Song Dingbo of Nanyang came across a ghost when he was walking at night. Dingbo asked who he was.
"I am a ghost," replied the ghost. "And who are you?"
"I am a ghost too," Dingbo lied.
"Where are you going?" the ghost asked.
"To the City of Wan1," Dingbo replied.
"I am going to the City of Wan, too," said the ghost. "We happen to go the same way."
Thereupon, they walked together. After walking for a few li, the ghost suggested: "It is too tiring to walk. Let us carry each other on the back by turns."
"Excellent," Dingbo agreed.
Thereupon the ghost carried Dingbo on its back. After walking for a few li, it found Dingbo rather heavy. It became suspicious and asked: "You are too heavy. Are you not a ghost?"
"I died not long ago, so I am heavy," Dingbo gave a clever reply.
It was now Dingbo's turn to carry the ghost. As expected, the ghost really had no weight.
Thus they carried each other by turns and went on their journey. At this moment, Dingbo asked again: "I am a new ghost. I don't know what ghosts are afraid of."
The ghost whispered: "It is man's spittle that ghosts fear most."
As they walked along, they came to a small creek2. Dingbo let the ghost cross first. The ghost crossed the creek as if it were walking on land in shoes, without making the slightest noise. But when Dingbo crossed the creek, he splashed the water in all directions with a lot of noise.
The ghost became suspicious again and asked: "Why was there such noise when you crossed the creek?"
Dingbo explained: "I'm a new ghost and not used to crossing the water yet."
At that, the ghost was convinced.
As they were approaching the City of Wan, Dingbo carried the ghost on his shoulder, held it tightly and started to run very fast with vigorous strides. The ghost shouted loudly and demanded that it be put down, but Dingbo turned a deaf ear to its demand. He reached the city of Wan in one breath and threw the ghost to the ground. Then and there the ghost revealed its original shape of a sheep. Dingbo sold it and, fearing it might turn back into a ghost, spit on it several times. With a payment of 1,500 coins from the sale, he left happily.
南陽(yáng)人宋定伯，夜里走路時(shí)碰見(jiàn)了鬼。定伯發(fā)問(wèn)，對(duì)方回答說(shuō)：“我是鬼。”然后，對(duì)方反問(wèn)道:“你是誰(shuí)?”
“我也是鬼，”定伯謊報(bào)。
鬼問(wèn)：“你到哪里去呀?”
“我到宛市去。”定伯答道。
鬼說(shuō)：“我也要去宛市，剛好同路。”
于是，他們結(jié)伴而行。走了幾里，鬼提議說(shuō)：“步行太累了，咱們輪流背著走吧!”
定伯說(shuō)：“太好了。”
鬼先背定伯走了幾里，感到沉重，不免生疑說(shuō)：“你太重了，莫非不是鬼?”
定伯機(jī)靈地說(shuō)：“我剛死不久，所以沉重。”
輪到定伯背鬼，果然沒(méi)有什么重量。
就這樣，他們輪流背著趕路。這時(shí)候，定伯又開(kāi)口問(wèn)道：“我是新鬼，不知鬼害怕些什么?”
鬼小聲回答說(shuō)：“最怕人唾。”
走著走著，前面遇到了一條小河。定伯讓鬼先走，鬼像穿著鞋子在平地上走一樣，沒(méi)有一點(diǎn)響聲。定伯自己過(guò)河的時(shí)候，卻是水花四濺，響聲很大。
鬼又起了疑心，問(wèn)：“你過(guò)河為啥有響聲?”
定伯說(shuō)：“我剛死，還不習(xí)慣渡水。”
聽(tīng)了定伯的解釋?zhuān)硪簿蜕钚挪灰闪恕?/p>
快到宛市的時(shí)候，定伯把鬼架在肩上，緊緊捉住，大步流星地猛跑起來(lái)。鬼大聲呼叫，要求放下。定伯不再答話(huà)，一口氣跑到了宛市，把鬼摔在地下。鬼現(xiàn)了羊的原形。定伯把它賣(mài)掉，怕它變化，連唾了它幾口，賣(mài)得一千五百錢(qián)，高興地走了。
