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 F I F T H E D I T I O N

THE PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR

CAREER OPTIONS AND STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

R. Eric Landrum
Boise State University

Stephen F. Davis
Morningside College

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Landrum, R. Eric.
The psychology major : career options and strategies for success / R. Eric Landrum,
Stephen F. Davis.—5th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-205-82965-1
ISBN-10: 0-205-82965-1
1. Psychology—Vocational guidance. I. Davis, Stephen F. II. Title.
BF76.L36 2014
150.23′73—dc23
2012041140

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 10: 0-205-82965-1

ISBN 13: 978-0-205-82965-1
 CONTENTS

Preface to the Fifth Edition v

Chapter 1 Why College? 1

Who Goes to College? 1 ■ Public Expectations Concerning
College 1 ■ Student Expectations about Going to College 3 ■ Desirable
Skills and Abilities 4 ■ The Covert Curriculum 4 ■ The Civic, Liberal
Arts Value of a College Education 7 ■ The Financial Value of a College
Education 7 ■ Oh, You Don’t Have to Go to College . . . 9
Exercise #1: Potential Challenges to Staying in College 11
Chapter 2 Why Psychology? 13
Thoughts about the Psychology Major 13 ■ Areas of Specialization within
Psychology 14 ■ Who Majors in Psychology? 16 ■ Desirable Skills and
Abilities for the Psychology Major 18 ■ The Importance of Advising and
Mentoring 19 ■ Why the Psychology Major Is a Good Choice 20
Exercise #2: Psychology Survey 21
Chapter 3 Careers with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology 23
The Undergraduate Curriculum 23 ■
What Employers Want, and
What They Pay 24 ■ Careers with a Bachelor’s Degree 26 ■ Career
Options, Job Descriptions, and O*NET 29 ■ What About the Associate’s
Degree? 31 ■ Becoming a Freshman Again 31
Chapter 4 Pursuing Bachelor’s-Level Options 33
The Complexity of Finding a Job 33 ■ Preparing Your Resume, with
Samples 35 ■ Letters of Recommendation, with a Sample 42 ■ Interview
Skills, Questions, and Knockout Factors 46 ■ What If You Are Not Initially
Successful in Your Job Search? 48 ■ You Got the Job, Now How to Keep It
(Or Not Lose It) 49
Exercise #3: Job Ads 51
Chapter 5 Career Options with a Master’s Degree or Doctoral Degree 53
Why Graduate Training? 53 ■ Types of Graduate Training and Graduate
Degrees 57 ■ Sample Job Descriptions, Work Locations of Graduate
Degree Recipients 58 ■ Occupational Opportunities with the Master’s
Degree 60 ■ Occupational Opportunities with a Doctoral Degree 62
■ What Is a Postdoc? 63
Exercise #4: Decoding Graduate School Information 66
Chapter 6 The Graduate Admissions Process 71
The Popularity and Competitiveness of Graduate Admissions 71 ■ Overview: The
Application Process 72 ■ Narrowing Your Program List 72 ■ Understanding
the Application Process 74 ■ Patience 75 ■ Primary and Secondary Selection
Criteria, with Caveats 75 ■ Grades, Transcripts, and the GRE 78 ■ Letters of
Recommendation, with Faculty Examples 79 ■ The Personal Statement, with
Student Examples 83 ■ A Student’s Guide to the Curriculum Vita (CV), with
Examples 85 ■ Research Experience, and Match and Fit with Your Program of
Interest 94 ■ Strategies to Consider If You Do Not Get In 95
Exercise #5: Letter of Recommendation Request Worksheet 97

iii
iv Contents

Chapter 7 Research and Teaching Assistantships 99

What Is a Research Assistantship? 99 ■ Presenting Research at Conferences 103
■ What Is a Senior Thesis? 105 ■ Becoming a Teaching Assistant 106
Exercise #6: Outside-of-Class Activities Plan 107
Chapter 8 Getting Involved: Internships and Organizations 109
Field Experiences and Internships 109 ■ What Interns Do 110 ■ Other
Internship Opportunities 112 ■ Organizational Involvement 113 ■ The
American Psychological Association 113 ■ The Association for Psychological
Science 114 ■ Psi Chi 114 ■ Regional Associations 115
Exercise #7: Time Management 117
Chapter 9 Sharpening Library and Research Skills 119
Generating Research Ideas 119 ■ The Literature Review 120 ■ The Special
Role of References 121 ■ Library Research Strategies 121 ■ Books 122
■ Journal Articles 122 ■ The Internet 127 ■ More Literature Search
Strategies 128 ■ Library Skills Psychology Majors Should Have 129
Exercise #8: PsycINFO Author Search 130
Chapter 10 An APA Format Primer 131
Writing Psychology Papers 132 ■ The Parts: Introduction, Method, Results,
and Discussion 132 ■ The Introduction and Literature Review 132 ■ The
Method Section 134 ■ Participants 134 ■ Materials 134 ■
Procedure 134 ■ The Results Section 134 ■ Figures and
Tables 135 ■ The Discussion Section 135 ■ References 135 ■ Title
and Abstract 136 ■ The Appendix 137 ■ APA Format Typing
Instructions 137 ■ Spacing and Punctuation 138 ■ Grammar and
Vocabulary 138 ■ Using Direct Quotes vs. Paraphrasing 139 ■ A Brief Note
on Plagiarism 139 ■ Sample Paper 140
Exercise #9: Proofreading APA Format 141
Chapter 11 Doing Well in Psychology Classes: Study Tips 151
General Study Tips 152 ■ Students Are Different 152 ■ Fight Delaying
Tactics 152 ■ Get the Most from Faculty 152 ■ Developing Effective
Study Habits 153 ■ Create a Regular Schedule for Studying 153 ■ Find
a Regular Place to Study Where You Can Concentrate with Minimal
Distractions 154 ■ Reward Your Studying 154 ■ Improving Your
Reading 154 ■ Getting More Out of Lectures 155 ■ Improving Test-Taking
Strategies 155 ■ Math Anxiety 157 ■ Behaviors to Avoid 158
Exercise #10: Locations for Studying 161
Chapter 12 Ethical Issues for Psychology Majors 163
The Ethics of Being a Student 163 ■ The Ethics of Research 164 ■ The
Development and Use of APA Ethical Principles 165 ■ The Role of Informed
Consent and the Institutional Review Board 166
Chapter 13 Psychology and Other Options: Nurturing Your Career 171
The Psychology Major, Revisited 172 ■ Diversity in Psychology 174
■ Other Related Options 176 ■ Anthropology 177 ■ Criminal
Justice 177 ■ Political Science 177 ■ Social Work 177 ■ Sociology 178
■ Self-Reflection, Self-Assessment, and Career Development 178 ■ More
Resources 180
Exercise #11: Attitudes and Options 183

References 185
Index 193
 PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION

Loyalty is a fine trait that we both value. We appreciate the loyalty of our readers
in asking for a revision to a fifth edition, and we appreciate the loyalty of Pearson
in actively pursuing and supporting this enterprise. Way back when we wrote
the first edition of this book it was because we saw a need for a resource for our
students—a resource that was not available elsewhere (demonstrating, once again,
that necessity is the mother of invention). Our goal for this fifth edition continues
to be to provide strategies for success that will allow students to achieve their
career goals, whatever they may be. Also, we wanted to provide some fundamental
tips and advice that can be useful to all students, but especially useful for psychol-
ogy majors.
Thanks to colleagues and students around the country, the book has been
modestly successful, and thus there was an opportunity for a fifth edition. With
the continuing growth in the popularity of psychology, a chance to update the re-
sources and statistics is always welcome. Also, a revision gives us a chance to con-
tinue to add to our collective knowledge base about these topics, hopefully making
this book more valuable to the students and to our colleagues.
Our basic approach to writing this book was to provide immediately useful
and helpful information to students majoring in psychology or thinking about ma-
joring in psychology. The approach of this book is applied—to provide students
with practical, timely, up-to-date information that helps them. This text standardizes
and catalogs much of the practical advice that professors often give to students on
a one-to-one basis—this book does not replace that interaction, but it helps to sup-
plement it. We hope this will be a one-stop shop for advice about the psychology
major, discipline, job market, and employment strategies. We provide tips on how
to do well in all classes, how to find research ideas, and how to write papers in APA
format. Also, the book contains up-to-date career information that faculty might not
normally have at their fingertips, including the latest salary figures for a number of psy-
chology-related jobs and occupations. Other benefits include the coverage of ethics for
undergraduate students, sections on self-reflection, and an overview of disciplines
related to psychology. These features are important perspectives that may not often
be shared with the new or prospective psychology major.
• We continue to update the book thoroughly as new information becomes
available. Consider the reference section. For the fifth edition, we added 85
new references, with two-thirds of these new citations being 2010 or later.
We try to stay on top of this rapidly changing landscape so that faculty and
students don’t have to.
• We kept the best of the previous four editions, but we also reread every word
of the manuscript and worked hard to improve readability where needed and
continue to provide solid, useful advice wherever possible.
This book will be helpful for: (1) any course that requires students to conduct re-
search and write papers in APA format, (2) any course that discusses potential ca-
reers and earnings in psychology, and (3) any course that covers the opportunities
for psychology majors and the ethical implications for being a psychologist. This
might be one of the first books that an undergraduate student keeps for his or her
own professional library. Specifically, this book makes a good supplemental text for
research methods/experimental psychology courses, any capstone course, introduc-
tory courses, careers courses, etc. The unique mix and coverage of topics makes
this text useful in a variety of teaching situations.
Projects such as this one do not occur in a vacuum. We would like to thank
Jessica Mosher and Stephen Frail at Pearson for seeing the value and potential
in a fifth edition of the book. We thank Crystal McCarthy for her exceptional

v
vi Preface to the Fifth Edition

patience as we waded through seas of permissions. We also want to thank our col-
leagues who have helped shape the direction of this fifth edition—whether through
formal reviews, e-mails, conversations at conferences, etc.—you have greatly helped
confirm the value and necessity of such a book. We would like to thank the follow-
ing reviewers: Douglas Engwall, Central Connecticut State University; Erinn Green,
Wilmington College; Katherine Hooper, University of North Florida; Andrea Lassiter,
Minnesota State University, Mankato; Greg Loviscky, Penn State; Mary Anne Taylor,
Clemson University; and Patti Tolar, University of Houston & UH-Downtown.
Finally, we dedicate this book to our students—past, present, and future—our
students are the reason we wrote the book, and it continues to be our honor and
privilege to teach and profess in a manner that positively influences others’ lives.
Thank you for allowing us to maximize the opportunity.

R.E.L. & S.F.D.

 CHAPTER 1

Why College?

Because you are reading this book, odds are that you are part of an elite group. We
wrote this book primarily for two audiences: (a) college students thinking about
majoring in psychology and (b) college students who have already declared psy-
chology as their major. Not only do we present updated information about careers
in psychology (both with a bachelor’s degree and with graduate training), but also
we provide you with valuable strategies to get the most out of your undergradu-
ate experience and maximize your chances for success in college and beyond. But
what about answering the question asked in the title of this chapter—why college?
Menand (2011) wrote persuasively about this topic, when he said:
Society needs a mechanism for sorting out its more intelligent members
from its less intelligent ones, just as a track team needs a mechanism
(such as a stopwatch) for sorting out the faster athletes from the slower
ones. Society wants to identify intelligent people early on so that it can
funnel them into careers that maximize their talents. It wants to get the
most out of its human resources. College is a process that is sufficiently
multifaceted and fine-grained to do this.*

WHO GOES TO COLLEGE?

The demand for a college education continues to grow. From 1989 to 1999, college
enrollments increased 9%; in the following 10 years (1999 to 2009), enrollments
increased 38%, and there are ample opportunities for students to attend college in
the United States, with 4,495 accredited institutions offering an associate’s degree or
above—2,774 institutions offer a bachelor’s degree or higher. However, there ap-
pears to be a growing demand for these opportunities—total enrollment in degree-
granting institutions for 2009 was 20.4 million students (Snyder & Dillow, 2011). We
wrote this book to help you make the most of your undergraduate education to
maximize your opportunities for future success, whatever that route may be. With
this number of people attending and completing college, how will you stand out?
If you follow our advice, you will know what to do to stand out from the crowd!

PUBLIC EXPECTATIONS CONCERNING COLLEGE

Students clearly have multiple goals they want to accomplish when going to col-
lege, but the public has high expectations about what students should learn. In a
report published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U,
2002), the public’s expectations were:

*From Menand 2011, para 6.

1
2 Chapter 1 • Why College?

• 87% of the general public agree that a college education is as necessary as a

high school diploma used to be, only 63% believe it is essential for college to
improve students’ ability to solve problems and think analytically
• 57% identify top-notch writing and speaking skills as essential outcomes of a
collegiate education
• No more than 44% view active citizenship (e.g., voting and volunteering) as
an essential college outcome
• Two-thirds of U.S. voters believe it is very important for higher education to
prepare people to function in a more diverse society and work force.*

When Americans were asked similar survey questions, 69% of respondents agreed
or strongly agreed with the statement “Having a college degree is essential for
getting a good job in this country.”** A 2003 survey conducted by the Chronicle
of Higher Education identified the public’s views on higher education, as well as
highlighted the important roles for a college to perform. For instance, 91% of those
surveyed agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “colleges and universities
are one of the most valuable resources in the U.S.” When presented with the state-
ment “college graduates today are well prepared for the work force,” 56% agree
or strongly agreed. Interestingly, when presented with the statement “a graduate-
school or professional-school degree will soon be more important than a four-year
degree for success in the U.S.,” 64% agreed or strongly agreed with that statement.
If you believe that your future may include graduate school, many chapters of this
book will be particularly helpful to you.
One reason that society might expect so much from colleges and their stu-
dents is because there are benefits to society. Baum, Ma, and Payea (2010) nicely
summarized the benefits of higher education, both for individuals and for society:

• Individuals with higher levels of education earn more and are more likely than
others to be employed.
• The financial return associated with additional years of schooling beyond high
school and the gaps in earnings by education level have increased over time.
• Federal, state, and local governments enjoy increased tax revenues from col-
lege graduates and spend less on income support programs for them, provid-
ing a direct financial return from investments in postsecondary education.
• College-educated adults are more likely than others to receive health insurance
and pension benefits from their employers and be satisfied with their jobs.
• Adults with higher levels of education are more active citizens than others.
• College education leads to healthier lifestyles, reducing health care costs for
individuals and for society.
• College-educated parents engage in more educational activities with their chil-
dren, who are better prepared for school than other children.†

Moreover, college graduates have lower smoking rates, better perceptions of

personal health, and healthier lifestyles (Meara, Richards, & Cutler, 2008). For in-
stance, Cooney (2008) reported that better educated Americans enjoy a longer life
span—“in 2000, a 25-year-old who did not go beyond high school would still be
expected to live to almost 75, but the better educated 25-year-old’s life expectancy
went up to 81.6 years” (para. 2). Additionally, higher levels of education are related
to higher levels of civic engagement, including volunteerism and voting. If you
agree that these items are good (and most would), you can appreciate the positive

*With permission from Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College, p. 9.
Copyright 2002 by the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
**From English, C. (2011). Most Americans see college as essential to getting a good job. Gallup, Inc.
Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/149045/americans-college-essential-getting-good-job.aspx.
†
From Baum, S., Ma, J., & Payea, K. (2010). Education pays 2010: The benefits of higher education
for individuals and society, pp. 4–5. The College Board. Retrieved from http://trends.collegeboard.org/
downloads/Education_Pays_2010.pdf.
 Chapter 1 • Why College? 3

benefits that society reaps from its investment in higher education. But beware
that in the United States, an education/preparation gap is emerging. By 2018, it is
estimated that 63% of U.S. jobs will require some sort of postsecondary education
or training; currently, however, about 41% of adults in the United States possess a
college degree (Lumina Foundation, 2011)—as a nation, it would be prudent for
us to “mind the gap.”

STUDENT EXPECTATIONS ABOUT GOING TO COLLEGE

In a survey of Fall 2011 freshmen (Pryor, DeAngelo, Blake, Hurtado, & Tran, 2011),
the top five reasons for deciding to go to college (with the percentage reporting an
item as very important) were (a) to be able to get a better job (85.9%); (b) to learn
more about things that interest me (82.9%); (c) to get training for a specific career
(77.6%); (d) to gain a general education and appreciation of ideas (72.4%); and (e)
to be able to make more money (71.7%). Ernst, Burns, and Ritzer (2011) specifically
studied high school students’ transitions to college.
In this same study, Ernst et al. (2011) also asked college students about (a)
what they were most nervous about prior to entering college and (b) what these
students thought they should have been nervous about, which may lead to interest-
ing patterns of matches and mismatches. See Table 1.1 for the results.
These findings can provide excellent advice both for students and for faculty
advisors and mentors: Students may want to pay more attention to interactions
with professors.
We believe that psychology is an excellent choice! As you will see through-
out this book, psychology majors can get good jobs with a bachelor’s degree;
they learn about human behavior (what could possibly be more interesting than
our own behavior?); they can prepare to go on to graduate school so that they
can receive training for additional careers. In general, college graduates do make
more money than nongraduates (more about this later in this chapter), and psychol-
ogy at the undergraduate level tends to focus on general education and the ap-
preciation of ideas, particularly from critical thinking and psychological literacy
perspectives.
As a recipient of a college degree, you will be in an elite group, but you are
not alone. In 2008–2009, there were 1.6 million bachelor’s degrees awarded in the
United States. In the same year (the latest data available at the time of this writing),
94,271 bachelor’s degrees in psychology were awarded (Snyder & Dillow, 2011).
We will tell you more about this in Chapter 3.

TABLE 1.1 College Student Perceptions of the Transition from High School: What
Students Were Most Nervous About Compared to What They Self-
Report They Should Have Been Most Nervous About

Should Have Been Most

Most Nervous About Nervous About
Getting good grades Getting good grades
Picking the right major Picking the right major
Paying the bills Paying the bills
Making my parents proud Interacting with professors
Making friends Making my parents proud
Living in the residence halls Making friends
Finding my way around campus Living in the residence halls
Interacting with professors Finding my way around campus
4 Chapter 1 • Why College?

TABLE 1.2 Necessary Skills for Workplace Know-How

Workplace competencies
Effective workers can productively use:
• Resources—they know how to allocate time, money, materials, space, and staff
• Interpersonal skills—they can work in teams, teach others, serve customers, lead,
negotiate, and work well with people from culturally diverse backgrounds
• Information—they can acquire and evaluate data, organize and maintain files, interpret
and communicate, and use computers to process information
• Systems—they understand social, organizational, and technological systems; they can
monitor and correct performance; and they can design or improve systems
• Technology—they can select equipment and tools, apply technology to specific tasks,
and maintain and troubleshoot equipment
Foundation skills
Competent workers in the high-performance workplace need:
• Basic skills—reading, writing, arithmetic and mathematics, speaking, and listening
• Thinking skills—the ability to learn, to reason, to think creatively, to make decisions, and
to solve problems
• Personal qualities—individual responsibility, self-esteem and self-management,
sociability, and integrity

Source: National Centre for Vocational Education Research (2004).

DESIRABLE SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Indeed, graduates need to be ready for a variety of work situations and experiences.
Chen (2004) reported that the average college graduate will have eight different jobs
that will require work in three different professions or occupations. What types of
skills and abilities will lead to success during a lifetime of work and career change?
Table 1.2 presents the workplace competencies and foundation skills identified by
the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report as pre-
sented by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (2004).
However, even though we want college graduates to come away with these
skills and abilities (and apparently so does the public), there is more to a col-
lege education than vocational training. An undergraduate education fosters lifelong
learning and a sense of civic responsibility. Perhaps Chen (2004) says it better:
Put simply, the objective of liberal education is to produce thinkers, not
workers; the education should be useful—but not utilitarian. It is therefore
not so much a question of what is taught but of how it is taught. The ques-
tion is not so much about subjects, but about processes.* (italics in original)
Although we’ll say much more about the topic of skills in later chapters, there
is emerging evidence from a number of sources (e.g., Levine, 2005; Rose, 2010) that
college graduates are either unprepared or underprepared for the workplace. If you
choose to follow the advice we offer throughout this textbook, you will possess the
information you need to avoid being unprepared for transitions to the workforce—
and other good resources exist on this topic as well (Landrum & Hettich, in press).

THE COVERT CURRICULUM

There are at least two distinct curricula of an undergraduate education (Appleby,
2001); the curriculum of coursework to complete toward the undergraduate degree
is called the overt curriculum. When a college or university describes their classes,

*Chen, E. K. Y. (2004). What price liberal arts education. In Siena College (Ed.), Liberal education and
the new economy, p. 3. Loudonville, NY: Siena College.
 Chapter 1 • Why College? 5

prerequisites, and other requirements, they are describing the overt curriculum.
However, Appleby (2001) and others (e.g., Hettich, 1998) discuss the less obvious
or covert curriculum. According to Appleby (2001):
Colleges and universities often call these “lifelong learning skills” because
they refer not to the specific information that students acquire during
their formal education (i.e., the contents of their education), but to how
successfully they can continue to acquire information after their formal
education has ended (i.e., the processes they developed as they acquired
the contents of their education).*
In other words, the covert curriculum addresses how to learn, as opposed to
what to learn. The skills (with brief descriptions) presented in the following list
should be useful in the lifelong pursuit of knowledge.

Reading with comprehension and the ability to identify major points.

People employed in management positions are constantly in search of new
ideas and methods to help them perform their jobs more successfully. They
understand they must keep up with the current literature and innovations in
their profession and obtain relevant information from other sources.
Speaking and writing in a clear, organized, and persuasive manner.
The ability to communicate in a clear, organized, and persuasive manner is
one of the most crucial characteristics of successfully employed people. The
inability to do so leaves others confused about what we have written or said
(because we are unclear), convinced that we do not know what we are talking
or writing about (because we are unorganized), and unlikely to do what we
ask them to do (because we are not persuasive).
Writing in a particular style. Not only do you need to be able to write
clearly, but be able to write in a particular style. Psychologists use the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Although fu-
ture employers may not require writing in this particular style, the ability to
follow the format guidelines of businesses and clients and the ability to fol-
low precise instructions is an important ability—remember, attention to detail
is important!
Listening attentively. Successful employees listen carefully and attentively
to their supervisors’ instructions, understand what these instructions mean (or
ask for clarification to improve their understanding), and then carry out these
instructions in an accurate and complete manner.
Taking accurate notes. Employees must often listen to others and accu-
rately remember what they hear. This process can take place in a one-on-one
situation or in groups. Unless the amount of information provided is small or
the employee’s memory is large, it is wise to take notes.
Mastering efficient memory strategies. All jobs require employees to
remember things (e.g., customer’s names, meeting dates and times, loca-
tions of important information, etc.). Memory refers to the ability to select,
store, and use information, and these skills are vital to effective and efficient
workplace behavior. The results of a lack of memory skills are confusion
and disorganization.
Developing critical thinking skills. Employees must not only be able to
remember vital information (i.e., retention), they must comprehend it so they
can communicate it to others in an understandable manner. They must apply
the information they comprehend in order to solve problems in the work-
place. They must analyze large, complex problems or sources of information

*From Appleby, D. C. (2001, Spring). The covert curriculum: The lifelong learning skills you can learn in
college. Eye on Psi Chi, p. 28.
6 Chapter 1 • Why College?

into smaller, more manageable units. They must evaluate ideas and methods
by applying appropriate criteria to determine their value or usefulness via
checking or critiquing. Finally, employees may be asked to create, whether
generating a marketing schedule, planning a conference, or producing an in-
novation solution to a problem.
Submitting work on time and in acceptable form. Employers pay their
employees to perform jobs accurately, completely, and in a timely manner.
Employees are terminated if they cannot perform their jobs (i.e., their work is
incorrect, incomplete, and/or late).
Behaving in a responsible, punctual, mature, and respectful manner.
Employees who fail to show up for work (or often late), or whose behaviors
are immature or disrespectful are seldom employed for long.
Managing stress and conflict successfully. Employees are often exposed
to stressful working conditions and must work with less-than-perfect fellow
employees. Stress and conflict management are essential skills that successful
employees possess.
Organizing the physical environment to maximize efficiency.
Employees must be able to organize their physical environments so they
can perform their jobs competently and efficiently. Poor organizational
skills often result in appearing confused, making mistakes, and losing im-
portant information.
Observing, evaluating the attitudes and behaviors of role models.
Successful employees quickly learn the culture of their organization by
observing their supervisors and other successful employees. Learning which
behaviors to avoid and learning which behaviors to imitate is a crucial skill
for an employee who wishes to remain with an organization, receive above-
average salary increases, and earn promotions.
Maintaining an accurate planner or calendar. Successful employees in
today’s fast-paced world must be capable of managing their time and control-
ling their complicated schedules. Forgetting meetings, neglecting appointments,
and missing deadlines are not the signals you want to send to your employer.
Working as a productive member of a team. Employers pay employees
to perform complex tasks that almost always require some degree of
teamwork—very few people work alone. The ability to work as a productive
member of a successful team and to be seen as a “team player” requires a set
of crucial skills and characteristics that must be acquired through practice.
Interacting successfully with a wide variety of people. The working
world is filled with people who differ in many ways. Successful employees are
those who have developed the ability to interact in a congenial and produc-
tive manner with a wide variety of people (e.g., a supervisor who is older, a
client of a different race, or a coworker with a different sexual orientation).
Seeking feedback about performance and using it to improve future
performance. Employees are hired to perform certain duties. Successful em-
ployees gain rewards such as promotions, raises; unsuccessful employees re-
main at lower positions and pay levels or are terminated. Savvy employees
understand that their performance must satisfy not only their own standards of
quality, but also the standards of their supervisor(s).
Accepting responsibility for your own behavior and attitudes. Being able
to act in a responsible manner is the cornerstone of personal growth and profes-
sional maturity in any occupation. College is the perfect time to learn how to take
responsibility for your own actions (rather than blaming your failures on others),
and to understand that it is the way you interpret external circumstances that
determines how you will respond to them, not the circumstances themselves.
 Chapter 1 • Why College? 7

Utilize technology. Future employees need to be technologically sophisti-

cated in order to qualify for many jobs. The ability to word process, use
spreadsheets, understand databases, work with statistical programs, and do
library searches using bibliographic databases (not just Wikipedia) are impor-
tant aspects of technological literacy.

As you can see, no one course could accomplish all of those goals. However,
by carefully examining this list, you might better understand why college teach-
ers structure their courses the way they do. Over the span of your undergraduate
education, hopefully you will have multiple chances to develop and sharpen these
skills and abilities from the covert curriculum.

THE CIVIC, LIBERAL ARTS VALUE OF A COLLEGE EDUCATION

Earlier we indicated that your college education is not all about the accumulation of
skills and abilities to get you a job. There are larger goals of an undergraduate edu-
cation. All universities attempt to produce better-educated citizens who are capable
of using higher order critical thinking skills.
One of the major characteristics of a liberal or liberal arts education is
that it is not focused on a specific career, but aims instead to provide an
environment both within the curriculum and outside it that helps students
to learn how to think, how to be creative, how to be flexible, how to get
on with others—and how to go on learning for the rest of their lives.*
Over 150 years ago, John Henry Newman (1852) communicated this idea
quite well (see Table 1.3).

THE FINANCIAL VALUE OF A COLLEGE EDUCATION

We have already explored many of the reasons for coming to college, whether it
is to obtain a good job, to improve yourself, to become a better citizen, to gain
critical thinking skills, or to master the covert curriculum. These are all appropriate
motivations, but so is the motivation to improve your financial standing. Money is
not everything in life, but it sure helps. We would be remiss if we did not address
this important issue.

TABLE 1.3 The Aim of a University Education

If then a practical end must be assigned to a University course, I say it is that of training
good members of society. Its art is the art of social life, and its end is fitness for the world.
It neither confines its views to particular professions on one hand, nor creates heroes
or inspires genius on the other. Works indeed of genius fall under no art; heroic minds
come under no rule; a University is not a birthplace of poets or of immortal authors, of
founders of schools, leaders of colonies, or conquerors of nations. It does not promise
a generation of Aristotles or Newtons, of Napoleons or Washingtons, of Raphaels or
Shakespeares, though such miracles it has before now contained within its precincts.
Nor is it content on the other hand with forming the critic or the experimentalist, the
economist or the engineer, although such too it includes within its scope. But a university
training is the great ordinary means to a great but ordinary end; it aims at raising the
intellectual tone of society, at cultivating the public mind, at purifying the national taste,
at supplying true principles to popular enthusiasm and fixed aims to popular aspiration,
at giving enlargement and sobriety to the ideas of the age, at facilitating the exercise
of political power, and refining the intercourse of private life. It is the education which
gives a [person] a clear, conscious view of their own opinions and judgements, a truth in
developing them, an eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urging them.

Source: John Henry Newman (1852).

*From Chen 2004, p. 2.

8 Chapter 1 • Why College?

TABLE 1.4 Estimates of Average Annual Earnings and Median Lifetime Earnings
for Full-Time, Year-Round Workers by Educational Attainment

Educational Average Annual Median Lifetime

Attainment Earnings1 Earnings2
Doctoral degree $ 99,697 $3,252,000
3
Professional degree $125,019 $3,648,000
Master’s degree $ 70,856 $2,671,000
Bachelor’s degree $ 58,613 $2,268,000
Associate’s degree $ 39,506 $1,727,000
Some college $ 32,555 $1,547,000
High school graduate $ 31,283 $1,304,000
or GED
Less than 9th grade $ 21,023 $ 973,000
1 2 3
Notes. U.S. Census Bureau. Carnevale, Rose, and Cheah (2011). Professional degrees include M.D.
(physician), J.D. (lawyer), D.D.S. (dentist), and D.V.M. (veterinarian).
Source: Day & Newburger (2002)

In later chapters of this book we will discuss the specifics of what you can
earn with the various degrees in psychology, including specialty areas. For now,
let’s focus on the general benefit of staying in college. How much more money can
you expect to make with a college degree compared to a high school diploma? Is
there much financial advantage to getting a master’s degree compared to a bach-
elor’s degree? These types of questions are answered in Table 1.4. We should note
that although the findings presented in Table 1.4 are generally correct, your results
may vary—that is, reality is more complicated than the rows and columns of the
table. Carnevale, Rose, and Cheah (2011) summarized this nicely with the follow-
ing four rules:
1. Rule 1: Degree level matters, and on average, people with more education
make more money than those with less education.
2. Rule 2: Occupations can trump degree levels, meaning that people with less
education can sometimes outearn people with more education, typically be-
cause of occupational differences.
3. Rule 3: Although occupation can sometimes trump education, degree level
achieved still matters most within individual occupations (e.g. an accountant
with more education will make more than an accountant with less education).
4. Rule 4: Race, ethnicity, and gender are wild cards that can trump everything
else when trying to develop general statements about determining career-
based earnings.*
Again, it is important to reiterate that financial reasons alone should not dic-
tate your life decisions—do you really want to be quite miserable while making a
good income? However, these data are useful as one component of your decision-
making process. Also, if you are in the middle of your sophomore year in college
and having a hard time staying motivated, the information in Table 1.4 might be
helpful. For instance, you might think about getting your associate’s degree (an in-
termediate degree that can typically be earned in 2 years) if you are too burned out
to finish the bachelor’s degree. And remember, there are over 4,400 colleges and
universities in the United States—if you drop out and then decide to drop back in,
there will be opportunities to do so.

*From Carnevale, A. P., Rose, S. J., & Cheah, B. (2011). The college payoff: Education, occupations, life-
time earnings (executive summary). Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
Retrieved from http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/collegepayoff-summary.pdf.
 Chapter 1 • Why College? 9

Success Stories

Dr. Salvador Macias, III

University of South Carolina–Sumter
I am a second generation Mexican American . . . my grandparents moved to New Mexico,
then on to California in the 1920s just before my father was born. He was one of eight
children, only a few of whom graduated high school (my father earned his GED in the
Army). I am one of only four in my generation to have graduated college (I believe this is
correct, but I have lost touch with some of the over 30 grandchildren and my count may
be wrong), and the only one with a Ph.D. There are a few in the next generation who
have earned baccalaureate degrees (I’m proud to say that all three of my children have;
the oldest has earned a Ph.D. in Forensic Chemistry; and the younger two are both in
graduate school!).
My parents just “assumed” that I would attend college, so I pretty much grew up
with that plan. When I was 15, my father died unexpectedly . . . our future was in some
doubt. I was the oldest of 9 children, but it was still assumed that I would attend college.
In my senior year in high school (Catholic school, southern California) I applied to UCLA
. . . but in March! Obviously, my application was too late, and was forwarded on to UC
Riverside, probably the best thing that ever happened to me! At that time there were about
5,000 students enrolled, classes beyond the freshmen level were fairly small, and I got to
know many of my professors on a personal level.
One professor in particular, Austin H. Riesen (who became my advisor and under-
graduate mentor), was especially important to my academic development. I first came to
know him in a somewhat circuitous fashion. A friend of mine worked in his lab observing
monkeys . . . they were short of help, this work was absolutely fascinating to me . . . and I
was brought into the research team. At that time I was a biology major, but quickly added
psychology, stayed in Riesen’s lab for a couple of years, branched out into a few other
labs as a volunteer, a paid assistant, for academic credit, etc., in short, by whatever means
I could. I am convinced that had my application to UCLA been accepted I would have, at
best, floundered along, eventually graduating . . . but in such a large institution I doubt
that I would have had the opportunity or courage to approach a professor and ask to
participate in an ongoing research program! With such easy access to my professors, even
playing on some softball teams with a few, it become normal that some would know my
name. I’m sure this is responsible for my having discovered a passion for psychology, the
opportunity to develop sufficient academic skills, and the confidence to believe I could
handle graduate school.

We would encourage you, with our strongest possible advice, to finish what
you start. There are financial benefits to completing your education, but as you read
earlier, there are health-related benefits, child-rearing benefits, etc. You might be
surprised at the percentages of college students who actually end up earning their
bachelor’s degree. After four years, 38.9% complete a bachelor’s degree; after five
years, 56.4%; and after six years, 61.2% (DeAngelo, Franke, Hurtado, Pryor, & Tran,
2011). To the extent possible in your life, finish what you start!

OH, YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO TO COLLEGE . . .

Better pay typically comes with more education. However, to be fair, if pay is your
primary consideration, we should to point out that you can have a top-paying job
without a bachelor’s degree at all. From recent research, Careercast.com (2012)
reported that for jobs where college is not required, the average beginning salary
was $28,350—with midlevel salaries at $47,200 and top levels around $79,150. When
compared to individuals with a four-year degree or more, the average beginning sal-
ary was $51,250—with midlevel salaries at $85,300 and top levels around $130,600.
So more education also means more salary within these data, but it should also be
evident that good money can be earned without the bachelor’s degree. We prob-
ably all know of some individuals who did quite well without a college education.
10 Chapter 1 • Why College?

In fact, we often hear success stories about older individuals who did quite well
without finishing high school. However, these stories seem to be the exception and
not the rule. We need to point out that although most of these occupations do not
require an advanced degree, some do require formal training beyond a high school
education. One way or other, additional education and training is probably in a high
school graduate’s future, whether it is through higher education, the military, or the
professional trades. To be fair with the data, however, see Table 1.5 here which
presents three different sources about successful careers to be had without a bach-
elor’s degree.

TABLE 1.5 Top 10 Careers Without a Bachelor’s Degree, From Various Sources

Myplan.com (2009) Cheeseman (2012) Rose (2011)

Rotary drill operator, oil and Online advertising manager Margin department
gas ($59,560) ($87,000) supervisor ($83,000)
Commercial driver Web developer ($78,000) Air traffic controller
($58,060) ($74,922)
Railroad conductor and Dental hygienist ($68,000) Automobile service station
yardmaster ($54,900) manager ($72,000)
Chemical plant and system Electrical technician Real estate broker
operator ($54,010) ($56,000) ($71,000)
Real estate sales agent Surveyor ($55,000) Landscape architect
($53,100) ($66,000)
Subway and streetcar Wholesales sales Lead carpenter ($63,000)
operator ($52,800) representative ($52,000)
Postal service clerk Tax examiner/collector Director of security
($51,670) ($49,000) ($62,000)
Pile-driver operator Stenographer/course Elevator mechanic
($51,410) reporter ($48,000) ($61,000)
Railroad brake, signal, and Insurance agent ($47,000) Cable supervisor ($60,000)
switch operator ($49,600)
Brickmason and Paralegal assistant Flight service manager
blockmason ($49,250) ($47,000) ($54,000)
 Chapter 1 • Why College? 11

EXERCISE #1: Potential Challenges to Staying in College

We assume that you are reading this book because you are already in college.
However, you should know that a great many students start college but never
finish. Even though this first chapter (and the rest of this book) will make persua-
sive arguments for continuing your college education, some students do drop out.
Researchers studying college student adjustment (e.g., Klein & Pierce, 2009) use
different methods and scales to attempt to measure adjustment to college. Once
such scale, the College Adjustment Scales (Anton & Reed, 1991), has different fac-
tors or subscales by which scores are recorded. In the table below are the subscale
titles—just for your own self-reflection, think a bit about how much each of these
categories might be a threat for you to stay in college or not. Remember that you are
not actually completing the College Adjustment Scales, but this is just an exercise to
help you proactively think about possible threats in your own college environment.
Being familiar with the items on this list may alert you to positive situations to pur-
sue and negative situations to avoid.
threat for dropping out

Absolutely could be a
Not at all a potential

potential threat for

dropping out
Areas

Academic problems O O O O O
Anxiety O O O O O
Interpersonal problems O O O O O
Depression O O O O O
Career problems O O O O O
Suicidal ideation O O O O O
Substance abuse O O O O O
Self-esteem problems O O O O O
Family problems O O O O O

Knowing about these factors may help you to anticipate negative situations
and increase your chances for success during your undergraduate education. Be
sure to take advantage of the counseling services available on your campus.
This page intentionally left blank
 CHAPTER 2

Why Psychology?
Are you the type of person who might be interested in any of the following?
• Would you like to study the mental processes that help us acquire and remember
information so we can improve our everyday memory?
• Would you like to help people with behavioral disorders to help themselves
to achieve a better quality of life?
• Would you like to work with communities and neighborhoods to help them
plan for the future?
• Would you like to understand those factors that facilitate learning so that
teachers can improve student learning?
• Would you like to use the information we have about healthly behavior
to promote wellness, prevent illness, and improve the coping strategies of
persons under stress?
• Would you like to study the brain and begin to understand the changes that
occur with the use of drugs or the onset of traumatic brain injury?
• Would you like to better understand why people behave differently in a group
compared to how they behave when alone and why personal decisions are
affected by the surrounding context?
If any of these questions interest you, then the psychology major may be a
good fit! A general interest in and a passion for understanding of human behav-
ior are helpful motivations in exploring whether the psychology major is a good
choice. In fact, interest in majoring in psychology is often driven by the first intro-
ductory psychology course, or even completing a high school psychology course
(Rajecki, Williams, Appleby, Jeschke, & Johnson, 2005).

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR

At the undergraduate level, many students select psychology as a major because of
their interest in becoming a psychologist. If you study this book carefully, talk to
students majoring in psychology, and listen to your psychology professors, you will
quickly understand that you will not be qualified to be a psychologist at the conclu-
sion of your undergraduate training. It is best to think of your undergraduate educa-
tion in psychology as learning about psychology, not learning “to do” psychology.
McGovern, Furumoto, Halpern, Kimble, and McKeachie (1991) made this point clear
when they stated that “a liberal arts education in general, and the study of psychology
in particular, is a preparation for lifelong learning, thinking, and action; it emphasizes
specialized and general knowledge and skills.”* A quality undergraduate education
in psychology should prepare you to be a citizen and a critical thinker (qualities
mentioned in Chapter 1)—the professional functioning of a psychologist comes after
specialized work and training at the graduate level.

*From McGovern, T. V., Furumoto, L., Halpern, D. F., Kimble, G. A., & McKeachie, W. J. (1991). Liberal
education, study in depth, and the arts and sciences major—psychology. American Psychologist, 46, p. 600.

13
14 Chapter 2 • Why Psychology?

A guide written by students for students suggested the following about choos-
ing a major:
If you choose a major that truly interests you and pushes you to learn,
you’ll gain a huge set of skills that you can then use in any career. It
sounds so idealistic, but it’s true. Employers don’t expect you to start your
first job knowing exactly how to do it—on-the-job training is a core learn-
ing component that almost all careers offer. But employers do expect
you to be a well-rounded person, have solid writing and communication
skills, and the ability and training to learn new things and excel at them.*
Even though the bachelor’s degree in psychology is not a professional
degree, it is still a good choice to produce a well-rounded, well-educated citizen and
person. From a gathering of psychologists at the University of Puget Sound in 2008
(Halpern, 2010), McGovern et al. (2010) formulated and articulated the notion of
psychological literacy. The characteristics of a psychologically literate person include:
• having a well-defined vocabulary and basic knowledge of the critical subject
matter in psychology;
• valuing the intellectual challenges required to use scientific thinking and the
disciplined analysis of information to evaluate alternative courses of action;
• taking a creative and amiable skeptic approach to problem solving;
• applying psychological principles to personal, social, and organizational
issues at work, relationships, and the broader community;
• acting ethically;
• being competent in using and evaluating information and technology;
• communicating effectively in different modes and with many different
audiences;
• recognizing, understanding, and fostering respect for diversity; and
• being insightful and reflective about one’s own and others’ behavior and men-
tal processes.**
Completing a rigorous program of undergraduate coursework while majoring in
psychology should put graduates well on their way to achieving psychological literacy.
And before someone tries to tell you that you cannot make any money with a
bachelor’s degree in psychology, let’s just pre-empt that notion right now. According
to Carnevale, Strohl, and Melton (2011) using data from the American Community
Survey, the median earnings for individuals with a bachelor’s degree in psychology
was $45,000 per year; earnings at the 25th percentile were $31,000 and earnings at
the 75th percentile were $65,000.

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION WITHIN PSYCHOLOGY

The skills and abilities that a student can attain with a psychology major are impres-
sive. These skills and abilities help to explain, in part, the growing popularity of this
major. Students seem to be initially attracted to psychology by courses in the areas
of abnormal psychology, personality, developmental psychology, and educational
psychology. Students are also attracted to the major because of the applicability of
the subject matter—human behavior. For instance, although some students enter
college declaring psychology as their major, often psychology departments see in-
creases in the number of majors following completion of the introductory/general
psychology course. Introductory psychology can be a challenging course, and many
departments have very talented instructors teaching the course. Talented instructors
can make interesting subject matter come alive—perhaps another reason for the
popularity of psychology.

*Based on Natavi Guides. (2002). Fishing for a major. New York: Author.
**From McGovern et al. 2010, p. 11.
 Chapter 2 • Why Psychology? 15

Success Stories

Dr. Sophia Pierroutsakos

St. Louis Community College-Meramec and Private Practice
I majored in Psychology in college with a clinical future in mind. I finally decided that
wasn’t for me, and for whatever reason, didn’t explore other options within the field.
So, as graduation approached, I spent more time with my political science minor, did an
internship in political science, and planned to go to grad school in political science. That
next fall, I was taking a few graduate night courses in international relations and had a
huge stack of graduate school information packets and applications at home. It suddenly
became clear to me that political science was NOT for me, and that I really needed to
finish exploring psychology. After all, I knew there was much more to it than clinical, so
why didn’t I spend some time learning more about the options? I talked to some of my
undergraduate Psych professors, looked through lots of journals, and began to realize that
developmental psychology was a better fit for me. I will never forget the day I took this
huge stack of political science grad applications and materials to the recycling bin. It was
difficult to go back to some of my letter writers and ask them to write me a NEW set of
letters, for psychology this time. I am sure some of them thought I was flaky.
The regular GRE testing dates had passed, so I had to drive six hours to a central
testing site and pay a large fee to be tested. I stopped at one of the grad schools I was
interested in along the way. I walked in, talked to the graduate dean, described my inter-
ests, and he sent me down the hall to meet the person who ended up being my advisor
for my master’s and Ph.D. (but I didn’t know that then). I applied to several schools, got
into several, got a great offer from one of the top programs in developmental psych, and
worked with the person I met on the way to take my GREs! Now, I am a faculty member
at a liberal arts university and I teach and do research with the help of undergraduates. I
love working with all kinds of students, but I especially enjoy seeing a student discover
their love of developmental psychology as somewhat of a surprise, like I did.
As I was finishing up undergrad, I don’t think any of my professors would have
guessed I would end up being a developmental psychologist. (I was going to be a political
scientist, remember?) But, I have realized since that it makes a lot of sense giving my inter-
ests up until then. I just had to be patient about finding a good career path for me, and be
willing to talk to lots of people, and ask myself some deep questions. It wasn’t easy telling
my letter writers that I had completely changed my mind. But, it was the right thing to do!
How has this experience affected my advising of psychology majors? I encourage
them to keep talking through things, with as many different people as they would like,
because those conversations are essential to finding and making a good choice. But I also
remind them that they can change their mind as they go, so they don’t feel paralyzed by
their fear of making the WRONG choice. Political science wasn’t right for me, but I had to
walk a bit down that road before I realized it.

In the introductory course, students are introduced to the various areas and
specializations in psychology; the options are staggering. As a psychology major,
you will receive a good grounding in the basics of psychology, taking courses
that emphasize the development of skills and abilities (e.g., research methods and
statistics) while also accumulating a knowledge base (e.g., developmental psy-
chology, social psychology, history and systems). Even if you recently completed
an introductory course, it is hard to remember all the options. To our knowledge,
there is no “official” list of the major areas of psychology; we compiled our list
from a number of sources. Within most of these areas, there are opportunities to
specialize even further—more on this later in this chapter. Technically speaking,
though, the American Psychological Association (APA) recognizes only four “spe-
cialties”—clinical, counseling, school, and industrial/organizational psychology
(APA, 2007). All the remaining areas are considered subfields or areas of concen-
tration. For the sake of clarity, however, we will just call the specializations with
psychology “areas.” Typically, you will not specialize in a particular area at the
undergraduate level. There may be “tracks” or “concentrations” for you, but your
16 Chapter 2 • Why Psychology?

TABLE 2.1 Master’s and Doctoral Degrees Organizational Categories for

Psychology Programs

behavioral human development and family studies

biological human factors
child and adolescent humanistic
clinical industrial/organizational
cognitive marriage and family therapy
community counseling mental health counseling
community multicultural
comparative neuropsychology
consulting neuroscience
counseling personality
developmental physiological
educational psychoanalytic
environmental psycholinguistics
experimental applied psychopharmacology
experimental general quantitative
family rehabilitation
forensic school counseling
gender school
general (theory, history, philosophy) social
geropsychology sport
health

Source: American Psychological Association (2012).

bachelor’s degree will be in psychology; it will not be a bachelor’s degree in ex-

perimental psychology or neuropsychology. Your area of specialization becomes
much more important if you elect to attend graduate school. In fact, if you decide
to pursue a graduate degree in psychology, not only will you probably specialize
in one of the areas presented, but your degree may also come from a program
that specializes even further. For a sense of those different levels of specializa-
tion, Table 2.1 presents a listing of master’s degrees and/or doctoral degrees that
can be earned in psychology programs in the United States—these broad catego-
ries were gleaned from the index of the helpful book to those with an interest
in graduate school titled Graduate Study in Psychology (American Psychological
Association [APA], 2012).
Table 2.1 also shows there are specializations within specializations in
psychology. Areas such as community, experimental, and school psychology have
subspecialties. At this point, it is not necessary to know exactly which area of psy-
chology you want to study—what is important is that you begin to understand the
vast opportunities and diversity of specializations that psychology has to offer. With
all of the choices available you may ask, “Where do I begin selecting courses as a
psychology major, and what can I do with a bachelor’s degree?” Those questions
sound like ones that you might ask of your academic advisor or your mentor—more
on these important roles later in this chapter.

WHO MAJORS IN PSYCHOLOGY?

Psychology continues to be an extremely popular choice, both for students en-
rolled in its courses and psychology majors. Departments offering degrees in
psychology are readily available. According to the National Center for Education
Statistics (Snyder & Dillow, 2011), psychology departments generate a great deal
 Chapter 2 • Why Psychology? 17

Psychology Bachelor’s Degrees: National Trends

100,000
In 2009–2010,
Number of Psychology Bachelor’s Level Graduates
97,216 graduates

75,000

50,000

25,000

0
59 0
-60
69 8
70 0
71 1
-72
73 3
74 4
75 5
-76
77 7
78 8
79 9
-80
81 1
82 2
83 3
84 4
85 5
-86
87 7
88 8
89 9
-90
91 1
92 2
93 3
-94
95 5
96 6
97 7
-98
99 9
00 0
20 -01
20 1-02
20 2-03
20 3-04
20 -05
20 5-06
20 6-07
20 7-08
20 -09
-10
-5

-6
-7
-7

-7
-7
-7

-7
-7
-7

-8
-8
-8
-8
-8

-8
-8
-8

-9
-9
-9

-9
-9
-9

-9
-0
49

67

72

76

80

86

90

94

98

04

08
09
0
0
0

0
0
0
Year

FIGURE 2.1 Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded in Psychology Since 1950

Note: For clarity in the figure, the odd-numbered years from 1967 to 1999 have been omitted.
Data are from Snyder and Dillow (2011).

of student interest. For instance, during the 2007–2008 academic year, 167,000 stu-
dents were enrolled at 2-year institutions, 439,000 students were enrolled at 4-year
institutions, and 147,000 students were enrolled in graduate programs in psychol-
ogy. Psychology is a popular choice; it’s the fifth most popular major in the nation,
trailing behind business management, general business, accounting, and nursing
(Carnevale et al., 2011).
The number of students choosing to major in psychology also continues to
grow. There have been over 70,000 bachelor’s degrees in psychology awarded
every year since 1994–1995 (Snyder & Dillow, 2011). In 1985–1986, the U.S. colleges
and universities awarded 40,628 bachelor’s degrees in psychology. Ten years later
(1995–1996), that number had risen to 73,416, and by 2009–2010 (the most current
data) the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in the United States was 97,216. To
graphically see the historical trend in the awarding of bachelor’s degrees in psychol-
ogy, see Figure 2.1. How do the other graduation statistics stack up? In 2009–2010,
6,582 students received an associate’s degree in psychology, 23,752 students re-
ceived master’s degrees in psychology, and 5,540 students received doctorates in
psychology (Snyder & Dillow, 2011).
One of the recurring themes that you will be asked to consider through-
out this book is this: What will you do, as an undergraduate, to make yourself
competitive with 97,000+ graduates in psychology each year? It doesn’t matter
if you go the good job route or the graduate school route—the competition will
be fierce for premium opportunities. Assuming an average growth rate of 2.5%
in the number of new psychology graduates each year (which is the average
growth rate over the past 10 years; Snyder & Dillow, 2011), in the last 13 years,
over 1 million students earned their bachelor’s degrees in psychology. At that
growth rate, it will only take 10 years for the next million students to earn their
bachelor’s degrees. Multiple sections of this book are dedicated to alerting you
to the opportunities available and preparing you to maximize those opportuni-
ties. We also focus on skills and abilities that you can develop while you are still
an undergraduate.
18 Chapter 2 • Why Psychology?

DESIRABLE SKILLS AND ABILITIES FOR THE PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR

So what are those skills, abilities, and traits that employers want you to acquire en
route to your baccalaureate degree (with a special emphasis on a bachelor’s degree
in psychology)? Although there are many good lists available, see Table 2.2 here for
transferable skills with examples.
What is the benefit of knowing this information? As you pursue your under-
graduate career, try to arrange your curriculum choices to give yourself the oppor-
tunity to acquire as many of these skills and abilities as possible—and feel free to
refer back to the covert curriculum list of skills and abilities in Chapter 1 as well.
You will not be able to master every one of them—at least not during your under-
graduate years. These are skills and abilities you aspire—design your undergraduate
coursework so that, as you complete the coursework, you acquire proficiency in
many of the above-mentioned areas. Realize, however, that some of these items are
more “teachable” or “learnable” than others. With the right coursework, a teacher
can improve your computational/statistical ability, but a teacher is less able to influ-
ence traits such as your personality.

TABLE 2.2 A Listing of Transferable Skills, with Examples

Skills Examples
Resourceful Ability to locate hard-to-find information; handle difficult
situations; or secure scarce resources.
Detail Oriented Acute attention to minutia results in excellent follow-through on all
projects and assignments.
Good Writer Ability to prepare proposals, e-mails, speeches, newsletters, direct
mail, letters, advertising copy, Web site content, and interoffice
memos.
Excellent Ability to interact with clients, coworkers, and managers in a
Communicator meaningful way while maintaining a professional demeanor and
keeping conflicts at a minimum.
Articulate Ability to get a point across effectively and interact with clients,
coworkers, and managers in a professional manner.
Enthusiastic Maintains a positive attitude toward challenges and obstacles.
Ability to keep a team motivated.
Action Oriented Determined to complete projects and assignments on time. Ability
to focus on the task at hand and get the job done. Always ready
to work.
Process Oriented Avoids mistakes by carefully considering each project from all
angles before starting any project. Meticulous planning results in
very few unexpected delays and problems.
Strategic Thinker Ability to prioritize effectively; separate issues into relevant
“buckets”; anticipate potential challenges; and easily identify the
most critical aspects of any project.
Organized Reduces anxiety in the workplace due to ability to locate resources
quickly and easily. Ability to develop new company processes in a
methodical and well-thought-out manner that others can follow.
Excellent Public Exudes confidence in front of large groups and does not get
Speaker and rattled easily. Able to think on one’s feet and stay focused on the
Presenter subject matter. Ability to explain complex material in an easy to
understand manner. Good teacher.
Good Listener Ability to observe and read others. Quick to understand what
someone is saying and able to follow directions.

Source: Brown and Zefo (2007), reprinted with permission.

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Title: 明鏡公 (Ming jing gong an)

Author: 葛天明 (Tianming Ge)

第一卷 人命類

朱太尊察非火死
嘉靖間，太原府文水縣人姓戚名孔揚者，有墳山與左之相聯界。堪
輿家嘗稱此山有風水，其正穴落在左之相界內。孔揚父子四人，家富
人強，將母柩葬於之相界內去。相知去阻，無奈戚家人眾，反被其辱
罵趕打。自戚家葬墳後，將山開立界，至栽插松杉。之相托人去求山
價，庶免告官。孔揚說：「我葬祖墳山，與他何干？」全不與價。之
相蓄忿在心。
過了一個月，正是十一月二十日。其夜帶了利刀，倚長梯於孔揚屋
外，默地扒上屋去，潛入戚家。衝開房戶，將一家男女盡行殺了，便
放火燒屋。然後復從屋上走出，下梯而歸。那時殺了人，放了火，雖
無人知識，之相亦自心寒，把長梯放在自己門外，未及收入，便悄悄
回家，閉門去睡。及火烈聲響，鄰人知覺，群起喊叫。見火自孔揚家
起，周圍是牆，其大門緊閉，人不能進。眾看火燄熏天，竟無人出，
只說戚家自失火，人都燒死，並不知火從何起。次日，地方往府具
呈：
具呈地方，呈為失火傷命事。回祿為災，民遭荼毒。鄉有戚孔揚一
家七口，今月二十日時正二更，忽然火發，勢燄熏天。大門緊閉，人
莫能救，憐一家盡遭焚地。火變異常，人命重大，理合具呈，委勘殯
葬，免累無辜。上呈。
時夏黨為知府，疑曰：「火發雖驟，當有醒者知逃，豈有一家七人
曾無一人能脫者？此必有弊，吾當親勘之。」及至其地勘踏，惟見瓦
礫參差。令人扒開灰燼，見骸骨堆疊，莫可認識。拘問四鄰，皆說是
戚家失火自燒，群然一詞，無可窮詰。夏知府一面令戚家親族收骸
骨，自命轎巡視各家動靜。到左之相門首，門外有一長梯，豎起可高
於屋。捉問左右鄰，曰：「此梯常在此的，抑前夜救火的？」鄰人
曰：「亦非常在此的，亦非救火的。只昨日方在此，未知何用。」夏
公拘之相，問曰：「你把長梯在此何用？」一時對不來，半晌乃曰：
「欲修屋漏耳。」夏公發他去，審問具呈地方曰：「之相與孔揚有仇
否？」地方曰：「只前月爭一墳山，亦無別隙。」又問曰：「此方誰
佐鼠賊，可報一人來。」地方曰：「鼠賊多，惟陳五最著。」夏太守
即命拿陳五到，私下溫慰之曰：「地方呈汝做賊，吾念汝貧，將汝從
前之罪都赦不問。但今後宜作好人，勿再為非。」陳五叩頭謝罪。夏
公又曰：「吾少頃在眾人前，問你戚家失火事，你可說『只見左之相
倚梯在戚家屋上』。我自有主意。」
吩咐已畢，夏公召集眾人齊到，將陳五上了夾棍，問曰：「你夜夜
做賊，夜間事你盡知之。前夜戚家火起，人都道是你因盜他財物，被
他知覺，故你放火以作脫身。可好好供來，不然活活打死你。」陳五
前已承夏公吩咐，乃曰：「小人果每夜做賊，只戚家放火不干我事。
那夜只見左之相倚梯在戚家屋上，進去少頃出來，即便發火。必問他
方知。」眾人面面相視，疑陳勝果是看見，不知是夏公教他如此說
也。須臾，拘之相到，夏公曰：「陳五見你登梯上戚家屋上去，出來
即發火，此是你放火無疑矣。但七人都不能脫，必是你先殺死而後放
火也。」之相手殺七命，今見審出，甘心承認曰：「老爺神見，果是
我先入殺之，而後放火，今以一命償七命，萬死無憾矣。」
夏爺判曰：
審得左之相與戚孔揚隸麻村也。因挾爭山之小事，肆殺戮之大凶。
一門非不共戴天之仇，何至有弄兵之慘。刃七命均遭一手。殄其類，
火其居，慘甚芟革﹔斷其，燼其骨，痛並鞭屍。鬼火磷磷，盡是兒愁
女怨﹔煙塵漠漠，都為父燼子灰。即受商之炮烙，虐不過是﹔如商君
之赤，謂慘刻有加。況一命而填七命，彼固甘心於大辟﹔因謀地而無
葬地，天亦昭戒於貪狼。嗟嗟！生不足惜，死亦可憐。強暴者當鑒茲
諸。
 周按院判僧殺婦
周新，廣東南海人。初以經學舉鄉試，授官御史。公直不阿，彈劾
權貴，京師士民稱為「冷面寒鐵」。政聲籍籍播聞，吏部升浙江按察
使。浙之屬官清廉固多，昏暗亦眾。郡縣淹繫囚犯不能一一得理冤，
抑者十有二三。一聞新按察至，欣欣喜曰：「冷面寒鐵來，吾冤可白
矣。」及新至，審閱諸郡案卷，所活者十之七八。異政日著，不特生
負屈者求伸，雖死銜冤者亦求泄也。一日，僉押視事，忽見旋風一
陣，吹一樹葉飄墮案前，鼓舞再回。新命左右取葉來看，問曰：「此
葉城中城外遍有否？」左右對曰：「城中無此木葉，負郭四郊亦未有
此木葉。獨鄉間一古寺有之，去城甚遠。此葉必從彼處飄來。」新悟
曰：「此必本寺中僧人殺死人，埋於此樹下。冤魂久抱不能得伸，故
風飄此葉來報我。又恐左右洩露其事，則僧人有所提防。」輾轉沉
思，佯曰：「▉風飄葉，物理之常，何足深究。」問事間，適門下
報：「老爺故鄉有一二鄉友相訪。」新延入後堂相待，隨呼差人曰：
「送此親友往古寺安歇。」又呼本寺僧至，謂曰：「我親友寄寓寺
中，今給銀若干，汝合領去，買辦物件。」僧人應允，領銀回寺。只
道本官為備酒以待友，不虞本官將假此以發冤也。
次日晨後，新命吏胥邀簿佐至堂，謂曰：「昨不才有一二故人相
訪，已著人送至寺中安歇。今日備有小酒，敢邀諸公同至寺中一樂何
如？」左右佐使對曰：「堂尊有佳客，未獲拜望，反蒙宴召，赧顏何
如？」新曰：「今日請諸公待友，雖私而亦公也。日昨，接有謀命詞
一紙，今日寺中當同諸公三面鞫之。」僚屬莫解其意。本日多帶有力
民壯，同至寺中如儀。款飲半日，新雖身為東道主，心則想在案前葉
也。隨呼門子往佛殿西傍取木葉來勸酒。門子拾取數片，獻於案上。
新看時，與前葉體態纖毫無異。傳遍僚屬、親友兢曰：「葉雖新舊，
其實共一根株所出也。某聞勸酒用蓮葉作碧筒飲，未聞用木葉作酒
也。」新曰：「葉雖不堪作▉，伐倒根本，其下盡有銀盤金盞。」僚
屬曰：「然則寶樹耶？」新曰：「雖非寶樹，盡是奇貨。」僚屬又
曰：「公何明於物理？」新曰：「察於人情，自明於物理。若以我言
為妄，今共君試之。」隨呼寺中工人具鍬鋤、刀斧，將寺西樹木砍
倒，驗取其中寶貨。
僧人聞說砍伐樹木，驚駭。謀命之僧，尤自措躬無地。俱叩首案
前，曰：「神依奇木駐行祠，伐此木恐於寺不利。」新怒曰：「設有
不利，非僧之罪，我身當之。」僚屬、親友亦以為言。新云：「我曾
與公等說來，今日備酒待友，雖私亦公。同諸公三面鞫出謀命詞，正
謂此耳。言猶在耳，諸公何頓忘耶？」僚屬聞新言，俱呼左右助力將
寺木砍倒。左右鋤未及四五尺，果見一婦人屍，宛如生前，但項下傷
了一刀。新謂僚屬曰：「詎非銀盤金盞耶，詎非奇貨耶，詎非物理
耶？」僚屬嘖嘖歎服。隨將本寺僧人盡數綁縛。
酒罷，帶轉城中，嚴刑拷鞫。一僧供云，自遠年前近晚時分，寺處
遇見一婦人，年方二十有餘，口稱：「丈夫被人扳誣，畏官司刑法權
潛身逃躲於寺，待事情明白，教我自往寺中來尋之。今幸事勢別白，
竟來求見丈夫一面，此寺莫即我夫所云之寺耶？」僧人見色生情，且
日已近暮，四顧無人，寺中幾員僧又人請去作功果。即誑之曰：「此
寺即其寺，汝丈夫藏吾寺中，寂無人知。昨聞得事勢寧靜，今日同師
父往鄉下取苗，須黃昏時分方轉回寺。」婦人見夫心切，不虞真假，
即同至寺中，藏於密室。且給之云：「此寺過往官員極多，更兼常有
公差借歇，須肅靜在此少坐。我打聽汝丈夫回，即喚來相見。切莫高
聲，恐公差得知，不惟汝丈夫拒捕逃走，且貽累我寺中藏匿犯人，取
罪不便。」婦人被其籠絡，只在僧房默坐。
候至黃昏，不見丈夫消息。少頃，所遇僧人送得飯來，酒肴盛備。
謂婦人曰：「適工人回云：『師父與你官人為事羈留，今日不回矣。
小娘子且奈煩，今日權宿一宵，明日相見未遲。小僧粗備酒肴，開懷
暢飲，少銀河一夕之歡，何如？」婦人聞僧言，怒曰：「良人守分，
不意昔日為人所誣，逃出阱外﹔婦人守信，不意今日為僧所誑，驅入
阱中。夫不為仇仇而罹刑，妾肯為奸僧而受辱哉？」涕泗滂沱，酒肴
毫不沾口。僧人此時曲意奉承，希獲巫山一夢﹔多方勸慰，欲圖郵亭
一歡。婦人貞心激烈，即將酒盞丟破僧人之面，又將臺上看肴亂掃亂
罵，僧人怒髮，曰：「本圖一樂，不意惹災。我放此婦人出去，他對
丈夫言，亦不是好消息。趁此無人，不如殺之以滅口。」即拔?頭利
刃，將婦人刺死。又思曰：「既滅口須減跡。今晚黃昏月明，一二工
人又在田中守禾，眾僧又不在家。將此婦人埋於佛殿西傍。」次日，
又鋤山中一木栽於其上。眾人見時，只說是栽木，不知其下埋有人
也。「經今十六七載，不獨外無人知，雖眾僧亦不知也。今日事發，
自作自受，與眾僧無干。」新得其實，遂問死償命。眾僧懼罪，厚賂
親友，始從寬釋復。喚其夫訊之，其夫對云：「某因出外買賣，積有
些小資本，娶得婦人李氏，頗有烈性。千山萬水搬回故鄉，鄰賊王得
見我客回，必有厚本。節次稱貸未允，懷忿扳誣。身出躲逃山寺，約
妻事釋方得回家。後妻出覓我，久無蹤跡。只道途中被人拐去，或登
山涉水為虎傷水浸，不意被此僧人所害。若非冤魂自控爺臺，吾實不
知妻身死於非命如此。」新曰：「此雖伊妻冤魂不散，實亦此寺如來
佛之赫其靈也。彼無慾清淨身，豈容色慾涅其教門。且據奸僧供詞，
伊妻貞烈，伊語不誣，理合領回斂葬。撥寺田百畝以充旌獎。其寺中
住持僧雖非主令，涉於故縱眾僧，即非知情，疏於覺察，輕重坐罪如
律。」一郡人稱為活菩薩。
天網恢恢密不疏，奸僧害命受明誅。
只從一葉尋消息，冷面周新有鑑湖。

張主薄判謀孀婦
張彔以經術通顯，授葉陰縣主簿。懷才倨傲，每為守令所抑。彔歎
曰：「大丈夫有蓋世凌雲之志，而拘於下位，若矮屋之下，使抬頭不
起。」縣中事簡祿薄，己又清廉，禮文疏略，難以結歡縣主。思欲以
偉抱動之，未有其便。適八月中秋賞月，數員官會飲後堂。縣主云：
「今夕中秋月明，請諸公劇飲通宵，有懷盡吐。」彔思之欲以才動縣
主，今日天假之會也。飲至半酣，作中秋詩以獻，云：
欲沽美酒來追景，又恐黃公即討錢。
歸與老妻斟酌定，閉門推出月還天。
蓋敘其廉而貧也。縣主閱詩大加歎賞，始悟三尹抱負不凡，不當以
僚屬待之。自後縣中事務必求請教，相見時必稱為張先生。遇難決詞
狀，悉批審理。張亦虛心剖判，人俱稱平。
一日，張奉縣主委托，往鄉下踏勘良民勢要混爭田土。地方迎接，
送至寶元寺居住。眾僧俱迎謁伺侯，不在話下。時當伏內，暑氣逼
人。張到寺覺倦，方丈內開榻就寢，忽夢己到明見軒。見一女子手執
利刀，將一「恢」字劈為兩半。西邊頓心出血能跳，隨將東邊「灰」
字掩於其上，倏然不見，醒來乃是一夢。正疑慮間，見里胥請入午
膳，張云：「我已帶有館夫，自備飲食，不喜騷擾。汝輩如何又糜
費？汝等一番使用，自後再無得浪費。」里胥云：「供給父母，職分
當然，何云浪費？老爺為百姓分憂，惜民脂膏，頓飯且恐疲民，勞心
者不獲享勞力者之養，則我輩又將誰享也？」張見里胥所言湊理，心
甚歡喜。食完午飲，問寺僧曰：「我聞此寺中有一明見軒，極幽雅。
便過往安歇如何？只送我在方丈安下。」答云：「明見軒現師兄慧明
所居，舊額往來官員俱在方丈安歇，非小僧輩只利老爺在此，不利在
彼也。」張思云：「我只將假言一賺，果有一明見軒。既有明見軒，
則夢中所見之事可推尋矣。」遂謂曰：「我適在此安歇，精神恍榴，
覺有鬼魂相侵，不如移至明見軒去住歇。」僧人聞言，只得奉承，忙
打掃潔淨，接本官人明見軒去。
張至軒中看時，果如夢中所見景象，謂僧眾曰：「此軒果幽雅，身
抵淨室，萬慮消融，此軒中真足明心見性，只恐慾火不滅，無人之境
將為坑人之地。」眾僧叩頭曰：「山門恪守佛教，半毫不敢為非」。
正問答間，忽見樑上一孤燕遍體蒙灰，墮下階前叫噪。張聽之，初若
聒人之耳，終實愴人之心。眾父老侍立兩傍，面面相視。見梁間未有
燕壘，張行出數步，默囑曰：「燕果有冤，可飛集案前叫噪。」其燕
果飛集案前叫噪。眾父老只說本官好聞燕語，不知心有默囑，近前跪
曰：「老爺德化鳥獸，咸若不直。百姓快睹丰儀，雖燕雀亦來賀如
此。」張問寺僧曰：「閒常有此燕否？」僧曰：「燕雖巢梁，寺中未
有。莫非老爺有超遷佳兆，故燕雀預報其喜？」張曰：「燕賀報喜俱
非也，燕語聲中帶悲，似有不平之意，此處必有冤枉之事。夢既不
虛，事必有實。」喚隨行皂隸：「跟孤燕，飛止何處回報。」皂隸看
時，見孤燕飛入寺西一貯灰之室，身竄灰內不出，遂以其情回報本
官。
張聞言，即帶里胥父老並跟隨人同至土屋勘驗。見土房卑小不光，
內多灰糞。命左右將灰糞搬出，鋤開地穴，果有一婦人屍首，四肢都
是刀口。張問眾僧曰：「汝謂山門恪守佛教，毫不敢非為。此灰室死
骸從何處得來？」眾僧吃啞無言。張歎曰：「無人之境將為坑人之
地，信不誣矣！」遂悟夢中見婦人將恢字劈開，頓心能跳，以灰掩
之，白己身掩灰下，其心不死也。遂問此軒何人居住。眾僧答云：
「慧明。」又問左右聯居何人。曰：「色空、慾空。」隨拘慧明、色
空、慾空三僧來。問云：「何物妖僧敢此大膽，謀殺婦人，埋於灰糞
之下。此必行奸不從，故逞凶殺之，以滅其口。從直供招，免屠戮眾
僧。」慧明初時六拷三敲，不肯承認。次問二空云：「婦人係汝三人
謀死是的，縱非下手，亦必知情。」二僧此時亦忍刑不肯供招。鎖紐
三僧，發民壯帶出方丈伺候。隨將滿寺僧人一一報名點過，吩咐地方
具呈保領，毋得逃走一個。「但問得下手之人明白，即不干連你眾僧
之事。」
一僧見事敗露，只得從直報云：「久年前，有一孀婦繡一長幡，來
寺酬願，祈保亡夫早昇天界。事因後遍寺遊玩，游至明見軒，慧明僧
見其姿容豔冶，頓起淫心。引入僧房，鎖鑰門扉，欲行強姦。寡婦不
從，引刀殺死。色空、慾空左右聯居，二人豈不知情？當時掘坑埋
掩，二人多在傍助力。如何推托不認，連累眾僧？」慧明帶出在外，
不意殺婦之事已被此僧說破。復喚入拷鞫，呼前直報之僧，三面執
對。事已犯真，只得從實供招，見己不合見色起心，強姦不從，下手
將寡婦殺死是的。二空亦供招云：「慧明強姦寡婦，當亦知情﹔殺死
葬埋，當亦與力。只慧明多方賣囑，恐事敗貽累眾僧，是以寧忍一時
之刑，救此眾僧之命也。」張云：「奸殺寡婦者罪不赦，知情不舉者
罹重刑，餘僧各責三十，不令居寺。」
張爺判曰：
審得孀婦汪氏，繡幡酬願，誤入空門﹔奸僧慧明，推刃斃貞，埋於
灰室。明軒托夢，孤燕號冤。皂服呢喃，總是訴無天之恨﹔鳥衣咭，
悉皆鳴蔽日之冤。斬慧明用戒渠魁，誅二空以懲脅從。
女子深居簡出門，孀婺尤重禁行蹤。
薦夫不被浮屠誑，安得香魂逐穢風。
 陳縣丞判錄大蛇
陳祖，福建長樂人，洪武中以明經舉薦，初授繁縣縣丞。極有才
幹，且存心忠厚。聽理百姓詞狀，最稱明允。以故上司官、正堂官多
有詞狀，標其審理。
一日，奉縣主委托，出郭外有所案驗。行不上十餘里，忽道間見一
老嫗啼哭甚哀。祖為之感，遂令皂隸喚老嫗問其故。嫗對曰：「妾年
七十，不幸夫與子相繼早亡，止遺下一孫，年僅數歲。昨戲山中為大
蛇所傷，妾所恃以為命者惟此一孫，今無孫何以終餘年？是以悽愴於
心，傷命之苦而悲號，莫之能已。」祖謂嫗曰：「死者不能復生，汝
莫哭，合具狀來，吾當為汝除此毒物。」嫗遵祖吩咐，隨即具詞控告
於祖。
祖得狀回衙。次日，沐浴齋戒，具衣冠，焚香再拜，移牒屬縣城
隍。云：「汝為朝廷守土，我為朝廷守官。人害人惟予除之，物害人
惟汝除之。人害弗除則為廢官，朝廷於我乎奚取﹔物害弗除則為廢
祀，蒸庶於汝乎奚賴哉？物害莫過於蛇蠍，蛟龍違令，上帝且命魏徵
斬之﹔白蟒衝衢，上帝且命沛公斬之。總之，不欲以物害為人害也。
今汝司土一方，享民祀，不能禦災捍患，歹令恣虐之虺蛇毒害孀居之
稚子，則罪將誰歸？今限次日可驅毒蛇，赴所審斷，則前過可贖。不
然，吾具本申奉朝廷，則巍巍廟貌亦重罹法網矣。惟汝欽之。牒。」
城隍閱牒畢，驚懼，即呼當方土地鬼兵，如期執蛇赴陳爺縣所審決。
至期，果有群蛇集於治事所下，若犯人俯伏待審狀。祖諭曰：「未
傷命者退，左右毋得妄擊。傷人者伏首償命。」獨一大蛇伏罪不去。
祖知童命必此蛇所傷。乃命左右取利劍樹地，令蛇自殞抵罪。其蛇即
纏劍自殺。老嫗喚至所前，給俸米一石，白金數兩，以終養。一郡歎
服。
毒口螫人蛇蠍惡，除妖剔蠹宰公賢。
米金給賜歸終養，孀婦從今荷二天。

梅同府判誣人命
芝城一丐子刁梗，與外江客丐子廝打。刁梗力強，又無人勸解，將
客丐子痛打一頓，命幾乎絕。至高門外關王廟中歇，只說，我被他這
打痛難過也。及次日，客丐子死於廟。刁梗自忖打那丐子極重，想必
是死，密密尋到高門外來。人有言，關王廟中死一乞丐者。入看之，
正昨所打之客丐也。即放聲哭曰：「此吾親弟也，聞昨日被人打，敬
來看之。不意便死，我當為爾報仇也。」哭了便去，竟不來收埋。住
廟人方去各家化錢，欲僱人為葬。有一長者張善，本府約正也。生平
好善，肯施捨。因道人來化錢，自出銀五錢與買棺木，銅錢二百文與
僱車夫，殯埋已訖。
刁梗復來問曰：「何人為我葬弟？」住廟人曰：「你亦不來，多得
張長者捨錢若干，買棺代葬。」刁梗即到張宅曰：「我本江右客人，
親弟刁柄。前日在人家抄化，觸怒於人，被人痛打身死。今聞正是你
家，怎麼將白棺貯得去？我弟兄流落在此，孤客無倚。你不如付埋殯
銀十兩三錢與我，免我去告。不然告出人命，你亦要償命矣。」張善
好言溫慰之，曰：「你弟必在別處被打，可要詳細體訪。我家世守本
分，決不打罵乞丐人。況昨日並無乞丐，何曾有打？你去問左右鄰便
知。」刁梗曰：「人命姦情，露財是真，不是你打，何以出銀埋
殯？」張善曰：「施捨出人自心，昨日道人來化錢，我以此捨之。你
反以此致疑，是恩將仇報也。」刁梗不聽，堅要討銀。張善曰：「似
此是教人後日不敢為善矣！看你無賴之徒，且將錢一百文當捨你
去。」刁梗狼心不足，便去告曰：
狀告為打死人命事。梗籍江右，與弟刁柄流落乞食。弟性骯髒，前
在勢豪張善家唐突，觸怒豪。喝家童打，傷多致命。匍匐入廟，一夜
即死。豪賄惡黨，寅夜扛埋，故稱施捨。剌錢故與梗買滅。切思弟死
非命，埋骨異鄉。梗雖貧乞，忍受賄錢？乞委檢驗傷，正惡償命。冤
屈得伸，生死銜結。哀告。
張善去訴曰：
狀訴為飛禍全誣事。善忝約正，素守理法。因本境廟中死一乞丐，
廟祝化錢資助埋殯。善發慈心，捨銀五錢買棺，銅錢二百文顧埋。廟
祝募勸，保甲通知。突出刁梗，稱係伊弟，賴善打死。屈捨錢一百文
求靜，彼騙未滿，復捏聳告。並無乞丐來家，安有打罵？人勸出錢助
義，何謂財賄？乞臺細訪鄰甲，洞灼真偽。玉石得分，不遭架禍。上
訴。
張老家，素良善，眾保甲憤其被誣。共舉呈保結，見張善並無打死
乞丐之事，極出冤枉。如有打死人命之情，眾人都願受罪。府准三
狀，批與清軍館問。
梅同府提來審之，刁梗苦執弟被張善打死，故出錢代埋。眾保甲共
稱張家素善，殯埋出彼施捨善心，並無打死乞丐之事。梅爺一時難
辨，令將刁梗監起。
過五日後，思丐子之人必無盤纏，拘禁五日必求知識濟應。可就此
問其人來歷，乃召禁子問曰：「刁梗命你送信與何人？」禁子初焉不
識，梅爺喝打五板。曰：「強盜恐怕連累，故不敢扳知識。今刁梗告
他人，寄信與親眷，亦有何妨，你何故替他隱瞞？」禁子乃曰：「今
日命我寄信與朝天門楊建。」梅爺即拘楊建到，問曰：「刁梗與你甚
親？」建曰：「爪葛表兄也。」梅爺曰：「梗居止何處，其家更有何
人？」建曰：「梗是本府東鄉人，今其家零落，止梗一人，並無別兄
弟、伯叔。」梅爺曰：「梗有家資否？」建曰：「梗先時亦足度日，
因好賭嫖，家筵蕩盡，今為乞丐頭。安得有家？」梅爺曰：「梗寄信
與你，謂何？」建曰：「他因官事現禁在獄，問我借盤纏耳。」梅爺
曰：「其信安在？」建即取出遞上。梅爺看之，果是借盤纏信，丟下
還之。楊建去，梅爺取刁梗問曰：「你非江右，乃本府東鄉人，並無
兄弟。原亦有家，因好賭嫖破蕩，今為乞丐頭。自打死客丐子，人未
告你，你反而賴張善。我盡體訪出來，該償命何疑！好好供招，免受
刑憲。」刁梗見來歷盡真，不敢隱瞞。又受饑餓，恐不禁受刑。乃一
一吐實，招認打死客丐是真。不待再拘張善對執，而狀已悉明矣。
梅侯判曰：
審得刁梗飄蓬浪跡，寄食資身。始為賭嫖之行家，即為乞丐之魁
首。尚不安貧守己，猶且恃力凌人。間兢祭餘，逞螳螂之怒臂﹔路上
逢儕輩，啟蠻觸之雄心。客丐被撻而喪生，冤含黑夜﹔善士捐金而助
葬，仁著青天。未告凶毆，罪幾漏網﹔反行圖賴，污且蔑人。視殺命
如鴻毛，不畏鬼責﹔借傷屍為奇貨，冀斷殯銀。以己之罪而誣人，利
人之財以益已。凶以奸濟，貪與忍兼。世未見此斗膽之人，我宜加爾
斧頸之戮。
按：此狀誣張善，得眾人肯為力保，自不至被陷。然客丐果有致命
之傷，若不捕出凶身，刁梗硬稱善打，將必花判殯銀與梗，便為落彼
術中，且客丐之冤不雪矣。梅爺故囚之以徐察其求濟應之人，便可知
刁梗之來歷。審其有無兄弟，則執一實可以賺百虛，而奸端從此可辨
矣。故此判之奇，奇在故囚禁一著也。

崔按院搜僧積財
湖南有一惡少廖志遠，儇俠浮薄，不事家人生業。引誘良家子弟，
宴飲遊蕩。利口捷給，談花論酒，放廢禮法。鄉里長者皆厭惡之。自
知不為眾所容，乃買度牒，披剃為僧。改法名印空，住居靈秀寺。豁
達能言，交結士夫。修繕寺宇，塑裝佛家。建置疏簿，募勸十方施捨
財帛。巧能搖唇鼓舌，夤緣扳附，多得士夫推薦，各處富家巨室皆捐
金贈粟。又化善信男女，焚香修醮，合會拜讖，多般設施，皆幻誘愚
俗，利其財帛。不三四年，積財萬計。廣置衣服、器皿，娶妻育子。
外為僧，內為俗。極有機智，又思久恐事露，終是危計。
及崔黯為按察，巡歷湖南。印空自去投牒，請脫鉗歸俗。具狀云：
僧印空狀告為批照歸俗事。印空原係良民，姓名廖志遠。昨信僧家
勸化，買牒出家。求悟心性，欲了生死。今愚昧未徹，佛教難通。徒
若修行，絕祖嗣續。願復歸俗，納差當家。恐來謗議，理合告明，繳
還度牒，寺付後僧掌管，再不執占。乞准立案批照允歸，以杜後悔。
上告。
崔公問曰：「爾教化幾年，所得幾何？」印空曰：「已出家三年，
旋得旋用。」公曰：「費用造設幾何？」印空曰：「凡修造寺宇，繪
塑佛家，共費三千餘貫。」公曰：「給者既知，納者豈不能記？決有
隱欺。」乃差手下往搜其積蓄。見寺中器物充，衣服稠疊。有銀二
箱，有一婦人抱一幼子，盡搜到衙。公問曰：「此婦人何來？」婦
答：「以彼印空娶為妻，生子已週歲矣。」崔公曰：「為僧而娶妻育
子，那有此佛教？且此銀自何來，皆是惑騙良民的。當令妻子與你同
歸俗，衣服帶去。而財物當以之還施貧者，器物留寺，以付下手掌管
之僧受用。」
 崔公判曰：
審得僧印空，原即廖志遠也。游手好閒，浪跡無藉。衲衣披體，非
欲見性明心﹔梵宇棲身，惟欲誣民惑世。叩雙鋒而竭五內，鳴法鼓而
集方神。祿位由天，乃謂宿緣於彌勒﹔富壽有命，卻云借庇於釋迦。
募化勸緣，多營粟帛﹔修齋設醮，廣集貨財。經營三載之間，蓄積千
金之業。衣裳稠疊，器物充盈。夜擁百媚之妻，手抱一周之子，是何
佛教？有此沙彌玷穢空門，殞越王法。取利既滿，於谿壑投牒，仍歸
於里閭。雖逃釋歸民，當從所願。而騙眾致富，宜沒其貲，妻子付爾
歸家，錢帛散之貧屢。庶不拂反正之念，且少懲罔世之奸。
按：僧告歸俗人，惟聽之而已。崔公必問所得若何，遂察出其誣騙
之奸，可謂明無遺照也已。

顧察院判黜贓官
右都御史顧佐，廉公有威。曾任御史及按察司，皆有風采。亦當為
京兆尹，憲度嚴明，清革宿弊，吏率聞風悚。一日，屬吏趙高犯法，
佐笞撻之，且欲加罪，吏不能堪。乃具姓名，奔通政司訴佐私受皂隸
折薪錢，不令供役，且放之回家耕種。濟私而妨公，非廉官所為也。
通政司以其事轉聞於上，上問楊士奇曰：「汝薦顧佐廉，今屬吏所訴
若此。僅一貪墨吏耳，何在其能？」士奇對曰：「朝臣自永樂以來，
俸祿微薄。月惟給米一石，薪炭芻糧資於皂隸。薪炭既資於皂隸，則
受皂隸折薪錢，例也，非賄也。皂隸既責令供納薪芻，不得不遣放歸
耕，使口所用。不廢公，不妨農，官民兩便，亦例也，而非過也。以
此為不廉臣，不知所舉矣。」上悟士奇言，怒曰：「朝廷用一好人，
輒為小人所排。如此欲將訴吏下法司深罪。」士奇曰：「此末事不足
上干聖怒，但付佐自治，則恩法並行矣。」上隨以訴狀授顧佐，使自
治之。
佐退，召趙高示之以狀，吏恐甚，請死。佐曰：「聖上命我治汝，
我姑容汝。但約今伊始，務要改過自新，不可仍前稔惡不悛。」竟不
治之，人皆心服。上聞之喜曰：「顧佐得大體矣！」及為右都御史，
位愈尊，權愈重。凡枉法有司，非對章糾之，則奏疏劾之，甚至，按
其罪而罷黜之。
 時左都御史劉觀與男劉福父子專權，贓貪狼藉，騁私滅公，脅制諸
道，無所忌憚。顧佐耳目其事，怒曰：「風憲所以警肅百僚，憲長如
此則不肖，御史效之不肖，御史差出四方，其行如此則不肖，有司效
之。況大不除，則黨惡罔知自欽。今新奉明旨，令佐考黜不肖，洗滌
積弊。試觀今日不肖無如劉觀，積弊亦無如劉觀，所當考滌洗滌者亦
無如劉觀也。劉觀父子所為貪污如此，不以法繩之，何以肅官聯而清
仕路，會科道？」有本劾觀，遂逮觀父子下獄，案驗其罪。
顧爺判曰：
審得劉觀父子貪類鼠蛇，暴同豹虎。訊鞫無詞，字字滔天大惡﹔供
招墨跡，行行罔上遺奸。發擢罪愆，破盡南山之竹﹔叢過惡，決窮東
海之波。律有死條，理無生議。
後蒙恩宥，父子謫戍遼東。詩曰：
蒞官清白玉無瑕，冰櫱紅顏雅操華。
顧佐廉明清仕路，劉觀謫戍警官邪。

第二卷 姦情類

陳大巡斷奸殺命
徽州府歙縣富民張時，家貲巨萬。生子學禮，性耽風月。最好馳
騁，丰姿俊雅，才思過人。春初，父命學禮請師設館於莊，去家二十
餘里，師徒辭就館。路經一地柳塘，有居民鄧魁，常借銀出外經商。
偶遇學禮師徒過門，魁欣然延入其家。入門時，學禮見魁室門半掩，
於門隙間見魁妻喻氏花容月貌，賽過當年西子，堪比往昔潘妃。手纖
纖若蘭芽新發，眉彎似柳葉初垂。學禮見之，魂飛天外，魄散九霄。
心猿意馬，莫能把持。魁恭敬款待，坐分賓主，席列高低。嘉肴美
酒，師徒盡醉而別。學禮就館，經史無心，思一見無由，日夜惟魁妻
是念。
日往月移，倏爾清明。魁與其母往醮父墳，獨喻氏一人在家。適有
東源後生章八，久思喻氏，因其姑在家未便。偶途中遇魁母子往祭，
意其家別無他人，乃逕往其家，欲奸其掃。喻氏貞潔不從，大罵：
「無恥光棍，安敢如此！我夫回來，必不輕放過你！」奔出廚房，章
八追至廚中。喻氏罵不絕口，章八自思：「此婦不從，夫回必告，是
非難免。」見房中首飾、衣服頗多。「莫若殺之，以掩其口，因而利
其所有。」向廚中取利刀一把，趕至堂前殺之。入房內，擄其衣服首
飾，逃入後面，盤山而回。學禮是日因先生辭回醮祭，父命僕馬接學
禮回。將至柳塘，先令僕安福挑衣箱前行。學禮挽韁直至魁門下馬，
繫馬於門，意圖得見喻氏一面。自廳呼魁至堂，只見其婦鮮血淋漓，
死於地下，嚇得學禮魂不著體，忙出騎馬即行。章八尚在山上，見得
明白。魁母子回家，見妻死於地，母子驚暈於地，半晌方蘇。子謂母
曰：「今日不知誰人來我家，大抵強姦不從，或行殺死。」入房但見
釵股一空。魁遍問無有知者，乃往投西源地方韓福、保長李忠、東源
章八等到家驗明。章八曰：「今日我在山砍柴，見張學禮到你門首下
馬，擊門而入。半日方出，慌忙策馬而走，必是他無疑。」魁曰：
「你見得仔細不？」章八曰：「這等大事，安敢胡言？委係的實。但
時家富，止有一子。你可抬屍上門，彼決不肯令爾聞官。千金買獲，
不亦美乎？」魁曰：「我只要為妻伸冤，意不在索銀也。」眾皆曰：
「然。且張宅家丁眾多，若被他搶屍去了，又無話柄，只宜告官。」
魁乃寫狀告縣曰：
告狀人鄧魁，係本縣民，年甲在冊。告為奸殺事。豪惡張學禮，漂
蕩風流，姦淫無比。窺見身妻喻氏青年貌美，百計謀奸。瞰身母子出
祭父墳，飛馬來家，摟抱強姦。妻貞不從，持刀殺死，擄去簪釵。鄰
佑章八見證是實。當投地方韓福、保長李忠驗明。惡逆彌天，冤情沉
海，乞天相驗，法斷償命，以正綱常。含血哀告。
縣主沈修為人躁酷，性至剛執。見狀，審過口詞一遍，大怒曰：
「白晝敢行奸殺，世變異常。」即差付貴、王榮火速拿來重究。學禮
是日忙回，神色大變，見父母默無一言，即入房悶坐。父母以子久在
館中，呼婢設酒同飲，悶悶不樂。父母問其故，終不敢言。至次日傍
晚，在門首閒行，見二捕快直抵其家，驚問曰：「我家無甚事，公差
來舍何干？」公差出批與看，覽愕然。忙問其子，學禮以直告父。家
中即備酒肴，款待公差。次曰，寫狀訴曰：
訴狀人張學禮，本縣民，訴為飄誣事。身業儒流，家傳清白。冤因
鄧魁先年借父本銀未還，思騙無由。偶身今歲藏修於莊，道經惡境。
本月初八日，騎馬過門，孰知伊妻誰殺，飄空捏是身謀，意圖嚇騙。
情慘昏天。況騎馬非行奸之事，白晝豈行奸之時？懇天查審，詳鞫一
干，不遭騙陷。上訴。
縣主准訴，亦詳問一遍。即拘原被干證一干人犯，擇日驗屍。只見
項下一刀，肋下一刀，血跡猶在。沈公即喚韓福、李忠二人問曰：
「爾二人附近，知學禮殺婦之詳，明白說來。」二人曰：「小人是日
上午出耕，家隔一坳。午後回來，魁投驗屍是實。其間情由，章八知
之。」沈公曰：「章八，你知學禮何以殺之？」章八曰：「小人在後
山砍柴，見學禮騎馬至魁門首，下馬進入其家。半日才出，跨馬忙
走，不是他人奸殺是實。」沈公謂學禮曰：「章八之言，是你無疑。
從直招來，免受刑憲。」學禮曰：「小人頗曉詩書，頗知禮法，安肯
為此昧心之事？小人其日到魁家，婦已被殺。小人既來行奸，安敢騎
馬？既騎馬來，安敢殺人？」章八硬證。沈公怒，敲擊案子喝打學禮
四十。暈死半晌。令湯灌醒，終不屈招。沈公令牢子取挾棍夾起。刑
法難當，屈認行奸不從刺死。又問曰：「首飾、衣服何在？」學禮
曰：「實無。」沈公令敲狼頭，學禮曰：「家中釵服頗多，安擄彼
物？」沈公不聽，逼勒招承。沈公判曰：
審得張學禮恃富欺天，妄行滅法，淫縱匪彝，亂大倫而不顧﹔奸謀
強殺，貪美色而枉為。瞰母子出祭墳間，馳快馬而入逼強姦。行奸不
遂，殺美人於非命﹔貪心奮起，擄釵服以回家。鄰里咸稱的實。明是
強樑上惡，得非搪突西施。本當的決，用作貪花炯戒。制決待時，尚
俟秋後處斬。
陳主道為南京大巡，七月出巡徽州府，張時具狀，攔馬告曰：
告狀人張時，係徽州府歙縣民。告為燭冤劈陷事。身年六十，止生
學禮。冤因先年鄧魁揭本經商，屢年未還。思騙無由，今年三月，伊
妻被殺。男偶館回，騎馬過門。飄空捏男強姦刺死。買賄鄰佑章八等
偏證。本縣沈爺非刑拷訊，屈挾招承，罪擬大辟。冤蔽覆盆，鐵壁銅
城，冤無訴路。懇天大發雷霆，擊破冤門。冒死上告。
陳代巡青年進士，明如鏡鑒，清若冰壺。任事精勤，秋毫必察，刑
罰嚴簡，纖微必燭。每問刑，焚香告天，獄無冤枉，屢出無辜。此老
三告不准，見不勝哀泣，意必有冤。即准其狀，發本府候審。
大巡到任，三五日後，行牌拘審。調縣原案人犯俱齊，唱名過後，
見學禮人物俊雅，似非惡人。乃厲聲呼學禮曰：「爾既讀書，安為不
法？重責四十。」學禮曰：「容訴，小人委實冤枉。春間與師就館，
魁邀入飲。清明回家，特踵門而謝。豈知魁不在家，小人揚聲呼魁，
自廳至堂，只見婦死於地。不知所以，驚駭忙出馳馬而回。既欲行
奸，必不騎馬繫馬於門，必不殺人。章八苦證小人進魁家半日才出，
此乃買囑屈陷。望老爺高抬明鏡，照破苦冤。」章八曰：「此事是
的，小人在後山砍柴見學禮進魁家，半日才出。並未有他人到彼
家。」大巡見此人狀貌不善，乃怒問曰：「其婦被殺必會喊叫，爾在
山逼近，豈不知之？」章八曰：「小人知叫。」大巡曰：「既知喊
叫，胡不進看？何待鄧魁來投才說？此言難憑。」章八詞窮，無言可
答。大巡正在狐疑，適有一烏鴉飛入臺前，三匝而鳴，向章八頭上一
啄而去，眾皆驚異。大巡厲聲曰：「殺喻氏擄財貨是你，這賊安可證
陷他人？重打四十，依直招承。」不認，令挾起，敲狼頭一百。又不
招又令重挾，熬刑不過，乃招曰：「是小人強姦不從，恐言於夫，故
殺之。」大巡曰：「既是你殺，怎陷學禮？」章八曰：「偶學禮過門
入其家，小人尚在後山，沿山奔回，是不合強證屈陷學禮，此亦天理
不肯。今遇爺爺青天，自分償命。」大巡追其釵服，不認，又令挾
起。乃招曰：「釵盡用去，衣服尚存。」即差嚴完、呂範挾同鄧魁到
其家，搜出原衣十餘件，魁認明。
陳大巡判曰：
喻氏被殺，情固可矜﹔學禮遭刑，苦猶可憐。非有司罪歟！其章八
身行大惡，嫁禍東吳，雖寸斬不足以謝天下。然烏鴉飛啄可稽，在天
理不容漏網﹔憲臺法眼難瞞，在王法安容橫暴。填命有條，斬首示
眾。學禮無干，省發還家之例﹔鄧魁不合誣告，死罪之刑。喻氏貞
節，雖死不從，合旌其門，以風天下。
予按：此斷非素行動神明，誠心格物類者能乎？陳公一見學禮丰
姿，知非其罪。況烏鴉之報，一鞫便明，王法昭矣。旌貞節，誅強
暴，民風可挽，時俗可回。足稱明於折獄者矣。百姓作《古風》一
篇，以頌美云：
陳公明鏡天心燭，魑魅魎魎皆驅逐。
執法焚香叩上蒼，審的有罪方誅戳。
命徽州作大巡，當時照破沉冤獄。
烏鴉三匝繞官廳，嘴啄賊囚腦頂肉。
章八分屍償節貞，萬戶咸寧無私曲。
吏胥守法奉公差，士民安樂親眷屬。
皇王有道四海清，德星高照開天目。
指日丹書下九天，致君堯舜百姓足。
代代公候匪浪誇，五福全臻從心欲。

林侯求觀音祈雨
江安縣民婦柯氏，與夫管純角口致爭，自逃母家去。母因勸諭之，
不數日復歸。至半路遇兩和尚在傍路，來問曰：「娘子何往？」答
曰：「我回管宅夫家去。」和尚哄之曰：「管宅舊路本從此去，今前
路崩陷，人行不得，都從我這傍路去更近。」柯氏不從，曰：「那聽
你賊禿謊。」兩和尚曰：「我好心教你路，你反罵我。」遂兩傍挾其
手挾去。都是山僻小路，行不三里，至一山庵，已有一老和尚及兩婦
人在此。兩和尚名真悟、真醒，而老的名明融，則其師也。真悟曰：
「可將舊老婦與師父，今日採來的與我。」從此拘留奸宿，那肯放
回。
管純又經數日，往岳母家接妻。岳母曰：「五日前已發落回矣。」
管純曰：「並未見回。」兩下鬧爭不決，因赴縣告曰：
狀告為懇究妻身事。純妻柯氏歷年無異，近因角口，奔回外家已經
十日。純自往接妻，舅柯延指稱已還。何無下落，並不見蹤。非伊家
未回，則在途被拐，懇天為民作主。跟究妻身，得復完聚。蔭德彌
天。上告。
柯延是多疑人，恐姊或被管純打死，而故稱未回也。亦赴告曰：
狀告為殺命詐掩事。延妹柯氏早嫁管純，貌醜失意，屢遭打罵。減
克衣食，千般刁蹬。前趕逐出，面體毆傷。母哭諭歸，反觸純怒，加
毆屈死，計埋滅屍，詐稱在逃，希圖掩罪。乞嚴究死因，調屍檢驗，
洞破奸計，伸雪冤抑。感激叩告。
縣尹林培仁，明官也。提來親鞫，兩下相執，不肯降服。柯家干證
稱柯氏已歸夫家，管家鄰佑執柯氏並未見歸。林尹知必路上被拐是
的，命手下四處為訪。
柯氏素性柔順，明融雙腳爛瘡，那兩婦人都厭惡之，不肯親近。惟
柯氏為煎藥傾水，小心伏侍。屢在明融前哀訴曰：「我因與夫相打，
逃往娘家，今在娘家被拐到此。夫後問娘家取人，必有爭訟。師父出
家人，望發慈悲心，放我回去，勝造七級浮圖也。」明融憐其哀懇，
迨近晚送出舊路，曰：「放你回，但勿對夫說在我庵也。」柯氏歸
家，一一與夫言被二和尚強拐之事。管純曰：「我被你弟告，險些問
償命。今須與你見官說明，勾完訟事而歸。」次日，去見林尹，訴出
被拐之由。林尹曰：「其庵何名，有何記號？」柯氏曰：「我不曉何
名，但庵中有一魚籃觀音。我每燒香祝願，保佑我得歸家。以手捻其
足大指，其痕深入，此可為記號。」林尹記在心，時因大旱遂出告示
取各庵寺觀音，不拘大小新舊，送到本縣大寺。侯率眾虔禱求雨，然
後做功果送還。但須自寫本庵寺記號，以便認回，勿致混爭。
不數日，各庵寺觀音盡送到，林尹親率士眾行香禮拜，既而霖雨沾
足。乃命僧道修謝雨，功德訖，仍出告示，令各僧道都認回自庵寺觀
音。內有一魚籃觀音，其足大指有指甲捻痕。命一公差守住，曰：
「我夜夢此觀音放一鯉魚於河，因騰雲下雨，真有靈驗。我要留衙中
供養，有某寺來迎者，可令來領公價去，另塑一座。」及真悟、真醒
來迎，公差與之云，引入衙中領銀再塑。林公問曰：「此魚籃觀音是
你寺的乎？」對曰：「是也。」林公曰：「此觀音真靈，前夜夢他行
雨，果是有雨。昨夜又夢來說彼庵中有三個婦人，一個逃來告狀。他
庵中惡濁，不願歸去。今日果有一婦人來告你強拐，必是你二禿
也。」真悟、真醒那肯承認，林公令柯氏來證。柯氏曰：「此二僧是
也。」乃服罪。又令人往庵果搜出二個婦人，皆是路中拐去者，各命
親人來領去。寺中更一老僧以銀賄公差，未拿到。林公問寺更有僧
乎，公差答：「已無矣。」柯氏亦念老僧放己之恩，不為執出。但擬
二僧絞罪。
林尹判曰：
審得僧真悟、僧真醒佛口蛇心性，人面獸肝腸。忒輕薄，不將佛戒
遵﹔恁顛狂，敢把春情蕩。法界逢傾國，忽然不覺體酥麻﹔慧眼觀多
嬌，幾乎頓使神魂喪。遂起拐來之念，慾心似海深﹔因行挾去之謀，
果然色膽如天樣。空門戀色，三光不畏知﹔花散沾身，五戒何曾講。
納衣今作合歡被，應難報道好姻緣﹔鮫綃舊是紫蒲團，可不羞殺騷和
尚。笙簧洞府，卻非阮肇佳期﹔雲雨陽臺，難比襄王情況。不守禪宗
居梵宇，難辭絞罪入刑場。
按：柯氏既歸，則拐帶明矣。然惟道觀音足指有痕，此亦難以遍寺
查訪。惟托祈雨一節，以集之假公以究乎私，則不勞力而僧犯在掌握
之中矣，亦因事設機之一奇也。

陸知縣判謀懦夫
濬儀縣人徐汝梁娶妻阮氏，合巹三載，不曉房事。及妻歸母家，母
問曰：「汝夫婦皆長大三年，何無子乎？」阮氏初不應。數日，母又
曰：「汝姐先去四年，生二子﹔汝妹後去二年，生一子﹔汝何獨無
子？」阮氏乃答曰：「汝婿是懦人，我豈能自育子？」母心明白，及
婿來回門，謂之曰：「我阮門女子最是多男，我長女適王家四年，生
二子﹔少女適虞家二年，生一子﹔汝令正居中，今已三年，緣何未有
子？」徐汝梁曰：「正不知何故，他人妻皆有子，怎我的獨無？」岳
母曰：「人夫婦要行房，方有子。你忒老實，必未行房也。」汝梁
曰：「我果未行房也，今後宜行房，令他有子。」及與妻歸，其夜阮
氏先睡，汝梁在房中周圍而行。妻曰：「何故不睡只在此行？」汝梁
曰：「你母道我不行房，故你無子，我今夜要行房也。」妻見其無
知，乃教之曰：「不是那樣行房，你來睡，我自教你。」汝梁解衣就
寢，妻扶之上身，按其陽物於陰戶，曰：「可動腰行房也。」汝梁年
紀已長，血氣亦壯，大覺有意趣，乃曰：「行房這好耍，何不早教
我？」妻曰：「此男子自曉之事，豈待婦人教乎？」從此方知稱合。
然他事終多矇昧，妻抑鬱不快意。鄰有少年婁鎮者，伶俐俊雅，素
知徐汝梁癡懦，不愜妻意。乃調戲阮氏曰：「看你貌若嫦娥，又聰明
俊俏，真女流第一。乃配此懦夫，恰似好花插糞土，辜負花容月貌
也。依我見不如揀個少年與他相好，遣與陶情也。不錯過青春年
少。」阮氏歎氣曰：「噯，無人似我命薄。」婁鎮見他不拒，即攜手
曰：「倘蒙不棄，願終身永好也。」阮氏即允。二人情好日密，肝鬲
相愛。
初惟夜間來往，後日間亦往偷情。忽汝梁遇見，亦知吃醋，怒曰：
「你怎與別人行房？」婁鎮下?閃開便走。阮氏曰：「我在此睡著，只
說你來，不料被他人脫。你快自來行罷。」汝梁依言自去與妻雲雨，
又言他要出與人說。妻哄之曰：「你不可與人說，若說，他恐明日又
來。」乃尋些果品與在房中食。私往後門見婁鎮，鎮曰：「今日若非
懦子，險些脫身不得。」阮氏曰：「拿你他必不會，只是要出與人
說，真個惱人，我故以果子與他在房中食，來與你商議。」婁鎮曰：
「你肯與我殺，我就為你殺之。」阮氏曰：「不可如此殺心。」鎮
曰：「這樣懦人，留他何用？」阮未及答，見夫從後來，即轉身與他
回話。下午纏他在家，不與出外。晚飯後，汝梁要出外，妻亦不阻。
婁鎮早懷刀在門外，候見汝梁離門幾步，從後殺之。阮氏見夫久不
歸，留門不閉，先自去睡。
至次日，人言徐汝梁被殺於路。阮氏即問婁鎮曰：「是你殺乎？」
鎮曰：「我昨夜並未出門，若我殺他，必來陪你矣。」阮曰：「必是
你也，如何瞞我？」鎮即發咒曰：「若是我殺，我不得善終。」阮氏
見他不認，心亦不甚惜夫之死。但啼哭出路，令人殯之。
有堂兄徐梁，赴縣告曰：
狀告為殺命事。堂弟汝梁生平癡懦，不辨菽麥。昨夜出外，不知何
人暗行謀殺。係至親，不忍坐視，人命至重，殺死極慘。乞追鄰佑，
究勘殺故。訪察凶身，正法償命。死者瞑目，生者感德。哀告。
陸太尹面審曰：「汝弟與人有仇乎？」曰：「癡懦之人，不知饑
飽，不識寒暖，何人仇他？」陸尹曰：「汝弟更有何人？」曰：「只
一幼妻耳。」陸尹知懦人無仇，而妻年少，必有姦夫殺之。乃曰：
「他既有妻，必拘其親妻問之。」公差來拘，阮氏怨婁鎮曰：「今一
伯告狀，官差拿我，必是告我也。」鎮曰：「你伯未指人告，只是官
要問你親妻，或知何人所殺，豈疑你殺夫乎？可去無妨，明日我來看
你。」及阮氏到官，陸尹曰：「你夫被殺知是何人？」阮氏曰：「丈
夫夜出於外，我在家不知。若知早已告他矣。」陸尹曰：「或你伯要
謀你家業，故殺之乎？」阮氏曰：「伯家自富，與我夫相愛，必非他
殺。」陸尹曰：「若知何人所殺，可來補狀﹔若不知，可自葬埋
罷。」
阮氏出，陸尹密令二公差隨之，曰：「倘有男子與共語便縛來。」
既而阮氏路遇婁鎮，問曰：「官如何問？」阮曰：「官云不知何人，
可自埋便是。」公差拿住二人，曰：「官要再問。」婁鎮甚懼。陸尹
問阮氏曰：「此人是你何親？」阮氏曰：「是鄰居婁鎮。」陸尹眾命
拶起，曰：「我訪得你與婁鎮有奸，是鎮殺你夫，你曾同謀否？」阮
氏是婦人，膽小即認，曰：「奸果有，只殺事未知。他說要殺我夫，
我叫他勿殺。後他發咒說不是他殺。」陸尹命開阮氏拶。將婁鎮挾
起，受刑後亦自供認。
陸尹判曰：
審得婁鎮輕狂浪子，尋花問柳過東牆﹔阮氏淫蕩歪姑，惹蝶招蜂來
後院。一則貪人事美，注意於傾國傾城﹔一則嫌己夫癡，偏情於子嗟
子國。秦樓風月，時邀弄玉同吹﹔楚館雨雲，夜赴襄王好夢。歡娛未
足，兇暴橫生。挾利刃於途中，徂伏候擊﹔刺懦夫於門外，黑夜中
傷。淫慾無涯，既已奸人妻室﹔陸梁莫比，又復斃人夫君。造惡殊
深，擬死允當。阮氏雖不知故，婁自行兇，然非汝有奸，夫何以死？
釀寡皆由奸起，凶戈乃自人操。宜在不赦之條，方為不節之戒。
按：阮氏初到，即用刑拷勘，彼必供出婁鎮。但指奸不為奸，夜殺
又無證，難以入罪，故寬縱以待。鎮之追隨阮氏，然後同縛則彼姦情
既無辭，而謀殺亦可問入矣。此懸餌得魚之計也。

李府尹遣覘奸婦
河南府民婦洛氏夫故，孀守一子樊見，年甫七歲。以夫週年，請近
庵一道士萬允正來家誦經，超度亡夫。允正見洛氏有貌，輒起淫心。
故勤將諸經諷誦，令色媚言，千般承奉。及以錢帛謝彼誦經，甚作喜
悅之色。為感謝難盡之意，過數日，買好時果送與樊見食。求洛氏捨
香一爐，祈保樊見成人長大。洛氏允之。每月來接香錢，必有齋食果
品相送。洛氏信允正為善人，亦自捨香一爐，祈保星辰口朗。其後接
香錢，每月必來兩次，所送果品始終不改。
洛氏忽一日留允正午飯，因說他孤兒寡婦被人虧，各佃苗租多頑欠
不納者。允正曰：「我只知為道士，山庵清苦。今依施主娘說，則守
寡亦有煩惱也。」洛氏曰：「你道人何等清閒，我寡婦有千般憂
慮。」允正曰：「清閒僅有，只一件大不好，無妻無子，終無結
果。」洛氏曰：「你修行人亦思妻子乎？」允正曰：「鳥獸也有雌
雄，何況於人？即子且慢說，但無妻一節，此苦惟天知地知。」洛氏
見說無妻之苦，自想我無夫者情亦一般。因曰：「你說也是，似我無
夫者，家無主亦甚苦也。」允正曰：「無妻者難計較，夫則由人招
耳。」洛氏知允正心邪，己亦肯納。又曰：「無夫可招，妻亦可娶
也。」允正見洛氏交談不拒，即曰：「我家施主娘捨錢極多，更肯捨
我一妻，真生死感激也。」洛氏曰：「娶妻銀非小可，一人怎能獨
舍？」允正起，執其手，曰：「正要一人方好舍，娘子無夫，我無
妻，成就一對，更何待舍？」洛氏曰：「你真膽大好打。」允正曰：
「殺亦由你，何惜一打？乞憐念孤道，舍我一次，勝救一命也。」洛
氏淫心本動，見此勤懇，遂承納之。鰥夫寡婦狂興百倍，真如久旱逢
甘雨，久渴得仙漿也。兩情美滿，不言可知。自此夜來日出，不異夫
婦。
如此者十年，樊見年已十七，頗知世事。乃拒允正，不許登門。洛
氏因托言往庵許願，樊見輒隨之去，寸步不離，不得偷私。洛氏因揮
樊見遠站，欲入房小解。樊見又邀允正出外，方令母入道房。洛氏計
無所出，心甚忿恨。乃當佛堂前輕與允正曰：「似此關防，何以落
手？我真恨此豚犬人骨，不奈他何也？」允正曰：「母欲治子，如俯
地拾芥。但告他不孝，令官府打死他。我便明來入贅，夫婦長遠
矣。」洛氏依計，故在家中生事罵子。往府告曰：
狀告為梟子不孝事。痛氏不幸，早歲喪夫。梟子樊見年方七歲，歷
今十載，撫養成人。辛苦萬狀，頭髮為白。詎見惡逆，罵母如婢。今
月十一，逢氏生日，治酒請族。梟惡觸怒，行兇欲毆。切惡不思乳
哺，亦念孀守。梟羽才長，輒便食母。勞苦半生，博此逆報。天合孝
治，乞殄惡逆，無亂天常。叩告。
樊見去求訟師，作訴狀：「見得母與道士有奸，怒彼阻諫。故誣告
不孝。」訟師曰：「若依此訴，便得不孝之實。母告不孝，你本罪
重。若訴出奸來，而道士不認，你該萬死矣。只宜受打被禁。他回家
必與道士往來，然後只稟於官。密差人訪，方可釋矣。」樊見曰：
「打難忍。」訟師曰：「不奈何，亦須打到二十後，方可指出。」
不數日，太府李杰捉去親審，曰：「寡母守你何等辛苦，你何故不
孝？」樊見曰：「慈母深恩，鳥羊知報。況寡母苦守，怎敢抗拒？今
告不孝，自是得罪於母，雖死無恨。老爺乞念亡父止小的一人，若打
死則亡父絕後，寡母十年苦節亦歸空矣。」李太府察樊見初冠，人性
溫和，疑其有枉，問曰：「人唆汝母乎？」見曰：「母子天性，人何
能唆？若可唆告，亦是為子不孝不能承奉母心也。」李太尹謂洛氏
曰：「汝寡居十年，惟有一子。今告之罪至死，得無悔乎？」洛氏
曰：「無賴惡子，不孝於母，寧復惜之耶？」李太府曰：「母告子
死，無有不死。審如此，可買棺來取兒屍，為你打死之，?拘禁纏延
也。」洛氏出買棺，李太尹使二人覘其後。洛氏出，謂一道土曰：
「事了矣，太爺將打死他，命買棺來。」收貯二人，入報於太府。少
頃，將棺至，李太府冀其悔悟，再三諭之曰：「不孝本當死，奈你半
生只一子，打死豈能再生？不如打他二十，後若不改，再告便結果
他。」洛氏堅執如初，定要置子於死。時道士立於門外，李太府令二
人擒之入，問曰：「你與洛氏有奸，又唆他告子不孝，該得何罪？」
道士曰：「並無此事。」洛氏曰：「樊見正是這等不孝，他嘗賴我與
道士有奸。當面又不敢說，我才出外買棺，他便說此假話。」李太府
曰：「若你兒說便是不孝了，自你告不孝時，已差人體訪。你才出外
又對道士說：『事了矣。』不是有奸，何以對他講？」將道士挾起，
乃供曰：「某與寡婦有私，嘗為兒所制，故欲除之。」李太府乃拶洛
氏，發打道士四十，即死於杖下。問洛氏曰：「你願官賣乎，願從子
乎？」洛氏未對。樊見曰：「道士既死，母無他心。願留與小的侍
奉。」
 李太尹判曰：
審得萬允正首戴黃冠，宜謝風月之樂事﹔洛氏志修清節，須忘雲雨
之佳期。出入蕊珠宮，豈識標梅寄詠﹔砥礪冰霜守，惟知柏舟自。蓋
出家異緇世之途，而空房絕紅塵之想。胡乃戒忘空色，依然春引芳
心。欲斷絕乎身世姻緣，反沉慾海﹔未修整乎閨門閫範，卻扇淫風。
怨女曠夫，雍容於偷香竊玉﹔真人嫠婦，蹁躚於度柳穿花。豈洞賓之
攜牡丹，仙風習習﹔乃武之私懷義，穢德彰彰。情以慾迷，心為淫
喪。道士唆告乎孝子，慈母忍割乎親兒。玄之不白，胡乃其寧﹔色之
溺人，一至於此。斃此野客於杖，方快人情﹔免賣寡婦於官，少從子
願。
按：母告不孝，本無可疑。特以十年寡母，止惟一子而必欲置之死
地，此豈人情哉？蓋必有私交，故心為淫溺，而愛以忍割也。凡婦人
愛子之心最真，然可以奪其愛者，惟情夫之慾也。李公一見察之，不
使孝子被誣，其可謂明之遠也已。
詩曰：
世上牽人無過色，英雄到此亦為迷。
請觀歷歷姦情案，急猛回頭強自持。

第三卷 盜賊類

董巡城捉盜御寶
弘治五年七月十五日，夜有強盜四五十人，攻入甲子庫。殺死守庫
官吏二十餘人，劫去金銀寶貝不計其數。次日方覺。兵部一面差人盤
詰各門出城人民，一面奏知朝廷。十八日，聖旨頒下，差兵部將京城
官民人等挨家挨戶搜檢，有能捕得真贓正犯者，官則超升，民則重
賞。時各官莫不差人四下緝拿，並不見蹤影。
有巡城正兵馬董成者，自思曰：「京城大小人家各各互相搜捕，如
此嚴急，那個巨賊敢藏許多金寶在家？其心懷疑俱決矣。既不敢藏在
家，必思帶出城外方穩。只門禁又嚴，彼焉能得出？此惟有假裝棺柩
藏去，方可免得搜檢。彼賊中豈無此見識者乎？」即命手下人吩咐
曰：「你等去守各門，但有掛孝送靈柩去城者，各要去跟究其埋葬所
在，一一來報，不得隱瞞。」至晚，各門來報都有喪出城。蓋京畿地
廣人稠，故生死之多如此。董巡城又吩咐曰：「今日安葬，再過三
日，必去祭奠，汝等再去潛窺密聽，看某處孝子悲哀，某處不悲哀，
可再來報。」
至第三日，眾手下依命去訪，皆來報曰：「各處孝子去祭奠，都涕
泣悲傷。」內有韓任稟曰：「小的往北門郊外去看那一伙孝子，四人
皆不悲哀，其祝墓言辭多不明白。更僕從六人，皆有戲耍喜悅之
意。」董巡城曰：「更過四日，是七朝矣。可選力士二十人，將此孝
子並僕從一齊鎖來，不得走脫一個。拿來即重賞你。」
至第七日，手下依命將此四個孝子、六個僕從都拿到。董巡城先單
取一孝子問曰：「你葬何人在郊外？」孝子曰：「老父。」董問其父
生死年月，孝子答曰某年月生，某年月死。董令收在一旁。再取第二
個問，所答又一樣。又取第三個問，所答又一樣。又取第四個問，所
答各不同。乃親押往郊外，命左右掘開其墓，取上棺木，撞開視之，
則盡是御庫中之金銀寶貝也。董不勝歡喜，左右莫不服其神明。賊亦
叩頭受死。遂寫文書申於兵部，曰：「巡城兵馬司董為捕盜事，奉聖
旨著兵部將京城官民人家，挨戶搜檢，捕拿強劫御庫真贓正犯。欽此
欽遵，本職日夜緝訪，拿得強盜正犯張祜、李輔等賊首十人。搜出所
劫御庫金寶，真贓取供明白。緣係強盜重情，未敢擅便發落。理合申
詳題奉，請旨以候處決。」須至申者兵部，即題本奏上，奉聖旨：
「張祜等劫庫重情，梟首示眾﹔董成捕賊有能，超升二級。該部知
道。」當日各官惟知嚴捕盜賊，那能勾得。惟董成以心料賊之情，知
其勢必假裝棺樞，方可藏金寶出城外。因命左右從此體訪，果不出其
所料。能挈寶玉而歸之朝廷，其功不小，其明真過人矣。在大傳曰：
「作易者其知盜乎，董公有焉。」

汪太守捕剪鐐賊
陝西平涼府有一個術士，在府前看風鑒極高。人群聚圍看時，賣緞
客畢茂袖中裹銀十餘兩，亦雜在人叢中看，被光棍手托其銀，從袖口
出，下墜於地。茂即知之，俯首下撿。其光棍來與爭，茂曰：「此銀
我袖中墜下的，與你何干？」光棍曰：「此銀不知何人所墜，我先見
要撿，你安得冒認？今不如與這眾人大家分一半，我與你共分一半，
有何不可？」眾人見光棍說均分與他，都幫助之，曰：「此說有理，
銀明是我撿得的，大家都有分。」畢茂那裡肯，相扭入汪澄知府堂上
去。光棍曰：「小的名羅欽，在府前看術士相人。不知誰失銀一包在
地，小的先撿得。他妄來與我爭。」畢茂曰：「小的亦在看，袖中銀
包墜下，遂自撿取，彼要與我分。看羅欽言談似江湖光棍，或銀被他
剪鐐，因致墜下，不然我兩手拱住，銀何以墜？」羅欽曰：「剪鐐必
割破手袖，看他衣袖破否？況我同家人進貴在此賣錫，頗有錢本，現
在前街李店住，怎是光棍？」
汪太守亦會相，見羅欽手骨不是財主。立命公差往南街拿其家人並
賬目來，進貴見曰：「小的同羅主人在此賣錫，其賬目在此。倘與人
爭賬係主人事，非干我也。」汪太府取賬上看，果記有賣錫賬明白，
乃不疑之。因問畢茂曰：「銀既是你的，你曾記得多少兩數？」畢茂
曰：「此散銀身上用的，忘記數目了。」汪太府又命手下去府前混拿
二個看相人來，問之曰：「這二人爭銀，還是那個的？」二人同指羅
欽身上去曰：「此人先見。」再指畢茂曰：「此人先撿得。」汪太府
曰：「羅欽先見，還口說出否？」二人曰：「正是羅欽說那裡甚包，
畢茂便先撿起來。見是銀，因此兩人相爭。」汪太守曰：「你既不知
銀數多少，此必他人所失，理合與羅欽均分。」遂當堂分開，各得八
兩零而去。汪太府命門子俞基曰：「你密跟此兩人去，看他如何
說。」俞基回報曰：「畢茂回店裡怨老爺，又稱被那光棍騙﹔羅欽出
去，那兩個干證索他分銀，跟在店去，不知後來何如。」汪太府又命
一青年外郎任溫曰：「你與俞基各去換假銀伍兩，又兼好銀幾分，故
露與羅欽見。然後往人鬧處站，必有人來剪鐐。可拿將來，我有賞
你。」任溫與俞基並行至南街，卻遇羅欽來。任溫故將銀包解開，買
櫻桃。俞基又解開銀，曰：「我還銀買請你。」二人相爭還，將櫻桃
食訖，逕往東嶽廟去看戲。俞基終是小廝，袖中銀不知幾時剪去，全
然不知。任溫眼雖看戲，心只顧在眼上，要拿剪鐐賊。少頃，身傍眾
人來挨甚緊，背後一人以手托任溫手袖，其銀包從袖口中挨手而出。
任溫知是剪鐐，伸手向後拿，曰：「有賊在此！」
 其兩傍二人益挨近任溫，轉身不得，那背後人即走了。任溫扯住兩
傍二人曰：「太府命我拿賊，今賊已走，托你二位同我去回復。」其
二人曰：「你叫有賊，我正翻身要拿，奈人來往，拿不得。今賊已
走，要我去見太府何干？」任溫曰：「非有他故，只要你做干證。見
得非我不拿，只人群中拿不得也。」地方見是門子、外郎，遂來助
他，將二人送到太府前。俞基稟曰：「小人袖又未破，其銀不知幾時
盜去，全不知得。」任溫曰：「小吏在東嶽廟看戲，一心只照管袖中
銀。果有賊從背後伸手來探，其銀包已托出袖口。我轉身拿賊，被這
兩人從傍挨緊，致拿不得，此必是賊黨也。」太府問二人姓名，一
曰：「我是張善。」一曰：「我是李良。」太府曰：「你何故賣放此
賊？今要你二人代罪。」張善曰：「看戲相挨者多，誰知他被剪鐐？
反歸罪於我。豈不以羊代牛，指鹿為馬乎？望仁天詳究，免我受無妄
之災。」太府曰：「看你二人姓李姓張，名善名良，便是盜賊假姓名
矣。外郎拿你，豈不的當？各打三十，擬徒二年。」命手下立押去擺
站，私以帖與驛丞曰：「李良、張善二犯到，可多索他拜見。其所得
之銀即差人送上此囑。」丘驛丞得此貼，及李良、張善解到，即大排
刑具，驚嚇之曰：「驛中事體，你也聽得，上司來往費用煩多，你若
知事，免我拷你。過了幾日，饒你討保回去。只等上司要來聽點，餘
外不與計較。若無意思，今日各要打四十見風棒。」張、李二人曰：
「小的被賊連累，代他受罪，這法度我已曉得。今日辛苦，乞饒
命。」明日受罪出來，即托驛書手將銀四兩獻上，叫三日外要放他
回。丘驛丞即將這銀四兩親送到府。汪太府命俞基來認之，曰：「此
假銀即我前日在廟中被賊剪去的。」
汪太守發丘驛丞回，即以牌去提張、李二犯到，問之曰：「前日剪
鐐任溫銀的賊可報名來，便免你罪。」張善曰：「小的若知早已說
出，豈肯以皮肉代他受苦楚？」汪太府曰：「任溫銀未被剪去，此亦
罷。更俞基銀五兩零被他剪去，衙門人銀豈肯罷休？你報這賊來也
罷。」李良曰：「小的又非賊總甲，怎知那個偷得俞基銀？」汪太府
曰：「銀我已搜得了，只要得個賊名。」李良曰：「既搜得銀即捕得
賊，豈有賊是一人做，銀又另是一人得乎？」汪太守以前假銀擲下，
曰：「此銀是你二人獻與丘驛丞者，今早獻來。俞基認是他的，則你
二人是賊已的，更放走剪任溫那賊。可報名來。」張、李見是真贓露
出，只從實供出，曰：「小的做前剪鐐賊者有二十餘人，共是一伙。
昨放走者是林泰，更前日羅欽亦是。這回禍端是他身上起，其餘諸人
未犯法。小的賊有禁議，至死也不敢相扳。」再拘林泰、羅欽、進貴
到，追羅欽銀八兩，與畢茂領去訖，將三賊各擬徒二年。仍排此五人
為賊總甲，凡被剪鐐者都著此五人跟尋，由是一府肅清，剪鐐者無所
容其奸矣。

蔣兵馬捉盜騾賊
蔣審為南京兵馬司，一日早晨乘轎出參官，路遇一後生，似承差裝
束，乘一匹騾，振策而馳，勢若奉緊公差之意。及近蔣兵馬轎勒騾從
傍而行，卻有遜避之狀。過步後，復長驅前進。蔣公思曰：「此人乘
騾疾走，若奉公差，然詳彼舉動，又似避我。倘果係走差的人，何須
如此挨青而過意者？其盜乎？」命手下滕霄曰：「去拿那乘騾後生
來。」滕霄趕去拿到，蔣公問曰：「你乘騾何去？」其後生曰：「小
的奉巡爺差，有緊急公事。老爺緣何阻我路程？恐有違限期，累及小
的。」蔣公曰：「你奉巡爺差，公文何在？」其人曰：「正是機密
事，親承口囑，故要遠去。老爺休要纏阻我。」蔣公曰：「你在何處
盜騾來，怎得詐稱公差，這等膽大！」其後生高聲抗言，曰：「老爺
這等說話，願同往巡爺處說個明白，為老爺獻功。」蔣公見其人言辭
朗烈，全無懼色，似乎拿錯。然終疑其行路躲閃之情。
不覺辯駁，挨纏一飯之頃，後有一人走來，汗流氣急。遠遠望見其
騾，即言曰：「那騾是我的，其盜騾賊在那裡去，前行路人可代我拿
住，我有謝你。」蔣公聞得，心中暗喜，已有察奸之神，其後生始驚
得倉惶無措。及追者近前，猶未知賊已被捉，只宜賊已逃了，遂向前
去牽騾。蔣公曰：「你騾在何處失？休要冒認。其盜騾者即是此人，
已拿在此，可都在衙去審問。」遂將二人並騾帶進衙。失騾者曰：」
小的是方應舉，家住城中後街頭。今早牽騾在門首，整鞍訖，將出城
去取賬，復還家尋銀。擬停待稍久，及再出門，騾已被偷。一路跟
問，幸得老爺拿了此賊，真包閻羅之見，方能如此發奸摘伏。」盜騾
者曰：「小的是萬正富，家近城中東門。怯才路上遇老爺更過去一望
之地，即小的之家。今被所捉，賊情難隱，望看公子分上，超生積
德。」蔣公命方應舉具領狀來，領出騾去。責萬正富曰：「你才說願
解巡爺處獻功，今解去有功否？」正富只磕頭求赦，蔣公以其初犯擬
杖八十發去。仍為詩勸之改過云。
詩曰：
人生活計幾多般，負販形勞心卻安。
穿壁▉牆皆禍藪，探囊偷篋有危端。
欲徼樑上稱君子，難免庭中對法官。
知命不如安分好，暗危倖免悔將難。

金府尊擬告強盜
貴溪縣包明等連僉狀告為急救民害事：「賊風四起，鄉境不寧。惡
丁檜，罪浮盜，惡過桓，自號安東金貴平王。挾黨餘弁，諢名大張
飛﹔金遼，小霸王﹔陳見，八大金剛﹔及牙爪武壯楊感等，群雄烏
合，劫殺百姓，搶擄財物，淫穢婦女，燒燬房屋。被害數十家，哀徹
心髓，男女聞風，驚碎心膽，鄉村未晚閉戶，小兒不敢夜啼。切恐猛
虎不除，犬羊無睡﹔勁鷹弗滅，鳩雀堪憐。乞臺法剿安民。上告。」
金侯擬曰：
養雞者不畜狸，養犬者不畜豺。今丁檜等群盜烏合，流毒一方。是
梗路之荊蓁，齧民之狼虎者，尚可謂鼠竊狗偷，而漫焉不足畏乎！仰
縣速行緝捕，毋使履霜堅冰至而熒熒不遏，以成炎炎之勢。

鄧縣尊審決強盜
南陵縣安諤狀告為劫賊慘殺事：「家處僻隅，二月十八夜，強盜二
十餘人，搽紅抹黑，明火燭天，手操鋒鍔，衝開四圍門壁，蜂擁入
室。老幼男婦如鼠見貓，神魂離殼，男被殺傷性命幾死。金銀、釵?、
衣服捲擄一空，止有舊衣、舊裳，又付祝融一燄。觀者流涕，聞者心
酸。懇天法剿安民。上告。」
鄧侯審云：
丁檜惡為賊魁，三犯不悛。烏合賊黨，明火劫掠。既卷其財，又傷