Original Text
A farmer was weeding at the foot of a mountain, and his wife brought him his meal in an earthenware pot. After the farmer finished eating, he placed the pot by the ridge of the field. When he looked at it in the evening, the leftover porridge inside the pot was all gone. This happened several times in succession. The farmer grew suspicious and watched from the corner of his eye. He saw a fox come and thrust its head into the pot. The farmer, taking his hoe, crept up quietly and struck it with all his might. The fox, startled, fled in panic, but the pot was stuck on its head and could not be shaken off easily. The fox stumbled and fell, breaking the pot, and when its head emerged and it saw the farmer, it fled even faster, scrambling over the mountain and away.
Several years later, the daughter of a wealthy family in the southern mountains was deeply troubled by a fox spirit's haunting; talismans and exorcisms proved ineffective. The fox said to the girl, "Those paper charms—what can they do to me!" The girl coaxed the fox, saying, "Your magical arts are profound, and I wish to be with you forever. But I wonder, in all your life, is there anything you fear?" The fox replied, "I fear nothing. Only ten years ago, while I was at the northern mountains, I once stole food by the field's edge and was nearly beaten to death by a man in a wide-brimmed hat wielding a crooked-necked weapon—that still frightens me to this day." The girl told her father. Her father wished to use this man, whom the fox feared, to subdue it, but he knew neither his name nor his abode, and had no way to inquire.
It happened that a servant, having gone to a mountain village on business, casually mentioned this matter to someone. A bystander exclaimed in surprise, "This coincides exactly with my experience from years past—could it be that the fox I once chased has now become a mischief-maker?" The servant, astonished, returned and reported this to his master. The master, overjoyed, immediately ordered the servant to fetch the farmer on horseback, and respectfully presented his request. The farmer smiled and said, "It is true that I once encountered a fox, but it may not necessarily be this one. Moreover, since this fox has already learned to transform and cause trouble, how could it still fear a mere farmer?" The wealthy household pressed the farmer repeatedly to exorcise the spirit, making him dress in his old attire. Entering the room, the farmer planted his hoe on the ground and shouted, "I have searched for you daily without finding you—so you have been hiding here all along! Now that I have caught you, I will beat you to death without mercy!" At these words, the fox was heard wailing inside the room. The farmer feigned even greater fury, and the fox immediately begged for its life. The farmer roared, "Begone! I spare you this time!" The daughter saw the fox flee with its head in its paws, and from that day forward, peace reigned.
Commentary
This chapter consists of two consecutive and amusing tales. The first story tells of a fox that, while stealing food from an earthenware vessel, was discovered by a farmer wielding a hoe; in its panic, its head became stuck in the vessel, unable to escape, leaving it utterly disgraced, until it eventually "struck the vessel, shattering it, and fell away," thus managing to flee. The second story recounts how this same fox bewitched a young lady from a noble family, inadvertently revealing its harrowing adventure; upon hearing this, the family summoned the former farmer, who dressed and acted exactly as he had during the incident, thereby frightening the fox away.
Crafting a tale requires both imagination and associative power, as well as a keen eye for the incidental details of real life, which can be mined for narrative depth. The preceding story likely arose from a chance amusing incident in everyday life; for most people, it might have remained no more than a jest. Yet Pu Songling, through his artistry, took that simple anecdote and wove it into a subsequent tale, enriching and expanding it. Whether it is the fox recounting how it was once threatened by a man "wearing a broad-brimmed hat and wielding a curved-neck weapon," or the farmer who, "dressed as on that day, entered the room, thrust his hoe into the ground, and roared, 'I have sought you daily without finding you, and now you hide here! Now that we meet, I will surely kill you without mercy!'"—both scenes provoke irrepressible laughter, clearly elevating and deepening the simple jest in both structure and charm.