南陽鄂氏，患狐，金錢什物，輒被竊去。迕之，祟益甚。鄂有甥姬生，名士不羈，焚香代為禱免，卒不應；又祝舍外祖使臨己家，亦不應。眾笑之。生曰：「彼能幻變，必有人心。我固將引之，俾入正果。」數日輒一往祝之。雖不見驗，然生所至，狐遂不擾，以故，鄂常止生宿。生夜望空請見，邀益堅。一日，生歸，獨坐齋中，忽房門緩緩自開。生起致敬曰：「狐兄來耶？」殊寂無聲。一夜，門自開。生曰：「倘是狐兄降臨，固小生所禱祝而求者，何妨即賜光霽？」卻又寂然。案頭有錢二百，及明失之。生至夜，增以數百。中宵，聞布幄鏗然。生曰：「來耶？敬具時銅數百備用。僕雖不充裕，然非鄙吝者。若緩急有需，無妨質言，何必盜竊？」少間，視錢，脫去二百。生仍置故處，數夜不復失。有熟雞，欲供客而失之。生至夕，又益以酒，而狐從此絕跡矣。鄂家祟如故。生又往祝曰：「僕設錢而子不取，設酒而子不飲；我外祖衰邁，無為久祟之。僕備有不腆之物，夜當憑汝自取。」乃以錢十千、酒一罇，兩雞皆聶切，陳几上。生臥其傍，終夜無聲，錢物如故。狐怪從此亦絕。生一日晚歸，啟齋門，見案上酒一壺，燂雞盈盤，錢四百，以赤繩貫之，即前日所失物也。知狐之報。嗅酒而香，酌之色碧綠，飲之甚醇。壺盡半酣，覺心中貪念頓生，驀然欲作賊。便啟戶出。思村中一富室，遂往越其牆。牆雖高，一躍上下，如有翅翎。入其齋，竊取貂裘、金鼎而出。歸置床頭，始就枕眠。天明，攜入內室。妻驚問之，生囁嚅而告，有喜色。妻駭曰：「君素剛直，何忽作賊！」生恬然不為怪，因述狐之有情。妻恍然悟曰：「是必酒中之狐毒也。」因念丹砂可以卻邪，遂研入酒，飲生。少頃，生忽失聲曰：「我奈何做賊！」妻代解其故，爽然自失。又聞富室被盜，譟傳里黨。生終日不食，莫知所處。妻為之謀，使乘夜拋其牆內。生從之。富室復得故物，事亦遂寢。生歲試冠軍，又舉行優，應受倍賞。及發落之期，道署梁上黏一帖云：「姬某作賊，偷某家裘、鼎，何為行優？」梁最高，非跋足可黏。文宗疑之，執帖問生。生愕然，思此事除妻外無知者；況署中深密，何由而至？因悟曰：「此必狐之為也。」遂緬述無諱，文宗賞禮有加焉。生每自念：無所取罪於狐，所以屢陷之者，亦小人之恥獨為小人耳。
南陽鄂家受到狐狸騷擾，錢財和日用器物常常被偷走。要是觸犯了它，它就鬧得更加厲害。鄂家有個外孫姬生，是個有名氣的讀書人，性情不受拘束。他焚香，替鄂家祈求狐狸停止騷擾，始終沒有回應；又祈求它放過外祖父，改到自己家來，也沒有回應。眾人都笑他。姬生說：「它既然能夠變化形貌，就一定也有人一樣的心思。我本來就想引導它，讓它修成正果。」每隔幾天，他就去祈求一次。雖然沒有看到效果，但姬生到哪裡，狐狸就不在那裡搗亂，因此鄂家常常留他過夜。姬生夜裡對著空中請求狐狸現身，邀請得越來越誠懇。有一天，姬生回家，獨自坐在書房裡，忽然房門緩緩地自己開了。他起身行禮，說：「狐兄來了麼？」四周卻一片寂靜，沒有聲音。又有一夜，房門自己開了。姬生說：「如果是狐兄光臨，這正是我一再祈求的事，何妨讓我見見你的風采？」仍舊沒有動靜。桌上原有二百文錢，到天亮時不見了。姬生到了晚上，又添上幾百文錢。半夜，他聽見布帳裡傳來一聲金屬碰撞的響聲，便說：「來了麼？我特意備下幾百文現錢，供你使用。我雖然不富裕，卻不是個吝嗇的人。如果你有急用，儘管直說，何必偷竊呢？」過了一會兒，他檢視那些錢，少了二百文。他仍把剩下的錢放在原處，接連幾個夜晚都沒有再丟。後來，有一隻準備招待客人的熟雞被偷走了。姬生當晚又添上酒，可狐狸從此不再來了。鄂家卻仍然受到騷擾。姬生又去祈求，說：「我擺出錢，你不取；擺出酒，你不喝。我外祖父年老體衰，不要再長期折磨他了。我備下了一些微薄的東西，今晚任你來取。」於是把一萬文錢、一罈酒和兩隻切成薄片的雞放在桌上，自己躺在旁邊。一整夜都沒有聲音，錢和食物也原樣未動。從此，鄂家的狐狸也不再作怪了。一天，姬生很晚才回家，打開書房門，看見桌上有一壺酒、一盤滿滿的熟雞，還有用紅繩穿起來的四百文錢，正是先前丟失的那些東西。他知道這是狐狸在回報自己。那酒聞起來很香，倒出來是碧綠色，喝起來十分醇厚。一壺喝完，他已有幾分醉意，忽然覺得心裡生出貪念，一下子想去做賊，便開門出去了。他想到村裡的一戶富人家，就去翻越那家的院牆。牆雖然高，他卻一躍便翻了過去，好像長了翅膀。他進了那家的書房，偷了貂裘和金鼎出來。回家後，把東西放在床頭，才躺下睡覺。天亮後，他把東西拿進內室。妻子吃驚地問是從哪裡來的，他吞吞吐吐地說了經過，臉上還帶著喜色。妻子驚駭地說：「你向來剛正，怎麼忽然做起賊來了！」姬生卻很坦然，絲毫不覺得奇怪，接著又說起狐狸如何有情有義。妻子猛然明白過來，說：「這一定是酒裡有狐狸下的毒。」她想到丹砂可以驅邪，就把丹砂研碎，放進酒裡，讓姬生喝下。過了一會兒，姬生忽然驚叫道：「我怎麼會做賊！」妻子替他解釋了緣由，他頓時茫然失措。又聽說那戶富人家遭了盜竊，訊息在鄰里傳得沸沸揚揚。他一整天都不吃飯，不知道該怎麼辦。妻子替他想了個辦法，讓他趁夜把東西扔回那家的院牆裡。他照著做了。那戶人家找回失物，事情也就平息下來。姬生在歲試中考了第一，又被推舉為品行優秀的人，應該得到加倍的獎賞。到了公佈考核結果、發放獎賞的日子，學道衙門的梁上貼著一張紙，寫道：「姬某做賊，偷了某家的貂裘和金鼎，為什麼還評他品行優秀？」那根梁極高，踮起腳也不可能把紙貼上去。學道起了疑心，拿著紙條詢問姬生。姬生十分驚愕，想到這件事除了妻子，再沒有別人知道；何況衙門深處戒備嚴密，誰能進來呢？他於是明白過來，說：「這一定是狐狸乾的。」便把事情的經過詳細說出，毫不隱瞞。學道反而更加讚賞、禮遇他。姬生常常自己想：他並沒有得罪狐狸，狐狸卻一再陷害他，不過也像那些小人一樣，羞於只有自己做小人罷了。
南阳鄂氏，患狐，金钱什物，辄被窃去。迕之，祟益甚。鄂有甥姬生，名士不羁，焚香代为祷免，卒不应；又祝舍外祖使临己家，亦不应。众笑之。生曰：「彼能幻变，必有人心。我固将引之，俾入正果。」数日辄一往祝之。虽不见验，然生所至，狐遂不扰，以故，鄂常止生宿。生夜望空请见，邀益坚。一日，生归，独坐斋中，忽房门缓缓自开。生起致敬曰：「狐兄来耶？」殊寂无声。一夜，门自开。生曰：「倘是狐兄降临，固小生所祷祝而求者，何妨即赐光霁？」却又寂然。案头有钱二百，及明失之。生至夜，增以数百。中宵，闻布幄铿然。生曰：「来耶？敬具时铜数百备用。仆虽不充裕，然非鄙吝者。若缓急有需，无妨质言，何必盗窃？」少间，视钱，脱去二百。生仍置故处，数夜不复失。有熟鸡，欲供客而失之。生至夕，又益以酒，而狐从此绝迹矣。鄂家祟如故。生又往祝曰：「仆设钱而子不取，设酒而子不饮；我外祖衰迈，无为久祟之。仆备有不腆之物，夜当凭汝自取。」乃以钱十千、酒一罇，两鸡皆聂切，陈几上。生卧其傍，终夜无声，钱物如故。狐怪从此亦绝。生一日晚归，启斋门，见案上酒一壶，燂鸡盈盘，钱四百，以赤绳贯之，即前日所失物也。知狐之报。嗅酒而香，酌之色碧绿，饮之甚醇。壶尽半酣，觉心中贪念顿生，蓦然欲作贼。便启户出。思村中一富室，遂往越其墙。墙虽高，一跃上下，如有翅翎。入其斋，窃取貂裘、金鼎而出。归置床头，始就枕眠。天明，携入内室。妻惊问之，生嗫嚅而告，有喜色。妻骇曰：「君素刚直，何忽作贼！」生恬然不为怪，因述狐之有情。妻恍然悟曰：「是必酒中之狐毒也。」因念丹砂可以却邪，遂研入酒，饮生。少顷，生忽失声曰：「我奈何做贼！」妻代解其故，爽然自失。又闻富室被盗，噪传里党。生终日不食，莫知所处。妻为之谋，使乘夜抛其墙内。生从之。富室复得故物，事亦遂寝。生岁试冠军，又举行优，应受倍赏。及发落之期，道署梁上黏一帖云：「姬某作贼，偷某家裘、鼎，何为行优？」梁最高，非跋足可黏。文宗疑之，执帖问生。生愕然，思此事除妻外无知者；况署中深密，何由而至？因悟曰：「此必狐之为也。」遂缅述无讳，文宗赏礼有加焉。生每自念：无所取罪于狐，所以屡陷之者，亦小人之耻独为小人耳。
南阳鄂家受到狐狸骚扰，钱财和日用器物常常被偷走。要是触犯了它，它就闹得更加厉害。鄂家有个外孙姬生，是个有名气的读书人，性情不受拘束。他焚香，替鄂家祈求狐狸停止骚扰，始终没有回应；又祈求它放过外祖父，改到自己家来，也没有回应。众人都笑他。姬生说：“它既然能够变化形貌，就一定也有人一样的心思。我本来就想引导它，让它修成正果。”每隔几天，他就去祈求一次。虽然没有看到效果，但姬生到哪里，狐狸就不在那里捣乱，因此鄂家常常留他过夜。姬生夜里对着空中请求狐狸现身，邀请得越来越诚恳。有一天，姬生回家，独自坐在书房里，忽然房门缓缓地自己开了。他起身行礼，说：“狐兄来了么？”四周却一片寂静，没有声音。又有一夜，房门自己开了。姬生说：“如果是狐兄光临，这正是我一再祈求的事，何妨让我见见你的风采？”仍旧没有动静。桌上原有二百文钱，到天亮时不见了。姬生到了晚上，又添上几百文钱。半夜，他听见布帐里传来一声金属碰撞的响声，便说：“来了么？我特意备下几百文现钱，供你使用。我虽然不富裕，却不是个吝啬的人。如果你有急用，尽管直说，何必偷窃呢？”过了一会儿，他查看那些钱，少了二百文。他仍把剩下的钱放在原处，接连几个夜晚都没有再丢。后来，有一只准备招待客人的熟鸡被偷走了。姬生当晚又添上酒，可狐狸从此不再来了。鄂家却仍然受到骚扰。姬生又去祈求，说：“我摆出钱，你不取；摆出酒，你不喝。我外祖父年老体衰，不要再长期折磨他了。我备下了一些微薄的东西，今晚任你来取。”于是把一万文钱、一坛酒和两只切成薄片的鸡放在桌上，自己躺在旁边。一整夜都没有声音，钱和食物也原样未动。从此，鄂家的狐狸也不再作怪了。一天，姬生很晚才回家，打开书房门，看见桌上有一壶酒、一盘满满的熟鸡，还有用红绳穿起来的四百文钱，正是先前丢失的那些东西。他知道这是狐狸在回报自己。那酒闻起来很香，倒出来是碧绿色，喝起来十分醇厚。一壶喝完，他已有几分醉意，忽然觉得心里生出贪念，一下子想去做贼，便开门出去了。他想到村里的一户富人家，就去翻越那家的院墙。墙虽然高，他却一跃便翻了过去，好像长了翅膀。他进了那家的书房，偷了貂裘和金鼎出来。回家后，把东西放在床头，才躺下睡觉。天亮后，他把东西拿进内室。妻子吃惊地问是从哪里来的，他吞吞吐吐地说了经过，脸上还带着喜色。妻子惊骇地说：“你向来刚正，怎么忽然做起贼来了！”姬生却很坦然，丝毫不觉得奇怪，接着又说起狐狸如何有情有义。妻子猛然明白过来，说：“这一定是酒里有狐狸下的毒。”她想到丹砂可以驱邪，就把丹砂研碎，放进酒里，让姬生喝下。过了一会儿，姬生忽然惊叫道：“我怎么会做贼！”妻子替他解释了缘由，他顿时茫然失措。又听说那户富人家遭了盗窃，消息在邻里传得沸沸扬扬。他一整天都不吃饭，不知道该怎么办。妻子替他想了个办法，让他趁夜把东西扔回那家的院墙里。他照着做了。那户人家找回失物，事情也就平息下来。姬生在岁试中考了第一，又被推举为品行优秀的人，应该得到加倍的奖赏。到了公布考核结果、发放奖赏的日子，学道衙门的梁上贴着一张纸，写道：“姬某做贼，偷了某家的貂裘和金鼎，为什么还评他品行优秀？”那根梁极高，踮起脚也不可能把纸贴上去。学道起了疑心，拿着纸条询问姬生。姬生十分惊愕，想到这件事除了妻子，再没有别人知道；何况衙门深处戒备严密，谁能进来呢？他于是明白过来，说：“这一定是狐狸干的。”便把事情的经过详细说出，毫不隐瞒。学道反而更加赞赏、礼遇他。姬生常常自己想：他并没有得罪狐狸，狐狸却一再陷害他，不过也像那些小人一样，羞于只有自己做小人罢了。
The E family of Nanyang was troubled by a fox. Money and household things kept being stolen. If they crossed it, the haunting grew worse. E had a grandson by his daughter, a scholar named Ji, a man of some name and free ways. He burned incense and prayed on the family’s behalf for the fox to leave them alone, but in the end got no answer. He also prayed that it would leave his grandfather and come to his own house instead. Again no answer. Everyone laughed at him. Ji said, “A creature that can change its shape must have a human heart. I mean to lead it, so that it comes to the true path.” Every few days he went and prayed to it. Nothing came of it, but wherever Ji was, the fox did not make trouble, and so E often kept him to stay the night. At night Ji would gaze into the empty air and beg it to show itself, more and more earnestly. One day Ji went home and was sitting alone in his study when the door slowly opened by itself. Ji rose, bowed and said, “Have you come, brother fox?” There was utter silence. One night the door opened by itself. Ji said, “If it is you, brother fox, who have come down to me, this is just what I have prayed and begged for. Why not grant me the brightness of your presence?” Again silence. There were two hundred cash on his desk; by morning they were gone. That night Ji added several hundred more. In the middle of the night he heard a clink from the cloth bed-curtain. “Have you come?” said Ji. “I have respectfully set out a few hundred coppers for your use. I am not well off, but I am no miser. If you are ever in need, you have only to say so plainly. Why steal?” After a little he looked at the money: two hundred were gone. Ji left the rest where it was, and for several nights no more went missing. He had a cooked chicken meant for a guest, and it went missing. That evening Ji set out wine as well, but from then on the fox left no trace. At E’s house the haunting went on as before. Ji went again and prayed: “I set out money and you do not take it; I set out wine and you do not drink. My grandfather is old and frail. Do not keep haunting him. I have prepared some poor offerings; tonight you may help yourself as you please.” He laid ten thousand cash, a jar of wine and two chickens, sliced thin, on the table, and lay down beside them. All night there was no sound, and the money and food were untouched. From then on the fox’s mischief stopped there too. One day Ji came home late and opened the study door to find on the desk a pot of wine, a plate heaped with cooked chicken, and four hundred cash strung on a red cord — the very things he had lost before. He knew it was the fox repaying him. The wine smelled fragrant; poured out, it was jade green; drunk, it was very mellow. By the time the pot was empty he was half drunk, and he felt a sudden greed rise in his heart. All at once he wanted to go thieving. He opened the door and went out. He thought of a rich household in the village, went there and climbed its wall. High as the wall was, he went up and over at a single bound, as if he had wings. He got into the study, stole a sable coat and a gold tripod, and came away. He brought them home, put them by his bed, and only then lay down to sleep. At daybreak he carried them into the inner rooms. His wife, startled, asked about them. Ji, stammering, told her, and looked pleased. His wife was aghast. “You have always been upright. How can you suddenly turn thief?” Ji was perfectly calm and saw nothing strange in it, and told her how kind the fox had been. His wife suddenly understood. “It must be the fox’s poison in the wine.” Remembering that cinnabar drives off evil, she ground some into wine and made him drink it. In a moment Ji cried out, “How could I have turned thief!” His wife explained what had happened, and he was dazed with dismay. Then he heard that the rich household had been robbed; the whole neighbourhood was buzzing with it. Ji went all day without eating, not knowing what to do. His wife made a plan for him: under cover of night he should throw the things back over the wall. Ji did so. The rich household got its things back, and the matter was dropped. At the annual examination Ji came out first, and he was also recommended for outstanding conduct, which entitled him to a double reward. When the day came to announce the results, a notice was found pasted on a beam in the offices of the Examiner: “Ji So-and-so turned thief and stole a coat and a tripod from such-and-such a family. How is he outstanding in conduct?” The beam was very high; no one could have pasted it there standing on tiptoe. The Examiner was suspicious, and took the notice to question Ji. Ji was stunned. No one but his wife knew of this, he thought; and the offices lay deep inside and were closely guarded — how could anyone have got in? Then he understood. “This must be the fox’s doing.” So he told the whole story in detail, hiding nothing, and the Examiner treated him with even greater favour. Ji often thought it over: he had done nothing to offend the fox. That it kept trying to trap him was only the way of the petty man, who is ashamed to be petty alone.