Original Text
There was a man named Che Sheng, who was not wealthy but was deeply addicted to wine, unable to sleep each night without drinking three large bowls, so the wine jug by his bedside was never empty. One night, after waking from a nap, he felt as if someone was sleeping beside him as he turned over, thinking it was just his clothing slipping off. Reaching out to touch, he felt a furry creature, like a cat but larger; lighting a lamp, he saw it was a fox, drunk and drowsy, curled up sideways like a dog. Looking at the wine jug, he found it empty. Che Sheng then laughed and said, "This is my drinking companion!" Unable to bear waking the fox, he covered it with clothes to shield its outstretched limbs, and they slept together, leaving the lamp lit to see what might happen. In the middle of the night, the fox stretched and yawned, and Che Sheng laughed, saying, "What a sound sleep!" Lifting the clothes, he saw a handsome young man wearing a scholar's cap. The fox rose and kowtowed before the bed, thanking him for not killing it. Che Sheng said, "I am addicted to wine, and people think me foolish. You are my true confidant; if you do not suspect me, let us be friends over drink." So saying, he pulled the fox back onto the bed to continue sleeping, adding, "You should come often, and let there be no mutual distrust." The fox nodded in agreement. When Che Sheng awoke, the fox was already gone, so he prepared a fine cup of wine, waiting especially for the fox to come and drink.
When evening arrived, the fox indeed came, and they sat knee to knee, drinking joyfully. The fox had a great capacity for wine and was adept at telling jokes, making them feel as if they had met too late in life. The fox said, "You have repeatedly treated me to fine wine; how can I repay you?" Che Sheng replied, "A cup of wine shared in merriment—why mention it!" The fox said, "Even so, you are a poor scholar, and the money for wine does not come easily. I should plan a little for your drinking funds." The next evening, the fox came and said, "Seven li to the southeast, by the roadside, there is lost gold; you may go early to retrieve it." At dawn, Che Sheng went and indeed found two pieces of gold. He then went to the market to buy fine dishes to accompany the night's drinking. The fox further said, "In the backyard, beneath the cellar, there are hidden things; you should dig them up." Following the fox's words, he again obtained over a hundred thousand cash. Che Sheng said joyfully, "Now that my purse has money, I no longer worry about lacking funds for wine and revelry." The fox said, "It cannot be so; how can one endlessly scoop water from a cart rut? You should plan for the long term." One day, the fox said to Che Sheng, "Buckwheat is very cheap in the market; this commodity can be hoarded for profit." Che Sheng heeded this and bought over forty dan of buckwheat, and people all laughed at him for being ignorant. Soon after, a great drought struck, and all the originally planted crops withered; only buckwheat could be sown. Thus, Che Sheng sold the buckwheat seeds and gained ten times the profit. From then on, Che Sheng grew even wealthier, buying two hundred mu of fertile land to cultivate. Whatever he planted, he first consulted the fox; if the fox said to plant more wheat, the wheat would yield a bountiful harvest; if he said to plant more millet, the millet would be abundant; all the timing of planting was decided by the fox. As their friendship grew closer, the fox called Che Sheng's wife "sister-in-law" and treated Che Sheng's children as if they were his own. Later, when Che Sheng died, the fox came no more.
Commentary
The vast majority of worldly passions and obsessions require the support of wealth.
Scholar Che was fond of wine but was no drunkard; moreover, he was kind by nature, generous and magnanimous, content with his lot and easily pleased. The poet Wang Yuyang commented that he was "carefree and delightful." Dan Minglun, a commentator on Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, remarked: "Though his wine jug was empty, he felt no stinginess; though the fox was drunk, he harbored no murderous intent. He regarded the fox as his Bo Ya, sharing the dregs of life together, never lacking coin for his flask, his desires thus fulfilled—truly a bodhisattva in intoxication, a celestial being amidst wine. Others deemed him foolish, but his folly was not easily matched."
Regarding his "addiction to drink," he and his fox drinking companion could be called soulmates, perfectly matched. Yet Che Sheng also had a shortcoming compared to the fox drinking companion—he lacked economic foresight, living from hand to mouth. Though the fox was also "addicted to drink," he not only understood the principle that idle consumption depletes resources but was also quite astute in business skills, possessing foresight and strategy. In guiding Che Sheng through grain speculation, buying low and selling high, he gradually transformed Che Sheng from a man of "modest means" into a wealthy landowner with "two hundred mu of fertile fields." It is easy to imagine that without the fox drinking companion's help, given Che Sheng's "modest means," keeping his "bedside wine jug always full" would have been a considerable strain, difficult to sustain. Before meeting the fox drinking companion, his love of drink was a poor man's indulgence, a lowly habit. After meeting the fox drinking companion, his drinking was upgraded, elevated to a higher level. How Che Sheng and the fox drinking companion drank after he became wealthy is not described in the tale, but it surely was no longer merely a matter of the "bedside wine jug always full."