Part 2 of 2 of The Legend of Little Winsome (謝小娥傳)
Translated from original Classical Chinese (文言文)
Told in the first person by Tang Dynasty official Li Gongzuo (李公左)

Part 1

爾後小娥便為男子服，傭保於江湖間。歲餘，至尋陽郡，見竹戶上有紙榜子，雲召傭者。小娥至，應召詣門。問其主，乃申蘭也。

Little Winsome thereafter began dressing as a man, and traveling the land as a laborer. After about a year, she came across a recruitment notice for hired labor in Xunyang Canton — and when she went to the residence to apply, she found the man who owned it was Shen Lan!

蘭引歸，娥心憤貌順，在蘭左右，甚見親愛。金帛出入之數，無不委娥。已二歲餘，竟不知娥之女人也。先是謝氏之金寶錦繡衣物器具，悉掠在蘭家，小娥每執舊物，未嘗不暗泣移時。

Shen Lan took Little Winsome in, and though her heart raged, she appeared docile — and even endearing — in his ranks. And so, it came to be that Lan Shen entrusted all of his accounts of gold and silks with Little Winsome for over two years, all the while unaware that she was actually a woman. All of the golds, silks, robes, and trinkets that had once belonged to her family had been plundered to Shen Lan’s home as well, and any time Little Winsome held the familiar objects in her hands, she would cry in secret for some time afterwards.

蘭與春，宗昆弟也。時春一家住大江北獨樹浦，與蘭往來密洽。蘭與春同去經月，多獲財帛而歸。每留娥與蘭妻梁氏同守家室，酒肉衣服，給娥甚豐。

Lan and Chun were cousins, and Shen Chun lived north of the Yangtze River with his family in a town called Dushupu, from where he continued his close dealings with Shen Lan. The two would go off together for months at a time, always returning with more money and silk. And, on each occasion, Little Winsome would stay behind with Shen Lan’s wife, whose surname was Liang, to look after the residence, later to be gifted generously with clothing, meat, and liquor.

或一日，春攜大鯉兼酒詣蘭，娥私歎曰：「李君精悟玄鑒，皆符夢言，此乃天啟其心，志將就矣。」

Then, one day, Chun had come over to visit Lan with a large carp and some liquor, when Little Winsome sighed to herself, and said: “Sir Li is truly versed in the arcane! This all fits the words from my dreams. The heavens have enlightened him, and now my ambitions are to be fulfilled!”

是夕，蘭與春會群賊，畢至酣飲。暨諸凶既去，春沉醉臥於內室，蘭亦露寢於庭。

That night, Lan and Chun assembled their band of thieves, and they all drank together to their hearts’ content. Then once the cousins’ minions had all left, Chun lay down drunkenly indoors, while Lan slept in the open air of the courtyard.

This was her chance!

小娥潛鎖春於內，抽佩刀先斷蘭首，

Little Winsome snuck up to Chun’s door, and locked him inside; then, she extracted her belt dagger, and cut off Lan’s head!

呼號鄰人並至。春擒於內，蘭死於外，獲贓收貨，數至千萬。

She cried out to alert the neighbors, and with Chun locked within and Lan dead without, inventory of their hoard was taken, and found to number in the millions.

初蘭、春有黨數十，暗記其名，悉擒就戮。

As for the rest of Lan and Chun’s crew, though they numbered in the dozens, Little Winsome had secretly memorized each of their names, and she tracked them all down, slaying each on the spot.

時尋陽太守張公，喜娥節行，列聞廉使旌表，乃得免死而已。

Pleased with Little Winsome’s upright behavior, the governor of Xunyang, Sir Zhang, recounted her deeds to the local commissioner so that she may be rewarded — though, in the end, she was only spared execution.

元和十二年夏，娥復父夫之仇畢，歸本里見親屬。里中豪族爭求娉，娥誓心不嫁。遂剪髮披褐，訪道於牛頭山，師事大士尼蔣律師。

Finally, in the summer of the 12th year of Yuanhe (817 AD), after having avenged her father and husband, Little Winsome returned to her home town to be with relatives. All of the local families of influence were eager to compete for her betrothal, but Winsome nevertheless vowed not to remarry, and instead shaved her head, donned coarse hemp, and went to Niutou Mountain to become the disciple of Mahasattva Guru Jiang Lü.

娥志堅行苦，霜春雨薪，不倦筋力。十三年四月，始受具戒於泗州開元寺，竟以小娥為法號，不忘本也。

There, Little Winsome willfully and tirelessly lived a life of toil, pounding rice through frost, and chopping firewood through rain. And in the Fourth Month of the next year, she took the bhikkhuni vows at Kaiyuan Temple in Sizhou, with ‘Little Winsome’ as her dharma name — not forgetting her roots.

其年夏五月，余歸長安，途經泗濱，過善義寺，謁大德尼令。操見新戒者數十，靜發鮮帔，威儀雍容，立侍師之左右。

A month after that, in the summer, I happened to pass through Shanyi Temple on my way back to Chang’an via the Si River, where I paid visit to the Venerable Ling. Upon entering, I saw dozens of young nuns taking their precepts, all with clean-shaven heads and vibrant capes, graceful and dignified as they stood next to their master.

中有一尼問師曰：「此郎豈非洪州李判官二十三郎者乎？」師曰：「然。」

Suddenly, one nun among them asked the master: “Is this gentleman not Magistrate Li Twenty-Three of Hongzhou?” To which, the Venerable Ling answered: “Indeed, it is.”

曰：「使我獲報家讎，得雪冤恥，是判官恩德也。」

“It was by the grace of this magistrate that I was able to  avenge my family and absolve my shame!”

顧余悲泣。余不之識，詢訪其由。

The girl turned in my direction, now weeping with grief, but I did not recognize her, and so asked what she meant.

尼白師曰：「名小娥，頃乞食孀婦也。判官時為我辨申蘭、申春二賊名字，豈不憶念乎？」

The bhikkhuni answered: “I am Little Winsome. I was a beggar widow, and you, magistrate, identified the names of the thieves Shen Lan and Shen Chun for me. Do you not remember?”

余曰：「初不相記，今即悟也。」

“I didn’t recognize you at first, but now I know!”

娥因泣，具寫記申蘭、申春，復父夫之讎，志願相畢，經營終始艱苦之狀。

Little Winsome sobbed as she recounted the events of Shen Lan and Shen Chun, how she avenged her father and husband, the realization of her ambition, and all the hardships she encountered along the way.

小娥又謂余曰：「報判官恩，當有日矣。」

Finally, she said to me: “The day will come that I will repay your favor, magistrate.”

豈徒然哉！嗟乎！余明辨二盜之姓名，小娥又能竟父夫之仇冤，

And that was it! Alas! I identified the names of the two bandits, and Little Winsome was thus able to avenge her father and husband.

神道不昧，昭然可知。小娥厚貌深辭，聰敏端樸，煉指跛足，誓求真如。爰自入道，衣無絮帛，齋無鹽酪，非律儀禪理，口無所言。

The way of the gods is not shadowed, but illuminated and knowable. Little Winsome was both of honorable and kind appearance and inwardly unfathomable. She was both smart and clever, and dignified and simple. She burned her fingers with incense and walked on injured feet, vowing to find the truth. And, thus, she walked the path [of the Dharma] herself, clothes without cotton or silk, and rations without salt and curd, never speaking a word not attuned to her precepts and the ways of Chan (Buddhism).

後數日，告我歸牛頭山，扁舟泛淮，雲遊南國，不復而遇。

A few days later, Little Winsome informed me she would be returning to Ox Head Mountain, and I left, too, taking a skiff on the Huai River to explore the South country. That was the last time I ever saw Little Winsome.

余備詳前事，發明隱文，暗與冥會，符於人心。知善不錄，非《春秋》之義也，故作傳以旌美之。

I have recounted this matter of the past for the purpose of illuminating this story from the shadows — this meeting of darkness and death — and to make an impression in the hearts of others. To know a deed to be right and not act goes against the Spring and Autumn Annals. Thus, I have written this account to commend her.