Original Text
In Laiwu, there was a man named Liu Dongjiu, who served as a grain transport magistrate in Fenzhou. One day, as he sat alone in his official residence, he suddenly heard a burst of laughter and chatter approaching from afar in the courtyard. Before long, four women entered: one about forty years old, another about thirty, a third of twenty-four or twenty-five, and a young maiden not yet of age. They stood in a row before his desk, glancing at each other and giggling. Liu Dongjiu had long known that many fox spirits dwelled in the yamen, so he paid them no heed. After a moment, the maiden produced a red silk scarf and playfully tossed it onto Liu Dongjiu's face. He picked it up and cast it onto the windowsill, still refusing to look at them. The four women laughed and departed. One day, the woman of about forty returned and said to him, "My younger sister is fated to be with you; I hope you will not reject her." Liu Dongjiu casually agreed. Soon after she left, she returned with a maidservant, leading the earlier maiden with her hair still loose, and made her sit shoulder to shoulder with Liu Dongjiu, saying, "A perfect pair—tonight shall be your wedding night. Serve Lord Liu well, and I will take my leave." Liu Dongjiu gazed at the maiden and found her extraordinarily beautiful, radiant beyond compare, and so he consummated their union. Afterwards, he asked her where she came from. The maiden replied, "I am certainly not human, yet in truth I am. I was the daughter of a former prefect, who died suddenly after being bewitched by a fox. After death, I was buried in the garden. The foxes then used their arts to revive me, so my movements are as ethereal as theirs." Hearing this, Liu Dongjiu reached out to touch her buttocks. The maiden noticed and laughed, saying, "Do you think all foxes have tails?" She then turned around and said, "Feel for yourself." From then on, the maiden stayed in the residence and never left. Her every movement, whether sitting or lying down, was attended by the young maidservant, and all of Liu Dongjiu's household honored her as a lesser wife, bowing to her in respect. Whenever the maids and old women came to pay their respects, the gifts she bestowed were exceptionally generous.
One day, it happened to be Liu Dongjiu's birthday, and a great many guests came to offer their congratulations, with over thirty tables of feasts to be prepared, requiring many chefs to complete the task. Although Liu Dongjiu had long issued official summons for cooks, only one or two showed up to wield the ladle when the time came, and Liu was extremely furious. When the fox concubine heard of this, she advised him, saying, "Do not worry. Since there are not enough chefs, it would be better to send away even these one or two who have come. Though my abilities are limited, preparing thirty tables of feasts is not difficult for me." Upon hearing this, Liu Dongjiu was overjoyed and ordered that fish, meat, onions, ginger, cinnamon, and other seasonings be moved entirely to the inner quarters. The household servants only heard the ceaseless sound of chopping vegetables and mincing meat, but they could not see how she did it. The fox concubine had a table set up inside the door, and when the servers placed dishes on it, in the blink of an eye, the plates were already filled with food. Thus, the servants came and went, carrying away dishes and returning empty plates, with over a dozen people serving in an unending stream, as if the supply were inexhaustible. Finally, when a server came to fetch soup cakes, the fox concubine said from within, "The master did not give prior instructions for soup cakes; how can they be demanded so suddenly?" After a moment, she added, "No matter, let us first borrow a little." Soon, she called for the serving servant to come and take the soup cakes. When the server looked, there were over thirty bowls of soup cakes on the table, still steaming hot. After the guests had departed, the fox concubine said to Liu Dongjiu, "You may take some money to go and repay a certain household for their soup cakes." Liu then sent someone with the money for the soup cakes. The family whose soup cakes had been taken were gathered together in bewilderment when the messenger from the Liu household arrived, and thus the mystery was resolved. One evening, Liu Dongjiu was enjoying a quiet drink and happened to crave Shandong bitter ale. The fox concubine said, "I will fetch it for you at once," and with that, she went out the door. After a short while, she returned and said, "Outside the door there is a jar of bitter ale, enough for you to drink for several days." Liu went out and indeed saw a jar of wine; when he opened it, it proved to be the famous local vintage, Wengtou Chun.
After a few days, Liu Dongjiu's wife dispatched two servants to Fenzhou. On the way, one servant said, "I hear the fox lady's rewards are exceptionally generous; I hope this time we can get enough bounty to buy a fur coat." The fox concubine, already aware of these words in the yamen, said to Liu Dongjiu, "The servants from home are almost here. That wretched slave is too insolent; I must punish him." The next day, as soon as the servant entered Fenzhou city, his head began to ache violently, and by the time he reached the yamen, he was clutching his head and wailing loudly. The household wanted to give him some medicine to ease the pain, but Liu Dongjiu laughed and said, "His illness needs no cure; it will pass on its own." Everyone suspected he had offended the little lady, and the servant himself wondered, having just arrived with his luggage still unpacked, what offense had he committed? When he went to pay respects to the fox concubine, feeling he had made no mistake, he casually knelt down, crawled on his knees to the curtain, and pleaded piteously. From behind the curtain, a voice said, "Calling me 'Lady' is acceptable, but why add the word 'fox'?" The servant then realized the cause and kowtowed repeatedly. The fox concubine added, "Since you desire a fur coat, why be so rude?" After a moment, she said, "Your illness is cured." As soon as the words were spoken, the servant's headache vanished instantly. After taking his leave, as he was about to leave, a small bundle was thrown from behind the curtain, and the fox concubine said, "This is a lambskin coat; you may take it." The servant opened it to find five taels of silver. Liu Dongjiu asked the servant about matters at home, and the servant said all was well, except that one night a jar of wine had gone missing. When Liu Dongjiu checked the date and time of the loss, it matched the night the fox concubine had taken the Wengtou Chun wine. From then on, the household greatly revered her divine power, calling her the "Holy Immortal." Liu Dongjiu even painted a portrait of her.
At that time, Zhang Daoyi was serving as the Education Commissioner, and upon hearing that the fox concubine was extraordinarily divine, he came to Liu Dongjiu's residence under the guise of being a fellow townsman and friend, seeking to meet her. The fox concubine refused him. Liu Dongjiu showed him her portrait, but Zhang Daoyi insisted on taking it home. After returning, Zhang Daoyi hung the portrait beside his seat and prayed to it morning and evening, saying, "With your beauty, why would you stoop to that white-bearded old man? I am in no way inferior to Liu Dongjiu—why not visit me once?" The fox concubine, who was in the official residence, suddenly said to Liu Dongjiu, "That Lord Zhang is too insolent; I shall punish him slightly." One day, as Zhang Daoyi was again praying to the portrait, he suddenly felt as if someone had struck his forehead with a ruler, and his head ached as though it would split. Greatly frightened, Zhang Daoyi immediately sent someone to return the portrait. Liu Dongjiu asked the messenger why the painting was sent back, and the messenger concealed the truth with a vague reply. Liu Dongjiu laughed and said, "Does your master's forehead ache?" Seeing that he could no longer hide it, the messenger then told Liu Dongjiu the truth.
Shortly after, Liu Dongjiu's son-in-law, Qi Sheng, arrived and also wished to meet the fox concubine, but she firmly refused. Qi Sheng persisted, again earnestly requesting an audience. Liu Dongjiu then advised the fox concubine, saying, "My son-in-law is not an outsider; why do you insist on not seeing him?" The fox concubine replied, "If my son-in-law comes to pay his respects, I must offer him a gift. His expectations of me are excessively high, and I feel I cannot satisfy his desires, which is why I am reluctant to meet him. Since he insists repeatedly, promise him that he may see me in ten days." Ten days later, Qi Sheng entered the fox concubine's chamber and, from behind a cloth curtain, bowed and offered his greetings. He could vaguely discern her form through the curtain but dared not stare fixedly. As he took his leave and walked several paces away, he still turned back to look. The fox concubine then said, "My son-in-law is looking back!" With that, she burst into laughter, a sound like the hooting of an owl, terrifying to hear. Qi Sheng, upon hearing this, was so frightened that his legs gave way, and he staggered as if his soul had fled. After leaving the fox concubine's presence, he sat for a long while before his spirit gradually calmed. He then remarked, "Just now, hearing her laughter was like hearing a thunderclap; I felt as though my body was no longer my own." Shortly after, a maidservant arrived, sent by the fox concubine, bearing twenty taels of silver as a gift for Qi Sheng. Taking the silver, Qi Sheng said to the maidservant, "The holy immortal dwells daily with my father-in-law; does she not know that I have always been extravagant and unaccustomed to spending small sums?" Upon hearing this, the fox concubine said, "I am well aware of his character. But it happens that the household is currently short of funds. The other day, we traveled together to Bianliang, which had been flooded by the River God, turning it into a vast expanse of water, with the treasury submerged. We dove into the water and each retrieved some silver—how could that satisfy his insatiable greed? Moreover, even if I could bestow upon him a lavish gift, I fear his fortune is too shallow to bear it."
For all events that were about to occur, the fox concubine always knew in advance. Whenever Liu Dongjiu encountered a difficult situation and consulted with her, there was nothing she could not resolve. One day, Liu Dongjiu was sitting side by side with the fox concubine when suddenly she looked up to the sky, terrified, and said, "A great calamity is about to descend—what shall we do?" Liu Dongjiu asked in alarm whether his family would be affected. The fox concubine replied, "No one else will be harmed, but the second young master is a cause for concern. This place will soon become a battlefield. You should urgently request an official assignment far away from here to escape this disaster." Liu Dongjiu followed her advice and petitioned his superior for a mission abroad. The superior then appointed him to personally escort military supplies to Yunnan and Guizhou. The journey from Fenzhou to Yunnan and Guizhou was exceedingly long, and those who heard of it came to console him, but only the fox concubine congratulated him. Shortly thereafter, Jiang Xiang, the garrison commander of Datong, rebelled against the court, and Fenzhou was seized by his troops. Liu Dongjiu's second son, who had come from Shandong to visit his father, happened to be caught in the turmoil and was killed by the rebels. When Fenzhou fell, all the local officials perished, and only Liu Dongjiu, because he was on a mission to Yunnan and Guizhou, managed to survive. After the rebellion was quelled, Liu Dongjiu returned to Fenzhou. Then, due to his involvement in a major case, he was punished, and his family became so impoverished that they could barely manage three meals a day. Yet the authorities still extorted him relentlessly, leaving Liu Dongjiu beset by troubles both internal and external, and he was nearly driven to despair. The fox concubine said, "Do not worry. Beneath the bed are three thousand taels of silver, enough for our expenses." Overjoyed, Liu Dongjiu asked, "Where did you steal this from?" The fox concubine replied, "There is no end to unclaimed treasures under heaven—why would I need to steal?" Later, Liu Dongjiu found an opportunity to extricate himself and returned to his hometown in Shandong, and the fox concubine accompanied him. After several more years, the fox concubine suddenly departed, leaving behind a paper packet containing several items, including a small funeral banner, over two inches long, such as is hung at the door during a family bereavement. People regarded this as an ill omen, and soon after, Liu Dongjiu passed away.
Commentary
The tale of Liu Dongjiu's association with a fox spirit has been widely circulated in the folk legends of Laiwu.
This narrative recounts the extraordinary events following Liu Dongjiu's marriage to a fox concubine during his tenure as an official in Fenzhou. Though the tale has a beginning and an end, commencing with the marriage to the fox and concluding with her departure, and though the fox concubine's generous bestowal of rewards serves as a consistent trait linking certain episodes—such as when Liu Dongjiu "happened to crave Shandong's bitter ale," and she procured for him "the home-brewed wine from the vat," while a servant from his Shandong household later arrived in Fenzhou to report that "a jar of stored wine had vanished in the night"—these marvels are largely disconnected, forming a loose, parallel narrative structure. This structure, by stringing together multiple incidents without a central thread, fails to build a dense depiction that leaves a profound impression, yet its brush touches upon many trivial daily affairs, offering abundant material for idle chatter, reflecting Pu Songling's creative habit of seeking out the strange and recording it "upon hearing, taking up the brush." Amidst the jesting, it reveals and satirizes the ways of the world, such as the servant's eagerness for rewards, the son-in-law's scheming to gain petty advantages, and especially the jealousy and arrogance of the education commissioner Zhang Daoyi toward Liu Dongjiu, along with his improper designs on the fox concubine, all of which delight the reader through lighthearted banter.