by Pu Songling
When it was night once again, she appeared and told him, “My fox sisters want to congratulate my bridegroom, so tomorrow we can go see them together.”
“Where are we going?” Bi asked.
“Big sister’s hosting the feast,” she explained, “so we’ll go to her place, which isn’t far.”
The next night, Bi waited for her to arrive. After quite a while had passed and she still hadn’t shown up, he began to feel quite lethargic. He’d just bent his head over his desk when the fox girl suddenly entered and apologized, “I’m sorry to have made you wait so long.” Then she took his hand and they left.
They arrived at their destination, a large courtyard, almost immediately. They went straight up to the main hall, where they saw lights glimmering as brilliantly as little stars. Presently their hostess, who appeared to be about twenty, arrived, quite beautiful despite being only modestly dressed.
She respectfully greeted Bi, and once she’d finished congratulating him, they were about to take their seats for the banquet when a maidservant entered to announce, “Second sister has arrived.”
They saw a young woman, perhaps eighteen or nineteen, enter, smiling at Bi’s beloved as she said, “You’ve already lost your virginity. So, was he as good as you hoped he’d be?” The fox girl took a fan and whacked her on the back, glaring with the whites of her eyes.
Second sister remarked, “I remember when we were children, wrestling playfully, how you were so afraid of being tickled under your arms that if I even reached my fingers towards you from a distance, you’d start laughing like you couldn’t stand it. Then you’d get angry with me and exclaim that I’d end up marrying the little Prince of the Pygmies. I’d answer that you’d just marry some gentleman with a thick beard that would poke your little lips, and now it’s happened.”
“It’s no surprise if third sister gets mad at you!” their elder sister said with a laugh. “You make fun of her even when she’s got her husband standing beside her!” Shortly thereafter they put their wine cups next to each other and sat quite close, dining and laughing with great pleasure.
Suddenly a young girl perhaps eleven or twelve years old, cradling a cat in her arms, appeared, and though she was no more than a child, she was also stunningly gorgeous through and through. “Does fourth sister also want to see her brother-in-law?” asked the elder sister. “But there’s no place for you to sit.” Consequently she set her on her knee, and fed her from the dishes and confections.
In a little while, she passed the girl over to second sister, complaining, “You’re smashing my legs!”
Second sister declared, “You’re so big, you feel like you weigh three thousand catties, and I’m just too weak to hold you. You wanted to see third sister’s husband, and since he’s an imposing fellow, he can bear to have you sit on his fleshy knees.” Then she took the girl and put her in Bi’s lap.
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Three thousand catties: Since one catty equals 1.1023 pounds, second sister’s essentially teasing, “You weigh a ton and a half.”
Fourth sister seemed fragrant and soft to him, as light as if there was no one there. With Bi holding her, they began drinking from the same cup. The elder sister said, “Little sister, don’t drink too much or you’ll get drunk and misbehave, and I’m afraid sister’s husband will laugh at you.” The girl kept snickering as she stroked her cat, which responded by meowing loudly. “You still haven’t disposed of that walking infestation of fleas and lice!” exclaimed the elder sister.
Second sister said, “I suggest we play a drinking game while she holds the cat, passing around a chopstick, and whoever’s holding it when the cat meows has to take a drink.” Then they all did as she suggested.
Every time the chopstick came to Bi, the cat meowed. As a result, he lifted and drained a great many cups, till he reached the limit of his drinking capacity. Then it dawned on him that the little girl had intentionally been making the cat meow each time, and they all guffawed with laughter.
Second sister exclaimed, “Little sister, it’s time for you to go to bed! You’re pressing brother-in-law to death, and I fear that third sister will put the blame on us.” With the cat in her arms, the girl then left.
When the elder sister noticed that Bi was a capable drinker, she removed the covering from over her hair bun, filled it with wine, and persuaded Bi to drink it. It looked to him like the cup barely held a pint; however, once he’d begun drinking from it, he could tell that there was several times that amount in it. Once it had been drained, Bi could see that the bun cup was actually a lotus leaf.
Second sister also wanted to drink with him. Bi protested that he couldn’t possibly handle any more wine. She then took out a tiny rouge box, opened it, poured in some wine, and said, “Since you’ve already reached your limit, you can just take this token amount to hold up your end.” It looked to Bi like one gulp would drain it; but even after raising it to his lips a hundred times, he still couldn’t empty it.
Third sister, his beloved, then took a small lotus cup and replaced the box with it, advising him, “Don’t let that sneak fool you.” She set the rouge box down on the table, where it turned into a gigantic bowl.
Second sister cried, “What business is it of yours! You’ve only been with the gentleman for three days yet you act like he’s your dear!”
Bi held the cup to his lips, stood and drained it. As he held it, it felt smooth and soft; when he examined it carefully, he saw that it wasn’t a cup at all, but an embroidered shoe, lined with exquisite decorations. Second sister grabbed it away and cried, “You devious girl! When did you steal my shoe? No wonder my foot felt ice cold!” Then she stood up and went inside to change into some other shoes.
Third sister suggested to Bi that he should leave the banquet and bid the others farewell. She accompanied him out of the village, and then sent Bi homeward on his own. Suddenly he woke up, and it all turned out to have been part of a dreamworld; yet his nose and mouth told him that he was inebriated, for strangely enough, the smell of alcohol was still very strong about him.
At dusk, the fox girl appeared to him and said, “So you didn’t drink yourself to death last night?”
“I’ve just begun to suspect it was only a dream,” Bi replied.
The girl explained, “My sisters were afraid that you’d be boisterous and loud, so they made it feel like a dream to you, but it really wasn’t.
Whenever the girl played chess with Bi, he inevitably lost. She would laugh and say, “Since you’re addicted to it, I figured you surely must be a great master of the game. Now I see that you’re only so-so.” Bi begged her to give him some lessons. “Chess is an art that each individual must learn for himself, so how could I help you improve? If you work at it from morning till night, perhaps that’ll make a difference.”
After several months had passed, Bi began to feel that he’d made a little progress. The fox girl tested him and smiled, “Not yet, not yet.”
Bi went out and played against some of his former chess opponents who felt how strangely improved his playing had become, and everyone found it amazing. Bi was a forthright man and couldn’t keep the truth bottled up inside, so he told them about the girl.
She knew all about it, and subsequently scolded him, “This is undoubtedly the way with all you crazy scholars. I’ve urged you time and again to keep our secret, and yet you still do this!” She was so angry that she was ready to walk out on him.
Bi apologized for what he’d done without thinking about the consequences, so the girl was placated somewhat; however, from that point forward, she appeared to him increasingly less often.
The years went by, and one night she appeared and sat rigidly, facing him. He wanted to play chess, but she refused; then he wanted to go to bed with her, but she wouldn’t do that, either. She remained silent for quite some time before asking, “How do you think I compare to Qingfeng?”
“You pretty much exceed her,” he replied.
“
I’m afraid that I’m no match for her,” she told him. “But Liaozhai and you are literary friends, so please trouble him to write a biographical sketch of me, for if not, in a thousand years no one will love and remember me as you do.”
Bi assured her, “For quite some time I’ve had this in mind; but in the past, at your urging, I kept you a secret from him.”
“That is what I urged you formerly,” she agreed, “but now that we’re about to part, why should it remain forbidden?”
“Where are you going?” he asked her.
“Fourth sister and I are going to be serving the Queen Mother of the West as flower and bird attendants,” she explained. “Though I won’t be able to return to you any more, in the past there was a relative of mine who had a relationship with your uncle’s elder brother, and when she was about to leave him, she gave birth to two daughters, who’re still unmarried; fortunately, we don’t have anything like that to worry about.”
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Liaozhai: Pu Songling’s literary nickname (“studio of idleness/ leisure”) for himself. See “Liaozhai’s Own Account” in volume one.
Bi begged her for some parting words of advice. “Keep your temper and make few mistakes,” she told him. Then she stood, took his hand, and said, “You can see me off as I go.”
When they’d walked about a li, she said goodbye, tears pouring from her eyes: “If our feelings for each other are sufficiently strong, we may yet meet again.” Then she left.
In the twenty-first year of Kangxi’s reign, on the nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Master Bi and I were sharing lodging at Spacious Hall, where he narrated his strange tale in detail. I told him, “A fox like this would bring honor to Liaozhai’s writings.” And hence I recorded his account.
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Queen Mother of the West as flower and bird attendants: The Queen Mother was the most renowned Daoist goddess of the Tang dynasty (618-907). She is supported by two female attendants who help her to disembark from the celestial carriage in which she rides (Cahill 98).
Li: A distance equal to 1/3 mile.
Twenty-first year of Kangxi’s reign: The Qing emperor ruled 1662-1723, so the year in reference is 1683/4.
179. The Cloth Merchant
There was a certain man from Changqing who made his living by dealing in cloth, and had come to Tai’an to ply his trade. He heard that there was a master fortuneteller practicing there, so he decided to pay him a visit and ask him to predict his future, both good and bad.
Using his date of birth, the astrologer made some calculations and told him, “You’re fated to experience great evil, so you need to hurry home.” This so frightened the merchant that he took his profits and headed homeward to the north.
Along the road, he met a fellow in short pants who appeared to be a minor official’s clerk. They gradually struck up a conversation, and consequently enjoyed getting to know each other. Each time the merchant stopped to get something to eat and drink, he’d invite the clerk to join him. The clerk was sincerely appreciative.
When the merchant asked him what business he was engaged in, the clerk told him, “I’m on my way to Changqing, where I have to make some arrests.” When the merchant inquired about whom the clerk was going to arrest, the man took out an official document, allowing the merchant to examine it for himself; he discovered that the very first name on the list was his own.
“What have I done to deserve being arrested?” he asked in astonishment.
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Changqing . . . Tai’an: Both are located in modern Shandong province.
The clerk replied, “I’m not a mortal, but a servant of Tomb Mountain’s Eastern Fourth Department. I guess it means that your allotted life span has expired.” The merchant burst into tears and begged the clerk to spare him. “I can’t,” the ghostly clerk answered. “But the document lists many names. Collecting them all will take a long time. If you hurry home, you can manage your funeral arrangements, and then I’ll come for you last of all, out of respect for our good friendship.”
Shortly afterwards, they came to the banks of a river where a bridge had collapsed, and where travelers would have a very difficult time wading across. “You’re going to die,” the ghost told him, “and you can’t take any of your money with you when you depart. If you use it to build a bridge here, every passerby will benefit; though it would be rather expensive, it would undoubtedly bring you some kind of benefit.” The merchant agreed to do so.
He went home and told his wife to buy the necessities for a funeral, including a coffin that could hold him. That same day, he hired some workers to build a new bridge. Though a long time elapsed, the ghostly clerk still hadn’t returned. The merchant privately wondered at this.
One day, the ghost suddenly appeared and said, “I’ve already informed the local city god that you’ve had the bridge rebuilt, so he in turn could pass word on to the underworld, and he told me that this act would extend your life span. Now your name has been crossed off the Hell King’s list, and I’ve respectfully come at his command to inform you.” Overjoyed, the merchant was effusive in his gratitude to the clerk.
Later on, when he arrived at Mt. Tai, he didn’t forget the ghostly clerk’s kindness, so he reverently burned some paper money for him, and also poured libations to his spirit while calling out his name. As he came away from the mountain, he saw the clerk hurrying towards him, and once he arrived, the ghost cried, “You almost destroyed me! My department chief happened to be away on business at the time, so I was lucky that he didn’t hear and find out what I did for you. I couldn’t face him if he’d heard!”
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Tomb Mountain’s Eastern Fourth Department: Tomb Mountain houses the ten great halls of the Hell King, who is in charge of life and death, fortune and misfortune in the mortal world. The Eastern Fourth, one of the seventy-five bureaucratic departments of the underworld, is apparently responsible for overseeing the transmigration process between life and death (Zhu 1:624n7).
The ghostly clerk walked several steps with the merchant, and then told him, “In the future, don’t come back this way. If I have reason to travel to the north on business, I’ll be sure to take a detour and visit you.” And so saying, he vanished.
180. The Farmer
There was a farmer who’d been weeding his fields at the base of a mountain, when his wife brought him a crock with his lunch in it. Once he’d finished eating, he set the crock beside one of the paths between the fields. At dusk he examined it and discovered that the leftover congee inside it earlier was now all gone.
This began happening rather frequently. He became suspicious, and started sneaking glances at it while he was working in the field, to observe what was going on. He saw a fox show up and stick its head inside the crock.
The farmer picked up his hoe and stealthily approached, then hit it with all his strength. The terrified fox tried to escape. But its head was stuck in the crock, and despite struggling painfully, it couldn’t get it out; the fox started running and then fell down with the crock, smashing it into pieces and freeing its head, and when it saw the farmer, it fled in panic up the mountain and disappeared.
After several years, the daughter of a high-ranking family living south of the mountain was bedeviled by the fox, and they tried unsuccessfully to drive it away with Daoist talismans. The fox said to the girl, “What can paper charms possibly do to me!”
“Your magic is very powerful,” the girl replied to mislead the creature, “so it’s lucky for me that we’ll always be on good terms. But I realize there’s something I don’t know: is there anything that’s ever frightened you?”
The fox said, “Nothing frightens me. However, ten years ago, north of the mountain, I’d been regularly stealing food from beside a field when a man wearing a wide-brimmed bamboo hat took a hoe to my head, almost killing me, and even now the memory terrifies me.”
The g
irl told this to her father. The father wished to send the farmer to get the fox, since it feared him, but he didn’t know the man’s name or home village, so he was unable to contact him.
It so happened that a servant from the girl’s family, who had come to the farmer’s mountain village, by chance mentioned the business to someone. One of the men there happened to be the farmer, who said in surprise, “That’s precisely what happened to me years ago—can this be that same troublemaker, now grown to be powerful menace?”
The servant found this a strange coincidence, returned home and told his master about it. The girl’s father was overjoyed and sent the servant on horse to bring the farmer back, and when he arrived, the master respectfully asked him for his assistance.
The farmer chuckled and said, “I did come up against such a creature in the past, but I can’t be certain that this is the one. At any rate, if it can change its shape, why should it be afraid of a farmer?”
The wealthy family strongly prevailed upon the farmer to help them, and so he was directed to dress as he had the day when he previously encountered the fox, and afterwards he entered the house carrying a hoe, and in a threatening voice cried, “I’ve been looking for you every day, without success, because you’ve been hiding out here! Now that I’ve got you, I’ll kill you mercilessly!”
When he finished speaking, he heard the fox yelp in the room. The farmer made it sound like he was even more powerfully angry. The fox then dolefully begged to be spared. “Leave immediately,” the farmer replied, “and I’ll let you go.” The girl saw the fox scurry away like a terrified rat. Thus the family’s tranquility was restored.
181. Zhang A-Duan
Master Qi of Weihui, a cultured and refined young man, always responded to situations by courageously doing what he believed to be right. It happened that an aristocratic family, who owned an enormous residence, had begun seeing ghosts there even in the daytime, and family members had been dying one after another, so they were hoping that they could sell the estate cheaply. Qi thought its price was very cheap, so he purchased the property.
