余少能視鬼，嘗于雪夜野寺逢一提傀儡翁，鶴發(fā)襤褸，唯持一木偶制作極精，宛如嬌女，繪珠淚盈睫，惹人見憐。

I have been able to see ghosts since I was a kid. Long time ago, I came across an old man who had a puppet in his hands in a deserted temple on a snowy night. The old man was with white hair and was in rags, only the delicately made puppet looking like a charming girl, whose eyelashes were wetted by drawn tears, making whoever saw her take pity on her.

時(shí)云彤雪狂，二人比肩向火，翁自述曰：少時(shí)好觀牽絲戲，耽于盤鈴傀儡之技，既年長，其志愈堅(jiān)，遂以此為業(yè)，以物象人自得其樂。奈何漂泊終生，居無所行無侶，所伴唯一傀儡木偶。

At that time the sky was covered with dark clouds?and the snow was heavy. The old man and I sat by the fire shoulder to shoulder. He started to tell me his story—— he was fond of watching puppet shows in his childhood, and then was absorbed in/addicted to?puppet shows accompanied by disc bell. When he became?an?adult, his aspiration got stronger. As a result, he earned his living by it, using puppets to simulate humans and enjoying himself. However, leading a wandering life, he had nowhere to live and nobody to keep him company, only the puppet being his companion.

翁且言且泣，余溫言釋之，懇其奏盤鈴樂，作牽絲傀儡戲，演劇于三尺紅綿之上，度曲咿嚶，木偶顧盼神飛，雖妝繪悲容而婉媚絕倫。

The old man wept as he talked. I comforted him mildly and asked him to play the disc bell and puppet shows. He played a show on a three-feet-long red cloth, singing melodiously. The puppet looked around with radiant facial expressions. Although wearing sad makeup, she was still graceful and matchless.

曲終，翁抱持木偶，稍作歡容，俄頃恨怒，曰：平生落魄，皆傀儡誤之，天寒，冬衣難置，一貧至此，不如焚。遂忿然投偶入火。吾止而未及，跌足嘆惋。忽見火中木偶婉轉(zhuǎn)而起，肅拜揖別，姿若生人，繪面淚痕宛然，一笑迸散，沒于篝焰。

After the music ended , the old man held the puppet with/in?his arms, put on a happy face for a while, then quickly got raged and said: "I'm badly off all my life, which results from puppets. It's very cold in winter now, but I don't have enough money to prepare warm clothes. Why not burn it? " So he angrily threw the puppet into the fire. I made every effort to stop him but it was too late. I fell down, sighing with deep regret. Unexpectedly, the puppet slowly stood up, and then bowed seriously and soulfully, as if she were a real human. The drawn tear stains were still clear enough to see. She smiled, suddenly scattered, finally disappeared in the fire.

火至天明方熄。

The fire burnt continuously until daybreak.

翁頓悟，掩面嚎啕，曰：暖矣，孤矣。

The old man completely realized what had happened, burst into loud sobs with his hands over his face, and said: "I was warm for a moment, but I'm lonely forever."

?

——《牽絲戲》文案

The background story of The Puppet Show

Translated by 輕寒暮雪淡若塵