董生，字遐思，青州之西鄙人。冬月薄暮，展被于榻而熾炭焉。方將篝燈，適友人招飲，遂扃戶去。至友人所，座有醫人，善太素脈，遍診諸客。末顧王生九思及董曰：「余閱人多矣，脈之奇無如兩君者：貴脈而有賤兆，壽脈而有促征。此非鄙人所敢知也。然而董君實甚。」共驚問之。曰：「某至此亦窮于術，未敢臆決。願兩君自慎之。」二人初聞甚駭，既以為模棱語，置不為意。
董生，字遐思，青州之西鄙人。冬月薄暮，展被于榻而炽炭焉。方将篝灯，适友人招饮，遂扃户去。至友人所，座有医人，善太素脉，遍诊诸客。末顾王生九思及董曰：「余阅人多矣，脉之奇无如两君者：贵脉而有贱兆，寿脉而有促征。此非鄙人所敢知也。然而董君实甚。」共惊问之。曰：「某至此亦穷于术，未敢臆决。愿两君自慎之。」二人初闻甚骇，既以为模棱语，置不为意。
A scholar named Dong, styled Xiasi, lived in the western reaches of Qingzhou. Toward dusk one winter’s day he spread his quilt on the bed and got the brazier burning. He was about to light the lamp when a friend sent to invite him for a drink, so he locked his door and went. Among the company at his friend’s house was a physician skilled in the Taisu art of pulse-reading, who took the pulse of every guest in turn. Last of all he turned to Dong and to another scholar, Wang Jiusi, and said, “I have examined a great many people, but none with pulses as strange as yours, gentlemen. A pulse of high rank, with signs of low station; a pulse of long life, with signs of an early end. This is more than I dare to judge. But it is worse in Mr. Dong.” Everyone was startled and pressed him. “Here my art fails me,” he said. “I dare not guess. I can only hope you two gentlemen will take care.” The two men were alarmed when they first heard it, but then decided it was the usual vague talk and put it out of their minds.
半夜，董歸，見齋門虛掩，大疑。醺中自憶，必去時忙促，故忘扃鍵。入室，未遑爇火，先以手入衾中，探其溫否。才一探入，則膩有臥人。大愕，斂手。急火之，竟為姝麗，韶顏稚齒，神仙不殊。狂喜，戲探下體，則毛尾修然。大懼，欲遁，女已醒，出手捉生臂，問：「君何往？」董益懼，戰慄哀求：「願仙人憐恕！」女笑曰：「何所見而畏我？」董曰：「我不畏首而畏尾。」女又笑曰：「君誤矣。尾于何有？」引董手，強使復探，則髀肉如脂，尻骨童童。笑曰：「何如？醉態朦朧，不知所見伊何，遂誣人若此。」董固喜其麗，至此益惑，反自咎適然之錯。然疑其所來無因。女曰：「君不憶東鄰之黃髮女乎？屈指移居者，已十年矣。爾時我未笄，君垂髫也。」董恍然曰：「卿周氏之阿瑣耶？」女曰：「是矣。」董曰：「卿言之，我仿彿憶之。十年不見，遂苗條如此！然何遽能來？」女曰：「妾適痴郎四五年，翁姑相繼逝，又不幸為文君。剩妾一身，煢無所依。憶孩時相識者惟君，故來相見就。入門已暮，邀飲者適至，遂潛隱以待君歸。待之既久，足冰肌粟，故借被以自溫耳，幸勿見疑。」董喜，解衣共寢，意殊自得。月余，漸羸瘦，家人怪問，輒言不自知。久之，面目益支離，乃懼，復造善脈者診之。醫曰：「此妖脈也。前日之死征驗矣，疾不可為也。」董大哭，不去。醫不得已，為之針手灸臍，而贈以藥。囑曰：「如有所遇，力絕之。」董亦自危。既歸，女笑要之。怫然曰：「勿復相糾纏，我行且死！」走不顧。女大慚，亦怒曰：「汝尚欲生耶！」至夜，董服藥獨寢，甫交睫，夢與女交，醒已遺矣。益恐，移寢于內，妻子夾守之。夢如故。窺女子已失所在。積數日，董吐血斗余而死。
半夜，董归，见斋门虚掩，大疑。醺中自忆，必去时忙促，故忘扃键。入室，未遑爇火，先以手入衾中，探其温否。才一探入，则腻有卧人。大愕，敛手。急火之，竟为姝丽，韶颜稚齿，神仙不殊。狂喜，戏探下体，则毛尾修然。大惧，欲遁，女已醒，出手捉生臂，问：「君何往？」董益惧，战栗哀求：「愿仙人怜恕！」女笑曰：「何所见而畏我？」董曰：「我不畏首而畏尾。」女又笑曰：「君误矣。尾于何有？」引董手，强使复探，则髀肉如脂，尻骨童童。笑曰：「何如？醉态朦胧，不知所见伊何，遂诬人若此。」董固喜其丽，至此益惑，反自咎适然之错。然疑其所来无因。女曰：「君不忆东邻之黄发女乎？屈指移居者，已十年矣。尔时我未笄，君垂髫也。」董恍然曰：「卿周氏之阿琐耶？」女曰：「是矣。」董曰：「卿言之，我仿佛忆之。十年不见，遂苗条如此！然何遽能来？」女曰：「妾适痴郎四五年，翁姑相继逝，又不幸为文君。剩妾一身，茕无所依。忆孩时相识者惟君，故来相见就。入门已暮，邀饮者适至，遂潜隐以待君归。待之既久，足冰肌粟，故借被以自温耳，幸勿见疑。」董喜，解衣共寝，意殊自得。月余，渐羸瘦，家人怪问，辄言不自知。久之，面目益支离，乃惧，复造善脉者诊之。医曰：「此妖脉也。前日之死征验矣，疾不可为也。」董大哭，不去。医不得已，为之针手灸脐，而赠以药。嘱曰：「如有所遇，力绝之。」董亦自危。既归，女笑要之。怫然曰：「勿复相纠缠，我行且死！」走不顾。女大惭，亦怒曰：「汝尚欲生耶！」至夜，董服药独寝，甫交睫，梦与女交，醒已遗矣。益恐，移寝于内，妻子夹守之。梦如故。窥女子已失所在。积数日，董吐血斗余而死。
Dong came home at midnight and found the door of his study pulled to but not locked. He was very puzzled. Through the wine he recalled that he must have left in a hurry and forgotten to lock it. He went in, and before he had time to light a lamp he slipped a hand under the quilt to see if it was warm. No sooner had he reached in than he touched smooth skin: someone was lying there. He snatched his hand back in astonishment. He hurried to light the lamp. It was a beautiful girl, fresh-faced and young, no different from an immortal. Wild with delight, he playfully reached down to feel her lower body, and there was a long, furry tail. In terror he tried to run, but the girl was already awake. She put out a hand and caught his arm. “Where are you going?” she asked. Dong was more frightened still. Trembling, he begged, “Have pity on me, immortal lady, and spare me!” The girl laughed. “What did you see that you’re afraid of me?” “It’s not your head I’m afraid of,” said Dong, “it’s your tail.” She laughed again. “You’re mistaken. What tail?” She took his hand and made him feel again: her thighs were smooth as cream, and the base of her spine was bare. “Well?” she laughed. “You’re so fuddled with wine you don’t know what you saw, and then you slander a person like this.” Dong had been taken with her beauty from the first; now he was even more bewitched, and blamed himself for the mistake. Still, he could not see how she came to be there. “Don’t you remember the yellow-haired girl who lived next door to the east?” she said. “It’s ten years now since we moved away. In those days I hadn’t yet put up my hair, and yours still hung loose.” It came back to Dong. “Are you Asuo, of the Zhou family?” “I am,” she said. “Now you say it, I seem to remember,” said Dong. “Ten years without seeing you, and you’ve grown so slender! But how is it you’ve come here all of a sudden?” “I was married four or five years to a simpleton,” she said. “His parents died one after the other, and then, like Wenjun, I had the misfortune to lose my husband. That left me all alone, with no one to turn to. The only one I remembered from childhood was you, so I came to see you. It was dusk when I got here, just as the man came to invite you to drink, so I hid and waited for you to come back. I waited so long my feet were ice and my skin was all gooseflesh, so I borrowed your quilt to warm myself. Please don’t think ill of me.” Dong was delighted. He undressed and went to bed with her, very pleased with himself. After a month or so he began to waste away. When his household asked what was wrong, he always said he didn’t know. In time his face grew gaunt and haggard. Then he took fright and went back to the pulse-reader. “This is the pulse of a man possessed by an evil spirit,” said the physician. “The sign of death I saw the other day has come true. Nothing can be done.” Dong wept aloud and would not leave. The physician had no choice: he put needles in Dong’s hands, burned moxa on his navel, and gave him medicine. “If you meet with anything,” he told him, “break it off with all your strength.” Dong too feared for himself. When he got home, the girl smiled and beckoned him. He said angrily, “Leave me alone! I’m going to die!” and walked off without looking back. She was deeply ashamed, then angry too. “So you still want to live, do you!” That night Dong took his medicine and slept alone. No sooner had he closed his eyes than he dreamed he was with the girl, and when he woke he had spent himself. More frightened than ever, he moved his bed to the inner rooms, with his wife and children keeping watch on either side. The dreams came as before. When they looked for the girl, she was gone. A few days later Dong coughed up more than a peck of blood and died.
王九思在齋中，見一女子來，悅其美而私之。詰所自，曰：「妾遐思之鄰也。渠舊與妾善，不意為狐惑而死。此輩妖氣可畏，讀書人宜慎相防。」王益佩之，遂相歡待。居數日，迷罔病瘠。忽夢董曰：「與君好者狐也。殺我矣，又欲殺我友。我已訴之冥府，泄此幽憤。七日之夜，當炷香室外，勿忘卻！」醒而異之。謂女曰：「我病甚，恐將委溝壑，或勸勿室也。」女曰：「命當壽，室亦生；不壽，勿室亦死也。」坐與調笑。王心不能自持，又亂之。已而悔之，而不能絕。及暮，插香戶上。女來，拔棄之。夜又夢董來，讓其違囑。次夜，暗囑家人，俟寢後潛炷之。女在榻上，忽驚曰：「又置香耶？」王言不知。女急起得香，又折滅之。入曰：「誰教君為此者？」王曰：「或室人懮病，信巫家作厭禳耳。」女彷徨不樂。家人潛窺香滅，又炷之。女忽嘆曰：「君福澤良厚。我誤害遐思而奔子，誠我之過。我將與彼就質于冥曹。君如不忘夙好，勿壞我皮囊也。」逡巡下榻，仆地而死。燭之，狐也。猶恐其活，遽呼家人，剝其革而懸焉。王病甚，見狐來曰：「我訴諸法曹，法曹謂董君見色而動，死當其罪；但咎我不當惑人，追金丹去，復令還生。皮囊何在？」曰：「家人不知，已脫之矣。」狐慘然曰：「余殺人多矣，今死已晚；然忍哉君乎！」恨恨而去。王病幾危，半年乃瘥。
王九思在斋中，见一女子来，悦其美而私之。诘所自，曰：「妾遐思之邻也。渠旧与妾善，不意为狐惑而死。此辈妖气可畏，读书人宜慎相防。」王益佩之，遂相欢待。居数日，迷罔病瘠。忽梦董曰：「与君好者狐也。杀我矣，又欲杀我友。我已诉之冥府，泄此幽愤。七日之夜，当炷香室外，勿忘却！」醒而异之。谓女曰：「我病甚，恐将委沟壑，或劝勿室也。」女曰：「命当寿，室亦生；不寿，勿室亦死也。」坐与调笑。王心不能自持，又乱之。已而悔之，而不能绝。及暮，插香户上。女来，拔弃之。夜又梦董来，让其违嘱。次夜，暗嘱家人，俟寝后潜炷之。女在榻上，忽惊曰：「又置香耶？」王言不知。女急起得香，又折灭之。入曰：「谁教君为此者？」王曰：「或室人懮病，信巫家作厌禳耳。」女彷徨不乐。家人潜窥香灭，又炷之。女忽叹曰：「君福泽良厚。我误害遐思而奔子，诚我之过。我将与彼就质于冥曹。君如不忘夙好，勿坏我皮囊也。」逡巡下榻，仆地而死。烛之，狐也。犹恐其活，遽呼家人，剥其革而悬焉。王病甚，见狐来曰：「我诉诸法曹，法曹谓董君见色而动，死当其罪；但咎我不当惑人，追金丹去，复令还生。皮囊何在？」曰：「家人不知，已脱之矣。」狐惨然曰：「余杀人多矣，今死已晚；然忍哉君乎！」恨恨而去。王病几危，半年乃瘥。
Wang Jiusi was in his study when a young woman came to him. Taken with her beauty, he lay with her. When he asked where she came from, she said, “I was Xiasi’s neighbour. He and I were close once. Who would have thought he would be bewitched by a fox and die of it? The evil air of those creatures is a fearful thing. A scholar should be on his guard.” Wang thought all the better of her, and they took their pleasure together. After a few days he grew dazed, sick and thin. Then he dreamed that Dong said to him, “The one you are making love to is a fox. She has killed me, and now she wants to kill my friend. I have brought a complaint against her before the court of the underworld, to give vent to my grievance among the dead. On the night of the seventh day, burn incense outside your room. Don’t forget!” Wang woke and thought it strange. He said to the woman, “I am very ill. I’m afraid I’ll soon end up in a ditch. Someone has advised me to keep away from the bedchamber.” “If you are fated to live long,” she said, “you will live though you go to bed. If not, you will die though you keep away.” She sat with him, teasing and laughing, until Wang could not hold himself back and lay with her again. Afterwards he regretted it, but he could not break it off. At dusk he stuck incense in the door. The woman came, pulled it out and threw it away. That night he dreamed again that Dong came and reproached him for ignoring his instructions. The next night he secretly told his household to wait until he was in bed and then quietly light incense. The woman was on the bed when she started up. “Incense again?” Wang said he knew nothing about it. She jumped up, found the incense, snapped it and put it out. Coming back in she said, “Who told you to do this?” “Perhaps my wife is worried about my illness,” said Wang, “and has listened to some witch and is working a charm against evil.” The woman paced about, unhappy. The household, watching in secret, saw that the incense had gone out and lit it again. Suddenly she sighed. “Your fortune is truly great. I was wrong to harm Xiasi and then run to you; the fault is mine. I am going to face him before the court of the underworld. If you have not forgotten our love, do not damage my skin.” Slowly she got down from the bed, fell to the floor and died. He held a candle to her: it was a fox. Still afraid it might come back to life, he hurriedly called his household, and they stripped off its pelt and hung it up. Wang was gravely ill when he saw the fox come to him. “I pleaded my case before the judge,” it said, “and the judge said that Mr. Dong was stirred by beauty when he saw it and deserved his death. But he blamed me for bewitching people, took back my golden elixir, and sent me back to life. Where is my skin?” “My household didn’t know,” said Wang. “They have already stripped it off.” The fox said bitterly, “I have killed many men. It is late for me to die now. But how heartless you are!” And it went away full of resentment. Wang’s illness nearly killed him; only after half a year did he recover.