西園記

襄陽才子張繼華遊學杭州，到西園觀景，於彩樓下休憩，為落梅所驚，抬頭見一女子倩影，想是園主之女有情於他，以梅示意。原來園主獨女趙玉英，不滿王家之聘，抱病在床，閨友王玉真到府慰問，登樓折梅之際，失手把梅枝掉落張繼華身上。繼華驀睹芳容，遂薦任西席，冀能見到趙家小姐。繼華為趙玉英祈福，恰見弔祭回來的王玉真，淚痕未乾，離園而去。復聽得趙小姐病故，以為方才所見乃趙玉英之魂。趙員外把玉真收為義女，王家又來強行下聘。為此玉真私訪繼華表明心意，繼華夜祭亡靈誤以為小姐幽魂來探，言語間多有迴避，致使玉真黯然而去。趙員外為提親而至，繼華百般推脫。成婚之日，仍以為玉真是趙女之魂，連夜逃走，經眾人解釋，方悉始末，得成佳偶。

A Tale of the West Garden

Zhang Jihua, a talented scholar from Xiangyang, tours Hangzhou for study and visits the West Garden. When Zhang takes a rest beside Cailou, the house of the garden’s owner, a plum twig falls on him. He looks up and sees a beautiful woman, and guesses that the daughter of the garden owner loves him and so threw him a plum twig as a token of her affection. It turns out that Zhao Yuying, the only daughter of the garden owner, is dissatisfied with her engagement to a Mr. Wang and is ill abed; her close friend, WangYuzhen, has come to visit her. When Yuzhen went up the stairs to snap twigs off the plum tree, a twig fell on Jihua.

The scholar manages to get into Zhao’s mansion, hoping to meet Yuying. When he prays for blessings onYuying, he sees Yuzhen passing by, who is coming from the mourning ceremony with tears on her face. Hearing that Yuying has died, Jihua mistakes what he just saw for the ghost of Yuying. Landlord Zhaoadopts Yuzhen as daughter and Mr. Wang comes again to force an engagement. Yuzhen visits Jihua in private to pour out her love for him. At that moment, Jihua is mourning for Yuying and again mistakesYuzhen for Yuying’s ghost. He keeps his distance from Yuzhen; she is confused and upset and walks away. Later, landlord Zhao proposes a marriage for Jihua and Yuzhen, and Jihua tries his best to reject. Even at their wedding, Jihua still mistakes Yuzhen for the ghost of Yuying and attempts to escape during the night. The truth finally comes out and the misunderstanding is happily resolved.