The Fox in the Bottle

A line drawing in the manner of a late-Qing lithographed edition: in daytime in a village kitchen, a young farm wife with a kerchief-wrapped bun and rolled-up sleeves stands beside a brick stove holding iron fire tongs and looks down, tight-lipped, at a narrow-necked bottle with a cotton-stuffed mouth standing in a broad iron pan of steaming water, with a small fire in the stove, a window, a half-open plank door, a water jar and hanging garlic and peppers around her.

萬村石氏之婦，祟于狐，患之，而不能遣。扉後有瓶，每聞婦翁來，狐輒遁匿其中。婦窺之熟，暗計而不言。一日，竄入。婦急以絮塞其口，置釜中，燂湯而沸之。瓶熱，狐呼曰：「熱甚！勿惡作劇。」婦不語。號益急，久之無聲。拔塞而驗之，毛一堆，血數點而已。

万村石氏之妇，祟于狐，患之，而不能遣。扉后有瓶，每闻妇翁来，狐辄遁匿其中。妇窥之熟，暗计而不言。一日，窜入。妇急以絮塞其口，置釜中，燂汤而沸之。瓶热，狐呼曰：「热甚！勿恶作剧。」妇不语。号益急，久之无声。拔塞而验之，毛一堆，血数点而已。

In Wancun, the wife of a man named Shi was haunted by a fox. It troubled her, but she could not drive it away. Behind the door stood a bottle, and whenever the fox heard her father-in-law coming, it would slip off and hide inside. The wife watched this until she knew it well, made her plan in secret, and said nothing. One day the fox darted in. At once she stuffed the mouth of the bottle with cotton wadding, set it in a cauldron, and heated the water until it boiled. As the bottle grew hot, the fox cried out, “It’s too hot! Stop this nasty trick!” The wife said nothing. Its cries grew more frantic; after a long while there was no sound. She pulled out the stopper and looked: a heap of fur and a few drops of blood, nothing more.