In the rustic heartland, a destitute lad found his life entangled with the enigmatic charms of a beguiling woman. Little did he know, this chance encounter would lead him on a journey of deception, unbridled desires, and an unforeseen twist of divine destiny.
A country lad named Ma Tianrong, in his twenties, became a widower and couldn’t remarry due to his family’s poverty. One day, while he was weeding in the field, he saw a well-dressed young woman stepping on the rice seedlings as she crossed the field ridge. She had a rosy complexion and a seductive allure. Ma Tianrong suspected that she was lost, and seeing no one around, he approached her to tease and flirt with her. The young woman seemed to be receptive to his advances. Ma Tianrong wanted to be intimate with her, and the young woman smiled and said, “How can we do such things in broad daylight? When you return home, leave your door slightly ajar and wait for me. I will come to you in the dark of night.” Ma Tianrong didn’t believe her, but the young woman swore an oath. Ma Tianrong told her his exact location, and she left.
Sure enough, in the middle of the night, the young woman came. They shared a bed and found pleasure in each other’s company. Ma Tianrong felt that the young woman’s skin was exceptionally delicate. When he lit a lamp, he noticed that her skin was red and thin, just like a newborn baby’s. Her whole body was covered in fine hair, which struck him as peculiar. He also felt suspicious about the young woman’s origin, wondering if she might be a fox spirit in disguise. So, half-jokingly, he asked if she was a fox spirit, and the young woman admitted it without hesitation.
Ma Tianrong said, “Since you are a celestial being, you must naturally get whatever you desire. Since I have received your favor, why not bring me a few taels of silver to alleviate my current poverty?” The young woman agreed. The next night, she came, and Ma Tianrong asked her for the silver. The young woman pretended to be surprised and said, “Unfortunately, I forgot.” As she was about to leave, Ma Tianrong reminded her not to forget the silver next time.
Several days later, Ma Tianrong asked her again, “You haven’t forgotten my request, have you?” The young woman smiled and asked Ma Tianrong to wait a few more days. After a few days passed, Ma Tianrong once again asked her for the silver. The young woman then smiled and took out two ingots of white silver from her sleeve, estimating to be about five or six taels of silver. The silver ingots had delicate patterns on the edges, making them elegant and lovely. Ma Tianrong was very pleased and kept them in a box.
Six months later, Ma Tianrong urgently needed money and showed the silver ingots to someone. That person said, “This is tin,” and bit into it with their teeth, immediately revealing it was not real silver. Ma Tianrong was greatly shocked and put away the two pieces of tin ingots, returning home. In the night, the young woman came, and Ma Tianrong angrily accused her of deception. However, the young woman smiled and said, “Your fate is thin; if I had given you real silver, you might not have the fortune to enjoy it.” With that, she smiled charmingly and brushed the matter aside.
Ma Tianrong said, “I’ve heard that fox spirits are all exceptionally beautiful and enchanting, but it seems that’s not entirely true.” The young woman replied, “We fox spirits can change our appearance at will depending on the person we interact with. Even if I were to gift you a stunning beauty, you wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy her, considering you don’t even have the fortune of possessing a tael or two of silver. With my ugliness and foolishness, I may not be suitable for someone of high status, but compared to those hunched and big-footed women, I can also be considered a beauty.”
After a few months, the young woman suddenly gave three taels of silver to Ma Tianrong, saying, “You’ve repeatedly asked me for silver, but I refrained from giving it to you because of your ill fate, thinking you shouldn’t possess silver. Now that you’re about to marry, I’m giving you this money for the betrothal of a woman, also as a farewell gift.” Ma Tianrong explained that he had no intention of getting married. The young woman said, “A matchmaker will come to your door within a day or two, for sure.” Ma Tianrong asked, “What does the new bride look like?” The young woman replied, “If you desire a beauty, she will indeed be a beauty.” Ma Tianrong said, “I dare not hope for a beauty. But how can three taels of silver buy a woman?” The young woman said, “This is arranged by the Matchmaker of the Moon, something beyond human control.” Ma Tianrong then asked, “Why are you suddenly saying goodbye to me?” The young woman said, “I come and go tirelessly every day; it’s not a long-term solution. You have your own wife, so what’s the point of us continuing like this?” After daybreak, the young woman hurriedly left. Before parting, she gave Ma Tianrong a small amount of yellow powder and said, “After we part ways, you might fall ill. Take this powder, and it should cure your illness.”
The next day, indeed, a matchmaker came to propose a marriage. Ma Tianrong first inquired about the appearance of the woman. The matchmaker said, “The woman’s appearance is neither beautiful nor ugly.” Ma Tianrong then asked, “How much is the bride price?” The matchmaker replied, “It would be about four to five taels of silver.” Ma Tianrong said that the bride price was not a problem but insisted on seeing the woman in person. The matchmaker was concerned that a respectable woman might not want to appear in public. In the end, they agreed to visit the woman’s family together. The matchmaker instructed Ma Tianrong to be discreet and not to reveal his intentions.
When they arrived at the village where the woman’s family lived, the matchmaker went ahead, asking Ma Tianrong to wait outside the village. After a considerable time, the matchmaker returned and said, “Everything is settled. I have a cousin who is a neighbor of the woman in the same courtyard. I went to their house just now and saw the woman sitting inside. You can pretend to visit my cousin’s house, and as you pass by her door, you can have a closer look.” Ma Tianrong followed the matchmaker’s instructions.
Indeed, he saw the woman sitting inside her house. Her upper body was lying on the bed, and someone was scratching her back. As Ma Tianrong hurriedly passed by her door, his gaze quickly swept over the woman’s face, confirming that her appearance matched what the matchmaker had described. When they discussed the bride price, the woman’s family did not haggle over the amount of silver; they only requested one or two taels of silver to buy the woman some new clothes and to send her off. Ma Tianrong negotiated a bit before handing over the silver. As a result, the bride price, along with the fees for thanking the matchmaker and the marriage contract scribe, added up to exactly three taels of silver, without spending an extra penny.
It was only on the auspicious day chosen for the wedding ceremony when Ma Tianrong finally realized that the woman had a hump on her back, a neck that resembled a turtle’s, and her feet under the skirt were as large as small boats, about one foot long. It was at that moment that Ma Tianrong awakened to the fact that the words spoken by the fox woman had all been purposeful.
The chronicler of strange tales said, “The appearance of fox spirits changes with different individuals, perhaps as a self-deprecating jest by the fox woman about her own appearance. However, her words about blessings and fortunes are truly convincing. I often say: Without the ancestral generations’ cultivation, one cannot attain high office; and without one’s own generations of cultivation, it is impossible to marry a beautiful woman as a wife. Those who believe in karma and retribution surely won’t find my words overly broad or unbelievable!”
《毛狐》
农子马天荣，年二十馀，丧偶，贫不能娶。偶芸田间，见少妇盛妆，践禾越陌而过，貌赤色，致亦风流。马疑其迷途，顾四野无人，戏挑之，妇亦微纳。欲与野合，笑曰：“青天白日，宁宜为此？子归，掩门相候，昏夜我当至。”马不信，妇矢之。马乃以门户向背具告之，妇乃去。夜分，果至，遂相悦爱。觉其肤肌嫩甚，火之，肤赤薄如婴儿，细毛遍体，异之。又疑其踪迹无据，自念得非狐耶？遂戏相诘。妇亦自认不讳。
马曰：“既为仙人，自当无求不得。既蒙缱绻，宁不以数金济我贫？”妇诺之。次夜来，马索金，妇故愕曰：“适忘之。”将去，马又嘱。至夜，问：“所乞或勿忘耶？”妇笑，请以异日。逾数日，马复索。妇笑向袖中出白金二铤，约五六金，翘边细纹，雅可爱玩。马喜，深藏于椟。积半岁，偶需金，因持示人。人曰：“是锡也。”以齿龁之，应口而落。马大骇，收藏而归。至夜，妇至，愤致诮让。妇笑曰：“子命薄，真金不能任也。”一笑而罢。
马曰：“闻狐仙皆国色，殊亦不然。”妇曰：“吾等皆随人现化。子且无一金之福，落雁沉鱼，何能消受？以我蠢陋，固不足以奉上流，然较之大足驼背者，即为国色。”过数月，忽以三金赠马，曰：“子屡相索，我以子命不应有藏金。今媒聘有期，请以一妇之资相馈，亦借以赠别。”马自白无聘妇之说。妇曰：“一二日，自当有媒来。”马问：“所言姿貌如何？”曰：“子思国色，自当是国色。”马曰：“此即不敢望。但三金何能买妇？”妇曰：“此月老注定，非人力也。”马问：“何遽言别？”曰：“戴月披星，终非了局。使君自有妇，搪塞何为？”天明而去。授黄末一刀圭，曰：“别后恐病，服此可疗。”
次日，果有媒来。先诘女貌，答：“在妍媸之间。”“聘金几何？”“约四五数。”马不难其价，而必欲一亲见其人。媒恐良家子不肯炫露。既而约与俱去，相机因便。既至其村，媒先往，使马待诸村外。久之，来曰：“谐矣。余表亲与同院居，适往见女，坐室中。请即伪为谒表亲者而过之，咫尺可相窥也。”马从之。果见女子坐堂中，伏体于床，倩人爬背。马趋过，掠之以目，貌诚如媒言。及议聘，并不争直，但求得一二金，妆女出阁。马益廉之，乃纳金，并酬媒氏及书券者，计三两已尽，亦未多费一文。择吉迎女归，入门，则胸背皆驼，项缩如龟，下视裙底，莲舡盈尺。乃悟狐言之有因也。
异史氏曰：随人现化，或狐女之自为解嘲，然其言福泽，良可深信。余每谓：非祖宗数世之修行，不可以博高官；非本身数世之修行，不可以得佳人。信因果者，必不以我言为河汉也。