劉赤水，平樂人，少穎秀。十五入郡庠。父母早亡，遂以游蕩自廢。家不中貲，而性好修飾，衾榻皆精美。一夕，被人招飲，忘滅燭而去。酒數行，始憶之，急返。聞室中小語，伏窺之，見少年擁麗者眠榻上。宅臨貴家廢第，恆多怪異，心知其狐，亦不恐。入而叱曰：「臥榻豈容鼾睡！」二人遑遽，抱衣赤身遁去。遺紫紈袴一，帶上繫針囊。大悅，恐其竊去，藏衾中而抱之。俄一蓬頭婢自門罅入，向劉索取。劉笑要償。婢請遺以酒，不應；贈以金，又不應。婢笑而去。旋返曰：「大姑言：如賜還，當以佳耦為報。」劉問：「伊誰？」曰：「吾家皮姓，大姑小字八仙，共臥者胡郎也；二姑水仙，適富川丁官人；三姑鳳仙，較兩姑尤美，自無不當意者。」劉恐失信，請坐待好音。婢去復返曰：「大姑寄語官人：好事豈能猝合？適與之言，反遭詬厲；但緩時日以待之，吾家非輕諾寡信者。」劉付之。過數日，渺無信息。薄暮，自外歸。閉門甫坐，忽雙扉自啟，兩人以被承女郎，手捉四角而入，曰：「送新人至矣！」笑置榻上而去。近視之，酣睡未醒，酒氣猶芳，頳顏醉態，傾絕人寰。喜極，為之捉足解襪，抱體緩裳。而女已微醒，開目見劉，四肢不能自主，但恨曰：「八仙淫婢賣我矣！」劉狎抱之。女嫌膚冰，微笑曰：「今夕何夕，見此涼人！」劉曰：「子兮子兮，如此涼人何！」遂相歡愛。既而曰：「婢子無恥，玷人床寢，而以妾換袴耶！必小報之！」從此無夕不至，綢繆甚殷。袖中出金釧一枚，曰：「此八仙物也。」又數日，懷繡履一雙來，珠嵌金繡，工巧殊絕，且囑劉暴揚之。劉出誇示親賓。求觀者皆以貲酒為贄，由此奇貨居之。女夜來，作別語。怪問之，答云：「姊以履故恨妾，欲攜家遠去，隔絕我好。」劉懼，願還之。女云：「不必，彼方以此挾妾，如還之，中其機矣。」劉問：「何不獨留？」曰：「父母遠去，一家十餘口，俱託胡郎經紀，若不從去，恐長舌婦造黑白也。」從此不復至。踰二年，思念綦切。偶在途中，遇女郎騎款段馬，老僕鞚之，摩肩過；反啟障紗相窺，丰姿豔絕。頃，一少年後至，曰：「女子何人？似頗佳麗。」劉亟贊之。少年拱手笑曰：「太過獎矣！此即山荊也。」劉惶愧謝過。少年曰：「何妨。但南陽三葛，君得其龍，區區者又何足道！」劉疑其言。少年曰：「君不認竊眠臥榻者耶？」劉始悟為胡。敘僚婿之誼，嘲謔甚歡。少年曰：「岳新歸，將以省覲，可同行否？」劉喜，從入縈山。──山上故有邑人避難之宅──女下馬入。少間，數人出望，曰：「劉官人亦來矣。」入門謁見翁嫗。又一少年先在，靴袍炫美。翁曰：「此富川丁婿。」並揖就坐。少時，酒炙紛綸，談笑頗洽。翁曰：「今日三婿並臨，可稱佳集。又無他人，可喚兒輩來，作一團圞之會。」俄，姊妹俱出。翁命設坐，各傍其婿。八仙見劉，惟掩口而笑；鳳仙輒與嘲弄；水仙貌少亞，而沉重溫克，滿座傾談，惟把酒含笑而已。於是履舄交錯，蘭麝熏人，飲酒樂甚。劉視床頭樂具畢備，遂取玉笛，請為翁壽。翁喜，命善者各執一藝，因而合座爭取；惟丁與鳳仙不取。八仙曰：「丁郎不諳可也；汝寧指屈不伸者？」因以拍板擲鳳仙懷中，便串繁響。翁悅曰：「家人之樂極矣！兒輩俱能歌舞，何不各盡所長？」八仙起，捉水仙曰：「鳳仙從來金玉其音，不敢相勞；我二人可歌『洛妃』一曲。」二人歌舞方已，適婢以金盤進果，都不知其何名。翁曰：「此自真臘攜來，所謂『田婆羅』也。」因掬數枚送丁前。鳳仙不悅曰：「婿豈以貧富為愛憎耶？」翁微哂不言。八仙曰：「阿爹以丁郎異縣，故是客耳。若論長幼，豈獨鳳妹妹有拳大酸婿耶？」鳳仙終不快，解華妝，以鼓拍授婢，唱「破窰」一折，聲淚俱下；既闋，拂袖逕去，一座為之不懽。八仙曰：「婢子喬性猶昔。」乃追之，不知所往。劉無顏，亦辭而歸。至半途，見鳳仙坐路旁，呼與並坐。曰：「君一丈夫，不能為床頭人吐氣耶？黃金屋自在書中，願好為之！」舉足云：「出門匆遽，棘剌破複履矣。所贈物，在身邊否？」劉出之。女取而易之。劉乞其敝者。囅然曰：「君亦大無賴矣！幾見自己衾枕之物，亦要懷藏者？如相見愛，一物可以相贈。」旋出一鏡付之曰：「欲見妾，當於書卷中覓之；不然，相見無期矣。」言已，不見。怊悵而歸。視鏡，則鳳仙背立其中，如望去人於百步之外者。因念所囑，謝客下帷。一日，見鏡中人忽現正面，盈盈欲笑，益重愛之。無人時，輒以共對。月餘，銳志漸衰，游恆忘返。歸見鏡影，慘然若涕；隔日再視，則背立如初矣：始悟為己之廢學也。乃閉戶研讀，晝夜不輟；月餘，則影復向外。自此驗之：每有事荒廢，則其容戚；數日攻苦，則其容笑。於是朝夕懸之，如對師保。如此二年，一舉而捷。喜曰：「今可以對我鳳仙矣！」攬鏡視之，見畫黛彎長，瓠犀微露，喜容可掬，宛在目前。愛極，停睇不已。忽鏡中人笑曰：「『影裏情郎，畫中愛寵』，今之謂矣。」驚喜四顧，則鳳仙已在座右。握手問翁媼起居。曰：「妾別後，不曾歸家，伏處巖穴，聊與君分苦耳。」劉赴宴郡中，女請與俱；共乘而往，人對面不相窺。既而將歸，陰與劉謀，偽為娶於郡也者。女既歸，始出見客，經理家政。人皆驚其美，而不知其狐也。劉屬富川令門人，往謁之。遇丁，殷殷邀至其家，款禮優渥。言：「岳父母近又他徙。內人歸寧，將復。當寄信往，並詣申賀。」劉初疑丁亦狐，及細審邦族，始知富川大賈子也。初，丁自別業暮歸，遇水仙獨步，見其美，微睨之。女請附驥以行。丁喜，載至齋，與同寢處。櫺隙可入，始知為狐。女言：「郎無見疑。妾以君誠篤，故願託之。」丁嬖之。竟不復娶。劉歸，假貴家廣宅，備客燕寢，灑掃光潔。而苦無供帳；隔夜視之，則陳設煥然矣。過數日，果有三十餘人，齎旗采酒禮而至，輿馬繽紛，填溢堦巷。劉揖翁及丁、胡入客舍；鳳仙逆嫗及兩姨入內寢。八仙曰：「婢子今貴，不怨冰人矣。──釧履猶存否？」女搜付之，曰：「履則猶是也，而被千人看破矣。」八仙以履擊背，曰：「撻汝寄於劉郎。」乃投諸火，祝曰：
「新時如花開，舊時如花謝；珍重不曾著，姮娥來相借。」
水仙亦代祝曰：
「曾經籠玉筍，著出萬人稱；若使姮娥見，應憐太瘦生。」
鳳仙撥火曰：
「夜夜上青天，一朝去所懽，留得纖纖影，遍與世人看。」
遂以灰捻柈中，堆作十餘分，望見劉來，托以贈之，但見繡履滿柈，悉如故款。八仙急出，推柈墮地；地上猶有一二隻存者，又伏吹之，其跡始滅。次日，丁以道遠，夫婦先歸。八仙貪與妹戲，翁及胡屢督促之，亭午始出，與眾俱去。初來，儀從過盛，觀者如市。有兩寇窺見麗人，魂魄喪失，因謀劫諸途。偵其離村，尾之而去。相隔不盈一矢，馬極奔，不能及。至一處，兩崖夾道，輿行稍緩；追及之，持刀吼吒，人眾都奔。下馬啟簾，則老嫗坐焉。方疑誤掠其母；纔他顧，而兵傷右臂，頃已被縛。凝視之，崖並非崖，乃平樂城門也；輿中則李進士母，自鄉中歸耳。一寇後至，亦被斷馬足而縶之。門丁執送太守，一訊而伏。時有大盜未獲，詰之，即其人也。明春，劉及第。鳳仙以招禍，故悉辭內戚之賀。劉亦更不他娶。及為郎官，納妾，生二子。
刘赤水，平乐人，少颖秀。十五入郡庠。父母早亡，遂以游荡自废。家不中赀，而性好修饰，衾榻皆精美。一夕，被人招饮，忘灭烛而去。酒数行，始忆之，急返。闻室中小语，伏窥之，见少年拥丽者眠榻上。宅临贵家废第，恒多怪异，心知其狐，亦不恐。入而叱曰：「卧榻岂容鼾睡！」二人遑遽，抱衣赤身遁去。遗紫纨袴一，带上系针囊。大悦，恐其窃去，藏衾中而抱之。俄一蓬头婢自门罅入，向刘索取。刘笑要偿。婢请遗以酒，不应；赠以金，又不应。婢笑而去。旋返曰：「大姑言：如赐还，当以佳耦为报。」刘问：「伊谁？」曰：「吾家皮姓，大姑小字八仙，共卧者胡郎也；二姑水仙，适富川丁官人；三姑凤仙，较两姑尤美，自无不当意者。」刘恐失信，请坐待好音。婢去复返曰：「大姑寄语官人：好事岂能猝合？适与之言，反遭诟厉；但缓时日以待之，吾家非轻诺寡信者。」刘付之。过数日，渺无信息。薄暮，自外归。闭门甫坐，忽双扉自启，两人以被承女郎，手捉四角而入，曰：「送新人至矣！」笑置榻上而去。近视之，酣睡未醒，酒气犹芳，頳颜醉态，倾绝人寰。喜极，为之捉足解袜，抱体缓裳。而女已微醒，开目见刘，四肢不能自主，但恨曰：「八仙淫婢卖我矣！」刘狎抱之。女嫌肤冰，微笑曰：「今夕何夕，见此凉人！」刘曰：「子兮子兮，如此凉人何！」遂相欢爱。既而曰：「婢子无耻，玷人床寝，而以妾换袴耶！必小报之！」从此无夕不至，绸缪甚殷。袖中出金钏一枚，曰：「此八仙物也。」又数日，怀绣履一双来，珠嵌金绣，工巧殊绝，且嘱刘暴扬之。刘出夸示亲宾。求观者皆以赀酒为贽，由此奇货居之。女夜来，作别语。怪问之，答云：「姊以履故恨妾，欲携家远去，隔绝我好。」刘惧，愿还之。女云：「不必，彼方以此挟妾，如还之，中其机矣。」刘问：「何不独留？」曰：「父母远去，一家十余口，俱托胡郎经纪，若不从去，恐长舌妇造黑白也。」从此不复至。逾二年，思念綦切。偶在途中，遇女郎骑款段马，老仆鞚之，摩肩过；反启障纱相窥，丰姿艳绝。顷，一少年后至，曰：「女子何人？似颇佳丽。」刘亟赞之。少年拱手笑曰：「太过奖矣！此即山荆也。」刘惶愧谢过。少年曰：「何妨。但南阳三葛，君得其龙，区区者又何足道！」刘疑其言。少年曰：「君不认窃眠卧榻者耶？」刘始悟为胡。叙僚婿之谊，嘲谑甚欢。少年曰：「岳新归，将以省觐，可同行否？」刘喜，从入萦山。──山上故有邑人避难之宅──女下马入。少间，数人出望，曰：「刘官人亦来矣。」入门谒见翁妪。又一少年先在，靴袍炫美。翁曰：「此富川丁婿。」并揖就坐。少时，酒炙纷纶，谈笑颇洽。翁曰：「今日三婿并临，可称佳集。又无他人，可唤儿辈来，作一团圞之会。」俄，姊妹俱出。翁命设坐，各傍其婿。八仙见刘，惟掩口而笑；凤仙辄与嘲弄；水仙貌少亚，而沉重温克，满座倾谈，惟把酒含笑而已。于是履舄交错，兰麝熏人，饮酒乐甚。刘视床头乐具毕备，遂取玉笛，请为翁寿。翁喜，命善者各执一艺，因而合座争取；惟丁与凤仙不取。八仙曰：「丁郎不谙可也；汝宁指屈不伸者？」因以拍板掷凤仙怀中，便串繁响。翁悦曰：「家人之乐极矣！儿辈俱能歌舞，何不各尽所长？」八仙起，捉水仙曰：「凤仙从来金玉其音，不敢相劳；我二人可歌『洛妃』一曲。」二人歌舞方已，适婢以金盘进果，都不知其何名。翁曰：「此自真腊携来，所谓『田婆罗』也。」因掬数枚送丁前。凤仙不悦曰：「婿岂以贫富为爱憎耶？」翁微哂不言。八仙曰：「阿爹以丁郎异县，故是客耳。若论长幼，岂独凤妹妹有拳大酸婿耶？」凤仙终不快，解华妆，以鼓拍授婢，唱「破窰」一折，声泪俱下；既阕，拂袖径去，一座为之不懽。八仙曰：「婢子乔性犹昔。」乃追之，不知所往。刘无颜，亦辞而归。至半途，见凤仙坐路旁，呼与并坐。曰：「君一丈夫，不能为床头人吐气耶？黄金屋自在书中，愿好为之！」举足云：「出门匆遽，棘剌破复履矣。所赠物，在身边否？」刘出之。女取而易之。刘乞其敝者。冁然曰：「君亦大无赖矣！几见自己衾枕之物，亦要怀藏者？如相见爱，一物可以相赠。」旋出一镜付之曰：「欲见妾，当于书卷中觅之；不然，相见无期矣。」言已，不见。怊怅而归。视镜，则凤仙背立其中，如望去人于百步之外者。因念所嘱，谢客下帷。一日，见镜中人忽现正面，盈盈欲笑，益重爱之。无人时，辄以共对。月余，锐志渐衰，游恒忘返。归见镜影，惨然若涕；隔日再视，则背立如初矣：始悟为己之废学也。乃闭户研读，昼夜不辍；月余，则影复向外。自此验之：每有事荒废，则其容戚；数日攻苦，则其容笑。于是朝夕悬之，如对师保。如此二年，一举而捷。喜曰：「今可以对我凤仙矣！」揽镜视之，见画黛弯长，瓠犀微露，喜容可掬，宛在目前。爱极，停睇不已。忽镜中人笑曰：「『影里情郎，画中爱宠』，今之谓矣。」惊喜四顾，则凤仙已在座右。握手问翁媪起居。曰：「妾别后，不曾归家，伏处岩穴，聊与君分苦耳。」刘赴宴郡中，女请与俱；共乘而往，人对面不相窥。既而将归，阴与刘谋，伪为娶于郡也者。女既归，始出见客，经理家政。人皆惊其美，而不知其狐也。刘属富川令门人，往谒之。遇丁，殷殷邀至其家，款礼优渥。言：「岳父母近又他徙。内人归宁，将复。当寄信往，并诣申贺。」刘初疑丁亦狐，及细审邦族，始知富川大贾子也。初，丁自别业暮归，遇水仙独步，见其美，微睨之。女请附骥以行。丁喜，载至斋，与同寝处。櫺隙可入，始知为狐。女言：「郎无见疑。妾以君诚笃，故愿托之。」丁嬖之。竟不复娶。刘归，假贵家广宅，备客燕寝，洒扫光洁。而苦无供帐；隔夜视之，则陈设焕然矣。过数日，果有三十余人，赍旗采酒礼而至，舆马缤纷，填溢堦巷。刘揖翁及丁、胡入客舍；凤仙逆妪及两姨入内寝。八仙曰：「婢子今贵，不怨冰人矣。──钏履犹存否？」女搜付之，曰：「履则犹是也，而被千人看破矣。」八仙以履击背，曰：「挞汝寄于刘郎。」乃投诸火，祝曰：
「新时如花开，旧时如花谢；珍重不曾着，姮娥来相借。」
水仙亦代祝曰：
「曾经笼玉笋，着出万人称；若使姮娥见，应怜太瘦生。」
凤仙拨火曰：
「夜夜上青天，一朝去所懽，留得纤纤影，遍与世人看。」
遂以灰捻柈中，堆作十余分，望见刘来，托以赠之，但见绣履满柈，悉如故款。八仙急出，推柈堕地；地上犹有一二只存者，又伏吹之，其迹始灭。次日，丁以道远，夫妇先归。八仙贪与妹戏，翁及胡屡督促之，亭午始出，与众俱去。初来，仪从过盛，观者如市。有两寇窥见丽人，魂魄丧失，因谋劫诸途。侦其离村，尾之而去。相隔不盈一矢，马极奔，不能及。至一处，两崖夹道，舆行稍缓；追及之，持刀吼咤，人众都奔。下马启帘，则老妪坐焉。方疑误掠其母；才他顾，而兵伤右臂，顷已被缚。凝视之，崖并非崖，乃平乐城门也；舆中则李进士母，自乡中归耳。一寇后至，亦被断马足而絷之。门丁执送太守，一讯而伏。时有大盗未获，诘之，即其人也。明春，刘及第。凤仙以招祸，故悉辞内戚之贺。刘亦更不他娶。及为郎官，纳妾，生二子。
Liu Chishui, a man of Pingle, was bright and gifted as a boy, and at fifteen he entered the prefectural school. His parents died young, and he threw himself away in idle roaming. His family had less than middling means, but he loved fine things by nature, and his quilts and bed were all exquisite. One evening he was invited out to drink and left without putting out his candle. Several rounds into the wine he remembered it and hurried back. He heard low voices in his room. Crouching to peep in, he saw a young man lying on his bed with a beauty in his arms. His house stood next to the abandoned mansion of a great family, where strange things often happened, so he knew they were foxes and was not afraid. He went in and shouted, “How can I let others snore in my bed?” The two scrambled up and fled naked, clutching their clothes. They left behind a pair of purple silk trousers with a needle-case tied to the sash. Liu was delighted. Afraid they would steal them back, he hid them in his quilt and held them tight. Soon a maid with tousled hair slipped in through a crack in the door and asked for them. Liu laughed and demanded payment. She offered him wine; he refused. She offered gold; he refused again. The maid laughed and left. She was back at once. “Eldest Miss says that if you will kindly give them back, she will repay you with a good match.” “And who would that be?” asked Liu. “Our family name is Pi,” she said. “Eldest Miss’s pet name is Baxian, and the one sleeping with her is Master Hu. Second Miss, Shuixian, is married to Mr. Ding of Fuchuan. Third Miss, Fengxian, is lovelier than both her sisters. You could not fail to be pleased with her.” Liu was afraid they would not keep their word, and said he would sit and wait for the good news. The maid went off and came back again. “Eldest Miss sends word to you, sir: how can a happy match be made in a hurry? She has just spoken to her sister and got only a scolding for it. Give it a little time. Our family does not make promises lightly or break them.” Liu handed the trousers over. Several days passed without a word. One dusk he came home, shut the door, and had just sat down when both leaves of the door swung open by themselves. Two people came in carrying a girl in a quilt, holding it by the four corners. “We’ve brought the bride!” they said, and laughing, laid her on the bed and left. He looked at her closely. She was sound asleep, her breath still sweet with wine, her face flushed and drunken: a beauty beyond anything in this world. Overjoyed, he took her feet and drew off her stockings, held her in his arms and loosened her clothes. By then the girl was half awake. She opened her eyes and saw Liu, but she had no power over her limbs. She could only say bitterly, “That slut Baxian has sold me!” Liu fondled her and held her close. She complained that his skin was cold, and said with a little smile, “What night is this night, that I meet this cold man!” Liu said, “Oh you, oh you, what will you do with this cold man?” And so they made love. Afterwards she said, “The shameless thing! She dirties another person’s bed, and then trades me for her trousers! I shall pay her back a little for this.” From then on she came every night, and they were deeply devoted. She took a gold bracelet from her sleeve and said, “This is Baxian’s.” A few days later she brought a pair of embroidered shoes in the fold of her robe, set with pearls and worked in gold thread, of the most exquisite craftsmanship, and told Liu to show them off far and wide. Liu brought them out and boasted of them to his relatives and friends. Everyone who asked to see them brought money or wine as a gift for the privilege, so he hoarded them as a rare treasure. One night she came and spoke as if saying goodbye. Puzzled, he asked her why. “My sister hates me because of the shoes,” she said. “She wants to take the family far away and part us.” Liu was frightened and offered to give them back. “No need,” she said. “She is using this to force my hand. If you give them back, you will fall into her trap.” “Why not stay behind on your own?” asked Liu. “Our parents are far away, and the whole family, ten or more of us, are in Master Hu’s charge. If I do not go with them, I am afraid that long-tongued woman will twist black into white.” After that she came no more. More than two years passed, and he longed for her bitterly. One day on the road he met a young woman riding a slow horse led by an old servant. She brushed shoulders with him as she passed, then turned back, lifted her veil and looked at him. She was stunningly beautiful. A moment later a young man came along behind and said, “Who is that woman? She seems very pretty.” Liu praised her warmly. The young man cupped his hands and laughed. “You are too kind! That is my humble wife.” Liu, flustered and ashamed, begged his pardon. “No harm done,” said the young man. “But of the three Zhuges of Nanyang, you got the dragon. What is mine worth beside that?” Liu was puzzled. “Don’t you recognise the man who stole a sleep in your bed?” said the young man. Only then did Liu realise he was Hu. They talked as men married to sisters, joking and teasing in high good humour. “Our father-in-law has just come home,” said Hu. “I am going to pay my respects. Will you come?” Liu gladly went with him up Mount Ying. (There was a house on the mountain where people of the county had once taken refuge.) The woman dismounted and went in. Shortly several people came out to look, saying, “Mr. Liu has come too!” He went in and paid his respects to the old man and his wife. Another young man was already there, his boots and robe dazzling. “This is Ding, my son-in-law from Fuchuan,” said the old man. They all bowed and took their seats. Soon wine and roast meats came in profusion, and the talk and laughter flowed easily. “All three sons-in-law here at once today,” said the old man. “A fine gathering indeed. And there is no outsider here, so we can call the girls in and make it a family reunion.” Presently the sisters all came out. The old man had seats set for them, each beside her husband. Baxian, seeing Liu, only covered her mouth and laughed. Fengxian kept teasing and mocking him. Shuixian was not quite so pretty, but she was grave, gentle and composed; while the whole table chattered away, she only held her cup and smiled. So shoes and slippers jostled under the table, the scent of orchid and musk was heady, and the drinking was very merry. Liu saw that every kind of instrument was laid out on the couch, so he took up a jade flute and asked leave to play in the old man’s honour. The old man was pleased and told everyone who could play to take up an instrument. The whole table scrambled for them; only Ding and Fengxian took none. “Master Ding may not know how, and that’s fine,” said Baxian. “But you — are your fingers crippled, that you can’t stretch them?” She tossed the clappers into Fengxian’s lap, and they launched into a lively medley. “There is no joy like a family’s joy!” said the old man, delighted. “You girls can all sing and dance. Why not each show what you do best?” Baxian rose and took hold of Shuixian. “Fengxian has always treated her voice like gold and jade; we wouldn’t dare trouble her. The two of us can sing ‘The Goddess of the Luo.’” They had just finished singing and dancing when a maid brought in fruit on a golden platter. No one knew what it was called. “These were brought from Zhenla,” said the old man. “They are called tianpoluo.” He took a handful and set them before Ding. Fengxian was displeased. “Does one love or slight a son-in-law by whether he is rich or poor?” The old man smiled faintly and said nothing. “Father does it because Master Ding is from another county, so he is a guest,” said Baxian. “If it went by age, would Sister Feng be the only one with a shabby little sour scholar of a husband?” Fengxian stayed sullen. She took off her finery, handed the drum and clappers to a maid, and sang a scene from “The Broken Kiln,” her tears falling with her voice. When she had finished she flicked her sleeves and walked straight out, and the whole party was spoiled. “The wench is as contrary as ever,” said Baxian. She went after her, but no one knew where she had gone. Liu, his face lost, also took his leave and went home. Halfway there he found Fengxian sitting by the road. She called him to sit beside her. “You are a man,” she said. “Can’t you do something so the woman who shares your bed can hold up her head? The house of gold is in your books. Do your best!” She lifted her foot. “I left in such a hurry that thorns have torn my lined shoes. The things I gave you — do you have them with you?” Liu brought them out. She took them and changed into them. Liu begged for her worn-out pair. She laughed. “What a rascal you are! Who ever saw a man hoard his own bedfellow’s things in his clothes? If you really love me, here is something I can give you.” She took out a mirror and handed it to him. “If you want to see me, look for me in your books. Otherwise there is no telling when we shall meet again.” With that she vanished. He went home forlorn. When he looked in the mirror, there was Fengxian standing in it with her back to him, as though he were watching her walk away a hundred paces off. Remembering what she had told him, he turned away visitors and shut himself in with his books. One day he saw that the woman in the mirror had suddenly turned to face him, lovely and on the point of smiling. He loved it all the more, and whenever no one was about he would sit face to face with it. After a month or so his ardour began to cool, and he often went out roaming and forgot to come home. When he came back, the figure in the mirror looked wretched, as if weeping. A day later he looked again, and she was standing with her back to him as before. Only then did he understand that it was because he had neglected his studies. So he shut his door and studied day and night without stopping. After a month the figure faced outward again. After that he put it to the test. Whenever something drew him from his work, her face was sad; after a few days of hard study, her face smiled. So he hung it up and faced it morning and night, as if it were his tutor. After two years of this he passed the provincial examination at his first try. “Now I can face my Fengxian!” he said joyfully. He took up the mirror and looked. There she was, as if before his very eyes: her painted brows long and curved, her teeth like melon seeds just showing, her face brimming with joy. He loved her so that he could not take his eyes off her. Suddenly the woman in the mirror laughed and said, “‘A lover in a reflection, a darling in a picture’ — that is just what this is.” Startled and glad, he looked around: Fengxian was already at his side. He took her hand and asked after her father and mother. “Since we parted I have not been home,” she said. “I have been hiding in a cave in the rocks, to share a little of your hardship.” When Liu went to a banquet in the prefectural city, she asked to go with him. They rode in the same carriage, and people face to face with them could not see her. When they were about to go home, she plotted with Liu in secret to make it look as if he had taken a wife in the city. Once home, she began to come out to receive guests and to run the household. Everyone marvelled at her beauty, but no one knew she was a fox. Liu was a protégé of the magistrate of Fuchuan, and went to call on him. There he met Ding, who warmly pressed him to come to his house and entertained him lavishly. “Our wives’ parents have moved again lately,” said Ding. “My wife has gone to visit them and will soon be back. I will send them word, and we will all come to offer our congratulations.” At first Liu had suspected that Ding too was a fox, but when he asked closely about his family and home, he learned that he was the son of a rich Fuchuan merchant. It had happened like this. Ding was coming home at dusk from his country house when he met Shuixian walking alone. Struck by her beauty, he stole a glance at her. She asked to ride along with him. Ding was delighted, took her to his study and lived with her there. She could pass through the chinks of the window lattice, and so he knew she was a fox. “Do not be suspicious of me,” she said. “You are honest and steady, and that is why I chose to trust myself to you.” Ding doted on her, and never took another wife. When Liu came home he borrowed a great family’s spacious house and readied rooms for his guests to feast and rest in, swept and spotless. He had no hangings or furnishings for them, but the next morning he looked and found the rooms splendidly furnished. A few days later, sure enough, more than thirty people arrived bearing banners, coloured silks, wine and gifts, with sedan chairs and horses in a gay throng that filled the steps and overflowed into the lane. Liu bowed the old man, Ding and Hu into the guest hall; Fengxian welcomed her mother and two sisters into the inner rooms. “So the wench is a fine lady now,” said Baxian. “You won’t blame your matchmaker any more. — Do you still have the bracelet and the shoes?” Fengxian dug them out and handed them over. “The shoes are the same as ever,” she said, “but a thousand people have stared them threadbare.” Baxian struck her on the back with the shoes. “That beating is for you to pass on to Master Liu,” she said. Then she threw them into the fire and chanted:
“When you were new, you were like a flower opening;now you are old, you are like a flower fading.I treasured you and never wore you —let Chang’e come and borrow you.”
Shuixian chanted too, on her sister’s behalf:
“Once you sheathed shoots of jade;brought out, you won ten thousand praises.If Chang’e saw you,she would pity you for being far too thin.”
Fengxian stirred the fire and said:
“Night after night you climbed the blue sky;one morning you left the one you loved.You leave behind your slender shapesfor all the world to see.”
Then she pinched the ashes into a dish and heaped them into a dozen or so little piles. Seeing Liu coming, she held out the dish to give it to him, and he saw the dish full of embroidered shoes, all just like the old pair. Baxian rushed out and knocked the dish to the floor. One or two shoes still lay there on the ground, so she bent down and blew on them, and only then did every trace vanish. Next day Ding and his wife left first, because they had far to go. Baxian was enjoying her sister’s company too much to leave; the old man and Hu urged her again and again, and it was noon before she came out and left with the rest. When they had first come, their retinue was so grand that crowds gathered to watch as if at a market. Two bandits caught sight of the beauties and lost their souls over them, and they plotted to rob the party on the road. They watched for it to leave the village and followed. They were never more than a bowshot behind, but however hard they galloped, they could not catch up. At a place where the road ran between two cliffs, the sedan chairs slowed a little. The bandit in front caught up, brandishing his knife and roaring, and all the people fled. He dismounted and lifted the curtain: an old woman sat inside. He was just wondering whether he had seized the mother by mistake when, the moment he looked away, a blade wounded his right arm, and in an instant he was tied up. He stared about him. The cliffs were not cliffs at all but the gate of Pingle city, and the woman in the sedan chair was the mother of a jinshi named Li, coming home from the countryside. The other bandit, arriving after him, had his horse’s legs cut from under it and was bound too. The gatekeepers took them to the prefect, and at the first questioning they confessed. There were notorious robbers at large then who had not been caught; under examination, these turned out to be the very men. The next spring Liu passed the metropolitan examination. Because the visit had invited disaster, Fengxian declined all congratulations from her own family. Liu never took another wife. When he became a secretary in one of the ministries, he took a concubine and had two sons.