三言二拍初刻拍案惊奇 (Sanyan Erpai)

《初刻拍案惊奇》是一部脍炙人口的奇书，共有短篇小说40篇，它以人民大众喜闻乐见的"拟话本"形式，描写了众多引人入胜的故事，如商人由厄运而致富，读书人由贫寒而成名；清官们断案如神，贪吏们枉法如虎；恶棍们奸淫揽讼，骗子们尔虞我诈；青年们怎样追求忠贞不贰的爱情，而封建礼教又如何制造婚姻悲剧。语言通俗简练；情节曲折起伏，扑朔迷离，然又合乎情理；人物内心刻划细致入微，艺术形象栩栩如生，历来评价甚高( Amazing Tales First Series is a master piece appealing to most people. It consists of 40 short novels that describe many attracting stories in the form of "nihuaben" (novel written in the style of script for story-telling) popular among the masses. It includes stories such as a merchant makes fortune from misfortune; poor scholars become famous; upright officials judge the cases very accurately, greedy officials break laws on a serious scale; bullies commit rape but win the case, liars make efforts to cheat others; how young boys seek loyal love and how feudal ethics makes marriage tragedy. The words are informal and easy to understand; the plots have ups and downs and are complicated and confusing but reasonable. Inner minds of the characters are described in each and every detail. It provides vivid artistic images and is highly appreciated.)