Žena, ki je v spanju ubijala duše

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Žena, ki je v spanju ubijala duše

Ma Shi, a man of Fuyang in the state of Wu, had a wife whose surname was Jiang. Whenever a villager was destined to die of illness, Jiang would fall into a deep, trancelike sleep lasting a whole day. Only after she had seen the sick person die would she awaken. On waking, she would recount everything, but her family did not believe her. Once she told someone, “So-and-so had fallen ill, and I wanted to kill him, but he was fierce and strong, and his soul was hard to kill, so he did not die at once. I entered his house. On a shelf there was cooked white rice and several dishes. I stopped by the stove for a little amusement, but a maid provoked me without cause. I struck her on the back, and she fell unconscious on the spot. It was a long while before she came round.” When her elder brother fell ill, a man dressed in black ordered her to kill him. She pleaded with the man and in the end never struck the blow. When she awoke, she told her brother, “You will live.”