| The Li Family in Weixian County, Shadong Province, owned a villa.
One day, an old man suddenly came along and said he was willing to pay
fifty taels of silver a year to rent the house. The owner agreed.
However, after the old man left, they did not hear from him again, so the
owner told his housekeeper to rent it to someone else. The next week,
the old man returned and said, “We had agreed that I would rent the house.
Why have you given it to someone else?” The Li Family explained their
concern. The old man said, “I want to live here permanently.
The reason I postponed moving in for such a long time was because I had
chosen an auspicious date. That’s ten days from now.” So he
paid the family one year’s rent in advance, saying, “Don’t worry even if
it’s empty the year round.” The owner saw him to the gate and asked
him when he planned to move in. The old man told him the date.
Several days past the deadline, there was still no sign of anyone moving
in. But when the owner, Li, went down to the house to check, he found
the gate bolted from the inside. Smoke was rising from the kitchen
chimney and the hustle and bustle of people could be heard. Puzzled,
Li presented his name card, saying he had come to visit. The old
man quickly came to the gate and welcomed him into the house, showing warm
hospitality. After returning home, Li sent someone over with gifts.
The old man tipped him well in return. A few days later, Li gave
a dinner for the old man, and the again had a warm and cheerful conversation.
Asked where he had come from, the old man said he was from Shaanxi province.
When Li wondered why he had come so far, the old man said, “This place
here is a blessed land. Shaanxi is no longer a place to live in.
There’s going to be big turmoil there.” Now, at the time of this
conversation, peace reigned in the country, but Li did not bother to ask
more. Two days later, the old man sent Li and invitation to a banquet
to reciprocate his landlord’s kindness. At the banquet, Li found
the furnishing, food and drinks very extravagant. Astonished, he
began to suspect the old man of being a retired high official. But
the old man, now on good terms with Li, revealed his identity as a fox.
Li was so shocked that he spread the news to everyone he met.
When the various officials in the county heard about this rare incident,
the flocked to the old man’s house every day to make his acquaintance.
The old man always treated them with humility and hospitality. Gradually,
the house was frequented by officials from the Prefectural government too.
The only exception was the county magistrate of Weixian. Whenever
he asked to make the old man’s acquaintance, the latter always found some
excuse not to see him. The magistrate asked for help from Li, who
had no better luck gaining him entry. When Li asked for an explanation,
the old man left his seat and came over to Li, whispering in his ear, “Of
course, you wouldn’t know. He was an ass in his previous life.
Although he looks pompous riding high over the masses, he is one of those
who are blinded by greed and whose eyes pop out at the sight of money.
Admittedly, I don’t belong to the human race, but I would feel ashamed
to have someone like him for company.” Li thought of a good excuse
when he reported back to the magistrate. He said the fox feared the
magistrate’s power and dared not be in his presence. Taking his word
for it, the magistrate gave up trying. This took place during the
eleventh year of the reign of Kangxi (1672). Soon afterwards, a rebellion
broke out in Shaanxi. That fox-fairies can forecast the future was
thus proved to be true.
The Chronicler of the Tales says, “The ass is a big fellow that kicks
and brays when it is angry. Its eyes are larger than wine cups and
when it breathes, it lets out more air than an ox. Not only is the
sound of it disgusting, it looks disgusting too. But all you have
to do is lure it with a bundle of dry grass and it will become docile and
servile, obediently submitting itself to the muzzle. In this way,
it gets to lord it over the people. And it is no wonder that money
can make its eyes pop out. Lets hope that officials will learn from
the asses’ negative example and align themselves with the foxes.
In that way, their moral conduct will daily improve.
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