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FOX THIEF by Pu Songling

A family in Nanyang, Henan, with the surname E knew there was a fox spirit in their home as the family’s jewelry and other objects were often stolen. If the family did not allow it to do what it liked, it would simply make more trouble.   Mr. E had a grandson named Ji who burned incense to pray to the fox spirit not to make trouble, but his efforts were in vain. He also begged the fox spirit not to stay at his grandfather’s home and invited it to his home, but still the fox spirit refused him. People laughed at him, but Ji reasoned: “Foxes are very fickle, so they must have some human nature. I would like to guide them and make them behave better.” Every few days, he would pray in E’s house. Though there were no visible results, the fox spirit did stop making trouble whenever Ji came. So Mr. E often asked Ji to stay for the night. At night, Ji looked at the sky and more sincerely invited the fox spirit to come and meet him.      One day Ji sat alone in his study. Suddenly the door opened on its own. Ji stood up in the proper way of greeting a visitor and said: “Is that you, Brother Fox?” His question was met by silence. Another night, the door opened again. Ji said: “If you are here, Brother Fox, why don’t you come out since I have invited you so many times?” Again there was only silence, but the money Ji had put on the desk was no longer there in the morning. In the evening, Ji put more money on the desk. At midnight, there was a sound from the bed net. Ji asked: “Are you here now> I have prepared some money for you. I am not rich but not tight-fisted either. If you need money, please tell me straight forward. Why do you have to steal it?” Still some of the money disappeared. Ji left the remaining money in the same place, but for several days, it stayed where it was. Ji had cooked a chicken to be used to entertain some guests and it disappeared. In the evening, Ji put out some wine, but the fox spirit did not show up and take it. The E house was still troubled by thefts. Ji went there to pray again, saying: “I have prepared some money for you, but you did not take it. I have prepared some wine for you and you didn’t drink it. My grandfather is old and weak. Please do not come to his place to make any more trouble. I shall prepare some small gifts and please help yourself to them tonight.” Then he put some money, wine and some chicken on the desk. Ji slept next to the gifts. For the whole night, there was not a single sound, and the money and food were untouched. The fox spirit did not make any trouble after that.   One evening when Ji reached home, he found a pot of wine on the desk in his study, a plate of chicken and some money tied with a red string. He knew these were from the fox spirit. The wine smelled good, but it was green. Ji was half drunk after he finished the pot of wine. Then he was struck by a greedy idea and felt compelled to steal something. He went outside and decided to go to the home of a rich family in the village. He climbed over the wall into the courtyard. Though the wall was tall, Ji jumped over it easily, as if he had a pair of wings. In the house, he took fur coats and gold objects, which he left at his bedside in his study when he went to sleep. During the day, he took the stolen objects into his bedroom. His wife was surprised to see them and asked him where he had got them. He told her the exciting story, but his wife was frightened, saying: “You’ve always been honest and straightforward, how come you have become a thief?” Ji was at ease and did not find his behavior strange. He told her about his good relationship with the fox spirit. It then dawned on his wife who said: “The wine you drank must have poisons from the fox spirit!” She remembered that cinnabar could help rid a person of such poisons. She crushed some and put it in wine for Ji to dink. A little while later, Ji shouted suddenly: “How could I have stolen these3 things?” His wife explained what had happened to him patiently and Ji seemed at a loss as what to do. He heard the news about the rich man being robbed. Everyone in the village knew the story. Ji had no appetite for food or drink. His wife worked out a plan and told him to throw the stolen objects into the rich family’s courtyard at night. Ji did according to his wife’s suggestion and the situation calmed down after the rich family found their stolen objects had been returned.   That year saw Ji finishing first in the imperial exams and winning a special reward for his good behavior and morality. On the day the award was granted, a poster appeared on a high beam of a building in the government office announcing: “Mr. Ji was a thief. He stole a fur coat and golden objects form a rich family. How can he be regarded as a well-behaved person?” The beam was very tall and the poster could not have been put up by a man, even standing on his toes. This poster was taken down and shown to Ji, who was surprised. He thought that apart from his wife nobody knew about this. Besides, no human beings could enter the heavily guarded government office and put up the poster. He realized it must be the doing of the fox spirit. He told the entire story. The government encouraged him again by granting him another award for his honesty.   Ji thought he had never harmed the fox sprit, but the fox spirit often made trouble for him. It must be the case that a lowly person intending to harm Ji was too ashamed to do it himself and so he had to fox spirit do it for him.