When I was a child I once stayed with an aunt named Liu in Cangzhou.
There I saw a witch named Hao, who was a very wily village woman. She claimed
to be the medium of a fox spirit who could tell fortunes, and a lot of
people believed her because she seemed to know in detail what was happening
in their daily lives. Actually she had sent her cohorts to court the friendship
of servant women in the village and have them spy on their hosts. Thus
she was able to fool villagers with her knowledge of their family secrets.
A pregnant woman who consulted the witch about the sex of her
unborn baby was told that it was a boy. When, having given birth to a girl,
she came to demand why the fox spirit had made a mistake, the witch regarded
her with a glare. "You were at first blessed with a son. Then on a certain
day you were given twenty pancakes by your parents, but you gave only six
to your parents-in-law and ate the rest yourself. The god of the underworld
had your son substituted by a daughter to punish you for such unfilial
behavior. Why not repent now?"
In consternation the woman pleaded guilty, with no idea how the
witch had spied out her behavior. By such ingenuity the witch managed to
deceive many people. One day the witch was invoking the fox spirit before
the incense burner when she suddenly straightened up and spoke in a clear
voice, "I am a real fox spirit. Though foxes like me share a living space
with humans, we are too busy in our daily practice to collaborate with
an old hag and meddle with trivial affairs in the village households. This
crooked old woman has amassed an ill-gotten fortune in my name. By speaking
through her own mouth today, I want to make all of you see through her
scheme."
The fox went on to relate the various misconducts of the witch
and named all her accomplices. Then the witch came out of the trance with
a start and took to her heels, never to show up in the village again. |
