小说集。成书于明朝天启七年，与《二刻拍案惊奇》合称“二拍”。其内容很复杂，思想倾向也不心相同。故事题材虽多出自前代著述，但经过凌氏的再创作，却表现着晚明的社会现实和时代气息，浸含着凌氏本人的思想观念和愤世俗的不平之气。书中主要是描写商人思想行径、命运遭际的作品和描写婚恋的作品，这些作品都具有认识价值和积极意义。 《初刻拍案惊奇》题材内容方面存在的问题主要有两点。其一是露骨的色情描写。许多作品，如《西山观设度亡魂，开封府备棺追活命》、《乔兑换胡子宣淫，显报施卧师入定》、《奇风情村妇捐躯，假天语幕僚断狱》等都有猥亵描写。这类作品表现出市民的庸俗情趣。其二是浓厚的宗教迷信、因果报应、宿命论思想。《王大使威行部下，李参军冤报生前》、《酒谋财于郊肆恶，鬼对案杨化借尸》、《李克让竞达空函，刘元普双生贵子》、《感神媒张容遇虎，凑吉日裴越客乘龙》等充满了感神遇鬼，善恶报应等的描写…… 《初刻拍案惊奇》是明朝末年凌蒙初编著的拟话本小说集。 成书于明朝天启七年（1627），第二年由尚友堂书坊书坊刊行问世。其后凌蒙初又编著《二刻拍案惊奇》，于明朝崇祯五年（1632）刊行。二书合称“二拍”。《初刻拍案惊奇》本为四十卷四十篇，原本已失，今所见最早且最为完整的本子是藏于日本内阁文库的尚友堂刻本，全书存三十九卷（缺二十三卷），即实有小说39篇。
IntroductionTale 1 Scholar Quan Plots to Relate Himself to a Distant Aunt； Mother Bai Is Deceived in Marrying off Her DaughterTale 2 Inquiring About a Lost Man in Courtesans'Quarters； Hearing Howls of Ghosts in the Saffron GardenTale 3 Wang Xiangmin Loses His Son at the Lantern Festival； The Thirteenth Boy at Age Five Pays Respects to His MajestyTale 4 General Li Claims a Brother-in -law by Mistake； Lady Liu Contacts Her Husband by StealthTale 5 Shen Binges with Thousands in Silver； Lord Wang Lays a One-night TrapTale 6 Rash Young Men Startle Lovers； Clever Young Women Recognize Jade ToadsTale 7 Five Tigers Cunningly Plot a Family Dispute； Big Brother Mo Wisely Shatters a Sinister SchemeTale 8 Lord Man Deserts His Benefactor Spouse； Jiao Wenji WEreaks Vengeance After DeathTale 9Tale 10Tale 11Tale 12Tale 13Tale 14Tale 15Tale 16Tale 17Tale 18Tale 19
A Perennial Bestseller on Townsfolk Life As Amazing Tales-First Series by Ling Mengchu （1580=1644） made a hit, the publisher urged him to write a sequel to it. This gave rise to Amazing Tales-Second Series, which has become another bestseller for the.last few centuries. Our English version of the Second Series features 19 stories carefully chosen from the original 40. In fascinating plots and a highly expressive collo-quial language, they are mostly about womens fate ,their miser-able existence in a polygamous society, their daring struggle for genuine love, and their implications in legal cases. All these shed precious light on the social mosaic of seventeenth-century China.
