张岱·《柳敬亭说书》英译
南京柳麻子，黧黑，满面疤癗，悠悠忽忽，土木形骸。善说书。一日说书一回，定价一两。十日前先送书帕下定，常不得空。南京一时有两行情人，王月生、柳麻子是也。余听其说景阳冈武松打虎白文，与本传大异。其描写刻画，微入毫发；然又找截干净，并不唠叨。哱夬声如巨钟，说至筋节处，叱咤叫喊，汹汹崩屋。武松到店沽酒，店内无人，謈地一吼，店中空缸空甓皆瓮瓮有声。闲中著色，细微至此。主人必屏息静坐，倾耳听之，彼方掉舌；稍见下人呫哔耳语，听者欠伸有倦色，辄不言，故不得强。每至丙夜，拭桌剪灯，素瓷静递，款款言之。其疾徐轻重，吞吐抑扬，入情入理，入筋入骨，摘世上说书之耳，而使之谛听，不怕其齰舌死也。柳麻貌奇丑，然其口角波俏，眼目流利，衣服恬静，直与王月生同其婉娈，故其行情正等。
Liu Jingting: Storyteller
Zhang Dai
Pockmarked Liu of Nanjing has a swarthy complexion and his face is covered in craters and ridges. His manner is languid and detached, and he is just as nature made him. He is an excellent storyteller.
He tells one episode a day, and his fee is one ounce of silver. To engage him you have to make your booking, and forward his retainer, ten days in advance, and even then you may be out of luck. There are at present two entertainers in Nanjing in great demand: one is Wang Yuesheng, the chanteuse; the other is Pockmarked Liu.
I heard him tell the story of Wu Song killing the tiger on Jingyang Ridge1. His version diverged greatly from the original text. He will describe things in the minutest particular, but his choice of what to put in and leave out is nice and neat, and he is never wordy. His bellow is like the boom of a mighty bell, and when he gets to some high point in the action he will let loose such a peal of thunder that the building will shake on its foundations. I remember that when Wu Song goes into the inn to get a drink and finds no one there to serve him, he suddenly gave such a roar as to set all the empty vessels humming and vibrating. To make dull patches come to life like this is typical of his passion for detail.
When he goes to perform in someone’s house, he will not loosen his tongue until his hosts sit quietly, hold their breath, and give him their undivided attention. If he spots the servants whispering, or if his listeners yawn or show any signs of fatigue, he will come to an abrupt halt, and be impervious to persuasion to continue. He will often talk till past midnight, still keeping up an unhurried flow, while the servants wipe the tables, trim the lamp, and silently serve tea in cups of tasteful porcelain. His pacing and his inflexions, his articulation and his cadences, are exactly suited to the situation, and lay bare the very body and fibre of the matter. If one plucked all the other storytellers alive by the ear and made them listen to him, I do not doubt but they would be struck dumb with wonder and give up the ghost on the spot.
Pockmarked Liu is remarkably ugly, but his lips are puckish, his eyes animated, his dress quietly elegant: all of which effectively puts him on a par with Wang Yuesheng for comeliness, hence their equal drawing power as entertainers.
1. Probably the most famous episode in the Ming novel Shuihu zhuan 水浒传.（David Pollard 译）
