The following story is from ‘Gossips from the Micro-reading Hall’.
Textile merchant Jiang always walked around with his big floral colour dog. On one such walk, he met an old man who stopped him. Jiang asked for the reason as he had never met this person before. The old man suddenly kow-towed and said, ‘I am actually a fox and had wrongly killed you in our previous existence. Three days later you will get you dog to sever my throat (as revenge). All these are predestined and I dare not try to escape the punishment. However, I have thought it over that my wrong had happened more than a hundred years ago, and since then, you have been reborn to become a human being and I have been downgraded as a fox. What satisfaction you will get in seeing me being killed by the dog? Moreover, you could not even recall about the incident now. I am willing to offer my daughter to you as penance for my sins.’
Jiang said, ‘I would not want to have anything to do with a fox, nor I want to take advantage of this situation to have your daughter. I can forgive you but what must I do to ensure that my dog would not mow you down when the time comes?’
The old man said that Jiang would give him a signed statement of release to say that he is willing to forgive him voluntarily. He would then pass the statement to the supreme deity. With this, the dog would not kill him. It was the rule that the victim would decide whether he would pardon the offender, and the supreme deity would not interfere. Jiang wrote out the release in a note and the old man left happily with it.
Some years later, Jiang was on his way to the North and was crossing the great river when a sudden storm threatened to capsize the boat. The sail could not be lowered to alleviate the force of the wind and storm. Suddenly a person jumped on to the mast and cut the rope that fastened the sail to the ship. The sail flew into the river and the ship managed to regain its stability. All on board were saved. The old man who severed the rope looked like the fox. He disappeared suddenly.
People commented that this old fox had a sense of gratitude. But I think, this fox could not even save himself, how could he save his former benefactor? May be it was because the supreme deity wanted to reward Jiang by extending his life, so he sent the old fox to perform the task.
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以下故事来自《阅微草堂笔记》：
有姜挺者以贩布为业，恒携一花犬自随，一日独行，途遇一叟呼之住，问不相识，何见招？叟遽叩首有声，曰：我狐也，夙生负君命，三日后君当嗾花犬断我喉，冥数已定，不敢逃死，然窃念事隔百余年，君转生人道，我堕为狐，必追杀一狐，与君何益，且君已不记被杀事，偶杀一狐亦无所快于心，愿纳女自赎可乎？
姜曰：我不敢引狐入室，亦不欲乘危劫人女，贳则贳汝，然何以防犬终不噬也？
曰：君但手批一帖，曰某人夙负，自原销除，我持以告神，则犬自不噬。冤家债主，解释须在本人，神不违也。适携记簿纸笔，即批帖予之。叟喜跃去。
后七八载，姜贩布渡大江，突遇暴风，帆不能落，舟将覆，见一人直上樯竿杪，掣断其索，骑帆俱落，望之似是此叟，转瞬已失所在矣。
皆曰：此狐能报恩。余曰：此狐无术自救，能数千里外救人乎？此神以好生延其寿，遣此狐耳。
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