中国神话传说中的三更惊魂有人敲门
清朝有一位书生吴宁，和同学们一起前往澄江参加选拔贡生的科试。头一年他在经、古等科目中名列前茅，他心想这次定能一举成功。此时，一位善于看相的相士住进了他们的客栈，两人很快成为好友。
有一天，吴宁带了一条鱼回客栈，对相士开玩笑说：“先生擅长看相，请看一下，我能不能吃到这条鱼？”相士看了看鱼，又看着书生，说：“不能。”
吴宁大笑，将鱼烹制后摆在桌上，但当他准备就座时，又问：“现在还能吃到鱼吗？”
“不能。” 相士依旧平静地回答。这时，一条大蛇从梁上掉下来，将盛有未食之鱼的盘子击碎，使得吴宁惊恐万分。
随后，吴宁称赞他的神奇相术，而那位相士则谦逊地说他的本事并无神奇之处，只是应对朋友开的一个玩笑。
然后，吴宁询问此次考试自己的命运，那位曾预言其将死于非命的三更的人，却犹豫不决，最终告诉他自己已经没有希望选上，并且三日后会死于非命。他劝吴宁尽早回家安葬，这样至少可以避免在外面遭遇不幸。然而，当夜晚来临时，当所有人都已入睡的时候，只有一个声音传出，那是一个女子的声音，她哭泣着抱着两个孩子，因为她的丈夫被捕，现在她必须卖身偿还债务。她打算明天与恶霸成婚，以偿还五十两银子的债务。但是，她因为不忍心离开孩子而悲痛欲绝。
Wu Ning, a scholar from the Qing dynasty, accompanied his classmates to Chengjiang for the selection of tribute students. In the first year, he excelled in subjects such as history and classics. He thought this time would be no exception.
There was a fortune teller living in their inn who became friends with Wu Ning. One day, Wu Ning brought a fish into the inn and joked with the fortune teller: "Can I eat this fish?" The fortune teller looked at him and said that he couldn't.
The next day, Wu Ning asked if he could still eat it now that night had fallen. Again, the answer was "no." Just then, a large snake fell from above and shattered the plate containing the untouched fish on it; Wu Ning was terrified.
The story spread far and wide about how an ordinary man had almost been killed by an unexpected event because of what others said or did not say.
