山东人杰地灵，才人辈出。外国人眼中“最有影响力的中国人”——孔子，就出生在这片热土。
然而，地理上的相近，并不会妨碍观念上的相左：比如，孔子大概就不会想到，“怪力乱神”说得最欢实的，竟然也是一位山东的后生。
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（蒲松龄，山东淄博市人）
后人眼中，蒲松龄俨然是个“鬼话连篇”的梗王。他所编撰的《聊斋志异》不但让“原作党”迷到手不释卷，更是一个福荫后世的优质IP，为当代文娱创作提供了大量的文化素材。
这样优秀“中华怪谈”，自然少不了外国的粉丝。来自济南新航道学校的James老师，便是蒲松龄先生的忠实读者。
最近，他把对《聊斋》深沉的热爱写成了一封信，寄给了我们。下面，小编就带大家一窥原文，看看一位合格的“《聊斋》迷”，应该有怎样的自我修养：
In the city of Jinan there stands a gallery of statues, each one representing a significant cultural figure. From the world-renowned thinker Confucius to the hero of the Three Dynasties period Zhuge Liang, some of the most brilliant minds in Shandong history are represented here.
济南城里陈列着许多人物雕塑，它们的原形也都颇有文化渊源：从举世闻名的思想家孔子，到三国英雄诸葛亮，一些历朝历代出身山东的“最强大脑”都在这里得到了体现。
However, there was one in particular that caught my eye: An elderly gentleman in simple robes. Yet it was not the man himself that I first noticed. Crouched at his feet was the statue of a fox. The otherwise tarnished bronze had been buffed to a brilliant gold around it’s snarling face and it glinted eerily in the near twilight.
而众多雕塑当中，一位身着长袍的老先生分外显眼。但最引人注目的倒不是他本人，而是伏在他脚边的铜狐狸：它脸上的铜漆磨蚀殆尽、被蹭得锃光瓦亮，伴着狰狞的神情，在暮色下散发出诡异的光芒。
The man was Pu Songling and his tales of fox spirits, demons and ghosts have intrigued, if not haunted, the imaginations of Chinese people for over three hundred years.
那位老先生便是蒲松龄，他笔下的狐仙鬼怪们已经让中国人津津乐道了300多年，当然,前提是不被他们缠上。
In the west we are no strangers to tales of the macabre. Many of us remember vividly the first time we read the works of Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley or Edgar Allan Poe, so I was intrigued to find out how the works of the master of the Chinese ghost story would differ from the gothic horror and psychological thrillers that have dominated the market in Europe and America since the Victorian era.
灵异传说在西方人看来并不陌生，我们中不少人仍清楚地记得，第一次读布莱姆·斯托克、丽·雪莱，还有埃德加·爱伦·坡的著作时，是一种怎样的体验。我不禁有些好奇，这些中国的鬼故事，与盛行于欧美维多利亚时期文坛的哥特式恐怖和惊悚怪谈相比，究竟哪里不一样。
Superficially, the first difference a reader will notice upon cracking open the spine of “Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio”（Pu Songling’s most celebrated work, also translated as “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio”）is the length of the stories.
其实不用深究，读者一翻开《聊斋》（蒲松龄的得意之作，亦被称为《聊斋志异》）就会大致明白，差别首先体现在故事的篇幅上。
The book is not a novel like “Dracula” or “Frankenstein“. It is an anthology of hundreds of short stories. These stories can range from a few lines to a dozen pages or so. This Brevity gives the stories a great sense of immediacy.
和《德古拉》、《科学怪人》这些小说不同，《聊斋》是收录了几百个短篇小说的选集，故事短则寥寥几行，长则不过十几页，凝练的行文让情节极具临场感。
They do not begin with a rambling description of a dilapidated castle whose walls echo with the screams of a thousand lost souls. Many of the stories begin by simply telling you who the main character is and where the story is set.
故事也没有长篇大论式的开场，说什么“古堡的残垣断壁上回荡着游魂的哀嚎”云云，而是直截了当地告诉你主人公是谁，故事发生在哪儿。
The next thing of note is the way the supernatural is presented. Once I delved deeper into the stories themselves one thing that really struck me was the blurring of the line between the mortal world and the spirit realm.
书中值得一提的，还有它对超自然事物的刻画。我对这些故事稍加细品，就被其中“人鬼同途”的描写所震撼。
In the world of “Strange Tales” these otherworldly beings are inexorably linked with the lives of mortals. They interact with, punish or reward, and in many cases marry and have children with human beings. Our human protagonists even, on rare occasions, are granted access to the world beyond to meet deceased relatives.
《聊斋》把来自另一个世界的角色和尘世间的众生，不由分说地关联起来，他们彼此有互动，有奖惩，还能成亲生子；少数情况下，我们这样的“凡夫俗子”甚至还可以跨越阴阳两界，与故去的亲人相会。
The ghosts and spirits also display a great diversity in their attitudes. Most cannot be described as wholly wicked or wholly benevolent. In fact, much of the misfortune that they bring to people is motivated largely by revenge. In “Painted Skin” (one of the most famous of the tales) the evil spirit does not exact her terrible revenge until she has been jilted by the protagonist.
各路鬼怪对人类的态度也不尽相同，绝大多数并不是单纯的非黑即白，那些为祸人间的通常是为了报复。《画皮》（书中最有名的一则）的故事说的就是这路的恶鬼：她在被主人公辜负之前，还是没有下狠手的。
As with many great works of literature “Strange Tales” is not merely a collection of stories, but rather a window through which to view the society of the time.
书中众多引人入胜的文学佳作，让《聊斋》已经不单纯是一个故事选集，而是一个能够让人们一窥当时社会生活的窗口。
One of the greatest tragedies in the life of Pu Songling was the fact that he repeatedly failed the imperial examinations of the Qing Dynasty. This is a repeated theme throughout the book. For many of the stories that conclude happily, the ‘happy ending’ is often linked to passing the imperial examinations and scholarly diligence is shown as a virtue which is to be celebrated and rewarded.
纵观蒲松龄一生，最大的悲剧之一莫过于在清代科考的屡次落第，因此“考学”也是贯穿全书的一大主题。在不少“大团圆”的故事里，都是以主人公“金榜题名”为结局。此外，读书人的勤勉也被蒲松龄视为一种美德，在书中着墨颇多、赞赏有加。
I feel it is these more personal elements of the book that have allowed it to endure. In today’s largely secular world the supernatural aspects of his writing may not have the same impact that they once would have had. We no longer fear that our fates rely on the whims of the immortals and we no longer fear the ghost lurking in the dark.
我觉得，让《聊斋》的影响经久不衰的，正是蒲松龄的各种“夹带私货”。在高度世俗化的当今社会，超自然事物的影响力或许已无法同日而语：我们的命运自己把握，不再仰仗各路神仙的眼色，也不再怕被妖魔鬼怪所觊觎。
However, the characters he created do still have messages for us today about human behaviour and the life of Pu Songling is an inspiring tale of achievement in spite of adversity. Although he himself never did attain the position in the imperial court that he dreamed of, his experiences did help him to create “Strange Tales”.
不过，蒲松龄笔下的角色对于今人的言行，仍有着诸多启示意义。蒲松龄的一生虽然多舛，但也是个励志的故事；他没有考得梦寐以求的功名，但他人生经历却为《聊斋》的创作提供了丰富的养料。
His hard work did not lead to the exact result he wanted, but it did lead him to a different kind of success. I hope you enjoy reading his work as much as I did. Don’t have nightmares!
他的勤奋苦学没有让他收获预期的结果，但是却把它引向了另外一种成功。我希望大家也能够像我这样喜爱他的作品。看完之后可别做噩梦！
正如James老师说的那样，《聊斋》中光怪陆离的故事背后，反映的其实是人世间的悲欢离合与喜怒哀乐。而借物抒怀，借景抒情，将自己的思想情感寄托于颇具象征性的文化事物，向来是中国古代文人抒展怀襟的偏爱形式，也是隽永的中国故事精彩之所在。
不过，像James老师这样了解中国文化的外国人，如今仍然是凤毛麟角一般的存在。在国际化盛行的当今，学会用英语讲好中国故事，把真实、美好的中国文化全面、准确地介绍给世界，既是我们中国新一代青少年的职责，也可以帮助我们在更广的天地间，找到更多与我们志同道合的朋友。
希望在不久的将来，我们在万圣节的玩具橱窗中，也能看到小倩、画皮的身影。
