Original Text
In eastern Zhejiang there lived a scholar named Fang, who was lodging in Shaanxi and making a living by teaching students. He often boasted of his courage and strength. One night, while sleeping naked, a furry thing suddenly fell from the air with a thud onto his chest. It felt about the size of a dog, panting heavily, its four paws constantly scratching and moving. Fang was terrified and tried to rise, but the creature pressed him down with two feet. In extreme fright, he fainted dead away. After about an hour, he felt someone tickling his nostrils with a sharp object, causing him to sneeze violently and wake up. The room was lit by flickering lamplight, and beside the bed sat a beautiful woman, who smiled and said, "What a brave man! Your courage is nothing more than this!" Knowing she was a fox spirit, Fang grew even more afraid. Gradually, she began to flirt with him, and his courage returned, so he embraced her intimately. Thus passed half a year, and they lived like husband and wife. One day, as the woman lay on the bed, Fang secretly covered her with a hunting net. She woke up, dared not move, and only pleaded bitterly. Fang laughed and refused to approach. Suddenly, the woman transformed into a puff of white vapor, emerged from under the bed, and said angrily, "You are truly no good friend! You may send me away." With that, she reached out and pulled him, and Fang's body involuntarily followed her. Out the door, she took him flying into the sky. After the time it takes to eat a meal, she released her grip, and Fang fell dizzily from the heavens. It happened that in the garden of a certain wealthy family there was a tiger trap, made of wooden hoops and ropes woven into a net covering the pit. Fang crashed onto the net, which tilted sideways, his belly pressed against it, half his body dangling in midair. Looking down, he saw a tiger crouching in the pit, which, seeing a person on the net, leaped upward, coming within a foot of him, terrifying Fang so much that his heart and gall nearly burst. The gardener came to feed the tiger and, seeing Fang on the net, found it strange, so he helped him down, only to find him unconscious. After a while, Fang gradually revived and recounted the whole story. This place was already in Zhejiang, only about four hundred li from his home. The garden owner gave him travel money to return. After returning home, Fang told people, "Though I was scared to death twice, if not for that fox, I would have been too poor to come back."
Commentary
A scholar from eastern Zhejiang boasted of his courage, only to have his claims punctured twice by a fox through mischievous pranks. It seemed the fox and the scholar shared a certain affinity, and strictly speaking, the mischief occurred three times. The first time, the fox teased the scholar, exposing the lie in his self-proclaimed bravery. The second time, half a year later, the scholar played a trick on the fox in return, startling it so badly that its courage failed. The third time, the fox, enraged and humiliated, turned the tables and punished the scholar by the very same method he had used. Though the tale is brief, it vividly recreates scenes of terror and the psychological responses to fear, demonstrating great literary skill.