| In Haidian District of the imperial capital there was a man who made
a living by tending the graveyard for a rich family. One day he saw
a fox running before his house pursued by a host of dogs, it’s body already
covered in bloody wounds. Moved by pity, he drove the dogs away with
a club and carried the fox into his room. He waited a long time until
the fox recovered a bit, then took it to the open field and sent it away.
One evening a few days later his door was pushed open without warning,
and in walked a matchless beauty. Startled, he asked who she was
and where she cam from. The girl made a bow, then said, “I am a fox-woman.
You saved me last time when I was in deadly danger, so I have come to wait
on you in bed.” He reasoned that there should not be any ill will
on her part, so he let her stay. The next two months flashed by in
a ceaseless spree of unbridled lovemaking. Thought increasingly weak
and emaciated, he was too infatuated with the fox-woman to put the blame
on her. They were lying in bed one day when a woman’s voice called
out at the window, “Ahliu, you little whore! How dare you harm him
like that in my name, before I can recover from my wounds and pay him my
debt of gratitude? If anything untoward should happen to him, the
whole clan would blame me for returning evil for good. How would
I clear myself then? Even if you could be proven guilty in the end,
how can I let you murder the man who saved my life? I am here today
with my sisters to dispatch you!” The fox-woman got up hastily to
escape, but several women broke into the room and beat her to death on
the spot. The grave watcher, by this time deeply attached to the
fox-woman, was filled with grief and cursed the women loudly for killing
his beloved. The fox-woman tried repeatedly to explain the truth
of the matter, but in vain. When he finally drew his sword at her,
she leapt over the wall and went away weeping bitterly. The grave
watcher still felt a lingering anger when he told others about the incident
afterward. |
