A very rough (and probably deeply flawed) translation:

In the state of Cang there was a man named Pan Ban who was good at calligraphy.  He called himself the Yellow Leaf Daoist.  He once stayed at the home of a friend and was in the study when he heard a small voice from within the house say, "Sir, if tonight there is no one staying with you to keep you company in you bed, I will come to you."

Ban was greatly startled and rose to leave.

His friend said, "The house has been haunted for a long time.  The spirit looks like a beautiful and graceful woman and will not harm you."

Later, the friend said in private to his lover, "Must it be that Lord Pan will come to the end of his life soon?  The creature haunting us is not a ghost and not a fox.  I have not been able to find out what it could be.  When it meets with a vulgar person it will not come out.  When it meets with a rich and noble man it also will not come out.  Only when it meets with a noble man who has fallen into obscurity will it come out and share this person's pillow."

Afterwards, Pan fell into hardship and died.

More than ten years passed.  Suddenly, in the night a sobbing sound could be heard in the middle of the study.  The next day, a great wind blew down an old apricot tree.  The haunting stopped after that.

An outsider Mr. Zhang Xue Feng once laughed and said, "This spirit is really great.  It knows the difference between fine people!"

Translated from Random Notes from the Cottage of Close Scrutiny by Ji Yun - 18th century

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