A Confucian scholar, who posed as a man of high principles and conducted himself with caution, was fond of finding faults with and passing harsh judgments on others.  In the fifth month a friend of his completed the mourning period for a lost parent and planned to take a concubine in the seventh month. This prompted the scholar to write him a letter, saying, “You want to take a concubine less than three months after the mourning period ended.  Obviously you have harbored that intention for a long time, thereby breaking the code of ethics in spirit. As friends ought to advise one another to follow the right path, I cannot refrain from calling this to your attention. What do you have to say about this?” Such an act was typical of his behavior.

When the scholar’s wife left for a visit to her parental home, she agreed with him on the date of her return.  But she returned the day before the appointed date, much to the surprise of her husband. “I made a mistake in counting the days,” she explained, and he did not doubt her word.  The following day saw the return of another wife. In consternation the scholar searched the house for the first woman, who was nowhere to be found. From then on he grew weaker day by day until he was taken down by consumption.  It turned out that a fox-woman had disguised herself as his wife in order to soak up his vital energy. During that night he had given way to his carnal desires and become drained of his vitality. At the news the friend who received his chastisement for taking the concubine wrote him a letter saying, “What a couple does in their bedroom is part of human nature, and the visit from a fox in human guise cannot be foreseen.  Yet the depletion of one’s vitality in a single night could only have resulted from overindulgence in the desires of the flesh. Is a couple supposed to act without restraint in their bedroom? Moreover, evil spirits have never dared to harm men of virtue. Since ancient times, people of outstanding virtue and merits have never been known to encounter demons and spirits. Since a fox has taken liberties with you, can’t we conclude that there is something lacking from you moral integrity?  As friends ought to advise one another to follow the right path, I cannot refrain from calling this to your attention. What do you have to say about this?” The scholar, on reading the letter, adamantly denied his encounter with the fox-woman, claiming it to be a rumor spread by the villagers. That friend of his had truly given him a dose of his own medicine.

During my stay in Urumqi a clerk in the army told me the following story.  In Gansu there was a rich old man named Du, who lived close to an open country dotted with lairs of foxes and badgers.  Disgusted with their howling at night, Du drove them away by smoke. After that the family suddenly found themselves facing over a dozen look-alikes of their master – in the inner room, the hall, and just about every corner of the house.  Indistinguishable in voice, appearance, and clothes, they ordered the servants about in the same manner. As chaos broke out in the family, Du’s wife and concubine locked themselves up in their rooms for safety.

It occurred to the concubine that the embroidered packet tied to Du’s waist belt could be used to tell him from the fakes.  However, none of the old men had the packet, which must have been stolen. Then someone suggested to the wife and concubine, “At night the old men will come to seek your company.  Do not let any of them enter your room. The one who turns to go away should be our master, and those that insist on entering will be the fiends.” This plan was duly carried out, but all the old men turned to leave after being denied entry.  Someone else came up with another idea. “Let them sit in the hall one at a time,” he said. “Send a servant to walk by and pretend to break something by accident. If the old man looks distressed over the loss and swears angrily, he must be our master; if he looks totally indifferent, that must be a demon.”  When this plan was carried out, every old man looked upset over the broken vessel and gave the servant a severe dressing-down. A frantic night went by without any success in identifying the master of the house.

Du had a favorite courtesan whom he went to spend the night with once every three or four days.  Informed of what was going on, she visited the family to offer with help. “The demons have underlings to send the secret messages about whatever can be explained in words.  Why not bring all of them to my house. As a call girl, I have nothing to lose. Make a hefty fellow stand by my bed holding a big axe. After I undress myself, let those old men come to join me in bed one by one.  During our hugging and fondling, the turning of the body bending and stretching of the limbs, and the force and rhythm of every move are things that can be felt but not put into words. The demons will know nothing about them, for even Du himself cannot give a clear description.  If the man standing by my bed brings down the axe when I cry ‘chop’, no demon will be able to get away.” Everything was arranged according to her plan. The first old man climbed into bed and lifted the quilt to get in, only to be greeted by the courtesan with a shout, “Chop!” The hefty man, bringing down his axe, broke the head of the old man, whose body transformed back into a fox.  The second old man went in and paused a moment, when the courtesan shouted “Chop!” Covering his head with both hands, he darted out of the room in terror. When the third old man came in, the courtesan fell on his shoulders and announced in delight “Here’s the real one! Kill the rest!” Wielding clubs and broadswords, the house servants slew most of the fake old men, who indeed were foxes or badgers.  The few who managed to escape never showed up again.

The howling of wild animals at night does not really constitute an affront to people.   Du was inviting trouble when he drove the beasts away by force. As for those foxes and badgers, who were capable of assuming human form, why didn’t they call on the old man to dissuade him?  Instead, they chose to make trouble in his house, a suicidal move that killed most of them. Both the old man and the beasts had less brains than the courtesan.

A woman who had been married many years and had not been blessed with a child

prayed at Inari’s shrine. At the conclusion of her supplication the stone foxes wagged

their tails, and snow began to fall. She regarded these phenomena as favorable omens.

When the woman reached her home a beggar accosted her, and begged for something to

eat. The woman good-naturedly gave this wayfarer some red bean rice, the only food she

had in the house, and presented it to him in a dish.

The next day her husband discovered this dish lying in front of the shrine where she had

prayed. The beggar was none other than Inari himself, and the woman’s generosity was

rewarded in due season by the birth of a child.

If you remember the old Kitsune.org, you remember all the Chinese and Japanese stories I was able to collect and post. I lost the old site when I moved to America from Japan, and have not really had the heart to dive back in since then. I still have a lot of the stories though from my translation notes, and it would not be terribly difficult to post them here in a Blog format. It’s about time I did something, at least.

I do use the domain myself for lots of other things, including my personal email. I have done this for so long that I not interested in selling. I get requests quite often, but it would take absurd amounts of money for me even to consider selling the domain. I am sorry I have looked like a squatter for years though, that’s not cool.

Now to see about getting a new banner…