Original Text
Magistrate Qiu of Zhucheng served as an intendant in Zunhua. The yamen had long been infested with foxes, which dwelt in a clan within the rearmost tower, making it their home. From time to time, they would emerge to cause mischief, and the more they were driven away, the more rampant they became. Every official stationed there would offer sacrifices and pray, not daring to offend the foxes. When Magistrate Qiu assumed office and heard of this, he was greatly angered. The foxes, fearing his fierce temper, transformed into an old woman and told Qiu's household, "Pray inform your master: do not regard us as enemies. Grant us three days, and we shall take our families and depart from this place." When Qiu heard this, he remained silent. The next day, after reviewing his troops, he ordered the ranks not to disband and had them bring all the cannons from every battalion to the spot. In an instant, a thousand cannons were arrayed around the tower. At his command, they fired in unison. The several-zhang-high tower was instantly leveled to the ground, and fur, flesh, blood, and hair rained down from the sky like a downpour. Amidst the thick dust and poisonous mist, a wisp of white smoke soared upward through the haze. The crowd gazed and said, "One fox has escaped." From then on, the yamen was free of trouble.
Two years later, Qiu Gong dispatched a capable servant bearing silver to the capital to curry favor, seeking a promotion. Before matters were settled, he temporarily hid the silver in a yamen runner's home. Suddenly, an old man appeared at the imperial court to lodge a grievance, claiming his wife and children had been murdered without cause, and further exposed Qiu Gong for embezzling military funds and bribing high officials, stating that the silver was now hidden in a certain person's house and could be verified on the spot. The relevant authorities, under imperial decree, escorted the old man to investigate; they searched the runner's home thoroughly but found no loot. The old man merely tapped the ground with one foot, and the officials, grasping his intent, dug at that spot, where they indeed uncovered the silver, engraved with the words "Delivered from a Certain Prefecture." After a moment, when they sought the old man, he had vanished. Inquiring after the village and name he had given in his complaint, they found no trace. Qiu Gong was subsequently executed for this affair, and only then did they realize that the old man was the fox who had escaped.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: When a fox spirit brings harm to people, it is indeed deserving of death. However, since the fox had already confessed its guilt, it should have been pardoned, thereby fully demonstrating human benevolence. Magistrate Qiu can be said to have been excessively bitter in his hatred of the fox. Yet, if the upright and incorruptible Yang Zhen of the Eastern Han Dynasty had been tasked with such a matter, no number of foxes could have sought vengeance against him!
Commentary
Pu Songling expresses three viewpoints in this tale, as stated in the "Historian of the Strange's Commentary": first, that foxes which harass people are detestable and deserve punishment; second, that since the fox has expressed a desire to retreat and shown fear, one should be merciful and spare it, without going too far; and third, that even if one oversteps in driving away the fox, if one is not corrupt, the fox, even if it seeks revenge, will have no means to employ its tricks.
This tale, like "The King of Nine Mountains," depicts the fox's revenge as ghostly and elusive, beyond comprehension. Yet the fox's success in vengeance relies entirely on the flaws of its human enemy. In "The King of Nine Mountains," the Li family of Caozhou had "the seed of banditry already rooted in their hearts," while in the Zunhua government office, Minister Qiu's downfall stemmed from corruption. All who purchase official positions and seek promotion are invariably corrupt—this truth holds the same in ancient times as it does today.
The tale of grievances between Lord Qiu and the fox spirit in this chapter bears a similar record in Jia Fuxi's "Dan Pu Heng Yan," which states that his son, when speaking of fox spirit matters, said that all the tales passed down by word of mouth and recorded in unofficial histories were true, and were also inscribed in the family annals, thus showing that this story was a widely circulated legend of the time.