穆生，長沙人。家清貧，冬無絮衣。一夕枯坐，有女子入，衣服炫麗而顏色黑醜。笑曰：「得毋寒乎？」生驚問之。曰：「我狐仙也。憐君枯寂，聊與共溫冷榻耳。」生懼其狐，而厭其醜，大號。女以元寶置几上，曰：「若相諧好，以此相贈。」生悅而從之。床無裀褥，女代以袍。將曉，起而囑曰：「所贈，可急市軟帛作臥具；餘者絮衣作饌，足矣。倘得永好，勿憂貧也。」遂去。生告妻，妻亦喜，即市帛為之縫紉。女夜至，見臥具一新，喜曰：「君家娘子劬勞哉！」留金以酬之。從此至無虛夕。每去，必有所遺。年餘，屋廬修潔，內外皆衣文錦繡，居然素封。女賂遺漸少，生由此心厭之，聘術士至，畫符於門。女來，嚙折而棄之。入指生曰：「背德負心，至君已極！然此奈何我！若相厭薄，我自去耳。但情義既絕，受於我者，須要償也！」忿然而去。生懼，告術士。術士作壇，陳設未已，忽顛地下，血流滿頰；視之，割去一耳。眾大懼，奔散；術士亦掩耳竄去。室中擲石如盆，門窗釜甑，無復全者。生伏床下，蓄縮汗聳。俄見女抱一物入，貓首猧尾，置床前，嗾之曰：「嘻嘻！可嚼奸人足。」物即齕履，齒利於刃。生大懼，將屈藏之，四肢不能動。物嚼指，爽脆有聲。生痛極，哀祝。女曰：「所有金珠，盡出勿隱。」生應之。女曰：「呵呵！」物乃止。生不能起，但告以處。女自往搜括，珠鈿衣服之外，止得二百餘金。女少之，又曰：「嘻嘻！」物復嚼。生哀鳴求恕。女限十日，償金六百。生諾之，女乃抱物去。久之，家人漸聚，從床下曳生出，足血淋漓，喪其二指。視室中，財物盡空，惟當年破被存焉。遂以覆生，令臥。又懼十日復來，乃貨婢鬻衣，以足其數。至期，女果至；急付之，無言而去。自此遂絕。生足創，醫藥半年始愈，而家清貧如初矣。狐適近村于氏。于業農，家不中貲；三年間，援例納粟，夏屋連蔓，所衣華服，半生家物。生見之，亦不敢問。偶適野，遇女於途，長跪道左。女無言，但以素巾裹五六金，遙擲生，反身逕去。後于氏早卒，女猶時至其家，家中金帛輒亡去。于子睹其來，拜參之，遙祝曰：「父即去世，兒輩皆若子，縱不撫卹，何忍坐令貧也？」女去，遂不復至。
穆生，长沙人。家清贫，冬无絮衣。一夕枯坐，有女子入，衣服炫丽而颜色黑丑。笑曰：「得毋寒乎？」生惊问之。曰：「我狐仙也。怜君枯寂，聊与共温冷榻耳。」生惧其狐，而厌其丑，大号。女以元宝置几上，曰：「若相谐好，以此相赠。」生悦而从之。床无裀褥，女代以袍。将晓，起而嘱曰：「所赠，可急市软帛作卧具；余者絮衣作馔，足矣。倘得永好，勿忧贫也。」遂去。生告妻，妻亦喜，即市帛为之缝纫。女夜至，见卧具一新，喜曰：「君家娘子劬劳哉！」留金以酬之。从此至无虚夕。每去，必有所遗。年余，屋庐修洁，内外皆衣文锦绣，居然素封。女赂遗渐少，生由此心厌之，聘术士至，画符于门。女来，啮折而弃之。入指生曰：「背德负心，至君已极！然此奈何我！若相厌薄，我自去耳。但情义既绝，受于我者，须要偿也！」忿然而去。生惧，告术士。术士作坛，陈设未已，忽颠地下，血流满颊；视之，割去一耳。众大惧，奔散；术士亦掩耳窜去。室中掷石如盆，门窗釜甑，无复全者。生伏床下，蓄缩汗耸。俄见女抱一物入，猫首猧尾，置床前，嗾之曰：「嘻嘻！可嚼奸人足。」物即龁履，齿利于刃。生大惧，将屈藏之，四肢不能动。物嚼指，爽脆有声。生痛极，哀祝。女曰：「所有金珠，尽出勿隐。」生应之。女曰：「呵呵！」物乃止。生不能起，但告以处。女自往搜括，珠钿衣服之外，止得二百余金。女少之，又曰：「嘻嘻！」物复嚼。生哀鸣求恕。女限十日，偿金六百。生诺之，女乃抱物去。久之，家人渐聚，从床下曳生出，足血淋漓，丧其二指。视室中，财物尽空，惟当年破被存焉。遂以覆生，令卧。又惧十日复来，乃货婢鬻衣，以足其数。至期，女果至；急付之，无言而去。自此遂绝。生足创，医药半年始愈，而家清贫如初矣。狐适近村于氏。于业农，家不中赀；三年间，援例纳粟，夏屋连蔓，所衣华服，半生家物。生见之，亦不敢问。偶适野，遇女于途，长跪道左。女无言，但以素巾裹五六金，遥掷生，反身径去。后于氏早卒，女犹时至其家，家中金帛辄亡去。于子睹其来，拜参之，遥祝曰：「父即去世，儿辈皆若子，纵不抚恤，何忍坐令贫也？」女去，遂不复至。
A scholar named Mu was a man of Changsha. His family was poor, and in winter he had no padded clothes. One evening, as he sat alone with nothing to do, a woman came in. Her clothes were dazzling, but she was dark and ugly. She laughed. “Aren’t you cold?” Mu was startled and asked who she was. “I am a fox immortal,” she said. “I pity you in your loneliness, and thought I would share your cold bed and warm it.” Mu was afraid of her because she was a fox, and repelled by her because she was ugly, and he cried out. The woman put a silver ingot on the table. “If we get on well, this is yours.” Mu was delighted and gave in. There was no mattress on the bed, so she spread her gown in its place. Toward dawn she got up and told him, “With what I gave you, go quickly and buy soft silk for bedding. Use the rest for padded clothes and food; that will be enough. If we can be together for good, you need never worry about being poor.” Then she left. Mu told his wife. She was glad too, and at once bought silk and sewed it up. When the woman came that night and saw the new bedding, she was pleased. “Your good wife has worked hard!” She left gold to repay her. From then on she came every night without fail, and each time she left she gave him something. In a year or so the house had been repaired and made neat, everyone inside and out was dressed in patterned silks and brocades, and Mu had become an untitled lord. Then her gifts grew fewer, and from then on Mu began to tire of her in his heart. He hired an exorcist, who painted charms on the door. The woman came, bit through them and threw them away. She came in and pointed at Mu. “Ungrateful and faithless — no one could be more so than you! But what can this do to me? If you are tired of me, I will go of my own accord. But since our love is at an end, what you received from me must be paid back!” And she left in a fury. Mu was afraid and told the exorcist. The exorcist set up an altar. Before he had finished laying it out, he suddenly fell to the ground, blood streaming down his cheek. They looked: one ear had been cut off. Everyone was terrified and ran; the exorcist too fled, holding his ear. Stones as big as basins were hurled about the room. Doors, windows, pots and steamers — not one was left whole. Mu lay under the bed, curled up, sweating and shaking. Before long he saw the woman come in carrying a creature with a cat’s head and a lapdog’s tail. She set it down before the bed and urged it on: “Hee hee! Chew the traitor’s feet.” At once the creature bit into his shoes; its teeth were sharper than knives. Mu, terrified, tried to draw his feet in out of reach, but he could not move his limbs. The creature chewed his toes with a crisp, crunching sound. In agony, Mu begged for mercy. “All your gold and pearls,” said the woman. “Bring them all out. Hide nothing.” Mu agreed. “Ho ho!” said the woman, and the creature stopped. Mu could not get up; he could only tell her where things were. She went and searched it all out herself. Apart from pearl hairpins and clothes, she found only a little over two hundred taels. She thought it too little and said again, “Hee hee!” The creature chewed again. Mu wailed and begged forgiveness. She gave him ten days to pay six hundred taels. Mu promised, and she picked up the creature and left. After a long while the household gradually gathered again and dragged Mu out from under the bed. His feet were streaming blood; he had lost two toes. They looked around the room: everything of value was gone. Only the old worn quilt of years before was left. They covered Mu with it and laid him down. Fearing she would come back in ten days, they sold the maids and sold clothes to make up the sum. On the day, she came as expected. They paid her at once, and she left without a word. After that she never came again. Mu’s wounded feet took half a year of doctoring to heal, and the family was as poor as before. The fox went to a man named Yu in a nearby village. Yu was a farmer, and not even of middling means. Within three years he had bought a title by contributing grain, his great houses stretched one after another, and half the fine clothes he wore were things from Mu’s house. Mu saw them, but did not dare ask. Once, going out into the fields, he met the woman on the road and knelt by the roadside. She said nothing, only wrapped five or six taels in a plain kerchief, threw it to him from a distance, turned and walked straight off. Later Yu died young. The woman still came to his house from time to time, and each time gold and silk vanished from it. When Yu’s son saw her coming, he bowed to her and prayed from a distance: “Father is gone, and we are all as your own children. Even if you will not care for us, how can you bear to sit by and make us poor?” The woman left and never came again.